History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, Part 7

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co. cn; Vickers, W. B. (William B.), 1838-
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 844

USA > Colorado > Arapahoe County > History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado > Part 7
USA > Colorado > Denver County > Denver > History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado > Part 7

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Fort Collins has achieved its greatest develop- ment since 1877, when the Colorado Central

Railroad was extended past that place to a connection with the Union Pacific at Cheyenne. The follow- ing very truthful sketch of the place is copied from the prospectus of the Agricultural College located at that point, and opened September 1, 1879 :

" Fort Collins is located on the southern bank of the Cache la Poudre, about six miles east of the foot-hills of the snowy range and thirty-five miles south of the State line ; it is surrounded by a fer- tile and well watered region, including some of the best agricultural lands in the State.

" Its elevation of 5,100 feet above the sea level gives it a pure, dry atmosphere, while its proximity to the mountains brings it within the limit of occa- sional rains, thus rendering the climate pleasant and salubrious, and adapting the soil to the culti- vation of the cereals. This region, comprising the counties of Larimer, Weld, Boulder, and parts of Arapahoe and Jefferson, is rendered accessible from the north and south by the Colorado Central Rail- road, which passes directly through Fort Collins, and by the Denver Pacific Railway, both of which roads connect with the Union Pacific at Cheyenne and with the Kansas Pacific at Denver. The streams draining this region, the Cache la Poudre, Big Thompson, and other tributaries of the South Platte, furnish an inexhaustible supply of water for purposes of irrigation. It is estimated that the great irrigating canal now in process of construc- tion and supplied from the Cache la Poudre, will bring at least 100,000 acres of unproductive land under cultivation. The College has been most judiciously located with reference to this large extent of farming land, in the midst of communi- ties refined and progressive and very fast surround- ing themselves with all the comforts of the most advanced localities in the West."

South of the Poudre, along the base of the mountains, are a number of valleys devoted to ag- riculture, among which the Big and Little Thomp- son, the St. Vrain. Left Haud Boulder and Ralston Creek are chief. Longmont, settled by a Chicago colony about 1870, is located on the St. Vrain. in the midst of a very rich farming country. The

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

St. Vrain is one of the most beautiful of Colorado rivers. It rises at the base of Long's Peak, aud, though boasting of no grandly romantic cañon like Boulder, Clear Creek and the Platte or Arkansas, it flows through scenes of sylvan beauty strangely enchanting to the eye and the æsthetic tastes.

Boulder Creek waters a fertile valley on its way across the plains, dotted by handsome farms ; but its greatest charm is in the mountains. Its cañon has been pronounced the finest in the State, and its falls are famous everywhere. At the point of its departure from the range is located the town of Boulder, an interesting city of considerable conse- quence as an agricultural and mining center. The farmers of Boulder Valley find a market for their crops in the mining camps of their own county, and their county capital reaps the benefit of the exchange. Boulder is also the seat of the State University.

The valley of Clear Creek, though limited in extent, is a veritable garden. Lying between Deu- ver and Golden, and equally accessible to each (either by rail or private conveyance), it may be called the market garden of those cities. The Bear Creek Valley, a few miles farther south, is similarly situated, and a good farm in either of them may be counted a treasure to its fortunate owner.

South of the divide, between the waters of the Platte and the Arkansas, agriculture has not yet advanced to the position it occupies in Northern Colorado, though the conditions are all favorable. In time, no doubt, the arable lands of this district will be developed as well as those of the western slope, which in some respects are superior to those of the Atlantic side.

The agricultural future of Colorado is enshrouded in much present uncertainty, and opinions differ very widely concerning it. Some profess to believe that at no distant day the vast plains will become a grand garden ; that monster canals will distribute water for irrigation through a series of lakes or reservoirs from the mountains to the eastern limit of the State, and from Wyoming to New Mexico.

Congress has been continually memorialized to aid the State in this matter by grants of arid land under some act similar to the " swamp-land bill," by which so many States have profited throughout the West.

