The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1920-01-29

mOSC disastrous year IN the annals
of the cattle business, with the ex-
ception of the winter of 1SS6-87,
which was made famous by the
sketch drawn by Charles M. Russell
called 1.-THE Last of Five Thousand
In the winter of 1886, with its sue
cession of terrible billiards., which
lasted from Christmas eve till spring,
the range was practically depleted of
COWS and steers. Practically every
stockman in Montana went broke.
The past year has not been so dis
astrous to the owners of stock, al
though many have lost a great deal
of money, but on account of general
conditions throughout the western
range country, the depletion of the
Montana ranges of cattle in 1919 is
a serious matter for the state and it
will take several years to recover
from the effects of it. Nearly 7OO,-
600 cattle were shipped out of Mon
tana last year, as against ar average
number of 200,0 00 shipped annually
for the past 10 Or Is years.
Texas and other large cattle pro-
ducing states in the southwest lost
many hundreds of thousands of cat
tie in 1916, 1917 and 1918, and Mon
tana cannot look to them for a sup
ply of breeding stock and young
steers, as could have been done any
time in the past 40 years.
The Situation in 1886
Old time stockmen, in comparing
conditions in 1886 and 1919, tell
some interesting history about the
q r1u noft1n h11cioncc IN NTan+ono tn
the spring of 1886 the valleys of the
Yellowstone, Musselshell and Judith
were heavily stocked with cattle that
had been brought north from Texas.
The summer of 1886 was an extreme
ly dry one, and many of the cattle
were forced to go north and
drive their herds across the Missouri
river into the Milk river valley ranges
and thus there began a new chapter
in the story of Montana range days.
A. j.. Moves, who made an investi-
cation of early cattle days on the
Milk river before his death a couple
years ago, found that the first cat
lie raised on the Milk river ranges
owned by Thomas O'Hanlon and
few others from around the Fort
.elknap Indian agency. This was
about 1878. Al Shultz became fore
nan of the outfit.
Fort Ass~inniboine had not then
)een built and there were few SOL
Tiers in the country, so the danger
If stealing from the reds was great
the stock had to be close-herded.
n 1882 Simon Pepin moved from
lis western range into the Milk river
~ How a-1 DAn3o p Dn4 -ya 49,. 80.
there for years after. 1t was
'robably their stock that~-was first
un under what might be called range
onditions in that section.
Drive Across Missouri
The next cattle that came north of
he Missouri were those of Granville
the famous pioneer of the
old camps; Conrad Kohrs, John Bic
enberg and others who had been
unning their herds south of the Mis-
ouri.
These came in the fall of 1886.
he season had been extremely dry,
nd Granville Stuart, then one of the
cattle men in the state, got
ermission from the government to
the Missouri and take his stock
the reservation near the Little
-ockies. The water holes were so
ry that when the cattle reached the
Lissouri near Rocky Point, they were
| misery. AS Don as the steers t
the water they started for it
n a run, and before the cowpunch-
IS could turn the herd away from 1
big bar of quicksand, hundreds S
ere begged down hopelessly. Every
fort to get them out was futile.
ven a steamboat on the river tried,
7 means of a line thrown around
steer, tried to pull one animal loose i
succeeded only in pulling the
)or brute in two. The cowboys had Il
take their six-shooters and kill a
e whole bunch that got into the t.
nd to put them out of their misery.
The winter that followed that dry
MINER of 1886 was probably the c
orst within the memory of white B
en- in Montana, and hundreds of cat 3
J men who were wealthy that year B
in the spring of 1887 with 8
It a cent-some of them hopelessly G
debt. G
Conrad Kohrs, one Of the oldest c
ing Montana pioneers today. and G
hn ~Bielenberg, who were among c
e biggest stockmen in the state, D
it all they had - some 100000 ID
nth of cattle, but fortunately were F
lie to pay their debts. F
Davis Stakes Kohrs f
One morning in the spring Kohrs G
It A. j. Davis, the Butte banker, G.
% said: "Con, I hear that you have G.
It with some heavy losses this past Ct
How is it?" H
I'VE have" replied Kohrs, "but we Je
enough to pay up everybody" Ii
Well" said Davis, II thought I LIZ
uld let you know that there is M
90, 900 to your credit in the bank, M
you can start business again as M
IN as you want to-" M
was very much surprised at M
S remarkable extension of credit M
a man who had just gone complete Pa
broke and after thanking Davis, Pr
began turning over in his mind Pc
at he would do with the money. Pc
concluded to go to Oregon and Pc
k over the situation, and after do Pr
so was so enthusiastic about the Ra
for buying cattle there that Ri
exhausted his 100000 at once Re