Annals of Wyoming

A^^als of Wyoming

Vol.21 January 1949 No. 1

A HISTORICAL MAGAZINE

Photo by A. E. Carlstrmn
TEXAS TRAIL MONUMENT AT PINE BLUFFS, WYOMING

Published Biannually by
THE WYOMING HISTORICAL DEPARTMENT

Cheyenne, Wyoming

STATE HISTORICAL BOARD

Lester C. Hunt, President

Arthur G. Crane

Everett T. Copenhaver

C. J. "Doc" Rogers

Edna B. Stolt . Superintendent of Public Instruction

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

Governor

-Secretary of State

State Auditor

State Treasurer

STATE HISTORICAL ADVISORY BOARD

Mrs. Mary Jester Allen, Cody
Frank Barrett, Lusk
George Bible, Rawlins
Mrs. T. K. Bishop, Basin
C. Watt Brandon, Kernmerer
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

Herbert T. Harris, Basin

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 1949, by the Wyoming Historical Department

r

A^^a/s of Wyoming

Vol. 21 January 1949 No. 1

Contents

The Far West in the '80's . 3

By John James Fox.

Kiskadden-Slade 89

By Perry W. Jenkins.

Texas Trail Monuments in Wyoming 93

By Louise Love.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Texas Trail Monument at Pine Bluffs Cover

John James Fox 2

Frank Hadsell 12

Mrs. Frank Hadsell 44

Frank Hadsell Ranch 10

Dedication of Texas Trail Monument at Pine Bluffs 94

Reverse side of Texas Trail Monument at Pine Bluffs 98

Printed by

WYOMING LABOR JOURNAL

Cheyenne, Wyoming

.Tohn James Fox, 1942

Zke 7ar West in the '80 's

By JOHN J. FOX

Edited by T. A. Larson*

The following account was written by John James Fox,
1866-1944, who came to Wyoming Territory from England
in the spring of 1385. He remained in Wyoming until 1887,
when he returned to England. In the early '90's he came
to the United States a second time, and settled on a citrus
ranch in San Diego County, California. Later he spent some
time in Guadalajara, Mexico, before returning again to
England. For a time he managed a small sheep ranch in
Udimore, Sussex, but America called him a third time, and
this time (1904) he settled in California for good.

John Fox became a prominent farmer and stock raiser.
He served on the Horticultural Commission of Napa Count;/
for three years, was appraiser for the Federal Land Bank
for eleven years, and was horticultural editor for various
farm papers. He wrote a Manual of Rural Appraisement
which was published by the Pacific Rural Press, San Fran-
cisco, 1923.

In Wyoming John Fox worked in 1885 for Frank Had-
sell, prominent resident of Carbon County, who died in
1927. Frank Hadsell's son, Kleber, who lives in Rawlins,
Wyoming, has an account book left by his father, which
includes the following entries:

John Fox, 1885

April 23 overalls
30 Tobacco

June 11 cash per
J.S.J,
cash

$1.00
1.40

2.40

1.50
.50

Commenced work April 1 1th
June 11 by work $40.00

June 14 by Gus 3.00

43.00

To check

4.40
38.60

43.00

John Fox left school in England at the age of fifteen,
but he continued to educate himself thereafter, particularly
in the fields of history, literature and music. In the narra-

*T. A. Larson is Professor and Head of the Department of History
at the University of Wyoming. For biography see Annals oj Wyo-
ming, Vol. 14: 1: 5.

4 ANNALS OF WYOMING

tive which follows Fox has written authentically and en-
tertainingly of the life in southeastern Wyoming in the
days of the open range. The story was written in the 1930's,
about fifty years after the events which Mr. Fox describes.
In editing the manuscript the punctuation has been simpli-
fied, but otherwise little change has been found necessary.
The author's vocabulary was extensive, and he used some
words which are not in common usage in this country, but
they are nevertheless used correctly and add color to the
story.

Three sons of John Fox now live in California. One
of them, Denis L. Fox, a member of the faculty of the Uni-
versity of California, turned over his father's manuscript
to the History Department of the University of Wyoming,
and authorized its publication.

. THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's

The high lights of early experiences stand out in one's
memory and perhaps become hallowed and idealized by
time. They are like old port — though covered with cob-
webs, they improve with age. Rather a mixed metaphor
that, but let it stand. Nevertheless, those memories are
valuable because they form the basis of a comparison be-
tween widely separated periods of time.

We sailed from Glasgow in February 1885, in a sort
of hybrid steamer that also carried huge sails; a walloping
old tub that rolled like a porpoise. I was intent on becom-
ing a cowboy in the Far West, so was braced to stand any-
thing. I will pass over the horrors of the journey out on
a crowded emigrant ship, and the herding of its passengers
at Castle Garden in New York. These impressions have
been written elsewhere and are not good reading. How-
ever, the first sight of the Statue of Liberty stirred me
deeply, as it must all men of imagination.

It brings to mind, in a jumbled way, all those events
of which one has read — the winning of the wilderness from
the savages by the early pioneers; the war of the revolu-
tion; the clearing of the forests and the building of cities
and states; the manumission of slaves, and the still living,
unbounded freedom of the frontiersmen, the hunters, the
trappers and the cattlemen of the Far West.

When we landed in New York it was bitterly cold and
all the busses and cabs were on runners — a mode of vehicle
I had never seen before. I could hardly believe that all
the muddy looking heaps on both sides of the street were
composed of snow. The mackinaw caps, pulled down over
the driver's ears, their heavy mackinaw coats, high boots.

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 5

and the bearskin or buffalo robe wraps over their knees,
made me feel that I was already getting close to the wild
life of my dreams.

The policemen on the street corners looked threatening
or challenging. Coming from the British Isles, where the
police are not allowed to show their truncheons except in
emergency, the sight of these men, twirling their business-
like clubs, made me think that they were looking for
trouble and that it was imminent.

My ticket from .New York to Chicago cost only $1.00,
as there was a railway war going on and the rate cutting
had reached that ridiculous figure. I liked the nice long
compartment trains with all their conveniences after the
wretched little compartments we had in England. Also
the fact that our baggage was checked, and that we had no
further concern with it, was wonderful.

The neat houses built of wood instead of brick or stone
were a novelty. From the car windows snake fences were
everywhere visible — fences of split rails, and to think that
a president of this country had split such rails and built
such fences. Here was democracy for you!

Everybody seemed to wear knee-boots — a very novel
sight. The farmers' boots were of stout cowhide, roughly
made and with the tabs sticking boldly out of them, while
the business men's boots were of kid or kip hide and were
worn beneath the trousers.

In Chicago, State Street had a cable car system of
which the city was justly proud. All the other cars were
either horse or mule drawn. Two years later the whole
street car system was electrified, horses being used only
on the outskirts of the city. While there I was astonished
to hear that a street car had been held up at Dearborn and
Madison Streets at 10 o'clock in the morning, the passen-
gers robbed and robbers evaded arrest. After that, when
walking to my lodgings at night up some of the dark streets,
I kept a revolver in my coat pocket with my hand on it
all the time.

The next thing that shocked me was that a boy had
been shot down while running away, trying to escape arrest
for thieving and nothing was done to the policeman who
shot him. The most amazing thing of all was hearing that
murderers or other vile criminals, even though caught
in flagrante delicto, could get out of durance "on bail" if
they had money or friends to supply it, while witnesses to
the crime could be held if there was any likelihood of their
disappearing.

This was quite a blow; but it seemed to explain quite
clearly why "lynch" law was in evidence in the less civil-

6 ANNALS OF WYOMING

ized communities and why vigilance committees could be
organized as I had read of them in San Francisco. For, I
thought, a vigilance committee's actions show a desire on
the part of the law-abiding to do their best to make up
for the slackness v/ith which the law was administered,
and to render what they considered justice, for the safety
of their own communities. It was not that the vigilance
committees were lawless or bloody minded; it was the pal-
tering with justice by accepted authority that engendered
"lynch" law. This was driven home to mie later in Wyoming.

WYOMING

After two weeks spent in Chicago I heard that a big
cattlemen's convention^ was to be held in Chej^enne and,
as Wyoming had been my objective, off I went, not knowing
anything but that I must get work on a cattle ranch. Through
a friend I had been offered an office job with the C. B. and Q.
Railroad at fifty-seven dollars a month. Two hundred would
not have tempted me, with the plains calling.

I had expected to find Cheyenne City quite a large
place, for it was known as the wealthiest city in the Far
West, and doubtless it was. Yet instead of being disap-
pointed, I was much pleased to find it the cattle metropolis
of my dreams. The saloons all had wooden platforms in
front of them, furnished with several chairs, all well braced
with wires beneath to withstand the constant tilting of
them by the users. Cow ponies were standing at the hitch-
ing rails and a few blanket Indians were seen about. The
whole atmosphere of the town was of cattlemen. I walked
all around the little berg in an hour. One could stand in
the center of town and see the prairie all around it. The
city claimed 7000 inhabitants, but I doubted there could
be so many as that.

The streets were uneven and unpaved for the most
part and the sidewalks, where there were any, were wooden.
Quite a number of men had long hair and beards or large
moustaches. The chaps of most of the cowboys were fringed
at the sides and one saw a few fringed buckskin shirts,
though these were mostly of blue serge or black sateen or
moleskin. Bright colored silk or bandana handkerchiefs
were worn round the neck in loose fashion, sometimes two
or even three of different colors. Most of the hats were
wide brimmed Stetsons or "billycocks" and many of the
men were armed with business-like heavy revolvers.

■"This was evidently the spring meeting of the Wj^oming Stock
Growers Association.

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 7

The finest store in Cheyenne was the saddler's. Besides
an enormous array of saddles, bridles, riatas, whips, quirts
and light and heavy harness, it had a fine long show case
containing bits, spurs and ornamental martingales, all gay
with silver conchas or brass letters. This shop was the
rendezvous and the haunt of cowboys. A huge stove stood
in the middle of the store with chairs set around it and
boxes of sawdust for the convenience of tobacco chewers.
On the show case was a large sign, "Wanted 50 cowboys to
lean on this case." It was quite effectual and the case was
respected.

The very first thing I did in Cheyenne was to buy a
blue flannel shirt, a pair of blue jeans overalls (usually
pronounced "overhauls"), a stiff brimmed cavalry hat and
cowboy boots. I had arrived there wearing a new brown
Derby or bowler, a white collar, English riding breeches
and leggings (box leggings) and had never attracted so
much attention in my life. After the change, the :naen
where I boarded were not only approachable but "friendly.
They pointed out different men at the hotels who were
cattle kings. A young fellow who had come out on the
train with me let the boys know that his father was a
Chicago alderman.

"Oh! Then he is a saloonkeeper, isn't he?" said one of
the boys.

The young man said, "Yes."

"I knew it," returned his questioner, looking round at
the group. "Chicago is ruled by a board of aldermen and
they are all saloonkeepers. It is policed by ward-heelers
and strong-arm men and the folks have got to vote as they
are ordered to. The greatest center for crooks and grafters
the world has ever seen."

"They're not all saloonmen on the board of alderman,"
said the youth, reddening.

"Is that so?" asked the cowboy banteringly. "Which
one ain't?"

"I guess a saloonman is just as respectable as anyone
else, ain't he?" said the youth in defense of his father.
"My old man runs a clean joint; he don't run no dive."

"Sure a saloonman's respectable, kid. Wish my old
man was one 'stead o' bein' a trapper. Then I could go in
and rinse me mouth out any time I wanted to 'thout havin'
to worry about the price."

I drifted out and after trying several men, I was finally
hired by Frank Hadsell, a horseman from Elk Mountain,
at the Medicine Bow emigrant crossing. We left on the
midnight train and drew into the little town of Carbon
just at dawn.

8 ANNALS OF WYOMING

The depot was a short distance from the town and we
had to thread our way round pits and sunken areas, where
mine cave-ins had caused a subsidence at the surface.

Carbon was a little coal mining and cow town-, con-
sisting of one main street and a few beginnings of laterals.
It lay then along the main track of the Union Pacific Rail-
road. There were a few frame houses, but many were
built of logs. There were also som.e dug-outs on the hill
sides, faced up in front with logs or lum.ber and roofed
with poles and sods. The railroad depot had originally
been right in front of the general store and Johnny Conner's
saloon, which stood some 40 yards back. But it had been
found practically impossible to keep the cowboys xrom
shooting at every new notice that appeared on its walls.
The raw-hide bottomed chairs were always on the saloon
platform in good weather and idle guns had to have practice.

The occasional shooting made the telegraph operator,
who was also train dispatcher, freight clerk and general
factotum, nervous; and, after several of them had suc-
cessively resigned for the same reason, the district super-
intendent had the little depot hoisted on to flat-cars and
moved outside of town.

The first little incident that thrilled me as we entered
its precincts at daylight was the sight of a cowboy and a
girl dashing down the street on horses, yelling, the man
firing several shots in the air. He was evidently well
■'lit up" and the noisy female rode astride her pony, her
long hair streaming behind her. She had on nothing but
a cheniise:

To a very green young man, born and raised in the
sleepiest, most conservative little country town in Wessex,
this was Life with a capital L. How my eminently re-
spectable Victorian training leapt to meet it. I would fain
have "whooped" too. The man was a very decent sort,
whom I met and worked with later. The woman was, of
course, an "entertainer."

At the hotel I met a Dr. R.,-^ who was an Englishman.
He was the only surgeon in the district and was regarded
Math the utmost respect, especially by the miners. I sup-
pose that he was typical of the frontier doctor of the
period. His manners were gruff, to put it mildly, and his

-In his longhand first draft Fox included the following com-
ment: ''I have said that Carbon was a cow town and so it was.
But it was also a mining town and the coal miners were half
Finlanders and about half Cornishmen so there were two saloons,
naturally, and the Finns kept to themselves."

3This may refer to Dr. Ricketts who was in Carbon County
at the time.

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 9

English accent lent distinction to his choice assortment of
purely American oaths. He was at times a bit reckless at
the card tables. I describe him because he was a very
important member of the community, and seemed to fit in
with frontier life without seeming out of place.

Of course he had a good permanent practice. I under-
stood that he was paid fifty cents a month by each of the
miners, which sum ensured them medical attention without
further charges. His two-room log cabin was near the
main adit of the coal mine, down towards the depot, so
that an injured miner could be landed on his platform
from the handcar. The front room was his surgerj^ and
the back his bedroom. He took his meals at the hotel,
being a bachelor.

One morning the doctor had just retired to rest, having
spent the night in a poker game, and two men banged at
his door, just as he had dropped off to sleep, about six a. m.
One of them unwrapped his injured hand, which was still
bleeding, and holding it up for inspection, said "Tore it on
a rusty nail on the handcar, doctor! I was afraid it might
mortify!"

The doctor looked at the hand and was furious. He
stepped nimbly out, clad only in his underclothes, and with
one punch on the jaw he knocked the "patient" off the
platform, clear across the little track, saying, "There now!
If you ever come and wake me up in the middle of the night
again for a scratch like that, I'll kill you. Put some more
turpentine on it and come back at ten o'clock!"

"I treat 'em rough and make 'em like it. That's the
sort of a hairpin I am," said the doctor. "Once let those
miners think you're soft and they'd be bothering you for
attention all the time on the slightest pretext. What do the
blighters expect for fifty cents a month — a hospital cot?
They know that some of them have to look at my knives
and lancets every week and they are going to take no
chances with me. No know'ns when their turn will come
and how do they know but what I might cut an extra chunk
out of 'em for revenge if they rile me? Always a good thing
for a 'medic' to stand on his dignity with such a crowd.
Keep 'em guessing, darn 'em. The shorter and sterner you
are with them the better they obey orders about keeping
their dressings clean."

Dignity and a short arm punch on the jaw! More
power to his elbow.

"Doc" was a public spirited man who did not believe
in hiding his light under a bushel. A woman sharpshooter
came to the town one day and gave an exhibition at the
"Opera House," which was a long barn-like structure with

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THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 11

a dirt floor. I think it was built of logs. It had a seating
accommodation for about two hundred if the benches were
set close together. The footlights were small flat lamps.

After the usual exhibition of shooting out the flame of
a candle, of smashing a potato swinging on a string, and
putting out the candle behind it with one shot, and shooting
objects from all angles, she asked for a volunteer to step
up onto the stage and have a potato shot from off his head,
called the William Tell act. "Doc" immediately hopped
up and submitted himself for the stunt, refusing to allow
his eyes to be bandaged and promising not to duck.

These incidents are small sidelights on his character.
He "drank his whiskey straight," as the saying went, and
I suppose that other men were attracted to him as I was.
For there was a doctor of medicine, a man of great
learning, whose hands held the keys of life or death, a man
who knew all there was to know about human ailments
and how to cope with them. That he should condescend
to risk his life on a bet seemed nothing short of foolhardy
to me. Yet I saw him bet a man flve dollars that he couldn't
shoot the ash off his cigar at twelve paces. The man had
bragged that he could, after seeing the woman at the Opera
House shoot. I saw him stand in the doorway of the saloon
and stick his whole face out, while the gun wielder took
up his station at the corner of the building outside. After
throwing the revolver round his flnger half a dozen times,
the "expert" fired and smashed the cigar.

Instantly "Doc" dashed out of the doorway like a de-
lighted schoolboy, holding out his hand and saying, "You
smashed the cigar and you lost. See, come on now! Ante
up the five bucks and look pleasant about it. You said
the ash.'"

The bet was paid and as quickly spent over the bar.
Who could help liking a man like that, even if he did lack
"the bedside manner?"

AT THE CROOKED X RANCH

Hadsell's foreman met us at Carbon with the spring
wagon and a lively team, but there seemed to be a lot of
shopping and pottering about to do. so we did not start
for the ranch 'til the afternoon. The ranch was situated
on the Medicine Bow River on one side of the old emigrant
toll bridge, and the Elk Mountain post office was on ihe
opposite side. Besides being the postal center for the Elk
Mountain district, it was the general store, boarding house

Frank Hadsell

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 13

for travelers, saloon and livery barn. The owner^ also
had a large bunch of brood mares, besides a stable of stal-
lions. The whole area of land, from Carbon out to the
ranch, was either government land or (every alternate
section from the railroad, for 10 miles"') belonging to the
Union Pacific. There was not a single ranch taken up
between Elk Mountain post office and the edge of the
Laramie plains on the old trail, except the Hashknife. That
was, I think, about 25 miles.

There was a good deal of snow on the ground when
we arrived in the afternoon and, after depositing my dun-
nage on an unoccupied bunk in the bunkhouse. I was imme-
diately put to work on some harness and gear in the barn.
It was nearly dark when I went across to the bunkhouse.
The other men were already inside and had a fire going.

It was a long log building v/ith bunks ranged along on
both sides of it. The furniture consisted of half a dozen
rawhide seated chairs, a rough deal table and a couple of
hanging lamps. A large homemade stone fireplace occu-
pied one end of the room.

I heard the boys laughing and talking hilariously, but,
as I kicked my boots against the lintel to knock the snow
off, the laughter suddenly ceased and a few remarks were
made in a low voice. "Here is where you are due for some
sort of practical joke," I said to myself, and made ready
to meet it without getting rattled.

The boys were gathered in a semi-circle round the
hearth, where a cheerful blazing fire was lighting up the
whole scene. I noticed my smart little brown Derby had
been dented in at the crown so as to make it stand up and
that it was being used as a smoker's and tobacco chewer's
receptacle.

The foreman sat in the middle, tilted back in his chair.
He looked up at me sideways with a quizzical grin, as much
as to say, "Well, Mr. Freshman, and what are you going to
do about it?"

So I said "Well, gentlemen, since that used to be my
property I suppose you have no objection to my contrib-
uting."

"Help yourself, kid! Help yourself!" he broke in, with
a gesture of both hands toward the little bowler, after
taking a shot at it, and joining in the general laughter, as
I tossed a cigaret butt into the despised headgear.

"Tell you what that reminds me of," I said quickly and
managed to get off the story of a schoolboy prank. This

4Johnny Jones (J. S. Jones) according to the longhand manu-
script.

^'This should read 20 miles.

14 ANNALS OF WYOMING

kept their little joke within due bounds, kept it from string-
ing out, so to speak.

Somehow this small incident seemed to establish me
on a friendly footing with the boys at once, an intimacy
that was never lost or abused. It was unwise of me to
take that stupid little hat into the cow country, though it
served a useful end. It had cost me seven and sixpence in
Glasgow less than six weeks before and seven and six is
seven and six, Scotchman or no Scotchman.

Frank Hadsell was very good company. He was a tall,
lean, wiry man, full of exuberant life and high spirits,
which shone from his dark blue eyes. How they sparkled
as he recounted some story or event in the legislature''
or an extra good yarn that he had heard. The dinner
table was always very much alive when Hadsell was
present. He was only thirty-three years old and had al-
ready established himself in a business worth probably
$30,000, off his own bat, so to speak.

He was intensely interested in English stories and in
English life, but was essentially a man of the West, though
he was born in Massachusetts, in the Berkshire Hills. The
Hadsell homestead there, still in the family's name, was
acquired from the Crown of England, so it is natural that
Frank should be interested in the stock from which his
family sprang.

One night at the table, on my remarking that none of
the ranches I had seen had locks on their doors but only
latches, he said, "Ah! Wyoming is the safest, most law-
abiding territory in the Union, probably in the world.
Think of it. We have no penitentiary, no police and only
five men have been hanged in the whole history of the
territory since it was formed, seventeen years ago!"

This impressed me very deeply for I felt that he was
telling me the truth. However, during that spring several
bunches of cattle rustlers and horse thieves were captured
and disposed of summarily. This seemed to demand some
sort of explanation,, so I asked Frank one evening, "How
is this? You told m.e that only five men had been hanged
in the whole history of the territory, yet about fourteen
men have been hanged, if all accounts are true, between
the Chugwater and Jackson's Hole and around the Black
Hills. How about it?"

"Oh, well!" he replied, "they were rustlers. We make
no record of them. If we did not take prompt measures
to punish such vermin as they, none of us would be safe.

^'Hadsell was elected to the Council of the Territorial Legis-
lature in 1886 and served in the Assembly in 1888.

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 15

Here everyone's cattle and horses range together at large
on these wild lands. Everything that we own is invested
in livestock. We have no police and no patrol but we
have to see that our brands are respected, and since there
is nobody else to do it we have to do it ourselves, though
I have never had to be in on a hanging. You HAVE to
hang rustlers. It's a ground-hog case!"

"Yes, but," I persisted, "why don't they get a trial?"

"They do," he responded.

"Yes, but trial by 'lynch' law is pretty nearly a fore-
gone conclusion, isn't it?"

"It's all right. It works," he said shortly. "It makes
our frontier civilization safe and it's fair. Besides, you're
new and don't know what our law courts are. If we gave
all the rustlers a trial in court, it would cost more than
our herds are worth and then maybe half of them would
get off. The few taxpayers there are in the territory
couldn't stand it. The rustlers could put up enough money
to hang up a case interminably, and finally they would
get off, probably on some error, appeal, insufficient evidence
or something like that and start all over again. When
we hang them they're done, and it discourages others from
shooting our cows and misbranding our calves."

"But what about those five that you said v/ere legally
hanged?" I was seeking enlightenment.

"Oh! they were just plain skunks, murderers. We had
to put them through, though it cost the taxpayers a heap
of money," said Frank thoughtfully. "There isn't such
strong feeling about a miurderer, unless the victim happens
to be a popular fellow with lots of friends. Then the trial
don't take long."

"But you said there was no Territorial Penitentiary."

"Ah, There you are," said Frank quickly. "It's a darn
sight cheaper, when taxpayers are few and money scarce,
for a criminal to be dead than for us to have to board him
out in Illinois or Colorado.' It costs over six hundred
dollars a year to board out a convict in addition to the costs
of the trial, and the population of Wyoming is only about
25,000 today, including Indians."

I waited.

"But the main thing is," he went on, "that prompt and
stern justice discourages the low-down, no-'count loafers
from interfering with our brands. Besides, our homes are
safe, our women folks are dead safe, no matter where they

'A few federal prisoners were kept in Laramie, but generally
other prisoners were sent to Joliet until the State Penitentiary
at Rawlins was completed in 1898.

16 ANNALS OF WYOMING

go, and our taxes are reasonable. Isn't that better than
playing with a criminal, like they do in more 'civilized'
countries, and then living in a state of fear and suspense
all the time? It sure is. Why the criminal element would
swamp us in no time. If we didn't make short work of
'em they'd swarm in here. As it is they keep awaj^ — those
who have any regard for their health," he added pleasantly.

This conversation was very enlightening to me and
the words sank in. I had glimpsed the citizen's point of
view and the taxpayers' point of view, and to this day I
cannot see how they could do other than they did with the
vermin who drove off their stock. Instead of shooting them
on sight thej^ were at least given a decorous hearing.

It was again demonstrated that '"Justice is swift" if it
is to be efficacious and that the sacredness of life and prop-
erty were best secured by a virile community whose ideals
were high.

No sob-sisters in Wyoming. Neither did I ever hear a
case of assault against a woman or a girl. An assaulter
would assuredly have met with short shrift at the hands
of the nearest man. And these safe conditions prevailed
right in the old Sioux hunting grounds, only nine years
after the Custer Massacre.

STONEWALL JACKSON

"Here comes old Stonewall Jackson," Frank said one
day, as a fierce looking old wreck of a man passed along on
a deplorable old grey cayuse. He wore an old gre\^ billy-
cock hat that was full of holes; his grey hair was long and
shaggy, coming down over his collar; and his unkempt
grey beard stuck out every which way. Though worn and
bent, he still looked fierce and untamed.

"How do, Stonewall!" Frank hailed, as the old man
passed.

The old man glared round, gave a curt nod, thum_ped
his pony with his heels and said, "Gid up!"

"The old rip hasn't very much use for me," said Frank.
"I hired him once but had to let him out directl3^ He's too
dirty and ornery for anything."

"But," I said, amazed, "I thought 'Stonewall' Jackson
was a very celebrated Confederate General. Surely that
old ruin — "

"No relation, kid. This old bird got the nickname prob-
ably because he is so fond of Stonewall whiskey. No, this
old boy has had a very hard life, including a year in Ander-
sonville prison during the war. And to do him justice, he

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 17

doesn't know the name of fear, even if he is an old whiskey
soak." And Frank told me of the time he had hired him
in Cheyenne.

They were to go out on the midnight train, and Frank,
knowing old Jackson's weakness, had hunted around town
for him about eight o'clock in the evening. But none of
the saloons yielded any knowledge of him. So Frank went
to the jail and sure enough the sheriff had an old drunk
answering the description. Frank went in and identitied
him as he lay asleep and asked the sheriff to let him out
and see that he got down to the train at midnight, as it was
hard to get another cook in town. This the sheriff agreed
to do.

Then Frank said, "Listen, Larry, "^ just throw a scare
into the old stiff when you let him out. I don't want him
to come back again."

Larry said afterwards to Frank, "Say, Frank, that was
a nice trick to play on me, telling me to throw a scare into
old Jackson."

"What did he say? Did he make a pass at you?"

"Why!" said Larry, "I said, when I let him out, 'Now
look here, old man, I'm letting you off to catch that train
because Hadsell's a friend of mine, but if I ever catch you
in this town again, I'll give you sixty days on the stone pile'."

"How'd he take that?" Frank asked.

"How'd he take it! He looked me up and down as
insulting as ever a man looked; then he spat savagely on
the ground snd said, 'The hell you will! Say, Whiskers,
are you king of Cheyenne? YOU'LL give me sixty days
on the stone pile. Why you cocked-up bonehead, you got
no right to turn me loose. Where's your papers, eh? Where's
yer papers? You're a-breakin' the law to turn me loose,
ye dum-gusted turnkey'."

"And then," said Larry, "he cussed me till he got out
of sight."

One night that spring the old man cam^e past the
ranch on his mustang after we had all gone to bed. At
that time Hadsell's house and the old log bunkhouse were
adjoining. We heard the old man singing as he came over
the bridge and he stopped his horse as he was opposite and
began hurling the most offensive abuse at Hadsell.

We boys were chuckling away inside, wondering what
Frank would do. He finally got out of bed and went to

^In his longhand first draft Fox wrote that he thought the
sheriff's name was Larry Fee. The Wyoming Historical Blue Book,
however, lists no Larry Fee as Laramie County sheriff, but does
list a Lawrence Fee as unsuccessful candidate for Constable in
the City of Laramie in 1884.

18 ■ ANNALS OF WYOMING

the door with a lantern in his hand and said, "That's about
enough now, Stonewall. You're not so drunk but that you
know what you're doing. There's women folks in here can
?iear you — ain't ye shamed? Now you beat it or I'll take
a shot at you."

"Bing," came a bullet from the old man's Colt and hit
the logs close to Hadsell's head. The light vanished sud-
denly and Hadsell retired, while Stonewall, after another
terrible tirade, as a sort of paean of victory, rode off singing
his old song in a maudlin quaver, "When you and I were
young, Maggie," or som.ething like it.

The next year Stonewall was cook for the "Quarter
Circle F" outfit on the beef roundup. The outfit had
camped at a deserted log house, and when the boys came
in for dinner about eleven o'clock nothing was prepared.
Stonewall had found a large bottle of spirits of camphor
(I think it was) and was in no condition to do anything.

The foreman said, reproachfully, "Now Stonewall! Ain't
you the no 'count old stiff. Here's all the boys hungry and
expectin' a meal, a good hot dinner, and you've throwed
'em down."

"Now ain't that too bad!" said Stonewall, beginning
to weep and weaving to and fro on the ground.

"Oh, well!" said the foreman, "you better go in and
sleep it off and then you can go and roll your blankets (the
sign of dismissal) ; I'll attend to the dinner myself."

"All right, Ed, all right," sobbed the old man, "Poor
boys! poor boys! an' I throwed 'em down. They relied on
me an' I done throwed 'em down. Won't you brew me a
cup o' tea, Ed? I do want a cup o' tea right bad."

So Ed had to sling up a meal for the men himself and
then took some tea to the old man, who appeared about
four o'clock with his blankets rolled and his old cayuse
saddled. He went away a picture of penitent misery. And
well he might, for the boys said nothing, which must have
hurt him more than a volley of reproof.

One more incident may be of interest and serve to set
off the redeeming qualities of this remarkable old wreck.
He had a quarter section of land (160 acres) that he called
his "Home" because it had a log cabin on it, with a lean-to
shed for his horse. The whole was surrounded by a lodge-
pole corral.

On going home after he had been fired by the "Quarter
Circle F" he found there a pair of escaped convicts from
Colorado, both weak from starvation and exposure. Poor
old Stonewall had nothing in his provision bag but a little
flour, bacon, lard and beans, and here were some men in

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 19

distress. So he took his rifle and went out and killed a
range steer.

According to his story he kept those two convicts at
his cabin for a couple of days and fed them up. Then he
gave them an old blanket and all the cooked meat they
could carry, advising them to try to climb a freight train
at Lookout.

Stonewall had no more sense than to hang the green
hide of the slain steer on his corral fence with the brand
showing plainly, and one of the boys going by a little later
spotted it and reported it to the owner. A couple of boys
were sent to investigate and they brought Stonewall down
to the cross-roads, while word went around that a rustler
had been caught. This was interesting and quite a number
of men assembled to attend the "trial."

The old man told his story and was so earnest, aggres-
sive and vituperative in the examination and cross-examina-
tion that the assembled punchers were in a constant giggle.
Stonewall did not like that. He was solemnly sentenced
to death for cattle stealing. His arms were pinioned, a
lariat placed round his neck and thrown over the limb of
a Cottonwood tree and he was stood on a barrel.

The judge then solemnly said, "Stonewall Jackson-
Have you anything to say before sentence of this court is
executed?"

"YES! By the iumped-up jiminy crickets, I have!" the

old man bellowed. "You— " and he let out the

most terrible stream of invective and insulting epithets
it is possible to conceive, his eyes burning with anger.

"WELL! If that's all you got to say, we may as well
go ahead. Kick away the barrel. Bill Hickman," said the
judge.

The old man turned quickly to Bill Hickman and said,
"You dasn't to kick away that barrel, Bill Hickman, I bet
you two and a half you dasn't to kick it away." And it was
Bill's turn to be consigned to perdition.

After the laughter of the crowd had subsided following
this sally, the owner of the slain steer said, "Stonewall! If
we let you off this time, will you promise never to kill
another range steer?"

"I will not!" bawled the old man. "Them convicts was
starvin', haven't I been atelling ye, an' I had nothin' to
feed 'em. If a starvin' man comes to my house an' I'm
broke, I'd kill another o' yer durned steers, by G — ! Why,
what d'ye take me fur? Which is worth more — a human
or a critter? Ye lunk-head!"

20 ANNALS OF WYOMING

''Well," said the owner, "if we let ye off this time, will
ye come over to my ranch and work out the price o' that
steer?"

"Yes, I can do that much," he replied.

So Stonewall was untied and stepped down from the
barrel. He walked through the group with an air of injured
innocence. On his way to the barn to get his old mustang
he would stop every ten yards or so to hurl insults at all
and sundry of the crowd, while tears of anger rolled down
his cheeks.

He never did work out that steer though — the old rip.

CHARACTER AS SHOWN IN ANECDOTE

Wyoming in the early '80's was part of that frontier of
civilization known in eastern America as the "Far West."
It was a very new territory with very few settlers, con-
sidering its area. Most of the vast area of the plains and
mountains was government land. Comparatively few women
were to be found in the territory, outside the towns (I
heard at the time that the ratio was one woman to thirty
men), and there were practically no old people. Pioneer
stock has to be young, healthy, inured to hardship and
prepared to meet any conditions of privation, weather and
isolation.

It did not take me long to learn that toleration and
consideration were qualities that were necessary. They
were engendered by the interdependence of this sparsely
settled country. The man whose behavior was offensive
or the man who always carried a chip on his shoulder found
himself isolated. He was left alone. He had to leave the
country or win back again by mending his ways. The
thing was automatic — spontaneous, not calculated. A de-
liberate complainer was, I believe, an anomaly amongst
the pioneers.

These papers are by no means chronological. Such
events as are set down here will allow the reader to judge
for himself what manner of people are those described.

I was in the general store at Carbon one day to make
some purchases, and a man called "Riley" was with me.
I do not know what his real name was, but one of his eyes
was a "blank;" so he was named after the hero of a ribald
song of the period, called One-eyed Riley.

While we were standing about waiting for our pur-
chases to be put up, a smart, nice looking girl walked b}"
and nodding, said, "Hello, Riley!"

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 21

He touched his hat with his finger in salute and said
"Hello, Mary!" Then, as she passed on with a large parcel
under her arm, he called after her, "How's Pearl, Mary?"

The girl's eyes were moist as she looked down and
rubbed a knot in the floor board with her toe. "That's
what brought me over here today, to get this cheese cloth
for her," indicating the parcel.

"Well," said Riley, "We all got to go sometime, I guess
an' you girls been mighty good to little 'Sore-eyed Pearl'."

"And why wouldn't we?" she flared. "I bet every one
of us saw ourselves a-lyin' there where Pearly is — in our
minds. Man! She rotted to death!" And Mary sniffed
hard, and turned to go.

"Hold on a minute, Mary. What about a fiver towards
funeral expenses or flowers or sump'n? I'd like to be in
on this."

"Well now, that's man's talk, Riley. Flowers it is," said
Mary, as she held out her hand for the five dollar gold
piece. "She wanted a church funeral., Pearly did. And she's
goin' to get it too, for we got the priest over from Laramie
and he give her absolution before she passed out yesterday."

"Fine," said Riley. "My regards to the girls." This
time he raised his hat as the girl left us. She tied the parcel
on to the back of her saddle and went off out of town in a
cloud of dust.

"Who's that girl?" I asked Riley, innocently, for it was
hard to believe that this gentle voiced, distressed girl was
anything but decent.

"Why, she's just one o' the bunch over at Number Five,"
said Riley.

"Was this Pearl her sister or a relative?"

"Nope. Just one o' the bunch. When she got real sick,
they give her a cabin to herself and fixed it up nice and
they've alv/ays took turns to wait on her and give her the
news. Most o' them girls is pretty good-hearted to a down-
an-outer."

"Funny things, women," he continued. "I asked Pearl
how she was a-gettin' on a few weeks ago, when I was over
there. She was behind a screen 'cos she didn't like nobody
to see her face, the girls said. But her laugh was a fright,
like scratchin' on a winderpane with a rusty nail. It give
m.e the shivers. An' yet she said that she was happier than
ever she was in her life — and her dyin'."

"How old was she, Riley?"

"Probabl}^ 'bout twenty-five, should cal'late."

How surprised Riley would have been if he had known
my thoughts. Christ and the Magdalen. And the thought
that a despised woman of the town, dying of a loathsome

22 ANNALS OF WYOMING

disease, was given happiness at her end by the conscious-
ness of the friendship and care of her companions in
misfortune!

"Come on, kid. Let's go down to Johnny Connor's and
I'll throw you 'horses' for the drinks, 'fore we have dinner,"
said Riley, as we gathered up our purchases and put them
in a sack.

A HORSE DEAL

Hadsell had a foreman bj^ the name of Jeff Groves, who
was also his chief handler of bad horses — -the "Bronco-
buster." He had been sent over into eastern Oregon to
bring back a bunch of cayuse mares that Hadsell had bought
cheap and had returned very tired and out of humor after
the long and arduous trip.

In Jeff's string of saddle horses was one tough little
brute — a splendid cow pony, with feet of iron; an animal
that was never sick nor sorry, but with a most evil dispo-
sition. He could buck half a minute longer than any other
horse on the ranch, and half a minute is an awful long
period to the rider at such a time.

But it w&s when handling the critter at saddling lime
that he bluffed everyone. He was a wicked biter and as
quick to strike with a forefoot as he was to squirm around
and try a blow with his heel. And so nobody but Jefi
wanted him. In wickedness he was unbelievable, bu: he
was also indestructible.

Jeff had ridden him every day on the Oregon Trail
in order to subdue the devil in him, with indifferent success.
The pony was standing alone in the big branding corral
one day, idly switching the flies with his tail and looking
the picture of innocent strength and contentment, when an
emigrant, whose saddle pony had gone lame, happened
along with his covered wagon.

Now every emigrant that crossed the plains had to
have at least one or two saddle horses. The\^ were needed
for rounding up the work oxen mornings or for looking
for good camp sites and water. The man whose pony had
gone lame was getting tired of having to round up his ani-
mals every morning afoot. It was dangerous too, if there
were any range cattle about, for a man to be afoot. So he
called at our ranch to try and trade for another saddler.

Hadsell took him out to the corral and showed him
Jeff's "lamb." Here the two men sat, on the top rail of the
big corral and whittled. The emigrant regaled Frank with
an account of his arduous days through the mountains,
while his listener replied with a long and detailed story

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 23

of the difficulties yet in store for him, which might be
epitomized as "The worst is yet to come."

"The further you go north," said Hadsell, "the more
you have to rely on a good saddle horse, an animal in whose
powers of endurance you can absolutely rely. Man, your
very lives may depend on it when you get over to Wind
River. The Shoshones are masters at driving off stock —
good work stock — maybe many miles in a single night. And
without a cow pony, a good one, mind you, what can you
do? You're stuck."

"Now, that sturdy little mustang there," he continued,
"has just come over the trail with a cavy from eastern
Oregon, the very road through Boise City that you will
take going to Washington. My man says that he rode him
four or five hours every day on that trip. He's tough as
pinwire, quick as a cat and knows his business, either
roping, herding, or cut out work. And bitted! He'll turn
on a dime with a packthread."

"Well, what d'ye want to sell him fer, then?" said the
emigrant.

"WANT to sell him! Do tell, didn't you come to me
and ask me to help you out? I got three carloads of 'made'
horses going to Nebraska next week. I shall have them
in off the range tomorrow, if you want to wait over. I'll
let you have the pick of them for the same price as I'm offer-
ing you this buckskin. They're all colts, but have all been
ridden several times."

"I dunno about waitin' over," began the emigrant,
doubtfully.

"Hello!" said Hadsell, raising his voice a little for Jeff's
benefit. "Here's my man coming now. He's the fellow that
rode this horse over the Oregon Trail."

Jeff came sauntering up to the corral, rolUng a cigaret
and supposed that Hadsell was enlarging on the demoniac
qualities of the buckskin. When he came up, Hadsell intro-
duced him to the emigrant and he climbed up and roosted
between them.

"Young man," the emigrant said, turning to Jeff, "I
understand that you rode this horse down from eastern
Oregon — all the way — is that right?"

"Sure is," said Jeff, shortly. He was probably a bit
nettled at being addressed as "young man." It was a new
experience for him to be patronized.

"He must be a tough bit o' stuff to stand that," remarked
the emigrant.

" 'Tough' is right," Jeff replied, looking at Hadsell for
an answering grin to his own, which was not forthcoming.

24 ANNALS OF WYOMING

"Then he is really a pretty good saddle-horse, eh?" the
Kansan persisted.

"Bet your sweet life he's a good saddle horse," said
Jeff, disgustedly, "an' I'll bet you two an' a half that YOU
can't ride him or saddle him."

As the emigrant's covered wagon disappeared, trailing
a lame saddle pony, Jeff was repeating in extenuation,
"But, billyell! Frank, I never dreamed as you was tryin'
to sell him that hellion! I thought you was paintin' the
little pie-biter a gleamin' red, so's to make his fishy eves
bulge."

At the bunkhouse Frank told us the whole story just
about as it is set forth here, while Jeff looked sheepish.
Then he said, "Well boys, the drinks are on me AND Jeff.
Let's go across the bridge."

For a long time thereafter, whenever Jeff put in an
appearance, somebody would shout, "Hello, here he comes!
The deal is off." But it would have been out of place for a
stranger or a new acquaintance to have made the remark.

A DANCE AT THE SCHOOLHOUSE

At my first dance at the Elk Mountain schoolhouse, the
boys up at the "UL" prevailed on me to attend, dressed as
a girl. I was only nineteen years old and my face was
innocent of hair. Mrs. Jones at the store promised to lend
me a white skirt trimmed with lace, a Dolly Varden hat
(that tied under the chin with ribbons), with a fringe of
hair sewed into it, and a nice turkey red Mother Hubbard
dress, as the basques worn then would have been quite out
of the question for a man devoid of hips. There were so
few women about to liven things up that it seemed to me
to be quite a brilliant idea. I was strong for it by the time
we got things going.

Mrs. Jones entered into the spirit of the thing and
brought out the largest pair of corsets to be tound in the
store and a fine pair of cotton stockings, all brightl}^ striped.
I wore my English riding breeches for "undies." The white
skirt was a bit too small around the waist, so she tied a
piece of string to the button-hole and looped it over the
button. Trust an American woman for resourcefulness,
even though her judgment in some things be a little shaky.

The Mother Hubbard dress was a gorgeous affair of
Turkey red, a red that warmed up the whole atmosphere,
and Mrs. Jones made a sash for it for my more or less dainty
jimp waist. I had, by good luck, a pair of English dancing
pumps, and when the Dolly Varden hat was tied on with

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 25

ribbons beneath my chin and a frizzy fringe of hair covered
my forehead, Mrs. Jones gave me a kiss, to the huge dehght
of the boys who stood around making remarks. She said
that I looked too sweet for any use and that she expected
me to prance around "like a heifer with the warbles" and
she would chaperone me.

I had to ride side-saddle down to the schoolhouse, as
was the custom with women then. The little snubhorn
on my stock saddle was very comfortless on that wild ride,
as we went lickety-split over the rocks and sagebrush.
The modern woman has much to be thankful for, even if
she has discarded much of her fascinating mystery for
frank display.

I went in on the arm of Dexter Jones and was intro-
duced to some people I did not know as Miss Ferguson from
Scotland. I endeavored to be very gracious, not to say
condescending, and really succeeded to taking in one or
two people for a few minutes. It was a pity that the flour-
ing of my nose had been forgotten, as it had peeled from
exposure to the sun and wind and Dexter said it looked
like a "grog-blossom." I strode along thoughtlessly with
a cowboy's lurching stride, till Dex admonished me, "Step
short, man! Step short and dainty, for crime sakes."

One young lady, the daughter of a large stock rancher,
had just returned from an Eastern "Finishing School,"
where culture was dispensed; and, as Dexter said, she "put
on more airs than a stud-horse" to show her aloofness.
When I was presented she looked at me coldly but curiously
and gave a stiff little salutation — not even a simper. I do
not know if she was waiting for somebody that failed to
show up, but she refused all offers of partners for the
Lancers and, as it happened, she was seated just behind me
after the announcer had shouted "EV'RYBODY GET YOUR
PARDNERS!" "HONORS TO YOUR PARDNERS!" "FIRST
COUPLE RIGHT AND LEFT!" The fiddle struck up the
Arkansas Traveler — a dandy air for a square dance. That
old fiddler of ours could make a cripple dance with his
Turkey in the straw.

Just as we had finished the first figure of Lancers, that
wretched piece of string that secured my white lace-trimmed
underskirt broke and down the silly thing came in billowy
folds around my feet. Now it is probable that if I had been
a woman, such a thing might in those days, have been
very embarrassing indeed — quite a catastrophe, but to me
it meant nothing at all. I simply stepped out of the mess,
rolled it up and deposited it on a vacaat chair beside Miss X,
the finished one.

26 ANNALS OF WYOMING

She drew up her skirts in horror and disdain, moving
her chair well away from the accursed thing. She gave
me, in modern slang, "such a dirty look" that it made me
realize that something must be the matter. My seven part-
ners in the set kept on jollying about it so, that after the
dance was over, I left the room, reached my overalls and
blue shirt from the back of the saddle and changed back
to a man again.

On re-entering the room I was re-introduced to Miss X,
who was not only most gracious to me, but actually thawed
out and became human with the bunch. That eastern
silver plating was very thin. She was born on a cattle
ranch the very year that Wyoming became a territory and
had been raised on horse back. Even an eastern "Young
Ladies' Seminary" could not piffle that off.

At that dance I saw the most graceful couple of waltzers
I have ever seen. The lad}'' was Hadsell's very efficient
cook and the man was foreman for the "Hashknife" outfit.
I had seen him earlier at the hotel as he got down from
his horse after a twenty-eight mile ride. He was covered
with alkali dust, even to his eyelashes; his hair was grown
below the collar of his shirt and turned up at the ends like
a drake's tail. He wore a beard, at least a month old and
that was all grey with dust.

When he said "Well, I've come over for the big dance,"
I could have laughed, as he untied his dunnage from the
back of his saddle. His huge bearskin chaps nearW hid
his toes and he walked like a bear, stiff and stradley, as
every long distance rider does when he first dismounts,
especially v/here the boot heels are four inches high and
are set beneath the instep like a woman's.

But before he came to the dance, he had had a good
bath, a hair-cut and a shave and was the only man on the
floor wearing a linen collar and shirt (a biled shirt) and
woolen clothes. The easy and dignified yet joyous move-
ments of this couple fascinated me more than any I had
watched on an English ballroom floor.

At these frontier "hops," square dances and waltzes
were the favorites, though polkas, schottishes and gallops
had a look in, and there was always one "country dance"
(Sir Roger de Coverley, as known in England). Because
of the scarcity of women many of the entire sets of square
dances were composed of men and so called "Stag" sets,
who tried to step as gracefully as if women were their
partners. A clumsy man or one who made mistakes in the
figures was unmercifully jeered. All the movements were
loudly called in proper time and sequence, by a caller or
announcer.

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 27

If any townsmen came out to these country dances, they
had to behave with decorum as long as any women were
present. Also, if any man absented himself many times
from the floor, in order to "hit the jug," he somehow did
not return to the floor. He had to take his liquor some-
where else. As soon as a man began to talk loud, indi-
cating that he was getting lit up, a couple of husky cowboys
would get him oft' by himself, and he disappeared so unos-
tentatiously that the assembly often knew nothing about
it, and the erring man had nothing to feel ashamed of or
sore at afterwards.

The explanation of this decent code of manners is that
most of the pioneer stock was purely American, largely
from Missouri and the southern states, self-respecting men,
who demanded that due deference be shown to their woman-
kind— an unspoken demand but unmistakable.

The public town dances that were attended chiefly by
women of easy virtue, were probably no better and no
worse than they are today, and they did nothing to typify
the genuine character of the new West. Owen Wister, in
his book The Virgiman is the one man who has written of
Wyoming's cow country as the writer knew it in the '80's.
He knew and appreciated his characters.

One thing is certain. No woman of that period in Wyo-
ming, no matter what her age or condition, could have been
violently abused or man-handled, as is so often shown now-
a-days in the screen stories of the Wild West. And that is
why, as Frank Hadsell said, Wyoming was the most law-
abiding territory in the Union. It was an unhealthy climate
for malefactors of any kind, yet its people were most tol-
erant— especially to the weaknesses and foibles of their
fellows. This seems to have been characteristic generally
of the pioneer stock who invaded the wilderness of the
Far West.

Human nature never seems to vary much in its oas-
sions and its strong feelings, but I must offer the following
incidents as typifying the desire to overcome hard feelings
and to preserve harmony in a frontier community. In a
new and sparsely settled district, if you are "at outs" with
your neighbor, there is nobody to take his place. You are
interdependent whether in trouble or in need of social
intercourse. The children are reared on this custom of
tacit respect for neighbors. A workable harmonious con-
dition results.

Frank Hadsell came home one evening wearing a black
eye and frown. Nobody said anything as he unsaddled
and whacked his saddle up onto its peg with a slam and
strode off in silence to the house. I guess we figured that

28 ^ ANNALS OF WYOMING

it would be wiser to let him give the wife an earful first
and then he would feel better.

So when we went into supper, Frank and his wife
were both smiling, which encouraged the foreman to ask,
pleasantly, "Who gave you the shiner, Frank?"

At this question both he and his wife laughed. "Well,"
he said, "I went up to the 'T Bar' this afternoon to have
it out with neighbor Tom, about that filing of Clara's that
his man had jumped. 'Course he had a perfect right to do
it, but I didn't like the sneakin' unneighborly way it was
done and I told him so. The son-of-a-gun never said a
word but he slammed me in the eye, as quick as a flash
and we went to it.

"Finally he picked up a steel hand-bar and stood me off.
And on top of that, his wife appeared at the door with a
gun and darned if she didn't take a shot at me as I rode off."

The amazing part of the little incident is that the lady
who had taken a shot at Frank in a heated moment, called
on his wife about ten days later, just as though nothing
had happened and asked to borrow her green riding habit
for a pattern!

BRANDS

I have spoken incidentally of the "Hashknife" brand
and outfit. Johnny B., foreman of that ranch, gave me a
little history of the origin of that brand.

"When old man H. first came here his brand was the
'Lazy H.' He was mighty proud of his brand and had it
advertised in four counties.

"He always kept his ranch house pretty neat an' trim.
The pictures as he cut o' the magazines to stick up on the
wall was always pictures of women or 'homey' pictures
with nice women in 'em. None o' yer leggy 'chippies' or
half-naked dancers like you seen in the P'lice Gazette for
him. He liked dutchesses and queens and mothers — all
dignity and grace.

"Well, the time come when he figured as he ought to
be gettin' him a wife. Maverick women bein' scarce in
Wyoming, he went back to Iowa; where his folks lived an'
pre-empted one. A school-marm an' a good manager she
was an' a mighty good cook. The old man certainly picked
a 'pippin.'

"You wouldn't think that a classy woman, comin' out
from a respectable, church-goin' community in Iowa could
ever buckle down to the raw conditions of a cattle ranch
an' be satisfied. But she did. Kep' things nice, fed the
men fine and played the piano evenings. She would even

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 29

go SO far as to 'muck out' the bunkhouse once in awhile,
which made us a bit more careful how we left it.

"She sure was a practical little body, but she was mighty
sentimental too, and she got Hank to change his brand.
She says, 'I would like our brand to be an anchor, because
it is an emblem of Hope an' Faith.' She drawed out an
anchor on paper for the blacksmith to make some irons
from. Always one to go right to the bat when she wanted
anything, she was. She wasn't a wisher — she was a go-
getter!

"O' course, whatever she said went, but Hank, as he
took the drawin' over to the blacksmith, said as he hated
to let the old brand go — ^the old 'Lazy H,' but to have the
anchor made as near like it as was possible.

"He done his best. In the 'Anchor' iron, as the black-
smith made it, the stock was twice too long; the shank was
four times too short an' the arms was too straight an'
without flukes. The next season's crop o' calves was
branded with it, an' not knowin' the story or the name o'
the brand everybody called it the "Hashknife,' an' you
can't make nothin' else out of it. They say the good lady
was wild when the name fust come up, but shucks! it didn't
take long afore she called it that herself, like the wise
little 'guinea' she was."

So that was the romance of the "Hashknife." A beau-
tiful sentiment gave it being and the cow puncher bestowed
a workable, everyday name on it. Glory be!

"Then there was the 'Crooked X.' I heard as that was
started by a young bride too. Don't it beat all how women
folks always want to change things around?" Johnny con-
tinued, reflectively. He hated to let go when he had a good
appreciative audience — even as you and L

"What is there romantic about a 'Crooked X?' " I asked.

"Blamed if I know," he replied, "but she said as she
wanted a 'Watchticker.' What do you know about that — a
'Watchticker!' She drawed it out an' it was a circle with
a cross in the middle, something like this," and he made a
figure in the dust somewhat resembling a swastika. "Well,
o'course you couldn't make a brand like that, 'cause every-
thing inside the circle with that cross in it would rot out
an' leave nothin' but a lumpy scar. So the blacksmith
made the nearest thing to it, except joinin' up the ends
of the cross, an' the young woman had to be satisfied
with that. But who could tell as the thing meant a 'Watch-
ticker?' A 'Crooked X' it was and you can't make nothin'
else out of it.

"But o' course," he added, "you always got to humor
a woman, especially when she's first shakin' down in a

30 ANNALS OF WYOMING

new country. Give 'em anything they want, long as they
don't fly too high. Later on they gener'ly learn to be
reasonable." A remark that showed that Johnny was wise
in his generation, like most of his fellows.

"Then there's the 'Lazy Y' brand," he went on, glancing
at me sideways. But I had already been had on that silly
myth, so I shut him off.

COWBOY PLAYTIME AND YARNS

It is perhaps a little difficult to realize today what life
on a cattle ranch was in the '80's. We had no telephone,
phonograph, radio or movie; no automobile, library or
daily news, though the mail used to come in twice a week
on horseback. Our old tin lanterns were hard to keep
alight in a gale of wind and many used candles in them —
tallow candles, which gave about enough light to make
darkness visible. Our house lamps were smoky and dim,
for kerosene was of poor quality.

Evenings, the boys would play cards — draw pedro,
euchre, draw and stud poker, for chips at a nickel a score.
Some played chequers, others the mouth-organ or har-
monica, and sometimes we could get a singer to oblige.
Some would cut up strips of rawhide and braid riatas,
bridles, reins and hackamores with it or with horsehair;
some would read papers or paper-covered novels or tell
stories.

The man who could tell a good story was especially
appreciated. Some of the boys with the help of a trained
imagination contrived to deliver a story with quite a wealth
of interesting sidelights — "corroborative details to give ar-
tistic verisimilitude to an otherwise bald and unconvincing
narrative," as Pooh-Bah said.

The chief point was to get the listeners highly inter-
ested, and when the occasion v/as ripe to pin the silly
climax on one particular person in the crowd, and make
him look ridiculous. To lead up to a point where one
selected man in the group should be made to ask a par-
ticular question required brains and tact.

To illustrate this, I must recount an especially nne
incident which took place in a saloon bar. It was the more
impressive because back in the '80's, when every man
packed a gun, men were more tolerant and considerate
toward their fellows than they are today. Wherein they
showed wisdom.

At this particular period, the cattle men and the sheep
men were at bloody war over range rights up in Johnson

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 31

County" — the cattle men claiming that the sheep fed ihe
range so close that the buffalo grass and bunch grass was
destroA^ed. What was not burnt out by the sun and wind
in summer was frozen out in winter for lack of a protective
growth. These grasses were the special fatting grasses
of the cattlemen, who further claimed that the sheep were
replacing them with trashy stuff, such as foxtail, squirrel-
tail and bronco grass. And so hatred for the sheepmen
grew and grew resulting in the conflicts that have become
history.

But to proceed. There was a sheepherder in the saloon,
who was just drunk enough to be nasty and to want to
provoke a quarrel with somebody. He chose a husky but
good natured cowhand, Fred H., as the object of his offensive
remarks, which grew particularly low and objectionable.

One of the boys said, "Call his hand, Fred. He ain't so
drunk, he don't know what he's sayin.' He called you a liar!"

"I know he did," said Fred. "Ain't that bad enough
without me askin' him to prove it? Tell you what he
reminds me of — "

He removed a large 'chaw of tobacco from his mouth,
threw it away and cleared his throat loudly— the well-
known signs that a good one was coming. Fred was a
wonder, an artist at pinning a label on an opponent by
means of a yarn. He squared his shoulders, leaned back
against the bar, and, sticking his fingers into the belt of his
chaps, he began:

"You all know that draw that comes down through
the snowshed, right east of here? Well, when the old
U.P. road begun runnin' its first trains over the line, the
wild things didn't like it a little bit. It disturbed 'em and
made 'em nervous.

"Now, up that draw I was tellin' ye about, there was
an old skunk had his pre-emption. He had filed on it afore
the U.P. was built. He had married an' raised a fam'ly
there. Had a fine view an' a hole in the rocks, all safe from
coyotes an' bob-cats. He felt that the whole durned draw
belonged to him, same as an old settler what's took up a
water hole thinks as the whole township around belongs
to him, 'thout his havin' to file on it.

"Well, little Billy Skunk thought as the railroad were
a-crowdin' his range, pretty nigh like jumpin' his claim,
an' nobody with the pluck of a louse is a-goin' to stand for

^The conflict in Johnson County culminating in tlie Johnson
County War in 1892 was essentially a struggle between large
cattlemen and small cattlemen. There were some sheep in John-
son County in the '80's, but cattlemen and sheepmen do not appear
to have been "at bloody war" at that time.

32 ANNALS OF WYOMING

that. His old woman was always a-beefin' about the noise
o' the trains too. an' nobody likes to hear his woman
a-crabbin' all the time. In course o' time it got under the
hide like it always does.

"He mulled his troubles over in his little skunk mind
so much, that finally, one day v/hen his wife was a-whinin'
an' complainin' o' the usual headache, he got sore as a
boil. After dancin' up an' down an' cussin' for quite awhile,
mad as a fresh branded steer, he says to his wife, seze, 'I
just cain't stand it no longer. I'm a-goin' to stop that ere
train a-runnin' by here or bust a gut. You watch my smoke!"

" 'Now, don't you do nothin' desprit, Bill!' says his wife.
'You got to remember me an' the kids, m.ind.'

"But Bill never answered her. He flipped off out the
front door an' trotted down the trail, sometimes a-lopin'
an' then trottin' again, till he gets down to the metals. His
little bushy tail was hooked over back'ards, an' he kept
a-twitchin' it, like he had a hard time to hold his nre till
the train come — he was that mad. He trotted up an' down,
up an' down, his teeth a-chatterin' an' fairly frothin' at
the jaws.

"At last the train hooted real loud, just before she went
into the first bit o' the snow-shed, an' pretty soon she drawed
in sight. The skunk hopped up, right spry, and straddled
a rail." Here Fred looked 'round with a serio-comic look
of apprehension and noted the quarrelsome man leaning
across the end of the bar, with his mouth open, intensely
interested and listening with all he had.

"Poor little Bill!" Fred continued. "As the train drawed
nigh, he stood right east an' west, just a-darin' that train
to come on, an' — WHIFF! — in a flash poor little Bill was
just a grease spot.

"But, hold on, there! Poor little skunk! He wasn't
near as important as what he thought he was. Nobody'd
have even knowed he'd been there if he hadn't kicked up
such a heck of a stink."

Then, pointing with his thumb at the quarrelsome one,
he said casually, and almost with sadness in his tones, "Same
with that feller, a-hangin' his tripe over the end o' the bar,
there — only difference bein' as the skunk were a little
gentleman," he added.

It was not till the whole crowd turned their eyes and
their boisterous laughter on the sheepherder, that he real-
ized that he was the butt of the little story. Someone had
thoughfully removed his gun, but he rushed at Fred and
collected what was coming to him. After which he was
carried out to the bunkhouse and left in peace. Fred got

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 33

a sprained thumb out of the argument, so not very much
damage was done.

It will be apparent from the above incident that there
was sound philosophy to be learned on the frontier in
pioneer days". They were not much on "book larnin' " per-
haps, but they had highly developed faculties of natural
observation and comparison. A good story was never inter-
rupted, unless some "smart Aleck" from the east were
present, and he never did it but once.

It seemed to me that story tellers of Fred's type took
the place of the bards of olden days. They were compara-
tively few but they were appreciated. I never knew Fred
caught in the toils of a yarn but once, and he was never
allowed to forget that. It may be worth relating.

Fred came from Arkansas (always spoken of in the west
as Arkansaw) and we had all heard him tell of the great
drought sometime in the '70's, when cattle died by thou-
sands, feed was burnt up, grasshoppers were rife and the
river was so low that the steam ferry was laid up and
people had to cross the river in row boats.

In the spring of '86 a man had been hired at the Fort
Halleck ranch who hailed from Arkansas. When he came
down to the Elk Mountain post office looking for mail, the
boys found this out and they primed him. They told him
about Fred and asked him to wait awhile as Fred would
be along pretty soon for his mail. They told him what
Fred's favorite story was and that he would 'be easy money
to a man from his own home state.

The man from Arkansas felt complimented and said
that he would do his best. And sure enough, Fred camie
jog-trotting up the trail almost before the man was primed.
He rode up to the front of the post office and dropped his
reins in front of his pony, when he was hailed into the
saloon next door by one of the boys.

"Come on in here, Fred, and meet a countryman of
yours. Just come out from Arkansaw an' he used to live
in your old home town years ago, he says."

Fred hurried in and was introduced to the man from
his home state, his eyes alight with anticipation.

"I sure am glad to meet up with a man from my old
home state," said Fred, heartily. "Dexter," (to the bar-
keeper) "jfind out what they'll have. This is my treat."
Fred never drank anything stronger than coffee himself,
but he never shirked his hospitality, contenting himself
with a cigar.

The new man had a long heavy jowl, beetling brows, a
"Wellingtonian Roman nose and a huge moustache, which
drooped at the ends. With his lack of any particular ex-

34 ANNALS OF WYOMING

pression except wooden solemnity, he reminded one of an
aged Hampshire Down ram.

"The boys b'en telhn' me that you hail from my old
home town. B'en there long?" asked Fred of the new arrival.

"Well, not in late years I haven't," drawled the Arkan-
saw traveler slowly. "But we moved in there a few years
before the big drought, an' had to move out agen just a'ter
that, 'count o' hard times. Then we moved — "

"Was you there the year o' the big drought?" Fred
broke in excitedly. "The boys here won't believe as things
was as bad as what I tell 'em."

"Couldn't be much wuss, I cal'late," ventured the new
man, gloomily.

"What was your name, again?" said Fred. "I didn't
quite ketch it."

When he had been enlightened, he said, "Well, I don't
seem to remember your face nor your name an' I thought
as I knowed everybody in that little berg in them days."
(A pause.) "What was you doin' down there, the year o'
the big drought?"

The ram-like one looked to see that we were all listen-
ing, and then he drawled sadly, 'T Vv^as a-haulin' water so's
to run the ferry boat when the river dropped." Just as easy.

Fred's face grew as red as fire. It was the nrst time
he had ever been caught, and by a stranger too! When
the big laugh at his expense had subsided sufficiently for
him to make himself heard, he pointed at the man and then
.slapped him heartily on the shoulder, saying, "Sure! I
remember you now, stranger. 'Cause I was a-haulin' steam
to run the engynes on that same ferry boat." It was a noble
effort to retrieve a reputation for alertness, hitherto un-
sullied. But he had to set 'em up again — which being inter-
preted, means that liquid refreshment was supplied to the
assembly at his expense.

I liked Fred. He seemed to be typical of the great West
in character, although he was from the South. During the
war he had been in the "Kansas Irregular Horses" or some
such name and he showed me a picture of himself at twenty
years of age, in his "regimentals." Fred said it was like
organizing a band of thieves (referring to his own regiment)
because of their poor discipline and loose semi-attachment
to the regular army. He told me that he beheved all the
members of his old company that had not been shot or
hanged by the close of the war were in jail.

Here is a little glimpse of his home. He was 42 or 43
years old when I knew him. He had married his niece, a
fine woman about ten years his junior. They had three
children and once, when I was there to supper, the mother

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 35

spoke sharply to one of them and told it to come to her. The
little one ran to Fred's shielding" arms as he sat by the stove
and he said, "Don't be too rough with her, mama. She's
awful little." And he cuddled the tiny one to his great big
breast, and grinned.

"See? That's just how he spoils 'em," she said to me,
with her hands held out. "How can a mother train her
children with a man like that around?" — and she bustled
away with a motherly smile.

Fred looked across at me and winked, grinning happily.
His ranch was right on the Medicine Bow River and he
had a small band of cattle, but he made most of his living
as a cow hand and ranch blacksmith.

One Sunday, it was in the depth of winter, he came
to me in great distress, saying, "Kid, I wonder if you would
come and stay a coupla days with me? I'm sorta in a bad
fix an' I don't know who else to ask."

"Sure, I'll come!" I said and went to get my horse. The
poor chap had been weeping, I could see, and the general
store was no place to ask questions. The news was around
that his baby had died.

As we rode down the river road together, he told me
his story. The baby had had a rash on its neck or some
sort of breaking out and the mother had sent Fred to the
store for a bottle of arnica or liniment to cure it. However,
after she had used it the child had died in convulsions, ap-
parently from the effects of the arnica.

Anyway the mother was beside herself with grief and
repeated over and over again to Fred that he was a mur-
derer, that he was responsible for not getting the right
stuff to put on; and he was afraid that she would "go
nutty" if she didn't let up.

And so I went into that sad home and was met with a
reiteration of the same raving story. Poor woman! and
poor old Fred, whose children were the very apple of his
eye. When she went into the kitchen, Fred said, "She's
out of her head with grief, poor kid." And his own eyes
were moist. "I'm goin' out to the barn, so's you can have a
talk with her. She likes you. Let her tell it all out, son.
I want you should stay with us and help me bury the poor
mite if you will." And off he went to the barn.

When the poor girl came in, she told me the story all
over again and I got hold of her hand. I told her of my
admiration of the pioneer women and the courage they
showed under all adversity, and I figured that she was as
good as any of them; that she knew as well or better than
we did, that Fred was a prince. How about her carrying
her half of the load? That I had come down to stay with

36 ANNALS OF WYOMING

them a couple of days if it was not an intrusion (I felt a
bit of a prig, doing the preacher act).

"Intrusion! I should say not. You got to stop now and
help us out. The ground's froze as hard as a bone. You
must help Fred bury my baby." And she wept afresh.

"Well, all right then, Mary. I'll stay. But buck up
for godsake and help old Fred out. He feels just as badly
as you do."

She shook her head as she went out, but her husband
had no more scenes to put up with while I was there, for
she was not present when we laid away the little one. It
took a couple of days and a lot of firewood to get a small
hole in that frozen ground,, but we erected quite a cairn of
loose rock where that baby lies buried in a corner of the
hom.e pasture.

WOMEN

I suppose that it is an accepted fact all over the world,
civilized or savage, that women's attitudes in life determine
the attitudes of men towards women and among themselves.
If the lives of women in any community are lax, so are the
men in that community; for the decent ones have to leave.
If the lives of women are loose, their menkind are more
or less vile. Women who are high-handed, critical and
intolerant, are simply ignored or avoided by most men,
though they may be useful in keeping weak sisters up to
an appearance of "the mark." Let 'em live!

The woman who is unpretentious, gracious, cheerful
and tolerant, keeps the whole moral atmosphere bright and
clear. If she has taste and culture in addition, then you
have a gem of the fii'st water.

It was the pioneer woman of the '80's that taught a very
verdant and unsophisticated young Englishman to knov/
somewhat of the unadulterated American woman's charac-
ter, with all her sterling qualities of courage, tolerance, hos-
pitality, attention to duty and the making of a home, and,
above all, a genuine sense of humor. I do not remember
a single one in those far-off days that wasted any of her
soul in self-pity. She would certainly have been out of
luck in that sparsely settled wilderness. So I suppose that
the weak ones died and they were certainly not missed.

Perhaps it was because I had never before been in a
house where no servants were kept, that I was amazed at
the prowess of the western frontier housewife. She did
all the family washing and mending, as well as much of
the making of shirts and children's clothes. She prepared
the most wondei'ful meals three times a day, and if she

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 37

wanted to visit a neighbor or go to the store, thought noth-
ing of saddUng her own horse or hitching up to the buck-
board, if there was no man around to ask. And yet she.
never appeared fussy or hurried. Generally she had the
poise, dignity and self-control so often lacking in many a
well-to-do and educated city woman.

The tremendous influence of women was imprinted the
more forcibly on my mind every time I returned from a
camp to where there were women about. Where there is
a crowd of hardy young men, in the pink of condition, living
a most active life, in a highly stimulating climate, and
consuming quantities of beef, three times a day, there is
bound to be a lot of rough horse play, much variegated
profanity, ribald songs and highly seasoned stories. But,
if any of those young men went into a house where there
was a woman — young or old, married or single, in town or
in the poorest log cabin — they were always decent and
well-behaved, at least in my experience, though so many
of the women were called by their given names.

A new ranch foreman on one of the ranches that 1
worked at had brought out a young wife with him from
Iowa. She had with her on her arrival a baby of only a
few months, but she certainlj^ knew how to cook and set
things on the table, without making that baby an excuse at
any time for delay. The boys all took to her right away
because of her brightness and kindliness, as well as for
her cooking and her comeliness.

Her husband, Ed, was only the ranch foreman. He had
nothing to do with the riders except under special orders.
All he had to do was to milk a few cows and keep us in
butter and cream, 'tend the poultry and hogs, kill a beef
once in awhile and do fencing, repairing and errands. He
was a decent enough fellow, but the boys all despised him
for "close-herding" that womanly little wife of his, as though
she and the boys were not to be trusted.

Therefore there was great joy to two of us when, one
Sunday, Ed took a big fall in trying to show his young wife
what he could do.

We had had about a dozen bulls brought in that were
losing hair in large patches, like mange on a dog, and Ed
was instructed by the range foreman to take what help he
wanted and dress those bulls well with sheep-dip. So we
drove them into the big square stock corral next to the
round horse and branding corral. Ed took his wife out and
perched her and the baby on the dirt roof of the log horse
barn, so that she could see the fun. A certain rider named
Tom and the writer were the only two men on the ranch to
help, the other men being away gathering horses from the

38 ANNALS OF WYOMING

range. So Ed was able to be "boss" of some men for once
and he undertook to rope the first bull, which he did and
headed it toward where his wife was, so that she could see
and marvel at her hero. And then he purposely dropped
the rope, so that his wife could see him retrieve it on the
run. But, as he reached down for it his feet slipped and
he tumbled right over in front of her, and Tom picked up
the rope and snubbed the bull and headed it back again.
As soon as the bull saw Ed afoot he made for him with a
dash and Ed went up that eight foot pole corral and on to
the roof beside his wife, like a fireman, leaving Tom to be
the hero— the life saver.

Tom was grinning "all over his face and half-way
down his back," as the saying is. "That's what comes of
showing off before the girls," he said, gaily. "A fall goeth
before a climb." Tom was a wag. Ed looked sheepish and
his wife laughed.

About a week later, Ed cam.e to me and said, "Say kid,
I got to take Hilda home today." Hilda was a strapping
big Swedish girl who had been helping Ed's wife do some
sewing. She lived about ten miles down on the Bow.

"What time are you going?" I asked.

"Well — " he shuffled, "I s'pose I ought to take her back
this morning."

I was the only man on the ranch that Sunday and .1
was a bit nettled. If he wanted me to go, why didn't he
come out and ask me like a man.

"Fine girl, Hilda," I remarked.

"Sure," he said perfunctorily, "she's all right."

I resumed my reading.

"I kinda didn't want to go today, but Hilda said that
she prom.ised her mother for today," he went on.

No rise.

"So I promised m.y wife I'd see what I could do. She
wants I should help her in the house today," he almost
pleaded.

"Well, go and catch up the team then and I'll take her
down," I said, none too graciously, for that meant that I
would have to brush up and change my clothes for Hilda's
mother would insist upon my staying for a meal.

So I drove Hilda home. Hilda, with her two thick
braids of tow colored hair over each shoulder. Hilda with
her polka-dot print dress and pink sun bonnet, her strong
capable hands clasped o^^er a buiky bandana handkerchief
bundle. The imperturbable Hilda with her large mouth
and blue eyes, beaming a perennial smile of good nature.

I was glad I went, but I wonder what spirit of mischief
possessed me. Perhaps it was that I was aggrieved at

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's- 39

being deprived of my quiet Sunday reading, or it may have
been to see if the girl was eradicably smooth tempered.
Anyway, I said, "I am not going round the road, Hilda. I
shall strike across the mesa."

"Vot you like," she said, pleasantly.

Nothing but a mountain buckboard with two-inch rim
wheels, one and a half inch axles and a mountain tread
would have kept upright on that ride, or even remained
whole. The mountain buckboard's bed rested immediately
on the solid axle, only the seat being supported on the long
elliptical springs.

Away we went over the rocks and sagebrush, that big
team of greys never breaking a trot, but such a gallant trot.
Down ravines and washes we went, across rocky ledges
and boulder strewn water courses but not a peep of dismay
or caution could I get out of Hilda.

So my heroic stunt fell a bit flat when Hilda got down at
her mother's door and said I must come in and meet the
f'amJly and stay to dinner. And I must rest and feed the
team too. She said that she thought it was very kind of
me to bring her home and she had never enjoyed a ride so
much. And all the time she had that level, kindly smile,
absolutely free from guile, or I should have thought she
was reproving me in this way for a rough inconsiderate
cavalier. Come to think of it, maybe she was stringing me
a bit. In any event, I hope she found a good husband and
raised a family, for she was of good stock — an' I learned
about women from 'er!

The range foreman of the "UL," Ed McB., and I, had
three carloads of Hereford bulls, newlv imported to take
out and string on the range. At noon the first da}' out we
arrived at a ranch and decided to stop there for dinner.
So we turned our bulls into the paddock, took our horses
to the barn for feed and water and then went to the ranch
house, as we saw nobody about and nobody had come out
to greet us.

What was our surprise, when we stuniped up onto the
porch to find a very attractive young woman open the door
and give us greeting! For the owner was a bachelor and
we hadn't dreamed of meeting a woman at his place.

So Ed said, "Is Al anywheres around, marra?"

"Why, no," she replied, "he went to Carbon this morn-
ing. But I am expecting him back any minute," she added,
rather nervously, I thought.

"Well," said Ed, "we are from the 'UL' and we just
called to see if we could get a bite to eat. We expected to
find Al here."

40 . ANNALS OF WYOMING

"Surely, I'll get you some dinner right away," she said,
"Sit down and make yourselves at home," and off she bustled.

Ed sized up our hostess right away. "Now I wonder
who she is?" he said. "Maybe his sister. Anyway, she's
an easterner, not very long out and I'd say she was a
schoolmarm. Wonder if Al snuck off on the quiet an' got
married? The old son-of-a-gun!"

