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Hay for the horses to forts in the desert


Trigger Mike

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I was watching Fort Apache earlier today.  A detail was shoveling manure and in the background was a very large bale of hay about the length of a wagon.  I then got to wondering just how often the wagons bringing hay came to the fort?  In the desert i doubt they grew much hay, especially before modern irrigation methods.  how much hay did a fort of troopers go through in a week?

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Did some quick research on the World Wide Web and came up with these interesting facts gleaned from the book:

5acbbbb881c2a_KansasHistoryBook.jpg.b9ad8bae1c50956c79183bcc87a38314.jpg

 

Here are the excerpts that may pertain to your question.

 

Supplying the Frontier Military Posts

by Raymond L. Welty

May 1938 (Vol. VII, No. 2), pages 154 to 169
Transcribed by Larry E. & Carolyn L. Mix; HTML editing by Tod Roberts;
digitized with permission of the Kansas Historical Society.
NOTE: The numbers in brackets refer to endnotes for this text.

 

The military stores were usually purchased from the large markets. Clothing, blankets and other quartermaster supplies were purchased in the East, or on the Pacific coast, and then were shipped to the numerous depots and posts. Large quantities of grain, hay, lumber, wood and commissary supplies were bought from the local markets near the posts, if they could be procured more economically. [2]

 

Several depots were established on the frontier from which its dependent military posts were supplied. Fort Leavenworth was the great supply depot for the posts on the Plains and along the Missouri river. [4]

Fort Vancouver on the Columbia river and San Francisco served a similar function for the posts in their respective regions. The posts in the territory of Arizona, as a rule, received their supplies from San Francisco. In addition to the great supply depots there were minor depots located on the important routes of communication, as Fort Union in the territory of New Mexico, Cheyenne, Denver and Walla Walla. [5] These depots supplied the nearby posts with the necessary military stores. It was necessary to keep large stocks on hand so that in case of delay in shipments, campaigns or expeditions need not be postponed. [6]

 

Grain for the animals was purchased at the nearest available markets. Hay was usually procured by the labor of troops near the posts, but if the garrisons were not strong enough or if they were engaged in scouting or erecting posts, local contracts were made to provide for a necessary supply. [73] General Dodge in 1865 sent mowing machines to the posts in his department, where the cost of hay was $20 to $50 per ton by contract, in order to reduce the expense by having the troops cut the hay needed. [74] During the fiscal year ending 1869 the issues of grain, forage and straw to the army on the frontier, including all the state of Texas, were: 1,239,000 bushels of corn, 160,000 bushels of barley, 714,000 bushels of oats, 57,000 tons of hay and 1,115 tons of straw. [75]

 

2. Ibid., 1866, p. 4.

4. House Executive Documents, No. 45, 39 Cong., 2 Sess., pp. 8-9.
5. Ibid., pp. 40-48; ibid., No. 20, 39 Cong., 2 Sess., pp. 3-4, 11; Secretary of War, Report, 1869, v. I, p. 442.
6. For an illustration see ibid., 1867, v. 1, p. 60.

73. Secretary of War, Report, 1870, pp. 146-147.
74. The War of the Rebellion . . . Records, Ser. I, v. XLVIII, Pt. II, p. 947.
75. Secretary of War, Report, 1869, v. I, p. 223.

 

To read more go to https://www.kshs.org/p/supplying-the-frontier-military-posts/12750

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Guest Grass Range #51406

Mine usually winter themselves. Dad always said if they can't "rustle" let them die. However we have had a lot of snow this winter so I am feeding hay. I figure one 90 # bale for 2 - 3 horses per day. None of them ever died

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2 minutes ago, Grass Range #51406 said:

Mine usually winter themselves. Dad always said if they can't "rustle" let them die. However we have had a lot of snow this winter so I am feeding hay. I figure one 90 # bale for 2 - 3 horses per day

Guess that’s why they call them hay burners. I’ll bet you’re using a bunch of hay this winter.

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5 hours ago, Grass Range #51406 said:

Yep I am. Now using big rounds at $40 per a 1100 # bale

Problem with them big rounds is that the critters can’t get a square meal.

 

Seamus

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Guest Grass Range #51406
20 minutes ago, Seamus McGillicuddy said:

Problem with them big rounds is that the critters can’t get a square meal.

 

Seamus

Yep

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9 minutes ago, Seamus McGillicuddy said:

Problem with them big rounds is that the critters can’t get a square meal.

 

Seamus

The farmers here in the "Oasis of NV" that grow alfalfa for ranchers & dairymen bale it in 1000+ lb. rectangular bales.  There are a few who grow mixed alfalfa/grass & alfalfa baled in 3 string bales for horses.  Most horse people feed 2nd cut or later alfalfa.  Our 2 quarter horses, one very small & one average, go through two three string bales plus 14 scoops of a supplement a week.

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