There is a curious gap in our historical memory as to the culture of sheep on the northern plains. We love to tell the story of the range cattle industry. Although we recognize it was a transitory enterprise and generally date its demise sometime around the hard winter of 1887, we like to think there was a ready transition from the open range to modern ranching. We are loath to admit that in fact, the range cattle industry failed and was replaced, for the better part of a generation, by the