LliRARt
UNIV»SITY Q
CALIFORNIA
BlOLOGfllBRARY
_. /7
LIBRARY
VEGETATION TYPE MAP HERBARIUM
CALIFORNIA FOREST AND RANGE EXPERIMENT STATION
GIFT OF
ALICE YATES
IN MEMORY OF
HARRY STANLEY YATES
FIRST CURATOR OF THE HERBARIUM
1932 - 1938
WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS
AND
FOREST RANGES
Water color by N. Brenizer
LUPINE (Lupinus)
Western Grazing Grounds
AND
Forest Ranges
A HISTORY OF THE LIVE-STOCK
INDUSTRY AS CONDUCTED ON THE
OPEN RANGES OF THE ARID WEST,
WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO
THE USE NOW BEING MADE OF THE
RANGES IN THE NATIONAL FORESTS
i
BY
WILL C. BARNES
INSPECTOR OF GRAZING
U. S. FOREST SERVICE
CALIFORNIA FOREST AND RANGE
CHICAGO:
THE BREEDER'S GAZETTE
1913
COPYRIGHT. 1913.
SANDERS PUBLISHING CO.
All rigrhts reserved.
SFS5
BIOLOGY
LIBRARY
TO
ALBERT F. POTTER,
Associate Forester and Chief of Grazing
United States Forest Service,
who, through his practical experience
on the western ranges, and genius for
organization, built up from the very
foundation, without precedent or guide,
a system of controlled grazing on the
national forest ranges, that will always
be a monument to his ability, judgment
and foresight.
934
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PREFACE 15-19
LIST OF BOOKS CONSULTED 20
CHAPTER I— THE EARLY WESTERN RANGE.
Early events — The genesis of the trail herds — The buf-
falo— The stockman's westward advance — The inevita-
ble happens — The era of re-adjustment — Advent of the
sheepmen — Range wars — A sample attack — Govern-
ment control of grazing lands — Curtailment of the
open range — The new era .... 21-32
CHAPTER II— PROGRESS OF THE RANGE BUSINESS.
The southern steer trade — Southern steers in the north —
Curtailment of northern movement — Southern lamb
trade — Grasses and forage of the southern ranges —
Alfileria — Semi-desert range of the south — Higher
ranges of the southwest — Southwestern grasses — Black
grama grass — Sacaton — The sages — Prickly pear —
Feeding mistletoe — Mountain forage — The northern
desert ranges — The northern range — Features of north-
ern range — Spring ranges — Carrying capacity of ranges
— Horses the worst grazers — Range for cattle 33-80
CHAPTER III— COMING OF THE SETTLERS.
Extension of holdings — Displacing stockmen — Early settle-
ment in the Great Plains region — The settlers' second
attack on the arid region — Success of the settlers — The
Mormons — Nesters — Dry farmers 81-90
CHAPTER IV— LIVE STOCK ON THE RANGE.
Live stock in United States — Live stock in western states —
Short-horns on the range — The advent of Herefords —
Early horses of the plains — Stockmen's horses — Mus-
tangs— Wrong use of names — Sheep introduced — Early
shepherding — Impress of the Merino — Securing mutton
type — Angoras — Hogs on the ranges 91-113
CHAPTER V— HANDLING CATTLE ON THE RANGE.
Number of range outfits — Past and present range condi-
tions— Old time equipment — The bog rider — Developing
water — Range methods — Herds not large — Branding the
calves — Night guard duty — Brand inspectors — Loading
for market — Loss of "downers" — Hay-fed cattle — Rule
for measuring hay 114-139
7
8 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
CHAPTER VI — HANDLING SHEEP ON THE RANGE.
Lamb feeding — Rise in price for lambs — Advance in wool
prices — Increase in cost of production — Grazing leased
lands — Double profit from sheep — Time of shearing —
Weight of fleece — Dipping — Time of lambing — Lambing
grounds — The herder's work — Marking — Castrating —
Docking — Night herding — Following the "drop band"
— Lambing in tents — A critical period — Moving to
mountain pastures — Weight of lambs — Shipping the
sheep — Size of bands — Bedding down at night — Sheep
in fenced pastures 140-160
CHAPTER VII — GOATS ON THE RANGE.
Kids are tender — Little herding needed — Common goats
breed best — Shearing and dipping 161—163
CHAPTER VIII— DETERMINING THE AGE OF STOCK.
The mouth test for cattle — Horn buttons — Rings — Age of
horses — Age of sheep 164-172
CHAPTER IX — RANGE STOCK MANAGEMENT.
Objections to repeated use of bed grounds — Salting stock —
Salt and sulphur — Kind of salt to use — Effect of exces-
sive salt — The salt lakes — Making a salt lick — Salt-
hungry cattle raid camps — Source of friction — Experi-
ments with salt — Bulls on range — Number of bulls to
cows — Age of usefulness — Dehorning cattle — Dehorning
the calves — Value of dehorned cattle — Marking cattle —
Ear and lip tattoo — Earmarking — Castrating — Usual
methods — Keeping tab on sex — Earmarks — Brand books
— Brands — Names of brands — Changing brands — Pick-
ing over brands 173-198
CHAPTER X— COST OF RUNNING STOCK ON RANGES.
Cost of grazing cattle — Cost with sheep — Basis of estimates
— Investment necessary — Other cost factors — Cost of
raising sheep — Factors equalizing costs — Tables of
Tariff Board 199-207
CHAPTER XI — STOCK ON RANGES IN NATIONAL FORESTS.
Timber the first consideration — Liberal policy followed —
Improving the ranges — Elimination of tramp stockmen
— Tramp sheepmen in California — Changing from cattle
to sheep — Cattle vs. sheep — The permit system — New
settlers — The cash value of permits — Permits non-sal-
able and non-transferable — Permits for more than one
year — Drifting of stock onto forests — Fencing privi-
leges— Fees moderate — Possibility of competitive bids —
Result of competitive bids — Exchanging lands — Stock
losses less — Policy of Government growing in favor. .. 208-225
TABLE OF CONTENTS V
CHAPTER XII— THE CARE OF THE RANGE.
Burning off a range — Range erosion — Over-stocking — Suc-
cess in handling the range — Restoring former range
conditions — Reseeding a range — Over-grazing vs. close
grazing 226-245
CHAPTER XIII — POISONOUS PLANTS.
Herders should be posted — Remedies — Permanganate of
potash — Poisons do not affect all animals alike — Bloat —
Loco — Loco symptoms — Remedies — Larkspurs — Lupines
— Death camas — Water hemlock — Aconite — Scrub oak
— Pingue — Rubber weed — Ergot — Sneeze weed — Choke
cherry — Sleepy grass — Fox tail and squirrel tail grass. 246-273
CHAPTER XIV — SYMPTOMS AND REMEDIES.
Bloat — Remedies — Loco — Remedies — Larkspurs —
Lupines — Camas — Water hemlock — Oaks — Ergot
— Sneeze weed — Choke cherry — Pingue — Kafir corn and
sorghum 274-281
CHAPTER XV — DISEASES OF LIVE STOCK 282-285
CHAPTER XVI— THE DISEASES OF CATTLE.
Blackleg — Remedial measures — Texas fever — Scabies or
mange 286-303
CHAPTER XVII— DISEASES OF SHEEP.
Scabies — Remedies — Dips in use — Lip and leg ulceration. . .304-309
CHAPTER XVIII — DISEASES OF HORSES.
Colic — Engorgement or obstruction colic — Wind colic — Azo-
turia — Remedies — Snake bites — Glanders or farcy ... .310-319
CHAPTER XIX— INSECT PESTS.
Insect pests — Heel flies 320-326
CHAPTER XX — PREDATORY ANIMALS IN THE WEST.
Coyotes — Wild cats and lynxes — Wolves and mountain lions
— Bears — Trapping and poisoning predatory animals —
Scents — Poisons — Prairie dogs — Poison for killing
prairie dogs 327-347
CHAPTER XXI— SADDLE HORSES ON THE RANGE.
Type of horse for range work — Gaits — The American saddle
horse 348-354
CHAPTER XXII— HORSE EQUIPMENT FOR RANGE WORK.
Saddles — Bits and bridles — Blankets — Rope — Spurs and
quirts — Hobbles — Pack saddles — Hitches — Now for the
hitch 355-375
APPENDIX.
Grazing bill — A few definitions 377-384
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
LUPINE (LUPINUS) IN COLORS Frontispiece
THE OLD TYPE OF TEXAS LONG-HORN STEER 23
THE CERTAIN RESULT OF OVERGRAZING 32
A TYPICAL SOUTHWESTERN MOUNTAIN VALLEY RANGE IN THE YEL-
LOW PINE REGION 37
A DESERT, OR MESQUITE RANGE, NEAR TUCSON, ARIZ 41
ALFILERIA (ERODIUM CICUTARIUM) , "FILAREE" 42
GALLETA (HILARIA RIGIDA), PRONOUNCED GUY-ET-TA 44
NEEDLE OR DOGTOWN GRASS (ARISTIDA LONGISETA) 45
BUFFALO GRASS (BULBILIS DACTYLOIDES) 46
CURLY OR CREEPING MESQUITE (HILARIA CEN»HROIDES) 47
BERMUDA GRASS (CAPRIOLA DACTYLON) 48
BLUE GRAMA GRASS (BOUTELOUA OLIGOSTACHYA) 51
HAIRY GRAMA GRASS (BOUTELOUA VESTITA) 52
BLACK GRAMA GRASS (MUHLENBERGIA PORTERI) 53
SACATON (SPOROBOLUS AIROIDES), SOMETIMES CALLED SALT GRASS. . . 55
SWEET SAGE OR "WINTER-FAT" (EUROTIA LAN ATA) 56
SERVICE BERRY (AMELIANCHIER ALNIFOLIA) 59
MOUNTAIN MAHOGANY (CERCOCARPUS PARVIFOLIUS) 60
SEMI-DESERT SAGE RANGE IN WYOMING 62
PRAIRIE JUNE GRASS (KOELERIA CRISTATA). 67
BLUESTEM OR WESTERN WHEATGRASS (AGROPYRON SMITHII) 68
MOUNTAIN BUNCH GRASS (FESTUCA VIRIDULA) 69
BRIDGES BUILT TO CROSS SHEEP OVER THE BOISE RIVER IN IDAHO
AND BLACK'S FORK, UTAH, UINTA NATIONAL FOREST 71
BLUEGRASS (POA PRETENSIS) 73
FOXTAIL (HARDEUM MURINUM) 74
BRONCHO GRASS (BROMUS RUBENS) 75
FESTUCA MYUROS (SOMETIMES CALLED POVERTY GRASS) 76
A TYPICAL WESTERN STOCK RANCH (IN UTAH) 83
TYPE OF SHORT-HORN BULL 93
TYPE OF DEVON BULL 94
TYPE OF HEREFORD BULL 94
TYPE OF ANGUS BULL 95
TYPE OF GALLOWAY BULL 96
A PEN OF SHROPSHIRES 100
A PAIR OF LINCOLNS 101
HAMPSHIRE SHEEP 101
RAMBOUILLET RAMS 102
A COTSWOLD RAM 105
A^BAND OF COMMON NEW MEXICO GOATS 107
11
12 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
ANGORAS ON BRUSHY HILLSIDES IN ARIZONA 108
THE CHAPAREJOS WITH THE GOAT SKIN FRONT ARE MORE THEATRI-
CAL THAN PRACTICAL 117
THE "Boa RIDER" AT WORK. PULLING A Cow OUT OF A BOG HOLE . . 121
A NEW MEXICO ROUND-UP OUTFIT AND AN OLD-TIME CHUCK WAGON 124
"STOOP AS You NEAR THE AVERAGE Cow PONY." 125
THE CATTLE ARE BUNCHED IN ONE GREAT HERD AT THE ROUND-UP
GROUND 127
A DAT HERD 128
A ROUND-UP OUTFIT BRANDING CALVES 129
"THEY ARE ROPED AND DRAGGED TO THE FIRE'' 130
PUTTING A "BUTT" BRAND ON A CALF 131
"A QUICK JERK AND THE ANIMAL LANDS UPON ITS SIDE" 132
THE "SQEEZE CHUTE" FOR BRANDING AND DEHORNING 133
WESTERN INSPECTORS EXAMINING BRANDS OF STEERS 134
YEARLING STEERS IN YARDS AT MAGDALENA, N. M., AWAITING IN-
SPECTION 135
LOADING FAT STEERS IN COLORADO 137
A SHEEP WAGON OR CAMP ON WHEELS IN WYOMING 140
AN ARIZONA "SHEEP WAGON" — BURRO PACKED WITH GRUB AND
WATER 141
"AN AVERAGE HAND SHEARER WILL CLIP 60 TO 70 SHEEP PER DAY" 145
"THE IMPROVED MACHINES ENABLE A SHEARER TO HANDLE 200
SHEEP IN AN EIGHT-HOUR DAY" 146
PENS AND YARDS IN WHICH SHEEP ARE DIPPED AND HANDLED IN
NORTHERN ARIZONA 148
A BAND OF RANGE LAMBS AND EWES ON A HOT DAY 149
THE "GALVANIZED EWE" OR ORPHAN LAMBS ARTIFICIALLY FED 150
A LAMBING TENT IN OREGON 153
IN HEAVY TIMBER "CUTS" MAY OCCUR, AND THE BAND SHOULD NOT
BE so LARGE AS ON THE OPEN RANGE 155
A HERDER CAN LOOK AFTER MANY MORE SHEEP ON AN OPEN RANGE
THAN ON A BROKEN RANGE 157
A COYOTE-PROOF FENCE IN THE^WALLOWA MOUNTAINS. BUILT BY
THE FOREST SERVICE IN OREGON 158, 159
A PEN OF ANGORA KIDS IN NEW MEXICO 162
TEETH OF THE CALF 164
TEETH OF THE Cow 165
TEETH OF THE HORSE 168
TEETH OF THE SHEEP 170, 171
"Hoc TIED" — A HORSE TIED DOWN FOR BRANDING OR DOCTORING . . . 182
EAR MARKS 185
BRAND BOOKS 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191
BRANDS 192, 193, 194, 196, 197
"DOWN THESE TRAILS THE WATER FINALLY TORE". 228
OLD STOCK TRAILS WASHED OUT, FORMING ARROYOS IN MEADOW
LAND 229
AN ARIZONA RANGE AFTER A HARD SPRING 231
A RANGE OF "SNAKE" OR "FIRE" WEED WHICH Is SOMETIMES MIS-
TAKEN FOR FEED . .237
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 13
ORCHARD GRASS (DACTYLIS GLOMERATA) 239
TIMOTHY (PHLEUM PRATENSE) 239
RED TOP (AGROSTIS ALBA) „ 240
HUNGARIAN BROME GRASS (BROMUS INERMIS) 241
WOOLLY OR PURPLE Loco (ASTRAGALUS MOLLISSIMUS), IN COLORS,,
Facing page 256
WHITE Loco OR RATTLE WEED IN FLOWER (ARAGALLUS LAMBERTI) . . 257
Loco ON THE RANGE NEAR ALBUQUERQUE, N. M 258
A LOCOED ANIMAL WILL STEP HIGH OVER ANYTHING — EVEN A ROPE
OR A TRAIL 260
A TYPICAL LOCOED ANIMAL 261
PURPLE LARKSPUR (DELPHINIUM BICOLOR), IN COLORS .Facing page 264
DEATH CAMAS (ZYGADENUS VENENOSUS)., IN COLORS .. .Facing page 266
WATER HEMLOCCK (CICUTA VAGANS), IN COLORS Facing page 267
ACONITE (ACONITUM COLUMBIANUM), MONK'S HOOD, IN COLORS,
Facing page 268
PORTION OF A STEER'S HIDE,, SHOWING THE TEXAS-FEVER TICK 295
DORSAL AND VENTRAL VIEWS OF THE TEXAS-FEVER TICK 299
DIPPING CATTLE IN OKLAHOMA FOR TEXAS-FEVER TICKS 302
AFTER BEING DIPPED, THE SHEEP PASS THROUGH A DRIPPING PEN
AT THE END 307
THE HEEL FLY (HYPORDERMA LINEATA) 322
A BOGGED DOWN Cow OVERLOOKED BY THE "Boo RIDERS" 323
THE CAMP OF Two GOVERNMENT HUNTERS IN THE BOISE NATIONAL
FOREST 328
A COYOTE IN A TRAP 329
"THE LION is DIFFICULT TO TRAP BUT EASY TO CAPTURE WITH
HOUNDS" 331
A PRAIRIE DOG MOUND IN AN ALFALFA FIELD 341
NOTE THE NOSE MARKS MADE IN THE WET SOIL WHEN TJHE PRAIRIE
DOGS REPAIR THEIR MOUNDS 341
DISTRIBUTING PRAIRIE DOG POISON 345
AN AWKWARD WAY TO MOUNT 352
THE PROPER WAY TO MOUNT — "READY TO SWING INTO THE SADDLE". 353
THE Low HORN TEXAS TREE,, WEIGHT, 40 POUNDS 355
THE SWELLED FORK TREE 355
THE MCCLELLAN SADDLE 356
THE CALIFORNIA SADDLE 356
SPANISH BITS 358
SPURS 362
THE FIRST STEP IN HOBBLING 363
THE SECOND AND THIRD STEP IN HOBBLING 364
PACK SADDLES 366
THE HITCH 371, 372
PACK POCKETS 374
A FIRST-CLASS JOB OF PACKING 365
PACKING DOWN A MOUNTAIN SIDE 367
A HANDY BED PACK, SOMETIMES CALLED THE "OREGON WIND" 369
PREFACE.
Every author believes that the book which he is plac-
ing before the public will "fill a long-felt want," and
success or failure depends very much on how closely
he has been able to gauge the nature of the "long-felt
want." In writing this book, I have had in view the de-
mand for some practical work on the grazing side of
their profession by the young men who are entering
or preparing to enter the Forest Service of the United
States.
The science of forestry is a new one to the most of
us, and the conditions here are so very different from
those in older countries, where it has been studied for
many years, that we are forced to meet and solve many
new problems for which there are no precedents or es-
tablished rules. Among the most perplexing questions
which the student of forestry must cope with here is
that of utilizing the area included in the National For-
ests so as to get for the people the full value of all its
resources. One of the greatest of these resources is
the feed and forage which will furnish sustenance for
millions of cattle, horses and sheep. Like the "wheel
that will not turn with the water that has passed," this
feed must be used as it grows each season or be forever
wasted. It cannot be stored or saved for future use.
From the first settlement of this country the pioneers
have used the vacant lands about them for grazing their
stock with little or no supervision or restraint, and no
15
16 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
scheme which presumes to lock up these grazing areas
against the coming of the settlers' herds will ever meet
with the approval of the American people. It is true we
must have trees and lumber, but we must first of all be
fed, and the meat-producing powers of the grasses
growing on these forested areas are entirely too valu-
able to be overlooked or ignored. Therefore it is well
that this has been recognized at the beginning of our
forestry work, and careful plans laid to utilize every
spear of grass and bit of forage where it may be done
without defeating the original purpose of establishing
the National Forests.
Heretofore those handling the grazing side of this
work have been drawn from that class of men who
have all their lives been identified with stockraising —
practical men accustomed to the range and understand-
ing the needs of stockmen from a utilitarian rather than
a scientific standpoint. But this source of supply can-
not always be depended upon. The author believes
the two matters go hand in hand, and that there is room
for the trained forester and the trained grazing man on
the same platform. Scientific as well as practical for-
estry demands men educated especially for the work,
and the young fellows who are graduating from our
forestry schools will eventually fill the places on the for-
ests now held by graduates from the western school
of "hard knocks," the course of which, for most of them,
covered many long and weary years before they re-
ceived their diplomas.
These young graduates cannot of course have any
great knowledge of the practical side of the stockman's
work, because so much of it must be learned from actual
experience and every-day life on the ranges. Never-
PREFACE 17
theless the author believes it possible to put the ex-
perience of thirty years' handling live stock on the open
ranges under all sorts -of conditions into a book that
will be of some practical use and benefit to these stu-
dents and others engaged in the work. So far as pos-
sible, I have endeavored to write things down from
the practical point of view, and to put them in language
that would not smother their meaning in a haze of scien-
tific or professional expressions.
The chapters on poisonous plants and range grasses
will, I trust, be found of value, not only to the forest
man but to the stockman. In my experience I have
found few stockmen who could identify by their proper
names even the commonest grasses on their ranges or
the various plants poisonous to stock, and I hope that
the illustrations and plates scattered through the work
will furnish a means of identifying them that will make
the book of value for that, if nothing more. It is possible
that the trained botanist will find errors in my classifi-
cation of some of the plants. I have made every effort
to check up each one of them and make certain they were
correct, but in several instances I found that the scien-
tists themselves did not all agree as to their proper names.
In the chapter on diseases of animals I have only
tried to show the plainest symptoms of the ordinary
diseases that affect live stock as they appear to a stock-
man and not a veterinarian. It is of course impossible
to have a veterinarian at hand for every sickness that
the stockman finds among his domestic animals, and
it is to cover these emergency cases that I have written.
Most of the remedies are those to be found in every
stock-owner's cabin, and if not they should be there.
To the forest ranger, out in the hills with his saddle
18 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
horses and possibly a milk cow or two, I deemed this
information of unusual value, because of his isolation
and dependence upon his own efforts to relieve the suf-
fering animal. Most of these remedies have been tried
by myself or used by others under my own observation.
In handling the various sections of the country in
regard to the ranges it has not been possible to cover
every state, but I have taken some specific well-known
range and let it answer for that region as a whole.
Doubtless many readers will wonder why such and such
a plant or bush, prominent on his immediate range, has
not been mentioned. Because of lack of room, many
forage plants and grasses have been omitted, but I be-
lieve those which have been included are the species
most generally found through the range country, and it
was out of the question to mention them all. In run-
ning down the local names for many grasses and browse
I have found different names for the same plant very
common. Buck brush in California is not the buck brush
of either Arizona or Montana, while there are as many
different kinds of bunch grasses as there are states in
the West.
The chapter covering saddle horses, saddle equip-
ment and packing is for the benefit of the beginner who
may want some information on these subjects as a guide
to his investments in such things.
The author desires to acknowledge his indebtedness
to many friends for advice on matters connected with
the work, and especially to Mr. Frederick Coville, Dr.
A. S. Hitchcock, Dr. R. H. True and C. D. Marsh of
the Bureau of Plant Industry and James T. Jardine of the
Forest Service, whose kind suggestions upon matters on
which they are so well posted has been of great benefit.
PREFACE 19
I have also received much assistance which I desire
frankly and gratefully to acknowledge, from the many
Government publications written by such well-known
authorities as David Griffiths, F. Lamson-Scribner, V.
K. Chestnut, E. V. Wilcox, Dr. C. Hart Merriam, Ver-
non Bailey, James T. Jardine, Richard W. Hickman, D.
E. Salmon, Herbert T. Osborn, C. D. Marsh and others,
who are always so reliable and thorough in their inves-
tigative work. In identifying the various plants and
grasses the work "American Grasses," by F. Lamson-
Scribner, constituting Division of Agrostology Bulletins
Nos. 7, 9, 17 and 20, has been of the greatest assistance
and frequently consulted.
The labor involved in getting together the material
for this volume has been considerable, but the pleasure
derived and the information gained, made it indeed a
labor of love and well worth while. If the book is of
use to the young men who are taking up forestry as
their life-work, in assisting them to a better understand-
ing of some of the many problems which they will meet
in handling grazing matters upon the forests, or to stock-
men themselves in managing their herds, the writer will
feel well repaid for his work.
WILL C. BARNES.
Washington, D. C, July, 1913.
20 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
LIST OF BOOKS CONSULTED.
The author gladly acknowledges his indebtedness to
the writers of the following publications, among the
many others which he has consulted in getting together
the material for this book :
"AMERICAN GRASSES/' Buls. 7, 9, 17 and 20, Division of Agrostology,
Department of Agriculture ; F. Lamson-Scribner.
"A PROTECTED STOCK RANGE IN ARIZONA/' Bui. 177, Bureau of Plant
Industry, Department of Agriculture ; David Griffiths.
"COYOTE PROOF PASTURE EXPERIMENT/' Cir. 160, Forest Service, Depart-
ment of Agriculture ; J. T. Jardine.
"DESTRUCTION OF WOLVES AND COYOTES/' Cir. 63, Bureau of Biological
Survey ; Vef non Bailey.
"DISEASES OF CATTLE/' Issued by Department of Agriculture.
"DISEASES OF HORSES/' Issued by Department of Agriculture.
"FOREST TREES OF THE PACIFIC SLOPE/' G. B. Sudworth.
"INSECTS AFFECTING DOMESTIC ANIMALS/' Bui. 5, New Series, Division
of Entomology, Department of Agriculture ; Herbert Osborn.
"Loco DISEASE OF THE PLAINS/' Bui. 112, Bureau of Animal Industry;
C. D. Marsh.
"METHODS OF ERADICATING CATTLE TICKS," Cir. 110, Bureau of Animal
Industry; L. A. Klein.
"PASTURAGE SYSTEM FOR HANDLING RANGE SHEEP/' Cir. 178, Forest
Service ; J. T. Jardine.
"PRINCIPAL POISONOUS PLANTS OF THE UNITED STATES/' Bui. 20, Di-
vision of Botany, Department of Agriculture.
"SCABIES OF CATTLE/' Farmers' Bui. 152; Richard W. Hickman.
"SCAB IN SHEEP/' Farmers' Bui. 159 ; D. E. Salmon and C. W. Stiles.
"SOME POISONOUS PLANTS OF THE NORTHERN STOCK RANGES/' Year-
book, Department of Agriculture, 1900 ; V. K. Chestnut.
"STOCK POISONING PLANTS OF MONTANA/' Bui. 26, Division of Botany,
Department of Agriculture ; V. K. Chestnut and E. V. Wilcox.
"TEXAS OR TICK FEVER AND ITS PREVENTION/' Farmers' Bui. 258 ; John
R. Mohler.
"THE LARKSPURS AS POISONOUS PLANTS/' Bui. Ill, Part 1, Bureau of
Plant Industry; G. H. Crawford.
"THE PRAIRIE DOG OF THE GREAT PLAINS/' Yearbook, Department of
Agriculture, 1901 ; C. Hart Merriam.
"THE RED DESERT OF WYOMING/' Bui. 13, Division of Agrostology, De"^
partment of Agriculture ; Aven Nelson.
"THIRTY POISONOUS PLANTS OF THE UNITED STATES," Farmers' Bui. 8G ;
Chestnut.
CHAPTER I.
THE EARLY WESTERN RANGE.
From the time of the Pilgrim Fathers down to the
present day one of the greatest resources of the United
States has been the natural grasses and forage plants
upon which millions of domestic animals are annually
supported. Owing to the nature of the grasses and herb-
age, the business of the grazier was not developed in the
eastern portion of the United States to the same ex-
tent as in the states lying west of the Missouri River.
The climatic conditions in the eastern states made it
impossible to utilize the grasses all the year round, ex-
cept by harvesting them and storing the crop away for
winter use.
In the more arid sections west of the Missouri, known
as the region of the Great American Desert, are found
grasses that cure on the ground in the pure dry air, while
a shortage of rainfall allows them to lie on the ground
without serious deterioration. Here in this desert coun-
try are also found the great family of the sages and
many other forage plants of more or less value known
as "browse" the "cha-mi-za" of the Spanish herders.
Early Events. — As early as 1800, before the tide of
settlers had crossed the summit of the Alleghanies, the
Spanish had established themselves on the far west
coast from San Diego north, and their herds of cattle,
21
22 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
sheep and horses covered the ranges in great numbers.
In 1834, according to Dana in his "Two Years Before
the Mast," a single trading vessel picked up in one
trip no less than 40,000 steer hides at three California
ports, San Diego, Monterey and Santa Barbara. Little
effort was made by these early graziers to grow feed
for their animals. They simply allowed them to scatter
over the hills and plains of the Pacific Slope where the
unlimited ranges afforded plenty of feed to meet all in-
crease without danger of overstocking.
With the gradual settlement of the coast country,
due to the rush of gold seekers, and the increase in the
herds, the owners began to crowd over the summit of
the Sierras with their stock into Nevada and across
deserts and mountains into Arizona. While this east-
erly movement was taking place on the western slope,
the hardy pioneers from the eastern part of the United
States were pressing slowly out across the Mississippi
River. They passed through Missouri and across the
Missouri River into Kansas, where on those great sweep-
ing plains the tide spread out fan-shape, working slowly
and steadily westward. To the northwest they drifted
through the states of Minnesota,, the Dakotas and Mon-
tana; to the southwest through what is now Oklahoma,
across the staked plains of Texas to western Kansas
and to Colorado. Another stream flowed in the track of
the Mormon expedition, which in 1847 blazed the trail
across the plains in an almost due westerly course
through the center of the then trackless and practically
unknown American Desert until Utah was reached.
The Genesis of the Trail Herds.— Probably the cradle
of the range grazing business was in the great state of
Texas, where the raising of cattle and horses, and later
THE EARLY WESTERN RANGE
23
sheep, on the wonderfully grassed plains that stretched
for unbroken leagues wherever one went, was under-
taken on a business basis. By the time the first Pa-
cific railroads began to work their way across the Kan-
sas prairies, Texas had increased her herds until there
was a glut of stock all over the state and it was almost
worthless because of the lack of a market.
In 1867 began the movement to relieve the Texas
ranges of their surplus cattle by establishing those great
The Old Type of Texas Long-horn Steer.
trails from the south up through the staked plains, across
the Indian Territory into Kansas. There they met the
iron horse and found an opening to the eastern mar-
kets. Thousands of long-horned steers grazed their way
over the grassy plains, starting in the early spring
from the southern ranges. There was no hurry and no
24 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
crowding of the animals; they slowly fed their way to
market, gaining flesh with every day's drive, seldom
making more than eight or ten miles a day and arriving
at their journey's end almost ready for beef.
As the railroads forged westward the tide of emigra-
tion followed. Farms were taken up; lonely stations
grew into towns and cities, and the cattlemen, seeking
constantly the unfenced open ranges and fresh feed for
the herds, moved westward with the end of the road.
The Buffalo. — The first Pacific railroad, with its
line of settlements, acted like a wedge in splitting the
great herd of buffaloes that covered the country in the
early days in almost countless numbers. Gradually
their annual migrations from the north to the south
and back again ceased until there were two distinct
buffalo herds : a northern and a southern. Each was
gradually exterminated through many causes, the chief
of which doubtless was the wanton and incomprehen-
sible lust of civilized man for killing.
However, in the final analysis it was simply the sur-
vival of the fittest, and the cattle and sheep belonging to
the settlers were far more valuable as meat producers
than the buffaloes.
The Stockman's Westward Advance. — In the latter
part of the 70's the West awoke to the opportunities
offered for raising cattle and sheep upon the open ranges
that lay west of the Missouri River, from the Mexican
to the Canadian line. Great cattle companies were form-
ed in the East and also in Europe, whose promoters
went into Texas and bought thousands of long-horned
cattle and moved them north onto the vacant ranges.
Millions were invested in the enterprise and for a few
years millions were made, principally in speculation,
promotion, and on paper.
THE EARLY WESTERN RANGE
25
The stockmen of the West were a prodigal as well as
a restless lot. With an almost unlimited world in front
of them they resented the crowding that began to de-
velop, and there was a constant pushing forward fur-
ther and further out into the prairies. They disputed
with the Indian and the buffalo for the occupancy of the
land, with the result that always follows where the
white man comes. The red man, and his friend the
buffalo, slowly melted away and eventually the advance
guard from the far eastern coast met the tide of pioneers
from the west coast. In the Southwest they met along
the Rio Grande in New Mexico and Colorado, while to
the Northwest those that crowded over the Cascades in
Oregon and Washington met the advancing tide from the
East pouring over the backbone of the Rockies, and —
the frontier was no more.
The Inevitable Happens. — Not an acre of the land
was left unoccupied, and ranges that for permanent
and regular use would have been overstocked with
a cow to every 100 acres were loaded until they were
carrying one to every ten. Into western Kansas,
Nebraska, eastern Colorado, out into the Red Desert
country of Wyoming and Utah, up across Montana and
the two Dakotas clear to the Canadian line, they pres-
sed in their mad search for grass. No one provided any
feed for the winter, the owners preferring to risk the
losses. Gradually the native grasses disappeared. As
fast as a blade of grass showed above the ground some
hungry animal gnawed it off. A few men sounded a
note of alarm, but the most of the owners declined to
realize the approaching disaster and drifted along in
their fancied opulence.
Then came the inevitable. The winter of 1886 saw
26 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
the almost total extinction of the industry in the north-
western states. Thousands of cattle went into that win-
ter never to see the spring flowers again. Great cattle
companies with managers riding back and forth to the
frontier towns in coaches and six, drawing princely sal-
aries for doing nothing, went out of existence. Millions
of dollars were lost beyond hope of recovery. A few
years later, in 1893, the Southwest went through the
same experience, and still greater losses were piled up
against the industry.
The Era of Readjustment. — Then there was a grad-
ual readjustment of the business. Many of the great
companies operating on borrowed money went to the
wall, and the remnants of their herds were bought up
by men whose faith in the business still was strong.
From that time to this the business of raising cattle upon
the open ranges has been a fluctuating one. Man's
greed to obtain something for nothing has never yet
been able to content itself with a moderate profit. Each
man looked upon the grass of the range as something
which he must grab before anyone else could reach it.
Hence the grasses were given no chance to grow, and a
few good years were follo'wed by a bad one which wiped
out all the profits. What the winter storms did not kill
the "bog holes" caught in the spring.
The Advent of the Sheepman. — Along in the early
'90's the sheepmen began to gain a foothold on the
ranges, especially in the northwestern states. Gradu-
ally they forced tfte cows back from their old ranges,
and many long-headed cowmen in sheer self-defence
turned their cattle into sheep and joined the ranks of
the wool-growers. The sheepman was much more able
to cope with the elements than was the cattleman. He
THE EARLY WESTERN RANGE
27
had his herd under his eye at all times, and could move
it to better feed before the animals became too weak
to travel. He also found out much earlier than did the
cattleman that buying feed against a hard winter was
money well invested.
In many ways the sheepmen profited by the bitter
experience of the cattlemen, and avoided many of their
pitfalls. Thus the ranges were divided and in many of
the states, especially Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, the
sheepmen gradually forced the cattle interests into the
background.
Range Wars. — Bitter range wars followed. All over
the Rocky Mountain region the conflicts between the
two interests have cost many lives, both human and
animal, together with great financial losses. Dead-lines
were drawn by the cattlemen across which no sheepman
could cross with his herd and not pay dearly for his
temerity.
In Arizona the Tonto Basin war waged for three
years and cost more than thirty lives, besides keeping a
whole country in a state of terror in the meantime. In
western Colorado, especially in Routt county, the con-
flict between the sheepmen and cattlemen over the use
of the ranges has been a serious menace to both sides.
In the Blue Mountains of Oregon thousands of sheep
were killed by irate cattlemen, and in the Green River
district of Wyoming there have been frequent whole-
sale slaughterings of sheep.
The sheepmen in turn swept across the ranges oc-
cupied by cattle, leaving a wide swath as clean of vegeta-
tion as if a fire had passed over it. Fierce conflicts fol-
lowed such action. Herders were killed, camps raided
or "shot up" and the sheep were taken from the herders
28 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
and scattered to the four winds a prey to coyotes. On
one occasion several thousand were forced into a stream
full of quicksands and boggy places, in which hundreds
stuck arid died like flies on sticky fly-paper. Saltpetre
was scattered plentifully over salting grounds used by
the cattle, which the salt-hungry sheep eagerly sought,
and the saltpetre, harmless to the cattle, killed many
sheep.
A Sample Attack. — Once in northern Arizona ten
bands of sheep, each with about 2,500 head, had swept
across the ranges along the little Colorado River, ha-
rassed by the cattlemen every foot of the way. But with
an armed force of forty or fifty men as a guard, they
were never seriously checked in their westward march.
One night the whole outfit camped in one of the beau-
tiful open parks under the shadow of the San Francisco
peaks. The ten bands were bedded down in peace and
quiet, when a hundred or more range horses, wild as
deer, were driven among them, followed by fifteen or
twenty cowboys whose yells and shots from their six-
shooters sent the half-crazed horses down onto the sheep
like a cyclone.
The horses had been 'previously placed in a corral,
and the boys had worked hard for several hours throw-
ing and hog-tying a lot of them to prepare them for the
"ceremony." Several horses had been decorated with
dry raw hides tied hard and fast to their tails, while
huge cowbells had been strapped about the necks of fif-
teen or twenty more. The herders sprang to their feet
and met the oncoming horses with shots from their
rifles. This served rather to make the work of the ani-
mals even more destructive, for they tore back and forth
across the park into and out of the bands, leaving a
THE EARLY WESTERN RANGE
29
wake of dead and maimed sheep and throwing the whole
25,000 into one almost inextricable mass of bleating, ter-
rified animals.
• As soon as the horses were well launched into the
sheep the rascals who engineered the job swung around
the place to a safe distance, while the horses finally
drifted on into the darkness, leaving some dead ; but this
was a small loss in those days of cheap range horses.
It took the sheep-herders a full week to untangle the
mess and separate the various brands and marks into
their respective bands. Nor were the sheepmen back-
ward about obtaining revenge so far as lay in their
power. While some of these predatory losses were great,
still in the end they obtained the grass for their
sheep, and had the satisfaction of knowing that their
enemies suffered by the devastated ranges far more than
did they from the loss of a few sheep.
Happily, however, the days of such deeds have pas-
sed. Today looking back over it one wonders what we
were all thinking of and how it was that more lives were
not lost than were. Only those who have passed through
these times can fully appreciate the reasons and causes
which led up to such apparently lawless acts. There
was no legal justification for any of them, and they were
certainly discreditable to all concerned. In spite of all
such attempts to curb its progress, the sheep industry
has gone on almost without a pause, until today it is
too firmly intrenched in the West to be disturbed or
forced back by any other class of domestic stock.
Government Control of Grazing Lands. — Then came
the demand for some sort of Government control of the
ranges. It came from the cattlemen at first, and for sev-
eral years the sheepmen have refused to admit its value
30 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
or necessity. The results of regulated grazing- upon the
various National Forests have however been a good ex-
ample of what could be accomplished by some reasonable
range control. Conflicts have been avoided; depleted
ranges have been restored, and it is the boast of the For-
est Service that not a single hostile shot has been fired
between the two interests, nor any stock maliciously
killed on the National Forests, since they were estab-
lished.
Today many of the leading sheepmen of the country
believe that the permanence of their business will be
guaranteed by a general supervision of the grazing
ranges by some authority whose presence will prevent
overstocking, too early grazing and complete destruction
of the range, together with guaranteeing its fair division
between all users. The only question in the matter
is one of enforcement. On this point the sheepmen dif-
fer. An obstructive majority demands to be let alone,
although admitting many of the claims made by the
more progressive. They are fearing they know not what
in the administration of the law. They realize that the
case is urgent, and that the patient needs attention. They
concede the necessity f6r calling a doctor, but cannot
agree as to which doctor they should have.
A law covering this question, drawn by men of both
sides and believed to be as fair and just as such a law
can be made, has been introduced in Congress. A copy
of this bill is printed in this work to show exactly the
points involved. Its passage depends wholly upon the
amount of support it receives from the stockmen them-
selves. At present the cattlemen are almost a unit for
it, while a majority of the sheep interests are opposed
to it. That it will some day become a law seems certain.
THE EARLY WESTERN RANGE 31
The Curtailment of the Open Range. — Within the
last eight years the inroads made by irrigation systems
and dry farmers have been serious, from the point of
view of the stockman using the range. Vast areas hith-
erto supposed to be fit only for grazing have been torn
up by the farmer's plow, and while not all of it has been
farmed, there is so much fencing on the ranges that por-
tions of the rest cannot be utilized successfully. This
is especially true in the Dakotas, New Mexico, western
and northwestern Texas and Colorado, where thousands
of cattle and sheep have been crowded from their ranges
and forced onto the market, owing to the advances of
"the man with the hoe."
Still there are millions of acres that under no condi-
tions now known to civilized man can possibly be used
for any other purpose than for grazing stock. Hence its
preservation from destruction, that it may continue to
furnish its portion of feed for the western stockmen's
herds, is a most vital problem for this country.
The New Era. — The day of the "all-year-round" open
range business has almost gone. In its place must come
a proper utilization of the natural forage, supplemented
by the crop of the farmer when, through drouth in sum-
mer or pitiless storms in winter, the natural grasses and
forage cannot be obtained. There may possibly be few-
er but better cattle and sheep under these conditions.
There will be more wool to the sheep and a higher grade,
more weight to each steer and less waste in long horns
and legs, fewer cheap horses and more worth $150, and
more stockmen-farmers with great haystacks in the feed-
yards as an insurance against winter losses.
This briefly is the history of the open range stock
business in the western United States. First came the
32
WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
boom days, between 1877 and 1886, and then a period
of reaction up to 1890, when the wool-growers began to
gain a footing on the range. This was followed by a
readjustment of the business to common-sense methods
which, while bettering the industry in many ways, still
lacks somewhat in permanence and stability. The final
touch of some proper Government control or supervi-
sion of the ranges would tend to place the industry upon
a first-class business footing.
The Certain flesult of Overgrazing.
CHAPTER II.
PROGRESS OF THE RANGE BUSINESS.
In the phraseology of the western stock-raiser, there
are two distinct ranges — the southern or breeding range,
and the northern or finishing range, sometimes called
the steer range. Broadly speaking, the states of. Texas,
Oklahoma, Arizona and New Mexico and the southern
half of Colorado constitute the southern or breeding
range. The rest of the Rocky Mountain states form the
northern or finishing range.
After the great die-off in 1886 the stockmen of the
northern range practically abandoned the raising of
calves and turned their attention almost wholly to the
handling of steers. The long cold winters were not well
suited to the raising of calves under open range condi-
tions, but the quality of the grasses found on those
ranges gave a growth and finish to the young spindle-
legged steers brought up from the southern breeding
ground that made them almost equal to the corn-fed ar-
ticle.
The Southern Steer Trade. — Thus there grew up a
regular trade between the two sections, and young steers
by the thousands were moved northward every spring
from the southern ranges. The animals began their
long journey in the cars, but owing to the lack of rail-
road facilities the majority of them left the road and
finished the trip on foot.
33
34 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
Cheyenne, Wyo., was for several years a great point
for the unloading of southern steers northward-bound,
and later on Orin Junction, through the extension of the
tracks, became the center of this business. Here the
steers, thin in flesh and sore from their rough usage in
the cars, were unloaded. After being decorated with
their new owner's brand — some were branded in the
Denver yards as they passed that point — they were
started out on the trail for their destination. As the
shipments were generally timed to bring them there with
the early spring grass, they grazed their way, picking
up in flesh from the day they started, so that by the
time they reached their owners' ranges they were "on
the mend" and gaining weight rapidly.
Steers thus brought up were generally kept on the
range for one winter and two summers, being marketed
the second fall. Many of them, however, were "double-
wintered" and not shipped until the third summer. If
the season had been a good one this class of steers was
eagerly snapped up by the exporters for foreign trade,
being considered without any further finishing equal in
every way to corn-fed cattle. Many of the "single-win-
tered" steers were alsg taken for this trade, but the
larger part of them went to the feedlots of the cornbelt
states like Illinois, Iowa, Indiana and Ohio. Here with
a short season of corn they come back onto the market
a truly finished product.
Southern Steers in the North. — At the beginning of
the business the shipments were about equally divided
between yearlings and two-year-olds. A few winters' ex-
perience, however, satisfied the steermen that yearlings
were not able to stand the first winter so well as two-
year-olds, and eventually the majority of the shipments
PROGRESS OF THE RANGE BUSINESS 35
were confined to twos and threes. The manner in which
these young southern steers "spread out" under the in-
fluence of the luxuriant northern grasses was surpris-
ing. Steers that under ordinary conditions in the South
wrould never have weighed more than 900 pounds reached
Chicago tipping the beam at 1,250 pounds. The writer
has seen shipments of his own steers — miserable little
runty affairs^ sent up from Arizona, unloaded in the
Chicago yards. After two winters in Montana, they had
become great full-ribbed broad-backed fellows which but
for the brand and ear-mark he never could have believed
were the same animals. They were sold in Arizona for
$12.50 each and brought in Chicago more than $75 per
head, netting the company owning them about $40 each.
Once they reached the ranges there was very little loss
on these two-year-olds from either weather conditions
or other causes. The most severe losses were incurred
during the shipment from the southern ranges. In order
to reach the northern ranges early enough the steers
were started on their journey in April and May when
they were thin and weak. If cold storms were encoun-
tered on the road the cattle were easily chilled, and died
like flies. In 1894 one shipment which I recall lost 25
per cent of the bunch one night in the Cheyenne yards,
owing to a cold sleety rain which chilled them to the bone.
Hundreds died even with plenty of hay before them
Curtailment of Northern Movement. — Since 1906 this
trade in southern steers has fallen oi¥ to a very great
extent, due to several causes, the principal one being the
curtailment of the open ranges in the North through va-
rious reasons — settlers and the inroads of the sheepmen
—until the annual shipments do not amount to one-fifth
of what they once were.
36 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
Meantime the northern cattleman has learned that
with a full feedyard at his elbow he too can raise calves.
The larger herds are gone, but there are thousands of
small owners who have gone back to breeding stock and
are engaged in raising a superior grade of cattle for their
ranges.
The southern breeders now have found another out-
let for their steers in the corn-producing states. There
land in some sections is thought to be too high-priced
to raise cattle on, and the farmers find it cheaper to go
west and buy steers as yearlings or in many instances as
calves, and force them to a quick finish on the very best
of beef-producing materials.
A Southern Lamb Trade. — The sheep interests in the
Southwestern ranges have opened up a trade in lambs
which on the whole has been very profitable. The lambs
raised there, especially in New Mexico, were found to
be well suited for winter feeding. The lamb feeders
around Fort Collins, Colo., and other points, where in
recent years this branch of the business has grown to
the dignity of a great industry, were quick to realize
their value. Probably three-quarters of a million lambs
are shipped each fall frorn New Mexico ranges into the
western lamb-feeding districts and even to the far east-
ern feedlots. Their good health, fine feeding qualities
and handy weight when fed makes them well fitted for
market feeding purposes.
The feeding is principally on alfalfa hay, with addi-
tional rations of corn, kafir and similar grains. On a well
balanced ration of Kansas corn and plenty of alfalfa the
gains in weight made by these hardy little fellows is
remarkable. They come into the markets along in Feb-
ruary, March and April, just at a time when there is
38 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
little competition from other sources and generally bring
the top prices. Some have made fortunes for their
owners.
Grasses and Forage of the Southern Range. — There
are two distinct types of range in both these great di-
visions of the West. While the greater part of the south-
ern range is what is known as desert range, there is also
an area of country classed as mountain range. This
latter forms probably one-fifth of the total available
range.
On the desert ranges, which lie at lower altitudes,
we have a great variety of stock forage with compara-
tively little grass. A typical desert range is the great
stretch of country in southern Arizona lying in the foot-
hills of the Salt and Gila Valleys. This range is gen-
erally all below an elevation of 3,000 feet and lies in the
region of long hot summers and cool pleasant winters.
To the uninitiated there seems to be but little feed for
stock but, given the usual summer rains, which should
begin in early July, the stockman knows his herds will
not suffer for feed. With the summer rains come a rapid
growth of weeds, brush and other forage plants upon
which the stock thrive. <
Mesquite beans (Prosopis) furnish feed of a high
nutritive value, and it is a strange sight to see the cat-
tle and horses eating the long yellow pods, often get-
ting down on their knees to reach the beans lying all
over the ground under the low-hanging boughs of the
trees. Under ordinary climatic conditions there are
two crops a year of mesquite beans, the pods of which
are rich in nitrogen. The Indians in this region grind
the beans into flour from which they make bread.
Then there are many families of sage, which all stock
PROGRESS OF THE RANGE BUSINESS 39
appear to relish, while the leaves and tender branches
of the mesquite and catclaw (Acacia Greggii) and the
blossoms and fruit of the Spanish bayonet (Yucca) fur-
nish no small part of the available forage.
The Alfileria Plant. — If the season is a good one here
the winter rains will set in along in November and De-
cember, and by the first of February the alfileria (Ero-
dium cicutarium) will begin to make its appearance upon
the deserts where previously there seemed to be noth-
ing living. From a surface as bare of vegetation as a
floor, this splendid forage plant will spring up almost in
a night. Sheep and cattle fatten on it as if fed alfalfa
hay. Alfileria was doubtless introduced into this south-
ern region through the migrating sheep from California,
where it has been known for many years. The seeds
hanging to the wool of the sheep were scattered over the
ranges and, finding a climate and soil peculiarly well fit-
ted for its reception and growth, it spread rapidly, and
now covers a great area of the desert ranges. Alfileria
also is known as "heron's bill" and "pin clover."
The plant belongs to the geranium family, has a little
pink star-like blossom, and is a native of the hot, dry
region about the Mediterranean. The name "Erodium" is
derived from the Greek word "erodius," a "heron," from
a fancied resemblance of the fruit to a heron's head and
bill. With plenty of moisture it grows very rapidly, and
in six weeks' time the barren desert will be covered with
a carpet of rich green. Having reached an average height
of from 6 to 10 inches it begins to cure, and in six weeks
more it is gone.
The change from bare earth to green and back to
bare earth is remarkable. As soon as it ripens and dries,
the winds break it off at the ground and it blows into
40 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
great piles much like tumble weeds in the open plains
further north. Arroyos and washes will be filled full
to the top; it banks up against trees and thickets of
greasewood in huge windrows and in a short time disap-
pears with an almost magical suddenness.
Alfileria thrives best on a decomposed granite soil, and
while it will grow above 3,500 feet it does not grow tall
enough above that altitude to be grazed by stock, cling-
ing very closely to the ground and forming a dense green
cover which furnishes but little feed. Contrary to gen-
eral belief the cold weather does not kill it out, as the
writer has seen it near Las Vegas, N. M., over 7,000 feet
above sea level growing year after year where the win-
ter temperature frequently falls to 10° or 15° below zero.
It has also been carried by sheep into northern states —
Idaho, Utah and Montana — but as a rule does nothing
more than spread over the ground in a thick close-cling-
ing mat of green.
Besides this there are many weeds peculiar to the
region, all of which stock like, and a few are almost equal
to alfileria for sheep feed. By the middle of April the
feed begins to dry up on the desert, and the stock is
moved back into the foothills and mountains.
Hundreds of thousands of sheep are grazed every
winter on this desert feed, and every spring the shipping
of lambs from this region to the eastern market reaches
a quarter of a million head.
The Semi-Desert Range of the South. — There is still
another type of desert country in this region of which the
San Simon Valley in southeastern Arizona is a fine sam-
ple. Beginning in the neighborhood of Wilcox, Ariz.,
this range stretches east into New Mexico to a point
about halfway between Deming, N. M., and El Paso,
Alfileria (Erodium cicutarium), "Filaree."
PROGRESS OF THE RANGE BUSINESS 43
Tex. It generally lies between 3,500 and 5,000 feet ele-
vation, and is characterized by open prairie, broken here
and there by rough mountains. While there is com-
paratively little surface water here, well water can be
obtained in plenty at moderate depths, and windmills fur-
nish watering facilities sufficient for all the stock.
This area may properly be classed as a semi-desert
country with considerable grass, mostly the gramas
(Bouteloua) and species of Hilaria known variously as
Galleta (guy-.et-ta), black bunch grass and curly mes-
quite. There is also sacaton (Sporobolus airoides),
sometimes but erroneously called salt grass, a*id many
varieties of sage (Artemesia.) There is an immense
growth of yucca (Spanish bayonet), of which both the
flower and the long banana-like fruit are greedily eaten
by cattle. In the foothills there are several varieties of
edible bushes like Mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus)
and the catclaw and mesquite found elsewhere.
Owing to the presence in many portions of both
these desert regions of a grass known as needle or dog-
town grass (Aristida) and porcupine grass (Stipa
spp.), the sharp awns of each of which work into the
wool and finally into the very skin of the animals, sheep
cannot be successfully grazed in these lower desert
ranges, excepting in the immediate valley of the Salt
and Gila (He-la) Rivers and north of them. In southern
Arizona I have seen the meat from sheep killed by local
butchers, so badly inflamed and festered by the sharp
awns of these grasses as to be unfit for use.
Higher Ranges of the Southwest. — In the foothills
and mountain ranges of the Southwest is found a great
variety of grasses and forage plants. These ranges gen-
erally lie about the 5,000-foot line and, as elsewhere all
Galleta (Hilaria rigida), Pronounced Guy-et-ta.
Needle or Dogtown Grass (Aristida longiseta).
Buffalo Grass (Bulbilis dactyloides).
Curly or Creeping Mesquite (Hilaria cenchroides).
Bermuda Grass (Capriola dactylon).
PROGRESS OF THE RANGE BUSINESS 49
over the West, the grama is the most valuable and stable
of all the grasses. On the great grassy plains of Texas
and eastern New Mexico, the staked plains (El Llano
Estacado — Yah-no Es-ta-cah-do) of the olden days, the
grama is the prevailing grass.
The staked plains were so called because of the story
that one of the early Spanish exploring expeditions in
western Texas, in order to mark their trail, placed stakes
at intervals along certain parts of their route, which re-
mained for many years as a guide to travelers. The more
likely but less romantic reason is that vast stretches of
the plains bear great quantities of the Spanish -bayonet
(yucca) whose tall pole-like stalks dry out and look like a
forest of fish poles. Seen at a distance these yucca stalks
are not unlike stakes, hence the probability of the origin
of the name from this cause.
Southwestern Grasses. — Here too is found the buffalo
grass (Bulbilis dactyloides) and the curly mesquite (Hil-
aria cenchroides), both somewhat similar in appearance
and characteristics of growth. Buffalo grass may easily
be known from the ordinary gramas, for, while having
the same peculiar spikes or seed heads, it is alone in its
peculiar creeping habits with little rootlets springing
from each joint much as does the Bermuda grass (Cap-
riola dactylon).
There is an immense amount of misinformation all
over the West among stockmen regarding the names of
these common grasses, so that a study of the plates show-
ing them should repay many readers.
Black Grama Grass. — Take black grama, for instance.
Most stockmen apply this name to the ordinary grama
which is most prevalent but which is really blue grama
(Bouteloua oligostachya) or galleta (gai-et-ta) (hilaria).
50 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
Neither of these is the true black grama. Black grama
(Muhlenbergia porteri) is found on a rather small area
of the Southwest, being confined principally to the
ranges in the Gila River basin in southern New Mexico
and Arizona. It is quite unlike any of the other gramas
and once seen need never be mistaken for one of them.
It grows from a single root and flourishes best beneath
trees and shrubs which protect it from destruction, and
in such an environment it sometimes reaches a height of
three feet, climbing up through the sage brush like a
vine. The stems and leaves are quite dark, almost black;
the seed heads are entirely different from the other
gramas and the grass is a rather soft delicate plant.
It was originally a common plant in the region men-
tioned, and was one of the main sources of hay for the
Government military posts in southern Arizona. At Camp
Thomas on the Gila and Forts Bowie and Grant in south-
ern Arizona in 1879 and 1880 I saw hundreds of tons of
this grass delivered to the various post quartermasters
as hay at prices varying from $25 to $50 and sometimes
more a ton. A large amount of this was hoe-cut hay and
advertisements calling for bids for Government contracts
frequently specified hre-cut hay.
