Ranching

Ranching. Local Cattle Industry. The cattle industry was also large in the area with some very large cattle companies that owned land in and around the area. One of the largest, the Swan Land and Cattle Co. owned by the Swan Brothers stretched from near present day Scottsbluff, NE to Ft. Steele, WY. Bennett and Hunter was another large outfit to whom L.E. Vivion first went to work for and he then later worked for I.C. Miller Sheep Co. before starting his own cattle company. The great "Cattle Boom" lasted from 1878 to 1886 when eight mild winters had made the large companies consider Wyoming a year around grazing paradise. Then came the homesteaders and/or small ranchers, cattle rustling, and the bad winter blizzards of 1886-1889 in which thousands of cattle were lost when they were cornered then drifted over at the new fence corners in deep snow drifts. At one time the Swan Land and Cattle Co. of Chugwater, WY also owned 112,000 ewes. This made way for the sheep industry to further prosper as well. , The Vivion sheep/cattle operation remains in family ownership and the Ft. Steele State Historic Site was donated to the State of Wyoming by Charles G. and Grace M. Vivion, principal owners of the Leo Sheep Co. on 19 Nov. 1974. Another smaller portion of the site was donated by Grace A. Werner, Marialyce Tobin and Richard Tobin of the Bolton Ranch on October 11, 1974. Smaller lots of land that were owned by several others were also donated later on. , The ranching industry still lives on in this area thanks to the hardy pioneers that settled in this harsh climate and roughed it out. Today you still see cattle, sheep, horses and the bison are now making a come back as well. You will even see some goats, lamas and emus on a smaller scale. Most of the ranches are still rather large due to the amount of ground that it takes to adequately graze the livestock. The area's wildlife still roam free and is often mixed in with the livestock.