Dan Fulton Papers, 1912-1990

Daniel A. Fulton was born on June 8, 1904 to William and Bertha (Fluss) Fulton. He was named in honor of his father's friend and partner Dan S. MacKay. He attended public schools in Ismay, Montana and briefly attended Montana State College. From shortly after his birth until 1959, Dan called the Fulton Ranch in eastern Montana home. Dan's father William passed away in 1929 and at the age of 25 years, Dan took over management of the Fulton Ranch. At the time of the ranch's sale in 1959, the Fulton Ranch consisted of 60 sections of land: 53 sections deeded and 7 leased or under individual permit. Most of the land was rangeland and the Fultons ran both cattle and sheep. Dan's breeds of choice were Hereford cattle and Targhee sheep. In addition to managing the extensive Fulton holdings, Dan served in varying capacities in the following organizations: Director and Secretary of the Fallon Creek Cooperative State Grazing District from 1940 to 1957; Chairman of the Montana Grass Commission from 1949 to 1951; President of the American Society of Range Management in 1951; President of the Montana Stockgrowers Association from 1954 to 1955; President of the Montana Wool Growers Association from 1957 to 1958; member of the Natural Resources Committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce from 1954 to 1957; Director and as Vice President of the Bank of Baker; Director of the American Sheep Producers Council; member of the American National Cattleman's Association and the National Wool Growers Association. He also served on the Soil and Water Conservation advisory committee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. After selling the Fulton Ranch in 1959, Dan served as Chairman of the (Montana) State Board of Equalization from 1960 to 1964 and he also worked as Finance Chairman for the U.S. Senate campaign of Republican Sumner Gerard in 1960. Throughout his life, Dan was an avid researcher and writer, publishing numerous articles and also a book entitled Failure on the Plains-A Rancher's view of the Public Lands Problem. In his later years, Dan traveled extensively with his wife Mary Ann to such places as Spain, Argentina, and Australia gathering information for Dan's continued research into the cattle and sheep industries. He married Mary Ann George on February 21, 1931, and they had 3 children, M. Louise, Dorothy (Dottie), and D. George. Dan Fulton died on March 22, 1993 at Des Moines, Iowa.