A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I, Part 26

Author: Paddock, B. B. (Buckley B.), 1844-1922; Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing co.
Number of Pages: 968

USA > Texas > A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I > Part 26

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"For a decade or two after the close of the Civil war the range country of Texas was open and free to whosoever might go in and occupy parts of it, and nature provided food for the cat- tle without labor, without money, and without price from their owners. The cattlemen of that period thought they 'had struck it rich,' as in- deed they had, so far as free grass and a range that appeared to be unlimited and inexhaustible could help them on to fortune. They had also thought that they had a perpetual possession in which these conditions would continue but little, if any, disturbed, and that their business would go on indefinitely independent of most of the trammels and restraints to which men were sub- ject in the settled parts of the country. The country appeared so endlessly big and its grazing resources seemed so great that it was hard for any man to foresee its 'crowded' occupation by range cattle far within the period of his own life- time, to say nothing of serious encroachments upon it by tillers of the soil. In these years the methods and practices of the western stockman as they advanced into the range country were much the same wherever they went.

"The first impulse of a pioneer cattleman who

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had entered a virgin district with his herd and established his headquarters there, was mentally to claim everything within sight and for a long distance beyond. But when the second one ap- peared with his stock the two would divide the district, and each keep on his side of the division line as agreed upon. As others came in, the dis- trict would be still further divided, until, accord- ing to the very broad views our pioneer friends held as to the length and breadth of land each should have for 'elbow room,' it had become fully occupied. There was nothing to prevent them from appropriating the country in this man- ner and arbitrarily defining the boundaries of their respective ranges, and with this practice there developed the theory of 'range rights'-that is, of a man's right to his range in consequence of priority of occupation and continuous posses- sion, although none asserted actual ownership of the range land, nor did any of them really own as much as a square yard of it. Still, under the circumstances, the theory of 'range rights' was not an unreasonable proposition.

"For a district to become 'fully occupied' did not at that time imply that the cattle outfits in it were near neighbors. In making claim to a range each stockman kept far over on the safe side by taking to himself a-plenty, and therefore their ranch buildings were anywhere from fifteen to thirty miles apart, and sometimes even far- ther. As a common rule each man recognized and respected the range rights of his neighbors in good faith, but occasionally there were con- flicts."*

Such were the conditions up to the time of the boom. Then, in consequence of the immigra- tion of farmers and the many new aspirants for success in the range business, the old cattlemen became generally apprehensive for the future of their business. It seemed that even the vast range country, much of which, indeed, has since been proved agriculturally valuable, might at no dis- tant day be filled up by the land-owning, fence- building and generally troublesome farmer, not to mention the restrictions of range freedom that were being set by the greater numbers of cattle- men. Therefore the majority decided to make

their shortening days of grace strenuous ones,. and to this end began the practice of stocking their ranges to the very limit. Where the long- horn had hitherto grazed the grass from twenty- five or more acres, he was now often limited to ten. This practice of over-stocking the ranges became increasingly general, and the several in- evitable results were not long in precipitating widespread calamity.

The practice led first of all to an abnormal de- mand for stock cattle. Prices quickly rose from $7 and $8 a head to $10 and $12, and large ship- ments were even sent from the middle states to form the basis of the range herds. Of course this inflation of values deepened the veneer of prosperity which gilded the entire business and increased the recklessness of those who hoped to catch the golden bubble before it burst. The beef- cattle market continued strong, some Texas "grass-fed" steers selling in Chicago in May, 1882, at $6.80 a hundred, and upwards of $6 be- ing offered in the corresponding month of the next year. But the ranges were not capable of supporting the great herds of hungry cattle that cropped their grasses so close and in many cases so trampled them that their productiveness was permanently impaired. A rainy season and an open winter alone could maintain the cattle in- dustry at the high pressure at which it was being driven, and those conditions could not be de- pended upon. In the hard winter of 1882-83 cat- tle died by the thousands, and those that were not ruined by nature's penalties did not have long to wait for the economic overthrow. Prices for market stock remained high throughout 1883 and the early months of 1884, but in the fall of that year the decline began and by the middle of 1885 range cattle sold high at ten dollars a head and thousands went for less. The delusive value of "range rights" and "free grass," so often esti- mated as assets, could not be realized on, and the unfortunate stockmen found the returns from their herds to give them a mere pittance compared with the original investments. A case is recorded in which a Texas cattleman, who in 1883 had.

