The Dickinson press., 1915-09-04
EARLY HISTORY
OF MCKENZIE CO,
Continued from page y

rev years later they moved to the
mouth of Seven-mile creek, two and
one-half miles south of Schafer. At
about that time the firm was organ
lied as the Percheron Horse Co., but
the e concern was always known
as the mule-shoe bar ranch. They
specialized in the breeding of draft
horses, and developed what is gener-
ally reputed to be the finest herd of
Percheron horses in North Dakota.
was sold to a new company.
During the same year the largest
and most famous cattle ranch in Nc
Kenzie county was organized. It was
owned and financed by Reynold Bros.
of Texas. 1t was conducted on a
large scale and according to the old
traditional way of allowing the cattle
to roam on the prairies at will until
in a condition to be shipped to the
market. This company also per-
formed what is considered to be one
of the most remarkable feats in the
history Of ranch life, that of driving
large herds of cattle across the
country from Texas to North Da-
kota. This achievement was first ac-
complished in 1884, when, under the
leadership Of A. N. Jefferies, the
manager of the company, a daring
band of Texas cowboys piloted a
monster herd of cattle from the Rio
Grande to the Little Missouri. The
herd was guided by means Of a COM
pass and reached North Dakota in
September, having left Texas early
in the spring. This process was re-
peated each year until 1897, and in
this way the grazing lands of Nc
Kenzie county were replenished by
new cattle. Among the men who
helped drive the first herd from Texas
were A. N. ~Jefferies, Wilson Rich
ards, Frank Banks, A. H. Arnett,
Chas. Armstrong, and Mr.. Tarbelt.
This concern was always known as
the Long x outfit, deriving it's name
from it's official brand on the left
side. The kind of cattle thus import
ed from Texas were usually two-year-
old steers. They were called "trail-
ers" because of their tendency to
roam back and forth over the prairies.
After travelling all the way from
Texas to North Dakota they seemed
to develop a habit of aimless
roaming, which vas not excelled v
by the wolves. Particularly we're
they inclined to follow buffalo trails
across the prairie, there was no rest,
day or night, until they found it's
destination. Because of this charac-
t~eristic they were very obnoxious to
the smaller ranchers, as they would
continually lead estray the more do
nestle cattle. Every spring when the
"trail herd" was turned loose at the
mouth of Spring creek, the small
ranchers were compelled to put forth
additional efforts to keep their own
herds nearer home, and to keep the
range cattle away. Realizing this
trouble the Long x outfit at times,
furnished the small ranchers extra
saddle horses in order that they
might be better able to protect them
selves, but it was all of no avail. The
task was like that of keeping away
the mosquitoes in the springtime, or
the flies in midsummer. At the time
of their arrival these cattle were
small, thin, scrawny looking animals;
about the only thing worth noticing
about them were their long horns.
However, after experiencing two
years on the northern range they de-
veloped into large, magnificent ami
mails, and always brought frst-class
prices on the Chicago markets.
Naturally such a large and extern
sive stock business necessitated the
employment of a large number of men
during the spring and fall of each
year. These men were all cowboys,
most of whom had come from Texas
with the trail herd. The chief pur-
pose for which they yer used was
to brand the calves in the spring, and
to roundup for shipment the beef
cattle in the fall. Two crews, or
speaking in terms of western
language, two wagons" were operat-
ed each season to gather the beef
cattle. With each wagon there were
about twenty-five men, including
representatives from other ranches
who were called "reps." After gath
ering the beef herd, it va driven to
Dickinson, N D. (Eland stock yards a
miles west of the city,, loaded on the