Spring roundups as timeless as Texas

Until the big dun bull with the festering eye got his horns stuck in the loading chute, things were going pretty smoothly last week during the spring roundup on the sprawling South Pope Ranch. The 82,000-acre spread lies just north of Big Bend National Park and its rocky terrain of prickly pear, spiky lechuguilla and creosote bush would seem fit only for scorpions, jack rabbits and javelinas. But somehow, about 500 cattle and their calves find ample sustenance here. And twice a year, mounted cowboys wearing heavy leather chaps come to gather them, combing brushy, thorny pastures of 10,000 acres or more. And on this, the second day of the 10-day spring roundup, some 160 head already were in the pens, bawling, moaning, and ready to be worked. The yearlings were big and rowdy, and the new calves looked healthy. Such is the life of the Texas cowboys who work the spring and fall roundups on hundreds of ranches around the state. Out of sight and largely out of mind to urban Texans, they practice a cattle-working tradition that goes back centuries to Mexico and Spain. “The roundup is the cowboy way. You’re back to working cattle like they did in the 1800s,” said rancher Debbie O’Neill, 55, who most of the year works alone on the vast ranch, a 40-mile drive from Marathon. “The most exciting part is packed into these 10 days. You get to see people and see all your cattle. The rest of the year, I feed cattle, fix fences and check water,” she said...SanAntonioExpressNews