d as well as they
can; whilst the Calf is sucking one Tit of the Cow, the Woman of the
Cow-Pen is milking one of the other Tits, so that she steals some Milk
from the Cow, who thinks she is giving it to the Calf; soon as the Cow
begins to go dry, and the Calf grows Strong, they mark them, if they
are Males they cut them, and let them go into the Wood. Every Year in
September and October they drive up the Market Steers, that are fat and
of a proper Age, and kill them; they say they are fat in October, but I
am sure they are not so in May, June and July; they reckon that out of
100 Head of Cattle they can kill about 10 or 12 steers, and four or five
Cows a Year; so they reckon that a Cow-Pen for every 100 Head of Cattle
brings about 40 pounds Sterling per Year. The Keepers live chiefly
upon Milk, for out of their Vast Herds, they do condescend to tame Cows
enough to keep their Family in Milk, Whey, Curds, Cheese and Butter;
they also have Flesh in Abundance such as it is, for they eat the old
Cows and lean Calves that are like to die. The Cow-Pen Men are hardy
People, are almost continually on Horseback, being obliged to know the
Haunts of their Cattle". "You see, Sir, what a wild set of Creatures Our
English Men grow into, when they lose Society, and it is surprising
to think how many Advantages they throw away, which our industrious
Country-Men would be glad of: Out of many hundred Cows they will not
give themselves the trouble of milking more than will maintain their
Family."

With such a race of born horsemen, every whit as bold and resourceful
as the voyageurs, to bear the brunt of a new era of transportation, all
that was needed to challenge French trade beyond the Alleghanies was
competent and aggressive leadership. The situation called for men of
means, men of daring, men closely in touch with governors and assemblies
and acquainted with the web of politics that was being spun at
Philadelphia, Williamsburg, New York, London, and Paris. Generations of
tenacious struggle along the American frontier had developed such men.
The Weisers, Croghans, Gists, Washingtons, Franklins, Walkers, and
Cresaps were men of varied descent and nationality. They had the
cunning, the boldness, and the resources to undertake successfully the
task of conquering commercially the Great West. They were the first men
of the colonies to be unafraid of that bugbear of the trader, Distance.
We may aptly call them the first Americans because, th