P a g e 5 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r James Richard (Dick) Gibson and His Ranch on Blood Creek Photo by Shawn Shawhan A view of the ranch from the access road that runs down the ridge of a nearby bluff. The photos I’m sharing are about James Richard (Dick) Gibson and his ranch on Blood Creek as it flows (when it’s not dry) into the Musselshell River. But the following stories to get to that ranch story are a bit convoluted. The first part of the history is about Fred Gibson (Dick’s father), and the second part of the history is about John Winter (father of Hazel, Dick’s bride-tobe). There is a mention in these stories about Dick being “…very mechanically minded and inventive. He has turned many a "piece of junk" into a useful machine.” You will see some of Dick’s creativity in the photographs I will be sharing. Photo by Shawn Shawhan Photo by Shawn Shawhan One of Dick's creations: a backhoe shovel mounted on the rear of an Inside the old barn that contained a tack room and assorted supplies and junk. There is one barn on the ranch that is being used as a Tack Shed. I didn’t know that until I dug up weeds that were blocking the door into the barn and then cleared away a pile of dirt that prevented the door to open. I’ll be sharing 2 photographs from inside the barn. Two years after these photographs were taken I returned to the ranch and once again I had to remove weeds from in front of the barn door in order to open it. No one had been inside the barn since my previous visit. What an amazing collection of goods in that barn just rotting away. Here are the stories about the Gibsons and the Winters. ************** Gibson Story *********** GIBSON, Fred: Although Fred Gibson never made a permanent home in Petroleum County, he, and men like him, had a definite influence on the settling of the area. He spent his entire life in the West when history was being made. Fred, the only son of Henry and Merry Gibson, was born in Marshalltown, Iowa, in l879. He was orphaned at the age of fourteen, and it was at that time that he started cowboying as his only line of work. In 1908 he came to Montana, landing in Miles City. His first job was with the N Bar working for Tom Cruse, he later worked for the H Cross mostly as rep with the 79 wagon. In 1916 he married Myrna Garfield and settled in Garfield County 26 miles north of Sand Springs, Montana. He served as Sheriff of Garfield County from 1928 until 1935. Fred and Myrna had two sons. Robert and Richard. Fred died in 1949. Myrna then married Walter Haynie and moved to Winnett in 1961. old truck. The hoe was powered by a truck engine also mounted on the old truck rear end. As you can see by the hitch, the backhoe was pulled around by some other truck or vehicle. The tack room part of the old barn. Photo by Shawn Shawhan
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