Scharf, J. Thomas, ed. History of Westchester County, New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II. Philadelphia: L.E. Preston & Co., 1886.

I was later informed that there was this much truth to his reply: The cows he used to run were branded "L" on the left shoulder; also several years before his father had bought a bunch of Oregon mares, and some of them had gotten away, and never came back. C. C. Nelson and Dr. Geo. C. Keenan bought this ranch, and I think they own it now (1919). Keenan was a brother of Mrs …

In fact each ranch was supplied with the necessities of life in abundance and the way-farer was welcome to help himself without awaiting the presence of, or asking the consent of the owner or his representative. This practice was continued until the county settled up more thickly, and the abuses of such generous courtesies caused the stockmen to discontinue their liberalities …

He was quite dead, apparently from heart disease, and was taken back to Sidney, from which point the fact was communciated to the widow at the ranch. "Ark" or "Henry County" Hughes was working for the Tusler people at the time. Hughes had come up from the mines of Colorado in 18S0. He went to work on the Tusler ranch in 1883, and remained there for four years. In the meantime …

The Rush creek shown on the maps today, was originally called Smith's Fork. Moore had from one thousand to two thousand cattle and his range extended from the mouth of Smith's Fork to the ranch. When the Shiedley Brothers acquired this ranch, Moore went into the mercantile business. He established a big supply depot at Sidney for ranch supplies and Black Hills outfitting. And …

The widow of Jim Moore, the pony express rider, having some means, acquired an interest in this ranch, which she sold at the time of her moving to Cheyenne to become Mrs. VanTassel. Tom Kane purchased her interests, and Henry Newman also took a part in the ranch's destinies. Then a number of railroad men organized a company, and bought the entire outfit, and put George Green …

His field has always been Wyoming, although at the time this ii written (1916) he is in a hospital in Denver, attended by his present faithful and charming wife. I say "present" for the reason that he has been married four times. Once before his uniting with Mrs. Moore, and twice since. The first two died, and the third, who was an excellent woman and the daughter of Big Alex …

Then came the work of "booming ties," one of the perilous, daring and strength-testing undertakings in the west. Men were detailed to keep the ties from jamming, and to break jams should they occur. At Medicine Bow, a string of ties fastened together stretched across the stream, and workmen pulled the floating ties ashore and piled them up in great ricks as fast as they came …

score-keepers would record -- one -- two -- three -- four -- tally, etc., etc. It developed that about every other tap that the Irishman made, was with the smooth end of the hammer on a tie already marked or next to be marked. So that for a while the Union Pacific was receiving only about half the ties that they paid for. I did not learn whether the Irishman got fired or …

So wonderful indeed was his skill in the saddle that he traveled with Buffalo Bill's wild west show around the world, and finally he married one of the women riders of that aggregation. Lowe bought the place from Daters, and Hi Kelly once owned it. In 1888 it was a sort of a road house, where mighty poor meals were served for "six bits a throw." About 1900 it was bought by the …

Chamberlain closed out his interests and went to Douglas, from which city he was elected to the State Senate. He made a lot of money in the sheep business later. Doty held to the place for twelve years, when he sold to the Two-Bar people. Both Doty and Chamberlain are now with the Final Roundup over the Great Divide. The ranch is still owned by the Clays, and Curtis Templeton …

Around cow outfits, at night he loved to get strung out with his yarns, and get the "boys agoing." But the foreman always settled matters when his stories reached too far into the night. He would roll up in his "tarp," and if "Henry County" failed to take the hint, he would say : "Ark, you better catch a horse, and go on night herd tonight," and that meant an order, and it …

It was twenty-four by twenty-six feet inside, and the walls were thirty inches thick. It had three windows and a door. The door was made of plank, and the windows had shutters made of plank, which were hauled from a sawmill located in the Laramie mountains. This was the same mill that supplied much of the material used in the buildings at Fort Laramie. The floor and roof board …

It must have been abandoned about 1874, for Lancaster resigned and returned to the eastern part of the state, and went into the drug business. The house faced the southeast. In addition Mr. Sparks had about two acres, enclosed by a sod wall, three feet thick and five feet high. He also fenced a meadow of about one hundred and sixty acres, and some of the posts are still in use …

Frank McCreary of Scottsbluff,) who was then foreman at the Circle Block, and who recently died in Arizona, was riding "Old Fox," as the horse was called, when he came upon a bunch of wild horses. Old Fox so quickly overtook them that Robb did not have time to get his lariat into action. He seized one of them by the tail, and threw her off her step, and so delayed her …

Sturgis & Lane organized the Union Cattle Company, and Mr. Goodell was one of the big stockholders. The Bridle-Bit brand was theirs, and it was one familiar to the early grangers. This company is credited with hiring men from the Union Pacific shops at Cheyenne, and the women of the wild district, as well as cowboys, to file upon lands. Be that as it may, it secured a vast …

When the Scotchmen were becoming excited over the bonanza ranching in the high plains region, the Oelrich brothers, Harry and Charlie, came out from Cheyenne, and acquired a small holding of hay meadows, on the north side of the river in the vicinity of the present site of Morrill. This they fenced like the Sturgis & Lane hay meadows were fenced, with native cedar and pitch …

The Union Company, had a large number of filings made by men who were to work in the railroad shops, and by women, some of whom it was said had not the best of reputations. Some of these claims were desert claims where a pretence of developing irrigation was possible, and there are yet the marks of the old ditches that run up and down the hills along Horse Creek, in Wyoming …

Hank Ingraham had just been up to Fort Laramie, and bought a team of condemned United States horses, and had paid thirty-seven dollars for the team. This was about 1883. Charlie Oelrich ran across Hank on his way down the river to the feeding meadows in Mitchell Valley, and wanted to buy the team. Hank said : "They will cost you four hundred dollars." Charlie never hesitated …

