Washakie County Biographies

 

Washakie County Biographies

 

 

 

MILO BURKE.

Milo Burke, one of the leading stockmen and most influential citizens of his section of Wyoming, has been identified with the stock industry all of his mature life. He was born on January 10, 1866, at North Platte, Neb., whither his parents, John and Margaret Burke, came from Germany soon after their marriage, and where they lived and prospered, rejoicing in the enlarged opportunities they enjoyed in the land of their adoption, and making the most of them through thrift and industry. There, in his native place, their son Milo grew to manhood and was educated, and there he engaged in the stock business as soon as he left school and continued in it until 1883, when he came to Wyoming and took charge of the X Cattle Company's interest in this part of the country until 1887, giving excellent service to the company and also securing for himself a high reputation as a stockman of superior capacity and fertile in resources, as well as a man of fine integrity and straightforwardness in every relation of life. In 1887 he started a stock enterprise for himself, locating on Ten Sleep River, where he now lives and where he has a ranch of 1,300 acres, well improved and brought to a high state of cultivation. When he settled in the neighborhood it was as yet almost un-subdued to the uses of civilized life, needing the application of just the energetic and systematic industry he has given it, under which it has been made to "blossom as the rose" compared with its former condition. Here, from the very waste and heart of the wilderness he has carved out an estate of such proportions, natural and acquired beauty and symmetrical improvement and cultivation, that it is considered one of the most beautiful and desirable stock ranches in the state. In justice it must be said also that his cattle and horses are in keeping with the verdant and picturesque acres on which they have their home. He has 600 fine, well-bred cattle and 100 horses of superior breeds, all kept in the best condition by abundant food and the most careful and intelligent attention. He has also on his estate a sawmill of good proportions, which is kept busy at all times by the demands of this growing and productive portion of the county. In these ways, and others. Mr. Burke has contributed, and is contributing, to the development and improvement of (Washakie) Bighorn county, especially his immediate surroundings. His public spirit and breadth of view in local affairs, and in all that pertains to the welfare of the community in which he lives, have long been manifest in every line of productive energy and have made a visible and permanent mark on the commercial and industrial activities. In things that conduce to the advancement of his neighborhood and the convenience of its people he has ever been active and forceful factor. He was among the potent influences in installing the telephone system in Tensleep, being a member of the company which controls and conducts it. Fraternally, he is associated with the Modern Woodmen of America, and in politics is a serviceable and zealous Democrat, but is by no means a seeker of official position. He was once elected to the state legislature, but declined to serve. On August 27, 1887, he was married to Miss Bessie Tannehill of Kansas City, where the marriage occurred. She was a native of Illinois, and a daughter of John A. and Elizabeth (Lynn) Tannehill, natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio. Her mother is dead and her father now resides with Mr. and Mrs. Burke, who have four children, Cecil G., Bessie M., Milo, Jr., and Lynn.

ELMER E. CHATFIELD

Elmer E. Chatfield, one of the prosperous and progressive stockmen and farmers of Bighorn county, is a native of Colorado, where he was born on June 8. 1863. His parents were Isaac W. and Eliza (Harrington) Chatfield, the former a natives of Illinois, and the latter of Missouri. When but a small boy he sold papers in Denver, working eagerly and industriously, cherishing always the expectation of some day being a man of consequence and standing in his community, ever bending his energies to that result. Meanwhile his father was rising into prominence as a cattleman, and he now occupies a leading place in the great cattle industry, having his headquarters at Denver. He has also been prominent in other lines, having served as the mayor of Aspen, Colo., and later as a member of the State Senate. In all the lines of his activity he has exhibited superior capacity, and borne himself in a masterly manner. This characteristic his son inherits, being equal to every emergency that confronts him. making the best of his situation all the time. He came to Wyoming in 1894, bought the ranch on which he now lives, and at once engaged earnestly in the stock business. His ranch comprises 520 acres of fine land, it is well improved as to buildings, complete in equipment for its purposes, skillfully cultivated in such parts as are put into crops. He owns 400 Shorthorn cattle of superior quality and a band of fine graded horses. Notwithstanding his exacting and extensive duties on the ranch and in his cattle business, Mr. Chatfield finds time to aid in the development of the community and in securing the conveniences of modern life for its people. He was one of the projectors of the telephone line into Ten Sleep. being now the treasurer of the local company. He was united in marriage with Miss Della Chatfield, a native of Nebraska, the nuptials being solemnized at Ogden. Utah, on September 18, 1892. They have four children, Helen, Marian, Savilla and Andrew, whose father is a wide-awake, enterprising citizen, whose influence has always been given on the side of progress and improvement in his community, and whose life has ever been an example and an incitement to others. He is modest in assumption, but tenacious of conviction, possessing a clearness of vision, firmness of purpose, generosity of feeling and a commendable public spirit.

