262 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Oct. 25, 1888. 



per annum, it must be understood first, that the whole 

 area is covered with a crop of growing timber, and .that 

 the area annually cleared is immediately restocked. 

 These conditions do not exist in a primeval forest. From 

 year to year, from decade to decade, from aentury 

 to century, there is absolutely no increase; growth 

 and decay counterbalance each other. Under systematic 

 treatment, the area annually cleared being immediately 

 restocked, would become the theater of growth, but 

 under the reckless system of mismanagement in this 

 country, there is no reproduction worth speaking of, and 

 the problem is simply: '"Given the standing crop, and the 

 annual consumption, destruction and waste, to determine 

 how long it Avill last. " 



But if these are facts beyond dispute it may appear 

 very strange, incomprehensible in fact to many, that the 

 Federal Government, retaining control of such important 

 forest areas in the Rockies, does not at least husband its 

 resources and place them under systematic management. 

 These forests would not only provide permanently for 

 the Slates and Territories in which they are situated, but 

 yield a very handsome surplus for the supply of adjoin- 

 ing States; and during the century required to bring them 

 into proper working order, the cost of restocking would be 

 offset by a steady annual revenue from standing stock. 



The difficulties of establishing such a system are very 

 formidable. If it were decided to close the remaining 

 forest area to the lumberman with his destructive 

 methods, two courses would be open to the Government: 

 the first, to close the forest absolutely and prevent all 

 further utilization of its standing stock, a measure which 

 would be regarded as simply intolerable: the second, to 

 work the forests systematically by the agency of a work- 

 ing staff under the control of a forest department. There 

 is another possible method, a compromise between the 

 last indicated and the existing system, under which 

 licensed lumbermen would work out the timber on their 

 own account but in conformity with the instructions and 

 under the supervision of a forest department. Either of 

 these methods would involve a very considerable outlay 

 for its proper enforcement. Forty-five million acres are 

 a large tract of country to look after; at least one man 

 must be employed for every ten thousand acres, and 

 assuming — which is very probable — that of the estimated 

 forty-five million acres of forest in this region not more 

 than fifteen million acres are actually covered with forest, 

 it would still require a subordinate staff of fifteen hun- 

 dred forest guards at an outlay of approximately a mil- 

 lion dollars annually to maintain anything like a perfect 

 system of supervision, whether the forests were worked 

 or not. 



But it goes without saying that the proposal to lock up 

 the forests and prevent all further utilization of their 

 products is one that cannot be entertained. As to the 

 proposal to work the forests by Government agency, this 

 would involve an annual outlay of many millions, to be 

 met by a corresponding revenue, but the necessary 

 trained establish ment is not available, and the country is 

 not ripe for the measure; and as to the compromise pro- 

 posal of allowing lumbermen to cut on their own account 

 under the control of a forest department, it requires no 

 argument to reach the conclusion that destruction would 

 go on as at present, and the establishment render the 

 public no service in exchange for its pay. 



The great bar to the systematic management is to be 

 found in the fact that past conditions have effected a 

 state of affairs under which the standing stock has no 

 more than a nominal selling price. If the whole remain- 

 ing timber of the country were in Government hands, it 

 would be possible to fix the price at so high a figure that 

 the annual revenue derived from its sale would cover the 

 costs of maintaining a suitable staff, of restocking an area 

 equal to that annually cleared, and would further provide 

 a surplus for the construction of roads, bridges, river 

 clearances, etc., necessary to the proper administration of 

 the forests. And all this it should do, for we must re- 

 member that the whole capital stock of the forest is being 

 used up, and that the timber stock which should replace 

 it can only be produced at a cost. 



These conditions are not attainable, and although a 

 State or Government department undertaking the con- 

 trol of the forests were to provide for restocking by self- 

 sown seed wherever possible, the costs of getting out the 

 lumber under the conditions necessary to provide for 

 natural reproduction would be something higher than on 

 the lumberman's methods. The State, too, in addition to 

 its working charges, would be saddled with the cost of a 

 protective establishment for the whole forest area, and 

 having the price of its timber regulated by outside com- 

 petition, it is very doubtful if it could work out the 

 standing stock at such a profit as would cover the whole 

 costs of establishment and provide for the restocking of 

 such areas as could be restocked only by planting; that 

 is, areas in which the forest is open and the forest floor 

 destroyed. The condition are not, then, favorable to a 

 financially successful administration of the forests, even 

 although the bulk of the existing capital standing stock 

 would all be utilized in the first fe w decades. We will 

 return to this subject in a later article, in which we pro- 

 pose to advocate some practical measures for the insertion 

 of the thin edge of the wedge of reform. J 



TWO MONTHS A COWBOY. 



