The Drive Behind the Drive

The Great Montana Cattle Drive 

Roundup to Billings

Photography Contributed by Carolyn Fraser & Larry Mayer 

Two years prior to the 1989 celebration of Montana’s Centennial preparations were being made across the state, but by far the most ambitious event planned was the Centennial Cattle Drive. 

Hoping to commemorate a drive that would rival drives of the 1800s and honor the resilience of the people that first brought cattle to our state, the idea of trailing thousands of head of cattle across the plains of Montana was met with both enthusiasm and skepticism. The logistics were daunting, from where to get the cattle, to where to hold the drive, how to water and feed the livestock and the people, to who would be involved and how much it would cost.  

By the time the idea came to fruition, on September 4, 1989, over 2800 head of cattle, 3300 horses, 200 wagons and more than 3000 people gathered to begin what would become an apex in Montana’s history and the biggest birthday party held to celebrate a state.

For a week the cattle, the cowboys and the wagons trekked across Montana’s landscape. Beginning in Roundup and ending in Billings, they journeyed across sagebrush plains, through pine covered draws, and across the dusty prairie, covering about ten miles per day. 

Thousands of spectators lined the trails and followed the herds trying to catch a glimpse of the cattle and wagons. News networks across the globe broadcast daily from the event. Those involved knew they were participating in a momentous pinnacle in Montana’s history.  

It is said the zealous idea was first conceived by artists Stan Lynde and Barry McWilliams and businessman Jim Wempner, while visiting over the hood of a pickup in Roscoe, Montana. It turned out to be a far larger undertaking than any of them could have imagined and as they incurred debt and made very little headway, something had to change. Their trumped-up enthusiasm was taken down a few notches and made more realistic when a formal board was named that placed energized, determined and capable people together.  

“It was a monumental endeavor that was only pulled off with the Good Lord’s help,” Kim Kuzara said of the Centennial Cattle Drive and Wagon Train.

Heavily in debt and constantly battling negative publicity was a difficult position for the new board to start but once they were put in place a new direction was taken, financial support started pouring in, and with a lot of blood, sweat, and sleepless nights, they pulled off an event that the state, even the country will never see the likes of again. 

“Those guys were artists and visionaries,” Mike Murphy, one of the Montana Centennial Cattle Drive directors said. “They had a great idea, but absolutely no idea how to make it happen.”

Kim was asked to be in charge of the logistics and brought to the table a managerial analysis background he gained while serving in the Air Force. His experience proved to be invaluable to the drive. He realized at once that a great deal of intricate planning needed to take place.

“They needed a plan,” he said. “Without a detailed plan, there was no way in hell it would work out.” 

Through months of preparation and researching, Kim and others authored a manual putting all the pieces together. One of the first things that took place was flying over the 60-mile area and gathering topical maps to figure out the best route.

“Roundup is a natural bowl and before everything was fenced off it was a holding place to gather cattle to ship by rail to Miles City or back East,” Kim said. “Why not start the roundup in Roundup?”

The manual also included maps of each privately owned segment of the route, diagrams of the campsites showing how much square footage was needed for each of the camps and how long it would take in actual hours from the beginning of the drive to the end. It also include how much hay and water it would take to feed the livestock and what needed to take place at each campsite before the arrival of the wagons and after they left. 

Mike’s role was overseeing the media, ensuring they were close enough to do their stories but far enough away to keep from disrupting the process.

“They were all quality people,” Mike remembered. “They all wanted to share our enthusiasm with the folks back home and the cattle drive was representing who we were as a state.”

Almost 1500 volunteers stepped in to make it happen; offering physical help, monetary aid and filling other needs as they occurred. 

Dick Walker was a county commissioner and a rancher in Musselshell County. He understood the business side of the drive, knew the owners of the ranches that the drive would cross and helped gather the team of directors. He was the president of the board and worked diligently for the better part of two years to ensure that the drive would be accomplished.  