EDWARD EATON

Edward Eaton, of Ten Sleep, the stock foreman of the Osage Cattle Co., of Bighorn county, has come to his knowledge of the stock business through a wide and varied experience, embracing every phase of it as exhibited in various places and under a great variety of circumstances. He rode the range in Colorado and Wyoming in his earlier years, he was active in the industry under the summer sun of New Mexico, he has served in several capacities with a number of the leading cattle companies of the Northwest, so that he is through long practice a thorough stockman, and he had by nature and early inclination a decided aptitude for the business. Among the men engaged in it in this part of the world few are better known or hold a higher rank for practical knowledge of its different branches. Mr. Eaton was born on February 6, 1858, in the state of New York, the son of William and Anne (Blackner) Eaton, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Massachusetts. When he was three years old they removed to Minnesota and in 1868 farther west to Kansas, locating in Marshall county, and there he attended school at intervals between work on the farm and reached the age of seventeen. Then, in 1875, he took up his residence in Colorado and for three years rode the range in the cattle industry in that state and Wyoming. He also spent a year in New Mexico connected with the same industry. In 1879 he came to Wyoming and settled here permanently, living until 1892 in Johnson county and working for the 71 Cattle Co., and other cattle outfits, in 1892 he came to the Big Horn basin and for a number of years was with the Bay State Cattle Co., in a leading capacity, after which he became a stock foreman for the Osage Cattle Co., a position which he still fills with great credit to himself and to the satisfaction of the company. In this capacity he has general charge of the stock belonging to this great organization and all the facilities which his long and varied experience has given him are called into play. The duties are exacting and responsible to a high degree, great readiness and resourcefulness being required in their proper discharge. There is scarcely an hour in the day or night when some unexpected emergency may not arise and the man in charge must ever be on the alert. Mr. Eaton's familiarity with all phases of the business and his knowledge of the men engaged in it, give him special fitness for the successful supervision of a large outfit like the one with which he is connected, and make his services of unusual value in this regard. It is much to say of any man who is employed in a place of great trust and responsibility that he meets its requirements in a complete and masterful manner; but this is true of Mr. Eaton, and it is but a just tribute to merit to place it on record here.

