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THE HISTORY CHANNEL HistoryChannel.com
Keith Carradine For many folks he's a mythic figure, a symbol of American rugged individualism. But history shows there's nothing mythic about life on the range. In reality, being a cowboy was one tough, low-paying job. Sometimes a desperate cowboy became an outlaw just to make a few extra bucks. But whether he was a legendary hero or a wanted man, the cowboy prided himself on the technology that made him first on the frontier.
Keith Carradine The Cowboy, next on Wild West Tech. Let's round 'em up.
WILD WEST TECH
Keith Carradine Howdy! I'm Keith Carradine . From the end of the Civil War to the dawn of the 20th century, the cowboy was king in the West. His crown was a 10-gallon hat. His scepter was a six-shooter and his throne was a saddle. Cowboy Tech rounds up the tools, tales, and traditions that distinguished this legendary American icon. By the time this show's over, you'll know the ropes and earn your spurs.
Keith Carradine April 9th, 1892 , Johnson County, Wyoming . Nate Champion , a cowboy and suspected rustler, holds out in a ranch cabin, fighting off an army of gunmen hired by cattle barons in the West's most notorious range war. The barons have accused Nate and his kind of stealing cattle and conducting illegal round-ups. But Nate would rather be an outlaw than give up the cowboy life.
Richard W. Slatta Author, "The Cowboy Encyclopedia"
Richard W. Slatta This 12-hour siege in which the gunmen fired hundreds and hundreds of shots into this ranch house made Champion a folk hero for the small man, for the small rancher and cowboy in Wyoming .
Keith Carradine We'll get back to Nate's fate later in the show. But for now his determination to fight against overwhelming odds, rather than surrender, intensified this range war between cowboys and cattle barons fighting over a fundamental frontier question.
Keith Carradine Whose cattle is it anyway? Technology has the answer.
Keith Carradine In the days before wire fencing, when the West was still wild, cattle from neighboring ranches grazed on the open range. Free grass, they called it, government land open to everyone. As a result, cattle mingled and multiplied over thousands of acres. How then did ranchers determine which cattle belonged to what ranch?
Keith Carradine They held a round-up.
Charles P. Schroeder Dir., Nat'l Cowboy Western Heritage Museum
Charles P. Schroeder The round-ups back in that period of time were, were fascinating enterprises. When, when you think about the cowboy's skills that these guys had to have to get this done, it, ah, it amazes me today. Cowboys from all the ranches would come in, bring all these cattle together. Bring 'em down out of the hills and out of the breaks, ah, bring 'em in to ah, a big a, a round-up ground.
Keith Carradine Round-ups occurred twice a year, in spring and later in the fall. Usually, a hundred cowboys from eight to 10 ranches took part, covering a range about the size of the State of Connecticut . The purpose of the round-up was to gather and separate the cows and calves of each ranch and brand the calves to identify ownership. The term round-up comes from the Spanish word "rodear" meaning "to encircle." It's just one facet of technology that comes from the vaquero or Spanish cowboy tradition conquistadors brought to North America before the pilgrims ever set foot on Plymouth Rock.
Byron Price Historian
Byron Price The American cowboy owes a real debt to Spanish vaqueros for their tools and equipment, ah, everything from chaparreras, ah, chaps, to their sombrero or hat to their ropes, ah, lareata and lasso. All of these, ah, tools, ah, have their origins in, ah, Spanish ranching tradition.
Keith Carradine The cowboy conducted the round-up and most of his other work atop his most prized possession. No, not his horse, but you're close. It was his saddle. The saddle is about the most expensive tech the cowboy ever bought, about 30 bucks, a month's wages back then. But that's a bargain when you consider that this isn't just any leather seat. It's the cowboy's mobile work bench.
Keith Carradine The classic Western saddle descended from the 16th-century Spanish War saddle which resembled a velvet throne. The Western version was lighter and tougher. It was made of durable leather, which came from tanned cowhide, and built on a wooden frame. The horn was made for roping. The cantle and back maintained the rider's balance for a smoother ride. The fenders protected the cowboy's legs from horse sweat and the stirrups made of steamed bent wood allow the cowboy to better straddle the sides. On his saddle, the cowboy was at one with his horse and at home on the range.
Donald Chavez Author/Historian
Donald Chavez You can compare it to a present-day cowboy's pick-up truck because he goes everywhere in it. He pulls things with it. He puts his tools in it. It is probably the most, ah, central and significant piece of technology.
