A Mexican was placed in
charge of the remuda, a darky, with three yoke of oxen, looked after
the commissary, and with ten mounted men around the herd we started.
Five and six horses were allotted to the man, each one had one or
two six-shooters, while half a dozen rifles of different makes were
carried in the wagon. The herd moved northward by easy marches, open
country being followed until we reached Red River, where we had the
misfortune to lose George Edwards from sickness. He was the foreman
from whom all took orders. While crossing into the Chickasaw Nation it
was necessary to swim the cattle. We cut them into small bunches, and
in fording and refording a whole afternoon was spent in the water.
Towards evening our foreman was rendered useless from a chill,
followed by fever during the night. The next morning he was worse, and
as it was necessary to move the herd out to open country, Edwards took
an old negro with him and went back to a ranch on the Texas side.
Several days afterward the darky overtook us with the word that his
master would be unable to accompany the cattle, and that I was to take
the herd through to Abilene. The negro remained with us, and at
the first opportunity I picked up another man. Within a week we
encountered a country trail, bearing slightly northwest, over which
herds had recently passed. This trace led us into another, which
followed up the south side of the Washita River, and two weeks after
reaching the Nation we entered what afterward became famous as the
Chisholm trail.
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