Page 88 - Cornelius Hedges Story

75 The Cornelius Hedges Story

Aggregately, livestock rising became the most lucrative business
in which Judge Hedges invested. Most of his interests were in sheep
growing, but he was for a time Vice-president of the Montana Cattle
Company. He resigned the position and sold all his stock at par value
for $900 in 1882.280 He was associated were the Home Building and
Loan Association in 1885.281

Hedges journals indicate that he first became interested in sheep
growing in March, 1863, and his interest was revived a decade later,
but not until October of 1880 did he actually invest in sheep growing.
On October 13, 1880, he invested $3000 in sheep with Carr and
Diamond by contract.282 The first winter, 1880-1881, due to severe
conditions on the range; about half of his band of sheep perished.283
In September, 1882, Will sold 277 head of his dad’s sheep at only
$2.00 a head. Hedges remarked that it was enough to make him
sick.284 In 1883, Hedges bought out Shaffer, his sheep partner, for
$3800, and entered this comment in his journal, “higher than I
intended to pay but want him out and can trust Will and Henry.”285

On August 30, 1886, Cornelius incorporated his sheep interests
and formed the Hedges Sheep Company. The articles of incorporation
were filed with the Territorial Secretary on September 2nd September,
1887.286 On the 3rd, he wrote, “First mail for many days brought
bad news of loss of 1250 sheep in a storm -Went home crushed
and didn’t sleep at all.” The next day, he wrote this, showing his
dominant true self, “Wrote letters to the boys Will and Henry with
the sheep and tried to encourage them as much as I could.”287

On October 28, 1888, Cornelius made an agreement with his son
Will to buy all the sheep and hay land, assume the existing debt, and
lease the sheep to Will. In payment, he would receive annually half
the products of the wool and 1000 lambs.288 On July 2, 1890, Judge
Hedges was running a band of 5200 sheep, 4300 ewes, 863 lambs,
and 37 rams. On July 29, he shipped 37,968 pounds of raw wool and
received a profit of $5504.20 from the wool. Half of that sum was
placed in Will’s account.289

Joaquin Miller claimed that in 1893, Cornelius and his son Will
were running “no less than 10,000 head of sheep” in the Musselshell
County “and during the present year (1893) expect to largely
augment that number.”290