OCR Text |
Show niirTi 2 DESERET NEWS, MONDAY, OCTOBER nnyi'iyi ;nyr,'i ;i'))i(iiiiHiiiyiiyiiii)rini)rTimpitiri)' Man Weddings Dear Abby Theater Comics TV Today What's Doing Music Living 31, 1977 Do-- lt ', Cattle are grouped into herds, then chased to lower country where they Last roundup? There's no such thing! I" Git along By LaVarr Webb Deseret News staff writer Rich County The white-face- d Hereford steer, partially hidden in a clump of quakies, eyed the cowboys warily as they rode closer Wild from a summer of freedom m the high country, the steer suddenly whirled and plunged down an arroyo, puffs of dust mushrooming as it leaped sagebrush and chai ged through scrub oak But Sim Weston and his horse, though tired from a full day of riding, were still faster With a whoop, and snaking out a lanat like a whip, they quickly added the steer to an herd of cattle It was old stuff for Weston and his horse They were near the end of one of the biggest round-up- s m the West and the roping scene had been enacted hundreds of times Later that evening, at a campsite called The Muddy, Weston, of Randolph, and 11 other cowboys removed their spurs and leather chaps and washed several layers of dust from their faces As steaks began sizzling over the cookstove, they lounged and reminisced about the colorful annual ritual the many people have forgotten still exists western cattle round-u- p As long as therere cattle up m this high country, therell be cattle drives, Weston said with a slow, wade smile as he knifed a thick steak which juicy, completely covered his plate Even with modern equipment like drive vehicles and helicopters, the will depend upon the success of a round-u- p skill of the cowboy and his horse, the stockman said Most Utah ranchers are just finishing their cattle drives They try to move most of the cattle from the high county by the time the deer season begins and then return a few weeks later to mop up the stragglers Most of the young stock will be shipped to largo feedlots to be fattened for slaughter Breedmg stock is driven to fall and winter ranges, usually on home ranches or on desert Bureau of Land Management ranges But Westons operation isnt the typical three or four-da- y roundup He and several other cowboys spend three or four weeks covering more than 600 square miles mostly in southwestern Wyoming They move about 8,000 cattle owned by 16 ranchers from the peaks and canyons of the dusty, unfenced, wild country Day after day the cowboys ride out from a base camp which is moved every few days We put about 30 miles a day on our horses and they get pretty tired and lathered up, one cowboy said The cattle are generlly scattered far and wide, so the men must nde through every clump of trees and up every gully. Each cowboy has a string of at least three horses, RANDOLPH, ever-growi- four-whe- . v Cowboys are tired and dusty on return to camp after a long day in so the horses get more rest than the men The deer and the antelope literally do play area So do moose, elk, wild in the round-u- p horses, coyotes and an occasional bear For the men, the round-u- p is play of sorts too, g although they stress that its also work For Sim Weston, the round-u- p is a break from more tedious duties iri the modem world As president of the Utah Cattlemens Association, he spends nearly as much time on jet airplanes and in banquets and meetings as he does m the saddle Hes also on several National Cattlemens Association boards and councils Id lots rather be up here on a horse than m some meetmg m Chicago, Weston said, The round-u- p is a looking down a canyon tradition and the boys really like it even though it means long hours in the saddle Even some friends who dont own any cattle go out for a day or two, just for the fun of it Most of the men involved allow very few things to interrupt the round-u- p But the wife of Lanny Weston, also of Randolph, found a way to get him home off the range. She was very pregnant when he left and a few days later he headed for the hospital after learning she was near fables On the cuff He arrived two hours before the baby came, and immediately said, Shucks, I couldve stayed out two hours longer The round-u- p camp site may initially appear like something out of the wild West, but observers are quickly reminded its still the 26th Century when a visiting youngster yells, I dubs the Star Wars cards in the bread package The men take two weeks to push most of the cattle over a divide which separates two drainages Then they nde from Sim Westons home ranch for several more days, bnngmg the herds down to a large holding area The work is still far from over The cattle must be separated by brands into about 16 different herds and the owners ship about 35 percent to feed yards and the rest to winter ranges Later, the cowboys go out again into the high country to get the stragglers Often stormy weather sets in and they have to ride in snow and ice Round-u- p time is also market time for cattlemen and a time to balance books and figure expenses Sim Weston said stockmen havent made a profit since 1973 and this year is likely to be as bad as ever Ranchers will have to purchase hay to gets her favorite horse ready. feed their breeding stock all winter Because of the drought, they were able to raise very little hay themselves, and winter ranges are very poor Costs of production continue to increase, but were getting the same pnces for our cattle we got 30 years ago, Weston said Ranchers who dont have enough money to buy feed will cull herds But later, when they try to buy stock to get back into business, prices will be higher than ever Ranches have gotten bigger and more efficient to survive You used to be able to support a family with 100 head of cattle, Weston