The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 32, July 1928 - April, 1929 Page: 57
361 p. : maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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A History of the J A Ranch
long ride to the canyon some ten miles before daylight. The
country is very rough and frequently the ground is wet and slip-
pery, the cattle are wilder and more difficult to gather; the result
is the round-up is gotten together later in the morning than on the
flat. Another thing is the round-up is usually held in the bed of
Red River because the alkali flats are slick and not firm enough to
run wild cattle on. After the round-up is made the rest of the
day's work is about the same as it is on the flat with one exception.
They always round up a few "outlaws" or old cattle that have been
missed for years and these furnish harder work and more excite-
ment than the average calf does. Another duty which comes in
connection with the canyon work, occurs practically every day, is
that the steer yearlings and shippers that have been gathered must
be driven out of the canyon into one of the flat pastures so they
will be handy for shipping later on. These herds are called
"windies" by the cowboys and every cowboy hates this kind of
work. The reason they are called windies is because at this time
of year the weather is very warm, the cattle are contrary and hard
to drive, and by the time they are gotten out of the canyon, the
cattle, the horses and the cowboys are all just about exhausted.
When the canyon work has been completed, the wagon moves
out into the flat again and the cowboys spend about a week shaping
up the shippers and getting them in the shipping pastures."6 They
always try to complete this work by the third of July so that the
wagon can pull into headquarters in time for the boys to celebrate
the Fourth of July. All of the boys get a three days' lay-off at
this time.
The shipping of cattle starts right after the boys have had their
three days' lay-off. Cattle are shipped once a week as a rule either
on Saturday or Monday. Whichever day is decided upon is the
one that is used all the time. This is kept up until about the
middle of October. Undesirable stuff is shipped first, next fat
cows, then young heifers; after these about a thousand head of
heifer calves, and last of all, about a thousand head of old cows;
some are fat and some are not. The most of the steer calves are
1'About the last thing that is done in the spring work is to wean the
heifer yearlings and put them in the pasture where they are to summer.
The steer yearlings sometimes are weaned at that time and delivered, and
occasionally, some of the smaller ones are let go until later in the summer
before they are weaned.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 32, July 1928 - April, 1929, periodical, 1929; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101089/m1/61/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.