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Teschemacher and deBillier Cattle Company: A Study of Eastern Capital on the Frontier
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 July 2012
Abstract
Adventure as well as hope for great gain touched off the western cattle boom of the 1880's. The magic lure of the West proved irresistible even to conservative Eastern financiers. Losses were large, but the disillusioned and precipitous withdrawal of capital made them even larger.
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- Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College 1959
References
1 Allen, Richard M., “Harvard Men in the Range Cattle Business,” Harvard Graduates Magazine, Vol. II (1894), pp. 183–192.Google Scholar
2 Brisbin, James B., The Beef Bonanza: or, How to Get Rich on the Plains (Philadelphia, 1882), pp. 65–66.Google Scholar
3 A. T. Babbitt, “The Grazing Interest and the Beef Supply” (Cheyenne, March 10, 1884), p. 4.
4 Other seers of great fortunes to be made in the cattle industry were: Batchelder, George A., A Sketch of History and Resources of Dakota Territory (Yankton, 1870)Google Scholar; Aldridge, Reginald, Ranch Notes in Kansas, Colorado, the Indian Territory and North Texas (London, 1884)Google Scholar; Richtofen, Walter von, Cattle Raising on the Plains of North America (New York, 1883)Google Scholar; Hayes, A. A., “The Cattle Ranches of Colorado,” Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. LIX (1879), pp. 877–895Google Scholar; Strahorn, Robert E., Hand-book of Wyoming and Guide to the Black Hills and Big Horn Region for Citizen, Emigrant and Tourist (Cheyenne, 1877)Google Scholar; Wilkenson, Frank, “Cattle Raising on the Plains,” Harper's Monthly Magazine, Vol. LXXII (1886), pp. 788–795.Google Scholar
Even the normally conservative members of Parliament who came to investigate the agricultural conditions of the United States, could not restrain themselves from commenting on the lucrativeness of the cattle industry. John Clay wrote, “The acknowledged profits upon capital invested in cattle are 25 to 33 per cent; even the latter figure is probably below the mark.” Clay, John, Jr, “Reports of the Assistant Commissioners to inquire into the agriculture of the United States and Canada, by Clare Read, Albert Pell and John Clay, Jr.,” Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons Sessional Papers, 1881, Vol. III, pp. 819–828.Google Scholar
5 Frederic deBillier was born in New York City, Dec. 16, 1857. His father was a partner in the financial house of Weston and deBillier. Graduating from Harvard in the class of 1878, he spent three months in a brokerage house on Wall Street, followed by another three months in Texas. In Sept., 1879, deBillier went into partnership with H. E. Teschemacher in Cheyenne. After the Johnson County Cattle War of 1892, he suffered a nervous breakdown and left for New York City. The next three years were spent traveling through Europe. He was connected with deBillier and Company from 1896 to 1908. In the latter year, deBillier entered the United States Foreign Service. During the next 16 years, he was appointed to a succession of diplomatic posts in Iran, Greece, Bolivia, Rome and Peru. DeBillier retired in July, 1924; he died at Nice, France, in 1935. Harvard College Class of 1878. Report of 1884, pp. 17–18; Report of 1892 pp. 24–25; Report of 1901, p. 24; Report of 1928, pp. 22–23; Register of the Department of State (Washington, 1924), p. 115; Register of the Department of State (Washington, 1925), p. 117.
6 Born in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 30, 1856, Hubert E. Teschemacher was the son of Henry F. Teschemacher, California merchant and early mayor of San Francisco. After graduation from Harvard in 1878, Teschemacher spent six fruitless months studying law at his alma mater. Turning to the cattle business for an occupation, he left for Wyoming in August, 1879. “Teschy,” as he was called by his friends, was quite popular in the Territory and played a much more prominent role in local politics than did his partner, deBillier. He served on the executive committee of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, 1883–1892. He was also a member of the Territorial House in 1884; member of the Territorial Council in 1886, and delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1889. He left the West in 1892, residing with his parents in Switzerland until their deaths. Returning to New England, Teschemacher died in Boston, Jan. 25, 1907, after a short illness of pneumonia. Gras, N. S. B., ed., “Business Letters From San Francisco Bay, 1847–1853,” Journal of Economic and Business History, Vol. 1 (1929), pp. 325–334Google Scholar; Harvard College Class of 1878, pp. 81–82; Report of 1892, pp. 121–122; Report of 1901, pp. 115–116; Report of 1928, pp. 221–223. The author is indebted to Charles K. Cobb of Boston, son of the Teschemacher family attorney, for biographical information on both F. O. deBillier and H. E. Teschemacher.
