The barrel was eight inches long, and it shot a rifle cartridge
of forty grains of powder and a blunt-ended bullet that made a
terrible missile. This weapon depended from a belt worn loose
resting upon the left hip and hanging low down on the right hip
so that none of the weight came upon the abdomen. This was
typical, for the cowboy was neither fancy gunman nor army
officer. The latter carries the revolver on the left, the butt
pointing forward.
An essential part of the cow-puncher's outfit was his "rope."
This was carried in a close coil at the side of the saddle-horn,
fastened by one of the many thongs scattered over the saddle. In
the Spanish country it was called reata and even today is
sometimes seen in the Southwest made of rawhide. In the South it
was called a lariat. The modern rope is a well-made
three-quarter-inch hemp rope about thirty feet in length, with a
leather or rawhide eye. The cowboy's quirt was a short heavy
whip, the stock being of wood or iron covered with braided
leather and carrying a lash made of two or three heavy loose
thongs. The spur in the old days had a very large rowel with
blunt teeth an inch long.
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