World Agriculture Directory: the home of the world's largest agriculture database. Fastest way to find events, farms and agribusiness that suit your needs. Agriculture Event Directory

Cattlemen Hall of FameBeef cattle barons, cowboys, breeders and builders from around the world

Cattle Drive Heroes and Trail Bosses

Nelson Story Sr.: The Gold Miner Who Drove Texas Longhorns to Montana in 1866

Story defied an Army order to reach Montana's gold camps with Texas cattle and became Bozeman's first millionaire.

Who was Nelson Story Sr.?

Nelson Story Sr. was a Montana pioneer who made money in gold, spent it on Texas cattle and turned the result into a banking, milling and ranching fortune. The Wikipedia biography of Nelson Story gathers the record; it is a starting point rather than a final authority, so the figures below are marked where sources differ.

According to the Story biography page, he was born April 4, 1838, in Burlingham, Ohio, the youngest son of Ira and Hannah Story, and was orphaned by eighteen. He taught school and studied two years at Ohio University before heading west.

From freighter to gold miner

Story went to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas Territory, and hired on as a bullwhacker with a freighting outfit. By 1862 he was a successful freight driver in Denver and married Ellen Trent. In 1863 he took pack mules and ox teams to Montana and arrived at Virginia City in June, shortly after the Alder Gulch gold strike.

He worked a field near Alder Gulch that he felt had not been fully worked. Within a few months he made $30,000 in gold, exchanged it for $20,000 in cash and traveled to Fort Worth, Texas. That stake financed the cattle purchase.

The 1866 drive up the Bozeman Trail

In 1866 Story paid $10,000 for about 1,000 Longhorns. The number is disputed: common figures are 1,000 and 3,000, and other estimates run lower, so sources differ. Texas had many cattle and little money after the war, while the northern states had demand and cash, and about 260,000 cattle were driven north that summer toward Sedalia, Missouri.

Story paid the 10 cents a head charged for crossing Indian Territory. At Baxter Springs, Kansas, armed men demanded $2 a head, and he refused and took a roundabout route toward Fort Leavenworth. He decided on Montana, where miners at Virginia City were paying high prices. At Fort Phil Kearny the Army ordered him to stop because of aggression by Sioux warriors led by Red Cloud; he ignored the order, evaded the troops and kept going, fighting Sioux along the way. One drover was killed. The herd reached what is now Livingston in December 1866.

The Key to Story's Success

Story's record shows a man who saw an imbalance between two markets, Texas where cattle were cheap and Montana where beef was dear, and moved his own capital to bridge it. He took large personal risks, and some of his methods drew criticism.

He financed the drive himself with gold he had mined, rather than relying on partners or lenders, as far as the Wikipedia account shows.

  • He used gold-field profits as capital for a business with a far larger payoff.
  • He bought where cattle were cheapest, in postwar Texas, and sold where they were dearest, in the mining camps.
  • He chose a route to avoid fees and delays at Baxter Springs, even though it was longer.
  • He pushed through an Army order to stop, accepting the danger.
  • He sold to hungry miners for up to ten times the Texas price for at least two years.
  • He reinvested in a ranch in Paradise Valley, then in banking, a flour mill and merchandising.

From rancher to Bozeman's first millionaire

By 1870, as placer mining declined, Story's ranch in Paradise Valley had made him the leading cattleman on the northern plains. He settled in Bozeman and went into banking, merchandising and grain. In 1882 he helped capitalize the Gallatin Valley National Bank, which failed in the Panic of 1893 and never reopened, and he opened the Story Flour Mill at Bridger Creek, which supplied flour to the Army at Fort Ellis and to the Crow reservation.

His business success made him Bozeman's first millionaire. In 1893 he donated 160 acres for an agricultural college that became Montana State University. Later he became a real estate developer in Los Angeles, and in 1909 built the Walter P. Story Building there as a gift to his son.

Controversy and the record's limits

The record includes darker chapters. Story took part in the vigilante committees in Montana that hanged 21 men, among them Henry Plummer, and in 1876 he was accused, though not indicted, of defrauding the Crow Indians, later claiming he had bribed the jury. Critics called him a robber baron. The Wikipedia article points readers to a HistoryNet account of his dealings with the Crow.

These accusations reflect contested history, and the sources reviewed do not settle them. Readers should treat the claims as reported, not as established findings.

Honors, family and legacy

Story was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners in 1959 and into the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2008 as a founding Legacy member. His son Nelson Jr. became mayor of Bozeman and later lieutenant governor of Montana, and his son Walter became a major general in the California National Guard. A descendant, also named Nelson Story, still operates the Story Ranch and Cattle Company in Paradise Valley.

The 1866 drive is also credited with inspiring Larry McMurtry's novel Lonesome Dove, according to the Wikipedia entry. Story died in Los Angeles on March 10, 1926, and is buried in Bozeman. See more in the ranching coverage on farm.FM or a farm.FM story about the Montana cattle trade.

Timeline

  1. 1838Born in Burlingham, Ohio
  2. 1862Freight driver in Denver; marries Ellen Trent
  3. 1863Arrives at Virginia City, Montana, after the Alder Gulch strike
  4. 1866Buys Longhorns in Texas and drives them up the Bozeman Trail to Montana
  5. 1870Leading cattleman on the northern plains from Paradise Valley
  6. 1882Opens the Story Flour Mill; helps found Gallatin Valley National Bank
  7. 1893Donates 160 acres for the agricultural college at Bozeman
  8. 1926Dies in Los Angeles, March 10

Frequently asked questions

Who was Nelson Story Sr.?

Nelson Story Sr. (1838-1926) was a Montana pioneer, gold miner and cattleman who led the first major Texas cattle drive into Montana in 1866 and became Bozeman's first millionaire.

How many cattle did Nelson Story drive to Montana?

The most commonly cited figures are 1,000 and 3,000 head of Longhorns, and some estimates are lower, so sources differ. He paid about $10,000 for them in Texas.

What happened at Fort Phil Kearny?

The Army ordered Story to stop because of Sioux aggression, but he ignored the order, evaded the soldiers and continued into Montana, losing one drover.

What is Nelson Story known for in Bozeman?

He built the Story Flour Mill, helped capitalize a bank, donated 160 acres for the agricultural college that became Montana State University, and built Bozeman's first Story Mansion.

Sources and further reading

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

More from the hall