The Warren Livestock Company #477: David F. Cook Papers

Published March 27, 2025 at 6:00 AM MDT

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Photograph of Warren Livestock Company sheep and lambs. Box 5, David F. Cook papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Photograph of Gene Allen, Jack Shafer and Dave Cook culling lambs for the Warren Livestock Company. Box 5, David F. Cook papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Photograph of some of the sheep wagons belonging to Warren Livestock Company, 1924. Box 5, David F. Cook papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Photograph of Warren Livestock Company Foreman Dave Cook and a Peruvian sheep herder. Box 5, David F. Cook papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

David F. Cook spent 40 years as the foreman of the Warren Livestock Company’s north side sheep operation. The Warren Livestock Company was a ranching business venture founded by Wyoming politician Francis E. Warren in 1883. At its peak, the company controlled more than 250,000 acres from southeastern Wyoming down to Greely, Colorado.

David Cook’s association with the Warren Livestock Company began after he served in World War I. He started off as a hired hand, learning to work with sheep and all that entailed. After mastering shearing, lambing, haying and even ranch cooking, he was promoted to foreman.

Responsible for many thousands of sheep and dozens of men, Cook had a long and successful career. He became so knowledgeable about the wool industry that he worked with Dean Hill of the University of Wyoming Wool department to develop an entirely new breed of sheep, known as the Warhill.

Cook’s many remembrances of his life working for the Warren Livestock Company are recorded in a book titled The Way It Was.

See the David F. Cook papers at UW’s American Heritage Center to learn more about the history of the Warren Livestock Company.