Keith Carradine From his saddle horn, the cowboy dallied his lariat, the Spanish word for rope, another essential technology. It was made by twisting grass fibers or braiding strips of partially tanned cowhide, better known as "rawhide." The loop, about four feet in diameter, was made by passing the mainline through an eyelet called a "hondo." To toss the rope, the cowboy grasped both the mainline and the loop in his throwing hand. In his other hand, he held coils of extra rope letting them out as needed to catch a calf or stray cow.
[sil.]
Keith Carradine Cowboys prided themselves on their roping skills. This is called the "butterfly." This here is a flat loop, and this is a wedding ring. That's just a little trick roping. But at round-up time, it was all business.
[sil.]
Nice.
Keith Carradine Thank you.
Keith Carradine Cowboys working in tandem used their lariats to catch calves. The lead rider made an overhand toss for the calf's head and pulled the loop tight. While the second cowboy secured the hind legs at the heel. They brought the calf over to other cowboys who prepared the calf for branding.
Byron Price Each of the ranches in the round-up provided a crew and these crews work cooperatively. They gathered herds that might have, ah, as many as a dozen or more brands. The cowboys knew what these brands were and recognized them and were adept at calling out the brands. Then, the iron men who were, ah, placing the brands on the ah, livestock would pull the appropriate branding iron out.
[sil.]
Keith Carradine That's hot.
Keith Carradine The ranch blacksmith forged the brand from iron. The practice of branding to mark ownership of livestock dates back to ancient Egypt . The mark of a good brand was its simplicity, that's why letters and numbers became popular symbols on a rancher's branding iron.
Phil Spangenberger Western Historian
Phil Spangenberger This is an old-style branding iron also known as a stamp iron. And you notice it's a very simple and clear design. Now when a rustler would come along, he'd use a running iron, which is kind of like a hot pencil and he could very easily change that pattern to make it look like a distinctly different brand.
Byron Price If you, ah, had a running iron on your saddle, you were immediately a suspect. And, indeed, ah, some states actually outlawed the use of running irons or even the carrying of running irons by individuals.
Keith Carradine The running iron was illegal technology. With it, the rustler could turn himself into a rancher as fast as he could alter a cow's brand, a temptation some cowboys just couldn't resist.
Richard W. Slatta Let's look at the basics. What did it take to get into the cattle business? Well, cattle, horses, land, water, and some expertise. Well, many cowboys felt given their low wages, $25 to $40 depending on the decade in the 19th century, they felt that they could work their entire lives and never get ahead. And they were probably right. So some looked for a shortcut and that led to rustling.
Keith Carradine And that is just what the cattle barons of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association swore to stop. A little background.
Keith Carradine The blizzard of 1886 had decimated cattle herds. Many cattle companies went bankrupt. Ranchers laid off cowboys. To survive, many of these former ranch hands turned to rustling or stealing cattle and mavericking, the claiming of unbranded calves, to start their own herds. The term originated with Samuel Maverick , a Texas lawyer.
Richard W. Slatta In 1851 , Maverick acquired, as a result of some legal dealings, a herd of cattle. Well, he had no interest whatsoever in raising cattle so his cattle ran around the Texas Gulf Coast, unbranded and multiplying all the while. Local Texans soon began referring to any unbranded animal as Maverick's .
Keith Carradine The Wyoming Stock Growers Association aimed to stop mavericking and rustling by any means necessary. In July 1889 , they made an example of two suspected rustlers, James Averill and Ella 'Cattle Kate' Watson .
Richard W. Slatta Her detractors say she was nothing but a common prostitute who rustled cattle on the side and men at night, and therefore used a number of illicit means in order to gain her wealth.
Keith Carradine Without trial, members of the Stock Growers Association lynched Averill and Watson . Witnesses vanished and the killers got away with double murder. The Johnson County War had just begun.
[sil.]
Keith Carradine It's 1871 , somewhere on the Chisholm Trail near the Arkansas River , John Wesley Hardin trails cattle with his cousins up to Abilene, Kansas . Only 18 years old, Hardin's already killed at least five men back home in Texas and is fast becoming the most notorious gunslinger in the West. Now he's about to add a few more notches to his growing legend.
Drew Gomber The Hubbard Museum, New Mexico
Drew Gomber Another cattle herd right behind Hardin's herd was pushing so hard that the cattle started to intermingle. It sounds like a traffic jam. And the second herd was run by a group of Mexican vaqueros. Hardin and one of his cousins charged the vaqueros' cattle herd.
[sil.]
Drew Gomber In the swirling melee, Hardin's cousin killed one of them and John Wesley killed the other five. Gave him the, ah, nickname "Little Arkansas" because it was on the banks of Little Arkansas that it happened.
Keith Carradine The story of Little Arkansas shows what a wild ride cattle drives could be.
