26 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES 



the almost total extinction of the industry in the north- 

 western states. Thousands of cattle went into that win- 

 ter never to see the spring flowers again. Great cattle 

 companies with managers riding back and forth to the 

 frontier towns in coaches and six, drawing princely sal- 

 aries for doing nothing, went out of existence. Millions 

 of dollars were lost beyond hope of recovery. A few 

 years later, in 1893, the Southwest went through the 

 same experience, and still greater losses were piled up 

 against the industry. 



The Era of Readjustment. Then there was a grad- 

 ual readjustment of the business. Many of the great 

 companies operating on borrowed money went to the 

 wall, and the remnants of their herds were bought up 

 by men whose faith in the business still was strong. 

 From that time to this the business of raising cattle upon 

 the open ranges has been a fluctuating one. Man's 

 greed to obtain something for nothing has never yet 

 been able to content itself with a moderate profit. Each 

 man looked upon the grass of the range as something 

 which he must grab before anyone else could reach it. 

 Hence the grasses were given no chance to grow, and a 

 few good years were followed by a bad one which wiped 

 out all the profits. What the winter storms did not kill 

 the "bog holes" caught in the spring. 



The Advent of the Sheepman. Along in the early 

 '90's the sheepmen began to gain a foothold on the 

 ranges, especially in the northwestern states. Gradu- 

 ally they forced the cows back from their old ranges, 

 and many long-headed cowmen in sheer self-defence 

 turned their cattle into sheep and joined the ranks of 

 the wool-growers. The sheepman was much more able 

 to cope with the elements than was the cattleman. He 



