Plentiful grass drew cattle and cowboys to the land, where in the late 1800s free range, 10-year state leases, and land purchases supported large absentee-owned cattle operations. Windmills set every five miles watered the herds, itinerant cowboys ran the operations, and drift fences were the main barriers to keep cattle from roaming too far south during blizzards; during one early cold spell, cattle piled up against fences and froze to death. M.V. Brownfield first sent cattle to Terry County in 1896. Cowboys then lived out on the range and relied on chuck wagons and cooks for meals, while the first families lived in covered wagons and dug-out shelters until lumber could be freighted from Big Spring or Colorado City to build houses. As state land leases were about to expire in February 1903, A.M. Brownfield sent cowhands to the courthouse in Stanton in November 1902 to hold first chair so the school land he was leasing could be purchased. Cowboys drove cattle to railheads at Bovina or Big Spring, and on one occasion M.B. Sawyer's cattle reached Bovina early and grazed until the train arrived; when an impatient engineer blew his whistle to hurry a drive, the frightened cattle stampeded across the range and cowboys struggled to gather them again. Over time, homes, bunk houses, and corrals appeared, and Hereford cattle brought from England adapted well and produced quality stock for markets in Fort Worth, Kansas City, and Chicago. Although much ranchland later gave way to farming, the ranching legacy continued, and cowboys today ride fence with trucks and all-terrain vehicles.