in the night. My wife's trunk was half full of scrip, I had had a
surveyor on the ground only a year before, and now the opportunity had
passed.

But my disappointment was my wife's delight, as there was no longer
any necessity for keeping secret our holdings in land scrip. The
little tin trunk held a snug fortune, and next to the babies, my
wife took great pride in showing visitors the beautiful lithographed
certificates. My ambition was land and cattle, but now that the scrip
had a cash value, my wife took as much pride in those vouchers as if
the land had been surveyed, recorded, and covered with our own herds.
I had met so many reverses that I was grateful for any smile of
fortune, and bore my disappointment with becoming grace. My ranch
had branded over eight thousand calves that fall, and as long as it
remained an open range I had room for my holdings of cattle. There was
no question but that the public domain was bountiful, and if it were
necessary I could go farther west and locate a new ranch. But it
secretly grieved me to realize that what I had so fondly hoped for had
come without warning and found me unprepared. I might as well have
held title to half a million acres of the Clear Fork Valley as a
paltry hundred and fifty sections.

Little time was given me to lament over spilt milk. On the return from
my first trip to the Clear Fork, reports from the War and Interior
departments were awaiting me. Two contracts to the army and four to
Indian agencies had been awarded us, all of which could be filled with
through cattle. The military allotments would require six thousand
heavy beeves for delivery on the upper Missouri River in Dakota,
while the nation's wards would require thirteen thousand cows at four
different agencies in the Indian Territory. My active partner was due
in Fort Worth within a week, while bonds for the faithful fulfillment
of our contracts would be executed by our silent partner at
Washington, D.C. These awards meant an active year to our firm, and
besides there was our established trade around The Grove, which we had
no intention of abandoning. The government was a sure market, and as
long as a healthy demand continued in Kansas for young cattle, the
firm of Hunter, Anthony & Co. would be found actively engaged in
supplying the same.

Major Hunter arrived under a high pressure of enthusiasm. By
appointment we met in Fort Worth, and after carefully reviewing the
situation we took train and continued on south to San Antonio. I had
seen a herd of beeves, a few years before, from the upper Nueces
River, and remembered them as good heavy cattle. There were two
dollars a head difference, even in ages among younger stock, between
the lower and upper counties in the State, and as it was pounds
quantity that we wanted for the army, it was our intention to look
over the cattle along the Nueces River before buying our supply of
beeves. We met a number of acquaintances in San Antonio, all of whom
recommended us to go west if in search of heavy cattle, and a few days
later we reached Uvalde County. This was the section from which the
beeves had come that impressed me so favorably; I even remembered
the ranch brands, and without any difficulty we located the owners,
finding them anxious to meet buyers for their mature surplus cattle.
We spent a week along the Frio, Leona, and Nueces rivers, and closed
contracts on sixty-one hundred five to seven year old beeves. The
cattle were not as good a quality as prairie-raised north Texas stock,
but the pounds avoirdupois were there, the defects being in their
mongrel colors, length of legs, and breadth of horns, heritages from
the original Spanish stock. Otherwise they were tall as a horse,
clean-limbed as a deer, and active on their feet, and they looked like
fine walkers. I estimated that two bits a head would drive them to
Red River, and as we bought them at three dollars a head less than
prevailing prices for the same-aged beeves north of or parallel to
Fort Worth, we were well repaid for our time and trouble.

We returned to San Antonio and opened a bank account. The 15th of
March was agreed on to receive. Two remudas of horses would have to
be secured, wagons fitted up, and outfits engaged. Heretofore I had
furnished all horses for trail work, but now, with our enlarging
business, it would be necessary to buy others, which would be done at
the expense of the firm. George Edwards was accordingly sent for, and
met us at Waco. He was furnished a letter of credit on our San Antonio
bank, and authorized to buy and equip two complete outfits for the
Uvalde beeves. Edwards was a good judge of horses, there was an
abundance of saddle stock in the country, and he was instructed to buy
not less than one hundred and twenty-five head for each remuda, to
outfit his wagons with four-mule teams, and announce us as willing to
engage fourteen men to the herd. Once these details were arranged for,
Major Hunter and myself bought two good horses and struck west for
Coryell County, where we had put up two herds the spring before. Our
return met with a flood of offerings, prices of the previous year
still prevailed, and we let contracts for sixty-five hundred
three-year-old steers and an equal number of dry and barren cows. We
paid seven dollars a head for the latter, and in order to avoid any
dispute at the final tender it was stipulated that the offerings
must be in good flesh, not under five nor over eight years old, full
average in weight, and showing no evidence of pregnancy. Under local
customs, "a cow was a cow," and we had to be specific.

