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of  Wyoming 


MAIN  STREET,  NEWCASTLE.  WYO..    1903 

Stimson  Photo 
Wyoming  State  Archives  and  Historical  Department 


^pr'111962 


WYOMING  STATE  LIBRARY,  ARCHIVES  AND 
HISTORICAL  BOARD 

Fred  W.  Marble,  Chairman  Cheyenne 

E.  A.  Littleton  Gillette 

Henry  Jones  Laramie 

Mrs.  Dwight  Wallace Evanston 

E.  W.  Mass  Casper 

Mrs.  Wilmot  C.  Hamm  Rock  Springs 

Mrs.  William  Miller  Lusk 

Paul  Stadius  Thermopolis 

Attorney-General  Norman  Gray.  Ex-Officio 


WYOMING  STATE  ARCHIVES  AND  HISTORICAL 
DEPARTMENT 

STAFF 

Lola  M.  Homsher  Director 

Henryetta  Berry  Assistant  Director 

Mrs.  Ruth  J.  Bradley  Chief,  Historical  Division 

Mrs.  Bonnie  Forsyth  Chief,  Archives  &  Records  Division 


ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

The  Annals  of  Wyoming  is  published  semi-annually  in  April  and 
October  and  is  received  by  all  members  of  the  Wyoming  State  Historical 
Society.  Copies  of  current  issues  may  be  purchased  for  $1.00  each. 
Available  copies  of  earlier  issues  are  also  for  sale.  A  price  list  may  be 
obtained  by  writing  to  the  Editor. 

Communications  should  be  addressed  to  the  Editor.  The  Editor  does 
not  assume  responsibility  for  statements  of  fact  or  of  opinion  made  by 
contributors. 


Copyright,  1962,  by  the  Wyoming  State  Archives  and 
Historical  Department. 


Mnals  of  Wyoming 


Volume  34 


April  1962 


Number  1 


Lola  M.  Homsher 
Editor 


Ruth  J.  Bradley 
Assistant  Editor 


Katherine  Halverson 
Assistant  Edi tot- 


Published  Biannually  by  the 

WYOMING  STATE  ARCHIVES  AND   HISTORICAL 
DEPARTMENT 

Official  Publication 

of  the 

WYOMING  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 


WYOMING  STATE  HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

OFFICERS   1960-62 

President,  Mrs.  Edness  Kimball  Wilkins  Casper 

First  Vice  President,  Vernon  K.  Hurd  Green  River 

Second  Vice  President,  Charles  Ritler  Cheyenne 

Secretary-Treasurer,  Miss  Maurine  Carley  Cheyenne 

Executive  Secretary,  Miss  Lola  M.  Homsher  Cheyenne 

Past  Presidents: 

Frank  L.  Bowron.  Casper  1953-1955 

Wiixlwi  L.  Marion,  Lander 1955-1956 

Dr.  DeWitt  Dominick,  Cody  1956-1957 

Dr.  T.  A.  Larson,  Laramie 1957-1958 

A.  H.  MacDougall,  Rawlins  1958-1959 

Mrs.  Thelma  G.  Conor,  Buffalo  1959-1960 

E.  A.  Littleton.  Gillette  1960-1961 


The  Wyoming  State  Historical  Society  was  organized  in  October  1953. 
Membership  is  open  to  anyone  interested  in  history.  County  Historical 
Society  Chapters  have  been  organized  in  Albany,  Big  Horn,  Campbell,  Car- 
bon, Fremont.  Goshen.  Johnson.  Laramie,  Natrona,  Park,  Platte.  Sheridan, 
Sweetwater.  Washakie.  Weston,  and  Uinta  counties. 


State  Dues: 

Life   Membership   $50.00 

Joint  Life  Membership  (Husband  and  wife)   75.00 

Annual    Membership    3.50 

Joint  Annual  Membership  (Two  persons  of  same  family  at 

same  address.)   5.00 

County  dues  are  in  addition  to  state  dues  and  are  set  by  county  organ- 
izations. 


Send  State  membership  dues  to: 

Wyoming  State  Historical  Society 
Executive  Headquarters 
State  Office  Building 
Cheyenne,  Wyoming 


Zable  of  Contents 


MAY  NELSON   DOW 5 

Elizabeth  J.  Thorpe  and  Mable  E.  Brown 

THE  LEGEND  OF  LAKE  DESMET  _ 32 

Mary  Olga  Moore 

FRONTIER   LAWYER 43 

Burton  S.  Hill 

LANDER  CUTOFF  _ 50 

J.  K.  Moore,  Jr. 

1852  ON  THE  OREGON  TRAIL 52 

Mae  Urbanek 

ALIAS  DAN  DAVIS  -  ALIAS  DAN  MORGAN 60 

WYOMING'S  FRONTIER  NEWSPAPERS  61 

Elizabeth  Keen 

GIRLHOOD  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  LARAMIE  IN    1870-1871   85 

Nancy  Fillmore  Brown 

THE  HOLE-IN-THE-WALL.  Part  VIII.  Section  4  95 

Thelma  Gatchell  Condit 

POEMS  -  Petroglyphs.  Shelia  Hart 59 

Wyoming  Memories.  Dick  J.  Nelson 112 

WYOMING  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 115 

President's  Message  by  Edness  Kimball  Wilkins 

BOOK  REVIEWS 

Todd.  Recollections  of  a  Piney  Creek  Rancher 1  18 

Van  Nuys,  The  Family  Band 119 

Sandoz,  These  Were  the  Sioux 120 

Eggenhofer,  Wagons,  Mules  and  Men 121 

Atherton,  The  Cattle  Kings 121 

Bonney,   Bonney's  Guide 123 

Severy,  America's  Historylands,  Landmarks  of  Liberty 123 

Johnson,  Pioneer's  Progress 124 

Elston,  Treasure  Coach  from  Deadwood 125 

Urbanek,  Songs  of  the  Sage;  The  Second  Man 126,  129 

Fitzpatrick,  Nebraska  Place  Names 126 

Adams.  The  Old-Time  Cowhand 128 

CONTRIBUTORS    131 

ILLUSTRATIONS  ACCOMPANYING  ARTICLES 

Main  Street,  Newcastle.  Wyo..   1903  Cover 

May  Nelson  Dow  4,  14,  29 

Frontier  Lawyer  _ 44,  47 

The  Hole-in-the-Wall 96,  98 

Map:  May  Nelson  Dow  19 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  WYOMINI 

URAMiE    82071 


A.  M.  Nelson  (Alfred)   1913  Mary  Caroline  (Dalton)  Nelson 


Dick  J.  Nelson  -  May's  younger  Sarah  Pettigrew  -  Mary  Dalton 

brother  Nelson's  sister 


Courtesy  Elizabeth  J.  Thorpe  and  Mabel  E.  Brown 


May  Nelson  Dow 

A  FIRST  LADY  OF  NEWCASTLE 

By 

Elizabeth  J.  Thorpe 
Mable  E.  Brown 

"I  remember,  I  remember, 
The  house  where   1   was  born — " 

This  is  May  Nelson  Dow's  story  taken  from  her  treasury  of 
memories  which  extend  into  the  past  beyond  the  house  where  she 
was  born  through  the  stories  of  her  parents  and  grandparents 
which  cover  three  generations  of  westward  wanderers. 

We  shall  begin  with  Nancy  Melinda  Collier,  May's  grandmother, 
who  was,  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  trim,  tiny,  but  very  grown-up. 

Nancy  had  a  mind  of  her  own.  In  addition,  she  was  in  love. 
However,  the  Colliers  thought  fourteen  a  bit  young  for  marriage 
even  in  the  1840's  in  Louisville,  Kentucky,  when  early  marriages 
were  not  too  unusual.  They  opposed  it  firmly.  They  had  no 
objection  to  young  Lloyd  Nelson  except  that  his  feet  were  restless 
and  they  considered  Nancy  still  a  child.  They  should  have  been 
forewarned,  having  lived  with  Nancy's  independence  for  fourteen 
years,  but  they  didn't  realize  how  little  they  had  understood  the 
depth  of  her  feelings  until  it  was  too  late. 

One  balmy  southern  night,  with  the  help  of  an  older  sister, 
Nancy  climbed  out  of  her  second  story  window,  slid  down  two 
bed  sheets  the  girls  had  tied  together  and  seated  herself  accurately 
behind  Lloyd  who  was  waiting  nervously  in  the  shadows  on  his 
horse.  Into  the  darkness  they  rode,  leaving  Nancy's  home  and 
family  far  behind. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  a  trek  that  took  Nancy  as  far  as 
Glenwood,  Iowa,  where  she  and  Lloyd  settled  down  for  many 
years  and  raised  their  children.  She  must  have  been  in  touch 
with  her  family  and,  we  hope,  forgiven,  for  later  her  sister,  Dru- 
cinda  Collier,  came  to  live  with  them.  Drucinda  never  married 
but  stayed  and  helped  Nancy  the  rest  of  her  life. 

It  was  not  until  Nancy  and  Lloyd  were  grandparents  that  Lloyd's 
restless  feet  bothered  him  again.  Two  of  their  sons,  Henry  and 
Alfred,  had  enlisted  when  the  Civil  War  started.  They  were  with 
Company  B  of  the  29th  Iowa  Infantry.  At  the  time  of  enlist- 
ment, Alfred  had  given  his  age  as  eighteen,  but  he  was  really  only 
seventeen.  James,  their  youngest  boy  had  been  injured  as  a  child 


6  ANNALS   OF  WYOMING 

and  was  lame.  He  was  not  accepted  in  the  service  but  through  in- 
fluential friends  he  obtained  a  position  and  spent  the  war  years 
there  in  Washington.  Although  Henry  spent  some  time  in  Ander- 
sonville  prison,  both  of  the  boys  came  home  when  the  war  ended 
and  both  were  soon  married.  Henry  married  a  girl  named  Eliza. 
Alfred  met  and  courted  Mary  Caroline  Dalton  who  had  been  born 
in  Illinois  but  had  come  with  her  family  to  Glen  wood  before  the 
war.  They  were  married  in  1867.  Martha  Nelson,  the  boys' 
sister,  married  a  man  named  Morton  Noah. 

So  when  Lloyd  and  Nancy  decided  to  follow  the  trail  west  again 
they  were  accompanied  by  the  Henry  Nelsons,  the  Morton  Noahs, 
the  Alfred  Nelsons  and  Charles  and  Sarah  Pettigrew,  Sarah  being 
Mary  Nelson's  sister.  Alfred  and  Mary,  or  Molly,  as  he  called 
her,  by  this  time  had  three  children,  Nancy  Melinda,  born  in  Mill 
County,  Iowa  in  1864;  Ida  J.  in  1869;  and  Frank  Ellen,  born  in 
Glenwood  in  1871 . 

As  they  set  out  from  their  homes  in  Iowa  in  the  fall  of  1871 
their  party  consisted  of  six  wagons.  They  journeyed  toward  Kan- 
sas. Most  of  the  time  the  families  enjoyed  traveling  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  the  way  was  long,  often  uncomfortable  and  sometimes 
dangerous.  One  time  the  Noah's  wagon  was  the  last  to  cross  an 
icebound  stream.  They  were  nearly  across  when  the  ice  began  to 
give  way.  Martha,  sitting  in  the  back  of  the  wagon,  could  hear 
it  snapping  and  cracking.  She  shouted  at  her  husband,  "Morton, 
drive  up  quick  before  we  are  all  drowned!"  They  made  it  safely, 
but  another  time  when  fording  a  river  the  Alfred  Nelson's  wagon 
was  the  last  in  the  train.  The  far  bank  had  become  very  muddy 
and  slippery  by  the  time  the  other  wagons  had  been  pulled  up. 
As  Alfred's  oxen  lurched  out  of  the  water,  slipped  and  jerked 
ahead  again,  the  extra  strain  broke  the  king  pin  which  held  the 
tongue  in  place.  The  oxen  were  plunged  into  the  mud.  The 
wagon  rolled  back  into  the  water,  tipping  over  on  its  side.  Mary 
Nelson  with  the  two  little  girls  and  the  baby,  Frank,  were  inside. 
The  men  rushed  back  to  help  them  out  and  set  the  wagon  on  its 
wheels.  As  they  dashed  into  the  water  one  of  the  men  on  horse- 
back noticed  the  baby's  blanket  floating  downstream.  Blankets 
were  precious.  He  prodded  his  horse  and  splashed  after  the  bob- 
bing thing,  reached  for  it  and  gasped.  Then  he  made  a  frantic 
grab  and  caught  it  to  him.  The  baby  was  still  wrapped  in  it!  He 
was,  however,  unhurt  and  not  even  very  wet.  It  had  all  happened 
so  quickly. 

They  went  into  Kansas  as  far  as  southwestern  Cloud  County 
where  they  took  up  land  under  the  "Timber  Claim"  law  on  the 
Solomon  River  about  eight  miles  south  of  Beloit. 

Four  of  the  families,  the  Lloyd  Nelsons,  the  Henry  Nelsons, 
the  Noahs  and  the  Pettigrews  built  one  large  cabin  located  where 
the  four  corners  of  their  four  plots  of  land  met.     Each  family  had 


MAY  NELSON  DOW  7 

its  own  corner  of  the  cabin  and  lived  there.  As  grandmother  of 
the  group,  Nancy  seemed  to  feel  justified  in  being  a  little  different. 
She  had  a  rock  floor  in  her  corner  which  she  took  pride  in  keeping 
immaculately  clean. 

The  Alfred  Nelsons  built  a  cabin  of  their  own.  It  was  a  good 
thing  they  did,  for  in  the  next  six  years  they  had  three  more  chil- 
dren. Orpha  May  was  born  March  19,  1873;  Dick,  May  29, 
1875;  and  Laura,  Oct.  23,  1877.  Nine  years  later,  in  1886,  Ge- 
neva was  born.  Ida  died  at  the  age  of  eight,  just  a  month  before 
Laura  was  born. 

Through  seventeen  years  of  a  developmental  period  in  Kansas 
they  experienced  the  hardships,  griefs  and  rewards  of  frontier  life. 
They  knew  the  disastrous  "grasshopper  year ',  years  of  cyclones 
and  hot  winds,  and  occasional  years  of  plenty  and  prosperity. 
There  were  times  when  they  lived  in  the  towns  of  Beloit  and  James- 
town. 

Living  as  she  did  on  the  outposts  of  civilization,  Mary  Dalton 
Nelson  became  a  tower  of  strength  to  those  of  her  friends  and 
neighbors  with  whom  she  came  in  contact.  She  dressed  the  new- 
born babies,  closed  the  eyes  of  the  dead,  fed  the  hungry,  cared  for 
the  sick  and  clothed  the  needy.  She  had  the  only  washing  machine 
and  sewing  machine  for  miles  around  and  willingly  shared  both 
with  any  neighbor  who  could  get  to  her  home.  Tired  mothers 
brought  baskets  of  garments  ready  to  be  stitched  on  the  machine 
or  quilts  to  be  washed  in  the  back  saving  washer  while  Mary  Nel- 
son took  care  of  visiting  babies  as  well  as  her  own.  Her  talent  for 
nursing  developed  as  her  experience  widened  and  she  was  always 
in  demand. 

Funny  things  happened,  too,  that  grew  funnier  with  re-telling, 
like  Grandmother's  visiting  Indian. 

One  day  Nancy,  working  in  the  big  cabin,  heard  a  sound  out- 
side. The  door  had  a  wooden  latch  and  a  tiny  round  peephole 
where  a  knot  in  the  wood  had  fallen  out.  She  tip-toed  over  and 
put  her  eye  to  the  peephole,  only  to  find  that  she  was  staring 
directly  into  the  eye  of  a  curious  Shawnee.  Grandmother,  used  to 
Indians  and  always  friendly,  unlatched  the  door  and  invited  him 
in.  The  only  thing  she  had  to  offer  him  in  the  way  of  refreshments 
was  some  fresh  buttermilk.  She  looked  around  for  something  to 
put  it  in  because  he  looked  pretty  dirty  to  her  and  she  didn't  want 
him  drinking  out  of  one  of  her  cups.  Her  worried  glance  fell  on 
the  wash  basin.  She  poured  the  buttermilk  into  it  and  handed  it 
to  Grandfather  who  offered  it  to  the  Indian.  With  great  polite- 
ness he  grunted,  "You  drink,  too."  So  Grandfather,  silently  thank- 
ful for  Nancy's  cleanliness,  drank  first,  then  handed  the  basin  to 
their  guest. 

In  1876  when  the  discovery  of  gold  was  luring  people  to  the 
Black  Hills  an  emigrant  train  of  eighteen  wagons  left  northwestern 
Kansas  bound  for  the  sold  fields.     This  was  known  as  the  Petti- 


8  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

grew  party  since  Charlie  Pettigrew  had  been  made  wagon  boss. 
Many  in  the  party,  like  the  Pettigrews,  were  not  gold-seekers  but 
desired  relief  from  the  drouth  in  Kansas. 

When  Charlie,  a  giant  of  a  man,  and  Sarah,  a  large,  laughing 
woman  and  their  fourteen  children  departed  with  the  big  train  it 
was  a  sad  day  for  the  Nelsons.  They  were  not  yet  ready  to  leave 
Kansas.  Later  when  they  received  letters  from  Sarah  telling  of 
the  experiences  of  these  people,  they  were  glad  they  had  stayed 
home.  They  wept  over  Sarah's  story  of  the  death  of  their  young- 
est child,  six  year  old  Freddie,  who  was  crushed  under  a  wagon 
wheel  near  Kimball,  Nebraska.  The  eyes  of  the  children  sparkled 
over  several  tales  of  minor  encounters  with  Indians  in  spite  of  the 
mounted  guard  that  accompanied  the  train.  And,  most  hair-rais- 
ing of  all,  was  her  letter  describing  the  ambush  at  Beulah  on  Sand 
Creek.  The  members  of  the  train  who  were  not  gold-seekers  had, 
after  a  brief  look  at  Deadwood  and  vicinity,  decided  that  it  was 
no  place  for  farmers.  Six  or  eight  families,  including  the  Petti- 
grews, decided  to  go  on  to  Montana  which  they  thought  would  be 
more  like  the  farm  land  they  were  used  to.  In  spite  of  warnings 
that  it  was  dangerous  to  go  because  of  Indians,  the  party  pro- 
ceeded. 

It  was  a  beautiful  land  after  they  left  Deadwood  Gulch.  The 
arms  of  the  hills  spread  out,  opening  vistas  of  vast  prairies  of  red 
soil,  shadowed  canyons  and  wooded  hills  in  the  distance.  Spear- 
fish  Creek  was  a  wide,  clear,  rushing  stream  that  watered  the 
broad,  fertile  Spearfish  Valley.  But  they  kept  going.  It  wasn't 
like  Kansas.  Perhaps  because  of  the  somber  warnings  they  were 
unusually  apprehensive  and  the  rugged  beauty  of  the  place  didn't 
appeal  to  them. 

At  Beulah  their  fears  seemed  to  materialize.  They  were  sur- 
rounded by  Indians  who  had  no  intention  of  letting  them  go  fur- 
ther into  their  territory  or  of  permitting  them  to  return  the  way 
they  had  come.  They  had  no  choice  but  to  defend  themselves  the 
best  they  could. 

The  men  hurriedly  put  the  wagons  in  a  ring  and  started  digging 
small  pits  from  which  to  fight  and  a  large  one  where  the  women 
and  children  would  be  safe.  The  Indians  seemed  determined  to 
hold  the  party  there  until  all  either  starved  to  death  or  were  killed. 

They  were  there  almost  a  week.  To  the  women  the  hole  in 
the  ground  became  home.  They  accepted  it  just  as  they  had  all 
the  other  discomforts  and  hardships  of  living  on  the  trail  or  in  a 
camp.  They  had  a  certain  measure  of  security.  Their  men  were 
protecting  them. 

Their  mode  of  living  in  the  hole  had  organization.  There  was 
a  fireplace  in  one  corner  where  they  prepared  meals.  Even  the 
children  had  helped  pick  the  stones  for  this  out  of  the  sides  of 
the  hole.     Their  sleeping  quarters  were  in  another  corner.     In  a 


MAY  NELSON  DOW  9 

third  corner  the  men  dug  a  deeper  hole,  throwing  the  dirt  up  high 
around  it  for  the  accommodation  of  their  physical  needs. 

One  night  toward  the  end  of  the  week  a  rider  managed  to  slip 
out  in  the  darkness  and  get  to  Deadwood  for  help.  A  day  or  two 
later  the  soldiers  came  and  the  Indians  were  driven  away.  After 
such  an  experience  the  people  were  willing  to  concede  that  it  was 
too  dangerous  to  go  on.  They  retraced  their  trail  into  the  peaceful 
Spearfish  Valley  and  stayed  there.  Some  settled  along  the  creek. 
Others  went  into  the  little  town  of  Spearfish. 

With  feelings  of  relief  and  thankfulness  the  Nelsons  read  in 
later  epistles  that  the  wanderers  found  it  a  good  land  in  spite  of 
the  terrifying  and  unhappy  episode  which  had  forced  them  to  stay 
in  it.  So  good  that  they  began  a  written  campaign  urging  the 
Nelsons  over  and  over  to  leave  Kansas  and  come  on  along  to  the 
Black  Hills. 

It  took  twelve  years  of  eloquence  to  dislodge  any  of  the  family 
from  the  Kansas  plains  but  at  last  Alfred  who  had,  perhaps,  in- 
herited a  touch  of  his  father's  restlessness  succumbed  to  the 
temptation  to  go  west  once  more. 

