The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-09-11
CANNING THE WILD HORSE.
Thousands That Once Roamed the Plains
Have Been Devoured.

nave Been DeNouTcu.
The question, what has become of
the wild horses that were once SO nu-
merous on our western plains?" has at
last been answered, perhaps not salts
factorily to those who indulge in canned
beef for luncheon, but conclusively. 1t
appears that a number of causes are
responsible for the diminution of the
herds-the increased demand for mr.
gable lands by settlers and the purchase
or lease, followed by fencing, OF great
areas of range lands by cattle men ana
sheep men. The latter are swiftly
fencing in the springs, creeks and ponds
that form the water sources, which are
vital to range industry. These facts
denote a new era in the development
of western sheep and cattle raising, IN
creasing production and putting the lnl
dustry on a more solid basis. 1t ends
the indiscriminate pasturage of cattle,
sheep and horses over immense areas
of the northwestern states. 1t means
the combining of cattle and sheep 10
lands that can be aCquil go. fenced ana
made more productive-and the general
extinction of the horses. The latter are
being moved off the ranges by the tens
of thousands. Those left are forced to
exc out a precarious existence on the
dry pasture lands left by the cattle and
sheep herders, where they may die of
thirst in the summer or starve to death
in the winter, with no one to mourn
their end.
In the last two years at least $1,000
head of horses have been removed
from the ranges of eastern Washington
alone. Their disposition has been APP
proximately as follows: Shipped to
Chicago and other eastern markets, 2O,-
900; sent to Alaska during klondike
rush, 5000; canned into horse meat at
Linton, Ore, for shipment to France.
5000; driven to Idaho, Montana. Wy
oming, Colorado and Utah, largely Cor
pack and saddle horses, 10000; broken
for use by new settlers in Washington,
1000; died in the last two winters,
5000 Loss from state in two years, 65,
600.
This loss has been double the natural
increase, reducing the number of wild
horses in this state from about $4,000
to $4,000 or 10000. At this rate of de-
crease they would last for some years,
but the fact is that the horses are be-
ing confined to a smaller area each sue
cessive year, thereby increasing their
chances of destruction.
At least 5000 horses died of starva-
ton last winter in the districts north
and south of the Snake river. Fifty to
80 per cent of some bands vanished
under the conditions of short grass and
deep snow. The cattle and sheep, on
the other hand, are rounded in the lower
valleys during the fall and fed during
the winter.
The range horses are now confined
almost entirely to the thfnly populated
counties of Douglas, Lincoln, Adams
and Franklin and parts of Yakima and
Klickitat, in Washington. These ami
mails are worth SO to $50, according tc
size and quality. A large number OF
them are cayuses; others are strong,
| Iarge-boned horses.
In June 5000 head of Washington
| horses We're sold for shipment east al
81. so, SO and So per head, according tc
| size. The horse canning factory al
| Linton, Ore, has converted about 5000
| head into meat for shipment to France
| and Germany in the last two years
| A still larger number will be canned II
| the near future, for the industrial de-
| partment of the Northern Pacific rail
| way has aided in the establishment o.
| another horse canning factory at Me
| dora, N D. home market for many
thousand head has been caused by thu
| boom in the wheat industry, owing t
| the good crops and good prices of th'
| last two years. Thousands of wilC
horses, weighing loo pounds and up
| ward have been broke to the pillow b.
both old and new settlers. The indi
cations are that this local absorption
| will continue in a limited way for sew
eral years in eastern Washington an'
| Idaho.