El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1897-01-14
AN ELK RANCH,
The Only One in the World Is in
the Mountains Of Colorado,
Unique Enterprise of Capt. Marcus Coon
His Interesting Description of His
Farm and Its Strange
Stock.

this oldest of all farms apDarently IN
Gertook the work more for the love of
doing something that no one else would
care to attempt than for money-malling
! purposes. He has carried out his plans
| in quiet, conservative manner. having
some fear at first as to its ultimate
success. But now that there is no long
er any question of a failure. and Capt.
| Marcus Coon has a farm with n herd on
it that people will go thousands of
miles to see, he has decided to let those
who cannot make personal visit know
about it. This he has done in the state
ment which follows:
Il own an elk farm. AS far as know
there is not another such farm in the
world. There may possibly be men who
! hold elk in captivity, and who keep them
for breeding purposes to a certain ex-
! tent; but to have q regular farm, where
there are nothing but elk. where they
are looked after, kept in condition, and
treated just the same as any cattle
that is Il thing which L do not believe
! anyone has done before me-
Some idea of the extent to which /
work my farm may lie gained from tue
fact that each year l raise for nv elk
alone enough hay to bale up $50 tons
| and garner from 300 to 500 bushels of
grain.
"On this farm, which is $500 feet
above the level of the sea, the elk roam
through the timber land and across the
rolling meadows just as though they
were not captive. But they are safe
enough, nevertheless, for | have them
fenced in with a five-strand barbed wire
fence.
In my time 1 have followed many
lines of work and farmed in different
parts of the country. but | have never
had such experience as l am now pass
ing through. The elk is such a strange
animal, but in time they get to be just
as gentle as mich COWS.
1T has been four years now since 1
first took the notion of tanning the elk
and raising them just as other people
raise cattle. 1t took me a year to get
the farm in order. to capture the six
animals with which ! started, and to
place them in the enclosed ranch. Up
to that time | did not know whether the
idea was feasible; l was afraid that [
should have a good deal of trouble in
DEMONSTRATING them.
ITO be sure, the worst worry of nv
life began from the moment | caught
the first elk for the herd. 1t was not
that they were wild and unruly: on the
contrary. they We're too tame. Al
though the farm is large enough. the
animals seemed to know by instinct that
they were prisoners. They have to be
pettSd like children. In the matter of
feeding, too, l have to use the utmost
care. In the summer it is easy enough.
for they may wander at viii and pick
up suitable food from stubble field and
timber land. But during the winter
their food must be especially prepared
chopped and sometimes sweetened
when they do not readily take to it.
But from the first year everything |
seemed to favor my project. The num-
bers increased rapidly, and were aug |
mented from the neighboring forests |
from time to time,
While wandering at will on their |
native tracts, the elk of all sizes and |
ages seem to be perfectly able to take |
care Of themselves and their horns |
But when once they get on farm they
seem to forget all this. The young |
steers, especially, get into no end of
trouble. and break their horns in the
most distressing manner. As these |
broken horns and badly spreading |
prongs injure the general appearance |
OF the herd, L have COntriv9d Il means |
of regulating and controlling the horns |
grow tn. This is done by means of a box
like wooden frame, light and easily car
ried by the elk. The horns are guided |
in their growth by this frame, and it |
also keeps the animal from getting into |
bad places in the timber belt. Then.
too, when the horns are still in the milk. |
they are very soft and easily damaged. |
They have to be watched with the great |
est caution, and iron rust must be |
mixed with their food, as it has a |
strengthening quality.
But, although under usual condi- |
lions elk need no more care than cows, |
there comes a time when this is changed |
After the second year of their life on |
the farms the males sometimes get ugly |
during the heated terms. This ugly |
temper is liable to be communicated |
the herd unless each refractory |
2nimal is at once removed and isolated
SO when any elk shows disposition to |
Kill everything that comes within his |
reach, we secure him with ropes and |
cut off his horns. This renders him less |
dangerous and takes some of the pride |
out of him. When he has been placed in |
the separate enclosure, as a general |
thing we keep away and let him go |
without food for several days. Already |
| have had several elk killed by their |
fellows, who We're not taken from the |
herd in time, and one of my men had |
his leg broken while in the enclosure |
the cutting off of horns. |
But all the hard trials [ have on the
farm with my strange herd are fully |
by the pleasure | take
in watching the animals as they grow |
from tiny calves to be great and power
full. The rapid increase in number is
another matter | watch with great in
tercst | have not found any deteriora-
ton vet in my herd because OF in-breed-
ing, and think it would be a long time
before any bad effects would be no.
ticcd. Still, it is always an easy mat
ter to catch young calves in the timber
belt and add them to the band. This
1 do each spring" - st. Louis Globe
Democrat