ON A CATTLE-RANGE 295 



of in the 'eighties died violent deaths. Nearly all 

 cow-punchers carried revolvers in those days, perhaps 

 as much for ornament as use. Some few of them 

 who had each killed his man were marked down by 

 public opinion as ' bad men.' By the irony of fate 

 they were generally shot in the end in an unexpected 

 manner by some inoffensive novice firing in self- 

 defence. 



Next day I rode into Sand Creek and arranged 

 a new programme with our manager, Frank Earnest. 

 Dendy and the hunting outfit followed more leisurely 

 the day after. We all joined the beef round-up, now 

 deprived of two of its best cow hands, and for the 

 next three weeks we worked with the boys on the 

 range. Each one of us had a string of six cow-ponies. 

 This meant two mounts a day, one in the morning 

 and one in the afternoon, and two days' rest for one 

 half day's work for each horse, with plenty of air and 

 exercise every day for the rider. We breakfasted 

 at 4 a.m., and thence rode forth in couples in various 

 directions for ten or twelve miles, driving back to an 

 appointed rendezvous all the Pick range cattle we 

 could find. After the mid-day meal the beef steers 

 were cut out and herded together ; such unbranded 

 calves as remained from the spring round-up were 

 also cut out, with their mothers, and branded ; and 

 then the whole process repeated over another ten-mile 

 area of range in the afternoon. Camp was generally 

 moved some ten or fifteen miles every day. Thus, 

 in three weeks a large extent of country could be 

 ridden over, and a fairly comprehensive gather made 

 of all the cattle ranging therein. There were no 

 fences in those days, and the only method of claiming 

 ownership of the cattle was by the brand. 