On arriving there, those of the party were in such haste for the cool, inviting waters of the pool, that they forgot to tie the team, with the result that in a smashup that followed, one of the horses was killed. The other was ridden back to the ranch for a mate, while the crowd had abundance of time for bathing, and waiting for the return. Charlie's wife was an actress, of …

James Gordon Bennett took care of him after that, and for eight years before his death he was utterly helpless. One of the old Two-Bar men tells me that Harry, who though not married, was infatuated with a theatrical celebrity, who frequently visited the Oelrich ranches ; namely, Lillian Langtry, well known on the stage a generation ago. HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA AROUND CAMP …

Yet old as he was to the ways of the round-up, he, in an unguarded instant, let a wild horse at the end of his lariat catch the horse he was riding with the taut rope in a sidewise position. Anyone versed in the work of the range knows that to meet the jerk at the end of a rope it to have the horse end to, with the front end towards the careening animal. Chris' horse went …

But the news of the accident to Streeks filtered through the Goshen Holes, across Horse creek and down Pumpkin creek and finally reached Streeks's wife, who lived then just southeasl of the present Airdale ranch. Mrs. Streeks and her sister took a wagon and started to run down the rumor and tryto find Chris, for betime the story had reached them it was merely a rumor that he …

In the Scotts Bluff mountains, about ten miles southwest of Gering, they passed the home of a "nestor," or one of the "sooners" that have exhausted all their land rights, yet move ahead of settlement, squatting on tracts which they think will become desirable, and for which they will be able to obtain a few dollars for a "squatter's right." The woman, a large lady of Irish …

Are there golden streets, or is it the winding trail over beautiful fresh prairies that are like these were when the west was new? HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA One time in the early eighties, when Doc. Middleton "went wrong," (or shall we say that what he did was wrong?) Chris Streeks was riding in the usual duties of the range, when a tall spare man with keen eyes, came …

Middleton sent it," he said. When Streeks opened the package he found it contained one hundred dollars. That was a big price for the common horse of the range in those days. That is the way Doc. Middleton did things. And while he was an outlaw according to the statutes, there were extenuating circumstances, and the civilians of the west generally assisted him in his efforts to …

Sidney, Antelopeville (now Kimball) and Cheyenne were the regular cowtowns. Those were the halcyon days of the cow business. Big companies were being organized, and absorbing the ranches, and buying -- book value -- 'the local institutions. Post sold out to the Arbuckles, and several were absorbed by the big Bay State Land and Cattle Company. The Swans had Scotch millions …

When Arbuckle broke Post and his Cheyenne bank, it took the saving of nearly all the boys, that were at all frugal, for Post's bank was their depository. Yet few of them would blame Post. They were firm in the faith that his grand-stand play in Cheyenne, when his wife allowed him to sell her jewels, and the house over her head, to put the proceeds into the assets of the wreck …

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 …

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 …

A few held their herds together and went to other ranges, one or two other, particularly the Bay State and the Union Land & Cattle Company, acquired landed possessions that eventually pulled them out of the hole. The Ogallala was one that went into Wyoming with the herds, and Paxton pulled that company through in due time, and good shape. FREWEN'S RANCH EXPERIENCE -- HANGING …

As John Bratt says : "from 1867 the business kept changing. From the date that they drove their first herds from Texas to the Laramie Plains, for ten years, ten thousand head was considered a large herd. But in the next ten years, or until about 1886, twenty thousand was not considered a big herd, and some book accounts ran as high as forty thousand." It was in the early …

When the ten days' storm in the spring of 1886 had passed and when every creek and gully was full of dead cattle, when about the only live cattle in this section were found in protected places, there was little left of the Frewen holdings. The brothers have returned to London, long ago, and when someone asks them about going into ranch business, they whisper low: "Don't say …

It was in the early seventies, before J. S. Robb had gone back to Texas, that he was with an outfit that had just turned loose a big Texas herd at Creighton's Horse Creek ranch. The boys were away, in pairs, looking after and getting the cattle acquainted with their new range, when one of the queer spells seized Billy Nurse, the cook. This one was, unfortunately, a drug eater …

named Parks were returning, when a shot came out of the bushes, and the bullet whistled uncomfortably near. They rushed to the cover of brush but found no one. That night, while Parks was writing a letter in the old soddy, the cook shot him in the back, killing him instantly. Before he could get any further action with his six-shooter, the boys overpowered him. He was taken to …

There was no pentitentiary in Wyoming at the time, and the custom of taking care of prisoners of this character, was to take them to the prisons of other states, the state of Wyoming paying the state which furnished the accommodation a stipulated fee. The cook, Nurse, was accordingly taken to Joliet, Illinois, to serve his sentence. For some cause or other he obtained a …

S. had been south, and was returning by train over the Union Pacific out of Denver to the north. At that time gambling for mild stakes was but a frivolous pastime and was permitted on the trains running through the western country. Robb and a number of others were passing away the time with a little game of "twenty-five cent limit," and were having considerable amusement. Some …

Robb got to mulling the incident over in his mind, and decided that when his attention was directed outside the car window, there had been some juggling of the cards. "My friend," he said, and there was that tense thrill and the quiet that always followed certain tones of expression in the west, "My friend, I guess I will have to trouble you to hand me back that money. I am …

Middleton became an outlaw that made his a name that ranks high in importance. He knew the location of more good horses than any man on the western ranee, and he could take them from the South Platte to Cheyenne river in less time than any other. The organization of the cattlemen's association of Wyoming and western Nebraska, was brought into active use in bringing him to …

I looked out at the pine ridges that are visible to the south from this highway, and thought of the old days when Middleton knew every canyon and gulch, and where were the best hiding places for horses. In my blithesome way, I suggested that if the auto played out Middleton might know where there were horses to pull us in. In some way, I received an impression that the …

Along the line of the Union Pacific, between the towns of Lewellen and Keystone, there is a sand hill ridge that runs down from its associates almost to the railroad track. This section up which it is situated contains just about enough level ground for the location of a house and ranch buildings, and the buildings are there. This was once the humble home of Perry Yeast, who …

