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iAnnals  of  Wyoming 


January    1948 


A  HISTORICAL  MAGAZINE 


No.  1 


Lander,  Wyoming:,  1899 


Published  Biannually  by 
THE  WYOMING  HISTORICAL  DEPARTMENT 

Cheyenne,  Wyoming 


STATE  HISTORICAL  BOARD 

Lester  C.  Hunt,  President . Governor 

Arthur  G,  Crane - Secretary  of  State 

Everett  T.  Copenhaver State  Auditor 

C.  J.  "Doc"  Rogers State  Treasurer 

Edna  B.  Stolt Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction 

Mary  A.  McGrath,  Secy State  Librarian  and  Historian  Ex  Officio 


STATE    HISTORICAL    ADVISORY    BOARD 


Mrs.  Mary  Jester  Allen,  Cody 

Frank  Barrett,  Lusk 

George  Bible,  Rawlins 

Mrs.  T.  K.  Bishop,  Basin 

C.  Watt  Brandon,  Kemmerer 

J.  Elmer  Brock,  Kaycee 

Struthers  Burt,  Moran 

Mrs.  Elsa  Spear  Byron,  Sheridan 

Mrs.  G.  C.  Call,  Afton 

Oliver  J.  Colyer,  Torrington 

William  C.  Deming,  Cheyenne 

E.  A.  Gaensslen,  Green  River 

Hans  Gautschi,  Lusk 


Burt  Griggs,  Buffalo 

D.  B.  Hilton,  Sundance 

Joe  Joffe,  Yellowstone  Park 

Mrs.  J.  H.  Jacobucci,  Green  River 

P.  W.  Jenkins,  Big  Piney 

W.  C.  Lawrence,  Moran 

Mrs.  Eliza  Lythgoe,  Cowley 

A.  J.  Mokler,  Casper 

Charles  Oviatt,  Sheridan 

Mrs.  Minnie  Reitz,  Wheatland 

Mrs.  Effie  Shaw,  Cody 

John  Charles  Thompson,  Cheyenne 

Russell  Thorp,  Cheyenne 


STAFF  PERSONNEL 

of 

THE  WYOMING   HISTORICAL   DEPARTMENT 

and 

STATE  MUSEUM 

Mary  A.  McGrath,  Editor  .  State  Librarian  and  Historian  Ex  Officio 
Catherine  E.  Phelan,  Co-Editor Assistant  Historian 


Copyright  1948,  by  the  Wyoming  Historical  Department 


M^(ils  of  Wyoming 

Vol.  20  January  1948  No.  1 


Contents 


The  Congressional  Career  of  Senator  Francis  E.  Warren 

from  1890  to  1902 3 

By  Anne  Carolyn  Hansen. 

Stage  Ride  from  Rawlins  to  the  Wind  River 

Boarding  School,  1897 50 

By  Colonel  Richard  Hulbert  Wilson. 

The  Wyoming  Stock  Growers'  Association  Political 

Power  in  Wyoming  Territory,   1873-1890 61 

By  W.  Turrentine  Jackson. 

Address  Delivered  at  Fort  Laramie,  Wyoming,  July  2,  1947, 
at  a  meeting  of  Pioneer  Citizens  with  Officials  of  the 
Pioneer  Trails  Association 85 

By  L.  C.  Bishop. 

Accessions 92 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Street  scene  at  Lander,  Wyoming,  1897 Cover 

Senator  Francis  E.  Warren 2 

Senator  J.  M.  Carey 60 

Horse  Shoe  Station  Plan 84 

Platte  Bridge  Station  Plan 89 


Printed  by 

WYOMING  LABOR  JOURNAL 

Cheyenne,  Wyoming 


Francis  Emroy  Warren 


Zke  Congress  10 ml  Career 

of 
Senator  Francis  S.  Warren  from  1890  to  1902 

By  ANNE  CAROLYN  HANSEN* 


Chapter  I 

WARREN'S  EARLY  YEARS  IN  WYOMING 

The  story  of  the  early  years  of  Francis  Emroy  Warren 
in  Wyoming  is  intimately  connected  with  the  history  of 
the  economic  and  political  development  of  the  state  and 
particularly  of  Cheyenne,  the  capital  of  the  so-called  Cattle 
Kingdom.  Warren  came  to  Cheyenne  in  1868  when  the 
little  cattle  town  was  the  "end  of  the  track"  of  the  advanc- 
ing Union  Pacific  railhead.  Years  later  Warren  thus  de- 
scribed his  first  impression  of  Cheyenne: 

Cheyenne  was  then  a  city  of  shanties  and  tents, 
camps  and  covered  wagons.  The  people  were  mi- 
gratory. The  railroad  having  built  further  on, 
everyone  was  discussing  the  probability  of  a  perma- 
nent town,  and  the  prevailing  idea  seemed  to  be, 
that  in  six  months  hardly  a  stake  would  be  left  to 
mark  the  location  of  Cheyenne  .  .  .  There  was  then 
not  a  graded  street,  ditch,  sewer  or  crossing  in  the 
town — nothing  but  a  lot  of  tents  and  shanties, 
dropped  down  or  thrown  together  on  the  bare 
prairie,  covering  space  enough,  perhaps,  to  make  a 
large  city.^ 


"Anne  Carolyn  Hansen  was  born  in  Denver,  Colorado  but  spent  her 
childhood  in  Wyoming  where  her  father  operated  a  sheep  ranch  in 
Carbon  County.  She  received  her  A.  B.  from  the  University  of  Wyo- 
ming with  honors  in  1941  and  her  Masters  degree  in  History  from  the 
University  of  Wyoming  in  1942.  In  1942  Miss  Hansen  acted  as  grad- 
uate assistant  at  the  University  of  Wyoming  and  since  that  time  has 
been  employed  by  the  Federal  Government  in  Washington,  D.  C,  and 
in  Denver,  Colorado. 

^B>alt  Lake  Tribune,  December  2,  1917.  This  article  gives  a  sketch 
of  Warren's  life  and  career.  It  is  preserved  in  the  Warren  Collection 
in  the  University  of  Wyoming  Library. 


4  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

At  the  time  of  Warren's  arrival  in  Wyoming  the  cattle 
industry,  which  was  to  assume  such  dominance  in  the 
economic  life  of  the  state,  was  already  on  the  point  of  rapid 
expansion.  The  building  of  the  railroad  had  expanded  the 
market  for  the  cattlemen  who  previously  had  been  depen- 
dent on  mining  camps  and  military  posts  for  the  sale  of 
their  beef.  Not  only  did  the  construction  workers  and  the 
inhabitants  of  the  ephemeral  railroad  town  provide  a  local 
market  for  beef,  but  the  railroad  meant  a  means  of  ship- 
ping stock  to  eastern  markets.  In  the  seventies,  herds  of 
Texas  long-horns  stocked  the  Western  Plains.  In  The  Day 
of  the  Cattlevnan,  Osgood  presents  this  table  to  illustrate 
the  increasing  number  of  cattle  shipped  from  Wyoming 
ranches  in  the  seventies  ;2 

Year  Carloads 

1873  286 

1874  738 

1875  975 

1876  1,344 

1877  1,649 

Cheyenne,  the  capital  of  the  new  territory  of  Wyoming, 
was  the  headquarters  of  the  cattle  business  and  the  center 
of  the  large  supply  trade  being  conducted  with  the  range 
country.  By  1890,  when  Warren  became  the  first  governor 
of  the  newly  created  state  of  Wyoming,  Cheyenne  had  a 
population  of  over  eleven  thousand. 

Warren  was  born  in  Hinsdale,  Massachusetts,  on  June 
20,  1844,  the  son  of  hard  working  New  England  farmers, 
descendants  of  Arthur  Warren  who  emigrated  from  Eng- 
land about  1635.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  left  home  to  work 
on  a  neighboring  farm.  Later  he  became  foreman  of  a 
dairy  farm,  and  by  means  of  the  wages  he  saved,  he  suc- 
ceeded in  securing  for  himself  two  years  of  study  at  Hins- 
dale Academy.  Warren  was  seventeen  years  old  at  the 
time  the  Civil  War  began,  and  in  the  following  year,  on 
September  11,  1862,  he  enlisted  in  Company  C  of  the  49th 
Massachusetts  Infantry.  By  the  next  spring  he  was  ad- 
vanced to  the  rank  of  corporal.  At  Port  Hudson,  Louisiana, 
he  was  one  of  a  group  of  volunteers  sent  ahead  to  carry 
timber  and  fascines  to  fill  up  a  ditch  in  front  of  the  earth 
works  of  the  fort,  so  that  the  artillery  and  other  troops 
might  cross  for  a  storming  attack.  The  mission  was  a  dan- 
gerous one,  and  although  many  of  his  comrades  were  killed, 


2Ernest    Staples    Osgood,    The  Day    of   the    Cattleman    (Minneapolis: 
University  of  Minnesota  Press,  1929),  p.  51. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  5 

Warren  escaped  with  a  scalp  wound.  For  this  act  of  bravery 
Warren  was  awarded  the  Congressional  Medal  of  Honor. ^ 

Warren  was  honorably  discharged  from  the  army  at 
the  close  of  the  war  and  he  returned  to  his  home  in  Hinsdale 
where  he  resumed  his  former  occupation  of  farming.  Here 
he  remained  until  the  spring  of  1868  when  he  went  west  to 
Des  Moines,  Iowa,  to  accept  a  position  as  foreman  of  a  con- 
struction crew  on  the  Rock  Island  railroad  line.  He  had 
been  working  in  Iowa  for  several  weeks  when  he  received 
a  letter  from  A.  R.  Converse,  a  former  resident  of  Hinsdale, 
who  had  a  mercantile  business  in  Cheyenne.  Converse  was 
ill  and  begged  Warren  to  come  to  Cheyenne  to  help  him  in 
managing  his  business.  In  accordance  with  the  wishes  of 
his  friend,  Warren  left  Iowa  and  arrived  in  Cheyenne  in 
May  1868. 

Warren  soon  became  interested  in  almost  every  phase 
of  the  economic  development  of  Cheyenne.  In  1878  he 
acquired  the  stock  and  mercantile  interests  of  Converse, 
and  in  1883  the  Warren  Mercantile  Company  was  organized. 
His  real  estate  interests  included  the  building  of  the  Warren 
block,  the  First  National  Bank  Building,  the  Commercial 
Building,  the  Union  Block,  Phoenix  Block,  and  the  station 
of  the  Cheyenne  and  Burlington  Railroad.  Some  idea  of 
Warren's  early  investments  in  Wyoming  may  be  gained 
from  this  partial  list  of  stock  holdings: 

Date  of  Number 

Purchase  Shares 

1881  Keystone  Gold  Mining  and  Milling  250 

1883  Cheyenne  Carriage  Company  20 

1885  Crow  Creek  Ditch  Company  38 

1885  Cheyenne  Messenger  and  Telegraph  Comj^any  25 

1888  W.  Va.  and  Wyo.  Petroleum  and  Natural  Gas'  Company  100 

1889  Cheyenne  Investment  Company  100 
1889  Wyoming  Phonograph  Company  250 
1893  Cheyenne  Street  Eailway  Company  528 

Cheyenne  Opera  House  and  Library  Company  400 


3lii  May  1892,  Senator  Hale  introduced  in  the  Senate  a  bill  to 
authorize  the  Secretary  of  War  to  issue  medals  of  honor  to  the  sur- 
vivors of  the  Port  Hudson  storming  party  of  June  15,  1863.  Warren, 
now  United  States  Senator  from  Wyoming,  offered  an  amendment  to 
include  the  survivors  of  the  Port  Hudson  storming  party  of  May  25, 
1863  of  which  he  had  been  a  member.  Senator  Cockrell  objected 
because,  he  said,  the  latter  were  already  provided  for  under  the  stat- 
utes. Warren 's  amendment  was  rejected  by  the  Senate.  Congressional 
Record,  53  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  May  23,  1892,  p.  4541.  In  1916  Warren 
received  a  certificate  entitling  him  to  a  pension  of  twenty-nine  dollars 
a  month.  After  June  30,  1919,  he  was  entitled  to  receive  thirty-two 
doUars  and  fifty  cents  a  month.  Pension  certificate  No,  1,171,725. 
Warren  Collection. 


6  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

The  Cheyenne  Investment  Company,  which  was  incorpo- 
rated in  1889  with  Warren  as  one  of  the  trustees,  had  a 
charter  which  gave  it  a  right  to  lend  money;  construct 
ditches,  canals,  pipe  lines,  etc.;  conduct  a  slaughter  house 
business;  deal  in  livestock;  construct  railways;  construct 
and  maintain  water  and  Hghting  works;  maintain  a  mercan- 
tile business;  and  many  other  diverse  activities.  During 
the  year  ending  December  31,  1890,  the  company  had  sold 
$20,525  worth  of  real  estate.  The  Cheyenne  Street  Railway 
Company  was  incorporated  for  $500,000  and  obtained  a  fran- 
chise from  the  city  to  maintain  and  operate  a  street  car 
line  in  Cheyenne.  In  1892  the  company  had  a  total  deficit 
of  $8,500. 

The  Brush-Swan  Electric  Company  was  incorporated 
August  2,  1882,  with  a  capitalization  of  $100,000.  The  trus- 
tees were  Morton  E.  Post,  Francis  E.  Warren,  Thomas  Stur- 
gis,  Joseph  M.  Carey,  and  William  C.  Irvine.  The  purpose 
of  the  company,  according  to  the  charter  was  "to  establish 
and  maintain  a  system  of  electric  lighting."  Warren  was 
elected  president,  and  a  contract  was  made  with  the  city 
of  Cheyenne  to  provide  twenty-two  electric  arc  lamps  for 
five  thousand  dollars  a  year.  Cheyenne  is  supposed  to  have 
been  the  first  city  in  the  world  to  use  the  incandescent 
electric-lighting  system  from  a  central  station,  Warren 
was  also  president  of  the  Cheyenne  Gas  Company,  and  in 
1888  he  negotiated  a  merger  between  the  two  companies. 
In  1900  the  merger  was  completed  to  form  the  Cheyenne 
Light,  Fuel,  and  Power  Company.  At  that  time  Warren 
controlled  947  of  the  total  one  thousand  shares  of  stock  of 
the  Brush-Swan  Company.^ 

Warren  was  greatly  interested  in  the  development  and 
construction  of  railroads  in  Wyoming.  He  proposed  and 
affected  the  organization  of  the  Cheyenne  and  Northern 
Railroad  Company,  becoming  its  president. ^  This  road  was 
built  northward  one  hundred  and  fifty-three  miles  from 
Cheyenne  to  make  a  connection  with  the  Wyoming  Central, 
a  branch  of  the  Northwestern  system.  The  assessed  valua- 
tion of  the  road  in  1898  was  $599,352.6  j^  1891  Warren  was 
one  of  the  trustees  of  a  railroad  project  to  run  a  line  through 


4An  article  in  ^the  Laramie  Daily  Boomerang,  September  6,  1890, 
claimed  that  the  city  of  Cheyenne  paid  Warren  $225  per  year  for 
each  light  used  in  the  public  streets  while  Denver  paid  $120  for  each 
light;  Boston,  Massachusetts,  paid  $180;  and  in  Decatur,  Illinois,  where 
the   plant   was   municipally   owned   the    cost   per   light   was   sixty   dollars. 

oSalt  Lake  Trihune,  loc.  cit. 

QState  of  Wyoming,  compiled  by  Charles  W.  Burdick,  (Cheyenne: 
Sun-Leader  Printing  House,  1898),  p.  110. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  7 

the  center  of  the  state  to  the  Big  Horn  Basin.''     For  some 
reason  this  project  was  never  carried  out. 

Warren's  biggest  investment  in  Wyoming  was  his  ranch 
and  livestock  business.  When  the  firm  of  Converse  and 
Warren  dissolved  in  1877,  Warren  bought  the  sheep  and 
ranch  interests  of  the  company.  At  different  times  he  was 
a  partner  of  the  firms  of  Guiterman  and  Warren,  engaged 
in  cattle  raising;  Miner  and  Warren,  engaged  in  sheep 
raising;  and  Post  and  Warren,  engaged  in  horse,  cattle,  and 
sheep  raising.  He  soon  became  one  of  the  largest  sheep 
growers  in  the  country.  Senator  Dolliver  once  called  War- 
ren "the  greatest  shepherd  since  Abraham."'^  The  Warren 
sheep  ranges  rapidly  grew  to  include  large  sections  of  land 
in  Wyoming  and  Colorado.  Osgood  gives  the  following 
picture  of  the  ranches  of  the  Warren  Livestock  Company 
as  described  in  the  Cheyenne  Daily  Sun  of  March  28,  1889: 

Like  the  cattle  growers,  the  sheepmen  began  to 
comibine  the  summer  pasturage  of  the  open  range 
with  the  winter  feeding  of  hay,  raised  on  privately 
owned  or  leased  land.  One  Wyoming  sheep  com- 
pany reported  in  1889  its  holdings  as  follows: 

Acres 

Land  in  fee  simple  96,000 
Leased  University  and  school  land  in 

Wyoming  and  Colorado  23,000 

Eange  rights  150,000 

Government  land  15,000 


Total  284,000 

The  portion  of  this  ranch  lying  south  of  the  Union 
Pacific  was  described  as  being  twenty-five  miles 
long  and  seven  miles  wide,  all  fenced,  partially  irri- 
gated by  thirty  miles  of  main  ditch  and  sixty-five 
miles  of  laterals.  Eighteen  hundred  tons  of  hay 
were  being  cut  yearly  to  feed  the  flocks,  which 
numbered  about  seventy  thousand  head.  The  com- 
pany maintained  thirty-eight  ranch  houses  and 
sheep  stations  scattered  over  this  area,  connected 
one  with  the  other  by  telephone.^ 

As   the    Warren   ranges    spread,    the    little   ranchers   were 
crowded  out.     There  was  considerable  ill  feeling  toward 


TNewcastle  News,  October  2,  1891.  Clipping  in  Warren  Scrapbook. 
The  Warren  Collection,  which  is  preserved  in  the  University  of  Wyo- 
oming  Library,   contains  many   scrapbooks. 

SLaramie  JVeeMy  Boomerang,  June  10,  1909. 

90sgood,  op.  cit.,  p.  229-30. 


8  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Warren  in  southern  Wyoming  and  the  extreme  northern 
part  of  Colorado  because  the  small  cattle  ranchers  felt 
that  they  were  unfairly  treated.  Newspapers  frequently 
told  of  conflicts  between  Warren's  herders  and  the  small 
cattle  men  in  the  vicinity.  The  Cheyenne  Leader,  in  1891, 
carried  stories  told  under  oath  of  "Senator  Warren's  sheep- 
herders  driving  out  the  small  settlers  in  the  neighborhood 
of  his  vast  range  or  forcing  them  to  sell  out  at  ridiculously 
low  figures. "10 

During  the  Roosevelt  administration,  Warren  became 
involved  in  charges  of  illegal  fencing.  In  1912  a  House 
Committee  was  appointed  to  investigate  the  charges 
that  the  Warren  Livestock  Company  was  illegally  fencing 
Government  land.  The  Committee  accepted  as  correct  an 
investigation  made  in  1906  by  E.  B.  Linnen,  Special  Land 
Inspector  for  the  Interior  Department.  Linnen  concluded 
that  the  Warren  Livestock  Company  had  46,330  acres  of 
Government  land  unlawfully  and  illegally  inclosed  by 
barbed  wire  fences  in  Laramie  County,  Wyoming,  and  1,120 
acres  unlawfully  fenced  in  Weld  County,  Colorado. ^^  Lin- 
nen said  in  his  report  that  practically  the  whole  southern 
portion  of  Laramie  County,  Wyoming,  was  unlawfully  in- 
closed by  fences  which  had  been  standing  for  fifteen  to 
twenty-four  years. ^^  Linnen  further  stated  on  the  basis 
of  depositions  taken  from  certain  settlers  in  southern  Wyo- 
ming: 

Persons  who  have  settled  on  lands  within  said 
unlawful  inclosures  have  been  harassed  by  said 
stockmen  and  their  employees  and  agents;  their 
stock  has  been  driven  off;  their  pastures  eaten  out 
by  the  stockmen's  sheep  and  cattle;  their  fences 
cut;  windows  broken  in  their  houses.  They  have 
been  threatened  and  intimidated  and  everything  has 
been  done  by  the  owners  of  said  illegal  fences  and 
their  agents  and  employees  to  make  it  uncomfort- 
able and  a  hardship  for  such  settlers  who  filed  with- 
in their  pastures  to  continue  to  live  there.  They 
have  forced  them  to  abandon  the  lands  so  filed  upon 
or  to  sell  out.i-^ 

A  further  charge  was  made  that  employees  of  the  company 
had  filed  on  desert  claims  without  complying  with  the  land 
laws,  and,  that  these  lands  when  secured,  had  been  deeded 


lOlhid.  p.  2-i.5. 

llEouse  Eeports,  62  Cong.,  3  Sess.,  1912-13,  I,  No.  1335,  *^  Unlawful 
Pencing   and   Inclosures   of   Certain  Lands,"   p.    4    (Serial   number   6334) 
l2IMd.,  p.  5. 
i3Xoc.  cit. 


*      THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  9 

to  the  company.  According  to  the  reports,  special  agents 
of  the  land  office  had  disregarded  the  protests  of  the  settlers 
against  the  activities  of  the  Warren  company.  Linnen  fur- 
ther asserted  that: 

There  is  at  this  point  a  strong  coterie  of  poli- 
ticians with  Senator  F.  E.  Warren  at  its  head.  This 
combination  controls  the  Federal  office  holders.  It 
seems  hardly  likely  that  honest  prosecution  can  be 
had  with  the  present  machinery  in  this  State,  and 
I  believe  it  will  be  found  as  necessary  to  make  radi- 
cal changes  here,  as  was  the  case  in  the  States  of 
Oregon  and  Nebraska. ^^ 

Warren  denied  the  truth  of  these  assertions.  He  ad- 
mitted that  the  Warren  Land  and  Livestock  Company  had 
purchased  sections  of  land  from  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad 
Company  and  that,  by  inclosing  these  railroad  sections  had 
inclosed  government  land.  He  further  claim.ed  that  when 
such  fencing  had  been  declared  illegal  the  company  had 
removed  its  fences. ^^ 

Many  livestock  companies  in  addition  to  Warren's  had 
resorted  to  the  practice  of  fencing  their  sections  of  railroad 
land  in  such  a  way  as  to  inclose  alternate  sections  of  gov- 
ernment land  to  secure  large  blocks  of  grazing  land  at  a 
low  cost  per  acre.  This  practice  was  made  possible  through 
the  policy  of  the  United  States  government  of  granting 
land  to  railroad  companies  to  aid  in  the  financing  of  the 
construction  of  new  lines.  Alternate  sections  of  lands  along 
the  lines  were  granted  to  the  companies  as  soon  as  the 
roads  were  completed  adjacent  to  those  lands.  Later  the 
railroads  adopted  the  policy  of  selling  their  lands  to  settlers 
at  prices  low  enough  to  allow  purchase  for  grazing  lands. 
In  the  eighties  the  Union  Pacific  Company  began  to  dispose 
of  their  arid  sections  for  grazing  and  ranch  lands.  In  1884 
the  company  sold  2,081,130  acres  in  southern  Wyoming. ^^ 
A  law  was  passed  in  1885  declaring  illegal  the  practice  of 
inclosing  government  land  by  fencing  railroad  lands.  But 
in  1888,  in  the  Douglas,  Willian-Sartoris  case,  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  Wyoming  Territory  declared  such  fencing  to 
be  legal.i'    Finally,  in  1895  the  United  States  Circuit  Court 


l4.Ihid.,  p.  7. 

loin  a  letter  to  President  Eoosevelt  dated  October  5,  1906,  Warren 
wrote,  ^'To  the  best  of  my  knowledge  and  belief  I  do  not  personally 
own  a  foot  of  illegal  fence!''    Ibid.,  p.  20ff. 

leOsgood,  op.  cit.,  p.  211. 

iTiMd.,  p.  213.  Osgood  discusses  the  decision  of  the  court  at  some 
length. 


]0  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

of  Appeals  upheld  the  validity  of  the  law  of  1885,  and  de- 
clared this  practice  of  inclosing  government  lands  illegal. 
President  Theodore  Roosevelt  seems  to  have  been  un- 
willing to  believe  that  the  charges  made  against  Warren 
were  correct.  In  1901  and  again  in  1903  Roosevelt  visited 
in  Wyoming  and  on  several  occasions  was  a  guest  at  War- 
ren's ranch.  During  one  visit  Roosevelt  wrote  from  Chey- 
enne to  his  friend,  Henry  Cabot  Lodge,  "Sunday  afternoon 
...  I  had  another  30  mile  ride — riding  up  to  Senator  War- 
ren's ranch;  where  we  dined  and  rode  back  by  moonlight."^* 
Apparently  Roosevelt  and  Warren  had  become  quite  friendly 
toward  each  other  for  as  early  as  1907  Lincoln  Steffens,  in 
a  letter  to  Roosevelt,  intimated  that  the  president  was 
"impatient"  with  the  gossip  about  Warren. ^^  In  a  letter 
to  Secretary  Hitchcock,  Roosevelt  called  certain  accusations 
made  by  Linnen  against  Warren  "loose"  and  "scurrilous.''^^ 
Warren  believed  that  he  had  convinced  Roosevelt  of  his 
innocence  when  he  wrote: 

...  I  had  blown  the  charges  to  atoms  and 
convinced  the  President,  Attorney  General  and  all 
hands  except  Hitchcock  and  his  henchmen  that  we 
were  free  from  any  illegal  fencing  or  fraudulent 
land  entries.21 

Warren  was  associated  with  Thomas  Sturgis-^  in  an 
attempt  to  bring  about  a  combination  in  the  cattle  business. 
The  cattle  industry  in  Wyoming  suffered  a  major  catas- 
trophe during  and  following  the  winter  of  1886-87.  Drought 
conditions  during  the  summer  were  followed  by  a  winter 
of  unusual  severity.  The  cattle,  their  vitality  already  low- 
ered because  of  a  lack  of  sufficient  feed,  were  unable  to 
withstand  the  deep  snow  and  bitter  cold.  Herds  were 
wiped  out,  many  cattlemen  became  bankrupt,  and  a  gen- 
eral unloading  of  stock  on  the  Chicago  market  caused  cattle 
prices  to  fall  ruinously.  One  of  the  failures  following  the 
winter  of  1886-87  was  that  of  the  Union  Cattle  Company. 


isSelections  from  the  Correspondence  of  Theodore  MooseveU  and  Henry^ 
Cabot  Lodge    (New  York:      Charles   Scribner's   Sons,   1925),   p.   23. 

l9The  Letters  of  Lincoln  Steffens  (New  York:  Harcoiirt  Brace  and 
Company,   1936),  I,   p.    183. 

20House  Eeports,  op.  cit.,  p.  33. 

2iLetter  from  Francis  E.  Warren  to  Hiram  Sapp,  January  25,  1909. 
Warren   Collection. 

22Thomas  Sturgis  was  elected  Secretary  of  the  Laramie  County 
Stock  Association  in  1876  and  served  in  that  capacity  until  his  resignation 
in  June  1887.  He  was  a  man  of  excellent  judgment  and  great  executive 
ability,  and  was  recognized  throughout  the  country  as  a  leader  in  the  cattle 
industry.    John  Clay,  My  Life  on  the  Eange  (Chicago,  1924),  p.  245. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  11 

The  president  of  the  company,  Thomas  Sturgis,  went  to 
New  York  where  he  organized  the  American  Cattle  Trust. 
This  was  apparently  an  attempt  to  ward  off  by  combination 
a  disaster  similar  to  that  of  the  previous  winter.  The  pur- 
pose of  the  Trust,  as  well  as  Warren's  attitude  toward  big 
business,  is  summarized  in  a  letter  to  Sturgis: 

In  the  Cattle  Trust  we  cannot  represent  the 
same  monopoly  of  product,  nor  the  same  combina- 
tion to  force  prices  on  the  entire  product,  as  can  the 
Oil  Trust,  Whiskey  Trust,  etc.  About  our  only 
claims,  so  far,  must  be  combination  with  the  slaugh- 
tering interest,  economy  of  range  handling  on  ac- 
count of  combination,  and  an  insurance  of  a  partial 
nature  by  combining  various  ranges  which  will  not 
all  suffer  severe  winters  together.  The  most  attrac- 
tive feature  of  Trusts  of  all  kinds,  in  my  mind,  is 
that  of  controlling  the  production  or  controlling  the 
selling  price,  or  both.^s 

Warren,  who  was  appointed  to  represent  the  Trust  in  Wyo- 
ming, held  $20,000  worth  of  certificates  in  the  Trust.  The 
enterprise  was  probably  short-lived  as  there  is  no  mention 
of  it  in  accounts  of  the  cattle  industry. 

Warren  was  one  of  the  bondsmen  of  Otto  Gramm, 
Wyoming  State  Treasurer  in  1896,  when  the  Kent  bank 
of  Cheyenne,  in  which  Gramm  had  deposited  $44,147.31 
of  the  state  funds,  failed.  John  W.  Lacey  and  Josiah  Van 
Orsdel  were  the  attorneys  for  the  defendants  in  the  case 
brought  against  the  bondsmen  by  Attorney  General  Fow- 
ler.^^  The  Supreme  Court  decided  that  the  provision  of 
the  law  which  said  that  the  state  funds  "should  be  received 
and  kept  by  the  State  Treasurer"  did  not  mean  that  they 
should  be  safely  kept.'-^  Justice  Corn,  the  only  Demo- 
cratic member  of  the  court,  dissented,  claiming,  "In  the 
case  of  money  if  it  is  kept  at  all  and  is  forthcoming  when 
required  it  is  kept  safely."-*^     He  further  maintained  that, 


23Letter  from  Warren  to  Sturgis,  August  18,  1887.  Warren  Trust 
Book.  (This  lettei  book  is  preserved  in  the  Warren  Collection,  Uni- 
versity  of   Wyoming  Library.) 

24John  W.  Lacey  was  brother-in-law  of  Willis  Van  Devanter  who 
was  appointed  to  the  Supreme  Court  bench  by  President  Taft.  Josiah 
Van  Orsdel  became  one  of  the  judges  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  in  the 
District  of  Columbia. 

^oCheyenne  Tribune,  March  11,  1898.     Clipping  in  Warren  Scrapbook. 

'^GCheyenne  Tribune,  March  11,  1898.     Clipping  in  Warren  Scrapbook. 


12  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

"There  is  no  issue  in  this  case  which  makes  such  a  distinc- 
tion between  keeping  safely  important  or  relevant."^^ 

Warren  had  a  long  and  varied  political  career  :n  the 
territory  and  state  of  Wyoming.  He  was  elected  to  the 
City  Council  of  Cheyenne  in  1883  and  1884.  He  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  territorial  legislature  and  was  president  of 
the  upper  branch  council  in  1884.  Also  in  1884  he  was 
elected  mayor  of  the  city  of  Cheyenne  and  was  made  treas- 
urer of  the  territory  of  Wyoming.  President  Arthur  ap- 
pointed Warren  governor  of  the  territory  a  few  days  before 
the  inauguration  of  President  Cleveland.  Cleveland  was 
disposed  to  let  Warren  remain  in  office  in  preference  to  a 
carpet  bagger  but  removed  him  in  1886  when  disturbing 
rumors  reached  him  that  Warren  was  a  "land  grabber" 
and  a  "cattle  baron.''^^  in  his  place  was  appointed  George 
W.  Baxter,  who  became  involved  in  charges  of  illegal  fenc- 
ing and  he,  too,  was  removed. ^^  Warren  claimed  that  his 
opposition  to  the  policies  of  Land  Commissioner  Sparks  and 
his  protest  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  about  the  regu- 
lations which  Sparks  imposed  upon  the  entries  for  public 
land  were  the  reasons  for  his  dismissal.^^  President  Har- 
rison reappointed  Warren  as  governor  of  the  territory  in 
1889. 

Warren  was  still  holding  this  appointment  when  on 
July  10,  1890,  in  the  presence  of  Joseph  M.  Carey,  delegate 
to  Congress  from  the  territory  of  Wyoming,  President  Har- 
rison signed  the  bill  making  Wyoming  a  state.  Warren  called 
the  first  state  election  for  September  11,  1890.  He  was 
given  the  Republican  nomination  for  candidate  as  governor 


^Tlbid.  Warren  in  1896  had  introduced  a  bill  in  Congress  intended 
to  relieve  the  bondsmen  from  paying  the  indebtedness  of  Postmaster  Masi 
inearred  by  the  failure  of  the  Cheyenne  National  Bank.  The  similarity 
of  the  two  cases  is  interesting.  Daily  Sun-Leader,  June  11,  1896.  Clipping 
in  Warren  Scrapbook. 

28Theodore  Knappen,  ' '  TTie  West  at  Washington,"  Nation,  105:411, 
October  11,  1917. 

29George  W.  Baxter  became  a  resident  of  Wyoming  in  1881  where 
he  entered  the  cattle  business.  He  was  appointed  governor  of  Wyo- 
ming Territory  in  November  1886,  but  resigned  in  December  of  the 
same  year  by  request  of  President  Cleveland.  Baxter  had  previously 
purchased  50,000  acres  of  land  from  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad.  He 
sold  20,000  acres  and  fenced  30.000.  In  order  to  fence  his  own  land 
it  was  necessary  to  inclose  the  alternate  sections  which  belonged  to 
the  public  domain.  Before  fencing,  Baxter  had  consulted  United  States 
attorneys  as  to  his  right  to  do  so.  In  1885,  however,  the  President 
had  issued  an  order  that  government  land  could  not  be  fenced  for 
range  purposes.  Baxter  was  a  Democrat  and  in  order  not  to  embarrass 
the  administration,  it  was  considered  advisable  for  him  to  resign  his 
office.  Francis  Birkhead  Beard,  Wyoming;  from  Territorial  Days  to  the 
Present,   (Chicago:   American  Historical  Society,  1933)   I,  p.  391. 

^OCheyenne  Daily  Sun,  April  10,  1891.     Clipping  in  Warren  Scrapbook. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  13 

while  his  Democratic  opponent  was  Baxter.  The  campaign 
v/as  intensely  bitter  and  both  sides  descended  to  personal 
animosities  and  slanderous  accusations.  The  Republican 
position  was  particularly  strong  because  that  party  claimed 
the  distinction  of  having  secured  Wyoming's  statehood. 

The  Democratic  press  resorted  to  publishing  stories  of 
Warren's  alleged  misconduct  in  office  and  his  use  of  political 
position  for  personal  profit.  He  was  accused  of  misrepre- 
senting the  value  of  the  sheep  held  by  the  Warren  Live- 
stock Company  for  purposes  of  assessment,  of  renting  office 
room  in  buildings  privately  owned  by  him  when  there  was 
sufficient  room  in  the  capitol  building,  and  of  buying  equip- 
ment for  the  governor's  office  from  his  own  mercantile 
store.  Warren  was  further  criticized  because  in  1885,  when 
he  was  governor  of  Wyoming,  he  had  called  for  federal 
troops  to  suppress  the  Chinese  riot  in  Rock  Springs.  This 
action  had  aroused  the  ill  feeling  of  the  miners  in  Sweet- 
water County.  Warren  was  portrayed  in  a  cartoon  as  pro- 
tecting the  Chinese  while  driving  the  white  miners  from 
their  work  with  the  aid  of  armed  police,  while  a  printed 
circular  signed  "Organized  Labor"  was  distributed  in  the 
mining  camps  accusing  Warren  of  trying  to  pack  a  jury 
in  order  to  secure  conviction  of  the  miners.  Joseph  Young, 
United  States  marshal  in  Sweetwater  County  at  the  time 
of  the  Chinese  riot,  had  signed  an  affidavit  to  the  effect  that 
Warren  had  approached  him  with  the  purpose  of  securing 
a  jury  unfavorable  to  the  miners. ^^  This  affidavit  was  used 
extensively  as  campaign  material  by  the  Democrats.  In 
spite  of  the  efforts  of  the  Democrats  to  defeat  him,  Warren 
was  elected  the  first  governor  of  the  state  of  Wyoming  by 
a  majority  of  1,726  votes  over  his  rival. 

The  first  state  legislature  convened  at  noon  on  Novem- 
ber 12,  1890,  and  six  days  later  Warren  was  elected  the 
second  United  States  senator  from  Wyoming  on  the  fifth 
ballot  with  twenty-nine  votes,  two  more  than  necessary. ^^ 
After  the  ballot  at  noon,  Warren  had  given  his  consent  to 
use  his  name,  "believing,"  he  said,  "it  would  either  result 
in  my  election  or  crystallize  the  situation  so  that  a  final 
result  would  be  reached."^^  On  Novem.ber  24,  eight  days 
later,  Warren  sent  his  resignation  as  governor  to  Amos  W. 
Barber,  Wyoming's  secretary  of  state.  On  the  same  day 
he  sent  a  letter  to  the  State  Legislature  accepting  the  sena- 
torship.     He  had  been  invited  to  address  the  Legislature 


SlLaramie  Daily  Boomerang,  August  18,  1890. 

32I])id.,  November  19,  1890.  Joseph  M.  Carey  was  elected  the  first 
United   States   senator  from   Wyoming  several   days   earlier. 

33Eva7iston  Begister,  November  22,  1890.  Clipping  in  Warren  Scrap- 
book. 


14  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

but  declined  on  a  plea  of  a  previous  engagement.  Warren's 
opponents  claimed  that  he  had  no  constitutional  right  to 
accept  the  position  as  a  provision  of  the  Wyoming  state 
constitution  stated  that  the  holder  of  the  office  of  governor 
could  not  accept  any  other  office.  His  supporters  refuted 
this  argument  on  the  grounds  that  a  state  has  no  right  to 
prescribe  the  qualifications  of  a  United  States  senator.  In 
Congress,  on  December  1,  the  credentials  of  Senators-elect 
C^^rey  and  Warren  were  presented  by  Senator  Hoar  and 
the  oath  of  office  was  administered. ^^  Drawing  by  lot  to 
determine  their  respective  terms,  Warren  drew  the  short 
term  expiring  March  3,  1893,  while  Carey  drew  the  longer 
term. 

Warren  was  not  reelected  in  1892.  Throughout  the 
campaign  the  Republicans  were  on  the  defensive  for  the 
cattlemen's  invasion  of  Johnson  County  had  aroused  the  an- 
tagonism of  the  settlers  and  the  small  ranchmen  and  spelled 
the  defeat  of  the  Cheyenne  political  machine. ^^  In  fear 
for  the  annihilation  of  the  cattlemen's  army,  Governor 
Barber  wired  President  Harrison  for  troops,  stating  that 
a  revolt  was  in  progress  and  law  and  order  must  be  restored. 
Harrison  authorized  troops  from  Fort  McKinney  to  be  sent 
to  the  scene  of  the  trouble.  According  to  an  article  in  the 
Chicago-Herald.  Barber  also  telegraphed  to  Senators  JoseDh 
M.  Carey  and  Francis  E.  Warren  at  Washington,  D.  C, 
asking  them  to  get  quick  action  from  President  Harrison. 
Late  at  night,  the  two  senators  immediately  called  upon 
Secretary  of  War  Grant  and  General  Schofield.  Schofield 
was  a  personal  friend  of  Major  Wolcott,  a  leader  of  the 
invasion.  The  president  was  aroused  from  his  bed  for  a 
consultation.'^'^  Warren  denied  that  he  had  any  knowledge 
of  the  invasion,  but  popular  feeling  undoubtedly  connected 
him  with  it.  Charles  Bingham  Penrose,  who  accompanied 
the  expedition  into  Johnson  County,  felt  confident  that 
both  Carey  and  Warren  knew  about  the  plans.^'^  Clay 
wrote,  "Behind  them  [the  cattlemen]  they  had  the  moral 
influence  of  the  two  senators,  Warren  and  Carey. "^^ 


^'^Congressional  Record,   51    Cong.,    2    Sess.,    December    1,    1890,   p.    1. 

350sgood,  op.  cit.,  p.  254.  The  Johnson  County  war  was  an  armed 
conflict  between  the  settlers  of  the  northern  part  of  Wyoming  and  the 
cattlemen.  The  cattlemen  claimed  that  the  settlers  were  harboring 
"rustlers"  or  cattle  thieves.  A  force  of  armed  men,  recruited  from 
other  states  by  the  cattlemen,  loft  Cheyenne  for  Buffalo,  April  5,  1892. 

36Robert  B.  Da\id,  Malcolm  Campbell,  Sheriff,  (Casper,  Wyoming: 
Wyomingana,  Inc.,  1932)  p.  260. 

^iThe  Johnson  County  War:  The  Papers  of  Charles  Bingham  Pen- 
rose, edited  by  Lois  Van  Valkenburgh,  p.  33.  (University  of  Wyo- 
ming thesis.) 

38aay,  op.  cit.,  p.  278. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  15 

The  Populists,  or  "People's  party,"  took  up  the  cause 
of  the  settlers.  At  their  first  national  convention,  held  at 
Omaha,  on  July  2,  1892,  a  resolution  was  adopted  by  a 
special  committee  which  condemned  "the  recent  invasion 
of  the  Territory  of  Wyoming  by  the  hired  assassins  of 
plutocracy,  assisted  by  federal  officials. "-^^  In  Wyoming 
fusion  between  the  Populists  and  Democrats  was  successful 
in  electing  John  E.  Osborne  as  governor  and  Henry  A. 
Coffeen  to  the  House  of  Representatives.^*^  The  first  state 
legislature  had  made  no  special  provision  for  a  board  to 
canvass  the  returns  from  the  election.  No  attempt  was 
m.ade  to  canvass  the  returns,  until  finally  on  December  2, 
Osborne  took  the  oath  of  office.  Acting  Governor  Barber 
protested  at  this  "usurpation  of  office"  and  claimed  that  all 
the  election  returns  had  not  been  received.  On  December  3, 
Osborne  issued  a  proclamation  asserting  that  the  "delay  was 
due  to  a  conspiracy  for  the  purpose  of  changing  the  results 
in  the  election  of  certain  members  of  the  Legislature,  and 
thus  insure  the  election  of  a  certain  aspirant  for  the  United 
States  Senate. "^1  Osborne  was  obviously  referring  to  the 
election  of  Warren.  Democratic  papers  asserted  that  the 
delay  in  canvassing  the  leturns  was  an  attempt  to  keep 
Warren  in  office. ^^ 


39The  Populist  party  had  especial  significance  for  the  settlers. 
Their  national  platform  demanded  the  free  coinage  of  silver  and  gold 
at  the  ratio  of  sixteen  to  one,  an  increase  in  the  amount  of  circulating 
medium  to  not  less  than  fifty  dollars  per  capita,  a  graduated  income 
tax,  establishment  of  postal  savings  banks,  a  government  ownership 
of  railroads  and  communication  facilities.  They  denounced  the  monopo- 
lization of  lands  by  corporations  and  railroads  and  demanded  the 
return  of  the  land  to  the  government  to  be  held  for  actual  settlers. 
Edward  Stanwood,  A  History  of  the  Presidency  (New  York:  Houghton 
Mifflin  Company,  1912),  p.  509. 

40Harrison,  the  Eepublican  candidate  for  president,  received  8,454 
votes  in  Wyoming  while  Weaver  received  the  combined  Democratic- 
Populist  vote  of  7,722.    Ihid.,  p.  517. 

4lBeard,  op.  cit.,  I,  p.  495. 

42The  canvassing  board  finally  chosen  consisted  of  Governor  Barber, 
State  Treasurer  Gramm,  and  Auditor  C.  W.  Burdick.  A  dozen  guards 
were  posted  to  keep  order.  The  board  decided  not  to  count  the  Hanna 
precinct  (in  Carbon  County)  which  meant  a  loss  of  seventy  votes  for 
the  Republican  electors  and  one  hundred  thirty-three  for  the  people's 
party  electors.  Chapman  and  Bennett,  the  defeated  Democrats,  brought  a 
mandamus  proceeding  to  compel  the  state  canvassing  board  to  canvass  the 
vote  of  the  Hanna  precinct.  A  demurrer  was  filed  by  Judge  Van  Devanter, 
attorney  for  the  Eepublicans,  on  the  plea  that  the  nomination  of  Bennett 
was  not  properly  certified  to  and  that  there  was  an  irregularity  in  the 
printing  of  the  ballots  and  the  voting.  In  the  case  of  Chapman,  the 
additional  plea  was  made  that  he  was  not  a  citizen  of  the  United  States. 
The  Supreme  Court  over-ruled  the  demurrer  filed  by  Van  Devanter  and 
rendered  a  decision  to  compel  the  state  board  to  canvass  the  vote.  Laramie 
Daily  Boomerang,  January  4,   1893. 


16  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

In  the  Wyoming  legislature  twenty-two  Republicans, 
twenty-one  Democrats,  and  five  Populists  gave  the  balance 
of  power  to  the  Populists.  A  deadlock  occurred  in  an  at- 
tempt to  elect  a  senator  to  succeed  Warren  and  the  legisla- 
ture adjourned  February  18,  having  failed  to  elect  a  senator 
after  the  thirty-first  ballot.  Governor  Osborne,  who  had 
succeeded  in  keeping  the  governorship,  appointed  A.  C. 
Beckwith  to  the  Senate  position.  In  the  debate  in  the 
United  States  Senate  on  the  legality  of  the  appointment, 
Senator  Vest  of  Missouri  argued  against  the  right  of  a 
governor  to  appoint  a  senator  when  the  state  legislature 
is  in  session. ^'^  After  prolonged  debate  in  the  Senate,  Beck- 
with sent  in  his  resignation  before  the  Senate  had  ruled, 
with  the  result  that  Wyoming  had  only  one  senator,  Carey, 
in  the  period  1892-1894. 

Warren  was  reelected  to  the  Senate  in  1894  and  served 
continuously  until  his  death  on  November  24,  1929,  at  the 
age  of  85.  He  served  for  the  longest  term  on  record  in  the 
Senate — a  total  of  thirty-seven  years.  He  held  many  im- 
portant committee  positions.  He  was  chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Claims  in  the  Fifty-sixth,  Fifty-seventh,  and 
Fifty-eighth  Congresses,  during  which  time  he  secured  the 
enactment  of  two  omnibus  claims  acts  carrying  an  aggre- 
gate appropriation  of  $4,165,203  for  payment  of  claims  against 
the  government.  This  represented  an  inestimable  amount 
of  work,  for  the  claims  involved  numerous  items  of  various 
kinds.  He  also  was  chairman  of  the  Military  Affairs  Com- 
mittee and  of  the  powerful  Committee  on  Appropriations. 
He  distinguished  himself  for  his  legislative  ability  on  these 
committees.  He  served  on  each  of  the  committees  on  Agri- 
culture and  Forestry,  Irrigation  and  Reclamation  of  Arid 
Lands,  and  Public  Buildings  and  Grounds. 

The  purpose  of  this  thesis  is  to  follow  in  some  detail 
Warren's  career  in  the  Senate  from  1890  to  1902.  His  career 
in  Congress  can  best  be  understood  in  the  light  of  his 
experiences  as  a  stockman  and  a  promoter  in  the  economic 
development  of  a  frontier  state.  He  played  a  prominent 
part  in  this  development  and  was  unusually  aware  of  the 
problems  which  confront  a  frontier  community.  The  re- 
maining pages  of  this  thesis  deal  specifically  with  legisla- 
tion in  which  Warren  played  a  prominent  part.  Warren's 
chief  interest  lay  in  his  own  state,  so  the  problems  are 
largely  limited  to  those  particularly  pertinent  to  the  far 
West.  An  attempt  has  been  made  to  interpret  Warren's 
attitudes  and  activities  on  the  basis  of  Wyoming's  political 
and  economic  history.  Only  on  this  basis  can  Warren's 
work  be  properly  judged  and  evaluated. 

4.3Laramic  Daily  Boomerana,  August    10,  1893. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  17 

Chapter  II 

WARREN  AND  THE  WESTERN  DEMAND  FOR 
FREE  SILVER 

When  Warren  entered  the  Senate  one  of  the  most 
pressing  questions  facing  the  country  was  the  demand  of 
the  Western  states  for  the  free  and  unUmited  coinage  of 
silver.  In  1873  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  had  failed 
to  make  any  provisions  for  the  coinage  of  the  silver  dollar. 
Shortly  after,  when  new  silver  mines  were  opened  up  in 
the  West,  the  production  of  silver  had  steadily  increased 
at  the  same  time  that  the  demand  for  its  use  as  money,  at 
home  and  abroad,  decreased.  The  price  of  silver  in  terms 
of  gold  dropped  rapidly  to  the  alarm  of  the  Western  mine 
owners.  In  1878  the  Bland-Allison  Act,  passed  as  a  "sop 
to  the  silver  miners,"^"*  required  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury to  buy  each  month  for  coinage  purposes  at  the  market 
price  not  less  than  two,  nor  more  than  four,  million  dollars 
worth  of  silver.  The  act  had  little  effect  on  the  decline  of  the 
price  of  silver,  and  in  1890  a  compromise  was  made  between 
the  silver  men  of  the  West  and  the  protective  tariff  men 
in  the  East  which  resulted  in  the  passage  of  the  Sherman 
Silver  Purchase  Act.  Senator  Teller  of  Colorado  was  the 
only  silver  Republican  opposed  to  the  compromise.  He 
thought  that  the  silver  men  should  not  accept  anything  less 
than  free  coinage.^^  The  Sherman  Act  required  the  gov- 
ernment to  purchase  fifty-four  million  ounces  of  silver  per 
year.  This  was  enough  to  absorb  the  entire  domestic 
product.  Legal  tender  notes,  to  be  issued  in  payment  for 
the  silver,  were  redeemable  in  gold  or  silver  coin.  In  spite 
of  this  huge  purchase  of  silver,  the  price  of  silver  did  not 
go  up  and  the  silver  interests  still  clamored  for  free  coinage. 

Many  Wyoming  Republicans  as  well  as  Democrats  be- 
lieved that  the  prosperity  of  the  state  was  dependent  on  the 
silver  issue.  An  editorial  in  a  Wyoming  Republican  news- 
paper maintained  that  "Wyoming  has  more  at  stake  in  the 
silver  bill  than  in  admission  as  a  state."^'^  The  Republican 
State  platform  of  1890  endorsed  the  Sherman  Act  and  de- 
clared for  the  "restoration  of  parity  of  value  between  the 
two  money  metals  and  the  free  coinage  of  silver. "'^'^  War- 
ren's attitude  on  the  silver  question  was  never  clear  out. 


44Jo]i]i  D.  Hicks,  The  Poimlist  Revolt  (Minneapolis;  University  of 
Minnesota  Press,  1931),  p.  305. 

45Elmer  Ellis,  Henry  Moore  Teller  (CaldweU,  Idaho:  Caxton  Printers, 
1941),  p.   189. 

4:6Laramie  WeeUy  Sentinel,  June  28,  1890. 

4:7lhid.,  August  23,  1890. 


i8  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

His  interest  in  the  issue  seems  to  have  been  slight,  although 
he  often  aroused  the  antagonism  of  the  pro-silver  element. 
He  was  usually  at  variance  with  such  silver  senators  as 
Teller  of  Colorado  and  Stewart  of  Nevada.  In  public  state- 
ments he  made  to  the  press  he  seemed  to  be  unwilling  to 
go  on  record  as  favoring  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage 
of  silver.  Perhaps  because  he  was  aware  of  the  strength 
of  the  silver  movement  he  often  straddled  the  main  issue. 
Warren  frequently  said  that  he  favored  the  free  coinage 
of  silver  only  if  it  were  limited  to  the  product  of  the  United 
States.  During  the  next  session  of  Congress  the  silver 
senators  tried  to  get  through  a  bill  providing  for  free  coin- 
age. Teller  called  the  new  purchase  act  "Wail  Street's 
bill"'*^  and  Senator  Stewart  had  attached  to  the  financial 
bill  a  proviso  calling  for  free  coinage.  In  Congress  on 
January  5,  1891,  on  the  motion  of  Stewart,  the  Senate  voted 
to  lay  aside  the  election  bill  and  to  take  up  the  financial 
bill  on  the  calendar  at  that  time.  Stewart's  motion  prevailed 
with  the  help  of  twenty-six  Democratic  votes  supplemented 
by  eight  from  the  Republican  side.  Twenty-nine  repub- 
licans voted  in  the  negative  sustaining  Senator  Hoar  who 
was  leading  the  fight  for  the  elections  bill.  Warren  and 
Carey  did  not  vote.  The  eight  silver  Republicans  who 
voted  for  the  motion  were  Teller  and  Wolcott  of  Colorado, 
Stewart  and  Jones  of  Nevada,  Shoup  and  McConnell  of 
Idaho,  Stanford  of  California,  and  v^/ashburn  of  Minne- 
sota.^^  Stewart's  amendment  which  provided  for  free  coin- 
age and  the  remonetization  of  silver  was  agreed  to  in  the 
Senate,  January  14,  by  a  vote  of  forty-two  to  thirty.  Carey, 
Warren,  Dolph,  Moody,  Pettigrew,  Casev,  and  Pierce  were 
the  Western  senators  who  voted  against  it.^*^  Warren  stated 
that  he  was  in  favor  of  coinage  of  the  American  product 
and  that  he  voted  against  the  amendment  because  it  opened 
our  mints  to  make  America  the  dumping  ground  for  the 
silver  of  the  world. -^^  Senator  Stewart  in  a  letter  to  the 
Salt  Lake  Tribune  char?^ed  that  Carey  and  Warrsn  vere 
"intimately  associated  with  Eastern  business  interests"  and 
that  while  the  bill  was  pending  they  refused  to  agree  to 
vote  favorably  if  the  amendment  was  limited  to  the  coinage 
of  American  silver.^'-  Warren  demanded  a  retraction  of 
Stewart's  statement  and  the  silver  senator  immediately 
complied. '^3 


48Ellis,  op.  fit.,  p.  196. 

4t9Congressional  Record,   51   Cong.,   2    Sess..   January   5,    1891,  p.   912. 

50lbid.,  January  14,  1891,  p.  1229. 

5iC1ieyenne  Tribune,  February  6,  1891.     Clipping  in  Warren  Scrapbook. 

o2SaU  Lal-e  Trihune,  February  7,  1891.   Clipping  in  Warren  Scrapbook. 

53Washington  Post,  February  20,  1891.    Clipping  in  Warren  Scrapbook. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  19 

In  the  next  session  of  Congress  Stewart  introduced  a 
bill  providing  for  the  free  coinage  of  gold  and  silver  bul- 
lion.^^  Warren  submitted  an  amendment  to  Stewart's  bill 
providing  that  foreign  silver  and  all  bullion  from  any  other 
country  should  be  excluded  from  the  provisions  of  the  act, 
but  the  amendment  was  rejected. ^^  On  July  1,  the  Stewart 
bill  passed  the  Senate  by  a  vote  of  twenty-nine  to  twenty- 
five.  Carey  and  Warren  voted  against  the  bill.  A  storm  of 
criticism  descended  upon  them  for  their  votes  against  free 
silver.  Throughout  the  West  their  conduct  was  considered 
detrimental  to  the  interests  of  the  Western  states.  In  Ogden 
their  effigies  were  hung  in  front  of  the  Grand  Opera  House. 
A  placard  was  hanging  to  Senator  Warren's  effigy  which 
read,  "This  is  Senator  Warren  who  voted  against  free  silver 
in  the  United  States  Senate.''^^^ 

Warren  was  not  reelected  to  the  Senate  in  1892,  and 
so  was  absent  when  the  Sherman  Act  was  repealed  in  1893. 
The  determination  of  the  administration  to  redeem  the 
silver  certificates  provided  for  under  the  Sherman  Act 
resulted  in  a  steady  drain  of  gold  from  the  United  States 
Treasury.  Fear  that  the  Treasurer  would  not  be  able  to 
keep  a  reserve  of  gold  caused  a  general  hoarding  of  that 
metal.  Hard  money  men  blamed  the  uneasiness  of  business 
conditions  on  the  Sherman  Act.  President  Cleveland  soon 
after  his  election  in  1892  demanded  of  Congress  the  repeal 
of  the  act.  The  movement  for  repeal  immediately  encoun- 
tered the  opposition  of  the  silver  m^en.  Those  senators  who 
had  objected  to  the  Purchase  Act  because  it  had  not  pro- 
vided for  free  coinage  united  against  repeal.  Senators  from 
the  South  and  West  began  a  filibuster  against  the  repeal 
bill.  Senators  Dubois  of  Indiana,  Power  of  Montana,  Wol- 
cott  of  Colorado,  Carey  (Wyoming's  only  senator  at  the 
time),  Daniel  of  Virginia,  Jones  of  Nevada,  Kyle  of  South 
Dakota,  Peffer  of  Kansas,  and  Shoup  of  Idaho,  filibustered 
for  eighty  days.  At  last,  in  a  desperate  move,  on  October  7, 
the  repealists  led  by  Voorhees  of  Indiana  attempted  to 
hold  a  continuous  session  until  a  vote  was  achieved.  An 
article  in  the  American  Historical  Review  says,  "These  nine 
men  (the  leaders  of  the  filibuster)  deprived  the  majority 
of  sleep  through  the  night  of  Wednesday,  and  the  daylight 


54Stewart's  bill  provided  that  owners  of  silver  bullion  might  deposit 
the  bullion  at  any  mint  of  the  United  States  to  be  coined  for  his  benefit. 
It  was  to  be  the  duty  of  the  proper  officers  to  coin  such  silver  bullion 
into  standard  silver  dollars  which  should  be  a  legal  tender  for  all  debts, 
public  and  private.  This  bill  was  intended  to  repeal  the  act  of  July  14, 
1890.    Congressional  Record,  52  Cong.,  1   Sess.,  December  10,   1891,  p.  23. 

551-bid.,  June  3,  1892. 

56Laramie  Daily  Boomerang,  July  8,  1892. 


20  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

hours  of  Thursday,  and  on  into  Thursday  night."^^  In 
spite  of  the  efforts  of  the  opposition  the  repeal  bill  passed 
and  was  signed  by  the  President. 

Free  silver  continued  to  be  a  question  of  political  im- 
portance in  Wyoming  for  some  time.  A  severe  agricultural 
depression  continuing  into  1894  and  1895  forced  the  prices 
of  farm  products  to  unheard  of  lows.  The  distraught  farm- 
ers, believing  that  free  silver  would  bring  up  the  price 
level,  joined  the  mine  owners  in  their  demands.  In  J.894 
Warren  and  Clarence  D.  Clark  were  elected  to  the  Senate 
on  a  Republican  state  platform  which  recommended  "the 
free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  both  gold  and  silver  at  a 
ratio  of  sixteen  to  one,  with  full  legal  tender  functions 
accorded  to  each  in  payment  of  public  and  private  debts. "^^ 
In  the  campaign  of  1896  the  silver  question  was  a  foremost 
political  issue  in  the  state.  Throughout  Wyoming  enthu- 
siasm for  silver  ran  high  and  everywhere  in  the  state 
Bryan  free  silver  clubs  were  organized.  Sheridan  boasted 
a  club  with  a  membership  of  one  hundred  and  fifty. ^^  A 
silver  club  was  organized  in  Laramie  with  three  hundred 
members.60  W.  H.  Holliday  and  C.  P.  Arnold  were  respec- 
tively chairman  and  secretary  of  the  first  meeting.  At  a 
picnic  at  Centennial  Valley,  a  little  mining  settlement  west 
of  Laramie,  a  hugh  bonfire  was  built  in  honor  of  free  silver. ^^ 
The  Democratic  state  platform  adopted  at  Laramie  de- 
manded "the  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  silver  and  gold 
into  primary  redemption  money  at  the  rates  of  sixteen  to 
one  without  waiting  for  the  action  or  approval  of  any  other 
government."^^  The  Republicans  endorsed  the  platform  of 
the  national  convention  which  declared  itself  in  favor  of 
the  gold  dollar  as  the  standard  of  value.  During  the  cam- 
paign Democratic  newspapers  accused  Warren  of  being  on 
the  side  of  the  "hard  money"  men.  One  paper  said,  "War- 
ren was  not  sufficiently  a  friend  of  the  silver  cause  to  stand 
with  Teller,  Dubois,  and  Mantle  when  the  test  came  whether 
there  should  be  a  silver  bill  or  a  tariff  bill."*53  xhe  editor 
was  referring  to  an  attempt  made  by  Senator  Morrill  of 
Vermont  to  secure  the  consideration  of  the  tariff  bill.  The 
silver  senators  were  determined  to  defeat  Morrill's  motion 
and  succeeded  by  a  vote  of  twenty-one  to  twenty-nine.^^ 


57Jeanette  Paddock  Nichols,  '^ Silver  Kepeal  in  the  Senate,"  American 
Historwal  Bevieiv,  41:39,  October  1935. 

58Denrer  News,  January  5,  1892.     Clipping  in  Warren  Scrapbook. 

59Laramie  Daily  Boomerang,  August  5,   1896. 

eoihid.,  August  24,  1896. 

eilhid.,  July  7,  1896. 

e2Ihid.,  July  14,  1896. 

esibid.,  August  5,  1896. 

^^.Congressional  Record.     54  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  February  13,  1896,  p.  1691. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  21 

Senators  Warren  and  Clark  voted  for  the  motion.  In  the 
final  election  the  combined  Democratic  and  Populist  vote 
gave  Bryan,  the  silver  candidate  for  President,  10,655  votes 
as  against  10,072  for  McKinley,  the  Republican  candidate.^^ 

After  1896  Warren's  attitude  toward  silver  legislation 
became  more  favorable.  In  the  next  Congress  Senator 
Teller  offered  a  resolution  declaring  that  all  bonds  of  the 
United  States  authorized  under  certain  acts  of  Congress 
were  payable,  principal  and  interest,  at  the  option  of  the 
government  of  the  United  States  in  standard  silver  dollars. 
On  January  28,  when  the  resolution  was  voted  upon,  War- 
ren declared  his  intention  of  voting  for  the  resolution,  but 
maintained  that  he  was  so  voting  in  order  not  to  commit 
himself  to  gold  monometallism,  and  asserted  his  faith  in 
international  bimetallism.^^  He  alluded  to  the  Black  Friday 
gold  panic  and  argued  that  it  would  be  safer  in  times  of 
panic  if  the  United  States  had  reserved  the  privilege  of  pay- 
ing either  in  gold  or  silver.  He  then  made  this  reservation, 
"I  am  not  committed  by  my  vote  to  the  extreme  and  extrav- 
agant pro-silver  position  assumed  by  some  of  the  senators."'^'' 

During  the  debates  Warren  and  Clark  both  voted  against 
the  following  amendments;  one  offered  by  Senator  Nelson 
declaring  for  maintenance  of  parity  between  gold  and  sil- 
ver; by  Henry  Cabot  Lodge,  "to  make  any  other  payment 
of  principal  or  interest  than  in  gold  or  coin  or  its  equivalent 
without  the  consent  of  the  creditor  a  violation  of  public 
faith";  and  one  by  Quay  of  Pennsylvania,  "to  make  bonds, 
principal,  and  interest  payable  in  the  highest  money  of  the 
world."  All  these  amendments,  designed  to  defeat  the 
silver  provision,  were  defeated  and  the  resolution  was 
agreed  to  by  a  vote  of  forty-seven  to  thirty-two. ^^  The 
State  Treasurer  of  Wyoming,  Henry  G.  Hay,  resigned  as 
chairman  of  the  Republican  Central  Committee  for  Laramie 
County  because  of  Warren's  vote  on  the  resolution,  declar- 
ing that  Warren  proposed  to  "force  the  Republicans  of  the 
state  into  a  position  antagonistic  to  McKinley,  the  National 


65'Stamvood,  op.  oit.,  I,  p.  567. 

66ln  April  1897,  President  McKinley  had  chosen  Edward  0.  Wolcott 
of  Colorado,  Adlai  E.  Stevenson  of  Illinois,  and  Charles  J.  Paine  of  Massa- 
chusetts as  commissioners  to  visit  Europe  in  the  interests  of  International 
bimetallism.  The  English  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  Sir  Michael  Hicks- 
Beach,  stated  the  refusal  of  the  English  government  to  open  her  mints 
to  the  free  coinage  of  silver,  and  the  French  government  expressed  un- 
willingness without  the  mutual  action  of  England.  Charles  S.  Olcott, 
The  Life  of  WiUiam  McKinley  (New  York;  Houghton  Mifflin  Company, 
1916)    I,  p.  355. 

^1  Congressional  Record,  55  Cong.,  2  Sess.,  January  28,  1898,  p.  1163. 

68Ibid.,  p.  1173.  This  resolution  w^as  defeated  in  the  House  of 
Eepresentatives. 


22  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Republican  Party,  and  the  St.  Louis  platform. "^^  In  Feb- 
ruary a  similar  resolution  was  introduced  as  an  amendment 
to  the  tariff  bill  and  Warren  and  Clark  voted  against  it. 
Warren  explained  that  he  voted  against  it  because  he  did 
not  v/ant  ic  to  jeopardize  the  tariff  bill. 

During  the  same  session  Warren  and  Clark  voted  for 
Senator  Wolcott's  seigniorage  bill.  This  bill  authorized  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  coin  into  silver  dollars  $4,000,- 
000  worth  of  silver  per  month  until  the  sum  of  $42,000,000 
should  have  been  issued.  As  said  silver  was  coined  the 
Secretary  was  to  issue  silver  certificates  to  the  amount  of 
the  seigniorage  derived  from  the  purchases  of  silver  bullion 
b3^  the  Treasury  under  the  Sherman  Act.'^o  These  silver 
dollars  so  coined  were  to  be  used  for  the  redemption  of  the 
certificates  issued  under  this  act.  Wolcott's  bill  was  agreed 
to  in  the  Senate  by  a  vote  of  forty-eight  to  thirteen. '^^ 

By  1900  prosperity  had  returned  and  interest  in  silver 
as  an  issue  had  waned.  The  problems  of  imperiahsm  had 
replaced  silver  in  popular  interest.  In  that  year  Senator 
Teller  led  the  fight  against  the  bill  which  established  the 
gold  standard  in  this  country.  Teller  offered  amendment 
after  amendment  to  defeat  the  bill,  but  the  Senate  rejected 
them  and  accepted  the  single  gold  standard  by  a  majority 
of  seventeen  votes.  Warren  was  not  present  when  the  bill 
v/as  passed  but  he  had  previously  announced  his  intention 
of  voting  for  it. 

Warren's  contribution  to  the  silver  cause  was  essen- 
tially negative.  His  interest  in  free  silver  seems  to  have 
been  primarily  political  for  his  votes  on  the  various  silver 
bills  reflect  the  political  tendencies  of  the  day.  From  1890 
to  1892  Warren  voted  for  the  defeat  of  the  several  coinage 
bills  which  were  introduced.  In  1893,  when  the  Sherman 
Act  was  repealed,  Warren  was  absent  from  the  Senate  but 


69Washington  Post,  January  31,  1898.  .Clipping  in  Warren  Scrap- 
book.  The  St.  Louis  platform  opposed  free  coinage  of  silver  except  by 
international  agreement.     Stanwood,   op.  cit.,  p.   535. 

70' '  Seigniorage,  which  the  silver  men  were  anxious  to  coiii,  was  the 
difference  betAveen  the  actual  cost  of  the  bullion  purchased  monthly  and 
its  nominal  value  if  coined  into  dollars  at  '16  to  1,'  Of  course  the  Treasury 
was  not  minting  all  its  compulsory  purchases  into  dollars  each  month. 
Instead  it  Avas  coining  only  enough  silver  dollars  to  match  the  amount 
of  the  paper  money,  '  treasury  notes, '  issued  to  pay  for  the  bullion.  As 
bullion  fell  in  price,  the  government  needed  to  issue  smaller  and  smaller 
numbers  of  silver  dollars  to  match  the  notes.  This  left  an  excess  of 
uncoined  bullion  lying  in  the  vaults  steadily  depreciating  as  the  market 
price  fell.  If  this  seigniorage  were  coined  ...  it  would  automatically 
double  in  value  by  virtue  of  the  government  stamp ;  and  the  silverites 
thought  this  would  help  to  turn  the  price  of  bullion  upward." 
Nichols,  op.  cit.,  p.  42. 

^'^Congressional  Becord,  55  Cong.,  2  Sess.,  June  3,  1898,  p.  5458. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  23 

Senator  Carey  was  one  of  the  leaders  in  the  movement 
against  repeal.  As  Warren  and  Carey  usually  voted  alike 
on  questions,  Warren,  had  he  been  in  the  Senate,  might 
have  voted  against  repeal.  In  1896,  when  the  silver  element 
had  defeated  the  Republicans  in  Wyoming,  Warren  for  the 
first  time  voted  in  favor  of  silver.  His  interest  in  silver 
was  subordinate  to  his  interest  in  the  tariff  and  he  con- 
sistently voted  in  favor  of  the  tariff  when  the  two  questions 
claimed  precedence.  On  this  point  it  is  interesting  to  com- 
pare Warren's  attitude  with  that  of  Senator  Teller  of  Colo- 
rado. Both  were  Republicans  from  Western  states  and  both 
had  long  and  distinguished  careers  in  the  Senate.  On  for- 
eign policy  Warren  and  Teller  inclined  toward  imperialism 
and  in  regard  to  the  tariff  both  were  high-protectionists. 
But  to  Teller  silver  was  the  paramount  issue  while  to  War- 
ren silver  was  merely  incidental  to  the  maintenance  of  '"-? 
protective  tariff  on  wool.  In  1900  Warren  definitely  turned 
away  from  silver  and  supported  McKinley  and  Hanna  in 
establishing  the  single  gold  standard.  Warren's  lack  of 
interest  in  the  silver  cause  may  be  attributed  to  the  fact 
that  Wyoming  was  not  a  silver  producing  state.  Wilbur  C. 
Knight,  State  Geologist  of  Wyoming,  wrote  in  1898; 

While  Wyoming  may  have  as  good  lead  and 
silver  camps  as  any  other  state,  it  is  a  hard  matter 
to  interest  capital  in  a  proposition  ranging  from  fifty 
to  two  hundred  miles  from  the  railroad.  The  pro- 
duction of  either  of  these  metals  is  very  small 
indeed. '^2 

While  silver  as  an  issue  was  popular  in  Wyoming,  this 
popularity  was  not  based  upon  any  important  vested  inter- 
est. It  was  natural  that  Warren,  who  represented  the  vested 
interests  of  the  state,  should  have  been  more  concerned 
with  wool  than  silver. 


Testate  of   Wyoming    (Cheyenne:    Sun-Leader  Printing  House,   1898)^ 
p.  65. 


