Granville Stuart, Cattle Baron (Part 2)
He selected a location at Ford's Creek, three miles from the foot of the Judith Mountains, to build his spread. He built a stable for ten horses, a bunkhouse for the cowboys, and a blacksmith shop. Then he built a house for himself and another one for the Reece Anderson family who would live on the spread. Fort McGinnis was just a few miles away, at which he could buy supplies and send and receive mail. Before long, he had five thousand head of cattle driven up the range.
The Stuarts had their share of problems the first year. The winter of 1880-81 was very severe and coast them some stock, though it wasn't as bad as others because this section of the range was not continually under snow as other parts were, so the cattle could still find feed. Wild animals also killed a few steers, but not many. The worst problem was caused by the Crow and other Indians in the area. They felt they could help themselves to the white men's cattle, with just the justification that they were hungry. The first time, Stuart took some horses from the offending tribe to compensate. But he couldn't keep up and the Indian agents did not enforce reservation regulations.
Soon the cattlemen formed the Stockmen's Protective Association. Unlike other organizations throughout the west with similar names, this was not a vigilante outfit. Its purpose was just as its name suggests, to protect their stock. The government was not doing anything to enforce the law or punish the wrongdoers, so the association had to do it themselves. They did not do it by violent means, however, unless absolutely forced.
In the fall of 1880, there was a disastrous fire that burned about 500 acres of good grass. This was a loss because Stuart had increased the herd by 5,000 more animals. Somehow their branding iron was deformed and they had to change the brand to D-S. Because of that they also changed the name of the outfit to Davis, Hauser, and Stuart. It was known by that name from this point forward.
The following year, more and more ranchers were setting up nearby. Some of them were sheep ranchers. But there was plenty of space and the cattlemen never had any trouble with the sheep men has did some groups in other states. The big ranchers also helped out the smaller ranchers. They sold prime hay at good prices to the
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