The blend was not in blood, but in
occupational techniques. I have traced this genesis with more
detail in _The Longhorns_. Compared with evolution in species,
evolution in human affairs is meteor-swift. The driving of
millions of cattle and horses from Texas to stock the whole
plains area of North America while, following the Civil War,
it was being denuded of buffaloes and secured from Indian
domination, enabled the Texas cowboy to set his impress upon
the whole ranching industry. The cowboy became the best-known
occupational type that America has given the world. He exists
still and will long exist, though much changed from the
original. His fame derives from the past.
Romance, both genuine and spurious, has obscured the realities
of range and trail. The realities themselves have, however,
been such that few riders really belonging to the range wished
to lead any other existence. Only by force of circumstances
have they changed "the grass beneath and the sky above" for a
more settled, more confining, and more materially remunerative
way of life. Some of the old-time cowboys were little more
adaptable to change than the Plains Indians; few were less
reluctant to plow or work in houses.
Pages:
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149