This was because hay cut that way was cleaner and
of better growth than when cut by scythes or sickles,
for machines were practically unknown in that region at
that time. To procure hoe-cut hay a wagon was driven
across the range and the Mexicans, each armed with the
common heavy Mexican or planter's hoe, worked on each
side of it. They simply chopped off the plant at the
roots, not infrequently getting deep into the ground,
for that made the hay weigh more. The hay was thrown
onto the wagon and five or six men could accumulate a
Blue Grama Grass (Bouteloua oligostachya).
Hairy Grama Grass (Bouteloua vestita).
Black Grama Grass (Muhlenbergia Porteri). — [From a photo loaned by
Prof. J. J. Thornber, Tucson, Ariz.]
54 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
load in a very short time by this primitive and waste-
ful method.
Where wagons could not work, burros and horses
were used, and the grass was packed on their backs. Not
infrequently the Mexicans and Indians brought the hay
in on their own backs tied up into great bundles with
soap weed strings (yucca.) I saw a Mexican or an
Apache Indian woman pack 150 pounds of this hay at the
scales, with her baby's basket on top of the load. The
hay was swung from her forehead by a flat strap fastened
to the soap weed strings. Under such methods of har-
vesting it is not singular that the black grama is an
almost extinct species at the present time, and I fancy
that it would take many days to find a ton of it now
where they formerly gathered it by the hundred tons.
Sacaton. — There are great areas along the rivers and
in the alkali lands which grow a fine crop of sacaton
(Sporobolus), sometimes, but erroneously called salt
grass. Sacaton (sac-ah-tone) starts very early in the
spring and while young is relished by all classes of stock.
It grows rapidly, however, and in six weeks becomes so
rank as to lose its good qualities. Its greatest value is
as an early grass for larrtbing or before other feed is up,
and it also makes fine hay when cut at the right period
of growth.
Sacaton will stand an immense amount of hard usage
and it is almost impossible to injure it by either over-
grazing or trampling. I have seen a herd rounded up
on a sacaton flat for several days at a time, and milled
and worked over the ground until it was trampled into
a dust heap. As soon as the rains began, however, the
green shoots came up from the hardy roots and in a few
days there was apparently as good a stand as ever. The
Sacaton (Sporobolus airoides), Sometimes Called Salt Grass.
PROGRESS OF THE RANGE BUSINESS 57
true salt grass of this region is Distichlis spicata, a light
soft-feeling grass seldom more than 6 inches in height
and of no great feeding value. It also is a very tough,
hardy grass.
The Sages. — These two grasses, grama and sacaton,
are the principal ones of the foothill region, but the for-
age is greatly augmented by the great sage family, es-
pecially the sweet sage or "winter fat" (Eurotia lanata),
which furnishes an unequaled feed for stock, especially
sheep and horses. There are many varieties of sage in
the southern ranges, nearly every one of which is eaten
by stock of every class. Salt sage (Atriplex)" is the one
most generally called by the generic name sage by stock-
men all over the West. There is another favorite forage
bush known as shad scale (Atriplex canescens) called esta-
fi-etta by the Mexican herders. To the ordinary observ-
er it would seem to be absolutely worthless, but it is
eagerly eaten by all stock, especially sheep. It furnishes
a great supply of dry husk-like seeds which the sheep
lick up from the ground, and even crawl on their knees
under the bushes in order to get them.
Greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus) is another
favorite browse well liked by most range animals.
Prickly Pear (Opuntia). — In the foothills of this re-
gion prickly pear furnishes an article of diet for the cat-
tle that in times of feed scarcity has saved many an old
cow. In feeding it, the stockmen go out on the ranges
armed with pitchforks and axes. By means of a lighted
torch or a forkful of weeds, bear grass or yucca leaves,
the sharp needles are singed off the broad leaves of the
pears and then the plant is cut up with the axe and
pitched to the cattle. Two men can thus feed a good
many poor cows in a day and while it acts on the bowels
58 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
with considerable effect the cattle thrive on it. It is as-
tonishing how quickly range cattle catch onto what is
being done, following the men with the torches and burn-
ing materials and waiting for it to be thrown to them.
In southwestern Texas dairymen feed it regularly to
their milk cows with good results.
Spineless varieties of the opuntia can be grown as any
forage plant and furnishes a remarkable amount of feed
On irrigated land 25 tons per acre have been grown and
harvested. Although advertised as a potent factor in
securing some new range forage plant, the spineless cac-
tus is not at all adapted to use on the open range. Its
spineless character makes it an easy prey to rabbits and
other rodents as well as grazing stock, hence if planted
it must be carefully protected and looked after. Also
any temperature below 20 degrees, if continued for sev-
eral nights will kill it.
Feeding Mistletoe. — In the Southwest the mistletoe
which is found so extensively clinging to trees on the
ranges, especially the oaks and mesquites, has been util-
ized by the stockmen as a hard-times feed when other
forage was scarce. The stockman armed with a long
slender pole, to the end o'f which is attached an iron hook,
reaches up into the trees, and by the aid of the hook the
mistletoe branches are easily broken off, as they are very
brittle. The cattle feed on it eagerly, following the men
from tree to tree and watching for the branches to drop.
An analysis of the plant shows that it possesses feeding
value comparing favorably with timothy hay. Manv cat-
tlemen believe that if fed to cows about to calve or just
having calved, it will cause them to "clean" more readily
than otherwise.
In southern Arizona, New Mexico and western Texas
Service Berry (AmeliancMer alnifolia).
Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpus parvifolius).
PROGRESS OF THE RANGE BUSINESS 61
mistletoe grows so profusely that it is an easy matter for
one man to feed a great many cattle in one day on this
plant. Incidentally he is removing a very harmful para-
site from the trees.
Mountain Forage. — Going up into the mountains of
this region, we find many varieties of grasses and plants.
Here the gramas are still plentiful, while there is a fes-
tuca locally called pine or white bunch grass (Festuca
arizonica), wild oats (Avena fatua), timothy (Phleum
pratense), wild rye (Elymus canadensis), and the blue
stem (Andropogon). Besides these grasses there are
many varieties of weeds, lupines and other edible forage
plants, all of which are greedily eaten by sheep. In fact,
in the higher mountain ranges everywhere the sheep eat
far more of the class of plants commonly called weeds
than they do of the grasses.
In addition to these grasses and weeds there are many
varieties of browse in the higher mountains upon which
stock feeds. In the foothills the tender shoots of the
scrub oak (Quercus undulata) (Q. gambelii) are eaten
by cattle in the early spring, but if fed on too long they
are very injurious, causing death in a short time from
the tannic acid contained in the leaves.
The buck brush (Cowania mexicana), also called qui-
nine bush, service berry (Amelanchier), mountain
mahogany (Cercocarpus), and sages, all furnish a large
amount of excellent forage for sheep, cattle, goats and
horses. The Mexican sheep herders apply the word
"chamiza" to a browse range.
The Northern Desert Ranges. — There is another type
of desert range which lies at a higher altitude than the
two already described. The best example of this range
is found in the famous Red Desert of southwestern Wyo-
62
WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
ming. The deserts of Nevada, Utah, some parts of Cali-
fornia and in fact all of those states lying within the
great intermountain region of the Rockies and east of the
crest of the Sierras, have very much the same general
characteristics, so that a brief description of the Red Des-
ert will cover them all. There are, however, many vari-
eties of forage plants and browses which are not found
Semi-Desert Sage Range in Wyoming.
generally elsewhere and are peculiar to the Red Desert
region.
The Red Desert lies generally at an elevation of 7,000
feet and consists of a high, undulating plain, broken
more or less by low ranges of hills, with very little sur-
face water and still less beneath the surface. The stock
which uses this range depends almost entirely upon the
winter snows for water, and therefore the region is most
valuable as a winter range.
While there are some herds of cattle on this range,
it is the ideal winter resort for the sheepman, and it is
PROGRESS OF THE RANGE BUSINESS 63
hard to say which is of the most value to the large sheep-
owner, the summer ranges in the mountains or the win-
ter ranges on these deserts. The small sheepman who
has his farm on which he can grow feed to winter his
sheep depends more upon the summer range for a suc-
cessful issue of his sheep venture. To the big owners,
the men who graze their sheep by the tens of thousands,
and cannot excepting in the most urgent cases be pre-
pared to feed hay, the winter ranges are most vitally im-
portant.
These deserts are the typical sage-brush areas. Here
the sage and salt bushes are almost the sole feed. There
are many species of grasses and weeds but the great de-
pendence of the stockmen, especially sheep-owners, is
the sages and the varieties of the salt sage, of which
Atriplex nutallii or (A. volutaris) is the most common.
This sage (A. volutaris) is also called tumble weed in
some localities, but further south the tumble weed is
Amaranthus blitoides. The Russian thistle (Salsola
tragus) is also commonly called tumble weed. Shad
scale (Atriplex canescens) is also found in great quan-
tities here, together with bud or button sage (Artemisia
spinescens). This latter is an especially valuable browse
because of its early growth.
Sheep, especially young sheep, are apt to get sore
mouths from eating this class of forage, as the spiny
twigs, and in button sage the cactus-like needles, cut the
interior lining of the lips and mouth. They soon get over
this, however, if given a change of feed for a few days,
and gradually the mouth hardens until no bad effects
follow its eating.
The sheepmen range their herds on these deserts all
winter, watering on snow banks when no other method
64 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
is available, and utilizing tanks and small surface lakes
whenever possible. The low ranges of hills that cross
the region furnish enough protection from storms, and
under ordinary conditions the herds winter on this sort
of feed and come out in the spring fat and healthy.
Occasionally there will be a heavy fall of snow which
lies on the ground for some time, and if it lasts too long
severe losses result. Sometimes the snowfall is too great
to allow moving the herds, and if hay cannot be hauled
in to them from the railroads the herders are helpless.
Unusually wet winters, which make the deserts muddy
and soft, are also drawbacks which the sheepmen have
to face. Fortunately these conditions are the exception
rather than the rule, and generally the winters on these
deserts are passed with comparatively little loss.
The Northern Range. — Strictly speaking the ranges
of the Red Desert class should be included in the north-
ern ranges, as they all lie north of the latitude of Den-
ver, Colo., which may be taken as fairly dividing the
two regions. However, when the northern ranges are
spoken of it is generally meant to include those great
stretches of prairie and upland country lying in Eastern
Oregon, Washington, 'Montana, the Dakotas, western
Nebraska, large portions of Wyoming and Idaho, and
the whole mountainous regions of the Rockies north of
Denver.
The grasses of these regions seem to have certain
fattening and growing qualities not to be found else-
where. The steers shipped there from the South seem
to spread out and gain in flesh more rapidly than if fed
the best of hay.
The principal grasses are the bunch grasses of the
wheat-grass group (Agropyron), prairie June grass
PROGRESS OF THE RANGE BUSINESS 65
(Koeleria cristata) and blue joints (Andropogon spp.).
These latter species are the well-known western prairie
grasses, of which A. hallii is the most common grass in
the sandhill region of western Nebraska.
There appears to be much confusion as to the use of
the local names blue stem and blue joint, which are va-
riously applied to Agropyron, Andropogon and Calama-
grostis. After consultation with some of the best au-
thorities on grasses, and carefully sifting all available
information, these local names have been placed as fol-
lows: Western wheat grasses (Agropyron spp.), called
blue stem from the light blue color of the leaves and
stems. This is found in the Pacific Coast states and the
Rocky Mountain region and makes excellent hay. West-
ern prairie grasses (Andropogon and Calamagrostis),
called blue joint from the blue or purplish blue coloring
of each joint. This is found in the middle western
states, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and the Dakotas and the
prairie states generally. Most of the prairie hay put up
throughout this region is blue joint. Johnson grass and
sorghum belong to the Andropogon group.
All the varieties of the gramas (Bouteloua), as well
as buffalo grass (Bulbilis dactyloides), are found in
abundance on the northern ranges, together with every
variety of edible shrub, like the service berry, mountain
mahogany, sages, buck brush and that class of forage
plants. In the higher mountains the same riotous
growth of grasses and weeds is found as in the southern
mountains, although alfileria, while found here, is not so
abundant nor does it grow so luxuriously as in the
Southwest.
Features of Northern Range. — There are several fea-
tures of the northern ranges worthy of especial mention.
66 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
The first will be found in those great high ranges of the
Rockies, in most cases away up above timber line. Cat-
tle will seldom occupy of their own accord a range so
high as this, but for developing lambs these ranges are
unequaled. The season is short, seldom lasting over
three months, but the green feed that comes, almost
from under the retreating snow banks, is unusually
good, and furnishes the ewes with great quantities of
rich milk, while the little fellows quickly learn to eat the
weeds and grasses of the range and grow at a tremen-
dous rate.
In Colorado, in the vicinity of the Tennessee Pass of
the Rockies, thousands of aged sheep, generally wethers
from Utah, Oregon, Idaho and those states raising the
heavy mutton breeds, are shipped in on the railroad by
speculators on a feed-in-transit rate. They are unloaded
about July 1, and on the superb feed found in those high
ranges lying mostly above timber-line they put on fat
very rapidly. They are generally reloaded and go for-
ward to the large eastern markets early in September.
These high ranges are for the most part so located as
to be practically inaccessible except by shipping in on
the railroad, hence they cannot be utilized to any extent
by the local sheepmen.
The second feature is those open prairie-like areas
known as parks. These are found all over the region,
especially in Colorado where such splendid examples of
them as the famous North Park and South Park are
noteworthy. The parks lie generally at an average ele-
vation of between 5,000 and 7,000 feet and are practically
free from timber, although it surrounds them on all sides.
The grasses are mostly gramas (Bouteloua) and
varieties of the wheat grasses, with much blue stem
CL
Prairie June Grass (Koeleria cristata).
Bluestem or Western Wheatgrass (Agropyron smithii).
Mountain Bunch Grass (Festuca viridula).
70 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
(Agropyron smithii), and in the northwest Mountain
bunch grass (Festuca viridula), the latter seldom being
found below 6,000 feet. These parks, excepting for the
surrounding timber, are similar in appearance and forage
covering to those great rolling prairies in the higher por-
tions of eastern New Mexico at the upper end of the
Texas staked plains.
Then we have the mountain meadows, found all over
the country. These are especially fine in the higher
regions of the Sierras in California, where they furnish
a majority of the mountain feeding grounds. These Cali-
fornia meadows lie at great elevations, generally over
6,000 feet and on up to perpetual snow. They are cov-
ered with a short wiry but nutritious grass known locally
as short-hair grass (Calamagrostis brewerii), which will
stand an immense amount of grazing without being com-
pletely killed out. This grass never grows very high
but when eaten down it comes up again with amazing
rapidity.
In the Rockies the feed on these high meadows is of
great variety. White clover and Kentucky bluegrass
(Poa pratensis) are found in abundance in the more
moist places, while gramas and bunch grasses grow in
great luxuriance. This together with a profusion of
weeds and forage plants which seem very attractive to
sheep furnishes feed for a large number of stock. Such
areas should never be grazed too early, lest the cutting
of the soft soil injure the ground cover and eventually
ruin the entire meadow.
In some of the California mountains these meadows
constitute all the stock range available. They lie in the
most inaccessible places, surrounded by great granite
mountains, bare of timber. To reach them the stock is
Across Swaying Bridges Above Swift Mountain Streams. — Above: Bridge Built to
Cross Sheep Over the Boise River in Idaho. Below: Bridge for Sheep
Across Black's Fork, Utah, TJinta National Forest.
72 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
taken over rough trails and across swaying bridges
above swift mountain streams where to the novice noth-
ing less than a goat could be made to go. For the short
time in which they can be used they support a tremen-
dous number of stock, and the saving grace in it all is
that very point — the short season. Otherwise they
would long ago have been worn out and ruined beyond
hope.
Spring Ranges. — In the Southwest and on the Pacific
Coast they have a range known as the spring range.
One of the best types of this spring range is the foot-
hill region along the Sierras back of the great San
Joaquin plains in southern California. These ranges are
invaluable to sheepmen as lambing grounds, and to cat-
tlemen for their early beef. Given a good winter with
the average amount of rainfall, and early in March these
ranges come out in the most attractive green. The feed
for the most part is foxtail (Hordeum murinum), bronco
grass (Bromus rubens), poverty grass (Aristida' rever-
choni) and of course alfileria (Erodium spp.).
None of these grasses has any great feeding value
once they are ripe, careful analysis showing them devoid
of fat and muscle-producing elements. But when green
they are splendid forage plants and stock thrives on
them, putting on fat very rapidly. The carrying capacity
of these spring ranges is great, owing: to the rapidity
with which the plants .grow when fed off. When drv
foxtail is a pest, but green it is great feed. In California
they sav that it was orieinally brought into the countrv
from Australia with a shipment of sheep. Since then
it has spread rapidly, and once it takes a range no
amount of grazing seems to hurt it. nor does it give wav
to any other plant but rather chokes out even so good
Bluegrass (Poa pretensis).
Foxtail (Hardeum murinum).
Bronco Grass (Bromus rubens).
Festuca myuros (sometimes called Poverty grass).
PROGRESS OF THE RANGE BUSINESS
77
a grower as the alfileria. This is noticeable on the San
Joa'quin plains, where in the last fifteen years the old-
timers say it has almost completely run out alfileria on
some ranges.
These spring ranges come quickly and go as rapidly
as they came. By the end of June they are dry and yel-
low, and the feed is gone for the season.
Carrying Capacity of Ranges. — It is impossible to
give any hard and fast rule for estimating the carry-
ing capacity of the western ranges. Much depends of
course on the character of the soil," the annual rainfall
and the slope of the country, whether to the south or
the north. A range facing to the south and east will
generally be two to three weeks earlier than one which
lies to the north or west. Also the kinds of forage plants
found upon the range must be considered, as well as the
watering facilities for the animals that are to use it.
Horses the Worst Grazers. — Based upon their use of
the range, horses are the worst grazers we have. This
is due to their habit of traveling long distances to water
and feed, often at very high speeds, their playfulness on
the range and the fact that a horse can and does graze
a range very closely, possibly even closer than a sheep.
A bunch of horses in good spirits will race and romp
over the range for hours at a time, cutting up the sod
with their feet, chasing the cattle away from the water
holes and salting grounds, running over little calves and
in this manner often doing more damage than thev do bv
feeding. A stockman taking horses for pasture will
charge more for that class of stock than for any other,
and on account of it some will not receive them for pas-
ture at all.
Mules also do great damage among stock on the
78 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
range, chasing little calves and colts until they drop
down exhausted, when the mule will perhaps trample
them to death. This I have seen happen over and over
again on western ranges where the Mexicans and Indians
raised a great many mules. The mules unquestionably
do this in play, but the effect on the young things is
quite as bad as if done with malicious intent. In some
regions where owners have persisted in turning out
mules to graze on the ranges, owners took the matter
into their own hands and the animals were killed as a
matter of protection.
Range for Cattle. — In estimating the carrying capac-
ity of a range, it is generally agreed that a fair ratio be-
tween cattle and sheep is one to five; that is, a range
which will support one cow will support five sheep.
In feedlots it is generally admitted that the same
amount of feed which will support one cow will take
care of eight sheep. This is due of course to a closer
cleaning up of the feed by the sheep.
On many of the desert ranges it will probably require
100 acres to the animal to carry cattle the year around,
while in the mountain ranges, where feed grows rapidly
and there is a great variety of it, probably ten to fifteen
acres is sufficient. In Texas on the staked-plains ranges
they estimate that one cow or steer will require ten
acres for year-around purposes, while on the eastern
New Mexico ranges, where the sod is not so good,
twenty-five to thirty acres are necessary to keep the
range from being overgrazed and damaged. This is of
course for year after year. In some seasons, due to un-
usual precipitation, the feed grows so fast and there is
so much of it that a cow to every five acres will not be-
gin to eat it off.
PROGRESS OF THE RANGE BUSINESS 79
On the prairies of western Kansas and Nebraska they
estimate that for year-around purposes between fifty
and sixty head to the section (640 acres) is about the
right number to keep the animals in good flesh and
not overgraze the land. If used only in the summer sea-
son when the feed is growing rapidly the carrying capac-
ity is greater than these figures indicate.
On the sheep ranges in the higher mountains of Utah,
Idaho and the rest of the Rocky Mountain states dur-
ing the summer season, which is short — not over four
months on an average — the ranges will and do carry
as many as a sheep to the acre without being 6vergrazed.
As a general thing, however, a sheep to every 2y2 acres
is the safest rule. This of course must vary with the
quality of the range.
Goats eat so much brush that it is almost impossible to
make a fair estimate of the capacity of a goat range, un-
less one goes over it carefully and notes the stand of the
brush.
The accessibility of water is also a great factor, be-
cause if stock must travel long distances to and from
water it not only tramples out a certain amount of feed
but takes time which should be used in grazing. One
of the best ways to estimate the capacity of a range is
to take a look at the stock at the end of the grazing
season. Fat sheep and cattle will not be found on an
overgrazed range. The instant they are forced to graze
the feed closely, and take the rougher and unpalatable
portions of the forage, that instant they begin to fall off,
and if kept there for any length of time both stock and
range will tell their own story.
There are many grasses and forage plants which
stock will not graze closely, some which they will
80 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
only graze when young and tender, and some which
look to be good feed but which nothing will touch.
Thus if one looks only at the amount of feed left on the
range, unless he is well acquainted with that particular
range and its grasses, he may be misled. Sheep are great
weed-eaters. . The Minnesota experiment station found
that out of 480 weeds in that state sheep ate no less than
430 of them. This fact should always be taken into
consideration in looking over ranges, because a range
may have very little grass and still be a splendid sheep
range.
In handling sheep it is well to remember that 1,000
ewes and their lambs will not do so much harm to the
feed and range as 1,000 dry ewes or wethers. The latter
classes roam about, do not graze quietly and generally
graze in closer formation, thus wearing out the range
more than the ewes and lambs do.
The fact that a certain area will support 1,000 sheep
or 500 cattle for six months does not mean that it will
carry twice that number of either kind for half the
time. The growth of the feed during the grazing period
is overlooked if this be done, as well as the natural
trampling due to overcrowding.
CHAPTER III.
COMING OF THE SETTLER.
Coming of the Settler. — With the close of the civil
war the settlement of the region west of the Mississippi
and Missouri rivers really began in earnest. The pre-
emption law of 1841 and the homestead law of 1862
offered great inducements to men to move out onto the
prairies and take up homes. Later on came the various
soldiers' scrip laws, which gave to veterans of the war a
certain amount of land without residence of any great
length of time or other delays.
Extension of Holdings. — Still later came the timber
culture bill and the measure for settling up desert lands,
known as the desert land law, which allowed every per-
son an additional 640 acres, making a total of about 1,200
acres of land which under the law one man could legally
obtain from the government. Besides these the stone
and timber act, the various land and scrip laws and the
mining laws offered any one all the land he could afford
to buy at a very low price, seldom above $2.50 and much
of it at $1.25 per acre.
Displacing Stockmen. — The whole West was prac-
tically before them. The stockmen who were the pio-
neers in the country had done very little towards ob-
taining permanent homes, contenting themselves with
taking up a ranch here and there, which offered a good
82 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
point for establishing a headquarters camp or cutting
hay for winter feeding. As a general thing, however,
they scorned a permanent home, and as fast as the
settlers came into their neighborhood crowded farther
and farther out into the almost unknown land ahead of
them.
I well remember in 1885 the disgust which fell upon
my own outfit, then located upon the Little Colorado
River in northern Arizona, over the advent of a neighbor.
Our nearest had been twenty-five miles distant, and the
newcomer had the temerity to turn loose 1,000 head of
west Texas heifers at a point fully twenty miles above us.
Our own cattle seldom wandered more than five miles
away from the rough camp where we had established
ourselves. Between us and the new neighbor was an
almost untouched stretch of grass land, and back of us
lay a virgin country fifty miles wide with not a settler
or a domestic animal on it. Nevertheless, we felt much
aggrieved at the nerve of the newcomer to crowd in
on us in that fashion, and for several months there was
a hostile feeling between the two outfits. As the new-
comer had been squeezed out of his Texas ranges by
nesters, our lack of cordiality made no impression what-
ever upon him.
This was the beginning of the end of our delight-
ful isolation, and we lived to see stockmen's cabins at
every water hole and available location all over the
country. Where we had felt crowded by 2,000 cattle,
50,000 were hunting grass and water on the same range
a few years later. And our case was typical of what was
happening all over the range country.
Early Settlers in the Great Plains Region.— While
the stockmen were neglecting their opportunities the
84 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
farming class of settlers were working westward into
Kansas and Nebraska, following up the streams where
the rich bottom lands offered splendid returns to the
agriculturist. For many years the higher lands or
mesas (from the Spanish meaning table) lying back
from the streams were passed by and allowed to remain
for the open range of the stockmen. Gradually the
available locations along the streams were taken up
and the newcomers tried farming on the higher benches
back from the bottom lands, while the line of settlers
worked farther and farther west out into the region
where the rainfall was much less.
For a series of years they raised great crops all over
this region. Then came a setback through drouth that
extended over several years. Not being prepared to face
such a condition they were forced to abandon their
farms, and from about the line of the 97th Meridian
west almost up to the foothills of the Rockies they prac-
tically deserted the country en masse. The land went
back to the stockmen and the tide of westward emigra-
tion stood still for several years.
Meantime, in some parts of the Southwest, in Ari-
zona, New Mexico and'Colorado, the California method
of irrigation was gaining a footing. Thin lines of settle-
ments were working up the various little streams whose
waters were taken from them through ditches and
poured upon the thirsty land. In northern Arizona the
Mormons established themselves at several points, sur-
mounting obstacles that no other class of people on
earth could have successfully overcome.
All that great country along the Arkansas River in
Western Kansas and eastern Colorado was then consid-
ered as the very cream of the open range. Thousands
COMING OF THE SETTLER. 85
upon thousands of cattle and horses ranged over those
broad prairies, watering at the river and grazing back
over the prairies for miles upon each side of it. Then
the settlers began to creep up its borders and gradually
the stockmen found their watering places fenced up,
and where once there had been miles upon miles of open
water along the river they found their cattle turned back
by the farmers' fences.
This was the beginning of the end, for about that
time the effect of overgrazing began to tell on the carry-
ing capacity of the ranges, and one hard winter literally
swept the country bare of stock.
The Settlers' Second Attack on the Arid Regions.— A
few years later, encouraged by a series of wet years, the
farmers again took up their attack on the desert and
slowly began to force their way westward. The class
of men who came this second time were better prepared
to meet the vicissitudes of desert farming and had suffi-
cient means to meet a few bad years. Fortunately for
the country, as well as their own future, there followed
a decade of splendid years. The line of farms worked
steadily westward until the little town of Hutchinson,
Kans., which at one time was considered in the very
heart of the desert, was left far behind.
Ask any old-time farmer what made the change, and
he will promptly assure you that the climate has
changed. He will declare that it rains more than it used
to and that there is not so much wind as formerly, all
of which he believes accounts for the success of the
farmer in the desert. However, the weather records kept
for forty years at Fort Dodge, Kans., and almost as long
at other western army posts, prove conclusively that
taken by ten-year periods there has been no appreciable
86 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
change in the rainfall or other climatic conditions any-
where in the West.
Success of the Settlers. — The success of the whole
thing lay in the fact that with the second attack the
settlers had a series of years in which the rainfall was
unusually regular. This gave them time to get estab-
lished in some comfort. When a series of dry years
came they had the soil in such condition that it returned
them good crops with much less rain, while even if the
crops failed for one year they had saved up surplus
enough to carry themselves and their live stock through
a year or two of shortage.
The Department of Agriculture did much to help the
settlers in this work by hunting the world over for
drouth-resistant plants of all kinds. From Russia and
other regions they brought new species of wheat and
other grains that were accustomed to grow with a mini-
mum of moisture. On the steppes of Russia it found
an alfalfa that grew amid the most inhospitable condi-
tions of cold and drouth. This work was also of great
value to the dry-farming raid on the desert lands which
came a few years later.
Then came the great'growth of the beet sugar indus-
try all over the West. Huge irrigation works were
planned and carried out wherever there was a stream
available. Western Kansas and eastern Colorado made
especially great strides in these respects. In the North-
west in Montana, Idaho, Utah and the two Dakotas,
between the growth of the sugar industry and the grow-
ing of wheat on lands that had always been supposed to
be worthless for any purpose whatever except grazing,
the settlers swarmed over the land.
All these things spelled finis for the range stock busi-
COMING OF THE SETTLER. 87
ness. The Dakotas, which at one time were the great-
est of the open range states, practically ceased to be fac-
tors in it. This also held good on large areas of the
other states, although few of them became so completely
possessed by the "man with the hoe" as the Dakotas.
In the meantime the same process had been repeated on
the Pacific Coast. The Sierras offered a barrier to the
settlers in California, but they pushed up the coast and
worked their way eastward into Oregon and Washing-
ton, over the tips of the Cascades and out onto the great
sweeping prairies of eastern Oregon.
The Mormons.— With their oasis at Salt L£ke City
for a headquarters, the settlement started on the margin
of the great Salt Lake in 1847 by the Mormons was
slowly spreading out, feeling its way cautiously. Once
a foot was planted they never turned back nor aban-
doned their position. Down into Arizona on the south,
and north into Idaho, pressed these desert fighters of
Brigham Young. Alone and unaided they faced and
solved some of the most difficult problems that the new-
comers in any country have been called upon to meet.
The Nesters. — One peculiar class of western settler
was the nester. As the stock-raisers opened up the
country the water question soon became important, and
locations on creeks and other streams, springs and water
holes began to have a decided value. Ordinarily the
larger outfits made locations in various ways, so as to
cover these watering places upon the more important
parts of their range, with a view to spreading out their
holdings in such a way that through their control of the
watering places the surrounding range would naturally
be left to their stock. Through dummy locators, land
scrip and many other methods, some legal and others at
88 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
least questionable, such locations were spread over as
large a country as possible. Still it was not always prac-
ticable to protect every place.
The nester, alive to this fact, dropped down into the
middle of the range at some unimportant water hole
and unloaded his goods and chattels from his covered
wagon. Possibly he filed a bona fide location upon the
place; more often he did not. In any event, he had
several months in which to perfect his filings before he
could be removed legally, and meantime in most cases
he was there simply to harass the stockman. Little
patches of ground were plowed up with a pretense of
farming and a crop was planted. The range cattle would
break through the ramshackle fence which had been
placed about the so-called farm and immediately a dam-
age claim was instituted.
Motherless calves were picked up and branded by the
nester, whose sole claim to them was through the pos-
session of a team, possibly a couple of milk cows, and
the ownership of a brand, which was seldom legally
recorded. His dogs fought off the range cattle when
they came for water, and more often the water itself
was fenced in. The final coup de grace by such an indi-
vidual was a threat to sell out his claim to some wan-
dering sheepman.
In every possible way the nester was a thorn in thr
side of the stockmen, especially the cattle outfits. If his
claim was purchased merely to get rid of him, he gener-
ally moved along onto some other range, and repeated
the proceedings. The nester was responsible for an im-
mense amount of hard feeling between the cattle and
sheep interests, as well as more or less bloodshed through
attempts to get rid of him and his kind, by evictions ai
the muzzle of a Winchester.
COMING OF THE SETTLER.
89
The Dry Farmers. — During the past few years a new
type of settler, the dry farmer or "kafer corn-er," as he is
often called, has worked great changes in the western
ranges, especially in the Great Plains region lying east
of the Rocky Mountains. Through this broad strip,
which is probably 200 miles wide and extends from the
Canadian line on the north down into the Texas staked
plains on the south, the annual rainfall of about 18 inches
is sufficient to admit of dry farming, or farming without
irrigation, if carried on under certain well-defined prin-
ciples.
While the dry farming scheme is not altogether of
recent origin, having been practiced for many years in
certain portions of the arid region, it attracted but little
attention until a few years ago. Partially under the im-
pulse of land-booming agencies, this new system of farm-
ing was brought prominently before the public. As the
areas on which it could be applied were large and open
to settlement under Government laws, the land-hungry
people eagerly took up the idea. The Panhandle of
Texas was the scene of the greatest development, and in
an incredibly short time thousands of settlers secured
homes on land that had been previously classed as fit
only for grazing purposes. Aided by a series of unusu-
ally good years they grew crops the equal of anything
possible by irrigation. Miles and miles of prairie land
were broken up by farmers, most of them well-to-do
eastern men, who brought with them not only their
horses, cows and household furniture but money enough
to carry them over the first few years.
Under such conditions the changes that came over
the land in the dry-farming regions were remarkable.
Little hamlets grew into towns, towns into cities, and
90 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
where only the sheep-herder or cowboy had lately
reigned, every quarter-section had its house. Miles and
miles of wire fences closed the ranges up to stockmen,
and thousands of cattle and sheep were forced to leave
the regions which they had used for years. Many of the
larger outfits, seeing the inevitable, sold their stock and
left the country in disgust. Many who had bought large
tracts of land, especially in Texas, found their land far
too valuable to retain for cattle-raising, so after ship-
ping out the cattle they divided their holdings into small
tracts, which were eagerly snapped up. Land that had
for years gone begging at $1 to $2 per acre was held at
$20 to $40 per acre.
The dry farmers poured over into eastern New Mex-
ico, where the conditions of land and rainfall were the
same as in the Panhandle, and drove the stockmen from
their ranges in that region. Up through eastern Colo-
rado into Wyoming, Montana and Utah the same condi-
tions prevailed, and the end is not yet.
That total failure was prophesied by all the old-
timers in the West goes without saying. That there has
so far been no general failure is an honest fact. Here
and there failures have' occurred, due to spotted rain-
fall, and a total disregard of the true scientific principles
underlying the dry-farming theory. Generally speak-
ing, however, all over this dry-farming region the prin-
ciple has worked out in a highly successful manner, and
unquestionably the dry farmer is here to stay, and must
be reckoned with in the future as an additional producer
of stock and farm products.
CHAPTER IV.
LIVE STOCK ON THE RANGE.
•
Live Stock on the Range. — On January 1, 1913, there
were in the United States, according to the Government
statistics, 56,527,000 cattle, 51,482,000 sheep, 20,567,000
horses and 4,386,000 mules. The total value of these
animals was over $4,357,000,000. In the states that lie
west of the Missouri River, and which may be classified
as range states, namely, Washington, Oregon, Califor-
nia, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colo-
rado, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska,
North Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, the total
number of stock Jan. 1, 1913, was -as 'follows : Cattle,
23,218,000; sheep, 32,124,000. The state of Texas stands
at the head of the western cattle states with a total of
6,056,000 head, while Montana, with 5,111,000 sheep
heads the list of sheep-owning states, Wyoming coming
next with 4,472,000 head.
Live Stock in Western States. — The figures on the
following page taken from the government reports show-
ing the number of each class of stock in the various range
states on Jan. 1, 1910, and on Jan. 1, 1913, may be of
interest to students.
Of the eastern states little Rhode Island has 7,000
sheep and the great corn-growing and cattle-feeding
state of Iowa has 3,944,000 cattle. A net reduction of
91
92
WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
almost seven million cattle in these states in the three
years is a ready answer to the question of why beefsteak
is so high.
State.
Cattle-
1910
Texas 8,268,000
Montana 922,000
Wyoming 986,000
Colorado 1,586,000
New Mexico 930,000
Arizona 651,000
Utah 415,000
Nevada 423,000
Idaho 421,000
Oregon 872,000
California 1,572,000
Washington
North Dakota
South Dakota 1,996,000
Nebraska 3,919,000
Kansas 3,997,000
Oklahoma... .. 1,992,000
1913
6,056,000
812,000
542,000
1,093,000
947,000
812,000
437,900
453,000
442,000
639,000
1,964,000
405,000
714,000
1,278,000
2,509,000
2,476,000
1,639,000
30,376,000 23,218,000
Sheep ^
1910 1913
1,909,000 2,073,000
5,747,000 5,111,000
7,316,000 4,472,000
1,729,000 ,737,000
4,729,000 3,330,000
1,020,000 . ,570,000
3,177,000 ,990,000
1,585,000 ,487,000
4,248,000 2,951,000
2,581,000 2,644,000
2,372,000 2,603,000
783,000 501,000
621,000 293,000
829,000 593,000
393,000 382,000
278,000 316,000
108,000 71,000
39,425,000 32,124,000
Short-horns on the Range. — In the early years of
the western range business Short-horns, then called
Durhams, were the predominant breed. The long-horns
from Texas could not be classified under any particular
breed or kind, but were probably descendants of the
Spanish cattle brought 'originally into old Mexico from
where they spread to the Texas ranges. There they
were bred up mainly by the use of Short-horn bulls.
So long as the ranges were virgin and grass was plenti-
ful, J;he Short-horn breed flourished and held its own.
The Devon was raised to some extent, the Mormon
people who went west taking a large number of Devons
with them. For years many of the herds in Utah and
those places where the early Mormon pioneers gained a
foothold showed the cherry red of the Devon blood very
plainly. As the ranges were filled up with stock and
LIVE STOCK ON THE RANGE
93
feed became scarce, the Short-horn was found deficient
in those rustling qualities which were an absolute neces-
sity where animals were allowed to fight for their lives
in the snows of winter and the drouths of summer.
The Short-horn in such circumstances lost much of its
Type of Short-horn Bull.
vitality and stamina and it was soon found that a hardier
breed must be used for the open range.
The Advent of Herefords. — Then Herefords began
to make their appearance, and with their unrivaled
rustling ability, their prepotency (which shows in the
white faces of the calves, no matter how low the grade
Type of Devon Bull,
Type of Hereford Bull.
LIVE STOCK ON THE RANGE
95
may be), and their early-maturing qualities, quickly be-
came prime favorites. Today there is practically .but
one breed of cattle used on the open ranges; that is
the Hereford.
The Polled Angus, now called Aberdeen Angus, and
Galloways were tried by the western rangemen, and
for a time it was believed they offered cattle that would
Type of Angus Bull.
be superior to every other kind. A few years of ex-
perience, however, modified this view. They were hardy
enough, excellent rustlers and with their good coats were
able to withstand hard winters. For some reason, how-
ever, the bulls did not breed well under open range
conditions, and as a rule the calf crops from these ani-
mals were too light to make either the: Galloway or the
Angus a profitable breed.
96
WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
Handled in small bunches and under fences the
"blacks" do well, and the steers are highly prized for
their feeding qualities.
There is a tendency in the Hereford blood, unless
often changed, for the cattle to lose size, become narrow
in the hips, drawn up in the flanks, heavy in the necks
and shoulders and to develop, staggy horns. The most
successful of the western cattlemen, after using Here-
Type of Galloway Bull.
ford bulls for six or eight years, have put the very
roughest big-boned Short-horns they could procure into
their herds for a couple of years in order to widen the
cattle out and check the tendency toward narrowness.
When the Hereford bulls are again used the calves
resulting from this cross are very superior feeding steers,
wide of hips, thin of neck and with well shaped heads
and horns. The clear white face of the Hereford is
LIVE STOCK ON THE RANGE 97
lost by the infusion of Short-horn blood, showing in
the "brockle" faces of the young stock.
Early Horses of the Plains. — When the early Ameri-
can explorers first saw the western plains they found
besides the buffalo and game animals great herds of wild
horses. Capt. Zebulon Pike, the bold American officer
who in 1806 toiled up the banks of the Arkansas River
clear to its source, writes of their presence on the great
plains, and other explorers before him also tell of them.
When Coronado, the Spanish explorer, worked his way
eastward in 1545 onto the grassy prairies of eastern New
Mexico, western Kansas and the Texas Panhandle, he
found the Indians using dogs for moving their camp
plunder. The dogs were packed with burdens and also
dragged loads swung between poles, as in later days the
ponies did with the lodge poles. There were no horses
there then.
Later on in 1716 another Spanish expedition swung
east across the plains from near Santa Fe, N. M., going
clear to the Missouri. They took numbers of horses
with them and their reports of the trip tell of the won-
der of the Indians at the animals, showing that they
knew nothing of them at that time. However, as the
Spaniards had with them both mares and stallions and
were constantly losing them from various causes there
is little reason to doubt that the original stock from
which the great herds of wild horses (mustangs) came,
was brought by these Spanish expeditions. The few
that were lost bred rapidly under unusually good con-
ditions and in a comparatively few years they could be
found everywhere on the plains.
Stockmen's Horses. — The stockmen brought many
horses with them which they turned out on the ranges
98 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
to graze with the cattle. So long as the ranges were
good and not overstocked these horses bred and did well,
but with depleted ranges they rapidly deteriorated until
the raising of range horses was almost abandoned. From
1890 to 1900 horses were a drug on the market and were
shot and killed as nuisances on the ranges. With a re-
duction in numbers and the great demand due to the
Boer War and later on the Russian-Japanese War, they
were gathered up and shipped out by thousands until
the ranges were almost cleaned up.
Then came a reaction, and men saw that horses could
be raised on the ranges with success, if they were given
proper attention and fed in winter when feed was scarce.
Today, while there are fewer horses on the western
ranges they are worth more per head and get better
care than formerly. The western stockman is gradually
working back into the range-horse business with great
success.
Mustangs. — There has been a great deal of romantic
nonsense indulged in over the mustang. His beautiful
build, wonderful endurance and remarkable intelligence
have been written up in glowing colors. Most writers
have assumed that mustangs possessed these attributes
because they were descended from the horses brought
over from Spain by the early Spanish explorers, and they
did of course doubtless have their beginning in this man-
ner. The facts are that the true mustang was a small-
boned inbred undersized pony, generally of an "off" color,
mean of temper and narrow between the eyes. Nor is
there anything in existence to prove that because he
came over with those conquistadores he was of royal
Arabian descent. The Spanish people as a race have
never been noted for possessing or raising horses of
LIVE STOCK ON THE RANGE
99
very good blood, and there is nothing to show that the
animals Cortez, Coronado and the rest of the early ex-
plorers brought over with them were anything but the
small common-bred horses such as the Spanish then gen-
erally used.
"Mustanging" was like trout fishing. It is always
the big ones that get away. When you did get a bunch
of them into a corral you found they did not look half
so large and handsome as when they were first sighted
on the prairie. The "coal-black stallion with arching
neck, and tail and mane dragging the ground," which
led the band, was the "Flying Dutchman" of the plains.
True, there was in later days an occasional large, well-
built, well-bred horse seen among the mustangs, but
when captured it always turned out to be an "escape"
lost from some stockman's herd or traveler's team, gen-
erally well-branded and saddle and harness-marked. The
wild horses of the present day are not mustangs at all
but merely well-bred horses that have been allowed to
get away from their owners through poor range handling
or lost from pastures or wagon trains. In some respects
these later wild horses are far harder to capture than
the old mustangs, because of their greater intelligence
and speed.
Wrong Use of Names. — In speaking of the different
types or breeds of horses and cattle, there are several
words that are constantly misused. It is not correct to
speak of a Thoroughbred cow. Cattle can only be pure-
bred, grades or scrubs. One should not call a running
horse standard-bred. The running strain of horses are
Thoroughbreds only, if they have the requisite breed-
ing. This is the name applied to the English running
breed. All American trotting horses that come up to
100
WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
certain requirements of blood and breeding are stand-
ard-bred. Percherons, Clydesdales, Shires and other
heavy horses are draft horses or drafters.
Sheep Introduced. — The first sheep within the area
now embraced by the United States were brought into
what is now the state of New Mexico by the Franciscan
friars, who accompanied the Spanish conquistadores on
their journeys into that region from Mexico in search
A Fen of Shropshires.
of the fabled "cities of Cibola." It is recorded that in
1581 an expedition of which the friar Padre Luiz was a
member brought a few sheep with them from Mexico
and left them with the Indians at the Pueblo of Zuni,
which lies today not far from the town of Gallup, N. M.
The Indians in that region, especially the Pueblos, took
kindly to the sheep business.
Hampshire Sheep.
102
WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
The Pueblos with their permanent homes, domestic
instincts and industry were peculiarly well fitted for
shepherds, and in a comparatively short time the raising
of sheep had become a regular business with them. Not
only did they raise the wool but under the tutelage of
the Spanish priests became expert blanket-weavers.
Blanket-weaving is always associated with the Navajo
Rambouillet Rams.
Indian tribe of the Southwest, but the facts are, how-
ever, that the various Pueblos, notably the Zunis, Mokis,
Acomas, Lagunas and the more northern Pueblo of Taos,
were weaving blankets and raising sheep fully a century
before the Navajos tried their hands at it.
The Navajos knew about sheep for many years, owing
to their predatory habits of raiding the herds of the
LIVE STOCK ON THE RANGE 103
Pueblos and Spaniards alike. Due to their unsettled
mode of living, they did little towards raising sheep until
they were placed upon a reservation in southern New
Mexico near Fort Sumner in the early '60's. There they
were forced to take up more civilized industries, and
when they were later removed to their present reserva-
tion in northern Arizona and New Mexico they had
progressed so far in the arts of peace that the Govern-
ment aided them by supplying the tribe with 30,000
sheep and 2,000 goats. It was the hope of the Govern-
ment officials that through such means they would for-
sake their warlike methods and become peaceable, and
the results have more than justified the trial. No nation
with a million sheep scattered out over the deserts and
mountains can afford to risk its property by making
war upon its neighbors. Hence the Navajos ceased
their raids.
Early Shepherding. — The conditions surrounding
sheep-raising in New Mexico up to within a few years
were almost ideal in their character and much like those
of ancient biblical times. The whole people were in-
terested in the industry, and it was the sole means of
support for a large majority of them. Some of the heads
of the older families were veritable patriarchs in their
holdings, and the lands and herds descended from father
to son for many years. Some of the older Spanish-Mexi-
can families have grazed their sheep continuously on the
same lands for more than 200 years, and are today occu-
pying the same ranges upon which their forefathers set-
tled.
The New Mexican sheep-grower was not so advanced,
however, in his ideas as to improving his flocks as Amer-
ican flockmasters, and for this reason until recent years
104 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
the standard of New Mexico sheep has not been very
high. They have been light shearers, bare-bellied and
small-bodied, but extremely hardy and excellent feeders
when placed under feedlot conditions.
California, with its great mountain ranges for summer
grazing and vast desert ranges for wintering and early
lambing grounds, offered an ideal place for sheep-raising.
It did not take the early Spanish settlers long to realize
this fact, and they built up their flock with the very
best strains of Spanish blood, principally Merinos. As
the country settled up the more enterprising California
sheepmen pushed out into the deserts and country to
the east, crossing the big Colorado River into Arizona.
Here they found a virgin area similar in character to the
coast ranges. Drifting across the desert that lies along
the western border of Arizona, they worked their way
into the San Francisco mountain country, where they
established themselves permanently.
Impress of the Merino. — To this day the impress of
the Merino sheep, which the early settlers like the Daggs
Bros., the Clarks, Scotts, Campbells and other coast
sheepmen brought into Arizona, can be seen in the herds
of northern Arizona and Especially about the San Fran-
cisco mountain region. Their good weights, splendid
shearing qualities and hardiness make the sheep of
northern Arizona superior to the sheep raised in any
other portion of the Southwest. In the Northwest
the California sheepmen also left their imprint upon
the herds. A large portion of the original stock of
sheep in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana was
brought from the Golden State, and through careful
crossing the sheep of this region have become large-
bodied and heavy shearers.
LIVE STOCK ON THE RANGE 105
All over the West the original stock of sheep came
from the Merino foundation, but there is a great variety
of opinion among sheepmen as to the relative value of
the various breeds. Nexj: to the Merino probably comes
the Shropshire, which is a great favorite with flock-
A Cotswold Ram.
masters in the West. The Lincoln, Cotswold, Rambouil-
let, Hampshire and other standard breeds of the heavy
mutton sheep, each with a strong following advocat-
ing its superiority, are found doing well all over the
western range country.
The western range sheepman has learned by experi-
106 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
ence that the ewes he breeds from must have a certain
percentage of Merino blood in them to give strong consti-
tutions and the power to exist under the many trying
conditions of climate and natural surroundings which
beset range sheep. The Merino, together with Delaines
and Rambouillets, which are but highly bred types of
Merinos, is a breed peculiarly well constituted to meet
such climatic conditions as are found on our western
desert ranges. To such qualities they add the herding
instinct, which is almost unknown in any of the various
types or breeds of mutton sheep.
Securing Mutton Type. — Shropshires, Cotswolds,
Hampshires, Lincolns and the other breeds of coarse-
wooled or mutton races do not herd well in large bands.
They scatter out too much and if alarmed, instead of
"bunching up" as will Merinos, often run in every direc-
tion. Of recent years, however, range sheepmen have
turned their attention more to the mutton end of their
business than formerly. Americans are learning to eat
mutton more and more every year, and the long-headed
men in the sheep business saw where they could have
two strings to their bow, by looking after the mutton
business as well as raising wool.
Where this has been done rams of the various mut-
ton breeds are used to produce the class of lambs de-
sired for feeding purposes. Then, in order to retain the
vitality of the ewe band, part of the ewes are bred to
Merino rams, retaining the resulting ewe lambs to take
the place of the old ewes. For these reasons it is evi-
dent that a Merino foundation will always be desirable
in the breeding of a band of sheep intended for range
purposes in the West.
Goats. — During the past ten years the raising of goats
LIVE STOCK ON THE RANGE 107
of a higher grade than the ordinary animal of the humor-
ist has developed into a good-sized industry. In New
Mexico common Mexican goats have always been raised
in numbers, both for milking purposes and for skins.
They thrive where no other domestic animal but the
A Band of Common New Mexico Goats,
burro could find a living, and need but little herding or
attention from their owners.
Several years ago the proprietor of a large tannery
where skins for ladies' shoes were an especial line began
the raising of ordinary Mexican goats in northern New
Mexico on quite a large scale, solely for the hides. It
was soon discovered that where they could be raised in
small herds with very little care, when placed in large
bunches and handled on a business basis they lost money
for their owners. So the big goat ranch was abandoned,
108
WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
the owner gave up the idea of raising his own goat skins
in large quantities and went back to the old method of
obtaining his supplies for tanning purposes.
Angoras. — For many years the raising of a higher
class of goat, the Angora, has been carried on in the
United States, particularly in the Southwest and on the
Pacific Coast, where there are several herds of imported
Angoras on Brushy Hillsides in Arizona.
goats from the best blood in South Africa and Asia.
The value of these animals is two-fold, like that of
sheep, in that they furnish a material for manufacturing
purposes in their hair, and also yield food.
Goats can be raised on lands that furnish but little
feed for any other domestic animal. Brushy hillsides are
their abiding places and the more rugged and rocky the
LIVE STOCK ON THE RANGE.
109
range the better they like it. In the Southwest, espe-
cially in New Mexico, the industry found a splendid op-
portunity to develop, and areas of many thousands of
acres covered with the densest thickets of underbrush
furnished the best range for them. The region about Sil-
ver City, N. M., is in the heart of a goat-raising district,
and nearby will be found some of the largest and best-
bred herds of Angoras in the West.
There are also a great many Angora goats in west
Texas, Arizona and California, and the introduction of
improved billies from Africa, where the best blood from
Asia was originally taken, has brought the standard
of the herds to a very high degree. Experts believe that
the Southwest offers almost ideal conditions under which
to raise a class of Mohair equal to the very best im-
ported. In 1881 the Sultan of Turkey absolutely prohib-
ited the exportation of any more Angoras from that coun-
try, and although a few head have since been smuggled
out the South African supply has been the main source of
the importations into the United States, until recently,
when the South African government prohibited further
exportation from that country also. Fortunately, how-
ever, the importations into the United States had been
of so superior a class that it is believed American Angora-
raisers can keep up the standard of their flocks without
further infusion of foreign blood. Many expert authori-
ties believe that, due to the great care in selection, the
skill in breeding and the business-like manner in which
American Angora-raisers have handled their flocks the
breed here will eventually be superior to that of either
Turkey or South Africa.
This is undoubtedly true so far as Turkey is concerned,
because the breeding of Angoras there is not in the hands
110 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
of people who are capable of giving it the care and atten-
tion it should have. In fact, the breeding of Turkish An-
goras has been seriously lowered in recent years through
the carelessness and lack of good judgment by breeders
who recklessly crossed their best blood with the common
Kurdish goats in an attempt to improve the character of
the mohair. The result of this has been an increase in
kemp which has seriously injured the value of the mohair.
Kemp is the coarse chalky-white hair which is found in
even the best of fleeces, and which many breeders believe
can never be wholly bred out of Angoras. It is a remin-
der of the common goat from which the Angora was
originally bred. Some American breeders believe that
with careful selection kemp can finally be entirely elimi-
nated. The objection to kemp, apart from its coarse-
ness, is that it will not take the various dyes used, and
thus it greatly injures the quality of the manufactured
product.
The best grade of mohair should hang in long curly
ringlets from all parts of the animal's body and possess
a beautiful silky sheen. To be of value it should not
be less than six inches in length, of uniform size from
root to tip and free from stain. The price per pound
rises rapidly with the length. As much as $14 per
pound has been paid for twenty-two-inch lengths, while
there is a steady demand for good fleeces between ten
and fifteen inches long at prices ranging from $6 to $10
per pound. The sum of $115 has been paid for the fleece
weighing eighteen pounds from a single Angora raised
in Texas, and buyers will take all they can get at such
high figures, if it comes up to the desired standard of
length.
LIVE STOCK ON THE RANGE 111
The average yearly shearing of a bunch of range An-
gora goats is probably about 2*/2 pounds, although of
course small lots of well-bred goats will average higher.
However, it is doubtful whether taking the shearing
of a large number of herds in the range districts they
will average much more than this limit.
The success of the industry is partially connected with
the demands of trade. A change in the use of certain
lines of plushes and that class of mohair goods, due to
caprices of fashion, has caused a fluctuation in the
value of the hair from $1 to one-fourth that sum.
The goats are much in demand by farmers who de-
sire to clear up brushy areas upon their farms, and
thousands of them are annually shipped from the south-
western regions to the eastern states to be used as
brush destroyers. As meat-producing animals their po-
sition is not at present fully assured. Growers call the
meat Angora mutton or Angora venison, and the flavor
and delicacy of the meat, especially of the kids, is un-
equalled. The prejudice against goat meat, especially
among people in the West, is hard to overcome, and there
is no just reason for it, but when it comes to questions
of taste in eating, reason seldom enters into the mat-
ter. The prejudice is there and argument or discussion
seldom removes it. The time will no doubt come, how-
ever, when with the increasing high prices obtained for
mutton and beef, Angora venison will find its way into
use as a substitute and have its place as an approxi-
mately new food supply.
Hogs on the Ranges. — That the hog is a range animal
may seem absurd to some, but the truth is that in the
West, and especially the Southwest, thousands of hogs
are raised almost entirely on the open range. Of course
112 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
the most successful raisers are those who graze their
hogs on the open ranges while the crop of acorns and
other feed is plentiful, taking them up and feeding them
corn when the range feed is short. Still there are many
hogs raised the year around on the range, just as are
the cattle and sheep.
In many districts hogs are treated much the same as
the cattle. They are ear-marked and branded by their
owners, rounded up at stated times and taken home for
killing or sale. I have seen hog roundups in the Tonto
Basin country in Arizona where hundreds of the ani-
mals, wild as deer, and some of them fierce as tigers,
were gathered together. The young were ear-marked
and branded exactly like cattle. Those needed for kill-
ing were cut out and driven home, and the rest were
turned out on the range to take care of themselves for
another year.
In northern California, where the mountain lions and
other predatory animals make heavy inroads on hogs,
the owners place large cowbells upon the sows. A double
strap is generally used, one about the neck and the
other behind the fore legs and connected with a strap
to the front one. A bunch of old sows lying peacefully
in a hidden mudhole in the thick oaks and suddenly dis-
turbed will make about as alarming a racket as can well
be imagined — enough to frighten away any marauding
animal with pork-eating proclivities.
