Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1875-12-24
A 1sEsgz;ssN FILL KING.
10000 aaead OF C attic i'm n pasiu re
$50 MiEt Long.

10000 aaead OF C attic i'm n Pasture
$50 NAL = Long.
[Corre~r oId Mt Uzlaht Herald
propose to give some account OF
the cattle king OF the West and the
boss ranch" of the country The
cattle king is none other than j. w
lift whose ranch is in North 'rn Colo
RADIO. This ranch is $50 miles long.
and b gu, at Julo sburg Oh the east
and extends TO Greeley on the west.
1t il u,ies bottom and upl and ranges,
aud ha- Sc eral camps or ranches.
The Chief ranch is nearly south OF
Sidney, and abont forty miles from
Julesburg At this ranch there ara
houses aud sheds and something more
than two stctious Uf iaad feucrd In,
All thu cattle bought by Mr.. Tiff are
tnrnrd over TO him and branded at
this place. Here as his private stock
yards, with corrals, chutes, and all the
necessary convenience for handling
cattle. It is on the South Platte river,
AID of course has the watering facii-
ties, while from the bottom land adj
.c::nt plenty of hGJ may be cut for
tne use OF the horses employed in herd
ing H cuts no nay for the use of
his cattle. They IL the entire year
Oh the rich natIv'. grass on his lang,
and with ttie exception Of Il severe
winter now and then, the perc ntaSe
of loss is not very great. Mr.. Intf Is
thorough cattle man, 4H from MS
ong exp Il Ice has ape at KIN W. dg'
O: the bu,,oess. He has bought aud
now owns some ~, 900 acres OF ms
present range, ANA will undoubtedly
purchase more land ase0Ou as It C 'int-s
mic ths. market. He now OWNS %, ESQ
lad OF cattle aud w!i have tils uuin
Der after after his ~9i.s FIR lie
present year are completed. The num-
Ter of calves branded this year OH his
.nch will b. from 4. 500 to 5000 head,
a,.i his raj. Of three nj four year
old steers and at COWS the present fail
viii probably amount to about the
saIu.,-nmher. H. told me he expected
to realize the SUM of thi,ty-three dol
lars pei head net Oh his sales this year.
At this rate 4 500 head would brlng
him the snug little sum of $148, 500
To take care of this Immense Gt ri he
employs from twelve TO ty-tiva
men--very few, usually, i tie winter.
and the largest number during the
ground ups" in the spring. At the
present time he has twenty-f Ur men
the four-year- old steers and fat cows
which he intends to ship Wh"n en-
gagged / this work the same men are
gathering the COWS with unO! abde d
caves, which they put into the corrals
Dear by, aud, affer the calves are
branded. they are turned loose with
being g.;.d, Il up by the introduction
III, ..,,J YIN II,
addition to til" catte raised on thus
RAJ ch he deals largely iii Trxa, AMI
| ,iian cutie, and has now advertised
for twenty Thousand head OF Iexas
cattle to be delivered at lbs ranch i'll
July of next y. ar. Mr.. Tiff estimates
the increase Of cattle from his home
netd outside of purchases and sales
to be about seventy per cent. per
year, aud to be about equally divided
as to gender. His shipping poiuts are
at Pine Bluff and juiesburg, on the
Pocifc, and at De-rs Tail, on the
! Kansas Pacific.
Lest any one should come to the
CONCLUSION that the business is al
profit and that the EXPENSES and losses
do not amount to mach, let me state
thai Mr.. iltf'- policy is to keep hi ,
expenses as low as possible, having the
keeping and safety of his cattle con-
stantly in view. Last year, l think,
! the expenses of herding, etc amount to
| less than $4,000. But the losses from
! thefts and deaths some years are fright
/ full. The winter of 1871 2 wasv ry Sc
we're. There were deep SHOWS over this
range that remained on the ground a
! long time, and the storms were iuces-
SAINT. In the midst of these storLas
| Mr.. Tiff visited his ranch, and found
bis cattle Literally dying by Thousands.
! On the islands In the South Platte
River he found and drove off into the
sand hills on tie sonth side, after great
exertion, sone 2, 700 head, and of til S
number less than half have since b en-
recovered. Their bleaching bones now
! Written the pains IL the vacinity where
/ they were fl oz=n to- dpat h. and those that
were r. cpvered.were found IN two differ
{ eut States and four different Territories
of tie Union. More than S24 coo we.e
expended III tying to find them. Nor
was this ali. Ii Was jmposibie to tell
! for a lumber of years how much the
loss had been. Ills book bowed Il, ar
ly 5000 head unaccouDted for. NJ
trace Of t. em beyond skeletons could
be found, and al last-ln the spring OF
| 1874, / think 1t was-this number was
charged to profit and loss account, and
and the b noks baluuced for new tart
This large number would probably
have averaged S2D per head could tn, Y
lave ben sold the TALL previous, and
at his rate thy wouid have amounted
to 500, 900 l es mat his cap.ta in
Yes ed in the cattle business at $500. 00J
and yet, from its very nature, he is
liable to lose half Of it during the
coming season.