Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1891-08-07
A Few Reflections in Regard to the
Growing Stock Industry of
North Dakota.
Train Loads of Cattle from the
Western Part of the State
Daily Going East.
With q Good Harvest Assured This
Will Be a Year of Plenty
in the Ozone State.
Stock Raising in North Dakota.

Dakota a success? This is a question that
comes to many an anxious man in the
east and many a farmer and rancher in
the west. For an answer we must look
to the results of the infant industry. Not
more than twenty-one years ago the wild
prairie of the Ozone state supported the
grandest herds of buffalo, deer, elk and
other western beasts of any state in the
Union. To-day We see in their places
thousands of cattle, sheep and horses.
Less than five years ago, we we're con-
fronted with the great problem of
whether our grass and water, our eli
mate and shipping facilities would sus-
tain the hopes of a few who placed con
tidence in the young commonwealth.
What has been the result? Last spring
thousands of sheep we're imported from
the west and are now feeding on our
PLAINS. Thousands of young calves were
shipped in from the east to fatten on our
grass and thousands Of blooded horses
are breeding on our ranches. Go in what
direction you will you can see fine,
healthy stock grazing on the luxurious
grasses or drinking from the springs and
streams. Is it not a reward for the true
Dakotan? But to go further, to look
deeper into this industry, We must try
and ascertain if there is a profit in the
business. From 6 o'clock p. m. Sunday
until yesterday at noon twenty-five
trains of stock passed through this city
alone. Look to the depot at almost any
hour, and you could see two large, pow
erful engines working hard to start their
long train Of Dakota steers. But this is
not all. It is not a sudden f%uctuation of
western markets that causes this large
shipment of stock. From six to eight,
and sometimes more, trains daily have
been running for the past two weeks. Go
out to any OF the stations west of Me-
dora, or we may say Mandan, and you
will see a bulletin. On that bulletin you
can see the names of stockmen who
will ship; the date on which
they will ship and the number of cars
wanted. It is no sudden movement. It
is a steady shipment of thousands of
Dakota steers fattened on our plains.
What do they sell for when on the
market? The very highest prices quo
ted. Look for yourself in the market
quotations, and know what our stock is
worth compared with any other stock
that is placed on the market. To-day
our steers are worth from $3.50 to SIS
per cwt. From $50 to $50 a piece. Go
into these stock counties and find out
the financial condition of the ranchers,
compare them with the business firms
and farmers of the east. But it is not
cattle alone. Ride through the country
and look at the hill sides. There you
will see white objects which as you ap-
proach develop into thousands of sheep,
all healthy and fat. Herds of blooded
horses are as common as wheat fields.
Is it then a wonder that eastern capital
is looking to our young state. Is it a
wonder the farmer smiles as you speak
of his prosperity. But this is not the
only portion of the state that ships
stock. The following paragraph is taken
from a Grand Forks paper of Saturday:
six cattle trains dassed through the
city on Friday over the Great Northern
en- route to the east"
You can see similar paragraphs in all
the Dakota papers. North Dakota does
not depend alone on her stock
as is proven by the harvest about to be
reaped, but within her borders there is
being built up n of the grandest in
Industries in the union.
Here are a few extracts from our ex-
changes regarding the stock business:
Devils Lake Inter- Ocean: Three heav-
lily loaded stock trains passed through
here yesterday, making a total for the
month of about thirty. It keeps the rail
road men hustling to handle the addi-
tional business created by these stock
shipments, and when the wheat COM
mences to come in-well, look out for a
blockade.
Mandan Times: Twenty-one cars Of
cattle have been shipped from the small
station of Hebron this fall and that is
only a beginning.
Bottineau Pioneer: Towner is in the
midst of a stock-raising country and the
people are rejoicing over the immense
crop of hay. Quite a lively trade is car
ried or there in the shipment of wool and
cattle,f for which the Mouse river country
is famous.
Hope Pioneer: MI. H. D. CARPENTER,
the pioneer sheep raiser in this section
of country, and also one of the best and
most successful in the state, was ap-
pointed by the county commissioners at
their last session, as sheep inspector for
Steele county.