The Republican journal., 1876-08-31
The Cattle King of the Plains.
From the New York " orld. |


The experience of Mr.. Tiff, the 'Cattle
King OF the Plains" whose great rancho
in northern Colorado includes hundreds
Of square miles of bottom and upland
ranges, is typical of the whole. During
the severe winter of 1S71-72 there were
deep SHOWS that remained a long time,
and the storms were incessant I'm the
midst Of them MIR Hit visited his rancho
and found his cattle dying and scattered
by thousands. In spite of all he could
do, less than halt OF them were recover
ed, and those had strayed at spring time
into two different States and Jour differ
ent territories. More than so, 900 were
expended in efforts to find them Atlast
in the spring of 1874, 5000 undiscovered
head We're charged to profit and loss.
Could these have been sold the previous
Fall they would have brought at least
SIS Il head a total OF 100000. Yet the
Cattle King, and many cattle princes be-
side him, make money from cattle raising
on the plains, for they learn much by eX-
perience, and the demand is great enough
to warrant all their risks. Mr.. Ililf has
now more than 2G 900 head of cattle of
all ages, sizes and conditions Nearly
five thousand calves were branded on his
rancho last year, and he sold about the
same number OF tour-yearold steers and
tat cows. AT the average selling price OF
$32 Il head. net, 1000 head brought him
Sl2S,O0 He employs from twelve to
thirty-tive men to take care of his inn
mense herds in summer BY the intro
ductionof thoroughbred Durham bulls the
herds are rapidly graded up, and he esti-
f.,if "A,
and sales, to be about 20 per cent per
year. Besides the cattle raised on his
rancho he deals largely in Texas and In
dian cattle, and last season advertised for
10000 head of Texas cattle to be deliver
ed during the driving months OF 1876 If
he does not obtain this number from Tex
as he expects to supply the deficiency
with Oregon and Montana cattle, which
are beginning to come East The Lara
ME Plains, higher up. among the noun
tains, are paradise for stock. especially
sheep, and away over the mountains
towards the Pacific there are stock ranch
es that throw even lifts in the shade.
In the Humboldt Valley, some five hun.
dred and fifty miles east from San Fran
cisco, one cattle farm, Dunphy Il Hill
dreth, have 10000 acres fenced in. 1t is
seven miles across from their eastern to
their western fence. The fences, made
Of redwood posts and Oregon pine boards,
cost about $500 mile, and there are
twenty miles of them. The firm own 40
900 head of cattle. which are mostly ship
ped to San Francisco. The stock is all of
good quality, ard some of the best blood
ed animals in the country are annual
ly purchased to improve the grades.
The snow here seldom falls deep, does not
stay long, and the grass makes its appear
ance early in the spring. Grass, though,
does not seem essential to the well-being
of some of the latest cattle on the CONT
nent. Further down the Humboldt Valley,
where nothing else but sage-brush, grease
wood and alkali-dust is to be seen, the
Central Pacific trains have to slacken
speed to avoid manning heavy herds, for
which the green greasewood bush is al
legged to furnish abundant provender