The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1902-11-08
ON THE CATTLE RANGES.


For ten years. more or less, say from.
1874 to 1884, and later than. this in the
northern range, there was universal
prosperity and plenty of money; to be
cowman meant being a small, but
powerful king with q princely. king
dom, the boundaries of which were set
by precedent and by the honor of GUS
tomas far as a man on horseback
could see, and by water-as firmly as If
concentrated and title-deeded. There
was no rent, and virtually no taxes to
pay. A man might own hundred
thousand cattle, and not an acre OF
land, though Reclaimed "range rights"
to $4,000 acres. and enforced those
rights with blood and iron, writes Ray
Stannard Baker, in Century.
Apparently this was new sort of
free life in which man had risen above
the old slow rules of thrift. 1t was q
simple business; turn the cattle to
grass. and when money was needed,
round them up and sell them.
But the lucky dog sometimes had
difficulty in enjoying his bone in peace.
Lured by the stories of sudden riches
in the cattle country, other men. as
bold and hardy as the first, focked in
from all parts of the world, and began
raising big and little herds. The build
ing of the railroads across the conti-
nent stimulated immigration; the
foyf I'D hn
pletion of the Texas Pacific railroad
in 1885, At first the early corners well
coined the new rangers, sold them cat
tie at exorbitant prices, chuckled at
their innocence, allowed them to come
IN on the ranges, and grew richer and
richer. There were times when Texas
steers, big and little. brought $25 each
on the range. But the tide swclled,
and the cattle continued to increase
enormously. Presently the first real
settlers, the "nesters" Of Texas, who
wished to fence the land for farms,
appeared in numbers, and the early
Corners, the original cowboys, began
to chafe. "Who's elbowing me?" they
inquired, and there was prompt and
effective shooting, and the wholesale
cutting of the new fences.
Many good men lay down in the hot
sand, never to rise again. But that
bad as it was. did not tell the whole
story of destruction. If cattle bad
been killed instead of men, the trouble
might have been ayerted, but the herds
went on multiplying until they covered
all the range, giving it no rest winter
or summer. Each. bowman scrambled
for all he could get; he argued that il
he did not take the grass his neighbol
would. And who cared rap for thu
future? Life was short and none!
tangible. AT first there had beef
| enough grass to support one steer t.
every two acres Of land; in half a dozeI
years steer did well to make his liv
| ing on Ave acres. After that the ratio
steadily widened. So great was thu
struggle for new territory that who'll
herds of cattle sometimes went q
| miles or more to water and then bacl
again, gallopiDg every step, and work
| ing hard between times to get enough
from the failing ranges to keep lif'
Within their lean carcasses. And to
day there are many parts of the rang'
that will not support ten cattle to tn
square mile. one steer to every GA acres
and it. is good range indeed that vii
feed steer to every 20 acres. Their
are whole ranges in Texas. New Mex
;ca and Arizona once rich bevoud be