Livestock and the Open Range; Railroads Link Montana to the
Nation
Slide 2
Chapter 8: Livestock and the Open Range Montanas Grasslands
Montana had excellent grasslands winter snow not as deep or
long-lasting as in Colorado & Wyoming, winds often blew snow
off grasses, plenty of water & shelter. Blue grama (top),
buffalo grass (middle), western wheatgrass (bottom), etc. provided
great forage for cattle. Since most land had not yet been surveyed,
nobody owned it so anybody could use it for free.
Slide 3
The Birth of Open-range Ranching Montana cattle ranching began
in 1850s with the Grant family buying lame/exhausted cattle from
wagon trains on Oregon Trail. Montana gold rushes created great
demand for beef as wild game around gold camps was soon hunted out.
James and Granville Stuart (right) drove 76 cattle to Bannack in
1862 and opened a butcher shop made great profits.
Slide 4
Longhorns Government shrunk reservation boundaries and
pressured tribes to cede reservation land to make more room for
cattle ranches. First cattle drive from Texas to Montana was by
Nelson Story in 1866 he used his gold profits to buy 600 longhorns,
then drove them north. This began a period of many great cattle
drives from Texas to Montana cowboy Teddy Blue Abbott (right, at
age 18) reported once seeing 29 herds with a total of nearly 60,000
cattle on one section of trail.
Slide 5
A Longhorn, Nelson Story, and the Nelson Story Mansion in
Bozeman, Montana
Slide 6
1880s Open Range Cattle Boom Northern Pacific Railroad was
completed through Montana in 1883 gave ranchers access to markets
all across U.S. Series of mild winters in early 1880s ranchers
didnt have to provide hay for their cattle. Ranchers filed
homestead claims that had water sources a claim was only 360 acres,
but if yours had water, you really controlled thousands of acres of
open range that surrounded it. Open-range ranches were huge: 10,000
cattle needed 2.5 million acres of land, and some ranches actually
had 40,000 cattle!
Slide 7
Cattle on the open range at Montanas historic Grant-Kohrs Ranch
(near Deer Lodge) in the 1880s
Slide 8
The Roundup Cattle drifted and got mixed up with neighboring
herds, so every spring and fall, roundups were held. At the roundup
all cattle were sorted out, new calves were branded, then each herd
was taken back to its home range. Roundups lasted weeks; cowboys
rose at 4:00 a.m. and worked all day, every day, until all cattle
were rounded up, calves branded, herds separated, etc. After fall
roundup, cattle ready for sale were trailed to railhead for
shipping.
Slide 9
Branding calves at a roundup on the open range
Slide 10
Who Owned Montanas Ranches? Some of the biggest ranches were
owned by outside investors: from Missouri, Nebraska, Texas even New
Hampshire, England, Scotland, Norway, & France. Much of the
money made by Montanas ranches went to stockholders whod never been
here. Large ranches actually owned by Montanans included the
Pioneer Cattle Company owned by Granville Stuart, Reese Anderson,
& Conrad Kohrs had 12,000 cattle. Frenchman Pierre Wibaux built
a large ranch along Mt.-Dakota border & made Mt. his permanent
home. Most ranches were small as few as 50 cattle.
Slide 11
Pierre Wibaux Wibaux County and its county seat, the town of
Wibaux, are both named for this Frenchman who became one of
Montanas biggest ranchers
Slide 12
Ranches on Reservations Ranching helped Indians expand economic
opportunities. By 1900, nearly of Blackfeet Reservation families
owned cattle; Northern Cheyenne tribe purchased 1,000 cows & 40
bulls in 1903 grew into a herd of 12,000 by 1913. White ranchers
often let their herds trespass on reservations. Most Indians
preferred ranching over farming it was a way that Indians could be
like white men and yet not be white men said one historian.
Slide 13
Modern Crow cowboy John Real Bird; the history book When
Indians Became Cowboys
Slide 14
Cowboys About 2/3 were white; about 1/3 were African American,
Indian, Metis, Hispanic, etc. Many were teenagers Charlie Russell
(right) was 16 when he started as a cowboy, some even younger. Had
to work in bitter cold, wicked heat, put up with wind, dust, rain,
bugs, accidents, etc. Pay was $20-$40 per month (plus meals
provided). Some cowboys saved enough to start their own ranches.
Camaraderie, friendship may have been biggest perks of the
job.
