The Coolidge examiner., 1939-09-07
Cattle Raising In
Arizona

i@oioiHS CdItie IN Arizona does
not resemble the adventurous life
depicted in wild west" magazines
and never did. Today it does not
resemble the actualities of a few
years ago. 1t has undergone a com.
plete revolution that is not fully
oomprehended even by the "home
folks"
Cattle raising on the ranges is
no longer a happy-go-lucky game
but a highly organized business
in which only the keanest and most
energetic survive, then only with
adequate financing. This writer re,
calls one stockman who, when
asked what interest he paid the
bank that held mortgage on his
herd, replied: 81 dunno, Every
spring they give me what l need
to operate on and l sign some
more papers. I'm a cattle grower
not a bookkeeper."
That man would not survive un-
der modern conditions. Today !;
cattleman knows every item OF
expense, down to the last cent, and
is constantly studying how costs
can be reduced. Aside from his
bronzed skin and perhaps few
rope scars on his hands, he looks
like any other businessman.
In the decades Immediately fol
lowing the Civil War, getting into
cattle" was a mere matter of find
ing of a locality not yet stocked
and turning loose a few Mexican
or Texas longorns to multiply as
the mountain lions, Indians, and
rustlers would permit. Now there
i5 no longer any free range. Every
acre is under private ownership,
lease. or grazing permit. Much oil
the land is fenced. Water holes
have been made, springs de-
veloped, wells drilled and
equipped with windmills. Cattle
now can utilize all the feed In
stead of clustering along streams
and about other scant water sup
plies in dry seasons.
There are no longhorns. No one
would think of letting such
scrubs eat up the feed. Prac'
ticaIly every range bovine has
white face and is a purebred Here
ford This breed was introduced a
little more than 40 years ago, and
in two decades almost displaced
the nondescripts previously pro
duced by rangemen to whom any
thing that stood on four split hoofs
was a COW.
The cowboy still exists. but he
is different from the two-gun
heroes of the movies. Usually he
is a son of the open spaces, who
probably does not carry a gun but
does carry a hammer and staples
To repair drift fence. Unless he IS
going to ride in brushy country
he leaves his chaps at home.
"Rodeo cowboys" who don full
cowboy regalia to ride in parades
and perform before holiday crowds
are beneath his contempt.
There are about 100000 cattle
on Arizona ranges today and they
bring an annual cash income te
owners of s9,40O,000.
Romance? There isn't any in the
cattle business. And very little o.
the traditional freedom. All thai
passed with free range and the
coming of government regulation
Yet there is a fascination abou'
it.. Few cattlemen retire volun
tarily. If forced out, or persuaded
To sell out, they get back in some
how.
In the last few years, scores O.
Arizona cattle spreads" have peer
bought by easterners who usuall
come as dude ranch guests an'
fall in love with the country. 1t l:
not usual for the former owner
to be employed as manager, pu
he seldom is happy as hired mai
and eventually buys another out
fit.-Ernest Douglas, Prescott, All
coma
The Lions Club met Wednesda.
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