Moving sheep to and from Silverton has been far more practical using trucks rather than the railroad, as Wade states, since perhaps the 1940s or very early 50s. We still see large numbers of sheep come in each summer for grazing, and locals know that signals the end of the wild flowers in the areas that are permitted for grazing. The horses brought into Ah Wilderness! typically came in box cars. When Bradshaw bought the Silverton branch, there were no stock cars so he purchased several just for that purpose, but they have been rotting away at Tacoma. One of the last stock movements I am aware of was the transport and release of a small herd of Big Horn sheep at the Teft Spur area, and when I don't remember but it was under the D&S. That herd has survived and we often see them on the Coal Bank portion of 550 during the winter months.
In the past, and that means pre-WWII, cattle were brought into Silverton by rail but not for grazing. They became part of the local meat supply and slaughtering and butchering was done in Silverton. The French Bakery restaurant, originally a meat market and grocery store dating to 1917, currently going under the name of Teller House, still has a portion of the overhead meat rail system in the back of the house, plus large drains in the floor for the blood. Some of the meat supply did come in by refrigerator car. The stock pens for the sheep were located on one leg of the present day wye and the one for cattle was just north of the depot adjacent to the town electric plant. Sheep unloaded at the wye were trailed through town and the old timers recall the extreme displeasure the several days of smell and mess that brought to town. Even today, the arrival and departure of the sheep is greeted with disgust as they come through town in the trucks, and they are blamed also with the arrival of the fly season. There really isn't anything romantic about moving livestock by rail or truck.
