We Were Almost Cowboys

From the Visit Montana website. Photographer not creditedhttp://visitmt.com/listing/categories_NET/MoreInfo.aspx?IDRRecordID=12925

From the Mulvey Gluch Ranch Website:

"William Mulvey and his wife, Catherine, arrived in Montana and the North Boulder River valley in 1864. The trip took them from their home land in Ireland to the United States and by wagon to St. Louis, Missouri and then Montana. They homesteaded the original 160 acre headquarters building site of today’s Mulvey Gulch Ranch. The ranch has grown in size to today’s approximately 21,000 acres of deeded ground and 65,000 of leased ground. The ranch is also adjacent to enormous areas of remote State and Federally owned forest and grass lands.

The North Boulder River flows through the ranch for several miles on its way to the Jefferson and Missouri Rivers. Trout fishing is available in the Boulder, Jefferson, Madison, Gallatin and numerous other rivers.

The ranch is home to herds of elk, whitetail and mule deer, moose, antelope, black bear, mountain lions and an endless variety of birds including bald eagles and golden eagles. The vast majority of the ranch can be traversed only by foot or horseback.

Bev and Randy Kirk manage the Mulvey Gulch Ranch operations today and reside in a restored 1893 handhewn log home at headquarters. The view out the front door is of Elkhorn Mountain and Crow Peak towering near 10,000 ft. These mountains typically have snow on them from September through June. The view out the back door is of the Bull Mountains stretching 30 miles north to south and rising to 8600 ft. Our ranch lands reach into both mountain ranges."

When the family left Dumshanbo Ireland my great great grandfather Francis Mulvey (b 1821) (you young 'uns will have to count your OWN greats)  left for mining work outside of Glasgow Scotland,  but his brother William left for America and homesteading.  My mom and her couins remember talk of cattle drives their great grandfather had been on in the American West but, frankly, chalked it up as blarney.  Turns out the story was more than likely true but Francis chose a hard miner's life over a hard cowboy's life.  It seems that William and Catherine Mulvey did not have children, so there are not cowboy cousins to look up. 


http://www.mulveygulch.com/

A blogger who is familiar with the ranch has taken some great photos.

http://annieophoto.blogspot.com/2012/07/blog-post.html
http://annieophoto.blogspot.com/2010/11/one-and-onlybeautiful-mulvey-gulch.html