The cowboy has few wants and fewer necessities, the principal one being
a full supply of tobacco.

"We will here say for the benefit of our Northern readers, that the term
'ranch' is used in the Southwest instead of 'farm,' the ordinary laborer
is termed a 'cowboy,' the horse used a 'cow horse,' and the herd of
horses a 'cavvie yard.'

"The fame of Texas as a stock-growing country went abroad in the land,
and soon after her admission to the Union, unto her were turned the eyes
of many young men born and reared in the older Southern States, who were
poor in this world's goods, but were ambitious to make for themselves a
home and a fortune. Many of this class went to Texas, then a new and
comparatively thin and unsettled country, and began in humblest manner,
perhaps for nominal wages, to lay the foundation for future wealth and
success."

This is a very severe description, and relates to a class of men who
were found in the wildest parts of Texas shortly after the war. It
certainly does not adequately describe the cowboy of the last twenty
years. Another writer, who was himself for more than a quarter of a
century engaged in the work of herding cattle, gives a much fairer
description of the cowboy. He divides those entitled to this name into
three classes, and argues that there is something noble about the name.
He also claims that in view of the peculiar associations, privations,
surroundings and temptations of the cowboy, he is entitled to much
credit for the way in which he has retained the best characteristics of
human nature, in spite of his absence from the refining influences of
civilization.