Charles P. Schroeder Dir., Nat'l Cowboy Western Hertige Museum
Charles P. Schroeder Anyone who wanted to ride was going to have a story of survival because, ah, your survival was gonna be in question at some point along the line, ah, to whether it was a swollen river that had to be crossed, whether it was a terrible thunderstorm, or whether, ah, getting caught in a stampede, getting bucked off and your foot caught in the stirrup. There were opportunities on a daily basis to have your, uh, future brought into question and, ah, and everybody knew that was, ah, that was part of the game.
Keith Carradine To survive the game required knowledge, experience, and, of course, technology.
Byron Price Historian
Byron Price By the 1870s , the average trail herd was running around 2,500 head and you might have 10 cowboys, a trail boss and a cook, ah, and a horse wrangler as a part of that operation.
Keith Carradine Every cowboy in a cattle drive had an assigned role. The trail boss, responsible for the well-being of the herd, rode several miles in advance of the formation, scouting the trail, locating watering spots and camping sites. The trail boss, like the other cowboys, traveled light on the drive, carrying only the bare necessities: a canteen, a firearm for protection, and a rain slicker. The chuck wagon following the trail boss carried the heavy gear. Without this combined rolling supply station and portable kitchen, the cattle drive wouldn't be possible. The chuck wagon, driven by the cook, carried everything from bed rolls to bullets to biscuits. Credit for its design goes to cattle baron Charles Goodnight who in 1866 reconfigured a surplus Army wagon for his trail crew.
Donald W. Reeves Curator, Nat'l Cowboy Western Heritage Museum
Donald W. Reeves One of the unique elements of it, it had a door. That door came down and had a little foot on the bottom and that became the cutting board or the working table for the cook at the back of the wagon. And he had everything there at his convenience, all the condiments and his flour, and stuff like that. Even though Charlie Goodnight started using one of those in '66 , it wasn't until the 1870s it became, uh, commonly seen on the trail.
Keith Carradine A few miles behind the chuck wagon and the trail boss, the cowboys rode guiding the herd, a two- to three-mile line of hooves and humanity. The cowboy in front, the most experienced hand at directing livestock, rode point. He was followed in turn by swing and flank riders. They kept the herd from spreading out. Finally, the least experienced cowboys rode drag. They brought up the rear, using stock whips to keep the slowpokes moving.
Keith Carradine And a drag it was. To avoid eating all the dust the cattle kicked up on the trail, drag riders wore bandanas. Stick 'em up.
Byron Price I think the most ingenious element of Cowboy Tech is that little square of cloth called the "bandana." It's so simple, yet it is so functional. You can wipe your brow with it. You can sling your arm. You could signal your compadre across the herd. You can cover your nose in a dust storm or your face if you're robbing a bank. For my money, the bandana is the most ingenious part of a cowboy gear.
Keith Carradine On a typical day on the Chisholm Trail, the most popular route, a cattle drive averaged 10 to 12 miles, seven days a week, depending on grass and water supply. At that pace, it would take three to four months to make the thousand-mile journey from a ranch in Southern Texas to a railhead in Abilene or Dodge City . But on any given day, at any given place, trouble threatened to wreak havoc on the routine. The cattle drive was often a menacing maze of hazards and hardships, testing technology at every turn.
Charles Schroeder River crossings were the most dangerous part of any major cattle drive. The old-timers tell me that there were more cowboys killed in river crossings than ever were in stampedes and Indian raids. It wasn't all that unusual that a cowboy would find himself in that salad maker, in the midst of all those hooves and, by the way, a couple of feet of water over your head, and they didn't make it. So it was a very, very challenging time.
Keith Carradine Weather also presented a challenging time on the cattle drive. Lightning, caused by the discharge of atmospheric electricity between clouds, set off thunderstorms above and thundering hooves below.
Richard W. Slatta Author, "The Cowboy Encyclopedia"
Richard W. Slatta We have countless newspaper records of cowboys literally mangled into, as one paper said, "sausage meat," by being trampled by hundreds of longhorn cattle. Forget the romance of the movies, the realities of trail drives in the 19th century were dangerous and stark and often, ah, deadly.
Byron Price In dealing with the stampede, the object was to get to the front of the herd, which I always thought was kind of like leaning into a punch. I don't know why you'd want to do that but, ah, the, the reason that they did that was so that they might ultimately turn that herd into itself and get the herd running in a relatively small area and in a circle as opposed to stretching out and scattering to the four winds.
Keith Carradine Racing to the front of the herd to stop a stampede, a cowboy made quick use of some fancy-looking technology, the spur.
