8 Ranching in the Bad Lands. 



flannel shirt, with a bright silk handkerchief loosely knot- 

 ted round the neck, trousers tucked into high-heeled 

 boots, and a pair of leather "shaps " (chaperajos) or heavy 

 riding overalls. Great spurs and a large-calibre revolver 

 complete the costume. For horse gear there is a cruel 

 curb bit, and a very strong, heavy saddle with high pom- 

 mel and cantle. This saddle seems needlessly weighty, 

 but the work is so rough as to make strength the first 

 requisite. A small pack is usually carried behind it ; also 

 saddle pockets, or small saddle-bags ; and there are leather 

 strings wherewith to fasten the loops of the raw-hide 

 lariat. The pommel has to be stout, as one end of the 

 lariat is twisted round it when work is to be done, and 

 the strain upon it is tremendous when a vigorous steer 

 has been roped, or when, as is often the case, a wagon 

 gets stuck and the team has to be helped out by one of 

 the riders hauling from the saddle. A ranchman or fore- 

 man dresses precisely like the cowboys, except that the 

 materials are finer, the saddle leather being handsomely 

 carved, the spurs, bit, and revolver silver-mounted, the 

 shaps of seal-skin, etc. The revolver was formerly a 

 necessity, to protect the owner from Indians and other 

 human foes ; this is still the case in a few places, but, as a 

 rule, it is now carried merely from habit, or to kill rat- 

 tlesnakes, or on the chance of falling in with a wolf or 

 coyote, while not unfrequently it is used to add game to 

 the cowboy's not too varied bill of fare. 



A cowboy is always a good and bold rider, but his seat 

 in the saddle is not at all like that of one of our eastern or 

 southern fox-hunters. The stirrups are so long that the 



