Film, Video Rancher Les Stewart Explains the Strategy for Sorting the Herd
Articles and Essays with this item:
Stewart, Leslie J.
Wilson, William A. (William Albert)
Ninety Six Ranch
- Rancher Les Stewart Explains the Strategy for Sorting the Herd
- Contributor Names
- Stewart, Leslie J. (Narrator)
- Fleischhauer, Carl (Interviewer)
- Wilson, William A. (William Albert), 1933- (Interviewer)
- Created / Published
- May 9, 1981
- Subject Headings
- - Ninety-Six Ranch
- - Activities
- - Maps
- - Cattle sorting
- - Buckarooing
- - Motion Pictures
- - Ethnography
- Motion Pictures
- - Les Stewart diagrams the 96 Ranch's strategy for parting and sorting the herd.
- - Les's description of how to part cattle mixes technique and protocol. In 1983, as he watched this segment in the Library of Congress exhibition The American Cowboy, he joked that he ought to show it to the foremen and buckaroos on a couple of ranches in the valley. He said he had recently observed the men on one ranch parting cattle in disorderly fashion, with shouting riders pushing into the bunched cattle willy-nilly.
- - Les uses the word "rodera" to refer to the group of bunched cattle from which specific categories of animals are segregated. The term has currency in Nevada; some buckaroos pronounce it "rodeer." The term is derived from the Spanish rodear, meaning "to surround," also the source of rodeo. Usage of prada, parada, or paratha varies. Here Les uses the term to name the group of animals, often dry cows, cut from the rodera. Clues to this usage and derivation may be found in Jo Mora's Californios (Mora 1949, 90-93). Mora describes early nineteenth-century rodeos--a kind of publicly administered roundup--in Spanish California in which small rancheros parted their stock from the larger holdings of the missions. According to Mora, the cut herd was called an apartado. This term is derived from the Spanish apartar, meaning to set apart or separate, and a cognate of English part. Alternatively, the word may be derived from parar and parada, meaning "to stop" and "stopping place."
- - Les said that parada can also name a group of horses, a meaning reported by folklorist Gary Stanton after interviewing other cowboys from the region. One former mustanger told Gary that he had used tame horses to lure wild horses into a trap, and called the bunch of tame animals a parada. (Personal communication from Gary Stanton, August 13, 1984)
- 3/4 inch video
- Call Number
- AFC 1991/021: NV81-VT1
- Source Collection
- Paradise Valley Folklife Project Collection (AFC 1991/021)
- American Folklife Center
- Digital Id
Rights & Access
The Library of Congress is not aware of any U.S. copyright protection (see Title 17, U.S.C.) or any other restrictions in the material in this collection, except as noted below. Users should keep in mind that the Library of Congress is providing access to these materials strictly for educational and research purposes. The written permission of the copyright owners and/or other holders of rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights) is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use or other statutory exemptions. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item. See our Legal Notices and Privacy and Publicity Rights for additional information and restrictions.
The American Folklife Center and the professional fieldworkers who carry out these projects feel a strong ethical responsibility to the people they have visited and who have consented to have their lives documented for the historical record. The Center asks that researchers approach the materials in this collection with respect for the culture and sensibilities of the people whose lives, ideas, and creativity are documented here. Researchers are also reminded that privacy and publicity rights may pertain to certain uses of this material.
The Buckaroos in Paradise collection includes copy photographs of numerous historical still photographs, works of art, and other objects that are owned by the families or individuals identified in bibliographic records for those objects. The collection also includes audio and video interviews with individuals who consented to the inclusion of these selections here.
Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these collection materials should contact the Folklife Reading Room for assistance.
Paradise Valley Folklife Project collection, 1978-1982 (AFC 1991/021), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
Rights assessment is your responsibility.
More about Copyright and other Restrictions
For guidance about compiling full citations consult Citing Primary Sources.