Image: Library of Congress
In the old days of the American West, ranchers rounded up their cattle from the open range and drove them over vast distances to railroads, where they were shipped to markets and sold. A handful of cowboys could herd thousands of head of cattle, spending months on the range at a time.
These massive undertakings helped cement the image of the cowboy as a symbol of rustic, stoic strength. But as railroad networks expanded and eventually gave rise to motor transport, cattle drives became shorter and simpler expeditions.
Roundups could still require camping out for several days, but were mainly used to herd cattle from one pasture inside a ranch to another. They also presented opportunities for branding, castration, inoculation and otherwise managing the health of the herd.
Many ranches also took advantage of the romanticization of cowboy life and allowed paying guests, or dudes, to come along and get their hands dirty.
Here, Farm Security Administration photographer Arthur Rothstein follows cowboys and dudes from the Quarter Circle U Ranch in Big Horn County, Montana as they gather their herds for the seasonal roundup.
Hereford bulls.
Image: Library of Congress
A cowboy ropes a calf for branding.
Image: Library of Congress
Image: Library of Congress
Image: Library of Congress
Branding irons.
Image: Library of Congress
A cowboy heats branding irons in a fire.
Image: Library of Congress
Image: Library of Congress
Image: Library of Congress
Image: Library of Congress
A dude helps immobilize a calf for branding.
Image: Library of Congress
Branding complete, she gives water to the calf.
Image: Library of Congress
Horses are rounded up into a rope corral.
Image: Library of Congress
Cowboys drive colts into a roundup corral.
Image: Library of Congress
Cowboys rope a colt as dudes look on.
Image: Library of Congress
Cowboys prepare a colt for branding.
Image: Library of Congress
Image: Library of Congress
Image: Library of Congress
A cowboy prepares a syringe to immunize livestock against blackleg.
Image: Library of Congress
Blackleg is an infectious bacterial disease that is highly fatal to young cattle.
Image: Library of Congress
Image: Library of Congress
Image: Library of Congress
Image: Library of Congress
Image: Library of Congress
Image: Library of Congress
A cowboy records the action with an amateur movie camera.
Image: Library of Congress
Image: Library of Congress
Cowhands unwind after a day's work.
Image: Library of Congress
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