Branding Iron Tool
This contraption is used to mark a cow's ear. With about three fourths of the cropland in Bonner County traditionally being utilized for hay crops, livestock farming has typically been a chief industry. Two of the first cattlemen in northern Bonner County were the Albertson brothers of Montana who came to the area in 1916. Evidently they liked what they saw and purchased a section of land on Gold Creek. In 1925 they returned by railroad bringing five car loads of cattle, one car load of horses, and a carload of machinery. They leased land from adjoining land owners Bill Stevensen and Henry Samuels on which they ran 400 to 500 head. Bill’s son Don, Don’s children and grandchildren still live and raise cattle on the Gold Creek Property.
Other agricultural interests were being explored at the same time, including the benefits of fox farms, hogs and poultry, and a number of farmers, including: Frank and Earl Rusho of Blanchard; J.C. Boylen and B. H. Boyington, Colburn; W.A. Perry, Odin; T.L. Godfrey Pack River; W.T. Lovejoy, Sandpoint and Elmer Stone of Priest River, took an interest in sheep. Around 1920, large sheep operations in Washington began bringing in bands of sheep to graze each summer. Each band would consist of about one thousand sheep.
By the 1930s, the Sandpoint Packing Company plant furnished a home market for meat animals while some animals were trucked into the larger markets in Spokane. The first successful Livestock Auction in Sandpoint was started by John Schell, known as the OK Sales Yard in 1945. The average number of cattle sold each week was between 75 and 80 head. In 1950 the sale yard was sold to Art Sphar of the Gold Creek area and in the late 1950’s the business was sold again, this time to Art’s son Dale and Floyd McGhee. The name was changed to Sandpoint Livestock Auction and a new yard was built on Kootenai Cut-Off Road.
The dairy & beef industries, as well as woodland products, remained a substantial part of the agricultural equation into the 1960s, with each contributing nearly $1 million annually to the county’s 845 farms. Before long, ranchers started expanding their herds to include several new breeds of beef cattle, including: Highlander, Charolais, Galloway and Santa Gertrudis, in addition to the historical herds of Angus, Hereford, Shorthorn, Brown Swiss, and Jersey bulls.
Donor: Leona Judge
Adopted by:
This contraption is used to mark a cow's ear. With about three fourths of the cropland in Bonner County traditionally being utilized for hay crops, livestock farming has typically been a chief industry. Two of the first cattlemen in northern Bonner County were the Albertson brothers of Montana who came to the area in 1916. Evidently they liked what they saw and purchased a section of land on Gold Creek. In 1925 they returned by railroad bringing five car loads of cattle, one car load of horses, and a carload of machinery. They leased land from adjoining land owners Bill Stevensen and Henry Samuels on which they ran 400 to 500 head. Bill’s son Don, Don’s children and grandchildren still live and raise cattle on the Gold Creek Property.
Other agricultural interests were being explored at the same time, including the benefits of fox farms, hogs and poultry, and a number of farmers, including: Frank and Earl Rusho of Blanchard; J.C. Boylen and B. H. Boyington, Colburn; W.A. Perry, Odin; T.L. Godfrey Pack River; W.T. Lovejoy, Sandpoint and Elmer Stone of Priest River, took an interest in sheep. Around 1920, large sheep operations in Washington began bringing in bands of sheep to graze each summer. Each band would consist of about one thousand sheep.
By the 1930s, the Sandpoint Packing Company plant furnished a home market for meat animals while some animals were trucked into the larger markets in Spokane. The first successful Livestock Auction in Sandpoint was started by John Schell, known as the OK Sales Yard in 1945. The average number of cattle sold each week was between 75 and 80 head. In 1950 the sale yard was sold to Art Sphar of the Gold Creek area and in the late 1950’s the business was sold again, this time to Art’s son Dale and Floyd McGhee. The name was changed to Sandpoint Livestock Auction and a new yard was built on Kootenai Cut-Off Road.
The dairy & beef industries, as well as woodland products, remained a substantial part of the agricultural equation into the 1960s, with each contributing nearly $1 million annually to the county’s 845 farms. Before long, ranchers started expanding their herds to include several new breeds of beef cattle, including: Highlander, Charolais, Galloway and Santa Gertrudis, in addition to the historical herds of Angus, Hereford, Shorthorn, Brown Swiss, and Jersey bulls.
Donor: Leona Judge
Adopted by: