Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1885-06-26
RANGEA AND RANCH CATTLE.
The Magnitude Of the Business Of
Keeping Cattle on Land Not Em-
braced In Farms. III (. i,
History Of lts Introduction on the Great
Plains-Prospects OF Future Expansion.
Range and Ranch.

History Of IT. Introduction on the Great
Plains-Prospec OF Future Expansion.
Range and Ranch.
In compliance with resolution
passed by the national house of rep
sentatives, the bureau of statistics of
the treasury department has prepared
an exhaustive report IN regard to the
range and ranch cattle business of the
United States. The report occupies a
volume of two hundred pages, and is
accompanied with four large colored
maps. 1t contains q large amount Of
useful information in relation to the
raising of cattle on land not embraced
in farms. Attention is first directed
in the report to the extent of country
that is devoted or which can be devo-
ted to this industry, and which is APP
parently adapted to no other useful
purpose. 1t states this territory en-
braces about 100000 square miles
and constitutes approximately A. per
cent. of the entire area of the United
States exclusive of Alaska. It is as
large as all that portion of the coun-
try situated east Of the Mississippi
river, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Its
area is equal to that of Great Britain,
Ireland, France, Germany, Denmark,
Holland, Belgium, Austria, Hungary,
Italy, Spain, and Portugal, and one
Eth of European Russia. A large
portion OF this vast territory has a
very deficient rainfall, 'whils compar-
atively little water is afforded to
springs and streams, still no portion
Of it is entitled to be called a desert,
as it was by the early travellers.
The expression Grange and ranch
CATTLE in the report applies to cattle
which, from the time they are drop
ped until they are shipped to market,
seek their own food, water, and shell
ter, as did the buffalo, the deer, and
the elk before them, and which are
subject only to the restraints of herd
ing. The distinction between the
grange" aud the .'ranch'' cattle bust
ness herein observed, is that the for
mer designation applies to the raising
and fattening of cattle upon public
lands, or upon unfenced lands gener-
ally, where the herds of different pro-
prietors freely range and intermingle;
whereas the "ranch" cattle business is
carried on within Enclosures belonging
to cattlemen, on which only their own
cattle Craze. The very fact that the
range-cattle business is most profta-
bly, carried on in a large way, and that
its successful prosecution involves or
ganization and cooperative work, ap-
pears to have suggested at an early
day the conduct OF the business under
corporate ownership and management
Accordingly this has been one of the
marked features of the enterprise al
most from the beginning. Incorpora-
ted companies, chartered under the
laws OF this country as we'll as under
the laws Of foreig countries are now
extensively engaged in the cattle bust
ness from southern Texas to the north
ern border line of the United States.
The raising of cattle in Texas had
its origin long before the admission of
that state into the union. The origin
al or. native cattle of Texas are of
Spanish and Mexican origin. Their
most distinctive physical characteristics
are long horns, large and vigorous
lungs, small intestinal organization,
and small bones. These characteristics
appear to be the result of the condi-
tions which for three hundred years
have constituted their environment.
Texas cattle exhibit some of the NJ ark
ed self-re]iant traits of the wild ami
NAL, being strong in the instinct of
seeking food and water, and of self
protection against the inclemency of
the weather. In the language of the
herdsman, they are good s'rustlers,"
which means that they know how and
where to find food and water, and
have the alertness and spirit to seek
them upon the vast plains and in val
leys and mountain Businesses where
they roam, and even beneath the
SHOWS, which in the winter, at times,
in the more northerly regions, cover
their feeding grounds.
Thirty years ago almost the entire
area of Texas was one vast feeding
ground for cattle, horses and sheep.
Almost all the cattle of the state were,
according to the popular phrase, ION
the range The cattle belonging to
different persons were then as now
known by brands upon their sides,
large enough to be distinguished by a
horseman at some distance. This
method of designating different owner
ships still prevails throughout the e1-
tire range and range cattle area of the
United States. A general supervision
ct cattle within certain extensive dis
tricts is had by horsemen, commonly
known as ''cowboys.' Twice d wear
the cattle of the different owners and
associated owners are rounded up
!. e., gathered together in close herds;
when the calves are branded and cat
lie for slaughter selected out, the rest
being allowed to wander off again
upon. the range. During the last
twenty years great change has taken
place in the cattle business Of Texas
About half the area Of the state, in
Guiding the eastern portion, not en-:
braced in the range and range cattle
area, has been taken UP, and is now
being cultivated as farms. In this
part Of the state cattle are raised as
domestic animals, being generally
provided with food and shelter in the
winter. The range and range portion
is also to considerable extent settled
up by farmers, especially the eastern
and southern portions Of the state.
Upon her admission into the union,
Texas retained the ownership of her
public lands. These lands have been
surveyed and divided into townships,
sections, and quarter sections in a
manner quite similar to that in which
the public lands OF the United States
have been laid out. Texas has, how
ever, pursued a less conservative
policy in regard to- the disposition Of
her public lands than has the United
States, and the result is that the
ownership of vast areas has been free
sIy acquired for ranch purposes by in