*"Prose and Poetry of Cattle Industry."

HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

refused $1,500,000 for his cattle, ranch outfit and range rights, sold them all in 1886 for $245,000.

With the collapse of the great boom of the eighties, it may be said that the doom of the range-cattle industry was sounded, and since then a complete rearrangement has been taking place by which modern conditions have been ushered in. The fiction of "range rights" gave place to the purchase outright or the leasing of tracts of range land. The introduction of wirę fences into general use, elsewhere described,* set definite boundaries to each cattleman's posses- sions and largely did away with the "open range." Railroads went to the west and northwest, and were intersected by cross lines, which, more than any other influence, caused the breaking up of the range into ranches and stock farms. The im- provement of the grades of cattle, and the gradual elimination of the long-horns, the beginnings of which we have already noted, have been steadily . high plane of excellence."

working the transformation which is now so complete that only the older stockmen have any knowledge of the conditions that we have just . described. The stock industry is now a business, almost a science, and is conducted along the same systematic lines with other departments of modern industrialism. Cattlemen no longer pur- sue their calling outside the borders of the perma- nent settlements, receding before the whistle of the locomotive; they build their ranch houses along the lines of steel, and their industry has become an organic factor in the world's activi- ties. Having described the essential features of the range stock. industry, which has its logical place before the consideration of the railroad epoch, we shall take occasion on later pages to speak of the leading aspects of the cattle business as now conducted and as forming a central pillar in supporting the arch of North and West Texas prosperity.

The principal factors that brought the cattle industry to its present orderly and substantial basis were, improved stock, provident manage- ment, and individual control of more or less of the land upon which each stockman operated, accompanied by the use of fences. The first attempts to introduce better blood into the rough

range stock were made in Texas about 1875, al- though all that was done in this direction be- fore 1885 was experimental and had little effect in raising the general grade. In fact, there was some prejudice in those days against the heavy farm cattle, which, it was believed, would not thrive under range conditions nor have the hardi- hood to withstand the hardships of winter and drouth. But after 1885, "a large item in the ex- pense account of every ranchman whose opera- tions were of considerable magnitude represent- ed his outlay for high-grade and registered bulls. High-bred breeding stock was brought into the range country in numbers that aggregated thou- sands of head and that, it is no exaggeration to say, cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. These bulls came not only from the stock farms of the east, but from England, Scotland, and continental Europe. Quality was bred into the herds, and the range beef steer was raised to a

Continuing, the History of the Live Stock Industry previously referred to says: "The best and therefore the high-priced beef lies along the animal's back, and any one can understand that a broad-backed steer that has utilized its food in increasing its aggregate of sirloin and porterhouse parts, is far more valuable than the narrow-backed, slab-sided animal, perhaps of nearly the same gross weight, but which lias utilized most of its food in the production of tallow. The western cattlemen saw this, and began to produce, with the same amount of food, beeves that yielded the high-priced steaks, worth from 15 to 25 cents a pound in a normal retail market, instead of tallow and medium or low grade meats, worth whatever the buyer could be persuaded to pay for them.

"So the process of improving and upbuilding the range herds through the introduction of better stock and by selective breeding was under- taken and soon became general. The long-horn and all its kindred were rapidly eliminated. These slender, long-legged, narrow-faced, slab- by, nervous animals, that could run like a deer, that were subject to panic whenever they saw

*See sketch of H. B. Sanborn.

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a man not on horseback, and that had horns reaching far out from their heads, within a few years practically became extinct creatures. Their places became more than filled by broad-backed, thick-loined, wide-shouldered cattle that in many instances yielded the largest possible amount of beef from the least possible amount of food, that topped the market, and that were as easy to manage as so many barn-yard heifers; the short- horned and the no-horned, the red-bodied and white-faced, and the black and the mixed- hued, the short-legged and the medium-legged- but all fine beefers."