SYDNEY F. HARVARD

The great state of New York has been able to supply from her redundant population, filled with ambition for conquest among men, a multitude of volunteers for the army of industrial progress which has done so. much to settle and civilize the northwestern territories and states of the Union. And wherever they have halted in their triumphant march they have left the impress of their presence, and have planted the seeds of the enterprise and public spirit which distinguishes their own state. In this multitude, Sydney F. Harvard, of Ten Sleep, has an honored place, for, although but a recent addition to the population and developing force of Wyoming, he has already justified the esteem in which he is held by her people, who have now knowledge of him, and has shown himself a true citizen by the interest he has manifested in the state of his adoption. He was born in New York in 1860, -where his parents, William and Mary J. (Duck) Harvard, natives of Yorkshire, England, settled on their arrival in the United States. When he was six years old they removed to Wisconsin, and there the father was called to rest, the mother being now living in Bighorn county, having a ranch on the No Wood River. Mr. Harvard remained in Wisconsin until he reached the age of nineteen, securing scholastic training in her public schools and drawing inspiration for freedom and independence from her excellent civil institutions. In 1879 he came to the West and for a number of years rode on the range and acquired all of the benefits of physical vigor and sharp mental acuteness that the life of a cattleman gives. He then settled on a ranch in Brown county, Neb., and there engaged in stock growing until 1895. In that year he came to Wyoming, locating in the Bighorn basin, there continuing the industry he had begun in Nebraska. Six years later he bought the ranch on which he now lives on No Wood River, which is a beautiful tract of 320 acres, and has been brought to a high state of cultivation and also well improved by him. He has there a comfortable and attractive residence, with outbuildings of every needed kind to correspond, and is well fixed to keep in excellent condition the 100 or more cattle and the band of horses which he handles on the place. He was married in Brown county, Neb., in 1887, to Miss Jennie Pettijohn, a native of Minnesota. They have seven children, , Lewis, Frederick, Frank, Harry, Nellie and Alice. Mr. Harvard's farm is an evidence of his skill and husbandry and his progressiveness in improvement, for it is a model of convenience and completeness, its natural beauties having been enhanced by judicious use of good taste in arrangement of buildings, shrubbery and other appurtenances. His interest in the welfare of his new home has been shown by his careful attention to local affairs, with a lofty view to the general good, rather than to the advantage of any personal or factional interest. And in social life his course has been marked by a spirit of real accommodation to all who come in contact with him, as well as by a genial and entertaining manner.

LEWIS McCREARY

Lewis McCreary, of near Ten Sleep, in (Washakie) Bighorn county, Wyoming, one of the stock growers and farmers whose enterprise and progressiveness have largely impressed themselves on the business in which he is engaged, and also upon the community in which he lives, is a native of Michigan, where he was born in i860, the son of Culner and Sarah McCreary. His parents were natives of New York, who early in their life removed to Michigan, where their son, Lewis, reached his majority, was educated at the public schools, and began life for himself in farming and the lumber business, in which he was engaged until 1891. He then came to Wyoming and took up the homestead on the Ten Sleep River, on which he has since been conducting an active industry in stock raising and farming. His farm comprises 160 acres of good land, which was virgin soil when he took hold of it, and, with characteristic industry and systematic application of the most approved methods of development and cultivation, he has brought the land to an excellent condition of fertility and improvement. He handles cattle and horses in large numbers, being very successful in his business. The reasons for his success are neither far off nor difficult to find, for his land was selected with judgment and his energies have been put to work on it with intelligence and discrimination, while he has used the same qualities in selecting his cattle and horses and in caring for and keeping them. The results are legitimate fruits of skill and wisdom in vigorous and judicious action. In reference to his duties as a citizen, and with regard to the general welfare of his community, Mr. McCreary has been as careful, as conscientious and as energetic, as with reference to his own affairs, and he is, accordingly, highly esteemed as one of the representative men of his portion of the county. He was married in "Michigan, on February 12, 1883, to Miss Margaret Conner, a native of Canada, but an early resident of this country. They have six children, Zinah, Milo, Vernie, Kate, Alta and Myrtle, and their home is one of the attractive and pleasant resorts of the neighborhood for their many friends, being a fine type of the rural dwelling and domestic comfort which distinguish this country as so essentially a land of homes, and our people also a turning ever to their household gods with affectionate and tenacious regard.

