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H 1 S T E Y Of H E K E F K D CATTLE 



CHAPTER XIV. 



Early Cattle in Kentucky — The "Seventeens" 



The following letter, written by Lewis San- 

 ders and published m March, 1849, in the "Cul- 

 tivator," gives a full and exhaustive account of 

 the early cattle interests of Kentucky : 



The first emigration to Kentucky — "the 

 dark and bloody ground," the hunting grounds 

 of the Southern and of the Northern Indians, 

 with the view of permanent occupancy, of hold- 

 ing the country at all hazards, by men deter- 

 mined to overcome the tomahawk and scalping 

 knife by the use of the rifle, took place in 

 1775-6. The country then belonged to Vir- 

 ginia. A large proportion of the settlers were 

 from that state, next from Pennsylvania, then 

 North Carolina, Maryland, New Jersey, etc. It 

 is presumed that the emigrants brought with 

 them domestic animals, such as were then in 

 use. H. Marshall, speaking of General Ben 

 Logan, in his history of Kentucky, Vol. I, says : 

 "In the fall of the year 1775, Colonel Logan 

 removed his cattle and the. remainder of his 

 slaves to his camp (near where Danville now 

 stands). Horses and cattle subsisted in the 

 summer on the range, consisting of a great 

 variety .of nutritive grasses, including the buf- 

 falo, clover and pea vines, luxuriant beyond 

 description, and in the winter in the cane 

 brakes." 



It seems to me that the general characteris- 

 tics of the cattle of the United States at the 

 commencement of the present century were very 

 similar to those of Devonshire, Dorsetshire and 

 Somersetshire, in England, as represented in 

 prints of cattle in those counties in the last cen- 

 tury. I have observed the cattle of Virginia, 

 Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New 

 Y'ork, and the New England States; they seem 

 to have had a common origin. 



The first improvement of cattle in Kentucky 

 was made by Mr. Matthew Patton and his fam- 

 ily, to whom the country is much indebted, for 

 the introduction of several animals. An his- 

 torical account is given by Dr. S. B. Martin, a 

 highly respected and spirited agriculturist of 



Clarke County, in this state, which is herewith 

 forwarded as a part of this communication. 

 Judge Beatty, in his very valuable "Essays on 

 Practical Agriculture" (a book I recommend 

 to all beginners to ownj, treats on this subject. 

 These two papers combine all the evidence it 

 is thought that can now be obtained relative to 

 the Patton cattle. I have heard it intimated 

 that the introduction of the Patton cattle in- 

 creased the weight of the four-year-old bullocks 

 25 to 30 per cent, besides improving the quan- 

 tity and quality of the milk. This was a great 

 gain. 



The next marked improvement in the breed 

 of cattle was brought about by the importa- 

 tion of some animals direct from England in 

 1817. At that period and for many years 

 previous, I lived in Lexington. My pursuits 

 were otherwise directed than to agriculture, but 

 I had early imbibed a fondness for fine stock, 

 particularly horses and cattle. I admired good 

 fruits and gave some attention to their culture. 

 For several years I was in receipt of a varietv 

 of English publications on a.gricultural subjects 

 and agricultural improvements, from which I 

 got a glance of what was going on, in some 

 respects, in the old country. It astoni.shed me 

 greatly to see the enormous prices paid for par- 

 ticular breeds. First, the Longhorns brought 

 to a high state of perfection by the justly cele- 

 brated Bakewell, Princep, Munday and Fowler. 

 Towards the close of the last centurv thev were 

 at the height of their popularity. Mr. Princep 

 refused 500 guineas ($2,500) "for a two-vear- 

 old bull of his breed. He was ofl'ered £100"each 

 for twenty dairy cows. He refused to let his 

 best bulls go to his neighbors' cows for thirtv 

 guineas ($150) the cow. " At this period (1789) 

 the circulating medium was gold. The bank 

 did not suspend specie pavments until 1797. 

 Mr. Fowler refused 500 .guineas ($2,500) for 

 ten bull calves of the same breed, and let his 

 bulls go out for the season (April 1st to August 

 1st) for from £60 to £80 ($300 to $400)." 