We did our banking at Waco for the Coryell herds. Hastening north, our
next halt was in Hood County, where we bought thirty-three hundred
two-year-old steers and three thousand and odd cows. This completed
eight herds secured--three of young steers for the agricultural
regions, and five intended for government delivery. We still lacked
one for the Indian Bureau, and as I offered to make it up from my
holdings, and on a credit, my active partner consented. I was putting
in every dollar at my command, my partners were borrowing freely at
home, and we were pulling together like a six-mule team to make
a success of the coming summer's work. It was now the middle of
February, and my active partner went to Fort Worth, where I did my
banking, to complete his financial arrangements, while I returned to
the ranch to organize the forces for the coming campaign. All the
latter were intrusted to me, and while I had my old foremen at my beck
and call, it was necessary to employ five or six new ones. With our
deliveries scattered from the Indian Territory to the upper Missouri
River, as well as our established trade at The Grove, two of us could
not cover the field, and George Edwards had been decided on as the
third and trusted man. In a practical way he was a better cowman than
I was, and with my active Yankee partner for a running mate they made
a team that would take care of themselves in any cow country.

A good foreman is a very important man in trail work. The drover or
firm may or may not be practical cowmen, but the executive in the
field must be the master of any possible situation that may arise,
combining the qualities of generalship with the caution of an
explorer. He must be a hail-fellow among his men, for he must command
by deserving obedience; he must know the inmost thoughts of his herd,
noting every sign of alarm or distress, and willingly sacrifice any
personal comfort in the interest of his cattle or outfit. I had a few
such men, boys who had grown up in my employ, several of whom I would
rather trust in a dangerous situation with a herd than take active
charge myself. No concern was given for their morals, but they must
be capable, trustworthy, and honest, as they frequently handled large
sums of money. All my old foremen swore by me, not one of them would
accept a similar situation elsewhere, and in selecting the extra trail
bosses their opinion was valued and given due consideration.

Not having driven anything from my ranch the year before, a fine herd
of twos, threes, and four-year-old steers could easily be made up. It
was possible that a tenth and individual herd might be sent up the
country, but no movement to that effect was decided on, and my regular
ranch hands had orders only to throw in on the home range and gather
outside steer cattle and dry cows. I had wintered all my saddle horses
on the Clear Fork, and once the foremen were decided on, they repaired
to the ranch and began outfitting for the start. The Coryell herds
were to be received one week later than the beef cattle, and the
outfits would necessarily have to start in ample time to meet us
on our return from the upper Nueces River country. The two foremen
allotted to Hood County would start a week later still, so that we
would really move north with the advance of the season in receiving
the cattle under contract. Only a few days were required in securing
the necessary foremen, a remuda was apportioned to each, and credit
for the commissary supplies arranged for, the employment of the men
being left entirely to the trail bosses. Taking two of my older
foremen with me, I started for Fort Worth, where an agreeable surprise
awaited me. We had been underbidden at the War Department on both our
proposals for northern wintered beeves. The fortunate bidder on one
contract was refused the award,--for some duplicity in a former
transaction, I learned later,--and the Secretary of War had approached
our silent partner to fill the deficiency. Six weeks had elapsed,
there was no obligation outstanding, and rather than advertise and
relet the contract, the head of the War Department had concluded to
allot the deficiency by private award. Major Hunter had been burning
the wires between Fort Worth and Washington, in order to hold the
matter open until I came in for a consultation. The department had
offered half a cent a pound over and above our previous bid, and we
bribed an operator to reopen his office that night and send a message
of acceptance. We had ten thousand cattle wintering on the Medicine
River, and it would just trim them up nicely to pick out all the
heavy, rough beeves for filling an army contract.

When we had got a confirmation of our message, we proceeded on south,
accompanied by the two foremen, and reached Uvalde County within a
week of the time set for receiving. Edwards had two good remudas in
pastures, wagons and teams secured, and cooks and wranglers on hand,
and it only remained to pick the men to complete the outfits. With
three old trail foremen on the alert for good hands while the
gathering and receiving was going on, the help would be ready in
ample time to receive the herds. Gathering the beeves was in active
operation on our arrival, a branding chute had been built to
facilitate the work, and all five of us took to the saddle in
assisting ranchmen in holding under herd, as we permitted nothing to
be corralled night or day. The first herd was completed on the 14th,
and the second a day later, both moving out without an hour's delay,
the only instructions being to touch at Great Bend, Kansas, for final
orders. The cattle more than came up to expectations, three fourths of
them being six and seven years old, and as heavy as oxen. There was
something about the days of the open range that left its impression on
animals, as these two herds were as uniform in build as deer, and I
question if the same country to-day has as heavy beeves.

