Financial History Issue 133 (Spring 2020) | Page 11

EDUCATORS’ PERSPECTIVE Underwood, a banker in Kansas City, the promoter, was a little tin god and Mr. J. Duncan Smith was his prophet. Mr. Smith was a fine type of an Edinburgh lawyer, successful in an investment company that has stood the test of time. But like the rest of us, he swallowed the cattle financial camel, not even worrying at the tail. Christopher Knowlton, expanding on Clay’s comments, wrote: The Scots well understood what we today call “first-mover advantage.” Historically, they had punched above their weight—that is to say, above the English—by being more willing to take risks and to do so earlier when an opportunity arose. They had also shown a knack for financial innovation, creating, just a few years before, the first “terminable debentures,” or short-term bonds, designed with a duration of only a few years. Before this innovation, all available bonds fell into the category of highly conservative long-term securities, like our thirty-year mortgage. This innova- tion alone drew £25 million of English capi- tal into Scottish financial institutions by the 1880s, worth £2.2 billion in today’s money. 3. Moreton Frewen, for instance, never win- tered in Wyoming. He was usually only there for the fall roundup. 4. Prior to the wage cut, a typical cowboy made $35 to $45 a month working for the big outfits. 5. According to homesteading historians Richard Edwards, Jacob K. Friefeld and Rebecca S. Wingo, homesteading was also open to “war veterans of any age, widows and single women, married women who were heads of households, and even new immigrants if they simply affirmed their intention to become citizens.” Sources Clay, John. My Life on the Range. Privately Printed: Chicago. 1924. Davis, John W. Wyoming Range War: The Infa- mous Invasion of Johnson County. Univer- sity of Oklahoma Press: Norman, OK. 2010. THE JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL BOND & SHARE SOCIETY SCRIPOPHILY ENCOURAGING COLLECTING SINCE 1978 No.112 - APRIL 2020 The Story of Those Fabulous Standard Oil Certificates Franky Reports from Sweden – page 5 – page 20 Edwards, Richard, Jacob K. Friefeld and Rebecca S. Wingo. Homesteading the Plains—Toward a New History. University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln, NE and London. 2017. Johnson, Marilynn S. Violence in the West: The Johnson County Range War and the Ludlow Massacre: A Brief History with Documents. St. Martins: Boston. 2009. Knowlton, Christopher. Cattle Kingdom: The Hidden History of the Cowboy West. Hough- ton Mifflin Harcourt: Boston. 2017. Macdonald, James. Food From the Far West or, American Agriculture. J. & J. Gray: Edin- burgh. 1878. O’Neal, Bill. The Johnson County War. Eakin Press: Fort Worth, TX. 2004. Smith, Helena H. The War on Powder River. McGraw-Hill: New York. 1966. Von Richthofen, Walter. Cattle-raising on the Plains of North America. University of Okla- homa Press: Norman, OK. 1964. INTERNATIONAL BOND & SHARE SOCIETY PUTTING FINANCIAL HISTORY IN YOUR HANDS Join the International Bond & Share Society, supporting collectors of vintage bonds and shares from all countries for over forty years. For $32, £20 or €25 annually, receive: ◆ Three issues a year of our full color 52 page journal Scripophily with news, ➠ COX’S CORNER ➠ AGM SCHEDULED ➠ WEBSITE UPDATE in-depth articles, auction reports and more ◆ Membership Directory listing dealers, auction houses and fellow collectors Audacious Fraud Hits Norfolk and Western Railway Stock Worldwide Auctions – page 26 – page 15 Looking for Locks – page 10 IBSS Breakfast – page 4 Rare Stock at National Show – page 2 Philately Scripophily – page 8 ◆ Members-only part of the Society website, scripophily.org ◆ Members’ Newsletters with up-to-date information and event schedule For further information contact Robin Majlak Membership Secretary 824 Harbor Road Southport, CT 06890 Philip Atkinson Secretary 167 Barnett Wood Lane, Ashtead, Surrey KT21 2LP, UK membership@scripophily.org secretary@scripophily.org Or visit our website www.scripophily.org www.MoAF.org  |  Spring 2020  |  FINANCIAL HISTORY  9