Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1893-08-25
CATTLE IN THE WEST.
HOW TIE BIG CATTLE OWNERS, IN
TeRESTs ARE PROTECTED.

An Old and Easy tt ough Dangerous w.r
OF Getting a Herd That Is Rarely Fol-
lowed Nowadays-The Arrangement of
Brands and the Roundup.
1t is a common matter of wonderment
among eastern folk and others unfamil-
lhr with the great west and its wavs
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
derlng 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. Bnt
whore pasture lots are 10, 90 or even so
or more miles square and unfenced nat
urally q good many cattle get astrav.
wander into other ranges and mix with
other herds.
lime was when couple or more adj
venturous young men could start life in
the west or southwest with no capital or
outfit but horse apiece and a branding
iron, and in Il year or so be worth a good
sized fortune in cattle, but a strong pub
he sentiment working through the agen-
~ OF hempen ropo put stop to this kind
bf industry. Cattle thieves hardly exist
today, and so excellent system has been
perfected among cattle owners that now
| adays man need not lose single steer
| If he IS careful n or,t bic
Every owner mas a different brand,
and the number of brands in anv one
cattle state runs up into the tens of thou
| sands. They are most of them of ex-
| ceedingly qIaint design, and the adver-
| Using columns Of the western country
J 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
rancher despairs of inventing a new
brand, and then he uses an old one,
placing it on d fferent 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 il 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-
crracy of design, position and other par
| ticulars, 1t the Office of the secretary of
hp -.
the roundup is made on each ranch and
all the cattle gathered together for ship
ment, there are always q great many cs-
| trays-cattle that have wandered from
other ranges-among the herd. Some
| times there may be strange cattle from
| half 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 designated center, where all estrays
may be gathered together at the round
| up season. In the latter case, when a
sufficient number have been collected,
the ''estray herd is shipped to market.
| Men are appointed at the stockyards by
the association or the governor to in
spect 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 owners of the brands
worn by the cattle so sold. This official
makes it his business to keep track of all
the stockmen, and the money realized on
1 60, lu 20
of the steer.
The amount of money realized at mar
ket on estrays and RENTED to the own
ers through the associations runs from
800, 900 to $500, 1000 in every season for
each Of the several big cattle raising
states. In 1891, for instance, the number
| of estrays from Montana sold in st. Paul
and Chicago was 10, TAO, and some $780,
| 600 was realized on their sale and re-
mitted through the association to the
| rightful owners.
The fence question is an old and per-
picking one, and many and sanguinary
have been the wars in Texas and other
| cattle states between fencers and fence
cutters. 1t has been judicially decided
even that man must not fence in his
| land under some circumstances. The
fence around a 30-mile square lot is apt
| to be 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
| stockman who raises cattle on the I'M
bounded prairie knows nothing of the
harassment that afflicts the suburban
resident whose chickens will fly over the
neighbours fences.-New York Sun.
| The Trouble In Keeping n Persian Cat