MS 010 - Count Otto Franc Von Lichtenstein Collection

Collection

Identifier: MS 010

Staff Only

Abstract

Collection consists of four journals by Count Otto Franc von Lichtenstein relating daily activities as he ran the Pitchfork Ranch on the upper Greybull River west of present day Meeteetse, Wyoming. Typed transcripts are present for journals (please click 'text' tab on upper left hand side of image viewer within each item listed in Box 2).

Dates

Created: 1886-1903
Other: Date acquired: 01/01/2002

Creator

Franc (Von Lichtenstein), Otto (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

McCracken Library staff may determine use restrictions dependent on the physical condition of manuscript materials. Restrictions may exist on reproduction, quotation or publication. Contact McCracken Research Library for more information.

Biographical or Historical Information

Born in Germany in 1846, Count Otto Franc von Lichtenstein came to America in 1866. He first traveled to Wyoming in 1878. In 1879 he set up his first cattle operation in the Meeteetse area with cattle that he brought in from Montana. Pitchfork Ranch was the first cattle ranch in the Greybull River valley, and its success led Franc to become a major Wyoming cattle baron. Later in life, in the 1890s Franc served as a Big Horn County justice of the peace. He is remembered for sentencing Butch Cassidy to the Wyoming state prison for two years for horse theft. Franc died in 1903.

Note written by