Donald W. Reeves The spur, of course, is one of the main ways that a horseman can communicate with the horse. All he has to do is touch the hind quarters. People think it necessarily needs to hurt the animal but that's, that doesn't have to happen. And one of the reason that rowels on the spur turn is so that that can not poke but it can move along the hide of the animal, not cut.
Keith Carradine The early Spanish spurs, the Espuela Grande, featured a six-inch rowel, a size that reflected the vaquero's aggressive domination of the horse. The size of the rowel diminished over time as attitudes changed about the proper way to treat animals. Aside from the rowel, jingle bobs were another distinctive feature of the spur. They were not only decorative, but also functional.
Byron Price Jingle bobs were tiny bits of metal that were attached to the rowel pins of spurs. And when they clanged, ah, together, ah, provided, uhm, a, a soothing jangling noise. Cowboys had the habit of when they got to town, loosening their spurs into what was called the town notch. And that meant it would drop the rowel down so that it would drag along the boardwalk. The noise made by that dragging and those jingle bobs reminded one rider of a knight walking across a floor. Ah, and surely, ah, chivalry was not dead on the open range.
Keith Carradine Now that's music to my ears. Spurring his horse usually allowed the cowboy to race to the front of the herd to stop the stampede. But sometimes the mad dash of man and beast had tragic consequences.
Richard W. Slatta One of the most treacherous tales in the historical record occurred in Idaho where two cowboys bravely tried to turn the herd. Well, things were going okay except that they came to an 80-foot cliff and there was absolutely no time for evasive action. The two cowboys rode right off the cliff along with more than 300 cattle.
Keith Carradine Stampedes, storms, and river crossings were natural hazards cowboys encountered on the cattle drive. But there was a human threat they also had to contend with: Indians.
Donald W. Reeves When people often think about the hazards of that classic trail drive era from the '60s to the late '80s , courtesy of Hollywood, usually, people think about arrows flying through the air, you know, Indian raids and attack at any time. And really, that was, ah, not very common, but there is a, there's a seed of truth to that. But as anything it's, you know, a trail drive when and a trail drive where. If you take that back earlier in time to the early 1860s , 1850s , ah, Western Texas , the Comanche were taking offense to, ah, some of these guys driving cattle through their land. Ah, yeah, and they did attack people.
Keith Carradine One of those attacked by Indians was Oliver Loving , the dean of the Texas Trail Drivers. In 1858 , he led the very first herd of longhorns to a northern market. In 1866 , he teamed up with Charles Goodnight and blazed a new cattle trail that skirted Comanche territory in West Texas before heading north to Cheyenne . In 1867 , while Loving drove cattle on his trail, Comanches attacked him and another cowboy. Swearing he wouldn't be taken alive, Loving defended himself with some lethal technology, the Henry Repeater.
Phil Spangenberger Western Historian
Phil Spangenberger This is the Model 1860 Henry Repeater, .44 Rimfire caliber, known as a 16-shooter. During the Civil War, the Confederates called it the "damned Yankee rifle." You could load it on Sunday and shoot all week. It loads from the spring-loaded magazine, held 16 rounds, good steady gun. This was one of the first repeating rifles used in modern warfare, and Oliver Loving sure needed this when he faced the Comanches.
Keith Carradine Loving fired his Henry into his attackers until a shot shattered his wrist and entered his torso. He managed to escape but later died of his infected wounds. The Henry Repeater made Loving a legend. But another gun would help create the most infamous cowboy legend of all. The gun was the Winchester '73 and the cowboy was Billy the Kid .
Keith Carradine Cowboys considered firearms essential technology. But contrary to myth, they rarely used them for two reasons. One, most ranches and cow towns, seeking to avoid violence, banned weapons. And two, carrying a gun while working with livestock was considered, well, a pain.
Richard W. Slatta Author, "The Cowboy Encyclopedia"
Richard W. Slatta And that's simply because, first of all, a weapon around one's waist is a heavy encumbrance. Ah, it's also dangerous, accidents happen. So many cowboys working the range would not carry a sidearm at all. These would be left with the chuck wagon that also carried cowboy gear on round-up. What the cowboy would likely have would be a carbine or perhaps a Winchester '73 stuck into a scabbard and carried on the saddle.
Keith Carradine The Model 1873 Winchester rifle was popularly known as "the gun that won the West." Here to tell us about this legendary weapon is Ted Griffith , a third-generation Western performance artist. Ted , what made the Winchester so popular among the cowboys?
Ted Griffith Well, its sleek and slender design. See how flat it is on the sides? It made it real good for working with on horseback that you just slip it in the scabbard and you can draw it real quick. They love that rapid-fire action, you know, bam, bam, bam. And they sold about little over half a million of these through 1900 .
