Rensselaer Journal, Volume 10, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 February 1901 — LASSOING DOGS. [ARTICLE]

LASSOING DOGS.

Systematic Raids Upon Canines Instituted in the Territory.

The dog catcher of a town in the Indian Territory can give a city dog catcher cards and spades and then beat him as a capturer of canine animals. An expert cowboy hunts dogs as he does cattle. He ropes them the same way. Clad in a pair of buckskin trousers, and wearing a big sombrero, with hand or on the saddle horn, and a six-shooter in his belt, he starts down the street on his broncho looking for dogs. As he spies one which has no legal right to roam at large he sticks the spurs to his pony, grabs his rope and begins operations. He usually ropes the dog around the neck, draws him to ■ the pony’s side and shoots him. He then stuffs the carcass into a sack attached to the saddle and gallops off after more “game.” If a stranger is watching the performance the dog catcher does some fancy roping. He will rope the dog around the front foot or hind foot, or around the body between the feet. He hardly ever misses his mark. Dog catching in the Indian country

is more ticklish business than it is in the cities in the states. The catcher not only has to dodge flatirons, mop sticks, and brooms thrown by irate women (for a wild-looking cowboy with a six-shooter has no terror to an Indian Territory woman), but he has Indians to deal with. An Indian thinks almost as much of his dog as he does of his kids, and if the dog catcher by mistake kills it there is trouble. Dogs belonging to Indians are exempt from taxation. But the Indians must brand them. The dogs of non-citizens are the ones discriminated against. If their masters fail to pay tax on them then they must pay the penalty of death. In order to evade the tax occasionally a non-citi-zen forges a brand and marks his dog as if it belonged to an Indian. In order to prevent frauds of this character the dog catcher must be an expert on dog brands.