Voices from the Past

December 20, 1946

County Leads in Alfalfa Seed Production

Powder River County raises more alfalfa seed than any other county in Montana, a report of the Agricultural Conservation Association compiled for the year 1945 discloses.

The total amount of alfalfa seed harvested here in 1945 was 1,150,967 lbs. which was grown on 220 farms, the report shows. Second largest alfalfa seed producing county in the state was Big Horn which harvested 1,004,070 lbs. on 299 farms.

Following is a list of other large alfalfa producing counties with the numbers of farms on which the seed was produced: Yellowstone 899,070 lbs., 384 farms; Rosebud 563,667 lbs., 135 farms; Phillips 496,915 lbs., 118 farms; Petroleum 477,054 lbs., 72 farms; Treasure 412,733 lbs., 94 farms; Lake 368,057 lbs., 188 farms; Fergus 361,106 lbs., 72 farms; Custer 340,013 lbs., 96 farms.

The alfalfa seed production in Carter County did not put that county among the leaders in the state. Production was 167,050 lbs. on 33 farms.

The 1946 production of seed in Powder River County will fall below the amount harvested in 1945 due in a large part to the grasshopper infestation coupled with drought conditions in some parts of the county. Last year the Perry Ranch on Otter Creek harvested 109,000 lbs. of seed while this year the production was about 15,000.

Chas. Huckins of Stacey with a 32,000 lb. crop of alfalfa seed this year was probably the largest seed producer in the county. This yield will be closely followed by the ranches of Carl M. Smith, Carl Emmons and the Pemberton Bros.

Weather conditions were adverse this year for the harvesting of a bumper crop of seed. Insufficient moisture in May and June coupled with a large infestation of grasshoppers cut down the upland alfalfa crop. Cold rainy weather during the harvesting season cut down the production by at least 50% in many areas of the county.

To offset the unfavorable alfalfa seed season, the price was higher this year than at any other time in the past, the OPA ceiling price of 35 cents per pound was removed during the harvest and many of the growers averaged over 40 cents per lb. for their seed.

December 27, 1946

Huge Audience Saw Bouts Here

The walls of the Star Theatre in Broadus bulged with the crowd that jam-packed the place Saturday night to witness the first boxing and wrestling match to be held here for several years. The large audience was enthusiastic about the whole affair and it is expected that similar cards will be held during the coming months.

Orville Carlson, matchmaker, was one of the principals in the wrestling match, the last and feature event of the show. His opponent, Bob Miller, proved to be an easy victim for the local boy and lost two falls in short order. While outweighed 40 lbs. by Miller, Carlson had little difficulty in throwing the inexperienced wrestler from Moorhead. Tom Williams was the referee of the wrestling match.

The fight card got underway at 8 o’clock sharp with two curtain raisers of two rounds each between grade school boys. In the first of the preliminaries, Billy Jones and Gary Potter drew in a fast match which delighted the crowd. In the second preliminary Gordon Gould drew a judge’s decision over Delbert Jones for his willingness to mix it up with his opponent.

In the first of the bouts on the main card, Ray Mitchell was given a judge’s decision over Larry Hopkins. Hopkins drew first blood in this fight with a punch to Mitchell’s nose which bled profusely throughout the three round fight. While Mitchell was the aggressor during most of the fight he failed to land any hard punches while absorbing considerable punishment from his taller opponent. Both of the welterweights were tiring fast at the end of the bout but Hopkins was the fresher and the apparent winner.

Carrol Schaffer dropped a judge’s decision to Don Gatlin in the fourth bout of the main card. These boys fighting at 150 lbs. put a lot of action into their three round fight. Schaffer kept his chin well guarded from his opponent’s fists but was on the receiving end of more punches than the hard hitting Gatlin. Schaffer tired considerably in the last round but continued to carry the fight up until the final bell. It was Gatlin’s fight.

The only heavyweight bout of the evening brought together Clyde McLain and Stanley Damm in the third bout of the main card. Damm took the long count in the second round from a hard right hand punch to the chin. Fighting with a left hand style, Damm was a sucker for McLain’s right hand and took considerable punishment in the first round. McLain rained right hand punches on Damm’s chin in the second round nearly knocking him through the ropes and forcing him to his knees from which position he slumped to the floor to take the count of ten.

Dubby Gatlin earned no better than a draw in the second bout of the main card but the judges gave him the nod over Lee Carter of Ekalaka. While Dubby showed his hard right once in the first round of the bout which forced Carter to the ropes, he kept it under wraps during the rest of the fight and Carter gave him a boxing lesson during the last two rounds. The Ekalaka boy outweighed the local battler by at least ten pounds but failed to use this advantage in the punching department.

Billy Joe Schaffer won the judge’s decision over Dale Draine in the last boxing bout on the main card. The latter seemed tired when he entered the ring and fought a rather listless fight. In the numerous skirmishes during the three round affair, however, he snapped out of his apparent lethargy to trade punches with his taller opponent who had a better defense and whose punches frequently found their mark. In the last round Draine caught Schaffer on the button with a wild haymaker that dropped Schaffer to his knees for no count but which slowed him considerably for the remaining seconds of the fight. This was Schaffer’s first fight.

A scheduled three round bout between Dick Potter and Snazz Yarger was called off at ringtime when the doctor said that Yarger should not fight because of a heart condition.

George Daniels was the referee in the boxing bouts and the judges were Tom Williams, John Gunther, D.D. MacBride, Dan Klein and Joe Kane.