THE COWBOYS
A PLAINSMAN AND
CATTLE RANGER
OF EARLY DAYS
IT did not take long for men to learn that the great western country was a valuable grazing land. The section of the West which includes New Mexico, part of Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and the western part of Texas, Nebraska, Kansas and Dakota, became a great cattle range. There were neither fences nor boundaries on this gigantic unbroken pasture, and here there grew up and flourished a great cattle raising industry.
A traveller seeing this land for the first time would wonder how such a parched and desolate country could give maintenance to cattle at all. Lying as it does in the arid belt, it is a region of but light rainfall; the grass is short and scanty; there are no trees except along the beds of streams, and in many places there are alkali deserts where nothing grows but sage-brush and cactus. In other parts the land stretches out into level plains that seem almost endless, or into beautiful rolling prairies. The muddy rivers, running through in broad shallow beds, after a rain become swollen torrents, while in droughts even the larger streams dwindle into mere sluggish trickles of water, and the smaller ones dry up entirely, except for occasional pools. Perhaps this land might have lain idle for years had not the hardy plainsman been keen to observe that great herds of buffalo lived and thrived on the short brown grass peculiar to the region.
As the cattle raising industry progressed in Texas there naturally grew up a race of strong, fearless men called cowboys, because of their occupation dealing with cattle. No prouder soul than the cowboy ever lived. He was proud of his prowess as a horseman and had little use for any one not skilled in the saddle. Loving and dependent companions, his horse and he were inseparable.
The cowboys of the old Wild West were wonderful riders and born fighters, two necessary virtues these, for almost constantly many disputes had to be settled on the ranches with rival cattle men or with Indians.
The lasso or rope is the one essential feature of every cowboy’s equipment. Loosely coiled, it hangs from the horn, or is tied to one side of the saddle, and is used for many emergencies. In helping to pull a cow out of a bog hole, or a wagon up a steep hill it is invaluable. Every cowboy aspires to be a good roper so that he can handle the lasso with ease, swiftness and precision. A first-class roper can demand his own price, for he is eagerly sought after by the cattle men.