of money, which they invested very lavishly in business, and they also
took with them ridiculously fine clothes, patent leather boots,
velveteen jackets, and other evidences of luxury, which made them very
unpopular and very ridiculous in their new homes. Nine-tenths of these
called themselves "cattle barons," and about the same proportion
obtained a great deal of experience but very little money, while trying
to revolutionize the cattle business.

It is not necessary to own cattle at all to be a cowboy, although many
members of this interesting profession own a few beasts of their own and
are allowed to have them graze with the other stock on the ranch.
Generally speaking, the term used to be applied to all those who were
engaged in handling the cattle, and in getting them together on the
occasion of the annual round-ups. The old-time cowboy did not have a
very high reputation, nor was he always looked upon quite as leniently
as his surroundings demanded. About twenty years ago, a well-known
cattleman wrote the following description of the cowboy and the life he
led:

"If any one imagines that the life of a cowboy or ranchman is one of
ease and luxury, or his diet a feast of fat things, a brief trial will
dispel the illusion, as is mist by the sunshine. True, his life is one
of more or less excitement or adventures, and much of it is spent in the
saddle, yet it is a hard life, and his daily fare will never give the
gout. Corn bread, mast-fed bacon, and coffee, constitute nine-tenths of
their diet; occasionally they have fresh beef, and less often they have
vegetables of any description. They do their own cooking in the rudest
and fewest possible vessels, often not having a single plate or knife
and fork, other than their pocket knife, but gather around the
camp-kettle in true Indian style, and with a piece of bread in one hand,