Son of Thomas B. Huling and Elizabeth (Bullock)
Following info provided by FAG member Sue Lilley:
" From his sons of the American Revolution Membership Application, it lists his birth place as Jasper, Texas and death place as Llano, Texas; spouse, Margaret Glenn Young; child, Bettie Dane Huling."
~
To the observant tourist who should visit Western Texas today after an absence of a dozen years, the changes in surroundings and conditions which would appeal most forcibly to his notice are those pertaining to the ranchman, his home life and business methods. There are flourishing farming communities where formerly only scattering ranches existed, pretentious buildings have taken the place of dug-outs and rude camps, and the paraphernalia of the round-up has been crushed out of existence in the snake-like coils of the ubiquitous barb wire. There is still a "frontier," but it has moved far to the westward; and the traveler who desires to see something of cowboy life in its purity must cross the Pecos or penetrate to the midst of the plains at the head of the Brazos or the Red, and drift a half-hundred miles from the nearest railroad line. As long as there is an "open range" on which to herd cattle in the old "orthodox" way, there will be found adventurous spirits reluctant to conform to the new ways and manners; men to whom the freedom and liberty of prairie life are as dear as the breath they breathe; who scorn the advantages of civilization as they disregard the petty hardships and discomforts of camp life, and who are content to put up with the inconveniences of old-time methods, in order to realize the old-time profits from the pursuits that they have chosen.
Our subject, M. B. Huling, is a cowman of the type just described, a prototype of that pioneer class to whose persistency and daring the present prosperous condition of the cattle industry may justly be ascribed. A Texan by birth, his life has been passed in the wildest portion of the State, and, with the exception of a short interval, amid the surroundings of ranch life. He was born in Jasper County, April 30, 1855, and is consequently in his forty-first year, but from his photograph, he would be considered a much younger man. Thomas B. Huling, his father, was of Swedish descent, and was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1803.
Our subject, M. B. Huling was only ten years of age at the time of his father's death, but, young as he was, had already learned to give his feeble aid in handling his father's herds. His eldest brother, six years older than himself, assumed control of the business under his mother's supervision, but received able assistance from the younger members of the family. Two of the daughters were already grown and married, but there were six minor children, five of them sons, remaining at home. Our subject, as one of the youngest, had, perhaps, better educational advantages than his elder brothers. His summers were spent at home assisting in the work of the ranch; but nine months of the year were passed at school - first at Bastrop, and afterward at the Military Institute at Austin. Of his early work, prior to leaving school, it is unnecessary to speak at length, for it would be but a repetition of what has been given in the biographies of other native Texans. One herd of cattle was driven by the brothers to Baxter Springs, and the trip and subsequent sales were successfully consummated. The mother then decided to sell her cattle, her grounds for this action being the fact that the cattle business was then very loosely conducted, and marked by a reckless disregard of the rights of ownership, and she feared that her sons, however honest they might be in their dealings, might chance to get into trouble through their dealings with others who were less scrupulous.
When eighteen years of age, Mr. Huling first began working for himself, and his first employment was building rock fences, in Lampasas County. He continued in this employment for about a year, and invested his money in heifer yearlings. He soon got together about 150 head, and with them established a ranch in Lampasas County. Each year he disposed of such of his cattle as were marketable, always investing the proceeds in young heifers, and in 1883, when he moved to his present location in El Paso County, he had increased his holding to 1,250 head. He made this move in order to secure a location where he would have "elbow room," and it is to be supposed that he found the object of his search, for, in his present location, at the foot of the Guadalupe Mountains, his nearest neighbor is eighteen miles distant. The grass in this portion of the State is remarkably good, but there is usually a scarcity of water, except in the lakes, which are too strongly impregnated by salt to be used by man or beast. The country, however, is underlaid with fairly good water, which is easily reached by means of wells, and Mr. Huling's ranch is furnished with wind-mills which supply his cattle with an abundance of water. During the years from 1889 to 1893, a great many cattlemen drove their herds to this region in order to take advantage of the free pasturage, but suffered heavy losses through the continued droughts, and were forced to take their cattle elsewhere. During Mr. Huang's residence there the Indians have not figured largely as a disturbing element, and though they have stolen a few head of stock occasionally, vastly more trouble has been caused by White thieves. However, there has been but little cause of complaint on this score of late years, and the country is in all respects as quiet as that lying three hundred miles to the eastward.
