XVIII. THE BEGINNING OF THE BOOM

by Andy Adams

　　THE BEGINNING OF THE BOOMThe great boom in cattle which began in 1880 and lasted nearly fiveyears was the beginning of a ruinous end. The frenzy swept all overthe northern and western half of the United States, extended into theBritish possessions in western Canada, and in the receding wave theTexan forgot the pit from which he was lifted and bowed down andworshiped the living calf. During this brief period the great breedinggrounds of Texas were tested to their utmost capacity to supply thedemand, the canebrakes of Arkansas and Louisiana were called upon fortheir knotty specimens of the bovine race, even Mexico responded, andstill the insatiable maw of the early West called for more cattle. Thewhirlpool of speculation and investment in ranches and range stockdefied the deserts on the west, sweeping across into New Mexico andArizona, where it met a counter wave pushing inland from Californiato possess the new and inviting pastures. Naturally the Texan was thelast to catch the enthusiasm, but when he found his herds depleted toa remnant of their former numbers, he lost his head and plunged intothe vortex with the impetuosity of a gambler. Pasture lands that hehad scorned at ten cents an acre but a decade before were eagerlysought at two and three dollars, and the cattle that he had barteredaway he bought back at double and triple their former prices.How I ever weathered those years without becoming bankrupt isunexplainable. No credit or foresight must be claimed, for theopinions of men and babes were on a parity; yet I am inclined to thinkit was my dread of debt, coupled with an innate love of land andcattle, that saved me from the almost universal fate of my fellowcowmen. Due acknowledgment must be given my partners, for while I heldthem in check in certain directions, the soundness of their advicesaved my feet from many a stumble. Major Hunter was an unusuallyshrewd man, a financier of the rough and ready Western school; andwhile we made our mistakes, they were such as human foresight couldnot have avoided. Nor do I withhold a word of credit from our silentpartner, the Senator, who was the keystone to the arch of Hunter,Anthony & Co., standing in the shadow in our beginning as traildrovers, backing us with his means and credit, and fighting valiantlyfor our mutual interests when the firm met its Waterloo.The success of our drive for the summer of 1880 changed all plans forthe future. I had learned that percentage was my ablest argument insuggesting a change of policy, and in casting up accounts for theyear we found that our heavy beeves had paid the least in the generalinvestment. The banking instincts of my partners were unerring, and inview of the open market that we had enjoyed that summer it was decidedto withdraw from further contracting with the government. Our profitsfor the year were dazzling, and the actual growth of our beeves in theOutlet was in itself a snug fortune, while the five herds bought atthe eleventh hour cleared over one hundred thousand dollars, merepin-money. I hurried home to find that fortune favored me personally,as the Texas and Pacific Railway had built west from Fort Worth duringthe summer as far as Weatherford, while the survey on westward waswithin easy striking distance of both my ranches. My wife was dazedand delighted over the success of the summer's drive, and when Ioffered her the money with which to build a fine house at Fort Worth,she balked, but consented to employ a tutor at the ranch for thechildren.I had a little leisure time on my hands that fall. Activity in wildlands was just beginning to be felt throughout the State, and theheavy holders of scrip were offering to locate large tracts tosuit the convenience of purchasers. Several railroads held immensequantities of scrip voted to them as bonuses, all the charitableinstitutions of the State were endowed with liberal grants, and thegreat bulk of certificates issued during the Reconstruction régimefor minor purposes had fallen into the hands of shrewd speculators.Among the latter was a Chicago firm, who had opened an office at FortWorth and employed a corps of their own surveyors to locate landsfor customers. They held millions of acres of scrip, and I openednegotiations with them to survey a number of additions to my DoubleMountain range. Valuable water-fronts were becoming rather scarce,and the legislature had recently enacted a law setting apart everyalternate section of land for the public schools, out of which grewthe State's splendid system of education. After the exchange of a fewletters, I went to Fort Worth and closed a contract with the Chicagofirm to survey for my account three hundred thousand acres adjoiningmy ranch on the Salt and Double Mountain forks of the