The Ranch on the Beaver
by Andy Adams
The Value Of Friendship
The first week almost neared its end before practical matters were reached. There was much in common between the boys and their host. Mr. Lovell was the owner of three beef ranches on the Little Missouri, in Dakota, had fought his way up from humble beginnings to an authority on cattle matters, and Joel Wells, stripped of caution, hung on his words with a hungering interest.
'If my experience in cattle is of any value to you boys,' said Mr. Lovell, 'I want you to have the advantage of it. The lax methods of the past are giving way to safer, saner, but fully as profitable, ways of ranching. The old haphazard manner has changed, and to-day a cowman must conduct his business as safely as a merchant or a banker. In fact, it takes a broader judgment to breed and mature beef than to buy and sell and get gain. The ranchman of the future must be awake and alert to succeed. Selling by the quart or yard, or lending to meet another man's necessity, is a rule-of-thumb occupation compared to yours or mine.'
'Where do you get your young cattle to restock your ranges?' inquired Joel. 'You haven't been seen at Trail City in two years.'
'I'm breeding to meet my requirements,' answered the host. 'My Northern ranches are marketing fifteen thousand beeves annually, and we're shipping an equal number to replace them.'
'Do you breed that many steer cattle?' inquired the boy, amazed.
'Oh, no. Where once we allowed a cow to die of old age, not even saving her hide, we now convert her into a cheaper grade of beef. The spaying knife is freely employed, the imperfect and ageing are un-sexed, and rapidly mature into marketable beef. A little prudence in ranch management to-day turns to thrift items that were once wasted. Cattle bones are even now turned to account.'
'The only cloud before us,' admitted Joel, 'is to restock our ranges. What method would you suggest?'
'There are only two ways,' replied the veteran drover. 'You must buy or breed. My advice would be to buy a ranch, already stocked. I bought one last summer, just to insure young steers for my beef ranges.'
'How many cattle are you going to need annually?' inquired Priest, addressing the brothers.
'About ten thousand yearly,' confessed the older boy.
'Then you'll need a ranch with stock cattle,' suggested Mr. Lovell, with decision. 'Call it what you will, common cow-sense suggests it.'
'I admit the need of restocking our ranches,' admitted Joel. 'Show me a chance, point out the trail, let me see the wagon track, and I'll admit the corn. Major Hunt sparred a few rounds with us, but his theory and my practice are of different schools.'
Mr. Lovell laughed outright. 'Major Hunt is a fine old man,' said he; 'fills a niche and fills it well; but in practical matters, Paul or Quince are worth a field full of office men. We'll look into the merits of any ranch on the market. The one I bought last summer was taken over on Paul's judgment, and I'll lend a hand or you may have either of my boys.'
There was an earnest note in the old drover's remarks that robbed Joel of all caution. The confidence of a boy in a man was accented anew, and the two became inseparable. Days were spent together in riding over the ranch and in outlining the system employed in the larger cattle operations of the veteran.
'I want you to notice how uniform my cows are,' said Mr. Lovell, as the boys, himself, and his foreman rode through a contingent of cattle. 'Note these coming two-year-old steers; they won't vary twenty pounds in weight.'
'No wonder,' said Dell; 'look at their mothers. How do you keep your cows so even, up to such a high standard?'
'The survival of the fittest is our rule,' answered the practical ranchman. 'We no longer can afford to raise a scrub, and we weed out the culls.'
'Your cattle show very little improvement over the trail herds of four years ago,' observed the older boy. 'Don't you believe in growing the better breeds?'
'The climate governs that,' answered the veteran, smiling. 'Notice our men; they look like ramrods. Paul isn't a Texan, but look at Quince, the long, hungry varmint. The same rule applies to our cattle and horses. Spanish stock make the best cow-horses on earth; you know that. The ability of our range cattle to rustle a living or withstand a drouth is worth any two points in the improved breeds. The vitality, the rustling instinct, of our native cattle, must be preserved. It helps you and me to weather the winters on our Northern ranges. Why, these cattle of mine winter in Dakota like buffalo. They drift and weather the storms and winter like antelope. Their ability to rustle a living is worth more than a white face or a short horn. Environment governs all life, and while I follow cows that vitality that best wrests its livelihood from the waste places is my favorite breed. And our Texas cattle have it in abundance.'
