78 THE BEEF BONANZA. 



ney, which was not less than sixteen hundred miles, 

 was good. There is considerable land which does not 

 grow grass, such as some places in the Mauvais Terre. 

 Yet there is grass in all the country we passed over for 

 countless herds of cattle, sheep, and horses. Buffalo, 

 elk, antelope, and deer, in immense numbers, graze 

 here both summer and winter. Old mountaineers, 

 hunters, and trappers all told me that the winter 

 grazing was fine, and uninterrupted by snow. I have 

 been familiar with the winter grazing in that country for 



"i six winters, and I am sure that stock will winter on the 

 native grass without shelter as well as they do in Illi- 



i nois with shelter and with hay and grain." 



J. W. Iliff (deceased), the great cattle-owner of Wy- 

 oming, wrote: " I have been engaged in the stock busi- 

 ness in Colorado and Wyoming for the past fourteen 

 years. During all that time I have grazed stock in 

 nearly all the valleys of these Territories, both summer 

 and winter. The cost of both summering and winter- 

 ing is simply the cost of herding, as no feed nor shelter 

 is required. I consider the summer-cured grass of 

 these plains and valleys as superior to any hay. My 

 cattle have not only kept in good order on this grass 

 through all the light winters, but many of them, thin 

 in the fall, have become fine beef by spring. During 

 this time I have owned over 20,000 head of cattle. 

 The percentage of loss in wintering here is much less 

 than in the States, where cattle are stabled and fed on 

 corn and hay. The cost of raising cattle here can be 

 shown from the fact that I would be glad to contract 

 to furnish any quantity of beef, from heavy, fat cattle, 



