"Virtually all of the great ranchers from South Texas and Panhandle are treated in a remarkable book by James Cox, Historical and Biographical Record of the Cattle Industry ...(1895)." - Charlie Siringo's West (2005)
"Historical and biographical record of all the early day cattlemen...published in 1895 by James Cox and is regarded as authority on early history of the cattle business." -Granite (Oklahoma) Enterprise, Nov. 17, 1911
"Much of the early history of Runnels County is included, along with many biographies of early day ranchers." -Abilene Reporter-News, June 19, 1958
"One of the 'Big Four' Cattle books, with biographies of cattlemen and extensive contemporary account of the Texas Cattle trade." - Donald A. Heald Rare Books
Post-Civil War, cowboys herded over 6 million cattle from Texas to northern markets which ran from South Texas to Abilene, Kansas. The Chisholm Trail was one of the greatest routes taken during these cattle drives.
In 1895, James Cox (1849-1901) published "Historical and Biographical Record of the Cattle Industry and the Cattlemen of Texas, " a book considered one of the "big four" most important books on the cattle industry.
The large book offers a comprehensive early range history, with chapters which include "Indian Depredations," "Influences of Barb Wire and the Civil War on the Cattle Industry of the Southwest," "A Few Facts Concerning Texas Fever, Actual and Alleged," and, "The Cowboy, as He Was, and Is, and is Supposed to Have Been." Nearly 400 pages are devoted to biographies of the cattlemen associated with the start and growth of the cattle trade, including famous cattlemen such as Charles Goodnight, Oliver Loving and Samuel Burk Burnett.
During this time, cattlemen still faced great losses from Indian raids. In describing several cattlemen's attempt to recover stolen livestock, Cox writes:
"They discovered a band of twenty Indians with 100 stolen ponies. Hiding until night, they decided to slip into the enemy's camp, and by firing stampede both them and the ponies, and thus recover the latter. They were crawling down a creek lined with brush, when, within a few hundred yards of the Indian camp, they were surprised by seeing at least 1,000 redskins charging down on them from the rear, whooping, yelling, shooting and screaming like fiends. Their position was a critical one and, without time to think, they dove like turtles into the water...."
In describing a harrowing wolf-chase of one woman pioneer who was on the run from Comanches, Cox writes:
"The ravenous pack of wolves, becoming more and more emboldened and impatient as the speed of her horse relaxed, approaching nearer and nearer, until, with their eyes flashing fire, they snapped savagely at the head of the terrified animal, while at the same time they kept up their hideous concert like the howling of ten thousand fiends from the infernal regions. Every element in her nature was at this fearful juncture taxed to its greatest tension, and impelled her to concentrate the force of all her remaining energies in urging and coaxing forward the wearied horse..."
Cox's book is a well-regarded historical resource, being cited in the following modern historical works:
• From Guns to Gavels: How Justice Grew Up in the Outlaw West, Bill Neal (2008)
• Dodge City: The Early Years, 1872-1886 (2009)
• Kansas History (2007)
• The Old Chisholm Trail: From Cow Path to Tourist Stop (2018)
• Lone Star Blue and Gray: Essays on Texas and the Civil War (2015)
• The City Moves West: Economic and Industrial Growth in Central West (2014)
• Up the Trail: How Texas Cowboys Herded Longhorns and Became an American Icon, Tim Lehman (2018)
