George Edward Lemmon, Open Range Cattle Ranching and the Development of the Northern Great Plains
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University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research, Department of History History, Department of 6-2011 Dean of the Range: George Edward Lemmon, Open Range Cattle Ranching and the Development of the Northern Great Plains Nathan B. Sanderson University of Nebraska-Lincoln Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/historydiss Part of the United States History Commons Sanderson, Nathan B., "Dean of the Range: George Edward Lemmon, Open Range Cattle Ranching and the Development of the Northern Great Plains" (2011). Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research, Department of History. 40. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/historydiss/40 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the History, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research, Department of History by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. DEAN OF THE RANGE: GEORGE EDWARD LEMMON, OPEN RANGE CATTLE RANCHING AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NORTHERN GREAT PLAINS by Nathan B. Sanderson A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: History Under the Supervision of Professor Andrew R. Graybill Lincoln, Nebraska June, 2011 DEAN OF THE RANGE: GEORGE EDWARD LEMMON, OPEN RANGE CATTLE RANCHING AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NORTHERN GREAT PLAINS Nathan B. Sanderson, Ph.D. University of Nebraska, 2011 Advisor: Andrew R. Graybill George Edward Lemmon (1857-1945) lived a life full of significant achievements and played an integral role in the growth and settlement of the northern Great Plains. A renowned cowboy and cattleman, Lemmon saddle-handled more cattle than any man who ever lived, bossed one of the nation’s largest roundups, operated an 865,000-acre lease on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation and later became an inaugural member of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. Part of his early success came as a result of trespassing—illegally grazing thousands of cattle—on the Great Sioux Reservation. Due to his unparalleled cattle-handling skills and reputation as one of the region’s most important stockmen, Lemmon came to be known as the “Dean of the Range.” In later life he became a town builder, guiding the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad west across the Missouri River and founding several communities. From the 1880s to the 1920s, Lemmon was the central figure on the northern Great Plains and left his mark on the entire region. He was a juncture between two eras, one rooted in the nineteenth century, the other in the twentieth. He represents the meeting point between Indians and whites, between humans and the land, between cowboys and cattlemen and between the dusty days on a western cattle trail and the development of settlements and “civilization.” At the end of his life, the Great Plains—like Lemmon himself—was different from the start: not better, not worse, but distinctly changed. Acknowledgments If not for my father-in-law, Chuck Anderson, I would not have written a dissertation about Ed Lemmon. Chuck and his wife Koreen ranch seven miles south of Lemmon, South Dakota, and their ancestors have been living in the northwest part of the state since just after the turn of the twentieth century. During his travels on sheep shearing crews and as a rancher and carpenter, Chuck has developed an uncanny knowledge of the countryside. He also has a keen interest in western history. More than ten years ago he started telling me about all of the things “Dad” Lemmon had done as a cowboy and cattleman, how important he was to the region. At the time I did not even consider writing about Lemmon, but a few years later when I began looking for a dissertation topic, Lemmon was suggested to me by another University of Nebraska-trained historian, Chuck Vollan, who had used Lemmon’s writings in his dissertation on the early years of Cheyenne, Wyoming. As I began researching the man, it became obvious that not only did he have a good story, Lemmon’s life and experiences offered new insight into the development of the northern Great Plains. Many thanks. I’ve had the good fortune to study under a number of exceptional teachers. The faculty in the History Department at the University of Nebraska have been helpful and encouraging. My advisor, Andy Graybill, has been incredibly supportive throughout this process—even when I told him I was leaving graduate school full-time to take a job in South Dakota. His suggestions and careful editing have made my work far better and I can’t thank him enough for helping me see this project to fruition. Thanks also to Will Thomas for employing me as manager of the Railroads