American Pioneer Adventures: Nelson Story Led The Longest Cattle Drive in History, from Texas to Montana

American Pioneer Adventures: Nelson Story Led The Longest Cattle Drive in History, from Texas to Montana
A 19th century cattle drive. Public Domain
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If you were to visit Virginia City, Montana, today, you’d find a town that looks much like it did in May 1863. That’s when a rich placer deposit of gold was discovered in Alder Gulch, the streambed behind the town. Miners returning from gold fields in Bannack, Montana, stumbled across the gold, and despite a pledge to keep this find to themselves, word leaked out. Within three months, some 10,000 people inhabited the 14-mile streambed.

One of those people was Nelson Story. Born in Ohio in 1838, he was the youngest son of Ira Story, a Scotsman, and his wife Hanna, an Englishwoman. Growing up, Nelson farmed with his father. He later attended Ohio University, but he never graduated because his parents died.

John D. Taylor
John D. Taylor
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