Three days were lost in reaching Coryell County, where our outfits
were in waiting and twenty others were at work gathering cattle. The
herds were made up and started without a hitch, and we passed on to
Hood County, meeting every date promptly and again finding the trail
outfits awaiting us. Leaving my active partner and George Edwards to
receive the two herds, I rode through to the Clear Fork in a single
day. A double outfit had been at work for the past two weeks gathering
outside cattle and had over a thousand under herd on my arrival.
Everything had worked out so nicely in receiving the purchased herds
that I finally concluded to send out my steers, and we began gathering
on the home range. By making small round-ups, we disturbed the young
calves as little as possible. I took charge of the extra outfit and my
ranch foreman of his own, one beginning on the west end of my range,
the other going north and coming down the Brazos. At the end of a week
the two crews came together with nearly eight thousand cattle under
herd. The next day we cut out thirty-five hundred cows and started
them on the trail, turning free the remnant of she stuff, and began
shaping up the steers, using only the oldest in making up thirty-two
hundred head. There were fully two thousand threes, the remainder
being nearly equally divided between twos and fours. No road branding
was necessary; the only delay in moving out was in provisioning a
wagon and securing a foreman. Failing in two or three quarters, I
at last decided on a young fellow on my ranch, and he was placed in
charge of the last herd. Great Bend was his destination, I instructed
him where to turn off the Chisholm trail,--north of the Salt Fork in
the Cherokee Outlet,--and he started like an army with banners.

I rejoined my active partner at Fort Worth. The Hood County cattle had
started a week before, so taking George Edwards with us, we took train
for Kansas. Major Hunter returned to his home, while Edwards and I
lost no time in reaching the Medicine River. A fortnight was spent in
riding our northern range, when we took horses and struck out for Pond
Creek in the Outlet. The lead herds were due at this point early in
May, and on our arrival a number had already passed. A road house and
stage stand had previously been established, the proprietor of which
kept a register of passing herds for the convenience of owners. None
of ours were due, yet we looked over the "arrivals" with interest, and
continued on down the trail to Red Fork. The latter was a branch of
the Arkansas River, and at low water was inclined to be brackish,
and hence was sometimes called the Salt Fork, with nothing to
differentiate it from one of the same name sixty miles farther north.
There was an old Indian trading post at Red Fork, and I lay over there
while Edwards went on south to meet the cows. His work for the summer
was to oversee the deliveries at the Indian agencies, Major Hunter
was to look after the market at The Bend, and I was to attend to the
contracts at army posts on the upper Missouri. Our first steer herd to
arrive was from Hood County, and after seeing them safely on the Great
Bend trail at Pond Creek, I waited for the other steer cattle from
Coryell to arrive. Both herds came in within a day of each other,
and I loitered along with them, finally overtaking the lead one when
within fifty miles of The Bend. In fair weather it was a delightful
existence to loaf along with the cattle; but once all three herds
reached their destination, two outfits held them, and I took the Hood
County lads and dropped back on the Medicine. Our ranch hands had
everything shaped up nicely, and by working a double outfit and making
round-ups at noon, when the cattle were on water, we quietly cut
out three thousand head of our biggest beeves without materially
disturbing our holdings on that range. These northern wintered cattle
were intended for delivery at Fort Abraham Lincoln on the Missouri
River in what is now North Dakota. The through heavy beeves from
Uvalde County were intended for Fort Randall and intermediate posts,
some of them for reissue to various Indian agencies. The reservations
of half a dozen tribes were tributary to the forts along the upper
Missouri, and the government was very liberal in supplying its wards
with fresh beef.

The Medicine River beeves were to be grazed up the country to Fort
Lincoln. We passed old Fort Larned within a week, and I left the
outfit there and returned to The Bend. The outfit in charge of the
wintered cattle had orders to touch at and cross the Missouri River at
Fort Randall, where I would meet them again near the middle of July.
The market had fairly opened at Great Bend, and I was kept busy
assisting Major Hunter until the arrival of the Uvalde beef herds.
Both came through in splendid condition, were admired by every buyer
in the market, and passed on north under orders to graze ten miles a
day until reaching their destination. By this time the whereabouts of
all the Indian herds were known, yet not a word had reached me from
the foreman of my individual cattle after crossing into the Nations.
It was now the middle of June, and there were several points en
route from which he might have mailed a letter, as did all the other
foremen. Herds, which crossed at Red River Station a week after my
steers, came into The Bend and reported having spoken no "44" cattle
en route. I became uneasy and sent a courier as far south as the state
line, who returned with a comfortless message. Finally a foreman in
the employ of Jess Evens came to me and reported having taken dinner
with a "44" outfit on the South Canadian; that the herd swam the river
that afternoon, after which he never hailed them again. They were my
own dear cattle, and I was worrying; I was overdue at Fort Randall,
and in duty bound to look after the interests of the firm. Major
Hunter came to the rescue, in his usual calm manner, and expressed his
confidence that all would come out right in the end; that when the
mystery was unraveled the foreman would be found blameless.

