The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1893-05-13
The WESTERN ROUNDUP.
How tho Cattlcmcn's Interests Arc FRO
tccted Through InspectOrs.

The YVES fEHN hOOND-OfI
How tho CattIcmcn's Interests Are Pro-
tected Through Inspectors.
1t is a common matter of wOndcrmcnt
among eastern folk and others unfa-
miliar with the great west and its ways,
how the many herds of cattle that roam
over the immense stretches of unfcnced
prairi" and hill pasture are kept track
of by thcir respective owners, and how
Il Stockman can possess himself of
his wandering property, assert his
ownership, and realize ON it when he
wishes To. OF course the COWBOYS ride
the ranges and cndeavor 10 keep the
herd within the bounds of their en-
pl"yer's property, and they succeed in
The main. But where pasture lots are
ten. twenty, or even thirty or more
miles square, and unfcnccd. naturally II
good many cattle get aSiray. wander
into other ranges, and mix with other
herds.
Time was when a couple or more adj
vcnturouS Young men could start life in
the west or southwest with no capital
or outfit but Il horse apiece and Il brand
ing iron, and in a year or SO br worth IL
6''"' ''E'' W. u ~ 'f''hh'" i'lh Z"
strong public sentiment working
through the agency of hempen o u
put Il stop to this kind of industry.
Cattle thieves hardly exist to-day. and
so excellent a system has been per-
fccted among cattle owners that now
ndays a man need not lose a
single steer if he is careful about
his branding. Every owner has II
different brand, and the number of
brands in any one cattle state runs up
into tens of thousands. They are most
of them of exceedingly quaint design,
and the advertising columns of the
western country newspaper often look
much like mummy scrolls covered with
Egyptian hieroglyphics because of the
numerous cuts of cattle brands pic
tured for the information of the ranch
ers. Sometimes n ranchcr despairs of
i%nventing a new brand, and then he
uses an old one, placing it on a differ
ent part of the animal 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 re-
spected.
An association is formed among the
cattle owners in each far western state
to deal with estrays. Oftentimes this
business is looked after by 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
particulars, at the office of the secreta-
ry of the association or commission.
When the roundup is made on each
ranch, and all the cattle gathered to-
gether for shipment, there are always
Il great many estrays-cattle that
have wandered from other ranges
among the herd. Sometimes there
may he strange cattle from half
u dozen ~ a dozen different
herds. Instead of notifying the owner
to come over and get his beasts" the
estrays are either shipped to Chicago,
Kansas City, or wherever the market
may be, along with the regular herd,
or are sent to a designated center where
all estrays may he gathered together at
the roundup season. In the latter ease
when Il sufficient number nave beer
collected the ''estray herd is shipped
to market. Men are appointed at the
stock yards by the association or the
governor, to inspect the herds as they
arrive and to look after their sale. The
estrays are sold in the regular way. and
the money is usually sent direct by the
inspector at the market to the owner
of the brands worn by the cattle so sold.
The official makes it his business t.
keep track of all the StOckmen. and the
money realized on the eStray rarely
fails to reach the owner of the steer.
The amount of money realized nj
market on estrays and RENTED to the
owners through the associations runs
from 800, 600 to 5000, 900 in every season
for each of the several big cattle-raiSing
states. In 1891, for instance. the mum
Der of estrays from Montana sold in
st. Paul and Chicago was IL, 40, and
some $3.50, 900 was realized on their sal,
and RENTED through the association tC
the rightful wners.
The fence question is an old and per
picking one, and many and s%anguinary
have beer the wars in Texas and Other
cattle states between fencers and fencs
cutters. 1t has been iudicially de
cided eve h a a man must not fcnc,
i'm his land, under some circumstances
The fence around a thirty-mile-squart
lot is apt to be in the way of travellers
and when the mail goes that way tn,
fence has been declared illegal. But
often stockmen don't want to fence
The western stockman who raise.
cattle on the ~unbounded prairie know!
nothing of the haraSSment that afilict.
the suburban resident whose chicken.
will fly over the neighbours fences
n. Y. Sun.