No self-respecting cowboy would refer to a lasso.
A rope was a rope.
Roping was the activity and rope was the instrument.
However, the magic that could be worked fascinated Americans, and the Wild West Show for a time rivaled the circus as exciting entertainment in the nineteenth century.
Fascinated, youngsters practiced at being Wild Bill Hickoks.
In a later era, Will Rogers entranced audiences with his rope tricks accompanying his famous monologues.
This short introduction to the basics of the lasso was almost a bible to generations of backyard enthusiasts.
Certainly it is a reminder of a time when having fun did not require a flat screen.
Westphalia Press Lariats and lassos: bernard s. mason's how to spin a rope, paperback/bernard s. mason
