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Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings

	SWAN LAND AND CATTLE COMPANY HEADQUARTERS Wyoming
Location: Platte County, Chugwater. Swan Land & Cattle Company Headquarters

Ownership and Administration. Privately owned.

Significance. The Swan Land and Cattle Company was one of several well-known foreign companies that engaged in the cattle business in the United States; and it was one of the largest in the Nation. Organized in Scotland in 1883 with a capital of $3 million, it at one time held more than 600,000 acres of land. Its cattle ranged as far as from Fort Fred Steele in Wyoming in the west to Ogallala, Nebr., in the east, and from the Union Pacific Railroad on the north to the Platte River on the south. Its principal range ran along the Chug and Sybille Creeks and over the mountains to the Laramie plains. The company books carried more than 113,000 head when the severe winter of 1886-87 struck, but by spring the number was only 57,000.

Going into bankruptcy following the disaster, the company reduced its inventory, and the capable John Clay, well-known stockman of the northern Plains, took over the management. He reduced the capital and in 1893 cut the herd to 40,000. Though he resigned in 1896, the company continued to run about 40,000 head until 1904, when it went into the sheep business. At the peak of its sheep operations, in 1911, it was running about 112,000 head. Continuing to operate until 1945, it then began liquidating.

Built in 1876 as headquarters of the Swan Land and Cattle Company, this residence also served as a stopping place on the Cheyenne-Black Hills stage route.

Present Appearance. The home office of the Swan Land and Cattle Company, along with a small parcel of land around the old headquarters at Chugwater, is still being operated, under the management of Russell Staats. The surviving remains of the headquarters ranch consist of: The ranchhouse, in excellent condition, which was built in 1876 and served as a hotel and stage station prior to the coming of the Colorado and Southern Railway to Chugwater in 1887; the barn, also constructed about 1876; the store, constructed in 1913 to serve as a commissary; and the brick Hiram Kelley House, erected in 1877 and located about a half mile below the headquarters. [26]

NHL Designation: 07/19/64