Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1882-12-16
CATTLE Df.TIE PLAINS.



Northwest. and the-Seuth belts. The
first takes in Montana and. Dakota,
and is tributary to the Northern Pa
cificq road; the second includes the
western half 7of Nebraska and ehe
Territory of Wyoming; and is tribr-
tarY to- the Union Pacific road; and
the third consists of vast portions of
TeSas'ahd the Indian Territory, and
seeks, angoutlet thrQugluthe Iron Nouns
tain, the St. Louis and san Fran
cisco. and other roads leading to st.
L0Iiis., eOf the. three the Northwest
betis at present the most important,
but that to the north of it is growing
the most rapidly, and with the ocr,-
pletiOnof theNorthern Pacific railroad
will gain and maintain the supremacy.
/ realized this fact from the manner
in which the st0ckman laughed at me
when 1 inqhiret1if it was possible for
cattle to go through the hard winters
of thhtssecti0n .nhfed and 5tnsheltered
".Why, away up in-Dakota," was the
reply, "the cattle COME through the
winters better than they do in Texas"
/ may here remark that anything like
housing'or feeding cattle in the win
ter is utterly impossible in any Of the
Territories There isI1ot timber enough
in the Territory. of Wyoming to make
sheds for the. cattle, owned there. And
it Is quite as unnecessary as, it is i'm
possible - =, ...tsT q 4iI
The cattle ranges of Nebraska begin
about 200 miles west, of OMAHA There
is n6iinetol mark where agriculture
leaves off and grazing begins. but at
about the point named timber and
water becomet too scarce for profitable
agriculture, and the ranchmen take up
what the plowmenI can't USE The |
land is owned in equal parts by the
ranchero and the government, but is |
enjoyed free of rent by the cattle men.
The ranches vary in extent to the size |
of the herd and the run of the water |
course. The first essential in Staying I
out "a ranch is water. AS for grass,
thereis always plenty of that, summer
and winter. A moderate estimate is
Baidto be, two miles of water front,
running twenty miles back, for !
each 1000 head of cattle. So
chat man with 10000 head of
cattle which is about the largest
number owned by any one man, and
more than twice the average of all
would require forty miles Of water
front, running back twenty miles. 1t
is not always an easy thing to find
this When, found and occupied, how
ever, the rights of the finder and oc-
cupant are respected by his brother
stockmen to the extent that lie is al
lowed to remain in unmolested posses
sion. 1t is a maxim among them that |
"stocklDen respect each others rights"
There are persons called Jumpers, how
ever, who look upon the. stockmen as
having no'rights which they are bound
to respect, and whomakeiit business
to pick outIthe best land in a range
and settle down upon it Under the
Homestead or Presumption laws. re-
manning Just long enough to be bought |
ott, when they move to another |
range to play the same part. The
stockmen complain grievously about |
this, as an annoyance from which they |
should be protected by law. They can
not buy theland from the government |
in. quantities to suit them, and they
think Congress should pass law al
lowing them. to lease it for term of !
years, SO as to allow them to improve |
it, and to give them a fixed tenure.
The cattleDen have their own associa-
ton aid their own regulations, which |
seem 10 be intended not only Tor the |
benefit IF th6s. Isko ara in. Int for the |
exclusion of those who are out. No
cattlemaf has ever been known 10 en-
courage an outsider to embark in a |
cattle-raising enterprise.
After good .desd of dross-question-
ing and figuring arrived At some con-
illusions as to the profits Of cattle
raising as business. / met one man, |
for instapc who mad Just arrived fropYl
Chicago, whore he had sold Thousand |
head Of cattle, at an average Of $40. |
They were@a LITTLE over three years old, |
and had been on his ranch two years.
He bougftsthem in 1899 for IS a head. !
Counting interest. care-taking, loss by
death,aud all other items. Of expense,
they stood him, when put on the car.
at 81 TO eaell. Adj 10 tits an aver !
age OF s. each for Transportation from
Ogallala, Neb, 81 'chicagoIs100 per
car the actdaIic6st. indian 'ardfage Of
twenty head.to the car-and the ami !
mails On hssmarslet hive COST him
$3.50 each, leaving a net, profit Or
$23,5OO d tie herd This \ as simply
one--and MT d lkge one44of many
TRANSACTIONS made IN tie course of the
vear H tho tau,n stholstnari Thdead II