LET 'ER BUCK 



performance in front of the grandstand or "worked 

 their hands in" at the tryouts. Watch Sam Garrett, 

 resplendent in purple shirt, make his rope hum and 

 twist as if charged with an electric current. 



Swish! Tex McLeod has roped four horses and 

 riders in a single noose. Zip ! and Chester Byers, so 

 easy and slow of action in his fancy roping, has while 

 nonchalantly standing on his head suddenly thrown his 

 noose and roped a passing horse by its fore feet. Pick 

 whichever part of a horse you wish captured and 

 they'll rope it, whether it be by the neck, any or all 

 feet, or even with a flip, after the horse goes by, by the 

 tail itself. They all make their ropes take every con- 

 ceivable gyration, from the wedding ring or simple 

 circle to the ring spinning vertically through which 

 they skip. Standing, jumping, sitting, and even lying 

 down makes no difference as they spin circles with 

 eyes open or blindfolded. Then Jane Bernoudy places 

 her jacket on the ground and now dons and removes it 

 to the ceaseless spinning of her magic cord. 



How simple! Try it! Any of them will be only too 

 glad to show you. Snarled first try. "Just a bit of a 

 knack," Cuba Crutchfield will encouragingly tell you. 

 He thinks nothing of jumping backwards and for- 

 wards in his vertically spinning loop or even inciden- 

 tally turning somersaults through it. Yes, a knack 

 that takes years of experimenting and an inborn "feel" 

 for a rope to accomplish. 



The "bunch" has already rounded up in the arena, 

 by the grandstand — every type — but all branded with 

 the hall mark of the range. Yes, the great days of 

 the cowboy have passed and he is now riding against 

 the sunset of his time. His trails and camping grounds 

 have blazed his path through Texas, New Mexico, 



62 



