Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-03
STRATHC0NA
WAR HORSES
Canadian Cavalry Mounted on
Montana Equines.
FIVE HUNDRED SHIPPED
Bunch Was Taken Across the Line
by D. A. Richardson of
Lewiston.
FIVE HUNDRED SHIPPED

money for which is now being collected
here, Great Falls and Montana will also
be represented in the English army by
the sturdy Montana cow horses, which
carry the gallant Canadian volunteers
Who constitute the second contingent.
under command of Colonel Steele. ana
known as Strathcona's horse. The ex-
pense of the entire command lis borne by
Lord Strathcona, formerly SIR Donald
Smith, of Canada, ONE of the %stockhold-
ers and officers of the Canadian Pacific
railway. The command consists of 400
mounted men. The horses upon which
this entire contingent will be mounted
when they land on South African soil
are from Montana, and more particular
ly from the Vicinity of Great Falls. says
the Lewistown Eagle. When the first
contingent OF Canadian volunteers We're
called Tor they were recruited largely
from the northwestern mounted poLDe
force, and each retained the mount upon
which he had dome police duty and all
norses which were needed were pur-
chased IN Canada and were such as the
mounted police regulations prescribed
Is hands aYigh N Weighing 1,1O0 and
over. When the last call was made q
different class of horses Were asked for,
ana Montana was asked to furnish them.
About 500 were bought and taken
wa oo Ia ltlNOs alNu -. "A ItQC1dIuSOn OIL
this city purchased the most of them.
At first 1T WAS hard to get what was
wanted, as horses such as needed have
been at a discount in the state for some
years past and no one could be found
who had any large number on hand,
broken to saddle. Two years ago there
! was 40 market for such horses what
ever and last year was but E3ttle better.
The class of horses taken were 1.-THE wirey
tough Montana breed out Of which COW
! hlNrCaR ONO mia 1n n tH xA1ro~A1 A~~~~
to Is hands On hedght and from $50 to
1850 in weight. all had to b. broken to
saddle n fairly gentle. This class
were considered by the Canadian gov
as being better suited to light
cavalry work such as must be lone In
South Africn and far better able to stand
the hard hiding of forced ma riches and
scant feed than finer bred horses. AN
horses must be SOLID in cohor and no pin
tos, buckskins or white horses are ac-
being shipped to Ladhbrfuge and Cal
gary they were examined by an army
officer. and such Is passed were paid
Tor, the ones rejected being sold for
west territory come from this side OF
the line. Manitoba and eastern Canada
have the heavy horses with which the
Dakotas We're settled, coming largely
from Iowa, butt the needs of the North
west territory seem to call for the wiry |
tireless Moruta ma cayuse. In purchas-
ing. the horses shipped Mr.. Richardson
had to take from such as offered. get
ting SOME from Benton, Ohoteau, Cas-
cade, Collins, Augusta, Highwood, Belt
to Great Falls. They were received at
Collins, Benton and Great Fails and
shipped to Lethbridge and Calgary, in
the Northwest territory. where the se-
leco!on was made, and horses shipped
Halifax on the Canadian Pacific.
From Halifax they are shipped to South
Africa by steamer with the contingent.
each man having his mount on the ship
W IN ham,. SO that Whem the command
each volunteer mounts his Mon
his poInmel, and the Strathcona light
Is ready to do business with
Dem Paul's people as quickly as the
best OF them. and 1t will be strange If
tane fame of the Montana ayu does
NOT obscure and obMterate that of the
Missouri mules, of which SO much was
heard early in the South African cam
palgn.
For the present Mr.. Richardson is not
pureha sing, but it is expected that an
other call will be made about Aorfl l.
Tor more Montana horses of the same
sort and for the same purpose The
prices paid for the horses secured Is not
but is erNtoOd to be quite fair
! short time ago and much cheaper
man the same horses could have been {
sed in Ca NADIA. To a private buy
r, of course, the difference i'm price
would not count much, aus the duty
probably make up the difference,
,ut as the. Canadian government pays
no duty on the animals bought in for
war purposes the lower price was con-
X srable OF an in~ducement, even though
some ct the Canadian papers did not like
t and criticlzsd the official quite severe
y for coming over into Yankeehand to
ecure their StIathcona war horses,