I took a night train for the north, connected with a boat on the
Missouri River, and by finally taking stage reached Fort Randall. The
mental worry of those four days would age an ordinary man, but on my
arrival at the post a message from my active partner informed me that
my cattle had reached Dodge City two weeks before my leaving. Then the
scales fell from my eyes, as I could understand that when inquiries
were made for the Salt Fork, some wayfarer had given that name to
the Red Fork; and the new Dodge trail turned to the left, from the
Chisholm, at Little Turkey, the first creek crossed after leaving the
river. The message was supplemented a few days later by a letter,
stating that Dodge City would possibly be a better market than the
Bend, and that my interests would be looked after as well as if I were
present. A load was lifted from my shoulders, and when the wintered
cattle passed Randall, the whole post turned out to see the beef herd
on its way up to Lincoln. The government line of forts along the
Missouri River had the whitest lot of officers that it was ever my
good fortune to meet. I was from Texas, my tongue and colloquialisms
of speech proclaimed me Southern-born, and when I admitted having
served in the Confederate army, interest and attention was only
heightened, while every possible kindness was simply showered on me.

The first delivery occurred at Fort Lincoln. It was a very simple
affair. We cut out half a dozen average beeves, killed, dressed, and
weighed them, and an honest average on the herd was thus secured. The
contract called for one and a half million pounds on foot; our tender
overran twelve per cent; but this surplus was accepted and paid for.
The second delivery was at Fort Pierre and the last at Randall, both
of which passed pleasantly, the many acquaintances among army men that
summer being one of my happiest memories. Leaving Randall, we put in
to the nearest railroad point returning, where thirty men were sent
home, after which we swept down the country and arrived at Great Bend
during the last week in September. My active partner had handled
his assignment of the summer's work in a masterly manner, having
wholesaled my herd at Dodge City at as good figures as our other
cattle brought in retail quantities at The Bend. The former point had
received three hundred and fifty thousand Texas cattle that summer,
while every one conceded that Great Bend's business as a trail
terminal would close with that season. The latter had handled nearly a
quarter-million cattle that year, but like Abilene, Wichita, and other
trail towns in eastern Kansas, it was doomed to succumb to the advance
guard of pioneer settlers.

The best sale of the year fell to my active partner. Before the
shipping season opened, he sold, range count, our holdings on the
Medicine River, including saddle stock, improvements, and good will.
The cattle might possibly have netted us more by marketing them, but
it was only a question of time until the flow of immigration would
demand our range, and Major Hunter had sold our squatter's rights
while they had a value. A new foreman had been installed on our giving
up possession, and our old one had been skirmishing the surrounding
country the past month for a new range, making a favorable report on
the Eagle Chief in the Outlet. By paying a trifling rental to the
Cherokee Nation, permission could be secured to hold cattle on these
lands, set aside as a hunting ground. George Edwards had been rotting
all summer in issuing cows at Indian agencies, but on the first of
October the residue of his herds would be put in pastures or turned
free for the winter. Major Hunter had wound up his affairs at The
Bend, and nothing remained but a general settlement of the summer's
work. This took place at Council Grove, our silent partner and Edwards
both being present. The profits of the year staggered us all. I was
anxious to go home, the different outfits having all gone by rail or
overland with the remudas, with the exception of the two from Uvalde,
which were property of the firm. I had bought three hundred extra
horses at The Bend, sending them home with the others, and now nothing
remained but to stock the new range in the Cherokee Outlet. Edwards
and my active partner volunteered for this work, it being understood
that the Uvalde remudas would be retained for ranch use, and that
not over ten thousand cattle were to be put on the new range for the
winter. Our silent partner was rapidly awakening to the importance of
his usefulness in securing future contracts with the War and Indian
departments, and vaguely outlining the future, we separated to three
points of the compass.




CHAPTER XIV

ESTABLISHING A NEW RANCH


I hardly knew Fort Worth on my return. The town was in the midst of
a boom. The foundations of many store buildings were laid on Monday
morning, and by Saturday night they were occupied and doing a
land-office business. Lots that could have been bought in the spring
for one hundred dollars were now commanding a thousand, while land
scrip was quoted as scarce at twenty-five cents an acre. I hurried
home, spoke to my wife, and engaged two surveyors to report one
week later at my ranch on the Clear Fork. Big as was the State and
boundless as was her public domain, I could not afford to allow this
advancing prosperity to catch me asleep again, and I firmly concluded
to empty that little tin trunk of its musty land scrip. True enough,
the present boom was not noticeable on the frontier, yet there was
a buoyant feeling in the air that betokened a brilliant future.
Something enthused me, and as my creed was land and cattle, I made up
my mind to plunge into both to my full capacity.