Nancy,  Grandmother  Nelson,  had  died  and  after  several  years 
of  being  lonely  and  living  with  various  members  of  the  family, 
Lloyd  had  married  again.  The  grandchildren  learned  to  call  this 
lady  "Grandma  Ann".  She  and  Lloyd  lived  in  Jamestown,  but 
had,  daringly,  gone  twelve  miles  to  Delphos  to  be  married! 

Alfred  and  Mary's  oldest  daughter,  Nancy,  was  married  by  this 
time  to  Charles  Donielson.  Frank  was  a  young  man  and  already 
working  as  printer's  devil  on  a  newspaper.  May,  Dick  and  Laura 
were  what  we  would  now  classify  as  teenagers — they  were  no 
longer  small  children  but  they  weren't  quite  grown-up,  either. 
Neva  was  still  a  babv  not  much  more  than  a  year  old  when  they 
began  planning  to  leave  and  making  preparations. 

One  of  the  first  arrangements  was  to  see  that  all  unbaptized 
children  were  baptized  for  this  journey  into  a  strange  land.  The 
family  belonged  to  the  First  Christian  Church.  May  (and  prob- 
ably Dick  and  Laura )  were  of  the  group  which  went  solemnly 
down  to  the  river  on  an  early  spring  day.  It  was  not  very  warm. 
There  was  still  some  ice  on  the  river.  Steps  had  been  built  down 
to  the  baptistry  at  the  edge  of  the  water  and  on  these  mothers 
waited  with  blankets.  As  each  child  was  immersed  and  stepped 
out  he  was  wrapped  warmly  and  hurried  home.  Not  a  single  one 
caught  cold  that  day  and  after  baptism  in  such  icy  water  they  felt 
ready  for  anything! 

In  the  spring  of  1888  they  came  by  train  to  Whitewood,  Dakota 
Territory,  which  was  at  that  time  the  end  of  the  railroad.  Frank, 
May,  Dick,  and  Laura  climbed  out  of  the  train  and  stood  close 
to  their  parents  and  the  baby  on  the  station  platform  in  the  land 
of  the  Black  Hills  for  the  first  time.  It  was  more  than  a  thousand 
miles  away  and  many  years  ago  that  Nancy  Collier  had  slid  out  of 


10  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

the  upper  story  window  of  her  childhood  home  to  run  away  with 
the  man  she  loved  and  start  this  family  whose  destiny  was  to  move 
west  as  pioneers.  In  all  the  years  of  living  in  Iowa  and  Kansas 
and  on  the  trails  in  between,  none  of  them  had  ever  seen  anything 
like  these  pine  and  spruce  covered  hills.  The  children  were 
speechless  with  wonder,  especially  May,  who  was  delighted  with 
the  excitement  of  this  new  life.  It  was  a  wonderful  adventure. 
It  was  LIVING,  and  she  knew  that  she  would  never  forget  a 
minute  of  it.  Dick  and  Dot  (which  Laura  was  called  because  she 
was  a  tiny  dot  of  a  girl)  also  were  filled  with  the  wonder  of  be- 
ginning life  on  a  new  frontier.  The  three  of  them  were  old  enough 
to  remember  and  enjoy  everything  that  happened  to  them  and 
young  enough  to  be  unimpressed  by  the  discomforts  and  hard- 
ships which  their  parents  undoubtedly  knew. 

The  stagecoach  which  went  from  Whitewood  to  Spearfish  was 
owned  and  operated  by  a  man  called  Uncle  Harvey.  He  was  an 
exciting  figure  to  the  Nelsons  who  were  amazed  at  the  wildness  of 
his  horses.  He  assured  them  that  everything  was  all  right.  He 
helped  them  into  the  coach  which  they  found  already  occupied  by 
two  men  carrying  carpetbags  and  whose  conversation  indicated  to 
Mrs.  Nelson  that  they  were  Swedes.  Alfred  and  the  boys  decided 
it  was  pretty  crowded  inside  so  they  climbed  up  on  top  with  the 
driver.  Trying  to  be  calm,  Mrs.  Nelson  got  out  the  lunch  basket 
and  prepared  to  feed  the  children  when  suddenly  the  train  whistled 
a  shrill  blast.  The  wheel  horse  reared  and  came  down  astraddle 
of  the  tongue.  The  other  horses  were  nervous  and  jumping  around 
as  if  they  were  standing  in  a  pool  of  hot  water.  Mrs.  Nelson  was 
frightened  but  tried  to  be  merely  polite  as  she  leaned  out  of  the 
window  to  ask,  "Shall  we  get  out?" 

"Just  keep  your  seat,  lady,"  Uncle  Harvey  said  reassuringly, 
"it's  just  that  that  bronc  was  never  hitched  up  till  two  hours  ago!" 

Mrs.  Nelson  smothered  a  gasp  and  shrank  back  inside,  wonder- 
ing what  would  happen  to  all  of  them. 

Within  a  few  minutes  the  men  had  unhitched  the  horses, 
straightened  them  out,  hitched  them  up  again  and  they  were  on 
their  way.  They  went  at  a  dead  run  all  the  eighteen  miles  to 
Spearfish.  By  the  time  they  reached  there,  the  bronc  was  thor- 
oughly "broke". 

As  they  went  around  the  end  of  Deadwood  one  of  the  strange 
men  remarked,  "Py  kolly,  I  don't  see  anyting  gold  in  tose  Hells!" 

May  had  never  heard  an  accent  before  and  it  struck  her  so 
funny  that  she  began  to  giggle.  Her  mother  reprimanded  her 
severely  for  laughing  at  the  oddities  of  others. 

By  the  time  the  Nelsons  arrived  all  the  land  in  the  Spearfish 
Valley  was  taken.  They  farmed  the  Bob  Evans  ranch  near  Charles 
Pettigrew  on  shares  that  first  summer,  but  it  was  not  quite  what 
they  had  hoped  for.     So,  late  in  the  fall  when  news  of  a  coal  dis- 


40 

MAY  NELSON  DOW  1 1 

covery  at  Cambria  in  Wyoming  Territory  reached  Spearfish,  they 
decided  to  seek  their  fortune  on  the  western  edge  of  the  Hills. 

Alfred  went  over  into  the  country,  picked  his  location  and  came 
back,  stopping  at  Sundance,  which  was  at  that  time  the  county 
seat,  to  file  his  claim.  He  bought  an  ox  team  and  wagon  into  which 
they  once  more  packed  all  their  belongings.  It  was  ten  degrees 
below  zero  on  December  12th  as  they  came  down  over  Lookout 
Mountain  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighty-five  mile  journey  to  their 
claim  in  Wyoming  Territory.  The  loaded  wagon  creaked  along 
behind  the  slow  moving  oxen.  No  one  seemed  to  mind  the  cold 
too  much.  Mrs.  Nelson  had  made  long  red  flannel  pants  lined 
with  calico  for  the  girls  to  wear  under  their  dresses! 

They  made  it  to  Beulah  that  first  night  and  stayed  with  the  Tom 
Hewes  family,  remembering,  no  doubt,  what  had  happened  to  the 
Pettigrew  party  there.  By  the  next  night  they  were  in  Sundance 
with  some  of  the  many  Pettigrew  relatives.  Frank,  May's  older 
brother,  decided  to  stay  in  Sundance  and  find  work.  He  was 
immediately  successful.  Judge  Joseph  Stotts  of  the  Sundance 
Gazette  felt  very  fortunate  in  finding  an  assistant  with  even  a  min- 
imum of  experience  in  the  newspaper  business. 

While  it  was  fun  visiting  with  friends  and  relatives  along  the 
way,  nothing  kept  the  travelers  from  pushing  on  each  morning. 
The  third  night  found  them  at  "Cap"  Young's  place.  "Cap"  and 
Mr.  Nelson  did  all  the  visiting  that  night — refighting  the  Civil  War. 

The  fourth  night  they  expected  to  stay  at  a  cabin  that  "Boz" 
Gupton  had  built  between  Sundance  and  Nels  Holwells.  They 
kept  looking  for  it  as  the  day  grew  dark  and  colder  but  it  was 
farther  away  than  they  had  figured.  Two  year  old  Neva  was 
tired  and  couldn't  hold  back  the  tears.  Mrs.  Nelson  comforted  her 
by  saying,  "Don't  cry,  honey,  you'll  have  a  nice  warm  cabin  to  sleep 
in  tonight."  At  last  the  cabin  came  in  sight.  Near  it  was  a  little 
stream  at  which  they  stopped  long  enough  for  Mr.  Nelson  to 
break  the  ice  and  get  water  for  coffee.  When  the  wagon  finally 
stopped  they  climbed  stiffly  out,  went  up  to  the  cabin  and  pushed 
open  the  door — only  to  find  that  another  family  had  found  it 
first — a  mother  skunk  and  two  kittens!  The  mother  protested  the 
disturbance  by  perfuming  the  place  so  suffocatingly  that  no  one 
could  stand  to  stay  in  it.  So,  Neva,  instead  of  a  "nice,  warm 
cabin"  had  a  tarp  for  shelter  that  night  with  a  campfire  in  front 
of  it.    They  were  warm  and  slept  soundly  in  spite  of  mama  skunk. 

The  next  night  they  spent  at  the  Brewer  place  which  later  be- 
longed to  Sirene  Hoist  for  many  years.  May  especially  enjoyed 
being  there  because  the  Brewers  had  a  daughter,  Nellie,  who  was 
about  her  age.  Even  though  they  had  never  seen  each  other 
before  they  had  a  good  visit. 

A  few  hours  of  traveling  the  next  day  brought  them  to  the  land 
on  Oil  Creek  which  was  their  own.     The  country  was  big  and 


12  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

empty.  Oil  Creek  was  a  small  stream  wandering  southward  from 
the  hills  out  into  a  wide,  rolling  plains  country  covered  with  sage- 
brush and  grass  just  now  almost  buried  under  snow.  Sundance, 
five  or  six  days  of  traveling  away,  was  the  nearest  town.  There 
were  a  few  families  on  Beaver  Creek  about  eight  miles  east  and 
there  were  the  LAK  and  the  YT  ranches,  one  five  miles  east  and 
the  other  about  four  miles  north.  Custer,  though  not  quite  as 
far  away  as  Sundance,  was  almost  impossible  to  reach  in  the  winter 
because  of  its  barrier  of  hills  and  deep,  snow-filled  canyons. 

With  them  the  Nelsons  had  a  year's  supply  of  food,  seed  grain 
for  the  spring  planting,  the  ox  team,  a  couple  of  cows,  two  pigs 
and  a  dozen  chickens.  They  needed  shelter  immediately  from  the 
bitter  cold  weather.  Alfred  set  to  work  (with  some  help  from  the 
family)  and  made  a  dugout  in  the  north  bank  of  the  creek  which 
would  have  to  do  them  until  they  were  settled  and  spring  brought 
better  weather  for  getting  out  logs  with  which  to  build  a  cabin. 
He  did  get  a  few  logs  and  small  pines  for  the  front  and  roof  of 
the  dugout  from  the  hills  about  a  mile  away. 

The  room  in  the  bank  was  twelve  feet  square  with  a  great  center 
pole  in  the  middle  which,  with  the  back  wall,  supported  the  ridge 
pole,  a  stout  log  over  twelve  feet  long.  From  the  ridge  pole  to  the 
side  walls  were  laid  shorter  logs  close  together  with  the  small  and 
large  ends  alternating.  Over  these  was  a  thick  layer  of  the  prairie 
grass  and  on  top  of  that  a  good  eighteen  inches  of  dirt.  The 
door  in  the  center  of  the  log  wall  had  a  window  in  it,  the  only 
lighting,  but,  as  May  remembers,  it  was  so  cozy  and  warm  in  the 
dugout  that  the  door  stood  open  most  of  the  time  even  in  the 
winter.  As  it  faced  south,  the  winter  sun  streamed  in  most  of  the 
day. 

The  children  helped  chink  the  log  wall  with  mud  from  the  creek. 
Outside  of  the  front  door  there  was  a  shelf  above  the  creek  which 
was  their  yard. 

Inside  Alfred  drilled  holes  in  the  center  post  and  inserted  pegs 
on  which  to  hang  their  clothes.  Some  very  special  pegs  not  too 
far  from  the  floor  were  for  Neva's  small  things.  They  had  brought 
bedsteads,  a  feather  bed,  a  stove,  pictures  and  an  organ  box  which 
made,  when  fitted  with  shelves,  a  roomy  cupboard.  For  the 
children's  beds  they  stuffed  straw  ticks  with  sweet  dried  grass. 
They  set  up  the  stove  and  Alfred  built  a  woodbox  which  the  chil- 
dren were  instructed  to  keep  filled.  Before  long  he  had  a  table 
made  and  some  chairs  and  benches  which  could  be  pushed  under 
when  not  in  use.  Mrs.  Nelson  had  her  precious  Singer  sewing 
machine,  indispensable  article,  at  the  back  of  the  room  between 
the  beds. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  creek  and  a  few  feet  south  of  the  dug- 
out were  four  or  five  big  boxelder  trees  that  hung  out  over  the 
stream  and  up  over  the  bank.  The  children  found  those  trees 
the  best  of  playhouses.     They  could  climb  the  far  bank  and  walk 


MAY  NELSON  DOW  13 

into  the  trees  on  the  branches.  With  scraps  of  logs  and  lumber 
they  build  a  platform  in  one  of  them — a  tree  house  with  leaves 
for  a  roof. 

It  was  Christmas  by  the  time  they  were  settled  in  the  dugout. 
The  neighbors  at  the  YT  ranch  sent  a  cowboy  with  an  invitation 
to  spend  Christmas  there.  This  was  accepted  with  a  great  deal 
of  pleasure  and  excitement.  Friends  were  all  they  needed  to  make 
their  first  Christmas  in  a  new  land  one  of  perfect  joy. 

One  of  the  highlights  of  their  life  on  Oil  Creek  was  the  visit  of 
the  circuit  rider.  May  has  told  this  story  so  many  times  as  one 
of  her  favorites  that  it  is  quoted  directly  here  from  a  newspaper 
account. 

"One  cold  winter  day  we  spied  him  coming  over  the  snowy 
prairie  from  the  direction  of  Elk  Mountain.  As  he  approached  we 
were  surprised  to  see  a  small  Indian  pony  carrying  a  rider  so  tall 
that  the  man's  feet  were  dragging  in  the  snow.  It  was  Reverend 
Curran,  the  circuit  rider  from  Custer.  He  had  heard  about  th; 
new  families  in  this  region  and  had  come  all  that  way  to  visit  us. 
He  was  a  tall,  dark  man  of  the  Abraham  Lincoln  type,  very  pious, 
deliberate  and  slow.  He  had  an  unusually  long  beard  and  his 
features  were  narrow  and  sharp,  just  a  typical  "long-faced  Presby- 
terian". He  wore  a  broad  black  hat  and  a  frock  coat  and  carried 
a  Bible  under  his  arm  in  the  regular  circuit  rider  style.  Our  visitor 
had  arrived  just  before  dinner,  but  we  had  plenty  of  wild  game 
cooked.  We  made  him  welcome  and  he  stayed  with  us  and  held 
services.  At  night  he  slept  on  the  spare  bed  roll  that  was  laid 
out  on  the  dirt  floor.  The  next  day  he  went  on  to  visit  some  folks 
on  Black  Thunder  Creek,  and  we  watched  him  ride  away  over 
the  prairie,  zigzagging  back  and  forth  to  avoid  the  snow-filled  gul- 
lies. We  never  heard  from  him  after  that  until  we  went  to  Tubb- 
town.  After  Newcastle  was  established  he  came  walking  in  there 
one  day.  He  preached  a  few  sermons  in  the  church,  but  his  views 
were  rather  too  straight-laced.  He  disapproved  of  donations  to 
the  church  by  saloon  keepers,  calling  the  contributions  'blood 
money'.  So  naturally  he  wasn't  very  popular  with  the  people  of 
the  progressive  new  town." 

By  spring  Mr.  Nelson  and  Dick  had  cleared  the  sagebrush, 
greasewood  and  cactus  from  five  acres  of  land.  It  was  easier  to 
clear  the  land  in  winter  when  the  brush  was  brittle  from  cold  and 
broke  off  easily.  They  found  that  the  cattle  relished  cactus  plants 
after  the  spines  had  been  burned  off.  May  helped  with  the  work 
almost  as  much  as  Dick  did.  In  the  spring  when  her  father  broad- 
cast seed  oats  on  the  new  soil,  she  harrowed  them  with  the  ox  team. 
This  was  the  first  stand  of  oats  raised  in  Weston  County,  though 
it  was  still  Crook  County  at  that  time. 

That  spring  also  a  great  roundup  corral  was  built  near  the  ranch. 
Hundreds  of  cowboys  gathered  up  droves  of  cattle  from  all  over 
the  country  and  brought  them  there  to  be  branded.     Many  cow- 


14 


ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 


*    3 


a.    faj 


MAY  NELSON  DOW  15 

boys  came  to  the  Nelson's  place.  Roundup  time  was  a  lively 
season.  The  ruins  of  the  old  corral  may  still  be  seen  and  the 
stout  snubbing  post  that  stood  in  the  center  is  still  there. 

One  day  when  the  weather  was  nice  they  had  company.  Mr. 
M.  J.  Coyle  and  Mr.  Frank  Mondell  rode  over  to  the  dugout  and 
had  dinner  with  the  Nelsons.  Mr.  Coyle  was  a  young  married 
man  with  a  wife  and  two  small  sons  who  were  living  in  the  Bear 
Butte  Valley  over  near  Sturgis.  He  had  land  at  the  foot  of  the 
hills  north  of  the  Nelsons  and  was  building  a  home  there  for  his 
family.  Mr.  Mondell  was  a  single  man,  described  many  years 
later  by  Dot  Nelson  Hart  as  the  "pioneer  heart-throb".  He  had 
been  employed  by  the  Kilpatrick  Brothers  and  Collins,  a  railroad 
construction  firm,  to  look  for  coal  in  this  area  and  had  discovered 
it  in  a  canyon  in  the  hills  to  the  north.  His  interest  in  this  new 
country  was  unbounded  and  his  love  for  it  as  vast  as  the  country 
itself.  That  particular  day,  however,  his  enthusiasm  soared  over 
Mrs.  Nelson's  sour  cream  biscuits.  During  the  visit  Mr.  Nelson 
asked  for  and  was  given  permission  to  get  logs  for  a  cabin  from 
Mr.  Coyle's  land. 

There  was  an  oil  spring  on  this  land,  back  near  the  foot  of 
the  hills.  In  order  to  develop  it,  Mr.  Coyle,  Mr.  Mondell,  Billy 
Fawcett.  Fred  Coates,  Beaver  Creek  ranchers  J.  C.  Spencer  of  the 
LAK  and  perhaps  others  had  formed  the  Eagle  Oil  Co.  They  had 
dug  a  pit  about  six  feet  square  and  made  steps  in  the  dirt  down  into 
one  side  of  it.  The  logs  for  the  cabin  were  to  come  from  the  land 
around  the  oil  pit. 

Mr.  Nelson  dug  a  well  that  spring  before  he  started  on  the 
cabin.  They  needed  a  better  water  supply.  Oil  Creek  water  was 
very  hard  and  almost  impossible  to  use  for  washing,  though  Mrs. 
Nelson  did  use  it.  Her  greatest  hope  was  that  the  water  in  the 
new  well  would  be  soft.  The  children  helped  with  the  digging  at 
first.  When  the  hole  got  deep  they  had  to  make  a  ladder  of  small 
poles  which  they  would  lower  into  the  pit  so  their  father  could 
get  down  to  dig,  then  pull  it  up  with  a  rope  so  he  would  have  room 
to  use  the  pick  and  shovel.  One  morning  when  the  hole  was  about 
twenty  feet  deep  they  had  hardly  pulled  the  ladder  up  and  gone 
off  a  little  way  to  play  when  they  heard  their  father  call,  "Molly, 
oh  Molly,  come  here!" 

Mrs.  Nelson  came  hurrying  out  of  the  dugout  and  the  children 
ran  back  to  the  hole.  Looking  down  they  could  see  that  where 
the  shovel  had  made  the  last  bite  in  the  bottom,  water  was  boiling 
up.  They  hurried  to  put  down  the  ladder  so  the  victorious  digger 
could  bring  his  tools  and  climb  out.  Mrs.  Nelson  sent  one  of  the 
children  to  the  dugout  for  the  wash  pan  and  soap  so  she  could 
see  if  the  water  was  soft.  To  her  delight  it  was.  It  made  a  fine 
lather  when  soap  was  used  in  it,  but  the  next  morning  they  were 
all  dismayed  to  find  that  it  was  just  as  hard  as  the  creek  water 


16  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

and  they  could  only  resign  themselves  to  using  it.     For  the  stock 
they  made  a  watering  trough  out  of  half  a  barrel. 

One  morning  soon  after  this  Mr.  Nelson  and  Dick  took  a  lunch 
and  left  in  the  wagon,  heading  for  the  timber  to  get  out  logs.  A 
little  later  in  the  day  May  rode  her  pony,  Bess,  over  to  see  the 
place.  When  she  arrived  there  were  some  men  there  and  a  big 
wagon  loaded  with  four  great  barrels.  She  watched  while  one  of 
the  men  put  on  high  rubber  boots,  picked  up  a  sort  of  double 
dipper  made  by  nailing  a  kerosene  can  to  either  side  of  a  long, 
narrow  board  and  went  down  the  steps  into  the  oil  pit.  He  filled 
the  dipper  with  oil  and  handed  it  up  to  another  man  who  poured 
it  into  one  of  the  barrels.  They  filled  all  four  this  way.  May 
watched  for  a  long  time,  then  went  to  where  her  father  and  Dick 
were  working.  When  she  asked  Mr.  Nelson  what  they  did  with 
the  gooey  black  stuff  he  told  her  it  was  hauled  to  Lead  City  and 
used  in  the  mines  for  lubrication  and  was  also  mixed  with  pulver- 
ized mica  as  grease  for  wagon  wheels. 

