The Pacific tourist:

65
held in Laramie County alone. The development
of the cattle and stock interests of this vast upland region is something never thought of nor
entered the heads of the projectors of the railroad.
In 1867, when the railroad first arrived, there was
not probably a hundred head of all kinds owned in
the whole territory, outside of those belonging to
contractors and stage lines. Now it is a leading
interest, and represents millions of dollars. Like
all other frontier towns, Cheyenne has a history,
and it is similar to that of others. It was once a
very fast town, and it is not very slow now. On
the 1st day of July, 1867, it had one house built and
owned by Judge J. R. Whitehead, on Eddy street,
between Sixteenth and Seventeenth. That house
stands to-day, and is known as the Whitehead
block. It was built of logs and smoothly plastered,
outside and in.
Rough Times.-When it was known that this
was to be the winter terminus of the road, there
was a grand hegira of roughs, gamblers and prostitutes from Julesburg and other places down the
road to this point, and in the fall of that year and
winter of'68, Cheyenne contained 6,000 inhabitants. Habitations sprang up like mushrooms.
They were of every conceivable character, and
some were simply holes in the ground, otherwise
termed " dug-outs." Town-lots were sold at fabulous prices. Every nation on the globe, nearly, was
r e p r e sented here. The princi pa l pasti mes were
gambling, drinking vi lla inous rot-gut whisky,
and shooting. Shooting scrapes were an everyday occurrence. Stealing anything from anyb ody was the natural habit of th e thieving roughs.
Knock downs and robbre w er ies were daily and
nightly amusements. But these things had to
come to an end, and their perpetrators, some
of them, to a rope's end. The more respectable
portion of the citizens became weary of the depredations on property and life. Vigilance committees were organized, and "Judge Lynch"
held court, from which there were neither appeals
nor stay of executions. Juries never disagreed,
nor were there vexatious delays and motions for
a new trial. Witnesses were unnecessary and demurrers of no account. Nor would " the insanity
dodge " avail. The victims were known and
"spotted " beforehand, the judgments of the
courts were unerring and generally righteous. No
gallows were erected, because telegraph poles and
the railroad bridge across Crow Creek were convenient of access. When Cheyenne was only six
months old, so frequent were the murders and
robberies, and the city authorities so powerless,
that a vigilance committee was organized. The
first knowledge of its existence happened thus:
Three men were arrested on the 10th day of
January, 1868, charged with having stolen $900.
They were put under bonds to appear before
the court on the 14th of the samne month. On
the morning of the day after they were arrested,
they were found on Eddy street, tied together,
w orld over by its fearful sobriquet of " Hell on
Whee ls." Churche s h ave come where gamblers
onc e reigned; and i n five years as many edifices
for religious purposes have be en erected. The
Episcopalian s, Methodi sts, P resbyteri ans, Congreg ationalists and Cat holics have all comfortable
church building s. The school accommodations,
owing to the rapid gr owth of the city, w ill soon
have to be enlarged. At first sight the traveler
would natural ly inquire, what there was to build
an d sustain a town her e? The soil is not prolific,
nor is the country around it. Crow Creek bottom
is quite narrow, and in t he m ost f av orable seasons,
by irrigation, " garden truck " may be raised, but
beyond this everyt hing looks b ar ren and desolate.
The soil has a reddish appearance, and appears
t o consist of decomposed granite underlaid in the
valleys with sa and and on the uplands w i th r ock.
In fact, a man wh o attempts to farm it for a
living in this region of country is simply fooling
away his time.
Stock itterests.-The rich nutritious grass es wit h which the great plains are covered are
here fod n a e en ound in all their excellence, and the large
territory ea st of the base of the Black Hills, north
as far as the North Platte River and south to the
Gulf of Mexico, is now sustaining millions of
shee p and cattle. Cheyennne is located in the
midst of one of the bes t sections of this territory,
and all a roun d i t are t he ranch es of stockmenmen engaged in growing cattle, sheep, horses and
mules for market. With the exception of sheep,
no hay is cut for these animals except for those
kept up for use. Winter and summer they thrive
and f at ten upon nothing but the' native grasses.
Cheyenne is the central and natural tradingpoint for these ranchmen and stock growers.
Another large and valuable element of its prosperity is the railroad trade-the company having
here quite extensive machine and repair shops,
with a commodious roundhouse. Hunting and
exploring parties also supply themselves with outfits at this place, and immense quantities of military and Indian supplies also pass through here
for the-posts and Indian agencies north.
To give an idea of the stock business which
centers here, and its rapid increase, let us state that
375 cars of cattle were shipped in 1874. which
represent 7,500 head. In 1875, the shipments increased to 525 cars, or 10,500 head, with prospects
for a large increase in 1876 and future years. It
may be well to state here, the shipments from other
points in this grazing belt of the country:
North Platte in 1875 shipped 96 cars, or 1,920 head.
Ogalalla, " " 207 " 4,140 "
Julesburg, " " 216 " 4,320 "
Sidney, " " 93 " 1,860 "
Pine Bluffs, " " 208 " 4,160 "
This statement does not include the cattle marketed at home or supplied to the Indian agencies
ill the north. Sixty thousand head of cattle.
seventy thousand sheep and four thousand horses
and mules are the estimated number owned and
)
_____ ______
I
TIKE racipic TOURIST.
I
5