Each spring and summer after 1880, many Texas herds went up the trail to northern states for fattening, and for cowboys these drives meant hard work turning stampedes, fording rivers and quicksand streams, fighting Indians and cattle thieves, and enduring hunger, thirst, and other physical hardships. The last great Texas Panhandle drive was organized at N Bar N Headquarters, with ranch manager J.L. Harrison and trail boss T.L. (Tom) Coffee. From April to September 1892, 100 cowboys drove 10 herds, each with 2500 cattle, a total of 25,000 beeves, to Montana. The cattle belonged to Niedringhaus Brothers, German tinsmiths of St. Louis who put into ranching a fortune made in enamel granite household wares. From 1882 to 1886, N Bar N leased range in Carson and neighboring counties from the Francklyn Land & Cattle Company, a British syndicate backed by Cunard Steamship Line. Afterward the range belonged to White Deer Land Company, and the N Bar N outfit left because White Deer Land Company wanted the range cleared of large herds. By 1907, its 650,000 acres were offered for sale to small ranchers and farmers, and the land was fenced and worked with the steam plow to turn the rich, grassy sod.