THE LONG TRAIL 685 



Capt. Kennedy. Prominent among those who 

 early recognized the possibilities of this new indus- 

 try in that region was Capt. King's old companion 

 in the river and coast-wise steamboat service, Capt. 

 Mifflin Kennedy, who had also decided to re- 

 main upon the border after peace had been pro- 

 claimed. Kennedy engaged first in commercial deal- 

 ings with Old Mexico, but a few years later joined 

 Capt. King in his ranching operations, as will be re- 

 ferred to further on. 



First Efforts at Improvement. While many at- 

 tempts were made by King and Kennedy to improve 

 the quality of their herds, but little headway was 

 made in that direction for many years. In the first 

 place there were no improved breeds nearer than 

 the distant bluegrass pastures of Kentucky. Trans- 

 portation was tedious and expensive, and worst of 

 all it was soon discovered that northern cattle taken 

 to those southern plains almost invariably suc- 

 cumbed to a fever, the nature and origin of which 

 was at that time not understood. The longhorn 

 thrived and multiplied untouched by the mysterious 

 plague, but the northern cattle either died or were 

 left mere wrecks of their former selves. We now 

 know that this was the work of the tick that infects 

 the low-lands of the lower latitudes. It may be said 

 in passing that it was upon this same great Santa 

 Gertrudis Eanch in later years that the veterinarians 

 of the Bureau of Animal Industry worked out many 

 of the original proofs as to the real character of 

 the so-called Texas or splenetic cattle fever. To 



