The county received its name at the hands of the legislature as an honor conferred upon the then governor, James W. Dawes. The name of Sioux county was very dear to the few inhabitants, and as the territory comprising the county was at that date the real heart of all the territory cut up, and we prided ourselves on having more semblance of settlement and civilization than other sections of the original county, our people felt piqued that the western part of the territory should take away our county name.

Cattle Years

From 1878 to 1884 the only industry of the county was that of cattle-raising. Business of ranching was then carried on upon a larger scale than would be possible in a more populated community, by men schooled in the profession, a profession which time and change has made practically obsolete, not only in this section, but in the United States. Cattle ranging as then in vogue required an empire of unpopulated territory and is unknown today. The lands

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

were unsurveyed and belong to the public domain. Ranchmen paid no rental and possessed no rights to land recognized by government, except the preference right accorded to "squatters," which consisted of the preference right to homestead or timber culture entry when lands were surveyed and thrown open to entry. The right of "discovery" was the only right possessed by the ranchmen to the large tracts then occupied. Custom became in practice the unwritten law of the land that the first to establish a ranch on a certain creek or in a certain locality was entitled to sufficient range for his needs ; the metes and bounds of each "range" were fairly well defined and no one encroached upon the rights of his neighbor -- at least it was so in Dawes county, as there were no disputes over range rights during the •open range period.