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'''RANGE ROUNDUPS'''

By Babe Cross

[[Fanning the Embers]], 1971, Range Rider Reps, Miles City, Montana

At this writing there are very few people left that know about a range roundup, so I will try to put in a word of explanation. The average outfit used from 10 to 15 men, depending on the size and the territory they worked. The last outfit my brother worked with was the LU Bar, owned by L. W. Stacey of Miles City, and the range was from the Porcupine in the Ingomar country on the west to Glendive on the east, between the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers. The personnel necessary to make up a crew for one of these outfits included the wagon boss, the cook and his helper or "flunky," the horse wrangler, the night hawk and the regular cowboys. The wagon boss was an experienced veteran of the range and was familiar with all the territory his outfit worked. He told the cook where to have his wagon for noon camp and where to camp for the night. He led all the circles and spread his cowboys to gather the cattle for the day's work and was usually capable of de-airing a horse that had waylayed one of his cowhands. In other words, he had to be a he-man and respected by all.

He also selected each cowboy's horses at the beginning of the roundup as he knew all the horses in the remuda and usually rode the best string himself.

The cook of the outfit was also considered a very important character, especially by the cowboys at meal time. When they named him the cook. that was exactly what it meant. as he cooked everything the cowboys had to eat. Nothing came canned those days except jellies and preserves. If he ran out of something, he didn't run to the corner grocery to get it, as often the closest grocery could be 75 or 80 miles away. He did all the baking, often including light bread. Most cooks usually had their sour-dough crock along so they could make sour-dough bread, biscuits or hot cakes. He usually had pies made with dried fruits and on special occasions, if they got close enough to a ranch to buy some eggs, he would bake a cake. He carried potatoes, navy beans, ham and bacon at all times and they butchered a beef whenever the occasion permitted so they usually had fresh meat.

The cook probably worked the longest hours of any man on the crew as he had to have breakfast ready at day break, dinner at about 11:30 and supper at 6, along with supervising and helping load and unload his mess wagon twice a day. No wonder cooks got owlie at times. The cook's helper or "flunky's" job was to gather wood and pack water for cooking and washing and any other chore that went along to save time and help the cook. such as loading and unloading the mess and bed wagon and pitching camp.

The horse wrangler was responsible for having the remuda, which was the name for the bunch of saddle and work horses that were used by the crew, on or near the site of the camp location. The average number of saddle horses alloted to each cowboy was usually ten head, so it was not uncommon for a wrangler to have 150 head of horses in his remuda, which included the work horses and spares they might carry.

After the wrangler arrived at the campsite. his job was to help unload the bed wagon and get his rope corral out and set up to corral the remuda in. This rope corral was merely a heavy rope. long enough to make a circle about 50 feet in diameter, with guy ropes every 20 feet, which were fastened to pins driven in the ground and a forked standard stick three feet long at each guy rope. One end of the main rope was fastened to the hind wheel of the wagon, while the other end was held in place by guy ropes. A loose rope about 30 feet in length was then tied to the front wheel of the bed wagon and served as the gate for the cowboys to take their horses in and out. Thus, when the corral was finished there was the rope circle 50 feet across, held three feet off the ground by the forked sticks and the wrangler who had the "know-how" could stretch one almost as fight as a fiddle string. Teaching these roundup horses to stay in the rope corral was part of his schooling while being broke to ride and if one should decide to jump out he soon learned it was safer inside after the wrangler took to him with his shot loaded whip and possibly a cowboy or two got their ropes on him to drag him back in.

The remuda was corraled in the rope corral at day break by the night hawk who stood guard on the horses all night. After all the cowboys had caught their horses for the forenoon's work and the two four-horse teams for the mess and bed wagon were caught and harnessed, the wrangler let the remuda out to graze and travel to the next noon camp site, where the same procedure was repeated by the wrangler of setting up his rope corral and having the remuda penned for the afternoon catch for the crew.

After the camp was made for the night and the wrangler had the horses corraled for the cowboys to catch their night horses, the night hawk then took over the remuda, taking them out to graze, staying with them during the night and corraling them again in the morning. The life a night hawk led makes one wonder if he shouldn't have been called the night owl, as his life was surely nocturnal for he worked all night and stole what sleep he could in the day time.

So much for the wagon boss. the cook, the flunky, the horse wrangler and the night hawk; now for the cowboy's life. He worked seven days a week with no days off and Sunday was the same as Monday. His hours were governed mostly by the season and the weather, but were always from daylight to dark with a couple hours' guard on the cattle each night. He had his bed roll and in the later years of the big outfits, most of them had a teepee tent, so he could spend what few hours he had with his bedroll out of the weather.

In the cowboy's string of horses he had his circle horses, rope horses, cutting horse and night horse. His first catch in the morning was a circle horse to follow the wagon boss with, around the divide and to bring the cattle in for the day's work. They all usually got back to the wagon about 11 in the forenoon. A couple of the cowboys would stay with the herd while the others went to the wagon to eat and catch fresh horses. Their catch for the afternoon work depended on the roundup, whether it was the general roundup in the spring, where they gathered the cows and calves, or whether it was the beef roundup in the fall, where they cut away and turned back all cattle except the beef they were carrying for market. After the afternoon's work was finished, the cowboys returned to camp, leaving a couple on day herd to educate the fresh cattle to the ways of the roundup. The cowboys then caught their night horses and took them out to stake or picket, where the grass was the best. This horse was usually the cowboy's best friend, as he had to be trustworthy, sure footed and gentle to ride with a slicker in bad storms, which often occurred on night guard.

The first cowboys that relieved the day herders went on guard at 6 p.m. and stayed to 8 p.m. This was called cock-tail, supposedly named for the hours. However, cowboys those days knew very little about cock-tail hours. At the end of each guard, one of the men would come to camp and awaken the ones who were to go on guard next, so the herd was never left unattended at any time. First guard went on after cock-tail, which was from eight to ten, second guard from then to twelve; third guard from twelve to two. and last guard from two to four, then the day herders took over. Much rivalry occurred among the cowboys, as to which guard they were assigned as once the wagon boss gave a cowboy a certain guard it was very seldom changed: however, the cowboys could trade if it was acceptable with the boss. Cock-tail or first guard was usually considered the best by the cowboys on account of the time of night but the poor cowboy who drew last guard, from two to four a.m. was to be pitied as it didn't take him long to spend the night. When he came off guard at four he ate breakfast, caught himself a circle horse and went on circle with the rest of the crew to start another day.

Thus is the life of the cowboy, which makes some people wonder why they lived that life. especially when they only drew $35 a month and not always for the year around. Knowing their lives as I do there was and still is a great honor in being a good cowboy. A good cowboy was pretty much a self-made man and he took care of himself and his outfit to the best of his ability under his living conditions. Cleanliness was most essential and whenever they camped on a stream or spring, or after a big rain, it was bath and wash day for the cowboys, often including their bedding, and if a cowboy allowed himself to become uncouth his fellow cowboys might help him with his bath with a scrub brush and laundry soap.