Yoke 7 Ranch

03/29/2026

Oregon Trail things #307

12/21/2025

On this day in history, December 21st, 1866, the Fetterman Fight happened near Fort Phil Kearny in present day central Wyoming. This battle would become the worst defeat in United States military history west of the Mississippi River, until June 1876.
Red Cloud, a Lakota leader, was having success against the United States military in the Powder River area leading up to the fight but this would be his crowning achievement. On Nov. 3rd, 1866, Capt. William Judd Fetterman arrived at Fort Phil Kearny to help support fort operations and give more protection from attack by Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapahoe warriors. By mid-Dec, the fort had already lost nearly 70 soldiers and civilians. On the morning Dec. 21st, a wood train reported being attacked, to help the train, the commanding officer of the fort sent out Captain Fetterman and eighty other men, with strict rules stating they should not cross Lodge Trail Ridge about 1.5 miles away and be out sight of Fort Phil Kearny. A group of natives, including Crazy Horse, appeared limp near the ridge, and the soldiers quickly pursued them over the ridge right into their trap designed by Red Cloud. Quickly, all 81 men were killed and mutilated, similar to what US soldiers did to natives at the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864.
After realizing what had happened to his troops, Colonel Henry B. Carrington, the commander at Fort Phil Kearny, sent John “Portugee” Phillips and Daniel Dixon to carry a message concerning the disaster and a plea for reinforcements to Omaha headquarters to the telegraph station at Horseshoe Bend, near Fort Laramie.
Image Credit: Library of Congress
A historical depiction of the Fetterman Fight, showcasing Native American warriors and U.S. soldiers in conflict.

11/26/2025

In 1863 Abraham Lincoln created the official federal holiday of Thanksgiving. It was meant to be a day of thanksgiving and prayer during the Civil War. Following July 4th, the soldiers at Fort Laramie had nothing to look forward to until this late November holiday. The army recognized the day by suspending all official duties. Fort Laramie's commander made sure to have the Sutler's Store close at 10:00am on Thanksgiving Day, in hopes to encourage the men to pray more and drink less, this usually wasn't too successful. Mornings often had competitions between soldiers, but the afternoon and evenings focused on feasting. Many units would dedicate lots of effort and expense to provide a special dinner for the men. At times they would send out hunting parties looking for wild turkey.

Photo of the Sutler Store at Fort Laramie in the 1800s
Image Credit: FOLA Archives
A black and white photo of a group of people positioned in front of a stone building, with some on horseback.

10/02/2025

Thanks Torrington Telegram for the great article!
We are proud to continue to preserve these historical sites.
Oregon-California Trails Association

09/22/2025

We were honored to have the great Randy Brown and William Hill stop by to present us with the Friends of the Trail award 2025 from OCTA.
We spent some time searching for unmarked historical graves and visited the Charles Bishop site.

Bill and his wife Jan discovered the Bishop grave after years of researching trail maps, diaries and drawings.

It was fun to hear their stories about the trail as we drove through the ranch.

Thanks for the visit and the honor!

Oregon-California Trails Association

07/02/2025

Cheatgrass removal was a huge success, highly recommend, 5 stars!

06/22/2025

Hey, we know this guy!

175 years ago today, on June 21, 1850, William L. Clary, 19, dies of cholera while bound for California with a cattle drive. His grave lies near Torrington, Wyo.

"The Grave of William Clary" written by Randy Brown shares the rest of the story.

"Cattle drives along the Oregon-California Trail were fairly common during the 1850s, but are poorly documented and scarcely mentioned in diary accounts. The Cyrus Loveland diary, written by a member of one cattle drive, is unique.

The diary is also interesting for its details on the death and burial of William Clary, one of the men on the drive. Clary’s grave still survives on private land southeast of present-day Torrington, Wyo., not far from the Wyoming-Nebraska line.

Loveland spells the name “Clarey,” but the 1850 census for Pike County, Mo., confirms that the spelling shown on a photograph of the headstone, “Clary,” is correct. The census finds William, age 19, and John A., 17, in the household of their presumed parents, Daniel and Rachel (Llewellen) Clary." CONTINUE READING ➡ https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/grave-william-clary

📷 William Clary's headstone, in a photo taken in the early 1950s. The stone disappeared sometime in the 1970s. Author's collection.

06/21/2025

We are offering for bid around 4500 acres for full care grazing, June to October 2026. Let us know if you’d like more information.

05/21/2025

We love seeing Laramie Peak!

When emigrants reached Mitchell Pass in what is now Scotts Bluff National Monument, many of them got their first view of what they called the "Black Hills." Today we call these mountains the Laramie Range. Most prominent amongst these mountains is Laramie Peak. On June 19th of 1852 William Hampton went through " ...some deep ravines, steep banks, very long hill to descend to get to the bottom again. Here are some of the highest rocks I have ever seen... splendid view of Laramie Peak..." On clear days even modern visitors can be treated to the view of Laramie Peak, nearly 100 miles west of Scotts Bluff.

Image- The sun sets behind the distant Laramie Peak as seen from the summit of Scotts Bluff. NPS/Eric Grunwald

05/07/2025

Last fall the Yoke 7 sponsored Mrs Grosz’s third grade class at Southeast to take part in the “Cattle, Corn and Courage-The Story of Dr. John Matsushima” project through Colorado Ag in the Classroom.
This book is special because it was written by a wonderful human: Rachel Gabel and talks about the life of one of the beef industry’s early pioneers in cattle feeding.
Thank you to Dinklage in Torrington for taking the class on a fun tour of the site, including driving the bus down the alley to view cattle!
Thanks Rondel, Susan and Heather for the opportunity!

04/17/2025

Spring on the ranch means lots of maintenance! And a hope and a prayer for a successful irrigating season!

03/15/2025

🤣🤣

We’re proud to be Platte: A place for people who like big ruts.

If you happen to be one of them, you’re in for a treat: https://wyplatteco.com/plan/