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On this day in 1954, cowboys from across the region were preparing themselves
to participate in one last roundup of wild horses near Medora. The event
was determined to possibly be the nation's last major horse roundup.
The roundup was to start the next day, and would last for a total of three
days. During that time, riders would focus on a herd of wild horses in
the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park area. These horses had been roaming
and grazing in the park for many years, and were considered a nuisance.
According to James L. Barnhart, the roundup foreman, the horses needed
to be removed from the park. This need stemmed from a National Park Service
policy of enforcing anti-trespass grazing law and as well as through a
program set to improve the park.
Cowboys from ranches in the Roosevelt Park area and volunteer riders from
South Dakota, Minnesota and Montana all took part in the event. More than
one hundred riders were expected to take part in the roundup. Requests
had been received from saddle clubs and horse buyers across the region,
people interested in riding in the event. However, it was it was only
about 40 cowboys who ended up corralling 125 horses on the last day of
the event on May 2nd. Cowboys who participated also took part in a rodeo
afterward.
Those who were riding in the event travelled over more than 60,000 acres.
They all camped on the range until the roundup was completed, and chuck
wagons followed the riders around the park. The cowboys moved in three
stages from the north limits of the park. They worked down coulees, driving
horses into points where they could be collected. As Barnhart had said,
if horses were branded, they were cut out from the rest of the herd and
returned to their owners. "Slicks," or unbranded horses, went
to the lucky riders who caught them. On May 1st, the second day of the
event, some of the "slicks" were also auctioned to raise money
for Billings County's polio drive. And two yearlings out of the wild horse
herd were given to Home on the Range for Boys, located at Sentinel Butte.
It was a good turnout with good results, in the end. The Marquis de Mores
would have been proud.
By Sarah Walker
Sources:
The Bismarck Capital, Tuesday, May 4, 1954, p.1
The Bismarck Tribune, Monday, April 26, 1954, p. 6
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