Anceney

Grain Elevator in Anceney by Bruce Selyem - Photo 1 and Photo 2

A view from 1939:

ANCENEY, 9 miles from Bozeman., headquarters of the Flying D Ranch. Charles L. Anceney was an early-day cattle baron, whose 2,500,000 acres were among the largest holdings in the State. The Flying D is still one of the State's largest ranches, though it is reduced to 399,350 acres and has to lease 1,500,000 acres of National Forest land for summer range. No dude ranch, it runs as many as 40,000 head of cattle in good years.
Modern ranch roundups differ somewhat from those of the open range, but the Flying D operations are as lively as any of the present day. The spring, or calf, roundup is held in May or early June. Riders, working from the various ranches, bring cows and calves in from river bottoms and other sheltered spots where they have wintered. Since the holdings are largely under fence, there are few if any strays, slickears, or mavericks; consequently no repping (checking of ownership) is necessary, as in the old days when neighboring spreads sent riders to see that their calves were branded with the proper irons. The calves are separated from the cows and steers and thrown into corrals; as in former days, smoke goes up from branding fires and mingles with the fumes of burning hair; but the calves are branded with a stamping iron while standing up in a chute, and so there is now no danger from the horns of the resentful mothers. Acid branding is increasingly used; it is quicker, safer, and more humane. The bull calves are castrated; some of the cows and steers are dehorned; all are checked for ticks, ringworm, blackleg, or other troubles,The herds are wilder and more widely scattered in the fall when the beef roundup is held; it is simplified by the present-day freedom from cattle thieves and by the fact that railroad shipping pens are at most within a few days' drive, and overnight camps can always be made at ranch buildings.

When the range was wild, the roundup crew went out in the spring, equipped for several weeks in the field. It always had one chuck wagon, sometimes several; a wagon for bed-rolls and extra gear; and many horses. The riders scoured all the country between great natural boundaries, such as rivers or mountain ranges. What they gathered in a day they threw into a herd and held until they had covered a certain territory or had as many head as they could conveniently handle. Then, while some of the riders held the herd, others worked out the unbranded calves, cows, and steers, roped them, dragged them to a fire, and held them down by force while the iron was applied. The branded animals were kept apart from the unbranded until the whole herd had been worked; then the herd was sent back on grass, and the wagon went on to another part of the range. Riders slept on the ground, ate food cooked in a Dutch oven, and caught their horses in a flimsy rope corral, improvised daily by the wrangler. Each man had to stand guard during a part of the night, riding around the herd and singing to keep the cattle quiet. During storms, when the herd was likely to stampede, the riders were sometimes in the saddle 24 hours at a stretch. Double roundups were held in the fall, one in September, and another—for beef—in October. Then came the drive to the railroad, with stampedes, swollen rivers, soaked blankets, and cold supper or no supper, all in the day's work. The puncher's pay was $30 a month and grub.

Source: Montana: A State Guide Book; Compiled and Written by the Federal Writers' Project of the Work Projects Administration for the State of Montana; September, 1939.