CATTLE RAISING ON THE PLAINS. 9 
If they had not the losses would have been seventy-five per cent 
of all cattle on the Plains instead of probably less than twenty 
per cent as it was. 
The settlers came to the country to farm and settled so 
thickly that they left no range for stock. After the crop failures 
in 1893-94, settlement was thinned so much in many communities 
that there was room for the remaining settlers to pasture as many 
cattle as they wished. From that time settlers began to gather 
herds about them until now the country is again almost as much 
overstocked by the small herds as it was before by the large hold¬ 
ings. Two years ago it began to look as though the grass would 
soon be eaten out, but the losses during the winter of 1902-03 
probably checked the increase sufficiently to postpone the evil day 
indefinitely. Practically all settlers are now cattle owners, and 
many of the men own just the number that can be well cared for 
by the owner and his family. 
Water Supply . In early days the water supply was limited 
to that furnished by running streams, springs and storm water 
which collected in basins on the prairie during heavy rains. 
This, during dry seasons, limited the pasture used to areas within 
three to five miles of water holes. This caused the grass to be 
badly tramped and eaten out at times near the water while there 
was plenty of good grass on the divide. When settlers came in 
on the divides they dug and drilled wells so that in a few years 
the whole country could be used the year round, while before 
wells were made the divides far from the stream were used only 
occasionally after heavy rains. I have observed the Big Sandy 
valley and the adjacent grazing land from Limon to the mouth of 
the creek. The upland near it was never homesteaded as was the 
upland along the headwaters of the Republican, so it has been 
left practically as it was in the days of range cattle. During the 
time I have been acquainted with this valley, the grass and even 
the sage brush have been kept eaten down quite closely, especially 
in winter, for one to three miles back from the water. Then the 
grass would improve from that point until it appeared to be prac¬ 
tically untouched over large areas. Cattle ranging in the Big 
Sandy valley often go out or are driven out to some water hole on 
the prairie where the water has gathered during a heavy rain and 
remain there until the water at that place is gone when they re¬ 
turn again to the valley. 
Some of the best and most humane cattle men claim that 
cattle should never be compelled to graze more than two miles 
from water. If this be true, it would double the value of the Big 
Sandy range if wells were put down four miles from the stream 
and about three miles apart on either side of the open water. 
The Sand Hills are counted the best grazing land, but if they are 
