The Cattleman's Pages of History

The Cattleman cover advertised the upcoming Cattle Raisers convention, to be held again at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas, in March. R.B. Ellifritz, manager of the hotel, promised a good time and good food, saying, “Of course, our chuck may not taste as good as that cooked out at a round-up, but we’ll do the best we can. Come on fellows, let’s have [a] big time.”

➤ We were years away from the Endangered Species Act, as evidenced by the following story: “Last Saturday morning when H.E. Spears was riding across the prairie on his cow pony with rope hanging to the saddle horn his attention was attracted by a large eagle flying near the ground. He immediately applied his roping skill and readily roped the monster bird. Leaving his pony, he proceeded to drag his eagleship to his corral, which feat he accomplished, but not until after it had severely clawed him in the hand. He procured a large crate and incarcerated Mr. Eagle, bring him into the city where he was viewed by scores of people. It is supposed that this big bird came down from the rockies [sic] for a feed of fat jack rabbits. He was of the bald eagle specie and was about the largest bird ever captured in this region. — Guymon Democrat, Okla.

➤ Cattle raisers were warned about hemorrhagic septicemia, an infectious disease sometimes called “stockyards fever,” saying that the speed of its progression meant no form of treatment had time to be effective. Quarantine of affected animals was advised, and apparently bacterial vaccines could be purchased at drug stores to help stop the spread.

The Cattleman has been blessed to showcase wonderful Western art and January’s cover was no exception. With this oil painting titled “Patching His Saddle,” we read: “In the late sun of afternoon, a cowboy on the 6666 Ranch at Guthrie is free of his regular duties and can spend some time on the chores he has been putting off all day. The chuck wagon behind him is a disappearing sight on the range, for the Sixes is one of the few outfits which still sends them out with the men and horses. This painting won for Tom Ryan the first prize in the western artists show this summer at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. It appears on The Cattleman cover through the courtesy of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, Mr. Ed Honnen and Marlboro cigarettes.

➤ In the column “Chuckwagon,” Charlie the cook had obviously been brought some game, as he offered recipes for venison, duck, quail, goose, and rabbit.

➤ Cattle raisers have long recognized how consumer choices at the meat case drives their production. Tom Graver, head of sales at Missouri Beef Packers Inc., at Friona, said “We all like to think of ourselves as leaders in the field, but we’re not. The real leader of the market is your wife and mine. By what she picks up and puts in the cart, she determines what the retailer tells the packer he wants, what the packer says to the feeder and what the feeder asks from the producer.”