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Matt Crowley: The Sod-House Rancher Who Built a 7,000-Acre Hereford Outfit

He started in a sod shanty in 1910 and ended up in two halls of fame and the state legislature.

Who Was Matt Crowley?

Matt Crowley was a North Dakota cattleman and conservationist whose career ran from a childhood on a Hereford ranch to the state legislature. He was born in 1875 according to the Hall of Great Westerners entry, though the obituary summarized by the State Historical Society of North Dakota gives 1874 and Caledonia, Minnesota, as his birthplace, so sources differ by a year.

What is consistent across the records is the shape of the life. He grew up working with registered Herefords, started his own ranch in 1910 on land bought from railroad holdings and departing homesteaders, and became one of the best-known stock raisers in the western half of the state. He died in January 1955 and was buried in St. John's cemetery.

Growing Up With Herefords Near Hebron

Crowley's Irish-born parents brought the family to Dakota Territory in 1886 or 1887 (the sources split on the year), and they brought registered Hereford cattle with them. The ranch sat north of Hebron. Crowley had four years of formal schooling, and his father taught him the rest while they worked cattle together.

He stayed with his father until 1910. He was thirty-five by the time he struck out on his own.

Starting From a Sod Shanty in Mercer County

In 1910 Crowley bought land near Elm Creek in Mercer County. The Prairie Public Dakota Datebook profile says his first home was a sod shanty. He kept buying acreage from homesteaders who were giving up, and he returned that land to grass for grazing instead of farming it.

The ranch grew by several routes. He boarded other people's cattle, which brought in income without requiring him to own the animals, and he drilled artesian wells to give stock dependable water. By the time the operation matured it covered roughly 7,000 acres and ran about 1,000 cattle plus a large horse herd, the Dakota Datebook reports.

Lazy J Cattle and Percheron Horses

The ranch ran under the Lazy J and Jumping J brands. Crowley raised Herefords, saddle horses and heavy Percheron and Shire draft horses, and he supplied horses for the rodeo at Beulah. The Hall of Great Westerners also notes his reputation as a horse trader, especially in dealings with Badlands Bill McCarty.

Beef, saddle stock and heavy horses gave the ranch three products to sell.

The Key to Crowley's Success

Crowley's own stated rule, reported by Prairie Public, was that ranching pays only when it is run in a sane and business-like manner. The record backs that up with concrete choices rather than luck.

The sources are silent on his debts, his finances and the fate of the homesteaders whose land he bought, so no judgment is offered on those points beyond the fact that the land changed hands as homesteaders left.

  • He learned breeding from his father and built the operation around registered Herefords.
  • He bought land cheaply from railroads and departing homesteaders and restored it to grass.
  • He added income streams: boarding cattle, horse trading and draft horse breeding.
  • He drilled artesian wells, solving the water problem that limits range ranching.
  • He joined the Western North Dakota Stockmen's Association, the North Dakota Farm Bureau and the American National Cattlemen, which connected him to markets and policy.
  • He took public office, serving as county commissioner and state legislator.

Conservation, Public Service and the Flint Quarry Gift

Crowley served as Mercer County commissioner, with the obituary summary giving seven years, and as a state representative for one term. He was a director of the North Dakota Stockmen's Association and a charter member of the North Dakota Farm Bureau, per the State Historical Society of North Dakota biographical sketch.

The Hall of Great Westerners says he donated land in 1933 that became Crowley Flint Quarry State Park. The state's page on the quarry describes the site near Golden Valley as a place where American Indians dug for Knife River flint for about 11,000 years, adding that it is surrounded by private land and currently closed to the public. That description does not mention Crowley, so the donation rests on the museum's account.

Honors and Legacy

On January 18, 1934, Crowley was honored at a combined banquet of the Saddle and Sirloin Club and the State Livestock Breeders in Fargo, and his portrait was hung in the hall of fame at North Dakota Agricultural College. The Hall of Great Westerners inducted him in 1960, making him the third North Dakotan in that hall, and the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame added him in 2010.

He married Pauline Shoemaker in 1914, built a wood-frame house with running water and a Delco power plant, and raised three daughters. For more stories of the Northern Plains, see farm.FM's ranching section and a farm.FM story about North Dakota ranches.

Timeline

  1. 1875Born in southern Minnesota (one obituary says 1874)
  2. 1886-87Family moves to Dakota Territory with registered Herefords
  3. 1910Leaves his father's ranch and buys land in Mercer County
  4. 1914Marries Pauline Shoemaker
  5. 1933Donates land that became Crowley Flint Quarry State Park, per the museum
  6. 1934Honored in Fargo; portrait hung at North Dakota Agricultural College
  7. 1955Dies in January
  8. 1960Inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners
  9. 2010Inducted into the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame

Frequently asked questions

Who was Matt Crowley?

Matt Crowley (1875-1955) was a North Dakota cattleman, horse breeder and state legislator. He built a Hereford ranch of about 7,000 acres in Mercer County and led regional stockmen's organizations.

What brands did Matt Crowley use?

Prairie Public's Dakota Datebook says Crowley ran his Mercer County ranch under the Lazy J and Jumping J brands, raising Herefords, saddle horses and draft horses.

What is Crowley Flint Quarry State Park?

It is a Knife River flint quarry site near Golden Valley, North Dakota, where American Indians dug flint for thousands of years. The Hall of Great Westerners says Crowley donated the land in 1933.

When was Matt Crowley inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners?

He was inducted in 1960. The museum record calls him a North Dakota rancher, and Prairie Public says he was the third North Dakotan inducted.

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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