CONTENTS I. IN RETROSPECT II. MY APPRENTICESHIP III. A SECOND TRIP TO PORT SUMNER IV. A FATAL TRIP V. SUMMER OF '68 VI. SOWING WILD OATS VII. "THE ANGEL" VIII. THE "LAZY L" IX. THE SCHOOL OF EXPERIENCE X. THE PANIC OF '73 XI. A PROSPEROUS YEAR XII. CLEAR FORK AND SHENANDOAH XIII. THE CENTENNIAL YEAR XIV. ESTABLISHING A NEW RANCH XV. HARVEST HOME XVI. AN ACTIVE SUMMER XVII. FORESHADOWS XVIII. THE BEGINNING OF THE BOOM XIX. THE CHEYENNE AND ARAPAHOE CATTLE COMPANY XX. HOLDING THE FORT XXI. THE FRUITS OF CONSPIRACY XXII. IN CONCLUSION CHAPTER I IN RETROSPECT I can truthfully say that my entire life has been spent with cattle. Even during my four years' service in the Confederate army, the greater portion was spent with the commissary department, in charge of its beef supplies. I was wounded early in the second year of the war and disabled as a soldier, but rather than remain at home I accepted a menial position under a quartermaster. Those were strenuous times. During Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania we followed in the wake of the army with over a thousand cattle, and after Gettysburg we led the retreat with double that number. Near the close of the war we frequently had no cattle to hold, and I became little more than a camp-follower. I was born in the Shenandoah Valley, northern Virginia, May 3, 1840. My father was a thrifty planter and stockman, owned a few slaves, and as early as I can remember fed cattle every winter for the eastern markets. Grandfather Anthony, who died before I was born, was a