Keith Carradine I'll be darned.
Ted Griffith Yeah. Good gun.
Keith Carradine Ted , why don't you show us a few tricks with that Winchester?
Ted Griffith Okay.
[sil.]
Keith Carradine Now that's fancy shooting. Billy the Kid would have been impressed. In this photo of the Kid, he poses with his Winchester and his other favorite weapon, a Colt revolver.
Phil Spangenberger Western Historian
Phil Spangenberger This is the Model 1877 Colt Double Action revolver. Colt called it the Self-Cocker. But in .38 caliber, it was known as the Lightning. And in .41 caliber, it was known as the Thunder. Billy the Kid liked to use .41 caliber Thunders. It was a fast-firing gun in double-action mode. It was very popular in the frontier. You could fire six shots off very quickly.
Keith Carradine With his Colt and his Winchester, Billy became one of the West's most wanted men.
Richard W. Slatta Author, "The Cowboy Encyclopedia"
Richard W. Slatta The most famous Billy the Kid myth is killed at 21 years, having killed 21 men. Well, the historical record gives us four documented murders or killings that Billy the Kid actually committed. So, there's a big gap between his reputation and the realities of his life. He becomes, however, most famous in conjunction, um, with the Lincoln County War in New Mexico .
Keith Carradine The Lincoln County War erupted in 1878 . Billy joined the Regulators, a gang of gunfighters who supported entrepreneur John Tunstall in his battle against rival barons for control of the territory. In February, members of Sheriff William Brady's posse murdered Tunstall after he had surrendered his gun. Billy and the Regulators swore vengeance on those who violated the code of the West by killing the unarmed Tunstall .
Richard W. Slatta Billy the Kid is a party to the murder of a sheriff and deputy sheriff. He simply shoots them down in cold blood. Well, this gives rise then to a massive reaction against Regulators like Billy the Kid , makes them outlaws in the eyes of many. And his once principled stand that he was upholding legitimate interests of John Tunstall begins to crumble.
Keith Carradine The court convicted the Kid of Sheriff Brady's murder and sentenced him to hang. But not if Billy could help it. On April 28th, 1881 , the new sheriff, Pat Garrett , was out of town, leaving his deputies, Bob Ollinger and J.W. Bell in charge. Though Billy was shackled in an upstairs room in the courthouse, he schemed to shoot his way out.
Drew Gomber The Hubbard Museum, New Mexico
Drew Gomber He'd ask to go out to the privy, which is the only way to get unchained from the floor and Bell could hardly refuse. Ah, he took him out back and we're still arguing over exactly where he got the pistol from and sometimes I think it was left for him in the privy by a friend. And sometimes I think he simply overpowered Bell and took his, whatever the case, he got hold of the pistol. He shot Deputy Bell . Ah, Ollinger heard the gunfire from across the street. He jumped up. The Kid was already in motion upstairs in the courthouse. He was crashing into the unlocked armory and grabbed Ollinger's shotgun out of the rack. And as Ollinger started to cross the street, the Kid called out, "Hey, Bob . Hello, Bob ." Real cheery and, ah, Bob looked up and Bob got both barrels of his own shotgun in his face and chest.
[sil.]
Keith Carradine Billy escaped to Fort Sumter where he hid out, but his freedom was short-lived. On July 14th, 1881 , Sheriff Pat Garrett finally caught up with the outlaw and gunned him down. The Kid was dead, but his legend lives on.
[sil.]
Keith Carradine Not all cowboys who became notorious gunmen were outlaws. Some used firearms working as cattle detectives, hunting down rustlers. In that special line of work, there was none better than Tom Horn .
Richard W. Slatta Horn becomes one of the West's most famous and highly paid cattle detectives. He would work for large ranching concerns and apparently be paid from $500 to $600 for each rustler that he could kill. He usually shot his victims at long range after researching their movements and then finding a convenient place to ambush them. He would use either a .30-30 or sometimes a large-caliber buffalo gun, which puts a sizable hole and leaves the victim very little chance of survival.
[sil.]
Phil Spangenberger This is the Model 1894 Winchester rifle .30-30. .30-30 in those days meant 30 caliber, the equivalent of 30 grains of black gunpowder but in smokeless powder charge. It's an early smokeless powder gun, one of the most popular deer rifles of all time. It probably killed more deer than any rifle in history. Tom Horn liked this rifle because he knew if it was a good hunting rifle, it would be a good man-hunter.
Richard W. Slatta After killing his victim from a safe distance and in hiding, Horn would then place one or two stones underneath the corpse's head. This became his trademark and served as a warning to anyone else out there who might consider rustling that Tom Horn was on the job.