"See how scared she seemed when she said she ex-
pected Al back any minute? I'll bet she took us for a
coupla bandits or something, like they have back P]ast."

That young woman set forth a wonderful meal for us,
such as our range cook had never attained to, especially
the coffee, so different from our ranch decoctions. And
it had real cream m it. We never saw anything but Ar — ^"
at 18 cents a pound. As for her hot biscuits, — Ah!

We took our time over the meal and then went out and
sat on the porch for ten minutes with cigarettes. The
young woman kept out of sight in the back of the house
except when she was serving us the grub. When it was
time to be moving on, Ed rapped on the door and when the
hostess appeared, to my horror he asked her, "How much
do we owe you, madam?"

"Well," she said, "I don't know; I am new to this coun-
try. Al and I have only been married a week. I'm from
Iowa. Whatever the customary charge is will be all right
with me."

Now neither of us had a red cent. We did not need it
— no place to spend it where we were going. So Ed said,
"Well, Madam, it isn't the custom to charge a visitor any-
thing in this country. When any of your boys are over
our way we put 'em up — an so on."

"Oh, well!" she said, getting very pink, but smiling in
spite of it, "in that case, of course, I shan't charge you
anything. I am new to the country and want to learn the
customs as soon as possible. Come in any time — both of
you. Al will be sorry to have missed you, Mr. — ?"

"Name of McB., foreman of the 'UL,' " said Ed, "and
this is John Fox."

"Pleased to have met you, gentlemen — call again," she
said graciously. And we departed.

As we went to the barn to get our horses, I was feeling
very uncomfortable and mad, and I said, "Well, Ed. ain't
you the pinhead! What did you want to ask her what we
owed her for?"

"She was a stranger, an' a feller's got to be polite,"
he answered.

i'''Arbuckle coffee was in general use.

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80"s 41

"But you knew that neither of us had any money. Al
would have told her it was all right. See how you made
her blush — you silly ass!"

"I never thought of that," he replied and then laughed
so loud that I had to punch him in the ribs and say, "Shut
up you idiot! She'll hear you and guess what we are
talking about."

So Ed subsided, but sniggered from time to time for
the rest of the day.

Mrs. Jones, whose husband^ ^ kept the store, hotel,
saloon and post office at Elk Mountain, (he was also Notary
Public, Justice of the Peace and Deputy Sheriff) — Mrs.
Jones was a right good sport and lady of the frontier. She
was in her early forties and was the only woman I knew
who used rouge and powder. There was no mistake at all
about her coloring, for she fairly plastered it on and joked
about it. She was a good cook, a good wife and mother and
a good hostess; also she certainly knew and loved horses.
What more do you want? And she was always "on the
ball" without fuss or ostentation if anyone was sick or in
trouble. As one of the boys said of her "She's all wool and
a yard wide," even if she wasn't much to look at.

One Sunday morning I went over to the store and she
said to me, "Just the boy I want. Tom, (a brother-in-law)
is going to take the new school-marm for a ride up to the
Johnson's this afternoon. I have to go along as chaperone,
as she is staying with me. How'd you like to go along as
my escort, so as to give 'em a chance?"

"Fine and dandy!" I replied. "What time do we start?"

"Right after dinner," said Mrs. Jones. "Put my saddle
on 'Lady.' Dexter said I could have her."

Now "Lady" was a fiery little nag that Dex Jones used
in cowpony races. She was gentle but waxed quite excit-
able if any horse near her went faster than a lope. How-
ever, after the mid-day meal — called "dinner" in those days,
I saddled "Lady" up with Mrs. Jones' side saddle; the
schoolmarm had a very gentle lady's pony, for she was
newly out from the East, hence the demand for a chaperone,
and I had my own trustworthy mount.

But Tom wanted to show off a bit, as is the way of
young men before fair maids. And so he had no more sense
than to saddle up a bronco that he had only ridden once,
and that was not even bridle wise. We helped the ladies
up and then I mounted. Tom had his colt all ready, with
his eyes covered with a blind. He hopped up and raised

11 This was apparently J. S. Jones. He was also member of
the House for Carbon County in the Territorial Legislature of 1882.

42 ANNALS OF WYOMING

the blind. Instantly, the cayuse started to buck frantically.
He dashed past Mrs. Jones, whose mare became excited
and lit out.

So the pretty schoolmarm and I loped along at a gentle
amble and we had quite a nice time together, for she was
only "sweet seventeen or eighteen" and I barely twenty,
with a natural delight in pretty maidens. Tom's bronco
would balk and then come up to us again; then balk till
Tom jammed him roughly with the spurs and then off he
would fly again, in any direction — for he was being ridden
with a hackamore (headstall and noseband) only; no bit.
But we were not particularly interested in his capers except
to laugh at them. Mrs. Jones was a mere speck in the
distance, still going strong.

After a very pleasant ride, during which Tom had only
appeared a few times, we arrived at the Johnson's and
found Mrs. Jones there. Her nicely frizzed bangs or fore-
head fringe was all out of curl and plastered down. The
rouge and the facepowder were furrowed and blotchy with
her own dewy moisture and her natural skin was as red
as a beet. She was grinning broadly and shook her finger
archly at the schoolmarm and me when we entered, and
pretty soon Tom came in, dusty and sweaty and cross. Why
he should be glaring at me I could not imagine, but I finall}^
had the sense to get up and let him sit beside his pretty
schoolmarm.

Now, Tom was a first rate horseman and a good bronco
buster and had always a pretty ready wit among men in
bunkhouse or barroom banter. But when ladies were
around he was rather tongue tied and shy. So he sat up
the whole time we were in the Johnson's parlor, as crimson
as a sunset and wearing a sickly strained smile, while the
two married women jollied him.

Hilda (Mrs. Johnson) said, "Veil, Tom! I haff my
opinion of a man vot lets a English boy take avay his
bestest girl, right under his nose."

And Belle (Mrs. Jones), turning to nie, said, "And I
have my opinion of an escort who deliberately leaves me
in the lurch and goes off with another woman. I might
have been killed for all he cared. I'll never ask him to
take me out again."

"I only took up the duty that you ran away from, Belle,"
I replied. "How could I leave that helpless young lady
imattended?"

"That's right, too," said Mrs. Jones, "Tom was playing
around all over the prairie, like a spaniel nosing for rabbits.
You did quite right to stay with Rose."

THE FAR WEST IN THE "SO's 43

"Vouldn't you like to take a bat', Torn?" said Hilda.
"I vill lend you vun off my husband's shirts an' a clean
towel. You look so varm and svetty."

Warm! Tom's face was as fiery as ever and his shirt
was wringing with perspiration. Our buxom young hostess
was warming up to the game of man baiting. "You sure
worked your vay up here," she laughed.

"Tom's a good rider," added Belle. "Now that he's
shown Rose what he can do, maybe next time he takes her
out for a Sunday call, he'll use a 'made' horse."

"Sure!" said Hilda, promptly. "Dat iss, if dere iss a
next time. Maybe Rose looses heart alretty vit such care-
less beau. Maybe she's int'rested in de English boy. Young
people vorks fast dese days."

With true Norwegian hospitality^ Hilda trotted out
some coffee, cheese, cakes, flaky biscuits and butter — a
charming little feast, I thought it, and Tom tried to bravely
choke dov/n some of it, though I knew he felt like anything
but dainty fingering of trifles.

When we got out on the porch, preparing to leave, Toin
grabbed me aside and said in a hoarse whisper, "Kid! You
got to ride that 'dingaty-ding' colt home and let me have
your horse. You see how it is, can't you, old man?"

"Nothing doing, Tom, absolutely nothing doing!"

"Well, but — see here, kid — I asked Rose to come with
me and — ."

"Belle asked me to escort her, to chaperone Rose, Tom.
How can I escort a lady on a raw cayuse?"

"Escort/' he angrily shouted. "How did you escort her
coming? She was here ten or fifteen minutes ahead of
you, and by jiminy — "

Then Belle came out of the house and shouted to me,
"Now then, kid, you and I will have to change saddles, and
you stay right with me. I'm not going to ride 'Lady' back.
Too much like hard work."

So that settled it.

Tom's beautiful but rather uninteresting schoolmarm
was in direct contrast to a native daughter living near us,
Mattie N. This girl was only about seventeen and she
lived with her folks along the foothills. Her father was a
horse raiser in a verj^ modest way and her brother was a
puncher, working out for wages.

One day I was at the ranch alone and I saw a small
figure come riding up from the lower pasture at a smart
pace. It looked like a boy from the distance but the head-
gear was peculiar — just a white bunch. As the rider drew
near, I could see that it was a girl riding astride on a man's
saddle — the second time I had ever seen a girl riding this

-v^-^-*'

Mrs. Frank Hadsell

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 45

way. When I could see underneath the big sunbonnet, lo,
it was Mattie, in blue denim overalls and cowboy boots.

She dismounted in a very matter of fact way and said
"How do, Jack."

"How do, Mattie. Come in and sit down and let me
give your horse a feed," I said.

"Now, what on earth has she come up here for?" I
thought. I soon found out, there was no beating about the
bush, for when I returned to the kitchen she came right to
the point at once.

"I've come up to c'lect that fifteen dollars that you
owe Dunk (her brother) on the saddle you bought off him.
He traded the debt to me as part payment on a colt I sold
him. What's the chances?"

"Well, Mattie," I boggled, feeling a bit embarrassed,
"I haven't a cent now but as soon as the foreman returns,
I'll strike him for a check and leave it at the store for vou.
Will that be all right?"

"Sure thing," she said.

"You'll stop and have a bite, won't you? It's nearly
noon," I said hoping that she would refuse, for I hated
cooking, especiall}^ for a girl.

"Sure, I will," she replied. "No point in going away
hungry."

"Well, I guess I'll have to make a batch of biscuits
then," I said; for I only had a couple left — hoping that she
would offer to do it for me.

"Go to it!" said the girl. "B'lieve I'll take a wash."
And out she went, on to the porch, to wash her hands
and face.

That was all right, but when she came back and sat on
the edge of the table watching me mix the dough, build
a fire and prepare potatoes and steak, I wished her in Halifax.
Finally I said, "Can't you set the table, Mattie?"

"Sure!" she responded, with a smile. "You only got to
ask. I'd made the biscuits for you if you'd wanted. What
d'ye take me for — a mind reader?" and she laughed. That
cleared the air for me.

"Are you going straight home, Mattie?" I asked, "or
down to the Bow?"

"Home," she said, shortly. "Just on my way back
from Saratoga."

And then she told that her brother, Duncan — "the dirty
bum" — had been home while she was away; and had taken
one of her colts that she had just broken for herself — "and
broke gentle and kind, too, if I do say it as shouldn't" — and
that he had left one of his jaded horses in its place.

46 ANNALS OF WYOMING

She found out he had gone to Saratoga, on the Platte
River and had promptly followed him, much to her mother's
dismay. She had found he was in the saloon she expected
him to be in, playing poker. She had not disturbed him,
but went to the livery corral and got her own colt, leaving
Duncan's cayuse in its place and was then on her way
home, after a sixty mile ride. She had started the day
before and had slept out in the Pass on her way home.

This is only intended for a slight character sketch of a
girl of the period — a really nice girl with an unusual direct-
ness of manner and speech. The sunbonnet she wore was
to protect her face from sunburn and she wore gloves for
the same reason. Ranch girls of the '80's liked to preserve
a white skin, yet they did not at all approve of pigments
or cosmetics. The men would not have countenanced it and
the work would not permit it. Belle Jones was an excep-
tion. Only women of the underworld painted.

These slight sketches may serve to shed some light on
the life of a pioneer woman in the cow country, so as to
correct a growing impression that she was a colorless, un-
happy creature, who was always trailing along in a covered
wagon, accompanied by rather dirty and unkempt mea,
who wore fuzzy beards like some of the emigrants that
passed through and of whom mention has been made in
these notes. There is always a hero in those old myths,
Vs^ho is shown alternately galloping up and down the line
of wagons on an exceedingly well-appointed and well-
groomed and conditioned horse, eternally beckoning to
the rear wagons and pointing ahead, or making love to a
very plainly dressed and rather unresponsive heroine.

It is true that the old pioneer stock of both sexes were
of heroic makeup, though they would have been sur-
prised to hear it. But they were anything but melodra-
matic. God bless 'em!

THE ROUNDUP

At this period the spring (or calf) roundup was the
most important thing in Wyoming Territory. The whole
country was laid off into districts and the chief owners in
each district cooperated in the formation of a district calf
roundup.

As most of the land was owned by the United States
Government and was unfenced, everybody's cattle ranged
at large, just as the buffalo had done only a very few years
previously. The only way in which an owner could identify
his animals was by the brand on them. So every spring

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 47

each large owner contributed a four horse cook wagon, a
four horse bed wagon, a cook and horse wrangler and a
dozen cowboys under a foreman. Smaller stockmen would
run a wagon between them, each bearing his own relative
expenses. The whole camp was put under the management
of a capable stock and business man, who directed the oper-
ations and kept accounts of brandings, etc. He was the
captain of the roundup. Each day he directed the itinerary
of each bunch of men to ride on the "circle" — foremen
and all — and determined the site of the next camp where
all were to meet with the cattle they gathered, for his
knowledge of the range was wide and intimate and he
knew about what every part of it was likely to carry, in
the way of stock at different periods of the year.

In gathering cattle from the range, the men extended
by groups, covering a wide line. They would range along
the hill tops and draws, and the cattle, wild as deer, would
run together at the first "Whoopee!" and then gathering
recruits as they went, they were simply headed in the
direction of the next camp. Riding the circle might be
likened to a pack of hounds, drawing a covert.

By ten o'clock in the morning, bunches of cattle would
begin stringing into camp and before noon, most of the
riders would be in with their contributions. The big bunch
of cattle thus assembled was called a "cavvy."

After dinner two good "cut-out" men from each outfit,
on well trained, alert, well-bitted horses entered the herd
and, working in pairs, the cattle were cut out into separate
groups according to brands.

After the big herd was so divided into half-a-dozen
distinct bunches, each outfit built its own fires and branded
its own calves — a long, tiring job, wrestling calves. It
seemed rough on the poor brutes, for a male calf was not
only branded and altered, but bits were cut from its ears,
for distinguishing earmarks and some owners also cut one,
two or three strips of skin on the dewlap so that they hung
down and became tassels or tags and the animal could be
identified a long way off.

After all the calves were branded, the entire bunch of
cattle was turned loose in the direction from which we had
come and a new strip of terrain was "drawn" the next day.
After the whole district had been thoroughly covered, the
calves were all supposed to have been branded. Yet many,
perhaps hundreds of them, would naturally drift in behind
us and be missed.

So the following year, having left the mother who was
usually nursing a new calf, the unbranded animal was no-
body's property, a yearling without a brand. Such an

48 ANNALS OF WYOMING

animal was called a maverick and was supposed to.be sold
by the roundup captain to the highest bidder, the money
going to the Stock Association, I was told.

Nevertheless, many a nice herd of cattle was said to
have been started by cowboys who, finding such an animal
would rope it and brand it and then turn it loose. It did
not take long to rope and hog-tie a small "critter," make a
little fire of sagebrush and stick a brand on.

HORSES

The characters of horses are perhaps as variable as
those of mankind, and in many ways very similar. They
are all great bluffers — no other word expresses this quality
so well. For instance, when almost any horse sees a saddle
or harness being brought to him, he will throw back his
ears, raise his nostrils and sidle over threateningly. Yet
at the word of command, "Stand over there!" he quickly
comes to attention, though he cannot help biting his crib
or the fence rail or snapping his teeth as the cinch is
tightened.

Unlike horned stock, the horse prefers to stick to his
own locality, and nothing but shortness of feed will lure
him away from his own range. Cattle will keep on drifting
and drifting, especially in a storm, and are not so keen on
coming back. For this reason it was not so difficult to find
and round up the saddle horses for the spring work, after
their three or four months of idleness in the winter on the
government range. When they were first brought in and
corraled, the boys would sit on top of the corral fence and
look at them by the hour — each man probably setting his
heart on which ones he should like for his string. Each
rider in the spring roundup was allotted a string of from
seven to ten horses by the foreman. He could ride these
and no others, riding two a day so that each animal could
get three or four days rest.

The cut-out men and expert ropers were given the first
pick. Bronco-busters had any outlaws or spoiled horses
and were paid extra, and the horse wranglers took what
they could get.

The horse wrangler's duties were to drive his outfit's
herd of spare horses from camp to camp and take care of
them all day, to find the best feed to be had for them, to
help butcher a beef when it was his outfit's turn to kill,
and to rustle wood and water for the cook. He also looked
after unharnessing the cook's team at the new camp. A

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 49

beef was butchered nearly every day, the cooks using what
they wanted and the coyotes had the rest.

The night herder (always called Nighthawk, with his
brand in front for a distinguishing sign) took over the
wrangler's herd of horses after supper and herded them
til four o'clock A. M. He drove the bedwagon to the next
camp and was then free to rest or do what he liked till the
evening.

There were six such herds of horses in the roundup I
wrangled for, as there were also two wagons and a cook to
each of the six outfits. As soon as the captain had desig-
nated the location of our next camp, each horse-wrangler,
after the boys had caught their mounts, would get his herd
on the move as soon as possible, for the first wrangler in
the new camp could get the pick of the feed for his horses.
His standing with his fellows was somewhat governed by
his abilit}' and push in the matter of doing his horses well.

Each herd had to be kept separate, of course, and it
was quite exciting to have two bunches abreast — each
wrangler trying to get the lead on the trail. Once there,
there was no passing.

One thing that struck me as peculiar was that all of the
horses on the roundup were geldings. The foreman ex-
plained this by saying, "That's easy! Wherever there's fe-
males, there's sure to be trouble. And we don't want no
more trouble in a cow camp than what the Lord sends us."

The man who spends from twelve to fourteen hours a
day with a bunch of a hundred horses is bound to learn
something of their peculiarities. A large number of them
have one particular friend that the wrangler gets to recog-
nize. Every day when the boys unsaddle to change horses,
as the used animal trots towards the herd whinnying, his
friend will trot out to meet him with a like greeting and
off they go together quite contented. If they are not to-
gether at any time, you may be perfectly sure that the
absent one is on duty.

There were always several old horses in the herd. It
always seemed to annoy them whenever a couple or three
youngsters got to romping, rearing, pretending to bite or
kick, or racing about and nearly bumping. Then these old
chaps would put back their ears, bare their teeth and rush
at the youngsters with outstretched necks. I used to think
of them as peevish old men, who could not brook the
boisterous capers and the exuberant spirits of youth.

A horse with a Roman nose, bulging narrow brow, a
ewe neck, a goose rump and small fiat eyes could be classed
as a "crook," usually a very poor specimen. He had a mean
untrustworthy disposition, generally no ambition to please

50 • ANNALS OF WYOMING

in his work so he never worried; therefore he lasted too
long. A good many of these ill-bred cayuses came from
eastern Oregon, the result of interbreeding for many gener-
ations in a wild state.

But there were plenty of good home bred cow ponies
that were positively amazing in their cow work and their
quickness to know what was wanted of them — like well-
trained polo ponies. The good points of a cow pony were:
A well-ribbed barrel with plenty of depth at the girth
(behind the shoulder), denoting roomy lungs and the works
to supply them. He should be high at the withers, lean
of shoulder, short in the back with muscular loins and not
be too short in the neck. His legs should have plenty of
bone, flatfish and of good quality and they must be well
set under him; a cow-hocked horse could not handle himself
on the short turns, yet one with too straight hock would
not last. The one would be liable to develop a "curb" and
the other a "spavin." There is no work so hard on a horse
as strenuous cow work, quite apart from the roping and
handling of steers, which is not often necessary.

The cow pony's feet must be small and the hoof dense
and preferably of dark color, because, as the ponies gener-
ally went barefoot, soft white horn cracks or wears down
too quickly and the animal becomes tender-footed. He
should have a fine tapering muzzle and large nostrils —
that is, nostrils that will open up wide under stress of work.
Good, full eyes, with plenty of width between them — the
forehead slightly dished. A large jaw and small ears that
are alert and move quickly and a thin mane and tail.

A horseman reading this description will think, "Why,
this is meant for a weight carrying hunter." It is far more
than that. These horses only averaged about 900 to 1000
pounds in weight and they had to carry a man of one hun-
dred and sixty pounds, plus forty or more pounds of saddle
and equipment, for four or five hours a day. And I must
admit that very few horses had all the wonderful points
that I have enumerated.

Such a horse, when broken by a real stockman, is a
perpetual treasure and pleasure to his owner. Broken
with a hackamore (i.e., with a noseband halter only) and
later bitted carefully, he stops or turns at the least pressure
of the rein, and takes as much pains to please his rider in
cow work, as a sheep dog does for his shepherd master.

If cattle run out from the herd and have to be headed
back, a good cow horse turns short the instant that the
cow does, whether the rein touches his neck or not. Which
has often occasioned unpleasant surprise to a new hand,

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 51

unused to such work. It is a humiliation to be unseated
in such a manner.

A cowboy may at times use his spurs more than he
should, under excitement, but he never, never strikes his
pony over the head. And so a ridden cow pony never
dodges the whirled rope, the uplifted quirt or the black-
snake, because he knows that it is not intended for his
head. Ponies broken by the Indians were generally of small
value, being spiritless and dull. This was said to be due to
their being handled too young and then alternately starved
and run hard, till all spirit and all ambition died in them.
It seemed to be a reasonable explanation.

The bays and browns were favorite colors for horses.
Next came dark sorrel, buckskin and blue roan. White
horses with black skins were liked, but white horses with
white skins were disliked. These latter had also pink noses
and "glass" eyes, (blue eyes, showing the whites all round
— generally with inflamed lids). Light sorrels, strawberry
roans, light chestnuts, were supposed to be of delicate con-
stitution and so were not favored. A good pinto or paint
horse, either skewbald or piebald, v/as always favored.

If I have become tiresome and prosy over this horse
talk, be it remembered that it was a daily subject on the
range and one of never-ending interest. If in the present
day, automobile owners love to talk car, which is only of
incidental importance in their lives, how much more should
the stockman talk of horses, when they were his most
important adjunct for ten or more hours a day? Without
a horse, he was helpless — useless. With a poor horse his
best efforts were fettered. With a good horse, he was
always vying with his fellows for supremacy in the dailj^
work.

THE MEETING OF THE OUTFITS

This somewhat discursive description of a western cattle
roundup must find its excuse in the reminiscent narrative
form. It is intended to constitute a record of that period
of far western history, just before the settlers came in, in
large numbers and fenced up those vast public ranges.
But it is necessary to include possibly trivial incidents in
order to give life to the story. Without these incidents it
would be incomplete and uninteresting.

If the writer has idealized his characters, either the
men or the women of the period, it has been done uninten-
tionally. The impressions of them, gained by daily inter-
course, when he was a very young man, were true enough

52 ANNALS OF WYOMING

to influence his whole Ufe and to make him a better citizen
than he might have been otherwise.

The personnel of the spring roundup was not up to
that of the permanent cow hands. Extra men had to be
hired from the towns, drifters, tin-horn gamblers, saloon
bums and such, as well as new settlers, who wanted to earn
some money with which to develop their new holdings.

In '85 all the six outfits of No. 27 were to meet at
Breden's corral, near Rawlins City, some sixty miles from
our ranch. Two or three of the outfits were already there
when we arrived. And here occurred the first unpleasant-
ness I had met with.

A man from one of the ranches, a stranger recentty
hired, had gone into a saloon and had drunk enough "red-
eye" to become a nuisance. With his gun unlimbered, he
was making the bar keeper set up free drinks to every-
body that came into the bar room. Word was sent to the
sheriff and his assistance asked. When he came in, with
his thumbs in the armholes of his vest and his star thrust
well forward he marched straight up to the drunk and
said, "Now, then, Monty! You better get back to Seven
Mile. You've had enough. Come on, now!"

But the voice of authority did not carry far enough.
Monty trained his Colt on the sheriff and, with many ex-
pletives, ran him out of the place. Thereupon, everybody
drifted quietly out, leaving only Monty and the bar keeper,
tete-a-tete. The sheriff went to his office and returned
shortly armed with a short old fashioned carbine of half-
inch caliber. He kicked open the swinging doors and en-
tered. Monty was leaning over the bar talking to the bar
keeper, his back to the door.

"Now 'en, Monty! Back to Seven Mile!" rasped the
sheriff, peremptorily. The bar keeper fell on his knees
below the line of fire while Monty v/as foolish enough to
reach for his gun.

At the inquest on Monty that same afternoon, it did
not take more than twenty minutes to bring in a verdict
of "Justifiable Homicide," and I heard that the jury added
a rider, commending the sheriff for the prompt and efficient
manner he had shown in carrying out his official business.
Justice was swift and sure on this wonderful frontier. Piffling
technicalities were ruled out where a man was caught
red-handed. That is why it seems that the criminal lawyers
of today — as a body — are a far greater menace to the nation
than the criminals themselves.

Rawlins was quite a little town — said to claim 1000
inhabitants. It had one main street with the railroad run-
ning through it and some small streets on each side, as I

I

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 53

remember it; also some dug-outs and log cabins on the
outskirts.

A freight train was pulling out as I rode into town
with the foreman. As it was gathering speed, I saw a man
run from under the water tank and apparently hurl himself '
beneath the wheels. I was horror struck and grabbing Ed's
arm, I shouted, "Look! Look, Ed! There's a man commit-
ted suicide over there! I saw him throw himself under
the train."

How Ed laughed. I did not hear the last of that for
many a day. It was simply a hobo stealing a ride on the
brake beams, the commonest way of traveling for tramps
and dead-beats.

How interesting the life of a horse wrangler seemed to
me then. Thirty dollars a month and board seemed to be
a very handsome recompense for such work. There was so
much to see and learn.

A good wrangler will spare himself no trouble to see
that his animals find the best feed attainable, even if he
has to go a mile or so from camp to get it. For the horses
must be kept in good condition at any cost. While he is
roaming around amongst his charges or sitting on the hill-
side doing nothing, he sees everything and has time to
watch it. Every eagle, hawk or buzzard that enlivens the
air is on some quest and you wonder what he has marked
down. Antelope were ubiquitous — they could be seen daily,
as one sees jack rabbits today. Prairie dog villages were
very entertaining to watch, though we avoided them. To
work cattle near a prairie dog colony was a nuisance, as the
horses are looking at their work and prairie dog holes have
broken many a leg.

Perhaps no one but a person whose duties keep him so
busily idle, like a horse wrangler or a sheep herder vor
instance, has the opportunity to take in the vastness, the
fullness and the beauty of the plains. I have never been
lonesome there, not even when camped alone. The clearness
of the mountain air is still amazing to me. The details of
mountains thirty or forty miles distant are often so clear
that they seem to be not more than ten or twelve miles
away. At night the whole firmament seems to be doubled
in size and brilliancy, the stars seem to be so large, pure
and scintillating, against the soft blue background of the
skies. Distant sounds come over clear and distinct, without
reverberations, except in mountain valleys, where they
excel in reproduction of sound. I loved to hear the singing
of the coyotes at night — the blending voices on the long
rising call, each ending with sharp fox-like barks. Two or
three coyotes can sound like a pack in continuous song.

54 ANNALS OF WYOMING

They sounded to me as the jolHest wags of animals I ever
heard.

When driving, I Hked to see the golden haze made by
the sun on the cloud of fine dust that enveloped my horses,
and to see other distant clouds of dust that told me of die
movement of mj^ brother wranglers' herds. It is not at
all surprising that the Indians have always been so awed
and impressed by the Great Spirit, for the whole visible
universe, by day or by night, is alive and instinct with life
in these high mountains and plateaus.

At those altitudes, 6000 to 7000 feet of elevation, the
climate is stimulating and our calling was stimulating, as
was the food. How tired one gets of beef three times a
day. We had youth and health, no carking cares or re-
sponsibilities that were not equally shared by others. We
slept in the open, without even a tent, rain or shine. If
any man nursed a grouch, he had to cork it up or get out
of camp. A perennial crab was not tolerated.

Which reminds me of a cook we once had for six weeks.
Our own jolly roundup cook was taken ill and had to be
sent to town and an old German was hired. He was about
fifty years old and had never been on trail before, but we
had to take him because it was no easy matter to get roundup
cooks. A man that caters for twelve or fourteen men three
times a day in the open earns his money. All the cooking,
including bread, had to be done in Dutch ovens, which need
hot coals beneath and hot coals on the covers.

On looking back, it is not surprising to me now, that
"Dutch" was nervous and irritable, though youth makes
no excuses for those evils. Who does? In the first place,
there was the driving of the cook wagon from camp to
camp each day. Dutch had never driven four horses before,
and mountain trails are not always easj^ to negotiate. So
he used to tie the wheelers' lines to the gate-stake at his
feet and just drive the leaders. Going down steep grades
he had to grab for the wheelers' lines, and he would jam
on the foot brakes for all he was worth. I never saw such
a man for wearing out brake blocks. All he had to do. so
far as the team was concerned, was to drive his wagon from
one camp to another, for his team was harnessed and hitched
for him and the wrangler took care of the unhitching, and
the care of his brakes. But Dutch was no horsem.an and
that daily drive doubtless haunted him.

Then, he had to turn out soon after three o'clock in the
morning to make hot pone, hash and steaks ready to eat by
four or soon after. To do this with poor fuel, even in good
weather, is a task.

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 55

After breakfast he had to wash up the tin plates, cups
and "sich," stow his paraphernaUa, chmb onto his seat and
Hght out. Arrived at the new camp, he had to go right to
work again, make bread, boil potatoes and have roast beef
ready by the time that the boys showed up — by ten thirty,
when the first men might arrive with cattle. Then he had
to keep the stuff warm till the last of the men would trail
in — maybe at noon or after, when he generally had to face
a few joshing remarks about the stuff being burnt up or cold.

Sometimes he would make three or four pies in the
afternoon, using dried apples for the filling, or evaporated
blackberries. These two fruits, stewed, were the only
dessert (except the pies) obtainable on the roundup. They
kept us in good condition, notwithstanding the purely beef
diet. We had no fresh vegetables at all except potatoes.
Dried pink beans (called Arizona strawberries) were al-
ways appreciated, but we rarely had them because they
took such an eternity to cook at that altitude.

The poor cook never had any milk or butter to use on
the roundup. It was as unobtainable as caviar. On the
other hand he had no sponge to lay for hght bread. The
nights were too cold for that, so all the bread was m.ade
with baking powder or saleratus. Dutch could get a couple
of hours rest in the afternoon and he always turned in al
seven, after the supper dishes were washed up. This com-
pletes a summary of his life from day to day, so now to get
on with the story.

Dutch complained about something from the very day
he started. We had been over on the Big Mudd}'', in the
alkali country, and good firewood had been very hard to
obtam. Some days I had dug greasewood and brush
roots, but had to supplement them with buffalo chips or
dried cow dung. The latter smouldered and smouldered,
m_aking lots of smoke but little heat in spite of his continual
fanning. Good hot glowing coals are needed to cook with in
Dutch ovens and, though brush roots provided such coals
and buffalo chips do not, I could not dig enough of them.
It was hard to keep Dutch supplied with good fuel. Small
firewood is soon burnt to ashes and yields no coals.

So after two or three days of constant complaints we
reached the Platte river, where there is always plenty of
Cottonwood, willow and aspen. After securing a nice grassy
bottom for my herd, I noticed a good dry log that had drifted
on to the bank and was lying there. So I dismounted and
put the loop of my "skin line" over the end of it and snaked
it up to camp.

"There you are, cook," I said. "You've been shouting
for wood for a week (which was stretching it a little) —

56 ANNALS OF WYOMING

now let's see you whet your teeth on that," and I turned
to go.

Dutch looked at that log and then glared at me "Py
Gott! I vouldn't cut it up! Vat you t'ink?" he bellowed.
"I vant vood now — right avay — you hear? I got no time
to cut locks!"

"Please yourself, Dutch," I said, glad to get back at him
at last. "There's the wood and there's the axe. I have to
'tend my horses."

Just then, Johnny W. — captain of the roundup came
riding by. Dutch shrieked out, "Looky here. Cap! Jes'
look vot dat dog-gone wrangler toted in for me to get dinner
mit," and he pointed indignantly at the log, "Ain't it his
job to cut vood for de cook?"

Johnny looked at me and grinned. He sized up the
situation, no doubt. He said, "The man's right, kid. I guess
you're elected. It's your job to put the wood in shape for
him to use if he demands it," and he rode on.

Well! One does not question an order from ihe chief
or the referee, and this seemed to settle it. So I dismounted,
took the axe and went to work on that log. And the joke
was certainly on me. All the time I was chopping it into
firewood, that wretched old cook was sneering. "H — Hm!
You vould bring me big locks to get dinner mit — Hein!
Monkey bizness don't vork mit me, I tell you. Who's boss
o' diss kitchen anyvay? De cook or de wood cutter, answer
me dat? My! Vot a great — big — hard — lock! Glad I
vouldn't haf to cut id," and so on ad nauseam.

There wasn't anything to say, so I said nothing. No use
bandying words with an old woman. But I noticed that
he had set out four pies on the tail of his wagon — cooked
the previous afternoon. They were tough and leathery but
they were pies. So, as soon as I had cut enough wood for
him to get dinner — and no more — I mounted my horse, rode
up to the tail of the wagon and lifted a pie.

It was really a marvel that he was not seized with
apoplexy. He looked murderous. Of course at dinner time
he dispensed the pies himself with the aid of a large butcher
knife and would not let me have any. He could not help
telling the boys all about it, in loud indignant tones. They
had been robbed by that greedy wrangler, etc. But their
reception of his story was not calculated to mollify his
indignation.

At the end of about six weeks he had to be fired, as
the boys were tired of his eternal sighings and beratings.
In even a small community, one man cannot oppose himself
to all the other members and expect to continue to live
with them. In western idiom, "It don't pay to buck the

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 57

crowd" — except on a matter of principle and then only if
occasion demands it.

Our next cook was rather dirty and casual and he gave
us no pies. However he was always "there" with a good
natured repartee and the grub was well cooked and plenti-
ful. His smile would have covered a multitude of short-
comings. Moreover he was a good horseman and teamster
so never had to ask for help to cross a bad ford or get over
rough places with his team. It was a pleasure to rustle
wood and water for him. He always had something to say.

In sparsely settled communities every man must con-
tribute to the gaiety, if only to applaud. Harmony is most
certainly the strength and support of such a society in far
greater measure than in a large communitj^ because there
is no alternative to be sought.

Even today in modern business it is evident that a
trouble-maker, a man who cannot get along with his fellows,
is not wanted. He is discharged and becomes an I.W.W.
or a Communist, who imagines he has a grievance — that
he has been badly used and the world is going to the dogs,
and "what's the use of anythin'?" If it were suggested
that he was a shirker, incompetent, lazy or bad tempered,
he would feel grossly insulted, no matter how true it were.
So, usually, a man with a grievance is a poor man to hire.

SOME OF THE BOYS

It was only when I was out with a man alone, that I
could get him to talk about himself. Each man thought
his own experience very common-place and matter of fact;
but to me many of these little life stories were thrilling
romances. But sometimes peculiar developments took place
during the couple of hours we squatted around the xire of
an evening before turning in.

One evening, in the course of talk regarding General
Miles' campaign against the Apaches under Geronim.o, I
happened to revert to the Napoleonic wars and, finding that
I had some interested listeners, I bucked up and entered
into my subject with zest — superficial and meagre as my
knowledge of the subject was.

Alas! "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing." Every
audience may contain one man who knows more about the
subject than the speaker. And such was the case with me.
In the midst of my story I made a statement regarding the
lineage of Napoleon wherein I was a bit mixed. A voice
from the other side of the fire said, "You're wrong there,

53 ANNALS OF WYOMING

kid. When you're running off a pedigree, whether of a
man or a horse you got to get it right."

"All right. You tell it then, CUff," I said, a bit nettled.
"Maj^be you know more about it than I do."

"Maybe I do," he replied, "that's my meat. I majored
in history at the University."

We sat up till nine o'clock that night, and Cliff rolled
off the genealogies of the Bourbons, the Hapsburgs, the
Dukes of Brandenburg and the German and English Royal
houses — what they did and what it led to, in a quick suc-
cession of lightning sketches.

I was not humiliated after the first fall — not even when
Cliff looked over at me with a quizzical smile and said,
"Now, Professor."

"You win. Cliff," I said, with an answering grin.

"You have a fair smattering, kid," he said, "but only a
smattering. Stick to your English."

This was not done in a patronizing way. It was a simple
statement of fact. We remained sitting over the fire for
some time after the boys were rolled in their blankets.
Cliff told me that after he left college, he mixed with a
rather wild bunch of fellows and became too fond of whiskey
— the old, old story of the wastrel; that he simply drifted
out west to get away from old and lost associations. He
was only about thirty-five then, but there was not a vestige
of the professor in his features, his voice, or his language,
which was always well-peppered with unedifying adjec-
tives. His walk was the inevitable cowboy lurch, but 'round
the fire that night his sketches had been clear and in well-
ordered sequence. He was a good cow hand and I never
saw him depressed in spirits, though he must have been,
after each recurring bout of drinking.

A cow camp is no place for vain introspection or fatuous
regrets and self-pity. At the end of each season. Cliff went
to town, bought himself new clothes or any new gear that
he needed, and then handed the balance of his pay-check
to the saloon keeper asking him to "tell me when it is
all gone."

When he had run the gamut, he would return to the
range and be a good boy until he had accumulated another
stake and work was slack. He never got drunk on the
roundup. The old saloon keeper would ne^7er let him have
any of his money to play cards with when he was drunk,
nor let anyone best him, — a pretty wise old banker for such
a character.

I liked thst old saloon man. He was kindlj^ and human
but would not tolerate a sot. No drunk or derelict was
allowed to hang around his 'joint,' for the saloon was che

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 59

only club the West had, and he kept his as decent as he
could.

One day, when nobody else was in there, as I drifted
in from the restaurant, which was in a back room, he said
to me, "Come over here while I show you a few tricks."

Then he took three walnut shells and a pea and nimbly
demonstrated how the thimblerig was manipulated. Then
he showed me three-card monte, throwing down the cards
so slowly and altering their positions so deliberately, that
I was quite sure that I could spot the right card. But, of
course, I could not.

Next he brought out a small ivory top and said, "Now,
let's bet." He twirled the little top, which had ten facets
on the sides, marked from one to ten. "You can bet what
you like before I spin the top," he said, "from one to five
or from six to ten."

So I bet a dime that the face showing up would be live
or under. It turned up six. After I had lost three times on
the low call, I changed my betting and lost all my money.

"It's all off, Johnny, I'm broke," I announced.

He grinned and pushed my small cash back saying,
"Take it, kid, I don't want to beat you."

"Nothing doing," I said indignantly, pushing the sixty
cents back again. "You won it fairly. What d'ye take me
foj'*!* I'mi not a child nor an object of charity."

"No, but I didn't win it fairly, kid," he said. "That
top's a cheat. I push the little peg over slightly through
the top — so little that you can't notice it — and the face that
turns up is five or under. If you bet five or under, I pull it
back again with a slight pressure and the face number will
be six or over."

I took the money in silence and waited.

"Now," continued Johnny, "I have showed you some
of the cheating devices that you may meet with some place.
They are never permitted in my place of business. Also
a crooked faro dealer can't operate here, and it don't take
me very long to get on to the phoney ones. I used to be a
gambler myself — before I became respectable," he added.

"But now you know as there's lots of games of chance,
that ain't games of chance at all. I've showed you on'y
some of 'em. An' so for your own good, I sa}^ 'never have
anything to do with any of 'em.' Don't 'Buck the Tiger'
(as betting on Faro or Keno was called) , nor risk one
nickel on the turn of a card outside yer own bunkhouse or
with fellers you know well. The professional gambler plays
a 'skin' game, first, last an' all the time. The lecture bein'
now over, vou are entitled to a drink on the house — what
shall it be?"

60 ANNALS OF WYOMING

"The best you've got is none too good," I returned
promptly, and forthwith drank to his health with the friend-
liest thoughts.

Though a saloon keeper, Johnny was honest, kindlj^,
hospitable and altogether human. His business was legiti-
mate and well managed as a frontier place of entertain-
ment could possibly be. He conducted a restaurant as well
as a bar, with meals at stated times.

If, as sometimes happened, a mellowed cowboy felt
moved to shoot a few necks from the bottles behind the
bar, Johnny depended on others to gradually steer the
wayward one away and simply sent in the bill of damages
to the erring puncher's foreman or 'boss.'

The foreman would say, "I have a bill from Johnny
against you for ten dollars, for bottles he says you smashed
behind his bar last Tuesday. How about it? All right for
me to pay the bill?"

The puncher would probably reply, "I guess it's all
right, Bill. Whatever Johnny says goes with me. He
wouldn't charge me with no more damage than what I
done." And the bill would be paid

One evening, on the Fourth of July. I sauntered into the
back room of the saloon (the card room) and Jqhnny called
me aside, saying, '"Kid! Old Pingree's in the bar. He sold
a big bunch of beaver pelts lately and has been lushin' up
for two days and I want him away. He's gettin' the 'jim-
jams.' Wonder if you could steer him off for me, bein' a
fellow countryman of .his?"

So I went into the saloon. Pingree was in a verv ner-
vous state, jammed right up in a corner by himself. He
sat up with a start when I tapped him on the shoulder,
and began to babble away about nothing. So I said, "Come
on, Ping. Let's go to bed! I'm tired."

"All right, kid. But you got to stay with me!" he
gasped, peeping about.

"Sure thing, partner — right in the old bunkhouse. Come
on, I'll shake down your blankets for you."

So I grabbed his arm and we went out to the bunk-
house. I lit a candle — a tallow dip, that was stuck in a
bottle, and grabbed the first bundle of blankets I came to,
untied it and spread the covers on the floor. Then I pulleci
off his long boots and took off his jacket.

That poor, dismal candle created shadows which became
almost black at the end of the long log bunkhouse, with
its double row of bunks ranged on each side — one above the

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 61

other. Pingree grabbed me fearfully by the shoulder and
began pointing at the darkened corners. "A— ha!" he
shouted, with a catch in his throat. "I see you sneakin'
away there. Don't you go makin' mouths at me, you devils.
Look at that one, kid. Lookut him. Look! Look! Look!"
— with a sobbing laugh that made my hair fairly move on
its scalp. He was pointing at all the dark corners and under
the bunks, till I could pretty nearly see things myself.

"Don't you take any notice of 'em, Ping!" I said, giving
him a rough shake. "What do you care? Let's go to sleep."

"I can't lie down. I can't! I can't!" he bawled. "My
head's afire. Can't you see the flames?"

So I rubbed my hands vigorously over his scalp and
told him it was all out, and kept on smoothing and rubbing
his head when he lay down, till finally he dropped off to
sleep. If he moved or grabbed, I rubbed him some more.
Not a soul showed up till early morning. Everybody was
celebrating the glorious Fourth. It was a most dismal night,
but Johnny gave the old boy an eye-opener the next day
and told him to get back to camp, which he did.

Poor old Pingree. He had married a Paiute squaw and
lived in an Indian tent, the year 'round, moving from place
to place. He made his living as a trapper, and beaver were
plentiful, as well as martens. Between seasons he trapped
coyotes, and other "varmints" or did a bit of hunting for the
market. Some months after the "jim-jam" episode, I passed
near his camp, where he and his squaw were busy. I
shouted out "Howdy, Ping!" and was going on, when he
bawled out, "Hey, there! Kid, come on over here while I
give ye a tobacker sack."

So I rode over to his tepee, where his squaw was scrap-
ing, stretching and drying peltries, and he handed me a
good sized doeskin tobacco bag, beautifully trimmed with
beads and wampum, daintily fringed at the bottom, and
closed with a fine-pleated, split deer sinew string. The
deer skin was as soft as velvet. His squaw must have
chewed it for hours to get it so soft.

"There," he said, "I want you should have this. My
squaw made it for me, but shucks! — I hain't got no use for
gewgaws like that."

I looked at the squaw, who gave the ghost of an enig-
matic smile and then looked wooden and expressionless
again.

"Go on, take it," he said. I hesitated. "She don't care.
She'll make me another one if I want it."

So I took the bag and went away, wondering what
constituted the daily intercourse of such a pair, beyond
following the trap lines. For old Pingree, a Scotchman,

62 ANNALS OF WYOMING

was quite a reader of magazines. His squaw could not
read, but she understood the handUng and value of furs.
Moreover, she was not more than half his age.

THE LITTLE RED SCHOOLHOUSE

The American "little red school house" was a marvelous
institution. Next to the home it was the foundation upon
which American character was built up. In conjunction
with the home, it formulated and made concrete the high
but unwritten code of ethics, whereby America became
a great nation. It was the cradle of splendid Americanism.
of which foreigners and casual visitors can know little.

I do not pretend to know what the children learned
of mere facts in the country school, but their demeanor
towards their parents and in other people's houses was par-
ticularly noticeable to a fellow who had never attended a
'"mixed" school, or lived in any but a strictly conservative
and class-ridden Victorian atmosphere. The children all
had little chores to do on their return home and most of
them went to and from school on horseback, sometimes two
or even three on a horse.

This alone gave them an air of confidence and respon-
sibility, both in the care and management of an intelligent
animal and, for older children, the care of their younger
brothers and sisters, a tacit authority which never seemed
to be questioned, splendid training for future responsibility.
The parents would see that such leadership never developed
into tyranny.

The little home chores led to regular habits of living
and doubtless created in the child a feeling that he was an
important member of the household, for mutual service
breeds self respect. It was this child's job to stack in
stovewood for his mother, that child's job to get in the
cow and perhaps milk it, another's to feed the poultry or
hogs, or help the mother in the kitchen or bring water from
the spring. There was plenty of time for them to play,
but the assistance rendered was a great aid to the parents
and of great benefit to the children. It was important
training.

All the little meetings, whether religious, social or po-
litical were held at the little red schoolhouse. The "school-
marm" might not be very learned but she was usuall}^
wise and capable with young people or she would not be
there for long. She boarded at one of the ranch houses
and was regarded with deference, a kindly intimate sort
of deference by young and old, if her personality demanded

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 63

it. It generally did, for she was a daughter of the same
class of people as her hosts and therefore tolerant and
circumspect. It was this close association between the
school and the home in these small communities that was
chiefly instrumental in giving this pioneer stock its sterling
value.

The children of yesteryear were not much different
from those of today, but their training was different, at
least in Wyoming.

SHEEPHERDEKS

The life of a sheepherder was the most lonely it was
possible to conceive. No wonder such a large proportion
of them became insane, sooner or later. They had just
their camp wagon, a team and saddle horse, three or four
dogs, and were left to themselves in a way that a modern
herder, with his regular tender, would not stand.

They made rough corrals of brush for bedding down
their flocks at night, and the dogs watched them. If a
bear, lion or coyote came too close, the dogs gave notice
and the herder had to come out with his rifle. They had
to cook all their own meals, which must have been always
flavored with the sheep smell. The monotony of that smell
and sheep sounds, day and night without change, without
companionship, and in the sordid filth of a fly-infested,
barren, itinerant sheep camp is appalling to think of. One
can stand almost anything if there is a sharer of the dis-
comfort, but to be alone for weeks, and even months, must
have been desolating.

Think of it! No mail, no newspapers, constant moving,
nothing to do but the daily round of feeding horses and
dogs, cooking meals (including bread), occasional washing
of clothes, cutting a little firewood and bedding the sheep.
All this work had to be done regularly, hopelessly, with
but one thing to look forward to, the appearance of the
owner or camp tender with a new supply of bacon, coffee,
flour, potatoes, lard, chewing tobacco, and magazines. No
wonder they used to grow "queer" and lose the faculty
of flowing human intercourse.

I was riding over the Laramie plains once, from Rock
Creek ford to Lookout, joggmg along at that slow dog-trot
that is tiring to neither horse nor rider, but which eats up
the miles, when I saw a man tearing across the plains, evi-
dently to intercept me for he was waving his hat. Thinking
that it was somebody who wanted a letter mailed or a
message carried, I slowed down and waited for him to
come up.

64 ANNALS OF WYOMING

It was a sheepherder. He pulled up and nodded, "How
do, sir."

"How do, sir," I replied, and waited.

He blew a chew of tobacco from his mouth, coughed
and then said, "You goin' to Lookout?"

"I am," I replied. "Is your herd over the rise?"

His gaze wandered over the plain in the direction I
indicated, and he nodded.

After a pause, I asked. "Are you wanting me to bring
you anything or mail a letter?"

"No," he replied, absently. "Just rode over here,
that's all. So long!" And he turned and trotted slowly
away without meeting my eyes again.

Poor devil! He just wanted to come over and talk to
somebody and then found that he had nothing to say.
Probably only his dogs kept the spark of whatever it is
alive in his brain.

On another occasion, I was camped for the night on
Rock Creek, where it emerges from the mountains and
comes out onto the plains. I had tethered my saddle horse
and hobbled my pack animal and, having finished supper,
was lying against a tree trunk, enjoying the post-prandial
pipe, when I heard somebody coming through the brush
behind me.

As it was a man afoot that I heard, I thought that it
might be Bill Williams, an old Government Scout, who
lived near the ford. But I heard him heel his dog, and I
knew it must be a sheepherder, which it was, a fuzzy-wuzzy
sheepherder, a man about forty, with a bushy tangled
beard and taggy hair reaching to his shoulders. I greeted
him without getting up and he squatted contentedly down
by the remains of my fire and eyed my gear.

"I seen you ride in here," he said, "an' I thought I'd
stop over an' get in a little visit. It gets mighty lonesome
in a sheep camp."

"Doesn't your tender show up every week or two?"
I asked.

"Ought to, but he don't," he replied. "They haven't
be'n anigh my camp for goin' on six weeks and I'm might'
nigh out o' everything, 'cept flour an' a little lard, no pig-
meat, no canned stuff nor nothin', not even coffee."

"Well, you don't need to go hungry. You always have
plenty of mutton handy," I suggested.

"Mutton, Mister, mutton!" he burst out, disgustedly,
"I couldn't eat mutton, not if I was starvin'. An' more, you

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 65

couldn't ef you had the smell o' sheep in yer nose all day
an' all night. I'm a-goin' to quit, soon as the boss shows
up, that's what I'm a-goin' to do. It ain't a square deal,
leavin' a man this-a-way," and he kept on eyeing my skillet.

"Had your supper yet?" I inquired.

"No, I hain't," he answered, I thought, a trifle hope-
fully.

"Could you do with a ham steak and some cold biscuit,
then? I'm just through."

"Could I! Why, I smelled you half a mile away."

So I cut off a good thick ham steak that filled my skillet,
stirred the hot embers of my fire and set the coffee pot
on again. It was enough ham for two good hungry men,
but he polished the lot and then ran his biscuit round and
round the pan till not a vestige of fat was left in it. He
finished all my bread and emptied the coffee pot, then sat
back and sighed and smiled. His face shone with content-
ment and ham fat.

"I hain't had sich a meal as that in many a long day an'
I thank you kindly, stranger. This yer camp, comp'ny an'
all, is sure like livin' again," and he pulled out a little
black stubby pipe and began gently knockin it's bowl in
his palm.

"Want some of my 'baccy?" — offering him my sack.

He grabbed it, his eyes aglow, "Well now, stranger,
that's mighty kind of you. I been out o' tobacker for a
week, an' what do them wasters care? I been smokin'
wormwood leaves for a hull week an' this yer 'Bull' sure
looks good to me," and he settled himself down for a good
laze.

"How about the sheep?" I asked.

"I bedded them a bit early tonight," he said, "when I
seen you cross the ford. The dogs'll take care of 'em till I
get back. Don't get a chance o' good comp'ny like this
very often."

And so we sat talking till 'way into the night. It must
have been nearly ten o'clock before he tore himself away,
with half a sack of tobacco in his pocket and a light heart.

He told me all about himself, how he had a few sheep
and his wife was taking care of them over in the Big Horn
Basin. He was working out, so as to have some ready
cash to go on improving the new holding. Yes. His wife
was a good sheepman and could take care of things while
he was away for the summer. He ought to have a letter
and some reading matter from her, when that unfragrant,
hybrid and otherv/ise highly qualified camp tender showed
up. And when that happened he was determined to "speak
his piece and not be mealy-mouthed about it either."

66 ANNALS OF WYOMING

After having unbosomed himself of his wrongs and
warmed up on the subject of his wife, his new home and
ambitions for the future, he blossomed out into a few hu-
morous anecdotes and started back to his camp, whistling.

If that sheepherder's camp tender had arrived on his
return, there is no doubt that he would have slapped him
on the back, given him a good welcome and busied himself
starting a fire for the entertainment of the delinquent.
Such is the result of a good well-relished meal and a sym-
pathetic listener.

I found on the frontier, that a hasty word spoken
BEFORE a meal, was ignored as being a physical weakness
only. But if a man was grouchy AFTER a good dinner,
then he is either sick, worried or ornery. If the latter, one
has a right to ask, "What's eatin' you'^" or to admonish with
"Get it off your chest."

These recollections of the Far West in the '80's seem to
be degenerating into what Tay Pay would call "Anecdotage.''
Yet the personal incidents that have been related are
chiefly for the purpose of expounding the qualities of the
characters presented, and to some extent, their mode of
living. When these events occurred Wild Bill Hickok,
Buffalo Bill, Calamity Jane, Billy the Kid, the McCandless
gang and the James boys were still being talked about;
the Custer massacre, an almost local happening, was only
nine years history; Colonel Nelson A. Miles was still clean-
ing up Apaches in Arizona, Geronimo's Apaches; barbed
wire was beginning to replace "buck" fences, but most of
the new settlers still built "buck" fences because they
could get the poles for nothing and barbed wire cost money;
cut nails were used for nailing the "bucks" and rails, but
they had to be put in a fire first to anneal them, otherwise
they would break if once bent and you tried to straighten
them; most of the ranch houses and barns of the settlers
were built of logs and roofed with poles, haj^ and sods or
gravel over the clay.

Wagons and buckboards had a wide tread, five feet two
inches, with beds resting on the solid axle, but springs,
long elliptical springs, supported the seats. Everybody had
buffalo robes or bear robes for driving in the winter.

Stetson hats were almost universally worn by the best
punchers. They had stiff wide brims (like a present day
American cavalryman's hat), the two-gallon hat of the
present day being unknown. It seems to be a sort of hybrid
importation from Mexico or the border. A soft wide brim

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 67

would have covered a man's eyes half the time in the
strong winds that prevailed in the mountains. As it was,
a leather string under the chin and another under the poll
was necessary to secure one's headgear on a windy day.

The chaps, or leather pants of the cowboys, were either
trimmed at the sides with a leather fringe or simply laced,
except such as were bearskin or goatskin sides. Nobody
wore cloth pants on the roundup except in the winter, only
blue overalls.

Every puncher wore a neckerchief and carried a tooth-
brush in his breast pocket. The latter was used after each
meal, a very good custom, perhaps taken from the Indians
who used a frayed stick for the same purpose.

Many men used "taps" or long stirrup covers made of
leather, a foot or more long, to protect the toes of their
light boots from injury when riding through heavy brush,
an unnecessary addition to an already heavy equipment.
A yellow oilskin pommel-slicker kept off the rain in wet
weather.

How we all hated the wet weather when we were on
the roundup. In the first place our beds were always muddy
and wet when we rolled them up to throw into the wagon,
in spite of the canvas sheet used to wrap them in. And
then they became sticky and smelly when our bodies warmed
them up the next night.

When it rained the ground became very slippery, es-
pecially in alkali sections, and there were many sprawling
falls of men and horses while working the cattle under
these conditions. Then, when we came into meals, we
had to squat on our heels to eat, when the ground was
muddy and the rain dripped from the rims of our hats into
the food. Not so good!

But as soon as the weather cleared, all blankets were put
out over the bushes to air and sweeten up. Growled curses
changed to singing and foolery, for creature comforts count
high in a primitive community, especially among the young
animals that constitute a cow camp. After all, nobody
but a saint disdains them, and we have our doubts even
about the saintly ones. It seemed natural to reach for the
choice cuts when they passed our way. The frontiersman
who is not a good forager soon finds that he is out of luck.
On the other hand, if he is a greedy person, it is quickly
noticed and the matter is clearly and unmistakably pointed
out to him. He has to mend his ways or pass on to other
pastures.

It seems to me that democracy, in its social sense, was
practiced in its best and purest form at this time and place.
It was not a cult; it was a natural condition, a mode of life

68 ANNALS OF WYOMING

that had grown up among generations of Americans of the
country districts — more or less God-fearing men whose
daily intercourse was based on the golden rule, self-control
and self-respect, by example.

All seemed willing to help one another, though that
help was rarely sought except when absolutely necessary,
and never, if it was only to save the seeker the trouble of
doing a thing himself. Even the wealthy owners of the
big ranches unstrapped and laid out their own blankets
and saddled their own horses on the rare occasions of their
appearance on the beef roundup. They were also addressed
by their given names by the old hands.

Discipline was good as there was no necessity to en-
force it. No man's self-respect was wounded unless he
needed a lesson, and even then it was not rubbed in. The
foreman's orders would be something like this:

" 'Rooster!' They seem to be a bit short-handed over at
the 'Goose-egg.' You and 'Soapy' better go over there
right away, I guess. Better take along two horses apiece
and your blankets and stay as long as Bud wants you. Want
any cash or tobacco or anything?"

"Ye-ah. Give me a plug o' eatin' tobacker an' maybe
five dollars'll be all I'll want," might be the reply. An ar-
bitrary, masterful manner was never used among the cow-
men, so far as I saw. The best "hands" would not have
stood it.

One of their stories was apropos of this, and it never
failed to win applause. There was an Englishman named
Sartoris who had a large ranch over toward the Freeze Out
Mountains, probably the first dude ranch in the west. Some
titled Britisher was going out there one day on a horse
that he had hired from a livery stable in town, and he met
one of the cowboys on the road. He pulled up as they
met and said:

"Is this the way to Mr. Sartoris' ranch?"

"Yes, sir. Keep right on this road and you can't miss it."

"Do you work for Mr. Sartoris?"

"Yes, sir. I'm his foreman."

"Oh!" said the Englishman, "You see I'm just dropping
in unexpectedly. Is your master at home?"

"No, sir!" said the puncher, with a piercing glare at
his questioner, "the son-of-Belial ain't born yet." And he
rode on, leaving his visitor speechless and mystified.

I learnt my little lesson in a small incident that oc-
curred just after the calf roundup started. I had come to
the tail of the wagon for my dinner, had poured out a cup

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's , 69

of coffee and heaped my tin plate with beef and potatoes,
when a hne-rider from an adjoining roundup rode up with
a string of horses.

"Hello, Mike!" someone shouted. "Ain't you off your
beat? Just in time for 'chuck.' Get off."

"I been detailed to your outfit," said Mike. "Where's
the horse-wrangler?"

"Here he is," T said, without getting up. "What can I
do for you?"

"Take my string up to the herd, kid," he said, and dis-
mounted.

"Well, say!" I broke in, "I'm just eating dinner. Can't
you take them up? The herd's only a little way up the
creek. I'll take your packhorse up after I'm through."

He paused and looked at me quizzically until I felt
uncomfortable. Then he said pleasantly:

"Yes, kid. I'll do that little thing. You're new to the
game, aren't you? Sure. I'll take 'em up." And he re-
mounted and rode off' with his horses.

The foreman looked around at the bunch and said,
"Well, I'll be dog-goned. What do you know about that?
Here's a stranger as has rode thirty miles, comes to our
camp all tired and hungry, an' then you tell hiin to wait
on hisself. Is that yer English idea o' hospitality?" turning
to me.

"Well," I said, nettled at the reference to English hos-
pitality, "I'd have done as much fer him or any of you under
the same circumstances and you know it."

"That ain't the point," Ed replied. "You was thinkin'
o' your own convenience an' not his. An' anyway — ain't
there plenty more meat in the kettle if yours is spoiled?
Tend to a guest first an' then settle down to yer own com^-
fort afterward— same as what you'd do in yer own house."

"This is certainly a lesson in manners," I said, weakened
with vexation.

"Yer manners is all right. Everybody has a right to
their own manners, long as they don't interfere with other
people. It's customs a man gets to learn in a new country."

"Shut up, Ed, gol-darn it! Nuff said," put in one of the
boys; and the lecture turned into some good-natured banter
before Mike returned. Then I thanked him, unpacked his
gear and unsaddled for him, saddling up the fresh horse
that he had brought back and took the used animals back
to the herd.

And so it behooved me to watch carefully and see how
everything was done, without asking too many fool ques-
tions. Then, if I made mistakes, there was only good-

70 ANNALS OF WYOMING

natured banter about it, followed by friendly expl:inations
as to how to go about it.

I took turns cooking one winter for a few weeks in a
cabin in Rattlesnake Pass. There were four of us. I could
cook meat and potatoes, but had not yet learned to make
bread, though I had watched the biscuit m.aking closely.

So when my turn came to cook saleratus biscuits, I
thought that if half-a-teaspoonful of soda made them light,
more would make them lighter. So I doubled the amount
of soda and slopped in twice the amount of lard.

When I heard the boys at the barn, I put the biscuits in
the oven. In fifteen minutes, all was ready and I hailed
them to supper. I proudly dumped my pan of tall golden rolls
onto the table, and they were seized and broken open but
they could not be eaten. They tasted like soap with all
that soda and fat, and though golden without, they had a
greenish tinge inside.

Of course there was much laughter and jeering, but
one of the boys had some "bullwhacker" pone ready in
another fifteen minutes. Later on I had lessons in the prepa-
ration of "salt-rising," "sour-dough," and saleratus bread,
also baking-powder biscuits.

No pan was used in mixing the dough. A depression
was made in the flour right in the mouth of the sack, water
poured in, and the dough taken out after it had been thor-
oughly mixed by hand. It took about an hour to boil
potatoes at that altitude (6000 feet) and more if they were
large ones. Beans could not be cooked at all, without the
addition of some soda, and then they took a long time.

Speaking of cooking beans, I was told of a certain
Englishman, who was also new to the culinary art, who
undertook to put up a mess of beans in the absence of a
cook on one of the ranches. He had been told about the
soda. As all his pots were dirty or in use, and as he did
not want to wash up, he put the beans in a large tea-kettle,
about two-thirds full, which he then filled with water and
placed on the stove. Ten minutes later, he came back and
found the lid raised by the swelling beans, so he squashed
it down and put a thick block of stovewood between the
lid and the kettle handle, in order to keep it down.

Inside of five minutes, the poor little beans began com-
ing out of the spout, one by one, so he placed a pot beneath
it to catch them. When he was found bj^ one of the boys,
he was said to have drawn his chair close up to the stove
and was watching with pop-eyed interest as the beans
continued their solemn procession and dropped from the
spout. According to Buck, there must have been half a
bushel of them. And, after all the water was gone, there

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 71

was a wad of burnt beans on the bottom of the kettle. This
King Alfred was said to be an Oxford graduate. Not so good.

It takes brains, attention, forethought and savoir faire
to prepare a meal that is to put everyone in a good humor.
God bless our cooks! Anybody can open a tin.

Men of the outposts will respond to this "toast."

The use of a sobriquet instead of a man's own proper
name seems to be a sort of primitive custom such as pre-
vailed formerly at public schools. Long ago, I spotted an
old schoolfellow on the platform at Paddington station in
London, and when I went over to meet him, I could not,
for the life of me, think of any other name than "Bunny,"
his sobriquet at school. He seemed to be delighted at the
old tag, though he had grown to be a Harley Street physi-
cian, and was dressed for the part.

Very often the nickname was attached to a fellow be-
cause he had a long, hard name to remember, because of a
physical oddity or mannerism or even for a deformity. As
examples in Wyoming:

"Jerky Bill" was subject to periodic contractions or
spasms of the neck muscles, when he would shoot out his
jaw and jerk his head sharply to the left. I once saw him
being shaved at Medicine Bow, and in the midst of the
operation he said to the barber, "Hold on a second, I'm
goin' to have a jerk." The barber paused, with poised
razor; the jerk was satisfactorily disposed of and Bill said,
"Go ahead."

"Tapes" was a name that I could not fathom and so I
was obliged to inquire of one of the boys.

"Why, that's the short for 'Tapeworm'," he explained.
"Hain' you never seen him eat? Ravenous ain't the word
fer it. He can stow away more grub at a settin' than any
two men in the outfit, little an' skinny as he is, an' then
get hungry fer more while he's a pickin' of his teeth."

"Chalk-eye" had a white square mark in the brown
iris of one eye, which looked like a chalk mark.

"Rattlesnake Dick" earned his name from his love of
rattlesnake rattles. He had a whole band of them sewn
around his hat and some more stitched onto the browband
of his bridle. He was an inoffensive, quiet sort of chap,
helving the terror of his name.

'"Whiskey Cliff," "Long John," "Missouri John," "Red
Jake," "Shorty," are all self-explanatory. Two Mexican
brothers were called "Big and Little Tamales," and their
father, a grizzled old man of forty-five, was called "Old

72 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Doby" from adobe. The old boy proudly told me that his
name was Vallanzuela. But what good was a name like
that in a cow camp?

"Bloody Bill" was a Yorkshireman, who earned his
sobriquet by using this sanguinary adjective to qualify
everything in his whole monotonous conversation. He was
very bitter against the country of his birth and very
rough with his horses, from which I judged that he had
earned whatever penalty had begotten his bitterness. An
unpleasant character who could never hold a permanent
job. He knocked down his pony with a club one day be-
cause it had nipped him a little, while he was cinching his
saddle. Our cook immediately jumped him and gave him
a thorough good whipping — this cook was a real horseman
and a good fellow. So Bloody Bill was fired by the fore-
man for deliberate injury to the company's property. He
had to "hoof it" ten miles to the nearest town, with his
saddle and blankets on his head, and nobody said "Good-
bye" to him.

The name "Pan" did not mean a sylvan god. He came
from the Panhandle of Texas. "Bucktooth" had an under-
hung prognathous jaw and prominent incisors. "Humpy"
was a powerful dwarf with an enlarged shoulder and a
very short neck. "Ruby" was a Mexican, whose name
was Rubio.

"Mormon Joe" was a Mormon, of course, and inci-
dentally a peddler of the most salacious and disgusting
stories I ever had to listen to. He was suspected of being
a Danite or "Destroying Angel" as they were called then.
I happened to mention the Danites to him one day and he
was furious, declaring that there had never been any such
body of men and that it was a foul calumny that had been
raised against his religion. I had thought, from his loose
talk, that he was a renegade and that he might tell me
something, but I profited nothing. Anyway, he looked the
part of a man that would stick at nothing, and he had no
friends.

Then there was "Jimmy, the Dude," or simply, "The
Dude," a youth who spent all his earnings on as fine ap-
parel and gear as the calling allowed. He was slow and
not a very valuable man, despite his airs of self-confidence.
As "Buck" Taylor said, "He's got wonderful high action,
but it don't get him anywheres. Showy to look at, but
no speed."

Another temporary man called "Boots" (an ex-cavalry-
man) was evidently a bit of a shirker on the circle, for
Buck said, "He's one o' them old soljers as on'j'^ remembers
how to mark time. I never seen him so much as put a

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 73

stick o' wood on the fire. He's a good waiter, on the other
feller, as you may say." A pretty good summing-up of
character in a few words.

SHOOTING

Many fanciful stories have been written about the
wonderful prowess of Westerners with the rifle and re-
volver. It is not remarkable that they excelled with arms
at which they had so much practice, and it is true that
many good rifle shots existed, especially at point blank
range.

But I personally knew only one man who could use
two revolvers, one in either hand, and keep a tin can rolling
with successive alternate shots. He could shoot the head
off a bluebird at fifteen yards, but he was said to spend
nearly all his wages on shells and revolvers. Just as soon
as the rifling showed wear enough to make his shooting
inaccurate, he bought a new Colt, always a .45 caliber.
It was no wonder that he was an expert. Though he was
only a little man, with a southern soft drawl in his speech,
he was a highly respected member of the community.

He was a bronco-buster for Frank Hadsell and I camped
with him for a short time in Rattlesnake Pass. He had
five bunches of mares there, and every day we went out to
give the five stallions a feed of grain. It was necessary to
keep the bunches well apart, out of sight of each other to
obviate horse fights, so they had to be driven back to their
respective ranges if they drifted too close.

One day we had visited our respective herds. I had
been to two and was on my way back to camp, when I
spied Jimmy in the distance, not far from the narrow belt
of timber that outlined the course of Pass Creek. I saw
him dismount and crouch on the ground. Before I heard
his shot, I noticed an animal that I thought was a cow, rear
up on its hind legs. It was a bear and Jimmy's horse
promptly ran off and left him.

I waited, expecting to hear another shot, for the bear
seemed to be coming toward Jimmy, but none was forth-
coming. I rode over as fast as I could and caught Jim's
horse and took it to him.

"What's the matter? Why didn't you give him another
shot, Jimmy?" I asked. "Where did he go?"

"Rifle jammed and I was trying to get the shell out
with my knife. That's the worst o' worn rims," he said.
He had not tried to run when he found his rifle jammed,

74 ANNALS OF WYOMING

neither do I think he was perturbed, for if the animal had
continued coming, Jim would doubtless have plugged him
with his Colt.

"I hit him," said Jim, "and hurt him bad. I don't
believe he's gone far. He was afraid to leave the timber.
Bears is always scary if you ketch 'em out in the open.
Le's go an' find him."

So we rode over to the timber, a good two hundred
yards away, and the bloody trail led into thick underbrush
of wild raspberries, dog-roses, willow scrub and buckbrush.
I wasn't strong for crawling in there, but Jim went in and
found the bear dead in a pool of blood beside the creek,
shot well up in the lungs. This incident showed me the
confidence a man has in himself when he is dead sure of
his shooting. Jim was nothing special with a rifle — just
average. It was the revolver shooting at which he was
expert.

Now, old "Bald Charlie" who lived only five miles
from Jim's temporary camp, was a real rifle shot. He killed
game for market, the year round; though he used to do
some trapping too, chiefly of 'varmint' such as coyotes,
mountain-lions, lynxes, and occasionally bears.

The first time that I saw him I had been out hunting
antelope — unsuccessfully, for though there were plenty
to be seen, I had not been able to get within half a
mile of them. The old man was driving a team attached
to a light wagon. He stopped as I approached and passed
the time of day.

After an exchange of introductions, saying who we
were and why we were there and various little personal
things, in the course of casual remarks, I told him that we
were out of meat and that I was on my way to the sheep
camp to get some mutton, as there were four hungry men
depending on my prowess.

"Aw, shucks!" he said. "Don't eat that stuff. I got an
elk in the back o' the wagon an' you're welcome to a quarter.
I'll take it up to camp for ye." Which he did, and would
not take anything for it, either flour, bacon, coffee, or any-
thing else, saying, "You got to be neighborly. You'd do
the same for me." That chunk of elk must have weighed
close to two hundred pounds.

Thereafter I always called on Charlie whenever I was
near his place, and occasionally took him a bottle of whiskey,
which pleased him greatly. He was a confirmed old bachelor
and he lived in a one-room log cabin with a small log barn
adjacent. His cat and his dogs were his only companions,
besides the pony team and he was always talking to theni.

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 75

He had built a dam across the httle stream that ran past
his place, which was full of trout. These he fed regularly
with chopped meat.

"Come and see my pet fish," he said, the first time I
was there. Taking a little plate of food, he went to the
edge of the pond and, reaching down, he tapped the water
gently with his fingers and the little fish swarmed towards
him. Old Charlie beamed with pleasure, looking at me for
signs of approval.

The old man — he was old to me, though still in his
fifties — regaled me with many hunting and Indian stories.
Some of his tales were rather tall, but I did not weigh or
scrutinize them too closely. He told me of one man in
Laramie, who had commissioned him to obtain an un-
scathed lion skin for mounting. This he had promised to
do, thinking that he would have to set out a poison bait,
to which he strongly objected. A trapped animal would
show scars of the trap, while a bullet or two would show
in the smoothness of the skin.

"Well, one mornin','' he said, "I was poundin' the trail
up round that spur you see yonder, with a forty pound
bear trap on my shoulder and just afore I came to the point,
there was a big 'painter,' right square in the middle o' the
trail, 'bout a hundred yards av.^'ay. I dropped the trap and
drawed down on him an' he opened his mouth just as I fired.
When I got up to him, there wasn't a sign of a bullet wound
on him, not even a cracked tooth. An' the ball had gone
clean through his heart. Now., that were not on'j^ a streak
o' luck, it were darned profitable shootin'. I drawed down
twenty dollars for that 'ere pelt an' skull."

I asked him if he ever went out with any eastern
sportsmen, who were interested in big game hunting.

"I do not," he said, with decision. "An' what's more,
I don't want to see any of 'em around my territory. I hear
as they come 'round and shoot maybe three or four bull elk
or even antelope an' mountain sheep, just so's to carry off
the heads to nail up, an' then leave most o' the meat for
the varmint. Why, that's as bad as the Indians as kill cow
elk just so's to take the calves out of 'em for a tidbit, tho'
it ain't offen as they kills to waste. Not the Paiutes don't."

At this time the Medicine Bow range of mountains was
simply alive with game elk. deer (black tail and mule) , bear,
panther, lynx, and on one mountain, mountain sheep. The
buffalo had gone, though their bones and skulls still lay
everywhere on the ground, but the plains were plentifully
supplied with antelope. Yet, old Charlie did not like to
see one useful animal killed wantonly. Coyotes, timber
wolves, the "cats" and other "varmint" certainly, when-

76 ANNALS OF WYOMING

ever opportunity offered, but not even a sage-hen or grouse
should be killed unless it were wanted for food.

Charlie got the weekly newspaper and occasional mag-
azines, but the only books he had in his cabin were the
Bible, Pilgrim's Progress, and Plutarch's Lives. The last
book seemed to fascinate him, as it was history. I wonder
what he got out of it.

This little sketch may give impressions of a professional
hunter of his period, the only excuse for presenting it.
z\fter all, it is the people who are of lasting interest, as
shown by Charlie's choice of literature. Events may be
dramatic, but apparently our interest lies in their lasting
effects on mankind.

Perhaps most men who live an active life, close to
nature, especially where conditions are somewhat primi-
tive, prefer history to any other reading, provided it records
events of personal prowess under conditions that they can
understand. In this they resemble matured minds who,
having sickened of fiction, turn to history and biography.

Once, when I was journeying from Vera Cruz to New
Orleans, we took on a rather surly pilot at the mouth of
the Mississippi, who was to take charge of us up to the
Crescent City, some twelve miles up the river.

I gave him a cigar and the good word. When I thought
the time was auspicious, I asked him if he had read Mark
Twain's Mississippi Pilot.

"Naw!" he replied, disgustedly. "All as he wrote was lies.
What's the use o' readin' lies, or fiction as they do call it?"

"But you must have been a contemporary of Mark's.
Didn't you know him?" I asked.

The second mate, who was present, answered for him.
"No, sir. This is the most distinguished pilot on the Father
of Waters. He has been a pilot for forty years and is the
only one on the river who did not either teach Mark Tw^ain
his business or learn it under him."

