Cody Culture Club: Pioneer Ranches of the Cody Country

Location: Pitchfork Room Cody Regional Health

Before barbed wire and property lines reshaped the West, Wyoming’s open range stretched nearly without end—vast seas of native grass that defined the region’s economy, culture, and identity. In this illustrated program, explore the remarkable era of open-range cattle ranching in the Cody Country during the late nineteenth century, when herds moved freely across the Absaroka foothills and early ranching enterprises took root in the Bighorn Basin.

This program traces the arrival of the region’s first major cattle operations in the late 1870s and early 1880s and introduces the pioneering ranchers who helped shape the landscape and its future, including Otto Franc, John Chapman, Henry Belknap, and Richard Ashworth. Learn how many of these early enterprises not only endured but continue to influence the ranching traditions of northwest Wyoming today.

Through historical photographs, maps, and original research, this presentation brings to life the world of cowboys, cattle barons, and homesteaders—and reveals how they transformed the Wyoming frontier from open grassland into a working and settled region.

Thanks to the Sponsors of this Event:

• • Blair Hotels
  • Carlene Lebous & Harris Haston
  • NextGen Park County
  • Simpson Gallagher Gallery
  • The UPS Store
• To Purchase Tickets