THE NEW CENTURY DAWNS AUSPICIOUSLY 451 



and E. T. Graham of Nebraska and James H. Letts 

 of Iowa. One of the best brood mares ever used 

 at the Missouri Agricultural College came from the 

 Coad stock, and many of the good Percherons in 

 southwestern Iowa now trace to this breeding. 

 Mark M. Coad left a profound impression upon 

 Percheron breeding west of the Missouri River, and 

 did more to popularize the breed in that country 

 than any other breeder of his time. 



The work of Uehling & Golder, Rhea Bros, and 

 James A. Barr already has been discussed in earlier 

 chapters. All continued breeding Percherons 

 throughout the entire decade, and all made improve- 

 ments in the size and quality of their stock. There 

 were numerous smaller breeders in the state. 



North Dakota's Great Range Project. — ^North 

 Dakota, ninth in Percheron breeding during this 

 decade, had a total of 160 breeders of Percherons 

 by 1910, and 765 Percherons of record were bred 

 in the state during this period. 



The Little Missouri Horse Co. had the most im- 

 portant breeding establishment. While the stud 

 was dispersed in 1906, the work done by this breed- 

 ing establishment was uniquely important and rep- 

 resentative of the improvement of range horses. 



The story of the Little Missouri Horse Co. is a 

 romance of itself. A. C. Huidekoper, while hunt- 

 ing buffaloes in North Dakota in 1880, was so im- 

 pressed with the good grasses there that he started 

 a cattle ranch. The heavy winter losses in '86 

 and '87 caused him to swing to horses, and in 1889 