The raising of hogs under these conditions is satis-
factory, so long as they can range in a region not occu-
pied by settlers and their farms. Where there are fields
and gardens with irrigation ditches, hogs are a great
source of trouble and must naturally be legislated
against. This is also true in mining districts, where wa-
LIVE STOCK ON THE RANGE 113
ter for hydraulic and milling purposes is brought in open
ditches which furnish the animals with a splendid place
in which to wallow, much to the injury of the ditches
and their contents.
CHAPTER V.
HANDLING CATTLE ON THE RANGE.
While the old-time conditions of the palmy years from
1885 to 1900 are gone, never to return, there are yet many
large range cattle outfits left in the West. This is espe-
cially true of the southwestern section of the country,
where, in Texas and New Mexico, can be found com-
panies with cattle running into the thousands, which
graze on the open range.
Number of Range Outfits. — Most of the Texas outfits
have their herds in fenced pastures, but the enclosed
areas are so large that it practically amounts to open
range conditions in handling stock. The Matadors,
X I T's, L F D's, and a number of other big concerns in
Texas, own herds of from 30,000 to 60,000 head, ranging
in great pastures of thousands of acres.
In the southeastern part of New Mexico there are sev-
eral big outfits that graze on the open Government
ranges lying east and west of the Pecos River. Some
of these companies own as many as 40,000 range cattle.
The great Bell Ranch in central New Mexico owns a
Spanish grant of almost a million acres, all under fence,
on which they graze 40,000 to 50,000 high-grade cattle.
There are many large companies scattered through New
Mexico, especially in Socorro and Grant counties in the
southeastern section of the state, where one finds herds
114
HANDLING CATTLE ON THE RANGE 115
like the Diamond A's ( /\), the V Cross T's ( \J -f "[" ),
the Bar W (^/) with from 10,000 to 40,000 head each
on the open ranges. The Diamond A's have one fenced
pasture near Engle, N. M., containing more than 700,000
acres.
Arizona was once the home of several huge range out-
fits, but the years from 1893 to 1899 saw many of them
shipping out their stock and abandoning the business,
especially in the northern part of the state, where the
sheepmen gradually forced them off the ranges. The
largest of these was the Aztec Cattle Co., which in 1888
was running 60,000 mixed cattle on its Little Colorado
range, all in the famous West Texas Hash Knife brand
("/P"). In southern Arizona about Wilcox and near Tuc-
son there are still several good-sized ranges like those of
the Sierra Bonita Co., the San Simon, the Empire Co.
and the holdings of the Greene Cattle Co., each of which
probably runs up into herds of more than four figures.
There are several very large companies operating on
the open country in the eastern and southeastern part
of Colorado, the Prairie Cattle Co. of La Junta probably
being the largest of them all. These Colorado outfits,
however, are generally steer ranches, and either own
stock cattle in the southern country from which they
draw their steers or buy them and ship up from below.
In the Northwest there are comparatively few outfits
handling stock cattle at the present time to any ex-
tent exclusively on the open range. Some of the
largest of them are in Nevada, Utah and Wyoming.
There are, however, many good-sized outfits all over that
region and in South Dakota and Montana, that handle
steers in large numbers, but with the rapid encroach-
ments on the old ranges they are fast disappearing.
116 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
But in the Southwest, owing to climatic conditions, it
will be some years yet before the dry farmers or any other
class of settlers can make such inroads upon their ranges
as to force them entirely out of business. The settlers
have already cut into the ranges in this section to a very
serious extent. It is believed, however, that the limit of
their advancement has been reached and that the wave
of settlers' that has been sweeping across this region in
the last few years, beginning about 1902, has reached
very close to high-water mark. Under all present known
conditions of farming, little further extension of the pos-
sible area under which dry farming may be carried on
successfully can be expected.
Past and Present Range Conditions. — Upon the south-
western ranges the old-time conditions are still found
with modern improvements. The advent of the barbed
wire fence probably did more to improve the condition
of the -open range stockman than any one thing that has
come to him. The former harum-scarum methods are
gone. The breeding of the cattle is greatly improved,
and they are better handled, better looked after and the
whole business is upon a more business-like basis than
it was years ago.
One can still find the old-time "chuck wagon" and the
great mess box with its hospitable lid and cranky cook.
The horse wrangler still occupies the next place in im-
portance in the outfit, and the bronco buster plies his
vocation as of old. There is lacking, however, the old
free wild and woolly time. No more does the bad man
of the outfit shoot holes in the camp kettles or coffee
pots because the quality of the grub does not suit him.
The broad-brimmed Stetson or Mexican sombrero has
gone, and in its place one finds them wearing small
The Chaparejos With the Goat Skin Front Are More Theatrical than Practical.
118 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
brimmed black hats or even Fedoras, which will turn
down over their eyes on a sunny day and do not weigh
so much as the great broad-brimmed hats. They stay
on the head better, too. The long hat strings, which
every man once spent hours to plait from strings cut
from the tops of his old boots, and whose long tails or-
namented with fancy turk's heads and other knots hung
down his back, are also gone.
The high-heeled boots are not so prominent. Once
no self-respecting puncher considered himself dressed
for work until he had his feet inside of a pair of $15
boots made by one of the favorite boot-makers, whose
merits they discussed about the camp fires night after
night. Great high tops they had with stars in red and
blue, and fancy sewing all over them. At the bottom of
the three-inch heel the real "top waddy" had a silver
quarter fastened as a plate.
Then the "chaps" are also gone. Probably the aver-
age easterner will see more men wearing chaps in a
year if he attends the Buffalo Bill and other tent shows
and keeps track of the various theatrical offerings that
furnish pictures of western ranch life than he would if
he spent five years on the western ranges. Here and
there one will find a man wearing chaps on the range,
but they now are generally conspicuous by their ab-
sence.
Old-time Equipment. — But in the old times — Ah,
what money was spent on such things ! Silver-mounted
spurs, Spanish "spade bits" that cost from $15 to $30,
headstalls that took hours upon hours to plait, reins that
were twenty-four-strand and plaited from the finest
grade of whang leather ornamented with wonderful
knots, fancy buttons and tassels. Then there were
HANDLING CATTLE ON THE RANGE 119
eight-strand reatas whose making took days of careful
work and used up the center of half a dozen of the
finest calf skins; quirts, the result of hours about the
camp fires (they were works of art) ; hair ropes ("me-
cates") spun from the very choicest mane hair taken
from some bunch of "broom tails" (mares) which the
boys rounded up on an afternoon and spent hours in
throwing in order to obtain the hair.
Let there come an odd afternoon when the outfit is
not working and out from some one's bed roll comes a
set of hair spinners; from the bottom of the "chuck
wagon" a gunny sack of hair is dug up, and soon they
are busy making hair ropes. One man picks the hair
while two others spin the strands. By selecting the
colors of the hair, red, white or black, it is possible to
secure very handsome ropes of natural colors. When
the rope is finished it is washed in a bucket of water
in which is placed a handful of soda stolen from the
cook's can. This bleaches the white hair and when the
ends of the loose hairs have been singed off and a turk's
head worked in one end the rope is finished.
Contrary to general opinion, the hair rope is valuable
neither for its great strength nor roping qualities. As
a catch rope it is a failure because it is too light to throw
well and offers too much surface to the wind. The rope
is not particularly strong and will not stand any severe
strain. Its chief value is for reins for hackamores in
handling young horses and for tie ropes for saddle
horses. There is a certain amount of spring or give in
hair ropes, and they do not slip through the hands so
readily as hard twisted ropes.
One reads occasionally of old hair ropes made from
the hair of young women captured by Indians, which
120 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
have been used to rope buffaloes and wild horses. I
do not say that they were never made of such materials
or used for this purpose, but I have serious doubts about
the matter.
The "Bog Rider." — In some parts of the West, espe-
cially in the Southwest, where owing to the quicksand
the streams are very dangerous, the stockmen are com-
pelled to fence up long stretches of the more treacherous
spots. This forces cattle to water at points where
through rocky ledges coming to the surface or other nat-
ural reasons the bottom is more reliable and the ani-
mals do not bog.
When cattle have been without water for long periods
they reach the streams famished, and in their eagerness
work far out into the stream, meantime slowly sinking
into the quicksand. Then when the animal, not any too
strong, and burdened with several gallons of water, tries
to lift its feet they are fast in the grip of the sand and
slowly but surely settling deeper and deeper into it. In
ordinary circumstances, if the feet are buried in the sand
not more than six inches deep, the animal is unable to
release them. The suction that seems to exist under
such conditions holds the foot as if in a vise. It was
common to see a cow's leg broken where the "bog riders''
(men employed specially to ride the banks of these
streams at certain seasons) found the animal with but one
foot fast in the sand and tried to pull her out with their
ropes, without first digging the foot free clear to the very
toes. On a good square pull it was impossible for a
strong horse to pull a cow out of such a position where
two feet were fast in the sand up to the knees until they
had been dug clear out. With but one foot fast and
buried not much over the hoof, a strong man with a rope
fastened about the animal's leg is often unable to lift the
The "Bog Rider" at Work. — Top: Pulling a Cow Out of a Bog Hole (Rope
Attached to Saddle Horn). Bottom: Trying to Save a Cow.
122 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
foot out of the sand until it has been dug away with the
hands or a shovel and thoroughly loosened.
Generally in the Southwest the cattle began to "bog
down" in March, and bog-riding was necessary until the
cows began to gain strength, which was in May. During
these two months the losses were severe because even if
the animal were pulled out by the riders, if she had been
in the icy cold water for more than a few hours she was
so chilled that she had lost all control of her limbs, and
frequently could not get up at all.
During the spring of 1893 by actual count more than
1,000 cows were pulled out of the Little Colorado River
in Arizona in a stretch of fifty miles. Every one died
where the "bog riders" left her — on the bank of that
treacherous stream. Besides the dead, about as many
more were pulled but managed to get up and stagger off
onto the range, where we used to estimate that not more
than one in every five lived to raise her calf.
The work of the "bog riders" was very hard and dis-
agreeable. The men generally worked in pairs, and while
one pulled at the animal by his rope at the horn of his
saddle the other waded into the cold water, dug the
animal's feet loose and lifted and boosted on her until
between them she was worked to the bank. There she
was "tailed up" and got onto her feet, if that was pos-
sible, or left to die. Bog-riding was not profitable to the
cowmen but it seemed dreadful to let them die in the
water without at least trying to do something for them.
If the cow did not get up within the next day or two the
"bog riders" generally put her out of her misery, and
skinned her.
The Indians coveted the hides for moccasin soles and
after a good many bogged cattle had been shot by them
and skinned it was deemed advisable to make an example
HANDLING CATTLE ON THE RANGE 123
of them. So one or two were caught and tried and pun-
ished by jail sentences for killing live stock unlawfully.
After that we began to find cows in the bog with the
hides peeled from their backs down to the water or mud-
line, and still alive. I well recall our horror when we ran
across two cows lying in an out-of.-the-way bog hole,
each skinned down to the middle of the sides but still
alive, as was shown by their moving eyes and the grit-
ting of the teeth which suffering cattle frequently do.
We finally managed to catch two Indians red-handed
who when brought into court acknowledged their offense
but declared they had not killed the cows, but as they
were sure to die anyhow thought they might as well get
the hide as to see it wasted. We got them on the cruelty
to animals law.
"Developing" Water. — Again in the early days during
the dry seasons such streams as the Arkansas in Colo-
rado, the Little Colorado in Arizona and the Rio Grande
or Pecos in New Mexico were mere sandy wastes for
miles and miles, showing no water whatever on the sur-
face. The experienced cowman, however, reaching such a
stream first drove the saddle horses across the sand sev-
eral times to "settle it." This would pack the quicksand
and as the horses were strong and active and kept on
the move, none of them was caught in the sand.
After the sand settled, the cattle were driven onto it
and with their milling about in search of a drink the
settling process was completed and the sand became as
hard as a city street. With this hardening process the
water immediately began to rise above the sand and with-
in half an hour there would be a good-sized stream flow-
ing where there had been no signs of water whatever.
Twelve hours after this the water had again disappeared
and the sand was almost as soft and treacherous as ever.
124
WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
Range Methods. — On the range the cattle are still han-
dled in the same manner as of old, with modern improve-
ments. The roundup outfit takes breakfast at 4 a. m.,
as of yore. Around the campfire the shivering boys gather
to eat, and by the time that is over it is probably light
enough to distinguish objects. Each man takes his night
horse, which has been tied up near camp all night, and
rides off into the prairies, looking up the saddle horses
hoppled out the night before.
A New Mexico Round-up Outfit and an Old-time Chuck Wagon.
One does not walk up to the average cow pony that
is hoppled out and expect him to stand still. He is not
broken that way. Instead, when you are about ten feet
from him, stoop dowrn as low as you can and crawl up
to him, not looking up at or noticing him in any way.
He will let you touch his feet and unhopple him very
easily. If you should want that particular horse to ride,
do not unhopple him until you have a rope about his
HANDLING CATTLE ON THE RANGE
125
neck, for the instant he feels the hopples loose from his
legs, away he goes. By rising slowly, and carefully
stroking his legs as you rise, it is possible to slip a rope
about his neck with which to hold him. Do not make
any sudden movements ; go slowly and carefully, if you
would capture him.
If the outfit has a night herder for the horses he will
have them in at camp by the time the men are through
breakfast, but the night herder should be seldom used, as
"Stoop as You Near the Average Cow Pony."
horses do much better hoppled than herded at night. Not
one man out of a hundred can herd a lot of horses at
night without bunching them so closely that they get very
little feed. He is afraid of losing one, and so does not
let them scatter out.
After the chuck wagon has been loaded and the cook
told where to meet the outfit for dinner, the men ride
back on the range. When the roundup boss has reached
126 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
a distance from water where he believes the outside cat-
tle are to be found he divides his party, dropping a man
off here and one there. In this manner he spreads his
force out fan-like over quite an area, and as they all
have orders to drive to a certain point they work in har-
mony.
At first but few cattle will be found. Gradually they
pick up more and more — here a few in this draw, there
a little bunch in that canyon, and by the time they are
half-way down the range they will have gathered a good-
sized bunch. Gradually the men draw together. The
trails converge at the watering place picked out for the
roundup, and as the drives are laid out so as to follow
as nearly as possible the daily drift of the cattle to and
from water they are not hard to drive in. Gathered at
the roundup ground, they are bunched up in one great
herd.
Herds Not Large. — One reads of roundup herds with
tens of thousands of cattle. This, like the hair rope
story, is met with in books but in practice a herd of 1,000
head is all that can be successfully handled, and 500 is
far better. I doubt very much whether any one ever
saw 10,000 range cattle in one herd. In the first place
the larger herds cannot be kept in shape. They are too
bulky and unmanageable. Again, in such great herds
the calves would become separated from their moth-
ers and never be able to find them.
Sometimes large herds will be picked up at water-
ing-places in dry times when the cattle are concentrated,
but when this occurs the roundup boss, if he is a good
man, will let the herd settle down for a time and then
carefully cut it in two before trying to handle it.
Branding the Calves. — If the calves are being branded
they are first cut out by the men. This is done quietly
I
I
HANDLING CATTLE 0N THE RANGE -
129
and easily so as to disturb the .herd as little as possible.
The men work singly,, although in some places, it is
done by two men to a cow. ("double, barreled"), but
this is not a good plan in a general way.
After the calves are out of the bunch the "dry stuff-
steers, dry cows and strays— is .taken out and thrown
into the "day herd." .The calves and cows are then tak-
A Round-up Outfit Branding Calves.
en to some corral if one is available or rounded up on
the prairie, a fire built, and when the irons are hot, the
calves are roped and dragged to the fire. There two
husky men grab them, one at the neck and the other at
the feet, while others run up with sharp knives to mark
the ears and hot irons to burn the brands into the sides
or hips of the animals.
130
WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
A lively crew will turn out a good many calves per
hour, all depending on the speed of the ropers and the
ease with which the animals can be handled. If there is
a corral handy the work is easier, and when it can be
done the calves are dodged out by dodge-gates and
placed in one small corral, where the men work on foot.
No ropes are used, a man grabbing a calf by the right
hind leg while his partner grabs it by the tail. A quick
"They Are Roped and Dragged to the Fire."
jerk and the animal lands upon its side, and before it can
rise it finds a man sitting on its neck and head with an-
other at its hind legs, and the operation is soon over.
Working this way, seven men will turn out seventy-five
calves an hour, and as many as ninety an hour have been
branded where everything went smoothly.
Some outfits that have corrals, particularly in Texas
in the large pastures, use squeeze chutes for branding.
HANDLING CATTLE ON THE RANGE
131
The calves are generally not branded until they are
eight months old and as they are pretty husky by that
time the squeeze chute is a great saver of hard labor.
The chute for calves is the same as that used for large
animals.
Night Guard Duty. — The day's work generally closes
with the hoppling out of the saddle horses, and when
Putting a "Butt" Brand on a Calf (Note the "Slash Cross" Over the Ribs).
the day herd is worked up close to camp and bedded
down for the night the first guard take them in hand,
and the rest of the camp goes to bed. Depending on
the size of the herd, the guards are from one man at a
132
WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
time to three and even four. The men ride in circles
about the herd, so as to meet one another, and under
ordinary conditions the animals make very little trouble.
Occasionally some old cow, cut away from her yearling
or separated from another cow which has been her
"chum," will make a dash from the herd and try to es-
cape.
Stampedes. — Sometimes at night when everything is
quiet, a horse will shake itself, rattling the saddle
"A Quick Jerk and the Animal Lands Upon Its Side."
pockets ; a guard will strike a match for his pipe, or a
great horned owl will come swooping down over the
herd. In an instant the whole bunch is on its feet and
off, and the animals may run a thousand yards or a ten-
mile heat.
The men on guard do their best to point them around,
so as to throw the leaders against the tail of the herd
and thus get them to milling. If they are successful the
cattle will run around in a circle ("mill") for awhile and
HANDLING CATTLE ON THE RANGE
133
The "Squeeze Chute" for Branding and Dehorning.
then settle down and in a few minutes all will be asleep
again. Sometimes on a dark night they will get miles
away from the camp, while the men in camp sleep sound-
ly and know nothing of the trials of the men on guard.
134
WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
If there are two of them, one may try to reach camp
to awaken the relief men. Often he gets lost in the
darkness and never finds camp, so the men on guard
are forced to stay with the herd until daylight.
The roundup thus progresses around the range until
the work is over, and the steers which are to be shipped
are cut out. The other stock, which has been carried
Western Inspectors Examining1 Brands of Steers.
along for various reasons, is cut out, and the stray men,
as the men from the other ranges are called, drive off
with their cattle to their own ranges. The steers are
taken to some shipping point and loaded onto cars for
their destination.
Brand Inspectors. — At the stockyards the steers are
classed according to their brands and ages. A keen-eyed
HANDLING CATTLE ON THE RANGE
135
inspector is there representing" the state, to take down
all the brands and see that no strays are shipped, thus
protecting the interests of the men not present. All
brands for which there is no owner are cut out and turned
loose or else shipped by the inspector and the proceeds
turned over to the state authorities to be held for the
rightful owner. In certain sections there is also an
inspector of the Bureau of Animal Industry who looks
Yearling Steers in Yards at Magdalena, N. M., Awaiting Inspection.
the stock over carefully for evidences of disease, es-
pecially Texas fever ticks and mange.
Loading for Market. — After passing the scrutiny of
these inspectors, the stock is loaded on cars and goes to
market. A 30-foot car is the standard for stock cars but
36 feet is the favorite size, while of late years some of
the railroads have built cars up to 40 feet.
The animals are crowded into the cars as tightly as
136 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
they can be and still give room enough to get one up if
it gets down. A 36-foot car will hold above forty av-
erage two-year-old steers, thirty-four cows, fifty-five or
sixty yearlings or 110 calves. Twenty-eight three- and
four-year-old steers will make a good load. These fig-
ures are for average southern stock and are not given as
hard and fast rules, but simply to show about how much
stuff is ordinarily loaded. The length of the run, the
condition of the cattle, and the judgment of the shipper
are all to be considered.
Care is taken not to give the stock water for at least
twelve hours before loading, as it keeps the cars from
getting sloppy and slippery, resulting in the animals get-
ting down and being injured by the others tramping
upon them. Such animals are in stockyard circles known
as "downers."
Once in the cars they are not unloaded until they
reach a regular feeding point, and as the Federal law now
requires them to be fed and watered at least once in
twenty-eight hours the runs must be planned to meet
this law.
Loss of "Downers." — The men in charge of the cattle
endeavor to keep them on their feet and do not allow
them to lie down. This is because if one lies down the
others will fall over it and trample it, bruising and often
killing it. If one does get down the man prods it until
it struggles to its feet. Sometimes when the stock is
weak, in the spring shipment it is necessary for the ship-
pers to get right down into the car and fight the cattle
off the prostrate animal until a place is cleared for it to
rise. Many a shipper of this class of cattle spends hours
riding in the cars while the train is running keeping
HANDLING CATTLE ON THE RANGE
137
a weak cow or steer on its feet, or the others from
trampling it until he can reach a feedyard and unload.
In bad years, when the cattle from the South are
weak, the losses are enormous. Ten per cent is not an
Loading Fat Steers in Colorado.
infrequent average loss on a shipment where the cattle
must be shipped out to save them from starvation.
From the northern ranges the steers are all shipped
out fat and heavy and are easily handled. Everything
is done to retain the fat which they have on them and
woe betide the reckless puncher who runs a bunch of
138 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
them or hurries them unnecessarily along the trail. They
are loaded with every possible care, and as they are
strong they make the shippers very little trouble.
Hay-fed Cattle. — In some parts of the West, notably
western Colorado, stockmen are raising a very superior
grade of steers known to the trade as hay-fed cattle.
They are commonly southern steers brought up early in
the spring and turned out on the mountain ranges, most-
ly within the limits of the various National Forests, and
grazed on the ranges until snow flies in the fall. They
are then taken to the home ranches of the owners and
fed native hay to finish them for market.
Under such conditions these steers take on flesh very
rapidly and furnish the markets with a supply of steers
before the corn-fed cattle are ready for the trade. This
business is a growing one and while it has been devel-
oped to a very high degree in Colorado, it is followed in
many portions of the West where the conditions are
right. By conditions is meant the proper ranges for the
summer'months, such as are found in the higher moun-
tains of the Rocky Mountain region, and hay meadows
where the native hay can be grown at slight cost. The
fact that most of these hay ranches are in such locali-
ties that the hay would probably not find a market ex-
cept through the medium of the cattle, makes the busi-
ness all the more profitable.
The Humboldt and Reese River Valleys in central
Nevada are other districts where hay feeding has been
developed to a great business. Most of the Nevada cat-
tle are shipped west to the coast, principally San Fran-
cisco.
Rule for Measuring Hay. — As forest officers fre-
quently purchase hay in the stack, some rule or method
HANDLING CATTLE ON THE RANGE 139
of measurement is required to determine the contents
of a stack in tons. In the Southwest the army officers
purchasing hay for the army posts formerly used what
is known as the "Government rule," with satisfaction
to both sellers and buyers. After using the rule for
many years, both for buying and selling hay, during
which time I tested out the measurements, by baling1
from a measured stack and then weighing the bales, I
satisfied myself that the rule was fair and reliable, and
when I became a member of the Xew Mexico terri-
torial legislature introduced and passed a bill making
it the legal measurement for hay there. 4t has stood
the test of several years since then, and given general
satisfaction. The New Mexico rule is as follows :
Multiply the width in feet by the over, divide this
product by 4 and multiply this dividend by the length.
This gives the contents in cubic feet. For hay that
has stood not over 30 days, divide by 512; 30 to 60 days,
by 422; over 60 days, 380, which gives the tonnage of
the stack.
Example : Stack is 20 feet wide, 40 over and 60
long: 20X40=800; 800^4=200; 200x60=12,000;
12,000-^512=23^ tons.
The principle on which this rule is based is that the
face of the stack represents a half of a perfect circle,
and while not every stack is such in its measurements,
the shapes differing with every stack, the average of a
large number of stacks will fall clearly within that prin-
ciple. In measuring the "over" of course care should
be *ised to find a fairly representative place so as to
obtain a fair average of the entire stack.
CHAPTER VI.
HANDLING SHEEP ON THE RANGE.
There has been a great development of the sheep-
raising industry in the Rocky Mountain states during
the last ten years. The tariff on wool placed the busi-
ness upon a stable basis and at the same time a rapid
growth in the call for mutton became apparent. Up to
ten years ago the American people could not be said to
be a mutton-loving people.
A Sheep Wagon or Camp on Wheels in Wyoming.
The sheepmen fostered this interest in mutton by
turning attention to the breeds of sheep that were noted
for the quality of their mutton, such as Shropshires,
Southdowns and those breeds known as mutton or
open-wooled sheep. Up to this time wool was the sole
object for which they raised sheep,, mutton being a side-
no
HANDLING SHEEP ON THE RANGE
141
issue. It was found that several of the breeds were well
fitted for range purposes, and sheepmen introduced the
new blood into their herds with remarkable success.
Lamb Feeding. — About this time the sugar beet grow-
ers around the beet sugar factories in southwestern Colo-
An Arizona "Sheep Wagon" — Burro Packed With Grub and Water. ,
rado found that they must have some fertilizing agent for
their beet lands. They had immense quantities of alfalfa
hay for feeding purposes,, and the business was entered
into in a small way at first. It was quickly discovered
that the feeding of lambs for the winter market was a
business of great possibilities.
142 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
The lambs could be purchased in New Mexico and
Arizona at reasonable rates, they fed well, were extreme-
ly healthy and easily handled. Since they were kept in
close feedlots, the droppings were easily taken care of
and as a fertilizer, made a source of income from the in-
vestment in addition to the profit in the growth of the
animals. This business grew by leaps and bounds, and
the price of feed, especially alfalfa hay, went soaring.
The feeders also found that they could import corn from
Kansas to add to the ration with excellent results.
Rise in Prices for Lambs. — The great demand for
lambs worked the prices up until the New Mexico sheep
men were able to contract their lamb crop at prices
which seemed enormous, looking back to the beginning
of the business. From a price per head the trade went
to a pound basis, and New Mexico lambs have been sold
as high as Sl/2 cents per pound at the loading point. For-
tunes were made by shrewd speculators who went to the
lamb raisers and contracted for their crop, shipped them
into the feeding districts, and retailed them to the feed-
ers in small bands at good profits.
Coming into the eastern markets, as these western-fed
lambs do, at a time wheft the normal supply is at the
lowest point, they find a ready sale.
Advance in Wool Prices. — With the increase in mut-
ton values came a great rise in wool. During the years
of free wool the western wool-growers were forced to
sell their crops at rates which gave them no profit on
their investment. Some western wools dropped as low
as 6 and even 5 cents a pound, and the average for sev-
eral seasons was below 10 cents.
In the last few years the growers have considerably
increased the weight of their shearing. The price of the
HANDLING SHEEP ON THE RANGE 143
product has more than doubled, western wool having
sold as high as 25 cents per pound in the summer of 1909,
which was the maximum for recent years.
Increase in Cost of Production. — With the increase in
prices, however, has come a material increase in the cost
of raising. Herders' wages are higher than they were
ten years ago. Shearers receive much more than they
formerly were paid, and although machine-shearing has
come into vogue on most of the ranches, enabling the
owners to handle their flocks much more expeditiously
than in former years, the average cost of the two meth-
ods is however approximately the same. 'An average
hand shearer will clip sixty to seventy sheep per day,
while the improved machines enable a shearer to handle
200, and some exceed this, the Australian record being
316 sheep in an eight-hour day. The profit in machine
shearing is, however, in the rapidity with which a band
can be shorn and returned to the range.
More provision is made for winter than in the old
days, and large sums are spent by sheep-men in provid-
ing haystacks in order to guard against losses from that
source.
Grazing Leased Land. — The increase of settlers upon
the open ranges has forced the sheepmen to lease pri-
vate lands on which to graze their herds, and large areas
of railroad lands upon the winter ranges in the mountain
states have either been bought outright or else are leased
by the wool-growers. They banded together to lease
these lands in huge tracts, and then parceled the ranges
out among themselves, according to previous agree-
ments.
The best example of this sort of co-operation is in
the celebrated Red Desert country in western Wyoming
144 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
%
and eastern Utah, where the sheepmen have established
themselves upon the winter ranges to the almost com-
plete exclusion of all other classes of stock. - In Califor-
nia, Oregon and Washington, especially in the moun-
tains, the railroads and great syndicates that control the
timber lands in large tracts, have all leased their lands
to the sheepmen for summer grazing.
This naturally has added to the expense of raising
sheep, but the men who have been long-headed enough
to look thus far into the future, have placed their busi-
ness upon a solid foundation.
Double Profit From Sheep. — The wool-grower has one
great advantage over the man raising cattle in that he
has two yearly crops upon which to depend. If his lamb
crop is a failure, he still has his wool. If wool is low,
he can meet the deficit in his income from the sales of
his lambs. Seldom are both low at the same time. Sheep
are also more closely under the eye of the herder and
thus more safely cared for in bad weather or trying
times. The Mexicans have a saying that, "the old ewe
even in her death leaves -her pelt behind to pay the
funeral expenses."
r
The increase is also much heavier than in cattle. In
the southwestern lambing grounds under almost ideal
conditions for1 lambing a careful shepherd has been
known in more than one instance to lamb and "mark
up" a full 100 per cent crop, or a lamb for every ewe. In
the Salt River country in good years instances have been
known where a herd of 2,000 ewes has averaged 105 per
cent. In the same region, on alfalfa and lambed under
most careful supervision, out of 250 young ewes an aver-
age of 150 per cent or 375 lambs has been raised. Taking
HANDLING SHEEP ON THE RANGE 147
the country over, however, an average lambing of ?•
per cent is about the correct figure.
There is a tendency among the better breeds of sto<A
to drop down on this average. The highest percentage
are found among the herds containing some common
blood. These animals seem to bear twins and even
triplets and raise them with great regularity, but as soon
as improved rams are introduced into the herd the num-
ber of twins rapidly decreases. Not only is the number
less but it is well known that the better bred ewe is not
so safe a mother as the common one, being apt to desert
one, if not both, of her offspring.
Time of Shearing. — Just before the lambs are born
the sheep are sheared. Some owners shear twice each
year, in the spring and again in the fall. There is a great
variety of opinion as to the wisdom of this and much
depends on the range and the weather conditions. On
brushy rough ranges where the wool is likely to be torn
from the sheep's backs as they graze, it is wise to shear
twice. On open ranges where this does not occur the
sheep can carry the year's fleece with little loss, and as
a general thing shearing but once a year, and that in
the spring, is the prevailing system. In California they
are forced to shear twice owing to the awns from the
needle, porcupine and foxtail grasses which get into the
wool. Heavy winter rains also make it advisable, the
sheep suffering from the wet wool.
Serious losses often follow shearing in either spring or
fall from sudden changes in the weather. Of late years
the more progressive sheepmen keep on hand in the
camps small blankets of light canvas and if the weather
turns stormy, after shearing each animal has a blanket
tied to its back which takes the place in part of the wool
148
WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
which they have lost. A band of sheep thus covered
offers an amusing1 signt with the flapping blankets wav-
ing in the wind, but they have saved their owners many
thousands of dollars in the last few years. In the old
happy days of the business this would have been laughed
Pens and Yards in Which Sheep are Dipped and Handled in Northern Arizona.
at, but today the careful sheepmen cannot afford to
neglect such precautions.
Weight of Fleece. — The average clip varies with the
states. In the Southwest the average is probably about
6l/2 pounds, while in the Northwest it is about 7l/2. The
average for California is close to 9 pounds, doubtless
due to the habit of semi-yearly shearing, which seems
to make a more rapid growth of wool, but it does not
command so good a price, owing to its short staple.
HANDLING SHEEP ON THE RANGE
149
Dipping. — After the spring shearing the sheep are
generally dipped as a precautionary measure. The dip-
ping rids the sheep of ticks and lice as well as scab
parasites and, it is said, improves the grade of wool.
This latter point, however, is not accepted by all wool-
growers as being true.
Time of Lambing. — The ewes are bred so as to bring
the lambs as early in the spring as will be safe. In the
A Band of Range Lambs and Ewes On a Hot Day.
Southwest the sheepmen who take their herds to the
Salt River Valley on the alfileria deserts breed their ewes
to lamb in February and March. In Arizona, New
Mexico and Texas the general lambing season is be-
tween the middle of April and the middle of May. In
the northern ranges the lambing season is somewhat
later, owing to the fact that the lambing grounds are
not always available, being too wet to use on account of
late snows.
150
WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
Lambing Grounds. — The lambing season is the sheep-
man's anxious period. For this reason the ownership
or control of good lambing grounds is one of the first
requisites to a successful sheep ranch. The lambing
grounds should be sheltered spots open and free from
underbrush and rough places. Water must be plenti-
ful and easily reached and the grass should be some of
the early-growing nutritious kinds. They should be
The "Galvanized Ewe," or Orphan Lambs Artificially Fed.
free from prairie dog and badger holes, for many a totter-
ing little lamb has fallen into such a hole and perished.
Here the ewes are handled with the greatest care.
Extra herders are employed in order that the bands may
be broken into small bunches. The ewes are left undis-
turbed, so far as possible, and every precaution taken
not to worry or frighten the animals.
The Herder's Work. — A good herder will carefully
watch every ewe and see that she owns her lamb. All
.HANDLING SHEEP ON THE RANGE 151
sorts of devices are used for this purpose. If a ewe re-
fuses to own the little one the herder takes it up in his
arms and carries it to the main corral or pens. There
very small pens just large enough for one ewe have been
built, and in these the ewe and little one are placed.
Sometimes a small pit or hole is dug into which the
ewe and lamb are put and an old sheepskin or gunny sack
placed over it. In the darkness the lamb will probably
find what is necessary to satisfy its hunger and in a few
hours they can be taken out and turned with the band.
As fast as the ewes claim their lambs and seem to be
content they are pushed carefully together^nd thrown
into a small band, called the "wet band," but for some
days they are handled very tenderly and moved as little
as possible.
Sometimes the mother dies and there is an orphan
left on the herder's hands. If he has some old sedate
ewe he probably coaxes her to take the orphan in addi-
tion to her own. Again a ewe with twins will not be
giving milk enough for both. If a herder is looking after
his band he will have one eye on some ewe whose lamb
has died. By means of the dark pit or the small pen he
will force her to mother the weakling. Sometimes he
will skin the dead lamb and fasten its hide to the twin,
and the ewe, knowing her lamb wholly by the sense of
smell, noses the dead one's hide and accepts the stray
without further ado. Where cows' milk is available
many an orphan lamb is raised on the bottle or by other
artificial means. Metal barrels supplied with a line of
nipples set around the outside are rilled with milk and
the lambs taught to go) to it for food, which they
readily do.
Marking, Castrating and Docking. — This process is
152 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
generally done at the same time, when the lambs are
about three weeks old, and seldom causes any losses
among them. The marking is done as with calves, and
most sheepmen use different marks for the sexes, so as
to aid in picking out the wether lambs from the band
when they are wanted.
The castrating is also done exactly as with calves,
although some operators after cutting off the end of the
bag or scrotum place the lamb over a log or the top rail
of the corral, so as to be just at the right height, grab
the protruding testicles with the teeth and pull them out
until the cords break. In this way the work is performed
with remarkable rapidity.
In docking, the tail is laid over a log and with a sharp
hatchet, chisel or hunting knife is taken off so as to
leave a stump about four inches long. Occasionally
a lamb is fly-blown in the end of the docked tail, but
ordinarily the wound heals up rapidly. Nothing is put
on it to cure it unless it is a little pine tar, which some
sheepmen use to keep the flies away.
Night Herding. — Often it is necessary to leave a large
number of ewes out all night on account of the lambs
being too weak to follow in to the main camp. In such
cases the herder works them as closely together as pos-
sible and a night man looks after them during the night,
keeping fires burning and in some outfits cowbells and
lighted lanterns are hung about in the vicinity of the
sheep to frighten away any prowling coyotes or bobcats.
Many owners furnish fireworks to be set off at intervals
during the night for the same purpose.
Following the Drop Band. — Some owners employ men
especially to carry in the smaller lambs. They follow
the drop band about and as it works toward the main
HANDLING SHEEP ON THE RANGE 153
camp will pick up any freshly-born lamb and while the
ewe is carried along with the herd this man will follow
with several lambs. When they reach the bed ground
the lambs are placed in a small corral, the mothers
picked out of the herd and placed with them, and by
morning they have generally owned their progeny.
Lambing in Tents. — In Oregon and some of the
other northwestern states a system of corral lambing is
A Lambing Tent in Oregon.
followed, owing to the danger of storms during that
time. In this case a large tent is erected inside of which
the ewes are placed that are likely to drop their lambs
during the night. This tent is large enough to accom-
modate a good many sheep and often two sheet-iron
stoves are used to keep the interior at a comfortable
temperature. The lambs are carefully watched and each
band is kept close to the tent so that in the event of a
storm they may have the benefit of the shelter. In this
154 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
way many lambs are saved that in the usual course of
lambing would be lost and a careful herder will raise
a full percentage of lambs where one who is indifferent
will cost his employer ten times his wages each day.
A Critical Period. — With the ordinary herd the lamb-
ing should be over in from ten to fifteen days, when
they can be thrown together and left in charge of the
regular herder. Lambing is a critical period for the
sheepman and a few careless herders or an unexpected
storm may cause him to lose the entire year's profits in
a very short time. For the owner or foreman it means
twenty-four hours of almost constant work every single
day. For herders it means long hours also and a loyalty
to their work which is sometimes paid for with their
lives when a snowstorm overtakes them and rather than
abandon their charges they perish with them.
Moving to Mountain Pastures. — As soon as the lamb-
ing is safely over the ewes are moved into the high
mountains in order that they may have the very choicest
of green food. Sheep do not feed entirely upon grass
but eat many varieties of weeds and forage plants. Nor
do they need water as horses and cattle do. Sheep
grazing on the high Alpine meadows will go for sev-
eral days without being watered, finding all the mois-
ture they need in the early dews and in the soft lush
feed. Of course much depends on the quality of the
feed, the amount of dew and the weather. In northern
Arizona I have known bands of ewes to go for ten days
without going to water, and when they did reach it
they drank very little.
Weight of Lambs. — Lambs raised under these condi-
tions grow very rapidly and at eight months should
weigh more than 65 pounds. The average weight of
HANDLING SHEEP ON THE RANGE
155
southern lambs is probably a little less, while in the
Northwest in Idaho, Oregon and Utah lambs will no
doubt average more. But taking the lambs all over the
western ranges 65 pounds will be very close to the ship-
ping weight when they are loaded for the feeding points
in the fall. If the sheep are to be sheared again in the
fall this is done after the lambs are shipped, and then
the herds are sent to the winter range. The rams, or
In Heavy Timber "Cuts" May Occur, and the Band Should Not Be So Large As
On the Open Range.
"bucks," are placed with the ewes along in December,
according to the time when the lambs are desired. As
the ewes carry their lambs five months it is a question
for each owner to decide for himself, according to his
judgment and the location of his lambing grounds.
The bucks are kept by themselves during the sum-
mer, several owners often throwing their bucks into one
band and employing one herder for the purpose or rent-
ing a pasture where they can have the best of care.
156 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
During the breeding season the bucks are worked in
relays, one lot being turned in with the ewes while the
other is kept in a pen and fed corn and sometimes hay
to keep them in the best of condition.
Shipping the Sheep. — Sheep are shipped in double-
decked cars and require great attention from the ship-
pers during the time they are on the cars. The main
thing to be watched is smothering when they are
crowded into one end of the deck by the sudden move-
ment of the train.
Sheep are undoubtedly the least intelligent of all
domestic animals. For this reason the work of loading a
train of sheep is frequently a "very tedious operation.
At most of the large shipping points where many sheep
are handled trained goats are kept for loading sheep.
The goat gravely walks to the entrance of the chute
and at the command of the shipper starts slowly up
the chute to the car door. The foolish sheep follow him
and, once inside, the goat hurries around the side of the
car and coming to the door stands there while the
sheep pour in a stream after something, they know
not what. When the load is all in, the man calls the
goat and he slips out the door and down the chute to
reoeat the operation with the next load.
Sheep are subject to the same laws for unloading and
feeding as are cattle, although there is grave doubt as to
the wisdom of the law. the frequent loading and un-
loading" beine more injurious to the stock than the
longf hours without feed and water. This is especially
true of lambs, which will not feed much on the road,
being- cut off from their mothers so recently that they
must be starved into trying other feed.
Size of Bands. — In handling sheep on the ranges they
HANDLING SHEEP ON THE RANGE 157
are generally cut into bands of from 1,500 to 2,500 head,
the size of course depending upon the range. If it is rough
and broken, a band of 1,250 ewes and their lambs is all
one herder can safely handle without losses from cuts.
On the average ranges in the western mountains, a
good herder can care for 2,500 dry sheep or wethers,
but in a country cut up by canyons and broken areas
he should not have more than can be grazed under his
A Herder Can Look After Many More Sheep On An Open Range Than On a
Broken Range.
eye at all times. On the winter ranges, which are
mostly on the open deserts, good herders successfully
handle as many as 3,000.
With each outfit is a camp rustler, or tender, who
goes ahead of the sheep, picks out a camping place,
keeps the camp stocked with food and supplies, leaving
the herder free to look after his sheep. Where one
owner has several bands one rustler can take care of
more than one.
Bedding Down at Night. — The sheep are seldom cor-
ralled at night, being simply bedded down near camp.
Thus handled they are much less liable to loss from
smothering in wild senseless stampedes during the
night. Wild animals also cannot do as much dam-
A Coyote-Proof Fence in the Wallowa Mountains.
Built by the Forest Service in Oregon,
160 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
age where sheep are outside of a corral and are free to
run from danger of that kind.
A watchful herder if he hears his sheep run during
the night will whistle shrilly, fire a shot from his gun,
or shout at them. The sudden noise stops their mad
flight and after listening a moment they settle down
again in peace and quiet, forgetting their fears.
Sheep in Fenced Pastures. — In Australia for many
years past they have been raising sheep in large fenced
enclosures. One mounted herder frequently looks after
as many as 10,000 sheep in one pasture or in several
contiguous pastures. Recently the Forest Service has
been experimenting on this plan, with such excellent
results that many sheepmen who have the necessary
amount of land are doing the same thing. The fences
are built to be proof against attacks of coyotes and
dogs. Bear and probably wild cats can go through or
over any fence that can be built but the coyote and
stray dogs are the most dangerous enemies with which
sheepmen have to contend.
Raised inside such enclosures, it has been settled be-
yond doubt that the wool crop is heavier, the lambs
grow faster and weigh more, the loss from death by
accident is less and best of all a given area of land
will carry 50 per cent more sheep under fence than
when herded. The average loss from accidents in a
herded band is 3 per cent, while in a fenced enclosure
it is less than 1 per cent. Lambs grazed under a fence
weiehed 15 per cent more than the same grade of
lambs grazed under a herder on the same range. Tak-
ing all these things into consideration, raising sheep
under fence where the cost of the fence is between
$200 and $300 per mile, will pay good interest on the
outlay for fencing.
CHAPTER VII.
GOATS ON THE RANGE.
The raising of Angora goats in the last few years
has become quite an industry. In the West, especially
the Southwest, there are many areas well fitted for graz-
ing goats. Contrary to general opinion, raising goats
is not a matter of luck, and the man who buys a band of
goats and expects them to live on tin cans and scenery
will be badly fooled.
Kids Are Tender. — While the Mexican goat is a hardy
animal, the Angora is very delicate in many ways and
requires great care at certain periods of its life. The
kids are especially tender for the first few weeks and
must be given careful attention from the day they are
born up to six weeks of age. After that they will
take care of themselves with little trouble.
Little Herding Needed. — Goats require little herding,
and can be turned out on the ranges and left to them-
selves day after day. They will come home at night as
regularly as the milk cows, and take good care of
themselves against wild animals.
Of course no good goat-owner will allow his goats to
look out for themselves all the time. Still the con-
stant attention of a herder is not needed as it is with
sheep. Goats must have sheds to protect them from
rain and storms. They seem to dislike the wet and
161
162 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
many are lost by early storms while away from the
sheds. On account of the nature of their food — browse —
goats require twice as much salt as sheep.
For the first few weeks the little kids are not allowed
to go out on the range with their mothers but are kept
at the ranch in a .yard or corral. During the kidding
time the does are handled much. as are ewes. Several
A Pen of Angora Kids in New Mexico.
methods of taking care of the little fellows are followed.
Some owners stake out each kid with a small string
tied to a leg and a peg driven into the ground. The
does seem to know only one place to find their offspring,
and if left alone the kid will wander off and the doe
never* find it again. By tying them to stakes they are
held fast and the does come and go at pleasure.
GOATS ON THE RANGE. 163
Other men keep them in pens, where the top rail is
just high enough to allow the doe to jump over while
the kid cannot. This allows the doe to go back and
forth at will, and is of course much less trouble for the
herder than staking the kids out.
It is generally conceded, however, that the men who
use the staking system raise a much higher percentage
of kids than those who use the pen method.
There is nothing more beautiful than a thousand
little Angora kids, lying like a snow bank on the sunny
side of an enclosure. With their beautiful silky, curly
hair and long pendulous ears they are about the sweetest,
cleanest things imaginable.
Common Goats Breed Best. — Like sheep, however, the
higher the grade the less number of twins and triplets.
Take a band of common Mexican does and it is no un-
common thing to raise 150 or more kids to every 100
does. But when you begin to improve the goats the
does seem to lose the ability to bring forth more than
one kid at a time, and like sheep the losses from still-
born young and other causes during pregnancy is much
greater in the high-bred than in the scrub goats.
Shearing and Dipping. — The Angoras are sheared gen-
erally once a year, as with the sheep much depending
on the range and the weather. Goats are not subject
to scab but the best and most successful goatmen dip
their animals each spring to clean out the lice, ticks and
other vermin that infest them.
CHAPTER VIII.
DETERMINING THE AGE OF STOCK.
Almost everyone knows the old story about the ten-
derfoot who took up the bet that a certain young-
appearing cow in the herd was "so old that she did
not have a single front tooth in her upper jaw." Nat-
urally he lost.
The Mouth Test for Cattle.— The "toothing" of cattle
on the range is the means of settling many a wager as
to the age of an animal. It is not by any means a very
satisfactory method because of so many variations in
the age at which different animals shed their milk teeth
and get the permanent ones. This is due to accidents.
Incisors of the calf — a, external face; l>, internal face.
feed, breeding and many other causes. On a range
where cattle eat browse they break off their calf teeth
much earlier than otherwise.
The following very liberal rules were adopted by the
management of the International Live Stock Exposition,
164
DETERMINING THE AGE OF STOCK
165
Teeth of the cow at two years, a, ex- Teeth of the cow at two years, nine
ternal face; b, internal face. months, a, external face; b, in-
ternal face.
Teeth of the cow at three years, six
months, a, external face; b, in-
ternal face.
Teeth of the cow at four years.
166 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
Chicago, in 1904, not as representing absolute accuracy,
but in the direction of giving the feeder the benefit of
the doubt:
Twelve Months : An animal of this age shall have all
of its milk (calf) incisor teeth in place.
Fifteen Months : At this age the center pair of incisor
milk teeth may be replaced by center pair of permanent
incisors (pinchers), the latter teeth being through the
gums but not yet in wear.
Eighteen Months : The middle pair of permanent in-
cisors at this age should be fully up and in wear, but
next pair (first intermediate) not yet cut through gums.
Twenty-four Months : The mouth at this age will
show two middle permanent (broad) incisors fully up
and in wear, and next pair (first intermediate) well up
but not in wear.
Thirty Months : The mouth at this age may show six
broad permanent incisors, the middle and first interme-
diate pairs fully up and in wear and the next pair (sec-
ond intermediate) well up but not in wear.
Thirty-six Months : Three pairs of broad teeth should
be fully up and in wear a;id the corner milk teeth may
be shed or shedding, with the corner permanent teeth
just appearing through gums.
Thirty-nine Months : Three pairs of broad teeth will
be fully up and in wear and corner teeth (incisors)
through gums but not in wear.
Horn Buttons. — An unfailing method of determining
between two and three-year-old steers is by means of
the little button on the tip of the horns. This button or
rough place on the end of a two-year-old's horns is
simply the shedding off of the outside shell, and so long
DETERMINING THE AGE OF STOCK 167
as there is any of this roughness left as a button on the
tips the animal is a two-year-old and generally the teeth
will prove it. At full three the steer's horns are smooth
and clean to the very tips.
Rings. — The rings on the base of a cow's horns are
not altogether dependable as an evidence of her age.
They do not come on her horns until she has dropped
her first calf, which may vary considerably with
certain animals. On an average the addition of
three to the number of rings on the horns up to seven
will be approximately correct, making the cow ten years
old. After that, however, it is more an estimate than an
accurate determination of the animal's age. Bulls and
steers have no rings on their horns.
Age of Horses. — The horse has six incisors or front
teeth and two tushes or canine teeth on each jaw, be-
sides the grinders. At twelve months a horse has six
colt teeth or incisors on each jaw which remain in use
until the animal is about two and one-half years old. At
that time the two center1 incisors are shed and the
permanent teeth are coming in.
At from 2 to 2^ years the two central milk incisors
are replaced by permanent incisors and these are up and
in wear at 3.
At from 3 to 3l/2 years the two lateral milk incisors
are replaced by permanent incisors and these are up and
in wear at 4.
At 4 to 4j/2 the corner incisors are replaced and are
up and in wear at 5. The tushes come in at the same
time.
At 6 the "cups" or marks begin to disappear from the
central permanent incisors.
168 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
Teeth of the horse at one year. Teeth of the horse at two years.
Teeth of the horse at three years off. Teeth of the horse at four years off.
Teeth
of the horse at six years. Teeth of the horse at eight years.
DETERMINING THE AGE OF STOCK 169
At 7 the "clips'' or marks begin to disappear from the
lateral permanent incisors.
At 8 the "cups" or marks begin to disappear from the
corner permanent incisors.
The wearing-away process is shown more particularly
in the "cups" or dark, oval rings in the teeth. This at
first extends clear across the face of the tooth, but as
the tooth wears down the ring draws in until finally it
almost disappears. It is as if there were a small dark-
colored inverted cone in the tooth. As this cone wears
down the diameter of the base gradually lessens until it
becomes a mere dot or point.
The feed given a horse has much to do with the wear-
ing away of the teeth. There is a tremendous difference
in this respect between horses raised in an alfalfa coun-
try where very little or no corn is fed and those raised
in a corn-growing region, the latter showing far more
wear on the teeth. In Arizona we used to think that
as between two horses, one born and raised in the
mountains and the other in the sandhill ranges, the
latter showed a great deal more wear on his teeth,
due to the grinding effects of the sand picked up in
grazing.
However, after eight or nine years the determination
of the age of a horse is more or less a matter of guess-
work, as the teeth furnish no sure evidence of the animal's
age.
The supra-orbits or soft places above a horse's eyes
are one test most commonly used. In the young horse
the skin here is nearly level with the rest of the fore-
head. With advancing age it begins to hollow out until
in a horse over ten or twelve the cavities are very deep.
Also the ears offer another means, as with age they begin
170 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
Teeth of the Sheep — I, at one year; II, at eighteen months; III, at two years
three months, a, external face; b, internal face.
DETERMINING THE AGE OF STOCK
171
Teeth of the Sheep— IV, at three years; V, at four years, a, external face; b,
internal face.
172 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
to draw nearer together and stick straight up and seem
to have less flexibility either to use or to the touch. The
face also about the eyes and on the forehead will show
gray hairs, much as a person begins to get gray on the
temples.
To the experienced horseman the whole face gives an
indication of age but there is no rule that will aid the
ordinary investigator to take advantage of these points.
It is a matter of experience, judgment and in most cases
pure intuition.
Age of Sheep. — Like all ruminants, sheep have no
upper front teeth.
The lamb has six small white milk teeth.
Between twelve and fifteen months, the center pair
drop out and two permanent incisors come in.
At twenty to twenty-four, the next two permanent in-
cisors come in.
At thirty to thirty-six, two more permanent incisors
appear.
At forty and over the last permanent pair of incisors
— the corner pair — come in and the mouth is full.
This gives the sheep eight incisors, two more than
the cow^^ horse. &^<X fcvct /a-an/nx. ^yhjLC^viJ-
The permanent teeth of the sheep can easily be dis-
tinguished, for they are darker in color and twice the
size of the milk teeth. After four years, the only way
to ascertain the age of a sheep by the teeth is from the
wear on them.
Broken-mouthed ewes are those sheep some of whose
teeth have been broken off in feeding. This condition
generally begins to show from seven years and sheep
thus injured should be legged out of a band and sold
for fattening, as they will not do well on the range.
CHAPTER IX.
RANGE STOCK MANAGEMENT.
The Government rules for handling stock on the
National Forests require sheep and goat herds to be
moved frequently and not bedded down in one place
more than six successive nights. Nor is a lazy herder
allowed to dodge the spirit of the rule by moving off
the bed ground for a single night and then going
back to it again. The wisdom of this regulation is
so apparent that it is hard to see why there can be
any possible objection to it.
Objections to Repeated Use of Bed Ground. — The
wear and tear on a range when sheep come into the
same bed ground night after night is great, and also
the sheep undoubtedly suffer from having to travel back
and forth every day across a stretch of range which
has been picked over again and again until the very
grass roots are torn out. Many losses from poisoning
result from this cause, as the sheep leave the bed
ground in the morning hungry and eat injurious weeds
and forage plants which they would not touch if there
were anything else available.
Progressive sheepmen who own or lease large areas
of grazing lands will not allow a herder to bed his sheep
twice successively on the same spot, but have him seek
a new location each night and if possible not less than
173
174 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
half a mile from the one on which he last camped. This
gives the range an opportunity to freshen up, and adds
greatly to its grazing value.
Salting Stock. — Cattle, horses, sheep and goats all
crave salt. Stockmen estimate that on an average a
cow should consume ten pounds per year, a horse about
six and a sheep two or three. They will of course use
more on some ranges than on others, depending on the
natural "licks" or alkali spots found all over the west-
ern country. In many places like the Salt River Val-
ley in Arizona and along the Rio Grande in New Mex-
ico, the alkali or salt in the water satisfies their crav-
ings so well that animals will not pay any attention to
salt when placed where they can reach it.
But in summer, when the animals are in the high
mountains where they get green feed and fresh water,
they seem to require a great deal of salt. As a general
thing they will consume about twice as much salt during-
the months when feed is green as they will after it has
been frosted and loses its freshness. Stock, especially
sheep, that are using the desert ranges in the winter
where their chief feed is browse need plenty of salt.
Without it digestion seems to be difficult and they do not
seem to do so well as where they can obtain all the salt
they want.
Salt and Sulphur. — Plenty of salt also tends to keep
down the worms in stock, especially where a 2 per cent
weight of flowers of sulphur is mixed with it. This is
always a good thing to do every spring. The sulphur
should be thoroughly mixed with the salt and with two
pounds of sulphur to 100 pounds of salt the animals will
eat it with relish.
Kind of Salt to Use. — For salting cattle on the range
RANGE STOCK MANAGEMENT 175
where it must be placed and left for the animals to use
at their pleasure, rock salt is probably the most eco-
nomical and satisfactory, for it does not melt and wash
away with the rains as badly as fine salt. Again,
salt-hungry cattle and sheep can easily be killed by
dumping out a few sacks of fine salt and letting them
have all they want of it.
