The Modern Cowboy: Second Edition

Contents and List of Illustrations

Contents Author’s Note ............................................................................. xiii Part One: The Modern Cowboy 1. What Is a Cowboy? ....................................................................3 2. What He Looks Like, What He Wears ......................................... 9 3. The Cowboy’s Wife ................................................................. 24 4. Horse Sense and Cow Sense ..................................................... 31 5. Cowboy Vices and Recreation .................................................. 40 6. The Cowboy’s Newspaper ........................................................ 46 Part Two: Tools of the Trade 7. The Horse ................................................................................ 57 8. Pickups and Trailers ................................................................ 67 9. Pasture Roping, Then and Now ................................................ 76 Part Three: What Cowboys Do 10. Winter Work .......................................................................... 91 11. Spring Roundup and Branding .............................................. 102 12. Summer Work ......................................................................116 13. Windmills ........................................................................... 125 14. The Fall Work ...................................................................... 136 15. Calving Out Heifers.............................................................. 142 Part Four: The Bottom Line 16. The Modern Cattle Business ................................................. 155 17. Economics and the Rancher ................................................. 166 18. Economics and the Cowboy ................................................. 175 19. The Last Cowboy? ............................................................... 181 20. Some Classic Books about Cowboys ..................................... 186 Bibliography .............................................................................. 197 Index ......................................................................................... 199 List of Illustrations John R. Erickson with Tom Ellzey, LZ Ranch ................................... 1 Jake Parker, Three Cross Ranch .......................................................4 Jack White, Parsell Ranch ............................................................... 6 Sam White, Parsell Ranch ............................................................. 10 Cowboy headgear......................................................................... 12 Rooster Morris, Perryton, Texas..................................................... 15 Jake Parker’s trophy buckles ......................................................... 17 Three styles of chaps or “leggins” ................................................. 19 Cowboy gear: chaps, boots, and spurs ........................................... 21 An assortment of spur styles ......................................................... 22 Kris Erickson ............................................................................... 25 Kris Erickson brands a calf ........................................................... 28 Brent Clapp’s work saddle ............................................................ 32 Johnny Scribner, Ochiltree County, Texas ...................................... 35 Frankie McWhorter ...................................................................... 41 Jim Bussard, Heart Ranch ............................................................. 49 Bobby Barnett, Perryton, Texas ..................................................... 55 Horses at the Heart Ranch branding pen........................................ 58 Mark Erickson and his Arabian bay gelding, Ace Reid .................... 61 John Erickson with Sultana, one of his Arabian horses .................. 64 John Erickson with Calipso........................................................... 66 John Erickson’s pasture rig ........................................................... 68 Billy DeArmond’s well-equipped cowboy rig ................................. 71 Dave Nicholson, C Bar C Ranch .................................................... 74 Dave Nicholson brings a calf to the branding fire ........................... 78 Mark Erickson with a good heavy-duty work saddle ...................... 81 Cowboys using the head-and-heel method ..................................... 84 Dan Cockrell, Lipscomb County, Texas .......................................... 89 John and Scot Erickson, feeding from the pickup ........................... 94 John and Mark Erickson calling cattle to feed ................................ 96 John Erickson chops holes in a stock pond .................................... 98 LZ Ranch pickup with electric fence posts ..................................... 99 Gasoline-powered wire-rolling machine ........................................101 The proper technique for taking down a heeled calf..................... 103 Branding tools............................................................................ 105 Mark Erickson at a branding ....................................................... 106 M-Cross Ranch roundup crew ..................................................... 108 Branding crew sits down to a feast ............................................... 110 Stanley Barby, Beaver County, Oklahoma, rancher ........................112 Merl Kraft clowns for the crowd at the Heart Ranch Rodeo............114 The M-Cross Ranch team at the Heart Ranch Rodeo ......................114 Doctoring calves near Perryton, Texas ..........................................117 Treating a severe case of pinkeye ................................................ 123 Keeping the windmills running on the LZ Ranch.......................... 126 Brent Clapp, Tandy-Adams Ranch ............................................... 130 Lane Hill, Lipscomb County, Texas .............................................. 133 Tom and Lawrence Ellzey sort cattle in a portable corral .............. 137 Cowboying in muddy wheat fields .............................................. 141 Mark Erickson, M-Cross Ranch ................................................... 144 Dale Githens, Ochiltree County, Texas ......................................... 148 Billy DeArmond, C Bar C Ranch.................................................. 153 Lawrence Ellzey, Ochiltree County, Texas .................................... 156 Lance Bussard, Lipscomb, Texas ................................................. 161 Lawrence and Mary Frances Ellzey’s roundup meal ..................... 167 John and Mark Erickson on the LZ Ranch ................................... 172 Merl Kraft, Lipscomb, Texas ........................................................ 176 The last cowboy?........................................................................ 182 John Erickson with his grandson, Kale ........................................ 185 This page intentionally left blank ...