252 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 



" The high, rolling character of the country, and the dry climate, and short, sweet 

 grass of the numerous hillsides, are extremely favorable to sheep-raising and -wool- 

 growing." 



There are many other stock-raisers on the plains besides Creighton and Hutton, 

 and there is room for hundreds more. On this plain the settler is near the great forests 

 of pine in the mountains, and in the coal fields of the Rocky Mountains, with several 

 kinds of iron ore, building stone, limestone, and fire-clay. The valleys of Rock Creek, 

 Medicine Bow, and the two Laramies afford large quantities of hay. On these plains 

 alone there is, apparently, no limit to the grazing. The railroad bisects these pasture 

 lands about evenly east and west, giving good facilities for transportation. 



North Park. — South of the Laramie Plains is the North Park, one of three great parks 

 of the Rocky Mountains, so fully described by Richardson, Bross, and Bowles. This 

 North Park is formed by the great Snowy Range. It is a valley from six to eight thou- 

 sand feet high, ninety miles long, and forty miles wide, surrounded by snowy mount- 

 ains from thirteen to fifteen thousand feet high. These mountain tops and sides are 

 completely covered with dense growths of forests ; the lower hillsides and this great 

 valley are covered with grasses. The forests and mountaius afford ample shelter from 

 sweeping winds. Here as well as on the Laramie Plains the buffalo grazed in great 

 herds, and here the Ute hunters, from some hiding canon, dashed down among them 

 on their trained and fleet ponies, shooting their arrows with unerring aim on all sides, 

 and having such glorious sport as kings might court and envy. The Indians are now 

 gone from this valley, and the buffalo nearly so. On the two million acres in this val- 

 ley not twenty head of cattle graze. 



This great park, splendidly watered by the three forks of the Platte, and by a hun- 

 dred small streams that drain these lofty mountains of their snows and rains— rich in 

 all kinds of nutritious grasses ; plentifully supplied with timber; on the tertiary coal 

 fields, with iron, copper, lead, and gold — has not one real settler. There are a few 

 miners, but where there should be flocks and herds of sheep and cattle without num- 

 ber, there is only the wild game — the elk, antelope, and deer. 



Demonstrated facts. — The season of 1870 has been a memorable one in the stock busi- 

 ness on the Plains. It commenced in doubt, but closes with unlimited confidence in 

 the complete practicability and profits of stock-growing and winter grazing. 



Increase of cattle in the West. — The number of cattle in the country west of the Missouri 

 River and east of the Snowy Range is now double, if not four times larger than in 1869. 

 Its present magnitude and future prospects entitle it to a full share of public attention. 



Shipments of beef to eastern markets. — Two years ago our beef and cattle were brought 

 from the East. To-day, cattle buyers from Chicago and New York are stopping at 

 every station on our railroads, and buying cattle in all our valleys for eastern con- 

 sumption. It is safe to predict that 15,000 head of beeves will be shipped from our 

 valleys east the present season. During the past week I have visited some of the great 

 herds on the Plains, and will give your readers an account of them. 



Hie great herds.— The herds of Edward Creighton, Charles Hutton, and Thomas Alsop 

 are grazed on the Big Laramie, which is a tributary of the North Platte. The Laramie 

 Valley is between the Black Hills and the Medicine Bow Range. It is about one hun- 

 dred miles long and thirty miles wide. It is about midway in this valley, and six miles 

 from the railroad station at Laramie, that these gentlemen have located their stock 

 ranches. They have extensive houses, stables, and corrals. As we leave the station 

 on a beautiful August morning, (which is characterized by the clearest of blue skies 

 and golden sunlight,) you see Mount Agassiz directly in front of you, while Mount Dix 

 and Mount Dodge, with snow-covered tops, are respectively on the right and left. 



We follow up the Laramie on a smooth road, which is like rolling the wheels over a 

 floor. We follow the windings of the stream, which is clear as crystal, and pure as the 

 snow from which its waters have just come. We first come to a heard of 4,000 half and 

 three-quarter-breed cows; that is, there are none more than one-half Texan, and many 

 only one-fourth. They are known among cattle dealers as short-horned Texas cattle. 

 There are 3,600 calves in this herd that are from three-eighths to one-half Durham. 

 These cows have been here on the Plains one winter and two summers. All the dry 

 cows are exceedingly fat, and many of the cows, with calves by their sides, are good 

 beef. In this herd are many two-year-olds and yearlings, all fat for the butcher, so far 

 as their condition is concerned. In all this herd there are as many as 9,000 head of 

 cattle— 4,000 cows, 3,600 calves, 1,000 two-year-olds, and 500 yearlings. 



Their habits. — They range over a country fifteen by twenty miles. The cows and 

 calves run together the year around, and in fact are never separated, but run iu families 

 of four, generally, cow,"calf, yearling, and two-year-old. They are to be found on the 

 river bottoms in the middle of the day, where they had come about 11 o'clock for water. 

 They return about 4 o'clock in the afternoon to the high grounds, where the rich bunch 

 and nutritious gramma grasses are abundant, and feed till night and lie down on the 