On the Little Colorado River in northern Arizona a
herd of 1,800 salt-hungry sheep fresh from the mountains
was turned onto a wagonload of fine lake salt which had
been dumped from the freighter's wagon in a long white
line. Within a few hours half the band was dead and
many more were so sick they could not be moved for
some time.
On another occasion, two wagonloads of the same
kind of salt were dumped in a great heap on a favorite
cattle-salting ground high up in the mountains with the
intention of burying it in trenches or ditches so as to
form licks. The round-up came along that day and
threw about 1,000 cattle onto the salting ground. The
cattle crowded about the heaps of salt and before anv
one noticed what was going on fifty were dead and man1
more very sick. This cannot happen where rock salt i 5
used, because the animals can not get enough at one
time to injure them. On the other hand, when salt-
hungry, stock will eat the fine salt in great quantities,
chewing it down as they would oats.
Effect of Excessive Salt.— The effect of too much salt
seems to be to dry up the juices of the stomach, "burn
them out," as the stockmen say. The entire stomach
seems to be as dry and baked as if the animal had
been dead for months.
Fine salt is somewhat cheaper than rock salt, espe-
176 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
cially in those parts of the West where, as in New
Mexico, the great salt lakes furnish an inexhaustible
supply of coarse-grained salt. There it may be had
for the hauling, and the cost of course depends entirely
on the distance to be hauled.
The Salt Lakes. — These salt lakes are peculiar places,
resembling large fresh-water ponds among the hills.
The water is seldom more than a foot or two deep, and
beneath it lies the salt. To obtain it they simply drive
the wagon out into the water and shovel in the salt,
which lies loose and is as easily dug as so much fine
gravel. A hundred wagons may load at one such lake
in a single day and within a short time the hole
made has filled up again. Some of these lakes have
been so used for 300 years and today the surface is appar-
ently at the same level as when the first white men
visited them back in 1545.
In feeding rock salt all that is necessary is to dump
out the pieces and let the animals lick it as they please.
With fine salt some sort of trough or receptacle must be
provided in which to place it, and if the animals are
salt-hungry but a small Amount should be placed in
reach at one time. One objection to rock salt is that
it takes cattle a long time to get enough of it.
Another is that through the licking process they get
sore tongues. After feeding rock salt for twenty-five
years and watching carefully for any evidences of this
among range cattle at the local slaughter houses, I have
yet to see the first case of sore-tongue due to this
cause.
Making a Salt Lick. — The plan of digging long
trenches and putting salt in them, mixing it with a little
RANGE STOCK MANAGEMENT 177
dirt, makes a very good lick and the salt cements to-
gether into a solid block.
Many stockmen like to salt their cattle in their own
corrals, so as to teach them where home is. Others like
to feed it to them a little at a time on the ranges, keep-
ing them just salt-hungry enough to make them eager for
it. Thus they learn to come up for salt every time they
hear the call or even the rattle of the wagon containing
the salt.
Being under herd, sheep can be salted often and the
fine salt is better for them, as to salt 2,000 sheep en-
tirely with rock salt would require too many separate
pieces.
Salt-Hungry Cattle Raid Camps. — In the mountains
where range cattle are plentiful and generally salt-
hungry, one must be careful about leaving a camp
open, as they will smell the salt and fairly eat the
camp up in their search for it. Salt, sugar, flour, dish-
rags and everything else chewable will find its way
down their throats, and what they don't eat they will
spoil. If there is anything more discouraging to the
camper or absolutely hopeless in the completeness of
the ruin than a camp raided by a bunch of salt-hungry
cows I have never seen it. I once opened the door of
a cabin just as a cow went out of a single sash win-
dow at the other end. She had probably found the door
open and stepped in to look for salt. A gust of wind
closed it, or possibly she pushed it shut herself in rum-
maging about the little room, and was a prisoner. The
interior of that cabin was a wreck.
Another time a bull hunting for salt worked through
the flap into a tent which had a small opening at the far
end. The boy who occupied the tent started to enter the
178 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
flap and the bull made a dash for the other end. He
forced his head and fore feet through the small opening
and set off down the flat carrying the tent with him,
torn from its moorings as if struck by a cyclone. Even-
tually he tripped over it, fell down in a heap, and in
his struggles tore the tent to ribbons.
Source of Friction. — The salting of stock on the open
ranges is an everlasting source of friction among stock-
men using the range. Each man waits for his neighbor
to salt. The more enterprising men salt liberally and
their shiftless, selfish neighbors, knowing full well that
their cattle can and will hunt the salt ground, no matter
how far it may be, sit back and profit by the other man's
liberality.
The most successful plan is to have the salting done
by some .man hired to handle the whole process and
each man stand his pro-rata of the cost, based upon
the assessed number of cattle each has on the range.
This of course can only be accomplished through co-
operation, in many instances of which a few men do
it all.
Salt is money well invested. It makes the animals
more content on the ranges, keeps them on their own
range instead of wandering all over the country look-
ing for salt, gentles them, teaches them to know the
presence of man, undoubtedly does much to assist in
digesting certain feeds, and to a certain extent keeps
down the worms which are found in the stomach of al-
most every four-footed domestic animal.
Experiments With Salt. — The report of the Bureau of
Animal Industry for 1902 gives the results of some
experiments, which are very instructive, on the value
of salt for animals. In France two selected bands of
RANGE STOCK MANAGEMENT 179
sheep were taken, each of as near the same weight and
breeding as was possible, weighed carefully before the
experiment and placed in separate pens. Here they were
fed the same feeds and handled alike. One band was
fed no salt, while the other was fed three-fourths of an
ounce daily with the other feed.
'When the experiment was closed the sheep that had
been fed salt weighed 5^4 pounds more and sheared 1^4
pounds of wool each more than the band which re-
ceived no salt., The wool of the salted sheep was also
of more excellent quality and better fibre than that of
the others.
Bulls on the Range. — The question of the number of
bulls needed on the ranges is a perplexing one and, like
salting, is the cause of a great deal of hard feeling among
stockmen. Most of the western range states have laws
calling for at least one good grade bull for every twenty-
five breeding cows, but I am quite certain that the court
records of every range state may be searched in vain
for a single case where it has been enforced.
Number of Bulls to Cows. — Without plenty of bulls,
there can certainly be no hope for reasonable increase.
In the large pasture outfits in Texas and New Mexico
where, as a rule, the bulls are kept away from the
cows part of each year, not less than five good active
young bulls are considered enough for 100 cows. Nor is
this a bull too many on the open ranges where the
cattle scatter out into small bunches and especially in
a rough country where the bulls do not as a general
thing follow the cows.
Age of Usefulness. — Bulls seem to lose their vigor
early in life, and a bull ten years old is in the judgment
of most stockmen past his prime. From three to seven
180 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
is the age at which they are at their best. After that
the sooner they are sold the better, for they get heavy,
lazy and sullen, keeping by themselves, hanging about
the water holes and not attending to business as they
should. Probably many readers will recall instances
where a bull has been used for many years after he
passed the ten-year mark, like the famous Sir Bred-
well for instance, but these animals were kept up, fed
well and not allowed to exhaust their vitality, as bulls
will on the range. Moreover they had the cows
brought to them for service instead of having to hunt
them up on the range.
Many stockmen believe that an old bull begets more
male than female calves, but careful investigation has
not proved this to be the case. The same is true of the
oft-repeated assertion that an old bull is not so sure a
getter as a younger animal.
Dehorning Cattle. — Bulls should not be dehorned so
close as to make them muleys, as they need their horns
as a means of defense gainst steers or stags. Put
certainly every bull turned out on the range and
allowed to run loose with the other cattle should have
at least four inches of the sharp points taken off his
horns. This is easily done by either throwing or snub-
bing them up to a strong post or fence and taking the
points off with a pair of d orning clippers or an or-
dinary meat saw.
Many a good bull has bLv,ii Kined or injured so as to
be unfit for use all the rest of the season by having a
pair of stiletto-like horns driven into him by some fighter
among the other bulls. With the points gone but the
stubs still there they can fight and protect themselves
but can not do much harm to one another.
RANGE STOCK MANAGEMENT 181
Dehorning the Calves. — Many stockmen dehorn their
calves as they are branded, using a small dehorning tool
made especially for the purpose. When the calf is
less than five weeks old the little button of the horn
can be taken off very readily by clipping the hair around
it and then rubbing it with a stick of caustic potash.
Ordinary concentrated lye will also cut them out. Care
must be taken not to get the caustic or lye into the
eye of the animal. As few range calves can be handled
at this early age, the dehorning tool is the most satis-
factory method of ridding the animal of its horns.
Value of Dehorned Cattle. — Dehorned cattle on the
markets bring from $1 to $3 per head more than the
same grade of horned animals, so that the process pays
the raiser of the animal very well. Besides this, they
ship better, more will go in a car and easier, are free
from the fearful slashes and cuts made by the horns
of aggressive animals when bunched together, and feed
together more like a lot of sheep than anything else.
Naturally the best way to get rid of horns is to
breed them off, but until that time comes dehorning
when the animal is small is the next best means of
meeting the demand for the hornless animal.
Marking Cattle. — Several years ago considerable mat-
ter appeared in the western stock papers about a brand-
ing fluid used in Australia. It was said to be quite
as satisfactory as a hot iron for placing a brand on
an animal, and much less painful and did not injure the
hide.
The fluid was composed of several acids and corro-
sive ingredients and when used on a single animal
where there was plenty of time to do it carefully,
would kill the hair and leave a brand on the hide
182
WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
which was fairly plain. The idea was either to paint
it on with a brush or daub it on with a wooden brand
similar to those used by the sheepmen in "paint mark-
ing."
In practical use, with a corral full of calves to be
branded, it was a failure. The stuff, if put on thick
enough to penetrate the hair, ran all over the animal
and made a great blotch. It was easily kicked over by
a struggling calf and, worst of all, in the rush and hurry
"Hog Tied" — A (Horse Tied ODown for Branding or Doctoring.
of branding time, it got into the men's eyes and made
much trouble. Then too the calves after being so
branded would crowd against one another in the pen
and smear the fluid all over themselves.
No one ever tried it a second time and the hot iron
is still the most satisfactory method of branding range
animals.
Ear and Lip Tattoo. — There are several methods of
marking animals in the ear by means of a punch in
RANGE STOCK MANAGEMENT 183
which the outline of the brand or number is made by
a lot of needle points similar to the punch used by
railroad agents to mark tickets when sold. These mark-
ing punches are filled with a preparation of India ink
which outlines the brand in an indelible manner. These
of course can only be used with gentle animals and
are not intended for range use. Recently the Federal
Government has considered this method for marking
cavalry and artillery horses and the Government mules.
The mark is placed on the animal's lip and will be much
better as a means of identification than the hoof num-
ber which must be frequently renewed.
Ear Marking. — Each owner has some ear mark re-
corded as a part and portion of his brand. On the
round-ups and for a great part of the year the ear mark
is the only means of identification, unless an animal is
caught and held for examination. This is of course
due to the long hair in winter, and until the animals
have shed off in the spring and the hair is short the
brand is not easily read. The mark is readily put in
with a sharp knife and causes the animal but little
pain. Many range states have laws regulating the
amount of the ear which may be taken off, the thought
being to protect the honest man by refusing the use of
a mark that like a "grub," for instance, simply cuts off
the whole ear and leaves nothing of the mark that may
have once been there.
Castrating. — With the operation of marking goes the
one of castrating the animal. This is a rough and ready
piece of surgery, but seldom results in an injury to the
animal. The old Californians who raised the animal
as much for the hide as for the meat never trimmed
their bulls, believing that the hide was heavier and
184 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
the beef product greater. With them it was a question
of quantity and not quality.
Usual Method. — A calf is never too small to be cas-
trated. The usual method is to clip off a small piece of
the end of the scrotum or bag and squeeze out the tes-
ticles, and either pull them out with main force until
the cord breaks off itself or else far enough so as to cut
it off with a knife. Some men advocate cutting a small
hole out of which the testicle can be pulled, as is done
in castrating a colt, but this frequently causes trouble,
owing to the closing up of the small opening and a
formation of pus inside, which often results in the
animal's death.
Keeping Tab on Sex. — In the old days of heavy
brandings where the owners kept track of the sex,
it was the usual custom to keep the end of the scrotum
for a tally on the bull calves, and a piece of the ear
taken off for the heifers. As a general thing, however,
taking the usual run of brandings year after year, the
difference between the sexes is so small as to amount
practically to nothing. Sometimes in the spring round-
ups the heifer calves will run away ahead of the bulls,
but on the fall work the balance swings back and on the
final footings the proportion of each is close to one-
half.
Ear Marks. — Cattle, sheep and hogs are ear-
marked, but horses are seldom so disfigured, although
I have seen many ear-marked western range horses,
generally mares,, especially in the days when only the
geldings were sold or used. Following are some of the
prominent marks used. The combinations which can
be made are almost innumerable :
RANGE STOCK MANAGEMENT
185
R L
R L
R L
Crop left, under-half crop right.
Grub left, under-hack right.
Over half-crop each ear.
Crop right, swallow-fork left.
Under-bit right, under-slope left.
Crop and under-bit each ear.
Crop and mortise, or "saw-set.'
Over and under-bit.
Under-slope right, saw-tooth left.
Sharp right, hole left.
The "jingle bob," as explained on page 382, is made
by cutting into the top of the ear, close to the head, and
186 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
just deeply enough to break the back of the ear and al-
low it to hang down alongside the animal's head. It
is a most unprepossessing mark indeed.
Brand Books. — Following are pages taken from the
Brand Books of different live stock associations:
J. A. CAIN Montrose
Cimarron range
Anywhere Whole ear
HERMAN CHANEY, Ridgway
East side Cow Creek
Anywhere Whole ear
Horses same anywhere
A. R. CALKINS, Montrose
Bald Hills range
right side uuderbit left split
right ear
J, M DAVIS, Olathe
Big Cimarron range
left side or anywhere on ani-
mal over slope each ear H'or-
sessarne either shoulder
E. M. DAWES. Montrose
Horsefly range
right shoulde r
Wm. A. DOAK, Mcntrose
' Tabegu^che range
left side, crop both ears
FRANK DONLAVY. Olathe
Cimarron range
left hip Also
Mrs. SARAH E. and Mrs. AGNES DAWSON
Montrose, Cimarroa range
and •Rf59i Square
•E3E3H crop
both ears horse brand same and
From the Brand Book of a Colorado Cattle Association.
RANGE STOCK MANAGEMENT 187
C. L. SCHOONOVER-
on left hip
Cattle Branded . . .,
VJ LX and ribs.
Upper bit in each ear.
Horses Branded 2 on left shoulder.
J. P. WHITE-
> i^
on left ribs
Cattle Branded
and hip?
M, C. DURFEE—
C3 •* on left ribs
Cattle Branded J ft and hip.
Horses same brand on left shoulder.
Some cattle T^ T~\ . r
branded L^ U on Ieft nbs-
Ear mark for cattle, hole in each ear, split out.
J. F. ANDRESS-
Cattle branded ^j on right hip.
T. M. PARKS—
Cattle branded f-' on n'ght hip
VL^ and ribs.
Horses same brand on right shoulder
Ear mark for cattle, both ears undercropped.
Sample Page From a Western Live Stock Association Bra:.d Ecok.
188
WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
New Brands Applied For
The following brands and earmarks have been offered
for record with the Live Stock Sanitary Board and are here-
with advertised in order that cattlemen may be given an op-
portunity of entering protest against any that in their opin-
ion conflicts with existing irons.
Each new brand applied for will appear twice in this
paper, and all such applications will be withheld from action
for ten days after second publication.
LIVE STOCK SANITARY BOARD, PHOENIX, ARIZ.
NEW BRANDS APPLIED FOR, NOV. 25, 1910.
C-
I
XITOQ
X
oo
GO
00
00)
DO)
C —Left ribs. H.— Left thigh.
J C Baker, Hereford, Ariz.
C.— Left hip. H.— Left thigh.
Victor Ochoa, Calabasa. Ariz.
C.— Left ribs. H.— Left thigh.
Bernardo Caviglea, Arivaca,
Arizona.
C.— Right ribs. H.— Right shoul-
der William Brooks, Clifton,
Arizona.
C — Left hip. H.— Left hip.
Frank C. Smith, Kirkland.
Arizona.
C.— Left ribs. H.— Left shoulder.
Wm. F. Wallace, Flagstaff,
Arizona
C.— Right hip. H.— Right thigh.
F. Klass, Apache, Ariz.
C._Right ribs. H.— Right shoul-
der. Bud Shoop, Springerville,
Ariz.
C.— Left ribs.
A. W. Childress, Bonita, Ariz.
Sample Page of New Brands Advertised in an Arizona Paper, Showing the
Method Used to Avoid Issuing Conflicting Brands.
RANGE STOCK MANAGEMENT
189
-MB
Poeky Pord,
Otero Co.
to
0«org« oundoroon.si
Collbran,
Mean Co.
*r
wm. MoOlnnls,
Uogote,
Cone Jos Co.
' *
A
Hal«7 * could,
wolbaoh, Nebr.:
UJggllJgiJ; Go. Col.
n
T. ». snyile,
Uaaters,
weld Co.
T
i
Mr s. Daisy Dunnlng-
.ton, woloott.
Eagle Co.
•
i
Wm. T. SKelton,
quinsy Bldg., Den-
ver -.Range. Teller Co,
1
Mr s . c . r . woodruff ,
01 a the,
Hontroee Co.
Mr.
1
©0
Hbble Paahe Vuagnl-
a'AX, Oleneyre,
Larlaer Co.
^
GO
Kerch X. Kennedy.
Uonte Vlata,
Rio Grande Co.
V
cg>
Samuel R. Cone,
Duel a,
llontrose Co.
T
03
j. P. oailoway,
Norwood, Range,
s^itlgugi * Mont-
0
0 P. Beldeloan,
Flagler,
Kit Carson Co .
i-
03
Haley & Could,
Wolbaoh, Nebr.
Range, noutt Co. Col
3
E. A. Mitchell,
Parlln,
ounnlson Co.
V
Ethan A. Traoy
MI*.
weld 00.
S
rustaoe R. parsoni
Parker ,
Douglas Co.
wt
1
oauit.
Weld Co.
rmS
OQ>
C J. Combe.
Steamboat Spga ,
ROUtt CO.
O
Theodore Lang.
Ft. Collins,
Larinsr Co
ft
00
Chaa. Huber,
Meeker,
Rio Blanco Co.
i
sab l no S. Torre a,
Trinidad,
baa Anlaas Co.
X
L H. Sloholtz.Jr.
Estes Park.
Larimer Co.
£
OCD
Jas. w. Page t wnj
Doak.Montrose,
uontrose Co.
Transfer .
/-H
TT
J W. Sullivan,
Whitewater,
Mesa Co.
0
Oeorge Ulckalsen,
snyder,
Morgan Co
s
Samuel Habaker,
Elizabeth,
Elbert Co.
u
T D. Lorlmer,
Kotohkios,
Delta Co.
A
OCD
Alex. Calhoun,
Tellurlde,
ransfSW "P"51 °°-
*
00
IB ?R.I%fiSi.c"
Delta Co
S
Hike sabaatiano
Trinidad,
Lea Anlnaa Co
t
C. J. JaoobB,
Sterling, LoganCo
Transfer .
<*
}{ S. Ellas,
Dlzon.wyo. Range,
ROUtt CO. C010.
4
t E. Frost,
Sterling,
7
Steve Post,
Sulphur,
K
<ats>
M J. Winter,
Nucla,
•
\
Rio Blanoo Co.
[J
^
Lewis L. Wilson,
ranpa,
ROUtt CO.
i
C P. Larson,
Ploeanoe,
Rio Blanoo Co.
M
OCD
j. P. Oallegos,
San Luis,
Costllla. Co.
Q.
De Witt Dale,
Slater,
Houtt Co.
M
C D. Hoyer,
Allison,
La Plata Co.
.%_
Rudolph Andersen,
Lily.
Routt CO.
0
W. I. Woehler,
Canon City,
Fremont Co.
s£
John Johnson,
Slater,
ROUtt CO.
o
The Arrowhead Live-
stock Co . ,
Swallows .Pueblocc
1
Ernst Burkhardt,
Silver Cllffe,
Cuater Co.
-c^
OS)
Benjamin Williams,
Korwood,
San Ulguel Co.
0
<DO
Oeorge I(elden,
^ifSrand. Co.
^
OCD
Bulkeley well*,
™SS«—
Jk
Catarlnm M.Mora,
Trinidad,
Las Anlaaa Co.
l51]
cyrua Hall,
Alemosa,
Conejos co.
^
0X3
*. J. Daniels,
Ploeanoe ,
~.«HS **••*»<> Co.
A
Filar uondragon,
San Luis,
costllla Co.
^
OQ
Frank Wise,
Oranada,
1
J. W. C. Shepherd,
ueeker ,
Rio Blanoo Co.
03
"Kftrs-
V
John Hagerman.
Rolyoke ,
Phillips Co.
Harry B. Lester,
Clark,
Routt Co.
i
Chaa. U. Hobb»t-
Colorado spgn. ,
El Paso Co.
0
CO
Chas. Y. shlpaan,
Doylevllle,
ounnleon Co.
&
CQ
E. H. Roberts,
Pueblo,
pueblo Co.
o
03
Llzzlo B. sylvestej
Monte vista,
•Rio Orande Co.
Q-
00
Mary C. Mitchell,
Denver; Range,
orand Co.
(T
A Page From the Colorado Brand Book.
The Colorado law allows the owner of a brand to place it anywhere on the
animal he desires,
190
WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
%,
00
Urbano Jlorfln.
Coyote,
I.B.C. I.H.H.
u*\
OQ
A. Brian,
Portal es,
R.R.S.C.
C//VAA
CO
1187 Panltaer.
Carlabad.
L.R.C. I.H.H.
1R
(DO
Picmrdo Orloate,
ehaperito,
L.R.C. L.S.H.
LIMC
€X3>
Abble i. Meek.
•Mk,
l.S.R.H.0.
tK
OO
Inlseto Jfoaero,
Paraje,-
L.H.H.
UD
oo
Cerapio Lorato,
Mineral Hill.
I.H.C. I.H.H.
UR+
OO
J? P. Lewie,
Weed,
L.S.R.H.C. L.H.H.
UJft.
oo
J. D. Hiddleton.
Monument,
L.S.E.H.C. I.H.H.
J*
00
Milan Shellenberger
Hodeo.
I.S.H.C. & H.
uJfo
00
3. M. Tatea,
Tularoea,
I. S. P. E.G.
'U^
00
Jeeua H. Ponerp,
Kelly,
L.R.C. L.H.H.
(JJ/b
OQ
Battle J. Bavla,
Lower Feaaaocv.
B.H.P.8.C. I.S.H.H,
URl
OQ
ffllllaa PranXlln,
Weed,
L.B.C. - L.H.H.
Wo
00
Platt & Coleman,
Sieaega.
l.R.C. I.H.H.
ȣ
00
Inez Beach,
Kontunent ,
L.H.R.C.
o^
UMO
OG
Platt It Coleman.
Clraega,
I.J.R.C. I.H.H'.
UR2.
OOX
Clarence Curtis,
Inna,
L.S.R.H.C. L.H.H.
U-0
OO
Hubbell & MOM,
KL Paso.tezas,
I.S.R.H.C.
URZ
©Q>
A. X. Tier.
Dexter,
irorw
OQ>
Bayid D. Wright.
lordsburg,
I.S.R.H.C.
VR5
00
A. L. Haynes,
Hope,
L.R.C. L.S.H.H.
iy
00
Pablo Dorta&o,
9an Mleruel,
L.H.O. I.H.H.
US
00
Battle 6. erewo.
Hillaboro.
L.R.O.
LP
oo
J.D.w. «, B.E.TeedM
las Vegas,
I.H.C.
L£
oo
ftafael Taldei,
San Kafael,
L.H.C.
LP
0@
John .7^ Kltohell,
Mlmbree.
R.R.3.C.
&
oo
Mrs. M. S. Howard.
«llff,
L.R.C. L.H.H.
IS>
OO
R. C. Paultaef,
Carlsbad,
R.R.C. H.H.H.
*&
00
Chlsholn & Sraig,
Kagdalena,
B.R.C.
bP
oo
Pulton J. Cox,
Lake Valley,
8.R.C. I.H.H.
GO
ID-
OG
Stanford & Langford
Hagernan,
L'.H.C/
UP
€53
F. 11, Belong,
Cooks,
L.R.C.
US
00
Thoaas R. *ewkirk,
Poison,
R.R.C. R.S.H.
A Page From the New Mexico Brand Book.
The first column shows the brand, the next the earmark. The initials below
the owners' names refer to the brand location: L. R. C., left ribs cattle; L.
H. H., left hip horses, etc.
RANGE STOCK MANAGEMENT
191
MARKS AND BRANDS
BRANDS
Posi-
tion
NAME
P. 0. ADDRESS
DATE OP RECORD
•"H
9
Frank Randall
Woodside, Emery Co.
Jan. 20,1903
€
9
H. C. Farrer and A. L.
Tomlinson
Green River, Emery Co.
June 5, 1903
f
10
Elijah Maxfiel.d
Loa, Wayne Co.
July 17, 1302
1
9
Frank Hamblin
Kanab, Kane Co.
Nov. 17, 1902
M-
8
Edson McBeth
Payson, Utah Co.
Jan 14, »go3
fX
H
Matthew G. McMurtrie
Virgin, Washington Co.
June 26, 1902
5~
§9
William M. Hafey
Westwater, Grand Co.
Nov. 12, 1902
S
'5
M. Slaymaker
Mapleton, Utah Co.
August'26, 1903
5B
9
P. G. & Adam Burt
Spanish Fork, Utah Co.
March 3, 1903
Sj-
IJ
W. S. Twombly
Castle Rock, Summit Co.
June 19, 1903
3"
10 15
W. S. Twombly
Castle Rock, Summit Co.
August 26, 1903
©
8
Thos. W. Clayton
Clear Creek, Carbon Co.
July 3.1903
5.
13 '4
Lorenzo C. Leavitt
Santa Clara, Washington Co.
Jan. 26, 1903
'S
9-15
Richard R. Fitzgerald
Woodland, Summit Co.
June 14, 1902
U-l
10
Heber Hoggard
American Fork, Utah Co.
Feb. 25, 1903
7
8
G. H. Fox
Lehi, Utah Co.
Oct. 3, 1902
A Page From the Utah State Brand Book.
The number indicates the location of the brand on the animal. Thus 14
refers to the right ribs of cattle.
Brands. — To find distinctive brands many changes
in the original letters of the alphabet have been made and
to each has been given some name.
192 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
NAMES OF BRAKDS.-
This character — • placed above or be-
low a letter is called a bar, as
"Bar A", S "s Bar". A quarter cir-
cle is used thus : £ and the character
x^x,
XX is used the same p "Rafter R",
and is called a "rafter" or "half
diamond TT-"VV""becomes the "Flying Wn,
f\f\P the "Running W" ; J\^ the "Walk-
ing A", QQ the "Lazy B"f J- the
"Cross J", (J)the ^Double D" or "Buok-
le", Q the "Circle Dot". /\ This is
called "Open A", made thus /\ "Dia-
mond A", and thus -A. "Cross An.
Again, the names of the owners sug-
RANGE STOCK MANAGEMENT 193
gest many "brands. Pete Coffin
smears the following all over the
ribs of his cattle: I PI
The characters r\T indicate that the
cows wearing them belong to Mrs.Eatie
Barr (Z T Bar).
Mr. Bujao, whose neighbors will in-
sist on pronouncing his name bootjack,
meets them more than half way by ad-
opting it for his brand thus:
Mr. Henry Potts chose for his brand
this character;
The young Philadelphian who comes
west to go into the cow business keeps
194 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
the state of his nativity ever green
in his remembrance by adopting the
Keystone for his brand :
Old Jack Barber, whose cattle graze
all over the range in one state,
weaves his name into his brand thus:
BR >
Mr. Key takes it for his brand 0 1
or sometimes HO is placed below it in
remembrance of the seductive game of
Keno, thus: 0NOJL
Mr. Bell does the same f\ . So do Mr
Hart, CO Mr. Head, V J Mr. Fish
and Mr* Spear <
RANGE STOCK MANAGEMENT 195
.1,
The Lone Pine Cattle Co. j. , and
the Pitchfork Cattle Co. §=:, "both
have brands that wherever seen indi-
cate their owners1 names. Down -in New
Mexico one well-known cattleman who
had four daughters, May, Susan, Anna
and Jennie, met the situation "by re-
cording for them /V\AY , SUE , ANA
an(i JEN , "k*16 "three letters "being
on the left ri"bs, while the single
letter of the family name S was
placed on the hip of all of them.
It is needless to say that if any-
body^ calves were "branded the ones
following these "brands were.
196 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
CHMaiHG BRANDS. -
There are few "brands that cannot be
"worked over", as the saying goes,
and under the akilftil manipulations
of the "artistic rustier11, made into
some other fcraad*""}-^!? H L) is easily
turned intoQ-{]( Block Bar Block),, L S
into LJ. 8 , while the "Plying U" "\f
can he changed to either ~\P ( 7 UP) or
(P "tf P)« The famous "Open Eat"
"brand -TT. can he easily made the "Fly-
ing T"JTLand the "Gross H" -f-f-^^ire-
ly lost its identity when turned into
a "Window Sash", FRH • Probably two
of the- most notorious and ingenious
jobs ever attempted were the changing
RANGE STOCK MANAGEMENT 197
of the well-known "brand of the Capi-
tol Syndicate Co, of Western Texas,
commonly known as the X I T outfit,
* the "Star and Cross",
and the equally well-known "Hashknife"
"brand of the Aztec Cattle Co. of Ari-
zona f rom ""T^to ^TP)^ , called a
"Cow Drinking out of a Water Trough".
The joker who did it was caught at it.
Naturally this sort of stealing can-
not "be done very long or in very large
numbers without detection. If the
stealer is willing to take a few he
will probably not be detected, but
let his brand show up on too many
198 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
animals during the roundups and it will quickly be no-
ticed.
The most of such "working over" or changing of
brands was done with a "pot hook," or "running iron,"
a piece of Y%- or ^-inch iron rod about 18 inches long,
with either a hook or ring turned in one end. This was
carried on the saddle under the rider's leg, and heated
red hot in a fire. A brand could easily be "worked over,"
using the iron as a painter does his brush. In some
range states the carrying of such running irons was
prohibited by law.
Picking Over Brands. — One method of changing the
brands was to "pick" the old brand over. The brand
from a hot iron shows because the hair is burned off the
hide. So the "picker" takes an animal with a brand like
the letter p , for instance, and with the point of his knife
blade deftly picks off the hair until he has a brand on
the animal which shows up like this ^ and is good un-
til the growth of the hair covers it over.
Picked brands are only used where the animal can be
shipped or driven out of the country very soon or else
sold to some butcher for immediate slaughter. They
must of course pass the' -scrutiny of a keen-eyed in-
spector, and if he is in a hurry or the day is cloudy or
it is late in the evening he may likely pass it over un-
noticed. If he does discover it the man virtuously swears
he knows nothing of it and the animal is turned out of
the corral and allowed to go back to the range.
There is not so much of this kind of work done now
as there was in the olden times, when men with large
herds did not see some of their cattle for two or three
years at a time and they strayed miles away from their
proper ranges.
CHAPTER X.
COST OF RUNNING STOCK ON RANGES.
In the last few years the cost of handling stock on
the open ranges has very materially increased, due to
many causes. In the palmy days of the business it was
estimated that the cost of running between 1,000 and
2,000 cattle on the range where the owner himself looked
after them was under $1 per head per year. As there
was a certain amout of fixed expense no matter whether
the number was 1,000 or 10,000, this cost was some-
what decreased as the number of stock increased, but
commonly $1 was very close to the average.
When there was plenty of range, and the country
was open for the stock in all directions, excepting for
the cattle, there was very little investment outside of
a good home ranch, the chuck wagon and saddle horses.
As settlers came in stockmen were forced to buy water-
ing-places along streams to keep the water open, and to
fence up pastures for saddle horses and bulls, requiring
large outlays for wire and land. The overstocking
forced them to make more provision for winter feed-
ing, especially in the North, where the winters are
more severe than in the Southwest.
All these things required a greater investment and
thus caused an increase in the running expenses. On
the open ranges today, on a basis of 1,000 cattle the aver-
age annual cost per head is probably more than $2 ; with
small bunches much more.
Cost of Grazing Cattle. — In New Mexico and the
200 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
Texas Panhandle, where there are many large fenced
pastures, it is figured at the present time that the an-
nual cost of handling one grown animal is close to $3.
This includes taxes, general ranch expenses, lease of
lands (from 3 to 10 cents per acre per year) or inter-
est on money invested in the lands, salting and all the
thousand and one little items that make up the ex-
pense account of a cattle ranch.
The year-long charge for grazing cattle on the Na-
tional Forests runs from 30' to 60 cents, with an average
of 50 cents, counting those above six months of age at
the time of entering. On the large Indian reserva-
tions, where the cattle are grazed under leases from
the Indians, the charge is much more, running as high
as $3.20 on some reservations, where the competition
for feed is keen. The average is probably over $1.25
per head per year, counting everything that walks.
Cost With Sheep. — The cost of handling sheep on
the ranges has gone through the same rising process
as with cattle. It also varies considerably with the
locality, there being a great difference in running cost
between the southwestern and the northwestern sheep
herds.
In 1890 an estimate made by several sheep men of
New Mexico and Arizona placed the annual cost per
head for handling range .sheep in those territories at
from 60 to 75 cents. Some Mexican owners who were
able to handle their herds with cheaper help gave their
cost at not over 50 cents per head. Today the average
is probably not far from $1.50 per head. This does not
include depreciation, losses or interest. In 1908 sev-
eral large sheepmen in Montana estimated their aver-
age annual cost at about $1.50 per head, and with small
COST OF RUNNING STOCK ON RANGES 201
herds it is probably more than $2, leaving out deprecia-
tion, losses and interest.
The Montana sheepmen estimated that their average
investment for lands, sheep and improvements equaled
$12 for each sheep they owned.
In that region, owing to climatic and other causes,
the sheepmen have been forced to make heavy invest-
ments in lands, especially hay lands. Many of them,
foreseeing the inroads of the settlers, also purchased or
leased large areas of railroad lands on which to handle
their stock part of the year. Added to this there is
the annual dipping cost, which years ago was hardly
considered, and many other expenses which seem to
follow improvement in breeding, and it is not hard to
see where the extra expense piles up.
Basis of Estimates. — In all these cost estimates no
account whatever has been taken of the item of dete-
rioration. Few sheepmen when asked to estimate the
cost of running a band of sheep think to add to that
cost the yearly reduction in value of the herd due to
increasing age. This I believe may be placed at more
than 10 per cent of the investment per year and be very
conservative.
Take a band of 1,000 two-year-old ewes. Up to and
including their sixth year they may be considered as
in their prime. After that time they deteriorate very
rapidly. The band becomes a "broken-mouthed" band
and should be sold just as soon as a buyer can be
found. They are not safe for range-grazing purposes,
although on soft feeds like alfalfa they may be used for
a year or two more. Thus the band at five years may
be worth, we will say, $5 as breeding ewes, while at
seven and over they are well sold at from $2 to $2.50.
202 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
The same holds good of bucks and a $50 buck at seven
years of age may be said to have passed the period of
his usefulness to the rangeman, and is to be sold for
whatever he will bring.
Right here is where many a sheepman has found his
figures on the profits of' the business sadly at variance
with the final results — and he never knew just where it
went.
Investment Necessary. — Twenty-five years ago the
total investment of a New Mexico sheep outfit running
20,000 'sheep on the open range, apart from the initial
cost of the sheep, was not more than $2,000 all told, and
consisted of a few burros, a wagon or two and the neces-
sary camp equipment. The owner did not own an acre
of land or even a corral. When he sheared he threw up
a brush corral somewhere on the range as close to the
shipping point for his wool as possible, and the rest
of the year they were at home wherever the pack burros
were.
In the Northwest the large land grants belonging to
the Pacific railroads rent readily to stockmen for graz-
ing purposes at an average of about $40 per section of
640 acres, or close to 7 cents per acre. In the South-
west, in Arizona, New Mexico and Southern California,
the average is about $20 per section. A striking exam-
ple of what grazing lands will bring when put up for
competitive bids is found in the prices received by the
Reclamation Service for the grazing upon what is
known as the "Strawberry Valley Project," in Utah.
The matter is fully discussed on page 222.
Other Cost Factors. — But because it only costs $2 a
year to run cattle on the ranges, it must not be assumed
that a three-year-old steer has cost his owner but $6.
COST OF RUNNING STOCK ON RANGES 203
Losses from bad years, short calf crops, disease, cattle
thieves cut deeply into the profits. Free grass is a
myth. The eastern farmer who complains of the com-
petition from cattle and sheep "raised on free Govern-
ment grass" forgets these items which, alas, cannot well
be counted.
Cost of Raising Sheep. — The report of the United
States Tariff Board on the cost of raising sheep on the
western ranges contains some very interesting and in-
structive information which should be closely studied
by every sheepowner desirous of reducing his expenses
to a minimum, because it shows just where the money
goes in handling sheep in the western range states.
Tables 1 and 2 are taken from this report.
The average annual labor cost per head of sheep, in-
cluding the food and lodging of the employes, is about
82 cents in our western states, about 7 cents in Australia
and 23 cents in South America. In the West the labor-
ers include superintendents, herders, camptenders,
cooks, general ranch hands and extra men employed at
lambing time. Of the total average charge, which is 82
cents, about 63 cents goes to the first three classes, who
are usually employed throughout the year.
Table 1 shows the rates of wages, including board,
paid in the different states. The varying nationality of
the men employed has much to do with the difference
which affects both wages and food costs. In the South-
west, for example, where Mexican labor is employed,
the average monthly wages of a herder range from
about $22 to $35 and the cost of his food ranges from
about $11 to $14, making a total average monthly
charge of from about $33 to $49; whereas in Idaho the
average monthly wages of a herder are about $48 and
204
WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
the cost of his food about $18, making a total charge of
about $66. Owing to several governing conditions the
actual difference in cost is much less than the figures
indicate.
TABLE 1-AVERAGE MONTHLY WAGES PAID, INCLUDING BOARD.
States.
Superintendents.
Camptenders.
Herders.
Extra labor.
Arizona. ..
cAts.
84 80
C^fts.
50 38
C^ts.
49 18
Ce^ts.
49 38
California
Colorado..
94.05 .
76 24
68.75
45 83
54.18
41 44
55.13
37 20
Idaho
101 98
69 03
66 66
65 70
Montana
102 22
68 39
62 70
62 72
Nevada .
111 50
64 93
59 42
63 02
New Mexico
Oregon..
66.21
85 52
39.61
62 52
33.03
58 04
32.72
57 87
Utah
89 08
63 06
64 34
62.13
Washington
Wyoming..
89.60
113 80
61.33
69 00
60.85
64 64
57.54
66 61
The region
^^,90.72
59.82
52.40
50.37
Factors Equalizing Costs. — By studying these tables
it will be noted that while the southwestern sheepmen
procure their labor for a much lower rate than in the
northwestern states, it requires more of them to the
1,000 sheep, thus equalizing the matter. In New Mex-
'ico, for instance, it requires an average of one twelve-
month man to each 741 sheep, at a monthly cost in
wages and board for herders of $33.03 per man. In
Montana it requires but one twelve-month man to every
1,556 sheep at a monthly cost in wages and board of
$62.70 for each herder, or almost double the wage cost
in New Mexico. However, owing to the difference in
the number of men required the net difference is against
the New Mexico sheepowner, for the labor cost per head,
as shown by the table, is 54 cents for Montana and 56
cents for New Mexico.
COST OF RUNNING STOCK ON RANGES
205
TABLE 2-SHOWING GENERAL AND RELATIVE COSTS OF RAISING SHEEP
IN THE WESTERN UNITED STATES IN THE FLOCKS INVESTIGATED
BY AGENTS OF THE TARIFF BOARD.
States.
Rate of
income
on
capital.
Aver-
age
value
of
sheep
per
head.
Value
per head
of
juildings
and
mprove-
ments.
Labor
per head
includ-
ing
shearing.
Mainte-
nance
per
head.
Miscellane-
ous and
selling ex-
pense per
head, in-
cluding
provisions.
Total
expense
per
head.
Arizona
5.8
$4.75
$0.89
$0.79
$0.15
$1.13
$2.07
California ....
12.3
4.39
.79
.55
.81
.99
2.35
Colorado
Idaho
7.6
.8
4.15
5.11
.44
1.02
.60
.59
.26
.96
.90
1.30
1.76
2.95
Montana
5.6
4.15
1.42
.54
.54
.97
2.05
Nevada
11.3
5.13
.95
.76
.36
1.11
2.23
New Mexico . .
Oregon
7.2
4.7
3.97
3.62
.59
1.30
.56
.56
.18
.63
.91
.80
1.65
1.99
Utah
9.9
5.08
.71
.69
.38
1.20
2.27
Washington..
17.3
3.71
.87
.74
.62
.77
2.13
Wyoming —
4.0
4.44
.75
.72
.36
1.01
2.09
Total . (•
•) « 2
$4.41
$0.89
$0.63
$0.46
$1.02
$2 11
States.
Average
monthly
cost of
provis-
ions per
man.
Percent-
age of
increase
(lambs).
Capital
per
head.
Average
number
of sheep
to each
12-month
employe.
Aver-
age
pounds
per
clip.
Net
charge
against
wool per
pound.
Selling
price
per
ound of
wool.
Arizona
$13.88
59.3
$5.64
780
7.1
$0.105
$0.156
California —
14.75
76.4
5.18
1,225
9.1
.071
.145
Colorado
11.60
61.9
4.59
853
6.1
.087
.142
Idaho
18.43
67.2
6.13
1,223
6.3
.173
.181
Montana
17.52
71.9
5.57
1,556
7.6
.138
.185
Nevada
14.42
74.6
6.08
1,349
6.5
.041
.152
New Mexico..
11.21
57.7
4.56
741
6.6
.083
.139
Oregon
13.38
79.6
4.92
1,641
8.9
.109
.141
Utah
19.00
72.5
5.79
1,130
7.5
.093
.173
Washington. .
14.60
92.5
4.58
1,231
9.3
.005
.118
Wyoming
19.00
62.4
5.19
1,250
7.2
.124
.157
Total jt
egl5.25
70.3
$5.30
1,097
7.3
$0.109
$0.159
This difference in the number of men employed is
due to several causes. The ranges in the Southwest
are somewhat rougher, water and feed scarcer, the labor
206 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
is not quite so efficient, and the older sheepmen have
always employed more help than they actually needed,
just because it was handy and comparatively cheap.
There is, however, no valid reason why this differecne
should be so great, and the opportunity for the sheep-
growers of the Southwest to economize in this respect
is obvious.
In Table 2 the "maintenance cost" means all the
various items of feed for the sheep, the bucks, saddle,
pack and work animals used, and all grazing fees on
National Forests or other leased lands. Arizona stands
lowest in this respect at 15 cents per sheep per annum,
with Idaho the highest at 96 cents per head. This dif-
ference is due mainly to the winter feeding expenses of
the Northwest and the higher rental value of their graz-
ing lands.
Colorado is lowest in the average shearing, with 6.1
pounds, Washington the highest with an average shear-
ing of 9.3 pounds. The column headed "net charge
against wool" is what it costs the wool-grower to pro-
duce a pound of wool. The Washington wool-grower
with his heavy mutton sheep and high average shearing
shows almost no charge 'at all against the wool by the
time it is offered for sale. This "charge against the
wool" averages 11 cents per pound for the range states,
in the Ohio region about 19 cents, in South America be-
tween 4 and 5 cents and in Australia approximately
nothing, the sales of mutton practically covering every
expense of the flock, leaving the wool clear of all
charges.
From these tables it appears that the average annual
cost of running sheep per head in the western states is
approximately $2.11, while in the Ohio region it is $2.78.
COST OF RUNNING STOCK ON RANGES 207
The most reliable authority on cost of sheep-raising in
England places the total annual cost there, including
labor, at $3.63 per head. It is still higher in France and
Germany.
CHAPTER XL
STOCK ON RANGES IN NATIONAL FORESTS.
With approximately 160,000,000 acres of land inside
the boundaries of the various National Forests at the
present time, the control of grazing matters on the pub-
lic lands in the United States is practically in the hands
of the Forest Service. The importance of this range is
increased when we remember that probably three-
fourths of it comprises the summer ranges, which are
of vital necessity to stockmen, especially sheepraisers.
The summer range is today the key to the whole graz-
ing situation in the West.
Timber the First Consideration. — Inasmuch as the
prime consideration in establishing the National Forests
was the preservation and perpetuation of the timber
supply, and the protection of important watersheds, it
naturally follows that all pther demands for the use of
those areas may be considered only after the main one
of forest preservation. The control of grazing on the
National Forests is of course greatly complicated by the
questions involved in protecting the timber and also
the watersheds of the various mountain ranges over
which the National Forests extend; and it becomes
necessary for the Government in handling the stock on
the National Forests to consider it as rather a secondary
matter, in which the questions of reproduction and pro-
tection of the growing timber must necessarily come
208
STOCK ON RANGES IN NATIONAL FORESTS 209
first. This has been the cause of much criticism and
fault-finding on the part of the stockmen who, looking
only at their own side of the case, were unable to appre-
ciate the reasons for keeping out all stock from certain
areas in some cases, and in others only certain classes of
stock.
Therefore it must be borne in mind that where stock-
men are refused permission to take their herds into par-
ticular portions of National Forests it is done because
the grazing of stock is known to be injurious to the
forest growth and would defeat the object for which
the forests was created.
It has always been hard for the stockman to under-
stand these reasons, and doubtless always will be, be-
cause of man's natural inclination to judge things from
a selfish standpoint. Moreover, the average stockman
is not well posted on the various questions concerning
the reproduction of timber, and is apt to scoff at the
position taken by trained foresters as to the injurious
effects of stock grazing over areas where reforestation
is desirable.
To him a tree is an object 100 feet high and a foot or
more thick, and he forgets or perhaps may not know
that a yellow pine seedling two years old is often not
more than that many inches high, scarcely showing amid
the grass, leaves and other ground cover where it may
be snipped off by his sheep or trampled into a shapeless
wreck by some heavy-footed steer.
There are few of the National Forests which today are
not open to grazing of some kind of stock in every part,
although on some of them it has been considered advisa-
ble to close certain areas to grazing of all kinds. A
prominent case of this kind is the watershed area about
the sources of the water supply of several western cities,
210 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
notably Portland, Ore., and Salt Lake City, Utah, where
it was considered advisable absolutely to forbid the use
of the range to all kinds of stock. Again on the Manti
National Forest in Utah the little city of Manti, before
the creation of the forest, had been repeatedly damage-,
by heavy floods which swept down the 'canyon from the
mountains above them. A study of the situation by the
Manti people led them to believe that the seriously
overgrazed condition of the mountains about the head
of the canyon was the cause of these floods. The grasses
and other vegetation were all gone and the ground was
bare and packed hard by the constant trampling of the
stock. Due to their wishes, the Forest Service prohib-
ited all grazing upon an area of considerable extent, and
after four years' experience the people of Manti are
unanimous in the belief that the effect of this has been
practically to eliminate the floods.
On several of the National Forests where large irri-
gation works are being erected under Government super-
vision, the Reclamation Service has seen fit to prohibit
the grazing of sheep about the heads of all the water
courses which flow into the reservoirs being built. The
best example of this exclusion is in Arizona, where the
Government has erected at a cost of more than
$9,000,000 the great Roosevelt Dam with a reservoir
capacity sufficient when once filled to irrigate 200,000
acres of land for at least two years without being replen-
ished.
The region about this reservoir is one of the best win-
ter sheep-grazing areas in the Southwest, and at the
time the Government took charge of the irrigation
project probably carried during at least four months of
the year 300,000 sheep, besides fully 100,000 cattle. The
STOCK ON RANGES IN NATIONAL FORESTS 211
result was that the entire watershed draining into the
Roosevelt Dam was seriously overgrazed. One of the
first studies taken up by the engineers was the question
of silt; after a careful survey of the area it was deemed
advisable to protect the watershed by creating a Na-
tional Forest there, and absolutely to prohibit all sheep
and goats grazing upon it.
It was but natural that the sheepmen should find con-
siderable fault with this ruling, but when one considers
that the number of sheepmen involved was probably
not more than 200 as against fully 50,000 people living
under the Roosevelt Dam system, it is easy to see that
it was only a question of the greatest good for the
greatest number. The Forest Service on publishing
this prohibition of sheep gave the sheepmen sufficient
notice, so that they had at least two seasons in which
to prepare for the change. It is possible that in the
future similar areas around other national irrigation
works will have to be protected from overgrazing where
the question of silt coming down the streams and filling
up the reservoirs is a vital one.
Liberal Policy Followed. — In considering the various
questions of handling live stock on the National Forests,
the men charged with the control of grazing have en-
deavored to meet them in a broad and liberal spirit.
While full consideration must be given to the questions
of reproduction and protection to the forests, it has
always been their earnest desire to give the stock inter-
ests every possible use of the range. The small stock-
man and home-builder is given free grazing for his work
and milk stock up to ten head, while the hunter, camper,
miner and traveler is allowed to graze his stock without
charge wherever his wanderings take him.
212 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
In studying the subject much has been learned as to
the possibilities of utilizing the ranges in the National
Forests and at the same time allow for the growth of
the timber. The question is a broad one, and must
always be met in a fair spirit by the grazing men on one
side and the trained foresters on the other. From the
studies so far made it is evident that on those ranges
where reproduction is desirable, by keeping the stock,
especially sheep, off certain areas for periods of years
the young timber will get its growth to a point where it
can not be damaged by stock. Such areas can there-
fore be temporarily closed, and once the young timber
is past the danger-stage can be again opened for graz-
ing. If people are going to build houses they must first
be fed, and there is little danger that the areas within
the National Forests will be handled so as to leave the
forage on a single acre of it untouched by meat-pro-
ducing animals, unless it is clearly shown that such
exclusion is absolutely necessary, and that the value of
the timber produced on the area will be greater than its
meat-jaising capacity.
Improving the Ranges. — Through the conservative
and practical administration of grazing affairs on the
various National Forests, the carrying capacity of many
of the ranges is gradually being improved, and while it
is true that on some of the forests the number of stock
grazing today is considerably less than it was a decade
ago it is also true and much more to the point that the
physical condition of the stock now grazing there is
much better, and there is a greater stability to the busi-
ness than under the old conditions.
One of the most destructive uses of the mountain
ranges under the old system was the early grazing be-
STOCK ON RANGES IN NATIONAL FORESTS 213
fore the ground was dried out sufficiently in the spring
and the young grass was hardly started. It was simply
a race to see who would get into the mountains first and
thus obtain possession of the best ranges. The result
was that the grass on thousands of acres was destroyed,
when if the stock had been kept off for a short time
longer the feed would have been so far advanced that it
could not be injured.
In handling stock on the National Forests the ranges
are divided into districts, each of which is in charge of
one or more forest rangers. The rangers see to it that
the stock of each permittee is as nearly as possible kept
upon the range assigned to it, and that each respects
the rights of the other. Sheep are not allowed to be
bedded down more than six successive nights in any
one spot, nor near the banks of running streams, springs
or other watering-places.
Stock driveways are established wide enough to admit
of reasonable grazing en route, over which stock may be
driven under a permit, which is in most instances
granted without charge. The exceptions are where the
trip is of such a length that the stock is upon the forest
for an unusually long period and derives more or less
benefit from it. By this means the stockmen who are
not permittees are given opportunity to cross back and
forth to reach either their private lands or ranges upon
the Government lands surrounding a national forest.
Elimination of Tramp Stockmen. — On the National
Forests the tramp stockman, and this applies equally to
both sheep and cattle, has been practically eliminated.
No more can men whose sole possession is a herd of
sheep and a few pack burros sweep over the country
regardless of the rights of others, taking the cream of
214 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
the range wherever they find it. This was also done
by cattlemen who purchased herds of steers in the
Southwest, shipped them to some point, unloaded and
turned them out on the mountain ranges, although well
aware of the fact that they were already stocked by
resident owners to almost their full capacity. Under
such conditions the ranges were ruined and the local
owners and settlers practically driven from the range.
Tramp Sheepman in California. — In California in the
southern Sierras the attempts of the tramp sheepmen to
dominate the range resulted in such an intense senti-
ment against them that the Government was forced
absolutely to prohibit all sheep grazing upon areas
which had hitherto supported an immense number of
sheep. There is no doubt that a large number of sheep
could safely be grazed today on those ranges without
injury either to the watershed, the timber, or the set-
tlers. In fact, their presence in keeping down the chap-
paral growth, especially the snow bush (which since
sheep have been kept out has spread at a tremendous
rate, forming dense, almost impossible jungles), is a
decided benefit to the ranges. But the general public is
so strongly against it, owing to the drastic lessons of
the past, that the mere suggestion of such action would
undoubtedly arouse a very determined opposition to it.
Changing from Cattle to Sheep. — The question of men
changing from one class of stock to another (as cat-
tlemen selling their cattle and replacing them with
sheep) is one which can not always be allowed on the
National Forests. One of the chief reasons for this is
the protecting of the watershed and the timber. An-
other factor is public sentiment. Where the region is
one which has always been used for a cattle-raising
STOCK ON RANGES IN NATIONAL FORESTS 215
range, the question must be seriously considered before
action is taken upon it. If the silvicultural projects will
not be injured and the sheep can be grazed without in-
terference with the cattlemen using the range, it may
generally be looked upon favorably; but if public senti-
ment is opposed to it, as in the California case men-
tioned, and the sheep can not be grazed without more
or less interfering with the stock already there, it should
not be granted. These questions must naturally be con-
sidered and each case decided upon its own particular
merits, because no general rule can be laid down which
will apply alike to all.
Cattle vs. Sheep. — In the opinion of many sheepmen
the Forest Service has discriminated against their in-
dustry in favor of the cattle-raiser. While not admit-
ting discrimination in the sense meant by the sheepmen,
the Service holds that they are handling forested areas
and not stock ranges, and that all stock grazing being
primarily more or less objectionable from the point of
view of a forester they are justified in encouraging the
grazing of the class of stock which in their judgment
does the least damage to the forest areas.
Another point is the character of the business. From
the days of Abraham the sheepman has been a nomad
and the cattle-raiser a tiller of the soil. The Forest
Service believes, and rightly, that the settler who takes
up a little piece of land and makes a home for himself
and family is entitled to first consideration in the use of
the range about him. Every such settler has as part and
parcel of his home-building operations a few horses and
cattle, and must graze them near his habitation. The
sheepman, on the contrary, can drive his herds to the
feed, and wherever night overtakes him there he is at
home.
216 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
Besides, from the nature of the business, more peo-
ple are cattle-raisers than sheep-raisers. A settler can
start out with a milk cow and a work team and hope to
see them increase as his fortune improves. The sheep-
man cannot make such humble beginnings but must
perforce start in with a band sufficiently large to pay for
herding and handling them.
Every settler who takes up a piece of land or buys a
little home becomes at once a horse and cattle-raiser,
but, based upon the data available, not more than one
in every twenty-five is a sheep-raiser. Therefore the
Forest Service believes that the cause of forestry will be
advanced by giving the cattle-raiser the preference over
the sheep-raiser whenever it becomes necessary to decide
between the two. This cannot be called discrimination ;
it is rather a decision as to which of two good things is
the better for the whole people.
