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Cattle Barons and Land Owners

Pierre Wibaux, the French Textile Heir Who Became a Montana Cattle King

A young Frenchman bought the remnants of the northern herds after a killing winter and built the W Bar Ranch on the Montana-Dakota line.

Who was Pierre Wibaux?

Pierre Wibaux was a French-born rancher who ran cattle along the Montana and North Dakota border in the 1880s and 1890s and later became known as the Cattle King of Eastern Montana. He was born in 1858 in Roubaix, France, into a family long established in the textile trade, and he died in 1913 at the age of 55. The Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame profile inducted him in 2012, and the town of Wibaux, Montana, still carries his name.

His story is a useful one for anyone studying the northern range. He arrived during the open-range boom, nearly lost everything in the same years that ruined many bigger names, and then came back to buy cattle when the market was at its lowest.

From Roubaix to the Badlands

Wibaux spent a year in the French army and then toured English manufacturing districts for two years, where he met the woman who became his wife. Instead of joining the family business he wanted to ranch. His father supplied a modest stake of $10,000 and, according to the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame, thought the venture hare-brained.

In 1883 Wibaux came to the place that now bears his name, traveling with an army friend. He lived in a primitive dugout and ranched for about three years. When his resources ran out he went back to France, which would have been the end of the story for most young remittance ranchers.

How did Pierre Wibaux build the W Bar Ranch?

He returned to Montana in 1887 with his English bride. The winter before had been described as the most severe in memory, and one account says 85 percent of the range cattle had perished. Wibaux bought the surviving remnants of the large herds, and at one time his herd was estimated at 60,000 head.

He set up the W Bar Ranch on Beaver Creek, about twelve miles north of present-day Wibaux, with a main house, a foreman's house, bunkhouses for 20 cowboys and housing for servants. A second ranch lay sixty miles to the north, supported by line camps. The W Bar range ran from the Little Missouri River west to the Yellowstone, and from the Northern Pacific Railroad north to the Big Missouri. A short Theodore Roosevelt Center catalog record of a 1906 promotional booklet places him among the era's best-known ranchers and says he made a fortune on cattle.

The Key to Wibaux's Success

Wibaux's advantage was timing and logistics rather than size alone. He bought when sellers were desperate, and he put his ranch beside a railroad so animals could be shipped without long drives.

The documented record points to several concrete habits:

  • He bought survivors after the hard winter instead of buying into the boom, at a time when many sellers were struggling.
  • He persuaded the Northern Pacific to build stockyards at Wibaux, giving his herds a shipping point at home.
  • He built a real operation, with bunkhouses for 20 cowboys, a second ranch and line camps spread across a large range.
  • He was known as fair and good to work for, though overbearing toward people who tried to exploit his friendship.
  • He read the end of open range correctly: in 1900, as settlers filled the country, he stopped running cattle and moved his money elsewhere.

What did Pierre Wibaux do after ranching?

Wibaux ran cattle until 1900, when the number of settlers made large-scale ranching unworkable. He sold his Wibaux interests and became president and principal owner of the State National Bank in Miles City. He was also president and principal owner of the Clover Leaf Gold Mining Company in Deadwood, South Dakota, and held business interests in France, Mexico, California and the Klondike region of Alaska.

Not every part of the legend is solid. One local tradition says the first area rodeo was staged by W Bar cowboys for visiting French nobility, with Wibaux paying $30 to the first man to rope, throw and tie a steer. It comes from the hall of fame page and is not independently confirmed here.

Legacy, burial and where to learn more

Wibaux asked that his remains be returned to the town after years of extensive travel. A bronze likeness more than nine feet tall stands on a granite slab above his tomb, showing him in buckskin, a Stetson and chaps. The office he used while developing the town, with a sleeping room and kitchen, is now a museum.

For readers who want more of the northern range, the ranching section of farm.FM covers ranch life past and present, and a farm.FM story about Montana cattle country adds a modern angle. The French rancher's career also sits well beside the State Historical Society of North Dakota account of his neighbor the Marquis de Mores, who tried a very different route to the same cattle trade.

Timeline

  1. 1858Born in Roubaix, France
  2. 1880sServes a year in the army and tours English manufacturing districts
  3. 1883Arrives at the site of present-day Wibaux with an army friend
  4. 1886Resources run out after three years; returns to France
  5. 1887Returns to Montana with his bride and buys remnants of the northern herds
  6. 1900Stops ranching and sells his Wibaux interests
  7. 1913Dies at age 55; buried at Wibaux
  8. 2012Inducted into the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame

Frequently asked questions

Who was Pierre Wibaux?

Pierre Wibaux was a French-born rancher who built the W Bar Ranch on Beaver Creek along the Montana and North Dakota border. He was known as the Cattle King of Eastern Montana and founded the shipping town that carries his name.

How many cattle did Pierre Wibaux own?

His herd was estimated at 60,000 head at one time, according to the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame. Like most open-range figures, the figure is an estimate rather than an audited count.

What did Pierre Wibaux do after cattle ranching?

After 1900 he sold his Wibaux interests and became president of the State National Bank in Miles City. He also led a Deadwood gold mining company and held business interests in several other places.

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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