The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1920-06-25
MONTANA NEEDS
CENTRAL MARKET
BIG HOLE STOCKMAN FAVORS
BUTTE FOR LOCATION OF
STOCKYARDS
Roberts Brothers Started Stockyards
of Spokane on Shoestring a Few
Years Ago; Last Year Did Bust
ness of $1O,OOO,OOO; Much of it
From Montana.

Walter Roberts and his brother
John Roberts, started a central stock
yards a few years ago in Spokane cor
shoestring," according to o. B. Can.
field of Wisdom. Last year, they
did a $1O,000,000 business. Facts
in connection with the packing and
stockyards business are appalling but
financial figures are not more amaz-
ing than some of the gyrations of
Montana stock in their travels from
farm to market" Garfield said.
"A short time ago." said the Wis
dom stockman, Joe Shaw shipped
seven or eight carloads of cattle to
Kansas City. The long trip made the
cattle too poor for killing and they
went sent on to Sioux City, Iowa, to
be fattened. In due time they were
conditioned and Walter Hansen then
bought them and shipped them back
to Butte, where they were butchered
Of course, the producer is the one
who really paid the freight for these
cattle tourists.
81 don't wish to cast any reflec-
tion on Mr.. Hansen, whose business
has meant so much to Montana stock
men, but he can hang up only so
much beef at one time and there be-
ing no distributing facilities here nor
cattle market, at certain seasons of
the year he must go out of the state
or to feeding centers for his stock.
"Last week II carloads of cattle
were shipped by the Huntley's from
Spokane and unloaded at Anaconda.
This stock probably originated in
LARGO parf in Montana hut woo cont
to Spokane for feeding as Spokane is
the closest cattle market where there
are feeding facilities. If Butte had
a union stockyards, which is synony-
nous with being cattle market,
these cattle would never have left
the state and the farmer would have
saved the freight to Spokane and
back again.
Quite can become a distributing
point and be of inestimablel benefit to
The entire state as we'll as profiting
Itself immensely. With the proper
'tockyards facilities stockmen of va
'ious sections of the state could ship
% Butte, sell here the stock which
ocal plants would buy and reloading
ship east or west the overgrown stuff
or which there may be only a de-
nand in eastern centers. The local |
ancher could buy feeders in Butte,
rive them to his farm in the fall and
eturn them to Butte in the spring
or killing.
"There are thousands of head of
attic fed on sugar beet pulp in the
tate of Idaho which are now far
rom a market and which undoubted-
Y would be shipped to Butte if
larket were established here.
Gin the Big Hole country little
took is kept in the summer time
lille the hay is growing. Our stock
len sell the fat stock in the spring
nd after the hay is stacked go to the
earest market and buy poor cattle
, fatten up during the winter. The
attle could just as well be sold in
ute in the spring and bought in
ute in the fall. On each transac-
on the stockmen would save freight
larges.
1.-THE need for making Butte a
ockyards center and distributing
)int is so apparent it is surprising
at movement has not been inau-
lrated for it years ago."