Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1898-01-27
THE CATTLE KINGS.
ONCE A GREAT POWER IN THE WEST,
THEY ARE NOW DISPLACED.

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North Dakota and Montana, where for
nearly 20 years, the bonanza cattle out
fits have held complete sway, and where
cattle have roamed the vast prairies at
will, like the buffalo a quarter Of cen
fury ago, are passing out of existence.
The deathknell of the large cattle
| companies has been sounded by the in
Vulnerable settlers who have taken up
vacant government land in the great
grazing region built 'shanties'' in the
| vicinity Of every natural spring and
water hole. fenced in thousands Of acres
of grazing land and driven the immense
herds of the bonanza cattlemen from
place to place, until there is no place
left for them TO go. All the years that
the vast pralries of the west have re-
manned unsettled have been worth mil
lions to the cattle princes. Hundreds of
thousands of cattle have been imported
placed upon the ranges at a cost not TO
| exceed $40 a head for the 2-year- old
steers, allowed to roam at will for two
years, at an average animal cost not to
| tAtttN Do, anu tLltil SUN III iub ludIhtb
at Chicago for an average price of $40
to $50 The free ranges offered by the
millions of acres of unsurveyed and I'M.
occupied government land have been
turned into millions of dollars III cold
cash by the cattle kings, but the tide of
immigration to the west has sealed
their fate and they are ready to go,
For % wears ppar1y n vast rpuipp w.
ing along the western part of North Da-
kota and the eastern strip of Montana
measuring 100 miles in width and $50
miles in length has been entirely given
up to the interests Of the cattle kings
Thousands of head of cattle have been
grazed year after year, countless train
loads of beeves have been shipped to
market and millions of dollars have
gone into the pockets of the cattlemen.
Pierre WiebauX, the Montana stock.
man, said to be the largest single owner
of cattle in the United States has mum
bered his total possessions of cattle at
so, 900 head The Berry Boice Cattle
company has owned and grazed each
year not fewer than 80, 900 head, and
there are numerous companies that have
essayed to keep on the ranges an annual
total of from 1000 to 30, 900 head.
The yastness Of the business Of these
cattle companies may be estimated from
the fact that the annual shipments for
the past few years have been from 3, 900
to 6, 900 head for each of the large com.
panies. The annual profits of the larger
companies, after deducting the original
cost of the cattle and the cost of their
maintenance upon the ranges, are from
$40, 900 to $50, 000--all that from the
free ranges of the government, given
without taxation or any return what.
ever
To understand the situation that has
existed up to the present time it must
be remembered that this broad region
which has been given up to the interests
Of the cattle growers has not been in
terseCted by fence, disturbed with a
pillow or graced with field of grain up
to few short years ago--nothing for
miles but short nutritious grass, which
cured on the prairie, as clover in a stack,
and served equally well for food in dead
of winter as III the heat of summer
Forth upon this vast area every spring
have been poured streams Of gaunt i'll
shaped, long horned and lean ribbed
southern cattle Left to roam at will,
they have thriven and waxed fat, until
in two years they have become sleek
and fat and comely to the eye. During
all that period they have been as free
and untramneled as were ever the buf-
falo But at the close Of the maturing
period they have been rounded up,
driven to railroad stock shipping pens
and loaded upon the cars for trip to
market Their places are taken by fresh
importations from the south And so,
year after year, have the processes been
repeated, until the profits that were
known to have accrued from the bust.
ness have tempted thousands of small
holders of cattle to settle in this region
and engage in the beef business on
smaller scale.
The presence of these smaller opera
tors is the inevitable doom of the cattle
I kings Their vast herds are no longer
allowed TO roam the ranges undisturb-
ed The small rancbmen have built
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The prairies have been made to yield to
the moving machine, and the former
! free grass has come to be cut and stack.
ed as hay, until the ranges in many
! places are bare of feed for the herds Of
the larger companies These conditions
are responsible for the closing out of
the cattle princes There is no longer
/ room for their Thousands If hppyps Eif
teen thousand cattle, the property Of
one Of tue larger operators, succumbed
/ TO the severity Of the weather for no
J other reason than that the ranges had
been denuded of grass by the numerous
[ smaller rauchmgn This was a warn
! ing that the most obstinate must heed
! And 80 the cattle companie, that for.
4 mgrly numbered their possessions by
/ the thousands OF head may now number
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