The last outfit to return from the summer's drive was detained on the
Clear Fork to assist in the fall branding. Another one of fifteen men
all told was chosen from the relieved lads in making up a surveying
party, and taking fifty saddle horses and a well-stocked commissary
with us, we started due west. I knew the country for some distance
beyond Fort Griffin, and from late maps in possession of the
surveyors, we knew that by holding our course, we were due to strike
a fork of the mother Brazos before reaching the Staked Plain. Holding
our course contrary to the needle, we crossed the Double Mountain
Fork, and after a week out from the ranch the brakes which form the
border between the lowlands and the Llano Estacado were sighted.
Within view of the foothills which form the approach of the famous
plain, the Salt and Double Mountain forks of the Brazos are not over
twelve miles apart. We traveled up the divide between these two
rivers, and when within thirty miles of the low-browed borderland a
halt was called and we went into camp. From the view before us one
could almost imagine the feelings of the discoverer of this continent
when he first sighted land; for I remember the thrill which possessed
our little party as we looked off into either valley or forward to the
menacing Staked Plain in our front. There was something primal in the
scene,--something that brought back the words, "In the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth." Men who knew neither creed nor
profession of faith felt themselves drawn very near to some great
creative power. The surrounding view held us spellbound by its beauty
and strength. It was like a rush of fern-scents, the breath of pine
forests, the music of the stars, the first lovelight in a mother's
eye; and now its pristine beauty was to be marred, as covetous eyes
and a lust of possession moved an earth-born man to lay hands on all
things created for his use.

Camp was established on the Double Mountain Fork. Many miles to the
north, a spur of the Plain extended eastward, in the elbow of which it
was my intention to locate the new ranch. A corner was established, a
meridian line was run north beyond the Salt Fork and a random one west
to the foothills. After a few days one surveyor ran the principal
lines while the other did the cross-sectioning and correcting back,
both working from the same camp, the wagon following up the work.
Antelope were seen by the thousands, frequently buffaloes were
sighted, and scarcely a day passed but our rifles added to the larder
of our commissary supplies. Within a month we located four hundred
sections, covering either side of the Double Mountain Fork, and
embracing a country ten miles wide by forty long. Coming back to our
original meridian line across to the Salt Fork, the work of surveying
that valley was begun, when I was compelled to turn homeward. A list
of contracts to be let by the War and Interior departments would be
ready by December 1, and my partners relied on my making all the
estimates. There was a noticeable advance of fully one dollar a head
on steer cattle since the spring before, and I was supposed to have
my finger on the pulse of supply and prices, as all government awards
were let far in advance of delivery. George Edwards had returned a few
days before and reported having stocked the new ranch in the Outlet
with twelve thousand steers. The list of contracts to be let had
arrived, and the two of us went over them carefully. The government
was asking for bids on the delivery of over two hundred thousand
cattle at various posts and agencies in the West, and confining
ourselves to well-known territory, we submitted bids on fifteen
awards, calling for forty-five thousand cattle in their fulfillment.

Our estimates were sent to Major Hunter for his approval, who in turn
forwarded them to our silent partner at Washington, to be submitted
to the proper departments. As the awards would not be made until the
middle of January, nothing definite could be done until then, so,
accompanied by George Edwards, I returned to the surveying party on
the Salt Fork of the Brazos. We found them busy at their work, the
only interruption having been an Indian scare, which only lasted a few
days. The men still carried rifles against surprise, kept a scout on
the lookout while at work, and maintained a guard over the camp and
remuda at night. During my absence they had located a strip of country
ten by thirty miles, covering the valley of the Salt Fork, and we
still lacked three hundred sections of using up the scrip. The river,
along which they were surveying, made an abrupt turn to the north, and
offsetting by sections around the bend, we continued on up the valley
for twenty miles or until the brakes of the Plain made the land no
longer desirable. Returning to our commencement point with still one
hundred certificates left, we extended the survey five miles down both
rivers, using up the last acre of scrip. The new ranch was irregular
in form, but it controlled the waters of fully one million acres of
fine grazing land and was clothed with a carpet of nutritive grasses.
This was the range of the buffalo, and the instinct of that animal
could be relied on in choosing a range for its successor, the Texas
cow.

The surveying over, nothing remained but the recording of the
locations at the county seat to which for legal purposes this
unorganized country was attached. All of us accompanied the outfit
returning, and a gala week we spent, as no less than half a dozen
buffalo robes were secured before reaching Fort Griffin. Deer and
turkey were plentiful, and it was with difficulty that I restrained
the boys from killing wantonly, as they were young fellows whose very
blood yearned for the chase or any diverting excitement. We reached
the ranch on the Clear Fork during the second week in January, and
those of the outfit who had no regular homes were made welcome guests
until work opened in the spring. My calf crop that fall had exceeded
all expectations, nearly nine thousand having been branded, while
the cattle were wintering in splendid condition. There was little or
nothing to do, a few hunts with the hounds merely killing time until
we got reports from Washington. In spite of all competition we secured
eight contracts, five with the army and the remainder with the Indian
Bureau.