The Permit System. — The use of the National For-
ests is granted the stockmen through a system of per-
mits issued generally about the first of April of each
year, and for such periods of time as experience has
shown meet the conditions on the various forests.
The permit issued shcfws the number of stock to be
grazed by the person holding it, and specifies the range
on which the animals are to be grazed. The charges
are made on a per capita in preference to an acreage
basis. The per capita permit is more flexible and the
control of the ranges far more satisfactory than where
an acreage charge is made and a specific area leased to
the permittee. In granting these permits priority in the
use of the range is first considered, and preference given
to those who have continuously used the range for the
longest period. In order that there may be no monopoly
STOCK ON RANGES IN NATIONAL FORESTS 217
of the range, protective and maximum limits are estab-
lished. The protective limit is the number of stock
which small owners will be allowed to graze without
reductions, excepting for certain specific reasons; while
the maximum limit is the greatest number which any
person or corporation will be allowed to graze. The
protective limit is generally based on the number of
stock which the average settler can care for in connec-
tion with his homestead and support himself and family
in a modest way.
New1 Settlers. — In order to allow the use of a portion
of the range on fully stocked forests by new settlers
all permits above the protective limit are scaled down
each year on a certain well-defined percentage, which
must be no greater than will result in a total reduction,
equaling 3 per cent of all the stock allowed to graze
upon that particular forest during the year. Thus if the
forest is carrying 100,000 sheep the gross reduction from
the larger permittees will accumulate surplus range
for 3,000 sheep to be taken up by new applicants. This
makes the change come more gradually and allows time
for the larger owners to regulate business.
The number of stock thus gained is given to the new
men, who must in every case be bona fide settlers and
home-builders, depending on their lands for their living.
In many instances the number of new applicants is far
in excess of the capacity of the range to care for them,
and in such event the needs of each individual applicant
are considered and those who in the judgment of the
Forest officers are most dependent on the range are
granted the permits. Of course where the range is not
fully stocked these protective and maximum limits are
not always strictly enforced.
218 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
The Cash Value of Permits. — Usually the advantages
of grazing stock on the National Forests are so apparent
that the permit has come to have a great pecuniary
value, resulting in a premium on both ranches and stock
located within or adjacent to National Forest ranges.
Instances are known where sheep grazing under permit
on a Forest have been sold for as much as $2 per head
more than the market value, solely because the ranch
which went with the purchase controlled the range in
the National Forest on which the sheep grazed.
Permits Nonsalable and Nontransferable. — Permits to
graze stock on a National Forest are not transferable.
The Government recognizes the claims of the pioneer
settler, who was occupying the ranges when the forests
were established, by allowing him to remain in posses-
sion of them so long as he complies with the regula-
tions. But it cannot for very obvious reasons permit
him to designate his successor either by sale or inheri-
tance. To do so would result in range monopoly, and
the Government would lose control of its own lands.
A purchaser of stock grazing on a National Forest may
secure a permit for the rest of the season during which
the original permit ran, but at the beginning of the next
grazing season he must file an application, and take his
chances of being granted a permit based entirely on his
individual merits as an applicant and not by right of
purchase from the former permittee.
If, however, the transfer includes both the stock and
such necessary ranch property as is clearly commen-
surate with the number of stock involved, and required
for its proper handling, the permit may be renewed to
the purchaser, less any reductions that would have
been made on the original permit or are required by the
regulations.
STOCK ON RANGES IN NATIONAL FORESTS 219
The object of these regulations is to prevent specula-
tion in permits and the handing down of grazing priv-
ileges from one person to another without the power of
the Government to control it.
Permits for More than One Year. — On some of the
forests where grazing conditions are well established,
and there are no range controversies, applications are
received for a period of more than one year, usually five
years. While this permit is issued annually, the holder
is given assurance that except for certain stated reasons
and causes he may continue to use the same range and
graze the same number of stock and the annual permit
will be renewed each year for the term specified in the
application. This gives the holder of such a permit a
certain permanence in the use of his range and the num-
ber of stock to be grazed under it.
Drifting of Stock onto Forests. — AVhere the stockmen,
especially cattle-owners, are grazing their herds in the
vicinity of the National Forests, and the drifting cattle
naturally work back and forth across the open boundary
line, the matter is adjusted under an "on and off" per-
mit, which allows for a certain proportion of the cattle
being on the forest at all times. This obviates the neces-
sity of the stockman herding his cattle or erecting fences
to keep them from going on the forest, and has proved
a satisfactory method of meeting the situation. The
Supreme Court of the United States has decided that
the burden of keeping the drifting stock off the forests
rests on the owner of the stock and not the Government,
state or local laws to the contrary notwithstanding.
Fencing Privileges. — Stockmen using the National
Forests are also permitted to fence land for pasturing
220 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
purposes, a privilege which cannot be granted them by
any one on public land outside of the National Forests.
This is a valuable privilege, because of the necessity for
such pastures in handling the stock. Again, the Forest
Service allows the erection of drift fences where such
fences are clearly a benefit to the forest, and by this
means the drifting of stock from its proper ranges is
stopped and the expense of handling the animals much
less than where it was necessary to ride for miles to find
cattle that had drifted from their owner's range.
The allotting of the same ranges to stockmen through
successive years also tends greatly to increase their per-
sonal interest in the preservation of the range, because
they know that if they leave their range in good condi-
tion in the fall no one else is going to rush in there after
they have left it and graze it to the bone before the snow
drives them out. Therefore under this system the desire
to overgraze an area is not so great, and thus the car-
rying capacity of the ranges is continually being im-
proved.
Fees Moderate. — It is a well-established fact that the
fees charged for grazing on the various National For-
ests are on an average not more than one-third those
charged for grazing on private lands of equal value.
When the National Forests were established it was not
the intention to charge such an amount for the grazing
privilege as to result in a profit to the Government or
place it on a commercial basis, but only to ask the stock-
man to pay a just proportion of the administrative ex-
pense in handling the National Forests.
There is no doubt whatever that if the Government
adopted the plan followed on the various Indian reserva-
tions, which are practically private lands and being
STOCK ON RANGES IN NATIONAL FORESTS 221
administered as such, and put the privilege up under
competitive bids, the amount received would be greatly
in excess of what is now paid.
Possibility of Competitive Bids. — Between two stock-
men, one grazing his herds on the open public ranges
and taking his chances in obtaining its use for his stock
as against his neighbor, and one grazing his stock on
the National Forests where he is secure in the posses-
sion of his range, the latter has by far the better of it
and should under all commercial principles pay a much
larger sum for the use of the range in order to equalize
matters.
It is possible that eventually, due to the strong de-
mand for range, the Forest Service will be forced in
self-protection to meet this question by some system
of competitive bids where after taking care of the small
settlers for a certain definite number of their stock at a
fixed per capita charge the rest of the range will be
given to those who bid the most for it. Such a system
will possibly result in more or less range monopoly and
in some cases may crowd out the intermediate man, who
is neither entitled to recognition as a small owner nor
able to command the capital to compete with the larger
owners.
Result of Competitive Bids. — That this may happen
has been indicated by the success of the Indian office
in selling the grazing privileges on the various Indian
reservations in the West.
Prices from two to four times those charged by the
Forest Service have been received for these lands on
which the grazing is practically the same.
The White Mountain Indians in Arizona receive 30
222 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
cents per head for sheep and $1.40 per head for cattle
for year-long grazing on their reservation, while on
the adjoining Apache and Sitgreaves National Forests
the Forest Service is charging but 12 cents per head for
sheep and 40 cents for cattle for the same time. Yet
the two areas are practically the same from a grazing
point of view.
On the Crow Creek Reservation in Montana the high-
est bidder for the grazing pays 35 cents per head for
sheep and $2.17 for cattle by the year, while on the Big
Horn National Forest immediately alongside of it with
precisely the same sort of range the Forest Service
charges 15 cents per annum for sheep and 45 cents for
cattle.
A withdrawal of some 150,000 acres of grazing land in
the Uinta National Forest in Utah for reclamation pur-
poses in the Strawberry Valley placed the area under
tile charge of the Reclamation Service.
While under the supervision of the Forest Service the
charge for grazing this land was only 10 cents per head,
the Reclamation Service had little trouble in leasing
the area at a rate that brings them in a rental of 42
cents for each sheep grazed upon it.
The state of Utah owns large bodies of lands within
several of the National Forests in the state. An agree-
ment was entered into between the state land board and
the Government by which the Forest Service undertook
to handle this land and turn over to the state the net
receipts after deducting the cost of caring for it.
After two years the state revoked, the agreement,
owing to the fact that it was offered much better prices
by individuals for its use than the fees received from the
Forest Service amounted to. The state had no trouble
STOCK ON RANGES IN NATIONAL FORESTS 223
at all in leasing it out to large stockmen at greatly in-
creased rates.
The same happened in South Dakota where the state
land board had precisely the same agreement. In Col-
orado and New Mexico the state lands are leased in
large blocks at a minimum rate of 4 cents per acre, while
just as good land in the forests around the state land is
grazed by stockmen at a price which is less than 1 cent
per acre.
Exchanging Lands. — In co-operating with the owners
of land within the boundaries of the National Forests
such as the railroad grants and other private holdings,
the Forest Service has adopted a very liberal policy by
which means the lessees or owners of these lands are
enabled to exchange with the Government for an equal
acreage all in one body. For instance, the railroad sec-
tions which are alternate sections could not possibly be
grazed except with great danger of trespassing on the
adjoining Government sections. Therefore a man who
leases ten sections of railroad land lying between as
many sections of Government land is given in exchange
ten sections of grazing land in a solid body, in return
for which he allows his leased lands to remain open to
other stock grazing under permit. In this way the lessee
or owner of private lands is enabled to get the full bene-
fit of his holdings and have it in one solid body where
he is far better able to handle his stock and utilize'the
feed than he would be on his scattered sections. Much
the same privilege is allowed persons who desire to
fence up areas for pastures. By means of an exchange
of this sort the owner or lessee of the land is given the
right to enclose an equal amount of Government land
up to a maximum of 320 acres, leaving his own land
open in return.
224 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
Stock Losses Less. — It has been proved beyond any
question that on the National Forests with a constant
supervision on the part of the rangers and other forest
officers, the loss from straying and stealing of stock is
much less than on the open ranges. The losses from
predatory animals have also been greatly reduced on
the National Forests where hunters are especially em-
ployed to kill them, and the various forest officers are
also encouraged to capture and destroy such animals
whenever opportunity offers.
Policy of Government Growing in Favor. — When the
National Forests were first formed, and the Government
began to make a charge for grazing stock on them, the
stockmen who had hitherto used the ranges without
restriction of any kind found great fault with the sys-
tem. For several years there was in many parts of the
West a strong opposition to the plan. Today, how-
ever, there is no doubt that if it were left to a vote of
the stockmen whether to abolish the National Forests
and allow grazing under the old conditions or continue
under the present plan, 90 per cent would be in favor of
its continuance.
During 1912 nearly 7,500,000 sheep and goats and
1,500,000 cattle and horses grazed under permit on the
various National Forests. The number of permits ex-
ceeded 26,500, of which 21,188 were for cattle and
horses and 5,313 for sheep and goats.
In estimating the number of sheep actually grazed the
total is undoubtedly almost twice that shown by the
permit numbers. This is because of the policy of the
Forest Service in not making charge for animals under
six months of age. The sheepmen almost universally
avail themselves of this advantage by taking into the
STOCK ON RANGES IN NATIONAL FORESTS 225
forests only ewes either with lambs or to lamb after
entering. Thus while an owner may have a permit for
1,500 ewes he may really take into the forest and graze
about 2,500 or 2,600 sheep, young and old.
For lambing a slight fee is charged, commonly 2 cents
per ewe, and so as far as possible the lambing grounds
are protected from other grazing, so that they may be in
the best possible condition at this time.
When one stops to consider the conditions under
which these animals were grazed, the various and con-
flicting demands on the Service for recognition either
for more stock or more range, and the necessity for con-
trolling men who had in the past been practically mas-
ters of the range by virtue of their might, it is surpris-
ing to find how few cases of error there have been on
the part of the forest officers concerned. There is no
doubt that as the stockmen become better acquainted
with the regulations and the forest officers more con-
versant with the needs of the stockmen and the ranges,
these complaints will be reduced to a minimum.
CHAPTER XII.
THE CARE OF THE RANGE.
When the first settlers and stockmen came into the
West, they found an almost virgin country for their
stock. As far as the eye could reach stretched billowy
prairies covered with grasses, the accumulation of ages.
This carpet of grass made a reservoir whereon every
drop of water and flake of snow that fell were received
and saved for future use.
There were no roads or trails cutting and gashing
the country to offer a ready runway for the moisture.
The spring snows lay long under the folds of the old
grass, weeds or brush that covered the ground. Let the
wind blow as it pleased, it could not blow the snow
entirely off the ground. A certain amount of it was
allowed to remain to melt and soak into the ground,
thus bringing the green sprouts out early in the spring,
and it took a long dry spell to make any great impres-
sion on the soil.
When the settler's stock began to spread out and,
here and there, a fire was started under the mistaken
impression that it benefited the grass, this covering dis-
appeared, and when winter came there was nothing left
on the ground to cover it up and offer a safe resting
place for the snow and rain.
Burning Off a Range. — The burning off of a range in
the fall or winter in order "to make better feed next
226
THE CARE OF THE RANGE 227
spring" is one of the greatest mistakes the western man
ever made. There is no doubt that he obtained the idea
from the Indians, who seem to have practiced it more
or less. Theoretically it appears to be a good thing.
Take a great sweep of open prairiee, covered with
considerable old, dry grass. . Burn a strip across it and
in the early spring when the grass begins to green it
will show up to a decided advantage against the yellow
of the unburned area. The advocate of burning will
point to it as a positive and unimpeachable result. "Look
at the burned strip and then at the unburned place and
it speaks for itself," he declares. So it does if one
doesn't give the matter any more than a superficial
thought, as too many of us do.
True it is that on the burned strip the green grass is
easily seen. But get down on your knees and peer into
the old grass on the unburned strip, and you will find
as much young grass starting up under its cover, giving
it a protection against the frosts and drying winds that
the grass on the burned strip lacks.
Comes a cold night or windy weather and the grass
on the burned strip curls up and either dies or is set
back in its growth very materially; while the other part
under the cover and protection of the old grass, which
also holds every drop of moisture that falls on it, is safe
and sheltered and does not feel the change in condi-
tions.
The man who burns off a range to get better grass
does himself and the range the greatest possible injury,
and if he persists in it will eventually kill out the best
of the grasses, which will not stand the repeated attacks
by fire and only the worthless and useless weeds and
plants will persist.
228 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
Range Erosion. — The trails that the cattle made lead-
ing into the watering-places or the sheep dragging
along one after another, on the ranges, furnished con-
venient passages for the water to follow. Little trails
where the stock had worn out the grass to the bare
ground soon became deeper.. The erosion left the bot-
tom full of small pebbles which hurt the feet of the
stock. They started a new trail just alongside the old
"Down These Trails the Water Finally Tore."
one and thus the process was repeated until one can
see on many western ranges a score of such trails side
by side, stretching for miles across the prairie towards
watering-places.
Down these trails the water first crept, then ran and
finally tore, digging down deep into the ground until
great washes were formed. Little trails leading into
THE CARE OF THE RANGE 229
these larger ones furnished fine feeders for them, and
thus by a series of natural but unfortunate conditions a
system of drainage was put into effect that was suf-
ficient to drain off almost every drop of water that fell
on the surface. Instead of soaking into the soil it ran
Old Stock Trails Washed Out, Forming Arroyos in Meadow Land.
off just as rapidly as it could, taking with it the valua-
ble topsoil and cutting deeper and deeper those washes
or arroyos which today have seamed and scarred the
western ranges in every direction.
Follow down the main Santa Fe road in northern
New Mexico and one can see from the train and close
to the track the signs of these trails for many miles,
230 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
some of them fifty trails wide. The damage done by
trails cannot be stopped. Once they begin to cut and
form a little "pour-over" in their path, the matter seems
to be beyond control, excepting at tremendous cost of
labor and material.
It seems almost impossible to stop the erosive action
of the waters. I have been seen lovely mountain
meadows drained and ruined by such an arroyo which
cut across them, beginning at the lower end with a little
pour-off or waterfall, and working back year after year,
with increasing rapidity in spite of everything that could
be done to stop it.
In one instance from a little cow trail in the grass
an arroyo was cut which in ten years was almost a
mile long, fifty feet wide and fifteen feet deep and a
meadow, full of marshy places and renowned all over
the region for its hay-producing value, was drained as
dry as a dusty road.
Ever since the first settlement of the western ranges
this work of erosion has been going on. Like the cattle
trails, the wagon roads offered equal facilities to the
run-off of the water. The old Santa Fe trail can today
be followed for miles by the wide and almost barren
streak which it occupies on the prairies.
The first wagons broke the road which, after being
used for a time, begun to show holes and ruts. Then a
new one would be made just off the first which in turn
would succumb to the wet weather and ruts, and thus
in time the road would spread out over a wide area.
Wherever the road led down a slope the water soon
found a handy outlet in the wheel tracks and the rest
was only a matter of time. The ruts were worn
THE CARE OF THE RANGE
231
down deeper and deeper until the road became unfit for
use, owing to the high centers.
Thus the water that formerly flowed slowly across
the grassy prairies was drawn off as rapidly as in the
paved streets of a city, and was lost to the vegetation
An Arizona Range After a Hard Spring.
which so badly needed it. This was one of the reasons
for the failure of the western ranges.
Overstocking. — The greed of the settlers and the
utter lack of responsibility for preserving the ranges for
future use were other reasons for range failure and
depreciation. It was all free, open grazing; Uncle Sam
owned it and "if we did not get it somebody else would."
This was the general feeling.
Tens of thousands of cattle and sheep were thrown
onto ranges only to starve and die. On an average little
232 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
of the range country -west of the Missouri was capable
in its best days of supporting more than one cow to
every twenty-five acres and keep it up year after year.
Today, taking the whole western range country, in-
cluding the areas in Arizona and New Mexico, which
are principally desert, it is doubtful whether on an aver-
age it will support more than one cow to every seventy-
five acres.
The splendid forage grasses that covered all this
western range were eaten off and the roots uncovered by
the winds which blew all the soil from them. The earth
too was trampled and packed hard as a floor by the
feet of the stock wandering back and forth across it.
Robbed of the required amount of moisture through the
drainage operations of these various trails and roads
and the hard impervious surface of the ground, the
native grasses have a hard struggle to make headway
towards revegetating the overgrazed areas.
Besides this the stockmen were slow to realize that
the range could no longer support the same number of
stock, and until Providence stepped in and by a series
of hard winters swept the surplus stock from the
ranges, little was done to 'reduce the number. Bitter as
has been the lesson the stockmen still will not see the
necessity for more conservative handling of the ranges,
or, seeing it, will not accept the only possible way in
which it can be brought about, which is, government
control.
Time after time has the matter been brought to their
attention through conventions and meetings, but so far
there is a fatal lack of harmony among these men who
are the most vitally interested. The opposition comes
mainly from the sheepmen, who, while fully realizing
THE CARE OF THE RANGE 233
the conditions, yet "fear to fly from ills that are to evils
that they know not of."
Generally speaking, the cattlemen of the entire west-
ern region are heartily in favor of the 'plan. They have
long realized the absolute necessity for the protection
afforded the range-users through a * liberal policy of
Government control of the range. Their business does
not demand a great expanse of range, as does that of
the sheepmen; hence they can accept the promises of
the Government experts that the matter can be so
handled as to give every man his fair share of the range
and not interfere 'with personal rights gained through
long use of the range.
Success in Handling the Range. — The success of the
Forest Service in handling the range is pointed to as
an example of what may be done in the matter. The
larger sheepmen, smarting from what they term the in-
terference of the Forest Service with their business, in
cutting down their herds to make room for the small
settlers denounce the plan, and declare that while things
are bad enough as they are, under Government control
they would be worse.
There is little real foundation for this feeling except-
ing that Government control would put an end to the
hogging of the ranges by any men, no matter what
their business. Today the man with the great herds
has the matter almost entirely in his own hands. He
can allow the little fellow to live and obtain his part
of the range, or he can snuff him out in one season. To
the credit of the stockmen of all classes, this is not com-
monly the case today, although it was, not many years
ago. Generally speaking, the old plan of riding rough-
shod over the little herds is a thing of the past. Never-
234 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
theless, the little men well know that they have but
small show to run their herds so long as the heavy out-
fits are in possession of the range.
If the small man has a little patch of grass saved up
for his winter feed, some wandering band of sheep or
the cattle belonging to some great company comes
along and grazes it off, leaving his few head to winter
without any grass. For this reason there are few-
small owners today who use the open ranges ex-
clusively. They found out to their entire satisfaction
back in the '80s that there was no use in a little man
trying to hold his own on the open range. Proof of
this fact is easily found by a study of the number of
sheep and cattle being grazed on the various National
Forests. Here the small men are greatly in the ma-
jority.
In the beginning the larger men were almost the sole
occupants of the ranges in the forests. Under the pro-
tection afforded by the Forest Service system in hand-
ling the ranges, by means of which each man was given
a range and guaranteed exclusive and safe possession
of it, the little fellows have come to the front very
rapidly. On a Wyoming 'forest in the first year it was
created one man with 60,000 sheep owned 65 per cent of
the sheep on the forest. Five years later through re-
ductions made in his herd in order to take care of little
men he was running but 15,000, or about 7 per cent of
the total. Meantime, from a dozen men using the range
the number has grown to eighty. Is there any sane man
who, knowing the conditions, believes that these eighty
men would be there today, except for the Federal con-
trol of the ranges? Can it be conceived that the great
herds would have been voluntarily reduced to meet the
THE CARE OF THE RANGE 235
requirements of new settlers asking for a place on
which to graze their stock?
Nor is the sheep-owner the only sinner in this re-
spect. True, he is one, but the cattlemen have also
done considerable work along this line of discouraging
the small settlers. Great herds of young steers have
been purchased in the southern districts, shipped to the
northern ranges and turned loose in a district already
stocked with the mixed cattle of the settlers. No efforts
were made to hold them on any particular range, but
they were allowed to wander at will, the owners de-
pending on their round-ups to find them in the fall. Not
only was the range eaten off by these nomadic cattle,
but, what was equally injurious to the settlers, the pres-
ence of the steers prevented the cows from raising any-
thing like a fair percentage of calves, and thus the local
men suffered a double loss.
Unfortunately for the plans of this class of men, the
manner in which the National Forests are being handled
has put the most of them out of business. They de-
pended upon the mountain ranges for their summer feed
and as they can obtain only their fair share of that the
rest of the range is of little value to them.
Restoring Former Range Conditions. — There is little
doubt that under proper care the ranges may be re-
stored to their old values, and the restoration need not
be an expensive or a difficult operation. All that Nature
asks is time to heal up and cover over the scars left by
man's misuse of her bounty.
Given any over-grazed range, no matter how badly it
has been abused and either keep the stock off it for a
term of years, or reduce the number to a point where
236 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
the grass will not be eaten off each growing and seeding
season and Nature will take care of the rest, and, ex-
cepting in rare cases, the old grasses and forage plants
will return.
Ride along any western railroad whose right-of-way
is fenced and note the difference between the range
inside the fence and that outside. Naturally there are
certain regions where foreign weeds and plants have
to a great extent taken the place of the original grasses.
It has been demonstrated, however, that the old grasses
are their equal in a fight for their rights, if given a
chance. The trouble heretofore has been that the grasses
were eagerly eaten by the stock, while the weeds were
left alone.
There is no doubt another reason : that the old
grasses under such heavy attacks have lost some of
their old strength and powers of reproduction, and that
they are not so aggressive as of old. Careful observa-
tion has established beyond doubt that with nearly all
grasses the continued close-cropping of the plants tends
greatly to reduce the vitality and germinative power
of the seeds.
In the southwest and on some of the ranges in the
northern regions there is a little green weed (Guttier-
rezia) known locally as snakeweed, fireweed, turpentine
weed, and possibly by other names. It has taken large
areas of range that were once the pride of the country.
It is something that no animal is known to eat, even
under the most pressing conditions. It generally grows
to a height of ten inches, and is a bushy plant with
small yellow flowers. At times the prairies will be yel-
low with the blossoms and always, at a distance, it
looks green and beautiful.
THE CARE OF THE RANGE
237
There is a great area of this weed in eastern Colorado.
From La Junta west along the Santa Fe road one can
see from the car windows great sweeps of lovely green
prairies which delight the eye. On closer examination
the green is the green of snakeweed, and on acres and
acres the grama and buffalo grass that once covered
the whole country are gone, with the exception of an
occasional struggling bunch. In winter this weed dries
A Range of "Snake" or "Fire" Weed Which Is Sometimes Mistaken for Feed.
and the flowers bear little white seeds that seem to be
filled with a resinous substance which makes it burn
like tinder. Hence the name fire or turpentine weed.
Botanists tell us that Guttierrezia is a native of the
plains region, and only became numerous because Na-
ture, finding the other cover all eaten off, this weed
naturally took its place. Given any fair show, the
grasses will eventually crowd it out.
238 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
That the entire western range has been seriously
damaged by over-grazing goes without saying. The
only way in which it can ever be restored to anything
like its old time condition and value is through some
system of range control by a power stronger than any
local management. It can only be done by the Federal
Government, which is free from entanglements with
local users and local prejudices. That it will be done
some day is as sure as that the run rises in the east.
One of the most efficient methods for range improve-
ment, that of a "rotation in use" of the ranges, can
only be utilized through Government control of the
lands. This rotation system when applied withdraws
but one-fifth of each range from grazing use each year.
This gives the grasses a chance to reseed the land and
in a short time the productive capacity of the land is so
increased that the one-fifth not used is more than made
up by the improvement on the other areas.
In five years the range shows remarkable improve-
ment and with conservative use will hold its value as a
stock range.
To allow such a valuable resource to continue to be
abused when it can easily be placed on its old footing
again is not consistent with American methods. It is,
however, the stockmen's problem and they must solve
it.
Reseeding a Range. — While the ranges will recover
most of their old form and value if given a rest, there
are many pastures and enclosed areas where it is pos-
sible through artificial means to secure not only a better
growth but in some instances a better forage plant than
was originally found on the ground.
A great deal of experimental work has been done
s
Red Top (Agrostis alba).
Hungarian Brome Grass (Bromus inermis).
242 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
along these lines by the Federal Government, and out
of the mass of data a few solid facts have been devel-
oped upon which future operations may be based. Out
of a large number of grasses which have been tried on
the western ranges but few have been found worthy of
general use. For mountain meadows and high ranges
where the moisture is sufficient timothy (Phleum
pratense) and redtop (Agrostis alba) have done well.
For the lower ranges where the average moisture is
low Brome grass (Bromus inermis) and Perennial rye
(Lolium perene) have done well, seem to withstand
the drouthy conditions and flourish with the native
grasses. Orchard grass, however, has been a disap-
pointment in some soils. Where there is sufficient
moisture on well-drained soils Kentucky bluegrass (Poa
pratense) has given excellent results.
Timothy and redtop both call for a moist rich soil
and while timothy will withstand more or less drying
out, redtop should never be tried on land that becomes
perfectly dry during the summer. The best places for
redtop are cienegas or vegas, low swampy spots where
there is always some moisture, and even flooding will
not injure it. Do not be discouraged if there is no
apparent showing for three or four years, as it is a very
slow plant to get started, but once fairly seeded down
it will last practically forever.
Timothy, on the other hand, starts very easily with
a moderate amount of moisture, and soon gains a foot-
ing. Its vigor is remarkable and for choking out poison-
ous plants on meadows it has proved invaluable. It has
succeeded admirably at elevations as great as 10,000 feet
and is much more drouth resistant than is generally be-
lieved.
THE CARE OF THE RANGE 243
Under a general diversity of soils, moisture and range
conditions timothy is probably the most satisfactory
forage plant for reseeding operations.
Experience has also demonstrated that under average
conditions fall sowing is the best. The seed sinks
down into the soil with the winter snows and gets the
first warm spring sun to start it into life and before the
hot summer sun comes has developed a sufficient root
system to live. Moreover, there should be a certain
amount of work done to get the seed into the ground.
This can always be best done in the fall, when the
ground is drier than in the spring.
Where the land will allow it, the seed should be
harrowed in. The more the ground is stirred, the
better. Where a harrow cannot be used a limb of a tree
dragged over the land either with a team or at the
saddle-horn gives fairly good results.
If available a band of sheep fed over the land a few
times also offers a very good vehicle for the purpose.
Where the area is large and the time limited excellent
results have been obtained by sowing the seed on the
backs of sheep as they lay in the bed ground and then
grazing them over the area for several days. The seeds
drop out of the wool and are tramped into the ground
by the feet of the animals.
Where it can be done the dividing of the pasture into
two or more tracts, and keeping stock off for the grow-
ing season, gives the plants an opportunity to get a fair
start, and after that they will take care of themselves,
if not too heavily grazed. Of either of these seeds sow
not less than ten pounds to the acre, and preferably fif-
teen. The more the better. Be sure to get the seed
true to its name. Again, also be sure to test it for
244 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
vitality. This is easily done at home by taking a shal-
low tin pan like a milk pan and placing an inch of clean
sand in the bottom. Wet the sand and in it plant any
number of counted seeds. Cover it with a wet cloth
and set in the sun or some warm place and see how
many seeds sprout. One can very easily get a close
estimate of its vitality. Seed that will not show a per
cent above 70 is not of first-class grade.
Overgrazing vs. Close Grazing. — One of the most
difficult things which the forest officer is called on to
determine is whether or not a certain range is being
overgrazed or overstocked. In such cases the best pos-
sible key to the situation is the condition of the stock.
An overstocked or over-grazed range and fat cattle or
sheep cannot be found in one and the same place.
If the stock is fat and in good condition at the close
of the season, it is safe to say that the range is not
over-stocked, for that season at least. If the season is
an abnormal one, with more than the usual average
precipitation and plant growth, then an allowance must
be made to make a fair average for a series of years.
On the other hand, a range may be over-grazed
through having such a number of stock upon it at all
times that the plants are given no opportunity to get
their full development. Plants must not only obtain
food from the soil but from the air, and if kept eaten
down continually their growth is weakened, their vital-
ity lowered and they not only die out, but what food
they do furnish lacks the necessary fat-producing qual-
ities. This is best illustrated by considering an ordi-
nary meadow. After the crop has been mowed there is
nothing left but the short stubble, and if one judged by
that one might say the field had been injured. But
THE CARE OF THE RANGE 245
the plants had been given a full chance to develop, so
that not only was the crop a first-class feed product
but the roots had stored away sufficient vital forces to
enable them to reproduce themselves another season.
So with the grazing side of this question. If the
number of stock upon a range during the growing sea-
son has been so many as to keep the plants constantly
grazed down, so that the leaves and stems could neither
develop nor obtain from the air the elements necessary
not only to make food but to enable the plant to per-
petuate itself, then it has been over-grazed. Fat stock
will not be found on such a range. But if the stock
have been handled right, the plants given a chance to
grow, though the ground may show very little grass
above the stubble in the fall, yet it has not been over-
grazed in such a way as to injure it.
All over the West one may see good examples of this
sort of over-grazing. Alfalfa, one of the most persist-
ent forage plants known, has often been completely
killed out by constantly keeping stock on the field in
such numbers that the green shoots were nipped off
as fast as they appeared above the ground. Thus the
plants did not derive any food from the sun and air,
their vitality was lowered, the roots were weakened
and they finally die — simply starved to death. Then
the farmer declares his alfalfa has "run out," takes his
harrow and rips up the surface of the ground, lets the
light in on. the roots, scatters a little fresh seed over
the worst places and keeps his stock off it a while and
soon has his field as good as ever.
CHAPTER XIII.
POISONOUS PLANTS.
The losses to the stockmen using the western ranges
through poisonous and injurious plants amount to an im-
mense sum each year. Some of the losses are unavoid-
able, some can be minimized, and others may be almost
entirely done away with.
These losses are due to two causes, the first may be
called mechanical, and is not due to the poison in the
plant but to the effect upon the animal through other
means. Under this head come bloat, death from corn
smut, also from foxtail (Hordeum), Porcupine grass
(Stipa), and needle grass (Aristida), whose sharp-
pointed awns work their way into the lining of the
mouth, lips, eyes and nostrils, causing festering sores,
frequently becoming so bad as to cause the death of the
animal through starvation. In corn smut the dry spores
expand through the action of the liquid in the stomach
and obstruct its operation.
The second cause is the poison contained in the
various plants. In considering this subject it is gener-
ally assumed by the average stockman that most an-
imals have a keen sense of danger in seeking their feed,
and can almost unerringly select the harmless plants
from the injurious ones.
To a certain extent this may be true. If the animals
are surrounded with plenty of feed from which to
246
POISONOUS PLANTS 247
choose they will generally leave the injurious plants
alone, excepting possibly the lupines. This, however,
seems due more to a possibility that the injurious plants
are not so palatable as others. So long as the animal is
not too hungry it will content itself with selections from
the best, but when hungry and on an over-grazed range,
it seems to turn to the injurious plants as second choice,
eating them with apparent relish.
To prove this it is only necessary to point to the
experience of almost every sheepman in the West who
has had losses from injurious plants. In a large number
of cases the poisoned animals have either been driven
through a section where feed was scarce or hurried on
long, hard drives and then allowed to graze a range
containing inferior feed and plentiful poisonous plants.
Under such conditions the ability of the animals to
distinguish between the good and bad either by sight
or smell seems to be at fault, or else is disregarded
because of hunger.
Another frequent cause of losses is when sheep, hav-
ing been shipped on the cars, are unloaded and driven
out on a strange range for feed or water. Whether they
are unusually hungry or not used to the range, if there
are any poisonous plants on it losses are certain to
follow. Some plants like death camas are so similar
to grass in their earlier growth that stock cannot dis-
tinguish them from grass and are eaten unknowingly.
It is therefore safe to presume that taste and smell
and possibly sight have comparatively little to do with
animals avoiding poisonous plants. If it is due to any-
thing it is to that indefinable sense in animals called
instinct.
Under ordinary conditions sheep will not touch the
248 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
leaves of the choke cherry (Prunus demissa), yet when
driven over hard trails where feed was scarce and then
through thickets of that shrub they have eaten the
leaves greedily and died in great numbers.
Herders Should Be Posted. — It would therefore seem
that every herder in charge of stock and especially
sheep should be posted as to the different poisonous or
dangerous plants with a view to avoiding as much as
possible such accidents. There are but a few really
dangerous plants and if herders knew them by sight
much loss could be avoided.
Some plants seem to be more dangerous after heavy
rains or dews than at other times. This may be ascrib-
able to the fact that the ground is soft and the animals
in pulling at the stalks pull up the roots also. It has
heretofore been accepted as a fact that the root of the
low or purple larkspur contains the poisonous prop-
erty, but careful experiments have proved this an error,
for the roots have been fed to cattle in both large and
small quantities without any injurious effect whatever.
It is also a very difficult matter to pull up the roots
even when the ground is soft — so difficult, in fact, that no
steer could possibly obtain much of it. Others like the
lupines seem to be perfectly safe when the plant is young
and only dangerous when ripe. On the other hand, sev-
eral varieties, the larkspur and the camas seem to be
harmless, or possibly unpalatable and are not eaten by
the animals, after they have reached more or less full
growth.
On these ranges the matter can be handled by simply
keeping the stock off the poisonous areas until the
danger is past. This cannot always be done with cattle
and horses but may be done with sheep.
POISONOUS PLANTS 249
Remedies. — A common practice among western stock-
men, cowboys and others when animals are poisoned,
is to keep them continually moving. It is doubtful
whether this can be called a safe thing to do in many
cases, while in some it is a positive injury.
Generally speaking the best thing to do with such
animals is to let them move about or lie still as they
please. Bleeding is another famous "rough and ready"
remedy which should be more honored in the breach
than the observance. The sins that have been com-
mitted against poor, weak, helpless animals by bleeding
them are too numerous to mention. Few cases of
poisoning in animals of any kind can be helped in this
manner.
There are several handy remedies which stockmen
usually try when remedial agents are necessary. The
commonest is grease, either hot lard, melted bacon or
oils of various sorts. These given either as injections
or drenches are excellent in most cases of poisoning.
They furnish a coating for the lining of the stomach
and intestines, assist in movements of the bowels and
aid in eliminating the poison from the animal's stomach.
Baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) is another handy
remedy which is given where the poison is supposed
to contain an unusual amount of acid, while vinegar
is freely used for alkaloid poisons. I have seen stock-
men give both to an animal at the same time and as
one in a way neutralizes the other the result would
seem to be bad for the animal. Lard and grease are
also of value in the early stages of bloat. Nature is
assisted by them in removing through the bowels the
load of fermenting food which makes the bloated con-
dition.
250 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
In cases of paralysis through poison the injection of
hypodermic doses of strychnine together with alcoholic
or other stimulants to control the symptoms of paralysis
is often used with excellent results. On the other hand,
where the pain is intense, as in hemlock poisoning,
doses of morphine or chloral are successful. Strych-
nine is also the most satisfactory remedy known for
loco in cattle. For horses suffering from loco Fowler's
Solution in half-ounce doses in either drinking water
or feed is successful.
Permanganate of Potash. — In the large majority of
cases where animals have been poisoned by plants the
use of permanganate of potash offers the most satisfac-
tory remedy known to medical science. It is easily ap-
plied, easily carried in packs or wagons and should be
kept in every camp and stockman's cabin. It may be
given direct as a drench or as an injection through the
wall of the stomach. The drench is, of course, the
easier method. It does not affect the general condition
of the animal. What it does do is to get at the poison
lying in the stomach and intestines and not already
taken up in the system and through its well known
chemical properties attack the poisonous alkaloids,
rendering them harmless.
In preparing the drench of permanganate of potash
for sheep take equal amounts of permanganate of potash
and sulphate of aluminum, five to ten grains of each,
and dissolve in water. Pulverizing before placing in
the water will get better results. See that all is taken
up in the water, as the raw salts are very injurious to
the lining of mouth and throat. For lambs use about
three grains each; for horses fifteen to twenty grains;
for cattle thirty to fifty grains.
POISONOUS PLANTS 251
If there are a great number of animals to be drenched
the mixture can be made according to this scale in large
quantities and given on the basis of a pint of water to
each dose. A drench is best given through a horn, as
there is no danger of its being broken as a bottle may be.
Set a sheep up to give a drench but larger animals must
of course be thrown. Never drench an animal through
the nostrils. Think how it hurts to get liquids in one's
own nose. A gentle horse may be tied to a high post
so that his head is at the right angle, taking care not
to have the rope tied hard and fast, lest the animal cast
itself in struggling and choke before it can be relieved.
A cow, if lying down, should have her head set up
on the horns, or, if standing, handle her much as
directed in the case of a horse. Slip the drenching in-
strument into the mouth, taking care that it is not
allowed to get between the grinders and, if a bottle,
be broken. Allow the liquid to slowly find its way
down the throat. Give time for the animal to swallow,
remembering it is a case of forcing and that it will be
likely to put off swallowing as long as it can.
Poisons Do Not Affect All Animals Alike.— Stock-
men have often been puzzled over the way in which
animals in the same herd and subjected to the same
conditions are affected by poisonous plants. With sheep
this is quite noticeable. Out of a herd of sheep many
will die at once; others linger along and recover, and
some do not appear to be troubled at all. This, in
ruminants, generally is due to the condition of the ani-
mal's stomach.
As few poisons can injuriously affect an animal until
taken into its system, if the stomach is full the progress
of the poisonous matter is slow and may be all neutral-
252 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
ized by the amount of feed in the stomach. On the
other hand, if the stomach is empty, it enters the cir-
culation at once, the animal is soon affected by the
poison and remedial measures are seldom in time.
Bloat. — As bloat is not the result of a poison it comes
immediately under the head of mechanically dangerous
plants. It is confined principally to alfalfa, although all
the legumes, like red and white clover, will cause bloat
in stock when eaten under certain conditions. There
are several range plants which will do this. Cattle
eating large quantities of lupines after heavy rains or
when wet with heavy dews have been known to bloat
and die, but stockmen's losses from bloat in the West
are almost wholly confined to the feeding of alfalfa.
Generally speaking, the dangerous time is when the
alfalfa is from three to eight inches in height, and also
when. wet with heavy dews or recent rains. The usual
method of handling it in the early spring is to sow
among the plants some seed like oats or barley. This
springs up with the alfalfa and is cropped with the
latter as the stock grazes, thus keeping the stomach
from becoming solid with the gas producing plant.
Bloat is simply the gas produced from fermenting
feed, which gradually crowds the stomach and other
organs forward until the action of the heart and lungs
is seriously interfered with. The work of the gas may
readily be noted by standing behind the animal. The
left side of the body will be seen to protrude several
inches farther than the right, forming a huge lump just
back of the ribs and making the animal appear de-
cidedly "lop-sided." This is the distended stomach
pressing against the hide of the animal.
Old alfalfa-raised cows feeling the pressure coming
POISONOUS PLANTS 253
on will go to the irrigating ditches and stand with their
front feet high up on the bank of the ditch and their
hind feet in the water, thus allowing the stomach to
drop back and relieve the pressure on the other organs.
They will groan and grunt at a great rate, showing they
are feeling far from comfortable, and animals in this
condition should be carefully watched.
I have known a ditch to break and allow the water
to run unnoticed all night long on the alfalfa where a
hundred fine four-year-old steers were grazing. The
effect of the water on the alfalfa was so prompt that in
less than twelve hours fifty of the animals were dead
from bloat. There is no such thing as the animal be-
coming immune in any sense of the word.
Nor is the bloat due wholly to green feed. I have
known a bunch of fifty yearlings put into a feed yard
over night and fed on dry alfalfa hay and in the mor-
ning ten of them were dead from bloat. Milk cows,
fed all their lives on the hay, have been killed from
eating alfalfa. Investigation of many such cases shows
that generally death resulted from eating hay coming
from the first cutting, and also that the animals had
eaten unusually large amounts of the fine leaves.
Sheep, although subject to bloat, do not seem to be
so easily affected as cattle, and the loss among sheep
from this trouble is comparatively slight. Horses and
hogs do not appear to bloat from either green or cured
alfalfa.
As a general thing, cattle grazing upon alfalfa fields
should always be carefully watched, especially in the
early spring, when the plant is just starting to grow.
When the trouble reaches a certain point immediate
action is necessary or the animal is beyond help. The
254 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
gas pressure against the heart and lungs simply stops
the breath, and it is but a matter of seconds if the
animal is to be saved.
Various remedial methods are practiced among stock-
men to aid the animal. Baking soda (bicarbonate of
sodium) is frequently used as drench in the early stages,
but its value is somewhat doubtful. Shoving a piece of
garden hose down the animal's throat is also a common
expedient. This opens up the throat and stomach and
allows the gas to escape. Many stockmen will tie a
"bit" composed of a piece of hoe or shovel handle about
eight inches long into the animal's jaws. This keeps
the jaws open and allows some of the gas to escape.
Some stockmen, seeing a tendency to bloat among a
bunch of cattle, will go into the fields on good horses
and with whips run the animals about the field for half
an hour. If the trouble has not gone too far this will
often bring relief.
The one certain remedy forbloat,is what is known
among stockmen as 'tpaunchmg^or tTunienatomy.'' If
you will notice the old milk cows in an alfalfa growing
region, you will see just below the left hip bone and
about four inches back from the last small rib a number
of scars. Sometimes you will see an open wound, and
if you happen along when the animal coughs you may
see a thin stream of green half-digested alfalfa spurt
from the wound. This is the result of "paunching."
The stream of alfalfa is forced out of the stomach by
the cough through a wound not yet healed.
Whenever it is necessary to perform this surgical
operation there is little time in which to speculate and
study up on the proper methods. "Do it now" is emi-
nently applicable to this affair, for every second counts.
POISONOUS PLANTS 255
This is especially true if the animal is down on its side.
There is no premonitory sign or long-drawn-out death
struggle. The breath stops and the animal is dead.
If you have a trocar andl/catmlause it; if not, take a
pocket knife, for there is not time to ,go to the house
<^t<^v<-xV^-/>^>-j4**-
for the former. A trocar and canula is a long, sharp,
steel instrument similar to an ice pick. It has a metal
scabbard over it and when plunged into the animal's
side the toof itself is withdrawn, leaving the scabbard
or canula in the wound through which the gas may
escape. I have heard of using the long sharp nose of
an ordinary oil can. Force through the hide and
stomach and then unscrew the can and leave the point
in place.
Select a spot five inches below the hip bone on the
left side and about as far back from the last small
ribs. Here the hide and the wall of the stomach come
close together. Into it plunge the instrument or knife
blade. Don't be afraid to do it boldly, for you have a
thick hide to penetrate and also the stomach lining.
Look out that the knife blade does not close up on your
fingers and make a nasty cut. Also keep your mouth
closed and head away from the line of the cut, in order
to avoid receiving at short range some of the contents
of the stomach in the way of gas together with a goodly
amount of half-digested alfalfa.
In some cases it may be necessary to open the
stomach and remove the contents, but this is not often.
The gas rushes out of the cut from the stomach and the
animal is immediately relieved, as a man would be if
some one had him by the throat and suddenly released
him. Smear a little grease or tar about the cut to keep
out flies and screw worms ; sew it up with a stitch or
256 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
two if you wish, and the place soon heals over. In the
majority of cases the application of pine tar or grease
is all that is necessary.
Loco. — While the annual losses from the loco plant
may not foot up as much as from some others, it is
believed that in this respect it stands well towards the
head of the list. Certainly it is more in the public eye
than any other single poisonous plant in the whole
West. The loco plant is found generally over the entire
Rocky Mountain region. Extend the eastern boundary
line of the states of Montana and Wyoming directly
south till it touches the Rio Grande river, and you have
about the center of the area covered by the plant,
making" a strip some 600 miles wide and extending
from the Canadian to the Mexican borders.
Loco is found everywhere. It is most common on
the open prairies but grows plentifully in the moun-
tains where the elevation does not appear to make any
particular difference in its growth. There are many
varieties of the plant, as well as several other plants
mistakenly called loco. However, the fact has been
very well established that there are but two species
which are generally called loco. These are aragallus
lamberti, and astragalus mollissimus. Of the two the
former is the most widely distributed and is responsible
for most of the damage to stock. Both have flowers
of various hues, ranging from deep violet to rich purple,
not unlike those of the common sweet pea.
In aragallus lamberti, the plants growing on the
prairies are frequently a beautiful creamy white, while
in the mountains the darker colors are more prominent.
In places the. loco grows in great patches and to the
uninitiated looks like a field of alfalfa. On the plains
White Loco or Rattle Weed in Flower (Aragallus lamberti).
258 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
east of Albuquerque, N. M., in May, 1912, loco was
so plentiful that the brilliant coloring of its blossoms
could be seen with the naked eye for three or four miles,
the patches often covering 100 acres in one solid bed
of color. It is also a well established fact that loco is
not plentiful every year but seems to come in for a sea-
son and then not be heard from for several years. Every
western stockman knows that a wet spring or winter
will be followed by a bad loco year. For this reason it
Loco on the Range Near Albuquerque, N. M.
is presumed that the seeds in order to germinate re-
quire an unusual amount of moisture.
For many years scientists investigating losses from
loco asserted that the plant contained no apparently
injurious matter and that the loco effect must come
from other causes. But this was received by stockmen
with little credence; they simply pointed to the afflicted
animals and showed the undoubted connection between
the eating of the loco and the serious condition of the
POISONOUS PLANTS 259
animals soon after. However, the matter has recently
been carefully investigated by the United States De-
partment of Agriculture, with the result that the poison
in the plant has been separated and identified, and fol-
lowing this remedies have been tried which have re-
sulted in complete cures of animals badly locoed, leav-
ing no injurious after effects. Thus the contentions of
the practical stockmen have been completely sustained
by the scientific investigators.
While the eating of loco is found to affect horses,
cattle, sheep and goats, it is among horses that the most
damage is done. It is only occasionally that there is
what is known as a "loco year," during which sheep
and cattle die from eating it. But horses die every year
when the plant is plentiful. This I have always ac-
counted for by the fact that the horse is not a browsing
animal. The green loco appeals more to him in the
early spring when there is little green feed than to the
other stock which, being browsing animals, find in the
young buds of the trees and shrubs and the weed
growth something to take the place of the loco.
The spring of 1888 was a bad loco season in northern
Arizona, and thousands of locoed horses and cattle
died. The winter previous was unusually wet, with
heavy rains in the early spring, and long before the
first shoots of young grass showed above the ground
the loco was spreading its beautiful growth all over the
ranges.
One peculiarity of the losses among the cattle was
that the better grades, the imported stock, were more
easily affected than the common scrubs. Whether this
was due to the superior instinct of the western-raised
animal cannot of course be proved, but it is not very
260 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
probable that it had much to do with it. In my opinion
the westerners were tougher and more able to stand
the effects.
Seven years later there was another bad loco year,
but that time it was almost entirely among horses. This
was also the case in an outbreak in northern New Mex-
ico in 1906, when so many hors.es died in some districts
that the spring round-ups had to be abandoned because
"everybody was afoot/' as the cowmen put it.
I
>:
A Locoed Animal Will Step High Over Anything — Even a Rope or a Trail.
The round-up work could not be taken up until fall,
and a new lot of ponies had been shipped in from other
ranges where loco had not made its appearance. Yet in
spite of the losses among horses practically no cattle
died from it that year.
Loco Symptoms. — The symptoms of loco poisoning
are so well known that it hardly seems necessary to
repeat them here. The animal loses flesh, every hair on
its body seems to have turned the wrong way, its eyes
POISONOUS PLANTS 251
are staring and sunken and the gait becomes wabbly
and uncertain. In cattle a common symptom is the for-
mation of a serous sack under the jaws, often hanging
down like a great pouch. The eyesight appears to be
affected because the animal will "step high" over a
simple rut or wagon track in the road or a rope or even
a twig on the ground. Locoed horses often cannot be
led through a gate, but must be turned round and
A Typical Locoed Animal,
forced through backwards. Again they cannot be
backed excepting by the most violent efforts, but if once
they start back nothing but a mountain can stop them.
I once saw a locoed mule driven by an Irishman who
had never heard of loco. The animal was attached to
a dump cart and was being backed up to a cliff over
which the refuse of a military post was being dumped.
On the edge of the cliff a log twelve inches thick was
fastened as a bumper against which to back the wheels
262 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
of the carts. It took the driver some time to get the
mule to back, but when, after a lot of profanity and
righting, the poor animal decided to do what was wanted
he did so with so much enthusiasm that when the
wheels struck the log they went over it as if it were
a straw, and with the Irishman swinging to the bit
the outfit dropped over the cliff where, a hundred feet
below, it still lies among the rocks. The driver hung
on until he saw it was useless, and then let go just in
time to save himself from a like fate.
One of the very best and toughest cow ponies I ever
owned was a locoed horse that could not be led two feet
by the bridle reins. The only, possible way to handle
him was to get him ahead and drive or herd him along.
As for getting him across a rope laid on the ground,
I believe that if a rope had been laid on the ground in
a complete circle around him he would have starved
to death before passing over it. Running him at full
speed after a cow he was apt at any time to jump three
feet into the air to clear some inoffensive little white
stick lying on the ground.
Locoed animals seem inclined to fall very readily,
especially when drinking; During the outbreak in Ari-
zona in 1895 we were forced to keep men at a stream
where many horses were watering to drag out those
that fell into the creek or else have them drown in two
feet of water. In spite of this many of those that came
to water at night were drowned. I have seen large
numbers of dead horses lying about the edge of a prairie
lake which did not have have more than two feet of
water in its deepest place.
Loco-eating is a developed habit. The animal begins
to nibble at it probably because other feed is scarce and
POISONOUS PLANTS 263
it looks fresh and inviting. Gradually the desire for it
takes possession of the brutes until they seem to crave
it to the exclusion of all other feed. A locoed cow will
hurry over the range from one plant to the next, eating
in a feverish haste, and showing not the least desire to
touch grass or other forage, so long as there is a bit of
loco to be found.
Remedies. — The loco plant may be eradicated from
pastures by simply cutting it off under the ground or
pulling it up by the roots like any other weed. There
has been a general belief all over the West that loco
grows up again from the roots and if a single shoot of
it is left in the ground it will immediately reproduce
itself from that bit. This has been found to be an error.
The plant reproduces from both roots and the seed but
the growth is from the crown of the root, and therefore
if the root is cut off below the crown and before the
ripening of the seeds it will not grow again.
Of course on the open ranges, under the present
methods of handling the grazing lands, no attempts at
eradication will be made, but if the day ever comes
when the open grazing lands are handled by the Federal
Government, much as they are now managed on the
National Forests, loco will doubtless be eradicated from
the ranges on some mutual agreement between the user
and the Government. The excellent work of Prof. C. D.
Marsh of the Bureau of Plant Industry, who has for
several years made a close study of loco right in the
field where it grows, proves beyond doubt that there
is a remedy, and that animals taken in time may be
almost if not entirely cured. The only question is the
one of handling the animals. If they are gentle and
can be given the remedies, they can be cured. With
264 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
range stock, however, the administering of the remedies
is almost an impossibility, except at a prohibitive cost in
time and labor. The remedies used by Prof. Marsh
and the manner of administering them are given at the
end of this chapter under the general head of remedies.
Larkspur (Delphinium). — This plant probably comes
next to loco in its ravages among stockmen's herds.
The losses are confined almost entirely to cattle, sheep
seldom or never touching the plant. For this reason a
range when it is abundant may safely be grazed by
sheep and need not be abandoned because of Larkspur.
It is found all over the western region, growing in the
open park-like places of the foothills and mountain
ranges. There are several species, and according to the
best authorities the genus is not well divided, and needs
study and revision. All of the various kinds should,
however, be considered suspicious. The principal
species are tall larkspur (Delphinium glaucum) and
purple larkspur (bicolor).
Tall larkspur grows to a height of from three to six
feet. In its early growth it is frequently mistaken for
wild geranium (Geranium viscosissimum). It is also
classed as aconite (Aconitum columbianum). It can be
easily identified by the leaves, those of the larkspur
being almost perfectly smooth, while those of the gera-
nium are more or less hairy.
Purple larkspur seldom grows to a height of over ten
inches. It bears a lovely purple blossom. The differ-
ence in size, together with the color of the blossom,
affords a ready means of distinguishing between the
two plants. The flowers of the tall larkspur are blue.
Before they blossom the larkspurs may be mistaken
for red false mallow (Malvastrum coccineum), but the
Original water color by N. Brenizer \-^V^ AHOEuaco BALTIMOI
PURPLE LARKSPUR (Delphinium bicolor)
POISONOUS PLANTS 265
bright red blossoms of the latter when in bloom furnish
a certain means of identification. The plant is generally
dangerous when young and tender, and cattle seldom
touch it after it has reached its blossoming time. Sheep
have been fed the dried as well as green leaves for
several days with no apparent ill effects. Extracts from
the dried leaves, however, proved fatal. So far as is
known no definite feeding experiments have been made
with cattle, but the Department of Agriculture is now
planning a careful study of this plant which when com-
pleted will give some more definite information about it.
The larkspur may be dug up with little trouble, and
if it is not widely distributed or very numerous it could
be eventually eliminated from a range by using the
ordinary weeding tools sold for that purpose. Where
it exists in large patches it is thought possible to choke
it out with certain grasses like orchard and brome grass.