They  made  many  trips  to  the  timber  that  spring,  most  of  them 
uneventful,  but  one  trip  will  never  be  forgotten  by  May  or  Dot. 
not  because  they  went  along,  but  because  they  were  left  at  home. 
The  Nelsons  took  Dick  and  Neva  with  them  one  morning,  leaving 
the  older  girls  home  to  see  that  the  cattle  (milk  cows)  didn't  stray 
and  get  mixed  with  the  range  cattle.  Old  Shep,  the  cattle  dog, 
was  left  to  help  them.  By  evening,  their  parents  not  home  yet, 
the  girls  went  about  getting  ready  for  night.  They  had  shut  up 
the  chickens  and  were  doing  the  chores  when  they  thought  they 
could  hear  voices — dogs  barking  and  children  crying.  It  was 
already  dusk  and  when  the  girls  looked  up  toward  the  divide,  low 
hills  west  of  the  ranch,  they  could  see  little  fires  all  along  the  top 
of  it  and  knew,  to  their  horror,  that  a  party  of  Indians  was  setting 
up  camp.  They  learned  later  that  their  land  lay  nearly  in  the 
path  of  an  old  Indian  trail  used  by  the  Sioux  and  Crow  tribes  as 
they  went  back  and  forth  to  visit  each  other. 

The  girls  were  terrified.  They  took  Shep,  crossed  the  creek  and 
went  up  the  branch  of  the  big  tree  to  the  platform  over  the  stream. 
It  was  completely  hidden  by  the  thick  leaves.  They  sat  down  with 
the  dog  between  them  and  spent  a  good  part  of  the  night  there. 
Once  they  heard  horses  snorting  underneath  and  splashing  in  the 
creek.  Shep  started  to  growl  so  they  held  his  mouth  shut  to  keep 
him  quiet.  Peering  out  through  the  leaves  they  could  barely  make 
out  two  Indian  boys  who,  after  letting  the  ponies  drink,  rode  over 
toward  the  dugout.  They  rode  around  it  several  times,  but  didn't 
seem  to  bother  anything  and  finally  rode  away. 

After  what  seemed  an  endless  time  the  girls  heard  the  chuckle 
of  the  wagon  as  it  came  down  the  trail.  They  got  down  out  of 
the  tree,  still  holding  Shep's  mouth  shut,  and  went  up  the  road 
to  meet  their  parents.     After  hearing  their  story,  Mr.  Nelson  sat 


MAY  NELSON  DOW  17 

up  the  rest  of  the  night  watching,  but  early  in  the  morning  the 
Indians  departed  and  didn't  come  that  way  again. 

They  got  out  all  the  logs  they  needed  that  spring  to  build  a 
large,  two-roomed  cabin,  twelve  by  twenty-eight  feet.  They  had 
made  arrangements  to  have  their  furniture  shipped  from  Kansas 
when  they  were  ready  for  it.  The  nearest  railroad  station  was  at 
Buffalo  Gap  in  Dakota  Territory.  Mr.  Nelson  hitched  the  oxen 
to  the  wagon  one  fine  day,  took  Dick  and  May  with  him  and  went 
after  the  load  of  furniture.  Coming  back  through  HelFs  Canyon 
it  was  rough  going  with  such  a  top  heavy  load,  but  they  had  a  tarp 
over  it  that  was  tied  down  well  and  they  eventually  crawled  up 
out  of  the  steep  rock-sided  canyon  and  brought  everything  safely 
home.  Among  the  articles  of  furniture  was  the  organ  belonging  to 
Nancy,  their  married  daughter,  the  first  to  come  into  this  part  of  the 
country.  For  years  afterward  it  was  an  important  part  of  their 
home  life  and  served  faithfully  at  church  services,  funerals,  wed- 
dings and  dances.  The  box  in  which  it  had  been  shipped  was  made 
into  another  cupboard  for  the  cabin. 

The  railroad  was  crawling  slowly  northward  from  Alliance. 
There  was  much  speculation  as  to  the  course  it  would  take  after 
it  crossed  the  line  into  Wyoming  Territory.  Deloss  Tubbs  of  Cus- 
ter, South  Dakota,  made  a  fairly  shrewd  guess  that  it  would  follow 
the  valley  of  Stockade  Beaver,  turn  west  at  Jenney  Stockade  and 
pass  by  Salt  Creek  near  the  ford  on  the  old  Custer-Belle  Fourche 
trail.  With  this  thought  in  mind  he  started  a  small  settlement  on 
the  east  bank  of  Salt  Creek  where  the  trail  crossed  the  ford.  He 
had  previously  built  a  log  cabin  on  the  west  bank  of  the  creek  as 
a  supply  point  along  the  trail  and  from  here  he  ordered  enough 
lumber  to  build  a  store  from  a  sawmill  on  Stockade  Beaver  a  few 
miles  above  the  Jenney  Stockade.  The  mill,  owned  by  Tom  Sweet, 
Fod  Hansen  and  Davis,  was  powered  by  a  big  water  wheel  in  the 
creek. 

Tubbs1  store  was  scarcely  up  before  another  Custer  business 
man  had  followed  his  example.  F.  R.  Curran  set  up  his  bar  first 
out  in  the  open  and  continued  to  do  business  while  the  building 
was  constructed  around  it. 

Alfred  Nelson,  seeing  an  opportunity  to  establish  himself  as  a 
business  man  as  well  as  a  rancher,  went  to  a  farming  section  of 
Nebraska,  bought  some  milk  cows  and  drove  them  to  Mr.  Tubbs" 
town,  officially  named  Field  City.  Neison  had  obtained  permis- 
sion to  live  in  Tubbs1  two  room  log  cabin  on  the  west  bank  of 
the  creek.  It  was  occupied  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hershan  White  at 
the  time,  so  giving  them  time  to  find  other  accommodations.  Mr. 
Nelson  built  a  temporary  enclosure  for  the  cattle  and  then  went 
to  the  homestead  to  pack  up  his  wife  and  family. 

It  was  a  cold  gloomy  day  that  they  spent  loading  the  wagons. 
Black  clouds  hung  over  the  hills.  Rain  at  the  homestead  was  in- 
termittent and  they  kept  at  their  work  between  showers.     Late 


18  ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 

in  the  afternoon  they  were  ready  but  decided  to  wait  until  morn- 
ing when  perhaps  the  sun  would  be  shining. 

There  were  tears  in  May's  eyes  the  next  morning  as  she  watched 
them  roll  off  over  the  muddy  prairie  into  the  watery  spring  sun- 
shine without  her.  Mrs.  Nelson,  feeling  that  May,  almost  sixteen, 
was  at  a  very  impressionable  age,  had  decided  to  leave  her  on 
the  homestead  with  her  older  sister  Nancy  and  her  young  husband 
who  had  come  from  Kansas  by  covered  wagon  a  few  weeks  before. 
She  and  Alfred  both  knew  that  the  frenzied  activity  of  the  new 
little  town  was  attracting  a  motley  assortment  of  people.  Clean 
honest  business  men  were  rubbing  elbows  with  gamblers,  outlaws 
and  fancy  women — all  hoping  to  reap  large  profits  by  sitting  on 
the  right  of  way  of  the  railroad.  It  was  raw,  bawdy  and  wild. 
They  agreed  that  May,  attractive  and  unspoiled,  should  be  shield- 
ed from  as  much  of  its  wickedness  as  possible.  Dot  and  Neva 
were  not  old  enough  to  be  much  affected  (they  hoped)  and  Dick, 
well,  he  was  a  boy  and  they  felt  they  could  keep  him  busy.  It 
was  hard  for  such  a  close  family  to  be  parted  from  one  child  and 
it  later  must  have  proved  neither  desirable  nor  possible  for  May 
made  many  visits  to  Tubbtown  while  her  parents  lived  there. 

When  the  Nelsons  arrived  at  the  log  cabin  they  found  that  the 
rains  of  the  day  before  had  sent  a  flash  flood  rolling  down  Salt 
Creek  and  the  Whites  were  weltering  in  mud.  The  dirt  roof,  along 
with  many  gallons  of  rain  water,  had  washed  into  the  cabin.  To 
give  the  Whites  a  little  more  time  to  pick  themselves  out  of  the 
mud  and  Alfred  a  chance  to  put  a  new  roof  on  the  cabin,  Mr. 
Tubbs  offered  them  the  use  of  a  tiny  room  back  of  his  store. 

Mary  was  against  staying  there  but  there  was  no  other  place 
to  go.  There  were  saloons  on  both  sides  of  the  place  and  since 
the  building  was  built  of  upright  boards,  loosely  battened,  they 
could  see  the  lights  through  the  cracks  all  night.  Even  worse,  they 
were  regaled  with  drunken  laughter  and  anything  but  genteel  con- 
versation from  the  patrons. 

Early  the  next  morning  the  children  were  awakened  by  shooting, 
shouting  and  the  sound  of  running  horses.  Mr.  Nelson  was  talking 
to  Tubbs.  Mary,  who  was  slicing  bacon  for  breakfast,  started 
toward  the  front  door  to  see  what  was  going  on.  Alfred  got  there 
first  and  called  back  to  her,  "Stay  back,  Molly.  This  is  not  a 
thing  for  women  and  children  to  see!1' 

Mary's  eyes  blazed  with  indignation  as  she  marched  back  into 
the  tiny  room.  With  one  foot  she  kicked  the  crude  pine  door 
shut  and  with  a  violent,  exasperated  gesture  sent  the  long-bladed 
knife  she  was  still  holding  hurtling  across  the  room.  It  stuck  in 
the  wall,  vibrating,  as  she  stood  glaring  at  it  and  breathing  hard. 
Then,  as  though  unconscious  of  the  shocked  and  incredulous  stares 
of  her  three  children,  she  jerked  it  from  the  wall  and  viciously 
attacked  the  side  of  bacon. 

"I  have  never  been  so  furious,"  she  told  Alfred  later.     "To 


CffOQk      COUH T / 


LiHU  Oil  C*^fc-M«r  <*IW 
CmI  C»**fc  «m4 


Courtesy  Elizabeth  J.  Thorpe  and  Mable  E.  Brown 


20  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

think  that  I've  brought  my  children  to  a  place  so  vile  it's  not  even 
safe  to  look  outside!" 

Mr.  Nelson  no  doubt  hurried  with  the  roof,  for  they  moved  into 
the  cabin  across  the  creek  soon  after  that  and  Mary  never  went 
into  town  unless  it  was  absolutely  necessary.  Alfred  sold  miik, 
cream  and  butter  to  the  steadily  increasing  citizenry. 

How  the  women  learned  that  Mrs.  Nelson  was  a  skilled  seams- 
tress was  a  puzzle,  but  one  day  one  of  them  approached  Alfred 
about  his  wife  making  some  dresses  for  them. 

Mary  was  horrified,  but  since  they  really  needed  the  extra 
money,  she  unbent,  only  however,  to  the  extent  that  she  would 
sew  anything  they  cut  and  sent  over  by  Alfred.  She  would  not 
have  them  coming  to  her  house.  So,  when  he  delivered  the  milk 
in  town  he  gathered  up  the  bundles  of  materials.  Mary  stitched  it 
up,  sent  it  back  and  was  always  well  pleased  with  the  prompt  and 
generous  payment.  Once  one  of  the  women  tripped  across  the 
bridge  and  invaded  Mary's  privacy  further.  Mary  sent  the  chil- 
dren to  play  in  the  pines  behind  the  cabin  until  "that  woman" 
left,  did  the  work  requested  of  her  and  afterward  scrubbed  her 
hands  and  arms  as  if  she'd  been  up  to  her  eblows  in  deadly  poison. 

The  name,  Field  City,  descriptive  of  the  town's  location  on  a 
comparatively  level  flat  between  the  hills  and  the  creek,  was  soon 
lost  in  the  wild,  haphazard  bustle  of  the  place  and  evolved  almost 
immediately  into  Tubbtown.  It  had  grown  adjacent  to  Tubb's  and 
Curran's  places  of  business,  straddling  the  old  trail  that  ran  east 
and  west  along  the  foot  of  the  hills. 

By  July  1st  in  addition  to  these  and  the  milk  ranch  almost  every 
kind  of  business  was  represented:  a  dry  goods  store  run  by  Leo 
Roderick,  a  small  drug  store,  two  restaurants,  one  run  by  a  Mr. 
Babcock,  a  post  office,  three  saloons,  gambling  halls  and  dance 
halls  and  a  roofed  counter  where  meat  was  sold  after  being  killed 
and  dressed  on  the  open  range. 

Frank  Nelson,  then  eighteen  years  of  age,  was  sent  over  from 
Sundance  by  his  employer,  Judge  Stotts,  to  start  a  paper,  the  Field 
City  Journal  or  Stockade  Journal.  He  came  on  horseback,  carry- 
ing with  him  a  cigar  box  full  of  tvpe  wrapped  in  his  slicker  and  a 
small,  hand-operated  army  cylinder  printing  press  tied  on  behind 
his  saddle.  He  set  up  his  business  in  the  building  nearest  the 
creek  on  the  south  side  of  the  trail  and  proceeded  to  get  his  paper 
out.  He  found  that  the  noise  and  other  disturbances  of  Tubbtown 
which  never  let  up,  night  or  day,  so  distracted  him  that  he  occa- 
sionally took  to  the  hills  to  do  his  writing  in  a  clump  of  pines. 
While  he  was  ad  man,  editor  and  back  shop  man,  he  taught  his 
sisters,  Dot,  and  May,  when  she  was  there,  to  set  type  and  be 
"printers  devils".  They  learned  to  spread  ink  onto  a  marble  slab 
and  work  it  smoothly  over  the  surface  with  a  tool  similar  to  a 
rolling  pin.  Then  they  passed  the  roller  lightly  over  the  type  in 
the  form,  laid  the  paper  on,  pulled  a  lever  and  made  the  impres- 


MAY  NELSON  DOW  21 

sion.  The  sheets  were  small,  about  the  size  of  typing  paper.  Only 
one  sheet  could  be  printed  at  a  time.  In  this  way  they  printed 
the  first  paper  in  what  was  to  be  Weston  County.  It  came  out  in 
time  to  chronicle  the  first  and  only  political  rally  in  Tubbtown. 
Frank  Mondell  was  running  for  state  representative  and  a  lot  of 
the  "boys"  were  beating  the  drum  for  him.  This  was  in  late  Au- 
gust. In  the  second  edition  published  the  first  week  in  Septembsr, 
1  889,  the  big  news  was  of  the  lots  that  would  go  on  sale  September 
10th  in  the  town  of  Newcastle  at  the  mouth  of  Cambria  Canyon 
where  the  railroad  would  meet  the  spur  to  the  mines.  The  rail- 
road had  swung  west  of  Beaver  Creek  Valley  and  missed  Tubb- 
town by  two  miles! 

The  few  real  families  in  Tubbtown  lived  as  far  away  as  they 
could  from  the  turmoil  of  the  business  places — mostly  on  the  west 
side  of  the  stream.  The  children  were  kept  strictly  to  their  side 
by  eagle-eyed  mothers.  Still,  regardless  of  age,  they  could  not 
have  been  unaware  of  the  gaudy  life  going  on  just  across  the  way. 
They  were  taught  to  fall  to  the  floor,  according  to  May  Nelson, 
if  any  shooting  started,  particularly  if  they  happened  to  be  in  a 
tent  house  where  the  floors  and  part  of  the  sides  were  of  boards 
and  the  upper  half  of  the  sides  and  the  roof  were  of  canvas.  More 
than  once  the  wild  shots  of  the  gamblers  ripped  through  canvas. 
No  one,  however,  was  ever  killed  in  Tubbtown. 

Hershon  and  Addie  White  had  put  up  a  tent  house  across  the 
creek  from  the  Nelsons,  but  back  behind  the  point  of  the  hill, 
a  location  which  put  part  of  the  hill  between  them  and  the  main 
part  of  town.  The  ladies  could  wave  to  each  other  if  they  hap- 
pened to  be  out  of  doors  at  the  same  time.  Mrs.  White  was  a 
sweet  and  delicate  little  lady  with  a  pronounced  lisp.  She  and 
Mary  Nelson  had  much  in  common.  Like  Mary,  Addie  was  also 
a  seamstress  and  had  been  pressed  into  service  by  the  dance  hall 
girls.  Neither  of  them  liked  the  way  in  which  their  customers 
earned  their  living.  They  were  respectable  women  with  an  earnest 
desire  to  combat  the  wickedness  surrounding  them.  The  only 
other  family  with  children  were  the  McLaughlins,  so  Mrs.  White 
and  Mrs.  Nelson  organized  a  Sunday  School  in  the  Nelson's  cabin, 
attended  by  six  McLaughlins  and  four  Nelsons.  Occasionally 
Reverend  Curran  from  Custer  would  come  to  direct  the  Sunday 
School  and  hold  services  for  the  adults  as  well. 

One  of  the  few  times  Mrs.  Nelson  deviated  from  her  resolve  to 
never  step  foot  on  the  other  side  of  the  creek  was  on  May's  six- 
teenth birthday.  For  both  it  turned  out  to  be  a  most  memorable 
occasion.  She  had  decided  that,  as  May  had  reached  the  status 
of  a  young  lady,  it  was  high  time  she  was  corseted.  Although 
May  was  slender  as  a  reed  and  felt  she  not  only  didn't  need  a 
corset  but  didn't  want  one,  her  mother  insisted.  It  is  possible 
that  she  thought  the  corset  would  restrain  May's  free  and  torn- 


22  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

boyish  ways.  The  same  thought  had  occurred  to  May.  Her 
protests  were  many.  She  acted  like  a  lady — her  mother  had  seen 
to  that.  But  she  loved  the  outdoors  and  her  pony.  She  had  helped 
her  father  with  his  work  too  long  to  want  to  be  confined  like  a 
lady.  The  argument  which  probably  defeated  her  was,  "But 
Mother,  I  can't  run  and  jump  on  Bess  if  I  have  to  wear  a  corset!" 
Her  mother  was  adamant.  They  proceeded  to  Tubbtown  for 
this  rather  dubious  birthday  gift. 

March  19,  1889,  was  a  warm  spring  day.  The  rutted  trail  and 
the  raw  board  buildings  lay  bathed  in  sunshine.  While  May  was 
still  objecting  to  the  idea  of  the  corset  she  couldn't  help  being 
happily  aware  of  her  surroundings  as  they  climbed  out  of  the 
wagon  and  walked  across  the  footbridge  to  the  general  store. 

Mr.  Roderick,  a  plump  man,  was  asleep  on  the  rough  board 
counter,  his  head  on  a  couple  of  feather  pillows  he  had  for  sale. 
His  round  stomach  rose  and  fell  as  he  breathed  and  from  his 
open  mouth  issued  peaceful  but  mighty  snores.  To  May's  alarm, 
there  were  flies  buzzing  around  his  head  in  the  warm  atmosphere 
of  the  shack.  With  each  deep  inhalation  they  seemed  drawn  to- 
ward the  moist,  pink  abyss.  She  watched,  fascinated,  as  they 
stood  there,  not  knowing  just  how  to  make  him  aware  of  their 
presence. 

When  he  finally  heard  them — or  sensed  their  proximity — he 
rolled  off  the  counter  a  bit  sheepishly,  smoothed  down  his  heavy 
blonde  hair  and  inquired  politely  what  he  could  do  for  the  ladies? 

Mrs.  Nelson  said  she'd  like  to  see  one  of  the  corsets  he  had  on 
the  shelf.  He  had  two  boxes  of  them  which  he  took  down,  lifted 
out  a  corset,  unwound  it,  all  with  a  very  solemn  face,  and  held 
it  out  awkwardly  for  them  to  inspect.  May  was  embarrassed  be- 
yond words,  but  no  more  so  than  was  he.  She  thought  she  had 
never  seen  such  an  enormous  garment — -even  the  strings  reminded 
her  of  lariat  ropes! 

While  Mrs.  Nelson  was  admiring  it  and  May  was  trying  to  pre- 
tend that  this  wasn't  happening  to  her,  a  freight  outfit  rumbled  to 
a  stop  in  front  of  the  store.  The  humdrum  air  of  the  place  was 
suddenly  charged  with  excitement.  Through  the  open  door  they 
could  see  the  big  freight  wagon  and  hear  the  voices  of  other  store- 
keepers along  the  street.    May  caught  the  mumble  of  a  deep  voice 

saying,  "By ,  that's  Calamity  Jane!"  and  about  the  same  time 

she  saw  a  woman  swing  down  from  the  high  seat.  There  was  a 
flash  of  booted  feet  and  black-stockinged  legs  under  a  full,  rusty 
brown  skirt  of  some  heavy  material  that  caught  on  the  wagon 
wheel.  The  woman  swore  as  she  snatched  the  skirt  loose  and  came 
on  in  the  store.  She  gave  the  impression  of  bigness  with  her 
attitude  of  taking  command.  Her  eyes  swept  the  entire  store  at 
a  glance — customers,  proprietor  and  the  contents  of  the  shadowed 
shelves.     Her  gaze  was  caught  and  held  by  the  one  spot  of  color 


MAY  NELSON  DOW  23 

in  the  place — a  bolt  of  bright  pink  china  silk.  As  she  demanded 
to  see  it  May  half  shrunk  behind  her  mother,  amazed  that  she  was 
looking  at  Calamity  Jane,  and  a  little  afraid,  too,  though  why, 
she  didn't  know.  Mr.  Roderick  obligingly  brought  the  bolt  down 
from  the  shelf  and  held  it  up  off  the  counter  so  the  delicate  silk 
wouldn't  catch  on  the  rough  boards.  He  rippled  out  about  a  yard 
of  it  so  she  could  behold  its  beauty.  Her  eyes  snapped.  Turning 
to  Mrs.  Nelson  she  said,  "Lady,  don't  you  think  that  would  make  a 
pretty  wrapper?" 

