Major Seth Mabry, a former Confederate Army officer, came to the Redwater Valley about 1883, driving a heard of longhorns from Texas. President of the Mabry Cattle Co., he branded with a plain circle iron. From the brand, the operator became known as the Circle Ranch. They sold three to four thousand beeves each fall for about 13 years.
Other cattlemen ran the ranch until about 1900 when Peter Dreyer and Hans Grue bought it and used it as a summer camp for sheep and as a stop-over for themselves and other ranchers going to and from Glendive. Two bachelors supposedly cared for the ranch, but also ran a saloon there. Since strong drink spoiled the sheepherders' work habits, Dreyer and Grue offered the place the Dreyer's brother-in-law, Peter Rorvik, in 1903. During an absence of the saloonkeepers, the Rorviks and their six children moved in. The next summer saw 100,000 sheep on the Redwater River. The herders and ranchers needed a supply source, so Rorvik opened a store on the ranch.
So began the town of Circle about one-half mile southwest of here. In 1907, the surrounding lands were opened to homesteading and the area has been producing grain as well as livestock ever since.
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