"Why should a man read lies, when there's honest-to-
god history to read, about real men and women? Give me
the truth every time," said the pilot. "I never seen Clemens
'cause he was a up-river pilot an' I on'y operate twixt
N'Orleans an' the Gulf, so we got nothin' to get chummy
over. I like the Bible, 'cause it's God's own truth an' 'fects
us all."

I found that the cowboys like history, though they
were not narrow like the old pilot. They would listen,
time after time, to the same accounts of the Mountain
Meadow Massacre, to the story of Brigham Young's great

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 77

migration and settlement in Utah, and even to the retelUng
of the Custer massacre, which had taken place only a decade
in the past. But it was living history. History and bio-
graphical sketches of virile men were devoured. They
could follow the wanderings and vicissitudes of the Hud-
son Bay Company's hunters and trappers and the difficul-
ties encountered by Kit Carson, Daniel Boone, and the
Pony Express riders, because they knev/ the life of the
frontier. The War of Independence was a grand epic.
Incidents of the Civil War were constantly spoken of, though
it was twenty years in the past.

It was amazing to find cowmen who liked to read even
ancient histories. At one ranch, the only bound book I saw
(except paper covered novels) was the Works of Josephus.
I never saw an encyclopedia in the West, as I suppose that
nobody could afford one. But how it would have been
thumbed on a cattle ranch.

Bill Nye was read regularly. They liked his broad
humor, some of which appeared each week in the paper.
Artemus Ward was still read with as much gusto as when
he was living. The humorous things were often read aloud
to the bunch and such readings were highly appreciated.
They held the boys' attention as long as a good reader
would oblige. It seemed to be the correct thing, after a
successful reading, for the reader to close the book with a
bang and slam it down on the table, with the expression,
"Aw, shucks!" or something like that; as much as to say,
"All this is very puerile, but you fellows seem to like it,"

Sea stories went down well and so did good virile
poetry. But the precious meaningless vaporings of a pasty
poetaster were anathema and the reader would be told to
"tie it outside." Yet they could be stirred with the most
blatant melodrama, provided it contained no glaring anach-
ronisms within their ken. They could be moved to sniffing
by what I considered the most maudlin songs about home
and mother or tripe on the Mistletoe Bough order.

Music was highly appreciated and a great inany of the
boys carried a mouth organ or harmonica in their pockets.
A harmonium or an old square piano was looked upon as
a treasure in a ranch house, but such instruments were
rare.

It is strange how easily men living an arduous, primi-
tive life can be rendered silent, contemplative and even
tender, by sentimental songs as find a ready response in
their hearts and, directly afterwards, burst into peals of
raucous laughter at some atrocious, ribald ditty. But so
it was, as I witnessed time and again.

78 ANNALS OF WYOMING

A great many of the sentimental songs were written
in the minor, and they seemed to be in harmony with the
Ufe and surroundings. But when it came to music, waltzes,
leels, hornpipes, strathspeys, and vigorous marches were
favorites.

The air of the Dying Cowboy's Lament was very beau-
tiful, though the song as a whole is not for polite ears. It
recounts the man's downfall, owing to gambling and indul-
gence in the coarse pleasures of the town. The chorus as
we all sang it was:

Then roll the drums merrily and play the fifes lively,
And carry me out with a dance and a song
Upon the lone prairie and bury me deeply;
For I'm a poor cowboy and I know I've done wrong.
Every man was silent during the singing of this song.

Twinkling Stars was a favorite, though only few men
had the hardihood to sing it.

Round the camp-fire, almost any song with a good
chorus to it was pleasing. It seemed to me to have response
in the clear bright air, as though the wood nymiphs and
the spirits of the mountains were rejoicing too. The old
Turkey in the Straw was a universal favorite as dramatic
art could be introduced by the singer. It went —
O! — a possum he jump' in a racoon's nes'
An' de racoon got up an' bit um on de bres' —
He twe-e-e-e-ested his tail round a hickorye stump;
An' he rai''d an' he pitched but he couldn't make
a jump!
This presents the picture of an animal, with his tail
made fast, trying to leap and break in futile rage.
Chorus:

Turkey in the straw! Ye-e-e-e-s! Turkey in the

straw:
Twe-e-e-s' about an' turn about, a high turkey paw;
An' a shake 'em up a toon called 'Turkey in the
straw.

A bullfrog jump' in de bottom o' de spring;

But de water was so cold dat he could not swim —

A m-on-key was settin' in a pile o' straw,

A-winkin' at his mother-in-law.
Though the words are darky nonsense, the air is stir-
ring and lively, and the chorus invariably met with gen-
erous support.

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 79

IDLE CHAT AND A LITTLE PHILOSOPHY

"I'd a heap ruther have a genuine crook around me than
a lazy man," Buck T. remarked to me once. "You're al-
ways onto a crook and know as he ain't to be depended
on in a deal. But. with a lazy man, you don't know where
you're at — to say nothin' o' the aggravation o' havin' him
putterin' around. An' they most gen'rally talk big too, as
if they was always right up and a'comin'. There 'tis! They
have to blow off their gaff, to try to make up for what
they don't do — dod rot 'em.

"Take old 'Belly-go-fust,' " he continued (alluding to
a saloon-keeper's fat brother-in-law, who was a sort of
parasite — a doer of small chores). "He always was a chesty
kind, from a boy, an' he never amounted to a row o' pins.
I knowed him back in Missoura. Eats as much as any two
men, he does, an' then sets aroun'. No wonder he got a
paunch on him like a cow. He has to throw his shoulders
back in order to pack it aroun'. A wonder he don't have
to chew a cud! Looks important, don't he?" said Buck,
grinning.

"Well, anyway he's honest, Buck," I suggested.

"Honest? Sure, prob'ly is, fur as I know," said Buck.
"He never put anything over on me, if that's what you
mean. He hain't got anythin' to be dishonest about. An'
if he had, 't would be too much trouble to use what he calls
his brains. If he was my brother-in-law an' wanted to
board on me, he'd have to cut a cord o' stove wood a day
an' stack it in, or go hungry."

In a new country, where any duties shirked by one
man must be carried out by another, it may be realized
how such a parasite would be despised by the whole com-
munity. Fortunately they were very few and they did
not count as folks, any more than a cat at the fireside.
Which simile is perhaps unjust to the cat, for she does earn
her keep and does not intrude in men's talk.

It was interesting to see the emigrants that passed
through Elk Mountain on their way to Washington Terri-
tory, as it was then. As has been remarked, Elk Mountain
post office was just across the old toll-bridge over the
Medicine Bow River. Johnny Jones, the postmaster, col-
lected the tolls on all wagons and prairie schooners crossing
the bridge and the emigrants were always poor people
with very little cash. Sometimes a train of three or four
wagons was held up for hours, while the emigrants were
trying to wriggle out of paying toll.

80 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Many would take a saddle horse and go down the
river prospecting for a ford, but they had to come back
and dig up some cash or else produce something of value
that Johnny was willing to take in trade. Johnny would
squat on that bridge with his rifle across his knees — some-
times with a man or two to support him if it were a very
large train — and his deputy sheriff's badge well in evidence.
He would talk pleasantly to the emigrants, but always col-
lected his dues. He almost always had a cigar in his mouth,
which he never lit but always chewed and chewed until
the whole was chewed up.

These emigrants, with their canvas-covered wagons,
looked very much like the ones seen in the cinema today,
except that one never saw them thrashing or ill-treating
their live stock, or traveling faster than about two miles
an hour. Also, saddle horses were generally tied at the
tail of the wagon unless they were needed for some special
errand.

Almost all the children of the emigrants that we saw
were barefoot and barelegged — even the girls of seventeen
or eighteen, with their long hair hanging in plaits and
their heads covered with the inevitable sunbonnet. Some
of these girls and women chewed tobacco and liked to trade
their long, green, homegrown stuff for a plug of manu-
factured.

They all seemed to be quite happy, except some of the
men upon whom responsibility rested. The wagons con-
tained an assortment of poor household goods and farm
tools. It was easy to keep the caravan in meat, for game
was plentiful and there was no closed season on anj^thing —
no game laws to check them from filling the larder. They
carried tubs of home-rendered lard with them and lots of
beans, so their expenses were few — a little coffee, flour and
sugar being the chief purchases. The women with babies
were the only ones I felt sorry for, though the growing
children were good in helping. But how these young
mothers must have longed for a cabin and four walls, and
a place other than the creek to wash in — a chance for a
little privacy.

We used to hear wonderful stories of Washington Ter-
ritory— of the richness of the soil, of the lush timothy and
clover pastures, the denseness of the timber and the im-
mensity of the rivers and water courses, the large produc-
tive wheatfields and the plentiful supplies of fish and game
and — last but not least — a climate free from blizzards, tor-
nados or intense cold.

To these emigrants, both men and women, it was doubt-
less the constant contemplation of this land of promise,

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 81

that rendered them obhvious to the discomforts of weary
months on the Overland Trail. It must have been faith,
hope and ambition that tided them over many a dreary
mile. These emigrants laid a course for themselves and
steered for it steadfastly. There were few drifters, to be
carried hither and yon by every changing breeze and cross-
current. No matter what their disappointments and vicis-
situdes, at the end of the trail, their wanderings have been
valuable and constructive. Their enterprise, stamina, and
fortitude constitute the character foundation of the go-
ahead people they have left behind them.

It is wonderful what foolish questions a green youth
will ask, in strange surroundings, when the answers to them
are self-evident.

One day in riding up through the timber toward the
headwaters of the Medicine Bow River, before coming to
the tie-camp, we passed through a clearing among the
pines, and I looked with surprise to see that the stumps
in this clearing were about twelve feet high from the ground.
So I asked my companion how they managed to cut them
off so high up and what was the reason for it.

"Why, kid," he said, looking at me in some surprise,
"don't you know as they always cuts trees for ties in the
winter time when the snow is on the ground? Them stumps
mark just how deep the snow was when the ties was cut.
Then they haul their stuff over to the river bank on the
snow and hew 'em into ties with a broad-axe. Then they're
all ready to dump into the river when the snow melts,
and the water is strong enough to carry 'em down to the
boom at the railroad."

"Who does the 'drivin' of the ties on the river?" was
the next question.

"Why, them as cuts the ties, o'course," said Buck.
"Them men is driving on the river four or five weeks, an'
the men are never dry from the time the drive starts, till
the last tie reaches the boom."

"That is a man's life," I remarked.

"It's a dog's life," said Buck. "An' what's more, them
tie-punchers is a dirty outfit. They're most alius 'crumby.'
If you ever have 'casion to stop over in their camp, you
take my tip and bed down out in the woods. Don't trust
yer blankets on their bunks or you'll be et up. That's one
reason why cow-punchers and woodsmen don't mix. We
may be a bit rough at times, but goldarn it, we're clean.
I've heard said that they think as we put on dog, 'cause
we're mounted and they're afoot. But it ain't so."

82 ANNALS OF WYOMING

"That's a pretty sweeping statement for a whole body
of men, Buck."

"Well, maybe 'tis," he said, "maybe 'tis. I know some
mighty able men up here as earns good money an' lives
decent. But most o' the decent ones has their own shacks.
There's old Bill M. for instance. He's the best an' neatest
tree-faller on the river, an' they say as he can hew the two
sides of a log as smooth as if 'twas sawed. Why, he can
sharpen a pencil with his broadaxe, an' I wouldn't be sur-
prised as he could shave with it!"

One of the men interested in the Swan Land and Cattle
Company was a fine young Scotchman named Charlie An-
derson. I believe the name of the company was later
changed to the Anderson Land and Cattle Company, though
everybodj^ called it the Swan outfit.

Everybody liked Charlie. Though he was a good mixer
with the crowd, nobody ever "got too darned familiar" — as
he would have put it. He was no Chesterfield, but he acted
on the maxim, "Be thou familiar but by no means vulgar."
And so Charlie stood ace-high. It was through him that
I was first employed at the "UL," for he heard of a new
Britisher down at the Bow and rode down to see me, when
I promptly signed on.

The first time I met him and in the course of "getting
my number" so to speak, he asked me if I had ever met
a man named Roosevelt, who had a ranch up in South
Dakota. I replied that T had never met nor heard of
the man.

"Well," said Charlie, "if you ever do go up there, call
and see him. If you get an invitation to stay — which you
will — be sure and take it. He is a good sportsman, an
excellent host and utterly reliable — democratic in the
best sense, and the finest American I have ever met."

I never had the opportunity to even see Theodore
Roosevelt, but he did develop, as all the world knows, into
the greatest American and the greatest all-around MAN
of his generation. R.I.P. Perhaps, some day I shall get
a chance to meet him in the Happy Hunting Grounds. It
will be interesting to see what sort of activity he has ap-
plied himself to, in what we know as "The Great Beyond."
Whatever it is, it will be well worth while.

A man was truly in a parlous state who became seri-
ously ill on the roundup, for there was no shelter, no rest
from the flies and dust, no food for invalids, continuous
moving and no quiet.

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 83.

Poor Charlie developed a heavy cold, when he had
been on the road only three day. But he kept on though
for a day or two more, till he looked corpse like and had
to admit that he was sick. So he took Tom H. with him
to bring back his saddle horse and rode off into town. Tom
said that he never spoke a word all the way and that he
stopped in the middle of the main street in Rawlins and,
dismounting, left without a word, just waving him off.

As it happened. Doctor R. of whom I have spoken
earlier, was to be in Rawlins that day and, the two being
great friends, he went over to speak to him and see what
was the matter, for it was quite clear that something was
wrong.

Charlie did not know him — he was already delirious.
Doc took him down to Carbon in the first caboose that came
along. But in three days he was dead from typhoid pneu-
monia. I think that he was only about twenty-five years
old, but a capable man of the best type.

How he hated a drunken man. — "I will not have them
around," he said to me once, — "There is no necessity for it.
Any decent man knows v/hen he has had enough." And
yet the old boy could get away with a pint of Scotch in an
evening, without any apparent effect, — which was enough
to have bowled me out, as I told him.

"Yes, but every man knows his own capacity. You've
got to be decent," he replied.

He was the only man on the range who wore English-
cut riding breeches, (excepting myself) and the only one
who wore English hunting boots. As he was a sort of
manager and had an interest in the Company, he could get
away with this without comment.

Charlie spoke very deliberately, as all Scotchmen must,
in order to give that sonorous value to their R's that custom
demands. But his cultured voice and well-chosen words
were pleasing to my ears in that land so far removed from
musical diction.

He also disliked remittance men,^-^ that is, young Eng-
lishmen who were 'rotters' and had no ambition; men who

13 A remittance man was one who lived chiefly on remittances
from home. Prof. Denis L. Fox writes about his father's use of
the term: "I feel quite certain that my father did not employ the
term in its frequent British connotation, namely men who were
in the manner of being characteristic idlers or ne'er-do-wells, and
who were therefore paid remittances by the parents to keep them
going, but away from home. Certainly he could not, I think, have
considered either Mr. Brackenbury, who was remarkably success-
ful out there, or the admirable chap who wore the mask, as remit-
tance men in the common sense of the word, although it is more
than probable that they received support at first."

84 ANNALS OF WYOMING

had been sent abroad to get them out of the way, with a
monthly or quarterly cheque from home to pay for their
subsistence. There were not so many of them in the United
States as in Canada, but we had a sprinkling. Wherever
they went, they did not add to English prestige.

REMITTANCE MEN

There was one remittance man who was taken on as a
cowhand at the Horse Creek Ranch. He could ride, cer-
tainly, but he had no heart in the hard work of handling
stock. He would get tired and then slack off. On the
circle he would ask the foreman to let him go on with
the first bunch of cattle gathered, so as to be able to lie
down and smoke and take it easy. No American would
ever ask such a personal privilege. So the foreman always
took him to the very outside and he was always the last to
drift into camp.

Once he complained and the foreman, who had got very
tired of him said, "So! You roll your blankets and get
back to the ranch. You're more trouble than you're worth,
ye lazy hound. You can call for your cheque when I send
in a report," and the foreman turned his back and walked
away, without waiting for any reply.

This was, of course, a summary dismissal. S. rolled
his blankets and went merrily off, apparently not in the
least ashamed.

More than two months later, when the Horse Creek
outfit returned to headquarters, there was S. sitting out
on the stoop, perfectly happy and unruffled.

The foreman asked him shortly what he was doing there.

■'Why," he replied, brightly, "you sent me back to the
ranch and here I am."

He had been there all the time, doing nothing except
riding into town when the spirit moved him, to get reading
matter and whiskey, and getting three square meals a day
without doing a lick of work.

In the face of the foreman's amazement and his short
order to the shamless beggar to "Beat it pronto, and don't
come back," he pleaded poverty and begged to be allowed
to stay on, until finally the foreman let him do it. He had
to do chores, such as sweeping out the bunkhouse, mucking
out the stables, preparing wood and vegetables for the cook
and attending the milk cows and hogs. But he did not
last long even at this work, as his monthly remittance
was co-incident with a monthlv debauch.

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 85

I met a very fine ex-remittance man later in California,
who had snapped out of it and become a very useful and
respected member of our circle. We sat up late one night
comparing notes. He had come down from British Colum-
bia, where he had been one of a number of remittance men.
Some of the fellows were of quite good stock, he said, and
triflers only because of their poor training at home. Hear-
ing about them is sometimes funny, but living with them
or being in frequent contact with them would be unbearable.

Thank heaven that the day of English remittance men
has gone forever. Fathers have more sense nowadays
than to subsidize erring sons in order to evade annoyance
and responsibility by getting them out of the way.

D. and I talked the matter over several times. We
agreed at that time, that something was lacking in an
English boy's education (of that period) to fit him for inde-
pendent action and an ability to cope with life's problems,
excepting the Army, the Navy, the Church or the Civil
Service. The English boy was good to obey orders when
placed under authority, but all initiative had been denied
him, and such as he might have been born with was atro-
phied for lack of development or a life governed by too
many petty rules, yet served by too many menials.

Think of a boy coming from a well-ordered English
home, where every possible personal service was to be
obtained by ringing the bell, where pocket money or al-
lowances were gratuitously provided by the parents, and a
semi-public or good private school education was the me-
dium of preparation for the battle of life, where trades-
people or small merchants as we call them here, were
really regarded as very inferior persons indeed, and as for
the day-laborers — well, they should be willing to put them-
selves to any inconvenience or abasement for a little con-
descension. Such really appeared to be the mental attitude
of many of the remittance men.

But, to go on, the father of such a son, finding that his
boy not only lacks ambition to do anything at all, but
strongly objects to it (why should he, when all his life he
has been taught that anything he wants is his without
effort?) and finding that he is, in reality, a loafer, a para-
site and a loose person, then that father pitchforks his
worthless son into a half-civilized country and expects him,
in some mysterious way, to make his fortune.

Is it any wonder that so many of them fell down? They
had no training in character to fit them for such a fight.
They were helpless in attending even to their own persons
and personal attire, some of them getting indescribably
filthy. What! Wash their own shirts and underclothes?

86 ANNALS OF WYOMING

I should say not! Therefore it was no wonder that so many
of the poor beggars degenerated into squaw-men and saloon
bums. No wonder that, in some localities in Canada, when
men were needed for the harvest, many farmers said, "No
Englishmen wanted."

I have met, in the West, men from Clifton, Marlboro,
Chatham, Blundell, Harrow, Stoneyhurst and Reading. Few
of them have done as well as the average American of the
same class, who has had a far less costly schooling but a
far more efficient training. Oh, well! The superior and
often snobbish respectability of the Victorian era seems to
have followed the top-hat and the frock coat into limbo —
thank heaven! D. and I agreed that the above explanation
covered the case of the remittance men, to show that they
were not altogether to blame for dwindling into rotters.

Well-trained English, Scotch and Irishmen are now
looked upon with favor by American business houses. It
is not only because they are well-trained, but because they
can be relied upon to play the game. That's it. They are
reliable. Of course, an equally well-trained iVmerican is
given first choice. Everything considered that is natural.
Besides, it is easier to check up on his credentials.

There was a young fellow on Sand Creek, a Dick B.^"'
whom I used to meet, though I was at his ranch only twice.
He had a comparatively small ranch and raised horses,
range-herding them. His father, I believe, was commander
of an important British fortress, and his brother had just
attained his majority in an Indian Cavalry Regiment. He
himself had failed at Sandhurst and did not relish getting
a commission through the militia; did not care lor the army
at all, really, and had only tackled it to "please the Guv'ner."'

He had come to the United States, feeling rather a
failure, I gathered, to which feeling the disappointed Colonel
had doubtless contributed. He went to a British colony in
Tennessee first, found it being exploited by a "superior"
dictator, who won recruits (with a handsome emolument
with each) on the strength of his family connections, and.
Dick being disgusted, had come on out to where I found
him. He had a little money from home still, but was trying
to make a success of things and stand on his own feet.

Dick had a sort of partner, a little bald-headed, red
bearded carpenter from Wiltshire, who did the cooking

i-'Dick B. refers to Richard Brackenbury according to Denis
L. Fox, who writes that Brackenbury is now 84, lives at La Jolla,
California, and has authorized the use of his name. E. N. Went-
worth in his American Sheep Trails has several references to
Brackenbury, and describes him, P. 608, as the leading sheep com-
mission agent at the Denver market for many years.

THE FAR WEST IN THE '80's 87

and any mechanical work necessary. The Uttle man seemed
to be very proud of being hooked up with a fellow of Dick's
caliber. He merits no further mention here.

But staying with them was a young man who, Dick
said, was given a handsome allowance. It was the saddest
case I had ever seen. We will call him 'Nemo.' I never
saw his face. He had left England (and a most charming
home, Dick said) at his own express wish, just to be able
to get into the wilderness. He was an old school chum of
Dick's, so he was probably not more than twenty-five or
twenty-six years old. But a terrible lupus had destroyed
one side of his face and his nose, and so he always wore a
complete black silk mask.

Dick had already told me about him, but still, when
he came into the room to meet me, it was a distinct shock.
A beautiful head of wavy brown hair, then the black, silk
mask, with only one sparkling brown eye to be seen. But
he had a strong able body, for he sawed and chopped wood
and rode daily in order to keep fit and happy.

But when he spoke and laughed it was, I thought, the
most beautiful voice I had ever heard, and at som.e joke of
Dick's, he broke into a musical laugh. It sounded such a
happy laugh, too, that I could scarcely realize that its
maker was hiding a horror behind that black silk.

Good old British pluck! I could imagine this fellow
as a most lovable companion, son and brother. Yet he
had doubtless laid out a course for himself in order to m.ake
the best of things. To relieve his own family from the
depression and embarrassment of his constant presence,
to enjoy what he could and not be a wet blanket to others,
and to escape so far as possible, from being regarded with
pity.

And so, out there on Sand Creek, he used to laugh and
sing to the .banjo, and enjoy taking part in conversations
when possible, though he used to take his meals in his own
room. Modern surgery could have prevented such a tragedy
as his. That seems the pity of it.

Here were two remittance men who were far and away
above type. Both of them made me feel that I should have
some climbing to do before I could reach their high levels.

Richard Sherlock, father of Peter Sherlock of South
Pass City, built one of the first public bath houses in Wyo-
ming in 1868. The tubs were built of 21-inch planks. There
were two water tanks, also made of wood. One tank, with
an iron bottom, could be heated from a fire underneath.
The charge was $1.00 per bath.

Kiskadden-Slade

Some Historical Incidents Recalled
By PERRY W. JENKINS

Carlyle is the county seat of Clinton County, in the
"Egypt" section of Ilhnois. The Slade family was one of
the best in town. To this family about 1829 was born a
son, Joseph Alfred, who from early boyhood was to be
known as "Jack." As a boy Jack was a bright and likable
lad, making many friends and holding the respect of all
his neighbors.

At the outbreak of the Mexican War, in 1846, Jack
volunteered in the company of Captain Killman. By his
bravery and keen observation he soon gained the confidence
of his commanding officer and was selected, one of twelve,
for important scout duty.

He served with honor and distinction throughout the
war but there contracted a habit that made a wreck of his
later career. When sober he was a mild mannered friend
of all, but when intoxicated, flew into a violent rage and
knew no restraint to his demoniacal conduct. Returning
to Carlyle at the close of hostilities, he found employment
in various capacities until, at the age of twenty-six, in a
violent quarrel, he killed a man and was compelled to flee
from home and take refuge from the sheriff's posse in
Texas. Here he met and married Virginia Marie, a beau-
tiful and attractive young lady.

In 1859 they were living in Missouri where he was em-
ployed in guiding emigrant parties and conducting wagon
trains. His enterprise and efficiency attracted the attention
of Ben Holladay, the "stage coach king." Along the moun-

*Perry Wilson Jenkins was born at Mount Carmel, Indiana", April
5, 1872, and was educated in the public schools of Ohio. He re-
ceived his A. B. and A. M. degrees from Miami University, Ohio
and later an A. M. degree at Columbia University. He taught
mathematics and astronomy at several Universities and was a
fellow and research student at the Yerkes Observatory of the
University of Chicago. In 1906 his health broke and he came to
Wyoming where he settled at Cora. He began ranching and served
in the state legislature from 1919 to 1929 as a member of both
houses. Mr. Jenkins is Delta Kappa Epsilon, Phi Beta Kappa,
Phi Beta Kappa Associate (the only Wyoming member), a member
of the American Engineering Society, National Geographic Society,
the Methodist Church, and a 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason. At
present he resides in Salt Lake City and is president of the Colo-
rado River Water Users Association.

KISKADDEN-SLADE 89

tain divisions of the stage line continual losses were sus-
tained through Indian depredations, outlaws and dishonest
employees.

Slade was made superintendent of this division by
Holladay and with his wife, Virginia, located near the site
of the present town of Glendo, Wyoming. Here he built a
comfortable home, suitable and well protected quarters for
the stage equipment. This was commonly known as the
Horseshoe Creek Station, and from here Jack worked east
and west along the route, overseeing the movement of the
stages and the shipment and storage of supplies. Those
who knew him at this time state that he was strictly honest,
attentive and faithful to his employer. True he had to be
watchful, bold and quick in action, but "with gentlemen,
he was a gentleman," as recorded by Mark Twain in his
Roughing It.

One of the stage stations was on the Platte River at
the headquarters of Jules Reni (now called Julesburg) ,
Jules, a violent French Canadian, was known to be dis-
honest with the stage company and was jealous of the
authority of Slade. Trouble arose between them and Jules
shot and dangerously wounded the Superintendent. Jules
was hanged for his cowardly attack but before life was
extinct was cut down by some of his friends.

After Slade's recovery and return to his division, Jules
made further threats against his life. He was warned by
the commandant of Fort Laramie to take no chances with
the Frenchman. Jules was located at one of the stations
and while tied to a post was shot and killed by Slade in a
drunken rage. Circumstances connected with the killing
brought censure from the public.

In 1862, Denver had become an important town of the
Rocky Mountain region. The stage line was detoured to
accommodate this increasing traffic. In order to have a
more direct and less dangerous route, the contract with the
government for carrying the mail was changed from the
South Pass Road, to one leading over Bridger's Pass, known
as the Overland Trail. This led across the Laramie Plains,
by the foot of Elk Mountain and down Bitter Creek to
Green River. Slade was made agent for the division be-
tween Denver and Green River.

A beautiful site was chosen for the home station on
the low pass over the Laramie Range and was called Vir-
ginia Dale from the agent's charming wife. Although
Slade kept the stages running regularly his drunken sprees
became more frequent and violent. Within a year Holladay
was compelled to discharge him.

90 ANNALS OF WYOMING

After losing his job the Slades went east to Carlyle but
only for a short time. The Alder Gulch gold discovery
was causing thousands to seek a quick fortune in the new
Eldorado. Soon after reaching the gold field, Slade secured
a ranch in Meadow Creek Canyon, where he built a stone
house resembling a castle more than a home. Twelve
miles distance was a mushroom town, at first called Varina
from the wife of Jefferson Davis, but later changed to
Virginia City, it is said, in honor of the beautiful Mrs. Slade.

Jack's conduct now became more flagrant. He gambled,
insulted and bullied without respect of person. His name
caused law-abiding men to fear his presence and avoid his
company. The Vigilantes, of which he was at first a mem-
ber, were called to try to check his lurid career. He held
up Judge Davis with a gun and tore up a warrant for
his arrest.

Slade was seized by the Vigilantes on March 10, 1864,
and told to prepare for his execution. He broke down and
begged to see his wife, whom he dearly loved, but the
leaders knowing her temper and fearing her presence might
lead to more deaths, hastily prepared to carry out the
sentence. After giving him time for prayer, he was mounted
on a large store-box under the bar over a gateway. The
noose was then fitted and the rope secured to the bar. At
the order "Do your duty men," the box was jerked from
under him and he was launched off into eternity.

When Slade was seized one of his friends rode out to
the ranch and informed Virginia of what was taking place.
She mounted her horse and rode into town as fast as pos-
sible but was too late to see her husband alive. As soon
as Slade was pronounced dead his body was taken down
and laid out in an inn. After a paroxysm of grief, Virginia
had the body taken to the ranch. An elegant casket w^as
made lined with tin. After placing Jack's body therein, it
was filled with alcohol and hermetically sealed. When
the spring had freed the mountains of snow and the roads
were again passable, the casket was loaded into a vehicle
and conveyed four hundred miles to Salt Lake City. There
on July 20, 1864, Slade's body was interred and there it
lies today. The city has crept up the hill and now sur-
rounds the beautiful City Cemetery. The sexton's book
for 1847-1864 records the following entry:

''No. 67, from Bannack, Montana mines, J. A. Slade,
buried July 20, 1864 on lot B, single. Killed by the Vigi-
lantees Committee, To be removed to Illinois in the fall."

But the body was never disinterred. Virginia, the
southern beauty, had met a man of charming appearance
and fine manners, well dressed and altogether attractive.

KISKADDEN-SLADE 91

To this man, James Harry Kiskadden, she was married on
March 22, 1865, and lived with him only six months, when
she left her Salt Lake City home for St. Louis, never to
return to her husband. Jim Kiskadden appeared in the
court of Salt Lake County and asked for a divorce. On
October 29, 1858, a decree of separation was granted and
thereafter Virginia Marie is lost to history.

At the age of sixteen, in 1865, Asenath (Annie) Adams,
the daughter of Barnabas Adams, a prosperous Mormon
business man, was making a name as an actress in the old
Salt Lake Theatre. She became enamored by the personable
James Kiskadden. The father objected to their contem-
plated marriage on account of both her age and Kiskadden
being a Gentile. To delay an early union Annie was sent
on a visit to her grandparents in Clark County, Missouri.
This exactly fitted into the young girl's plans. Kiskadden,
who was then thirty-three years of age, followed her there
and there they were married, August 15, 1869.

The couple soon returned to Salt Lake City, Kiskadden
being interested in mining in Utah. Ethel Paul tells the
story of her father's ride of twenty-five miles to the Alta
mines at the head of Cottonwood Creek, to inform Jim
Kiskadden that he was needed at home. He hurried down
to the city to usher in the coming of his baby girl on No-
vember 11, 1872. The little miss received the name, Maude
Kiskadden, but during her stage career she used her moth-
er's maiden name of Adams. Maude first appeared on the
stage at the early age of eight months.

The family moved to San Francisco, but as soon as
Maude was old enough to go to school she was enrolled in
the old Salt Lake Collegiate Institute, now Westminister
College. James Kiskadden died in the Golden Gate City
and his body was sent to Salt Lake for interment. The
Sexton's record for Mt. Olivet Cemetery states that he
"died of pneumonia in San Francisco and was buried .in
section A, Lot 17." The daughter, Maude, had one of the
granite slabs, left in Little Cottonwood Canyon by the
builders of the great Mormon Temple, prepared and placed
over his grave bearing the inscription James H. Kiskadden,
Born May 24, 1836— Died September 19, 1883. The wife
and mother, Asenath (Annie) Adams Kiskadden, born No-
vember 9, 1848 and died March 17, 1916, lies buried by the
sidq^ of her husband.

i James Kiskadden had a brother William, who seems
to have had excellent business connections, as we find in
the Reminiscences of Alexander Toponce: 'Tn July 1868,
John W. Kerr, Governor Durkee and Bill Kiskadden, uncle
of Maude Adams, the actress, took a contract to furnish

92 ANNALS OF WYOMING

100,000 ties to the Union Pacific to be delivered at Hilliard,
Wyoming. They had the ties cut on the headwaters of
Bear River. I think they got 80 cents apiece for them."

The Vigilantes ceased to function after 1865 and with
the advent of a transcontinental railroad lawlessness in the
west was well under control by state and territorial gov-
ernments.

Concerning Maude (Adams) Kiskadden we need say
but little. She has her name in Who's Who in America and
her place in the hearts of the American people. She has
never forgotten her natal city of Salt Lake. In the state
capitol are three life-sized portraits of the state's most
famous actress presented by her to the people of the state.
Now at the age of seventy-five she is still teaching in
Stephens College at Columbia, Missouri. The fame she won
in The Little Minister, Joan of Arc and Peter Pan will
ever endear her to those who have seen those marvelous
performances and for her, have won the honorary LL.D
degree from the great University of Wisconsin.

Authorities consulted:

Vigilante Days and Ways by Langsford; Vigilantes by
Dimsdale; Forty years on the Frontier by Stuart; Ben
Holladay by Frederick; The City of the Saints by Burton;
Roughing It by Mark Twain; Research Notes by Roderick
Korns; Sexton's records of the City and Mt. Olivet ceme-
teries of Salt Lake City; grave markers; marriage records
of Virginia City, Montana; records of Salt Lake County,
Utah, and Clark County, Missouri; divorce records of Salt
Lake County, Utah.

John Stratton, a carpenter, who worked at Gold Hill
in the Medicine Bow Range during the excitement in the
1890's, used to borrow expensive tobacco from a neighborly
prospector. Later Stratton drifted to Cripple Creek where
he made the strike that devoloped into the Independence
Mine. Ultimately he was worth $25,000,000. Each Christ-
mas for many years he sent a $100 bill to his Wyoming
prospector friend.

The dry work in the court of Col. Luke Murrin, first
mayor and justice of the peace in Cheyenne after the city's
incorporation by the Dakota Legislature, was relieved by
the judge's habit of exacting 25 cents extra from each person
fined, for the purchase of liquid refreshments for the court.
It was the judge's custom to inflict a fine of $10 on any
person shooting at another within the city limits "whether
he hit anyone or not."

Zhe DedicatioH of
Zexas Zrail Moyiuments in Wyommg

By LOUISE LOVE*

Wyoming's early cattle men and the drivers of the old
Texas Trail were honored at three impressive ceremonies
in southeastern Wyoming, August 1. On that day old-time
cowboys who remember the swirling dust and bawling
cattle of the trail drives of the '70's and '80's gathered with
members of the American Pioneer Trails Association and
residents of the three communities to dedicate monuments
in memory of the far-seeing cowmen who created a great
cattle empire on the vast, empty plains of the West and
of those dogged, valiant cowpunchers who trailed the cattle
up the long way from Texas to the Indian infested range
lands of Wyoming and Montana.

The three monuments mark the route of the old Texas
Trail through Wyoming, along which the Trails Association,
led by its president Dr. Howard R. Driggs of New York,
made a commemorative trek. Two were newly dedicated,
one at Pine Bluffs, where the Lincoln Highway intersects
the route of the old trail, and one at the mouth of Rawhide
Creek between Torrington and Lingle at a point where the
path of the oft stampeding cattle crossed the present loca-
tion of U. S. Highway 26. The third monument, which
marks the route of the old trail as it traversed the site of
modern LaGrange, had been dedicated seven years pre-
viously and was rededicated and formally presented to the
state August 1.

The erection of the monument at Pine Bluffs was spon-
sored by the local Lions Club, the Wyoming Stock Growers
Association, the families of D. H. and J. W. Snyder and the
citizens of the city. One surface of the marker portrays a
scene on the trail, with cowboys pointing the Texas long
horns across a gulch, while Indian smoke signals rise in

*Louise O'Leary Love was born in New York but as a young child
came to Cheyenne, where .she attended the public schools. She
graduated with honors from the University of Colorado receiving
an A. B. degree. In 1929 she married Captain Ralph F. Love,
U.S.A. and spent a number of years in the Philippines and Hawaii.
After the death of Colonel Love in the Pacific Theater in World
War II she and her son, Thomas Wilfred, returned to Cheyenne.
She is a reporter and feature writer for the Wyoming Eagle at
present.

Dedication of Texas Trail Monument, Pine Bluffs, August 1, 1948. Henry
Swan, Dr. M. L. Morris, Dr. H. O. Brayer, Mrs. E. A. Dahlquist, E. A.
Dahiquist, Col. E. N. Wentworth, Governor L. C. Hunt, Russell Thorp,
Dr. Howard R. Driggs, A. A. Smith, W. D. Gordon, Mary A. McGrath,
Clarence Jackson, Major Proctor.

TEXAS TRAIL MONUMENTS 95

the background, and in the lower right hand corner is a
map tracing the route of the trail through Wyoming. On
the reverse side is pictured a longhorn steer carrying the
LF Connected brand, which was on the first herds to be
grazed in Wyoming in 1867. This was the Snj^der brand
and was used here in partnership with John Iliff. Sur-
rounding the likeness of the LF animal is a collection of
other Texas Trail brands.

In dedicating the monument Mr. Russell Thorp, Secre-
tary of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, made the
following address:

"It is entirely fitting and proper that a memorial be
placed on this spot, as Pine Bluffs in the early days was
the largest live stock shipping point on the Union Pacific
railroad; not only thousands of Wyoming cattle trailed to
Pine Bluffs to load for market, but many thousands were
trailed from southern Montana and northern WVoming
through Kessler's Gap to the northwest to this station.

"Wyoming has alwaj^s been a cattleman's country, and
the state will continue to be a cowman's stronghold.

"The story of the cattle business in Wyoming is one of
glamour and romance, of tragedy and heartbreak, of hard
work and splendid accomplishments. It is a story of years
of af^uence, prosperity and boom days almost beyond the
realm of imagination; a story of unbelievable blizzards,
drought and erosion, business 'panics' and depression, and
great financial losses. It is also a story of cattle rustlers,
sheep and cattle wars, struggles against so-called bureau-
cratic encroachment. It is a story of a satisfactory way of
living, gained through a continual struggle to preserve the
right to enjoy the freedom so cherished by every rugged
individualist.

"The days of great herds of Texas longhorns grazing
on unlimited acres that lay uninhabited and unclaimed until
the cowman built his small ranch buildings and corral, have
given way to an era of fenced-in pastures, limited ranges,
modern ranch buildings and purebred herds. But despite
the great continually changing background of Indians, rust-
lers, stock detectives, land sharks, and extremes of weather,
the cattleman has survived because Wyoming offers the
natural habitat and surroundings for his calling. He has
created Wyoming's greatest industry.

"By 1868 the great migration of men and cattle from
the south was well under way. Three hundred thousand
cattle each year left Texas for the northern ranges with
more than eight hundred thousand at the peak in 1884.
From that time on, the numbers decUned to the one last
through herd in 1897, although about nine years prior to

96 ANNALS OF WYOMING

that time the rail connections had been completed to Orin
Junction.

"'In reviewing the news items from the early files
of the Lusk Herald, I find in 1887:

'A Hash Knife outfit from Texas is driving a herd of
2,300 cattle through the country.'

"And again in later issues:
'Two herds of Matadore cattle, numbering 4,500 head Y
brand, passed through Lusk last Monday on the way to
Montana.'

'Two herds, numbering 4.300, passed through Lusk last
week. They belonged to Lee and Scott and were being
driven to Montana.'

'A Hash Knife herd of 2,000 head passed through Lusk
on the way to ranges near Stoneville, Montana.'

"August 18, 1892, the Herald recorded:
'Probably the last trail herd of the season passed through
here Sunday from the south bound for the northern ranges.
It was the OX outfit consisting of 2,000 head.'

"The last record we find is dated June 24, 1896:
'Another XIT trail herd struck this town the first of the
week on its way to Montana ranges.'

"Author J. Evetts Haley, eminent historian, records:
'In 1897 only one syndicate (XIT) herd, and its last, made
the long trek. The coming of the nester, his control of
waterings and his network of barbed wire fences brought
to an end the greatest and most spectacular pastoral move-
ment of all time.'

"I have in my records a log of the Texas Trail as kept
by Ealy Moore, trail boss, in which he recorded his day
by day movements from Texas to Montana. For example:

June 14, 1892. Camped fifteen miles of Pine Bluffs, Wyo.

June 15, 1892. Passed by Pine Bluffs. Rained that eve-
ning.

June 16, 1892. Camped twenty mile from Pine Bluffs.

June 17, 1892. Got to Horse Creek.

June 18, 1892. Got to Hawk Springs on Horse Creek.

June 19, 1892, Camped three miles north of Horse
Creek.
And here is the interesting part:

June 20, 1892. Camped 3 miles of North Platte River.
Helped a N — N herd and Chris across today.

June 21, 1892, Assisted Jim Vaughn to cross his herd
in the forenoon, and tried to cross mine in the afternoon,
but failed.

June 22,1892. Assisted Jack Horn to cross.

June 23, 1892. Helped to cross Mil's, my own and Dan's
herds. Camped one mile from the river.

TEXAS TRAIL MONUMENTS . 97

June 24, 1}j92. Camped 8 miles up Rai\' Hide from the
river.

June 25, 1802. Made a cut off of about 4 miles and camped
just below Coffee's ranch.

June 26, 1892. Camped 10 miles of Lusk.

June 27, 1892. Passed through Lusk, Wyo., and camped
6 miles beyond.

"Thus we find it required four days to swim seven herds
of cattle, aggregating fifteen thousand head, across the
Platte River at the mouth of Rawhide.

"I desire to commend and pay tribute to the Lions
Club, Dr. Morris, and citizens of eastern Laramie County
and the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, in erecting
this beautiful, substantial monument to preserve for pos-
terity a memorial to the Texas Trail drivers, and to mark
permanently the Texas Trail over which passed that great
procession of Texas longhorns that laid the foundation for
the future of Wyoming and the great northwest. It is
significant that the State of Wyoming gives appropriate
recognition to this historic event."

Mr. Thorp quoted from a letter written by the late
Senator John B. Kendrick, who first came to Wyoming as
a Texas Trail driver and later became Governor, United
States Senator and one of the leading cattle men:

"Another interesting thing I might mention is that I
do not remember coming in contact with or seeing a wire
fence between Fort Worth, Texas and the head of the
Running Water in Wyoming," Senator Kendrick wrote.
"The most hardened and unobservant cowboy could not
help but be impressed with the beautiful and ever varying
scenery on the way. The element of danger that was a
part of almost every day's experience did not detract from
the fascination of the trip, you may be sure — the danger
from Indians and the holding of a large herd of cattle in
a night so dark that no ray or glimmer of light was to be
seen, and when the most insignificant incident or the slight-
est accident — a stumbling horse, a flash of lightning, the
smell of a wild animal, might cause a stampede that would
last for hours. After such a night of hardship and terror
the men would be exhausted and utterly discouraged with
their lot, but a good night's rest would cause them to look
upon life in the same cheerful way again.

"What at one time was the great highway traversed
by great herds of cattle in charge of capable men and ac-
companied by thousands of horses, has been abandoned
and lives now, if at all, only as a part of the history and
development of the great West."

Reverse side of Texas Trail Monument at Pine Bluffs, Wyoming

TEXAS TRAIL MONUMENTS 99

As a first hand description of life in Wyoming when the
livestock industry was in its infancy, Mr. Thorp read a
most interesting letter from the late Col. C. F. Coffee, who
also trailed into Wyoming with the longhorns and remained
to help establish ranching in the state.

The colonel related how he had hired out to D. H. and
J. W. Snyder to drive a herd of cattle from Texas to Wyo-
ming Territory in 1871.

"They were driving ten herds with about 1,500 head to
the herd. In those days driving thru was a hardship, as
we had to break the trail, fight Indians, and scare buffaloes
out of the way to keep them from stampeding our cattle.
There were thousands of them after striking Kansas and
Nebraska. . . . Well, we got thru to Cheyenne along in
August, after three months on the trail."

Following the dedication at Pine Bluffs the party moved
on to LaGrange where the monument of the Texas Trail
was rededicated and deeded to the Wyoming Historical
Landmark Commission. This marker was originally dedi-
cated on July 4, 1941 and was erected by the citizens of the
community and the Wyoming Stock Growers Association.

The monument at the mouth of Rawhide Creek is sim-
ilar to the one at Pine Bluffs except that the reverse side
bears sketches of four longhorns with the following brands:
OW (Kendrick), 010 Bar (Coffee), JK (Warren Live Stock
Co.), and HILL (Hill family). The Lions Clubs of Torring-
ton and Lingle, the Wyoming Stock Growers Association,
the Warren Live Stock Company and the families of Sen.
John B. Kendrick, Col. C. F. Coffee and Mr. Hill sponsored
the erection of this memorial.

Among the speakers at this dedication was Dr. Driggs
who pleaded to have the story of the real cowboy given to
the young people of the country. He believes that there
is as much, or more heroism and romance in the true history
of the West as there is in the radio and movie versions
which are presented to the boys and girls today. He
stressed the worth of real history in preserving America's
traditions and ideals, and declared: "There is only one
sure cure for Communism, and that's Americanism."

It is fitting that the long neglected story of the early
cattlemen be placed before this and future generations.
The organizations and individuals who have participated in
the erection and dedication of these monuments deserve
our heartfelt congratulations and cooperation.

The first postmaster at Banner lived on Prairie Dog
Creek at the foot of Massacre Hill on the Bozeman Trail.
His outfit had a flag as a brand, hence the name Banner.

100 ANNALS OF WYOMING

ERRATA

The caption beneath cover illustration in the ANNALS
OF WYOMING, Volume 20, No. 2, July 1948, is in error.
The Yellowstone Park chronology for 1890 indicates that
"the first steamboat, the Zillah, was hauled by horses from
Cinnabar to the Lake. The boat was built in Dubuque, was
in service on Lake Minnetonka, then taken to the Park by
Captain Waters." The steamship began operations in July
1891 between Lake Hotel and West Thumb, making the
round trip and stopping enroute at Dot Island where a zoo
was maintained which included Big Horn sheep, bison,
wapiti and antelope.

D. Harvey Attfield of Walford, England, who made a
special trip to the United States in 1891, with the intention
of purchasing soda lakes in Sweetwater County, arrived in
Rawlins in February. After traveling from Rawlins to the
lakes in a buckboard, a distance of sixty miles or more, over
rough roads and through the severe cold, he decided to
return to England without making the purchase.

An Indian maiden and her lover, following an eagle
feather that had been blown from her hair by a gust of
wind, discovered the giant Hot Springs at Thermopolis,
according to an ancient Indian legend. Another legend has
it that any feather dropped at the head of Wind River
Canyon will float on the ever prevailing wind down to the
Hot Springs at Thermopolis.

The first sheep sheared by the steam shearing method
in this country was sheared by Mrs. J. B. Okie in 1894 at the
Okie ranch at Lost Cabin. J. B. Okie operated the nrst
steam sheep shearing plant in the United States. Before
a large group of shearers, sheep owners, wool buyers and
Casper citizens, Mrs. Okie sheared her sheep in less than
five minutes.

Beaver Dick Lake in Grand Teton National Park was
named for Richard Leigh, a well known hunter, trapper
and guide of the area. Leigh received his nickname,
"Beaver Dick," not because of his expertness at trapping
beaver, but because of his striking resemblance to the rodent
given him by two abnormally large upper front teeth.

The first bicycle tour of Yellowstone National Park was
made by W. W. Owens in 1883 on an old time high wheel
bicvcle.

ACCESSIONS 101

ACCESSIONS

to the
Wyoming- Historical Department

May 15, 1948 to November 6, 1948

Torrey, Mrs. Sarah and Hodge, Wallace B., West Plains, Missouri:
Gold and ivory gavel presented to Col. J. L. Torrey as speaker
of the House of Representatives in 1895. May 19, 1948.

Brown, Mary A., Cheyenne, Wyoming: Picture of Edith K. O.
Clark, Mrs. John B. Kendrick; certificate of election of Edith
K. O. Clark. June 1, 1948.

Christian, Mrs. Elsie, Lusk, Wyoming: Large oil painting of Hat
Creek Stage Station with which Mrs. Christian won 1st prize
at the 1947 State Fair. June 5, 1948.

American and British Commonwealth Association through Archie
Allison of Cheyenne, Wyoming: Fragment of British House
of Commons bombed in 1941. June 1948.

Peilman, Gerald, Cheyenne, Wyoming: Rocks and artifacts. June
5, 1948.

Plummer, Roy O., San Diego, California: Six Pliocene fossils. June
18, 1948.

Hawkins, Ralph C, Casper, Wyoming: One piece of Indian pot-
tery. June 29, 1948.

Ft. Laramie National Monument, Ft. Laramie, Wyoming: Piece of
siding from "Old Bedlam" removed during restoration process.
July 13, 1948.

Newton, A. A., Chicago, Illinois: Map showing passes in Conti-
nental Divide in Wyoming. July 13, 1948.

Kendall, Jane, Cheyenne, Wyoming: Large m^ap of Laramie County,
1916. July 13, 1948.

Wolf, Mrs. Frank, Cheyenne, Wyoming: Indian drum band, pipe,
moccasins, scrapper, beads, mano and metate. August 1, 1948.

Peters, Orin, Cheyenne, Wyoming: Old fashioned sterling silver
dressing table accessories. August 5, 1948.

Richardson, Laura and Valeria, Cheyenne, Wyoming: Nine strings
of beads. August 6, 1948.

Meyers, E. D., Cheyennne, Wyoming: Five books with early im-
prints; fossil fish. August 10, 1948.

Mui'phy, Edward, Cheyenne, Wyoming: Complete private's uni-
form from World War I. August 5, 1948.

Legler, Jerry, Cheyenne, Wyoming: Japanese gas mask, World
War II. August 5, 1948.

Van Valin, Mrs. J. F., Powell, Wyoming: Picture of Bald Mountain
City. August 20, 1948.

102 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Morris, Jess, Dalhart, Texas: Song Ridin' oV Paint an' leadin' oV
Ball together with letters regarding the song. August 20, 1948.

Department of the Army, Washington, D. C: Gas mask, flame
thrower, apparatus decontaminating, portable chemical cyl-
inder. August 23, 1948.

McCulley, Wayne, Casper, Wyoming: Cannon ball, bayonet, trowle
bayonet found near old Ft. Brown. August 20, 1948.

Ekdall, A. B., Cheyenne, Wyoming: Piece of ribbon barbed wire
used to fence in the '70's. September 15, 1948.

Cooper, James F., Denver, Colorado: Picture of settlers in Wyo-
ming between 1860-1870 and those between 1870-1890 taken at
State Fair in 1914. Sept. 15, 1948.

Carlisle, Bill, Laramie, Wyoming: Laramie Boomerang, Jan. 26,
1891; large piece of petrified wood from Medicine Bow. October
1, 1948.

Mashek, Mrs. Grace, Lusk, Wyoming: Picture of first couple mar-
ried at Lusk in 1896 and picture of Congregational Church at
Lusk. Sept. 25, 1948.

Robinson, Mrs. Lance, Rock River, Wyoming: Pair of liigh laced
ladies' shoes and old style black silk gloves. October 10, 1948.

Hendreschke, John, Farson, Wyoming: Old padlock found at Big
Sandy Crossing on Oregon Trail. October 10, 1948.

Rietz, Mrs. Minnie A.: Photograph of 1897 countrj^ school class.
October 4, 1948.

Books — Purchased

Mirsky, Jeannette, The westward crossing. Knopf, New York, 1946.
Price $2.67.

Pikes Peak Guide, 1859, (Map reprint). Parker & Huyett, 1859.
Price $3.00

Pikes Peak Guide, 1859, (Reprint.) Parker & Huvett, 1859. Price
$5.00.

Swartwout, A. F., Missie, historical biography of Annie Oakley.
Brown, Blanchester. Ohio, 1947. Price $3.15.

Wentworth, E. N., America's sheep trails. Iowa State College,
Ames, 1948. Price $5.60.

Nve, Nelson C, Outstanding modern quarter horse sires. Morrow,
New York, 1948, Price $3.35.

White, John, Sketclies from A7nerica. Sampson Low, London. 1870.
Price $7.50.

Hafen, LeRoy, Overland routes to the gold fields. Clark, Glendale.
1942. Price $7.50.

Thwaites, R. G., Early Western Travels, Vol. 21. Clark, Glendale,
1905. Price $10.00.

ACCESSIONS 103

Spring, Agnes W., ed., William Chapin Deming. vols. 3 and 4.
Clark, Glendale, 1947. Price $12.50.

Rollinson, J. K., Wyoviing cattle trails. Caxton, Caldwell, 1948.
Price $3.45.

Mills, Harlow B., Bugs, birds and blizzards. Collegiate press,
Ames, la., 1937. Price $.44.

Cook, James H., Longhorn cowboy. Putnani, New York, 1942.
Price $1.34.

Westerners Brand book. Los Angeles. Vv''esterners, Los Angeles,
1948. Price $6.00.

Westerners Brand book, Chicago. Westerners, Chicago, 1948. Price
$5.00.

Paul, Elliott, A ghost tovjn en the Yellowstone. Random House,
New York, 1948. Price S2.34.

Vestal, Stanley, Warjoath and. council fire. Random House, New
York, 1948. Price $2.34.

Salisbury, Albert, Here rolled tlie covered wagons. Superior,
Seattle, 1948. Price $4.00.

Books — Gifts

Union Pacific Railroad intermountain industrial properties. UPRR,
n.d. Donated by Ray Emerj^ Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Cheyenne City Directory, 1945. Polk, Salt Lake City, 1945. Do-
nated by Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce.

Williams, Ralph B., and Matteson, Clyde P., Jr., Wyoming haiuks.
Wyoming Game and Fish Dept., Cheyenne. 1948. Donated by
the depai'tment.

Holy Bible. 6 vols. London, 1810. Donated by Bruce Jones, Chey-
enne, Wyoming, from the estate of Arthur Colley Jones, Lara-
mie, Wyoming, 1882-1947.

Miscellaneous Purchases

Framed photograph of Wyoming Bar Association. Feb. 9. 1915.
Purchased from J. E. Stimson, July 10, 1948. Cost $11.50.

r

Ah mis of Wyoming

July-October, 1949

Nos. 2-i^

AN HISTORICAL MAGAZINE

1849-1949

Published Bi-Annually by

THE WYOMING STATE HISTORICAL DEPARTMENT

Cheyenne, Wyoming

'I

!

A^mls of Wyoming

Vol. 21 July-October, 1949 Nos. 2-3

Contents

Page
THE MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE; The

Journal of William A. Empey, May 7- August 4, 1847 HI

Transcribed and edited by Dale L. Morgan.

FORT LARAMIE, a poem 168

By Mae Urbanek.

HISTORIC FORT LARAMIE, THE HUB OF EARLY

WESTERN HISTORY, 1834-1849 170

By Hazel Noble Boyack.

HISTORY OF ALBANY COUNTY WYOMING TO 1880 181

By Lola Homsher.

THE SLAUGHTER OF THE BISON, a poem 214

By Jens K. Grondahl.

QUOTE AND UNQUOTE; the contributions of Russell

Thorp to the Wyoming cattle industry 216

DEDICATION OF MONUMENT HONORING

RACHEL E. PATTISON 223

BOOK REVIEW: THE CHEYENNE AND BLACK HILLS
STAGE AND EXPRESS ROUTES, by Agnes Wright
Spring. Reviewed by Lola Homsher 225

WYOMING'S COW-BELLES 228

"MERCI" TRAIN 236

ACCESSIONS to the Wyoming State Historical Department 238

ILLUSTRATIONS

William A. Empey 110

Road Sign: Fort Laramie National Monument.

(Photo by Col. A. R. Boyack.) Cover

Agnes Wright Spring 224

Copyright 1949, by the Wyoming State Historical Department

STATE HISTORICAL BOARD

Arthur G. Crane, President (Acting) Governor

Everett T. Copenhaver State Auditor

C. J. "Doc" Rogers State Treasurer

Edna B. Stolt Superintendent of Public Instruction

Ellen Crowley, Secretary State Librarian & Ex-Officio

State Historian

Mary Elizabeth Cody, Assistant Historian

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

Herbert T. Harris, Basin

D. B. Hilton, Sundance

Joe Joff e, Yellowstone Park

Mrs. J. H. Jacobucci, Green River

P. W. Jenkins, Big Piney

W. C. Lawrence, Moran

Mrs. Eliza Lythgoe, Cowley

Mrs. Elsa Spear Byron, Sheridan A. J. Mokler, Casper

Mrs. G. C. Call, Afton
Oliver J. Colyer, Torrington
E. A. Gaensslen, Green River
Hans Gautschi, Lusk
Burt Griggs, Buffalo

Charles Oviatt, Sheridan

Mrs. Minnie Reitz, Wheatland

Mrs. Effie Shaw, Cody

John Charles Thompson, Cheyenne

Russell Thorp, Cheyenne

Published Bi-Annually by

THE WYOMING STATE HISTORICAL DEPARTMENT

ELLEN CROWLEY

State Librarian and Ex-Officio State Historian

Cheyenne, Wyoming

The State Historical Board, the State Historical Advisory Board
and the State Historical Department assume no responsibility for
any statement of fact or opinion expressed by contributors to the
ANNALS OF WYOMING.

The Wyoming State Historical Department is endeavoring to pre-
serve the State's history for the enjoyment, study and knowledge
of this and future generations through the medium of the ANNALS
OF WYOMING.

The support of all the citizens of the State is needed in this impor-
tant work. The Department solicits the presentation of not only
museum items, but also of letters, diaries, family histories, and
manuscripts of Wyoming citizens. It welcomes the writings and
observations of those familiar with important and significant events
pertaining to Wyoming history.

All communications concerning the ANNALS should be addressed
to Miss Ellen Crowley, Wyoming State Historical Department,
Supreme Court and State Library Building, Cheyenne, Wyoming.

This publication is sent gratis to all State Officials, heads of State
Departments, members of the State Historical Advisory Board,
Wyoming County Libraries and Wyoming newspapers.

Subscription price $1.50 per year, single copies 75^.

Printed by the Wyoming Labor Journal
Cheyenne, Wyoming

CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE

HAZEL NOBLE BOYACK was born in northern Arizona and ob-
tained her early schooling there. Her parents and grandparents
trekked over the Oregon Trail to the West in 1847-1862 and through-
out their lives did extensive colonization work in the intermountain
region. Mrs. Boyack attended the Brigham Young University from
which she was graduated, the University of Utah, the University
of Southern California and the University of Iowa. Since her
marriage to Colonel A. R. Boyack in 1923, she has lived in Wyo-
ming where she has done considerable research in Wyoming his-
tory and has been a leader m various civic activities. She is the
mother of three children, Elnora, member of the B. Y. U. faculty;
Virginia, graduate nurse; and Robert, Marine veteran and univer-
sity student. Mrs. Boyack's article utilizes materials which she is
collecting for a Master's Degree thesis in Western history. She
has written other articles on the same subject which have appeared
in various newspapers and magazines.

JENS K. GRONDAHL was editor of the RED WING DAILY RE-
PUBLICAN in Red Wing, Minnesota from 1913 to 1938. He wrote
numerous poems, sketches and songs, including "Fighting for Cuba,''
and the anthem, "America, My Country," which was selected for
national community singing, and adopted for schools by educational
departments of several states. He was prominent in state journal-
istic and political affairs and served three terms in the Minnesota
State Legislature.

LOLA HOMSHER, Archivist, University of Wyoming, received her
B. A. degree from Colorado State College of A. & M. in 1936, and
her M. A. degree from the University of Wyoming in August 1949.
From 1941 to 1943 she was Assistant Historian in the Wyoming
State Historical Department. As a contributor to the Mississippi
Valley Historical Review in September 1946, she wrote concerning
the Archives of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association.

DALE L. MORGAN. The introduction and notes to the diary of
William A. Empey illustrate, to some degree, Mr. Morgan's dual
historical interests: Mormonism and the Far West. Research and
writing in the historical field have occupied Mr. Morgan ever since
his graduation from the University of Utah in 1937, when he
became historical editor for the WPA Historical Records Survey.
He was appointed director of the Writers' Project in 1940.

Born in Salt Lake City in 1914, this native Westerner has pub-
lished two books of his own on western history. The Humholdt:
Highroad of the West (1943) in the Rivers of America series, and
The Great Salt Lake (1947) in the American Lakes series. He has
contributed to three other books and numerous magazines and
historical and literary reviews, and has edited various publications
for the Historical Records Survey and the Writer's' Program.

Mr. Morgan is currently working on the final chapters of the
first volume of the history of the Mormons for which he began
research in 1947, with the aid of a fellowship granted by the John
Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. He carried on extensive
research for this history in Washington, D. C, where he served from
1942 through 1946 on the staff of the Department of Information of

CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE 109

the OPA. After leaving Washington, he sought further information
for his book in libraries from Massachusetts to California, and fin-
ally returned to Salt Lake City in April 1948. Serving now as acting
editor of the Utah Historical Quarterly, and carrying on several
other projects relating to the history of the Mormons and the West,
Mr. Morgan plans to complete the first book of his Mormon history
this fall. Two other books will complete the history, all of which
is to be published by Rinehart and Company.

AGNES WRIGHT SPRING, for biography see Annals of Wyo-
ming, Vol. 13, p. 237.

MAE URBANEK, a resident of Niobrara County since 1931, was
accorded nation-wide recognition this year when six of her poems
were published in a collection entitled. Important American Poets
and Songwriters. Her poem, "Fort Laramie," in this issue of the
Annals, was written by special request for the centennial of
Old Fort Laramie which was celebrated August 9, 1949. Her
husband, Mr. Jerry Urbanek, recited the poem to open the pageant
at Fort Laramie.

A graduate of Northwestern School of Journalism, Mrs. Ur-
banek has been active with such organizations as the Niobrara
Homemakers' Council, The Wyoming Clubwoman, the Lusk Wom-
an's Club, and the 4H Clubs.

She has been writing poetry for her own pleasure since child-
hood, and her work has appeared in the Lusk Herald, and The
Wyoming Clubwoman. A collection of Mrs. Urbanek's poetry,
Niobrara Breezes, was published in 1946, the proceeds from the
sale of the pamphlet going to the Lusk Community Building Fund.

WILLIAM A. EMPEY

(Courtesy of Mrs. Ida Terry Empey)

The original photograph from which this print was made is
inscribed by William A. Empey, August 10, 1890, just nine days
before his death.

Zhe Mormon Jerry oh the J^orth Platte

The Journal of William A. Empey
May 7— August 4, 1847

DALE L. MORGAN

The nine men Brigham Young detailed in 1847 from his
Pioneer party to remain at the Upper Crossing of the North
Platte and operate a ferry for the benefit of the Saints and
the convenience of the Oregon and California immigration
established a famous institution in the history of the Over-
land Trail. There had been ferries to serve overland trav-
elers before this time, across the Missouri and the Kaw, but
the Mormon ferry at the Upper Crossing of the Platte
marked the beginning of commercial ferry operations in the
Rocky Mountains, foreshadowed similar ferries across the
Green and Bear rivers, and for six years played a prominent
role in the westward movement.

During 1847 and 1848 the Mormons had a monopoly in
the operation of ferries at the North Platte, though immi-
grants sometimes stayed on at the river for a time to pick
up an extra dollar or two by ferry work. The gold rush to
California broke up the Mormon monopoly, such as it was,
rival companies finding it to their advantage to come out
from the States to compete for the business. The ever-
growing stream of overland travel finally rendered the
ferries obsolete, by underwriting the investment required
to bridge the river.

The journal of William A. Empey, as here published
with supplemental extracts from the journal of Appleton
M. Harmon, presents an almost complete picture of the
operations of the Mormon ferry during its first year. No
such records exist for the following years, but a general
picture of the ferry can be gained in 1849 and 1850, and at
least one reference is to be found to the Mormon ferry as
late as 1852, the last year before John Richard's bridge
permanently swept the ferries from the river.

The nine men selected to run the Mormon ferry as
first established were Thomas Grover, John S. Higbee,
William A. Empey, Appleton M. Harmon, Edmund Ells-
worth, Luke Johnson, Francis M. Pomeroy, James Daven-
port, and Benjamin F. Stewart.^ After the greater part of
the Oregon and California immigration had passed, Grover,

112 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Ellsworth, Pomeroy, and Stewart turned east to meet their
families, who were coming along with the great migration
following in the track of the Mormon Pioneers. Of those
who waited at the ferry, three were to be disappointed in
any expectations they may have had that their own fam-
ilies would be along, and these three, Empey, Harmon, and
Johnson, after the Mormon immigration passed by, rode on
down the Platte to wait at Fort Laramie for the Pioneers
returning from the Great Salt Lake. Harmon found em-
ployment at the fort as a blacksmith, and stayed there until
March, but Johnson and Empey journeyed on back to the
States. All three men appear to have migrated to Utah
with the immigration of 1848, and of the three only Harmon
had any further connection with the Platte ferry.

Although little is known about their experiences or
identity, a company of Saints journeyed to the Platte in the
spring of 1848 for the dual purpose of operating the ferry
and of taking East teams for the year's Mormon immigra-
tion. It is probably these of whom Eliza R. Snow writes
in her diary on May 18, "Hancock, Ellsworth & others start
with teams to meet the immigrants." And again on May
23, "Another com[pany] start with 35 Vv^agons to meet the
immigrants." In August, she and others having gone on an
excursion up into the mountains above Salt Lake Valley,
she noted that they returned in company with, "Ellsworth
& Hancock who came up with us on Mon[day] from the
Platte, & arriv'd in the valley on Fr[iday] the 18th."-
From these notations, it would seem that Edmund Ellsworth
and Levi Hancock were among those who served the ferry
in 1848. The identity of the others is not easily established.

It was a forceful precedent that the ferrymen this year
came from the West rather than from the East. After
1848, each year till the Platte Bridge was built, a company
set out from Great Salt Lake City to reach the river in
advance of the year's immigration. The overland journals
of 1848 are few in number, and only one daily diary of an
Oregon or California immigrant is known. Riley Root,
headed for Oregon, arrived at the ferry on June 15 to find
a group of Saints already there. "The Mormons from Salt
Lake," he commented, "had arrived a few days previous,
and prepared a raft for crossing." He crossed the river
next day, though whether ferried by the Saints he neglects
to say.^

Six weeks later, when the Mormon immigration reached
the Upper Crossing, their brethren were awaiting them.
Hosea Stout wrote in his journal on August 4, "several
from the Valley , . . had come to meet us & had been also

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 113

ferrying the Oregon Emegrants over the Platte."^ Their
presence was welcome, not so much in crossing the river,
which by August could usually be forded, as in the fresh
teams they had ready to take up the burden from the failing
oxen of the immigration.

Rather more is known about ferry operations in 1849.
Appleton Harmon was one of a company of nine who trav-
eled to the ferry, and in his autobiography he gives a con-
densed account of their experiences. They arrived, he says,
on the 27th of May, "and commenced ferrying the 28 a very
heavey emegration ware passing to California and in July
2 battalions of U. S. troops crossed at our ferry on their
way to Oreigon-"^ and one Company of our own emegrants
going to the Valley, a bout the last of July and after the
river became fordable we having earned and divided $646.50
cts to each of us. we bought each of us a waggon and oxen
to draw it and Started to the valley."**

Besides Harmon, the ferrymen this year were Charles
Shumway, Madison B. Hableton, James Allred, John Greene,
Andrew Lytle, one Potter, and two others whose names do
not appear. Shumway was evidently in charge, for a letter
from him in the archives of the Church, written apparently
at the end of May from the "Upper Platte Ferry," advises
that his company "arrived there on the 27th, raised their
boats, and found them in good order. . . . On the 29th the
first company of emigrants for the California gold mines
reached the ferry, who stated that the road thence to the
Missouri river was lined with emigrant wagons for the same
destination."'^

Numerous overland journals of 1849 make mention of
the Mormon ferry. Among the earliest was William G.
Johnston, who noted in his journal on June 3, "Contrary
to expectation, based upon the common reputation of these
Latter-Day Saints, we found those in charge of the ferry
men of respectable appearance, well informed, polite, and
in every way agreeable. They showed us specimens of
California gold, the first we had seen, and their accounts as
to the Eldorado were as extravagant as any we have had."^
William Kelly, who came along a day later, adds that the
ferrymen were "strong^ entrenched in a heavy timber
palisading, for their own protection and the security of
their animals," the Crows just then being troublesome in
the extreme. As Kelly describes the ferryboat, it was
similar in all respects to that of 1847; it was perhaps the
same craft, even, consisting of a large platform constructed
on two dug-out canoes. "This structure they worked with
three large oars, one at each side, and one as a rudder,

114 ANNALS OF WYOMING

getting over smoothly enough, but at a terrible slant, which
gave them hard labour in again working up against the
stream, even with the assistance of two yoke of oxen pulling
on the bank as on a canal.'"-*

William Johnston's cordial opinion of the Saints at the
ferry was echoed by a Dr. Caldwell, who came along on
June 27. "Entered our names to cross," his diary says,
"when our turn comes. This is 5 miles below the old cross-
ing, of Fremont & others. They have but one boat here,
which is a good one, & very careful hands. The Mormons
appear honest so far as dealing with them They conduct
matters very well here, & have a smithery with 2 forges,
but charge high. They are numerous at this place. Swim
the cattle, & charge $3.00 per wagon for ferrying. "^"^

But* the Mormon ferrymen did not fare so well in every
passerby's opinion. Israel F. Hale remarked on June 24
that the Saints apparently had "removed the ferry a few
miles lower down that the emigrants may cross and leave
the grass unmolested for their Mormon friends"^ ^ to arrive
later in the summer. More violently stirred was J. Golds-
borough Bruff , on July 16, who found the Saints so impor-
tunate in drumming up trade for their ferry that he threat-
ened to blow a hole through one of the brethren.^-

This struggle for business is more understandable when
it is realized that rival ferries were operating all the way
from the Mormon ferry site to Deer Creek. Amos Batch-
elder, who crossed on July 17 by the ferry just above Deer
Creek, noted that it was maintained by a small company
made up of men, women, and children, with three wagons
and several cows, butter from which was an un'ixpected
luxury. ^-^ Captain Howard Stansbury on July 25 crossed
by this same ferry, paying $2 per wagon, which he thought
by no means extortionate, considering that "the ferryman
had been for months encamped here in a little tent, exposed
to the assaults of hordes of wandering savages, for the sole
purpose of affording this accommodation to travelers." He
was informed that 28 men had been drowned trying to ford
the river this year, though he received the information
with all due skepticism.'^ Stansbury was near the tail end
of the immigration, and the river was about to become
fordable, hence it is quite possible that the Mormon ferry
was abandoned by the time he passed its site.

In 1850 Appleton Harmon was destined for England as
a missionary, rather than for the North Platte as a ferryman,
but his journal is nevertheless once more a useful source
on the ferry. The company of missionaries of which he was
a member left Salt Lake Valley on April 20, and soon over-

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 115

took "Captain Andrew Lytles Company who ware goin to
establish a ferry on the platte river." This year the Cah-
fornia immigration had got the jump on the ferrymen,
being met by the eastbound Saints as early as May 15, and
as far west as the Dry Sandy.

Under date of May 25 Harmon writes: "we camped
on the Platte bottom the river being verry high and our
oxen being some what fatienged, we thought to Stop a
fiew days and recruit. Capt. Lytles Co. ware here one day
before us and had commenced a flat boat, we took hold
and helped them and suceded in launching one on the 28
Tuesday and with that commenced operations in ferring
this boat was maned with a crew, while the remainder of
us went to work and Built a larger one. they went to the
mountain for the gunwhales, and brought them down to
the river and sawed plank out of the Cotton wood and put
it together with wooden pins. Calked and pitched it."

Finally, on June 3, "we launched this big boat and
commenced ferrying with it. it worked nice and the eme-
grants were anchously waiting to give us $4 a waggon to
take them over the Platte was about 10 feet deep and
one hundred and fifty yards wide, during this delay we
had exchanged our oxen and waggons for four horses
harness and wagon. . . . Capt Lytle gave us $125 for what
we had done on the Boats, this we divided equally be-
tween us and we Crossed the River with our new team on
the new Boat, took leave of Capt Lytle and Company and
Started." 1^'

Jesse W. Crosby, who also was enroute to the English
mission, and who also had helped in the boat building, says
there were 16 in the party left at the ferry, and adds that
the boats "were managed by means of large ropes stretched
across the stream, then v/ith puUy blocks working on the
before named rope, then Guy ropes attached to each end
of the boat, and to the two blocks with pulleys, then drop
one end of the boat so that the force of the current pressing
against it will push the boat across, then reverse the process
and the boat will recross and make in about five minutes. "^^

Evidence of continued stiff competition for business is
preserved in the year's overland diaries. Lorenzo Sawyer,
arriving June 3, found "four boats running, one of which
belonged to the Mormons."^" Madison Berryman Moorman,
on June 29, clarifies this somewhat by explaining that there
were "four boats belonging to two parties: — one called the
'Missouri Ferry' & the other the 'Mormon Ferry.' The lat-
ter had but one boat & and the former three — all Buoy-
boats. They are decidedly the best boats I ever saw — much

116 ANNALS OF WYOMING

better than steam on as rapid a stream as this foaming
Platte. . . . The Mo. Ferry, as I was told by the ferryman —
averages about three hundred wagons a day at five dollars
each, besides multiplied hundreds of oxen — horses & mules
at from fifty cents to one dollar a piece. "^''* Sawyer had
found the fees slightly m.ore moderate than Moorman, $4
per wagon and 25 cents per head for animals. These prices
marked a stiff advance over those which prevailed in the
first year of the ferry, and are evidence of the pressure
upon the ferry facilities. This year, as in 1849, it seems to
have been necessary for immigrants to register and wait their
turn at the ferry.^^

For the last two years the Mormon ferry presumably
was maintained, little information seems to have survived.
Although I have not searched the overland journals ex-
haustively, I have not seen a Mormon ferry mentioned in
1851, and only by the Clark-Brown party in 1852. John
Hawkins Clark wrote on June 22, 1852, that his company
paid $32 for the passage of the river, adding plaintively,
"these plainsmen do not forget to charge. All have to
ferry their wagons, but most of the immigrants swim their
stock. Many cattle have been lost at this point and the
ferryman has a record of fifteen men drowned within the
last month. The boatman had, I think, located this ferry
on a difficult place in the river in order to force custom
over it." Clark does not say specifically that the ferry
was run by Mormons, but Godfrey C. Ingrim, a member
of the party whose reminiscences are quoted by Louise
Barry in editing the Clark journal, says that "there was
some Mormons that had a ferry here they charged five
dollars a wagon and men had to swim their teams or stock. "-"

The end of the Platte ferries was foreshadowed in 1851,
when the first mention of a bridge appears in the overland
journals.-^ John S. Zeiber, on July 12, 1851, noted the
presence of a bridge one mile above Deer Creek, or some 27
miles below the site of the original Mormon ferry, but as
he himself was here traveling up the north bank of the
river, a route first used by wagons in 1850, he had no occa-
sion to resort to either bridge or ferry.-- Albert Carrington,
who had gone east in the fall of 1850 with Captain Stans-
bury, and who was enroute back to Utah, commented on
this bridge on August 2, 1851, but he too was traveling up
the north bank and did not use the bridge. -^ Robert Robe,
who was one of those to travel up the south bank this year,
wrote in his journal on June 22, "Travelled from Deer
creek, which is a good camping place and arrived in the
evening at the upper Ferry. There is a bridge over Platte

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 117

at Deer creek but this does not seem to be much used.
There is also an intermediate ferry but this [i.e., the upper
ferry] is generally used."-^

A year later another traveler coming up the north bank
of the Platte wrote in his journal on June 29, "Our camp
tonight is a few miles above the crossing of the North Platte,
where the emigrants who traveled on the south side of the
river crossed over to the road of those who traveled on
the north side of the Platte. We understand that there is
a bridge at this crossing of the Platte."-^ This diarist did
not himself see the bridge, and his hearsay information
does not permit an authoritative answer to the question
whether the bridge actually was at the Upper Crossing or
near Deer Creek.

