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.