Medicine Bow River Ranch

Land Description

The Medicine Bow Valley brings out the imagination of those who travel here and places them in the romantic days of the Old West. Its snowcapped mountains are truly a "brought to life" painting along with its spacious sage brush prairies. Characteristics such as uncrowded, unhurried, unpolluted and tranquil are just a few that are cherished here at Medicine Bow. The area brings us back to the images of what use to be as if time does not exist here. Gazing upon the mountains and out into the fields, you can almost expect to see a horse carrying a dust covered cowboy herding his cattle.The Medicine Bow River Ranch is located approximately 5 miles south of the small town of Medicine Bow, Wyoming and approximately 45 miles northwest of Laramie. Home of the University of Wyoming, Laramie offers daily commercial flights to Denver. To the north, the small town of Medicine Bow provides basic services and has a 3,500 foot gravel airstrip. There is a grass airstrip on the ranch that is capable of handling single engine traffic. It could be paved and extended to accommodate larger aircraft.The region of Southeast Wyoming nestled between the Medicine Bow and Laramie Mountains was once prized by early Americans for its vast grasslands and tremendous herds of game, which included bison and antelope. Both Arapaho and Cheyenne people would summer here to harvest game and prepare for winter.The Arapaho and Cheyenne dubbed this region "Medicine Bow" quality for making their hunting bows.Fort Laramie was established as a fur trading post in 1834 and became the most important point on the Oregon Trail. Portions of the old Fort Laramie/Fort Halleck supply road and the Overland Stage Route run through the ranch, Foote Creek, which passes through the ranch, was named after a freight operator Robert Foote, whose wagons were attacked several times along the trail.Many of the early Texas cattlemen stopped here on their way north and established ranches. This area is still known today for the weight gain it will put on yearling cattle. From this early pattern, the city of Laramie grew into what is today a true historic and cultural center of Wyoming, with a population of 35,000.There are several points of interests in the Medicine Bow area. The Petrified Forest is located 40 miles North of Medicine Bow and contains petrified sub-tropical trees. The Shirley Basin Uranium Field is one of the largest and richest in the world. There is also the Shirley Basin and Mountains that feeds deer, antelope elk, sage chickens, blue grouse, ducks, geese and more. The area is a hunter's dream. The Elk Mountain is a local landmark that stands 11,162 feet in elevation. The Medicine Bow National Forest offers numerous recreational activities for the whole family. Skiing, camping, hiking, fishing and dude ranching are some of amenities. The Hanna Coal Mine located 19 miles west, is one of the largest coal mines in the Western States. The Como Bluff and Dinosaur Museum is the site for the famed Dinosaur Graveyard and renowned fossil beds. There is the grand Virginian Hotel, a National Historic place which carries many antiques and the Medicine Bow Museum which are both places of National Historic interest. "Old Baldy", Wyoming's most famous golf course, is only an hour to the southwest at Saratoga. The Snowy Range Ski Resort in Colorado, just over an hour away along with Denver which is an easy 3 hour drive from there. Hogadon Ski Area, near Casper, is a little over an hour's drive from Medicine Bow and there are hundreds of miles of snowmobile trails just south of the ranch. Snowy Ridge Ski Resort in Colorado, just over an hour away along with Denver which is an easy 3 hour drive from there.Most of the ranch was earlier known as the Shiloh Ranch and contains a portion of what was the Spade Ranch. The Shiloh Ranch was used many years ago to train young Englishmen to be cowboys who had to pay for their training.