Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1879-10-16
STOCK Raising i'm Colorado.

Stock Raising i'm Colorado.
1t is carried on, as must be generally
known, from Texas to region consid-
erably north of the Union Pacific Rail-
way, and great herds pass from the
Lone Star State through Kansas, and up
to the great iron roads running east and
west. In New Mexico, in Southern Col
orado, on the Arkansas and its tributa-
ries-the Fountain, the st. Charles, the
Muddy, the Cucharas, the Huerfano,
and others-in the great parks
across the range, and over the plains in
Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming, the
herds roam, and the Tancheroes ride.
Between Denver and Julesburg, on the
Union Pacific Railroad, lay the immense
range of the late Mr.. Ayliffe, one side of
which was fifty miles in length. He is
said to have begun fifteen years ago
with capital of 800, and his estate is
valued at g, 100000. 1t was interesting
and instructive to hear how one of his
friends accoun ted for this unusual sue
cess: ''SOme people try to attend to sew
eral things, or do more than one kind of
business, but he only thought of one
thing for those fifteen years, and that
one thing was cattle. And attending
only to that, and working at it and
thinking about it all the time, he came
to understand it wonderfully well, and
to have perfect judgment about making
the most of stock"
A dissertation on the cattle herds of
the Great West would occupy large
volume, and those who have chosen 9TH
er parts of this domain than Southern
Colorado are doubtless competent to
'give a reason for the faith which is in
them," and amply support the wis
dom of their choice of location. To us
this same Southern Colorado seems to
present, on the whole, the greatest ad-
vantages. 1t is traversed by railroads,
and accessible from all sides; and the
climate is most salubriOus, and so mild
in winter that the stock can remain on
the range throughout the year. Other
things being equal, there are many men
who highly prize the grand, ever-present
spectacle and genuine companionship of
"the everlasting hills" No doubt in 9TH
er regions land can be had more cheap
ly, and sometimes occupied without fee
or reward, but there are sure to be coun-
terbalancing disadvantages.
Above certain latitude. and notably
in Wyoming, great losses have occurred
from severe winters, and not very far to
the north the "Lo family" (as the noble
red man-aLol the poor Indian"-is call
ed on the plains) come in to disturb and
mOlest. All admirers and advocates of
these hyperborean regions have ample
opportunities to rise and explain; be
ours the pleasant task, reclining under
the spreading cottonwood, and in the
shade of the Sierra MOjada, of singing
the eclogues of the valleys of the San
Carlos and the Huerfana, for it is mot
that we love Cesar less, but Rome more"
We have said that water was the prime
requisite, and the banks of streams are
consequently first sought. Government
land is divided into sections of $40 acres
"a mile each way, and quarter sections
of 100 acres. What more simple and
easy, we hear some one ask, than to take
up four quarter sections in a line along
the stream, and while we only OWL, strictly
speaking, quarter of mile in width,
to occupy, without let or hindrance,
away back to the divide fridge be-
tween that valley and the next, being
sure that no one will have either the
motive or the will to dispute with us the
possession of this arid area? Nothing.
certainly, except that number of able
bodied citizens besides yourself have not
only conceived this same idea, but acted
promptly on it, and that, in consequence,
the supply of water frontage may be
20 fha
and its market value consequently and
prOportionately increases. There are
always, however, ranchman willing to
sell, for one reason or another, and no
one need despair of obtaining "a good 10
cation at fair rate, with the improve
ments ready made. Then he can buy his
stock, mainly, if he be wise, on the spot
and in the neighborhoOd; for, with the
improvement now taking place iRbreeds,
it is no longer desirable to buy largely in
Texas. Then come his cowboys" or
herders, not Mexicans, as in old times,
but generally stalwart Americans, quick
of hand, and deliberate of speech. They
are provided with swift and sure-foOted
horses, generally, in these days, of the
6roncho type-a mixture of the Ameri-
can horse and the mustang.
1t may now fairly be asked, where else
in the world, and in what other known
way, can a man sit down and see his pos
sessions increase before his eyes with so
little exertion involved OIL his part ?
With the dawn the cattle are all grazing.
Thin and gray enough the grass looks to
the inexperienced eye, but the ranchero
well knows the tufts of buffalo and
gramma growth. gauges the value of
this food as compared, in the matter OF
nutriment, with the richest greensward
of apparently more fertile regions, and
remembers that it grows fresh twice a
year, Then, with the utmost regulari-
ty, and some time before noon,the whole
herd-the splendid bulls, the plump
steers, the red and white and roam and
mottled cows-take their accustomed
trail, and seek the water with unerring
certainty. Then back to the grazing
again, and feed until u ~ -
"The embers of the sunsets fires
Along the clouds burn down"
49,,