Durango semi-weekly herald., 1906-03-05
FRONTIER SKETCHES.

The hard winter of 1871 saw the
inish of the Texas cattle trail as it
ed in those days to Abilene, which
rad for four years been the great
'hlpping point on the Kansas Pacific.
'ully 100000 head of longhorns came
ip that year. OF these 300, 900 head
we're unsold when fall came and the
owners We're compelled to face the
winter. For miles north, south, and
vest of Abilene, one could scarce be
nut of sight OF herd and when on
my commanding hiilock as many as
10000 to $4,000 head could be seen
,razing over the prairie.
The fall WAS stormy and rainy and
he cattle often stampeded Besides,
he grass was coarse. washy and
'pongy and would not make tallow.
rhe railroads had adjusted their diff.
iculties, and the cut rates that had
been responsible for the large ship.
ments early in the season were cut
If. They had agreed on high
'reight tariff from Chicago east and
there seemed to be an entirely diner.
mt feeling regarding cattle, a revers-
II of the situation of the previous
year. There were but few buyers
md the cattle daily grew poorer in
esh instead of fatter. A great pum-
Der of the herds were held until late
n the fall, hoping that the market
would improve. but as the days went
tho Ianlnnl W hnffar Sill
multiplied thousands were sent for,
ward. In consequence the markets
were over supplied and many ship
pers met ruin and financial crashes
among them were frequent,
Finally shipping mad to be entirely
abandoned and 100000 head went in
TO winter quarters on the drovers'
own account. OF course no amount of
grass or hay could be secured for any
such number and most of them were
driven west to Craze on buffalo grass,
but many remained and the feeders
tried to utilize the blue stem. The
tall blue stem. however was swept
lay after day by prairie fires and the
ground was left blackened and bare
with no sustenance for the herds. The
buffalo grass is so snort that prairie
fires make slow progress consuming
II and are easily eNtinguished. Be
fore the herds had scarcely arrived
nt their winter feeding ground early
in November, great rain storm
swept over western Kansas and a
keen, cold wind set up from the
northwest, freezing the water into ice,
The whole surface of the earth
thus became encased with mixture
of snow and Ice the thickness OF two
or three inches, covering the short
buffalo grass with coating that
could not he broken. Then the furi-
GUS gale increased. continued with a
and nights the sleet and snow fell |
Many men and horses froze to death |
and the cattle perished by the tens OF |
thousands. They drifted before the |
storm and wherever they stopped |
they laid until they were frozen stark
ed the owners. Some of the drovers |
who thought themselves worth $75,-
900 TO 100000 found themselves |
1t was a disaster amount
ing to Millions of dollars.
Perhaps one-third to one-half of the
dead animals were skinned after the
storm abated and the weather mod
Grated. The remainder were left TO
the coyotes and the buzzards. AT
one railway station 10000 and another
nearly $4,000 hides were collected and
shipped east. A single firm placed
On the Republican river over $500
head OF cattle. and In the spring
could only muster 1l0 living animals.
It is estimated that over 100000 head
,f cattle and hundreds Of COW ponies