The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1902-02-07

large, a number of new members
reaching Helena last night and DUR
ing the day.
Professor Shaw of the agricultural
college read a paper upon Native
Grasses"
P. B. Moss. the Billings AMER who
is also an extensive grower of wool,
read an, interesting paper On the
growth and development of the sheep
business in the Yellowstone valley. as
follows
THE Introduction of sheep into the
Yellowstone valley and eastern Mon
tana dates back to about the year
1882. The first sheep we had here
came over the trail from California,
as u sheepmen were those who had
been engaged in the business and
were seeking new ranges on account
of crowded conditions there. To the
~latter-day sheepman this may seem
anomalous that sheep could be trailed
so far, but l am told by old timers
that they had a good route on account
of sparse settlements and no wire
fences to contend with. After Cali
fornia sheep came the Oregon sheep
and trailing sheep from there proved
to be a very profitable business to
those engaged in buying and selling
after arrival.
up to this time our vast ranges
had been occupied by cattlemen and
this industry started with the opening
up of Montana territory to civilization
away back in the sixties and early
seventies, and l am told that our first
lot of cattle came from California
This business grew very rapidly and
reached its climax about the years
1883 and 1886. During the climax
the cattle barons' were very much
in evidence in the eastern press, and
were wined and dined wherever they
went. At the height of the boom,
lords, dukes and noblemen from for
eign lands, as well as millionaires
e. our eastern states We're vieing with
each other for an interest in a cattle
ranch and all seemed to be imbued
With the idea that this business was
Only another name for .Alladin's
Lamp 1t occurred to any of
them that a day of reckoning was COM
ing. 1t was no trouble to sell any
| thjno that covnroi Of tho ro,,o soo+
tie ranch having for it's complement
a brand and a set of books showing
how many cattle purported to be roam
ing around on the range that was
claimed as belonging exclusively to
the ranch. So eager did some become
that they overlooked the matter of
having any cattle to go with the pur-
chase, taking it for granted that they
were there. An era of extravaganza
seemed to reign on all sides and or
such a scale that even the income
from the once famous Comstock lode
would not have supported. During
this boom in the cattle business the
sheepDaan became an object of con
tempt and ridicule from the cattleman.
aversion to the man holding sheep
AS a matter of Renaissance | recall
a few which in the light of subsequent
events seemed ridiculous and absurd.
One of u very. estimable citizens,
/: am informed, told the Indians upon
whose reservation he was grazing a
large number of cattle that if they
ever let sheep drink from their noun
tain streams that they would pollute
the water in such a way that it would
kill ah of their horses. Another story
is that a cattleman would not sit and
eat at the same table at our hotels
One of our leading citizens tells me
that about the year 1883 he was EN-.
lioyed or a horse ranch in the upper
rearance Of the first band OF sheep
i'll the country all of the horsemen
threw up their hands in holy horror
and declared that their horses would
NOT ne Die TO SuDSlSt through the
winter. | am told hat now on the
range that this outfit claimed for their
few hundred head of horses there are
about 10000 head of sheep and more
cattle and horses than there were
at the time of the invasion. The cat
lie and hOrsemen seemed to think
tina one little hand of sheen was like
d gigantic octopus that would NOW
down the range to come up
again. One Of our leading cattlemen
that is now going into the sheep bust
planning to me about two year ago
about a man driving his sheep over
his range and to my inquiry about the