In 1893 Mr. Huling drove a herd of 2,500 cattle from El Paso County to Englewood, Kansas, where he disposed of them sixty days after his departure from home. The following year he repeated the drive, this time taking 1,500 head. His object in driving instead of shipping was to economize, since there are no direct lines of railroad from the vicinity of his ranch to market points, and it was a great deal cheaper to drive through direct than to drive to a shipping point and then start the cattle on a roundabout course northward. Mr. Huling is associated in business with his brother-in-law, T. Bean, and they own jointly about 5.000 head of cattle, and about seventy head of saddle horses, sufficient for handling their stock. In addition to his stock, Mr. Huling owns a farm of 1,280 acres in Denton County, 280 of which are in cultivation. He also has a farm in Williamson County consisting of 640 acres, where he cultivates 150 acres. His largest farm, however, is in Lampasas County, where he has 3,500 acres, 480 being cultivated.
Mr. Huling is unmarried, but trusts to change his condition at some time in the future, when he can take time to erect a commodious mansion on the site of the dug-out, which he now occupies. In a country where the nearest post office is sixty-five miles distant, it may be imagined that there is no oversupply of marriageable young ladies, but Mr. Huling has hopes of better days when the development of the country through the construction of new roads will lead to its better settlement. He is always on the alert and in readiness to do anything to attract immigration, and in this connection tells a story which will bear repetition.
Some years ago a marauding party of Mexicans made a descent upon that section, and a party of ranchmen gathered and pursued them. On their return after a long and futile chase, the party stopped at Van Horn Station, on the Texas & Pacific Railroad, and chanced to be at the depot when a train bearing some Eastern excursionists halted there. Among the passengers there were a number of inquisitive ladies of doubtful age, ready to observe anything that struck them as being typical to the country, and in no wise backward about asking information when it was lacking. One of them was struck with Mr. Huling's picturesque appearance as, clad in cowboy costume, and bearing an antiquated "buffalo gun," he stood on the depot platform. His belt, filled with cartridges of almost a finger's length, caught her eye and she beckoned him to her side and commenced her catechism:
"What are those, please?"
"Cartridges, ma'm," with his best bow.
"Oh, cartridges! How far can you kill a man with them."
"About a mile - if I can hit him."
"Oh, my!"
A little conversation on general subjects followed, in which Mr. Huling was led to confess that he was unmarried, and that his case was hopeless since there were no ladies in the country.
The lady raised her eyebrows in astonishment.
"Really! Oh, why don't you come up to New York? There are lots of ladies up there."
"If you could only send us down a car load - " began Mr. Huling; but just then the bell rang and the train moved off; and to the present time Mr. Huling has received no notification of the shipment which he was so earnestly requesting. (Source: Historical and Biographical Record of the Cattle Industry and the Cattlemen of Texas by James Cox, Published by Woodward & Tiernan Printing Co, St Louis, 1895
Following info provided by FAG member Sue Lilley:
" From his sons of the American Revolution Membership Application, it lists his birth place as Jasper, Texas and death place as Llano, Texas; spouse, Margaret Glenn Young; child, Bettie Dane Huling."
~
To the observant tourist who should visit Western Texas today after an absence of a dozen years, the changes in surroundings and conditions which would appeal most forcibly to his notice are those pertaining to the ranchman, his home life and business methods. There are flourishing farming communities where formerly only scattering ranches existed, pretentious buildings have taken the place of dug-outs and rude camps, and the paraphernalia of the round-up has been crushed out of existence in the snake-like coils of the ubiquitous barb wire. There is still a "frontier," but it has moved far to the westward; and the traveler who desires to see something of cowboy life in its purity must cross the Pecos or penetrate to the midst of the plains at the head of the Brazos or the Red, and drift a half-hundred miles from the nearest railroad line. As long as there is an "open range" on which to herd cattle in the old "orthodox" way, there will be found adventurous spirits reluctant to conform to the new ways and manners; men to whom the freedom and liberty of prairie life are as dear as the breath they breathe; who scorn the advantages of civilization as they disregard the petty hardships and discomforts of camp life, and who are content to put up with the inconveniences of old-time methods, in order to realize the old-time profits from the pursuits that they have chosen.
