XV. HARVEST HOME

by Andy Adams

　　HARVEST HOMEThe firm's profits for the summer of '77 footed up over two hundredthousand dollars. The government herds from the Cherokee Outletpaid the best, those sent to market next, while the through cattleremunerated us in the order of beeves, young steers, and lastly cows.There was a satisfactory profit even in the latter, yet the sameinvestment in other classes paid a better per cent profit, and thebanking instincts of my partners could be relied on to seek thebest market for our capital. There was nothing haphazard about ourbusiness; separate accounts were kept on every herd, and at the endof the season the percentage profit on each told their own story. Forinstance, in the above year it cost us more to deliver a cow at anagency in the Indian Territory than a steer at Dodge City, Kansas. Theherds sold in Colorado had been driven at an expense of eighty-fivecents a head, those delivered on the Republican River ninety, andevery cow driven that year cost us over one dollar a head in generalexpense. The necessity of holding the latter for a period of fourmonths near agencies for issuing purposes added to the cost, and wascharged to that particular department of our business.George Edwards and my active partner agreed to restock our beef ranchin the Outlet, and I returned to Missouri. I make no claim of beingthe first cowman to improve the native cattle of Texas, yet fortyyears' keen observation has confirmed my original idea,--thatimprovement must come through the native and gradually. Climaticconditions in Texas are such that the best types of the bovine racewould deteriorate if compelled to subsist the year round on the openrange. The strongest point in the original Spanish cattle was theirinborn ability as foragers, being inured for centuries to drouth, theheat of summer, and the northers of winter, subsisting for months onprickly pear, a species of the cactus family, or drifting like gameanimals to more favored localities in avoiding the natural afflictionsthat beset an arid country. In producing the ideal range animal itwas more important to retain those rustling qualities than to gain abetter color, a few pounds in weight, and a shortening of horns andlegs, unless their possessor could withstand the rigors of a variableclimate. Nature befriends the animal race. The buffalo of Montanacould face the blizzard, while his brother on the plains of Texassought shelter from the northers in cañons and behind sand-dunes,guided by an instinct that foretold the coming storm.I accompanied my car of thoroughbred bulls and unloaded them at thefirst station north of Fort Worth. They numbered twenty-five, alltwo-year-olds past, and were representative of three leading beefbrands of established reputation. Others had tried the experimentbefore me, the main trouble being in acclimation, which affectsanimals the same as the human family. But by wintering them at theirdestination, I had hopes of inuring the importation so that they wouldwithstand the coming summer, the heat of which was a sore trial to anorthern-bred animal. Accordingly I made arrangements with a farmerto feed my car of bulls during the winter, hay and grain both beingplentiful. They had cost me over five thousand dollars, and ratherthan risk the loss of a single one by chancing them on the range, anadditional outlay of a few hundred dollars was justified. Limiting thecorn fed to three barrels to the animal a month, with plenty of roughfeed, ought to bring them through the winter in good, healthy form.The farmer promised to report monthly on their condition, and agreeingto send for them by the first of April, I hastened on home.My wife had taken a hand in the building of the new house on the ClearFork. It was quite a pretentious affair, built of hewed logs, andconsisted of two large rooms with a hallway between, a gallery onthree sides, and a kitchen at the rear. Each of the main rooms had anample fireplace, both hearths and chimneys built from rock, the onlymaterial foreign to the ranch being the lumber in the floors, doors,and windows. Nearly all the work was done by the ranch hands, even theclapboards were riven from oak that grew along the mother Brazos, andmy wife showed me over the house as though it had been a castle thatshe had inherited from some feudal forbear. I was easily satisfied;the main concern was for the family, as I hardly lived at home enoughto give any serious thought to the roof that sheltered me. Theoriginal buildings had been improved and enlarged for the men, and anair of prosperity pervaded the Anthony ranch consistent with the timesand the success of its owner.The two ranches reported a few over fifteen thousand calves brandedthat fall. A dim wagon road had been established between the ranches,by going and returning outfits during the stocking of the new ranchthe spring before, and the distance could now be covered in two daysby buckboard. The list