It is argued with great force that instead of ditches for drainage, the arid lands of Colorado only need ditches for irrigation to make them valuable, and it is claimed that the General Gov- ernment, now deriving little or no income or bene- fit from these lands, would be the gainer vastly by their reclamation, while the State, with a mining population constantly increasing, would be enabled to feed its own people without recourse on Kansas for supplies. No doubt there is force in this argu- ment, and the interest of the people in the ques- tion has been repeatedly evinced, not alone by memorials to Congress, but by conventions to con- sider extensive systems of irrigation.

In 1873, an irrigation convention was held in Denver which was attended by the Governors of several Western States and Territories, and by the leading agriculturists of the State as well as dele- gates from Utah, where the same system prevails. Beyond an interchange of views and the inevitable memorial to Congress, nothing came of this con- vention, but the address of Hon, S. H. Elbert, then Territorial Governor of Colorado, and now one of the Justices of the Supreme Court, was a compact, logical and in every way admirable state- ment of the case uuder discussion, which should 'have had more weight in Washington than was accorded to it, or to the memorial of the conven- tion.

There are those, however, and the writer is among them, who have grave doubts whether the benefits to be derived from any system of irrigation under the auspices of the State or General Govern- ment would inure to the benefit of each or either. Though the arid lands of Colorado find no sale at Government prices, and, perhaps, would not bring more than 10 cents per acre at auction, they are all productive in one sense, and the State reaps a large benefit therefrom every year, in its

RESIDENCE OF HON. N . P. HILL, DENVER, COL.

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

production of beef, mutton and wool. The stock interests would surely suffer if the plains were " reclaimed," but whether farming, with the added expense of costly irrigation, could successfully compete with Kansas cheap production, is not equally certain.

Kansas, which lies right at the door of Colo- rado, is undoubtedly the finest agricultural State in the Union, and is growing rapidly in our direc- tion. The corn and wheat of Kansas are already sold in our markets at prices which tend to dis- courage our own farmers, though, happily, the latter still have a home market for their crops which affords them protection against Kansas

competition. The home demand is enlarged by the stock interest, which produces nothing but beef. Reduce the home demand by excluding the bulk of the stock men, and at the same time double the agricultural production, and we may have a state of affairs which neither the farmers nor the State will appreciate as a public blessing.

These objections, however, may be more than met by the rapid increase of our mining population in the next five years, creating a home market which the present agricultural resources of the State will be entirely unable to supply. In that case, more farms and more farmers will be among the actual necessities of the country.

CHAPTER XI.

STOCK RAISING IN COLORADO.

E NOUGH has already been said in this work to indicate that the pastoral resources of Colorado are second only to the industry of mining in point of profit if not of production. The net profit of stock-growing exceeds that of agriculture every year. Probably during the decade preceding the eventful year when the mines of Leadville began to yield up their hidden treasures, the net profit of mining over and above the expense incurred in its prosecution, was not much greater than the net profit of the stock business.

This is a startling statement, and, unfortunately, or fortunately, as the case may be, the figures are not at hand whereby it can be supported. It is equally impossible to say how much money was swallowed up in unlucky mining enterprises, and how much was made by raising stock while the business was comparatively new and the range not overcrowded as it is now in many directions. When cattle could be brought to maturity and market at a cost of about $5 per head, and sold at $30, 840, or even $50, it requires no arithmetician or "light- ning calculator," or even Col. Sellers, to see that there were " millions in it."

On the plains of Colorado and Western Kansas, cattle succeeded the buffalo as naturally as white men succeeded the Indians. It could not have been any secret to the early settlers that stock would live and fatten on the nutritious grasses of the plains and mountains all the year round, for they saw buffalo, antelope, deer, elk and other gram- niverous animals depending entirely for their sus- tenance upon the same, but in spite of this " ocular proof," it appears to be a fact, as already stated elsewhere, that the father of the stock business in Colorado turned his cattle out in the fall expecting them to die during the winter, and was surprised to find them fat and flourishing in the spring. Even at this late day, with thousands of cattle roaming the plains on every hand, winter and sun- mer, some stranger is always found willing to swear that they must inevitably starve to death in the winter. These doubting Thomases, impressed with ancient heresies regarding the Great American Desert, are alike incapable of realizing that cattle can live on our grasses the year round and that the finest wheat and vegetables in the world can be produced from our soil.

