About this place

Crookston Ranch is an 1880s homestead, located on the banks of Nitchie Creek. The ranch was homesteaded by Joseph Crookston, who came to Sweetwater County from Illinois as a young boy. After spending a few years as a laborer in Rock Springs, he started the ranch in 1887 at 22 years old. Joseph lived and worked at Crookston Ranch for 28 years until his death in 1915. He never married but lived and worked with his ranch hand, Frank Baker. History claims Butch Cassidy would use the Crookston Ranch to rest and re-horse when on the run from the Federal Marshals.The site is located on publicly managed land due to an error in the filing of homestead papers. The associated spring is fed by ice cells in the adjacent sand dunes.