Henry M. Arnold, the subject of this sketch, is one of the few pioneers of the Great West remaining to weave the thread of personal incident into the historical fabric of the past, and he has led a life of great activity replete with interesting experiences at times bordering upon adventure and dangers. Henry M. Arnold is a scion of an old Colonial family that came to America a number of years prior to the War of Independence and settled in one of the Atlantic States. They were Germans and when the Revolutionary war broke out several of the family joined the American army and fought bravely until independence was secured. Later others distinguished themselves in the War of 1812, and when the safety of the Union was threatened by the armed hosts of secession, Joseph H. Arnold, the subject's father, responded to the call for volunteers and gave up his life while defending the flag. In an early day Mr. Arnold's grandparents moved to Indiana and later to Iowa, in which state Joseph H. Arnold was reared to manhood. He there married Martha Osburn, a native of Ohio, and made a livelihood by devoting his life to agricultural pursuits. He entered the army at the breaking out of the Civil War, enlisting in the First Iowa Cavalry, and in 1864, while taking some soldiers to St. Joe from St. Louis, was captured at Centralia, Mo., by a band of guerrillas under the notorious Bill Anderson and the whole company, being unarmed was lined up and shot, but one succeeding in making his escape. Shortly after her husband's death Mrs. Arnold went to Ohio where she lived for about twenty years, removing to York, Neb., where now is her permanent home. Henry M. Arnold was born in Lee County. Iowa, on January 30, 1860, and when quite young he was taken by his mother to Ohio and remained in that state until the fall of 1875 when he returned to Iowa to live with an uncle, a physician of Council Bluffs. He was in the employ of this relative for a period of four and one-half years, meantime supplementing his early educational discipline by attending the public schools of the above city. In March, 1880, Mr. Arnold left Iowa and came to Wyoming, passing sometime thereafter prospecting in the vicinity of the Raw Hide Buttes and riding the range in that and other localities. In July of the following year he drove cattle to Montana and after his return, resumed prospecting until the spring of 1884, when he engaged in gardening on the Raw Hide, spending one summer at that vocation. Subsequently in company with Charles Young, afterwards his partner, for thirteen years Mr. Arnold traveled over the greater part of Wyoming and Montana in the cattle business, and in 1886 became a cook on a large ranch, leaving Mr. Young to look after their stock interests. He passed the seven ensuing years in Montana, cooking and doing ranch work and in the fall of 1895 went to Nebraska where his partner had gotten together quite a number of cattle, spending the succeeding winter in that state. The following spring this partnership was dissolved, after which Mr. Arnold brought his share of the cattle to Wyoming and put them on land on the Platte Valley which he had previously leased. He ran stock there until 1898 when he purchased a ranch one mile east of Tobington, where he has since remained, meanwhile improving his land and building up a very prosperous stock business. When Mr. Arnold took possession of his place a considerable part of the land was comparatively bare and of little value for grazing purposes, but by a successful system of irrigation it has been rendered very fertile and productive, and by reason of this and other improvements the ranch is now one of the model properties of the kind in this part of the country. It embraces an area of 480 acres much of which is devoted to the raising of bay, which Mr. Arnold has found quite a profitable industry. He also keeps a fine lot of high grade cattle, and everything to which he addresses himself appears to prosper. As stated in the initial paragraph Mr. Arnold is one of the few old range men left in this part of the state, and by reason of long residence and extensive travel he is widely and popularly known throughout Wyoming and the greater part of Montana. He is a fine example of the wide-awake, enterprising westerner and has done much for the material improvement of Laramie County and the promotion of the cattle industry in this and other sections. Mr. Arnold is a single man and appears to enjoy his independent life of bachelorhood. He enjoys the confidence of his friends and neighbors and all with whom he has relations speak in high terms of his in-tegrity and honorable business methods.
