in 1885, richard's elder brother, deforest richards, moved west to open a bank in the boomtown of chadron, nebraska, which had just been reached by the fremont, elkhorn and missouri valley railroad. that year, congress also passed the van wyck fence law, which prohibited barbed wire fences from blocking cattle roads to market and access to water sources. bartlett was named vice president of the bank and in 1887 became president of chadron's first national bank, in addition to his ranching activities.