with the round up to see that strays from the different herds
from the surrounding country did not again get mixed up, until the
different home ranges were reached. This work employed a large number of
cowboys, who lived, ate and often slept in the saddle, as they covered
many hundreds of miles in a very short space of time. This was made
possible as every large cattleman had relays of horses sent out over the
country where we might be expected to touch, and so we could always
count on finding a fresh horse awaiting us at the end of a twenty-five
or a fifty mile ride. But for us brand readers there was no rest, we
merely changed our saddles and outfit to a fresh horse and were again on
the go. After the general round up was over, cowboy sports and a good
time generally was in order for those engaged in it. The interest of
nearly all of us centered in the riding of what was known as the 7 Y-L
steer. A big long horn wild steer, generally the worst in the herd, was
cut out and turned loose on the open prairie. The cow boy who could rope
and ride him would get the steer as his reward, and let me assure you
dear reader, that it was not so easy as it sounds, as the steer
separated from its fellows would become extremely ferocious and wild,
and the man who attempted to rope and ride him would be in momentary
danger of losing his life, if he relaxed in the least his vigilance and
caution, because a wild steer is naturally ferocious. Even in cutting
them out of the round up I have known them to get mad and attack the
cowboys who only saved themselves by the quickness of their horses, or
the friendly intervention of a comrade who happened to be near to rope
the maddened long horn, and thus divert his attention to other things.
But in the case of the 7 Y-L steer such intervention is against the
rules, and the cowboy who attempts to rope and ride the steer must at
all times look out for himself. I have seen two horses and their riders
gored to death in this sport, and I have had to shoot more than one
steer to save myself and horse after my horse had fallen with me and
placed himself as well as me at the maddened beast's mercy. At such
times it takes a cool head and a steady hand as no random shot will stop
a wild steer. The bullet must be placed in a certain spot, the center of
the forehead, to accomplish its mission. The last time I had a horse
fall with me in roping the 7 Y-L steer, he fell as the steer was but a
few feet away, fa