It was a
temporary affair, the abrupt, bluff banks of a creek making a perfect
horseshoe, requiring only four hundred feet of fence across the neck
to inclose a corral of fully eight acres. The inclosure was not in
use, so I hired three men and took possession of it for the time
being. I had noticed in previous years that when a drover had sold all
his herd but a remnant, he usually sacrificed his culls in order to
reduce the expense of an outfit and return home. I had an idea that
there was money in buying up these remnants and doing a small jobbing
business. Frequently I had as many as seven hundred cull cattle on
hand. Besides, I was constantly buying and selling whole remudas of
saddle horses. So when a drover had sold all but a few hundred cattle
he would come to me, and I would afford him the relief he wanted.
Cripples and sore-footed animals were usually thrown in for good
measure, or accepted at the price of their hides. Some buyers demanded
quality and some cared only for numbers. I remember effecting a sale
of one hundred culls to a settler, southeast on the Smoky River, at
seven dollars a head. The terms were that I was to cut out the cattle,
and as many were cripples and cost me little or nothing, they afforded
a nice profit besides cleaning up my herd. When selling my own, I
always priced a choice of my cattle at a reasonable figure, or offered
to cull out the same number at half the price.
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