In 1893, he played a prominent role in the establishment of the Agricultural College of the State of Montana by donating land and facilities.

[3] In 1863, Story left Colorado with pack mules and ox teams and headed for Montana territory.

Within a few months Story made $30,000 in gold; he exchanged it for $20,000 in cash and traveled to Fort Worth, Texas.

[2] Later, as a merchant operating in the Bannack and Virginia City, Montana, Story participated in the vigilante committees that ultimately hanged 21 criminals, including Henry Plummer.

[5] In 1866, Nelson Story traveled to Texas and spent $10,000 for 1000 (some accounts indicate possibly as many as 3000) head of Longhorn cattle.

Give or take, about 260,000 cattle were driven north from Texas that summer toward the nearest rail shipping point at Sedalia, Missouri, in hopes of selling them there for a quick profit.

While the tribes previously had tolerated the passage of a few herds, an exodus of this magnitude threatened their ability to support their own grazing cattle.

Here the Jayhawkers stopped cattle drives cold, stealing some herds and generally forcing the rest to stay in the Indian Territory.

At Fort Phil Kearny, between present day Buffalo and Sheridan, Wyoming, the U.S. Army ordered Story and his drovers to stop because of aggression by Sioux warriors led by Red Cloud.

Story ignored the order, evaded the Army, and continued the drive into Montana, encountering and fighting Sioux warriors along the way.

Story and the herd arrived in what is now Livingston, Montana, in December 1866 and established winter quarters for his men and cattle.

In 1870, when placer mining in Montana was starting to decline, Story and his ranch in the Paradise Valley had become the leading cattleman in the northern plains.

[6][10] Some credit Story with naming the now famous Paradise Valley for its grand scenery and abundant wildlife.

This mill produced up to 100 bushels a day and was a major source of flour for the U.S. Army at Fort Ellis and for the Crow Indian Reservation in southeastern Montana.

The elder Story then retired and move back to Bozeman but died in Los Angeles on March 10, 1926.

[21] Story donated 160 acres (65 ha) of land in 1893 for an agricultural college that became Montana State University.

[12] Nelson and Ellen Story are buried in Sunset Hills Cemetery, Bozeman, Montana along with several of their children.

These were once the marble front porch columns to his original house in Bozeman when it was built on Main Street.