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Winter work |
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| Most range bosses dismissed cowhands in the
winter, telling them to come back in the spring. 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. [See a line camp
in the photograph Hunting Season a Hand (LC S6-221) and the painting
Christmas at the Line Camp (1961.392).] The description below describes
a line camp from the late 1800s: Our house was constructed by digging into the bank of the river about four feet, and consisted of one room, ten by fourteen feet. A large willow pole answered for a ridge pole, and the roof was covered with rye grass and over this dirt to |
 Erwin E. Smith (1886–1947) Hunting Season at Hand [Harry Campbell and George Pattullo], Matador Ranch, Texas, 1909 Gelatin dry plate negative Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas LC.S6.221 |
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the depth of six inches. The chimney was constructed of rock and dirt, while a blanket was
answered as a cover for the one and only door . . . . Our time was mainly
occupied in riding around cattle, rounding them up and preventing them from
going too far astray. Our object was to keep them near the camp, and every
night they were driven in. My spare time, during the winter, was occupied
in trapping along the river for beaver and otter, and for coyotes on the
plain. Of the latter there was no end, apparently, to the numbers, and I
captured seventy-five. Of the pelts, I made two fine robes. 
As the range was fenced and divided into ranches, the cowhand’s winter duties changed. 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 repair of them was also his responsibility, for a herd could not last long without water. Click here to view more winter work images |
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