24  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Chapter  III 

WARREN'S   FIGHT  IN  THE  SENATE  FOR  A  PROTEC- 
TIVE TARIFF  ON  WOOL  AND  HIDES 

Warren  was  once  called  the  most  notorious  special 
interest  representative  in  the  West.'^^  He  was  the  leading 
representative  of  the  sheep  industry  in  Wyoming.  Sheep 
had  been  introduced  in  Wyoming  in  the  early  seventies  and 
by  1890  sheep  raising  had  become  an  important  factor  in 
the  economic  life  of  the  state.  It  was  estimated  that  in 
1892  the  number  of  sheep  in  Wyoming  was  639,205  with  a 
value  of  $1,204,787.  By  1896  their  numbers  had  almost 
doubled  to  1,308,063  valued  at  $2,317,084.^4  In  1901  the 
Warren  wool  clip  amounted  to  750,000  pounds,'^'^  while  in 
1902  thirty-one  million  pounds  of  wool  were  sold  in  Wyo- 
ming. 

Warren  became  well  known  for  his  determined  fight 
in  the  Senate  for  a  protective  tariff  on  wool.  In  1895  he 
was  elected  vice  president  of  the  American  Protective  Tariff 
League  for  Wyoming  and  in  1897  he  was  elected  national 
president  of  the  League."*^ 

Warren  was  favorably  disposed  towards  the  McKinley 
Tariff  Act  of  1890  which  raised  the  duties  on  wool,  especially 
on  the  lower  grades,  or  carpet  wools.  He  claimed  that  one 
of  the  benefits  of  the  act  would  be  the  encouragement  of 
the  domestic  production  of  wool  in  this  country  making 
it  unnecessary  to  import  wool  from  Australia.  He  further 
claimed  that  the  McKinley  Act  was  not  responsible  for  the 
low  wool  prices  at  that  time  and  that,  rather  the  act  had 
kept  prices  from  falling  lower  than  they  had.'^'^  As  the 
act  of  1894  put  wool  on  the  free  list,  Warren  blamed  the 
failure  of  the  Warren  Livestock  Company  on  the  low  prices 
of  wool  which  he  attributed  to  the  Wilson  Act.'^ 


73Editorial  in  Collier's  Weekly,  August   27,   1912,  p.   8. 

'J'^Laramie  Daily  Boomerang,  October  25,  1896. 

ToCheyenne    Trihune,   July   6,   1901.      Clipping-  in   Warren    Scrapbook. 

T^New  YorJc  Sun,  January  22,  1897.    Clipping  in  Warren   Scrapbook. 

77lnterview  printed  in  Chicago  Inter-Ocean,  August  16,  1891.  Clip- 
ping in  Warren  Scrapbook. 

78In  1894  the  Warren  Livestock  Comj^any  went  into  bankruptcy  but 
subsequently  resumed  operations.  Most  economists  do  not  attribute  the 
low  prices  of  wool  following  1894  to  the  Wilson  bill.  For  example,  an 
expert  on  the  wool  tariff  says : 

The  tariff  issue  came  to  the  forefront  in  the  campaign  of  1892,  and, 
with  the  election  of  President  Cleveland,  revision  downward  was  regarded 
as  a  foregone  conclusion.  The  new  tariff  act  was  passed  in  1894,  and 
wool  Avas  placed  upon  the  free  list  for  the  first  time  since  1861.  The 
compensatory  duties  on  woolen  goods  were  SAvept  away,  and  in  place  of 
the  old  system  of  compound  specific  and  ad  valorem  duties,  a  schedule  of 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  25 

Following  the  depression  after  1893  wool  prices  had 
declined  from  a  top  price  of  twenty-three  cents  a  pound  in 
1890  to  a  top  price  of  twelve  cents  a  pound  in  1894.'^9  ^ 
general  decline  in  numbers  of  sheep  throughout  the  country 
did  not  extend  to  Wyoming.  From  1890  to  1894  the  number 
of  sheep  in  Wyoming  had  increased  from  approximately 
500,000  to  870,000,  an  increase  of  seventy-four  per  cent.^^ 

After  the  election  of  McKinley  in  1896  the  wool  inter- 
ests were  determined  to  prevent  the  retention  of  wool  on 
the  free  list.  Warren  fought  vigorously  any  attempt  to 
keep  wool  on  the  free  list  in  the  act  of  1897.  The  crisis  in 
the  sheep  growing  industry  gave  Warren  a  point  of  attack 
against  the  Wilson  Act.  In  January,  soon  after  the  conven- 
ing of  Congress,  Warren  introduced  this  resolution  in  the 
Senate: 

In  view  of  the  late  unprecedented  shrinkage  in 
numbers  and  values  of  farm  animals  throughout  the 
United  States  as  shown  by  the  last  published  reports 
of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  the  attention  of 
the  Committee  on  Agriculture  is  hereby  especially 
directed  to  this  subject,  with  the  request  to  consider 
and  report,  by  bill  or  otherwise,  what  legislation, 


purely  ad  valorem  rates  was  instituted.  The  duty  upon  the  classes  of 
goods  which  were  most  largely  imported  was  placed  at  fifty  per  cent, 
which  was  the  same  as  that  of  the  McKinley  act  of  1890.  The  woolen 
manufacturing  industry,  therefore,  was  not  subjected  to  a  drastic  cutting 
in  its  protection. 

The  domestic  wool  groAving  industry  suffered  by  reason  of  the  tariff 
change,  but  the  crisis  in  the  industry  was  not  caused  entirely  by  the 
removal  of  the  wool  duty.  There  had  been  a  decline  in  wool  prices  ever 
since  the  middle  eighties,  and  the  market  had  taken  another  doAATiward 
turn  not  long  before  the  era  of  free  wool  began.  The  enactment  of  the 
new  law  followed  the  panic  of  1893,  and  was  accompanied  by  industrial 
depression  to  which  several  causes  contributed. 

The  number  of  sheep  was  reduced  rapidly  in  all  sections  of  the  country 
except  the  northern  Eocky  Mountain  area  (Idaho,  Wyoming,  and  Montana). 
The  decrease  in  numbers  between  1893  and  1896  amomited  to  about 
10,000,000,  and  the  fall  in  value  was  so  great  that  many  flocks  were 
butchered  for  the  pelts  and  tallow.  The  low  prices  led  to  such  neglect  of 
the  sheep  that  many  were  carried  off  by  disease.  The  situation  should 
not  be  regarded  as  having  been  principally  caused  by  the  tariff;  it  was 
rather  the  culmination  of  a  series  of  events  which  had  been  lessening 
the  profit  of  sheep  raising.  The  new  situation  led  to  a  readjustment  in 
agricultural  methods  and  in  animal  husbandry  to  correspond  with  changed 
conditions. 

Mark  A.  Smith,  The  Tariff  on  Wool  (New  York:  The  Macmillan  Company, 
1926),  p.  116. 

79 These  figures  are  taken  from  a  speech  made  by  Warren  when  the 
wool  schedule  of  the  Dingley  bill  Avas  under  consideration. 

SOOsgood,  op.  cit.,  p.  230.  These  figures  are  based  upon  a  report  of 
the  Wyoming  State  Department  in  1926. 


26  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

if   any,   is   necessary    to    preserve   our   herds   and 
flocks.^i 

In  support  of  this  resolution  he  gave  a  long  speech  in  which 
he  attacked  the  Wilson  bill  and  attempted  to  show  that  the 
Wilson  bill  was  directly  responsible  for  the  decline  in  num- 
bers of  livestock  in  this  country.  He  also  argued  that  im- 
portation of  wool  had  increased  and  that  prices  of  wool  had 
greatly  declined  since  1894  as  a  consequence  of  putting  wool 
on  the  free  list.-'-     In  conclusion  Warren  made  this  appeal: 

Total  Value   of   Farm  Animals 
Year  Values  in  Dollars 

1890  $2,418,766,028 

1891  2,329, /87, 770 

1892  2,401,755,698 

1893  2,483,506,681 

1894  2,170,816,754 

1895  1,819,446,306 

Imports  of  Wool  in  Pounds 

Ten  months  ending  October 
1894  1895 

Class  1  25,807,462         113,672,709 

2  2,841,422  16,731,985 

3  54,574,386  80,652,544 


Total  83,223,270         211,057,238 

Market  Prices  of  Utah  and  Wyoming  Wool 

October  1890                  14-23  cents 

April  1891                  14-23 

October  1892                  14-23 

April  1893                   14-21 

December  29  1894                    9-14 

January  26  1894                     9-12 

February   23  1894                    9-13 

June  22  1894                    7-12 

September  28  1894                    8-13 

January   1  1895                     7-13 

April    i  1895                    7-13 

Will   the  Congress   of  the  United   States  duly 

weigh  and  consider  the  deplorable  condition  of  our 

livestock  interests?  Shall  we  not  "about  face"  and 


^'^Congressional  Fecord,  54  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  January  20,  1896,  p.  785. 
Warren  Avas  subsequently  appointed  on  a  subcommittee  to  in\estigate  the 
conditions  of  cattle  shipments  to  foreign  markets  and  report  legislation 
necessary  for  reciprocal  benefits  to  this  traffic.  Cheyenne  Daily  Sun- 
Leader,  February  21,  1896,     Clipping  in  Warren  Scrapbook. 

fi^Ihid.,  p.  898-905.  In  support  of  his  contention  that  the  numbers 
and  values  of  farm  animals  had  greatly  decreased  since  1894  Warren 
presented  the  following  figures  taken  from  the  Eeport  of  the  Agricul- 
tural  Department,  No.   123,  Division   of   Statistics. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  27 

change  our  un-American,  unpatriotic  policy  of  es- 
pecial protection  to  foreign  stock  growers  and  manu- 
facturers to  that  time  honored  American  policy  of 
protecting  the  interests  of  our  own  citizens  and 
institutions  ?^3 

The  making  of  a  wool  schedule  was  always  complicated 
by  the  conflict  of  interests  between  the  wool  growers  and 
the  woolen  manufacturers.  A  protective  tariff  on  wool  in- 
creased the  cost  of  the  raw  material  for  the  manufacturers. 
Before  the  rates  could  be  agreed  upon  the  differences  had 
to  be  compromised,  as  both  interests  had  powerful  backing 
in  Congress.  In  a  conference  held  on  February  9  and  10  at 
Washington  between  representatives  of  the  woolen  manu- 
facturers and  the  woolgrowers,  Warren  was  appointed  one 
of  the  conferees  for  the  National  Woolgrowers  Association. 
The  woolen  manufacturers  presented  the  following  as  the 
highest  rates  they  would  aid  in  securing  duties: 

Class  one.  Wools  of  the  value  of  sixteen  cents 
per  pound  or  less,  a  duty  of  eight  cents  per  pound; 
on  wools  over  sixteen  cents  per  poimd,  ten  cents 
duty;  doubled  on  washed,  trebled  on  scoured.  The 
rate  in  the  McKinley  Act  of  1890  was  eleven  cents 
per  pound,  without  any  dividing  lines  as  to  value; 
doubled   on   washed,   trebled   on   scoured. 

Class  two.  Wools  of  the  value  of  sixteen  csnts 
per  pound  or  less,  nine  cents  per  pound;  on  wools 
over  sixteen  cents  in  value,  eleven  cents  per  pound 
duty;  trebled  if  scoured. 

Class  three.  The  ad  valorem  rates  of  the  Act  of 
1890,  on  wools  valued  at  thirteen  cents  per  pound  or 
less,  thirty-two  per  cent,  and  fifty  per  cent  over  that 
value.'^* 

The  conference  failed  to  reach  any  agreement  as  the  wool- 
growers  rejected  the  rates  offered  by  the  manufacturers, 
demanding  as  the  lowest  rates  they  would  accept: 

On  wools  of  the  first  and  second  class  a  duty  of 
twelve  cents  per  pound;  doubled  on  washed,  and 
trebled  on  scoured. 

On  third  class  wool,  sometimes  called  carpet 
wool,  but  largely  used  in  manufacturing  of  clothing 


83This    speech    was    reprinted    by    the    American    Protective    Tariff 
League.     Cheyenne  Daily  Sun-Leader,  July  17,  3  896. 

S4:Se7iate   Documents,   55  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  Document  ISTo.   36,  pp.   82-83. 


28  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

goods,  a  duty  of  eight  cents  per  pound;  doubled  if 
washed,  trebled  if  scoured. ^^ 

Warren  led  the  fight  in  the  Senate  for  protection  on 
low  grade  wools.  Warren  was  particularly  interested  in 
the  low-grade  or  carpet  wools,  because  more  of  that  grade 
of  wool  was  grown  in  the  West  than  in  the  East.  The  Ohio 
farmer  because  of  his  higher  costs  of  production  could  not 
afford  to  grow  low  grade  wool.  In  the  West  where  produc- 
tion costs  were  relatively  low  such  wool  could  be  grown 
profitably.  An  article  in  the  Philadelphia  Press  accused 
Warren  of  "fighting  for  a  tariff  on  wool  to  enrich  his  own 
pockets. "^*^  In  March  Warren  went  before  the  Finance 
Committee  asking  for  further  changes  in  the  classification 
of  wool;  so  that  certain  wools  allowed  to  come  in  as  third 
class  under  the  House  bill  would  be  transferred  to  a  class 
paying  a  higher  rate  of  duty.^'  Warren  explained  that 
although  not  very  much  third  class  wool  was  grown  in  the 
West,  the  sheep  industry  suffered  through  the  importation 
of  wool  as  third  class,  ostensibly  to  make  carpets,  but  which 
was  made  into  clothing,  and  displaced  domestic  first  class 
wools. ^"^ 

During  the  debate  on  the  wool  schedule  Senator  Allison 
of  Iowa  submitted  the  following  amendment  designed  to 
impose  an  additional  duty  on  scoured  wools  of  the  third  class: 

The  duty  on  wools  of  the  third  class,  if  imported 
in  condition  for  use  in  carding  or  spinning  into  yarns 
or  which  shall  not  contain  more  than  eight  per  cent 
of  dirt  or  other  foreign  substance,  shall  be  three 


SoLoc.  cit.,  The  wool  schedule  as  finally  adopted  in  the  Dingley 
Tariff  provided  that  the  duty  upon  all  avooIs  of  th'3  first  class  was  eleven 
cents  per  pound,  and  upon  all  wools  of  the  second  class  the  value  of 
which  was  tAvelve  cents  or  less  per  pound  the  duty  was  four  cents  per 
pound.  The  duty  on  shoddy  was  twenty-fiAe  cents  per  pound.  The  duty 
on  wools  of  the  first  class  imported  washed  was  to  be  twice  the  amount 
of  the  duty  on  unwashed  wools ;  the  duty  on  wools  of  the  first  and  second 
classes  Avhich  were  imported  scoured  was  three  times  the  duty  to  which 
they  would  be  subjected  if  imported  unwashed.  ''L^uAvashed  wools"  have 
had  no  cleansing  Avhatsoever;  "washed  wools''  are  Avashed  only  on  the 
sheep's  back  or  on  the  skin.  Wool  Avashed  in  any  other  manner  than  on 
the  sheep  's  back  or  on  the  skin  Avas  considered  as  ' '  scoured  avooI.  ' '  See 
United  States  Statutes  at  Large,  Volume  XXX,  p.  183. 

saPliiladelphia  Press,   July   10,  1897.     Clipping  in  Warren  scrapbook. 

B7Warren  also  asked  for  higher  duties  on  soda,  asbestos,  graphite, 
and  hides.  In  1896  some  mines  near  Buffalo  Avere  producing  asbestos. 
Some  samples  of  a  superior  quality  of  asbestos  AA'ere  reported  to  have  been 
discovered  near  Hyattville.     Laramie  Daily  Boomerang,  July  2,  1896. 

S8Cheyenne  Daily  Sun-Leader,  June  23,  1897.  Clipping  in  Warren 
Scrapbook. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  29 

times  the  duty  to  which  they  would  otherwise  be 
subjected.*^ 

Warren  defended  the  amendment  on  the  grounds  that  the 
importation  of  wool  in  an  unwashed  state  gave  more  oppor- 
tunity for  labor  in  preparing  the  wool  and  consequently 
more  employment  for  laborers  in  this  country  than  its 
importation  in  a  washed  state.  Senator  Gray  of  Delaware 
was  one  of  the  leaders  against  Allison's  amendment.  Dur- 
ing the  debate  between  Warren  and  Gray,  both  senators 
argued  bitterly  and  descended  to  the  use  of  personal  re- 
marks.   In  answer  to  Warren's  argument  Gray  replied: 

You  invite,  then,  the  dirty  fleeces  from  Australia 
and  from  the  Argentine  Republic,  and  put,  as  I  said, 
a  premium  upon  dirt,  because  you  get  protection  on 
the  dirt  and  because  you  get  a  duty  on  the  dirt.^^ 

Gray  stated  further: 

It  is  certainly  a  fraud  upon  the  carpet  manufac- 
turers, and  in  order  to  subsidize  one  industry  you 
are  going  to  paralyze  numberless  industries.  ...  Its 
inevitable  effect  is  to  enormously  raise  the  price  of 
manufactured  woolen  goods  to  the  consumer. ^^ 

Warren  argued  that  the  per  capita  consumption  of  wool 
was  comparatively  small  and  that  each  consumer  would 
not  be  taxed  over  forty  to  seventy -five  cents  for  the  added 
duty  on  wool.  He  said,  "A  great  huUaballoo  is  made  here 
upon  this  floor  now  and  always  about  the  consumer  of  wool 
and  the  vast  amount  that  it  is  costing  him."^^  To  which 
Gray  made  a  personal  allusion  to  Warren's  sheep  interests; 
and  continued: 

Nobody  objects  to  paying  the  tax,  even  though 
it  may  be  a  heavy  tax,  if  it  all  goes  into  the  Treas- 
ury; but  I  think  a  great  many  people  object  to  pay- 
ing taxes,  not  into  the  Treasury,  but  into  the  pockets 
of  a  class  of  people  who  claim  that  use  of  the  taxing 
power  for  their  own  benefit. ^^ 


^^Congressional  Eecord,  55  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  June  22,  1897,  p.  1907. 

QOlbid.,  p.  1908.  Gray  maintained  that  the  clothes  which  "the  millions 
wear  are  more  than  forty  per  cent  cheaper  than  they  w^ere  prior  to  1894."' 
Ibid.,  p.  1955. 

9ilhid.,  p.  1908. 

92Ihid.,  p.  1954. 

9SLoc.  cit.  A  common  criticism  of  the  Dingley  bill  was  its  extreme 
sectionalism.  An  editorial  in  Harper's  Weeldy  for  May  22,  1897,  said, 
*'It's    weak   point    is    its    sectional    spirit,   and   this   may   in   future    laws 


30  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Senator  Allison's  an^iendment  passed  the  Senate  by  a  V3t-^ 
of  twenty-nine  to  twenty-six  and  was  finally  incorporated 
in  the  act  as  signed  by  President  McKmley.  Both  Senators 
Warren  and  Clark  voted  for  it. 

A  further  argument  used  by  Warren  was  that  the  Wilson 
bill  had  encouraged  the  importation  of  shoddy  into  this 
country: 

I  suppose  that  those  who  supported  the  Wilson 
bill  based  their  arguments,  then  as  now,  on  the 
groimds  that  they  were  trying  to  protect  the  wear- 
ers of  woolen  goods.  How  did  they  protect  them? 
They  made  a  tariff  that  increased  the  importation 
of  that  unclean,  contemptible  article,  shoddy,  and 
they  made  a  tariff  under  which  shoddy  could  come 
into  this  country  more  freely  and  delude  the  poor 
who  bought  that  character  of  clothing  Shoddy  im- 
portations increased  1700  per  cent,  if  my  figures  are 
right,  in  ten  months  after  the  passage  of  that  law. 
That  is  what  the  Wilson  law  did.  Under  it  old  rags 
from  all  countries,  hair  and  refuse  were  brought 
over  here  and  worked  into  clothing,  because  under 
the  operations  of  the  Wilson  law  the  workingmen 
of  this  country  were  made  too  poor  to  buy  decent 
clothing,  and  they  sought  to  buy  the  cheapest  thing 
they  could  get.  The  Wilson  law  had  opened  the 
door  to  that  adulterant  just  as  it  opened  the  door  to 
every  other  adulterant  and  fr:ud  from  abroad. ^^ 

Senator  Mills  of  Texas  strenuously  objected  to  Warren's 
assertion  and  declared  that  the  protective  tariff  was  no 
protection  to  wool  as  against  shoddy  and  the  Wilson  lav/ 


open  up  a  Avide  field  for  contests.  The  'West'  has  demanded  certain 
duties,  notably  on  hides,  fruits,  lead,  and  cheap  wools^  that  threaten  to 
disturb  and  even  to  destroy  important  interests  in  the  '  East. '  Free  hides 
ha\e  built  up  an  immense  export  trade  in  leather  manufactures,  amount- 
ing to  more  than  $20,000,000  a  year.  Cheap  wools  have  placed  our  do- 
mestic manufactures  upon  an  equality  vrith.  their  foreign  competitors, 
and  given  them  the  choice  of  wools  produced  throughout  the  world — a 
choice  necessary  to  the  production  of  fine-grade  goods. ' '  p.  506. 

^^Congressional  Becord,  5.5  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  June  23,  1897,  p.  1955.  As 
to  shoddy,  Miss  Tarbell  says,  ''The  demand  of  the  wool-growers  that  the 
prohibitive  duties  on  all  kinds  of  wool  substitutes  be  restored  was  impera- 
tive. By  raising  the  cry  of  '  shoddy '  they  could  wrest  a  duty  from  Con- 
gress on  any  material  no  matter  how  valuable  to  the  manufacturer.  Per- 
haps no  word  has  been  more  unjustly  degraded  in  the  history  of  industry 
in  this  country.  The  world  has  never  produced  enough  raw  wool  to  meet 
the  demand  for  woolens.  It  has  always  been  necessary  and  probably 
always  Avill  be  necessary  to  use  wool  waste  and  wool  rags. ' '  Ida  M.  TarbeU, 
The  Tariff  in  Our  Times  (Xew  York:  The  Macmillan  Company,  1915), 
p.  248. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  31 

had  not  stimulated  the  importation  of  shoddy.  He  con- 
tinued that  it  was  American  ingenuity  that  had  stimulated 
its  use  in  manufactures  because  it  was  cheaper  than  wool. 
He  asserted  that  the  manufacturers  "can  put  shoddy  over 
the  eyes  of  our  wool  growers  instead  of  w^ool  and  fool  them 
with  the  argument  they  m.ake  here  and  make  them  believe 
that  they  are  getting  the  benefit  of  it.''^'' 

Warren  introduced  an  abortive  amendment  to  the  wool 
schedule  calling  for  a  sixty-six  per  cent  retroactive  tariff 
on  all  wool  imported  into  the  United  States  before  the 
passage  of  the  act  which  was  not  manufactured  nor  in 
process  of  manufacture.  According  to  an  article  in  the 
Boston  Transcrivt,  the  Supreme  Court  s^vr-ral  years  pre- 
viously had  decided  against  retroactive  duties. ^^ 

Warren  was  interested  in  a  tariff  on  hides  as  well  as 
on  wool.  In  the  Senate  in  1897  Warren  admitted  to  Senator 
Smith  that  he  was  in  favor  of  a  duty  on  nides.  In  June  of 
that  year  he  introduced  an  amendment  to  the  tariff  bill 
imposing  duties  on  raw  skins  and  hides  including  sheep 
skins,  goat  skins,  chamois,  calfskin,  and  kangaroo  skins. 
The  amendment  proposed  a  thirty  per  cent  rate  on  all 
tanned  but  unfinished  skins.^'^  In  1903  when  Senator  Lodge, 
of  Massachusetts,  offered  an  am.endment  to  place  hides  on 
the  free  list,  Warren  retaliated  by  offering  an  amendment 
to  put  leather  manufactures  such  as  shoes,  belts,  saddles, 
and  harness  on  the  free  list-^"*  An  incident  related  by 
Archibald  Butt,  a  friend  of  President  Taft,  is  interesting 
because  it  reveals  a  little  of  Warren's  relations  with  Taft 
as  well  as  his  attitude  toward  the  tariff.  According  to  Butt, 
Taft  opposed  Warren's  fight  against  free  hides.  Butt  wrote 
that  Taft  had  been  "trying  to  get  hold  of  Senator  Warren 
on  the  wool  and  hides  schedules"  and  that  he  had  served 
notice  on  Warren  that  if  he  did  not  withdraw  his  fight  on 
free  hides,  "he  would  force  an  inspection  of  the  wool  sched- 
ule which  would  be  worse  than  anything  the  Senator  could 
anticipate. "99  Butt  thus  quoted  Taft,  "I  have  tried  persua- 
sion with  Warren  and  if  that  does  not  do  he  can  go  to  hell 

with  his  wool  schedule  and  I  will  defeat  him  without  com- 
promise."^oo 

Warren  led   the  fight   of   the  Western   stock  interests 


^^Congressional  Record,  55  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  June  23,  1897,  p.  1957. 

QQBoston   Transoript,   June   11,   1897.    Clipping  in  Warren  "Scrapbook. 

97 Philadelphia  Times,  June  11,  1897.    Clipping  in  Warren  Scrapbook. 

98Denver  Eepublican,  December  18,  1903.  Clipping  in  Warren  Scrap- 
book. 

99T'aft  and  Eoosevelt,  Intimate  Letters  of  Archie  Butt  (New  York: 
Doubleday,  Doran  and  Company),  I,  p.  145. 

lOOioc.  cit. 


32  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

against  the  reciprocity  treaty  with  Argentina.  The  Repub- 
lican National  Platform  of  1896  had  a  plank  advocating  the 
renewal  and  extension  of  the  reciprocity  arrangements  be- 
gun under  the  McKinley  Tariff.  It  declared,  "Protection, 
and  reciprocity  are  twin  measures  of  Republican  policy  and 
go  hand  in  hand.''^^^  The  Dingley  Act,  in  line  with  the 
policy  enunciated  in  the  platform  of  the  Republican  party, 
made  provisions  for  negotiating  reciprocity  treaties  with 
foreign  countries.  The  president  was  authorized,  with  the 
advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  to  enter  into  commercial 
treaties  with  other  countries  allowing  a  twenty  per  cent 
reduction  on  goods  imported  as  specified  in  the  treaty.^^^ 
A  treaty  signed  July  10,  1899,  with  Argentma  proposed  a 
twenty  per  cent  reduction  on  sugar,  hides,  and  wooL^*^"^ 
Both  Senators  Warren  and  Clark  opposed  the  treaty.  Clark 
was  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs  which 
had  the  reciprocity  treaties  under  consideration.  Warren, 
in  speaking  of  the  treaty  said  that  the  "semi-barbarous  and 
half  civilized  South  Americans"  would  keep  wages  at  "star- 
vation rates. "104  In  an  interview  Warren  declared  that 
approval  of  the  treaty  would  be  ruinous  to  the  sheep  indus- 
try.    He  stated  further: 

Our  treaties  with  Great  Britain  give  her  equal 
advantages  with  those  which  we  grant  to  the  most 
favored  nation.  If  we  should  ratify  the  Argentine 
treaty — which  in  my  opinion,  will  not  be  done — 
what  will  prevent  Great  Britain  from  demanding 
the  reduction  on  wools  from  Australia  which  we 
grant  to  Argentina ?io-'' 

The  treaty  with  Argentina  was  one  of  e'even  (the  others 
being  with  Great  Britain,  France,  Nicaragua,  Denmark,  the 
Dominican  Republic,  and  Ecuador)  which  were  defeated 
by  the  opposition  of  the  ultra-protectionists  and  the  special 
interest  groups.  By  their  own  term_s  the  treaties  were 
allowed  to  expire  without  ever  having  come  to  a  vote  in 
the   Senate.i"« 

By  1896  the  Western  states  had  sufficient  votes  in  the 
Senate  to  exert  considerable  influence  on  legislation.     By 

lOiStanwood,   op.  cit.,   I.  jx   534. 

i02United  States  Statutes  at  Large,  XXX,  p.  204. 

lOSSenate  Documents.  56  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  Volume  4,  Document  No.  21. 
(Serial  No.  3846) 

l04New  York  Press,  February  12,  1900.  dipping  in  Warren  Scrap- 
book. 

lOo/ro/i  Age,  (Ncav  York  City)  February  1,  1900.  Clipping  in  Warren 
Scrapbook. 

106W.  Stull  Holt,  Treaties  Defeated  by  the  Senate  (Baltimore:  John 
Hopkins  Press,  1933),  p.  198. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  33 

working  in  a  body  they  succeeded  in  putting  wool  on  a 
high  protective  tariff  basis.  Warren,  as  a  recognized  leader 
of  the  wool  interests,  undoubtedly  determined  to  a  large 
degree  the  character  of  the  wool  schedule  of  the  Dingley 
Act,  one  of  the  highest  protective  tariffs  in  the  history  of 
this  country.  His  popularity  among  his  constituents  was 
due  in  large  part  to  his  fight  for  the  wool  schedule.  Sheep 
men  in  Wyoming  were  generally  agreed  that  free  wool 
meant  the  destruction  of  the  sheep  growing  interests  in  the 
West.  It  is  true  that  the  sheep  raising  industry  was  built 
on  a  protective  tariff  basis  and  the  removal  of  the  tariff 
meant  a  temporary  dislocation.  But  the  Wilson  Act  was 
not  in  operation  long  enough  to  make  it  possible  to  deter- 
mine the  effects  of  free  trade.  The  low  price  of  wool  dur- 
ing these  three  years  was  only  a  phase  of  the  general  de- 
pression throughout  the  country.  Conditions  were  already 
beginning  to  improve  when  the  Dingley  bill  was  passed. 
Warren^s  attitude  toward  free  trade  and  his  opposition  to 
the  reciprocity  treaties  reflect  the  sectional  character  of  the 
protective  tariff.  Few  legislators  are  sufficiently  mindful 
of  the  economic  welfare  of  the  people  as  a  whole  to  be  for- 
getful of  the  economic  interests  of  their  constituents.  It 
is  not  necessary  to  condemn  or  condone  Warren  for  his 
fight  for  a  protective  tariff  on  wool.  He  was  an  integral 
part  of  the  economic  group  which  he  represented  and  as 
such  acted  as  he  thought  best  for  the  welfare  of  that  group. 


Chapter  IV 

OTHER  LEGISLATION  RELATING  TO  THE  SHEEP  AND 
CATTLE  INDUSTRIES 

Congress  in  1891  provided  for  the  inspection  of  live 
cattle  and  hogs,  carcasses,  and  meat  products  in  interstate 
and  foreign  commerce. ^o'  Warren  tried  to  have  the  provi- 
sions of  the  act  modified  and  he  opposed  measures  designed 
to  extend  its  operation.  In  1901  he  supported  a  proviso, 
attached  to  the  agricultural  appropriation  bill,  providing 
that  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  at  his  discretion,  might 
waive  the  requirement  of  a  certificate  with  beef  and  other 
products  which  were  to  be  exported  to  countries  that  did 
not  require  such  inspection.  In  the  debate  on  the  proviso 
Warren  said: 

I  will  say  that  the  clause  was  originally  inserted 
because  there  are  certain  small  canners  of  meat  who 


lOlUnited  States  Statutes  at  Large,  XXYIII,  p.  269. 


34  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

sell  their  brands  to  foreign  vSouthern  countries  and 
others.  They  are  not  large  and  are  scattered  through- 
out the  country,  and  they  sell  their  product  entirely 
under  the  guaranty  of  their  brand.  Those  countries 
so  buying  do  not  require  this  inspection  and  it  would 
be  a  very  considerable  expense  to  the  Agricultural 
Department.  10** 

Senator  Pettigrew,  of  South  Dakota,  objected  to  Warren's 
assertion  and  reminded  Congress  of  the  rotten  canned  meat 
which  had  been  palmed  off  on  the  American  soldiers  during 
the  war  with  Spain.  Pettigrew  continued,  "It  seems  to  me 
that  here  is  a  provision  to  open  the  doors  to  the  palming  off 
of  this  miserable  stuff  upon  the  people  of  those  countries 
who  do  not  create  a  row  about  it.''^^^ 

A  further  argument  between  Warren  and  Pettigrev/ 
took  place  when  it  was  discovered  in  the  process  of  framing 
the  meat  inspection  act  that  some  horse  meat  was  canned 
in  this  country  for  exportation  without  being  labelled  as 
such.  Warren  objected  to  Pettigrew's  statement  that  such 
meat  should  be  truthfully  marked.  Warren  said  during 
the  course  of  the  debate  with  Pettigrew: 

Now  does  the  Senator  think  it  would  be  well  to 
ingraft  in  our  statutes  a  provision  saying  we  are 
manufacturing  horse  meat  and  sending  it  to  other 
countries,  and  we  are  going  to  brand  it  horse  meat 
and  thereby  bring  attention  to  something  that  I  un- 
derstand is  a  dying  industry,  because  these  horses 
were  slaughtered  and  canned  at  a  time  when  horses 
on  the  range  were  worth  from  three  dollars  to  five 
dollars  a  head,  and  the  advance  in  the  price  of  stock 
has  since  carried  them  up  above  the  market  for 
slaughter. 110 

At  the  same  time  in  Congress  there  was  an  attempt 
being  made  to  regulate  the  sale  and  manufacture  of  oleo- 
margarine. Warren  did  not  approve  of  the  bill  that  was 
introduced  for  this  purpose.  He  presented  a  memorial  of 
the  National  Livestock  Association  remonstrating  against 
the  bill.iii     Warren  declared  that  he  had  no  evidence  to 


l08Congressional  Record,  56  Oong.,  2  Sess.,  February  12,  1901,  p. 
2.301  ff.  This  ])rovision  was  finally  adopted.  See  United  States  Statutes 
at  Large,  XXXII,  p.  289. 

i09Congressional  Record,  56  Cong.,  2  Sess.,  February  12,  1901,  p. 
2301  ff. 

l^oibid.,  p.  2302.  Live  horses  and  products  thereof  were  subjected 
to  inspection.     United  States  Statutes  at  Large,  XXXII,  p.  289. 

lliCongressional  Record,  56  Oong.,  2  Sess.,  February  4,  1901,  p.  1877. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  35 

indicate  that  the  manufacturers  of  oleomargarine  were  seek- 
ing to  color  it  so  that  they  could  sell  it  for  butter,  and  that 
he  believed  that  the  provisions  were  too  stringent.^^^ 

In  contrast  to  his  attitude  on  the  meat  packing  and 
oleomargarine  bills,  Warren  supported  a  measure  known 
as  the  "Anti-Shoddy"  bill  which  provided  that  manufac- 
turers of  mixed  goods  (goods  or  garments  made  in  imitation 
of  woolens  but  not  composed  wholly  of  pure  wool)  should 
be  marked  so  that  the  constituent  fibers  and  the  relative 
portion  of  each  should  be  plainly  shown,  and  that  likewise 
all  imports  of  clothing  or  cloth  should  be  similarly  marked. 
The  bill  provided  for  the  imposition  of  a  penalty  for  the 
offense  of  selling  or  offering  for  sale  cloth  or  clothing  not 
properly  labelled.     Warren  wrote  about  the  bill: 

Wool  growers  take  the  ground  that  adulterated 
woolen  goods,  when  sold  as  "all  wool,"  as  is  often 
the  case,  disappoint  the  wearer  and  serve  to  drive 
customers  away  from  woolen  and  toward  the  use  of 
cotton  or  other  substitute  fabrics,  thus  causing  dis- 
trust of  honest  woolen  goods  and  a  disuse  of  the 
good  as  well  as  the  bad  in  woolen  wear.  Excepting 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  desire  to  protect  the  pub- 
lic health,  wool  growers  have  no  serious  objection 
to  the  use  of  adulterated  woolen  goods,  if  the  degree 
of  adulteration  is  made  known  to  the  purchaser.  The 
use  of  shoddy  in  the  manufacture  of  clothing  is 
claimed  by  many  to  be  a  constant  menace  to  the 
public  health.  Shoddy  is  the  fiber  of  woolen  cloth 
separated  and  rearranged  for  spinning  by  ma- 
chinery. The  best  is  made  from  the  sweepings  of 
tailor  shops  and  the  emptyings  of  rag  bags  in  civil- 
ized countries.  The  worst  comes  from  no  one  knows 
where,  but  it  is  reasonably  certain  that  much  of  it 
is  made  from  the  rags  gathered  by  rag  pickers  in 
the  slums  and  alleys  of  European  cities  and  shipped 
to  America  under  the  term,  "re-used  wool  fiber." 
Disease  is,  of  course,  liable  to  lurk  in  this  product, 
and  it  is  asking  little  of  the  national  legislature  that 
it  may  be  marked  so  that  it  may  be  avoided  by  those 
who  do  not  wish  to  use  it.^^^ 


ii2An  act  was  passed  May  9,  1902,  to  make  oleomargarine  subject 
to  the  laws  of  any  State  into  which  it  was  transported,  and  imposed  a  tax 
on  the  manufacture  of  imitation  and  adulterated  butter.  It  further  pro- 
vided that  such  butter  must  be  plainly  labelled  as  the  Commissioner  of 
Internal  Eevenue  might  prescribe,  and  for  the  inspection  of  such  manu- 
facturing plants  by  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture. 

li3Francis  E.  Warren,  '^Honest  Clothing  by  Legislation,"  Inde- 
pendent, 54:1.598-99,  July  3,  1902.     Part  II. 


36  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Warren  tried  to  explain  the  discrepancy  of  his  attitude 
toward  the  Anti-Shoddy  bill  and  the  oleomargarine  bill  on 
the  grounds  that  the  oleomargarine  bill  sought  "to  cripple 
an  industry  and  practically  put  an  end  to  the  manufacture 
of  a  food  product  not  injurious  to  health,  through  the  exer- 
cise of  the  taxing  power.''^^^  This  statement  does  not  sat- 
isfactorily explain  his  opposition  to  the  meat  inspection 
acts.  The  real  explanation  seems  to  be  that  he  feared  that 
the  meat  inspection  acts  and  the  oleomargarine  act  would 
injure  the  livestock  interests,  while  the  Anti-Shoddy  bill 
was  obviously  designed  to  aid  the  wool  growers.  As  War- 
ren fought  for  a  protective  tariff  on  wool  to  protect  the 
sheep  industry,  so  he  opposed  the  oleomargarine  and  the 
meat  inspection  bills  because  he  was  the  representative  of 
the  stock  growing  interests.  Stockmen  objected  to  the  oleo- 
margarine bill  because  a  large  percentage  of  the  materials 
used  in  its  manufacture  was  animal  fat,  and  they  joined 
with  the  meat  packers  against  an  effective  meat  inspection 
act.ii-5 

Chapter  V 

WARREN'S  WORK  FOR  IRRIGATION   OF 
THE  ARID  LANDS 

Irrigation  began  in  Wyoming  along  the  Overland  Trail 
and  around  military  posts.  The  oldest  ditch  in  Wyoming 
was  built  in  1857,  and  others  were  constructed  in  the  early 
sixties. ^1*^    Early  methods  of  irrigation  were  very  primitive. 

ii^Ibid.,  p.  1599. 

ilolii  1906  President  Eoosevelt  directed  Secretary  of  Agriculture 
Wilson  to  appoint  a  committee  Avho  would  confer  with  Upton  Sinclair, 
whose  Jungle  had  revealed  shocking  conditions  ?n  the  meat  packing  plants, 
to  begin  an  investigation.  Senator  Beveridge  introduced  the  administra- 
tion 's  meat  iusj^ection  bill.  Beveridge 's  biographer  says,  ' '  The  packers 
and  cattlemen  of  the  western  plains  made  common  cause  against  the  bill. 
.  .  .  Senator  Warren  .  .  .  replied  for  the  jJ^ckers  and  served  notice 
that  they  would  pass  the  cost  of  inspection  on  to  the  consumer  and  the 
cattlemen.  Bitter  and  in  jeering  mood,  he  made  a  personal  attack  on 
Beveridge,  Avho  ignored  the  personalities  and  sought  in  vain  to  pin  him 
down  as  to  the  date  upon  the  cans."  Claude  T.  Bowers,  Beveridge  and 
the  Progressive  Era   (New  York:   The  Literary  Guild,  1932),  pp.  229-232. 

ii6Ehvood  Mead,  Irrigation  Institutions  (New  York:  ]\[acmillan  Com- 
pany, 1910),  p.  49.  Mead  was  a  recognized  authority  on  irrigation  engi- 
neering. At  various  times  he  was  chief  of  Irrigation  Investigations  of 
the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Professor  of  Institutions 
and  Practice  of  Irrigation  in  the  University  of  California,  and  Special 
Lecturer  on  Irrigation  Engineering  in  Harvard  University.  He  spent 
fifteen  years  in  Colorado  and  Wyoming  as  assistant  State  Engineer  in 
Colorado  and  territorial  and  State  Engineer  in  Wyoming.  Through  his 
efforts  Wyoming  developed  one  of  the  finest  systems  of  Avater  rights  and 
irrigation  laws  in  the  West. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  37 

By  means  of  a  simple  plowed  furrow,  water  from  a  stream 
would  be  diverted  to  the  low-lying  lands  near  the  stream. 
Dams  were  temporary,  consisting  of  bags  of  sand  and  head- 
gates  were  an  exception.  The  early  irrigator  made  money 
selling  garden  produce  to  the  emigrants  and  soldiers.  In 
Wyoming,  Montana,  Idaho,  and  Nevada  the  need  of  a  winter 
feed  supply  for  cattle  and  sheep  led  to  the  construction  of 
ditches  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  water  on  near-by  mead- 
ows. Elwood  Mead  thus  describes  the  development  of 
early  irrigation  in  the  West: 

Returns  from  irrigation  were  large.  Owners  of 
gardens  along  the  Overland  Trail  sold  their  cab- 
bages for  $1  a  head  and  their  potatoes  for  50  cents 
a  pound.  Flour  sold  in  Alder  Gulch,  Montana,  for 
$100  dollars  a  sack.  With  such  returns  following  irri- 
gation, ditches  were  built  wherever  men  settled, 
in  the  vicinity  of  mining  camps,  around  the  stage 
stations  of  the  Santa  Fe  and  the  Overland  Trails, 
in  the  Mormon  colonies  of  Utah,  around  transplanted 
New  England  at  Greeley,  Colorado,  or  on  a  sheep 
or  cattle  ranch  in  Montana. ^^'^ 

Later  when  it  was  desired  to  irrigate  the  lands  farther 
from  the  stream  it  was  necessary  to  build  larger  and  cost- 
lier ditches.  Partnerships  and  cooperative  ditches  were 
undertaken  but  met  with  unforeseen  difficulties.  The  Gree- 
ley Colony  in  Colorado  was  a  cooperative  enterprise  which 
for  a  while  suffered  because  of  a  lack  of  knowledge  and 
capital.  The  construction  of  ditches  proved  to  be  more 
costly  than  anticipated,  and  one  ditch  which  cost  $30,000 
to  construct  watered  only  2000  acres  rather  than  120,000. 

The  next  step  was  the  formation  of  corporations  which 
furnished  capital  for  the  construction  of  large  irrigation 
works.  They  expected  to  make  a  profit  by  selling  water 
rights  to  settlers.  In  Wyoming  the  Wyoming  Development 
Company,  located  sixty-five  miles  north  of  Cheyenne,  was 
the  earliest  corporative  enterprise.  Joseph  M.  Carey  was 
the  leading  promoter  of  the  colony.  The  reservoirs  of  the 
company  were  built  on  the  Laramie  River,  a  branch  of  the 
North  Platte  River  in  southeastern  Wyoming.  These  reser- 
voirs were  capable  of  storing  the  entire  year's  discharge 
of  the  Laramie  -River.  A  publication  of  the  Secretary  of 
State  of  Wyoming  in  1898  thus  described  the  Wheatland 
Colony  which  was  founded  by  the  company: 


inLoc.  cit. 


38  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

There  are  three  large  canals  of  a  total  length  of 
forty-four  miles,  having  a  capacity  equal  to  the  irri- 
gation of  60,000  acres  of  land.  It  is  proposed  to 
extend  the  system  so  as  to  water  120,000  acres.  Over 
$500,000  was  expended  in  the  original  construction 
of  these  works.  The  soil  is  a  rich  sandy  loam,  and 
when  irrigated,  is  well  adapted  for  raising  wheat, 
oats,  barley,  rye,  potatoes,  turnips,  flax,  beets,  cer- 
tain varieties  of  corn,  etc.,  without  other  fertiliza- 
tion than  comes  from  the  application  of  water  for 
irrigation.^i^ 

One  of  Warren's  chief  desires  as  Senator  of  the  United 
States  was  to  get  legislation  favorable  to  reclamation  of 
the  arid  lands.  From  experience  Warren  was  aware  of 
the  hazards  involved  in  winter  feeding  of  cattle  and  sheep 
on  the  open  range,  and  the  necessity  of  raising  forage  crops 
to  supply  hay  for  winter  feed.  Also  the  sugar  beet  industry 
was  becoming  of  increasing  importance  in  the  economic 
life  of  the  Western  states  and  demanded  an  increase  in 
irrigable  land  for  its  fullest  expansion.  The  publication 
quoted  above  spoke  thus  about  the  growing  of  sugar  beets 
in  the  Wheatland  colony: 

One  of  the  crops  which  promises  to  bring 
money  to  the  Wheatland  farmer  is  the  sugar  beet. 
The  amount  of  saccharine  matter  in  most  sugar 
beets  ranges  from  12  to  16  per  cent,  but  the  Wheat- 
land beets,  according  to  the  official  reports  of  the 
Government  chemist,  showed  22  per  cent  of  sac- 
charine matter. 119 

In  an  article  written  for  the  Illustrated  American  War- 
ren wrote: 

In  cultivating  and  curing  sugar  beets  a  large 
amount  of  sunshine  is  necessary.  There  should  be 
much  moisture  in  starting  and  growing  the  beet, 
but  the  percentage  of  saccharine  matter  is  always 
greatest  when  the  beet  is  finished  under  a  very  high 
percentage  of  sunshine  and  a  very  low  percentage 
of  moisture.  Sunshine  and  drought  with  moisture 
applied  occasionally  at  will,  through  the  artificial 


ii^Charles  W.  Burdick,  The  State  of  Wyoming  (Cheyenne:  Sun-Leader 
Printing  House,  1898),  p.  32. 
ll9Loe.  cit. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  39 

application  of  water,  furnish  exactly  the  condition 
required.  1-0 

Soon  after  his  election  to  the  Senate  Warren  introduced 
a  bill  proposing  to  cede  the  arid  lands  to  the  states  and 
territories  within  which  they  were  situated  and  to  provide 
for  irrigation  and  the  utilization  of  pasturage  lands. ^'^^  The 
bill,  introduced  late  in  the  session  was  never  reported  out 
of  committee,  but  in  the  next  session  on  March  9,  1892, 
Warren  introduced  the  same  bill.  Warren's  bill  was  not 
the  first  of  this  sort  to  be  introduced  into  Congress,  for  as 
early  as  1869  Utah  had  asked  for  land  to  be  used  in  pro- 
moting irrigation  projects.  At  frequent  intervals  bills  were 
introduced  asking  for  land  to  aid  in  irrigation.^^s  Qn  July 
21  in  defense  of  his  bill  Warren  gave  a  long  speech  review- 
ing the  history  of  irrigation  in  different  countries  and  the 


l20Fraiicis   E,  Warren,   "The   Splendid  Eiches  of  Our  Arid  Lands," 
Illustrated  American,  22:585-7,  November  6,  1897. 

l2lCongressional   Eecord,   52   Cong.,   1    Sess.,   July   21,   1892,   p.   6486. 
Following  is  the  text  of  Warren 's  bill  summarized : 

Section  1.  To  provide  for  the  cession  of  all  public  land  except 
mining  lands  to  the  states  west  of  the  ninety-ninth  meridian  under 
the   following  conditions: 

1.  That  each  state  shall  proceed  to  divide  its  area  into 
irrigation  districts  and  the  construction  of  canals,  reser- 
voirs, etc. 

2.  After  ten  years  if  any  State  has  not  complied  with  the 
provisions  of  the  bill  the  lands  shall  be  reclaimed  by  Congress. 

3.  Each  state  may  mortgage,  pledge,  or  sell  any  lands  hereby 
granted  for  the  purpose  of  raising  requisite  funds  to  accom- 
plish reclamation. 

4.  Any  lands  so  reclaimed  shall  be  sold  to  actual  settlers 
in  tracts  not  exceeding  160  acres  of  irrigable  land  in  addi- 
tion to  Avhich  each  settler  shall  be  entitled  to  grazing  land 
provided  that  his  total  holding  shall  not  exceed  320  acres 
at  a  price  not  exceeding  one  doUar  and  twenty-five  cents  per 
acre  and  the  states  shall  enact  laws  for  disposal  of  lands 
under  homestead  entries  not  exceeding  320  acres.  No  settler 
is  to  enter  more  than  160  acres  of  irrigable  land. 

5.  All  grazing  lands  may  be  apportioned  or  leased  to  actual 
settlers.  Each  settler  may  be  entitled  to  rent  the  pasture 
lands  which  lie  nearer  to  the  lands  of  such  settler  than  to 
those  of  any  other  settler  excepting  when  bounded  by  natural 
barriers   as   mountains,   canons,  hydrographical  basins,   etc. 

Section  2.  Timber  lands  and  reservoir  sites  shall  remain  the 
property  of  the  State  or  territory.  Timber  needed  for  domes- 
tic, manufacturing,  or  mining  use  may  be  so  used  subject 
to  laws  enacted  by  the  legislature  thereof.  Each  state  shall 
have  authority  to  provide  by  statute  for  sale  of  surplus 
timber,  protection  of  forests,  planting  of  trees,  etc. 

Section  3.     Report  is  to  be  made  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States  annually. 
i22Benjamin  Horace  Hibbard,  History  of  Public  Land  Policies   (NeAV 
York:  Macmillan  Company,  1924),  p.  424. 


40  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

benefits  to  be  derived  from  a  system  of  irrigation  for  the 
arid  states.  Warren  attempted  to  show  the  value  of  irri- 
gation as  an  aid  to  agriculture  and  the  necessity  of  giving 
serious  and  helpful  consideration  to  the  subject  of  irriga- 
tion of  the  arid  lands  of  the  West. 

Warren's  bill  aroused  considerable  discussion  in  the 
Wyoming  newspapers.  In  the  discussions  pro  and  con  the 
question  arose  as  to  what  agency  could  best  be  intrusted 
with  control  of  an  irrigation  program.  Warren  in  an  inter- 
view quoted  in  the  Washington  Post  claimed  that  "Present 
federal  land  laws  are  defective  and  inapplicable  to  the  arid 
region.  Each  state  can  best  frame  the  laws  suited  to  its 
peculiar  conditions. "^-^'^  Arguments  advanced  against  state 
control  were  to  the  effect  that  cession  to  the  states  meant 
that  there  would  be  more  chance  for  land  graft  and  fraud, 
and  the  frauds  connected  with  the  disposal  of  the  swamp 
lands  of  the  East  were  cited.  Senator  Power  of  Montana 
charged  that  Warren  and  Carey  were  anxious  for  the  segre- 
gation of  arid  lands  to  increase  their  private  holdings. ^^4 
Warren  denied  this  and  said  that  he  was  trying  to  carry 
out  the  endorsements  as  expressed  in  the  various  irrigation 
conventions.  The  Trans-Mississippi  Congress,  held  at  Den- 
ver, had  endorsed  Warren's  arid  land  bill,^25  ^j^^j  ^^  ^Ylq 
next  meeting  held  at  Omaha,  at  which  Warren  took  a  promi- 
nent part,  the  representatives  declared  themselves  as  favor- 
ing cession  of  the  arid  lands. ^2*^  Another  argument  against 
state  control  was  the  increased  expense  to  the  state  and  the 
added  burden  on  the  taxpayers.  Still  another  argument 
was  that  irrigation  was  purely  a  local  problem  and  could 
best  be  handled  by  local  irrigation  districts.  The  Wyoming 
Democratic  State  Platform  of  1892  carried  a  plank  con- 
demning Warren's  bill  and  voiced  the  general  suspicion 
with  which  the  bill  was  regarded: 

We  favor  the  cession  of  government  lands  to 
the  states  only  under  such  constitutional  or  con- 
gressional restrictions  as  will  prevent  final  disposal 
of  them  by  the  states  until  they  are  fully  reclaimed; 
and  prevent  the  control  of  large  tracts  by  corpora- 
tions or  individuals  and  that  all  unreclaimed  graz- 
ing lands  shall  forever  remain  unle^sed,  an  open 
common  upon  which  all  citizens  may  graze  their 
flocks  and  herds.    We  also  demand  that  the  accept- 


12ZW ashington  Post,  December  21,  1891,  Clipping  in  Warren  Scrap- 
book. 

I240maha  Bee,  January  20,  1892.    Clipping  in  Warren  Scrapbook. 

l2oDenver  Eepuhlican,  May  23,  1891.    Clipping  in  Warren  Scrapbook. 

I2echeyenne  Daily  Sun,  October  23,  1891.  Clipping  in  Warren  Scrap- 
book, 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  41 

ance  of  any  lands  donated  by  the  general  govern- 
ment to  the  states  shall  be  by  vote  of  the  people  of 
each  state. ^2^^ 

Elwood  Mead  wrote  thus  about  Warren's  bill: 

The  measure  introduced  in  Congress  by  Senator 
F.  E.  Warren,  of  Wyoming,  in  1892,  which  provided 
for  the  union  of  land  and  water,  for  the  classifica- 
tion of  the  public  lands  into  irrigable,  grazing,  and 
forest  areas  through  a  comprehensive  economic  sur- 
vey, and  for  the  location  of  ditches  according  to  a 
prearranged  plan  having  for  its  object  the  most  eco- 
nomical use  of  the  water  supply  would,  if  adopted, 
have  saved  to  irrigators  many  water  fronts  which 
have  now  passed  into  the  hands  of  speculators. ^^^ 

Warren  never  succeeded  in  getting  his  bill  to  become 
a  law,  and  it  remained  for  his  colleague.  Senator  Carey,  to 
introduce  the  bill  which  became  the  first  act  to  cede  the 
arid  lands  to  the  states. ^^^  That  even  as  late  as  1897  there 
was  considerable  sentiment  favorable  to  state  control  is 
shown  by  a  petition  which  Warren  presented  to  Congress 
from  the  Legislature  of  Wyoming  asking  that  all  unoccu- 
pied public  lands  within  the  state  be  ceded  to  the  con- 
trol of  that  state.i'^o  In  1899  the  Senate  Committee  reported 
favorably  on  Senator  Stewart's  amendment  ceding  five  mil- 
lion acres  of  land  to  each  of  the  public  land  states.  In  each 
session  until  the  Newlands  Act  was  passed  there  were 
several  bills  introduced  for  cession  to  the  states. 

The  first  step  toward  national  control  was  the  Chitten- 
den report  of  1897  made  by  Hiram  M.  Chittenden  of  the 
Engineers  Corps.    Warren  secured  the  appropriation  in  the 


12,7 Laramie  Daily  Boomerang,   July  30,  1892. 

l28Mead,  op.  cit.,  p.  380. 

129X116  Carey  Act,  which  was  passed  August  18,  1894,  pro\'ides  for 
reclamation  by  cooperation  between  the  nation,  state,  corporation,  and 
individual.  Under  this  act  the  states  of  Colorado,  Idaho,  Montana,  Ne- 
vada, Oregon,  Utah,  Washington,  and  Wyoming  were  each  given  1,000,000 
acres  of  land,  provided  they  complied  with  the  conditions  of  the  act.  To 
Wyoming  and  Idaho,  each,  in  1908,  there  were  an  additional  1,000,000 
acres  granted.  The  method  of  development  is  similar  to  that  of  the 
irrigation  district.  A  company  forms  a  project.  This  is  submitted  to 
the  state  authorities.  If  approved  by  the  state,  the  government  at  Wash- 
ington is  requested  to  withdraw  the  land  from  entry,  and  give  control 
of  it  to  the  state.  These  two  things  done,  the  individual  owners  enter 
into  contracts  with  the  water  company  for  the  water  rights,  and  they  have 
a  perpetual  interest  in  the  irrigation  works.  Charles  Eichard  Van  Hise, 
The  Conservation  of  Natural  Eesources  in  the  United  States  (New  York: 
Macmillan  Company,  1914),  p.  193. 

i30Congressional  Eecord,  55  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  March  19,  1897,  p.  67. 


42  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

river  and  harbor  bill  of  June  3,  1896,  which  provided  $5000 
for  a  preliminary  survey  of  reservoir  sites  in  the  states  of 
Colorado  and  Wyoming.  Chittenden  made  a  careful  study 
of  the  whole  problem  of  reservoirs,  and  in  his  report  stressed 
the  importance  of  a  system  of  storage  reservoirs  in  the 
West  for  purposes  of  flood  control  and  irrigation.  He  stated 
in  his  report: 

In  no  other  part  of  the  United  States,  nor  any- 
where else  in  the  world,  are  there  such  potent  and 
conclusive  reasons  of  a  public  as  well  as  a  private 
nature,  for  the  construction  of  a  comprehensive 
reservoir  system  as  in  the  region  here  in  question. ^^^ 

He  recommended  governmental  construction  of  reservoirs 
because  the  work  was  necessarily  interstate  in  character, 
as  the  government  owned  the  larger  part  of  the  land  area 
of  the  West,  and  because  of  the  greater  financial  resources 
of  the  national  government.  As  a  first  step  he  recommended 
the  construction  of  a  reservoir  on  Piney  Creek  in  Johnson 
County  in  northern  Wyoming  with  an  appropriation  of 
$100,000  and  the  South  Platte  site  in  Colorado  with  an 
appropriation  of  $200,000,132 

In  accordance  with  the  Chittenden  report,  Warren  in 
February  1899,  introduced  an  amendment  to  the  river  and 
harbor  bill  proposing  to  appropriate  $100,000  for  the  con- 
struction of  a  reservoir  system  on  Piney  Creek,  Wyoming, 
and  a  reservoir  on  the  South  Platte  in  Colorado  with  an 
appropriation  of  $150,000. ^'^^^  The  Senate  committee  dropped 
the  provision  for  Colorado  but  provided  for  the  construction 
of  a  reservoir  in  Wyoming  at  a  cost  limited  to  $215,000.  On 
February  24,  Warren  gave  a  long  speech  in  support  of  his 
bill.  His  chief  opponent  was  Senator  Gray  of  Delaware 
who  objected  to  a  measure  which  taxed  one  section  of  the 
country  to  enable  the  western  section  to  raise  crops  which 
would  enter  into  competition  with  the  Eastern  agricultural 
products.  Warren  countered  this  argument  by  pointing  out 
that  the  river  and  harbor  bill  without  the  reservoir  amend- 
ment provided  nothing  for  the  western  mountain  states 
but  benefited  only  those  states  of  a  commercial  nature. ^^^ 
The  House  refused  to  accept  the  amendment  and  the  con- 
ference committee  dropped  the  item.  Warren  aided  by 
other  Western  senators,  including  Carter  of  Montana  and 


l3iHouse  Documents,  55  Cong.,  2  Sess.,  No.  141,  p.   50,      (Serial   No. 
3666) 

I321bid.,  p.  29. 

'^^^Cangressional  Becord,   55  Cong.,  3  Sess.,  February  8,  1899,  p.  3595. 

I34lbid.,   p.  2268. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  43 

Wilson  of  Washington,  began  a  filibuster  on  the  last  day  of 
Congress  when  the  river  and  harbor  bill  came  up  for  con- 
sideration. Warren's  intention  was  to  force  the  incorpora- 
tion of  his  item  in  the  bill.  He  began  at  eight-thirty  in  the 
evening,  and  with  minor  interruptions  continued  until  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  He  quoted  at  length  from  Chitten- 
den's report  to  take  up  time.  At  last,  seeing  that  the  House 
conferees  refused  to  give  in,  he  finally  agreed  to  let  the 
bill  pass  without  his  amendment. ^^^  In  March  the  Irrigation 
Age  said: 

No  one  is  better  fitted  to  speak  on  the  subject 
of  irrigation  than  Senator  Warren  and  no  one  de- 
serves more  praise  than  he  for  the  manner  in  which 
he  has  worked  for  the  irrigation  industry.  Thor- 
oughly posted  on  all  phases  of  the  subject  prac- 
tically as  well  as  theoretically  he  has  "borne  the 
heat  and  burden  of  the  day"  and  worked  constantly 
and  faithfully  in  the  interest  of  irrigation  and  the 
state  which  he  represents. ^^^ 

Warren  was  anxious  to  arouse  interest  in  the  subject 
of  irrigation  of  the  arid  lands  and  to  get  information  before 
Congress  as  to  its  desirability.  In  1892  he  introduced  an 
amendmient  to  the  sundry  civil  appropriation  bill  enabling 
the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  to  make  a  study  of  artesian 
and  underflow  irrigation;  on  March  3,  he  introduced  an 
am.endment  appropriating  $10,000  for  collecting  and  pub- 
lishing information  as  to  the  best  methods  of  cultivating 
soil  by  irrigation;  and  a  third  amendment  appropriating 
$5000  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  the  Secretary  of  Agricul- 
ture to  continue  the  collection  of  information  as  to  the  best 
methods  of  reclaiming  arid  lands  and  the  cultivation  of  land 
by  irrigation.^^'^  In  1895  he  secured  agreement  to  the  fol- 
lowing resolution: 

Resolved  by  the  Senate,  That  the  Secretary  of 
the  Interior  and  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  be 
requested  to  furnish  such  information  as  may  be  had 
in  their  respective  departments  concerning  the  ex- 
isting legislation  relative  to  irrigation  as  far  as  it 
concerns  the  Executive  Departments,  the  operations 
of  each  bureau  and  office,  m  any  way  concerned 
with  irrigation,  the  principles  which  govern  the  sub- 


iSSNew  York  World,  March  4,  1899.  Clipping  in  Warren  Scrapbook. 
By  his  filibuster  Warren  endangered  the  $1,000,000  appropriation  for  an 
investigation  of  the  Panama  and  Nicaragua  Canal  sites. 

l36Quoted  in  Laramie  Daily  Boomerang,  March  17,  1899. 

'^^1  Cheyenne  Daily  Sun,  March  8,  1892.   Clipping  in  Warren  Scrapbook. 


44  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

division  of  work  among  the  various  offices  where- 
ever  the  law  allows  latitude,  and  such  other  facts 
as  will  serve  to  show  clearly  what  has  already  been 
accomplished   ...   in   this   jine.^^^ 

In  1896  Warren  introduced  a  resolution  providing  for  print- 
ing ten  thousand  copies  of  a  report  on  irrigation  in  the  West- 
ern part  of  the  United  States  which  was  prepared  for  the 
Eleventh  Census. ^^^  In  March  he  introduced  an  amend- 
ment to  the  Agricultural  Appropriation  Bill  authorizing  the 
United  States  Geological  Survey  to  continue  the  collection 
of  information  as  to  the  best  modes  of  irrigation  and  appro- 
priating $15,000,  five  thousand  dollars  of  which  was  to  be 
immediately  available  to  enable  the  Survey  to  continue  the 
work  of  gauging  streams  and  determining  the  water  supply 
of  the  United  States. ^^^  in  1897  Warren  introduced  a  bill 
providing  for  the  entry  of  land  for  reservoir  purposes. ^-^^ 
On  June  13  of  that  year  he  presented  documents  and  letters 
pertaining  to  irrigation  which  were  ordered  to  be  printed. i^- 
In  1898  he  submitted  an  amendment  to  the  Agricultural  Ap- 
propriation Bill  providing  for  an  investigation  of  the  meth- 
ods of  building  and  operating  irrigation  canals. ^^^  Another 
amendment  provided  for  the  creation  of  a  division  of  irriga- 
tion and  reclamation  of  arid  lands — the  employees  to  include 
an  irrigation  engineer  and  his  assistant. ^^^  He  justified  his 
amendment  on  the  grounds  that  such  a  bureau,  to  which 
several  Senators  objected,  meant  "life  and  death  to  nearly 
one  half  of  the  area  of  the  United  States"  and  that  it  re- 
quired the  expenditure  of  only  $20,000  out  of  a  total  appro- 
priation of  between  two  and  three  million  dollars. ^^^  Sen- 
ator Stewart  of  Nevada  in  the  debate  on  the  amendment 
declared  that  "If  there  is  anything  that  the  Agricultural 
Department  can  do  which  would  be  more  beneficial  than 
any  other  particular  thing,  it  seems  to  me  this  is  the  one."^^^ 
The  conference  committee  reduced  the  total  appropriation 
to  $10,000. 

In  1899  Warren  introduced  an  amendment  providing 
$50,000  for  preliminary  surveys  or  examinations  to  be  made 
of  one  or  more  reservoir  sites  in  each  of  the  arid  and  semi- 


'^38Congressional  Becord,  54  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  December  20,  1895,  p.  253. 

I39lbid.,  January  21,  1896,  p.  815. 

l^OIhkJ.,  March  .3,  1896,  pp.  2377-237S. 

I4.ilbid.,  55  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  March  19,  1897,  p.  67. 

i4r2S€nate  Documents,  55   Cong.,  2   Sess.,  p.  818.      (Serial   No.   3562) 

i4.3Congressional  Becord,  55  Cong.,  2  Sess.,  Jan.  17,  1898,  p.  672. 

I44lbid.,  February  2,  1893,  pp.  1349  and  1394. 

l45i5M.,  p.  1395. 

1467&IV7.,  p.  1395. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  45 

arid  states. ^^"^  On  February  13,  Warren  spoke  in  favor  of 
his  amendment  which  was  reported  favorably  from  the 
irrigation  committee: 

Irrigation  and  reclamation  of  land  is  the  most 
important  economic  subject  or  problem  that  we  have 
before  us  today  and  is  capable  of  yielding  tne  large- 
est  returns  to  us  as  a  problem.  .  .  .  Last  year  the 
friends  of  irrigation  urged  an  increased  appropria- 
tion and  the  Committee  on  Irrigation  of  this  body 
reported  an  amendment  providing  for  $27,500.  The 
Committee  on  Appropriations  of  the  Senate  con- 
sented to  $20,000.  That  amount  was  cut  down  in 
conference  to  $10,000.  With  that  $10,000  the  Secre- 
tary of  Agriculture  commenced  this  work.  He  be- 
came so  much  interested  in  it  as  did  others  who  gave 
it  attention  that  he  estimated  for  and  requested 
this  year  $50,000  for  the  purpose,  $10,000  to  be  made 
immediately  available.  .  .  .  The  appropriation  will 
really  stand  $20,000  for  the  fiscal  year  1899  and 
$25,000  for  1900.  .  .  .  Gauging  of  streams  furnished 
information  useful  for  a  great  many  purposes.  Im- 
migration hereafter  must  naturally  be  from  our 
large  cities  into  new  country  for  those  wishing  to 
engage  in  agricultural  pursuits.  We  have  very 
little  ground  left  that  can  be  occupied  except  by  irri- 
gation. If  there  could  be  information  for  a  would-be 
farmer  which  could  be  laid  before  him  as  to  what 
amount  of  water  is  necessary  to  raise  a  certain 
crop,  it  would  be  very  valuable.  Much  of  the  settle- 
ment made  and  work  done  along  these  lines  have 
been  primitive  and  generally  wasteful  as  to  the 
appropriation  and  use  of  water,  and  with  but  little 
more  than  an  experimental  knowledge  of  the  kind 
of  crops  to  'grow,  the  amount  of  water  necessary, 
and  the  most  beneficial  time  and  manner  to  apply 
it.i48 

In  August  1899,  Secretary  of  Agriculture  Wilson  made 
a  trip  through  the  West.  While  in  Wyoming  he  made  a 
special  study  of  the  proposition  to  build  storage  reservoirs 
by  government  aid.^^^ 

The  river  and  harbor  bill  of  1901  as  passed  by  the 
Senate  carried  an  appropriation  for  the  building  of  several 
reservoirs  in  the  arid  West.     The  House  refused  to  incor- 


14:7 Laramie  Daily  Boomerang,  February  14,  1899. 

14:80 o7igressional  Eecord,  55  Cong.,  3  Sess.,  February  13,  1899,  p.  1792. 

l49Laramie  Daily  Boomerang,  August   10,   1899. 


46  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

porate  these  items  in  the  bill  and  conference  committees 
appointed  by  each  house  were  unable  to  reach  an  agreement. 
On  March  2,  Warren  gave  a  long  speech  in  support  of  the 
appropriation.     During  his  speech  he  said: 

The  State  of  New  York  with  her  great  delega- 
tion, can,  if  she  chooses,  in  combination  with  other 
States  with  large  delegations  secure  the  passage 
of  a  bill  with  so  much  so-called  pork  in  it  that  they 
can  divide  it  around  among  such  States  and  dis- 
tricts as  they  decide  upon  and  in  the  arrogance  of 
their  power  can  say,  "this  great  Western  empire 
shall  not  have  a  dollar  to  develop  a  national  industry 
in  which  every  poor  man,  every  family  seeking  a 
home,  every  pioneer  struggling  with  the  hard  con- 
ditions of  frontier  life,  may  have  a  share" — the  ole-  . 
aginous  pork  obtruding  from,  every  pocket  fore  and 
aft,  that  can  snap  their  fingers  at  us  if  they  will.^^^ 

Senator  Carter  from  Montana  led  a  successful  filibuster 
against  the  river  and  harbor  bill,  and  the  last  few  minutes 
of  the  session  expired  before  the  bill  came  to  a  vote.  Bit 
by  bit  Carter  read  the  bill  commenting  at  length  on  each 
provision.  He  was  aided  by  Senator  Wellington  of  Mary- 
land, who  said,  ".  .  .  In  this  bill,  the  most  meritorious  items, 
to  my  mind,  are  those  that  go  toward  the  new  plan — that 
of  irrigation  for  our  arid  lands.  .  .  ."^^^ 

During  this  session  Warren  also  tried  to  amend  the 
Carey  Act  to  extend  the  time  for  reclamation  from  the  date 
of  approval  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  of  the  State's 
application  for  segregation.  This  bill  also  provided  that 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  at  his  discretion,  might  extend 
the  period  for  five  years.  Warren  presented  a  letter  from 
Secretary  Hitchcock  endorsing  the  amendment. ^^^ 

In  1902  a  compromise  was  worked  out.  Those  senators 
interested  in  irrigation  agreed  that  they  would  not  add  any 
provision  to  the  river  and  harbor  bill  concerning  irrigation 
in  the  West  if  those  senators  primarily  interested  in  the 
river  and  harbor  bill  would  agree  not  to  obstruct  any  irri- 
gation bill  that  might  be  adopted.  Accordingly  the  Senate 
passed  a  bill  providing  for  the  building  of  dams  and  reser- 
voirs. ^'^-^  At  the  same  time  a  bill  was  passed  in  the  House 
providing  for  reclamation.    The  year  1902  witnessed  a  great 


l50Con(/r(ssionaJ   Eetord,   i)Q   Cong.,    2    Sess.,   March   2,    1901,   p.    3544. 
Warren  had  introduced  the  amendment.  See  Ihid.,  January  21,  1901,  p.  1247. 
1517&JVZ.,  March  2,  1901,  p.  3548. 
I527&i^.,  March  1,  1901,  p.  3295. 
I531hid.,  57  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  April  21,  1902,  p.  4474. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  47 

triumph  for  the  irrigation  interests.  President  Roosevelt 
lent  his  influence  to  the  reclamation  program.  Roosevelt 
in  his  first  message  to  Congress  on  December  31,  1901,  said: 

It  is  as  right  for  the  national  government  to 
make  the  streams  and  rivers  of  the  arid  region  use- 
ful by  engineering  works  for  water  storage  as  to 
make  useful  the  rivers  and  harbors  of  the  humid 
region  by  engineering  works  of  another  kind.  The 
storing  of  the  floods  in  reservoirs  at  the  head  waters 
of  our  rivers  is  but  an  enlargement  of  our  present 
policy  of  river  control,  under  which  levees  are  built 
on  the  lower  reaches  of  the  same  streams. ^^^^ 

The  Reclamation  Act  was  signed  by  President  Roosevelt 
on  June  17,  1902.  This  bill  provides  tor  national  aid  for 
reclamation  purposes.  It  provides  that  the  national  govern- 
ment shall  set  aside  the  money  received  from,  the  sale  of 
land  for  a  "reclamation  fund"  to  be  used  in  developing 
irrigation  projects. 

