El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-09-25
SEED CAKE
Makes CATTLE FAT
So Declares Dalhart Ranch
man-Olden Days on the
West Texas Plains

Dalhart, Texas. Sept 25.-'If FL Paso
cattlemen will feed cottonseed cake TO
their cattle, It viii be worth So for ev-
cry dollar expended for the cake; /
know, for I have tried it" This is the
advice Of Jess r. Jenkins, who has lived
in this region for 80 years and came
here when there was no Dalhart and
the nearest railroad point was Dodge
City, Kas The freight rate from
Dodge City to TascOsa Ca cowmen's
headquarters between the present cities
Of Dalhart and Amarillo. neither Of
which towns then existed) was then
three cents pound
"Caking" Cattle for Years.
81 have been 'caking' cattle for sew
eral years and your 81 PasO cattlemen
may not believe me. but can prove I
that L shipped -FOUR cars OF we ye5d4ee
olds this year that weighed from GAG
TO 963 pounds per animal now nave I
1000 head ready for market that VIII I
beat 900 pounds / was ofIered IL |
cents a pound, the buyer offering to
take them at 500 pounds straight, ana |
I refused it. We old timers never
thought of a two year old running over
$50 and they scarcely reached that
sThe cOttOnseed meal cake acts on
an animal like a drink Of whisky be-
fore breakfast acts on the rancner-
they all know what that means II
gives an appetite that viii make them {
want to eat anything. Ordinarily cat
tie do not finish shedding until laLe I
in June but feed thin cake ana Jney
viii be ready Tor market IN nay anu NJ
the increase in weight VIII pay % On
every 81 invested in 'caktng the ami
mails I get 70 pounds extra weight on
every animal that cake.
Old Panhandle Days.
Mr.. Jenkins-everybOdy here, old and
d les
oldest cattleman in the Panhandle. he
wears white shirts and a white OF black
string tie and patent leather shoes ana
tailor clothes. though he believes q
coat was made only for winter wear
He rides in an automobile over MS
range-the very country that ne once
rode over on a borrowed hOrse-ano
cant see from one side or MS leFel
ranch TO another with a telescope, as
his acreage. consists Of go sections
They were good old days we naq
IN the Panhandle when 1 came mere.
he said. but viii not decry the pres
emit We raise cattle differently now
and we make more money of small
er herd than we did off a large one IN
those times. We can get mem n % 70 iI is
ket quickly now and there Is no loss
driving them over the trail The farm
ers are coming in and making a llVlns,
too. and IL gives US the DeneIlJs q
civilization that we did not have W1en
Dodge City, Las Vegas ana II 4Ill.-1
were our nearest markets and Dodge
CITY was the only railroad point
The First Jury system"
ct helped Judge Willis to establish
the first court in the Panhandle ln 1i5.t
was when I first came here, ana lne
court was held at IascOsa, 20 Wulch
was then attached the admlnlstrall on
of Al unOrganized counties Inere Is
now not a county In the PannanuIe
that is not organized and does not
have its own county seat N llSSS
days we had TO cover a country lUO
miles in each direction 10 get -uLS
and every jury was then composer e
cIusfvelv Of ranch owners Later, 20
make It easier to find 'freeholders 20
serve on the jury and yet keep the car
tlemen in control Of the courts, some
of the big concerns got togeIner anu
decided one little town lot 10 lOU cow
Dunchers These men then served on
the juries until the supreme court
an those DAYS the unwritten law
ruled more than the written The gun
played a more prominent part tnah Jne
jury When a man was caught IN AZ
Of the country II was rarity Wneu
he was brought to trial. and ne mlsnt
lust have as well have paid the penalty
one time as the other for he never GOT
clear. anyhow If he was guilty. There
was no miscarriage OF justice. then
man held his range oy right OF CON
quest 1t was the unwrttten law thar
a man must have a ranch OF lOO square
miles He simply settled on the open
range and he kept that 100 square
miles for himself and nobody dared
take it. When I came here actqalIy
thought the ranCEerS owned the lanu
but IL was all state land; the ranchers
merely took It, A small Cattleman
could not make a living, for the cattle
were allowed TO move south as rar as
they cared to go during the grazing
season and they were then rounded
up and brought back when II came
market time. The cattle roamed as tar
aaHrH N m 9 uaHnu
and the small cattlemen could not at
ford to go after his stock alone and
the big cattlemsn would not let him
accompany one of their pool outfits, so
he had to get out II he tried to come
in, but they seldom tried TO come in
the unwritten law Of the country was
The Big Drive.
When it came time to go after the
cattle in the spring to send them
north to the markets, the ranchers
formed a pool One cOWpuncher was
sent from each big ranch and. as they
went south they were Joined by others
until at times there were 40 OF 80
ranches represented IN pool The
men south sent their representatives
not only to help round up their cattle
the roundup work, but to see that the
men from the north did not take the
cattle that did not belong to them Ev-
cry ranch owner sent q man with the
pool as a matter of self protection
and 1t was an unwritten law also that
no rancher would attempt to collect
his cattle except in such pool Every
rancher branded his calves as soon as
they were born. When calves were
dropped while the cows were south
then the rustlers got in their work
It was the rule to apportion these
calves not so stolen among the men in
terested in the pool in proportion to
the number of cows belonging TO
each rancher.
cold Fort Elliott was then located
near Tascosa and the soldiers did much
to maintain the law in that time At
payday they generally had some big
sprees and many times they tore down
the sal oons at Tascosa in the jubilatiOn
following the distribution of the mon
ey. Buffalo rOamed the plains then;
also Wild sheep, and we never lacked
for game. There were many Mexicans
living IT, the Panhandle then, but they
did rot like the coming Of the cattle
men and moved on with their herds OF
sheep to New Mexico. I viii not saw
that the action of the cattlemen had
anything to do with their suddenly
finding the region undesirable but they
moved anyhow
Yes. they were great times then, but
IL wasn't half as comfortable riding
range on a bunch of longhorns on a {