University of Wyoming
The Forbes Ranch was located 20 miles west of Laramie in Albany County, Wyoming. It was originally owned by George and Marian Forbes, who pieced together several homesteads to form the Forbes Ranch, centered on the Wallis homestead on the Little Laramie River. George’s son, Jim, took over the ranch while going to law school at the University of Wyoming and successfully ran it for 30 years. Jim’s children were also raised on the ranch. The Forbes Ranch was sold in 1993.
Collection contains correspondence between James Forbes and his daughter Jamie Forbes from 1974-1978 regarding ranch life and digitized photographs of the Forbes Ranch, primarily from 1962-1986. Included are scenes of cattle, calf branding, ranch buildings, people, and scenery. Also included are photographs of some predecessors of the Forbes Ranch from the 1920s.
There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.
The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.
There are no known other archival collections created about the Forbes Ranch (Wyo.) at the date of processing.
This material was received from James Forbes in 2007 and Jamie Forbes in August 2016.
The collection was processed by Jamie J. Greene in April 2017.
Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Collection Name, Collection Number, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Digital reproductions of select material from this collection are available at