He cleared up several thousand dollars in the deal. When the Burlington built through the Sand Hills he contracted to furnish meat for the construction gangs and he did furnish it in such quantity that Bratt & Company thought he could not be supplying it entirely from his own herd. An investigation and search of the Sand Hills disclosed a secluded spot with the fragments of …

The section homestead act went into effect, and he was one of the men who saw its possibilities under the older lax methods of the land office department, and a number of men who settled around him were supposed to have contracts to deed him the land after acquiring title. He was indicted on the federal charge of conspiracy to defraud the government, at the same time that …

There came a time when all of this changed in western Nebraska, and also a time when courts reached out. There was a judge who wrote the law on the sunset sky, who by sheer courage compelled the wild west to lift its sombrero to the majesty of legal jurisprudence. Courage alone would not have done it, but integrity and justice took the place of mouldy statute, and silly …

The judge had a name as a dispenser of justice that struck terror to evil doers, and echoed all the way from Texas to Assiniboine, for the nomads that went north in the spring and south in the fall, knew that Judge Gaslin was in western Nebraska. One stormy night, the men of the trail were in the old hotel that used to stand just opposite the depot at Ogallala, and as the …

Finally one of the originators of the quarrel stepped sheepishly forward and extended his hand to the judge, mumbling something about being a little excited over a political argument. "Yes," said the judge in answer, "and if I had not arrived just as I did, I suppose I would have had you up before me for trial the next time I came up this way." "No, God forbid!" exclaimed the …

It seemed to the jury there was some ground for leniency, so they brought in a verdict of guilty, with recommendation of a light sentence. The judge took the recommendation as a transgression of the prerogatives of the court, and said: "Alright, we will say -- well, fifteen years." The jury was angry, and so fast as cases come up they returned verdicts of not guilty. At the …

Two men named McCauley and Clarke had been incarcerated in Cheyenne county jail on a felonious charge, and big Tom Ryan appeared before the judge at Sidney to arrange for their release. The court was sitting, and as usual, hitting the evil-doers hard, and Clarke and McCauley were getting their share of the roast. To assail one's friend is to offend the man, and Tom Ryan took …

In the next few days, he rode past the ranch two or three times, but each time he "played his hunch" to ride on. One day, Ryan met a friend of Fowler's, and told him to tell Sam, that he had seen him ride by the ranch several time lately, and. to say to him, that he (Ryan) knew what Sam was looking for. "You also tell Sam that he played his hunch right each time when he failed …

Newman established the largest ranch on the Niobrara or Running Water, and it was the first in point of time, in this part of the sand hills. It was there as early as 1878 or earlier. He ran as high as twenty thousand cattle at one time, and ranged them all the way from Hat Creek, and over the Wyoming and Dakota lines to the northwest, as far east as Valentine. The ranch was …

Newman ranch was followed by Newman & Hunter's, and later Newman retired. Hunter & Evans had a ranch at the confluence of Pine Creek with the Niobrara in the western part of Sheridan county as early as 1878. Among the many brands well known in this territory at an early date were Z-Bar and Lazy-33. When the granger came, the big herd was driven to Milk River, Montana, where …

They were accused of attempting to follow the precedent established by the Bay State, the Bridle Bit, Sturgis & Lane, and others, and sought to acquire title to a vast acreage of government land, through the then prevailing loose land office methods. L. C. Baldwin, of Council Bluffs, who had several thousand cattle ranging on the Lodgepole in the vicinity of Pine Bluffs, and …

Some parts of the west were seared as by a prairie fire, and finally came President Taft and Secretary Ballinger. Pinchot sunk into the oblivion that his ill-advised activities deserved. When a man attempts to climb over the wrecks of others he has ruined, natural laws of compensation will prevail. HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA The Standard Cattle Company, with headquarters at …

One of the rules adopted by this organization was that all unbranded cattle found by the roundups were to be taken to the final rendezvous, and there sold to the highest bidder, the proceeds to go into the treasury of the association. This was obviously about the only thing they could do, but should the roundup catch the lone cow of an early settler, if she chanced to be …

Many cows raised "twins" and on one occasion, a steer was credited with raising seventeen calves in one season. The smaller ranches were as busy as the grangers in this work. That is they did as much or more of it, but they held aloof from any entangling alliances. The cowboys learned the trick, and located unbranded stuff in the herds driven ahead with the roundup. At some …

On one occasion, I was coming through the Wildcat Range on my way to Gering, and stopped at a settler's place near Rifle Gap, for the night. The man of the place and I were talking when a roly poly boy came to his father's knee. The father fondly patted his round form, and said : "My son, what makes you so fat?" The little imp looked up and grinned as he answered: "Bay State …

They had about two hundred and fifty head of cattle, and forty or fifty horses. They put up several hundred tons of hay along the river bottoms, and they milked from thirty to fifty cows. Mr. Evans was in the County Clerk's office at North Platte, and Mr. and Mrs. Hall, whose only daughter was Mrs. Evans, lived upon the ranch. They made butter, and kept several hundred hens …

"Grandpa" and "Grandma" Hall are gone to their rewards, both being devout Methodists. John E. Evans, his wife, and son Everett, are still at North Platte, and John E., as usual, is doing official duty. He served in the legislature at the time Millard and Diederick were elected United States senators, after the all winter deadlock. It will be remembered that D. E. Thompson of …

Ritner, now living at North Platte, (1919) for her faith in the dairy of western Nebraska. This resource is yet in its infancy, but thirty-five years ago, Mrs. Helen Randall, widow of Ex-Governor Randall, now Mrs. Ritner, had about five hundred head of cattle, principally dairy stock, upon her ranch, on the north side of the North Platte river, between White Horse creek and …

