Sale Barns on the Rosebud
From the time Gregory County was opened up there has been Livestock sales. Every good homestead story has at least one paragraph about a bad horse trade. And of course, every town had a livery barn, maybe several. And some of those unsavory horse trader types most likely hung around there just waiting for a Homesteader to slick. And after while I would guess as the livery business waned the traders moved on. But not gone there was still all kinds of livestock to be bought and sold.
The big meat packers burst on the scene, and they needed buyers to keep their plants humming. Well, it was natural that a building would be built, moved, or converted, into a auction barn with a sale on a chosen day every week. It provided a steady market for the farmers out in the country for their animals and a steady Income to increase their holdings. Town boosters and banks were some of the early promoters. You get dad selling hogs in town and mom is likely to come along. It provided a huge boost for the merchants in small town USA. Who could ever forget what day was sale day the town was a buzz. As far as i know there were three dedicated barns on the Rosebud: Burke, Gregory, Winner, and most likely the town boosters had a big hand in attracting them and keeping them.
The Burke sale barn I remember reading it, evolved possibly from some of the buildings that were down on the Mule head ranch, Gregory’s developed from a American Legion Dance hall, (see photo of its first regular sale late 1930s demolished last year) And Winner’s was similar to Gregory’s north of town with a octagon building. Till the whole thing was picked up and built new east of winner in 1961. The Burke and Winner barns are still selling livestock of all kinds serving their communities. Sale day is not what it used to be but still provides some well needed activity on the town’s main streets. No one can predict how long the cry of the auctioneer will continue, but at the present its live and well.
Author Richard Papousek, September 2023