Our subject, M. B. Huling, is a cowman of the type just described, a prototype of that pioneer class to whose persistency and daring the present prosperous condition of the cattle industry may justly be ascribed. A Texan by birth, his life has been passed in the wildest portion of the State, and, with the exception of a short interval, amid the surroundings of ranch life. He was born in Jasper County, April 30, 1855, and is consequently in his forty-first year, but from his photograph, he would be considered a much younger man. Thomas B. Huling, his father, was of Swedish descent, and was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1803.
Our subject, M. B. Huling was only ten years of age at the time of his father's death, but, young as he was, had already learned to give his feeble aid in handling his father's herds. His eldest brother, six years older than himself, assumed control of the business under his mother's supervision, but received able assistance from the younger members of the family. Two of the daughters were already grown and married, but there were six minor children, five of them sons, remaining at home. Our subject, as one of the youngest, had, perhaps, better educational advantages than his elder brothers. His summers were spent at home assisting in the work of the ranch; but nine months of the year were passed at school - first at Bastrop, and afterward at the Military Institute at Austin. Of his early work, prior to leaving school, it is unnecessary to speak at length, for it would be but a repetition of what has been given in the biographies of other native Texans. One herd of cattle was driven by the brothers to Baxter Springs, and the trip and subsequent sales were successfully consummated. The mother then decided to sell her cattle, her grounds for this action being the fact that the cattle business was then very loosely conducted, and marked by a reckless disregard of the rights of ownership, and she feared that her sons, however honest they might be in their dealings, might chance to get into trouble through their dealings with others who were less scrupulous.
When eighteen years of age, Mr. Huling first began working for himself, and his first employment was building rock fences, in Lampasas County. He continued in this employment for about a year, and invested his money in heifer yearlings. He soon got together about 150 head, and with them established a ranch in Lampasas County. Each year he disposed of such of his cattle as were marketable, always investing the proceeds in young heifers, and in 1883, when he moved to his present location in El Paso County, he had increased his holding to 1,250 head. He made this move in order to secure a location where he would have "elbow room," and it is to be supposed that he found the object of his search, for, in his present location, at the foot of the Guadalupe Mountains, his nearest neighbor is eighteen miles distant. The grass in this portion of the State is remarkably good, but there is usually a scarcity of water, except in the lakes, which are too strongly impregnated by salt to be used by man or beast. The country, however, is underlaid with fairly good water, which is easily reached by means of wells, and Mr. Huling's ranch is furnished with wind-mills which supply his cattle with an abundance of water. During the years from 1889 to 1893, a great many cattlemen drove their herds to this region in order to take advantage of the free pasturage, but suffered heavy losses through the continued droughts, and were forced to take their cattle elsewhere. During Mr. Huang's residence there the Indians have not figured largely as a disturbing element, and though they have stolen a few head of stock occasionally, vastly more trouble has been caused by White thieves. However, there has been but little cause of complaint on this score of late years, and the country is in all respects as quiet as that lying three hundred miles to the eastward.
In 1893 Mr. Huling drove a herd of 2,500 cattle from El Paso County to Englewood, Kansas, where he disposed of them sixty days after his departure from home. The following year he repeated the drive, this time taking 1,500 head. His object in driving instead of shipping was to economize, since there are no direct lines of railroad from the vicinity of his ranch to market points, and it was a great deal cheaper to drive through direct than to drive to a shipping point and then start the cattle on a roundabout course northward. Mr. Huling is associated in business with his brother-in-law, T. Bean, and they own jointly about 5.000 head of cattle, and about seventy head of saddle horses, sufficient for handling their stock. In addition to his stock, Mr. Huling owns a farm of 1,280 acres in Denton County, 280 of which are in cultivation. He also has a farm in Williamson County consisting of 640 acres, where he cultivates 150 acres. His largest farm, however, is in Lampasas County, where he has 3,500 acres, 480 being cultivated.