of government contracts to be let was awaitingmy attention, and after my estimates had been prepared, and forwardedto my active partner, it was nearly the middle of December before Ifound time to visit the new ranch. The hands at Double Mountain hadnot been idle, snug headquarters were established, and three linecamps on the outskirts of the range were comfortably equipped toshelter men and horses. The cattle had located nicely, two largecorrals had been built on each river, and the calves were as thriftyas weeds. Gray wolves were the worst enemy encountered, running inlarge bands and finding shelter in the cedar brakes in the cañons andfoothills which border on the Staked Plain. My foreman on the DoubleMountain ranch was using poison judiciously, all the line camps weresupplied with the same, and an active winter of poisoning wolveswas already inaugurated before my arrival. Long-range rifles wouldsupplement the work, and a few years of relentless war on these pestswould rid the ranch of this enemy of live stock.Together my foreman and I planned for starting an improved herd ofcattle. A cañon on the west was decided on as a range, as it was wellwatered from living springs, having a valley several miles wide,forming a park with ample range for two thousand cattle. The bluffson either side were abrupt, almost an in closure, making it an easymatter for two men to loose-herd a small amount of stock, holding themadjoining my deeded range, yet separate. The survival of the fittestwas adopted as the rule in beginning the herd, five hundred choicecows were to form the nucleus, to be the pick of the new ranch, thriftand formation to decide their selection. Solid colors only were to bechosen, every natural point in a cow was to be considered, withthe view of reproducing the race in improved form. My foreman--anintelligent young fellow--was in complete sympathy, and promisedme that he would comb the range in selecting the herd. The firstappearance of grass in the spring was agreed on as the time forgathering the cows, when he would personally come to the ClearFork and receive the importation of bulls, thus fully taking allresponsibility in establishing the improved herd. By this method,unless our plans miscarried, in the course of a few years we expectedto be raising quarter-bloods in the main ranch stock, and at the sametime retaining all those essential qualities that distinguish therange-raised from the domestic-bred animal.On my return to the Clear Fork, which was now my home, a letter frommy active partner was waiting, informing me that he and Edwards wouldreach Texas about the time the list of awards would arrive. They hadbeen unsuccessful in fully stocking our beef ranch, securing onlythree thousand head, as prices were against them, and the letterintimated that something must be done to provide against a repetitionof this unforeseen situation. The ranch in the Outlet had paid us ahigher per cent on the investment than any of our ventures, and toneglect fully stocking it was contrary to the creed of Hunter, Anthony& Co. True, we were double-wintering some four thousand head of cattleon our Cherokee range, but if a fair allowance of awards was allottedthe firm, requiring northern wintered cattle in filling, it mightembarrass us to supply the same when we did not have the beeves inhand; it was our business to have the beef.At the appointed time the buckboard was sent to Fort Worth, and a fewdays later Major Hunter and our main segundo drove up to the ClearFork. Omitting all preludes, atmosphere, and sunsets, we got down tobusiness at once. If we could drive cattle to Dodge City and marketthem for eighty-five cents, we ought to be able to deliver them on ournorthern range for six bits, and the horses could be returned or soldat a profit. If any of our established trade must be sacrificed, why,drop what paid the least; but half stock our beef ranch? Never again!This was to be the slogan for the coming summer, and, on receiving thereport from Washington, we were enabled to outline a programme for theyear. The gradually advancing prices in cattle were alarming me, asit was now perceptible in cows, and in submitting our bids on Indianawards I had made the allowance of one dollar a head advance over thespring before. In spite of this we were allotted five contracts fromthe Interior Department and seven to the Army, three of the latterrequiring ten thousand northern wintered beeves,--only oversold threethousand head. Major Hunter met my criticisms by taking the groundthat we virtually had none of the cattle on hand, and if we could buySouthern stock to meet our requirements, why not the three thousandthat we lacked in the North. Our bids had passed through his handslast; he knew our northern range was not fully stocked, and hadforwarded the estimates to our silent partner at Washington, and nowthe firm had been assigned awards in excess of their holdings. But hewas the kind of