SLATER F. SMITH

Born on July 4. 1868, in the great state of Illinois, when four years old he removed with his parents to Marshall county, Kan., where they lived six years and then took up their residence in Shawnee county, and three years later in Lyon county, in that state, and, remaining there until he was twelve, when he started out in life for himself, Slater F. Smith, of near Tensleep, in Bighorn county, Wyo., has had a very extensive experience in travel and with the customs and manners of different peoples, and he has gleaned there from the culture and breadth of view that comes with such experience. His parents were R. D. and Jennie E. (Fitzgerald) Smith, the former native in Illinois and the latter in Indiana. They were well-to-do farmers and found much advantage in this change of situation, as opportunities opened in new states and counties. and they sought them with characteristic American enterprise. At the age of twelve, as has been noted, their son, Slater, began the battle of life for himself, and, having something of a roving disposition, with an ardent desire to see the world for the benefit of the travel, he gave himself up to this desire, making two trips across the continent from ocean to ocean and two also from Battle Creek, Mich., to the Gulf of Mexico. His longing satisfied in large measure, he determined to settle down to quiet life in a permanent home, and, choosing the cattle business as his occupation, he came in 1896 to Wyoming, and located in the Bighorn basin, where he has a good ranch and a herd of fine cattle. To his interests here he has given a close and assiduous attention, applying to their development and enlargement the knowledge acquired in his extended trips and in his residence from time to time among people of different climates and environments, who were engaged in widely different pursuits and producing a great variety of commodities. He has brought the part of his land under cultivation to a high state of fertility and raised the standard of his stock to an elevated basis. He is now approaching the very prime of life, and, with the enterprise and public spirit he has displayed, both with reference to his own business and the affairs of the community in which he lives, in which he always takes a warm and intelligent interest, his future promises well for himself and for great usefulness to the people among whom he has cast his lot. In fraternal relations he is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America, and gives to the meetings and affairs of his lodge the same careful and discriminating attention all his other interests receive

SAMUEL STRICKLER

Born and reared in the rural districts of Pennsylvania, learning life's duties amid the thrifty and industrious population of that great state, and being thoroughly imbued with the spirit of economy and enterprise engendered through living in a large family with moderate means, Samuel Strickler, of Ten Sleep in (Washakie) Bighorn county, Wyoming, brought to the arduous requirements of a career in the state of his adoption a well-laid foundation for stable and productive manhood and useful citizenship, on which a superstructure of substantial and comely proportions had been partially erected by valuable experience in other places and amid a different class of people. He was born on August 16, 1851, the son of John and Mary Strickler, also natives of the Keystone state and belonging to families resident there from Colonial times. In the public schools of his native place he received a limited education, and on its soil he grew to man's estate. When he was twenty-one years of age he determined to seek his fortune in the West, and to that end removed to Illinois, and there worked for Michael Sullivan, then the most extensive farmer in the world, who conducted on the prairies and bottom lands along the Mississippi an enterprise in the domain of agriculture which almost staggered human belief by its magnitude and the vigor and success with which it was carried on. Many similar enterprises have since surpassed it in volume and scope; for in later times the great wilderness of the farther West has dressed herself in comely garments for the service of her lord and master, Man, and raised the unit of measure in land and farm work many times over. But in his day Mr. Sullivan's farming operations were stupendous and renowned. In 1874 Mr. Strickler removed to Colorado, and, with Pueblo as a base of operations, engaged in the dairying business and also carried on a freighting enterprise of considerable magnitude. These engagements occupied him for three years. In 1877 he made his home in Utah and there conducted a farm of size and importance near Ogden. In 1879 he sold out his interests in that state and removed to Cassia county, Idaho, and on May 20, 1883, came to Johnson county, Wyo., and locating at Fort McKinney, entered the employ of the Powder River Cattle Co. At the end of his service with this company he took up his residence on Beaver Creek and began a farming and stock growing industry on his own account, which he conducted until 1899. He then sold out to the Lee Land & Live Stock Co. and removed to the Bighorn basin. He purchased the old X ranch and renewed his stock and farming operations which he is still carrying on in this well-known property. His ranch comprises 480 acres and is well improved. He has 350 fine cattle and 100 horses of good breeds and superior grades. Both cattle and horses are excellent in quality and have a high rank in the market. They are well cared for and their condition abundantly proves the wisdom of the close application of skill and system to the breeding and rearing of stock. On December 29, 1892, Mr. Strickler was married to Mrs. Margaret McKenzie, of Johnson county, a native of Canada and daughter of William and Mary Sutherland. Their family consists of an adopted daughter named Josephine Fay Strickler, who has been under their care since she was an infant of three years of age.