Instead of depending entirely upon having their cattle "rustle" a living from the pastures the twelvemonth through, under any and all conditions, the stockmen began providing a re- serve supply of forage with which to tide over the hard spells of weather. The pastures still remain the chief dependence, and ordinarily the stock gets along very well upon them; but the West Texas cattlemen have discovered that the soil will produce more than the native grasses. With the breaking up of the ranges, some portion of each ranch is devoted to the production of Kaf- fir corn, Milo maize, and other nonsaccharine sor- ghum plants, with which the cattle are fattened at home, instead of the old way of driving them from the range to the northern feeding grounds. Instead of being left standing till the cattle cropped them, the tall and succulent grasses are now cut with mowing machines and stacked for the winter's use. Furthermore, the modern stockman will not hesitate to import winter feed for his cattle, although such providence in car- ing for the stock would have been considered folly by the old-timers in the business.

Ranch management in all its details is being systematized. Instead of driving his herds from place to place in search of grass and water, the cattleman of today is fencing in small areas, driving wells and building dams and reservoirs, and raising the food for his cattle, feeding them with his own hands, watering them and looking after them closely, which would have been con- sidered absurd and effeminate a few years ago. The "water holes" and surface streams that for- merly furnished all the water for stock are now

supplemented by wells. Twenty-five years ago the average cattleman would have ridiculed the idea that he was driving his herds over a vast lake of pure water or that it would be easier to tap the supply and draw it to the surface than to continue to drive his cattle to a stagnant pool ten miles away. But the underground lake ex- ists as the plainsman finally realized, and he has since been working out the problem of get- ting the water to the surface. For this purpose windmills have been generally employed, and the traveler through the plains country finds the numerous windmills the most impressive feature of the landscape, Midland and other towns being worthy the name of "windmill cities." It is said that Major W. V. Johnson of Lubbock county drilled the first ranch well to supply stock water and also inaugurated the windmill system with its necessary complement of reservoirs for storage. While building a cement-lined reservoir he accidentally discovered the proper method of building the now almost universally adopted earthen tank. In his words, "This is to build a circular dam, let the windmill pump water into this basin, and then to turn the cattle into it until the ground has been well trampled. Owing to the peculiar character of the soil, you will then have a tank that will hold water like a jug." At the present time many naphtha or gasoline engine plants are also used to draw stock water.

THE CATTLE-RAISERS ASSOCIATION OF TEXAS.

The Cattle-Raisers Association of Texas was organized February, 1877, at the town of Graham, Young county, Texas.

Col. C. L. Carter of Palo Pinto county was elected its first president, and was elected each succeeding year, except one, to the time of his death in July, 1888. The term which he did not serve he was nominated, but requested that he be allowed to retire from his office on account of his age, and that it be filled by a younger and more active member. Col. C. C. Slaughter was elected to take his place in March, 1885, and served one year with honor to himself and satis- faction to the membership. At the annual meet-

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ing in 1886, Col. Carter was again chosen presi- dent by acclamation, without a dissenting voice, and was president when he died. Col. Carter was a pioneer cattle and frontiersman, having set- tled in Palo Pinto county in 1885, on the place where he died. He experienced many trials and troubles with hostile Indians; in addition to the heavy loss of property at the hands of these savages, he lost his oldest son, a bright and prom- ising young man, just as he was growing into manhood, while on a cow hunt on his range. It was the good fortune of most of the older mem- bers of the Association to have known Col. Carter for many years prior to his death. They are all of the opinion "that no better man ever lived or died; that he possessed many, if not all, of the qualities necessary to make a good man."

After the death of the lamented President Carter, Mr. A. P. Bush, Jr., of Colorado, Texas, was elected each year to fill the position of presi- dent up to March, 1899, which he filled with . credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of the members.

At the annual meeting in March, 1899, Mr .. Bush declined to be an applicant for the position of president, and nominated Mr. R. J. Kleberg, of Alice, Texas, as his successor. Mr. Kleberg was elected without opposition, the vote being unanimous.

At the annual meeting in March, 1900, R. J. Kleberg was re-elected to the office of president without opposition, and served the Association two years, the limit under the present by-laws, with honor to himself and to the satisfaction of the members. At the annual meeting in March, 1901, Mr. Murdo Mackenzie was elected presi- dent without opposition. At the annual meeting in March, 1902, Mr. Murdo Mackenzie was re- elected president without opposition and served the Association two years, the limit prescribed by the by-laws, with credit to himself, and his admin- istration unanimously endorsed by the Associ- ation.

