National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1875-10-19


accessible As Mr.. Bosler is represented as o
very shreUd and accomplished business man, it
can hardly be supposed that he falls to seek the
cattle which will yield to him the largest profit.
In addition to the foregoing evidence upon the
subject Of weights, the agent and his clerk and
during the years in question all cattle have been
received and receipted for ut their actual weights
and numbers. Upon this subject, also. we have
the testimony Of cattle dealers and men OF
perience in the trade. Among them is James F.
Ellison, of Texas, one Of the largest cattle
dealers in the country. He testifies as follows,
sold cattle to Mr.. Bosler last year. I sold
him about seven thousand head last year. They
were for the Indian contract. delivered part Of
them on the Platte, and part Of them on the
Missouri river for the Indian contract. They
were Texas cattle-cOws and beeyes-mostly
beeves. By beeves mean four ear-olds and up
ward. Anything under that would be consid.
cred stock cattle in the beef market. have seen
mate those cattle which / delivered to Mr. Bos-
Ter last year from $50 to $50 pounds, making
full average Of 900 pounds. They were cows
him, because had my contracts for young cattle
with other parties, and l never delivered him
anything but cows and beeves.
Mr.. ID. H. Snyder, of Texas, also heavy cattle
dealer, testifes as follows:
@. Did you ever sell Mr.. Bosler any cattle2 A.
never sold him many. / sold him about 1,500
in the spring OF 1873 and sold him about $50 last
year. Host Of the stock which / have driven
here has been the class of stock which was better
for grazing than that which he could pay for, and
way younger stock than he wanted. The class of
cattle sold him in 1873 were beeves and COWS,
g ann IN nj 5sey cs al anT
lings or tWo-year-olds7 A No, sir. In the fall
of 1878 I drove the cattle on the range and
two-year-olds, and held them until the next
season. He refused TO take the tw0-year Odds.
We had at that time 400 cattle in Idaho, and
z. Could you form an estimate of the weight of
the cattle you sold him in 1873 and of the in
lS74G A. could not form an estimate, because
did not see the cattle Mt nil. Il here about
the middle Of January, and George Bosler came
on after that; but Twas taken sick. After be-
gan to get well, George BOsler came in, and L
sold him the cattle while sick in bed The cattle
were in good condition, but could form no esti-
mate Of Their weight saw some o. the rG Hat6e
The cattle which were left were young cattle. My
men told me that the cattle which George Bosler
which we HAD wintered cattle here. and we were
struck with the fact that the cattle had done so
we'll here in the winter, better than we had an
ticipated. The cows l sold him in 1874 were a
good square lot Of cows. had bought lot Of
cattle and sold the COWS, and kept the younger
59e 1bsm I tbsr wei
the trail. They were superior lot of cows, be.
cause they were old cows. I sold them in August
q. What would be your estimate of the average
weight of beeves, four years old and upwards,
driven from Texas here and delivered on the
would vary in the way the cattle were delivered.
In other words, you take a lot Of CATTLE handled
well, and they would average better than others
An average drove would average from 1000 to
1850 pounds, and that depends too, somewhat
upon the part Of country they come from. If they
came from Western Texas they would run from
1000 to 1850. Get them from the extreme eastern
part of Texas they would not weigh more than
800 pounds. But there are no cattle driven from
there now.
Mr.. ]. W. Tiff, Of Denver, q stock raiser and
dealer in cattle, also testifes.
@. Have you ever seen any cattle sold to Mr..
Bosler for the Indian agencies? A. None at all
this year. i saw some this year which had not
been turned over yet, but they were intended for
him. They were Mabry's and Llttlefeld's. l
saw them at Ogallalla on the South Platte. /
saw Dir. Littlefelds they were said to be turned
over. They were coming on the road to be turned
should Judge there were in that herd from III.
teed hundred to two thousand. They were all
steers, should think. 1 don't remember seeing
any cows; thought the general appearance Of
condition to have come through from Texas.
remarked at the time that those cattle were in n
better condition than cattle are generally coming
through from Texas. From what saw of that
herd would put them above the average, and
think they would go from $50 to 1000 pounds I
give this as my general opinion, without having
examined them SO carefully as If was going to
purchase, and, therefore, hesitate somewhat in
giving this opinion. bought Of Mabry & Millett
six thousand young cattle out Of their herds, one,
two and three-year-old steers. The largest
steers understood would go to Bosler.
