The Bad Lands cow boy. [volume] (Little Missouri, Dakota [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-1886, 1885-03-19

SAASSs JAS0usNS AAoAuAA6,
Willard and Billings. Owing t..
the seeming lack of interest in his bill
from Willard and Billings, Mr.. Mccall
was on the point Of striking out these
two counties, when the committee from
here went to Bismarck and induced hin,
by q plain statement Of facts to add tile
counties Of Burdick, Ewing, Bowman,
Dunn and Mckenzie to tho list already
mentioned, in short, the whole western
tier of counties from the Nebraska line
on the south, to about sixty-fye miles
north Of the railroad on the north, en-
bracing an extent Of country about
three hundred and twenty-five by fifty
miles. In comparison to the whole Of
Dakota this is very small part, but il
contains the most of the valuable graz
ing territory. ':.s.. .i1. .
Right here we wish to correct what we
find to be a very prevalent opinion and
one that was brought forward as prom
inent reason why the bill should not
pass. The establishment Of the fence
law by no means prohibits agriculture,
but rather protects it, as it puts the in
dustry exclusively into tho hands Of
those who z intend to- How iegiti-
mately and not to see to what extent
they could cInch the stockmen in black
mailing damages. To the former class,
the stocknen never had any, objection
except to regard them with a kind of
pity and to the latter class they can now
bid defiance. ,... 2
There was considerable opposition to
this bill and it may be we'll to show the
justice of its passage. There is but
very little agriculture in tho western
tier of counties, the whole tier being
practically given up to grazing. In a
great part the whole country is unfit for
agriculture, and with the exception of
the Hills counties, the stock interests
outnumber all others combined over a
hundred to one. From the very nature
of the country, this is not only so now
but will be for all time. Except in a
very few cases it is impossible to find a
large enough tract to farm profitably
and it almost invariably happens that
such tracts are perfectly devoid of water.
Where was the justice, then, in laying
IN onerous burden on stock interests and
putting it'in the power of the few to
legally rob the. many. Especially
where was the justice. when there are so
many other portions of Dakota for better
fitted for agriculture and none others at
all comparable to the Bad Lands for
grazing. The Legislature has simply
righted wrong by passing the bill. =
At the same time with this bill there
was passed another, which we spoke of
in q previous issue. y It was the bill in
reference to the changing Of the bound
arY lines Of Billings, Willard and Dunn
counties. Before the passage of this
bill, the counties ran east and west,
with Dunn on the north, Billings in the
middle and Willard on the south. The
present boundaries of Billings county
run on north line which used to be the
north line of Dunn county and if the
latest maps are right, runs about ten
miles south of the. mouth Of Beaver.
The west line is the Montana line, the
south line nearly cuts Chalk Buttes forty
miles south of the railroad and the east
line is about six miles east Of Sully
Springs. This bill, dividing the coun-
ty, was not a popular one, and if it had
been brought to. a vote of the people,
would have been defeated about seven to
one. However. it was known that the
fate Of one bill depended in measure
on the other. and as the county was not
organized, no direct opposition could be
made. For the information Of those who
may wish to know, we will state here
that Billings county as it was is respon-
sible for all debts taxed up against the
county and not Billings county rs it is.
In other words the territory making the
debt is responsible for it, no matter
whether Its name is changed or not.
Consequently the Willard county that is
will have q good share Of Billings coun-
ty's debt to pay upon organization. a CON
tingenry not at all calculated upon BY
the tanners Of the bill. 81
1t might be well also to state that the
present eastern line of Billings c0nnty