Burke Brothers, with the flat iron brand on three or four thousand cattle between North Platte and Fort McPherson, were not in the Panhandle ; nor was C. W. Wright, now to be found about the Denver Club, who ranged his two or three thousand cattle branded D D on Brigadier creek, Bad Water and Poison Spider in Wyoming. All of these had scattering cattle in western Nebraska and …

What the Bay State accomplished at Kimball and north, and Tom Swan in Wyoming, the Ogallala company did at Alkali, now Paxton, Nebraska, and north and west. This company put ten or twelve thousand cattle into the business at the home ranch, and then bought the Shiedley outfit with its many thousands, Sheedy's Seven U, Boyd Brothers' herd. Sharp's ranch, the Tusler cattle, and …

Sidney was the accessible trading point, and there was more or less social life there on account of the fort. It was determined that a ranch nearer Sidney would also have its advantages, especially at shipping time. Cattle could be moved to the railroad and allowed to rest on the fine pasturage and hay meadows, then shipped with little or no shrinkage. The best available spot …

After the building of the Union Pacific, for many years there were parties of emigrants crossing the continental divide in the old way. There were parties of different nationalities occasionally, and one time forty or fifty Turks were making their way up the Lodgepole valley. True to their faith and custom, they wore the picturesque costumes of their native land. As they …

Down at Big Springs, besides the Shiedley ranch, were the Walraths, whose ranch dates back to 1873. The Walrath ranch was owned by A. J. and Baggage Walrath. Their herd was a comparatively small one at the time, but it later grew to large proportions. Baggage Walrath has gone on, to the Final Roundup, but A. J. still lives in the land where he has seen the transition. The …

Sparks and Timmon, who had ten or twelve thousand cattle on the ranges of Gooseberry creek, Nevada, maintained offices at Cheyenne, and part of the time had cattle on the same range occupied by Watts, in Nebraska, on the Running water and Snake creek. Their herds used to mingle in the early days, but the territory was later left to others. The Hart ranch had occupied the Snake …

The larger concerns had visions as broad as the western horizon, but the smaller men had a more correct interpretation of the trend of the times. Westward the tide of empire was wending and it soon moved into western Nebraska, driving before it the Big Stampede. The men of lesser means mingled with the grangers, and stuck to the land. Many are still to be found, grizzled …

A few miles down the Laramie river from Creighton's ranch on the Laramie Plains, John Bratt, in 1867, built the second ranch located in Wyoming. This location antedated the activities of Bratt at North Platte, but a short time. The Circle Arrow ranch, which is on Lodgepole creek a few miles east of Kimball, was established by J. J. Mcintosh in 1872. Griffin & Harken bought it …

Peters had been up to the tie camps at Medicine Bow, and his muscles wrere hard from hewing ties, but "Big Nose George" was totally unused to work. He was a gambler of some repute, but had had a streak of bad luck, which his skill could not overcome. Being on his uppers, he had to do something, and fell in with Peters on this job. His lily white hands were a mass of cruel …

Simpson came out from Boston, and organized the Bay State Land & Cattle Company in 1882, and he was its president. He managed to get Evans interested, and Evans held the startegic real estate of the J. H. D. Simpson bought it and then he undertook to make terms with O. W. Mead, the senior and remaining principal stockholder of the old concern. Mead refused to capitulate. He …

The Bay State Company bought the Circle Arrow in the Spring of 1883, and Creighton sold to the Company in the autumn of the same year his entire ranch possessions, including Pumpkin creek, Horse creek, and Laramie Plains ranches. In 1883, the Bay State Company branded all their cattle with the "Circle Block," which correctly speaking is only a "quarter circleblock," and that …

These Indians were perfectly harmless, but McShane did not know it. They had been visiting somewhere down south and were returning to the Red Cloud Agency on White river. They could not resist the temptation to throw a little scare into people as they went along. At the Circle Arrow they shot off their rifles and left some stones lying in peculiar positions, which old Bill …

There was Muldoon, the best cook that ever dipped a pail of water from the creek. It is said that once one of the boys of Muldoon's outfit had an aversion to rice. Rice was a staple food on the roundup, and Muldoon told him that he just had to eat it. He came in hungry one night, and the dinner had a pudding that met nicely his taste. He said it was fine and asked of what it …

And in addition to McShane, and Muldoon HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA and Raley, the writer officiated over the pots apples, dried currants, rice, and occasionally the and kettles once, and cannot find the heart to luxury of prunes. These with coffee. A cook say that it was not a first-class profession, es- who cannot satisfy a hungry man with variapecially where dominated by a …

The spring of 1884 witnessed further changes in the Bay State developments. Three quarters of a million dollars had already been spent in acquiring Creighton's and other ranch possessions. Now the company reached over to the North River and bought out the Coads, paying therefor seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The Bay State people ran over fifteen thousand cattle by …

John Snodgrass had built a large dwelling on the north side of the railroad track, east of the Pumpkin Creek Trail at Antelopeville. This he made his headquarters. Kimball, who was one of the big eastern investors, spent a great deal of his time at the different ranches of the company, getting in touch with the business first hand. It was in his honor that the Union Pacific …

She often had visiting with her, one of the women of the ranch proprietors, or what she really enjoyed more, were the visits of the girls that were just then beginning to come into the valley. In the summer of 1S87. Mary Rose, whose father was a soldier in Sidney and whose mother was dead, came out to visit the Livingstons, who had cared for her during her childhood, and were …

Robb had one of the best memories, and if one could get him started on reminiscence, he could string out interesting stories by the hour, and his experiences would fill a book. Before Runey Campbell knew that Robb was a foreman, he and J. S. fell in together, and were traveling up the Horse creek country going to the J. H. D. ranch. At this branch there was a queer old pair of …

She kept on running still thinking he was in pursuit. As she rounded a corner of the house she met him face to face and it was too late to escape. That time he caught her and gave her the whipping which he thought she needed. Perhaps it was from that event, came the old saying: "I whipped a woman once fifty years old, and I believe T could have whipped her had she been a …