a partner I liked, and if he could see his way clear,he could depend on my backing him to the extent of my ability andcredit.The business of the firm had grown so rapidly that it was deemedadvisable to divide it into three departments,--the Army, the Indian,the beef ranch and general market. Major Hunter was speciallyqualified to handle the first division, the second fell to Edwards,and the last was assumed by myself. We were to consult each other whenconvenient, but each was to act separately for the firm, my commissionrequiring fifteen thousand cattle for our ranch in the Outlet, andthree herds for the market at Dodge City. Our banking points werelimited to Fort Worth and San Antonio, so agreeing to meet at thelatter point on the 1st of February for a general consultation, weseparated with a view to feeling the home market. Our man Edwardsdropped out in the central part of the State, my active partner wishedto look into the situation on the lower Nueces River, and I returnedto the headwaters of that stream. During the past two summers we haddriven five herds of heavy beeves from Uvalde and adjoining counties,and while we liked the cattle of that section, it was consideredadvisable to look elsewhere for our beef supply. Within a week Ilet contracts for five herds of two and three year old steers, thendropped back to the Colorado River and bought ten thousand more inSan Saba and McCulloch counties. This completed the purchases inmy department, and I hastened back to San Antonio for the expectedconsultation. Neither my active partner nor my trusted man hadarrived, nor was there a line to indicate where they were or when theymight be expected, though Major Hunter had called at our hotel a fewdays previously for his mail. The designated day was waning, and I wasworried by the non-appearance of either, when I received a wire fromAustin, saying they had just sublet the Indian contracts.The next morning my active partner and Edwards arrived. The latter hadmet some parties at the capital who were anxious to fill our Indiandeliveries, and had wired us in the firm's name, and Major Hunter hadtaken the first train for Austin. Both returned wreathed in smiles,having sublet our awards at figures that netted us more than we couldhave realized had we bought and delivered the cattle at our own risk.It was clear money, requiring not a stroke of work, while it freed avaluable man in outfitting, receiving, and starting our other herds,as well as relieving a snug sum for reinvestment. Our capital lay idlehalf the year, the spring months were our harvest, and, assigningEdwards full charge of the cattle bought on the Colorado River,we instructed him to buy for the Dodge market four herds more inadjoining counties, bringing down the necessary outfits to handle themfrom my ranch on the Clear Fork. Previous to his return to San Antoniomy active partner had closed contracts on thirteen thousand heavybeeves on the Frio River and lower Nueces, thus completing ourpurchases. A healthy advance was noticeable all around in steercattle, though hardly affecting cows; but having anticipated a growingappreciation in submitting our bids, we suffered no disappointment. Aweek was lost in awaiting the arrival of half a dozen old foremen. Ontheir arrival we divided them between us and intrusted them with thebuying of horses and all details in making up outfits.The trails leading out of southern Texas were purely local ones, theonly established trace running from San Antonio north, touching atFort Griffin, and crossing into the Nations at Red River Station inMontague County. All our previous herds from the Uvalde regions hadturned eastward to intercept this main thoroughfare, though we hadbeen frequently advised to try a western outlet known as the NuecesCañon route. The latter course would bring us out on high tablelands,but before risking our herds through it, I decided to ride out thecountry in advance. The cañon proper was about forty miles long,through which ran the source of the Nueces River, and if the way werebarely possible it looked like a feasible route. Taking a pack horseand guide with me, I rode through and out on the mesa beyond. GeneralMcKinzie had used this route during his Indian campaigns, and had evenbuilt mounds of rock on the hills to guide the wayfarer, from the exitof the cañon across to the South Llano River. The trail was a roughone, but there was grass sufficient to sustain the herds and amplebed-grounds in the valleys, and I decided to try the western outletfrom Uvalde. An early, seasonable spring favored us with fine grass onwhich to put up and start the herds, all five moving out within a weekof each other. I promised my foremen to accompany them through thecañon, knowing that the passage would be a trial to man and beast, andasked the old bosses to loiter along, so that there would be but a fewhours' difference between the rear and lead herds.I received sixteen thousand