firm back to the Clear Fork to winter. Thus equipped
with eighteen remudas for the trail, we were fairly
independent in that line. Among the five herds
driven the year before to our beef ranch in the Outlet,
the books showed not over ten thousand coming four
years old that spring, leaving a deficiency of northern
wintered beeves to be purchased. It was decided
to restock the range with straight threes, and we
again divided the buying into departments, each taking
the same division as the year before. The purchase
of eight herds of heavy beeves would thus fall to
Major Hunter. Austin and San Antonio were decided
on as headquarters and banking points, and we started
out on a preliminary skirmish. George Edwards
had an idea that the Indian awards could again be
relet to advantage, and started for the capital, while
the major and I journeyed on south. Some former
sellers whom we accidentally met in San Antonio complained
that we had forsaken them and assured us that their
county, Medina, had not less than fifty thousand mature
beeves. They offered to meet any one’s
prices, and Major Hunter urged that I see a sample
of the cattle while en route to the Uvalde country.
If they came up to requirements, I was further authorized
to buy in sufficient to fill our contract at Fort
Buford, which would require three herds, or ten thousand
head. It was an advantage to have this delivery
start from the same section, hold together en route,
and arrive at their destination as a unit. I
was surprised at both the quality and the quantity
of the beeves along the tributaries of the Frio River,
and readily let a contract to a few leading cowmen
for the full allotment. My active partner was
notified, and I went on to the headwaters of the Nueces
River. I knew the cattle of this section so well
that there was no occasion even to look at them, and
in a few days contracted for five herds of straight
threes. While in the latter section, word reached
me that Edwards had sublet four of our Indian contacts,
or those intended for delivery at agencies in the
Indian Territory. The remaining two were for
tribes in Colorado, and notifying our segundo to hold
the others open until we met, I took stage back to
San Antonio. My return was awaited by both Major
Hunter and Edwards, and casting up our purchases on
through cattle, we found we lacked only two herds
of cows and the same of beeves. I offered to make
up the Indian awards from my ranches, the major had
unlimited offerings from which to pick, and we turned
our attention to securing young steers for the open
market. Our segundo was fully relieved and ordered
back to his old stamping-ground on the Colorado River
to contract for six herds of young cattle. It
was my intention to bring remudas down from the Clear
Fork to handle the cattle from Uvalde and Medina counties,
but my active partner would have to look out for his
own saddle stock for the other beef herds. Hurrying
home, I started eight hundred saddle horses belonging
to the firm to the lower country, assigned two remudas
to leave for the Double Mountain ranch, detailed the
same number for the Clear Fork, and authorized the
remaining six to report to Edwards on the Colorado
River.