Chapter I: Front Matter

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THE RANCHE ON THE OXHIDE

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OFFICERS OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL

Honorary President, THE HON. WOODROW WILSON
Honorary Vice-President, HON. WILLIAM H. TAFT
Honorary Vice-President, COLONEL THEODORE ROOSEVELT
President, COLIN H. LIVINGSTON, Washington, D. C.
Vice-President, B. L. DULANEY, Bristol, Tenn.
Vice-President, MILTON A. McRAE, Detroit, Mich.
Vice-President, DAVID STARR JORDAN, Stanford University, Cal.
Vice-President, F. L. SEELY, Asheville, N. C.
Vice-President, A. STAMFORD WHITE, Chicago, Ill.
Chief Scout, ERNEST THOMPSON SETON, Greenwich, Connecticut
National Scout Commissioner, DANIEL CARTER BEARD, Flushing N. Y.

NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS

BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA

THE FIFTH AVENUE BUILDING, 200 FIFTH AVENUE
TELEPHONE GRAMERCY 545
NEW YORK CITY

FINANCE COMMITTEE
John Sherman Hoyt, Chairman
August Belmont
George D. Pratt
Mortimer L. Schiff
H. Rogers Winthrop

GEORGE D. PRATT
Treasurer

JAMES E. WEST
Chief Scout Executive

ADDITIONAL MEMBERS OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD
Ernest P. Bicknell
Robert Garrett
Lee F. Hanmer
John Sherman Hoyt
Charles C. Jackson
Prof. Jeremiah W. Jenks
William D. Murray
Dr. Charles P. Neill
George D. Porter
Frank Presbrey
Edgar M. Robinson
Mortimer L. Schiff
Lorillard Spencer
Seth Sprague Terry

July 31st, 1913.

TO THE PUBLIC:--

In the execution of its purpose to give educational value and moral worth to the recreational activities of the boyhood of America, the leaders of the Boy Scout Movement quickly learned that to effectively carry out its program, the boy must be influenced not only in his out-of-door life but also in the diversions of his other leisure moments. It is at such times that the boy is captured by the tales of daring enterprises and adventurous good times. What now is needful is not that his taste should be thwarted but trained. There should constantly be presented to him the books the boy likes best, yet always the books that will be best for the boy. As a matter of fact, however, the boy's taste is being constantly vitiated and exploited by the great mass of cheap juvenile literature.

To help anxiously concerned parents and educators to meet this grave peril, the Library Commission of the Boy Scouts of America has been organised. EVERY BOY'S LIBRARY is the result of their labors. All the books chosen have been approved by them. The Commission is composed of the following members: George F. Bowerman, Librarian, Public Library of the District of Columbia, Washington, D. C.; Harrison W. Graver, Librarian, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Pa.; Claude G. Leland, Superintendent, Bureau of Libraries, Board of Education, New York City: Edward F. Stevens, Librarian, Pratt Institute Free Library, Brooklyn, New York; together with the Editorial Board of our Movement William D. Murray, George D. Pratt and Frank Presbrey, with Franklin K. Mathiews, Chief Scout Librarian, as Secretary.

"DO A GOOD TURN DAILY."

In selecting the books, the Commission has chosen only such as are of interest to boys, the first twenty-five being either works of fiction or stirring stories of adventurous experiences. In later lists, books of a more serious sort will be included. It is hoped that as many as twenty-five may be added to the Library each year.

Thanks are due the several publishers who have helped to inaugurate this new department of our work. Without their co-operation in making available for popular priced editions some of the best books ever published for boys, the promotion of EVERY BOY'S LIBRARY would have been impossible.

We wish, too, to express our heartiest gratitude to the Library Commission, who, without compensation, have placed their vast experience and immense resources at the service of our Movement.

The Commission invites suggestions as to future books to be included in the Library. Librarians, teachers, parents, and all others interested in welfare work for boys, can render a unique service by forwarding to National Headquarters lists of such books as in their judgment would be suitable for EVERY BOY'S LIBRARY.

Signed

Chief Scout Executive.

