It’s almost as if the Sandhills of Nebraska were made just for raising cattle. Arthur Bowring knew that the Sandhills were unique. Just days after his 21st birthday, he acquired 160 acres near Merriman. He began raising Shorthorn cattle, but eventually settled on Herefords for the herd at his Barr 99 Ranch north of town.
In 1894, Bowring built and lived in a sod house until 1908, when he married a local schoolteacher, Anna Mabel Holbrook. He began building a small, frame house for his new bride. But tragedy struck in August 1909 when Anna and their newborn son died in childbirth during a violent thunderstorm, with Arthur stuck miles away working in the hayfield.