"It  surely  would."  Mrs.  Nelson  answered. 

"How  much  do  you  think  it  would  take?" 

"That  would  depend  on  how  you  wanted  to  make  it,"  Mary  told 
her. 

"I  want  it  with  Watteau  pleats  and  a  stand  up  collar,"  the  wo- 
man said  dreamily,  " — real  full." 

Mrs.  Nelson  thought  a  moment.  "In  that  case  it  would  take 
about  fifteen  yards,"  she  said. 

So,  Calamity  Jane  bought  fifteen  yards  of  the  silk  and  strode 
out  of  the  store  with  her  package,  apparently  enjoying  her  sur- 
prised audience,  yet  at  the  same  time  ignoring  it.  May,  remem- 
bering the  boots  as  Calamity  Jane  had  vaulted  from  the  wagon, 
couldn't  help  picturing  them  protruding  from  the  folds  of  pink 
silk  and  the  vivid  pink  ruff  framing  the  brown,  weather-beaten 
and  somewhat  sunburned  face.  She  smothered  a  giggle.  After- 
wards when  asked  how  Calamity  Jane  looked  she  said,  "I  had 
often  heard  it  said  that  Calamity  Jane  was  mannish  in  voice  and 
manner  but  she  did  not  impress  me  as  being  so  masculine  appear- 
ing. She  was  medium  in  height  with  a  rawboned  look  and  a  skin 
so  tanned  and  weather-worn  that  it  looked  like  leather." 

They  watched  while  Calamity  Jane  returned  to  her  perch  on 
the  freight  wagon,  cracked  her  long  bull  whip  over  the  backs  of 
the  leaders,  and  slowly  continued  her  wabbling,  creaking  course 
down  the  road. 

May  hoped  that  her  mother  had  been  distracted  from  the  awful 
corset,  but  not  so.  Mrs.  Nelson  returned  her  attention  to  the  ar- 
ticle and  purchased  it  for  $1.50.  Vowing  silently  that  she'd  not 
wear  the  thing  unless  her  mother  was  around,  May  didn't  say  a 
word.  She  was  afraid  her  mother  would  remember  her  giggle 
and  reprimand  her.     After  all,  it  was  her  birthday. 

Dick,  who  was  fourteen  by  this  time,  was  in  Tubbs'  store  one 
day  when  "Club-foot  Bill",  the  proprietor  of  a  five  stool  lunch 
counter  in  the  back  end  of  Blackwell's  saloon,  came  into  the 
store  to  make  a  purchase.  Seeing  a  boy  standing  at  the  counter, 
he  said,  "Son,  you  are  the  fellow  I'm  looking  for.  I  need  some- 
one to  help  wash  dishes  and  sweep  out.  I'll  pay  you  three  dollars 
a  week  and  give  you  board  and  room.     You  can  use  my  bed. 


24  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

I  don't  need  it — I  cook  all  day  and  play  poker  all  night.  What 
do  you  say?" 

Dick  explained  that  he  would  like  the  job  but  would  have  to 
have  his  parents'  permission. 

"Get  it  then,"  said  Bill.  And  Dick  took  off  like  a  jack  rabbit 
for  the  cabin  across  the  creek.  It  took  some  consideration  and 
discussion  but  at  last  Dick  was  allowed  to  accept  the  job.  He 
found  that  his  other  duties  were  to  peel  the  spuds,  serve  the  ham, 
hot  cakes  and  coffee — no  tea.  All  the  men  were  he-men  and 
there  were  few  women. 

Dick  paid  strict  attention  to  his  work  and  offered  the  ultimate 
in  courtesy  to  each  customer.  This  brought  another  offer  of  em- 
ployment. Hunter  Bowen,  the  foreman  of  the  Kilpatrick  Broth- 
ers and  Collins  sawmill  came  in  to  the  saloon  one  day  to  get 
(of  course)  a  cup  of  coffee.  After  being  served  so  well  by  Dick 
he  offered  the  boy  a  place  as  kitchen  and  dining  room  "mechanic' 
at  the  mill  at  $6.00  per  week  and  room  and  board.  The  astound- 
ing offer,  after  more  discussion  with  his  parents,  was  accepted. 
After  Dick  worked  there  a  while  he  was  promoted  to  work  in  the 
mill  itself,  feeding  the  lath  machine.  From  there  he  was  sent  up 
to  Cambria  where  the  mines  were  being  opened.  There  his  first 
job  was  to  carry  hand  tools  and  drills  from  Davey  Forbes,  the 
blacksmith,  to  the  miners  driving  the  first  entry  on  the  Antelope 
side  of  the  canyon.  His  next  job  was  helping  K.  O.  Hurt,  the  first 
commissary  man  and  timekeeper,  in  various  ways,  such  as  sizing 
the  pine  logs  cut  from  the  canyon  sides  to  be  used  to  build  the 
first  tipple  for  loading  the  railroad  cars.  He  also  helped  in  the 
commissary,  selling  the  men  tobacco,  cotton  sox,  underwear  (red), 
gloves,  overalls,  snuff,  hard  water  soap,  Carter's  Little  Liver  Pills, 
Castor  Oil,  and  Perry  Davis'  Pain  Killer,  as  well  as  other  staples. 

Next  he  was  transferred  as  a  clerk  to  the  first  KB&C  commis- 
sary in  Newcastle  the  day  the  town  lots  were  put  on  sale  there. 
Harry  Clark  was  in  charge  of  the  Commissary.  Later  Dick 
worked  under  Walter  Schoonmaker  in  commissaries  at  Minne- 
kahta,  Moorcroft  and  Gillette  when  those  places  were  at  the  rails' 
end.  He  also  served  Frank  Mondell  when  he  was  State  Senator 
and  for  as  long  as  he  managed  the  Kilpatrick  business  interests 
in  Northeastern  Wyoming. 

In  1895  Dick  succumbed  to  his  fascination  for  the  railroad  and 
went  to  work  for  the  Burlington  and  Missouri  and  spent  the  next 
forty-five  consecutive  years  on  the  "Burlington  Lines".  He  re- 
tired on  November  1,  1939. 

With  Dick  employed,  May  was  evidently  allowed  to  stay  in 
Tubbtown  part  of  the  summer.  In  her  own  words  she  tells: 
"From  our  house  in  the  trees  we  could  easily  see  without  any 
special  observation  the  wickedness,  wretchedness  and  many  strange 
things  that  went  on  in  the  town.  There  were  three  saloons  and 
several  dance  halls  and  gambling  dens.     A  band  of  some  thirty 


MAY  NELSON  DOW  25 

or  forty  sporting  women  lived  around  the  saloons.  There  were 
Big  Maude,  Old  Humpy,  Jimmy  the  Tough  and  dozens  of  others. 
Jimmy  the  Tough  was  a  pretty  little  thing,  reckless  and  wild.  One 
time  we  saw  her  run  from  a  saloon  half  clad  in  a  chemise  and 
leap  onto  the  back  of  a  bronc  that  belonged  to  some  cowboy.  She 
raced  around  through  the  timber  for  a  while  and  then  rode  back 
to  the  saloon.  No  doubt  she  had  taken  a  dare  to  ride  the  wild 
horse.  It  was  a  frequent  sight  to  see  a  group  of  these  girls,  clad 
only  in  their  birthday  suits,  bathing  in  Salt  Creek.  People  of  all 
classes  flocked  to  this  region  and  rubbed  shoulders  in  the  new 
settlement." 

During  the  late  summer  grading  had  been  going  on  at  the  site 
of  Newcastle  for  both  the  town  and  the  railroad.  By  September 
10th  the  lots  were  all  laid  out  and  went  on  sale.  Most  of  the 
people  of  Tubbtown  had  been  waiting  for  this  moment  and  were 
prepared  to  move  when  the  day  arrived.  With  the  inhabitants 
of  Tubbtown  moving  en  masse,  Newcastle  seemed  to  spring  up 
overnight.  In  May's  words,  "The  people  scurried  back  and  forth 
like  ants."  According  to  Dick  Nelson  one  of  the  saloons  "knocked 
out  the  whole  front  of  the  building  that  housed  it,  loaded  the  back- 
bar  and  bar  on  the  running  gears  of  a  heavy  wagon  and  started 
for  its  new  place  of  hope.  The  bartender  served  drinks  all  the 
way  to  those  on  horseback.  When  the  'four  up'  was  stopped  to 
'blow',  the  driver  got  his  chance  to  'lift  one\  The  bar  was  taken 
to  the  lot  in  Newcastle  where  the  bank  now  stands  (now  Newcastle 
Men's  Store),  unloaded,  blocked  and  leveled  up  and  service  never 
stopped  while  its  new  covering  was  being  constructed.  .  .  .  The 
teamster  and  bartender  of  the  moving  job  bragged  that  not  a  glass 
was  broken  or  cracked  and  not  a  drop  spilled  in  this  .  .  .  transition." 

Mr.  Nelson  moved  the  milk  ranch  to  the  west  side  of  Newcastle. 
He  built  a  log  house  there  about  where  the  Sioux  Refinery  is  now. 
He  was  made  the  first  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

While  Alfred  was  busy  with  the  ranch  and  meting  out  justice 
to  the  townsfolk,  Mary  was  no  less  busy.  She  had  officiated  at 
the  birth  of  the  only  child  born  in  Tubbtown,  William  Hough, 
son  of  one  of  Mr.  Curran's  saloon  employees.  So,  it  was  fitting 
that  only  a  few  nights  after  the  exodus  from  Tubbtown  the  first 
child  born  in  Newcastle  made  his  appearance  with  Mary  Nelson 
in  attendance  in  a  tiny  room  back  of  the  Meyer  Frank  dry  goods 
store  where  the  father,  George  M.  Durett,  was  a  clerk.  The 
mother,  Cora,  was  formerly  of  Sundance.  In  Mrs.  Nelson's  per- 
sonal reminiscences  she  tells  of  that  night: 

"Next  door  to  the  dry  goods  store  stood  the  famous — and  in- 
famous— Jimmy  Wheeler's  dance  hall  and  saloon.  Sounds  from 
there  came  clearly  through  the  flimsy  board  walls.  Sometime 
during  the  night  some  one  of  the  hilarious  crowd  next  door  called 
for  a  song  from  a  woman  known  as  'Old  Dode'  whose  beautiful 


26  ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 

voice  was  a  drawing  card  for  the  resort.     The  raucous  music  was 
stilled  and  the  lovely  voice  rang  out  in  the  refrain: 

There  was  no  one  to  welcome  me  home. 
No  one  to  welcome  me  home, 
God  in  his  mercy  will  answer  and  say, 
There  was  no  one  to  welcome  me  home.'  ' 

When  Newcastle  was  a  few  weeks  old  a  diphtheria  epidemic 
took  the  lives  of  several  people,  most  of  them  children.  The 
Nelson's  little  Neva,  who  was  three,  caught  it.  In  spite  of  Mrs. 
Nelson's  constant  care  she  died.  Some  of  the  boys  who  worked 
on  the  ranch  built  a  little  coffin.  May  helped  her  mother  line 
it  with  a  sheet.  They  laid  her  out  as  nicely  as  they  could  and  held 
the  funeral  the  next  afternoon,  a  mild  day  in  November.  They 
took  the  little  casket  out  in  the  yard  for  the  services.  About 
twenty-five  friends  and  neighbors  had  gathered,  but  everyone  was 
so  afraid  of  the  disease  that  they  preferred  not  to  be  shut  up  in  a 
house  which  they  thought  contained  it. 

As  the  last  prayer  was  said  a  tall,  handsome  stranger  stepped 
forward  and  laid  a  lovely  American  Beauty  rose  on  the  casket. 
This  man  afterward  became  well  known  to  them  as  a  prominent 
Newcastle  attorney. 

They  buried  the  child  in  a  sheltered  spot  in  the  pines  not  far 
from  the  house.  Soon  after  the  funeral  Mrs.  Nelson  went  to  the 
house  of  a  neighbor  to  nurse  the  twin  girls  there  who  were  also 
sick  with  diphtheria.  Both  of  these  children  died,  too,  and  were 
laid  beside  the  Nelson  baby.  Later  when  the  second  cemetery  was 
made  ready  in  Newcastle,  the  bodies  of  all  three  children  were 
removed  to  it. 

May  said  years  later,  "When  I  remember  that  sad  and  difficult 
time,  I  realize  that  we  experienced  some  of  the  hardships  of  real 
pioneering  as  well  as  the  elation  of  being  among  the  first  in  a 
new  country." 

There  was  work  to  be  done  everywhere.  Mr.  Nelson  had  his 
office  as  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  a  building  on  Seneca  Street,  just 
off  Warren  Avenue  or  Main  Street.  The  family  had  living  quar- 
ters there  also  for  a  while.  These  were  separated  from  the  office 
by  heavy  curtains.  May  helped  at  the  ranch  part  of  the  time, 
washing  the  big  milk  cans,  a  job  she  detested.  She  found  work 
at  a  restaurant  run  by  several  women  in  Newcastle.  This  she 
liked  very  much.  The  women  were  very  kind,  good  people  and 
liked  May,  although  her  mother  never  really  approved,  and  felt 
that  May  was  associating  with  all  sorts  of  unsavory  characters. 
Mary  Nelson  was  expecting  another  child,  so  May  spent  some 
time  helping  her,  too.  She  was  boarding  several  young  men  at 
the  time  and  needed  help  during  the  dinner  hours. 

May  was  a  popular  young  lady  and  took  an  active  part  in  the 


MAY  NELSON  DOW  27 

town's  social  activities.  Dick  called  her  a  "willowy  town  marti- 
net". She  represented  one  of  Wyoming's  counties  in  the  long  and 
colorful  parade  which  celebrated  Wyoming's  admission  to  the 
Union  in  1890  and  Weston  County's  organization. 

When  the  Newcastle  City  Hall  was  completed  in  1891  a  Grand 
Ball  was  held.  May  was  chosen  to  lead  the  grand  march  with 
the  town's  handsome  young  mayor,  Frank  Mondell.  She  is  still 
proud  that  she  was  asked  to  do  this,  for  not  only  was  Mr.  Mondell 
an  outstanding  citizen  and  the  Mayor  of  Newcastle,  but  he  was 
Weston  County's  first  representative  to  Wyoming's  first  State  Leg- 
islature and  later  was  for  twenty-six  years  Wyoming's  sole  repre- 
sentative in  Congress.  He  was  the  kind  of  young  man  who  caused 
much  heart  fluttering  among  the  young  ladies,  too,  but  was,  for 
the  most  part,  unaware  of  his  effect  on  them. 

May  wore  to  the  ball  a  lovely  gown  of  white  muslin  with  inser- 
tion at  the  neck,  wrists  and  hem  that  was  laced  with  black  velvet. 
She  knew  she  looked  especially  lovely  and  was  dancing  in  the 
clouds  when  she  was  jolted  suddenly  back  to  earth.  Someone 
had  stepped  on  her  beautiful  dress  and  torn  a  three  cornered  hole 
in  it! 

Terribly  disheartened,  May  retired  to  the  ladies'  room  to  esti- 
mate the  damage  and  see  if  repairs  could  be  made.  If  not,  she 
felt  she  would  have  to  leave — a  major  disaster  on  a  night  which 
had  begun  so  wonderfully. 

But  Mrs.  Kilpatrick  came  to  the  rescue  with  a  little  mulatto 
maid  she  had  brought  with  her  from  the  "big  house  on  the  hill". 
The  girl's  dark  fingers  mended  the  tear  so  deftly  that  it  could  not 
be  seen  and  May  returned  to  the  ballroom  and  a  memorable  eve- 
ning. In  1 959  May's  niece  wore  the  white  dress  when  Newcastle 
celebrated  her  70th  anniversary. 

While  May  was  growing  up  in  Kansas  and  experiencing  the 
wonders  of  a  pioneer  life  on  Oil  Creek  and  in  Tubbtown,  a  young 
man  was  growing  up  in  Red  Cloud,  Nebraska. 

Charles  Dow,  born  February  29,  1868,  was  the  son  of  George 
W.  Dow  and  Fannie  Walters  Dow.  His  parents  had  come  from 
the  east  to  Iowa  and  had  met  and  married  there.  George  Dow 
was  a  blacksmith.  He  worked  at  this  trade  in  West  Union,  Iowa 
until  1884  when  he  took  his  family  to  Red  Cloud.  There  he 
became  City  Treasurer  and  remained  in  this  office  nearly  all  of 
the  years  while  Charles  was  growing  up.  In  1887  Charles  grad- 
uated from  high  school  and  learned  the  carpenter  trade.  He 
worked  in  Red  Cloud  until  1889  when  he  became  twenty-one.  At 
this  time  his  father  said  to  him,  "Son,  you're  twenty-one  years  of 
age  and  it's  time  to  get  out  on  your  own." 

Charles  thought  this  over.  He  inquired  around  about  the  new 
country  opening  up  farther  west  and  decided  that  his  future  lay 
in  that  direction. 

When  the  first  train  came  into  Newcastle  on   November    1 8. 


28  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

1889,  Charles  Dow  with  his  suitcase  in  one  hand  and  his  tool 
chest  in  the  other  alighted  from  it.  He  looked  up  the  dreary, 
rutted  expanse  of  Warren  Avenue  (Main  Street)  and  knew  that  he 
had  come  to  the  right  place.  There  was  much  to  be  done  here. 
This  place  needed  him. 

Looking  for  a  place  to  live  was  a  hopeless  task.  People  had 
made  temporary  homes  in  the  backs  of  their  business  houses. 
They  lived  in  tents,  tent-houses  and  even  dugouts  in  the  banks 
of  Little  Oil  Creek  (Coal  Creek  or  Cambria  Creek).  No  one 
had  a  place  for  a  young  man.  There  wasn't  a  hotel  yet.  Inevi- 
tably he  met  Judge  Nelson  on  the  street  and  his  problem  was 
solved.  Alfred  took  him  to  their  temporary  quarters  behind  the 
office. 

May  remembers  peeking  out  from  behind  the  heavy  curtains 
and  seeing  Charles  Dow  for  the  first  time.  She  thought  what  a 
nice  appearing  young  man  he  was  and  was  very  pleased  when  he 
joined  the  other  young  men  who  boarded  with  Mrs.  Nelson. 

Charles  had  no  trouble  finding  work.  Store  buildings  were 
going  up  as  fast  as  the  bricks  could  be  dried  in  the  brickyard  kiln 
run  by  Tom  Howie  and  lumber  could  be  hauled  from  the  sawmills 
up  Cambria  Canyon  and  out  on  Beaver  Creek.  When  he  wasn't 
working  on  business  houses  he  was  building  residences.  Many  of 
the  oldest  houses  in  Newcastle  today  were  built  all  or  in  part  by 
Charles  Dow. 

At  the  Nelson's  he  was  happy.  He  had  never  lived  any  place 
but  at  home  and  this  was  as  much  like  home  as  it  could  be.  Mrs. 
Nelson  was  an  excellent  cook.  And  then,  there  was  May.  Sweet- 
ly sixteen,  she  was  the  prettiest  girl  he  had  ever  seen.  After  a 
very  little  while  Charles  knew  she  was  the  only  girl  for  him.  He 
sought  out  her  father  to  see  how  he  would  feel  about  having  his 
daughter  courted  by  a  newcomer  and  was  encouraged  when  both 
Judge  and  Mrs.  Nelson  approved  of  him.  A  few  months  later  he 
knew  that  he  must  confront  May  with  a  declaration  of  his  love 
and  a  proposal  of  marriage. 

He  cornered  her  late  one  evening  in  the  parlor.  She  was  curled 
up  on  the  sofa  reading  by  lamplight.  He  pulled  up  a  little  folding 
rocker  that  had  come  from  Kansas  close  to  May  and  sat  down. 
She  was  both  thrilled  and  startled  when  he  began  pouring  out  his 
love  and  affection  for  her,  but  became  apprehensive  as,  the  more 
nervous  he  became  in  trying  to  convince  her,  the  closer  he  sat  on 
the  edge  of  the  chair.  While  trying  hard  to  appreciate  what  this 
wonderful  young  man  was  saying.  May  was  impishly  fascinated 
by  what  she  knew  was  bound  to  happen.  She  sat  there  speechless 
and  entranced,  but  helpless.  Suddenly  the  chair  folded  and 
Charles  went  over  into  May's  lap!  Before  either  of  them  could 
recover,  Mrs.  Nelson  stood  in  the  doorway  in  her  long-sleeved, 
high-necked  nightie.  One  look  at  the  folded  rocker  and  Charles 
with  his  head  in  May's  lap  told  her  what  had  caused  the  commo- 


MAY  NELSON  DOW 


29 


tion.     She  began  to  laugh  so  hard  that  all  they  could  do  was  join 
her. 