cattle, and the four days required inpassing through Nueces Cañon and reaching water beyond were thesupreme physical test of my life. It was a wild section, whollyunsettled, between low mountains, the river-bed constantly shiftingfrom one flank of the valley to the other, while cliffs from three tofive hundred feet high alternated from side to side. In traveling thefirst twenty-five miles we crossed the bed of the river twenty-onetimes; and besides the river there were a great number of creeks anddry arroyos putting in from the surrounding hills, so that we wereconstantly crossing rough ground. The beds of the streams were coveredwith smooth, water-worn pebbles, white as marble, and then again weencountered limestone in lava formation, honeycombed with millions ofsharp, up-turned cells. Some of the descents were nearly impossiblefor wagons, but we locked both hind wheels and just let them slidedown and bounce over the boulders at the bottom. Half-way through thecañon the water failed us, with the south fork of the Llano fortymiles distant in our front. We were compelled to allow the cattle topick their way over the rocky trail, the herds not over a mile apart,and scarcely maintaining a snail's pace. I rode from rear to frontand back again a dozen times in clearing the defile, and noted thatsplotches of blood from tender-footed cattle marked the white pebblesat every crossing of the river-bed. On the evening of the third day,the rear herd passed the exit of the cañon, the others having turnedaside to camp for the night. Two whole days had now elapsed withoutwater for the cattle.I had not slept a wink the two previous nights. The south fork of theLlano lay over twenty miles distant, and although it had ample watertwo weeks before, one of the foremen and I rode through to it thatnight to satisfy ourselves. The supply was found sufficient, andbefore daybreak we were back in camp, arousing the outfits andstarting the herds. In the spring of 1878 the old military trail, withits rocky sentinels, was still dimly defined from Nueces Cañon northto the McKinzie water-hole on the South Llano. The herds moved outwith the dawn. Thousands of the cattle were travel-sore, while a fewhundred were actually tender-footed. The evening before, as we cameout into the open country, we had seen quite a local shower of rain inour front, which had apparently crossed our course nearly ten milesdistant, though it had not been noticeable during our night's ride.The herds fell in behind one another that morning like columns ofcavalry, and after a few miles their stiffness passed and they led outas if they had knowledge of the water ahead. Within two hours afterstarting we crossed a swell of the mesa, when the lead herd caught abreeze from off the damp hills to the left where the shower had fallenthe evening before. As they struck this rise, the feverish cattleraised their heads and pulled out as if that vagrant breeze hadbrought them a message that succor and rest lay just beyond. The pointmen had orders to let them go, and as fast as the rear herds came upand struck this imaginary line or air current, a single moan wouldsurge back through the herd until it died out at the rear. By noonthere was a solid column of cattle ten miles long, and two hours laterthe drag and point men had trouble in keeping the different herds frommixing. Without a halt, by three o'clock the lead foremen were turningtheir charges right and left, and shortly afterward the lead cattlewere plunging into the purling waters of the South Llano. The rearherds turned off above and below, filling the river for five miles,while the hollow-eyed animals gorged themselves until a half dozendied that evening and night.Leaving orders with the foremen to rest their herds well and move outhalf a day apart, I rode night and day returning to Uvalde. Catchingthe first stage out, I reached San Antonio in time to overtake MajorHunter, who was awaiting the arrival of the last beef herd from thelower country, the three lead ones having already passed that point.All trail outfits from the south then touched at San Antonio toprovision the wagons, and on the approach of our last herd I met itand spent half a day with it,--my first, last, and only glimpse of ourheavy beeves. They were big rangy fellows many of them six and sevenyears old, and from the general uniformity of the herd, I felt proudof the cowman that my protégé and active partner had developed into.Major Hunter was anxious to reach home as soon as possible, in orderto buy in our complement of northern wintered cattle; so, settlingour business affairs in southern Texas, the day after the rear beevespassed we took train north. I stopped in the central part ofthe State, joining Edwards riding night and day in covering hisappointments to receive cattle; and when the last trail herd moved outfrom the Colorado River there were no regrets.Hastening on home, on my arrival I was assured by my ranch