The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1893-05-09
CATTLE In THE WEST
HOW THE BIG CATTLE OWNERS IN.
TERESTS ARE PROTECTED.

80 ohu 0Au A@0sy AAouSn dangerous vIy
OF Getting a Herd That Is Rarely Fol-
lowed Nowadays-The Arrangement Of
Brands and the Roundup.
1t is a ommon 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
%stock1nan can possess himself of his wan
dering property, assert his ownership
and realize on it when he wishes to. OF
course the cowboys ride the ranges and
endeavor to keep the herd within the
bounds Of their employers property,
and they succeed in the main. But
whore pasture lots are 10. 90 or even 80
Sr more miles square and unfenced nat
urally n good many cattle get astrav.
wander into other ranges md mix with
other herds.
Time was when a couple or more ad-
venturous young men coaid start life in
the west or southwest with no capital or
outfit but a horse apiece and a branding
iron. and in a year or : be wortha good
sized fortune III cattle but a strong pub
lie sentiment working through the agen-
cy OF heinLen rope pr a stopt to this kind
of industry. Cattle alieves hardly exist
today, and SO excel 1t a system has been
perfected among cattle owners tnat now
adays a man need not lose a single steer
if he is careful about his branding.
Every owner has a different brand,
nyl s1a ,r,,1,ar - .a,l -,
cattle state run 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 mummy
scrolls covered with Egyptian hero
glyphics because Of the numerous cuts
of cattle brands pictured for the infor-
NATION of the ~ranchers. Sometimes a
tancher despairs of inventine a new
brand. m then he Uses an old one,
placing it on a different part of the ami
NAL from that where the owner of the
original one 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
to deal with estrays. Oftentines this
business is looked after by IA state board
of commissioners appointed by the gov
rho The various brands used by the
owners are registered. with minute ac-
curacy of design. position and other par
ticulars. 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 fer ship
ment, there are always Il 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 Il dozen different herds. |
Instead Of notifying the owner TO
'.come over aud get his beasts" the es-
trays are either shipped 10 Chicago. Kan
sas City or wherever tie market may be
along with the regular herd 81 are sent
to a desiG1tated center. where all'astravs
may be gathered together at tie round
up season. In the later case. when a
sufficient naHber have been collected,
the "estray herd is shipped to market.
Men are appointed at the stockyard.s by
the association or the governor to in
spect the herds as they arrive and TO
Aooh III lEitEI SdIf. Inc f>IfIAs are
sold i'll the regular way. AMI the money
is usually cent direct by Ii aspector at
the market 10 the owners Of the brands
Worn by the cattle 50 sold. This official
makes it his business to keep track Of all
the stockmen. and the money realized on
an estray rarely fails to reach the owner
of the steer.
The amount OF money realized at mar
ket on estrays and RENTED to the own
ers through the associations runs from
100000 to 5000, 900 liz every season for
a of the several big cattle raising
In 1891, for instance. the number
of estrays from Montana sold III St. Paul
and Chicago was 10. 10, and some $3.50
tO was realized Oh their sale and re-
through the association to the
owners.
The fence question is an old and per-
one, and many and sansuinary
have been the wars in Texas and other
cattle states between fencers and fence
,utters. 4 has been judicially decided
wen tat a man must not fence in his
and under some circumstances. The
.nce around a 30-mile square lot is apt
y. in the way Of travellers, and when
the mail goes that way the fence has
been declared illegal. But often stock
men don't want to fence. The western
who raises cattle on the un-
bounded prairie knows nothing of the
that afflicts the suburban
whose chickens will fly over the
neighbor's fences.-New York Sun.
The Trouble In Keeping a Persian Cat.
The love of liberty is the ruling pas