Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1923-09-20
b. C. FORBES PICKS CHARLES ANCENEY, OLD TIME MONTANA
CATTLEMAM, AS TYPICAL OF MEN WHO ARE MAKING THE WEST


building, in a lsud and imperious tone h,
launched a ~profane and vulgar epithet a
the guard, saying: 'slacken that rope
quick. and let a mas take a parting drink
won't your
Organizes vigilsnttes
THE rope was loosed, while the depravet
wretch drained the tnmbIer at a draught
While the guard was refastening It. h,
exclaimed:
II hope the Almighty will strike every
one of you with fsrked lightning and that
] shall meet you all In the lowest pit OF
h
mo more requests being made. the men
! laid hold OF the cords attached to the box
occupied by George Lane. Just at that
moalent the unhappy wretch DESCRIBED an
old friend c~linging to the building to oh
tain a sigh OF the execution.
Good bye, old fellow said he. I'm
gone and, without waiting for the box
To be. removed, he leaped from It. and died
with hardly a struggle.
There goes one TO h. muttered Boone
Helm.
Gallagher cried and swore by turns.
- hope said he. that forked lightning
will strike every strangling villain OF you.
The box. flying from under his feet. stop
ped an oath In its utterance.
kick away. old fellow said Boone
Helm. calmly surveying the struggles Of
the dying wretch. My turn comes next.
III be In h. with you in Il minute.
Resuming his own story. Charlie
Anceney recalled lin our section of
Montana we organized a Vigilante
committee. Every cattle owner had
to show up for duty or else send a
man. The rustlers were very bad
and there we're no laws to stop them.
Some of these fellows were the clev-
crest ~cowpunchers you W. Jaw.
They could stteal cattle off a ranch
and change the brand on them as
slick al you like - they could fool
even the man, the owner, who had
done the original branding.
We'll. we got together: we organ
lied. And we sure did clean ,em up
one summer"
"How7"
Modern West Very Tame
why, we strung EN- up, OF
course"
Then. he added, his face breaking
into a smile:
But you have now far more hold
ups in your big cities than we have.
There are no hold-ups in Montana
any more. Nobody here thinks of
locking any outside doors on any
ranch. There Ia hardly a door bolted
at night In Bozeman. our nearest
town. Two old men act as police
men, but they don't have much to
There are no policemen In Hell
ena. You have to come west TO strike
the really tame. civilized people.
Another thing / don't like about
your big Cities Anceney went on, is
that you breathe the same air over
and over again. We have plenty of
the fresh variety here. We don't
have 10 breathe any of It twice. There
is more than enough to go round
fresh from the mountains and the
woods and the fields"
Ranchers, like the rest of us. have
their ups and downs. Just as a mis-
has often proved the turning
point in the history OF a business IN
terprise, so was IL with Charlie An
ceney.
A series of bad seasons and un-
prices landed him in debt.
Anceney was unhappy. IL had al
been his custom to meet his OBJ
legations and meet them promptly.
This time Fate had dealt him a stag
blow. He was willing to do
anything. to sell everything in order
TO clear his feet. IL was not that
he was indebted to were press
ing him for payment; only, the
OF these debts pressed on
ais mind day and night. He went TO
4 banker in Helena, told him fully
about his circumstances, and urged
him. pleaded with him. TO buy his
-anch. II was worth, he explained
o the banker, much more than he
,wed. but he was willing TO sell for
.ust enough to take him out of debt.
This banker already had many and
important interests and had no de-
ire to buy the ranch. But there was
something about his visitor which
made an impression. He rang true.
lis sincerity m~anifestly was deep.
lis anxiety to meet his obligations
lad a moving influence upon the
Finally, and somewhat re-
.uctantly, this banker - Harry w
hid, one of the ablest and best
iDown men In the west. who. among
'ther things, runs all the hotels and
ii the transportation facilities in
park-sent a man to
ook over the ranch.
Everything was as represented by
he honest rancher. Mr.. Child had
ways been interested in farming,
ad always been fond of horses and
attic. and he had taken a fancy to
.nceney. Just as important corpora :
on mergers are sometimes arranged
TO secure the services of a
srtain star executive. Mr.. Child :
greed to become interested in the 8
anch provided Anceney became his :
artner and undertook the practical
Management. Anceney agreed.
An Agricultural Empire
Now go out and buy all the land
thin sight" Mr.. Child instructed
Is partner. I'll finance your share :
the cost" Z
This agricultural empire of more
ian half a million acres stretches :
) miles In n direction and even =
Irtber In the other, with parts run