Still in the Cattle Business

By "The Cowboy" Jim Gray

1884 was a tough year for the end of trail Kansas cattle towns. At the “Border Queen” of Caldwell, cattlemen were under pressure to abandon grazing lands leased from the Cherokee Nation.

The Boomer movement, led by David Payne, sought to open the leased lands for private ownership through homestead law. Lobbying efforts in Washington D.C. were slowly swaying political leaders against the Cherokee-Cowboy relationship. In response, the embattled Cowboys and Indians formed a unique bond, which in the words of the Cherokee Advocate combined to stand “squarely” together to defend one another’s rights against “the lawless class”.

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