cians were indifferent. In my opening remarks I find the following paragraph: There is one point, which as president of the Association, I would like to refer to. It is the question of thefts upon the range which have been exposed during the past few months. There has been made public, although it was known to many immediately connected with the range, a system of stealing which in its effects has been not only disastrous to those engaged in the business of cattle raising, but has had a disheartening effect upon investors, who hear of these things, which grow as they go along. The county of Laramie has set a good example in the way of punishing crime to overcome this evil, but the other portions of the state are very lax, and in the northern tier of counties the matter is simply disgraceful in its present shape, and we must appeal to the moral nature of the people who sit in judgment upon these cases to do something better than they have done in the past, or they will crowd the industry out of the country. It is a question of life and death, and if the people who are interested in this state wish and propose to keep the cattle industry alive, they should be looking after it, attending to it and caring for it, and I hope that every one here will endeavor to do their best in every way to make the law pursue the thieves, who are at large at the present moment, in the most vigorous way. The trouble comes mostly from our getting no help from the state. Every cattle company here pays enormous taxes into the treasuries of the counties and of the state, and so far as I am personally concerned, there is not a single company that I have to deal with that gets one iota of help from the counties in which they are taxed. I fail to see where our taxes go, so far as the cattle interest is concerned. On this subject a separate chapter will be written, so we will not pursue it further. It would be tedious to follow the Association through all its changes. The critical years in its history had passed. Thomas B. Adams made his last report in 1891 and in his place Mr. H. B. Ijams was elected. The legislature was hot and cold. At its hands the great industry of the state got scant justice. The stockmen paid the taxes but they had little to say as to their expenditure. It had a feeble support from the small cattleman. In my opening address the statement taken from the Secretary's figures showed 3,500 cattlemen in the state paying taxes. Of these only 230 were members of the Association. They were the big outfits representing probably 85 or 90 per cent of the actual cattle in the state. Still this small balance went without inspection at outside points. Our entrance fees were $5.00 per member and the assessment was 3 cents per head of cattle taxed, an impost that no one could find fault with. At the 1895 meeting a very interesting debate took place. The legislature had left the Board of Live Stock Commissioners high and dry except as to funds to pay its officers. They never forgot that. The public purse was always in commission. The principal. speakers were Henry G. Hay, John W. Hammond, Charles Hecht, Chairman of the above Board, H. H. Robinson of the Bay State Cattle, H. B. Ijams and George Baxter, who was in the chair in my absence. The consensus of opinion as voiced by Mr. Hay was to divorce as far as possible the Association from the Live Stock Board, and the position still holds. At the 1896 meeting I resigned after six years' service in the chair. About the time I took the leading position in the organization we had 68 members in good standing. When I left there were 300 and since then the good work has gone on till now they have about 1,000 members. The cattle owners have of course in over twenty years made a great increase. Pleasant memories hang around those years, festoons of loyal fellowship cling to them. Many an hour I go back and live over again those strenuous days, fight over again their mimic battles. Time is against me; they can never come again. The officers elected at the above meeting were as follows: E. W. WHITCOMB, Vice-President. HENRY G. HAY, Treasurer. Changes have taken place from time to time. Mr. John B. Kendrick, now U. S. Senator, was president for a year or two; a good man for the position, and now Robert F. Carey is filling his father's shoes. For several years J. D. Freeborn, who had audited the accounts for many years, acted as Treasurer, after Mr. Hay's withdrawal, but the leading light during the last twenty-one years has been the Secretary, a lady of transcendent ability in her line. No Association has had such tender care, such tactful guidance. Through such officers its members repose under the sunlight of success. Not only in the office but in the field has this Association been eminently successful. It has had many able inspectors, but I refer personally to Mr. Frank Brainard at Chicago, inspector there since July, 1888, and Mr. Claude Talbot at South Omaha since May, 1895. Both of them are marvels in their line, honest, capable, industrious and impartial. Time is touching them gently. Neither summer's suns nor winter's rigors seem to affect their wonderful vitality or their quick decisive methods. In closing this chapter, herewith is a copy of Brainard's work in the Chicago yards. It is full of meat and interest: Note:-While the above article was written in 1917, the appended table of Mr. Brainard's work covers inspections up to June 1, 1923 CHICAGO INSPECTION WYOMING-33 YEARS. UP TO JUNE 1, 1923 Total... 158,555 29,501 4,187 $10,219,079.24 This summary includes only strays owned by members of the Wyoming Stock Growers' Association. No record is made of the thousands that are taken for non-members throughout the state and no credit taken for them. Largest receipts Wyoming cattle in one season, 1891.... Highest net average, 1918. $87,025 .11,400 If we consider that Wyoming cows from 1888 to 1895 sold under $20.00, present prices do not look so low. Year... 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 Price, Cows. $14.46 $17.92 $15.34 $16.80 $18.94 $22.44 $20.54 Year... 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 Price, Steers..... $26.78 $34.23 $33.12 $31.01 $33.02 $36.70 $32.61 In 1901 steers $50.04. Cows, $32.60. But in 1903 the average dropped to $29.50 for steers and $21.43 for cows. Total up to June 1, 1923, for all three associations-Wyoming, South Dakota and Nebraska-all owned by members of one or the other of these organizations: Sent Secretaries. Sent owners.. Total.. Steers Cows Calves 31,280 5,994 535 $1,626,302.92 280,635 54,996 6,242 17,632,332.26 311,915 60,990 6,777 $19,258,635.18 T CHAPTER XXXII HERE has been stealing since the world began and it will probably go on to the end. On the range it was easy, somewhat pleasant work to appropriate your neighbor's goods or chattels. In the old Texas days when might was right, and the big owners covered vast tracts of land, sweeping up everything before them, their cowboys had a bad example. Their morals were corrupted and many of the men, coming up on the trail with the idea that a horse or a cow was a sort of public property, soon commenced to put their ideas into action. Wyoming and Montana in the late '70's and early '80's imported a lot of Texas cattle. With them came an army of cowboys, many of whom stayed in these northern states. Many of them were high-class men who have risen to good positions in their adopted states, some of them being leaders of great ability. But the average run of these men was below par. Many of them left their native state because it was necessary for them to do so. They were expert cowmen, handy with their rope, light-fingered in ranch and camp, exceedingly fond of card playing, a bit brutal to their horses, quiet at their work, but noisy and treacherous under the influence of liquor. When in this condition there was a lot of gun play. The influence of these men, the glamor that hung around their early life, spent in a semi-civilized country, had a marked effect on the hundreds from the east and west who were attracted by this wild life on the plains. Very respectable young men were carried away under those subtle influences. Before the days of hay feeding and modern methods of handling herds, the great bulk of the cowboys were idle in winter. The prudent ones went to work at other jobs, but most of them "batched" in cabins or boarded free of cost among the neighbor ranches. They led an idle life, and as they generally had a good horse or two they began mavericking, and |