USA > Texas > Tarrant County > Fort Worth > History of Texas : Fort Worth and the Texas northwest edition, Volume II > Part 13
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ten reels of barb-wire ever sold in the state. Thence he went to other towns, and during a trip of eleven days in a buggy he sold sixty reels ; Mr. Warner was at the same time in the country west of Dallas and selling as much or more. At Austin Mr. Warner sold to a firm of ranch- men for their own use the first carload sold to consumers. The aggressive work of the partners soon introduced the invention to many towns and outlying districts, and after a month or so of effective drumming and advertising they returned to the North. In January, 1877, they made a new contract with the Washburn and Moen Manufacturing Company for the exclusive sale of the Glidden barb-wire in the State of Texas, and established their office and headquarters at Houston.
By this time barb-wire had reached the importance of an issue among the people of Texas. Its sincere friends were many and daily increasing. but many more from self-interest as well as conservatism opposed it most vehemently. The lumbermen were unfavorable because its intro- duction would mean a decrease of the use of wood material for fencing purposes, and the railroads allied themselves with the lumbermen, whose shipments would thereby be diminished. Injury to stock was common ground for opposition, and bills were even introduced into the legislature prohibiting its use, but happily a rallying of the friends of barb-wire defeated the inimical measures, and the entire agitation worked for the welfare of the wire fence movement. In a few years the barb-wire sales of Sanborn and Warner in this state ran well up toward the million dol- lar mark. Messrs. Sanborn and Warner continued their partnership until 1883, when the former purchased the latter's interest, the name of Sanborn and Warner, however, being still retained. The contract with the Washburn and Moen Company continued until the expiration of the original Glidden patent in 1891, since which time the company has con- tinued its Texas business from their branch office at Houston. Long before this, however, the work of introduction, so thoroughly undertaken by Mr. Sanborn, was complete and the trade built up to a steady and permanent demand.
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, and the first introduction of Registered. Cattle was by James A. Brock who had a small ranch in Shackleford County although all that was done in this direction before 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 hardihood to with- stand the hardships of winter and drouth. But after 1885 "a large item in the expense account of every ranchman whose operations were of con- siderable magnitude represented his outlay for high-grade and registered bulls. High-bred breeding stock was brought into the range country in numbers that aggregrated thousands of head, and that, it is no exaggera- tion 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
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continental Europe. Quality was bred into the herds, and the range beef steer was raised to a high plane of excellence."
"So the process of improving and upbuilding the range herds through the introduction of better stock and by selective breeding was undertaken and soon became general. The long-horn and all its kindred were rapidly eliminated.
"These slender, long-legged, narrow-faced, slabby, nervous animals, that could run like a deer, that were subject to panic whenever they saw 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 con- ditions, the stockmen began providing a reserve 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 kaffir corn, milo maize, and other non-sac- charine sorghum 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 prov- idence in caring 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 considered absurd and effeminate a few years ago.
The "water holes" and surface streams that formerly furnished all the water for stock are now supplemented by wells. Forty 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 exists, as the plainsman finally realized, and he has since been working out the problem of getting 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
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of the landscape, Midland and other towns being worthy the names of "windmill cities."
As related elsewhere in these pages, the close of the Civil War found the livestock industry in a greatly disorganized and chaotic condition. The absence of the owners and employes, who had enlisted in the army, left the herds without supervision or control and they rambled without let or hindrance over the surrounding country, frequently going great distances from their location. The war over, adventurers and unscrupulous individuals, possessed of only a lariat and branding iron as their entire capital, proceeded to put their mark and brand on all of the stray animals which they found, and many of them soon had quite respectable quantities of cattle. They were no respectors of persons or property rights, and it was no unusual thing to see a calf in one mark and brand, following its mother in another entirely different and distinct mark and brand. This entailed enor- mous losses to the owners of herds, and every effort to check and subdue it proved unavailing. It became so intolerable that the cattle raisers in Northwest Texas decided to organize for their mutual pro- tection. To this end, a meeting was called at Graham, Texas, on the 15th of February, 1877. In response to this call about forty-five cattle- men assembled and proceeded to the organization of what was called the Stock Raisers' Association of Northwest Texas. As far as the writer has been able to ascertain only eight of these men are still alive. These are J. H. Graham, L. T. Clark, Sam Glascow, W. C. Hunt, S. B. Burnett, B. R. Willet, W. S. Ikard and Tom Waggoner. All of the others have passed over the divide. They proceeded to the adoption of a constitution and by-laws for the government of the asso- ciation and elected C. L. Carter, of Palo Pinto, president. J. D. Smith, vice president ; J. C. Loving, of Jack County, secretary and treasurer. Colonel Carter, who was familiarly known by his friends and asso- ciates as Kit Carter, was elected president each succeeding year but one to the time of his death in 1888. The term which he did not serve, he was nominated, but requested that he be allowed to retire on account of his age and that the office be filled by a younger and more active member.
