ips consisted of
a hickory stalk two feet long, a lash twelve feet in length with buck
or antelope skin snapper nine inches in length. The stalk was held in
the left hand, the lash coiled with the right hand and index finger of
the left. It was then whirled several times around the head, letting
it shoot straight out and bringing it back with a quick jerk. It would
strike wherever aimed, raising a dead-head ox nearly off its hind
quarters and cutting through the hide and into the flesh. When thrown
into space, it would make a report nearly as loud as a revolver. A
lariat is a fifty foot line with a running noose at one end and made
from the hide of various animals. It is coiled up and carried on the
pommel of the saddle. When used for capturing animals or large game,
it is whirled several times around the head when the horse is on a
dead run and fired at the head of the victim. A professional can place
the loop nearly every time.

During the third day of corral life, the steers arrived, and the hard
work, mixed with much fun, commenced. A corral is about the shape of
an egg, closed by the wagons at one end, and left open to admit the
cattle at the other, then closed by chains.

MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION

Our wheelers and leaders were docile, old freighters, the others were
long-horned, wild Texas steers. All of the freighters had their oxen
branded for identification, using the first letter of his last name
for the purpose. The brand was made from iron and was about four
inches in height, attached to a rod three feet in length. A rope was
placed over the horns of the animal and his head was drawn tight to
the hub of a heavy laden prairie schooner. A bullwhacker, tightly
grasping the tail of the beast, would twist him to attention. The man
with the branding implement heated to a white heat would quickly jab
the ox on the hind quarter, burning through hair and hide and into the
flesh. Then, after applying a solution of salt and water, he was left
to recover as best he could. The brand would remain in evidence more
than a year unless the steer was captured by cattle thieves, who
possessed a secret for growing the hair again in six months. When the
branding was completed, each man was given twelve steers to break to
yoke, and it was three long weeks before we were in shape to proceed
on our long Western tramp. The cattle were driven in each morning at
break of day, the same time as when on trail. Each man with a yoke on