In April, 1869, a charter was granted by the state of Illinois to the East St. Louis Stock Yards Company. This company was authorized to issue stock to an amount not to exceed $200,000. The original charter of the company, which later operated the National Stock Yards, fixed the capital stock thereof at $1,000,000, which was, subsequently, raised, by a vote of the stock holders, to an amount of $250,000, to meet the requirements of the rapidly growing business. When the National Stock Yards were completed, they were more convenient than were any others of their kind in the country. FOOTNOTES: [5] Wallaces' Farmer, 1913, and thesis by Garver, "History of Dairy Industry in Illinois." [6] The Breeder's Gazette, July, 1913. [7] Lecture by Professor H. P. Rusk on "Beef Production." [8] The Breeder's Gazette, Feb. 1894. [9] Thesis "History of the Dairy Industry in Illinois" by Garner, 1911. [10] "Facts and Figures," by Wood Brothers, Live Stock Commission Merchants, Chicago, 1906, and Report of Bureau of An. Ind. 1884. [11] Prairie Farmer, 1887, p. 160. [12] Life of Tom C. Ponting. [13] Scientific American--The Meat Industry of America, 1909. [14] Estimated. III. CATTLE BARONS AND PIONEER DROVERS OF ILLINOIS Previous to the end of the first quarter of the nineteenth century, no droves of cattle were seen in the country west of Ohio. The first drove ever driven from Illinois was taken from Springfield, through Chicago, to Green Bay, Wisconsin, in 1825, by Colonel William S. Hamilton. Beginning with this date, the practice of collecting cattle into droves and driving them to market soon grew from a minor occupation into an industry within itself; beef cattle that were grown and fattened in Illinois were gathered together into large droves by men who made it a business, and were driven to the then great cattle markets on the sea board. Foremost among these early pioneer cattlemen were: Jacob Strawn, John T. Alexander, B. F. Harris, and Tom C. Ponting. In the scope of their operations, Jacob Strawn and John T. Alexander exceeded many of the conspicuous operators in the rise and fall of the range industry in this state. These men owned hundreds of acres of the prairie land of the state, on which they collected enormous droves of cattle. These cattle were grazed here throughout the spring and summer, then were fed during the winter. It was no uncommon occurrence for one of these operators to buy all the corn for sale during one season in three or four counties. The next spring these fat bullocks were trailed across the level country to the eastern mountain ranges, over which they climbed to reach Lancaster, Philadelphia, and New York. Cincinnati and Buffalo received a few of these cattle, but most of them were driven on through to the markets on the sea board, where better prices were obtained. These cities bore about the same relation to the livestock traffic of those days as Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, and St.