Title: Eaton Brothers Custer Trail Ranch, Medora (ND)
Dates: July 5 – September 1, 1902
Collection Number: 00286
Quantity: 248 items
Abstract: Album of images taken by Richard Cecil Hall of Eaton Brothers Custer Trail Ranch, Medora (ND), cattle round up and beef issue at Fort Yates, and a camping trip to Yellowstone National Park on horseback. Hall, from Bedford, Pennsylvania likely was a long time friend of the Eatons and visited the ranch in 1902.
Provenance: The State Historical Society of North Dakota acquired this photograph album from Dr. George R. Price in August 1962.
Copyrights: Copyrights to materials in this collection remain with the donor, publisher, author, or author's heirs. Researcher should consult the 1976 Copyright Act, Public Law 94‑553, Title 17 U.S. Code and an archivist at this repository if clarification of copyright requirements is needed.
Access: This collection is open under the rules and regulations of the State Historical Society of North Dakota.
Citation: Researchers are requested to cite the collection title, collection name, and the State Historical Society of North Dakota in all footnote and bibliographic references.
Related Collections:
A2299 Custer Trail Ranch house ca. 1881
00129-09 Eaton family house Custer Trail, Medora
Biographical Sketch
The Custer Trail Ranch, south of Medora, was owned by the Eaton brothers, Howard, Alden, Willis, and Charles of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Howard came to Dakota Territory to work on the Northern Pacific Railroad and later was a hunting guide in the Medora area. A. C. Huidekoper, an Eaton family friend, came out to hunt, thought the land would be good for ranching and helped finance the ranch in 1882. The name for the ranch came from the fact that Custer and the 7th Cavalry camped there on the way to the Little Big Horn in 1876.
Howard’s brothers came out to work on the ranch which remained in the family until 1904 when three of the brothers moved to a ranch in Sheridan, Wyoming. In the 1880s Howard Eaton knew the Marquis de Mores and Theodore Roosevelt. It is said that the Custer Trail Ranch was the first dude ranch in America as Howard invited people from the east to stay, ride horses and enjoy the area. The 1900 census shows a number of boarders at the ranch whose occupation is listed as gentleman and gentleman of leisure.
Howard Eaton was born February 8, 1851 and died in Sheridan, Wyoming April 5, 1922.
Sources:
50 Years in the Saddle, by Andrew Johnson
Did You Know That…? Vol. 2, by Curt Eriksmoen
Ancestry
PHOTOGRAPHS INVENTORY
00286-01a – 01e Eaton Brothers Ranch buildings, Medora (ND)
00286-02a Blacksmith shop
00286-02b Stables
00286-02c Pump and corrals
00286-02d Stables
00286-03a View of corrals taken from top of butte in front of ranch house
00286-03b View of ranch from top of butte in front of house
00286-03c Bound for the train
00286-03d On trail to town
00286-04a View off of Lebo Plateaux
00286-04b Trail to town from top of butte in front of house
00286-04c Pickett Butte
00286-04d View off of Lebo Plateaux
00286-05a Cannon Butte
00286-05b View of Little Missouri River
00286-05c Little Missouri River
00286-05d Down side of butte in upper end of little pasture to the river
00286-06a Off top of Pickett Butte towards ranch
00286-06b – 06d River views
00286-07a River view
00286-07b Looking out over Badlands
00286-07c Some more Badlands
00286-07d River view
00286-08a Man hanging clothes on a line
00286-08b Prairie dog and hole
00286-08c – 08d Man on horseback on side of Pickett Butte
00286-09a Man standing on Pickett Butte
00286-09b Alden bridling a horse
00286-09c Alden and Willis in front of corral
00286-09d Howard Eaton
00286-10a Willis in front of corral
00286-10b Pete Pettis on Striking a Match
00286-10c “Danny” Kerr
00286-10d Nelse Nichols on horse
00286-11a Alden with horse in front of corral
00286-11b Howard in front of corral
00286-11c Breaking horse in corral
00286-11d Branding a horse
00286-12a – 12b Tying a horse for branding
00286-12c Breaking a horse
00286-12d Tying a horse for branding
00286-13a Horse in a sling with one leg tied up
00286-13b Shoeing a horse
00286-13c Alden takes a crowd out
00286-13d The bunch of mares
00286-14a Cowboys and horses fording the river
00286-14b At the corral gate
00286-14c – 14d In the corral
00286-15a horse “Buckshot”
00286-15b horse “88”
00286-15c horse “Marquis”
00286-15d mule “El Sabio” The Wise One
00286-16a The S R Outfit
00286-16b Wrangling
00286-16c S R Camp
00286-16d Nelse and the mess wagon
00286-17a 1st S R Camp
00286-17b S R Camp
00286-17c Rattlesnake Joe Madara
00286-17d Jo on herd
00286-18a – 18b “El Sabio” and I have a round
00286-18c – 18d “El Sabio”
00286-18e Breaking horse in corral
00286-18f Man in a suit
00286-18g Hanging wash on the line
00286-18h Texas Jack twisting horse’s ears – this often quiets them when nothing else will
00286-18i horses in corral
00286-18j Texas Jack tying rope to corral, Paul standing by
00286-18k Tying horse for branding
00286-18l Hill on the ranch
00286-19a – 19b Nelse and a bronc
00286-19c – 19d Colts in corral
