At 79, former Fremont County Sheriff Tim McKinney still stands tall and ramrod straight on his family’s 2,700-acre ranch.

His roots in the ground where his cowboy boots stand on go back to the late 1930s when his parents leased the land from a major sheep rancher.

In the late '40s they bought the property that includes the site of the historic Derby Stage Station that sits along U.S. Highway 287, 14 miles southwest of Lander.

Previous to the 1930s, McKinney’s grandfather and great-grandfather also worked and ranched on nearby lands.

An album filled with family history includes a story about a noted U.S. Forest Service ranger who worked at Yosemite National Park from 1907 to 1921 and died while on patrol.

“My great-great-grandpa on my great-grandma’s side was Jack Gaylor,” McKinney sai

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