Horton

The HF Bar Ranch is one of the oldest dude ranches in the United States. Located in Johnson County, Wyoming, near the unincorporated community of Saddlestring, the ranch sits in the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains. Frank Ogilvie Horton (1880–1948) founded HF Bar Ranch in 1911 as a working cattle ranch. Originally from Iowa, Horton moved to Wyoming in 1905 and later purchased land near Saddlestring, Wyoming, for grazing sheep. He acquired the first parcels of land for the HF Bar Ranch in 1911 with the financial backing of his relatives Warren Gorrell (1874-1943), a Chicago investment banker, and his wife, Demia Butler Gorrell (1872-1956). The ranch was officially incorporated as a business in 1913, with Horton and the Gorrells as co-owners. The Gorrells spent summers with their children at the ranch from 1911 to 1929, though they continued to reside primarily in Chicago. The Horton family lived in Wyoming year-round, and Frank O. Horton managed the day-to-day operations of ranch.

Starting on the grounds of an 1890s homestead, the HF Bar Ranch grew to include 36 buildings, which were built primarily between 1890 and 1921. By 1919, Horton's holdings included 2,000 acres of deeded land and 3,500 acres of land leased from the United States government. Although founded as a cattle ranch, the property soon became a desired vacation spot for many of Horton's friends from the eastern United States. Several visitors eventually built cabins on the property and began paying to use the ranch's amenities. Like many ranches of the time, the HF Bar Ranch increasingly turned its focus from cattle ranching to dude ranching in the face of the environmental and economic turmoil of the 1930s.

After the Stock Market Crash of 1929, Warren and Demia Gorrell sold their shares in the HF Bar Ranch, and associates of Frank O. Horton purchased them. In addition to his ranching activities, Horton was active in politics as a member of the Wyoming House of Representatives (1921-1923), the Wyoming Senate (1923-1931), and the United States House of Representatives (1939-1941). Following Horton's death in 1948, Henrietta ("Hank") Horton, Frank's second wife, assumed responsibility for managing the ranch. Jack O. Horton Jr. (1938-1981), the grandson of Frank O. Horton and his first wife, Gertrude Scovel Butler Horton (1881-1934), gained majority stock ownership in the mid-1970s. Jack Horton Jr. was a graduate of Princeton University (Class of 1960) and later sat on the Board of Trustees; he also held various positions within the United States Department of the Interior. When Jack Horton Jr. died, his shares passed to his fiance, Margaret M. ("Margi") Schroth, who has owned and operated the HF Bar Ranch since 1981.