Ewing Snell Ranch, Montana.
A ghost ranch located in the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area in Montana, a prospector started the place and turned it into a rancher, Erastus T. Ewing, in 1896. Many hoped that Bighorn Canyon might contain a significant mother lode, but no big strikes were ever made. However, Ewing and several partners had several claims where some gold was found, but no significant strikes. Failing as a mining magnate, Ewing turned to ranching, appropriating water from the layout Creek for irrigation and holding ponds. By 1898, there were enough squatters, ranchers, and prospectors to justify a post office, which was located at the Ewing Ranch.
Over the years, the ranch changed hands several times until the U.S. Government bought it for inclusion in the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area in 1968. Called the Ewing/Snell Ranch, for its original owner and the Snell family, who lived there the longest, the ranch continues to maintain several buildings, including a house, stables, outbuildings, and a school building. The ghost ranch is located north of Lovell, Wyoming, on County Road 37, inside the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area.
Ewing-Snell Ranch Barn by the National Park Service.
© Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated May 2025.
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