34 Ranching in the Bad Lands. 



ordinary ranchman's dress is good enough : flannel shirt, 

 and overalls tucked into alligator boots, the latter being of 

 service against the brambles, cacti, and rattlesnakes. Such 

 a costume is good in warm weather. When making a long 

 hunting trip, where there will be much rough work, espe- 

 cially in the dry cold of fall and winter, there is nothing better 

 than a fringed buckskin tunic or hunting-shirt, (held in at the 

 waist by the cartridge belt,) buckskin trowsers, and a fur cap, 

 with heavy moccasins for use in the woods, and light alliga- 

 tor-hide shoes if it is intended to cross rocks and open 

 ground. Buckskin is most durable, keeps out wind and cold, 

 and is the best possible color for the hunter no small point 

 in approaching game. For wet it is not as good as flannel, 

 and it is hot in warm weather. On very cold days, fur 

 gloves and either a coon-skin overcoat or a short riding 

 jacket of fisher's fur may be worn. In cold weather, if 

 travelling light with only what can be packed behind the 

 horse, I sleep in a big buffalo-robe, sewed up at the sides 

 and one end into the form of a bag, and very warm. When, 

 as is sometimes the case, the spirit in the thermometer sinks 

 to 6o 65 Fahrenheit, it is necessary to have more 

 wraps and bedding, and we use beaver-robes and bear- 

 skins. An oilskin "slicker" or waterproof overcoat and 

 a pair of shaps keep out the rain almost completely. 



Where most of the hunting is done on horseback the 

 hunting-pony is a very important animal. Many people 

 seem to think that any broken-down pony will do to hunt, 

 but this seems to me a very great mistake. My own 

 hunting-horse, Manitou, is the best and most valuable ani- 

 mal on the ranch. He is stoutly built and strong, able to 