The idea has been prevalent that the first substantial
bridge across the North Platte was built in the winter of
1858-59, but the universal testimony of the overland jour-
nals is that such a bridge existed from 1853 on.-'' The later
bridge is supposed to have been built by John Richard, but
he was probably concerned in the bridge from the beginning.
The 1853 diaries I have examined do not specifically men-
tion Richard, but his name appears early enough in the
overland journals to make it a reasonable certainty that
the Platte Bridge was his enterprise from its inception. J.
Robert Brown wrote in 1856, "The brothers Richards (pro.
Rashaw) own the post and bridge here, and are coining
money from it; they have made over $200,000 apiece, but
that demon, gambling, keeps them down. They appear to
be very clever men. They are from Florisant, [Missouri]. "2'''

A correspondent of the Missouri Republican, writing
in that paper as early as November 2, 1853, called the Platte
Bridge a "substantial" affair, but it is not inconceivable
that it was replaced by another structure early in 1858, for
a later correspondent of the Repuhlican, writing from Rulo,
Nebraska, under date of August 22, 1858, comments, "Our
fellow-citizens, Charles IVTartin and Wm. Renceleur, have
just arrived from the Platte Bridge. They made the trip
to this place in seventeen days. Their partner in the bridge,
John Richards Esq., came with them."-"' They brought news
of the high excitement over the Pikes Peak gold discov-
eries, which doubtless gave a healthy fillip to their business.

But it is not my purpose to pursue the history of the
Platte Bridge, noted as it became in the history of Wyoming.
A more useful object will be served by providing some
biography of William A. Empey as an introduction to his
diary of 1847.

118 ANNALS OF WYOMING

William Adam Empey was born July 4, 1808, at Ossna-
brook, Storment County, Canada, the son of Adam and
Margaret Steenbergh Empey. His parents and grandpar-
ents were born in upper New York, but at some indeter-
minate date before William's birth moved to Canada. It
is not known just when William became a member of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormon
Church, but it was at some time anterior to the death of
Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet.

In accordance with Mormon doctrine of the time, before
the evacuation from Nauvoo Empey was "sealed" to Brig-
ham Young as an "adopted son," and subsequently he often
signed his name "William Y. Empey." When Brigham
Young set out from Winter Quarters in 1847 to find an
abiding place for the Saints, Empey was enlisted as a mem-
ber of the fifth company of ten. After the formation of a
night guard became prudent, he was one of 50 men selected,
a distinction he found onerous, as the entries in his diary
make plain. He had a reputation as a sober, conscientious,
entirely dependable person, and his journal exhibits all
these quaUties.

The first pages of his journal are missing, the record
beginning on May 7, three weeks after the journey com-
menced, and a week after the Mormon Pioneers came down
to the north bank of the Platte near Grand Island. The
laconic, somewhat monotonous entries made in the early
pages of the diary do not compare in interest with other
records of the Mormon Pioneer party. But fortunately, just
where Empey's diary has most to offer, with the inception
of the Mormon ferry, it becomes richest in detail. Though
some pages are gone, depriving us of his record of the
events of June 27- July 10, information about which m.ust
be had from the journal of Appleton M. Harmon, his journal
is our sole record of the ferry from July 14 to August 4,
Harmon's journal not extending beyond July 13.

With four others, Empey stayed on at the ferry until
the arrival of the Mormon family immigration in mid-
August of 1847. His journal would lead one to think that
he had expected his family with the Second Company. If
so, he was disappointed, and accordingly journeyed back to
Winter Quarters during the fall.

It is not known absolutely when Empey settled in Salt
Lake Valley, but he is included by the Daughters of Utah
Pioneers with their lists for 1848,^^ and this seems reason-
able because a Great Salt Lake City ordinance of November
10, 1849, appointed him from the Fifteenth Ward as one of
a number of assistant supervisors of streets, which prob-

MORMON FERRY ON THE. NORTH PLATTE 119

abl}^ would not have happened had he just arrived in the
Valley.-^" In February, 1850, he was given by the legisla-
ture of the State of Deseret a franchise for a ferry across
the Bear River, and he was active at this business during the
spring and summer of 1850.^^ The following winter he
volunteered or was "called" for the Iron County Mission
which settled Parowan, in southern Utah,^- but evidently
he retained an active interest in the operation of ferries,
for the first legislature of the Territory of Utah, meeting
during the winter of 1851-52, granted to him, Joseph Young,
John Young, and David Fullmer the ferry rights for Bear
River — meaning of course the lower river above its mouth
in Great Salt Lake, rather than the upper river in present
Wyoming.^^

In the summer of 1852 he was one among the Saints
called to serve a mission in England — a mission principally
interesting because it was the first sent out after the pubUc
avowal of the principle and practice of plural marriage,
and had the duty of defending that doctrine to the world.
The only other diary by Empey known to exist, apart from
the one here printed, describes this mission, beginning with
his departure from Great Salt Lake City on September 15,
1852, and ending April 20, 1854, when he was again on the
frontier preparing to set out for Utah.

Following his return to Utah, he again became associ-
ated in the operation of a ferry across the Bear River, but
in 1862 was one of those called to strengthen the "Cotton
Mission," and the remainder of his life was spent in Utah's
"Dixie" country. He established a farm at Tonaquint, at
the junction of the Virgin and Santa Clara rivers, and sub-
sequently a ranch between Central and Pine Valley. His
last years were devoted to viticulture. He died at St.
George, Utah, August 19, 1890, at the age of 82. A Saint
who practiced as well as preached the doctrine of plural
marriage, he had three wives, Mary Ann Morgan (b. 18-?,
d. February 24, 1891), whom he married in 1840 and by
whom he had 10 children; Mary Harriet Porter (b. January
4, 1832, d. March 24, 1869), whom he married October 27,
1855, and by whom he had 6 children; and Martha Fielding
(b. April 20, 1833, d. February 12, 1912), whom he married
March 17, 1857, and by whom he had 9 children.^-*

The journal here reproduced has been deposited by his
daughter-in-law, Mrs. Ida Terry Empey of St. George, Utah,
in the Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, California,
and is printed with her permission and that of the library.
The manuscript is a loosely sewed notebook 24.8 x 19.5 cm.,
apparently consisting originally of 16 leaves of 32 numbered

120 ANNALS OF WYOMING

pages. Pages 1-8 and 19-22 have been lost, while p. 32 is
blank. The first part of the extant manuscript, to p. 18, is
written in blue ink, with the last part in brown.

In writing his diary, Empey ran all the first section of
it together, with no paragraph breaks whatever until the
entry for June 26. To make this part of the diary more
easily read, arbitrary paragraphing has been enforced upon
it, though without eliminating his characteristic use of the
conjunction "and," which is left at the end of many a para-
graph. After June 26, perhaps influenced by the example
of Appleton Harmon, from whose journal Empey seems
at times to have copied, Empey characteristically wrote the
date centered on the page, with the entry under it, an
arrangement which has also been altered slightly in this
printing.

The important hiatus in the Empey diary for the period
June 27-July 10 has been filled, in the interests of a com-
plete record of the Mormon ferry during 1847, from a tran-
scription of the Harmon journal in the possession of the
Utah State Historical Society, obtained through the courtesy
of Harmon's daughter, Mrs. Julia Kessler, of Bountiful,
Utah. Harmon's journal, itself incomplete, has recently
been printed by Maybelle Harmon Anderson as Appleton
Milo Harmon Goes West (Berkeley, 1946) , though unfor-
tunately with some excisions and some not always well-
considered corrections of his spelling. The original of Har-
mon's diary is in the custody of the L. D. S. Church His-
torian's Office.

Other records of the Mormon Pioneer party which have
been used in editing the Empey diary include William-
Clayton's Journal (Salt Lake City, 1921) ; Howard Egan's
Pioneering the West (Salt Lake City, 1917) , used in con-
junction with Egan's original manuscript diary, now in the
Coe Collection at Yale; the Autobiography of Pioneer John
Brown (Salt Lake City, 1941) ; Matthew Cowley's Wilford
Woodruff, His Life and Labors (Salt Lake City, 1909) ; Orson
Pratt's "Interesting Items Concerning the Journeying of
the Latter-Day Saints from the City of Nauvoo, Until Their
Location in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake," printed
originally in the Liverpool Milleiinial Star, 1849-50, vols.
XI-XII, and lately reprinted separately at Salt Lake City
by N. B. Lundwall as Exodus from Modern Israel; the diary
of Erastus Snow, first published in Improvement Era, 1911-
12, vols. XIV-XV, and subsequently reprinted in part and
evidently with greater fidelity to the original manuscript
in the Utah Humanities Review, 1948, vol. II; the diary of
Lorenzo Dow Young and his wife Harriet, in Utah Historical

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 121

Quarterly, 1946, vol. XIV; the diary of Heber C. Kimball,
published incomplete (because of the suspension of that
magazine in 1940) in Utah Genealogical and Historical Mag-
azine, 1939-40, vols. XXX-XXXI; and the extracts from the
diary of Horace K. Whitney published in Improvement Era,
1947, vol. XLIX. Some diaries in manuscript which have
also been used, from typed transcriptions in the collection
of the Utah State Historical Society, include the important
record by Norton Jacob, the no less important diary kept
by Albert Carrington for Amasa Lyman (Carrington kept
another, almost identical, for George A. Smith,^-^ which —
like the original of the Lyman diary — is in the custody of
the L. D. S. Church Historian's Office), and the journal of
Levi Jackman. Other diaries of the Pioneer party, not
normally accessible to students, are in the possession of
the Historian's Office.

Information helpful in the editing of William Empey's
diary has been provided by Mrs. Juanita Brooks of St.
George, who first brought the record to my attention, Mrs.
Ida Terry Empey of St. George, Utah, Mrs. Effie Miller,
Payson, Utah, and Mrs. Ruth Gubler, Panguitch, Utah,
grand-daughters of Empey; Mr. Everett D. Graff of Chicago
and Mr. Thomas W. Streeter of Morristown, N. J., well-
known Chicago book collectors who examined certain rare
titles in their collections for my benefit; Mrs. Brenda R.
Gieseker, Librarian of the Missouri Historical Society, St.
Louis, Missouri; Miss Priscilla Knuth, Research Associate
in the Oregon Historical Society, who searched the manu-
script collections of the Society for information and clues
to information about the 1847 Oregon immigrants, and who
also sent me numerous helpful references from Sarah Hunt
Steeves' Book of Remembrance of Marion County, Oregon,
Pioneers (Portland, 1927) ; and the Utah State Historical
Society, which has been helpful in more ways than I could
hope to list. Numerous references to contemporary news-
papers in the notes are from transcripts in my possession,
gathered in connection with my researches for a larger his-
tory of Mormonism, for which I must express an obligation
to a fellowship granted me by the John Simon Guggenheim
Memorial Foundation.

122 ANNALS OF WYOMING

NOTES FOR INTRODUCTION

1. Brief biographies of all these men are printed by Andrew
Jenson in his Latter-day Saints' Biographical Encyclopedia, vols.
2 and 4, though it will be seen in the light of the information in
Empey's journal that most of these biographies are faulty insofar
as they relate to the ferry.

2. "Pioneer Diary of Eliza R. Snow," Improvement Era, April,
1944, vol. XLVII, p. 239.

3. Riley Root, Journal of Travels from St. Josephs to Oregon
(Galesburg, 111., 1850), p. 20.

4. Hosea Stout, Journal No. 4, typed transcription in the WPA
Collection of the Utah State Historical Society.

5. See the narrative by Osborne Cross, as edited by Raymond
W. Settle, The March of the Mounted Riflemen (Glendale, 1940),
pp. 110-112. The army officers found it more expedient to have
their wagons ferried across by the Mormons at $4 each than to
build rafts and hazard their wagons to them. The river was
crossed July 2-3, 1849.

6. Appleton M. Harmon, Autobiography, typed transcription
in the WPA Collection of the Utah State Historical Society;
printed in Appleton Milo Harmon Goes West (Berkeley, 1946),
pp. 53, 54.

7. Documentary Historv of the Church. 1849, p. 85, MS. in
L. D. S. Church Historian's Office, Salt Lake City, Utah.

8. See Johnston's Experiences of a 49er, (Pittsburgh, 1892),
or the edition printed at Oakland, 1948, under the title, Overland
to California.

9. William Kelly, Acrosa the Rocky Mountains, from New
York to California (Second Edition, London, 1852), pp. 126, 127.
The first edition, An Excursion to California over the Prairie, Rocky
Mountains, and Great Sierra Nevada (London, 1851), has different
pagination.

10. Diary of [T. G.?] Caldwell, printed as an appendix to the
diaries of J. Goldsborough Bruff in Georgia Willis Read's and Ruth
Gaines' Gold Rush (New York, 1944) vol. II, p. 1255.

11. "Diary of Trip to California in 1849. Written by Israel
F. Hale," Quarterly of the Society of California Pioneers, June,
1925, vol. II, p. 85.

12. Read and Gaines, op. cit., vol. I, p. 46.

13. Amos Batchelder, Journal of a Tour Across the Continent
of North America from Boston, via Independence, Missouri, the
Rocky Mountains, to San Francisco in 1849, MS., typed transcrip-
tion in my possession.

14. Howard Stansbury, Exploration and Survey of the Valley
of the Great Salt Lake of Utah, Including a Reconnaissance of a
New Route Through the Rocky Mountains (Washington, 1853),
pp. 60, 61.

15. Appleton M. Harmon, Autobiography, MS. cited in Note 6.

16. "History and Journal of the Life and Travels of Jesse W.
Crosby," Annals of Wyoming, July, 1939, vol. XI, pp. 187, 188.

17. Lorenzo Sawyer, Wayside Sketches (New York, 1926),
p. 39.

18. The Journal of Madison Berryman Moorman 1850-1851
(San Francisco, 1948), p. 33.

19. C. S. Abbott, Recollections of a California Pioneer (New
York, 1917), pp. 40, 41.

20. "Overland to the Gold Fields of California in 1852,"
Kansas Historical Quarterly, August, 1942, vol. XI, p. 257.

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 123

21. Irene D. Paden, in The Wake oj the Prairie Schooner
(New York, 1943), p. 198, remarks that in 1849 "a few travelers
noted a precarious bridge tljree miles below the site of the later
bridge near the ferry," built by a fur company, and "apparently
of no importance or use to the emigrants." She does not cite a
source and I have seen no reference to a bridge across the Platte
before 1851.

22. "Diai'y of John S. Zeiber, 1851," Transactions of the
Forty-Eighth Annual Reunion of the Oregon Pioneer Association,
1920 (Portland, 1921), p. 317.

23. "Diary of Albert Carrington," in Daughters of Utah Pio-
neers, Heart Throbs of the West (Salt Lake City, 1947), vol.
VIII, p. 121.

24. "Robert Robe's Diary While Crossing the Plains in 1851,"
Washington Historical Quarterly, January, 1928, vol. XIX, p. 53.

25. "Diary of E. W. Conyers, a Pioneer of 1852," Transactions
of the Thirty-Third Annual Reunion of the Oregon Pioneer Associa-
tion, 1905 (Portland, 1906), p. 453.

26. See, e.g., the diaries of 1853 kept by Orange Gaylord,
Transactions of the Forty-Fifth Annual Reunion of the Oregon
Pioneer Association, 1917 (Portland, 1920) ; Celinda E. Hines, Trans-
actions of the Forty-Sixth Annual Reunion of the Oregon Pioneer
Association, 1918 (Portland, 1921); Velina A. Williams, Transac-
tions of the Forty-Seventh Annual Reunion of the Oregon Pioneer
Association, 1919 (Portland, 1922); John (or David) Dinwiddle,
The Frontier, March, 1928; and Thomas Flint, Annual Publica-
tions of the Historical Society of Southern California (Los Angeles,
1923).

Flint wrote on July 29, 1853, "Passed a bridge across the
Piatt — a very strong one built of hewn timbers. Reported to have
cost $14,000."

27. J. Robert Brown, A Journal of a Trip Across the Plains of
the U. S., from Missouri to California, in the year 1856 (Columbus,
Ohio, 1860), pp. 51, 52.

28. St. Louis Missouri Republican, September 1, 1858.

29. Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Heart Throbs of the West
(Salt Lake City, 1948), vol. IX, p. 484.

30. Utah Historical Quarterly, 1940, vol. VIII, pp. 237, 238.

31. Ibid., p. 99; Journal of Lt. John W. Gunnison, MS., typed
transcription in my possession.

32. George A. Smith, Journal of the Iron County Mission,
MS., typed transcription in the Utah State Historical Society's
WPA Collection.

33. Laws of Utah, 1852, pp. 167-169.

34. Biographical details when not otherwise documented are
from a manuscript biogranhical sketch of Empey's life in the pos-
session of Mrs. Ida Terry Enipey. A copy is in the Utah State
Historical Society.

35. Extracts from the diary of George A. Smith are being-
printed in The Instructor, organ of the Deseret Sunday School
Union of the L. D. S. Church, and as this issue of Annals of Wyo-
ming goes to press (July, 1949), The Instructor has reached the
beginning of Smith's account of the Pioneer journey of 1847.

124 ANNALS OF WYOMING

THE JOURNAL OF WILLIAM A. EMPEY

May 7-August 4, 1847

noon it is a valley of dry bones for it looks as thousands
of buffalows killed in the big platt it is a Delight ful country
it appears as though there were milions of buffelows killed
on this place The platt is about one mile in weadth and is
about 2 feet and a half on a everage some of Brother Brig-
ham teams give out on account of the of the pararie being
burnt and the buffalow being so numerous that they have
eaten the pararie bare we have averaged a bout 10 miles
per Day, up to this preasant time being being the 7th of the
month;

we Started as usesial on the 8 and all was peace and
quietness but our teams bing gun to fail the weather is
cold for the time of the year we saw some hundreds of
buffalow this morning where we camped at night near the
Big platt^ and we was a blige to sent out men to keep the
buffalow from our cattl wee had a good nights rest and

persued on our jurney on the 9 [8] of the [?] we saw
severl thousands of buffalow they would follow us for miles
and we would set out Dogs on them to see them run. some
times they would fight the dogs we this Day saw a bout 50
thousand but if I would com to the in particalar I think I
could say with in bounds that there were 1.00 thousand
we travled 14 [IIV4] miles and they were so thick in places
that that no person could see through them, for they were
like a cloud strung along both sides of the river and in [?]
every ille Ian [i.e., island] a long the platt- the woolfs are
so numers that as son as you shoot a calf or buffalow that
before you can get to the camp and back to fetch the meat
the wolves has got persession of them; no grass for our
teams on account of buffalows there is many Lies Dead I
think on account of faood [?], we have made an estament
of the distance up to this presant Date up to the bluffs
being the 9 of May, thea numbrs of miles is 3,39 miles ;-'^ we
rested this night in peace and

we arose as usesial by the sound of the bugal being the
sabbath day and made preperations for a march on account
of no food for our teams it being the 9 [10] of the month
traveled 5 [31/2] miles and camped, the brethren took a rope
and run up to a buffalow caught him around the horns and
Drove him for a little Distance and let him go we enjoided
our selves well through the Day we had a meeting Br Amasy
Lyman opined the meeting by prayer and Brother Orson
pratt give us a fine Lecture on the good feelings that existe
amoungst the Brethren he said he traveled to far west but

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 125

he never traveled amongst so many men that observed so
good ordar and he new that the spirit of god weighs [?] in
the camp Brother Amasy Lyman followed by making some
good remarks that was applicable to our case and so Did
Brotherly woodruff and Br Benson^

On May 10 we jurney on and and traveled 10 [9%]
miles and campeped"' Shot one buffalow and one Deer and
rested in peace and

on the 11 we started on wards to wards the mountains
the weather is fine and we had but one shower of rain the
season peares [?] to be verry Dry we are now a bout the
south faulk [fork] and north faulk on the big platt near
the bluffs we are enjoining good health through the camp
and all peace except Zebedee Coulter [Coltrin] he and
Brother [Sylvester H.] Earl separated this morning; Coulten
has Done all the Rangling in the camp; with in a few excep-
tions he is counted by the majority of the camp a quarles
some man Brother Earl appears to be a fine man and is well
thought of by the camp of Pioneers the north Faulk a
bout 1 mile in weadth the water is like the Masuira [Mis-
souri] water we camped for the night and rested in peace
we traveld 8 [SV2'\ miles*^ and

on the 12th we started by the sound of the bugal and
saw severl flocks of buffalow and also saw were the Indians
killed severl and took the hides and skin and tongs And
leff the meat Lie on the perarie the food is Citing better on
account of the buffalow is not so numers it apears that the
Indians has hunted them a great deal the Land where we
traveled to Day we traveled 12 miles campped for the night ;'^
the hunters Shot 1 buffalow and we had to use buffalow
chips for fewel to cook with the weather is verry Disagree-
able it is cold for the season of the year; we have traveled
riseing of 300 and 50 miles and have not traveled 25 rods
through the timber so you may perceive that there is verry
little timber; we rested in peace for the night, and

made ready for to persue on our jurney it being the 13
of the month we traveled a bout 5 miles and bated our teams
one our and then made our way on our jurney and came
to the bluff, conjunction fork river*^ we traveled 12 miles
and camped for the night and rested in peace

we arose as usesial by the sound of the signal and paid
our Devotions to to our Father in heaven; and had to clime
the bluffs a bout 3 miles this Day we Shot 2 antilopes and
2 buffalow this was on the 14 of the month we traveled 11
[8] miles and 3 quarters and camped'^ about 11 o clock at
night one of the gard [Rodney Badger] shot at what he
supposed to be an Indian he said he was a bout to take

126 ANNALS OF WYOMING

hold of one of the mules we all gathered our teams and
rested in peace for the night, and

on the 15 of the month we started and traveled a bout
3 [21/4] miles and camped on account of rain it cleared off
and then we started on and traveled about 8 [6] miles and 3
quarters and camped for the night^*^ we Shot 1 buffalow
and 2 antilopes the weather is getting a little mileder this
was Done on the 15 of may we rested in peace for the
night and

on the 16 of thee month we rested on the sabath Day
in peace the hunters shot 1 buffalow and 1 antilope Brother
[Willard] Richard [s] and B heber [C. Kimball] and some
others preached to the camp telling them the importance
of our mishion, and the responsibility that rested on us as
peoineers in keeping the commandments of god, he said he
traveled to far west with a bout 2 hundred but he said he
never traveled with a company that keept so good order and
he feelt theat god was with us and he knew that the angels
was continualey a round and a bout us to open our way to
the place where god Desire for the saint to have a resting
place where kings and quenn and all the rich would come
to hear the word of the Lord and we as peioneers would be
look on as angels of god and many more blessings to nu-
merous to mention^^ this Day and night pased in peace and

on the 17 we prepareed to start on our jurney we passed
severl butifull springs which came out of the bluffs and we
traveled a bout 2 miles over the bluffs and came to a buti-
full flatte^" and the hunters shot 3 buffalow and 1 antilope
and we camped for the night and we traveled 12 miles and
3 quarters and we rested from our Day travel and paid our
Devotions to almighty god for his kind care over us; and

we arose as usesial by the sound of the bugal and pre-
pared to take our march brother Brigham called the
capttians to gether and addressed them teling them the evil
of killing so much ganie and wounded so many buffalow
and wasting so mutch aminution and teling the camp to
be care full of the meat that they had on hand they should
not shoot any birds of any kind without orders from him;
the bugle sounded and we started as usesial a long the
platt we crossed a butifull stream of water wich proceded
out of the bluffs'^ we also passed a little island wich was
full of read sedar [red cedar] and on the opposite side of
the river the bluffs [Cedar Point] came to the waters edge
wich was butifull ly a dorrend with butifull read sedar and
the cliffs of rocks we traveled 7 miles and a half and
bated our teams the game is plenty buffalow antilopes

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 127

Deers and fowls & hares we traveled 15 miles and 3 quar-
ters and camped for thee night and rested in peace and

a rose at the sound of the bugal at 5 o clock and started
and traveled 3 miles to git better food for our teams we
bated on our and refreshed our selves with a good breakfast
and started on our jurney as usesial and came to the blufls^'^
were we crossed the bluffs was a mile and a quarter and
came to the platt on the leavel the wather bein rather wet
and rainy we halted for about 3 ours and started on and
when started it began to rain we halted for the night and
camped in a half a circle we traveled 8 miles it being the
19 of the month, and

on the 20 we arose and made ready for our jurney and
started at the sound of the bugal and traveled 7 miles 3
quarters and bated our teams 1 our we have traveled a bout
90 miles without seeing on the north side of the platt a tree
large anught for a hand spike till to Day we passed a read
sedar a bout 3 feet a cross the stump the bluffs on both sides
of the north bank is bluffs with legges of rocks and on the
opposite side is groves of read sedar and mulbry trees and
a fee scrubs of brush I have benn chosen as a Capt of ten
for the purpose of night gard and have to stand every 3
night witch makes it purtey Sevear but it is nessay for it
to be so^^ we camped to Day at noon the boys took skiff
and crossed the platt and found where the road came Down
from the south platt as [?] across to the north right opposite
of us the place is knon b}^ the nane of it is the ash hollow
there an Indian killed a white man for his horse and Brother
Brown helped to berry him/'^ so we prepared to start and
crossed cassel Creek a butifull Stream and sand bottom^'^
we traveled 15 miles and 3 quarters and camped for the
night and rested for the night; an

made ready for a start on the 21 of may and crosse an
nother Creek [Lost Creek] and travele 7 miles and 3 quar-
ters and halted and bated our teams one our and Started on
our jurney as usesial the weather being in our favour it
was arfine Day and the bluffs and legges of rock on the
opposite sid of fork. We camped for thee night in a circle^^
there came 3 Indians to us Dressed in mens clothing they
started back on their horses over the bluffs their horses
appeared to be team horses^'* we rested in peace for the
night,

on the 22 we started as usesial by the sound of the bugal
to persue our jurney the weather being fine and pleasant;
the sous Indians has caves in the legges rocks of the bluffs
so that you come up on them un a wares it is not safe for
one man to leave the Camp we traveled a bout 15 and a half

128 ANNALS OF WYOMING

a bout 6 miles was over a Dessert place a bout 2 miles over
the bluffs we passed severl Dry creeks there were a butifull
groves on the opposite side of the river we camped for
the night and rested in peace-^ and

arose on the 23 of thee month on the sabbath Day and
rested and had Brother Brigham preach to us and said
that he was sasfied with the Brothren for their be haveiour
was good fore he said that he never asked them or required
any request but what it was done the weather Darkened
and it began to thunder and lighting and the wind began
to blow and Rain and hail it was a Disagreeable night it
being the 23 of the month and

on the 24 we arose and made ready for a start it being
colder then I ever saw at this time a year it snowed a
Little the bluffs was 2.35 feet a bove the Level of the water
we started at the sound of the bugal on our iurney and
traveled 10 miles and bated our teams and while we were
taken our Dinner there came 2 Indians up to the camp and
we gave them some Dinner they went off and a bout 2
ours after there came 35 Indians and squaws [Here inter-
lineated is: We traveled 15 miles Vz] Dressed in the most
genteal manner-^ we gave them their suppers and they
camped with us all night we risted in peace and in quieeness--

we arose in the morning and made ready for our jurney
being the 25 of the month thoes were the sous Indians we
travele 12 miles and camped and rested in peace a little
below Chimley [Chimneyl rock this rock is 2.60 feet in
height and 10 by 12 in seadth on the top-^

we arose as usesial being the 26 of the month the hunters
shot 5 antiopes and camped and took our Dinners and started
on the bluffs is a great height no wood growing on this
side of the platt in situ the weather is pleasant but cold
nights we reached Chimley rock wich is 2.60 feet in height
it is a Delightfull country the atmus phere is pleasant and
clear, we traveled 12 [I2V4] miles and camped for the night-'^
and rested in peace, and

started on the 27 and traveled 6 miles and bated our
teams one our the mountains is a great height there is one
lone thwer [i.e., tower] on the opposite side of the river the
hunters killed 4 antilopes; we travele 13 miles and 3 quarters
and camped in a circle for the night-'' and rested in peace;
and

a rose by the sound of thee bugal as usesial and made
ready for our jurney it being 28 of the month it rained a little
through the night and at Day Light there was a fine mist of
rain the country is in Different places Dersert and barren ex-
cept what they call Devils toungs which grows on a Dersert-*'

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 129

the mountains is a great height a Long the platt the country
is a Live with woolves & it rained till 10 oclock be fore we
started on our jurney and had a fine Day for traveling we
Drove 11 miles and a half and camped for the night-'^ I
planted my men on gard as usesial and at 12 oclock it began
to rain a litle and

at Day light we a rose as usesial and paid our Devotions
to our Father in heaven it being 29 of of the month it keept
on raining a so it hindered us from starting at our regular
our we was called together and Brother Brigham addressed
us with the Word of the Lord to repent of uur sins and and
folleys wich we was giltey of before the Lord sutch as
Dansing and Dice playing and card playing wich [?] jump-
ing Loud Lafter and all such babbits wich was a bomation
in the sight of god and was a stink in his norstels he went on
to tell us our Duty towards our god that we might better
Spend our Luiser moments in prayer or in reading some
good Books or in structing each other in rightousness for
he knew that if we did not reform and turn to the Lord
and repent that we would be cut of and would not have a
preavilege to go on the mishion that we was appointed to
be called for the [?] the cats [i.e., captains] of tens to call
out their men for he said he was not in a hurry nor would
not go with men that had such a trifeling spirit he then
called for a vote and a covnant of all thoes that would
sererve the true and Living god he called on the twelve
first wich was unanimous then on the high priest and then
on the seventies and then on the elders and all and all
thoes that that was not willing to reform would have the
privileg to go back and he request all sutch would go we
all as a man covenanted before god and man that we would
reform and serve the true and Living god he then requested
us as to morrow was the sabbath that we would fast and
pray that god would have mercy uppon us and wood give
us more of his holey spirit he then pronounced the blessing
of god uppon us as his people and many others blessings
that is to numers to mention and said that we was Dis-
charged and every man to his waggon to start it being 9
oclock when we started-' we traveld over a Dersert 4 miles
and came to where there were grass and we passed horse
Creek on the opposite side of the platt wich is 40 miles
from fort Larama we traveled 8 miles and a half the weather
being rainy we camped for the night in peace and in Love
one with another we retired as usesial by the sound of the
bugal and paid our Devotions to god and rested in peace-''

we a rose as usesial called on the Lord and had a meet-
ing at 8 oclock and the good Lord was preasan and blessed

130 ANNALS OF WYOMING

US our meeting brok up at 10 and commenced at 11 and we
per took of the Lords supper there, when good instructions
to all and our prayers was offered up in the behalf of all
saints under all surcumstances that they might recieve
more of the spirit of god to gide them in all truth; it com-
menced raining a littl a bout 3 o clock this Day being 30 of
the month we rested in peace and called on the Lord as
usesial

we arose in the morning at 4 oclock and returned
thanks to almighty god for his Loveing kindness to wards us
as his servants we then started at 9 oclock and traveled 10
miles and bated our teams and took our Dinners it being
the 31 of may we started and traveled over a Dersert all
after noon we traveled 16 miles and 3 quarters and camted
for the night a loung side of a creek called Raw Hide""
we rested in in peace and

started at 9 oclock it being the first Day of June the
weather pleasant and fair we traveled 12 miles and V2 half
[12] an came to the fort — Larramie^^ and camped for the
night in peace and found some of our Brethren from the
missippie 3 famleys 9 men 5 women and 3 children wich
came out in the year 1836 [1846] they went to fort perbolo
and wintered and came to meet the rest of the saints in the
spring^^- we hired a boat and ferried our teams and wag-
gons'^-^ part of them on the 3 of June and visited the fort
they treated us with kindness, and

on the fort 4 of June we finished f erring through the
night it rained Rappedly; the jentle men of the fort said
they had no rain for 2 years before this spring it is a Delo-
ate country by all appearances thoes jentle men has got
squass for their companions we gathered quite a quantity
of beads on the pis aunts houses; the fourt is made of large
green [unburnt] brick and is 100 and 68 [?] by a 1.00.16 in
weadth and also an old fort a bout the same sise^^ we
started about 11 oclock and traveled a bout 8 miles a halted
and rested in peace for the night^' and

started on our jurney on the 5the of June and we saw
and traveled a long thee black hills [Laramie mountains]
it is al Seder and pine and ash and some other kinds of
timber we traveled on till a bout 12 oclock and halted by
the warm spring wich preceded out of the IVEountain^*^ while
we bated our teams tliere came a 11 waggons in company
for oragon and passed us'"' we then started as usesial and
over took the same company and camped for the night we
traveled 17 miles, and rested in peace^^ and

got up by the sound of the bugal and paid our Devotions
to our Father in Heaven it being the Sabbath Day; we fasted

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 131

and prayed one with another and Spoke of the goodness
of god to wards us as a people wich was rejected from the
jentiles nation I can sureley say that god poured out his
spirrit up on us and we enjoided our selves well while at
meeting there was reported that there was an nother com-
pany our meeting was brought to a close and there passed
19 waggons 72 yokes of cattle besides the Loose stock and
horses^'^ this [?] we then made preperations to start to it
being the 6 of the month to travel 6 miles to a good camping
place we starte and over took one of the camps that went
by us the same Day and we camped we trave 5 miles and
rested in peace""^ and

arose at the sound of the bugal being the 7, of the month
there is four companys behind in about 20 miles the coun-
try a pears to be helthy and pleasant the Land in the flats
is good the mountains is a great height my gard is a blight
toe Stand every 3 night half of the of the night we are
united in Love and in harmany the spirit of the Lord is
with us continuley we started as usesial by the sound of
the bugal on our jurney and traveled 7 miles and a half
and bated our teams oposite of fourt John [Laramie] peak
it is a chain of the rockemountains wich is south west course
there is quitee a quantity of snow on the mountains; while
we were a bating our teams there passed a 13 waggons and
teams going to oragon from Illinois^ ^ this is the 3 company
that has passed us in going 40 miles they said that the waar
is still going on in Illinois one side a gainst annother^^ we
traveled 13 miles and camped for the night a Long horse
shoe creek'*^ the hunters shot 2 Deer the Deer has black
tails and one antilope wich suplied our wants for the preas-
ant we took our suppers and paid our Devotions to our
god and rested in peace for the night the mountains is cov-
ered with pine and all over the bluffs a Long thee creeks
is thee broade Leaf willow and cotton wood

we started on our Jurney on the 8 Day of June the
weather being verry cold we traveled 25 miles and a half
and camped for the night a Long side of big timber Creek'**
the hunters shot 2 antilopes and one Deer & there came 6
traders from the mountains with 5 teams Loded with furs*^
we rested in peace for the night and

arose on the 9 of the month and started at sun rise to
go to better feed and camped and took our break fast and
started on as usesial the Day is pleasant but cold wind from
the mountain we trave 10 miles and bated our teams and
started on our way and Tiaveled in all 19 miles and a quar-
ter and camped a Lonng side of Alapier Creek^^ were we
enjoided our selves in peace and in Love and

132 ANNALS OF WYOMING

started on in the morning it being the 10 of the month
we sent of on the 9. 18 waggons and some horse men to
secure the bull hide boat that the traders gave us the privi-
ledg of crossing with there were so many companys a head
that we knew that if we Did not send some a head we would
be Deaiad [delayed]^" we traveled over the black and read
hills on the 9 & we traveled 8 miles and a quarter and bated
our teams a Long side of Fourche Boisce Creek; we then
started on and traviled this 17 miles and 3 quarters and
camped a Long side of Deer creek it is a Delightful place
situated a Long side of the Piatt we left the platt 18 miles
a bove Ft. John on the 5 of June and we traveled over the
Black and read hills and came to the platt on the 10 of the
month; we rested in peace and in quiteness and

started on the 11 of jane at the sound of the bugal the
country is more beautiful then we saw it since we Left
winters quarters; Brother B Young say he will have a few
famley farm it on Deer Creek for it is a Delightful place^-*^
we found a coal mind a half a mile Long and 10 feet thick
of first quality of coaP'-* we traveled 9 miles and a quarter
in the fouer noon a long side of the platt in cotton wood
grove and we traveled in the after noon 7 miles and 3 quar-
ters which makes 17 miles and camped a Long side of the
platt in a butifuU valley'*" we rested in peace for the night
I for got to say that I shot one antilope on the 11 and there
were 7 or 8 shot the same Day shot

we started on our jurney as usesial by the sound of the
bugal it being the 12 of iune we traveled and Traveled 11
miles and a quarter and came to were our company was
ferreying the Emmagrants a cross the platt'' ^ we had a
Dollar and a half a waggon for 22 waggons we got flour
at 2 Dollars and a half per hundred and bacon at 6 Dollars
per hundred. '"•- we rested in peace for the night and

on the 13 of the month was the Sabbath we held a
prayer meeting and had Br Kimble Speak to us and also
Br Young we truley was blessed with the spirit of the Lord
was in our midst after melting Br young counciled us to
take one team to each ten and a few men with guns and
axes and go to the mountains [Casper Range] and cut pine
poles for ferrying a cross the Platt so we Started and went ac-
cordingley and Got to the mountains and there we found
plentey snow on the 13 of June we washed our faces with
snow we came back with our poles at 9 oclock at night it
being 7 miles to the mountains opposite of of the ferry on
the platt and

on the 14 of June we commenced ferriing a cross the
platt takeing 2 waggons side of each other and put holes

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 133

[poles] under the the waggons and Lashed them fast and
took a Long rope a cross the stream and some [worked]
on raffs and as we come menced our opperations we soon
found that this would not Do we then made 4 or five raffs
and we on the 15 of the month we got a bout 2 thirds a cross
the platt the weather being rather to our Disadvantage it
being stormmey''^ on the 16 of the month in the four noon
we passed over severl waggons and the the wind began to
blow and the water began to rise some did not not do much
in the after noon but prepair our craffs on [?] for the night
there come too companyes of emagrants one was from iVla-
sura and the others from ohiwa and came to us to make
a bargan for to have us to Cross them we a greed to Do so
for pay^^ Br Young then thought it would be wisdom for
some of our Brethern to go to work and make toe canoes
and make a ferry and pint some good faith full men to stay
at the platt and cross all the companeys that would come
so we might get means to sustains thee saints and he would
not have any men to stay that would not come on when our
Brethren came that we might go on with them The wind
a bated a bout 4 oclock in the after noon and we ferried
over severl teams and rested in peace for the night and

on the 17 of the mont we commenced ferriing and
ferryed over severl waggons and then the wind commenced
blowing so we was a blige to stop we got too canoe made
to ferry with and too rafts the canoes worked first rate so
we Laid by the rafts and worked with the canoes we fin-
ished f erring our teams and waggons on the 17 of the
month ;^*^ and on the 19 of June the camp started on their
jurney; we ferried a cross the platt besides our teams of
the Emagrants 64 waggons wich a mounted to 94 dollars
wich we took provishions for flower at 2 Dollars and 50
cents per hundred, and pork at 6 per hundred; on the 18
we ferried all Day for the emagrants and on the 19 we
ferried 16 waggons wich finished ferring for them the twelve
set in council and appointed 9 men to stay and ferry till
our Brethren the 2 camp came up so that we might assis
them in crossing and we might have all we made in ferring
we then was called together thoes that where chosen to
stay and Brother Brigham young gave us in struct how to
proceed with the jentiles

North Fork of Platt River Upper Ferry: Juene 18; 1847

125 miles west of Fort

Laraie or St john-^'^

Instructions to Thomas Grover John J [S] Higbee Wm
Empey; appleton m Harman. Edmund Elsworth. Luke John-
son Francies. m. Pomera, James Devenport & Benj amine

134 ANNALS OF WYOMING

F Stewart: Brethren as you are a bout to stop at this place
for a little season for the purpose of passing Emagrants
over the river, and assisting the saints. We have thought
fit appoint Thomas Grover Superintendent of the ferry, and
of your Company; which if you approve; we want you to
agree that you will follow his council implicitly and, with-
out gainsaying; and we desire that you will be agreed in
all your operations, actions in Concert keeping together
continually, and not scatter to hunt, &c, and at your leisure
moments put up a comfortable room that will afford your-
selves and horses protection against the Indians should a
war partey pass this way; but, first of all, see that you
boat is propperley coupled; by fastining Raw Hides over
the tops of the Canoes, or some better process. Complete
the Landings and be carefull of the Lives and property of
all you labour for, remem.bering that you are responsible
for all accidents though your carelessness or negligence
and see that ye Retain not that which belongeth to the
Traveller

For one wagon . . Familey &. you will charge $1.50 fo
payment in Flower and Provisions at state prices; or three
Dollars in cash, but you had better take young stock at a
fair valation in stead of cash. and. a team if you shall
want the same to remove

Should generl Emagration cease before our brethren
arrive — Cachet your effects and return to Laramie and wait
thier arrival and come on with them to the place of location
and we promis you that, the superintendent of the Ferry
shall never lack wisdom or knowledge to devise and council
you in righteousness and for your best good; if you will
always be a greed; and in all humility watch and pray
without ceasing

When our Emigration companies arrives: if the river
is not fordable, ferry them, and let them who are able pay
a reasonable sum, the the council of their camp will decide
who are able to pay.

Let a strict account be kept of every mans labour also
of all Wagons and teams &c ferried and of all receipts and
expenditures allowing each according to his labor and
justice; and if any one feels aggrieved let him not murmur;
but be patient till you come up, and let the council decide
and the way not to be aggrieved is for every man to Love
his brother as him self

By order, and in behalf of the council

We remain your Brethren in Christ

Brigham Young President

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 135

we the Subscribers whose names inserted in the foregoing
instructions fully concur therein and cheerfuUey agree that
we will implicitly follow the Council theirein contained;
and that of our Superintendent according to best of our
ability relying on our Heavenly Father continually for his
assistance in testimony whereof we have here unto set set
our hands at the time and place above specified

Thomas Grover Edmund Ellsworth

Appleton M. Harmon James Devenport

John S Higbee Benjamin F Stewart

Frances m Pomeray Luke Johnson

and

on the 20 we finished Ferying the company^^ and on
the 21 Capt grover chosed too men to go to Deer creek for
a load of coals at Deer creek the Distance of 30 miles Wm
Y Empey and steward was appointed to go wich was Disa-
greeable on account of Indians but we went"'''^ we traveled
within 2 miles of Deer creek and there we on 22 we got
our Load of coal and returned on our jurney on the 22. and
on the 23 we arrived to our Ferry;""

on the 23 there came 4 Canadian Traders and one squaw
with 6 horses and they stopped all night with us"^ and

on the 24 there came 2 men in a carriage and got some
work done in the Line of black smithing they told us that
there were severl Companies between St John and were
we was at the ferry the Companies of our Brethren from
Furbelow was on there way to California on our rout

Friday the 25th in the morning we ferried John Bat-
tice*'- & 3 of his companions french men & one squaw they
had 10 horses with them Capt Wm Vaugn"^ & his company
arived a bout noon & imploy us to Ferry him & company
not with standing a man from the upper ferry met them some
8 miles below here & proffered them the use of the Ferry
boat gratis we ferryed 5 of their waggons & way obliged to
stop on a count of winds blowing. Capt Hodge arived with
with 11 waggons*^^ we a greed to ferry them for 5 [50] cents
a waggon thinking if we gave the uper ferry no chance of em-
ployment they would not remain Long, a bout 5 oclock P. M.
John Higby discovered the baby [i.e., body] of Wesley T
Dustin'^'^ fioting down the river that was drowned June
the 19. 2/2 [21/2] ms a bove here at Hill Ferry"'^ Capt bounyn
[Vounyn?] went with the boat picked up the corpes, he
was interd by Capt Vanghns Company near our ferry their
was found in his possessian a pocket knife & a dollar and
60 cents cents in money wich a jentle man Said he would
forward to his parents that ware a head

136 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Saturday the 26th we ferried this day 40 waggons which
ampleted the 2 companies a bout $15.00 dollars worthe of
black smithing in the after noon the ferry boat that was
a bove us came floating down past us Cut to peices the
companies that had went up they all got across & they
seeing no chance of specalation dis troyed their boats &
went a head our arrangement for Labour for this Day is
as follows for this Day is as John Higbee^^"

[Extract from the Journal of Appleton

M. Harmon, June 26- July 10, 18471

Amasa Lyman Roswell Stephens Thomas Wolsey & 2 of the

soldiers arrived a bout 6 P. M. having left Capt [James]

Brown & his battalion a few miles back*^^

Sunday the 27th a Company of 11 wagons drove up Mr
Cox foreman^''-^ ferryed them for $16.00 in cash & done $3.75
worth of blacksmithing for them Capt Brown arived with
his Battalion a bout 8 A. M. Capt Saunders"^' company
arived a bout 2 P. M. and refused to pay us 75 cts a waggon
for ferrying them & got a raft that was left thare by Some
of the former Companies & commenced operations Some
Jobs of Smithing Commenced for Capt Browns Company
7 of Capt Saunders Co got Sick of raft ing & returned to
us &■ we ferryed them for 75 cts a wagon the morning of
the 28th

Tuesday June 29th we then ferryed Br [Elam] Ludding-
ton for $1.00 2 waggons for Thomas Willeams $2.00 1 wag-
gon for [William or Benjamin] IVIatthews $1.00 & one wag-
gon for Mis [Mrs. Nicholas] Kelly gratis making 75 wag-
gons during the day

Wednesday the SOeth Capt Brown & his Detachment
Started as all So Amasa Lyman' ^ we ferryed Capt Saunders
Co or the remainder of it who had refused to give us 75
cts a waggon they havein worked 2 days & got 2 waggons
a crost only, & then returned to us & wated until we fer-
ryed 90 waggons that ware a head of them & they paid us
$1.00 a waggon for the 12 waggons remaining we then
ferryed Capt Higgins Co of 23 waggons for $23.00 in cash'-
allso Capt McCloys [?] Co of 23 waggons '^ & Capt Taylors
Co of 12 waggons'^^ & Capt Patter Sons Co of 16 waggons'^^
& done $6.50 worth of black Smithing this day we have
ferryed 73 waggons & made 2 extra trips, 2 of the trips
Namely, [Jonathan] Pugmyer & [Marcus] East man Stade
here on a furlow'*'

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 137

Thursday July the 1st we ferryed Capt F A CoUards
Co of 18 waggons,' ' Capt Turpens Co mulkey Pilof^'* of 23
waggons Capt Elisha Bidwells Co of 15 waggons"'-* & done
$12.85 worth of blacksmithing making 56 waggons this day
& we ware all very tiard & wanted rest Capt Palmers Co
of 35 waggons*^*^' went up a bove & we afterwards learned
that they crossed on our raft

Friday July the 2ond we ferryed Capt Snooks Co of
17 waggons/^^ Capt Dodsons Co 11 waggons*- Capt Daniel
Putman Co of 11 waggons*^ & done $7.60 worth of black-
smithing

Saturday the 3rd Weather rather clowdy & a Strong
wind from the South Mr. James Bridger of Bridgers fort^'*
arived bout 11 A. M. & brought a line from prest Young
as follows

June 29, 1847 Little Sandy

Mr Thomas Grover and Company

we introduce to your notice Mr James Bridger who we
expected to have seen at his fort he is now on his way to
Fort Laramie we wish you to cross him & his 2 men on
our a count B Y

he was agoing to Laramie & expected to return to
his fort in in time to Pilot the Pioneers through to Salt
Lake he said that he could take us to a place that would
Suit us, thare ware 4 of our Soldiers form Browns detach-
ment came back with Mr Bridger on a furlow & was
agoing to the States,*^ we ferryed Capt Ingersols Co of 11
waggons & 1 extra load for $12,*^^ the Oregon mail arived
a bout Sun down thare ware 8 men of them & several
pack horses & mules they had been ever since the 5th of
May on the rout they came by way of California, we fer-
ryed their packs for $1.00*^^ I wrote a line by the request
of Capt grover to our next Co Notify fying them that we
ware here keeping a ferry & intended to .stay until they
came up giving them all so the latest news we had from
the Pioneers, & sent it by mr Bridger to Laramie Ingerslos
Co ware agoing to Calafornia

Sunday July the 4th 1847 morning Clowdy & apearnce
of rain I wrote a letter to my wife several of the breathering
wrote to their wives or relatives & sent the letters by
Makas [Marcus] Eastman who went back with the 4 a bove
mentioned they Started a bout 10 A. M.^* F. M. Pumeroy
bought a horse of one of them for $25.00 we ferreyed Capt
John McKinneys Co of 27 waggons for $27.00 & done $2.35 cts
worth of blacksmithing-'^'^

Monday the 5 of July we ferryed 6 waggons for Retford
& BodalP" for $4.00 each

138 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Tuesday the 6th we ferryed Capt Wards Co of 18
waggons'^ ^ for 50 cts a wagon & 3 of them went of with
out paing their ferage we done $3.63 cents worth of black-
smithing for them Capt Whitcoms Co of 22 wagons^- went
above to ford which could be done by raising their waggon
beds for the river hass been for Some days falling verry
fast Capt Hocketts Co of 20 wagons-^^ arived here & got
Some work done

Wednesday the 7th 1847 we ferryed Capt Magones Co
of 36 wagons for $1.00 a waggon 8 waggons of the same Co
went above to ford making 44 waggons in Said Co''"* I
furnished Capt Magone with the Names of the Captains of
all the Companies & the Number of wagons, which he said
would be published thare was a catholick bishop & 7 priests
in Capt Magones Co 2 of their names ware Blachets the
others I did not learn,'' '"^ — 8 men from Oregon arived with
pack horses & mules'"^ we ferryed them & their packs for
$1.00 & done $7.75 cts worth of blacksmithing Capt Hocketts
Co went above to ford

Thursday the 8th thare was done $6.40 cts worth of
black Smithing & Some other jobs commenced Luke John-
son got $3.00 for cleaning teeth & Doctoring which was
put into the jineral pile

Friday the 9th our men ware imployed this day in
the following manner T Grover Wm Empey John Higbee
— Johnathan Pugmyer worked at Black Smithing Setting
tyer &c JAM Harmon put in an exaltree for Elsworth, & a
hown for 1 of the emegrants & assisted in putting on tyer
&c L Johnson Doctor ing & cleaning teeth B. F. Stuart
at herding Cattle F m Pumeroy hunting his horse Elsworth
& Devenport sick — done this day a bout $30.00 worth of
blacksmithing $2y2 worth of waggon work $3.00 Doctoring
&c Capt Whiles [White's] Co of 50 w^aggons passed up
a bove us to ford'^'^

Saturday the 10th $7.20 cts worth of blacksmithing
done, L Johnson Shot a buffalo a bout 3 ms from here 1 of
the emegrants that ware camped here brought it in the
Company all together bought about $100.00 worth of goods
of Mr H. QuelUng a Quaker'^''' — he had a Rhoadometer on
1 of his waggons — Capt Bonsers Co of 12 waggons'-^*"*

X[The Journal of Wilham A. Empey resumes on July 11.]
Sunday 11 the^^'*' Received for Blacksmithing $16.
Dol and 45 cents worth for waggon work $1 Dol for Ferry-
ing 12 waggons of Capt Bonser Co $10.55 cents in cash
we ferryed a nusery of 700 Trees they ware apple peach
plumb pare Curnd Grapes rasberry and cherryes all grow-

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 139

ing in a clover patch and were owned by Mr H Lieuelling
a Quaker from Salim Iowa & Phineous Young Aaron Faf,
Gorge Wodward Herrick Glines Wm Waker, John Cazar
arrived from the Camp of Pioniers they Left the camp at
Green River July the 4the & got here a bout 10 A M they
were a going back to pilot our Brethrening through that
ware a coming^'^'^ the rive is fordable the Emagrants is
nigh done for this year Emagration & our Bretheren, that
were at the ferry thought it adviseable to go back with
thoese that had come from the campt to meet their famleys
Capt Grover stated that he thought that we would Devide
our substance of what we had gained equally amoung us
it was a greed so to do

Monday the 12the the Bretrening ware prepareing
to go back to Larama When, we Discovered 2 buffalow
on the north side of the platt river coming towards us.
Luke Johnson & Phineous Young started off persuity [?]
of them and soon killed one of them Luke Johnson gave
him the Death wound and we fetched the bufialow to the
campt and Dryed the meat for our Brethren and our selves

Theusday the 13 the Capt Grover Called together
our company and addressed us as our capt in the most
feeling manner how the Lord had prospered us on the
mishon thatt the presadent had appointed to us and said
that he was a bout to Leave for a short time to go to meet
his famley and he would nomiate Wm Y Empey for Capt
in his Abscence till his return it was second and carried
there were six of us to stay nameley John Higbee Who is
quite sick Luke Johnson james Devenport A M Harmon and
Br Glines, and after they went off we went to work at
cuting up our meat to Drye it for the compy Devenport
refused to work and said that if we moved his tools he
would not set them up a gain to work he told Br Glines
that if he went to work he would hire a man he told Br
Luke Johnson the same Br Appleton harmon the same

Wensday the 14 the we moved our waggons to the
upper Ferry were there was good feed for our teams and
stock on the platt river according to Council of our capt^"-
and shorteley after there came 24 waggons and teams of
Emagrants and Capt McGee at their head'^*-^ they camped
a Long side of our camp and we went to work at setting
tyre we sot 15 for 15 Dollars and some other work.

Thirsday the 15 the We finished moveing our effects
and made preperations to take care of our meat and so passed
the Day working at Diferent work at bawling coals Sz'^'^'^

Friday the 16 the month^"^ We arose as usesial in
good helth and in good spirits although in a strange Land

140 ANNALS OF WYOMING

and in a willderness the Lord has benn verry mercifull
towards us and blessed us with health to labour and gain
a sustanance for our selves and famlej^s we went to work
at chopping coal wood while Luke Johnson cooked Deven-
port and Br A. M harmon at blacksmithing Br John Higbee
herding cattle Br Glines and my self chopping coal wood
for to kee the work a going on so we might have all things
in readeness when our Brethren comes & about sunset
there came fourteen men in company from oragon with
40 horses and mules a going to ohio thef told us that
could not get through this season they started from oragon
the 6 of may and reached here on the 16 of the month
of julyi»«

Satterday the 17the month We a rose in good health
and strenght and went about our work as usesial we went
to Drawing wood for a coalpit and set it up and covered it,
and sot it a fire while the rest of Brethren were a bout their
work & Capt McGee started on their jurney a bout 4
oclock in the Evening which Left us a lone 6 men of us

Sunday the 18the July the 12 waggons a bove men-
tioned started & and we enjoid a short season of rest I
would here mention that 2 or 3 of the last Co. have lost
a great No of their Cattle which the say is occationed by
the murrin but I think it is over driving & going with out
water as the Last Emagrants have Lost some hundred
head of cattle

Capt, Mc Kees Co Lost 7 head with in the Last 30 miles

Monday the 19 the Month of July Luke Johnson &
Erick Glings went a hunting —

A. P. M Harmon J Devenport Staed at home My Self
and Brother Higbee went down to the old Ferry ground
to secure thee boat a bout 2 PM. Luke Johnson & Eric
Glines rreturned to the Camp with the meat & hide of a
large Griselly Bear & tells the following story they had
been up near the foot of the mountain each of them on
horse back Dr Johnson had his 11 Shooter they as yet
having Seen no game within shot had turned their Course
home ward & ware following down a little Crick or Spring
branch when all of a sudden their horses took fright at
some thing to their riders un seen but thought it either was
Indians or a bear but keeing a good Loukout soon Discov-
ered a young cub through a thicket of under woods they
road a round to an opening which Lead in to the thicket
where they Discovered the Damb Diging roots for the cubs
within 50 feet of them Dr Johnson sliped Carefully of of
my mare & perpared for the Combat the mom.ent he struck
the ground the bear Discovered him & came to wards him

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 141

at the top of her Speed with her mouth wide open & each
Jump a companied with an awah awah oo the Dr let go
my mare that he might not bee in cumbered & it not until
the bear was within 20 feet of him with 3 of her cubs at
her heels coming in the Same fright in ful position, with
that he fired with un uring aim at his antagonist which
Cause her to turn & run som 8 rods & fell Dead the ball
having struck her in the breast passed through the heart
Lights liver &c.

Tuesday the 20the James Devenport & A. P. M Har-
mon went down the river in search of our cattle they having
strayed of the Evening previous they followed their tracks
down the road some 10 or 11 miles until they met met a
Company of Emagrants of 33 waggons formely belonging
to Capt Davis Co.^"" they had picked up our cattle some
7 miles below where we met them a ware of Driving them
a Long they took our cattle & drove them to the campt &
Dr Johnson Erick Glines and my self went in search of the
cubs that they had seen the Day before but did not find
them Dr Johnson wounded a buff alow but did not get him
& all is peace but no word of our company

Wednesday the 21eth a Company of 18 men from
oragon with 60 horses & mules a going to the states passed
us 2 of them that Came by way of Fort Bridger said they
saw the campt of peioniers at the fort there ware in their
Company 1 famley a going back on horse back 3 of them
Famley were woomin'""^ & Devenport done 65 cts worth
of black smithing for the com. a bove mentioned Com of
33 waggons passed us about 10 A. M. the remainder part of
the Day passed a way verry Lonesom we being in a strange
Land and far from our homes and famleys being near to
us we would often talk what we would give if we oneley
knew the situation of them it gave a many a Lonesome
our medtetation &

Thirsday the 22the we a rose in good spirits and in
good helth the Day being pleasant and fair we took breck-
fast and we happended to cast our eyes towards the moun-
tains we saw 2 buffalo w Dr Johnson said if I would get my
mares he would go and try and Shoot one of them so him
and Br Glines went they went of together they Did not
return till Dark and they shot 2 buffalow and fetched part
of them home & there came a company of 10 men from
oragon with a bout 40 ponies and mules there were also a
famley with them going to the states^ ^"^ & Devenport bought
a poney and started with them back to winters quarters on
Friday^^" they started on their jurney there came a com-
pany of 19 waggons & Capt Fredrick Company 17 in com^^^

142 ANNALS OF WYOMING

& Capt Smith 24 waggons in com^'- & Br Johnson and Br
Ghnes went out a hunting and came back but Did not suc-
ceed in geting a game to Day Devenport Done some Black-
smithing a mounted to $400 as near as I could find out he
said to them that he would go to council bluffs with them
& pilot them the road if they would sell a horse & waitt
until the next morning till he could get ready they con-
cluded to do so and in the Evening I said james Devenport
as you are a bout to leave us it be comes my duty to have
a Settlement with you to have our our substance Eaquley
Devided a moungts the company according to council of
our supeiriors I them Called upon Br A. P. M Harmon he
being the clerk for the company and stated to him to read
the a mount over that we have earned since Cap Grover
Left us it was Done accordingly the a mount $29.85. Cts
with the exception of what he had Done that Day a bout
$4.00 I said that I was willing that he should keep that
providing the rist of the Bretheren was willing rather
then to have any hard feelings a bout it, it was a greed
that he should have the 4 Dollars extra but I wanted an
Eaquel Division of the $29.86 Cets [?J for we all helped
to earn it but Br Devenport was not willing to Do so saying
that was robing him of his Earnings & he would not stay
with such a people & as we Done the coking and burned
the coal and helped him at the shop we herded his cows
and it being according to greement &c thought ourselves,
justifiable in Shareing equal with him there were a part
of it earned other wise be sides Blacksmithing we pressed
[?] to make an equal Division all tho he was not satisfied
Br John Higbee bought his cow & gave him $10.00 for her
it being $2.00 more than he gave & all he asked for her &
A P M Harmon bought some salt he could not carry Brother
Johnson bought his trunk Some other things

Friday the 23d 1847 James Devenport started having
bought a horse for $25.00 a saddle & Larett for $4.00 and
the Com was to pack his things for him through to council
Bluffs he went of dissatisfied and refused to tak 50. cts
that was tendered to him to make an equeal Division of
our Last Earnings & he went and told Co that he was going
with that we robed him; Erick Glines heard it & told them
the circumstances &c Capt Freddericks Co bought a stear
of Luke Johnson belonging to E. Elsworth; Co [? lo?] he
had Lost his whole 5 yoke of oxen & 2 horses they ware
run of by the buffalow he said as I under stood some 20
head of horses [were lost] at the same time in the same
way & there was a widdow moving in the same company
belonging to our church a going to oragon with her

[

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 143

Brother^ '^ She said she would go to the church the first
oppertunity She had she was acquainted with Br Higbee

Satterday the 24th there passed here 4 men from
Cahfornia with 12 mules & 1 horse a going to the States
they saw the camp of peioniers with in 4 Days travel of
the salt Lake on the 10 Day of july^^^ they met the soldiers
at green river & Capt Chapman Co of 16 waggons passed
here on their way to oragon^^"' they said that they ware
the Last Co this Season that is they Knowed of no others
on the road they had lost all their horses since they Left
the States there started 17 head ran of at 1 time a mongst
the buffalow &c for the Last week the Companies that have
past says that the buffalow ware tremendious thick a Long
on thee south platt they crossed from the north platt over
the river to the south the rest of the companies saw none
at tall

Capt Chapmans Co said that 40 head of their stock ran
off with with the buffalow & they hunted 2 Days but Did
not git them a tall

Sunday the 25th July 1847 John s Higbee bought a
cow for which he paid $4.00 She was a little Lame he
bought her of mr Canfield^^*^ from Oskaluey of Capt Chap-
mans Co & this Day passed of verry Lonesome as we can
get no news of or from the Long expectted co of our
Breathering & the matter for journalism is rather Scarce
of this Day unless I sould record the expreshsions of anx-
iety now & then droped from the breathering of the Long
looked for appearance of our Comp from Winters Quarters

Monday the 26 1847 A heavey Shower last night
attended with thunder & light ning, which raised cannon
Creek^^" full to the edge of the banks the Days pleasand
butt the nights cool

Nothing more worth recording to Day

Thursday the 27th my Self Br A. P M harmon and
Br Johnson went a hunting & tokk with us waggon &
went a bout 10 ms up cannon Creek on the north side of
the platt we saw a large herd of buffalow we wounded 2
but did not git them Br Johnson Killed 2 antelopes & we
returned back to our camp

Wednesday the 28th We a rose in good helth and at-
tended to our antilopes that we killed we put it out to day
and Dressing the Skins, this evening Cold & Clowdy &
and Severl panthers has been seen with in a few Days past
, & our ears has been Saluted with their terific yells by night

Thursday the 29the 1847 we arose in good helth and
strenght and we a greed that Eric Glines and A. P. M.
Harmon went a bout 15 ms down the river with the horses

i44 ANNALS OF WYOMING

and waggon after the Iron of an old waggon that was left
there by the Emegrants they got it. Br Luke Johnson took
my Grey mare and went up the river a bout 3 or 4 ms to
hunt his Knife and gun strap that he Lost the Day before
on his return he saw an antilope wich caused him to follow
to the river he spied a trail where Indians traveled a bout
2 or 3 ours before he turned a bout and came to wards the
camp at Lenght he heard a report of a gun towards our
camp he then thought within him self that the Indians had
got to us he then gave speed to the mare and came in haste
and it being off of the road made suspect it was a war
party of Indians at this juncture he heard a gun fire in the
direction of our camp by Jorge says he to him self I dont
know but hostilities has commenced & if so they will want
my help he took a straight short cut for home & he said
that my mare tail Stuck out be hind Like a skillet handle
& he soon joined us and told us the kness we had not as
yet Discovered the party & soon Discovered his apprehen-
tions to us we loaded all our guns & pistols Cashed our
best goods and more esspecially our purses Br Johnson
made a kind of breast work of some Chests & boxes with
19 shots al ready & amuition at his hand my self with 6
shots posted in a tree as a spy to watch the 1st appearance
of the enemy I soon Discovered 2 men on the opposite Side
of the river riding up & Down it at Length 1 of them crossed
the river at the ford & came to wards our camp which at
that Distance had the appearance over the hills of an Indian
at at this June ture Gen Carny made his appearance over
the hills some 2 ms Distant with 40 men & about 140 head
of Anamials which at that Distance we could not tell but
what they were Indians I then mounted my mare by the
council of Br Luke Johnson and B Higbee to goo and Look
to the cattle before I reached the cattle I had got of a bout
a Vz a mile when I looked back and saw the a bove mentioned
personage approaching on horse back at full speed riding
after me Spanish custom I turned back as quick as my
horse could go and met him at the waggons Brother Higbee
with 3 Shots ready he went and met him without arms a
few rods from the waggons and behold it was Br Binley^^'^
& it was not until he was with in a few steps of him that
he did distinguish whather it was a White man or an In
dian and behold their a mag anry antagonists ware proved
to be Gen. Carney & severl of our breathrn and many other
officers from the Battalion^ ^^ Col Fremont Soon hove in
sight be tween us & the mountains having Crossed the
river a bove the old ford with a bout 200 head of animals.
Spanish horses & mules passed down by us a bout 1 mile

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 145

from the road^-'* our boys came home at Dark and all was
well Br Binley stated that he saw ware some 50 souls of
the Emmagrants had perished Last winter a crossing thee
[?] mountains he helped to berry severl one women in
paticular she was sawed to peaces her head was sawe 4
peaces her legs was sawed of by her body one of the men
was a Long that was in that awful situation and told how
they was a blige to eat each other to keep a Live some of
them made their escape to the settlement and got releif
from them the snow was so Deep that may souls perished^-^

Friday the 30th Br Binly got his Discharge from Gen
Carney and Stoped here with us to wait until his famley
Should Come up for he expected them with the camp we
sold major Sword [Thomas W. Swords] $200 worth of
Dryed buffalow meat Br Binley stoped here with us he also
bought him self a horse [lower quarter of p. 30 left blank]

Saturday the 31st 1847 I and Brother A. P. M. Harmon
worked a little at Blacksmithing &c mad some pickets pins
&c towards morning had quite a gale of wind from the west
13 head of our cattle went off our hole stock is 24 head of
horned cattle 2 calves and 4 head of horses we have for our
night guard 5 dogs &c I set a trap and caught a wolf in the
Evening for we wanted the oil to Dress our Antilopes Skins
with &c

August the l.st 1847 Sunday, the 1st of August a
storm of wind from the S. W. Brother Glines went off on
horse back after our cattle that went off in the storm &c
we begin to think that Some aciident has happened our
Brethren that they Do not Come for when we stopped here
we Suposed 3 or 4 weeks at the out side would bring them
here^-- as Br Glines returned a bout Noo with the cattle
he found them a bout 8 ms below Where we camped &c it
seems some Like the fall of the cold nights and cold high
winds we feel verry Lonesome to Day in a barren wilder-
ness severls hundred miles from any in habitance but the
wild men of the forest and all kinds of wild Animals roar-
ing at Knight time

Monday the 2.ond quite a pleasant morning Br Luke
Johnson & Br Binley went up to wards the mountains a
hunting Br Luke killed a Large fine fat antilope, he shot
him Through the heart at the Distance 1.95 yards the re-
turned in the after part of the Day with 5 feasants & the
above mentioned antilope &c I and Br harmon went to work
at Blacksmithing set 3 tyre & Done some other Little jobs

Tuesday the 3d Done some little jobs of Blacksmithing
Br Luke Johnson. Eric Glines & Br Binley went down the
river a hunting &c —

146 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Wednesday the 4th we a rose in good helth the Day
being pleasant Brother Luke Johnson & Br Binley went a
hunting up Canno Crick, for that is the name of the Crick
that comes in on the north side of the river as we ware in
formed by Gen Carneys Guide it having arrived its name
from the fact that a cannon was cashed on east as I under-
stand on said Creek a bout 4 years a go by a Co of dragoons
under col Carney &c^^^

NOTES TO EMPEY JOURNAL

1. The night encampment was 6 miles northwest of the site
of Gothenburg, Nebraska. On this day William Clayton made
the first effort at mechanical measurement of the distance traveled,
an idea which had its fruition a few days later in the roadometer
built by Appleton M. Harmon to Orson Pratt's specifications. From
May 8 the distances traveled were measured.

2. The Saints were enormously impressed with the buffalo,
which they first encountered on May 1. "No pen nor tongue,"
William Clayton wrote, "can give an idea of the multitude now in
sight continually, and it appears difficult to keep them away from
the wagons." Their numbers presented a serious problem in ob-
taining feed for the Mormon livestock, as Empey notes in his entry
for May 10. The whole face of the earth, Norton Jacob commented,
was "eat up here by the thousands upon thousands of buffalo."

3. By William Clayton's reckoning, posted up for the Mormon
companies that were to follow, the distance from Winter Quarters
(north of present Omaha) was 300 miles at the end of this day's
travel. The encampment was 9V2 miles northwest of present
Gothenburg.

4. The most interesting account of the day's discourses is
that of Norton Jacob. Orson Pratt, Jacob writes, "said that some
had supposed that we should be able to get over into Bear River
valley in time to put in spring crops, but he had not thought so,
but we must prepare for difficulties that we should be in condition
to cope with whatever circumstances we should be thrown into
and make the best of it. If we do not get there in time enough to
return next fall we must winter there and make the best of it."
In the journal Albert Carrington was keeping for Amasa Lyman,
he writes that Lyman "spoke upon the principle of learning all
the time to be patient in the school we are in, which would be
better to us than gold or silver." This theme of the necessity for
obedience occupied the Mormon leaders throughout the journey.

5. The night's camp was made approximately 8 miles south-
east of present Pawnee, Nebraska.

6. The encampment was on the site of Pawnee, Nebraska.

7. On Whitehorse Creek, 4 miles north and slightly west of
the present city of North Platte, Nebraska.

8. Empey's language is somewhat confused. The night's en-
campment, at the end of a 10% mile journey, was on Bird wood
Creek, 5 miles north and a little east of present Sutherland, Ne-
braska. Variant names are applied to Birdwood Creek in the
Mormon journals: Conjunction Fork River, Junction Bluff Creek,
or, as Brigham Young preferred. North Bluff Fork.

9. This night's encampment was made on the bank of the
Platte 6 miles northwest of Sutherland, Nebraska.

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 147

10. On the Platte about 14 miles east of present Keystone,
Nebraska. The whole day's travel was 6% miles, not 11%, as
Empey's language would suggest.

11. Kimball's allusion is to the march of Zion's Camp from
Kirtland, Ohio, to western Missouri in 1834, for which see his
"Journal," Times and Seasons, vol. VI, p. 770 ff. Nine members
of Zion's Camp were in the Pioneer party.

12. The "butifull flatte" is the site of Keystone, Nebraska.

13. The stream was Whitetail Creek, named by Brigham
Young "Rattlesnake Creek." Immediately west of the stream rise
bluffs which, the Mormon journals note, were called by Fremont
in 1842 Cedar Bluffs. The encampment this night was on Sand
Creek, 13 miles farther west.

14. These bluffs, lying immediately west of Otter Creek, a
stream Brigham Young named "Wolf Creek," extend to the bank
of the Platte. Camp was made near the river, three-quarters of
a mile east of present Clear Creek.

15. This appointment to the guard was not made on this night,
as Empey's language might indicate, but on April 17. He was
captain of the second ten in the guard.

16. The reconnaissance across the Platte, made at William
Clayton's suggestion to aid the Saints in orienting themselves in
relation to Fremont's map, was by Orson Pratt, Amasa Lyman,
Luke Johnson, and John Brown. The year before. Brown had led
west along the Oregon Trail a small company of Saints from Mis-
sissippi, who had hoped to meet somewhere in the Platte Valley
the large Mormon immigration out of Nauvoo. When the Missis-
sippi Saints, here at Ash Hollow, on July 2, 1846, met James
Clyman's eastbound company from California and learned that
no Mormons were ahead of them on the trail, the 43 persons who
comprised Brown's party went on in some perplexity to Fort Ber-
nard, a few miles below Fort Laramie, and then south to Pueblo,
on the Arkansas River, where they wintered in company with the
Sick Detachment of the Mormon Battalion. Brown himself, once
his company was settled at Pueblo, journeyed down the Plains to
the States, returning to the mountains with the Pioneer party of
1847.

The reference to Brown's having helped bury a man is not
understood. Neither Brown nor the records of 1846 refer to such
an incident, though at Ash Hollow Brown's party lost a few horses
to Pawnees. Perhaps the man killed was Edward Trimble, but
this happened farther east. See Joel Palmer's account in his
Journal of Travels over the Rocky Mountains (Thwaites edition,
1906), pp. 251-255.

17. Castle Creek, now Blue Creek, was so called by the Saints
because the bluffs along its west bank, which they named Castle
Bluffs, seemed so much to resemble "the rock on which Lancaster
Castle is built." The night encampment was 5 miles northwest of
present Lewellen, Nebraska.

18. On the bank of the Platte near the mouth of Mutton Creek,
the day's travel being 15% miles.

19. There were two, not three, Indians, a brave and a squaw.
They were Sioux, and Appleton Harmon identifies them as Sants.
The editor of Harmon's journal (Appleton Milo Harmon Goes West,
Berkeley, 1946) has metamorphosed this to "Saints" and called
them "Mormon Indians."

20. The encampment was at the Remsburg Ranch near present
Lisco, Nebraska.

148 ANNALS OF WYOMING

21. Clayton says of them, "They are all well dressed and very
noble looking, some of them having good clean blankets, others
nice robes artfully ornamented with beads and paintings. All had
many ornaments on their clothing and ears, some had nice painted
shells suspended from the ear. All appeared to be well armed
with muskets. Their moccasins were indeed clean and beautiful.
One had a pair of moccasins of clear white, ornamented with beads,
etc. They fit very tight to the foot. For cleanness and neatness,
they will vie with the most tasteful whites. They are thirty-five
in number, about half squaws and children. They are Sioux and
have two recommends certifying as to their friendship, etc."

22. This night's camp was on the Platte 2 miles southeast of
present Northport, Nebraska.

23. They encamped about 3 miles southeast of Bayard, Ne-
braska, which is just east of the meridian of Chimney Rock.

24. The night's encampment was approximately a mile south-
east of Minitare, Nebraska. The lone tower Empey refers to in the
next day's entry was evidently Castle Rock, which the Saints
passed on the afternoon of the 26th.

25. The campsite was 3 miles northwest of the site of the
modern town of Scottsbluff, Nebraska, on the north bank opposite
the famous Scottsbluff, now a National Monument.

26. Empey's "Devil's Tongue" was described by Orson Pratt
in his journal for May 8. "On the top of some of these sand hills,
in the driest places, grew a vegetable, the top of which very much
resembled a pineapple; one being dug, the root was about one and
a half inch in diameter, and two feet in length. It was called by
some of the company, a Spanish soap weed. The roots being
pounded up, they make a very good suds, and are used in Mexico
for washing raiment, etc." The plant is a variety of yucca, fa-
miliar throughout the Southwest as Spanish bayonet or "oose."