It was the experience of a practical man. 'I don't mean,' continued the old cowman, 'that a slight infusion of new blood, say an eighth, would destroy the vitality which ages of environment have built up. Hunger developed cunning in the fox, and combating these deserts and plains of the West and Southwest have given us a breed of cattle to withstand its rigors. Why, these cattle of mine winter on cactus alone.'
Truly there are sermons in stones and good in everything. 'Do you mean to say that cattle eat this prickly pear?' queried Dell.
'Live on it, during drouths, by the year,' answered the host. 'Cactus has as much substance in it as a turnip.'
The brothers were being thrown in contact with the many phases of their occupation. Every day revealed something new.
'We'll ride through the dry cattle, the spayed stuff, on our way home,' continued Mr. Lovell. 'I want to show you a single item that more than pays the current expenses of all my ranches. This pasture is set aside for ageing cows, ill-colored and scrubby heifers. In the spring, after our shipments leave for the Northern ranges, we cull over our holdings of she stuff, pass them under the spaying knife, and they are given a pasture to themselves. It enables me to control my breeding ranches.'
The pasture was reached in due time. The improved condition of the unsexed cows was noticeable at a glance. 'They take on flesh better than a steer,' said the old cowman, 'and when fatted for the block, they kill and dress like a capon. It beats letting the weeds grow where they died. Every hoof in this pasture ships out in the spring, and after a winter in the North they ripen into perfect flesh. You can take any brand of cattle, and, with an intelligent use of the knife, in the course of a few years bring it up to a uniform standard.'
'The work would require a veterinary,' ventured Joel.
'Not at all,' vouched Mr. Lovell. 'Quince and Paul are experts with the knife. Either of you boys would pick up the knack in a week. All it requires is cow-sense.'
All too soon, the visit of the boys came to an end. 'We expect to pay Mr. Dudley Stoddard a visit,' said Joel. 'Why not run up there and get his opinion on any ranches for sale?'
'The very man I had in mind and the very man you need. Dudley Stoddard belongs to the old school. I could make a living in cattle where he would starve to death. He'll show you ranching from a different angle. He's worth knowing; but do your own thinking. By buying a ranch north of the quarantine line, your cattle are exempt, and you can ship them without fear of fever. My leaning is toward these upper ranches; better cattle, shorter run to your ranges.'
As in the present case, a telegram was sent advising the Stoddard Ranch of their coming.
'Don't hurry,' urged the veteran drover, at the final parting; 'take things easy. The buying of a ranch is an important step. These lazy Texans hang fire like a Mexican, and the only way to hold your own is to hang around and wear them out. From what I gather, the Panhandle country is nearly all for sale.'
'You'll lend us Paul or Quince, in case we buy a ranch?' inquired Joel, in farewell, striking hands with Mr. Lovell.
'Either of the boys,' nodded the old drover. 'I'd go along myself, but Quince or Paul's judgment is as good as mine. I'm ageing fast, and nothing longer counts much unless I can help boys like you to grapple with the chances that lie before them. Good luck, boys.'
* * * * * * * * * *
During the brief visit at the Lovell Ranch a wonderful change had come over Joel Wells. A new field had opened, inviting to the brothers, and the older one had assimilated with an intense yearning the chances that opened before his view. No detail had escaped his inquiry or attention, and in contact and conference with Don Lovell, government contractor of beef, to army and Indian departments, trail drover, the owner of an even half-dozen breeding and beef ranges, a veritable king in his occupation, the boy turned with frank confidence.
'Did you ever see such thrifty yearlings as those on the Lovell Ranch?' inquired Dell. 'They lay over ours on the Beaver and the Arickaree.'