Slide 15
Women & Family Life Like men, women on ranches had to work
hard hand-washing all laundry; cooking; bookkeeping; growing food
crops; raising chickens, pigs, milk cows, etc.; mended fences,
helped herd cattle Ranch life could be lonely might go months
without company. Evelyn Cameron (right): British immigrant
homesteader to eastern Montana whose black-and-white photos of
early homesteader life are now famous.
Slide 16
Sheep on Montanas Rangeland First sheep brought to Montana by
Father Ravalli at St. Marys Mission in 1847; sheep industry here
really began in 1869 with 1,500 sheep driven from Oregon to the
Beaverhead Valley. By 1869 there were 60,000 sheep on the
Musselshell River alone. In Wyoming, cattlemen and sheepmen clashed
violently in Montana, many ranches ran both cattle and sheep, so
conflict was less common. Sheep were cheaper to raise than cattle
& produced wool that yielded annual profits.
Slide 17
A large herd of sheep; by the 1890s, both sheep and cattle
badly outnumbered humans in Montana
Slide 18
The Sheepherders Most were experienced sheepmen from other
countries: Scotland, Portugal, the Basque region between Spain
& France, Mexico, or (less often) Ireland, Norway, or England.
A sheepherder mostly worked alone (with his dog) for months at a
time. Traveled on horseback but did most work on foot with flocks
of 1,500-3,000 sheep. Job mostly entailed watching for danger and
responding when needed.
Slide 19
Exterior and interior of a sheepherders wagon; a Basque
sheepherder with his wagon and sheepdogs
Slide 20
Horse Raising Many ranches bred horses, as well as cattle and
sheep. Indians often preferred raising horses over cattle (horses
had been a traditional measure of wealth for Indian families).
British ranchers in Montana raised war horses to sell to the
military and polo ponies to sell back in England Evelyn Camerons
husband, Ewan, originally moved them from England to eastern
Montana to raise polo ponies. Copper king Marcus Daly raised
thoroughbred race horses at his Bitterroot Stock Farm.
Slide 21
Problems of the Open Range Natural dangers: prairie fires,
predators, blizzards, floods, etc. Mavericks: unidentified calves
that wandered off from their mothers rule was that mavericks should
be branded by whatever ranchers property they were found on. Cattle
rustling (theft): rustlers rounded up other peoples cattle, changed
the brands, then drove them into Canada or Dakota Territory and
sold them. Ranchers sometimes became vigilantes against rustlers
Stuarts Stranglers (organized by Granville Stuart) killed at least
15 suspected rustlers in Montana in 1884, plus more in Dakota.
Slide 22
Vigilantes like Stuarts Stranglers often tracked down rustlers
and shot them, or hanged them from the nearest tree; when actual
lawmen arrested rustlers, they were hanged in a more formal
setting
Slide 23
Ranchers Organize Cattle ranchers formed the Montana
Stockgrowers Association; sheepmen organized the Montana Wool
Growers Association. These groups worked with the territorial
legislature to pass laws regulating grazing on public land, hired
detectives to check brands, got legislature to created Board of
Stock Commissioners to enforce branding laws, etc.
Slide 24
The Hard Winter of 1886-87 500,000 cattle on Montanas open
range in 1885; autumn 1885 was very dry, water holes dried up.
600,000 cattle, plus large herds of sheep in Montana by spring
1886. Summer was hot and dry in 1886. Winter arrived with heavy
snow winds made snow hard as cement. Most ranchers hadnt stored hay
to feed cattle in winter. Snow began to melt in December, then
froze hard; temperatures that winter dropped as low as -63 degrees
F.
Slide 25
The Hard Winter Tens of thousands of cattle froze or starved to
death. 5,000 cattle strayed into Great Falls, eating garbage and
sapling trees that the city had just planted. Estimated 362,000
cattle died that winter (60% of total Montana herds) some ranches
in eastern Montana lost 90% of their cattle; most in central
Montana lost about 40%. Some ranch managers reported heavier losses
to cover up their own mismanaged records. Winter of 1886-87 was a
turning point no more open range ranching.
Slide 26
Charles M. Russells famous Waiting For A Chinook (or The Last
of 5,000)
Slide 27
Recovering from the Hard Winter Surviving ranches began putting
up hay & planting barley to feed cattle during winter. Reduced
size of herds, focused on breeding better-quality cattle. Fenced
ranges to keep cattle from wandering. Reduced supply of cattle
actually helped ranchers by driving up beef prices & profits.
Sheep had weathered the Hard Winter much better than cattle by
1900, Mt. had 6 million sheep (most in the U.S.). Advantage of
raising both sheep & cattle: if market for cattle was down,
ranchers could profit by selling mutton and/or wool.
