THE RED BOBE OF COURAGE 745 



Swan's Failure.— A. H. Swan personally went 

 down in 1887, but the Swan company, which was 

 financed in Scotland, survived. No attempt had 

 ever been made to count the cattle until the summer 

 of 1887, when Mr. Finlay Dun, with his famous 

 paint pot and brush, attempted to tally the herd. 

 Summer showers and other causes soon disposed 

 of the patches of paint and the work was given up, 

 as it was found that cattle were being tallied twice 

 over. The company had, however, purchased a 

 lot of land. The spring of 1887 found the corpora- 

 tion possessed of a herd of cattle estimated at 

 50,000 head, possibly less. In addition the company 

 had about 576,000 acres of land. A large part of 

 this was intermediate sections of railroad land on 

 the Laramie Plains — a high and exposed plateau. 

 Part of this was eventually allowed to go back to 

 the railroad, the original owner. Today, we believe, 

 the company owns about 270,000 acres of railroad 

 land (intermediate sections) and 40,000 acres of 

 land on the Chug, Sybille and Eicheau, and in 

 Goshen's Hole. Mr. Dun managed the property 

 during the summer, fall and winter of 1887-1888. 



Mr. John Clay was appointed manager of the 

 Swan company on the first of March, 1888, and re- 

 mained in charge until July, 1896. Mr. Al Bowie 

 succeeded Mr. Clay, and after him came Mr. Wil- 

 liam Dawson, who resigned in 1912 and was suc- 

 ceeded by Mr. M. E. Johnstone. The company to- 

 day, so far as actual management is concerned, lies 

 in the hands of an executive committee composed 