'They were born several months earlier, no winter to weather, and until they're two years old, they grow like weeds. After that age they spindle out and run to horns and legs. When they reach twos, so Quince and Paul say, is the time to move them to a Northern range.'
The Stoddard Ranch lay on the Pease River. A change of cars was necessary at Fort Worth, where a day was spent to advantage. The latter would classify as a cow-town, the very atmosphere reeking with cattle clatter, while any evidence of a better day was not noticeable. Groups of men filled the hotel lobbies and discussed, with a gloomy air of depression, the outlook for cattle. Only five years before, the keys of the city had been tendered to a cattle convention, marked for its revelry and wide attendance, but now it was as quiet as a deserted banquet hall. Had the town been in possession of a foreign army, the general dejection would not have been more marked.
The boys surveyed the situation. 'In cattle matters,' said Joel to Dell, aboard the train, leaving, 'it must be the dark hour. Listening to those men around Fort Worth, you get the impression that school's out. But it isn't. Cattle are a little too staple an article to pass away. We have too many sale sheets to take that view. Because Texas can't mature beef is no reason the fair's over. Mr. Lovell and his men don't think so. Show me a good ranch and we'll buy it.'
Mr. Stoddard had received notice of their coming and a conveyance met the boys at the station. The ranch lay off the railroad some thirty miles, and with little loss of time an ambulance and fours, with an outrider, started for the Pease River Valley. Both driver and mounted scout were Mexicans, and, save for a word, nod, or gesture in reply to questions, the boys were left to their own amusement. The country was much the same as the Northern plains, the grasses similar, while the cattle encountered came in for a close inspection. On one occasion, Joel borrowed the outrider's horse, made a wide detour, riding constantly through cattle and overtaking the ambulance after an hour's scouting.
'There's a thrift about these cattle that marks them apart from those of the lower country,' announced the older boy on retaking his seat in the conveyance. 'No wonder Panhandle steers command a better price at Trail City than those from southern counties. These are big-boned, rangy, solid-colored cattle. The twos will almost compare with Arickaree steers of the same age.'
The ranch was reached shortly after dark. That a hearty welcome awaited the brothers, due to past acquaintance with Manly, and at the hands of Mr. Stoddard and family, was assured. The existence of the latter had never before been mentioned by the old cowman, and on being presented to a motherly woman and seven, from below Dell's age to well above Joel's, the majority of whom were girls, the brothers met a complete surprise. Fortunately the warnings of Sargent, when leaving the Beaver, were remembered by the eldest, and with an innate frankness he greeted the different members of the family as frankly as he had the host at the gate. Dell managed to stammer a word or two to the mistress, who in turn presented her four daughters. The boy's hand fell limp, mumbling his greetings in a vague, formal way, yet as indistinct as the grunt of an Indian.
'Now you've met the family,' said the host, 'except the three girls that are away at school. You can always tell a Stoddard by the nose, naturally a big-nosed breed of folks -- tell them as far as you can see them, tell them as easily as you can Panhandle cattle on a trail market. Now, I'll show you boys your room, and mother will skirmish up something to eat. This way, Joel.'
Supper over, the boys were excused on the plea of travel-tire. Morning revealed, in contrast to the Lovell headquarters, a typical Texas ranch of the home type. In many respects it was baronial, the roomy house with its broad verandas, its Mexican quarters and bunk-houses, around which was an acreage and herd sufficient to sustain easily the title of cattle baron. A hospitality of simple charm radiated from the home, reflecting the beauty and peace of pastoral life, which flowed as serene as the river before its door.
An old acquaintance with the master and the motherly offices of the mistress soon placed Joel on a friendly footing. Knowing his own weakness, Dell avoided the many advances of the girls, but Mrs. Stoddard, a mother of three boys, with a tact and sweetness which only a woman possesses, by easy stages led the bashful Dell into her confidence and companionship.
Dell Wells, however, was not entirely at ease. 'Have you inquired if there are any ranches for sale in the Panhandle?' he questioned his brother. 'Let's get away from here as soon as possible.'
