Joseph Ditlinger, one of the representative and progressive stockmen of northern Wyoming, was born on October 5, 1862, in Jennings county, Indiana, where his parents, Adam and LaBelle Ditlinger, were prosperous farmers, having come there from their native state of Georgia, and carried on their farming industry successfully, until the death of the father in 1887, and there the mother is still living on the old homestead. Joseph remained at home until he was fourteen years old, attending the public school in his vicinity as he had opportunity, and then, in 1876, he went to Nevada, where he worked on ranches and rode the range until 1881. He then came to Wyoming, locating at Cheyenne, and engaged in freighting for two years from that town to the northern part of the state for cattle outfits. In 1883, he settled in Crook county, there finding congenial employment as a range rider and cowboy until the autumn of 1887, when he took up the ranch on which he now lives on Horse Creek, thirty-seven miles north of Gillette, where he has since remained, engaged in raising sheep and horses on a scale of increasing magnitude. His business is prosperous and progressive, because he makes it so. His energy and his diligent attention to its every detail, his readiness in action, quickness of perception and breadth of view, combined with his knowledge of men and business methods, give him full command of the situation, and would compel success, even if conditions were unfavorable, which they are not, for his ranch is well located, substantially improved and highly cultivated. Its natural facilities for his enterprise have been concentrated, intensified and systemized by care and labor, having been by him many times multiplied in their productiveness. In politics Mr. Ditlinger is an uncompromising republican, who always takes an active interest in the affairs of his party, giving its principles and candidate loyal and serviceable support, yet seeking none of its honors for himself. He is deeply interested in the welfare of the community in which he lives, being ready to aid in the development of every good enterprise for the advancement and improvement of the county or state. Fraternally, he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, holding membership in the lodge at Gillette, and in church relations is a Catholic.
