Elias Whitcomb was one of the earliest cattlemen in Wyoming. In 1858, he managed 1,200 head of work cattle around Fort Laramie.
After the Civil War, Whitcomb became involved with some of the first cattle drives from Texas through Wyoming. He formed his first herd in southeastern Wyoming and became one of the territory’s earliest landowners with a homestead seven miles from present-day Cheyenne.
He formed a ranching operation and a large mercantile business in Cheyenne. In 1896, elected Vice President of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association.
He died in 1915, killed by a lightning strike.