The  Reclamation  Act  was  commonly  called  the  New- 
lands  xAct  in  honor  of  Representative  Nev/lands  of  Arizona, 
the  chairman  of  the  Irrigation  Committee  in  the  House. 
Wyoming  newspapers  were  unwilling  to  grant  all  honor  to 
Newlands  for  the  success  in  passing  the  bill.  One  Wyoming 
newspaper  gave  Representative  Mondell  the  credit  for  get- 
ting the  bill  through  the  House  and  continued,  Wyoming's 
delegates— O.  D.  Clark,  F.  E.  Warren,  and  F.  Mondell,  all 
have  stood  nobly  by  this  act.^^-^ 

Warren's  most  positive  achievements  in  Congress  dur- 
ing the  years  1890  to  1902  were  in  securing  legislation  f?vor- 
able  to  reclamation.  He  reflects  the  shift  from  private  to 
state  and  from  state  to  national  control  of  the  irrigation 
program.  His  efforts,  along  with  the  work  of  other  Western 
senators,  to  secure  national  legislation  and  aid  in  the  recla- 
mation undoubtedly  helped  arouse  the  interest  of  President 
Koosevelt  in  the  problem.  Elwood  Mead  worked  constantly 
with  Warren  to  secure  public  recognition  of  the  question. 
This  work  was  hindered  by  the  opposition  of  the  Eastern 
interests  to  thus  subsidizing  the  West.  The  farmers  of  the 
more  eastern  sections  of  the  country  had  no  desire  to  allow 
a  flood  of  agricultural  products  from  the  West  to  force  down 
the  prices  of  their  own  produce.  Ethan  Allan  Hitchcock, 
Secretary  of  the  Interior,  in  his  report  to  the  President, 


i54Frederick  Haynes  XeAvell,  Irrigation  in  the  United  States  (New 
York:  Thomas  Y.  Crowell  aud  Company,  1902),  p.  394. 

looStar  Valley  Pioneer  (Afton,  Wyoming)  June  27,  1902.  Clipping 
in  Warren  Scrapbook. 


48  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

November  12,  1901,  felt  it  necessary  to  thus  reassure  the 
Eastern  farmer: 

There  need  be  no  fear  of  competition  of  Western 
products  with  Eastern  agriculture,  since  the  Asiatic 
markets  now  opened  will  absorb  the  surplus  of  the 
Western  farms.  The  character  of  these  is  also  such 
that  the  staple  crops  of  the  East  cannot  now  go  to 
the  remote  West,  nor  those  of  the  West  come  East, 
excepting  in  the  case  of  semi-tropic  and  dried 
fruits.i-^'' 

By  June  30,  1909,  the  reclamation  fund  had  reached  the 
sum  of  $58,582,000  and  $45,750,000  had  been  spent  in  recla- 
mation, i'''^  Water  had  been  supplied  to  424,549  acres.  In 
1908  two  large  projects  were  contemplated  in  Wyoming. 
The  North  Platte  project  involved  the  construction  of  the 
Pathfinder  Dam  fifty  miles  from  the  town  of  Casper  and 
was  intended  to  have  a  storage  capacity  of  one  million  acre 
feet  of  water.  The  proposed  Siioshone  Dam  in  Big  Horn 
County  was  intended  to  provide  a  storage  capacity  of  456,000 
acre  feet.^^^ 

William  E.  Smythe  in  The  Conquest  of  Arid  America 
thus  sums  up  the  contributions  of  Mead  and  Senators  War- 
ren and  Carey  to  the  reclamation  of  the  West: 

Aside  from  the  great  work  accomplished  by  Mr. 
Mead  in  reforming  the  irrigation  laws  and  customs 
of  the  West,  Wyoming  has  made  another  contribu- 
tion of  large  importance  to  the  country's  progress 
along  this  line.  Two  of  her  United  States  Senators, 
Joseph  M.  Carey  and  Francis  E.  Warren,  have  iden- 
tified themselves  conspicuously  with  great  meas- 
ures calculated  to  create  homes  for  millions.  Sen- 
ator Carey  was  the  author  of  the  Act  of  1894,  com- 
monly known  as  the  Carey  Law,  which  gave  one 
million  acres  to  each  of  the  western  states  upon 
condition  that  the  land  be  reclaimed  and  settled 
within  ten  years.  Senator  Warren  is  the  leader  of 
new  and  growing  movement  which  aims  at  Federal 
appropriations  to  be  used  in  the  construction  of 
great  reservoirs  beyond  the  reach  of  private  enter- 
prise. With  signal  ability  and  devotion  these  two 
Wyoming  statesmen  have  labored  for  years  to  open 
the  arid  pubhc  domain  to  settlement;  to  solve  the 
vexed  questions  arising  from  the  unrestricted  use 


i56Newell,   op.  cit.,   p.  404. 
157 Van   Hise,   op.  cit.,  p.   105. 
i58Burdick,    op.  cit.,   p.    137. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  49 

of  the  open  range;  and  to  provide  enlightened  legis- 
lation for  the  protection  of  the  forests  so  important 
in  connection  with  irrigation.i^Q 


159William  E.   Smythe,   The  Conquest  of  Arid  America    (New  York: 
Harper  and  Brothers,  1900),  p.  220. 

(Continued  Next  Issue.) 


When  General  Crook  led  the  Big  Horn  Expedition  in 
March  1876,  the  thermometer  was  reported  at  22°  below 
zero.  The  food  had  to  be  thawed  out  before  it  could  be 
eaten.  "Much  of  the  time,"  Crook  wrote,  "the  column  looks 
like  a  procession  of  Santa  Clauses,  so  heavily  are  beards 
and  mustaches  covered  with  ice." 


In  1897  E.  Buckley  &  Sons  opened  a  woolen  factory  at 
the  mouth  of  Swift  Creek  in  Star  Valley.  Two  sets  of 
machinery  were  installed  for  the  manufacture  of  yarns, 
blankets,  quilt  batting  and  the  like. 

In  1897  there  were  five  charcoal  kilns  at  Piedmont, 
then  on  the  main  line  of  the  U.P.R.R.  in  Uinta  County. 
After  the  construction  of  the  Aspen  Tunnel,  Piedmont 
became  practically  a  ghost  town. 

One  of  the  entertainments  of  note  held  in  the  old 
Root's  Opera  House  in  Laramie,  was  an  exhibition  fight 
betv/een  John  L.  Sullivan,  the  heavyweight  champion,  and 
Norman  Selby,  better  known  as  "Kid"  McCoy. 

Old  timers  claim  that  in  the  early  days  when  the  M.  D.'s, 
(which  stands  for  mule  drivers)  were  freighting  on  the 
plains,  and  one  of  their  long-eared  nightingales  got  too 
musical  and  kept  the  boys  awake  with  its  braying,  they 
would  tie  a  stone  to  the  offender's  tail.  This  had  the  effect 
of  shutting  off  the  music. 

In  the  summer  of  1877  the  Union  Pacific  replaced  the 
iron  rails  on  its  Nebraska  Division,  (which  included  the 
line  between  Pine  Bluffs  and  Buford),  with  steel  rails. 
The  replacement  work  progressed  at  the  rate  of  one  mile 
a  day. 


Stage  Kide  from  K aw  tins  to  the  WindKiver 
Boarding  Sekooi  1897 

By   COLONEL   RICHARD   HULBERT   WILSON* 

A  description  of  the  road  by  which  the  Wind  River 
Boarding  School  is  reached  from  Rawhns,  its  nearest  rail- 
road point,  together  with  an  account  of  the  means  of  con- 
veyance used,  various  points  of  interest  along  the  route, 
the  scenery  and  other  points  that  may  be  of  interest  or 
advantage  to  the  traveler  is  here  presented.  Few  of  all 
those  who  have  traveled  this  road  can  fail  to  have  all  these 
indelibly  stamped  upon  their  minds,  but  as  many  have  yet 
to  make  the  trip  for  the  first  time,  it  is  possible  that  these 
notes  may  meet  the  eye  of  some  who  will  find  them  useful 
and  beneficial.  The  teacher  or  other  employee  who  is  or- 
dered for  duty  at  our  school  will  be  directed  to  proceed  to 
Rawlins,  Wyoming.  On  arriving  at  that  place  and  getting 
off  the  cars  he  will  find  himself  in  a  little  railroad  town  of 
about  one  thousand  inhabitants  and  situated  in  a  country, 
bare,  rocky  and  treeless — in  fact,  not  at  all  prepossessing 
in  appearance. 

The  town  is,  however,  quite  a  business  center.  The 
principal  industries  being  those  of  freighting  supplies  to 
points  to  the  north  and  south  and  the  wool  shorn  from  the 
numerous  herds  of  sheep  which  can  be  seen  almost  any- 
where on  the  prairie. 

It  is  also  an  important  railroad  point  being  the  end  of 
a  division  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railway.  No  one  can  claim 
any  great  excellence  or  an  ample  supply  for  the  water  of 
Rawlins;   it  is  drawn  from  artesian  wells   and  the  newly 


*Colonel  Richard  Hulbert  Wilson  was  born  at  Hillsdale,  Michigan, 
on  June  10,  1853.  In  1873  he  was  appointed  to  the  Military  Academy 
at  West  Point  from  which  he  graduated  in  1877,  receiving  his  com- 
mission as  a  second  lieutenant.  He  served  as  assistant  instructor  in  the 
Infantry  and  Cavalry  School  until  1891,  after  wiiich  he  ^vas  stationed 
at  Ft.  McKinney,  Wyoming.  From  1895-1898  he  was  the  Indian  Agent 
at   the    Arapahoe    and   Shoshone   Agency,    Wyoming. 

Colonel  Wilson  participated  in  the  battles  of  El  Caney  and  San 
Juan,  Cuba,  and  the  siege  of  Santiago  in  1898;  he  was  recommended 
for  brevet  as  a  major  "for  Gallantry"  at  the  battle  of  El  Caney.  He 
was  commander  of  Fort  Michael,  Alaska,  1902-1904,  commander  of  the 
Puerto  Rico  Provisional  Regiment  of  Infantry,  1908-1909,  and  on  duty  on 
the  Mexican  border,  1917.     He  was  retired  on  June  10,  1917. 

On  June  25,  1895,  he  was  married  to  Grace  A.  Chaffin  of  Cheyenne, 
Wyoming. 


STAGE  RIDE,  1897  51 

arrived  sojourner  is  respectfully  advised  to  be  chary  in 
using  it.  The  wind  generally  blows  a  gale  and  carries  with 
it  clouds  of  the  soil  which  is  of  a  loamy  nature  and  well 
adapted  to  keep  everything  as  dirty  as  possible. 

The  Depot  Hotel,  situated  close  to  the  railroad  tracks, 
is  a  very  well  kept  and  comfortable  hotel  and  there  the 
traveler  for  this  school  is  advised  to  betake  himself  so  as 
to  get  a  good  night's  sleep  and  fortify  himself  for  the  thirty 
odd  hours  of  stage  travel  on  the  morrow.  He  had  better 
first  engage  a  seat  in  the  stage,  which  he  can  do  at  the  stage 
office,  a  few  steps  distant  from  the  hotel.  Then  he  is  ad- 
vised to  devote  all  the  rest  of  his  spare  time  to  sleeping. 
His  slumbers  will  doubtless  be  disturbed  by  the  rumbling 
of  cars  and  the  bells  and  whistles  of  the  switch  engine  which 
seems  to  be  kept  busy  all  night.  The  next  morning  at  about 
8  o'clock  the  stage  will  be  seen  standing  at  the  depot  plat- 
form. The  passenger  will  have  plenty  of  time  to  take  his 
seat  and  after  loading  on  the  mail  and  express  matter  the 
stage  will  get  under  way.  The  fare  from  Rawlins  to  Sho- 
shone Agency  is  $18.00  with  a  rate  of  7  cents  per  pound 
for  all  baggage  in  excess  of  40  pounds.  Small  children  are 
carried  free  and  passengers  are  allowed  to  carry  without 
charge,  a  reasonable  amount  of  wraps,  bundles,  etc. 

The  stage  itself  is  not  at  all  imposing  in  outward  looks, 
nor,  it  must  be  confessed,  the  most  comfortable  carriage  to 
ride  in  that  can  be  imagined — still  by  staying  in  it  one 
arrives  at  his  destination,  and  what  more  can  be  asked? 

Sometimes  a  band  of  antelope  will  be  seen  skimming 
over  the  ground  with  wonderful  swiftness  but  these  animals 
like  all  the  large  game  of  the  west  are  becoming  very 
scarce  and  wild.  Of  the  feathered  race  few  specimens  will 
be  seen.  There  is  a  little  owl  which  seems  to  live  in  the 
dog  towns  and  to  inhabit  the  burrows  of  the  rightful  owners 
— the  prairie  dogs.  Sometimes  they  can  be  seen  perched 
upon  the  mound  of  earth  by  the  side  of  a  burrow  or  lazily 
flying  near  by.  A  hawk  or  an  eagle  may  perhaps  be  noticed 
soaring  high  in  the  air,  or  a  flock  of  blackbirds  chattering 
about  a  piece  of  cultivated  ground  or  a  stable,  but  the  song 
birds,  which  are  so  numerous  in  more  favored  regions,  will 
neither  be  seen  nor  heard.  The  horned  toad  is  often  seen 
sunning  itself  in  the  sage  brush  and  the  passenger  can 
sometimes  look  out  of  the  window  and  get  a  view  of  a 
rattlesnake  dragging  its  long,  spotted  body  along  hunting 
for  something  to  eat,  or  coiled  up  under  a  bush.  The  stage 
driver,  following  the  universal  custom  of  the  dwellers  of 
the  plains,  never  fails  to  stop  for  the  purpose  of  killing  this 
reptile,  although  when  unmolested,  it  is  quite  harmless  and 
has  as  much  right  to  live  as  perhaps  some  of  us  have. 


52  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

All  of  these  members  of  animated  nature  can  or  may 
be  seen,  if  the  journey  is  made  in  summer,  but  in  winter, 
that  is  from  November  until  May,  it  is  far  different;  then  for 
many  a  mile  no  living  thing  will  be  met;  on  parts  of  the 
route  during  the  winter,  snow  of  almost  any  depth  will  be 
traveled  over  or  through,  and  frequently  the  whole  face 
of  the  country  will  be  covered  with  a  dazzling  expanse  of 
the  fleecy  element,  covering  sage  brush  and  everything 
else  not  more  than  a  foot  in  height.  In  spring,  the  melting 
snow  will  sometimes  fill  the  road  with  soft,  tenacious  mud. 
This  condition,  however,  will  not  last  as  the  fierce  blasts 
of  the  desert  soon  dry  the  mud  and  convert  it,  in  most 
places  into  deep  beds  of  dust. 

About  ten  miles  out  from  Rawlins,  a  chain  of  low  hills 
of  a  bright  red  color  will  be  noticed  off  to  the  right  or 
eastward.  It  is  one  of  the  walls  of  the  small  canon  in  which 
Bell  Springs,  the  first  stopping  place  is  situated,  and  in 
about  three  hours  and  a  half  after  leaving  Rawlins,  the 
stage  will  dash  up  in  front  of  the  station.  The  altitude  of 
the  place  is  6950  feet,  and  the  distance  traveled  is  14  miles. 
The  station  is  composed  of  a  dry  stone  stable  with  a  dirt 
roof  and  has  an  attachment  consisting  of  one  room,  in  which 
the  man  in  charge  (called  the  stock  tender)  eats,  sleeps  and 
lives.  One  or  two  other  low  stone  buildings,  more  or  less 
in  ruins,  will  be  noticed.  The  spring  from  which  the  sta- 
tion takes  its  name  is  about  fifty  yards  to  the  left  or  west- 
ward. It  is  covered  with  a  wooden  curbing  and  from  it  a 
small  stream  trickles  out  through  a  lateral  canon  and  runs 
down  to  the  vast  plain,  which  can  be  seen  below.  A  halt 
of  about  15  minutes  is  made  here  for  the  purpose  of  changing 
the  horses,  and  a  fresh  pair  having  been  harnessed  the  jour- 
ney is  resumed. 

At  this  point,  if  the  weather  is  fine,  and  the  traveler 
has  not  already  done  so,  he  should  take  a  seat  outside  beside 
the  driver.  The  drivers  are  generally  experienced  plains- 
men and  not  at  all  averse  to  filling  the  ears  of  the  tender- 
foot with  tales  of  numerous  exploits  and  adventures  in  the 
Far  West,  such  as  fights  with  Indians  and  wild  animals, 
stage  robberies,  etc.,  which,  though  deserving  to  be  taken 
with  many  grains  of  salt,  are  at  least  novel  and  entertaining 
and  serve  to  make  the  tedious  trip  less  irksome. 

After  leaving  Bell  Springs  the  stage  descends  a  rather 
long  hill,  and  after  having  passed  over  a  distance  of  about 
a  mile,  leaves  the  canon  and  emerges  upon  a  vast  level 
tract,  known  as  "Separation  Flat."  Although  fully  five 
miles  wide,  it  seems  to  the  eye  to  have  only  a  fraction  of 
that  width.     The  road  runs  directly  across  it  passing  over 


STAGE  RIDE,  1897  53 

Separation  Creek  on  a  small  bridge.  By  the  way,  the  writer 
has  never  seen  any  water  in  this  so-called  creek. 

To  the  right  and  left  the  immense  flat  extends  as  far 
as  the  eye  can  reach;  to  the  west  it  expands  into  the  well 
known  "Red  Desert,"  an  immense,  bare,  broken  and  water- 
less plain,  the  soil  and  rocks  of  which  in  many  places  are 
reddish  in  color,  and  in  the  most  inaccessible  recesses  of 
which  a  small  band  of  wild  buffaloes  is  said  to  be  occa- 
sionally seen,  the  last  survivors  of  the  millions  of  these 
animals,  which  but  a  few  years  ago  roamed  unmolested 
over  the  plains.  To  the  east  it  extends  with  a  gentle  and 
imperceptible  slope  to  the  North  Platte.  In  unusually  wet 
seasons  the  flat  has  been  known  to  be  covered  with  water 
to  the  depth  of  several  inches,  but  generally  the  road  across 
it  is  quite  good,  especially  for  a  bicycle,  the  soil  being  for 
the  most  part  what  is  known  as  "gumbo." 

On  leaving  the  flat,  the  road,  always  leading  to  the 
northwest,  becomes  more  sandy  and  the  aspect  of  the  coun- 
try, if  possible,  more  dreary  and  desolate.  It  is  quite  uneven 
too,  and  the  stage  laboriously  toils  up  hill  after  hill,  and 
rolls  slowly  down  into  the  intervening  gullies,  in  a  thick  bed 
of  fine  sand. 

In  dry  weather,  the  sand  being  whirled  up  by  the  wheels, 
and  raised  by  every  gust  of  wind,  soon  covers  stage  horses, 
driver  and  passengers  with  a  thick  coating  of  dust.  Huge 
reefs  of  sandstone,  tipped  up  at  a  high  angle,  are  seen  in 
almost  every  direction.  For  several  hundred  yards  the 
road  passes  along  the  base  of  one  of  these,  which  would 
furnish  building  stone  enough  for  the  City  of  Greater  Nevv 
York.  About  ten  miles  out  from  Bell  Springs,  the  down 
stage  is  met  and  the  drivers  both  rein  up  and  spend  a  mo- 
ment in  the  exchange  of  news,  after  which,  each  rolls 
slowly  along  again  on  its  way.  At  two  o'clock  or  a  little 
earlier  the  second  station,  known  universally  as  Bull 
Springs,  is  reached  and  a  halt  of  about  half  an  hour  is  made 
for  dinner. 

Bull  Springs  station  consists  of  a  log  house  and  a  stable 
of  the  same,  placed  each  on  one  side  of  the  road.  There  is 
a  well  here  from  which  moderately  good  water  is  drawn 
for  the  horses  and  for  household  purposes,  but  the  spring 
from  which  the  station  takes  its  name  is  about  two  miles 
to  the  west,  at  the  base  of  a  range  of  hills  and  the  road 
does  not  go  near  it.  The  station  is  kept  by  a  man  and  his 
wife,  the  former  attending  to  the  horses  and  the  latter 
keeping  the  house  and  preparing  the  meals  for  the  drivers 
and  passengers;  a  more  desolate  and  dreary  place  than  Bull 
Springs  station  would  be  hard  to  find  anywhere.  It  is  placed 
on  a  sandy  plain,  fronting  east  with  a  low  range  of  hills 


54  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

about  two  miles  behind  it  and  the  desolate,  level,  sage  brush 
covered  plain  extending  in  front. 

The  Ferris  mountains  are  on  the  eastern  horizon — a 
chain  of  quite  lofty  mountains,  black,  bare  and  forbidding 
but  along  their  base  streaks  of  dazzling  white,  having  the 
appearance  of  snow,  will  be  noticed;  they  are  banks  of 
light,  shifting  sands;  the  sides  of  the  mountains  are  gashed 
and  seamed  with  ravines,  along  the  walls  of  which  scattered 
clumps  of  stunted  pine  and  cedars  stand  out  on  the  rocks 
behind.  These  mountains  seem  to  be  only  a  few  miles  away, 
such  is  the  clearness  of  the  atmosphere  of  the  desert  but 
in  reality  they  are  twenty  miles  distant  from  the  station. 

The  meal  that  will  be  set  before  the  hungry  traveler 
will  be  found  rather  substantial  than  elaborate — the  stand- 
ard dishes  of  the  plains,  beef,  bread,  and  canned  vegetables 
will  be  served  with  but  little  attempt  at  display,  and  a 
cup  of  strong  coffee  or  tea  will  terminate  the  repast.  Water 
from  the  well  will  be  seen  on  the  table  but  even  the  seasoned 
aborigines  pronounce  it  not  good  and  the  passenger  had 
better  not  drink  of  it.  A  charge  of  fifty  cents  is  made  for 
the  meal  and  the  stage  (the  horses  having  again  been 
changed)  is  soon  under  way  again.  Bull  Springs  is  twenty- 
seven  and  one-half  miles  from  Rawlins  and  has  an  elevation 
above  the  sea  of  6700  feet. 

From  this  station  to  the  next.,  Lost  Soldier,  the  road 
gradually  nears  the  mountains  and  is  an  almost  continuous 
rise,  about  fifty  feet  to  the  mile.  The  country  becomes  more 
sandy  and  occasionally  for  quite  a  long  distance  the  coach 
will  rumble  over  a  bed  of  ground  covered  with  smooth 
pebbles.  Black  desolate  looking  hills  with  steep  sides  will 
be  noticed  in  the  distance.  The  plain's  name  tor  these  is 
"buttes"  and  the  traveler  will  seldom  be  out  of  sight  of 
several  of  them  during  this  journey.  None  of  the  immense 
reefs  of  sandstone  will  be  seen;  the  road  bears  still  closer  to 
the  hills,  and  after  having  passed  over  a  distance  of  twelve 
miles  in  about  two  hours  and  a  half  the  buildings  of  Bohack's 
Ranch  will  be  reached.  The  stage  will  make  no  stop  here 
but  passes  close  to  the  house.  Poor  Bohackl  We  knew 
him  well!  Many  are  the  times  that  we  have  feasted  at  his 
bounteous  board  and  reposed  upon  his  beds  of  soft  down. 
His  cooking  might  not  have  suited  Lucullus,  but  his  fare 
was  abundant  and  appetite  made  it  equal  to  the  best.  'Tis 
now  about  six  months  since  he  fell  from,  a  loaded  wagon 
and  was  instantly  crushed  to  death.     Peace  to  his  ashes! 

A  small  stream  trickles  from  the  mountains  here  and 
runs  a  short  distance  out  into  the  desert  before  it  is  swal- 
lowed up  by  the  thirsty  sand.  On  its  banks  the  ranch 
buildings  are  placed.     They  consist  of  a  good  log  house, 


STAGE  RIDE,  1897  55 

barn,  corrals,  sheep  shearing  pens,  etc.  If  the  traveler  has 
time  he  can  well  employ  a  few  moments  in  visiting  a  fine 
spring  which  is  situated  a  hundred  yards  down  the  creek. 
The  water  gushes  out  filled  with  some  kind  of  gas,  the  large 
bubbles  of  which  rise  through  the  water  and  burst  on  the 
surface.  There  is  a  vein  of  unusually  good  coal  near  the 
ranch  and  some  day  will  be  found  valuable,  although  at 
present  it  is  too  remote  from  the  railroad  to  admit  of  its 
being  mined  to  any  extent.  At  shearing  time  Bohack's 
ranch  is  a  busy  place — many  sheep  are  deprived  of  their 
fleecy  covering  there  by  hands  of  shearers  who  travel  from 
ranch  to  ranch  in  wagons.  The  sheep  are  dipped  in  a  strong 
liquid  to  eradicate  scab.  These  industries  and  the  enter- 
tainment of  transient  visitors  for  a  reasonable  consideration 
form  the  means  of  support  of  Mr.  Herman  Bohack. 

It  may  be  said  also,  in  passing,  that  indications  of 
mineral  oil  have  been  discovered  in  this  vicinity,  as  yet 
undeveloped  but  possibly  they  may  be  in  the  future. 

Leaving  Bohack's,  the  road  veers  slightly  to  the  left 
or  north  and  ascends  the  little  Lost  Soldier  Creek  towards 
the  depression  known  as  Crooks  Gap,  in  which  the  next 
stage  station,  called  Crooks  is  situated.  This  gap  gives  a 
low  crossing  of  the  water  shed  or  summit  in  the  Green 
Mountains  which  separate  the  waters  of  the  Sweetwater 
from  those  of  the  North  Platte.  The  Green  Mountains,  so 
called,  are  merely  hills  of  no  very  great  elevation  and  the 
summit  is  a  wide  flat  with  gently  rolling  sage  covered 
hills  on  each  side. 

In  the  gap  are  situated  the  buildings  of  Crooks  station — 
the  stable  to  the  left  of  the  road  and  the  house  of  the  stock 
tender  to  its  right,  both  built  of  logs.  The  stage  will  arrive 
there  at  about  6:00  o'clock  p.  m.  and  the  traveler  can  get 
his  supper  there  if  he  so  desires,  the  stock  tender  being  the 
holder  of  all  the  offices,  viz.,  hostler,  housekeeper  and  cook; 
the  food  will  be  found  substantial  but  absolutely  destitute 
of  all  frills.  After  a  stay  of  perhaps  half  an  hour  the  stage 
goes  on,  now  descending  a  gentle  slope  towards  the  Sweet- 
water.   Distance  from  Rawlins  about  forty-flve  miles. 

Just  as  night  is  falling  Mrs.  Fisher's  ranch  will  be  seen 
to  the  right  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  road.  Mrs. 
Fisher  has  quite  an  establishment  of  log  buildings,  corrals, 
etc.,  in  the  midst  of  a  large  pasture  enclosed  by  a  wire 
fence.  In  case  a  belated  traveler  finds  it  necessary  to  take 
refuge  there  he  will  find  it  a  very  comfortable  place  to 
pass  the  night.  The  stage  is  now  following  a  small  stream 
called  Crooks  Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Sweetwater,  which 
is  crossed  on  a  bridge  about  two  miles  beyond  Mrs.  Fisher's. 
About  four  miles  beyond  Mrs.  Fisher's  the  road  crosses  a 


56  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

small  tributary  of  Crooks  Creek — there  is  no  bridge  and  if 
the  journey  is  made  in  winter  and  the  creek  is  frozen,  the 
crossing  will  be  difficult. 

Seven  or  eight  miles  farther  on  the  buildings  of  Rongis, 
otherwise  known  as  "The  Home  Station,"  situated  on  the 
north  bank  of  the  Sweetwater  River,  will  be  reached.  Here 
is  a  building  of  two  stories,  a  post-office,  a  store  and  a  black- 
smith shop,  quite  a  settlement.  A  man  named  Signor  once 
lived  here  and  the  place  got  its  name  by  taking  his  name 
and  turning  it  backwards.  The  Sweetwater  is  here  at  usual 
stages,  about  twenty  feet  wide  and  running  with  a  good 
current.  All  around  is  a  rolling,  sage  covered  plain  with 
the  Green  Mountains  several  -miles  to  the  west  and  the  low 
hills  bordering  the  river  to  the  east. 

Back  up  against  the  mountains,  a  ranch  can  be  seen, 
which  has  a  thriving  appearance — it  is  said  that  a  man 
named  Hoppin  or  Hopper,  lives  there,  and  one  of  the  men 
at  the  Home  Ranch  thinks  that  the  stage  route  from  that 
point  to  Rawlins  should  be  changed  so  as  to  cross  the  Green 
Mountains  somewhere  near  Hoppin's  and  meet  the  old  road 
at  Bull  Springs,  leaving  Lost  Soldier  to  the  left  and  thus 
saving  several  miles  of  distance. 

The  old  emigrant  route  to  Oregon  which  was  used  so 
extensively  in  the  1840's,  followed  the  course  of  the  Sweet- 
water up  stream  and  with  frequent  crossings,  in  a  north- 
westerly direction  to  South  Pass,  where  it  crossed  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  At  the  Home  Ranch  the  road  leaves  the  river 
and  cuts  across  a  bend  in  it,  meeting  it  again  at  Sweetwater 
Bridge  or  Gate's  Ranch  about  7  miles  distant  from  the  Home 
Ranch.  The  bridge  is  a  solid  structure  made  of  logs  with 
abutments  of  the  same  and  plank  flooring  supported  on 
posts  or  piles  driven  in  the  stream  wnich  is  here  about  30 
feet  wide.  Gate's  Ranch  has  a  rather  unsavory  reputation 
— liquor  is  sold  here  and  generally  several  tough  characters, 
more  or  less  drunk,  are  hanging  about  the  place.  The  stage 
horses  are  not  changed  here,  but  after  crossing  on  the 
bridge,  the  stage  goes  on  to  the  next  station,  called  Meyers- 
ville,  about  3  miles  up  the  river  on  its  northern  bank.  At 
Meyersville  the  road  turns  north  towards  the  next  station, 
called  Hailey.  For  about  five  miles  it  leads  across  the  sage 
covered  plain  to  the  brink  of  the  tremendous  descent  of 
Beaver  Hill,  down  which  the  road  leads  to  Hailey.  This 
hill  (most  people  would  call  it  a  mountain)  is  about  five 
miles  long  and  very  steep,  especially  at  the  top.  From  the 
summit  a  fine  view  can  be  had  of  the  mountains  to  the  left 
and  of  the  valley  of  Beaver  Creek.  A  strong  wind  is  usually 
blowing  and  it  is  necessary  to  exercise  great  care  in  driving 
down  the  hill.     Crossing  the  creek  on  a  bridge,  the  stage 


STAGE  RIDE,  1897  57 

arrives  at  Hailey  on  its  northern  bank.  A  road  ranch  is 
kept  by  Mr.  Signor,  (the  same  who  gave  his  name  to  Rongis) , 
with  all  the  appurtenances — saloon,  bunk  house,  etc. 

Mr.  George  Berry,  proprietor  of  the  stage  line,  has  a 
stock  tender  here  to  attend  to  his  spare  stock  and  change 
the  stage  horses — so  that  there  is  quite  a  group  of  buildings 
in  the  station.  Hailey  is  a  place  much  visited  by  the  sheep 
men  to  shear  and  dip  their  sheep  and  at  the  proper  season 
many  of  them  assemble  there.  Much  wool  is  shipped  by 
bull  team  from  here  to  Casper  along  the  road  leading  down 
the  creek.  Not  far  up  the  creek  from  Hailey  is  a  fine  hot 
spring  which  affords  a  good  hot  bath  to  anyone  desiring  it. 

It  may  be  stated  also,  that  from  Rongis,  a  road  leads 
down  the  Sweetwater  to  Casper  and  that  a  stage  called  the 
Cannon  Ball  traverses  it  between  these  places  once  or  twice 
a  week. 

From  Hailey,  the  road,  still  in  a  northwesterly  direc- 
tion, keeps  on  toward  the  next  station,  Derby,  through  a 
different  sort  of  country — the  road  is  heavy  with  red  clay 
mud  in  winter  and  red  clay  dust  in  summer.  Up  along  hill 
and  over  divide  to  Hall  Creek,  a  small  stream.  Thence 
over  another  divide  to  the  Big  Bend  of  Twin  Creek  which  it 
follows  down  to  Derby  and  the  east  bank  of  the  creek, 
which  here  runs  through  a  valley  bordered  by  steep  grim 
rocks  on  the  east.  Near  here  are  many  indications  of  oil 
and  some  prospecting  for  it  has  been  done  as  shown  by  a 
tall  derrick  that  has  been  left  standing — they  say  that  the 
oil  is  there  but  the  well  has  been  sealed  and  held  in  reserve 
until  such  time  as  transportation,  etc.,  necessary  for  work- 
ing it,  shall  be  provided.  The  ranch  at  Derby  is  owned  by 
an  Englishman  named  Birkumshaw  and  the  people  living 
in  it  are  all  English  and  only  recently  arrived  from  the  old 
country. 

About  five  miles  beyond  Derby  the  road  crosses  the 
Little  Popo  Agie  River  on  a  good  bridge  and  continue  on 
towards  Lander.  The  water  of  the  Little  Popo  Agie  is  pure, 
clear  mountain  water,  the  first  really  good  drinking  water 
found  since  leaving  Rawlins.  A  few  miles  down  the  river 
is  a  well  known  oil  spring  which  is  believed  to  be  the  one 
mentioned  by  Captain  Bonneville  in  his  account  of  his 
travels  in  the  west  in  the  early  part  of  this  century.  The 
oil  oozes  out  of  the  sand  rock  and  is  a  heavy  oil  of  good 
quality  much  used  by  ranchers  as  a  lubricant  for  horse 
powers,  reapers,  etc.  The  spring  is  the  property  of  eastern 
parties,  who  intend  to  develop  it  in  the  future.  At  present 
it  is  under  the  charge  of  Mr.  Michael  Murphy  as  caretaker. 
The  road  is  now  good  but  apt  to  be  heavy  in  wet  weather. 
A  fine  ranch  owned  by  Mr.  Reed  is  situated  about  ten  miles 


58  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

from  Derby  and  on  the  west  side  of  the  road.  Mr.  Reed 
can  furnish  comfortable  entertainment  to  any  traveler 
needing  it. 

The  road  leads  on  generally  between  wire  fences  and 
over  a  low  divide  to  the  main  Popo  Agie  River,  about  fifteen 
miles  from  Derby.  It  is  crossed  on  a  bridge  just  at  the 
southern  edge  of  the  village  of  Lander,  the  county  seat  of 
Fremont  County.  Lander  is  an  attractive  little  town  of 
about  1000  inhabitants  located  in  a  fertile  and  productive 
country,  although  not  very  large,  and  being  so  far  from  any 
railroad,  it  shapes  its  manner  of  living  according  to  its  own 
resources  without  much  heed  to  any  others.  Communica- 
tion with  the  outside  world  is  generally  made  by  the  stage 
road  to  Rawlins,  although  there  is  some  travel  to  and  from 
Casper.  On  the  bank  of  the  Popo  Agie  at  the  entrance  to  the 
town  is  the  flour  mill  of  Mr.  J.  D.  Woodruff,  one  of  the 
leading  citizens,  and  continuing  up  the  main  street,  which 
is  also  the  stage  road,  several  other  large  mercantile  estab- 
lishments, the  banks  of  Noble  and  Lane  and  of  Mr.  Amor- 
etti,  the  Lander  Hotel  owned  by  Mr.  Jerry  Shehan,  the 
court  house  and  jail — fine  brick  buildings — are  passed.  If 
court  is  in  session.  Judge  Jesse  Knight  will  be  the  presiding 
judge  and  Mr.  Richard  Morse,  the  sheriff  with  Messrs.  E.  H. 
Fourt  and  J.  S.  Vidal,  the  leading  lawyers,  generally  op- 
posed to  each  other. 

From  Lander  to  the  Shoshone  agency  the  road  con- 
tinues on  nearly  northwest  for  about  fifteen  miles  over  a 
moderately  rolling  country  but  with  no  steep  hills  and  with 
the  lofty  foothills  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  several  miles  to 
the  left.  Two  small  creeks.  Squaw  Creek  and  Baldw^in 
Creek,  tributaries  of  the  Popo  Agie,  will  be  forded  and  finally 
about  six  miles  from  Lander,  the  North  Fork  of  the  Popo 
Agie  will  be  forded.  This  creek  forms  the  southern  boundary 
of  the  Shoshone  Indian  Reservation — sometimes  called  the 
Wind  River  Reservation — of  the  Shoshone  and  Northern 
Arapahoe  Indians.  It  is  an  immense  track  with  limits  not 
very  accurately  defined  but  containing  something  like  2500 
square  miles  of  land,  mostly  rolling  sage  covered  upland 
but  also  the  valleys  of  the  Big  Wind  and  Little  Wind  Rivers, 
which  form  some  of  the  best  agricultural  land  in  Wyoming. 

After  fording  the  North  Fork,  and  following  the  road 
for  about  six  miles  the  buildings  of  the  agency,  and  the 
Wind  River  Boarding  School  will  be  seen,  situated  in  the 
valley  of  Little  Wind  River  with  the  little  military  post  of 
Fort  Washakie  a  mile  farther  on.  The  Agency  buildings 
are  located  on  the  banks  of  a  small  creek  called  Trout 
Creek.  To  the  right  are  the  agency  stone  houses  and  offices, 
an    Episcopal    Church    conducted    by    the    Reverend    John 


STAGE  RIDE,  1897  59 

Roberts,  the  trade  store  of  Mr.  A.  D.  Lane  and  other  build- 
ings occupied  by  agency  employes.  To  the  left  is  the  agency 
saw  and  flour  mill,  the  blacksmith  shop,  and  farther  up  the 
creek,  the  agent's  house,  with  a  flag  pole  in  front  of  it  from 
which  the  Stars  and  Stripes  are  waving.  Arranged  in  a 
line  are  the  log  houses  occupied  by  agency  employes.  The 
employes  consist  at  present  of  Mr.  Thomas  R.  Season,  Ass't 
Clerk,  Col.  John  W.  Clark,  Allotting  Agent,  Dr.  F.  H.  Welty, 
Agency  Physician,  Mr.  F.  G.  Burnett,  Farmer  of  the  Sho- 
shones,  Mr.  G.  W.  Sheff,  Engineer,  Mr.  L.  S.  Clark,  Issue 
Clerk,  and  Mr.  J.  F.  Ludin,  Chief  Clerk. 

Most  of  the  Shoshones  live  in  log  cabins  located  on  their 
allotments  along  the  base  of  the  mountains  and  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  agency.  The  Arapahoes  live  farther  down 
the  valley  of  Little  Wind  River,  belovv  the  mouth  of  Trout 
Creek  and  their  Sub-Agency  is  located  on  Little  Wind  River, 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Popo  Agie,  where  Mr.  J.  C.  Burnett, 
Indian  Trader  has  a  store.  St.  Stephen's  Mission  for  Arapa- 
hoe girls  and  boys  is  about  five  miles  farther  down.  It  is 
conducted  by  the  Rev.  Balthasar  Feusi,  S.  J.,  and  about  ten 
sisters  of  the  order  of  St.  Francis.  An  Episcopal  mission  for 
Shoshone  girls  about  three  miles  above  the  main  agency  is 
conducted  by  the  Rev.  John  Roberts.  The  Wind  River 
Boarding  School  for  boys  and  girls  of  both  tribes  is  a  gov- 
ernment school  conducted  by  Mr.  W.  P.  Campbell  and  is 
located  three  miles  below  the  agency.  It  accommodates 
about  250  pupils.  There  are  about  1700  Indians  in  the  two 
tribes,  about  850  in  each. 

The  distance  from  Rawlins  to  the  Agency  has  been 
roughly  estimated  at  133  miles  and  the  stage  traverses  it 
ordinarily  in  about  24  hours — at  all  times  a  very  fatiguing 
and  uncomfortable  trip  and  in  winter  it  is  a  positive  hardship. 


The  annual  output  of  charcoal  at  Piedmont,  Wyoming, 
in  1877  was  300,000  bushels. 


The  first  homestead  entry  in  Wyoming  to  be  filed  with 
the  Land  Office,  is  said  to  have  been  made  by  Walter  D. 
Pease  on  December  6,  1870  on  the  NE^A  Sec.  20,  Tp.  14  N, 
R.  67  W.    Pease  received  his  patent  seven  years  later. 

During  highwater  time  in  the  early  days  of  Wyoming, 
Frank  Earnest  and  Ed  Bennett  often  collected  $300.00  a  day 
from  their  ferry  at  the  North  Platte  Crossing  below  Sara- 
toga.   Their  charge  was  $5.00  a  wagon. 


Joseph  M.   Carey 


Zhc  Wyoming  Stock  growers'  Association 

Political  Power  in  Wyoming  Zerritory 

J $73- J $90  * 

By  W.  TUEEENTINE  JACKSON** 

Of  all  the  states  and  territories  in  the  "Cattle  Kingdom" 
Wyoming  was  the  most  typical.  The  ranchers  in  that 
frontier  society  of  the  1870's  created  a  powerful  association 
known  as  the  Wyoming  Stock  Growers'  Association  for  the 
protection  of  their  economic  and  political  interests.  Through 
its  large  membership  and  closely  knit  organization  this 
group  became  the  official  spokesman  for  the  cattle  business. ^ 
Moreover,  the  laws  of  the  range  and  the  social  pattern  of 
the  area  were  prescribed  so  completely  by  the  decisions  of 
the  association  that  Wyoming  has  commonly  been  referred 
to  as  the  "Cattleman's  Commonwealth."^  The  association 
never  could  have  exerted  such  influence  in  territorial  Wyo- 
ming if  it  had  not  entered  the  field  of  politics.  It  was  in- 
evitable that  the  association  should  become  a  power  in 
lawmaking  because  the  leading  men  of  the  territory  were 
among  its  members.-^    The  territorial  legislature  during  the 


*The  above  article  was  first  published  in  The  Mississippi  Valley  His- 
torical Eeview,  Vol.  33,  No.  4.  At  the  editor's  request,  permission  was  kindly 
given  by  both  Professor  Jackson  and  W.  H.  Stephenson,  editor  of  The 
Mississippi  Valley  HiMorical  Eeview,  to  reprint  the  study  liere.  The  basic 
material  for  the  article  was  gathered  by  Professor  Jackson  during  the 
summer  of  1945,  at  which  time  he  was  visiting  professor  at  the  University 
of  Wyoming. 

**For  Professor  Jackson's  biography  see  Annals  of  Wyoming,  Vol. 
15:2:143.  During  the  summer  of  1944  Prof.  Jackson  taught  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Michigan,  in  1945  at  the  University  of  Wyoming,  in  1946  in  the 
Institute  of  American  "Studies  at  the  University  of  Minnesota  and  in  1947 
at  the  University  of  Texas.  He  has  recently  been  appointed  Assistant  Pro- 
fessor of  American  History  at  the  University  of  Chicago.  He  will  take  up 
residence  at  the  University  of  Chicago  in  the  spring,  where  his  work  Avill  be 
in  the  field  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  West. 

lErnest  S.  Osgood,  The  Day  of  the  Cattleman  (Minneapolis,  1929), 
135-37,  154-58;  Louis  Pelzer,  ''A  Cattleman's  Commonivealth  On  the  West- 
ern Eange,"  The  Mississippi  Valley  Historical  Eeview  (Cedar  Eapids)^ 
XIII  (June,  1926),  30-49.  This  survey  of  the  organization  and  activities 
of  the  Wyoming  Stock  Growers'  Association,  with  editorial  revisions,  was 
reprinted  as  a  chapter  in  Louis  Pelzer,  The  Cattleman's  Frontier:  A  Eec- 
ords  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Cattle  Industry  from  Oxen  Trains  to  Pooling 
Companies,   1850-1890    (Glendale,    1936),   87-115. 

2Pelzer,  "Cattleman's  Commonwealth,"  loc.  cit.,  30-49. 

SiMd.,  47. 


62  •  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

decade  of  the  1880's  did  reflect  the  will  of  the  association, 
but  important  territorial  officials,  such  as  the  governor  and 
secretary,  who  were  sent  to  the  "Cattleman's  Common- 
wealth" by  the  federal  government,  were  in  a  position  to 
delay  legislation,  if  not  prohibit  it,  long  enough  to  thwart 
the  desires  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  stock  growers. 
Therefore,  during  the  territorial  period  the  cattlemen  not 
only  had  to  send  their  spokesmen  to  the  legislative  assem- 
bly to  get  laws  passed  or  amended,  but  also  to  encourage 
tactfully  the  support  of  the  chief  executive's  office  in  rec- 
ommending and  approving  stock  legislation.  In  both  of 
these  activities  they  were  so  successful,  through  the  as- 
sociation, that  the  organization  was  generally  considered 
the  de  facto  territorial  government.  It  will  be  of  interest 
to  survey  the  nature  and  extent  of  this  political  control. 

Fortunately  for  the  ranchers,  John  A,  Campbell,  the 
first  territorial  governor  of  Wyoming  who  served  from 
1869  to  1875,  recognized  the  importance  of  the  cattle  busi- 
ness. He  declared  before  the  first  assembly  of  lawmakers, 
"it  would  seem  superfluous  to  say  anything  in  relation  to 
our  advantages  as  a  stockgrowing  country,  or  the  wisdom 
and  propriety  of  passing  such  laws  as  will  give  protection 
to  herds  and  flocks."^  During  May,  1871,  Campbell  spon- 
sored the  first  organization  of  cattlemen  in  the  territory 
and  became  the  president  of  this  Wyoming  Stock  Grazier's 
Association.  When  the  second  legislature  assembled  at 
Cheyenne  in  November,  1871,  the  Governor  called  a  simul- 
taneous meeting  of  the  stock  growers,  and  a  joint  session 
was  held  in  the  hall  of  the  house  of  representatives.^"^  After 
several  addresses  upon  the  subject  of  the  livestock  industry 
and  its  importance  to  Wyoming,  the  association  adjourned 
its  meeting  and  the  legislators  passed  a  bill  for  the  "Pro- 
tection of  Stock  in  Wyoming  Territory,  and  to  Punish  Cer- 
tain Offenses  Concerning  the   Same."^ 

The  Governor's  cattle  organization  soon  went  out  of 
existence,  but  on  November  29,  1873,  there  was  held  in 
Cheyenne  the  initial  meeting  of  the  Laramie  County  Stock 
Association   which   became   the   nucleus   of   the   Wyoming 


'^Message  of  Governor  CaTnipbell  to  the  First  Legislative  Assembly  of 
Wyoming  Territory,  Convened  at  Cheyenne,  October  12,  1869  (Cheyenne, 
1869).  The  University  of  Wyoming  Library  has  a  bound  volume  of  mes- 
sages of  the  territorial  governors,  published  contemporaneously  in  pamphlet 
form. 

5Agnes  W.  Spring,  Seventy  Years  Cow  Country  (Cheyenne,  1942), 
21-22.  The  files  of  the  Cheyenne  Daily  Leader  provide  the  source  material 
upon  which  this  account  of  the  first  Wyoming  association  is  based. 

^General  Laics,  Besolutions  and  Memorials  of  the  Territory  of  Wyo- 
ming, parsed  at  the  Second  Session  of  the  Legislative  Assembly  (Cheyenne, 
1872),  89-91.     Title  varies;  cited  hereafter  by  appropriate  short  title. 


WYOMING  STOCK   GROWERS'   ASSOCIATION  63 

Stock  Growers'  Association.  At  this  first  session,  the  as- 
sociation revealed  that  one  of  its  primary  purposes  was 
political  because  the  entire  minutes  deal  with  legislative 
matters.  "On  motion  of  T.  A,  Kent  it  was  resolved  to  pre- 
sent a  Bill  for  the  better  protection  of  the  stock  and  stock 
interests  of  Laramie  county,"  and  on  the  motion  of  William 
L.  Kuykendall  a  committee  of  five  was  appointed  to  draft 
a  law  to  present  at  the  session  of  the  legislature  which  had 
just  convened.'  The  Governor  delivered  a  keynote  address 
to  the  third  assembly  recommending  legislation  to  aid  the 
cattle  industry  and  reminded  the  representatives  that  "It 
is  our  duty  to  foster  this  great  and  growing  interest  by 
every  means  in  our  power,  and  we  cannot  afford  to  permit 
it  to  be  crippled."^  The  lawmakers  responded  by  passing 
a  comprehensive  act  "Regulating  the  Branding,  Herding, 
and  Care  of  Stock."  Cattle  and  horses  were  not  to  run  at 
large,  and  any  person  driving  stock  through  Wyoming  was 
to  keep  his  cattle  from  mixing  with  those  of  resident  stock- 
men. Moreover,  a  drover  responsible  for  driving  stock 
from  its  accustomed  range  against  the  will  of  any  owner 
was  liable  for  indictment  for  larceny. ^  This  law,  with  sub- 
sequent amendments,  provided  the  basic  legal  requirements 
for  the  handling  of  stock  on  the  Wyoming  range. 

The  stock  growers'  association  was  well  represented  in 
the  subsequent  territorial  legislative  assemblies  that  con- 
vened between  1875  and  1890.  These  lawmaking  bodies 
were  never  large.  The  number  of  representatives  attending 
the  fourth  through  the  eleventh  sessions  of  the  house  fluc- 
tuated between  twenty  and  twenty-seven ;io  thirteen  coun- 
cilmen  composed  the  upper  chamber  in  1875  and  1877,  but 
after  that  date  the  membership  was  stabilized  at  twelve 
until  the  close  of  the  territorial  period. ^^     Although  the 


TProceedings,  Xovember  29,  1873-Xovember  9,  1883,  Laramie  County 
Stock  Association  Minute  Book  (University  of  Wyoming  Library).  Miss 
Lola  M.  Homsher,  archivist,  assisted  the  writer  in  making  available  this 
and  other  material  in  the  Wyoming  Stock  Growers'  Association  Papers, 
deposited  in  the  University  of  Wyoming  Library. 

^Message  of  Governor  Campbell  to  the  Third  Legislative  Assemhly  of 
Wyoming  Territory.  Convened  at  Cheyenne,  November  4,  1873  (Cheyenne, 
1873). 

OWyoming  General  Laws,  1873,  pp.  223-26. 

10 This  estimate  is  based  upon  the  membership  lists  published  in  House 
Journal  of  the  Fourth  Legislative  Assembly,  of  the  Territory  of  Wyoming, 
Convened  at  Cheyenne,  November  2,  1875  (Cheyenne,  1875),  and  succeeding 
assemblies  through  the  eleventh.  Cited  hereafter  as  Wyoming  House 
Journal. 

llCouncil  Journal  of  the  Fourth  Legislative  Assembly,  of  tlie  Territory 
of  Wyoming,  Convened  at  Cheyenne,  November  2,  1875  (Cheyenne,  1875). 
Cited  hereafter  as  Wyoming  Council  Journal.  Membership  lists  were 
checked  in  the  Journal  of  each  session  of  the  council. 


64  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Laramie  County  Stock  Association  had  become  an  active 
political  organization  in  the  first  two  years  of  its  existence 
and  several  leaders  secured  seats  in  the  legislature  of  1875, 
its  influence  was  not  dominant  prior  to  1882.  Cheyenne, 
which  was  the  headquarters  of  the  stock  association  as  well 
as  the  territorial  capital,  provided  the  essential  core  for 
organization  within  the  legislature.  Three  of  the  four  Lara- 
mie County  councilmen  of  1875  were  from  this  city  and 
were  among  the  founders  of  the  stock  association.^^  in  the 
fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  sessions  of  the  house  of  representa- 
tives, 1875-1879,  the  association  had  at  least  one  spokesman 
who  had  either  served  on  the  committee  establishing  the 
cattleman's  organization  or  held  a  high  position  in  its 
councils. 1'^ 

At  the  annual  association  meeting  in  Cheyenne,  March, 
1879,  the  Laramie  County  organization  assumed  the  name 
of  the  Wyoming  Stock  Growers'  Association  and  announced 
a  program  whereby  its  influence  would  be  extended  through- 
out the  territory.  Between  1879  and  1882  its  membership 
increased  from  85  to  195.  These  were  the  years  of  rapid 
expansion  in  the  range  cattle  business,  and  when  the  sev- 
enth legislative  assembly  convened  in  1882  the  association 
had  reached  its  maturity  as  a  political  pressure  group. ^^ 
The  association  members  elected  from  Laramie  County  now 
obtained  support  from  other  sections  of  the  territory.  Fifty 
per  cent  of  the  councilmen  in  1882  were  stockmen  and  at 
least  a  third  were  members  of  the  Wyoming  association.^^ 
Ora  Haley,  who  represented  Laramie  City,  was  a  founder 
of  the  Albany  County  Stock  Growers'  Association  which 
remained  separate  from  the  larger  organization  until  1883, 
but  his  concern  in  passing  adequate  stock  laws  was  iden- 
tical with  that  of  the  other  five.  In  the  house  the  range 
industry  was  represented  by  five  association  members  from 


i2Hiram  B.  Kelly,  William  L.  Kuykendall,  and  G.  A.  Searight.  Wyo- 
ming Council  Journal,  1875,  p.  4. 

l3Alexander  H.  Eeel  in  the  1875  house;  John  F.  Coad  in  1877;  William 
C.  Irvine  in  1879. 

l4Wyoming  legislatures  before  1879  convened  in  November  of  odd 
numbered  years ;  for  uniformity  the  session  date  was  changed  to  January 
of  even  years  starting  in  1882.  This  practice  continued  to  the  close  of  the 
territorial  period.  Legislatures  of  the  state  of  Wyoming  convene  in  odd 
years. 

I5lrvine,  Eeel,  Tliomas  Sturgis,  Ora  Haley,  Perry  L.  Smith,  and  Wil- 
liam W.  Corlett.  Wyoming  Council  Journal,  1882,  p.  3;  By-Laws,  Secre- 
tary's Beport,  jResolutions  and  List  of  Members  in  the  Wyoming  Stock 
Growers'  Association  and  Laws  of  Wyoming  to  Protect  the  Stock  Growers 
(Cheyenne,  1882).  The  membership  of  each  coimcil  and  house  has  been 
compared  with  the  association's  published  membership  lists  to  determine 
the  legislators  belonging  to  the  stock  growers'  organization. 


WYOMING  STOCK  GROWERS'   ASSOCIATION  65 

Laramie  and  Carbon  counties.^^  In  the  eighth  legislative 
council,  1884,  the  association  retained  50  per  cent  of  the 
seats  through  the  election  of  cattlemen  from  Laramie,  Car- 
bon, and  Uinta  counties.^''  There  was  no  reduction  in  the 
number  of  organized  stock  owners  in  this  session  of  the 
house,  and  the  delegation  representing  Laramie  County 
was  particularly  active  and  influential.^^ 

When  the  ninth  legislative  assembly  of  the  territory 
convened  in  January,  1886,  the  legislators  belonging  to 
the  stock  association  were  fewer  than  in  the  1882  and  1884 
assemblies.  This  may  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  the 
association  was  not  sponsoring  a  major  piece  of  legislation 
as  in  the  two  previous  sessions. ^^  In  place  of  the  six  cattle- 
men formerly  in  the  council  there  were  only  three. ^t*  If 
the  stock  interests  were  growing  complacent  concerning 
the  need  for  political  action  to  preserve  their  power,  the 
disastrous  years  of  1885-1887  revealed  the  necessity  for 
unity.  Two  severe  winters  destroyed  most  of  the  herds  on 
the  open  range  and  greatly  reduced  the  wealth  of  the 
association's  membership.  In  the  tenth  legislative  assembly, 
association  members  again  claimed  half  the  seats  in  the 
council,  and  six  places  in  the  house  were  held  by  repre- 
sentatives from  the  stockmen  of  Laramie,  Carbon,  and 
Sweetwater  counties. ^i  The  last  Wyoming  legislature  of 
the  territorial  period  assembled  in  January,  1890,  and  as- 
sociation members  were  more  numerous  than  ever  before. 
Eight  of  the  twelve  councilmen  were  affiliated  with  the 
territorial  stock  association;--  Laramie,  Albany,  Carbon,. 
Uinta,  Fremont,  and  Sweetwater  counties  included  stock- 
men in  their  delegations. 

Between  1873  and  1890  the  most  active  ranchers  in  the 
Wyoming  cattle  industry  and  leaders  in  its  organization 
were  called  upon  to  serve  in  the  legislature.    Three  council- 


i6Harry  Oelrichs,  Andrew  Gilchrist,  William  C.  Lane,  J.  S.  Jones,  and 
E.  W.  Bennett.    Wyoming  Bouse  Journal,  1882,  pp.  3-4. 

iTlrvine,  Bennett,  Philip  Dater,  A.  T.  Babbitt,  Francis  E.  Warren, 
A.  V.  Quinn.    Wyoming  Council  Journal,  1884,  p.  3. 

iSFrom  Laramie  County  there  were  Goad,  Hubert  E.  Teschemacher, 
and  J.  HoAvard  Ford.  Two  Carbon  County  members,  L.  Quealy  and  Wil- 
liam H.  Weaver,  brought  the  total  membership  to  five.  Wyoming  Souse 
Journal,  1884,  p.  3. 

i9Quarantine  bHl  of  1882;  '' Maverick"  bill  of  1884. 

20 Teschemacher,  Ford,  and  Charles  W.  Wright.  Wyoming  Council 
Journal,  1886,  pp.  3,  10. 

2iKuykendall,  W.  S.  Weaver,  Thomas  B.  Adams,  Edward  T.  Duffy, 
Charles  E.  Blydenburg,  and  James  C.  Scrivener.  Wyoming  House  Journal, 
1888,  p.  3. 

22Eeel,  Colin  Hunter,  John  McGill,  Tim.  Kinney,  Charles  A.  Campbell, 
Eobert  M.  Galbraith,  Andrew  B.  Liggett,  Mike  H.  Murphy.  Wyoming 
Council  Journal,  1890,  pp.  3,  5. 


66  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

men  of  1875,  Kuykenclall,  Hiram  B.  Kelly,  and  G.  A.  Sea- 
right,  were  all  instigators  of  the  cattleman's  organization. 
Kuykendall  had  served  as  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the 
association  since  its  inception,  had  been  a  member  of  the 
committee  to  draft  its  rules  and  regulations  in  1873,  and 
had  signed  the  organization  agreement  the  following  year. 
Two  more  association  founders,  Alexander  H.  Reel  and 
John  F.  Coad,  had  extended  legislative  careers.  Reel  served 
in  the  house  of  1875  and  moved  to  the  council  for  the  ses- 
sions of  1879  and  1882;'-^  Coad  was  a  member  of  the  house 
in  1877  and  again  in  1884.  Alexander  H.  Swan,  while  presi- 
dent of  the  stock  association,  was  an  active  councilman  in 
1877.--^  In  the  following  council  Swan  was  succeeded  by 
his  brother  Thomas  with  whom  he  was  associated  in  the 
Swan  Land  and  Cattle  Com.pany;  and  in  the  house  of  repre- 
sentatives of  this  session  stock  interests  were  promoted  by 
Wilham  C.  Irvine,  a  newcomer  to  the  association  who  was 
destined  to  have  an  important  future  role  as  its  roundup 
foreman,  a  member  of  the  executive  committee,  a  trustee, 
treasurer,  and  president.  Irvine  also  served  as  councilman 
in  1882  and  1884.  Thomas  Sturgis,  association  secretary 
and  one  of  the  paramount  organizers  of  the  cattle  interests 
in  the  United  States,  directed  the  association  members  in 
the  council  of  the  seventh  legislative  assembly,  1882,  and 
the  delegation  in  the  house  of  this  3^ear  was  advised  by  C.  W. 
Riner,  a  member  of  the  law  firm  of  Corlett,  Lacay,  and  Riner, 
legal  counsel  for  the  association.  A  wealth/  stockman  of 
the  territory  who  was  to  become  governor  and  senator, 
Francis  E.  Warren,  sat  in  the  council  of  1884.  Hubert  E. 
Teschemacher,  a  member  of  the  executive  committee  of 
the  association  between  1883  and  1892,  was  a  representative 
in  1884  and  a  councilman  in  1886.-'^  Thomas  B.  Adams,  who 
followed  Sturgis  as  association  secretary,  was  elected  to 
the  house  of  representatives  in  1888  and  promoted  to  the 
council  in  the  final  territorial  session  of  1890.  Many  other 
association  members  followed  these  leaders  in  promoting 
laws  to  preserve  the  prosperity  of  the  stockmen  of  Wyoming. 
As  in  most  lawmaking  bodies,  the  Wyoming  territorial 
assemblies  referred  all  bills  introduced  into  the  council  or 
house  to  standing  committees  for  review  and  recommenda- 


23Reel  was  to  serve  as  treasurer  of  the  association,  1876-1889 ;  on  the 
executive  committee,  1891-1900;  and  as  trustee,  1884-1885. 

24Membership  Book,  1874-1881,  Wyoming-  Stock  Growers'  Association 
Papers.  This  record  includes  an  alphabetical  list  of  the  earliest  members 
of  the  Laramie  County  Stock  Association,  recording  the  dates  of  their  elec- 
tions, positions  held,  and  dues  paid. 

25By-Laws,  Secretary's  Report,  Besolutions  and  List  of  Members  of  the 
Wyoming  Stock  Growers'  Association  and  Laics  of  Wyoming  to  Protect  the 
Stock  Growers,  1881,  1882,  1883,  1885,  1886. 


WYOMING  STOCK   GROWERS'   ASSOCIATION  67 

tion.  Association  members  secured  appointments  to  com- 
mittees which  were  to  scrutinize  all  stock  legislation  and 
thereby  were  more  effective  than  their  numbers  would 
have  warranted.  From  1875  to  1890  the  council  committee 
on  stock,  stock  laws,  and  brands  had  an  association  member 
as  chairm.an.  Association  men  comprised  a  majority  of  its 
membership  in  the  1882  session;  in  1890,  all  five  members 
of  the  committee  were  organized  stockmen.  Sea  right,  Swan, 
Sturgis,  and  Teschemacher  were  among  those  who  served 
as  committee  chairmen,  and  it  was  seldom  that  legislation 
adverse  to  the  association  was  presented  to  the  council  for 
final  consideration.  Association-sponsored  measures  were 
invariably  and  speedily  endorsed.  In  the  house  the  cattle- 
men had  a  similar  control  over  the  committee  on  stock 
raising  and  stock  laws;  only  in  the  session  of  1886  was  a 
nonassociation  member  named  as  chairman. 

The  Wyoming  Stock  Growers'  Association  encouraged 
the  passage  of  all  laws  that  would  foster  the  range  cattle 
industry.  Although  all  cattlemen  in  Wyoming  were  affected 
by  much  of  the  legislation  which  it  sponsored,  the  primary 
object  of  the  association  was  to  maintain  the  prosperity  of 
its  own  membership.  To  achieve  this  end,  the  organization 
proposed  the  enactment  of  legislation  that  would  place  it 
in  an  advisory  position  to  county  and  territorial  officials. 
Furthermore,  the  association's  executive  committee  became 
a  bill-drafting  agency  for  stock  laws,  its  legal  counsel  pre- 
pared the  final  draft  of  many  bills  introduced  into  the 
assembly,  and  the  members  of  the  association's  legislative 
com^mittee,  appointed  from  •  time  to  tim^e,  were  likewise 
members  of  the  territorial  legislature. 

When  the  1875  assembly  convened,  the  act  "Regulating 
the  Branding,  Herding,  and  Care  of  Stock,"  enacted  two 
years  earlier,  was  amended  to  permit  county  commissioners 
to  appoint  detectives  to  discover  violations  of  the  stock  laws 
and  to  pay  them  from  the  county  treasury.  These  detec- 
tives were  to  be  selected  only  upon  the  recommendation 
of  the  county  cattle  organizations.- ^  The  advisory  role  of 
the  stock  association  was  further  recognized  in  the  1877 
legislature  when  jurisdiction  over  the  recording  of  brands 
was  transferred  from  county  clerks  to  a  committee  of  three, 
two  of  whom  were  to  be  representative  stockmen.  These 
new'  committees  were  to  review  all  previously  issued  brands 
and  in  case  of  duplication  to  determine  the  lawful  user.^'^ 

Discussion  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  stock  growers 
in  1879  revealed  a  concern  in  expanding  the  range  cattle 


26Compiled   Laws   of    Wyoming,    1876    (Cheyenne,    1876),    Chap.    105, 
p.  542. 

27Wyoming  Session  Laws,  1877,  pp.  125-26. 


68  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

industry  through  further  territorial  legislation  as  shown  by 
the  following  excerpt  from  the  minutes: 

Resolution  Sturgis.  That  our  Executive  com 
[mittee]  is  instructed  to  obtain  from  the  Legislature 
at  its  next  meeting  an  enactment  making  it  obliga- 
tory upon  any  man  who  shall  hereafter  turn  out 
female  neat  cattle  within  this  Territory  to  place 
with  them  at  the  time  when  turned  out  not  less 
than  5  servicable  bulls  .  .  .  for  every  100  head  of 
female   cattle   two   years   old   and  upwards    .... 

Further  that  there  shall  be  attached  to  such 
Act  a  substantial  penalty  for  each  violation. 

Further  that  this  is  the  unanimous  sense  of 
this  Asso.    Adopted.28 

Two  years  later  at  the  spring  meeting  of  the  association 
the  primary  interest  was  in  the  protection  of  the  range 
from  contagious  cattle  diseases  which  had  broken  out  in 
the  East.  A  resolution  was  adopted  providing  that  the 
executive  committee  should  appoint  a  special  committee 
to  draw  up  a  bill  providing  for  the  extermination  of  pleuro- 
pneumonia and  other  contagious  diseases  to  be  presented 
to  the  1882  session  of  the  territorial  legislature. ^^  Sturgis 
took  a  prominent  part  in  the  discussions  which  followed, 
was  named  on  the  committee,  and  in  counsel  with  legal 
advisers  drafted  the  so-called  quarantine  bill.  Shortly  after 
the  legislative  session  was  organized,  Sturgis  and  Andrew 
Gilchrist,  chairmen  of  the  council  and  house  committees  on 
stock  law,  reported  identical  bills  out  of  their  committees 
with  the  recommendation  of  immediate  passage.  "An  Act 
to  Suppress  and  Prevent  the  Dissemination  of  Contagious 
and  Infectious  Diseases  among  Domestic  Animals"  was 
soon  on  the  statute  books. ^^  This  legislation  was  laudatory 
in  its  attempt  to  check  the  spread  of  disease  among  the 
cattle  of  the  territory.  The  association,  however,  made 
certain  that  the  desires  of  its  organization  would  be  re- 
spected in  the  enforcement  of  the  law  because  the  terri- 
torial veterinarian  who  was  to  investigate  cases  of  disease, 
inspect  cattle  arriving  in  the  territory,  and  quarantine  in- 
fected areas  was  to  be  named  by  the  governor  upon  the 
recommendation  of  the  association.  When  there  was  evi- 
dence of  disease  outside  the  territory,  the  association  was 


28Minute  Book,  March  29,  1879. 

29lhid.,  April  4,  1881 

30C.  F.  No.  9  was  introduced  by  "Sturgis,  January  23,  1882,  and  H.  B. 
No.  3  by  Gilchrist,  January  24,  1882.  Governor  John  W.  Hoyt  signed  the 
biU  on  March  8,  1882. 