Then the work opened in earnest. My active partner was due the first
of February, and during the interim George Edwards and I rode a circle
of five counties in search of brands of cattle for sale. In the course
of our rounds a large number of whole stocks were offered us, but
at firmer prices, yet we closed no trades, though many brands were
bargains. It was my intention to stock the new ranch on the Double
Mountain Fork the coming summer, and if arrangements could be agreed
on with Major Hunter, I might be able to repeat my success of the
summer of '74. Emigration to Texas was crowding the ranches to the
frontier, many of them unwillingly, and it appealed to me strongly
that the time was opportune for securing an ample holding of stock
cattle. The appearance of my active partner was the beginning of
active operations, and after we had outlined the programme for the
summer and gone through all the details thoroughly, I asked for the
privilege of supplying the cows on the Indian contracts. Never did
partners stand more willingly by each other than did the firm of
Hunter, Anthony & Co., and I only had to explain the opportunity of
buying brands at wholesale, sending the young steers up the trail and
the aging, dry, and barren cows to Indian agencies, to gain the hearty
approval of the little Yankee major. He was entitled to a great deal
of credit for my holdings in land, for from his first sight of Texas,
day after day, line upon line, precept upon precept, he had urged upon
me the importance of securing title to realty, while its equivalent
in scrip was being hawked about, begging a buyer. Now we rejoiced
together in the fulfillment of his prophecy, as I can lay little claim
to any foresight, but am particularly anxious to give credit where
credit is due.

With an asylum for any and all remnants of stock cattle, we authorized
George Edwards to close trades on a number of brands. Taking with us
the two foremen who had brought beef herds out of Uvalde County the
spring before, the major and I started south on the lookout for
beeves. The headwaters of the Nueces and its tributaries were again
our destination, and the usual welcome to buyers was extended with
that hospitality that only the days of the open range knew and
practiced. We closed contracts with former customers without looking
at their cattle. When a ranchman gave us his word to deliver us as
good or better beeves than the spring before, there was no occasion to
question his ability, and the cattle never deceived. There might arise
petty wrangles over trifles, but the general hungering for a market
among cowmen had not yet been satiated, and they offered us their best
that we might come again. We placed our contracts along three rivers
and over as many counties, limiting the number to ten thousand beeves
of the same ages and paying one dollar a head above the previous
spring. One of our foremen was provided with a letter of credit, and
the two were left behind to make up three new and complete outfits for
the trail.

This completed the purchase of beef cattle. Two of our contracts
called for northern wintered beeves, which would be filled out of our
holdings in the Cherokee Outlet. We again stopped in central Texas,
but prices were too firm, and we passed on west to San Saba and
Lampasas counties, where we effected trades on nine thousand five
hundred three-year-old steers. My own outfits would drop down from the
Clear Fork to receive these cattle, and after we had perfected our
banking arrangements the major returned to San Antonio and I started
homeward. George Edwards had in the mean time bargained for ten
brands, running anywhere from one to five thousand head, paying
straight through five to seven dollars, half cash and the balance
in eight months, everything to be delivered on the Clear Fork. We
intentionally made these deliveries late--during the last week in
March and the first one in April--in order that Major Hunter might
approve of the three herds of cows for Indian delivery. Once I had
been put in possession of all necessary details, Edwards started south
to join Major Hunter, as the receiving of the Nueces River beeves was
set for from the 10th to the 15th of March.

I could see a busy time ahead. There was wood to haul for the
branding, three complete outfits to start for the central part of the
State, new wagons to equip for the trail, and others to care for the
calf crop while en route to the Double Mountain Fork. There were oxen
to buy in equipping teams to accompany the stock cattle to the new
ranch, two yoke being allowed to each wagon, as it was strength and
not speed that was desired. My old foremen rallied at a word and
relieved me of the lesser details of provisioning the commissaries and
engaging the help. Trusty men were sent to oversee and look out for
my interests in gathering the different brands, the ranges of many of
them being fifty to one hundred miles distant. The different brands
were coming from six separate counties along the border, and on their
arrival at my ranch we must be ready to receive, brand, and separate
the herds into their respective classes, sending two grades to market
and the remnant to their new home at the foot of the Staked Plain. The
condition of the mules must be taken into consideration before the
army can move, and in cattle life the same reliance is placed on the
fitness for duty of the saddle horses. I had enough picked ones to
make up a dozen remudas if necessary, and rested easy on that score.
The date for receiving arrived and found us all ready and waiting.

