Los Angeles herald., 1906-11-13
ON THE TRAIL
WITH 10000 SHEEP
olsoomforts and Dangers Of Re.
narksble Drive from New
Mexico to Nebraska
From the New York Evening Post.
From the New YORK Evening Post

To travel 1000 miles on foot with s0,-
600 sheep Is a stupendous undertaking,
yet this feat was accomplished re-
Gently by seventeen herders, headed by
". II. Daily live stock dealer and
Neb.
Mr.. DAILY passed through New York
tne other day on his way to the Cana
dlan northwest on a business trip, and
~ the AstOr house gave vivid de-
scription OF how the sheep we're herded.
me journey was from Santa Fe In
New Mexico TO Stevenson In Central
Nebraska, and II was undertaken pri-
marily to defeat the railroad company.
Il have for over twenty-five years
been engaged IN the handling of sheep.
being what Is called a sheep FEEDER"
nc said. "A sheep feeder is a man
VINO receives the animals from the
ranges into the feed lots, where they
are fattened for market. and he is dis
tinguished from breeder who grows
MIS- sheep on the range. Last March
contracted with a Mexican living in
santa Fe to buy 10000 sheep.
owing to difficulty with the rail-
way company in the matter of freight
rates, | determined to have the sheep
trailed through to Nebraska, which.
IN western .parlance, means driving
them overland. / selected my men at
the same time I contracted for the
sheep. also procured two OF the heav-
lest grub wagons 1 had on my ranch,
four strong mules and two good saddle
norses, together with all camp utensils
and other necessaries for the trip. The
wagons, mules, etc, / sent down TO
santa Fe by freight. Altogether there
were seventeen men in my company de-
tailed to bring the sheep through.
Sheep from Small Ranches
Arriving at Santa Fe, we at once
set about getting the sheep ready for
the long drive. The Mexican with
whom l had contracted for the 30 900
had, In turn, subcontracted with num-
erous small Mexican ranchmen for the
required number. His agreement was
to deliver at Santa Fe the specified
number and quality of animals. There
were several reasons for buying in this
way. For example, the Mexicans in
the outlying districts know nothing of
money drafts and checks, and gold
would have to accompany every pur-
chase. And to traverse the wild hills
and canyons of New Mexico with
money in ones possession would be
positive madness, unless, of course, one
had well-armed company as a body
guard.
"The wethers were started on their
1OO0-mile trip to Nebraska divided into
five bands, each in charge Of a herder
on root. One extra man went along to
act as night watcher. The cook trav-
eled In the wagon and the foreman of |
the gang rode on horseback.
on the following day John Martin, |
my foreman, and I undertook to count !
the $4,000 lambs. AS on the first day,
we We're well under way, when we dis
covered another fraud. One of my men
detected 'greaser' in the act of driving
4 small band, which had been counted |
IND turned out around through a ravine
and back toward the hosts of sheep |
waiting to enter the first corral. We |
stopped the swindle in time. however. |
then scattered my men out at all |
points where fraud might be attempted, |
and then proceeded with the count. A
popularity Of these Mexican gentle |
men is that they do not seem at all
when detected In dishon-
est tricks. A failure or two never de-
ters them from trying it again at the
first opportunity.
Putting the Lambs in the Lead
Our $4,000 lambs were run in six |
bands, with herder in charge of each. |
We left Santa Fe on the first day of |
May, and the weather was hotter than |
blazes. On the second day we discov- |
cred that the wethers ahead Of us were |
getting the best of the feed and not |
leaving enough tender stuff So we |
made circuit around their camp, and |
the next morning the lambs were lead
ing the way.
New Mexico is always a dry region,
and the spring had been unusually dry.
80 the grass was not very good and |
the dust was dreadful. Dust, by the |
way, Is always the worst feature of the
trail. The cloud that hangs over the
flock looks, from a distance, like the
smoke from prairie fire. Our faces
were black most of the time, but we
all wore shields of tinted isinglass to