Pierre Wibaux, scion of a distinguished French textile family, arrived at the settlement of Mingusville in 1883 and established a cattle ranch about 12 miles north. His herds fared well during the devastating Hard Winter of 1886-1887, and afterward he borrowed family money to buy out less fortunate ranchers. By the mid-1890s, his ranch was one of the largest cattle operations in the nation, running about 65,000 head of cattle and 300 horses, and he sold from 3,000 to 9,000 cattle each year. In 1883, Wibaux and others persuaded the Northern Pacific Railroad to build stockyards there, and to enlarge them in 1894. He also campaigned to have Mingusville platted and renamed for him, both of which occurred in 1894. In 1892, he and Henry Boice of the Berry-Boice Cattle Company built an office and residence that Wibaux soon took over completely and used during the week to oversee his business interests. The building originally faced north until W. A. Orgain, a local merchant, bought the property in 1903 and moved it to the rear and turned it to face west. It was originally surrounded by a lush park of grass and arbored vines tended by a French gardener, with irrigation water and two artificial ponds supplied by an elevated tank filled by a windmill.