Bartlett Richards

Bartlett Richards was born January 6, 1862, in Weathersfield, Vermont, the son of a Congregational church pastor. At the age of ten, after his father died, Richards was sent to Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. After graduation in August 1879, Richards moved west to Cheyenne, Wyoming for a period of rest in the outdoors.

Richards quickly became involved with ranching activities in the West. By 1881, he was managing three ranches in Wyoming and a year later was put in charge of Lakotah and Rocky Mountain Cattle Companies. In 1883, representing Abram Stevens Hewitt, Richards took over the Bronson Ranch (which was renamed the Lower 33) in Sioux County, Nebraska.

In 1885, Richard's brother, DeForest Richards, moved west to open a bank in the boomtown of Chadron, Nebraska, which had just been reached by the Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad. Bartlett was named vice president of the bank and in 1887 became president of Chardon's First National Bank. Richards was also involved with at least mine other banks in Nebraska and Wyoming, serving as stockholder, vice president, and president. Although involved in banking activities Richards continued to operate the Lower 33 and Ox Yoke Ranches in Nebraska, including the Spade Ranch empire. Richards died in Hastings, Nebraska in 1911.

See also

• Spade Ranch (Nebraska)
• Ellsworth, Nebraska