'That's contrary to all advice. When visiting a Texas ranch, it isn't manners to mention your errand before the middle of the second week. We've been here only a day, and Uncle Dudley and I haven't squared off yet for the big medicine talk. Right now, we're gathering the Arickaree cattle adrift on the Smoky. We can't possibly reach the final shipments before the latter part of the week. I'll lead up to our errand just as soon as possible. I can see that Manly has broke his rope trying to amuse you. Your nerves are badly shot and a few nights' rest may do you good.'
'What's the use of waiting so long?' growled the youngster.
'There's no hurry. We haven't turned the edge of our visit yet, and won't for some time. I'm just beginning to feel at home. And I notice Mrs. Stoddard is taking quite a fancy to you. Nice folks, ain't they?'
'I wish I had stayed at the Lovell Ranch or gone on home,' ruefully said Dell. 'If there were any outlaw cattle to hunt--'
The first week came to an end, Dell chafing under the chains of kindness. As on the Lovell Ranch, recourse was had to daily rides, if not with Mr. Stoddard, with his boys or Manly, when the gamut of their common occupation was revived.
When the question of securing a breeding ranch finally intruded, the necessity had already suggested itself to the host. 'Of course you must,' said he approvingly. 'Your Northern ranges are maturing our cattle. All this lower country is fit for is breeding; and with upper ranges on which to mature your beeves, it gives you a perfect control of your business. The only reason I didn't mention it sooner, I had a hope of selling you my twos and threes this spring. You'll have no trouble in buying a ranch. It's only a question of which one suits you best. I see nothing in the way of your buying two ranches if you want them.'
'One at a time will be enough,' replied Joel. 'We can make a liberal payment next fall. Until then, it wouldn't matter where title rested, so long as we were allowed a free management.'
'You can name your own terms. It's only a question of ranches; the cattle run all alike.'
Mr. Stoddard knew the country for hundreds of miles around. Cowmen, whose dooryard gates were forty miles apart, were considered near neighbors, while a ride of several days covered close friends. The host spoke of the headwaters of the Pease, or down on the Big Washita, or across Red River in No-Man's-Land, as a city resident might mention the house across the street.
A careful canvass of the country tributary to the Pease River suggested a ranch near its source. No cattle had been sold from its holdings the summer before, with a crop of steers, coming threes, each year's increase for several seasons past, running in excess of three thousand calves. Its total holdings were supposed to number, ranch run, about fifteen thousand cattle and ninety sections of land.
'This ranch on the Upper Pease would be my choice,' advised Mr. Stoddard. It will give you three thousand young steers of an age to move to your beef ranges. Land at six-bits an acre can't hurt you, and it entrenches you for all time. This range runs into the brakes of the Staked Plains, is unfenced, with outside range to carry double its present holdings. The land was so taken up as to control the water, and these deeded sections represent only a small per cent of the outlying pasture. Three dollars an acre was refused during the boom for the land, and seventy-five cents now won't rob you very much.'
Mr. Stoddard's advice was acted upon. Manly and the brothers visited the ranch, being absent some ten days. On their return it was necessary to revisit Fort Worth, as the sale of the ranch was in the hands of a bank in that city. The old ranchman readily offered to accompany Joel, the ambulance was ordered out, and hasty steps were taken to connect with the first train.
'I'm going along,' announced Dell, with decision.
'Make yourself right at home where you are,' answered the brother, as if he were the host and not a guest. 'We can't afford to take you along. Any boy who is afraid of a girl wouldn't make a good impression on a banker. Away from home this way, your place is in the tall grass. Now, don't run on the rope and give me any trouble.'
Before the boys could contend further, the ambulance drew up at the gate and the family gathered to bid bon voyage to the outbound travelers. In taking his leave, Joel acquitted himself in a manner creditable to his years and limited chances.
'I'm leaving Dell with you,' said he to Mrs. Stoddard. 'Now, don't let your girls tease him. They say that bashful boys make good husbands, and if that's so this brother of mine may come out of the shell and make quite a chicken yet. You'll be good to him, won't you?'