A BEEF-GATHERING SOIREE.
CHAPTER XXXI.
A MONTANA ROUNDUP.
ESCRIPTIONS of cattle roundups in the far West have been written, and yet many of the characteristic scenes that the spectator at one of these semi-annual "beef-gathering parties" will observe have not been described. There is so much to interest and excite the denizen of the States who first attends a roundup on the great plains that I am tempted to speak of some of the more prominent points in this "greatest show on earth," for the benefit of such as have not had the pleasure of witnessing it.
The interests of cattlemen in general are so closely linked, and there is such urgent need of a concert of action among them, that in all Western cattle-growing districts they have organized into local or general associations, in which the most perfect harmony and good fellowship exists, and in which the interests of every individual member are closely guarded and fostered by the organization as a whole. These associations meet in the spring and fall of each year and fix the dates for holding the roundups, usually prescribing the general boundaries in which each local outfit shall work. The spring roundup, which is the one now under consideration, is held in the latter part of April or early part of May in Wyoming and Montana, and earlier or later in other States and Territories, according to the nature of the climate, weather, etc. A roundup district is usually limited to the valley of some large stream, or its boundaries are designated by other prominent and well-known landmarks.
From five to fifteen miles, or even more, each way from the ranch, are claimed by each owner or company as a range, though no effort is made usually to keep the stock within these boundaries. They are allowed the freedom of the hills and table-lands in every direction, the foreman merely being required to know about where to find them when wanted, and to prevent them from going, for instance, west of the Tongue and north of the Yellowstone rivers or south into Wyoming.
As a typical spring roundup, let us observe the one recently conducted on the Powder river in Montana, for it furnished, perhaps, as many interesting episodes and incidents as are usually seen at one of these entertainments. This stream rises in the Big Horn Mountains in Northern Wyoming and flows northeast through Southern Montana to the Yellowstone, into which it empties its wealth of crystal fluid just east of Miles City. Up to a few years ago its valley and adjacent table-lands were peopled only by roving bands of Sioux, Cheyenne, Pegan, or Crow Indians, while vast herds of buffaloes and antelopes grazed upon its nutritious grasses. The lordly elk and the timid, agile deer roamed at will through the groves of cottonwood and box-elder that fringe its banks, and the howl of the coyote made night musical to the ear of the savage in his wigwam. But how changed the scene of to-day! An iron railroad bridge, that of the great Northern Pacific, spans the stream near its mouth, over which roll trains of palace coaches at short intervals, while commercial freights en route from the Atlantic to the Pacific, or vice versa, pass over it almost every hour. From the mouth of the stream to the foot-hills of the mountain range, amid whose snow-capped peaks it rises, is now a well-beaten road over which supplies for the various ranches in the valley are carried, and over which the gallant knights of the plains—the cowboys—dash to and fro in the performance of their various duties.
At intervals of ten to fifteen miles along the valley, the traveler passes ranches, the headquarters of the wealthy cattlemen whose herds roam all over the valleys, the hills, and table-lands for many miles in every direction, designating the companies or individual owners merely by the brands their herds bear (which is the custom of the country). We shall encounter on our way the "MC" outfit, whose herd numbers fourteen thousand head; the "WL" brand, six thousand head; "7OL," one thousand head; "S-I," twenty-five thousand head; "N," twenty-five thousand head; "