Keith Carradine The Wyoming Stock Grower's Association eventually hired Tom Horn to hunt down rustlers. In 1892 , these ruthless cattle barons declared war on suspected cattle thieves in Johnson County . But the outlaw cowboys would be ready and waiting.
Keith Carradine Sometimes big ranchers and cowboys fought over cattle the way some guys fight over women. Hey, easy there, fellas. These battle royales were called "range wars." The one in Johnson County, Wyoming , got so bad that the President of the United States had to step in to stop it. It would take new technology to help put an end to range wars for good.
Richard W. Slatta Author, "The Cowboy Encyclopedia"
Richard W. Slatta In 1892 , rustling appears to be epidemic in Johnson County, Wyoming . And so the Wyoming Cattle Grower's Association hires a number of gunmen, including the famous Tom Horn , to go after rustlers and to protect their stock.
Keith Carradine On the way to Buffalo , the county seat, the 50 gunmen hired by the Stock Grower's Association detoured to eliminate two suspected rustlers on their hit list. One of them was Nate Champion . Remember him? He and another cowboy, Nick Ray , were holed up in a ranch cabin near the Powder River.
Keith Carradine When Nick emerged from the cabin, the gunmen opened fire with their Winchester .73s and Colt revolvers, mortally wounding the outlaw cowboy. Nate dragged his partner back inside and held out for 12 hours despite being hopelessly outnumbered. The stand-off ended when the gunmen set fire to the cabin. Amidst the smoke and flames, Nate made a desperate dash for freedom, but a bullet cut him down. The two cowboys became the first names crossed off the gunmen's hit list.
[sil.]
Richard W. Slatta Their deaths then sparked small ranchers to strike back against these rich, powerful ranchers. And what you really have is class warfare on the open range.
Keith Carradine On April 11th, 1892 , the two forces faced off at the TA Ranch. Citizens of Buffalo , avenging the deaths of Nick and Nate , surrounded the cattle baron's hit squad who had taken cover there. President Benjamin Harrison ordered troops to break up the fight. Only the arrival of the 6th Cavalry from Fort McKinney prevented a slaughter.
Richard W. Slatta The Johnson County cowboys win the battle, but lose the war because over the long term it is increasingly large ranches that become the norm. And as open-range ranching gives way to fencing, this is another cost that small ranchers could not afford, which then tilts the economic balance in favor of the large ranchers.
Keith Carradine This new technology, barbed-wire fencing, revolutionized life on the frontier, helping to win not only range wars but also life as the cowboy knew it during his Golden Age.
Byron Price Historian
Byron Price Barbed wire is one of the great stories of the West. It enabled ranchers to begin to define their territory and to begin to conserve the range. It helped them upgrade their herds by being able to separate the cows and the bulls, ah, except, ah, in certain seasons. And, and certainly it helped impede rustlers from stealing stock. It also put a lot of cowboys out of work because you didn't need as many hands in a fenced environment as you did on the open range.
Keith Carradine In 1874 , Joseph Glidden of DeKalb, Illinois , became known as the father of barbed wire when he created barbs on a coffee bean grinder, placed them at intervals along a smooth wire and twisted another wire around it to hold the barbs in place. Glidden's invention set off a fencing frenzy that produced more than 500 barbed wire patents. But not everyone welcomed the new fencing that some damned as "the devil's rope."
Byron Price There was a certain free grass element in Texas , particularly in Central Texas , that had always thought of the range as a common and, and useful by all. So when fences began to be erected in several of those Central Texas counties, fence-cutters began to ride at night and, ah, a rancher would wake up the next morning and find all the wires of his fences are cut for, for miles on end.
Keith Carradine Fence-cutting wars broke out on the rapidly closing open range. In 1882 , after several violent incidents, the Texas State Legislature adopted laws governing this new technology. The last opposition fell when large ranches began fencing their property. The XIT Ranch covering parts of 10 counties in Texas may have completed the most ambitious fencing project in the West, enclosing three million acres with 6,000 miles of fencing. But just because the cowboy was now fenced in didn't mean his job was done.
Keith Carradine Like everything else about cowboy technology, the rodeo originated with a vaquero tradition. The word rodeo comes from that familiar word rodear, Spanish for round-up.
Donald Chavez Author/Historian
Donald Chavez The first vaqueros, a couple of times a year, had to conduct round-ups. And they practiced their skills and got good at it and in the spirit of competition just like nowadays you have tractor pulls and, ah, lumberjacks with their tree-chopping competitions. Well, the vaqueros in their free time enjoyed a little friendly competition amongst themselves and conducted rodeos.
