He, the grandson of John Jacob Astor the first, went down on the Titanic a few years ago, when that great vessel sank in the Atlantic on its maiden trip, and but for the romance of the high plains here related, Madeline Force would never have been born, and he would likely not have been on the fatal trip.

The horses from Arbuckle's ranch often were brought to the "North River" to winter. Robert F. Neeley took charge of winter feeding the first winter, and then John R. Stilts built some large sod barns and sheds and for several winters attended to the business. Fred Wolt came over to the valley, and remained. He married one of the valley's young ladies, Lillian Brashear, and went into mercantile business at Gering. Fred had the distinguishing characteristics of the Bostonian, which was different from the ways of the west. Some of the boys called him "dudish," but he got along well with them, and has made a splendid success in a business way. First in general merchandise, then specializing in furniture, hardware and undertaking, in which he is now en-

Valley View ranch came into existence at a later date with Hiram D. Lingle as the master mind. This was located in the valley of the Rawhide, and when the Burlington built the North River branch, they named a town near his several thousand acres of fine alluvial land in honor of his genius and enterprise. He bonded the whole acreage with several thousand additional under the Carey Act and built an irrigation system. About this time the government irrigation act was passed, and the North Platte project thereof found that "Lucky Valley," occupied by Lingle's Colonization Canal, was the only practical route through the barrier of sand hills between Rawhide and Sheep creek.