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Cattle Barons and Land Owners

Alexander Hamilton Swan: The Cattle Baron Who Built a Wyoming Empire and Lost It

He grew a 3,000-head herd into one of the biggest cattle companies on the northern range, then lost it all in a single hard winter and a collapse of debt.

Who Was Alexander Hamilton Swan?

Alexander Hamilton Swan was the most ambitious cattleman of Wyoming's open-range boom, and his career shows both how fast fortunes were made and how fast they were lost. WyoHistory.org's history of the Swan Land and Cattle Company says that by his early fifties he held interests in at least 20 businesses, mostly cattle related, and was a leading figure in the Wyoming Stock Growers' Association.

He is remembered for the Swan Land and Cattle Company, a Scottish-financed corporation that Wikipedia says was estimated at about 100,000 cattle in the 1880s. He is also remembered for the Wyoming Hereford Ranch, which still operates.

From Pennsylvania and Iowa to Chugwater Creek

Swan was born November 24, 1831, in Carmichaels, Pennsylvania, in a family Wikipedia says was not wealthy. He settled near Indianola, Iowa, in 1862, married Ann McCollough and served in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1870 to 1872.

In the early 1870s he and his brothers started the Swan Brothers cattle operation on Chugwater Creek in southeastern Wyoming. Wikipedia dates its founding to 1873 with a herd of 3,000. WyoHistory.org says he moved to Wyoming Territory in 1874 and filed a homestead on Chugwater Creek, so sources differ by a year. The herd reportedly grew to 33,000 by 1882.

The Swan Land and Cattle Company

In 1881 and 1882 Swan formed a series of linked companies. By 1882 the three companies had about $1.9 million in capital, and a December 1882 report estimated about 100,000 head on roughly 4.5 million acres. On March 30, 1883, the Scottish-registered Swan Land and Cattle Company Ltd. was formed with $2.6 to $2.9 million in capital, and Swan became manager at $10,000 a year.

The Plains Humanities encyclopedia says the company's holdings grew to more than one million acres and reportedly carried 110,000 head. The Encyclopedia of the Great Plains entry notes that overstocking, overgrazing and the winter storms of 1886 and 1887 hit it hard.

Herefords, the Stockyards and Stock Growers Leadership

Swan is reported to have been the first rancher to import purebred Hereford cattle from England to the United States. Cowboy State Daily says the Wyoming Hereford Ranch was founded in 1883 along Crow Creek with 146 head from eight leading English herds, and its first registered calf was born January 2 and named Lady Clara 2D.

He also helped build the Union Stockyards in Omaha, Nebraska, according to Wikipedia, and led the Laramie County Stock Association, a forerunner of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, through 1882. He lost a bid for the territory's delegate seat in 1880.

The Key to Swan's Success, and Its Limits

Swan's rise rested on a few repeatable moves. The same record also explains why it ended.

The costs are documented too. The company's board distrusted Swan's book count of cattle and his secretive record keeping, and its later lawsuit over inflated herd counts failed on procedural grounds. The record does not support a simple verdict, but it does show how heavily the business depended on borrowed money and on a herd number no one could verify.

  • He raised outside capital, selling the company to Scottish investors in 1883 while staying on as manager.
  • He built a chain of related businesses, with interests in at least 20 ventures by his early fifties.
  • He upgraded the herd, importing English Herefords and founding a registered herd in 1882 and 1883.
  • He controlled the marketing chain, helping build the Union Stockyards in Omaha.
  • He led the industry association, serving as head of the Laramie County Stock Association until 1882.
  • He overextended: dividends fell from 10 percent in 1884 to none in 1886 as prices per head dropped from $40.67 to $26.34.

The Winter of 1886 to 1887 and the Fall

The collapse came from several things at once. WyoHistory.org reports average prices per head falling from 1884, a severe winter in 1886 to 1887 and company losses estimated by foreman Rufus Rhodes at 25 percent or more. Swan's personal finances failed too. Historians cite either a $25,000 note he co-signed for Thomas Drimmie or heavy speculation in mining.

The board dismissed him in May 1887. The Wyoming Hereford Ranch went into receivership in December 1887, according to Cowboy State Daily. Wikipedia says critics blamed overstocking, overgrazing and inflated herd counts, and that the winter killed hundreds of thousands of cattle across the range; its figure for Swan's own losses is much higher than the foreman's, and sources differ.

Later Life and Legacy

Swan moved to Ogden, Utah, around 1888 and died there in 1905 at age 73, largely in obscurity. His company lived on without him until its British board ended operations on December 31, 1925, and it was dissolved December 20, 1951, per WyoHistory.org.

The Wyoming Hereford Ranch he founded is described by Wikipedia as the oldest known continuous breed operation in the United States, and the company's headquarters was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1964. For more on the open-range era, see the ranching section of farm.FM or a farm.FM story about the open-range era.

Timeline

  1. 1831Born in Carmichaels, Pennsylvania
  2. 1862Settles near Indianola, Iowa
  3. 1873Swan Brothers cattle operation founded; Wyoming homestead by 1874
  4. 1883Swan Land and Cattle Company formed; Wyoming Hereford Ranch founded
  5. 1886Dividend paid to shareholders ends
  6. 1887Severe winter; Swan dismissed in May; Hereford ranch in receivership by December
  7. 1888Moves to Ogden, Utah
  8. 1905Dies in Ogden

Frequently asked questions

Who was Alexander Hamilton Swan?

Alexander Hamilton Swan (1831 to 1905) was a Wyoming cattle baron who built the Swan Land and Cattle Company, founded the Wyoming Hereford Ranch and helped build the Omaha stockyards before going bankrupt after 1886 to 1887.

How many cattle did the Swan Land and Cattle Company have?

Estimates run from about 100,000 to 113,000 or more head in the early to mid-1880s. Swan's critics said his counts were inflated, and the board distrusted his book count of the herd.

What happened to Alexander Swan?

After the severe winter of 1886 to 1887 and failed debt-funded speculation, the company board dismissed him in May 1887. He moved to Ogden, Utah, around 1888 and died there in 1905.

Is the Wyoming Hereford Ranch still operating?

Cowboy State Daily and Wikipedia describe the Wyoming Hereford Ranch, founded by Swan in 1883, as one of the oldest continuous registered livestock operations in the United States.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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