The headquarters of the Quarter Circle A Ranch was established in the early 1890s along the banks of Little Goose Creek by William Moncreiffe, a wealthy scion of a Scottish aristocratic family. William, along with his brother, Malcolm Moncreiffe, engaged in livestock ranching and a number of businesses concerned with the development of the northern region of the new state of Wyoming. They backed sawmill and retail lumber enterprises, purchased cavalry and draft horses for later sale to the British Empire's War Office for use during the Boer War in South Africa, and raised and trained polo horses. The ranch buildings included a spacious, two story frame house, bunkhouse, icehouse, springhouse, barn, stables, sheds, and corrals.

In 1923 Mr. Bradford Brinton purchased the Quarter Circle A Ranch from William Moncreiffe. Mr. Brinton easily fitted into the ranching society that had developed around the town of Big Horn. He raised thoroughbred horses, participated in State and civic affairs, and was especially interested in fish culture and the preservation of game. Brinton died in 1936. The Bradford Brinton Memorial was established by his sister, Helen Brinton.