INTR OD UCTOR Y. 1 1 



cause for alarm. There is an American Desert in the 

 far West which can never be used for any other pur- 

 pose than the raising of great herds. It is of these 

 lands and the cattle upon them the following pages 

 treat. 



The plains of the West, instead of being barren and 

 worthless as early geographers supposed, have become 

 one of the richest parts of our public domain. The 

 vast beef reservoir they contain is now the fit subject 

 of an interesting volume. 



