The reports of Fremont long since had called attention to the nourishing quality of those grasses of the high country, but the day of the cowboy had not yet dawned.

There is a somewhat feeble story which runs to the effect that in 1866 one of the great wagon-trains, caught by the early snows of winter, was obliged to abandon its oxen on the range.
It was supposed that, of course, the oxen must perish during the winter.
But next spring the owners were surprised to find that the oxen, so far from perishing, had flourished very much--indeed, were fat and in good condition.

So runs the story which is often repeated.

It may be true, but to accredit to this incident the beginnings of the cattle industry in the Indian country would surely be going too far.

The truth is that the cow industry was not a Saxon discovery.