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summer twenty men are engaged in rounding up the cattle, but in winter one-fifth of the number are able to perform the work. The men employed are the famous "cow boys." Each man supplied with eight horses of mustang breed, those tireless animals that stand only about fourteen hands high, but are capable of accomplishing wondering feats of endurance. A horse often covers a distances of seventy-five miles a day. Owing to the high price of grain in Nebraska the horses are not given any, yet without it they thrive. Having eight horses under his charge a man uses one only one day in about every three and a half, so that the animal has a long period of rest before it is called upon to repeat its work. In this way they get along without shrinking. The pasturage is rich, and the horses grow fat and hardy upon it. Speaking upon the subject of riding to the saddle, Mr. Cody said that the gait of the mustang was a walk and a lope. Occasionally one was found that single-footed, but not often. He preferred a loping horse for long jaunts, and so did most of the riders on the plains. They could out-last horses of any other gait. He always rode with short stirrups, and did not believe in the long stirrup style. The English fashion of trotting-horse style. The English fashion of trotting-horse riding he ridiculed. Mr. Cody mentioned one fine rider, Spotted Horse, among his Indians. He challenged any one to produce a horse that he could not manage. The Indian delighted in securing an animal that was excitable and vicious. He generally rode bareback because he had not confidence in livery stable saddles, or the skill of hostlers in adjusting them. On the plains he always used a saddle. Mr. Cody carries his own, and a splendid piece of workmanship it is. Leaving the matter of saddle horses, Mr. Cody touched upon his new enterprise, that of a horse ranche.
Mr. Cody's home is located at North Platte, where he owns a spendid residence and a magnificent estate of 1,500 acres. On this he already has 150 farm mar es, two well bred stallions, one Ben Patchen, foaled in 1859 by George M. Patchen, and a five-years-old Cassius M. Clay. He has besides a Jack and a herd of Hereford cattle, lately purchased. This department of stock raising is managed solely by Mr. Cody. In the summer the owner passes his time in looking after his interests, and in hunting such game as elk, deer, antelope, duck, geese, and prairie chickens, being found in abundance. Mr. Cody uses both a rifle and shot gun, the former for wing shooting quite as patent who has often visited this city, bearing some border title. He heard from him frequently as a slanderer, and finally met him and showed him up to the public in his true colors. This did not satisfy the facer and he at various times continued his brawling. At last Bill got a reckoning with him, and it was such a one that has quieted his mouth ever since. But it is not in the role of a fighter that Mr. Cody delights to figure. He dislikes this sort of notoriety, but in his business he is more or less placed in positions where he has got to stand up for his rights or get trodden upon. As he never weakens the former attitude is inevitable.
Mr. Cody has lately become possessed of information that is not unlikely to greatly enrich him. He states that the Cody family, of which he is a member, has brought suit for valuable property at Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Cody says that the heirs of Philip Cody, his grandfather, were the parties who are suing. They claim 50 acres of land in the sixteenth ward of Cleveland. The property is valued at $1,600,000. There are seven heirs, children of the two sons of Philip Cody. The latter died at Cleveland in 1848 and was of unsound mind. Three years previous he deeded away his property, then mostly farm land, for a mere song. Only lately the heirs have come into possession of this knowledge, and have begun suit against each person who owns property on the disputed land. Many offers of compromise have been made, but none have been accepted.
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