I ARRIVED in Salida, a town in Colorado situated on 

 the Denver and Rio Grande R. R. July 13, 1880, ex- 

 pecting my cousin to meet me there. He did not come 

 until several days later, however, and in the mean time I 

 tried to install myself in the good graces of trail boys. 

 They arrived the same day I did, having brought up 

 from our lower ranch in New Mexico, the yearly drive 

 of steers. Those employed in the business of driving are 

 called trail boys. They "were soon paid off for the work 

 and sent to the ranch, to give the horses a rest before 

 shoeing them anew preparatory to a return south. 



On the 15th my cousin and I started for the ranch 

 thirty miles away, and perhaps I was not tired before we 

 had gone ten, but you may be sure I did not say so. How 

 odd it seemed to ride along, meeting no human being, 

 but now and then a bunch of cattle, among which I saw 

 our brand occasionally, V V N across the side, and an un- 

 dercrop out of the ear. It was a seven hours' ride, and 

 when at last our pasture gate was passed, and the cabin 

 appeared in sight, unmindful of our tired horses we set 

 off in a gallop, and the last mile and a half were soon 

 covered. 



All the boys were busily engaged, washing their bed- 

 ding, trousers and underclothes, not having had either 

 the inclination or chance to do so before in the two 

 months drive from the south. The cook soon had some- 

 thing for us to eat and we were ready to eat it. The 

 evening passed quietly, the boys not trying any tricks so 

 soon. The ranch is situated in South Park at the foot of 

 Black Mountain about seventy miles west of Pike's Peak, 

 as a crow flies, and is 10,. r >00ft. above sea level. Eighteen 

 sat down to the table the first night— and how they did 

 swear. To me, a tenderfoot, it was surprising to hear 

 the number of oaths they could put into one sentence and 

 that sentence issuing from their mouths with such ap- 

 parent ease, not stopping once to think. The stories and 

 conversation were such that they could not be repeated 

 here. It seemed taken for granted that I knew every- 

 body, so introductions were dispensed with. I kept still, 

 only joining in the conversation where I saw no chance 

 of displaying my ignorance of their ways, manners and 

 customs. 



The next day the horses were rounded up from the ad- 

 jacent pasture and the shoeing started. Part of a cow- 

 boy's education is to be able to shoe a horse; and this they 

 can all do to a certain extent, but the forge and anvil are 

 sometimes very primitive: and I remember once on the 

 round-up the tire of a wheel was the anvil and a bonfire 

 the forge. At times it is very risky, and needs a good 

 deal of strength joined with patience. It was a big job, 

 and as the horses had a long road before them back to 

 New Mexico it had to be done carefully. I watched a 

 while and then tried to get my hand in throwing the rope. 

 The terms lasso and lariat are not used. I practiced on 

 two dogs, on posts, and once on one of the boys, I missed 

 him, however, and as he had his rope in band asked for a 

 lesson in the art. This he readily gave, and before I knew 

 it a |in. rope encircled my neck, and as he playfully 

 pulled me around the yard he said, "Do you catch on, 

 Tenderfoot?" I immediately "caught on," and I have 

 always remembered how my neck hurt where he wore 

 the skin off. As with everything else, practice is the only 

 way to learn, and then even the old hands will often 

 miss, which encourages beginners. To be able to catch 

 any named foot of a steer in a dead run, while on horse- 

 back running behind, is no easy task I assure you, and 

 only the best cowboys can do it. 



Tiring at last of the boys' company and the rat-a-tat-tat 

 of the blacksmith's hammer, I shouldered a rifle and 

 went up into the woods hunting, hoping to run across 

 some deer or perhaps in the clearings an antelope, for I 

 had seen two of the latter in the pasture the day previous. 

 The cabin was just at the edge of the timber, so I was 

 soon deep in the woods, moving quietly and scarcely 

 daring to breathe when the twigs cracked beneath my 

 feet, imagining it was a deer, or worse, perhaps a bear. 