Brazos. In myown previous locations, the water-front and valley lands were all thatI had coveted, the tracts not even adjoining, the one on the Salt Forklying like a boot, while the lower one zigzagged like a stairway infollowing the watercourse. The prices agreed on were twenty cents anacre for arid land, forty for medium, and sixty for choice tracts,every other section to be set aside for school purposes in compliancewith the law. My foreman would designate the land wanted, and the firmagreed to put an outfit of surveyors into the field at once.My two ranches were proving a valuable source of profit. Afterstarting five herds of seventeen thousand cattle on the trailthat spring, and shipping on consignment fifteen hundred bulls todistilleries that fall, we branded nineteen thousand five hundredcalves on the two ranges. In spite of the heavy drain, the brandwas actually growing in numbers, and as long as it remained an opencountry I had ample room for my cattle even on the Clear Fork. Eachstock was in splendid shape, as the culling of the aging and barren ofboth sexes to Indian agencies and distilleries had preserved the brandvigorous and productive. The first few years of its establishment Iam satisfied that the Double Mountain ranch increased at the rate ofninety calves to the hundred cows, and once the Clear Fork range wasrid of its drones, a similar ratio was easily maintained on thatrange. There was no such thing as counting one's holdings; theincrease only was known, and these conclusions, with due allowance fortheir selection, were arrived at from the calf crop of the improvedherd. Its numbers were known to an animal, all chosen for their vigorand thrift, the increase for the first two years averaging ninety-fourper cent.There is little rest for the wicked and none for a cowman. I wasplanning an enjoyable winter, hunting with my hounds, when the formerproposition of organizing an immense cattle company was revived atWashington. Our silent partner was sought on every hand by capitalistseager for investment in Western enterprises, and as cattle wereabsorbing general attention at the time, the tendency of speculationwas all one way. The same old crowd that we had turned down twowinters before was behind the movement, and as certain predictionsthat were made at that time by Major Hunter and myself had since cometrue, they were all the more anxious to secure our firm as associates.Our experience and resultant profits from wintering cattle in southernKansas and the Cherokee Strip were well known to the Senator, and, tojudge from his letters and frequent conversations, he was envied byhis intimate acquaintances in Congress. In the revival of the originalproposition it was agreed that our firm might direct the managementof the enterprise, all three of us to serve on the directorate and tohave positions on the executive committee. This sounded reasonable,and as there was a movement on foot to lease the entire CherokeeOutlet from that Nation, if an adequate range could be secured, such acattle company as suggested ought to be profitable.Major Hunter and I were a unit in business matters, and after anexchange of views by letter, it was agreed to run down to the capitaland hold a conference with the promoters of the proposed company. Myparents were aging fast, and now that I was moderately wealthy it wasa pleasure to drop in on them for a week and hearten their decliningyears. Accordingly with the expectation of combining filial duty andbusiness, I took Edwards with me and picked up the major at his home,and the trio of us journeyed eastward. I was ten days late in reachingWashington. It was the Christmas season in the valley; every darkythat our family ever owned renewed his acquaintance with Mars' Reed,and was remembered in a way befitting the season. The recess for theholidays was over on my reaching the capital, yet in the mean time acrude outline of the proposed company was under consideration. Onthe advice of our silent partner, who well knew that his businessassociates were slightly out of their element at social functions andmight take alarm, all banquets were cut out, and we met in littleparties at cafés and swell barrooms. In the course of a few days allthe preliminaries were agreed on, and a general conference was called.Neither my active partner nor myself was an orator, but we had coachedthe silent member of the firm to act in our behalf. The Senator was aflowery talker, and in prefacing his remarks he delved into antiquity,mentioning the Aryan myth wherein the drifting clouds were supposedto be the cows of the gods, driven to and from their feeding grounds.Coming down to a later period, he referred to cattle being figured onEgyptian monuments raised two thousand years before the Christian era,and to the