Bower Brothers Sheep Company owned and operated in partnership one of the largest sheep companies in the state of Montana. Originally from New York, two of the Bowers, Arthur and Edward, arrived in 1880 to homestead on Surprise Creek located in the Judith Basin near Stanford, Montana. In September of that year, they made two purchases of sheep near Deer Lodge and drove the flock, numbering 1052 head, to their ranch. A third brother, Calvin, arrived from the East in 1881 and was taken into the firm which became known as Bower Brothers Sheep Company. The Bowers gradually increased their holdings, purchasing water rights, buying out homesteads, and leasing government lands. At one point, their 50,000 acres, extending toward Arrow Creek and Denton, ran more than 90,000 head of sheep annually. The wool from these flocks was freighted to Fort Benton and then East where it was in great demand by the large manufacturing houses. The company's holdings were sold in October 1907, to J.B. Long Company.
Records. 1880-1907. .2 linear foot. This collection consists of a small quantity of correspondence and three bound volumes. One volume, a land book, is a record of the holdings of the Bower Brothers Sheep Company, providing such information as the locations of Bower land (the book contains plats showing townships and ranges), acreage, leases, improvements, survey status, and if the land was taxable. The two other volumes are records of sheep and wool which provide a seasonal record of the company's flocks, including counts, losses, purchases, prices, sales, pounds of wool, pelts sold, and the name of the herder. These materials were kept by Arthur W. Bower and were preserved by George M. Fowler who worked for the Bower Brothers Sheep Company as bookkeeper and purchasing agent.
Arranged by series
Collection open for research.
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical Society. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection. In some cases permission for use may require additional authorization from the copyright owners. For more information contact an archivist.
Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Research Center, Archives, Helena, Montana.
Acquisition information available upon request
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Montana Historical Society Archives catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search under these terms.
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection