noon
Our first steer herd to arrive was from Hood County , and after seeing them safely on the Great Bend trail at Pond Creek , I waited for the other steer cattle from Coryell to arrive . Both herds came in within a day of each other , and I loitered along with them , finally overtaking the lead one when within fifty miles of The Bend . In fair weather it was a delightful existence to loaf along with the cattle ; but once all three herds reached their destination , two outfits held them , and I took the Hood County lads and dropped back on the Medicine . Our ranch hands had everything shaped up nicely , and by working a double outfit and making round-ups at noon , when the cattle were on water , we quietly cut out three thousand head of our biggest beeves without materially disturbing our holdings on that range . These northern wintered cattle were intended for delivery at Fort Abraham Lincoln on the Missouri River in what is now North Dakota . The through heavy beeves from Uvalde County were intended for Fort Randall and intermediate posts , some of them for reissue to various Indian agencies . The reservations of half a dozen tribes were tributary to the forts along the upper Missouri , and the government was very liberal in supplying its wards with fresh beef .