The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1921-12-05
INDIAN ST0CKMEN
DISCUSS MEANS OF
BETTERINC HERDS
Will Make Provisions
for the Sale of Feed
ers to Local
BUYERS
TOO. MANY HORSES
Growers Association
Has About. Five
Thousand Head

llOuSdlll ! AOQO
There was meeting Of the officers
and directors of the Indian Cattle
Growers association at r. w.
Dixey's residence last week, at which
time they decided to buy fifty more
pure bred Hereford bulls.
The association has about 5000
head of cattle on the reservation, and
for the past couple Of years have
been using only pure bred males and
building up the quality of the herds.
They keep them in the hills dur
ing the summer and on Fort Hall
bottoms during the fall and winter.
The sales are conducted In October
from some point on the bottoms ly-
ing nearest to Pocatello or Fort Hall.
The cattle are then driven to Poca-
tello to be loaded on the cars. Be-
cause of the fact that they have been
offered for sale only in large lots, the
local farmers and feeders have not
been able to handle them and the
sales have not been so satisfactory
as might have been. They have a
new plan now which they think will
be to the advantage of both the
Indian cattle men and the farmers
who wish to buy feeders. A set Of
stock yards will be built at Fort Hall
in conjunction with the small load
ing pens already there and the
herds of Indian cattle will be sold at
the Fort Hall station. They will be
divided up into lots of any desired
size, SO that farmers wishing to buy
feeders can buy small lots. Scales
will be installed at the stock yards
SO that the cattle can be weighed
at the moment Of the sale. Under
tine old plan. of selling them at auc-
tion in the larger bunches, very few
feeders would be present and some
times the cattle went at quite sacri-
fee on this account.
There are about 1900 wild horses
on the range that the Indians are
puzzled to know what to do with.
Last year they sold several thousand
head at $6 apiece, and they were
shipped to Petaluma, Calf. and used
for chicken feed. Those sales so
cleaned up the range that they are
enabled to handle more cattle now
than before. But these other 1900
head are still in the way, the owners
do not like to destroy them and
there is no sale for them. They are
all wild Indian ponies and are not at
all reliable for family use so they
can not be sold off for the boys and
girls to ride, as they require long
period of service to get to where they
are gentle enough for that purpose.
The question of what to do with the
wild horses was discussed at the
meeting last week, but no solution
was arrived at. 44.
The purposes of the organization
are to protect the range, to raise bet
ter cattle and horses, to buy nothing
but pure bred males, to buy enough
males every spring to keep their
herds in vigorous condition, to build
sales yard at Fort Hall, and to CO.
operate with the white farmers who
wish to buy feeders to consume theil
hay and other crops. The officers Of
the Indian Cattle Growers assOcia'
tion realize the fact that their opera
tions have been handicapped by ship
ping their cattle away and the opera.
tions of the local white farmers have
been handicapped by going out and
shipping feeders in from othel
states. They propose to cut out botf
of these losses and turn them into
profit for themselves and the white
men.
The officers of the association are
R. w. Dixey, president; Charles Dig
gle, vice president; Joe Thorpe
secretary; Thomas Cosgrove, treas
urer. The other five members of the
board are Alex Watson, Peter Jim
Jimmie Sequints, Archie Jimmie ant
Hubert Tetoby.
At the close of the meeting the!
discussed the matter of cooperating
with the Blackfoot Commercial clul
in supplying Indian riders to wal
on the school teachers at the 1925
institute and several of them ex
pressed an interest in taking tina
matter up to see how much hell
could be rendered. They thought
would probably be pleasing featur'
for the teachers and that it might d.
their young men and boys good t.
have such duties to perform unde
such pleasant associations with tn
daughters Of the pale face. II thi
is done they would like to have !
done with prudence and they want tt
select their riders rather carefully 81
that no reproach may be cast upol
the Indians by any carelessness o
misconduct of the Indian boys to
wards the young women they are ex
pected to serve and protect.
Il IN THE DIsTRIC TCOURT