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Ramon lived in a plain, one-story house, built in the shade of some cottonwood trees that fringed each side of a small river in the eastern part of Colorado. A wide veranda extended entirely around the house, but there were very few flowers and no lawn. I am afraid you would not think it a very pleasant place for a home.

Not far from the ranch house, as it was called, were the barn and the corrals. A corral is a yard with a strong, high fence about it, in which cattle or horses may be placed. On the bottom land beside the stream, there was a corn and an alfalfa patch, besides one containing some potatoes and garden vegetables.

During most of the year the stream was quite shallow, and flowed quietly over its bed, but when heavy rains occurred it rose rapidly, spreading over much of the bottom land and carrying so much clay with it that it was almost the color of coffee.

Except along the river, not a tree was in sight from Ramon's home, and it was many miles to the nearest house. For hundreds of miles both north and south, there stretched a vast plain. Little was to be seen but sand, grass, and sagebrush. I had almost forgotten the prairie dogs, which scamper across the plain or sit up straight and motionless on a little mound of sand beside their burrows. They watch you closely, not moving unless they regard you as a dangerous creature, when, quick as a flash, they disappear.

The rainfall is very slight in this part of the country, being less than twenty inches a year. On this account there is little attention paid to farming, but instead, the settlers own great herds of cattle as well as many horses. Ramon's father is one of the cattlemen of Colorado. He owns more than ten thousand head of cattle, and some of the cattlemen own twice that number. Of course such great herds of cattle must have much land to graze on. Some of the land is owned by the government and any one may use it. Everywhere fences are far apart. These great pastures are called ranges.

Ramon's life is not much like yours. His home is far from schools, churches, stores, or railroads. He seldom sees strangers, but he enjoys long rides on his own pony, Prince. Sometimes he goes with his father and at other times he takes a gallop with one of the "cowboys" who herd the cattle.

The "cowboys" almost live in the saddle. They are out in all kinds of weather and are not boys at all, but strong, hardy men. They wear broad-brimmed hats, and carry long ropes called lassos or lariats, with which they catch the cattle.

Where there are so many herds they sometimes get mixed up. On this account each cattleman marks or brands his animals. These brands may be the initial letter of the owner's name, or they may be in the form of a horseshoe, a cross, a circle, or a crescent.

Each spring and fall the cowboys gather the cattle together. This is called "rounding up" the cattle. They are then counted and the calves born since the last "round up" are branded. In the fall, in addition to this work, animals are selected for the market. Why is the fall a better time for this than the spring?

Fig. 9.—Branding Cattle.—Point to the Lariats.

The cowboys, mounted upon their swift, strong ponies, single out the animals that have never been branded, and swinging their lassos over their heads, they throw them with such skill that the loop settles over the head or about the leg of the one wanted. As soon as the rope tightens, the pony braces its forefeet firmly and the animal is finally thrown to the ground. It is then branded with a hot iron and allowed to go. Ramon used to feel very sorry for them until his father explained that it hurt them very little, for only the skin was burned.

Sometimes the cattle selected to be sold, are not quite fat enough for the market. They are then taken farther east into the corn belt and fed for a time.

When they are shipped directly from the range to the market, they are driven to the nearest railroad and put into yards beside the track. They are then made to walk up an incline with high railings ending at the open doors of a cattle car. The animals are arranged so that the first faces one side of the car, the second the other, and so on. This is done so that the cattle cannot hook one another, and also that they may be fed and watered on the way from a long iron trough which is fastened to each side of the car.

The great cattle markets of the United States are Omaha, Kansas City, and Chicago. Find these cities.

One day when Ramon was about fourteen years old, his father told him that he was going to take a train load of cattle to Chicago and that he might go with him. It was a happy time for Ramon, you may be sure, for he was very anxious to see some of the wonderful sights his father had told him about.

At last the day when they were to start on their journey arrived. The afternoon before, the cowboys had driven the cattle to the railroad so as to load them early in the morning. Soon after breakfast Ramon kissed his mother and his little sister good-by, and he and his father rode off across the level plain.

