CHAPTER XIX
COW HORSES AND THEIR WORK
The next day they were cutting again. Donald was active and triedto help, though he accomplished but little because he lacked realknowledge of the work. But if he did not himself do much, he at leastsaw many things done.
Of these one of the most interesting was Vicente's handling of afighting steer. Charley Powell had cut out and was trying to drive theanimal, but it stopped to fight. It would not move but stood and facedthe horse and rider. Presently Vicente came up and, after a word or twowith Charley, rode around behind the steer while Charley ran his horseclose by the animal's head to try to make it charge. On his seconddash by it the steer put down its head and rushed after the horse, butbefore it had made half a dozen jumps Vicente's rope had passed overits horns. He wound the rope around his saddle-horn and as he drew therein his horse set its forelegs and braced itself in real picture-bookfashion; the rope tightened and the steer turned a somersault andslammed down on the earth with tremendous force. Vicente sprang fromthe saddle, leaving the little horse bearing back with all its weightagainst the rope to hold the steer, ran forward to the animal and in amoment, as it seemed, had hog-tied it. It was then left on the prairieto think the matter over, while Vicente and Charley Powell went off totheir work.
That night about the fire, Donald could not say enough in praise ofthe work of the cow horses and their seeming understanding of whatwas required of them; and the others assented to his enthusiasticdeclaration that a well-broken cow horse is interesting to watch andshows great intelligence in doing its part of the work of handlingthe cattle. Joe and Vicente, however, said little, but at length inresponse to some direct appeal Joe said:
"Well, boys, there's no denying that these horses know a heap, and thatsome of 'em do their work mighty well. I expect if it wasn't for thehorses there wouldn't be any cattle business; but honest, and withoutwanting to blow off my country or any other country, you ought to seethe horses in the South, whether it's southern California, or Texas.I think maybe they're not always as strong as the mountain horses uphere, but they're a whole lot quicker. What's more, it seems to methey understand their work better and do it better; and if that's so,here's one reason for it: The cattle down there are different--atleast they used to be in old times, and I reckon they are yet. Mostof you know what an old-fashioned Texas long-horn is: mostly head,horns and legs--light, quick on his feet, and a great hand to dodge.Now those Texas horses, and the southern California horses too, havebeen broke to handle these cattle; and to be any good they've got tobe fast, quick to turn and ready to meet any move the steer makes. Uphere, you've got a great deal better class of cattle: they're heavierand make better beef, and that means that they're slower--more likebarnyard cattle. They don't handle themselves anything like what thoseTexans do. Texas cattle put the horse and his rider more on theirmettle than these grade cattle. They call for greater quickness andreadiness; and though I am a Wyoming cowboy now, I'm bound to say thatthe best cow hands I've ever seen have been down in the South andSouthwest."
"I guess that's gospel," Hugh said. "I saw something of the cattlebusiness down on the plains when the cattle business was fairly newthere, and when all the cattle came up over the trail from Texas, andthey certainly did have good cow horses down there. As Joe says, theywere quicker, and readier, as it seems to me, than the horses we haveup here. Of course that don't mean that they were better horses, but Isuppose it does mean that the Texas horses had been, as you might say,just raised on cattle. For generations that was all that they'd beendoing and they were quick as a cat on their feet. It's always seemed tome that these mountain horses are much more awkward."
"I've never seen those Texas horses," said Powell; "but I didn'tsuppose that they were nearly as strong as our horses here; and Ididn't suppose that they could hold cattle nearly as well."
"No," replied Joe, "they aren't as strong as these horses, but for anywork like cutting, where you need quickness, they can handle themselvesmighty well."
"Not all those horses," explained Vicente, "make good cow horses. Somequick, some slow. But good horse, the more you ride him the better hedo his work. Seems to learn things."
"They used to tell about a wonderful cow horse they had down on theNorth Platte a few years ago," said Hugh. "I heard about him one timefrom some punchers I saw in North Platte City, when I was coming westtwo or three years ago. They said he belonged to the Bosler outfit.Maybe you've seen him, Joe?"
"Oh, well," answered Joe, "if you're going to talk about Old Blue, Idon't believe there ever was a horse to be compared with him. He wasin a class by himself. In those days he was known all through westernNebraska and eastern Wyoming. I guess he was the most noted cow horsethere ever was in that country. He was a Texas horse and, I alwaysheard, came up with one of the drives. I don't suppose there was ever ahorse like him in all this northern country. I saw him many times andI happened to be along on one of the round-ups when he did somethingthat was talked of for years and maybe is talked of yet down in thatcountry; I mean the time he cut out a steer all by his lonesome.
