The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1881-07-16
AMONG THE COWBOYS.

ooh, why did leave Gods country t,
come to this benighted land - pathetic
ally exclaimed the Northern bride of ;
Texan "cow man." as she observed hel
lord the morning after their arrival home
rise from his luxurious couch of two black
Jack logs. and. stretching his giant frame
remark that he must be riding us that
+ - Sleeping was too GOOD for the likes o.
him..
! The night that knows no earthly dawr
! has long since closed around that bride
( but she had uttered a saying that wa,
! not born to die: and to this day. and per
haps forever, back in the States vii
/ be revercntly spoken of by the cowboys
as Gods country. The aphorism OF
! the divine scribe that ali flesh is grass
might be easily converted into the preva,
lent belief of this State. that ''all grass
is flesh. Certain it is. the divinity OF
the golden cal" has never been dis
shippers cluster by the thousand. West
OF the BraZoS river, the social and tinan-
cial standing of a man is rcclzoned by the
number Of cattle which he possesses and
the length and breadth of his range. and
the first essential of Il Stockman is his
ability 10 draw his six shooter sooner than
the next man.
The history of stock-raising and stock
men i'll Texas is interesting. and the des-
perate efforts by which some of them
have forced their way to the top of the
ladder would appal the bulls and bears
of Wall street With scarcely an excep,
ton. the successful stocllmen of Texas
were originally pennileS> adventures,
who ttoated into the State dead broke y
and have i'll comparatively short time
built up fortunes aggregating millions
OF dollars. Standing head and shoulders
above all the rest is Richard King-the
cattle king of America. ard indeed of the
world. who OWLS and brands fully -four
hundred Thousand head of stock King
is a type of the successful Texan stock
raiser. Previous to the year 1891 he
worked Us long Shorcman in New York
city. Tired of being a roustabout on the
dingy wharyeS along the East River front,
the young Irishmah shipped before the
mast and came in 4 vessel to Brazos San
tiago. at the mouth of the Rio Grarde.
/ For some time he worked Oh Il small boat
which Piled up and down the river, and
he arose to be steward and then captain
and part owner. 1t is said that he also
ran an establishment in one of the MeXi-
river dH@blDS similar to the Bucking-
ham of New York. where the nightly
iandangos turned hundreds of Mexican
dollars into the pockets Of the ex- long
Shoreman. on whom Fortune now indeed
began to smile His next venture was
to organize and run a line of stages be
tween Brownsville and Corpus Christi.
and line from Corpus to Laredo on the
Rio Grandc. Although his enterprises
prosprrcd, he sold out his boat, and. Civ
tl hiN 'l'tl't-li'uNG' NSilt WIN 4liS
partner. Captain Kennedy in the cattle
business. Buying up lot of COWS. he
located his range along the Nueces river,
and. to use the language Of the stock
men. proceeded ito work his cattle. =
Sticking to it night and day with rare
and indomitable pluck and perseverance
In hoe .,,tb.rnl ,rn,,n& hin, mona u,,.ly,
than Laban and Abraham and Job pos
SesSed jointly \ bitter and relentless
prosecutor of the cattle thieves who ut
that time infested the frontiers. follow
ing bands of marauding MeXicamS and
outlaws across the river into Mexico. and
invariably hunting them down to a mer-
CHESS punishment. he became the object
of their especial hatred, and his life was
III constant peril. Whenever King rode
abroad through his pastures, it was al
ways with an escort of thirty OF forty of
his Mexican Pto"S to guard him from
danger: and this body-guard still accom-
panics him whenever his sallow countc-
ltttlct IL Secn III tHc SlitclS Ol corpus
Christi.
Around his hacienda. which is situated
on an elevated hill overlooking the greater
portion of his pasture. are planted bat
terieS of cannon that are used in defend
Ing his residence and warehouses from
the attacks Of raiding MeXicanS and the
bands of horse thieves. In his ware
houses are stored the supplies for his
small army of herdeyS. This rancho. the
Santa GertrlGcS. alone stretches the cnor-
nous distance OF sevcnty-tive miles long
and from ten to twenty miles wide. while
tanks which furnish the cattle with water
during the summer drouth Besides the
Santa Gertrudes. which lies in the coun-
ties Of Nueces and Cameron. King owns
several other huge pastures, OF fenced
lands. near Brownsville. on the Rio
Grande. More than 300 herderS are
employed working his cattle, the ma
iority of them being the pGo,s, or lowest
class of MexicanS. King annually brands
forty thousand calves, and last year drove
to Kansas thirty-tive thousand bceves.
He owns thousands Of horses, sheep.
goats. and asses besides. and offered once
to sell the Government four Thousand
horses. of four different colors-one thou
sand blacks, one thousand whites. one
thousand paints. and one thousand bays:
but the tough little mustangs could not
come up to regulation size. King still
runs the stages between Corpus Christi
Brownsville. and Laredo. \ stout built
man. dark. with sallow complexion, he
moves with Il sort of twisted motion.
from having had his leg broken once and
not properly SET The Mexicans look up
To him with more vencration than to their
own President. lie bears the reputation
Of being stingy and close listed, even with
his great wealth, except when in his cups,
when he is liberal enough to give away
timc-always when sober keeping the
promises made when drunk.
Next to King, the largest individual
stock raiser in Texas is r. +. Stafford,
whose cattle to the number of one hum
dred and twenty-five thousand Craze on
the ranges along the Brazos, Colorado,
and Navidad rivers. At the close of the
war, Stafford. who came to Texas from
creek, tributary of the Colorado river.
and WAS estimated to be worth one thou