HF Bar Ranch Historic District
Encyclopedia
The HF Bar Ranch is located in Johnson County, Wyoming about 20 miles (32.2 km) northwest of Buffalo, Wyoming
in the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains near Saddlestring, Wyoming
. The ranch is a working cattle ranch comprising about 36 buildings. built between 1898 and 1921. The ranch is associated with Wyoming
state senator and U.S. Congressman Frank O. Horton
, who purchased it in 1911 with financial help from his investment banker brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Warren and Demia Gorrell. The Gorrells and their children spent summers in Wyoming, while the Hortons stayed year-round.
The ranch includes a number of guest cabins built by the Hortons, Gorrells and their friends, who used the property as a guest ranch and a working ranch. Cabins are arranged along the banks of Rock Creek with a main house for the Hortons and a club house. Ranch structures are scattered through the site as well, with dormitories for wrangler
s. Most of the cabins are of log or rustic frame design.
The most significant building is the club house (1924), of log construction with a prominent front porch. Its hipped roof is supported by pine trunks and it features stone fireplaces. An office cabin built between 1911 and 1920 is also the Saddlestring post office. Two houses for Frank Horton and his son Jack are of stucco. Three cabins, known as the Salt Creek Cabins, were moved to the ranch from the Salt Creek Oil Field
in the 1930s and were used to house wranglers.
The HF Bar Ranch was placed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1984.
Buffalo, Wyoming
Buffalo is a city in Johnson County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 3,900 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Johnson County...
in the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains near Saddlestring, Wyoming
Saddlestring, Wyoming
Saddlestring is an unincorporated community in northwestern Johnson County, Wyoming, United States, on the eastern edge of the Bighorn National Forest. It lies along local roads northwest of the city of Buffalo, the county seat of Johnson County. Its elevation is 5,440 feet...
. The ranch is a working cattle ranch comprising about 36 buildings. built between 1898 and 1921. The ranch is associated with Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
state senator and U.S. Congressman Frank O. Horton
Frank O. Horton
Frank Ogilvie Horton was a United States Representative from Wyoming. Born in Muscatine, Iowa, he attended the public schools, graduated from Morgan Park Military Academy in 1899 and from the University of Chicago in 1903...
, who purchased it in 1911 with financial help from his investment banker brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Warren and Demia Gorrell. The Gorrells and their children spent summers in Wyoming, while the Hortons stayed year-round.
The ranch includes a number of guest cabins built by the Hortons, Gorrells and their friends, who used the property as a guest ranch and a working ranch. Cabins are arranged along the banks of Rock Creek with a main house for the Hortons and a club house. Ranch structures are scattered through the site as well, with dormitories for wrangler
Wrangler (profession)
In North America, a wrangler is someone employed to handle animals professionally, especially horses, but also other types of animals. Wranglers also handle the horses and other animals during the making of motion pictures...
s. Most of the cabins are of log or rustic frame design.
The most significant building is the club house (1924), of log construction with a prominent front porch. Its hipped roof is supported by pine trunks and it features stone fireplaces. An office cabin built between 1911 and 1920 is also the Saddlestring post office. Two houses for Frank Horton and his son Jack are of stucco. Three cabins, known as the Salt Creek Cabins, were moved to the ranch from the Salt Creek Oil Field
Salt Creek Oil Field
The Salt Creek Oil Field, located in the town of Midwest in Natrona County, Wyoming, approximately 40 mi north of Casper, was at one time in the early 20th century the largest light crude oil field in the world. It was historically one of the most important petroleum deposits in Wyoming.The...
in the 1930s and were used to house wranglers.
The HF Bar Ranch was placed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1984.
External links
- Photographs of the HF Bar Ranch at the National Park Service's NRHP database
- HF Bar Ranch at the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office