The Last Cattle Drive

NOTE: This is a short essay based on Primary Research. When the Empire Ranch in Arizona wouldn't pay exorbitant freight rates to the Southern Pacific Railroad, Ned Vail arranged the last cattle drive to California over the Sonoran and California deserts. He started with 900 head of cattle and lost only 12 on the drive. Along the way he experienced stampedes, dam breaks that flooded the Gila River and stranded cattle on both sides of the Colorado River and finally a shootout with two horse thieves who had traveled with him.