The Delta independent., 1911-02-24
By HAMLIN GARLAND
Copyright. 1910. by Hamlin Garland

''In a sense it was all very simple.
You see. Uncle Sam in his careless. do
nothing way has always left his range
to the man who got there first That
was the cattleman. At first there was
grass enough for US all. but as, we
built sheds and corrals about water
ing places we came to claim rights on
the range. We usually secured by
fraud homesteads in the sections con-
tanning water and so. gun in hand.
stood Off the man who came after.
Gradually. after much shooting and
settled down. covering practically the
whole state. Our adjustments were
not perfect. but our system was work
ing smoothly for us who controlled the
range. We had convinced ourselves
and pretty nearly everybody else that
the state was only fit for cattle graz
ing and that we were the most COM
petent grazers: furthermore. we were
in possession. and no man could come
in without our consent.
However. very curious law Of our
own making was our undoing. OF
course the 'nester' or 'punkin roller
as we contemptuously called the small
farmer began sitting in here and there
in spite of our guns. but he was only
mosquito bite in comparison with the
trouble which our cowpunchers stirred
up Perhaps you remember enough
about the business to know that an
unbranded yearling calf without its
mother is called maverick ?'
Yes; | remember that 1t belongs
10 the man who finds him and brands
him.
Precisely. Now. that law worked
very nicely so long as the poor cow
boy was willing to catch and brand
him for his employer. but 1t proved a
Joker' when he woke up and said to
his fellows, why brand these NAV
ericks at So per head for this or that
outfit when the law says they belong
to the man who finds them?'
Lee Virginia looked up brightly.
THAT seems right to me-"
"Ah. yes. but wait. We cattlemen
had large herds, and the probabilities
were that the calf belonged to some
one of US. whereas the cowboy, having
no herd at all. knew the maverick be-
iOnged to some ones herd. True, the
law said it was his. but the law did
not mean to reward the freebooter.
Yet that is exactly what it did. At
first only a few outlaws took advan-
tage of it. but hard years came on. the
cattle business became less and less
profitable. we were forced to lay off
our men. and so at last the range
swarmed with idle cowpunchers. Then
came the breakdown in our scheme.
The cowboys took to 'mavericking' on
their own account. Some of them had
the grace to go into partnership with
some farmer and so claim a small
bunch of cows. but others suddenly
and miraculously acquired herds of
their own. From keeping within the
law they passed to violent methods.
They slit the tongues of calves for the
purpose of separating them from their
mothers. Finding he could not suck.
bossy would at last wander away from
his dam and so become a maverick. in
short. anarchy reigned on the range"
But surely my father had nothing
to do with this?"
mo; your father up to this time had
been on good terms with everybody.
He had small herd of cattle down
the river, which he owned in common
with a man named Hart"
II remember him."
HE was well thought of by all the
big outfits. and when the situation be-
came intoerable and we got together
to weed out the rustlers.' as these cat
tie thieves were called, your father
was approached and converted to a
belief in drastic measures. He had
suffered less than the rest of us be-
cause of his small herd and the fact
that he was very popular among the
cowboys. So far as / was concerned,
the use of violent methods revolted
me- My training in the east had made
me a respecter of the law. Change
the law said. The law is all right
they replied; the trouble is with these
rustlers. Well hang few of 'em, and
that will break up the business
Parts of this story came back to the
girls mind. producing momentary
flashes of perfect recollection. She
heard again the voices of excited men
arguing over and over the question Of
"mavericking." and she saw her ia
ther as he rode up to the house that
last day before he went south.
Redfield went on. 1.-THE whole plan
as developed was silly, and l wonder
still that Ed Wetherford. who knew
the 'nester' and the cowboy SO well.
should have lent his aid to 1t. The