Such  a  proposal  could  only  be  accepted.      May   Nelson   and 
Charles  Dow  were  married  on  October  11,  1891.     The  ceremony 


Charles  W.  Dow 


May  Nelson  Dow 


First  Couple  in  Newcastle  to  be  married  by  an  ordained  minister,  the  Rev. 
Arnold  Lutton,  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  Oct.  11,  1891. 

Courtesy  Elizabeth  J.  Thorpe  and  Mabel  E.  Brown 


30  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

was  performed  in  May's  home  by  the  Reverend  Arnold  Lutton, 
a  minister  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  While  Alfred,  Judge  Nelson, 
had  performed  other  marriages,  May  and  Charles  were,  as  far  as 
is  known,  the  first  young  couple  to  be  married  by  a  minister  in 
Newcastle. 

At  first  they  had  a  little  house  out  in  the  country,  but  they 
bought  a  lot  on  Winthrop  Street  near  the  Episcopal  Church  which 
was  at  that  time  still  in  the  planning  stage.  Charles  started  build- 
ing their  house.  They  had  chosen  this  particular  lot  because  it 
was  on  the  edge  of  a  deep  hollow  and  would  require  very  little 
excavation.  Even  so  it  took  many  months  to  build  because  they 
could  only  work  on  it  evenings,  holidays  and  Sundays.  May 
didn't  do  much  carpenter  work,  just  helped  in  any  way  she  could. 
When  their  first  daughter,  Pearl,  was  born  August  19,  1892  in 
the  front  bedroom  of  this  house  it  still  was  not  quite  finished. 
They  had  lived  in  it  for  some  time,  however.  May  could  look 
out  of  her  windows  and  see  Charles  working  on  the  church  win- 
dows. He  did  not  have  the  contract  for  the  church  but  had  been 
hired  to  work  on  it. 

Charles  supported  his  family  well  by  working  at  his  trade  until 
in  1912  he  was  appointed  postmaster  of  Newcastle  by  the  presi- 
dent, Woodrow  Wilson.  He  held  office  until  1916  when  he  es- 
tablished the  Dow  Motor  Company.  To  house  his  new  business 
he  built  the  largest  garage  in  Weston  County,  located  at  the  head 
of  Warren  Avenue  and  modern  in  every  respect.  He  had  the 
Ford  agency.  On  the  hill  just  above  the  garage  overlooking  all 
of  Newcastle  he  bought  the  Jay  Baird  home. 

After  establishing  the  garage,  Charles  Dow  became  more  and 
more  prominent  in  city,  county  and  state  affairs.  He  served  as 
a  member  of  the  City  Council  for  five  terms  and  as  Mayor  for 
one  term.  For  twelve  years  he  gave  much  time  and  energy  to 
School  District  No.  1  as  treasurer  of  the  Board  of  Education.  In 
November,  1928,  he  was  elected  to  represent  Weston  County  in 
the  State  Senate  to  fill  out  an  unexpired  term,  taking  office  in 
January,  1929.  The  following  November  he  was  re-elected  to 
this  office.  He  had  remained  as  president  of  the  Dow  Motor 
Company  until  January  15,  1930,  at  which  time  he  sold  his  in- 
terest. From  1926  to  1930  he  was  Vice  President  of  the  Securi- 
ties State  Bank  of  Newcastle.  When  this  concern  sold  to  the  First 
State  Bank  of  Newcastle  he  became  President.  He  continued  in 
this  office  until  his  death  on  December  3,  1932. 

May  has  outlived  her  husband  by  many  years.  After  his  death 
she  learned  to  drive  a  car  and  traveled  all  over  the  country  to 
see  what  the  rest  of  America  was  like.  She  went  to  Alaska  by 
plane  and  ship  and  stayed  four  months  one  summer.  It  reminded 
her  some  of  her  pioneering  days.  She  met  several  people  from 
Wyoming  there,  including  one  old  friend  from  Newcastle! 

Next  year  May  will  be  ninety  years  old.     She  lives  alone  on  the 


MAY  NELSON  DOW  3 1 

hill  in  an  apartment  behind  the  home  her  husband  bought  in  1916. 
From  her  front  door  she  can  look  down  Main  Street  and  beyond 
toward  the  old  homestead.  From  her  north  window  where  a  pair 
of  field  glasses  lie  on  the  sill  she  can  look  up  Cambria  Canyon 
which  now  appears  almost  exactly  the  way  it  did  in  1887.  The 
old  trail  to  the  Home  Ranch  and  Cambria  is  only  a  dim  scar  on 
the  face  of  the  hill.  No  railroad  twists  and  turns  up  the  canyon 
whose  steep,  rocky  walls  have  changed  very  little  with  the  years. 
It  is  wonderful  to  have  such  a  store  of  memories,  for  one  of 
May's  great  pleasures  is  in  holding  an  audience  of  small  and  med- 
ium sized  great  grandchildren  wide-eyed  and  spell-bound  while 
she  tells  them  the  tales  of  "olden  times"  that  they  have  begged  for. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Beach,  Mrs.  Alfred  Holmes   (Cora  M.)   ed..   Women  of   Wyoming,  Vol.    1 
Casper.  Wyo.  1927 

Chamblin.   Thomas   S.,   ed..   Historical  Encyclopedia   of   Wyoming,   Vol.    1 
Wyoming  Historical   Institute   195 
History  of  Weston  County — May  Nelson  Dow  and  Sheila  Nelson  Hart 

Dow,  May  Nelson,  Personal  Reminiscences,  Personal  Interviews,  Clippings 
from  News-Letter  Journal,  Newcastle,  Wyo. 

Hart,  Sheila  Nelson  (Laura,  "Dot")  The  Rise  and  Fall  of  Tubbtown 
Empire  Magazine — Denver  Post 

Nelson,  Dick  J.,  Only  a  Cow  Country 
San  Diego,  Calif.,   1951 


Zke  Cegend  of  Cake  "DeSmet 

By 

Mary  Olga  Moore 

This  story  was  written  when  the  author  was  about  twelve  years  old, 
attending  school  in  Sheridan.  According  to  Mrs.  Arnold,  "The  story 
grew,  I  think,  out  of  some  exercise  written  for  classwork.  ...  It  was 
printed  by  the  Sheridan  Post  Printing  Company."  Mrs.  Arnold,  whose 
biography  appears  in  this  issue  of  the  Annals,  has  since  become  one 
of  the  state's  best  known  writers.  "The  Legend  of  Lake  DeSmet" 
was  made  available  to  the  Wyoming  State  Archives  and  Historical 
Department  by  Thelma  Gatchell  Condit,  of  Buffalo. 

An  Indian  seldom,  if  ever,  is  found  in  the  Red  hills,  and  why? 
In  the  midst  of  these  old  hills,  with  their  rock-crowned  heads  and 
sage-clad  sides,  lies,  according  to  the  red  man's  superstition, 
the  home  of  Satan  and  all  his  imps;  and  this  terrible  place  of  awe 
and  dread  is  none  other  than  Lake  DeSmet. 

Yes,  and  there  is  something  weird  and  wild  in  this  great  body  of 
water,  with  its  strange,  mysterious  romance,  over  which  many 
have  worked  and  puzzled;  with  its  deep,  unfathomed  depths  of 
water;  with  its  picturesque  shores,  from  which  rise  the  great 
majestic  hills  of  red  with  their  beds  of  purest  coal,  plainly  proving 
that,  in  the  prehistoric  days,  now  past  and  gone  forevermore,  great 
forests  of  strange,  gigantic  trees  graced  the  shores  of  Lake  DeSmet. 

I  should  have  loved  to  have  seen  it  then,  wouldn't  you?  To 
have  seen  it  hundreds,  yea,  thousands  of  years  ago,  as  it  lay 
enthroned  midst  hills  and  forests,  a  queen  of  waters,  a  priceless 
gem  of  the  boundless  unknown  west.  To  have  stood  upon  its 
beach  'neath  the  shade  of  a  giant  tree,  with  a  bird  of  brilliant 
plumage  twittering  o'er  my  head,  and  watch  the  white-capped 
waves  advance  and  dash  to  spray  upon  the  shore,  while  over  on 
yon  beach,  an  animal  of  the  prehistoric  past  laps  the  waters  of 
Lake  DeSmet. 

On  every  side  stretched  away  the  forests,  with  trees  and  trees 
and  countless  trees,  equal  even  to  those  of  sunny  California  in 
size  and  beauty.  While  sheltered  in  their  mighty  branches  were 
the  nests  of  tropical  birds.  The  hills  were  clad  in  jungles  of  trees 
and  vines  and  shrubs,  in  short,  every  form  of  plant  life  ever 
found  in  the  tropics. 

Yes,  scientific  men,  by  different  discoveries  and  theories,  have 
proved  that  Wyoming  was  once  a  tropical  country. 

I  imagine  the  solitude  and  silence  was  intense,  broken  only  by 
the  scream  of  a  many-colored  parrot,  or  the  agonized  groaning  and 


THE  LEGEND  OF  LAKE  DESMET  33 

creaking  of  the  underbrush  as  some  frenzied  beast  crashed  his 
way  through,  while  on  the  azure-tinted  waters  floated  or  swam 
great  sauria,  the  skeletons  and  petrified  remains  of  which  one 
sometimes  sees  in  the  museums. 

But  that  was  the  Lake  DeSmet  of  yesterday.  The  Lake  DeSmet 
of  today  is  a  dead  world.  The  forests  have  given  way  to  long 
vistas  of  sage  brush,  and  the  hills  no  longer  bear  their  weight  of 
verdure,  but  rise  bare  and  grim,  rearing  their  mighty  heads  in 
indescribable  grandeur,  silent  sentinels  of  the  past.  Instead  of 
jungles,  one  sees  great  wastes  of  red  terra  cotta,  while  herds  of 
horses  and  cattle  trod  the  earth  where  once  prehistoric  monsters 
lived  and  died.  The  solitude  and  silence  still  remains,  however, 
occasionally  punctured  by  the  song  of  a  meadow  lark,  or  the  war 
cry  of  some  range  bull. 

And  yet,  and  still  there  are  for  us  some  messengers,  messengers 
who  tell  us  of  that  wonderful  world,  now  receding  back  into  the 
farthermost  pages  of  history;  of  the  death  and  desolation  that 
befell  it:  of  the  countless  years  it  lay  buried,  hidden  from  any 
human  eye,  till  at  last  science  unearthed  and  displayed  to  the 
present  day  its  secrets  and  untold  mysteries.  Who  are  these  mes- 
sengers'7 Friends,  I  prithee,  take  yourselves  to  some  hillside,  and 
there,  securely  fastened  in  their  beds  of  terra  cotta,  lie  the  ghosts 
of  the  former  forests,  a  number  of  time  worn  petrifactions. 

Ah,  those  huge  branches  and  trunks,  once  mighty  trees,  growing 
in  a  land  of  beauty  unsurpassed,  now  lifeless  stones,  telling  better 
than  all  the  words  of  the  language  of  men,  the  story  of  death. 
The  death  that  befell  the  forests;  the  death  that  robbed  the  hills 
of  their  clinging  vines  and  stalwart  oaks;  the  death  that  killed  the 
sauria;  they  tell  us  of  all  this. 

But  look!  Look  at  their  beauty;  see  the  crystal  formation 
covering  some  of  them,  see  the  huge  knot  holes,  and  see,  oh  ye 
men  of  science,  their  size,  unexcelled  by  any  tree  growing  in  the 
civilized  world  of  today. 

Time  is  a  grim,  rough  factor,  hard  to  deal  and  struggle  with. 
He  reduces  the  fine  old  buildings  of  yore  to  a  pitiful  heap  of 
weather-beaten  ruins.  He  wrinkles  the  brow  and  turns  the  golden 
hair  to  gray  and  he  alone  can  turn  the  living  jungle  to  a  mass  of 
blackened  coal.  But  these  petrifactions,  these  silent  messengers 
of  the  Wyoming  gone  before,  have  well  withstood  his  ravages. 
They  look  the  same  now  as  they  did  then,  except  that  instead  of 
living  trees  of  bark  and  sap  they  are  old  gray  stones,  otherwise 
they  are  unchanged. 

Nor  is  this  the  only  wonder  of  the  red  hills  country.  Near  Lake 
DeSmet  is  a  burning  coal  mine.  The  flames  have  long  since  died, 
but  smoke  still  rises.  On  still  days  one  can  watch  it  smoking, 
smoking,  ever  smoking,  never  tiring,  never  dying,  burning  its  very 
heart  away. 

Many  theories  have  been  advanced  as  to  how  it  caught  on  fire. 


34  ANNALS   OF   WYOMING 

Some  say  the  miners  were  cooking  dinner,  and  while  laughing  and 
joking,  the  flames  spread  to  the  utmost  corners  of  the  mine, 
causing  the  underground  heroes  to  flee  for  their  lives.  Others 
claim  that  the  catastrophe  was  brought  about  by  gas  escaping 
from  a  room  of  useless  slack.  Just  how  long  it  has  been  burning 
no  one  seems  to  know. 

But  in  spite  of  all  these  sad  changes  of  land  and  time,  ye  cannot 
change  the  romantic  mystery  of  Lake  DeSmet. 

This  legend  first  originated  in  the  days  when  the  red  man  ruled 
supreme  monarch  over  the  land  he  loved,  the  land  now  dotted  with 
villages  and  ranches.  In  the  days  when  the  buffalo  roamed  o'er 
the  prairie  and  the  antelope  bounded  o'er  the  rocky  cliffs  of  the 
great  red  hills.  Those  were  the  days  when  the  region  of  Lake 
DeSmet  was  renowned  for  the  abundance  of  game  it  afforded, 
and  the  Indian  had  possession  of  all.  The  braves  going  forth  to 
fight  their  battles  and  hunt  their  food,  while  back  in  the  wigwams 
that  lined  the  picturesque  shores  of  the  famous  lake,  the  squaws 
cooked  the  meat  and  tended  the  wants  of  the  dusky  papoose. 

Now,  as  you  probably  know,  an  Indian  is  no  Indian  unless  he 
has  long  since  mastered  the  art  of  swimming,  and  mastered  it 
well;  and  whence  they  got  their  training? 

It  is  the  custom  of  the  black-eyed  wives  of  the  red  men,  upon 
arriving  at  a  new  camping  ground,  to  toss  their  children  into  the 
stream,  river  or  pond,  whichever  they  are  camping  by,  and  then, 
with  a  catlike  grace,  run  and  spring  in  themselves  about  a  hundred 
yards  below  the  child.  Thus,  you  see,  the  waters  carry  it  straight 
into  the  outstretched  arms  of  its  mother.  Naturally,  in  these  rides 
down  stream  the  babe  quickly  learns  to  swim. 

Now  it  so  happened  that  a  papoose  already  educated  in  the 
science  of  swimming  was  cast  by  the  loving  hands  of  his  dusky 
mother  into  Lake  DeSmet,  there  to  display  his  prowess  and  skill 
before  the  eyes  of  his  father,  a  warrior  just  returned  home  from  a 
mighty  war  in  which  he  had  covered  himself  with  glory  and  won  a 
name  of  great  renown.  But  look;  lo  and  behold,  the  papoose,  the 
darling  of  his  mother's  heart,  the  pride  of  his  father,  has  disap- 
peared down  into  the  shadowy  depths  of  Lake  DeSmet,  never  to 
rise  again. 

The  air  was  filled  with  the  wailing  of  the  women,  and  when 
Aurora,  with  a  rosy  flush,  heralded  the  dawn  of  another  day,  only 
the  desolate  hills  looked  down  upon  a  scene  where  once  children 
had  played  and  squaws  had  worked,  where  dogs  had  barked  and 
horses  had  whinnied.  Now  only  the  mournful  yelp  of  a  coyote 
rose  on  the  morning  air. 

To  this  day  no  Indian  will  go  near  Lake  DeSmet,  for  it  is  their 
firm  belief  that  the  wily  Satan,  with  his  hands  of  sin,  had  snatched 
the  little  red  child,  and  the  same  fate  will  befall  any  one  who 
haunts  the  country  of  Lake  DeSmet,  for  who  is  there  with  soul  so 
vile,  that  would  endanger  himself  to  the  Master  of  Evil.     While 


THE  LEGEND  OF  LAKE  DESMET  35 

grass  and  sage  brush  grew  over  the  ground  where  once  the  council 
fires  blazed.     Thus  was  founded  the  legend  of  Lake  DeSmet. 

Years  rolled  by,  and  then  one  day  a  white  man  stood  on  the 
brink  of  the  mighty  lake,  gazing  down  at  the  laughing  waves  and 
wondering  what  mystery  they  contained.  This  man,  this  son  of 
faraway  France,  was  a  young  priest.  Father  DeSmet.  The  greater 
part  of  his  courageous,  God-fearing  life  had  been  spent  among  the 
children  of  the  sun,  trying  to  convert  them  from  their  superstitious 
beliefs  to  a  life  of  righteousness.  And  now  he  realized,  as  he  stood 
there,  that  he  was  the  first  white  man  to  set  foot  on  the  brink  of 
the  beautiful  western  lake  and  henceforth  Lake  DeSmet  proudly 
bears  the  name  of  its  noble  discoverer,  that  young  French  priest 
who  left  the  land  of  sunny  France  for  the  Indians  of  the  northwest, 
hoping  thereby  to  save  their  souls  and  teach  them  to  be  loyal 
disciples  of  the  Great  White  Father  who  sits  above  and  dwells 
thereafter  in  love  divine.  Another  lapse  of  time  and  the  country 
was  filled  with  the  martial  tread  of  soldier's  test,  while  the  red 
men  rose  in  bitter  revolt  against  the  intruding  paleface  settlers. 

Oh,  the  days  of  war  and  bloodshed  that  followed.  Many  were 
the  books  and  poems  written  of  the  heroism  of  the  scout  and 
soldier,  but  not  a  word  in  praise  of  the  Indian. 

The  struggle  was  bitter  and  fierce.  Then  followed  days  of 
terrible  sorrow  for  the  red  man,  for  the  government  claimed  the 
plains,  the  hills  and  the  mountains  where  once  they  had  lived  and 
fought. 

Once  more  Lake  DeSmet  awoke  to  the  vibrating  pulse  of  human 
life,  for  the  rollicking  cowpuncher  on  his  wild-eyed  bronch  dashed 
by  or  stood  his  lonely  vigil  neath  the  starlit  heavens  of  wild  Wyo- 
ming, watching  over  a  herd  of  long-horned  steers.  Wandering 
bands  of  prospecters  and  huntsmen  scaled  the  rugged  hills,  while 
troops  of  daring  soldier  boys  filled  their  canteens  with  the  sparkling 
waters  of  many  springs,  which  leaped  and  tumbled  and  laughed, 
coursing  their  way  down  the  terra  cotta  sides  of  the  great  red  hills. 

The  enchanted  spell  of  moonlight  lay  soft  on  the  land,  not  even 
the  shadow  of  a  sound  broke  upon  the  silver  silence.  The  great 
hill  monarchs  loomed  black  against  the  moonlit  heavens.  The 
rugged  outline  shown  in  vivid  contrast  with  the  silver  sky,  while 
down  in  the  numerous  valleys,  the  hush  of  night  lay  over  all.  The 
waters  of  Lake  DeSmet  lay  spellbound,  for  down  upon  their  glassy 
surface  the  moon  had  shed  her  mantle  of  silver  light,  while  in  the 
dense  black  shadow  of  the  shore  the  spark  of  a  camp  fire  glowed. 

Watching  this  scene  of  loveliness  with  sorrowful  eyes  sat  white- 
haired  Father  DeSmet,  still  loyal  friend  of  the  Indian.  Before  him 
lay  the  lake,  his  lake,  and  behind  him  rose  the  lofty  hills.  His 
godly  heart  burned  sore  within  him  and  his  thoughts  were  those 
of  righteous  wrath.  Why  could  not  the  white  man  live  in  peace 
and  happiness  within  the  bounds  of  Europe  and  eastern  America? 
Why  did  he   push   westward,   robbing  the   childlike   children   of 


36  ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 

nature  of  their  dearest  treasure,  freedom?  How  could  they  expect 
him  to  save  their  souls,  when  they  broke  their  faith  and  destroyed 
their  confidence?  Oh,  it  was  hard,  too  hard;  and  the  venerable 
white  head  buried  itself  in  a  pair  of  withered  hands  while  the  camp 
fire  flickered  low. 

He  had  come  to  America  in  his  early  manhood,  this  noble  son 
of  France,  with  a  band  of  fur  traders,  and  after  a  year  of  wander- 
ing had  settled  down  as  the  head  of  a  Catholic  church  in  West 
Virginia.  But  his  heart  was  ill  at  ease  and  the  call  of  the  untamed 
savage  lured  him  ever  westward,  until  at  last  he  abandoned  his 
position  and  journeyed  to  the  land  of  the  Sioux  and  Cheyenne, 
the  land  for  which  his  soul  yearned.  Oh,  many  were  the  hearts 
he  led  to  God.  and  many  were  the  lives  into  which  he  inspired  the 
valor  of  true  righteousness.  He  wandered  over  the  greater  part  of 
the  Rocky  mountains  north  of  Denver,  always  searching  for  a 
good  work  and  always  finding  it.  While  on  the  lips  that  once 
hissed  the  war  cry  the  prayer  of  love  broke  forth. 

