N. K. Boswell Ranch | |
Nearest city | Woods Landing, Wyoming |
---|---|
Coordinates | 41°00′07″N106°00′51″W / 41.00197°N 106.01404°W |
Area | 1,768 acres (715 ha) |
Architectural style | Log Cabin style |
NRHP reference No. | 77001381 [1] |
Added to NRHP | July 21, 1977 |
The N.K. Boswell Ranch is one of the oldest ranches on the edge of the Laramie Plains along the Big Laramie River in Albany County, Wyoming, USA. The ranch was established in the early 1870s, possibly by a man named C.T. Waldron. The ranch is significant for its association with Nathaniel K. Boswell, who was Albany County Sheriff at a time when the county extended from Colorado to Montana.
The ranch lies in a valley on the east side of the Medicine Bow Mountains, with 1,768 acres (715 ha) of deeded land and 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) of leased land. The historical portion of the ranch headquarters comprises a 1+1⁄2-story log ranch house, a log shed, three log cabins, two wood-frame sheds and a series of log corrals. The ranch house dates to about 1873, and one log cabin is dated to 1894.. Across the access road are a series of log and frame ranch buildings, including barns, a bunkhouse, a workshop, several sheds and two privies. [2]
Established in the 1870s by an obscure series of settlers, the ranch is a representative example of a moderate-sized working ranch. It was also a stopping point on the North Park-Laramie Plains Road. In 1886 Nathaniel K. Boswell acquired a part-interest in the ranch. Boswell was a prominent citizen in southeastern Wyoming during the late 19th century. Boswell, originally from New Hampshire, was established in Cheyenne by 1867, and in 1868 he is described as working in law enforcement in an "unofficial capacity." His activities on a vigilance committee led to more formal employment, and he became Albany County Sheriff in 1869. Bowell also acted as a private detective, and in 1873 was the first warden of the Wyoming Territorial Penitentiary. In 1903 Boswell rode over the Laramie Mountains with Theodore Roosevelt. He was also a friend of writer Bill Nye. Boswell died in 1921. The ranch changed hands several times after his death. [2]
The N.K. Bowell Ranch was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 21, 1977. [1]
Laramie is a city in and the county seat of Albany County, Wyoming, United States. The population was estimated 32,711 in 2019, making it the third-largest city in Wyoming after Cheyenne and Casper. Located on the Laramie River in southeastern Wyoming, the city is north west of Cheyenne, at the junction of Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 287.
"Big" Steve Long was an American law enforcement officer and outlaw, achieving notoriety in the Wyoming Territory during the late 1860s. He was one of the earliest examples of an Old West gunman. Because of their lawlessness, he and two half-brothers were lynched by a posse put together by a newly appointed sheriff in 1868.
Nathaniel Kimball "N.K." Boswell (1836–1921) was an American frontiersman, rancher, cowboy and lawman of the Old West, best known for building the N.K. Boswell Ranch, considered a historical location of Wyoming today. He also helped to settle Laramie, Wyoming.
The Cunningham Cabin is a double-pen log cabin in Grand Teton National Park in the US state of Wyoming. It was built as a homestead in Jackson Hole and represents an adaptation of an Appalachian building form to the West. The cabin was built just south of Spread Creek by John Pierce Cunningham, who arrived in Jackson Hole in 1885 and subsisted as a trapper until he established the Bar Flying U Ranch in 1888. The Cunninghams left the valley for Idaho in 1928, when land was being acquired for the future Grand Teton National Park.
The Bar B C Dude Ranch was established near Moose, Wyoming in 1912 as a dude ranch by Struthers Burt and Dr. Horace Carncross, using their initials as the brand. Rather than converting a working ranch, Burt and Carncross built a tourist-oriented dude ranch from the ground up, using a style called "Dude Ranch Vernacular", which featured log construction and rustic detailing. As one of the first dude ranches in Jackson Hole, the Bar B C was a strong influence on other dude ranches in the area, and employed a number of people who went on to establish their own operations. It was acquired by the National Park Service and incorporated into Grand Teton National Park upon the expiration of a life estate. The ranch was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
The Hunter Hereford Ranch was first homesteaded in 1909 by James Williams in the eastern portion of Jackson Hole, in what would become Grand Teton National Park. By the 1940s it was developed as a hobby ranch by William and Eileen Hunter and their foreman John Anderson. With its rustic log buildings it was used as the shooting location for the movie The Wild Country, while one structure with a stone fireplace was used in the 1963 movie Spencer's Mountain. The ranch is located on the extreme eastern edge of Jackson Hole under Shadow Mountain. It is unusual in having some areas of sagebrush-free pasture.
The TA Ranch was the site of the principal events of the Johnson County Range War in 1892. The TA was established in 1882 as one of the first ranches in Johnson County, Wyoming. The TA is the only intact site associated with the range war, with trenches used by both sides still visible and scars on the nearby buildings. The ranch also documents the expansion and development of cattle ranching in Wyoming.
The Fort Laramie Three-Mile Hog Ranch was built to serve as a social center away from the soldiers' post at historic Fort Laramie. Fort Laramie was a 19th-century military post in eastern Wyoming. It became notorious as a place for gambling and drinking, and for prostitution, with at least ten prostitutes always in residence. The location is notable as an example of one of only a few military bordellos still standing in the United States by 1974, the time of its nomination to the National Register of Historic Places The Fort Laramie site was one of a number of so-called "hog ranches" that appeared along trails in Wyoming.
