Landscapes

"Stone Store"

Augusta, Montana   NEW

Dan Floweree came to Montana in the Gold Rush in 1865 to strike it rich in the goldfields, but struck out instead.  He did, however,  find a partner, Mr. Lowry and together they  became cattlemen. In 1870, they brought a large herd of cattle from Texas over the Chisholm Trail.  They expanded the ranch till at one time it was reported that they had 30,000 sheep, 20,000 head of cattle and 1,500 horses.

The common practice in those days was to leave grass lands idle through the warm months  and then let the cattle graze this grass in the winter. The  ranch prospered until the severe winter of 188l.  Only the strongest cattle survived that memorable winter.  Cattle were once again brought up from Texas to replenish the herd.   All was well until the winter of 1886 when once again the ranch suffered a terrible loss.

After this disaster Mr Floweree dug a canal and developed irrigation to produce winter feed.  It took 150 men three years of hard work with just teams of horses, slips, and shovels to dig what is now known as the Floweree Canal.  It is the main stay of the Broken O Ranch as it exists today. While in it’s heyday, the ranch employed around 1,000 hands.  The Stone Store was built during those good days to make life a little easier for them and their families.

When Floweree died the ranch was sold off in pieces and eventually came under the ownership of Teton Land Company and then the Hamilton Ranch.  William E. Moore came to the Augusta area in early 1988 and purchased the ranch in 1988, consisting of 61,924 acres. In the following years, Mr. Moore accumulated approximately 135,000 acres to form the now “Broken O Ranch”.  With the management help of Dan Freeman, Bill and Dan transformed this large land acquisition into a very profitable ranch and farm operation once again.Mr. Moore passed away in 2004.  The ranch continues under the management of Mrs. Moore and Dan Freeman at this time.

  hand colored etching by Barbara Coppock           Return to Map...

image size:  4x10 unframed price:  $67

#E-218

purchase options:

#F-218

purchase options: