Richardson's Overland Trail Ranch is a complex of seven ranch buildings at the crossing of the Big Laramie River by the

Overland Trail The Overland Trail (also known as the Overland Stage Line) was a stagecoach and wagon trail in the American West during the 19th century. While portions of the route had been used by explorers and trappers since the 1820s, the Overland Trail w ...

. The ranch's main residence was built as a stage station for the trail in 1862. A

corduroy road A corduroy road or log road is a type of road or timber trackway made by placing logs, perpendicular to the direction of the road over a low or swampy area. The result is an improvement over impassable mud or dirt roads, yet rough in the bes ...

was built at the same time. By 1864 ranching became established around the stage station, primarily by Tom Alsop,

Edward Creighton Edward Charles Creighton (August 31, 1820 – November 5, 1874) was a prominent pioneer businessman in early Omaha, Nebraska. The elder brother of John A. Creighton, the Creightons were responsible for founding many institutions that were cen ...

and Charlie Hutton. With Creighton's death in 1874 the land was divided between Alsop on the west side of the river and Hutton on the east side. The ranch on the west side became known as the Heart or Hart Ranch. The ranches at the river crossing became part of the larger Riverside Livestock Company. At the beginning of the twentieth century the stage station at the Hart Ranch was sold to D.C. Buntin and James Caldwell, who started a polo pony breeding operation and added buildings. Caldwell committed suicide in the wake of the

Teapot Dome Scandal The Teapot Dome scandal was a bribery scandal involving the administration of United States President Warren G. Harding from 1921 to 1923. Secretary of the Interior Albert Bacon Fall had leased Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome in Wyomin ...

and the ranch was sold. Otto Clausen initially operated the ranch as a

dude ranch A guest ranch, also known as a dude ranch, is a type of ranch oriented towards visitors or tourism. It is considered a form of agritourism. History Guest ranches arose in response to the romanticization of the American West that began to occur ...

from 1929, but the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

reduced operations to subsistence farming. Clausen sold to T.H. and Ella Therkkildsen in 1944, who managed the ranch until they passed it on to their daughter Marge and her husband T.H. Richardson in 1974.

Description

The main house is a one-story log structure in three sections with interior log partitions. It retains its original character. Other structures include the 1910 polo barn, the so-called "damn good shed," built about 1930 in board-and-batten construction, a log cabin that was moved to the site in the 1930s from Fox Park, the log "Little Cabin," and the "Long Shed," also moved to the site from Fox Park. An intact section of the Overland Trail corduroy road is about north of the ranch complex. Richardson's Overland Trail Ranch was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on March 5, 1992.

References

External links

Richardson's Overland Trail Ranch at the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office
{{NRHP in Albany County, Wyoming National Register of Historic Places in Albany County, Wyoming Ranches in Wyoming Overland Trail Stagecoach stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming