The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1893-05-17
CATTLE IN H WEST.
HOW TIE BIG CATTLE OWNERS IN
TERESTS ARE PROTECTED,

AZ via anu Iasy InOuSn dangerous way
Of Getting a ff~x That Is Rarely Fol
lowed Nowadays-The Arrangement oi
Brands and the Roundup.
1t is a common matter of wonderment
among eastern folk and others unfamil-
lar with the great west and its ways
how the many herds of cattle that roam
over the immense stretches of unfenced
prairie and hill pasture are kept track
of by their respective owners, and how a
stockman can possess himself Of his wan
derins property, assert his ownership
and realize on it when he wishes to. OF
course the cowboys ride thu ranges and
endeavor to keep the herd within the
bounds Of their employers property,
and they succeed in the main. But
where pasture lots are 10. 90 or even 80
or more miles square and unfenced nat
urally a good many cattle get astray,
wander into other ranges and mix with
other herds.
Time was when u couple or more ad-
v%enturous young men could start life in
the west or southwest with no capital or
outfit but a horse apiece and a branding
iron, and in a year OF SO he worth good
sized fortune in cattle. but a strong pub
lie sentiment working through the agen-
cy of hempen rope put a stop to this kind
of industry. Cattle thieves hardly exist
today, and SO excellent asystem has been
perfected among cattle owners that now
adays a mar need not lose a single steer
if he is careful about his branding.
Every owner has a different brand,
and the number Of brands in any one
cattle state runs upinto the tens of thou
sands. They are most of them of ex-
ceedingly quaint design, and the adver-
Using columns of the western country
newspaper often look much like
scrolls covered with Egyptian hero
glyphics because of the numerous cuts
of cattle brands pictured for the infor.
nation of the ranchers. Sometimes "a
rancher despairs of %inventing a new
brand, and then he uses an old one.
placing it on a different part Of the ami
NAL from that where the owne of the
original II brands his animals. The
brand is the owners title deed to the
steer. and it is respected.
An association is formed among the
cattle owners in each far western state
20 deal with estrays. Cftentimes this
business is looked after 10y a state board
OF commissioners appointed by the gov
ernor. The various brands used by the
owners are registered. with minute ac-
curacy of design. position and other par
ticElars, at the Office of the secretary Of
the association or commission. When
the roundup Is made on each ranch and
all the cattle gathered together for shin
there are always IA great many es-
.trays-cattle that have wandered from
other ranges-among the herd. Some
times there may be strange cattle from
half a dozen or "A dozen different herds.
Instead of notifying the owner to
''come over and get his beasts the es-
trays are either shipped to Chicago, Kan.
sas City or wherever the market may be
along with the regular herd or are sent
to a designated center, where all estrays
may be gathered together at the round.
up season. In the latter case, when a
number have been collected,
the ''estray herd" is shipped to market
Men are appointed at the s%tockyards by
association or the governor to in
spect the herds as they arrive and t.
after their sale. The estrays are
sold in the regular way. and the money
is usually sent direct by ii ..1spector at
market to the owner OF the brands
by the cattle so sold. This official
makes it his business to keep track of all
he stockmen. and the money realized on
estray rarely fails to reach the owner
the steer.
The amount of money realized at mar.
Set on estrays and RENTED to the own
.rs through the associations runs from
FlOO, 900 to $500, 900 in every season for
ZACH of the several big cattle raising
'tates. In 1891, for instance, the number
# estrays from Montana sold in St. Paul
md Chicago was 10. 40, and some $780,
700 was realized on their sale and re-
through the association to the
ightful owners
The fence question is an old and Der.
one, and many and sa%nguinary
ave been the wars in Texas and other
attic states between fencers and fence
utters. 1t has been judicially decided
ven that a man must not fence in his
and under some circumstances. The
ence around a 3O-mile square lot is apt
0 be in the way of travellers, and when
he mail goes that way the fence has
cen declared illegal. But often stock
len don't want to fence. The western
who raises cattle on the un-
prairie knows nothing Of the
arassment that aflicts the suburban
whose chickens will fly over the
eighbor's fences.-New York Sun.