The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1897-04-30
Rapid City Black Hnls] South Dakota Friday April 60 1897

losses with any degree of accuracy
until after the round-ups of May and
June. Some of the cattle on the
northern ranges have a clear, open
range extending several hundred
miles and stock would drift many
miles with the storm and be safe,
but the owners would not know it
until after the roundup and count.
While the loss by the storm is local
ly heavy, no one is able to even APP
proxinate the the percentage of gen
eral loss. Where one man may
lose l0o or 20 per cent of his herd,
others may have but nominal losses,
and it is simply impossible to say
what the general loss has been
The coming season promises good.
prices, and if the losses have been
great enough 20 show a noticeable
depression in beef shipments from
the ranges this will make prices still
higher and will, in part, compensate
stockmen for their losses of the
winter.
R. NJ. Alien, manager for the
Standard Cattle Company; owning
upwards of 1000 head of cattle,
ranging along the Belle Fourche
River in Crook County, expressed
the opinion that the recent storm
has demonstrated that Wyoming
should be abandoned as cattle
breeding state. Were the business
in Wyoming confined to fattening
steers on the ranges the losses from
storms would not be noticeable.
The losses on the Crook County
ranges would be found to be mainly
among cows and weak stock. ''No
one can tell" said Mr.. Allen, "the
percentage of losses by the last
storm with any degree of accuracy
1t has unquestionably been heavy in
some localities but will not exceed 10
per cent of the aggregate number of
cattle in the storm district. F"
Ora Haley, member Of the Wyo-
ming Live Stock Commission, is a
large stock owner ia Albany county.
On his ranges the storm was very
severe. Some of his stock perished
by drifting in the storm into lakes
and ponds where they broke through
the ice and drowned He saved
many animals by having his men
ride the ranges Immediately after
the storm and dig cows and steers
out Of the drifts. Mr.. Haley would
not eDture an opinion as to the per-
centage of loss sustained, but thinks
it will not be as great as at first
feared
R. S. VanTassen, owning stock in
Laramie and Converse Counties, had
comparatively no losses, March is
always a treacherous month" he
said, ''and ever since the first day
of the month have been prepared
for a big storm. had places built
to shelter my cattle and to this pre-
caution owe my escape from loss. .
George Prentice, a member of the
Wyoming Live Stock Commission
and assistant manager of the Swan
Land and Cattle Company, the larg-
est, cattle concern in Laramie county,
reports the storm as being very Sc
we're along the valley OF the Chug
water. The reA ion is occupied to a
large extent by small ranchmen,
owning herds Of from 200 to 1000
head of cattle. Loses in the region
will prove to be heavy. The country
is pretty generally fenced ur and
cattle drift but a short distance
with storms before being stopped by
barbed wires, where, if the storm is
severe one, they huddle into help
less groups and are covered by the
fast drifting snow and perish.
From Natrona county advices
| from stock owners are to the effect
that while the snowfall was heavy,
the loss in stock of all kinds is com
paratively light.
| Sheep losses, it is believed, are
about the same as cattle. The great
est number of sheep in the storm
district are in Natrona County,
where losses are reported small
Shea Cr hos not cor, p,opooJ -, o,1,