7 Arthur E. Teschemacher, Hubert's brother, accompanied the two Harvard men to Cheyenne. He never appears to have played a very active role in the management of the company, although he did purchase $30,000 worth of stock.
8 Little biographical information is known about E. H. Warner, other than the fact that he came up the Texas Cattle Trail in 1878 and founded the Duck Bar Ranch. Warner was among the first cattlemen to stock his ranch with the heavier type cattle from Oregon. Shaw, James C., North From Texas (Evanston, Illinois, 1952), pp. 90–91.Google Scholar
9 Bill of Sale, E. H. Warner to H. E. Teschemacher and F. O. deBillier, Nov. 29, 1879, Cheyenne, Wyoming. Teschemacher and deBillier Collection, Western History and Archives Department, University of Wyoming, Laramie. Hereafter cited, T. and deB. Coll.
10 Bill of Sale, Tobias Miller to H. E. Teschemacher and F. O. deBillier, March 8, 1880, Cheyenne, Wyoming. T. and deB. Coll.
11 Bill of Sale, D. H. Andrews to H. E. Teschemacher and F. O. deBillier, March 8, 1880, Cheyenne, Wyoming. T. and deB. Coll.
12 Ledger, 1881–1882, p. 12. T. and deB. Coll.
13 Bill of Sale, H. G. Newcomb to H. E. Teschemacher and F. O. deBillier, June 8, 1881, Cheyenne, Wyoming. Bill of Sale, S. B. Chaffee to H. E. Teschemacher and F. O. deBillier, May 17, 1881. T. and deB. Coll.
14 Ledger, 1881–1882, p. 18. T. and deB. Coll.
15 Ibid., p. 22.
16 H. F. Teschemacher to H. E. Teschemacher, Jan. 9, 1881. T. and deB. Coll.
17 Incorporation of the Teschemacher and deBillier Cattie Company. Record of Incorporations, Secretary of State, Cheyenne, Wyoming, Vol. I (1881), p. 468. The objects of the company were given as, “the buying, selling, grazing and breeding of cattle and horses in the Territory of Wyoming and in other parts of the United States as the successful prosecution may require; and also to purchase hold and sell real estate, ranches, ranges for grazing purposes, water privilege rights in the Territory of Wyoming and in other parts of the United States as the same may be necessary or conducive to the interest of the Company.” The duration of the corporation was listed as five years.
18 Stockholders Book, p. 19. T. and deB. Coll.
19 Record Book, 1882, p. 5. T. and deB. Coll.
20 Richard Trimble to Merritt Trimble, Aug. 27, 1882. Richard Trimble Collection, Western History and Archives Department, University of Wyoming, Laramie. Hereafter cited as Trimble Coll.
21 Annual Statement, 1882, p. 2. T. and deB. Coll.
22 Between Feb. 1, 1882, and April 18, 1884, there were 91 cattle companies filing incorporation papers. Records of Incorporations, Secretary of State's Ofiice, Cheyenne, Wyoming.
23 Of the 2,300 additional head of cattle, 618 are attributed to natural increase of the herd. Annual Statement, 1882, p. 3. T. and deB. Coll.
24 Augustus Gurnee to H. E. Teschemacher, Sept. 9, 1882; Ebenezer Roby to H. E. Teschemacher, Sept. 12, 1882; E. Willard Roby to H. E. Teschemacher, Sept. 11, 1882; P. E. Teschemacher to H. E. Teschemacher, Sept. 22, 1882. T. and deB. Coll.
25 Incorporation of the Teschemacher and deBillier Cattle Company, Record of Incorporations, Secretary of State, Cheyenne, Wyoming, Vol. I (1881), p. 549. The only major change in this incorporation, besides the increased capitalization, was the duration of the company now optimistically set at 50 years rather than 5.
26 As far as the writer has been able to ascertain from the records of the company and from the subscription letters of the stockholders, there was no watered stock in the enter prise, Nor does there seem to have been any preference given to individual stockholders in dividend payments. Many companies in the West, at this period, differentiated between stock holders to the extent that some investors in these companies received double the dividends given to other proprietors of stock. Of course, watering stocks was a common occurrence in many corporations both East and West.
27 Roosevelt's investment totaled $10,000. Roosevelt and Son to Teschemacher and de Billier, Oct. 30, 1882. T. and deB. Coll.