Finding the cattle already loaded in the cars, Ramon and his father were soon seated in the caboose, rolling over the miles of railroad which connected them with Chicago. Whenever the train stopped for a few minutes, they took a long stick and went from car to car making the cattle that had lain down get up, so that they might not be injured by the others.

When bedtime came, they made their beds on the benches along each side of the caboose, which are covered with cushions. As they had brought blankets with them, they were fairly comfortable.

Ramon did not sleep very soundly the first night. The engine shrieked from time to time, and the car rocked and jolted so that he was afraid of falling from his bed.

The next day they reached a part of the country where great cornfields waved in the breeze. The leaves had already turned brown, and golden ears of grain peeped out from the ends of the husks. There were stubble fields, too, where wheat and oats had been harvested.

Fig. 10.—Bird's Eye View of Union Stock Yards, Chicago.

The country became more thickly settled as they went on, and the towns were nearer together. Streams were more common, and grass and timber more abundant. The young traveler wondered why this was so. Can you tell?

Early in the morning of the fourth day the train reached Chicago. After much switching and backing the cars were run into the Union Stock Yards, and the cattle were unloaded.

Ramon was thoroughly bewildered by what he saw and heard. Men were shouting and cracking whips; others were riding up and down the alleys that separate the yards; dogs were barking and turning the animals this way and that, and gates were swinging back and forth.

The cattle were weighed and examined to see if they had any disease, and were then placed in charge of a commission merchant to be sold. Buyers come to the yards and bargain with these commission merchants. When an unusually large number of cattle come in, the prices are likely to fall; when few arrive, the prices rise.

When the cattle had been yarded, Ramon's father said that they would go and have breakfast. In the afternoon they visited the "yards," and the slaughter and packing houses. The "yards" cover about a square mile of territory. They are divided into countless pens or small yards, containing sheds, feeding racks, and watering troughs.

Ramon asked how many cattle were unloaded in these yards daily. His father handed him a copy of the Chicago Live Stock World, and at the top of the first column he read that on the day previous there had been received 18,500 cattle, 35,000 hogs, and 18,000 sheep. He was told that sometimes the receipts are much larger than this and sometimes not so large.

Fig. 11.—Dressing Beef.

They followed the bodies of the cattle from the slaughterhouses where they are dressed, into the cooling rooms. These are simply great refrigerators. Wagons come to the cooling rooms and haul loads of the meat to butcher shops, hotels, and depots. Within a few hours it finds its way to smaller cities and towns in all directions. A great deal of meat is shipped even to Europe. Why does not Europe produce its own meat?

Fig. 12.—Cooling Beef.

When the meat has thoroughly hardened in the cooling rooms, it is sent to the curing rooms, where it is cut up and packed. Each person here does his particular work from morning until night.

Ramon learned, to his surprise, that every part of the animal is used. Hair, hide, horns, hoofs, teeth, bones, and even blood, are made use of.

Fig. 13.—Splitting Backbone of Hogs.

Most of the hogs which enter the great meat-packing cities are raised in the corn belt.

The sheep need much pasturage, and so the largest flocks are found in the Western and Southwestern states. A single herder may take care of several thousand sheep. His faithful companions and helpers are intelligent shepherd dogs. After a great flock of sheep has fed on an area, hardly a green thing is left. The people in the part of the West where there is little rainfall, object to the pasturing of sheep around the head waters of streams, because when the vegetation is removed the water runs off too quickly.

Fig. 14.—Curing Pork in Salt.

In the evening our friends watched the men, women, and children march out of the "yards." They were told that not less than thirty-five thousand persons were employed in the various establishments. There is but one city in Colorado which contains so many people.

Fig. 15.—Chopping Sausage Meat.

As they sat at breakfast next morning, Ramon wondered how many of the people of Chicago were eating steaks from cattle which he had seen on his father's ranch. The thought was a new one to him. His trip had shown him that the cattlemen who lived and worked on those far-away plains were doing their part in supplying people all over our country with meat. Their lonely life, with all of its disadvantages, now had a new meaning for him, and he went back to his Western home content with it, yet very glad to have had this glimpse of another side of life.

Fig. 16.—Packing Poultry.