ALEXANDER SUTHERLAND

For ten years this enterprising stock grower and farmer has been a resident of the Bighorn basin of Wyoming, closely identified with the stock industry in that section of the state, and, during that time, he has not only made substantial gains in worldly wealth, such as the old patriarchs rejoiced in, "lands and flocks and cattle upon a thousand hills," but he has become well established in the esteem of his fellow citizens of Bighorn county, being recognized as a leading factor in the commercial life of the community in which he lives. He is a native of Canada, where he was born in the month of October, 1861, the son of William and Mary (McMasters) Sutherland, who were Scotch by nativity, descended from a long line of patriotic and serviceable ancestry in that country. When their son was nine years old they came to the United States and lived in Chicago until 1873. when they removed to North Platte, Neb., where they resided until 1880, when the son, Alexander, came to Wyoming, and was employed in riding the range for a number of years in Johnson county. In 1893 he removed to the Bighorn basin and settled on Ten Sleep River, where he has since been engaged in raising stock and improving and farming his land. His land he has reduced to systematic productiveness, placed on the way to great beauty in arrangement and adornment and here he supports generously a fine herd of 200 superior cattle. He has made by his own efforts whatever estate he possesses, and, while it is gratifying in proportions and character, it is only the promise of the fruits that are sure to follow his methods of thrift and enterprise. He is one of the progressive and energetic men of the county whose impress has already been made in enduring lines on the minds of his fellow citizens and the local institutions of his county, and the vantage ground he has already gained will only serve to increase his opportunities and power for further usefulness and influence. Fortune did not vouchsafe to him any adventitious circumstances, and the school of learning were not open to him, except for short periods at irregular times, but, in the able school of experience, he was taught self-reliance, independence, quickness of perception and readiness in action. And these qualifications for success in life, which are never so well established or so fully developed under any other teacher, have been his main dependence and his whole capital in his successful battle for supremacy among men. From early life he has been dependent on his own exertions, has never looked to any other source of power; and the natural capacity which nature gave him has thus been developed and multiplied by active and intelligent exercise, and made useful in every phase of his being, so that he is essentially a self-made man

GEORGE SUTHERLAND

From old Scotch ancestry, which lived long and serviceably in the land of song and story, and whose descendants, George Sutherland of this review, and his immediate parents, have been among the enterprising and productive citizens of this country, came George Sutherland, of Ten Sleep, one of the progressive and alert stockmen of this county, who was born in Canada in January, 1866, where his parents, William and Mary (McMasters) Sutherland, were long settled and engaged in farming. Natives of Scotland, they came to the Dominion soon after their marriage, and there prospered until 1873, when they removed to Chicago, Ill., and not long after to North Platte, Neb. In that new land Mr. Sutherland finished the education he had begun in former homes. When he was seventeen years of age he came to Buffalo, Wyoming, and rode the range in that section until 1892 when he located on the Ten Sleep, where he now lives. The land he occupies he purchased in a partially improved condition, and at once began raising cattle and making vigorous efforts toward bringing his farm into a more advanced state of cultivation and development. It comprises 160 acres and is well adapted by natural situation and character, and also by the skillful and systematic attention which has been bestowed upon it, to the business which he conducts, and which he has increased in magnitude and raised in standard from year to year. He has 200 well-bred cattle and a number of horses. His whole establishment is managed with vigor and intelligence and amply rewards the care it receives, and he is well known throughout the surrounding country as one of the most advanced and enterprising stockmen of his portion of the county and as one of its most respected citizens. Mr. Sutherland was married on January 1, 1895, to Miss Fannie Warner, a native of Nebraska and daughter of Mark H. Warner, a highly esteemed citizen of this state (see sketch elsewhere in this volume.) They have two children, Gordon, born in April, 1897, and Clinton, born in October, 1899. It is from the sturdy and reliable qualities which make up the character of such men as Mr. Sutherland that the best elements of American citizenship are produced. Their course does not lie along the pinnacles of great affairs, but they perform with fidelity and industry the daily duties of life which are found at their elbows, and thereby build well their own fortunes and contribute essentially to the welfare of those around them. In his community Mr. Sutherland has been attentive to every means of advancement and to all things which aid in the comfort, convenience and improvement of the people.

