b'DID YOU KNOW, IN THE OLD WEST.By Lee Anderson, Old West Living Historian, Award Winning Author, and Old School HorsemanLee Anderson and his horse, Concho, are well known around the state doing presentations in schools, corporate events, and civic events.Learn more about them and his book on his website. historicaloldwest.orgI n January of 1848,sick or hurt to get well or (2) eliminate a before gold waspredator such as a wolf, mountain lion, discovered at Suttersor a bear. A handgun is pretty much Mill in California, flour sold for $4 peruseless beyond about 20 feet for the hundredweight (200 lbs.) and beef was $2average person and no predator is going per hundredweight. By December of 1848to allow a person to get that close. So, if gold had been discovered and flour jumpeda working ranch hand carried a firearm to $27 per hundredweight and beef to $20.it was more than likely a rifle that was Eggs were rare and, if even available, weresupplied by the ranch owner. It would often auctioned off and could bring aswork just fine inmuch as $1 to $8 each. The cost ofboth cases.food and other supplies climbed to over 400 times their actualT he ranch supplied the horsessame time. A cowboys work was rough on value. Price gouging andbut a cowboy provided charging whatever the marketeverything else he needed. In the lateclothing and gear and it needed to be replaced will bear is nothing new. 1800s, a decent saddle was $30 to $40.often. They hired on in the spring and were A pair of chaps would run $5 to $10laid off in the fall. At a dollar a day and food A depending on style and material. A(room and board) for about cowboy had to be highly skilled at two things; handling a rope and staying aboard any halfdecent hat would cost him $5. Good6 months out of the year he broke, mean-tempered, jug-headed, piece of crowboots were $10 to $20. A saddle blanketmade about $180. Supplying bait horse he was handed and get a hard days work(big enough to sleep on) would beand replacing all this stuff out of it. These and a multitude of other things$5 to $8. Spurs, a bridle, a rope, etc.,on a regular basis didnt were way ahead of the need to shoot a handgunwould take another $5. A completeleave very much for whiskey, accurately or even carry one. There were only twooutfit, including his shirt and pants, could cost himtobacco, and other forms of reasons a working ranch hand might need a firearmanywhere from $50 to $150, depending. Of course,entertainment. on the job; (1) to put down an animal that was toolike people today, he seldom purchased it all at the Family owned and operated since 1988One of the largest inventories in town!buy / sell / tradeon-site gunsmithingLeather goods for cowboy shootingWide variety of holsters from cowboy guns to modern firearmsCentr a lly Located & Ea sy Acces s from I-17: 5130 N 19th Av e / PhoenixTuesday thru friday: 10am - 6pm / Saturday: 10am - 5pmlegendaryguns.com / 602-242-1195ArizonaRealCountry.com April 2023 9'