4O REDWOOD LUMBERING. 



commands great respect among his associates in camp, but 

 the highest wages. Miscalling is quite as professional in its 

 character as that of the engineer, head sawyer, accountant, or 

 lawyer. His monthly revenue for handling the goad-stick 

 dexterously, assisted by an appealing voice tuned to a high 

 key at times, ranges from $150 to $200, board and bunking 

 accommodations thrown in. In the event of his having a fam- 

 ily he lives separate from the crew, and draws rations from the 

 store-house, gratis, while his wife does the cooking. 



Among lumbermen the "bull-puncher" is regarded as 

 one having an inborn genius to command the attention and 

 obedience of the unwieldy draft ox. It is a common saying, 

 in lumber districts, that an ox-teamster, like an orator, must 

 be born one, to reach the zenith of the gifred talent. Upon 

 his first arrival in camp, when a team of eight or ten yoke are 

 put in his charge, he looks them over carefully, mentally 

 notes the strength of each particular ox, his disposition as 

 expressed by the eye, and endeavors to pair them with a 

 view to having like traits match in those particulars. Stripes, 

 spots, shade or color of beast are all the same to him, so that 

 they work evenly together. For the well-disposed, obedient 

 animal, he has a pet name. For the savage-eyed, with unruly 

 predilections, he has his christening of a sterner sort. He 

 sees to it that they are well fed morning, noon, and night, and 

 groomed with curry-comb and brush. The extra care of a 



v 



team makes his working hours longer than others of the 

 crew, so that between his retiring and rising hours he has no 

 leisure to chat with the choppers, chain tenders, etc., who 

 gather in knots after supper to smoke a logger's invariable 

 companion the pipe. 



