A while back I had a reader comment with this:
“Carol, I am 92 and my father, William H. Small, owned two ranches near Ten Sleep. Two of my siblings were born there. My sister was born in 1919 and my brother in 1916. Some time around early 20s there was a winter of 56 below. my father couldn’t get food or water to the Herefords and they died. He lost everything. Would you know anything about the Small ranches? My niece sent me the Red Dirt Diary article in Working Ranch..very interesting. Her husband is a cattleman in Florida. G.”
Well, I asked Vernon. It sounded “familiar” but no details came to him.
I looked up Small in the Ten Sleep history book… nope.
I posted to a local facebook group, but didn’t get any results.
I did find some homestead information from the Government Land Office… but I think she may be looking for stories…
Anyone out there able to share any memories for G????
Find me here!
We visited years ago with some of the Small family! They did own our ranch years ago. Smalls from Montana? Billy Small came with his granddaughter for a short visit…probably almost 15-20 years ago.
Not to be annnoying, but here’s a bit more about William H. Small and his connection with Wyoming: https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth400809/m1/292/
Pat_H recently posted…Red Dirt In My Soul: Ranchlife In Wyoming: Help!
Here you go:
http://www.wyodaily.com/story/2016/06/04/news/when-the-walls-come-tumbling-down/2296.html
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By the way, I know that’s the right small as I looked up William H. Small and found the obituary of your correspondence’s brother, who had a long career in the Navy. It mentioned he was born on the ranch and that his father was William Houston Small.
Pat_H recently posted…Red Dirt In My Soul: Ranchlife In Wyoming: Help!
And here: http://wyominghistory.blogspot.com/2017/03/red-dirt-in-my-soul-ranchlife-in.html
It occurs to me that there might be a website with homestead patents. I’ve seen one somewhere, for some state, but I don’t know if it covers the entire US. I doubt, but it might be worth looking into.
Pat_H recently posted…Red Dirt In My Soul: Ranchlife In Wyoming: Help!
Yes, I found their patents in the Government Land Office website. I think she was just looking for stories… but gee, you pulled up some interesting things! That’s awesome! Thanks for the work!
Here’s a cross post: Hope it helps:
http://lexanteinternet.blogspot.com/2017/03/red-dirt-in-my-soul-ranchlife-in.html
Pat_H recently posted…Red Dirt In My Soul: Ranchlife In Wyoming: Help!
I’m going to cross post this entry on my blog as I cover history and ranching topics on it (sometimes). I’ll cross post it on my Wyoming history blog as well.
Not that these are likely to help.
Part of your problem is that this story is a common one. The 1910s were the height of homesteading and a lot of small entries were made and then failed. Often there’s no memory of these places at all. Sometimes the memory is preserved only in the form of a name of a pasture in a larger ranch.
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