6 Ranching in the Bad Lands. 



head down between his forefeet, arches his back, and 

 with stiff legs gives a succession of jarring jumps, often 

 "changing ends" as he does so. Even if a man can keep 

 his seat, the performance gives him about as uncomfort- 

 able a shaking up as can be imagined. 



The cattle rove free over the hills and prairies, pick- 

 ing up their own living even in winter, all the animals of 

 each herd having certain distinctive brands on them. But 

 little attempt is made to keep them within definite 

 bounds, and they wander whither they wish, except that 

 the ranchmen generally combine to keep some of their 

 cowboys riding lines to prevent them straying away alto- 

 gether. The missing ones are generally recovered in the 

 annual round-ups, when the calves are branded. These 

 round-ups, in which many outfits join together, and which 

 cover hundreds of miles of territory, are the busiest 

 period of the year for the stockmen, who then, with their 

 cowboys, work from morning till night. In winter little 

 is done except a certain amount of line riding. 



The cowboys form a class by themselves, and are now 

 quite as typical representatives of the wilder side of West- 

 ern life, as were a few years ago the skin-clad hunters and 

 trappers. They are mostly of native birth, and although 

 there are among them wild spirits from every land, yet 

 the latter soon become undistinguishable from their 

 American companions, for these plainsmen are far from 

 being so heterogeneous a people as is commonly sup- 

 posed. On the contrary, all have a certain curious simi- 

 larity to each other ; existence in the west seems to put the 

 same stamp upon each and every one of them. Sinewy, 



