Wild Horses in Missoul Have a Long and Colorful History

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - Being a lifelong horse lover, imagine my surprise both Thursday afternoon and Friday morning to view a rare sight; wild horses gathered near the Miller Creek Road roundabout.

I immediately called 9-1-1 to let them know, but I was informed that a wild herd of horses had been spotted many times before in the area.

My Encounter With Wild Horses at Miller Creek Roundabout

Fascinated, I contacted Billie Brown at the Missoula County Fairgrounds who gave me the number for Ramona Holt, a legendary local personality who has a lifetime of experience with horses and history.

Little did I know that this band of horses got started back in the 1950’s, as Ramona Holt explained.

“How they got started was there were a few up Davis Creek, and there were some bucking horses of Oral Zumwalt’s that got away and got in with those horses, and he could never get them out again,” began Holt. “And that was in the late 50s and early 60s.”

Legendary Horsewoman Ramona Holt Shared Their History

Holt continued with her history of the Miller Creek band of wild horses.

“There were studs in with them, and females, and so they multiplied,” she said. “About 40 or 50 is the amount that the herd has maintained over the years. Also, Reg Kessler, who had rented that land, lost a few for the same reason, they got in with that group, and he could never get them out.”

Holt told me I was lucky to see these elusive horses so close to a highly populated neighborhood.

Holt is Hoping the Horses Can Be Left Alone to Enjoy Their Wild Life

“You are very fortunate,” she said. “I look almost every morning to see if I can see them over there, and I haven't seen them for ages, and people that live, like Libby McClay that lives down at the mouth of Davis Creek, she doesn't even see them very often. So you are most fortunate, Peter, very fortunate to have seen them and not only seen them once but see them a couple of times.”

Holt expressed a wish that some helpful folks might attempt to herd the horses away from the populated area back to where they could live in peace.

“If they could maybe get some of their friends and herd them up Rodeo Road towards the Bitterroot,” she said. “See, they've gotten trapped down in there (in the Miller Creek drainage), then they can go back up in the hills. Otherwise, with all the houses and the fences and all, they're going to be confused, and it's going to be pretty unlikely they're going to get find their way back.”

Everyone I spoke to emphasized the fact that people should simply leave the horses alone and allow them to continue the wild life they enjoy.