dusty
Senior Member
Just began to wach the series Yellowstone this weekend. It is totally different than I thought I would be and I really like it.
I am a 4 generation Montanian and my ggf, gf and father all raised horses and sheep on their ranch in Montana. I was always told that in the 1800's they began with horses and then switched to sheep, although there were always some horses. They also employed some Basque sheepherders before 1900.
There was my ggf and gf plus some of my uncles and my Dad riding the ranch before 1940. The animals were always moved from range to range for grass and water and this included into Canada.
My gm was Canadian and my ggf and gf had both US and Canadian citizenship which made owning land there easier and grazing possible. It occurred to me last night that I had never heard talk of range wars from either of my gp or my father. That' when I realized that the old boy (my ggf) was smart in getting the Canadian ranches, he saw it coming. I have the old family Bible with all the deaths and births recorded in it by my gm and as I went through it today I realized that my father (1918) was born on one of the Canadian ranches and they were there until he was 5 or 6. He was the baby. Her next notation has them back in Montana and my dad in first grade.
I knew they had moved a lot but never realized why till now. It was all for the animals. For grazing rights and more land. Water. The ranchers never had to seed over where the sheep were but they did grow their flocks and needed to give pastures a rest every other year.
My ggf passed in 1913 leaving my gf and his sons and a few hands to carry on. My dad went in the Navy in 1940 and his brothers all went off their own ways. My grand father passed in 1955 and my grandmother in 1960. I went off to school but never forgot the old places. I went back to live there again in 2008 for a few and met up with one of the old hands and we had some good talks about the way of life. My Uncle El was one of the first members of the Stockman's Club which was a big deal back then. Not so much anymore.
The ranch hand told me how the outside of the houses looked and said they were scattered with wagons, tools and various things and that there were several Lakota tipis around as the women who helped my gm lived in them with their families and the men worked as hands.
I have always wanted to learn more about the external side of ranching for my family and now I have! Yippee!
I am a 4 generation Montanian and my ggf, gf and father all raised horses and sheep on their ranch in Montana. I was always told that in the 1800's they began with horses and then switched to sheep, although there were always some horses. They also employed some Basque sheepherders before 1900.
There was my ggf and gf plus some of my uncles and my Dad riding the ranch before 1940. The animals were always moved from range to range for grass and water and this included into Canada.
My gm was Canadian and my ggf and gf had both US and Canadian citizenship which made owning land there easier and grazing possible. It occurred to me last night that I had never heard talk of range wars from either of my gp or my father. That' when I realized that the old boy (my ggf) was smart in getting the Canadian ranches, he saw it coming. I have the old family Bible with all the deaths and births recorded in it by my gm and as I went through it today I realized that my father (1918) was born on one of the Canadian ranches and they were there until he was 5 or 6. He was the baby. Her next notation has them back in Montana and my dad in first grade.
I knew they had moved a lot but never realized why till now. It was all for the animals. For grazing rights and more land. Water. The ranchers never had to seed over where the sheep were but they did grow their flocks and needed to give pastures a rest every other year.
My ggf passed in 1913 leaving my gf and his sons and a few hands to carry on. My dad went in the Navy in 1940 and his brothers all went off their own ways. My grand father passed in 1955 and my grandmother in 1960. I went off to school but never forgot the old places. I went back to live there again in 2008 for a few and met up with one of the old hands and we had some good talks about the way of life. My Uncle El was one of the first members of the Stockman's Club which was a big deal back then. Not so much anymore.
The ranch hand told me how the outside of the houses looked and said they were scattered with wagons, tools and various things and that there were several Lakota tipis around as the women who helped my gm lived in them with their families and the men worked as hands.
I have always wanted to learn more about the external side of ranching for my family and now I have! Yippee!