VINCENT VANONI

From the mountains of Switzerland to the mountains of Wyoming is a long step in longitude and in political and social conditions, even when taken all at once and without intermediate halting. But when it implies a wide range of latitudes and an acquaintance with local customs and peoples in many places, it is impressively suggestive in its enormous sweep. This step so taken has been the fate of Vincent Vanoni of Ten Sleep, Wyoming, one of the prosperous and progressive stock growers and farmers of Bighorn county. Since he was fourteen years of age he has been soliciting dame fortune's winning smile by his own unassisted endeavors, and he has followed her with assiduous and diligent attention. He was born in Switzerland on May 22, 1856, the son of John and Kate Vanoni. also natives of that country. In 1870 he came to the United States, landing at New York, where he remained six months. From there he went to Connecticut, and, after some months of active work in that state, went to New Orleans where he passed one summer. From that interesting southern metropolis he came up the Mississippi to St. Louis in 1878. and from there a short time later proceeded to Colorado. In that state he was in charge of a smelter for three years and then took up a ranch and engaged in raising stock until 1896. At that time he sold out in Colorado and came to Wyoming. Finding a suitable place for the continuance of his stock industry on the Ten Sleep River, he there located on the ranch he now owns and occupies, and once more he gave his time and attention to stock growing and cultivating the soil, which had been for generations the vocation of his fathers in his native land. With the enterprise characteristic of his race, he set to work diligently to improve his place and make it not only fruitful but attractive, his home not only comfortable but tastefully adorned. In both aspirations he has succeeded, having now one of the most desirable places on the river, and which is. both in condition, arrangement and equipment, a credit to his thrift and his good taste. His herd also shows the effects of his care and skill and holds place in the estimation of cattle dealers without praise and solely on merit. He has 200 head of cattle and the number is steadily increasing from year to year, the most of them being graded Herefords. He also runs a band of fine horses, and he is annually giving more and more attention to this branch of his stock business. He omits no effort on his part to secure the best results, and in scarcely any other business do forethought, close and systematic attention and intelligence pay better than in breeding and herding stock. Mr. Vanoni has built his own fortunes, and so well-founded are they, and so systematically has the structure been erected, that he is seemingly secure against all the winds of adversity, safely established in the lasting esteem and confidence of his fellow men. He is a citizen of public spirit and breadth of view regarding the affairs of the community in which he lives, being eminently upright and fair in his dealings with all mankind. He was united in marriage with Miss Jennie Chandler in 1888. She is a native of New Orleans, but was living at the time of her marriage in Colorado, and there the nuptials were solemnized. Both Mr. and Mrs. Vanoni are valued members of the best social circles in their community, active in every good work for its advancement or improvement.