WYOMING  STOCK   GROWERS'   ASSOCIATION  69 

to  inform  the  governor  who  was  required  by  the  law  to 
issue  a  proclamation  excluding  cattle  from  states  or  coun- 
ties infected. 3^ 

The  association  began  to  make  plans  in  the  summer  of 
1883  for  the  meeting  of  the  eighth  legislative  assembly  which 
was  to  convene  in  January  of  the  following  year.  A  legis- 
lative committee  to  recommend  amendments  to  the  stock 
laws  again  was  appointed.  At  a  special  meeting  in  Novem- 
ber the  report  of  the  committee  was  discussed  and  a  series 
of  resolutions  adopted  by  the  cattlemen^  one  of  which  in- 
structed the  executive  committee  to  draft  a  bill  for  the 
proper  distribution  of  stray  neat  cattle  and  mavericks. 
The  association  unanimously  went  on  record  as  opposed 
to  the  branding  of  calves  on  the  range  between  the  first 
day  of  January  and  the  commencement  of  the  general 
spring  roundup  and  called  upon  the  legislature  to  carry 
out  the  spirit  of  this  resolution.  The  members  further 
authorized  the  executive  committee  to  prepare  any  state- 
ments about  the  annual  roundup  which  it  felt  desirable  to 
submit  to  the  lawmakers,  and  referred  to  it  for  action  all 
amendments  to  the  stock  laws  as  recommended  by  the 
legislative  committee.^^ 

All  three  members  of  the  legislative  committee  of  the 
stock  growers'  association  named  in  July  sat  in  the  eighth 
council.  A.  T.  Babbitt,  chairman  of  the  committee,  was 
likewise  chairman  of  the  council  committee  on  stock  laws 
and  brands,  but  he  possessed  the  good  taste  to  permit  a 
nonassociation  member  to  present  the  "Maverick  Bill"  to 
the  council  with  his  committee's  approval. ^^  This  law  pro- 
posed to  give  the  association  complete  responsibility  for 
supervising  the  roundup  of  cattle.  All  mavericks  were  to 
be  branded  by  the  association,  sold  to  the  highest  bidder, 
and  proceeds  turned  over  to  the  association's  treasury  with 
the  understanding  that  it  was  to  be  used  to  pay  cattle 
inspectors.  The  law  provided  also  that  all  persons  directly 
interested  in  the  business  of  raising  cattle  and  who  could 
meet  the  qualifications  established  by  the  association's  by- 
laws should  be  admitted  to  membership.  The  association 
was  thus  to  become  a  quasi-official  institution  with  legal 
control  over  the  stock  industry  and  the  power  to  enforce 
its  will.  If  this  law  passed,  there  was  to  be  virtually  a 
merger  of  the  territorial  government  and  the  Wyoming 
Stock  Growers'  Association  for  the  regulation  of  the  range.^-^ 


3iLaivs  of  Wyoming  Territory,  1882,  pp.  81-88. 
32Minute  Book,  July  2,  November  9,  1883. 
33C.  F.  No.  2,  Wyoming-  Council  Journal,  1884,  p.  19. 
34Wyoraing  Session  Laws,  1884,  pp.  148-52 ;  Osgood,  Day  of  the  Cattle- 
man, 135-37;  Pelzer,  ''Cattleman's  Commonwealth,"  loc.  cit.,  39-41. 


70  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

All  members  of  the  Wyoming  association  did  not  approve 
of  such  drastic  action  because  it  would  have  been  next  to 
impossible  for  a  stockman  to  operate  successfully  as  a  non- 
member.  Every  rancher  would  be  forced  into  the  associa- 
tion and  any  recalcitrant  member  could  be  disciplined  by 
the  organization.  Word  was  received  by  Sturgis  that  Alex- 
ander H.  Swan  opposed  the  legislation  and  the  Secretary 
wired  him  about  this  report  and  questioned  his  loyalty  to 
the  plans  of  the  association. -^^'^  Swan  wired  an  emphatic 
reply: 

I  never  agreed  to  support  the  Maveric.:  iill. 
Never  read  it  until  after  leaving  Cheyenne.  Am 
ready  to  give  full  support  to  any  measure  which  will 
give  justice  to  cattle  owners.  Do  not  consider  pres- 
ent bill  just  in  its  provisions,  and  if  passed  will  be 
unsatisfactory  in  results.  Have  not  changed  my 
mind  as  to  the  bill  in  its  present  form.^^ 

The  association  men  were  sufficiently  numerous  in  the 
council  to  pass  the  bill  as  drafted  by  their  legislative  com- 
mittee but  the  division  in  the  house  of  representatives  was 
so  close  that  a  "substitute  bill"  was  introduced  incorporating 
minor  changes.  During  the  discussion  a  representative 
from  Sweetw^ater  County  displayed  in  the  house  a  shrouded 
miniature  coffin,  sent  to  him  by  constituents,  containing  a 
copy  of  the  bill  with  the  message,  "The  Wyoming  Stock 
Growers'  Association  made  it.  We  have  coffined  it.  Now 
let  the  eighth  legislative  assem.bly  bury,  and  woe,  woe,  woe 
to  those  who  shall  resurrect  it."'^"  When  the  bill  came  up 
for  final  passage  the  association  had  the  necessary  majority, 
and  Governor  William  Hale,  already  committed  to  the  or- 
ganization, approved  of  this  m_easure  which  was  of  para- 
mount importance  in  the  history  of  Wyo.ming. 

Upon  the  convoking  of  the  ninth  legislature  in  January, 
1886,  the  executive  committee  of  the  association  called  a 
special  meeting  to  discuss  the  stock  legislation  which  should 
be  pushed  through  the  session,  J.  Howard  Ford  and  Charles 
A.  Guernsey,  association  men  from  the  council  and  house 
of  representatives,   were  invited   guests.     Amendments   to 


^.^Robert  Marsh  to  Sturgis,  March  2,  1884,  Wyoming  Stock  Growers' 
Association  Papers.  Incoming  correspondence  is  filed  in  letter  boxes  alpha- 
betically according  to  the  names  of  correspondents.  Tliere  are  from  one  to 
six  letter  boxes  for  each  year.  Outgoing  communications  of  the  secretary 
are  kept  in  letter  press  books  and  arranged  chronologically.  All  corre- 
spondence is  available  in  the  Archives  of  the  University  of  Wyoming  Library. 

36^Vlexander  H.  Swan  to  Joseph  M.  Carey  or  Sturgis,  March  2,  1884, 
ibid. 

37C.  W.  Crowley,  John  Lee,  and  David  J.  Jones,  to  Herman  G.  Nicker- 
son,  February  29,  1884,  ibid. 


WYOMING  STOCK   GROWERS'   ASSOCIATION  71 

the  veterinary  bill  were  agreed  upon  and  the  legal  counsel 
instructed  to  embody  the  substance  into  a  bill  for  presenta- 
tion to  the  legislature.  Two  days  later  the  executive  com- 
mittee assembled  again  to  endorse  this  legislation,  and  it 
was  further  agreed  to  draft  a  bill  legalizing  the  assessments 
levied  by  the  association.  Several  other  laws  were  pre- 
pared and  the  association  members  in  the  legislature  were 
instructed  to  inform  their  colleagues  that  the  executive 
committee  of  the  Wyoming  Stock  Growers'  Association 
wanted  the  territorial  stock  laws  codified  during  1887.  Be- 
fore adjournment  Teschemacher  was  named  a  committee 
of  one  to  supply  the  cattlemen's  headquarters  with  printed 
copies  of  all  stock  laws  introduced  into  either  branch  of  the 
legislature. 3^  This  meeting  of  the  executive  committee 
perhaps  demonstrated  to  the  fullest  extent  its  bill-drafting 
activities. 

Those  outside  the  association  protested  such  procedures 
in  vain;  the  editor  of  the  Cheyenne  Daily  Sun  whose  leading 
editorial  of  January  24,  1886,  had  criticized  the  actions  of 
the  association  was  requested  to  appear  before  the  executive 
committee  at  once  to  make  explanation  and  he  complied  with 
the  request.  Committees  were  appointed  to  call  upon  edi- 
tors of  the  Cheyenne  Daily  Leader  and  the  Laramie  Daily 
Boomerang  in  regard  to  their  policies  toward  the  associa- 
tion. The  executive  committee  recorded  its  regret  at  this 
feeling  of  antagonism  toward  the  association  by  both  Re- 
publican and  Democratic  editors,  and  was  apparently  pre- 
pared to  stifle  criticism. 39 

In  its  enthusiasm  for  fostering  the  cattle  business,  the 
association  at  times  antagonized  other  economic  interests 
in  the  territory  by  prescribing  limitations  and  establishing 
requirements  on  their  activities.  An  example  is  provided 
by  the  legal  restrictions  on  the  railroads.  As  early  as  1875 
the  legislature  had  made  railroads  liable  for  all  stock  killed 
by  trains.  If  the  owner  of  the  animal  was  known,  the  rail- 
road was  to  notify  him  within  ten  days  after  his  cattle  were 
killed;  if  he  was  unknown,  a  record  of  the  cattle  brand  was 
to  be  filed  with  the  county  clerk.  Railroads  failing  to  give 
such  notification  were  liable  to  double  indemnity.  More- 
over, any  person  who  had  stock  killed  was  to  notify  the 
railway  agent  of  its  value,  and  the  railroad  had  to  pay"  two- 
thirds  of  the  value  to  be  released  under  the  acL^^ 


38Minutes  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Wyoming  Stock  Growers' 
Association,  July  14,  1885,  to  April  5,  1911,  January  23,  25,  1886,  Wyoming 
Stock  Growers'  Association  Papers.  Cited  hereafter  as  Minutes  of  the  Ex- 
ecutive Committee. 

39  lb  id. 

'iOCompiled  Laws  of  Wyoming,  1876,  Chap.   105,  p.  544. 


72  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

A  continuous  fear  of  the  stock  association  was  the  possi- 
bility of  an  outbreak  of  fires  on  the  range,  and  the  legisla- 
ture of  1886  made  the  railroads  responsible  for  plowing  a  six- 
foot  strip  along  their  tracks  to  serve  as  a  fireguard.  County 
commissioners  were  to  determine  where  it  was  essential 
to  construct  a  fireguard  and  notify  the  railroad  by  June  1 
of  each  year.  The  work  was  to  be  completed  by  September 
1.  The  railroads  were  liable  for  a  $100  fine  for  every  mile 
or  fraction  thereof  not  properly  plowed;  in  case  of  nre 
caused  by  failure  to  comply  with  the  law  the  railroads 
were  liable  for  the  entire  damage  caused. '^^ 

The  influence  of  the  stock  growers',  association  in  secur- 
ing the  enactment  of  laws  to  protect  the  cattle  business  was 
not  confined  to  Wyoming.  Having  obtained  a  powerful 
voice  in  the  territorial  legislature  by  1882,  the  association 
voted  in  its  annual  meeting  to  extend  its  influence  to  near-by 
states  and  territories  and  instructed  its  president  to  appoint 
a  committee  of  one  or  more  members  to  go  to  Nebraska, 
Colorado,  and  Iowa  during  the  next  sessions  of  the  state 
legislatures  to  work  for  the  passage  of  quarantine  bills 
similar  to  that  passed  in  Wyoming. ^^^  Sturgis  corresponded 
with  the  Iowa  State  Agricultural  Society  and  with  the  Iowa 
Improved  Stock  Breeders  Association  relative  to  legislation 
in  that  state.  It  was  reported  that  the  1882  Iowa  legislature 
considered  a  quarantine  measure,  but  the  bill  was  "lum- 
bered up"  with  so  many  details  and  extraneous  provisions 
that  it  failed  of  passage. ^^^  The  next  session  was  to  meet 
in  January,  1884,  when  a  committee  from  Wyoming  would 
be  welcome  to  assist  in  securing  the  law.  John  A.  McShane, 
a  Nebraska  member  of  the  Wyoming  association,  wrote 
Sturgis  requesting  copies  of  the  veterinary  bill  to  distribute 
among  the  Nebraska  legislators  who  were  to  meet  in  extra 
session  during  May,  1882.  No  general  legislation  could  be 
considered  at  this  special  session,  but  Sturgis  forwarded  150 
copies  to  McShane  to  acquaint  the  Nebraska  lawmakers 
with  the  type  of  legislation  desired  during  the  next  regular 
session  in  January,  1883.^'*  Dakota  members  of  the  associa- 
tion appealed  to  Sturgis  in  1887  for  legal  advice  in  drafting 
suitable  stock  laws  to  be  presented  to  the  Dakota  legisla- 
ture, and  he  suggested  that  they  request  the  services  of 
W.  H.  Parker,  association  attorney  in  Deadwood,  who  was 


4iWyoming  Sessi-on  Laws,  1886,  Chap.  50,  pp.  106-107. 

42Mmute  Book,  April  4,  18S2. 

43Sturgis  to  John  W.  Porter,  Iowa  City,  vice-president  of  the  Iowa 
State  Ae^riciiltural  Society;  Fitch  B.  Stacey,  secretary  of  the  Iowa  Improved 
Stock  Breeders  Association,  to  Sturgis,  March  31,  1882,  Wyoming  Stock 
Growers'  Association  Papers. 

44John  A.  McShane  to  Sturgis,  April  8,  16,  22,  29,  1882,  Hid. 


WYOMING  STOCK   GROWERS'   ASSOCIATION  73 

employed  on  retainer. ^^^  Later  in  the  year,  Secretary  Adams 
wrote  to  a  member  of  the  board  of  directors  of  the  Bank  of 
America  in  New  York  for  an  introduction  to  poHtical  powers 
in  St.  Paul  who  could  assist  the  association  in  securing  a 
Minnesota  law  to  facilitate  cattle  inspections  by  the  Wyo- 
ming and  Montana  stock  associations  in  that  city.^^  Through 
the  correspondence  of  its  secretaries  and  the  work  of  its 
visiting  committees  the  Wyoming  association  continued  to 
exert  political  influence  outside  the  territory  in  the  decade 
of  the  eighties. 

In  the  election  of  1884,  the  executive  committee  of  the 
cattle  growers  became  interested  in  the  selection  of  the 
congressional  delegate.  Stockmen  had  sought  the  position 
prior  to  this  year,  and  individual  members  had  participated 
actively  in  the  campaign,  but  the  association  had  never 
officially  endorsed  a  candidate.  In  1880  the  Republicans 
had  nominated  Alexander  H.  Swan  and  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  he  refused  to  campaign  extensively  he  came  within 
147  votes  of  election.  Morton  E.  Post,  the  victor,  was  like- 
wise interested  in  cattle  and,  although  he  was  not  an  associa- 
tion member,  his  business  activities  were  intertwined  with 
those  of  two  Republican  memibers,  Warren  and  Joseph 
Carey.  Before  the  election  of  1882  Post  joined  the  associa- 
tion and  won  a  decisive  victory  at  the  polls.^^  Toward  the 
end  of  his  second  two-year  term,  he  resolved  not  to  seek 
re-election,  but  his  business  associate  Carey,  who  had  been 
defeated  for  the  same  position  in  1874,  was  seeking  the 
Republican  nomination.  Carey  had  joined  the  association 
in  the  seventies,  served  on  its  executive  committee,  and  by 
1883  had  been  chosen  its  president.  He  secured  the  Repub- 
lican nomination  in  1884  and  after  defeating  William  H. 
Holliday,  the  Democratic  candidate,  began  his  tenure  as 
congressional  delegate  which  was  to  last  until  the  end  of 
the  territorial  period.^^  Although  the  association  did  not 
endorse  Carey  officially  for  fear  of  dividing  its  membership 
into  two  political  camps,  some  members  of  the  executive 
committee  campaigned  for  him  so  actively  that  they  were 
accused  of  using  association  funds  to  secure  Carey's  elec- 
tion.    At  the  meeting  of  the  executive  committee  on  July 


45Sturgis  to  Seth  Bullock,  January  5,  1887,  ihid. 

46Adanis  to  E.  W.  Corlies,  August  18,  1887,  ihid.  The  Wyoming  asso- 
ciation influenced  legislation  in  at  least  eight  states  and  territories, 
secured  administrative  decisions  in  Washington,  D.  C,  through  the  con- 
gressional delegate,  to  aid  the  ranching  interests,  and  was  largely  instru- 
mental in  proposing  the  national  legislation  creating  the  Bureau  of  Animal 
Industry. 

47Hubert  H.  Bancroft,  History  of  Nevada,  Colorado,  and  Wyonmuf 
(San  Francisco,   1890),  p.  750. 

4.8lUd. 


74  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

14,  1885,  a  "statement  [was]  made  to  Com[mittee]  that 
O.  C.  Waid  had  pubhcly  stated  in  Rawlins  to  R.  B.  Conner, 
Joe  Rankin,  and  others  that  the  funds  of  the  Assoc,  had 
been  corruptly  and  illegally  used  by  the  Exec.  Com.  during 
the  last  political  campaign  &  especially  to  aid  in  the  elec- 
tion of  delegate. "^^  Waid,  a  member  of  the  association,  was 
instructed  to  appear  personally  before  the  committee  or  to 
write  an  explanation  regarding  the  charge.  The  case  was 
closed  by  a  reprimand  to  Waid  for  making  statements  which 
would  bring  discredit  upon  the  Wyoming  Stock  Growers' 
Association,  but  many  continued  to  believe  that  the  cattle- 
man's organization  had  played  too  active  a  role  in  the  elec- 
tion of  the  Republican  candidate. 

Between  1884  and  1887  Carey  continued  in  his  dual 
position  of  Wyoming's  delegate  to  Congress  and  president 
of  the  territorial  stock  growers'  association.  He  returned 
to  Cheyenne  on  occasions  to  attend  to  personal  and  associa- 
tion aftairs  and  as  late  as  the  campaign  of  1888,  after  he  had 
resigned  the  presidency  of  the  association,  the  secretary  of 
the  organization  was  writing  articles  for  the  Cheyenne 
Daily  Sun  stating  that  the  cattle  business  could  best  be 
served  by  Carey's  re-election.^^ 

The  territorial  governors  who  followed  Campbell  con- 
tinued to  realize  the  importance  of  stock  growing  to  Wyo- 
ming and  through  them  the  association  obtained  greater 
political  recognition  and  influence.  John  M.  Thaj^er  suc- 
ceeded Campbell  in  1875,  and  although  he  failed  to  demon- 
strate the  enthusiasm  for  ranching  of  his  predecessor,  he 
was  by  no  means  antagonistic  to  the  cattlemen.  Speaking 
before  the  legislative  assembly  of  1875,  he  emphasized  the 
agricultural  and  mineral  potentialities  of  the  territory  and 
the  need  of  capital  for  manufacturing,  but  admitted  that 
Wyoming  was  to  "become  one  of  the  largest  stockgrowing 
states  in  the  Union."-^i  By  the  time  the  fifth  legislature  con- 
vened in  1877,  Governor  Thayer  was  indoctrinated  by  the 
cattlemen  and,  as  is  revealed  in  his  message  to  the  law- 
makers, was  an  enthusiastic  supporter  of  the  stock  interests. 
After  admitting  that  stock  raising  was  the  leading  economic 
activity  of  the  territory,  praising  the  advantages  of  the 
open  range  for  fattening  cattle,  quoting  statistics  to  point 
out  the  expansion  of  the  industry  and  increased  cattle  ship- 

49Minutes  of  the   Executive  Committee,  July  14,   1885. 

oOJames  L.  Smith  to  Adams,  November  27,  1888,  Wyoming  Stock 
Growers '  Association  Papers.  Newspaper  clippings  attached  to  this  corre- 
spondence in  the  incoming  files  of  the  association  record  the  remarks  of 
Adams. 

5iMessage  of  Governor  Thayer  to  the  Fourth  Legislative  Assemhly,  of 
Wyoming  Territory,  Convened  at  Cheyenne,  November  2nd,  1875  (Chey- 
enne, 1875). 


WYOMING  STOCK  GROWERS'   ASSOCIATION  75 

ments,  he  concluded,  "This,  certainly,  is  a  good  exhibit  for 
a  portion  of  what  was  once  regarded  as  the  Great  American 
Desert."52 

John  W.  Hoyt  arrived  in  Wyoming  the  following  year 
to  serve  as  governor  and  the  stockmen  obtained  another 
ally.  In  Wisconsin,  Hoyt  already  had  shown  a  tremendous 
interest  in  agricultural  education  and  had  edited  the  first 
significant  agricultural  journal  in  that  state. ^^  j^i  ^^^q  an- 
nual association  meeting  in  1879  he  was  the  principal 
speaker  and  following  his  address  was  elected  to  honorary 
membership  in  the  association. ^^  His  message  to  the  legis- 
lative assembly  a  few  months  later  indicated  that  he  was 
well  informed  on  the  territorial  cattle  business  and  the 
specific,  detailed  recommendations  relative  to  legislation 
revealed  that  he  had  received  advice  from  the  association's 
executive  committee  and  lawyers. ^^^  Speaking  before  the 
1882  legislature,  Hoyt  mentioned  the  "acknowledged  su- 
premacy of  the  Wyoming  Stock  Growers'  Association"  which 
had  a  membership  that  "for  numbers,  high  character  and 
amount  of  capital  employed  is  believed  to  be  without  rival 
in  this  or  any  country."^^ 

At  the  close  of  1882  William  Hale  of  Iowa  replaced  Hoyt 
as  governor.  The  following  year  while  in  Washington  he 
was  called  upon  by  the  association  to  present  before  the 
Com.missioner  of  Indian  Affairs  the  complaints  of  cattlemen 
that  the  Indian  tribes  from  reservations  near  the  northern 
and  eastern  boundaries  of  Wyoming  were  killing  stock. 
Hale  received  assurances  from  the  Commissioner  that,  if 
necessary,  the  military  would  be  used  to  prevent  further 
depredations.^'  At  the  annual  meeting  m  April,  Governor 
Hale  and  the  territorial  secretary,  Elliott  S.  N.  Morgan,  were 
unanimously  elected  to  honoroary  membership  in  the  stock 
growers'  organization.  In  the  absence  of  Hale,  Morgan 
made  the  speech  of  acceptance, -^^  and  throughout  his  term 
the  Secretary  attended  the  annual  meetings  of   che  cattle- 


52Message  of  Governor  Thayer  to  the  Fifth  Legislative  Assembly,  of 
Wyoming  Territory,  Convened  at  Cheyenne,  Novemler  6,  1877  (Cheyenne^ 
1877). 

53Joseph  Schafer,  A  History  of  Agriculture  in  Wisconsin  (Madison, 
1922),  108-109. 

54Minute  Book,  March  29,  1879. 

55Message  of  Governor  .Hoyt  to  the  Sixth  Legislative  Assembly,  of 
Wyoming  Territory,  Convened  at  Cheyenne, 'November  4,  1879  (Cheyenne,. 
1879). 

56Message  of  John  W.  Hoyt,  Governor  of  Wyoming,  to  the  Seventh 
Legislative  Assembly,  January  12,  1882   (Cheyenne,  1882), 

57Spring,  Seventy  Years  Coiv  Country,  75.  The  Arapahoes  and  Sho- 
shone Avere  located  to  the  west,  CroAvs  on  the  north,  and  Sioux  on  the  east. 

58Minute  Book,  April  3,  1883. 


76  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

men  and  officially  offered  the  assistance  of  his  office  to  its 
executive  committee. -^^ 

In  1885  the  Wyoming  governorship  was  given  for  the 
first  time  to  a  resident  of  the  territory  when  Warren,  wealthy 
association  member,  was  selected  by  President  Chester  A. 
Arthur.  During  Warren's  administration  there  was  com- 
plete cooperation  between  the  territorial  executive  office 
and  the  stockmen's  headquarters;  the  alliance  was  made 
complete  by  using  Carey,  the  Governor's  business  partner, 
to  represent  the  cattle  interests  in  Washington.  The  brief 
statements  in  the  minutes  of  the  executive  committee  re- 
veal the  situation.  The  entry  for  a  meeting  on  August  4, 
1885,  recorded  the  fact  that  "Gov.  Warren  [was]  in  attend- 
ance for  consultation."  Throughout  the  year,  the  Governor 
often  attended  discussions  of  the  executive  committee  of 
the  stock  growers'  association  to  learn  its  wishes  concern- 
ing the  enforcement  of  the  quarantine  law.  One  statement 
in  the  Minute  Book  reads,  "Res.  That  we  recommend  to 
Gov.  Warren  the  issuance  of  a  revised  proclamation  modi- 
fying the  quarantine  restrictions  regarding  Mo.  [Missouri]," 
and  again,  "Communication  from  Gov.  Warren  on  subject 
of  letter  to  Gov.  Oglesby  of  Ills,  on  quarantine  question. 
Com[mittee]  decided  to  recommend  removal  of  quarantine 
from  all  Co.'s  [counties]  in  Ills,  except  Du  Page.''^^  At 
times  Carey  and  Warren  personally  paid  the  bills  for  the 
publication  of  these  quarantine  proclamations  protecting 
the  Wyoming  range.  The  executive  committee  instructed 
its  secretary  on  at  least  one  occasion  to  refund  the  amount 
expended  by  Carey  and  Warren  for  newspaper  publication 
with  the  understanding  that  the  cash  would  be  returned 
by  the  Governor  if  the  legislature  could  be  persuaded  to 
appropriate  the  necessary  funds. "^^ 

At  the  annual  spring  meeting  in  1885,  the  members  of 
the  association  were  in  good  spirits,  the  range  cattle  indus- 
try was  flourishing,  and  the  organization  was  aware  of  its 
potential  political  power;  but  there  were  men  in  Wyoming 
who  bitterly  resented  the  political  influence  of  the  associa- 
tion. This  editorial  in  the  Rawlins  Carbon  County  Journal 
should  have  served  as  a  warning: 


59Elliott  S.  X.  Morgan  to  Sturgis,  March  24,  188-4,  Wyoming  Stock 
Growers'  Association  Papers. 

eoMinutes  of  the  Executive  Committee,  August  4,  October  16,  1885. 
For  further  information  on  Francis  Warren 's  role  in  the  enforcement  of 
the  cattle  quarantine  laws,  see  W.  Turrentine  Jackson,  ''Wyoming  Cattle 
Quarantine,  1885,"  Annals  of  Wyoming  (Cheyenne),  XVI  (July,  1944), 
147-61. 

6iMinutes  of  the  Executive  Committee,  October  16,  1885. 


WYOMING  STOCK   GROWERS'   ASSOCIATION  77 

The  Wyoming  Cattle  Growers'  Association  has 
been  in  session  in  Cheyenne  the  past  week.  It 
would  seem  from  reading  an  account  of  the  proceed- 
ings that  they  imagine  themselves  endowed  with 
powers  not  only  to  make  rules  for  their  own  gov- 
ernment but  to  legislate  for  the  whole  range  coun- 
try. There  is  no  doubt  that  the  association  is  a  good 
thing  when  kept  within  proper  bounds,  but  when  it 
assumes  to  dictate  to  all  cattle  owners,  whether 
members  of  the  association  or  not,  as  to  how  they 
handle  their  cattle  they  overstep  their  powers  and 
become  an  engine  of  evil.  It  seems  to  us  that  if  a 
good  deal  of  arrogance  and  selfishness  were  weeded 
out  of  the  association  and  the  rights  of  the  small 
owner  better  respected,  that  the  association  would 
not  only  become  more  popular  with  the  people  at 
large,  but  productive  of  much  more  good  not  only 
to  themselves  but  to  every  stock  owner,  as  w^eli  as 
to  everybody  else  interested  in  the  prosperity  of 
this  great  industry.  ^^ 

During  the  winter  months  of  1885-1886  excessive  cold 
and  snow  wrought  havoc  on  the  range.  By  spring  85  per 
cent  of  some  herds  were  gone  and  with  the  coming  of  fall 
the  Wyoming  cattlemen  realized  that  the  stock  prices  on 
the  Chicago  market  were  slowly  declining  so  that  cattle 
were  bringing  the  lowest  price  in  history.  The  years  of 
temporary  decline  for  the  Wyoming  Stock  Growers'  Asso- 
ciation had  set  in.  The  summer  season  of  1886  was  hot 
and  dry  and  the  grass  was  poor.  The  snow  came  earlier 
than  usual  the  following  winter  and  was  soon  followed  by 
blizzards  and  extremely  low  temperatures.  Thousands  of 
cattle  froze  to  death  or  starved,  and,  as  a  result,  most  of  the 
old-time  Wyoming  ranchers  were  economically  ruined. ^^ 
An  atmosphere  of  tragedy  and  disappointment  prevailed 
over  the  annual  meeting  of  1887;  the  President,  Vice-Presi- 
dent, and  Secretary  were  not  in  attendance. ^^  Membership 
in  the  association  had  dropped  from  443  to  363,  and  the 
appeal  of  Acting  Secretary  Adams  reflected  the  desperate 

situation: 

« 
The  period  of  time  covered  by  this  report  has 
been  one  full  of  discouragement  to  everyone  inter- 
ested in  stock  growing.  ...  It  is  in  times  like  these 


62Eawlins  Carl  on  County  Journal,  April  14,  1885.     For  editorial  Avrit- 
ten  by  John  C.  Friend,  see  Wyoming  Stock  Growers '  Association  Papers. 
630sgood,  Day  of  the  Cattleman,   217-22. 
64Pelzer,  ' '  Cattleman  's   Commonwealth, ' '  loc.  cit.,   49. 


78  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

that  the  undermining  influence  of  indifference,  dis- 
content and  financial  disappointment  are  apt  to 
work  most  powerfully  at  the  foundations  of  the 
association.  It  is  times  like  these  that  all  who  have 
the  welfare  of  the  association  at  heart  should  rally 
to  its  support.'5-5 

Nevertheless,  during  the  meeting  many  opinions  concern- 
ing the  advisability  of  abandoning  the  association  were 
expressed. 

The  political  enemies  of  the  association  now  took  advan- 
tage of  its  unfortunate  economic  plight.  Governor  Thomas 
Moonlight,  a  "Granger"  who  had  succeeded  Warren  in  1887, 
was  delighted  that  the  large  cattle  companies  were  on  the 
road  to  ruin  and  volunteered  to  lead  the  political  opposition 
to  the  stock  interests. ^^  Juries  of  the  territorial  courts 
refused  to  indict  cattle  "rustlers"  or  to  convict  those  whom 
the  association  had  brought  to  trial  on  the  grounds  that  the 
association  had  used  "highhanded"  methods  in  obtaining  evi- 
dence. Prejudice  against  the  organization  was  reflected  by 
instructions  from  the  bench.  The  association  Secretary 
confessed  to  one  member:  "In  view  of  the  recent  occurrences 
in  Cheyenne,  in  connection  with  the  criminal  trials  brought 
forward  by  the  Association,  I  do  not  feel  encouraged  to 
undertake  any  more  'special  detective  work'  .  .  .  but  we 
must  devise  some  better  system  for  the  detection  of  illegal 
branding  and  cattle  stealing."'^^  To  another  he  wrote,  "The 
day  will  come  when  the  community  at  large  will  be  sorry 
that  we  were  treated  so  shabbily  by  the  authorities."^^ 

In  spite  of  the  economic  disaster  and  the  political  diffi- 
culties with  the  executive  and  judiciary,  the  Wyoming 
association  was  by  no  means  politically  impotent.  In  these 
troublesome  years  Adams  emerged  as  the  forceful  char- 
acter determined  to  preserve  the  power  of  the  association. 
With  anxiety  and  interest  he  prepared  for  the  meeting  of 
the  tenth  legislative  assembly  in  January,  1888.     He  con- 


65Proceedings  of  the  Annual  Meetings,  1884-1899.  The  proceedings 
of  the  annual  meetings  of  the  Wyoming  Stock  Growers'  Association  found 
in  this  scrapbook  Avere  first  printed  in  the  Northwestern  Live  Stock  Journal, 
published  by  A.  S.  Mercer  of  Cheyenne.  The  association  's  secretary  clipped 
the  accounts  from  the  paper,  pasted  them  in  the  scrapbook,  and  inserted 
additional  comments  in  longhand  when  he  felt  essential  information  had 
been  omitted. 

66W.  T'urrentine  Jackson,  ' '  The  Administration  of  Thomas  Moon- 
light, 1887-1889,  Wyoming's  Time  of  Trouble,"  Aimals  of  Wyoming,  XVII 
(July,  1946),  139-62. 

67Adams  to  E.  C.  Butler,  January  3,  1888,  Wyoming  Stock  Growers' 
Association  Papers. 

68Adams  to  August  Pasehe,  January  3,  1888,  ibid. 


WYOMING  STOCK  GROWERS'   ASSOCIATION  79 

iided  to  a  friend,  "If  the  legislature  does  not  destroy  our 
association  by  malicious  legislation,  I  hope  we  will  still  be 
able  to  be  a  considerable  power  in  the  territory. "<^9  Firmly 
convinced  that  the  Maverick  Law  of  1884  would  be  repealed 
or  amended  by  the  legislature,  he  wrote  to  R.  B.  Harrison, 
secretary  of  the  Montana  association,  about  the  stock  laws 
of  that  territory.  If  the  annual  income  from  the  maverick 
fund  which  had  been  $30,000  in  1886  was  taken  away  from 
the  association,  Adams  knew  that  the  inspection  and  detec- 
tive work  could  not  continue.  Montana  had  established 
a  territorial  board  of  livestock  commissioners  and  Adams 
desired  detailed  information  relative  to  the  relationship 
between  this  commission  and  the  Montana  stockmen  as  well 
as  the  methods  it  used  to  protect  the  range. '^  In  the  exten- 
sive correspondence  which  followed,  Adams  received  con- 
structive suggestions  in  rewriting  the  Wyoming  statute, 
and  he  confessed  to  Harrison:  "I  think  that  by  making  the 
round-up  foremen  territorial  officers,  and  having  the  law 
enforced  through  territorial  authorities  it  will  dissipate  to 
a  large  extent  the  prejudice  now  existing  against  the  asso- 
ciation. .  .  .  This  prejudice  is  generally  felt  for  reason  that 
many  suspect  that  the  large  fund  derived  from  the  sale  of 
mavericks  is  used  for  the  protection  of  the  few  against  the 
many  by  the  association.""^^  The  Secretary  also  reported 
to  Carey  in  Washington  that 

upon  my  suggestion  a  meeting  was  held  at  the 
Court  House,  and  a  committee  appointed  who  have 
drafted  a  law  looking  toward  the  formation  of  a  Live 
Stock  Commission  for  this  Territory  who  shall  su- 
pervise .  .  .  the  Maverick  Fund  for  the  benefit  of  the 
stock  interests  of  the  Territory.  The  law  has  been 
carefully  prepared  with  the  advice  of  counsel  and 
we  hope  to  put  it  through  the  Legislature  with  very 
little  amendment.' - 

Although  the  Wyoming  cattlemen  were  well  repre- 
sented in  the  1888  legislature,  the  ranchers  of  the  1870's  and 
early  1880's  who  composed  the  "old  guard"  of  the  seventh, 
eighth,  and  ninth  sessions  were  conspicuously  absent.  Some 
of  the  stockmen  in  the  council  had  grievances  against  the 


69Adams  to  Butler,  January  3,  1888,  ihid. 
70 Adams  to  E.  B.  Harrison,'  August  23,  1887,  ibid. 

TlHarrison  to  Adams,  August  27,  1887;   Adams  to  Harrison,  Septem- 
ber 2,  1887,  ibid. 

72Adams  to  Carey,  January  26,  1888,  ibid. 


80  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

association,^'^  ^nd  the  house  of  representatives  was  full  of 
newcomers  to  the  cattle  business.  Adams  was  at  first  dis- 
couraged by  the  strength  of  the  opposition  and  complained 
to  a  Nebraska  cattleman,  "It  seems  as  if  cattlemen  will  not 
only  have  to  suffer  the  loss  of  over  half  of  their  property, 
but  will  have  to  stand  a  good  deal  of  abuse  from  the  granger 
interests  and  from  traitors  in  their  own  ranks." ''^  Within 
two  weeks,  however,  Adams  and  his  colleagues  secured 
enough  votes  to  pass  the  bill  in  both  the  council  and  house, 
but  when  it  reached  Governor  Moonlight  he  found  it  un- 
acceptable because  the  livestock  commission  created  there- 
b}^  could  fill  vacancies  in  its  membership.  This  he  con- 
sidered an  infringement  of  the  appointing  power  of  the 
executive.  Adams  made  bitter  charges  against  the  Gov- 
ernor for  attempting  to  delay  action  which  was  so  desper- 
ately needed  by  the  stock  interests,  and  the  legislation  was 
finally  enacted  over  the  Governor's  veto.  The  passage  of 
this  law  transferring  the  protection  of  the  Wyoming  range 
to  a  territorial  board  of  livestock  commissioners  on  a  basis 
agreeable  to  the  association  was  the  greatest  achievement 
of  the  association  in  this  legislative  session  and  revealed 
that  the  stock  growers  continued  to  exert  some  political 
influence. '^^ 

This  session  of  the  assembly  devoted  a  great  portion 
of  its  time  to  removing  stock  laws  from  the  statute  books. 
In  the  council,  Holliday,  Carey's  unsuccessful  opponent  for 
Congress  in  1884,  introduced  three  bills  designed  to  repeal 
the  Maverick  Law  of  1884,  the  basic  statute  "Regulating 
the  Branding,  Herding,  and  Care  of  Stock,"  and  the  1875 
statute  which  had  authorized  the  county  commissioners, 
with  the  advice  of  the  stock  growers'  association,  to  appoint 
and  pay  the  salaries  of  range  detectives.  The  county  com- 
missioners were  no  longer  authorized  to  pay  rewards  from 
the  county  treasury  for  the  arrest  of  stock  thieves.  The 
territorial  veterinarian  was  to  be  appointed  for  a  specified 
two-year  term  by  the  governor  with  the  confirmation  of 
the  council  and  the  Wyoming  Stock  Growers'  Association 


730f  the  six  association  men  in  the  council,  tAvo  Avere  disaffected. 
Smith  resigned  from  the  executive  committee  in  1887  when  that  body  re- 
fused to  remo.ve  one  of  his  employees  from  the  ' '  Black  List. ' '  The  asso- 
ciation brought  his  employee  to  trial  as  a  cattle  thief,  and  Smith 's  bitter- 
ness toward  the  organization  drove  him  into  the  enemy 's  camp  in  the 
legislature.  Caleb  P.  Organ  of  Laramie  County  also  resigned  from  the 
association  in  1887  because  well-known  officials  had  not  been  forced  by  the 
executive  committee  to  explain  their  ranching  practices. 

74Adams  to  Louis  L.  Wyatt,  February  3,  1888,  Wyoming  Stock  Grow- 
ers' Association  Papers. 

75Adams  to  James  G.  Parker,  February  14,  1888;  Frank  M.  Canton  to 
Adams,  March  2,  1888 ;  Adams  to  Claude  L.  Talbot,  March  .3,  1888,  ibid. 


WYOMING  STOCK   GROWERS'   ASSOCIATION  81 

need  not  be  consulted  as  in  past  years.     Taxation  of  live- 
stock on  the  open  range  was  increased.''^ 

When  the  association  assembled  for  its  sixteenth  annual 
session  in  the  spring  of  1888,  the  full  effect  of  the  disastrous 
years  of  1886  and  1887  was  very  much  in  evidence.  Although 
during  the  year  the  executive  committee  had  voted  an  assess- 
ment of  two  cents  per  head  on  70  per  cent  of  each  mem- 
ber's cattle,  the  Treasurer  reported  a  deficit  of  $3,658.  He 
opened  his  annual  report  with  the  terse  statement,  "the 
receipts  have  been  less  than  they  were  last  year  and  the 
year  before,  and  the  funds  have  fallen  short  of  what  it  was 
necessary  to  expend."  Some  employees  of  the  association 
had  been  dismissed  and  again  there  was  talk  of  abandoning 
the  association.  The  executive  committee,  however,  resolved 
to  continue  the  association  in  order  to  assist  the  livestock 
commission  in  performing  its  duties  and  to  see  that  rehable 
cattlemen  were  selected  as  its  members.  It  was  agreed 
that  the  association's  initiation  fee  should  be  abolished  and 
that  dues  should  be  lowered.  Each  member  of  the  associa- 
tion was  urged  to  engage  in  missionary  work  to  increase 
the  membership  of  the  organization.  After  the  election 
of  the  new  officers,  "Heck"  Reel  accepted  his  sixth  term  as 
treasurer  and  remarked: 

We  all  want  to  hold  together  and  push  ourselves 
ahead  to  protect  the  cattle  we  have  left  and  make 
more  out  of  them.  We  all  have  a  few  still.  I  can 
remember  when  many  of  you  started  with  less  in 
number  than  you  have  today,  and  I  believe  I  started 
with  less  myself  than  I  have  now.  Although  we  lost 
heavily  last  winter,  I  do  not  feel  discouraged.  All 
businesses  have  their  depressions  and  reverses,  and 
we  had  no  right  to  expect  ours  would  be  an  excep- 
tion. We  have  seen  our  darkest  day,  and  if  this 
association  will  take  a  new  hold  we  can  do  a  great 
deal  for  the  stock  interests  and  can  protect  one  an- 
other. There  is  no  use  in  lying  down  or  giving  up. 
All  we  have  to  do  is  to  use  a  little  energy,  persevere, 
stand  firm  and  when  an  opportunity  presents  itself 
to  push  to  the  front. '^'^ 


76Wyoming  Session  Laws,  188S,  Chap.  9,  p.  23;  Chap.  10,  p.  23;  Chap. 
14,  p.  25;  Chap.  28,  pp.  46-54;  Chap.  48,  pp.  109-10. 

77Proceedings  of  the  Annual  Meetings,  1884-1899,  pp.  101-102. 


82  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Adams  optimistically  reported  to  Carey  in  Washington, 
"Our  'Cheyenne  Guard'  is  getting  along  nicely,  &  only  lack 
a  little  support  from  the  Executive."'^^ 

The  livestock  commission,  created  in  1888,  received  no 
financial  support  from  the  territorial  legislature  on  the 
assumption  that  the  sale  of  mavericks  would  provide  essen- 
tial funds.  The  executive  committee  of  the  Wyoming  Stock 
Growers'  Association  provided  the  commissioners  with  the 
money  necessary  to  conduct  the  spring  roundup  of  1888  and 
at  the  annual  meeting  in  1889  instructed  its  legislative  com- 
mittee to  draft  legislation  bolstering  the  stock  commission 
and  placing  it  upon  a  sound  financial  footing.'^Q  The  cattle- 
men in  the  eleventh  territorial  assembly  made  two  signifi- 
cant achievements.  Many  of  the  laws  which  the  previous 
assembly  had  hastily  repealed  were  restored  to  the  statute 
books  and  provisions  were  made  for  reorganizing,  simplify- 
ing, and  codifying  all  stock  legislation  of  the  territorial 
period. ^^  An  immediate  appropriation  of  $10,000  was  granted 
the  stock  commission  and  continuous  territorial  financial 
support  guaranteed  whereby  the  needs  of  the  commission 
would  be  annually  estimated  and  reported  to  the  governor 
who  could  recommend  an  appropriation  by  the  legislature. 
The  annual  appropriation  for  this  general  expense  fund 
was  not  to  exceed  $2,000;  other  funds  could  come  from  the 
sale  of  mavericks.^  1 

In  the  spring  of  1890  when  the  association  held  its  an- 
nual meeting  the  officers  realized  that  the  role  of  the  Wyo- 
ming stock  growers  had  changed  and  that  its  more  impor- 
tant functions  had  been  assigned  the  commission.  Mem- 
bership in  the  association  had  dropped  from  349  to  183 
between  the  annual  meetings  of  1888  and  1889;  no  figures 
were  announced  for  1890.  The  association's  treasurer  re- 
ported a  $29  balance.  The  executive  committee  had  re- 
solved to  abolish  all  special  assessments  on  the  members 
and  to  curtail  operating  expenses.  The  Secretary  closed 
his  annual  report  with  the  observation,  "Questions  will 
undoubtedly  be  asked  at  this  time.  What  is  there  for  the 
association  to  do?  Shall  its  organization  be  maintained? 
Are  we  justified  in  maintaining  its  existence?"  The  as- 
sembled stockmen  debated  these  questions  at  length  and 
resolved  to  continue  the  association.  Babbitt,  who  suc- 
ceeded Carey  as  president  of  the  Association  in  1888,  died 


78 Adams  to  Carey,  August  7,  1888,  Wyoming  Stock  Growers'  Associa- 
tion Papers. 

79Proceedings  of  the  Annual  Meetings,  1884-1899,  pp.  110-11. 

SOWyoming  Session  Laws,  1890,  Chap.  39,  pp.  51-61. 

silhid.,  Chap.  53,  pp.  93-100;  Adams  to  Fred  G.  S.  Hesse,  March  29, 
1890,  Wyoming  Stock  Growers'  Association  Papers. 


WYOMING  STOCK   GROWERS'   ASSOCIATION  83 

in  the  summer  of  1889  and  the  new  president  chosen  at  this 
session,  John  Clay,  Jr.,  assured  the  members:  "There  is  going 
to  be  but  very  little  work  for  the  association  during  the 
next  year,  and  my  duties  will  not  be  very  cumbersome. 
Whatever  those  duties  are  you  may  be  certain  that  I  am 
going  to  be  in  the  front  and  do  the  best  I  can  for  the  stock 
interests  of  the  territory. "^■- 

The  association  also  accepted  the  change  in  its  political 
position  which  had  been  developing  since  1887.  No  longer 
could  the  organization  speak  with  the  authority  of  the  years 
1882-1886.  Local  politicians,  who  were  not  so  fully  aware 
of  these  changes,  continued  to  write  the  association  officers 
in  Cheyenne  for  political  endorsements  for  themselves  and 
for  friends.  Secretary  Adams  explained  to  one  member: 
"I  doubt  very  much  the  wisdom^  of  attempting  to  raise  an 
'election  fund'  ...  by  the  Association.  Once  or  twice  there 
have  been  accusations  made  against  the  Association  for 
taking  a  hand  in  politics,  but  fortunately,  thus  far,  to  the 
best  of  my  knowledge  and  belief,  no  money  has  ever  been 
expended  hy  the  Association  in  the  interest  of  any  political 
aspirant."^^  To  a  candidate  for  office  he  wrote,  "I  cannot 
discriminate  in  favor  or  against  Democrats  or  Republicans 
as  I  cannot  in  any  way  encourage  the  belief  that  has  gained 
ground  recently  that  the  Association  is  a  political  machine. "^^ 

In  these  years  of  temporary  decline  the  Wyoming 
Stock  Growers'  Association  displayed  great  wisdom  in  cur- 
tailing its  political  activities  and  in  making  friends  through- 
out the  new  state  of  Wyoming.  Its  voice  was  continuously 
to  be  heard  and  its  influence  felt  in  matters  affecting  the 
Wyoming  stock  interests,  but  never  again  was  the  associa- 
tion to  reach  the  heights  of  political  influence  enjoyed  dur- 
ing the  territorial  period  when  it  dominated  the  political 
scene  and  its  will  was  the  law  in  Wyoming 


82Proceedings  of  the  Annual  Meetings,  1884-1899,  p.  120. 
83Adams   to   Horace   C.   Plunkett,    August    18,    1888,   Wyoming   Stock 
Growers'  Association  Papers. 

84Adams  to  I.  J.  Wynn,  April  14,  1890,  ibid. 


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(Courtesy  Fort  Collins  Pioneer  Museum) 


American  Pioneer  Zrails  Assoclatm 

An  Address  Delivered  by  L.  C.  Bishop*^  at  Fort  Laramie, 

Wyoming,   July   2,   1947,   at   a   meeting   of   Pioneer 

Citizens  With  Officials  of  the   Pioneer 

Trails  Association. 

Mr.  Chairman,  Distinguished  Guests  and  Pioneer  Friends: 

I  have  been  asked  to  tell  you  something  of  what  we 
know  today  as  the  Old  Oregon  Trail  across  Wyoming.  I 
deem  it  a  privilege  as  well  as  pleasure  to  do  this. 

I  only  wish  I  knew  more  about  this  famous  transcon- 
tinental route,  over  which  countless  thousands  traveled 
between  1834  and  its  abandonment  about  1867,  when  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad  was  built  across  Wyoming.  William 
H.  Bishop,  who  was  a  brother  of  my  great  grandfather, 
traveled  this  trail  with  his  family  as  a  Mormon  emigrant 
in  1850.    His  name  is  inscribed  on  Independence  Rock. 

The  first  white  establishment  in  the  vicinity  of  this 
old  outpost  was  near  the  south  end  of  the  present  buildings. 
It  was  established  as  a  fur  traders  post  about  1834  and  it 
was  first  called  Fort  John,  then  Fort  William  after  William 
Sublette,  William  Patton  and  William  Anderson.  In  1849 
it  was  bought  by  the  U.  S.  Government  and  converted  into 
a  military  post  at  the  present  site.  In  1842  a  small  stockade 
and  trading  post  was  built  in  the  forks  of  the  Laramie  and 
Platte  Rivers  called  Fort  Platte.  The  first  Indian  treaty 
negotiated  at  Fort  Laramie  was  in  1851  when  more  than 
10,000  Indians  gathered  from  a  radius  of  m^ore  than  500  miles. 

My  interest  in  these  old  trails  has  been,  and  will  con- 
tinue to  be,  to  help  preserve  for  posterity  their  actual 
location. 

The  trail  that  traverses  the  north  side  of  the  North 
Platte  River  and  which  passed  this  historical  location  was 
commonly  called  the  Platte  Road  in  the  early  days.    I  have 


*Loren  Clark  Bishop,  son  of  Spencer  A.  and  Edith  L.  Bishop,  was 
born  on  the  Bishop  ranch  on  La  Prele  Creek,  near  Ft.  Fetterman,  March 
4,  1885.  He  has  been  active  in  engineering  and  irrigation  projects  in 
Wyoming  for  many  years  and  has  served  as  Wyoming  'State  Engineer 
since  1939.  Deeply  interested  in  Wyoming  historical  matters  Mr. 
Bishop  served  as  secretary  of  the  Wyoming  Pioneer  Association  from 
1925  to  1932  and  as  Vice  President  in  1946  and  1947.  He  served  as 
president  of  the  Wyoming  section  of  the  American  Society  of  Civil 
Engineers  in  1946  and  is  a  member  of  the  Wyoming  Engineering  Society 
and  a  life  member  of  the  National  Rifle  Association.  He  is  past  Com- 
mander of  the  Samuel  Mares  Post  of  the  American  Legion  and  a  32nd 
degree  Mason. 


86  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

a  map  made  by  the  Army  Engineers  in  1859-60  which  shows 
both  of  these  old  trails.  The  one  on  the  south  side  is  labeled 
"Platte  Road."  My  father  was  a  pioneer  of  the  early  seven- 
ties and  he  referred  to  this  trail  as  "Platte  Road"  and  the 
one  on  the  north  side  of  the  Platte  River  as  "Mormon  Trail." 

Neither  of  these  roads  were  used  exclusively  by  either 
class  of  emigrant.  During  the  spring  when  the  Platte  River 
and  tributaries  were  in  flood,  the  north  road  was  used  to 
avoid  the  two  crossings  of  the  river  and  tributary  streams, 
such  as  the  Laramie  River,  Cottonwood,  Horseshoe,  La 
Bonte,  La  Prele,  Box  Elder  and  Deer  Creeks.  .\t  other 
times,  the  south  road  was  preferred  as  there  were  better 
camping  places  with  necessary  grass  for  the  oxen  and  water 
for  both  man  and  beast.  Also  the  wagon  trains  were  better 
protected  from  attacks  by  marauding  bands  of  Indians. 

I  was  born  and  reared  on  a  ranch  on  La  Prele  Creek 
near  Fort  Fetterman  and  less  than  two  miles  from  the  old 
trail.  When  I  was  a  small  boy,  I  hunted  Indian  arrowheads, 
lead  bullets  and  wood  telegraph  insulators  along  this  old 
trail  and  the  Fort  Fetterman-Rock  Creek  Road,  which 
crossed  the  Oregon  Trail  about  a  mile  and  a  half  east  of 
the  crossing  of  La  Prele  Creek.  I  regret  that  I  did  not 
have  the  foresight  to  save  more  of  the  insulators.  The  fact 
is  that  I  only  saved  one,  which  I  brought  along  on  this 
trek  to  show  you  what  they  were  like.  The  others  I  used 
for  targets  for  my  single-shot  22  rifle. 

During  more  than  thirty  years  past,  I  have  crossed  and 
re-crossed  this  old  trail  many,  many  times  at  my  work  as 
a  surveyor. 

It  has  been  my  privilege  to  know  many  of  the  old  pio- 
neers of  Wyoming.  I  will  only  mention  a  few  from  this 
immediate  locality.  First  on  the  list  is  John  Hunton,  a 
pioneer  of  the  sixties  who  was  the  sutler  here  at  Fort  Lara- 
mie at  the  time  of  its  abandonment.  Mr.  Hunton  was  the 
first  president  of  the  Wyoming  Pioneer  Association  in  1925 
and  I  was  its  secretary.  I  became  very  well  acquainted 
with  him  during  the  two  years  he  served  as  president.  I 
will  relate  as  near  as  I  can  remember  a  couple  of  early  day 
incidents  that  he  related  to  me. 

He  was  owner  of  a  sawmill  on  Little  Box  Elder  Creek 
in  Saw  Mill  Canyon  on  the  Fetterman  Wood  Reservation, 
where  he  sawed  lumber  for  Fort  Fetterman  and  where 
cordwood  was  cut  for  use  at  the  Fort. 

One  Sunday  several  of  the  employees  went  deer  hunt- 
ing and  one  fellow  did  not  return.  A  search  was  instituted 
the  following  day  and  his  remains  were  found  about  two 
miles  from  the  camp  near  the  head  of  a  small  draw.  His 
body  was  pierced  by  Indian  arrows  until  he  looked  like  a 


AMERICAN   PIONEER   TRAILS    ASSOCIATION  87 

porcupine,  according  to  Mr.  Hunton.  The  Indians  had  taken 
his  rifle  and  everything  he  possessed,  including  his  clothing. 
He  was  wrapped  in  a  government  blanket  and  buried  where 
he  was  found.  When  I  was  a  small  boy,  my  father  showed 
me  a  grave  in  this  locality  near  the  head  of  a  draw,  well 
marked  by  a  mound  of  stone^  and  at  the  head  was  a  bull 
wagon  fellow  on  which  was  inscribed  "E.  E.  G.  1870."  When 
I  told  Mr.  Hunton  about  this  he  said  the  year  was  about 
right  but  he  did  not  remember  the  man's  name.  He  thought 
possibly  that  this  was  the  grave  of  the  man  that  was  killed 
by  Indians  near  his  sawmill  camp.  I  believe  it  is.  A  few 
years  ago  I  visited  this  old  grave  and  the  wagon  fellow 
was  gone  and  I  marked  a  stone  "E.  E.  G.  1870"  and  placed 
it  at  the  head  of  the  grave  to  take  the  place  of  the  old  marker. 

Another  incident  he  related  was  concerning  a  foreman 
by  the  name  of  Boswell  on  one  of  his  ranches.  I  believe 
it  was  the  Bordeaux  Ranch.  One  day  Boswell  was  acci- 
dentally shot  by  a  loaded  rifle  that  Hunton  always  kept  at 
hand.  The  bullet  lodged  in  Boswell's  shoulder.  Hunton 
hitched  a  team  to  the  ranch  buckboard  and  drove  Boswell 
to  Wheatland,  where  Dr.  Phifer  located  the  bullet  by  X-Ray 
and  much  to  his  astonishment  found  another  lead  slug 
near  the  one  that  he  removed.  Boswell  informed  the  Doctor 
after  some  reflection  that  he  was  shot  in  a  "bit  of  a  mix-up" 
at  Fort  Laramie  about  forty  years  before,  but  had  nearly 
forgotten  the  incident,  Hunton  suggested  to  the  Doctor 
that  if  he  should  examine  Boswell  more  closely  that  he 
would  very  likely  find  some  more  bullets  and  possibly  some 
Indian  arrowheads. 

My  father  whacked  bulls  for  Hunton  before  he  went  in 
the  freighting  business  for  himself.  He  said  that  Jack 
Hunton  was  a  man  whose  word  was  as  good  as  his  bond 
and  a  friend  that  could  always  be  depended  upon. 

Other  pioneers  in  this  locality  with  whom  I  was  ac- 
quainted were  Mike  Henry,  who  soldiered  here  at  Fort 
Laramie  in  the  '50's  and  John  D.  O'Brien  in  the  '60's.  Mike 
Henry  later  established  a  ranch  on  the  Bozeman  Trail  at 
Brown  Springs  and  John  D.  O'Brien  on  La  Prele  Creek 
both  in  what  is  now  Converse  County.  John  D.  O'Brien 
was  Captain  of  the  Douglas  Infantry  Company  in  the 
Spanish  American  War.  Both  have  long  since  gone  to  their 
reward. 

Charles  Guernsey,  who  owned  the  Posy  Ryan  Ranch 
on  the  Laramie  River  near  here,  was  a  pioneer  of  the  early 
'80's.  The  town  of  Guernsey  and  Guernsey  Dam  across 
the  North  Platte  River  just  up  stream  from  the  town  of 
Guernsey  were  named  for  this  distinguished  pioneer  citizen. 


88  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

I  will  not  attempt  to  tell  you  about  all  of  the  points  of 
interest  along  the  old  trail  between  here  and  Casper,  but 
will  enumerate  a  few,  beginning  with  the  Old  Pony  Express 
station  at  Sand  Point,  where  the  trail  first  enters  the  Platte 
River  bottoms  after  leaving  here.  Just  down  stream  from 
here,  you  will  observe  the  names  on  the  Sandstone  Bluff. 
Then,  as  you  proceed  on  the  old  trail,  you  cross  a  ridge 
where  the  wagon  wheel  ruts  are  deep  in  the  sandstone. 
Next  you  pass  the  Lucinda  Rollins  grave  on  the  right  of 
the  trail,  above  the  present  river  bridge,  south  of  the  town 
of  Guernsey,  then  on  to  Warm  Springs, 

After  crossing  Cottonwood  Creek,  the  trail  can  be  fol- 
lowed over  the  Divide  where  the  bases  of  some  of  the  old 
telegraph  poles  can  be  found.  Next  you  come  to  Twin 
Springs  where  M.  A.  Mouseau  operated  a  ranch  in  1868. 
About  four  miles  beyond  is  Horseshoe  Station.  The  old 
well  used  by  J.  R.  Smith  when  he  established  a  ranch  there, 
after  abandonment  of  the  trail  and  stage  station,  about  1866. 
is  still  in  evidence.  I  have  here  a  copy  of  a  sketch  plan  of 
this  station  copied  from  the  original  on  display  in  the  Fort 
Collins  Museum  with  the  letters  of  Caspar  Collins  to  his 
mother.  (My  friend,  Ed  Shaffner,  borrowed  the  sketches 
from  the  Fort  Collins  Museum  and  returned  them  after  I 
made  the  copies.)  I  also  have  a  copy  of  a  description  of  an 
Indian  battle  in  which  John  R.  Smith  and  others  partici- 
pated at  his  Horseshoe  Ranch  (Horseshoe  Station)  and  Twin 
Springs  Ranch,  that  should  be  preserved. 

In  commenting  on  this  battle,  and  the  John  R.  Smith 
account  of  it,  about  1927,  John  Hunton,  at  my  request  dic- 
tated the  following  memo: 

"In  March,  1868,  there  was  located  on  La  Bonte 
Creek,  a  road  ranch  owned  and  run  by  M.  A.  Mou- 
seau. There  was  a  ranch  at  the  old  abandoned  stage 
station  on  Horseshoe  Creek,  which  was  conducted 
by  William  Worrel  and  John  R.  Smith;  and  a  ranch 
at  Twin  Springs,  four  and  one-half  miles  east  of  the 
last  named  ranch,  also  owned  by  M.  A.  Mouseau, 
who  employed  a  man  to  run  it;  a  ranch  on  the  west 
side  of  Cottonwood  Creek  where  the  Fetterman 
"Cut-Off"  Road  crosses  the  creek,  run  by  two  men 
known  as  Bulger  and  Bouncer,  and  a  ranch  on  the 
east  side  of  Cottonwood  Creek  at  the  same  crossing. 
Sometime  between  the  15th  and  25th  of  that  month 
a  war  party  of  about  sixty  Sioux  Indians,  under 
American  Horse,  Big  Little  Man,  and  other  noted 
warriors,  attacked  all  five  of  the  ranches  and  de- 
stroyed and  burned  them. 


AMERICAN    PIONEER    TRAILS    ASSOCIATION 


89 


(Courtesy  Fort  Collins  Pioneer  Museum.) 


"None  of  them  were  rebuilt.  Mouseau  and  his 
family  escaped  to  Ft.  Fetterman  and  his  Twin 
Springs  man  also  escaped.  Of  the  Horseshoe  ranch 
party,  four  of  the  men  were  killed.  Worrel  was 
shot  through  one  foot  and  Smith  was  shot  through 
one  thigh  and  in  some  way  both  got  to  the  fort  (Ft. 
Laramie).  Of  the  two  Cottonwood  ranches,  the  one 
on  the  east  side  of  the  creek,  being  first  attacked, 
gave  the  alarm  to  the  two  men  on  the  west  side,  and 
they  escaped,  but  James  Pulliam,  the  east  side 
ranchman  was  wounded  in  one  arm  and  escaped 
by  running  into  the  brush.  His  Indian  wife  re- 
ceived a  slight  wound  in  one  arm  and  was  cap- 
tured. Her  child  and  young  sister  were  killed  dur- 
ing the  fight.  The  survivors  got  to  the  fort  and 
reported  the  affair  as  soon  as  they  could.    Company 


00  ANNALS  Of  WYOMING 

"A"  and  2nd  Cavalry,  commanded  by  Captain 
Thomas  Dewus,  was  ordered  to  go  as  far  as  Horse- 
shoe and  to  repair  the  telegraph  line  and  render 
such  assistance  as  they  could  and  bury  the  dead. 
"Myself  and  several  other  citizens  (William  H. 
Brown  and  Antone  La  Due,  I  remember)  accom- 
panied the  cavalry  company.  We  found  and  buried 
two  of  the  men  of  the  Horseshoe  ranch  party  on  the 
east  side  of  Bear  Creek  draw,  just  north  of  and 
almost  under  the  telegraph  line. 

(signed)  JOHN  HUNTON." 

The  Smith  account  does  not  exactly  correspond  with 
this  article  by  Hunton  but  when  you  consider  that  Smith 
was  a  participant  and  wrote  his  account  25  years  after  the 
battle  and  that  Hunton  was  not  a  participant  and  wrote 
his  account  60  years  after,  the  different  versions  are  to  be 
expected.* 

From  Horseshoe  Creek  the  trail  swings  away  from  the 
river  to  avoid  crossing  of  steep  draws  or  gulches.  Next 
point  of  interest  is  La  Bonte  Station.  Here  seven  soldiers 
were  killed  in  battles  with  Indians  and  buried  nearby.  The 
remains  were  removed  to  Fort  McPherson,  Nebraska,  about 
1895.  I  also  have  a  sketch  map  of  this  station  by  Caspar 
Collins.  Some  of  the  old  foundations  are  still  in  evidence 
on  what  is  now  the  Dilts  Ranch,  (originally  the  Pollard 
Ranch) .  Here  the  trail  is  yet  some  distance  from  the  river, 
continuing  northerly  across  Wagon  Hound  Creek  and 
through  bad  lands,  crossing  Bed  Tick  Creek  on  the  present 
Gedney  Ranch.  It  crosses  the  Upper  La  Prele  Road  just 
above  a  tunnel  of  the  La  Prele  Ditch.  A  few  hundred  feet 
north  of  this  point  and  between  here  and  the  Old  Oregon 
Trail  Monument,  a  branch  road  goes  northeast  to  Fort 
Fetterman.  Next  the  trail  enters  Sand  Creek  and  follows  it 
very  closely,  some  of  the  distance  in  the  bed  of  the  stream, 
to  near  its  mouth,  then  northwesterly  along  La  Prele  Creek 
to  La  Prele  Station  opposite  the  buildings  on  the  Nels  Ras- 
mussen  Ranch  (Old  George  Powell  Ranch) .  Here  an  Indian 
battle  also  took  place  and  the  stage  station  was  burned  and 
several  soldiers  were  killed  and  buried  nearby.  Their  re- 
mains were  later  removed  to  Fort  McPherson,  Nebraska. 

From  La  Prele  Creek,  the  trail  runs  northwesterly  over 
the  Divide  to  the  crossing  of  Little  Box  Elder  Creek  on  the 
O.  D.  Ferguson  Ranch  (formerly  the  Jim  Abney  Ranch). 
It  then  crosses  Big  Box  Elder  near  the  buildings  of  the 
Upper  S.  O.  Ranch.    Next,  after  this  crossing,  it  enters  the 


*De  Barthe,  Joe,  The  Life  and  Adventures  of  Franl-   Grounrd,  Chief 
of  Scouts,  U.S.A.     Comb  Printing  Co.,  St.  Joseph,"  Mo.,   1894,  pp.  52.5-540. 


AMERICAN    PIONEER   TRAILS    ASSOCIATION  9L 

river  bottoms  about  five  miles  southeast  of  old  Deer  Creek 
Station  (now  Glenrock) .  Just  south  of  the  present  highway 
is  the  grave  of  A.  H.  Untank,  who  was  buried  there  in  1850. 
In  the  bend  of  the  river  here  was  one  of  the  old  camp 
grounds  of  the  trail.  Just  before  the  trail  crosses  Deer 
Creek  on  its  left,  and,  on  the  right  of  the  present  highway 
as  you  proceed  towards  Casper,  is  the  grave  of  C.  B.  Piatt, 
who  was  buried  there  in  1849.  His  remains  were  reinterred 
in  1938  by  Jean  Poirot,  Ed  Shaffner  and  me.  Across  Deer 
Creek  and  just  north  of  the  present  C.  &  N.  W.  R.  R.  are  the 
remains  of  the  foundations  of  the  old  buildings  which  con- 
form closely  to  the  Caspar  Collins'  sketch.  Up  Deer  Creek 
three  miles  above  the  old  station,  was  the  Upper  Platte  In- 
dian Agency  and  Lutheran  Mission  in  1855,  and  6  miles  up 
Deer  Creek  was  a  Mormon  Settlement  in  1857. 

From  Glenrock  the  highway  parallels  the  old  trail  on 
the  south  for  several  miles.  The  graves  of  M.  Ringo  and 
Parker  are  on  the  right  of  the  highway  and  the  left  of  the 
old  trail  between  Glenrock  and  Parkerton.  At  Parkerton 
is  the  grave  of  Ada  McGill  which  I  moved  30  feet  when  T 
surveyed  the  highway  in  1912. 

Near  Casper  there  is  Platte  Bridge  and  Fort  Caspar, 
and  above  Casper,  Richards  Bridge  where  the  old  trail 
crossed  according  to  the  1859-60  map.  I  believe  this  was 
near  the  old  Goose  Egg  Ranch  in  Bessemer  Bend.  (Some 
well  informed  people  believe  this  bridge  was  below  Casper.) 

I  will  conclude  with  the  observation  that  I  hope  to  see 
this  old  road  surveyed,  and  a  map  prepared  showing  its 
location  with  relation  to  the  present  roads,  and  markers 
placed  at  all  points  where  it  crosses  the  main  highways. 
At  present  it  is  hard  to  find -the  old  road  most  of  the  distance 
across  Wyoming.  Many  of  the  present  markers  are  not 
located  at  the  actual  crossings  of  the  trail  and  many  are 
not  on  the  old  trail  or  even  near  it. 

From  Casper  and  beyond,  others  will  tell  you  more 
about  the  old  trail.     I  thank  you. 


ACCESSIONS 

to  the 
WYOMING    HISTORICAL    DEPARTMENT 

May  1,  1947  to  November  1,  1947 

Mover,  Kalph,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming:  Donor  of  World  War  I  souvenirs 
including  folders,  war  bonds,  and  post  cards.     May  13,  1947. 

Crain,  Charlie,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming:  Donor  of  leather  license  plate 
used  by  Senator  F.  E.  Warren  on  his  first  automobile,  a  1908  Stude- 
baker.     June  3,  3947. 

McGrath,  JMary  A,,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming:  Donor  of  badge  and  souvenir 
key  ring  from  Diamond  Jubilee  of  Wyoming  Stockgrowers'  Associa- 
tion meeting.     June   6,   1947. 

Wheeler,  Mrs.  H.  J.,  Kawlins,  Wyoming:  Donor  of  Beatty  organ  be- 
longing to  Jennie  Reschke,  daughter  of  Jim  Baker  and  grandmother 
of  Mrs.  Wheeler.     March  19,  1947. 

Guy,  Major  George  F.,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming:  Donor  of  twenty-four 
mottoes  of  Japanese  war  criminals,  with  both  Japanese  characters 
and  English  translations.     June  20,   1947. 

Wilhelm,  D.  C,  Gillette,  Wyoming:  Donor  of  1921  Wyoming  license 
plate  which  is  very  rare  and  completes  the  Department 's  collection. 
June    26,    1947. 

Marquart,  Mrs.,  Laramie,  Wyoming:  Donor  of  silver  plated  water 
cooler,  hanging  stand,  and  one  cup  given  to  George  Bescherer  by 
the  Durant  Volunteer  Fire  Department  of  Cheyenne,  in  1884,  when 
Mr.  Bescherer  was  foreman  of  the   company.     June  20,  1947. 

Denny,  Mrs.  E.  A.,  Mt.  Morrison,  Colorado:  Donor  of  small  Vermont 
spinning  wheel  belonging  to  Allen  family,  a  skirt  fluter,  instrument 
used  by  wagon  makers  to  measure  the  circumference  of  wagon 
wheels,  box  of  percussion  caps.     July  3,   1947. 

DuQuoin,  Carl,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming:  Donor  of  large  Indian  collection 
including  four  pairs  Sioux  moccasins,  one  pair  Blackfoot,  and  one  pair 
baby  moccasins;  Sioux  shell  necklace  and  tomahawk  from  Buifalo 
Bill  show,  two  Sioux  head  dresses;  Sioux  beaded  leggings  and  apron; 
two  Cree  ceremonial  clubs;  Navajo  medicine  bowl  and  unfinished 
rug;  three  Cree  bags  and  one  belt  purse;  one  Chippewa  mesh  bag; 
one  Sioux  knife  sheath,  bag,  needle  case,  peace  pipe  and  three  sets 
arm  bands  and  two  feathered  bustles;  Cree  child's  arm  bands; 
Sioux,  Blackfoot  and  Crow  head  bands;  Taniaulipa  drawn  work, 
Navajo   l>lu?   corn  bread;   artifacts.     July  14,   1947. 

Khoads  and  Morgan  Jade  Shop,  Lander,  Wyoming:  Donor  of  seven 
excellent  pieces  of  Wyoming  jade.     July  15,  1947. 

Tisch,  Mrs.  Henry,  Wheatland,  Wyoming:  Flag  of  the  H^nrv  Tiscli 
Post  No.  112,"  Dept.  Colorado  and  Wvoming,  G.  A.  E.,  Wheatland. 
Wyoming.     July    10,    1947. 


ACCESSIONS  93 

Sheahan,  Mary  G.,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming:  Donor  of  white  christening 
dress  used  in  1876,  a  baby's  bib,  and  a  gold  and  blue  enameled 
ladies'  watch  belonging  to  Miss  Sheahan 's  mother  and  bearing 
the  imprint  ''Zehner  &  Buechner,  Cheyenne^  Wyoming,"  about 
1887.     August  12,  1947. 

