thousand dollars, there was a general scramble for the remainder.

The preliminary steps having been taken, nothing further could be done
until a range was secured. My active partner, George Edwards, and
myself were appointed on this committee, and promising to report at
the earliest convenience, we made preparations for returning West.
A change of administration was approaching, and before leaving the
capital, Edwards, my partners, and myself called on Secretaries Schurz
of the Interior Department and Ramsey of the War Department. We had
done an extensive business with both departments in the past, and were
anxious to learn the attitude of the government in regard to leasing
lands from the civilized Indian nations. A lease for the Cherokee
Outlet was pending, but for lack of precedent the retiring
Secretary of the Interior, for fear of reversal by the succeeding
administration, lent only a qualified approval of the same. There were
six million acres of land in the Outlet, a splendid range for maturing
beef, and if an adequate-sized ranch could be secured the new company
could begin operations at once. The Cherokee Nation was anxious to
secure a just rental, an association had offered $200,000 a year for
the Strip, and all that was lacking was a single word of indorsement
from the paternal government.

Hoping that the incoming administration would take favorable action
permitting civilized Indian tribes to lease their surplus lands, we
returned to our homes. The Cherokee Strip Cattle Association had
been temporarily organized some time previous,--not being chartered,
however, until March, 1883,--and was the proposed lessee of the Outlet
in which our beef ranch lay. The organization was a local one, created
for the purpose of removing all friction between the Cherokees and the
individual holders of cattle in the Strip. The officers and directors
of the association were all practical cattlemen, owners of herds
and ranges in the Outlet, paying the same rental as others into the
general treasury of the organization. Major Hunter was well acquainted
with the officers, and volunteered to take the matter up at once, by
making application in person for a large range in the Cherokee Strip.
There was no intention on the part of our firm to forsake the trail,
this cattle company being merely a side issue, and active preparations
were begun for the coming summer.

The annual cattle convention would meet again in Fort Worth in