At the annual meeting in March, 1905, Mr. W. W. Turney was re-elected president without opposition.

. Mr. J. D. Smith was the first vice-president, holding the position for one term. Messrs. J. B.

Mathews and J. R. Stephens were the two vice presidents selected at the second annual conven- tion. Mr. Stephens was chosen each year for a number of years thereafter, till he would no longer serve, and was then elected an honorary member for life. The other vice presidents have been Messrs. C. C. Slaughter, J. M. Lindsay, Jno. F. Evans, W. S. Ikard, A. P. Bush, Jr., J. W. Buster, Murdo Mackenzie, Dr. J. B. Taylor, S. B. Burnett, R. J. Kleberg, A. G. Boyce, L. F. Wilson, W. W. Turney, John T. Lytle, I. T. Pryor and Richard Walsh. The last two were re-elected at the annual meeting in March, 1905.

J. C. Loving, of Jack county, was elected secre- tary at the organization of the Association, and was re-elected each succeeding year to the time of his death. In 1879 he was also elected treas- urer, and filled both positions to March, 1893, when E. B. Harrold was elected treasurer, which position he held until March, 1900, when S. B. Burnett was elected treasurer, and has been re- elected each succeeding year since. J. C. Loving also filled the position of general manager of the Association from 1884 to the time of his death, November 24, 1902, when J. W. Colston was chosen, by the executive committee, as assistant secretary, to fill out the unexpired term of Mr. Loving.

After a service of nearly twenty-six years as secretary of the Association, and eighteen years as general manager, J. C. Loving expired No- vember 24, 1902, at his home in Fort Worth. To him, more than any one man, is due the success of the Association, and to his memory will be erected a monument by the Association, as a token of appreciation of the man and his valuable services.

At the annual meeting in March, 1905, Captain Lytle was re-elected secretary and general man- ager.

The Association keeps cattle inspectors at the principal markets, shipping points, on trails lead- ing out of the state; also looks after the range depredations, and gives more and better protec- tion to cattle growers than can be obtained from all other sources combined; has broken up more organized bands of thieves and sent more of them to the penitentiary than could have been done by

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any other power. This department of the Asso- ciation is under the management of an executive committee, chosen at each annual meeting. For this year it is composed of W. W. Turney, ex- officio Chairman; I. T. Pryor, Richard Walsh, A. G. Boyce, S. B. Burnett, J. D. Jackson, Dr. E. B. Frayser, D. B. Gardner, R. J. Kleberg, T. A. Coleman, J. E. Berryman, H. E. Crowley, Jno. T. Lytle, J. H. P. Davis, Jno. N. Simpson, Murdo Mackenzie, D. H. Lucas, Geo. T. Reynolds, M. P. Pulliam.

In the beginning of the Cattle-Raisers' Asso- ciation of Texas the scope of its operations geo- graphically were limited. The objects of the Association as formed almost thirty years ago were limited to the interests which presented themselves. Conditions have constantly changed, and with the changing conditions the Association has adapted itself, its purposes, objects and aims to the necessities which have arisen from time to time.

The protective and detective features were the prime objects of the Association's efforts at first, and while these are still insisted upon they are less important now than other questions to which the Association has devoted itself to solve. This is an age of combination, and what individual effort is impotent to effect an organization of many whose interests run together has great power to direct to the accomplishment of any wholesome purpose. So it is that the Cattle- Raisers' Association of Texas has been foremost in agitating the question of governmental regula- tion of railroad rates and suppression of rebates and similar practices that now are admittedly the pre-eminent politico-economic questions before the American people for solution. In fact, the Association, through its officers, is now credited as an influence of national importance in getting these matters before Congress and in advocating a just and equitable control upon the railroad in- terests.

