Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-08-24
A DEFUNCT INDUSTRY
Railroads Have Killed Stock Driving,
Yet Beef is High in Price.
JOYS OF TIE CATTLE DEALERS.
Ancient Roadside Inns, With Snake-Root
and Tansy BitterS
THE TRADE OF THE HORSE THIEF GONE


day in desultory discussion of matters past,
present and to come generally, when some
one called attention to the stories OF old
time taverns published in The DISPATCH.
As the generality of the company had
reached that age when "reminiscences are
either painful or pleasurable and at the
same time persistent, the reference to old
taverns called up groups Of recoilections
connected with the days of tallow dips,
goose-quill pens. stage coaches. etc., before
machinery and rapid travel had made
people in a measure indifferent to all out
side their ''set," when they were more de-
pendent on each other and consequently
more disposed to sociability than at present;
when in making journey of a few hundred
miles in the slow conveyances of the past
they found acquaintance with total strangers
which frequently ripened into fast friend
ship, lasting for life, and the talk drifted to
the subject of live stock driving in the olden
time.
Previous to 1860 most of the cattle, hogs,
sheep, turkeys, ETC., that supplied the
Eastern cities were driven on foot from
Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and
Illinois, and the stock drover was a man of
consequence, of wide experience, a man Of
large views and frequently of pleasant,
social powers. Mr.. Boyd is a son of the
head of the old cattle driving firm of w. S.
& A. G. Boyd, of Butler, and himself when
a kid assisted in driving stock to Philadel-
phia and Baltimore.
A drover would establish himself in
neighborhood, and after few weeks dick
ering would accumulate 100 to 400 head of
cattle, or 500 to 1000 head of sheep, and
then, with a few assistants, and perhaps
two or three trained shepherd dogs, would
move his accumulation by easy stages 300
or 600 miles. 1t was a great treat to
farmers boys to be allowed to attach them
selves to one of these caravansaries, thereby
seeing life, as Pittsburg youths frequently
did in the olden time by a trip to New
Orleans on a brodhorn.
WHO WERE DRovERs.
Frequently men of culture, who wished to
see the country and study people and Gus
toms, drifted West and returned as stock
drivers. The salary paid was 40 cents a
day and, as the legend had it, "no dinner" I"
But this was not always the case; in fact,
dinner of some kind was generally had at a
farmhouse or a country tavern.
The woods of Pennsylvania in that time
were gorgeous, and the fora so diversified
between Illinois and the seashore that an
observant man might on the journey ac-
quire a vast amount of botanical knowledge,
and if he didn't store up supply of health
it was because his system had no storage
capacity. The owner of the drove or his
business man accompanied the caravan on
horseback, assisting the attendants to drive
until it became time to look for q resting
place, when he rode ahead and provided for
it. Such horses were trained to follow the
herd riderless or stand at command and
Craze for hours. Although a large herd of
cattle might not cost more than 50, 900 or
1000, vet it was an imposing sight, and its
owner was a man of consequence along the
line.
When hero of sufficient size was col
lected, it was driven, ii cattle. II to Is miles
day until the summit of the Alleghenies
was reached, about where Cresson now
stands. The distance varied somewhat ac-
cording as water and pasture could be
found. From Cresson 70 Philadelphia the
pace was reduced to six or eight miles day
in order to get the stock in good condition
for market. They were moved each day
just sufficiently to give them healthy exer-
else, and when Philadelphia or Baltimore
was reached were in prime condition for the
butcher.
A GENTLE STEER FOR LEADER.
10e OTONS was HdUuleu very toHUeEly. -
large, gentle steer would be chosen to lead
the herd, and he was led by man. On his
back the Steer carried a bundle containing
the leaders Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes,
for the Pennsylvania farmers in most Sec
tions would not countenance secular work
on the first day of the week, and the drivers
were generally young fellows who loved to
flirt with the rustic maidens along the
line.
The advent of drove was an event in
the rural regions and was heralded by the
coaxing cries of the leader, which could be
heard in the country solitudes for a mile.
'Come Boss. come Boss, sook-e-e, sook-e-e, :"
to which every urchln would respond,
"Forty cents day and no dinner."S
After the herd had become somewhat dis
ciplined, it was put on strict regimen. Put
into pasture about dusk, the cattle would
soon Craze themselves and lie down to chew
the cud and to sleep. Between 2 and 8
o'clock in the morning the drivers were
astir, and they reused the cattle and forced
them 10 feed awhile, and then, when the
grass glistened with dew and the early
birds were caroling their matutinal songs
or looking for the early worms, and squirrels
were getting their morning repast, the line
OF march began, and was kept up at an easy
pace until the beat became oppressive, when
the drove was halted at a creek or watering
place and rested until the suns rays came
slantingly from the west, when the march
was resumed and kept up until dark. Thus
a panorama of
EXQUISITE GRANDEUR
covering 600 miles was enjoyed by the
drivers, and the cattle were gotten TO mar.
ket in better shape than had they been sent
by rail in upholstered cars such as used in
the transportation of valuable horses. Such
a trip was educating and pleasurable, and
no wonder those who made it sigh for the
good old days when it was not all of life to
live and scratch for more of the food that
perisheth than was needed.
1t must not be supposed, however, that all
drovers were saints or philanthropists. They
were, as q rule, sharp dealers, and were gen.
orally possessed of much of that dislike for
corporations that many people of to-day
evince. Their special dislike was the turn.
pike company, and some believed it merit.
orious to cheat the toll taker if possible.
Accordingly before gate was reached the
attendants were instructed to agItate the
herd, and make it difficult to count
The owner or his agent would announce to
the toll taker the number of head, generally
10 to 30 less than the real number, according
to the size OF the herd. The toll man usual.
ly found it best to accept the statement a:
the herd would be found very difficult tc
count, and wrangle would complicate the
business of the company. Especially wa,
this so in the case of sheep, which could be
so worked up that a Babbage calculating
machine could not keep track Of them
Some drovers did not object to having strag
Cling cattle Join the drove and sometimes
it was considerably augmented that way.
The fame OF some wayside hostelries wa!