28 John Bigelow was born in New York City on Nov. 25, 1817. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree from Union College, he was admitted to the Bar in 1839. Bigelow served as an editor of the New York Post, 1849 to 1861. From 1861 to 1867, he was United States Consul and Minister to France. A lifelong friend of Samuel J. Tilden, he was both administrator and president of the Tilden estate. In this capacity, Bigelow was instrumental in providing funds from the Tilden estate for the New York Public Library, an institution of which he has been called the “father.” He was the author of some 20 volumes; The Life of Samuel J. Tilden and Retrospections on a Busy Life are most well-known. Bigelow died in 1911.
29 Born in New York City on March 26, 1858, Richard Trimble graduated from Harvard in 1880. That fall he took a round-the-world trip with his intimate friend Robert Bacon. After his five-year sojourn with the Teschemacher and deBillier Cattle Company, he left Wyoming in 1887 to enter business in New York City. His career was interrupted by the Spanish-American War, in which he served as an Ensign. Trimble took an active part in the formation of the United States Steel Corporation, becoming its first Secretary-Treasurer, a position he held until 1924. He died at his home in New York City, Feb. 18, 1924. His daughter, Margaret Trimble Pease, has generously deposited in the Western History and Archives Department a collection of family letters bearing on her father's experiences in the West.
30 Ledger, 1883–1885, p. 29. T. and deB. Coll.
31 “John Hunton's Diary, May 1, 1883,” Lingle (Wyoming) Guide Review, July 25, 1957, p. 1. Trenholm, Virginia, Footprints on the Frontier (Douglas, Wyoming, 1945), p. 135.Google Scholar
32 Cheyenne Daily Leader, Nov. 8, 1883, p. 3.
33 Annual Statement, 1883, p. 3. T. and deB. Coll.
34 Ibid.
35 Pelzer, Louis, The Cattlemen's Frontier (Glendale, 1936), p. 139.Google Scholar
36 Ibid.
37 Ledger, 1883–1885, pp. 86, 121. T. and deB. Coll.
38 Ibid., p. 108.
39 Annual Statement, 1884, p. 2. T. and deB. Coll.
40 Annual Statement, 1885, p. 3. T. and deB. Coll.
41 The unexplained funds withdrawn for 1884 totaled $7,236. Ledger, 1883–1885. T. and deB. Coll.
42 All ledgers of the company from 1882 to 1892, have numerous entries of funds with drawn by both managers, without providing the reasons for the expenditures.
43 Richard Trimble to Mrs. Merritt Trimble, Oct. 14, 1886. Trimble Coll.
44 Ibid.
45 Richard Trimble to Mrs. Merritt Trimble, Feb. 22, 1883. Trimble Coll.
46 Richard Trimble to Merritt Trimble, Sept. 14, 1886. Trimble Coll.
47 An informative chart of comparative prices for 1885–1886 is given by Jackson, W.Turrentine, “British Interests in the Range Cattle Industry,” in When Grass Was King by Frink, Maurice, Jackson, W.Turrentine and Spring, Agnes Wright (Boulder, Colorado, 1956), p. 254.Google Scholar
48 Annual Statement, 1886, p. 3. T. and deB. Coll.
49 Ledger, 1885–1886, p. 76. T. and deB. Coll.
50 Teschemacher to E. P. Whitney, Jan. 23, 1886. T. and deB. Coll.
51 John Bigelow to H. E. Teschemacher, May 11, 1886. T. and deB. Coll.
52 Larson, T. A., “The Winter of 1886–1887 in Wyoming,” Annals of Wyoming, Vol. XIV (1942), pp. 5–17.Google Scholar Another viewpoint is offered on this winter by Fletcher, R. S., “The Hard Winter in Montana, 1886–1887,” Agricultural History, Vol. IV (1930), pp. 123–130.Google Scholar
