The De La Verendryes and Colter were followed by other “mountain men,” equally venturesome, representing the American and Rocky Mountain fur companies and smaller independent concerns. These hardy, restless, rugged individuals, including such men as Lisa, Sublette Brothers, Fraeb, Gervais, and Bridger, were actually the first settlers in what is now the State of Wyoming, notwithstanding the common belief that the first settlements in the Territory were in the eastern and southern parts. These pioneers exploited the country, trapping fur-bearing animals and trading with the Indians for their take in the pelts. Following them came the nomadic prospectors and miners, and after the miners came the first really permanent residents, the cattlemen. The establishment of the first Stockyards in Kansas City, in 1870, gave impetus to the expansion of cattle-raising in the West. From 1870 to the 1890’s, this industry grew with unprecedented speed. Charles Carter, in 1879, trailed in from Oregon the first herd of cattle brought into the Big Horn Basin. Later came Capt. Henry Belknap, Otto Franc, Col. W. D. Pickett, and J. M. Carey, all of whom shaped ranches out of virgin territory on the west side of the Big Horn Basin, immediately adjacent to the mountain slopes now inside the forest. From the early eighties the herds increased, and more and more cattle came into the Big Horn Basin. Homesteaders and settlers were “squatting” on and taking up large acreages of the best range land, and finally, there was not enough year-long range for the increased number of livestock. The advent of the farmer forced drastic changes in livestock operations. Stockmen were obliged to produce forage crops to carry a part of their herds through the winter. Eventually it was necessary to increase the production of forage crops on the land under cultivation, and this led to the development of irrigation projects, first by the ranchers, and then by the Federal Government. With water for their lands and constantly improving transportation facilities, farmers were able to produce such cash crops as small grain, truck crops, sugar beets, potatoes, and peas. As this country was further developed and became more heavily populated, stockmen grazed their livestock in the higher foothills and eventually in the mountains during summer, depending upon the Big Horn Basin, which had formerly been used year-long, for winter range. Thus began the first actual dependence of the community upon territory within the forest. As irrigation projects developed, the second—and now perhaps the most important—great economic value of the rugged mountains in the forest became apparent in their capacity to conserve and store water for summer use in the valleys below. [Illustration: F-385841 _Pilot and Index Peaks, within the North Absaroka Wilderness Area._]