The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1897-07-15
THE BIG ~
BLUE STEER.
BY G. 3. DUNHHN.

he Lalk around the campfire
turned upon the decadence of
the range cattle business. Various
theories had been preached, but Rob-
ert, the oracle, dissented from them all,
and gave the following explanation:
''What ails cow-punching nowadays
amt the low price of cattle, for the
best times we ever had on the range
was ten years before steers went sky
roeketing up to SIS. And it is not set
tiers nor wire fences, though both are
bad enough, and ought to be forbid
~ law. But this is the fellow that is
responsible for everything" and Rob-
ert held up in the freight tobacco
package showing the figure of Dur
ham bull.
When stockmen began to grade up
their herds,'' he continued, they be-
gan to take the wind all out of the
business, and the short-horned, short
Imbed, short-winded cattle that are
raised now can't outrun three-legged
bronco nor 60 through a three-wire
fence. When I first came onto the
range, the stock was all Texas and Mex
lean, and their wind was as long az
their horns. You could calculate that
every thunderstorm would start
stampede, and I've known 'em to run
90 miles without letting up.
mo, SIR" he retorted to my express
sion Of a mild doubt; II couldn't pos
sibly do it for less. Why, boy. you
don't know anything about real live
cattle. Any. schoolgirl can handle
stock now. Ask Scotty."
Right you are,' said Scotty, taking
up the word; you should have been
with US down in the Panhandle Is years
ago. 1t used to take granted horse
to get near enough cow to see her
brand. Those were the days! Did
ever tell you about the big blue steer?
He was daisy, and cost the outfit more
than $1,000.
About the first year worked down
there, we noticed him on the beef
gather, fat and fine, and we took him
In. He stayed in the herd quietly
enough for several days; but one
morning, after a dark night, he was
missing, and we did not see him again
until we rounded up the same range
for beef again in the following year.
THAT time we got him half way to
the railroad, when he led stampede
that scattered the herd and cost us
near week of hard work to gather
them.
Every year for five years we found
that steer on the same range, and
started him out. After his bad char
acter was established, each time that
he got away the foreman would say:
Shoot him on sight, but we never
did see him again until the following
other try at him
ION those days we had trail to the
railroad which crossed a corner of the
Indian reservation. 1t was against the
regulations, bnt by giving them a fat
cow occasionally we were allowed to
use it, and saved long drive around
the reserve and 4s hours to the stock
yards. One year some" galoot went
through with an infected herd, and sew
eral head died on the reservation. If the
Indians had known it in time, sup
pose they would have scalped the out
fit. Anyhow. we happened to be the
next party through, and they opened
fire on US and scattered our stock. The
big blue got back to his old hillside as
usual. After that we drove to the rail-
road on the long trail. The Indians
were pretty mean for a few years, and
claimed every hoof of stocktfound over
the line. Some of the boys would want
to take pop at the rascals, but the fore
man would always say, we're in the
stock business exclusively. The Indian
business is good thing, but the two
won't go together. You let them alone
about the sixth year that we found
the big blue and started him out, we got
caught in a bad storm when within 20
miles of the railroad. I remember that
night mighty well. We had lively
time and the whole force was out all
night, but we got through safely and did
not lose steer. Next day we laid over.
The trail was soft from the heavy rain,
and we were short-handedo on account of
sending three men to help out Ranger
Jones, who was just ahead on the trail
and had lost his horse herd.
Our stock grazed all day and bedded
down early. At shutdown It looked like
they were settled for the night. There
were about 900 beeves in the bunch, and
only five men and the cook to handle
them. The foreman was with me on
first relief. As we rode slowly around
the herd, turning back the few stray
glers that were still feeding, we noticed
the big blue looking for Z soft spot to
he down. With jab Of his glossy black
A0rn he invited frst-comers to make