To illustrate what the Association is accom- plishing at the present time for the cattle growers of Texas and surrounding territory, we will quote from a circular letter sent out to the members in November, 1905 :

"The executive committee of our Association

takes pleasure in notifying you that the Interstate Commerce Commission has recently decided in our favor our case against the unreasonableness of the advance of Interstate cattle rates of all of the railway companies engaged in transporting cattle from Texas and adjacent territories and from Colorado and Western Kansas to the mar- kets and from Amarillo group points to the northern ranges, the Commission holding the ad- vances in 1903 unjust and unreasonable. This advance generally was 3c per 100 pounds, or about $7 per carload and for Texas and territory points has been in effect since March 5, 1903. And from Kansas, Colorado and some parts of New Mexico since September, 1903. At the same time the Commission decided the terminal charge at Chicago to be unlawful to the extent of $1.00 per car, and this applies since 1894 from everywhere except a period from 1896 to 1900 on Texas and territory shipments. The law gives the right to this Association to claim for its mem- bers an order of reparation from the Commission, that is, for a repayment of the unlawful part of these charges previously paid."

A. B. ROBERTSON. A distinguished jur- ist in speaking of success in life said, "Some succeed by talent, some by influence of friends, some by a miracle, but the majority by com- mencing without a shilling." The truth of this statement, especially the last clause, is illus- trated by many of the greatest live-stock men of America, for in the majority of cases among the pioneers the individual has been the builder of his own fortunes. Many of the men who have become acknowledged leaders in the cattle in- dustry of the southwest began without special educational advantages and have gained knowl- edge on the boundless prairies under the star- lit sky. In battling with obstacles of the gravest nature they have advanced through inherent force of character, unflagging diligence and strong determination and they deserve great credit for what they have accomplished.

A. B. Robertson, president of the Colorado National Bank of Colorado, Texas, and one of the most successful cattlemen of the great southwest, belongs to this interesting type of

Very much yours and Family

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American citizens. For ten years he has been a member of the board of directors of the Cat- tle-Raisers' Association of Texas and a member of the executive committee of the National Live Stock Association and has become well known throughout the United States in con- nection with cattle interests. . He has also gained regard and won admiration by reason of his pleasing address, the ability with which he carries forward any undertaking and his up- right, honorable character.

A. B. Robertson was born in Indiana, Janu- ary 14, 1855, and was a son of Dr. A. B. Rob- ertson, who removed with his family to Ar- kansas prior to the Civil war and at the time of hostilities joined the Confederate army. In 1863, when his son and namesake was eight years of age, the doctor sent his family in charge of a friend to the Brazos river in Texas, for the advance of the Federal troops alarmed many of the people of Arkansas and there was a considerable exodus from that state. The family at that time consisted of the mother, Mrs. Robertson, who is now living in Colorado, Texas; Richard P. and a sister, who are both now deceased; Annie Elizabeth, who did not come to Texas; W. C .; A. B .; G. J .; and J. P. Robertson. The trip was made in a covered spring wagon and the family located in what is now Hood county, where at the close of the war, they were joined by Dr. Robertson.

accomplishing his task not only with credit to himself but with good profit to his brother.

In the year 1873 the country was swept by a financial panic and many Texas cattlemen lost everything they had, but fortune favored the first important business venture of Mr. Robert- son. He visited Kansas City, where it re- quired six days to dispose of six "loads" of cat- tle-a work that can be performed in as many minutes with the present facilities. In 1876 Mr. Wiley assisted him by giving him the op- portunity of acquiring a half interest in a herd of cattle in Runnels county, Texas. Mr. Wiley also owned a herd of three or four thousand head of cattle of good grade on the Pecos river, which suffered greatly on account of the pres- ence of a desperate band of cattle thieves. Men placed in charge of the herd seemed incapable of preventing the depredations and the out- look was gloomy indeed. At a time when the question of what to do was being seriously considered Mr. Robertson submitted a proposi- tion which proved to be the basis of his for- tune. He offered to sell to Mr. Wiley his inter- est in the herd in Runnels county and let the sum apply upon the purchase of the herd upon the Pecos river. The offer was accepted and a credit of fifteen thousand dollars was given, the balance of the purchase price being repre- sented by a note of twenty-five thousand dollars which was promptly accepted by Mr. Wiley. This was in 1879 when Mr. Robertson was twenty-four years of age, and it stands as proof of the faith which the experienced cattleman had in his protege.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I, Part 26

Author: Paddock, B. B. (Buckley B.), 1844-1922; Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1906 Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing co. Number of Pages: 968

Author: Paddock, B. B. (Buckley B.), 1844-1922; Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing co.
Number of Pages: 968