THE GENUS TEXAN. 103 



are destined eventually for consumption in Eastern 

 markets, grass-fed beef lacking the solid fatness of 

 the corn-fed, and suffering more by long trans- 

 portation. 



This ver}'' important trade in cattle, when fully de- 

 veloped, will probably be about equally divided be-' 

 tween southern and central Kansas, each of which 

 possesses its peculiar advantages for the business. 

 While the valley of the Arkansas has longer grass, 

 and more of it, the dealers in the Kaw region claim 

 that their "feed" is the most nutritious. My own 

 opinion, carefull}^ formed, is that both sections are 

 about equally good, and that the whole of western 

 Kansas, with Colorado, will yet become the greatest 

 stock-raising region of the world. The climate is pecu- 

 liarly favorable. Two seasons out of three, on an 

 average, cattle and sheep can graze during the winter, 

 without any other cover than that of the ravines and 

 the timber along the creeks. 



The herders who manage these large bodies of cat- 

 tle are a distinctive and peculiar class. We saw 

 numbers of them scurrying along over the country 

 on their wild, lean mustangs, in appearance a species 

 of centaur, half horse, half man, with immense ratr 

 tling spurs, tanned skin, and dare-devil, almost fero- 

 cious faces. After an extensive acquaintance with 

 the genus Texan, and with all due allowance for the 

 better portion of it, I must say, as my deliberate 

 judgment, that it embraces a larger number of mur- 

 derers and desperadoes than can be found elsewhere 

 in any civilized nation. A majority of these herders 

 would think no more of snufhng out a life than of 