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

However lightly Coloradoans may esteem the intelligence of these people, they do not much care to combat their erroneous ideas by argument, and cattle-growers are especially indifferent on the sub- ject. On the contrary, they do not care how many people are deterred from entering the business by fears of losing their investments. Wide as the range is, the supply of water is limited in dry sea- sons, and they do not want to be crowded by new- comers out of their chosen localities. Though the " range " is free to all, the water front is usually taken up by the home ranches of cattle and sheep growers, who own the land adjacent thereto and thereby control the range back of their respective claims. Encroachments upon these vested rights are rare, but if the country should become more crowded by a decided increase in the number of cattle-growers, trouble might ensue or the interests of the parties might be endangered in other respects.

Prior to the advent of railroads in Colorado, the stock business was limited by the home demand and such Government contracts as could be secured for the supply of beef to interior and neigh- boring military posts. The railroads, however, gave a great impetus to each of these demands and also opened up a new trade, which has of late years exceeded the aggregate of both the others combined. More Colorado beef is shipped East every year than is used by the people of the State and by the Government, too, within the limits of Colorado.

The magnitude of this business under the new developiuent is something astonishing. Next to Texas, Colorado probably produces more beef than any other State in the Union, and, probably, more sheep and wool than any other State except New Mexico. The business is not confined to any one section of the State, but extends everywhere, even into the Indian Reservation. Some years ago, the Indian Bureau, in a lucid interval seldom duplicated, drove a band of cattle to the White River Agency for the purpose of supplying beef to the Utes, using only the increase of the herd for that

purpose. The Indians have been supplied with fresh beef regularly since that time, and the herd has increased despite this constant drain upon it, till even the Government is likely to have "beef to sell," besides what the Indians use. These cattle are said to yield excellent beef the year round, though knowing no feed except the rich grass of the White River Valley. Denver's best beef, not excepting the corn-fed article, comes from the Snake River country in Northwestern Colorado, and this Snake River beef is often on the market when the Plains cattle are too poor to kill.

Nor is Southwestern Colorado one whit behind the North in this particular. The Animas and other valleys of the San Juan country produce the finest beef as well as the best vegetables and other erops. There seems to be no doubt that the entire western slope of the State is a good stock country.

It is with the east, however, particularly the great plains, that the pastoral interests of Colo- rado are principally identified. On these almost boundless prairies, thousands upon thousands of horses, cattle and sheep range throughont the year, and maintain themselves in generally good condition without any food save that prepared for them by the bountiful hand of nature.

There are numerous methods of engaging in the stock business, of course, but they all resolve them- selves at last into one general system, which cen- ters around a home ranche or camp, and extends pretty nearly over the entire surrounding country. Having secured a ranche and suitable outbuildings, including a large corral, with a strong solid wall seven or eight feet high, the next step is to buy cattle. This may be done occasionally "on the range," from some party who finds himself over- stocked or who wants to quit the business, but gen- erally it is best to buy from the Texas stock driven up from the South every summer, which comes cheaper and answers admirably for breeding pur- poses when crossed with high grade American bulls. All stock must be branded when bought, and all calves must be branded before they leave their mother's side.

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

The camp should be located near a permanent water-supply, and it is well to purchase or enter 160 acres or more and inclose it with a stock-fence as a kind of gigantic barnyard. Horses kept for use should not be allowed to run loose on the prairie, and to keep them stabled or picketed is troublesome and unsatisfactory. A camp outfit must include wagon and harness suitable for heavy work, tough draft horses and a number of native ponies or bronchos for saddle use. Of the latter, there can hardly he too many. It costs little or nothing to keep them, and, during the entire sum- mer, to say the least, and often in winter, there is enough hard riding to be done to require at least three horses for every herder employed. Leading stoekmen almost invariably raise and train their own ponies, finding it profitable as well as con- venient to do so. Their value ranges from $25 to $50, and the trouble of raising them is but slightly greater than that of raising a steer. The " band" must be looked after a good deal, of course, and carefully " corralled" every night; but, by con- stant handling, they become thoroughly domesti- cated, and seldom or never stray far away from camp, unless stampeded.