53 Report of the Governor of Wyoming to the Secretary of Interior, 1889 (Cheyenne, 1890), pp. 657–659.
54 Annual Statement, 1887, p. 1. T. and deB. Coll.
55 Ibid., p. 3.
56 Ibid., p. 1.
57 Ledger, 1885–1886, p. 102. T. and deB. Coll.
58 Annual Statement, 1888, p. 1. T. and deB. Coll.
59 Ibid.
60 Ibid., p. 3.
61 Annual Statement, 1889, p. 1. T. and deB. Coll.
62 John Bigelow to H. E. Teschemacher, Feb. 21, 1889, p. 1. T. and deB. Coll.
63 Annual Statement, 1890, p. 2. Annual Statement, 1891, p. 1. T. and deB. Coll.
64 The Johnson County War was the outgrowth of the financial upheaval that occurred in the northern range country after the economic collapse in 1886 and 1887. For years the larger cattlemen had suffered losses from “rustling.” The heaviest depredations had traditionally taken place in Johnson County in northern Wyoming. Finally, in April, 1892, a group of major cattlemen, along with hired professional gunmen from Texas, invaded Johnson County with the expressed purpose of killing a number of the more prominent thieves. A skirmish took place a few miles south of Buffalo, Wyoming, in which the “invaders” were completely outnumbered by the residents of Johnson County. The United States troops had been ordered to the scene by the Secretary of War at the request of the Governor and Senators of Wyoming. The military officials took the cattlemen into custody, removing them to Cheyenne, where they were to stand trial. As in the case of many vigilante movements in the West, it is doubtful whether any beneficial outcome was realized. The expense involved put the cattlemen deeper in debt. The bitterness engendered is still present in Wyoming. For accounts of the Johnson County War from different aspects see Mercer, A. S., Banditti of the Plains (Cheyenne, Wyoming, 1894)Google Scholar; Clay, John, My Life on the Range (Chicago, 1924)Google Scholar; Baber, D. F., The Longest Rope (Caldwell, Idaho, 1940)Google Scholar; and David, R. B., Malcolm Campbell, Sheriff (Casper, Wyoming, 1932).Google Scholar
65 Annual Statement, 1892, p. 3. T. and deB. Coll.
66 Henry G. Hay to F. E. Warren, April 20, 1893, Wyoming Stock Growers Collection, Western History and Archives Department, University of Wyoming, Laramie.
67 Trenholm, Virginia, Footprints on the Frontier (Douglas, Wyoming, 1945).Google Scholar
68 Annual Statement, 1892, p. 3. T. and deB. Coll.
69 Jackson, W.Turrentine, “British Interests in the Range Cattle Industry,” in When Grass Was King by Frink, Maurice, Jackson, W.Turrentine and Spring, Agnes Wright (Boulder, Colorado, 1956), pp. 135–330.Google Scholar
70 Annual Reports and records of these companies in the Western Range Cattle Industry file in the Archives and Western History Department all confirm the fact their over-all return to investors was greater than Teschemacher and deBillier company.
71 This interpretation is especially evident in: Osgood, Ernest S., The Day of the Cattlemen (Minneapolis, 1929), pp. 216–258Google Scholar; Pelzer, Louis, The Cattlemen's Frontier, pp. 153–169Google Scholar; Peake, Ora B., The Colorado Range Cattle Industry (Glendale, California, 1937), pp. 253–281Google Scholar; Dale, E. E., The Range Cattle Industry (Norman, Oklahoma, 1930), pp. 113–114Google Scholar; and Frink, Maurice, Cow Country Cavalcade (Denver, 1954), pp. 60–61.Google Scholar
72 The Teschemacher and deBillier Cattle Company dividends were as follows:
73 Interest rates offered by Western banks during the 1880–1890 period fluctuated widely. The Stock Growers National Bank in Cheyenne averaged 9 per cent between 1885 and 1890 on loans made to Teschemacher. In 1879, Samuel Hauser, Montana mini and banking magnate, wrote his friend D. W. Moffat, Colorado financial figure, pointing out that 18 per cent was the “very lowest known in Montana.” However, by 1884 Hauser noted to the empire builder, Marquis de Mores, that “it will be impossible for us to accommodate you, as we never loan for a longer time than six months. Besides you could do much better East, as our rates are from twelve to fifteen percent.” Interest rates in Eastern financial institutions remained more uniform during this period. Seligman and Company were requesting 6 per cent interest on loans during the year 1888. The data on Samuel Hauser were furnished the author by John W. Hakola, University of Wyoming, who is currently at work on an economic study of Hauser's role as a nineteenth-century Western capitalist. The Hauser papers, from which the above data were obtained, are in the Library of the State Historical Society of Montana, Helena.
74 The mining industry in the West is a pertinent example of the investment hazards awaiting the Eastern financier. Mr. Hakola's researches in Samuel T. Hauser's mining companies in the Pacific Northwest have shown that of the 69 mining enterprises invested in by Hauser, 41 of them failed to pay dividends and most of them were entire financial losses. The problems of the foreign investor in the mining industry are revealed in Spence, Clark C., British Investments and the American Mining Frontier, 1860–1901 (Ithaca, 1958).Google Scholar
75 Grodinsky, Julius, lay Gould (Philadelphia, 1957), passim.Google Scholar