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While gold mining in Nelson Gulch near Helena, Montana, Welsh American 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. He homesteaded about 9 miles (14 km) upstream from where the Sun River joined the Missouri River. He returned to Helena and filed paperwork to claim the land, and learned he was the first to file for a homestead in Chouteau County.  Although Vaughn started by farming, he quickly turned to ranching. He imported many pure-bred cattle and horses, and his horses were some of the best in the state.

Vaughn's wife Elizabeth died of complications from childbirth on January 13, 1888. Crushed by her passing, Vaughn determined to sell his ranch and move into the neighboring city, Great Falls. Vaughn sold his ranch in 1890 to "Captain" Thomas Couch, a Cornish immigrant, miner, and manager of the Boston and Montana Consolidated Copper and Silver Mining Company in Great Falls.

In 1890, the North Western Coal and Navigation Company built the Great Falls & Canada Railway, a narrow gauge railway running from Sweet Grass, Montana (at the Canada–US border) to the Robert Vaughn Ranch.^[6] Meant for coal transport to Lethbridge, Alberta, the railroad was named the "Turkey Trail". The railroad led to a settlement around its last stop, and in 1910 Couch settled a town there. This town he named Vaughn, after Robert Vaughn.