During the time Angus was serving with the Rangers, Duncan Murdoch had been a busy man, rounding up longhorn cattle like there was no tomorrow. These cattle, were virtually wild animals, living in the thickets like deer in the country south of San Antonio. Many had been abandoned by their Mexican owners after the Texas war and the subsequent border fighting. Taken together, the cattle running loose in Texas numbered close to 300,000 (even before the Mexican war) in 1845. Duncan Murdoch had managed to lay claim to a goodly portion of that number. He had only to go out a few miles into the swamp between the Big and Little Brazos to find as many cattle as he could wish for, and he had done just that.

At that time however, the cattle were valued more highly for their hides and tallow than for their beef since most Americans seemed to prefer pork. Yet that preference was rapidly changing. Duncan had managed to find markets for his beef in Missouri, at towns such as Sedalia, Kansas City, and St. Louis, in as many different drives. Duncan Murdoch, was becoming a wealthy man. However, he hadn't begun altogether on his own. At first, he'd needed capital, in order to buy supplies and pay hands. This he obtained through a certain Joseph Danforth, a rich plantation owner from Atlanta Georgia whom Duncan had met in Corpus Christie Texas.

Danforth had come to the Texas town hoping to find new markets for his cotton at better prices, in either, South or Central America. Although he had little success in that venture, he ran across Duncan Murdoch in one of the local eating establishments. Danforth had been fascinated by Duncan, and had listened to hour upon hour of stories about Mountain men, Texas Rangers, outlaws, Comanches, and life out west in general. Danforth had always led a somewhat sheltered and even pampered existence, and marveled at such a man as Duncan Murdoch. Murdoch was well aware of that fact and took full advantage of it.

It hadn't been long before Murdoch had informed Danforth of his scheme to become wealthy off of Texas longhorns, left behind by fleeing Mexican ranchers during the Mexican war. Of course, Murdoch told him, it would take years to do so, since money was in short supply and he would have to start slowly and build.

Danforth jumped at the chance and offered to supply the capital if Murdoch would do the rest. Murdoch agreed, and the two became partners.

Thus, Duncan Murdoch, by the time Angus resigned from the Rangers, held the biggest ranch in south Texas. Had it not been for his fortunate meeting with Danforth, Duncan would still have been struggling to keep his head above water financially, and having failed before due to impatience, probably would have again.

Angus resigned from the rangers and went to work for his father in the spring of 1849, and led the cattle drive to Sedalia Missouri that summer. He picked up the cattle business quickly and added his own innovations from time to time. He became best of friends with his father's foreman, George Logan, and the two began to make plans to start a ranch of their own.

Little by little, they rounded up strays, on their own time, which Duncan allowed them to keep on a separate part of his own ranch, that he had apportioned to Angus. Although Angus owned that portion of the ranch, he allowed George Logan and his wife Ellen to live in the little house there since he himself, as of yet, had no family. By 1850, Angus and George had a sizeable herd of their own, and in that same year, Angus met the woman who was to become his wife.

Joseph Danforth had decided to visit the Murdoch ranch for about three months early that year, in order to sample the "wilds of the west" as he put it. Along with him, he brought his eldest daughter Cora. It wasn't long before Cora and Angus fell in love. Unfortunately, Joseph Danforth did not approve of their romance. Despite his admiration for Duncan, and respect for his son Angus and his accomplishments, Danforth felt that Cora would be marrying beneath herself should she marry Angus.

A quarrel soon erupted, and Danforth left the ranch, taking Cora with him. He had severed his relationship with Duncan permanently and Duncan had bought off Danforth's half of the ranch from him. It was a move Danforth would live to regret in the future. However, shortly before her departure, Cora had vowed to elope with Angus should he come and get her in Atlanta. Angus promised he would, just as soon as he had found a suitable site for his own ranch. What they did not know at the time was, that Cora had become pregnant.

