6oo 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
SEPT. i3 
THE COW-BOY AND HIS BUSINESS. 
The old-time range beef business, with its accompani¬ 
ment of wild cow-boy, wild horse and wild Indian is 
doomed—in fact it has already passed away except in 
localities far removed from railroads, telegraphs and 
towns. More and better cattle than ever before are bred 
on the ranges, yet the old-time methods are passing away. 
Fences, hay-stacks and even barns may now be found 
where in former years one might ride for days without 
meeting with hardly an evidence of civilization. The in¬ 
troduction of improved breeding stock has greatly in¬ 
creased the value of the Western steer, and a 3 this result 
has been reached ranchmen have been forced to adopt 
methods more in harmony with those employed in caring 
for valuable animals in other parts of the country. Many 
of the cattle fed iu former years were really hardly worth 
sheltering; so they were permitted to wander about sum¬ 
mer and winter making their own living as best they could. 
The modern range steer, however, is too expensive an ani¬ 
mal to be treated in this way, particularly when labor, pro¬ 
visions and materials are all cheaper than in former years. 
And the future range steer must be better than the present 
one, because the area of free pasturage is becoming more 
and more limited, while the tendency of legislation un¬ 
doubtedly is to save the public lands for actual farmers or 
homesteaders, as well as to prevent aliens from controlling 
vast pastures as they now do. It is therefore certain that 
improved and more intensive methods must prevail in the 
range cattle business. It is equally certain that as these 
methods prevail the old-time cow boy must “go.” He is 
a unique and striking figure in the history of American 
cattle growing, and before he passes off the stage let us 
take his picture and show him just as he is. This we have 
attempted to do in this issue of The R. N. Y., and the 
pictures are so complete that but little is needed in the 
way of explanation. The pictures are all taken from 
had ridden in the forenoon loose. The cook washed his 
dishes and put them in the wagon, hitched up a team of 
mules, and all drove on. A. WEBSTER. 
Beulah, Wyoming. 
Bandana, Dude, Fraud and Line Rider. 
In spring when the grass gets good the stockmen hold a 
meeting to elect a captain for their round-up, and decide 
when the round-up shall begin. They have strong corrals 
built at convenient places on the range, and each is num¬ 
bered or named. The foreman of each outfit employs a 
cook; and for each 1,000 cattle or portion thereof he 
employs one cow-boy, and with mess and donnage wagons 
loaded with sufficient supplies to last until convenient to 
get more, they move on time to the appointed place near 
the corral where the round-up is to begin. There the cap¬ 
tain takes command of all the cow-boys. They round up 
all the cattle on that part of the range, cut out all the 
cows with their young calves, and hold each outfit by it¬ 
self. The outfit having the largest number of calves to 
brand, generally takes the corral first, and the others take 
their turn according to the number of animals to be 
branded, until all get ’round. A couple of good ropers 
ride into the corral, rope the calves and drag them up near 
the fire. There are two calf wrestlers to each roper to as¬ 
sist in holding each calf while it Is being marked and 
branded; the fireman keeps the irons hot and hands them 
to the man who does the brauding, while the knife man 
does the marking and the rope-man calls out whose calf 
each is, and what it is and the tally man marks it down. 
When the branding is all done, the men move to the next 
corral and continue until all the stock on the range are 
rounded up. The cow-boys have good, substantial food. 
Their bread is made of wheat flour, baking powder, salt and 
water, and is baked in a Dutch oven covered with coals 
and ashes. Their beef or bacon is boiled or fried over the 
boring town or ranch house they lay aside their range at¬ 
tire, put on a “ soft” dress suit, get their supper, saddle up 
a fresh horse, ride 15 or 20 miles to the place where the hop 
is to be given, and chat with the girls and dance until day¬ 
light. If eye-glasses were in fashion among them they 
would pass for dudes. When the dance breaks up they 
ride back to camp, get their breakfast and go to work, 
feeling as happy as clams at high tide. 
Home Park, Mont. MARTIN BATTLE. 
The Colorado Cow-Boy. 
Let us begin at night, when the guard is out and two or 
three that have not gone to bed are enjoying a smoke 
round the camp fire, and conjecturing who will join the 
outfit to-morrow, and various remarks are ventured 
about some boy who has a broncho to “ bust ” in the morn¬ 
ing, and all is quiet till 10 o’clock, when some fellow who 
retired early is gently reminded that it is 10 o’clock, 
and time for him to go on guard. His pony having been 
staked near at hand, all he has to do is to put on a coat, 
having the rest of his clothes already on, except his boots. 
Then he lights his pipe and sallies forth, and so the 
changes go on every two hours till morning. About four 
to 4.30 the horse rustlers get out to round up the saddle 
animals, while some do the cooking. The bread is all 
cooked in a Dutch oven, and coffee, “sowbelly”, and, 
maybe, a few onions pulled from some granger’s garden 
the day before, are relished with that peculiar charm that 
belongs to stolen property. Some Eastern tourist folks 
passed our camp once, and seeing about 20 of us eating 
around the wagons, asked if that was really the way we 
lived. We invited them to breakfast, and being “deli¬ 
cate,” we told them that if they would stay with us for a 
week or so they would have a better appetite than they had 
then. They relished a cup of coffee, but could not go tho 
hard-tack. The boys mostly wear chaps and leather 
COW-BOY PONIES “GLAD TO REST!” Fig. 253. 
photographs made on the range in Wyoming, and are 
absolutely true to life. The following notes of life on the 
cattle plains are written by some of our subscribers who 
live among the scenes they describe. The true cow-boy is 
always very proud of his horse. Three of the tough little 
ponies are shown at Fig. 253. These little fellows have 
evidently had a hard run and are glad to rest. Some of 
these ponies show remarkable speed and racing is a favorite 
pastime with the cow-boys. Short races of about 220 yards 
are generally run and the little horses fairly fly over the 
ground. The saddles are fastened on these ponies by 
means of two wide “ cinches ” or straps. These are pulled 
up so tight that the horse is almost obliged to walk on its 
toes. A cow-boy “ tightening his cinch ” is shown at Fig. 