Slide 28
Legacy of the Open Range Open range era was short-lived but
left a lasting legacy in culture cowboy movies, books, & songs;
rodeos (originated in Mexico from vaqueros Mexican cowboys); dude
ranches (Montana had over 150 by the 1930s). Montana ranchers lives
are still shaped by land, weather, and market conditions. Must
continually learn to be better stewards (caretakers) of the land
and their animals.
Slide 29
Chapter 9: The Railroads Life before trains: in the 1860s, it
took 3-4 months to travel to Mt. by land or 2 months by steamboat.
Stagecoach from Helena to Virginia City, Mt., took 18 hours (at
best) to make the 120-mile trip. Delivery cost for shipping goods
to Mt. was often more expensive than the goods themselves. Montanas
towns & industries needed railroads to grow. The U.S. also
needed what Mt. had: gold, silver, copper, wool, cattle, etc.
Slide 30
1881: The Utah & Northern RR First transcontinental
railroad in U.S. was finished when Union Pacific joined the Central
Pacific in Utah in 1869. Union Pacific began building a railroad
north from Utah to Montana parallel to the old Corinne Road in
1872. Construction was slow & expensive due to remote and
rugged terrain. First Utah & Northern train reached Butte, Mt.
on December 26, 1881.
Slide 31
Railroads Further Reduced Indian Lands Treaties with tribes in
1850s had included permission to build railroads. 1882: govt.
agreement with Crow tribe reduced Crow Reservation by 1.5 million
acres & gave 400- foot-wide right-of-way to the Northern
Pacific RR Ten years later the Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy RR
also got a right-of-way across Crow land Crow wound up losing
another 3 million acres by 1905. 1887: Blackfeet, Assiniboine,
& Gros Ventre agreed to sell 17 million acres, including the
sacred Sweetgrass Hills to allow construction of Great Northern
Railway. Much of the $1.5 million promised to the tribes was never
paid.
Slide 32
The Northern Pacific Railroad NP had been chartered by the
govt. during the Civil War instead of money, the govt. gave the NP
land grants 39 million acres in all, 13.3 million acres in Montana
many railroads got land grants, but this was the largest-ever. For
every mile of rail laid in Mt., the NP got 40 square miles of land
to use, develop, sell, or lease. Construction was slow and delayed
by panic of 1873 (stopped at Bismarck, N.D.), then began again in
1879. Construction through Montana in 1882-83. September 8, 1883:
NP held ceremony (attended by former president Grant) at Gold
Creek, Mt. to drive last spike joining east & west.
Slide 33
A map of the Northern Pacifics route; an NP locomotive covered
with snow
Slide 34
Ulysses S. Grant driving the golden spike to finish the
Northern Pacific at Gold Creek, Montana, and the site where the
last spike was driven.
Slide 35
1887: The Great Northern Railway Great Northern was built by
railroad tycoon James J. Hill, a.k.a. the Empire Builder. Didnt
receive land grants, but attracted big private investors (like the
Rockefellers). Great Northern ran from Minnesota to Seattle route
across Montana was called the Hi-Line because it was northernmost
transcontinental route in U.S. Montana Central (also partly owned
by Hill) linked the Great Northern to Butte. Crossed the mountains
at Marias Pass near present Glacier Park, then dipped south to
Kalispell, then west to Seattle construction finished in 1893.
Slide 36
Hills Great Northern Railway was famous for promoting travel to
Glacier National Park, which its Empire Builder route passed right
through
Slide 37
1907: The Milwaukee Road Third transcontinental railroad
through Montana (after NP and Great Northern) was the Chicago,
Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific Railroad better known as the
Milwaukee Road. Known for flashy orange cars & modern steel
bridges. Entered southeast Montana in 1907, reached towns not
served by NP then traveled through Miles City, Harlowton, Great
Falls, Butte on way to west coast. Aggressively marketed
homesteading land in eastern Montana developed towns like Baker,
Plevna, Ismay. Best known for electrified rail line from Harlowton
to Avery, Idaho.
Slide 38
A spur line of the Milwaukee Road went to Great Falls, where
one of the companys most impressive depots was constructed.
Slide 39
The Milwaukee Road used electric locomotives like this one
still on display in Harlowton, Montana to cross the Rocky
Mountains. Electricity was generated for the locomotives from
substations like the one shown below.
