Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1885-1890, 1885-05-28
THE RANGES OF MONTANA.
The Promising Outlook for North
western Cattle Interests, The
Round-ups Already
Common eG.

A correspondent of the st. Pau.
Pioneer Press, writing from Fort
Keogh, gives a very interesting ac
count Of the outlook for the Montana
cattle einterest, We reproduce the fo..-
lowing extracts from the letter:
The cattle interests of the North
west We're never III q more promis ing
condition than Is the present writing
We are In the miasa of our sp,ins
j round-urs, and the stoekmen gener-
ally are jubilant over the prospects OF
q fine calf crop, The past Winte-, al
! though an unusually severe enc, was
not very hard on stock, as a careful
riding of the ranges during the cold
se2son and since has shown the pc1
cent of loss to be no greater than that
of previous seasons. It would be
useless to disguise the fact that herd
| owners were at one time more or less
alarmed as to the result of continued
and severe cold ON their unprotected
herds; bnt the fact that their animals
did weather the season successfully
without apparent suffering, and with
only ordinary 10 5ses, has been not only
a matter Of great qualification to them
humanely and pecuniarily, but also a
revelation as to the adaptability of a
cold country for the successful raising
of stock The fall of 1884 was a con
tinuous Indian summer until about
December 10, when the cold weather
commenced in dead earnest. Stock
went into the winter in prime condi-
ton, well equipped with fat, Even
the late arrivals, commonly called
''pilgrims'' or 'doughies," owing to
the abundance of grass and lateness
OF the season, were better prepared
taaA ever befaTe to stand a severe
colsl sIf;iin, Wslssh they certainly got a
few Hesks aasr. But like all our
nortahEl it vas protracted,
thousyH huous, and was bro
ken at exactly the
rig iii welcome chinook
WINDS med the tempera-
ture q freathing spell
1aksa s, the stock basi-
ness I'M in fact, through
oat the1 Nest, is on quite
a healtl ne cowboy legisla-
ture kept ah eye open to their inter
ests while in session at Helena, and
the consequence is that the cattle
business is receiving a boom this sea-
son never experienced in former years.
Ole important item is noticeable th S
season. and that is the high grade Of
animals which are being impaired for
stock purposes. On the Miles City
street corners one hears nothing but
''Poiled Angus CT 'Short- horns" con
tinually discussed By everybody. It
is a good sign that thoroughbred
stock is slowly but surely driving the
scrubs to the wall. Galloways. Short
horns and Angus, whose pedigrees
can be traced back to Bonny Scotland
or sc-ne other high grade country, are
coming in by the car load on nearly
every stock train. Common stock is
not good enough even for the poorest
ranchman now, SO that we may expect
to see the days Ct the weak. scrawny
calves numbered in the near future.
At 10 other time in the history of the
cattle industry in Montana has it
givcn such promising results as at
present After hard winter-.o
come out with less than usual losses,
with no diseases of any kind, and
probability Of a large aud healthy
calf crop this spring the stockman
can complacently regard the future
with great expectations and con
gratulase himself that he came to
Montana to raise his herd instead of
going to some other less favored
country.
CARRYING r3<pnEN