Although Angus had been allotted a separate part of the Murdoch ranch for his own, he wished to move far away and begin his own ranch further west. He rightly concluded that the area would fill up with ranches soon, and that the competition would be fierce. Thus, he began looking about for a new spot. That same year, fate knocked upon his doorstep once again.

Shortly after the drive of 1850, Angus Murdoch had awakened to the sound of a familiar voice upon the ranchhouse porch, speaking with his father. It was Zach Baynes. As it turned out, Baynes had been experiencing great financial difficulties being unable to find enough furs to sell or even buyer to sell them to. He'd also had a falling out with the Crow Indians who superstitiously blamed him for a smallpox epidemic that broke out among their tribe. Thus, he remembered Murdoch's invitation to come to Texas, and headed down to see his old pupil. They'd had quite a reunion, and between the two of them, they treed much of the town of Corpus Christie.

When Angus told Baynes of his plans to start a ranch of his own, and that he was merely seeking a suitable location, Baynes eyes lit up, and he said that he knew of one in the western part of Texas, near what would later come to be known as the Davis Mountains. Angus, Baynes, and George Logan, along with about ten other cowpunchers, set out for the spot within the week. After arriving, they scouted the area for about a month before concluding that the mountain man was correct.

Much of the territory around the Davis Mountains was desert, yet much was grassland as well. It would not support as many cattle per acre as some of the plains lands of Texas, but then, it was not as heavily infested with Comanche either. In fact, on that trip, they saw no signs of Indians whatsoever. Even if they had though, Angus would not have been deterred. This was his spot as far as he was concerned, and he would have it, come what may. George Logan had been in full agreement. They returned to Duncan Murdoch's ranch and began to make plans for their departure. First of all though, Angus had to settle the matter of Cora Danforth once and for all.

While he'd been absent, scouting the land that would later become his ranch, a letter arrived from Cora to inform Angus of her pregnancy. He wrote her a letter asking her to be prepared to leave with him. One week later, he departed for Atlanta Georgia.

When Murdoch arrived, Joseph Danforth refused to allow him in the house, and threatened to have Murdoch removed from his property forcibly. Murdoch merely laughed in his face. Danforth called for three of his servants to dislodge Murdoch. Moose left them stacked in a heap, one atop the other, unconscious. Danforth then ordered him off at gunpoint, at which time Cora made her appearance.

Though several months pregnant, she had her bags packed, and was ready to leave. Danforth ordered her back into the house, but she refused. He then began alternately pleading with her and threatening her, warning her that he would disown her and cut off her inheritance. She had informed him that she wanted not a penny of his money and after bidding goodbye to her sisters Emily and Eula, she had left.

Danforth had always been strict, formal and cold with his daughters, and had often quarreled with his eldest, Cora. There was little love lost on her part, but her departure, began the slow downhill slide that eventually ruined Joseph Danforth.

It was slow returning from Atlanta due to Cora's pregnancy, but they arrived without mishap. Angus and Cora were married by a Methodist circuit rider at Duncan's ranch who was unable to restrain himself from gazing reproachfully at Cora's swollen abdomen.

It had been originally decided that Murdoch and George Logan would return to the spot in West Texas and begin their ranch. When they had erected suitable lodgings, and had the place fairly well established, they would come for their families which at this point, consisted of their two pregnant wives. But upon prodding from both wives, the men decided to wait until their children were born and established themselves, before starting off.

In 1850, in the month of November, on the second day, George and Ellen Logan had a son whom they named Jesse. The following year on April 13th, Angus and Cora Murdoch became the proud parents of twins. Thankfully, they were fraternal, rather than identical twins. They were given the names Shane and Brazos. The following June, Angus Murdoch and George Logan said their goodbyes to their families, and departed to build their new homes and fulfill their dreams.

Upon their departure, besides the sizeable number of cattle they themselves accumulated, Duncan Murdoch promised Angus half of his herd, if he could actually get the ranch established and running. Angus thanked him and attempted to decline, but his father would have none of it. After all, would not everything he owned eventually go to Angus anyway?

