Not that any foreman could be suspected--not at all!--but the
foreman who insisted on his old right to own a running iron and a
registered brand was politely asked to find his employment
somewhere else.
* In the early days a rancher by the name of Maverick, a Texas
man, had made himself rich simply by riding out on the open range
and branding loose and unmarked occupants of the free lands.
Hence the term "Maverick" was applied to any unbranded animal
running loose on the range. No one cared to interfere with these
early activities in collecting unclaimed cattle. Many a
foundation for a great fortune was laid in precisely that way. It
was not until the more canny days in the North that Mavericks
were regarded with jealous eyes.
The large-handed and once generous methods of the old range now
began to narrow themselves. Even if the Little Fellow were able
to throw a fence around his own land, very often he did not have
land enough to support his herd with profit. A certain antipathy
now began to arise between the great cattle owners and the small
ones, especially on the upper range, where some rather bitter
wars were fought--the cow kings accusing their smaller rivals of
rustling cows; the small man accusing the larger operators of
having for years done the same thing, and of having grown rich at
it.
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