Keith Carradine American cowboys picked up the tradition in the 1860s and began to formalize the rodeo as we now know it.
Donald W. Reeves Curator, National Cowboy Western Heritage Museum
Donald W. Reeves As the ranches became larger, they had a larger number of cowboys. And we had these community times when they would get together and have these round-ups to separate off from the common range. It was a natural time for the, the different cowboys the different groups to say, "Who's the, who's the better bronco? Who is the better roper?" And they would set up contests, riding contests. And obviously, that there was a little betting going on, you know, that was the roots of the early rodeos.
Keith Carradine By the 1880's , cowboys were charging admission to rodeos and a circuit developed. They even added events that a cowboy would never try on a round-up like bulldogging, a talent that made a legend of Bill Pickett , the first rodeo star.
Richard W. Slatta Author, "The Cowboy Encyclopedia"
Richard W. Slatta What Pickett would do is ride on a horse up next to a steer or a cow, jump off his horse, grab this animal by the head or the horns and then bite down on the animal's lip. Now, this sounds a little bizarre but it certainly would draw a crowd.
Keith Carradine Bull-riding draws the biggest crowds of rodeo now and it's easy to see why. In this event, a cowboy has to ride an ornery 2,000-pound bull for eight seconds. It's probably the most violent, action-packed eight seconds in all of sports. How the cowboys do it? Well, to get the answer we went to the top of the heap and I do mean heap. Meet Gary Leffew . Gary ?
Gary Leffew Keith , how's it going?
Keith Carradine This is Gary's son, Judd .
Judd Leffew Good to see you.
Keith Carradine Good to see you, Judd . Gary is a former World Champion Bull Rider and Cowboy Hall of Fame inductee.
Santa Maria, California
Keith Carradine He's been teaching bull-riding at his school in Santa Maria since 1969 . And Gary with the help of his son, Judd , is gonna show us how you ride one of these bad boys. So, Gary , Judd , what are the basics of bull-riding?
Gary Leffew Well, it's a, it's a lot of guts and a, and a little bit of skill.
Keith Carradine And how do you keep from getting bucked off from one of these things when they're twistin' and kickin'?
Judd Leffew Rhythm and balance.
Keith Carradine Rhythm and balance.
Judd Leffew You got to relax and stay in the eye of the hurricane . That's the bottom line.
Keith Carradine And is there, is there, ah, a specific form that you have to pay attention to? Does that count in the scoring in any way?
Judd Leffew Ah, if you sit straight up and down and, ah, don't get off to the side you do get more points for style. That's for sure.
Keith Carradine And, and why eight seconds?
Gary Leffew I don't know where the eight seconds come. Probably it's, I think it's such a violent event and it's so tough to get one of these bulls rode. Eight seconds might seem not very long to an average person but get on one of these bulls, and like Einstein said, "Time is relative" when you're on one of these.
Keith Carradine Yeah. Well, you know, it's, it's obviously a dangerous sport. What's the worst thing that you've seen happen in, in somebody riding a bull?
Gary Leffew Well, that, a few years ago, there was about 12 guys killed in one year. So it is an extremely dangerous game and then when you go into it, you take that into consideration. And you do the best that you can to put the odds in your favor by getting as good as you can.
Keith Carradine Why do it?
Judd Leffew It's a rush, adrenaline. Ah, you'll, you'll walk through the desert, you know, with no shoes on to do it. It's, it's a high like no other and, ah, the pay is good. The girls like it, you know, all of the above.
Keith Carradine Now the girls like it and I can relate to, but I can't imagine there's enough money that would ever make me want to do this.
Gary Leffew Well, in essence it's a lazy man's game, you know. They always ask me why I did it and I said, "Well, I was too lazy to work, too nervous to steal and too jealous to pimp." That's the only option I had left.
Keith Carradine Well, Judd , you wanna to show us how this is done now?
Judd Leffew I'm ready. I was born ready. You got, ah, a leather glove to keep your, your hands from getting ripped out. You got a braided, ah, bull rope with a little leather in it for support. And you got a, you got a a set of spurs for grip, get a little friction on the bull's hide and that's it. It's a one-hand contest. If at any time you touch the animal with your balance hand, you're disqualified. You get no scores. So you have to ride for eight seconds. After eight seconds, you dismount and you get a qualified ride.
Keith Carradine And how do you dismount? What's the key to getting off from one of these things when your ride is finished?
Judd Leffew Tell you what, any way is a good way. As long as you land and get out of there without getting hurt, that's the best way to get off.