and the Making of Modern America digital project—you’ve been more helpful than you know. He and Doug iii Seefeldt—along with Kay Walter, Brian Pytlik Zillig, Laura Weakly and Zach Bajaber at the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities—help indoctrinate me into the world of digital history. John Wunder has offered sound advice on numerous occasions and, along with Graybill, Thomas, James Garza and David Wishart of the UNL Geography Department, served as a dissertation reader. At the University of Indianapolis, James Fuller started the process of teaching this Great Plains aggie how to be an historian. And special thanks to Linda Iverson, one of the best teachers I’ve ever had. There’s no other way to say this—graduate school was a lot of fun. Dave Nesheim, Rob Voss, Shayla Swift, Matt Deepe, Leslie Working and Brenden Rensink (and their families) helped make my time in Lincoln rewarding and enjoyable. Seth and Carrie Derner became very good friends and offered a roof—and food, and childcare and encouragement—every time I returned. Thanks also to the University of Nebraska for funding my education with a Chancellor’s Doctoral Fellowship. Virginia Grabow of Tigard, Oregon, great-granddaughter to Ed Lemmon’s older brother Hervey, has been a tremendous supporter, sharing her family’s genealogical research and reading portions of the manuscript. Janet Graham and Bill Sheidley helped put me in touch with Betsey Sheidley Fletcher of Mission Hills, Kansas, who generously allowed me into her home to view records and papers from the Sheidley Cattle Company. A number of librarians, archivists, public servants and institutions helped with research for this project. Mary-Jo Miller, Matt Piersol and the rest of the staff at the Nebraska State Historical Society were always helpful and patient. Thanks also to Robin Everett with the Wyoming State Archives; the American Heritage Center in Laramie, Wyoming; John Sieracki and Gayle Ecklund of the Milwaukee Public Library; Greg iv Wysk of the State Historical Society of North Dakota; the Chester Fritz Library at the University of North Dakota; the Wisconsin State Historical Society; the South Dakota State Historical Society; and the staff at the Adams County and Perkins County courthouses. The citizens of Lemmon, South Dakota, provided invaluable assistance and enthusiasm for this project. Nora Anderson spent hours in the Lemmon Public Library reviewing its collection of local newspapers. She saved me several days’ worth of research, but I think I did her the bigger favor, providing a good excuse to leave Jim at home while she delved through the town’s history. Thanks also to Carol Rafferty, librarian. Phyllis Schmidt of the Grand River Museum in Lemmon authored The West As I Lived It, a compilation of the columns Ed Lemmon wrote for the Belle Fourche Bee during the 1930s. Her book, as well the loan of her digital files, made my job of organizing Ed’s stories much, much easier. Carolyn Penfield opened the Petrified Wood Park Museum during the off-season specifically so I could review its excellent collection of documents and artifacts, including Ed’s intricately carved diamond willow cane. Jim Stock, Elmo Cain and many others have expressed support and provided valuable insight that has made this dissertation far better. Ed Texley of Hettinger, North Dakota, generously allowed me to borrow and copy his collection of Lemmon’s original typed stories. He discovered them in about 1958, while playing in the Lemmon CPA office where his dad Shorty worked with Ed Lemmon’s eldest son, James. The office was on the first floor of the old First National Bank building on Main Street. James had an apartment upstairs, where Ed Lemmon had lived on and off during his final years. While playing in the building’s nooks and v crannies, Texley climbed to the top of the bank vault, where he saw an old filing cabinet. He looked inside and found a stack of dusty papers, which he took to James. James recognized them as his father’s stories and stored them in a safe place. Texley never saw them again until forty-five years later. Not long after Shorty passed away, Texley was looking through his father’s papers and came across a packet of documents that he instantly recognized as the stories he had found on top of the bank vault decades earlier. Ed, thanks for sharing. Bill Even and Jon Farris at the South Dakota Department of Agriculture were supportive and flexible. Chris Marsh with the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks produced a reservations map for an article in Agricultural History, which also appears in this dissertation. Brenda Forman provided information on James Lemmon’s involvement in the South Dakota Association of Cooperatives. The staff in the South Dakota Governor’s Office has taken a keen interest in my work, and I appreciate their encouragement.