The use of the word "band" above brings to mind some of the peculiarities of stock nomenela- ture in Colorado. A collection of horses is always a "baud." The cattle owned by one man or firm are, collectively, a "herd," but any number of them less than the whole is a "bunch." A "flock" of sheep, however, may be all or only a part of the number owned by a firm or an individual, To speak of a "herd" of horses or sheep is to betray the tender-foot at once.

Given, then, the home ranche, with its stables, corrals, ete., its band of ponies, its foreman and assistants, and all the machinery of a cattle camp is complete. The outfit may cost anywhere from $500 to $1,000, but rarely more than the latter sum, no allowance being made for display and not much for home comfort. Few cattle ranches on a large scale are enlivened by the presence of the gentler sex, and the men crowd together, generally,

in a small cabin or "sod" house of two rooms- one for stores and cookery, and the other for sleep- ing and lounging, whenever opportunity offers. For an ordinary camp, the working force includes about six men. Strict discipline is enforced by the fore- man, who is an autocrat in his way, and who issues his orders with the air and brevity of a drill sergeant.

Another important personage is the cook, who is also a sort of "keeper" of the camp and stores, and is likewise charged with numberless little duties, such as mending bridles and harness, doctoring sick horses, going to the post office, and the like. He must be ready to serve a meal at a moment's notice, and at times his position is very trying; but when the foreman and herders are away on the round-ups or are shipping beef, he is often left en- tirely alone for weeks, with nothing whatever to do but to guard the camp, cook his own meals, and occasionally turn up a little "grub" for a passing acquaintance or stranger, the ranche being open alike to such without money and without price. Stoekmen are the very soul of hospitality, and there exists among them a subtle sort of free- masonry by which they make themselves at home wherever they go among each other, whether on business or for pleasure.

After the cook comes the herders, to the num- ber of three or four or more, as the case may be. A herd of three or four thousand cattle can be looked after by half a dozen men, with a little as- sistance during the round-up and branding season. The herder of cattle is essentially different from the sheep-herder. The latter must live with his flock, nor trust it out of his sight, but the former exer- cises only a general supervision over his herd, never undertaking to limit its wanderings, and content if he only knows, in a general way, its whereahouts. The range is wide, but cattle sel- dom stray far from home, save at times when no number of herdsmen could restrain them. Should any or all of them " stampede " from any cause, nothing can be done but to follow them leisurely, and drive them back when found.

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

The life of a cattle-herder is wild, roving, ad- venturous. His headquarters, and hindquarters, too, are always in the saddle, and he soon learns to ride like a Centaur. No finer sight of the kind can be seen anywhere, than a " cow-boy " mounted on his fleet but sure-footed pony, giving chase to a young and lively Colorado steer, as full of dash and undaunted mettle as the man himself. Away they fly across the prairie, at lightning speed, then, sud- denly, as quick as thought, the bovine turns and doubles on his course, while the pony and rider follow suit with equal celerity. Again and again they turn, the pony following every movement of the animal it is pursuing, and none but a skilled and well-trained rider can keep his seat in the sad- dle throughout the chase. Accidents are not infrequent, even among these champion riders, but in almost every instance they result from an unex- pected stumble of the pony over a hole in the ap- parent dead level of the prairie.

The wages paid to these men are not high, ranging from $25 to $50 per month, but, as they include board and lodging and most of the neeessa- ries of life, and, as clothing costs them little, they manage to save something every month, and soon find themselves, if they are careful and economical, ahead of the world and in a fair way to become proprietors on a small scale. They are usually allowed to invest their savings in cattle, which are " turned in " with their employer's herd, and cost nothing for their keeping, while the herder is em- ployed on the ranch. When he accumulates two or three hundred head, he is ready to begin busi- ness himself, generally taking a second small bunch of cattle to herd "on shares," his share being one- half of the increase. Colorado affords few better openings for young men of economical habits than cattle-ranching, but the reckless and improvident spend all their money as fast as it is earned, and not only fail to accumulate anything for themselves, but find that they will not be trusted with the eare of stock for other owners.

