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| "Maxwell,
an old frontiersman," says our artist, has a ranch which it is
the work of many days to inspect. This farm consists of a grant of
forty miles square. Maxwell’s sheep reach the number of nearly
30,000; cattle and ponies he has without any knowledge himself of
their number. A tribe of "Utes," numbering about 600, are
his chosen defenders. The ranch proper, or house, is inhabited by
the most miscellaneous collection of man and beast and fowl that one
can imagine. The servants are mostly Navajo Indians. Two of the
squaws of this tribe have been engaged for months in weaving in
their own peculiar style a blanket that is to be presented to the
Secretary of the Interior. The Navajo blanket is an article more
sought after than one would suppose. It sells readily, if a good
one, for from a hundred to a hundred and fifty dollars, according to
its pattern or quality. They are so closely woven that water can be
carried in them; and as a protection against the chill winds of the
plains they are equal to the best for robe." |
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