The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1901-01-29
srocKmEN NOT N
Tacoma Pipe-Dream vanishes into Vapor.
Plenty Room in Montana.

Tacoma Pipe-Dream Vanish Is into vapor.
Plenty Room in Mo ntana.
In an interview in the Tacoma
Ledger, Jesse Meredith, who is de-
scribed as a well-known cattle man Of
northern Montana, is reported as say
ing that cattlemen were being crowd
ed out of this state on account of the
shortage of range and that there were
q number of cattlemen of Montana,
who, within the next few years,
would be compelled to find new lands
for their herds, says the Helena
Record. This interview was shown
w. G. Preutt, secretary of the Mon
tana Stock Growers association yes
terday and he said:
Some things about this article are
true and a great many things are not.
I have shown it to Conrad Kohrs,
Henry ,Sieben and a number of the
other large cattle owners, and neither
they nor I know of any man of that
name. If he was any way po1minent,
some of us would know of him. He
may be a stock man and may own
some cattle, but I don't think he is
as prominent as they made out.
"He states that there is a great deal
Of cutoff timber land in Washington
that can be used for range purposes,
but that is all NONSENSE, for you never
find any good bunchgra SIS, or for that
matter any kind Of good feed on cut
off timber land. -
"Of course the free ranges in this
state are growing short and there are
not the big cattle outfits in the state
there were ten or fifteen years ago,
but there is still a considerable amount
of free grazing land left. It is the
same in Washington as it is in Mon.
tana, the range is being and has been
taken up.
"There are more cattle men in the
state now than there we're a number
of years ago, but there is still some
free range land. There are only a
few big cattle outfits left, such as
Con Kohrs, Henry Sieben and the
Bear Paw pool, but even these are not
as large as they were ten years ago.
Then the sheep men are also coming
in and encroaching on our land.
"Now that there are more small
outfits in the cattle business, the
losses are not as great of course and
stock raising has got down to more Of
a business standpoint
"Noo said Louis Stadler a promi.
nent cattleman yesterday "there are
not the big cattle outfits in operation
that there were ten years ago because
the country is more taken up. l dc
not know this man, Jesse Meredith,
referred to in this article and do moi
think that he is a prominent stock
man in the northern part of the state,
or I would have at least heard o.
} him. .r
t "Although the free range is getting
more limited every year, yet there
5 will he enough for ranging purposes
as long as we live, and for a much
longer period afterward. There is
< large scope of country in Montana
where there is land enough and flint
. range, but no water, except in places
} How about this kind Of country TO
: grazing purposes? Who is going t.
: take up land where there is no water
, The people who have all the water OF
this kind of country taken up hav
( got the range and there ire thousand
of acres of that kind of land,
"As for going into Washington
e they are as much if not more crowded
than we are. We formerly held on
0 stock in the Judith basin country, bu
that got so settled up that we had t
4 pull out. Cattle at the time used t
o lay around the creek and sprin
bottoms and could Craze while lyin
n down, but now that kind Of range
all taken up" A..
u .That statement is a great mis-
d take" said Karl Simmons, residen
d agent of the Northern Pacific land dc
@ partment. eve still have a great des
of fine grazing land along the yellow
II stone from Billings to the eastern lin
q OF Montana. The grass is much MOI
0 nutritious than in any other part
10 the grazing country. This was III
n ticeable last year, for when the graz
was poor in other states, it was az
,e mitted to be good in Montana and tt
le cattle went into the winter III fiji
IS condition. A number of people fro
S. Kansas and other states who have vi
re- tied Montana have been surprised
10 the fine condition of stock in tn
ct country, last summer, when they WEI
suffering in other states. We are ha'
ing inquiries from California ar
other states for ia nge lands suitab
"a for the sheep business.
"a "This winter the weather has bee
a. so mild that very little feeding h
IF. been done from the stacks so ia
lie Most of the cattle are running on tt
range and, as it looks now, mai