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Braehead Ranch

 

 
 

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The Braehead Ranch is significant for its association with the settlement of the Upper La Prele Valley in Converse County and as a very successful ranch where cattle were raised. Braehead is also significant for its association with the ranch's founder, George Harry Cross, who was a distinguished rancher and businessman as well as government official who served in the Wyoming State Senate and as a Converse County Commissioner. George Harry Cross initially established a very modest log homestead in an area of Wyoming that was undeveloped, and quickly succeeded in expanding his ranching operations.

The ranch became a social center and the Beaver Post Office was located there for fifteen years. Braehead Ranch is named for the home of Cross's ancestors from Scotland although Cross himself was from Canada. He moved to Wyoming Territory in 1875. He purchased property in the La Prele Valley during the early 1880s and had a small log cabin constructed for him by Peter George. He brought his bride, Lea Marie, to Wyoming in 1884 to live in the modest cabin. The ranch has retained a great deal of its original appearance and there are 18 significant historic features. Few modern structures have been added to the ranch and a substantial number of the original nineteenth and early twentieth century Cross buildings survive.

 
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Date Added to Register:
Friday, September 15, 1995
 
Location:
Southwest of Douglas
 
County:
Converse County
 
Smithsonian Number:
48CO829