THE ROUND-UP 



was made, was said to have been assigned to his owner- 

 ship, and "slick-ears" eventually became known as 

 "mavericks." An unbranded calf becomes a maverick 

 anywhere from ten to fifteen months old when it 

 leaves the mother or when the cow has another calf. 

 Hence the first to rope an unidentified animal could 

 claim it, so the significance of term "maverick race" is 

 easily understood. 



For a wild, devil-may-care, madcap, everybody-for- 

 himself rush and the most realistic incident of range 

 life, take a maverick race. A bunch of two dozen cow- 

 boys line the track across the arena. In the corral 

 ahead, the steer is already poking his nose through 

 the gate. But the cowboys must hold their horses 

 until it has a one-hundred- foot start; the first man 

 that gets a rope on the steer's horns and holds it, wins. 

 But this steer was not born yesterday. Dodging the 

 encircling ropes, he clears the high board fence then 

 smashes through the wire fence and is among the spec- 

 tators on the bleachers. 



The first straight run, and Jim Roach throws and 

 holds an ugly gray maverick in the press. One maver- 

 ick, instead of fleeing, with a snort of mingled rage 

 and fear, charges through the centre of the awaiting 

 cowboy outfit. There is a melee — two horses go down, 

 but with a yell they are after it in the opposite direc- 

 tion; and Narcise McKay, an Indian, is the winner. 



THE PASSING OF THE OLD WEST 



After such a whirlwind of excitement, a moment's 

 pause gives the crowd a chance to catch its breath and 

 the dust to settle. It is a pause well-timed in the rapid 

 movement of the nerve-thrilling feats. Then, from 



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