Mr. Huling is unmarried, but trusts to change his condition at some time in the future, when he can take time to erect a commodious mansion on the site of the dug-out, which he now occupies. In a country where the nearest post office is sixty-five miles distant, it may be imagined that there is no oversupply of marriageable young ladies, but Mr. Huling has hopes of better days when the development of the country through the construction of new roads will lead to its better settlement. He is always on the alert and in readiness to do anything to attract immigration, and in this connection tells a story which will bear repetition.
Some years ago a marauding party of Mexicans made a descent upon that section, and a party of ranchmen gathered and pursued them. On their return after a long and futile chase, the party stopped at Van Horn Station, on the Texas & Pacific Railroad, and chanced to be at the depot when a train bearing some Eastern excursionists halted there. Among the passengers there were a number of inquisitive ladies of doubtful age, ready to observe anything that struck them as being typical to the country, and in no wise backward about asking information when it was lacking. One of them was struck with Mr. Huling's picturesque appearance as, clad in cowboy costume, and bearing an antiquated "buffalo gun," he stood on the depot platform. His belt, filled with cartridges of almost a finger's length, caught her eye and she beckoned him to her side and commenced her catechism:
"What are those, please?"
"Cartridges, ma'm," with his best bow.
"Oh, cartridges! How far can you kill a man with them."
"About a mile - if I can hit him."
"Oh, my!"
A little conversation on general subjects followed, in which Mr. Huling was led to confess that he was unmarried, and that his case was hopeless since there were no ladies in the country.
The lady raised her eyebrows in astonishment.
"Really! Oh, why don't you come up to New York? There are lots of ladies up there."
"If you could only send us down a car load - " began Mr. Huling; but just then the bell rang and the train moved off; and to the present time Mr. Huling has received no notification of the shipment which he was so earnestly requesting. (Source: Historical and Biographical Record of the Cattle Industry and the Cattlemen of Texas by James Cox, Published by Woodward & Tiernan Printing Co, St Louis, 1895
Son of Thomas B. Huling and Elizabeth (Bullock)
Following info provided by FAG member Sue Lilley:
" From his sons of the American Revolution Membership Application, it lists his birth place as Jasper, Texas and death place as Llano, Texas; spouse, Margaret Glenn Young; child, Bettie Dane Huling."
~
To the observant tourist who should visit Western Texas today after an absence of a dozen years, the changes in surroundings and conditions which would appeal most forcibly to his notice are those pertaining to the ranchman, his home life and business methods. There are flourishing farming communities where formerly only scattering ranches existed, pretentious buildings have taken the place of dug-outs and rude camps, and the paraphernalia of the round-up has been crushed out of existence in the snake-like coils of the ubiquitous barb wire. There is still a "frontier," but it has moved far to the westward; and the traveler who desires to see something of cowboy life in its purity must cross the Pecos or penetrate to the midst of the plains at the head of the Brazos or the Red, and drift a half-hundred miles from the nearest railroad line. As long as there is an "open range" on which to herd cattle in the old "orthodox" way, there will be found adventurous spirits reluctant to conform to the new ways and manners; men to whom the freedom and liberty of prairie life are as dear as the breath they breathe; who scorn the advantages of civilization as they disregard the petty hardships and discomforts of camp life, and who are content to put up with the inconveniences of old-time methods, in order to realize the old-time profits from the pursuits that they have chosen.
Our subject, M. B. Huling, is a cowman of the type just described, a prototype of that pioneer class to whose persistency and daring the present prosperous condition of the cattle industry may justly be ascribed. A Texan by birth, his life has been passed in the wildest portion of the State, and, with the exception of a short interval, amid the surroundings of ranch life. He was born in Jasper County, April 30, 1855, and is consequently in his forty-first year, but from his photograph, he would be considered a much younger man. Thomas B. Huling, his father, was of Swedish descent, and was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1803.
