Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1876-02-01
from the Omaha Herald.
Hilgthe Cattle Ki,ig.
a Colorado Cattle Range IsO siue.Lons.


I plOfSSS " s4fC SUNNI oCNVtie Va t"O
cattle king Of the West and the "boss
rancho Of the country. The cattle king
is none other than j. ". Ilif, whose
rancho is in northern Colorado. This
rancho is l56 miles long and begins at
/ Julesburgh ON the east, and extends to
T Grccy ON the west. Ii includes bottom
aud upland ranges, and has several camps
or ranches. The chief rancho Is nearly
soath Of Sidney aud about forty miles
from Julcsbugg. At this rancho there
1 are houses and sheds, and some more than
two sections OF land fenced in. All the
cattle bought by MIR. Iiff are turned over
&c him and branded at this place. Here
are his private stock yards, with corrals,
cbutes, and all the necessary conyeniences
! for handling cattle Ii Is GA the South
I Plattee River, and Of course has fine
watering facilities, while from the bottom
land adjacent plenty Of hay may be cut
ion ;hc use Of the horses employed in herd
Ing. he cuts no hay for his cattle. They
/ live TIE entire year On the rich native grass
I ON his range. ond with the exception of
severe winter now aud then, the percentage
or loss &, not very great. Mr. l'if is 4
/ thorough cattle man, aud from his long
.2ro.icnce has g. perfect knowledge O. the
I business. he has bought and now owns
some twenty thousand acres OF his Vre>eU,
range. AMI vii undoubtedly purchase
more lau. - soon as c comes in,o mar
I ket. lie now ovucs 10000 head Of cat
tie, and VII. have ,hjs number after his
/ s. - Tor ,he present year are completed.
/ The number of calves branded tins year
7 mn his rancho vii. he from i,5Co 30 5000
mead. aud his sales oil three and .oGr year
|o.t steers aud .at COWS the pr,sen, fall
vi. probably amount 90 about the same
number. lie told me hc expected 20 re-
a.irc the sum OF $50 PSF head net on his
sales this year. At this rate 1890 head
would bring him the snug little sum OF
|sIl~.5U1. To take care 90 Ills immense
hc,l be aup.oys from ..-ve to thirty
f i've mla-ye.v f.v usually iu tac wiatcr
. tbe largest ugub-g during the
grounds ups I'm the spring. At Che pres
/ ... time Is. Desc, tweuty-ly-c m-a employed
ui IS eating on, o.. his he'd Che four
..ar-o.d steers ana t-t COWS which lie in-
tends To sdiy. While engaged 90 ,his
t..S sac e1m- men are gathering the
COW, with unbranded cs,vc, which they
Irat into tbc corrs,s near by, and after the
+ calves arl branded they are turned loose
+ oia the herd s-an. His herds rapidly
being graded up ly the Introduction q
/ thuraahare& Durham bulls. la addition
/ % ihe cattle fSScj ca his rancho, be deals
.ar-,-g In Texas and Indian cattle, and
has low advertised tor 10000 head 81.
II.la, est,., 90 be delivered at his rancho
/ ,o .u.y CT next year Mr.. Iiif estimates
+ tae inc-c.-c Of cattle from L,s home herd
outside otpurgha-cs and >aleS-to BIZ
aieJ, roper cent? l-y year, aui about
/ equally divided as 10 gender. HIS ship
/ ping points are at Pine B.aas and Jules
Z 1a5.h on the Union Pacific and at Decg's
Ira-. oa the Kansas Pacific. Lest any
one should come 20 the conclusion thai
, This business is al profit and that the cx-
senses aai loss ,s DO not amour, TO much,
. .c. me further state that mi 5 policy ],
Keep his expenses as low aS possible,
having iAc keeping and safety ct his eat
F.. Gle constantly in view. Las. year think
The expense of herding, etc, amounted to
less than Sl5,U0O, AID vii, amount to "a
sill. less sum this year. Bu: the losses
from theits and death some years are
.rchuu3. The winter OF lS1l-2 1 think
was very severe. There were deep SHOWS
over his range that remained o. tae ground
long tine and the storms were iuces-
SAINT. H. the mid>, Of these storms Mr.,
Hat visited his rancho aud found his cat
&c literally dying by thousands. On the
Islands 10 the South Platte River he found
and drove of into the sand hills on the
south SIDE. after great exertiou, some
= 700 head, aud Of this number less than
bali have since been recovered. Their
bleeding bones now vhiten the pines IN
the vicinity where they were frozen and
starved 10 death, and those that were re-
covered were found in two different States
ard four different Territories in the Union
More than $4,000 were expended in try
10 find them. Nor was this all. Ii was
impossible to tell for number Of years
how much the loss had been. Hi, books
showed nearly 5000 head uuaccounted
for No trace Of them beyond skeletons
could BE found, and at .ast-in the spring
OF 1874, l think it was-this number was
charged 20 profit and loss account, and
the books balanced for q new start This
large number would probably have aver
aged at least go per head could they
have been sold the fall previous, and at
this tate they would ammouuted to $780,
COO. | estimate his capital invested IN
the cattle business al 100000, and vet
from lis very nature he Is liable to lose
half Of it during the coming season. Like
other business ventures, if a man goes IN
% II Of course he takes the chances.
The Dcmagneti=atiOn of II aicheS.
Watches WON by students and others