But  now;  now  all  was  changed;  the  Indian  hearts  no  longer 
responded  to  his  appealing  words  of  wisdom  but  turned  away  in 
hatred.  Not  long  ago  a  mighty  chief  replied  to  his  urgent  appeal: 
"White  father  no  like  us.  He  take  our  land,  we  no  pray  to  him." 
"Yes,"  he  told  himself  fiercely,  as  he  sat  there,  white  head  bowed, 
"the  latter  part  of  my  life  has  been  a  failure,  a  miserable,  terrible 
failure,  through  no  fault  of  mine,  thank  God.  All  I  have  accom- 
plished has  been  undone,  but  with  the  help  of  my  Heavenly  Father 
I  will  right  this  wrong."  So  saying,  he  arose  with  renewed  vigor 
and  strength. 

Suddenly  the  silence  was  broken  by  the  roar  of  many  waters 
and  the  heretofore  calm  surface  of  Lake  DeSmet  was  lashed  into 
myriads  of  mighty  waves,  as  a  huge  tawny  body  plowed  its  way 
through  the  seething,  swirling  waters.  The  other  members  of  the 
party,  aroused  by  the  sudden  noise  and  confusion,  stared  in 
unbelieving  wonder.  Only  a  minute,  then  the  great  monster  disap- 
peared, down  into  the  treacherous  depths  of  Lake  DeSmet,  and 
the  night  settled  back  to  her  usual  calm. 

But  not  so  with  the  little  group  of  government  men  watching 
on  the  shore.  On  the  morrow,  in  company  with  Father  DeSmet, 
they  were  to  go  forth  in  a  tiny  row  boat  and  lower  the  measure, 
thereby  hoping  to  learn  the  depths  of  the  lake.  But  now  the 
superstitious  ones  rebelled  against  this  throwing  themselves  straight 
into  the  jaws  of  death.  To  make  matters  worse,  some  lover  of 
mischief  recalled  to  their  minds  the  old  Indian  story  of  Satan  and 
the  papoose.  Therefore  many  and  bitter  were  the  words  of  pro- 
test; but  the  officials  and  Father  DeSmet  were  firm.  They  had 
been  ordered  to  go,  and  go  they  would. 

When  "Old  Sol"  smiled  down  upon  the  earth  he  saw,  floating, 
like  a  bit  of  airy  thistledown,  upon  the  azure  surface  of  the  lake, 
a  wee  brown  boat,  manned  by  a  handful  of  excited  soldiers.     On, 


THE  LEGEND  OF  LAKE  DESMET  37 

on  they  went  and  on,  rowing  with  swift,  firm  stroke,  until  at  last 
the  little  craft  rocked  in  the  center  of  the  broad  bluish-green  bosom 
of  Lake  DeSmet;  and  then,  oh,  triumphant  moment  of  moments, 
the  knotted  line,  with  eager  haste,  sank  down  into  the  restless 
waters.  Down,  down  the  dark  lead  sank,  and  down,  but  no  bot- 
tom. Down,  down,  down,  and  the  knots  on  the  wire  counted  one 
hundred  fifty,  still  the  tiny  bit  of  lead  rested  not  on  its  downward 
flight.  Down,  still  down,  and  the  telltale  knots  announced  that 
two  hundred  fifty  feet  had  been  passed,  still  no  bottom.  Another 
breathless  wait  and  the  figures  ran  up  to  three  hundred.  Down, 
down,  down,  and  the  eager,  watching  eyes  counted  three  hundred 
fifty,  but  the  lead  swerved  not,  neither  did  it  rest.  And  so  on, 
number  after  number  sank  out  of  sight  down  into  the  hungry 
waves,  where  no  human  eye  could  follow,  until  the  line  was 
exhausted,  but  the  floor  of  this  legended  lake  was  still  unknown 
to  man,  and  so  with  puzzled,  wondering  hearts,  into  which  the 
worm  of  superstition  was  crawling,  the  soldiers  landward  turned 
their  boat.  Lake  DeSmet  was  bottomless.  So  the  story  ran  from 
mouth  to  mouth,  from  ear  to  ear,  the  settlers  learned  to  look  upon 
the  gem-set  lake  with  fearful  awe. 

The  night  was  bleak  and  cold  and  wintry,  a  few  pale  stars 
shivered  in  the  setting  of  cold,  dark  sky.  The  great,  black  rocks 
which  crowned  the  stately  heads  of  the  desolate  hills  were  wrapped 
in  a  sheen  of  silver  frost,  while  a  coat  of  thinnest  ice  imprisoned 
the  mischievous  waves  of  Lake  DeSmet.  In  the  winding  yellow 
roadway  that  ran  to  the  south,  a  small  brown  horse  plodded 
through  the  drifting  sand  and  on  his  back,  alert  and  watchful,  rode 
a  splendid  type  of  western  manhood,  though,  I  regret  to  say,  he 
had  just  recieved  a  little  too  much  inspiration  in  the  barroom  at 
Buffalo.  He  drew  the  faithful  sheepskin  coat  closer  about  the 
mighty  shoulders,  that  could  bear  great  burdens  unflinchingly. 
The  night  was  cold,  yes,  very  cold,  and  the  mournful  wind  which 
swept  across  the  country  without  mercy,  without  ceasing,  sounded 
not  unlike  the  howling  of  a  pack  of  distant  wolves.  A  sudden 
thought  siezed  him  and  he  glanced  in  apprehension  at  a  ridge  of 
rocky  cliffs  surmounting  a  huge  red  hill  where  he  suspected  the 
lank  gray  tyrants  of  waiting  their  chance  to  send  some  unsuspect- 
ing heifer  on  her  road  to  eternity.  He  was  wondering  if  the  victim 
in  question  bore  his  brand. 

Some  unseen  hand  had  cast  a  decidedly  weird  speli  over  the 
land  that  night.  The  huge  frost-clad  rocks  reminded  one  of — 
shall  I  say  it? — sheeted  ghosts.  The  rugged  hills;  the  whispering 
wind;  the  strange,  weird  silence  of  the  ice-bound  lake;  the  stern, 
erect  figure  of  the  man  on  the  small  brown  horse;  the  howling  of 
the  wolves;  all  made  one  think  there  might  be  something  to  the 
legend  of  Lake  DeSmet. 

A  crash,  a  roar,  the  sound  of  splintered  ice  and  angry  waters, 
a  hissing,  swirling  noise,  and  the  cattlemen  turned  in  time  to  see 


38  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

the  lake  a  seething,  foaming  cauldron  of  angry  waters  and  clouds 
of  flying  spray.  He  also  turned  just  in  time  to  see  a  monster,  the 
size  of  which  his  fertile  brain  had  never  dreamed  of  before,  whose 
eyes  were  burning  lobes  of  flame.  The  scales  upon  its  wondrous 
back  were  thrice  the  size  of  his  terrified  mount.  The  open  jaws 
appealed  to  his  awed  imagination  as  some  far-famed  cavern  and 
the  teeth  as  terrible  unsheathed  swords.  And  this  horrible  creature 
of  fiery  eyes  and  gleaming  scales  possessed  the  head  of  a  raging 
lion,  the  like  of  which  mortal  beast  ne'er  bore,  and  the  body  of  a 
fabulous  lizard. 

With  one  stroke  of  his  mighty  tail  he  caused  waves  to  form  that 
would  have  dashed  to  ruin  any  row  boat  ever  built,  while  the 
clouds  of  flying  spray  and  shivered  ice  well-nigh  obscured  the 
wintry  sky. 

Writhing  and  contorting,  lashing  the  indignant  waters  with  his 
slimy  tail,  the  monster  of  far-famed  horrors  disappeared  beneath 
the  floating  ice  and  foamy  waves,  down  into  the  unfathomed 
depths  of  the  lake  that  has  no  bottom. 

Delighted  at  the  prospect  of  having  an  interesting  story  to  tell  to 
the  "boss"  and  his  comrades,  the  homeward  bound  traveler  turned 
on  his  solitary  way.  His  courage  failed  him,  however,  when  he 
came  in  sight  of  the  log  ranch  house,  as  he  thought  of  the  ridicule 
and  unbelief  he  was  likely  to  excite.  Neither  were  his  forebodings 
wrong,  for  his  brilliant  recital  called  forth  scorn  and  much  laugh- 
ter. The  cowboys  hooted  at  the  idea  of  any  creature  with  a  lizard's 
body  and  a  lion's  head  invading  Lake  DeSmet,  and  accused  him 
of  indulging  in  too  much  "booze." 

The  next  personality  to  witness  the  wonders  of  this  strange  lake 
was  a  healthy,  prosperous  young  farmer  of  modest,  refined  tastes, 
whose  greatest  ambition  was  to  cultivate  his  picturesque  ranch 
into  an  estate  of  great  value  and  beauty,  which  would  bring  its 
owner  wealth  and  luxury  and  cause  him  to  be  looked  upon  with 
respect  by  those  who  knew  him.  His  thoughts  all  ran  to  winter 
wheat,  irrigation,  good  horses  and  profitable  beef  cattle.  So  you 
see  he  had  no  time  to  reflect  upon  some  uncanny  mystery.  He  was 
very  happy  that  morning,  and  why  shouldn't  he  be?  His  last  herd 
of  beef  cattle  had  yielded  him  a  handsome  profit  and  the  last  rain 
had  moistened  his  land  to  the  right  degree  for  fall  plowing.  Yes, 
Providence  surely  had  favored  him. 

It  was  a  lovely  autumnal  day.  The  far  distant  mountains  hid 
behind  the  soft,  sweet  haze  of  Indian  summer,  far  and  wide, 
wherever  the  human  eye  could  reach,  the  land  was  clad  in  a 
strange  soft  veil.  Lake  DeSmet  was  a  body  of  lovely  mist,  sur- 
rounded by  enchanted  hills,  whose  rough  red  color  was  trans- 
formed, as  if  by  magic,  into  the  softest  of  soft  pearl  gray.  On  the 
shore  of  the  lake  a  dreamy-eyed  cow  stood  sentinel  over  the  body 
of  her  sleeping  calf.  The  atmosphere  seemed  laden  with  a  warm, 
soft  sweetness  which  visits  the  land  only  in  the  days  of  Indian 


THE  LEGEND  OF  LAKE  DESMET  39 

summer.  Any  artist  or  poet  might  have  sighed  with  rapture  over 
the  sweet,  still  beauty  of  the  scene. 

Even  the  big  black  stallion  on  which  our  prosperous  young 
friend  rode  seemed  inspired  and  influenced  by  the  dreamy  silence, 
for  the  prancing,  restless  feet  now  trod  the  delicate  sand  with  a 
loving  reverence  and  the  tossing  head  and  the  curved  neck  were 
stilled,  as  if  the  never  dying  finger  of  lovely  peace  had  touched  the 
flying  mane  and  dilated  nostril,  causing  even  the  dumb  beasts  of 
wild  Wyoming  to  look  upon  her  with  gracious  tenderness.  Little 
did  he  dream  that  in  a  few  minutes  the  event  of  his  life  would 
occur.  Poor  charger,  how  I  pity  thee!  In  less  than  five  minutes 
your  horse  nerves  will  be  racked  by  a  strange,  new  terror,  a  deep, 
unfathomed  mystery,  and  your  trust  in  human  beings  destroyed 
forever,  never  to  be  redeemed  again.  Hark  ye!  Do  not  haste; 
listen:  From  the  center  of  the  lake  issues  a  queer,  bubbling 
noise.  The  farmer  of  western  fields  and  meadows  found  a  strange, 
unaccustomed  thrill  run  through  his  body  in  spite  of  his  cool 
nerves  and  level  head.  He  glanced  at  Blackbird,  his  steed,  and 
found  him  quivering  violently,  with  erect  ears  and  dilated  nostrils. 
The  dreamy-eyed  cow  started  up  and  her  eyes  assumed  a  strange, 
new  look  of  terror  that  was  dreadful  to  behold,  while  the  slumber- 
ing calf  awoke  and  bounded  to  his  feet  like  a  hunted  creature. 
The  sound  grew  louder,  then  developed  into  a  mystic  thrilling 
hiss.  The  calm  surface  of  Lake  DeSmet  is  chopped  into  myriads 
of  tiny  gray  waves.  Higher  and  higher  grew  the  waves,  louder 
and  louder  grew  the  hissing  call.  In  sheer  desperation  our  gallant 
friend  urged  the  trusty  Blackbird  on,  but,  oh,  terrible  horror  of 
horrors,  that  noble  animal  was  on  the  brink  of  hysteria;  so  violently 
was  he  trembling  that  he  could  not  lift  one  hoof,  while  his  eyes, 
fascinated  by  some  weird  spell,  were  glued  to  the  center  of  the 
lake,  from  whence  clouds  of  spray  and  foam  were  rising.  And 
then,  oh,  ye  gods,  what  happened  next? 

Our  ranchman  never  knew.  When  at  last  he  revived  he  found 
himself  prostrate  on  the  cold,  wet  sand,  with  a  roar  which  human 
soul  had  ne'er  heard  of  before  sounding  in  his  ear,  and  the  air, 
once  so  soft,  so  sweet  and  hazy,  was  clear,  tense  and  vibrating. 
Upon  raising  his  head  he  saw  a  raging  torrent  of  storm-tossed 
waters,  but  that,  ah,  that  was  sunk  in  oblivion  by  a  creature  of 
most  horrible  size  and  quality,  so  terrible  and  yet  so  beautiful, 
it  in  a  fair  way  dazed  the  eye.  The  head  was  that  of  a  monstrous 
swan,  graceful  beyond  comparison,  yet  horrible  and  repulsive, 
being  of  a  weird,  ghastly  blue,  mottled  by  flashes  of  most  vivid 
red,  and  the  body  in  form  of  a  huge  reptile  flashed  burnished  gold 
in  the  sunshine. 

Unlike  the  other  monsters,  he  did  not  leap  or  lash  the  waters 
with  his  tail.  No,  on  the  contrary,  he  was  strangely  mild  and 
pacific,  turning  over  and  over  and  coiling  his  mammoth,  beautiful 
body  into  a  series  of  brilliant  folds  or  stretching  out  full  length  in 


40  ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 

the  sparkling  waters  as  if  seeking  comfort  and  luxury  in  the 
gracious  presence  of  the  autumn  sun.  At  last  he  reared  his  won- 
derful neck  to  its  full  height  of  fifteen  feet  and,  gathering  the  tense 
coils  of  his  golden  body,  much  the  same  way  as  the  panther  does 
when  crouching  for  a  spring,  he  gave  one  desperate  hissing  rush 
and  disappeared  from  the  wondering  gaze  of  earthly  eyes,  and  the 
waves,  as  they  closed  over  him,  looked  strangely  black  and  terrible 
to  the  awestruck  man  on  the  shore,  who,  as  he  heaved  a  sigh, 
turned  away  from  that  scene  of  terrible  happenings,  alone  and  on 
foot,  for  Blackbird  had  gone,  human  intellect  knows  not  where! 
Oh,  the  miles  were  long  and  weary,  but  at  last  our  red  hills  friend 
arrived  at  the  historic  old  cow  town  of  Buffalo,  where  he  told  his 
story  in  the  simple  straightforward  manner  which  inspires  no 
doubt  and  causes  no  disbelief. 

The  rosy,  mystic  hues  of  a  sunset  glory  bathed  the  land  of  rough 
red  hills.  A  glorious  amber  sky,  faintly  mottled  with  soft-hued 
orange,  screened  it  from  the  rest  of  the  world  like  a  curtain  of 
eternal  beauty.  A  few  delicate  wild  rose  petal  clouds  shimmered 
on  high,  casting  their  blushing  light  with  sweet  reverance  full  upon 
the  mighty  monarch  head  of  Hiatosa,  as  he  reared  his  great  majes- 
tic height  far  above  the  rock-crowned  heads  of  his  rugged  com- 
rades over  whom  he  reigned  supreme,  unconquered.  Hiatosa  of 
the  red  hills,  guardian  monarch  of  them  all.  The  golden  beauties 
of  that  love-laden  sunset  sky  shaded  into  soft  brown;  a  few  scat- 
tered spruce,  standing  like  erect  soldiers  upon  their  firm  foothold 
of  rocky  cliffs;  the  midsummer  valleys  were  filled  with  an  amber 
peace;  on  the  pine  log  roof  of  a  settler's  cabin  shimmered  the  last 
rosy  glow  of  the  dying  sun,  while  over  the  enchanted  surface  of 
Lake  DeSmet  hung  a  veil  of  golden  beauty,  though  the  waters 
reflected  lights  of  glorious  magenta  and  shades  of  delicate  orange. 
The  few  patriarchal  old  box  elder  trees  that  fringed  the  southern 
shore  deepened  into  a  soft  warm  bronze  outlined  by  the  clear 
wonders  of  that  exquisite  amber  sky. 

The  winding  yellow  roadway  was  again  the  scene  of  action,  for 
it  was  now  traversed  by  a  span  of  sleek  gray  Indian  ponies,  draw- 
ing a  neat  little  leather-topped  carriage,  the  occupants  of  which 
numbered  two,  an  old-time  pioneer  of  Wyoming,  a  man  who  had 
built  his  home  and  lived  far  out  here  in  the  great  unbroken  chain 
of  red  hills,  and  his  old-time  pioneer  wife.  They  were  on  the  way 
to  Buffalo,  to  that  little  metropolis  of  the  Big  Horn  mountains, 
and  as  they  passed  this  lake  of  renowned  legend  they  smiled  with 
silent  rapture,  for  the  lake  had  never  appeared  prettier  than  it  did 
now,  in  the  waning  beauty  of  the  sunset  sky,  shining  like  a  bit  of 
heaven  on  earth  glorified. 

Suddenly  there  was  a  little  rippling  movement,  a  little  murmur- 
ing splash,  and  then,  while  the  golden  mist  wavered  and  then  grew 
bright  in  its  own  delicate  mystic  way,  the  sound  of  a  sweet  bird's 
note  thrilled  and  fell  on  the  listening  air.     Was  that  a  symbol  of 


THE  LEGEND  OF  LAKE  DESMET  41 

what  was  to  come?  What  mystery  and  romance  were  woven 
around  that  liquid  song?    Surely  it  was  not  that  of  a  common  bird. 

Slowly  the  beauty  of  a  new  presence  stole  over  the  land  at  that 
sunset  hour,  the  golden  mist  shimmered  faintly  and  then  took  the 
form  of  a  thousand  fairy-winged  creatures,  beautiful,  marvelous 
in  their  exquisite  grace  as  clasping  hands,  they  fluttered  in  one 
wide  circle  of  elfin  beauty  to  the  wonder-tinted  crest  of  Lake 
DeSmet,  where  they  executed  a  dance  unrivaled  by  any  e'er 
danced  before.  Oh,  the  enchantment  of  those  radiant  creatures  of 
mist,  floating  and  tripping  on  that  sea  of  ethereal  rose  and  golden 
lights. 

In  all  their  delicate  charm,  this  host  of  golden  sprites  fluttered 
and  bowed,  advanced  and  retreated,  a  thousand  phantoms  of 
sunset  they,  elves  of  wonderland  cloud,  lovely  creatures  of  a  fairy 
mist,  they  danced  on  and  on,  uttering  never  a  sound  until  again 
the  air  was  thrilled  by  the  liquid  call  of  that  unknown  bird. 

Instantly  the  tiny  figures  receded  to  the  margin  of  the  lake, 
while  to  the  surface  rose  the  head  and  shoulders  of  a  most  wonder- 
ful being,  a  young  and  beautiful  maiden. 

Oh,  the  witchery  of  that  wild  wonder  maid,  appearing  as  she 
did  in  that  sea  of  sunset  glory.  She  seemed  a  part  of  that  wild  and 
beautiful  landscape,  grave,  radiant,  yet  tender,  like  one  of  the 
many  primroses  growing  on  the  terra  cotta  sides  of  those  great 
wilderness  lords,  the  red  hills,  and  yet,  oh,  so  different;  not  a 
creature  of  land  she  deemed,  but  a  nymph  from  the  dim,  romantic 
wonders  of  the  salt  sea  caverns.  Her  features  were  unmistakably 
Indian.  In  the  dark  unfathomed  depths  of  her  great  black  eyes 
there  burned  the  perpetual  fire  of  melancholy.  Her  tresses  of 
midnight  hue  rose  and  fell  and  curled  in  fantastic  designs  o'er  the 
surface  of  mystery's  lake;  her  skin  was  of  a  warm,  reddish  tan, 
made  more  dark  by  the  glow  of  the  setting  sun,  whom  the  red  men 
worshiped  in  those  years  long  ago  when  this  was  a  land  of  freedom 
and  romance.  The  delicate  lines  of  a  beautiful  chin,  the  dainty 
curve  of  arched  eye  brow,  the  perfect  nose,  the  graceful  throat 
and  haughty  brow,  all  gave  proof  of  her  Indian  reality,  tho'  her 
jewelry  differed  far  from  the  beaded  trinkets  worn  by  the  Indian 
maiden  of  today,  for  on  her  head  there  gleamed  a  small,  quaint 
cap  of  pink  sea  shells  and  twined  about  her  neck  and  arms  were 
ropes  of  pearl  and  coral.  A  robe  of  sea  weed  clung  about  her 
shoulders,  exquisitely  ornamented  with  tiny  shells  of  the  most 
beautiful  and  varying  tints. 

Then,  swaying  and  rocking  on  the  murmuring  tide,  she  smiled  a 
smile  so  brilliant  and  wonderful,  so  full  of  enchantment  and  mys- 
tery, that  it  dazzled  the  eyes  and  took  away  the  breath  of  those 
human  spectators  on  the  shore. 