Our subject, M. B. Huling was only ten years of age at the time of his father's death, but, young as he was, had already learned to give his feeble aid in handling his father's herds. His eldest brother, six years older than himself, assumed control of the business under his mother's supervision, but received able assistance from the younger members of the family. Two of the daughters were already grown and married, but there were six minor children, five of them sons, remaining at home. Our subject, as one of the youngest, had, perhaps, better educational advantages than his elder brothers. His summers were spent at home assisting in the work of the ranch; but nine months of the year were passed at school - first at Bastrop, and afterward at the Military Institute at Austin. Of his early work, prior to leaving school, it is unnecessary to speak at length, for it would be but a repetition of what has been given in the biographies of other native Texans. One herd of cattle was driven by the brothers to Baxter Springs, and the trip and subsequent sales were successfully consummated. The mother then decided to sell her cattle, her grounds for this action being the fact that the cattle business was then very loosely conducted, and marked by a reckless disregard of the rights of ownership, and she feared that her sons, however honest they might be in their dealings, might chance to get into trouble through their dealings with others who were less scrupulous.
When eighteen years of age, Mr. Huling first began working for himself, and his first employment was building rock fences, in Lampasas County. He continued in this employment for about a year, and invested his money in heifer yearlings. He soon got together about 150 head, and with them established a ranch in Lampasas County. Each year he disposed of such of his cattle as were marketable, always investing the proceeds in young heifers, and in 1883, when he moved to his present location in El Paso County, he had increased his holding to 1,250 head. He made this move in order to secure a location where he would have "elbow room," and it is to be supposed that he found the object of his search, for, in his present location, at the foot of the Guadalupe Mountains, his nearest neighbor is eighteen miles distant. The grass in this portion of the State is remarkably good, but there is usually a scarcity of water, except in the lakes, which are too strongly impregnated by salt to be used by man or beast. The country, however, is underlaid with fairly good water, which is easily reached by means of wells, and Mr. Huling's ranch is furnished with wind-mills which supply his cattle with an abundance of water. During the years from 1889 to 1893, a great many cattlemen drove their herds to this region in order to take advantage of the free pasturage, but suffered heavy losses through the continued droughts, and were forced to take their cattle elsewhere. During Mr. Huang's residence there the Indians have not figured largely as a disturbing element, and though they have stolen a few head of stock occasionally, vastly more trouble has been caused by White thieves. However, there has been but little cause of complaint on this score of late years, and the country is in all respects as quiet as that lying three hundred miles to the eastward.
In 1893 Mr. Huling drove a herd of 2,500 cattle from El Paso County to Englewood, Kansas, where he disposed of them sixty days after his departure from home. The following year he repeated the drive, this time taking 1,500 head. His object in driving instead of shipping was to economize, since there are no direct lines of railroad from the vicinity of his ranch to market points, and it was a great deal cheaper to drive through direct than to drive to a shipping point and then start the cattle on a roundabout course northward. Mr. Huling is associated in business with his brother-in-law, T. Bean, and they own jointly about 5.000 head of cattle, and about seventy head of saddle horses, sufficient for handling their stock. In addition to his stock, Mr. Huling owns a farm of 1,280 acres in Denton County, 280 of which are in cultivation. He also has a farm in Williamson County consisting of 640 acres, where he cultivates 150 acres. His largest farm, however, is in Lampasas County, where he has 3,500 acres, 480 being cultivated.
Mr. Huling is unmarried, but trusts to change his condition at some time in the future, when he can take time to erect a commodious mansion on the site of the dug-out, which he now occupies. In a country where the nearest post office is sixty-five miles distant, it may be imagined that there is no oversupply of marriageable young ladies, but Mr. Huling has hopes of better days when the development of the country through the construction of new roads will lead to its better settlement. He is always on the alert and in readiness to do anything to attract immigration, and in this connection tells a story which will bear repetition.
Some years ago a marauding party of Mexicans made a descent upon that section, and a party of ranchmen gathered and pursued them. On their return after a long and futile chase, the party stopped at Van Horn Station, on the Texas & Pacific Railroad, and chanced to be at the depot when a train bearing some Eastern excursionists halted there. Among the passengers there were a number of inquisitive ladies of doubtful age, ready to observe anything that struck them as being typical to the country, and in no wise backward about asking information when it was lacking. One of them was struck with Mr. Huling's picturesque appearance as, clad in cowboy costume, and bearing an antiquated "buffalo gun," he stood on the depot platform. His belt, filled with cartridges of almost a finger's length, caught her eye and she beckoned him to her side and commenced her catechism:
"What are those, please?"
