Bailey Day Atkinson was born on September 5, 1900, in the log house on the Sheep Creek Ranch to Felix and Lizzie Atkinson. He was the middle of five boys. Felix built an empire in the sheep business and all the boys grew up tending sheep camps and working with the herds. When Day graduated from eighth grade, he became a full-time ranch hand for his father. The ranch prospered while Day was growing up. In those times, a good horse was the main means of transportation and Day was noted for having some good ones. He was also noted for his skill as a bronc rider. In his 20s, Day filed on a homestead that was adjacent to his father’s. After his marriage to schoolteacher Connie Ulrich they lived in Day’s homestead cabin, where two sons were born before the leased another ranch and a third son was born. In the 1940s they then bought sole ownership of the home ranch and moved there, raising both cattle and sheep.
Bailey Day Atkinson
