of the Plain extended eastward, in the elbow of which it
was my intention to locate the new ranch. A corner was established, a
meridian line was run north beyond the Salt Fork and a random one west
to the foothills. After a few days one surveyor ran the principal
lines while the other did the cross-sectioning and correcting back,
both working from the same camp, the wagon following up the work.
Antelope were seen by the thousands, frequently buffaloes were
sighted, and scarcely a day passed but our rifles added to the larder
of our commissary supplies. Within a month we located four hundred
sections, covering either side of the Double Mountain Fork, and
embracing a country ten miles wide by forty long. Coming back to our
original meridian line across to the Salt Fork, the work of surveying
that valley was begun, when I was compelled to turn homeward. A list
of contracts to be let by the War and Interior departments would be
ready by December 1, and my partners relied on my making all the
estimates. There was a noticeable advance of fully one dollar a head
on steer cattle since the spring before, and I was supposed to have
my finger on the pulse of supply and prices, as all government awards
were let far in advance of delivery. George Edwards had returned a few
days before and reported having stocked the new ranch in the Outlet
with twelve thousand steers. The list of contracts to be let had
arrived, and the two of us went over them carefully. The government
was asking for bids on the delivery of over two hundred thousand
cattle at various posts and agencies in the West, and confining
ourselves to well-known territory, we submitted bids on fifteen
awards, calling for forty-five thousand cattle in their fulfillment.

Our estimates were sent to Major Hunter for his approval, who in turn
forwarded them to our silent partner at Washington, to be submitted
to the proper departments. As the awards would not be made until the
middle of January, nothing definite could be done until then, so,
accompanied by George Edwards, I returned to the surveying party on
the Salt Fork of the Brazos. We found them busy at their work, the
only interruption having been an Indian scare, which only lasted a few
days. The men still carried rifles against surprise, kept a scout on
the lookout while at work, and maintained a guard over the camp and
remuda at night. During my absence they had located a strip of country
ten by thirty miles, covering t