They were Davy Morris, who now lives at Squaw Mountain south of Laramie Peak, and Jim Hubbard, who once homesteaded the farm in Mitchell Valley that was owned by Harry Thornton for many years.

That these men were experts with the paint brush goes without saving, for some of the eye witnesses of the affair tell me that about every other number that they called was an animal invisible to the naked eve. Thev would

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

daub one and call, and then make a pass through the air and call another, and the men with the tally sheets were kept too busy to see what was going on. Thus, with all their care, the Scotchmen failed to get nearly so many cattle as they thought they were getting. Is it any wonder, with a handicap of forty or fifty per cent., and after the disaster of the Big Spring storm of 1886, with prevailing low prices at that time, that the company became embarrassed?

I am not surprised that John Clay came out and took over the ranch and holdings of the Swan Land & Cattle Company in 1886. but I am surprised that he could make anything out of the wreck. Under his management, however, the Two-Bar is a most substantial institution. Clay says: "Still sticking by the ship. I found many of the faithful old cowboys of better days. There was Billy Hooker,

and Al Bowie, and Harry Haig, and Duncan Grant, and Dave Morris, and Rufe Rhodes, and Frank Shiek, and Ed. Banks."