Fergus County Democrat. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1904-1919, 1905-02-21
RdnCherS and StoCkmen of Rock
Greek Bench Have Combined to
Protest Their Rights.
THEY WILL FIGHT LAND JUMPING
Contest Cases Against Desert tn-
tries Will be Fought to the
Highest Authority.

About sixty-tive ranchers and stock
men who reside on the Rock creel
bench and tributary lands met il
Moore last Thursday and formed tn,
"Rancher's & Stockmen's Protectiy,
Association" the object of which i.
TO put up united fight against tn,
contests of the desert entries mad,
upon lands of the Rock creek bench
IL was one of the worst days of the
year, otherwise, there would have
been from 100 to $50 men present NJ
the meeting. The feeling which has
been aroused by the action of some
alleged land jumpers can be appreci-
ated when it is known that number
OF those present faced blizzard FOR
lllteen or twenty miles in order to
participate in the meeting.
The meeting was called to order at
at O'Clock in Tooleys or the M. w.
A., hall over the G. II. Wilson store.
There were probably Is persons pres
ent, number of Lewistown gentle
men who are interested in lands on
the bench being in the hall. The
meeting was called to order by w. j.
Owen. After briefly stating the oh.
lect OF the meeting, Chairman Owen
called for the report of the committee
on resolutions which had been an
pointed at previous meeting. Chair.
man Pat Nihill of the committee
handed to the temporary secretary,
Frank Robinson, the report of the
committee, which embraced the con-
stitution and bylaws of the proposed
organization. After the reading of
this report, which was attentiyely
listened to by all present, and which
we have published below, Hon. David
Hilger of Lewistown was called upon
to address the meeting.
Mr.. Hilger, through his position in
the u. S., land Office in this city and
his long and varied experience as a
land office attorney, has most inti-
mate knowledge of the force and eff
feet of the land laws and he gave a
concise, cogent statement Of the situ-
alton on the Rock creek bench:and of
the necessity of the organization
which was that day being perfected.
"We have met here' ',sMr. .Hiiger
said in part, "for the purpose Of ..out-
lining plan of concerted action in
the defense of certain contests of
desert proofs which have recently
been filed against settlers of this
bench. You are mutually interested,
and if there is any danger to one
there is danger to all.
''The government has always recog-
nized that this is an arid region.
For years after the surrounding val
leys had been settled, this vast tract
lay here unsettled, fruitless, profitless
except for small value as grazing
country 1t glistened hot and :.sdry
under the summer sun land ,,-- not
house broke the monotonous sheet of
shimmering snow in the winter time.
''It has always been considered that
water is the only thing which would
transform this vast region from waste
to productive land. After a while a
few settlers pitched their tents here
on the bench and found that under
exceptionally favorable circumstances
a crop of wheat can be raised. Others
followed and at the present time.the
entire bench is occupied. But the
occupation of the land and the fact
that one or two good crops of wheat
have been raised on it, do not deprive
it of it's desert character. There are
degrees of aridity. This is not sag
ara, but the fact remains. that with
sufficient water furnished from stor-
age reservoir located up yonder in the
OF the Snowies, the product
iyeness could be increased materially.
a few years ago there was--a region in
the Yellowstone yalleyHadjacent to
Billings where about 1900 sheep
could be run successfully. At the
present time, by means of irrigation,
that land yields sufficient feed for
from $4,000 to 10000 head of sheep.
SO 1t Is with this country. With
that reservoir up there furnishing
sufficient wator - o,a...,.,.. ....