Springs, Tex., and his son Dr. Joseph L. is now Dec., 1906 at Veterinary college, Kansas City, Mo. Has been there two years and will remain two years longer.
From a stock book published in Texas I here insert a short biography of Larkin Hearn, omitting the genealogy, which has already been given.
"Larkin Hearn was four years old when his father moved to Tex., and when, in 1852 the purchase of a small stock of cattle gave the lad an opportunity to do so; he showed a remarkable aptitude for the stock business. and from that time to the present has been giving it his undivided attention, In 1854 he moved with his father's herds to Collin Go.. then rightfully considered one of the best grazing districts in Tex. The broad black-land prairies, now devoted to the growth of corn and cotton, were then covered with a luxurient growth of succulent, beef-producing fine grass, and the cattle that were herded on the East Fork of the Trinity were almost always in prime condition. There was an abundance of game in Northern Texas then, and the danger from the Indians was amply sufficient to furnish a spice of excitement to the somewhat monotonous life led by the cow herders. There were hardships to be endured that are practically unknown in the present day of enclosed ranges and comfortable ranch houses, and many grown men found them unendurable and gave tip the business in disgust but "Lark" Hearn, though only in his thirteenth year "cottoned" to the business from the first, and five years later purchased 500 head of stock cattle and began ranching on his own account. This herd he moved in 1860 to Montague, Co., then the extreme frontier and occupied by a very few daring cattlemen, who disputed with the Indians for supremacy, and risked their lives almost daily in herding and caring for their stock. Mr. Hearn had numbers of encounters with the Indians, and it is to be regretted that a number of the more interesting of his experiences cannot be included in the present biography. From the many, we select the following incident, as it paints in forcible colors the heroism of our noble women of pioneer days and illustrates the subterfuges to which thev sometimes had to resort in order to save the lives of themselves and families. The incident is given in Mr. Hearn's own language:
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