CONTAGIOUS DISEASES OF DOMESTK^ATED ANIMALS. 227 



On October 27 I weut to the office of Mr. T. L. O'Bryan, a live-stock 

 broker. He told me that some emigrants passed through the town of 

 Medicine Lodge, going north, on the 23d or the 2Gth of May. They 

 were supposed to come by way of Anthony, Harper County, and were 

 going to Colorado. They had with them 4 or 5 ox-teams, with from one 

 to three yoke in a team, and 50 head of loose cattle. They told Mr. 

 Eiggs, the sherift' of Barbour County, that they came from Texas, but 

 told i\Ir. O'Bryan that they were from the Chickasaw Nation, near Red 

 Eiver. Their cattle were in good condition and had the appearance of 

 genuine Texaus. 



In Mr. O'Bryan's office I entered into conversation with Hon. T. J. 

 Shepler, who told me that in the year 1876, when the through trail for 

 Southern cattle to Dodge City passed along the eastern banks of the 

 Elm River, near Medicine Lodge, 2 head of domestic cows which had 

 been kept in close confinement all summer, were allowed to graze over 

 the trail late in the fall after a fall of 3 inches of snow, and after so 

 late an exposure both cows died. He also told me that a prominent 

 stockman from Montana assured him last spring that cattle coming from 

 the State of Kansas would transmit to their cattle the Texas fever in 

 the most malignant and fatal form. Mr. Shepler thinks the only way 

 to obviate the annual losses among cattle in Kansas by the Southern 

 fever, is to establish a border line of infection and compel the Southern 

 cattle to be slaughtered within the limits of such boundary line. 



1 then weut to see j\Ir. Frank H. Shelley, secretary of the Salt Forks 

 and Eagle Chief pool. He said : 



A iininber of through cattle, purchased at Caldwell, were located ou the Eagle Chief 

 Creek adjoining iis on the sontheast; some of the Salt Forks cattle drifted on the "T 

 5" range, belonging to the Texas Land and Kansas City Company; several of our cat- 

 tle died, but not many ; two of them were high-grade bulls. I don't know how many 

 of our cattle were exposed. The pool holds 20,000 head of cattle. 



I next met Mr. J. A. McCarty, in the office of the Barbour County 

 Index. He is the captain of the Sand Creek and Hackberry pool. He 

 stated that in the month of August, Mr. Lockhart, a member of the 

 pool, brought from Kingman County several hundred head of cattle and 

 placed them in the pool herd. Three weeks thereafter the pool cattle 

 began to die; 15 out of 3,500 head exposed died It is supposed that 

 several head of Arkansas cattle were among the Lockhart lot. Ten per 

 cent, of their cattle died last winter. I met Mr. William Kelley on the 

 street ; he lived 8 miles south of Medicine Lodge. He lost 10 out of 400 

 head this summer. He does not know in what manner they were ex- 

 posed. Last winter he lost 50 out of 500 head; they generally became 

 lame in one fore leg; persisted in lying down ; would continue in this 

 way from one week to a month before they died. Many of them were 

 valuable cows. They were well sheltered and well fed after they be- 

 came sick, but the majority of them ultimately died. Several died after 

 the grazing was good in the spring. In 12 or 15 cases that recovered 

 one or both horns came ofl". Mr. Vaughn, 2^ miles south of Medicine 

 Lodge, brought 00 head of cattle from Kingman County about the 1st 



