care of the firm, of which I was sending out ten thousand three-year-old steers and two herds of aging and dry cows.  They would take their chances in the open market, though I would have dearly loved to take over the young steers for the new company rather than have bought their equivalent in numbers.  I had a dislike to parting with an animal of my own breeding, and to have brought these to a ripe maturity under my own eye would have been a pleasure and a satisfaction.  But such an action might have caused distrust of my management, and an honest name is a valuable asset in a cowman’s capital.

My ranch foremen made up the herds and started my individual cattle on the trail.  I had previously bought the two remaining herds in Archer and Clay counties, and in the five that were contracted for and would be driven at company risk and account, every animal passed and was received under my personal inspection.  Three of the latter were routed by way of the Chisholm trail, and two by the Western, while the cattle under contract for delivery at the company ranch went by any route that their will and pleasure saw fit.  I saw very little of my old associates during the spring months, for no sooner had I started the herds than I hastened to overtake the lead one so as to arrive with the cattle at their new range.  I had kept in touch with the building of fences, and on our arrival, near the middle of May, the western and southern strings were completed.  It was not my intention to inclose the entire range, only so far as to catch any possible drift of cattle to the south or west.  A twenty-mile spur of fence on the east, with half that line and all the north one open, would be sufficient until further encroachments were made on our range.  We would have to ride the fences daily, anyhow, and where there was no danger of drifting, an open line was as good as a fence.

As fast as the cattle arrived they were placed under loose herd for the first two weeks.  Early in June the last of the contracted herds arrived and were scattered over the range, the outfits returning to Texas.  I reduced my help gradually, as the cattle quieted down and became located, until by the middle of summer we were running the ranch with thirty men, which were later reduced to twenty for the winter.  Line camps were established on the north and east, comfortable quarters were built for fence-riders and their horses, and aside from headquarters camp, half a dozen outposts were maintained.  Hay contracts were let for sufficient forage to winter forty horses, the cattle located nicely within a month, and time rolled by without a cloud on the horizon of the new cattle company.  I paid a flying visit to Dodge and Ogalalla, but, finding the season drawing to a close and the firm’s cattle all sold, I contentedly returned to my accepted task.  I had been buried for several months in the heart of the Indian Territory, and to get out where one could read the daily papers was a treat.  During my banishment, Senator Teller had been confirmed as Secretary of the Interior, an appointment that augured well for the future of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Cattle Company.  Advices from Washington were encouraging, and while the new secretary lacked authority to sanction our lease, his tacit approval was assured.