Cowboy Life--The Boys that Become Good Range Riders--Peculiar Tastes and Talents Required for the Ranch--Wages Paid to Cowboys--Abuse and Misrepresentation to which They are Subjected--The "Fresh Kid," and the Long-Haired "Greaser"--The Stranger Always Welcome at the Ranch--A Dude Insulted--A Plaid Ulster, a Green Umbrella, and a Cranky Disposition--Making a Train Crew Dance--An Uncomplimentary Concert--No Sneak Thieves on the Plains--Leather Breeches, Big Spurs, and a Six-Shooter in a Sleeping Car--Fear Gives Way to Admiration--The Slang of the Range--The "Bucker," and the "Buster"--The Good Cow-Horse--Roping for Prizes--Snaking a Bear with a Lariat--A Good School for Boys--Communion with Nature Makes Honest
A Montana Roundup--Ranges and Ranches on Powder River; Once the Home of the Buffalo, the Elk, the Antelope; now the Home of the Texas Steer and the Cowboy--The Great Plains in Spring Attire--A Gathering of Rustlers--"Chuck Outfits" to the Front--Early Risers--Taming an "Alecky" Steer--A Red-Hot Device--Branding and Slitting--The Run on the Mess Wagon--"Cutting Out" and "Throwing Over"--A Cruel Process.
"Mountains are the beginning and the end of all natural scenery." --RUSKIN.
For anyone who has the courage, the hardihood, and the physical strength to endure the exercise, there is no form of recreation or amusement known to mankind that can yield such grand results as mountain climbing. I mean from a mental as well as from a physical standpoint; and, in fact, it is the mind that receives the greater benefit. The exertion of the muscular forces in climbing a high mountain is necessarily severe; in fact, it is more than most persons unused to it can readily endure; and were it not for the inspiration which the mind derives from the experience when the ascent is made it would be better that the subject should essay some milder form of exercise. But if one's strength be sufficient to endure the labor of ascending a grand mountain peak, that extends to or above timber line, to the regions of perpetual snow and ice, or even to a height that gives a general view of the surrounding country, the compensation must be ample if one have an eye for the beauties of nature, or any appreciation of the grandeur of the Creator's greatest works.