The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1880-02-13
KANSAS FARaIING.
One OF the Big stock Ranches Near EN-
DOrIa

Your correspondent having plenty o
time concluded he would improve til,
opportunity by seeing and talking witt
some OF Kansas successful business men
The morning was clear, and the ali
bracing, with just enough frost flying tt
make one feel the need of an overcoat
Going in southwest direction over the
prairie, soon struck" what is known
by the residents along the Cottonwood
river and Jacobs creek as WILSON'S corr
road,'' as it is used by them in hauling
corn to the ranch. After a couple o.
hours ride over as fine stock country Il:
the sun ever shown upon, the Emporil
and Eldorado road was reached
Following this short dis
lance we beheld from bluff of Bloody
creek the ranch of Wilson Bros. Thi.
is one of the best ranches in Chase coun
ty, consisting of 4So acres OF farm land
mostly enclosed by stone fence and di
vidcd into convenient fields by stone and
good board fences. Bloody creek flow.
from south TO north through the
ranch, affording abundance OF water and
good natural shelter from the heat Of
summer and the cold blasts of winter
Besides what shelter nature has provided
the Messrs. Wilson have built over 30C
feet of shedding for the accommodation
of their stock. Upon entering the gate
l was met by two large, sleek, rakish
locking grey hounds. whose necks aRd
shoulders are covered with scars, relic:
of many fierce encounter will
coyotes. After a short investigation
they concluded that / was OF
a strictly legitimate business and with
drew. l was then met 10y the gentleman
ly proprietors, and having a slight pre-
vious acquaintance with them the for
malities of an introduction were dispens
ed with. made known my business
when the following facts were elected
The firm consists of Cyrus and Dick
Wilson. They came from Piatt county
Illinois, TO Wilson county, Kansas, il
1870, but removed TO Chase county il
1872, since which time they have beer
engaged in stock raising. Their capita
was small, financially considered
but what was lacking in thi,
regard was made up by prudence, ener
gy, industry and an indomitable perse
verance. They now hold an enviablt
position. Said they, at is our intention
to keep only the best grades of stock
whether cattle, horses or hogs" In fact
thoroughbred stock was found on the
ranch from the immense bull of over I
toms weight to the setter pup. The frs
animal examined was coming two
year old jack summing himself in small
| lot. He is a fine specimen of his kind
but his kicking proclivities were 81
strongly marked that we hurried away
to look at the. thoroughbred stallion
Peanuts" beautiful chestnut sorre
eight years old and fifteen hands high
He showed great physical strength anC
grace, and every movement reminded
one of the words of H. W. Beecher
Next pretty woman. pretty horse.
We now examined the thoroughbred
mares, Transit and Cheyenne. Transi
is bay 1519 hands high, and is wei
proportional. Cheyenne is sorrel il
color; though not large, she is possessed
of many excellent points. The rest o
the horses consist of six high bred colts
work stock and ponies, 81 head in all
Messrs. Wilson do not aim to MAKE
horse racing "A Business. they having OF
two occasions had them run off as they
were feeding on the range, once. five
years ago and again during the past sea
son. Four heal of their best colts wert
stolen, but they were determined TO hav,
them back at any cost. Mr. Cyrus
! Wilson first learned of til,
whereabouts of one of then
at Carbondale; from there heard of one a
Lawrence; from Lawrence he went Il
Kansas City getting one there and the las
one at Wyandotte. The hogs were mex
examined. They have about 800 head, anC
with the exception of GO head, all ar.
thoroughbred BerksLires Hogs of thi.
breed are preferred by them, as they pos
sess superior qualities over any othel
hog. They can get around among tho
cattle easier, carry their fat better ant
bring the highest market price.
These gentlemen pay more attention
to breeding cattle than to any Other
branch of their business. We naturally
drifted to one of the feed yards The frs
bunch consisted of 81 heifcrs, including
3 cows. The cows are thoroughbreds
"Arcola' fine, large COW years old
white in color, was bought from the hero
of Wing & Thomson, Bement, Illinois
"Cromotella" is red and white yeal
old thoroughbred, and is from the same
herd as "Arcola." Both were imported by
the firm two years ago. Amelia" is
large roam seven years old, thoroughbred
and is from the herd of w. ii. Beverly
OF this same herd is the fine thorough
bred ''Red Light bull, and as his nam,
implies he is of a deep red and is larg,
and well proportioned.
From here we paid visit to lot o.
southern cows. They were in good con
dition and will soon be put on the mar
ket. So interested had we become tina
no note of time was taken until we wer,
informed that DINNER was ready" TX
me this WAS welcome news. Proceeding
to the house was Introduced to Mrs. II
G. Stewart, sisior-of G. and d. Wilson
Aitcr divesting myself of ovvrcoat ant
Oyershoes, my hostess babe NE partAk,
of dinner. The dinner was all tia
could be desired. 1t was fit to tempt ia,
i appetite of the most fastidious. o
course it is unnecessary to say that 60
outside OF "A goodly portion of it in
| very short time.
Ailer dinner we again repaired to til,
feed lots, where the largest and mos
conspicuous object 10 he seen was tn
thoroughbred bull, "Bois dare" He i
a deep red, large, and is altogether ON
of the finest specimens of his Kind w
have seen in the state He weigh
2,l30 pounds, and was brought from Ill
nois 10y Messrs. Wilson last summer
| We now examined the thoroughbre,
mich cows, seven in number Lad,
Ethel" is large roam, neat made and
good breeder; Ruth Erskine," finel,
proportioned red and white cow, is tn
queen of the herd Amelia Is large
of good bone and shows better bee
qualities than any of the rest; she is al
so the oldest of the herd Being some
what hurried, l will not attempt detail
ed description of the Others, but vii
say they are fine lot of thoroughbreds
From an examination of the cows, W,
went to look at the calves. There ar
twenty-fcur in all, two of which are thor
oughbreds, and the others are of higl
grade. Beside what stock have alread,
mentioned, they have two yearling thor