Rawhide Bullwhips
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Title |
Rawhide Bullwhips |
Subject |
Vaqueros |
Transcript |
Rawhide Bullwhips It's common knowledge in South Texas that vaqueros taught the early cowboys how to handle cattle, especially half-wild longhorns. The cowboy's colorful language is full of Spanish root words, even if they don't always sound like it. There was another skill the vaqueros taught the cowboys. That was how to handle long rawhide bullwhips, sometimes called black snakes. These were made with consummate skill, as described by Frank Dobie in "The Longhorns." Dobie wrote that no machine ever invented could cut leather thongs like a vaquero. He would cut strips around and around out of a hide, widening them at spots where they were thin, and narrowing them at places where they were thick. When they were finally stretched out, they were uniform in size These strips of rawhide were plaited together; doubled back, and plaited again. For texture, flexibility, balance of weight and gradation of diameter, and even beauty, Dobie said, the skill in making these whips could not be equaled. There was also great skill in using them. Vaqueros, it was said, could pick a fly off a mesquite fence post from 15 or 20 feet. The pop these whips made sounded like a pistol shot. An example of this skill is told in the book " Rincon" , about a family's trip to the Rio Grande Valley early in the 20th century. As they traveled by wagon down the old stage road, they came upon a flock of wild geese. Just as the geese took wing, the vaqueros spurred their horses and rode among them, popping their bullwhips. They brought down several wild geese, plucked from the air by men on horseback with long, rawhide whips. The geese made them a fine supper that night, mixed with a little flour and water and cooked in an iron pot covered with hot coals Murphy Givens: KEDT Radio Scripts |
Author |
Murphy Givens |
Publisher |
KEDT Radio |
Date |
February 21, 2003 |
Type |
Sound Recordings |
Format |
WMA; Length: 2 mins. 18 sec. |
Language |
English |
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