Hagerman Sheep Monument

Between the close of the Civil War and the end of World War I, the sheep industry played a major role in southern Idaho history. Precious metals discovered in Idaho’s central mountains during the Civil War created an economic boom in the newly formed territory. As the war ended, cattle operations were beginning in the territory, but sheep were few. In the following years, sheep came into southern Idaho from Oregon, California, Nevada, and northern Utah, and transient “tramp bands” were drawn to abundant forage on vast unregulated public ranges. Cattle and sheep operations both expanded, and by the 1880s little unused public rangeland remained, making competition for grazing intense and leaving large areas badly overgrazed. In 1882, the Oregon Short Line reached Shoshone and Bliss, providing transportation for wool and sheep and causing enormous growth in sheep numbers. Bliss became a major shipping center for the Jarbridge and Three Creek areas and had a large shearing plant. By 1884, a branch line had been extended to Ketchum and Hill City, and by 1914 more than 300,000 sheep were being trailed through Ketchum. Hill City and Ketchum became two of the largest sheep shipping centers in the U.S. The severe winter of 1886–87, combined with overgrazing and several years of drought, devastated Idaho’s livestock industry in “The Big Die-off,” when thousands of cattle, horses, and sheep froze or starved to death. Many very large cattle operations never recovered and were replaced by sheepmen. By 1900, sheep had become the principal livestock industry in southern Idaho, operating through private ranches with winter feed, open public rangeland in spring and fall, and permit grazing on National Forest lands. By the late 1920s, Idaho had nearly 3 million breeding ewes and rams, marking the Golden Age of sheep ranching in southern Idaho. During World War II, sheep ranching began to decline because capable herders were hard to find, lamb became less popular as meat, synthetic materials competed with wool, and grazing rangeland was reduced. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, sheepherders in Idaho Territory, most of them Basque, worked in one of the least populated regions of the country. A herder with his dogs could manage a band of 1,500 to 2,000 sheep, moving them every few days to fresh water and forage and protecting them from toxic plants, snakes, and predators. On the range, a sheepherder carried a tent, pack horse or mule, pack saddles, panniers, bedroll, tarp, Dutch oven, canteen, sheep hook, clothing for four seasons, a rifle and ammunition, and a few personal items. Australian Shepherds or Border Collies were essential partners. Around the turn of the century, camp wagons came into use, bringing greater ease and comfort and adding a camp tender to cook and care for extra horses while the herder watched the sheep. The Hagerman Valley was a prime wintering location because its plentiful spring water did not freeze and its irrigated land produced alfalfa and grain for winter feed. Lambing took place in January, February, and March, with ewes and lambs fed twice daily, and lambing sheds protected them from the cold for 1 to 3 days after birth, reducing mortality.

Idaho · United States