EARLY MANHOOD IN THE MIDDLE WEST 143 



sheep at a time to pass down it, was set with one 

 end in the stream the other against the steep bank 

 at an angle of about forty-five degrees. On the 

 bank a bottle-shaped corral was built, the neck of 

 the bottle opening into the head of the chute and 

 the enclosure being large enough to accommodate 

 the entire band. Next, a lane of two fences was 

 constructed in the creek, of stakes and one board, 

 one end opening at the lower end of the chute and 

 the other on the opposite bank well up stream. 



On some fine morning the owners of the sheep 

 and their wives and children, with well-filled picnic 

 baskets, hied them to the washing place where the 

 sheep were already corralled. A man at the head 

 of the chute grasped a sheep by the nape of the 

 neck and sent it down this slippery, narrow way. 

 Since the sheep could not come back nor stand still, 

 it made a virtue of necessity and took a merry 

 skate down the toboggan slide. When it reached 

 the stream, another man, by means of a forked 

 pole, baptized each sheep as it entered the lane 

 and turned it up-stream. It was fun to sit on the 

 bank and see the ancient saw : " One go, all go 

 sheep," verified; and when they were all run 

 through once we ate our picnic dinner while they 

 were soaking. During the afternoon the sheep 