Mr.. Seth Mabry, the person'in whose name this
years contract was taken, and Of the largest cat
tie dealers in Texas, who, with his associates,
drove to that market bO,OOO head OF cattle this
Q. Did your firm sell to Bosler some cattle last
season. A. Yes, sir. We sold him, think,
Mabry & Miiiett. They were every one beeves,
but three hundred, and sold him three hundred
cows. They were every one four-yearold cattle
that sold him last year. have been weighing
cattle ever since have been here, pretty much
every season. Since 1855 have been buying and
selling cattle. The weight of what we term fresh
cattle depends very much upon the way you weigh
them. The rule for buying them here is to lot
them for twelve hours before weighing them, then
they would weigh considerably less than If
weighed right of the rancho. If they were to be
weighed in that way, should estimate the cattle
to weigh from nine hundred and fifty pounds to
those cattle came from in Texas. When you
getxest of the San Antonio river, and go into the
mountain region, the cattle are very large-from
nine hundred and fifty to ten hundred and fifty,
weighed right of the rancho. have no hest
fancy in saying so, for the reason that filled
those contracts In 1871 on the Missouri, and had
a hard time. The weight of my beef cattle
averaged a good deal more than n thousand
pounds all the way through. In the fall, in Sep
TENDER, October and November, there were
good many of these cattle that weighed as high
as thirteen hundred pounds, and in the spring
they ran down TO seven or eight hundred; that
is the cattle furnished for the YanktOn and Santee
Indians. have no hesitancy in saying that in
this country, in ordinary seasons, the same grade
of cattle would weigh from nine hundred and fifty
pounds to ten hundred and fifty. think the diff
ference between lOtting them for twelve hours
and weighing them of grass and water would be
seventy-hve pounds
Q. Where did you deliver the cattle you sold
last year to Bosler? A. delivered most Of them
three thousand here and three thousand on the
Missouri river, on what is called 'Sugar creek"
on the west side for all those agencies on the Mis-
souri, river; we sold the Boslers this year about
twenty-four thousand; delivered the biggest pOr-
tiOn of them here on the Platte, for these two
agencies, Spotted Tail and Red Cloud; about
twelve thousand here and the rest at the other
agencies.
Of the actual weight of the cattle delivered during
these years. IL may be well to refer to the reports
Of the several investigators who have preceded us
Mr.. Samuel Walker-who in manner inyesti-
ninety days after DIR. Savile took possession be-
fore any building had been completed, and when
the GOyernment property and Indian supplies were
piled upon the prafries covered only by pauIins
states in his report that on the 18th Of Novem-
her, 1873, 40 beeves, averaging 967 pounds were
received and issued. As he states that he was
present, and assisted in the weighing Of this herd,
we may receive this as fact proved by his testi-
mOny.
The report of the commission of which Bishop
Hare was chairman, made to the Secretary of the
Interior in April 1874 which will be found printed
beef: sThe commission took particular pains to in
quire into the quality and weight of the beef fur
nished by the contractor during the fiscal year.
The testimony Of many witnesses and the personal
observation Of the members of the commission
convince them that the cattle have been remarka-
bly, excellent in quality, size and condition, and
considerably above that required by the contract"
The high character Of the gentlemen who CON-
posed that commission renders their testimony of
great value and Importance.
In the September following Indian Inspector ].
ID. Bevier made thorough inspection Of affairs at
the Red Cloud agency. His report Is printed in
full at page 49, In that report he says:
In this connection IL Is but fair to say that the
herd, spoken of us the best ever brought into the
State Of Nebraska, found, as far as I could
Judge, as good as could be-nearly uniform in size,
steers said to be from four to eight years old all in
good condition. There were q few COWS, but as
they are sold by weight, and always preferred by
the Indians, know Of no objection to them"
DR.. Beyier came before the commissioners, and
upon this point declared his report to be .strictly
true.n To the charges made by Mr.. Walker re-
plies were made in writing by Agents J. ]. Savllle
and Z. A. Howard, which are printed on pages
SO and 81.
We have thus far called attention to the testi-
mOny going to sustain the theory that all the beef
receipted for was actually received by the agent.
The Testimony tending TO sustain an opposite
theory and the charges Of Professor Marsh though
Of different character, merits careful attention.
Professor Marsh says, in stating his own personal
knowledge:
'EOn the morning Of November H. while was at
the Red Cloud agency, Mr.. Bosler, one Of the con-
tractors, brought to the agency n herd Of several
hundred head Of Texas cattle, the first that had
been received for some weeks previous. This lot
was accepted by the agent and receipted for, but
he only weighed portion Of the herd. The cattle
i saw and carefully examined. Major A. s. Burt,
Of the 9th infantry, who commanded the escort to
my expedition, was with me at the time
and also examined them with care. They