The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-12-02

DEN Ell, COIO.-A nero Of several
hundred cattle recently reached this
city, from 2 rancn hundreds of miles
away, by the same method that cattle
were brought TO market in the days
before the railroads were built.
Although a rail route was available,
and although it would have gotten the
cattle to market in a fraction of the
time they actually occupied in getting
here. this herd was driven overland
as millions of cattle were driven in
the early days. Half a dozen cow
boys, with a pack outfit to carry their
supplies and beds, drifted the cattle ,
slowly across mountain and plain, let /
ting them Craze there every evening, !
riding herd" upon them every night /
to guard against theft and stampede, /
carrying out every detail Of the tech /
nique that was evolved when the :
whole West was one vast open range
without a rail upon it. /
1t was a restoration of an ancient /
and picturesque scene, but it was not
staged for any sentimental reason. /
These cattle were driven to market.
overland for the good practical reason /
that they were in that way brought to
their destination for about One-fOurth |
of what it would have cost to ship
them by rail 1t looks as though in
ordinately high freight rates might /
bring back into use the long trail /
over which the nations beef travelled
TO market under its own power for
more than half a century.
Doesn't Realize Origin.
The cowboy is such a typically and
! traditionally Yankee figure that many
Americans do not realize that the
American cattle business is really
Mexican in its origin and moved slow
ly from the far South to the North.
In the early part of the last century
there were no cattle in all of the
/ West north Of the Rio GTande. Down
in old Mexico, on the other hand, there
/ were enormous herds of sCTubby long
( horn stock which had been introduced
/ by the Spaniards many generations
before.
/ Meantime a hungry Yankee civiliza-
/ ton was growing up in the eastern
/ half of the continent, Cattle were
raised on the eastern farms, but not
nearly enough of them to feed this
growing nation. Enterprising Yam
/ KEGS down in the southwest began to
see that there was a future in the
raising of cattle in the West for sale
in the East. Accordingly they began
stealing the herds of the Mexicans,
| bringing them across the Rio Grande
and founding herds of their own in
! Texas. They not only found it easy
to steal cattle. but they also found
that when these cattle were brought
North they grew larger and fatter
than ever they had on the hot south
ern ranges.
- IL Nd
| easy to raise them, but reaching the
tmarket was another matter. Attempts
were made to drive them across 10
Louisiana and sell them. and also to
ship them from gulf ports to eastern
markets, but all of these attempts fail
ed When the Civil war broke out
the plains of Texas were swarming
with cattle for which there was no
market, Their owners had unlimited
beef. but very little money. You
could buy a COW for a dollar.
During the war these herds were
forgotten and multiplied ,untended
After the war the plains swamed
with unbranded cattle worth little or
nothing. Men of foresight hired cow
boys and began rounding up and
branding this wild stock. It was eX-
citing business, for the cattle were as
wild as deer. 4 cow or calf belonged
to the man who could put his brand
on it first.
. Incidentally, the way was prepared
for the long war between the rustlers
and the cattle barons which presently
began. Soon the men who had begun
early had great herds under their own
brands, while the newcomers had
| none. They wanted to continue the
business of branding stock whenever
it was found unbranded. Owners of
cattle chose now to regard this as
theft. Hence a war which continued
for a quarter of Il century.
Push Northward.
Meantime the herds pushed stead
lily farther and farther north The
cattle trail which led across the Rio
Grande and the plains of Texas was
/ steadily extended north along the east
ern edge of the Rocky Mountains. And
as the herds moved north, the markets
for cattle increased and with them the
value of cattle. The great transcon-
tinental railroads were now building
/ and had founded western terminal at
Dodge City. Wichita, Newton and other
? towns in Kansas.
These became shipping points for
cattle, and incidentally they became
about the widest towns that ever
f graced the earth. Besides stockyards
: and cattle shutes, each of them had
r. whole streets Of saloons, gambling
e Joints and dance halls. established for
| the entertainment of the Cowboys. 1t