The man known as "The Count" was a man of noble birth from Paris, France who decided to try his hand at ranching and trading. He came before the railway and general settlement.

Those who spoke of him either forgot his name or had never even heard it. There is a document that puts the Count South of Bowsman in May of 1897 and states that he came there at that time.

What is amazing about this man is that he cleared and broke twelve acres by that November and built a large house of 35 by 76 feet, a chicken house, two stables, a tool shed, and some yard fencing. He also opened trails, made small bridges over creeks and began a bridge over the Woody River.

The Count was described to as being young, debonair, and charming. He was 27 years old and single. His ranch was described as consisting one hundred head of cattle, fifteen horses and some "small stock", probably the chickens he built the shelter for and a few sheep.

We can only speculate on how this noble gentleman found his way from Paris, France to this isolated spot on a river in the Swan River Valley of the Northwest Territories. The following bit of history can be offered as a theory.

In the late 1800's we find three such gentlemen from France, Count Montreval, Count de la Bord, and Count Stent Seine, in the vicinity of Fort Pelly. Having come to Canada in 1891, Montreval heard of fortunes to be made in the north west from trading and induced the other two to join him in such a business venture. Before their arrival in Fort Pelly, it is said they had become acquainted with the town of Yorkton where they lived lavishly for a time, spending freely, making known their intentions of establishing a series of trading posts from the Touchwood Hills on the Carlton Trail to Swan River.

Their first trading post was built near Fort Pelly, a short distance north and east of the Reverend Settee's old house on Snake Creek. A cattle ranch and store was also established on the Woody River. Montreval was in charge of these establishments. From the amount of development that occurred on the Woody River from May to November of 1987 as the Squater's Declaration indicates, quite a number of people must have been employed by the Count.

Life at the ranch was dull and hard compared to what the Count was accustomed to, so feeling inclined to seek exitement elsewhere, he left to winter in France so some say, leaving Percy "Kid" Field with a native helper to manage the ranch and store, while another brother, Spencer Field, minded the store near Fort Pelly. As winter progressed, most of the stock died from lack of feed and attention and for other reasons. The goods in both stores gradually dissapeared-some say people were left to help themselves and keep tract of their accounts. It was not long before the capital was used up and the enterprise went into financial ruin. The other two came from Pelly to investigate, resulting in Montreval being accused of fraud, mismanagement and misuse of money. A fight ensued, Montreval was struck - a terrible insult to a man of noble birth! All partnership vanished as did the three counts from the Fort Pelly-Swan River vicinity.

Was the Count really guilty of fraud and mismanagement? His own poor knowledge of finance and lack of interest were likely the reasons for the short duration of the ranch and posts. He also had little knowledge of ranching and conditions of the country. Competition from the other free traders in the area did not help and could have been deliberately designed for the Count's failure.