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.
[Illustration: A PLAINSMAN AND CATTLE RANGER OF EARLY DAYS]
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.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: A COWBOY]
When it comes to riding a horse, the cowboy is unsurpassed and there
is nothing that is possible at all that he cannot do in the saddle.
The “broncho busters” or horse breakers, perform really marvelous
feats, riding with ease the most vicious wild horses unused to the
hand of man. Such a rider cannot be jarred out of the saddle by the
most desperate and sudden plunges of the bucking horse. Their method
of breaking a horse is very rough. They simply saddle and bridle a
beast by main force, and ride him until he is completely exhausted and
submissive. At this point the horse is considered broken and his owner
may later train him to stop or wheel instantly at a touch of the reins,
or to start at top speed at a sudden signal.
But while the cowboy’s horse may do all these things for him, it would
be impossible for any but an expert rider, even to approach such
vicious horses. A man who is merely an ordinary rider would probably
lose his life.
The cowboy’s life was full of continual excitement and hard work when
out on the cattle range. While he was riding alone on the Plains, a
band of Indians would often suddenly appear and, forming in a circle,
ride madly around him. There was then nothing to do but stand them off
until help came, or if forced, put up as good a fight single handed
as possible while ammunition lasted. If the cowboy was an experienced
frontiersman and did not lose his nerve, he could successfully cope
with a small band of Indians, because he could match a gun against the
Indians’ arrows.
All these romantic and adventurous times finally gave way to the
ever advancing civilization. The extensive tracts, then natural and
free, were gradually cut up into small ranches enclosed by barbed
wire fences. The cowboy too had to bear the marks of civilization and
acknowledge the reign of law, but he still rides to-day as skillfully
and easily as ever, sitting erect and jaunty, reins held high and loose
in his hands, his whole body free yet firm in the saddle with the seat
of the perfect horseman. His broad brimmed hat still sweeps up and
back in the same careless freedom of those lawless days, and his belt
is still adorned with the deadly guardians of his safety, his spurs
jingling as he rides. His pony is the same as those of many years ago
and trots steadily forward with the easy movement characteristic only
of the western horse.
The cowboy as he rides on, erect and strong, true to the life of
freedom he loves, waves his hat in adieu and the sun sets behind the
blue hills of what was once the Great Wild West.