Much has been written about the "eattle kings" of Colorado, their conntless herds and the princely

domain over which they wander. A good deal of this is nonsense, but the operations of some men, now or hitherto engaged in this trade, have been very great. The late John W. Iliff, of Denver, was the most successful cattle man of his time. His stock ranged over the entire eastern portion of the State, and his ranches were scattered up and down the Platte, from Jnlesburg to near Greeley, but the stories told about his princely domain were true only in part. He did not control the entire range where his cattle roamed, but shared it in common with the smaller operators. It was true, however, that he could travel over the country for a week and always eat and sleep at one of his own ranches. His income was prineely, too, and his wealth was immense. He died in 1878, and his business has been gradually closed out since that time, though it will take some years to settle up his estate. It is said that $250,000 worth of beef was sold by his executors last year, without making much inroad upon his immense herds.

Mr. Iliff did not commence business a poor man, as is often stated, but his capital was limited, and, in his early days, he devoted himself to Govern- ment contracts and to supplying dressed beef to butchers, at wholesale. At one time, he supplied dressed beef to all the military posts along the line of the Union Pacific Railroad. He was a shrewd, hard-working, thorough man of business, looking closely after every detail and often following the round-ups with his men, eating out of their camp-ket- tles and keeping as sharp a watch for the "L. F." brand as his own foremen. Other cattle kings grew indolent as wealth increased, but Iliff seemed to grow more active and industrious until death stepped in and ended his busy life in its very prime. Had he lived long enough to carry out the grand schemes which inspired him, no one knows to what gigantic proportions his business would have grown.

Many other men and firms in Colorado have created colossal fortunes in stock-raising or are now in a fair way to become millionaires, but the business is less profitable of late, particularly to new investors.

ARGO. THE BOSTON & COLORADO SMELTING CO'S WORKS. DENVER, COLORADO

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

The range is getting crowded about the water- fronts, and sheep-men are driving cattle-growers back from their old ranches into new quarters, north and east. Along the base of the mountains, agriculture is encroaching rapidly upon the former domains of stockmen, almost to the exclusion of the latter, who are moving their herds to a distance.

In almost every locality, however, the problem of space is partially solved by the introduction of a better class of stock, a smaller number of which will produce more money than a larger herd of the old "long-horn" variety. Texas cows are kept for breeding purposes, but high-grade American bulls are almost invariably found on every ranche and with every herd. The cross is known as " Colorado natives" in the market reports, and makes excel- lent beef, while its Texas blood enables it to stand the rigors of Colorado's "Italian" climate without too much risk. Blooded stock and thorough American cattle thrive excellently well in Colorado, but they must be cared for in winter, and the expense of handling them is very much greater than that of " native" cattle.

Sheep in Colorado are singularly free from the diseases so common to them elsewhere, and there is much profit as well as much labor in handling them. The losses are sometimes large during heavy storms in winter, and many lambs fall victims to the ravages of the prairie wolves and coyotes-lean and hungry midnight marauders, whose stealthy steps never betray their presence. With proper food and shelter, however, sheep endure the winter storms very well, and their four-footed enemies are fast disappearing.

The breeding of a better class of horses is begin- ning to attract much attention throughout the State. The ordinary " broncho " is at best a rather valueless investment, save for herding stock, and seldom brings more than $50, while a good Ameri- can horse seldom falls below double that amount, and it costs but a trifle more to raise the latter. But if the broncho's cash value is less, he is more reliable for hard and rough riding, whether on the mountain or plain. His sinews are steel, and his

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History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, Part 7

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co. cn; Vickers, W. B. (William B.), 1838- Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co. Number of Pages: 844

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co. cn; Vickers, W. B. (William B.), 1838-
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 844