27. This night's encampment was on the bank of the Platte
immediately south of Morrill, Nebraska.

28. This memorable dressing down Brigham Young gave the
Saints electrifies every Mormon journal of 1847.

29. The encampment was nearly on, perhaps a little west of,
the present Wyoming-Nebraska state line.

30. The Rawhide, still so called, had been named by the fur
traders, how early is not known, but very likely after the estab-
lishment of Fort Laramie in 1834. The encampment was about
8 miles northwest of present Torrington, Wyoming.

31. The camp remained on the north bank of the Platte about
three-quarters of a mile above its confluence with the Laramie
River. They stayed there over the next day while Brigham Young
and others crossed the river to visit the fur company's establish-
ment at Fort Laramie, situated on the Laramie River, two miles
farther south.

32. The little detachment of the Mississippi Saints here men-
tioned had come on in advance of their brethren from Pueblo.
They consisted of Robert Crow, his wife and 8 children, a gentile
son-in-law, two grandchildren, and three unattached men. One of
these latter, Lewis B. Myers, was a inountain man who had joined
the Crows at Pueblo; he acted as their hunter, and he was to play a .
part in the establishment of the Mormon ferry at the upper crossing
of the Platte.

33. The traders at the fort had a flatboat which the Saints
rented for $15. The average time to get a wagon across, according
to William Clayton, was 11 minutes.

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 149

34. The "old fort" was a rival post called Fort Platte, estab-
lished in 1840 or 1841 and abandoned in 1845. It was located on
the south bank of the North Platte, three-quarters of a mile above
the confluence with the Laramie, or nearly opposite the point where
the Mormons crossed the river. Ground plans of both forts, as
drawn by Thomas Bullock, clerk to the Mormon camp, are repro-
duced in L. R. Hafen and F. M. Young, Fort Laramie (Glendale,
1938), p. 127.

35. The night's encampment was on the south bank of the
North Platte, some 8 miles northwest of Fort Laramie.

36. The Warm Spring was a famous watering place on the
Overland Trail. The Saints reached it by following the bank of
the Platte to the mouth of Warm Springs Canyon, then ascending
that canyon to where the spring broke out.

37. This is Empey's first mention of the year's Oregon immi-
gration, but a pack party had brought news of the immigration to
Fort Laramie June 2, before the Saints resumed their journey
west. Orson Pratt wrote in his journal on June 3, "Yesterday
afternoon we saw with our glasses three or four white men coming
in on horseback; they were on the opposite side of the Platte, and
soon arrived at the fort. This morning brought us the news that
they were from the States, having made the journey in seventeen
days, passing about 2,000 wagons in detached companies on their
way to Oregon. One small company is expected in to-morrow,
another larger the next day, and one still larger the day following.
We understand that these emigrants are principally from Missouri,
Illinois, and Iowa." Howard Egan says that these men, four in
all, had come from St. Joseph. Erastus Snow says they estimated
5,000 immigrants to be with the 2,000 wagons, but William Clayton
exhibited some skepticism at these numbers, a skepticism well
justified, as the year's Oregon and California immigration did not
total more than 1,000 wagons.

None of the Mormon journals name the captain of this com-
pany which had overtaken the Saints at the Warm Spring, but
Clayton noted that they had left Independence April 22 and in-
tended to stay ahead of all companies on the road. They brought
news that two more companies had arrived at Fort Laramie as
they were leaving, and that three other companies were within
20 miles of the fort. Albert Carrington, in the journal he was
keepmg for Amasa Lyman, noted that these Oregon immigrants
were mostly from Illinois, not far from Chicago, and that the 11
"wagons" Empey refers to consisted in reality of 9 wagons, 1 cart,
and 1 handsome 2-horse carriage. With them, Carrington observed,
was "one Gabriel Priedeaum . . . who belongs at the missionary
station on St. Mary's, a tributary of the Columbia, A'^/z days ride
on horseback from Ft. Hall." This man, he was interested to learn,
had been over the trail before. As a matter of fact, in Gabriel
Prudhomme, Carrington was talking to a person of some distinc-
tion in the history of the West. He was the half-breed interpreter,
"Gabriel," who had served Father De Smet so well in 1841-42, and
taken him down the Missouri to St. Louis. He had then returned
to the mountains, for De Smet had found him at the Catholic
mission station on the St. Mary's (Bitterroot) River in Montana
on returning there in 1844. Probably he had again taken De Smet
to St. Louis in the fall of 1846 and was on his way back to the
mountains. Prudhomme's death at Fort Owen, January 15, 1856,
is recorded in The Journals and Letters of Major John Owen (New
York, 1927), p. 115.

150 ANNALS OF WYOMING

38. On Cottonwood, or as it was sometimes called, Bitter
Cottonwood Creek, a little south of present Wendover, Wyoming.

39. The Mormion journals are not in entire agreement, but
evidently this second Oregon company consisted of 19 wagons and
2 carriages. Carrington says they were from Illinois and Missouri;
Levi Jackman adds that they had all ox teams, from 3 to 5 yoke
to the wagon; and Norton Jacob comments that they had a large
drove of cattle and horses. Anybody from Missouri was regarded
with grave suspicion by the Saints, and the members of this com-
pany were no exception. See Clayton's journal.

40. The night's camp was on a run called Bear Creek, some
5 miles south of Cassa, Wyoming. It was not the practice of the
Saints to travel on Sundays, but an exception was made in this
case because it was more than a day's journey from Cottonwood
Creek to the next water west of Bear Creek.

41. The other Mormon journals agree that this company was
not from Illinois but from Andrew County, Missouri.

42. Agitation by the anti-Mormons did not die down in Illinois
immediately, even after the formal expulsion of the Saints from
Nauvoo in September, 1846; and in Massac County a species of
civil war was being carried on by and against some "Regulators."

43. The stream is still so named. The camp site was some
4 miles southwest of present Cassa, Wyoming.

44. Empey's "Big Timber Creek" is more readily recognizable
as LaBonte Creek or River.

45. The Saints had been looking for this party from the
mountains ever since their departure from Fort Laramie. Brigham
Young's journal records, "Met James H. Grieve, William Tucker,
James Woodrie, James Bonoir and six other Frenchmen from whom
we learn that Mr. Bridger was located about 300 miles west, that
the mountaineers could ride to Salt Lake from Bridger's Fort in
two days and that the Utah country was beautiful." The Mormon
journals disagree considerably as to how many actually composed
this company, the discrepancy presumably arising because the
traders' encampment was west of that of the Mormons, and not
all of the mountain men visited the Saints. Albert Carrington
notes that a squaw was included among their number and that
they had 3 carts and 1 wagon loaded with furs. Appleton Harmon
says the men "ware a goin to fort John from thare to fort Lookout
on the missouri river with 3 waggon loads of peltry from thare I
under stood that one of them would go to Councilbluffs by water
thare ware Some letters sent by them."

The meeting with these traders led directly to the establish-
ment of the Mormon ferry at the upper crossing of the North
Platte. William Clayton writes that they "had left a kind of
ferry made of three buffalo skins [i.e., a bullboat] hung in a tree
on the Platte and wanted Brother Crow's company to have it."
This generous inclination undoubtedly was born of their prior
acquaintance with Lewis B. Myers, the mountain man who had
rallied to the fortunes of the Crow family.

46. Present-day La Prele Creek, probably given originally
the French name "a la prele," most recurrently appears in the
Mormon journals as Alapier or a la Pierre.

47. See Note 45 above. William Clayton writes concerning
this party, "It was decided to send a company ahead to overreach
the Missouri companies and get the ferry before they could arrive,
and also build a raft for us to cross on, kill game, etc. . . .
Nineteen wagons were sent ahead and about forty men to attend
to this business. All of Brother Crow's company went, Aaron

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 151

Farr, J. Redding, the cutter [the Saints' leather boat, the Revenue
Cutter], etc., being five wagons from the 1st division and fourteen
from the 2nd." They were commanded by John S. Higbee. John
Brown was one of those sent ahead to the ferry, but of their
experiences he says only, "A company of us were detached and
sent on to get the boat before the emigrants got it. We reached
the ferry first but could find nothing of the boat. We turned out
and killed a fine lot of meat by the time the camp came up."
Ferrying of the Oregon immigrants, nevertheless, began imme-
diately on the arrival of the advance party at the river, the Revenue
Cutter being employed.

48. Such a settlement was actually made by the Saints, but
not until 10 years later, as a station for the short-lived express
company established by Brigham Young. The settlement, like
the express company, was broken up in the summer of 1857 by
the affair of the Utah Expedition.

49. The coal outcropping was discovered by Albert Carring-
ton who says that it was "the first ever found to our knowledge
on the Platte or any of its tributaries, it rests upon a fine grit
sandstone, commonly called grindstone, grit of excellent quality
of a whitish or light grey color, except where stained by sulphuret
of iron, then yellowish, as far as it shows, from the creek to coal
bed is from 40 to 50 ft. thick, then the coal bed, probably from
6 to 10 ft. thick traced nearly 1 mile, then overlaid by a brown
micaceous slate, could not determine its thickness without mine-
ing. . . ." The coal was subsequently used by the Mormon black-
smiths at the ferry but found to be of less than first quality. Coal
had been noted here at least as early as 1846.

50. The night's encampment was about 8 miles east of the site
of Casper, Wyoming. Here, William Clayton writes, "we came
to a halt on account of seeing a number of wagons about a half
mile ahead which proved to be two of the Missouri companies
camped on the banks of the river and preparing to cross here. It
was also ascertained that there is no camping place beyond them
unless we go some distance. . . . These Missourian companies inform
us that the regular crossing place is twelve miles farther and that
our brethren are gone on there and also the balance of the Mis-
sourian companies. These men have got a light flat boat with
them and have already got one load over." Orson Pratt says of
these same immigrants, "A short distance above us, two small
companies which had passed us a few days before, were encamped;
they were building a raft to cross at that place. The day before
their teams took a fright by the running of a horse, upsetting two
of their wagons; one woman and two children considerably in-
jured, but no bones broken: some crockery, &c destroyed."

51. On the morning of June 12 the Saints traveled 7 1/4 miles
to the vicinity of Casper, where, Norton Jacob makes note, "there
is an excellent fording place which has been much used by emi-
grants." James Case and Stephen Markham forded the river
experimentally here, finding the water about AVz feet deep in the
channel, and the current very swift. "Of course it could not be
forded with loads in the wagons," William Clayton records, "but
the loading would have to be ferried in the boat. They made a
report of this kind on their return to camp and about the same
time Brother [Alexander] Chesley came down from the brethren
ahead and reported their progress and the nature of the crossing
place, etc. A number of the brethren in company with Elder
Kimball and Chesley went to the river opposite the camp to decide
whether to cross here or go on. Brother Markham and Case again

152 ANNALS OF WYOMING

went over, but it was finally concluded to go up to the other ferry."
The Saints moved on up the river 4 miles and made their night
encampment half a mile below where the provisional Mormon
ferry was being operated, which was some 3% miles above present
Casper.

52. William Clayton writes, concerning the inception of the
ferry, that the brethren sent ahead had arrived at the river about
noon of the 11th. "Two of the Missourian companies arrived
about the same time. The brethren concluded that a raft would
be of no use on account of the swiftness of the current. The Mis-
sourian company offered to pay them well if they woud carry their
company over in the boat and a contract was made to do so for
$1.50 per load, the brethren to receive their pay in flour at $2.50
per hundred. They commenced soon after and this evening [June
12] finished their work, and received the pay mostly in flour, a
little meal and some bacon. They have made $34.00 with the cutter
all in provisions which is a great blessing to the camp inasmuch
as a number of the brethren have had no bread stuff for some
days. . . . The Missourian company seem to feel well toward us
and express their joy at having got across the river so soon."

53. Experiment proved that attempting to take across more
than one wagon at a time, so far from saving time and energy,
multiplied the problems and resulted in serious damage to the
wagons. When the Saints quit work on the 14th, Clayton makes
note, 23 of their wagons had been ferried over the river. "There
was no difficulty in getting the freight over for one man can
carry it in the cutter faster than all the rest of the camp can get
the wagons over." On the 18th the Saints put into service a ferry
boat to replace their makeshift rafts, and it was this craft that
served the immigration through the rest of the season. Appleton
Harmon describes it as "built of 2 dugouts 23 feet long & ties
a crost they being placed 6 feet apart and run plank lengthwise."

54. William Clayton remarks that on this day it was con-
cluded "to leave several brethren here to make a boat and keep a
ferry till the next [Mormon] company comes up. By that means
they will probably make enough to supply a large company of
emigrants coming up on the north side of the Piatt above Grand
Island. There are doubtless some of our brethren and if so they
will probably reach us before we get through." The rumor Clay-
ton alludes to was without foundation — the Mormon Second Com-
pany of 1847 on this date was just setting out from Winter Quar-
ters, on the Missouri River, but the rumor played its part in the
establishing of the ferry.

The company of Missourians referred to is noted by Appleton
Harmon as being "an oregon company of 18 wagons commanded
by Capt Smith . . . Judge Kimsey with him." It would seem likely
that the Captain Smith referred to was Doctor Smith, the father
of Moses Ira Smith. Sarah Hunt Steeves writes concerning the
son, in her Book of Rememhrance of Marion County, Oregon,
Pioneers (Portland, 1927), pp. 118, 120: "Doctor Smith and his
wife, Nancy Scott-Wisdom Smith, were his parents. Doctor was
just a given name. . . . Moses' father had been elected captain of
the train, that started out with about thirty wagons, and others
joined them, until in time there were two hundred white-covered
wagons. ... At the second crossing of the Platte (North Platte)
they overtook Brigham Young, the great Mormon apostle, who
was camped here with his many followers and five hundred wagons
[actually, 77 wagons and 1 cart], preparing to cross the river, on
their way to the Great Salt Lake. He had sent men to the timber

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 153

in the hills about fifteen miles away, where they dug up whole
trees and from them made dug-out canoes. By fastening two of
these together as a basis for rafts, they would carry a loaded
wagon across in safety, returning again for another. Brigham
Young was very kind to the immigrants in many ways. He pro-
posed to take their train across on his rafts, before he did his
own and only charged at the rate of fifty pounds of flour per
wagon for this service. Moses' father had known Brigham in
Missouri, and no doubt these two men were glad to renew their
old acquaintance and enjoyed talking over things in old Missouri. . ."
Doctor Smith, captain of this train, died at Green River.

55. It is difficult to disentangle the companies of the Oregon
immigration during this and the next couple of days — perhaps
because, as Norton Jacob declares, "there was one hundred eight
emigrant waggons within four miles all wanting to cross the river."
Some, he adds, "hired us to cross them at $1.50 paid in flour and
at $2.50 per hundred, and others crossed themselves." Although
the 16th was principally occupied in getting across the Saints'
own wagons, Appleton Harmon says that "a company of ten
[Oregon] wagons came up and we engaged to ferry them for
$1.50 per waggon."

Historians of the overland trail having commented on Brig-
ham Young's great shrewdness, if not tight-fistedness, in fixing
the ferry fees at low States' prices for the provisions accepted in
payment, it is worth noting that the standard fee was established,
by bargaining between the Oregon immigrants and the Saints sent
to the ferry, before Young arrived on the scene.

56. William Clayton adds a footnote which illustrates the
ingenuity of the Saints in turning an extra dollar. After the last
Mormon wagon was got over, there remained two Missouri com-
panies which had made application to be set over at $1.50 per
load. "When the contract was made with the first company to
be sent across as soon as our wagons were over, the other company
of ten wagons offered to pay the brethren 50('' per man extra if
they would set them over first, making $5.00 over the stated price
for ferriage being ten of the brethren to work at it. Colonel
[Albert] Rockwood [commanding the second division] had made
a contract to the above effect with the first company and did not
like to break it. However, he received a hint that this was Colonel
[Stephen] Markham's day for the use of the boat and consequently
Colonel Markham [commanding the first division] had a right
to take the last offer if he chose. He took the hint and they went
to work forthwith at a dollar and a half a wagon in provisions at
Missouri prices and 50<?' extra per man in what they preferred for
themselves. . . . The ferrying was continued all night and till day-
light at which time many of the Missourians' wagons in the two
companies were over."

57. The nine men named to stay at the ferry were Thomas
Grover, John S. Higbee, William Empey, Appleton Harmon, Ed-
mund Ellsworth, Luke Johnson, Francis M. Pomeroy, James Dav-
enport, and Benjamin F. Stewart. A tenth man, Eric Glines,
stayed on without Brigham Young's sanction. Of him William
Clayton wrote on June 18, "The President . . . referred to Brother
Glines who was wishful to stay but the president said he had no
council for him to tarry, but he might do as he had a mind to.
Some explanations followed by Glines, but the unanimous feeling
of the brethren was to have him go on." Glines remained at the
ferry until the 23rd, but then had a change of heart and set out

154 ANNALS OF WYOMING

after the Pioneer party, which he overtook on the 26th, three
days' journey west.

58. For this date Appleton Harmon's journal has an amusing
entry showing that the benefits of competition in free enterprise
were no more appreciated in 1847 than they have been in many a
year since: "br Empy & Sturart Started with 4 horses & a
waggon after coal back to Deer crick 28 ms a companied by F. M.
Pumeroy & glines who went to rekanorter the ferry below & see
if it could be chartered for laramie post they returned Jest at
evening & reported that the boat was on the opposite Side the
river & 3 men thare with a waggon apearent ly waiting for a
nother company Luke Johnson, Edmund Elsworth, went down
on the north Side to inake a more close examination but returned
about day light having found it well guarded & a faith ful
watch dog"

59. Harmon's journal, as quoted in Note 58, would indicate
that Empey and Stewart set out on the 20th, rather than the 21st.
While they were gone, Harmon records (June 21) an important
change in the affairs of the Mormon ferry:

"I arose early & in company with John Higbee by the request
of Capt grover went down to the lower ferry hunting horses & to
see how long those men ware to Stay there, they sed that they
expected to Stay until a company of 27 waggons should bee crossed
that they expected they would git thare to night, we got our
things together finished blacsmithing got a cow in pay ment put
our things most of them on to the boat Capt Grover my Self
J. Higbee, F. M. Pumeroy & J Debenport, shoved of with the ferry
boat & leather skift leaving. Luke Johnson & Edmund Elsworth
with the 2 waggons & things that remain thair while we fioted
down the river in quest of a ferrying ground below those a bove
mentioned we Stuck on 2 Sand bears but got of with but verry
little difficulty we halted a short time at their ferry Capt grover
asked them if they ware willing for us to fery at the Same place
with them, and working in concert with them but they seemed to
choose to run the risk a lone of gifting what they could So we
moved on down the river a bout 2 ms & landed on the South Side
the river in a grove of Scatering cotton woods close by the road
whare the feed is good & a good Cite for a ferry after a few
moments consultation we unamously agreed that this should be
the Spot We acordingly unloaded our things br debenport put
up his black Smith tools &c Herick glines Started with the cattle
to drive them down to whare we ware a going, but when we landed
we found that he was a head of us, we Set up some punchaon &
bords that we had on the boat to break the wind offrom us &
made our beds on the ground, we ware called to gether by capt
Grover & returned thanks to the God of Jacob as usial & retierd
to our lodging."

It would appear that the rival ferry was something over a
mile below Casper, and the reestablished Mormon ferry from 2
to 2V2 miles farther down.

60. Harmon's journal says that Empey and Stewart were
gone from the 20th to noon of the 22nd, whereas Empey makes
it from the 21st to the 23rd. Being more full, Harmon's journal
is presumably more reliable. Harmon adds that the two men
put up an advertisement at Deer Creek as follows:

NOTICE

To the ferry 28 ms the ferry good & isafe maned by experi-
enced men black Smithing horse & ox Shoing done all so a
wheel right

I

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 155

Thomas, Grover,

The 28 miles given as the distance from Deer Creek was correct
for the original location, but now of course the Mormon ferry was
about 7 miles closer.

61. The 4 French traders, so Harmon writes, "enformed us
that the Soldiers [Sick Detachment of the Mormon Battalion] from
Peublo ware at fort John [Fort Laramie] when they lift & would
be here in a few days."

62. John Battice, or Jean Baptiste, figures often in the annals
of Fort Bridger, trading in association with Jim Bridger.

63. Vaughn's company is not clearly distinguished in the
Oregon annals, but is mentioned in a report of the 1847 inmmigra-
tion in the St. Joseph Gazette, May 28, 1847. The Gazette's inform-
ant met "Vaughn's company," then consisting of 48 wagons, on
May 17, apparently on the Little Blue. Empey's journal entry for
the 25th is almost word for word the same as Harmon's indicating
that one diarist copied from the other.

64. Captain Hodge was possibly Jesse Monroe Hodges, or his
son, D. R. Hodges. Bancroft notes in his History of Oregon (San
Francisco, 1886), vol. I, pp. 628, 629, "Jesse Monroe Hodges was
born in Melbourne Co., S. C, Dec. 18, 1788. In 1811 he married
Catherine Stanley of N. C. He served in the war of 1812, and
fought under General Jackson at Horse Shoe Bend. In 1817 he
moved to Tenn., thence to Ind., and thence in 1839 to Mo., making^
his last remove to Oregon in 1847, and settling in Benton County.
He died at the residence of his son, D. R. Hodges, March 27, 1877.
His mental condition was sound up to his latest moments, though
over 88 years of age."

65. Harmon had written on June 20, before the change in
location of the ferry, "A Young man got Drowned 5 ms below here
by the name of Wesley Tustin aged 18 years while Swiming a
horse he was not found." Albert Carrington, who heard of the
incident on the trail two daj^s later, was informed that the young
man was from Morgan Co., Illinois. Harmon and Carrington
spelled the name Tustin, which was evidently right; the Oregon
Historical Quarterly, March 1919, vol. XX, p. 139, records the
death of Caleb S. Tustin, born in Illinois in 1830, came to Oregon
in 1847, died at McMinnville, February 11, 1919. Caleb was appar-
ently Wesley's younger brother.

66. The name, "Hill Ferry," is explained by an entry in Har-
mon's journal of June 23, to the effect that James Davenport had
"Done some black Smithing for Mr. [Henry?] Hill that has re-
mained 2 miles a bove us with the ferry above mentioned."

67. At this point two leaves are gone from the manuscript,
comprising pp. 19-22 and the entries from June 26 to July 10.
Fortunately the gap can be filled with an extract from Appletort
Harmon's journal. In Harmon's own journal, however, the first
part of the entry for June 26 is evidently missing.

68. Amasa Lyman, Roswell Stevens, and Thomas Woolsey,
together with John H. Tippetts, had been detached from the Pio-
neer party at Fort Laram.ie on June 3, to go south and meet the
Mississippi Saints and the Sick Detachment of the Mormon Bat-
talion. They met on June 11, according to a letter now in the
Church archives, written by Lyman on June 28 from "Grover
Ferry, on Fork of Platte." John Steele was a member of the
detachment commanded by Brown, and he writes, "On the 27th
of June came to the crossing of the Platte, found there Brother
Groves & Co. ferrying missionaries across the river on their way
to Oregon and Charging $1.50 for crossing. . . . There are hundreds.

156 ANNALS OF WYOMING

of emigrants here and find the Mormons a God-send to help them
across the river. We crossed over July 1st, 1847." See Steele's
journal, Utah Historical Quarterly, January, 1933, vol. VI, p. 16.

69. The company was evidently that of Thomas Cox, alluded
to as the Chicago company, and consisting originally of some 14
wagons. Bancroft (op. cit., pp. 629, 630) writes of him that he
"was by birth a Virginian. When but a small child he removed
with his parents to Ross Co., Ohio. In 1811 he married Martha
Cox, who though of the same name was not a relative. He removed
with his family of three children and their mother to Bartholomew
Co., where he built the first grist and carding mills in that
place. He afterward removed to the Wabash River country, and
there also erected flour and carding mills at the mouth of the
Shawnee River. He also manufactured guns and gunpowder, and
carried on a general blacksmithing business. In 1834 he made
another remove, this time to Illinois, where he settled in Will
County, and laid out the town of Winchester, the name of which
was afterward changed to Wilmington, and where he again erected
mills for flouring and carding, and opened a general merchandise
business. During the period of land speculation and 'wild-cat'
banks. Cox resisted the gambling spirit, and managed to save his
property, while others were ruined. In 1846 he made preparations
for emigrating to Oregon, in company with his married son,
Joseph, and two sons-in-law, Elias Brown and Peter Polley." Cox
settled in Salem and set up a store with goods brought aci'oss the
Plains. Later he turned to fruit-raising, and died at Salem Octo-
ber 3, 1862. See also Ralph C. Geer's account in Transactions of
the Seventh Annual Re-Union of the Oregon Pioneer Association
for 1879 (Salem, 1880), p. 40, which says the Cox store at Salem
was tlie first such establishment south of Champoeg.

70. If "Captain Saunders" was L. W. Saunders, he was from
Oskaloosa, Iowa, subsequently taught school at Waiilatpu, and was
killed in the Whitman Massacre, leaving a widow and 5 children.
It is more likely that L. W. Saunders was a member of the Chap-
man company. See Note 115.

71. Brown and Lyman carried west a letter, now in the
Church archives, from Thomas Grover to Brigham Young:

Platte river, June 29, 1847.
President Young.

Dear Sir. Having an opportunity of communication a few
lines to you by Brother Amasa Lyman, we embrace the same.
We are all well at present, but are rather lonesome since you
left us. We have just finished ferrying Capt. Brown and company
consisting of 19 wagons, four extra loads, three dollars per trip,
and also 150 men and women, who are in the United States service
at twelve and a half cents and also for Blacksmithing.

$66.00
18.75
22.50

$106.25
Capt. Brown has left with us six oxen that could not be driven
any further for us to bring on if they should be able to travel
when our brethren come on with a promise to settle the bill as you
say is right when we come on.

We remain as ever, your brethren,

Thos. Grover.
Grover's arithmetic would seem to have been somewhat faulty,
but not his adherence to a long-established American practice, of

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 157

soaking the government twice as much as a private individual for
services rendered. At rates charged the Oregon immigration,
the fee for ferrying the 19 wagons and four extra loads would
have been $34.50.

72. At first glance Captain Higgins most plausibly would
seem to be Captain Nelson Higgins of the Mormon Battalion, since
no Higgins appears in the lists of the year's Oregon and California
immigration. The 23 wagons, however, is so unaccountably large
a number for him to be captaining, even if some of them belonged
to the Mississippi Saints, as to suggest that the name may have
been Wiggins rather than Higgins. William Wiggins seems to
have started out from Independence as guide to the contingent
with which the Blanchets traveled. His party was belated on the
trail, and he attempted to get through to California by a route
substantially that of the Lassen Cutoff of 1849, but he had to turn
north into Oregon and finally reached California by sea. The
safety of his company was a constant theme of anxiety for the
California newspapers during the fall and early winter of 1847-48,
especially so because of the tragic experiences of the Donner
party in the mountains the year before.

73. Captain McClay or McCay is not identifiable. A John
McCoy is listed by Bancroft as an Oregon immigrant of this year.

74. I cannot distinguish which Taylor this may be. Christopher,
John F., and L. Taylor were Oregon immigrants of 1847. There
may have been others.

75. In To Oregon by Ox-Team in '47 (Portland, n. d.), Fred
Lockley develops the history of the Hunt family, wnose train Elijah
Patterson captained, as told by a grandson, Jeptha Hunt. The
Hunts were from Indiana, and Jeptha says, "At Independence
grandfather [J. S. Hunt] met a young man, Elijah Patterson, who
was anxious to go to Oregon but did not have sufficient money
to outfit himself for the trip. An arrangement was made whereby
Elijah Patterson would furnish a yoke of oxen and a yoke of
young cows in exchange for his board while crossing the plains.
At Indian Grove a wagon train consisting of 21 wagons was or-
ganized and Elijah Patterson was elected captain of the train. . . .
On the North Platte they overtook a large company of Mormons
enroute for the Great Salt Lake. . . ." Jeptha adds that in 1851
his grandfather married Mrs. Nancy Smith, the widow of Doctor
Smith (see Note 54).

Sarah Hunt Steeves, op. cit., p. 97, quotes George Washington
Hunt, Jeptha's father, as saying, "After we arrived at Independ-
ence, Mo., my father's money running short, he took in an excellent
young man from Texas by the name of Elijah Patterson. . . .
From Independence we made our way to Indian Grove, our next
camp on the line of the Indian Territory (now Kansas). Here
Patterson was elected captain of 21 wagons and we rolled out
for Oregon. . . . The Mormons crossed us over North Platte in a
rather loose affair called a ferry."

76. Jonathan Pugmyer, Jr., and Marcus N. Eastman were
members of the Mormon Battalion evidently furloughed to meet
their families coming along in the Second Company, or to return
to the States. See Harmon's journal entry for July 4.

77. Felix A. Collard is listed in the pioneer index of the Ore-
gon Historical Society. He was born in Kentucky in 1810, settled
in Illinois, and then journeyed to Oregon in 1847; he was a farmer,
merchant, blacksmith, and member of the Oregon legislature.

78. Captain Turpen presumably was William Turpin, in-
cluded in Bancroft's list of the 1847 immigrants. The Oregon

158 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Historical Society has a typescript of reminiscences by Cyrenius
Mulkey, "Eighty-One Years of Frontier Life," which relates that he
and his family crossed the plains in 1847, when he was only 15.
His father, a preacher whose given name does not appear, or his
father's brother, Johnson Mulkey, might have been the Mulkey
referred to as pilot for "Captain Turpen." They started from
Missouri and of course traveled the North Platte. The Transac-
tions of the Twenty-Ninth Annual Reunion of the Orgeon Pioneer
Association for 1901 (Portland, 1902), contains an address of wel-
come by "Frederick W. Mulkey, son of Marion F. Mulkey and
grandson of Mulkey, pioneers of 1847," but this contains no infor-
mation on the family and does not supply the given name of the
grandfather. The only Mulkey appearing in Bancroft's list is
Johnson Mulkey, but "Westly Mulkey" has been listed with the
immigration of 1844.

79. Elisha Bidwell, the E. Bidwell of Bancroft's list, is pre-
sumably the Elisha Bedwell who appears in the pioneer index of
the Oregon Historical Society, though without any evidence that
he came as captain of a company. He was born in La Fayette
County, Missouri, September 9, 1819, moved to Texas, returned
to Missouri, and started across the plains April 12, 1847, arriving
in Oregon the following October. He settled in Yamhill.

80. Joel Palmer was the most significant figure in the Oregon
immigration of 1847. He went to Oregon in 1845, returned east
in 1846 to publish his famous Journal, and then immediately re-
turned to the Pacific at the head of an immigrant company.
Palmer set out from St. Joseph, and the Gazette of that place on
May 28, 1847, printed the report of an informant who had met
Palmer's party of 99 wagons on May 18, then the ninth company
in line along the trail. "Capt. Palmer had taken the census of
his company, which was as follows: — 129 males and 72 females
over 16 years of age; and under 16 years, 85 males and 83 females.
His company had also 1012 head of cattle, 66 horses, 2 mules, and
45 sheep." After the usual fashion of immigrant companies, by
the time Palmer reached the Mormon ferry, his company had split
up into smaller segments. The Oregon Spectator, August 19, 1847,
printing news of the oncoming immigration, was pleased to learn
of Pahiier among them. "Mr. Palmer, who, but a short time since,
was a citizen of this country, and has numerous friends here, we
are happy to learn, is on his return, and has been honored with
the command of a large company of wagons, principally from
Missouri. . . ."

81. Captain Snooks remains unidentified. A person of this
name was mentioned by James Clyman as among his fellow way-
farers to Oregon in 1844, and Charles L. Camp has suggested that
he may be the P. Snooks who was wounded in the Cascade fight
in the Yakima war of 1856. Bancroft, op. cit., vol. II, p. 457, al-
ludes to a major of the 68th Ohio Regiment during the Civil War
as "a former resident of Oregon named Snooks, of the immigration
of 1844." Possibly all these are one and the same man.

82. The only name resembling Dodson in the lists of the
immigration is D. D. Dostins, but there were Dodsons in Oregon
as early as 1845.

83. The pioneer index of the Oregon Historical Society lists
a Daniel B. Putman, born in Illinois April 15, 1810, who came
overland to Oregon in 1847, arriving October 3; he was a mill
wright who settled at Oregon City.

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 159

84. Jim Bridger, eastbound to Fort Laramie, had met the
Mormon Pioneer party at the Little Sandy on June 28. He and
the Saints interrupted their journey for a long conference through
the afternoon and evening, the remarkable account of which is
found, in particular, in the journals of William Clayton and Norton
Jacob. It was then thought that Bridger would return to his fort
in time to aid the Saints in finding a location. These plans, how-
ever, did not work out.

85. Who the four furloughed Battalion members were does
not appear.

86. Chester Ingersoll wrote apparently the only contempo-
rary account of the year's California immigration, in 10 letters
published in the Joliet [111.] Signal, reprinted in 1937 at Chicago
by Douglas C. McMurtrie as Overlajid to California in 1847. Inger-
soll's letters, sent back as opportunity offered, are in effect an
intermittent journal of the trip. He set out from Independence,
embarking upon the plains on May 10. There were 78 wagons in
the company originally, but this number was unwieldy, and split
up into smaller detachments, Ingersoll's section consisting of "30
wagons, and 45 able bodied men, with a guide that has traveled
the route eight times." He writes on July 2, ''Travelled 18 miles
to the place of crossing the river which was too high to be forded,
but we found a company of Mormons at the ford with a boat.
They ferried us over for one dollar per wagon." Next day, "Most
of the day was occupied in crossing the river." From Harmon's
notation as to the size of the company, it had undergone some
further fission since mid-May. Ingersoll reached Johnson's Ranch,
above Sutter's Fort, on October 2. Bancroft's index of the Cali-
fornia pioneers records that Ingersoll died in San Francisco in
1849, leaving a family.

Additional notes on the California immigration of 1847 were
published by Charles L. Camp in "William Alexander Trubody
and the Overland Pioneers of 1847," California Historical Society
Quarterly, vol. XVI, June, 1937. The Trubody family reached
California under the guidance of Charles Hopper, but if Hopper
commanded a company east of Fort Hall, the record does not
appear in the Mormon journals kept at the Platte ferry. The
total number of wagons that reached California this year seems
to have been 70.

87. There are some difficulties about identifying the east-
bound parties from Oregon in 1847 because they all seem to have
split up and recombined in a greater or lesser degree. These 8
men were evidently those who had been encountered by the
Mormon Pioneer party at South Pass on the night of June 26,
their guide at that point being the famous mountain man, Moses
"Black" Harris. Clayton observes that they had "over twenty
horses and mules with them mostly laden with packs of robes,
skins, etc.," while Orson Pratt remarks that they had left the
Oregon settlements on May 5.

They were evidently one division of the company of 19 men
guided by Levi Scott who left the Rickreal Valley on May 5 and
came east by the Applegate Cutoff, the so-called southern or
"California" route to which Harmon's journal alludes. Their de-
parture was noted in the Oregon Spectator, April 15, May 13, and
June 10, 1847. Levi Scott went, evidently, only as far as Fort Hall,
since he guided back to Oregon by the Applegate Cutoff some 60
wagons of the year's immigration, his return noted in the Spectator
of October 14, 1847. Where the party split up is not certain, but it
is reasonably clear that the second party from Oregon whose

160 ANNALS OF WYOMING

passage Harmon notes on July 7 was a subdivision of the larger
party by the Applegate Cutoff. The Mormon leader in California,
Sam Brannan, who crossed the Sierras in May, in a letter of June
18 written from Fort Hall, remarks that a company from Oregon
had arrived at the fort the day before and that he had sent letters
in their care (Millenial Star, October 15, 1847, vol. IX, pp. 304,
305), but otherwise gives no information about them.

Niles' National Register, August 14, 1847, vol. 72, p. 370, records
the arrival on the frontier of Messrs. Shaw, Bolden, and Thompson,
"direct from Oregon, having left the frontier settlement on the
5th of May, and made the trip to St. Joseph's in 83 days."
They had met Brannan at Fort Hall, which makes it likely that
they were the party by the Applegate Cutoff. The St. Louis Daily
Union, August 5, 1847, notes the arrival last night of Mr. Huber,
who "left the principal settlements in Willamette Valley on the
7th of May, and arrived at St. Joseph, Mo., on the 28th of July.
He was accompanied by fourteen men." Evidently 15 men were
in the Oregon company (whose arrival at St. Joseph on July 28
was noted in the Gazette of July 30.) If the 16th man was Black
Harris, this would indicate that the two parties of 8 recombined in
traveling through the Sioux and Pawnee territory, Harris remain-
ing behind.

88. It is difficult to trace the movements of these 5 men,
except for what may be learned from a letter by Orson Hyde,
dated St. Louis, August 5, 1847. "In coming from the [Council]
Bluffs to St. Joseph's, about five days ago, I met five of our bat-
talion of soldiers returning. They came to fort Laramie, from
Purbelo, in company with about 150 others. . . . Upon their arrival
at the fort, the soldiers, all except these five whom I met, went on
with brother Amasa after the pioneers. A small party from Ore-
gon overtook our five returning soldiers. They met our pioneers
beyond the 'south pass' in the mountains. All well." The 5 Bat-
talion men may thus have been with the company which reached
St. Joseph July 28. (Millennial Star, September 15, 1847, vol. IX,
pp. 272, 273.)

89. Sarah Hunt Steeves, op. cit., pp. 137, 138, writes: "Rev.
John McKinney was born in Tennessee, April 3, 1798. . . . From
Tennessee the family moved to Jackson county, Missouri. . . .
Of the party to start across the plains from the McKinney farm
in 1847, many came from St. Joseph and other places. Of this
company were a Mr. Doty; John and Hugh Harrison, with their
families; Hadley Hobson and family; Mr. Thompkins and family;
Dr. Pretty man and family; the two McKinney s; Rev. John Mc-
Kinney, William McKinney and wife Matilda; a Mr. Davis, who was
hauling a set of mill burrs across the plains; Mr. Luellyn who had
planted an embryo nursery in a wagon bed . . .; Dick Adams, and a
Major Magoon, with many others. The company numbered about
one hundred wagons, with Major Magoon in charge. . . Very soon,
however, dissension arose over who should be officers . . . caused
the train to divide into ten groups of ten wagons each, with Major
Magoon as head over all companies. Each ten wagons elected a
captain and thus they were enabled to travel with more harmony.
. . . Rev. John McKinney was chosen captain of the ten wagons
comprising the two of the McKinneys, Mr. Davis . . ., Mr. Doty,
the Harrisons, Hobsons, Dr. Prettyman, Thompkins, the Luellyn
family with the nursery stock and Major Magoon." When his
father was sick, William McKinney acted as captain.

90. Retford and Bodall are unidentified.

I

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 161

91. Ward also for the present defies identification.

92. Whitcom is presumably Lot Whitcomb, whose name is
found in Bancroft's list of the year's Oregon immigration. The
St. Joseph Gazette, May 28, 1847, referred to Whitcomb's as hav-
ing been on May 20 the twelfth company in line on the trail, con-
sisting then of 109 wagons.

93. Captain Hockett is not readily identifiable. He may have
been the J. C. Holgate on Bancroft's list, "identified with the early
histories of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho," and killed in a
mining difficulty at Owyhee in March, 1868.

94. The "Reminiscences of James Jory," Oregon Historical
Quarterly, September, 1902, vol. HI, pp. 271-283, describe the ex-
periences of Joseph Magone's company, which started from Inde-
pendence. "Magone was from New York, an unmarried man,
young, handsome, and deservedly popular. He had hired his
passage with the train, and was out for an adventure, but when
it was represented that he was the best man for captain, being
free-handed and well-informed, he set aside personal considera-
tions and accepted. He proved to be one of the best emigrant
captains ever on the Plains, alert, cheerful, watchful of the needs
of every one, and promising all that he would see the last one
through safely to the banks of the Willamette, and he most bravely
redeemed his promise. . . . Magone was married after reaching
Oregon to a Miss Tomlinson that he met on the Plains; and long
afterwards, indeed after the railroad was built, illustrated his
original love of adventure by walking back East for a visit." See
also Note 89.

95. The Catholics alluded to by Appleton Harmon were
Francis Norbert Blanchet, newly consecrated archbishop of Ore-
gon, his brother, A. M. A. Blanchet. who on reaching Oregon
was to become the first bishop of Walla Walla, and six others
whose names are not recorded. F. N. Blanchet had opened Catholic
missionary activity in Oregon in 1838, returning to Quebec by
sea in 1845 to receive his ordination as archbishop. He had then
gone to Europe to raise funds and was now returning to his
vicariate. Chester Ingersoll, op. cit., p. 17, on setting out from
Independence early in May, noted the presence of the 7 priests
and the bishop among his fellow travelers. A. M. A. Blanchet's
account of his journey (Rapport sur les Missions du Diocese de
Quebec, Quebec, April, 1849, p. 19), mentions his arrival at the
Mormon ferry on July 6, the Mormon blacksmithing operations,
and the fact that many of his fellow immigrants preferred to go
up the river 8 miles and ferry themselves across than to pay the
Mormon fee: "Apres avoir passe la Riviere aux Chevreuils, nous
etions a la nouvelle traverse de la Platte. Des Mormons y avaient
etabli une forge pour reparer les chariots, et un bac pour les
transporter sur la rive gauche. Nous fumes contents de donner
une piastre pour chacun des notres; mais plusiers de nos compag-
nons prefererent aller traverser, a 8 milles plus haut." The
Catholic travelers reached Walla Walla on September 5.

96. See note 87 above.

97. White was, according to a member of his company, Loren
B. Hastings, a Methodist preacher, but his first name does not
appear. (Bancroft lists a Luther, a Rev., and a Thomas White.)
Hastings' journal, published in Transactions of the Fifty-first An-
nual Reunion of the Oregon Pioneer Association, 1923 (Portland,
1926), is a document of considerable interest. White was elected
captain on May 20, shortly after the departure from St. Joseph.

162 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Hastings does not say how many wagons they had on setting out,
but this information is supphed by the St. Joseph Gazette, May 28,
1847, which gives the number as 37, and their place 13th in the
line of travel. Hastings writes:

"July 9. This day arrived at the Mormon ferry and black-
smith shop; the 20 wagon (Captain Bonsers Co. as it is called) had
gone ahead: but we found them here; my company (called Cap-
tain Whites Co.) went ahead; myself and some others remained
with Captain Bonsers Co. to set our wagon tires, etc.

"July 10. This day the Mormons set my wagon tire; the boys
killed a buffalo.

"July 11. This day, Sunday, intended to move, but some of
our cattle were minus. Mr. Taylor and myself went out on mules
to hunt our cattle. . . . Six wagons went up to the ford on the
south side of the river, crossed over and camped. The Mormons
ferried over the balance at the shop and we moved up on the
north side of the river and camped three miles below the other
wagons."

98. Henderson Luelling, a Quaker from Salem, Iowa, is mem-
orable in the immigration of 1847 for the "traveling nursery" he
took along. Ralph Geer (op. cit., pp. 40, 41) recalled that Luelling
made two boxes 12 inches deep, and just wide and long enough
to fill the wagon bed, filling them with a compost composed prin-
cipally of charcoal and earth, into which he planted about 700
trees and shrubs, from 20 inches to 4 feet high, protected from
the stock by a light but strong frame fastened to the wagon box.
He permitted no one to discourage him in the undertaking, and
reached The Dalles with his nursery about October 1. "That load
of trees contained health, wealth and comfort, for the old Pioneers
of Oregon. It was the mother of all our early nurseries and
orchards. . . . That load of living trees and shrubs brought more
wealth to Oregon than any ship that ever entered the Columbia
river."

Harmon's mention of a roadometer on one of Luelling's
wagons is interesting, for Harmon was the mechanic who con-
structed the first Mormon roadometer. Credit for absolute inven-
tion and first use of the roadometer for Plains travel has long
been given to the Mormons, but Luelling's device makes it obvious
that roadometers were simultaneously evolved in several places
to answer the exigencies of trans-Plains travel, and that the
question of first use must be left open.

99. Luelling traveled as a member of Stephen Bonser's com-
pany. As seen in note 97, Loren B. Hastings consistently referred
to Bonser's as being a company of 20 wagons rather than 12, as
here recorded. Bonser was one of those who set out from St.
Joseph. Geer says that he "brought a herd of fine cattle and
improved the herds of the Columbia bottoms vastly."

100. Here William Empey's journal again picks up the story
from Appleton Harmon's. The entries in the two diaries from
July 11 to 14, however, are so strikingly alike as to make it
obvious one journal is based upon the other. The style being more
characteristic of Harmon, it is likely Empey was the copyist.

101. Phineas Young, Aron Farr, George Woodard, Eric Glines,
and Rodney Badger were detached from the Pioneer party on the
west bank of Green River, on July 4, to go back and meet the
Second Company of the Mormon immigration. Just as they were
setting out, 13 men of the Sick Detachment of the Mormon Bat-
talion overtook the Pioneer party, and one of their number, Wil-
liam Walker, turned back with the other five to meet his wife.

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 163

Rodney Badger did not go as far as the Platte ferry, turning about
instead to guide the Mississippi Saints and the Sick Detachment
of the Battalion. Evidently John Cazier of the Battalion was
furloughed to take his place.

102. Harmon says under this date, "we prepaired to move
our effects up the river to whare thare is better feed acording to
Capt Grovers request Br Empy went up with 1 waggon at a
time, Makees Co of 24 Wagons arived a bout noon & wanted
some work done &z as the feed was poor they thought best to
assist in moving the black Smith tools up whare we ware a going
they acordingly done so Br devenport set up his tools a gain
at our camping place 6 ms a bove & commenced work setting
tyer &c I assisted him Br glines assisted a bout moveing Br
Higbee is a gifting Somebetter Luke Johnson Stayed at the old
camp to watch the things until to morow."

From these remarks, the third location of the Mormon ferry
was very near its original site, from ZVz to 4 miles above present
Casper.

103. Variously named McGee, Makee, and McKee by Empey
and Harmon, the captain of this Oregon company was possibly
Joel McKee, listed by Bancroft.

104. Harmon gives a fuller account of the day's activities:
"my Self & James Devenport went to work at the Black Smith
shop Br Glines went below after some Coal & the ballance of
the things that ware left there Br Empy & Higbee took care of
the Buffalo meat & Cattle &c I would here mention that Br luke
last night while watching our buffalo meat &c below was mutch
troubled by the wolves & had ocation to fire on them he wounded
one reloaded & fired again the the gun bursted, it burnt his face
& arm & hand Considerable & Slightly wounded his hand & arm,
a piece of the lock or Something alse passed through his hat with
great violinc which closely graced his head."

105. This day's journal entry terminates Appleton Harmon's
record of the Mormon ferry: "worked at black smithing &c Capt
McKees Co Stil remained here gifting work done near evening
a young man by the name of Jacob Cooper was married to Kittean
Huckelbee by ex Squire Tullis of said Company from the State
of Indiana a Company of 14 men arived from oregon with 50
pack horses & mules a going to the States a part of which came
by way of fort Bridger & met our Company of Pioneers with in
15 ms of that place

Doct L Johnson Cook

J. Devenport Black Smith

A. M. Harmon BlackSmiths assistant

Wm Empy & Erick glines Coliers

John Higbee Herdsman, is the order of this day

Quite a Shower Came up some vapers of clowds hung of between

us & the Mountains"

106. This company from Oregon seems to be that described
in the St. Louis Missouri Republican, August 24, 1847: "On Satur-
day evening, Captain T. G. Drake, of the British ship Modeste
. . . and Mr. John G. Campbell, arrived in this city from Oregon.
They left Oregon on the 6th of May, and travelled to Fort Hall
in company with a brigade of the Hudson Bay Company. They
left Fort Hall with only four men, but overtook another party of
seven, and arrived in the settlements with a party of fourteen.
. . . Between Fort Hall and Soda Spring, they were overtaken
by a party of four men from California. This party left California
on the 4th of June."

164 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Ralph Geer (op. cit., p. 35) gives the names of two others
with Drake and Campbell, presumably the whole group which
set out from Oregon together: "At the snow bank we met J. G.
Campbell, of Oregon City, and Wm. and Samuel Campbell, who
were going back east for their father and family." The Oregon
Spectator of June 10 reported that Captain Drake and J. G. Camp-
bell had reached Fort Wallawalla on May 23 and started forward
early the next morning. Although Harmon's journal says this
company had met the Mormon Pioneer party within 15 miles of
Fort Bridger, singularly enough not one of the journals of the
Pioneer party mentions such an encounter.

107. Bancroft's list includes an Albert G., C, Eli, Henry W.,
and a Leander L. Davis. I cannot determine which if any might
be "Captain Davis." A more likely choice may be D. D. Davis,
from Green Bay, Lee County, Iowa. The Oregon Historical So-
ciety has a letter from James N. to Daniel Harty, dated "Piatt
River, June 29th 1847," which alludes to the election of Davis as
Captain of Harty's company. At the time, there were apparently 47
wagons and 75 men in the company. The Oregon Spectator, Novem-
ber 25, 1847, indicates that 11 wagons under a Captain Davis took the
Applegate Cutoff. See also Note 89.

108. This company from Oregon may, from the language
used, have been constituted from two or more smaller groups.
From the reference to the Mormon Pioneers at Fort Bridger, one
of their number was Colonel William Finley, who had gone out
to Oregon in 1845, for in a letter Brigham Young wrote Amasa
Lyman from the fort on July 8, a letter now in the Church
archives, he commented, "Col. Findley left here this morning for
the states, direct from Oregon, doubtless you will see him." There
is frequent mention of Finley's intended departure east in the
Oregon Spectator, and in the diary of George Gary at Oregon
City (see Oregon Historical Quarterly, December, 1923, vol. XXIV,
pp. 398-401). The Spectator, of June 10 reported that Finley's
party had reached The Dalles on May 30 and left next day. How
it happened that only one or two of this group went by way of
Fort Bridger is not clear. Perhaps some of Finley's original group
were among those who arrived at St. Joseph with Drake and
Campbell.

Loren Hastings, who had met this party 5 days earlier on the
Sweetwater, commented, "In the company was a man and his
wife and family. They were going back to Adams County, Illi-
nois. The woman rode with one foot on the one side of her pony
and the other foot on the other side. This is the greatest curiosity
I have seen yet, it knocks everything else into the shade." Per-
haps this is the same family Ralph Geer tells of (op. cit., pp. 35,
36), though Geer recalled the man as being from Missouri: "At
the last crossing of Sweetwater, we met a man by the name of
Grant, with his whole family on his way back to Missouri. When
asked what his objections to Oregon were, he said: 'In the first
place they have no bees there; and in the second place, they can't
raise corn, and whar they can't raise corn they can't raise hogs,
and whar they can't raise hogs they can't have bacon, and I'm
going back to old Missouri whar I can have corn bread, bacon
and honey.' "

109. When Nathaniel V. Jones, with Kearny's escort, overtook
this company at Wolf River on August 19, almost a month later,
he observed that among them "was a missionary by the name of
Little- John." ("The Journal of Nathaniel V. Jones," Utah His-
torical Quarterly, January, 1931, vol. IV, p. 23) P. B. Littlejohn

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 165

had gone to Oregon with his wife in 1840 as an independent Pres-
byterian missionary, and during the seven years he was there,
appears frequently in the correspondence of Narcissa Whitman.
In one of her last letters, under date of August 23, 1847, she com-
mented, "Mr. Littlejohn and family have gone home to the States;
they started this spring. . . . [Mrs. Littlejohn] was Adeline
Saddler. . . . She was very unwilling to leave the country, but
her husband has become such an hypochondiac that there was no
living with him in peace. He wanted to kill himself last winter.
It is well for him that he has gone to the States, where he can
be taken care of." (Transactions of the Twenty-First Annual Re-
union of the Oregon Pioneer Association for 1893 [Portland, 1894],
p. 213) George H. Gary's diary (op. cit., p. 399), on May 6 noted
that the Littlejohns with their 2 children were leaving. Loren.
Hastings wrote concerning him on July 18, "Met another return-
ing company from Oregon. In the company was a missionary
who had been in Oregon seven years and his family with him.
His ladies rode like the ladies we met yesterday (that is, astride).
A little child not old enough to talk was lashed on to a pony
and they drove the pony before them."

110. Although Davenport left with this party evidently on
the understanding he would serve them as a guide to Winter
Quarters, the company kept to the route south of the Platte, and
when overtaken by Kearny, as seen in the previous note; had
nearly reach St. Joseph. Jones noted the presence of Davenport
with this group. Notwithstanding his falling out with his brethren,
Davenport maintained his fellowship with the Saints, migrating
to Utah in 1848 and living there until his death at Richmond
about 1885.

111. Captain Frederick remains unidentified.

112. Captain Smith was Cornelius Smith, as identified by
the disappointingly laconic journal of a member of his party, Mrs.
Elizabeth Dixon Smith, later Mrs. Geer, published in Transactions
of the 35th Annual Reunion of the Oregon Pioneer Association, 1907
(Portland, 1908). Although her company crossed the Platte on
either July 22 or 23, in her diary she merely notes that they trav-
eled 15 miles on the one day, and 16 on the second. She herself
was from LaPorte, Ind. It is not clear whether Cornelius Smith
was her husband.

113. One of the unsolved, and perhaps insoluble mysteries
of Western history is how many Mormons went West before the
organized Church immigration to Utah began. C. G. Coutant,
History of Wyoming, (Laramie, 1899), p. 341, relates a purported
reconnaissance of the Great Salt Lake country by Mormons in
1846, but his source has been printed in Annals of Wyoming,
July-October, 1929, vol. VI, p. 240, and this is just the maundering
of an old mountain man. Nevertheless, it seems certain that Mor-
mons passed through Salt Lake Valley in 1846 as members of the
Harlan-Young and Donner-Reed parties. There are fugitive glimpses
of some others in California in 1846-47. Several dozen of the
Saints, in all, may have anticipated Brigham Young in coming west.

114. These 4 men had come east from California with Miles
Goodyear the red-headed mountain man who built the first home
on the site of Ogden. They met the Mormons at Bear River, some
6 miles southeast of present Evanston, on July 10. Learning that
the Oregon immigration was earlier than usual, Goodyear and his
two Indian helpers separated from the others, going on down
Bear River to intersect the immigration where it came down

166 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Bridgers Creek to the Bear Valley. The four who continued on
east were a Mr. Craig of Ray County, Missouri, a Mr. Truete of
Shelby County, Illinois, and two others, names not given. Craig
was the John Craig who with Larkin Stanley got the first immi-
grant wagons to California in 1846 (see Edwin Bryant, What I
Saw in California, New York, 1848, pp. 210, 373; and Maude A.
Rucker, The Oregon Trail and Some of Its Blazers, New York,
1930, p. 240). Craig and Stanley joined Fremont's California
Battalion, but Stanley died of typhoid on the march south. Next
spring, in the California Star, April 3, 1847, Craig announced his
intention of going east, and the New Helvetia Diary on May 22
notes his departure. The records do not disclose who his com-
panions were, except that the "Mr. Truete" remarked on by Albert
Carrington may have been Samuel Truitt.

115. Sarah Hunt Steeves, op. cit., p. 143, writes concerning
Wiley Chapman, "Born in Tennessee, he married a young girl of
the same place. . . . They then moved to Pike county, Illinois. . . .
Illinois was only the frontier at that time, and they had not much
to leave behind, so these young folk decided to cast their lot with
an immigrant train of about 40 wagons, made up of Isaac Baker,
the Canfields, Robinsons, Wrights, Matlocks, Truesdales, Saunders
and others. . . . The train was known as the Oscaloosa, Iowa,
train. . . ." Chapman was chosen captain. See also Fred Lockley,
"Reminiscences of James E. R. Harrell," Oregon Historical Quar-
terly, June, 1923, vol. XXIV, pp. 186-192.

116. Possibly Robert or W. D. Canfield.

117. Casper Creek. See Note 123.

118. John Binley, one of the 15 members of the Mormon
Battalion included in Kearny's escort. The discharge given him
next day was granted, Nathaniel Jones remarks, because he was
unwell.

119. General Stephen W. Kearny had left Sutter's June 16.
There were 64 in the party, increased to 66 on June 17 when Edwin
Bryant and his servant joined the company. Their guide, accord-
ing to the official report of the march written by Kearny's aide.
Captain Henry A. Turner, was a Mr. Murphy. They picked up
Black Harris in the Bear River Valley apparently on July 19. They
reached Fort Leavenworth August 22. Under date of July 28,
leaving the Sweetwater, Turner writes in the report, "Met the
rear-most party of emigrants; who seemed to despair of getting
farther than Fort Hall this Season — Cool. With very few excep-
tions the entire emigration this year is to Oregon: a few families
were destined to California; a good deal of pains having been taken
to obtain correct information, the following statistical list is the
result & may be relied on: 1336 Men — 789 women — 1384 both
sexes under 16 years of age — 929 Horses & Mules — 7946 Cattle —
469 Sheep — 941 Wagons." (Journal of Gen. Kearny's Return from
California in 1847, Records of Adjutant General, War Department,
National Archives, filemark 249 Kearny Sept: 30/47.) Notwith-
standing Turner's pains with his statistical table, it was defective
to the extent that it could not have included those who were late
on the road and took the branch of the trail via Fort Bridger,
Kearny having taken the Greenwood or Sublette Cutoff.

120. Under technical arrest, Fremont was proceeding east for
the famous court martial that grew out of his conflict with Kearny.
He had asked permission to be relieved from all connection with
his topographical party of 19 men, and allowed to return to the
States with a small party made up by his private means, but in

MORMON FERRY ON THE NORTH PLATTE 167

a letter of June 14, 1847, dated "Camp near New Helvetia, Calif.,"
Kearny brusquely refused. (Kearny Letterbook, 1846-47, pp. 164,
165, MS. in Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis.) Seemingly,
Fremont crossed the Platte above the old ford which was near
the Red Buttes.

121. Nathaniel V. Jones's journal gives a graphic picture of
conditions at the Donner camp in the Sierras when Kearny's force
marched past. Empey declares that a member of the Donner
party was actually in Kearny's escort. It is difficult to say who
this might have been. Though the guide was a Mr. Murphy, and
though Murphy is a famous name in the annals of the Donner
party, the sons of the widowed Lavinia Murphy were only in their
early teens in 1847.

122. The brethren at the ferry still had a long and lonesome
wait ahead of them. It was not until August 18 that the Second
Company reached the Platte ferry. See the journal of Jesse W.
Crosby in Annals of Wyoming, July, 1939, vol. XI, p. 178.

123. This explanation of the derivation of the name "Cannon
Creek," as applied to present Casper Creek, is the last entry in
the diary. The allusion is evidently to Kearny's dragoon expedi-
tion to South Pass in 1845. Two howitzers were taken along, but
none of the journals or reports mention caching one of them.

Jort Caramie

Two hundred years ago this was

La-no-wa, Land of Paradise,

Land of the grass-clothed plains and blue, ^

Majestic mountains capped with icq.

Here Indians, camping by the bend

Of the river, dried their buffalo meat,

And in the smoke of camp fires danced

To the boom, ta ta boom of the tom-tom beat.

Then to this Red Man's paradise

Came change, as bearded men explored

The streams or climbed the mountain heights,

Blazed trails and marked the river ford.

Sometimes with Indians they smoked

A pipe of peace and promised wealth

In stocks of glittering ornaments.

Their frauds provoked the native stealth.

Here La Ramee explored and trapped,

And, massacred, he left his name

To dot Wyoming's map. And here

The long, grass-covered mounds acclaim

The last of those first buildings made

In this vast wilderness, where trade

And treaty with the Indians

Brought need for force and armed brigade.

FORT LARAMIE 169

In eighteen forty-nine The Stars

And Stripes were raised above a fort,

That stood where rivers blend and flow

Together; in seas of grass a port

Half way to California

And Oregon where tired and worn,

The weary caravans could rest.

And resting find their dreams reborn.

To eastward lay the dusty miles,
The heat and hunger, broken wheels.
The stone-marked graves along the trail;
The disappointments life reveals.
To westward rose the dim blue peak
Of Laramie, lone mountain scout.
That promised them the gold they sought.
And freedom for the more devout.

The plodding caravans are gone.
In rocks their tracks may still be seen.
Some of the palisade's old walls
Still stand, although they seem to lean
And crumble with a century's weight.
Bare rivers now are edged with trees.
While homes surround an ancient fort
Immortalized with memories.

Mae Urbanek

Lusk, Wyoming
July, 1949

Mist otic ?ort Caramk. Zke Mub of Sarly
Western Mistory — 18S4-1849

By HAZEL NOBLE BOYACK

The history of the early West Hves again in the fascinat-
ing story of that historic landmark, Old Fort Laramie! Its
founding came at an important moment in history, when
the great drama of western colonization was getting under
way with a mighty, surging wave of humanity coming from
the east to the west, home-hungry, land-hungry, liberty-
hungry. The ox-drawn covered wagon, symbol of these
pioneers, would pass in review before this wilderness out-
post, a pivotal point that served first as a central trading
post, the capitol of this early western empire, and later as
a military garrison on the old Oregon Trail. Under the
Stars and Stripes, the fort administered authority over an
area with a radius of many hundreds of miles, its period
of usefulness ending only with the passing of the western
frontier.

A STRATEGIC LOCATION

Genius and geography entered into the choosing of this
strategic spot for the location of a fort. In eastern Wyo-
ming the waters of the tranquil North Platte and Laramie
Rivers unite. Here in this borderland region between
mountain and plain, a network of western trails would
converge and like the spokes from the hub of a great wheel,
radiate again onto the high plateaus and beyond the shining
mountains of the great west.

Nourished in the bottomlands of the Laramie grew
luxuriant, natural grasses. Along the stream's margin were
thick growths of cottonwood, boxelder, ash and willow.
The broken expanses of prairie uplands surrounding this
spot were carpeted with thick tufted buffalo grass, while
here and there grew hedges of wild roses interspersed with
waving fields of blue and white daisies. It was an inviting
domain for the large herds of buffalo, deer and antelope
that came to feast upon the lush vegetation. The Redmen,
always alert to the hunt, swarmed along intersecting trails
which led to this hunter's paradise.

For many years the white man had frequented this
western wilderness, traversed the rivers which interlaced
its forests, and conquered those rugged barriers, the Rocky

HISTORIC FORT LARAMIE 171

Mountains, by finding a delightful pass that led to the
shores of the Pacific.

THE WESTERN VANGUARD

The early trappers and traders were the men who com-
posed the vanguard in the movement to the west. Seasoned
to hardship, they cared little for wind or weather, nor were
they apprehensive of the dangers that lay in wait to destroy
them. The toils and perils of the period receded into unim-
portance matched with the fascinating pursuit of skins. One
cannot disparage the tenacity of purpose and the hardiness
which carried the traders and trappers through this inhos-
pitable period of the west.

In the early days of Western America the wealth of
the wilderness was reckoned in the furs of wild animals,
of which the beaver was chief. It has been said by writers
that the history of the west could be written on a beaver
skin. The direct results of the Lewis and Clark expedition,
which told of rich fur-bearing streams, first stirred the
youth of America and other countries to action. From
France, England and Spain, as well as the United States,
they came. If it were adventure which these frontiersmen
were seeking, the wilderness could provide enough to sat-
isfy the most daring, and as the Seven Cities of Cibola lured
Coronado, so the elusive "pot of gold" in the fur country
called the trapper, acting as a driving force that sent him
to hunt for a fortune in the wilderness.

The French were among the first to frequent these
western wilds, to navigate the streams and to explore the
mountains and forests. They joined Indian tribes, married
the dark maidens of the forest, and adopted Indian dress
and customs. The names of many of these rugged fron-
tiersmen appear in the pages of Fort Laramie history.

A hardy French Canadian, Jacques la Ramie, entered
Wyoming Territory in the early 1820's. As a free and rest-
less trapper of the period, he sought his fortune in the
streams of the West. While thus engaged, he met death at
the hands of an Arapahoe band. His arrow-pierced body
was found in a lonely cabin he had built beside a small
stream that later bore his name. Many other landmarks
were to be christened in honor of this romantic character,
chief of which was old Fort Laramie, watchful defender
and guardian of the frontier for more than half a century.

The fur trade had written a thrilling chapter in western
history. In this virgin land of yesterday many intrepid fur
traders and trappers of note had come and gone leaving the

172 ANNALS OF WYOMING

streams depleted by their rich catches of beaver, otter, mink,
and fox. The buffalo, the monarch of the plains, however,
still roamed in countless numbers over the grass-mantled
prairies. Bryant wrote of him:
"Twice twenty leagues
Beyond remotest smoke of hunter's camp.
Roams the majestic brute, in herds that shake
The earth with thundering steps."^

Alert frontiersmen saw in those vast herds a fortune in
buffalo hides, and plans were made for an established
trading post to handle the traffic in this free commodity of
the western prairies.

At this period in our story, two buckskin-clad pioneers
enter the scene. Their names were already familiar to west-
ern lore. One of them was William Sublette, a native of
Kentucky and one of a family of five brothers, all of whom
had tasted the fortunes of the West. William, however,
was to become the most famous. Gifted with an astute
mind and the qualities of leadership, he was quick to note
that a transition period had reached the West. Fashion
had decreed the end of the beaver hat and with it would go
the companies of trappers and that colorful western show,
the annual rendezvous. In the new era a storage place for
the bulky buffalo hides would be the first requirement.

THE TRADING POST FOUNDED

Robert Campbell, a man of Irish descent and one who
had come west with William H. Ashley in 1824, became
Sublette's partner and together they founded the first fort
on the Laramie in June 1834. It was christened Fort Wil-
liam in honor of Mr. Sublette.

The post was rectangular in shape and constructed of
hewn Cottonwood logs, to a height of about fifteen feet. A
large gate midway in the wall gave entrance. A smaller
gate on the opposite side provided a private entrance. Bas-
tions were set at diagonal corners and provided with loop-
holes for defense. Inside the rectangle, rooms were built
against the walls with windows and doors opening into the
enclosure. These rooms were used for storage and living
quarters. On one side was a corral for horses and mules.
The main court was clear. C. G. Coutant, early historian of
Wyoming who interviewed many old trappers, gives the
following details:

"The force was completely organized. A detach-
ment was sent to the woods for timber, and a band

HISTORIC FORT LARAMIE 173

of hunters supplied buffalo, elk, deer, and mountain
sheep. By the time winter approached, there was
an abundant larder and plenty of fuel had been gath-
ered to keep up cheerful fires during the long winter
months."^

No sooner had the walls of the fort begun to rise than the
pageani of western history began to pass before this lonely
outpost.

MISSIONARIES

Up to this period, missionaries among the Indian tribes
were practically unknown. It was startling when four chiefs
of the northwest tribes came to St. Louis in 1832 and in-
quired about the "White Man's Book of Heaven," asking
that it be sent to them. The request was widely circulated
in the press and instantly caught the imagination of readers,
stimulating Christian men and women to answer the de-
mands of and to administer to the Indians. Among the
first to enter the field were Jason and Daniel Lee and
Samuel Parker. The missionaries to the West became a
part of the westwardly moving caravan as they labored
over sunny knolls and along the winding course of the
Platte. Valiant men and women were these missionaries
in the wilderness who performed their chosen vocation at
great sacrifice, even at the loss of their lives.

Among the outstanding pioneers in the field were Dr.
and Mrs. Marcus Whitman and Reverend and Mrs. Henry
Spalding, notable because Narcissa Whitman and Eliza
Spalding were the first white women to cross Wyoming and
the Rocky Mountains. This party joined a caravan of
traders at Loup Fork who were being led by that veteran
trapper and guide, Thomas Fitzpatrick. The party reached
Fort William (Laramie) in June 1836. Here they were
greeted by a motley group characteristic of the fort, trap-
pers, traders, their Indian wives and many children. The
fort, erected on rising ground, lay silhouetted against the
western sky and presented a welcome sight to weary trav-
elers. In the course of hundreds of miles from the Missouri
frontier it was the first building, the first touch of home.
Within its protecting walls they might sleep at night. There
would be tables and chairs, yes, even chairs on which to sit.

Sunday morning, June 17, 1836 dawned warm, tranquil
and bright. Reverend Spalding was asked to address a
large group which had assembled in the shade of the trees
at the Fort. His audience gave rapt attention to his topic,
"The Prodigal Son."-^ Many other missionaries were to
pioneer in this western field, chief among them being

174 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Father Pierre Jean De Smet who labored diUgently and
zealously among the various Indian tribes. Thus was
launched the missionary movement, and the trading post on
the Laramie witnessed its inception as these true Christians
passed through on their way west.

In the meantime, the fort had passed into other hands.
About a year after its construction, the property was sold
to Thomas (Brokenhand) Fitzpatrick, Milton Sublette and
James Bridger, who in turn, sold it to the American Fur
Company which was directed by that great financial genius
and greatest of all American fur merchants, John Jacob
Astor.^i Under this new ownership it was rebuilt and en-
larged at a cost of $10,000. Adobe (sun dried bricks) re-
placed the Cottonwood logs. The walls were about four
feet thick, whitewashed and picketed. Over the entrance
was a tower provided with loop holes as were the bastions
that stood diagonally at the corners. The sturdy, new post,
rechristened "Fort John" after John B. Sarpy, official of
the American Fur Company, was still not permanently
named. Mail addressed to "Fort John on the Laramie,"
or to the "Fort on the Laramie," soon brought into usage
the title it bore for some fifty years. Fort Laramie.

The fort had become the fur capitol of the Rocky Moun-
tain area. A contributing factor in the attainment of this
position was the appearance of the Sioux tribe in that por-
tion of the country. "The iVmerican Fur Company, in 1832,
in order to extend their business and make it as profitable
as possible decided to organize the Indians to work for furs
and chose the fort for a central post. Accordingly, they
sent Keplin and Sabille to Bear Butte and the Black Hills
of Dakota to persuade the Sioux Indians to come over and
hunt their game and live in the vicinity of the Fort. The
ambassadors returned with one hundred lodges of the Ogal-
lala Sioux under the Chief, Bull Bear. This was the first
appearance of the Sioux nation in that portion of the coun-
try. These Indians were well impressed with the hunting
ground and sent back for more of their tribe. After be-
coming established near Fort Laramie they expanded north-
west into that fertile hunting ground in Northern Wyoming
and into the Big Horn basin. They soon overran the coun-
try and drove away the Cheyennes, Pawnees and Crows
and later were the most hostile Indians with whom the
soldiers had to deal."^

It has been established that $75,000 worth of buffalo
robes were shipped from Fort Laramie at one time. These,
together with small bales of beaver pelts, found passage
down the Platte when the stream was navigable, but usually

HISTORIC FORT LARAMIE 175

the furs were shipped by wagon train to the fur emporium
of the West, St. Louis.

Historians have said that in character, volume and rate
of progress, the westward movement in America is not
paralleled elsewhere in the history of the world. Conquer-
ing hordes have swept over many lands, but nowhere has
so large a section been settled in so short a time. It was a
period of "Go v/est, young man." Stories of fertile acres
ready to be reclaimed and made productive, of forested
coastal valleys, of a delightful climate, were told around
the hearthstones at night and plans laid for a journey west
in the spring. These anecdotes sent thousands of emigrants
to the fertile valleys of Oregon, the golden shores of Cali-
fornia and the desert stretches of Utah.

In May 1841, a small band of home-seekers and mission-
aries left the Missouri frontier and entered upon the dim
trail toward the setting sun. This road was fast becoming a
national highway, one that history would recall as the Old
Oregon Trail. Road of destiny? Yes. And the people who
trod it were people of destiny. The Oregon Trail held a
unique place in the story of westward expansion. It was
the longest trail in history.^ Along its route were great
natural barriers. The trail wound through arid wastes,
deep rivers blocked its course and snowcapped mountains
rose like giants in its path. Despite these difficulties, it
became a highway thronged with eager, adventurous spirits,
a pathway of romance, daring, courage, human misery and
death. The deep imprints in the rock, sandstone, and sod
along the course of the trail, made by the thousands of
covered wagons as they rolled westward, will preserve this
pathway forever as a symbol of heroism, patriotism and
courage of a pioneer era.

The year 1843 brought a migration of 1000 souls to the
Oregon country. Fort Laramie stood beside the Oregon
Trail and always entered into the plans for a journey to
the West. At the fort, repairs could be made on the wagons,
and fresh oxen obtained for the journey ahead. In the 1843
migration were health seekers, hunting parties of which
Sir William Drummond Stewart was a member, and ex-
plorers led by John C. Fremont, known to history as the
"pathfinder." In one group was the famous artist, Alfred
J. Miller, who had made some very worthy sketches of Fort
Laramie as early as 1837.

During the "fabulous forties" the caravans increased.
Horace Greeley wrote:

". . . the white covering of the many emigrant and

transport wagons dotted the landscape giving the

176 ANNALS OF WYOMING

trail the appearance of a river running through
great meadows with many ships sailing on its
bosom."

The creaking and grinding of wagon wheels, the report
of rifle shots as game were slaughtered for food and
sport, made strange and foreboding music to the Redman
as he surveyed grimly the invasion of his domain. The
Indian had given little trouble up to that period, but echoes
of a growing resentment were heard at Fort Laramie.

MILITARY TROOPS COME WEST

The first movement of United States troops over the
Oregon Trail occurred in 1845 when Colonel Stephen W.
Kearny and his five companies of dragoons came to Fort
Laramie. Ideal camping grounds were found three miles
west of the post. About 2000 of the Sioux tribe had pitched
their lodges near by. The situation was ideal for impressing
upon the Indians the fact that they must submit to the
"long knives" invasion of their ancestral lands. To accom-
plish this mission, the chiefs were visited, the peace pipes
smoked, and presents distributed. The pledge of peace
was conducive to optimistic expectations of amicable rela-
tions with the Redman.

THE MORMON EXODUS

In February 1846, out of the little city of Nauvoo, Illi-
nois, began a migration of people who were to write a most
remarkable chapter in western colonization. It was not a
matter of waiting until the grass was green on the prairies
or the warmth of spring arrived. The Mormons were liter-
ally forced from the frontiers of civilization because of their
religious beliefs. So rigid was the weather that February
day in '46, that these exiles crossed the Mississippi river on
ice and entered onto the wind-swept prairies of Iowa. Fam-
ilies huddled together in tents and covered wagons to es-
cape the driving sleet and rain, but despite the hardships,
they moved gallantly forward.

These folk were unlike those who had trekked west
before them. They cared not for the lure of exploring the
wilds or a fortune in furs or gold. Bound together by a
religious ideal, they sought a refuge where they might
worship God in peace.

In the fall of 1846, under the leadership of Brigham
Young, the Mormons founded a city of the plains near the

HISTORIC FORT LARAMIE 177

present site of Omaha, Nebraska and named it Winter Quar-
ters. In hastily built sod and log houses, some 15,000 people
spent the winter of 1846-1847. Their sufferings were in-
tense. The long march, exposure, and lack of food caused
many deaths. On a green hillside near the camp, 600 new
graves were made.

