Draft:Myron D. Jeffers

Overview of Myron D. Jeffers

Myron D. Jeffers is renown for two reasons: he is an inductee into the “Hall of Great Westerns” of the “National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum” (nationalcowboymuseum.org), and a townsite/community in Montana is named after him.

Myron D. Jeffers was inducted in 1963 into what was then called the “Cowboy Hall of Fame” (now renamed the “Hall of Great Westerners” of the “National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum”) in recognition of two accomplishments: 1. his three drives of cattle from Texas to Southwest Montana in the years 1869, 1870, and 1871, which were the first such drives completed in one season, and 2. his involvement in — and contributions to the advancement of — the livestock industry in Southwest Montana in the late 1800s.

The community of Jeffers, in Madison County, MT, is named after him, as he was an early cattle rancher and large land holder in the area.

Myron D. Jeffers’ Early Life

Myron Deodat Jeffers was born September 16 (another source says September 18), 1833, in Saratoga County, NY, near the town of Hadley. His parents were Jefferson Jeffers and Martha Burton Jeffers. He was the eldest of nine children.

He received his education in Cooperstown and Charlottesville, NY. In 1854, at 21 years of age, he spent about a year in Iowa. Then for four years he was employed by the US Government as a Civil Engineer, near Rice Mountain, CO. And from 1859 to 1864 he was worked as a miner near Pikes Peak, CO.

In 1862, gold was discovered in Bannack, MT, and a year later it was discovered in nearby Alder Gulch, just outside Virginia City, MT. A classic gold rush to the area resulted. Perceiving a need, Jeffers in 1864 became a freighter, carrying goods between Corinne, UT, and Virginia City. (Corinne, UT, was at that time the terminus of a Union Pacific Railroad branch line, the closest rail link to Virginia City.)

The cattle drives from Texas to Montana

After gold was discovered in Bannack and Virginia City, thousands of people flooded to the area. Commercial hunting quickly decimated the populations of wild game (buffalo, deer, elk, moose). Hunters could not supply enough meat to satisfy demand. Recognizing that the mining operations around Bannack needed to feed a lot of hungry men, Jeffers developed a plan. In 1869, and again in 1870, and again in 1871, Jeffers went to Texas, near San Antonio, where he purchased longhorn cattle. He then hired a crew of drovers, and trailed the herds from San Antonio to Bannack, MT, a distance of 2000 miles. He was he first person to complete such cattle drives in a single season.

The first two herds of cattle that Jeffers trailed to Bannack (in 1869 and 1870) were sold to both mining interests to feed the miners, and to the US Government to feed Native Americans, who were by then confined to reservations and treated as wards of the government. (This subjugation of a people is now rightly acknowledged to have been a gross injustice, an offense that stains the history of the United States.) The third herd that Jeffers trailed north in 1871, he kept for himself, intending to pursue the livestock business.

The third cattle drive, in 1871

Jeffers kept a succinct diary of his third cattle drive, in 1871; most of the details mentioned here are of that drive, although it seems very likely that the first two drives followed similar itineraries, routes and methods.

Jeffers arrived in San Antonio February 10, 1871, and for the next six weeks scouted the nearby region, looking to buy cattle and horses. He bought some longhorn cattle and arranged for them to be delivered to Burnet, TX, (100 miles north of San Antonio) on April 1. He bought other cattle and arranged to take possession of them in April. Jeffers’ diary mentions that some of the cattle were bought for $3.25 per head and others for $3.56 per head. Jeffers also bought some horses and two yoke of oxen. He also hired cowboys to participate in the long drive to Montana.

On March 21, Jeffers and his party departed San Antonio, heading northward towards Burnet. He had with him some horses and oxen-drawn wagons. Along the way, and later in and near Burnet, he assembled the cattle and horses that he had bought from various individuals. On April 14, Jeffers and his drovers “road branded” the cattle and horses.

On April 15, 1871, Jeffers and his party departed Burnet, TX, on the way to Bannack, MT. There were 1894 cattle, 37 horses, and two wagons, each pulled by a yoke of oxen. The wagons carried food and supplies. In addition to Jeffers himself, the crew of drovers numbered 14, most of whom were Mexican. There was a cook and young cook’s helper.

Typically, when driving the herd, a “trail boss” rode out front to scout the trail and to look for the next camp site. Two riders rode “point”, leading the herd. Two more riders were on “swing", two to four more were on “flank”, and a few more on “drag”, urging onward those cattle that were slower, weaker, or tired. A remuda of extra horses and a herder also came along.

The trailed herd would often become strung out up to three miles, with a width of up to one mile. The herd traveled 10 or so miles per day, depending on weather, terrain, and the availability water and feed.

At night, two or more men guarded the herd in 2-hour shifts, riding around it while singing or talking, to keep the cattle bedded. Rain — especially thunderstorms — made the cattle restless, in which cases the guard was doubled.

