Records, 1885-1989.

ArchivalResource

Wyoming Hereford Ranch. Records, 1885-1989.

Records, 1885-1989.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45347083

In 1883, Alexander H. Swan founded the Wyoming Hereford Association, the predecessor of the Wyoming Hereford Ranch, to establish a purebred Hereford herd in Wyoming. The ranch was situated in Laramie County, Wyoming, on Crow Creek. The herd was taken over by Henry Altman and Dan McIllvain of Cheyenne, who bought the then 30,000 acre Crow Creek ranch and the herd in 1980 after Swan went bankrupt. They owned and operated it for twenty-seven years under the name Wyoming Hereford Association. In 1916, the ranch was sold to the Hereford Association of Wyoming, with James D. Husted as the head of the organization and his nephew Raymond Husted as ranch manager. The philanthropist Henry P Crowell had a financial interest in the ranch. The Husteds had difficulty meeting the running costs and sold the ranch to Crowell in 1921. In August of that year, he renamed it the Wyoming Hereford Ranch. Crowell brought in Robert Wells Lazear, who was responsible for developing the high quality herd over thirty-seven years as manager. The Wyoming Hereford Foundation was set up in 1938 to ensure the ranch's continuation after Crowell's death, which occurred in 1944. The ranch was sold to Thomas E. Leavey and Dorothy E. Leavey in 1957 after the death of Robert W. Lazear. George W. Lazear, son of Robert Lazear, continued as ranch manager. The ranch was put up for sale again in 1967 and was purchased by Nielson Enterprises, Inc. of Cody, Wyoming. When the ranch went up for sale in 1976, Sloan and Anna Marie Hales bought the biggest portion of the herd. They leased the ranch on which they maintained the cattle until it was sold in 1978 in fourteen parcels. The Hales bought 11,300 acres in this sale with the hope of continuing the registered purebred Hereford herd.

184 cubic ft. (430 boxes)

Univerisity of Wyoming. American Heritage Center.