"Old Blue belonged to George Bosler, who was an active cow man and rodethe horse as one of his string. I reckon Bosler was prouder of thathorse than of anything else he had, and he never got tired of tellingabout the horse and how much it knew and what it could do.
"You know Buffalo Bill had an interest in a bunch of cattle up north ofthe Platte; CN was the brand. Cody and North owned the cattle and theyhad places up on the Dismal River."
"Hold on," interrupted Hugh; "you can't tell me about that! I used towork up there."
"Is that so?" said Joe. "That must have been before I worked up atBratt's.
"Well, Cody was along with us on one of the round-ups, and Bosler wastelling him all about Old Blue, and among other things he said thatBlue knew the Bosler brand. Of course, Cody laughed at him and so Iguess did most everybody else; but George Bosler said he'd prove it,and he'd prove it by riding his horse into the bunch and cutting outan animal without a bridle on his horse, so that he couldn't guide it.Well, everybody thought he must be drunk when he said that. But he justgot on his horse and rode into the bunch of cattle, and as he rode inamong them, he reached forward and pulled the bridle off his horse. Thehorse walked around among the cattle, looking at them with his earspricked forward, as though hunting for something, and pretty soon hepointed his nose toward a big Texas steer and began to push him out tothe edge of the bunch. You'll hardly believe it, but that steer had theBosler brand on him!
"The steer did not want to go out of the bunch and kept trying to breakback, and the horse had a hard time to keep him going; but he keptright after him, and did succeed in working him out to the edge of thebunch, and all this without any guidance at all by the man, except whatBosler may have given with his knees. It was a wonderful sight, and bythe time the steer was out of the bunch 'most all the men had stoppedtheir work and were watching.
"But this wasn't a patch on what came afterward. When the horse gotthe steer outside, the steer turned to fight; and the two stood facingeach other. The steer wanted to get back among the cattle; the horsewanted to drive him over to the Bosler bunch. All the time the steerwas threatening with his horns, and the horse kept moving around fromside to side to keep in front of the steer and yet not let it hook him.
"They maneuvered that way for quite a little while, and then, all of asudden when the horse saw his chance, he made a big jump--twenty feetclear, I believe--and got his breast right against the steer's neck insuch a position that the steer could not hook him. Then he began topush the steer over toward the other bunch of cattle, where he wantedto take it. The steer did not want to go, and braced itself; and thehorse just pushed. It was fearful hard work. He would push and push andpush as far as he could, until he was tired out; then he'd stand andrest for a few minutes, while the sweat dropped down; and then he'dbegin pushing the steer again, until finally he pushed him to the edgeof th
e other bunch of cattle. All the time the steer was trying totwist around so as to use his horns, but the horse worked it so that henever got touched.
"Long before this, all the round-up work had stopped, and all themen--I guess there must have been two hundred and fifty of 'em--werewatching the horse and wondering at him. I reckon the oldest cow manthere had never seen anything like that before.
"After he'd got the steer over to the edge of the other bunch and wherehe wanted it, of course Old Blue had to figure out some way to get awayfrom the steer without getting hurt. We were all wondering how he'd doit, and before long we could see him getting ready, and could figure onwhat he was going to do. He began to draw his hind feet up under himlike a cat, and at last, giving the steer a great push, he wheeled onhis hind feet and made a long spring--and struck the ground running.The steer went for him, but did not come near catching him.
"That cow horse was in a class by himself. I never saw another likehim, and I've seen thousands of cow horses, in Texas and California andup in this country."
"That's a wonderful story, Joe," exclaimed Donald; "almost beyondbelief if you hadn't seen it yourself."
"Well," said Joe, "it's a story about a wonderful horse."
"What sort of horse was he, Joe?" asked Jack. "Was he a big horse--ahalf-breed?"
"No; he was a small Texas horse. I suppose he'd weigh eight hundredand fifty or nine hundred pounds. He didn't seem to have any specialbreeding; but his head showed a lot of intelligence."
"Nobody could tell, I suppose," Powell remarked, "whether this was ahorse of very great natural intelligence, or whether he'd been riddenby a man of superior intelligence."
"No," said Joe; "I reckon that would be all guesswork. It might havebeen both. At all events he was a natural wonder."
"What finally became of him?" asked Jack.
"I don't know. When I left there the Boslers were still running cattle,and George Bosler owned Old Blue. The horse got to be so well knownafter a while that plenty of men wanted to buy him; but of courseBosler wouldn't sell him. At that time you could buy a first-class cowhorse in that country for fifty dollars, but I heard that a man namedSheedy came to Bosler and offered him a check for a thousand dollarsfor Old Blue. But Bosler just told him that he had no price to put onthe horse; he wasn't for sale."
