A Wyoming Tale: The Diamond Ranch's Demise, Orchestrated by a Ham-fisted Husband

Located among the gusty Wyoming plains, the Diamond Ranch was a mere sliver of the expansive Matthews family estate. The arrival of a Yankee cowboy, George Rainsford, in 1878, signaled the start of growth in the '80s. Temporary structures appeared between 1880 and 1882, with permanent buildings following in 1885. By 1900, Rainsford housed 3,000 horses, but by 1920, that number dwindled to a pathetic 200 as George shuffled off to retirement. In 1922, Paul Raborg acquired the ranch, focusing on polo ponies and dairy cattle.

A sunflower-seed mania led Raborg to build colossal silos, but the venture crashed. Raborg's marriage, like the seeds, soured too, and by 1937, he deserted both the ranch and his wife Maud. Maud's mother, Dora Mae Oberman, stepped in posthumously after her husband's demise in 1956. The ranch's land expanded to 64,000 acres, but the sour taste of the sunflower-seed escapade lingered in the ranch's ownership.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata