Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1906-11-01
ANNUAL MARKET OF EQU1NES
EcLIPsEs ANY IN WORLD.
PICTURESQUE
SCENES
Demand Greater Than Ever Before
Form a Featurs of the West of
Fiction and the Stage-Variety of
Buyers-Three Sales Held Each
Year.

try has been pushed steadily west
ward. The great herds of horses
which once roamed over Ohio and
Indiana years ago moved west of the
Mississippi, where today they are
found, or their successors, on the
broad plains of Montana. Mean
while, despite the trolley car and
automobile, the demand for horses
has increased until the industry IS
greater than ever before. Every
eastern city has it's western horses,
but few people have any idea of the
country which supplies them. The
herding of tens of thousands of
horses, the difficulties of handling
them and the activity of the great
range sales supply some of the most
picturesque scenes in the far west
the west of the stage, the story
books and the imagination which is
fast passing.
The greatest horse market in the
world in point of numbers is probably
the range sale in Miles City, Montana.
Situated as it is, at the center of the
greatest horse raising section of the
country, it serves as a point of distri-
button. Horses are driven in or
shipped in from the ranges hundreds
of miles in all directions, to be dis
played before perhaps as critical an
assembly of norsemen as could pos.
sibly be found. Here you may find
representatives of the British army
seated near buyer representing sim
liar interests in Japan. There will
be buyers from Portland, Me-, to
Portland, Ore, and from Florida, in
short, from every section of the
country, forming an exceedingly
mixed crowd of fasteners, cowboys,
Indians and ranchmen.
The great range sales suggest a
wild west show on an enormous
scale, with bewildering variety of
types gathered from all over the
world for inspection. More than fifty
cowboys are busily employed in herd
ing this great army of horses, and
they are the pick of the plains. No
finer riding, no greater skill with the
lariat will be found anywhere in the
west than among these herders. AS
rule, about ten thousand horses are
disposed of at single sale, and there
are three such sales every year. The
work of herding these immense herds.
of dividing them into uniform lots, of
disp' aging them before possible pur-
chasers and finally loading them for
shipment is one of the great sights OF
the west.
One of the most interesting features
OF the market to the tenderfoot is the
ingenious system of pens used for
herding the horses. The system en-
ployed is the result of long evolu-
ton and much experience in the diff
cult business of handling horses.
The judging of the horses is always
done by the proprietor, A. B. Clarke,
who stands on the platform at the
opening of the cutting out pen. The
value of quick and accurate decis-
ion in grouping the horses is obvious.
The cutting out pen is also invalu-
able in separating the colts from
their mothers.
The pens cover several acres, with
many broad passageways running in
all directions. From any point OF
view it is an exceedingly busy as well
as picturesque sight Everything is
done on the run. Herds of horses are
constantly being driven from one
part of the enclosure to another. and
one sees through a cloud of dust half
hundred horses careering madlv
without halter or bride, while COW
boy who produces every detail of the
/ familiar pictures of his type con.
trolls them with twitch of his bride.
! incidentally there are probably no
better riders in the world. Sitting
his horse with the easy cowboy seat
and loose rein. he appears to be a.
ways on the dead run and with an in.
slant control of his steed under ~
cry condition which is fascinating to
watch. From time to time some un.
ruly horse breaks away and can only
be brought down after hard chase
and the quick swing Of the lariat.
Exhibitions of horsemen which
would bring thunders Of applause at
a wild west show so unheeded in the
great horse market They are merely
details IF the days work A skill and
daring which layman can only mar.
ivel at and scarcely find words to
praise is summed up by the horse deal
ers in the phrase. he can rope and
ride.
All this. however. is preliminary 10
the main business Of the market. the
auction. The scenes attending one o.
these great ring sales. it is safe to say.
have no counterpart in the world. a
covered stand is provided fer the bid
ders on two sides OF the pen 6. ring.
where the horses are displayed Op.
posite this rough grand stand is the