Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-09-02
when Beef Was Cheap.

II was easy to get the cattle and
easy to raise them, but reaching the
market was another matter. At
tef ts were made to drive them
across to Louisiana and sell them.
and also 20 ship them from Gulf ports
10 Eastern markets, but all ~ these
attempts failed When the Civil War
broke out the plains Of Texas were
swarrning with csttle for which there
was no market. Their owners had
unlimited beef, but very little money.
You could bury COW for dollar.
During the war these herds were
forgotten and n.sltiplied gntended.
After the war the plains swarned
with unbranded cattle worth little or
rothing. Men OF foresight hired cow
boys and began rounding up and
| branding this wild stock. 1t was ex-
citing business. for the cattle were as
wild as deer. a COW or calf belonged
/ to the man who could ut his brand
on it first. Incidentally. the way was
prepared for the Ions war between
/ the rustIers 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 10
continue the business OF branding
stock whenever it was found unbr7nd-
i ed. Owners of -attIe chose now 20 re-
gard this as theft. Hence a. war which
I continued for A quarter OF a century.
/ Meantime the herds pushed steadily
farther and farther north. The cattle
trail which led across the Rio Grande
and the plains Of Texas was steadily
extended north along the eastern 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 trans
continental railroads were now build
ing and bad founded western termini
at Dodge City. Wichita. Newron and
ether towns in Kansas. These be-
came shipping points for cattle and
Incidentally they became about th'
widest towns that ever graced th'
eartE Besides stockyards and cattle
shutes. each of them had whols streets
of saloons, gambling joints and dance
halls, established for the entertain
ment OF the cowboys. 1t was during
the brief, but lurid career of thes'
cowtowns, that the romantic tradi
ton of the wild, revolver shooting
lcowpuncher, who has filed so mucl
space ia the magazine and populal
novels, was established. From th'
literature of the subject one wouls
imagine that the whole West was I
carnival of gun play. AS a matter q
fact, the wild and woolly stuff wa.
m3stly confined TO these few towns
and lasted only few years. The cat
tlemen Of the whole West converges
upon these towns, sold their st0cl
4 and set out TO spend their money. Tn,
|. result vas inevitable. You can ge
i It anywhere By turning loose a larg,
: number of men with money 10 spend
! whiskey to drink, and 10 wives {,
. make them behave. Every dance end
ed in 8 gunflght. Men rode thei
horses into dance halls anG saloons
and shot out the lights. Professiona
hallies went about challenging eacl
other to battles to the death. Lif,
was as violent and spectacular as /
third-rate movie.
The Long Drives.
Besides the COW towns. the otbel
great market for beef was the Indi
ar reservations. The government b,
:. that time Gin the ssventies) ha,
rounded Up most OF the Indians an,
lput them on reservations, and whiske.
and consumption had not yet reduce,
their numbers greatly. 1ercc Uncl
sam had thousands If Indians TO feed
and he fed them largely on beef
Probably the longest cattle drives an,
the most profitable ones were mad
from the southern ranges to the In
diar- reservations in Montana and th
Dakotas. Some cattleman with 10
litical pull wouic get q contract I,
deliver a certain number Of three
/ year-old beef steers at a point ii
+ Montane on a certain dav He woul,