22 Hunting Trips of a Ranchman 



training of their horses. Clumsiness, and still more 

 the slightest approach to timidity, expose a man to the 

 roughest and most merciless raillery; and the unfit 

 are weeded out by a very rapid process of natural 

 selection. When the work is over for the day 

 the men gather round the fire for an hour or two to 

 sing songs, talk, smoke, and tell stories ; and he who 

 has a good voice, or, better still, can play a fiddle or 

 banjo, is sure to receive his meed of most sincere 

 homage. 



Though the ranchman is busiest during the round- 

 up, yet he is far from idle at other times. He rides 

 round among the cattle to see if any are sick, visits 

 any outlying camp of his men, hunts up any band 

 of ponies which may stray and they are always 

 straying, superintends the haying, and, in fact, 

 does not often find that he has too much leisure 

 time on his hands. Even in winter he has work 

 which must be done. His ranch supplies milk, but- 

 ter, eggs, and potatoes, and his rifle keeps him, at 

 least intermittently, in fresh meat ; but coffee, sugar, 

 flour, and whatever else he may want, have to be 

 hauled in, and this is generally done when the ice 

 will bear. Then firewood must be chopped; or, if 

 there is a good coal vein, as on my ranch, the coal 

 must be dug out and hauled in. Altogether, though 

 the ranchman will have time enough to take shooting 

 trips, he will be very far from having time to make 

 shooting a business, as a stranger who comes for 

 nothing else can afford to do. 



There are now no Indians left in my immediate 