Lifting  high  in  the  sunset  air  one  slender,  tawny  arm,  she  beck- 
oned for  them  to  come,  smiling  the  while  in  a  wild  Indian  triumph 
until,  seeing  they  obeyed  not  her  strange,  inhuman  wish,  she  dis- 


42  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

appeared  with  a  look  of  tender  sadness  on  her  dark  and  beautiful 
face. 

And  as  the  lighted  waves  closed  over  her  vanishing  form,  the 
host  of  sunset  elves  rose  in  one  great  cloud  had  changed  back  to 
mist  again  and  the  colors  faded  from  the  sky,  while  through  the 
darkening  air  there  rang  the  mournful  cry  of  the  whippoorwill. 

With  slow  and  nerveless  hand  the  man  turned  the  horses  toward 
home:  shattered  was  the  faith  of  these  two  pioneers  in  all  the 
possibilities  of  the  earth  and  of  mankind,  yes  even  in  the  law  of 
gravitation.  Onward  and  on  sped  the  ponies,  drawing  nearer 
every  second  to  the  whitewashed  cabin  amid  its  grove  of  waving 
cottonwoods;  the  mansion  of  the  hills. 

Oh.  Lake  DeSmet,  with  your  sparkling,  laughing  waves  flirting 
with  the  starlit  summer  skies,  tell  us  of  your  past;  of  your  future 
mortal  man  may  write,  but  tell,  oh,  tell  us  of  the  dim  romantic 
wonders  of  the  ages  gone  before. 

Is  there,  can  there  be  any  truth  in  the  old  Indian  belief?  If  not, 
why  should  this  strange  lady  of  the  lake  be  a  member  of  that  fast 
vanishing  race?  Who  are  these  great  monsters,  Lake  DeSmet, 
who  inhabit  your  shadowy  depths?  Are  they  creatures  of  the 
sea  or  can  it  be  that  they  are  the  ghosts  of  those  terrible  dinosauria 
and  sauria  who  lived  and  dwelt  upon  this  earth  in  the  childhood 
of  America?  Tell  us,  Lake  DeSmet,  for  we  crave  full  knowledge 
of  you  and  your  mysteries. 

You  may  laugh  and  you  may  sneer,  ye  men  of  science,  you  say 
that  these  wonderful  happenings  are  but  the  visions  of  an  imagina- 
tion overwrought,  but  tell  us,  have  we  any  reason  to  doubt  the 
words  of  those  favored  few  who  have  witnessed  these  wonders? 
Are  they  persons  of  such  remarkable  mentality  that  they  can  con- 
jure up  before  them  without  a  moment's  warning  the  sights  of 
such  far-famed  horrors,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  beauties?  Have 
we  any  reason  to  doubt  the  tried  and  true  farmer  and  his  wife, 
who  were  the  chosen  mortals  to  witness  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
scenes  in  traditional  history? 

People  of  world-wide  renown  and  wisdom  may  call  it  mere 
foolishness  or  may  even  go  so  far  as  to  deem  it  child's  play  to 
believe  in  mythological  demons  and  elves,  or  a  story  to  the  effect 
that  you  are  possessed  of  no  great  subterranean  sea  floor,  but, 
Lake  DeSmet,  we,  the  settlers'  children  and  even  many  of  our 
fathers  who  dwell  in  thy  wild,  lonely  hills,  doubt  not  the  soundness 
of  your  legend. 


frontier  Cawyer 


T.  P.  HILL 

By 

Burton  S.  Hill 

Father,  a  Kentuckian,  a  lawyer  not  yet  thirty,  and  recently 
married,  wanted  a  location.  The  time  was  early  in  1888,  when 
Judge  Micah  Chrisman  Saufley  was  commencing  his  tenure  as 
associate  justice  of  Wyoming  Territory.  The  judge  was  likewise 
a  Kentuckian,  and  a  friend  of  the  Hill  family.  He  had  left  his 
native  state  to  accept  the  appointment  of  President  Cleveland  to 
the  Wyoming  Supreme  Court.  Judge  Saufley  had  served  with 
distinction  as  an  officer  in  the  Confederate  army  during  the  War 
Between  the  States.  And  afterwards,  even  in  the  North,  he  was 
recognized  as  a  man  of  force  and  character,  with  strong,  courag- 
eous convictions.  He  was  able  as  a  lawyer,  of  genial  disposition, 
and  otherwise  well  suited  for  his  duties  in  the  new,  raw  territory. 

Intrigued  with  the  thought  of  a  very  special  experience,  Father 
addressed  a  letter  to  Judge  Saufley  asking  about  Wyoming  Ter- 
ritory. An  answer  was  not  long  in  coming  from  Laramie,  head- 
quarters of  the  Territorial  Second  Judicial  District.  But  Father 
was  not  urged  to  leave  Kentucky.  In  fact,  the  Judge  rather  dis- 
couraged it,  but  promised  his  utmost  assistance  if  needed.  He 
did  not  recommend  Cheyenne  or  Laramie,  as  Father  hoped  he 
might,  but  stressed  the  advantages  of  Buffalo,  in  Johnson  County, 
which  he  described  as  the  most  promising  town  north  of  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad.  He  also  added  the  encouraging  touch  that  John- 
son County  would  be  needing  a  deputy  clerk  of  court,  and  thought 
it  might  be  arranged  for  Father  to  have  the  office.  The  salary  was 
to  be  $50.00  per  month  until  he  could  get  a  start  practicing  law. 

Encouraged  by  his  Kentucky  bride  to  make  the  break,  arrange- 
ments were  made  for  Father's  departure.  When  Judge  Saufley 
was  advised  of  these  plans,  he  wrote  that  he  would  not  be  holding 
court  in  Buffalo  until  June,  but  enclosed  letters  of  introduction 
to  James  M.  Lobban,  a  banker;  to  Charles  H.  Burritt,  an  attor- 
ney of  prominence,  and  to  Charles  T.  Gale,  the  Clerk  of  Court. 
Thus  armed.  Father  left  Kentucky  shortly  after  the  middle  of  April. 
1888,  and  got  to  Douglas,  in  Wyoming  Territory,  on  the  29th. 

Douglas  had  come  into  being  two  years  earlier  through  the 
construction  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad,  that  branch 
then  being  known  as  the  Fremont,  Elkhorn  and  Missouri  Valley. 
Word  had  gone  forth  that  there  would  be  a  rush  to  the  abandoned 


ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 
FRONTIER   LAWYER   AND  WIFE 


ifF'M 


T.   P.   Hill.    1888 


Lucy  B.  Hill,  li 


is  picture  of  T.  P.  Hill  was  taken,  according  to  the  calendar,  on  August 

21,   1907 

Courtesy  Burton  S.  Hill 


FRONTIER   LAWYER  45 

Fort  Fetterman,  turned  into  a  large  trading  center,  and  immed- 
iately a  tent  town  sprang  up  a  few  miles  away.  It  was  called 
Douglas,  after  Stephen  Arnold  Douglas,  the  brilliant  Illinois  Sen- 
ator. 

From  Douglas,  Patrick  Brothers  conducted  a  stage  line  to  Buf- 
falo, and  Fort  McKinney  three  miles  west,  and  from  there  to 
Junction  City,  Montana.  At  the  Douglas  stage  office,  Father  was 
tersely  informed  to  be  on  hand  at  six-thirty  the  following  morning. 
After  a  wakeful  night  at  the  primitive  hostel,  sponsored  by  the 
stage  company,  he  was  there.  The  day  was  springlike  and  balmy. 
In  complete  readiness  stood  three  teams  of  sleek  horses  harnessed 
in  tandem  to  a  large,  Concord  type  stage  coach,  with  ample  boots 
front  and  rear.  A  resolute  looking  fellow  holding  a  shotgun  was 
already  mounted  on  the  drivers  seat,  while  Harry  Nichols,  the 
driver,  arranged  the  baggage  and  mail  sacks  in  the  rear  boot. 
But  he  left  his  work  long  enough  to  motion  for  Father  to  climb 
aboard. 

Inside  were  seated  two  other  passengers  on  opposite  sides,  facing 
each  other.  One  was  a  frail  appearing  young  woman,  probably 
about  twenty-three,  wearing  a  simple  calico  dress.  Over  her 
shoulders  was  draped  a  gray  shawl,  and  a  plain  white  scarf  held 
back  a  wealth  of  brown  hair.  In  her  arms,  wrapped  in  a  small 
blue  blanket,  she  clutched  a  restless,  whimpering  infant,  at  which 
she  gazed  with  a  tired,  worn  expression.  The  other  passenger 
was  a  slender  young  fellow,  wearing  a  new,  wide  brimmed,  low 
crowned  Stetson  without  dents  or  creases.  His  blue  overalls  fit 
him  rather  snugly,  with  the  bottoms  turned  up  showing  neat  high 
heeled  boots.  When  Father  glanced  his  way,  he  smiled  broadly, 
offered  his  hand,  and  genially  announced  himself  as,  "Johnnie 
Greub  of  Trabing,  twenty-two  miles  south  of  Buffalo."  Father,  as 
genially,  acknowledged  the  introduction,  then  took  a  seat  beside 
his  new  companion.  From  that  moment,  a  friendship  commenced 
which  lasted  fifty-four  years. 

Presently,  the  sharp  crack  of  a  whip  from  the  stage  coach  top 
and  a  shout  to  the  horses,  set  the  vehicle  in  motion  towards  the 
swirling  Platte;  and  in  a  short  time  horses  and  stage  coach  were  in 
the  midst  of  it.  While  the  horses  plunged  forward  through  the 
dashing  current,  the  heavy  coach  weaved,  bobbed,  and  twisted, 
but  never  faltered  under  the  professional  hand  of  Harry  Nichols. 
When  Father  expressed  grave  concern,  Johnnie  Greub  assured 
him: 

"He'll  make  it  all  right — don't  worry  too  much". 

The  girl  passenger  held  her  baby  closer,  and  was  only  heard 
to  emit  a  deep,  relieved  sigh  when  the  horses  finally  plunged  up 
on  the  other  shore. 

After  the  Platte  crossing,  the  continuing  journey  seemed  quite 
without  event.  At  Sage  Creek,  four  hours  later,  Nichols  ordered 
a  short  rest,  and  at  Brown  Springs  fresh  horses  were  harnessed. 


46  ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 

During  this  process,  Johnnie  took  Father  aside  to  express  his 
doubts  concerning  the  girl  passenger. 

"She's  hungry,"  he  said,  "and  so's  the  baby." 

It  was  then  time  to  eat,  or  so  they  thought,  when  Nichols  an- 
nounced that  a  meal  would  be  served  at  Antelope  Springs,  about 
five  that  evening. 

Somewhat  slow  in  getting  started,  it  was  actually  five-thirty 
when  the  heavy  coach  pulled  up  to  the  station  at  Antelope  Springs. 
From  the  open  door  came  the  bracing  aroma  of  fresh,  hot  coffee, 
and  soon  appeared  Mrs.  Lee  Moore,  the  gracious  proprietress. 
Then,  while  helping  the  girl  from  the  stage,  Johnnie  ventured  with 
polite  caution: 

"Ma'm,  me  and  my  friend  here  want  ta  help  ya.  We  think  ya 
an'  the  baby  must  be  hungry." 

With  this  show  of  kindness  the  girl  cast  her  gaze  to  the  ground, 
and  with  a  wan  smile  managed  to  murmur: 

"The  baby  and  me  would  thank  ya.     We  would  a  lot." 

Mrs.  Moore  was  quick  to  sense  the  situation  and  graciously 
took  charge.  With  fresh,  warm  milk  the  baby  peacefully  fell 
asleep,  and  the  mother,  refreshed  and  revived,  for  the  first  time 
began  to  show  an  interest  in  her  surroundings.  There  was  ample, 
well  prepared  meat  and  potatoes,  plenty  of  steaming  coffee,  and 
tasty  apple  pie.     The  cost  for  each  was  thirty-five  cents. 

Enroute  again  after  about  an  hour,  it  was  ten-thirty  when  the 
lights  from  the  windows  of  the  Seventeen  Mile  station  began  to 
appear.  Inside  there  were  sandwiches  and  coffee  which  helped 
to  fill  in  the  time,  since  repairs  had  to  be  done  to  the  coach  by 
lantern  light.  This  took  about  two  hours,  which  meant  something 
of  a  delay  in  reaching  Powder  River  crossing  at  old  Cantonment 
Reno.  It  was  about  three-thirty  on  the  morning  of  May  1st  when 
the  coach  pulled  up  in  front  of  the  station  door.  The  girl's  hus- 
band had  been  waiting  there,  and  hardly  before  she  had  time  to 
collect  herself  and  the  baby,  he  had  them  loaded  on  a  buckboard 
and  away  in  the  darkness.     Father  never  saw  them  again. 

After  a  run  of  five  hours  the  same  morning,  bacon  and  eggs 
were  served  at  Trabing,  at  Crazy  Woman  Crossing,  and  after 
breakfast  John  Greub  hurriedly  bid  adieu,  promising  to  be  in 
town  soon.  Enroute  again  in  the  course  of  an  hour,  it  was  fully 
two  in  the  afternoon  when  the  stage  coach  pulled  up  in  front  of 
the  Occidental  Hotel,  in  Buffalo.  Inside,  an  inquisitive,  fiddling 
clerk  finally  got  around  to  assigning  Father  a  room,  to  which  he 
hurried  without  ado.  But,  rested  and  refreshed  several  hours 
later,  he  felt  ready  to  inspect  his  surroundings  outside. 

In  front  of  an  inviting,  well  kept  front,  Father  walked  in  through 
the  open  door,  not  knowing  he  had  entered  Dannie  Mitchell's 
popular  Cowboy  Saloon.  Presently,  he  became  aware  that  the 
hum  of  conversation  from  visiting  groups  stationed  about  and  at 
the  bar  had  ceased,  and  that  all  eyes  were  turned  on  him  in  his 


FRONTIER   LAWYER 


47 


city  suit  and  derby  hat.     Feeling  that  something  should  be  said, 
and  that  he  should  say  it,  with  polite  hesitation  he  announced: 

"Gentlemen,  I'm  T.  P.  Hill,  from  Kentucky". 

The  quiet  was  finally  broken  by  Dannie  Mitchell,  himself,  who 
said: 

"Nothing's  wrong  with  being  from  Kentucky." 

This  brought  a  more  relaxed  atmosphere,  along  with  several 
courteous  introductions.  But,  when  offered  a  drink  at  the  bar, 
there  was  unrestrained  amusement  when  Father  ordered  sarsapa- 
rilla. 

"And  you  from  Kentucky,"  one  fellow  howled.  And  there  was 
more  merriment.  It  was  quite  late  when  Father  finally  withdrew, 
feeling  that  he  had  made  a  good  start  in  Buffalo. 

Yet,  in  the  days  to  come  when  Mr.  Burritt  dwelled  upon  the 
economic  setback  caused  by  the  devastating  winter  of  1886-7, 
Father  had  reason  for  serious  reflection.  With  half  the  cattle  on 
the  range  lost  to  the  elements,  business  had  reached  an  alarming 
low;  many  cowboys  were  unemployed,  and  there  was  extreme 
unrest,  to  the  point  of  lawlessness  in  some  quarters.  This  was 
the  situation  when  Judge  Saufley  arrived  in  June  to  open  his  first 
judicial  term. 

Before  the  judge  made  his  appearance,  some  expressed  mis- 
givings but  their  fears  were 
arrested  when  they  saw  him. 
Straight  and  erect  in  his  long, 
black  frock  coat,  and  of  more 
than  average  height,  he  aroused 
immediate  respect.  Yet  behind 
a  huge  mustache  and  heavy  goa- 
tee type  beard  the  face  was  not 
stern  and  not  unkindly. 

Before  ten  o'clock  in  the 
morning  of  June  25th,  the  first 
day  of  the  term,  the  large  court 
room  in  the  new  Johnson  Coun- 
ty court  house  was  well  filled,  Jk 
and  on  the  extreme  front  row, 
just  behind  the  rail,  sat  an  er- 
rant, disorderly  crew  obviously  ., 
bent  on  disturbing  and  heckling 
the  Court.  Promptly  at  ten. 
when  Judge  Saufley  made  his 
appearance,  everybody  respect- 
fully arose  while  he  mounted 
the  rostrum;  that  is,  all  except 

the    front   row   occupants.    But   JudSe  Micah  Chrisman  Saufley  as  he 
the  judge  appeared  not  to  notice  looked  in  J888 

the     insult,     until     there     burst  Courtesy  Burton  S.  Hill 


48  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

forth  from  that  quarter  a  round  of  loud,  raucous  laughter,  and 
taunting  howls.  Thereupon,  his  usual  calm  expression  turned 
deadly  serious,  and,  still  standing,  glowering  with  anger,  Saufley 
struck  a  resounding  blow  with  his  gavel,  and  thundered: 

'On  your  feet  out  there,  and  quick!" 

That  is  all  it  took.  Without  hesitation  the  bully  boys  were  up, 
and  there  followed  a  piercing  stillness.  After  a  deliberate  pause, 
the  judge  continued,  with  severe  austerity: 

"I'll  fine  any  one  or  all  of  you  in  contempt  of  Court  for  another 
show  of  disrespect.  And  all  the  fines  will  be  collected,  so  help 
me!" 

With  that,  everybody  was  seated,  and  the  business  of  the  Court 
was  taken  up  as  though  nothing  had  happened.  But  that  evening 
after  Court  when  Judge  Saufley  attempted  to  enter  the  Occidental 
Hotel,  he  found  the  entrance  blocked  by  some  of  the  same  mis- 
creants, now  wearing  guns.  They  did  not  know  it  then,  but  the 
judge  was  also  wearing  a  gun,  a  pearl-handled  Colt  forty-five. 
The  boys  were  noticeably  chagrined  when  he  pushed  back  his 
long  frock  coat  with  his  right  hand  and  grasped  the  weapon  with 
a  meaning  they  understood.  Without  a  word,  they  moved  on. 
Judge  Saufley  was  not  again  molested  in  Buffalo. 

Father  was  admitted  to  the  bar  on  June  29th,  and  on  July  3rd 
assumed  his  duties  as  deputy  clerk  of  court,  which  took  up  only 
part  of  his  days.  The  rest  of  the  time  he  was  trying  to  establish 
himself  as  an  attorney.  While  he  did  not  consider  himself  estab- 
lished by  the  following  October,  he  had  mother  join  him.  Upon 
her  arrival,  she  was  a  house  guest  at  the  Lobban  home  until  a 
suitable  dwelling  could  be  located. 

One  of  Father's  first  and  most  memorable  cases  involved  a 
water  right,  wherein  a  villainous  bully  known  as  Arapaho  Brown 
was  on  the  other  side.  When  Father  won  the  case,  Brown  threat- 
ened to  kill  him.  This  caused  real  concern  on  the  part  of  some 
of  his  friends,  who  insisted  that  Father  arm  himself.  However, 
nothing  happened  except  more  threats.  At  all  events,  before 
"Rap"  could  get  around  to  enforce  his  minaciousness,  he,  himself, 
was  murdered  in  a  lonely  Powder  River  ranch  house.  Although 
shot  through  the  neck  and  mortally  wounded  by  two  companions, 
he  almost  managed  to  avenge  himself  on  them,  but  died  too  soon. 
Ironically,  his  remains  were  cremated  that  night  by  his  murderers 
in  a  blazing  haystack. 

On  another  occasion,  the  noted  outlaw,  Tom  O'Day,  sought 
Father's  help.  While  Father  did  not  consider  himself  a  criminal 
lawyer,  that  did  not  disturb  Tom,  who  was  in  jail  accused  of 
horse  stealing.  But,  when  Tom  came  up  with  an  honest  alibi,  he 
went  free.  He  never  forgot  the  help  he  got.  Even  years  later 
Tom  sought  Father's  advice  after  he  became  older  and  a  respected 
rancher  in  another  state. 

By   1892  Father  was  beginning  to  think  of  himself  as  quite 


FRONTIER   LAWYER  49 

well  established,  when  almost  everything  was  changed  for  almost 
everybody  by  the  Johnson  County  War.  Father  wisely  said  very 
little  and  kept  to  himself.  But,  finally  he  was  called  upon  by  a 
deadly  serious  delegation  to  express  his  loyalty  either  to  the  cattle 
companies  or  the  rustlers.  It  was  a  situation  bound  to  happen, 
but  the  day  was  saved  by  Charles  J.  Hogerson,  First  National 
Bank  president.  He  maintained  that  any  man  who  preferred  to 
remain  neutral  should  be  allowed  that  privilege,  and  won  his  point. 
At  least,  Father  was  never  again  waited  upon. 

Father  survived  the  Johnson  County  War,  and  many  other 
vicissitudes  down  through  the  following  years,  but  remained  in 
Johnson  County  to  enjoy  a  long  and  successful  career.  The  law 
firm  he  established  in  1888  is  still  active  and  conducted  by  the 
Hill  family. 


Cander  Cutoff 

By 
J.  K.  Moore,  Jr. 

In  the  Spring  of  1857  an  expedition  left  Fort  Leavenworth, 
Kansas,  to  construct  what  was  really  to  be  a  government  road  from 
the  Missouri  River  through  to  Oregon. 

Congress  had  made  an  appropriation  the  year  before  for  the 
building  of  the  road  to  be  known  as  the  Fort  Kearney,  South  Pass 
and  Honey  Lake  Wagon  Road. 

