are known as "dogies," "sea-lions,"
and "longhorns." The size as well as the nickname depends upon the
location of the range. The cattle of the Sweetwater valley were
smaller than the northern stock. From four to six thousand were driven
at a time. The calves are lassoed and thrown, and the owner's brand is
burned into the hide, leaving a scar which, if the work is well done,
will last until the beef is sold. Branding is hard work. The dust,
the odor of burning flesh, the heat of the corral fire for heating the
irons, the bellowing of frightened mother cows, and the bleating of the
calves, the struggles with the victims, these try men's strength and
tempers severely. Once branded, the calf is turned loose and not
touched again until it is four years old and ready for the market.
Stray unbranded cattle over a year old are known as "mavericks," and
become the property of any person branding them.

Having cut out the stock for the drive, a road mark, a supplementary
brand for identification burned into the hides. The long march then
begins.

A start is made usually in the late spring to reach the railroad in the
fall. The drive is as orderly as the march of an army. By natural
selection the leaders of the cattle take the head of the herd. They
are especially fitted for the place. The same ones are found in the
front every day, and the others fall into position, so that throughout
the drive the cattle occupy the same relative position each day.

A herd of a thousand beef will stretch out for two miles. The leaders
are flanked by cowboys riding upon Mexican saddles with high backs and
pommels. The stirrups are worn long, the riders standing in them in
emergency. The Mexican is the only saddle fitted for rough work. The
cowboy's seat, his ease in the saddle, would make a poor showing in a
riding academy or in a cavalry school. Yet the park rider and the
soldier would be helpless on the range. The cow-puncher of the plains
and the Cossack of the steppes are said to be the best riders in the
world, yet each has a different saddle and seat. An exchange of
equipment makes poor riders of both of them.

The cow-puncher of Texas and Arizona wears chaps of leather or
sheepskin to protect his legs from the mesquit-bushes or the thorns of
the cactus. These plants not being found in the northern plains, chaps
are not worn there. The cowboy wears a handkerchief about the neck,
not for protection from the sun, but t