Slide 40
The Milwaukees Electrified Line Used electric motors to
electrify the rails & move trains over steep terrain on down
grade, motors reversed & acted as dynamos, returning power to
the lines. John D. Ryan (president of Anaconda Copper Mining Co.)
sat on board of directors for Milwaukee Road formed Montana Power
Co. in 1912, then arranged for Milwaukee Road to switch from steam
to electric power so it would be a major Montana Power customer
shrewd! Control of both Anaconda Copper and Montana Power made Ryan
the most powerful man in Montana economically and politically.
Slide 41
The Men Who Built the Railroads Most railroad workers were
young, single men often immigrants (Irish, Chinese, Japanese,
Bulgarian, Swedish, Norwegian, Italian, etc.). Had to live in
tents/traveling bunkhouses. Poor living conditions bad food &
water, often no heat, no chance to bathe, etc. Chinese &
Japanese worked for less pay than whites and often performed
dangerous jobs, like blasting rock from cliffs. Whites were paid
more because they belonged to unions complained that Chinese &
Japanese stole jobs by working for less but the reason for that was
that unions wouldnt allow them to be members!
Slide 42
A Northern Pacific construction crew (left) and a group of
Chinese railroad workers (right)
Slide 43
No story of Montanas railroads is complete without the story of
Fort Bentons famous dog, Shep
Slide 44
Railroads Crisscross the Land By 1910, Montana had nearly 4,300
miles of railroad tracks by 1920, most small towns in Mt. had rail
service. Major railroads in Mt.: Milwaukee, Burlington, Northern
Pacific, Great Northern also ran branch lines off their main routes
to reach small towns. Independent short line railroads filled in
the gaps: Montana Western ran 20 miles from Conrad to Valier;
Montana, Wyoming, and Southern ran 25 miles from Bridger to
Bearcreek, etc.
Slide 45
Railroads Changed Everyday Life Railroads connected towns &
people. Could order new farm equipment, furniture, clothes, etc.,
and have them shipped to you. Trains delivered washing machines,
telephones, cars, etc. Refrigerated train cars delivered fresh
fruit, vegetables, seafood stores could now carry wider varieties
of foods. Fancy restaurants in larger towns opened, offering foods
from far away delivered by train. Trains themselves served fancy
menus as well (see right).
Slide 46
Railroads Transformed the Landscape The Northern Pacific, Great
Northern, and Milwaukee Road created towns as they built their
railroads across Montana (getting people to settle along the rails
helped the railroads make money). Forsyth, Livingston, Glasgow,
Harlowton, Havre, Lima, etc. were created as bases for railroad
maintenance & operation. Milwaukee Road aggressively marketed
eastern Montana as a great place to homestead farms. Montanas
population grew from 39,000 in 1880 to 243,000 by 1900, largely
because of the railroads in this way, the railroads helped Montana
become a state by increasing the population to the required
level.
Slide 47
An example of how railroads marketed to homesteaders to get
them to move to Montana this one was from the Milwaukee Road. Note
that the farmer is plowing up gold coins out of the Montana
soil!
Slide 48
Railroads Fueled an Industrial Boom Railroads brought in
machinery & equipment that industrialized Montana mining &
smelting equipment, sawmill equipment, etc. Railroads then shipped
silver ore, copper, cattle, sheep, & wool back east to
market.
Slide 49
Silver and Copper Boom Montana was 2 nd -largest silver
producer in U.S. by 1883; 25% of U.S. silver came from Mt. by 1889.
Copper smelting industry in Montana began at same time that
electricity & telephones spread around the world so copper was
in high demand. By 1900 Butte & Anaconda were producing 61% of
copper in U.S., 23% of copper in the world this role in the
Industrial Revolution made Butte-Anaconda important to making the
U.S. a modern superpower. All of this was possible because the
railroads were here to bring in equipment and ship out finished
products from Montana.
Slide 50
Coal and (Political) Power Coal was needed to fuel the trains
Northern Pacific RR developed coal mines near Bozeman, Red Lodge,
and (later) Colstrip; Great Northern mined coal near Stockett and
Sand Coulee (outside Great Falls); Milwaukee Road mined coal near
Roundup. James J. Hill of the Great Northern had great political
and economic power he and other big businessmen like John D. Ryan
used their influence to shape laws in ways that benefited their
corporations. Farmers & ranchers in eastern Montana complained
that they paid overly high rates to the railroads, but mines got
special lower rates this led to conflicts in the legislature
between agricultural counties and more powerful industrial
counties.
Slide 51
Left: the ACM Coal Mine in Belt, Montana. Right: remains of
coal mine near Sand Coulee, Montana.