This marker, placed by the Daughters of the American Revolution and History Nebraska, stands at a small rest stop on the west side of NE 27 just north of NE 2 in Ellsworth. It tells the story of Bartlett Richards's Spade Ranch, which grew to about 500,000 acres by 1900; Richards was convicted in the land-fencing cases and died in prison. The Bixby family owns the core of the ranch today. The 1898 ranch store, now Morgan's Cowpoke Haven, is nearby.