Spring/Fall Roundups
Gathering the Herd
Cutting
Branding
The Stray Man
Summer Trail Drive
Cattle on the Trail
The Railhead
Day Herder
Night Herder
Open-Range Branding
Chuck Wagon
Remuda
Dangers on the Trail
Winter Work
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Seasonal Work | Winter Work
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Most range bosses laid cowhands off in the winter, telling them to come back in the spring. But the good workers and men with families were sometimes kept on to help with winter work, which consisted of holding cattle on a particular area of the range for the season. Cowhands who were hired on to do this work lived in a line camp. Sometimes cattle would have to be fed hay or feed while they were on winter ground. If so, the cowhand was called a "feeder" or "hay shoveler." He was responsible for riding the fence line and making sure that the cows were staying on their side. He also made sure that the fence was in good repair. If windmills were on the range, then repairing them was also his responsibility, for a herd could not last long without water.
While Smith did most of his photography during the peak times of activity, he was able to capture typical winter scenes on more than one occasion. In 1906, while visiting his cousin's ranch, he was surprised by the severe weather of a "blue norther." He took the opportunity to secure photographs of cattle seeking shelter on an ice-covered prairie and a lone fence rider on patrol. At another time, he made several winter photographs at the Matador Ranch's line camp, which had originally served as the ranch's headquarters.
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