Keith Carradine Sounds simple, doesn't it? Some city slickers think riding a mechanical bull is the same as getting on a real one, but that's a lot of bull. The mechanical bull might be cool technology, but it bears no resemblance to the real thing. A mechanical bull stays in one spot and moves consistently while a real bull moves unpredictably. If you want to train for bull riding, ride a horse bareback and then maybe you'll be able to ride like Judd Leffew .
Go Judd , good ride. Perfect. Perfect. All right.
Keith Carradine Whether at play on the back of a bull or at work on the back of a horse, the cowboy's tools and traditions are still in use more than a century after he first appeared on the plain. But it took more than technology to create this Western icon.
Charles P. Schroeder Dir., National Cowboy Western Heritage Museum
Charles P. Schroeder Simple truth about cowboy technology is that for all of the inventions, it still requires somebody that has a little special spin in their mind about how livestock think and how they move and dealing with their needs. And, ah, technology really doesn't change that.
Keith Carradine The cowboy became an enduring symbol of America's independent spirit, but he didn't get that way all on his own. He had a little help from technology. Without it, he wouldn't have been able to round up cattle, drive them to market and feed a nation. Think about that the next time you bite into a steak.
WILD WEST TECH Executive Producers CRAIG HAFFNER DONNA E. LUSITANA Narrated by KEITH CARRADINE Directed Written By ARTHUR DROOKER Supervising Producer LOUIS G. TARANTINO Associate Producer LAUREN E. HERZ Editor MICHAEL W. ANDREWS Researcher GABRIELA COWPERTHWAITE General Counsel SHINAAN S. KRAKOWSKY Directors of Photography TOM COLLINS PAUL JOHNSON BRANDON HICKMAN Original Music by BLAKE NEELY Post Production Supervisors TODD CARNEY JASON KAIFESH Production Coordinator SAVAS GEORGALIS Post Production Coordinator GEORGINA LLJUBO Main Title and Graphic Design CHRISTOPHER GAAL SCOTT BELL LUIS RUIZ ANTHONY VAZQUEZ Online/Composite Editor ROD DECKER Assistant Avid Editors EMILY MOSS JEREMY SEGAL CHRIS WORTHINGTON Production Assistants RYAN GRAHAM MATT COMPTON ERIN HOWIE CHRIS RAYMOND Motion Control Operator JARED KING Post Production Assistants CURT COLLIER DION A. LABRIOLA MATTHEW LAUDERMILK HANNAH SMITH Controller ANIT CHAN Production Accountant VIVIAN SANTOS Bookkeeper ARMINEH BAGHDASARIAN Field Camera PETER KRAJEWSKI MIKE PRIEST Field Audio PATRICK DONAHUE PAUL WUSTRACK Post Production Audio TIM ROCK SEVEN SECONDS Historical/Series Consultants DREW GOMBER PHIL SPANGENBERGER Reenactment Coordinators PETER SHERAYKO PHIL SPAGENBERGER Make-Up/Hair PAMELA LLJUBO Wardrobe MARCELLE M. McKAY The Producers Wish To Thank NATHAN NANCY CARVER AMOS JOEL CARVER ESTHER CARVER THE NATIONAL COWBOY WESTERN HERITAGE MUSEUM JUDD LEFFEW BRETT LEFFEW THE HANSEN DAM EQUESTRIAN CENTER EDDIE MILLGAN RANCHO MARIA DEREK HUNT STEVEN SLIGH DEAN ESCEN THE GOLDEN OAK RANCH THE HUBBARD MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST JACK LILLEY MOVIN' ON LIVESTOCK THE GOURMET CHABAR, INC. PAT BRODY JON W. DAVIS BRUCE KING CRAIG D. NELSON STEVE HANNA RANDY STANGER MONTY HAWKEYE HENSON MICKEY MICHEL JEREMIAH UNFRIED BENNETT BEARD ALLEN HICKS DAVID CARTER REYNOLD ESQUIVEL SAM BEARPAW RUPERT ENICNAS JEFFREY S. WALL CARL WALPER HOLLYWOOD GUNS PROPS Archival Stills and Footage Provided by NATIONAL ARCHIVES LIBRARY OF CONGRESS RODEO VIDEO, INC. For the History Channel Program Coordinator AYANNA COLE Executive Producers DOLORES GAVIN BETH DIETRICH SEGARRA Produced by GREYSTONE COMMUNICATIONS, INC. For THE HISTORY CHANNEL WILD WEST TECH © 2004 GREYSTONE COMMUNICATIONS INC. All Rights Reserved HISTORYCHANNEL.COM THE HISTORY CHANNEL © 2004 A Television Networks. All Rights Reserved
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