nine o'clock
All the herds were aroused with the dawn , and after a few hours ' sun on the cattle , the Indian beeves were turned onto the water and held until the middle of the forenoon , when the start was made for the Platte and Ogalalla . I led out with `` The Apple '' cattle , throwing onto the trail for the first ten miles , which put me well in advance of Bob Quirk and Forrest , who were in my immediate rear . A well-known divide marked the halfway between the two waters , and I was determined to camp on it that night . It was fully nine o'clock when we reached it , Don Lovell in the mean time having overtaken us . This watershed was also recognized as the line of Keith County , an organized community , and the next morning expectation ran high as to what the day would bring forth . Lovell insisted on staying with the lead herd , and pressing him in as horse-wrangler , I sent him in the lead with the remuda and wagon , while Levering fell into the swing with the trailing cattle . A breakfast halt was made fully seven miles from the bed-ground , a change of mounts , and then up divide , across mesa , and down slope at the foot of which ran the Platte .