Targhee

The Targhee was developed at the US Sheep Experiment Station at Dubois, Idaho, starting in 1926, from Rambouillet, Corriedale and Lincoln. It is named for the national forest the station's sheep grazed.

The brief was a true dual-purpose range sheep, and the Targhee is the closest thing to it: a large, polled, white sheep producing a dense fleece of fine to medium wool while raising a lamb that finishes.

Ewes are long-lived, flock well, and hold up on the range conditions the breed was tested in.

The fleece is the reason many producers keep them. It is finer than a Columbia's and heavier than most fine-wool breeds', which is a combination handspinners and mills both value.

The trade is that the breed is concentrated in the western states, so outside that region both breeding stock and buyers take finding.