Brisket Disease. 
15 
The horses that follow these cattle are practically all raised in 
districts where they do their work. When asked if low altitude 
horses were ridden, one man answered, “They are of no use.” This 
expresses it well. Most stockmen know that a low altitude horse is 
of little value for work in high altitudes until he has become accli¬ 
mated. We ourselves saw a very valuable Percheron stallion that 
had been shipped from a low altitude to an altitude of nine thou¬ 
sand five hundred feet. In less than a year he suffered from heart 
insufficiency to such an extent that the excitement of a man pass¬ 
ing into the corral would cause him to fall. Just previous to fall¬ 
ing no pulse could be detected at the jaw. 
A physician who practiced at Fairplay, Colorado, altitude ten 
thousand feet, says that most old people at that altitude die with 
generalized dropsy. The same man reports two cases of gener¬ 
alized dropsy associated with other conditions as being much im¬ 
proved on going to Denver. It is rather a common practice for 
physicians to send heart patients to a lower altitude. In a spirit of 
fairness, however, we should add an extract from a letter written by 
a physician of several years’ experience in practice at Leadville, 
Colorado, altitude ten thousand feet. “We have acute cardiac di¬ 
latation which will cause edema, but I believe with proper treat¬ 
ment they will recover as well at this altitude as lower down. It 
is my experience as well as the experience of other physicians here 
that the injurious effects of high altitudes have been much exag¬ 
gerated, especially so in those born at this elevation.” 
In support of this contention, that the altitude is the important 
factor, we submit the following additional facts. There are four 
stockmen in South Park who seem to have more trouble than any 
others. These men range their cattle in the summer above timber 
line at an altitude above eleven thousand feet, which is one of the 
highest ranges in the United States. 
The range near Buena Vista that runs from eleven thousand 
to thirteen thousand feet had not been used by cattle previous to 
the summer of 1914 when, as detailed under case twenty-four, 
twelve animals were lost out of one hundred and sixteen. The 
owners had ranged cattle at altitudes approximating eight thou¬ 
sand feet for several years, with no bad results. Cattle shipped 
from a low altitude are always more affected than those native to 
the country. There are several instances where a number of low 
altitude cattle have been shipped to South Park with markedly dis¬ 
astrous results. One man says that in several years’ experience he 
has never yet shipped in a bull from a low altitude that did not 
sooner or later die of this disease. Is it not probable that some of 
the calves from these bulls would show a similar weakness in this 