00286-20a Jo on horse
00286-20b Paul with rifle
00286-20c John saddling a horse
00286-20d Brown in front of house
00286-21a Paul in front of house
00286-21b- 21c Jo on horse
00286-21d Jo’s horse
00286-22a Saddling up in front of house
00286-22b The day I got home from the Park. Miss Forgarty, Miss Young and Danny Kerr in wagon
00286-22c H B, Miss F, Dan K, Miss Y, Miss S T in front of barn
00286-22d Hugh Barr on horse
00286-23a Nick Hall and Hugh Barr on horses
00286-23b Don McKaig and horse “Smutt”
00286-23c Jim McCutchem on horse in front of stable
00286-23d Ala Mexico – man on mule wearing sombrero
00286-24a Nick and Dick Hall on horses
00286-24b Hugh Barr on mule wearing sombrero
00286-24c Man in suit
00286-24d Hugh Barr on horse
00286-25a Tommy Meg
00286-25b Col. Henry Hall
00286-25c Dan McKaig on horse by chuck wagon
00286-25d Col. Henry Hall
00286-26b Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis
00286-26c Geo. D’s store, Glass Block, Minneapolis
00286-26d Man on horse “Orc”
00286-26e Man on horse “Buckshot”
00286-27a The Standing Rock, Fort Yates
00286-27b Cannon Ball Ranch, Fort Yates
00286-27c “Teepee Town,” Fort Yates
00286-27d Sheep grazing, Fort Yates
00286-28a Bringing in mounts, Fort Yates
00286-28b Sore feet (of horse) fixed, Fort Yates
00286-28c Nelse at cookstove, Fort Yates
00286-28d Trimming hooves, Fort Yates
00286-29a Breaking camp, Fort Yates
00286-29b Rolling tarps, Fort Yates
00286-29c – 29d Camp, Fort Yates
00286-30a Going out to the Indian dance in wagon, Fort Yates
00286-30b – 30c Camp, Fort Yates
00286-30d – 31a Indian police bringing in steer for slaughter, Fort Yates
00286-31b Shooting the steer, Fort Yates
00286-31c – 31d Moving steer through chute, Fort Yates
00286-32a Alden and Mr. Parkin in buggy, Fort Yates
00286-32b No Spirit, Fort Yates
00286-32c Major Bingenheimer and No Spirit, Fort Yates
00286-33a – 33c Native American man holding can and bag, Fort Yates
00286-33d White Bear, famous warrior, Fort Yates
00286-34c – 34d Native American men and boys by log cabin, Fort Yates
00286-35c – 35d Group seated around the slaughterhouse, Fort Yates
00286-36a Native American woman carrying child with dog following by log cabin, Fort Yates
00286-36b Native American women scraping hides, Fort Yates
00286-37b Group of Native American women by wood frame building, Fort Yates
00286-37c – 37d Native American man driving Studebaker wagon with childrn riding in back
00286-40a Group packing horses “Day we left Yellowstone”
00286-40b near Emigrant (MT)
00286-40c Jupiter Terrace, Yellowstone National Park
00286-40d Silver Gate, Yellowstone National Park
00286-41a Golden Gate, Yellowstone National Park
00286-41b – 41c 1st camp, mess wagon, Yellowstone National Park
00286-41d Chow line, Yellowstone National Park
00286-42a Chuck wagon at Camp Gibb on meadow, Yellowstone National Park
00286-42b – 42c Geo Donaldson at camp, Yellowstone National Park
00286-42d Geo Donaldson shaving, Yellowstone National Park
00286-43a – 43c Geo Donaldson and I (Dick Hall) rolling our tarp, Yellowstone National Park
00286-43d Howard cooks and reads, Yellowstone National Park
00286-44a Howard with rope and saddle, Yellowstone National Park
00286-44b Archie Williams, Yellowstone National Park
00286-44c Nelse, Yellowstone National Park
00286-44d Horse gets up after rolling on ground, Yellowstone National Park
00286-45a – 45d Gibbon River Falls, Yellowstone National Park
00286-46a Congress Pool at Norris, MT, Yellowstone National Park
00286-46b Black Growler, Yellowstone National Park
00286-46c Norris Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park
00286-46d At the fountain, Yellowstone National Park
00286-47b Among the trees on Gunel Road, Yellowstone National Park
00286-47c Blaner Lake, Yellowstone National Park
00286-47d Bear in trees, Yellowstone National Park
00286-48a – 48b Bear, Yellowstone National Park
00286-48c – 48d Dick McTavish “Denver Dick” Y & M Stage Line, Yellowstone National Park
00286-49a Balanced Rock in Willow Creek, Yellowstone National Park
00286-49b Firehole River above the falls, Yellowstone National Park
00286-49c Falls of the Firehole River, Yellowstone National Park
00286-50a Cinnibar (MT), the start
00286-50b At Cinnibar (MT)
00286-50c On the way up to Mammouth near MT-WY border
00286-50d Geo, Charles and I in Silver Gate
00286-51a Leaving 1st camp Swan Lake
00286-51b View from cliff above camp at Gibbon Meadows
99286-51c – 52a Howard and group eating at camp at Gibbon Meadows
00286-52b Nichols, Hewitt and Col. Hall in camp near “Fountain”
00286-52c Waiting for “Grub pile”
00286-52d “grub pile” eating
00286-53a53b Charles McGee
00286-53c Deer on hillside
00286-53d Bear
00286-54 Deer in trees
00286-55a Medora 1902
00286-55b The Maltese Cross, Roosevelt’s old ranch
00286-55c Settin’ on the porch
00286-55d Miss Forgarty
00286-56a – 58d Native Americans
00286-55 Train crossing Northern Pacific Railroad Bridge, Bismarck
00286-58a – 60c Panoramic views of Custer Trail Ranch
00286 Swan Lake, Yellowstone National Park
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