The Oxford Horse Barn, built in 1887, is located near Laramie, Wyoming in Albany County, Wyoming. It is one of the oldest and largest existing barns in Albany County. The barn in an excellent example of vernacular architecture as influenced by the English cattle and horse ranchers which immigrated to the American West. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Bath Ranch, also known as the Bath Brothers Ranch and the Stone Ranch, was established near Laramie, Wyoming by Henry Bath about 1869-70. It was one of the first ranches in Albany County. The initial homestead was replaced by the present stone house and barn in 1875, using stone quarried locally by Henry and his sons. Since the area was populated by hostile Native Americans, the buildings were designed as fortified refuges. The Bath family became prominent in Wyoming society in subsequent years.
The Flying Horseshoe Ranch was established in the Centennial Valley of southeastern Wyoming by Danish immigrant Mads Wolbol in the late 1870s. The complex of mostly log structures, about 15 of which are considered contributing structures.
Richardson's Overland Trail Ranch is a complex of seven ranch buildings at the crossing of the Big Laramie River by the Overland Trail. The ranch's main residence was built as a stage station for the trail in 1862. A corduroy road was built at the same time. By 1864 ranching became established around the stage station, primarily by Tom Alsop, Edward Creighton and Charlie Hutton. With Creighton's death in 1874 the land was divided between Alsop on the west side of the river and Hutton on the east side. The ranch on the west side became known as the Heart or Hart Ranch. The ranches at the river crossing became part of the larger Riverside Livestock Company.
The F.S. King Brothers Ranch Historical District is located in the hills northeast of Laramie, Wyoming.
The Jelm-Frank Smith Ranch Historic District, also known as Old Jelm and Cummins City, comprises an area of bottomland on the Laramie River near Woods Landing, Wyoming where the mining boomtown of Cummins City, Wyoming was established in 1880. Gold had been discovered in the nearby mountains and the town was established by W.S. "Buck" Bramel and John Cummins. In 1881 Cummins City was described as having about 100 houses and a hotel. By this time the camp was already declining, and by 1886 mining in the district was largely inactive. However, in the 1890s copper was discovered in the Sierra Madre and Medicine Bow ranges. Cummins City was revived as Jelm in 1900. This boom also declined and in 1930 Jelm's population was 50.
The Ryan Ranch is a 2,000-acre (810 ha) ranch on the east bank of the North Platte River in Carbon County, Wyoming, about 8 miles (13 km) south of Saratoga. One of the oldest ranches in the Platte Valley of central Wyoming, it was founded by Barton T. Ryan in 1874 and expanded by his son Cecil A. Ryan. The ranch headquarters comprises 17 structures arranged around a barnyard. The oldest structure is the 1875 homestead. Other buildings include sheds, shops, guest cabins, barns, trailers and a privy.
The Stone Wall Ranch, also known as the Reader or Rasmussen Ranch, is a ranch in the Little Snake River valley of Carbon County, Wyoming, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from Savery. It was established by Noah and Hosannah Reader in 1871, the first permanent homestead in the valley. A temporary winter shelter was built in the winter of 1871-72, followed by a permanent structure in 1872-73 that survives in the ranch complex. The ranch was named for a nearby sandstone escarpment.
The Diamond A Ranch, or Spring Ranch, is a ranch in the upper Wind River valley of Fremont County, Wyoming. The site was first settled by John Robert McDonald, a Scottish immigrant who had a 160-acre (65 ha) homestead on the site in 1891. McDonald sold the property to John Williamson in 1907. Jack Williamson and his brother David were Scots as well, working as stonemasons. The Williamsons had worked in New York City, at Princeton University, at the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City and on bridge work for the Union Pacific Railroad. In 1888 they came from Salt Lake City to Lander, where they worked on a number of projects, as well as in Rawlins and at Fort Washakie. They joined their sister Jean Williamson Sinclair at the Upper Circle Ranch near Dubois in the early 1890s. David Williamson married Annie McKenzie, a friend of his sister's who had come with her from Scotland. When Jack died of tick fever in 1916, David moved to the ranch with his family. After David's death in 1934, his wife Annie operated the ranch until she sold it in 1966. The ranch is notable as one of several ranches established by Scottish immigrants.
The Dorr Ranch was established by William and Mabel Dorr in 1910 in Converse County, Wyoming along Woody Creek. William had left home at the age of 8 or 9 and worked for the 71 Quarter Ranch and as a horse wrangler at Pony Express stations in Wyoming. He met Mabel McIntosh and married her in 1904. Mabel's parents had established the successful Hat Ranch near Split Rock and had significant resources to assist the young couple. The Dorrs filed for their first homestead in 1910 and expanded it in 1915, and again in 1917 and 1919, with a separate 1919 filing by Mabel. The Dorr's properties were not contiguous, and the present ranch house on Woody Creek was not built until 1915. In 1919 the Dorr School was built on the ranch. The same year the community of Bill was established, named after the shared name of four of the founders. The main ranch house was built in 1926–27.
The Huxtable Ranch Ranch Headquarters District, also known as White Creek Ranch, comprises a complex of ranch structures in Converse County, Wyoming. It was part of a dispersed community known as Boxelder, established by settlers in the 1880s. The ranch was established in 1893 by Charles Smith who built a one-room and later a three-room cabin on the property, as well as a barn. Three years later he sold the homestead to Willard Heber White. White and his wife lived on the ranch until 1928 when they moved to Douglas. On White's death in 1929, the ranch was purchased by Lloyd Huxtable and Charlie Olin. Lloyd and Olin built the present ranch house for Charlie and his wife Najima, Olin's sister, from 1933 to 1935. The Huxtables operated the ranch until his death at 86 in 1976. Huxtable served as a Converse County Commissioner from 1948 to 1956.
Remount Ranch, in Laramie County, Wyoming near Cheyenne, Wyoming, is a pioneer cattle and horse ranch which dates from 1875. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. The listing included four contributing buildings and four contributing structures.