The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1878-07-10
The Kansas ana CoIoreao Ca1,Ie Dr,,


The Kansas and Colorado Cattle Drives.
dodge City Correspondence New York TimeS.I
The cattle men of the plains are lust get
ting through with their annual round ups''-
For the Arkansas valley and the divide
country West Los Animas was the rendez-
vous; and the scattered cattle for miles along
the river and out on the buffalo ranges were
gathered TO that point Camps were estab-
ished, all the leading cattle men. were on
band, and the Cow boys were in their
glory. Ii was the work of only a few
hours TO "cut out" and separate the cattle,
and start the herds back TO their ranges
again. Every animal is known by its
brand, so that ownership is easily detennin-
ed, and those that have drifted miles away
during the winter storms and become a part
of other herds, are picked out in few min
utes claimed by the owners and started
back to the range. 1t has been good win
ter for stock in this valley; no bad storms
and plenty of grass The cattle are in prime
condition, and beeves for the early fall mar
ket will sell better than the average. By
comparing notes among the herders it was
found that the range between Fort Lyon and
Bents Fort-Kit Carson's old hunting
grOunds-an uninyiling and barren looking
section, contains more cattle than any SINH
lar area on the plains. Over IS, 900 head are
figured up.
AS all the heavy stock men and shippers
Just now seem to be bound for one place
Dodge City-the point at which the drives"
of Texas cattle come up, your correspondent
took train on the Atchison, Topeka and
Santa Fe railroad, and a seven hours ride
! landed us at midnight in this noisy cattle
mart. No one seemed TO be asleep at that
hour. The station was thronged with swag-
gering, swearing COW boys and oily conf
dence men. With some difficulty we rubbed
our way through the crowd and followed the
porter to the Great Western hotel Any of
hat ssrlaf ha
could need no special beckonlng, for in all
the billiard halls. concert saloons and keno
dens the lamp shll held out TO burn.
Seen by daylight Dodge City has a better
look. though somehow pretty much all the
buildings, which are of frame, lurch to the
west as if impatient to move on, the effect of
high prairie winds. The population can not
be far from 1000, though there is a large
! floating element, increasing rapidly, and a
month later, when the cattle are swarming
and prices are at high tide, there will be in
the town and outskirts as many 5000 peo-
pie. The cattle shipping season gathers
traders, spectators, gamblers and all sorts.
Through June and July Dodge City will be
|, the liveliest place in the west. The best
trails from the panhandle of Texas strike
the railroad and river at this point; if il is
outside the dead line" prescribed by Kansas
laws, and offers every facility for large stock
transactions There are in this vicinity about
/
rived and ready to be marketed. There are
on the trail between Dodge and Cimarron
| 30 900 more. The last accounts from the
south indicate that there are upward OF 225-
600 head of cattle moving northward from
Red river. fully one half of which will take
/ the trail to Dodge City.
About the LIST of July the larger shared will
have arrived here and the shipping will be-
gin in earnest. There Will probably be put
| on the cars at this station from 10000 to 40
coo beeves for Kansas City, ST. Louis and
Chicago. The greater share of the cattle that
are driven TO this point from Texas do not
60 into eastern markets yet. Tney will be
allowed TO feed their way westward and
! north ward, and two mon hs later VII APP
pear at stations on the Kansas Pacific and
Union Pacific roads further east, some 10 be
| shipped to Kansas City and Omaha, bu- the
great bulk 10 remsin feeding on tnC plains
until next spring. The catt'e "drives"
from Texas eacn year represent a great deal
| OF money, and are IN the hands OF compar-
atively few men. The herds of the thirty
largest owners will aggregate about 200 900
head.
The several smaller "bunches" will swell
the table TO between 225 500 and 100000.
Some claim that the number will reseh 300,
900 About $1,000 are detained for Dodge
CITY, Principally for eastern shipment.
While large share of the others enumer-
ated will come by the trail to Dodge City,
they will be driven up the Arkansas and
! Purea'OiIe or into the parks and over the
divide into the Platte valley. A good many
wall 90 TO the ranges on the Republican In
the past three or four years not all the cattle
That have come up from Texas have been
marketed, out have been multiplying and
increasing in the valleys and along the high
ranges Taking into account the large num-
Der of cattle annually driven into the terri
tories aud nav states of the west and the
trade is, OF course growing into greater mag
nitude every year. IL is a note worthy fact
that The cattle interest of the Rocky noun
tain region and the plains on the east Is re-
ceiving large accessions from the west also
It was considered somew what wonderful q
ew years ago when Texas was credited with
/ 1000 600 head of cattle. That state was
looked upon as our beef supply for years 10
come and the great plains, at that time
counted as absolutely worthless for any pur-
pose, were Bo, even Looked upon as even
the smallest factor in the mater of supply
ing the east ami Europe vita marketable
cattle. But great revolution bias taken
place even in a short time. The "long
horns still come up every season to be put
into market, but the numbers arriving at
Kansas City ard Chicsgo from that source
are deere asing year by year The cattle
grounds are being transferred to the great
buffalo plains and the central portion o. the
continent with The Pacific states, are be-
coming the leading producers of beef. An
stimste derived from the assess Den. re-
turns gives Colorado $50 coo; Wyoming,
225, 900; Utah. $4,000; Montana. 800 600;
Washington, 200, O00; Oregon, l75 600 and
Cali, rnia. $4,000 cattle. This makes
total OF nearly 100000 market b.eves
which will I've taken duriCg the next three
or four months into the marke.s east Of the
I Mis- .Ouri river.