MEDORA, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The last of the open range was along the Missouri River on Fort Berthold. Called “The Big Lease”, the fertile grazing lands were leased by ranchers who preferred to run cattle without fences. Hundreds of thousands of acres were leased on both sides of the Missouri from the late 1800’s until the Garrison Dam flooded the land in the 1950’s. Native Americans and non-natives ran cattle together.
Among the legends who worked the big lease were Paige Baker, Jay Grantier, Angus Kennedy, Daniel Manning, Andrew Voigt, Frank Keogh, Anders Madson, Bill McCarty, Wilse Richards, and Robert Wilcox. Almost all these men have been inducted into the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Honorees.
Visit the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame’s Center of Western Heritage and Cultures in Medora to see more of the Osborn Photo/American State Bank collection. NorthDakotaCowboy.org