Rees,  Dan,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming:  Donor  of  cowboy  outfit  used  by  John 
H.  Rees  as  Inspector  and  Livestock  Detective  for  Wyoming  Stock 
Growers'  Association,  1882-1901,  including  -45  Colt  six-shooter  and 
scabbard,  silver  mounted  drip-shank  spurs  with  sjDur  straps  made 
by  L.  C.  Gallatin,  60-foot  hand  made  rawhide  lariat,  fine  50  foot 
rawhide  lariat  used  for  front-footing  horses,  commission  from 
Association,  powder  horn  and  muzzle  loading  rifle.     August  21,  1947. 

Watts,  Clyde,  executor  of  Estate  of  Maude  E.  Johnson,  Cheyenne, 
Wyoming:  Donor  of  Souvenir  Edition  of  Chevenne  Daily  Leader, 
1903.     August  21,  1947. 

Scanlan,  Mrs.  W.  J.,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming:  Donor  of  mustache  cup  given 
to  William  J.  Scanlan,  as  a  wedding  gift  July  14,  1886.  August 
20,   1947. 

Owen,  C.  W.,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming:  Donor  of  twenty-one  pieces  of 
Anassizi  potterv  from  the  Mogollon  mountains  of  New  Mexico. 
April   1,   1947. 

Emerson,   Dr.   Paul,   Cheyenne,   Wyoming:      Donor    of    one   James   Mont 
goniery   Flagg  poster   of   World  War  I,   one   1930   calendar  showing 
all  of  the  insignias  of  World  War  I  divisions,  and   one   chair  made 
by  a  German  soldier  in  a  trench.     September,  1947. 

Peters,  Oran  A.,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming:  Donor  of  one  shaving  soap  dish 
issued  to  soldiers  in  the  Civil  War.     September  9,  1947. 

Rothwell,  John,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming:  Donor  of  a  reptile  fossil,  a 
French  bavonet  dated  1877  and  several  jade  specimens.  September, 
1947. 

Shannon,  W.  R.,  Hawk  Springs,  Wyoming:  Donor  of  a  letter  by  general 
ticket  agent  of  Union  Pacific  to  John  London,  1885,  one  freight  bill, 
1882,  and  one  bill  of  lading,  1882,  both  addresses  to  John  London, 
Fort  Laramie.     October    10,   1947. 

Marsh,  Emily  E.,  Cornwall,  Connecticut:  Donor  of  a  picture  of  Henry 
O.  Bookiah  monument  on  Hawaii  and  a  copy  of  the  inscription  on 
a  monument  to  him  in  Cornwall.     August,  1947. 

Meng,  Hans,  Hat  Creek,  Wyoming :  Donor  of  bread  pan  thrown  away 
by  Sioux  at  Lance   Cl-eek.     October   23,   1947. 

Hesse,  George,  Buffalo,  Wyoming:  Donor  of  pair  of  hand  made,  silver 
mounted  button  spurs.     October  23,  1947. 

Burgess,  Warren:  Donor  of  double  rowel  spur  found  in  a  cut  bank  at 
Weber   Canyon.     October   23,   1947. 

Stemler,  Hugh,  La  Grange,  Wyoming:  Donor  of  running  iron  designed 
by  his  father  in  the   1870 's.     October   23,   1947. 

Mcintosh,  J,  L.,  Splitrock,  Wyoming:  Donor  of  Pony  Express  horse 
shoe  found  at  blacksmith  shop  at  Station  on  the  Sweetwater,  and 
insulator    used    on    first    transcontinental    telegraph.      October,    1947. 


94  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Sun,  Mrs.  Tom,  Alcova,  Wyoming:  Donor  of  bracket  used  on  first 
transcontinental    telegraph.      October,    1947, 

Gould,  E.  L.,  Saratoga,  Wyoming:  Donor  of  police  nippers  carried  by 
Joe  McGee  of  Warm  Springs  in  1880,  and  a  spur  found  near 
Encampment.      October,    1947. 

Nois,  C.  J.,  La  Grange,  Wyoming:  Donor  of  T>air  of  ''XL"  spurs. 
October,   1947. 

Pollard,  Harrv  P.,  Douglas,  Wyoming:  Donor  of  bootjack  used  in  Jim 
Ferris  Hotel  at  Ft.  Fetterman,  1883.     October,  1947. 

Thorp,  Eussell,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming:  Donor  of  cake  of  harness  soap 
used  on  Black  Hills  Stage  Line,  postal  stamp  from  Ft.  Steele,  bull 
shoes  used  on  oxen  on  Cheyenne-Black  Hills  Trail,  horseshoes  found 
on  Cheyenne-Black  Hills  Trail,  collar  buttons,  cuff  adjusters  and 
high   collars  from  store  at  Ft.  Steele.     October,  1947. 

Donegon,  Francis,  Gillette,  Wyoming:  Donor  of  bit  made  by  first  black- 
smith in  Gillette  in  1892.    October,  1947. 

Nagle,  George,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming:  Donor  of  thirty  souvenir  badges 
of  Woman  's  Relief  Corps  and  G.  A.  R.  Encampments.     October,  1947. 

Books — Purchased 

Jackson,  Clarence  S.,  Picture  Maker  of  the  Old  West.  Scribner,  New  York, 
1947.     Price  $5.00. 

Nelson,  Bruce,  Lart^d  of  the  Dacotalis.  University  of  Minnesota  Press,  Min- 
neapolis, 1946.     Price  $2.50. 

Fisher,  John  "S.,  A  Builder  of  the  West.  Caxton,  Caldwell,  Ida.,  1939. 
Price  $3.33. 

Young,  Stanley  Paul,  The  Wolf  in  North  American  History.  Caxton,  Cald- 
well, Ida.,  1946.    Price  $2.34. 

Towne,  Charles  Wayland  and  Wentworth,  Edward  Norris,  Shepherd's  Em- 
pire.    University  of  Oklahoma,  Norman,  1946.     Price  $2.34. 

Potter,  David  Morris,  ed..  Trail  to  California.  Yale  University,  New  Haven, 
1945.    Price  $3.15. 

Hyde,  George  E.,  Bed  Cloud's  Folk.  University  of  Oklahoma  Press,  Nor- 
man, 1937.  Price  $3.15. 

Drury,  Clifford  Merrill,  Marcus  Whitma/ii,  M.  D.  Caxton,  CaldweU,  Ida., 
1937.    Price  $3.34. 

Mulford,  Ami  Frank,  Fighting  Indians  in  the  7th  United  States  Cavalry. 
Mulford,  Corning,  N.  Y.,  1878.     Price  $7.50. 

Cummins,  Sarah  J.,  Autobiography  and  Reminiscences.  Allen,  Freewater, 
Oregon,  1914.     Price  $7.50. 

The  Central  Northwest.    Houghton  Mifflin,  Boston,  1947.     Price  $3.34. 

Ounther,  John,  Inside  U.  S.  A.     Harper,  New  York,  1947.     Price  $3.34. 

Dunraven,  Earl  of.  Hunting  in  the  Yellowstone.  Macmillan,  New  York, 
1922.     Price  $2.00. 


ACCESSIONS  95 

Phinney,  Mary  Allen,  Jirah  Isham  Allen.     Tuttle,  Eutland,  Vt.,  n.  d.     Price 
$7.00. 

Pryxell,    Fritiof,    The    Tetons.      University    of    California    Press,    Berkeley, 

1946.  Price  $1.67. 

Lyford,   Carrie   A.,   Quill   and   BeadworTc   of   the    Western   Sioux.      Haskell 
Institute,  Lawrence,  Kan.,  1940.     Price  $.68. 

McWhorter,  Lucullus  Virgil,  Yellow  Wolf :  his  own  story.     Caxton,  Caldwell, 
Ida.,  1940.     Price  $2.33. 

■Cooper,   Frank   C,    The   Stirring   Lives   of   Buffalo   Bill   and   Pawnee   Bill. 
Parsons,  Ncav  York,  1912.     Price  $1.50. 

Kraft,  James  Lewis,  Adventure  in  Jade.     Holt,   New   York,   1947.     Price 
$2.00. 

White,  Nelson,  Westward  in  '47.    Dixon,  Salt  Lake  City,  1947.     Price  $1.00. 

The    Westerners    Brand    Boole,    1945.      Bradford-Kobinson,    Denver,    1946. 
Price  $7.50. 

Westermeier,  Clifford  P.,  Man,  Beast,  Dust.  World  Press,  1947.    Price  $5.00. 

Pougera,    Katherine    Gibson,    With    Custer's    Cavalry.      Caxton,    CaldweU, 
Ida.,  1942.     Price  $2.00. 

Morgan,  Dale  L.,  The  Great  Salt  Lal'e.     Bobbs-Merrill,  Indianapolis,  1947. 
Price  $2.33. 

Yestal,  Stanley,  Jim  Bridger,  Mountain  Man.     Morrow,  New  York,   1946. 
Price  $2.33. 

Waller,    Herbert    H.,    Famous    Historical    Places.      Hobson,    Cynthia,    Ky., 
1944.     Price  $2.05. 

Lynam,  Eobert,   ed..   The  Beecher  Island  Annual.     Beecher   Island   Battle 
Memorial  Assoc,  Wray,  Colo.,  1930.     Price  $3.00. 

Davidson,   Levette    J.,   and   Blake,   Forrester,   ed.,   Boclcy   Mountain    Tales. 
University  of  Oklahoma  Press,  Norman,  1947.     Price  $2.00. 

"Stenger,   Wallace,   Mormon   Country.     Duell,   Sloan   &   Pearce,    New  York, 
1942.     Price  $2.00. 

Linderman,  Frank  B.,  American,  the  life  story   of  a  great  Indian.     Day, 
New  York,  1930.     Price  $2.50. 

Burdick,  Usher  L.,  ed.,  David  F.  Barry's  Indian  notes  on  the  Custer  Battle. 
Proof  Press,  Baltimore,  1937.    Price  $3.00. 

Ghost  Towns  of  Colorado.     Hastings  House,  New  York,  1947.     Price  $1.83. 

Burdiek,  Usher  L.,  Jacob  Horner  and  the  Indian  Campaigns  of  1876  and 
1877.    Wirth,  Baltimore,  1942.     Price  $2.00. 

Hunt,   Frazier  and  Eobert,  /  Fought   with   Chaster.      Scribner,   New   York, 

1947.  Price  $2.34. 

Steele,  John,  Across  the  Plains  in  1850.    Caxton  Club,  Chicago,  1930.    Price 
$21.00. 


ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 


Books — Gifts 

Oficial  Brand  Book  of  the  State  of  Wyoming.     Kintzel  Blue  Print,  Caspei^ 
1946.     Donor  Livestock  and  Sanitary  Board,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming. 

Cheyenne  City  Directory,  1907.     Polk,  Salt  Lake  City,  1907.     Donor  Stella 
Scanlan,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming. 

Wyoming   Compiled   Statutes,   1945.      5   vols.      Bobbs-Merrill,   Indianapolis, 
1946. 

Bibliography  for  the  History  of  Wyoming.     University  of  Wyoming   pub- 
lication, Vol.  12,  No.  1,  University  of  Wyoming,  1946. 

Cram's   Unrivaled  Atlas  of  the   World.     1901.     Donor  Dr.  Paul   Emerson, 
Cheyenne,  Wyoming. 

Hill's  Manual   of   Social   and   Business   Writing.      1874.      Donor   Dr.    Paul 
Emerson,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming. 

Mitchell's  School  Atlas.     1849.     Donor  R.  I.  Martin,  "Saratoga,  Wyoming. 

People's  Pictorial  Atlas.    1873.    Donor  R.  I.  Martin,  Saratoga,  Wyoming. 


Miscellaneous  Purchases 

Glass  shelf  for  display  case.     Cost  $15.00. 

Remington-Rand  Portograph  machine  and  dryer.     Cost  $193.12. 

Photostats  of  two  maps  of  General  Phil   Sheridan's  expedition  across  the 
Big  Horns.     Cost  $2.00. 


A  ft  ft  a  1$  of  Wyoming 


Vol.  20 


July  1948 


No.  2 


A  HISTORICAL  MAGAZINE 


^      .«# 


The  Steamship  "Naphtha"  was  launched  April  5,  1889  on  Yellow- 
stone Lake.    She  was  neat  and  trim  and  licensed  by  U.  S.  Statute 
to  carry  125  passengers. 


Published  Biannually  by 

THE  WYOMING  HISTORICAL  DEPARTMENT 

Cheyenne,  Wyoming 


STATE  HISTORICAL  BOARD 

Lester  C.  Hunt,  President, Governor 

Arthur  G.  Crane Secretary  of  St  te 

Everett  T.  Copenhaver State  Auditor 

C.  J.  "Doc"  Rogers . State  Treasurer 

Edna  B.  Stolt Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction 

Mary  A.  McGrath,  Secy State  Librarian  and  Historian  Ex  Officio 


STATE   HISTORICAL   ADVISORY    BOARD 


Mrs.  Mary  Jester  Allen,  Cody 

Frank  Barrett,  Lusk 

George  Bible,  Rawlins 

Mrs.  T.  K.  Bishop,  Basin 

C.  Watt  Brandon,  Kemmerer 

J.  Elmer  Brock,  Kaycee 

Struthers  Burt,  Moran 

Mrs.  Elsa  Spear  Byron,  Sheridan 

Mrs.  G.  C.  Call,  Afton 

Oliver  J.  Colyer,  Torrington 

William  C.  Deming,  Cheyenne 

E.  A.  Gaensslen,  Green  River 

Hans  Gautschi,  Lusk 


Burt  Griggs,  Buffalo 

D.  B.  Hilton,  Sundance 

Joe  Joffe,  Yellowstone  Park 

Mrs.  J.  H.  Jacobucci,  Green  River 

P.  W.  Jenkins,  Big  Piney 

W.  C.  Lawrence,  Moran 

Mrs.  Eliza  Lythgoe,  Cowley 

A.  J.  Mokler,  Casper 

Charles  Oviatt,  Sheridan 

Mrs.  Minnie  Reitz,  Wheatland 

Mrs.  Effie  Shaw,  Cody 

John  Charles  Thompson,  Cheyenne 

Russell  Thorp,  Cheyenne 


STAFF  PERSONNEL 

of 

THE  WYOMING   HISTORICAL  DEPARTMENT 

and 

STATE  MUSEUM 

Mary  A.  McGrath,  Editor  .  State  Librarian  and  Historian  Ex  Officio 
Catherine  E.  Phelan,  Co -Editor Assistant  Historian 


Copyright  1948,  by  the  Wyoming  Historical  Department 


A^^als  of  Wyoming 

Vol.  20  July  1948  No.  2 


Contents 


Wyoming's  Fourth  Governor — William  A.  Richards 99 

By  Tacetta  B.  Walker. 

The  Congressional  Career  of  Senator  Francis  E.  Warren 

from  1890  to  1902  (continued).. 131 

By   Anne   Carolyn   Hansen. 

Indian  Legends 

From  the  Indian  Guide  published  at  Shoshone  Agency 159 

Thomas  Jefferson  Carr — a  Frontier  Sheriff 

Compiled  from  C.  G.  Coutant's  notes  made  in  1884-1885 165 

A  Historical  Building  for  Wyoming 177 

Accessions   . 179 

Index  182 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

A  Steamer  on  the  Yellowstone Cover 

Office  of  Governor  William  A.  Richards 98 

Pres.  Theodore  Roosevelt  and  Senator  Warren 

at  the  Warren  Ranch '. 132 

Jeff    Carr 166 

The  Laramie  County  Court  House  and  Jail 168 

Wyoming  State  Museum 178 


Printed  by 
WYOMING  LABOR  JOURNAL 

Cheyenne,  Wyoming 


Wyoming's  fourth  Q over  nor  — 
William  A^  Kichards 

By   MRS.   ALICE   McCREERY  and   TACETTA   B.   WALKER*  . 

The  Honorable  William  Alford  Richards,  governor  of 
Wyoming,  1895-1899,  was  a  man  of  outstanding  ability  and 
character,  a  man  of  whom  Wyoming  may  be  proud,  for  he 
played  the  game  well  and  honestly.  He  was  just  and  sane 
in  all  his  decisions  and  showed  a  level  head  at  the  appear- 
ance of  any  crisis.  He  was  what  is  termed  a  self-made  man 
for  through  his  own  efforts  and  ambitions  he  climbed 
steadily  to  the  top  and  no  man  could  say  that  the  highest 
honors  were  not  well  deserved.  No  matter  how  high  the 
scale  of  the  ladder  which  he  climbed,  he  remained  the  same 
unassuming  person  he  was,  when,  as  a  boy,  he  came  west. 

William  Alford  Richards  was  born  at  Hazel  Green, 
Grant  County,  Wisconsin,  on  March  9,  1849.  His  father, 
Truman  Perry  Richards,  was  a  native  of  New  York.  The 
first  of  the  Richards  to  settle  in  America  was  John  Richards, 
from  Dorsetshire,  England,  who  landed  at  Plym.outh  Rock 
in  1630.  He  helped  found  New  London,  Connecticut,  and 
for  a  century  he  and  his  descendants  were  prominent  in 
the  affairs  of  that  place.  Truman  Richards'  mother  was 
Ruth  Ticknor,  daughter  of  Colonel  Elisha  Ticknor,  of  the 
New  Hampshire  troops  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  The 
mother  of  W.  A.  Richards  was  Eleanor  Swinnerton  of  Ohio. 
Her  maternal  grandfather,  Nathan  Carpenter,  served  at 
the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill  and  later  under  his  uncle,  Ethan 
Allan,  at  Ticonderoga.    He  was  the  first  to  settle  Delaware, 


*Tacetta  B.  Walker  was  born  at  Cozad,  Nebraska,  the  daughter  of 
Rev.  and  Mrs.  W.  L.  Dillow,  Nebraska  pioneers.  When  she  was 
eleven  the  family  moved  to  Montana  and  she  had  her  first  experi- 
ence at  pioneering.  As  soon  as  she  was  old  enough  she  took  up 
a  homestead  in  Wyoming,  and  shortly  thereafter  married  Loyd 
Walker.  On  the  ranch  she  learned  to  break  broncs,  brand  cattle 
and  sheep  and  on  occasion  herd  the  sheep.  She  is  a  graduate  of 
the  Billings,  Montana,  high  school  and  has  attended  the  University 
of  Montana,  University  of  Wyoming,  Columbia  University  and 
Rosebud  Normal.  While  living  the  lonely  ranch  life  she  became 
interested  in  the  stories  of  the  cowboys  and  wrote  "Stories  of 
Early  Days  in  Wyoming."  She  has  also  contributed  numerous 
articles  to  various  newspapers  in  Wyoming  and  Montana.  Mrs. 
Wilkie  M.  Smith  of  Casper  is  Mrs.  Walker's  only  child.  Since  the 
end  of  the  War  Mrs.  Walker  has  stopped  teaching  and  resides  with 
her  husband  on  a  farm  near  Worland. 


100  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Ohio,  on  May  1,  1800.  The  first  of  his  mother's  family  to 
come  to  this  country  was  Job  Swinnerton,  who  arrived 
in  Salem  in  1657.  This  family  intermarried  with  the  Car- 
penter family  of  Rehoboth.  Abiel  Carpenter,  the  great 
grandfather  of  William  Richards,  married  a  sister  of  Ethan 
Allan  of  Revolutionary  fame. 

Here  was  a  family  of  pioneer  stock,  ready  to  serve 
their  country,  ready  to  brave  the  hardships  of  a  new  conti- 
nent and  once  on  that  continent  to  keep  moving  westward 
in  the  wake  of  new  trails.  The  rigors  of  pioneer  life  were 
never  made  a  cross  but  rather  an  adventure.  In  keeping 
with  their  heritage  they  moved  westward  in  the  early 
forties  to   Wisconsin  where  they   settled  at  Hazel  Green. 

William  was  the  second  of  three  sons  who  grew  to 
manhood.  The  death  of  a  sister  was  deeply  mourned  by 
the  whole  family.  The  Richards  were  leaders  in  com- 
munity life  in  Hazel  Green.  They  were  hard-v/orking  and 
God-fearing,  and  they  brought  up  their  children  to  be  indus- 
trious, thrifty,  and,  above  all,  to  be  honest.  They  instilled 
into  their  minds  the  principles  of  morality.  What  greater 
heritage  after  all  than  these:  morality,  honesty,  industry? 
Young  William  had  much  indeed  with  which  to  make  his 
start  in  the  world,  for  with  the  training  he  received  from 
his  parents,  money  was  not  an  essential. 

Truman  Perry  Richards,  father  of  William,  was  in  turn 
a  miner,  mechanic  and  farmer.  Whatever  work  his  father 
followed,  William  was  on  hand  to  do  his  share.  He  went 
to  the  district  school  until  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age. 
In  September  1863,  he  took  a  fancy  to  become  a  soldier 
and  joined  his  brother  Alonzo,  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
but  on  account  of  his  youth,  he  was  denied  enlistment.  But 
here  was  a  first  sample  of  his  determination,  that  determina- 
tion which  was  to  carry  him  so  far  in  after  life.  He  took 
a  position  as  ambulance  driver  and  in  this  way  served  his 
country.  He  later  told  of  that  experience  when  he  went 
to  Washington  as  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office. 

"I  had  always  lived  in  the  country,"  he  related,  "and 
the  train  on  which  I  came  to  Washington  from  Galena, 
Illinois,  was  the  first  passenger  train  I  had  ever  seen.  I 
started  with  a  through  ticket,  five  dollars  in  money,  and 
a  box  of  luncheon.  Our  train  was  delayed  three  or  four 
days  by  the  movement  of  the  Eleventh  Army  Corps,  which 
was  being  sent  west  to  reinforce  Rosecrans  at  Nashville; 
consequently  my  five  dollars  dwindled  away  on  living  ex- 
penses, and  I  reached  Washington  dead  broke  and  without 
money  enough  to  pay  carfare.  I  walked  from  the  Balti- 
more and  Ohio  depot  to  the  signal  corps  camp,  two  miles 
from  Georgetown,  where  an  elder  brother  was  stationed. 


WYOMING'S  FOURTH  GOVERNOR  101 

I  wanted  to  enlist,  but  I  was  too  young,  only  fourteen.  I 
finally  got  a  place  in  the  service  as  an  ambulance  driver. 
I  was  one  of  the  few  drivers  in  camp  who  knew  horses  and 
soon,  by  trading,  I  had  a  good  team.  In  those  days  every 
ambulance  driver  drove  fast  as  he  could  and  there  were 
some  mighty  fine  races.  One  night  I  was  driving  back  to 
camp,  when,  in  turning  on  High  Street,  I  saw  an  ambulance 
ahead.  I  started  to  pass  it  and  we  had  a  lively  race  for 
half  a  square  or  more,  when  I  got  ahead  and  kept  ahead, 
giving  the  other  fellow  all  the  dust,  and  it  was  mighty 
dusty  at  that  particular  time.  When  I  got  to  camp  and 
turned  in  from  the  main  road  I  was  pretty  well  scared  by 
seeing  the  other  ambulance  turn  in  after  me,  and  was  scared 
still  more  when  I  saw  that  it  was  occupied  by  the  command- 
ing officer  of  the  camp — Colonel  Nicodemus.  Next  morning 
the  colonel  sent  for  me  and  said:  'Young  man,  I  believe  you 
passed  me  last  night  and  made  me  eat  dust  all  the  way  to 
camp.' 

"I  admitted  that  this  was  true,  but  said  that  I  didn't 
know  the  colonel  was  in  the  ambulance,  or  I  wouldn't  have 
tried  to  pass  him.  'Well,  what  I  want  to  know  is,  where  did 
you  get  that  team?'  said  the  colonel. 

"I  told  him  that  I  had  made  it  up  by  trading  and  match- 
ing till  I  believed  I  had  the  best  team  of  mules  in  Wash- 
ington. The  colonel  said,  'After  this  you  will  take  no  orders 
from  anybody  about  this  camp  excepting  from  the  quarter- 
master or  from  me.' 

"And  for  the  rest  of  my  time  in  the  service  my  ambu- 
lance was  attached  to  headquarters." 

Upon  his  return  to  Wisconsin  in  the  spring  of  1864, 
William  Richards  went  to  work  on  a  farm.  In  1865,  he 
went  to  high  school  at  Galena,  Illinois,  where  he  graduated 
at  the  head  of  his  class.  In  the  summer  of  1866,  he  taught 
school  in  Grant  County  and  from  then  on  until  he  was 
twenty  years  of  age,  he  taught  school.  When  he  was  not 
teaching,  he  was  doing  farm  work  not  only  helping  himself 
but  a  younger  brother.  Truly,  this  young  man  did  not  seem 
to  be  afraid  of  hard  work. 

At  this  time  he  was  tall,  six  feet  in  height,  dark,  good 
looking,  and  much  sought  after  by  the  girls  of  the  country- 
side, but  as  yet  girls  were  something  to  be  shunned.  The 
call  of  his  pioneer  ancestry  was  urging  him  west  and  in 
1869  he  was  in  Omaha  piling  lumber  to  make  a  living  until 
something  better  showed  up.  He  won  the  lifelong  friend- 
ship of  his  employer,  who  became  one  of  the  most  extensive 
lumber  dealers  of  the  country.  In  the  campaign  of  1894, 
twenty-five  years  later,  although  of  opposite  political  faith, 


102  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

he  wrote  a  letter  which  aided  in  the  election  of  his  former 
employee  to  the  governorship  of  Wyoming. 

Omaha  was  a  town  in  the  making  when  young  William 
Richards  landed  there.  Nebraska  was  still  a  prairie  where 
Indians  roved  about  at  will  and  great  herds  of  buffalo 
were  still  to  be  seen.  It  was  a  country  to  appeal  to  the 
young  and  adventurous.  It  was  a  country  where  a  man 
might  get  his  start  but  it  was  a  young  man's  dominion,  for 
none  of  the  luxuries  of  civilization  were  there  to  soften  life. 
William  Richards  joined  a  government  surveying  party 
and  worked  for  four  years  upon  the  public  surveys  of 
Nebraska.  About  this  time  he  received  a  surveying  con- 
tract for  himself,  largely  through  the  influence  of  the 
following  letter  from  General  Grant,  then  president  of  the 
United  States. 

Executive  Mansion 
Washington,  D.  C,  May  17,  1870 
Dear   Sir: 

Permit  me  to  recommend  to  your  favorable  no- 
tice Mr.  Wm.  A.  Richards,  now  a  citizen  of  Ne- 
braska. Mr.  Richards  is  a  worthy,  industrious 
young  man,  and  well  qualified  for  such  work  as  our 
surveyor  generals  in  new  states  and  territories  have 
to  give.  He  is  a  young  man  who  would  highly 
appreciate  any  opportunity  given  him  to  make  a  fair 
start  in  the  world.  With  great  respect, 
Your  obedient  servant, 
U.  S.  Grant. 

William  Richards  was  well  fitted  for  the  life  of  a  sur- 
veyor for  he  was  physically  strong  and  he  was  at  the  age 
when  he  welcomed  adventure  and  to  survey  in  Nebraska 
then  meant  adventure  galore.  He  liked  this  kind  of  work 
so  well  that  he  supplemented  his  practical  experience  with 
hard  study  until  he  became  a  capable  surveyor  and  civil 
engineer. 

After  spending  several  years  surveying,  William  Rich- 
ards returned  to  Omaha  to  take  up  the  study  of  law  under 
Judge  E.  Wakeley,  but  he  did  not  practice.  He  appears 
to  have  been  a  very  versatile  young  man  for  in  1871  and 
1872,  he  was  employed  on  the  Otnaha  Tribune  and  Omaha 
Repuhlican  in  editorial  work  for  which  he  developed  a 
good  deal  of  talent. 

During  his  sojourn  in  Omaha,  he  met  Miss  Harriet 
Alice  Hunt  and  for  the  first  time  in  his  life  became  inter- 
ested in  women  and  in  one  in  particular.  Miss  Hunt  sang 
in  the  church  choir.  She  had  fine  musical  talent,  which 
had  been   carefully  cultivated  from   early  youth   and   she 


WYOMING'S  FOURTH  GOVERNOR  103 

was  prominent  in  all  musical  circles.  When  William  Rich- 
ards did  fall,  he  fell  hard.  And  from  the  time  he  met  Miss 
Hunt  until  his  death,  there  was  only  one  woman  in  the 
world  as  far  as  he  was  concerned. 

His  summers  were  still  spent  in  surveying  in  Nebraska 
and  Wyoming.  During  1873  and  1874,  in  partnership  with 
his  brother.  Captain  Alonzo  Richards,  he  surveyed  the 
southern  and  western  boundaries  of  Wyoming.  In  Yellow- 
stone Park  with  a  party  of  surveyors,  Richards  shot  a  deer 
and  wounded  it.  He  did  not  like  to  leave  a  wounded  deer 
so  he  followed  it  for  a  long  way.  He  came  upon  an  unnamed 
geyser.  It  was  not  shown  on  any  of  the  maps.  Years  after- 
wards some  scientist  made  himself  famous  by  discovering 
the  same  geyser. 

Returning  from  Wyoming,  William  Richards  again  took 
up  surveying  of  public  lands  in  Nebraska. 

Miss  Harriet  Alice  Hunt  had  moved  to  California  with 
her  parents  and  young  Richards  was  not  long  in  following. 
He  procured  a  pass  on  the  strength  of  the  fact  that  he 
wanted  to  go  out  to  be  married  but  did  not  have  the  money 
for  the  trip.  His  audacity  got  him  the  pass.  He  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Hunt  in  Oakland,  December  28,  1874.  They 
went  to  live  in  San  Jose  soon  after  the  birth  of  their  first 
child  in  1876. 

In  1877  he  was  elected  County  Surveyor  of  Santa  Clara 
County  and  his  private  practice  as  a  surveyor  grew  so 
rapidly  that  he  was  in  a  fair  way  of  accumulating  a  for- 
tune, when  suddenly,  out  of  a  clear  sky,  came  reverse.  A 
serious  illness  compelled  him  to  abandon  work,  his  physi- 
cians believing  that  he  had  consumption  and  would  not 
live  a  year.  He  went,  upon  advice  of  friends,  to  Colorado 
Springs,  determined  to  recover  his  health  and  yet  succeed. 
Here  again  his  perseverance  won  the  day.  Within  two 
years,  during  which  time  he  did  most  strenuous  outdoor 
work,  he  had  regained  his  health  and  was  elected  county 
surveyor  of  El  Paso  County  and  city  engineer  of  Colorado 
Springs.  There  was  no  holding  this  ambitious  young  man 
down.  Wherever  he  went  people  soon  knew  about  him 
and  pushed  him  to  the  front. 

He  became  attracted  by  the  possibilities  of  irrigation 
and  in  1884  went  to  the  Big  Horn  Basin,  Wyoming,  where 
for  three  years  he  was  engaged  in  constructing  an  irriga- 
tion ditch  twenty  miles  long  to  irrigate  twenty  thousand 
acres  of  land  near  the  present  town  of  Worland.  During 
this  time,  he  made  a  homestead  entry  and  desert  entry  at 
the  foot  of  the  Big  Horn  Mountains.  This  became  known 
as  the  Red  Bank  Ranch.  He  was  back  on  familiar  boyhood 
ground  once  more  and  it  was  natural  that  he  should  begin 


104  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

raising  horses  and  cattle.  Stock  raising  was  the  chief  indus- 
try of  Wyoming  at  this  time. 

In  1886  he  interested  a  number  of  Colorado  Springs 
men  in  the  irrigation  enterprise  on  the  Big  Horn  River. 
Many  claims  were  filed.  He  ran  a  line  for  a  ditch  taking 
water  from  the  Big  Horn.  One  by  one  the  other  men  failed 
to  prove  up  on  their  land,  but  he  kept  his,  and  later  the 
town  of  Worland  was  built  on  what  had  been  his  land, 
later  owned  by  the  Red  Bank  Cattle  Company,  of  which 
he  was  president  and  part  owner. 

When  the  Worland  ditch  was  surveyed,  his  original 
line  was  followed  but  they  went  farther  up  the  river  for 
the  beginning.  Thus,  it  was  in  reality  Governor  Richards 
who  began  the  first  great  irrigation  project  in  the  Big  Horn 
Basin. 

William  Richards  made  his  headquarters  at  his  Red 
Bank  Ranch,  though  his  wife  and  two  daughters,  Alice 
and  Ruth,  still  remained  within  the  bounds  of  civilization, 
spending  their  time  in  Oakland,  Omaha,  and  Colorado 
Springs,  where  husband  and  father  could  be  with  them  part 
of  the  time. 

One  morning  William  A.  Richards  was  at  his  ranch  alone. 
His  partner,  Gus  Colman,  had  gone  off  somewhere.  There 
was  snow  on  the  ground  and  it  was  disagreeable  weather 
so  that  Richards  had  not  yet  gone  outside.  He  was  in  his 
cabin  when  suddenly  the  door  opened  and  a  couple  of  big 
husky  bucks  walked  in  carrying  their  guns.  They  demanded 
breakfast  in  no  pleasant  way.  Richards  complied  with 
their  demands,  setting  out  some  breakfast  on  the  table. 
As  they  sat  down,  they  leaned  their  rifles  against  the  wall. 

William  Richards  washed  his  hands  and  went  over  to 
the  roller  towel  to  dry  them.  His  six  shooter  was  hanging 
in  its  holster  beneath  the  towel.  When  he  went  to  dry  his 
hands,  he  quickly  slipped  his  gun  out,  pointed  it  at  the 
Indians  and  told  them  to  get  out.  He  made  them  leave 
their  guns.  After  they  were  outside,  he  called  in  the  squaws 
and  papooses  and  gave  them  their  breakfast. 

Among  the  Indians  was  an  educated  squaw  who  could 
speak  English.  The  governor  motioned  to  the  bucks  out- 
side who  were  sitting  on  the  woodpile  and  asked  the  squaw 
what  they  were  saying. 

"They  are  saying,  'What  a  strange  fellow  a  white  man 
is  to  have  his  squaws  eat  first',''  said  the  woman  in  perfect 
English. 

When  he  learned  that  she  had  been  educated  at  some 
eastern  school,  he  asked  her  why  she  still  went  about  with 
the  Indians,  dressing  and  living  as  they  did. 


WYOMING'S  FOURTH  GOVERNOR  105 

She  said,  "What  else  is  there  for  me?  If  I  stayed  among 
the  white  people,  I  would  have  to  work  in  their  kitchens. 
I  would  not  be  one  of  them;  I  would  only  be  among  them. 
With  my  own  people,  I  am  at  least  an  equal.  But  to  live 
with  them  I  must  live  as  they  live." 

V/hen  the  squaws  had  finished  their  breakfast,  Richards 
called  in  the  bucks  and  let  them  eat. 

It  was  decided  that  family  life  was  not  at  all  satisfactory 
with  one  of  the  Richards  living  on  a  ranch  and  the  rest  here 
and  there,  having  no  home  in  particular.  So  in  1887  the 
family  joined  him  at  the  Red  Bank  Ranch.  It  must  have 
looked  pretty  forlorn  to  the  gently  raised  Harriet  Hunt  for 
the  house  consisted  of  one  large  room,  with  a  dirt  floor  and 
a  sloping  one  at  that.  The  "city  folks"  spent  the  next  two 
weeks  at  a  nearby  English  "home  ranch"  where  they  had 
many  of  the  comforts  foreign  to  most  western  ranches. 

That  first  winter  for  the  little  family  was  a  very  severe 
one.  Mail  from  the  outside  world  was  received  but  once, 
and  several  times  travelers  came  in  almost  frozen  to  death. 
Mrs.  Richards,  city  raised  though  she  was,  took  it  all  happily 
and  did  not  complain.  Indeed,  she  became  the  sunshine  of 
that  section  of  the  country. 

The  next  spring  an  addition  consisting  of  two  large 
rooms  was  built  to  the  house,  and  the  goods  which  had 
been  shipped  from  Colorado  Springs  the  fall  before,  were 
brought  in  from  the  railroad  at  Casper,  one  hundred  and 
seventy  miles  away,  and  installed  in  the  new  home.  These 
goods  included  a  massive,  square  Chickering  piano  which 
W.  A.  Richards  hauled  in  himself  on  a  trail  wagon.  Mrs. 
Richards  had  missed  her  music  greatly  at  Red  Bank,  and 
trying  to  make  the  hard  life  of  the  ranch  as  pleasant  as 
possible,  Mr.  Richards  had  decided  she  should  have  her 
piano,  so  he  had  had  it  shipped  from  Colorado  Springs  to 
Casper.  They  told  him  at  Casper  that  he  would  never 
get  it  out  to  his  ranch,  but  he  did,  and  that,  with  an  outlaw 
horse  in  his  six  horse  outfit  that  no  one  but  himself  could 
handle.  The  outlaw  was  still  so  lively  at  the  end  of  the 
journey  that,  scared  by  a  rattlesnake,  he  came  prancing 
into  the  ranch  as  though  he  had  not  pulled  a  heavy  load 
for  one  hundred  seventy  miles. 

W.  A.  Richards  was  not  to  be  allowed  the  privilege  of 
being  a  plain  rancher.  Already  he  was  gaining  a  reputa- 
tion for  his  exceptional  abilities  and  was  becoming  known 
throughout  that  section  of  the  country  as  an  honest,  indus- 
trious man  with  a  level  head  and  an  ability  for  being  fair 
in  decisions. 

A  petition,  signed  by  one  hundred  and  twenty-two 
voters  of  the  Big  Horn  Basin,  was  presented  to  Mr.  Richards, 


106  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

asking  that  he  consent  to  become  a  candidate  for  county 
commissioner  of  Johnson  county.  Recognizing  the  claims 
of  the  settlers  on  that  side  of  the  range  for  representation 
on  the  board  of  county  commissioners  and  the  almost  unani- 
mous desire  that  Mr.  Richards  be  their  representative,  the 
Democratic  convention  endorsed  him  and  in  1886  he  was 
elected  to  fill  that  office. 

Part  of  each  summer  was  necessarily  spent  at  the 
county  seat,  Buffalo,  ninety  miles  away,  reached  only  by 
going  over  a  range  of  mountains.  He  had  to  make  a  trip 
during  one  of  the  winters  and  had  the  misfortune  to  be 
caught  in  a  heavy  snowstorm.  He  was  compelled  to  make 
part  of  the  journey  on  foot  in  order  to  reach  home  where 
he  found  his  family  much  concerned  for  his  welfare. 

The  nearest  school  was  sixty  miles  distant.  Eleanor 
Alice,  the  oldest  child,  enrolled  and  succeeded  in  attending 
a  few  days.  There  were  no  churches,  although  Mrs.  Rich- 
ards did  act  as  superintendent  of  a  small  neighborhood  Sun- 
day school.  But  neighbors  were  too  scattered  to  have  much 
of  a  Sunday  school,  the  nearest  neighbor  being  four  miles 
distant. 

During  part  of  her  residence  at  the  ranch,  Mrs.  Rich- 
ards acted  as  postmistress.  When  she  answered  a  question- 
naire to  the  effect  that  there  were  eight  persons  residing 
in  the  "town  of  Red  Bank,"  the  postal  authorities  at  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  sent  her  a  severe  reprimand  because  she 
had  not  been  more  careful  of  her  figures.  They  could  not 
understand  that  a  post  office  doing  quite  a  large  volume 
of  business  was  not  in  a  town,  but  it  so  happened  that  that 
post  office  covered  a  large  section  of  the  country. 

"The  only  social  life,"  says  Eleanor  Alice  Richards, 
speaking  of  those  days,  "was  the  winter  dances,  where  we 
would  go  in  the  evening,  dance  all  night,  and  return  home 
in  the  early  morning.  Sometimes  we  would  catch  a  few 
hours  rest  and  go  on  to  the  next  party.  One  trip,  I  remem- 
ber, occupied  over  a  week  as  we  went  from  Red  Bank  north 
to  what  was  then  Hyattville  and  back  again.  There  were, 
that  winter,  about  a  hundred  men  in  the  Big  Horn  Basin 
and  seven  women,  one  of  the  seven  being  myself,  only 
eleven  years  old.  I  was  allowed  to  dance  very  little.  The 
men  were  very  respectful  and  well  behaved.  I  remember 
at  one  dance  that  a  couple  of  the  boys  who  became  intoxi- 
cated were  taken  out,  placed  on  their  horses  and  shown 
the  way  home.  I  do  not  remember  seeing  any  intoxicated 
men  at  the  parties.  There  were  so  many  of  them  and  so 
few  women  that  they  knew  they  must  behave  if  they  wished 
to  have  a  good  time.  Some  of  the  men  were  splendid,  but 
some  were  not;  some  were  honest,  but  some  were  crooks; 


WYOMING'S  FOURTH  GOVERNOR  107 

some  were  college  graduates,  but  some  were  uneducated. 
Many  had  come  for  adventure;  some  to  escape  from  deeds 
they  had  left  behind.  But  all  were  chivalrous  to  the  women 
and  to  the  one  lone  little  girl. 

"My  mother  was  very  particular  that  we  should  get 
into  no  bad  habits  of  speech  or  action  and  was  very  careful 
to  see  that  I  used  good  grammar  and  did  not  lean  on  the 
table  when  I  ate,  as  I  wanted  to  do,  for  some  of  the  men 
did.  I  had  many  responsibilities  as  my  mother  had  had  a 
bad  attack  of  muscular  rheumatism  before  we  left  Califor- 
nia, which  had  left  her  with  joints  that  became  badly 
swollen  when  much  in  water,  and  I  had  to  do  most  of  the 
dishwashing  and  help  in  every  way  I  could.  As  our  family 
was  seldom  less  than  eight,  I  was  kept  busy,  but  I  never 
grew  to  dislike  dishwashing.  To  this  day  I  get  a  thrill  in 
having  everything  nicely  cleared  up  and  put  away." 

W.  A.  Richards  came  in  one  evening  from  a  trip  to  the 
railroad.  The  family  and  men  all  lingered  long  at  the 
table  for  they  were  all  eager  for  news  of  the  outside  world 
and  Richards  was  a  good  narrator.  But  after  a  while  he 
rose  and  said,  "Come  into  the  other  room  and  we  will  open 
the  packages." 

The  group  responded  eagerly,  some  of  the  men  as 
curious  as  the  little  girls.  First,  he  passed  some  candy, 
just  one  piece  to  each,  the  rest  being  put  away  to  be 
"doled  out"  later  to  the  children,  piece  by  piece.  Then 
he  unwrapped  an  accordian,  asking  Bill,  one  of  the  boys 
who  worked  on  the  ranch,  to  play.  Bill  required  a  good 
deal  of  coaxing,  since  he  knew  his  limitations,  but  he 
finally  tried  to  play  Swanee  River.  It  was  terrible  but  all 
were  patient.  Finally,  Tommy,  a  Welshman  who  sat  in  a 
far  corner,  blurted  out,  "Why  all  this  butchery?" 

Everyone  turned  on  him.  "Play  it  yourself  if  you  don't 
like  Bill's  playing." 

Much  to  the  surprise  of  all  present.  Tommy  took  the 
instrument,  fingered  it  lovingly,  and  began  to  play.  Amaz- 
ingly from  the  cheap  instrument  flowed  music  from  the 
masters.  Then  followed  the  airs  of  his  native  Wales  and 
folk  songs.  Never  had  the  assembled  company  heard  such 
music.  They  glanced  at  each  other  dumbfounded.  Who 
was  this  man  and  why  was  he  out  here  in  the  wilds?  He 
played  on,  holding  them  all  spellbound  until  Richards  at 
last  said,  "Well,  boys,  it's  time  to  turn  in.  We  will  hear 
more  from  Tommy  later  and  tomorrow  I  send  to  town  for 
a  decent  accordion." 

It  developed  that  Tommy  had  been  a  master  player  in 
his  village,  had  contended  at  the  national  Eistefford,  but 
being  disappointed  in  taking  only  second  place,  had  taken 


108  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

his  prize  money  and  had  come  to  America  and  on  to  the 
West. 

In  1889,  W.  A.  Richards  was  employed  at  a  salary  as 
foreman  of  a  large  "cow  outfit"  by  Crawford  and  Thompson, 
a  company  owning  many  thousand  cattle.  He  was  at  work 
on  the  round-up  when  he  was  appointed  United  States  Sur- 
veyor General  for  Wyoming  by  President  Harrison.  The 
family  then  moved  to  Cheyenne,  leaving  the  ranch  in  the 
hands  of  a  manager. 

At  this  time  George  McClellan,  better  known  as  "Bear 
George,"  who  was  later  senator,  was  working  as  cowboy 
on  the  ranch  at  Red  Bank.  Bear  George  had  come  into 
the  Basin  in  1887,  stopping  at  Hyattville  where  he  became 
famous  as  a  bear  hunter.  At  the  time  that  McClellan  came 
into  the  country,  Mr.  Richards  had  decided  to  raise  horses 
to  supply  the  cattle  outfits,  but  the  winter  of  '86  had  put 
many  of  the  big  outfits  out  of  business.  Seeing  this  market 
was  going  to  be  no  good,  he  decided  to  raise  better  horses, 
and  he  sent  some  pure-blooded  heavy  Percheron  stallions 
to  the  ranch.  Previous  to  this,  he  had  had  Ralph,  a  Ken- 
tucky stallion,  who  mated  to  Dude,  an  Indian  mare,  each 
the  fastest  of  its  kind  in  the  Basin.  Some  fine  colts  were 
produced  from  this  stock. 

During  a  visit  back  to  the  ranch,  Richards  found  one  of 
the  fine  stallions  dead.  He  said,  "George,  what  killed  the 
stalhon?" 

George  replied,  "Well,  general,  I  guess  I  killed  it,  trying 
to  cure  a  bad  barbed  wire  cut." 

This  honest  reply  so  pleased  the  surveyor  general  that 
he  put  George  McClellan  in  charge  of  the  ranch.  Later, 
he  was  taken  into  partnership.  Bear  George  was  a  unique 
character  noted  for  his  bear  stories,  some  of  which  were 
true,  and  others  were  told  with  the  usual  exaggeration  of 
an  old-time  westerner.  Governor  Richards  delighted  in 
telling  stories  af  his  foreman's  hunting  episodes. 

McClellan  was  a  large,  well-built  man,  a  daring  hunter 
and  an  excellent  shot  and  was  without  doubt  the  best  bear 
hunter  in  the  country.  He  had  many  hard  and  close  fights 
with  the  bruin  tribe.  On  one  occasion  he  rode  upon  the 
bears  and  roping  one,  held  him  until  he  shot  the  other. 
With  his  horse  plunging  and  rearing  and  the  bears  making 
for  him  he  had  a  very  exciting  time  of  it.  Altogether,  he 
killed  seven  bears  with  nothing  but  a  six  shooter  for  a 
weapon. 

At  another  time  he  killed  an  enormous  animal,  trailing 
him  on  foot  and  crawling  through  the  underbrush  and  over 
fallen  timber  until  he  got  him.  For  the  hide  of  the  bear 
he  received  fifty  dollars. 


WYOMING'S  FOURTH  GOVERNOR  109 

In  spite  of  his  position  in  Cheyenne  as  surveyor  general, 
Mr.  Richards  did  not  lose  interest  in  the  ranch  or  the  com- 
munity where  he  had  been  living.  At  this  time  he  was 
one  of  the  stockholders  and  a  moving  spirit  in  the  Red  Bank 
Telephone  Company,  a  locally  organized  rural  company 
with  seventy  miles  of  line  and  thirty  subscribers.  Prac- 
tically all  of  the  subscribers  were  stockholders,  while  Rich- 
ards was  general  plant,  traffic,  and  commercial  superin- 
tendent, chief  engineer  and  auditor. 

The  line  ran  from  the  Rocky  Mountain  Bell  toll  station 
at  Lost  Cabin  over  the  Big  Horn  Mountains  through  the 
most  remote  and  isolated  parts  of  Wyoming  to  Tensleep. 

"One  winter,"  related  W.  A.  Richards  in  speaking  of 
this  line,  "I  was  passing  a  few  months  in  California  and 
my  manager  used  to  write  me  from  time  to  time  of  condi- 
tions on  the  ranch,  until  the  snow  in  the  mountains  got  so 
bad  that  it  was  impossible  for  the  mails  to  get  any  farther 
than  No  Wood,  fifteen  miles  from  the  ranch.  There  were 
some  things  that  Mr.  McClellan  thought  I  should  know,  so 
what  does  he  do  but  call  up  No  Wood  on  the  telephone  and 
dictate  a  three  page  letter  over  the  wire  to  the  clerk,  who 
wrote  it  out  and  forwarded  it  to  me  in  California." 

He  liked  to  tell  this  story  of  Bear  George: 

"I  once  had  out  with  me  for  a  hunting  trip  Dr.  Harris  of 
Chicago,  who  is  one  of  the  most  noted  surgeons  of  that  city. 
On  our  way  to  the  railroad  at  the  end  of  his  visit,  we 
stopped  at  a  ranch  where  word  was  awaiting  us  that  one 
of  the  neighbors  ten  miles  away  was  very  sick  and  wanted 
the  doctor  to  come  over  and  see  him.  Dr.  Harris  had  an 
appointment  in  the  East  and  could  not  stop  but  he  called 
up  the  sick  man's  ranch  and  asked  his  wife  a  fev/  questions. 
She  answered  them  and  was  told  that  the  sick  man  had  a 
severe  case  of  appendicitis.  'You  had  better  telephone  over 
the  mountain  to  Dr.  Walker  and  tell  him  that  if  he  doesn't 
operate  in  twenty-four  hours,  it  will  be  too  late.' 

"With  these  instructions  we  continued  our  journey 
toward  the  railroad.  Dr.  Walker  was  forty  miles  away, 
but  that  night  when  I  called  up  the  ranch  I  learned  that 
Mr.  McClellan  was  down  at  the  lower  ranch  administering 
the  ether  while  Dr.  Walker  performed  the  operation  by 
the  light  of  a  kerosene  lamp.  And  the  next  night  as  we 
neared  Casper,  a  hundred  miles  from  the  ranch,  we  again 
called  up,  and  this  time  we  found  Bear  George  at  home. 
'How  is  your  appendicitis  patient?'  asked  Dr.  Harris. 

"  'Oh,  he's  all  right.  Me  and  the  other  Doc,  we  pulled 
him  through,'  and  they  did." 

The  advent  of  the  telephone  into  the  community  was 
a  real  asset.    It  was  especially  useful  for  the  spring  or  fall 


no  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

round-up.  When  the  foreman  of  the  general  round-up  had 
wanted  to  assemble  the  riders  and  outfits,  it  had  meant  that 
a  couple  of  men  would  have  to  ride  three  or  four  days  in 
every  direction  to  notify  the  ranchmen,  and  it  would  be 
almost  a  week  before  everyone  could  be  ready  to  start. 
After  the  coming  of  the  telephone,  all  they  had  to  do  was 
to  call  up  the  various  ranches  the  night  before  and  they 
would  be  ready  by  the  middle  of  the  following  morning 
to  start.  The  telephone  was  not  only  useful  in  the  com- 
munity, but  it  brought  the  outside  world  in  closer  touch, 
which  was  a  great  thing  in  the  lives  of  those  who  lived 
miles  from  a  town. 

November  30,  1893,  a  successor  was  named  by  Presi- 
dent Cleveland,  the  newly  elected  Democratic  president, 
for  the  position  of  Surveyor  General  for  Wyoming,  and  in 
February  1894,  W.  A.  Richards  took  his  family  back  to  the 
Red  Bank  Ranch  in  Johnson  County  and  resumed  the  busi- 
ness of  farming  and  stock  raising.  City  life  had  not  spoiled 
him  for  work.  That  spring  he  "broke  up"  forty  acres  of 
sod  himself  and  by  irrigation  raised  115,000  pounds  of 
oats  on  it. 

On  August  4,  1894,  W.  A.  Richards  was  nominated  by 
the  Republican  State  Convention  as  candidate  for  governor. 
This  nomination  was  due  to  the  energetic  and  efficient 
manner  in  which  he  had  discharged  the  duties  pertaining 
to  the  office  of  Surveyor  General,  for  which  place  he  was 
especially  well  fitted  by  previous  occupation  and  experi- 
ence. Before  the  convention  it  was  believed  that  Frank 
Mondell  would  receive  the  nomination  for  governor;  in- 
stead, he  was  nominated  for  congressman  and  Richards  for 
governor.  Upon  receiving  the  nomination  for  governor, 
W.  A.  Richards  made  the  following  speech: 

Before  coming  to  Casper  I  was  advised  by  one 
well-skilled  in  politics,  to  prepare  myself  with  a 
speech,  not  to  be  delivered  under  such  conditions 
as  those  which  now  exist,  but  a  speech  endorsing 
and  ratifying  the  nomination  for  governor  of  my 
competitor,  the  gifted  statesman  from  Weston 
County  whom  you  have  just  nominated  for  Con- 
gress, Senator  Frank  Mondell.  If  the  occasion  had 
presented  itself  I  could  have  congratulated  you 
upon  his  nomination  for  governor  with  only  a  shade 
less  enthusiasm  and  no  less  sincerity  than  that  with 
which  I  now  congratulate  you  upon  his  nomination 
for  Congress.  He  will  bring  to  the  office  of  congress- 
man, to  which  he  will  surely  be  elected,  a  wisdom 
in  legislative  affairs  gained  by  years  of  service  to 


WYOMING'S  FOURTH  GOVERNOR  111 

the  state,  a  masterful  mind,  accustomed  to  the  deci- 
sion of  questions  of  great  importance  with  prompt- 
ness and  unerring  judgment,  and  a  patriotism  and  a 
devotion  to  his  country  and  her  best  interests  as 
represented  by  the  Repubhcan  party  second  to  none, 
and  of  which  no  greater  guarantee  could  be  asked 
or  given  than  that  shown  by  his  magnanimous  con- 
duct today,  which  is  appreciated  by  none  so  highly 
as  by  myself. 

You  have  adopted  resolutions  that  are  good  enough 
for  any  Republican.  I  stand  squarely  and  firmly 
on  the  platform  of  Wyoming  Republicans,  adopted 
here  today,  and  pledge  myself  to  the  principles 
therein  enunciated. 

In  nominating  me  as  your  candidate  for  governor, 
you  have  conferred  an  honor  which  is  fully  appre- 
ciated. If  the  people  at  the  polls  in  November  shall 
certify  to  the  wisdom  of  your  action  here  today  by 
electing  me,  then  all  the  honor  that  the  people  can 
confer  will  have  been  given  me.  Whether  or  not  the 
office  brings  any  honor  will  depend  upon  myself  and 
how  I  perform  the  duties  which  it  imposes.  An  office 
only  gives  back  to  the  holder  and  makes  known  the 
honor  which  he  brings  to  it.  From  early  youth  I 
have  cherished  and  been  guided  by  the  precept 
expressed  by  the  poet  when  he  said: 

"Honor  and  fame  from  no  condition  rise: 
Act  well  your  part,  there  all  the  glory  lies." 

The  greater  portion  of  those  present  need  no  intro- 
duction to  me,  and  my  official  career  is  known  to 
you  all.  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  the  manner 
in  which  my  public  duties  have  been  performed  has 
had  a  large  influence  upon  your  action  toward  me 
today. 

If  elected  Governor  I  promise  you  that  upon  the 
appointed  day  I  will  walk  up  the  broad  steps  of  our 
capitol  in  full  daylight;  that  I  will  enter  the  office 
through  the  open  door  and  proceed  to  the  discharge 
of  my  duties  with  a  determination  that  business 
principles  and  devotion  to  the  best  interests  of  the 
state  shall  guide  and  govern  my  conduct.  As  to 
what  part  I  will  take  in  the  coming  engagement,  I 
will  say  that  my  campaign  has  already  commenced. 


112  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Although  not  a  professional  politician,  politics  will 
be  my  profession  for  the  next  three  months,  and  I 
will  devote  my  entire  time  to  the  interests  of  the 
party  and  the  election  of  the  whole  ticket,  and  it 
is  my  sincere  belief  that  when  the  election  returns 
are  made  known,  they  will  be  received  with  a  grand 
Republican  cheer  that  will  be  heard  from  Egbert 
on  the  east  to  Evanston  on  the  west,  from  Sheridan 
on  the  north  to  Saratoga  on  the  south,  and  the  echo 
of  which  will  go  rolling  back  from  Rawlins  to  Red 
Bank. 

From  Mr.  Duhig,  a  resident  of  Hyattville  at  that  time: 

When  Richards  was  a  candidate  for  governor,  he 
was  up  in  the  Hyattville  country.  He  was  a  man 
who  had  lived  simply,  and  had  never  put  on  airs. 
It  was  supper  time,  and  getting  out  of  his  rig,  he 
dug  out  his  towel  and  soap,  straddled  an  irrigating 
ditch  and  washed  for  supper.  He  did  not  do  this 
for  effect  nor  to  make  a  good  fellow  of  himself.  He 
did  it  because  he  was  an  old-timer  and  it  was  the 
natural  thing  to  do.  He  did  it  without  ostentation 
of  any  sort. 

He  entered  actively  into  the  campaign,  making  a  thor- 
ough canvass  of  the  State,  for  here  was  a  man  who  did 
everything  with  thoroughness,  and  in  November  he  was 
elected  by  the  largest  vote  polled  in  the  state  of  Wyoming 
up  to  that  time.  He  was  inaugurated  in  January  1895,  and 
served  until  January  1899,  a  term  of  four  years. 

Frank  Bond  once  wrote  of  him: 

The  sterling  qualities  of  William  Richards  as  a 
man  and  a  citizen,  his  likable  personality,  always 
accessible,  always  ready  to  hear  both  sides  of  a  con- 
troversy, always  convincing  even  to  the  loser  in  a 
cause — these  were  the  attributes  of  his  mind 
schooled  from  its  youth  up,  in  fitting  its  owner  for 
the  duties  of  new  undertakings,  before  it  accepted 
their  responsibilities.  He  was  a  successful  surveyor 
and  engineer  before  becoming  Surveyor  General; 
a  man  qualified  in  land  laws  and  regulations  before 
he  became  Assistant  Commissioner  of  the  General 
Land  Office,  and  the  step  from  Assistant  Commis- 
sioner to  Commissioner  was  easy,  because,  before 
his  promotion,  he  had  fully  qualified  for  the  greater 
and   higher   service.     A   similar    condition   of  pre- 


WYOMING'S  FOURTH  GOVERNOR  113 

paredness  preceded  his  nomination  and  election  as 
Governor  of  Wyoming,  so  that,  consciously  or  un- 
consciously, ■  preparedness  seems  to  have  been  his 
guiding  star,  leading  him  step  by  step  up  the  stair- 
way to  a  useful  and  worthwhile  life.  It  was  not 
scintillating  brilliance  but  calm  and  measured  de- 
pendability that  insured  the  acceptable  public  serv- 
ice he  always  rendered. 

During  his  term  as  governor  there  were  several  mat- 
ters of  more  than  ordinary  interest  and  importance  which 
came  up  for  action.  The  first  of  these  was  a  threatened 
invasion  of  the  western  portion  of  the  State,  in  Jackson's 
Hole,  by  the  Bannock  Indians  from  the  Fort  Hall  Reserva- 
tion in  Idaho.  These  Indians  had  been  in  the  habit  of 
hunting  in  Wyoming  regardless  of  our  state  statutes,  which 
practice  Governor  Richards  determined  to  stop,  as  he  could 
see  no  reason  why  Indians  should  hunt  in  the  State  during 
the  closed  season,  while  Wyoming  citizens  were  not  al- 
lowed to  do  so.  Several  arrests  were  made  of  Indians  who 
were  violating  the  law  and  nominal  fines  were  imposed, 
which  did  not  have  the  effect  of  stopping  them  from  hunt- 
ing. Finally,  one  band  resisted  arrest,  and,  after  they  had 
finally  surrendered  to  a  superior  force,  attempted  to  escape. 
In  the  confusion  which  followed  one  of  them  was  killed 
which  led  to  the  threatened  outbreak.  Several  hundred 
hostile  Indians  congregated  in  the  vicinity  of  the?  settlement 
in  Jackson's  Hole.  This  body  of  Indians  was  not  alone 
composed  of  Bannocks,  but  renegades  from  all  the  surround- 
ing tribes  joined  them  and  there  was  great  danger  of  a  very 
serious  confiict.  Governor  Richards  was  confident  of  his 
ability  to  protect  the  people  with  the  forces  at  his  com- 
mand, but  the  general  government  took  charge  of  the  mat- 
ter and  sent  out  a  body  of  troops  under  command  of  Briga- 
dier General  Coppinger  who  dispersed  the  Indians  without 
any  fighting  and  compelled  them  to  return  to  their  reser- 
vations. Subsequently,  a  test  case  was  taken  into  the  courts 
to  determine  whether  or  not  the  Indians  had  a  right  to 
hunt  in  Wyoming,  notwithstanding  our  statutory  regula- 
tions, which  right  was  claimed  for  them  by  the  government 
on  account  of  an  existing  treaty  between  the  government 
and  the  Indians.  This  case  was  known  as  the  "Race  Horse" 
case,  that  being  the  name  of  the  Indian  who  was  tried. 
It  became  quite  celebrated,  being  finally  taken  to  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States  where  the  position  of 
the  governor  and  his  action  were  fully  sustained.  This 
case  furnished  a  precedent  which  has  been  followed  by 
the  governors  of  surrounding  states  in  their  management 


114  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

of  Indians  with  respect  to  hunting  in  violation  of  the 
statutes. 

Governor  Richards  was  Wyoming's  war  governor — his 
initials  being  W.A.R. — as  well  as  being  at  the  head  of  affairs 
during  the  Spanish-American  War. 

In  the  war  with  Spain  the  quota  of  Wyoming  was 
fixed  at  one  battalion  of  four  companies  of  infantry,  which 
was  considerably  in  excess  of  the  number  which  Wyoming 
should  have  furnished  in  proportion  to  its  population.  The 
call  for  troops  was  made  upon  the  23rd  of  April  1898,  and 
by  consolidating  some  of  the  companies  of  the  national 
guard  and  disbanding  one  company  in  order  to  get  its  equip- 
ment, the  quota  of  Wyoming  was  reported  to  the  Secretary 
of  War  on  May  10th  as  filled,  each  of  the  four  companies 
having  been  mustered  in  with  a  maximum  number  of  men, 
fully  armed  and  equipped  and  ready  for  active  service. 
Inquiry  at  the  War  Office  upon  that  day  elicited  the  fact 
that  Wyoming  was  the  first  State  to  make  such  a  report. 
Montana  reported  later  the  same  day.  May  10,  1898. 

Shortly  after  this  time,  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of 
our  delegation  in  Congress,  who  were  directly  representing 
the  sentiment  of  the  people,  the  government  accepted  a 
battery  of  light  artillery,  which  was  mustered  in  and  to- 
gether with  the  infantry  battalion,  rendered  good  service 
in  the  Philippines.  Subsequent  to  this  time  seven  com- 
panies of  cavalry  were  organized  in  Wyoming  and  mus- 
tered into  the  Second  United  States  Volunteer  Cavalry; 
but  these  companies  were  not  organized  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  governor.  This  is  mentioned  only  to  show  the 
unusual  number  of  troops  sent  to  this  war  from  Wyoming, 
being  more  than  five  times  the  quota  which  we  should 
have  furnished  according  to  our  population. 

A  newspaper  clipping: 

Governor  Richards'  arrival  in  San  Francisco 
proved  a  very  fortunate  thing  for  the  Wyoming 
battalion.  According  to  previous  arrangement,  it 
had  been  decided  that  our  battalion,  with  other 
troops,  would  not  get  away  with  the  detachment 
that  sails  tomorrow  and  would  remain  in  San  Fran- 
cisco several  weeks  longer.  Governor  Richards  be- 
came cognizant  of  the  arrangement  and  commenced 
at  once  to  endeavor  to  have  the  order  changed  and 
through  General  Otis  and  General  Merritt,  the  bat- 
talion from  this  date  was  selected  as  a  part  of  the 
third  expedition.  The  boys  feel  very  grateful  to 
the  Governor  for  his  efforts  on  their  behalf. 


WYOMING'S  FOURTH  GOVERNOR  115 

Governor  Richards  was  filling  his  postition  to  the  sat- 
isfaction of  everyone.  His  genial,  cordial  manner  in  greet- 
ing everyone,  his  readiness  to  listen  to  suggestions,  the 
promptness  with  which  he  attended  to  business,  won  him 
a  great  deal  of  admiration.  All  of  his  appointments  were 
made  without  a  dissenting  vote  from  the  senate  and  it  was 
said  that  he  thought  first  of  the  people  and  then  picked 
the  man  whom  he  thought  could  best  serve  them. 

The  Chicago  Times  Herald  made  an  effort  to  ascertain 
the  religious  views  of  the  governors  of  the  states  and  terri- 
tories. They  received  the  following  from  Governor  Richards: 

I  believe  in  the  doctrines  of  Orthodox  Christianity 
and  try  to  make  my  life  and  actions  conform  to 
them.  I  have  always  been  a  church  attendant  and 
take  great  interest  in  church  work.  My  parents 
were  members  of  the  Christian  church  and  I  was 
brought  up  in  that  faith.  My  wife  and  children 
are  members  and  active  workers  in  the  Baptist 
church,  and  while  I  visit  all  churches,  I  attend  that 
one  more  than  I  do  others.  I  am  at  present  a  trustee 
of  the  First  Baptist  church  of  Cheyenne. 

Eleanor  Alice  Richards  was  the  private  secretary  to 
the  Governor.  x\t  one  time  the  papers  were  full  of  the 
"girl  governor."  This  came  about  when  the  governor  and 
his  staff  went  to  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  to  a  meeting  of  south- 
ern and  western  governors.  A  reporter  accosted  Adjutant 
General  Frank  A.  Stitzer  asking  for  news.  He  told  him 
that  the  daughter  of  the  governor  of  Wyoming,  a  girl  of 
twenty,  was  "acting  governor."  The  reporter  enlarged 
upon  it  and  the  item  was  published  nationwide.  Mrs.  Mc- 
Creery,  the  daughter  referred  to,  says,  "I  received  many 
letters,  some  from  Mexico  and  fashion  news  from  Paris. 
Several  offers  of  marriage!  I  was  in  charge  of  the  office 
but  Secretary  of  State  Burdick  was  the  acting  governor. 

"Only  one  time  did  I  act  officially.  The  governor  of 
Colorado  sent  up  extradition  papers.  Both  the  governor 
and  Secretary  Burdick  were  away.  It  was  an  urgent  case, 
so  the  attorney  general,  B.  F.  Fowler,  gave  me  permission 
to  sign  the  paper  with  my  name  following  the  governor's. 

"Many  of  the  old-timers,  W.  E.  Schnitger  in  particular, 
always  insisted  that  I  was  the  first  woman  governor,  but 
I  really  was  not.  My  father,  however,  often  would  talk 
things  over  with  me,  then  say,  'what  is  your  opinion?',  ask- 
ing me  to  give  him  any  immediate  reaction.  He  believed 
in  woman's  intuition." 


116  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

A  clipping  from  an  Omaha  paper  speaks  thus  of  this  girl 
governor: 

The  new  woman  has  demonstrated  herself  rather 
strongly,  she  being  at  this  moment  governor  of  one 
of  the  sovereign  states — Wyoming.  The  fact  that 
Governor  W.  A.  Richards  of  that  state  is  visiting  in 
Omaha  at  this  time  supplies  an  excuse  for  calling 
attention  to  the  further  fact  that  while  he  is  away 
a  woman — presumably  a  pretty  woman  and  cer- 
tainly a  young  woman — occupies  the  actual  posi- 
tion of  Governor  of  the  State.  This  young  woman 
is  the  Governor's  daughter,  Alice,  who  is  his  private 
secretary  and  whom  he  acknowledges  has  a  grasp 
on  the  affairs  of  the  office  which  is  _  frequently  su- 
perior to  his  own.  While  the  Governor  is  away,  this 
remarkable  young  person  attends  the  affairs  of  the 
State,  telegraphing  him  daily  that  all  is  well. 

The  coming  of  Governor  and  Mrs.  W.  A.  Richards 
of  Wyoming  to  Omaha  brings  a  whiff  of  the  old, 
young  days  to  Omaha  people  who  knew  them  back 
in  the  seventies — old,  young  days  because,  although 
those  days  belong  to  the  long-ago  town,  the  people 
were  all  young  and  enthusiastic. 

"The  last  piece  of  work  I  did  in  Omaha,"  said  the 
Governor,  this  morning,  "was  to  write  up  the  Ne- 
braska State  Fair  for  the  old  Republican,  then  un- 
der the  management  of  Major  Balcombe.  That 
was  in  the  fall  of  1875,  and  it  was  the  year  of  the 
great  horse  race  between  Randall,  Dr.  Peck's  horse, 
and  Lothair.  Lothair  was  put  into  the  three-minute 
race  as  a  horse  without  a  record  and  he  won,  much 
to  the  amazement  of  everybody,  for,  the  betting 
was  all  on  Dr.  Peck's  Randall.  It  was  subsequently 
found  out  that  Lothair  was  not  the  name  of  the 
horse  at  all,  but  that  his  name  was  Small  Oaks  and 
that  he  had  a  record  of  2:15.  Everybody  in  Omaha 
remembers  that  race,  I  think." 

"Yes,  I  lived  in  Omaha  between  the  years  of  1869 
and  1875  and  my  wife  and  I  always  look  back  to 
Omaha  as  our  home.  There  have  been  great  changes 
here,  even  in  the  last  six  years.  A  great  deal  that 
was  prairie  a  few  years  ago  is  now  thickly  popu- 
lated. I  am  returning  from  St.  Louis  where  we 
went  to  attend  the  interstate  competitive  drill.  Gov- 
ernors Mclntire  of  Nebraska  and  Sapp  of  Colorado 


WYOMING'S  FOURTH  GOVERNOR  117 

were  also  in  attendance  and  we  were  treated  with 
princely  hospitality.  The  town  turned  out  for  us 
and,  I  declare,  we  had  a  royal  good  time.  We  ar- 
rived in  Omaha  day  before  yesterday  and  yesterday 
were  driven  to  Fort  Crook  by  General  Coppinger. 

"In  my  absence  I  leave  my  office  in  charge  of  my 
daughter  who  is  also  my  private  secretary.  What 
is  her  name?  Eleanor  Alice,  but  we  leave  the 
Eleanor  off  usually.  She  sends  me  telegrams  daily 
of  matters  at  the  office  and  of  the  welfare  of  our 
children,  for  she  is  at  the  head  of  the  two  establish- 
ments during  our  absence." 

In  regard  to  what  the  new  woman  was  doing  in 
Wyoming,  Governor  Richards  said  that  the  Wyo- 
ming woman  was  not  so  deep  in  emancipation  as 
her  sisters  of  Colorado.  "The  Wyoming  women,"  he 
said,  "go  out  and  vote  intelligently  at  election,  but 
the  holding  of  public  office  is  mostly  confined  to  po- 
sitions on  the  school  board.  We  have  no  women  leg- 
islators. My  wife  often  votes  for  what  she  wants, 
but  it  is  always  done  quietly." 

