The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1886-06-03
Cattle Raising ON the Plains.

During the winter of 1871 and 1872
L engaged IN the handling of Texas
cattle in the semi arid belt of Kansas.
[ had provided no food for my stock.
L knew that cattle could and did winter
on the plains far north and west of
where / was but / did not know that
there was difference in the nutritious
qualities of the different prairie grasses.
/ did not understand the peculiarities
of the climate of the semi-arid belt,
nor the effects of rain falling on dead
grass. Stupid of me, of course, but
had plenty of company. My neighbors
were bright Germans, intelligent En-
glishmen, and keen Americans from
almost every State in the Union. We
were a hopeful band, young, strong,
and eager. When we gathered into our
wretched novels o nights, and the pipes
were glowing, our talk was of cattle,
cattle, cattle. The sales of steers off
the range at Is cents per pound, live
weight, made the previous spring, were
strongly dwelt upon. Twas repeatedly
assured that the Kansas winters were
so mild that / would not need coat.
The height the new prairie grass would
surely be on the 1st of March was
measured on table legs by outstretched
and dirty index fingers for my instruc-
ton and encouragement. There was
not one of all the band of eager mel
who rode the Kansas plains in those
days who did not firmly believe that
our fortunes we're made. The country
was full of cattle. November came in
W tn q blizzard, and, with slight inter-
ruptions, kindly allowed by nature for
the purpose of affording us oppOrtuni-
ties to skin dead CATTLE the blizzard
lasted until March, and the cold,
stormy weather for two months longer.
There was no new grass until the mid
die of May. In all the Texas herds
held in Kansas the losses were heavy.
Hardly herd lost less than 80 per
cent, and go, 20, and so per cent. loss
es were common. by spring we learn
ed that great herds of heavy beef cat
tie, held on the Smoky, Cottonwood,
and Arkansas Rivers, had been frozen
on the range, and that the Texans had
saddled Their horses and gone home.
The creeks were damned with the de-
caying carcasses of cattle. The air was
heavy with the stencil of decaying ami
mails. The cruelties of the business Of
starving cattle to death were wildly
impressed on me. Every wagon sent
from the cattle ranges to the railroad
towns was loaded with hides. The next
summer, bankruptcy stalked over the
Kansas plains and struck men down.
Our trouble was, that none of US knew
that the tall blue joint grass was worth
less for winter feed unless it were made
into hay, none of US knew that the fall
rains had washed the nutriment out of
it, and none of us knew that about
once in ten years there is a hard winter
in the far West, during which the mer-
curry modestly retires into tho bulb of
the thermometer, and blizzard chases
blizzard over the plains in quick sue
cession. Some Of us learned the les
son at once; others, who claimed that
the cattle needed protection, not food,
erected sheds, which proved TO be
death-traps. the cattle stacking" un-
der them during cold weather, and
tried it again, and went into bankrupt
cy promptly after the second venture.
As it was in Kansas, so il is, in less
degree, in the so-called cattle coun-
try" A wet autumn, followed by q
hard winter, kills tho cattle held on
Northern ranges by tho thousand
Frank Wilkeson, IN Hayper's Mag
dzilse.