Named after Otto Franc who established the Pitchfork Ranch. (WPA) A town in the Greybull River country, named for Otto Franc, who founded the Pitchfork Ranch. (Wyoming Guide) The town borrowed its name from Otto Franc who used the range in the vicinity to winter some of the Pitchfork Ranch's cattle. (Wasden)Otto Post Office was established on April 4, 1888 with Frank S. Wood as its first postmaster. (Wyoming Post Offices) A stockraising and farming town in Big Horn County, 12 miles from Basin. Nicely located on the Grey Bull River and surrounded by a beautiful valley. (Wyoming State Business Directory, 1910-11) To Otto belongs the distinction of being the first surveyed and platted townsite in the Big Horn Basin. Frank S. Woods filed a plat at Lander on April 3, 1888 ... In 1914, because of repeated floodings during high water in the Greybull River, Otto was moved to a new townsite and old Otto abandoned. (Wasden)
County:
Big Horn
Feature Category:
Manmade Features
History:
Otto Post Office was established on April 4, 1888 with Frank S. Wood as its first postmaster. (Wyoming Post Offices) A stockraising and farming town in Big Horn County, 12 miles from Basin. Nicely located on the Grey Bull River and surrounded by a beautiful valley. (Wyoming State Business Directory, 1910-11) To Otto belongs the distinction of being the first surveyed and platted townsite in the Big Horn Basin. Frank S. Woods filed a plat at Lander on April 3, 1888 ... In 1914, because of repeated floodings during high water in the Greybull River, Otto was moved to a new townsite and old Otto abandoned. (Wasden)
More Reading
Otto Franc the Wyoming Baron and his Big Horn Basin. Revised edition. Blake, Jim F. Meeteetse, Wyo. : Outlaw West Books, c2010.; Sagebrush and roses : a history of Otto, and Burlington, Wyoming. Loveland, Carla Neves. Lindon, Utah. : Alexander's Digital Printing, 2003.