C. C. Slaughter was elected to take his place in 1885 and served one year. At the annual meeting in 1886, Colonel Carter was again elected president by acclamation, without a dissenting voice, and was president when he died. He was a man of rugged integrity and sterling qualities, universally respected and beloved by all who knew him.
Mr. Loving served as secretary until his death on November 21. 1902. He filled the position of both secretary and treasurer until March, 1893. He also served eighteen years as general manager of the association, having charge of all of its affairs, the employment of inspectors and every other matter of business affecting the association. In March, 1893, he was succeeded as treasurer by E. B. Harreld, who held the position until March, 1900, when S. B. Burnett was elected treasurer and has been elected each succeeding year since. Upon the death of Colonel Carter, J. W. Colston was chosen by the executive
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committee to fill out the unexpired term of Mr. Loving. At the annual meeting in March, 1905, John T. Lyttle was elected secretary and general manager, and held the position but a few months, until his death in 1906. He was succeeded by H. E. Crowley, who served for two years, when E. B. Spiller, the present secretary, was elected and has served continuously until the present time. The association keeps a large number of cattle inspectors at the principal markets, shipping points and on the trails leading out of the state, who look after ranch depredations and sequester cattle which are not found in the mark and brand of the shipper, and has succeeded in breaking up organized bands of thieves and sent many of them to the penitentiary.
At the organization of the association at Graham the country was divided into districts and each district assigned to the supervision
NLEAST OF LVHENK TEX
SEDMROLES. PROP
STOCK FARM
and management of one of the residents of that district, whose duty it was to supervise the semi-annual "round-ups."
At each of these "round-ups," spring and fall, representatives of the different ranches within the district assembled at a certain point and proceeded to gather all of the cattle in the vicinity and to separate the animals of different mark and brand, and when this was done they were driven back to the range where they belonged. This method of procedure continued until the advent of the barbed-wire, since which time it has become obsolete.
The success of the Cattle Raisers' Association of Northwest Texas attracted the attention of the stock raisers in South Texas, and a . similar organization was formed there along the same lines and with the same beneficial results. These two associations continued until 1893, when representatives of each association met in the city of Austin, and under the direction and management of Mr. C. C.
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Slaughter of the Northern Association and Mr. Seth Mabrey of the Southern Association, an amalgamation was had and one organization was recommended, to be known as the "Cattle Raisers' Association of Texas," which was approved by both associations at their subse- quent annual meetings and has continued under this name until the present time.
The association now has members not only in Texas, but in Okla- homa and New Mexico, and numbers about 6,500. It is probably the largest and wealthiest business organization in the country.
The protective and detective features were the prime objects of the association at first, and while still insisted upon, they are of less importance now than other questions affecting the interests of their members, consisting, foremost, in agitating the question of govern- ment regulation of railroad rates and the suppression of rebates, which are among the most prominent economic questions before the American people for solution. Its attorneys have been before com- mittees of Congress, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the State Railway Commission and in the courts, advocating and defending the interests of the cattlemen.
Some years ago another organization was perfected in the Pan- handle, known as the Southwestern Cattle Raisers' Association. This was not in opposition to the Texas Cattle Raisers' Association, and the two organizations worked together in perfect harmony. It was contended by some that the Panhandle was so remote from the parent association that the interests of the Panhandle cattlemen were not sufficiently protected.
At the meeting of the Texas Cattle Raisers' Association held at El Paso in March, 1921, the two associations were amalgamated under the name of Texas Southwestern Cattle Raisers' Association. The number of directors was increased so as to give the Panhandle men representation, and the association is thereby strengthened and its facilities for guarding the interests of the industry increased.
FREE GRASS
One of the most bitter controversies connected with the cattle industry was that over use of the open range by people who had no vested rights in the soil either in fee or leasehold.
