Collection: 1952 - Frank Bennett Fiske
Folder: 0000
Item: 05917
Title: "Rounding up a bunch for branding"
Date: 1910
Creator: Fiske, Frank Bennett,--1883-1952
Inscription/Marks: [In black ink on negative] Rounding up a bunch for branding @F. B. Fiske photo [Stiles, John Arthur biography Cowboy Hall of Fame Nomination] [https://www.ancestry.com/media/viewer/viewer/c3142333-d90a-42d4-aab4-05f4b0b7f772/6727644/-1237426531] Birthdate: March 18, 1870 Birth Place: Ravenshoe, Ontario, Canada Death: March 31, 1922 Death Place: 12 Miles West of Fort Yates, ND. Father: David Stiles 1833 England. Mother Mary Phillips Stiles March 4, 1844 Thurlow, Ontario, Canada. Spouse Anna Carls Stiles 1907 (?) Emmons County died in 1910. Eva Volk Stiles January 30, 1911 Emmons County died in 1965. Siblings: Charles Wesley Stiles, born in Ravenshoe in 1867, Josephine (Phine) Stiles, born in Ravenshoe in 1869, Marietta Alberta Stiles, born in Ravenshoe in 1876. Children: John McCabe Stiles, born in Fort Yates, ND, February 1, 1913, Alberta Catherine Stiles, born in Fort Yates, ND, February 26, 1915, Charles Alexander Stiles, born in Fort Yates, ND, April 27, 1919, Ralph Arthur Stiles, born in Fort Yates, ND, March 12, 1922. He was born in the family home in Ravenshoe, Ontario, Canada, a small community south of Lake Simco, which is north of Toronto. He was orphaned at age 10, and at the age of 12 he traveled to Detroit, Michigan, where he worked in a lumber mill. A few years later he enlisted in the United States Army and was stationed in Texas. In 1888 his unit, the 8th cavalry was moved to Fort Yates where he was later discharged and then lived in Fort Yates and in Emmons County the remainder of his life. John Arthur (Jack) Stiles was the President and General Manager of the Stiles Cattle Company, which was formed in 1911 as a St. Paul, Minnesota Corporation. Though begun in a small way it grew into the largest ranch in North Dakota and one of the largest in the Northwest. The livestock numbered over 10,000 head of cattle and over 650 head of horses. The spread extended on the west side of the Missouri River, from near the Cannonball River in the north into South Dakota in the south. Additional grazing land was included in the ranch in the area east of the river in Emmons County and, on occasion, cattle were moved across the river in the winter over the ice or by ferryboat when the ice was not solid. The ranch continued to grow until Jack Stiles’ sudden death during sleep after riding the range all day on March 30, 1922. The two other partners of the Stiles Cattle Company decided to liquidate the ranch after Jack’s sudden death. Jack Stiles was a member of the Executive committee of the North Dakota Cattlemen’s Association. He was a founder and president of The Western Townsite and Development Company of Fort Yates, which was active in the communities of Fort Yates, Cannon Ball, Solon and Nosodak for about 11 years until his death. Jack was appointed one of the first Commissioners of Sioux County when the county was formed. The certificate of appointment is dated September 3, 1914 and signed by the governor of North Dakota. He served as Chairman of the Commissioners, for nearly eight years, continuously until his death. After starting on a very small scale as a landowner and business man after leaving the service of the United States Army in 1892, Jack Stiles worked tirelessly to build and manage the largest ranch in the Dakotas and one of the largest in the Northwest in the period ending with his death in 1922. The Governor of the State of North Dakota recognized him as a leading citizen by appointing him to the first Board of County Commissioners and the other Commissioners honored him by voting him Chairman, where he served until his death. He was recognized by the North Dakota Cattlemen’s Association as a member of their executive committee to develop policies and practices affecting all of the cattlemen in the State. He was instrumental in developing the townsite of Fort Yates and in other communities in North Dakota. In 1898 he operated a general merchandise store in Winona and served as the postmaster. In 1907 he returned to Fort Yates and entered the Indian trading business with J. M. Cardigan, while continuing with his cattle interests. Four years later that partnership with Cardigan was dissolved and he spearheaded the organization of the Stiles Cattle Company. The Indians gave him the name Tatanka Ska, which means White Buffalo, to honor him for his generosity and fairness. Mr. Stiles moved from Canada to the United States when he was 12 years of age, and began working in a lumber mill in Detroit. Sometime after that and before 1888, he joined the United States Army and was stationed in Texas with the 8th cavalry which was transferred to Fort Yates in 1888. He was discharged there in 1892 with the rank of Sergeant. After discharge from the army he homesteaded on land in Emmons County where he first started raising livestock. In the following years he operated a general merchandise store in Winona and served as postmaster in that community, while continuing to accumulate land. Also in the years after the army service he purchased and operated a ferry on the Missouri River. His next venture was a partnership with J. M. Carignan in an Indian trading post on the Indian reservation in Fort Yates. That partnership was dissolved in 1911 and he, along with two partners who were in the banking business in St. Paul, Minnesota, started the Stiles Cattle Company, which he ran as President and General Manager until his death in 1922.
Summary: Distant view of group of cowboys rounding up cattle on open plains for the Stiles Cattle Company. Creek flows in the valley below the large tree and winds it way past the other bushes in the background. Hills and buttes are visible on the horizon.
Red ID: PH_I_12251 Image ID: 136262 Image Notes: 1952-05917