important part they were made to play in Greek and Romanmythology. Referring to ancient biblical times, he dwelt upon thepastoral existence of the old patriarchs, as they peacefully led theirherds from sheltered nook to pastures green. Passing down and throughthe cycles of change from ancient to modern times, he touched upon therelation of cattle to the food supply of the world, and finally theobject of the meeting was reached. In few and concise words, anoutline of the proposed company was set forth, its objects andlimitations. A pound of beef, it was asserted, was as staple as a loafof bread, the production of the one was as simple as the making of theother, and both were looked upon equally as the staff of life. Otherremarks of a general nature followed. The capital was limited to onemillion dollars, though double the capitalization could have beenreadily placed at the first meeting. Satisfactory committees wereappointed on organization and other preliminary steps, and bookswere opened for subscriptions. Deference was shown our firm, andI subscribed the same amount as my partners, except that half mysubscription was made in the name of George Edwards, as I wanted himon the executive committee if the company ever got beyond its presentembryo state. The trio of us taking only one hundred and fiftythousand dollars, there was a general scramble for the remainder.The preliminary steps having been taken, nothing further could be doneuntil a range was secured. My active partner, George Edwards, andmyself were appointed on this committee, and promising to report atthe earliest convenience, we made preparations for returning West.A change of administration was approaching, and before leaving thecapital, Edwards, my partners, and myself called on Secretaries Schurzof the Interior Department and Ramsey of the War Department. We haddone an extensive business with both departments in the past, and wereanxious to learn the attitude of the government in regard to leasinglands from the civilized Indian nations. A lease for the CherokeeOutlet was pending, but for lack of precedent the retiringSecretary of the Interior, for fear of reversal by the succeedingadministration, lent only a qualified approval of the same. There weresix million acres of land in the Outlet, a splendid range for maturingbeef, and if an adequate-sized ranch could be secured the new companycould begin operations at once. The Cherokee Nation was anxious tosecure a just rental, an association had offered $200,000 a year forthe Strip, and all that was lacking was a single word of indorsementfrom the paternal government.Hoping that the incoming administration would take favorable actionpermitting civilized Indian tribes to lease their surplus lands, wereturned to our homes. The Cherokee Strip Cattle Association hadbeen temporarily organized some time previous,--not being chartered,however, until March, 1883,--and was the proposed lessee of the Outletin which our beef ranch lay. The organization was a local one, createdfor the purpose of removing all friction between the Cherokees and theindividual holders of cattle in the Strip. The officers and directorsof the association were all practical cattlemen, owners of herdsand ranges in the Outlet, paying the same rental as others into thegeneral treasury of the organization. Major Hunter was well acquaintedwith the officers, and volunteered to take the matter up at once, bymaking application in person for a large range in the Cherokee Strip.There was no intention on the part of our firm to forsake the trail,this cattle company being merely a side issue, and active preparationswere begun for the coming summer.The annual cattle convention would meet again in Fort Worth inFebruary. With the West for our market and Texas the main source ofsupply, there was no occasion for any delay in placing our contractsfor trail stock. The closing figures obtainable at Dodge and Ogalallathe previous summer had established a new scale of prices for Texas,and a buyer must either pay the advance or let the cattle alone.Edwards and I were in the field fully three weeks before theconvention met, covering our old buying grounds and venturing into newones, advancing money liberally on all contracts, and returning tothe meeting with thirty herds secured. Major Hunter met us at theconvention, and while nothing definite was accomplished in securinga range, a hopeful word had reached us in regard to the newadministration. Starting the new company that spring was out of thequestion, and all energies were thrown into the forthcoming drive.Representatives from the Northwest again swept down on the convention,all Texas was there, and for three days and nights the cattleinterests carried the keys of the city. Our firm offered nothing,but, on the