THE LONG TRAIL 691 



famous Chisholm Trail followed the valley of the 

 Arkansas as far as Wichita and thence on to Abi- 

 lene. The pastures of the Territory, the Cherokee 

 strip and southern Kansas, first felt the pressure 

 from the south, but about the same time a drift set 

 in from central Texas up the valley of the Pecos, in 

 which direction trails soon wended their way out 

 into New Mexico and beyond. 



Eastern Colorado and central and western Kansas 

 and Nebraska, constituting a vast realm of free 

 grass, were successfully pastured. The tide of im- 

 migration was rolling steadily into the Eocky Moun- 

 tain region across the plains from the mid-west 

 states. The imaginations of the adventurous every- 

 where were stirred by the stories of fortunes to be 

 made in western cattle. Daring spirits flocked to 

 the scene of the spectacular expansion, and plunged 

 into the game regardless of their inexperience "the 

 butcher, the baker and candle-stick maker, " all 

 anxious to engage in this wonderful new business of 

 cattle ranching. The big pastures and mountain 

 meadows of Montana, Wyoming and Colorado were 

 not long in filling up. Denver, the capital of cow- 

 land, was the scene of feverish activities. Big deals 

 capitalizing alluring propositions were easily han- 

 dled. Goodnight was waking up the Panhandle, and 

 Swan and his contemporaries were enthusing the 

 north. All the way from Helena to San Antonio the 

 pot boiled furiously. 



Farther and farther into the interior of this in- 

 land empire, the cowmen pushed their way, and the 