After about three years of hard work and numerous skirmishes with Comanches, Comancheros, Mexican bandits and Apaches, Murdoch had succeeded in establishing a thriving ranch. Up until then, he and George Logan had visited their families only about once every six months. But in the summer of 1854, they concluded that it was safe to bring their wives and children out to the Ranch. This was due to the fact that in 1854, the army had set up a military post within the boundaries of Murdoch's ranch.

The military post was known as Fort Davis, named after the then secretary of war, Jefferson Davis, who would later become the president of the Confederacy. The purpose of the fort was to guard the trails between San Antonio and El Paso from marauding Comanches and Apaches. The establishment of the fort relieved much of the pressure that the Indians had been applying on the ranch, and for a while, there had been a lull in the attacks.

Soon after her arrival, Cora had expressed her desire for a new ranchhouse, set somewhat apart from the old one, and away from the hustle and bustle of the everyday ranch activities. Murdoch had grudgingly acquiesced, and spent almost two years in building it. By 1858, Moose had built up a sizeable ranch of his own, though not yet as large as that of his father as far as the number of cattle went (it was far larger area wise). He decided it would be a good time to take his father up on his offer of half of the herd. In addition to the cattle however, Angus intended to drive a large number of horses his father had purchased for him for the purpose of experimental breeding.

Murdoch sent George Logan and Zach Baynes along to head the drive from his father's ranch to the M spread. Logan, he put in charge of the horse herd, while Baynes, he placed in charge of the cattle which were to be driven separately.

On the return trip, not far west of the Pecos river, George Logan and the cowhands with him were attacked by a band of Comanches whose number was estimated to be nearly sixty. The cowboys were ill prepared to deal with the attack but finally succeeded in driving the Indians off. However, the Indians had managed to make off with around eighty horses, and had killed eight cowhands including George Logan, whose scalp now hung upon the belt of a young brave known as Two Trees.

The remaining cowhands elected to await the arrival of the slower moving cattle driven by Baynes since their number had been reduced by almost half. The Comanches were far more interested in the horses than the cattle, and would likely make another attempt at them well before they would be anywhere near the safety of the Murdoch ranch. Baynes arrived the next day, and together, they drove the remaining stock to the Murdoch spread without further incident.

Angus had taken it upon himself to personally break the news to Georges' wife and son. Jesse, who was now in his seventh year, took it reasonably calmly. Ellen however, was crushed. She went into shock and never completely recovered. She seemed to have lost all will to live, and no amount of consoling on the part of the Murdochs or even Jesse had any visible effect upon her devastated state of mind. Her body wasted away little by little and less than one year later, she died in her sleep. Angus and Cora, though not officially, adopted Jesse and raised him from then on as though he were one of their own. Although Jesse was often wild and extremely independent, neither had ever regretted the decision.

By 1859, the slavery issue was reaching a fevered pitch throughout the United States. Early in 1860, with talk of civil war and secession, Duncan and Angus decided to incorporate the two ranches. It was decided that Duncan would move lock stock and barrel out west and merge his holdings with that of his son Angus. Neither had any interest in the slavery issue (although Texas seceded primarily over the issue of states rights rather than slavery), and Duncan knew that due to the location of his ranch, it was possible that he would suffer heavy losses should war break out and the South lose.

It had been a major undertaking, but they managed to accomplish the transfer before Texas seceded. After the war broke out, Fort Davis was abandoned and the Murdochs had once again, been on their own when it came to defending against Indian attacks which had occurred frequently during the war. In 1861, Duncan Murdoch was killed while attempting to saddle a particularly cantankerous mare which threw him down and then kicked him in the head, instantly caving in his skull.

The years had been violent ones after that, however Angus continued to prosper. During the war, although sympathetic to the Confederacy, he'd illegally sold cattle to forces on both sides, as well as to various settlements in New Mexico. Now he reflected, it seemed as though, war, was once again coming to the range. Angus "Moose" Murdoch was ready.

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