Cow-Pen is milking one of the other Tits, so that she steals some
Milk from the Cow, who thinks she is giving it to the Calf; soon
as the Cow begins to go dry, and the Calf grows Strong, they mark
them, if they are Males they cut them, and let them go into the
Wood. Every Year in September and October they drive up the
Market Steers, that are fat and of a proper Age, and kill them;
they say they are fat in October, but I am sure they are not so
in May, June and July; they reckon that out of 100 Head of Cattle
they can kill about 10 or 12 steers, and four or five Cows a
Year; so they reckon that a Cow-Pen for every 100 Head of Cattle
brings about 40 pounds Sterling per Year. The Keepers live
chiefly upon Milk, for out of their Vast Herds, they do
condescend to tame Cows enough to keep their Family in Milk,
Whey, Curds, Cheese and Butter; they also have Flesh in Abundance
such as it is, for they eat the old Cows and lean Calves that are
like to die. The Cow-Pen Men are hardy People, are almost
continually on Horseback, being obliged to know the Haunts of
their Cattle". "You see, Sir, what a wild set of Creatures Our
English Men grow into, when they lose Society, and it is
surprising to think how many Advantages they throw away, which
our industrious Country-Men would be glad of: Out of many hundred
Cows they will not give themselves the trouble of milking more
than will maintain their Family."

With such a race of born horsemen, every whit as bold and
resourceful as the voyageurs, to bear the brunt of a new era of
transportation, all that was needed to challenge French trade
beyond the Alleghanies was competent and aggressive leadership.
The situation called for men of means, men of daring, men closely
in touch with governors and assemblies and acquainted with the