Connecticut western news., 1877-01-19

numbers of moneyed men, out of health, who have their cattle ranch on the plains or in the parks, and are getting the double returns of restored health and multiplied ducats.
 | The tendency to go into the cattle busi- ness in large way seems to be growing. 1 The amount of capital represented in some of the herds is sufficient to run 8 national bank. Five hundred or thou sand cattle are looked upon as of very small account, although from $1O,O 900 to $2O, ,OOO is represented. The average herds run from 1000 to 5000 head. There are many having from 5000 to 10000, and several from 20, ,OOO to 40, GOO. At only BIO through and through here is from $s20O,0OO to $4OO, ,OOO in single herd, to say nothing of the corrals, the hundreds of ponies, the hired "cow- boys, the grain and feed in store, and the reserve fund necessary in handling such bunch of cattle. While most of the herds are owned by individuals and firms, the capital invested is larger than some actually employed by com panies in working some of the most ex- tensive gold and silver mines of the Rocky mountains.
 It is estimated that there are 40,OOO square miles of grazing lands, fit for herding and nothing else, west of the Kansas borders, between. the Union Pacific and Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroads. Owing to the rapid in- crease of cattle many of the best ranges have been eaten off, so that new ranches, handy to water, are at all times sought for. The sheep men have gradually been invading this field. Grazing as they both do upon, the public domain, the only right one has over the other is priority of settlement. The State and Territories cannot legislate upon the matter. Quarrels have at times come up, and at one time, two years ago, there was such bitter feeling that considerable numbers of sheep were killed by the cattle men, followed by retaliation in kind. The two interests seem to be antagonistic, and, as if by common consent, the sheep men, at least those doing business on the largest scale, are operating south of the Arkansas and Mexico is a kind of paradise for them, the fact that cattle men are also carrying on large business in some parts of that Territory. It may not be generally
 
 and profitable business in the slow Ter are to be found there. One man owns forty-two townships, which he has stocked with 60,O00 head of cattle. New Mexico cattle are of an inferior grade, as no attention has been paid to breeding un This is also the case with sheep, which in some districts seem to cover the coun- try for miles. A limited number of families, mostly pure Castilians, have absorbed and own nearly ale the focks, prominent among whom may be named the Armijo family, who have 25O, 900 sheep. They drive to Denver every spring from 10, 900 to 10000 for market.
 To return, however, to our subject-a talk about cattle. It seems as if the next few years were to largely change the beef supply of the East. Instead of coming from Texas, as now, the best and most will come from the old buffalo ranges in western Kansas, Colorado and Wyoming.
 There are now more cattle on the plains than ever before. Large num- bers from the Texas " drives , instead of being marketed at once are driven westerly over the ranges to feed few months before being sold. Generally, cattle winter well, without shelter or much if any feed beyond what they get by grazing. Last winter was open and mild, without any hard storms or severe weather. But the winter before that was unprecedentedly cold and thousands of cattle perished. On the average the stockmen take the chances, and come out without much loss from exposure; but it is found best to be prepared for storms and extreme weather, and it is now cus- tomary among the most experienced herders to have shelter and feed for their focks during the winter.
 The plains cattle men are now wholly dependent upon the ups and downs of Eastern markets. Some of them have regular demand for their beeves from the markets of Denver, Cheyenne and the larger towns of Colorado and Wyoming, and large numbers are driven into the mountains to supply the miners camps. The sales to butchers in Denver last sea- son amounted to $159, ,0OO, and to the mountain trade $165, ,0OO During the past summer there has been brisk de- mand from the San Juan country and from the new towns in the Black Hills. There has been a good deal of risk and much loss in trying to drive cattle into the latter region, owing to the frequent Indian raids and stampeding; but where a man could get through safely he had no trouble in disposing of his beeves at a high price. Fat cattle are worth eight cents per pound on the hoof at Dead wood. At the older settled towns along the line of the railways in Colorado and Wyoming the price of beef is moderate, but high enough to give good profit to the drover. At Denver the price is from two and one-half to three cents 1t re- tails ln the butcher shops at ten cents for round steaks and fifteen for sirloin. The market is easily affected, in an up-. ward direction, by an overshipment to the East, leaving supply of marketable beeves short, or by a stampede in the winter. Very often cold, windy snow- storm will be followed by an advance, as, for instance, last spring, when beeves ad- vanced to five cents per pound on the hoof, and for some weeks retailed at the butcher shops at twenty to twenty-five cents per pound.
 What depresses the Texas drever and entails upon him heavy loss has little effect upon the Colorado drover. The cost of raising beeves, and the losses by stampede, thieving and Indians, are not nearly so great as in the Red river coun- try. The Colorado drover can at any time get his beef, fat and sleek, into the Kansas City market, off the range, in five days time, and thus take advantage of rise. On the other hand, the method of marketing Texas cattle is to drive them across the country, north, to the Kansas Pacific and Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroads, taking generally two months time, and then holding them, at considerable expense for feed, at the shipping points until prices are favorable. A hurried glance at how the Texas drover has fared in this way may be taken. He is always more or less at the mercy of the speculators, who every