 The bears, I was told, occasionally ate up a cowboy, when 

 he so far forgot his calling as to wander afoot among the 

 trees. I strayed around for a long time, not confining 

 myself to any one spot. There were many springs about 

 and I could hear the streams as they trickled among the 

 rocks, falling from hollow to hollow, in which they made 

 small lakes. Suddenly the sky darkened and the heavens 

 opened and poured down rain by the bucketful. It 

 thundered and lightened so close together that I thought 

 repeatedly the tree against which I leaned must be 

 struck. I came across large pine trees split and torn 

 by lightning that very afternoon during the storm, and 

 I felt anything but comfortable. I crept beneath an 

 overhanging rock, having placed my rifle in a dry spot, 

 about 20yds. off, for I knew steel was a good conductor 

 of electricity. This did for a while, but as darkness 

 came on I thought of the camp and the "dandy" hot 

 biscuits Joe could make. I could not stand it any longer, 

 and although it was still raining heavily, I caught up 

 my rifle and ran as best I could over the slippery ground 

 and logs, every now then stopping to catch my breath, 

 which was soon lost in that high altitude. All the boys 

 stood at the door watching for me, and I felt as does a 

 mariner who reaches a safe harbor when I saw them. It 

 is odd, but I don't believe they are afraid of anything so 

 much as lightning. That year one of the train boys had 

 been killed by a bolt, and this naturally made them timid. 



It took several days to shoe all the horses, but there 

 was in it all a measure of excitement, running out into 

 the corral to rope them, where one had to be nimble to 

 avoid their too willing heels, as they were being shod. 



The corrals are made of large logs with strong posts 

 7ft. or more high. They inclose different sized spaces and 

 are similar to an Eastern barnyard, only they are divided 

 up, connecting by gates so as to hold one bunch of cattle, 

 while in the adjacent inclosure some are driven to be 

 branded. 



Strange as it may seem, the horses have to be roped 

 each time you ride them, no matter how long they have 

 been broken, but when you throw the rope, should it miss 

 and hang on the horse's neck, he thinks he is caught and 

 will allow you to walk up and put on the bridle. 



On the lower ranch we have over 20,000 head of cattle, 

 and there all the breeding is done, driving up yearly the 

 two-year-old steers, and that year as an experiment sixty- 

 five heifers. They were soon sold, and the purchaser, ! 



wishing his brand, a T, put on, we did it. When the irons 

 were red hot, a few of the heifers were turned into the 

 corral and two men on horseback quickly roped them, 

 handing the rope to those afoot. A half-hitch was taken 

 around one of the logs, giving the yearling but little 

 play, so the fellow catching hold of the tail covdd easily 

 throw her on one side by a simple twist. Then taking off 

 the rope one would hold the head down, another the hind 

 feet, while the brander would in a jiffy trace the letter on 

 her side, burning through the ha ir into the hide so as to 

 make a scab, on which no hair would ever grow again. It 

 was hot work, for I tried it all from catching to branding. 

 So many were at it that we were soon through, but on 

 the other ranch it is sometimes a two weeks' work from 

 morning till night, branding between 3,000 and 4,000 

 head. Each owner has his own registered brand, and 

 many are the different styles, letters, figures and symbols. 

 Our boss, though he could neither read nor write, knew 

 his letters, having learned them from the different brands. 

 It is part of a boss's education to know who own the dif- 

 ferent brands, and this is learned from a book published 

 for such a purpose. Our boss was the best horseman I 

 ever saw, boasting that he could ride anything that had 

 hair and stood on four feet, and it was not a vain boast, 

 for I saw him make good his boast more than once. 



A maverick is a calf whose mother has deserted it. In 

 olden days out "West mavericking was a big business, 

 some of the biggest cattlemen having made a start that 

 way. When a cowboy saw a motherless calf he felt sorry 

 for it, and would put on his brand, and then keep on his 

 quest, riding until he had a large enough herd to settle 

 down in some good place. Many owners, besides brand- 

 ing, cut off different parts of the ear or slit it. Thus if 

 you are told the steer has an undercrop and slit in the 

 right ear, it means a piece off the underpart of the ear 

 and a slit lengthwise of it, * 



Seven-up was the great game of cards, and many were 

 the angry disputes the boys had. One hot-blooded little 

 Texan, called "The Mosquito" or "Sketer" for short, drew 

 his knife on one of the boys, but we immediately made 

 him put it up. He afterward proved to be a coward, as 

 such generaUy do. 



