University of Wyoming
Fred G.S. Hesse was born in England in 1852 and immigrated to the United States in 1873. In 1876 he went to Cheyenne, Wyoming, from Texas with a herd of cattle belonging to brothers Moreton and Richard Frewen, who were members of an English landed-gentry family. Hesse settled at the Frewen’s 76 Ranch as foreman. Moreton and Richard parted ways and in 1882 Moreton established the Powder River Cattle Company with Hesse remaining as foreman. In 1884, Hesse filed for his own homestead and established the 28 Ranch while remaining foreman of the 76 Ranch. Both ranches were located on Crazy Woman Creek near the town of Buffalo, Wyoming. Also in 1884 Hesse married school teacher Isabella “Belle” Sutherland. The couple had six children, although only Fred W. Hesse, George S. Hesse, and Vivienne S. Hesse survived to adulthood.
By 1886 Moreton Frewen had severed ties with the Powder River Cattle Company due to mismanagement and depression in the cattle industry. Company directors turned to Sir Horace Plunkett, who later gained famed as an Anglo-Irish agricultural reformer. Sir Horace was a partner of Frewen in the Powder River Cattle Company, and he ran the E K Ranch in Powder River country. Hesse remained as foreman. Plunkett managed the Powder River Cattle Company until the end of 1887, although he retained some financial interest long afterwards.
Hesse was a main participant in the Johnson County War, which was a series of range conflicts that took place in Johnson County, Wyoming between 1889 and 1893 due to long standing disputes between large operators, who owned cattle herds numbering in the thousands, and small operators. Hesse was arrested along with other participants for an 1892 raid that targeted select small operators, killing two men, but Hesse was never convicted. In 1893 he sent a brief account of events preceding the raid to Frank Wolcott, a Justice of the Peace and co-conspirator in the 1892 raid. Some aspects of the incident are reflected in Hesse’s correspondence of 1892. Afterwards, Hesse continued in the cattle business until 1906, when he added sheep-raising. In the late 1910s, Hesse entered the oil and natural gas business and participated in the early 1920s as a company partner in drilling the Billy Creek Field located near Buffalo, Wyoming. Hesse also served on the Executive Committee of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, and as a member of the Highway Commission during 1927-1928. He died in 1929.
The collection primarily documents the growth of Hesse's ranches and his interests in the Powder River Cattle Company and his investment in Wyoming oil and gas drilling in the early 1920s. There are also documents pertaining to Hesse’s participation in the Johnson County War. The collection is made up of financial and legal records in the form of invoices, receipts, checks, ledger books, and agreements dealing with expenses, wages, livestock and land sales for the 28 Ranch and the Powder River Cattle Company, as well as Hesse’s oil and natural gas drilling activities (1881-1929). There is also business and personal correspondence (1885-1930) and photocopied letterpress copybooks (1886-1891) that detail daily management of large-scale cattle and sheep ranching and oil and natural gas drilling. The collection also includes photographs of the Hesse family, the 28 Ranch, and the 76 Ranch, and biographical material about Fred G.S. Hesse. There is also a manuscript written by Fred G.S. Hesse's son Fred W. Hesse (1886-1978) about the Hesse family and Fred W.’s life and letters to Fred W. Hesse.
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.
Other collections pertaining to Fred G.S. Hesse are located at The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, and at The Huntington Library.
Finding aid available in repository.
The Fred G.S. Hesse papers were donated by Mrs. Fred G.S. Hesse and daughter Vivienne in 1952, by Michael Rosenthal in 1996, and by Fred E. Hesse in 2000. The American Heritage Center purchased material in 2002.
The material was processed by Leslie Waggener in February 2016.
Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Collection Name, Collection Number, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Series I contains letterpress books with Fred G.S. Hesse's outgoing letters mostly regarding management of the Powder River Cattle Company.
Series II contains letters to and from Fred G.S. Hesse primarily in regards to ranch management and the buying and selling of livestock, as well as Hesse's entry into the oil business in the late 1910s. There are also letters related to Hesse's participation in the Johnson County War, mostly from attorneys Frank A. Kemp and Charles H. Burritt, and a photocopied letter from Fred G.S. Hesse to Frank Wolcott with Hesse's recollection of events. The collection also contains personal correspondence, including letters between Hesse and his family and a set of letters to and from Sir Horace Plunkett written in 1923 in which Hesse and Plunkett reminisce about their Wyoming ranching experiences. The bulk of the correspondence dates from 1919 to 1923 and 1927.
Series III contains ledgers, invoices, receipts, checks, statements, deeds, and contracts detailing day-to-day large-scale ranch management in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Details include cash flow, expense outlays, employee wages, livestock and land sales and purchases, and asset and liability statements. Agreements for oil drilling are also included.
Series IV contains biographical information about Fred G.S. Hesse and an undated manuscript written by Fred W. Hesse about his life, the experiences of the Hesse family, and the Johnson County War's effect on the family. This series also includes photographs of the Hesse family, the 76 Ranch and ranch employees, and the 28 Ranch. Miscellenous materials include Fred G.S. Hesse's portable writing set and printers cut, Shriners material, a book about Sir Horace Plunkett, an unidentified letter from "Ada" to "George," and a certificate of citizenship for Earnest E. Miller, a Hesse employee.