No very satisfactory experiments have yet been made
along these lines, however.
Lupines (Lupinus). — The extent of the country over
which this plant is found makes it one of the most
injurious of all the poisonous plants. Practically it
grows all over the West and at all elevations. Eaten
at certain times and under certain conditions it is ex-
tremely injurious to horses, cattle and sheep. The com-
mon name among stockmen is wild pea, blue pea, blue
bean and peavine. It is often mistaken for a variety
of loco, especially the silvery loco (Aragallus splen-
dens), but the leaves offer an easy means of identifica-
tion. The leaf of the lupine is compound and is
attached to the end of the stem, while the leaf of loco is
long and feathery with the parts attached to the stem
along each side of it. (See frontispiece.)
266 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
The lupines are found in the mountain valleys and
hay meadows, and are cut for hay in large quantities
all over the western country, making an excellent grade
of hay that is relished by all classes of stock. But the
feeding of it has been attended with disastrous results,
especially in the case of sheep. A careful study of the
subject has proved beyond reasonable doubt that the
poisonous matter is contained in the ripe seeds. Hence
if the lupine can be cut for hay either before the seed
pods have fully formed and ripened or after they have
ripened and the pods have opened and dropped the dan-
gerous seeds, there is no injury from feeding it. When
the plant is young it is eaten without bad effect and is
eagerly sought by all kinds of stock.
There are several different lupines and all should be
considered under suspicion when the seed is ripe.
Owing to its extensive growth there is little hope of
eliminating the lupine through its destruction or by
sowing seeds of other forage plants, as it is very
tenacious and will hold its own against them under
ordinary range conditions.
Death Camas (Zygadenus venenosus.) — This plant,
sometimes erroneously 'called lobelia, is found only in
Montana, Idaho, South Dakota, eastern Oregon, Wash-
ington, northern California and parts of Utah. In these
regions it is the most destructive plant that grows. It
is injurious to all stock, but more especially sheep. In
the early spring its leaves are so much like the leaves
of the young grasses that stock presumably is unable
to recognize it. The poisonous matter seems to be as
great in the leaves as in the roots, hence it is almost
impossible to guard against its being eaten excepting
by herding stock away from well-known infested areas.
Original water color from collection i
Smithsonian Institution by Walpole
DEATH CAM AS (Zygadenus venenosus)
A HOE W & CD
Original water color from
collection in Smithsonian
Institution by Walpole
WATER HEMLOCK (dcuta varans')
POISONOUS PLANTS 267
The great distribution of the plant makes this difficult,
although the sheepmen knowing the more dangerous
places can protect themselves to certain extent.
The plant grows abundantly in the shallow foothill
valleys and in the mountains, although it does not
flourish in the wet, swampy places. It is often called
"wild onion," and at certain periods of its growth re-
sembles a young onion plant. The flower is a greenish-
yellow. There is a variety of the camas known as
swamp camas (Zygadenus elegans), which grows ex-
clusively in swampy places. It is much coarser in
growth and leaf than the death camas, but appears to
have all the poisonous properties of the other plant.
Fortunately it is riot so widely distributed and, owing
to its coarse growth, is not eaten with the other grasses,
as is the death camas.
Water Hemlock (Cicuta occidentalis, C. maculata. —
This plant sometimes is called cowbane or wild parsnip.
It is a smooth perennial from two to five feet in height,
with several slender tapering roots in a cluster at the
base of the main stem. The similarity of the roots to
the ordinary parsnip accounts for the term "wild par-
snip." The leaves are doubly compounded with narrow
separate leaflets two to three inches in length. The
flowers grow in clusters at the ends of the stem and are
of a dull greenish white color. The flowers have an
umbrella-like appearance similar in shape to the umbrella
tree of the Southwest. The stems are hollow and
whistles made from them have poisoned children.
The plant grows along the banks of streams and ponds
and in wet vegas and marshes. It is found all over the
West and is injurious to all stock and also to man. It
is deadly in its action, and the operation of the poison
^03 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
is so rapid that full-grown cattle have been known to
die from its effects within half an hour after eating it.
The plant is easily recognized. It is not so common but
that it can be eliminated from a range by a little syste-
matic work in cutting or grubbing up the roots with a
hoe or other suitable tool.
Aconite (Aconitum columbianum). — Known locally as
monks hood or wolfbane, this pretty flowering plant is
found all over the western stock ranges, and has been
held responsible for many deaths among stock. It is
believed, however, that these losses were due to larkspur,
which is a near relative of aconite. It has the same blue
flower of the larkspur and the same poisonous qualities,
but as it grows in rough inaccessible places, and is not
largely distributed, the losses from it are doubtless small.
Scrub Oak (Quercus gambelii Q. undulata). — Known
also as "shin oak." This is the scrub oak of the western
ranges, especially in the Southwest, where it forms as on
the Texas staked plains great areas called "shinneries."
In the higher foothills it grows to a considerable height
in dense thickets, there known as scrub oak. It is an
important article of forage for all kinds of stock, espe-
cially cattle at certain times in the spring. When there
is plenty of other feed and the buds and young leaves are
eaten in connection with other feed, no injurious effects
are observed, but when feed is scarce and cattle browse
almost exclusively on the oak, serious losses ensue. In
New Mexico, Colorado, and parts of Arizona the losses
from oak-poisoning are heavy among cattle in cold back-
ward springs, when other feed is scarce.
The symptoms of oak poisoning are high fever; the
lips and noses of the animals become scabby and sore;
the flesh cracks; the eyes are deep-set; the hair all turns
Original water color from collection in
Smithsonian Institution by Walpole
AHOENaCO BALTIMORE
ACONITE (Acomtum columbianum)
MONK'S HOOD
POISONOUS PLANTS 269
the wrong way. The breath comes with difficulty and in
many respects the appearance is similar to loco poisoning.
Post mortems show the stomachs to be very badly com-
pacted, the contents appearing dry and burned.
The only known remedy is liberal doses of linseed oil
given as a drench and injected. One quart for a drench
if given early enough will bring good results, but if the
case is not taken in hand promptly, nothing seems to
do any good. It is possible that the use of a perman-
ganate of potash drench in such cases would give excel-
lent results, although it has never been tried to my
knowledge. When cattle begin to die of this trouble the
best remedy is immediately to remove them to some
range where the oak is not found.
Pingue or Rubber Weed (Hymenoxys floribunda). —
In northern New Mexico and southern Colorado in the
upper Rio Grande region there has been for several years
past more or less loss from some disease known locally
among the sheepmen as "pingue," from the Spanish
name of the plant which is presumed to be responsible
for the trouble. The rubber weed is a small plant, bear-
ing a bright yellow flower about three-fourths of an inch
in diameter, growing in the semi-desert ranges. Under
commercial treatment it produces small quantities of a
rather low grade of crude rubber. The story goes that
the way the rubber in the plant was first discovered was
due to the death of a ram whose stomach was opened in
an effort to discover the cause of death. In the animal's
stomach was found a mass that the investigators reported
to be almost pure rubber. The sheep had been eating
the bush or shrub, and the deductions were that the
rubber came from the shrub and the animal died from
the effects of the mass of rubber in its stomach.
270 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
The matter is now undergoing a careful investigation
at the hands of competent men, with a view to determin-
ing just what causes the trouble known as pingue, and
whether or not it is due to the supposed presence of rub-
ber. There is great doubt as to the entire question apart
from the fact that many sheep die of the disease known
as pingue. But that it is due to the rubber in the plant
is believed at present to be very doubtful.
The pingue plant may be easily recognized in the
spring by its black stems with small white seed heads
at the ends. The green leaves show close down to the
ground at the roots of the tufts and the whole area cov-
ered by the plants resembles a burned-over spot, on the
range.
For symptoms and remedies for pingue see page 280.
Ergot (Claviceps purpurea). — This is a parasitic fun-
gus which is found principally upon the heads of wild
rye (Elymus condensatus) and bluestem grass (Agropy-
ron Smithii). These two plants are found practically
all over the western range country. The fungus which
does the injury to animals is a small black spur-like
growth between a quarter and a half inch in length which
is attached to the seed hdads of these grasses. The fun-
gus growth contains the ergot and is eaten with the
grass. Many stockmen believe the fungus to be part of
the seed head of the plants. The loss of stock from eat-
ing the growing plants appears to be slight, the injurious
effects being mostly confined to hay-feeding, when it is
eaten with the seed heads and not noticed by the
animals.
The losses are mainly confined to horses, although
cases of death in both cattle and sheep have been known.
Ergot-poisoning is deadly in its effects, acts quickly and
POISONOUS PLANTS 271
owing to the paralysis of the muscles of the throat,
making swallowing extremely hard, it is generally diffi-
cult to administer remedies.
Sneeze Weed (Helenium montanum H. autumnale).
— A smooth branching perennial, growing from eight
inches to three feet high, sneeze weed has long lance-
shaped leaves, with yellow flowers, and is generally
classed by stockman as a species of sunflower. It is only
dangerous where other feed is not available, hence is
seldom eaten by animals unless they are extremely hun-
gry. So far as is known, no domestic animals excepting
sheep have ever been seriously affected by sneeze weed.
The plant is found all over the West, mainly in the
higher mountain regions. Old abandoned fields and
pastures heavily overgrazed are generally full of it — in
some places to the complete exclusion of all other kinds
of plants.
The water contained in stock-tanks and reservoirs
which have large amounts of sneeze weed in their vicin-
ity has been known to poison sheep, and in two instances
a number of men camped on small tanks or ponds of
rain water otherwise pure but covered by the pollen
from this plant were all made dangerously sick from
using the water.
Choke Cherry (Prunus demissa). — This is the ordinary
choke cherry of the West. It is not a dangerous plant,
excepting when animals like sheep are driven for long
distances over a range with little forage on it, and
then reach thickets of the cherry. The hungry animals
eagerly browse on the leaves and twigs which, taken
into the empty stomach, develop prussic acid in sufficient
amounts to kill them.
Heavy losses of sheep have occurred in Utah and
272 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
other western states in which post mortems proved
beyond all reasonable doubt that the deaths were caused
by eating the leaves of the choke cherry bushes through
which the trail-hungry sheep were driven. Sheep in this
condition should never be driven through such thickets,
if it is possible to avoid it.
Sleepy Grass (Stipa vaseyi). — This is a plant peculiar
to the high mountains of Arizona and New Mexico. In
appearance it is not unlike wild rye, growing to a height
of from three to four feet. Local stock will not touch
it, except when but a few inches high, and the only ani-
mals affected are those driven through the ranges and
unfamiliar to the country. There are no records of
cattle or sheep being affected by it, horses being the
only stock on which any observations have been made.
I once saw a six-horse team belonging to a party trav-
eling through the country turned out to graze near a
large patch of this grass. The horses were very hungry,
and the grass looked good to them. When the teamster
tried to hitch up his animals some of them began to
fall asleep as they stood in the harness. Their heads
would drop lower and lower and sometimes the animals
would sink to the grouiid, there to sleep soundly. If
touched sharply they would jump all over, as if awakened
from a dream, but drop off to sleep again at once, if
left alone. This sleepiness disappears in a few hours,
and to all outward appearances the animals are none
the worse for the experience.
Foxtail (Hordeum) and Squirrel Tail Grass. — The in-
jurious effects of these grasses are entirely mechanical
in their nature. The sharp awns or spikes of the
plants work their way into the inner lining of the ani-
mal's lips and mouth, also affecting the tongue. They
POISONOUS PLANTS 273
frequently work into the eyes and nostrils, forming
festering spots wherever they enter. Death often en-
sues, owing to the injury to the tongue and mouth,
preventing the animals from eating. In sheep the
sharp awns also work into the wool and often into
the hides, sometimes even causing death.
CHAPTER XIV.
SYMPTOMS AND REMEDIES.
In order to make definite comparisons between the
symptoms of various plant poisonings it has been
deemed best to locate them all in one place. In this
way it is believed the particular case may be more
readily discovered. A general discussion of the various
remedies will be found at the beginning of this chapter,
page 246.
Bloat. — General symptoms : huge swelling on the left
side of the paunch below the hip bone; animal groans
and grunts as if in pain; labored breathing; animal seeks
place like an irrigating ditch where it can stand with
forefeet up-hill, thus throwing the paunch back from
the lungs and throat.
Remedies: In first stages large doses of common bak-
ing soda given as a dre,nch may give relief. Shove a
section of a garden hose down the throat; this allows
more or less of the gas to escape. Tie a short piece of
hoe or pitchfork handle in the mouth like a bit; this
keeps the mouth wide open and allows gas to escape.
Run the animal around a field for twenty minutes at
good speed; this works the gas off the stomach. Per-
form the operation known as "paunching" or "rumen-
otomy." To do this stick a trocar or long knife blade
into the stomach about five inches below the left hip
bone and the same distance back from the last small
274
SYMPTOMS AND REMEDIES 275
rib. There is no danger at all in this operation and it
should be done promptly on account of the rapid pro-
gress of trouble. Sometimes the hole may be opened
to about four or five inches in length and a portion of
the contents of the stomach pulled out by hand. This,
however, is seldom necessary, as, the pressure of the
gas being removed, the ordinary operation of the
stomach will soon clear out the mass of green feed
to which the trouble is due.
Loco. — The following summary of the remedies covers
the entire question of remedies. It is taken from Bul-
letin No. 112 of the Bureau of Plant Industry — "Loco
Weed of the Plains"— by Prof. C. D. Marsh :
1. Some locoed animals will recover if taken from
the weed and fed well without any treatment.
2. Most locoed animals will recover if they are taken
from loco, fed carefully and treated on the lines indi-
cated by our experiments.
3. In all cases care should be taken to relieve con-
stipation, either through the character of the food or
by use of magnesium sulphate.
4. Horses are best treated with Fowler's solution
in daily doses of 15 cubic centimeters continued for
at least a month.
5. Cattle are best treated with daily doses of strych-
nine, not exceeding three-twentieths of a grain, given
hypodermically and continued for one or two months.
It is especially important that the dose should be small,
as locoed animals are very susceptible to the bad effects
of over-dosing.
This then should be borne in mind : Use Fowler's
solution of arsenic for horses, and strychnine for cattle.
To those who desire to study the matter more care-
276 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
fully the bulletin mentioned would be extremely inter-
esting as giving the experience of practical experts in
handling this trouble.
Of course to the open-range stockman, apart from
saving his saddle horses, it looks as if there was at
present no help for him. To gather and dose large
numbers of locoed range stock for two or three months
would be too expensive and in most cases, owing to
the nature of the animals, wholly out of the question.
The only solution of their troubles is some sort of Gov-
ernment control whereby they may be guaranteed a
certain range, exclusively, for a period of years. When
this is done each man can easily afford to undertake
to clean out the loco from his own range and thus be
freed from the losses caused by the plant.
Larkspurs. — Symptoms : Similar to aconite poisoning.
The animal walks with a stiff, awkward, straddling gait,
often walking backward, and falling down repeatedly;
is very stiff and clumsy and finally, in the extreme
stages, falls to the ground in violent spasms, with con-
vulsive kicking.
Remedies : Hurrying or moving the animals increases
the effect of the poison, and they should not be disturbed,
except that the head may be placed higher than the body,
which prevents choking.
A strong drench to move the bowels will often save
an animal. Frequently bloating accompanies the trou-
ble, which is relieved by paunching (page 254), in fact
the' writer believes bloat causes death in this trouble as
often as the poison itself.
Dr. Marsh* who has studied this plant carefully, rec-
*Farmers' bulletin No. 531 Dept. Agriculture.
SYMPTOMS AND REMEDIES 277
ommends this remedy for animals up to 600 pounds
weight ; over that, double the dose :
Physostigmin salicylate 1 grain
Pilocarpin hydroclorid 2 grains
Strychnin sulphate % grain
These can be found in any drug store., For either
. /*•** te> L^« CX^CA^S, ^ J^^JuU^^
dose mix with 8 ounces water. JUse twe ordinary metal
hypodermic syringe.
Lupines. — Symptoms: Great frenzy and mental ex-
citement. Animals, especially sheep, will run about but-
ting into anything they touch, as well as one another.
This is followed by spasms and falling-fits, similar to
those seen in strychnine poisoning. Death comes very
soon — often within an hour. One of the principal symp-
toms is the increased amount and bloody appearance of
the discharge from the kidneys.
The only known remedy that can be called at all use-
ful is the permanganate of potash drench.
Camas. — The symptoms of camas-poisoning are sim-
ilar to those noticed in cases of strychnine-poisoning.
There is no wild frenzy of the afflicted animals but
they are very restless and uneasy, with rapid breath-
ing, slobbering and frothing with greatly increased
amounts of saliva in their mouths. Regurgitation is
frequent through the mouth and nostrils.
In the majority of cases death follows very quickly,
and remedial measures must be taken as soon as the
symptoms appear, if the animals are to be saved. So far
as is known the only remedy is in the use of the perman-
ganate of potash drench.
Water Hemlock. — Animals poisoned by this plant are
subject to most severe pain. There is great cerebral
frenzy with hard, irregular breathing, and violent mus-
278 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
cular spasms. The animal will run wildly in any direc-
tion in which it gets started, never going far, owing
probably to the severity of the pains. Death conies
quickly, sometimes in fifteen minutes after eating the
plant. Any efforts toward saving the animal must
therefore be immediate.
If available give hypodermic injections of morphine
in one-fourth grain doses, or one-half ounce chloral hy-
drate divided into three fifteen-minute doses. Also give
the permanganate of potash drench. Where medicines
are not available, and this is usually the case in this
trouble, open the stomach of cattle as for bloat, and
with the hands pull out the contents. This simply re-
moves the poisonous matter from the stomach and if
done soon enough may save the animal. After this has
been done, give injections of melted lard, oil or even
warm water, to move the bowels and carry off any re-
maining poisonous material.
Opening the stomach is not a serious matter, and
this rough and ready surgery may save some valuable
milk cow which would otherwise be lost. A few stitches
in the cut to draw the sides together and a little tar or
grease on the wound to keep flies away are all that
need be done. It is remarkable how quickly an animal
thus treated will recover and go to grazing again as
if nothing unusual had happened.
Oaks. — Symptoms : The animals are weak and stand
in one spot for hours, unless forced to move. In appear-
ance they resemble locoed animals; the sunken eyes,
grinding teeth and hair all set the wrong way being
very like the conditions in loco. There is high fever with
hard, labored breathing. The skin on the lips and nose
is cracked and blistered from the fever.
SYMPTOMS AND REMEDIES 279
Post mortems show the contents of the stomach to
be very dark, dry and impacted, due to the tannin in
the oak. The gall sack is greatly distended with a
clear syrupy liquor and the urine is generally quite
bloody.
Remedies : The only remedy I have seen tried is
the use of large drenches and injections of oil, linseed
being usually the most available. Melted lard will prob-
ably bring equally good results. If available the drench
of permanganate of potash might be used to advantage,
although the progress of this disease is so slow that in
all probability the poisonous matter is too thoroughly
incorporated into the system to make its use effective.
The trouble does not begin to show itself until the
animals have eaten a large amount of the oak leaves, and
they generally linger in their misery for ten days be-
fore dying.
Ergot. — Symptoms : Paralysis beginning at the throat
and mouth ; the action of the animal is similar to cases
of strychnine-poisoning. The victim is unable to use its
limbs, staggers and falls about; appears very tired and
disinclined to work. Horses sweat profusely about the
neck and head. The paralysis, which starts with the
mouth and tongue, gradually extends to the entire
body. Owing to this paralysis the animal is unable to
swallow, hence remedies are very hard to give, except-
ing as injections. There is no excitement or hard breath-
ing, the respiration being slow and deep, as if in a
Remedies : Any stimulant, such as alcohol, ammonia
or strychnine, may be used. The action of this poison
is rapid and deadly, and any efforts to save the victim
must be prompt. Permanganate of potash should be
280 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
tried, although no cases are known to the writer where
it has been used.
Sneeze Weed. — Symptoms : Continual sneezing and
coughing. This appears to bring about vomiting, which
becomes serious, frequently ending in death. No rem-
edies are known. A drench of a quart of melted lard or
any oil may be useful. The most important thing is
immediately to remove the animals from the range
where the sneeze weed is found.
Choke Cherries. — Symptoms : Severe pains with acute
frenzy and early death. The sickness is due to prus-
sic acid contained in the leaves; the action is rapid and
there is little time in which to administer remedies. A
permanganate of potash drench should be used, together
with an injection or drench of oils to assist in carry-
ing off the matter from the stomach.
Pingue. — The symptoms of this poison are not very
well known at present. The disease is confined en-
tirely to sheep. The animals appear drowsy and with
no desire to eat. They finally lie down and unless
forced to rise will seldom get up again. The progress
of the disease is rapid, a/id losses are heavy. The only
remedy known at present is the use of a drench of hot
strong brine, given every hour until the animals re-
cover.
Kafir Corn and Sorghum. — Cattle and sheep turned
into fields of Kafir or sorghum often die very suddenly.
This is due to the presence of prussic acid, which ap-
pears to develop in these plants whenever their growth
is checked in its early stages by either frost or un-
usual drouth conditions. Thus the. young growth of
both of these plants is a very dangerous feed ; and stock
SYMPTOMS AND REMEDIES 281
should never be turned upon it when it has been frosted
or its growth checked by dry weather.
The greatest losses usually follow the turning of stock
into fields in the fall, from which the crop has been
harvested. The young growth that always springs up
from the stubble is exceedingly dangerous at such a
time, and what feed there is in the field may better be
wasted than to risk the losses that are sure to follow.
Hogs, however, seem to be perfectly immune to this
poison and may use such feed without danger.
There is no known absolute remedy for prussic acid
poisoning, unless it be the permanganate of potash
drench, and generally the animals are dead before any-
thing could be done, as it is one of the most deadly and
active poisons known.
CHAPTER XV.
DISEASES OF LIVE STOCK.
While it is impossible within the limits of a short
article to cover all the diseases to which livestock is
heir, there are several which affect domestic animals
throughout the West. These might be called "standard
diseases" because of their general prevalence. Some of
the diseases from which stock suffer are caused by eat-
ing poisonous plants, and have been considered else-
where in this work. Not only should the Western man
be able to recognize the common diseases that affect
his stock, but he should also be able to administer or
suggest the necessary simple remedy.
Where a veterinary surgeon is available, he should
be called. There was a day when the village "horse
doctor" generally was a "quack," with little or no scien-
tific or professional knowledge of the work which he
undertook to do; but the veterinarian of today is as
much a professional man in every sense of the word as
is any doctor of medicine. A graduate from any of
the well-known veterinary colleges is fully as competent
to take care of the health of dumb animals as the doc-
tor is to care for a family.
Many a valuable horse or cow has been lost by its
owner following the advice of every one who came
along, thus burdening the poor animal's stomach with
a variety of remedies, all more or less antagonistic to
DISEASES OF LIVE STOCK 283
one another. Who has not seen a cow dosed with soda
by the advice of one man, and ten minutes later, on
the advice of some one else, given a quart or two of
vinegar — one an alkali and the other an acid? Better
by far no medicines at all, excepting salts or oil to move
the bowels — an excellent measure in all cases of sick-
ness.
Do not be coaxed by the village sage into having
the "eye" or "blind" teeth of a young horse knocked out
on the theory that they cause sore eyes and blindness.
No graduate veterinarian will recommend such pro-
cedures or admit that they have the least connection
with the eye trouble. Do not let the same wise man
talk you into taking a red-hot iron and burning out
a. horse's upper gums in the belief that he has "lamp-
ers" and that it is going to cure it, for it will not. Do
not decide that your horse is suffering from "bots,"
because there is really no such disease. In almost every
healthy horse the larvae of the bot fly (Gastrophilus
equi) will be found in the intestines where, excepting in
extreme cases, they apparently do no great injury.
Because a cow will not eat, fails to chew the cud
(ruminate) and seems sick, do not let the village "know-
it-all" make you believe she has "lost her cud." Do
not shove down her throat with a pitchfork handle a
wad composed of a slice of salt pork as large as your
hand with some pieces of laundry soap wrapped inside
it, in the fond hope that it will cure her by replacing the
cud which the aforesaid "know-it-all" assures you she
has lost. The cow is a ruminant, that is, she eats a
lot of feed, stores it up in her first stomach tempo-
rarily, then goes off to a comfortable spot, regurgitates
(literally vomits) it back into her mouth and proceeds
284 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
to chew it into shape to be digested. When she has
fully masticated one lot it is swallowed and goes into the
second stomach while, if she is undisturbed, she raises
another cud and repeats the process. This is chewing
her cud. If a cow fails to chew her cud she is simply
out of sorts, her digestive apparatus is wrong some-
where, and the only remedy is something that will
cure the indigestion.
As in the human, loosen up the bowels with a dose
of salts or oil, give her an injection of warm, soapy
water, change her feed, give nature a chance to effect
a cure and let her alone as much as possible. Bots, blind
teeth, burning for lampas, hollow horn, wolf tail and
several other old-fashioned stock diseases have given
way before modern scientific investigations and are
not now part and parcel of the veterinarian's diseases.
There are two books published by the United States
Department of Agriculture, "The Diseases of Cattle"
and "The Diseases of Horses," which should be in the
hands of every stockman. They may be secured through
Congressmen. In these two volumes the various diseases
from which horses and cattle suffer are most admirably
treated and the remedies' are those which every stock-
owner should have on hand, ready for emergencies. The
easiest manner of administering medicines to animals is
of course through the medium of feed.
Bran, corn chop, or other soft feeds may be used if
the medicines are not injurious to the linings of the
throat or mouth and have no disagreeable taste. This
is the most satisfactory method. Generally, however,
a sick animal is one that is not eating, hence the com-
monest method is by means of drenches through the
mouth or injections through the rectum. A beer bottle
DISEASES OF LIVE STOCK 285
is the most available vehicle for the purpose, and care
must be used not to allow the neck of the bottle to
get between the grinding teeth of the animal, lest the
bottle be broken and the animal injured by glass.
If a cow which is being treated coughs, the head
must be lowered at once, lest the animal choke or some
of the liquor be forced down the windpipe into the
lungs, causing serious injury and possibly pneumonia.
Raise the animal's head gently to an angle of about 45
degrees, push the bottle neck into the right side of the
mouth so that it rests on the middle of the tongue and,
allow the contents slowly to run out. Usually between
a pint and a quart of fluid is all that is necessary to carry
the medicines into the animal's stomach. In impaction
of the stomach, however, the dose may be as much as a
gallon or even more.
See that all crystals are completely dissolved in the
liquor before giving it, so that they may be carried into
the stomach and not be left in the mouth. If it is de-
sirable to administer through the bowels it may be
done with a syringe or by means of a piece of common
rubber hose four or five feet long. Oil or soap
the hose and push it carefully into the rectum, leaving
a foot or eighteen inches outside. Elevate this and use
a tin funnel through which the medicine may be poured
and it will find its way by gravity into the bowels.
Do not give liquid medicines through the nostrils.
Many a valuable animal has been killed by this prac-
tice.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE DISEASES OF CATTLE.
There are but three diseases among western range
cattle which can be considered general: Big jaw (acti-
nomycosis), bloating (tympanites) and black-leg. Bloat-
ing has been fully considered under the head of poison-
ous plants. Big jaw, also called lumpy jaw and wooden
tongue, is an infectious disease found generally all over
the West. It is a chronic disease and due to the forma-
tion and action of a fungus growth. It is not carried
from one animal to another by mere contact but must
be taken into the system through some abrasion of the
skin in the lining of the mouth or decayed teeth. The
fungus is found on grasses and the sharp awns of bar-
ley and other grains. These work into the membrane of
the mouth, the tongue and gums of cattle.
In certain stages of the disease animals with huge,
running sores on their ja,ws drink from troughs, pools
and tanks into which the matter from the sores drops,
and it is an easy matter for the fungus which carries
the trouble to find its way into the system of a healthy
animal. It is not very probable that the disease is
often spread by this means. While the tumors may ap-
pear on various parts of the animal, it is generally on
the lower jaw bones that they are found. The trouble
begins with a small swelling which gradually grows
until it assumes considerable size, finally breaking out
with a running sore which spreads and grows until the
THE DISEASES OF CATTLE
287
entire jaw is frequently covered. It also works back
into the inner part of the jaw, attacking the bone itself
as well as the tongue, when it is called "wooden tongue."
An animal in an advanced stage of the disease will
show a peculiar honeycombed appearance of the jaw
bones when the flesh is opened to the bone. In a few
cases animals affected with this disease recover without
treatment and probably about 75 per cent of the afflicted
can be cured if properly treated. The cause, progress
and peculiarities of this disease are little known to veter-
inarians, and there is much ignorance as to the facts
in regard to it.
The most common method of treating big jaw has been
to cut away tumors where this is possible, even to
scraping the diseased bones. This, however, is sel-
dom a permanent cure and the disease soon reappears.
Recently veterinarians have discovered that a treatment
of iodide of potassium will in most cases effect a. per-
manent cure. The iodide is given as a drench in doses
of from \y2 to 2l/2 drams dissolved in water, once a day.
The dose should vary with the size of the animal and
the effect of the medicine. In the course of a week or
ten days signs of iodism appears. The skin is scurfy,
there is weeping from the eyes, catarrh of the nose and
loss of appetite. When these symptoms appear the
doses should be stopped for a few days, and then re-
sumed. The remedy will generally effect a cure in four
or five weeks. If it does not it is a sign that the par-
ticular animal is not subject to the influence of the
druef and cannot be cured.
The disease is not considered injurious to the meat
of the animal excepting in extreme cases and those of
long standing. However, all cattle buyers look care-
288 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
fully for animals with small swellings on the jaw or
side of the face, and reject them on suspicion. At the
market animals with the disease are thrown out by the,
jovernment inspectors and given a careful examination,
with the result that a large number of them are allowed
to go to slaughter as fit for human consumption.
Blackleg. — This is a disease of the blood. It is
infectious but not contagious, and confined almost wholly
to animals between the ages of eight months and two
years. Probably 80 per cent of all the deaths from
blackleg are confined to animals between ten and four-
teen months old. Cases where cattle over two years old
have died from it are extremely rare and the number
dying under eight months is not large.
The disease has certain well-defined peculiarities.
There are seldom any outbreaks of blackleg during
a wet season, hence a certain area will be free from the
trouble for several years. During a dry year when the
dust about watering-places and salt-grounds is deep
and blown about by the wind, stockmen prepare for a
loss by blackleg. As a general thing, the fall is the
favorite time for the appearance of blackleg, although
a dry spring will develop it under certain conditions.
These conditions depend upon the physical condition
of the animals. As a rule, the disease attacks the flower
of the herd. The fatter and better bred the animal, the
more likely it is to have blackleg. Seldom does the
disease attack a poor animal, and as most range cattle
are far from fat in the spring, it doubtless is due to
this fact that the losses are more common in the fall.
After the summer season everything is fat and in excel-
lent condition to contract the trouble.
Another thing that seems fairly well established
THE DISEASES OF CATTLE 289
through years of observation is that blackleg was seldom
known in the early days of the range business when the
herds were bred altogether from the old long-horned
animals of the Southwest. It will hardly do to say
absolutely that the scrub will not contract blackleg but
it is very likely that if a careful watch were kept of the
progress of the disease in a bunch of 100 pure-bred year-
lings and 100 scrubs, all grazing on the same range, and
under identical conditions, a large majority of the losses
would be among the pure-breds.
Blackleg is not what the medical fraternity calls a
sporadic disease. It cannot originate through certain
physical conditions on a range where it was never be-
fore known. It must have been conveyed there through
the death of some afflicted animal which, dying, carried
into the ground the bacilli of the disease. Just how long
the bacilli lie dormant in the ground is not known. I
know of one case in Arizona where a yearling dying of
blackleg was buried several feet deep on the banks of
a creek near a watering-place. Six years later the
caving of the bank along the creek uncovered the bones
of the animal and not long after there was an outbreak
of blackleg in the adjacent pasture. As there had never
been but one known death from the disease before, and
since the cattle were in the habit of lying along the
creek in the shade of the high banks, there was little
reason to doubt that the disease was taken into the ani-
mals' systems through small cuts on their bodies com-
ing in contact with the ground, or perhaps licking them-
selves or one another, and thus carrying the deadly
bacilli into their circulation through sore places or
cuts upon the inner parts of the lips or tongue. That
this is possible has been repeatedly proved by experi-
290 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
ments made by several institutions, notably the Okla-
homa Experiment Station.
Calves were kept under identical conditions. Earth
taken from the spot where an animal had died from
the disease was placed in their feed in such a way that
they must swallow it. Those with mouths free from all
cuts or injuries whereby the bacilli could enter the
system suffered no harm, while those having such cuts or
injuries died. Again, two animals were taken and one
given several gashes in its hide, deep enough to go
through to the flesh. Soil from the same place was
rubbed all over each calf, working it down into the
hair close to the hide. The animal with the cuts in
its side died of blackleg, while the other showed no
signs of the trouble.
Every stockman knows that there are certain places
upon the western ranges where the disease is apt to oc-
cur, while just over a mountain range or across a river
it never has been known. Again, in fenced areas like
northern New Mexico pastures and in the Texas Pan-
handle fifty animals will die of it in a week, while in the
next pasture, only separated by a wire fence, stock will
graze in perfect health/ The simple explanation is that
the second pasture has never been inoculated by having
an animal with the disease die inside of it.
If every animal that died of blackleg could be burned
or buried in quick lime it is probable that the disease
could be stamped out in time, but the trouble on open
ranges is that they die in the canyons and other un-
noticed spots where the escaping juices from the de-
caying body run out over the ground, scattering the
seeds of the disease. Years after a calf lies on the spot
and through some cut or open sore the dust from the
THE DISEASES OF CATTLE 291
earth gains entrance into the circulation and the animal
has blackleg.
The disease is also scattered by buzzards, ravens and
other carnivorous birds that feast upon the dead bodies,
carrying pieces to distant places and thus infecting other
spots. The disease does not affect the meat, at least not
to the extent of conveying the disease, for in New
Mexico the natives, both Mexican and Indian, eagerly
seize upon the body of an animal dead from blackleg
and eat it with no resultant injuries.
The symptoms of blackleg are a 'slight lameness
growing rapidly worse ; disinclination to travel and death
without any particular struggle or suffering.
The disease incubates rapidly and the time between
the first visible signs and death is short, generally not
more than twelve hours and sometimes not more than
five or six.
There can be no mistaking an animal that has died of
this disease. An hour after death the body is swollen
to the uttermost stretch of the hide. The legs are
distended at full length, standing out from the body
like sticks ; the mouth is wide open ; the eyes bulge
out; and the openings of the body forced far out. On
pressing the hand upon the body it feels like a drum and
if the finger be pushed into the fleshy part of the shoul-
der or leg a dry crackling sound will be heard, caused
by the gas formed between the skin and flesh. Drive
the blade of a knife into the flesh and a frothy pale
liquid will ooze out, but the blood does not flow as in
ordinary cases of death.
It is not known whether the disease can be transmit-
ted to man, but I know of one case where a cowboy
had skinned several calves dead from blackleg. He used
292 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
his pocket knife for the work, placing it when done, wet
with blood, in his pocket. The following day in a fight
he was shot through the leg and the bullet struck the
knife, burying it deep in the flesh. The leg was ampu-
tated soon after but in spite of all that could be done
the man died in a few days of blood poisoning which
many afterward thought to be blackleg. Unfortunately
no one thought at the time to watch the symptoms
carefully nor were any tests made of his blood to ascer-
tain whether or not the bacilli of blackleg were pres-
ent. That this man died of blackleg was and still is
the conviction of nearly every one in that region ac-
quainted with the facts.
Remedial Measures. — When there is an outbreak of
blackleg it is too late to save stock already affected.
Veterinary science can protect the well but cannot save
the sick. The immediate removal of the stock from the
infected pasture or vicinity is the first thing to be done.
A common method of fighting it is for the men to mount
their horses and run the whole herd around the pasture
or range for some time. In this case the theory is that
it starts the blood to circulating and stops the coagulat-
ing process which is trie effect of the disease.
I have known men to spend a whole day driving a
herd of cattle about on the range and not lose one from
blackleg. Of course there is nothing settled by this
statement, because it is impossible definitely to state
that any of the animals so handled were suffering from
the disease when the chasing process began. In addi-
tion to this setons formed of strips of cotton cloth
soaked in assafoetida, turpentine and the like are placed
in the skins of the suspected animals. Some men run
them through the dew-lap and others through the tail,
THE DISEASES OF CATTLE 293
close against the body; and still others, through the
shoulder where one places a seton in a sweenied horse.
That these remedies do any good is doubtful. No trials
have ever been made with animals positively known to
be affected with the disease, so that it can neither be de-
nied nor affirmed.
The only known remedy or rather preventive that
has been tested and approved by careful experiments
both in the United States and Europe is inoculation.
This is done by various means. The most successful
is the method employed by the Government which is
by means of hypodermic injections of a solution pre-
pared by mixing a certain quantity of the finely pul-
verized dried muscle of an animal that has died of black-
leg with distilled water. This is forced by the syringe
into the cavity between the outer skin and the flesh,
preferably on the shoulder. Animals thus treated are
immune from attacks of blackleg if it is done after
the calf is eight months of age. If done earlier the ani-
mal seems to outgrow the immunity and if exposed
will contract the disease.
Animals so treated seldom die of the disease, the
percentage being extremely small, and then it is not
always certain that vaccination was properly per-
formed. It is estimated that on many western ranges
on an average fully 10 per cent of all the calves die of
blackleg. I have known forty calves out of sixty to
die in ten days in one pasture in spite of all the reme-
dies used. On the other hand where vaccination is
regularly followed the loss is almost wholly wiped out,
the few that die probably being cases where the dose
was wasted through carelessness on the part of the
operator in not getting the needle in the right place. In
294 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
the rush of doing the work the needle can very readily
be stuck through a fold of the hide in such a manner
that it will come out on the other side of the fold un-
noticed in the hair, and the dose never enter the ani-
mal's body at all.
I have vaccinated my thumb at least twice, and jabbed
a dose into one man's leg through accident, with no
harm, except a close call for a good drubbing at the
hands of the enraged cowboy. There are several patent
remedies on the market for blackleg, the most of them
being some form of administering the powdered muscle
without going to the trouble of mixing up a liquid and
injecting it through a hypodermic syringe. Doubtless
those manufactured by responsible firms are as effica-
cious as the powders furnished free by the Govern-
ment. The main thing to be looked after in them all
is that they are fresh. Most of them are dated, show-
ing the day they were made and the extreme length of
time which they may be kept and still be effective.
Texas Fever. — While this disease is not general over
the West, it is well that the grazier should know some-
thing about it. Broadly speaking, it is confined to all
the coast country of thd -United States which lies below
the 1,500-foot level, south of Cape Hatteras and clear
around to the Gulf Coast. This level is not an exact
line but the ticks do not survive very cold weather, and
above the 1,500- foot line the winters generally kill them.
Texas fever is found in nearly all of the southern states
and along the coast counties of southern California.
Many years ago when the Texas trail was in full
swing the cattle grazing along the trails followed by the
Texas herds died of some mysterious disease. The out-
breaks seemed unaccountable. The disease did not
Portion of a Steer's Hide, Showing the Texas-fever Tick.
296 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
last long and did not seem to spread beyond the ani-
mals first attacked. The settlers soon discovered that
the victims were all northern stock and that none of
the Texas animals died. They also realized that the
losses were confined to the cattle which grazed about
the old bed-grounds where the trail herds had been
bedded down for the night. The disease was attributed
to many causes. The droppings of the trail animals
were supposed to convey it in some manner. Again it
was the slobber of the animals grazing on the grasses
by means of which the trouble was caused. In fact,
dozens of theories were advanced for the cause of the
deaths.
The settlers arose in their wrath and met the trail
herds with their rifles and in some sections strict guard
was kept that no trail herds entered certain districts.
For years no amount of investigation seemed to solve
the problem until a veterinarian took up the question of
the ticks which were carried upon the bodies of all
Texas cattle. At first his theories were ridiculed. "All
cattk had ticks." "The buffalo had them; all the north-
ern cattle had them in their ears ; deer had them ; horses
sometimes had them."' But the veterinarian persisted
in his studies of the matter and eventually proved that
the ticks which infested the Texas cattle were different
from the common ear tick and that their bodies filled
with blood drawn from the Texas cattle conveyed the
disease to healthy cattle.
Still the Texans doubted. "Their cattle were the
healthiest in the world." "If the ticks were so deadly
why didn't their cattle die?" This side of the ques-
tion was one which took many years of painstaking
investigation thoroughly to clear up, but it was finally
THE DISEASES OF CATTLE 297
done to the satisfaction of even the Texans. For sev-
eral years the "bull tick" theory was the basis for
many a shot at investigating veterinarians. The gist of
the matter was that Texas cattle through long years of
infection had become immune to the disease, and while
still carrying in their blood the deadly bacilli of the
disease did not themselves succumb to it.
The Federal Government in order to prevent the
spread of the disease has drawn a line called a quarantine
line which extends from the Atlantic Coast clear across
the South and Southwest, running as far north as the
northern line of Oklahoma and southwest ' across the
northwest portion of Texas to the Mexican line. From
below this line no cattle may be removed excepting for
immediate slaughter. At the present time the Govern-
ment is experimenting in the dipping of tick-infested
animals with excellent results. A campaign is also being
carried on looking to the complete eradication of ticks
from the lands. This process is a long one and to be
successful must have the hearty co-operation of inter-
ested parties.
By means of changing pastures, moving the cattle
back and forth and keeping all stock off certain areas for
definite periods, the ticks may be starved out and the
land freed from their presence. Twenty years ago all
of California south of San Francisco was infested with
ticks and under quarantine. Today by these methods
the state is free from ticks.
The life-history of the tick furnished the means of its
extinction. It was found that the tick lived on an ani-
mal for a certain time, then dropped off., laid its eggs and
died. The eggs so planted developed, according to the
weather, in the course of thirty to sixty days. The young
298 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
seed ticks then began crawling about looking for some
animal to which to attach themselves. At the first op-
portunity this was done, and they crawled upon the
unsuspecting beast and began to develop immediately
into good-sized ticks. In from fifteen to twenty days,
if the animal is not immune, the disease breaks out. In
three weeks the insect grows to adult age, drops off
and begins. to lay its eggs under some convenient chip
or piece of dung, and so the process is repeated in-
definitely.
The ticks may generally be discovered inside the
thighs and on the escutcheon and belly where the hide
is tender and the hair is short. While most all cattle
have ear. ticks, and some body ticks, it is not difficult to
recognize the true fever tick.
Place a fever tick upon the hand and if it is full-
grown it will be all day crawling across it. An ear
tick of the same size will do it in a few minutes. The
full-grown female tick is of a slaty blue color, about
as large and much the shape of a grain of corn, and
with eight legs. The male is smaller, rather triangular
in shape and in color a brick-red. The male's legs are
much longer than those" of the female. The seven-
teenth annual report of the Bureau of Animal Industry
contains a full and finely illustrated story of the Texas
fever tick which should be read by every one interested
in the subject.
Scabies or Mange. — This is a cattle disease similar to
scab in sheep. The mites, however, are a . different
variety of the same species, and the sheep mites will
not attack cattle nor will cattle mites make a host of
sheep. The symptoms are the same in each case. The
constant desire to scratch, raw bleeding necks and shoul-
1 and 2, Male. 3 and 4, Female.
Dorsal and Ventral Views of the Texas-Fever Tick.
300 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
ders where the animals have scratched till the flesh is
torn and a falling off of the hair until in extreme cases
the victims are almost bare — all these conditions point
to the trouble.
The disease, which has existed in the western ranges
for many years, did not reach any serious stages until
about ten years ago, being contagious but very slow in
spreading. Mange does not primarily cause the death
of cattle but simply cuts their vitality down and saps
their strength till they fall easy victims to bog holes
or hard winters. So long as the animals are in good
flesh they seem able to withstand the attacks of the
mites and the disease makes but little if any headway.
With the coining of a hard winter, short feed and long
storms, animals rapidly lose flesh, and then the mange
mites begin to thrive.
Some veterinarians think that the mites are repulsed
by the excess of fat in the animals' skins and lie dor-
mant until this excess is lost, when they emerge from
their hiding places to feast on an already suffering
and debilitated animal. Thus it is that the disease may
exist in a herd for a long time and then during some
hard winter when the cattle lose flesh the mange makes
its appearance and the owner wonders where they
"caught" it. Western stockmen made no serious fight
against the mange until through shipping it had spread
all over the country west of the Mississippi River, espe-
cially on the eastern slope of the Rockies and out into
the great plains country to the east. Then the United
States Department of Agriculture took hold of it, and
in six years has been able greatly to reduce the in-
fected area and in some states has completely eradi-
cated it. Had the Government from the first secured
THE DISEASES OF CATTLE 301
the co-operation of the states and stockmen interested,
as it should, the disease would not exist today any-
where in the West, excepting in isolated cases.
The same methods of righting mange are used as
with scabby sheep and the losses from dipping are very
light — no more than the losses in dipping sheep.
Dipping a herd of cattle is no light task, and the
outlay for a dipping plant is much greater than for
sheep. However, the ridding of the cattle of lice, ticks
and other parasites that worry them makes the opera-
tion one from which the stockman gets good returns,
and many find it a wise plan to dip their herds at least
once every two years for this purpose alone.
A successful spraying machine is now used with ex-
cellent results. The animals are driven through a long
steel cylinder large enough to let them walk through
readily. Inside this cylinder thousands of needle-like
nozzles spray a hot liquid dip, the basis of which is
Texas crude oil. This is forced out at tremendous pres-
sure and the animal is thoroughly covered with the solu-
tion by the time it reaches the exit.
The cost of dipping cattle by any method is about
15 cents per head for each operation, but this may be
reduced by handling a large number of cattle at one
plant. As with sheep, where the animals are gentle and
can be handled, they may be doctored for mange by
swabbing them over with the solution, giving the rubbed
and bare places a vigorous scrubbing with a stiff brush
dipped in the "medicine."
In the spring, when they are shedding, cattle are
likely to look as if mangy, but they are simply losing
their winter coats and rub to get rid of the hair. If one
is fearful of the presence of mange mites, take hold of
Dipping Cattle in Oklahoma for Texas-fever Ticks.
THE DISEASES OF CATTLE 303
the hair where they are seen to scratch and pull off a
flake of it. By placing the lock of hair under an ordinary
glass, such as almost every Western man has handy, and
examining it closely at the roots, the mites, if there are
any, will readily be discovered, very much alive.
In mange scurfy scale-like stuff comes away with the
hair, which. is but the dead tissue where the mites have
burrowed in the skin and the scab which forms sticks
to the roots of the hair. The disease among horses
is much the same in all its symptoms and can be simi-
larly handled.
A few years ago in northern New Mexico mange ob-
tained a footing and spread among the range horses
until with a very hard winter thousands of horses died.
Probably many of them would have died anyhow but any
one seeing a bunch of the horses, some of them as bare
of hair as a picked chicken, with great raw places on
their necks and shoulders where they scratched on the
rocks and trees, had little doubt that mange did much
to hasten the coming of the end. A strenuous cam-
paign of dipping the next season carried on by the ter-
ritorial authorities stopped the spread of the disease
and, so far as can be seen today, completely eradi-
cated it.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE DISEASES OF SHEEP.
Practically scab is the only disease which bothers the
western sheepmen. Foot rot, intestinal worms and those
diseases which are a blight on the sheep industry east
of the Mississippi River are unknown in the regions
west of it. This is due doubtless to the high dry at-
mosphere which offers no climatic conditions favorable
to the progress or even inception of these diseases.
Scabies. — Thanks to the tireless work done by the
Bureau of Animal Industry, this trouble has been so
successfully combatted that it is practically eliminated
from many of the range states and is found in very iso-
lated cases in the balance. This work was not done
without considerable friction and criticism from the
very men whom it was intended to help. Naturally
the progressive go-ahead sheepmen eagerly welcomed
the coming of the government men with their constant
inspections and never-ceasing vigilance ; but to many it
seemed an unnecessary hardship, as well as an invasion
of their individual liberties.
Some of the states had fought the scab through their
local officials but no great headway was made until the
Federal Government took a hand in it, and by virtue of
its authority to supervise interstate shipments of stock
compelled those who would not dip to protect themselves
304
THE DISEASES OF SHEEP 305
to do so to protect others. The Federal authorities could
not go on the ranges and quarantine the sheep, but
as soon as offered for interstate shipment it could
quarantine and thus force the owner to take care of
them.
The states were generally quick to co-operate with the
Government in this matter,, and in the most of them they
worked hand in hand, with very satisfactory results.
Naturally where a state has once been freed from this
disease a moderate amount of supervision and watch-
fulness on the part of the local authorities will pre-
vent any further spread of the trouble.
Scab is one of the oldest of animal diseases. Moses
in his voluminous instructions to his followers, speak-
ing of sheep offered as sacrifices to the Lord, says in
Leviticus 22 :22 :
"Blind or broken,, or maimed, or having
a wen, or scurvy or scabbed, ye shall not
make an offering."
Scab exists almost everywhere where sheep are raised.
In Europe, Asia and Africa it is common. Australia
fought it with success and very little of it is to be
found among the millions of sheep there. The cause is
a species of mite known as Psoroptes communis. Pso-
roptes is a Greek word meaning "mites that hide under
the skin." Horses and cattle also have scabies, but
the mites are different, and the disease cannot be car-
ried from a sheep to a cow, or vice versa. It can, how-
ever, be contracted by man. Sheep have been known to
contract the disease after being bedded down on a
bed-ground which sheep had not used for more than a
year. As the disease is carried entirely by the mites
they must have lived in the ground for that long at least.
306 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
These mites on obtaining a position on an animal begin
at once to bore into the hide. This creates the intense
itching, a crust or scab is formed, the mites move onto
the adjoining healthy flesh and thus the disease spreads.
Sheep afflicted with scabies are easily discovered in
a flock. The animals are restless, scratch and rub
against posts and walls and bite the itching places un-
til in severe cases their noses will be all bloody and
the flesh torn and bleeding. It generally shows first
about the neck and shoulders, because the suffering ani-
mal can more easily reach that part to scratch. The
wool has a peculiar tagged or tufted condition and bare
spots appear on the animal where it has fallen off, due
to the work of the mites. After being driven or heated
up, the animals are worse, as the increased heat of the
body tends to aggravate the desire to scratch.
Remedies. — Fortunately scab is a disease that can be
readily stamped out. In small herds where the animals
are under close control, by catching each animal and
"doctoring" it with a commercial dip smeared on with a
swab or rag soaked in the fluid, wherever there are
signs of it, the trouble can be checked. In large herds,
as on the western ranges, dipping plants are used. These
plants are sometimes owned by the sheepmen, in some
cases they are built and maintained as commercial
enterprises, a small charge being made for their use.
Under usual conditions a large number of sheep can be
sent through a dip each day, and with a good crew
there is little delay in the operation. The swim generally
is so timed that each sheep is in about one minute. The
men in charge see to it by means of forked sticks that
each animal is "ducked" completely under at least once
during the swim across.
THE DISEASES OF SHEEP
307
Dips in Use. — There are several different dips in use
known from their ingredients, as creosote, tobacco with
carbolic acid, lime and sulphur. The latter dip is gener-
ally used by Government officials. The majority of these
dips must be used when heated to get the best effects,
and in order that the disease maybe absolutely cured
After Being Dipped, the Sheep Pass Through a Dripping Pen at the End.
it is necessary to use it twice at periods of about ten
days. This allows time for any nits or eggs deposited
on the animals to be hatched out and killed, as few
of the dips will affect them before that time.
The cost of dipping sheep varies according to the
dip used, but on an average it costs about 3 cents per
head to dip a band of sheep once. In fighting the dis-
308 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
ease on the ranges it is absolutely necessary that all
old corrals and bed-grounds be either burned or disin-
fected. Posts near such places and also tree trunks
where the affected animals may have rubbed and thus
left a starter for a new outbreak, should be well treated
with strong solutions of the dip. Like all such troubles
it is a case of eternal vigilance, and the wideawake
sheepman dips his herd each spring, no matter whether
the sheep show signs of the disease or not. The dip-
ping is good for the sheep, they are rid of all ticks and
such insect pests for the time and as a general thing
the growth and staple of the wool are improved by the
operation.
Lip and Leg Ulceration. — This disease is local in its
geographical extent at present, being confined to cer-
tain well-defined areas in Wyoming and Montana, where
it has existed for many years in a mild form, but finally
through shipping and moving the herds about, on the
ranges, it became epidemic over a considerable area.
These areas have been quarantined and by co-operative
work between the Bureau of Animal Industry and the
board of sheep commissioners of each state is in a fair
way to be stamped ou£'
The disease, like scab, does not always kill the ani-
mal affected but lowers its general condition and keeps
it in poor flesh. It is a highly infectious disease,
sheep apparently picking up the germs on the range
as they feed. Ranges having a great deal of cactus, so
that in feeding the animals get their lips and noses
pricked, are the most dangerous, for the disease seems
to be carried from one sheep to another by the deposit
on the feed of the pus or discharged matter from the
sores, on the animal's body, legs or lips. On such ranges
it is difficult to eradicate.
THE DISEASES OF SHEEP 309
The symptoms are lameness in one or all of the
feet, and the animal shrinks rapidly in flesh. The little
sores on the nose and lips and other places discharge
an offensive greenish pus, which is characteristic of
the disease. It is through this pus dropping on feed
that the disease is spread over the ranges.
The disease yields to almost any of the better class
of sheep dips, or to a l-to-5 solution of water and nitric
acid. In some cases the victims can be treated by
wading them through shallow pans or dips containing
enough of the medicine to cover the hoofs. The only
way to get at the sores on the body is to 'take each
animal and doctor it with a swab, taking care to have
every sore cleansed of all pus before the treatment is
applied. In some serious cases where the animals have
been neglected the disease affects the hoofs, and they
drop off.
The infection also enters lambs through the freshly-
docked tails or the scrotum after castration; in fact, it
is ready to locate in or on any wound, however slight.
The infection of the body or in such places as are men-
tioned comes doubtless when the animal lies on the
ground. The germ is apparently very tenacious of life,
and sheep using a range infected with it must be con-
stantly inspected. At present the disease is not thor-
oughly understood but it is being carefully studied by
Government veterinarians.
CHAPTER XVIII.
DISEASES OF HORSES.
It is not possible in a work of this size to give a full
and complete list of the diseases to which horses are sub-
ject. But we may properly note some of the most common
maladies which at one time or another are likely to
attack every horse. The fact that under ordinary con-
ditions of use horses are apt to be taken sick at places
where it is impossible to obtain the services of a veterin-
ary surgeon makes it necessary that all men who own
horses should know something of the best methods to
be taken to relieve them when sick.
Of the many diseases to which horses may at times
be subject the following have been selected as those
most likely to trouble the average western stockman.
In all of these if a veterinarian is to be had, call him
in, but if not, study the ^symptoms carefully before de-
ciding what remedy to use. If the animal assumes un-
usual attitudes, as sitting up on its hindquarters like
a dog, rolling onto its back with feet in the air, or rest-
ing on the knees while standing on its hind feet, and
sweats profusely, it is safe to look for colic or some
trouble with the digestive organs.
If the horse has been standing in the stable for
several days, fed full rations of hay and grain and
given little or no exercise, it may when led show lame-
ness in one or more legs, heavy sweating, general stiff-
si o
DISEASES OF HORSES 311
ness all over, loss of control over the hindquarters, some-
times falling to the ground, trembling of limbs and body,
passing ropy and deep-colored urine under consider-
able strain. It is then safe to suspect azoturia, due to
a lack of exercise and heavy feeding.