said Now you have to have at least 500 They keep predictmg things will get better, but they dont Weston began running cattle with his dad, who began m the Randolph area in 1927 Hes been building his herd ever since He said cattlemens biggest problem is facing bureaucrats who control public land Since nearly 70 percent of Utah is federally owned, cattlemen couldnt survive without running some stock on public land When I first started, it cost about 30 cents per animal, per month, to lease federal land Now its $1 51 to lease BLM land and Potatoes are a staple on roundup. $1,60 for Forest Service land, Weston said Now they want to raise it to $2 38 per animal per month, and we cant afford that Weston mainly tnes to forget cattle Hes too industry woes during the round-u- p busy eatmg dust and chasing cows to consider weighty matters ' For kicks, the cowboys chase wild horses, which Weston says are good for nothing One year they even roped a bobcat Its a modern round-u- p with a lot of wild West flair and color They could dig for another 200 years By Russell R. Nielsen . . . - By E. E. Edgar BATTLE MOUNTAIN, Nev (UPI) Lynda Waski and Bobbie McGonagle see lakes and villages where others see only barren flat terrain blistering under a desert sun Iowa artist Grant Wood decided one year to attend the State University, even though he had no money for tuition He did not bother to apply for admission He just walked into freshman class one day and took a seat Nobody thought to question his presence, and for several months, he went to classes regularly Then, just as impulsively as he had decided to come to school, he decided it was not for him and left He packed his bag and went home When he told his family what he had done, one of them said "You mean you attended school all those months and you didnt pay? Doesnt it bother your conscience7 1 dont see why it should, said Wood I didnt learn anything Their job requires that kind of imagination, as well as the toughness to take dust and heat m a search of treasurers which many consider unimportant The two w'omen are archeologists for the Bureau of Land Management Their jurisdiction covers 8 4 million acres of public lands m Nevadas Lander, Eureka and Nye counties They are looking for knowledge about ancient residents and their culture So far, less than of one percent of public lands m Nevada have been surveyed for archeological and histoncal remains At that rate, it will take another 200 years to complete the task, but they arent discouraged mind boggling Its exciting, like a mystery but intriguing, said Ms Waski Both have been with the bureau about two years Ms McGonagle did her doctoral thesis on an archeological site, north of Reno, where she unearthed artifacts dating back 12,000 years Neither fears the dangers of tramping through the remote desert In fact, its the few people they encounter who are most troublesome because of their lack of understanding of the work involved Some people just dont take us or our work seriously, but being a woman professional and an said Ms archeologist are even more difficult, McGonagle I hae an even bigger job convincing people Im serious and have an important job to do Ms Waski said some people believe she is collecting artifacts just so you can send them to a museum put them in a box and forget them Ms one-ten- th Unprintable During one period, when he was a young artist, Pablo Picasso shared a studio with a friend The latter worked during the day and slept m the bed at night, while Picasso painted through the night and occupied the bed during the day Even under such conditions, Picasso turned out a prodigious number of paintings. Every morning, when the friend awoke, he would find the floor covered with canvases, which were still wet As he made his way about, he could not avoid stepping on some of them Yeais later, after Picasso had become famous and his early works were in demand, these footprints had to be removed from dozens of his pictures Visitor Sandy Weston the saddle. "1 Hi tk' W ; JUS. 1? - v, XTT' ,'f v f Bobbie McGonagle, left, and Lynda Waski survey damage by pot hunters near Mt. Airy. McGonagle says she identified herself to a woman I hope you never find one arrowhead Some people think were going to take someMs thing that belongs to them personally, McGonagle said Of course, it belongs to all of us, and archeologists need to study them, but sometimes thats hard for local people to understand This information can help them by predicting the future from data about the climate and the people who lived here who said, Basically, said Ms McGonagle, were trying to find out how cultures change and why We cant predict the future until we know why we changed the past We need to learn from what happened then to know where were going now Sometimes their efforts are hampered by hunters arrowheads and pots, many of whom know they are violating the Federal Antiquities Act which protects archeological resources Pot diggers are our biggest problem," said Ms Once theyve dug a sit, its like someone Waski dropped a bomb Dating levels are all mixed up Something 5 000 years old is light next to something perhaps 20,000 years old Ms McGonagle said many persons collect arrowheads and dont see what harm it does The shape of an arrowhead can tell us when it was made If theyre left m place, we can figure out what areas people used over what periods of time and what animals they were hunting They might be the only evidence left of habitation m some areas Troubles and hardships of the job might cause many archeologists to choose an college classroom rather than the wide open spaces The two women turned down that chance Its simply the challenge, Ms McGonagle said "Theres so much land and so little knowledge of A |