He told them that he had been boss for the day. It appeared that the bully had begun to work off his ugly feelings, by abusing the kid, finally daring him to fight, and offering to let him tie his hands behind him, and start in. The kid did tie his hands securely, and then jumping on his horse he threw a rope over the cook, and dragged him into the creek, and up and down the …

As they approached they observed the big tent was lying flat, and there was no one stirring about it. They dismounted and proceeded to put the tent up, when they discovered under it a number of men who were asleep. It occurred that the wind had blown it down, and the boys finding by calling to one another that no one was hurt, and being sleepy and perfectly' dry and …

The trail of the wicked are broad, and easy to follow even out on the wide prairies. One of these "sky pilots" landed at Pine Bluffs, and the boys rigged up the hall over the saloon, which generally served as a place to dance, and the saloon was closed for an hour or two that all might hear the sermon. After the missionary had told the old, old story, and sang a few hymns …

In the night he drove up in front of the Lynch hotel, and observing a light in the office called to men there to come out and help him "unload a dead man." During the journey, the preacher had slumped over against the driver, and he believed him to be in a drunken stupor. He called him a dead man in attempted jocular manner, but imagine his surprise, when they came out and …

PAXTON'S OGALLALA COMPANY -- HALL'S FAMOUS DRIVE TO PINE RIDGE DICK BEAN'S DEATH -- GUN MEN AND FRANTZ'S COMICAL EPISODE The organization of the Ogallala Cattle Company, was contemporaneous with that of the Two-Bar and the Bay State, and while Alex Swan was buying the big herds of Wyoming, and G. W. Simpson, at Antelopeville, W. A. Paxton was buying those from Sidney to …

Mr. Sheedy's books showed that he had thirty-five thousand cattle, but the Ogallala boys had been over the range and had found large quantities of dead cattle of that brand. 'Gene Hall estimated the survivors at not to exceed one-half of the book number. Paxton made two offers on this basis : one at twenty-eight dollars per HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA head on actual count, or …

To prevent any such complication, he sent two other outfits of equal dimension, under Radcliffe and Bean, to assist. On the first day of August, 1884, six thousand cattle were rounded up out of Nine Mile canyon, now in Scotts Bluff county, and delivered at the Seven-U ranch. The thirty men had them about half branded with the receiving brand, when four thousand more were …

It was a great stroke of business for the Ogallala, for big dividends of the company followed the shipment of beef cattle the three following years, and these beef cattle came very largely from the Bosler herds. Ten thousand beeves were shipped in the autumn of 1885, practically all Bosler cattle, and the company paid seventeen per cent, dividends. The following year ten …

The granger settlements made it advisable to move the remainder of the cattle to Wyoming, and the home ranch was to be on Little Wind river, about sixty-five miles northwest of Fort Fetterman, or Douglas. Paxton had bought the Boyd herds which were on the lower North river, and in all he had about probably fifteen thousand head to move, besides several thousand calves. One of …

Irvine had ideas of economy that meant reduced wages, and one was to cut 'Gene's salary from one hundred dollars to seventy-five dollars per month. 'Gene said "nothing doing," so he remained out the . season at the old figure, for Paxton had told Irvine that he had better keep him at that. Knowing that Hall intended to quit at the end of the season, he thought he would give …

To avoid this loss, after the cattle were bedded down and the boys had turned in, Hall would go back along the trail three or four hundred yards, and tethering his broncho to his wrist, would crawl into his tarpaulin. The lowing of a straying steer never failed to awaken him, and he would rise and turn it back into the herd. Eight or ten other steers were picked up along the …

I once witnessed a meeting between the Cow-premier and Roosevelt. Paxton was timid, and appeared ill at ease in the presence of Theodore, evidently looking up at the position of President, and had a consciousness of his own inferior position. Yet, I am sure there are others who join with me in the thought that in many ways Paxton was the greater of the two. And that takes …

He held out from September until the following July, when a visit to Ogallala, and the meeting of some old friends, ended in a spree of unusual dimension'. John was a brother of Al Stringfellow, who was with the late Bay State round-ups in western Nebraska. Al was the fellow who, with Bill Kelly, at the wedding of Ed. A. Boots and "Dude" Wright on Pumkin creek, were found in …

Stepp had charge of a bunch of cattle that had to cross the river a little below Camp Clarke and Bean was to assist. The river was high, and the cattle turned down stream when they reached the deep water, and commenced to swim. Bean was looking after the lead cattle to keep them from turning about, and start a mid-stream mill -- or circling movement. Stepp became excited, and …

They were turned easily, and quietly, and swam straight for the other shore, as desired. Stepp realized that he had made a bad break, and that night and for several days, he tried to show favoritism for Bean, but he was too dignified to acknowledge that he had broken HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA cow-camp ethics, or to apologize. Not long thereafter, Bean quit the outfit and …

Bean went over to the store, and soon returned with a straw hat, and dragging a new linen duster by the sleeve. They insisted that 'Gene join them in the celebration, but Hall said the country was settling up with civilized folks, and that he did not aprove of the "rough stuff" they were pulling off, and that he told them as much. Which little lecture on proper etiquette was …

Hunter & Evans were not so vigilant as Shiedleys, Daters, Boslers, Coad, Swan, Creighton, Paxton and many others, in keeping out the undesirables, but all had their troubles. Floyd Grey was a "Bosler terrier" one season, but was let out at its close, as many another was let out for the same reason. Grey was a very angry man, and said if he ever met George Bosler, he would …

One day he arrived off the range at Kimball, and stopped at Ham Lilly's front street livery barn, which then stood next to the alley at the rear of the present Wheatgrowers hotel. Between the barn and the corner west, was Gassman's grocery store, and the few who could play horns, had gathered out in front of the store, practicing as "the Kimball Cornet Band." Johnny stepped …

