Ben Snipes: The Cattle King Who Fed Gold Rush Canada and Built a Bank

Who Was Ben Snipes?

Benjamin Elam Snipes (1835-1906) was a Pacific Northwest cattleman known across the region as the Cattle King. The Hall of Great Westerners entry credits him with building a herd of up to 40,000 cattle and with moving into land, milling and banking. A talk by historian Roscoe Sheller, published by HistoryLink, supplies much of the detail, though its author warns that some figures, such as herd counts, are uncertain.

From North Carolina to the Oregon Trail

Snipes was born in North Carolina in 1835, the second son of Elam and Asenath Snipes. The family moved to Iowa around 1850. In his teens he joined a wagon train to Oregon, paying for the trip by helping with the stock, and was noted for his care of the livestock. HistoryLink says he was about 16; the museum says 17, so sources differ slightly.

He worked in the Willamette Valley, then joined a mule pack train to the California gold fields, where he sold a claim for $500 in gold dust. He later ran a butcher shop and lost everything when he extended credit to customers who left the area.

Cattle for the Canadian Gold Fields

When he learned of a gold strike on British Columbia's Fraser River, Snipes arrived too late to mine but noticed a shortage of beef and decided to supply it. A cattleman who later financed him provided a foundation herd in exchange for half the profits, while Snipes did the work with help from Indian boys, according to HistoryLink.

In spring 1856 he drove 102 head to the Kamloops and Thompson River region, selling them for about $125 each, roughly $12,000 in all, and gave half to his backer. Around 1859 he built a log cabin in the Yakima Valley at the base of what became Snipes Mountain. HistoryLink credits him with naming the Horse Heaven country.

The Winter That Nearly Ended Him

By fall 1861 Snipes was known as the Cattle King, with herd estimates ranging from 25,000 to 40,000 head. He reportedly did not know the exact number. A severe winter of deep snow, rain and ice then killed most of the region's herds, and only about 10 percent survived when Chinook winds arrived in February. His own inventory afterward showed roughly 2,500 to 3,000 cattle.

The recovery is the best known part of his story. HistoryLink says he borrowed $50,000 in Portland on his open note, bought cattle cheaply from ranchers who were leaving the valley, sold animals to market and repaid the loan. The museum dates the loan to 1861.

Banking in Ellensburg

Ellensburg had no bank, so Snipes built a three-story stone building, and the bank opened on February 22, 1889. A fire on July 4, 1889 destroyed the building. The bank reopened in temporary quarters, a new building went up, and he later opened a branch in Roslyn. HistoryLink says the Northern Pacific Railway's arrival in 1884 effectively ended the open-range cattle business, which helps explain his turn to other ventures.

Later Years and Legacy

Snipes married Mary Parrott in 1864, and the couple had a son, Bennie. He died in Seattle on December 12, 1906. The museum inducted him into the Hall of Great Westerners in 1958 (see the hall overview), and Snipes Mountain in the Yakima Valley still carries his name.

For more western cattle history, see farm.FM's ranching section or a farm.FM story on Northwest cattle drives.