Ranching in the Bad Lands n 



er side of Western 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 com- 

 panions, for these plainsmen are far from being so 

 heterogeneous a people as is commonly supposed. 

 On the contrary, all have a certain curious similarity 

 to each other; existence in the West seems to put' 

 the same stamp upon each and every one of them. 

 Sinewy, hardy, self-reliant, their life forces them 

 to be both daring and adventurous, and the pass- 

 ing over their heads of a few years leaves printed 

 on their faces certain lines which tell of dangers 

 quietly fronted and hardships uncomplainingly en- 

 dured. They are far from being as lawless as they 

 are described; though they sometimes cut queer 

 antics when, after many months of lonely life, they 

 come into a frontier town in which drinking and 

 gambling are the only recognized forms of amuse- 

 ment, and where pleasure and vice are considered 

 synonymous terms. On the round-ups, or when a 

 number get together, there is much boisterous, often 

 foul-mouthed mirth ; but they are rather silent, self- 

 contained men when with strangers, and are frank 

 and hospitable to a degree. The Texans are perhaps 

 the best at the actual cowboy work. They are abso- 

 lutely fearless riders and understand well the habits 

 of the half-wild cattle, being unequaled in those most 

 trying times when, for instance, the cattle are stam- 

 peded by a thunder-storm at night, while in the 



