Tools of the Prairie

The first homestead in Montana was claimed in 1868 by a woman, near Helena. Through the end of the 19th century, most homestead settlement concentrated in the valleys and timbered lands of western Montana. Tools used in the homesteading era are a lot different then they are today. The homesteading act started in 1862. The most common things at auctions were cows, horses, tools, land, and machinery. The farmers first started using equipment pulled by horses. One average sized horse is about equivalent to about 18 mechanical horsepower. Some of the equipment that was pulled behind the horses were cultivators, seeders, and plows. Later, they went to machines, like three-wheeled tractors that ran on little gas engines. When hickory was found it made the hand tools better. Hickory is stronger and more durable than any other wood, so that made the handles on the tools stronger. E-B implements in Baker, Montana was the Fallon County dealership. Some of the tools they had are hay tools, farming equipment, gas engines, and saw mills. Hides off the animals that people trapped, ranged anywhere from 8 dollars to 12 cents. The bigger the hide the more money you would get unless the hide is poor quality then you don’t get very much money. One of the more updated equipment was a thresher. A thresher is a machine that shakes the grain plant to get the grain out of it.It is amazing how much the tractors and tools have changed over the last about 160 years. They have upgraded the technology so much.