Herbert or "Herb" was an accomplished athlete in track and field as a short distance runner in Lincoln High School which he attended for 5 yrs, and graduated in 1901. In a meet with the Univ. Neb. he won the mile in 5 min. 49 sec. Accepted on the University of Nebraska track team in 1902, he set a track record in the 880 yd at 2 min. 6 sec. With his mile record of 4 min. 42 sec. he qualified for the Olympic trials in 1904. (See photos). His cross country team won the Chicago meet of 1904. His closest friend, Maurice Benedict, was also a runner and set records in pole vault. Maurice was best man at his wedding in 1906. According to Mignon, Maurice was the only person to beat Herbert in a race (and she supposed Herbert let him win). Maurice wanted to marry Herbert's sister Olive States, but alas, she wouldn't have him. She was won by another Lincoln resident, Edwin Bentley.
When Herbert was in training for track, he used to run from Lincoln to Agnew to see his uncle and cousins on the States farm (see notes from Elmer States). He and Mignon attended school together and soon their common love of horses drew them toward the alter of matrimony. (See photos). He wanted to have a place to raise horses and have a family. So, in the summer of 1903 he rode a bicycle to Gillette, WY and from there on a saddle horse and two pack horses (see photo), to Cody, where he met Maurice Benedict (who was working for the Burlington Northern railroad in Sheridan. Herbert rode the countryside looking for a possible homestead site to take up cattle ranching. He found none and traveled south to the Jackson Hole country. Having almost drowned in the Snake river while crossing with his horses (the lead lines of the pack horse tangled with his mount while swimming across) he opted for an area closer to the closest railhead (Casper) and one a little less remote.
He found for sale in the Lander area, a small ranch, the "Jack Gaylor ranch", of 160 acres and 240 acres of adjacent State lease land, a two-room house, an unfinished cabin, and outbuildings at the mouth of Sinks canyon on the Popo Agie river, six miles south of the town of Lander (see photos). He put down $200 for option to buy on December 5, 1903. The total sum due and payable June 1st, 1904 was $1412.00, contracted in his mothers' name, Minnie J. States. In addition to deeded land, homesteaded by Jack Gaylor in 1883 and owned at that time by Eugene Amoretti Jr., there was an associated Desert Land claim of 160 acres and a Homestead Land claim of 160 acres, held by James S. Vidal with an unimproved ditch. He and Minnie agreed to buy for the sum of $778, the patent on the homestead land to be commutated upon completion of the sale.
The Desert land claim needed immediate attention, in particular, the construction of an irrigation ditch from the Gaylor-Warnock ditch. So before moving permanently to the ranch, which he did in January of 1906 in the company of his new wife, Mignon, his parents and three sisters, Herbert took up residence there in the summer of 1904 (perhaps in response to James S. Vidal letter of June 1904 indicating some immediate work needed on the Desert Land Claim). So with the help of Maurice Benedict, who was still working for the railroad and had passes, he completed the ditch for irrigation.
Letter from Maurice Benedict on the occassion of Herbert and Mignon's 50th wedding anniversary, Nov. 26, 1956: " It was sure good to get your letter and to think that 50 years have passed since I stood up with you two at Mignon's home and you two started out on a most happy and wonderful journey thru life together. You two were the most devoted couple I ever knew tho I have run you a tight race for 46 years". (Letter Sept. 18, 1957). "What a pleasant surprise to hear all your voices on our mutual birthday and so glad that all of you are well as could be expected when you get to that "75" area. I can hardly believe that your mother is still around--what a life she has led. What a long time ago it was when you took that long summer trek thru Wyoming looking for that ranch "in the sky". I remember meeting you at Cody that summer as I was working at Sheridan for the R.R. and had a pass so came up there. And then I shall never forget that "spring vacation" when we dug the ditch on the Desert Claim up the canyon and someone swiped the 5 bucks we had saved for our meals home. Memories, how they crowd around these days when our generation is slipping away."
Herbert finally patented that tract in 1912. Later he acquired more land in Sinks Canyon and on Willow Creek with land and leases on several places along the Sweetwater river and engaged in a number of livestock enterprises. His grand ideas and enterprises caused him to become affectionately known in the family as " the little cattle baron". He and Mignon raised a family of three children, James, Margaret and Mignon.
The cattle and sheep industries in Wyoming were devastated by a combination of severe winters and low market prices in 1917-18. Herbert lost much of property that he had worked so hard to acquire. The Central Trust Bank of Lander foreclosed on his mortgages when he failed to make payment. He requested that he be allowed to keep his cattle over another winter to obtain a better spring market price, but no extension was allowed. His desperate attempt to acquire loans is illustrated by a letter from a representative of the Wyoming Trust and Savings Bank of Cheyenne WY, October 21, 1918. "Dear Mr. States: I have gone over your statement as set forth in your letter and accepting your valuation as the basis upon which we could deal, it would not be practical to loan $32,500 on the property offered as security. While the range may be valuable as a contributary asset, the acreage to which you have title is all you can mortgage. We are not competent to value your land without checking it up and reaching our conclusions. As to the livestock we can value them pretty closely from the stand-point of numbers but it would not be practical to say that there were so many head without having counted them on the range or in pasture as a part of the security. Considering the content of your letter we feel it would be unwise to even create the expense of the trip unless there was a probablility of a loan being made, or our service from some other viewpoint being valuable to you." Herbert managed to survive this setback but when the Great Depression brought its economic setbacks to the entire nation, Herbert left Canyon Ranch and the Willow creek place in 1932 and took the family to Crete NE. They had waited until Margaret graduated from Lander high school (James continuing his post graduate studies there while Margaret finished). Herbert placed most of his property in mortgage deeds to his mother, Minnie, and the rest he let go for taxes. While residing at 1039 Biswell Ave. in Crete, they worked for Minnie's brother Albert in the flour mills. Continuing their education, first James, and then Margaret, attended Doane College. After Mignon completed high school in Crete and wanting a University education for his children, Herbert moved, in 1934, to Laramie, site of the Univerisity of Wyoming, where they resided at 921 Lewis Street. In Lander he had developed an interest in beekeeping while working with Charles Ranney who kept bees on his place. Herbert bought a 1936 Ford sedan and a 1937 Ford Truck,( both of which he had for many years) and began beekeeping in Saratoga Wyoming. He purchased additional bees and equipment from the local beekeeper, Mrs. McMicken. Later with the help of his son James, he developed a successful apiary business, States Apiaries. He ran the business in Saratoga from 1937 until his death from a heart attack in 1963. Marketed under the trademark of "Beeline Honey", States Apiaries was the largest independent producer/marketer of honey in Wyoming. Herbert and James were among the first beekeepers to engage in "migratory beekeeping. They moved apiaries from Wyoming to other states (California and Texas) to overwinter them and take advantage of the early honey production in those states to build up the hive strength for summer honey production in Wyoming. (See photos). While in Saratoga, Herbert assisted in the development of the Ryan Park Ski Area, (see photos), and a golf course on the wind swept sagebrush prairie south of town.