Wichita eagle., 1888-10-05
THE MAVERICK SYSTEM.
HOW FORTUNES WERE MADE ev
UNScRUPuIOuS COWBOvS.

The Trick Of Gathering . Hard Of Young
Cs.ae-Alterins Brands as High Art.
Notable Instances 81 Skillfui Aiter.-
tion.
Seattle raising in Texas b not what it used
to be, said veteran stockman. Il don't
mean to say there's no money in the business
now, only that It Is carried on differently
more legitimately, might say-than it used
TO be. Why, when was just learning TO
stick to bucking ponies, men without q cent
In their jeans were coming into the state and
branching out Is big cattle owners There
were fortunes made in . couple Of wears that
could hardly be accumulated in q lifetime as
the business now HOW was it donei III tell
you
What was known as the maverick SUSTAIN
was in vogue then A maverick is a yearling
calf that has escaped the branding iron.
Where there were large herds Of cattle is
often happened that some were overlooked as
branding time, and many were calved in tho
bush and ran wild These mavericks were
considered common property by the stock
man, and whenever he found one he'd rope
1t, tie it down and run bis brand on il. Then
the ears were sliced to correspond with the
recorded ear marks of the ranchman and the
calf turned loose. May be the ranchman was
branding his own stock and maybe he wasn't,
That cut no figure with him
1In those days we lad no pastures and
cattle were simply loose heried on the range
Certain landmarks would be set down ~ linn
its Of his range by the stockmen and his
herders instructed to keep the stock within
these limits In the morning the herfers
would round the cattle in sight 10 points
within the limits. u night they would be
headed for the sailing or bed ground and left
until morning. OF course there were many
strays, but each ranch sent Out a hunt In tho
spring TO round up the herds Of .neighboring
stockmeu and to cut out any cattle found
among them bearing their ranch brand. And
under this system OF handling cattle stock
men considered mavericking would even it
self up in the long run. The Only qusitica-
ton was that man should own stock TO b
properly entitled to maverick.
FORTUNES IN MAVERICKS.
Heres where foreigners coming into the
state penniless got the hest of US Some fell
low worked in cow camp long enough TO
learn that there was fortune for him in
mavericks. He invested his wages i'm COW
ponies, went To the nearest town and had a
brand recorded, got bag of meal and a side
OF bacon, and took to the bush. In lcSs than
a year he bad LOCO head OF youfxe cattle
roaming over the country with his brand m
them. Then he hired some men, built ranch,
and went on grand round up All the fat
steers ne drove to market, keeping the heifers
10 breed from His men were not long in
learning how he had worked il, ard then
they branched out for themselves, IN short
time the country was overrun with maverick
ers, and pretty soon the most barefaced
thievery ever recorded got 20 be as common
as dirt in a corn dodger. Your would DO
honest stockmen had 10 steal TO keep even,
and the calves OF milch cows in the corrals
were stolen.
at got TO be a common thing for the tame
cattle that came in 10 the ranch for salt To DO
followed Ivy calves wearing strange brands;
and this led TO the counter branding that used
to make the hides of Texas cattle look like
drawings of choice town lots
"Here's an instance: had a little Durham
heifer, one of the finest shorthorns brough.
into the state. Her first calf wasn't ten DAYS
old when some of the boys told me that il had
been mavericked / hunted II up, and surs
enough some cuSs had run big Z on its
side and undersigned each ear. drove IL 70
the ranch aud put big u after tho other
letters, making the brand read Is 4 U. Thea
l sharped each ear, and turned Il out The
next time saw that calf both ears had been
grubbed out at tho head, and the brand read
B4U2 Was mads Some
ALTERING BRANDS
"Then mavericks began to get scarce as
water on the Llano, and the COW thieves
turned their attention 20 altering brands
Old Jim Loving. up in Los valley. owned
about 5000 or 100 head OF cattle. They
were all branded with what be called half
diamond l. on tue left shoulder. The half
diamond was over the l.. he and | took a
herd mp the Chisrn trail 10 Kansas In II. and
somewhere between Sun City and Fort Dodge
caught up with another herd that bad gore
up ahead Of Us IL had been sold that day.
Loving counted 200 odd head OF his cattle In
the herd They were ali branded on the left
shoulder with an inverted I inside u o
diamond
i, Jim was hopping mad. We learned that
the fellow who sold the herd was red haired
Mexican called ColDran. Getting some OF the
boys. we started after him. Hs got almost 70
the Nation INDIAN territory before ne
caught him The boys set him a straddls II
his own pack horse and tied his legs under
the animals belly Then a lariat was tel
under his chin, and the other end thrown
over the branch Of live Oak, where II
the boys caught IL and made il fast 10 the
horn Of bis saddle. Then Colorau wa given
about five minutes 70 tell over his beads.
While the darned skunk WINS whimpsring
something about 'Sancta Maria, Msfr. de
Dios,' Loving gave the signal The berdsr
with tho rope tied 20 his saddle horn dng
spurs into his pony and shot away like the
wind lt was forty foot Iariat and be
reached the end with jsTk thai threw bis
pony back On his launches. That grsaeer's
neck popped Ike the r~pDrt Of six shooter.
1T was the only way 20 deal WITH these
fellows, and that kind o: treatment has mad.
them scarce. Since We have got % bailding
big pastures with barhed wire fence around
tern. Inaverickiug and cattle stealing have
about died cut and We don't have 20 hire
30 many herders either. Men ride around
IN. pastures eT-ry day or 80 70 ses that tbs
fsncsz are not down. tut they don't carry
branding irons With them Branding 10 DOS
q, regular periods now.r-Cbicnso Tines
Invention. Not Patented
70. al iBTsntoFE 70 70 tie patent oEns.
A helper On ar sIpre-. xaxon Ia town eas
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