The State of Texas donated large quantities of land to aid and encourage the construction of railroads. It was provided in the grant that the railroad should survey the lands, and alternate sections were assigned to the public free schools. For a number of years the rail- roads exercised no control or supervision over the lands thus acquired, and the ranchmen used them for grazing purposes without let or hindrance. They also proceeded to use and occupy the school lands. Subsequently the ranchmen bought or leased the lands belonging to the railroads, and soon they thus acquired the rights to use the school lands. This contention was strenuously contested by those who had cattle on the range. The Texas Live Stock Journal and the Fort Worth Gazette, under the same management and control, espoused the interests of those who contended for the use of the school lands,
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and what became known as a Free Grass War was bitter and relentless.
The State of Texas cut the gordian knot about 1881 by enacting a law putting the school lands on the market to actual purchasers at 50 cents per acre. The amount of purchase was limited to seven sections for each person, but this limitation was easily overcome by getting friends or employes to make application for seven sections, which, when granted by the land office, was at once transferred to their principals. In this manner some of the largest ranches in the West were formed. Then it was that the installation of the barbed- wire fence, which is related elsewhere, became an important factor in range condition. The men who had occupied and utilized the free range resented this invasion as strenuously and bitterly as they had contended for free grass, and they cut the wire fences almost as rapidly as they were constructed. Vigilance committees were organ- ized, and the state rangers were utilized to run down these wire- cutters and bring them to punishment.
Under the law property rights were soon established and the con- troversy ended to the benefit of all concerned. At this time probably every ranch in the West is enclosed with substantial fences, divided into pastures and the services of the "line rider" dispensed with. This, while it required a large investment of capital, has proven of inesti- mable value and the saving of enormous expense to the cattle raiser.
HORSES
Prior to the advent of the barbed-wire fence and the acquisition of land in fee by the cattle raisers the horse was an important and necessary part of the equipment of every ranch. The principal animal used was the Texas mustang, a hardy, fleet and sure-footed and almost untamed equine. Each one of the employes of the ranch would have his "string" of ponies, and the custom was to use one for each day of the week, and the remainder of the time they were turned out to graze and usually had to be broken anew when their turn for use came. They seldom, if ever, had any food except the grass upon which they grazed during the days when they were not at work.
As late as the decade of the '70s there were many large herds of mustangs running wild on the prairies of West Texas, which were captured and broken for use. After the ranges became fenced the necessity for a large number of horses was not so imperative and a better and more docile breed was utilized.
In 1890 there were about 6,000,000 horses in Texas, but the assess- ment roll for 1920 showed there were 1,840,518 enumerated for taxation purposes. That they were a good class of horses is evidenced by the fact that they were valued at a little more than $81,000,000.
SHEEP
This branch of the livestock industry has had such varied experi- ence that it is difficult to ascertain authentic data relative thereto. Prior to 1882 the cattle raisers were very much opposed to the intro- duction of sheep on the ranches. At that time the Texas Live Stock
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Journal, the authentic and recognized exponent of the livestock industry, inaugurated a campaign for the broadening and development of the flocks. It established a paper called the Wool Grower, and enthusiastically advocated the raising of sheep, portraying, in the most glowing terms, the possible advantages and profits to follow sheep raising. It attracted wide-spread attention throughout the entire country, and, because of the usual equable climate, sheep raisers in the northern and eastern states came to Texas and invested large amounts of money in sheep, and the cattlemen themselves added flocks to their herds. In 1809 there were something like 9,000,000 sheep enumerated by the assessors in the state, and the number of sheep and the amount of wool clipping reached fabulous sums.
Much adverse legislation on the part of the national government admitted wool from Australia and the South American countries free
SHEEP
of duty, practically destroying the industry, so that the returns for 1920 show that there were only 1,640,610 sheep on the assessment roll for the entire state.
There were many ludicrous and oft times pathetic incidents con- nected with the industry, in which persons, unacquainted with the peculiarities of the Texas climate, suffered great losses. One instance will suffice to show the extent of the misfortunes attending some of the activities of the "tenderfoot."
A sheep grower from the State of Vermont purchased a large tract of land in Erath County and imported a large flock of fine sheep. Asked if he had made provision for the protection of his sheep, he replied that it was entirely unnecessary, as he had raised sheep in Vermont and that he knew the Texas climate to be so much milder that sheds and sheep folds were unnecessary. He could not be con- vinced that he was in error ; but one night a Montana blizzard struck his sheep, the rain and sleet saturated their fleeces, there was not
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sufficient animal heat to counteract the effect of the cold, and the next morning he found himself possessed of some bitter experience, but no sheep, they were all frozen to death.
