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1031
In 1877 I contracted to Mr. J. W. Iliff of Denver, Colo., 17,500 two— and three-year-old steers, which we delivered in June and July, 1878, at Julesburg, Colo. Mr. Iliff died in February, 1878, and at the earnest request of Mrs. Iliff we took charge of the entire cattle business of the estate and wound up the estate part in three years and we bought the business in connection with Mrs. Iliff, D. H. and J. W. Snyder & Company, which we maintained until 1887.
We adopted three rules for our cowboys to be governed by on our first drive in 1868, as follows :
First : You can't drink whiskey and work for us.
Second: You can't play cards and gamble and work for us.
Third : You can't curse and swear in our camps or in our presence and work for us.
These rules we kept inviolate as long as we were in the cattle business.
I am past eighty years old and have been blind more than eight years. If I had my sight I could take time and make this much more interesting and give much more information.
Georgetown, Texas, December 27, 1913.
According to George W. Saunders, there was a certain Texas cowboy boarded a train at Denver, Colo., after having driven trail from Texas to that salubrious clime, back in 1880, or thereabouts, says "Cattle Clatter" in San Antonio Express. He walked into the sleeper with a bundle of blankets and asked the Pullman conductor if there was any place where he could bed down. The conductor said sure there was ; the cowboy could have either upper or lower. The cowboy said any place would do for him, not knowing what was meant by the upper or lower. The conductor continued, saying : "The