The story of the Fir Valley settlers on the grasslands east of Winfield has been ably told by Lake Country historian Ronald Taylor in his book Fir Valley: A History. A part of that story that hasn’t been fully explored concerns two Americans and their families who were among the first to ranch in...
From 1860 a steady settlement of the Valley took place and among the first four cattle men who came in was Thomas Wood. He first had a cattle ranch with Connie (Cornelius) O’Keefe, north of Vernon but soon moved to the Pelmewash lake, now known as Wood Lake, utilizing the rangeland on the...