Editing Vaughn, Montana (section)

==History==
While trying to make his fortune gold mining in Nelson Gulch near what is now [[Helena, Montana]], [[Welsh American]] immigrant Robert Vaughn became convinced that Montana was excellent ranching and farming country. In the fall of 1869, he traveled into [[Chouteau County, Montana]], which at the time covered nearly a sixth of the state. About {{convert|9|mi|km}} upstream from where the Sun River joined the Missouri River, he decided to homestead. He returned to Helena and filed paperwork to claim the land, and learned he was the first individual to formally file for a homestead in Chouteau County.<ref>Vaughn, p. 64.</ref><ref name="W12">Walters, p. xii.</ref> Although Vaughn started out farming, he quickly turned to ranching. He imported a large number of pure-bred cattle and horses, and his horses were some of the best in the state.<ref name="W12" />

Vaughn's young wife, Elizabeth, died of complications from childbirth on January 13, 1888.<ref>Vaughn, p. 72-73.</ref> Devastated by her death, Vaughn determined to sell his ranch and move into nearby Great Falls.  Vaughn sold his ranch in 1890 to "Captain" Thomas Couch, a Cornish immigrant and expert miner who managed the [[Boston and Montana Consolidated Copper and Silver Mining Company]] in Great Falls.<ref name="W12" />

In 1890, the [[North Western Coal and Navigation Company]] constructed the Great Falls & Canada Railway, a [[narrow-gauge railway]] ({{convert|3|ft|m|adj=on}}) which ran from [[Sweet Grass, Montana]] (at the [[Canada–United States border|Canada–US]] border) to a terminus adjacent to the Robert Vaughn Ranch.<ref>Poor, p. 242.</ref> Designed to carry coal to [[Lethbridge, Alberta]], the railroad was dubbed the "Turkey Trail". The railroad led to settlement around the terminus, and in 1910 Couch platted a town there.  This town he named Vaughn, after Robert Vaughn.<ref>Aarstad, et al., p. 278.</ref>