was all one could wish, and Major Hunter and I accordingly dropped down to Wichita to look the situation over.  We arrived in the midst of the panic and found matters in a deplorable condition.  Drovers besought and even begged us to make an offer on their herds, while the prevailing prices of a month before had declined over half.  Major Hunter and I agreed that at present figures, even if half the cattle were lost by a severe winter, there would still be money in the venture.  Through financial connections East my partners knew of the first signs of improvement in the money-centres of the country.  As I recall the circumstances, the panic began in the East about the middle of September, and it was the latter part of October before confidence was restored, or there was any noticeable change for the better in the monetary situation.  But when this came, it found us busy buying saddle horses and cattle.  The great bulk of the unsold stock consisted of cows, heifers, and young steers unfit for beef.  My partners contended that a three-year-old steer ought to winter anywhere a buffalo could, provided he had the flesh and strength to withstand the rigors of the climate.  I had no opinions, except what other cowmen had told me, but was willing to take the chances where there was a reasonable hope of success.

The first move was to buy an outfit of good horses.  This was done by selecting from half a dozen remudas, a trail wagon was picked up, and a complement of men secured.  Once it was known that we were in the market for cattle, competition was brisk, the sellers bidding against each other and fixing the prices at which we accepted the stock.  None but three-year-old steers were taken, and in a single day we closed trades on five thousand head.  I received the cattle, confining my selections to five road and ten single-ranch brands, as it was not our intention to rebrand so late in the season.  There was nothing to do but cut, count, and accept, and on the evening of the third day the herd was all ready to start for its winter range.  The wagon had been well provisioned, and we started southwest, expecting to go into winter quarters on the first good range encountered.  I had taken a third interest in the herd, paying one sixth of its purchase price, the balance being carried for me by my partners.  Major Hunter accompanied us, the herd being altogether too large and unwieldy to handle well, but we grazed it forward with a front a mile wide.  Delightful fall weather favored the cattle, and on the tenth day we reached the Medicine River, where, by the unwritten law of squatter’s rights, we preempted ten miles of its virgin valley.  The country was fairly carpeted with well-cured buffalo-grass; on the north and west was a range of sand-dunes, while on the south the country was broken by deep coulees, affording splendid shelter in case of blizzards or wintry storms.