1065 



was sold in 1880 to Mr. Bud Driskell, and about 

 that time Mr. Lee purchased for the firm a tract 

 of land on the Canadian River at or near the New 

 Mexico line from Messrs. Gunter & Munson, and 

 contracted for a herd of cattle from Reynolds & 

 Mathews of Albany, Tex. These cattle were the 

 beginning and basis of the herd carrying the LE 

 brand which afterwards became well known. In the 

 dissolution of the firm and division of the property, 

 this herd and the lands were taken by Mr. Reynolds, 

 and the Reynolds Land & Cattle Co., was formed to 

 operate at that point in the Panhandle. Other lands 

 were accumulated to a total of over 250,000 

 acres; the herd was enlarged to the capacity of 

 the ranch, or about 12,000 head, and was bred up 

 by the use of purebred bulls exclusively, and by 

 care and attention the quality of the herd was im- 

 proved until it was probably excelled by none. The 

 first bulls used were purebred Shorthorns, mostly 

 from Mr. Stone's herd, and these were followed by 

 purebred Herefords from the same source. Others 

 were obtained from Messrs. Gudgell & Simpson, 

 and firms of like prominence. 



This company operated until 1902, when the lands 

 were sold through their manager to the Prairie Cat- 

 tle Company of Edinburgh, Scotland, and the cattle 

 to Mr. J. J. Hagerman, and moved to a point near 

 Roswell, N. M. All of the cattle were so disposed 

 of, excepting a few hundred purebred Herefords 

 which were brought to some lands owned by Mr. 

 Reynolds near La Junta, Colo. This herd was run 



