The beef steers were held under herd to await the arrival of the other contingents.  If they fell short in twos and threes, I had hopes of finding an outlet for my beeves with the last herd.  The young stuff and stock cattle were allowed to drift back on their own ranges, and we rested on our oars.  We had warning of the approach of outside brands, several arriving in advance of appointment, and they were received at once.  As before, every brand overran expectations, with no shortage in steers.  My men had been wide awake, any number of mature beeves coming in with the mixed stock.  As fast as they arrived we cut all steers of desirable age into our herd of beeves, sending the remnant up the river about ten miles to be put under loose herd for the first month.  Fifteen-thousand cattle were tendered in the four brands, from which we cut out forty-six hundred steers of trail age.  The numbers were actually embarrassing, not in stock cattle, but in steers, as our trail herd numbered now over five thousand.  The outside outfits were all detained a few days for a settlement, lending their assistance, as we tally-marked all the stock cattle before sending them up the river to be put under herd.  This work was done in a chute with branding irons, running a short bar over the holding-brand, the object being to distinguish animals received then from what might be gathered afterward.  There were nearly one hundred men present, and with the amount of help available the third herd was ready to start on the morning of the 6th.  It numbered thirty-five hundred, again nearly equal in twos and threes, my ranch foreman having charge.  With the third herd started, the question arose what to do with the remnant of a few over sixteen hundred beeves.  To turn them loose meant that with the first norther that blew they would go back to their own range.  Major Hunter suggested that I drive an individual herd.  I tried to sell him an interest in the cattle, but as their ages were unsuited to his market, he pleaded bankruptcy, yet encouraged me to fill up the herd and drive them on my own account.

Something had to be done.  I bought sixty horses from the different outfits then waiting for a settlement, adding thirty of my own to the remuda, made up an outfit from the men present, rigged a wagon, and called for a general round-up of my range.  Two days afterward we had fifteen hundred younger steers of my own raising in the herd, and on the 10th of the month the fourth one moved out.  A day was lost in making a general settlement, after which Major Hunter and I rode through the mixed cattle under herd, finding them contentedly occupying nearly ten miles of the valley of the Clear Fork.  Calves were dropping at the rate of one hundred a day, two camps of five men each held them on an ample range, riding lines well back from the valley.  The next morning we turned homeward, passing my ranch and corrals, which but a few days before were scenes of activity, but now deserted even by the dogs.  From the Edwards ranch we were driven in to Fort Worth, and by the middle of the month reached Wichita.