Two More Sublette County Ranches For Sale
Long-time absentee owners asking $2.3 million, $3.5 million respectivley for their ranches
by Rob Shaul

Two Daniel-area ranches were listed under the "Farm and Ranch" category of the classified ads in last Friday's Wall Street Journal. Both ranches have long-time absentee owners.

The first listing was for an "800 Acre Fishing Property" with "spectacular panoramic views of the Wind River Range & the Wyoming Range." Both "Horse Creek and Little Horse Creek have plenty of brown and rainbow trout," continues the ad, "and are tributaries of the Green River, a world-renowned fishing Mecca." The property is listed with Jackson Hole Realty.

The real estate brokerage confirmed that a Mr. Tony Swanda of Colorado currently owns this property. Seven hundred, forty-eight acres are being offered for asking price of $2.3 million.

Daniel's Bob and Florence Beard currently lease this ranch for hay and pasture. Mr. Beard says the ranch includes the meadows on the west side of the highway through Daniel, both north and south of town. He has leased the property for 8 years.

Bob says the property was originally Bill Sargent's, of Sargent's Inn fame, old place. In the 1940s it was owned by the Pfisterers.

He believes Mr. Swanda's father, Cecil, purchased the ranch in the early 1970s. The elder Mr. Swanda was a wheat farmer from the Fort Collins area of Colorado says Mr. Beard. "He was an ag man."

Mr. Beard says Tony Swanda put 300 acres of the ranch on the market last year, but he was unaware that the entire place has been listed. Bob was somewhat humored by the classified ad's description of the ranch as a "fishing property." He says Horse Creek has a little fishing, but might dry up in a dry year like this year. He describes Little Horse Creek as "not much more than a slew." Prairie Creek is also on the property, and it is spring fed, so it runs all year, says Mr. Beard.

Concerning his lease, Mr. Beard says he'll be able to get the hay and pasture of the original 300 acres put up for sale this year. His lease on the rest of the ranch runs through 2001.

The second ranch listed in Friday's Wall Street Journal was the "Horse Creek Ranch." "The majestic Wind River range, with it's peaks rising over 14,000 feet, provides the backdrop for this beautiful working cattle ranch located just one hour south of Jackson Hole," begins the classified ad. The property is listed with Hall and Hall. The asking price is $3.5 million.

According to the County Assessor's office, this 3,164-acre ranch is currently owned by Dempsey Barron of Florida. It was originally homesteaded by Johnnie Meyers, and is commonly called the old Meyers Place.

It is located on the south side of Highway 354 (the Merna Road), about 10 miles from the Daniel Junction.

Mr. Barron, a retired Florida State Senator and attorney, purchased the ranch in 1973. For several years the hay and pasture on the property was leased to rancher Ben Pearson of Daniel. Gene and Betty Lou Pearson of Daniel currently lease the ranch. Gene and Betty have leased the ranch for their past three years.

Mrs. Pearson said that during his visit to the ranch last summer, Mr. Barron became sick and about six or seven months ago, the ranch went on the market. She said the lease ends when the ranch sells.

Hall and Hall have the complete listing for the Horse Creek Ranch posted on its website. The brokerage actually encourages speculation. "Pinedale...," describes the website, "is virtually undiscovered by the world and offers the experience of the old west reminding one of what Jackson might have been 25 years ago. The reopening in 1999 of White Pine Ski area, just 10 minutes north of Pinedale will add to the recreational opportunities in the area and has investors sitting up and taking notice of the future values in the area."

The small classified ads in last Friday's Wall Street Journal cost both real estate companies approximately $2,000 each. The newspaper has a circulation of 1.8 million.