William Patrick “Pat” Dew was born on March 6, 1892, in Wood Lake, Nebraska, to George Dew and Augusta Matilda “Mother” Schock Dew and joined two sisters, Nellie and Jenny. Pat had five brothers who joined the family after he was born. They were Frank, Richard George “Dick,” John Alexander “Jack,” Theodore Roosevelt “Ted,” and Harry A. When Pat was a small boy, he helped his father feed cattle on their farm in Nebraska with a team. Later probably in his teens, he worked as a cowboy on other farms and ranches.
Pat Dew came to Wyoming in 1908 working for different ranches along the Nebraska border. In 1913 when Pat was 21, he moved with his family to Pinedale, Wyoming, by covered wagon. They arrived in Pinedale on June 8th after leaving Gordon, Nebraska, on May 7. They soon found work on the old Hennick Place nine miles south of Pinedale on the Green River. While the family was working here, Pat went to work for Alex Price, a neighbor to the south, cowboying for him. Alex’s son, Doug, remembered Pat being a very good cowboy and handling his horse with ease. Doug said, “Pat was a really good cowboy.” According to the Pinedale Roundup, May 21, 1914, Pat Dew, foreman of the Bootjack and other outfits was in on Tuesday, having his horses shod for spring riding. Between 1913 and 1914, Pat rode with Sid Edwards up the Green River with two outfits which were called the Four Hundred Club by Bill Luce and Prof Sommers, which became known as the Green River Drift. According to Spencer Hecox, “Pat Dew after coming to the Green River Valley in 1913, he rode for Lew Hennick. At first, he worked for Olson and Ross from the Big Piney country and spent most of his time on the round up, on the range. He rode with men like Frank Stanley, Walt Meyers, Art Doyle, and Clarence Gilly (who was raised by Bert and Ed Hill’s mother.) Also, Pat Dew rode for the 400 Cattle Association and the Twin Creek Association when Bert Hill cooked for them in 1914. Pat’s family moved to a ranch they bought from Ed Hill on the Gros Ventre River about 30 miles up the river from the small town of Kelly in 1914. For several years, Pat helped with the cattle and haying.”
On November 22, 1916, Pat Dew married Roxie Delia Walker in Jackson, Wyoming. Pat met Roxie while they were both working on the Pederson Ranch about 8 miles northeast of Jackson. Roxie was the cook and housekeeper while Pat took care of the cattle. For the first year of their marriage, they lived on the Upper Gros Ventre. In 1917, traveling by horseback, around and through large snow drifts, Pat and Roxie went to the Upper Green River area to the Kendall Ranger Station. Pat carried mail for Morg Hanks the winter of 1917. During the winter, the mail was delivered by dog sled. At one time, Pat owned seven dogs. During the summer at the Kendall Ranger Station, Pat was Fire Guard for Forest Ranger W. D. Rickert. During the winter of 1918, they ran the Morg Hanks Ranch while the Hanks were at the Winton Coal Mine near Rock Springs. Morg was married to Pat’s sister, Jenny.
In the spring of 1918, Pat and Roxie took up a homestead on Rock Creek about four miles below the Kendall Ranger Station. This homestead had a small cabin which was used by hunting parties in the fall. They lived in this small house until a larger home could be built. On Christmas day 1918, they moved into their new home. On August 18, 1919, their daughter Nellie Patricia Dew was born. Their second child, Bill Dew, was born on August 23, 1925. In 1926, the Pat Dew family moved to the Black Butte Ranch where Pat worked for Billy Hill. Later, Pat became a partner in the ranch. William Patrick Dew had the P/D brand registered in the 1927 Wyoming brand book for the left rib of cattle and the left thigh of horses. Pat and Roxie Dew moved to Pinedale in 1952 after leasing the ranch to their son, Bill. W.P. Dew became a lifetime member of the Green River Valley Cattlemen’s Association in 1961. Pat was a man who loved life and enjoyed nature to the greatest extent. After he retired, he kept in close contact with ranch operations and enjoyed fishing and visiting with old timers of the area. William Patrick “Pat” Dew passed away on April 22, 1966.
Pat Dew’s grandson, Jim Rogers, has the following memories: “Pat was a great horseman and got his horses to do whatever he wanted them to do. He was not mean to them, but he had a way of making a horse trust him, and he could put a horse where very few could. He and the horse were just as one when they were together. Pat was also a great cowman. He could move a lot of cows all by himself. He rarely drove cows from the back of the herd. He would move cattle from the side and get them to string out for a long way. As for myself, (his grandson), I used to help my grandparents move their cows and calves from the Rock Creek pasture to their summer forest allotment, which was the Roaring Fork Allotment, north of Green River Lakes. We would go from Rock Creek to The Bend on the Green River on the first day, and I can remember moving cows and calves that we didn’t have to ride back to gather the tail end. We always shut the gate at Wagon Creek, but all the times I helped, there were never any cows standing at the gate. Pat had a way of mothering cows up, and we always stayed with them until they were all mothered up. I never inherited that ability that my grandfather had. I wish I had.
“One of the times I helped my grandfather, we were trying to leave Rock Creek and after we got them across Rock Creek, the cows did not want to take off. My grandfather had a 16-foot bull whip. He took it down and started cracking it over their backs. Those old cows grabbed their calves and lined out for The Bend. We just rode along the side and had a great visit. It was always fun moving cows with my grandfather because of his vast knowledge of cattle. Harry Wentland lived at The Bend and would help us from The Bend on up to and across Roaring Fork. We stayed with Harry the night when we got to The Bend. After we would get the cows across Roaring Fork and get them all mothered up, we would ride all the way back to the Black Butte Ranch, and that was a long way for a twelve-year-old. This was a long time before horse trailers.”
Another grandson, Donald W. Rogers, Jr. remembered the following about Pat Dew and his ability handling horses and cows:
“Pat Dew liked good Morgan horses. One time Short Tyler had gathered his sections on the north side of the river and brought the cows over to the Black Butte Meadows for the night. Pat had a young Morgan horse he had bought from Buster Martin. He offered to help them move the cows down to the bottom of the Mikey Adams Dugway to Wardell’s pasture. He said the horse needed a job. After moving the cows and getting them mothered up, Short offered to haul him and his horse back up to the ranch. Pat wouldn’t’ hear of it. He said, “A young horse needed to learn how to walk, and heading home would be a good time to learn.” I bought that horse when he was 16 or 17 years old and he had a fantastic running walk.
“Another time we were going to move cattle up to the Permit on the Forest at Roaring Fork. Pat came down and picked my horse and I up early that morning at our place in Boulder. When we arrived at the ranch at Black Butte, we found Billy Mitchell had taken Pat’s horse and left him with Sandy. Sandy was a leggy Morgan gelding but hadn’t been used for a couple of years. His feet needed trimmed and mane and tail were down to the ground. Pat said, “I’m not going to ride something that looks like the neighbor’s brood mare.” We put Sandy in the Bronc stall. I cleaned his mane up, and Pat pulled his tail. Then Pat held his feet and I ran the trimmers. By the time we were done, you couldn’t tell it was the same horse. We were late getting to the Rock Creek Field, but as Pat said, “We were a horse back.” Billy got an earful when we had the cows gathered and ready to head to the Bend.
“Pat took the lead, Bill and Billy the swing positions and I brought up the drag. Pat strung those cattle out, and we trailed those cattle to the Bend. Then, the next day we trailed them on up to Roaring Fork. We moved 250 head of pairs in two days. Never had a calf go back or a ball up. Pat said about anyone could drive a cow, but it took a ‘hand’ to trail cattle.”