Stanley G. Murdock was born in Heber, Utah, on July 11, 1865. As a teenage lad, Stanley hired on with Texas cattle drives and guided a herd of several hundred Texas cattle through Utah into Wyoming. In 1883, when Stanley was 18 years old, Rody Thornton hired him to help trail a herd of cattle from Utah to LaBarge where Thornton ranched. Stanley worked for Thornton for the next 13 years as foreman and ranch hand. He had charge of the cattle, gained knowledge and experience in the ranching business, and spent a lot of time breaking horses. He was kept busy riding and breaking horses the year around. Stanley took most of his pay in calves at branding time so by the time he went into ranching on his own, he had built a herd. Along with Lafe Griffin and Frank Robbins, he gathered horses off the desert east of the Murdock ranch. He broke and sold those horses to make extra money. He also began to raise fine horses, bringing good blooded horses into his herd.
Stan Murdock
