Across The Fence: A big barn and bigger dreams

In the boom days of Kearney, Neb., during the late 1880s, Henry David Watson embarked on what was quite possibly one of the grandest agricultural undertakings ever attempted on the Great Plains.

The year 1888 marked the beginning of H. D. Watson's grandiose and historic Watson Ranch. Watson had come west from Greenfield, Massachusetts and partnered with George W. Frank, a prominent New York doctor turned speculator, who had purchased large land holdings from the U.P. Railroad. Frank helped to establish the Phil Kearney Ranch and invested in thoroughbred horses. The partnership was short-liv...