There is a vast area of broken-up lands in West Texas peculiarly adapted to the grazing of sheep, and, if the National Government could be induced to afford the same protection to the sheep raiser in the Southwest that it does to the manufacturer in the Northeast, it would soon become a very profitable industry. Without this favor- able legislation the industry cannot prosper.
The latest available statistics of the number and value of animals in Texas are as follows:
Cattle, 5,308,920 in number and $100,989,967 in value:
Horses and mules, 1,840,518 in number and $81,102,614 in value.
BUFFALO HERD
Sheep, 1,640,610 in number and $6,708,507 in value. Goats, 1,301,646 in number and $3,335,429 in value.
Hogs, 882,063 in number and $4,517,780 in value.
THE BUFFALO
Prior to 1877 large herds of buffalo roamed the western prairies. Early in the fall immense droves of buffalo would come from the western prairies, down through Kansas, New Mexico and Oklahoma, to feed during the winter on the nutritious herbage found in the Panhandle and Western Texas. These herds would frequently num- ber a 1,000 and extend for miles in a black mass over the prairie. They were usually followed by bands of Indians, who slaughtered them for the meat, and who also made incursions upon the frontier settlers, murdering men, women and children and driving off their
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horses. In order to check these depredations the general government decided to exterminate the buffalo. Hunters were encouraged to kill the buffalo for the hides and horns, and large parties were organized for this purpose.
Fort Worth became the market for these hides, and long trains of wagons loaded with buffalo hides came to Fort Worth. Storage facilities were wholly inadequate, and at one time what is now the Texas & Pacific Railroad Yards had as much as ten or fifteen acres, five, ten or fifteen feet high, covered with buffalo hides and many acres more covered with horns, hoofs and bones of the slaughtered buffalo.
The largest herd of buffalo now in existence is in Donley County. When Mr. Charles Goodnight enclosed the ranch of Goodnight & Adair, known as the Palo-Duro ranch, a large number of buffalo were enclosed and they and their progeny remain to this day. Mr. Goodnight experimented in crossing the buffalo with the Texas cow, producing an animal which he called Cattalo. The experiment has not been a pronounced success, but he has many animals with large and smooth bodies without the hump; but his example has not been followed very generally by other cattlemen. A case in point is the following newspaper excerpt :
"Surrounded by a wolf-proof and hunter-proof fence the herd of buffalo kept in the preserve of R. V. Colbert, twenty miles east of Stamford, is gradually increasing in size until it gives hope of once more restocking the Texas plains with the animals, all but extinct. Neither Colbert, nor any of his ranch employes nor friends have ever killed any of the buffalo and it is seldom that one is ever sold and then only with the agreement that it shall not be killed.
"Colbert's preserve is on his famous River Ranch and it consists of 12,000 acres. A high wire fence around the place is set upon iron posts deeply imbedded in concrete. It is only occasionally that Col- bert or any of his men get a glance of the buffalo. They are free to browse all over the tract without interference. Their only com- panions are deer and wild turkeys, which Colbert also placed in the preserve. Adjoining the preserve is a tract which contains 700 head of high-class Hereford cattle."
CHAPTER XXXIX MINERAL RESOURCES
Practically every mineral known to the geological world is found in Texas, and much of it in paying quantities awaiting the magic wand of capital to develop it.
In many instances these deposits are too remote from railway transportation to justify their development.
Oil has been found in so many different parts of Texas that it is reserved for a special chapter.
There are inexhaustible quantities of brown hematite iron ore in Marion and Rusk counties, which assays fifty-five or sixty per cent metal.
Llano County is a veritable mine of magnetic iron, and large de- posits of manganese ore are found in several places in the county.
Lignite coal is found in Rusk, Henderson, Bastrop, Williamson, Robertson and Milam counties. There is salt in large quantities in Van Zandt and Mitchell counties. Silver in Presidio and quicksilver in Brewster counties. Gypsum is found in Eastland, Hardeman and other counties. Sulphur in Brazoria, Edwards and Pecos counties. There are copper deposits along the double mountain fork of the Brazos, which have been prospected to a considerable extent, but, as is the case with other minerals, it is too remote from railway trans- portation to be profitable.
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