In the times when some men needed guns and all men carried them, no
pistol of less than 44-caliber was tolerated on the range, the solid
framed 45-caliber being the one almost universally used. The barrel
was eight inches long, and it shot a rifle cartridge of forty grains
of powder and a blunt-ended bullet that made a terrible missile. This
weapon depended from a belt worn loose resting upon the left hip and
hanging low down on the right hip so that none of the weight came upon
the abdomen. This was typical, for the cowboy was neither fancy gunman
nor army officer. The latter carries the revolver on the left, the butt
pointing forward.

An essential part of the cow-puncher's outfit was his "rope." This was
carried in a close coil at the side of the saddle-horn, fastened by one
of the many thongs scattered over the saddle. In the Spanish country it
was called reata and even today is sometimes seen in the Southwest made
of rawhide. In the South it was called a lariat. The modern rope is a
well-made three-quarter-inch hemp rope about thirty feet in length, with
a leather or rawhide eye. The cowboy's quirt was a short heavy whip, the
stock being of wood or iron covered with braided leather and carrying a
lash made of two or three heavy loose thongs. The spur in the old days
had a very large rowel with blunt teeth an inch long. It was often
ornamented with little bells or oblongs of metal, the tinkling of which
appealed to the childlike nature of the Plains rider. Their use was to
lock the rowel.

His bridle--for, since the cowboy and his mount are inseparable, we
may as well speak of his horse's dress also--was noticeable for its
tremendously heavy and cruel curbed bit, known as the "Spanish bit." But
in the ordinary riding and even in the exciting work of the old round-up
and in "cutting out," the cowboy used the bit very little, nor exerted
any pressure on the reins. He laid the reins against the neck of the
pony opposite to the direction in which he wished it to go, merely
turning his hand in the direction and inclining his body in the same
way. He rode with the pressure of the knee and the inclination of the
body and the light side-shifting of both reins. The saddle was the
most important part of the outfit. It was a curious thing, this saddle
developed by the cattle trade, and the world has no other like it. Its
great weight--from thirty to forty pounds--was readily excusable when
one remembers that it was not onl