If the animal's head or neck is swollen to twice the
natural size, the eyes almost closed, high fever, no
appetite, a tendency to giddiness, sometimes falling, as
in a faint, the trouble is likely to be due to a snake
bite.
Colic. — Two-thirds of the troubles of horses are due
to colic. Veterinarians recognize several kinds of colic:
engorgement colic, obstruction colic, wind colic, or bloat,
spasmodic colic, and worm colic. To simplify the work
of the layman who is called on to doctor a sick horse, I
shall reduce these to two heads under which most of the
cases will fall.
The symptoms of engorgement and obstruction colic
are to the ordinary stockman much the same and the
remedies available about the average home or ranch may
be used in each case. The stomach has been over-
loaded, the bowels and large intestines are obstructed
and the functions of the digestive system at a stand-
still. The remedies therefore are similar to those which
would be used in the same trouble in the human. Open
the bowels get rid of the accumulated mass in the stom-
ach and intestines, and relieve the pain.
Engorgement or Obstruction Colic. — Symptoms : The
animal shows it is in great pain, although it may be in-
termittent in character and at times the animal is ap-
parently not suffering. It rolls, bites its sides, lies flat
on the side with feet and head extended, looking back
at its flanks occasionally as if there was the seat of the
312 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
trouble; gets up and roams about the stall, then lies
down again, sweats profusely at times, switches its tail,
tries to urinate frequently; sometimes sits up on its
haunches like a dog, or kneels down like a trick horse.
Again it will try to roll so as to get on the back, with
all four feet in the air. These positions seem to give
some ease from the pain. Often it groans loudly, as
if to show the pain it is suffering.
For the bowels there are many home remedies avail-
able, as one pound of Glauber's or Epsom salts; or a
pint to a quart of linseed or castor oil with 15 drops of
croton oil added ; or one ounce of powdered >aloes, two
, . . \4^U^c%<™ ^, Afr*&~"*ur.€nT .
drams of calomel, ontf dram of powdered nux vomica
mixed thoroughly. A gallon or more of warm, soapy
water administered as an injection twice — at hourly in-
tervals— should always follow any of the other remedies
because of the difficulty of reaching the trouble through
the stomach.
An entire bottle of Jamaica ginger or any of the
various pain killers or cholera remedies that are to be
found in* almost every country home or store will very
materially allay the pain. Dilute them with a pint of
water. Do not give all of these remedies at once; do
not give a second dose for at least twenty-four hours, as
it takes that long for the bowels of the horse to move.
Give a full dose at one time rather than two small sep-
erate doses. Don't kill the animal with kindness ; give the
medicine a chance to work, and the animal a chance to
get well. In bad cases the hand and arm may be greased
or soaped and inserted in the rectum and the hard pieces
of fecal matter removed. This will materially assist the
medicines.
Wind Colic. — In wind colic many of the symptoms are
DISEASES OF HORSES 313
similar to those of impaction of the stomach. The cause
of this colic is over-heating and over-feeding, going
without feed for a long time and then being too heavily
fed; too much green feed; new hay and grain, espe-
cially oats and corn or sour grain or feed.
In addition to the symptoms already given, the belly
is considerably enlarged and bloated and if struck in
Tront of the hips and back of the ribs it gives forth a
hollow drum-like sound, due to the accumulated wind
or gas. In serious cases there is profuse sweating, in-
tense pains with violent twitchings of the stomach;
trembling of the limbs and staggering from side to side.
In fact, the symptoms are quite like those in man
when suffering from a bad attack of stomach ache.
The sure symptom is the drum-like sound of the stom-
ach when struck, and the tightly stretched skin over
the stomach walls.
The same physics should be given, and the same
medicines for alleviating the paints in the other form / p^A**
of colic. A tablespoonful of c^\r^yr^c^\\\r\o. nr npmjn 7 '
will ease the pain. Rub the flanks with turpentine,
covering a spot about eight inches across just behind
the ribs and rather low down on the body. If the
animal is down lay heavy pieces of blanket wet in very
hot water on the body, changing them as they cool.
For this colic one of the best remedies I have ever
used is chloral hydrate, mentioned in the Government
work alluded to on page 284 of this book. This is used
in a drench, one ounce to a pint of warm water. See
that every particle of the drug is taken up by the
liquid, as it is a strong irritant to the mouth and throat.
It is an inexpensive material to keep on hand and does
not seem to lose strength when kept bottled. We always
314 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
kept an empty ounce bottle for a measure and never
failed to get good results from its use.
As it also relieves pain, the use of other drugs like
morphine or painkillers is not necessary when this
remedy is to be had. One dose generally did the work
but in severe cases we gave a second dose after an hour
or two, but no more.
In both kinds of colic I have seen excellent results
from kneading or working the stomach so as to help
the bowels work off gas and accumulated feed. Where
the animal is standing on its feet, take a smooth pole,
like a pitchfork handle, or a neck yoke, pass it under
the animal's belly and with a man at each end slide it
slowly back and forth on the belly, pressing upward
as much as possible. This will stimulate the bowel
action and give great relief to the animal.
Finally, in all kinds of colic, do not over-dose the
patient; give the medicines a chance to operate; and
remember that, as a general thing, the symptoms of
the trouble and the remedies for it are much the same
as in the case where a man is treated, only on a larger
scale.
Azoturia. — This trouble always puzzles the ordinary
stockman. His horse has not been used, has been
standing idle in the stable, has been fed regularly and
apparently was in the best of spirits when led out to
be used. Yet inside of the first 100 yards or so he
began to limp on one or more legs ; his fire was all
eone ; he seemed dull and heavy-eyed ; his flanks wen1
heaving and the sweat came from every pore. He
seemed unable to use his hind limbs they wabbled as
he staggered along and finally he dropped in the road, a
pitiful sight. The urine that is passed is very dark-col-
DISEASES OF HORSES 315
ored, being sometimes almost brown or black, like thick
coffee. The victim may die in a few hours or may re-
cover as soon. Again there may be a partial paralysis
of the hind limbs which lasts for months, and possibly
the animal may never fully recover. «
The cause of azoturia is overfeeding with rich feeds,
as grains, especially oats, cottonseed-meal and alfalfa,
with lack of exercise. Where animals have the run of a
small lot or barnyard the disease seldom is found. The
animals attacked are those confined in close stalls for
several days, fed regularly and given no exercise to aid
nature in digesting the feed.
Remedies. — In the beginning something to loosen up
the bowels is necessary, a dose consisting of four to six
drams of powdered aloes or a pound of Glauber's salts
being advisable. Follow this with a dose consisting of
four drams of bromide of potassium with one ounce of
sweet spirits of nitre given every five or six hours, for
three or four times, until the nervous conditions are re-
lieved. The bromide quiets the nerves and the nitre in-
creases the urinary secretions. A well-known veterina-
rian recommends a tablespoon of powdered saltpetre in
a quart of water given as a drench.
Get the animal home as soon as possible and give it
moderate daily exercise, keep the bowels open, and cut
down the feed to the minimum. If the paralysis of the
limbs comes the advice of a good veterinarian will be
needed if a recovery is hoped for.
Snake Bites. — Symptoms : If the attack by a snake is
seen, the remedies to be used can be applied immediate-
Iv. but probably nine-tenths of all such injuries take
place when animals are grazing in pastures and nothing
is known of it. A horse comes in with its head or neck
316 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
swollen to twice the natural size; the eyes are shut and
running water; there is high fever with dry parched
lips; the appetite is gone; there is a tendency to giddi-
ness, the beast sometimes falling as in a faint. Possibly
the point where the fangs entered may be seen, due to
the small holes left from which the blood or suppurated
matter is running.
Where the conditions are so far along very little can
be done except to keep the horse up and give it large
doses of aqua ammonia, alcohol or whiskey diluted in
two quarts of water. These reemdies are simply to stim-
ulate and revive the animal, and give it life enough to
overcome the effects of the poison. Opening the point
where the swelling indicates the wound or bite to have
been made, and letting the blood flow, will do consid-
erable good. A poultice on the opening will also assist
in a cure. If the bite is received on the limbs, and is no-
ticed immediately, a ligature or tourniquet about the
limb above the place, made by using a handkerchief or
cord tightened sufficiently to stop the circulation, should
be used. Then with a knife open the wound if it can be
found, and allow the blood to flow, being careful to keep
it out of any sores or wounds on the hands. In fifteen
minutes loosen the ligature a little and allow the blood
to circulate for a moment; then close it down again.
Repeat this operation four or five times. By this means
the poison gradually finds its way through the body and
its action is not so deadly. Quart-doses of whiskey or
six ounces (a teacupful) of ammonia diluted with a
quart of water should be given to stimulate the animal.
Few horses or cattle die of snake bites and in ordinary
circumstances will recover in from ten to fifteen days.
Glanders or Farcy. — Many cases of this disease occur
DISEASES OF HORSES 317
among horses all over the country, and one cannot be
too careful when buying a horse to make certain that it
is not suffering from the disease. Again, in bringing
valuable animals into contact with other horses it is well
to be on the lookout for signs of the affliction. This is
especially true in using corrals, stables and feed yards
throughout the West, where there is a constant stream
of horses coming and going all the time, eating from
the same feed-boxes, and watering from the same
troughs.
There are two forms of the disease; glanders and
farcy. It is called glanders when the disease makes
its outbreaks in the* nostrils, throat and lungs. Farcy
comes in the shape of small ulcers or boils which appear
most frequently on the lips, neck, shoulders and inside
the thighs, and may also be found elsewhere. These are
called farcy "buds" and may be from the size of a pea
to that of a walnut.
The average horse dealer and country "hoss" doctor
talks of "fearcy" as a trouble quite apart from glanders,
and also affects to laugh at glanders, calling it simply
chronic catarrh, influenza or cold in the head, and as-
sures one that it is easily cured and not contagious. The
truth is that glanders and farcy are one and the same
disease. Both are highly infectious not only to horses
but to man. Both are incurable, and may exist in an
animal for years without causing death, while spreading
the trouble far and wide among other horses with which
it comes in contact.
If a horse has a bad discharge from the nostrils, keep
it away from all other stock, feed and water it separate-
ly and in every way protect the others from it. One
should be careful how one handles it, as if glanders is
318 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
present the infection from the discharge in a sore on
one's hands, or blown by the animal from the nostril into
a corner of the eye or a sore on the body, it will convey
the disease.
If the horse has small nodules or sores like little angry
ulcers inside the nostrils, especially on the division be-
tween the two sides of the nose, look out for it. Feel
under the jaws on the outside about at the base of the
tongue and see if there are several hard lumps there
about the size of a hickory nut. These are the swollen
glands and in connection with the discharge from the
nose indicate the possibility of glanders. Sometimes
when the disease is quite advance^ the nose will bleed
more or less, which is in itself a suspicious matter. Be
careful in investigating the nostrils that the animal does
not snort or blow into your face. Veterinarians are un-
usually cautious in handling this disease and when about
it, especially in looking into the nose, will wear heavy
rubber gloves and a mask to protect the face and eyes.
The gloves should be carefully washed after using in a
2 per cent solution of carbolic acid and water.
In farcy the little buds or buttons that appear are
similar to small boils with a discharge of sticky yellow
matter of the consistency of the white of an egg and like
heavy castor oil in appearance. These sores will often
run for some time and then heal over, only to break out
on some other part of the animal. The harness or blank-
ets which touch these sores become infected and carry
the disease to other horses which may use the same ar-
ticles.
Where the animal is thought to be suffering from
glanders it should be at once separated from all other
horses or animals, fed separately, watered in a separate
DISEASES OF HORSES 319
bucket and every piece of harness that has touched it,
ropes, halters, bridle, blankets, neckyokes and especially
curry combs and brushes, should be carefully washed in
a 5 per cent solution of carbolic acid. Whitewash the
stalls and all about the stable where infected animals
have been with 5 per cent of carbolic acid in the white-
wash. A clear wash will be as good but the whitewash
shows wherever it has been used, and thus aids in mak-
ing the work cover every bit of the exposed surface.
Unscrupulous horse dealers do more crooked work
with glandered horses than any other disease from which
horses suffer. An animal with the disease will be doc-
tored up and worked off on the first innocent purchaser,
although in many of the states there are severe penal-
ties for such tricks. There is a certain test for glanders
called the Mallein test, in wrhich, by means of an injec-
tion under the skin on the animal's neck, an experienced
veterinarian can determine with great certainty from
the reaction, whether or not the animal is diseased.-?
When a horse is suspected, do not buy it until it has
been so tested and where it is already your property
have it tested yourself.
But above all beware of the man who calls it "fearcy"
and says it is curable.
L^
CHAPTER XIX.
INSECT PESTS.
Insect Pests. — There are three varieties of flies which
bother range animals throughout the West. First in
the list is the little black horn fly (Hoematobia serrata)
so-called because of its habit of settling in great masses
on an animal's head about the base of the horns. The top
of the withers is also a favorite camping-place for them.
They are so persistent in their blood-sucking attacks that
often the base of the horn will be all raw and sore.
These flies were first noticed in the United States in
1887 in New Jersey and later in Maryland and Virginia.
They are well known in Europe and were doubtless im-
ported from there either in dry hides or on live cattle.
The report of the Secretary of Agriculture for 1887 men-
tions them as new arrivals. Now they are to be found
all over the United States.
Like all flies, they breed in horse or cow manure, and
little can be done to prevent their increase. Gentle
cattle, like milk cows, may be protected from their attacks
by using fish or train oil as an emulsion to be sprayed
over the animals or daubed on with a swab. There are
several kinds of patent mixtures on the market intended
for this purpose ; most of them are based on fish oil and
a slight amount of carbolic acid. These are all good and
sprayed over the animals every day will relieve them of
an immense amount of worry. This is especially true of
320
INSECT PESTS 321
milk cows, whose supply of milk is noticeably increased
when the spray is used on them.
Another fly pest is the common screw worm fly
(Compsyomia macellaria), a good-sized fly with a bluish
green body and a red front to its head. It lays its eggs
in any place where the slightest spot of blood is to be
found. The eggs hatch very rapidly, often in an hour,
yielding "screw worms." On many ranges great care
has to be taken in branding calves, lest they get screw
worms in the wound made by the burning. If a round-
up in the mountains is followed by a rainy spell, almost
every calf that was branded will have to be caught and
doctored, or else it will be eaten up by the worms.
If the wound is not too deep, and in a place where she
can reach it, the mother will cure it with her rough
tongue. Frequently fresh-born calves become infected
about the navel and die because the worms working inside
the body cannot be reached by the cow. A rainy season
appears greatly to increase the attacks from screw
worms and, as a general thing, it is dangerous to brand
calves in the higher ranges during the rainy season. In
the Rocky Mountain region this is usually during July
and August.
There are several patented preparations for killing
screw worms, and on ranges where they are known to be
bad every rider carries a bottle of one of them in his
saddle pockets, ready to care for any animal he m#y run
across on the range. The animal must be roped and
thrown, and, by means of a little wooden paddle, every
worm is dug out that can be reached; then the wound
is filled with the medicine, which kills any worms left,
heals the sore and keeps the flies from again depositing
their eggs in it. Any of the ordinary sheep dips will
322 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
The Heel Fly (Hyporderma Lineata).
kill screw worms. Chloroform is often used, although
it is very severe in its action. An animal suffering from
screw worms can generally be identified by the little
trickle of pale watery-looking blood that discharges from
the wound.
INSECT PESTS
323
Heel flies (Hypoderma bovis — H. Lineata).— These
flies do an immense amount of damage to cattle, both
domestic and range, every year. They are also locally
known as "hot" flies and "warble flies." They are about
half an inch long and resemble ordinary honey bees. In
March a rider will see a bunch of cattle all "shaded up"
under a bank or a tree and standing quietly. Suddenly
A Bogged Down Cow Overlooked by the "Bog Riders."
out darts a cow, tail and head high in the air, a wild look
in her eyes and kicking out viciously with her heels.
She charges at full speed for the nearest waterhole, into
which she plunges as deep as she can. It is "heel fly"
season in that vicinity and many an old weak cow finds
her final resting place in some sticky mudhole, driven
there to escape the attacks of this fly, too weak to drag
herself out again.
324 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
The supposition . is that the heel flies sting animals
on the heels or hind legs. They also trouble horses but
seem to attack them only in front, and a horse will strike
out vigorously with his front feet and go almost crazy
over a single fly. Time after time have men placed their
hands where the heel flies could strike them, but I never
knew anyone to be stung or feel the least pain or prick-
ing from the touch.
The heel fly is known- to fame as the fly that brings
the great "warble grub" in the backs of cattle. There
are many skeptics as to the warble part. The activities
of the heel or bot fly are confined to depositing its little
yellow eggs on animals. These one can easily find, as
they are deposited on the hairs of the shoulder or neck
and chest just back of the shoulder, low down on the
ribs. From there they are taken into the animal's mouth,
as it licks itself. It would seem that the instinct of the
insect led it to lay the eggs in those places which can be
most easily reached by the animal's tongue.
Once in the animal's body, the egg hatches out, and
the grub works its way through the flesh and finally
locates under the hide and between it and the flesh on
the back, generally forward of and between the hip
bones and shoulder blades. There it rests, growing
rapdily, finally forcing a little hole through the hide, out
of which it eventually passes and drops to the ground.
The grubs can readily be discovered by feeling over the
animal's back for the lumps which they form. With a
little pressure on either side of a lump the grub will pop
out of its resting-place through the little hole, doubtless
very much to their host's relief. By means of an ordi-
nary oil can, such as is used by mechanics, a little tur-
pentine or coaloil squirted into the hole will also destroy
the grub.
INSECT PESTS 325
It took scientific men a long time to convince stock-
men that this is the way the huge warble grub finds its
way under the hide of a steer or cow, and there are those
who yet doubt it and believe that the grubs are deposited
directly in the animal's back by a large horse fly, almost
an inch long, that is found all over the country, and
which has a bite like a pair of red-hot pincers. But the
scientists did not make the statement until they had care-
fully investigated and studied the subject, and felt very
sure of their deductions. The tiny hole made by the
warble grub is estimated to cost stockmen millions of
dollars every year through the injury to hides resulting
from the holes, and apparently there is no practical way
to prevent the loss, so far as range stock is concerned.
Western stockmen believe very generally that many a
sore-backed horse obtained the start for its trouble
through a warble in its back,, which grew there while
the animal was not being used, and then when saddled
up it quickly developed into a bad sore. The scientists
believe, however, that the heel fly develops the warble
only on cattle and not on horses.
In the high mountains of the West, "deer" or "green
head" flies make life miserable for all four-footed animals
for a few weeks in the hot weather each year. Fortu-
nately they thrive only in dry weather and with the first
rains are gone. June is generally the worst month for
them, and during that time all grazing animals, both wild
and domestic, lose flesh rapidly because they cannot feed
or rest, utilizing nearly all their energy fighting flies
from daylight until dark. Saddle animals or milk stock
can be protected by any of the fish oils rubbed or sprayed
over them.
Take a piece of bacon rind in the morning as you
326 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
saddle up, and rub your horse's head, shoulders and
neck with it, if you have not the regular prepared oil to
use, and the flies will give him peace for that day. Some
horses suffer more than others from their attacks, a white
animal seeming to be an especial object of their atten-
tions. On the round-ups or in pastures where horses
are running loose, a fire of green wood that makes a
heavy smoke will bring every animal in from feeding to
stand in the very thickest of the smoke all day long and
thus obtain some slight relief from the pests. A dark-
ened shed or stable will also give them much protection.
The Indians always keep a smudge fire burning during
the fly season in the mountains to protect their ponies.
CHAPTER XX.
PREDATORY ANIMALS IN THE WEST.
No book on the western stock business would be com-
plete without some mention of the various kinds of
animals which prey on the stockman's herd. While each
class of stock suffers to a greater or less degree, the
sheepman is probably the heaviest loser. It is impossible
of course to accurately estimate the losses caused by
such animals, but it is scarcely stating it too broadly to
say that each year the stockraisers of the United States
suffer a financial loss of more than $5,000,000 from this
source. These figures were obtained by taking an aver-
age of the known losses from such animals in specific
cases and thus securing definite information as to the
damage done by the various animals. For example, a
conservative estimate made by well-posted stockmen
places the damage done by each full-grown wolf at $1,000
per year; for a coyote, $100.
Coyotes.— In 1911, 6,487 coyotes and 241 wolves, as
well as hundreds of bear, bob cats and the like, were
killed by forest officers within the boundaries of the
various National Forests in the United States, whose
area covers perhaps about one-third of the grazing lands
in the West. Probably three times this number were
killed by private parties during the same time.
The predatory animals of the United States are
coyotes, wolves, bear, wild cats or bob cats, mountain
lions (cougars), and lynxes. Of these the coyote is far
327
328 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
and away the worst enemy of the stockraiser. More-
over, it is not repulsed by civilization, as are the other
animals in this class.
The settling up of a country generally leads to the
rapid extinction of almost all the wild animals, unless
they are carefully guarded by law. The coyote, on the
contrary, rather enjoys the coming of the settler, makes
himself very much at home with him, raises its young
The Camp of Two Government Hunters in the Boise National Forest.
right under his nose and, in spite of bounties, poison and
traps, manages to increase. In the spring, it follows
the sheepmen's herds up into the mountains, there to
prey on the little lambs or even the older ewes. In the
fall it comes down with them and winters close to the
farmer's feedlot and chicken coops, or moves along to
the winter ranges of the sheep.
The coyote takes an occasional meal at the cattle-
man's expense too, when it finds a small calf lying under
the shelter of some bush, where it has been left by its
PREDATORY ANIMALS IN THE WEST
329
mother while she grazes or goes to water. But the
sheepman's lambs and the farmer's poultry are the
coyote's chief sources of food. The animal is a good
feeder and, when other provender is not to be had, will
hunt jack rabbits or prairie dogs. Some years ago Cali-
fornia paid a bounty of $5 per head on coyotes with
the result that over 75,000 scalps were turned in to the
BRBHK
A Coyote in a Trap.
state authorities within the first year. Then the law
was repealed by a unanimous vote. In a year or two
California farmers began to complain of the increasing
numbers and depredations of the jack rabbits. Careful
investigations by well-posted men proved beyond doubt
that the increase of jack rabbits was largely due to the
decrease of their greatest enemy, the coyote. Thus na-
ture seems to maintain a balance between the species.
330 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
The coyotte breeds rapidly, the average litter being
between six and nine each year.
Wild Cats and Lynxes. — Next to the coyote the wild
cat and lynx, commonly known as "bob cats," cause
sheepmen much loss. Unlike the coyote these animals
seem to kill for the pure lust of blood-shedding. In an
Arizona sheep camp some years ago a single wild cat
killed ninety sheep in one night. None of them was
eaten or injured beyond having the throat torn open by
the sharp teeth of a cat, which was treed by the dogs
early the next morning, and killed.
Wild cats and lynxes are easily exterminated both by
traps and by hunting them with dogs. They are not
dangerous animals, and I have seen quite as many killed
by being chased into trees and there knocked out by
rocks and clubs and beaten to death as in any other way.
Wolves and Mountain Lions. — These animals do more
damage to cattle and horses than to any other class of
domestic animals. Neither of them seems to prefer the
taste of mutton but both are fond of horse flesh and beef.
There are places in the Rocky Mountain region where,
due to the inroads of lions, it is almost impossible to
raise horses on the open ranges, as the lions kill the
young colts as fast as they are born.
The lion is very shy in its way, keen of scent, hard to
trap, but rather easy to capture with hounds. Its prin-
cipal diet when available consists of colts and deer.
They, too, like the rest of the cat family, are cowardly
and will not fight, unless cornered.
The wolf, however, is the most dangerous enemy of
the cattleman. Like wild cats, wolves seem to kill for
the pure lust of blood, as well as for food. I have known
a single male wolf to kill sixteen yearlings in one night
PREDATORY ANIMALS IN THE WEST 331
in a northern New Mexico pasture. Not one of the
animals was touched, the wolves doing no injury except
to tear the body somewhere to let out blood to lap. The
wolf is one of the hardest of the wild animals to capture,
either by traps or poison. The ingenuity of the animal
in evading traps set by the most experienced trappers,
or poison placed with the greatest care and cunning, is
"The Lion is Difficult to Trap But Easy to Capture with Hounds."
almost beyond belief. Wolves will travel the roughest
places so as to leave no trail, while their scent is so keen
that it is almost impossible to place a trap or poisoned
baits without leaving some scent of the trapper that they
will detect and profit by.
Fortunately the wolf, unlike the coyote, does not thrive
with civilization, and with the settling up of the country
it gradually declines in numbers until but few are left.
In such circumstances they are unusually keen. They
332 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
will travel in pairs, often going twenty-five miles in a
night to make a kill, and return to their dens before day-
light. A pair of wolves located in the breaks along the
Red River in northern New Mexico some years ago and
raided on the cattle for twenty-five miles in every direc-
tion. At first from the damage done it was supposed
there was a large band of them, but eventually by the
trails it was determined that there could not be more
than four of them at the most. Every stockman in the
region was on the lookout. The orders given to the cow-
boys were to drop everything, no matter how important
it might be, and go after that bunch of wolves, if ever
they were sighted. Besides the territorial reward of $20
the stockmen offered $100 extra for each grown wolf
scalp taken in that country, with $10 for every pup.
Poison was scattered over the whole country until
about all the dogs within reach had been killed. Traps
were set in every trail and wash wherever the wolves
had left a footprint, and the few dogs not poisoned were
some of them caught in the many traps which decorated
the landscape. Finally one of the most experienced
"wolfers" in the whole region was called from, some dis-
tance to try his hand. ' He spent a week studying the
country, sitting for hours on top of the high peaks watch-
ing with a powerful glass every moving thing below
him. The first peep of daylight found him up on some
cliff or peak listening for the howl of a wolf. Finally
one day about sunset he drove a burro down into a small
flat below a cliff and shot it, then he rode up to the body
of the burro and dropping a piece of dry rawhide on the
ground stepped with the utmost care from his horse to
the hide. He drew on his hands a pair of new buckskin
gloves and with his knife cut from the burro's hind
PREDATORY ANIMALS IN THE WEST 333
quarter a piece of flesh. To several of these pieces he
tied with a light thread about six inches long a dose of
strychnine done up in tissue paper. His idea was that
the wolf was able to detect the smell or taste of the
poison when placed in the meat, but by wrapping it in
tissue paper and then attaching it to the bait it would
follow the meat down the animal's throat with none of
the bitter taste of the poison, and thus get clear down
into the stomach.
When poison was placed in the meat he believed the
animal tasted it as it went down and was able to eject
it before it reached the stomach. All this time he did not
leave the piece of hide or touch a thing that was not
absolutely necessary. Having arranged everything to
his satisfaction, he mounted his horse, stooped down and
took up the piece of hide and left the place. The next
morning at daylight we found the dead wolf not fifty
yards from the burro. It was the male and the trapper
spent three days more locating its partner. She was
finally found in a den so situated that after traveling over
a trail for some time she could step off onto a rocky
ledge and then drop off a little bench to where she had
found a lair so nicely hidden that even within ten feet
it was hard to see.
Having located her den he watched from a safe dis-
tance and shot her as she came in from a foraging expe-
dition with a jack rabbit for her little ones. In the den
we found twelve pups, two of which were taken to the
ranch and raised on milk. They became the most play-
ful of pets.
These two old wolves were known to have gone
twenty-five miles in a night to make a killing. That they
were the evil-doers was proved by the fact that with
334 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
their extermination the losses of cattle in that vicinity
from wolves ceased.
The average litter of a wolf is between eight and ten,
so that they increase with tremendous rapidity, if al-
lowed to breed.
Bears. — Bruin, which is probably considered one of the
worst of all predatory animals, is more the victim of a
bad name than of its own acts. While there are cases
where bears are responsible for the death of cattle and
sheep, as a general thing, considering their numbers, they
do not do any great damage. Here and there a bear
will be found that, like a sheep-killing dog, has learned
the taste of mutton or pork, and makes heavy forays on
the stockman's herd.
Occasionally a cow will be found deep in some moun-
tain canyon which, by the signs, has undoubtedly been
pulled down by some bear, and a few mouthfuls taken
from her flank or legs ; but these are individual cases and
not general. The sheepman is often damaged by a bear
that comes snuffing about the corral some night, more
likely looking for something in the camp than anything
else. Its strong animal odor fills the air and the fright-
ened sheep stampede across the pen and pile up in their
mad rush and smother one another.
It is unfair to class the bear as a predatory animal in
any sense, especially the black and brown bear, which
do little harm either to man or beast, beyond robbing
some camper's outfit of sugar and bacon. Apart from
the giant grizzly, the average western stockman does not
believe in classing bear as pests to be slaughtered as fast
as possible, but he is willing to have them preserved
and hunted as game animals.
The grizzly is of course a dangerous animal, to be
PREDATORY ANIMALS IN THE WEST 335
avoided unless one is ready for a fight; hence, it should
be exterminated as rapidly as possible.
Trapping and Poisoning Predatory Animals. — For
wolves or mountain lions the best trap is a double
spring No. 4, witfi an extra heavy chain ; for coyotes and
wild cats a No. 3 will be strong enough. The best re-
sults will be obtained if the trap is not fastened to a
stationary object but to some heavy block of wood or
a rock. If, owing to the nature of the country it is
best to fasten it to some stationary object, there should
be a swivel in each end of the chain, lest the animal in
its turning and twisting winds itself up untirthe chain
is all tied up and there is more or less possibility of the
captured animal escaping.
If a clog is used, wire the chain to it by taking some
light wire like a piece of No. 12 or 14 telephone wire, or
even baling wire, passing each round of the wire through
the link of the chain and about the clog, so it will not
slip off. Fewer animals will escape from traps fastened
to a movable object than to something stationary. The
trail left by the drag is easily followed, and even if the
clog eventually gets caught in some tree root or brush,
the animal by that time has become so tired that it is
unable to make much of a struggle to escape.
Beaver, mink and muskrat and other similar animals
will gnaw their feet off to escape, unless the trap is set
so as to pull them into deep water as they struggle and
thus drown. I believe none of the larger animals, like
wolves, coyotes or cats, will do this.
Traps should always be set so that the animal in order
to reach them must approach from a certain side; that is,
by setting it with a log or stone at the rear, or between
two logs, so placed that the trap is at the sharp end of
336 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
a V, or in a trail where it passes between two stumps
or stones, so that the animal must under ordinary con-
ditions pass over it. If a bait is used do not place it on
the ground ; hang it up so that the animal as it approaches
will naturally be looking up and thus take no notice of
what has been placed so cunningly for it to step into.
For bait a freshly-killed rabbit or young chicken, prairie
dog or almost any wild bird split open and hung over
the trap will be satisfactory. Many trappers use no bait
at all but depend entirely on scent to bring the animal
to the trap. The scent excites them and they paw and
dig about the trap and finally get caught.
Set the trap flush with the ground, burying the chain
and everything of a metal nature so as not to be visible.
Spread a small piece of paper or a few leaves over the
pan of the trap, and then sprinkle enough soft dirt care-
fully over it to cover it. A handful of soft grass will
answer the purpose also. Leave everything about the
trap in as near its original condition as possible. Don't
spit on the ground, smoke or throw cigarette stubs about
the vicinity.
If the trap is set near to the house see that the dogs
are tied up carefully ; also the house cats. It is astonish-
ing how far afield these domestic animals will go, espe-
cially in the country. I once knew the pet milk cow at
a ranch to be caught by the tongue in a huge trap set
for a mountain lion. A handful of grass was strewn over
the trap and it is supposed she was attracted by the
scent used or by the grass, and in licking about the spot
her tongue touched off the trap and she was captured.
The chase she led the boys with the trap fast to her
tongue and a twenty-five pound club dragging over the
ground and the fight that followed when they tried to
PREDATORY ANIMALS IN THE WEST 337
take the trap off will never be forgotten. Moreover, by
the time she was discovered she was distinctly "on the
prod" and had to be roped and tied down before she
could be relieved of her unwelcome burden. Her tongue
was badly lacerated but she eventually recovered.
Scents. — Many professional trappers use scents of
various kinds to attract animals. Several scents are
manufactured and for sale by druggists and others, but
the average trapper makes his own from some formula
to which he ascribes great virtues.
One of the commonest methods of making a scent is
by taking a wide-mouthed bottle like a fruit jar, and
placing in it a piece of beef or meat of almost any kind
as large as one's fist. Set the bottle in a warm place,
out of the rays of the sun for two or three weeks, until
thoroughly decayed ; keep the top on to retain all the
odor from the decaying meat, opening it occasionally to
let the gases escape; then add a quart of sperm, or
neat's foot oil, or any animal oil that is available. The
oil made from half a dozen fat prairie dogs is unusually
good for this purpose. Skin them and try out the fat
in a fry pan; to this add one ounce of pulverized assa-
foetida and one ounce of castoreum or the common
musk, sold in drugstores for perfumery. Oil of anise is
also good.
Many trappers take the bladder from a female coyote
or wolf and use its contents in the mixture, believing it
unusually attractive to the animals. Bottle this mixture
and use it in a smaller bottle when needed. After setting
the trap scatter the scent about the place by means of
a little stick or straw so as to get it on the ground near,
but not directly on the trap, as the first thing an animal
does is to roll in the scent and thus it might set the trap
off and not get caught.
338 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
Poison. — The only poison that is successful with such
animals is pure sulphate of strychnine. A dose large
enough to kill a coyote or wolf is easily measured by
taking the large blade of a pocket knife and thrusting it
into the bottle of poison. What will easily ride on the
end of the blade, say for half an inch, will be sufficient
for the purpose and not enough to cause the animal to
vomit.
Strychnine is bitter to the taste and must if possible
be placed so as to get into the animal's stomach before
the taste is detected, otherwise it is rejected.
There are several ways of preparing baits. Fat bacon
cut into inch-squares makes an excellent bait. Fresh
liver, kidney or meat of any kind, cut into pieces some-
what larger, will do, but these are apt to soak up the
bitter taste of the poison and not be quite so efficient.
Take these pieces of meat and with a knife open a little
pocket hole down into the center of the piece. Into
this slip the poison and carefully close up the gap. One
of the most successful plans is to dip each bait into a
pot of hot beef tallow, which gives it a coating that
effectually covers the bitter taste of the poison and is
also very attractive to the animal.
If you desire to make a "drag" to toll the animal to the
trap or poison, make a bucketful of these baits and,
having procured a piece of old beef, a fresh raw hide, or
killed a jack rabbit and split it open, or even take an old
coat, or banket, and dose it well with the scent, fasten
it to a saddle rope and, mounting a horse or riding in
a wagon, pull the drag behind on the ground. Drop a
bait occasionally where the animal following up the
scented trail will find it. In making the "drag" it is
well not to follow a road or trail but Bather to cut across
PREDATORY ANIMALS IN THE WEST 339
several trails and roads, as the coyote is specially fond
of following down a trail in the soft dust and coming to
the scent will immediately turn off and take it up.
Make drags so they can be followed the next day, and
you will probably pick up a dead animal or two. Some-
times the animals will drop inside of ten feet and again
they will go a long distance. It is due no doubt to the
condition of the animal's stomach. If the stomach is
full when the poison is eaten it acts much slower than
when it is empty.
Where domestic animals are likely to be caught the
baits should be dropped at certain places^and carefully
gathered up the next morning by count, to be sure none
is left out. It is almost impossible to get a mountain
lion to take a bait of any kind. A young colt is the
most attractive bait to it. If a foal can be found freshly
killed, by poisoning it in various places and also making
a few baits from the flesh and dropping them on and
near the body, one may catch the lion. But it is very
shy and wary of either traps or poison, due probably
to its exceedingly keen sense of smell.
Prairie Dogs. — These may not be called predatory
animals in any sense of the word, but as they are a range
pest and do a lot of damage each year to the stock in-
terests they may as well be considered under this head
as anywhere else. Probably there is no other animal in
the region west of the Missouri, that attracts more atten-
tion from those new to the country than these little
animals. Yards of rubbish have been written about
them; how they divide up their residences in the earth
with owls and rattlers; how a village of them is a sure
sign of water below the ground, because, forsooth, "they
must have water and so dig for it." Certainly it is true
340 WESTERN/GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
that one of the common sights in a dog village is an owl,
generally one" of the small species, perched on top of the
dirt thrown out by the' dogs. Again, it is even more
true that many a rattler is found in the holes or prowling
about in the vicinity, of the villages. They are there,
however, not as welcome guests, but like the lion, "seek-
ing whom they may devour.." In this case it is the young
dogs they are after. Both rattlers and other snakes find
many a meal in the prairie dog holes, when the young
dogs are small enough to capture.
Anothef venerable story about prairie dogs is the one
which endows them with the wisdom to watch a snake
crawl into a hole and then push dirt in the entrance with
their noses and thus seal his snakeship up in a tomb,
the victim of his own gluttony. I have carefully watched
a dog hole for hours to see if anything happened when
a rattler crawled lazily down into it. All that did happen
was the hasty scuttling out of the dogs which were
caught in the place and their taking up a position on
a nearby mound and hurling all sorts of unkind remarks
at their unwelcome visitor in their little piping voices.
As to any 'efforts made to secure revenge, there were
none, nor do I believe it was ever done.
As for the water theory (and I have heard old-timers
vouch for its truth), there appears to be absolutely no
foundation for it. Prairie dogs use but little water. Like
rabbits, they secure what moisture they need from the
roots and grasses on which they feed, and can go for
days without any actual drinking. If one will only stop
to think one will recall many a village located on spots
where from the very nature of the country, an under-
lying layer of rock for instance, water could never be
found by even the most improved methods of well dig-
3*
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342 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
ging. Moreover, hole after hole has been dug out with
great care, and as a usual thing they seldom go down
into the ground beyond four feet and some of them not
more than two and a half. The dogs show considerable
ingenuity or instinct, however, in the digging of their
holes. Almost all of them are so constructed that the
nest in which the young are born is some higher than
the lowest place in the tunnel leading down to it ; that is,
the dogs dig down for some distance and, turning the
tunnel up a little, probably a foot, the bore is widened
out into a little room or chamber where the nest is lo-
cated. If this is done for anything at all it is done to
give the water that naturally runs down into the holes a
chance to settle and not drown them out.
Another piece of work which is creditable to their in-
stinct is the banking up of their mounds after a heavy
rain. No sooner has a rain ceased than the whole village
is at work chattering and barking like a lot of children
at play. With their noses and front paws they roll up
little balls of wet earth, pushing them ahead up the
mound. Using their noses for trowels much as a beaver
does his tail, they skillfully plaster the wet earth about
the entrance so as to raise the walls and repair any
damage done by the storm. When the mud has dried
the print of their little noses and feet where they have
patted it into shape and molded it together is plainly
seen. Any one who has lived in a Mexican village will
recall seeing the old women and boys at this very same
sort of work after a rainstorm. Like the dogs, as soon
as it has cleared off out they come and, using the mud
made by the rain, they roll up little balls and proceed to
patch up the adobe walls where the rain has eaten into
them. Like the dogs they also keep up a constant chat-
tering and gabbling.
PREDATORY ANIMALS IN THE WEST 343
The ravages of the prairie dog on a range are well
known. The experts of the United States Biological
Survey after a careful study of the question estimate
that 250 dogs will consume as much grass as one cow
and 32 will equal one sheep. The effect of their work
is easily seen about any of their villages, for the grass
and everything living is cleared off for some distance
around each hole as if done with a hoe. As soon as one
vicinity is well cleaned up, the dogs migrate to a fresh
spot, thus carrying their devastation over a wide range.
On such a spot the grass comes back very slowly. There
is a short wiry grass which comes first, known locally
as prairie dog grass (Aristida fasciculata), which
nothing will eat except when the leaves are young and
tender. In time, however, with a few good years of
rainfall, the cleared spaces about the village again re-
seeds and eventually the old grasses come into their
own.
I know of one such place, a pasture covering several
thousand acres, where all the dogs were poisoned out,
and in about eight years the grasses had all reseeded
and the range was quite as good as ever, barring the
holes, which were still there — pitfalls for the unwary cow
ponies. Of late years stockmen have given the question
of the extermination of these pests much attention.
Down in the Texas Panhandle the situation became so
bad that the stockmen set to work to clean them out.
After a few experiments it was found that it could be
easily done through the agency of poisoned wheat. The
state of Kansas also took hold of the matter, and in two
or three years spent about $100,000 fighting the dogs.
Whole counties there were almost useless for stock-
grazing purposes, while damages to farmers were almost
344 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
as great. The result of the campaign was that the ranges
were practically cleared of prairie dogs, and with a little
watching they have not again obtained any foothold
worth mentioning.
The prescription given here for the preparation and
use of the poison for this work has been used all over
the West, both by stockmen and the United States For-
est Service. With wheat at $1 a bushel and strychnine
at the same price per ounce, the cost of this poison by the
bushel will be around $5. A bushel of wheat will make
about 4,000 doses.
Poison for Killing Prairie Dogs. — For one bushel of
wheat take 3 ounces of sulphate of strychnine ; y2 pound
of cyanide of potassium; 1 teaspoonful of oil of anise,
and 2 quarts of molasses. (The heavy New Orleans mo-
lasses is the best.) Put the strychnine into one can and
the cyanide into another; add one quart of water to
each ; put over fire and bring to a boil, stirring so that it
will dissolve. Care should be taken not to inhale the
fumes of the cyanide. The strychnine will seldom dis-
solve completely. Pour the two into a can large enough
easily to hold two gallons; add two quarts of molasses;
put on the fire and bring' to a boil. Set off, allow it to
cool a few minutes, pour in oil of anise and stir thor-
oughly. Then pour the mixture over the wheat a little
at a time, stirring the grain as you pour the mixture over
it, so that every individual grain will be coated. Set it
aside for a couple of hours to dry, put in boxes, barrels
or sacks, and use as desired. If it is to be hauled or
shipped, use double sacks to avoid danger of leakage.
A few quarts of bran or cornmeal scattered in the wheat
as it is stirred will keep the grains from sticking to-
gether or balling up.
PREDATORY ANIMALS IN THE WEST 345
Do not think when you start in that this mixture will
not go over a bushel, for you will find it ample. An iron
tub to mix the wheat in or a box such as plasterers use
in which to mix plaster is most satisfactory. Stir it
with a shovel, mixing it carefully through and through,
as you pour in the mixture. Be careful where you put
Distributing Prairie Dog Poison.
the wheat after this. Pet horses, pigs and any number
of chickens have been killed by leaving the tub exposed
with the wheat in it. After you are all through, take an
ax and chop up every utensil used excepting the shovel
and burn them, so as to make sure they will never be
used again for other purposes.
346 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
The best time to use the poison is in February, March
and April. The dogs are then hungry and will eat any-
thing. As soon as green grass comes they are not so
apt to eat the wheat. The best plan for using it is as fol-
lows:
Take a light wagon as a base of supplies; put into it
about four bushels of wheat; drive out on the range and,
beginning at a definite point, work a regular system of
covering the country. The driver can leave his team in
the middle of a thickly settled village and, taking a
bucket and teaspoon, drop a spoonful at each hole, from
one to three feet away, and always on the same side
of the hole. This prevents duplication of doses. The
rest of the party on horseback, each with a bucket of
wheat and spoon, rides rapidly from hole to hole in the
scattered places, working up to certain trails, roads or
other natural boundaries. It is surprising how rapidly
one can cover a country. One can keep a horse on a
good jog trot and fire the wheat with unerring aim at
the holes and not stop moving unless the holes are too
thick.
Nothing seems to be gained by placing the wheat in
the holes, as from experience in its use the dogs seldom
eat it when thrown inside the holes. A most convenient
way to carry the wheat for this work is to take a gunny-
sack and sling it over the right shoulder, resting it on
the left hip; then slip a ten-pound lard bucket into it
in which to carry the wheat. This leaves the left hand
to guide the horse, and the right to use the spoon. Three
men can easily put out four bushels a day, or 16,000
holes. They work across the country and back, just as
a farmer would sow wheat. Sometimes stakes set up for
guides are of assistance. Select a period of pleasant
PREDATORY ANIMALS IN THE WEST 347
weather if possible, as wet snow or rain weakens the
poison. It acts at once. Dead dogs have been found in
thirty minutes from the time the poison was distributed.
You will find lots of them on the ground and, of course,
the largest number are dead in the holes. You may also
get a number of skunks and badgers.
In a month after a storm ride over the country again
and whenever you find signs of the dogs leave a fresh
dose and you will surely get them. It is well to watch
the ranges during the summer, and a year later work
over the same area, and with another dose spot the
holes that show signs of occupancy.
CHAPTER XKI.
SADDLE HORSES ON THE RANGE.
In selecting* a horse for range work one must be
guided more or less by the nature of the country in
which it will be used, and the weight it is expected to
carry. If intended for mountain work with considerable
climbing up rough steep trails, to carry a man weighing
more than 160 pounds, the horse should weigh not less
than 950 pounds. A good all-round weight is 1,050
pounds in good flesh. For work on an open prairie
country an animal of less weight w;ll be satisfactory.
One of the toughest little cow ponies I ever knew
weighed but 850 pounds when hcg-fat, but he could
climb the steepest mountain and carry the heaviest man
equal to any horse in the outfit, and he kept it up till
he was 21 years old, when he was honorably retired.
A small light-weight htfrse will not knock himself out
in the knees so soon as a heavy animal will. He will
also pick up more quickly on the range, get about better
with hobbles and take less feed to keep in equal con-
dition.
Type of Horse for Range Work. — For general all-
round range work, on every kind of country and taking
his chances for feed as he hobbles about at night after
the day's ride, get a short-coupled, round-barreled ani-
mal, with good stocky legs, the front pair coming out of
his body wide enough apart to give him plenty of chest
348
SADDLE HORSES ON THE RANGE 349
room, a short neck, clear kindly eyes with plenty of
room between them, small well-set ears, broad open nos-
trils, withers not more than an inch higher than the
hips, hips well-rounded, not sloping down like the steep
roof of a house, tail carried high and coming out of
the body well up on his hips, hoofs solid and well shaped
and not taking more than a number one shoe, weighing
fat between 875 and 1,000 pounds, not pigeon-toed — for
such horses stumble — any color he happens to be, with
a good flat-footed walk, a square trot and a free easy
lope. He should be not more than eight nor less than
four years old, and his back should be free from old
saddle sores, bare scars, or "set fasts." Do not let the
seller assure you that such places are all healed up and
will never be any trouble, for they will. A scar on a
horse's back where the hair is gone will always be liable
to break out into a sore place any time the conditions
are just right.
I do not say that a horse without some of these points
will not be a useful animal but these are the things
which the young buyer wants to look for and the more
he gets of them the better horse he will have.
In the age matter, no horse can be well broken to range
work before he is four years old, and every year after
he passes eight is just that much gone from his best
age. So by getting between these one will secure the
best there is in his horses. Look also to his tongue, lest
at some time a heavy bit has cut it half in two, so he
feeds with difficulty.
Gaits. — Some men will pay fancy prices for pacing
horses because on a smooth road they will shuffle along
at a good rate and carry their riders easier than at a
trot. On a rough trail, however, or over a broken coun-
350 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
try they are constantly stumbling, owing to the way
they carry their feet, that is, close to the ground. A
man riding a pacer over a rough piece of road must
be mighty even tempered or he will be everlastingly
engaged in a "horse fight," until every time the poor
animal stumbles it will break and run in expectation of
being "worked over," as the cowboy says.
A man riding a pacer at the head of a line of mounted
men can certainly deal them an immense amount of
misery. The pace he sets is just a little too fast for
them to keep up on a walk and not quite fast enough
.to let them trot, and thus they are continually alter-
nating between the gaits. For range work a horse that
will strike a good flat-footed walk and make about five
miles an hour is worth a corral full of pacers.
A good rider can train his horse greatly to improve
his walking gait by forcing him on a tight rein until he
breaks into a trot. The instant he does this, pull him
down to the walk again. By continually crowding him
with the spurs and holding him carefully in hand just
at the breaking-point, he will soon learn the fox trot
trick and unless very tired will always take it of his
own accord. A little patience along this line and one
can make a gaited horse out of almost any horse.
In testing out a horse, see how he jumps out from a
dead standstill, a slow walk and a trot into a lope. If
he has been well trained for cow work he should, when
struck sharply with the quirt or spurs, and feeling his
rider lean slightly forward, jump into a good lope right
from a walk. He should pull down from a dead run to
a standstill in not more than twice his own length,
stopping on his hind feet. With a very slight pressure
on his neck from the bearing rein he should swing round
SADDLE HORSES ON THE RANGE 351
on his heels like some racing yacht with the helm hard
down and be off the other way with a dash the instant
the reins are eased up, his side feels the touch of quirt
or spur and the body of his rider bends forward over
the horn.
When the reins are thrown over his head to the
ground, he should stand there as if hitched. If he does
not, wrap the reins about one of his front feet so as to
hold his head down and keep him from stepping. This
will educate him to stand. Sometimes a spoiled horse
will hang his head to one side so that the reins drag
free from his feet and thus travel off and leave his rider
in the lurch. It is hard to break a horse of this trick
and the best way, when you can not tie him, is to slip
the reins through one stirrup and from there to the horn.
Tie them there just so that the weight of the stirrup
keeps his head on one side and he can not travel but in
a circle, and a horse wise enough to play the first trick
will soon learn that he is helpless when thus fastened,
and stand still. Also teach him to stand still as you go
to mount until you are firmly in the saddle, and have
given the signal to move off.
Learn to mount your horse like a cavalryman or cow-
boy. Do not, with one hand on the horn and the other
on the cantle, clamber up into the saddle as if you were
getting into a farm wagon. Stand just in front of the
horse's shoulder, facing the rear; take the reins, drawn
up fairly tight, so as to steady the animal, and a lock
of the horse's mane in your left hand. With the right
hand take the stirrup and turn it to you far enough so
you can put your toe into it. Then grasp the horn with
your right hand and swing up into the saddle with a
quick movement. If your horse is restless and not in-
352
WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
clined to stand, his forward lurch will set you into the
saddle all the easier. By this method of mounting you
are in command of the horse at all times, and do not
have to let go with the right hand just at the critical
•I
u
An Awkward Way to Mount.
time, as is the case when a man mounts with one hand
on the horn and one on the cantle.
In dismounting as a preliminary learn to always draw
your left foot back in the stirrup so as to leave only the
toe in it. This will save you from being dragged some
SADDLE HORSES ON THE RANGE
day when a nervous horse catches you with one foot on
the ground and the other hung to the heel in a close
stirrup. As a general rule ride with your feet clear in
to the heels, but on a trot it will ease you greatly to slip
your foot back, so that the ball of the foot rests on the
The Proper Way to Mount — "Ready to Swing Into the Saddle."
stirrup and takes up the jar with a sort of spring in the
foot.
On a fast trot lean forward in your stirrups, standing
clear of the saddle, and place a hand on the mount's
mane, so as to steady and keep you on the balance.
This eases the horse and rests the rider. Notice how
the jockeys ride their racing mounts; they lean away
forward, standing up in their stirrups. Ride from your
354 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
knees and thighs; that is, hug the saddle with them,
using the knee as if it were a ball and socket joint
fastened tight to the saddle.
Learn to ride this way and you will never have any
trouble with your trousers working up above the knees,
as happens to most beginners.
If your knees and legs tire, turn slightly in the saddle,
resting your body on the flat of the thigh, one foot re-
maining in the stirrup, the knee slightly bent, and let
the tired foot hang free for a while. This takes the
"kinks" out of the knees and ankles of a beginner and
helps even an old rider.
The American Saddle Horse. — The true American
saddle horse dates back to 1839. In that year Denmark,
a Thoroughbred stallion whose sire was an imported
English Thoroughbred, was crossed with several well-
bred Kentucky mares. This was the foundation of the
American saddler, and the Denmark strain has come
down through successive generations and is as jealously
guarded by the Kentucky breeders as the Arabs guard
the breeding of their horses. The Thoroughbred is sim-
ply a highly developed racing machine, with but one
gait, while the saddle horse is a many-gaited animal.
The average Kentucky saddler weighs about 1,050
pounds and is \5l/> or 15% hands high, bred, built,
trained and used exclusively as a saddler.
CHAPTER XXII
HORSE EQUIPMENT FOR RANGE WORK.
To the beginner the question of saddle, bridle, bit and
spurs is a momentous one. Shall be buy a saddle with
a horn or ride a "muley"? Shall he have a "center-fire"
or a "rimfire"? Shall it be a Texas or a California tree?
The Low Horn Texas Tree, Weight,
40 Founds.
The Swelled Fork Tree.
Shall it have the huge eagle-billed "tapaderos" of the
Pacific Coast or the simple narrow, iron stirrup of the
Texan ?
Saddles. — There are but two types of saddles to be
considered : the McClellan or Government saddle, and
the western stock saddle. The former weighs from nine
355
356
WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
to fourteen pounds; the latter thirty to fifty. Each has
its merits, but for the use of a forest ranger, or for stock
purposes the stock saddle is undoubtedly the better.
The horn offers a handy place for hanging things, to
say nothing of roping, while the skirting protects from
contact with a sweaty horse any coat tied behind. Then
the high cantle and pommel make the seat much easier
especially in traveling over a rough country.
The McClellan or Government Type of
Saddle.
The High Horn California Visalia
Type.
As for the rigging, the question of single cinch or
"center fire," vs. double rig or "rim fire," is one that
"starts something" every time it is discussed about a
western campfire. The "double rig" is a Texas trade-
mark, while the Californian is the defender of the single
cinch. Both sides will quarrel over this matter for
hours and neither convince the other. The Texan
swears there are more sore-backed horses in one Cali-
HORSE EQUIPMENT FOR RANGE WORK 357
fornia county than in all Texas, and the Californian
knows to a certainty that "every double rig saddle cov-
ers a kidney set fast as big as a biscuit." The truth is
that there are plenty of single rig saddles that fairly
"eat up" horses' backs, while on the other side there
are as many double-rigged saddles doing the same thing.
In my judgment, apart from the question of roping, both
rigs are on the same footing in this matter.
In roping on a single cinch saddle the tendency when
the rope is straight out in front or behind is to tip the
tree up on end and dig it either into the animal's kidneys
or withers. This does not occur with a dotible-rig sad-
dle.
For use in a rough country there is certainly no com-
parison between the two styles. The double-rig saddle
"stays put" all day long, even on a comparatively loose
cinch, while the single-rig cinch must be pulled up until
the animal is fairly cut in two, and yet at every hill the
rider must stop to reset his saddle. The Californian
will meet this by arguing that it is hard on the horse
to keep the saddle in the same place, and hence to change
it frequently relieves his back. But as between a single-
cinch and a double-rig when it comes to general range
work, just buy a double-rig saddle weighing not over
thirty-two pounds and neither you nor your horse will
regret it.
To my mind the low Texas tree known as the Fries-
seke is to be preferred to the California tree of the Vis-
alia type, with its sky-scraping four-inch horn. Stop
and think for a moment of the immense purchase it
brings to bear in roping. In the high arch Visalia tree
the rope with a 1,000-pound steer dancing at the end of
it is probably seven or eight inches above the animal's
358
WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
withers. In the low Texas tree it is not over four, mak-
ing a tremendous difference in the leverage against the
animal in a side or even an end-pull. No wonder they
have to stand in one stirrup to keep the single-rig high-
horned tree from turning onto the horse's side when the
strain comes on the rope.
1. Spanish Spade Bit. 2. Spanish Ring Bit. (Both are brutal and of no practi-
cal value in stopping a horse.) 3. A Modified Spanish Bit That is
First Class For All Work.
