The One-Legged Cowboy

The cowboys' life was not glamorous. It was hard work every day and into the evenings as well. The cowboy was paid one to four dollars a month to herd the unruly and skittish longhorn cattle, to rope the strays and brand them, and to be able to drive the herds many, many miles to the railroads in Kansas for shipment back East. The cowboy knew he could be crushed under a stampede or even be hit by lightning on the open plains. He was fortunate if he made it to a town once or twice a year. It...