He arrived
in America in spring 1883 and went straight to Chicago to study the meat
packing industry. There he met the Marquis de Mores, a young adventurous
Frenchman, who encouraged him to settle in the plains and to get in the cattle
business. Once arrived in the West, Wibaux selected for his headquarters a site
on Beaver Creek, close to a whistle-stop of the newly constructed Northern
Pacific railway then called Keith. At this time, Theodore Roosevelt, then an
adventurous young man from the east, who came out to the frontier to win his
spurs and regain his health, was also settling in the neighborhood (his ranch
was the Chimmey Butte). So Wibaux
became acquainted with him.
He then
entered into a short-lived partnership with Gustave Grisy, a childhood friend
of him. Their outfit was called the G Anchor W. Wibaux spent the winter of
1883-84 in Europe. On March 13, 1884, he married Nellie Cooper in Dover,
England and then returned together to Montana. In November 1884, Wibaux and
Grisy split up. Wibaux bought Grisy out of their cattle partnership and continued
his ranching enterprise with the brand W (W bar).
Up through
the winter of 1886-87, he was not a particularly cattleman: after splitting up
with Grisy, Wibaux went on with about 800 head of his own.
During this
killer winter (the cattle deaths are generally reckoned at 80% or more), Wibaux
returned to France and borrowed half a million dollars and returned to Montana,
where he bought out a multitude of outfits at bargain prices. Indeed, he spent
the year 1887 buying up the remnants of the surrounding outfits. At its peak in
the 1890s, according to reliable estimations, the W owned about 65,000
cattle and 300 saddle horses. Hence, he gained the surname of “cattle king”.
In the
1890s, his range was huge. It consisted of over 35,000 acres which lied in two
states (2/3 in North Dakota, 1/3 in Montana) [traverses par] the Beaver Creek,
a perpetual stream. The ranch headquarters was located about 12 miles north of
the town of Wibaux (formerly called Keith and then Mingusville), which had been
gradually enlarged. Another ranch was built up about 50 miles north of the main
one. In addition, there were several line cabins and a camp for a wolfer and
his dogs.
Rodeos were
put on by the cowboys of the W for the entertainment of members of the
French nobility visiting the Wibaux ranch. One of the features was a roping
contest, staged on the plains without the aid of enclosures.
Pierre
Wibaux was an excellent horseman and he was fond of boxing. He often rode on
the spring round-up. Physically, he is described as quite tall weighted nearly
200 pounds. As someone once put it, “he had the erect carriage of a man who had
spent years in military training”. As a man, he was known as “a good man to
work for, fair to his men, kind and thoughtful to his proven friends, but
overbearing and haughty with those who tried to use his friendship to further
their own designs”.
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| Pierre Wibaux dressd in cow-boy |
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The town of Wibaux
stands at the eastern gateway of Montana. It is the settlement the Northern
Pacific railroad touches after entering Montana. For a while, this place was
named Keith, then Mingusville when Gustave Grisy was the postmaster and held a
saloon-hotel. But it was soon corrupted into Dingusville because of the
mismanagement of Grisy. Then, Pierre Wibaux took the town in hand: it then has
grown and improved in a marked degree. It was still a little place (500
residents) but it gave the impression of an abiding place of a thrifty and
prosperous community, which is proud of the freshly painted houses and public
buildings, of the well-kept door yards, with stretches of green lawn and
brilliant flower beds and of that general restful appearance. Anyway, the
reconstructed little town was re-christened Wibaux as a sign of gratefulness
for his work. Besides, Pierre Wibaux erected his office building there, whose
surrounding grounds are handsomely kept and constantly under improvement.
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| Wibaux's office in the town of Wibaux, MT |
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