CHAPTER VIII 



THE EOTTND-trP — PBNOING — IMPLEMENTS 



The prairie country is divided into " round-up 

 districts," each of which is governed by a local 

 Stock Association, which legislates on all questions 

 relative to its own particular district, and to which 

 a small annual subscription is paid by each stock- 

 raiser (of horses and cattle, that is) who resides in it. 

 There are between twenty and thirty weU-equipped 

 and organized round-ups in the ranching area, which 

 are annually engaged in riding out, searching for, 

 and bringing in, the thousands of cattle and horses 

 which are branded and turned loose on the prairie, 

 and the result-s of their efforts materially afEect the 

 livelihood of individual ranchers, as to whether a 

 clean gather of stock is made or not. 



The party consists of from fifteen to thirty or 

 forty men, as a rule, at the head of which a captain 

 is elected, whose word is law on aU matters concern- 

 ing the conduct of the round-up. The balance of 

 the company comprises the " riders " (cowboys are 



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