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THE RANCHE ON THE OXHIDE

_Page 290._ _Frontispiece._]

Every Boy's Library--Boy Scout Edition

THE RANCHE ON THE OXHIDE

A Story of Boys' and Girls' Life on the Frontier

by

HENRY INMAN

Late Captain United States Army Brevet Lieutenant Colonel

Author of The Old Santa Fé Trail

Illustrated by Charles Bradford Hudson

New York Grosset & Dunlap Publishers (Macmillan's Standard Library)

Copyright, 1898, By The Macmillan Company.

Set up and electrotyped. Published July, 1898. Reprinted December, 1905; December, 1908; October, 1909; June, 1911. New edition September, 1906; August, September, 1911; March, June, 1912; July, 1913.

Norwood Press J. S. Cushing & Co.--Berwick & Smith Co. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.

To My Grandson
GEORGE INMAN SEITZ

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

TAKING UP A "CLAIM" IN KANSAS--THE TRAIL FROM
LEAVENWORTH--ANIMALS SEEN EN ROUTE--PRAIRIE
CHICKENS--BUILDING THE CABIN--THE COSY
SITTING-ROOM--ANIMALS FOUND IN THE TIMBER AND ON THE
PRAIRIE--WHY THE CREEK WAS NAMED "OXHIDE" Page 1

CHAPTER II

THE HOUSE IS FINISHED--BUILDING CORRALS--THE HOUNDS--THEIR
FIGHT WITH A LYNX--ITS HIDE GIVEN TO GERTRUDE--THE
IMMENSE HERD OF BUFFALO--CAPTURE FOUR CALVES--GET THEIR
PONIES IN A STRANGE MANNER--BREAKING THEM Page 13

CHAPTER III

THE BOYS GO FISHING FOR THE FIRST TIME--AN IDEA SUDDENLY
STRIKES ROB--ROB'S QUEST AND LUCK--THE ISLAND OF
WILLOWS--ROB'S BIG CAT--JOE'S TUSSLE WITH A PANTHER
CUB--KILLS HIM--IS WOUNDED--SKINS THE ANIMAL, AND GETS
HOME AT LAST--GIVES THE BEAUTIFUL ROBE TO HIS MOTHER Page 29

CHAPTER IV

BOY AND GIRL LIFE AT ERROLSTRATH RANCHE--THEIR PETS--THE
GIRLS ENCOUNTER A BIG PRAIRIE WOLF--JOE TO THE
RESCUE--DEATH OF THE FEROCIOUS BEAST Page 48

CHAPTER V

THE FRIENDLY PAWNEES CAMP ON THE OXHIDE--OLD "YELLOW
CALF," THE CHIEF--JOE IS NAMED "THE WHITE PANTHER"--JOE
GOES HUNTING WITH THE BAND--HE LEARNS THE
LANGUAGE--HUNTING WITH THE BOYS OF THE TRIBE Page 62

CHAPTER VI

THE STORY OF THE MASSACRE ON SPILLMAN CREEK--SCOUTS GO TO
THE RESCUE--JOE AND ROB TALK OVER THE HORRID WORK OF THE
SAVAGES--THE DOG SOLDIERS--CHARLEY BENT--PLACE OF
RENDEZVOUS--PARTY STARTS OUT--JOE'S OPINION IS ASKED Page 71

CHAPTER VII

ARRIVAL OF CAVALRY ON THE ELKHORN--A DEER HUNT--WHAT THE
SCOUTS SAW--THE STORY OF THE TWO LITTLE GIRLS--THE DEAD
AND WOUNDED--MEN HIDDEN IN THE BRUSH--AN INDIAN
LEGEND--ARRIVAL OF THE INFANTRY--THE DEER HUNT IN THE
MORNING--DEATH OF THE DEER Page 98

CHAPTER VIII

MR. TUCKER PASSES THE NIGHT AT ERROLSTRATH--HE TELLS SOME
STORIES OF HUNTING BIG GAME IN THE ROCKY
MOUNTAINS--SAGACITY OF THE FEMALE BIGHORN--THE AMERICAN
COUGAR--THE BEAR AND THE PANTHER--THE RABBIT HUNT--HOW
THE BOYS TRAINED THEIR HOUNDS Page 118

