The daily gazette., 1875-11-02
lLlFF, THE CATTLE KING.
A COLORADO CATTLE RANGE 10y
MILES LONG.
From the Omdhd Herald.
JuIRsBIJRG, Oct. Is, 1878.

Of the cattle king OF the west a'd
tn. "uoss rancho If the couutr =,
TIE cattle ki & is uone other than
III. w. Inf, whose rancho is in
northern Co orado. ihe rancho is
1856 miles long, and begins at Jules
burg on tn east md extends to
Greeley on the west. 1t includes
bottom and upland ranges, and has
several camps or ranches. The
chief rancho is nearly south o.
Sidney and about forty miles from
Jluesburg. At this rancho the,c
are houses and sheds, aud some
more than TWO sections OF lands
fenced in All the cattle bought
by Mr. llin are turned over to him
and branded a. this place. Here
ore h private stock yards, with
corrals, chutes, and all the necessary
conveniences for handling cattle
1t is on the South Platte river, and
of course las fine watering facili-
ties, while from the botto II land ad-
jacent plenty Of hay may be cut for
the use of the norses employed in
herdtng He cuts no hay for his
cattle. hey live the entire year
on the rich native grass on his
range, and with the exception of
severe winter now and then, the
percentage ofloss is not very great.
Mr.. Iliff is thorough cattle man,
and from his long experience has o
perfect knowledge Of the business.
de has bought and now owns some
twenty thousand acres OF his pres
ent range, and will undoubtedly
purchase more land as soon as it
comes into market. He now owns
10000 head of cattle, and will have
this number alter his sales for the
present year are completed. The
number of calves branded this year
on his rancho will be from, 4,500
to 5000 head, Land his sales of three
and four year old steers and fat
cows the present fall will probably
amount to about the same number.
He told me he expected to realize
the sum Of S33 per head net on his
sales this year.
at this rate 1870 head would
bring him the snug little sum of
Sl4S,50 To take care Of this
immense herd he employs from
twenty to thirty-tive men-very
few usually in the winter, and the
largest number during the "round
ups in the spring. At the present
time he has twentyfour men en-
ployed, dhd is cutting out OF his
herd the four-year old steers and
fat cows which he intends t. snip.
While engaged at this work the
same men are gathering the COWS
with unbranded calves, which 'Lev
put into the orrals near by, and
after the calves are branded they
are turned loo.c with the herd
again. His heri is rapidly being
graded up by the Introduction Of
thoroughbred Durham bulls.
In addition to the cattle raised
on his rancho, he deals largely in
Texas and lndial cattle, and has
now advertised for 10000 head Of
leNaS cattle to lie delivered at his
rancho in July Of next year Mr..
Iliif estimates the increase of cat
tie from his home herd-outside of
purchases and sales-to be about
TO per cent per year, and about
equally divided as to gender. His
shipping points are at Pine Bluffs
ann Julesburg on the Union Pacific
and at Deer's 'l'rail, on the Kansas
Pacific.
Lest any one should come to the
conclusion that this business is all
profit and that the expenses and
losses do not amount to much, let
me further state that Mr.. lifts pol
icy is to keep his expenses as low
as possible, having the keeping and
safety OF his cattle constantly in
view. Last year think the ex-
penses Of herdiag, &c., amounted
to less than $4,000, and will
amount to still less sum this
year. But the losses from thefts
and death some years are ir;ghtful.
The winter Of IL, Think, was
very severe. There were deep
SHOWS overhiS range that remained
on the ground long time, and the
storms were incessant. In the
midst Of these storms Mr.. IliiT Wis
tied his rancho and found his cattle
literally dying by thousands. ON
| the islands i'll the South Platte
river he found and drove off into
1.-THE sand bill S on the south side
after great eXertion, SINE 200
head, and Of this number, less than
half have since been recovered.