In a move that has captivated the nation, a local elected official has purchased a sprawling 916,000-acre ranch in Wyoming, dwarfing even the fictional Dutton Ranch from the popular TV series Yellowstone.
Christopher Robinson, a member of the Summit County Council, acquired the Pathfinder Ranches through his family-owned company, The Ensign Group L.C. The deal, which closed on January 14th, saw the property change hands for an undisclosed sum, having been listed last summer for $79.5 million.
Stretching across four counties in Wyoming, the Pathfinder Ranches encompass roughly 1% of the state’s total land mass, an area nearly the size of the entire state of Delaware. In comparison, New York City spans around 300 square miles, while Rhode Island covers just over 1,000 square miles.
“The family from whom we bought the Stone Ranch used to own the heart of the Pathfinder, and they sold it in, say, 1975. And so we’re kind of reuniting it,” Robinson, the CEO of The Ensign Group, told KPCW. “It’s now one big landscape.”
The property, named after 19th-century explorer John C. Frémont, is made up of four main parcels spread across the Rocky Mountain region and surrounds much of the Pathfinder Reservoir. It contains over 20 miles of the Sweetwater River and includes portions of the Pedro, Ferris, Seminoe, and Green Mountain ranges.
One of the ranch’s most notable landmarks is Independence Rock, which lies along the historic Oregon, Mormon, Pony Express, and California Trails, trekked by early pioneers.
Robinson, who already controls roughly one million acres of land, acquired the Pathfinder Ranches just four years after buying the neighbouring 86,000-acre Stone Ranch. The combined properties will now be operated as a single, self-sustaining livestock range.
“We love land and water,” Robinson added. “We think it’s a good long-term investment, and we like the opportunities it affords us to be stewards over a piece of God’s creation.”
With this latest purchase, Robinson has cemented his status as one of America’s largest private landowners, joining the ranks of figures like CNN founder Ted Turner, who controls an estimated 2 million acres across the country.