other hand, bought three herds of Pan-Handle steers foracceptance early in April. Three weeks of active work were requiredto receive the cattle, the herds starting again with the grass. Myindividual contingent included ten thousand three-year-old steers,two full herds of two-year-old heifers, and seven thousand cows. Thelatter were driven in two herds; extra wagons with oxen attachedaccompanied each in order to save the calves, as a youngster was anassistance in selling an old cow. Everything was routed by Doan'sCrossing, both Edwards and myself accompanying the herds, while MajorHunter returned as usual by rail. The new route, known as the Westerntrail, was more direct than the Chisholm though beset by Comanche andKiowa Indians once powerful tribes, but now little more than beggars.The trip was nearly featureless, except that during a terrible stormon Big Elk, a number of Indians took shelter under and around one ofour wagons and a squaw was killed by lightning. For some unaccountablereason the old dame defied the elements and had climbed up on a waterbarrel which was ironed to the side of the commissary wagon, whenthe bolt struck her and she tumbled off dead among her people. Theincident created quite a commotion among the Indians, who set up akeening, and the husband of the squaw refused to be comforted until Igave him a stray cow, when he smiled and asked for a bill of sale sothat he could sell the hide at the agency. I shook my head, and thecook told him in Spanish that no one but the owner could give a hillof sale, when he looked reproachfully at me and said, "Mebby so yousteal him."I caught a stage at Camp Supply and reached Dodge a week in advanceof the herds. Major Hunter was awaiting me with the report that ourapplication for an extra lease in the Cherokee Strip had been refused.Those already holding cattle in the Outlet were to retain their oldgrazing grounds, and as we had no more range than we needed for thefirm's holding of stock, we must look elsewhere to secure one for thenew company. A movement was being furthered in Washington, however, tosecure a lease from the Cheyenne and Arapahoe tribes, blanket Indians,whose reservation lay just south of the Strip, near the centre of theTerritory and between the Chisholm and Western trails. George Edwardsknew the country, having issued cows at those agencies for severalsummers, and reported the country well adapted for ranging cattle. Wehad a number of congressmen and several distinguished senators in ourcompany, and if there was such a thing as pulling the wires with thenew administration, there was little doubt but it would be done.Kirkwood of Iowa had succeeded Schurz in the Interior Department,and our information was that he would at least approve of any leasesecured. We were urged at the earliest opportunity to visit theCheyenne and Arapahoe agency, and open negotiations with the rulingchiefs of those tribes. This was impossible just at present, for withforty herds, numbering one hundred and twenty-six thousand cattle, onthe trail and for our beef ranch, a busy summer lay before us. Edwardswas dispatched to meet and turn off the herds intended for our rangein the Outlet, Major Hunter proceeded on to Ogalalla, while I remainedat Dodge until the last cattle arrived or passed that point.The summer of 1881 proved a splendid market for the drover. Demand farexceeded supply and prices soared upward, while she stuff commanded apremium of three to five dollars a head over steers of the same age.Pan-Handle and north Texas cattle topped the market, their qualityeasily classifying them above Mexican, coast, and southern breeding.Herds were sold and cleared out for their destination almost as fastas they arrived; the Old West wanted the cattle and had the range andto spare, all of which was a tempered wind to the Texas drover. Ispent several months in Dodge, shaping up our herds as they arrived,and sending the majority of them on to Ogalalla. The cows were thelast to arrive on the Arkansas, and they sold like pies to hungryboys, while all the remainder of my individual stock went on to thePlatte and were handled by our segundo and my active partner. Near themiddle of the summer I closed up our affairs at Dodge, and, taking theassistant bookkeeper with me, moved up to Ogalalla. Shortly after myarrival there, it was necessary to send a member of the firm to MilesCity, on the Yellowstone River in Montana, and the mission fell tome. Major Hunter had sold twenty thousand threes for delivery at thatpoint, and the cattle were already en route to their destination on myarrival. I took train and stage and met the herds on the Yellowstone.On my return to Ogalalla the season was drawing to a feverish close.All our cattle were sold, the only delay being in deliveries andsettlements. Several