Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1929-01-10
SHERIFF MADSEN TAKES CHARGE

Sheridan county has a sheriff.
There is nothing extraordinary about that. Most coun
ties have sheriffs.
But, somehow or other, since that six-foot, square
jawed farmer from down in the Archer country took charge
of the sheriffs ofhce-just three days ago-there has been
a change which one cannot help but notice.
There is nothing picturesque about Sheriff Madsen. He
affects no trick clothes" is not a walking arsenal, nor does
he broadcast challenges to evil doors or the underworld. He
has made no public statement as to what he proposes to do
but there is no doubling that he is an officer OF the law and
that be means business.
Nobody knows this better than the elements who have
been a law unto themselves in the past. The effect in this
respect is particularly noticeable. Even as early as Sunday
night tI- reports were current that the joints were closing
dow
eastern Montana, and Sheridan county in partic-
ular, as borne a reputation, none too savory, and nationwide
in its scope, as a wide open territory.
You can step up to the bar and order anything you
want, any old time, up in those towns around Plentywood.
"Gambling' My gosh. like the days of '49 you used
to read about. Why, in one place in Plentywood they even
had a roulette wheel going full blast. The city cop pinched
the place and a few days later another wheel arrived"
There are dozens of men living in Plentywood and
some of those smaller towns whose only visible means OF
support is poker
Yes. there are a couple of live shops" just a little
ways out of %Plentywood No, don't think anyone
ever interfered.'
Yes, liked it out there. Some Of the finest people
have ever met. Should have liked to have moved out
here. But you know, we We a couple Of growing kids and
when the Mlssis heard about all that stuff she baked"
The above quotations are, practically verbatum, what
the editor of the Herald was told when he inquired about
Plentywood before coming here.
The informant didn't spread it on either.
In spite OF many who may think otherwise, a wide
open policy has been Sheridan countys greatest drawback.
1t has kept out many a good family and attracted many a
mar who is neither an asset to the community in which he
resides nor a factor in that communitys progress.
Sheridan county's advantages are many. There is nc
better agricultural region in all Montana. There are many
other regions in the state that have advanced far more than
Sheridan county-even though they were less favored.
Why, Largely because the good wife of some prospective
farmer from back east had heard about that stuff, : and
had baked.
There is no reason under the sun why Sheridan county
should not be as law abiding and have as clean a reputation
as any other progressive community. With the advent Of
The new sheriff there is every reason to believe that the de-
sired state OF affairs will come to pass. The benefit accruing
will have a dollars and cents value that will mean thousands
of dollars to Sheridan countys credit. 1t means the incoming
Of home makers-men who make their living by honest and
respectable labor and the exit of roducers-parasite
who cannot thrive where law and order exist.
The cooperation Of the sheriff and his deputy with
the federal men who raided the local pigs" last Tuesday ev-
ening is a good start toward a better and cleaner Sheridan
county. That no gambling paraphernalia was found in the
joints raided speaks well-they had closed down. What's
more, they are going to stay closed.
Sheridan county can now take its place among the sub
tantial and progressive regions Of the United States and
NOT of the class SO often pictured as the frontier ommunity
that SOWING up before the law arrived.