CHAPTER IX

INDIAN RAIDS--KATE IS MISSING--"BUFFALO BILL'S"
OPINION--"BUFFALO BILL" FINDS HER LITTLE BASKET--THE
SOLDIERS RETURN TO THE FORT WITHOUT FINDING HER--GRIEF
OF THE FAMILY Page 137

CHAPTER X

HOW KATE WAS CAPTURED BY THE INDIANS--THE BAND RIDE
RAPIDLY SOUTHWARD--AT THE INDIAN VILLAGE--HER
DETERMINATION TO ESCAPE--TEACHES THE SQUAWS--IS TREATED
KINDLY Page 147

CHAPTER XI

THANKSGIVING DAY AT ERROLSTRATH--KATE'S RETURN--CUSTER'S
BATTLE WITH "BLACK KETTLE"--KATE TELLS HER STORY--THE
ORIGIN OF INDIAN CORN--A WOLF HUNT WITH GENERAL
CUSTER--A WOLF STORY BY THE COLONEL Page 156

CHAPTER XII

A WOLF HUNT--TWO SNAKE STORIES--TERRIBLE STRUGGLE WITH A
MOUNTAIN WOLF--A MAIL RIDER EATEN--THE OLD TRAPPER'S
EXPERIENCE WITH FOUR OF THE FIERCE BEASTS Page 193

CHAPTER XIII

JOE, ROB, AND THE OLD TRAPPER--GENERAL CUSTER ARRIVES AT
THE RENDEZVOUS--THE WOLF DENS--FIRST TUSSLE BETWEEN THE
HOUNDS AND A WOLF--CINCH'S GREAT BATTLE Page 211

CHAPTER XIV

A WILD TURKEY HUNT--THE TRIP TO MUD CREEK--THE TURKEY
ROOST--THE SHOOTING BEGINS--COUNTING THE NUMBER
KILLED--JOE SELLS TURKEYS Page 222

CHAPTER XV

HOW THE ROBIN CAME TO KANSAS--MOCKING-BIRDS--EATEN BY
SNAKES--JOE LOSES HIS TAME ELK--THE LAST OF THE
WOLVES--FINDING THE QUAIL'S NEST--JOE BUILDS A CAGE FOR
THEM--RAISING CHICKENS Page 229

CHAPTER XVI

THE PAWNEES RETURN--ANTELOPE HUNT WITH THE INDIANS--JOE
MISSES--WHITE WOLF--TALK OF A WILD HORSE HUNT--THE
SAND-HILL CRANES--THEIR WEIRD COTILLION Page 246

CHAPTER XVII

WILD HORSES--JOE SLEEPS IN WHITE WOLF'S TENT--CAMP ON THE
WALNUT--WOLVES AND LYNXES--KILL AN ELK--THE
CHASE--CAPTURE OF THE BLACK STALLION--WHITE WOLF'S
SKILL--BREAKING THE HORSES Page 256

CHAPTER XVIII

THE LAST HERD OF BUFFALO--THE STAMPEDE--THE SOLDIERS IN
FULL CHASE--JOE GETS TWO COWS--HAULING IN THE
MEAT--RATTLESNAKES Page 272

CHAPTER XIX

THE INDIAN HORSE-RACE--KATE'S PONY WINS--THE TRADE WITH
THE PAWNEES--THE DANCES AT NIGHT--THE INDIANS SAY GOOD
BY TO THE FAMILY--NOBLE ACTION OF WHITE WOLF Page 281

CHAPTER XX

CONCLUSION

RETROSPECTIVE--THE OLD TRAPPER PASSES AWAY--MR. AND MRS.
THOMPSON ARE DEAD--GENERAL CUSTER AND COLONEL KEOGH ARE
KILLED--ERROLSTRATH BELONGS TO JOE AND ROB Page 295

THE RANCHE ON THE OXHIDE