Pat O'Kane

This is the 79 Ranch house in 1911, with Pat O'Kane and several working dogs. Greyhounds were used as coursing and hunting dogs to chase coyotes and other game animals. The section of Golden Valley County known as the Big Coulee Valley, is located about eight miles south of Ryegate and the Musselshell River.

The Golden Valley County website mentions the 79 Ranch House extensively, mainly quoting from a 1971 book “Dawn in Golden Valley,” The site says the 79 Ranch was founded by John T. Murphy, but it appears that he spent more time at his home in Helena than on the ranch.

His Helena home is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and the nomination form notes that he was a successful mercantile owner, with numerous stores in Deer Lodge, Helena, and Great Falls. He also invested in area gold and silver mines.

"A more stable addition to Murphy's portfolio during the I880's was his investment

in the Montana Cattle Company, or the "79" Ranch, located between the Yellowstone and Musselshell Rivers," the nomination form states. "He also gained title to the Teton Ranch in Teton County, and later the Powder River Land and Cattle Company, which consisted of 24,153 acres in Custer and Carter counties.

"During Murphy's early years in Helena, he acted as a private banker; numerous notes found in the Murphy Papers at the Montana Historical Society attest to his personal loans and financial dealings. He was one of the organizers of the Helena National Bank in 1890 and the Montana Savings Bank in 1891. Murphy also served as the president of the Montana National Bank for a time and as an officer of the Great Falls National Bank and the Merchants National Bank in Billings. The diversity and breadth of Murphy's holdings extended to investments in Florida citrus groves, where on a business trip, shortly after his first wife had died, he met his second wife, Clara Cobb, in 1897."

John T. Murphy died on May 23, 1914, in Helena. He was described as a millionaire at the time, "enjoying an income in excess $75,000/year. "