Behind the scenes of the cattle drive was nothing short of miraculous. Hours were spent talking to landowners about crossing their property and calculating the feed and water needs of thousands of cattle and horses in an area of Montana noted for its lack of both. Negotiations were made with the state on highway rights-of-way, the FAA on airspace, and the city of Billings on allowing the parade of cattle, horses and wagons through town. A medical team needed to be in place and liability insurance to cover the entire show.  Range scientists were brought in to study the environmental impact before and after the drive. 

Trivia Facts of the Cattle Drive 

Participants in the wagon train came from all over the country and even the world 

US 87 from Roundup to Billings was shut down for hours on the first day of the drive

$140,000 was spent on a traffic study, highway signs and the labor to place them and remove them  

200,000 gallons of water was hauled in daily for the livestock, brought in using Vacuum trucks 

NutraLix supplied 200 troughs for the water; the vac trucks filled them at night and emptied them the next morning to move to the next camp

Water was taken from nearby ponds, the Musselshell and the Yellowstone River

A fencing crew was in place at every ranch to cut the wire fences before the herds of cattle, horses and wagons moved through and replaced immediately  

A Mobile Army Surgical Hospital followed the wagon train with state-of-the-art equipment

Budweiser brought 2 event tents for the nightly entertainment and sold 80,000 cans of beer

Live music and dancing occurred every night for the wagon train and included Hoyt Axton 

The hay brought in was certified weed free to keep from contaminating the ranches land

The concert on the last night of the event brought in 20,000 people and the traffic was backed up for ten miles from the concert site to Billings

The sale of the herd took place at PAYS and BLS and brought in enough money to pay off all the debt and contribute to Montana Community Foundation

The city of Billings initially thought they would use a snowplow to plow away the aftereffects of the 6000 animals parading down Main Street. They then thought better of it…  (“wouldn’t that have been a shitshow?” quipped on of the directors)

“Whenever we got one problem solved, it seemed like another one popped up,” Dick said. 

Two routes were established from Roundup to Billings, one for the actual cattle drive and the other for the wagon train. It was imperative that the animals and the people were all well cared for and though it was a reenactment of a drive hundreds of years ago, modern amenities were required and appreciated.  Out of the center of camp, but as near as possible were portable outhouses, showers, tents, satellite phones, water and food, and of course, beer, lots of it. 

Shortly before the drive, Budweiser and Motorola, both stepped up with substantial donations. Drawing on favors and personal connections, the board was able to bring an enthusiastic and willing Budweiser on board. They cut checks amounting to $500,000 and provided huge tents for the wagon train to use every night for entertainment. Selling beer over the six nights helped them recoup their investment. 

Motorola offered over 100 handheld radios and eight base stations so that communication between leaders scattered throughout the drive would be quick and efficient. Their donation of state-of-the-art equipment, valued at over $100,000 kept much of what might have gone wrong from going wrong. 

“I don’t know what we would have done without that,” Kim continued. “That saved our tails from day one.”

While the world watched the daytime activities and the progress of the drive, it was the nighttime that kept crews busy. After the evening activities were over and everyone was bedded down, the logistics teams took over. The Budweiser tent was moved, the 200 water troughs set up every day and filled with water were moved to the next camp and hay was brought in to feed the livestock. Just as the work teams were leaving for the next campsite, the cooks began their day, hitting the deck by 3:00 am to start breakfast for wagon train participants. 

“We never shut down,” Kim said. “I didn’t sleep for the entire week!”

On the kickoff day of the drive, over 15,000 people packed Roundup to cheer it on its way. On the morning of the last day, over 70,000 lined Main Street in Billings and millions around the world watched on television. The two-hour parade was celebrated by spectators that began arriving before dawn to welcome the cattle drive and wagon train. 

It took thousands of volunteers and close to a million dollars to complete the drive. If not for the work of the people that got behind the idea, it would have failed long before it even started. 

“It came off beyond our wildest imagination,” Dick said. “It was the experience of a lifetime and probably the greatest event that Montana has ever seen. About the only complaint we heard when it was over was that most of the folks didn’t want it to end.”