In early April, 1847, Brigham Young, together with
142 men, left for the Rocky Mountains to locate a place
suitable for settlement. Their route lay along the north
bank of the Platte River until Fort Laramie was reached
on June 1, 1847. Here wagons were ferried across the
stream and camp made at the fort for three days. James
Bordeaux, superintendent of the post, commented upon the
manly decorum of the band. They would go nowhere with-
out permission. Their portable blacksmith shop was set
up and wagons repaired.^' Orson Pratt, scientist of the
party, took the measurements of Fort Laramie. In his
journal entry for June 1, 1847, he records the measurements
of the exterior of the fort as being 168 feet by 116 feet.
Inside were eighteen rooms occupied by the men and their
families. Mr. Pratt also estimated the latitude and longi-
tude of its location and the height of Laramie Peak about
forty miles to the west. Dr. Luke Johnson attended some
who were sick at the fort and was repaid by the exchange
of moccasins and skins.

The Mormon Vanguard Company obtained the use of a
flat boat from the agents of the American Fur Company
for the sum of $18 and on June 2, for two days thereafter,
they ferried their 73 wagons across the Laramie, in readi-
ness for the journey ahead. Up to the advent of the rail-
road in 1869, more than 80,000 Mormon pioneers had trekked
past this wilderness outpost. It was used as an important
half-wav station between Winter Quarters and Salt Lake
City.

During the years of heavy emigration to the West a
register was kept at Fort Laramie, and the train captains
were asked to enter the names of all adult members of
their parties. Many prominent people were listed during
the year 1846, among them being W. H. Russell of freighting
fame and later father of the Pony Express; ex-Governor
L. W. Boggs and family from Missouri enroute to California;
Edwin Bryant, the journalist; and Francis Parkman, the
Bostonian, who gave to us one of our finest works on the
Oregon Trail. ^ This was the year also of the ill-fated Don-
ner-Reed party who, too long delayed, were caught in the
heavy snows of the high Sierra range. Of the 81 in that
party only 45 survived that dreadful winter.

178 ANNALS OF WYOMING

GOLD DISCOVERED IN CALIFORNIA.

An event occurred in Sacramento Valley, California,
in 1848 that echoed around the world. A Swiss adventurer,
John August Sutter, had secured a large tract of land in
that region and erected a fort upon it called New Helvetia.
A sawmill was needed to supply timber for the project and
James W. Marshall, one of the workmen at Njew Helvetia,
set about building one. In an effort to deepen* the tail-race
to the mill, he flooded it with water each night: The morn-
ing of January 24, 1848, he stepped down into tt^e ditch to
see what progress had been made when he ndlljiced some
bright, shiny nuggets lying on the bed-rock. It proved to
be gold. Gold discovered on the American River in Cali-
fornia!

People from every land and clime came to California
in search of the metal. It was reported that between De-
cember 1848 and the end of January 1849, sixty-one vessels
carrying passengers from all over the world set sail from
Atlantic ports. The largest number of people, however,
were to come by land. It was easier to trade for wagons,
acquire teams and food supplies than to get the required
money for ocean passage. Many routes west were followed,
but the greatest movement was along the Oregon-California
Trail, up the Platte, past Fort Laramie, and over South
Pass to Fort Bridger. Here the emigrants had the choice
of two roads, one the Mormon Trail to Salt Lake City thence
to the Sacramento Valley. The other road led to Fort Hall
enroute to the coast. Stories of the fabulous gold finds in
California led one man to say: "I believe I'll go. I know
most of this talk is widely exaggerated but I'm sensible
enough to discount it and disbelieve absurd stories. If I
don't pick up more than a hatful of gold a day I'll be satis-
fied." During the early part of 1849, George A. Smith, a
Mormon missionary writing from Iowa said that 12,000
wagons had crossed the Missouri River below Council Bluffs
and that 40,000 men were on their way to the gold fields.

Added to the ordinary hazards of the journey, the '49ers
suffered from an outbreak of cholera that became the scourge
of the trail. Many fresh graves soon dotted the prairie and
the camping places. It was a year of heartbreak for hun-
dreds of emigrants; in fact, the Oregon Trail has been
called one of the greatest cemeteries of the West.'^ Those
who escaped the misfortunes of the journey pushed on with
all haste in their eagerness to arrive at the gold fields.
They abandoned all expendible furniture, food, and imple-
ments of all kinds. The carcasses of dead animals, broken-

HISTORIC FORT LARAMIE 179

down wagons and carts bespoke the haste and distress of
the gold-seekers.

The surging waves of gold-hungry people in 1849 taxed
to the limit the resources of the fort. It also brought again
into the limelight the urgent need for military posts along
the route of the Oregon Trail. For many years this matter
had been vigorously urged. Thomas Fitzpatrick, Indian
agent for the Plains Tribes, counseled such action with the
congressmen in Washington. John C. Fremont, in 1842,
had made a plea for the establishment of military posts as
a means of protection to the emigrants. Senator Benton,
fiery representative from Missouri and chairman of the
Military Affairs Committee, exerted his influence in sup-
port of the measure. Francis Parkman, who had been in
the region of Fort Laramie, noted the insolent attitude of
the Indians and warned of trouble ahead. Consequently,
in May 1846, a law was enacted providing for military forts
in the West. At this time war clouds were hanging heavy
over the country and a call to arms had been sounded to
settle the difficulties with Mexico, hence action on the
matter was delayed. In 1849, however, with the rush of
the gold-seekers to California, immediate action came from
the Army.

The strategic location of Fort Laramie made it ideal
for a military garrison. There was an abundance of build-
ing material available within a short distance. From the
Laramie River a constant supply of good water was assured.
Lush grasses grew in the valley of the Laramie, and plenty
of fuel for warmth could be secured with little effort. Then
too, the post was already regarded as important because it
was located in the midst of several powerful tribes of
Indians, the principals of which, the Sioux and the Crows,
had never been friendly to the whites. Consequently,
on June 16, 1849, Major Winslow F. Sanderson of the United
States Army, together with four other officers and fifty-
eight men, arrived at the fort. Lieutenant Daniel P. Wood-
berry of the Engineer Corps was authorized to purchase
the adobe structure from Mr. Bruce Husband, the pro-
prietor, for $4,000. Additional troops soon arrived, fol-
lowed by a supply train of 400 wagons out of Fort Leaven-
worth.

In the meantime Congress had appropriated $18,000
with which to begin construction on much needed build-
ings. The area about the fort became a hive of industry.
The sound of the hammer, saw and ax amid the shouts of
busy men, echoed in the near by hills. By winter the troops
were comfortably housed in their new quarters.

180 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Thus the flag of the United States was unfurled five-
hundred miles from the frontiers of civilization, and Fort
Laramie, ushered into her new role as the outstretched hand
of the government, was to see her greatest period of service
on the frontier of the Great West.

NOTES TO "FORT LARAMIE"

1. Francis Parkman. California and Oregon Trail. (New
York, n.d.) p. 58.

2. C. G. Coutant. History of Wyoming. (Laramie. Wyoming,
1899) Vol. 1, p. 300.

3. LeRoy R. Hafen. Fort Laramie, and the Pageant of the
West, 1834-1890. (California, 1938) p. 42.

4. Clyde Meehan Owens, "The Fur Traders," State of Wyo-
ming Historical Department Quarterly Bulletin, Vol. 2 (January
15, 1925), p. 44; W. H. Powell, "Fort Laramie," Collections of the
Wyoming Historical Society, (Cheyenne, Wyoming, 1897) Vol. 1,
p. 177.

5. Grace Raymond Hebard. The Pathhreakcrs from, River
to Ocean . . . (California, 1940) p. 122. Comparing the Oregon
Trail with the Santa Fe Trail, Dr. Hebard declared that the Ore-
gon Trail, two thousand twenty miles long, "was very much the
longer and more difficult, but it was proportionately more useful
in the development of the far West."

6. B. H. Roberts. Comprehensive History of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. (Salt Lake City, Utah, 1936),
Vol. 3, p. 192.

7. Hafen, op. cit, p. 120.

8. Alexander Majors. Seventy Years on the Frontier. (Den-
ver, 1893) p. 259.

Mistory of Mbany County to 1880

SETTING THE STAGE: PRE -TERRITORIAL HISTORY
By LOLA HOMSHER

With the purchase of Louisiana in 1803, the area which
is now known as Albany County, Wyoming, passed from the
hands of the French into the possession of the United States.
Although this portion of the Great American Desert was
but little known, the French had apparently gained some
idea of the terrain. At least it has been claimed that a
Paris map of 1720, which showed the western regions,
marked plainly the Laramie and Medicine Bow mountains
and the Laramie Plains, though no details were given.^
C. G. Coutant devotes a chapter to possible Spanish entry
into present Wyoming, but if the Spanish entered this
region, they left no known records which would substan-
tiate his story.- Nor did the nomadic Indian tribes which
traversed the country leave many permanent marks on it.

Southeastern Wyoming, in the later period, was the
home of a branch of the Algonquian family of the American
Indians, whose western division comprised three groups:
the Blackfoot, the Cheyenne and the Arapaho.-^ Lewis
and Clark found the Cheyenne, whose original habitat was
in Minnesota, in the Black Hills region of present South
Dakota. Pressure by the Sioux had driven them west,"*
and by the middle of the century both the Sioux and
Cheyenne were in the Laramie Plains region.

The Indians were interested in this area for two reasons:
from the "Good Medicine Bow" forest they obtained fine,
straight poles for their teepees, and the Laramie Plains
were a summer home of the buffalo.^ That the plains were

1. Francis Birkhead Beard, 'Wyo-ming Frora Territorial Days
to the Present, Vol. I (Chicago, 1933), p. 2.

2. C. G. Coutant, History of Wyoming, Vol. I (Laramie, 1899),
pp. 23-32. Breed disagrees with Coutant's theory and states that
the Spanish advanced no farther than the forks of the Platte River
in present Nebraska. He further contends that if Spanish trade
goods were found in this territory they probably came here indi-
rectly through a second trader, possibly the Blackfeet. Noel J.
Breed, "Wyoming, 1873-1852, The Road to the West" (University
of California, n.d.), pp. 1-5.

3. Frederick Webb Hodge, Ed., Handbook of American In-
dians, Vol. I (Washington, D. C, 1912), p. 39.

4. Ihid., p. 251.

5. Coutant Notes, Albany County file, Hebard Collection, lo-
cated in the Archives and Historical Manuscripts Division of the
University of Wyoming Library.

182 ANNALS OF WYOMING

also the natural home of an abundance of other wild life,
even in a later period, is attested to by some of the geo-
graphic designations which still remain: Antelope Creek,
Badger Lake, Bear Lake and Bear Creek, Beaver Dam
Creek, Blacktail Creek, Bluejay Mountain, Bobcat Creek,
Bull Creek, Coyote Canyon, Deer Creek and Deer Canyon,
Duck Creek, Elk Creek, Foxpark and Fox Creek, Grouse
Creek, Jackrabbit Creek, Sheep Mountain, Wild Cat Can-
yon and Silver Tip Creek.^

The Indians early in the nineteenth century began to
have white visitors who came among them to remain and
to trap the beaver. In Europe the beaver hat had become
popular, and as the demand for beaver pelts grew, so
Europe's demand began to change and to tame the West.
Inroads were made upon the habitats of the Indians, who
began early to feel the impact of Western civilization and
to attempt to stem the tide.

The Laramie Plains and bordering mountains were not
on the main line of travel. From the south it was easier
to stay to the east of the Laramie Mountains, and the plains
were not safe as, according to C. G. Coutant, this area was
the battleground between the northern and southern tribes
of Indians." However, trappers did come into the area,
either through the easy access from the north or because
a path through the mountain heights shortened the length
of the journey to their advantage.

According to Coutant the first white men to enter the
area were Ezekiel Williams and his eight companions about
1807 or 1808. His story relates that Williams and his party
had traveled to the headwaters of the Yellowstone River
and its tributaries, where they successfully trapped for a
time. But the Blackfeet, traditional enemies of the whites,
drove them south. In the first battle against the Indians
five of the party were killed, and in succeeding encounters
with other tribes in their retreat, eight more lost their
lives. It is possible that in making their way to safety
the remainder of the group entered this region, crossed the
range to the south, and went into present Colorado.^

Breed, however, discredits this story. He states that
Williams was merely one of Manuel Lisa's trappers who

6. Raymond C. Emery, "A Dictionary of .A.lbany County
Place-Names" (Thesis submitted to the Department of EngHsh and
Committee on Graduate Study at the University of Wyoming,
1940), pp. 97-98.

7. C. G. Coutant, op. cit., p. 298.

8. Ihid., pp. 70-73. Much of this story is based upon the book
The Lost Trappers by D. H. Coyner (Cincinnati, 1859). Breed
calls the whole thing a "newspaper story" by "a journalist writing
western tales for a Virginia newspaper." Breed, op. cit., p. 69.

HISTORY OF ALBANY COUNTY TO 1880 183

was on a trading expedition with the Arapaho. According
to his findings the party in which Wilhams was a member
went south from Fort Manuel in 1810 or 1811 and followed
the North Platte to its source in North Park.'' If this is
true, Williams probably did not enter present Albany
County.

The legendary figure of Jacques la Ramie^*^ was pos-
sibly the next trapper to enter the area. According to John
Hunton, a pioneer of the Fort Laramie region who knew
Jim Briager and claimed to have heard the story directly
from him, la Ramie came to that country at the head of a
number of independent trappers about 1817. These men
trapped along the Platte River and north, Jim Bridger
being with them. In 1820 la Ramie went up the Laramie
River, against the advice of the others and failed to return
in the spring. A few years later the trappers learned that \
he had been killed by Indians and his body stuffed under
the ice in a beaver pond.^^ Although the details of this
story can probably never be confirmed Laramie did leave
to the region the legacy of his name.

The Laramie Plains, soon after their bloody christening,
were to be crossed by one of the most famous of the western
fur barons, General Ashley, who broke the path for the
later Overland Trail. Leaving Fort Atkinson at the mouth
of the Platte River on November 3, 1824, Ashley and his
party followed the river to the forks, where he chose the
southern branch. Following the general course of the Long
expedition of 1820, he turned in the vicinity of present-day
Fort Collins, crossed the range to the north and entered
the Laramie Plains, arriving about March 10, 1825.^- Ash-
ley was pleased with the valley and gave the first known
description of it:

. . . [he] was delighted with the varigated [sic] scenery
presented by the valleys and mountains, which were en-
livened by innumerable herds of buffalo, antelope and
mountain sheep grazing on them, and what mostly added

9. Breed, loc. cit, p. 72.

10. The name is variously spelled as la Ramee, la Ramie,
Larame, and Laramie. Most sources agree that he was a French
Canadian.

11. Agnes Wright Spring, "Old Letter Book," Annals of Wyo-
ming, Vol. 13 (October 1941), pp. 240-41; John Hunton, "Jim
Bridger's Recollection of Jacques La Ramie about 1819 or 1820,"
First Biennial Report of the State Historian of the State of Wyo-
ming, with Wyoming Historical Collections. (Laramie, 1920), p.
154. Hiram M. Chittenden gives the date of his death as 1821.
H. M. Chittenden, The American Fur Trade of the Far West, Vol.
I (New York, 1935), p. 468.

12. Beard, op. cit., p. 33, and W. J. Ghent, The Road to Oregon
(New York, 1929), p. 19.

184 ANNALS OF WYOMING

to their interest to the whole scene were the many small
streams issuing from the mountains, bordered with a thin
growth of small willows and richly stocked with beaver. is

The prospects were so exciting that his party moved slowly,
trapping as they went, and remained on the plains until
March 24.1"*

Yet another trapper was to leave an imprint upon this
area. La Bonte, for whom a stream in the northern extreme
of the county is named, trapped in the area in the 1840's.
George F. Ruxton, an Englishman who spent a short time
among the trappers of the Rocky Mountains at that date,
recorded that the country where La Bonte and his com-
panions were trapping

... is very curiously situated in the extensive bend of the
Platte which includes the Black Hill range on the north,
and which bounds the large expanse of broken tract known
as the Laramie Plains, their southern limit being the base
of the Medicine Bow Mountains . . .i^

Although others may have also trapped this area, for beaver
were plentiful, they have left no known records of their
adventures.

After Ashley's journey in 1825, there was some travel
along the later Overland Trail, ^"^ but the first official ex-
ploration of this area was made by Captain John C. Fremont.
In 1842 he had explored the South Pass country, and in 1843
he took the southern route, following General Ashley's
trail of 1824-25. The party consisted of thirty-nine men,
principally Creoles and Canadian French and a few Ameri-
cans. Thomas Fitzpatrick acted as guide to the party ^''' and
Kit Carson was also a member.^ ^^

On July 30, 1843, Fremont's party encamped on a high
prairie, broken by buttes and boulders and forming the
dividing crest between the Laramie and the Cache la Poudre
rivers.^'' By the following evening the party had reached
the Laramie River proper. Commenting on the Laramie
Plains, Fremont expressed himself much as had Ashley
eighteen years earlier:

13. Beard, Loc. cit.
. 14. Ihid.

15. George Frederick Ruxton, In the Old West, Horace Keo-
hart, ed. (.New York, 1924), p. 131.

16. Beard, op. cit., p. 121.

17. Captain J. C. Fremont, Report of the Exploring Expedi-
tion to the Rocky Mountains in the year 1842 and to Oregon and
North California in the years 1S43-44, 2S Congress, 2nd Session,
Senate 174 (Washington, D. C, 1845), p. 105.

18. Ihid., p. 116.

19. Ibid., pp. 365-66.

HISTORY OF ALBANY COUNTY TO 1880 185

As we emerged on a small tributary of the Laramie
River, coming in sight of its principal stream, the flora
became perfectly magnificent; and we congratulated our-
selves, as we rode along our pleasant road, that we had
substituted this for the uninteresting country between
Laramie hills and the Sweet Water valley. We had no
meat for supper last night or breakfast this morning, and
were glad to see Carson come in at noon with a good
antelope. -"^

Although Fremont spent but three days on the Laramie
Plains,"^ he proved that it was a part of the practicable
route which in two decades hundreds of emigrants would
follow, and across which the Overland Stage would thunder.

Six years were to elapse before the next military ex-
ploration was to include the Laramie Plains and vicinity
again. On September 26, 1849, Captain Howard Stansbury
and his party entered the area from the northwest and
crossed southeasterly to the headwaters of Lodge Pole
Creek.2-

Excitement attended Stansbury's crossing, for on the
second day eleven scouts in the party gave an alarm that
Indians had been sighted. Immediately the train was halted.
As no natural defense was available, the pack-mules and
loose animals were caught and led by halters, the men
formed into two lines behind the wagon, between which
the led animals were driven, and the whole closed up by
a guard m the rear.-^ When the alarm proved false, the
party moved on, but an appearance of Indians a short time
later made it prudent to stop on the banks of the Laramie
River where an enclosure could be made.

In this situation Jim Bridger, the guide, proved of great
value. The Indians, it was discovered, were a band of
Ogallala Sioux who had believed the soldiers to be Crows.
With the exchange of gifts and some slight thievery by the
Indians, the two parties passed on without further moles-
tation, Stansbury's party crossing the Laramie Mountains
via Lodge Pole Creek, -^ a later emigrant route.

During this same year a party of Cherokee Indians,
bound for California under Captain Evans of Arkansas,
entered the Laramie Plains from the south, rounded Elk
Mountain at the north end of the Medicine Bow Mountains,

20. Ihid., pp. 122-23.

21. Ibid., pp. 365-68.

22. Howard Stansbury, Exploration and Survey of the Great
Salt Lake of Utah, Special Session, March 1851, Ex. No. 3 (Wash-
ington, D. C, 1853), p. 251.

23. Ihid.

24. Ibid., pp. 253-58.

186 ANNALS OF WYOMING

and continued west. This event gave the name of Cherokee
Trail to a part of the later Overland Trail.-^

In 1854 the plains area saw its first private pleasure
expedition, that of Sir George Gore of Sligo, Ireland. This
wealthy peer had with him forty retainers, fourteen dogs,
six wagons, twenty-one carts, twelve yoke of oxen and 112
horses. "^^ Coutant states that his first pleasure excursion
was through the Black Hills,-" across the Laramie Plains
and into North Park. This same account relates that one
of Gore's men washed out some gold from a stream on the
Laramie Plains, which would be the first recorded discov-
ery of that mineral in present Albany County. Gore imme-
diately moved camp to prevent a stampede of desertions
from his ranks and kept the discovery from his men.-''

The Laramie Plains area did not see much of perma-
nent importance transpire until 1862. Because of Indian
depredations along the old Oregon Trail, which made travel
dangerous and expensive, and because of the gold rush in
the present Denver area, Ben Holladay found it economic-
ally advantageous to change the route of his overland stage
from the more northern route to one which went into
present-day Colorado and then turned to cross the southern
part of what is now Wyoming.-'^ The new line, which was
shorter, followed the South Platte River to the Cache la
Poudre and up the valley to Virginia Dale. The line then
crossed the Black Hills, traversed the Laramie Plains and
rounded Elk Mountain, following closely the Cherokee Trail.
The road, however, now took on the name of the stage
company and became the Overland Trail.

Stations were built along the new line, and a table of
distances indicates those located in present-day Albanv
County i'^^

25. Ghent, op. cit., pp. 156-57; Beard, op. cit., p. 121; Le Roy
Hafen, Overland Mail (Glendale, 1926), p. 230.

26. Hubert Howe Bancroft, Bancroft's Works, Vol. XXV (San
Francisco, 1890), pp. 695-96.

27. The Laramie Mountains were often called the Black Hills
because of their dark appearance on the eastern slopes, caused by
heavy forests. Louis C. Coughlin, District Forest Supervisor, Lara-
mie, April 3, 1949. Chittenden, op. cit., p. 728.

28. Coutant, op. cit., pp. 324-25; Bancroft, op. cit., pp. 695-96.
states only that Gore's party went north of Fort Laramie and
makes no mention of a trip southwest of the fort.

29. Hafen, op. cit., p. 231; Beard, op. cit., p. 121.

30. Frank A. Root and William E. Connelley, The Overland
Stage to California (Topeka, 1901), p. 102.

HISTORY OF ALBANY COUNTY TO 1880 187

Virginia Dale [Colorado], to Willow

Springs, [Wyoming] 15 miles

Willow Springs to Big Laramie 15 miles

Big Laramie to Little Laramie 14 miles

Little Laramie to Cooper Creek 17 miles

Cooper Creek to Rock Creek [Carbon County] 11 miles

Emigrants soon clianged their course across country
also, and in 1864 Dr. J. W. Finfrock, acting surgeon at Fort
Halleck on the southern Overland Trail in present Carbon
County, recorded the following numbers had passed that
point: "Waggons 4264; Stock, 50,000; Men &c. 17,584."3i

The move to the south was fairly safe for a few years,
but in 1865 a great deal of trouble was experienced on the
Cherokee Trail section of the overland route A number
of raids were made by the Indians, seriously interrupting
both stage and emigrant travel.

On June 8, 1865, a stage station near Ft. Halleck was
attacked and five of the seven men stationed there were
killed.^- In August trouble again occurred between Fort
Collins and Fort Halleck, and on August 4 twelve whites
were killed and two captured between the Big Laramie
and Rock Creek stage stations. N. E. Lewis, a hospital
steward at Fort Halleck, later related how one of the cap-
tured men had been scalped, tied to a wheel of a wagon,
bacon piled around him, and "he was burned in its flames."^*

To carry out the mail contract, Frank A. Root, an em-
ployee of the Overland Stage Company, related how Bob
Spotswood and Jim Steward, division agents, evolved a
plan which proved successful:

. . . (The plan), while it did not protect them from attack,
still made victory rather difficult for the savages. Each
allowed seven days' mail to accumulate at the headquar-
ters of his division; the passenger travel, owing to the
troubles, being very light. An escort of ten to fifteen
cavalrymen, supplied from Fort Collins, went along, and,
with this retinue, the seven coaches, and ten or a dozen
men about the station, the two trains, west and eastbound,
would forge along towards each other and meet midway.
Among the prominent drivers of the coaches were Jim
Enos, Bill Opdyke, Jake Hawk, Hank Brown, and several
others, all more or less skilled in the "art" of fighting
Indians. When everything went smoothly, it would only
take a short time to exchange the mail and a few fright-
ened passengers; then the teams and coaches would be
turned back. Strange as it may seem, all the traveling in

31. Diary of Dr. J. W. Finfrock, 1864, last page. Finfrock
Collection, archives and Historical Manuscripts Division of the
University of Wyoming Library.

32. Hafen, op. cit., p. 268.

33. Ihid., p. 269; W. L. Kuykendall, Frontier Days (privately
printed, 1917), p. 96.

188 ANNALS OF WYOMING

this way was done at night, as it is a custom of the Indians
seldom to fight except in the daytime. For over 200 miles
all the stations were abandoned, and the stage men con-
gregated for these expeditions at Virginia Dale and Sul-
phur Springs.34

The emigrants fared little better than did the stage
employees. This same summer a party of thirty-five, re-
turning from the west, were attacked, and a running battle
ensued while the party attempted to reach Rock Creek
Station. A woman and her two daughters, aged ten and
sixteen, were killed while the remainder of the party were
rescued by a large freight outfit. A white woman, who had
been captured earlier by this party of warriors, was turned
loose at this time, but nothing could be gleaned from her
as she had lost her mind.^^

Another battle occurred about the same time between
a small detachment of soldiers and Indians. Sergeant
Cooley of the First Colorado Cavalry and a detail of nine
men, who were escorting two government supply wagons,
saw a band of Indians approaching and ran for Phil Man-
del's stage station on the Little Laramie. One soldier was
killed and Sergeant Cooley, while holding the Indians from
the rest of his party, also lost his life. The others of the
group were aided by the station employees and escaped.
A few days later it was discovered that the Indians had
feasted on Mandel's cattle.^*^

Small parties were in grave danger during this year,
and in spite of warnings they often attempted to travel to
the west. One man, his wife and mother-in-law disregarded
the warnings at La Porte and continued on. About seven
miles from Mandel's station on the Little Laramie a party
of Indians appeared, killed the mother-in-law, captured
the wife and left the husband for dead. Being stunned
only, he soon attracted the attention of a coach which had
a military guard and had turned back to the Big Laramie
to escape the Indians. The fate of the wife was never
known.-^^

Al Huston and Jim Enos were stationed at Virginia Dale
as hunters. Huston, feeling that the danger was too great
in the timber, brush and rocks which surrounded the station,
requested and secured a transfer to the Big Laramie sta-

34. Root, op. cit., pp. 255-56. Sulphur Springs was a station
just beyond Bridger Pass.

35. Kuykendall, op. cit., pp. 92-94.

36. Ibid., pp. 95-96.

37. Ibid., pp. 96-97. No evidence seems to connect this with
the story previously related of the woman who lost her mind.

HISTORY OF ALBANY COUNTY TO 1880 189

tion. Enos remained at his post and was killed shortly
afterwards.^^

With travel increasing over the Laramie Mountains
via the Lodge Pole route and over the Overland Trail, it
became expedient to have a military post erected near the
junction of these two routes which lay in the center of the
Indian disturbances. Consequently 1866 saw the first per-
manent structures, other than the rude station houses,
erected upon the Laramie Plains.

On June 19, 1866, Captain Henry R. Mizner assumed
command of Fort Halleck under orders to dismantle it and
remove it to a suitable site on the Big Laramie River and
as near to the Overland Stage Route as possible.^'^

Mizner proceeded to obey instructions and reported on
July 12, 1866, to Major J. P. Sherburne, Assistant Adjutant
General, Department of the Missouri, that he had located
the post so as to have a commanding position within a mile
of Lodge Pole Creek route "over which the bulk of the
emigration passes."^*'

In spite of instructions to locate close to the Overland
Stage route, Mizner chose a spot on the east side of the
river, six miles from the stage line, because, as he wrote.

It would be impossible to complete the work assigned
me, even by November, had I located on the westerly side
of the river, especially as it is past fording, and I should
be compelled to use the bridge of the Overland Stage Com-
pany at the same extortionate rates as characterize the
Company or its employees in the charges to Emigrants,
Freighters, &c. wherever a stream is met with, who freely
declare more dread of these extortions than of the In-
dians. Already my Qr. Mr. has been notified that a charge
is made against my command of $2.50 per wagon — over
$1.00 for crossing on the bridge, and I cannot conscien-
ciously approve such claim. . .-*!

A further difficulty arose with the Overland Stage
Company when it claimed all hay for a breadth of twenty-
five miles along its route.^- This would have included all
the good hay grounds near the military reservation, which
occupied an area six miles square. To settle this question,
Mizner ordered that the reservation be enlarged to nine
miles square so that it would include the springs, which

38. Ihid., p. 97.

39. Mizner to Bvt. Maj. General L. Thomas, Adj. Gen. U.S.A.,
Washington, D. C, June 19, 1866. This and following correspond-
ence regarding Fort Sanders was obtained from the National
Archives on microfilm by the Archives and Historical Manuscripts
Division of the University of Wyoming Library.

40. Mizner to Sherburne, July 12, 1866.

41. Ibid.

42. Mizner to Sherburne, July 29, 1866.

190 ANNALS OF WYOMING

were the source of Spring Creek, and the hay grounds.'*^
Both difficulties were amicably settled when Mizner's order
was carried out and the stage company moved its route so
that it would be closer to the post.'*^

The post, originally intended for four companies, was
named Fort John Buford when it was established, and it
retained that name until September 1866 when it was
changed to Fort Sanders in honor of Brig. Gen. W. P.
Sanders. "^-^

Difficulties of many kinds harassed Captain Mizner
during the construction of the post. On September 14 he
reported that a band of thieves on the Lodge Pole Creek
route had run off several hundred horses and mules in a
thirty-day period, one outfit losing nearly eighty animals.
He complained that whites and Indians were both appar-
ently causing trouble, but that while the post was under
construction he did not have enough men to do anything
about it.'**^

An incident which may have been related to this re-
port was the experience of William L. H. Millar, a one-time
messenger for the Overland Stage Company. In July of
1866 Millar had started for Salt Lake as a "mule whacker"
driving a six-mule team. When the outfit reached Lodge
Pole Creek the redskins stampeded all the mules, eighty-
four head, and surrounded the party for five days. Gov-
ernment teams finally came to their relief and took them
to Fort Sanders where the owners contracted with Abner
Loomis to take them to Salt Lake with ox teams,'*'''

About this time W. L. Kuykendall reported that while
looking for a hay site north of the reservation he barely
escaped a band of Indians who fled to the hills when he
reached the safety of the fort.

A few days following this encounter an owner of a
large mule train encamped for dinner near old Fort Wal-
bach and was financially ruined when the Indians ran off
his stock.^'^

A nuisance to the post commander was Jimmie Ferris,
a former soldier, who established a road house at the Big
Laramie overland stage station and planned a second one

43. Mizner to Maj. H. G. Litchfield, Aide-de-camp [Omaha],
Sept. 19, 1866.

44. Ihid.

45. "Record of Medical History of Posts No. 308, 1868-1872."
(Located in the A.G.O. Division of the National Archives), p. 1.

46. Mizner to Litchfield, Sept. 14, 1866.

47. Root, op. cit., p. 80. Abner Loomis was later a prominent
stockgrower in northern Colorado.

48. Kuykendall, op. cit., pp. 101-102.

HISTORY OF ALBANY COUNTY TO 1880 191

at Seven Mile Creek. When soldiers began obtaining whis-
key from Ferris, he was arrested and detained in the guard
house, and temporarily at least this problem was solved.^^
Although there were but a handful of people who had
settled in present Albany County by choice in 1866, the
area had become an important link in the east-west line of
communication, and the foundations for a more secure fu-
ture had been laid. The military post gave some assurance
to those who wished to remain. A telegraph line, built by
Ed. Creighton and C. H. Hutton in that year from Denver
to Salt Lake City, gave instant communication with the
outside world and removed a barrier to the region's isola-
tion.-^" The transcontinental railroad, long discussed, was
already approaching the territory and would soon cross
the Laramie Mountains and the Laramie Plains. Its re-
quirements would cause a permanent population to settle
here. Political recognition was in the very near future,
and the area would soon be able to take its place as a po-
litical entity on the map of the West.

POLITICAL BOUNDARIES

From 1821 to 1834 the Albany County area lay in the
Unorganized Country of the Louisiana Purchase, for which
there was no central government. During this period the
territory was technically under the military supervision of
the Western Department of the United States Army and
under the administrative authority of the Upper Missouri
Agency. This agency had been established in 1818 at Coun-
cil Bluffs and apparently had in its territory all Indian
tribes in the area drained by the Missouri River and its
tributaries."'^

In 1834 all lands both east and west of the Mississippi
River which were not within the boundaries of any state or
territory were named Indian Country. A Commissioner of
Indian Affairs under the auspices of the War Department
was given the power to regulate all intercourse and trade
with the Indian tribes and to see that peace was maintained
on the frontier. Under this status the future Albany County
remained until 1854.-*-

While government could not affect the Albany County
area because of its remoteness, the region was a part of
three successive territories between 1854 and 1868. The

49. Ihid., pp. 99-100.

50. Coutant Notes, op. cit.

51. Marie H. Erwin, Wyoming Historical Blue Book (Denver,
1946), p. 114.

52. Ibid.

192 ANNALS OF WYOMING

first of these was Nebraska Territory whicii was created in
1854. Although a change in the territorial status of the
northern half of present Wyoming was made in 1861, present
Albany County was not affected until 1863 when it became
a part of Idaho Territory.-'''^ In 1864 a change was again
made and the area became a part of Dakota Territory,^*
remaining under this jurisdiction until the Territory of
Wyoming was created on July 25, 1868, when President
Andrew Johnson signed the Organic Act for the new ter-
ritory.^^

. Government was by 1867 beginning to encroach upon
the Laramie Plains area, for on January 9 of that year
Laramie County was created with the county seat located
at Fort Sanders. This new political division of Dakota in-
cluded all of what is now Wyoming with the exception of
the present Uinta, Lincoln, and Teton counties and Yellow-
stone Park. These were then a part of the territories of
Utah and Idaho.^^

W. L. Kuykendall, one of the first County Commission-
ers, gave as a reason for the creation of the new county that
"The harsh exercise of military authority caused the Leg-
islature of Dakota at its session the winter of 1866 to pro-
vide for the organization of Laramie County , . ."^'^ Un-
doubtedly the vastness of the area and its isolation from
the Dakota Territorial government also influenced the legis-
lature in making the change.

Although the basis for the beginning of a form of gov-
ernment had been laid by the legislature, nothing was done,
for, as Kuykendall explained:

Hinman, Hopkins and myself were named as County
Commissioners. We did not organize the county, for in
the spring of 1867 there were not more than two hundred
civilians all told and not a real settler in what is now Wyo-
ming (unless Phil Mandel could be classed as such), very
few having any property not exempt from taxation. The
most potent reason, however, was our getting together
somewhere on account of the Indians, as we were widely
separated from each other. . .^s

Failure to organize a government was not of great im-
portance, however, for civilization was rapidly approach-
ing on iron rails, and with the founding of Cheyenne in
that year the Dakota Legislature redefined the boundaries

53.

Ihid., p. 116.

54.

Ihid.

55.

Ihid., p. 128.

56.

Ihid., p. 406.

57.

W. L. Kuykendall, Frontier Days (privately printed, 1917),

p. 101.

58.

Ihid., p. 101.

HISTORY OF ALBANY COUNTY TO 1880 193

of Laramie County, cutting it down to make Carter County
in the western half and moving the county seat from Fort
Sanders to Cheyenne on January 3, ISBS."*'* The Laramie
Plains area thus continued as a part of Laramie County,
but the new county of Albany was soon to be created.

Laramie City was established in May of 1868 and on
December 16 of that year Albany County was formed out
of the western part of Laramie County with Laramie as
the county seat. Albany County was, upon the establish-
ment of Wyoming Territory, one of the four original coun-
ties,"" although its government was not organized until
after the creation of that territory. *^^

When the first territorial legislature of Wyoming met
in 1869, the eastern boundary of Albany County as defined
by the Dakota laws was accepted, but the western boundary
was changed."- The boundaries as defined by law extended
Albany County from the Colorado boundary on the south
to the Montana boundary on the north. The eastern bound-
ary lay on a north-south line which was indicated as lying
through Bufort (sic) station of the Union Pacific Rail-
road."^ The western boundary, also on a north-south line,
lay one-half mile east of Como station of the Union Pacific."'*

The Laramie County legislators of the Second Terri-
torial Legislature, however, were not content with the
defining of their western boundary, and on November 24,
1871, Council File number 15 was introduced,"-'' which moved
the boundary west of Buford so that it began in the center
of Dale Creek Bridge on the Union Pacific Railroad and
ran due north."" The second reading of the bill took place
on November 27, at which time it was referred to the com-
mittee of the whole."' On December 5 the committee re-
ported on the bill, recommending that it "do pass," which
it did bv a vote of fi.ve to four. J. E. Gates and S. W.

59. Erwin, op. cit., p. 407.

60. Ihid., p. 408.

61. I. S. Bartlett, History of Wyoming, Vol. I (Chicago, 1918),
p. 503.

62. Erwin, op. cit., p. 409.

63. General Laws, Memorials and Resohitions of the Terri-
tory of Wyoming, Passed at the First Session of the Legislative
Assembly, convened at Cheyenne, October 12, 1869 (Cheyenne,
1870), pp. 388-89.

64. Ibid., p. 387.

65. Council Journal of the Legislative Assembly of the Terri-
tory of Wyoming, Second Session. (Cheyenne, 1872), p. 49.

66. General Laws, Resolutions and Memorials of the Terri-
tory of Wyoming, Passed at the Second Session of the Legislative
Assembly (Cheyenne, 1872), pp. 124-25.

67. Council Journal, Second Session, p. 50.

194 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Downey, the Albany County representation, both voted
against the measure.^^

The House received the bill on December 5 and on that
date it was rushed through the first and second readings. ^^
On December 6 the bill was read the third time and passed. '''^

The Laramie Daily Sentinel immediately set up a cry
at the action of the "rump" of the legislature, for at the
time of the action by the House all of the Albany County
representatives, M. C. Brown, T. J. Dayton and Ora Haley,
who had returned home for the Thanksgiving holiday, were
snowed in at Laramie and could not return to Cheyenne. '^^

On December 14 Governor Campbell returned the bill
to the Council with a veto message. He had been petitioned
t(3 do so by citizens of Albany County, by two-thirds of the
Council and by a majority of the House who asked that it
be returned for reconsideration."- Twenty-four citizens of
Sherman presented a petition for its recall claiming that
the action "was predicated on a bogus and fraudulent peti-
tion, presented by a member of the House of Representa-
tives from Laramie County."^^

In spite of this action the Council passed the bill over
the governor's veto on the day it was returned. The Al-
bany County Council delegates split their votes with Gates
voting against and Downey voting for it."^ On the follow-
ing day the House also passed the bill over the veto with
the Albany County delegation voting solidly against it.'''^
The bill then became one of the regular laws which appeared
in the 1871 statutes and was signed by the Speaker of the
House Sheeks and Council President Nuckolls as passed
over the governor's veto.'^^

The area under dispute contained some $200,000 worth
of taxable property, not an inconsiderable amount at that
date,'^" and Albany County refused to give it up. The ques-
tion was immediately brought before the Supreme Court
and, on November 12, 1872, a decision was handed down
by that body which declared that the act of the legislature

68. .Ibid., pp. 61-63.

69. House Journal of the Legislative Assemhly of the Terri-
tory of Wyoming, 2nd Session (Cheyenne, 1872), p. 91.

70. Ibid., p. 92.

71. Laramie Daily Sentinel, December 7, 1871, 3:3.

72. Council Journal, Second Session, p. 99.

73. House Journal, Second Session, p. 166.

74. Council Journal, Second Session, p. 99.

75. House Journal, Second Session, p. 165.

76. General Laws, Second Session, pp. 124-25.

77. Laramie Daily Sentinel, December 7, 1871, 3:3.

HISTORY OF ALBANY COUNTY TO 1880 195

was not in accordance with the organic act and consequently
was illegal and void.'^^

The railroad had meanwhile paid the tax on its assets
between Buford and Dale Creek to Laramie County, and
Albany County was anxious to collect this amount. The
Albany County Commissioner appointed Ludolph Abrams,
Chairman of the Board, to collect the money from the
Union Pacific Company for taxes for the year 1872 on prop-
erty in this area "which has been in dispute between the
counties of Laramie and Albany. "^^ In 1881 the Albany
County Commissioners attempted to settle all future bound-
ary differences by asking Laramie County to defray half the
expense for a survey and marking of the boundary.^"

In 1873 a second dispute arose between Albany and
Laramie counties with Carbon County also involved. Lara-
mie County brought suit against the other two counties in
an attempt to recover a portion of the indebtedness existing
against Laramie County at the time of the organization of
Albany and Carbon counties, "^^ amounting to some $18,000.^^
The suit was dismissed in the Territorial Supreme Court
upon the ground that the court had no power to levy a
contribution upon the defendants to pay this indebtedness
in the absence of any legislative act authorizing the col-
lection.^^

The suit was eventually carried to the United States
Supreme Court where a decision was handed down against
Laramie County in 1876. Albany County disclaimed any
responsibility and claimed that the indebtedness was in-
curred before there were either people or taxable property
in Carbon and Albany counties,^^ though it would be reason-
able to assume that some expense must have accumulated
during the eleven months that these counties were a part
of the larger Laramie County.

While the population of Albany County was centered
in the southern section, and the northern portion was in
the Indian Territory north of the Platte River which was
closed to all settlement by whites, very little consideration
was given to the northern end of the county. Attempts

78. Ibid., November 13, 1872, 3:2.

79. County Commissioners Record, 1871-1882 (Albany County
Clerk's Office, Laramie), February 24, 1873, p. 120.

80. Ihid., February 16, 1881, p. 484.

81. Laramie Daily Sentinel, March 13, 1873, 3:1.

82. Laramie Weekly Sentinel, March 27, 1876, 2: 1.

83. Laramie Daily Sentinel, March 13, 1873, 3:1.

84. Laramie Weekly Sentinel, March 27, 1876, 2:1. W. C.
Bramel and W. W. Corlett handled this case before the U. S.
Supreme Court for Albany County. County Commissioners Record,
1871-1882, May 6, 1874, p. 166.

196 ANNALS OF WYOMING

were constantly being made to force the government to
abrogate the treaty with the Indians, and in 1876 this became
an accomplished fact. Anticipating the transfer of the
jurisdiction of this area from the Indian Bureau to the
Territory and a resulting influx of population, Governor
Thayer m his message to the Fourth Legislative Assembly
recommended that new counties in this area be provided
for. As reasons for this suggestion he pointed out that the
new centers of population would be located at great dis-
tances from the county seats, especially in Laramie, Al-
bany, Carbon and a part of Sweetwater counties, all of
which would be affected, and this would consequently vastly
increase the cost of all public business and in a large degree
deprive these new settlers of the protection and assistance
of the government.'''^

Following this advice, the legislature, on December 8,
1875, formed two new counties, Pease and Crook, the latter
of which was taken from the northern portions of Albany
and Laramie counties. This changed the northern bound-
aries of the old counties from the parallel of 45° north lati-
tude, the northern boundary of Wyoming Territory, to the
parallel of 43° 30' north latitude,^*^ breaking for the first
time the longitudinal boundary lines of four of the five
original counties.

The act also provided that the new counties would be
organized only upon petition of 500 electors residing within
the limits of the counties.'''^ Settlers were slow to move
into the Crook County area and the county was not organ-
ized until January 22, 1885. Laramie therefore remained
the nominal seat of government for part of the area until
that date.^^

Albany County citizens made no objections to the cut-
ting off of the northern portion of their land, for they were
at this same time interested in the more pressing problem
of their southwestern boundary. As the editor of the daily
newspaper stated the proposition:

There is one matter to which we wish to call the atten-
tion of the Legislature, which is, to change the western
boundary line of Albany county, so as to include the Cen-
tennial mining district in this county. We here have no
wish to encroach upon the railroad or other taxable prop-
erty of Carbon county, but these mines are, so far as now
discovered, owned and worked by the residents of this

85. John M. Thayer, Message of Gover7ior Thayer to the
Fourth Legislative Assemhly of Wyoming Territory, Convened at
Cheyenne, November 2, 1875 (Cheyenne, 1875), p. 7.

86. Compiled Laws of Wyoming (Cheyenne 1876), pp. 198-201.

87. Ihid., p. 199.

88. Erwin, op. cit., p. 1164.

HISTORY OF ALBANY COUNTY TO 1880 197

county and city, and this place is where they want to come
to make their filings and do their business.

If they are to be compelled to go clear to Rawlins they
must come here to Laramie City and then go 140 miles
from home to do their business, which will subject them
to great cost and inconvenience. And before the meeting
of another Legislature there is liable to be a large popu-
lation there — large enough, in fact, to outvote all the rest
of Carbon county, and even bring the county seat of that
county to them instead of going clear to Rawlins to
transact their business.^-'

No change of this kind was forthcoming in 1875, how-
ever, but as mining in the Keystone and Jelm area con-
tinued to grow in importance, more agitation secured a
change in this boundary in the Ninth Wyoming Legislative
Assembly in 1886, and Albany County lost its longitudinal
character when it detached from Carbon County a rectangle
of territory.^*^

Albany County was to experience but one more change
in her boundaries. On March 9, 1888, the Tenth Wyoming
Legislative Assembly created and defined the boundaries
of Converse County, cutting the northern boundary of Al-
bany County to the Seventh Standard parallel north.®^

PHYSICAL FEATURES

Albany County contains an area of 2,824,720 acres,^-
a large portion of which is occupied by the Laramie Plains,
an area approximately ninety miles long and thirty miles
at its greatest width. The surface of this plains area is
gently rolling with broad valleys along the principal streams
separated by low, flat-topped ridges. A number of depres-
sions are to be found, the largest of which is Big Hollow,
an area about nine miles long and three miles wide with a
maximum depth of about 200 feet below its rim, located
on the divide between the Laramie and Little Laramie
rivers. Big Basin, northwest of Laramie, is similar in
character but smaller. Both depressions contain small al-
kaline ponds. Cooper Lake and James Lake in this vicinity
form two other depressions which are much smaller. In

89. Laramie Daily Sentinel, November 23, 1875, 3:1.

90. Revised Statutes of Wyomijig, In Force January 1, 1887
(Cheyenne 1887), p. 235.

91. Session Laws of Wyoming Territory passed by the Tenth
Legislative Assembly, convened at Cheyenne on the Tenth Day of
January, 1888 (Cheyenne 1888), p. 217.

92. J. F. Deeds, Depue Falck, E. R. Greenslet, R. E. Morgan
and W. L. Hopper, "Land Classification of the Central Great
Plains, Part 3, Southeastern Wyoming" (U.S.G.S. mimeographed
pamphlet No. 25654, N.D.) , p. 27.

198 ANNALS OF WYOMING

the southern part of the county are to be found numerous
other small lakes and ponds,^^ including Hutton, Creighton,
and George lakes, all of which contain pure water, and
Steamboat Lake which is impregnated with alkali.'''^

To the south, east and north of the plains the Laramie
Mountains curve along the boundary line, forming a great
semicircle which cuts the Laramie Plains from the Great
Plains area. To the west of the plains lie the Medicine Bow
Mountains, curving away from the plains about two-thirds
of the way up from the southern boundary and forming a
natural pass to the west. The altitude of the entire county
is high, ranging from about 7,000 feet^-^ to 10,274 feet, the
summit of Laramie Peak.^^

The county lies in the drainage basin of the North and
South Platte Rivers. The Laramie River enters the area
between the Laramie and Medicine Bow Mountains in the
southwestern corner and flows northward across the Lara-
mie basin, eastward through the Laramie Mountains and
across the high plains to the North Platte. It is fed by
tributaries from both the Medicine Bow and Laramie
mountains.^'^

The northeastern corner of the county is drained by
tributaries of the Medicine Bow River, also a tributary of
the North Platte. The southeastern corner of the area lies
within the drainage basin of the tributaries to the South
Platte River, with Lodgepole and Crow creeks the prin-
cipal streams.^^

Because of the extreme altitude of the entire area, the
climate is rather severe. At Centennial records kept
1899-1907 and 1911-1926 indicate that that immediate area has
a growing season of eighty-nine days and an annual pre-
cipitation of 17.43 inches. At Fox Park tabulations kept
1910-1926 record frost every month. The rainfall measured
at this point for that period was 17.82 inches, most of which
drains off into the Platte River drainage basin. Rock River
records 1913-1918 indicate an average growing season of
ninety-six days and a precipitation of 12.14 inches. At
Laramie the average growing season is 111 days, long enough
for the growth of a number of crops, but the average

93. Ibid., pp. 5-6.

94. Laramie Daily Sentinel, September 22, 1871, 3:3.

95. Wyoming Highway Map, 1947.

96. Deeds, op. cit, pp. 28-29.

97. Ihid., p. 6; U.S.G.S. Base Map compiled by R. B. Marshall
Chief Geographer, and A. F. Hassan, Cartographer, 1913.

98. Ibid.

HISTORY OF ALBANY COUNTY TO 1880 199

rainfall of 11.33 inches, measured for the years 1869-1926,
is one of the principal factors adverse to agriculture.^^

In the Laramie Plains area the soils consist mainly of
clay or sandy loam mixed with gravel. In the depressions
excess quantities of alkali salts have been deposited from
the run-off which has entered the areas and evaporated.^"^
In the adjacent mountain area the soil is principally a
granitic gravelly loam.^*'^

The vegetation of the county plains area consists chiefly
of gama grass, nigger wool, prairie June grass and wheat
grass. On the better soils needle grass is found, and tripple
awn is noticeable on dry gravelly benches. Rabbit brush,
mountain sage and match weed are found in widely scat-
tered areas. Where the soil is alkaline, particularly in the
depressions, salt grass and greasewood dominate. The west-
ern boundary of the Laramie Plains marks approximately
the western limit of the short-grass vegetation in Wyoming,
and along this line the short-grass gives way to a shrub
type, and species of both are found intermingled.^*^-

99. Deeds, op. cit., pp. 16-17.

100. Ibid., p. 7.

101. Ihid., pp. 28-29.

102. Ihid., pp. 14-15.

200 ANNALS OF WYOMING

TOWNS AND VILLAGES

Laramie

The sale of lots in Laramie began about April 20, 1868.
Anticipating large profits through lot speculation, between
two and three hundred people had, for nearly a month
prior to that date, been camped on the plains surrounding
the site which the Union Pacific had platted for the town.
Within the first week over four hundred lots were sold or
contracted for, and in less than two weeks five hundred
structures were erected.^ Buildings were crude and of a
temporary character, composed of logs, cross ties stood on
end with canvas roof, tents and boards, all of which could
be easily taken down and moved to a new point on the
road.- But a new town had been born, and when the rail-
road entered it on May 10, 1868, a gala crowd was at hand
to cheer it onward.^

The first population was in the aggregate composed
largely of the flotsam and jetsam of humanity which fol-
lowed the railroad. According to Triggs, early historian
of Laramie, the population grew to about 5,000 in the first
three months,^ but as the railroad extended westward the
majority followed it, and two years later the census showed
a population of only 828 in Laramie and the immediate
vicinity.^

An early attempt was made for city government, and
on May 8, 1868, a mass meeting was held at which the fol-
lowing officers were nominated: M. C. Brown for Mayor,
John Gurrelle for Marshal, E. Nagle, J. C. Chrisman, G. P.
Drake, and M. Townsley for Trustees, and P. H. Tooley for
Clerk. The entire slate was elected on May 12, and an
effort was made to form a strong and efficient government.
But the rough element of the new town was too strong, and
by the end of third week in office the newly elected gov-
ernment began resigning, leaving the town with no gov-
ernment whatsoever.^

1. J. H. Triggs, History and Directory of Laramie City, Wyo-
ming Territory (Laramie, 1875), pp. 3-5; Mrs. Cyrus Beard, "Early-
Days in Wyoming Territory," Annals of Wyoming, Vol 10, No. 2
(April 1938), p. 92.

2. Triggs, op. cit., p. 5.

3. Ihid. The Cheyenne Leader on May 5, 1868, reported that
the first train reached Laramie May 4 and that "Real estate went
up as the fluid extract of corn went down, and the value of city
lots exceeded greenbacks." 4:3, Most sources gave May 10 as the
date of entry of the first train into Laramie.

4. Ihid.

5. Statistics of the Population of the United States, Ninth
Census, Vol. I (Washington, D. C, 1872), p. 295.

6. Triggs, op. cit., p. 7.

HISTORY OF ALBANY COUNTY TO 1880 201

The wild element ruled without interference until Au-
gust, when a vigilance committee, composed of about twenty
members, organized in an attempt to bring some order out
of chaos and make the town safe for honest people. Their
one action, the hanging of a young man known as the
"Kid," quickly organized the lawless element who boasted
of their strength and the vengeance they would inflict upon
those who complained. The crime wave, however, grew
to such proportions that a second vigilance committee num-
bering several hundred was formed.

The vigilantes laid their plans carefully, and on the
night of October 18 planned to strike simultaneously at all
the gambling halls. Although the plan miscarried and the
dance hall "Belle of the West" was attacked before the given
time, the raid was successful from the standpoint of results.
Three men were killed, one of the committee, a member
of the band and a noted desperado, and about fifteen were
wounded. Three of the leading roughs, Con Wager, Asa
Moore and Big Ed were hanged that night and the next
morning Big Steve joined them on a nearby telegraph pole.
The majority of the lawless element left town within a
few days and the remainder joined the vigilance committee.'^

With the restoration of a kind of order, the majority
of substantial citizens dropped from the vigilance group,
leaving it to the rougher element which had joined it. As
a result unsettled and somewhat lawless conditions re-
mained until the new territorial government became effec-
tive. With the appointment of the territorial court and with
the services of N. K. Boswell, first sheriff of the county, a
greater security was established.^

The citizens of Laramie had a second cause of inse-
curity: they could not perfect titles to their lots. The rail-
road company had platted the townsite not upon their own
land, as was usually the case, but upon the Fort Sanders
Military reservation which occupied part of a section the
Union Pacific should have received. The company had
sold lots without the legal right to do so, and the citizens
of Laramie who had paid their money in good faith did
not know whether or not they would be allowed to keep
their property. Agitation was begun in 1870 for the cutting
down of the reservation, and it was urged that the title be
given to the company by Congress. If this were not done.

7. Ihid., pp. 7-11. Editor Hayford later kept the skull of Big
Neck (Ed Buston) on his desk, Laramie Daily Sentinel, May 1,
1875,3:1.

8. Ibid., p. 13-17.

202 ANNALS OF WYOMING

it was feared that the land might be thrown open for settlers,
and titles obtained from the company would be worthless.^

Nothing was done in regard to reducing the reservation
until 1874. While the question was being discussed in Con-
gress, a number of persons jumped claims and fenced lands
on the townsite, with the hope that the land would not re-
vert to the railroad company. They were warned against
this practice and, when the act was passed and approved
June 9, 1874, were forced to move from it when the land
became the property of the company. ^'^'

In 1871 an act providing for the election of two justices
and three constables had been passed by the Territorial
Legislature, but no provision was made under which the
town could form a city government.^ ^ This situation was
not too satisfactory, and agitation for an act allowing the
city to incorporate secured the passage of such a law in
December of 1873.^-

Laramie began its career of city government in Janu-
ary, 1874, with the election of five trustees: Dr. William
Harris; Dr. J. H. Finfrock; Robert Galbraith, Division Mas-
ter Mechanic of the U.P.R.R.; T. J. Webster of the firm of
Slack and Webster, Laramie Independent; and James Vine,
furniture dealer. ^^ Dr. Harris was elected chairman of
the board and ex ojficio Mayor. The new board appointed
as city officers John McLeod, Clerk and Assessor; M. A.
Hance, Marshal; and L. D. Pease, Treasurer.^'^ Immediate
organization was affected and city ordinances were passed.

Satisfaction was expressed in regard to the new gov-
ernment for it was believed that it would not cost more
than under the old arrangement whereby citizens paid fifty
cents or a dollar a week for a night watchman and were
forced to buy all water without hope of a city government
to aid in supplying that commodity.^ ^ Salaries were set at
$75 per month for marshal, and $50 per month for city clerk,
treasurer, assessor and policemen. ^^

Laramie had not been entirely without public services,
although as indicated the people had furnished them with-
out the aid of government. Agitation for the organization

9. Laramie Daily Sentinel, December 12, 1870, 2: 1.

10. Laramie Daily Sentinel, June 20, 1874, 3:3. Prices of lots
ranged from $25 on the outskirts of town to $250 in the business
district, May 30, 1875, 3:4.

11. Ibid., December 30, 1871, 3:2. General Laws, Second
Session (Cheyenne, 1872), pp. 91-101.

12. Ibid., December 26, 1873, 3:1.

13. Ibid., January 14, 1873, 3: 1; Triggs, op. cit, p. 17.

14. Ibid., January 20, 1874, 3:2.

15. Ibid., June 23, 1874, 3:1.

16. Ibid., January 21, 1875, 3:1.

HISTORY OF ALBANY COUNTY TO 1880 203

of a fire-fighting company was begun in 1870, but it took a
fire to bring home to the people their needs in that regard.
On January 9, 1871, Laramie was visited by its first fire
and two buildings were badly damaged.^ '^ Citizens were
warned to be careful of chimneys and coal oil lamps, as it
was pointed out that Laramie might have been completely
destroyed had a wind been blowing.

Working quietly N. F. Spicer immediately collected a
sum of money with which he purchased four long ladders
with hooks and trails, three hooks, one truck wagon, four
axes, eighteen buckets and ropes and chains.^** A perma-
nent volunteer fire company was organized which served
the community until the government took over that func-
tion.i»

A second public service which was supplied to the
townspeople by private initiative was the furnishing of
water. Water was taken from the city springs east of Lara-
mie and brought through town by means of ditches. This
proved to be a source of convenience and danger, conveni-
ent as one had to but step to the street to draw a bucket of
water for his use, but dangerous for small children at any
time and to adults at night. Mrs. M. C. Brown related that

Most people used the water from the ditches for
ordinary purposes, but for drinking we had water
brought from the river which was quite expensive.
People often sank barrels in the ditches and so had a
quantity to dip from, but those barrels were very
treacherous on a dark night; one was liable to step into
them. My sister-in-law, in getting out of a carriage
one night very agilely jumped right into one. The
worst of it was she had on a beautiful new gown her
mother had sent her from Philadelphia . . . There were
no sidewalks to guide one and the ditches were level
with the streets so it was quit a feat to keep out of the
water. I often wonder how mothers ever kept their
little children out of those attractive ditches for there
were no fences around the shacks of houses people
lived in.2<^

The ditches gave to Laramie one advantage over many
other plains towns; they enabled people to plant trees and

17. Ihid., January 9, 1871, 2: 1-2.

18. Ihid., January 24, 1871, 3:1; October 20, 1871, 3:2.

19. County Commissioners Record, 1871-1882 (Albany County
Clerk's Office) May 7, 1873, p. 128.

20. Hebard Collection, Albany County, Archives and Historical
Manuscripts Division, University of Wyoming Library.

204 ANNALS OF WYOMING

to water gardens, giving to the town a more attractive
appearance than it might otherwise have had.

In 1871 a company took charge of the water supply and
ditches under the charge of N. F. Spicer, Henry Hodgman,
Ira Pease and their associates. They proposed to lay wooden
pipes, deep enough to be safe from frost, to Laramie from
the springs and to pipe it to individual homes.- ^ One thou-
sand logs were cut for this purpose,-- but the work was
apparently never accomplished.

The Board of County Commissioners regulated the rates
charged by the company and established the following:

Ranches for irrigating purposes $ .25 per week per acre

City lots, for irrigating purposes .10 per week per lot

Stone and brick masons 1.00 per week each

Stores .25 per week each

Saloons -— .50 per week each

Hotels 1.00 per week each

Restaurants .50 per week each

Bakeries .50 per week each

Private houses .25 per week each

'Blacksmith .50 per week each^s

Complaints were often made about this water supply.
The farmers east of town broke the ditches to irrigate their
crops, cutting the supply to town completely off.-^ The
townspeople were careless about throwing rubbage into
the ditches with the result that they became filthy. They
were also careless about the rubbage which piled up in the
streets and about their homes, and it became almost impos-
sible to keep that from the ditches when the wind blew.-^
The company changed hands several times and finally the
government was forced to take it over and regulate both
the upkeep of the ditches and the distribution of the water.
Because of the growth of the town and the needs of the
farmers, the town was divided into six districts, with one
district being served each day. The Board of Trustees fur-
ther passed an ordinance which stated that any person
placing a barrel, tub or receptacle for water in the "street,
alley or side walk without keeping it covered (was) liable
to a fine of five to fifty dollars and deemed guilty of a
nuisance."-*^

21. Laramie Daily Sentinel, April 8, 1871, 3:2.

22. Ibid., June 24, 1871, 3:2.

23. County Commissioners Record, 1871-1882, July 17, 1871,
p. 35.

24. Laramie Daily Sentinel, June 13, 1871, 3:2.

25. Ibid., May 20, 1874, 1:1.

26. Ihid., May 21, 1873, 3:1.

HISTORY OF ALBANY COUNTY TO 1880 205

The water supplied by private individuals from the
river for drinking purposes was often unsatisfactory also.
Complaint was made of it that it was "filthy, rily water,
which washes all the barnyards, corrells (sic) and dead
sheep and cattle on the river bottom between here and the
mountains."-"' But the people did not feel that the city
springs water was pure, and until the rolling mills piped
the water into town they continued to buy it by the barrel
for drinking purposes.-'^

The people of Laramie were not without cleanliness
however, as an advertisement in the Sentinel in 1874 would
testify:

Cleanliness next to Godliness. C. A. Jones' Bath
House. Now open to the public with all the improve-
ments and modern conveniences.

Hot Baths, 50 cts.
Cold or Plunge Baths, 25 cts.
Saturdays till 4 p. m., exclusively for Ladies.

Rooms South of Machine Shops.
Cigars and Soda Water for refreshments.^^

Water was piped to Laramie by the Union Pacific com-
pany at the time they built the rolling mills in 1875, and
some individuals were quick to take advantage of the new
convenience. Editor Hayford on April 3, 1875, expressed
his gratitude to Mr. Joseph Richardson for the privilege
of being ahead of everyone else in getting water piped into
his residence. -'^ This was not generally true, however. In
1876 the railroad company offered to lay pipes at cost on
streets where there were enough residents who were willing
to pay for the work and the water, and individuals were
restrained from tampering with pipes for their own use.^*^

The Laramie water situation was finally settled when a
bill was passed by the Territorial Legislature which gave
control of the water works and the supply to the city.^^
This bill was introduced at the suggestion of the railroad
officials who had expressed a willingness to turn them over
to the city authorities who thereafter became responsible for
their upkeep. ^^

27. Interview with Mrs. Mary Bellamy, Laramie, February,
1949.

28. Laramie Daily Sentinel, June 8, 1874, 3:4. This ran in
the paper for many months.

29. Ihid., April 3, 1875, 3:3.

30. Laramie Weekly Sentinel, May 22, 1876, 2:4.

31. Revised Statutes of Wyoming, 1887 (Cheyenne 1887),
pp. 137-38.

32. Laramie Weekly Sentinel, December 24, 1877, 2:4.

206 ANNALS OF WYOMING

The Union Pacific Railroad Company had suppUed the
town of Laramie with the services of a hospital at the time
of its founding. This was the only hospital on the main
line of road at that date and it was designed to accommodate
all the sick or wounded among its employees. Laramieites
were certain that the Laramie Plains had been chosen be-
cause of the "peculiar healthiness of the locality and the
salubrity of the air and water, . . ."^^ The company hospital
was maintained until early in 1871 when it was discon-
tinued as a result of a new plan under which the company
cared for the sick and wounded on each separate subdivi-
sion of the road.^'*

For the next few years the question of a hospital was
one which troubled the people of Laramie, and several
attempts were made to attract religious orders whose mem-
bers cared for the sick and afflicted. The first of these nego-
tiations took place in 1871 between the Railroad Company
and Father Paulus of the Alexandrine Brothers. Father
Paulus was interested in the possibilities of a hospital at
Laramie, and stated that if the advantages of the country
would justify it, he would also interest himself in locating
German colonies in the valley.^ -^ Apparently an agreement
could not be reached, for the German Monks did not come
to Laramie.

A second attempt to establish a hospital was made by
Father Cusson of the Catholic Church, which was very suc-
cessful. Arrangements were made with Mother Xavier
Rose of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, Kansas, for
a group of the Sisters to organize and run the former Union
Pacific hospital.^*' Four Sisters of Charity arrived in Lara-
mie in December of 1875 to begin the work of getting the
hospital ready for use. The citizens of the town were called
upon to contribute to the necessary means to furnish it,^'''
but the railroad company, at its own expense, completely
repaired and rearranged the building into convenient wards
and rooms.^® On February 1, 1876, Sister Joanna, Sister
Martha, Sister Mary Agnes and Sister Mary de Pazzeii
opened the hospital for patients.^^

Laramie's first medical insurance plan was begun on a
voluntary basis when it became established that the Sisters

33. Laramie Daily Sentinel, May 4, 1871, 3:2.

34. Ibid., September 16, 1870, 3:1; January 3, 1871, 3:1.

35. Ibid., May 9, 1871, 3:2.

36. Patrick McGovern, History of the Diocese of Cheyenne
(Cheyenne 1941), p. 120.

37. Laramie Daily Sentinel, December, 14, 1875, 3:1.

38. Ibid., December 31, 1875, 3:3.

39. Laramie Weekly Sentinel, January 31, 1876, 2:2.

HISTORY OF ALBANY COUNTY TO 1880 207

were to open and have charge of the hospital. Citizens
circulated papers which were extensively signed under
which the signers agreed to pay a monthly stipend of about
one dollar per month in consideration of which the signer
was to have free care at the hospital in case of sickness or
accident.^" For the same purpose the railroad company
made plans to levy a tax of perhaps fifty cents per month
on all employees who did not have homes and families in
Laramie.^ ^ Whether or not this plan was carried into
effect is not known, although each of the rolling mill em-
ployees did contribute that amount monthly.'*-

The hospital which the Union Pacific had furnished
soon proved inadequate, and a new building was planned.
Colonel Downey, feeling that the institution should be built,
at least in part, by a public tax, introduced a bill in the
Territorial Legislature in 1877 which provided for the ap-
propriation of $3,000 to aid in its erection. The cornerstone
for the new building was laid on August 31, 1878, with
appropriate ceremonies,'*^ but before its completion it was
destined to meet with great difficulties. By January, 1879,
the building was but half completed, the organization was
$5,000 in debt, and $15,000 more was required for its com-
pletion. Construction was halted for a considerable time,
and it was not until 1883 that the three-story brick building
known as St. Joseph's hospital was ready for occupation.'*'*

Laramie was early supplied with business houses of
all descriptions and many of the earliest merchants became
prominent citizens of the town for many years to follow.
The Laramie City Business Directory in May of 1870 listed
the following establishments:

Banking: Rogers & Co.
Bakery: A. T. Williams
Clothing and Gent's Furnishing Goods: Silverstein Bros.,

H. Frank, L. T. Wilcox
Crockery and Glassware: Shuler & Spindler, L. T. Wilcox
Dry Goods: Mrs. Amelia Hatcher, Silverstein Bros.
Drugs and Medicines: O. Gramm
Groceries and Provisions: E. Ivinson, M. G. Tonn, H. H.

Richards, L. T. Wilcox
Hardware: Shuler & Spindler, C. R. Leroy, L. T. Wilcox
Hotels: European Hotel, New York House, Frontier Hotel

40. Laramie Daily Sentinel, September 19, 1875, 3:4.

41. Laramie Weekly Sentinel, January 31, 1876, 2:2.

42. Ihid., August 7, 1876, 1:4.

43. Ihid., August 31, 1878, 2:4.

44. McGovern, op. cit., p. 123. This building is now the prop-
erty of the University of Wyoming and is known as Talbot Hall.

208 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Jewelry: Miller & Pfeiffer, L. T. Wilcox

Liquors and Tobacco: H. Altman, Dawson & Bros.

Livery: John Wright

Meats and Vegetables: Hutton & Co.

News and Stationery: T. D. Abbott

Painting: C. Kuster45

Before the end of the year A. Vogelseng had opened
a shoe business in which he advertised himself as a manu-
facturer and wholesale and retail dealer in boots, shoes
and leather.^*^ McFadden & Bishop opened a photo studio
and advertised "Pictures taken in all styles and sizes of the
art, up to a full life-sized portrait. Pictures iinished in
India Ink or Oil Colors."'*" A. T. Williams' Soda and Ice
Cream rooms at the Eagle Bakery were opened and offered
a man a place he could go "with his lady friends and sit
down in the cool quiet rooms and have a dish of strawberries
and cream, a glass of Soda or iced lemonade, and any quan-
tity and variety of cooling tropical fruits. "^^ N. C. Worth
entered the dry goods, grocery, liquor and tobacco busi-
ness,^^ but he was later better known for Worth's Hotel
which he ran for many years. •'''^'

Other merchants who opened businesses in Laramie
during the 1870's and whose families are either still in busi-
ness or are yet well remembered were: W. H. HoUiday &
Co. whose lumber yard was started in Laramie in 1871;^^
Simon Durlacher, who opened a clothing store in 1872;^-
James Vine, furniture dealer ;'"'3 Fred Bath, who opened a
brewery and beer garden near the railroad bridge ;^^ Mrs.
William Cordiner who opened a millinery and dress making
establishment in 1874;'^"' S. M. Hartwell, photographer, who
established himself in Laramie in 1875;^'''*^ and Dr. J. H.
Finfrock who opened his drug store in the same year.^''

Henry Wagner has been given credit for being the
first merchant to come to Laramie. In February of 1868
he brought a small stock of clothing and dry goods to the

45. Laramie Daily Sentinel, May 10, 1870, 3:1.

46. Ihid., June 2, 1870, 3:3.

47. Ibid., May 26, 1870, 2:2.

48. Ihid., June 24, 1870, 3:2.

49. Ihid., November 25, 1870.

50. Ihid., January 14, 1873, 3:4.

51. Ihid., January 23, 1871.

52. Ihid., April 10, 1872, 3:2.

53. Ihid., June 6, 1871, 3:1.

54. Ihid., June 9, 1873, 3:1.

55. Ihid., September 30, 1874, 3:5; November 10, 1874, 3:2.

56. Ihid., August 17, 1875, 3:1.

57. Ihid., July 29, 1875, 3:5.

HISTORY OF ALBANY COUNTY TO 1880 209

vicinity and opened up a business in a tent near the creek.
In April of the same year he built a cabin, the first building
to be put up in Laramie, and began business in the new
town. In 1869 he put up a two story frame building which
he occupied until he completed the first brick building in
Laramie September of 1871, when his store was moved into
the new quarters. '^'^

The banking business changed hands rapidly the first
few years of Laramie's existence. Posey S. Wilson and
Company followed Rogers and Company, and in May, 1871,
Mr. Edward Ivinson bought out the Wilson Company. ^^
Both Rogers and Wilson were Cheyenne bankers, and it
was with relief that Laramie felt she would no longer have
to "depend for . . . stability upon the fortunes of war be-
tween rival and foreign Bankers, nor upon the caprice or
financial condition of citizens of a rival town." Mr. Ivinson
had been one of the first citizens of Laramie, one of its
most important business men, and was highly respected. ^^^

Editor Hayford and Edward Ivinson were not on good
terms during much of the 1870's, and Hayford took every
opportunity, beginning in 1873, to vilify him^^^ and to urge
the establishment of a second bank. This was not accom-
plished until June of 1877 when Wagner and Dunbar opened
their banking concern. '^^- By August 20 Hayford solemnly
declared that

Their bank, during the brief period since it com-
menced business here, has reduced the price of exchange
one-half and of interest one-third. . . . The need of good
healthy competition in the banking business has long
been felt here, and we trust the new bank will receive
liberal patronage and encouragement from our busi-
ness men.^^

Professional services were at hand for Laramie from its
founding, also. The professional directory of 1870 listed
the following professional people, the majority of whom had
been here since 1868:

A. G. Swain — Notary Public and Commissioner of Deeds
L. D. Pease — County Clerk and Recorder and Justice of the
Peace

58. Ihid., September 20, 1871, 3:2; October 26, 1874, 3:2.

59. Ibid., May 29, 1871, 3:3.

60. Ibid., May 29, 1871, 3:3.

61. Ibid., May 31, 1873, 3:2; August 5, 1873, 3:1; May 29,
1874, 3:1.

62. Laramie Weekly Sentinel, June 11, 1877, 3:1.

63. Ibid., August 20, 1877, 3: 1.

210 ANNALS OF WYOMING

M. C. Brown — Attorney at Law

E. L. Kerr — Attorney and Counselor at Law

L. P. Cory — Attorney at Law

Dr. G. F. Hilton — Physician, Surgeon & Oculist

Stephen W. Downey — Attorney and Counselor at Law and

Solicitor in Chancery, Prosecuting Attorney
J. H. Finfrock— M. D.
H. Latham, M. D. — Physician and Surgeon for U.P.R.R.

exclusively
J. J. Clark — Dentist. Teeth extracted without pain. All

operations warranted. ^-i

C. W. Bramel, Attorney at Law, added his name to the pro-
fessional directory of Laramie in September 1872, and he
was for many years a prominent citizen of the town.^^

Laramie grew rapidly, but not as rapidly as was claimed
for it. In 1871 she claimed nearly twice the population she
actually had,*"'*^ but she was making progress. By 1872 she
could report that the "old land marks are fast disappearing
in our city. The old buildings that are so familiar to us,
are being taken down one by one to give place to more sub-
stantial, and imposing edifices."*^^ Nearly forty-six build-
ings were in the process of erection in that year.*^* By
1874 W. O. Downey, county surveyor, called to the attention
of the residents the fact that Front and Second streets were
built up nearly solidly on each side for a full mile in
length.^^ By 1875 Laramie claimed a population of 2,698,^°
and if this were true no growth was experienced between
that date and 1880 when the U. S. Census gave the town a
population of 2,696.'^^

Laramie had advanced rapidly in morality, also, and
Editor Hayford was proud to point out by 1870 that

Now our streets are filled with hard-working, in-
dustrious people, intent on business. Vice, idleness and
debauchery, if they exist at all, are driven into ob-
scurity, and are no longer able to brave the indignation
of the virtuous. On Sunday, the stores are all shut up,
the churches all open, the streets quiet and orderly, and
our town wears the garb of a staid New England village.
The laws are respected, the Courts are in perfect opera-

64. Laramie Daily Sentinel, May 11, 1870, 1:1.

65. Laramie Daily Sentinel, September 21, 1872, 3:4.

66. Ibid., January 10, 1871, 1:2.

67. Ihid., May 24, 1872, 3:3.

68. Ibid., October 11, 1872, 3:1.

69. Ibid., October, 21, 1874, 3: 1.

70. Ihid., February 24, 1875, 3: 1.

71. Tenth Census, op. cit., p. 375.

HISTORY OF ALBANY COUNTY TO 1880 211

tion; and morality, religion and justice give the tone
and character to society J^

Although Hayford would occasionally complain about
the recurrence of crime, he scrupulously refrained from
printing any details of it. He believed in Laramie and its
future and would have no part of anything detrimental to it.

Villages

The majority of small centers of population in Albany
County were to be found along the Union Pacific Railroad
line, for it was necessary that the company have stations
and side tracks at regular intervals.

