HUNTING FROM THE RANCH. 39 



As soon as the herd was worked it was 

 turned loose, while the cows and calves were 

 driven over to a large corral,where the branding 

 was done. A fire was speedily kindled, and 

 in it were laid the branding irons of the dif- 

 ferent outfits represented on the round-up. 

 Then two of the best ropers rode into the 

 corral and began to rope the calves, round the 

 hind legs by preference, but sometimes round 

 the head. The other men dismounted to 

 " wrestle '* and brand them. Once roped, the 

 calf, bawling and struggling, was swiftly 

 dragged near the fire,where one or two of the 

 calf-wrestlers grappled with and threw the 

 kicking, plunging little beast, and held it while 

 it was branded. If the calf was large the wres- 

 tlers, had hard work ; and one or two young 

 maverick bulls — that is, unbranded yearling 

 bulls, which had been passed by in the round- 

 ups of the preceding year — fought viciously, 

 bellowing, and charging, and driving some of 

 the men up the sides of the corral, to the bois- 

 terous delight of the others. 



After watching the work for a little while 

 we left and rode homewards. Instead of 

 going along the river bottoms we struck back 

 over the buttes. From time to time we 

 came out on some sharp bluff overlooking the 

 river. From these points of vantage we could 

 see for several miles up and down the valley 

 of the Little Missouri. The level bottoms 

 were walled in by rows of sheer cliffs, and 

 steep, grassy slopes. These bluff lines were 

 from a quarter of a mile to a mile apart ; they 

 did not run straight, but in a succession of 

 curves, so as to look like the halves of manv 



