Open Range, Our Yesterdays, Jefferson Co., MT USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. Files may be printed or copied for personal use only. "List transcribed and organized by Ellen Rae Thiel, thieljl@aol.com All rights reserved." Copyright, 1998 by Ellen Rae Thiel. This file may be freely copied for non-profit purposes. All other rights reserved. Open Range Before the "Homesteading Days", when each homesteader fenced his place to officially designate his holdings, the early Boulder Valley settlers built their homes and needed buildings on their chosen locations, letting their stock roam the "open range" from Radersburg and Three Forks to the Whitetail area unhindered by any fences. Then in the spring, the owners and their cowboys, accompanied by their camp wagons and cooks, would leave on the annual "Big Round Up" to claim and brand their new born cattle. The round up usually took from four to six weeks. Roping and branding the calves filled their days as they followed the herds in their scattered grazing places. Then at sundown the man would make camp wherever they were. After eating their fill of the "feeds" prepared by their camp cooks, they would 'tend their horses, and then return to sit by the campfire to tell "Tall Tales" and sing on and off key until their weary bones told them that it was time to settle down for the night in their bed rolls. Come sun up, they would be ready to swing into the saddle again and head out for more "ropin" and brandin' on the open range that is so wistfully sung about in the song, "Don't Fence Me In." SUBMITTED BY MR. AND MRS. PAUL T. SMITH