P a g e 6 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 Gibson (Dick) was born in 1918 at the ranch at Benzien, north of Sand Springs. He received his education in Garfield County. Dick acquired some earthmoving equipment and started building dams. He stayed with this line of work until 1958, when they moved to the John Winter Ranch on the Musselshell. Dick is very mechanically minded and inventive. He has turned many a "piece of junk" into a useful machine. In 1947 James Richard married Hazel Winter, daughter of John Winter and Hellan Hill. They had five sons -- John (1948), Daniel (1949), James (1953), Joe (1955), and David (1961). ************** Winter Story *********** WINTER. John U. (Sec 11-17-29): Johnny, son of William and Anna Winter of Olathe, Kansas, was born November 1, 1887. His early years were spent in Colorado and Wyoming. As a lad, Johnny dreamed of taking first money at the Cheyenne rodeo and riding with the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show, not an unusual aspiration for a young western boy. He practiced his roping and riding, entering rodeos and working for cow outfits, and finally, in 1908, at the ripe old age of 21, he took second money at the Cheyenne, Wyoming, Photo by Shawn Shawhan Another one of Dick's creations. Homemade sheep herder wagon. Photo by Shawn Shawhan rodeo. A man by the name of Ebon Low was impressed with his abilities and took him to Hawaii, as part of a Wild West Show, where he rode broncs and did trick roping. In l9l0, he joined Buffalo Bill's troupe and rode with them for a while. He was still riding in local rodeos in the 1920s. In the spring of 1913, Johnny Winter helped Floyd Norris move to Montana. Floyd went back to Wyoming in 1914: however, Johnny stayed and settled at the mouth of Blood Creek where he made his home for the next forty-four years. Through the years, he acquired other places, forming a well-rounded ranch operation. In 1917 Johnny married Hellan Allan and they had one daughter, Hazel, born at Mecaha in 1917. Hellan and John separated in 1919, and John married Eulalie Sterrett in 1928. Eulalie passed away in 1972. John had died in 1958. Hazel (Winter) Gibson received her primary education in various schools along the Musselshell River. When she was attending the Weede School, she, Alvin Hill, and the Benson children explored an old Indian cave in a butte near the river. They were unable to get to the cave entrance except by being dropped on a rope from a rock above the entrance. In the cave they found bones and bright-colored beads, which they gathered and took with them. Their parents weren't very happy, as they had heard that the cave was a burial ground for Indians who had died of smallpox. Mrs. Hill, and Hazel’s mother, took the beads and burned them, and the children were taken to town for vaccinations. They had sore arms instead of beads. Hazel continued her education and became a teacher. She taught for many years in Montana and Wyoming before marrying J. R. (Dick) Gibson and taking over her father's ranch on the river. –Courtesy of Shawn Shawhan, Check out more of his beautiful photos at: https://abyssart.smugmug.com/? Photo by Shawn Shawhan
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