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. A ranch with 500 head of cattle was classed as a small one, and there was but one such in the county. The others "ran" from 2000 to 5000 head.

Cow Ponies

The price of horses was cheap and but few were grown by the ranchmen ; the supply of saddle horses which was a necessary part of the equipment of each ranch being mostly brought from Texas along with the cattle herds. It was almost the universal custom for each cowboy to have his "string" of six or eight saddle horses selected by himself or assigned to him by the owner for his individual use. It was a gross breach of etiquette for one rider to handle or use the horse of another except in a case of emergency or stressful need. When it is understood that a goodly portion of the cowboy's work in handling wild cattle was hazardous in the extreme, it will be seen how vitally important it was. that each rider should know the characteristics of his horses.