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.

The First Settlers

The first ranch established in the territory that was to become Dawes county was by Edgar B. Bronson in the summer of 1878 and was located on Dead Man's creek five miles south of Fort Robinson. For some time after his arrival he was dubbed a tenderfoot which in fact he was to those born or reared upon the frontier. He was a young man, probably 24 or 25, well educated and well bred and about the last man one would expect to find upon a cattle ranch. He had commenced life as a newspaper man in the east.

Chance threw him in contact with men from the west and the tales of western life appealed

to his nature and so firmly to his love of adventure that he came to Cheyenne and worked for a time as a common "puncher." Afterwards he purchased a small herd of his own and moved them to White river valley. At first he ranged from the head of White river to Fort Robinson and later moved over the divide to Running Water. It was known as the Three Crow Ranch, and was sold in 1883 to a company of which Bartlett Richards was manager.