The route to Bannack

The route followed in Jeffers’ third drive led from San Antonio, TX, almost due north to Burnet. Then further northward to Fort Worth, TX, and on to Fort Sill, OK, which is southwest of present day Oklahoma City. The route continued northward to near Ellsworth, KS, which is west of Abilene, KS. To this point, Jeffers mostly followed the Chisholm Trail, an established cattle drive trail that led from San Antonio, northward through Oklahoma, across the Arkansas River, to Ellsworth and Abilene, KS.

�Did Jeffers “dodge a bullet”?

It was near Ellsworth, KS, that Jeffers had a bit of trouble. He was carrying cash, because In those days and in those areas, banking services were rudimentary or nonexistent. Therefore, cash was necessary for Jeffers to transact business, both while he was near San Antonio and along the route. Also, at the end of the drive, he would have to pay off the drovers. Needless to say, to carry large sums of cash while passing through remote and mostly-lawless areas made him a target for theft. Or worse. He could be murdered in some remote area, and robbed of his money and cattle! Probably for this reason, Jeffers didn’t sleep in the camp with the rest of the drovers. Rather, each night he rode away by himself to sleep, returning to the camp the next morning for breakfast and to manage the crew.

But in the camp near Ellsworth one June evening, some of his drovers made an unusual request of the cook. Could he prepare sandwiches for them? When Jeffers was informed of this odd request by the young cook’s helper, he became suspicious. Why would these drovers need sandwiches? Why not just observe the normal routine of eating the meals of beef, beans, sourdough biscuits and coffee that the cook prepared, around the campfire each morning and evening? Were the drovers planning some extra-curricular activities? A robbery perhaps?

To be safe that night, Jeffers stayed in the saddle, deep in the herd, where he couldn’t be found. The next morning he made an excuse, and rode into Abilene, KS. There he hired ten new drovers, and the next day he returned with them to the camp. The conspiracy — if there was one — could not accommodate ten additional conspirators. Or ten witnesses. Jeffers then fired the first crew of drovers, paid them what he owed them, and saw them on their way. And for the next several nights, he made sure to camp near civilization, in case the previous drovers decided to carry out any nefarious plan. Fortunately, he never saw the original drovers again, and the new drovers proved themselves to be competent cowboys.

Back on the trail

From Ellsworth, KS, Jeffers headed west, generally following the newly-constructed Kansas Pacific Railroad, to Cheyenne Wells, CO, and then Kit Carson, CO. From here Jeffers left the route of the KPRR, and headed northwest, skirting east of present-day Denver, crossing the South Platte River, and arriving near Laramie, WY.

From Laramie, WY, Jeffers headed generally westward across Wyoming, following the well-used Oregon Trail, and crossing the 7000-foot Continental Divide the first time. He reached Montpelier, ID. (It was near here that Jeffers sold 4 cows for $20 each, making a tidy profit from the $3.56 purchase price.) He then headed north-northwest through Idaho, crossing the Snake River near Fort Hall, ID (now called Idaho Falls), and over the 6800-foot Continental Divide a second time, to Monida, MT. Then on to Bannack, MT, where he arrived on October 3, 1871.

The drive had traversed some 2000 miles in 6-½ months, plus 1-½ months of preparation.! And Jeffers was now in the livestock business!

�Establishment of cattle pool

Jeffers ran his cattle on land holdings in southwest Montana. In 1880, he and several other ranchers organized a cattle pool. The cattle pool’s combined herd was run in Madison County around Jeffers and Ennis, and in the valley of the Yellowstone River (east of the Madison Valley).

Jeffers greatly increased his land holdings when some speculative investments paid off after the economic depression of 1873-79. By 1886 he had holdings from Bannack eastward to the Yellowstone River.

The final years

During normal winters, cattle could generally forage enough to stay alive, and could then fatten up on spring and summer grasses. But the winter of 1886-87 was extremely severe — especially on the Yellowstone — with sub-zero temperatures, strong winds, and layers of ice. The cattle could not find enough food; hundreds died.

Jeffers scaled back his operation after 1887, but continued to run herds in southwest Montana until 1893, much of it in Madison County, closer to home.

In 1900 he was stricken with a brain tumor, and died following surgery in New York City, on May 27, 1900. He left a wife (24 years his junior!), and five sons.

Myron D. Jeffers is buried in the Valley Cemetery in Ennis, MT.

The community of Jeffers, MT

The community of Jeffers is across the Madison River from Ennis, MT, about one mile away. There are dozen or so homes in Jeffers. There are no businesses that serve the general public except houses offering short term rentals.

The area’s Trinity Episcopal Church was built in Jeffers in 1902. Local lore says that nearby Ennis (population 1000) grew while Jeffers (population 45) remained small because Myron D. Jeffers forbade the establishment of a saloon. Without a saloon, the community of Jeffers was destined to be outcompeted by Ennis! Today, Jeffers and Ennis make up one friendly community, at an elevation of 5000 feet in the Rocky Mountains. It’s economic mainstays are ranching, haying, and catering to tourists who come to hunt and to fish in the Madison River.

Bibliography

From San Antone to Bannack, by R.W. “Rib” Gustafson, 1999, ISBN 0-912299-87-8, Lib of Congress Catalog # 99-096342

Pioneer Trails and Trials, Madison County History Association, Copyright 1976, Great Falls, Montana