A. HALL AND ROBERT GRAHAM'S OLD TIME RANCH -- OGALLALA MEN AND EVENTS -- INDIANS GET SOUTHERS -- BARGAIN SALES OF RANCH LOCATIONS -- HARPER'S DEAL Gene Hall, the foreman of the Blue River ranch, was but a kid of eighteen years, when he "drove drags," up the Texas trail in 1878. The older men of the outfit made him "eat dust," which consisted of picking up the stragglers in the …

In the spring of seventy-nine, Hall returned and arrived in Sidney "broke flat." He stopped at the "Miner's Hotel," which was in the southwest corner of the block in which you will now find Hon. W. P. Miles, and the Hons. Joseph and Robert Oberfelder. three of the old timers of Sidney. In the days of the middle eighties this block contained the emporium of Mike Tobin and Harry …

After the episode, Graham quit the range and took up his old trade of blacksmithing at Ogallala, waiting for the opportunity to pay them back in their own coin. He wanted to get the four together and "clean the whole outfit" at one time. Once he had the affair almost in hand, when Frank King, who recently died at Broadwater, and who was then an officer of the law at Ogallala …

Years afterwards, the story comes out, of a meeting between Bill Nagles. of Hunter & Evans' outfit, and E. A. Hall of the Ogallala, which took place on Box Butte creek, north of Alliance. Nagles was in charge of a bunch of horses when they met. "Get down, 'Gene, and let's visit," says Bill. And they did, sitting cross-legged on the prairie for a long time. Finally the …

This unwritten law "to get the man who gets your friend" is responsible for one ol the graves at the Seven-U. When Powers Brothers were still at the helm, in 1879. two Texans drew their pay and started for their old range, and both had considerable money. The mother of one of them lived there. A week or two later one of them returned and said that he had changed his mind, and …

One day the Texan who had returned, said he guessed he would go to Camp Clarke, and the young man said : "I guess I'll ride along." Some of those about the old ranch said they felt that vibrant tenseness of the old west, that presaged "an event." But it was not the policy of one man to interfere with the "affairs" of another. The young man came back alone, and they buried the …

He paid six hundred dollars for the land, buildings and equipment at the place. He was sheriff of Keith county at one time. Tom Fanning, who lives near Mitchell, came from Saint Louis in 1877, and went to work for Paxton & Wier on the Keystone ranch, which was on Clearwater creek.' Tom Lawrence was foreman. He was afterwards with Wier at Ogallala. when Wier was range manager …

The latter still lives at Ogallala, and when the herd was taken to the northwest, Jacket parted with his interests, and located a ranch in Spring Canyon, just south of Lewellen, where I believe he still lives (1919). Jacket's men captured a pair of young buffalo over on the Stinking water, in the south part of Keith county, now Perkins county, in 1885. He kept them with his …

The several locations of ranches that had come into the possession of the Ogallala concern were sold on about the same basis of that sold to Frank King -- a few dollars each. The values of such places were not considered of much consequence. Watering places had been early appropriated, and usually some cow puncher would make a government filing, and after making final proof …

There is Remsburg's ranch at Pussy Springs, Lisco ranch on Cedar and Rush creeks, Beerline's ranch HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA at the mouth of Brown creek ; Wagner's ranch, a little below it on the river; Slater's ranch in the Tar valley section ; Richardson's ranch, south of Horse Lake ; and there is J. W. Rodger's ranch, Hibler's ranch, Peer's ranch, Hubble's ranch, Smith's …

Fowler asked $1,400.00 for the whole acreage, which Harper thought was too much. But Fowler sold it to an Iowa man by the name of Battleax, I believe, and he immediately offered to sell it for $2,200.00. Harper again refused to buy it, and Battleax sold to Bickel, another Iowa man. Bickel again tilted the price, and Harper, as he relates it, says : "I was afraid to take any …

At the end of three years, all the increase of the herd was to belong to Redington and the land to belong to Harper; and Harper was to make up the calf shortage each year, so that Redington was to have the full number of calves to start. Redington made some money by the transaction and Harper made more in the long run. About five years ago he sold the land to Neihus brothers …

There was a gradual speeding up of the teams, in spite of the efforts of the cavalry to hold them down. By the time they reached the vicinity of Chadron they were going at a swift trot. In the meantime the drivers, who had been clad in overalls or jeans for the first time had become uncomfortable from the heat, and they had cut out the seats of their pantaloons to add to their …

The third route was more of importance to western Nebraska. It was from Sidney, north, and was known as the Sidney trail. Its disadvantages were that during the early part of the season, the North Platte river was high and dangerous to cross. Fort Laramie had a cantilever bridge, which is still in use (1919), and which had been hauled by wagons from Fort Leavenworth more than …

Camp Clarke became the most important place of crossing the North Platte river, and it was on the center line of the Texas Trail. In the days of the cowmen it became a place of tremendous significance. According to stories of the early days the bridge also served other purposes than for crossing the river. A white desperado was found hanging there one time, with a placard …

Five hundred cowpunchers of the real sort gathered here in the early eighties, and they made a show of such marvelous dexterity and horsemanship that the trained athletes of Buffalo Bill's and Frontier Aggregations seem like fading images on the sky-line of a glorious past. Camp Clark was situated on the south bank of the river, and the fort and a trading post, afterwards …

Just then he noticed "Pete," he said mournfully, " 'taint because 1 don't like it. but I just can't keep it," -- and he justified the statement. Then this man who had ridden a runaway "loco" over a sixty foot bluff, killing the horse, he himself coming up unhurt ; and who had ridden before stampedes on stormy nights, perhaps felt closer to the summit of the Great Divide than …

It seemed to have the justification of being the effect of a cause. For instance, the picturesque name of Tom Horn's outlaw horse was "Damned-if-I-Do,"' which obtained from its peculiar characteristic never to carry a rider across a stream. Horn's experience was none different from others. He was thrown in midstream and came near drowning. Perhaps, in view of his later …