Buford was the first among these stops as the railroad
entered the county from the east. In 1869 this point on
the road consisted of a water-house and three buildings.''^^
It was a regular side-track station and a storage place for
much of the lumber which was taken from the surrounding
mountains.'''^ Water for the station had to be elevated from
springs in a ravine to the south.'^-''

Seven miles beyond Buford was Sherman, the highest
point on any railroad in the United States at that time. By
1869 it was a lively place with twelve buildings, a good
station-house and a population of between 150 and 200
inhabitants.'^*^ Among the merchants located at this point
then were: Baldwin & Epsy, shoemakers; D. Crawford, con-
tractor; Oilman & Carter, merchants and contractors; Har-
mon & Teats, merchants; Holt, Reed & Rhoades, carpenters;
Mrs. Larmier, photographer; W. J. Larmier, contractor; A.
G. Lathrop, lumber dealer; L. E. Layton, hotel; Charles
Marsh, station agent; William Rea, blacksmith; D. W. Trout,
merchant and contractor; J. H. Teats, grocer and postmaster;
Underwood & Co., boots and shoes; Uncle John & Co., pro-
prietors of the Summit House, bakery and saloon; and N. T.
Webber, lumber dealer,'^'''

Although the population and importance of Sherman
declined for a few years, probably because of the disap-
pearance of nearby timber resources, it was again completely

72. Laramie Daily Sentinel, October 11, 1870, 2:1.

73. C. E. Brown, Brown's Gazetteer oj the Chicago and North-
western Railway, and Branches, and of the Union Pacific Rail Road
(Chicago 1869), p. 20.

74. George A. Crofutt, Crofutt's Trans-Continental Tourist's
Guide (New York), 1872, p. 60.

75. George A. Crofutt, Crofutt's New Overland Tourist and
Pacific Coast Guide (Omaha, 1880), p. 78.

76. Brown, op. cit., p. 20. Sherman has since been moved
from its first location which was near the site of Ames Monument.

77. Ihid., p. 313.

212 ANNALS OF WYOMING

occupied in 1878,'^^ and by 1880 the station had grown
slightly so that it included a comfortable station, a small
repair shop, a round-house of five stalls, a post office, tele-
graph and express offices, one store, two hotels, two saloons,
and about twenty houses. ^^

For a short time in 1872 Sherman had hopes of having
established there a government observatory which was to
have become one of the principal signal stations in the
storm signal system of the government. ^*^ The work was
under the direction of the Coast Survey Department to
whom an appropriation of $5,000 had been given by Con-
gress for the purpose of investigating sites. General R. D.
Cutts led an expedition of scientists to Sherman and for
several months they made a number of experiments. Pro-
fessor B. A. Colonna of the party informed the editor of the
Sentinel that it was "felt a spectral analysis of the sun
would be more satisfactory than at sea level, and if this
theory proved correct there is to be a national observatory
built . . . and a corps of scientific men stationed there per-
manently."®^ Apparently the experiments were not suc-
cessful, for the observatory was not mentioned again.

A few miles beyond Sherman at the site of the Dale
Creek Bridge, Dale City sprang up for a brief but rowdy
existence. With the founding of Laramie and the comple-
tion of the bridge, the population moved on en masse.^-
Ten years later the only vestige which remained of the
defunct town was a line of tumble down chimneys marking
the once lively main street.®^

Tie Siding, six miles beyond Sherman, began its exist-
ence in 1874. J. S. McCoole, a business man from Colorado,
built the first general store at this site, and he was followed
almost immediately by several other merchants and saloon
keepers. Tie Siding soon became an extensive shipping
point for railroad ties, telegraph and fence poles and tim-
ber of every description.®^ By the 1880's it had a permanent
population of about fifty and was powerful enough to help
swing some of the county elections.®^

78. Laramie Weekly Sentinel, July 20, 1878, 1:6.

79. Crofutt, 1880, op. cit., p. 78.

80. Laramie Daily Sentinel, June 7, 1872, 3:2.

81. Ihid., July 8, 1872, 2:1-2.

82. W. L. Kuykendall, Frontier Days (privately published
1917), p. 124.

83. Laramie Weekly Sentinel, August 31, 1878, 3:3.

84. Laramie Daily Sentinel, February 3, 1874, 3:1; Board of
Immigration, The Territory of Wyoming Its History, Soil, Climate,
Resources, etc. (Laramie, 1874), p. 37.

85. Interview with Mrs. Hugh Moreland, Laramie, June, 1947;
Hebard Collection, op. cit.

HISTORY OF ALBANY COUNTY TO 1880 213

Red Buttes, one of the small stations on the Union
Pacific, was the object of Mr. McCoole's next venture. In
1875 he built a store at that place and hoped to make it as
much of a tie depot as Tie Siding had become.^^ Although
several other buildings were erected at Red Buttes, he was
not able to make it important.

At Wyoming Station the Union Pacific Company had
platted a townsite and in May, 1868, had sold a few lots.^'^
For a short time it was important as a receiving point for
ties floated down the Laramie River, but the point never
gained much more prominence than being a station en
route. *^

Rock Creek was the last station of any importance on
the line of the railroad in the county. Until 1870 it was
of little importance other than being a station on the rail-
road. At that date, however, a mail line was established
from that point to Fort Fetterman which was continued
until the building of the railroad to the fort in the middle
1880's.'^*^ Rock Creek was also the starting point for much
of the freight which was hauled to northern Wyoming over
the government road also established that year.^"

During the 1870's small villages sprang up at two min-
ing centers. In 1876 the Centennial Mining Company built
a large store, a residence for the superintendent and offices,
and Messrs. Little and Coolbroth erected a comfortable
hotel at the site.^^ The village took its name from the min-
ing company. At Douglas a small center was established
which was discussed in Chapter III.

Frederick B. Goddard in 1869 wrote that "The durability
and growth of these avant couriers of civilization and de-
velopment, depend much upon the local advantages of soil,
climate and mineral productiveness — sustaining forces with-
out which a vigorous and healthy existence can not long
be enjoyed."^- Laramie had, at least, withstood the test
and could by 1880 look forward to a prosperous and secure
future.

86. Laramie Daily Sentinel, October 2, 1875, 3:1.

87. Marie M. Frazer, "Sonie Phases of the History of the
Union Pacific Railroad in Wyoming" (Thesis submitted to Dept.
of History, University of Wyoming, 1927), p. 35.

88. Crofutt, 1872, op. cit., p. 70.

89. Coutant Notes, Hebard Collection, op. cit.

90. Larainie Daily Sentinel, November 17, 1870, 3:1. Rock
Creek Station was moved ten miles southwest of the original site
and renamed Rock River in 1902 when the railroad changed its
route.

91. Laramie Weekly Sentinel, May 15, 1876, 4: 6.

92. Goddard, Where to Emigrate and Why (Philadelphia 1869) ,
p. 544.

Zke Slaughter of the Kison

(Red Wing Daily Republican, June 7, 1926.)

Salt Lake City — (By Associated Press) — What probably
will be the largest buffalo hunt since the days when Colonel
Bill Cody had the contract to furnish meat for the construc-
tion crews building the Union Pacific railroad, is being or-
ganized by A. H. Leonard of Port Pierre, S. D. It will un-
doubtedly be the last hunt of its kind in history. Many of
the big game hunters of the country have been invited to
participate, one incentive being a signed and sealed certifi-
cate that the possessor had killed a buffalo, which can be
framed and handed down to posterity.

The doomed herd of the majestic beasts that were so
plentiful in the central western plains during the pioneer
days, numbering upwards of 300 head, now roams Antelope
island in Great Salt Lake.

The herd was purchased some months ago by Leonard,
whose original plan was to ship the animals to his ranch
at Fort Pierre. However, Wm. Powell, a Sioux Indian,
long employed by Leonard has reported after three months'
study of the herd, that they are "Too Wild to be caught
and shipped."

7^ Slau^tcfi a^ t^ ^c^<M.

By JENS K. GRONDAHL

The Invitation

"Come on, ye Nimrods, known the world around,
Famed for your daring and for deadly aim,
E'er and anon prepared to kill or maim —
Come on I bid ye. At the trumpet's sound
The bisons' corral all ye braves surround.

Already trapped, hemmed in by salten sea,
The noble beasts by us destroyed shall be.
And it will be a royal sport — no shame
To crown your prowess with so great a game.

THE SLAUGHTER OF THE BISON 215

"Three hundred bisons, what a mighty herd!
Too proud to yield their freedom to my will,
Too wild for me to tame — these shall we kill —

So I invite ye. Ah, upon my word,

Our triumph, sires, shall not be long deferred.
Graven on steel, embossed in gold I send
This message to each valiant huntsman friend,

That your brave souls again may taste the thrill

Of blood and bone that mingle in the kill.

"Red-blooded man in chance and chase delights,
Bellowing brutes are music to his ear,
Nostrils aflame with madness and with fear

Inspire his manhood to divinest heights —

Yea, this is chivalry and we the knights.
So, fellow huntsmen, gather ye betimes
On sabbath morn when toll the solemn chimes.

Beseech ye the Great Spirit to the feast

To bless the last great slaughter of the beast."

* * *

The Response

"Save for the herds that o'er the prairies roamed,

Pioneer and plainsman would have perished there,
But food and raiment met them ev'rywhere.

Then driven, slaughtered — to extinction doomed,

The bisons bound not where the wild rose bloomed.
And this great nation impotent stands by
Watching the noble remnants foully die.

What butchering hand where bisons now shall bleed

Covets a parchment to record the deed?

Cursed be the eye that sights the fatal aim,
Palsied the hand that raises arm to fire —
Who draws a bead for lust of blood or hire,
To you and yours who play the ghoulish game —
Be yours forevermore the badge of shame.

Ah, sport debauched, and sportsmanship defiled
By all the land your "hunt" shall be reviled.
Kill thou the bison that thou canst not tame,
And history shall e'er deride thy name."

(Reprinted by permission of the Daily Republican. Eagle)

Quote and Unquote

In June, 1949, following the 77th Annual Convention
of The Wyoming Stock Growers Association, the resignation
of Russell Thorp, secretary-treasurer and chief inspector
of the association for 19 years, was accepted "regretfully."^
To quote Mr. Thorp, "The Wyoming Stock Growers As-
sociation ... is probably the most typically characteristic
of Wyoming among all groups in the State. An outgrowth
of the State's paramount industry and a guardian of that
industry through the years, it was largely responsible for
the development of Wyoming territory and for the winning
of Wyoming's statehood before the population really justi-
fied it."- The contributions of Russell Thorp to this "influ-
ential organization"^ and his services to the state of Wyo-
ming are of no mean importance and magnitude. "In recog-
nition of his outstanding services to the Association and
the industry, he was elected an honorary life member of
the Wyoming Association by the executive committee at
the closing session of the (77th) state convention."^ He
is the fifteenth person to be so honored in seventy-seven
years.

During the week of June 7, 1949 the newspapers in
Wyoming reported on the activities of that convention.
The Sheridan Press issued the STOCK GROWERS EDITION
devoted to valuable historical material as well as important
news items about the current projects of the Association.
These newspaper articles provided the impetus for the
following article. Newspaper stories lose their historical
value when they are not presented as a unified whole. In
the aggregate they assume a significance hitherto unrealized.

The Wyoming Stock Growers Association originated
when a small group of stockmen were prompted by the
shibboleth, "United we stand; divided we fall." The his-
tory of this association has been effectively presented by
Dan Greenburg in Sixty Years, and by Agnes Wright
Spring's book. Seventy Years; a Panoramic History of the
Wyoming Stock Groioers Association, which paid tribute
to the Wyoming Stock Growers Association on the seven-
tieth anniversary of that organization. As the annals of this
association and the minutes of its meetings are examined,
the five words conspicuous through repetition are:

". . . and Russell Thorp was reelected . . ."

"Mr. Thorp was first elected to membership in the Stock
Growers Association in 1902 and served on the executive

QUOTE AND UNQUOTE 217

committee in 1927. He became field secretary in 1930 and
was elected secretary and chief inspector in 1931. . . ."'^
In 1932 when elected Executive Secretary and chief in-
spector, he brought to his new position a wide background
of experience in the cattle business. In June, 1946, he was
elected secretary, chief inspector and treasurer. A "veteran
cattleman himself and owner of the celebrated "Damtino"
brand, and son of the founder of the R-Bar-T layout of
Raw Hide Buttes near the present site of Lusk, Wyoming"*"'
Russell Thorp was well qualified for his work as secretary
of the Association. Experience, not hearsay, taught him
that "it is much simpler to train a welder, a ship builder,
a mechanic, or even a soldier than to train a good livestock
hand, who has to grow up with the business."''' He is re-
sponsible for the publication of COW COUNTRY, the official
bulletin of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association "issued
for the information of our members." "With characteristic
fairness, the Association's Secretary opened the columns
of COW COUNTRY to the members and printed some of
the letters on the so-called 'trespass or herd law'."^ With
a keen sense of fair play "Secretary Thorp gave everyone
an equal chance to express opinion. He did not hesitate to
publish letters from those who did not agree with the
Association's policies."*^

As perhaps one of the most qualified persons to expound
the accomplishments of Russell Thorp, Agnes Wright Spring
has stated:

"Mr. Thorp has exceptional foresight and the ability
to organize. He stimulates loyalty and team work
among his staff and the members of the Association.
Through hard work, thoroughness and unusual ex-
ecutive ability he has built up the finest system of
stock inspection of any state in the union. As a
devotee of western history he has assembled one of
the best collections of museum pieces and documents
pertaining to cattle industry, now extant.

"Russell Thorp is what is known in newspaper par-
lance as 'Good Copy.' He has a keen sense of humor
and has a nose for a good publicity story with the
human interest angle. He has brought to the Wyo-
ming Stock Growers Association a wealth of good
publicity, quite unsolicited on his part.

"Ralph E. Johnson writing for COUNTRY GEN-
TLEMAN, September 1941, said, in part: 'Thorp
drives about 30,000 miles annually in line of duty;
his auto tires know their way along every highway,

218 ANNALS OF WYOMING

trail and cowpath in wide Wyoming. . . . Range
riders and cattlemen like to help Thorp add to the
museum in the association offices, and they send him
an odd assortment of things they find. . . .

"Thorp is modest about what he has done. *I have
the support and advice of able men as officers and
executive committee members,' he points out. 'A
lot of credit is due them'."^*^

"From the beginning of his work as Field Secretary,
Mr. Thorp began to wage relentless war against rustlers."^^
In January, L936 he was appointed "Chairman of the na-
tional committee on brand inspection, thefts, and truck
depredations. The main purpose of the committee was to
bring about unity of action in brand inspection between
states, as well as between peace officers within the states. "^^
He advocated stiff penalties for convicted rubber tire rust-
lers whose depredations harassed the ranchers despite the
inspection service maintained by the association, coopera-
tion with county sheriffs, small fines, and even zero weather.
In November, 1936, Russell Thorp announced that the Stock
Growers Association "which has waged a struggle with the
cattle rustler for more than 60 years, will ask the legislature
to establish ports of entry on all main Wyoming highways,
to increase the state highway patrol to at least 23 men and
to regulate auction sale rings. . . . The Wyoming association
pays $500 for information leading to the arrest and convic-
tion of a rustler."^^

The drought of 1934 seriously threatened the economic
welfare of Wyoming. Russell Thorp declared that "Ranch-
ers are selling off the old cow which produces the calf which
produces the wealth of this state. . . . Many stockmen are
reduced far below their normal carrying capacity and
thereby will be unable to meet the necessary cost of oper-
ating their ranches. . . . This will ultimately reflect on the
tax revenues of Wyoming, a state dependent to a large
extent on the revenues of the livestock industry to main-
tain its government." ^•^ He "called upon the members of
the Executive Committee who resided within the affected
areas to take immediate action. He informed them that
lists of available pastures could be obtained from railroads,
county agents and Association headquarters. With char-
acteristic foresight he also filed application for emergency
draught rates on feed, which were granted. The Govern-
ment buying of cattle, at the markets, was started. "^^

Reliance on the leadership and counsel of Russell Thorp
was well placed during the trying days of the blizzard of

QUOTE AND UNQUOTE 21»

'49. Everyone was concerned about the plight of the
ranchers and their stock in the stricken areas. As execu-
tive chairman of the six-man panel established to meet the
problems of the blizzard, Russell Thorp received requests
that the roads be opened from Colorado to Montana. Shortly
after the first impact Governor A. G. Crane appointed Mr.
Thorp chairman of the state emergency relief board.
He rounded up machinery to be used in the distressed areas
and continued to report on the conditions of the roads. The
board was in "almost constant session for many days."^^
One month after the storm struck Wyoming, Mr. Thorp
praised the "clear cool thinking of Governor Crane," de-
claring that we should be thankful that "Wyoming was
organized shortly after the first big blizzard hit on January
2, 3 and 4, 1949."^^ Reporting on "Operation Snowbound,"
General R. L. Esmay, Adjutant General of Wyoming, Wyo-
ming National Guard, commended Russell Thorp saying

"We operated under the direction, not of any Federal
military authority, but under the direction of your
own hard, winter-beaten, wise and efficient execu-
tive secretary, Mr. Russell Thorp. I have worked
under many commanders, but none has ever turned
in as superb a job as Russell Thorp turned in as the
chairman and officer-in-charge of the Wyoming
Emergency Relief Board. We all owe him a vote of
confidence, appreciation, and gratitude for his skill-
ful leadership during Wyoming's greatest civil emer-
gency."

Russell Thorp, being "a native, pioneer resident of the
state" and "well informed on the ramifications of the cattle
industry, due to a lifetime in the Wyoming cow country,"^**
was well aware of the necessity of the proper kind of legis-
lative action to support organizational planning. During
1931-1932 he was "an able lieutenant of President Brock in
working out the details for the formation of county tax
leagues which has resulted in a statewide tax association."^^
"Proposed legislation, sponsored by the Association to curb
rubber-tired rustling became law in 1931. By this law the
drivers, operators or those in charge of trucks, automobiles,
and other motor or horse drawn vehicles transporting live-
stock, poultry, or carcasses of livestock were required to
exhibit to peace officers upon demand, written permits or
written statements for conveyance of such."-"

"As a member of the Wyoming Agricultural Council,
Russell Thorp was appointed chairman of its Live Stock
Legislative Committee. He assisted in formulating a Legis-

220 ANNALS OF WYOMING

lative Petition setting out items of proposed legislation and
asking sympathetic and helpful consideration by the Legis-
lature of the needs of the livestock industry. His com-
mittee did some especially effective work in preventing the
passage of three bills that were introduced in the 1935
legislative session. These bills pertained to the right of
way for fishermen to enter ranch property, a herd law
involving fencing, and the removal of tax on oleom.arga-
rine."-^ "On December 7 (1936) Secretary Thorp repre-
sented the Association at the Governor's State Grasshopper
Control Commission, which later was successful in getting
a legislative appropriation of $65,000 for grasshopper and
Mormon cricket control."--

Not only Wyoming, but the entire Rocky Mountain
region bears the imprint of Russell Thorp's attention. In
1937, in addition to attending the brand inspection meetings
in Cheyenne, he also "represented the Wyoming Stock
Growers Association at many other meetings of importance
including the Sublette County Cattle Growers Association
in the early summer; Doctor Davis' rustler meetings at
Greeley, Colorado; a state meeting of stockmen and peace
officers at Denver; hearings of the Interstate Commerce
Commission at Denver on the railroad classification of 85%
stocker and feeder rate; a hearing on the Farm Bill before
a subcommittee of the U. S. Senate; the annual convention
of the Nevada State Cattle Growers Association at Elko,
Nevada; the Livestock and Sanitary Board meeting in
Cheyenne; the statewide conference of the Wild Life Fed-
eration; the annual meetings of the State Farm Bureau and
of the Board of Equalization; and the Rock Springs Cattle
Growers Association. . . . Among the many expressions
of appreciation of the work of Secretary Thorp, at this
time, was the following letter from Max D, Cohn, Presi-
dent of the Idaho Cattle and Horse Growers Association:
'You are what I call a Good Friend and a very unusual
secretary, because you not only take care of your own as-
sociation, but you give every help possible, to your neigh-
boring state associations'."-^ The citizens of La Grange
and Eastern Goshen County invited Russell Thorp to deliver
an address on July 4, 1941 at the dedication of a monument
in memory of the Texas Trail Drivers. His sympathy with
the Trail Drivers was expressed in 1940 when Wyoming
was celebrating her Golden Jubilee. At the dedication of
the unveiling of the Texas Trail monument near Lusk, he
exclaimed, "The Texas Trail was no mere cow path. It
was the Course of Empire !"^^

QUOTE AND UNQUOTE 221

Through its journal, COW COUNTRY, the Wyoming
Stock Growers Association encouraged the preservation
and collection of mementos, the true and living symbols
of the history of Wyoming, when it featured an article which
explained that "The association has carefully preserved
all records, executive orders, letters, brand books — every-
thing pertaining to the association from the time of the
first minute book in 1873. These records are systematically
and expertly filed and kept in a fireproof vault. In addi-
tion to the preservation of written records, the association
is eager to have an extensive collection of relics in order
to round out the source material relative to the cattle indus-
try of Wyoming and the West. In the collection which was
started by Russell Thorp, executive secretary of the associa-
tion, there are manuscripts by old timers, photographs of
early day ranches, cowmen and cowboys, frontier towns,
stage stations and settlements; there are first-hand accounts
of early herds, ranches, etc.; and there are all kinds of
relics, including running irons, guns, branding irons, spurs,
bridles, picket pins, a treasure chest from the old Cheyenne-
Black Hills-Deadwood stage line, etc. These are all cata-
logued and attract much attention on display in the win-
dows of the headquarters in Cheyenne. Additions from
all parts of the state are desired! All contributions sent
in to this collection will be permanently preserved and will
add materially to the history of the cow country, and will
round out the history of the cattle business in Wyoming
and eventually become a part of the state historical col-
lection."25

Russell Thorp was as good as his words. In' May, 1945
he presented to the Wyoming State Museum what is ac-
knowledged as "perhaps the most valuable contribution
ever made."--' His interest in collecting these souvenirs
or monuments of the past, is not inspired by a possessive
instinct nor is it prompted by personal ambitions. The
purpose for such a collection and its importance as a mu-
seum display are best described in his own words at the
occasion when the presentation was made:

"... A study of the cattle business of our great West
should furnish inspiration and incentive to all young
Americans, especially those who have been and
still are fighting for the principles embodied in the
Constitution of the United States.

". . . Therefore, anything we can do to bring the
history of our country and state to their attention
should be worth while. In addition to the use of

222 ANNALS OF WYOMING

textbooks and the teaching of history in schools and
colleges, it seems to me there is a tremendous op-
portunity to present our history through attractive
museum displays. . ."^'^

NOTES TO "QUOTE AND UNQUOTE"

1. Sheridan Press, June 10, 1949, p. 1.

2. Sheridan Press, Stockman's Edition, June 7, 1949, p. 2.

3. Ibid., p. 16.

4. Sheridan Press, June 10, 1949, p. 1.

5. Greenburg, Dan W. Sixty Years, a Brief Review of the
Cattle Industry in Wyoming. 1st ed. (Cheyenne, 1932) p. 61.

6. Wyoming Stockman Farmer, November 1935, p. 3.

7. Agnes Wright Spring. Seventy Years; a Panoramic History
of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. (Cheyenne, 1942)
p. 109.

8. Ihid., p. 211.

9. Ihid., p. 145.

10. Ihid., p. 109.

11. Ihid., p. 111.

12. Ihid., p. 151.

13. Wyoming Stockman Farmer, November, 1936, p. 8.

14. Id., December, 1936, p. 6.

15. Agnes Wright Spring, Seventy Years, (supra) p. 154.

16. Wyoming State Trihune, January 23, 1949, p. 2.

17. Id., February 2, 1949, p. 1.

18. Greenburg. Sixty Years, (supra), p. 61.

19. Ibid.

20. Spring. Seventy Years, (supra), p. 111.

21. Ibid., p. 146.

22. Ibid., p. 157.

23. Ibid., pp. 165-166.

24. Ibid., pp. 204-205.

25. Wyoming Stockman Farmer, April 1937, p. 7.

26. Cow Country, Vol. 73, No. 1, July 7, 1945.

27. Ihid.

Candmarks

"Use your dollars, your talents, and your efforts to save
Americanism," urged Dr. Howard Driggs at the dedication
of the new wing of the Scottsbluff, Nebraska Museum,
August 8, 1949.

Acting on this principle today are many individuals in
isolated communities in the Rocky Mountain states. In
June of this year, at Ash Hollow, Nebraska, a group of school
children and townspeople from nearby Lewellen dedicated
a monument to mark the grave of Rachel E. Pattison, who
was buried there 100 years ago. Students of Lewellen
High School provided a bronze plaque for the monument
which was designed by Mr. W. W. Morrison of Cheyenne,
Wyoming. Purchase of materials and construction of the
monument was carried out entirely by the residents of
Lewellen.

Mr. Morrison hopes, through the designing of such
memorials, to immortalize the story and spirit of the old
West. He plans next to restore the grave of Elva Ingram,
marked 1852, near the old trail northwest of Guernsey,
Wyoming. It is hoped that others of hardy pioneer stock
will be inspired to locate and mark the graves of our
ancestors who succumbed during the westward trek and
to whom we owe our heritage. These memorials will
endure for many years and stir the imaginations of gen-
erations to come.

On August 1, 1948, there were ceremonies in honor of
the pioneer cattle men and the Texas Trail drivers.

At the dedication of the Texas Trail Monument at Pine
Bluffs, members of the Wyoming Historical Landmark
Commission were present, including Mr. Warren Richard-
son, Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Joseph Weppner,
Secretary, Mr. Ernest Dahlquist and Mr. Russell Thorp.
Mr. Richardson formally dedicated and accepted the monu-
ment on behalf of the State of Wyoming.

Mr. R. E. MacLeod presided at the dedication of the
monument at the crossing of Rawhide Creek between Tor-
rington and Lingle. Mr. Joseph Weppner, Secretary of
the Wyoming State Landmark Commission, officially dedi-
cated and accepted it on behalf of the State of Wyoming.

AGNES WRIGHT SPRING

Zke Cheyeme and Mlack Mills Stage
and Szpress Koutes

By Agnes Wright Spring. (Glendale 4, California: Ar-
thur H. Clark, 1949. 418 pp. Acknowledgments, illus.,
app., index. $7.50.)

In this new work, the sixth of the "American Trails
Series," Mrs. Spring has done much to remedy a serious
omission in Western Americana. She has entered a field
practically untouched by other authors and has collected
and presented material formerly scattered and unavailable
to students of frontier lore.

The account begins with the announced discovery of
gold in the Black Hills region in 1874, and ends with the
advent of the railroad into that area and the subsequent
death of the stage company in 1887. It describes the strug-
gle by the government to keep the miners out of the Indian
territory, "Men knew that orders had been issued by the gov-
ernment forbidding them to enter the Hills, yet, with about
the same amount of reason as each individual hoped to pick
up huge gold nuggets along every stream bed, each hoped
that Washington would play the role of an expert locksmith
and would swing open the the doors of the Hills over
night." The story pictures the competition between the
infant Cheyenne and Sidney, Nebraska, to become the
"jumping off" point for the gold fields, and it pursues Chey-
enne's progress to its ultimate position as a substantial
center.

Upon the opening of the Indian territory north of the
Platte River, the stage line to the Black Hills became a
reality. With great precision and detail Mrs. Spring follows
its fortunes and numerous changes, for the trail was not a
single track, and its course was changed and branches added
as each new situation developed. In guide-book fashion,
the stage stations and their keepers are described as if to
resurrect for twentieth century consumption and apprecia-
tion the locale and personages who contributed to the ad-
vancement, of our civilization. Related to these stop-over
and relay stations are the events which inspired their in-
auguration, and which created their significance and caused
their eventual extinction. An excellent map drawn by
the author enables the reader to follow this part of the
story with keener comprehension.

226 ANNALS OF WYOMING

As the staging operations grew in importance and as
wealth began to pour from the hills, there arose outlaw
bands to plague the stage companies. The author writes a
full and matter-of-fact story of this reign of terror. From
these "Knights of the road" is stripped their cloak of
glamour which has alw^ays pervaded and unbalanced so
much of the story of the West.

The author has not limited her narrative to the stage
and freighting route from the "Magic City of the Plains"
to Deadwood. Interpolated in the story of Luke Voorhees'
preparations for his stage line is a fine description of the
old Concord coaches. Many familiar names and nicknames,
such as Calamity Jane, H. E. (Stuttering) Brown, John
(Jack) T. Gilmer, Persimmon Bill, Johnny Slaughter, C. P.
(Dub) Meek, contribute to this historical mosaic. The inno-
vation of the freighting teams was accompanied by a great
and new business, and by famously talented bull-whackers.
The valuable whip and the use made of it were accorded
detailed treatment by the author. Discouragement over
the necessity for military protection could not deter the
"steady, progressive development" of Joseph M. Carey, Alex
Swan, Francis E. Warren, and Judge William L. Kuykendall.

The elements of nature which, throughout the era,
militated against ambitions and progress are not treated
comprehensively, but neither is their importance minimized.
Great hardships were suffered because of heavy snow in
December of 1876, which made the roads almost impassable
but did not prevent continual Indian rampages. The severe
hailstorm in Cheyenne on August 10, 1878, resulted in run-
aways and great excitement. The blizzard of '48-'49 caused
suffering "almost beyond description."

Permanent imprints were made by the miners, the
merchants, the stage drivers, the "Hillers," the wheelers,
and the gold hunters. Their contributions will live forever.
The result of Mrs. Spring's research will also make a lasting
impression on the history and literature of the West. As
history it will be an important source book. Its readers
will not forget soon the awe arising from the breathless
succession of facts. On a remarkable, but not the least
unusual, page the reader is apprised of "five thousand miles
of daily stage lines in operation;" of the extent of the
monthly payroll of the drivers, of the Christmas chinook
which caused the mercury to skyrocket "to forty-two degrees
above zero in just one hundred and twenty minutes;" of
the sixty-two miles an hour "breeze" in Cheyenne, of the
New Year which was ushered in with "a little random
shooting," and of the fact that Governor and Mrs, Hoyt
were "at home" on New Year's day.

STAGE AND EXPRESS ROUTES 227

Included in the book are four appendices containing
valuable information about the owners and some of the
employees of the stage company; descriptions of the coaches
which are now museum pieces and also of the markers on
the Cheyenne-Deadwood routes; and excerpts from the
diary of George V. Ayres in which he recorded his trip from
Cheyenne to Custer City in 1876. A comprehensive index
contributes to the importance of this work.

The late William H. Jackson painted two water colors
especially for this volume. There are also seventeen sepia
illustrations of old portraits and western scenes.

Despite the abundance of facts which are woven into the
narrative, Mrs. Spring has avoided a pedantic and unin-
teresting presentation. The spirit of the West is integrated
into the fabric of her facts, for she is a native of the West
to which she has dedicated her life and for which she has
a genuine affection. This volume gives mute testimony to
years of research. The author has gathered her information
from the reminiscences of those who played a part in the
events she describes. Opportunely she interviewed Mrs.
Thomas F. Durbin, P. A. Gushurst, Mrs. Anna Maxwell
Scott, and others who were able to relate hitherto unpub-
lished accounts of their experiences. We are indebted to
Mrs. Spring's foresight in gathering much of her data be-
fore these pioneers had passed beyond the Great Divide.
She was fortunate to have had access to the records of the
library of Russell Thorp, and to the vast store of narratives
told to him by his father, an owner of one of the great
stage lines.

Although Mrs. Spring now resides in Denver, Wyoming
claims her for its own. The daughter of a pioneer Colorado
and Wyoming stage owner, she grew up on a Wyoming
ranch on the Laramie Plains and was graduated at the
University of Wyoming. She was formerly the Wyoming
State Librarian and State Historian. A prolific writer,
Caspar Collins and Seventy Years, Cow Country rank
among her best known works.

—LOLA HOMSHER

Ll/yomlno s i^o'w-QjeWes

c/Suxiiiary to

Ll/yomino Dtock Orowers
J^ssocJofion

"All the pursuits of men
are the pursuits of women
also, and in all of them a
woman is only a lesser man."

— Plato, The Republic.
Bk. IV, sec. 455.

WHY COW-BELLES?

On June 7, 1949, Mrs. Joe H. Watt, President of the
Wyoming Cow-Belles' Association, addressed the Wj^oming
Stock Growers Association's 77th annual convention in
Sheridan, Wyoming:

"Any organization to survive must accomplish some
useful purpose. The Cow-Belles are no exception to this
rule, and I should like to explain our purpose as an auxiliary
to the Wyoming Stock Growers. It has long been an ac-
cepted practice for successful ranchers to keep in contact
with each other in order to learn more efficient and profit-
able ranch operations and for the broadening of their busi-
ness and marketing experiences. The Wyoming Stock
Growers' Association is an ideal place for such an exchange
of views and opinions.

"It is equally important for their wives to have a central
meeting place where they may broaden their views and
opinions also. Any woman will be of more value to her
family and community if she will keep mentallj^ alert.
Traditionally, the ranch women stay home more than the
men and do not always have the opportunity^ to contact
other women who have the same interests. We ranch
women appreciate this chance of making new friends and
renewing old acquaintances. Friendship is a very real com-
modity, one without price.

"It is a heart warming experience to walk into conven-
tion headquarters and to be able to greet almost everyone
by name. The Cow-Belles have formed warm and lasting

WYOMING'S COW-BELLES 229

friendships through their associations at these meetings
and often have influenced similar relationships among the
husbands. You ranchers should be proud that your wives
will take the time and interest to go with you whenever
possible. Any interest shared draws a family closer together
and makes a happier and more contented life. The good
times we share with you at our convention mean pleasant
memories for both the Stock Growers and Cow-Belles.

"However, it is not alone for social activities we like to
come to this convention. We too, are vitally interested in
all problems pertaining to the live stock industry. What
woman here has not been reading anxiously the proposed
farm program of Secretary Brannan and wondering what
effect it will have on cattle prices? I know I speak for a
large majority when I say we women are opposed to any
over-all grants of authority that will tend to regulate our
ranching activities. Who among us does not follow care-
fully the experiments to control grasshoppers and other
pests, reseeding of the range, the recent outbreak of the
hoof and mouth disease or anything that affects the cattle
industry?

"Every Cow-Belle last winter took her place beside
her husband in fighting the blizzards and hazards of that
terrible six weeks. Perhaps it was only having hot, nour-
ishing meals ready, and a warm, comfortable house, but
who would underestimate their importance when you came
in hungry, cold, and tired?

"We have also, in a small way, given wide-spread
publicity to the Wyoming Stock Growers through the pub-
lishing of the Wyoming's Cow-Bell Cook Book. This book,
to our delighted surprise was a sell-out and was sold from
Florida to California.

"Inquiries from Florida, Kansas, Arizona and California,
have come to me asking for a copy of our constitution and
by-laws that they might organize a Cow-Belle Association
in their states. We hope we are contributing our share to
the solidification of cattle growers everywhere.

"May I remind you that in union there is strength, and
any organization dedicated to the best interests of the stock
industry should be a help."

Francis Carpenter, formerly associated with the Record
Stockman, has described the activities of several women
who have contributed their time and efforts to the cattle
industry in Wyoming.

We extend oar condolences to the family and friends
of Mrs. Dugald Whitaker who died on February 27, 1949;

230 ANNALS OF WYOMING

and of Mrs. R. S. Van Tassell who died July 25, 1949; and
of Mrs. John L. Jordan who died July 18, 1949.

With the permission of the Record Stockman, we are
reprinting a portion of the following article which appeared
in the 1948 Annual Edition of the Record Stockman, p. 114:

WOMEN OF THE RANGE

There is possibly no industry in the United States in
which so many women are engaged in "big business" as
in livestock industry. Only a very small percent of these
women have invaded this ultra masculine occupation of
raising cattle, sheep and horses by their own choosing.
They have been left these great ranches in the estates of
their husbands so that their having become ranch owners
and operators certainly has not been of their choice.

Wyoming is probably as typical as any of our great
western states in ownership of ranches by women. At
the last count 90 women, who own and operate their ranches,
were members of the Wyoming Stockgrowers Assn. Be-
sides being active in the association, most of them now
belong to the association auxiliary, the Cow-Belles.

Many of these women had enjoyed no business ex-
perience, as men are accustomed to think of such work,
before they had to assume the great responsibilities which
accompany ownership of a stock ranch.

Probably two factors have contributed to the rather
phenomenal success of these women in the livestock-raising
industry.

First, the ranch managers who had managed for their
husbands have in many cases remained as managers when
the women have had to take over the operation. And these
women owners are unstinting in their praise of these men
who have continued to manage their properties and herds,
usually ending with the statement: "I could never have
carried on after my husband's passing had Mr. and Mrs.
(then she names the manager and his wife) not remained
on the ranch."

Second, these women who at one time or another lived
on their ranches, probably during the early years of their
marriage, learned much of ranch operation and herd man-
agement.

One well-known Wyoming ranchman says it this way,
"You know, we ranch people have to live pretty much to
ourselves. And when we as ranchers have a problem
that's worrying us, we've got to talk to someone. That
'someone' is our wife because she is the only one we can
use as our sounding board. Naturally, thru the years, she

WYOMING'S COW-BELLES 231

has seen and heard many a knotty ranching problem solved,
and has experience in and knowledge of ranching she little
realizes she possesses until she has to use it."

Most impressive is the respect for the ability of these
women of the ranges that is shown by men in the same
industry. These women have not been given quarter in
the industry because of their sex. Business is business,
and each has had to work out her own salvation in stock
raising, and in many cases also keep up her home. Each,
you will agree, is a full-time occupation.

Of the hundreds of women in the West, as indicated
by the number in Wyoming, who are operating ranches
from a few thousand to many thousands of acres, many
are typical of the successful woman rancher.

To name a few, there are Mrs. Thomas Hunter, Mrs.
R. S. Van Tassell and Mrs. Dugald R. Whitaker, all of
Cheyenne, Wyo., and Mrs. Essie Davis, Mrs. Helen Hager
and Mrs. Ellen Moran of the far-famed Nebraska Sandhills
country, with Hyannis as their post office.

Perhaps Mrs. Van Tassell has the most difficult ranch-
ing operation to manage of the women named. The Van
Tassell properties cover some 40,000 acres, but are in four
separate ranches. The original Van Tassell ranch is at
Van Tassell, Wyo., east of Lusk on the Wyoming-Nebraska
border, snd a h-^lf day's drive from Mrs. Van Tassell's home
in Chevenne. The second of the ranches is as Islay, Wyo.,
27 miles north of Cheyenne, while the other two are west
of the state's capital city, 20 and 35 miles, respectively.

Mrs. Van Tassell, who was Maude Bradley before her
marriage in 1913, was born in Chicago, but fortunately was
reared in Cheyenne, next door to the great cattle ranges.
It is nearly 17 years since she had to take over the opera-
tion of the Van Tassell properties on the death of her
husband in 1931, but she had been closely in touch with
the business during her husband's life time so was familiar
with the operation of the famous "Quarter Circle V"
ranches. Hereford cattle are run on all four places.

Mrs. Hunter and Mrs. Whitaker both became ranch
operators in the middle 1930's — in the midst of the depres-
sion, the bottom of the deepest drouth known in eastern
Wyoming, and when it was a full-time job to ascertain the
meaning of the agricultural regulations emanating from
Washington.

To Mrs. Hunter, whose home since her marriage has
always been the delightful Colonial frame house at 320
East Seventeenth St., Cheyenne, Wyo., the running of a
ranch was entirely new, save the bookkeeping. The book-
keeping for the Hunter ranch at Meriden, Wyo., has been

232 ANNALS OF WYOMING

a "first love" of Rule Aitken from the time she became
Mrs. Hunter.

"Keeping the books gave me some insight into the
operation of the ranch and, of course, was no burden to
continue," Mrs. Hunter recalls, "but I give our foreman,
William Scoon, the credit for the successful carrying on
of the Hunter ranch."

Mr. and Mrs. William Scoon had taken residence on
the ranch eight years before Mr. Hunter's death in 1935
and before him his father, Alfred Scoon, had managed the
ranch for Mr. Hunter and his father, Collin Hunter, as the
Hunter family bought the place from Johnny Gordon, about
the turn of the century, after having been in partnership
with him. This is why the Hunter Herefords are known
for their JG brand.

Altho Mrs. Hunter has not learned ranching by living
on a ranch, she takes an active interest in the property.
She visits the ranch weekly during the summers and al-
ways runs the tally at branding time.

But with greatest pride, Mrs. Hunter and Mr. Scoon
point to the 95 per cent calf crop attained since they began
nine years ago to inoculate the heifers against Bang's
disease.

"We have worked hard, as have most ranchers, to bring
our herd up to par and feel we are getting there as our
two-year-old steers averaged 1,055 pounds when sold this
fall," Mrs. Hunter says.

Besides being left a ranch to operate, Mrs. Hunter had
two sons on the threshold of their careers at the time of
Mr. Hunter's passing. One son, Richard, to become a doctor,
and the other, James, like his father, to become a lawyer.
Home from the war, James is now settled in Cheyenne
and preparing to take over the strenuous operation of the
ranch from his mother.

Altho Mrs. Whitaker will take little credit for success-
fully carrying on the operation of the Whitaker ranch
northwest of Cheyenne on Horse Creek, yet she inherited
the property in the midst of the worst drouth man has seen
in eastern Wyoming.

In her first year as head of the Whitaker ranch, famous
for its "grout" buildings erected during the Carey owner-
ship of the land, Mrs. Whitaker had to buy hay to feed the
cattle. This was the first time in the history of the ranch
that hay was bought, because the ranch has been developed
as a hay and cattle ranch.

WYOMING'S COW-BELLES 233

Mrs. Whitaker, who was Elizabeth Smith before her
marriage in 1901, came to Cheyenne with her mother and
sisters in 1884; she and Mr. Whitaker made their home on
the ranch for several months after their marriage while
their home was being built in Cheyenne, and they always
spent the summers there, but, besides giving full credit to
Paul Dearcorn, foreman on the place for 18 years, Mrs.
Whitaker attributes the successful management of the
ranch since Mr. Whitaker's death to her daughter, Mrs.
Robert G. Caldwell of Cheyenne.

"Elizabeth," Mrs. Whitaker will say, "was always with
her father and learned ranch operation first hand from him."

The ranch was the proud heritage of 40 years' develop-
ment by Mr. Whitaker, who came to Wyoming and entered
the livestock business in 1893, immediately after his gradu-
ation from Oxford.

Besides the ranch, Mr. Whitaker left his widow and
daughter a wealth of friends among Wyoming stockmen,
for he had been active in the Wyoming Stockgrowers Assn.
more than a quarter of a century and was association presi-
dent at the time of his death. Too, Mrs. Whitaker has had
close association with the cattle-raising industry through
her sister, Alice Smith, who was secretary of the Wyoming
Stockgrowers Assn. for 25 years. She was, herself, an
early president of the Wyoming Cow-Belles.

"Conditions have changed in the 11 years my daughter
and I have operated the ranch," Mrs. Whitaker comments.
"We now feed cake through the winters on the meadows
and we can no longer find the good Shorthorn stock out
here to use with our Herefords that we used to have. For
this reason we are getting registered Hereford bulls to use
on our commercial cow herd." * * *

IMPRESSIONS OF A BOSTONIAN

On June 21, 1949 the third annual Armour and Company
tour brought to Cheyenne women writers, nutritionists,
economists, and educators. Greeted by representatives of
the cattle industry, they visited the Warren Live Stock
Company and were escorted to the Fred D. Boice and Sons
PO ranch where they were treated to a round-up chuck
wagon supper. Upon returning home, Alta Maloney, Trav-
eler Staff Reporter expressed her enthusiasm for her visit
West in the following newspaper article which appeared
in the Boston Traveler on June 28, 1949:

234 ANNALS OF WYOMING

"COW-BELLES" WOW SISTERS FROM BACK EAST

Three Typical Wyoming Women
Live 'Rough' Despite Luxuries

"These wonderful Wyoming women" is a phrase you
hear a lot around these parts, and Eastern women hearing
it are likely to elevate their noses and eyebrows until they
find out that the day of the pioneer woman is not over.

Wyoming men are used to expecting a lot of their
"women folks," and the women seem to thrive on living
up to those expectations. Take, for instance, just three of
the well-coifed, beautifully dressed "Cow-Belles" who
turned out to greet the group of Eastern women who landed
here near the end of the Armour and Company meat and
livestock industry tour to study the ranchers' problems.

There was Mrs. Fred Boice, whose diamond-crusted
fingers held a crooked cane and whose soft silk print dress
and sable trimmed coat were covered with a flour apron.
There was Mrs. P. J. Quealy, whose quick eye could tell
how much a steer weighed a quarter of a mile away. And
there was Mrs. Bert McGee, whose sparkling blue eyes and
plump pink cheeks looked as if she never had seen anything
but green pastures.

Out in the country, where "a stranger is someone you
never met," you find out a lot about people in a short time,
and none of it is ever meant for publication. But the stories
of these three women who have watched Wyoming grow
through 40 or more years is in a way a history of the state.

Mrs. Boice, for one, gives a nod of recognition to East-
ern "culture." As Marguerite Mcintosh, she went to Welles-
ley College, class of 1908, and later spent eight years on
the concert stage and as a singer, with studios in Copley
Square, Boston. She went home to marry and started living
on the ranch outside the capital city. Her early life there
with its lack of electricity and water was not easy, but it
seemed like a breeze in comparison, when several years
later her husband was hurt and handed to her the job of
running the ranch and raising their two small boys.

"Pestering" her county agent for help, she got him to
arrange for her "a bear of a course" at the State University,
where as "the oldest living undergraduate," she studied
animal husbandry and the modern methods of farming.

Until a few years ago when she permanently injured
herself by dragging a broken hip through snow drifts for
more than a mile to get help for a friend in a wrecked car
on a lonely road, Mrs. Boice continued to build the ranch
through blizzard and drought, good times and bad, until
today her sons are running one of the most profitable outfits

WYOMING'S COW-BELLES 235

in these parts. With all that, she has found time to be a
"clubber" and has been prominent in the State Federation
of Women's Clubs, as well as an organizer of the "Cow
Belles," a group of 500 or more ranchers' wives.

Mrs. Quealy is a thorough-going Westerner, and if you
spent days with her, she could not cover all of the activities
which have crowded her life. A soft-spoken woman with
large, expressive eyes and a small frame, she met her hus-
band at 15 when she was "back east" in Omaha. Her hus-
band became one of the leading citizens in Wyoming, and
she still lives in Kemmerer, one of the four towns he founded
on the western side of the state. Since his death, she has
run the ranches and within the past few years was the
first woman ever elected an official of the American Live-
stock Association.

She is president also of a bank, is Democratic state
committee woman and until a few weeks ago when she
lay awake one night worrying about what John Lewis was
going to do, was the owner of a coal mine.

And they say that when she expresses the wish to go
to New York, the Union Pacific Railroad goes off the track
to pick her up. She was the originator of an award which
goes annually to the m.ost outstanding woman in each
Wyoming county who has managed to overcome the rigors
of prairie life, but she has never won it herself.

Mrs. McGee was born on Columbus avenue, Boston,
and went west on a stretcher, "dying" of tuberculosis. Her
brother had just died and her father was dying so the
mother decided that the young girl might just as well die
on the train as in Boston. She met her cowboy on a blind
date and married him within a year, gradually learning
from him everything a rancher's wife has to know, such
as washing butter with cold water and not hot.

Though she says that she and other Wyoming women
are "uncomfortable" about the amount of prosperity the
past few years have brought them, she still makes her own
butter and cooks the big outdoor meals for the hands at
branding time.

To all of these women who are in a position now to
enjoy the fruits of their hard lives, the chief interest is still
the problems of the cattle business — the amount of rain,
the market prices and haying. And to the Eastern women,
who never even had to contend with the minor difficulties
of hard water, they seemed just as "wonderful" as their
men thought they were.

^ ^ ^

"There is a woman at the beginning of all great things.'^

— Lamartine.

''M^fcr ZmiH

Wyoming accepted its own special car of the "Merci"
train on February 15, 1949 at ceremonies which took place
in front of the State Capitol building in Cheyenne. The
gifts in the Wyoming car came, as did those in the other 47
cars, with the heartfelt thanks of the people of France for
the American "Freedom Train," which carried food to the
French when their country was poor and hungry as a result
of World War II.

The French gifts to Wyoming were loaded, in their
boxcar, upon a trailer and carried from the Union Pacific
depot to the Capitol with the accompaniment of a band
from Fort Francis E. Warren, a police escort, and an honor
guard. Governor A. G. Crane, President of the Senate,
George Burke and Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Herman Mayland received the gifts on behalf of the state
of Wyoming. The proceedings were broadcast over station
KFBC and relayed to France through world-wide broad-
casting facilities.

The French gifts were first exhibited to the public
during the last week of March, in two rooms set aside for
the purpose at National Guard Headquarters in Cheyenne.
General R. L. Esmay, executive chairman of the state dis-
tributing committee for the "Merci" train, clarified at that
time the significance of the "Thank you" gifts. He said,
"The French people gave more than we did. We gave from
our abundance; they gave from their poverty."

The tokens of appreciation presented by the citizens of
France to those of the United States were given by a people
who had lost many of their material possessions. The gifts
were given, though perhaps at a real sacrifice, freely and
gratefully.

The state distributing committee, in charge of dividing
the gifts among the 23 counties of Wyoming, classified all
the articles into four categories. Each county received, as
a loan, an approximately equal share of the articles in each
category. In this way the committee intended to distribute
the gifts throughout the state, where it is hoped that
they will promote good will and international understand-
ing in our citizens toward those of France. The Wyoming
State Museum has arranged a permanent exhibit of some
of the gifts.

"MERCI" TRAIN 237

Acting on the recommendation of the state committee,
each county formed a supervisory group which arranged
for the display of its portion of the gifts in local schools,
libraries, or museums. Represented on the county com-
mittees, under the chairmanship of the county superintend-
ent of school, are the county commissioner, county library,
county museum, and local veteran's and men's and women's
organizations.

With the "Merci" train gifts so widely distributed
throughout the state, everyone in Wyoming will have an
opportunity to examine some of the French remembrances
and thereby develop a more intimate feeling for his neigh-
bors in France. Some will see a red, white and blue cord
with an inscription which will perhaps arouse in them the
feeling which prompted the sending of the "Merci" train.
The inscription reads: "This cord, symbol of French-Ameri-
can friendship, has been woven from the tissues of the
American and French flags which were flying from the
Eiffel Tower in Paris on the day of liberation in 1944."

ACCESSIONS

to the
Wyoming State Historical Department

From November 7, 1948 to August 15, 1949

Covert, Dean, Cheyenne, Wyoming: Framed picture of Governor
Deforest Richards and Staff; picture of Governor Chatterton
and a staff of nine; picture of Governor Chatterton and a
staff of five; picture of the launching of the monitor "Wyo-
ming"; Governor Richards and staff, taken in San Francisco;
two pictures of a parade in San Francisco on the occasion of
the return of the Wyoming boys from Manilla after the
Spanish-American War; picture of the transport which brought
Wyoming soldiers of the Spanish-American War home from
Manilla; chartered tug boat which Deforest Richards hired
to meet Wyoming boys returning from the Spanish-American
War; Governor Deforest Richards on the tug boat; two pictures
— Governor Deforest Richards and a staff at a meeting of
Wyoming troops returning from the Spanish-American War;
Governor Deforest Richards and lady on a transport; General
Hansen and lady on a transport; three pictures of the launch-
ing of the monitor "Wyoming"; souvenir of luncheon given
to the Wyoming governor and his staff, by Governor Henry
T. Gage of California at the Palace Hotel, September 10, 1900;
picture of Governor B. B. Brooks; picture of Clarence T. Johns-
ton, State Engineer, 1907; two pictures of the Board of Control
under Governor Brooks.

Cheyenne Senior High School, Cheyenne, Wyoming: Collection
of 78 birds, mounted by Frank Bond in about 1898, with
large case. October 1948.

Laramie County School Board, District No. 2, Cheyenne, Wyoming:
Large case containing a collection of Wyoming birds, num-
bering 76. These were collected and stuffed by Frank Bond
in about 1895. October 1948.

Phelan, Elizabeth, Cheyenne, Wyoming: Picture of Cheyenne
Little Symphony Orchestra, February 27, 1938, Junior High
School; Music Study Class, 1938, Junior High School; cam-
paign badge of F. D. Roosevelt, issued by the state of Virginia;
War Production Board pin, 1943; O.P.A. pin; Russian War
Relief pin. November 1948.

Robertson, John, Cheyenne, Wyoming: Approximately 100 arrow
heads and scrapers, mostly unfinished. Picked ud on the
Laramie Plains. November 1948.

Pennington, Mrs. Julia Ann, Las Animas, Colorado: Copy of a
letter written by F. A. Moore to his wife, Julia Moore, July
6, 1850, as he was crossing Wyoming. November 1948.

Fullerton, Ellen Miller, Los Angeles, California: Short sketch of
the life of David Miller, written by his daughter; two photo-
graphs of David Miller; newspaper clippings, some concerning
David Miller; poem on David Miller's letterheads by W. P.
Carroll. November 1948.

ACCESSIONS 239

Garber, Mrs. Elizabeth, Evanston, Illinois: Handkerchief case made
from a dress which was worn by Mrs. William F. Cody about
1900. November 1948.

Winters, Wayne, Douglas, Wyoming: An aerial photograph of the
site of old Fort Fetterman. November 1948.

Ford, Irene, Cheyenne, Wyoming: Oil painting; picture of the
signing of the Compact in the Cabin of the Mayflower. No-
vember 1948.

Governor's Office, Cheyenne, Wyoming: Letter written in 1869
by J. A. Campbell, first Wyoming Territorial Governor, to
Mr. Norris J. Frink; also in the same frame is an explanatory
letter by Amelia Frink Redfield, written in 1939; original sketch
of "Bucking Horse" designed by Governor Lester C. Hunt and
copyrighted by him and used on the state license plates since
1936. November 1948.

Rothwell, John P., Cheyenne, Wyoming: Arsenic healing ball
found by J. F. Dillinger on the North Fork of Powder River.
March 1949.

Thorp, Russell, Cheyenne, Wyoming: A kettle which was brought
up the Texas Trail with Snyder Brothers and John Iliff herds.
Found at Iliff pens south of Cheyenne by Mrs. Dean Prosser
and presented by her to the Wyoming Stockgrowers Associa-
tion; two branding irons used by G. H. Snyder of Snyder
Brothers, Texas, in the late 1860's and 1870's, presented to
the Wyoming Stock Growers Association by Mrs. John Ken-
drick; fly chaser, used in the old days in the hotel at Carbon,
Wyoming (1860's and 1870's); prospector's pan; ox yoke used
by Beckwith and Quinn, old time railroad contractors and
cattlemen, used in the construction of the Oregon Shortline
railroad; tree stump cut down by beavers; hitching post used
in the 1870's, presented to the Wyoming Stock Growers As-
sociation by Russell Dietz Thorp. March 1949.

Anderson, Mrs. Ida B., Newcastle, Wyoming: Flute owned by
Corydon C. Olney, a Civil War veteran; affidavit dated 1865,
which gives a brief history of the duties of C. C. Olney during
Civil War times; shoulder decoration of Colonel Barkwell,
Spanish-American War officer. March 1949.

Carey, Charles D., Jr., Cheyenne, Wyoming: Four Moro knives
brought to this country from the Philippines by his father,
Charles D. Carey, Sr. March 1949.

Bretney, H. Clay, Jacksonville, Florida: Indian chief's coat with
bead work; hand drawn roster, Company G, 11th Regiment
Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, reported to have been painted by either
Caspar Collins or Charles F. Moellman. Brought to Wyoming
by Lt. Henry C. Bretney, the donor's father, 1886. April 1949.

Rockafield, Mrs. Bertha Bulla, Cheyenne, Wyoming: Kerosene
lamp owned by Homer Skinner of Galesburg, Illinois, grand-
father of Mrs. Rockafield. Bought in 1860 and used continu-
ously for over 50 years. April 1949.

240 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Petersen, Allen, Moorcroft, Wyoming: Confederate money. Five
dollar bill dated February 17, 1864 bears the imprint, "The
Confederate States of America." Given to Mr. Allen in 1947
by Mrs. E. W. R. Wilson, who was born in Pennsylvania in
1845. This money came into her possession while she was a
maid in the White House during Abraham Lincoln's presi-
dency. April 1949.

Mead, George S.: Picture frame and copy of Charles M. Russell's
print, 1897, "Cold Springs Harbor Hold-Up;" handcuffs pre-
sented to Mr. George Mead by a friend who used them on
Big Nose George. Presented by Mrs. Lulu Goins in memory
of her father, Mr. George S. Mead, Cheyenne, Wyoming.
May 1949.

Provines, Kate Ellena, New York, N. Y.: City Council cards for
the years 1882, 1883, 1885, 1887; hand written appointment
and official oath of W. G. Provines as Special Master, March
1876; commission of William G. Provines as Civil Engineer of
the City of Cheyenne, January 18, 1887. May 1949.

Fuller, E. O.: Nine pieces of Japanese paper money, of denomina-
tions from one cent to $1000. June 1949.

Caldwell, Mrs. Robert G., Cheyenne, Wyoming: Wyoming's Cow-
Belle Cook Book; two souvenir pins; copy of the address Mrs.
D. R. Whitaker gave at the Cow-Belle Convention in 1943.
June 1949.

Union Pacific Railroad, Cheyenne, Wyoming: Large unframed
picture of the Teton Mountains, presented by W. W. Morrison.
June 1949.

"Merci" Train: Wedding gown, veil, wreath; two sabers; hand
carved cabinet of the Renaissance period; iron plaque of Na-
poleon III era; three cork screws; glass ash tray; set of door
knockers and gate ornaments; bronze plaque with this inscrip-
tion: "Box Car used in 1st World War presented by the French
national railroads to the State of Wyoming in gratitude for
the help given to France by the American people;" Marie
Bataillou style picture of 1864; pewter plate and cream pitcher;
vase with red designs; hand painted platter; friendship knot
made from the ravelings of an American Flag; wooden statue;
musket powder horn; wine colored petit point slippers; set
of scales to weigh small coins; an old oil lighter; an iron hook
with rings, used in a very old fire place for cooking; hand made
bracelet of the Louis Philippe era; ink-well, old padlock;
original etchings by Admond La Joux, "Chaffeurs Alpins" or
"Les Diables Blues;" one hundred illustrations of Paris-Lyon-
Marseille Rail Road; books: Louise Dulay de Geradmer, An-
theor Poems; la lyre harhelle; an edition taken from the I'flag
XXI Schuhin by Jean Bouvier; Poster, Le President. June 1949.

Roberts, Charles D., Chevy Chase, Maryland: Picture of the officers
of the 17th and 21st Infantry Garrison of Fort Bridger, Wyo-
ming, 1888, in front of Carter store and residence; picture of
the bridge in the parade ground at Fort Bridger, 1890. July 1949.

ACCESSIONS 241

Wilde, A. E., State Director, United States Savings Bonds Division
of United States Treasury Department, Federal Building,
Cheyenne, Wyoming: Navy blue German coat; navy blue
German blouse and cap; grey German coat; Minute Man ban-
ner; four scrap books; book on National Conference from
1941-1946; emblem, "schools at war;" four banners numbered
199170-3: The U. S. Flag is at the top, and below it is written
an inscription in seven different languages: Frqnch, Annamese,
Thai, Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Lao; three banners for
a bond drive, one red and two blue; American flag; 'three
buttons of the Defense Saving Staff; Manuscript of talks by
Morris M. Townsend to Bankers Association in eleven states;
five magazines: Schools at Work and at War; forty-three issues
of the Minute Man Magazine; three posters, "This Time It's
You!", "Speaking of Bonds" and "Willy Jeep." July 1949.

Wallace, Mrs. Hershill G.: Four pieces of paper money: ten cen-
tavos, one peso, ten pesos, one thousand pesos. July 1949.

Smalley, Edith A. (Mrs. E. J.), Cheyenne, Wyoming: Framed
picture of Mrs. E. J. Smalley; framed picture of Mrs. B. H.
Smalley; the Lariat for the years 1924 through 1929. July 1949.

Keith, Dr. M. C, Cheyenne, Wyoming: Frame with 136 arrow
heads and three spear heads arranged in a star design; frame
with 82 arrow heads and spear heads; frame with 76 arrow
heads and spear heads, hatchet heads, stone charms, awls, and
scrapers; frame with 10 metal arrow or spear heads, and 109
stone arrow heads, awls, scrapers, and spear heads, arranged
in a tree design; frame with 57 spear heads, hatchet heads,
scrapers, knives, arranged in a star design; frame with 25 spear
heads, knives, and scrapers, and 38 small arrow heads ar-
ranged in a swastika design; frame with 18 large hammer heads
and axes; frame with 33 scrapers and knives; frame with 13
large scrapers, hammers and knives; frame with 86 points,
arrows, spears from Hell's Half Acre and 10 fieshers, 7 knives
from Central, Wyoming; frame with 50 awls, scrapers and
knives; frame with 126 awls and arrow heads and one charm
with identification shown; frame with 65 hammer heads, axes,
scrapers and knives; frame with 3 obsidian knives, 6 awls, 9
scrapers, 2 spear heads and 10 arrow heads; framed photograph
of Chief Washakie; box of mixed arrow heads and scraper
fragments; 7 pipes; 2 bone handled stone knives; charm (hole
in stone); stone knife with handle; 16 war clubs; 5 polished
axes with hammer heads; two small black grinding bowls
with grinders; dish of polished stone; stone moccasin; 9 frag-
ments of arrow heads; bottle of beads picked up in ant hills
near the site of Old Fort Casper Bridge, Casper, Wyoming;
1 box of Peyote buds; beaded belt with silver buckle; beaded
leather case; 2 strings of stone and bone beads; 2 woven bands;
toy papoose carrier; toy hammer; 6 pairs of beaded moccasins;
1 large flat and 2 deep grinding bowls. Presented by Mrs.
M. C. Keith in memory of her husband. Dr. M. C. Keith.
July 1949.

DeTilla, George M., Braymer, Missouri: United States Flag with
14 stars. August 1949.

242 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Stephens, G. A., Cheyenne, Wyoming: Badge of the Durant Fire
Company No. 1, Cheyenne, Wyoming; Certificate of Member-
ship for G. A. Stephens Duran Fire Company No. 1, of the
City of Cheyenne, Wyoming, April 2, 1902. August 1949.

Hay good, Allen W., Granite Canyon, Wyoming: Ox yoke, pre-
sented by his son Henry R. Haygood. August 1949.

Krakel, C. D., Fort Collins, Colorado: Two pieces of petrified
alga. August 1949.

McGee, Mr. and Mrs. Bert, Cheyenne, Wyoming: Silver cowbell
souvenir, designed for the 9th meeting of the Wyoming Cow
Belle Association, Sheridan, Wyoming, June 1949; Souvenir
Booklet oj the Midwest, glimpses of Cheyenne Frontier Days,
1896-1902; Cheyenne, The Magic City, Booklet of photographs
c. 1890, C. D. Kirkland photographer. September 1949.

Books — Gifts
October 1948-August 1949

Shoemaker, Floyd C. Semicentennial History, 1898-1948. Missouri
State Historical Society, 1948. Donated by the Missouri State
Historical Society.

Eberstadt, Edward. William Robertson Coe Collection of Western
Americana. Privately printed, 1948. Donated by W. R. Coe.

Drury, John. Old Illinois Houses. State of Illinois, 1948. Donated
by the Illinois Historical Society.

Books — Purchased
October 1948-August 1949

Mississippi Valley Historical Review, Index 1914-1929, Vols. 1-15.
Mississippi Valley Historical Association, 1932.

Meek, Stephen Hall. A Mountain Man. Glen Dawson, Pasadena,
California, 1948.

Schmitt, Martin F. Fighting Indians of the West. Scribner's,
New York, 1948.

Adams, James T. Album of American History. Vol. 4. Scribner's,
New York, 1948.

Price, George F. Across the Continent with the 5th Cavalry. Van
Nostrand, New York, 1883.

Adams, Ramon F. Charles M. Russell, Biography. Trails End,
Pasadena, California, 1948.

Yost, Karl. Charles M. Russell, Bibliography. Trails End, Pasa-
dena, California, 1948.

Wyoming-Idaho Sampler. Harbinger.

ACCESSIONS 243

Lavender, David. The Big Divide. Doubleday (Prairie) Garden
City, N. Y., 1948.

Spring, Agnes Wright. Cheyenne and Black Hills Stage and Ex-
press Routes. Arthur H. Clark, Glendale, California, 1948.

Beasley, Norman. Main Street Merchant. McGraw-Hill, New
York, 1948.

Augspurger, Marie M. Yellowstone National Park. Naegele-Auer,
Middletown, Ohio, 1948.

Muller, Dan. My Life With Buffalo Bill. Rilly & Lee, Chicago, 1948.

Bauer, Clyde M. Yellowstone, Its Wonderworld. Permission of
National Park Service, Albuquerque, University of New Mex-
ico Press, 1948.

West, Ray B. ed.. Rocky Mountain Cities. Norton, New York, 1949.

Tierney, Luke. Gold Discoveries on the North Platte River. Pub-
lished by Authors, Pacific City, Iowa, 1949.

Eyre, Alice. Famous Fremonts and Their America. Fine Arts, 1948.

Clark, Dan E. West in American History. Crowell, New York, 1937.

GENERAL INDEX

Volume 21
Compiled by Mary Elizabeth Cody

Abbott, C. S., Recollections of a California Pioneer, 21:2 & 3:122.

Abbott, T. D., 21:2 & 3:208.

Abrams, Ludolph, 21:2 & 3:194.

Across the Rocky Mountains, from New York to California, Kelly,
William, 21:2 & 3:122.

Adams, Asenath (Annie), 21:1:91; Barnabas, 91.

Adams County, Illinois, 21:2 & 3:164.

Adams, Dick, 21:2 & 3:160.

Adams, James T., Album of American History, 21:2 & 3:242.

Adams, Maude, 21:1:91.

Adams, Ramon F., Charles M. Russell, Biography, 21:2 & 3:242.

Advent of the railroad in the Black Hills area, 21:2 & 3:225.

Aitken, Rule, see Hunter, Mrs. Thomas, 21:2 & 3:232.

Alapier Creek, 21:2 & 3:131, 150.

Albany County, 1866 to 1880, 21:2 & 3:191, et seq.

Alder Gulch gold discovery, 21:1:90.

Alexandrine Brothers, religious order, 21:2 & 3:206.

Algonquin Indians, 21:2 & 3:181.

Allred, James, 21:2 & 3:113.

Altman, H., 21:2 & 3:208.

American "Freedom Train," 21:2 & 3:236.

American Fur Company purchased Fort Laramie, 21:2 & 3:174, 177.

American Sheep Trails, 21:1:86.

"American Trails Series, 21:2 & 3:225.

Americana, Western, 21:2 & 3:225.

Anderson, Charlie, 21:1:82.

Anderson, Mrs. Ida B., Gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:239.

Anderson Land and Cattle Companj^ See Swan Land and Cattle
Company.

Anderson, Maybelle Harmon, 21:2 & 3:120.

Andrew County, Missouri, 21:2 & 3:150.

Annals of Wyoming, 21:2 & 3:122, 165.

Annual Publications of the Historical Society of Southern Cali-
fornia, 21:2 & 3:123.

Antelope Island, Utah, 21:2 & 3:214.

Applegate Cutoff, 21:2 & 3:159, 160.

Appleton Milo Harmon Goes West, 21:2 & 3:122, 147.

Appleton Milo Harmon Goes West, Maybelle Harmon Anderson,
21:2 & 3:120.

Arapahoe Indians, 21:2 & 3:181.

Arkansas River, 21:2 & 3:147.

Armour and Company meat and livestock industry tour, 1949,
21:2 & 3:233, 234,

Ash Hollow, 21:2 & 3:127, 147, 223.

Ashley, William H., on the Laramie Plains, 21:2 & 3:183, came
West 1824, 172.

Astor, John Jacob, director of the American Fur Company pur-
chased at Fort Laramie, 21:2 & 3:174.

Attfield, D. Harvey, 21:1:100.

GENERAL INDEX 245

Augspurger, Marie M., Yellowstone National Park, 21:2 & 3:243.
Autobiography of Pioneer John Brown, 21:2 & 3:117, 120.
Ayres, George V., 21:2 & 3:227.

Badger, Rodney, 21:2 & 3:162.

Baker, Isaac, 21:2 & 3:166.

Baldwin & Epsy, 21:2 & 3:211.

Bancroft's index of pioneers to California, 21:2 & 3:159.

Bancroft's list of Oregon immigrants, 21:2 & 3:161, 164.

Banking business, Laramie, W. T., 21:2 & 3:209.

Baptiste, John, 21:2 & 3:155.

Bartholomew County, Ohio, 21:2 & 3:155.

Barry, Louise, 21:2 & 3:116.

Batchelder, Amos, 21:2 & 3:114, 122.

Bath, Fred, 21:2 & 3:208.

Bath Houses, 21:1:87.

Battic, John or Jean Baptiste, 21:2 & 3:135, 155.

Bauer, Clyde M., 21:2 & 3:243.

Bayard, Nebraska, 21:2 & 3:148.

Bear Butte, 21:2 & 3:174.

Bear, Grizzly, 21:2 & 3:140.

Bear River, 21:2 & 3:165; ferry across, 119; ferry rights, 111, 119;

Valley, 166.
Beasley, Norman, 21:2 & 3:243.
Beaver Dick Lake, 21:1:100.
Beaver pelts, at Fort Laramie, 21:2 & 3:171.
Bedwell, Elisha, 21:2 & 3:158.
"Bell of the West" dance hall, 21:2 & 3:201.
Benson, Brother, 21:2 & 3:125.
Benton, Thomas Hart, 21:2 & 3:179.
Bernard, Fort, 21:2 & 3:147.

Bidwell, Captain Elisha, his company, 21:2 & 3:137, 158.
Big Basin, Albany County, W. T., 21:2 & 3:197.
"Big Ed," 21:2 & 3:201.

Big Laramie, Wyoming, 21:2 & 3:187, 188, 189, 190.
"Big Steve," 21:2 & 3:201.

"Big Timber Creek" (La Bonte Creek or River), 21:2 & 3:131, 150.
Binely, Brother, 21:2 & 3:144, 145, 146; John, 166.
Birdwood Creek, 21:2 & 3:146.
Bison, slaughter of, 21:2 & 3:214.

Bitter Cottonwood Creek (Cottonwood Creek), 21:2 & 3:150.
Bitterroot River (Saint Mary's River), 21:2 & 3:149.
Blackfoot Indians, 21:2 & 3:181.
Black Hills, 21:2 & 3:130, 132; advent of the railroad, 225; discovery

of Gold, 225.
Black Hills of South Dakota, Cheyenne Indians, 21:2 & 3:181, 186.
Black Hills, stage line, 21:2 & 3:225.
Blacksmithing, 21:2 & 3:135, 136, 137, 138, 142, 145.
Blanchet, Francis Norbert, first bishop of Walla Walla, 21:2 &

3:157-161.
Blizzard of 1949, 21:2 & 3:219.
Blue Creek, 21:2 & 3:147.
Board of Equalization, 21:2 & 3:220.
Boat, Bull hide, 21:2 & 3:132.
Bodall, 21:2 & 3:137, 160.

Boggs, L. W., registered at Fort Laramie in 1846, 21:2 & 3:177.
Bolden, 21:2 & 3:160.

246 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Boice, Fred D., and sons P O Ranch, 21:2 & 3:233, 234; Mrs.
Fred D., 234.

Bonoir, James, 21:2 & 3:150.

Bonser, Captain, His company, 21:2 & 3:138, 162. ^

Boston Traveler, 21:2 & 3:233.

Boswell, N. K., 21:2 & 3:201.

Bountiful, Utah, home of Mrs. JuUa Kessler, 21:2 & 3:120.

Boyack, Hazel Noble, biography, 21:2 & 3:108; Historic Fort Lara-
mie, the hub of Early Western History, 1834-1849, 21:2 & 3:170.

Brackenbury, Richard, 21:1:86.

Bramel, W. C, 21:2 & 3:194, 210.

Brand Books, 21:2 & 3:221; inspection, 218.

Brands, 21:1:28-29.

Brannon, Sam, 21:2 & 3:160. ^

Bretney, H. Clay, gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:239.

Bridge, across the Platte in 1849, 21:2 & 3:111, 123.

Bridge, John Richard's, 21:2 & 3:117.

Bridger, Fort, 21:2 & 3:137, 141, 150, 155, 163, 164, 166; Creek, 166.

Bridger, James, 21:2 & 3:137, 150, 155, 158, 183, 185; sold Fort
Laramie to American Fur Company, 174.

Bridges, 21:2 & 3:212.

British Ship Modeste, 21: 2 & 3: 163.

Brooks, Mrs. Juanita, the Empey diary, 21:2 & 3:121.

Brown, Brother, 21:2 & 3:127, 136, 137, 155, 156; Clark, Brown
party, 116; Elias, 156; H. E. (Stuttering) 226; Hank, 187; party,
147; John, pioneer, Autobiography, 117, 120; John, 147, 151;
J. Robert, Journal of 1856, 123; M. C, 194, 200, 203, 210.

Bruff, Goldsborough J., 21:2 & 3:114; diary in Gold Rush, 122.

Bryant, Edwin, registered at Fort Laramie in 1846, 21:2 & 3:177;
What I Saw in California, 166.

Buffalo, 21:2 & 3:126; in Fort Laramie area, 171; last hunt, 214;
robes, shipments from Fort Laramie, 174.

Buford station, 21:2 & 3:193, 194, 211.

Buildings, early, in the city of Laramie, W. T., 21:2 & 3:200; first
brick, 209; in Laramie, W. T., 210; Sherman, 211.

Bull Bear, Indian Chieftain, 21:2 & 3:174.

Bullock, Thomas, plans for Fort Platte and Fort Laramie, 21:2
& 3:149.

Burke, George, President of the Senate, 21:2 & 3:236.

Business establishments, Laramie City, 1870, 21:2 & 3:208; Sher-
man, W. T., 211.

Cache la Poudre river, 21:2 & 3:186.

Calamity Jane, 21:2 & 3:226.

Caldwell, Dr., 21:2 & 3:114.

Caldwell, Mrs. Robert G., 21:2 & 3:233, 240.

Caldwell, (T. G.?) 21:2 & 3:122.

California, 21:2 & 3:111-115, 135, 157, 166, 167, 169, 178.

California Battalion, Fremont's, 21:2 & 3:166.

California Historical Society Quarterly, 21:2 & 3:159.

California Star, 21:2 & 3:166.

Camp, Charles L., 21:2 & 3:158, 159.

Campbell, Governor, 21:2 & 3:194.

Campbell, John G., 21:2 & 3:163.

Campbell, Robert, at Ft. Laramie, 21:2 & 3:172.

Campbell, Samuel, 21:2 & 3:164.

Canada, Ossanabrook, Storment County, 21:2 & 3:118.

Ji

GENERAL INDEX 247

Canadian Traders, 21:2 & 3:135.

Canfield, 21:2 & 3:143, 166.

