P a g e 4 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r chased from the VF ranch were the best stock the army had ever had. It was claimed that the VF horses could stand more grief and give more service than any other stock that ever bore the US brand. The saddle horses used on the VF ranch itself could make 100 miles from sun to sun and cover the trail home the next day. Butte furnished a market for their heavier horses, purchased by freighters and ore haulers. Eastern Montana cattle ranches came to the VF to obtain saddle stock for their cavvies, and the VF horses were considered tough and wise. There was a good market in North Dakota for VF horses, both in the cattle country and the newly opened agricultural regions. Finally the horse business went to the dogs. The best animals on western farms were sold for a song. Farrell & Varney were forced to quit. At that time the firm had 6,000 head of horses They were sold at prices ranging from $4 to $8 a head. That was in the middle nineties. Two years later horses were bringing from $30 to $50 a head and being shipped to South Africa for use in the Boer war, while bigger and better ones were in demand in the southwest where farming was undergoing rapid development. The old VF ranch passed into the hands of John B. Wellcome of Anaconda and after his death was purchased by the Hodgens Brothers of Butte. Its purpose was changed. Instead of furnishing range for thousands of head of horses, it was put to raising grain and alfalfa. A 12 -mile irrigating ditch that carried a river of water to formerly semi-arid benches, transformed them into amazingly productive acres. Varney died in Virginia City a few years after the firm went out of business. Farrell moved to Missoula, where he resided for many years. Thus passed Montana's largest exclusive horse ranch. The old VF Ranch in 1938, Courtesy of The Sanders County Independent-Ledger During the past few years a condition similar to that which was responsible for the VF brand going out of business has existed. Tractors and automobile displaced the horse. Comparatively few of them were to be found on farm, and ranches. Then came the depression and hard times, and the horse has come back—part way at least. During the past year market reports from all over the country have told of the scarcity of horses and the growing demand for them as farmers again sought to harness them to their plows. The biggest horse outfit in Montana at present is that of Chappell Brothers, which ranges animals in northern Montana and sells to eastern markets. -Accessed via: www.montananewspapers.org
5 Publizr Home