Pierre Wibaux - Cattle-Ranching

Cattle-Ranching

In 1883 Pierre gets to America and travels to Chicago to learn more about the range stock business before investing any capital. There he meets the Marquis de Mores who tells him of the prairies in North Dakota and Montana. Wibaux decides to settle there and builds his ranch on what was formerly known as Beaver Creek. The conditions in the area are ideal for raising stock and Wibaux quickly finds himself owning well over 10 000 heads of cattle. Business thrives until the region is hit by an extremely harsh winter in 1886-87. It is estimated that around 70% of the cattle in the area perish in the long snowstorms. Pierre Wibaux saw an opportunity in this: only the sturdiest and most resilient beasts survived this trial, so Pierre went back to France to borrow the necessary funds to buy out all the remaining cattle from desperate neighbouring ranchers and low prices. Also, the shortage of beef available ensured high sale prices for Wibaux's stock for the following 3 years. In the 1890s, Wibaux had amassed one of the largest herds in the world, with over 65 000 cattle heads and 300 horses. This prestige earns him the friendship of a certain Theodore Roosevelt, a fellow Montana cattle-rancher who would give up the stock business to go on and become the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909.