Cannon Creek, 21:2 & 3:143, 146, 167.

Capitol Building, Cheyenne, 21:2 & 3:236.

Carbon County, Wyoming Territory, taxable property, 21:2 &

3:187, 196, 197.
Carbon, town of, 21:1:8; 21:1:7, 9.
Carey, Charles D., gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:239.
Carey, Joseph M., 21:2 & 3:226.
Carney, General, 21:2 & 3:144, 145, 146.
Carpenter, Francis, Women on the Range, 21:2 & 3:229.
Carrington, Albert, 21:2 & 3:116, 121, 146, 149, 150, 151, 155, 166.
Carson, Kit, 21:2 & 3:183.
Cascade fight, 21:2 & 3:158.
Case, James, 21:2 & 3:151.

Caspar Collins, Spring, Agnes Wright, 21:2 & 3:227.
Casper, 21:2 & 3:163.
Casper Creek, 21:2 & 3:167.
Casper Range, 21:2 & 3:132.
Casper, Wyoming, 21:2 & 3:151, 152, 154.
Cassa, Wyoming, 21:2 & 3:150.
Castle Bluffs, 21:2 & 3:147.
Castle Creek, 21:2 & 3:127, 147.
Castle Rock, 21:2 & 3:148.

Catholic Church, Laramie, W. T., 21:2 & 3:206.
Catholics, 21:2 & 3:161.
Cattle rustlers, 21:2 & 3:218.
Cazar, John, 21:2 & 3:139.
Cazier, John, 21:2 & 3:163.
Cedar Point, 21:2 & 3:126.
Centennial Mining Company, 21:2 & 3:213.
Centennial mining district in Albany county, 21:2 & 3:198.
Central Valley, 21:2 & 3:119.
Champoeg, 21:2 & 3:156.

Chapman, Captain, his company, 21:2 & 3:143, 156.
Chapman, Wiley, 21:2 & 3:166.
Cherokee Trail, 21:2 & 3:186, 187.
Chesley, Alexander, 21:2 & 3:151.
Cheyenne, 21:2 & 3:223.
Cheyenne and Black Hills Stage and Express Routes, Spring, Agnes

Wright, reviewed by Lola Homsher, 21:2 & 3:225.
Cheyenne Indians, 21:2 & 3:174, 181.

Cheyenne Senior High School, gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:238.
Cheyenne, Wyoming, 21:2 & 3:225, 226, 227, 236.
Chicago company, going west, 21:2 & 3:156.
Chimney Rock, 21:2 & 3:128, 148.
Chinook, Christmas, 21:2 & 3:226.
Chuck wagon supper, 21:2 & 3:233.
Chrisman, J. C, 21:2 & 3:200.
Clark-Brown Party, 21:2 & 3:116.
Clark, Dan E., 21:2 & 3:243.
Clark, John Hawkins, 21:2 & 3:116.
Clark, J. J., 21:2 & 3:210.

Clayton, William, 21:2 & 3:129, 146, 147, 148-153, 159.
Clear Creek, 21:2 & 3:147.
Clyman, James, 21:2 & 3:158; eastbound company from California,

21:2 & 3:147.
Cody, Bill, 21:2 & 3:214.
Coe Collection at Yale, Howard Egan's diary, 21:2 & 3:120.

248 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Coffee, Col. C. F., 21:1:99.

Cohn, Max D., 21:2 & 3:220.

Collard, Captain F. A., his company, 21:2 & 3:137, 157.

Colonna B. A., 21:2 & 3:212.

Colorado Cavalry, first, 21:2 & 3:188.

Colorado, Denver, 21:2 & 3:227.

Columbia River, 21:2 & 3:162.

Concord Coaches, old, 21:2 & 3:226.

Conner, Johnny, 21:1:8.

Converse County, Wyoming Territory, 21:2 & 3:197.

Conyers, E. W., 21:2 & 3:123.

Cooley, Sergeant of the First Colorado Cavalry, 21:2 & 3:188.

Cooper Creek, Wyoming, 21:2 & 3:187.

Cooper Lake, 21:2 & 3:197.

Copley Square, Boston, 21:2 & 3:234.

Cordiner, Mrs. William, 21:2 & 3:208.

Corlett, W. W., 21:2 & 3:194.

Cory, L. P., 21:2 & 3:210.

"Cotton Mission," 21:2 & 3:119.

Cottonwood Creek (Bitter Cottonwood Creek), 21:2 & 3:150.

Coulter, Zebedee, 21:2 & 3:125.

Council Bluffs, 21:2 & 3:150, 160, 191.

Country Gentleman, 21:2 & 3:217.

Coutant, C. G., 21:2 & 3:165, 172.

Covert, Dean, gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:238.

Cow-belles, 21:2 & 3:228; Cow-helles Wow Sisters from Back East,

by Alta Maloney, 21:2 & 3:233.
Cow Country, 21:2 & 3:217, 221.
Cowley, Matthew, Wilford Woodrujf, His Lije and Labors, 21:2

& 3:120.
Cox, Joseph, 21:2 & 3:156.
Cox, Martha, 21:2 & 3:156.
Cox, Thomas, 21:2 & 3:156.
Crow Indians, 21:2 & 3:113, 148.
Cusson, Father, 21:2 & 3:206.
Custer City, Wyoming, 21:2 & 3:227.
Cutts, R. D., General, 21:2 & 3:212.
Craig, John, 21:2 & 3:166.
Crane, Arthur Griswold, Governor, 21:2 & 3:219; receives gifts in

Wyoming car of "Merci" train, 21:2 & 3:236.
Crawford, D., 21:2 & 3:211.
Creighton, Ed., 21:2 & 3:191.
Creighton Lake, 21:2 & 3:198.
Crime, Laramie, W. T., 21:2 & 3:201.
Crook County, Wyoming Territory, 21:2 & 3:196.
"Crooked X," a brand, 21:1:29.
Crooked X Ranch, 21:1:11-16.
Crosby, Jesse W., 21:2 & 3:115, 167.
Cross, Osborne, 21:2 & 3:122.
Crow, Brother, 21:2 & 3:150; Creek, 21:2 & 3:198; Indians, 21:2 &

3:174, 179; Robert, 21:2 & 3:148.

GENERAL INDEX 249

Daily Republican Eagle, 21:2 & 3:215.

Dakota Territory, 21:2 & 3:192.

Dale City, Wyoming Territory, 21:2 & 3:212; Creek, 194; Bridge,

193 212.
Dahlquist, Ernest, 21:2 & 3:223.
Dalles, The, 21:2 & 3:162.
Damfino brand, 21:2 & 3:217.
Dances, 21:1:26-27.

Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 21:2 & 3:118.
Daughters of Utah Pioneers, "Diary of Albert Carrington," 21:2

0, '^•123
Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Heart Throbs of the West, 21: 2 & 3: 123.
Davenport, James, 21:2 & 3:111, 133, 135, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142,

153, 154, 163, 165.
Davis, 21:2 & 3:160.
Davis, Albert G., 21:2 & 3:164.
Davis, C, 21:2 & 3:164.

Davis, Captain, his company, 21:2 & 3:141.
Davis, D. D., Iowa, 21:2 & 3:164.
Davis, Eli, 21:2 & 3:164.
Davis, Mrs. Essie, 21:2 & 3:231.
Davis, Leander L., 21:2 & 3:164.
Dawson & Bros., 21:2 & 3:208.
Dayton, T. J., 21:2 & 3:194.

Deadwood, freighting route from, to Cheyenne, 21:2 & 3:226.
Dearcorn, Paul, 21:2 & 3:233.

Death of William A. Empey, St. George, Utah, 21:2 & 3:119.
Dedication of Texas Trail Monximent at Pine Bluffs. Illustration.,

21:1:94.
Deer Creek, 21:2 & 3:114, 116, 117, 132, 135, 154, 155.
Defending the doctrine of plural marriage, 21:2 & 3:119.
Denver, Colorado, 21:2 & 3:227; Gold rush, 185.
Deseret, State of. Legislature, 21:2 & 3:119.
De Smet, Pierre Jean, Missionary work among the Indians, 21:2

& 3:149, 174.
DeTilla, George M., gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:241.
"Devil's Tongue," described by Empey, W. A., 21:2 & 3:148.
Diary, (T. G.?) Caldwell, 21:2 & 3:122.
Diary, Albert Carrington, 21:2 & 3:116.
"Diarv of Albert Carrington" in Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 21:2

& 3:123.
"Diary of E. W. Conyers, a Pioneer of 1852," 21:2 & 3:123.
Diary, Amasa Lyman, 21:2 & 3:121.
Diary, George A. Smith, 21:2 & 3:121.

"Diary of a Trip to California in 1849," Hale, Israel F., 21:2 & 3:122.
Dinwiddle, John (or David), The Frontier, 21:2 & 3:123.
Discovery of gold in the Black Hills, 21:2 & 3:225.
Distributing committee for the "Merci" train. General Esmay, chair-
man, 21:2 & 3:236.
"Dixie" country, Utah's, 21:2 & 3:119.
Doctrine of plural marriage, practiced by William A. Empey, 21:2

& 3:119.
Doctor Davis' rustler meetings at Greeley, Colorado, 21:2 & 3:220.
Documentary History of the Church (Mormon), 21:2 & 3:122.
Dodson, Captain, his company, 21:2 & 3:137, 158.
Donner Camp, 21:2 & 3:167.
Donner-Reed Party, 21:2 & 3:165-177.

250 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Dostins, D. D., 21:2 & 3:158.

Doty, 21:2 & 3:160.

Douglas, W. T., 21:2 & 3:213.

Downey, S. W., 21:2 & 3:194, 207, 210.

Dragoons, 21:2 & 3:146.

Drake, G. P., 21:2 & 3:200.

Drake, Captain T. G., 21:2 & 3:163.

Driggs, Dr. Howard R., 21:1:93; 21:1:99; 21:2 & 3:223.

Drought, 21:2 & 3:218, 232.

Drury, John, gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:242.

Dry Sandy, 21:2 & 3:115.

Durbin, Mrs. Thomas F., 21:2 & 3:227.

Durkee, Governor, 21:1:91.

Durlacher, Simon, 21:2 & 3:208. -^

Dustin, Wesley T., 21:2 & 3:135.

E

Eagle bakery, 21:2 & 3:208.

Earl, Brother, 21:2 & 3:125.

Eastman, Marcus, 21:2 & 3:137, 157.

Eberstadt, Edward, gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:242.

Egan, Howard, 21:2 & 3:149; his diary in Coe Collection at Yale,

21:2 & 3:119; Pioneering the West, 21:2 & 3:120.
Eiffel Tower, 21:2 & 3:237.

Eighty-One Years of Frontier Life, Mulkey, Cyrenius, 21:2 & 3:158.
Eldorado, 21:2 & 3:113.
Elevation, Albany Co., 21:2 & 3:211.
Elk Mountain, 21:2 & 3:186.
Elk Mountain post office, 21:1:11.

Ellsworth, Edmund, 21:2 & 3:111, 112, 133, 135, 138, 142, 153, 154.
Emergency relief board, blizzard, '49, 21:2 & 3:219.
Emigrants, 21:2 & 3:132, 133, 134; for California gold mines, 21:2

& 3:113.
Empey, Adam, 21:2 & 3:118.
Empey, Mrs. Ida Terry, 21:2 & 3:119; granddaughter of W. A.

Empey, 21:2 & 3:121; possession of biography of W. A. Empey,

21:2 & 3:123.
Empey, Margaret Steenbergh, 21:2 & 3:118.
Empey, William A., 21:2 & 3:112, 117, 118, 133, 135, 138, 139, 153,

154, 162, 167.
Empey, William A., biographical sketch in possession of Mrs. Ida

Terry Empey, 21:2 & 3:123; diary, 21:2 & 3:119, 120.
Empey, Wilham A., his journal, 21:2 & 3:111, 119, 123, 155, 163;

viticulture, 21:2 & 3:119.
England, 21:2 & 3:114, 119.
Enos, Jim, 21:2 & 3:187, 188, 189.
Esmay, R. L., General, 21:2 & 3:219, 236.
European Hotel, 21:2 & 3:207.
Evanston, Wyoming, 21:2 & 3:165.

Exodus from Modern Israel, Lundwall, N. B., 21:2 & 3:120.
Experiences of a '49er, Johnston, 21:2 & 3:122.
Exploration and Survey of the Valley of the Great Salt Lake of

Utah, Including a Reconnaisance of a New Ro^ite Through the

Rocky Mountains, Stansbury, Howard, 21:2 & 3: 122.
Extract from the Journal of Appleton M. Harmon, June 26- July 10,

1847, 21:2 & 3:136.
Eyre, Alice, Famous Frem,onts and Their Am,erica, 21:2 & 3:243.

GENERAL INDEX 251

Faf, Aaron, 21:2 & 3:139.

The Far West in the '80's by John J. Fox, 21:1:3.

Farm, William A. Empey's at Tonaquint, 21:2 & 3:119.

Farr, Aaron, 21:2 & 3:162.

Fee, Larry or Lawrence, 21:1:17.

Ferry, Missouri, 21:2 & 3:115, 116.

Ferry, Mormon, 21:2 & 3:152, 153. Ferrying over the Platte River,
21:2 & 3:116.

Fielding, Martha, 21:2 & 3:119.

Finfrock, Dr. J. W., 21:2 & 3:187, 202, 208, 210.

Finley, Colonel William, 21:2 & 3:164; the first bicycle tour of
Yellowstone National Park, 21:1:100.

Fire-figliting company, Laramie, W. T., 21:2 & 3:203.

Fire, first in Laramie, W. T., 21:2 & 3:203.

First home in Ogden, Utah, built by Miles Goodyear, 21:2 & 3:165.

First Postmaster at Banner, 21:1:99.

The first sheep sheared by the steam stearing method, by Mrs.
J. B. Okie, 21:1:100.

The first steamboat, the Zillah, 21:1:100.

Fitzpatrick, Thomas, urges creation of military post at Fort Lara-
mie, 21:2 & 3:173, 174, 179, 183.

Flat boat, 21:2 & 3:115.

Flint, Thomas, diary, 21:2 & 3:123.

Florisant, Missouri, 21:2 & 3:117.

Ford, Irene, gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:239.

Fork River, 21:2 & 3:146.

Fort Bernard, 21:2 & 3:147.

Fort Bridger, 21:2 & 3:137, 141, 150, 163, 164, 166, 178.

Fort John Buford, 21:2 & 3:190.

Fort Collins, 21:2 & 3:187.

Fort Fetterman, 21:2 & 3:213.

Fort Francis E. Warren, band from, 21:2 & 3:236.

Fort Hall, 21:2 & 3:149, 160, 163, 166, 178, 187.

Fort Halleck, 21:2 & 3:187.

Fort John, 21:2 & 3:132, 133, 155.

Fort Laramie, 21:2 & 3:112, 129, 130, 133, 137, 147, 148, 149, 150,
155, 159, 160, 172, 173, 174, 177, 179.

Fort Laramie, a poem, Mae Urbanek, 21:2 & 3:168.

Fort Leavenworth, 21:2 & 3:166.

Fort New Helvetia, founded by John August Sutter, 21:2 & 3:178.

Fort Owen, 21:2 & 3:149.

Fort Platte, 21:2 & 3:149.

Fort Sanders, 21:2 & 3:190, 192, 193, 201.

Fort Walback, 21:2 & 3:190.

Fort Wallawalla, 21:2 & 3:164.

Fourche Boise Creek, 21:2 & 3:132.

Fox, Denis L., 21:1:4.

Fox, John James, 21:1:3-4; portrait, 21:1:2.

Fox Park, 21:2 & 3:198.

France, sends gifts in "Merci" train to Wyoming, 21:2 & 3:236.

Frank, H., 21:2 & 3:207.

Fredrick, Captain, his company, 21:2 & 3:141, 142, 165.

"Freedom Train," American, 21:2 & 3:236.

Freighting teams, 21:2 & 3:225.

Fremont, 21:2 & 3:114; California Battalion, 21:2 & 3:166.

Fremont, Colonel, 21:2 & 3:144, 147, 175, 179.

French, Americans send them food in "Freedom Train," 21:2 & 3:236.

252 ANNALS OF WYOMING

French traders, 21:2 & 3:155.

Frontier, The, Dinwiddle, John (or David), 21:2 & 3:123.

Frontier Hotel, 21:2 & 3:207.

Frontier living, 21:1:4, 5, 6.

Fuller, E. O., gift to miiseum, 21:2 & 3:239.

Fullerton, Ellen Miller, gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:238.

Fullmer, David, 21:2 & 3:119.

Fur trading in Fort Laramie, 21:2 & 3:171.

G

Gaines, Ruth, Gold Rush, 21:2 & 3:122.

Galbraith, Robert, 21:2 & 3:202. ^

Gambling devices of the early '80's, 21:1:59.

Garber, Mrs. Ehzabeth, gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:239.

Gary, George, 21:2 & 3:164, 165.

Gates, J. E., 21:2 & 3:193.

Gay lord. Orange, his diary of 1853, 21:2 & 3:123.

Geer, Mrs. (Elizabeth Dixon Smith), 21:2 & 3:165; Ralph, 162, 164.

George Lake, 21:2 & 3:198.

Giant Hot Springs at Thermopohs, 21:1:100.

Gieseker, Mrs. Brenda R., Librarian of Missouri Historical Society,
21:2 & 3:121.

Gifts in the French "Merci" train for Wyoming, 21:2 & 3:236.

Oilman & Carter, 21:2 & 3:211.

Gilmer, John (Jack) T., 21:2 & 3:226.

Glasgow, Scotland, Fox sailed from in Feb., 1885, 21:1:4.

Glendo, Wyoming, 21:1:89.

Glines, Erick, 21:2 & 3:139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 145, 153, 154, 162, 163.

Goddard Frederick B., 21:2 & 3:213.

Gold, 21:2 & 3:111, 117, 178, 225.

Gold Rush, Read, Georgia Wilhs, and Gaines, Ruth, 21:2 & 3:122.

Goldseekers, 1848, number of vessels, 21:2 & 3:178; in 1849, number
of wagons and men crossing the Missouri River, 21:2 & 3:178.

Goodyear, Miles, 21:2 & 3:165.

Gordon, Johnny, 21:2 & 3:232.

Gore, George, 21:2 & 3:186.

Gory, James, 21:2 & 3:161.

Goshen County, 21:2 & 3:220.

Gothenburg, Nebraska, 21:2 & 3:146.

Government, city of Laramie, 1868, 21:2 & 3:200.

Governor and Mrs. Hoyt, 21:2 & 3:226.

Governor's office, gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:239.

Governor of Wyoming, A. G. Crane, 21:2 & 3:236

Graff, Everett D., Chicago book collector, 21:2 & 3:121.

Gramm, O., 21:2 & 3:207.

Grand Island, 21:2 & 3:118, 152.

Graves, old, marked in Wyoming, 21:2 & 3:223.

Great Salt Lake, 21:2 & 3:112.

Great Salt Lake City, 21:2 & 3:118.

Great Spirit, 21:2 & 3:215.

Greeley, Horace, remarks about the "fabulous forties" and west-
ward migration, 21:2 & 3:175.

Green Bay, Lee County, Iowa, 21:2 & 3: 164.

Green, Ralph C, 21:2 & 3:156.

Greenburg, Dan, Sixty Years, 21:2 & 3:216.

Greene, John, 21:2 & 3:113.

Green River, 21:2 & 3:111, 139, 153, 162.

Greenwood River, 21:2 & 3:166.

GENERAL INDEX 253

Grieve, James H., 21:2 & 3:150.

Grondahl, Jens K., biography, 21:2 & 3:108; The Slaughter of the

Bison, 21:2 & 3:214.
Grout buildings, 21:2 & 3:232.
Grover, Thomas, 21:2 & 3:111, 133, 134, 135, 137, 138, 139, 142, 153,

154, 155, 156, 163: superintendent of the Mormon ferry, 21:2

& 3:133.
Groves, Jeff, 21:1:22.
Guadalajara, Mexico, 21:1:3.

Gubler, Mrs. Ruth, granddaughter of W. A. Empey, 21:2 & 3:121.
Guernsey, Wyoming, 21:2 & 3:223.
Gunnison, Lt. John W., journal, 21:2 & 3:123.
Gushurst, P. A., 21:2 & 3:227.
Gurrelle, John, 21:2 & 3:200.

H

Hadsell, Frank, 21:1:3, 7, 12, 14, 22.

Hadsell, Mrs. Frank, portrait, 21:1:44.

Hadsell, Kleber, 21:1:3.

Hafen, L. R., Fort Laramie, 21:2 & 3:149.

Hager, Mrs. Helen, 21:2 & 3:231.

Hailstorm of 1878, Cheyenne, 21:2 & 3:226.

Hale, Israel F., 21:2 & 3:114; "Diary of a Trip to California in

1849," 21:2 & 3:122.
Haley, J. Evetts, 21:1:96.
Haley, Ora, 21:2 & 3:194.
Hall, Fort, 21:2 & 3:149, 160, 163, 166.
Hambleton, Madison B., 21:2 & 3:113. *

Hance, M. A., 21:2 & 3:202.
Hancock, Levi, 21:2 & 3:112.
Harmon A,ppleton, 21:2 & 3:111-115, 118, 120, 122, 133, 135, 138-148,

150, 152, 153, 155, 159-164.
Harmon & Teats, 21:2 & 3:211.

Harrell, James E. R., reminiscences of, 21:2 & 3:166.
Harris, Black, 21:2 & 3:159, 160, 166.
Harris, Dr. William, 21:2 & 3:202.
Harrison, Hugh, 21:2 & 3:160; John.
Hartwell, S. M., 21:2 & 3:208.
Harty, Daniel, 21:2 & 3:164; James, N., 164.
"Hashknife," name of a brand and also an outfit, 21:1:28, 96.
Hastings, Loren B., 21:2 & 3:161, 162, 164.
Hatcher, Mrs. Amelia, 21:2 & 3:207.
Hawk, Jake, 21:2 & 3:187.

Hayford, editor, Laramie Daily Sentinel, 21:2 & 3:205, 209.
Haygood, Ruben, gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:242.
Heart Throbs of the West, 21:2 & 3: 123.
Hickman, Bill, 21:1:19.
Higbee 21:2 & 3:139; Brother, 21:2 & 3:140, 143, 163; Brother John,

21:2 & 3:144; John, 21:2 & 3:133, 135, 136, 138, 151; John S.,

21:2 & 3:111, 153, 154.
Higgens, Captain, his company, 21:2 & 3:136; Captain Nelson,

21:2 & 3:157.
Highest point on any railroad in U. S., 21:2 & 3:211.
"Hill Ferry," 21:2 & 3:155.
Hill, Henry, 21:2 & 3:155.
"Hillers," 21:2 & 3:226.
Hilton, G. F., 21:2 & 3:210.
Hines, Celinda E., diary, 21:2 & 3:123.

254 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Hinman, 21:2 & 3:192.

Historian, Wyoming State, 21:2 & 3:227.

Historian's Office of the Church of Latter Day Saints, diaries,

21:2 & 3:121.
Historic Fort Laramie, the Huh of Early Western History, 1834-1849,

by Hazel Noble Boyack, 21:2 & 3:170.
History of Albany County to 1880, by Lola Homsher, 21:2 & 3:181.
"History and Journal of the Life and Travels of Jesse W. Crosby,"

Annals of Wyoming, 21:2 & 3:122.
Hobson, Hadley, 21:2 & 3:160.

Hockett, Captain (Holgate), 21:2 & 3:161; his company, 21:2 & 3:138.
Hodge, Captain, 21:2 & 3:135; (possibly Jesse Monroe Hodges or his

son D. R. Hodges), 21:2 & 3:155.
Holgate, J. C, (Hockett), 21:2 & 3:161.
Holladay, Ben., 21:1:88; 21:2 & 3:186.
Holliday, W. H. & Co., 21:2 & 3:208.
Holt, Reed & Rhodes, 21:2 & 3:211.
Homsher, Lola, biog., 21:2 & 3:108; review of The Cheyenne and

Black Hills Stage and Express Routes, Spring, Agnes Wright,

21:2 & 3:225: History of Albany County to 1880, 21:2 & 3:181.
Hopkins, 21:2 & 3:192.
Hopper, Charles, 21:2 & 3:159.
Horse Creek, 21:2 & 3:129.
Horse Shoe Bend, 21:2 & 3:155.
Horse Shoe Creek, 21:2 & 3:131.
Horseshoe Creek Station, 21:1:89.
Horticultural Commission, 21:1:3.

Hospitals, Laramie, Wyoming Territory, 21:2 & 3:206.
House of Representatives, Speaker, Herman Mayland, 21:2 & 3:236.
Hoyt, Governor and Mrs., 21:2 & 3:226.
Huber, 21:2 & 3:160.
Hucklebee, Kittean, 21:2 & 3:163.
Hudson Bay Company, 21:2 & 3:163.
Hunter, Colin, 21:2 & 3:232; James, 232; Ranch, 232; Richard, 232;

Mrs. Thomas, 231.
Huntington, Henry E., Library, 21:2 & 3:119.
Hunton, John, 21:2 & 3:183.
Husband, Bruce, proprietor of Ft. Laramie, sells to Lt. Daniel P.

Woodberry, 21:2 & 3:179.
Huston, Al, 21:2 & 3:188.
Hutton & Co., 21:2 & 3:208.
Hutton, C. H., 21:2 & 3:191.
Hutton Lake, 21:2 & 3:198.
Hyannis, Nebraska, 21:2 & 3:231.
Hyde, Orson, 21:2 & 3:160.

Idaho, 21:2 & 3:161.

Idaho Cattle and Horse Growers Association, 21:2 & 3:220.

Idaho Territory, 21:2 & 3:192.

Illinois, 21:2 & 3:131.

Illinois, Morgan County, 21:2 & 3:155.

Immigrants, Oregon, 21:2 & 3:111.

Impressions of a Bostonian, 21:2 & 3:233.

Improvement Era, 21:2 & 3:120-122.

Indian Grove, 21:2 & 3:157.

Indiana, 21:2 & 3:165.

Indians, 21:2 & 3:128, 179, 181.

Ingersol, Captain, his company, 21:2 & 3:137.

GENERAL INDEX 255

Ingersoll, Chester, 21:2 & 3:159, 161.

Ingram, Elva, grave of, 21:2 & 3:223.

Ingrim, Godfrey C, 21:2 & 3:116.

Instructor, The, organ of the Deseret Sunday School Union of the

L.D.S. Church, 21:2 & 3:123.
Insurance, Medical, Laramie, W. T., 21:2 & 3:206.
"Interesting Items Concerning the Journeying of the Latter Day

Saints from the City of Nauvoo, Until Their Location in the

Valley of the Great Salt Lake," Pratt, Orson, 21:2 & 3:120.
Iowa, Salem, 21:2 & 3:139, 162.
Iron County Mission, 21:2 & 3:119; journal of, Smith, George A.,

21:2 & 3:123.
Islay, Wyoming, 21:2 & 3:231.
Ivinson, Edward, 21:2 & 3:207; Co., 21:2 & 3:209.

Jackman, Levi, 21:2 & 3:150; diary, 21:2 & 3:121.

Jackson, General, 21:2 & 3:155.

Jackson, William H., 21:2 & 3:227.

Jacob, Norton, 21:2 & 3:150, 151, 153, 159; buffalo, 21:2 & 3:146;
diary, 21:2 & 3:146; important record kept by him, 21:2 & 3:121.

James Lake, 21:2 & 3:197.

Jelm area, W. T., 21:2 & 3:197.

Jenkins, Perry W., 21:1:88.

J G brand, 21:2 & 3:232.

John, Fort, 21:2 & 3:132, 155.

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, 21:2 & 3:121.

Johnny Slaughter, 21:2 & 3:226.

Johnson, Andrew, Latter-day Saints' Biographical Encyclopedia,
21:2 & 3:122.

Johnson, Brother, 21:2 & 3:139, 140, 142, 143, 144.

Johnson County, 21:1:30-31; war in 1892, 21:1:31.

Johnson, Mrs. Hilda, 21:1:42.

Johnson, Luke, 21:2 & 3:111-112, 133, 135, 138, 147, 153, 154, 163.

Johnson, Ralph E., 21:2 & 3:217.

Johnson's Ranch, 21:2 & 3:159.

Johnston, Experiences of a '49er, 21:2 & 3:122.

Johnston, Overland to California, 21:2 & 3:122.

Johnston, William, 21:2 & 3:113-114.

Joliet, Illinois, 21:2 & 3:159.

Joliet Signal, 21:2 & 3:159.

Jones, 21:2 & 3:163; Mrs. Belle, 21:1:42; Johnny, 21:1:13, 79; Na-
thaniel, 21:2 & 3:164, 166, 167.

Jordon, Mrs. John L., 21:2 & 3:230.

"Journal of the Iron County Mission," Smith, George A., 21:2
& 3:123.

"Journal of Lt. John W. Gunnison," 21:2 & 3:123.

The Journal of Madison Berryman Moorman, 1850-51, 21:2 & 3:122.

"Journal of a Tour Across the Continent of North America from
Boston, via Independence, Missouri, the Rocky Mountains, to
San Francisco, in 1849," Amos Batchelder, 21:2 & 3:122.

Journal of a Trip Across the Plains of the U. S. from Missouri to
California, in the year 1856, Brown, J. Robert, 21:2 & 3: 123.

Journal of Travels over the Rocky Mountains, Palmer, Joel, 21:2
& 3:147.

Journal of Travels from St. Josephs to Oregon, 21:2 & 3:122.

Journal of William A. Empey, 21:2 & 3:122.

Junction Bluff Creek, 21:2 & 3:146.

256 ANNALS OF WYOMING

K

Kansas Historical Quarterly, 21:2 & 3:122.

Kaw River, 21:2 & 3:111.

Kearney, Col. Stephen W., 21:2 & 3:164, 166, 167, 175.

Keith, Mrs. M. C, gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:241.

Kelly, Mrs. Nicholas, 21:2 & 3:136.

Kelly, William, 21:2 & 3:113, 122.

Kemmerer, Wyoming, 21:2 & 3:235.

Kendrick, John B., 21:1:97.

Keplin, commissioned by the American Fur Company to entice

the Sioux into the fur trading business, 21:2 & 3:174.
Kerr, E. L., 21:2 & 3:210.
Kerr, John W., 21:1:91.

Kessler, Mrs. Julia, daughter of Appleton Harmon, 21:2 & 3:120.
Keystone area in Wyoming Territory, 21:2 & 3:197.
Keystone, Nebraska, 21:2 & 3:147.
KFBC, station, 21:2 & 3:236.

"Kid," hanging of, in Laramie, W. T., 21:2 & 3:201.
Kimball, Heber C, 21:2 & 3:121, 126, 132, 147, 151.
Kimsey, Judge, 21:2 & 3:152.
Kirtland, Ohio, 21:2 & 3:147.
Kiskadden, James Harry, 21:1:91.
Kiskadden, Maude (Adams) 21:1:92.
Kiskadden-Slade, 21:1:88-92.
Kiskadden, William, 21:1:91.
Knuth, Miss Priscilla, Research Asst. in Oregon Historical Society,

21*2 & 3'121
Krakei, C. D., gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:242.
Kuster, C, 21:2 & 3:208.
Kuykendall, Judge William L., 21:2 & 3:187, 190, 192, 226.

La Bonte River ("Big Timber Creek"), 21:2 & 3:150; trapper, 183.

La Fayette County, Missouri, 21:2 & 3:158.

La Grange, Wyoming, 21:1:93; 21:2 & 3:220.

Lancaster Castle, 21:2 & 3:147.

Land of Paradise, Lo-no-was, 21:2 & 3:168.

Landmarks, 21:2 & 3:223.

La-no-was, Land of Paradise, 21:2 & 3:168.

La Porte, 21:2 & 3:165, 188.

La Prele Creek, 21:2 & 3:150.

La Ramee, Jacques, 21:2 & 3:168, 171.

Laramie City, established, 21:2 & 3:193, 196, 200.

Laramie County, 21:2 & 3:192, 193, 194, 196.

Laramie County School Board, gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:238.

Laramie, Fort, 21:2 & 3:129, 130, 134, 137, 147, 148, 149, 155, 159.

Laramie, hospitals, 21:2 & 3:206.

Laramie Mountains, 21:2 & 3:181, 185, 188, 191.

Laramie Peak, 21:2 & 3:131, 169.

Laramie Plains, described by Ashley, 21:2 & 3:181, 186, 189, 191,

192, 198, 199, 227.
Laramie, population, 1871, 21:2 & 3:210; in 1875, 21:2 & 3:210; in

1880, 21:2 & 3:210.
Laramie River, 21:2 & 3:148, 149, 197.
Laramie, Wyoming Territory, city of, 21:2 & 3:200.
Larmier, W. J., 21:2 & 3:211.
Larson, T. A., 21:1:3.

GENERAL INDEX 257

Lassen Cut-Off, 21:2 & 3:157.

Last big buffalo hunt, 21:2 & 3:214.

Latham, 21:2 & 3:210 .

Lathrop, A. G., 21:2 & 3:211.

Latter Day Saints' Biographical Encyclopedia, 21:2 & 3:122.

Latter Day Saints Church has custody of diary of George A. Smith,

21:2 & 3:121; diaries, 21:2 & 3:121.
Lavender, David, The Big Divide, 21:2 & 3:243.
Laws of Utah, 21:2 & 3:123.
Layton, L. E., 21:2 & 3:211.
Leavenworth, Fort, 21:2 & 3:166.
Lee County, Iowa, 21:2 & 3:164.
Lee, Daniel, early missionary of Fort Laramie, 21:2 & 3:173; Jason

Lee, 173.
Legislation, livestock, 21:2 & 3:218.
Legislature, Second territorial, 21:2 & 3:193.
Leigh, Richard, 21:1:100.
Leonard, A. H., 21:2 & 3:214.
Leroy, C. R., 21:2 & 3:207.
Lewellen, Nebraska, 21:2 & 3:147, 223.

Lewis and Clark, Cheyenne Indians, Black Hills region, 21:2 & 3:181.
Lewis, N. E., 21:2 & 3:187.
Librarian, Wyoming State, 21:2 & 3:227.
Library, Henry E. Huntington, 21:2 & 3:119.
Lieulling, H., 21:2 & 3:139.
Lincoln County, 21:2 & 3:192.
Lisco, Nebraska, 21:2 & 3:147.
Litchfield, H. G., Major, 21:2 & 3:190.
Little Blue River, 21:2 & 3:155.
Little and Coolbroth, hotel, 21:2 & 3:213.
Little-John, 21:2 & 3:164.

Littlejohn, Mrs. (formerly Adeline Saddler), 21:2 & 3:165.
Littlejohn, P. B., Presbyterian missionary, 21:2 & 3:165.
Little Laramie, Wyoming, 21:2 & 3:187, 197.
Little Sandy, 21:2 & 3:159.
Livestock industry, women in, 21:2 & 3:230.
Livestock Legislative Committee, 21:2 & 3:219.
Livestock, Mormon, feeding problem created by buffalo, 21:2 &

3:220.
Livestock and Sanitary Board, 21:2 & 3:220.
Lockley, Fred, 21:2 & 3:157, 166.
Lodge Pole Creek, 21:2 & 3:185, 189, 190, 198.
Loomis, Abner, 21:2 & 3:190.
Lost Cabin, 21:1:100.
Lost Creek, 21:2 & 3:127.
Louisiana purchase, 1802, 21:2 & 3:181, 191.
Love, Louise O'Leary, 21:1:93.
Luddington, Brother Elam, 21:2 & 3:136.
Luelling, Henderson, 21:2 & 3:162.

Luellyn, planted a nursery in a wagon bed, 21:2 & 3:160.
Lundwall, N. B., Exodus from Modern Israel, 21:2 & 3:120.
Lusk, Wyoming, 21:2 & 3:217.

Lyman, Amasa, 21:2 & 3:136, 146, 147, 149, 155, 156, 160.
Lyman, Brother Amasa, 21:2 & 3:124, 125, 136; his diary kept by

Albert Carrington, 21:2 & 3:121.
Lytle, Andrew, 21:2 & 3:113, 115.

258 ANNALS OF WYOMING

M

"Magic City of the Plains," Cheyenne, 21:2 & 3:226.

Magone, Captain, his company, 21:2 & 3:138.

Magoon, Major, 21:2 & 3:160, 161.

Maloney, Alta, Cow-Belles Wow Sisters from Back East, 21:2 &

3-233
Mandel, Phil, 21:2 & 3:188, 192.
Manners, 21:1:24, 25, 27.

Manual of Rural Appraisement, See John Fox, 21:1:3.
March of the Mounted Rifleman, Cross, Osborne, 21:2 & 3:122.
Markham, Stephen, 21:2 & 3:151, 153.
Marking old graves in Wyoming, 21:2 & 3:223.
Marriage, plural, defending the doctrine, 21:2 & 3:119.
Marsh, Charles, 21:2 & 3:211.
Marshall, James W., found gold in 1848, at Fort New Helvetia,

21:2 & 3:178.
Massac County, Illinois, 21:2 & 3:150.
Martin, Charles, 21:2 & 3:117.
Matlock, 21:2 & 3:166.

Matthew, William or Benjamin, 21:2 & 3:136.
Maverick, 21:1:48.
Mayland, Herman, 21:2 & 3:236.
Mead, George S., gift to the museum, 21:2 & 3:240.
Medical insurance plan, first in Laramie, W. T., 21:2 & 3:206.
Medicine Bow Mountains, 21:2 & 3:181, 185, 198.
Medicine Bow River, toll bridge, 21:1:79.
Meek, C. P. (Dub), 21:2 & 3:226.

Meek, Stephen Hall, A Momitain Man, 21:2 & 3:242.
Merchants, Laramie, 1868, first, 21:2 & 3:208.
"Merci" train, car received by Wyoming, 21:2 & 3:236; gift to

museum, 21:2 & 3:240.
Methodist preacher, Hastings, Loren B., 21:2 & 3:161.
Mexico, 21:2 & 3:148.

Military forts in the West, 21:2 & 3:177, 179.
Millar, Wilham L. H., 21:2 & 3:190.
Millennial Star, Liverpool, 21:2 & 3:120, 160.
Miller, A. J., 21:2 & 3:175.

Miller, Mrs. Effie, granddaughter of W. A. Empey, 21:2 & 3:121.
Miller & Pfeiffer, 21:2 & 3:208.

Miners, keeping them out of the Indian territory, 21:2 & 3:225.
Mining, 21:2 & 3:213.
Minitare, Nebraska, 21:2 & 3:148.

Missionaries at Fort Laramie after 1832, 21:2 & 3:173.
Mississippi River, 21:2 & 3:130, 191.

Mississippi Saints, Mormons, 21:2 & 3:147, 148, 155, 157, 163.
Mississippi Valley Historical Review, Index, 21:2 & 3:242.
Missouri companies going west, 21:2 & 3:151, 152.
Missouri Historical Society, 21:2 & 3:121, 167.
Missouri Republican, 21:2 & 3:117, 123, 163.

Missouri River, 21:2 & 3:111, 112, 117, 125, 133, 152, 153, 158, 178.
Mizner, Captain Henry R., 21:2 & 3:189, 190.
Modeste, British ship, 21:2 & 3:163.
Monument at La Grange, 21:1:99.

Monument at the mouth of Rawhide Creek, 21:1:99.
Monuments, 21:2 & 3:220.
Moore, Asa, 21:2 & 3:201.

Moorman, Madison Berryman, 21:2 & 3:115, 116.
Moran, Mrs. Ellen, 21:2 & 3:231.

GENERAL INDEX 259

Morgan, Dale L., biography, 21:2 & 3:108; editor of the journal of
William A. Empey, 21:2 & 3:111.

Morgan County, Illinois, 21:2 & 3:155.

Morgan, Mary Ann, 21:2 & 3:119.

Mormons, 21:2 & 3:112, 118, 120, 137, 147, 148, 149, 150, 152, 159,
162, 164, 165, 176, 220.

Mormon Battahon, 21:2 & 3:162, 166.

Mormon Battalion, Sick Detachment, 21:2 & 3:147, 155, 162.

Mormon ferry, 21:2 & 3:111, 113, 114, 115, 116, 123, 147, 152, 153,
154, 155, 163; superintendent of, 21:2 & 3:134; Mormon monop-
oly of, 21:2 & 3:111.

Morrill, Nebraska, 21:2 & 3:148.

Morrison, New Jersey, 21:2 & 3:121.

Morrison, W. W., 21:2 & 3:223.

Mother Xavier Rose, Sister of Charity of Leavenworth, Kansas,
21:2 & 3:206.

Mulkey, Cyrenius, 21:2 & 3:158.

Mulkey, Frederick W., 21:2 & 3:158.

Mulkey, Johnson, 21:2 & 3:158.

Mulkey, Marion F., 21:2 & 3:158.

Mulkey, Westley, 21:2 & 3:158.

Muller, Dan, 21:2 & 3:243.

Murphy, Lavinia, 21:2 & 3:167.

Murrin, Col. Luke, 21:1:92.

Museum collection of Wyoming historical items, 21:2 & 3:221.

Museum, Nebraska, 21:2 & 3:223.

Mutton Creek, 21:2 & 3:147.

Myers, Lewis B., 21:2 & 3:148, 150.

Mc

McCay, 21:2 & 3:157.

McClay, 21:2 & 3:157.

McCoole, J. S., 21:2 & 3:213.

McCoy, 21:2 & 3:157.

McFadden & Bishop, 21:2 & 3:208.

McGee, Mrs. Bert, 21:2 & 3:234.

McGee, Mr. and Mrs. Bert, gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:242.

McGee, Captain, 21:2 & 3:139, 140.

Mcintosh, Marguerite, (see Boice, Mrs. Fred D.), 21:2 & 3:234.

McKee, Captain Joel, his company, 21:2 & 3:163.

McKinney, Captain, his company^ 21:2 & 3:137.

McKinney, Rev. John, 21:2 & 3:160.

McKinney, Matilda, 21:2 & 3:160.

McKinney, William, 21:2 & 3:160.

McClay, Captain, (possibly McCay), 21:2 & 3:157.

McLeod, John, 21:2 & 3:202.

MacLeod, R. E., 21:2 & 3:223.

McMinnville, Oregon, 21:2 & 3:155.

McMurtrie, Douglas C, Overland to California in 1847, 21:2 & 3:159.

260 ANNALS OF WYOMING

N

Nagle, E., 21:2 & 3:200.

Napa County, 21:1:3.

National Guard Headquarters, Cheyenne, 21:2 & 3:236.

National Monument, Scottsbluff, 21:2 & 3:148.

Nauvoo, 21:2 & 3:118, 147.

Nauvoo, expulsion of Mormon Saints, 21:2 & 3:150.

Nauvoo, Illinois, Mormon exodus, 21:2 & 3:176.

Nebraska, Bayard, 21:2 & 3:148.

Nebraska, Lewellen, 21:2 & 3:147.

Nebraska, Minitare, 21:2 & 3:148.

Nebraska, Morrill, 21:2 & 3:148.

Nebraska, Northport, 21:2 & 3:148.

Nebraska, Sandhills, 21:2 & 3:231. ^

Nebraska, Scottsbluff, 21:2 & 3:148.

Nebraska, Scottsbluff Museum, 21:2 & 3:223.

Nebraska, Sidney, 21:2 & 3:225.

Nebraska Territory, 21:2 & 3:192.

Nevada State Cattle Growers Association, 21:2 & 3:220.

New York House, 21:2 & 3:207.

Nighthawk, 21:1:49.

N He s' National Register, 21:2 8i 3:160.

Nimrods, 21:2 & 3:214.

North Bluff Fork, 21:2 & 3:146.

North Park, 21:2 & 3:185.

North Platte, Nebraska, 21:2 & 3:146.

North Platte River, 21:2 & 3:111, 150, 198.

Nuckolls, President, 1871 Council, 21:2 & 3:194.

Nye, Bill, 21:1:77.

O

Ohio, 21:2 & 3:133, 155; Regiment, 158.

Okie, J. B., 21:1:100; Mrs. J. B., 100.

Opdyke, Bill, 21:2 & 3:187.

Operation Snowbound, 21:2 & 3:219.

Oregon, 21:2 & 3:111, 130, 157, 158, 159, 161, 169.

Oregon-California Trail, 21:2 & 3:178.

Oregon City, Oregon, 21:2 & 3:164.

Oregon emegrants, 21:2 & 3:112.

Oregon Historical Quarterly, 21:2 & 3:161, 166.

Oregon Historical Society, 21:2 & 3:121, 158.

Oregon Immigration, 21:2 & 3:157.

Oregon Immigrants, 21:2 & 3:113.

Oregon Spectator, 21:2 & 3:158, 159, 164.

Oregon, To Oregon by Ox-Team in '47, Lockley, Fred, history of

the Hunt family, 21:2 & 3:121.
Oregon Trail, 21:2 & 3:147, 186.
Orego7i Trail and Some of Its Blazers, The, Rucker, Maude A.,

21:2 & 3:166.
Oregon Trail, strategic location of Fort Laramie on, 21:2 & 3:170.
Oregon Trail, first movement of U. S. troops over in 1845, 21:2

& 3:176.
Organic Act creating Wyoming Territory, 21:2 & 3:192.
Oskaloosa, 21:2 & 3:156, 166.

Ossanabrook, Storment County, Canada, 21:2 & 3:118.
Otter Creek, 21:2 & 3:147.
Outlaw bands, plague the stage lines, 21:2 & 3:225.

GENERAL INDEX 261

Overland to California, Johnston, 21:2 & 3:122.

Overland to California in 1847, McMurtrie, Douglas C, 21:2 & 3:159.

"Overland to the Gold Fields of California in 1852," 21:2 & 3:122.

Overland journals, 21:2 & 3:112, 116, 117.

Overland Stage Company, 21:2 & 3:187, 189, 190.

Overland Trail, 21:1:89; 21:2 & 3:111, 149, 183, 187, 189.

Overland travel, 21:2 & 3:111.

Owen Fort, 21:2 & 3:149.

Owen, Major John, his letters and journals, 21:2 & 3:149.

Owens, W. W., 21:1:100.

Owhyhee, 21:2 & 3:161.

Oxen, 21:2 & 3:113, 114, 115.

OX outfit, 21:1:96.

Paden, Irene D., The Wake of the Prairie Schooner, 21:2 & 3:123.

Palmer, Captain, his company, 21:2 & 3:137, 147, 158.

Parker, Samuel, early missionary at Fort Laramie, 21:2 & 3:173.

Parkman, Francis, refers to Indian insolence, and urges establish-
ment of military post at Fort Laramie, 21:2 & 3:179.

Paris, 21:2 & 3:237.

Parkman, Francis, registered at Fort Laramie in 1846, 21:2 & 3:177.

Parowan, 21:2 & 3:119.

Patterson, Captain, his company, 21:2 & 3:136.

Party, pioneer. Mormon, 21:2 & 3:111.

Pattison, Elijah, 21:2 & 3:157.

Pattison, Rachel E., grave of, 21:2 & 3:223.

Paul, Ethel, 21:1:91.

Paulus, Father, 21:2 & 3:206.

Pawnee Indians, 21:2 & 3:147, 160, 174; Nebraska, 146.

Peak, Laramie, 21:2 & 3:131.

Pease County, Wyoming Territory, 21:2 & 3:196.

Pease, L. D., 21:2 & 3:202, 209.

Penitentiary, State at Rawlins, completed in 1898, 21:1:15.

Pennington, Mrs. Julia Ann, gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:238.

Persimmon Bill, 21:2 & 3:226.

Petersen, Allen, gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:240.

Phelan, Elizabeth, gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:238.

Pike County, Illinois, 21:2 & 3:166.

Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, 21:1:93.

Pine Valley, 21:2 & 3:119.

"Pioneer Diary of Eliza R. Snow," 21:2 & 3:122.

Pioneer journey. Mormon, of 1847, 21:2 & 3:123, 137.

Pioneer Party, Mormon, 21:2 & 3:154; Pioneers, Camp of, 21:2
& 3:139.

Platte, 21:2 & 3:125, 129, 132, 133.

Platte Bridge, 21:2 & 3:112, 116, 117.

Platte ferry (Mormon), 21:2 & 3:159, 163.

Platte, Fort, 21:2 & 3:149.

Platte, North, 21:2 & 3:112, 113, 114, 117.

Platte, North, River, 21:2 & 3:150.

Platte River, 21:2 & 3:118, 147, 148, 149, 152, 155, 157, 158, 164,
165, 167, 225.

Platte River, Coal discovered for first time, 21:2 & 3:150.

Platte River, ferrying, 21:2 & 3:113.

Platte Valley, 21:2 & 3:147.

Polley, Peter, 21:2 & 3:156.

Pomeroy, 21:2 & 3:154.

262 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Pomeroy, Francis M., 21:2 & 3:111, 112, 133, 135, 137, 153.

Pony Express, Father of, W. H. Russell, 21:2 & 3:177.

Population, city of Laramie, Wyoming Territory, 21:2 & 3:200.

Population, Laramie, 1871, 1875, 1880, 21:2 & 3:210.

Population, Sherman, Wyoming Territory, 21:2 & 3:211.

P O Ranch, 21:2 & 3:233.

Porter, Mary Harriet, 21:2 & 3:119.

Port Pierre, South Dakota, 21:2 & 3:214.

Postmaster, at Banner, first, 21:1:99.

Potter, 21:2 & 3:113.

Powell, William, 21:2 & 3:214.

Prairie Dog Creek, 21:1:99.

Pratt, Brother Orson, 21:2 & 3:124, 146, 147, 148, 149, 151, 159,
177, 214.

Pratt, Orson, "Interesting Items Concerning the Journeying of the
Latter Day Saints from the City of Nauvoo, Until their Loca-
tion in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake," 21:2 & 3:120.

President of the Senate, George Burke, 21:2 & 3:236.

Prettyman, Dr. and family, 21:2 & 3:160.

Price, George F., Across the Continent with the 5th Cavalry, 21:2
& 3:242.

Prices of merchandise purchased in 1885 by John Fox, 21:1:3.

Priedeaum, Gabriel, 21:2 & 3:149.

"The Prodigal Son," topic of sermon given by Rev. Henry Spauld-
ing at Fort Laramie, on July 17, 1836, 21:2 & 3:173.

Professional services, Laramie, W. T., 21:2 & 3:209.

Provines, Kate Ellena, gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:240.

Prudhomme, Gabriel, 21:2 & 3:149.

Pueblo, 21:2 & 3:147, 148, 155.

Pugmyer, Johnathan, 21:2 & 3:136, 138, 157.

Purbelow, 21:2 & 3:135.

Purbelo, 21:2 & 3:160.

Putman, Captain Daniel, his company, 21:2 & 3:137, 158.

Q

Quaker, 21:2 & 3:138, 139, 162.

"Quarter Circle F," 21:1:18.

Quarter Circle V ranches, 21:2 & 3:231.

Quarters, Winter, 21:2 & 3:118.

Quealy, Mrs. P. J., 21:2 & 3:234.

Quelling, H., 21:2 & 3:138.

Quote and Unquote, biog, of Russell Thorp, 21:2 & 3:216.

R

Rafts replaced by ferry boats, Mormons, 21:2 & 3:152.

Railroad in the Black Hills area, advent of, 21:2 & 3:225.

Ranch, Frank Hadsell's, Illustration, 21:1:10.

Ranches and ranching, women managers, 21:2 & 3:230.

Rattlesnake Creek, 21:2 & 3:147.

Raw Hide Buttes, 21:2 & 3:217.

Rawhide Creek, 21:1:93.

Raw Hide Creek, 21:2 & 3:130; River, 148.

Rawlins, State Penitentiary, completed in 1898, 21:1:15.

Rawlins, Wyoming, 21:1:3, 52.

Ray County, Missouri, 21:2 & 3:166.

R-Bar-T ranch, 21:2 & 3:217.

GENERAL INDEX 263

Rea, William, 21:2 & 3:211.

Read, Georgia Willis, Gold Rush, 21:2 & 3:122.

Real Property, value in Laramie, W. T., 1875, 21:2 & 3:201.

Recollections of a California Pioneer, Abbott, C. S., 21:2 & 3:122.

Record Stockman, 21:2 & 3:229. 230.

Red Buttes, 21:2 & 3:167, 213.

Redding, J., 21:2 & 3:151.

Red Hills, 21:2 & 3:132.

Red Wing Daily Republican, 21:2 & 3:215.

Reed, Donner-Reed Party, 21:2 & 3:165.

"Regulators" in Illinois, 21:2 & 3:150.

Relay stations, stage lines, 21:2 & 3:225.

Religious orders in Laramie, W. T., 21:2 & 3:206.

Reminiscences of Alexander Toponce, 21:1:91.

Remittance Men, 21:1:83-84.

Remsburg Ranch, near Lisco, Nebraska, 21:2 & 3:147.

Renceleur, William, 21:2 & 3:117.

Reni, Jules, 21:1:89.

Retford, 21:2 & 3:137, 160.

Revenue Cutter, the Mormon's leather boat, 21:2 & 3:151.

Richard, John, 21:2 & 3:117.

Richards, H. H., 21:2 & 3:207.

Richards, Brother Willard, 21:2 & 3:126.

Richardson, Joseph, 21:2 & 3:205.

Richardson, Warren, 21:2 & 3:223.

Richmond, Utah, 21:2 & 3:165.

Ricketts, Dr., referred to as Dr. R., an Englishman and Frontier
Dr. in Carbon, 21:1:8, 9.

Rickreal Valley, 21:2 & 3:159.

River, Bear, ferry across, 21:2 & 3:119.

River, Laramie, 21:2 & 3:148.

Roberts, Charles D., gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:240.

Robertson, John, gift to the museum, 21:2 & 3:238.

Robinson, 21:2 & 3:166.

Rockafield, Mrs., Bertha Bulla, gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:239.

Rock Creek, 21:2 & 3:213.

Rock River, 21:2 & 3:187, 188.

Rock Springs Cattle Growers Association, 21:2 & 3:220.

Rocky Mountains, 21:2 & 3:111.

Rocky Mountain States, 21:2 & 3:223.

Rockwood, Col. Albert, commanding the second division of Mor-
mons in the migration, 21:2 & 3:153.

Rogers and Co., 21:2 & 3:207, 209.

Roosevelt, Theodore owned a ranch in South Dakota, 21:1:82.

Root, Frank A., 21:2 & 3:187.

Root, Riley, Journal of Travels from St. Josephs to Oregon, 21:2
& 3:112, 122.

Rothwell, John P., gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:239.

Roughing it, 21:2 & 3:89.

The Roundup, 21:1:46, 52.

Ross Country, Ohio, 21:2 & 3:156.

Rubber tire rustlers, 21:2 & 3:218.

Rucker, Maude A., The Oregon Trail and Some of Its Blazers,
21:2 & 3:166.

Rulo, Nebraska, 21:2 & 3:117.

Russell, W. H., registered at Fort Laramie in 1846, 21:2 & 3:177.

Ruxton, George F., described the Laramie Plains, 21:2 & 3:183.

264 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Saddler, Adeline (Mrs. P. B. Littlejohn) 21:2 & 3:165.

Salaries of officials of early government in city of Laramie, W. T.,

21:2 & 3:202.
Salem, Iowa, 21:2 & 3:139, 162.
Salem, Oregon, 21:2 & 3:156.
Salt Lake, 21:2 & 3:143, 150.
Salt Lake City, 21:2 & 3:112, 119, 191.
Salt Lake Country, Great, 21:2 & 3:165.
Salt Lake Valley, 21:2 & 3:114, 118.
Sand Creek, 21:2 & 3:147.
Sanders, W. P., Brig. Gen., 21:2 & 3:190.
Sanderson, Major Winslow F., arrived at Fort Laramie on June 16,

1849, 21:2 & 3:179.
San Diego County, California, 21:1:3.
San Marino, California, 21:2 & 3:119.

Santa Clara River, Junction with the Virgin River, 21:2 & 3:119.
Sarpy, John B., official of the American Fur Company, after whom

Fort Laramie was rechristened Fort John, 21:2 & 3:174.
Saunder, Captain, 21:2 & 3:136, 156, 166.
Sawyer, Lorenzo, 21:2 & 3:115, 116, 122.

Schmitt, Martin F., Fighting hidians of the West, 21:2 & 3:242.
Schoolhouse, 21:1:62.
Scoon, Alfred, 21:2 & 3:232.
Scott, Mrs. Anna Maxwell, 21:2 & 3:227.
Scott, Levi, 21:2 & 3:159.

Scottsbluff National Monument, 21:2 & 3:148.
Scottsbluff Nebraska Museum, 21:2 & 3:223.
Senate, President of, George Burke, 21:2 & 3:236.
Settle, Raymond W., 21:2 & 3:122.
Seven Mile Creek, 21:2 & 3:191.

Seventy Years, by Agnes Wright Spring, 21:2 & 3:216, 227.
Shawnee River, 21:2 & 3:155.
Sheepherders, 21:1:63.
Sherburne, Major J. P., 21:2 & 3:189.
Sheriff, first in city of Laramie, W. T., 21:2 & 3:201.
Sherlock, Richard, 21:1:87.

Sherman, Wyoming Territory, 21:2 & 3:194, 211.
Shoemaker, Floyd C, gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:242.
Shuler & Spindler, 21:2 & 3:207.
Shumway, Charles, 21:2 & 3:113.
Sidney, Nebraska, 21:2 & 3:225.
Sierras, 21:2 & 3:160, 167.
Silverstein Bros., 21:2 & 3:207.

Sioux Indians, 21:2 & 3:128, 147, 160, 174, 179, 181.
Sixty Years, by Dan Greenburg, 21:2 & 3:216.
Slack and Webster, firm, 21:2 & 3:202.
Slade family, 21:1:88-92.
Slade, J. A., 21:1:90.

Slaughter of the Bison, The, Grondahl, Jen K., 21:2 & 3:214.
Smalley, Mrs. E. J. (Edith A.), gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:241.
Smith, Alice, 21:2 & 3:233.
Smith, Captain Cornelius, 21:2 & 3:165.
Smith. Captain (Doctor), father of Moses Ira Smith, 21:2 & 3:152

157.
Smith, Elizabeth Dixon (later Mrs. Geer), 21:2 & 3:165.
Smith, Elizabeth, see Whitaker, Mrs. Dugald, 21:2 & 3:233.
Smith, George A., 21:2 & 3:121, 123, 178.

GENERAL INDEX 265

Smith, Joseph, Mormon Prophet, 21:2 & 3:118.

Smith, Moses Ira, 21:2 & 3:152, 153.

Smith, Nancy Scott-Wisdom, 21:2 & 3:152, 157.

Smith, Wisdom, 21:2 & 3:152.

Snook, Captain, his company, 21:2 & 3:137.

Snooks, Captain, 21:2 & 3:158.

Snow, Eliza R., 21:2 & 3:112.

Snow, Erastus, 21:2 & 3:120, 149.

Snyder, D. H. & J. W. and families of, 21:1:93.

Sobriquet, 21:1:71.

Soda Lakes in Sweetwater County, 21:1:100.

Soda Spring, 21:2 & 3:163.

South Dakota, Port Pierre, 21:2 & 3:214.

South Pass, 21:2 & 3:159, 167, 178.

South Platte River, 21:2 & 3:186, 198.

Spalding, Eliza, first white woman to cross Wyoming, 21:2 & 3:173.

Spalding, Rev. Henry, at Fort Laramie, 21:2 & 3:173.

Spanish, 21:2 & 3:144.

Spanish bayonet, Oose, 21:2 & 3:148.

Spanish soap weed, 21:2 & 3:148.

Spanish in Wyoming, 21:2 & 3:181.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Herman Mayland, 21:2
& 3:236.

Spicer, N. F., 21:2 & 3:203.

Spotwood, Bob, 21:2 & 3:187.

Spring, Agnes Wright, Cheyenne and Black Hills Stage and Ex-
press Routes, 21:2 & 3:243.

Spring Creek, 21:2 & 3:189.

"Stage coach King," 21:1:88.

Stage lines, plagued by outlaw bands, 21:2 & 3:225.

Stanley, Catherine, 21:2 & 3:155.

Stanley, Larkin, 21:2 & 3:166.

Stansbury, Captain Howard, 21:2 & 3:114, 116, 122, 185.

State of Deseret, legislature of, 21:2 & 3:119.

State Historical Society, Utah, 21:2 & 3:121.

Station KFBC, 21:2 & 3:236.

Steamboat, the first, 21:1:100.

Steamboat Lake, 21:2 & 3:198.

Steele, John, 21:2 & 3:155, 156.

Steeves, Sarah Hunt, 21:2 & 3:121, 157, 160, 166.

Stephens, G. A., gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:242.

Stephens, Roswell, 21:2 & 3:136, 155.

Steward, Jim, 21:2 & 3:187.

Stewart, Benjamin F., 21:2 & 3:111, 112, 133, 135, 153.

Stewart, Sir William Drummond, member of party led by John C.
Fremont in the 1843 migration, 21:2 & 3:175.

St. George, Utah, Death of William A. Empey, 21:2 & 3:119.

St. John, 21:2 & 3:135.

St. Joseph, 21:2 & 3:160, 164.

St. Joseph Gazette, 21:2 & 3:155, 161, 162.

St. Joseph's hospital, Laramie, Wyoming Territory, 21:2 & 3:207.

St. Louis Daily Union, 21:2 & 3:160.

St. Louis, Missouri, fur emporium of the West, 21:2 & 3:178.

St. Mary's River, Missionary station on (Bitterroot River), 21:2
& 3:149.

St. (Mormon), 21:2 & 3:111, 112, 114, 118, 119, 147, 150, 165.

St. (Mississippi), 21:2 & 3:147, 148, 155, 157, 163.

Stonewall Jackson, 21:1:16-20.

266 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Storment County, Canada, 21:2 & 3:118.

Stout, Hosea, 21:2 & 3:112, 122.

Stratton, John, 21:1:92.

Streeter, Thomas W., 21:2 & 3:121.

Stuart, B. F., 21:2 & 3:138.

Sublette County Cattle Growers Association, 21:2 & 3:220.

Sublette Cutoff, 21:2 & 3:166.

Sulpher Springs, 21:2 & 3:188.

Summit House, 21:2 & 3:211.

Sutherland, Nebraska, 21:2 & 3:146.

Sutter, John August, founded Fort New Helvetia, 21:2 & 3:178.

Sutter's Fort, 21:2 & 3:159.

Swain, A. G., 21:2 & 3:209.

Swan, Alex, 21:2 & 3:226.

Swan Land and Cattle Company. (See Anderson Land and Cattle

Company), 21:1:82.
Sweetwater County, 21:2 & 3:196.
Sweetwater River, 21:2 & 3:164, 166.

Talbot Hall, 21:2 & 3:207.

Taylor, 21:2 & 3:136, 157, 162.

Teats, J. H., 21:2 & 3:211.

Tennessee, 21:2 & 3:160, 166.

Teton County, 21:2 & 3:192.

Texas Trail Drivers, 21:2 & 3:220.

Texas Trail Monument, near Lusk, 21:2 & 3:220; near Rawhide

Creek, 223; in Wyoming, 21:1:93, 99.
Thayer, Governor, message to the Fourth Legislative Assembly,

21:2 & 3:196.
Thermopolis, 21:1:100.

Thomas, L. Thomas, Bvt. Maj. General, 21:2 & 3:189.
Thomkins family, 21:2 & 3:160.
Thompson, 21:2 & 3:160.

Thorp, Mr. Russell, 21:1:95; 21:2 & 3:216, 217, 218, 221, 227, 239.
Tierney, Luke, Gold Discoveries on the North Platte River, 21:2

& 3:243.
Tie Siding, Wyoming Territory, 21:2 & 3:212.
Times and Seasons, journal of Mr. Kimball, 21:2 & 3:147.
Tippetts, John H., 21:2 & 3:155.
Tomlinson, Miss, 21:2 & 3:161.
Tonaquint, Empey's farm, 21:2 & 3:119.
Tonn, M. G., 21:2 & 3:207.
Tooley, P. H., 21:2 & 3:200.
Torrington, Wyoming, 21:2 & 3:148.

Towns and villages, Albany County, to 1880, 21:2 & 3:200.
Townsley, M., 21:2 & 3:200.
Traders, 21:2 & 3:155.
Trail Drivers, 21:2 & 3:220.

Train, "Merci," with gifts for Wyoming, 21:2 & 3:236.
Transactions of the Twenty-Ninth Annual Reunion of the Oregon

Pioneer Association for 1901, address of welcome by Frederick

W. Mulkey, son of Marion F. Mulkey and grandson of Mulkey

pioneers of 1847, 21:2 & 3:158.
Transactions of the Thirty-Third Annual Reunion of the Oregon

Pioneer Association, 21:2 & 3:123.
Transactions of the Thirty -Fifth Annual Reunion of the Oregon

Pioneer Association, 21:2 & 3:165.

GENERAL INDEX 267

Transactions of the Forty-Fifth Annual Reunion of the Oregon

Pioneer Association, 21:2 & 3:123.
Transactions of the Forty-Sixth Annual Reunion of the Oregon

Pioneer Association, 21:2 & 3:123.
Transactions of the Forty-Seventh Annual Reunion of the Oregon

Pioneer Association, 21:2 & 3:123.
Transactions of the Forty-Eighth Annual Reunion of the Oregon

Pioneer Association, Zeiber, John S., 21:2 & 3:123.
Transactions of the Fifty-First Anmial Reunion of the Oregon

Pioneer Association, 21:2 & 3:161.
Treute, 21:2 & 3:166.
Trimble, Edward, 21:2 & 3:147.
Trout, D. W., 21:2 & 3:211.
Trubody family, 21:2 & 3:159.
Truesdale, 21:2 & 3:166.
Truitt, Samuel, 21:2 & 3:166.
Tucker, William, 21:2 & 3:150.
Tullis, Squire, 21:2 & 3:163.
Turner, 21:2 & 3:166.

Turpens, Captain, his company, 21:2 & 3:137.
Turpm, Captain William, 21:2 & 3:157, 158.
Tustin, Caleb, S., 21:2 & 3:155; Wesley, 155.
Twain, Mark, 21:1:89.

U

Udimore, Sussex, 21:1:3.

Uinta County, 21:2 & 3:192.

Uncle John & Co., 21:2 & 3:211.

Underwood & Co., 21:2 & 3:211.

Union Pacific, 21:2 & 3:213; depot, 236; railroad, 211; used buffalo

meat to feed crews, 214; hospital service in Laramie, W. T.,

206; gift to museum, 240; entered Laramie, W. T., 200.
University of Wyoming, 21:2 & 3:227; buildings, 191, 207.
Upper Missouri Agency, 21:2 & 3:191.
Urbanek, Mae, Fort Laramie, a poem, 21:2 & 3:108, 168.
Utah, 21:2 & 3:112, 116, 119; Bountiful, home of Mrs. Julius Kessler,

21:2 & 3:120.
Utah's "Dixie" country, 21:2 & 3:119.
Utah Expedition, 21:2 & 3:151.
Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, diary of Heber C.

Kimball, 21:2 & 3:120.
Utah Historical Quarterly, Lorenzo and Harriet Young, 21:2 & 3: 120.

123, 125, 155.
Utah Historical Society, Norton Jacob, diary of Amasa Lyman

kept by Albert Carrington, 21:2 & 3:121.
Utah Hximanities Review, diary of Erastus Snow, 21:2 & 3:120.
Utah, Panguitch, 21:2 & 3:121; parowan, 21:2 & 3:119; Payson,

21:2 & 3:121; pioneers. Daughters of, 21:2 & 3:118; Saint George,

119, 121; State Historical Society, 21:2 & 3:121.

268 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Van Tassell, Mrs. R. S., 21:2 & 3:230, 231.

Vaugn, (Vaughn), Captain William, 21:2 & 3:135, 155.

Vigilance committee. City of Laramie, 1868, 21:2 & 3:201.

Vigilantes, 21:1:90, 92; 21:2 & 3:201.

Villages, Albany County, to 1880, 21:2 & 3:200.

Vine, James, 21:2 & 3:202, 208.

Virginia Dale, 21:1:89; 21:2 & 3:186, 187, 188.

Virginian, The, 21:1:27.

Virgin River, 21:2 & 3:119.

Viticulture, 21:2 & 3:119.

Vogelseng, A., 21:2 & 3:208.

Voorhees, Luke, 21:2 & 3:226. —-

W

Wabash River country, 21:2 & 3:155.

Wager, Con, 21:2 & 3:201.

Wagner and Dunbar bank, 21:2 & 3:209.

Wagner, Henry, 21:2 & 3:208.

Waiilatpu, 21:2 & 3:156.

Wake of the Prairie Schooner, The, Paden, Irene D., 21:2 & 3:123.

Waker, Wilham, 21:2 & 3:139, 162.

Walla Walla, Oregon, 21:2 & 3:161.

Wallace, Mrs. Hershill G., gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:241.

Ward, Captain, his company, 21:2 & 3:138, 161.

Warm Spring, 21:2 & 3:149.

Washington, 21:2 & 3:161, 225.

Water, city of Laramie, 1874, 21:2 & 3:203.

Watt, Mrs. Joe H., 21:2 & 3:228.

Wayside Sketches, Sawyer, Lorenzo, 21:2 & 3:122.

Webber, N. T., 21:2 & 3:211.

Webster, T. J., 21:2 & 3:202.

Wellesley College, 21:2 & 3:234.

Wendover, Wyoming, 21:2 & 3:149.

Wentworth, E. N., 21:1:86.

Weppner, Joseph, 21:2 & 3:223.

West, Ray B., Editor, Rocky Mountain Cities, 21:2 & 3:243.

Western Americana, 21:2 & 3:225.

Western Department of the U. S. Army, 21:2 & 3:191.

What I Saw in California, Bryant, Edwin, 21:2 & 3: 166.

Whitaker, Mrs. Dugald, 21:2 & 3:229, 231, 232, 233.

Whitcom, Captain, his company, 21:2 & 3:138; Lot, 161.

White, Captain, his company, 21:2 & 3:138, 162.

White, Thomas, 21:2 & 3:161.

Whitehorse Creek, 21:2 & 3:146.

Whitetail Creek, 21:2 & 3:147.

Whitman, Dr. Marcus at Ft. Laramie, 21:2 & 3:173.

Whitman Massacre, 21:2 & 3:156.

Whitman, Narcissa, 21:2 & 3:165, 173.

Whitney, Horace K., extracts from the diary of Improvement Era,

1947, 21:2 & 3:121.
Why Cow-Belles? by Mrs. Joe H. Watt, 21:2 & 3:228.
Wilcox, L. T., 21:2 & 3:207.
Wild Life, 21:1:75.
Wild Life Federation, 21:2 & 3:220.
Wilde, A. E., gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:241.

GENERAL INDEX 269

Will County, Illinois, 21:2 & 3:155.

Willamette River, 21:2 & 3:161.

Willamette Valley, 21:2 & 3:160.

Williams, A. T., bakery, 21:2 & 3:207-208.

WilHams, Bill, 21:1:64.

Williams, Ezekiel, first white man in Albany County area, 21:2

& 3:181.
Williams, Thomas, 21:2 & 3:136.
Wilhams, Velina A., diary, 21:2 & 3:123.
Willow Springs, Wyoming, 21:2 & 3:187.
Wilson, Posey S. & Co., 21:2 & 3:209.
Wmchester, Ohio, 21:2 & 3:156.
Winter Quarters, 21:2 & 3:118, 132, 143, 152.
"Winter Quarters," name of city founded in 1846 by Brigham Young,

21:2 & 3:177; half-way station between, and Salt Lake City,

21:2 & 3:177.
Winters, Wayne, gift to museum, 21:2 & 3:239.
Wister, Owen, 21:1:27.
"Wolf Creek," 21:2 & 3:147; River, 164.
Wolsey, Thomas, 21:2 & 3:136.
Wolves, 21:2 & 3:124.
Woolsey, Thomas, 21:2 & 3:155.

Women of the Range, by Francis Carpenter, 21:2 & 3:230.
Woodberry, Lieutenant Daniel P., authorized to purchase Ft. Lara-
mie, 21:2 & 3:179.
Woodrie, James, 21:2 & 3:150.
Woodruff, Brother, 21:2 & 3:125.
Wilford Woodrujf, His Life and Labors, Cowley, Matthew, 21:2

& 3:120.
Woodward, George, 21:2 & 3:139, 162.
World War II, 21:2 & 3:236.
Worth, N. C, 21:2 & 3:208.
Worth's Hotel, 21:2 & 3:208.
Wright, John, 21:2 & 3:208.
Wyoming, Custer City, 21:2 & 3:227.
Wyoming, Governor, A. G. Crane, 21:2 & 3:236.
Wyoming Historical Landmark Commission, 21:2 & 3:223.
Wyoming-Idaho Sampler, 21:2 & 3:242.
Wyoming, receives car of "Merci" train, 21:2 & 3:236.
Wyoming-Nebraska state line, 21:2 & 3:148.
Wyoming station, 21:2 & 3:213.
Wyoming Stock Growers Association, 21:1:93, 95, 97; 21:2 &

3:228, 233
Wyoming Stock Growers Association, (Russell Thorp), gift to the

museum, 21:2 & 3:239.
Wyoming State Farm Bureau, 21:2 & 3:220.
Wyoming State Historian, 21:2 & 3:227.
Wyoming State Librarian, 21:2 & 3:227. t

Wyoming State museum, 21:2 & 3:221.
Wyoming Stock Growers Association, 21:1:93, 95, 97; 21:2 & 3:216,

221, 228, 233, 239.
Wyoming Stock Growers Association, records, executive orders,

letters, brand books, relics, 21:2 & 3:221; gift to museum, 239.
Wyoming Stock Growers Association, 77th annual convention,

Sheridan, Wyoming, June 1949, 21:2 & 3:216.
Wyoming Territory, boundaries, 21:2 & 3:192, 193.
Wyoming, Torrington, 21:2 & 3:148.
Wyoming, University of, 21:1:4; 21:2 & 3:227.

270 ANNALS OF WYOMING

X

XIT trail herd, 21:1:96.

Yakima, war of 1856, 21:2 & 3:158.

Yale University, Coe Collection, Howard Egan's diary, 21:2 & 3:120.

Yamhill, Oregon, 21:2 & 3:158.

Yellowstone National Park, 21:2 & 3:192, 243.

Young, Brigham, 21:2 & 3:111, 118, 124, 126, 128, 129, 132, 133, 134,

137, 146, 147, 148, 151, 152, 153, 155, 164, 176, 177.
Young, F. M., Fort Laramie, 21:2 & 3:149.
Young, Harlan-Young Party, 21:2 & 3:165.
Young, Harriet, Utah Historical Quarterly, 21:2 & 3:120.
Young, John, 21:2 & 3:119.
Young, Joseph, 21:2 & 3:119.
Young, Lorenzo Dow, 21:2 & 3:120.
Young, Phineas, 21:2 & 3:162.
Young, Phineous, 21:2 & 3:139.
Yost, Carl, 21:2 & 3:242.
Yucca, 21:2 & 3:148.

Zeiber, John S., Transactions of the Forty-Eighth Annual Reunion

of the Oregon Pioneer Association, 21:2 & 3:116, 123.
Zillah, 21:1:100.
Zion's Camp, 21:2 & 3:147.