Spade Ranch

08/30/2025

08/20/2025

The Spade Ranch in Northwest Nebraska played a historic role in developing the Hereford breed in Nebraska sandhills. The ranch is a National Historic Landmark.

The Spade Ranch, encompasses land in both Sheridan and Cherry Counties. Founders Bartlett Richards and William Comstock successfully managed the ranch into the early twentieth century. At its peak size in 1905 with open range grazing and ready markets for cattle, the Spade, encompassed over 500,000 acres (200,000 ha) with a herd of 60,000 cattle. Under the direction of the Bixby family, associates of Richards and Comstock since 1908 and owners of the ranch since 1923, the Spade Ranch has continued to produce quality beef cattle as part of Nebraska's large beef industry. That the ranges remain cattle country today attests to the vision of early Nebraska Sandhills ranchers.

06/12/2025

11/08/2024

The north side of our ranch was homesteaded by the Card family. We still call it the Card place and it is featured as the background in this piece. The two men are Frank Card and Lawrence Bixby, one of the founders of the Cowboy Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. These two men were influential in establishing ranching in my area and even my own ranch. There was a marked difference in income between the two but that is one of the unique facets of ranching versus other industries; equality in labor.
This piece sells tonight.

“Cattle Barons”
20 x 16

https://swgw.nationalcowboymuseum.org/artist/rachel-brownlee/

10/23/2024

Comet Sighting at Spade Ranch 💫

📸: Clay Bixby

09/19/2024

09/04/2024

🚨‼️ Get ready to BID! ‼️🚨

The Perry Auction in Douglas, Wyoming is LIVE and you don’t want to miss it! Hundreds of amazing items up for grabs – everything from equipment to collectibles and more!

🗓️ **Bidding closes on September 24**, so don’t wait! Head over now, check out the full catalog, and get your bids in before it’s too late!

Click the link below to start bidding and feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Happy bidding, folks!

06/19/2024

06/18/2024

Visit the Grant County Museum!!

Grant County's rich history is being recognized with a new roadside historical marker.

05/23/2024

It's and we're featuring historic districts and properties on the National Register of Historic Places!

Today we're traveling to the Spade Ranch, a cattle ranch that spans thousands of acres across the Nebraska Sandhills with controversial beginnings...

Marker Text: https://history.nebraska.gov/marker-monday-spade-ranch/