Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1873-07-09

la rood-sized herd, but now We i
not think . herd respectable TO star
ont with II IL has NJ moro than ~
ltcen hundred or two thousand In j
When I commenced 70 drive Mort
tail 1 had to do was to 60 into alnios
: any county In North or Northwest
ern Texas aud leave word ut Q Ger
tain place what kind Of cattle l want
ed, and then, having got ready y
start, I put OF, my 'lroad brand" I.
make you more fully acquainted will
this brondiiig business, you must IN
derstnnd that brands in TcxGs ARK
held by proprietary right the same
as q piece of real estate. A tuai
having located his cattle rauche. se'
lccts q brand for his cattle, has 10 re
corded III the county records, nnd
thereafter, Is deemed the legal owner
of nil stock in TINT county or range
bearing his brand. Hence, when d
herd Is made up to be driven North,
from several different herds, the
raiser signs n deed Of transfer fol-
so many head from his estate, and TO
keep these cattle distinct q "road
brandt is put upon them SO that
the drovcr may know and keep
distinct his own from other herds
with which he may como in contact
with on his way North.
Having put my road brand upon
my cattle, ! hire my "cow boys" or
drivers; these are generally young
herders, Mexican %rancher0s and
ex.confederate soldiers, to whom l
pay from $50 to $35 per month, or IL
they mount themselves, | pay them
| $50 or $75 per month the round trip.
It requires at least three horses to
each ''cow boy" to mount him effect
ually. Having completed my "out-
fit" I START my herd North in charge
of q reliable foreman or "boss."
"Thc drive".is made in about thirty
or forty days, many cattle reaching
the place of shipment in fair order,
when two or three months upon these
Kansas plains puts them in fair mar,
ketnble order. l have about 10000
head now on trial, some of which
have already arrived.
Correspondent How long do you
think Texas can stand this constant
drain upon her native herds ere the
supply of salablo and beef cattle
will be cxhausted2
Mr.. Mayberry: l candidly believe,
sir, that the time has already arrived
when cattle cannot be bought and
that next you will see "stock cattle"
sold here at Ellsworth and in Color
ado 20 be driven to Texne. Why,
sir, you have no idea how thoroughly
Texas has been cleaned out within
the past five years. At first we
drove nothing north of the state line
but becvcs, and these were those old
long-horned fellows, with eight or ten
wrinkles upon their horns. Then we
got to driving four, then threc.year
Odds, and within the past two years
hundreds of Thousands of cows, year.
lings and two-year Odds have been
driven out. The effect has been to
entirely depopulate whole counties
i'll Northern and Northw estern Texas
Of the large herds which once grazed
upon their open pastures. Our best
Battlefield now is among tho herds
OF the Gaudaloupe mountains in Wes-
tern Texas, and down upon the coast
Rio Grande, where there are still
driver.
Correspondent: I have been re-
peatedly cautioned against giving
crcdence to these statements regard
ing the reported exhaustion Of the
Texas cattle-ficlds.
Mr.. Maybcrry: Yes, sir; I know
that the Chicago and Kansas City
buyers all laugh at us for telling them
the truth, and tell us we are attcmpt-
ing to ''sell" them as well as our cat
tie. But we have cried wolf SO often,
that now the wolf is upon us, they
decline 10 believe us. But time will
tell, and olyy one more years time
1t that. Tns5 will all be looking to
and Colorado for their beefin
1874 and 1875.
AT THE FOCUS OF TRADE. T,
We arrived ut Ellsworth after one
ride from the Arkansas river.
found great preparations being
for the fall trade. Large and I
cattle pens have been I
'uilt by the Kansas Pacific railway, /
branch banks and commission offices =
been opened for the accommo- r
latl0H of the trade, and every facili- I
y offered the drover to market his :
attic. !.
With the assistance of Mcssrs. =
1%ayberry, Myers, Cox and Col. Hum =
or, stock agents at Ellsworth, your =
correspondent was enabled to obtain =
n accurate list of the herders then :,
eported ut the Drovers' Cottage al 9
Ellsworth. This list embraced the r
alncs OF seventy drovcrs or owners I
! herds amount to 1880 head. r.
his was considered less than hall =
I the drove to be marketed ut Ellis i.
'Orth during the present season, n
lisWorth will retain her supremacy i,
I the cattle trade for almost one ii
car, when the fast increasing settle n
Ients. wall drive it still further west .,
to Ellis and Russell-where prepa- n
'tlons are now i'll progress to re- "
I'VE 1t, and where many thousand II
title will , shipped this year.
CATTLE IN COLORADO.
The excursion party returned 10 OF
ansas City, while your correspond in
It proceeded westward. The cattle III ~
nGc extends along the entire length m
The Kansas Pacific railway, and
en- far into the ''foot-hills" ut the
Ise OF the "Rockies." AT Ellis sta W
IN, at Russell and Wallace, cattl.
large bodies-2,0O0 or 5000 in al .
found grazing side by CHI
&c. with the buffalo, which have to iHl
herded to keep them out of the sc u,
title herds. The plains are covered vo
It'll short and nutritious verdure. me
bile every few miles streams OF pr,
re water are found in sufficient co!
for herding purposes. i'm in,
ock dealers here in this section OF is
dorado assert that they will have hi
least $4,000 head of tbceves" TO an,
i've East this fall, while over the ia.
l or upon the Arkansas valley
'pe there Is an equal number O.,
lrketable cattle. The season has eve
en- very backward, but the grass is bul
and tho cattle in tirst-class con-
'ioh' PUCK. !.