Introducing 2011 Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame Inductee…
Charles Frederich Meine (1870 - 1949)
Charles F. (Charlie) Meine came to the Beaverhead Valley with his parents and three sisters in 1882, when he was 12 years old. His father taking one of the last homesteads to be had in the area. Charlie was born March 22, 1870 at Hannover, Germany. Son of Conrad Meine and Wilhelmina Fricke, Charlie's full given name was Friedrich August Wilhelm Carl Heinnrich Meine.
Charlie ranched with his father on the homestead which was grass hay and pasture land. They raised horses and cattle. In 1890, when Charlie was 20, Conrad purchased the adjoining 160 acres; this was the first of many land purchases to build the Meine Ranch north of Dillon.
February 20, 1893 Charlie purchased the homestead of Thomas J. Mulaney. Charlie and his father worked the two ranches together, until Conrad's death in 1911. The base of operation was moved to Charlie's home site, many buildings were moved from Conrad's homestead and others were built. The barn completed in 1900 was one of the finest in the valley at the time; boasting a large horse barn with seven double and two single stalls, large tack rooms, a hay loft with hay lift for getting hay into the attic. The east side of the barn is the milking barn and holding areas for milk cows and calves.
Charlie maintained a large herd of cattle and was an avid horseman. Always working to upgrade his livestock, Charlie owned many fine cattle and horses. Charlie and his nephew, John Albers, once traveled to Columbus, Nebraska and assembled two train carloads of registered polled shorthorn cattle and a registered Percheron stallion; which were shipped by train back to Dillon.
In addition to saddle horses used to work the cattle, the farming and haying were done with horse drawn equipment. Horses used to pull the equipment were usually of Percheron breeding. Charlie's grandson, Bob Meine, remembers helping hitch as many as 12 two horse teams. The horses had to be wrangled each morning from the horse pasture, a bottom field where wild hay grew, and brought to the barn. Each one was then tied in the barn and given grain while they were curried. All this before breakfast. After breakfast, the horses were all harnessed and hitched to the equipment. At lunch time the horses were all watered in the slough on the way back to the barn and given oats and hay before the men came to the house to eat. Charlie maintained the belief that none of the people ate until the horses were feed. Harnessing the horses for a day's work was a long and tedious process, and being sure the harness was properly fitted was important so the horses did not develop sores. Charlie made sure everyone knew what they were doing with the care of the huge work horses.
Charlie acquired many acres of range on "Dutchman Mountain" starting in 1916. This was used for summer pasture for the cattle, and the work horses were taken there in the fall after haying and turned loose for the winter.
Charlie was manager and supervisor of the Beaverhead Milling Company of Dillon, as well as part owner. A 1925 article in the Dillon Examiner Christmas edition says that Charlie Meine's sound judgment and progressive methods were bringing prosperity to the company. Charlie was active in the rural school his children and grandchildren attended. The Meine ranch often provided hay for the horses ridden to school and stabled in the barn across the road.
Charlie taught his sons and grandsons a great deal about ranching. The Meine ranch was passed down to two of Charlie's sons, Henry and Carl. Parts of it are still owned by two of Charlie's great grandsons.
Charlie died when he was 77 years old on February 11, 1949
February 20, 1893 Charlie purchased the homestead of Thomas J. Mulaney. Charlie and his father worked the two ranches together, until Conrad's death in 1911. The base of operation was moved to Charlie's home site, many buildings were moved from Conrad's homestead and others were built. The barn completed in 1900 was one of the finest in the valley at the time; boasting a large horse barn with seven double and two single stalls, large tack rooms, a hay loft with hay lift for getting hay into the attic. The east side of the barn is the milking barn and holding areas for milk cows and calves.
