Moreton Frewen and the Powder River Cattle Company: Boom, Debt and Bust

Who was Moreton Frewen?

Moreton Frewen was a younger son of an old Sussex family who ran cattle on Wyoming's Powder River between 1879 and 1885. He lived from 1853 to 1924, and through his wife's family he was an uncle of Winston Churchill. A Cowboy State Daily feature calls him a fine shot and horseman, and says his unlucky deals earned him the nickname Mortal Ruin.

He and his brother Richard are often counted among the British cattle barons of the open-range years, when foreign money flowed into the northern plains.

How did Frewen start in Wyoming?

In 1878 Frewen visited America as the guest of John Adair, founder of the JA Ranch, and returned in spring 1879. He reached his Powder River homestead in April 1879 after a hard trek from Fort Washakie with his brother. That summer he bought the 76 brand from Tim Foley, a Sweetwater ranchman. The brothers made a profit in 1880.

The purchase was shaky. The partners paid $75,000 for what was said to be 5,000 head, but an inspection found only 2,700, according to the Wyoming Tales and Trails history. The count had been a book count, built by multiplying estimated calves from earlier years. Frewen denied rumors that Foley had sold the same cattle twice.

The Powder River Cattle Company, Limited

Frewen reorganized the 76 as the Powder River Cattle Company, Limited, raising 300,000 pounds sterling from stock sales to buy out his brother. The same account says he took no salary, accepted a share of profits after preferred shareholders, and persuaded investors including the Earls of Dunraven and Lonsdale to join.

The first annual meeting declared a 35 percent dividend, which the account suggests was probably paid partly from capital. In 1884 a report to shareholders declared a 27 percent dividend after what it called an unfavorable year. In 1881 he had borrowed $100,000 from Morton E. Post and Company in Cheyenne.

Frewen's Castle and the creation of Johnson County

Frewen built a ranch house that became known as Frewen's Castle, described as the first two-story building in Wyoming, and for about six years the brothers hosted British guests for hunting in the Bighorn Mountains. Frewen also disliked paying county taxes in Cheyenne, some 300 miles away, so he pushed to form a new county of about 15,000 square miles with its seat near present-day Buffalo.

He needed 50 signatures and was 12 short. According to the Cowboy State Daily article, men from an outlaw camp signed the petition, and Johnson County was established on those names.

Collapse, sale and what came after

Frewen wrote his last entry in the visitors' book at the 76 Ranch on June 23, 1885, and left for England. He arrived in Wyoming with 16,000 pounds borrowed from his brothers and left owing 30,000 pounds. Horace Plunkett was hired to wind up the ranch, and the Superior feeding station was sold at a loss. The Morton E. Post bank failed in 1887.

The marriage was also strained: Clara Jerome spent one season at the ranch, and the account says she refused to live at the hunting lodge after the hard winter.

More on the northern range

Frewen's overreach is a standard warning in farm.FM's ranching coverage, and a farm.FM story about Wyoming ranching follows the modern outfits that survived. The Moreton Frewen papers finding aid lists archival material for researchers.