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Show Such a request had become a periodic affair, and Bill agreed to take all of the ewes off the forest for one year to rest the range if the rangers would permit their return in the already existing numbers at the end of that time. What to do and where to take the ewes? After an unsuccessful scouting trip to find suitable range property elsewhere Bill learned of a possibility in Idaho-a part of the original Clark and Denning ranch northwest of Idaho Falls. It included the Birchcreek and Deep Creek areas. After consulting with the girls and making several inspection trips over the property, Bill decided it was suitable to requirements. The spring, summer, fall and winter ranges were all contiguous, and Bill appreciated the complete operation that would feed between four and five thousand sheep. Bill, Pearl, and Aleen (in Mt. Pleasant for the shipping) were sad as they watched 36 double-decked stock cars being loaded at the Mt. Pleasant depot with the entire flock of the John K. Madsen registered breeding ewes. Also included were yearling ewes and ewe lambs for replacement in the breeding herd. It all bore the stamp of finality-and there was gloom in the hearts of the two sisters and Bill. Bill made special arrangements with the railroad to run the ewes straight through to DuBois, Idaho, via a special train on a 36-hour release-without unloading. The eight to nine hundred buck lambs of that season were fed out at the Mt. Pleasant ranch during that winter of 1950-51, in preparation for the next summer's sale. 278 |