University of Wyoming
James E. Cosgriff, along with his two brothers, entered the wool business in 1882 when they purchased land between Hanna and Rawlins, Wyoming. On this property, the brothers managed a flock of 125,000 sheep. Upon his success in the wool industry, Cosgriff ventured into banking and bought the First National Bank of Rawlins. Eventually, he also bought First National banks in Evanston, Wyoming, Caldwell, Idaho; the Commercial National bank in St. Anthony, Idaho; the Rexburg State bank in Rexburg, Idaho; and the Hailey National bank in Hailey, Idaho. From here, Cosgriff set his sights on the Commercial National Bank in Salt Lake City Utah. Under his supervision, the bank became the Continental National Bank and Trust, and he served as its president and chairman of the board of directors. Furthering his expertise in the wool industry, Cosgriff became interested in Australian methods of wool growing and hired an expert to teach those methods to western sheep farmers.
Collection contains an address titled “The Australian System of Handling Wool” by Cosgriff; booklets titled “Protecting Bank Depositors” and “The Proper Preparation of Western Wool for Market”; newspaper clippings; a periodical titled “American Sheep Breeder and Wool Grower; and a scrapbook of news clippings.
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Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Collection Name, Collection Number, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
This material was received from Walter E. Cosgriff in August 1958.
There are no known other archival collections created by James E. Cosgriff at the date of processing.
The American Heritage Center is in the process of converting its older container lists to a more accessible format. This link is to an older version of a container list for box 1.