The Abbott family has been in the ranching business in the Sandhills of Nebraska for well over a century. Back in the late 1800's, the Sandhills of Nebraska were considered a "no mans land," and would eventually be the last place to actually be settled on American soil. The only human life that existed were tribes of Native Americans, mainly Sioux, that crisscrossed the Sandhills from their summer home in the Dakotas to the North Platte valley in Nebraska where they survived during the winter months. The only remnants or remains seen today left by the Sioux tribe are the campgrounds, in which the Abbott Ranch has three of these locations. Arrowheads and flint are still found today preserving this piece of early American History on the ranch.

Young Arthur Abbott (2nd generation) along with his father Christopher and brother Harrison went into the ranching business by purchasing 100 head of Hereford cows and settled on the head waters of Beaver Creek in northwest Kansas near the small town of Herndon. To make ends meet financially, Arthur hired on as a cowboy trailing cattle from Texas to South Dakota in the mid 1880's when the U.S. government confined the Native Americans to live on reservation land. Arthur would join these cattle drives at Dodge City, Kansas and help trail them to their destination in South Dakota. On returning home, he would ride across the Sandhills of Nebraska. In those days sand made up the majority of the hills, but the flats and valleys were becoming grassed over and water seemed to be quite plentiful. Arthur eventually married one of the neighbor girls named Hannah Minor after his brother Harry had been bushwhacked and killed by the Indians wrangling horses one morning on the Beaver Creek.

Photo by Andrew Moore, Dirt Meridian

Longing to relocate in the Sandhills, Arthur loaded the wagon with their life belongings, along with his aging father and young family, and pointed their small herd of cattle north to the small and upcoming village of Hyannis in the year 1888. The Abbott's settled several miles northeast of Hyannis in a valley which would later on become the southern part of Cherry County. The county seat was and still is Valentine, nearly 100 miles further north and east. At that time, cattle grazed on open range along with other early settlers' cattle, so the brand became an important factor in identifying whose cattle were whose. This is when the double bar across the hind was established, later named the "Britchin" brand.

Through Arthur's union in marriage to Hannah three children were born, Christopher, Dorothy and Leroy would be the 3rd generation of Abbott's to carry on the ranching tradition. Progressing through the early 1900's, the Abbott's entered into the banking business and expanded their ranching operation in the Sandhills. Christopher married Helen Sears whose father was well known for his building construction in the Hyannis area. Through this union, the 4th generation would be born. Arthur, Glaideth and Phylis would continue to carry on the ranching and banking heritage of the Abbott family. Hard times hit the U.S. through the 1930's and 40's with several years of drought and money being very scarce because of the economy. The Abbott's managed to survive those times and Arthur (4th generation) married Patricia Frank from Scottsbluff, NE. Through this union, the 5th generation of Abbott's were born in the 1950's. Andrea, Diane, Christopher, Helen and Mike would continue to carry on the ranching heritage, as the banks were eventually sold off. Currently, the 6th generation of Abbott's is growing and prospering and the 7th generation is currently being raised in the cattle business on the Abbott Ranch.