On the 20th and 21st we made ready the round-up 

 wagon, putting in a stock of food, doing some necessary 

 carpenter work and making some hobbles for the horses. 

 These are made of twisted raw hide, rope or leather. At 

 night on the round-up, when all the riding for the day is 

 finished, the horses are hobbled, their front feet being 

 tied together with twenty inches space between. This 

 prevents them from wandering far at night, so that the 

 morning "hustlers" may hope to find them within the 

 space of a mile or so. It is wonderful though how far 

 they will sometimes stray, even breaking the hobbles and 

 finding their way back to the ranch or joining some of 

 the horses in the Bald Hills or Buffalo Peak, of which 

 localities I will speak later. On the 22d we left the 

 ranch, driving our horses before us. My mount contained 

 five, namely, Old Sport, Terrapin, Donie, Bald Eye 

 Beauty and Three D. These names are not made up, for 

 Old Sport looks like one, Bald Eye Beauty had no eye 

 lashes. Three D was so marked with a brand 3 D, Terra- 

 pin from his wish to crawl instead of walk, and Donie 

 just a pet name without special significance. 



Toward night we reached camp and there found about 

 fifty boys belonging to different "outfits." It was rain- 

 ing and fuel was scarce, so we gathered it on horseback, 

 throwing a rope over the end of a log and hauling it into 

 camp. All work is done on horseback when practicable; 

 it is said a cowboy will walk a mile to catch a horse to 

 ride half a mile. The ground was damp and soggy where 

 the cook pitched our tent, but flat, so we dug a trench 

 around and a ditch to carry the water off to a hole. It is 

 the cook's place to cook, take down and put up the tent, 

 and drive the wagon, but in such little things as gather- 

 ing and splitting wood the boys sometimes help. 



The supper was of canned corn and tomatoes, fried pork 

 and hot biscuits, but there was a plenty for all, and we 

 had with it cups of hot black coffee, but no milk, you may 

 be sure. We had milk at the ranch several times. By 

 tying a cow head, tail and feet to the fence, we managed 

 to milk her; but a pint was not much reward for an hour's 

 work. 



Being tired I turned in, spreading my canvas on the 

 wet earth and the. blankets on t^p of me. To keep my 

 saddle blankets from getting wet I put them in the tent 

 near the stove, which the boys soon found out by the 

 stench; and they said it was a leggings case. They forth- 

 with hauled me out of the blankets and applied a pair of 

 leggings to my back. At first it did not hurt, but when 

 they and I also got warmed up to it, I called time. 

 Although the ground was very damp I never once thought 

 of catching cold, but slept soundly all night, thinking in 

 my dreams that I was home sleeping on a soft bed; but 

 what matters it, if one be tired, where they sleep? 



The following morning the cook awoke us all when 

 breakfast was ready, and not having much to put on, 

 having slept in all but our coats, trousers and boots we 

 were soon dressed and speedily made a meal. Our dress 

 consisted of a sombrero with a band of leather, a colored 

 shirt, cartridge and pistol belt, cloth trousers or overalls 

 and chaperajos, or leather leggings, open in the rear but 

 down the sides decorated with leather rosettes or some 

 skin tanned with the hair on, and boots having a heel 

 three inches long to prevent the foot from slipping 

 through the stirrup, as the rider rides with his legs at full 

 length and the curve of the foot resting on the stirrup. 



The morning duty performed, we saddled up, mounted 

 and formed in a big bunch waiting for the boss's orders. 

 Indicating such men as knew the country, he teld them 

 to "pull their freight" (move off) and then told off the 

 rest of us into parties of five or six with these men as 

 guides and overseers for the time being. There being six 

 squads in all we left camp as the hub of a wheel, and took 

 our way as the spokes up different gorges or trails as the 

 case might be. From neighboring hills little streams 

 found their way into the valley and up these a different 

 man would go to the hills, sometimes five miles or more, 

 and gathering what cattle he might run across, would 

 drive them down into the valley and there hold them 

 awaiting the others. In this way the party would have 

 scoured the country well over five miles, gathering a 

 bunch running all the way from ten head to over a 

 thousand, which they would then drive back to some 

 open space near camp. Here, when all had returned, the 

 "cutting out" would be done. That is, two men would 

 ride in among the cattle, selecting first the cows with 

 calves, and so on, until all those having the brands sought 