Being California-bred, with five years' army experi-
ence in a Government saddle, and finally twenty years on
a range where a man could not use a single-cinch saddle
and hold his job, I feel competent to compare them all.
Bits and Bridles. — The California vaquero rode with a
heavy silver-mounted spade bit with a huge burr or rol-
ler in it which made music when the horse rolled it with
his tongue. These were and are an abomination. They
HORSE EQUIPMENT FOR RANGE WORK 359
were needlessly cruel and no more able to check a head-
strong "bull-necked" horse than an ordinary cavalry bit.
Moreover, if a horse fell with one, the great sharp spade
sticking up in the roof of his mouth frequently cut
him badly, and I have known at least two fine cow ponies
to bleed to death from such accidents.
A good solid-made bit with a U in it not over two in-
ches at the best, with a burr or roller if one cares for
it, and with shanks about five inches long, is good enough
for any rider to use.
For reins there is plenty of choice. If you will once
break yourself in to the use of them, "open" reins are
the best; that is, the two reins are not tied together or
fastened at the ends. The advantage of this is that if
you are running and your horse falls with you, the reins
drop to the ground of their own accord and the animal
stops; while tied reins frequently hang up over the ani-
mal's neck and away he goes. Again, in dismounting,
in a hurry you simply drop your reins as you go down
instead of stopping to strip them over his head. It is
a little trouble at first to learn to handle open reins but
once done you will never tie a knot in your reins again.
Blankets. — Have enough, and not too much. Too much
is likely to scald a horse's back. Any loosely-woven
wool blanket like the Navajo Indian blanket, folded so
as to be about two inches thick, will do. The point
is to keep the saddle blankets clean. One of the best
ways is to wear a gunnysack between the animal and the
blanket. A heavy coffeesack is the best but an ordinary
burlap grainsack opened at the seams will do. This
takes up the sweat and dirt from the horse and when
dirty can be thrown away and a new one procured al-
most anywhere.
360 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
A sore-backed horse is one of the worst things pos-
sible to use and heal up the sore at the same time. In
this matter the ounce of prevention is worth the pound
of cure every time. One of the easiest ways to insure
a sound back is to throw a few cupfuls of cold water on
his back when you strip the saddle off, loosening up the
hair so that water and air will get through it. If you
are near a stream or spring give the back a good wash-
ing, so that all the sweat and heat is taken out. This
process also gives you early notice of an approaching
sore spot.
In saddling, slip your left hand under the arch of the
saddle between the horse and the blankets as you place
it on the horse, and give the blankets a little lift so that
they are clear from the withers; then when the saddle
is cinched down, the blankets do not pinch the withers
as the tree settles down over them.
Rope. — Always carry a grass or sisal rope about thirty
feet long. You may not want to rope anything with it
but a rope is always handy on the range, no matter
what your business. The old days of the sixty-foot
rawhide "riata" are pretty well gone. For ordinary use
in roping, a three-eighths 'hard twisted Manilla or sisal
rope will do the best work. If you are wise you will
learn to rope with the rope tied "hard and fast to the
nub" instead of trying to "take your dallies" or turns
about the horn. This, like the question of saddles, is
something over which much campfire talk is wasted. To
the Californian it seems like inviting instant death to
tie the rope. Per contra, the Texan cannot understand
how a man can take the turns and keep his fingers clear
from the entanglements of the rope.
Each is a matter of education. With your rope tied
you are free from all bother in getting the turns at the
HORSE EQUIPMENT FOR RANGE WORK 361
right time. All you have to do is to manage your horse
and keep the rope clear from his feet. Occasionally
there will be a "mix up," your horse gets a leg over the
rope and then something is doing in the vicinity. At
the end of the deal, however, if the rope is strong you
will come out of it with the animal still swinging to the
end of the rope. In the same circumstances the Cali-
fornian or "dally-welta" (Spanish-English for "dar la
Vuelta," "give the turns") man will be minus a sixty-
foot riata which has "gone yonderly" with the steer. I
have seen many more men hurt by taking their turns
than by "tying 'em hard and fast."
To tie your rope about the horn so it will never pull up
tight, and can be immediately cast off with the very least
slack, take the knot end in your right hand, and the
loose end in your left; pass the knot end around the
horn, bring it back across the running or loose end on
top, then back under and take one twist around itself,
leaving the knot on the end under the rope between it
and the horn. By drawing it up against the horn the
knot will jam or bind between the rope and the horn
so it cannot slip out, no matter how great the pull, and
yet the instant the pull is eased off plenty of slack can
be had to get the knot out and "turn her loose."
A tie made this way can never pull up tight enough
that it will not easily slip off when the need occurs.
Some men tie a regular loop in the end of their ropes,
made just large enough to slip over the horn. This is
dangerous, as it is apt to hang on something as you are
using the rope on foot and catch a spur or your hand.
Spurs and Quirts. — Excepting in roping, one can get
more out of a tired horse with a good cowboy quirt than
with a pair of spurs. The quirt wakes him up, does not
362
WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
cut the skin and makes a more effective instrument for
getting a quick move out of a horse. On a tired horse
a man with a pair of spurs, especially the "pet-maker"
kind, is very likely to keep "jabbing" all day long until
at night he is surprised to find he has worn the hide and
1. Spanish Spur, Silver Inlaid. 2. A Good Sensible Spur. 3. The 0. K. or
Petmaker Spur. 4. The "Buzz Saw."
hair off in each side where the spurs have dug. Some
horses seem to get used to the constant touching up
and finally ignore it altogether.
Hobbles (Hopples). — When knocking about on the
range, depending on the grass for horse feed, don't carry
along heavy leather hobbles. Instead, buy a piece of or-
dinary Y*> y% or ^-inch sisal rope. Throw this in your
pack, and at night when ready to "hobble out" unstrand
it about five feet back. Most cowboys measure around
their waists once and about two feet over, which is lib-
eral for almost any horse. With unusually large or un-
dersized horses, this measure may have to be changed a
little, and this is easily done by the knot.
HORSE EQUIPMENT FOR RANGE WORK
363
Take a single strand, double it and tie the ends to-
gether in a common knot, just as a woman ties the knot
in her thread. Stoop down, throw the knot end around
the off front leg of your horse, bringing the knot
The First Step in Hobbling: "Around the Off Front Leg, Bringing the Ends Even
in the Hands."
and loop end back even in your hands, and twist one
about the other, generally four or five times. Leave
enough to go snugly around the near leg, and fasten on
the outside.
364
WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
To fasten, slip the knot end through the loop end from
the inside out, then lay it over and alongside the lower
strand of the loop, passing it up between the strand and
the animal's leg, coming out between the two strands
of the loop end. This will hold it effectually, and is easi-
ly unfastened the next morning when the rope is wet,
frozen or covered with mud.
Tie each horse's hobble about his neck as you take it
off, and he will carry it there all day, or, when you reach
The Second Step in Hobbling: Twist
One About the Other Four or
Five Times. <
The Third Step in Hobbling.
camp, it can be taken off and thrown into the pack or
wagon. If the horse is not used to hobbles, and there
is a tendency to skin his legs, place them above the
fetlocks one night and below the next. If he is mean
to run off with the hobbles "side line" him also by the
same method, that is, a front and hind foot together,
and he cannot go far.
If there is anything handier about a pack outfit than
these hobbles for lengthening a lash rope, tying on a
forgotten coffeepot or a thousand and one unexpected
HORSE EQUIPMENT FOR RANGE WORK 365
things where a bit of rope is needed, I do not know what
it is.
Pack Saddles. — Two general types of pack saddles are
used in the West; the aparejo and the sawbuck. The
aparejo (ap-ah-ray-ho) is used exclusively in Govern-
ment pack trains or where the work is done by experi-
enced men who are constantly packing and will keep the
A First-Class Job of Packing.
m order and well set up. For use with large
trains handled by experienced men, the aparejo is by far
the most humane and satisfactory method known for
carrying all kinds of materials on a mule's back; but
for occasional trips in the hands of the ordinary western
man, the sawbuck pattern is the one in general use.
There are some modifications of it. The most suc-
cessful is where the cross trees are carried down on the
366 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
animal's side some distance, with the idea of keeping
the pack off its ribs. The "cross trees" are simply the
cross pieces which are bolted to the "bars" or flat parts
which bear on the animal's back. In the improved form
they come down below the bars about eighteen inches
but do not touch the blankets at all, being curved to
follow the lines of the barrel or ribs and hang clear of
the animal. The effect is much the same as that gained
by the use of the Basque hitch, mentioned under the
head of "hitches."
Double-Rigged Pack Saddle. The Shape of the Tree Keeps Load
Off a Horse's Ribs.
The cross tree or sawbuck saddle in the hands of a
careless man is undoubtedly about the most satisfactory
and ingenious method of torturing a poor animal that
has ever been invented. I have seen pack trains in the
Sierras and in Nevada packing cordwood down a steep
mountain trail day after day, each mule with a sixth
of a cord of heavy pitch pine on its back, with the saw-
buck saddle used by careful humane packers, without a
mule in the train showing a sore back. I have also seen
similar trains where one could not walk on the lee side
of the mules in the corral, so offensive was the odor
from sore backs. I have also seen a tenderfoot packer
HORSE EQUIPMENT FOR RANGE WORK
367
load three blankets and ten pounds of grub on such a
saddle and tear a horse's back all to pieces inside of three
days. It is all in the packer.
See to it that the saddle sets just where it should;
not too far forward where it will dig into the withers,
nor too far back so as to eat up the kidneys. See that
Packing Wood Down a Mountain Side; Six Loads to the Cord.
the breeching and breast straps are fastened so as to
keep the saddle in place and still not choke the animal
going up hill or wear the hide all off his hindquarters
going down.
Have it double-rigged, no matter what may be your
private opinion of that rig for a riding saddle. See that
a fork or knife does not work through the kyaks and
368 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
dig into the horse's back or ribs all the day long. Do
not be .so lazy that when you stop at noon you allow
the animal to wear the pack for an hour or so instead
of taking it off and giving him a rest too. If you can
do it, make your journey all in one march and get it
over with and the pack off for the day. Keep the ropes
tightened up. After going a mile or two in the morn-
ing, make it a plan to stop the outfit and go over the
packs and see how everything is riding. With this
overhauling the average pack should ride all the rest of
the day.
For regular traveling in the mountainous country
200 pounds is all an animal should ordinarily carry. Its
pack is a dead load and carries heavier than the load
your saddle animal carries.
Hitches. — There is a good deal of glamour about the
"throwing of the diamond hitch." To many people it
is believed to be a sort of patent of frontier nobility.
This may be so to a certain extent, but there are many
old-time westerners who never knew how to throw the
diamond and still have spent many years of their lives
in handling pack outfits. The truth is that the diamond
hitch is rather a professional tie to be used with an apare-
jo. It can be and of course is used with other packs
and outfits, but to learn it is not an easy matter and
unless one is using it all the time and in constant practice
one is apt to get mixed on it and end up with what is
frequently called an "Oregon wind." (Make that word
rhyme with "find.") There are an endless number of
hitches used by western men, as the squaw, the stirrup,
the bed and the basco; all are good and for their pur-
poses quite as satisfactory in every way as the diamond.
Of these there are but two to which I shall call at-
HORSE EQUIPMENT FOR RANGE WORK
369
tention. One is to be used in packing simply a bed
from camp to camp. Lay the bed canvas on the ground
and place the blankets in the center of it at full length
but folded once, so as to make the pack about 3^ feet
wide and the length of the blankets. Fold the canvas
over the blankets and then lay the pack across the ani-
mal's back, allowing it to hang down on each side. Pass
each end around the body of the pack animal so as to
A Handy Bed Pack Sometimes Called "The Oregon Wind."
form a belt about him. Then open the loop of your
rope large enough to allow the horse to step into it and
bring it back around the blankets about six inches from
the front edge. Slip the hondo or loop up until when
pulled tight it will come right back of the withers and
just over the backbone. Draw it as tight as possible,
then carry the loose end back about a foot, carry it
around the animal, bring the end through the rope so as
370 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
to make a hitch about the pack and draw it as tight as
possible. Repeat this again another foot back and make
the end fast.
This pack will ride all day long but like any other pack
it will need tightening following the natural loosening
up of the rope, due to the settling of the load. The
beauty of it is that it can turn over and do no
harm. Going up a steep mountain trail, if it is not pret-
ty tight it is likely to be shed over the animal's tail, in
which event you will have a stampede and some scat-
tered bedding to pick up. With a mixed pack, however,
a lot of bedding, cooking utensils and grub, one must
either have them done up into bundles, tied in sacks
or packed in "kyaks" or pack pockets. In California
they call them alforjas (al-fork-has). These are either
heavy canvas or leather bags or made by taking ordi-
nary ten gallon coaloil cases or other wooden boxes
about the same size, and stretching over them a fresh
rawhide. The hide of a yearling steer is the best for
this purpose.
With a pair of leather or rope ears these are swung
over the pack saddle, rilled . with the easily broken or
"losable stuff" and the blankets spread over them. On
top of this place the canvas and you have a mighty good
pack to carry almost anything that a man wants to pack
in the mountains.
Now for the Hitch. — Of all the many western hitches
for pack purposes the one used in California by the For-
est rangers in the Sierras is to my mind the most easily
learned, the easiest to remember after being out of prac-
tice for a year or so and the easiest for one man to
handle alone.
With two men, the man on the "off" side takes the
Fig. 1. — The "Off" Man Throws Over Fig. 2. — The "Near" Man Pulls or
the Top of the Pack a Loop the Running Part of
of the Rope. the Rope.
Fig. 3.— The "Off" Man Passes It to Fig. 4.— With His Left Hand Slips
the Left and Rear of the Pack. Loop Under From the Rear.
Fig. &. — Draw Out More of the Run- Fig. 6. — Work the Running End Down
ning End, Making a Large Loop. along the Main Rope Around the
Rear Corner and Forward Until It
Is In the Center of the Pack.
Fig. 7. — Pulling Down So It Rests Fig. 8. — "Give a Good Pull on the
Against the Pack. Running End, Pulling Up."
HORSE EQUIPMENT FOR RANGE WORK 373
lash rope and cinch, keeping the coil of the rope on his
side. He throws over the top of the pack a bight or loop
of the rv pe (Fig. 1), which the "near" man takes, places
the loop in the cinch hook which the "off" man pushes
to him under the animal's belly, and slips the hook far
enough under the animal so that when tight it will pull
up just below the lower edge of the pack. The "near"
man then shouts "take," and pulls on the running part
of the rope until the cinch is tight enough (Fig. 2.) The
''off" man takes the slack as it comes, passes the rope to
his left and the rear of the pack (Fig. 3) clear down un-
der the corners and well back, then across to the right
well under the pack, around and under the front corner,
and up again to the center and top of the pack.
He holds this from slipping back by his right hand,
while with his left he slips a loop of the rope under the
rope that came over to him from the "near" side, push-
ing it under that rope from the rear as shown in Fig. 4.
This all takes place on top of the pack.
Take the right hand side of this loop in the right hand,
and hold it from slipping back, while with the left hand
draw out more of the running end, making a much larger
loop (Fig. 5). Then work the lower end of this large
loop down along the main rope under the rear corner
of the pack, around towards the front until it is in the
center of the pack about where the cinch ring comes,
but still under the main rope (Fig. 6). Then tighten
the rope by pulling on the part in your right hand (Fig.
6). Pull it forward in line with the animal's backbone,
never out to one side. This is an invariable rule in good
packing; pull in line with the animal, never sideways.
This should bring the "twist" of the lash rope about
in the center and somewhat on the side of the pack;
374 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
then while holding it from slipping with the right hand
take up the slack in the running end with the left hand,
pulling down so it rests closely against the pack (Fig.
7). When this is done, give a good pull on the running
end, pulling up on it (Fig. 8). This draws the rope
tight and, if the job has been well done, the lower edge
of the pack will be drawn up and away from the ani-
mal's body, swinging clear — a most satisfactory way for
a pack to ride. Then throw the running end of the
lash rope over to the man on the "near" side who re-
peats the process on his side and finally makes the end
Kyaks (Alforjas in Spanish) or Pack Pockets. The Loops Hook Over the Tops of
the Pack Saddle. A Light Wooden Box in One Is a Great Advantage.
of the lash rope fast on the top and the job is .done. At
this point if packing alone, slip a little loop of the loose
end you have thrown over, under the tight rope on top,
so it cannot run back and loosen up. Then when you
get on the other side a quick jerk will pull it from under
the tight rope and you can go ahead on that side.
Such a pack rides well, is readily tightened, can be
handled nicely by one man, is quickly cast off to unpack,
takes any 35 feet of lash rope, is readily learned and not
easily forgotten. There is nothing so disagreeable in
packing as a wet lash rope, hence it should be kept dry
HORSE EQUIPMENT FOR RANGE WORK 375
in camp and if possible when wet at unpacking should
be dried out before the campfire at night.
When laying out your packs care must be used to
have the two sides as nearly equal in weight as possible.
If you use kyaks take along plenty of .gunny-sacks with
which to wrap things and keep them from rattling. Of
all disorderly affairs a kyak full of cooking and eating
utensils all rattling and jingling like a tin pedder's
wagon is the worst. Besides it is apt to wear holes in
the kyaks and break some of the contents. I have seen
both Gen. George Cook and Gen. Mackenzie, two of the
old-time Indian fighters of the army, stop 'a pack train
passing in review before them, as it left camp for the
field on an Indian scout, and make the packers pull a
certain mule out of the train, unload a noisy pack and
remedy the trouble right there before them, with pos-
sibly 250 cavalry men and the packers of a 100-mule pack
train "guying" the unlucky packer as they rode past.
APPENDIX.
A BILL.
For the improvement of grazing on the public lands of the United
States, and to regulate the same, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That the unreserved,
unappropriated public lands of the United States shall be subject to
the provisions of this Act, and the President of the United States is
hereby authorized to establish from time to time, by proclamation,
grazing districts upon the unreserved, unappropriated public lands of
the United States, conforming to State and County lines so far as
practicable, whereupon the Secretary of Agriculture, under rules and
regulations prescribed by him, shall execute or cause to be executed
the provisions of this Act, appoint all officers necessary for the admin-
istration and protection of such grazing districts, regulate their use
for grazing purposes, protect them from depredation, from injury to
the natural forage crop, and from erosion ; restore and improve their
grazing value through regulation, by the eradication of poisonous
plants, and by the extermination of predatory animals and otherwise ;
eradicate and prevent infectious and contagious diseases injurious to
domestic animals ; issue permits to graze live stock thereon for periods
of not more than ten years, which shall include the right to fence the
same, giving preference when practicable to homesteaders and to
present occupants of the range who own improved ranches or who
have provided water for live stock grazed on the public lands ; and
charge and collect reasonable fees for such grazing permits, based
upon the grazing value of the land in each locality : Provided, That
for ten years after the passage of this Act such charge for grazing
shall not exceed four cents per acre nor be less than one-half cent per
acre, or the equivalent thereof on a per capita basis, and the Secretary
of Agriculture shall revise and re-establish maximum and minimum
rates of charge for grazing for each succeeding period of ten years.
SEC. 2. That homestead or other settlement, location, entry, patent,
and all other disposal of public lands under the public-land laws
shall be in no wise restricted, limited, or abridged hereby ; nor shall
anything herein be construed to prevent bona fide settlers or residents
from grazing their stock used for domestic purposes, as defined under
the regulations of the Secretary of Agriculture, on the public lands
affected hereby : Provided, That after the establishment of any such
grazing district no form of location, settlement, or entry thereon
shall give a right to grazing privileges on public lands except when
377
378 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
made under laws requiring cultivation or agricultural use of the land :
Provided further, That permits to graze live stock upon land which
is subsequently appropriated under any public-land law shall not be
affected by such subsequent appropriation, except as to the land actual-
ly appropriated, until the end of the current annual grazing period :
Provided further, That no permit shall be issued which will entitle the
permittee to the use of any buildings, corrals, reservoirs, or other im-
provements owned or controlled by a prior occupant until he has paid
such prior occupant a reasonable pro rata value for the use of such
improvements. If the parties interested can not agree, then the
amount of such payment shall be determined under rules of the Sec-
retary of Agriculture : And provided further, That when buildings,
corrals, reservoirs, wells, or other improvements, except fences, shall
have been established on any forty-acre tract to the value of more
than one hundred dollars, as determined by rules of the Secretary of
Agriculture, such forty-acre tract shall not be subject to settlement
or appropriation under the public-land laws during the permit period
without the consent of the owner of such buildings, corrals, reservoirs,
wells, or other improvements.
SEC. 3. That all water on public lands or subject to the jurisdic-
tion of the United States within such grazing districts may be used
for milling, mining, domestic, or irrigation purposes under the laws
of the State or Territory wherein such grazing districts are situated,
or under the laws of the United States and the rules and regulations
thereunder.
SEC. 4. That no grazing permits issued under this Act shall pro-
hibit settlers, prospectors, and others from entering upon such grazing
districts for all proper and lawful purposes, including the use and
enjoyment of their rights and property and prospecting, locating, and
developing the mineral resources of such districts ; and wagon roads
or improvements may be constructed thereon in accordance with law,
and all persons shall have the right to move live stock from one
locality to another within such grazing districts under such restric-
tions only as are necessary to' protect the users of the land which
will be driven across.
SEC. 5. That the users of the public lands under the provisions of
this Act may select a committee of not more than four members from
the users of any such grazing district, which committee shall represent
the owners of different kinds of stock, and, with the officer appointed
by the Secretary of Agriculture in charge of such grazing district,
shall constitute an executive board, which shall determine whether
the permits for such grazing districts shall be issued upon an acreage
or upon a per capita basis, shall make such division of the range be-
tween the different kinds of stock as is necessary, and shall decide
whether the distribution of the range shall be by individual or com-
munity allotments. The executive board shall also determine the
total number of animals to be grazed in each grazing district, and
shall decide upon the adoption of any special rules to meet local con-
ditions, and shall establish lanes or driveways, and shall prescribe
special rules to govern the movement of live stock across the public
APPENDIX 379
lands in such districts so as to protect the users of the land in their
rights and the right of persons having the necessity to drive across
the same. The executive board, after thirty days' notice by publica-
tion, shall also determine the preference in the allotment of grazing
privileges provided for in section one of this Act, and shall, under
rules of the Secretary of Agriculture, determine the value of the
improvements and the use of the same whenever that may become
necessary under the provisions of this Act in the administration of
the same. Fences, wells, and other improvements may be constructed
with the permission of the Government officer in charge, who shall
record the ownership and location of such improvements. Any dif-
ferences between a majority of the executive board and the officer in
charge shall be referred to the Secretary of Agriculture and shall
be adjusted in the manner prescribed by him. Any interested party
shall have the right to appeal from any decision of the board to the
Secretary of Agriculture. If the users of the land fail to select the
committee as herein provided, the President of the United States shall
name such committee from such grazing districts, representing the
owners of the different kinds of stock, as above provided.
SEC. 6. That the Secretary of Agriculture shall fix a date which
shall not be less than one year from the establishment of any grazing
district, and after such date the pasturing of any class of live stock
on public land in said grazing districts without a permit, or in vio-
lation of the regulations of the Secretary of Agriculture, as herein
provided, shall constitute a misdemeanor and shall be punishable by
a fine of not less than ten dollars nor more than one thousand dol-
lars, or by imprisonment for not less than ten days nor more than
one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion
of the court.
SEC. 7. That twenty-five per centum of all moneys received from
each grazing district during any fiscal year shall be paid, at the end
thereof, by the Secretary of the Treasury to the State or Territory in
which said district is situated, to be expended as the State or Terri-
torial legislature may prescribe for the benefit of the public schools
and public roads of the county or counties in which the grazing dis-
trict is situated : Provided, That when any grazing district is in
more than one State or Territory, or County, the distributive share
to each from the proceeds of said district shall be proportional to its
area therein. The sum of five hundred thousand dollars is hereby
appropriated, to be available until expended, for the payment of ex-
penses necessary to execute the provisions of this Act.
SEC. 8. That the President is hereby authorized to modify any
proclamation establishing any grazing district, but not oftener than
once in five years, to take effect in not less than one year there-
after, and by such modification may reduce the area or change the
boundary lines of such grazing district.
380 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
A FEW DEFINITIONS.
Following is a list of definitions of words and expressions
in common use among stockmen:
Arroyo. — (Spanish). Small dry wash, small river. Used In the
Southwest generally to designate a dry wash.
Baldy, Bald-Faced. — Horse with a white face.
Bed Ground. — The place where a herd is held for the night.
Big Jaws. — Animals showing signs of the disease known as lump
jaw or big jaw (actinomycosis). Dogies, dwarfs, swaybacks
and big jaws are generally mentioned in all steer-buying
contracts as not to be received by the purchaser and not
to be considered as part of the percentage of cut allowed
the buyer.
Bog Riders. — Men whose duties are to ride the ranges in the
spring and look out for weak cows that get into mud holes
and have not sufficient strength to get out again.
Broken-Mouthed. — Applied to a ewe or sheep which after reaching
the age of seven generally loses some of the front teeth;
an old sheep.
Bronco. — Wild horse; any unbroken horse.
Bronco Buster, Bronco Twister. — A man hired to break bronco
horses.
Buckaroo. — Southern California corruption of Spanish word
"vaquero," cowboy.
Bucking Up. — Placing the bucks with the ewes. A band of sheep
is sold "bucked up" to lamb on certain dates.
Caballado. — (Cah-val-ya-do). Tae horse herd.
Camp Tender, Camp Rustler. — A man who accompanies the sheep
herd, looks after the packs, locates camp and relieves the
herder from such matters.
Cantiuas. — A pair of saddle bags that hang over the saddle horn.
Caporal. — (Cap-o-ral.) The foreman in charge of a sheep outfit.
Cavvyard, Cavvy. — (Spanish). A bunch of horses.
Chamisal. — (Cha-me-sal.) Applied by Mexican sheep-herders to
a range where the majority of the feed is browse and
weeds.
Chaparajoes, Chaps. — (Shaps.) Leather covers for the legs when
riding in brush. From Spanish chaparral, thick brush.
Properly pronounced chap-ar-rer-as.
Chupo, Chapo. — (Spanish.) A short-coupled chunky-built horse.
Cienaga. — (Se-en-ega.) From the Spanish cien, meaning hundred,
and agua, meaning water. A wet, swampy place with many
springs.
Cooney. — A raw hide slung under the rear axle and reach of the
chuck wagon in which the cook carries his iron dutch-ovens
and other heavy utensils. Often the brands are carried in
it also.
APPENDIX 381
Coulee.— (French). Used in the Northwest much the same as
Arroyo in the Southwest.
Counting Chute.— A V-shaped fence into which the sheep are
crowded and as they escape through a small opening at the
point can be readily counted.
Crop.— To cut off the end of the ear.
Cross-bred. — A product of Merino and mutton blood. A type of
sheep producing a fair grade of medium wool, together
with a large carcass for mutton purposes.
Culls or Cutbacks. — Those animals in a herd which for his own
reasons a buyer rejects.
Cut. — In sheep-herding, a small number of animals that get sep-
arated from the main herd; in cattle, a bunch of cows or
steers that are cut out from the herd to be driven off.
Cutter. — Slang for six-shooter.
Cutting Horse. — A horse used especially for the work of cutting
out; a "carver," a "chopper," chopping horse.
Cutting Out, Parting Out, Carving, Chopping. — All cowboy ex-
pressions to cover the operation of removing from the herd
such animals as are needed, like cows, calves and steers.
Cutting "double barreled" is done by two men; usually
but one man works.
Day Herd. — The animals carried along with the roundup outfit
into which those animals that are wanted for shipping or
other purposes are placed.
Dilsey.— A saddle mare.
Docking. — Cutting off the tails of lambs. Done primarily for
sanitary reasons but also for breeding reasons in the case
of the ewe. In the wethers it is more or less a fancy that
It makes a better looking animal, trimmer and more
symmetrical.
Doctoring Sheep. — To go over a sheep herd and "doctor" by hand
such as show signs of scab.
Dodge Gate.— A gate in a corral generally in a lane down which
animals are driven and "dodged" or separated as they come,
by swinging the gate back and forth so as to classify them.
Dogie. — (Dough-gie). A motherless calf on the range. Generally
applied to those calves whose mothers have died or been
separated from them. A pot-bellied calf.
Double Rig Saddle. — A saddle with two cinches; a "rim fire"
saddle.
Downers. — Cattle and other stock which have been down in the
cars during shipment and arrive at the stockyards bruised,
dirty and unfit for sale as beef.
Drop Band. — Ewes that are just ready to drop or are dropping
their lambs.
Dry Stuff. — Cows or ewes without young.
Dwarfs. — Undersized animals; those which have been stunted in
some way; runts.
Filly. — A female horse under two and one-half years.
Fine-wooled, Close-wooled. — Applied to the Merino breed, which
includes Delaines and Rambouillets.
Freemartin. — Generally applied to the female born twin with a
bull. Commonly supposed to be sterile but many instances
are known where this is not the case.
Gelding. — A castrated horse.
Grafting Lambs. — The operation of coaxing a ewe to mother a
strange lamb.
382 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
Gotcho.— (Mexican.) A droop-eared or lop-eared horse.
Grub. — To cut the ear off close to the head for an ear-mark.
Grullo (Grew-yo). — (Spanish or Mexican.) A dull slate or
smoke-colored horse; a "smoky."
Hackamore.— (Jaquima). A headstall used in breaking saddle
horses. A Spanish word taken from the Arabian.
Heifer.— A female of the bovine species before she has dropped
her first calf. After that she becomes a cow.
Illnny. — The offspring of a stallion and a jenny or female ass.
Hogging Rope. — Short piece of rope for use in hog-tying an ani-
mal.
Hogr Tie. — To tie an animal down by all four feet.
Hoodlum Wagon. — The extra wagon taken with the chuck wagon
on the roundup to haul grain, extra bedding, and at times
wood and water.
l Bunch. — On a sheep range those animals that are sick,
injured in some way, or ewes with lambs which are not
thrifty and therefore need more care than they get in
the large herd.
Jack.— A male of the ass species.
Jennet. — (Genet.) A small Spanish horse in range language.
Jenny. — A female of the ass species.
Jingle Bob. — An ear-mark made by cutting the ear on the upper
side, so as to break the back of the ear. This allows It
to hang down along the side of the face much as do the
long ears of the Angora goat.
Jug Handle. — A mark made in cattle by slitting the dew lap
about 4 inches so that the outside strip hangs free from
the animal.
Lasso. — (Spanish.) To snare; to rope; rope used by stockmen
to catch cattle.
Legging Out. — The act of pulling sheep out of a bunch by the
hind legs, catching them either with the hand or the crook.
Lepple. — A southwestern name for dogie. Taken from the Spanish.
Loafer. — Western corruption of the Spanish Lobo; a wolf.
Mare. — A female of the horse species over two and one half years
of age.
Markers. — The black sheep in a herd. Every herder knows exact-
ly how many of such he has and by running over them
occasionally he feels fairly sure that if they are all there
he has lost no sheep.
Maverick. — An unbranded calf or colt not following the mother.
The name goes back to early days in Texas when a man
named Maverick ran cattle on a small island, and hence
neither branded nor marked them. Occasionally one or two
would swim to the mainland and- when found in the herds
were known as maverick cattle, and soon the name was
adopted for all such animals.
Mecate.— (Me-cah-tee). A hair rope used as a tie rope for horses;
often called "Macarty," used with hackamore rig. In Mex-
ico, a maguey rope.
Milling. — A herd of stock held under guard where the animals
keep walking round and round in one direction.
Morphodite, Hermaphrodite. — An animal having the generative
parts of both sexes. This name goes back to the old
Greek story of the son of Hermes and Aphrodite, who, while
bathing one day, became united in one body with a water
nymph.
APPENDIX 383
Mule. — The offspring of a mare and a jackass.
Mulley. — A hornless animal; a saddle with no horn.
Neater. — A small farmer generally located within the limits of
some stock range.
Open-wooled, Coarse-wooled. — Applied to sheep of the mutton
breeds, such as Lincolns and Shropshires.
Orejana. — (Oh-ray-hah-na). From Oreja, the ear, Spanish. A
maverick; a long-eared calf.
Outlaw.— (In Spanish a "Cimarron.") A range animal that does
not travel nor associate with others of its kind.
Over Half Crop, Upper Half Crop.— The upper or lower half of
the ear is taken off at a point about half way to the head.
Ox. — Generally applied to work cattle. Correctly a steer that
works in yoke or collar. Both bulls and steers are used for
work purposes.
Palomlllo, I'alomluo. — (Mexican.) A cream-colored horse, a buck-
skin.
Parrot-mouthed Horse. — A horse whose front teeth, generally
through age but not always, project unusually far forward
beyond the jaws. "Buck-toothed," like the beak of a parrot;
hence "parrot-mouth."
Pelon. — (Pay-loan.) A mulley animal; hornless; from Spanish,
bald.
Reata. — Same as lasso. Generally made of rawhide.
Remu-dn.— (Spanish). Remounts, exchange horses, saddle horses.
The horse herd with a roundup.
Rldgllng. — A male horse one or both of whose testicles have not
"come down" where they can be reached for castration.
Such animals can serve mares. As their testicles are very
hard to find, the castrating operation should be performed
by some one well acquainted with the work. Frequently
called an "original," also "ridgal."
Shrinkagre. — The reduction in weight allowed the buyer in receiv-
ing cattle fresh from the range or pasture. A 3 per cent
reduction or an over-night's stand in the corral without
feed or water is generally considered a fair allowance to
each side.
Side Winder, Stern Wheeler. — A pacing saddle horse.
Single Rig Saddle. — A " center fire" saddle; saddle with one cinch.
Sit-fast. — A hard callous place that comes upon a horse's back
where there has been a saddle sore.
Sleeper. — A calf that has been marked but not branded. This is
a favorite trick of the cattle rustler who finds on the
range a large unbranded calf following its mother. The
cow belongs to some one else. The rustler catches the calf
and places the owner's ear-mark on it but does not brand
it. Such a calf is very likely to be overlooked in a big
roundup, and if it is and becomes weaned the rustler who
has kept his eye on it ropes it again, cuts out the ear-mark
and places his brand on the calf.
Springer. — Market name for a milk cow about ready to calve.
Squeeze Chute, Branding Chute, Snapping Turtle. — A place where
animals are forced through a narrow passage-way until
they reach the end, when the side is drawn against them,
holding them securely while they are branded or dehorned.
Called a "snapping turtle" when the holding arrangement
is a heavy pole or timber which works on a hinge at the
bottom and by means of a rope running from the top over
a pulley is drawn against and just in front of the hip bones,
holding them securely while the operation is performed.
384 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
Stag. — A male animal that was not castrated until late In life.
Stallion. — A male of the equine species. Often called an "entire"
horse.
Steer. — A castrated male of the bovine species.
Swallow Fork. — A V-shaped piece taken out of the point of the
ear. ,
SwnybaekH. — Animals whose backs are unusually bent or swayed.
A sign of physical weakness.
Tapa-deros, Taps.— Heavy leather covers or hoods to go over stir-
rups of saddle.
The Drags. — Those animals that are found at the tail end of the
herd as it travels.
Under Bit, Over Bit. — A V-shaped piece taken out of the lower
or upper part of the ear.
Varruga. — (Spanish.) Wattle. A distinguishing mark for both
sheep and cattle made by cutting a strip of hide down
about 2 inches, allowing it to hang like a tassel or wattle.
Usually made on the cheeks or necks.
Vega— Spanish for meadow; also a rafter in an adobe house.
Wet Band, Lamb Band. — Ewes whose lambs are old enough to
follow their mothers on the range.
Wether. — A castrated male sheep.
Wrangler. — The horse herder for a roundup outfit.
INDEX.
Aberdeen-Angus cattle, 95.
Aconite, 264.
called monk's hood, 268.
Age of live stock, 169.
Albuquerque, New Mexico, loco
frowth near, 258.
fa, 253.
causes bloat, 252.
killing: out, 245.
Alfileria, 39, 65.
origin of, 72.
Angora kids, staking system,
162.
mutton, 111.
venison, 111.
Aparejo, 365.
Arizona, cost of handling sheep,
200.
loco in, 262.
loco year in, 259.
Merino sheep in, 104.
Azoturia, 311.
symptoms and remedies, 314.
Aztec Cattle Co., 115.
Baits, poison, how to prepare,
338.
Baking soda, use of, 249, 254,
274.
Basco hitch, 370.
Bears, not dangerous to stock,
334.
Bed ground, use of, 173.
Bell Ranch in New Mexico, 114.
Bermuda grass, 49.
Big jaw, symptoms and reme-
dies, 286.
Bits, riding, 358.
Black bunch grass, 43.
Black grama grass, 49.
Black leg, 286.
symptoms and remedies, 288.
vaccination against, 293.
Blankets, saddle, 359.
Blanket weaving, 102.
Bleeding of stock unwise, 249.
Blind teeth of horse, 283.
Bloat, 249, 286.
how caused, 252.
symptoms and remedies, 252,
254, 274.
Bloating in larkspur, 276.
Blue grama grass, 49.
Blue grass, Kentucky, 70.
Blue ioint grass, identification
of, 65.
Blue stem grass, 61, 70, 270.
identificatioM of, 65.
Bog rider, the, 120.
Bogging of cattle, 122.
Boots, high heeled, 118.
Bot fly, 283, 323.
Bot fly (see heel flies).
Bots, no such disease, 283.
Brands, altering of, 196.
Brand books, 186, 187, 189, 190,
191.
Branding calves, 129.
Branding fluid, Australian,181.
Brand inspectors, 134.
Brands, names of various char-
acters, 192.
picking of, 198.
specimen of, 192.
Bridles, riding, 358.
Brine, used for pingue, 280.
Broken-mouthed ewes, 172.
sheep, 201.
Brome grass, 242, 265.
Bronco grass, 72.
Buck brush, 61, 65.
Bucks, handling of, 155.
time to place with ewes, 155.
when too old, 202.
Buffalo grass, 49, 65.
how recognized, 49.
herds, 24.
Bulls, dehorning of, 180.
number required, 179.
on range, 179.
question of age, 179.
Bunch grass, 43.
Burning over a range, 226.
Button sage, 63.
California sheep ranges, 104,
Calves, 'dehorning of, 180.
Camp rustler, 157.
tender, 157.
Canula, use of, 255.
Carrying capacity of ranges, 77.
Castrating, 183.
lambs, 151.
Catclaw, 39.
Cattle and sheep, grazing ratio
between, 78.
determining age of, 164.
diseases, 286.
Chamiza, 21, 61.
Changing class of stock, 214.
"Chaps," 118.
Chloral hydrate, use of, 278, 313.
Chloroform, use of, 322.
Choke cherry, leaves kill sheep,
248.
386
WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
Choke cherry, losses from, 271.
poisoning, symptoms and
remedies, 280.
Chuck wagon, the, 116, 125.
Chutes for branding, 130.
Climatic changes, 85.
Close grazing, 244.
of ranges, 236, 238.
Colic, remedy for, 311.
various kinds of, 311.
Colorado, average shearing of
sheep, 206.
Coming of the settler, 81.
Control of Government ranges,
bill for, 377.
Coronado's expedition, 97.
Corn smut, 246.
Cost, of running sheep, 200.
of running stock, 199.
Cotswold sheep, 106.
Cow bane (see water hemlock),
267.
Coyotes, in California, 329.
killing of, 327.
Crow Creek reservation, 222.
Cud, failure to chew, 283.
Cups in teeth, 169.
Curly mesquite grass, 43, 49.
Curtailment of the open range,
31.
Cutting out cattle, 129.
Death camas, 247, 248, 266.
poisoning, remedies for, 277.
varieties of, 267.
Deer flies, 325.
Definitions, 380.
Dehorning cattle, 180.
Delaine sheep, 106.
Desert range, 40.
Developing water in quick
sands, 123.
Devons, the, 92.
Diamond hitch, 368.
Dipping sheep, 149, 306. f
Diseases, of cattle, book on,
284.
of horses, book on, 284.
Docking lambs, 151.
Dog-town grass, 43.
Double-wintered steers, 34.
"Downers," 136.
Drags, how to use, 338.
Drenches, use of, 284.
Drop band, the, 153.
Dry farmers, the 89.
limits to advance, 116.
success of, 90.
Ear marking, 183.
Ear marks on horses, 184.
Early horses of the plains, 97.
Early settlers of the plains, 82,
84, 226.
England, cost of raising sheep,
207.
Epsom salts, use of, 312.
Era of readjustment, 26.
Erosion due to stock trails, 228.
Ergot, losses from, 270.
poisoning, symptoms and
remedies, 279.
Esta-fi-etta, 57.
Ewes, broken-mouthed, 172.
Eye teeth of horse, 283.
Farcy (see glanders), 316.
Fenced enclosures for raising
sheep, 160.
Fire weed, 236.
Flies, protecting horses from,
325.
Foot rot, among sheep, 304.
Forest Rangers, 213.
Forest Service, example of sys-
tem, 234.
success of, 233.
vs. sheep men, 215.
Fort Collins lamb feeding, 36.
Fowler's solution, use of, 275.
Foxtail grass, 72, 246, 272.
Galleta grass, 43, 49.
Galloway cattle, 96.
Geranium, wild, 264.
Glanders in horses, 316.
Goats, 79.
Angoras, 108, 161.
Angoras, handling of, 161.
Angoras, kids very tender,
161.
Angoras, shearing average,
Angoras, shipment from
South Africa prohibited,
109.
Angoras, shipment from Tur-
key prohibited, 109.
C9mmon breed best, 163.
dipping, 163.
Mexican, 107.
shearing, 163.
trained to load sheep, 156.
Government control of grazing
lands, 29, 233.
ranges, destruction of, 233.
rules for handling stock, 173
Grama grass, 43, 49.
Grease wood, 57.
Grass, burning of, 226.
Grasses, destruction of, 236.
of the southern range, 38.
Grazing lands, railroad, 202.
Grazing on public lands, bill for
control of, 377.
Hair ropes, spinning of, 119.
Hampshire sheep, 106.
Hay, black grama, 50.
fed cattle, 138.
hoe-cut, 50.
rule for measuring, 138.
Heel flies, 323.
Hemlock poisoning, 250.
INDEX
387
Herders, monthly cost of pro-
visions, 205.
Herds, size of, 126.
Hereford cattle, 93.
Higher ranges of the south-
west, 43.
Hitches, packing-, 368.
the Basco, 370.
Hobbled horses, how to ap-
proach, 124.
Hobbles, how made, 363.
use of, 362.
Hogs, branding and ear mark-
ing, 112.
objection to on ranges, 112.
on the ranges, 111.
Hollow horn, 284.
Hopples (see hobbles), 362.
Horn flies, history of, 320.
Horns, buttons on, 167.
of cattle, telling age by, 167.
rings upon, 167.
Horse, cups in teeth, 169.
determining age of, 169.
Horses, diseases of, 310.
hard on ranges, 77.
Hutchinson, Kansas, 85.
Indian reservations, charge for
stock upon, 200, 221.
Indians skinning cattle, 123.
Insect pests, 320.
Iodide of potassium, use of, 287.
Jack rabbits devoured by coy-
otes, .329.
Johnson grass, 65.
Kafir corn poisoning, danger of,
280.
Kansas, prairie dogs in, 343-
Kemp, description of, 110.
Kentucky blue grass, 70.
Kyaks, 370, 374.
Lamb crop, average of, 144.
Lamb feeding, 141.
Lambing, critical period, 154.
grounds, 73, 150, 225.
in tents, 153.
time of, 149.
Lambs, care of, 151.
castrating, 151.
docking, 151.
increase of, 205.
marking, 151.
prices paid for, 142.
weight of, 154.
Lampass, cure for, 283.
Lands, exchanging use of, 223.
Lard, use of, 249, 278, 279.
Large cattle outfits, 114.
Larkspur, 248.
eradification of, 265.
losses from, 264.
purple, 264.
symptoms and remedies, 276.
Larkspur, tall, 264.
Lash rope, length of, 374.
Leasing of grazing lands, 143.
Lime and sulphur dip, 307.
Linseed oil, use of, 312.
Lip and leg ulceration, symp-
toms and remedies, 308.
Livestock, diseases of, 282.
number of, 91.
Loading stock on cars, 135.
Lobelia, sometimes taken for
camas, 266.
Loco, area covered by plant,
256.
remedies, 250, 263, 275.
silvery, 265.
symptoms, 260.
years, 258.
Locoed animals easily drowned,
262.
horses, peculiarities of, 262.
mule, story of, 261.
Long horn cattle^ 92.
Lupine causes bloat, 252.
dry seeds of deadly, 266.
elimination of, 266.
hay, 266.
identification of, 265.
poisoning, symptoms and
remedies, 277.
Lump jaw (see big jaw), 286.
Lynxes, 330.
Mallein test for glanders, 319.
Mallow, red false, 264.
Magnesium sulphate, use of,
275.
Mange among horses, 303.
in cattle, 298.
Manti National Forest, 210.
Marking lambs, 151.
stock by tattoo process, 182.
Marsh, Prof. C. D., 263, 275, 276.
Matador Cattle Co., 114.
Maximum limits, meaning of,
217.
Meadows, damage of, 230.
hay, 244.
reseeding of, 242.
Merino foundation desirable,
106.
Merino sheep, 104, 106.
Mesquite beans, 38.
Mexican sheep herders, 203.
Milling of cattle, 132.
Mistletoe, feeding of, 58.
Mohair, length of, 110.
value of, 110.
Conk's hood (see aconite), 268.
Montana cost of grazing sheep,
200.
herders required, 204.
Mormons, 87, 92.
coming of, 84.
expedition, 22.
Morphine, use of, 278, 313.
388
WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
Motherless calves, 88.
Mountain bunch grass, 70.
forage, 61.
lion, best bait for, 339.
lions, hard to trap, 331.
mahogany, 43, 61, 65.
meadows, 70.
parks, 66.
Moving ewes and lambs to
mountains, 154.
Mules, killing young stock, 78.
Mustangs, 98, 99.
Mutton eating in America, 106.
sheep, hard to herd, 106.
type of sheep, 106.
National Forests, cattle vs.
sheep, 215.
competitive bids for use of,
221.
exchange of land, 223.
fencing privileges, 219.
free grazing on, 211.
grazing fees low, 220.
grazing fees on, 200.
Government not forced to
fence, 219.
improvement of ranges, 212.
lambs grazed free, 225.
livestock upon, 208.
number of stock upon, 224.
permits for more than one
year, 219.
permit system on, 216.
policy liberal, 211.
private lands in. 223.
protective and maximum
limits, 217.
purchase of stock using, 218.
ranges, comparison of fees,
221.
reductions in numbers, 217.
stock losses in, 224.
stock permits not salable,
218.
use of by stockmen, 209.
value of permits, 218.
Navajo blankets, 102.
Indians as sheep owners, 103.
Needle grass, 43, 246.
Neighbors not desired, 82.
Nesters, the, 87.
New Mexico, cost of grazing
sheep, 200.
introduction of sheep into,
103.
loco in, 260.
pastures, charges for, 199.
sheep herders required, 204.
Night herding, 131.
of sheep, 152.
North Park, Colorado, 66.
Northern range, 33, 64.
Oak poisoning, stock losses
from, 268.
Oak poisoning, symptoms and
remedies, 269. 278.
Ohio, cost of raising sheep, 206.
Oil, linseed, use of, 279.
Orchard grass, 242, 265.
Oregon wind, 368.
Overgrazing, 244.
Overstocking, damage from,
231.
Pack pockets, 370, 374.
Pack saddles, 365.
saw buck type, 366.
Packing, 365.
Pacing horses, peculiarities of,
350.
Panhandle of Texas, 89.
Parsnip, wild (see water hem-
lock), 267.
Paunching, 254, 274.
how accomplished, 255.
Pea vine (see lupine), 265.
Per capita system of grazing,
216.
Permanganate of potash, use
of, 250, 269, 277, 279.
Permit system on National
Forests, 216.
Pike, Captain, 97.
Pingue plant, losses from, 269.
poisoning, symptoms and
remedies, 280.
Poisoning predatory animals,
335.
Poisonous plants, choking out,
242.
do animals know them, 246.
losses from, 246.
injurious to sheep, 247.
symptoms and remedies, 249,
274.
Polled Angus cattle, 95.
Porcupine grass. 43, 246.
Poverty grass, 72.
Prairie dog grass, 343.
Prairie dogs and rattlesnakes,
340.
damage to range from, 339.
digging to water, 340.
grass destroyed by, 343.
poison, how placed, 346.
preparing poison for, 344.
Prairie June grass, 64.
Predatory animals, 224.
losses from, 327.
Prickly pear, feeding of, 57.
spineless variety, 58.
Private lands in National For-
ests, 223.
Protective" limits, 217.
Prussic acid in kaflr corn and
sorghum, 280.
Public ranges, bill for control
of, 377.
Pueblo Indians, 102.
INDEX
389
Quick sand, 123.
Quinine bush, 61.
Quirts, 119, 361.
Rambouillet sheep, 106.
Rams (see bucks), 155.
Range, conditions past and
present, 116
horses, 97.
methods, 124.
wars, 27.
Ranges, carrying capacity, 232.
close grazing of, 236.
rotation system, 238.
Rattlesnakes in prairie dog
holes, 340.
Reclamation service, 210.
T?ed desert, the, 61, 143.
Red-top grass, 242.
Reseeding, harrowing land, 243.
ranges, 238.
use of sheep in, 243.
Restoring original conditions,
235.
Riatas, 119.
Roosevelt dam, 210.
Rope, how to use, 360.
on saddle, 360.
tied to horn, 361.
Rotation system, 238.
Round-up herds, size of, 126.
outfit, work of, 124.
Rubber weed, 269.
Running irons, 198.
Russian thistle, 63.
Rye grass, 242.
wild, 270.
Sacaton, 54.
Saddle blankets, 359.
horse, gaiting, 350.
horses, gaits of, 349.
history of American, 354.
how to mount, 351.
selection of, 350.
sore backed, 360.
tricks in riding, 353.
Saddles, double rigged, 356.
McClellan, 355.
pack, 365.
Texas, 356.
types of, 348, 355.
Sages, 57.
Salt and sulphur for stock, 174.
danger of using, 175.
hungry stock, 177.
kind to use, 174.
lakes, 175.
licks, 174.
lick, making of, 176.
petre, drench, 315.
petre, use of, 28.
rock, making sore tongues,
rock vs. fine, 175.
sage, 57, 63.
Salting stock, 174, 178.
Sample attack, 28.
Santa Fe, railroad, old trails
along, 229.
trail, 230.
San Joaquin Plains, 72.
Scabies, dipping cattle for, 300.
in cattle, 298.
spraying cattle for, 301.
Scents, how made, 337.
Screw worms, danger from, 321.
flies, 321.
Scrub oak, 268.
injurious to cattle, 61.
stock losses from, 268.
Seeds, how to test, 244.
Service berry, 65.
Settlers, majority cattle rais-
ers, 216.
second attack on arid re-
gion, 85.
Sex, keeping track of in brand-
ing, 184.
Shad scale, 57, 63.
Shearing, blankets for sheep
after, 147.
time of, 147.
Sheep, average weight of
fleece, 205.
bedding down at night, 158.
coarse wooled, 106.
cost of raising, 203, 205.
cost of running, 206.
deterioration of, 201.
determining age of, 172.
dipping, cost of, 307.
dips, for killing screw
worms, 322.
diseases of, 304.
double profit from, 144.
first in United States, 100.
goats used in loading, 156.
grazing, value of, 214.
herders, average number of
sheep to each, 205.
herders, wages paid, 204.
herder, work of, 150.
increased cost of production,
143.
in fenced enclosures, 160.
loading in cars, 156.
loss from bloat, 253.
maintenance cost, 206.
men, advent of 26.
men, find fault, 211.
on range, handling of, 140.
open wooled, 107, 140.
percentage of increase, 144,
211.
ranch, investment for, 202.
report of Tariff Board, 203.
scab among, 304.
scab, dipping for, 306.
scab, doctoring for, 306.
scab, in Bible, 305.
scab, remedies, 306.
390
WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES
Sheep scab, work of Govern-
ment in controlling, 306.
shearing by hand, 143.
shearing by machine, 143.
size of bands, 156, 157.
teeth of, 172.
value per head, 205.
versus cattle, 215.
water for, 154.
Shin oak, 268.
Shinneries, 268.
Shipping sheep, 156.
stock, 136.
Short-horns on the range, 91.
Shropshire sheep, 106.
Sleepy grass, peculiarities of,
Small stock owners, position
of, 234.
Snake bites, symptoms and
remedies, 315.
Snake weed, 236.
Sneeze weed, injurious to
sheep, 271.
poisoning, symptoms and
remedies, 279.
water poisoned by, 271.
Silver City, New Mexico, good
goat region, 109.
Single-wintered steers, 33.
Sorghum, 65.
poisoning, danger of, 280.
Southern lamb trade, 36.
range, 33.
steer trade, 33.
South Park, Colorado, 66.
Southwestern grasses, 49.
Spade bits, 119, 358.
Spanish bayonet, 39, 49.
ring bit, 358.
Spring ranges, 72.
Spurs and quirts, 361.
Squeeze chutes, 130.
Squirrel tail grass, 272. ,
Staked plains, origin of name,
49.
Stampedes, 132.
State lands, use of, 222, 223.
Stock cars, number of animals
to a load, 136.
Stock, driveways, 213.
Government rules for han-
dling, 173.
medicines, how given, 284.
number of National Forests,
224.
ranges, Government control
of, 233.
Stocking the ranges, 82.
Strawberry Valley Project, 202,
222.
Strychnine, use of, 250, 275, 338.
Success of the settlers, 86.
Sulphur for stock, 174.
Supra-orbits in horses, 169.
Swamp camas, 267.
Sweet sage, 57.
Teeth, telling age of stock by,
164.
Tennessee Pass of Colorado, 66.
Texas fever, history of, 294.
losses from, 296.
pastures, charges for, 200.
quarantine against, 297.
tick, how to recognize, 298.
ticks, life history of, 297.
Ticks, Texas fever, 294.
Timothy, 61, 242.
Tonto Basin War 27.
Trails, cattle and sheep, 228.
Tramp stockmen, 214.
Traps, steel, how to set, 336.
Trocar, use of, 255.
Trapping predatory animals,
Tumble weed, 63.
Turpentine, use in colic, 313.
Twins among stock, 147.
Two years before the mast, 22.
Utah state lands, 222.
Veterinary surgeon, should be
called, 282.
Warble flies, 323.
Warbles, in cattle, 324.
life history of, 324.
losses to stockmen from, 325.
Washington, average shearing
of sheep, 206.
Water, for stock, 79.
hemlock, description of, 267.
hemlock, poisoning, symp-
toms and remedies, 277.
sheep need little, 154.
Weeds eaten by sheep, 80.
Western wheat grass, 65.
Wheat grass, 64 70.
White bunch grass, 61.
White clover, 70.
Wild cats, losses from, 330
oats, 61.
pea (see lupine), 265.
rye, 61.
Wind colic, 312.
Winter fat, 57.
Wolfbane (see aconite). 268.
Wolfers, employment of, 332.
Wolf tail, 284.
Wolves, characteristics of, 330
losses from, 327.
poisoning of 333.
size of litter, 334.
Wooden tongue, 286.
Wool, advance in prices, 142.
average weight of clip, 148,
cost of production, 206.
Wrong use of names, 99.
Yucca, 43.
Zuni, pueblo of, 100.
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