Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 April 1894 — WOES OF CATTLEMEN. [ARTICLE]

WOES OF CATTLEMEN.

In Old Day* th* Buffalo Stampede Was One of the Chief Dangers. It was not always human agencies that made life on the prairie a burden to the cattlemen, says the GlobeDemocrat. Roaming over the prairies were great herds of buffalo, and the driver with his cattle stretched out in a line a mile or more in length might consider himself fortunate if none of the shaggy-coated beasts came near him on the way from ranch to shipping station. The coming of a herd of buffalo was usually foretold by the sound of thousands of hoofs, like the sound of rattling thunder. At the alarm every effort was made to consolidate the herd into the closest possible compass. The herders then waited on the edge of the herd and endeavored to keep the animals quiet. It was useless to attempt to move out of the way of the buffalo, for if the wild creatures were on a stampede nothing could stop and nothing evade them. The course was likely to zig-zag, and only good fortune could prevent a collision. First would appear above some knoll a long black line of shaggy heads, then behind these a solid black mass that made the whole prairie seem alive with the tremendous beasts. The plains trembled with their tread and the bellowing of the bulls made a noise that was particularly exciting to the cattle. Good luck if the wild procession went by without touching the stock. But many a poor fellow’s all was sweptout of existence by such a charge. No force could withstand it and all that remained of the cattle representing so much hard work and so many months of waiting were trampled carcasses and perhaps an animal here and there lingering in misery. There were other dangers. Spanish fever might be contracted from a herd that had preceded the one on route on the trail. Swollen rivers poured their muddy flood so swiftly that sometimes a fourth of a herd would be lost in the crossing. Beautiful a sight as the crossing of a river in its normal condition was, the fruitless battling with a tempestuous stream when it was on a rampage was correspondingly fearful. To see -the line of horns and frightened faces (about all that remained above water) bending farther and farther down stream until perhaps it broke and one after another of the usually self* reliant creatures, seeing that further struggle was useless, gave up the fight and floated away down the turbid current drowned, was pitiful. With the opening of the trail from the Red river to Kansas things grew better. The well beaten path was in such constant use that raids were practically impossible, and during the height of the drive there could be heard at evening the bellowing of the herds along the track for a dozen miles, each within hearing of the one preceding and the one following. Fords were improved also, and there was less danger from stampedes. Nowadays the ranchman knows nothing of such dangers. His thousands of acres are surrounded by barbed wire fences. Great corrals receive the herds at branding time, and he is indeed poorly located if a railroad is not within a mile or two of the ranch somewhere, if indeed it does not run through it. The cattle are not the deer-like creatures of earlier days. Then the fleetest horse was necessary in herding, and only the combination of horse and rider was safe in the vicinity of the steers. For that cen-taur-looking union they had great respect, but man or horse alone woold be hooked to death. The modern cattle ranch is conducted on as regular business principles and almost as safely as a dry goods store. Its managers would not know how to cope with the troubles of their precursors and may congratulate themselves upon living in a milder age.