CHAPTER XXXI. 



A MONTANA ROUNDUP. 



SCRIPTIONS of cattle roundups in the far 

 West have been written, and yet many of 

 the characteristic scenes that the spectator 

 at one of these semi-annnal " beef -gathering 

 parties" will observe have not been de- 

 scribed. There is so much to interest and 

 excite the denizen of the States who first 

 attends a roundup on the great plains that 

 I am tempted to speak of some of the more promi- 

 nent points in this "greatest show on earth," for 

 the benefit of such as have not had the pleasure of 

 witnessing it. 



The interests of cattlemen in general are so 

 closely linked, and there is such urgent need of a 

 concert of action among them, that in all Western 

 cattle-growing districts they have organized into 

 local or general associations, in which the most per- 

 fect harmony and good fellowship exists, and in 

 which the interests of every individual member are 

 closely guarded and fostered by the organization as 

 a whole. These associations meet in the spring and 

 fall of each year and fix the dates for holding the 

 roundups, usually prescribing the general bound- 

 aries in which each local outfit shall work. The spring 

 roundup, which is the one now under considera- 



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