The first herd was announced to arrive on the 25th of March. I met it
ten miles from the ranch. My man assured me that the brand as gathered
was intact and that it would run fifty per cent dry cows and steers
over two years old. A number of mature beeves even were noticeable and
younger steers were numerous, while the miscellany of the herd ran to
every class and condition of the bovine race. Two other brands were
expected the next day, and that evening the first one to arrive was
counted and accepted. The next morning the entire herd was run through
a branding chute and classified, all steers above a yearling and dry
and aging cows going into one contingent and the mixed cattle into
another. In order to save horseflesh, this work was easily done in the
corrals. By hanging a gate at the exit of the branding chute, a man
sat overhead and by swinging it a variation of two feet, as the cattle
trailed through the trough in single file, the herd was cut into two
classes. Those intended for the trail were put under herd, while the
stock cattle were branded into the "44" and held separate. The second
and third herds were treated in a similar manner, when we found
ourselves with over eleven thousand cattle on hand, with two other
brands due in a few days. But the evening of the fourth day saw a herd
of thirty-three hundred steers on its way to Kansas, while a second
one, numbering two hundred more than the first, was lopped off from
the mixed stuff and started west for the Double Mountain Fork.

The situation was eased. A conveyance had been sent to the railroad to
meet my partner, and before he and Edwards arrived two other brands
had been received. A herd of thirty-five hundred dry cows was approved
and started at once for the Indian Territory, while a second one
moved out for the west, cleaning up the holdings of mixed stuff.
The congestion was again relieved, and as the next few brands were
expected to run light in steers, everything except cows was held under
herd until all had been received. The final contingent came in from
Wise County and were shaped up, and the last herd of cows, completing
ten thousand five hundred, started for the Washita agency. I still had
nearly sixty-five hundred steers on hand, and cutting back all of a
small overplus of thin light cows, I had three brands of steers cut
into one herd and four into another, both moving out for Dodge City.
This left me with fully eight thousand miscellany on hand, with
nothing but my ranch outfit to hold them, close-herding by day and
bedding down and guarding them by night. Settlements were made with
the different sellers, my outstanding obligations amounting to over
one hundred thousand dollars, which the three steer herds were
expected to liquidate. My active partner and George Edwards took train
for the north. The only change in the programme was that Major Hunter
was to look after our deliveries at army posts, while I was to meet
our herds on their arrival in Dodge City. The cows were sold to the
firm, and including my individual cattle, we had twelve herds on the
trail, or a total of thirty-nine thousand five hundred head.

On the return of the first outfit from the west, some three weeks
after leaving, the herd of stock cattle was cut in two and started.
But a single man was left on the Clear Fork, my ranch foreman taking
one herd, while I accompanied the other. It requires the patience of
a saint to handle cows and calves, two wagons to the herd being
frequently taxed to their capacity in picking up the youngsters. It
was a constant sight to see some of the boys carrying a new-born calf
across the saddle seat, followed by the mother, until camp or the
wagon was reached. I was ashamed of my own lack of patience on that
trip, while irritable men could while away the long hours, nursing
along the drag end of a herd of cows and their toddling offspring.
We averaged only about ten miles a day, the herds were large and
unwieldy, and after twelve days out both were scattered along the Salt
Fork and given their freedom. Leaving one outfit to locate the cattle
on the new range, the other two hastened back to the Clear Fork and
gathered two herds, numbering thirty-five hundred each, of young
cows and heifers from the ranch stock. But a single day was lost in
rounding-up, when they were started west, half a day apart, and I
again took charge of an outfit, the trip being an easy one and made in
ten days, as the calves were large enough to follow and there were no
drag cattle among them. On our arrival at the new ranch, the cows
and heifers were scattered among the former herds, and both outfits
started back, one to look after the Clear Fork and the other to bring
through the last herd in stocking my new possessions. This gave me
fully twenty-five thousand mixed cattle on my new range, relieving the
old ranch of a portion of its she stuff and shaping up both stocks to
better advantage.

It was my intention to make my home on the Clear Fork thereafter, and
the ranch outfit had orders to build a comfortable house during the
summer. The frontier was rapidly moving westward, the Indian was no
longer a dread, as it was only a question of time until the Comanche
and his ally would imitate their red brethren and accept the dole of
the superior race. I was due in Dodge City the first of June, the
ranches would take care of themselves, and touching at the Edwards
ranch for a day, I reached "Dodge" before any of the herds arrived.
Here was a typical trail town, a winter resort for buffalo hunters, no
settlement for fifty miles to the east, and an almost boundless range
on which to hold through Texas cattle. The business was bound to
concentrate at this place, as all other markets were abandoned within
the State, while it was easily accessible to the mountain regions on
the west. It was the logical meeting point for buyers and drovers; and
while the town of that day has passed into history as "wicked Dodge,"
it had many redeeming features. The veneer of civilization may have
fallen, to a certain extent, from the wayfaring man who tarried in
this cow town, yet his word was a bond, and he reverenced the pure in
womanhood, though to insult him invited death.

