Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-04-06

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/ herders, and usually drives 10000 head
of steers to market each year, and 5000
o. 1000 horses and as many sheep. Not
long ago he received an offer of $4,000, 600
for his property by Scotch company, but
declined to sell.
Col. Kings residence at Santa Gertrude
is one of the finest in Texas, and Prince
could not entertain more royalty than he
does. His house is surrounded by cir
Gle of pretty cottages, in which his guests
are lodged. Each visitor has a cottage to
himself, unless the company happens to be
large, and Well-Urained colOred servant is
constantly at call to minister to his wants.
The cottages are luxuriantly furnished,
and each contains a sidebOard laden with
the richest wines and the choicest cigars.
Carriages and saddle horses are at the
bidding of the guests, and every attention
that hospitality can suggest is offered.
Col. King purchases all his supplies at
New Orleans, and every steamer that
lands at Corpus Christi brings him a car
load.
Texas has a genuine cattle queen, who
is we'll known all over the State, and is a
woman of large wealth. Her name is
Rogers, and her ranch adjoins that OF. Col.
King. Her first husband was a cowman
named Rabb. A distinction must be made
between the terms cowboy and cOwman.
The latter is an owner Of cattle, while the
cowboy is the hired man who herds
them. COwman and ranchman are
synonymous.
Rabb was one of the early settlers, and
accumulated a fortune in cattle. When
he died childless, few years ago. his
widow, a woman of strong mind and Wig
orous physique, took charge of the ranch,
and, the neighbors say, proved to be even
a better manager than her late husband
She lived alone in the ranch house. She
was over 90 when her husband died, and
not remarkable for personal attractions.
Wooers came, but the Widows heart was
stone. She was an ardent Methodist, and
used to ride twelve miles on a brOnchO
every Sunday to meeting. The preacher,
Rogers by name, was a widOwer. young
and handsome. with a reputation for ora
tory, and seven children. The widow
Rabb took pity on the motherless ROg-
erses, and gave her heart and hand to the
Domino. But she kept the late Rabb's
property in her own name, and told Rogers
she needed no assistance in the manage
ment Of the ranch. He quilted preaching
and took to politics, in which he has been
quite successful, being now Democratic
member of the Texas Legislature. and an
aspirant for Congress.
Mrs. Rogers has about 10000 cattle on a
| pasturage of 1000 acres, and is said to
be worth a round million. She is devoted
to her business, and never goes into So
clety. Every week she rides twelve miles
on horseback into town to purchase sup
plies, and generally wears an old water
proof cloak for riding habit. She has
no taste for dress, and Notwithstanding
her wealth lives with the greatest econo-
my.
State Senator Collins, of Duval county,
is another wealthy ranchman who has
taken up politics. He came to Texas at
ter the war with only 5000 capital, but
now has 10000 cattle and quite bunch of
| sheep.
Henry Seeligson, a merchant of Calves
| ION, is one of the largest cattle owners
| IN the southern part of the State, having
a ranch in Bee, and another in Nueces
county, with about 1000 head OF stock.
! Ex-senator Lane, of Ontario, is a con-
! splcuous figure in all the cattle cOnven-
| tiOns, and enjoys distinction because of
his personal appearance, as well as his
wealth and intellectual abilities. He is
nearly seven feet tall, straight and slim
asa rail, dark as an Indian, and can talk
! like tornado. He began life as a cow
/ boy, but is worth more than a million
now, owning about 10000 cattle and en-
! pDylng sixty cowboys. He is a great
! temperance advocate and moral retOrmer,
and he has a rule, which is decidedly eX-
! ceptiOnal, that no cowboy or other person
in his employ shall drink whisky, play
cards, use prOfane language, or carry a
revolver. Any man on his ranch YiO-
I lating this rule is discharged without no
( tice
Another noted character in this country
is Tom O'Conner, whose life has been a
romance. He is native of the north of
Ireland, and was educated to the saddlery
trade. Emigrating to this country in
1886, he worked at harness making for
more than a quarter Of century, and
was the inventor of the saddletree which
is used by all the cowboys in Texas.
ut WIr' 5 years az ne useu ~ Pe.'tle eS,
upon which the saddletrees Of his own
manufacture were laden.
AS fast as he accumulated money he in
| vested it in cattle, and after the war he
gave up the saddlery trade. He is now
banker in San Antonio, the senior part
ner of the well known house of O'COnner
and Sullivan, and is said to be worth
| $4,000, 900. He lives in the plainest sort of a
way, and is said to spend no more than
$1,000 a year.
Shanghai Pierce, so called from his
enormous stature, is a Yankee from
Nashua, n. H., who drifted down here af-
ter the war as sailor on trading vessel,
and began life in Texas as a cowboy, at
wages Of $50 a month. In few years he
accumulated a couple of hundred COWS,
which he drove out upon the free range. He
| now owns over 100, 600 acres of land, 20 900
| cattle, and has a big income. He goes
Down East every summer to see the folks
and tell them what great man he is in
| Texas.
In the northern and northwestern parts
of the State are the Wealthiest companies
and the largest herds. Capital is becom-
! ing concentrated, and the smaller owners
are being frozen out. The fence-cutting
agitation is simply protest against mo-
nOpOlies which are securing enormous
tracts of land and fencing them in, to the
| injury of the men with small ranches and
! few cattle. There are few roads in Texas.
| A man who owns one, two. or three cOun-
/ ties builds fence around the entire tract,
| and those who wish to cross it have to 60
! 100 miles or so around, or cut the fences.
! They find the latter alternative the more
! agreeable, and hence the trouble that has
| been perpleXing the State. Highways
| will have to be established at certain con-
venient intervals Of distance, but how it is
| to be done the Legislature is not yet wise
| enough to determine.
Until recently the entire northwestern
! part of the State has been what is called
| free range, and hundreds of thousands of
cattle have been pastured upon it by men
! who do not own an acre of land, but have
! followed their herds, carrying their home
steads along with them on a pack mule.
! But the purchase of large tracts of land
! by wealthy capitalists has almost entirely
| destroyed the free range, as the new own
ers have been compelled to fence their
| property to protect their grass. The
erection of fences hundreds of miles long
! looks like a big expense, but it isn't so
very large, and the interest upon the in
vestment is more than paid by the reduced
percentage OF loss by estrays. The pur-
chase of a couple of car loads of barbed
wire isn't great item when a man is in
vesting $1,000, 900 in a ranch.
The loss of the free range, however,
keeps men who have no capital out of the
cattle business, for a cowboy on the ranges
or a clerk in country store cannot now
buy few cows and let them drift, as he
could with great profit a few years ago,
and it was in this way that the cattle kings
of to-day got their start.
For example, there is John n. Simpson.
| a TennesSean, who served through the
war as a member Of Wheeler's Confed-
crate cavalry. When the fighting was
over he came to Texas to seek his fortune.
and the best start he could get was a
bOokkeeper in a bank at $75 a month. AS
fast as he saved few dollars he bought a
COW, and when he got few COWS to.
gether he borrowed money upon them and
bought more. He made friends, and won
the confidence of mOneyed men. Non
residents placed their investments in his
hands, and he organized the Continental