The Mexican is not a daredevil fatalist like the American cowpuncher, and the hazard of crossing the river was "a plenty" to inspire him to indolence and waiting. The foreman was J. S. Robb, well-known as a good cowman, who was worried by the delay. He finally obtained the assistance of Johnny Peters and Runey Campbell. The former "went the Long-long Trail" a number of years …

On horse between the waves, the shores were hidden by walls of water, and then a ten foot wave would slap horse and rider in the face and roll over their heads, like a comber on the beach. The flaring cow-ponies met the succeeding waves head end. In the troughs between two waves their hoofs braced in the yielding sand, their ears back, and the waves often lifted them backward …

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA THE FARQUERERS AND CROSS COUNTRY RIDING -- HUNTING GEESE ON HUGHES ISLAND -- FUN OF THE FRONTIER -- JIMMY MOORE'S LONG WALK About the time of the coming of the grangers, Farquerer Brothers arrived, and located in the canyons between Redington Gap and Chimney Rock. They were also picturesque Englishmen, like Geo. Laing. Henry Bradford who stayed at …

The others, with true western spirit, told him that they did not care for his money, but that they wanted his society. He said: "Alright, boys, if it is my intellect that you want, I am with you, but I am out of cash." These English boys used to keep good hounds and guns, and horses, and rode their English postage-stamp saddles straight up and many was the time that they rode …

a horse would strike a honey-comb place in the sand and go down, the rider taking a full dive into the water over the animal's head. The young geese would try to swim away from their pursuers, but when nearly overtaken they would dive, coming up hundreds of feet away, and then hunters and hounds would go after them again. It was great sport for the sportsmen, but a little hard …

1887 and 1888 witnessed the last round-ups in Nebraska, where I assisted in driving the Circle-Block cattle across the state line into Wyoming. In 1888 a considerable party of North river folks had gone to Sidney to make final proof on pre-emptions, crossing the river at Clarke's bridge. A number, including Jimmy Moore, (not the Pony Express rider,) were from Minatare. They …

After several visits into the inner sanctuary of the sod cabin, Jimmy startled his friends by emerging in the open, hugging the pony in his arms, and declaring himself the reincarnation of the Pony Express rider, and that in the hereafter he would carry the pony as a penance" for the pony's previous experience in carrying him. Only a part of this voluntary acceptance of Karmic …

His six guns, weighing several pounds, had been thoughtfully transferred to the wagon before starting. While Jimmy lacked a bit the night before in ability to stay by his friends, today he gave evidence of his splendid qualities. And for the twenty miles he followed the wagon at a maximum distance of about one hundred yards. When he ran the wagon rattled along a little faster …

Malloy, and others, who were at times almost within hailing distance, and plain in view for the greater part of the twenty miles. They had witnessed a splendid triumph of mind over matter. The obsession of Jimmy's intellect in the one determination to ride in the one particular wagon, and intense interest in the lines of conversation, obscured the slightest flash of reasoning …

In the turbulent years of the Overland Trail, Howard Stansbury wrote of the great dead forest of red cedar, fallen as if destroyed by a storm, and young pines were growing in the midst thereof. These pines had reached the proportions of sizeable house-logs when the pioneers of a generation ago availed themselves of the gift of nature, to build homes, barns, sheds, corrals, and …

And "with heart and fiddle still in tune," Campbell and his fine family reside happy in their rugged, comfortable bungalow, and surrounded by the broad fertile acres of alfalfa, which, like a carpet of green stretches away towards the hills and to the river. Runey Campbell, is a distant relative of Robert Campbell, who erected the first rude stockade on Jacques Laramie's Fork …

Jim Kinney, the veteran ranchman and attorney of Kimball county, lived in one, and in the other dwelt Will Gaws, the hunter and trapper, surrounded by his simple wants -- his traps, his guns, his few handy untensils, and the skins of animals slain. Campbell secured employment with the Circle-Arrow ranch, then operated by Mead, Evans & Company. Jim Shaw was foreman. Shaw and …

The game had proceeded with • the regular grind, without premonition of trouble. Shaw sat facing the bar, with Collins, the gambler, directly opposite. Collins, the bartender, came along and stood behind Collins the gambler, when the latter, with deliberation took his sombrero from his head, and with a downward sweep, extinguished the lamp. There followed a flash and report …

Akers, the veteran irrigator built near Collins (now Morrill) the famous "sod house that covered seven Akers," as the old settlers used to tell the tenderfeet. Wild horses were plentiful then, while blacktail deer and droves of antelope were common, and mountain sheep sported in the rocks of Scotts Bluff and Castle Rock. Campbell has always been direct in his dealings with his …

Mills and Joe Smith were the first to build houses on the north side of the river in the present limits of Scotts Bluff county. Mills started his first and Smith finished his the first. The first pump was driven by Wellington Clark on the place of Mr. Purdy, and while a man was on the way to the river to get some water to prime the pump, a cow was milked and the pump was …

PERRY BRAZIEL ARRIVES ON THE TEXAS TRAIL -- TRAILING CATTLE TUDITH BASIN -- SUNDERLING'S ELK-SKIN TROUSERS -- THE DRIVE TO PINE RIDGE -- TWO GIRLS OF THE PRAIRIE Along about 1879, Perry Braziel "met up" with "Shanghai" Pierce, at Coffeyville, Kansas, and from there to the North Platte valley was only a short drive according to old ways of thinking. Colonel Braziel said that …

There ought to be eight hundred or more old cows ready for the market. With a fifty percent loss, the proceeds from the ranches purchased would show up considerably less than anticipated from an examination of the books. Sixteen hundred marketable cattle, which would more than pay the original investment, were cut down to eight hundred by actual roundup count. It was better …

George W. had one crowning virtue that gave him the respect of all his associates, although some of the boy> treated him lightly. He was loyal and indulgent to his mothers and sisters. The mother was one who aspired for a more aristocratic life than their humble circumstances would permit, and had a considerable degree of intellectual attainment, and Grace and Bessie shared in …

