Some partnerships are successful, while others or not. Family partnerships are in a league of their own. Today we examine the ranch partnership of Perrin D. Hurlbut and Lewis Knudson. The two men were brother-in-laws, as they married sisters. Perrin was married to Mary Bancroft and Lewis to Emma Bancroft .

In the fall of 1863, Hurlbut & Knudson settled in Willow Creek Valley, just north of Susanville. The two sisters, along their respective children, remained in Wisconsin for several years until men had suitable accommodations. In 1878, the Hurlbut-Knudson partnership dissolved. Knudson retain the ranch, while Hurlbut purchased Adam Jakobs’ sawmill on Willow Creek, approximately ten miles west. The Hurlbut family remained in the sawmill business until. 1920 when they sold the Red River Lumber Company. Lewis Knudson retired in 1903, and turned ranch over his daughter Mary Edna and her husband James Streshley. In January 1955, the Streshley family sold Fred and Vivian Hansen.

Tim