ROBERT A. WALN

One of the most substantial, influential and representative citizens of Bighorn county, Wyoming, is Robert A. Waln of Rome, a pioneer of 1878. He is a native of Iowa, where he was born in November 1856. His parents were Henry and Elizabeth Waln, prosperous farmers in Iowa, the former being a native of Ohio and the latter of Indiana. They passed the greater part of their mature lives in Iowa, and there their son, Robert, grew to manhood and received his education, remaining at home until he was twenty-two years of age, then, in 1878, he came to Fort Fetterman in Wyoming and engaged in freighting. From the fort he came to Buffalo, and, in 1884, took up his residence in the Bighorn basin, where he located land and started a prosperous industry in farming and raising stock, having now a tract of 520 acres of superior land and 325 graded cattle. He also runs a band of horses, keeping up the standard and giving careful attention to their proper growth and maintenance so that the best results can be secured. Neither in cattle nor horses does he permit any admixture that would degrade his stock, and his tendency is always upward in quality and strain. Mr. Waln has been a very useful citizen to the count} and he has contributed freely of his time and energy to its advancement. He was for four years a county commissioner in Johnson county and served as a county road supervisor. In these positions, which are at best trying and difficult of satisfactory administration, especially so in a new country, where much of the natural wildness of the section still remains, conditions are not established and facilities are not abundant, he discharged his duties in a way which won him general commendation and was of great and lasting benefit to the interests of his people. He was married in Iowa in 1887 to Miss Ena Tull, a native of Illinois, and their union was blessed with seven children, six of whom are living, Clarence A., Clytie E., Charles F., Ray A., Ula and Reese M. Another daughter, Grace is deceased. The rapid and yet safe and substantial growth of the Northwest of this country has been a source of wonder and amazement alike to the thoughtful and the thoughtless, and many times is asked the cause of it. That cause is not a strange one nor one far to seek. It is to be found in the sturdy manliness, the progressive spirit, the breadth of view and the marvelous resourcefulness of the men, who settled this part of the country and put in motion in its institutions and activities the qualities of vigor and progressiveness they have themselves possessed, and among the number few are entitled to more credit than Mr. Waln, the subject of this biographical review, who has met every demand of the most exacting citizenship in a masterful manner.

NERI D. WOOD

Among the invading footsteps of advancing civilization which broke into the primeval solitude and wild luxuriance of Northern Wyoming were those of Neri D. Wood, one of the well-established and enterprising stock growers of the Ten Sleep region of (Washakie) Bighorn county, whose contributions to the development of the region have been substantial and considerable, and who has, while helping materially in the progress of his county, found a welcome guerdon for his labors in the accumulation of a satisfactory competence for himself. Mr. Wood was born in June, 1862, in the state of Missouri, where his parents, Levi and Margaret (Estes) Wood, were successfully engaged in farming. When he was thirteen years old the family removed to Wyoming, locating about fifty miles north of Cheyenne on Horse Creek. There they carried on a flourishing stock business, and in its service the son Neri rode the range. He continued this until 1885 when they all removed to Johnson county, and there he followed the same occupation for five years longer. In 1890 he engaged in the stock business on his own account near Sheridan, remaining there until 1898. He then came to the Bighorn basin and, securing an eligible location on No Wood River, pushed with vigor on a large scale the cattle business which he had been conducting in a smaller way at his former place. He has 1,120 acres of well-selected land, with a desirable diversity of altitude to furnish the necessary ranges for his stock and on this tract, which is one of the choice ones of this river bottom, he has a herd of 900 excellent cattle and a nice band of well-bred horses and also carries or. extensive farming operations, which are among the most advanced and successful in this portion of the county. Mr. Wood may almost be said to have been born to the cattle business, for he began operations in it with his youth and has followed it in its various developments and phases in different places continuously since then. His experience in it has been long and fruitful, and he has applied it in the management of his own estate with great success and discrimination. There is no part of the industry with which he is not familiar from actual experience, there is no emergency connected with it to which he has not proven equal when confronted by it and the evidences of these conditions are everywhere present around him. He was married at Sheridan, Wyo., in 1893 to Miss Sarah Jennings, a native of Texas, but an early resident of Wyoming.

 

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