' the day’s weather.

TV cowboys are phony (Concluded from page ,,,,T,,_,,,,,,

Some westerners say they can tell a cowboy anywhere by his iaunty air, bow-legs

years, and it is said to be a rarity to find
a man who has been with one outfit for 10
years. The lads who take a whirl at the
cowboy life come from the British Isles, even
from New Zealand; from eastern Canada and
a still greater number from northern farms of
the four western provinces.

At least one old Alberta rancher I know
views the chronic shortage of good help with
resignation, as part of the modern picture.
“There's a spirit of restlessness today which
has put the bite on almost everyone at every
level, always on the lookout for better pay
and an easier life. Yet once in a while we
get a youngster who has all the markings of
a good cattleman. I hate to see these rare
fellows drift off to a life for which they aren't
suited, but the voice of money seems to drown
out all other cravings these days.”

Ranch wages don't sound impressive in
comparison with a good many other occupa-
tional lines. For an average hand, the pay is
about $150 a month plus room and board.
Top hands run up to $200 a month “and
found," while above that they move into the
managerial class with considerably more
responsibility. Still, almost any cowboy who
has left ranch life for a higher-paying job will
agree that he saved more money on modest
ranch wages than he is able to do in any city
joh. After a day’s work out in the open a
person is not much inclined to go searching
for entertainment.

Incidentally, any mother who fears that
her boy may be underfed on a ranch can take
heart. A couple of years ago the official
statement was that per capita consumption of
meat in Canada was 160 pounds per year. So
a ranch bookkeeper kept track of the meat
consumed on his ranch in 1958, and found it
was a little over 500 pounds per capita, with
two of the “capitas” under 12 years of age.
This was an average ranch, no more lavish
than its neighbors, but good food for lusty
outdoor appetites is the rule.

Of course, movement is not entirely from
the ranch to other jobs. It is not unusual for
good men to return after unsuccessfully
trying to adjust to‘ city life. One young
married man I know explained: “When I was
offered a job in Calgary at $500 a month, it
looked too good to pass up, but that $500 just
melted away and we couldn't seem to save a
dollar. Worst of all, my wife and I felt
smothered with people and regulations all the
time, and we weren’t happy. So when my old
boss from the ranch asked if I'd like to go
back, we grabbed the chance. Now we have
a comfortable ranch-owned house, rent-free
and heated. We get for free all the milk and
meat we can use, and nice garden space for
vegetables. My monthly cheque is $200, and
we can put quite a bit of that away so our
bank account is growing faster than you’d

believe. There is van service to a centralized -

school for the children. It is just the life
we’re fitted for.”

A Canadian army officer told me that
during the last war he could spot the boys
from southern Alberta because their first
move in stepping out of doors in the morning
was to look to the west. It was instinctive.
Though thousands of miles from their native
soil, they were looking to see the cloud
formations over the Rockies as a forecast of
The officer said he was
seldom wrong. Going along with this idea,
many western people believe that they can‘

' recognize a cowboy as such even when they

see him in Toronto, in New York ‘or London.

The Star Weekly MAGAZINE, April 23, 1960

They say that as a - n and lean,
though not as bow-lgggeldealss lllegold breed.
H15 .J3l1_Dl1Y, easy swing of the shoulders
carries its own air of spirit, He’s his own
man. Most distinctive perhaps. are his 5”‘
reaching eyes, trainedyto vast distances. In
the old days when the ranch boss was
choosing men for a job requiring daring and
initiative, a high stamp of approval was the
laconic expression, “He'11 do to take along."

Have you ever wondered why cowboy
songs are traditionally gloomy. The explana-
lion, given in all seriousness by th059 Wh°
should know, is that oldtime cowboys who
Composed 91056 sad refrains Probably
suffered from indigestion. ‘ Oldtimers insist

‘malt 31°55 99 the first riders of the range

cracked up with all manner of digestive
ailments. Their irregular hours and habits of
eating;_ their heavy means followed by long,
hard riding took a toll. They could disguise
their gnawing misery in the spoken word,
but when they broke into song it was a
plaintive wail. And so they dwelt with
moumful insistence on lonely graves, howling
coyotes, faithless maidens and past Sins-
I-3t91' 50118 Writers in eastern cities, catching
the spirit of these sad refrains, have kept it
up with similar themes of long jail terms,
weeping mothers and last roundups. All
because of indigestion, and‘ that’s the truth.

Calgary is regarded as the hometown at

  

  
 
 

   
   
  

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the western Canadian cowboy and anyone
attending the annual Calgary Stampede would
find it hard to believe that the cowboy is on
the wane. As the reality of the old life on
the range recedes into the past, the greater
the enthusiasm for reviving its most colorful
summer when the
Calgary Stampede is on, one sees the roundup
of the cowboy in all his ancient glory and his
modern gift of showmanship. It is a riotous
blend of old and new, encompassing the
history and personalities of the past three-
quarterg of a century. It is holiday time on
the ranches before the serious business of
haying takes over.

Oldtimers turn up in force, jealously
invoking the memories of unrideable horses
and of ‘stampede heroes of bygone days who
really could rope and ride. They protest the
wild stunts which crowds cheer but which
never were a part of ranch life. But even as
they mutter and decry they are pushing their
way to the blood-stirring arena of action, to
those contests of daring, endurance and skill
which were at one time both the work and
recreation of all who lived in the saddle.
They thrill to the bronc riding, ‘the bull-
dogging, the calf-roping and the chuck-wagon
racing. And as old-time records are broken
and new world records chalked up, even the
most grudging is obliged to admit that there
are giants, too, in these days. Q

 
  

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