Kat - I think the only contradiction is that you're seeing some sort of conflict in granddaddy being both cattleman and cowboy. As long as he owned cattle and at least a bit of land to keep them on, he was a "cattleman" in the eyes of the "Associations," and he would have been welcomed (and probably "assessed" dues).

This wouldn't preclude his working his, or someone else's herd, as a cowboy, but without the "ownership" he wouldn't likely have had much to do with the Association(s).

Many "small ranchers" did, in fact, hire out as "cowboys" on nearby larger spreads, and while they were working in that capacity they would have been treated pretty much like "one of the boys." While this was mainly for the day to day ranch work, an owner might hire on for a drive just to learn the route when it came time to drive his own. Even as a "cowboy," if they passed near a town with a Cattleman's Club, he probably could have enjoyed a meal on a "real tablecloth" while the "just cowboys," who had no livestock of their own, ate at the saloon or hotel, off of oilcloth, at best.

There seem to be several of us who wish to quibble about scholarly resources who "authoritatively" define "proper" usage. I think the thread started off being about the local and colloquial jargon used in "cow country."

I would warn that few of the most prolific "western" authors were ever more than "visiting dudes" in the areas about which they wrote, and several of the most quoted never got west of Chicago - which is "back east where the cows got shipped." Additionally, they often wrote for "back east" readers, so they sometimes put on a few "airs" for the benefit of their "more sophisticated" readers. And early explorers were notoriously bad spelres.

Q - it's usually pronounced "herf-erd" rather than "her ford" around here.

And I believe someone pointed out that beef cattle don't live long enough for names for "mature" stock (or the sex of the animal) to matter much, with the exception of breeders.

Bovine draft animals are rare now, but I did go watch the Yoder Fair Mule Races a couple of years ago. It was a small town event, but the participants brought their working animals in, and put on quite a show. Festus may have had a good idea.

John