A RANCHMAN'S RECOLLECTIONS 



The early days of range cattle production may only 

 be considered as a tragedy, in the light of what has 

 followed — a thought which can probably be applied 

 with truth to the frontier in making a path for 

 civilization and progress — but the story, rich in ter- 

 rors and privations, of the gold-seeker and the trail 

 from the Missouri River to the Golden Gate, has a 

 sequel in the story of the men who have made the 

 Texas of today. 



From Charles Jones, an associate in my packing- 

 house days, and now at the head of the Freeport, 

 Tex., Sulphur Co., I have obtained a book which 

 induced him to become a cowpuncher in 1877. It is 

 out of print and priceless, and I go to the safe to 

 see if it is still there, just as one puts one's hand on 

 one's pocketbook in a crowd. It was written by 

 "Joe" G. McCoy, and bears the title "Historic 

 Sketches of the Cattle Trade of the West and South- 

 west." It was published in 1874, just at a time 

 when the dark hour was on the Texas industry. The 

 state was under quarantine, and there was no known 

 remedy or protection against Spanish or Texas fever. 

 The book contains interesting data. Its most inter- 

 esting chapters deal with attempts to find an eastern 

 market for cattle, first by trail, even into Illinois, and 

 in 1868 to Abilene, Kans., when shipping pens had 

 been established on the Union Pacific Railroad and 

 buyers assembled during the season for purchases 

 distributed by rail everywhere east. 



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