Cross Ranch Mercantile - An Oasis On The Little Powder

In the year 2024, few general stores in the old time sense are still in operation, where a customer is able to enter the locally owned store in a small town and come out with just about anything their heart desires.

One such place still exists, right here in Powder River County – Cross Ranch Mercantile, in Biddle, providing the only services between Broadus and Gillette.

We visited the store recently, where owners Nathan and Connie Rumph gave us a VIP tour of one of the coolest places around; where a customer can buy a gallon of milk, box of roofing nails, a package of fresh pork chops, box of rifle ammo, case of beer, a hydraulic hose for the baler, and a pair of wiper blades and a set of new tires for their Cadillac.

The store was originally opened in the early 1910s at the Cross Ranch buildings, across the Little Powder River from where Biddle sits today. In 1923, according to Echoing Footsteps, the store was moved over to its current location by owners Mr. and Mrs. Warner Jones.

In 1949, Roland (Roly) Rumph, Nathan's father, purchased the store. Roland was born in 1916, and grew up on Butte Creek. During the Depression years, he worked at a Civilian Conservation Corps camp on the Custer Forest. There he learned the trade of a store keeper, when he took over the camp store after he was sidelined following a wrist injury he suffered while trying to jump several soapboxes on roller-skates.

Roly and his wife, Erma, who had worked as a "Rosie The Riveter" in WW2, mounting machine gun brackets on B-17 bombers, would run the store for 27 years, adding the current building which houses the store in 1968.

In the early days, a wholesaler from Belle Fourche provided grocery and other items to the store, as well as to general stores that are no longer open, on Ranch Creek, and in Wyoming at Rocky Point, Weston, and Recluse.

Roly acted as Biddle Postmaster for many years before the post office was separated from the store.

In 1976, newlyweds Nathan and Connie took over so Roly could concentrate on ranching duties.

Erma passed away at age 96, in 2015; Roly passed away in 2016, at age 100.

Nathan grew up around the store in between helping out on the family ranch, telling us he remembered playing kick the can with his siblings in the highway in front of the store when they were kids (when traffic was greatly reduced compared to today).

Nathan and Connie have four children – Mandy, Christopher, Alex, and Nicole, and 13 grandkids. Alex was helping out at the store when we visited.

When entering the store, a customer will often find a friendly member of the Rumph family working the till, while community members congregate at the store to hear the latest news.

The old cash register from the Rumph's original store is on display upon entering the store.

Nathan prides himself on having an extensive knowledge of the parts needed for a customer to get their household or ranch equipment back in working order, and we saw that knowledge in action firsthand as customers stopped in with questions – Nathan transitioned from answering questions on winterizing a house to testing for a bad vehicle battery, all while handling a delivery of an order of fresh Montana sourced pork chops, as he simultaneously showed us around and answered our questions.

Nathan seemed to hold an encyclopedia-like knowledge of the store, garnered from 48 years of ownership, as he went down the rows pointing out the goods held therein.

A small sample of the offerings at the store include but are not limited to: stamps, ammunition, office supplies, grass and fertilizer, clothing, household cleaning supplies, batteries of all sizes, eggs, milk, Wilcoxson's ice cream, plumbing, roller chain, a large selection of hand tools and power tools, as well as bolts, fittings, and just about everything a person needs to keep their home or ranch operating.

NAPA parts are also available through the store, and are delivered several times a week. A full assortment of hydraulic hose ends are also available for custom hoses.

Cross Ranch Mercantile also boasts "the cleanest bathrooms anywhere," as Nathan described the rooms, which are accented by soothing pictures from locales such as Venice, Italy.

Outside the store itself, gas and diesel fuel are available for purchase, as well as an extensive tire shop featuring mounting and balancing, and tires from semi truck tires to passenger car to atv and side by side tires. Propane, and oxygen/acetylene bottles are available, as are welding supplies and steel, pipe and pumps for water wells, oil in quantities up to 55 gallon drums, a large selection of fencing supplies, as well as animal feed and supplements available for purchase.

Nathan told us that despite the oil boom in nearby Belle Creek in the '70s, what really has kept the store running all these years is the traffic on Hwy 59, as well as the locals.

The store is open seven days a week, which Nathan tells us comes in handy for many customers who may have trouble sourcing parts on a weekend. Folks have flown in on their private planes from locales such as Ekalaka, landing on the county road in order to attain parts to get their haying equipment back in business.

What does the future hold for one of the few general stores left in the area? That question is a bit uncertain, but for now the Rumphs plan on continuing to serve the community.

"We appreciate our customers" he smiled as he thought back on the wide array of ranchers, hunters, curious passersby, and any manner of folk who have entered the doors of Cross Ranch Mercantile over the decades. Many who left were no doubt eager to return – and that was the feeling we had following our visit, eager to return to a family run general store, with about anything a person needs, run by knowledgeable, friendly folks.