History of the Diamond Horse

N.p. [Wyoming]: [Diamond Ranch], 1920. First edition. Soft cover. Fair (covers soiled, worn, pages loose). [8]p, 1 ill. on cover. List of ca. 30 horses with summary breeding for some of them. Starting in the 1880s, architect George D. Rainsford developed Diamond Ranche in Chugwater, WY (near Cheyenne), and assembled a breeding and sales operation consisting of Thoroughbred, Trotting-Bred (Morgan and Standardbred), Demi-Sang, Arabian, Percheron, Suffolk Punch, Hackney, Russian Orloff, and polo pony stock. At one point there were ca. 3,000 horses on the ranch, and according to this pamphlet "what is today known as 'The Diamond Horse'" had a "not only national but international reputation." Most of herd was dispersed in the 19-teens, many of horses going to the U.S. Army and others going abroad. The pamphlet was probably prepared around the time that the ranch was sold in 1922, and the text makes a plea for keeping the remaining horses together: "The stock at present ranging the hills of The Diamond Ranche [are] of a quality that cannot be matched anywhere within the confines of this continent. . . . to allow these animals to be dispersed would be next to criminal." The site is now on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and is used as a guest ranch. An extremely scarce piece of Western Americana and Wyoming ranching history. (Not in Wells or any source consulted) Can be sent outside the US for less than the default shipping rate.