"What  of  the  West?  Well,  I  can  say  as  far  as  Wyo- 
ming is  concerned  that  the  State  is  fairly  prosperous. 
We  did  not  feel  the  depression  as  much  as  other 
states,  perhaps  because  we  have  not  so  much  to  lose. 
But  there  is  no  doubt  that  times  are  easier  and 
people  are  spending  more  money.  Emigration  to 
the  State  is  almost  too  large.  The  development  of 
Wyoming  as  everybody  knows,  depends  as  much 
upon  the  mineral  productions  as  upon  the  agricul-  ^ 
tural.  Besides  the  supply  of  coal  there  is  an  un- 
limited supply  of  oil.  We  cannot  put  much  refined 
oil  upon  the  market  against  the  Standard  Oil  Com- 
pany, but  the  shipping  of  lubrication  from  Casper 
is  becoming  a  big  business.  Our  agricultural  pros- 
pects are  bright.  We  have  taken  advantage  of  the 
Carey  Arid  Law  and  one  million  acres  have  been 
donated  to  the  State  on  condition  that  we  will  get 
capital  interested  in  making  the  arid  land  pro- 
ductive." 

Governor  Richards  declined  to  be  a  candidate  for  re- 
nomination  and  also  declined  to  be  a  candidate  for  United 
States  Senator,  although  urged  to  allow  his  name  to  go 
before  the  legislature  in  that  connection.    Shortly  after  the 


118  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

completion  of  his  term  as  Governor,  he  was  appointed 
assistant  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office  by  Presi- 
dent McKinley.  He,  with  his  family,  moved  to  Washington 
and  entered  upon  the  duties  appertaining  to  that  office  on 
the  4th  of  March  1899. 

Here,  as  in  every  other  position  he  held,  ex-Governor 
Richards  made  a  decided  success  of  the  job.  The  Oklahoma 
Indian  lands  were  opened  to  settlement  during  his  term 
of  office  as  assistant  commissioner.  Up  to  this  time,  the 
"rush"  method  had  been  used,  where  first  come,  first  served, 
was  the  rule  of  the  day.  This  gave  the  man  with  the  fastest 
horse  and  the  meanest  disposition  a  great  advantage  over 
others.  In  1901  it  was  decided  to  open  to  the  white  people 
portions  of  Indian  Territory,  including  the  Kiowa,  Co- 
manche, and  Apache  Reservations.  The  rush  method  had 
never  been  a  success  and  other  means  were  sought.  Victor 
Mudock,  editor  of  the  Eagle,  Wichita,  Kansas;  Dennis  Flynn, 
delegate  to  Congress  from  Oklahoma  Territory;  Willis  Van 
Devanter  of  Wyoming,  assistant  Attorney  General  for  the 
Interior  Department  (later  on  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States)  and  William  Richards,  ex-governor  of  Wyo- 
ming, were  all  interested  in  plans  for  the  opening  of  this 
new  strip.  The  plan  of  a  lottery  which  consisted  of  a 
properly  conducted  drawing  was  suggested  and  finally 
adopted.  Judge  Van  Devanter  said  he  knew  of  only  one 
man  who  could  conduct  the  affair  properly  and  that  was 
W.  A.  Richards,  so  he  was  put  in  charge  and  told  to  go  ahead. 
He  was  given  full  charge  with  very  little  of  the  red  tape 
which  usually  surrounds  government  tasks. 

There  were  2,000,000  acres  of  land,  divided  into  13,000 
quarter  sections,  each  quarter  being  a  prize  and  worth  from 
$500  to  $53,000 — the  ones  near  Lawton,  Oklahoma,  the  new 
town,  being  the  most  valuable.  Any  male  citizen  and  any 
woman  over  21,  who  did  not  own  160  acres  of  land,  could 
enter  his  name  for  the  drawing.  To  do  so  it  was  necessary 
to  go  to  El  Reno  or  Lawton,  Oklahoma  and  register  for 
the  drawing.  As  always  "land  hunger"  drew  men  and 
women  from  all  walks  of  life  and  from  all  parts  of  the 
United  States.  Thousands  flocked  to  these  new  towns, 
usually  staying  long  enough  to  register,  though  many 
remained  for  the  drawing.  Mushroom  towns  grew  over- 
night. Ten  thousand  strangers  flocked  through  El  Reno 
every  day.  Registration  lasted  from  July  10  to  the  26,  at 
which  time  the  drawing  began  and  through  all  the  rush  of 
throngs,  and  the  needed  clerical  work,  the  man  at  the  head 
of  the  job,  W.  A.  Richards,  kept  a  cool  head  and  a  steady 
hand  on  things. 


WYOMING'S  FOURTH  GOVERNOR  119 

The  contrast  between  the  Kiowa-Comanche  opening 
and  all  the  former  ones  held  in  Oklahoma  was  noticeable, 
especially  to  those  who  had  taken  part  in  former  drawings. 
Those  former  drawings  had  been  mere  farces.  Men  were 
forced  to  get  their  certificates  and  make  the  run  besides. 
Applicants  had  to  stand  in  line  for  two  and  three  days; 
many  of  them  slept  on  the  ground,  went  hungry  or  paid 
exorbitant  prices  for  piece  lunches  in  order  to  hold  their 
places  in  the  long  line.  Others  grew  discouraged  and  sold 
their  places  in  the  line  for  five  dollars  and  some  as  high 
as  ten  dollars,  while  others,  who  were  acquainted  or  posted 
on  the  character  of  the  grafters  inside  the  booths,  would 
sneak  in  the  back  way  and  put  up  from  one  to  twenty 
certificates.  Those  who  "stood  in"  would  get  a  number 
and  fill  it  in  themselves.  It  was  one  of  the  most  clumsy 
and  fraudulently  conducted  proceedings  ever  witnessed. 

In  contrast  to  the  chaotic  methods  employed  in  these 
drawings,  ex-Governor  Richards  conducted  his  drawing 
with  superior  generalship  and  in  such  a  way  as  to  bring 
no  criticism  upon  himself  or  the  government.  The  regis- 
tering was  attended  with  no  hardships,  no  fraud,  no  suffer- 
ing. As  high  as  16,000  were  registered  at  El  Reno  in  one 
day.  The  line  was  never  so  crowded  that  it  meant  a  long 
wait  for  the  apphcant  to  be  registered.  When  the  crowd 
grew,  Richards  extended  the  facilities  for  registering  and 
all  were  promptly  accommodated.  There  was  never  any 
charge  of  bribery  and  no  complaints  as  to  unfair  treatment. 

An  incident  connected  with  that  opening  throws  light 
on  the  character  of  the  man.  The  lands,  it  will  be  recalled, 
were  disposed  of  under  the  drawing  system.  Each  tract 
was  numbered,  and  prospective  settlers,  prior  to  the  open- 
ing, were  obliged  to  register  and  draw  a  card  bearing  some 
number.  There  being  more  settlers  than  lots,  many  cards 
were  blanks.  The  great  demand  for  these  lots  attracted 
thousands  of  people  to  booths  opened  each  morning.  When 
the  registration  was  well  under  way  one  day.  Delegate 
Flynn  of  Oklahoma  appeared  in  Governor  Richards'  office 
with  his  daughter. 

"Richards,"  said  he,  "my  daughter  and  I  want  to  take 
a  try  at  those  lots.  Those  lines  outside  are  mighty  long, 
and  if  we  went  to  the  end  we  would  not  be  able  to  register 
for  hours.     Can't  you  get  me  a  number  some  other  way?" 

"Donny,"  replied  the  governor,  a  close  personal  friend 
of  the  jovial  delegate,  "I  would  help  you  if  I  could  help 
anyone.  But  there  is  no  way  for  you  to  get  a  lot  except 
to  fall  in  line,  the  same  as  any  other  man,  and  take  your 
chances." 


120  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

"But  my  daughter  here  can't  stand  in  line  all  day. 
Can't  you  do  something  for  her?" 

"There  is  a  special  booth  for  women,"  replied  Richards. 
"The  line  is  not  so  long  there,  but  she  must  take  her  place 
at  the  end." 

A  look  of  surprise  and  disappointment  spread  over  the 
countenance  of  Delegate  Flynn,  as  he  departed  for  the  end 
of  the  line  and  as  his  daughter  sought  out  the  tail  of  another. 

That  was  characteristic  of  Commissioner  Richards,  in- 
fluence had  no  weight  with  him.  Right  was  right  and  he 
could  not  be  budged  from  its  path. 

Following  the  registration,  there  was  no  run  to  the 
land  open  for  entry,  and  there  were  none  of  the  killings 
that  accompanied  former  drawings.  When  the  applicant 
registered  his  part  was  done.  If  he  was  lucky  enough  to 
draw  a  number,  he  merely  waited  and  took  his  turn  at 
selecting  his  piece  of  land. 

During  the  registration  days,  each  person  who  wished 
to  register  was  given  an  entry  blank  which  had  to  be  filled 
out.  This  slip  was  deposited  with  all  the  other  slips  in 
one  of  two  great  boxes,  ten  feet  long  and  two  feet  square 
and  stirred  with  an  iron  dasher.  When  the  drawing  started, 
each  name  was  numbered  as  it  was  drawn  out  and  notice 
was  sent  immediately  to  the  person  whose  name  appeared 
on  the  slip.  Many  names  were  not  drawn,  but  everyone 
felt  that  he  or  she  had  had  a  fair  deal. 

On  August  6th  the  land  was  thrown  open  for  entry, 
and  for  days  before,  the  roads  were  filled  with  people  walk- 
ing, riding  horseback,  in  carts,  carriages,  on  bicycles,  in 
fact  in  any  fashion,  in  order  to  get  to  the  new  county  seat, 
Lawton.  They  were  a  motley  crowd  with  all  manner  of 
baggage.  They  came  from  all  strata  of  life,  all  with  the 
same  idea  of  starting  anew  in  a  new  country.  There  were 
more  men  and  women  present  than  had  ever  before  gath- 
ered for  such  an  opening.  The  tale  is  told  that  Number 
One  was  selfish  and  instead  of  choosing  his  hundred  sixty 
acres  in  one  piece  with  the  boundary  on  the  town  line  of 
Lawton,  he  chose  two  eighty-acre  pieces  adjacent  to  the 
town.  A  girl  was  Number  Two  and  she,  perforce,  took  the 
land  next  to  his.  But  selfishness  does  not  always  win. 
His  land  was  marshy,  hers  was  on  higher  ground  and  dry, 
and  in  the  end  was  more  valuable  than  his.  Besides,  some 
squatters  who  were  on  his  land,  "squatted"  all  the  harder 
and  refused  to  get  off  until  he  used  force. 

Ex-Governor  Richards  laid  out  the  townsite  of  Lawton 
which  grew  rapidly.  It  was  not  long  until  the  entrants 
had  drawn  their  land  and  the  town  settled  down  to  the 
quiet  of  ordinary  towns. 


WYOMING'S  FOURTH  GOVERNOR  121 

An  article  in  the  Saturday  Evening  Post  gives  all  the 
credit  for  the  success  of  the  drawing  to  W.  A.  Richards. 
Dated  1901,  the  article  reads: 

There  was  this  other  trait  about  the  El  Reno 
crowd,  it  kept  moving.  The  average  man  stayed 
in  El  Reno  less  than  six  hours.  He  did  not  lag 
superfluous  on  the  stage  after  he  had  registered. 
And  here  is  where  your  Uncle  Sam  came  in.  The 
registration  was  conducted  with  exact  fairness  and 
unusual  rapidity.  When  one  considers  that  10,000 
human  beings,  which  are  contrary  and  un tractable 
creatures  at  best,  were  taken  into  a  half-dozen  hot, 
stuffy  little  tents,  seated  courteously,  adorned  with 
"good  morning"  or  "good  evening"  and  then  divested 
of  the  needed  information,  all  in  ten  working  hours 
and  that,  too,  without  riot  or  rebellion,  one  may 
realize  what  a  remarkable  work  the  registration 
was.  The  credit  for  this  work  is  entirely  due  to  the 
good  sense,  tact,  and  efficient  industry  of  former 
Governor  W.  A.  Richards  of  Wyoming.  He  repre- 
sented the  land  department  at  El  Reno.  Richards' 
success  lay  in  the  fact  that  he  is  a  Westerner  and 
knew  how  to  handle  a  Western  crowd. 

A  man  stood  in  the  line  one  day  with  a  Winchester. 
An  eastern  man  would  have  sent  for  a  policeman, 
a  southern  man  might  have  shown  some  authority 
in  taking  the  gun  away,  but  Richards  took  it  away 
so  gently,  so  politely,  and  withal  so  good-naturedly, 
that  the  gunbearer  felt  the  obligation  to  return  the 
former  governor's  kindness.  The  clerks,  in  opening 
the  envelopes  after  the  drawing,  found  that  many 
Texas  people  had  given  their  place  of  birth  as  Michi- 
gan. This  was  because  Texans,  fearing  that  politics 
was  to  control  the  lottery,  agreed  that  they  could  de- 
ceive the  managers  of  the  lottery  by  appearing  to 
be  northern  men  living  in  Texas,  and  hence  Repub- 
licans and  subject  to  favors.  But  when  the  drawing 
was  over,  no  state  was  prouder  to  belong  to  a  gov- 
ernment that  could  run  a  fair  drawing  than  the 
Texas  people.  Richards  had  the  friendship  of  all 
Texans — as  well  as  the  rest  of  the  union.  Richards 
was  discovered  to  the  government  by  Willis  Van 
Devanter,  assistant  attorney  general  for  the  In- 
terior Department,  to  whom  much  of  the  success 
of  the  opening  is  due.  He  drafted  the  bill  which 
made  the  opening.  He  prepared  the  president's 
proclamation.     He  worked  out  most  of  the  details 


122  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

of  the  drawing  and  of  the  land  fihng  that  followed. 
Van  Devanter  was  formerly  chief  justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Wyoming. 

Ex-Governor  Richards  laid  out  the  townsite  of 
Lawton.  It  lies  on  a  hillside  and  it  is  two  miles 
long,  a  mile  wide,  gently  rolling  and  sloping  toward 
the  south  and  west.  In  it  there  is  a  courthouse 
square;  two  other  squares  are  reserved  for  school 
houses,  after  the  American  fashion.  But  Richards 
could  not  know  everything.  A  man  who  bought 
a  lot  in  Lawton  dug  a  well.  Then  he  nailed  a  sign 
to  a  stick  and  stuck  it  up  for  him  who  runs  to  read: 
"From  this  lot  to  water — two  hundred  feet — 
DOWN!"  But  on  the  section  just  south  of  the  town- 
site  there  is  an  abundance  of  water  at  fourteen  feet. 
Lawton  may  move  from  Lawton  to  the  land  adjoin- 
ing it.  Still,  this  is  not  likely  as  most  of  the  town  has 
been  sold,  and  improvements  are  beginning.  Next 
year  there  may  be  a  system  of  water  works,  and 
wells  may  become  obsolete  and  archaic — as  they  are 
in  most  western  towns  of  over  two  thousand  inhabi- 
tants. According  to  the  rules  of  the  game  which  the 
settlers  were  playing,  the  townsite  of  Lawton  was 
to  be  left  clear  of  squatters  for  inspection  until 
the  lots  passed  into  the  hands  of  owners  at  the  auc- 
tion. But  between  the  first  and  sixth  of  August, 
25,000  people  had  gathered  around  the  boundaries 
of  Lawton  and  had  built  a  town  of  tents.  This  town 
grew  on  the  south  and  west  sides  of  the  townsite 
as  plotted  for  the  government.  There  were  two 
principal  business  streets  of  the  town  which  met 
at  the  southwest  corner  of  the  townsite — Grand 
Avenue  running  east  and  west,  and  Goo-goo  Ave- 
nue running  north  and  south. 

This  land  opening  was  declared  the  most  successful 
one  that  had  ever  taken  place  in  the  United  States.  Not 
only  Secretary  Hitchcock,  but  the  President  commended 
Mr.  Richards  for  his  success.  The  Oklahoma  Capital  also 
sent  its  congratulations.  His  home  state  rejoiced  in  his 
success,  and  this  evaluation  of  his  achievement  appeared 
in  the  Daily  Leader: 

The  specter  of  red  tape,  a  haunting  thing  to  most 
westerners,  had  faded  to  nothingness  before  Gov- 
ernor Richards'  performance  at  El  Reno.  With 
nearly  10,000  people  registered  each  day  without 
discomfort,   without   confusion,  without   misunder- 


WYOMING'S  FOURTH  GOVERNOR  123 

standings,  a  lot  of  patriotic  souls  in  this  region  are 
changing  their  opinion  about  the  manner  of  the  gov- 
ernment down  at  Washington. 

For  while  the  westerner  holds  the  government  in 
dear  esteem,  honors  it  above  everything  else  on 
earth,  is  ready  to  fight  for  it,  and  appreciates  its  vast 
capacity,  he  has  always  until  now  accursed  its  bu- 
reaus of  the  fault  of  masterful  delay.  He  has  had 
an  idea  that  the  government,  in  its  departmental 
work,  took  its  time — and  that  interminable. 

Governor  Richards,  being  a  westerner  and  having 
worked  daily  with  western  men,  knew  not  only  their  im- 
petuosity, but  their  love  of  fair  play.  His  conduct  of  the 
whole  proceedings  demonstrated  his  knowledge  of  the  psy- 
chology of  the  western  man.    As  stated  in  the  press: 

To  find  its  own  impetuosity,  its  unconventional 
haste,  and  full-blooded  eagerness  met  with  and  sat- 
isfied by  a  clerical  force  from  Washington,  is  to  the 
West  astounding.  That  a  small  body  of  these  ser- 
vants of  the  government,  transplanted  from  the 
leisurely  atmosphere  of  Washington  departments 
could  supply  the  demands  of  thousands  of  eager, 
quick-moving,  nimble-thinking  westerners  who 
wanted  to  register  at  once,  was  at  first  beyond 
belief. 

A  great  many  stories,  amusing  as  well  as  compli- 
mentary to  the  management,  were  told  or  published  fol- 
lowing the  drawing.  One  is  the  story  of  a  man  who  walked 
up  to  a  booth  and  registered  and  then  wanted  to  know 
where  the  line  was  so  he  could  get  into  it  and  begin  waiting. 

Governor  Richards  was  given  great  credit  for  the  effi- 
cient organization  of  his  forces.  The  blanks  for  registra- 
tion had  been  greatly  simplified,  no  doubt  through  his 
efforts.  There  were  no  intricacies  of  phraseology  to  puzzle 
the  applicants.  So  little  clerical  work  was  required  that 
the  men  claimed  they  were  "put  through"  in  two  minutes. 
The  officials  at  Washington  "stepped  up"  considerably  in 
the  estimation  of  the  common  Western  man. 

In  1903  ex-Governor  Richards  received  another  well- 
deserved  promotion,  this  time  from  President  Theodore 
Roosevelt.  He  was  now  made  Commissioner  of  the  Gen- 
eral Land  Office,  a  position  for  which  his  work  and  acquaint- 
ance with  public  lands  well  fitted  him.  It  was  probably 
about  this  time  that  he  wrote  the  following  article  on  Our 
Defective  Land  System: 


124  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

The  entire  arid  region,  agriculturally  considered, 
presents  a  spectacle  of  arrested  development.  Not 
only  are  individual  citizens  suffering,  but  the  states 
themselves  are  oppressed  with  a  burden  too  heavy 
for  them  to  bear.  While  the  public  land  has  been  a 
blessing  and  a  source  of  profit  to  the  eastern  states, 
it  is  all  of  the  opposite  to  the  arid  states.  Nearly 
every  arid  state  is  confronted  by  the  same  need,  that 
of  population.  Nature  has  supplied  every  condition 
which  prosperity  requires.  Under  our  feet  is  a  rich 
soil,  over  our  heads  a  genial  sun  and  in  our  rivers 
the  unused  waters.  We  lack  only  people  to  utilize 
these  resources.  As  conditions  are  now,  the  people 
are  not  coming.  Many  of  those  who  do  come  are 
unable  to  secure  a  foothold.  Settler  after  settler 
who  attempts  to  create  a  home  in  the  West  finds 
the  natural  conditions  too  hard  and  gives  up  and 
goes  elsewhere.  The  reason  for  this  is  found  in  the 
fact  that  irrigated  agriculture  is  a  capitalized  in- 
dustry. 

The  settler  of  Iowa  and  Kansas  needed  only  a  plow 
to  cultivate  the  soil  and  a  habitation  to  shelter  his 
family.  From  the  very  first  his  labor  was  produc- 
tive. The  settler  who  comes  to  Colorado  or  Wyo- 
ming confronts  an  entirely  different  situation.  Be- 
fore he  can  begin  to  farm,  ditches  must  be  dug, 
dams  built,  and  the  land  prepared  for  the  distri- 
bution of  water.  The  average  cost  of  providing  the 
water  will  reach  $10  an  acre.  The  cost  of  prepar- 
ing the  land  for  its  application  is  half  as  much 
more.  If  the  land  is  taken  up  under  the  desert 
land  act  the  government  charges  $1.25  an  acre  more, 
and  compels  him  to  furnish  maps  and  plans  and 
the  testimony  of  a  multitude  of  witnesses  to  estab- 
lish the  fact  that  he  is  fit  to  roam  at  large  and  ought 
not  to  be  in  the  penitentiary. 

The  combined  outlay  for  the  reclamation  of  arid 
land  is  therefore  too  great  for  the  homeseeker  with- 
out means.  The  man  who  can  afford  to  expend  $20 
an  acre  on  land  before  he  raises  a  crop  does  not 
have  to  come  west  to  secure  it.  He  can  buy  a  farm 
in  the  wealthy  and  populous  east.  If  the  outlook 
is  discouraging  for  a  settler  it  is  no  brighter  for  the 
ditch  builder.  To  divert  the  waters  of  our  large 
rivers,  aggregations  of  capital  are  required.  Many 
of  the  canal  systems  already  constructed  have  cost 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars,  and  in  a  few  in- 


WYOMING'S  FOURTH  GOVERNOR  125 

stances  the  outlay  on  single  enterprises  has  reached 
millions.  In  nearly  every  instance  the  building  of 
large  canals  to  water  public  land  has  proven  a 
financial  failure.  In  the  beginning  of  this  sort  of 
investment  such  results  were  attributed  to  mis- 
management. It  is  now  known  that  they  are  the 
almost  inevitable  results  of  our  defective  land 
system. 

During  all  of  his  career  as  a  public  administrator,  only 
once  was  W.  A.  Richards  accused  dishonorably.  A  dis- 
gruntled employee  made  the  charge  that  he  had  gotten 
hold  of  land  dishonestly.  It  was  speedily  disproved  but  the 
very  fact  that  the  charge  had  been  made,  grieved  Governor 
Richards  sorely,  for  he  was  proud  of  his  honor  as  well  he 
had  a  right  to  be.  He  prided  himself  on  never  having  been 
in  on  a  shady  transaction.  One  day  while  governor,  some 
of  the  leading  men  of  the  state  had  been  consulting  him. 
When  they  left,  he  remarked,  "I  wish  they  would  not 
countenance  underhanded  methods.     It  is  not  necessary." 

Not  only  was  his  public  life  one  of  honor  but  his  pri- 
vate life  as  well.  He  was  always  a  devoted  husband  and 
father.  His  secretary,  when  he  was  commissioner  of  the 
General  Land  Office,  J.  T.  Macey,  often  commented  on  the 
fact  that  Wm.  A.  Richards'  first  move  when  arriving  at 
the  office  in  the  mornings,  was  to  see  if  he  had  anything 
to  do  for  his  family.     That  done,  he  went  to  work. 

He  often  remonstrated  with  the  clerks  in  the  office  for 
watching  the  clock.  He  told  them  they  would  never  suc- 
ceed that  way.  He  could  not  brook  inefficiency  and  the 
sot  was  to  him  intolerable.  On  one  occasion,  in  a  single 
order,  he  swept  from  the  special  service  of  the  General 
Land  Office  seventeen  bibulous  individuals  whose  places 
had  been  obtained  through  pull  and  whose  services  were 
marked  by  inefficiency  and  graft. 

In  all  of  his  public  life,  his  leaning  was  toward  the 
people  and  not  the  big  powers.  Many  of  the  old  cobwebs 
that  had  been  years  in  weaving  were  brushed  aside  and 
shorter  cuts  to  justice  were  established.  As  an  employer 
he  was  considerate  and  kind;  as  a  superior  official,  he  had 
the  respect  and  good  will  of  all  subordinates.  One  of  the 
most  treasured  of  his  personal  belongings  was  an  expen- 
sive and  elegant  gold  watch  presented  to  him  by  the  em- 
ployees of  the  General  Land  Office  at  Washington  upon 
the  occasion  of  his  retirement. 

For  many  years  it  had  been  the  practice  of  each  com- 
missioner of  the  land  office  to  leave  a  picture  of  himself 
to  be  displayed  in  the  offices  at  the  expiration  of  his  term. 


126  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Ex-Governor  Richards  while  in  Washington,  D.  C,  had 
sat  for  a  painting  by  A.  A.  Anderson,  a  portrait  painter 
who  often  hunted  in  the  West  and  who  owned  what  are 
called  Palette  I,  Palette  II,  and  Palette  III  Ranches  near 
Meeteetse,  Wyoming;  but  the  portrait  did  not  suit  him. 
Later,  however,  it  was  presented  to  the  State  of  Wyoming. 
When  he  failed  to  present  the  land  office  with  a  pic- 
ture, Frank  Bond,  chief  clerk  of  the  office  under  Richards, 
and  a  close  friend  of  the  former  commissioner,  carved  a 
likeness  of  his  friend  from  a  block  of  pine.*  It  was  twenty- 
four  by  thirty  inches  and  was  regarded  as  a  perfect  like- 
ness. It  was  about  three  months  in  the  carving.  An  inter- 
esting letter  concerning  the  wood  carving  came  to  the 
ex-Governor  from  the  assistant  commissioner. 

My  dear  Governor: 

It  may  be  news  to  you  that  your  reception  yester- 
day was  attended  by  a  large  number  of  your 
friends,  who,  but  a  short  time  before,  were  not  aware 
of  your  presence  in  the  office.  It  came  about  in  this 
way.  Mr.  Bond,  our  Chief  Clerk,  has  produced  a 
most  excellent  likeness  of  you,  done  in  relief  on 
wood,  a  form  of  wood  carving,  so  far  as  I  know,  en- 
tirely unique.  The  picture  is  about  the  size  of  those 
hanging  in  our  office  of  the  former  Commissioners. 
The  face  stands  out  one  and  one-half  inches  from  the 
base  and  presents  your  features  in  profile.  The 
whole  is  overlaid  with  a  light  brown  stain,  deep- 
ening into  darker  shades.  The  likeness  is  remark- 
able, a  matter  about  which  your  old  friends  and 
associates  testify,  without  exception.  As  a  matter 
of  art,  I  am  not  capable  of  criticising  the  work  (I 
know  too  little  of  such  things)  but  it  is  certainly 
a  most  lifelike  presentation  of  you  as  we  knew 
you  while  you  were  here. 

It  occupies  a  prominent  position  in  the  Commis- 
sioner's room  and  when  it  had  been  put  in  place 
the  Commissioner  sent  word  through  the  office,  and 
thereupon  the  reception  occurred  of  which  I  spoke 
at  first.  The  people  were  coming  and  going  all  day 
and  admiring  the  picture,  without  exception. 

It  is  framed  in  plain  dark  wood,  and  carries  your 
name  and  date  of  your  service  on  a  silver  plate  at 
the  bottom  of  the  frame. 


*This   carved   likeness   of   Mr.   Richards   is  now   in  the   State 
Historical  Museum  in  Cheyenne,  Wyomng. 


WYOMING'S  FOURTH  GOVERNOR  127 

I  am  writing  about  this  myself  somewhat  fully, 
because  I  want  you  to  know  how  we  feel  about  the 
picture  in  the  office  and  I  know  Bond  will  be  too 
modest  to  tell  you  of  what  we  regard  a  wonderful 
piece  of  work. 

It  was  while  W.  A.  Richards  was  commissioner  that 
he  presented  the  Methodist  church  at  Rawlins  with  an 
addition  to  their  parsonage.  His  daughter,  Mrs.  Alice 
McCreery,  was  the  wife  of  the  pastor  of  the  church  of 
that  place. 

On  October  27,  1903,  occurred  the  death  of  Mrs.  Rich- 
ards, one  of  the  tragic  events  in  the  life  of  the  former 
governor  of  Wyoming.  She  had  always  been  a  helpmate 
during  the  early  struggles  of  married  life  and  had  filled 
the  higher  duties  that  came  with  the  higher  offices  with  all 
the  graciousness  of  her  station,  even  though  the  formal 
calls  and  entertaining  were  most  distasteful  to  her.  She 
was  mourned  by  a  large  circle  of  friends  in  addition  to 
her  family. 

In  1907  W.  A.  Richards  returned  to  Wyoming  and  his 
ranch,  but  the  public  would  not  let  him  enjoy  private  life. 
The  following  year  he  was  appointed  State  Tax  Collector, 
a  newly  created  and  most  important  office. 

It  would  seem  that  such  a  busy  man  would  have  no 
time  for  hobbies,  yet  the  ex-Governor's  hobby  was  hunting. 
He  joined  a  New  York  sportsman's  group  and  qualified 
as  having  killed  almost  every  kind  of  wild  animal  in  America. 
His  name  was  published  in  their  honor  roll  in  Field  and 
Stream  along  with  such  notables  as  Theodore  Roosevelt. 
In  all  he  had  killed  forty  different  kinds  of  animals,  among 
them  a  bison,  moose,  deer,  mountain  sheep,  and  grizzly 
bear.     In  his  honor  claim  he  has  written: 

In  September  1869,  I  killed  a  wounded  buffalo 
bull,  able  and  willing  to  fight,  with  a  hunting  knife. 
George  Kendall  now  of  San  Bernardino,  California, 
witnessed  it.  I  was  near  the  Republican  River, 
Nebraska,  an  Indian  country.  We  were  afoot,  had 
only  three  cartridges,  were  miles  from  camp  and  I 
wanted  the  bull's  scalp.  This  does  not  appear 
sportsmanlike  now,  but  the  plains  in  those  days 
pastured  millions  of  buffalo — I  appreciate  the  rea- 
sons for  omitting  buffalo  from  the  list,  but  throw 
this  in  for  good  measure. 

Richards  was  a  crack  shot  and  enjoyed  this  sport 
immensely  but  he  never  killed  wantonly. 


128  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

During  his  later  years,  the  former  governor  became 
much  interested  in  western  history  but  he  had  very  httle 
time  to  devote  to  it  for  with  all  his  public  duties,  he  was 
still  actively  interested  in  his  ranch  at  Red  Bank. 

In  1912  occurred  the  tragic  death  of  one  of  his  daughters 
who  with  her  husband  was  residing  on  a  place  near  the 
Red  Bank  Ranch.  Going  to  their  home  one  day,  the  bodies 
of  both  husband  and  wife  were  found  dead,  one  on 
the  bed  inside  the  house,  the  other  in  the  yard  some  dis- 
tance from  the  house.  What  occurred  to  cause  the  murder 
of  these  two  young  people  has  always  been  a  mystery 
through  the  years  and  is  today  still  unsolved.  Coming  a 
few  years  after  the  death  of  his  wife,  it  broke  Governor 
Richards  to  such  an  extent  that  his  friends  began  to  notice 
his  failing  health.  In  an  effort  to  see  him  returned  to  his 
usual  self,  his  friends  persuaded  him  to  go  to  Australia  at 
the  request  of  Dr.  Elwood  Mead,  who  was  chairman  of  the 
State  Water  Commission  of  Melbourne.  He  gave  freely 
of  his  knowledge  of  the  science  of  irrigation  which  was 
new  to  Australia.  In  a  letter  to  a  friend,  he  stated  that  he 
found  conditions  very  pleasant  in  Australia  and  that 
he  had  decided  to  stay  longer  and  spend  the  remainder 
of  the  year  in  travel  and  in  visiting  with  his  daughters. 
After  the  tragedy  of  the  death  of  his  youngest  daughter, 
the  Governor  could  no  longer  bear  to  spend  his  time  on 
his  beautiful  ranch  which  he  had  always  loved  so  much. 

Then  suddenly  came  the  news  of  his  death.  On  July 
25th,  1912  he  died  from  a  heart  attack.  The  following 
account  of  the  death  of  Governor  Richards  was  printed 
in  a  daily  paper  in  Victoria,  Australia: 

The  career  of  a  distinguished  American  citizen 
who  had  intended  to  make  his  home  in  Victoria 
was  cut  short  by  the  death  of  former  Governor 
Richards  of  Wyoming,  which  occurred  suddenly 
early  yesterday  morning  at  Mena-house,  a  private^ 
hospital  at  East  Melbourne.  The  body  will  be  car- 
ried back  to  America  on  the  steamer,  Sonoma,  by 
which  Mr.  Elwood  Mead,  who  was  a  close  personal 
friend  of  the  deceased  gentleman,  will  travel  from 
Sydney  this  afternoon. 

The  late  Mr.  W.  A.  Richards  came  to  Victoria  on 
a  visit  with  the  American  land  seekers'  excursion 
in  May,  with  the  object  of  inspecting  the  irrigation 
areas  of  the  state,  and  also  of  renewing  his  acquaint- 
ance with  Mr.  Mead.  He  made  so  many  friends  in 
the  state,  however,  and  was  so  favorably  impressed 
with  the  irrigation  districts,  that  he  decided  to  stay 


WYOMING'S  FOURTH  GOVERNOR  129 

here.  He  had  only  recently  applied  for  an  allot- 
ment  at   Shepparton. 

On  Thursday  Mr.  Richards  attended  the  farewell 
luncheon  at  state  parliament  house  in  honor  of 
Mr.  Mead.  He  was  in  his  ordinary  health  at  that 
time,  but  when  walking  in  the  street  subsequently 
with  Mr.  Mead  he  complained  of  pain  in  the  region 
of  the  heart.  At  Mr.  Mead's  suggestion  he  consulted 
Dr.  Mackeddie,  whose  surgery  they,  were  passing. 
Dr.  Mackeddie  took  him  to  the  hospital.  Mr.  Rich- 
-  ards  did  not  then  appear  to  be  seriously  ill,  but  he 
had  a  heart  seizure  early  yesterday  morning  and 
died  at  four  o'clock. 

Mr.  Mead  was  much  affected  by  the  sudden  death 
of  his  old  friend  yesterday.  He  cabled  the  news  to 
Senator  Warren  of  Wyoming,  and  Mr.  E.  F.  Adams 
of  San  Francisco.  Mr.  Mead  was  also  asked  by  the 
state  ministry  on  its  behalf  to  make  all  necessary 
arrangements  for  the  conveyance  of  the  body  to 
America,  and  to  express  the  cabinet's  sympathy 
with  the  relatives  of  Mr.  Richards. 

The  deceased  was  a  wealthy  widower,  63  years  of 
age.  He  leaves  two  married  daughters  in  America. 
Prior  to  his  visit  to  Victoria  he  suffered  severely 
from  shock  as  the  result  of  the  murder  under  pain- 
ful circumstances,  of  another  daughter  and  her 
husband. 

Many  years  ago,  when  they  were  friends  in  Wyo- 
ming, Mr.  Richards  and  Mr.  Mead  together  bought 
a  cemetery  allotment,  saying  they  would  be  buried 
there  when  they  died,  side  by  side.  "I  am  taking 
the  body  to  America  with  me,"  remarked  Mr.  Mead, 
when  interviewed  yesterday  prior  to  the  departure 
of  his  train,  "because  I  feel  that  in  doing  so  I  am 
paying  a  tribute  to  an  old  friend  who  died  in  a 
strange  land.  It  is  all  I  can  do.  He  will  be  buried 
in  the  allotment  he  and  I  bought  together  before 
either  of  us  thought  of  coming  to  Australia." 

Mr.  A.  A.  Sleight  carried  out  the  arrangements. 
The  body  was  embalmed  and  robed  in  an  evening 
dress  suit  (the  American  custom)  and  hermetically 
sealed  in  lead  and  oak  caskets. 

From  a  Wyoming  paper  came  the  following: 

When,  yesterday,  in  a  foreign  land,  half  the  world's 
span  distant  from  the  state  he  loved  and  served  so 


130  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

well,  William  A.  Richards  died,  Wyoming  lost  an 
able  and  distinguished  citizen  and  hundreds  of 
Wyomingites  were  bereaved  of  a  warmly  admired 
friend. 

News  of  the  death  of  Governor  Richards  will  carry 
regret  into  every  quarter  of  the  state.  During  his 
long  public  service  he  became  associated  with  men 
representing  every  locality  of  the  commonwealth 
and  through  their  reflection  of  his  strength  and 
virile  progressiveness  his  influence  was  felt  in  all 
Wyoming  in  a  manner  which  could  not  be  attained 
through  mere  official  functioning. 
Governor  Richards  served  Wyoming  as  chief  ex- 
ecutive at  a  critical  period  in  the  progress  of  the 
young  commonwealth;  to  his  wise  administration 
may  be  credited  much  of  the  concurrent  substantial 
advancement  of  the  state.  In  federal  and  other 
state  offices  he  rendered  valuable  executive  and 
constructive  service. 

He  had  a  most  winning  personality  and  was  prob- 
ably the  most  entertaining  story-teller  in  the  state. 
His  fund  of  historical  and  political  reminiscence 
was  inexhaustible.  Only  those  who  knew  him  well 
fully  appreciated  this  phase  of  his  versatility. 
Since  retirement  from  public  office  and  private 
business,  Governor  Richards  had  marked  out  for 
himself  a  course  of  reading  and  was  doing  a  great 
deal  of  studying  which  he  said,  he  had  not  had  time 
for  in  his  busier  days. 

When  we  last  talked  with  him  he  was  reading  the 
history  of  the  French  Revolution  and  the  life  of 
Napoleon  Bonaparte,  and  he  discussed  both  in  a 
most  interesting  manner. 

W.  A.  Richards,  while  ordinarily  regarded  only  as 
a  plain  business  man  and  stockman  called  into 
public  life,  possessed  a  very  keen,  analytical  mind, 
and  President  Roosevelt  once  said  he  would  trust 
W.  A.  Richards'  judgment  and  conclusion  on  a 
proposition  as  fully  as  that  of  any  man  he  ever 
knew. 
W.  A.  Richards'  death  is  a  distinct  loss  to  Wyoming. 

No  further  eulogy  of  this  splendid  man  need  be  added 
other  than  the  words  of  a  friend,  who  said  that  Governor 
Richards  was  one  of  the  great  men  of  his  time! 


Zhe  Congressional  Career 

of 
Senator  Jrams  S.  Warren  from  J 890  to  1902 

By  ANNE  CAROLYN  HANSEN 

Continued    from    last   Issue. 

CHAPTER  VI 

WAKREN  AND  PUBLIC  LANDS  LEGISLATION 

At  the  time  of  Warren's  election  to  the  Senate  there 
was  a  general  lack  of  understanding  in  the  eastern  sections 
of  the  country  as  to  the  effects  of  the  application  of  the 
existing  land  laws  in  the  western  arid  region.  Webb  says 
in  The  Great  Plains,  "It  is  not  too  much  to  say  .  .  .  that 
no  law  has  ever  been  made  by  the  Federal  government  that 
is  satisfactorily  adapted  to  the  arid  region.^*^*^  The  range 
cattle  economy  was  based  upon  the  theory  of  the  right  to 
the  free  grazing  of  livestock  upon  the  vast  unoccupied  areas 
of  the  public  domain.  When  the  ranchmen  took  advantage 
of  this  alleged  right,  they  were  bitterly  criticized  by  the 
settlers  of  the  more  humid  sections  of  the  East.  The  stock 
growers  of  the  Middle  West  thought  it  unfair  that  these 
cattle  which  grazed  upon  the  public  domain  should  enter 
into  competition  with  their  stock  produced  on  land  which 
they  owned  and  upon  which  they  were  required  to  pay 
taxes. ^^^  The  eastern  Congressmen  could  not  comprehend 
that  ranching  on  the  unirrigable  reaches  of  the  arid  plains 
was  vastly  different  from  farming  in  the  Middle  West 
where  a  homestead  of  a  few  acres  was  sufficient  to  provide 
a  livelihood.     Osgood  says: 

Absurd  as  it  was  to  talk  about  one-hundred- 
sixty  acre  homes  for  poor  men  in  a  country  where 
it  took  anywhere  frorn  ten  to  thirty  acres  to  furnish 
grass  enough  for  a  range  steer,  the  country  in  gen- 
eral continued  to  think  of  this  problem  of  adapting 


l^^Walter  Prescott  Webb,  The  Great  Plains  (New  York:  Ginn  and  Com- 
pany,  1931),  p.  399. 

161  Edward  Everett  Dale,  The  Range  Cattle  Industry  (Norman,  Okla- 
homa:   University  of  Oklahoma  Press,   1930),   pp.   179-183. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  133 

the  land  laws  to  the  arid  West  in  terms  of  agricul- 
ture as  it  was  known  in  the  Middle  West.^*^- 

Major  Powell  in  his  report  on  the  lands  of  the  arid  region 
of  the  United  States  recommended  that  the  farm  unit  on 
pasturage  lands  should  not  be  less  than  2560  acres. ^^^ 
Osgood  points  out  that  the  average  size  of  farms  in  Wyo- 
ming in  1890  was  885.9  acres.^*^^ 

Of  the  three  common  methods  of  obtaining  land  under 
the  laws  of  the  United  States — the  Homestead  Act,  the 
Desert  Land  Act,  and  the  Timber  Culture  Act — none  was 
successfully  adaptable  to  the  conditions  in  the  West  and 
all  were  susceptible  to  fraud  and  speculation.  Under  the 
Homestead  Act  of  1862  settlers  could  acquire  farms  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  free,  except  for  a  minor  fee  paid 
at  the  time  of  filing,  with  the  condition  that  they  must  live 
on  such  homesteads  for  five  years  before  getting  their  titles 
to  the  land.  The  ill  fated  Timber  Culture  Act  was  an 
attempt  to  increase  the  humidity.  It  provided  that  any 
person  who  would  plant,  protect,  and  keep  in  healthy  grow- 
ing condition  for  ten  years,  ten  acres  of  trees  would  receive 
title  to  a  quarter-section  of  land  of  which  the  ten  acres 
was  a  part.  Under  this  act  great  tracts  of  land  were  held 
for  range  purposes  for  two  or  three  years  with  little  pre- 
text of  compliance  with  the  law.  The  same  land  was  often 
entered,  held  for  two  or  three  years,  and  relinquished  again 
and  again  in  the  process  which  went  on  indefinitely. ^"^^  The 
Desert  Land  Act  of  1877  permitted  a  desert  land  entry^^*^ 
of  six  hundred  and  forty  acres  to  a  settler  who  would  irri- 
gate it  within  three  years  after  filing.  A  payment  of  twenty- 
five  cents  per  acre  was  to  be  made  at  the  time  of  filing  and 
of  one  dollar  at  the  time  of  m.aking  proof  of  compliance 
with  the  law.  Under  this  act  great  areas  of  land  came  to 
be  held  speculatively  by  large  cattle  companies.  Hibbard 
says: 

In  Wyoming  a  great  deal  of  so-called  ditching 
was  done  by  plowing  a  few  furrows  or  by  cutting  a 
ditch  one  foot  deep  where  eight  feet  were  needed. 
Moreover  these  ditches  failed  to  follow  the  contour 


i620sgood.  op.  cit.,  p.  194. 

i63Quoted  in  Webb,  op.  cit.,  p.  419. 

i640sgood.  op.  cit.,  p.  236. 

lesHibbard,  o:p.r2V.,  p.  419. 

I66"j)esert  land"  meant  any  land  within  the  states  of  Arizona,  California, 
North  and  South  Dakota,  Idaho,  Montana,  Nevada,  New  Mexico,  Oregon,  Utah, 
Washington,  and  Wyoming,  excepting  mineral  and  timber  lands,  that  was  not 
susceptible  of  cultivation  without  irrigation.  In  1891  the  provisions  of  the 
act  were  applied  to  Colorado.    Webb,  op.  cit.,  p.  413. 


134  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

of  the  land  with  reference  to  the  habits  of  water 
and  often  they  began  where  there  was  no  water  to 
be  conducted  and  ended  where  there  was  no  field 
to  receive;  cattle  companies  contracted  with  them- 
selves to  put  in  the  irrigating  system. i^^' 

William  Andrew  Jackson  Sparks,  Commissioner  of  the 
General  Land  Office  under  President  Cleveland,  said  in 
his  report  of  1885  that  the  history  of  public  land  entries 
in  the  West  had  been  "one  common  story  of  widespread, 
persistent  land  robbery  committed  under  the  guise  of  the 
various  forms  of  public  entry. "^'^"^  Determined  to  put  an  end 
to  fraud  under  the  public  land  laws,  Sparks  cancelled  all 
entries  which  were  suspected  of  being  fraudulent.  The 
Sun-Leader  said, 

"During  the  time  Land  Commissioner  Sparks  held  high 
sway  over  the  West  it  was  impossible  to  prove  upon  desert 
land  claims  and  many  were  abandoned." ^*^^  Warren,  as 
governor  of  the  territory  of  Wyoming  and  representative 
of  the  cattlemen,  protested  to  the  Land  Office.  In  his  report 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  in  1886  he  declared: 

.  .  .  that  land  matters  in  Wyoming  are  misunder- 
stood and  misjudged  [and  that]  ...  if  an  over 
zealous  course  is  pursued  and  the  acquirement  of 
land  by  bonafide  entrymen  is  made  so  difficult  as 
to  amount  to  almost  proscription,  very  great  injury 
is  done  to  the  class  sought  to  be  benefited  by  such 
efforts.  .  .  .  Well  meant,  iron-clad  instructions  do 
not  so  much  hinder  frauds  as  they  embarrass  and 
impoverish  the  poor  pioneer. ^^"^ 

When  he  became  Senator,  Warren  tried  to  enact  a  law  for 
the  relief  of  those  persons  who  had  lost  their  claims  by 
the  cancellation  of  their  entries.  In  1894  Warren  intro- 
duced a  bill  providing  that  if  before  March  3,  1891,  under 
the  Desert  Land  Act  of  1877,  any  person  made  the  first 
payment  of  twenty-five  cents  per  acre  and  had  filed  a 
declaration  of  his  intention  to  reclaim  a  tract  of  desert  land 
and  was  unable  for  any  cause,  other  than  his  own  fraudu- 
lent  or  unlawful   act   to   make  final   entry,   he   should   be 


i67Hibbard,  op.cit.,  p.  429. 
i680sgood,  op.cit.,  p.  204. 

^^^ Cheyenne   Daily    Sun-Leader,   January    28,    1894.     Clipping    In    Warren 
Scrapbook. 

I'^oOsgood,  op.  cit.,  p.  206. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  135 

refunded  his  first  payment.  Warren's  bill  failed  to  pass 
and  he  introduced  the  same  bill  in  following  sessions. 

After  repeated  demands  of  the  Land  Commissioner, 
Congress  in  1891  repealed  the  Timber  Culture  and  Pre- 
emption Acts  and  amended  the  Desert  Land  and  Homestead 
laws.  .  The  important  changes  made  in  the  Desert  Land 
Act  provided  that  three  dollars  per  acre  should  be  expended 
upon  the  land  for  reclamation  and  that  water  should  be 
made  available  for  the  entire  amount,  one-eighth  of  which 
should  be  put  under  cultivation.  Osgood  thus  describes 
the  general  reaction  among  the  small  settlers: 

The  repeal  of  the  preemption  and  timber  cul- 
ture laws,  and  the  modification  of  the  Desert  Land 
Act  appeared  to  them  to  be  the  work  of  the  tools 
of  the  big  corporations.  After  allowing  the  "cattle 
kings"  to  get  all  they  desired,  the  Government  now 
permitted  the  status  quo  to  be  preserved  by  reduc- 
ing the  settler  to  a  mere  320  acres  of  desert  land, 
which  he  could  not  possibly  irrigate.^ '^ 

Warren  received  the  condemnation  of  the  small  settlers 
because  of  his  vote  for  the  bill.  The  Cheyenne-Leader  for 
March  6  bitterly  criticized  Warren's  vote  on  the  bill  and 
called  the  act  "the  most  damnable  blow  that  has  ever  been 
aimed  at  the  interest  of  the  poor  and  struggling  people  of 
the  West."^'-     The  article  continued: 

It  practically  gives  every  big  land  owner  in 
the  West  a  title  to  all  the  government  land  which 
he  has  enclosed  with  his  railroad  land.  Until  now 
any  citizen  or  settler  might  go  within  the  wire 
fences  of  big  corporations  and  by  filing  a  pre- 
emption claim  secure  title  with  comparative  ease 
while  at  the  same  time  earning  his  living  elsewhere. 
Where  is  the  settler  now  who  would  undertake  to 
live  for  five  years  on  such  land  to  secure  one  hun- 
dred sixty  acres  that  it  is  impossible  to  irrigate? 
He  couldn't  raise  crops  because  he  couldn't  get  the 
water  with  which  to  irrigate  and  the  poor  man  who 
undertook  it  would  slowly  starve  to  death  long  be- 
fore   this    generous    American    government    would 


I'^iOsgood,  op.  cit.,  p.  245. 

'^'^'^ Cheyenne  Daily  Leader,  March  6,  189L    Clipping  in  Warren  Scrapbook. 


136  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

give   him    title   to    the    paltry    one    hundred    sixty 
acres  of  arid  land.^"^ 

Perhaps  it  was  because  of  the  condemnation  which 
Warren  and  other  Republican  Senators  received  that  the 
next  year  Warren  introduced  a  bill  to  reenact  the  pre- 
emption laws  which  had  been  repealed.  This  bill  failed 
to  pass  and  was  unsuccessfully  introduced  in  subsequent 
sessions,^ '"^ 

It  has  been  noted  above  that  the  early  Western  cattle- 
man depended  upon  grazing  his  cattle  upon  the  open  range. 
As  the  land  laws  did  not  provide  for  leasing  or  selling 
grazing  land  in  tracts  large  enough  for  utilization  for  graz- 
ing, the  cattleman  simply  took  what  he  wanted.  He 
established  his  right  to  the  land  simply  by  prior  use,  and 
resented  any  intrusion  on  his  domain.  As  more  and  more 
ranchers  were  attracted  bj^  the  alleged  profits  of  the  range 
industry  the  range  became  crowded.  In  the  80's  and  90's 
sheep  began  to  displace  cattle  on  the  range  and  conflicts 
between  the  sheepmen  and  cattlemen  were  inevitable.  The 
theory  of  the  open  range  was  denied  and  "dead  lines"  were 
drawn  beyond  which  the  sheepmen  passed  at  their  own 
peril.  At  the  same  time  settlers  were  filing  on  land  which 
barred  the  cattlemen  from  water.  These  settlers  built 
fences  which  in  winter  were  a  deadly  peril  for  drifting 
herds  which  might  pile  up  against  a  fence  and  smother. 
The  range  became  overstocked  and  close  grazing  ruined 
the  grass.  The  culmination  was  the  disastrous  winter  of 
1886-87  which  wiped  out  complete  herds. 


^''^Ibid.  The  preemption  right  was  mainly  a  possessory  right,  established 
by  the  construction  of  a  dwelling  house  and  the  making  of  improvements. 
For  many  years  the  preemption  privilege  secured  the  settler  in  his  right  to 
purchase,  at  a  minimum  price,  before  the  date  of  the  general  sale  of  the 
tract  of  which  his  claim  was  a  part.  After  the  passage  of  the  homestead 
law  and  the  discontinuance  of  the  general  sales,  this  provision  was  hardly 
applicable.  Hence,  it  was  provided  that  the  preemptor  should  hie  his  declara- 
tion of  intent  to  purchase  within  three  months  after  settlement  upon  the  land, 
or  in  case  it  was  not  surveyed  at  the  time  of  settlement  within  three  months 
after  the  filing  of  the  survey  plat,  and  should  make  payment  within  fifteen 
more  after  filing  his  declaration.     Hibbard,  op.  cit.,  p.  170. 

^''^■^In  1897  Warren  introduced  a  bill  to  allow  persons  "who  had  commuted 
homesteads  to  avail  themselves  of  the  provisions  of  the  Homestead  Act." 
Congressional  Record,  55  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  March  19,  1897,  p.  67.  It  cannot 
be  determined  exactly  what  Warren  intended  to  accomplish  by  this  act  without 
having  access  to  the  provisions  of  the  bill.  Under  the  commutation  clause  of 
the  Homestead  Act  the  settler  might  preempt  his  homestead  and  pay  the 
minimum  price  of  $1.25  or  $2.50  per  acre  for  it.  From  1881  io  1904  a  total 
of  22,000,000  acres  or  twenty-three  percent  of  homesteads  were  commuted. 
Under  this  clause  forested  lands  could  be  secured  by  paying  as  low  as  $1.25 
per  acre.    Hibbard,  op.  cit.,  p.  388  ff. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  137 

It  became  apparent  that  some .  regulations  must  be  im- 
posed upon  the  use  of  the  range  to  prevent  its  further 
destruction.  Elwood  Mead  in  1910  thus  outlined  his  ideas 
on  the  administration  of  the  grazing  lands: 

If  the  value  of  the  grazing  lands  is  to  be  pre- 
served, there  must  be  some  sort  of  administration 
which  will  put  an  end  to  the  destructive  overstock- 
ing and  make  it  to  the  interest  of  individuals  to 
protect  and  improve  the  areas  they  use.  Whatever 
shape  legislation  takes,  it  should  provide  for  the 
union  of  the  irrigable  and  grazing  lands.  The  irri- 
gated homestead  should  be  reduced  in  size  in  order 
to  provide  homes  for  the  largest  number  of  people, 
but  its  reduction  should  be  offset  by  giving  to  the 
^  settler  the  right  to  lease  a  larger,  but  limited,  area 
of  grazing  land.  The  chief  industry  in  much  of  the 
West  will  always  be  the  growing  of  livestock.  Unit- 
ing the  irrigable  and  grazing  lands  will  divide  the 
latter  into  a  multitude  of  small  holdings,  increase 
the  number  of  people  benefited,  and  make  the  grow- 
ing of  live  stock  attractive  to  many  who  are  now 
repelled  by  the  risks  and  controversies  of  the  open 
range.^'^^ 

Mead   recommended   that   grazing   lands   be   leased   rather 
than  sold. 

Warren  was  aware  of  the  need  for  legislation  to  provide 
for  the  leasing  of  range  land.  His  arid  land  bill,  which 
has  been  discussed  above  in  connection  with  irrigation, 
provided  for  the  leasing  of  pasturage  lands.  Following 
are  the  provisions  of  the  bill  in  regard  to  the  utilization 
of  range   lands: 

All  lands  not  subject  to  reclamation  and  use- 
ful only  for  pastoral  purpose,  and  not  taken  under 
the  foregoing  provisions  of  this  act,  may  be  appor- 
tioned or  leased  to  actual  settlers  and  used  in  tracts 
not  exceeding  the  lands  lying  contiguous  or  adjacent 
to  any  such  settler's  lawful  claim  or  entry  of  land, 
under  such  stipulations  or  at  such  prices  as  the 
respective  Legislatures  aforesaid  may  by  law  pre- 
scribe, the  apportionment  of  contiguous  or  adja- 
cent pasture  lands  being  held  to  mean  a  division 
of  lands,  so  that  each  settler  shall  be  entitled  to 
rent  the  pasture  lands  which  lie  nearer  to  the  lands 
of  such  settler  than  to  those  of  any  other  settler, 


i^ojviead,  op.  cit.,  p.  38. 


138  ANNALS  OF  WYO]^vllNG 

excepting  as  limited  or  bounded  by  mountain  ranges, 
highland  divides,  deep  canons,  or  other  natural 
boundaries  of  different  watersheds,  hydrographic 
basins,  or  parts  thereof,  in  which  cases  the  said 
natural    boundaries    and    barriers    shall   prevail.^'^ 

Warren's  bill  anticipated  Mead's  subsequent  recommen- 
dations in  several  respects.  Both  recommended  the  leasing 
of  grazing  lands  as  the  most  satisfactory  way  of  utilization, 
and  both  provided  for  the  union  of  irrigable  and  pasturage 
lands.  Warren's  bill  limited  the  size  of  a  holding  to  three 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  which  was  similar  to  Mead's 
recommendation  that  the  irrigated  homestead  should  be 
reduced  in  size. 

The  initiation  of  the  policy  of  the  United  States  gov- 
ernment to  set  aside  forest  lands  as  reservations  further 
reduced  the  amount  of  grazing  lands  available  for  the 
rancher.  The  open  parks  of  the  forest  areas  offered  ideal 
summer  pasture  for  sheep  and  cattle.  Grass  was  abundant 
throughout  the  driest  months  of  the  year  and  mountain 
streams  solved  the  difficult  problem  of  securing  water  for 
herds.  By  1890  Congress  was  becoming  aware  of  the  in- 
creasing need  for  legislation  to  protect  and  conserve  the 
forest  lands.  By  act  of  Congress  in  1891  the  President  of 
the  United  States  was  authorized  to  set  apart  forest  reser- 
vations on  the  public  domain  of  the  United  States.  Under 
this  act  President  Harrison  removed  13,416,710  acres  of  for- 
est land.^'"  In  the  sundry  civil  bill  approved  June  11, 
1896,  an  appropriation  of  $25,000  was  made  to  "enable  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  to  meet  the  expenses  of  an  inves- 
tigation and  report  by  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences 
on  the  inauguration  of  a  national  forestry  policy  for  the 
forested  lands  of  the  United  States. "^''^  Among  others  ap- 
pointed on  the  commission  were  Alexander  Agassiz,  the 
famous  botanist,  and  Gifford  Pinchot,  who  later  became 
Chief  Forester.  The  commission  began  work  July  2,  1896, 
and  spent  three  months  studying  and  visiting  forest  reser- 
vation sites.  They  recommended  the  establishment  of  thir- 
teen additional  forest  reservations  containing  an  aggregate 
area  of  21,379,840  acres.  The  recommendations  included 
the  establishments  of  the  Black  Hills  reserve^ '^  of  South 
Dakota  with  an  area  of  967,680   acres   and  the  Big  Horn 


^'^^Congressional  Record,  52  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  July  2L  1892,  p.  6486. 

I'^'^Van  Hise,  op.  cit.,  p.  214. 

^'^^United  States  Statutes  at  Large,  XXIX,  p.  432. 

I'^^The  report  stated.  "The  forests  on  this  proposed  reserve  have  suffered 
seriously  from  fire  and  the  illegal  cutting  of  timber,  the  mines  in  this  whole 
region   having  been   practically   supplied   with   timber   and   fuel   taken   from   the 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  139 

reserve  with  an  area  of  1,198,080  acres  and  the  Teton  Forest 
reserve  with  an  area  of  829,440  acres  in  Wyoming,  and 
other  proposed  reserves  in  Montana,  Washington,  Idaho, 
Cahfornia,  and  Utah.  In  accordance  with  this  report  on 
February  22,  the  one  hundred  and  sixty-fifth  anniversary 
of  Washington's  birthday.  President  Cleveland  issued  a 
proclamation  adding  approximately  21,000,000  acres  to  the 
United  States  forest  reserves.  The  proclamation  aroused 
considerable  antagonism  in  the  states  concerned  including 
Wyoming.  On  May  6,  1897,  Warren  presented  letters  and 
memorials  relating  to  the  new  forest  reserves.  Included 
was  a  letter  from  Elwood  Mead  stating: 

The  present  forest  law  is  not  only  inadequate — 
it  is  unnecessarily  oppressive.  The  law  is  inopera- 
tive so  long  as  there  are  no  patrols  for  the  preser- 
vation and  management  of  these  reserves  and  there 
is  no  sense  in  prohibiting  mining.  There  should 
be  some  provision  for  the  legitimate  use  of  timber 
by  settlers  on  contiguous  lands  and  some  inexpen- 
sive process  by  which  rights  of  way  for  needed 
roads,  reservoir  sites,  and  irrigation  canals  and 
ditches  could  be  secured.  None  of  those  things 
would  impair  the  usefulness  of  reservations,  while 
their  absence  makes  them  a  menace  to  local  devel- 
opment and  are  clubs  in  the  hands  of  those  opposed 
to  the  whole  reservation  policy. ^^^ 

A  letter  from  Governor  Richards  of  Wyoming  claimed  that 
the  commission  made  no  adequate  study  of  the  Big  Horn 
Reservation,  and  that  there  were  valuable  mining  areas 
and  reservoir  sites  included  in  the  reservation,  the  devel- 
opment of  which  could  not  be  continued  under  the  order. 
He  said,  "It  withdraws  from  the  settlers  occupying  this 
region  opportunity  of  making  a  legitimate  or  harmless  use 
of  the  timber,  and  in  one  way  and  another  vitally  affects 
fully  one-fourth  of  the  people  of  the  State. "^^^  A  meeting 
of  the  business  men  of  Sheridan  County,  Wyoming,  adopted 
this  resolution  which  Warren  presented  in  Congress: 

Therefore  be  it  resolved  by  the  business  men  of 
Sheridan  County,  Wyoming,  that  we  emphatically 
protest  against  the  said  action  of  the  president  in 


public  domain."  Senate  Documents,  Report  of  the  Committee  Appointed  by 
the  National  Academy  of  Sciences,  55  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  1897,  p.  39  ff.  (Serial 
No.  3562,  Document  105) 

^^^Ibid.,  Document  No.  68.  p.  1  ff.    "New  Forest  Reservations." 

181/^2^.,  p.  7. 


140  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

withdrawing  such  lands  from  settlement  and  devel- 
opment as  destructive  of  the  material  business  in- 
terests of  the  State  and  will  entirely  prevent  the 
further  development  of  northern  Wyoming.^^- 

On  May  5,  Senator  Pettigrew  of  South  Dakota  offered 
an  amendment  to  the  sundry  civil  appropriation  bill  appro- 
priating $150,000  for  a  survey  of  forest  reservations  and 
sites.  The  amendment  provided  for  regulations  governing 
forest  reserves,  allowing  permits  for  the  free  use  of  timber 
and  stone  by  settlers,  miners,  etc.;  allowing  prospecting 
and  mining;  and  reserving  the  rights  of  the  states  to  the 
use  of  the  water  on  such  reservations. ^^^  A  proviso  at- 
tached suspended  the  act  of  President  Cleveland  in  setting 
aside  these  forest  reserves.  In  a  speech  supporting  the 
proviso,  Warren  voiced  his  belief  in  state  control  of  forests 
and  declared  that  he  would  like  to  see  the  order  creating 
the  reservations  "abrogated  in  toto."     He  said: 

The  unfortunate  part  of  the  Executive  order 
that  was  issued  regarding  these  reserves  is  that  it 
does  not  touch  many  places  where  we  should  like 
to  have  reservations  laid  out  and  where  timber 
abounds,  but  it  does  include  a  great  many  locali- 
ties where  there  is  no  timber  of  consequence  and 
where  there  are  large   settlements.^ '^^ 

Warren  voted  for  the  amendment  with  the  proviso  which 
was  accepted  by  the  Senate  in  a  vote  of  twenty-five  to 
twenty-three.  The  Senate's  action  in  suspending  the  order 
was  criticized  in  the  East.  An  editorial  in  the  Harper's 
Weekly  accused  the  Senate  of  working  for  the  mining 
corporations: 

The  chief  depredators  are  great  mining  cor- 
porations like  the  Anaconda  in  Montana  and  the 
Homestake  in  South  Dakota.  These  corporations 
take  out  millions  of  feet  of  timber  every  year  on  the 
permits  granted  by  the  Interior  Department  under 


iS^As  late  as  1902  people  in  Wyoming  were  protesting  about  the  creation 
of  forest  reserves.  An  article  in  the  Lander  Clipper  for  November  7,  1902, 
said,  "The  new  forest  reserve  recently  created  in  the  Big  Wind  River  Valley 
is  an  outrage  upon  the  people  and  meets  with  popular  disapproval.  Senators 
Warren  and  Clark  and  Representative  Mondell  will  be  appealed  to  by  petition. 
Forest  reserves  are  alright,  but  in  Wyoming  the  proposition  is  being  carried 
to  a  silly  extreme."     Clipping  in  Warren   Scrapbook. 

l^^This  part  of  the  amendment  without  the  proviso  was  in  accord  with 
the  policy  of  the  President  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior.  Congressional 
Record,  55  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  May  5,  1897,  p.  899. 

184Z.0C.  cit.,  May  6,  1897,  p.  913  ff. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  141 

the  law.  ...  In  the  meantime  small  settlers  cannot 
obtain  the  timber  that  they  actually  need.  In  view 
of  what  was  to  be  prevented  and  of  what  was  to 
be  accomplished  it  might  have  been  supposed  that 
the  order  would  be  left  undisturbed.  But  the  tim- 
ber-depredators had  the  ear  of  the  Senate,  and  an 
amendment  annulling  the  order  was  added  by  that 
body  to  the  sundry  civil  bill.^^'' 

With  the  segregation  of  great  areas  of  national  forest 
lands,  Western  stock  owners  began  to  demand  that  the 
grazing  of  cattle  and  sheep  be  permitted  within  the  re- 
serves. The  policy  of  the  government  to  prohibit  such 
grazing  aroused  the  opposition  of  the  sheep  and  cattle 
owners.  In  1899  the  Wyoming  Legislature  passed  a  me- 
morial asking  Congress  to  modify  the  rules  and  regulations 
governing  the  forest  reserves  to  allow  the  "unrestricted 
grazing  of  livestock."^ ^*^  When  the  Secretary  of  the  In- 
terior ordered  the  exclusion  of  livestock  from  the  Uinta 
reserve,  Warren  protested.  In  a  letter  to  the  Wyoming 
Industrial  Journal,  Warren  asserted  that  he  had  tried  to 
induce  Secretary  Hitchcock  to  revoke  the  order  of  exclu- 
sion relating  to  the  Uinta  reserve  and  "to  convince  him 
that  the  very  laudable  and  praiseworthy  effort  of  the 
government  to  preserve  the  forests  would  not  suffer  by 
allowing  livestock  to  range  upon  the  reserves."^^"  When 
in  the  winter  of  1899  Warren  and  Mondell  requested  of 
Hitchcock  that  permits  be  issued  to  allow  sheep  to  be 
wintered  in  the  forest  reserves  of  Wyoming,  the  Secretary 
replied  that  Congress  had  created  the  reserves  for  the 
purpose  of  preserving  the  water  sheds  and  that  he  had 
been  informed  that  sheep  grazing  denuded  the  forests  of 
the  undergrowth  and  thus  partly  defeated  the  law  in  its 
purpose.^ ^^  The  Report  of  the  committee  appointed  by  the 
National  Academy  of  Sciences  had  stated  that  allowing 
grazing  would  destroy  the  seedling  trees  and  prevent  nat- 
ural reproduction,  thus  ultimately  destroying  the  forests. ^^^ 
The  Secretary  had,  therefore,  determined  to  restrict  rather 
than  extend  the  grazing  privileges  and  would  certainly 
not  allow  sheep  to  winter  within  the  limits  of  the  reserves. 


^^^Harper's  Weekly,  March  27.  1897.  Vol.  41.  p.  307. 

'^^'° Congressional  Record,  55  Cong.,  3  Sess..  February  13.  1899,  p.  1781. 

i8"Clipping  from  Daily  Sun-Leader,  July  29,  1899,  in  Warren  Scrapbook. 
There  were  several  different  views  in  regard  to  allowing  sheep  to  graze  on  the 
reserves.  Gifford  Pinchot  said  that  to  regulate  pasturage  if  it  was  correctly 
done  was  usually  better  than  to  prohibit  it  altogether. 

^^^Laramie  Dailv  Boomerang,  December  11.  1899. 

^^^Se7iate  Documents,  55  Cong..  1  Sess.,'  1897,  p.  20  ff.  (Serial  No. 
3562,  Document  No.  105.) 


142  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

In  1899  when  it  was  proposed  to  set  aside  the  Medicine 
Bow  National  Reserve  in  southeastern  Wyoming,  Warren 
tried  again  to  secure  the  grazing  of  sheep  on  the  reserves. 
In  a  letter  he  wrote  to  Hitchcock,  Warren  said: 

In  this  connection  I  suggest  that  cattle  and 
sheep  be  not  excluded  indiscriminately  from  graz- 
ing within  forest  reserves.  They  should  be  ex- 
cluded from  places  where  it  is  all  timber  and  where 
there  is  young  hard  wood  growth  which  the  live- 
stock would  devour,  but,  where  there  is  a  conifer- 
ous growth  only,  the  livestock  need  not  be  ex- 
cluded.i^*'^ 

The  culmination  of  the  stockmen's  attempt  to  secure  the 
right  to  graze  their  flocks  in  forest  reserves  occurred  in 
1900  when  the  General  Land  Office  initiated  the  policy  of 
allowing  the  grazing  of  sheep  and  goats  in  the  forest  re- 
serves under  regulation  of  the  Land  Office.  The  report  of 
the  National  Conservation  Commission  stated,  "It  has  been 
found  that  reasonable  grazing  has  been  of  great  benefit  in 
keeping  down  the  full  growth  of  grass  and  so  making  the 
control  of  fires  vastly  easier. "^^^ 

Warren  tried  to  secure  for  the  state  school  fund  of 
Wyoming  the  money  secured  by  the  federal  government 
from  the  sale  of  coal  lands  on  school  sections.  The  act 
admitting  Wyoming  as  a  state  set  aside  sections  sixteen  and 
thirty-six  of  each  township  for  school  use,  except  mineral 
lands.  The  state  was  authorized  to  select  an  equal  quantity 
of  other  unappropriated  lands  if  the  Department  of  the 
Interior  found  that  parts  of  section  sixteen  and  thirty-six 
were  mineral  lands.  Warren  introduced  a  bill  providing 
that  the  government  should  pay  the  state  of  Wyoming  for 
the  use  of  public  schools  all  money  received  from  the  sale 
of  land  in  these  school  sections.  An  article  in  the  Cheyenne 
Sun  declared  that  if  the  bill  passed  it  would  "be  of  immense 
benefit  in  making  Wyoming  pre-eminent  among  states  in 
its  educational  facilities  and  endowments. "i^-  A  letter  from 
S.  W.  Lamoreux,  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office, 
stated  that  prior  to  the  admission  of  Wyoming  as  a  state, 
1,850  acres  had  been  sold  at  a  total  price  of  $28,525  and  that 
subsequent  to  the  state's  admission  400  acres  had  been  sold 


^^'^Cheyenne  Daily  Sun-Leader,  October  4.  1899.  Clipping  in  Warren 
Scrapbook.     The  Medicine  Bow  forest  reserve  was  created  in  1903. 

