The Topeka state journal., 1904-11-24
CATTLE THIEVES BUSY.
The Dewey, Rockefeller and Other
Ranches Suffer.

Atwood. Kan, Nov. 2.-Cattle thieves
are operating orl<S such an extensive scale
in northwestern Kansas, eastern Colorado
and southwestern Nebraska that the
ranchmen are becoming alarmed for the
future of their industry. There are more
cattle ''rustlers" in the counties OF Raw
lins and Cheyenne in Kansas, Arapahoe,
Kit Carson and Yuma, IN COLORADO anu
Dundy and H1tchcock, IN NepTas1ai ro od enldii IN
have ever before operated IN those iocans
ties. 1t is estimated that this band OF
thieves has stolen in the neighborhood OF
$S5.Ooo worth of cattle IN the seven coull-
ties within the last two years.
Every indication points to thorough
organization of the thieves; One OF tneir
headquarters is said to be along the Little
Beaver creek in Cheyenne and Rawlins
counties in this state and another point
fTo,,1' Tpbicb +hev onerate is ranch sew
eral miles southwest of Burlington in Kit
Carson county. Colorado: These ranches
are the meeting places of the thieves and
much of their stock is kept there until the
brands can be changed.
';rustIers' is to run off young stock and
after changing the brands keep the ami
mails until no traces of the old brands can
which can be easily changed are especial
ly desired by the thieves and ranchmen
with such stock are compelled to be ex-
tremely careful in their watch over it.
The ordinary round hole punched in the
ear, which has been used by many ranch
men to mark calves, offers no difficulties
to the cattle thief He either tears the
will hide all signs of the hole
Among the sufferers from the depreda-
tions of the cattle thieves are Frank
young cattle king who was tried for
the murder of the three members of the
Berry family. In the district court here
last week Rockefeller recovered possess
sion of 40 young cattle which had been
stolen from his ranch last spring Rocke-
feller's brand is large S with a half cir
Gle beneath it. This design had been
branded over with a B. The cattle had f!
been sold to Charles Cramer, Rawlins
county ranchman. Rockefeller had Roy
and Beach Berry, survivors of the family
of five which Chauncey Dewey and his
cowboys had their fight, arrested on a
charge of stealing the cattle. The jury
gan suit against Cramer to recover pos
session of the cattle. The 40 cattle were
had inspected the brands Mr. Rockefeller
was declared the owner of the property.
Officers in the seven counties which are
overrun with the thieves have been unable
to stop the depreciation. They have
chased ''rustlers" for more than a year,
but there have been no fights and few ar
and who are known to the officers here
are heavily armed when they come to
town. They have the regulations of being
bad men," and this may account for the
fact that so few arrests have been made.
Cyrus Anderson. a ranchman here and
secretary of the state board of railway
the frequent escapes of the thieves:
II belieYe | would be like some of the
the other side of the hill 1 think I would
not try to go over after them
So many of the cattle belonging to R.
L. Mcdonald of ST. Joseph, Mo, have
been stolen that he was ompelled to ask
for a receiver for his property here to pro-
tect himself r. S. Hendricks another
ranchman, has lost large number of
cattle out of his herd of several hundred
head in the last year Mrs. Mary Cop
son, widow living eight miles southwest
of here, lost thirty-one head of cattle last
month.