Armstrong Ranch, 1919 of Fremont County

Trailing cattle, Armstrong Ranch.

Article from the Wyoming State Journal, May 11, 1987 ARMSTRONG PLACE A PIONEER RANCH By Jean A. Matthisen

“The old part of the house at the Armstrong ranch north of Lander is constructed of logs, dove-tail cut and fitted together by a master carpenter, Charles Harrison. Jack Armstrong, who was born and raised on the place and still operates the 800 acres of holdings with his daughter Jeannie, explained, “There were two rooms made out of logs and also a sod room along with them originally.” The sod room is long gone but the log rooms and the rest of the house are still very sturdy.

“The house probably dates from the late 1880s, since I do know that my great aunt, Lyda Pearl Doane, was born in one of the rooms in 1890,” Jack said. “Finn and Nobe Harrison were both born here and they were kids when they planted these trees. That makes them over 100 years old.” Jack showed me two homestead certificates originally issued to Charles Harrison, one a desert land claim of 73 acres issued in 1888 when Wyoming was still a territory and the other issued as his homestead claim of 156.18 acres in 1890. The ranch was purchased by James and Elizabeth Harrison and Lawrence Silbers in 1914 and in turn sold to Jack’s parents, John and Ellen Armstrong, in September, 1919. They purchased the place at $73 an acre.

John had a degree in agriculture from the University of Nebraska. The family farmed, milked 10-12 head of Jersey cows, raised hogs and harvested grain and hay. Jack was born on the ranch in 1922 and always lived there. As a child he attended school at the Lower North Form School at Milford about a mile from the ranch and he usually walked to school. He also attended school in Lander and graduated from the Fremont County Vocational High School in 1940. He was honored as state farmer in the Future Farmers of America for Wyoming when he was 16.

His dad (John) served seven consecutive terms in the Wyoming House of Representatives beginning in 1941, was a member of the Milford Grange, Farm Bureau, and the Hudson Creamery Board.

Jack’s mother, Ellen, was a 55-year member of the Milford Home Economics Club, a 50-year member of the Eastern Star, and served seven years as secretary of the Fremont County Vocational High School board. Jack is the oldest of two sons and was a charter member of the Lander Valley Farm Bureau. In 1941 Gayle came to the area from Douglas to teach school at the Lower North Fork School at Milford. She and Jack were married on Sept. 8, 1941. They are the parents of two: Anita Jean who helps run the ranch, and son John D. Gayle has been a 4-H leader and has served on the FCVHS school board, on the boards of directors of the Fremont County Youth Camp and the Wyoming State Winter Fair and also as secretary for the Lander Chamber of Commerce. She joined the Milford Home Economics Club in 1941.

The Armstrongs hosted a dinner at their place during the One-Shot Antelope Hunt for 14 years, serving fried chicken and homegrown corn. Jack was a member of the One-Shot team in 1952 but didn’t get an antelope. The ranch has expanded over the years to include the Chavez and McDowell places on North Fork and part of the old Pete Carpenter ranch near Atlantic City. During the years he was growing up Jack said they ran sheep. They still have sheep and also run cattle. The cattle are moved to summer range in mid-May. For many years the Armstrongs trailed the cattle up but now truck them. They still trail the cattle back in the fall and numerous pictures have been taken of their trailing the herd. The cattle are brought in from summer range and kept on the Carpenter place about a month and then brought down around the first of November to the home place.

I asked him if ranching was very different now than when he was growing up. “Well, you’ve got to manage things a lot different now than you did then. We work to get as big a calf crop as possible and pregnancy test the cows to make sure. We have to vaccinate them a lot more. Low cattle prices make a pretty tough time to get by. The high prices the past year didn’t help either,” Jack said. In the yard an old spring house made of cobble rock dates back to the early days of the ranch. Charles Harrison was a carpenter and helped build several of the log buildings at Ft. Washakie. His wife made cheese and sold milk and cheese at the fort or traded it for food staples. A small water wheel by the spring house brought water up from the river, which ran through a trough in the building and kept the milk, cream, and cheese cool.

It was a bright spring evening and the sheep were baaing near the old barn that also dates to the days of the Harrison Homestead. Nearby an old wagon slumbers by a sheep wagon. Nobe Harrison once recalled that the Indians used to camp on the river nearby in the winter. The Indian women would dig post holes in exchange for winter meat, usually mutton. The ranch was honored as a Pioneer Ranch in 1984 by the Farm Bureau for being in the family ownership well over 50 years. The sign they were presented hangs prominently on the old part of the house. The ranch remains a pioneer ranch of the Lander area, steeped in history and a proud family tradition.

John W. and Ellen Armstrong purchased and moved to what is now known as the Armstrong Ranch in 1919. Their son John A. (Jack) married Gayle in 1941; after they were married, Jack and Gayle joined his parents on the ranch. Jack and Gayle lived on the ranch their entire lives. Their daughter, Jean, joined them and is still active in ranching today. Their son John D. is active in the ranch. John’s daughter and son in-law, Annette and Bill Bregar, came to the ranch in 1994 and are continuing the family legacy. John W. and Ellen had dairy cattle, sheep, pigs and all other supporting farm animals to support themselves. Native hay and grain were the primary crops. Jack and Gayle continued and added beef cattle, alfalfa hay and acreage to the original ranch. Jack passed away in 2007 and Gayle in 2019. Now the operation focuses on a commercial Red Angus cow/calf operation.

Bill and Annette’s son, Hunter Bregar married Allison Engle on August 18, 2019, and thus the family was unable to attend the Centennial Farm & Ranch Ceremony in Douglas on the same day. The family picked up their sign early so a family wedding photo could include the Centennial Farm & Ranch honor. Bill and Annette’s daughter, Heather and her husband Drew Nielsen, returned in November 2019 to help with the ranch. ”

(L-R) Drew Nielsen, Heather Nielsen, John Armstrong, Allison (Engle) Bregar (bride), Hunter Bregar (groom), Annette Bregar, Bill Bregar, Jean Armstrong.