I’ve read that a cowboy worked “for forty (40) and found.” I gather that a cowboy worked for $40 per month, but what is meant by the term found?
Stephen T. Frazier
Raleigh, North Carolina
“Found” on a cow ranch meant a place to sleep in the bunkhouse and grub. On the trail, it meant grub and a place to sleep under the stars. The usual pay for a regular cowhand was $30 a month. Top hands, trail bosses and the cook were paid more.
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Marshall Trimble is Arizona’s official historian and the Wild West History Association’s vice president. His latest book is 2018’s Arizona Oddities: A Land of Anomalies and Tamales. Send your question, with your city/state of residence, to marshall.trimble@scottsdalecc.edu or Ask the Marshall, P.O. Box 8008, Cave Creek, AZ 85327.