The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1902-09-30
FAST CROWDED OUT BY SMALL
OPERATORS.
WIBAUx ON The SITUATION
Settlers and Their Dogs Make Fat
tening Of Southern stock
Too Risky.

Pierre Wibaux, one of the few rea
ly large cattle producers who sti
range their herds in eastern Montana
was at Chicago a few days ago and t
the Live Stock World gave his opi1
ion of range conditions as they no,
exist and as their future appears t
him. He is quoted by that pape a
saying:
"The big outfit is doomed. It mus
make way for the man with the small
herd, who will largely increase the
ive stock output of the western hal
of the United States. OF course south
ern cattle will go north for many years
to come and many of them will fine
Gazing opportunities across the Ca
nA14aElan line but so far as the Montana
and Dakota ranges are concerned
there will be a steadily decreasing
demand for them and I venture to pre-
dict that never again will so much
Texas stock go north ais was moved
this year.
Risk Is Great.
THE nan who takes southern twos
to northern pastures must Of neces-
sity figure two or three years ahead
and this is difficult to do in this revo-
%lutionary age. l took 5000 cattle
that I wintered in Texas into Montana,
this year, but l do not believe l will
ever repeat it. The risk is too great
and every year the feat of making
fat cattle on grass grows more diff
ficult. Sheep and the settlers dog
are mainly responsible. l was liter
ally forced to leave my old grazing
ground nea Wibaux, Mont, owing to
inability to make cattle fat there and
there is nothing to- be made by send
ing cattle to market that. are not fat.
Last year l was unable to ship any
tat ones and the Long IS" cattle l
shipped, barely made decent interest
on the money invested, not to speak
Of the risk. This is the problem that
constantly faces the northwestern
grazer and the risk is appalling.
Must Own Their Land.
ANY big outfit that desires to keep
in business must control it's pastures
continued Mr.. Wibaux. 81 have a val
liable ranch property at Wibaux ~
ing idle because we could not Craze
in that locality. Now l am negotiat-
ing with the Northern Pacific for 49,
600 acres of land along Beaver creek,
north of Wibaux. If this can be Sc
cured ! will be able to continue in
the grazing business, but otherwise
1t is a case Of fall out of the process
sion. Eastern people have no idea
OF the revolution now going on in Mon
tana. All the land east of Wibaux
to the Missouri has gone into private
hands. A year ago it could have been
bought at $3.50 to $3.50 per acre; late
" sales up to 50 have been made. 1
know men who have made 800, 900
or more by speculation in this land
within a few months. And the future
is hard to predict. Settlers will oc-
cupy the whole country within a few
years. They will not only crowd out
the big outfits, but will grow more
cattle in the aggregate and will be
in the market with their stock before
we disappear. They will have AN ad-
vantage yer us in that they will be
able to market their stuff over a long
err season. We are always at the
mercy of the killers, to a large extent,
during the spring season and they in
variably knock a dollar hundred or
more off cattle that we are compelled
to ship and cannot help ourselves.
With the small operator of the future
it will be different and that is one
reason why the big outfit will not be
able to compete with him."
Range O~verstocked.
Talking about present conditions on
the northwestern range, Mr.. Wibaux
said:
East of the longitude ,cf Miles
City there is good grass and plenty
of water; west of that, dry weather
and grasshoppers have played havoc
with the range, compelling stockmen
to ship cattle they would otherwise
have Wintered. In the eastern Sec
ton there will be good range and as
soon al snow falls and cattle can get
on it, they will do well, but at pres
emit they r MOI thriving because of
the distances they have to travel for
water and the fact that sheepmen are
down the water holes. AS a
ule the southern cattle that went in
ast sbring have done well. but the
vhOle range is sadly overstocked and
hard Winfor would canSp heavy