102 PRINCIPLES OF RURAL ECONOMICS 



They never strayed very far from the camp, however, and when 

 spring came they were found to be in better condition than when 

 they were turned loose in the early winter. The winds had 

 here and there laid bare the cured buffalo grass and the oxen 

 had fed upon it for nearly four months. 



The cattle trail. The quality of the grass in the northern 

 plains is somewhat better than that in the Texas ranges, and it 

 was discovered that the Texas cattle gained in weight more 

 rapidly in the north than on their native ground. It was 

 estimated that a four-year-old steer would gain 200 pounds 

 on the northern ranges over and above what he would gain 

 in Texas. Moreover, the beef was thought to be of slightly 

 better quality, if raised in the north. The abundance of these 

 northern ranges, as compared with the crowded conditions in 

 Texas, together with the other advantages just named, led to a 

 great migration of Texas cattle northward. This migration fol- 

 lowed, in general, the western edge of the settlements. The 

 line of this drift northward came to be known as the Texas 

 cattle trail. The ranges of western Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, 

 and Wyoming were first sought, the most northern ranges being 

 avoided because of the danger from the Indians. After the 

 Custer Massacre of 1876 the northern Indians came to be 

 more closely guarded by the federal government, and the great 

 plains of the Dakotas and Montana were thereby opened to the 

 cattlemen. These far northern ranges were, in some respects, 

 the best of all. Consequently the great cattle trail soon extended 

 up to the very northern boundary of the country. From 1870 

 to the close of the period we are now considering, the great cat- 

 tle trail was pretty well marked as the route over which vast 

 numbers of cattle drifted north from the great breeding grounds 

 of Texas. The migrating cattle were mainly young steers, 

 besides some heifers taken north for the stocking of the north- 

 ern ranges. Inasmuch as cattle seemed to multiply more rapidly 



