Poker, Gunfights, And A Brothel At This Old Douglas, Wyoming Fort

In old Wyoming, a "Hog Ranch" was not always just about raising hogs.

It was code.

The One Mile Hog Ranch near Douglas, Wyoming, known as 'The Hog Ranch at Fetterman,' stood out as Wyoming's wildest, toughest, and most perilous red-light establishment. Historian Kylie L. McCormick.

In other words, this "Hog Ranch" had bars and a brothel.

Yes, they raised hogs for meat to feed the soldiers and the fort, but they provided so much more.

Also known as the Hog Ranch at Fetterman, the One Mile Hog Ranch was built by Harrison Kane in 1880.

There was an opportunity to make a lot of money, selling everything to the people of the fort from what they needed to what they wanted.

Watch the story of Hog Ranch in the video below.

Fort Fetterman was a government-controlled military reservation on the Bozeman Trail.

There was a dance hall and a bawdy house (brothel).

As you can imagine the place soon acquired a hard reputation.

Mr.Kane’s whiskey business flourished.

Poker games were going on night and day.

Sometimes single or entire herds of cattle often changed hands according to the way cards fell.

When a bottle of booze was finished it was thrown out the back door where it smashed against the rocks. To this day there is glass of all sorts of colors bottles all over the ground.

Eventually, the military post was abandoned and the Hog Ranch was acquired by new owners John Lawrance and John (Jack) Saunders.

In 1884 the operation was moved across the river and was opened in one of the abandoned military buildings.

This is where the story gets really wild and truly old West.

Billy Bacon bought out Lawrance’s interest in late 1884 and went into partnership with Saunders.

Hog Ranch was known for drunken brawls and gunfights.

While one of the partners in the ranch was out of town the other began to brag about how he really was the guy who ran the place and the other guy just did what he was told.

When the partner got back and heard this the two began to fight.

Guns were drawn.

One was killed on the spot.

The other died a few days later from a gunshot wound to his belly.

So ends the business of the Hog Ranch, and our story.