Beyond the Reservation lay certain mining towns and camps, such as Clifton, Camp Thomas, Tombstone, and others; and then the Mexican frontier.
The rustlers' business was to steal cattle, butcher them in the mountains, and sell the beef to the mining towns; or drive them over into Old Mexico for disposal, and then again drive Mexican cattle or horses back into Arizona.

Some of these gangs were very powerful and terrorized the whole country, so much so that decent citizens were afraid "to give them away." Our cattle ranged well into the mountains, and up to a certain period we had no occasion to think that any "dirty" work was going on; but at last we "tumbled" to the fact that a gang was operating on our range.

Word was brought us that a bunch of some 200 cattle had been "pulled" (Scotch, lifted).

I was off the ranch at the time, but one of my partners at once started on the trail with three of the men.

After some days very hard riding they caught up on the thieves at early dawn, in fact when still too dark to see very well.