It was sometime later, before George W. learned of the place where he had secured them, but as he really needed them, and had experienced no ill effects from their use, he continued to wear them. They were of excellent material for they lasted him three or four years. The last heard of George Sunderling he was sheep inspector for the state of Montana, and wore a Prince Albert …

In the spring of 1888, Colonel Braziel trailed his last large herd, which were fat cattle from Mitchell valley, and were taken to the Pine Ridge, or Spotted Tail agency. They were routed down the river through the granger settlements to Camp Clarke, and from there through the sandhills into Sheridan county. After that year the roundup ceased to be an institution of great …

In 1885 and 1886 the grangers came up the North river in long caravans. Among the earliest to arrive were the Rayburns, who settled in Horseshoe Bend, and the Ashfords, who located on Pumpkin creek near Wildcat mountain. Ida Rayburn and Gertrude Ashford were about the first eastern young ladies to arrive, and they became great chums, often visiting one another. That is how I …

"The wild goose haunts on the willowed isles, And mad, mad rides for a dozen miles.' These were elements that diverted analytic minds. They fell in love with the prairie and the mountains, and we were entities thereof, which was our good fortune. Signal Buttes stand sentinels above the broad irrigated acres of Colonel Braziel and family, in the west edge of Scotts Bluff …

But a branch trail used by ranchmen and early travellers, left the Black Hills Road sixteen miles northwest of Sidney, at what was known as the "Water Holes." These holes are located about six or seven miles south and the same distance west of the present site of Dalton. This was the branch generally used by early grangers, and there 'was a drive of about twenty miles to …

Most people have been very considerate, and have refrained from shooting them, but those on the islands west of Scottsbluff were nearly exterminated by the Japanese before they knew what value local people place upon the cheerful "Bob Whites." Laing was one of the best of fellows, ordinarily, but he would go to Sidney frequently, and drink was about the easiest thing …

A number of dead skunks and jack rabbits were removed, and the wells thoroughly cleaned. Just as they were finishing the work Sim Laing arrived from Sidney with "plenty on board." He also had picked up an old human derelict at Sidney, in an impulse of sentiment, and was taking him out to the ranch. Laing swung into the Water Holes with a whoop, drove his mustangs across the …

"Old man," said Laing, penitently to his derelict friend, "I am used to this kind of a thing, but I am sorry if I hurt you." The Water Holes, at that time, had a roadhouse on the slope north of the depression, and it was run by Wheeler & Son. Ordinarily the grangers would take along their "grub," but occasionally they would drop in for meals. There were unsophisticated …

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA sort of a person, and it is probable that he kicked or struck at the dog, before it attacked him. Wheeler, however, started a suit for damages, but it was never finished. Just below Laing's ranch on "Lorren*s" Fork. about half way to the ranch of Adams & Redington, Sam Fowler, well known in the Democratic politics of old Cheyenne county, had his …

Situated about two miles up the Platte river from Bridgeport, on the south side of the river, is a cottonwood grove. It was once the ranch of George Laing, a young Englishman who came out here for the love of adventure, and the alluring profits in raising cattle. His ranch cannot be classed as one of the early locations, but it was ahead of the grangers, and that puts it back …

George told him that the "blawsted 'awgs are increasing so fawst that they are about to run us off the place, and if you will come down and get them, you can 'ave a pair." Laing was then a candidate for sheriff, and it is possible that his generous feelings were partly inspired by that good brotherhood spirit that gets into a man's blood when he is running for office. Laing …

Out of the canyon there scurried in all directions wild animals that had been down to drink. There were wild horses, deer and antelope. Being Grangers, the Ashfords wanted pigs as well as cattle, and there were none. Then it occurred to Mrs. Streeks, (also a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Nelson Ashford) that Laing had told them of his hogs. It was a long ways to Laing's ranch, the …

At first they stopped and killed them, but there were so many, after they had killed fourteen or fifteen, they gave up the work of extermination, and passed a great many, which rattled saucily at them. Laing had many of the charming characteristics of his native land, his accent was delightful and perfect, and he was a good entertainer. He fixed up a crate, and loaded the two …

While the mothers of a number of sleeping infants were dancing, the boys changed the wraps which the babies wore and changed their positions, to the end that when the dance broke up, most of the parents started home with the wrong baby. As the discoveries were not made until the parents were at home, in some cases twenty miles from the scene, it took considerable time to …

This sometimes runs so literally true that one thinks the writer thereof had lived long years. Take the story of the family of Astors, for illustration. In 1812 and 1813 Robert Stuart and his party of Astorians wintered a little north of Scottsbluff. and since then four generations of the Astors have had some calling back to the land of western Nebraska and eastern Wyoming …

The Arbuckles made money, and contracted the ranch fever. They came to Cheyenne, and bought the A. M. Post horse ranch on "Pole" creek, sixteen miles north of that city. They built a large two story ranch house, with modern conveniences on each floor, and otherwise improved the place to make it coincide with their views of what a ranch should be ; and they had saddles and …

He made money by a number of transactions, and then they advised the big plunge as a rare opportunity. It broke him and his Cheyenne Bank, and with it went the savings of the frugal cowpunchers. William A. Force was put in charge of the ranch of Pole creek, and among the young fellows who went to work for him was Fred Wolt, for many years a well known resident and business man …

He, the grandson of John Jacob Astor the first, went down on the Titanic a few years ago, when that great vessel sank in the Atlantic on its maiden trip, and but for the romance of the high plains here related, Madeline Force would never have been born, and he would likely not have been on the fatal trip. The horses from Arbuckle's ranch often were brought to the "North River" …

This was located in the valley of the Rawhide, and when the Burlington built the North River branch, they named a town near his several thousand acres of fine alluvial land in honor of his genius and enterprise. He bonded the whole acreage with several thousand additional under the Carey Act and built an irrigation system. About this time the government irrigation act was …