^^'^Se7iate  Documents,  60  Cong..  2  Sess.,  II.  Reports  of  National  Conser- 
vation Commission,  1908-09,  p.  423  ff.     (Serial  No.  5398) 

'^^^Cheyenne  Sun,  March  25,  1896.     Clipping  in  Warren  Scrapbook. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  143 

at  a  total  price  of  $5,200.1^^  The  legislature  of  Wyoming 
in  1893  had  memorialized  Congress  to  the  effect  that  instead 
of  the  selection  of  lands  by  the  state  in  lieu  of  any  of  the 
lands  of  sections  sixteen  and  thirty-six  which  proved  to 
be  coal  lands,  the  United  States  should  pay  to  the  state  all 
money  realized  from  the  sale  of  such  coal  lands.  Such 
money  was  to  constitute  a  part  of  the  permanent  fund  for 
the  benefit  of  the  common  schools  of  the  state. ^^^  Warren 
was  attempting  to  carry  out  the  policy  outlined  by  the  Leg- 
islature of  Wyoming. 

Warren  was  anxious  to  secure  the  grants  of  federal 
lands  to  the  states  for  the  support  of  educational  and  char- 
itable institutions.  This  was  in  line  with  the  Morrill  Act 
of  1862  which  granted  federal  lands  to  those  states  which 
would  establish  and  maintain  agricultural  colleges.  The 
funds  derived  from  the  sale  or  rental  of  such  lands  was 
to  be  applied  towards  the  support  of  such  colleges.  Warren 
introduced  several  bills  in  line  with  that  policy.  In  1894 
and  several  succeeding  sessions  he  introduced  bills  granting 
to  the  states  federal  lands,  the  proceeds  from  which  were 
to  be  used  for  the  endowment  and  support  of  state  normal 
schools. ^^"^  In  1897  he  introduced  a  bill  granting  each  state 
100,000  acres  of  land  for  each  senator  and  representative 
in  Congress  for  the  support  of  public  institutions. ^^*^  Also 
in  1897  he  introduced  a  bill  allowing  a  portion  of  the  pro- 
ceeds of  the  public  lands  for  the  endowment  and  support 
of  mining  schools  in  the  states  for  the  purpose  of  extending 
similar  aid  in  the  development  of  the  mining  industries  as 
had  already  been  provided  for  agriculture.^^*  In  1900,  in 
the  debate  on  a  bill  which  proposed  a  grant  of  land  in  sup- 
port of  the  school  of  forestry  in  North  Dakota,  Warren  said: 

Every  donation  of  land  for  such  a  purpose  as 
this  is  sought  to  be  used  for,  will  enhance  in  value 
the  government  lands  which  remain  two  or  three 
or  perhaps  ten  times  as  much  as  the  value  of  these 
donated  lands  taken  from  the  public  domain  would 
be  worth.  I  do  not  think  any  other  distributions  of 
the  land  as  wisely  made  as  the  granting  of  such 
comparatively  small  amounts  as  these  for  such  pur- 
poses.^^^ 


^^^€ongressio7ial  Record,  54  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  December  16,  1895,  p.  164.    • 
'^^^Cheyenne    Daily    Sun-Leader,    March    14,    1894.      Clipping    in    Warren 
Scrapbook. 

^^^Ibid.,  May  14.  1897.     Clipping  in  Warren   Scrapbook. 

^^'^ Congressional  Record,  55  Cong..  1  Sess..  March  19,  1897,  p.  68. 

^^^Ibid.,  56  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  February  24,  1900,  p.  2179. 


144  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

In  1897  Warren  introduced  a  bill  granting  to  the  state 
of  Wyoming  fifty  thousand  acres  of  land  to  aid  in  "the 
continuation,  enlargement,  and  maintenance  of  the  Wyo- 
ming State  Soldiers'  and  Sailors'  Home."i99  In  1895  the 
legislature  of  Wyoming  had  donated  thirty  thousand  acres 
of  land  as  a  permanent  endowment  and  in  1896  there  were 
twenty-seven  inmates  of  the  institution.  The  same  bill  was 
subsequently  brought  up  in  later  sessions  of  Congress.  In 
1900  Senator  Cockrell  of  Missouri  objected  to  the  bill  and 
asked  for  further  information,  saying,  "When  there  are 
millions  of  acres  of  such  lands  that  are  yet  to  be  disposed 
of  by  Congress,  is  it  not  right,  when  we  are  beginning  to 
make  a  disposition  of  them,  that  we  should  have  the  facts 
stated?"-""  Warren  replied  that  the  state  of  Wyoming  did 
not  seek  to  acquire  the  land  for  purposes  of  sale  but  for 
the  revenue  that  might  be  derived  from  the  rental  of  farm- 
ing and  grazing  lands.  He  further  stated  that  settlers  who 
desired  to  lease  the  grazing  land  adjoining  their  property 
were  unable  to  do  so  under  the  land  laws  of  the  United 
States.-"^ 

Warren's  attitude  on  public  land  questions  was  liberal. 
His  efforts  to  secure  the  liberalization  of  public  land  policies 
was  directed  towards  the  interests  of  the  Western  stock 
growers.  His  attempts  to  secure  relief  for  those  settlers 
whose  entries  for  desert  land  had  been  cancelled  under  the 
Sparks'  regime,  to  have  the  preemption  laws  reenacted,  to 
allow  the  leasing  of  the  public  domain,  and  to  secure  per- 
mission for  the  grazing  of  sheep  in  the  forest  reserves  were 
intended  to  aid  the  settler  and  stockman.  His  attempts  to 
secure  donations  of  land  to  the  states  for  aid  to  educational 
and  charitable  institutions  was  apparently  intended  to  help 
the  states  in  establishing  such  institutions.  Yet  had  these 
lands  been  granted  to  the  states,  quite  a  sizable  portion  of 
the  public  domain  would  have  been  intrusted  to  the  states 
for  the  purpose  of  securing  revenues  by  leasing.  As  the 
federal  government  made  no  provision  for  leasing  the  public 
lands,  the  ranchers  and  farmers  would  have  been  materially 
benefited  by  this  addition  to  the  state's  domain.  Warren 
heeded  the  protest  of  Wyoming  citizens,  miners  as  well  as 
stockgrowers,  whose  interests  were  endangered  by  the  na- 
tional conservation  program.  This  attitude  is  representa- 
tive of  the  difficulty  inherent  in  any  program  which,  in- 
tended for  the  welfare  of  the  country  as  a  whole,  hurts  a 
few   individuals.     Fortunately,   the   national   program   had 


^'-^^Ibid.,  55  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  May  17.  1897,  p.  1083. 

^^^^ Congressional  Record,  56  Cong..  1  Sess..  February  9,  1900,  p.  1667. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  145 

sufficient  impetus  to  proceed  in  spite  of  these  objections. 
In  regard  to  the  allowance  of  grazing  on  the  public  domain, 
the  federal  government  yielded  and  today  the  grazing  of 
sheep  and  cattle  in  the  forest  reserves  is  an  accepted  fact. 


CHAPTER  VII 

FURTHER  LEGISLATION  DEALING  WITH   WYOMING 
ECONOMIC  INTERESTS 

Beginning  in  the  1840's  emigrants  in  increasing  num- 
bers crossed  the  Wyoming  plains  on  their  way  to  Oregon 
and  California  in  quest  of  gold  and  free  land.  In  the  early 
part  of  1850  sixty  thousand  gold  seekers  were  reported  to 
have  traveled  over  the  Oregon  trail.-*'-  The  emigrants 
were  constantly  harassed  by  the  Indian  tribes  who  resented 
and  feared  this  intrusion  upon  their  domain.  For  the  pro- 
tection of  the  emigrants  against  the  Indian  attacks  the 
United  States  government  established  military  forts  along 
the  trails.  One  of  the  most  famous  of  the  early  forts  was 
Fort  Laramie  built  in  1849  for  the  protection  of  the  travelers 
on  the  Oregon  trail.  At  this  historic  spot  thousands  of 
weary  emigrants  stopped  to  recuperate  and  purchase  sup- 
plies before  continuing  their  journey.  Here  expeditions 
against  the  Indians  were  fitted  out  and  many  important 
treaties  were  concluded  with  the  tribes.  Fort  Bridger,  about 
thirty  miles  east  of  the  present  city  of  Evanston,  Wyoming, 
was  made  a  military  post  in  1858.  In  the  1860's,  when  the 
tribes  on  the  Plains  became  more  hostile  and  warlike  than 
before,  the  cavalry  stationed  at  Fort  Bridger  were  kept 
busy  guarding  mails  and  protecting  emigrant  trains.  Later 
when  gold  was  discovered  in  Montana,  the  Bozeman  trail 
became  the  route  of  numerous  gold  seekers  to  the  north. 
This  trail  penetrated  the  Sioux  country  in  northern  Wyo- 
ming and  was  the  site  of  numerous  bloody  encounters  with 
the  Sioux  warriors.  When  Fort  Phil  Kearny  was  built 
along  the  Bozeman  trail,  it  became  the  site  of  repeated 
attacks  from  the  Sioux  warriors  led  by  their  chief,  Red 
Cloud.  In  December  1866,  Captain  Fetterman  and  his 
whole  command  were  killed  when  they  pursued  an  attack- 
ing party  of  Sioux  who  had  molested  a  wood  train  bringing 
wood  to  the  fort.  When  Colonel  Carrington,  commanding 
officer  of  the  fort,  being  desperately  in  need  of  reinforce- 
ments from  Fort   Laramie,   called  for  volunteers,   a   fron- 


2021,   S.   Bartlett.   History  of  JFyoming    (Chicago:    S.   J.   Clarke  Publishing 
Company,  1918),  I,  p.  311. 


146  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

tiersman  known  as  "Portugee"  Phillips  offered  his  serv- 
ices.-*'-^ In  spite  of  a  raging  blizzard,  Phillips  succeeded 
in  reaching  Fort  Laramie  and  secured  help  for  the  besieged 
troops  at  Fort  Kearny.  Fort  Fetterman  was  established 
in  1867  south  of  Fort  Kearny  and  v/as  named  in  honor  of 
Captain  Fetterman  who  had  lost  his  life  at  the  hands  of 
Red  Cloud's  warriors. 

When  the  Indians  threatened  to  menace  the  construc- 
tion of  the  Union  Pacific,  the  workers  were  protected  with 
the  aid  of  the  United  States  troops  stationed  at  various 
places  along  the  route.  In  1867  the  Army  decided  to  make 
Fort  D.  A.  Russell,  just  northwest  of  the  present  site  of 
Cheyenne,  a  permanent  post.  Here  troops  were  stationed 
for  the  protection  of  the  railroad  workers  when  the  con- 
struction gangs  had  reached  Cheyenne  in  1868.  Farther 
west,  troops  were  stationed  at  Fort  Sanders,  near  Laramie, 
at  Fort  Fred  E.  Steele  on  the  Platte  river  in  what  is  now 
Carbon  County,  and  at  Fort  Bridger  in  the  southwestern 
part  of  the  state. 

The  army  posts  performed  a  distinct  economic  function 
for  the  thinly  populated  regions  of  the  West  by  furnishing 
an  additional  market  for  the  products  of  the  earliest  settlers. 
Supplying  beef  for  the  large  number  of  men  stationed  at 
these  posts  and  providing  hay  for  the  cavalry  horses  meant 
a  good  source  of  income  for  the  cattle  ranchers  in  the 
vicinity.  In  1871  the  army  post  at  Fort  Russell  was  paying 
a  price  of  eight  dollars  and  thirty-five  cents  a  hundred- 
weight for  beef.-"^  In  later  years  these  army  posts  still 
continued  to  be  a  source  of  income  for  the  businesses  es- 
tablished in  their  immediate  vicinities. 

When  the  tribes  had  been  subdued,  the  abandonment 
of  these  military  forts  meant  a  dislocation  of  the  economic 
interests  dependent  upon  them  for  a  part  of  their  income. 
Accordingly  the  agitation  for  the  continuance  of  the  forts 
became  strong  and  Warren,  recognizing  these  demands, 
tried  to  secure  legislation  which  would  favor  them. 

Warren  was  indefatigable  in  his  efforts  to  secure  ap- 
propriations from  Congress  for  the  maintenance  and  en- 
largement of  military  reservations  in  Wyoming.  In  1891 
he  tried  to  get  an  appropriation  of  $50,000  for  building  bar- 
racks and  stables  and  making  repairs   at  Fort  McKinney 


-^^Iii  March  1900,  Warren  secured  a  pension  of  ii\e  thousand  dollars 
for  Hattic  Phillips,  the  widow  of  the  valiant  frontiersman.  Statutes,  XXXI, 
p.  1484.  Also  he  tried  to  secure  an  appropriation  for  the  erection  of  a  monu- 
ment to  mark  the  site  of  the  massacre.  Ihe  monument  was  finally  erected 
and  was  unveiled  on  July  4,  1908.  Representative  Mondell  is  given  the  credit 
for  finally  securing  the  appropriation.    Bartlett,  op.cit.,  I,  p.  283. 

2040sgood,  op.  cit.,  p.  22. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  147 

in  Johnson  County  in  the  northern  part  of  the  state.^^^  As 
late  as  1901,  when  it  was  apparent  that  there  was  no  further 
necessity  for  the  maintenance  of  the  fort  as  a  protection 
against  Indian  attacks,  Warren  tried  to  secure  more  troops  to 
garrison  Fort  McKinney.-'-*^  Warren  secured  the  appropria- 
tion of  $100,000  for  the  establishment  of  the  military  fort 
and  reservation  of  Fort  MacKenzie  near  Sheridan  in  north- 
ern Wyoming.  The  bill,  approved  by  President  McKinley 
on  April  7,  1900,  provided  that  the  post  should  not  contain 
less  than  one  thousand,  two  hundred  and  eighty  acres. 
The  next  Congress  appropriated  $35,000  for  continuing  the 
work  of  constructing  buildings  for  quarters,  barracks,  and 
stables  at  Fort  MacKenzie.-"' 

Frackleton,  in  the  Sagebrush  Dentist,  relates  an  inter- 
esting incident  that  occurred  in  Sheridan,  Wyoming,  in 
relation  to  a  visit  of  President  Taft  in  1911,  that  illustrates 
the  strong  opposition  of  business  interests  at  the  abandon- 
ment of  military  forts.  Senators  Warren  and  Clark  and 
Representative  Mondell,  despondent  at  the  order  of  the 
military  department  abandoning  Fort  MacKenzie,  arranged 
a  brilliant  reception  for  President  Taft,  hoping  that  they 
might  influence  the  President  to  revoke  the  order.  The 
Senators  and  Mondell,  not  wishing  to  further  invite  the 
attacks  of  the  Eastern  magazines  about  the  "pork  barrel," 
arranged  that  Frackleton,  the  town  dentist,  should  meet 
the  visiting  President.  When  he  arrived,  Taft  was  escorted 
through  the  town,  which  was  decorated  with  colored  bunt- 
ing, and  along  the  streets  thronged  with  people.  Finally 
he  was  driven  out  to  Fort  MacKenzie,  where,  by  design, 
he  was  detained  long  enough  to  make  a  survey  of  the  fort. 
At  the  end  of  the  visit,  Taft  was  presented  with  a  buck 
deer,  grouse,  ducks,  and  other  game  of  which  he  was  very 
fond.  In  delight  at  the  present  he  promised  Frackleton  to 
give  him  anything  he  desired  and  Frackleton  replied  that 
he  would  like  to  have  the  order  rescinded  regarding  the 
abandonment  of  Fort  MacKenzie,-^*^  Accordingly  Taft  sent 
a  telegram  rescinding  the  order.  At  Fort  MacKenzie  today 
is  a  fine  veteran's  hospital  which  Frackleton  says  is  "a 
monument  to  an  observation  car  full  of  game  and  a  promise 
by  a  president  of,  the  United  States  that  has  been  f aith- 


^^^Cheyenne  Daily  Sun,  February  15,  1891.  Clipping  in  Warren  Scrap- 
book.  Fort  McKinney  was  established  on  the  Powder  River  in  1876.  It  was 
from  Fort  McKinnev  that  troops  were  summoned  to  quell  the  Johnson  County 
war  in  1892. 

^^^Cheyenne  Daily  Sun,  February  5,  1901.     Clipping  in  Warren  Scrapbook. 

^^Wnited  States  Statutes,  XXXI,  p.  1168. 

208\\^ill  Frackleton,  Sagebrush  Dentist  (Chicago:  A.  C.  AlcClurg  and 
Company,  1941),  pp.  232-7. 


148  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

fully  kept."-^*-'  Whether  or  not  Taft  was  actually  influenced 
by  this  ingenious  scheme  may  be  a  matter  of  doubt,  but 
this  incident  does  show  the  general  attitude  common  in 
Wyoming  in  regard  to  the  abandonment  of  military  forts. 
Fort  D.  A.  Russell  has  often  been  called  "a  monument 
to  pork  barrel  legislation."  The  government  has  spent  over 
$7,000,000  to  make  Fort  Russell  one  of  the  largest  and  best 
equipped  military  forts  and  reservations  in  the  country. 
Warren  was  particularly  assiduous  in  getting  appropria- 
tions for  the  construction  of  buildings  and  the  maintenance 
of  Fort  Russell.  It  was  largely  through  his  efforts  that 
the  fort  has  been  maintained  and  enlarged.  Warren  in 
1892  introduced  a  bill  authorizing  the  location  of  a  branch 
home  for  disabled  volunteer  soldiers  on  the  reservation. 
This  bill  carried  an  appropriation  of  $12,000.-^^'  In  July 
1892,  he  introduced  a  bill  providing  for  the  construction  of 
an  administration  building  for  army  purposes  at  Fort  Rus- 
sell.-^ ^  In  1896  Warren  introduced  an  amendment  providing 
an  appropriation  for  the  extension  of  the  barracks,-^-  and 
two  years  later  he  secured  an  appropriation  of  $30,000  for 
that  purpose.- ^-^  In  1900  he  tried  to  get  an  appropriation  of 
$70,000  for  continuing  the  work  of  constructing  quarters  at 
Fort  Russell,- ^^  and  the  next  year  Congress  appropriated 
$35,000  for  rebuilding  quarters  and  officers'  residences  at 
the  fort.-i"*  He  also  secured  the  establishment  of  the  Pole 
Mountain  military  maneuver  reserve  which  is  auxiliary  to 
the  fort.  This  reserve  covers  an  area  of  nearly  one  hundred 
square  miles.-^^     After  Warren's  death  in   1929,  by  order 

2<»o/^;V.,  p.  232. 

~'^^^Co7igressiona\  Record,  52  Cong..  1  Sess.,  January  21.  1892.  p.  467. 

^^^Ibid.,  July  27,  1892.  p.  6831. 

~^^-Ibid.,  54  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  April  9,  1896,  p.  3741. 

-'^'■^United  States  Statutes  at  Large,  XXX,  p.  629.  Warren  bought  three 
of  the  frame  houses  at  Fort  Warren  which  were  to  be  replaced  under  the  pro- 
\-isions  of  the  act.  These  houses  were  moyed  to  Cheyenne  and  fitted  up. 
Cheyenne   Daily   Sun-Leader,   July    31.    1899.      Clipping    in   Warren    Scrapbook. 

^'^■^Congressional  Record,  56  Cong..  1  Sess..  April  6.  1900.  p.  3829. 

^^^^' Statutes,  XXXI,  p.  1168. 

-^**An  article  in  one  of  the  "muckraking"  magazines  said  in  regard  to  the 
Pole  Mountain  maneuyer  reserve,  "It  was  originally  a  forest  reserve.  Warren 
applied  to  the  Forestry  Department  to  be  allowed  to  graze  his  sheep  on  this 
forest  reserve.  There  were  several  thousand  settlers  on  this  reserve  who  had 
leased  from  the  Government  grazing  privileges  for  their  cattle,  and  cattle  will 
not  graze  where  sheep  have  grazed.  The  Forestry  Department  refused  Warren 
the  requested  privilege.  Whereupon  Warren,  through  his  influence  as  chairman 
of  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs  of  the  Senate,  had  the  Pole  Mountain 
reserve  turned  over  to  the  Military  Department  as  a  target,  and  maneuver 
ground.  When  the  change  occurred  the  Government  immediately  notified  the 
settlers  on  the  reserve  that  their  leases  were  canceled,  that  the  Government 
would  refund  them  the  money  they  had  paid,  and  that  no  more  leases  of  the 
reserve  would  be  given."  C.  P.  Connolly.  "Senator  Warren  of  Wyoming." 
Collier's  Weekly,  49:10-1,  August  31.  1912.  " 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  149 

of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  the  name  of  Fort 
D.  A.  Russell  was  changed  to  Fort  Francis  E.  Warren  in 
honor  of  the  Senator. 

Although  by  1890  the  Indians  had  been  subdued  and 
placed  on  reservations,  white  settlers  were  occasionally 
subjected  to  annoyance  and  intimidation  by  Indian  ma- 
rauders. In  1891  Warren  presented  a  resolution  passed  by 
the  Legislature  of  Wyoming  asking  for  the  enactment  of 
a  law  to  disarm  the  Indians  and  prevent  them  from  leaving 
their  reservations  without  a  guard.- ^'  In  that  year  settlers 
in  Star  Valley  in  western  Wyoming  requested  Warren  to 
place  before  the  Interior  Department  their  complaint  that 
the  Indians  from  the  Fort  Hall  reservation  in  Idaho  were 
destroying  game  and  intimidating  people  in  that  section.- ^^ 
In  the  summer  of  1895  the  settlers  in  the  Jackson  Hole  area 
were  troubled  by  the  Bannock  Indians,  and  in  January  of 
the  next  year  Warren  introduced  a  bill  providing  for  the 
construction  of  a  military  road  from  Fort  Washakie,-^^  on 
the  Wind  River  reservation  in  Western  Wyoming,  north- 
westward to  the  mouth  of  the  Buffalo  fork  of  the  Snake 
river  near  Jackson's  Lake.  This  was  intended  to  make  it 
easier  for  troops  stationed  at  Fort  Washakie  to  move 
quickly  to  the  scene  of  any  Indian  disturbance  in  that  vi- 
cinity. In  1898  Congress  appropriated  $10,000  for  the  pur- 
pose,--'^ and  in  1900,  in  accordance  with  a  bill  submitted 
by  Warren,  an  additional  appropriation  of  $10,000  was  made 
for  repair  and  completion  of  the  road.--^ 

One  of  the  interesting  natural  phenomena  on  the  Wind 
River  reservation  was  the  Big  Horn  Hot  Springs.  Settlers 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  reservation  were  desirous  of  securing 
the  cession  of  these  springs  to  the  state.  Newspapers  de- 
scribed the  wonderful  cures  affected  by  bathing  in  the 
springs  and  predicted  that  these  springs  would  soon  rival 
the  famous  hot  springs  of  Arkansas.  Pioneers,  anticipating 
the  future  development  of  the  springs  as  a  health  resort, 


^'^~^Co7igressional  Record,  51  Cong.,  2  Sess.,  February  16,  1891,  p.  2718. 
By  treaty  with  the  Shoshone  and  Bannock  Indians  the  Wind  River  reservation, 
including  all  of  Wyoming  west  of  the  North  Platte  river  and  south  of  the 
Wind  River  mountains,  was  ceded  to  the  tribes  on  July  3.  1868. 

'^'^^Cheyenne  Daily   Sun,   July    14,    1891.     Clipping    in   Warren    Scrapbook. 

^'^^ Congressional  Record,  54  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  January  29,  1896,  p.  1069. 
Fort  Washakie  was  established  on  the  Wind  River  reservation  in  1869,  and  in 
1893  Congress  made  an  appropriation  for  permanent  improvements  at  the  fort. 
Bartlett,  op.  cit.,  I,  p.  322. 

'^■^^Statutes,  XXX,  p.  50. 

^^^Ibid.,  XXXI,  p.  632.  In  1898  \A^arren  secured  an  appropriation  for 
investigation  to  be  made  of  the  improvements  which  had  to  be  abandoned  by 
white  settlers  when  the  Wind  River  reservation  was  created.  Statutes,  XXX, 
p.  591.     In  1900  he  tried  to  get  an  appropriation  of  $12,311  to  pay  these  claims. 


150  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

laid  out  two  town  sites  at  the  corner  of  the  Shoshone  reser- 
vation. It  was  predicted  that  soon  these  towns  would  be- 
come thriving  and  prosperous  places.  In  December  1895. 
Warren  presented  the  petition  of  the  Legislature  of  Wyo- 
ming praying  for  the  cession  of  the  portion  of  the  Wind 
River  reservation  containing  the  hot  springs  to  the  state 
of  Wyoming.---  Two  years  later  on  June  7,  1897,  the  act 
was  passed  granting  to  the  state  of  Wyoming  a  tract  one 
mile  square  including  the  hot  springs.--^  By  treaty  the 
Shoshone  and  Arapahoe  Indians  agreed  to  relinquish  a  tract, 
ten  miles  square  in  return  for  $60,000.  The  remainder  of 
the  land  not  ceded  to  the  state  of  Wyoming  was  left  open 
for  homestead  and  town  site  entries.  In  1899  there  was  a 
movement  to  secure  the  relinquishment  of  more  lands  in 
the  reservation.  The  Legislature  of  Wyoming  passed  a 
memorial  to  Congress  and  Warren  submitted  an  amend- 
ment to  that  effect.--^ 

In  1899  an  order  was  given  by  the  War  Department 
for  the  removal  of  troops  from  Fort  Washakie.  Warren 
protested  to  the  War  Department  saying  that  to  abandon 
the  fort  would  mean  a  serious  menace  to  peace  and  good 
order  as  the  two  tribes,  the  Shoshones  and  Arapahoes,  and 
their  agency  "now  in  close  proximity  would  be  very  remote 
and  far  beyond  railway  communication."--'*  Soon  after 
Warren's  protest  Secretary  Alger  countermanded  his  pre- 
vious order  and  retained  the  garrison,--*^  with  the  result 
that  troops  were  stationed  at  Fort  Washakie  until  1909. 

In  1892  Warren  introduced  a  bill  which  provided  for 
changing  the  boundaries  of  the  Yellowstone  National  Park. 
The  bill  proposed  to  limit  the  area  of  the  Park  to  the  state 
of  Wyoming  and  to  open  to  settlement  a  portion  of  the 
timber  reserve  which  had  been  set  aside  by  executive  order. 
It  is  difficult  to  determine  what  Warren  hoped  to  accom- 
plish by  the  bill.  In  the  course  of  the  debate  Senator  Vest 
of  Missouri  stated: 

A  persistent  and  unscrupulous  lobby  are  able 
to  do  almost  what  they  please  with  the  public  do- 
main. The  portion  of  the  park  cut  off  upon  the 
north  is  being  cut  off  simply  because  the  friends 


^^-Congressional  Record,  54  Cong..  1  Sess..  December  9.  1895.  p.  58. 

^^l^Statutes,  XXX,  p.  93-6. 

--"^ Congressional  Record,  55  Cong.,  3  Sess.,  February  28,  1899,  p.  2553. 
In  the  same  year  the  stockmen  of  Wyoming  secured  the  right  to  lease  for 
grazing  purposes  surplus  lands  on  the  reservation.  Laramie  Daily  Boomerang, 
February  11,  1899. 

"^-^Lander  Clipper,  May  26,  1899.     Clipping  in  Warren  Scrapbook. 

--^Cheyenne  Daily  Sun-Leader,  May  31,  1899.  Clipping  in  Warren  Scrap- 
book. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  151 

of  the  park  are  unable  to  resist  the  aggressive  ac- 
tion of  a  lobby  in  the  city  of  Washington  that  for 
years  have  been  endeavoring  to  force  a  railroad  into 
the  park  under  a  charter  from  Congress  in  order  to 
sell  it  for  a  large  sum  to  the  Northern  Pacific  Rail- 
road Company.--' 

Warren  himself  maintained  that  the  purpose  of  the  bill  was 
not  in  the  interest  of  any  railroad  company,  but  that  his 
object  was  to  benefit  those  who  had  mining  and  ranching 
interests  in  the  vicinity  of  the  park.--"*  The  bill  opened 
up  to  settlement  part  of  the  timber  reservation  which  had 
been  set  aside  adjacent  to  the  park.  Within  the  reserva- 
tion were  small  settlements  of  miners  and  ranchers  who 
claimed  that  their  rights  were  taken  from  them  by  this 
timber  reserve.  It  seems  probable  that  Warren  was  at- 
tempting to  protect  these  settlers.  Further  evidence  that 
he  was  interested  in  keeping  the  mines  in  the  park  open 
to  the  public  is  found  in  a  bill  which  he  introduced  in  1897 
proposing  to  open  the  Yellowstone  Park  Timber  Reserve 
for  the  location  of  mining  claims.--*^  Also  in  1898  an  ar- 
ticle in  the  Big  Horn  County  Rustler  stated  that  Senator 
Warren  desired  all  who  had  mining  interests  in  the  Sun- 
light and  Stinking  Water  mining  interests  to  write  him 
protesting  against  including  these  districts  in  the  Yellow- 
stone Park.-^^  The  Stinking  Water  interests  were  located 
near  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  park  and  the  Sunlight 
interests  were  in  the  extreme  northwestern  corner  of  Big 
Horn  county  near  the  park.  A  pamphlet  issued  by  the 
Wyoming  Secretary  of  State  in  1898  said,  "All  these  mines 
would  become  valuable  properties  were  there  adequate 
railway  facilities  to  develop  them  and  carry  off  their 
products. "^^^ 

In  his  work  in  relation  to  military  forts  and  Indian 
reservations  in  Wyoming  and  the  Yellowstone  National 
Park,  Warren  was  undoubtedly  trying  to  protect  and  sup- 
port certain  economic  interests  in  Wyoming.  He  realized 
that  the  business  conducted  with  the  military  forts  was 
of  considerable  importance  to  small  communities  near  which 
they  were  situated  and  he  worked  incessantly  to  maintain 
that  relationship.  He  was  influential  in  securing  to  the 
state  of  Wyoming  the  cession  of  the  Big  Horn  Hot  Springs 


^^'^ Congressional  Record,  52  Cong.,  1  Sess,  May  10,  1892,  d.  4120. 

^^^Ibid.,  52  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  May  10,  1892,  p.  4121. 

229Ibid.,  55  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  March  19,  1897,  p.  67._ 

230S{g  Horn  County  Rustler,  April  2,  1898.    Clipping  in  Warren  Scrapbook. 

^^'^State  of  Wyoming,  op.  cit.,  p.  17. 


152  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

which  have  since  become  of  considerable  economic  value 
to  that  vicinity.  Also  he  endeavored  to  protect  the  mining 
interests  in  the  vicinity  of  Yellowstone  Park  which  were 
threatened  by  the  government's  policy  of  conservation. 

The  popularity  of  a  delegate  to  Congress  is  to  a  large 
extent  dependent  upon  the  benefits  which  he  is  able  to 
obtain  for  his  constituents.  Warren's  popularity  in  Wyo- 
ming was  due,  at  least  partly,  to  his  success  in  securing 
appropriations  and  other  legislation  which  directly  con- 
tributed to  the  prosperity  of  the  people  of  the  state.  War- 
ren was  unusually  successful  in  securing  legislation  favor- 
able to  the  interests  of  Wyoming.  Eastern  newspapers 
derided  the  size  of  the  "pork"  which  Wyoming's  delegates 
obtained  in  proportion  to  the  small  population  which  they 
represented  while  Wyoming  editors  boasted  of  the  splendid 
achievements   of  their  delegation   in   the   state's  behalf.^^^ 


CHAPTER  VIII 
MILITARY  AFFAIRS 

Although  his  chief  interest  lay  in  western  problems, 
Senator  Warren  devoted  much  time  and  effort  to  military 
affairs.  It  was  natural  that  Warren,  who  had  won  the 
Medal  of  Honor  for  gallant  service  in  the  Civil  War,  and 
whose  ancestor  had  distinguished  himself  in  the  War  for 
Independence,  should  have  interested  himself  in  military 
matters.  For  many  years  he  worked  on  the  Senate's  Com- 
mittee of  Military  Affairs.  He  was  in  sympathy  with  the 
"large  policy"  men  like  Theodore  Roosevelt  and  Henry 
Cabot  Lodge,  senator  from  Massachusetts,  who  advocated 
the  enlargement  of  the  army  and  navy  and  an  expansionist 
policy.  Although  Warren  was  not  primarily  interested  in 
foreign  affairs,  he  reflected  an  interventionist  and  imperial- 
istic policy  in  various  foreign  difficulties  which  arose  from 
1892  to  1900.  In  1892  when  American  sailors  on  shore  leave 
in  Valparaiso  were  attacked,  some  fatally,  by  Chileans, 
Warren  in  an  interview  thus  expressed  his  opinion:  "Repa- 
ration should  be  made  or  else  war  should  be  declared. "-^^ 
In  1895  began  the  Cuban  insurrection,  and  tales  published 
by   the  Yellow   Press  of   the   sufferings  of  the   insurgents 


-^-Closely  related  to  the  subject  of  military  forts  is  the  public  buildings 
bill.  \Vhi]e  Warren  was  Senator  between  1890  and  1902  Wyoming  secured 
appropriations  for  public  buildings  at  Cheyenne,  Laramie,  and  Evanston.  In 
the  same  period  Warren  introduced  a  total  number  of  eighty-four  pension  bills 
but  secured  passage  of  only  six. 

-^^Chicago  Herald,  January  26,  1892.     Clipping  in  Warren  Scrapbook. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  153 

under  the  regime  of  "Butcher  Weyler"  aroused  in  the  people 
of  the  United  States  a  feehng  of  sympathy  for  the  Cubans 
and  indignation  against  the  Spanish  imperial  policy.  People 
in  Wyoming  responded  to  the  popular  sympathy  for  the 
Cuban  cause,  and  as  early  as  1897  the  Wyoming  legislature 
passed  a  joint  resolution  which  Warren  presented  to  Con- 
gress asking  for  the  recognition  of  the  Republic  of  Cuba.^^-^ 
When  the  United  S'^ates  battleship  Maine,  lying  in  Havana 
harbor  was  destroyed  by  an  explosion,  Warren  recom- 
mended intervention  and  "the  ultimate  and  absolute  inde- 
pendence of  Cuba,  and  full  satisfaction  for  the  Maine. "-^-^ 
When  the  war  was  won  and  Spain  driven  from  her  island- 
possessions  and  the  United  States  was  faced  with  the  prob- 
lem of  what  to  do  with  Spain's  former  dependencies,  War- 
ren advised  cession  to  the  United  States  to  "secure  the  best 
possible  results  in  the  way  of  commercial  advantages. "-^^ 
He  defended  this  imperialistic  policy  on  the  grounds  that 
it  was  a  "practical  policy"  and  the  only  way  "to  derive 
benefits  commensurate  with  our  outlay  in  the  conduct  of 
the  war."^^^ 

-  When  President  McKinley  called  for  volunteers  on 
April  23,  1898,  two  days  after  the  declaration  of  war  on 
Spain,  Wyoming  responded  wholeheartedly.  The  First  In- 
fantry Battalion  from  Wyoming,  organized  in  May  1898, 
and  Battery  A  from  Cheyenne,  organized  in  June  1898, 
totaled  462  men,  including  seventeen  commissioned  offic- 
gpg-23s  'pj^g  battalions  were  transported  to  Manila  where 
in  August  they  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Manila. 

Warren  introduced  the  bill  in  Congress  which  author- 
ized the  recruiting  of  three  regiments  of  cavalry.  Colonel 
Jay  L.  Torrey,  of  Ember,  Wyoming,  had  previously  ac- 
quainted President  McKinley  and  Secretary  of  War  Alger 
with  the  idea.  Senator  Warren  and  other  Congressmen  be- 
came interested  and  encouraged  the  plan.  General  Miles, 
chief  commander,  officially  endorsed  the  bill  introduced 
by  Warren: 

The  services  of  men  whose  lives  are  spent  in 
the  saddle  as  herdsmen,  pioneers,  scouts,  pros- 
pectors, etc.,  would  be  exceedingly  valuable  to  the 
government  in  time  of  hostilities.  They  are  accus- 
tomed to  a  life  in  the  saddle,  most  excellent  horse- 
men, fearless,  intelligent,  enterprising,  accustomed 


^^^Congressional  Record,  54  Cong.,  2  Sess.,  February  17,  1897,  p.  1914. 
^^^Cheyenne  Sun-Leader,  April   11,   1898.     Clipping  in  Warren   Scrapbook, 
^^^Baltimore  Sun,  July  19,  1898.     Clipping  in  Warren  Scrapbook. 

238"W/yoming  Volunteers."      (Pamphlet  in  the  Warren  Scrapbook.) 


154  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

to  taking  care  of  themselves  in  bivouac,  skillful  in 
landcraft,  and  as  a  rule  excellent  riflemen.  Such  a 
force  would  be  a  valuable  auxiliary  to  an  army.--^^ 

The  bill  was  passed  as  an  amendment  to  the  volunteer  army 
bill  of  April  22,  1898.  The  best  known  of  the  "rough  rider" 
regiments  was  that  made  famous  by  Theodore  Roosevelt, 
who  was  second  in  command  of  this  battalion,  which  took 
part  in  the  capture  of  San  Juan  Hill,  near  Santiago,  Cuba. 
Another  regiment  was  commanded  by  Colonel  Melvin 
Grigsby.  The  third  regiment  was  recruited  in  Wyoming 
by  Colonel  Torrey  himself.  In  an  official  communication 
from  Secretary  of  War  Alger,  dated  April  28,^"^'^  Torrey  was 
authorized  to  organize  a  regiment  of  volunteers  "possessing 
special  qualifications  as  horsemen  and  marksmen."  The 
regiment  was  officially  known  as  the  Second  United  States 
Volunteer  Cavalry  and  consisted  of  twenty-five  commis- 
sioned officers  and  567  enlisted  men.  This  "cowboy  regi- 
ment" captured  the  popular  fancy  of  Wyoming  people  and 
the  progress  of  the  recruiting  and  training  at  Fort  D.  A. 
Russell  was  watched  with  enthusiasm.  The  cavalry  regi- 
ment was  entrained  to  Jacksonville,  Florida,  where  it  was 
still  waiting  for  embarkation  for  Cuba  when  Spain  capitu- 
lated. 

Other  bills  which  Warren  introduced  give  an  idea  of 
the  kind  of  legislation  he  was  trying  to  procure  for  the 
benefit  of  the  volunteers  participating  in  the  war.  In  1899 
he  tried  to  get  a  bill  passed  which  provided  that  when  an 
officer  or  enlisted  man  had  died  on  duty  after  January  1, 
1898,  and  his  remains  had  been  transported  and  buried  at 
the  expense  of  family  or  friends,  the  money  so  expended 
should  be  refunded  by  the  United  States  government.^^^ 
Warren  secured  the  consent  of  the  United  States  government 
to  remove  the  bodies  of  five  members  of  Torrey's  cavalry 
who  had  died  while  in  service,  so  that  they  might  be  buried 
in  the  cemetery  at  Fort  Russell  where  the  regiment  mo- 
bilized.--^- In  1900  he  introduced  a  bill  to  provide  for  the 
medical  care  and  surgical  treatment  of  honorably  discharged 
soldiers,  sailors  and  marines. -^"^  Warren  and  Colonel  Torrey 
worked  together  to  get  travel  pay  for  those  soldiers  in  the 
volunteer  army  who  were  on  sick  furlough  when  mustered 


239\Valter  B.  Stevens,  'The  Story  of  the  Rough  Riders,"  Leslie's  Weekly. 
(In  Warren   Scrapbook) 

-■I'^Copy  of  the  order  is  to  be  found  in  the  Warren  Scrapbook  entitled 
"Wyoming  Volunteers." 

-^'^^Congressional  Record,  55  Cong.,  3   Sess.,  March  2,  1899,  p.  2696. 

-'^^Leslie's  Weekly,  op.  cit. 

^'^^Congresswnal  Record,  57  Cong.,   1  Sess.,  December  4,   1901,  p.  125. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  155 

out.-^^  Warren  introduced  a  bill  to  "authorize  the  payment 
of  traveling  allowance  to  enlisted  men  of  the  regular  and 
volunteer  forces  when  discharged  by  order  of  the  Secretary 
of  War  and  stated  by  him  as  entitled  to  travel  pay."^^^ 

Warren  believed  that  the  army  should  be  considerably 
enlarged  and  made  more  efficient.  As  early  as  1892  he 
introduced  a  bill  to  that  effect.-^*^  In  1897,  Warren,  then  a 
member  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  in 
an  interview  printed  in  the  Army  and  Navy  Journal  said 
that  he  believed  that  at  least  five  thousand  men  should 
be  added  to  the  enlisted  forces  and  that  the  personnel  of 
the  army  should  be  reorganized  for  greater  efficiency. -^'^ 
The  war  with  Spain,  short  as  it  was,  revealed  the  incom- 
petency and  inefficiency  of  the  War  Department  and  the 
Army.  A  letter  written  by  Theodore  Roosevelt,  then  en- 
listed in  the  Volunteer  Cavalry,  written  to  his  friend,  Henry 
Cabot  Lodge,  illustrates  the  conditions  of  inefficiency  which 
prevailed  during  the  war.  Roosevelt  wrote  from  Port 
Tampa,  Florida,  where  he  was  waiting  with  other  mem- 
bers of  his  regiment  to  depart  to  Cuba,  "No  words  could 
describe  to  you  the  confusion  and  lack  of  system  and  the 
general  mismanagement  of  affairs  here."-^^  When  Roose- 
velt became  president  at  the  death  of  McKinley,  he  ap- 
pointed Elihu  Root  to  replace  Alger  as  Secretary  of  War. 
In  his  annual  report  of  1899  Root  stressed  the  lack  of  system 
and  planning  of  the  army  set-up.  Jessup  says  m  his  biog- 
raphy of  Root,  "The  army  seemed  to  him  very  much  like  a 
corporation  run  without  a  general  manager  or  board  of 
directors,  by  the  superintendents  of  the  various  departments 
of  the  business. "^'^^  Root  formulated  the  Army  Reorganiza- 
tion Bill  which  contained  his  ideas  on  army  reform.  Sen- 
ator Joseph  R.  Hawley  of  Connecticut,  a  friend  of  Root's 
and  chairman  of  the  Senate's  Committee  on  Military  Affairs, 
introduced  the  bill.  Warren,  although  he  was  not  the  chair- 
man of  the  committee,  apparently  played  an  important 
part  in  getting  the  bill  through.  Among  other  newspaper 
items  crediting  Warren  with  having  charge  of  the  bill, 
this  item  appeared  in  the  New  York  World: 


^'^^Leslie's  Weekly,  op.  cit. 

'^'^^ Congressional  Record,  56  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  March  15,  1900,  p.  2917. 

^'^^Congressional  Record,  52  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  February  1,  1892,  p.  708. 

^'^'^Army  and  Navy  Journal,  November  13,  1897.  Clipping  in  Warren 
Scrapbook. 

^'^^Selections  from  the  Correspondence  of  Theodore  Roosevelt  and  Henry 
Cabot  Lodge   (New  York:   Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  1925),  p.  303. 

249phiHp  G.  Jessup,  Elihu  Root  (New  York:  Dodd,  Mead,  and  Company) 
I,  p.  354. 


156  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Senator  Francis  E.  Warren,  of  Wyoming,  shrewd, 
sagacious,  silken,  sleek,  oily,  is  in  a  quandary.  He 
would  like  to  know  how  to  pass  the  administration 
army  bill.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut,  is  chairman  of 
the  committee,  but  he  is  getting  along  in  years 
and  is  not  so  active  as  formerly,  and  the  real  work 
of  engineering  the  bill  and  executing  flank  move- 
ments devolves  upon  Warren.--^" 

Two  factions  developed  in  the  Senate  during  the  de- 
bate on  the  bill.  The  administration  forces  included  Sena- 
tors Spooner,  Elkins,  Lodge,  Hawley,  and  Warren.  The 
anti-expansionists  were  opposed  to  the  bill  and  supported 
instead  the  Cockrell  bill,  offered  by  Senator  Cockrell  of 
Missouri.  In  a  speech  supporting  the  Hawley  Bill-"*^  War- 
ren expressed  his  belief  in  the  necessity  of  increasing  the 
percentage  of  commissioned  officers  to  enlisted  men,  claim- 
ing that  the  Hull-Hawley  bill  provided,  with  the  army  at 
the  maximum  strength  of  100,000,  for  27.8  men  for  each 
officer  while  the  Cockrell  bill  provided  for  one  officer  for 
each  thirty-one  men.  At  its  minimum  strength  of  60,000 
the  army  under  the  Hawley  bill  would  have  a  much  lower 
percentage  of  men  to  officers.  He  also  stressed  the  desir- 
ability of  increasing  the  personnel  of  the  staff  because  dur- 
ing the  war  the  staff  had  been  too  shorthanded  to  handle 
its  work  efficiently.  He  claimed  that  the  native  armies  pro- 
posed by  the  Cockrell  bill  to  police  the  new  acquisitions 
of  the  Philippines,  Hawaii,  and  Puerto  Rico  would  not  be 
dependable.-''-  Another  objection  that  Warren  made  was 
that  the  president,  and  not  Congress,  was  authorized  to 
appoint  for  the  outside  forces  all  the  commissioned  officers 
as  he  saw  fit.  Warren  was  unwilling  to  give  the  president 
this  power.  He  concluded  with  an  appeal  for  the  expansion 
of  the  armed  forces  of  the  United  States. 

On  February  27,  Senator  Gorman  of  Maryland  intro- 
duced an  amendment  to  limit  the  standing  army  of  the 
United  States  to  29,000  troops  after  July  1,  1901.     Warren 


-■''*'A>:r   York   World,   February   L^.   1899.     Clipping  in   Warren    Scrapbook. 

-'^'^Congressional  Record,  iS  Cone..  3  Sess.,  February  21,  1899.  pp.  3138- 
2U2. 

2'">2The  Cockrell  bill  authorized  the  president,  at  his  discretion,  to  organize 
a  military  force  in  Cuba,  Puerto  Rico,  and  the  Pacific  Islands  to  be  composed 
of  the  inhabitants  of  such  islands  under  such  qualifications  and  limitations  as 
he  might  prescribe.  Such  forces  were  to  be  officered  as  the  President  might 
direct  and  were  to  be  under  the  control  and  subject  to  the  orders  of  the 
president  and  the  officers  assigned  to  duty  by  him.  The  number  of  such 
forces  was  not  to  exceed  35.000  men.  The  bill  provided  for  reducing  the 
permanent  armv  to  a  peace  footing  at  the  discretion  of  the  president.  Ibid., 
p.  2142. 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  CAREER  157 

objected  to  this  amendment  declaring  that  29,000  men  were 
too  few  for  adequate  protection  of  both  coast  and  interior. 
He  alluded  to  the  Indian  Wars  and  tried  to  impress  the 
senators  with  the  possibility  of  future  Indian  outbreaks 
and  the  need  for  troops  stationed  in  the  interior  for  the 
protection  of  western  settlers.  The  bill  as  finally  passed 
increased  the  size  of  the  standing  army  from  the  31,000 
to  which  number  the  army  would  have  been  reduced  after 
demobilization,  to  a  minimum  of  60,000  and  a  maximum  of 
100,000  troops.--53 

Another  policy  advocated  by  Root  was  the  continuance 
and  enlargement  of  the  United  States  Military  Academy 
at  West  Point  for  the  training  of  future  United  States  army 
officers.  Warren  was  in  charge  of  the  military  academy 
appropriation  bill  of  1902.  The  Senate  Committee  on  Mili- 
tary Affairs  had  increased  the  appropriation  to  $6,500,000 
for  the  construction  and  improvement  of  buildings  at  West 
Point.  This  appropriation  had  been  many  times  the  amount 
of  any  previous  appropriation.  Warren  called  up  the  bill 
in  the  Senate  on  June  5,  An  argument  between  Warren 
and  Senator  Bate  of  Tennessee  concerned  the  spending  of 
what  the  latter  called  an  "extravagant  sum."--^^  Warren 
explained  that  $2,000,000  of  the  sum  was  to  be  spent  in 
the  construction  of  new  buildings  and  supplying  the  older 
buildings  with  modern  accommodations  as  well  as  provid- 
ing new  hospital  quarters.  Sarcastically  Senator  Bate 
wanted  to  know  what  had  become  of  the  appropriation  of 
the  previous  year  -  of  $258,000  for  the  same  purpose.  In 
spite  of  the  opposition  of  Bate  and  other  Senators,  the  bill 
passed  the  Senate  in  the  form  recommended  by  the  com- 
mittee. 

Warren's  chief  interest  as  a  United  States  Senator  was 
to  secure  legislation  which  would  directly  benefit  the  West. 
The  previous  chapters  have  dealt  exclusively  with  issues 
which  were  particularly  pertinent  to  the  western  section 
of  the  country,  or  were  local  manifestations  of  national 
problems.  Warren  was  not  interested  in  protecting  the 
wool  producers  in  Ohio,  and  likewise  he  was  not  concerned 
with  the  fact  that  consumers  in  eastern  cities  might  be 
subjected  to  wearing  clothing  made  from  "filthy"  shoddy. 
His  concern  was  that  the  importation  of  shoddy  would  force 
down  the  prices  of  Wyoming  wool.  His  interest  in  conser- 
vation was  not  primarily  the  maintenance  and  preserva- 


253jessup,  op.  cit.,  p.  256.  Root  had  secured  the  statements  of  a  great 
number  of  miUtary  men  urging  a  larger  force.  Warren  In  1901  expressed  his 
belief  that  the  standing  army  of  the  United  States  should  number  100,000  men. 
See  Congressional  Record,  56  Cong.,  3  Sess.,  January  15,  1901,  p.  1026  ff. 

'■^^"^Congressional  Record,  57  Cong,  1  Sess,  June  5,  1902,  p.  6309  ff. 


158  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

tion  of  the  forests,  but  the  benefits  which  might  be  derived 
for  the  livestock  interests  by  allowing  grazing  within  the 
forest  reserves.  In  this  chapter  has  been  discussed  War- 
ren's interest  in  issues  which  were  not  local  in  scope.  He 
beheved  in  the  maintenance  of  a  large  standing  army  and 
undoubtedly  he  exerted  influence  in  that  direction.  Twice 
he  had  been  instrumental  in  quelling  disorder  in  Wyoming 
by  the  use  of  federal  troops.  In  1885  he  had  requested  fed- 
eral troops  to  quell  the  Chinese  Riot  in  Rock  Springs,  Wyo- 
ming, and  in  1892  he  was  believed  to  have  used  his  influ- 
ence as  United  States  Senator  to  aid  the  stockmen  in  the 
Johnson  County  War.  In  a  sense  there  is  a  sectional  aspect 
involved  in  the  disposition  of  a  standing  arm.y.  Warren 
wanted  to  secure  the  stationing  of  a  large  part  of  the  arm^^ 
in  the  interior,  while  people  in  the  East  felt  that  the  army 
should  be  stationed  along  the  coast.  Probably  Warren's 
attitude  toward  imperialism  was  largely  political.  Since 
Warren  was  a  staunch  Republican,  he  readily  fell  in  line 
with  the  policies  enunciated  by  that  party.  In  the  late 
nineties  the  Republicans  launched  upon  an  imperialistic 
and  aggressive  foreign  policy  and  Warren  probably  sup- 
ported it  because  of  his  party  connection. 


An  auto  club  was  organized  in  Laramie  in  August 
1903  to  further  the  interests  of  the  eighteen  automobile 
owners  in  that  vicinity.  Elmer  Lovejoy,  president  of  the 
club,  stated  to  a  local  reporter  that  there  was  a  great  deal 
of  dissatisfaction  among  the  car  owners  owing  to  the  fact 
that  those  driving  teams  about  the  city  streets  did  not 
observe  the  rules  of  keeping  to  the  right  of  the  road  and 
hence  there  was  danger  of  a  collision  between  an  auto  and 
a  team.  He  further  stated  that  the  small  boys  about  the 
town  were  a  great  annoyance  as  they  persisted  "in  playing 
in  the  streets  and  made  a  regular  business  of  waiting  until 
an  auto  is  almost  upon  them  before  getting  out  of  the  way." 


The  thousands  of  circles  on  the  western  prairies  which 
appeared  every  spring  were  called  by  travelers  "fairy 
rings."  They  were  formed  during  the  buffalo  calving 
period.  The  buffalo  bulls,  in  order  to  keep  off  the  gray 
wolves  that  singly  or  in  great  packs  hunted  over  the  prair- 
ies, formed  regular  beats  to  guard  the  cows.  In  walking 
these  beats  the  bulls  made  circular  paths  in  the  new  grass. 


Mian  Ccgends  from  the  Jndian  Quide, 
Published  at  Shoshone  Agency 

The  Waters  of  the  Weeping  Buffalo 

Let  us  look  at  this  fine  mountain  lake  through  summer 
eyes.  It  is  situated  high  up  in  the  mountains,  twenty-five 
or  thirty  miles  north  of  the  school;  set  in  a  background  of 
lofty  green  canyon  walls  dotted  everywhere  with  trees, 
shrubbery  and  flowers. 

The  approach  is  either  by  trail  across  the  foothills  or 
by  a  very  good  wagon  road  partly  along  the  course  of 
Big  Wind  River.  The  road  leads  directly  to  where  the 
lake  outlet,  Bull  Creek,  empties  into  the  river.  Here 
we  have  a  most  desirable  camping  ground,  Ihere  being 
plenty  of  shade  and  more  plentiful  fishing. 

Just  a  little  west  of  this  point  looms  up  Crow  Heart 
Butte,  so  named  from  a  desperate  conflict  between  the 
Crows  and  a  hostile  tribe  of  Indians.  The  Crows  were 
overcome  and  driven  to  the  top  of  the  Butte,  where  a 
Crow's  heart  was  mercilessly  cut  out,  hence  the  record  of 
this  towering  memorial.  Turn  now  to  the  south,  follow 
the  creek  for  two  or  three  miiles  and  the  lake,  or  lakes 
rather,  there  being  a  chain  of  them,  come  to  view,  the 
lower  one  of  which  is  covered  with  pond  lilies,  yellow, 
white   and    fragrant. 

Follow  on  around  the  lakes,  the  scenery  is  grand  and 
peaceful.  The  source  is  to  be  found  at  the  head  lake.  It 
is  a  stream  fed  from  winter  snows  melted  by  summer  suns 
and  at  times  swollen  by  summer  rains. 

One  of  the  attractions  of  this  place  is  in  the  legend 
attached  to  it  by  the  Indians.  At  certain  seasons  of  the 
year  there  is  a  strange  moaning  sound,  caused  by  some 
subterranean  action,  of  what  we  do  not  know.  The  Indians 
say  it  is  the  cry  of  the  Weeping  Buffalo,  and  for  reasons 
of  their  own,  regard  it  with  much  superstition  and  dread. 
They  will  abandon  their  camp  at  once  on  hearing  the 
sound  and  fly  as  from  an  evil  spirit,  which  indeed  it  is  to 
them.  We  too  must  leave  this  fine  scene,  but  it  is  with 
regret  and  many  desires  to  return  again  on  some  future 
occasion  to  the  Waters  of  the  Weeping  Buffalo. 


160  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Crow  Tradition 

Several  years  ago  while  in  the  Crow  country,  an  old 
Indian  nearly  ninety  years  of  age,  related  the  following 
tradition  to  us,  and  we  give  it  to  our  readers  just  as  it  was 
given  to  us.    It  runs  as  follows: 

Many,  many  years  ago  Sakawarte  (the  Crow  name 
for  Great  Spirit)  came  down  to  earth  near  the  Stillwater. 
He  looked  around  and  saw  two  pillars  of  rock.  He  then 
passed  his  hands  over  one  of  the  pillars  and  blew  his  breath 
on  it,  and  it  became  a  m.an.  He  then  did  the  same  to  the 
other  pillar  and  it  became  a  woman.  He  then  said  to  the 
man  and  woman  that  he  would  give  them  one  of  four 
things — grass,  buffalo,  water,  or  ponies.  He  did  that  to 
test  them.  He  told  them  that  he  would  go  away  for  awhile, 
and  that  they  should  go  down  into  a  "cooley"  and  think 
it  over  and  make  a  wise  choice. 

After  several  days  he  came  to  them  and  asked  them 
if  they  had  thought  over  what  he  had  said  to  them  and  if 
they  had  chosen  what  they  wanted. 

They  said  that  they  had. 

He  then  asked  them  what  was  their  choice  and  they 
said  that  they  had  chosen  the  buffalo,  and  they  had  reasoned 
this  way — if  we  choose  the  buffalo,  Sakawarte  will  have 
to  give  us  grass  for  the  buffalo  to  eat;  water  for  the  buffalo 
to  drink  and  ponies  with  which  to  hunt  the  buffalo.  Saka- 
warte when  he  heard  their  choice  said  that  it  was  good 
and  that  they  were  wise  Indians. 

He  then  told  them  that  they  should  take  a  piece  of  an 
ash  tree  and  make  a  bow  of  it  and  arrows  with  which  to 
hunt  the  buffalo.  He  told  them  to  take  the  entrails  and 
make  the  bow-strings;  that  they  should  take  the  feathers 
of  the  eagle  and  put  them  on  the  arrows  with  the  sinue 
of  the  buffalo;  and  that  they  should  get  sharp  stones  and 
put  them  on  the  end  of  the  arrows  and  that  they  should 
cut  a  groove  in  their  arrows  so  as  to  let  the  blood  ooze  out 
and  then  the  buffalo  would  die  quickly. 

He  told  them  to  do  this  and  that  he  would  return  to 
them. 

So  after  a  little  while  he  left  them  and  in  the  course 
of  a  day  or  two  he  came  again  to  them  and  brought  with 
him  six  boys  and  six  girls.  These  he  sent  out  in  pairs,  and 
from  them  sprang  all  the  other  people.  He  then  asked 
them  if  they  had  done  what  he  had  told  them  to  do,  and 
they  said  they  had. 

Then  when  he  saw  what  they  had  done,  he  told  them 
that  it  was  good,  and  that  they  should  be  good  Indians 
and  ever  after  to  hunt  the  buffalo. 


INDIAN  LEGENDS  161 

Sakawarte  then  disappeared  and  has  never  since  been 
seen  by  man. 

Another  Crow  Tradition 

Once  upon  a  time  a  party  of  Crow  Indians  were  out 
hunting  the  buffalo  and  they  had  with  them  a  bhnd  man, 
who  being  a  great  hindrance  to  them  in  their  hunting, 
they  put  up  a  tepee  for  him  on  the  bank  of  the  Stillwater 
and  told  him  to  remain  there  until  they  returned. 

They  left  him  something  to  eat  and  built  a  fire  for  him. 
Then  they  drove  a  stake  in  the  ground  and  stretched  a 
lariat  to  the  Stillwater,  so  he  could  get  water  and  also 
stretched  another  lariat  to  the  timber  and  told  him  to 
follow  that  and  he  could  get  wood.  Thus  they  left  him 
and  shortly  after  another  party  of  Crows  coming  along, 
and  they  also  having  with  them  a  blind  man,  concluded 
to  follow  the  example  of  the  other  party  and  leave  him  to 
keep  the  first  company.  The  two  men  sat  down  and  spent 
their  time  relating  their  "coos"  to  each  other.  The  hunt- 
ing parties  were  detained  and  the  two  blind  men  ran  out 
of  food  and  became  very  hungry.  They  sat  at  their  fire 
and  talked  and  wondered  what  they  would  do  for  some- 
thing to  eat.  Finally  they  could  stand  it  no  longer  and  one 
of  them  suggested  that  they  go  down  to  the  Stillwater  and 
try  to  catch  a  fish  and  eat  it.  "No,"  said  the  other  one, 
"Sakawarte  (the  Great  Spirit),  told  our  people  to  hunt  the 
Buffalo  and  it  would  make  him  very  angry  for  us  to  catch 
and  eat  fish."  But  finally  hunger  getting  the  better  of  him 
he  consented. 

They  then  went  to  the  water  and  it  was  not  very  long 
before  they  caught  a  large  fish.  They  came  back  to  their 
tepee  and  made  a  fire  and  proceeded  to  cook  it. 

They  were  sitting  on  either  side  of  the  fire  talking  and 
when  the  fish  was  nearly  done  Sakawarte  came  quietly  to 
them  and  reaching  over  took  the  fish  out  of  the  pot  over 
the  fire. 

Soon  they  discovered  that  the  fish  was  gone  and  then 
they  began  to  accuse  each  other  of  having  taken  it.  From 
words  they  went  to  blows  and  while  they  were  fighting, 
Sakawarte  was  standing  there  and  laughing  at  them. 

At  last  he  spoke  to  them  and  told  them  to  stop  fighting 
and  that  he,  Sakawarte,  had  taken  the  fish  to  try  them. 

He  then  told  them  that  they  were  bad  Indians  and 
that  they  had  broken  his  command  to  their  people,  which 
was  to  hunt  the  buffalo.  But  he  said  that  he  would  try 
them.  That  they  should  go  down  to  the  Stillwater  and 
take  some  mud  and  rub  it  on  their  eyes  and  then  to  wash 


162  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

it  off  and  that  they  would  then  see.  Then  he  told  them 
that  they  should  obey  him  and  go  and  hunt  the  buffalo. 

Then  he  left  them. 

They  did  as  he  had  told  them  to  do  and  in  a  short  time 
they  could  see. 

They  then  sat  down  and  talked  over  matters,  their 
hunger  increased,  and  the  hunting  parties  not  returning, 
they  at  last  were  compelled  to  go  down  to  the  Stillwater 
and  catch  a  fish.  They  had  no  sooner  landed  a  fish,  than 
they  both  lost  their  sight  again. 

In  remorse  they  sat  down  by  their  fire  and  again 
Sakawarte  came  to  them  and  told  them  what  bad  Indians 
they  had  been,  but  he  said  he  would  try  them  a  second 
time.  So  he  told  them  to  go  again  to  the  Stillwater  and  to 
take  mud  and  put  on  their  eyes  and  wash  them,  then 
when  they  received  their  sight  they  should  never  again 
fish  or  else  they  would  lose  their  sight  and  never  again 
recover  it.  Instead  he  told  them  that  they  should  always 
hunt  the  buffalo. 

So  they  did  as  he  told  them  and  they  immediately 
received  their  sight  a  second  time. 

Then  they  went  and  made  themselves  bows  and  arrows 
as  Sakawarte  had  told  them  to  do  and  while  they  were 
thus  at  work  their  friends  returned  from  the  hunt  and 
gave  them  food. 

The  hunters  were  very  much  surprised  to  find  that  the 
blind  men  had  received  their  sight  and  when  they  were 
told  how  it  was,  they  said  that  they  would  always  be  good 
Indians  and  ever  after  hunt  buffalo. 

When  the  old  Indian,  who  related  the  traditions  to  us 
was  told  that  he  had  said  that  Sakawarte  had  never  been 
seen  by  man  after  he  had  first  created  the  Crows,  he  replied, 
"Blind   men   cannot  see." 

Lone  Bear's  Story 

Few  of  the  Indians  of  this  reservation  are  better  known 
or  more  highly  esteemed  than  our  friend  Lone  Bear,  the 
second  Chief  of  the  Arapahoes.  He  is  now  about  fifty  years 
of  age,  of  fine  physical  powers,  and  a  noble  commanding 
face,  with  an  expression  full  of  kindness  and  intelligence. 
Years  ago  when  he  was  an  Indian  of  the  Indians,  few  could 
equal  and  none  excel  him  in  all  of  the  arts  and  practices, 
which  the  Indians  used  to  most  esteem.  He  was  a  mighty 
nimrod  in  his  day  and  there  are  those  of  his  tribe  now 
living,  who  have  seen  him  kill  two  buffaloes  with  one  arrow; 
and  he  was  also  one  who  could  perform  the  seemingly 
impossible   feat  of   driving   his   arrow   completely  through 


INDIAN  LEGENDS  163 

a  buffalo  so  that  it  fell  out  on  the  other  side.  Now  how- 
ever he  has  abandoned  all  thoughts  of  such  pastimes  and 
devotes  himself  earnestly  and  successfully  to  learning  the 
arts  and  practices  of  the  white  men;  and  is  one  of  our  most 
successful  farmers. 

The  following  story  we  heard  him  tell  to  a  party  of 
white  men  and  Indians  seated  around  a  camp  fire  near  the 
place  on  the  banks  of  the  Big  Horn  River,  which  the  Arapa- 
hoes  call  "ah-cah-can-ah-mes  thai,"  or  "where  we  left  our 
lodge  poles."  Here  it  was  that  they  abandoned  their  lodge 
poles  when  they  left  the  reservation  in  1874  and  went  on 
the  war  path  for  the  last  time. 

His  story  was  heard  very  attentively  by  his  audience 
and  all  of  the  Indians  seemed  to  be  familiar  with  it.  It 
may  be  that  it  has  some  foundation  in  fact.  Here  it  is 
just  as  he  told  it,  and  Tom  Crispin  interpreted  it. 

Long  ago  there  were  some  Indians  of  the  Comanche 
tribe,  who  live  a  long  way  south  from  here  and  they  speak 
the  same  language  as  the  Shoshones.  Some  think  they  are 
the  same  people  but  they  live  far  apart. 

Some  of  these  Indians  were  out  hunting  once  and  there 
was  a  young  squaw  along  with  them.  They  were  running 
buffaloes  and  at  night  the  squaw  was  missing.  She  had 
fallen  off  her  horse  or  been  thrown  or  had  lost  her  way — at 
any  rate  she  could  not  be  found.  The  next  day  all  the 
party  looked  for  her  but  they  could  not  find  her.  Many 
days  after  they  looked  but  they  could  not  find  her,  so  they 
went  back  to  their  lodges  without  her  and  everybody 
thought  she  was  dead. 

Two  snows  after,  while  hunting  wild  horses,  they  saw 
a  herd  and  rode  as  near  to  them  as  they  could.  The  horses 
ran  away  and  the  Indians  chased  them. 

They  saw  in  the  herd  a  strange  animal  which  they 
had  never  seen  before,  but  they  could  not  get  near  enough 
to  tell  what  it  was.  They  went  home  and  told  what  they 
had  seen,  and  the  tribe  held  a  council  and  said  we  will 
send  forty  of  our  young  men  on  our  best  horses  to  catch 
or  kill  this  animal.  Two  days  after  the  young  men  rode 
out  of  the  village. 

They  rode  to  the  place  where  the  wild  horses  had  been 
and  spent  three  days  looking  for  them.  At  noon  on  the 
third  day  they  saw  the  herd  grazing  a  long  way  off.  They 
did  not  disturb  them  that  day,  but  next  at  the  first  light, 
the  young  men  started  out  to  chase  them.  When  they 
were  about  half  a  mile  from  them  the  herd  started  to  run 
and  the  Indians  put  their  ponies  to  the  top  of  their  speed. 

Leading  the  herd  was  the  strange  animal  and  they 
saw  that  it  looked  like  a  man. 


164  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

No  horse  was  so  fast  as  it  was,  and  the  Indians  soon 
saw  that  they  could  not  catch  it  on  their  horses. 

They  stopped  chasing  it  then  and  held  a  council.  They 
said,  ''We  will  surround  the  herd  tomorrow  and  maybe  we 
can  catch  the  animal  that  way."  In  the  afternoon  they 
saw  the  herd  a  long  way  off,  and  placed  six  of  the  best 
riders  along  a  ravine  through  which  it  would  have  to  go. 
Then  the  riders  began  to  drive  the  herd  toward  the  ravine 
and  it  passed  near  to  one  of  the  young  men,  who  was 
there.  The  animal  was  leading  the  herd  and  running  very 
fast — faster  than  any  horse  could  run.  The  young  man 
rode  towards  it  as  fast  as  his  horse  could  go,  and  as  the 
animal  ran  past  him  he  saw  that  it  was  a  man  or  a  woman. 
He  had  his  lasso  ready  and  threw  it  around  the  man's 
breast,  but  before  he  could  tighten  it,  the  man  caught  it 
in  his  hands  and  pushed  it  off  over  his  head. 

Several  other  of  the  young  men  rode  across  the  ravine 
in  front  and  they  surrounded  the  animal,  and  it  stood  still. 
Its  eyebrows  were  so  long  that  it  pushed  them  up  with 
its  hands  and  looked  up  at  the  young  men  and  they  saw 
that  it  was  a  woman.  Her  hair  hung  down  to  her  feet. 
They  tied  her  with  ropes  and  took  her  with  them.  When 
they  came  to  the  village  one  of  the  squaws  said,  "That  is  the 
woman  who  was  lost   two   snows   ago." 

They  said,  "How  do  you  know  her?" 

She  said,  "Look  on  her  leg  and  you  will  see  a  scar.  She 
was  dressing  a  buffalo  robe  one  day  and  the  scraper  slipped 
and  cut  her."  They  looked  and  saw  it  was  the  woman. 
They  kept  her  for  three  days  but  she  would  not  eat;  neither 
would  she  wear  clothes.  The  third  day  her  brother  came 
into  the  tent  and  saw  that  she  had  torn  her  clothes  off  and 
he  killed  her. 


Early  emigrants  suffered  from  grasshoppers,  as  have 
the  later  farmers.  A  military  order  in  January  of  1875 
commanded  Lieutenant  O'Brien  of  the  4th  Infantry  and 
Lieutenant  Norris  of  the  9th  Infantry  at  Fort  Laramie,  and 
Lieutenants  True  and  Brown  of  the  4th  Infantry  at  Fort 
Fetterman  to  report  to  Omaha  to  help  in  the  distribution 
of  supplies  to  the  grasshopper  sufferers. 


All  members  of  the  Johnson  County  delegation  to  the 
state  legislature  were  chloroformed  and  robbed  by  burglars 
on  the  night  of  December  4,  1890,  while  they  were  sleeping 
in  a  Cheyenne  home.  The  next  night,  members  of  the 
Fremont  County  delegation,  sleeping  in  another  Cheyenne 
residence,  had  a  similar  experience. 


