Reed Anthony Cowman - An Autobiography (Paperback)

REED ANTHONY, COWMAN Oo tt H REED ANTHONY, COWMAN AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY BY ANDY ADAMS BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY COPYRIGHT 1907 BY ANDY ADAMS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Published May iqy TO CAPTAIN JOHN T. LYTLE SECBETARY OF THE TEXAS CATTLE RAISERS ASSOCIATION FORT WORTH, TEXAS CONTENTS I. IN RETROSPECT 1 II. MY APPRENTICESHIP 18 III. A SECOND TRIP TO FORT STTMNER . . 38 IV. A FATAL TRIP 55 V. SUMMER OF 68 72 VI. SOWING WILD OATS 89 VII. THE ANGEL ....... 107 VIIL THE LAZY L 124 IX. THE SCHOOL OF EXPERIENCE . . . 140 X. THE PANIC OF 73 . . . . 154 XL A PROSPEROUS YEAR 171 XII. CLEAR FORK AND SHENANDOAH . . 189 XIII. THE CENTENNIAL YEAR . 206 XIV. ESTABLISHING A NEW RANCH . . . 224 XV. HARVEST HOME ...... 240 XVI. AN ACTIVE SUMMER ..... 259 XVII. FORESHADOWS 277 XVIII. THE BEGINNING OF THE BOOM . . 295 XIX. THE CHEYENNE AND ARAPAHOE CATTLE COMPANY 313 XX. HOLDING THE FORT 330 XXI. THE FRUITS OF CONSPIRACY. . . . 347 XXII. IN CONCLUSION 366 REED ANTHONY, COWMAN CHAPTER I IN RETKOSPECT truthfully say that my entire life has heen spent with cattle. Even during my four years service in the Confederate army, the greater por tion was spent with the commissary department, in charge of its beef supplies. I was wounded early in the second year of the war and disabled as a soldier, but rather than remain at home I accepted a menial position under a quartermaster. Those were strenuous times. During Lees invasion of Pennsylvania we followed in the wake of the army with over a thousand cattle, and after Gettysburg we led the retreat with double that number. Near the close of the war we frequently had no cattle to hold, and I became little more than a camp follower. I was born in the ShenandoahValley, northern Virginia, May 3, 1840. My father was a thrifty planter and stockman, owned a few slaves, and as 2 REED ANTHONY, COWMAN early as I can remember fed cattle every winter for the eastern markets. Grandfather Anthony, who died before I was born, was a Scotchman who had emigrated to the Old Dominion at an early day, and acquired several large tracts of land on an affluent of the Shenandoah. On my paternal side I never knew any of my ancestors, but have good cause to believe they were adventurers. My mothers maiden name was Eeed she was of a gentle family, who were able to trace their forbears beyond the colonial days, even to the gentry of England. Generations of good birth were reflected in my mother and across a rough and eventful life I can distinctly remember the refinement of her manners, her courtesy to guests, her kindness to child and slave. My boyhood days were happy ones. I attended a subscription school several miles from home, riding back and forth on a pony. The studies were ele mentary, and though I never distinguished myself in my classes, I was always ready to race my pony, and never refused to play truant when the swim ming was good. Evidently my father never intended any of his boys for a professional career, though it was an earnest hope of my mother that all of us should receive a college education. My elder brother and I early developed business instincts, buying calves and accompanying our father on his trading expeditions. Once during a vacation, when we were