The Missouri in the Civil War Message Board

Re: Missouri Guerrillas
In Response To: Re: Missouri Guerrillas ()

You are correct...I was never in Kansas in the 1880s. All the cattle found in Kansas before 1890 came from Texas. Kansas and Nebraska had cattle shipping points until 1886. Prior to 1900, it was difficult to irrigate more than 300 acres of wheat with well water.

I feel sure they have made vast improvements to the irrigation systems in Kansas by now and livestock can be raised in that state as well as wheat. Prior to 1900, it was difficult to irrigate wheat with well water.

From 1874 until he died in 1914, my great grandfather William E. Gilmer (14th Georgia Inf.) was a fence rider, teamster and windmiller on the 50,000 acre ranch owned by Frank Gholson (Texas Ranger and 2nd Texas Cav.) in Lampasas, Coryell and Hamilton County Texas. Bill Gilmer serviced about 20 wooden windmills with a oil can when he found one that was squeeking. Gholson installed his first wooden windmill in 1882 which was about the same time that barbed wire was introduced and started the fence cutting war in central Texas. Cattlemen such as Frank Gholson who had title to their cattle range fenced off the open range cowmen's herds from water. The severe ten year drought that started in 1883 intensified the bloody fence cutting war which was finally brought to an end by Capt. Ira Aten and the Texas Rangers.

The metal windmills were introduced in Texas about 1888 and they were equipped with a backgear drive that did not need hardly any servicing. Variants of those metal windmills are still in service today in remote locations where there is no electricity.

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