foremanthat he could gather a trail herd in less than a week. My saddle stocknow numbered over a thousand head, one hundred of which were on theDouble Mountain ranch, seven remudas on the trail, leaving availableover two hundred on the Clear Fork. I had the horses and cattle, andon the word being given my ranch foreman began gathering our oldeststeers, while I outfitted and provisioned a commissary and securedhalf a dozen men. On the morning of the seventh day after my arrival,an individual herd, numbering thirty-five hundred, moved out from theClear Fork, every animal in the straight ranch brand. An old trailforeman was given charge, Dodge City was the destination, and a finerherd of three-year-olds could not have been found in one brand withinthe boundaries of the State. This completed our cattle on the trail,and a breathing spell of a few weeks might now be indulged in, yetthere was little rest for a cowman. Not counting the contracts to theIndian Bureau, sublet to others, and the northern wintered beeves,we had, for the firm and individually, seventeen herds, numberingfifty-four thousand five hundred cattle on the trail. In order tocarry on our growing business unhampered for want of funds, the firmhad borrowed on short time nearly a quarter-million dollars thatspring, pledging the credit of the three partners for its repayment.We had been making money ever since the partnership was formed, andwe had husbanded our profits, yet our business seemed to outgrow ourmeans, compelling us to borrow every spring when buying trail herds.In the mean time and while we were gathering the home cattle, myforeman and two men from the Double Mountain ranch arrived on theClear Fork to receive the importation of bulls. The latter had not yetarrived, so pressing the boys into work, we got the trail herd awaybefore the thoroughbreds put in an appearance. A wagon and three menfrom the home ranch had gone after them before my return, and theywere simply loafing along, grazing five to ten miles a day, carryingcorn in the wagon to feed on the grass. Their arrival found the ranchat leisure, and after resting a few days they proceeded on to theirdestination at a leisurely gait. The importation had winteredfinely,--now all three-year-olds,--but hereafter they must subsist onthe range, as corn was out of the question, and the boys had broughtnothing but a pack horse from the western ranch. This was anexperiment with me, but I was ably seconded by my foreman, who hadpersonally selected every cow over a month before, and this was tomake up the beginning of the improved herd. I accompanied them beyondmy range and urged seven miles a day as the limit of travel. I thenstarted for home, and within a week reached Dodge City, Kansas.Headquarters were again established at Dodge. Fortunately a new marketwas being developed at Ogalalla on the Platte River in Nebraska, andfully one third the trail herds passed on to the upper point. Beforemy arrival Major Hunter had bought the deficiency of northern winteredbeeves, and early in June three herds started from our range in theOutlet for the upper Missouri River army posts. We had wintered allhorses belonging to the firm on the beef ranch, and within a fortnightafter its desertion, the young steers from the upper Nueces Riverbegan arriving and were turned loose on the Eagle Chief, preemptingour old range. One outfit was retained to locate the cattle, theremaining ones coming in to Dodge and returning home by train.George Edwards lent me valuable assistance in handling our affairseconomically, but with the arrival of the herds at Dodge he wascompelled to look after our sub-contracts at Indian agencies. Thelatter were delivered in our name, all money passed through our handsin settlement, so it was necessary to have a man on the ground toprotect our interests. With nothing but the selling of eight herds ofcattle in an active market like Dodge, I felt that the work of thesummer was virtually over. One cattle company took ten thousandthree-year-old steers, two herds were sold for delivery at Ogalalla,and the remaining three were placed within a month after theirarrival. The occupation of the West was on with a feverish haste, andmoney was pouring into ranches and cattle, affording a ready market tothe drover from Texas.Nothing now remained for me but to draw the threads of our businesstogether and await the season's settlement in the fall. I sold all thewagons and sent the remudas to our range in the Outlet, while from thefirst cattle sold the borrowed money was repaid. I visited Ogalallato acquaint myself with its market, looked over our beef ranch in theCherokee Strip during the lull, and even paid the different Indianagencies my respects to perfect my knowledge of the requirements ofour business. Our firm was a strong one, enlarging its business yearby year; and while we could not foresee the future, the present was aHarvest Home to Hunter, Anthony & Co.