The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1894-12-01
CROSSING
Unique and Successful Experiments Made
In the Texas Panhandle,

In the Texas Panhandle.
ABILENE. Tex, Nov. 23.-Goodnight,
a little station on the Fort Worth and
Denver railroad, in Armstrong county,
in tho Texas panhandle, is the home Of
Charles Goodnight, who is quietly but
earnestly and persistentls conducting
an experiment in the crossing of the
American buffalo with native cattle, SO
fur without completely successful re-
suits, but certainly with very interest
ing ones.
Mr.. Goodnight has u little homo
anch Of about 10000 acres. This is
Ills garden. His real ranch, where he
locs his business, is the Quitaque, some
distance away, where he has about
100000 acres under fence. 1t is at his
title garden. or truck patch, tina: he
ias his buffalo experimental station.
Several years ngo. when buffalo were
more plentiful in Texas than they nre
low, the cowboys working for Mr..
Goodnight would often rope" u buff
'alo calf and bring it home. These
we're turned into an Enclosure, and
though little attention was paid to
hem they formed the necleus of the
serd now on the ranch. AS the wild
buffalo began to disappear these be-
am of greater interest and six or
leven years ago Mr., Goodnight begun
n earnest the attempt to produce n
new and distinct breed by crossing
buffalo and neat cattle and trying to
ocrpetuate this type of i%nbrceding.
There OIa now NV, h;e ,,,l l...
twenty-five or thirty full blood buff
!alo and as many more half breeds.
Most of these full bloods-probably all
of them-were calvcd on the ranch.
indeed, the herd are the product of tho
calves roped and brought in by The
cowboys in the late '7o's, which grew
ap and multiplied by the regular and
natural process. They are fine looking
animals. Old buffalo hunters saw they
never saw finer looking ones when
ihese animals covered the Texas prai-
ries by millions, which is conclusive
evidence that civilization is not fatal
TO the propagation of the buffalo. lie
needs only to be protected and given n
fair show. and in time there is no rea-
ion why there should not be MS many
buffalo on the prairics of Texas as
aso.
The crosses are, however, of the
greatest interest. IL was Mr.. Good
nights desire to establish a type of
cattle with the valuable robe, the
thrifty rustling qualities, the weight
and general characteristics Of the buff
talo. lie has bred ''blacl mulleys" to
the buffalo Dulls-the cnttle being
chiefly polled Apgus-and the result is
the light headquarters and the heavy
shoulders of the buffalo, the shaggy
asnd and the long, woolly hair so de-
sirable in buffalo robes being repro.
auced almost as perfectly us IN the
parent bull. The tail is long and fat
like u mules tail. Horns are absent
when bred to mulleys. In two or three
cases where The mothers were Texas
COWS the horns were like buffalo horns,
but some longer. One peculiar animal,
which is out OF place outside of n side
show, is the offspring Of Il buffalo bull
Ind Texas COW, and has black and
white stripes running around the body
like II zebra's.
Mr.. Goodnight finds his chief trouble
in breeding the crosses. In fact. with
q very fcw exceptions, he has found it
impossible to get offspring from the
half breeds. He is not discouraged.
but will persevere in his efforts and
feels confident that he will at last es-
tablish a new rae of cattle in Texas.
The half breeds are heavier in Weight
than the average cattle, are better
rustlers and keep fat through cold
weather and hard rustling that tim
she Others and often result in heavy
fatalities.
Mr.. Goodnight also has on his horse
'anch about thirty or %thirty-fve elk
hat Were brought from Colorado,
which he has in a pasture of 400 or 500
,cres, the fence around which is coyote
proof. The elk have not thriven we'll
md do not appear to be at home.