Horace Plunkett

On this date in 1879, Irish Aristocrat Horace Plunkett arrived in the Kaycee area and established the Frontier Cattle Company on North Fork of the Powder River and the base of EK Mountain. After the Great Die-Up of 1886-87 he led the effort to reduce the wages of cowboys and eliminate the practice of "riding the grub line" by cowboys, which provided subsistence to cowboys during the winter. Plunkett was accustomed to Irish peasants and never could understand the social equality demanded by American cowboys. He disliked his employees and they disliked him, so despite his work ethic and business acumen he never was able to succeed in or enjoy ranching in the west. By 1889 he had permanently returned to Ireland.

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