"Cartridges, ma'm," with his best bow.
"Oh, cartridges! How far can you kill a man with them."
"About a mile - if I can hit him."
"Oh, my!"
A little conversation on general subjects followed, in which Mr. Huling was led to confess that he was unmarried, and that his case was hopeless since there were no ladies in the country.
The lady raised her eyebrows in astonishment.
"Really! Oh, why don't you come up to New York? There are lots of ladies up there."
"If you could only send us down a car load - " began Mr. Huling; but just then the bell rang and the train moved off; and to the present time Mr. Huling has received no notification of the shipment which he was so earnestly requesting. (Source: Historical and Biographical Record of the Cattle Industry and the Cattlemen of Texas by James Cox, Published by Woodward & Tiernan Printing Co, St Louis, 1895
Following info provided by FAG member Sue Lilley:
" From his sons of the American Revolution Membership Application, it lists his birth place as Jasper, Texas and death place as Llano, Texas; spouse, Margaret Glenn Young; child, Bettie Dane Huling."
~
To the observant tourist who should visit Western Texas today after an absence of a dozen years, the changes in surroundings and conditions which would appeal most forcibly to his notice are those pertaining to the ranchman, his home life and business methods. There are flourishing farming communities where formerly only scattering ranches existed, pretentious buildings have taken the place of dug-outs and rude camps, and the paraphernalia of the round-up has been crushed out of existence in the snake-like coils of the ubiquitous barb wire. There is still a "frontier," but it has moved far to the westward; and the traveler who desires to see something of cowboy life in its purity must cross the Pecos or penetrate to the midst of the plains at the head of the Brazos or the Red, and drift a half-hundred miles from the nearest railroad line. As long as there is an "open range" on which to herd cattle in the old "orthodox" way, there will be found adventurous spirits reluctant to conform to the new ways and manners; men to whom the freedom and liberty of prairie life are as dear as the breath they breathe; who scorn the advantages of civilization as they disregard the petty hardships and discomforts of camp life, and who are content to put up with the inconveniences of old-time methods, in order to realize the old-time profits from the pursuits that they have chosen.
Our subject, M. B. Huling, is a cowman of the type just described, a prototype of that pioneer class to whose persistency and daring the present prosperous condition of the cattle industry may justly be ascribed. A Texan by birth, his life has been passed in the wildest portion of the State, and, with the exception of a short interval, amid the surroundings of ranch life. He was born in Jasper County, April 30, 1855, and is consequently in his forty-first year, but from his photograph, he would be considered a much younger man. Thomas B. Huling, his father, was of Swedish descent, and was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1803.
Our subject, M. B. Huling was only ten years of age at the time of his father's death, but, young as he was, had already learned to give his feeble aid in handling his father's herds. His eldest brother, six years older than himself, assumed control of the business under his mother's supervision, but received able assistance from the younger members of the family. Two of the daughters were already grown and married, but there were six minor children, five of them sons, remaining at home. Our subject, as one of the youngest, had, perhaps, better educational advantages than his elder brothers. His summers were spent at home assisting in the work of the ranch; but nine months of the year were passed at school - first at Bastrop, and afterward at the Military Institute at Austin. Of his early work, prior to leaving school, it is unnecessary to speak at length, for it would be but a repetition of what has been given in the biographies of other native Texans. One herd of cattle was driven by the brothers to Baxter Springs, and the trip and subsequent sales were successfully consummated. The mother then decided to sell her cattle, her grounds for this action being the fact that the cattle business was then very loosely conducted, and marked by a reckless disregard of the rights of ownership, and she feared that her sons, however honest they might be in their dealings, might chance to get into trouble through their dealings with others who were less scrupulous.