George Edwards and Major Hunter had become such great chums that I was
actually jealous of being supplanted in the affections of the Yankee
major. The two had been inseparable for months, visiting at The Grove,
spending a fortnight together at the beef ranch in the Outlet, and
finally putting in an appearance at Dodge. Headquarters for the summer
were established at the latter point, our bookkeeper arrived, and
we were ready for business. The market opened earlier than at more
eastern points. The bulk of the sales were made to ranchmen, who used
whole herds where the agricultural regions only bought cattle by the
hundreds. It was more satisfactory than the retail trade; credit was
out of the question, and there was no haggling over prices. Cattle
companies were forming and stocking new ranges, and an influx of
English and Scotch capital was seeking investment in ranches and live
stock in the West,--a mere forerunner of what was to follow in later
years.

Our herds began arriving, and as soon as an outfit could be freed it
was started for the beef ranch under George Edwards, where a herd of
wintered beeves was already made up to start for the upper Missouri
River. Major Hunter followed a week later with the second relieved
outfit, and our cattle were all moving for their destinations. The
through beef herds from the upper Nueces River had orders to touch
at old Fort Larned to the eastward, Edwards drifted on to the Indian
agencies, and I bestirred myself to the task of selling six herds of
young cattle at Dodge. Once more I was back in my old element, except
that every feature of the latter market was on an enlarged scale.
Two herds were sold to one man in Colorado, three others went under
contract to the Republican River in Nebraska, and the last one was cut
into blocks and found a market with feeders in Kansas. Long before
deliveries were concluded to the War or Interior departments,
headquarters were moved back to The Grove, my work being done. In
the interim of waiting for the close of the year's business, our
bookkeeper looked after two shipments of a thousand head each from the
beef ranch, while I visited my brother in Missouri and surprised him
by buying a carload of thoroughbred bulls. Arrangements were made for
shipping them to Fort Worth during the last week in November, and
promising to call for them, I returned to The Grove to meet my
partners and adjust all accounts for the year.




CHAPTER XV

HARVEST HOME


The firm's profits for the summer of '77 footed up over two hundred
thousand dollars. The government herds from the Cherokee Outlet
paid the best, those sent to market next, while the through cattle
remunerated us in the order of beeves, young steers, and lastly cows.
There was a satisfactory profit even in the latter, yet the same
investment in other classes paid a better per cent profit, and the
banking instincts of my partners could be relied on to seek the
best market for our capital. There was nothing haphazard about our
business; separate accounts were kept on every herd, and at the end
of the season the percentage profit on each told their own story. For
instance, in the above year it cost us more to deliver a cow at an
agency in the Indian Territory than a steer at Dodge City, Kansas. The
herds sold in Colorado had been driven at an expense of eighty-five
cents a head, those delivered on the Republican River ninety, and
every cow driven that year cost us over one dollar a head in general
expense. The necessity of holding the latter for a period of four
months near agencies for issuing purposes added to the cost, and was
charged to that particular department of our business.

George Edwards and my active partner agreed to restock our beef ranch
in the Outlet, and I returned to Missouri. I make no claim of being
the first cowman to improve the native cattle of Texas, yet forty
years' keen observation has confirmed my original idea,--that
improvement must come through the native and gradually. Climatic
conditions in Texas are such that the best types of the bovine race
would deteriorate if compelled to subsist the year round on the open
range. The strongest point in the original Spanish cattle was their
inborn ability as foragers, being inured for centuries to drouth, the
heat of summer, and the northers of winter, subsisting for months on
prickly pear, a species of the cactus family, or drifting like game
animals to more favored localities in avoiding the natural afflictions
that beset an arid country. In producing the ideal range animal it
was more important to retain those rustling qualities than to gain a
better color, a few pounds in weight, and a shortening of horns and
legs, unless their possessor could withstand the rigors of a variable
climate. Nature befriends the animal race. The buffalo of Montana
could face the blizzard, while his brother on the plains of Texas
sought shelter from the northers in canons and behind sand-dunes,
guided by an instinct that foretold the coming storm.

I accompanied my car of thoroughbred bulls and unloaded them at the
first station north of Fort Worth. They numbered twenty-five, all
two-year-olds past, and were representative of three leading beef
brands of established reputation. Others had tried the experiment
before me, the main trouble being in acclimation, which affects
animals the same as the human family. But by wintering them at their
destination, I had hopes of inuring the importation so that they would
withstand the coming summer, the heat of which was a sore trial to a
northern-bred animal. Accordingly I made arrangements with a farmer
to feed my car of bulls during the winter, hay and grain both being
plentiful. They had cost me over five thousand dollars, and rather
than risk the loss of a single one by chancing them on the range, an
additional outlay of a few hundred dollars was justified. Limiting the