of our herds were received on the Platte, but,as it happened, nearly all our sales were effected with new cattlecompanies, and they had too much confidence in the ability of theTexas outfits to deliver to assume the risk themselves. Everythingwas fish to our net, and if a buyer had insisted on our delivering inCanada, I think Major Hunter would have met the request had the pricebeen satisfactory. We had the outfits and horses, and our men wereplainsmen and were at home as long as they could see the north star.Edwards attended a delivery on the Crazy Woman in Wyoming, MajorHunter made a trip for a similar purpose to the Niobrara in Nebraska,and various trail foremen represented the firm at minor deliveries.All trail business was closed before the middle of September, thebookkeepers made up their final statements, and we shook hands allround and broke the necks of a few bottles.But the climax of the year's profits came from the beef ranch in theOutlet. The Eastern markets were clamoring for well-fatted Westernstock, and we sent out train after train of double wintered beevesthat paid one hundred per cent profit on every year we had held them.The single wintered cattle paid nearly as well, and in making ampleroom for the through steers we shipped out eighteen thousand head fromour holdings on the Eagle Chief. The splendid profits from maturingbeeves on Northern ranges naturally made us anxious to start the newcompany. We were doing fairly well as a firm and personally, and withour mastery of the business it was but natural that we should enlargerather than restrict our operations. There had been no decrease of theforeign capital, principally Scotch and English, for investment inranges and cattle in the West during the summer just past, and it wascontrary to the policy of Hunter, Anthony & Co. to take a backwardstep. The frenzy for organizing cattle companies was on with a fury,and half-breed Indians and squaw-men, with rights on reservations,were in demand as partners in business or as managers of cattlesyndicates.An amusing situation developed during the summer of 1881 at Dodge. TheTexas drovers formed a social club and rented and furnished quarters,which immediately became the rendezvous of the wayfaring mavericks.Cigars and refreshments were added, social games introduced, and inburlesque of the general craze of organizing stock companies to engagein cattle ranching, our club adopted the name of The Juan-JingleroCattle Company, Limited. The capital stock was placed at five million,full-paid and non-assessable, with John T. Lytle as treasurer, E.G.Head as secretary, Jess Pressnall as attorney, Captain E.G. Millet asfiscal agent for placing the stock, and a dozen leading drovers asvice-presidents, while the presidency fell to me. We used the bestof printed stationery, and all the papers of Kansas City and Omahainnocently took it up and gave the new cattle company the widestpublicity. The promoters of the club intended it as a joke, but theprominence of its officers fooled the outside public, and applicationsbegan to pour in to secure stock in the new company. No explanationwas offered, but all applications were courteously refused, on theground that the capital was already over-subscribed. All members werefreely using the club stationery, thus daily advertising us far andwide, while no end of jokes were indulged in at the expense of theburlesque company. For instance, Major Seth Mabry left word at theclub to forward his mail to Kansas City, care of Armour's Bank, as heexpected to be away from Dodge for a week. No sooner had he gone thanevery member of the club wrote him a letter, in care of that popularbank, addressing him as first vice-president and director of TheJuan-Jinglero Cattle Company. While attending to business Major Mabrywas hourly honored by bankers and intimate friends desiring to securestock in the company, to all of whom he turned a deaf ear, but keptthe secret. "I told the boys," said Major Seth on his return, "thatour company was a close corporation, and unless we increased thecapital stock, there was no hope of them getting in on the groundfloor."In Dodge practical joking was carried to the extreme, both by citizensand cowmen. One night a tipsy foreman, who had just arrived over thetrail, insisted on going the rounds with a party of us, and in orderto shake him we entered a variety theatre, where my maudlin friendsoon fell asleep in his seat. The rest of us left the theatre, andafter seeing the sights I wandered back to the vaudeville, finding theperformance over and my friend still sound asleep. I awoke him, neverletting him know that I had been absent for hours, and after rubbinghis eyes open, he said: "Reed, is it all over? No dance or concert?They give a good show here, don't they?"