I 



104 THE BEEF BONANZA. 



human belief to compute the extent and capacity of our 

 great West, and only those who have ridden over it on 

 horseback, as I have done for twelve years past, can 

 form any idea of its immensity. The valley of the 

 North Platte, from where it joins the South Platte to 

 its mountain source in the north part of Colorado, is 

 800 miles, making in the whole length 1450 miles of 

 Platte Valley. The two Platte Valleys, with their 

 tributaries, will average 40 miles in width, making 

 58,000 square miles, equal to 37,000,000 acres. Think 

 of two valleys and their tributaries out West being 

 larger than New York or Pennsylvania! Yet the 

 small portion of New York State devoted to pasturage 

 furnishes grass for 7,000,000 graminivorous animals — 

 horses, sheep, and cattle— valued at $575,000,000. " It 

 is only by comparisons," says Dr. Latham, " the people 

 of the East can form any idea of the capabilities and 

 wealth of the West." 



Besides the great Platte Valleys just mentioned are 

 the Loups, Beaver, Shell, Calamus, and Dismal Valleys, 

 which average in the aggregate over 30 miles in width, 

 and have more than 10,000,000 acres of pasture- 

 land along their banks. The temperature in this re- 

 gion for the whole year is 50° Fahrenheit. The mean 

 temperature for spring is 47°, for summer 75°, for 

 autumn 50°, and for winter 25°. The annual rainfall 

 is 25J inches, divided as follows : spring, 8 ; summer, 

 12; autumn, 4; winter (snow, 18 inches), 1J inches 

 rain. 



Dr. Latham, speaking of the country north of Grand 

 Island, on the Union Pacific Railroad, says : "The 



