A frontier farmer and stockgrower, a valiant Nimrod in these western wilds when they were not as yet much broken to civiliza-tion and game was plentiful, with an excellent record to his credit in each capacity, and a secure and enviable place in the regard of his fellowmen, Harmon Brittain of near Dayton in Sheridan County, Wyoming, can look upon his life in both prospect and retrospect with a large measure of satisfaction, having always met its responsibilities with a manly and courageous spirit and having at hand and before him enough of worldly wealth and consideration to give safety and sunshine to his declining years. He was born in Indiana on March 7, 1839, his parents, William and Rachel (McReynolds) Brittain, natives of Kentucky, having settled in that state in early times. There when he was six years old his mother died, and ten years later, in 1849, his father moved to Iowa and in 1855 removed his family to Grundy county, Mo. After a residence of some years in that county he settled in Bates County in the same state and there in 1889 in the fullness of years he died and was laid to rest. Harmon Brittain grew to manhood and was educated in Missouri, and for more than a quarter of a century was there engaged in farming. In 1886 he removed to Wyoming and,locating on Pass Creek in Sheridan County, prosecuted a vigorous and profitable stock industry, handling and raising horses, until 1895 when he removed his base of operations to Johnson County, thirty miles south of Buffalo, where he carried on the same enterprise. In June, 1902, he came to Dayton and purchased a ranch adjacent to the town of 160 acres of superior land, highly improved and in an excellent state of cultivation, where he has a fine herd of Shorthorn cattle and also nearly 200 horses of good breeds. A special feature of his ranch and the industries thereon conducted is an apiary of unusual proportions, value and productiveness. It is one of the best in this section of the country and has attracted the attention of men interested in bee culture in many places. On his land he raises large crops of alfalfa and other farm products, and his beautiful residence is one of the ornaments of the neighborhood. Mr. Brittain was first married in Grundy, County, Mo.,in 1860, with Miss Julia E. Leonard, a Kentuckian, who died on December 27, 1900, leaving two children, Wil-liam F., the postmaster at Sheridan, and Sarah C., now wife of Arthur Cossit of Pass Creek. On January 1, 1902, he was again married, on this occasion to Mrs. Nettie Shadduck, a native of Pennsylvania, the marriage being solemnized at Buffalo. In his career as a hunter Mr. Brittain has killed twenty-two bears and 300 deer and elk. He still pursues the sport with all the ardor if not all the vigor of his early days and brings home many trophies of his skill and prowess.
