s I
mention here. Short yearlings were those over one year old and short of
two years, long yearlings those two years and short of three years, tail
end and scabs mean nearly the same thing, and comprise all the very
young stock of all classes not yet reached the dignity of yearlings.
These latter were in demand from the cattle men, who took them to feed
until they got their growth or to raise from, as stock cattle three or
four years old were generally the market or beef cattle. These latter
were by all odds the easiest to handle on the trail. Sometimes we would
have an order for five or six hundred head of all classes of cattle,
then again we would have to start out with fifteen hundred head of
shipping steers, or several hundred head of horses.

Shortly after I entered the employ of the Pete Gallinger company, and
after the round-ups of the early season, we received an order for two
thousand five hundred head of three year old steers to be delivered at
Dodge City, Kansas. This was the largest herd I had up to the present
time followed good rest at the home ranch, we strung the large herd out
with two months provisions, and the camp wagon. After a and one hundred
extra saddle horses and several pack horses, on the trail. Our outfit
consisted of forty picked cow boys, along the old Chillers trail en
route for Kansas, and we started on what proved to be an eventful
journey. The herd behaved splendidly and gave us very little trouble
until we crossed the Red river and struck the Old Dog and Sun City
trail, here they became restless, and stampeded nearly every night, and
whenever they got half a chance. This made it very hard on us cowboys,
as it is no easy matter to ride the lines of such a large herd, let
alone having to chase them back in line from many miles over the prairie
where they had stampeded in their wild career. After crossing the Kansas
line at a place known as the South Forks, while making for the head of
the Cimarron river on the twenty-seventh of June, we experienced one of
the hardest rain and hail storms I had ever seen, in the western
country, the rain came down in torrents only to cease and give place to
hail stones the size of walnuts. While the thunder and lightning was
incessant. It was shortly after dark when the storm commenced. The
twenty-five hundred head of cattle strung out along the trail became
panic stricken and stampeded, and despite our utmost efforts, we were
unable to keep them in line