CHAPTER XII. 



PROGRESS IN THE CENTRAL WEST. 



From 1857 down to the close of the Civil 

 War in 1865 importations of Short-horns had 

 practically ceased; and during a great portion 

 of that time values ruled so low that there was 

 little encouragement for those engaged in the 

 trade. The financial crash of 1857, with the 

 War of the Rebellion in its train, put a damper 

 upon enterprise in this direction. Kentucky, 

 the active center of Short-horn breeding in 

 America at this time, was a border State be- 

 tween the North and South and was a theater 

 of military operations. A few of the leading 

 breeders, Mr. R. A. Alexander among the num- 

 ber, sent their Short-horns north of the Ohio 

 River for safety, the Woodburn cattle being 

 placed temporarily in the charge of Mr. J. M. 

 Woodruff of Nineveh, Ind. Others drove their 

 pets into their most secluded pastures, hiding 

 them as best they might when the exigencies 

 of the occasion called for special care, and 

 bided their time. With the advent of peace 

 the business entered upon an extraordinary pe- 

 riod of expansion toward the West, to which 

 section we must now direct our attention. 