When eighteen years of age, Mr. Huling first began working for himself, and his first employment was building rock fences, in Lampasas County. He continued in this employment for about a year, and invested his money in heifer yearlings. He soon got together about 150 head, and with them established a ranch in Lampasas County. Each year he disposed of such of his cattle as were marketable, always investing the proceeds in young heifers, and in 1883, when he moved to his present location in El Paso County, he had increased his holding to 1,250 head. He made this move in order to secure a location where he would have "elbow room," and it is to be supposed that he found the object of his search, for, in his present location, at the foot of the Guadalupe Mountains, his nearest neighbor is eighteen miles distant. The grass in this portion of the State is remarkably good, but there is usually a scarcity of water, except in the lakes, which are too strongly impregnated by salt to be used by man or beast. The country, however, is underlaid with fairly good water, which is easily reached by means of wells, and Mr. Huling's ranch is furnished with wind-mills which supply his cattle with an abundance of water. During the years from 1889 to 1893, a great many cattlemen drove their herds to this region in order to take advantage of the free pasturage, but suffered heavy losses through the continued droughts, and were forced to take their cattle elsewhere. During Mr. Huang's residence there the Indians have not figured largely as a disturbing element, and though they have stolen a few head of stock occasionally, vastly more trouble has been caused by White thieves. However, there has been but little cause of complaint on this score of late years, and the country is in all respects as quiet as that lying three hundred miles to the eastward.
In 1893 Mr. Huling drove a herd of 2,500 cattle from El Paso County to Englewood, Kansas, where he disposed of them sixty days after his departure from home. The following year he repeated the drive, this time taking 1,500 head. His object in driving instead of shipping was to economize, since there are no direct lines of railroad from the vicinity of his ranch to market points, and it was a great deal cheaper to drive through direct than to drive to a shipping point and then start the cattle on a roundabout course northward. Mr. Huling is associated in business with his brother-in-law, T. Bean, and they own jointly about 5.000 head of cattle, and about seventy head of saddle horses, sufficient for handling their stock. In addition to his stock, Mr. Huling owns a farm of 1,280 acres in Denton County, 280 of which are in cultivation. He also has a farm in Williamson County consisting of 640 acres, where he cultivates 150 acres. His largest farm, however, is in Lampasas County, where he has 3,500 acres, 480 being cultivated.
Mr. Huling is unmarried, but trusts to change his condition at some time in the future, when he can take time to erect a commodious mansion on the site of the dug-out, which he now occupies. In a country where the nearest post office is sixty-five miles distant, it may be imagined that there is no oversupply of marriageable young ladies, but Mr. Huling has hopes of better days when the development of the country through the construction of new roads will lead to its better settlement. He is always on the alert and in readiness to do anything to attract immigration, and in this connection tells a story which will bear repetition.
Some years ago a marauding party of Mexicans made a descent upon that section, and a party of ranchmen gathered and pursued them. On their return after a long and futile chase, the party stopped at Van Horn Station, on the Texas & Pacific Railroad, and chanced to be at the depot when a train bearing some Eastern excursionists halted there. Among the passengers there were a number of inquisitive ladies of doubtful age, ready to observe anything that struck them as being typical to the country, and in no wise backward about asking information when it was lacking. One of them was struck with Mr. Huling's picturesque appearance as, clad in cowboy costume, and bearing an antiquated "buffalo gun," he stood on the depot platform. His belt, filled with cartridges of almost a finger's length, caught her eye and she beckoned him to her side and commenced her catechism:
"What are those, please?"
"Cartridges, ma'm," with his best bow.
"Oh, cartridges! How far can you kill a man with them."
"About a mile - if I can hit him."
"Oh, my!"
A little conversation on general subjects followed, in which Mr. Huling was led to confess that he was unmarried, and that his case was hopeless since there were no ladies in the country.
The lady raised her eyebrows in astonishment.
"Really! Oh, why don't you come up to New York? There are lots of ladies up there."
"If you could only send us down a car load - " began Mr. Huling; but just then the bell rang and the train moved off; and to the present time Mr. Huling has received no notification of the shipment which he was so earnestly requesting. (Source: Historical and Biographical Record of the Cattle Industry and the Cattlemen of Texas by James Cox, Published by Woodward & Tiernan Printing Co, St Louis, 1895
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