"Were there any more horses like that down in that country?" asked Jack.
"No," said Joe, "I don't believe there was one. Good horses wereplenty, but nothing that you could talk of in the same day with OldBlue. As I tell you, he was in a class by himself, and anybody thatever saw him work or knew about him would tell you the same thing. Aman named Carter owned a horse--a white horse--that was said to be thesecond-best horse in that round-up; but he wasn't in the same classwith Bosler's horse. He was a good horse and did his work well, but hecouldn't be talked of with Blue. Then, up on Cody and North's ranchon the Dismal, they had an awful good horse--a short-coupled, strongdun horse that Cody sent out once after he had lost one of the ranchhorses. The horse was branded JO on the left shoulder and they used tocall him Old Joe. Likely you remember him, Hugh?"
"Sure," said Hugh. "He was a good horse and there wasn't much to choosebetween him and Carter's white horse. They were way ahead of theordinary cow horses."
"There's one thing you don't want to forget," put in McIntyre, "andthat's what Joe said a while ago. Down in that country at that time,if I understand it, there were lots more cattle than we've ever hadup here, and because all these cattle were from Texas and were wild,active and quick, they had to have quick horses down there. I've heardmen that have worked down there--men that came from up in this countryI mean--say that in those days their horses weren't as good forcutting as the Texas horse. They were more awkward and lots slower."
"Well," said Hugh, "it's good economy for a cattleman to have the bestcow horses he can get, and practically all the horses that they useddown in that prairie country came up over the trail from Texas. Why onthe Cody and North ranch they used to buy forty or fifty horses everyyear; the poorest ones were culled out and sold and then the next yearanother lot bought. It always seemed odd to me that so few Mexicanscame up over the trail with all those cattle that came. The countrydown there was full of Texas cowboys, but mighty few of 'em wereMexicans. I suppose the fact that a good many of 'em could not speakEnglish had something to do with it, and possibly in some places peopledid not like 'em; though I never saw anything like that except wherea man was mean or had something bad about him. Pretty much all theMexicans that I've had to do with were as loyal and faithful as whitemen--good workers. We've got a couple with us now and we all know whatthey are."
"Yes," assented McIntyre, "they make the best kind of hands; but wedon't see very many of 'em in this country. I'd like it if we saw more."
For a little time nothing was said.
"Was the cattle business new in this northern country when you weredown in Nebraska, Hugh?" Jack asked presently.
"It wasn't what you could call new, son, but on the other hand ithadn't been going very long. The country wasn't overstocked, and thecow men were careful and worked hard. They made lots of money."
"Do you know when it was, Hugh, that cattle first came into the countrynorth of the Platte?"
"Well, it's hard to tell. I believe that there were cattle north of thePlatte in 1867. I guess likely they were Keith's cattle, but I'm notsure. They were Texas cattle."
"And in those days," asked Donald, "was there much game in thatNebraska country?"
"Yes," said Hugh, "a good deal. Lots of antelope and deer, a good manyelk and a few buffalo. I never happened to see any buffalo just there,but I saw signs of 'em more than once."
"Why, when I was working down there," said Joe, "there were still quitea lot of elk. I remember once seeing Buck Taylor come in to the CNranch dragging a big cow elk after him. I don't remember where theycaught her, but I do remember how she looked when she came. Buck wassnaking her along by the neck, and somebody had put a rope on one ofher hind feet, and she was dragging that. I remember, too, hearingthat one of the Oliffes roped an elk one time, but somehow or other hecouldn't handle him, and I believe he had to shoot him to get the ropeoff him."
"Yes," repeated Hugh, "there was plenty of game there then, and quite alittle fur. Old Jim Carson used to make a living by trapping. Then inthose days there were still a few wild horses in the country. I don'tmean strays that had got away, but real wild horses, such as we used tohave in old times, thirty or forty years ago."
"Is it possible!" exclaimed Donald. "I'd like to see them."
"Well," responded Hugh, "you can see pretty nearly the same thing,only about a hundred per cent, better, any time you come across a bunchof range horses on the prairie. These wild horses were of no account.They looked as pretty as a picture when they were fat and slick, but anumber of 'em were caught, and not one of 'em was good for anything.I chased a bunch once for six or eight miles, and came near killinga good horse after 'em, and didn't get one. I'll bet the horse I wasriding was worth more than the whole bunch I was chasing. The romanceof the wild horse is a good deal like the romance of the cowboy's life:there's nothin' to it."