250. 
Shooting at a Sidewalk. 
My first acquaintance with cow-boys was at Spearfish, 
Dak., in 1882. Spearfish was then a small town, without 
municipal government, with many saloons. The cow-boys, 
in small squads, made frequent visits, apparently for the 
purpose of having a spree. Their principal pastime seemed 
to be using the six-shooter, which they did so freely that 
many considered it dangerous to be out while they were 
in town. I never knew that any one was hurt by them. 
At one time they shot the sidewalk to pieces in front of a 
saloon. At another they shot a lawyer’s sign to pieces; 
then they “ chipped in ” and paid him for it. Such sprees 
by some have given all a bad name. Not long since when 
hunting cattle I came upon a “ bunch ” of 900 steers on the 
way from Texas to Montana driven by six cow boys—one 
foreman, one cook, and four herders. They had stopped 
for dinner, and kindly invited me to dine with them, which 
I did. For dinner they had bacon, nice warm bread (better 
than can be had on most ranches), fried cakes, coffee and 
stewed dried fruit, all nicely cooked. After dinner the 
herd of horses were driven into a corral, formed by two 
ropes stretched from one side of the wagon, and each man 
roped a horse to ride for the afternoon, turning the one he 
coals. They have coffee, tea and sugar, and one kind of 
fruit—generally apples or peaches. When the meal is 
ready each man takes a knife and fork, a plate, cup and 
spoon and helps himself and squats down on the grass by 
the camp fire to eat. 
There are several classes of cow-boys—the bandana, the 
dude, the fraud and the line rider. The bandana cow-boy 
is an honest, straightforward man who understands 'his 
work and does it in good shape. He always has employ¬ 
ment and demands the highest wages going. He prides 
himself on riding a good horse, and nothing less than a $40 
saddle is worth having. It is a very common thing to see 
a $20 bit in his riding bridle. He always wears comfort¬ 
able woolen clothing, a pair of calfskin chaps, a white 
sombrero with heavy leather band, a pair of high-heeled 
boots, and silver-mounted spurs; he always carries a 
slicker to protect him from the cold rain and sleet; and, 
last, but not least, he always wears a big bandana hand¬ 
kerchief around his neck. In pleasaut weather he has a 
fairly easy job, but in stormy times he is not to be envied. 
The dude cow-boy is a good-hearted kind of a fellow that 
is always a little too far behind to do much good when he 
is m eded ; he will probably be found hunting a job. The 
fraud cow-boy belongs to a class generally composed of 
tallow-faced kids and men that try to push themselves in 
where they are not wanted. They imagine they know 
more than anybody, and can do more. They are very good 
riders, and when they get on a broncho, if he does no; buck 
they prod him with spurs and make him do so. On a 
sunny day they make their necks stiff by watching their 
shadows to see how gracefully they sit in a saddle and 
admire the swing of their feet as they keep time with the 
movement of the kayuse. They like to run big bluffs, 
wear chaps with long-haired bear-skin on the outside of 
the legs, or anything that may attract attention. The line 
riders ride in a straight line to the nearest camp, visit a 
day or two, and ride to another camp. Cow-boys are very 
fond of dancing; when a dance is to be given at a neigh- 
pants; sometimes they wear fringed buckskin shirts, if 
deer are plentiful, as they are on the Western slope of the 
Rockies. We start from here to-morrow on a four weeks’ 
ride, carrying our bedding lashed round one of our spare 
horses, and the cooking utensils, consisting of a frying- 
pan, coffee-pot and Dutch oven. The country is too broken 
and rough to get a wagon iu. We will probably get a deer 
the first day out, or in the evening. Oftentimes our bed¬ 
ding gets wet, when the horses cross a creek in a deep 
place, and the mishap is not discovered till near bed-time, 
when it is too late to remedy the matter. The real cow¬ 
boy life is becoming scarce, owing to the fact that the 
ranges are being fenced in; but in many places the long 
hours of hard work on the range are still kept up by the 
boys. The tedious work of riding alongside a herd up 
from Texas on the old trail is now done away with by the 
railroad, and the deep ruts left on the old trail alone tell 
the story of how many cattle have walked along the route, 
one behind another, iu a row from a quarter to half a mile 
wide. J. HIGGINSON. 
Buffalo Creek, Col. 
The Bull Business—Future of the Range. 
The use of thoroughbred bulls of the beef breeds has done 
very much to improve the range business. The grade 
steers are much better than the original stock, and it is 
gratifying to learn that improvement is still going on, and 
that all progressive ranchmen realize the importance of 
sending well-bred animals to market. The following let¬ 
ter from a prominent breeder of Hereford cattle states sev¬ 
eral facts: 
“ The principal districts where the best bulls go are the 
Panhandle of Texas, Southern Colorado and Northern New 
Mexico. These are the garden sections of the range coun¬ 
try. Since 1884, the bull business has never appeared to 
me so flourishing as it is at present. The call for bulls is 
without question greater than it has been since that year. 
In the above named districts large numbers of very fine 