Zhomas  Jefferson  Can.  A  'Jrontier  Sheriff 

Compiled  from  C.  G.  Coutant's  notes  made  in  1884-1885 

Thomas  Jefferson  Carr,  was  born  near  Pittsburgh,  Penn- 
sylvania, June  18,  1842.  About  1857  his  father,  Josiah  Carr, 
who  for  many  years  had  been  a  pilot  on  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  river  boats,  moved  to  Jackson,  Ohio,  the  county 
seat  of  Jackson  County,  and  engaged  in  the  general  mer- 
chandise business.  Young  Jeff  acted  as  a  part  time  clerk 
and  attended  school  until,  at  the  age  of  19,  he  began  teach- 
ing in  the  district  schools  of  Jackson  and  Pike  counties, 
Ohio.  With  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War  he  was  en- 
gaged as  a  clerk  in  the  Quartermaster's  Department  of  the 
Ohio  Troops,  serving  under  General  J.  D.  Cox  at  Kenawha 
Falls,  Charleston  and  Ganely  Bridge. 

Being  discharged  from  the  army  after  a  severe  attack 
of  pneumonia  Carr  returned  to  Pittsburgh  and  received 
a  diploma  as  bookkeeper  and  accountant  from  the  Iron 
City  College.  For  a  time  he  served  as  an  accountant  in 
the  "Board  of  Trade  Rooms"  for  George  H.  Thurston  but 
soon  the  Pike's  Peak  gold  fever  attacked  him  and  in  1864 
he  arrived  in  Denver.  Here  he  became  interested  in  the 
Metropolitan  Mining  and  Exploring  Company,  a  group  of 
approximately  twenty  men,  who  with  Jack  Jones,  an  old 
mountaineer  as  guide,  prospected  the  headwaters  of  the 
Big  and  Little  Laramie  Rivers,  west  of  the  present  site  of 
Laramie  City.  The  company  found  numerous  traces  of 
precious  minerals  but  not  in  paying  quantities  and,  being 
constantly  harassed  by  Indians,  returned  to  Denver  and 
abandoned  operations. 

From  1864  to  1867  Jeff  Carr  staked  a  large  number  of 
claims  in  the  Central  City-Idaho  Springs  area  but  failed  to 
strike  a  "bonanza."  In  interims  between  his  mining  endeav- 
ors he  acted  as  a  clerk  in  the  office  of  the  County  Clerk  and 
Recorder  in  both  Gilpin  and  Clear  Creek  Counties,  Colorado. 

Finally  "busted"  and  disgusted,  Carr  arrived  in  Chey- 
enne, October  24,  1867,  and  went  to  work  for  S.  F.  Nuckolls 
in  his  large,  new  store  on  Seventeenth  street.  Somewhat 
later  he  was  engaged  as  a  bookkeeper  by  Charles  D.  Sher- 
man, manager  of  Kountze  Bros.  Bank,  located  on  the  corner 
of  Eddy  and  Sixteenth. 

In  the  latter  part  of  January  1868,  Carr  went  to  Fort  Fet- 
terman  as  a  bookkeeper  for  Colonel  Robert  Wilson  and 
Charles  D.  Cobb,  post  traders,  and  remained  there  until  De- 
cember 1869,  when  he  returned  to  Cheyenne.    It  was  during 


T.  Jeff  Carr 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON  CARR  167 

the  fall  of  1869  that  Carr  had  an  encounter  with  John  Rich- 
ards or  Reshaw,  a  noted  half-breed  desperado.  Reshaw  rode 
into  Fort  Fetterman  singing  the  Indian  death  song,  and 
coming  to  the  door  of  the  sutler's  store,  commenced  firing 
his  Winchester.  Corporal  Francis  Conrad,  Co.  E,  Fourth 
Infantry  was  killed  and  several  other  citizens  and  soldiers 
barely  escaped  death  at  the  drunken  Reshaw's  liands.  Carr 
dashed  from  the  store,  snatched  Reshaw's  rifle,  throwing 
it  to  the  ground  and  attempted  to  take  his  revolvers.  But 
Reshaw  instantly  recognized  his  danger  and  turning  his 
horse  rode  rapidly  off  across  the  Platte  where  he  joined 
a  band  of  hostile  Indians,  who  constantly  harassed  the  post, 
at  one  time  even  threatening  it  with  capture.  One  of  the 
main  purposes  of  Reshaw's  visit  to  Fort  Fetterman  was  to 
kill  Joe  Merrival,  a  Mexican  guide  and  scout,  employed 
there.  Joe,  being  familiar  with  Indian  ways,  heard  the 
death  song  long  before  Reshaw  arrived  at  the  camp  and 
hid  himself  securely  in  his  house  near  the  store  until  Re- 
shaw had  departed. 

In  December  1869,  Carr  was  glad  to  bid  adieu  to  Fort 
Fetterman  and  the  Sioux  and  depart  for  Cheyenne.  Trav- 
eling between  Fetterman  and  Fort  Laramie  was  usually 
accomplished  with  the  aid  of  a  military  escort  for  the  pro- 
tection of  persons  and  mails.  Carr  set  out  with  Antonie 
Reynolds,  M.  Mousseau,  Tom  Smith  and  Gliddens,  several 
other  men  and  two  or  three  freight  wagons. 

One  night  while  enroute  the  party  had  a  narrow  escape. 
Early  that  same  morning  Reshaw  and  his  band  of  renegades 
had  attacked  a  ranch  on  the  Laramie,  badly  wounding  two 
sheep  herders  and  driving  off  a  number  of  cattle.  That 
night  they  camped  on  Cottonwood  Creek.  So  did  Carr 
and  his  party.  As  they  sat  around  the  fire  feasting  on 
Buoyli  or  a  soup  made  by  the  old  French  pioneer  Reynolds, 
they  spoke  of  the  danger  of  making  targets  of  themselves 
by  sitting  in  the  fire  light.  At  that  very  time  they  were 
being  viewed  by  Reshaw  and  his  band,  who  were  deliber- 
ating whether  or  not  to  fire  on  the  party.  By  Reshaw's 
own  story,  later  told,  it  was  decided  not  to  molest  them, 
since  he  knew  most  of  them  and  had  been  friendly  with 
them.  It  was  very  lucky  for  Carr  that  Reshaw  was  with 
the  band  or  most  likely  he  would  never  have  reached 
Cheyenne. 

Soon  after  arriving  in  Cheyenne  Mr.  Carr  was  elected 
by  both  branches  of  the  legislature,  then  in  session  to  act 
as  Sheriff  of  Laramie  County.  There  being  a  question  as 
to  whether  the  legislature  or  the  governor  had  the  power 
to  appoint  officers  the  question  was  taken  before  the  Su- 
preme Court,  which  decided  that  the  legislature  could  not 


f-tt^Jt 


JHOMAS  JEFFERSON  CARR  169 

appoint  or  elect  officers,  so  that  Mr.  Carr  could  not  act  as 
sheriff  and  Mr.  S.  M.  Preshaw  served  as  sheriff  until  the 
general  election  in  the  fall  of  1870. 

In  the  general  election  Carr  was  nominated  on  the 
Democratic  ticket  and  elected  Sheriff  and  Collector  of  Taxes 
and  Licenses  for  Laramie  County,  defeating  S.  M  Preshaw. 

These  were  "rough  times"  for  Cheyenne  and  surround- 
ing country  as  the  city  and  county  were  infested  with  a 
large  number  of  hardened  criminals  of  all  classes  and 
murder  was  common.  The  Sheriff  had  to  take  his  life  in 
his  hands  to  do  his  duty  and  had  to  face  the  most  desperate 
of  criminals. 

Shortly  after  becoming  Sheriff,  Carr  had  a  narrow 
escape  from  death  at  the  hands  of  a  notorious  desperado 
named  Charlie  Stanley,  who  was  keeping  a  low  "Robber's 
Roost"  and  house  of  ill  fame  on  Ferguson  street  between 
Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  streets  called  "Golden  Gate." 
Numerous  men  had  been  beaten  nearly  to  death,  robbed 
by  the  male  and  female  inmates  and  pitched  out  into  the 
alley  or  street  to  die  or  be  cared  for  by  whomever  chanced 
to  find  them  and  assist  them.  In  March  1871,  a  warrant 
was  issued  by  Justice  Howe  of  the  District  Court  for  the 
arrest  of  Stanley.  Stanley  had  been  defying  the  law  and 
officers  for  a  year  or  two  and  when  Carr  attempted  to 
arrest  him  he  made  an  attempt  to  escape.  He  and  his 
brother.  West,  Stanley,  armed  themselves  and  openly  boasted 
on  the  streets  that  they  would  not  allow  Carr  or  anybody 
to  take  them.  Carr  met  the  Stanleys  on  Sixteenth  street, 
near  Ferguson.  He  stated  his  business  and  seeing  that 
they  were  heavily  armed  he  immediately  seized  Charles 
by  the  wrists  to  prevent  him  using  his  revolvers,  and  after 
a  long  and  desperate  struggle  Deputies  O'Brien  and  Gavin 
came  to  his  assistance  and  the  two  Stanleys  were  over- 
powered and  disarmed,  the  officers  thought,  as  three  heavy 
revolvers  had  been  taken  from  them.  Carr  then  proceeded 
up  Sixteenth  street  toward  the  jail  with  Charles  Stanley, 
thinking  Stanley  had  no  weapons  about  him.  When  they 
arrived  at  the  corner  of  Sixteenth  and  Eddy,  Stanley  sud- 
denly jumped  to  one  side  into  the  street  and  within  six 
feet  of  Carr  fired  deliberately  with  a  Derringer  heavy 
caliber,  which  he  had  concealed  in  his  coat  sleeve.  Carr 
dodged  downward  and  forward,  the  ball  grazing  his  right 
ear  enough  to  bring  blood  and  severely  stunned  him  for 
a  minute.  Carr,  in  jumping  toward  Stanley,  had  seized  his 
right  hand  as  he  fired,  wrenched  the  Derringer  out  of 
Stanley's  hand  and  hit  him  on  the  head  with  it.  Stanley 
fell  and  a  piece  of  the  stock  of  the  pistol  was  broken  off. 
At  the  same  instant  Deputies  N.  J.  O'Brien  and  Gavin  re- 


170  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

turned  from  jailing  West  Stanley  and  seeing  the  commotion 
immediately  took  Stanley  in  charge  and  carried  him  to 
the  jail.  He  was  immediately  tried,  convicted  and  sen- 
tenced to  ten  years  imprisonment.  On  April  5,  1871,  Sheriff 
Carr  left  with  him  for  the  penitentiary  at  Detroit,  Michigan, 
where  he  was  delivered  in  "good  order." 

The  most  important  duty  which  devolved  upon  Sheriff 
Carr  was  the  first  legal  execution  in  Laramie  County  which 
occurred  April  21,  1871.  The  hanging  was  the  result  of  a 
double  murder  committed  by  John  Boyer,  an  Indian  half- 
breed.  On  October  27,  1870,  Boyer  wantonly  shot  James 
McClusky  and  Henry  Lowry  at  the  "Six  Mile"  Ranch  near 
Fort  Laramie  and  was  convicted  by  a  jury  at  the  March 
term  of  the  District  Court.  The  hanging  took  place  in 
an  old,  vacant,  government  building  on  Sixteenth  street 
near  Eddy.  It  was  witnessed  by  a  large  number  of  people 
inside  the  building  as  special  deputies.  In  the  streets  out- 
side the  building  special  officers  had  difficulty  restraining 
the  excited  people  from  bursting  the  windows  and  doors, 
in  their  eagerness  to  witness  the  execution.  The  event 
passed  off  without  accident  and  Sheriff  Carr  conducted 
everything  in  a  creditable  manner. 

During  the  remainder  of  his  term  Sheriff  Carr  trans- 
ported several  notorious  characters  to  the  penitentiary  at 
Detroit,  among  them  being  Herbert  F.  Nourse,  who  had 
attempted  wholesale  murder.  He  was  employed  at  Ed 
Creighton's  Ranch  on  lower  Horse  Creek,  when  he  killed 
William  Parks,  foreman,  and  M.  L.  Eastman,  and  wounded 
Andrew  Mattice,  on  December  14,  1870,  apparently  without 
provocation.  At  his  trial  in  July  1871,  he  was  convicted 
of  first  degree  murder  but  through  a  technicality  was  al- 
lowed to  plead  guilty  in  the  second  degree,  which  saved 
his  neck.  Carr  likewise  took  to  Detroit,  F.  Phillips  for  the 
murder  of  Julia  Cunningham  in  March  at  Cheyenne,  Frank 
McGovern  for  a  Sweetwater  County  murder  in  1871,  and 
George  Blake  for  an  assassination  at  "Six  Mile"  Ranch  in 
1872.  Carr  delivered  J.  Griffin,  John  Taylor  and  James 
Clark  to  Detroit  for  attempted  murder  in  1871   and   1872. 

In  the  fall  of  1872  Jeff  Carr  was  renominated  by  the 
Democrats  and  reelected  Sheriff  and  Collector  of  Taxes 
and  Licenses,  defeating  his  opponent  J.  O'Brien.  During 
this  term,  1873-74,  he  had  many  criminals  of  all  grades  to 
deal  with.  Among  them  he  took  the  following  murderers 
to  the  penitentiary:  Dan  Titus,  Richard  Pierce,  Gordon 
Tupper,  and  Phil  Timmons.  On  November  19,  1874  he 
executed  Toussaint  Kensler  by  hanging  him  at  Cheyenne 
in  an  old  stone  building  on  the  corner  of  Bent  and  Twenty- 
first  streets.    Kensler  had  been  found  guilty  of  the  assassi- 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON  CARR  171 

nation  of  Adolph  Pinea  at  the  Ecoffey  and  Cuny  Ranch  on 
Sibylee  Creek.  The  execution  was  witnessed  by  many 
and  pronounced  a  first  class  job,  everything  about  the  scaf- 
fold working  like  clock  work.  Carr  adjusted  the  rope  and 
knot  with  great  care,  so  that  the  fall  would  break  his  neck 
and  not  strangle  him,  conducting  the  disagreeable  duty 
with  the  coolness  and  skill  of  an  old  hand. 

About  the  end  of  his  second  term  as  sheriff,  Carr  was 
appointed  Assistant  Superintendent  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tain Detective  Agency  and  its  agent  for  Wyoming  by  D.  J. 
Cook,  Sheriff  of  Denver  and  General  Superintendent  of 
the  Rocky  Mountain  Detective  Agency.  During  1875  and 
1876  Carr  was  engaged  in  this  detective  business  and  in- 
vested largely  in  real  estate  in  Cheyenne,  building  the 
"Carr"  block  on  Ferguson  street  in  the  summer  of  1876. 
Acting  as  detective,  Carr  recovered  many  stolen  horses  and 
other  property,  capturing  a  number  of  criminals,  among 
whom  was  the  notorious  horse  thief  of  Colorado,  John  Doen, 
alias  Regal,  alias  Myers.  On  August  23,  1876  he  was  ar- 
rested by  Detective  Carr  and  Constable  Clark  Devoe  in  the 
act  of  selling  a  stolen  horse  to  Carr  and  while  having  three 
horses  in  his  possession  which  had  been  stolen  near  Denver. 
After  being  arrested  and  while  walking  along  Eddy  street, 
he  darted  into  an  alley,  running  like  a  deer,  pursued  by 
Devoe  and  Carr,  who  called  on  him  to  stop  but  he  kept  on 
running.  Carr  and  Devoe  began  shooting  into  the  air  but 
Doen  returned  the  shots  and  showed  considerable  fight. 
Finally  a  shot  brought  him  down  and  he  dropped  his  pistol 
when  covered  by  the  revolvers  of  both  Carr  and  Devoe. 
He  was  badly  wounded  and  died  the  same  evening.  The 
detectives  did  not  intend  killing  him  nor  did  they  intend 
allowing  him  to  escape,  which  he  likely  would  have  done, 
as  he  was  a  better  runner  than  they.  Superintendent  Cook 
and  many  others  in  Colorado  tendered  Carr  and  Devoe  a 
vote  of  thanks  for  a  good  deed. 

In  the  fall  of  1876  Carr  was  again  elected  Sheriff  and 
Collector  for  his  third  term,  and  served  during  the  Black 
Hills  gold  excitement  and  travel  when  the  town  and  coun- 
try were  again  overrun  with  "Bunko  thieves,"  cut  throats, 
road  agents  and  the  like.  During  these  two  years  he 
handled  many  of  the  hardest  class  of  stage  robbers,  mur- 
derers and  horse  thieves  and  still  maintained  his  reputa- 
tion as  a  "Terror  to  all  thieves,  pimps.  Bunko  and  Three 
Card  Monte  men — they  had  to  go."  In  Nebraska  as  far 
west  as  the  Wyoming  line,  during  this  time  and  for  several 
years  previous,  the  IJnion  Pacific  railroad  trains  and  towns 
along  the  road  were  overrun  by  Doc  Baggs,  Canada  Bill  and 
Three  Card  Monte   gangs  and  robberies   were   committed 


172  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

nearly  every  day,  but  not  a  single  case  occurred  over  the 
line  in  Laramie  County  or  in  Cheyenne.  Carr  handled 
them  too  roughly  as  Baggs,  Tibbets,  Sparks  and  Gavey 
could  attest  from  experience  in  the  Laramie  County  jail. 

During  this  time  many  killings  occurred  in  the  county 
but  the  most  noted  was  the  murder  of  old  Mr.  J.  P.  Jackson 
and  his  son,  March  29,  1877,  at  his  house  on  Upper  Horse 
Creek  by  Norman  McCuaig.  McCuaig  was  mounted  and 
immediately  rode  away.  He  escaped  and  although  every 
effort  was  made  by  Carr  then  and  since  to  apprehend  him 
he  never  has  been  caught.  In  July  of  1877,  Billy  Webster 
alias  Clark  Pelton  shot  and  killed  Deputy  Sheriff  Adolph 
Cuny  at  "Six  Mile"  Ranch  near  Fort  Laramie,  while  Cuny 
was  nobly  doing  his  duty  guarding  the  notorious  Dune 
Blackburn,  stage  robber  and  murderer,  whom  he  had  just 
arrested.  Webster  and  Blackburn  both  escaped  but  were 
later  captured  and  Webster  was  sent  to  the  penitentiary 
for  four  years — "an  outrage  and  a  shame"  as  he  should 
have  been  hanged. 

Shortly  before  the  Cuny  killing,  Webster,  Blackburn, 
Ready  Bob  McKinnie  and  others  are  supposed  to  have  mur- 
dered, by  shooting,  John  Slaughter,  near  Deadwood,  while 
he  was  driving  a  stage. 

Dune  Blackburn,  together  with  Jim  Wall,  both  road 
agents  and  stage  robbers,  were  brought  to  jail  in  Cheyenne 
by  Deputy  Sheriff  Scott  Davis  on  November  23,  1877. 
Davis  started  from  Lance  Creek  on  the  stage  road  near 
Deadwood,  five  days  behind  the  robbers  and  followed  the 
trail  of  seventeen  head  of  horses  they  stole  from  the  stage 
company.  After  a  long,  hard  and  gallant  chase  he  over- 
hauled them  near  Green  River  Station  on  the  Union  Pacific 
railroad,  recovered  the  horses  and  captured  them  both, 
badly  wounding  Wall.  Both  were  sentenced  to  the  peni- 
tentiary for  nine  years. 

During  the  remainder  of  the  year  1877,  Carr  had  nu- 
merous encounters  with  stage  robbers,  among  them  N.  D. 
Flores,  a  Mexican  banditte  and  Foncy  Ryan,  a  notorious 
tough  kid  of  Cheyenne. 

On  October  21,  1878,  Billy  Mansfield  and  Archie  Mc- 
Laughlin were  brought  in  by  Deputy  Sheriffs  Jim  May  and 
Jessie  Brown  and  jailed  for  stage  robberies.  But  since 
most  of  their  crimes  had  been  committed  in  Dakota,  on 
November  2,  1878,  May  and  Brown  started  with  them  for 
Deadwood  by  the  Cheyenne  and  Black  Hills  stage.  The 
next  day,  when  a  short  distance  beyond  Fort  Laramie, 
the  "Vigilantes"  stopped  the  stage  and  at  the  muzzle  of 
guns   forcibly   took   McLaughlin    and    Mansfield   from   the 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON  CARR  173 

officers  and  lynched  both  by  hanging  them  to  a  cottonwood 
on  the  banks  of  the  Laramie  River. 

The  murderer  and  stage  robber  Al  Spurs  was  brought 
in  on  November  20,  1878  and  jailed  as  one  of  the  murderers 
and  stage  robbers  at  Cannon  Springs  Station  near  Dead- 
wood  on  September  26,  in  which  he,  Frank  Bride,  Charles 
Carey  and  others  attacked  the  "Treasure  Coach,"  killing 
Telegraph  Operator  H.  O.  Campbell  and  badly  wounding 
Gale  Hill,  messenger  and  guard.  They  escaped  with  a 
large  amount  of  gold  bullion,  gold  dust  and  other  valuables. 
Spurs,  while  in  jail,  was  "worked"  by  Carr  and  confessed 
and  gave  up  several  hundred  dollars  in  bills  that  he  had 
sewed  in  his  clothes  and  told  Carr  where  $5000.00  in  gold 
bullion,  his  share  of  the  robbery  was  buried  on  a  farm  near 
Lone  Tree  Station  in  Nebraska.  It  was  soon  after  found 
by  Luke  Voorhees,  Superintendent  of  the  Cheyenne  and 
Black  Hills  Stage  Company.  Spurs  was  convicted  and 
sentenced  to  the  penitentiary  for  life. 

At  the  same  time  John  Irvin  was  arrested  and  jailed. 
He  was  sent  to  Laramie  for  trial,  convicted  and  sentenced 
for  life  for  stage  robbery  and  murder.  "Dutch"  Charley, 
notorious  murderer  and  stage  and  train  robber,  was  like- 
wise arrested  by  Carr  and  jailed  for  horse  stealing  at  Fort 
McKinney.  However  not  sufficient  evidence  was  found 
to  hold  him  and  he  was  released.  Soon  after  he  was  lynched 
near  Rawlins  for  train  wrecking  and  the  murder  of  Deputy 
Sheriffs  Widdowfield  and  Vincent  of  Rawlins.  This  was 
the  same  murder  in  which  Big  Nose  George  and  Jack 
Campbell  were  involved. 

John  H.  Brown  was  brought  in  from  Deadwood  on 
November  25,  1878,  being  badly  wounded  from  a  shot  re- 
ceived during  his  arrest.  He,  together  with  Charley  Ross 
and  Archie  McLaughlin,  were  accused  of  robbing  the  stage 
passengers  and  shooting  and  wounding  Dan  Finn  of  Chey- 
enne and  two  other  passengers,  about  July  1,  at  Whoopup 
Station  near  Deadwood  on  the  Cheyenne  and  Black  Hills 
Stage  road.  Ross  disappeared.  Soon  after  Brown's  incar- 
ceration a  mysterious  "red  haired"  girl  called  to  see  Brown, 
and  seemed  very  anxious  and  concerned.  Carr  admitted 
her,  but  watched  her  closely  and  listened  intently  to  what 
was  whispered  between  them  without  their  noticing  it  and 
heard  her  say  she  had  heard  from  "Charley"  and  guessing  she 
was  Charley  Ross'  girl,  concluded  he  might  find  out  through 
her  the  whereabouts  of  the  notorious  Charley.  He  went 
to  work  by  various  methods  to  gain  the  information  de- 
sired; at  first  she  denied  knowing  him,  but  finally  after 
forcible  persuasion  she  unwillingly  gave  to  Carr  a  letter 
she  had  received  some  three  weeks  before  from  Eureka, 


174  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Nevada,  signed  James  Patrick  and  she  also  produced  a 
photograph  of  Ross.  Carr  at  once  telegraphed  as  close  a 
description  as  he  could  get  of  Ross  to  Sheriff  Sias  at  Eureka, 
and  sent  him  a  copy  of  the  photograph,  telling  Sias  to 
watch  for  Patrick.  In  about  two  weeks  Sias  telegraphed 
he  thought  he  had  Ross,  alias  Patrick.  Carr  at  once  pro- 
ceeded there,  after  securing  extradition  papers.  Ross,  in 
the  meantime,  claimed  he  was  not  the  man,  and  being 
disguised  as  a  miner  did  not  look  much  like  the  picture. 
He  tried  continuously  to  escape  and  denied  ever  being  in 
Wyoming  until  he  arrived  in  Cheyenne  and  was  identified 
by  many  who  knew  him,  at  which  time  he  owned  up  to 
being  Charley  Ross.  He  was  tried  afterwards,  being  iden- 
tified by  Dan  Finn  as  the  man  who  shot  him  and  the  others 
at  the  stage  robbery  of  Whoopup  Station,  and  was  sentenced 
to  the  penitentiary  at  Lincoln  for  a  long  term.  He  was  a 
bold  and  desperate  highwayman,  having  before  this  been 
engaged  in  robbery  of  Noble's  men  in  Sweetwater  County 
and  the  robbery  of  Cariboo  Mines  in  Idaho.  John  Brown 
was  tried  and  acquitted,  being  used  as  a  v/itness  in  Ross' 
trial. 

On  June  30,  1878,  Sheriff  Carr  arrested  Ed.  McGrand, 
a  Texas  bad  man,  at  Sloan's  Lake  near  Cheyenne,  for  the 
murder  of  a  boy  named  John  Wright  at  McCann's  Ranch, 
near  Sidney,  Nebraska.  He  was  tried  and  sentenced  to  life 
in  the  penitentiary. 

During  this  term  Carr  again  had  a  narrow  escape  from 
death  and  again  was  lucky.  On  December  16,  1877,  when  he 
opened  the  cage  door  for  old  Fritz  Freemong  to  put  in  their 
suppers,  without  any  suspicion  or  warning.  Dune  Black- 
burn, the  notorious  murderer  and  stage  robber,  W.  L.  Baker, 
being  held  for  murder,  Jesse  Williams,  a  burglar  and  James 
Collins,  a  soldier  in  jail  for  assault,  all  attacked  him,  seizing 
his  two  arms.  Then  began  a  life  and  death  struggle  for 
Carr's  revolver  in  his  rear  pocket,  Blackburn  cursing  and 
yelling  to  shoot  Carr.  Finally  after  a  long  struggle  Wil- 
liams, who  was  a  very  muscular  man,  got  the  revolver  and 
instead  of  shooting  Carr  as  they  had  planned,  he  immedi- 
ately went  out  of  the  jail  door  through  Carr's  residence  and 
out  into  the  street  to  escape,  much  to  the  relief  of  Carr  who 
had  expected  to  be  shot.  It  was  fortunate  for  Carr  that 
Williams  got  the  revolver  instead  of  Blackburn,  who  had 
intended  to  kill  Carr  before  escaping.  As  soon  as  Williams 
ran  away  with  the  revolver  Blackburn  and  Baker  weakened. 
Carr  soon  broke  them  loose  from  him,  knocking  Collins 
down  and  scattering  Blackburn  and  Baker,  who  all  ran 
into  their  cells.  Out  of  the  large  number  of  prisoners 
in  jail  no   one  escaped,  Williams   being   caught  by  J.   W. 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON  CARR  175 

Bruner,  Clerk  of  Court  and  George  Hawes  and  returned 
to  jail.  The  District  Court  was  in  session  at  the  time  and 
the  attempted  break  created  a  great  excitement.  There 
were  a  number  of  stage  robbers  in  jail  but  none  joined  in 
the  plot,  remaining  in  their  cells. 

During  this  term  Carr  captured  horse  thieves  and  other 
criminals  too  numerous  to  mention,  both  at  Cheyenne  and 
over  the  surrounding  states  of  Colorado  and  Nebraska. 
The  most  prominent  of  these  captures  occurred  in  1877. 
Four  mules,  guns  and  saddles  were  stolen  one  night  from 
the  Union  Pacific  Railroad's  stockyard  on  Crow  Creek  at 
Cheyenne.  Carr  had  the  thieves  arrested,  four  of  them, 
Ed  Thoyer,  Charles  Pierce,  Frank  Wright  and  David  Byers. 
Through  the  assistance  of  D.  J.  Cook  and  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tain Detective  Agency  the  thieves  and  mules  were  headed 
off  and  caught  near  Grenada,  Colorado,  three  hundred  to 
four  hundred  miles  away.  On  their  way  south  the  thieves 
had  also  stolen  some  horses  at  Greeley  which  were  re- 
covered and  the  robbers  were  held  at  Greeley  for  horse 
stealing. 

During  his  three  terms  as  sheriff  and  collector  Carr 
gained  a  reputation  as  a  close,  good  collector,  honest  and 
with  his  accounts  in  fine  and  intelligent  form,  although 
he  handled  large  sums  of  public  money. 

In  1879  and  1880,  Carr,  as  detective  for  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tain Detective  Agency,  arrested  numerous  criminals  of  all 
grades,  among  which  we  mention  the  arrest  o?  Fred  Ben- 
nett in  June  1879,  at  Georgetown,  Colorado,  for  wholesale 
stealing  of  forty  head  of  horses  from  Bennett  Bros.,  at  La 
Porte,  Colorado,  a  short  time  before  and  running  them  into 
Nebraska  and  selling  them.  Carr,  tracing  him  all  around, 
finally  found  him  working  in  a  mine  at  Georgetown,  under 
the  name  of  Bill  Marshall  and  brought  him  to  Fort  Collins 
for  trial  in  October  where  he  was  convicted  and  sent  to  the 
penitenitary  at  Canon  City  for  six  and  one  half  years. 

Carr  and  Cook  deserve  credit  for  the  discovery  of  the 
mysterious  murderers  of  old  Mr.  R.  B.  Hayward  near 
Golden,  Colorado,  in  1879.  Their  work  resulted  in  the 
arrest  of  J.  Seminoe,  among  the  Indians  at  Pine  Ridge 
Agency,  Dakota,  and  of  Sam  Woodruft'  near  Council  Bluff, 
Iowa,  and  the  delivery  of  both  at  Golden  City,  in  the  fall 
of  1879.  Both  suspects  were  recognized  by  Mrs.  Hayward 
as  the  slayers  of  her  husband  and  were  taken  out  of  the 
jail  by  a  mob  of  citizens  on  December  28,  and  hung.  Wood- 
ruff was  the  same  assassin  who  shot  and  killed  John  Freel 
in  Laramie  County,  Wyoming,  December  1874. 

In  September  1880,  Carr  brought  about  the  arrest  of 
John  Latta  for  stealing  four  mules,  wagons,  a  harness  and 


176  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

over  a  thousand  dollars  in  cash  from  Hensley.  For  three 
months  after  he  left  the  country  Carr  trailed  him  all  over 
Colorado,  back  and  forth  to  Kansas  and  into  New  Mexico 
and  back  to  Pueblo  and  finally  arrested  him  at  North  Park, 
Colorado,  recovering  the  mules  and  wagons  and  a  portion 
of  the  money.  Latta  confessed  to  the  robbery  and  was 
brought  back  to  Cheyenne  where  he  was  tried.  Through 
legal  technicalities  he  was  acquitted. 

The  next  important  arrest  made  by  Detective  Carr 
was  on  July  23,  1880,  at  Cheyenne.  He  had  received  a 
telegraphic  description  of  Fred  Hopt,  alias  Welcome,  who 
had  been  traced  eastward  and  Carr  was  able  to  identify 
him  at  the  Union  Pacific  Depot,  arrest  him  and  return  him 
to  Utah,  where  he  was  convicted  of  murder  in  the  first 
degree  and  sentenced  to  death.  Hopt  was  accused  of  the 
murder  of  John  Turner,  a  son  of  John  W.  Turner,  sheriff 
at  Provo  City,  Utah,  and  deputy  U.  S.  marshal  for  Utah, 
near  Park  City.  He  stole  two  teams  and  wagons  and  rob- 
bing the  body  attempted  to  burn  it  up. 

Carr  was  again  nominated  for  sheriff  by  the  Democratic 
Committee  in  the  fall  of  1880,  for  a  fourth  term  but  was 
defeated  by  his  Republican  opponent,  S.  R.  Sharpless, 
through  a  bolt  in  the  Democratic  party.  In  1881,  February 
3,  Carr  was  appointed  City  Marshal  and  City  Collector  and 
continued  in  this  position  until  July  6,  1883,  when  he  re- 
signed. During  this  term  he  distinguished  himself  by  ar- 
resting many  horse  thieves  and  burglars  and  maintaining 
order  in  the  city  and  ridding  the  town  of  tramps,  pimps, 
thieves  and  fully  sustained  his  past  reputation  as  a  "terror  to 
evil  doers  of  all  classes."  He  earned  praise  from  the  city 
for  his  great  efficiency  as  a  collector  of  taxes  and  licenses 
due  the  city,  having  a  very  diminutive  delinquent  list  each 
year  and  collecting  thousands  of  dollars  of  past  and  previous 
years  delinquent  taxes  for  the  city,  which  should  have 
been  collected  by  his  predecessors  in  office.  He  still  repre- 
sents the  Rocky  Mountain  Detective  Agency  at  Cheyenne, 
as  assistant  superintendent,  and  is  on  the  lookout  for 
criminals  who  may  chance  to  come  his  way  and  WOE  BE 
UNTO  ANY  he  may  get  hold  of. 


A  man  is  entitled  to  vote  and  hold  office  wherever  he 
has  his  washing  done,  regardless  of  where  his  wife  lives, 
according  to  a  Uinta  County  court  decision  of  the  early 
days.  The  decision  was  given  in  a  suit  contesting  the 
election  of  William  Sloan  as  county  commissioner.  It  was 
charged  that  Sloan  was  not  a  legal  resident  of  Wyoming 
because  his  wife  hved  in  Salt  Lake  City. 


Preservation  of  Wyoming  Mistorical  Kelies 

Wyoming  should  make  provision  for  an  historical  build- 
ing and  adequate  appropriations  to  maintain  a  proper  mu- 
seum. Every  year  we  are  losing  many  valuable  historical 
pieces  and  collections  either  through  sale  or  by  donation 
to  out-of-state  organizations.  The  persons  who  donate  their 
collections  to  out-of-state  museums  do  so  because  they 
believe  that  better  facilities  are  available  for  the  care  and 
preservation  of  their  relics.  All  members  of  the  Wyoming 
State  Historical  Department  staff  are  making  an  earnest 
effort  to  care  for  new  acquisitions  in  the  best  possible 
manner.  Each  item  is  accessioned  under  the  donor's  name 
and  a  card  is  marked  showing  the  exact  location  of  the 
item  in  the  museum.  If  space  is  not  available  to  display 
the  particular  item,  it  is  carefully  marked,  wrapped,  boxed, 
and  stored  in  a  fireproof  vault.  When  a  new  building  is 
erected  these  relics  can  then  be  shown.  Diaries,  personal 
papers,  maps,  journals,  and  pamphlets  are  similarly  treated, 
but  are  kept  readily  available  for  the  use  of  research 
workers. 

The  preservation  of  the  relics  which  so  graphically 
portray  our  beginnings  in  Wyoming  is  an  important  and 
necessary  function  of  our  state.  It  is  important  because 
it  is  primarily  through  these  means  that  future  generations 
can  see  and  understand  the  heritage  that  is  theirs.  It  is 
impossible  to  envision  the  future  without  knowing  and 
studying  the  past.  The  state  museum  and  its  displays  are 
important  in  the  teaching  of  history.  By  viewing  exhibits, 
students  and  visitors  learn  of  Wyoming  historical  events 
and  progress  made  from  pioneer  days  to  the  present.  Here 
can  be  seen  the  wagons,  yokes,  saddles,  bits,  spurs,  and 
trappings  that  their  forefathers  used  in  their  trek  west- 
ward; pictures,  diorama  and  even  the  actual  items  which 
were  used  by  the  trappers  and  traders  in  their  wild  and 
lonely  life  in  the  mountains.  From  a  graphic  display  of 
Indian  art  and  culture,  they  learn  far  more  of  the  Indian 
way  of  life  than  mere  words  in  a  text  book  can  tell. 

If  all  persons  interested  in  saving  these  valuable  his- 
toric pieces,  for  coming  generations,  will  work  and  support 
the  bill  for  a  new  historical  building,  we  will  then  have 
adequate  facilities  to  care  for  these  priceless  items.  Please 
give  your  relics  of  early  Wyoming  to  YOUR  state  museum! 


Wyoming   State  Museum 


ACCESSIONS 

to  the 

Wyoming  Historical  Department 

November  1,  1947  to  May  14,  1948. 

Beck,  Mrs.  George  T.,  Cody,  Wyoming:  Collection  of  beautifully 
designed   clothing,    1865-1900.     October    1947. 

Emerson,  Dr.  Paul,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming:  Collection  of  old  pic- 
tures and  china;  a  compass  used  by  Elam  S.  Emerson  on  Texas 
cattle  trails  to  Nebraska;  World  War  I  collection  of  medical 
supplies.     October   1947. 

Meyers,  Ed,  Seattle,  Washington:  Collection  of  books,  badges, 
confederate  money,  Godey's  Lady's  book,  a  dress  of  the  Civil 
War  period,  Orville  Wright  letter,  American  flag  with  13  stars, 
a  book  whittled  from  wood,  spoons,  rocks.     November  1947. 

Hogle,  Claron,  Duluth,  Minnesota:  Three  pieces  of  Lake  Superior 
agate.      December    1947. 

Russell,  I.  E.,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming:  Three  maps  of  Wyoming. 
January    1948. 

Smalley,  Mrs.  E.  J.,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming:  Pictures  of  Matthew 
and  John  Sloan,  Thomas,  Frank  and  Almeda  Castle,  Mary 
Jane  and  Edwin  J.  Smalley.     January  1948. 

Cheyenne  Frontier  Committee,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming:  Large  col- 
lection of  Indian  garments.     January  1948. 

Richardson,  Warren  and  Emile,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming:  Three  Egyp- 
tian m.ummy  pieces  and  bone  from  the  prison  cell  of  Socrates. 
January    1948. 

McGrath,  Mary  A.,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming:  Two  Yellowstone  Park 
booklets,  Cody  Stampede  token,  Thermopolis  souvenir.  March 
1948. 

Barthelemy,  Mrs.  R.  E.,  Hollywood,  Florida:  Three  photographs 
of  early  graves  at  Rock  Springs  and  the  Overland  crossing 
of  Platte  in  Carbon  County.     January  1948. 

Fullerton,  Ellen  Miller,  Los  Angeles,  Calif.:  Cheyenne  Opera 
House  program,   1885.     February  1948. 

Siegel,  Walt,  Green  River,  Wyoming:  Picture  of  Tom  Horn.  Feb- 
ruary 1948. 

Snyder,  Art,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming:  Mess  bell  from  Camp  Carlin. 
March  1948. 

Richardson,  Clarence,  Casper,  Wyoming:  Indian  moccasins  and 
pouch.     April   1948. 

Richardson,  Laura  and  Valera,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming:  Souvenir 
convention  and  lodge  badges,  Indian  leggings,  ladies  fan. 
April  1948. 


180  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Richardson,  Warren,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming:  Photographs  of  Coi. 
E.  A.  Slack,  first  Frontier  Days  Committee,  first  Frontier 
show.  Alert  hose  team;  three  pair  of  moccasins,  two  beaded 
pouches,    1898  Frontier  souvenir.     April   1948. 

O'Mahoney,  Sen.  J.  C,  Washington,  D.  C:  Replica  of  original 
working  patent  model  of  McCormick  Reaper.    April  1948. 

Trosper,    Clayton   A.,   Cheyenne,   Wyoming:     Mining   claim   found 
in  baking  powder  tin  in  Encampment  mining  area,   old  die-, 
tionary.     March    1948. 

Knollenberg,  Walter,  Lander,  Wyoming:  Old  fashioned  ice  scraper. 
March   1948. 

Governor's  Office,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming:  Invitation  to  Pres.  Calvin 
Coolidge  to  attend  Cheyenne  Frontier  Days.     March  1948. 

Moore,  Mrs.  Frank  L.,  East  Lansing,  Michigan:  Collection  of 
manuscripts,  letters,  diaries,  and  newspaper  clippings  per- 
taining to  the  Rev.  Frank  L.  Moore's  activities  in  Wyoming 
on  behalf  of  the  Congregational  Church.     April  1948. 

Smith,  John  J.,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming:  Hand  mxade  silver  inlaid 
bit.     April  1948. 

Andersen,  Mrs.  Ida  B.,  Newcastle,  Wyoming:  Three  Spanish 
American  jackets.     April  1948. 

Guy,  Mrs.  Ben,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming:  Baby  dresses,  child's  cup 
and  doll,  letters  and  drawing  books,  programs,  picture  folder 
of  the  Holy  Child  Academy,  World  War  I  newspapers,  copy 
of  the  Tokyo  "Yank."     May  1948. 

John  Newell  Estate,  Buffalo,  Wyoming:  Framed  picture  of  Camp 
W.  A.  Richards.     May  1948. 

Books — Purchased 

Sandoz,  Mari,  The  Tom-Walker.     Dial  Press,  New  York,  1947.  Price  ^2.00. 

Russell,  Charles  M.,  Forty  pen  and  ink  drawings.  Trail's  End,  Pasadena,  1947. 
Price  $3.15. 

MacFall,  Russell  P.,  Gem  hunter  s  guide.  Science  and  Mechanic's  Publishing 
Co.,  Chicago,  1946.     Price  $.90. 

Winther,  Oscar  Osburn,  Via  western  express  and  stagecoach.  Stanford  Univ. 
Press,  Stanford,  Cal.,  1945.    Price  $2.70. 

Carrighar,  Sally,  One  day  at  Teton  Marsh.  Knopf,  Ncav  York,  1947.  Price 
$2.34. 

Preston,  Richard  J.,  Jr.,  Rocky  Mountain  trees.  Iowa  State  College  Press,  Ames, 
1947.    Price  $2.25. 

Monaghan,  Jay,  The  Overland  Trail.  Bobbs-Merrill,  Indianapolis,  1947.  Price 
$2.50. 

Linford,  Velma,  Wyoming:  Frontier  state.    Old  West.  Denver,  1917.   Price  $3.38. 

McCreight,  M.  I.,  Firewater  and  forked  tongues.  Trail's  End,  Pasadena,  1947. 
Price  $3.15. 


ACCESSIONS  181 

DeVoto.    Bernard.    Across    the    zvide    Missouri.      Houghton,    New    York,    1947, 
Price  $6.67. 

Child.    Andrew.    Overland    Route    to    California.      Kovach,    Los    Angeles,    1946. 
Price  $2.00. 

Bakeless,  John,  Lewis  and  Clark,  partJiers  in  discovery.     Morrow,   New   York 
1947.    Price  $3.34. 

Wade,  Mason,  Journal  of  Francis  Parkman.     Harper,  New  York,  1947.   2v.   Price 
$6.67. 

Paden,  Irene   D..   JJ'ake  of  the  prairie  schooner.     Macmillan,   New  York,   1945. 
Price  $2.00. 

Bangs.   Francis  Hvde.    John  Kendrick  Bangs.     Knopf.  New  York,   1941.     Price 
$.80. 

McCaleb,   Walter  F..    The    Conquest   of   the   West.     Prentice-Hall,   New   York, 
1947.     Price  $2.50. 

Historical  Committee  of  the   Robber's   Roost   Historical   Society,   Pioneering  on 
the  Cheyenne  River.     Lusk  Herald,  Lusk,  Wyo.,  1947.     Price  $1.25. 

Allen,    Albert    H..    Dakota    Inprints,    1858-1889.      Bowker,    New    York,    1947. 
Price  $5.85. 

Powers.    Alfred.    Poems    of    the    Covered    Jfagons.      Pacific    Publishing    House, 
Portland.  1947.    Price  $2.00. 

Robb,  Harry,  Poddy,  the  Story  of  a  Rangeland  Orphan.    Trail's  End.  Pasadena, 
1947.     Price  $3.15. 

The  Westerners  Brand  Book,  1945-46.     Chicago.   1947.     Price  $5.00. 

The  Westerners  Brand  Book,  1946.     Denver,   1947.     Price  $5.50. 

Schmitt.  Martin  F..   General  George   Crook,  His  Autobiography.     University  of 
Oklahoma  Press.  Norman,  1946.     Price  $2.00. 


Books— Gifts 

U^iion  Presbyterian  Church,  a  history,  1871-1946.  Donated  by  Ella  G.  Dunn, 
Evanston.    Wyoming. 

Hunt.  Frazier.  The  long  trail  from  Texas.  Doubleday,  New  York,  1940. 
Donated  by  Stella   Scanlan. 

House  of  Representatives,  33d  Congress,  2d  Session,  Ex.  Doc.  No.  91.  Reports 
of  Explorations  and  Surveys,  to  ascertain  the  most  practicable  and  eco- 
nomical route  for  a  railroad  from  the  Missi-ssippi  River  to  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
1853-54.     Nicholson.    Washington.   D.   C,    1855.     Donated   by  Arthur  W. 

Calverley. 

Franklin.  John  Hope,  The  Diary  of  James  T.  Ayers.  Illinois  State  Historical 
Society.    Springfield,    1947.      Donated    by    Illinois   State   Historical    Society. 

Smith.  Rev.  Franklin  C.  In  Memoriam  Edwin  Major  Smith.  Grand  Rapids, 
Mich..  1947.    Donated  by  Rev.  Franklin  C.  Smith. 

A  Record  of  the  Deeds,  Actions  and  Experiences  of  the  Fifty-Fourth  United 
States  Naval  Construction  Battalion  in  North  Africa.  Donated  by  the 
Battalion. 


GENERAL  INDEX 

Volume  20 


Abney,  Jim,  Ranch  of,  20:1:90. 

Adams,  Thomas  B.,  20:1:66,  77, 
78-80,  83. 

Agassiz,  Alexander,  20:2:138. 

Albany  County  Stock  Growers' 
Association,   20:1:  64. 

American  Cattle  Trust,  20:1:11. 

American  Pioneer  Trails  Associ- 
ation, by  L.  C.  Bishop,  20:1: 
85-91. 

Amoretti,  E.,  20:1:58. 

Anderson,  A.  A.,  20:2:126. 

Anderson,  Mrs.  Ida  B.,  gift  to 
museum,  20:2:180. 

Arnold,  C.  P.,  20:1:20. 

Automobile  club,  20:2:158. 

Babbitt,  A.  T.,  20:1:69,  82. 

Baker,  W.  L.,  20:2:174. 

Barber,  Amos  W.,  20:1:13. 

Barthelemy,  Mrs.  R.  E.,  gift  to 
museum,  20:2:179. 

Season,  Thomas  R.,  20:1:59. 

Beck,  Mrs.  George,  gift  to  mu- 
seum, 20:2:179. 

Beckwith,  A.  C,  20:1:16. 

Bell  Springs,  20:1:52. 

Bennett,  Ed,  20:1:59. 

Bennett,  Fred,  20:2:175. 

Big  Horn  Expedition,  20:1:49. 

Big  Horn  Forest  reserve,  20:2: 
139. 

Big  Horn  Hot  Springs,  20:2: 
149-150. 

Bishop,  L.  C,  American  Pioneer 
Trails  Association,  20:1:85-91. 

Bishop,  William  H.,  20:1:85. 

Black  Hills  Forest  reserve,  20: 
2:138. 

Blackburn,  Dune,  20:2:172,  174. 

Blake,  George,  20:2:170. 

Bohack,  Herman,  20:1:54-55. 

Bond,  Frank,  20:2:112,  126.     . 

Bordeaux  Ranch,  20: 1:87. 

Boyer,  John,  20:2:170. 

Bride,  Frank,  20:2:173. 

Brown,  Jessie,  20:2:172. 

Brown,  John  H.,  20:2:173,  174. 

Bruner,  J.  W.,  20:2:175. 

Brush-Swan  Electric  Co.,  20: 1:6. 

Buckley,  E.,  20:1:49. 

Bull  Springs,  20:1:53. 

Burdick,  Charles  W.,  20:2:115. 


Burgess,  Warren,  gift  to  muse- 
um, 20:1:93. 
Burnett,  F.  G.,  20:1:59. 
Burnett,  J.  C,  20:1:59. 
Byers,  David,   20:2:175. 

Calverley,  Arthur  W.,  gift  to 
museum,    20:2:181. 

Campbell,  H.  O,  20:2:173. 

Campbell,  John  A.,  20: 1:  62. 

Campbell,  W.  P.,  20:1:59. 

Carey,  Charles,  20:2:173. 

Carey,  Joseph  M.,  20:1:13,  14, 
37,  73-74;  photo,  60. 

Carey  Act,  20:1:46. 

Carr,  Thomas  Jefferson,  20:2: 
165-176;  photo,  166. 

Cattle,  Branding  of,  20:1:67. 

Cattle,  Diseases,  20: 1:  68. 

Cattle,   Grazing  of,  20:2:131-145. 

Cattle,  Mavericks,  20:1:69-70, 
80. 

Cattle  Industry,  20:1:33-36;  61- 
83. 

Cattle  Industry,  fencing,  20:1:7- 
12. 

Charcoal,   20:1:59. 

Charcoal  kilns,  20:1:49. 

Cheyenne,  Description  of,  1868, 
20:1:3-4. 

Cheyenne  and  Northern  Rail- 
road Co.,  20:1:6. 

Chinese  Riot,  20:1:13. 

Chittenden,   Hiram  M.,   20:1:41. 

Clark,  Clarence  D.,  20:1:20. 

Clark,  James.  20:2:170. 

Clark,  John  W,  20:1:59. 

Clark,  L.  S.,  20:1:59. 

Clay,  John,  20:1:83. 

Coad,  John  F.,  20:1:66. 

Cobb,  Charles  D.,  20:2:165. 

Coffeen,  Henry  A.,  20:1:15. 

Collins,  James,  20:2:174. 

Colman,  Gus,  20:2:104. 

Congressional  Career  of  Senator 
Francis  E.  Warren  from  1890 
to  1902,  by  Anne  Carolyn  Han- 
sen, 20:1:3-49;  2:   131-158. 

Conner,  R.  B.,  20:1:74. 

Conrad,   Francis,   20:2:167. 

Cook,  D.  J.,  20:2:171,  175. 

Coppinger,  Gen.  J.  J.,  20:2:113, 
117. 


184 


ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 


Corn,  Samuel  T.,  20:1:11. 
Coutant,  C.  G.,  Thojnas  Jefferson 

Carr,   a   Frontier   Sheriff,   20: 

2:165-176. 
Grain,  Charles,  gift  to  museum, 

20" 1" 92 
Creigh'ton,    Ed,    Ranch    of,    20:2: 

170. 
Crime  and  criminals,   20:2:165- 

176. 
Crispin,  Tom,  20:2:163. 
Crook,  General  George,  20:1:49. 
Crook's  Gap,  20:1:55. 
Cunningham,  Julia,  20:2:170. 
Cuny,  Adolph,  20:2:172. 

Davis,  Scott,  20:2:172. 

Deer  Creek  Station,  20:1:91. 

Denny,  Mrs.  E.  A.,  gift  to  mu- 
seum, 20:1:92. 

Derby,  20:1:57. 

Devoe,  Clark,  20:2:171. 

Dewus,  Thomas,  20:1:90. 

Dilts  Ranch,  20:1:90. 

Doen,  John,  20:2:171. 

Donegon,  Francis,  gift  to  muse- 
um, 20:1:94. 

Douglas,  Willian-Sartoris  case, 
20:1:9. 

Dunn,  Ella  G.,  gift  to  museum, 
20:2:181. 

DuQuoin,  Carl,  gift  to  museum, 
20: 1:  92. 

Dutch '  Charley,  20:2:173. 

Earnest,  Frank,  20:1:59. 
Eastman,  M.  L.,  20:2:170. 
EcofTey  and  Cuny  Ranch,   20:2: 

171. 
Emerson,    Dr.    Paul    T.,    gift    to 

museum,  20:1:93,  96;  2:179. 

Ferguson,   O.   D.,   Ranch   of,   20: 

1:90. 
Ferris  mountains,  20:1:54. 
Feusi,  Rev.  Balthasar,  20:1:59. 
Finn,  Dan,  20:2:173,  174. 
Flores,  N.  D.,  20:2:172. 
Forest  reserves,  20:2:138-145. 
Ford,  J.  Howard,  20: 1:  70. 
Fort  Casper,  20:1:91. 
Fort  D.  A.  Russell,  20:2:146-149. 
Fort  Fetterman,  20:1:86. 
Fort     Fetterman  -  Rock      Creek 

Road,  20:1:86. 
Fort   Francis   E.   Warren,    20:2: 

149. 
Fort  Laramie,  20:1:85. 
Fort  MacKenzie,  20:2:147-148. 


Fort  McKinney,  20:2:147. 
Fort  Washakie,  20:2:149,  150. 
Fourt,  E.  H.,  20:1:58. 
Fowler,    Benjamin    F.,    20:1:11; 

2:115. 
Freel,  John,  20:2:175. 
Fullerton,   Ellen   Miller,    gift   to 

museum,  20:2:179. 

Gate's  Ranch,  20:1:56. 

Gedney  Ranch,  20:1:90. 

Gilchrist,  Andrew,  20:1:68. 

Goose  Egg  Ranch,  20:1:91. 

Gould,  E.  L.,  gift  to  museum, 
20:1:94. 

Governor's  office,  gift  to  muse- 
um, 20:2:179. 

Greeley  Colony,  20:1:37. 

Green  Mountains,  20:1:55. 

Griffin,  J.,  20:2:170. 

Guernsey,  Charles  A.,  20:1:70, 
87. 

Guernsey  Dam,   20:1:87. 

Guy,  Mrs.  Ben,  gift  to  museum, 
20:2:180. 

Guy,  Major  George  F.,  gift  to 
museum,  20:1:92. 

Hailey,  20:1:57. 

Hale,  William,  20:1:70,  75. 

Haley,  Ora,  20:1:64. 

Hansen,  Anne  Carolyn,  The 
Congressional  Career  of  Sen- 
ator Francis  E.  Warren  from 
1890  to  1902,  20:1:3-49;  2:131- 
158. 

Harrison,  R.  B.,  20:1:79. 

Hawes,  George,  20:2:175. 

Hayward,  R.  B.,  20:2:175. 

Henry,  Mike,  20:1:87. 

Hesse,  George,  gift  to  museum, 
20' 1 ■ 93 

Hill,' Gale,  20:2:173. 

Hogle,  Claron,  gift  to  museum. 
20" 2" 179 

Holliday,  William  H.,  20:1:20, 
73,  80. 

Homesteading,    20:  2: 131-145. 

Hopt,  Fred,  20:2:176. 

Horseshoe  Station,  20:1:88;  plan 
of,    84. 

Hoyt,  John  W.,  20:1:75. 

Hunton,  John,  20:1:86-87. 

Indian  Guide,  20:2:159-164. 
Irrigation,    20: 1:  36-49;2: 131-145. 
Irvin,  John,  20:2:173. 
Irvine,  William  C,  20:1:66. 


INDEX 


185 


Jackson,  J.  P.,  20:2:172. 

Jackson,  W.  Turrentine,  The 
Wyoming  Stock  Growers  As- 
sociation Political  Power  in 
Wyoming  Territory,  1873-1890, 
20:1:61-83. 

Jackson  Hole,  Indian  troubles, 
20:2:113-114. 

Johnson  County  Invasion,  20: 
1:14. 

Kelly,  Hiram  B.,  20:1:66. 

Kensler,  Toussaint,  20:  2: 170-171. 

Kent,  T.  A.,  20:1:63. 

Knight,  Jesse,  20:1:58. 

Knight,  Wilbur  C,  20:1:23. 

KnoUenberg,  Walter,  gift  to  mu- 
seum, 20:2:180. 

Kuykendall,  William  L.,  20:1: 
63,   66. 

La  Bonte  Station,  20:1:90. 

Lacey,  John  W.,  20:1:11. 

Lander,  20:1:58-59;  photo,  20:1: 
cover. 

Lane,  A.  D.,  20:1:59. 

La  Prele  Station,   20:1:90. 

Laramie  County  Court  House 
and  Jail,  1873,  photo,  20:2:186. 

Laramie  County  Stock  Associa- 
tion, 20:1:62-64. 

Latta,  John,  20:2:175-176. 

Legends,  Indian,  20:2:159-164. 

Little  Popo  Agie  River,  20:1:57. 

Lone  Bear,  Chief  of  Arapahoes, 
20:2:162. 

Lost  Cabin,  20:2:109. 

Lost  Soldier,  20:1:54. 

Lowry,  Henry,  20:2:170. 

Ludin,  J.  F.,  20:1:59. 

McClellan,  George,  20:2:108-110. 

McCluskey,  James,  20:2:170. 

McCreery,  Mrs.  Alice,  Wyo- 
Tning's  Fourth  Governor — W. 
A.  Richards,  20:2:99-130. 

McCuaig,   Norman,   20:2:172. 

McGill,  Ada,  20:1:91. 

McGovern,  Frank,  20:2:170. 

McGrand,  Ed,  20:2:174. 

McGrath,  Mary  A.,  gift  to  mu- 
seum, 20:1:92;  2:179. 

Mcintosh,  J.  L.,  gift  to  museum, 
20:1:93. 

McKinnie,  Bob,  20:2:172. 


McLaughlin,    Archie,     20:2:172, 

173. 
McShane,  John  A.,  20:1:72. 
Mansfield,  Billy,  20:2:172. 
Marquart,  Mrs.,  gift  to  museum, 

20:1:92. 
Marsh,    Emily    E.,    gift    to    mu- 
seum, 20:1:93. 
Martin,   R.    I.,    gift   to   museum, 

20:1:96. 
Mattice,  Andrew,  20:2:170. 
May,  Jim,  20:2:172. 
Mead,    Elwood,    20:1:37,    41;    2: 

128-129;  137-139. 
Medicine    Bow    Forest    reserve, 

20:2:142. 
Meng,    Hans,    gift    to    museum, 

20:1:93. 
Merrival,  Joe,  20:2:167. 
Meyers,  Ed,  gift  to  museum,  20: 

2:179. 
Meyersville,    20:1:56. 
Military     establishments,     20:2: 

145-149. 
Moonhght,  Thomas,  20:1:78. 
Moore,    Mrs.    Frank   L.,    gift    to 

museum,  20:2:180. 
Morgan,  Elliott  S.  N.,  20:1:75. 
Mormon  Trail,   20:1:85-91. 
Morse,  Richard,  20:1:58. 
Mousseau,  M.  A.,  20:1:88-90;  2: 

167. 
Moyer,   Ralph,   gift  to  museum, 

20" 1' 92 
Museum,    20:2:177. 

Nagle,  George,  gift  to  museum, 
20:1:94. 

National  Livestock  Association, 
20:1:34. 

National  Woolgrowers  Associa- 
tion, 20:1:27. 

Newell,  John,  gift  to  museum, 
20:2:180. 

Nois,  C.  J.,  gift  to  museum,  20; 
1:94. 

No  Wood,  20:2:109. 

Nourse,  Herbert  F.,   20:2:170. 

Nuckolls,  S.  F.,  20:2:165. 

O'Brien,  John  D.,  20:1:87. 
O'Brien,  N.  J.,  20:2:169,  170. 
Oklahoma   land    opening,    20:2: 

118-123. 
O'Mahoney,    Joseph    C,    gift   to 

museum,  20:2:180. 


186 


ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 


Oregon  Trail,  20:1:85-91. 
Osborne,  John  E.,  20:1:15. 
Owen,    C.   W.,   gift   to   museum, 
20:1:93. 

Palette  I,  Palette  II,  Palette  III 
Ranches,  20:2:126. 

Parker,  W.  H.,  20:1:72. 

Parks,  William,  20:2:170. 

Pease,  Walter  D.,  20:1:59. 

Pelton,  Clark,  20:2:172. 

Peters,  Oran  A.,  gift  to  museum, 
20:1:93. 

Phifer,    Dr.,    20:1:87. 

Phillips,  F.,   20:2:170. 

Piedmont,   20:1:49,   59. 

Pierce,  Charles,  20:2:175. 

Pierce,  Richard,  20:2:170. 

Pinchot,   Gifford,    20:2:138. 

Pinea,  Adolph,  20:2:171. 

Piatt,  C.  B.,  20:1:91. 

Platte   Bridge,   20:1:91. 

Platte  Bridge  Station,  plan  of, 
20:1:89. 

Platte  Road,   20:1:86   . 

Pole  Mountain  military  reser- 
vation, 20:2:148. 

Politics,  Wyoming  Stock  Grow- 
ers Association  in,  20:1:61-83. 

Pollard,  Harry  P.,  gift  to  mu- 
seum,   20:1:94. 

Pollard  Ranch,  20:1:90. 

Popo  Agie  River,  20:1:58. 

Post,  Morton  E.,  20:1:73. 

Powell,  George,  Ranch  of,  20:1: 
90. 

Preservation  of  Wyoming  His- 
torical Relics,  20:2:177. 

Preshaw,  S.  M.,  20:2:169. 

Public  lands,  20:2:131-145. 

Pulliam,  James,  20:1:89. 


Ranches:  Bordeaux,  20:1:87: 
Dilts,  90;  Gates,  56;  Gedney,  90; 
Goose  Egg,  91;  Jim  Abney,  90; 
Nels  Rasmussen,  90;  O.  D.  Fer- 
guson, 90;  George  Powell,  90; 
Posy  Ryan,  87;  Reed,  57;  Twin 
Springs,  88;  Upper  S.  O.,  90; 
Ecoffey  and  Cuny,  2:171;  Ed 
Creighton,  170;  Red  Bank,  107- 
110;  Six  Mile,  170,  172. 

Rankin,  Joe,  20:1:74. 

Rasmussen,  Nels,  Ranch  of,  20: 
1:90. 

Rawlins,  1897,  20:1:50-51. 

Reclamation.  20:1:36-49;  2:131- 
145. 


Reclamation,    Big    Horn    Basin, 

20:2:103-104. 
Red  Bank  Cattle  Company,  20: 

2:104. 
Red  Bank  Ranch,  20:2:103,  107- 

110. 
Red  Bank  Telephone  Company, 

20:2:109. 
Reed  Ranch,  20:1:57. 
Reel,  Alexander  H.,  20:1:66,  81. 
Rees,  Dan,  gift  to  museum,  20: 

1:93. 
Reshaw,     John,     see     Richards, 

John. 
Reynolds,   Antonie,   20:2:167. 
Rhoads  and  Morgan  Jade  Shop, 

gift  to  museum,  20:1:92. 
Richards,  Alonzo,   20:2:100,   103. 
Richards,    Harriet    Alice    Hunt, 

20:2:102,  103,  107,  127. 
Richards,  John,  20:2:167. 
Richards,    William   A.,    20:2:99- 

130. 
Richardson,     Clarence,     gift     to 

museum,  20:2:179. 
Richardson,    Laura   and   Valera, 

gift  to  museum,  20:2:179. 
Richardson,  Warren,  gift  to  mu- 
seum,   20:2:180. 
Richardson,  Warren  and  Emile, 

gift  to  museum,  20:2:179. 
Riner,  C.  W.,  20:1:66. 
Ringo,  M.,  20:1:91. 
Roberts,  Rev.  John,  20:1:58. 
Rocky     Mountain    Detective 

Agency,  20:2:171. 
Rollins,  Lucinda,  20:1:88. 
Rongis,   20:1:56. 

Roosevelt  with  Brooks  and  War- 
ren, photo,  20:2:132. 
Ross,  Charley,  20:2:173. 
Rothwell,  John,  gift  to  museum, 

20:1:93. 
Rough  riders,  20:2:153-154. 
Russell,    I.   E.,   gift   to   museum, 

20:2:179. 
Ryan,   Foncy,   20:2:172. 
Ryan,  Posy,  Ranch  of,  20:1:87. 

St.  Stephen's  Mission,  20:1:59. 

Sand  Point  Station,  20:1:88. 

Scanlan,  Stella,  gift  to  museum, 
20:1:96;  2:181. 

Scanlan,  Mrs.  W.  J.,  gift  to  mu- 
seum,   20:1:94. 

Searight,  G.  A.,  20:1:66,  67. 

Seminoe,  J.,  20:2:175. 

Separation  Flat,  20:1:52. 


INDEX 


187 


Shannon,  W.  R.,  gift  to  museum, 
20'  1' 93. 

Sharpless',  S.  R.,  20:2:176. 

Sheahan,  Mary  G.,  gift  to  mu- 
seum, 20:1:93. 

Sheep,  grazing  of,  20:2:131-145. 

Shefe,  G.  W.,  20:1:59. 

Shehan,  Jerry,   20:1:58. 

Sherman,  Charles  D.,  20:2:165. 

Siegel,  Walt,  gift  to  museum, 
20' 2' 179 

Silver,'  free,    20:1:17-23. 

Six  Mile  Ranch,  20:2:170-172. 

Sloan,   William,   20:2:176. 

Smalley,  Mrs.  E.  J.,  gift  to  mu- 
seum,  20:2:179. 

Smith,  Rev.  Franklin  C,  gift  to 
museum,  20:2:181. 

Smith,  J.  R.,  20:1:88. 

Smith,  John  J.,  gift  to  museum, 
20:2:180. 

Smith,    Tom,    20:2:167. 

Snyder,  Art,  gift  to  museum, 
20:2:179. 

Spanish- American  War,  20:2: 
114,   153-155. 

Spurs,  Al,  20:2:173. 

Stage  Ride  from  Rawlins  to  the 
Wind  River  Boarding  School, 
1897,  by  Col.  Richard  Hulbert 
Wilson,   20:1:50-59. 

Stages,  Rawlins  to  Wind  River 
Reservation,    20: 1: 50-59. 

Stanley,  Charlie,  20:2:169. 

Stanley,   West,   20:2:169. 

Star  Valley,  20:1:49. 

Steamship,  Naphtha,  20: 2:  cover. 

Stemler,  Hugh,  gift  to  museum, 
20' 1" 93 

Stitzer,  Frank  A.,  20:2:115. 

Sturgis,  Thomas,  20:1:10,  66,  67, 
68,   70,   71. 

Sun,  Mrs.  Tom,  gift  to  museum, 
20:1:94. 

Swan,  Alexander  H.,  20:1:66, 
67,  70,  73. 

Swan  Land  and  Cattle  Com- 
pany, 20:1:66. 

Tariff  on  wool  and  hides,  20:1: 

24-33. 
Taylor,'  John,   20:2:170. 
Teschemacher,  Hubert  E.,  20:1: 

66,  67,  71. 


Thayer,  John  M.,   20:1:74. 

Thomas  Jefferson  Carr^  a  Fron- 
tier Sheriff,  compiled  from 
the  notes  of  C.  G.  Coutant, 
20:2:165-176. 

Thorp,  Russell,  gift  to  museum, 
20:1:94. 

Thoyer,  Ed,  20:2:175. 

Timmons,    Phil,    20:2:170. 

Tisch;  Mrs.  Henry,  gift  to  mu- 
seum, 20:1:92. 

Titus,   Dan,   20:2:170. 

Torrey,  Col.  Jay  L.,  20:2:153- 
154. 

Trosper,  Clayton  A.,  gift  to  mu- 
seum, 20:2:180. 

Tupper,   Gordon,   20:2:170. 

Turner,  John,  20:2:176. 

Twin  Springs  Ranch,  20:1:88. 

Uinta   Forest   Reserve,    20:2:141. 

Untank,  A.  H.,  20:1:91. 

Upper  Platte  Indian  Agency  and 

Lutheran  Mission,  20:1:91. 
Upper  S.  O.  Ranch,  20:1:90. 

Van  Orsdel,  Josiah,  20:1:11. 
Vidal,  J.  S.,  20:1:58. 
Voorhees,  Luke,  20:2:173. 

Waid,  O.  C,  20:1:74. 

Walker,  Tacetta  B.,  Wyoming's 
Fourth  Governor — W.  A.  Rich- 
ards, 20:2:99-130. 

Wall,  Jim,  20:2:172. 

Warm   Springs,   20:1:88. 

Warren,  Francis  E.,  20:1:3-49; 
66,  73,  76;  photo,  2;  2:131-158. 

Warren  Livestock  Company,  20: 
1:7-12,   24. 

Waters  of  the  Weeping  Buffalo, 
20:2:159. 

Watts,  Clyde,  gift  to  museum, 
20: 1:  93. 

Webster,  'Billy,  20:2:172. 

Weeping  Buffalo,  20:2:159. 

Welty,  F.  H.,  20:1:59. 

Wheatland  Colony,  20:1:37. 

Wheeler,  Mrs.  H.  J.,  gift  to  mu- 
seum, 20:1:92. 

Wilhelm,  D.  C,  gift  to  museum, 
20:1:93. 

Williams,  Jesse,   20:2:174. 


188 


ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 


Wilson,  Col.  Richard  Hulbert, 
Stage  Ride  from  Rawlins  to 
the  Wind  River  Boarding 
School,  1897,  20:1:50-59. 

Wilson,  Col.  Robert,  20:2:165. 

Woodruff,  J.  D.,  20:1:58. 

Woodruff,  Sam,  20:2:175. 

Wright,  Frank,  20:2:175. 

Wright,  John,  20:2:174. 

Wyoming  Central  Railroad  Co., 
20:1:6. 

Wyoming  State  Museum,  20:2: 
177. 

Wyoming  Stock  Grazier's  As- 
sociation, 20:1:62. 


The  Wyoming  Stock  Grower's 
Association  Political  Power  in 
Wyoming  Territory,  1873-1890, 
by  W.  Turrentine  Jackson» 
20:1:61-83. 

Wyovfiing's  Fourth  Governor — 
W.  A.  Richards,  by  Mrs.  Alice 
McCreery  and  Tacetta  B. 
Walker,  20:2:99-130. 


Yellowstone  Lake,  20:2:cover. 
Yellowstone   National   Park, 
boundaries  of,  20:2:150-151. 


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ANNALS  OF  WYOMING. 


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This  magazine  is  sent  free  of  charge  to  all  State  Historical 
Board  members,  the  State  Historical  Advisory  Board,  Wyoming 
County  Libraries  and  Wyoming  newspapers  from  which  we  receive 
complimentary  issues. 

It  is  published  in  January  and  July,  subscription  price  $1.50 
per  year. 


WYOMING  STATE  MUSEUM 

Housed  in  the  Supreme  Court  and  Library  Building 
in  Cheyenne,  with  vault  space  and  fireproof  protection,  the 
Museum  provides  for  the  preservation  and  display  of  the 
prized  possessions  of  Wyoming  pioneers. 

Perpetuate  your  family  name  by  placing  your  historical 
collections  and  relics  in  your  State  Museum,  where  they 
may  be  permanently  preserved  and  enjoyed  by  the  thou- 
sands of  visitors. 

Everything  that  is  presented  to  the  Museum  is  num- 
bered, labeled,  recorded  and  card  indexed,  thus  insuring 
permanent  indentification. 


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