A  man  by  the  name  of  William  M.  McGraw  was  awarded  the 
contract  for  building  the  road  with  the  understanding  that  the  road 
builders  would  be  accompanied  by  a  military  escort  to  give  pro- 
tection while  the  work  was  going  on. 

The  work  of  building  the  road  started  at  Fort  Kearney.  The 
route  was  west  by  the  Overland  Trail  and  for  most  of  the  way 
little  work  had  to  be  done. 

Their  course  was  via  Ash  Hollow,  Chimney  Rock,  Fort  Lara- 
mie, Independence  Rock,  and  Devil's  Gate. 

Arriving  at  Rocky  Ridge,  near  South  Pass,  late  in  the  season, 
when  winter  had  set  in,  the  matter  of  going  into  camp  at  such  a 
place  was  out  of  the  question. 

The  Government  guide  recommended  the  Wind  River  Valley 
as  a  desirable  wintering  place,  so  the  soldiers  and  road  builders 
turned  north,  and  wading  through  deep  snow  finally  reached  the 
valley  where  winter  quarters  were  selected  on  the  Popo  Agie  River 
at  a  point  about  two  miles  north  of  where  Lander  now  stands. 

The  location  has  long  been  known  as  Fort  Thompson,  or  Camp 
McGraw. 

Here  the  encampment  was  surrounded  with  abundant  winter 
feed  for  horses  and  mules,  and  game  of  all  kinds  was  plentiful. 

In  the  Spring  of  1858  Col.  F.  W.  Lander  arrived  and  took  com- 
mand of  the  expedition  relieving  the  contractor,  William  F.  Mc- 
Graw of  the  command  of  the  camp,  and  the  road  work  to  be  done. 

On  June  1st  Col.  Lander  moved  south  to  Rocky  Ridge  and  took 
up  the  work  of  building  the  road  on  across  Wyoming,  and  to  the 
west  coast. 

Before  leaving  Col.  Lander  negotiated  a  treaty  with  Chief 
Washakie  of  the  Shoshone  Tribe  for  a  right  of  way  through  the 
country  claimed  by  him  extending  westward  from  the  Sweetwater 
to  Fort  Hall. 

The  Indians  were  paid  on  the  spot  in  horses,  firearms,  ammuni- 
tion, blankets,  and  many  other  articles  prized  by  Washakie  and  the 
chief  men  of  his  nation.    The  route  for  Fort  Hall,  and  the  Oregon 


LANDER  CUTOFF  51 

country  left  the  Overland  Trail  at  Burnt  Ranch  on  the  Sweetwater 
in  a  northwesterly  course  through  a  rough  country. 

The  road  went  by  the  name  of  the  Lander  Cut-off  in  honor  of 
Col.  Lander  who  surveyed  and  superintended  the  building  of  the 
road. 

The  name  of  the  road  had  absolutely  nothing  to  do  with  the 
naming  of  the  town  of  Lander,  as  there  was  no  connection. 
Lander  was  not  established  until  more  than  a  decade  later  than  the 
the  construction  of  the  Cut-off  Road. 

An  early  settler  in  the  Popo  Agie  Valley  by  the  name  of  B.  F. 
Lowe  homesteaded  upon  the  site  of  what  is  now  the  town  of 
Lander. 

Mr.  Lowe  had  been  a  guide  in  Col.  Lander's  employment  on  the 
expedition.  He  and  the  Colonel  became  good  friends,  and  because 
of  his  friendship,  and  respect  for  the  Colonel,  when  it  came  to 
naming  the  new  town  Mr.  Lowe  decided  to  call  it  Lander  in 
honor  of  Col.  Lander. 

And  that  is  the  story  of  how  Lander,  Fremont  County,  Wyoming 
got  its  name. 

It  had  its  first  settlement  in  1 869  when  it  was  named  Fort 
Augur,  in  honor  of  a  Civil  War  hero.  In  1870  it  became  Camp 
Brown  honoring  the  name  of  Capt.  Frederick  Brown  of  the  15th 
Infantry  who  was  killed  by  the  Indians  on  the  Bozeman  Trail  in 
December,  1866. 

In  1878  the  name  of  Camp  Brown  was  changed  to  Fort  Washa- 
kie in  honor  of  Chief  Washakie. 

Fort  Washakie  was  abandoned  by  the  military  force  in  1909, 
and  was  immediately  taken  over  by  the  Office  of  Indian  Affairs 
as  headquarters  for  the  Shoshone  Indian  Agency,  now  known  as 
the  Wind  River  Indian  Agency. 


1852  Oh  Zke  Oregon  Zrail 

By 

Mae  Urbanek 

Just  one  hundred  and  ten  years  ago,  the  land  that  is  now  within 
the  boundaries  of  Wyoming  was  then  marked  on  maps  as  Indian 
Country.  It  was  more  commonly  known  as  The  Great  American 
Desert.  Daniel  Webster,  the  statesman,  described  it  as  "not  worth 
a  cent;  a  region  of  savages,  wild  beasts,  shifting  sands,  whirlwinds 
of  dust,  cactus  and  prairie  dogs." 

It  was  a  land  without  law  or  government;  without  buildings. 
Across  it  thousands  of  ox-drawn  wagons  were  tracing  and  retracing 
the  Oregon  Trail.  Gold  had  recently  been  discovered  in  California, 
then  a  state  two  years  old,  and  the  only  state  west  of  the  Missouri 
River. 

Slavery  was  the  political  topic  of  the  day.  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin, 
that  history  making  novel  of  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe,  was  published 
in  3  852.     Millard  Fillmore  was  president. 

On  April  7,  1852  a  company  of  neighbors  started  from  Wis- 
consin, a  state  then  four  years  old,  to  trek  their  way  across  the  new 
state  of  Iowa,  and  the  vast  Indian  Country  west  of  the  Missouri 
River  to  the  free  gold  in  California.  On  this  long  journey  James 
C.  David  kept  a  detailed  diary  until  he  became  sick  soon  after 
passing  Fort  Laramie. 

His  granddaughter,  Mrs.  Hazel  Harness  of  Lusk  has  this  diary 
which  is  in  an  excellent  state  of  preservation;  the  ink  is  as  clear  and 
bright  as  it  was  a  hundred  years  ago.  Mrs.  Harness  also  has  the 
hand-embroidered  Chinese  silk  shawl  that  her  grandfather  bought 
in  California  and  sent  back  to  her  grandmother  in  Wisconsin.  For 
this  perilous  journey  the  shawl  was  sealed  in  a  tin  can.  A  hundred 
years  have  not  weakened  the  heavy  silk  fibers,  and  the  shawl  is 
still  strong  and  beautiful. 

James  David  did  not  stay  in  California,  but  soon  returned  to  his 
home  at  Boscobel,  Wisconsin.  In  1888  he  and  his  family  came  by 
immigrant  train  to  Custer  County,  Nebraska,  where  he  filed  on  a 
homestead  near  Merna.  Here  he  was  killed  when  a  team  ran  away 
throwing  him  from  the  wagon. 

As  his  ox  team  inches  westward  to  California  in  1852,  the  daily 
entries  in  Mr.  David's  diary  become  shorter,  less  descriptive,  less 
philosophical,  and  more  concerned  with  grass  and  water.  The 
diary  opens  thus: 

"On  the  seventh  day  of  April  1852  we  started  for  California. 
Company  consisting  of  3.  .  .  James  C.  David,  Oliver  P.  David  and 
A.  G.  Sherraden.     It  was  a  painful  matter  to  leave  friends  and 


1852  ON  THE  OREGON  TRAIL  53 

acquaintances  perhaps  for  the  last  time.  No  trial  perhaps  so  great 
as  starting,  and  probably  many  would  have  backed  out  had  they 
not  have  fixed  [made  arrangements]  and  fear  of  ridicule  makes 
many  a  person  go  to  California  that  would  not  have  gone.  Ridicule 
is  a  powerful  weapon  and  is  sometimes  used,  though  very  wrongly, 
for  argument.  How  many  useful  reforms  are  put  down  by  Ridi- 
cule. Thousands  have  lost  fortunes  and  what  is  vastly  of  more 
worth,  their  souls,  by  this  keen  edged  tool. 

"Great  and  stout  must  be  the  resolution  of  a  man  who  can 
withstand  its  attacks.  But  it  is  right  and  proper  to  use  it  to  dis- 
suade any  man  from  going  to  California.  How  much  better  it 
would  be  for  many  if  it  were  more  used.  We  have  4  yoke  of  oxen 
in  tolerable  plight,  little  on  the  wild  order;  travelled  on  a  very 
brisk  pace  for  a  long  trip.  .  .  .  We  got  as  far  as  Belmont;  camped  in 
regular  style.  Very  little  said;  rather  low  spirited;  gloomy  faced. 
Mac  joined  us  in  the  evening  and  was  duly  installed  cook  with 
all  the  honor  and  perquisites.     Made  12  miles. 

"Thursday  8th.  This  morning  got  fair  start  from  the  borders 
of  home;  all  feel  somewhat  relieved.  Roads  heavy.  Saw  several 
teams  bound  for  the  Land  of  Gold.  Had  an  application  from  an 
old  Lady  to  take  her  son;  everybody  wants  to  go,  seemingly.  Oh, 
thou  Almighty  Dollar  how  precious  thou  art;  but  stingy  with  thy 
favors;  and  with  what  Zeal  thy  Devotees  worship 

"Friday  9th.  Passed  over  a  rough  and  hilly  road  through  a  wild 
rough  looking  country  to  the  Mississippi,  that  Father  of  Waters 
and  should  be  an  American's  pride  in  his  Nile.  It  teaches  gratitude 
to  that  Beneficent  Being  who  has  provided  and  cast  his  lot  in  a 
country  of  such  vast  advantages,  so  bountiful  in  nature's  gifts  free 
for  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor;  where  every  man  can  have  his  own 
home  and  enjoy  liberty,  not  abuse  it;  worship  his  Creator.  Thou 
Mighty  river  when  thou  refuses  to  flow  then  and  not  until  then 
may  our  country  be  divided  and  our  government  cease  to  exist. 
The  river  is  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile  wide  here  at  Eagle  Point. 
Road  tolerably  good;  steep  gulch  to  go  down  to  River  to  cross. 
There  is  a  steam  ferry;  cost  $1.25  to  cross 

"Sat.  17.  Raining;  cold  and  very  disagreeable;  laid  by.  Boys 
went  hunting;  killed  three  squirrels  and  had  some  fresh  meat. 
Sun.  18.  This  being  Sunday  concluded  to  stop  a  day  longer.  Mac 
went  to  meeting;  some  went  hunting  and  others  did  their  washing 
and  letter  writing.  Absent  friends  were  not  forgotten  especially 
the  boys'  sweethearts;  many  were  the  fine,  soft  things  written  today. 
When  all  were  collected  will  be  quite  a  load  for  Eli  Clayton's  old 
mare  or  the  Black  Vacks  weekly  mail  route. 

"Laying  by  is  an  irksome  matter  for  Californians  [all  traveling 
to  California  were  called  thus] ;  it  gives  them  the  blues.  It  is 
amazing  to  hear  all  the  plans  and  several  projects  in  view,  when 
we  all  get  our  piles.  Many  are  the  Castles  built  in  air;  piles  of 
money,  splendid  farms,  fine  little  wives  and  pretty  children.     No 


54  ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 

happiness  without  Gold  according  to  our  ideas.  If  only  half  could 
be  realized.  .  .  . 

"Sat.  24  ...  .  Went  to  a  cotillion  party;  Sylvester  to  fiddle; 
found  three  girls;  four  married  women,  four  large  children,  five  or 
six  smaller  growth.  Young  men,  mostly  Californians,  danced  all 
night  without  intermission;  surprising  what  legs  these  Iowa  girls 
have.  Supper,  pork,  corn  bread  and  pumpkin  pies.  Went  home 
with  the  Gal  in  the  pink  dress;  a  little  stuck  up.  Mac  gave  us  a 
lecture  on  dancing  in  general  and  Iowa  ho-downs  in  particular; 
washed,  fed  and  went  to  bed.  .  .  . 

"Wed.  May  12.  Last  night  formed  a  corral  which  is  done  by 
making  a  circle  of  wagons  and  putting  the  cattle  within,  and  such 
a  devil  of  a  time  we  had  of  it.  Such  pushing,  hooking,  crowding, 
and  bellowing  I  never  heard.  It  took  all  hands  all  night  to  watch. 
We  were  heartily  sick  of  the  operation  and  hereafter  we  resolved 
not  to  get  into  another  such  a  scrape.  An  old  Californian  was  the 
means  of  getting  us  unto  it.  Some  men  are  always  trying  to  show 
off.  We  got  our  cattle  off  minus  a  good  deal  of  hide.  Finally  got 
a  start.  Road  leads  over  a  prairie  country;  bad  places  poorly 
bridged.  No  water  only  in  creeks.  Never  out  of  sight  of  emigrant 
trains 

"Sat.  15.  Went  to  Kanesville  to  buy  our  flour  and  balance  of 
outfit.  Flour  $16  a  barrel;  things  high  except  whiskey,  which  is 
cheap  as  dirt.  Kanesville  is  a  Mormon  town  of  about  800  inhab- 
itants. It  is  on  the  east  side  of  the  Missouri  about  160  from  Des 
Moines.  There  is  considerable  trade  done  between  Mormons  and 
Indians;  is  also  a  rendevous  for  trappers.  The  Mormons  are 
selling  off  to  move  to  Salt  Lake  and  property  is  selling  low.  Indians 
are  plenty  around  here,  mostly  Omahas;  they  are  great  beggers 
[sic]  and  will  steal  anything  they  can  lay  hands  on.  They  own 
the  territory  opposite  here.  A  heavy  auction  business  in  horses 
and  cattle  at  Kanesville.  Emigrants  generally  selling  horses  and 
buying  cattle."  [cattle,  meaning  oxen,  were  considered  best  for 
traveling  since  they  could  live  on  less  feed,  travel  farther  without 
water,  and  were  less  apt  to  stray  off  or  be  stolen  by  the  Indians.] 
"Grass  scarce  and  water  poor;  teams  in  every  direction.  .  .  .  camped 
in  a  slough  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  river  [the  Missouri]  Some 
of  the  boys  went  down  to  see  about  crossing;  no  prospect  for 
several  days. 

"Monday  17.  Luckily  we  got  an  emigrant  who  had  a  barge 
to  ferry  us  across.  We  immediately  drove  down  and  commenced 
ferrying.  We  could  take  a  wagon  and  load  at  one  trip.  We  com- 
menced about  two  o'clock  at  night  and  by  daylight  we  had  our 
wagons  across.  We  then  swam  our  cattle  across;  each  man  taking 
a  steer  by  a  rope  fastened  to  his  horns;  take  from  six  to  eight  across 
at  a  time.  Some  were  ferrying  in  skiffs.  Got  all  safely  over  about 
nine  o'clock  after  hours  of  hard  labor  as  we  had  the  rowing  to  do. 
Cost  us  one  dollar  for  each  wagon  and  twenty  cents  a  yoke  for 


1852  ON  THE  OREGON  TRAIL  55 

cattle.  The  Missouri  here  is  very  swift  but  the  current  runs  to 
the  west  bank  which  assists  the  boats  in  ferrying.     The  water  is 

very  sandy  and  dirty.     Good  landing  on  each  side The 

boats  used  in  ferrying  are  flats  and  rowed  by  hand  which  is  very 
hard  work,  and  can't  run  at  all  when  the  wind  is  high.  One  or 
two  had  sunk  and  several  lives  had  been  lost.  Traders  Point  is 
an  old  Indian  trading  post;  one  or  two  stores,  post  office.  It  is  a 
poor  site  for  a  town;  river  overflows  and  banks  are  continually 
washing  in.  [Traders  Point  is  now  Omaha]  "Opposite  on  west 
bank  is  Council  Bluffs,  an  Indian  village  and  store  and  blacksmith 
shop.  Indian  agency  for  Sioux,  Pawnee,  Omahas.  The  store  is 
kept  by  I.  A.  Larpey.  Camped  one  and  a  half  miles  below  on 
river. 

"Monday  17. [sic]  Laid  by;  got  some  letters  from  home.  Some 
went  to  town;  some  sauntered  around  to  see  Indian  sights.  Saw 
Indian  chiefs  talk,  some  four  or  five  chiefs  dressed  out  in  all  their 
Indian  sundry.  It  would  have  been  a  stinging  rebuke  to  some  of 
the  white  assemblies  to  have  seen  the  grave  and  orderly  like  de- 
portment of  the  chiefs  in  camp  in  contrast  to  the  wild  and  boister- 
ous conduct  of  our  solons.  Then  a  drove  of  Omaha  braves  came 
in  riding  through  on  good  ponies  strung  with  bells;  the  riders  yelling 
and  whooping  like  so  many  devils.    The  scene  was  truly  ludicrous." 

On  Friday,  May  21,  [Mr.  David  describes  a  typical  camping 
scene  on  the  Platte  River  when  many  wagon  trains  clustered  to- 
gether near  the  all  important  water.  ]  "A  very  disagreeable  eve- 
ning; all  confusion;  women  scolding,  men  swearing,  children  crying; 
dogs  barking;  cattle  bellowing;  wolves  howling;  fiddles  in  almost 
every  camp;  boys  eyeing  and  ogling  the  girls  cooking;  some  laugh- 
ing; some  praying;  some  crying;  coyotes  yipping;  guns  cracking.  .  .  . 
so  you  have  some  idea  of  an  encampment  of  California  men  from 
all  the  world;  a  heterogeneous  mass  all  for  the  gold  regions;  old 
grey  headed  men  with  families;  old,  bent,  rheumatic  matrons;  a 
young  couple  who  have  just  launched  their  frail  bark  on  life's 
boisterous  ocean;  the  minister;  the  gambler;  the  merchant;  the 
clerk;  the  statesman,  and  the  clodhopper  all  have  forsaken  home, 
kindred,  and  friends  for  gold.  The  larger  portion  thinking  of 
returning  when  they  make  their  pile.  Scarcely  any  thinking  of 
making  the  far  west  their  home.  But  how  few  will  ever  return; 
how  many  will  find  their  graves  in  the  wastes  of  the  American 
Sahara.  Many  will  find  that  all  is  not  gold  that  glitters;  that  piles 
are  few  and  far  between.  Some  perhaps  may  get  back  with  their 
piles  but  will  it  pay  for  broken  health,  dissolute  habits  and  broken 
ties?  Oh,  is  there  a  place  beyond  the  mists  of  eternity  where  the 
soul  will  be  content  and  rest?     I  doubt  it.     1 1  Vi  miles. " 

[  In  1  852  Hosea  Horn  published  an  "Overland  Guide  to  Cali- 
fornia." Trading  posts  were  listed  and  described,  also  good 
camping  spots.  The  distance  between  places  are  tabulated,  also 
the  distance  of  of  each  place  from  Council  Bluffs.     Mr.  David, 


56  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

no  doubt,  got  his  daily  information  about  distance  traveled  from 
such  a  guide.  Many  of  his  entries  are  devoted  to  the  lack  of  grass 
and  fuel,  and  the  poor  alkali  water  which  resulted  in  many  deaths 
from  cholera  and  diarrhea.  Buffalo  chips  were  often  used  for  fuel. 
Deer  and  antelopes  and  some  buffalo  were  seen  but  were  too  wild 
for  the  emigrants  to  shoot.] 

"Saturday,  June  5.  Passed  over  heavy  deep  sandy  roads.  .  .  . 
overtook  several  large  trains  from  Missouri  and  Illinois.  Most  all 
affected  with  the  cholera;  one  train  laid  up  for  a  half  day;  had  a 
birth  in  it  last  night.  Laid  up  to  rest  the  mother.  They  also  had 
a  birth  in  it  sometime  previous.  Passed  six  new  graves  today. 
Cool  and  team  traveled  well.  Some  of  the  boys  out  hunting;  killed 
nothing.  Good  camping  places  and  passed  several  fine  ones.  As 
usual  in  the  evening  had  trouble  in  finding  a  camp.  Camped  on 
Rattlesnake  River,  a  fine  stream.  Several  camps  in  view.  25 
miles.  .  .  . 

"Tuesday  June  8.  Got  an  early  start;  grass  poor  all  day.  The 
Bluffs  are  high  and  abrupt;  the  bottoms  wide  and  sandy;  the 
elevation  is  very  rapid  and  the  river  [the  Platte]  is  very  high  and 
swift.  Grass  is  scarce.  There  has  been  considerable  late  burning 
done  which  has  destroyed  considerable  grass.  A  man  that  would 
set  the  prairie  on  fire  would  murder  his  grandmother.  .  .  .  Met 
the  express,  a  private  one,  Bladget  and  Co.  Paid  250  for  a  letter 
to  carry  to  the  states.  The  Bluffs  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Indian  mound  are  full  of  curiosity.  They  are  about  one  hundred 
feet  high.  The  view  from  them  is  both  pleasing  and  instructive. 
The  Bluffs  on  the  south  side  are  high;  some  cedar  timber  on  the 
hills.  The  view  here  extends  far  up  and  down  the  river  and  Chim- 
ney rock  can  be  seen  in  the  west.  [Chimney  Rock  is  a  well-known 
landmark  located  east  of  the  Wyoming-Nebraska  state  line  on  the 
Platte  River.]  The  rocks  in  the  Bluffs  are  hard  and  ragged;  some 
are  entirely  of  sand.  The  whole  has  an  appearance  of  an  old 
fortification.  Grass  poor  where  we  camped  tonight.  We  passed 
four  fresh  graves  and  two  cases  of  cholera.     20  miles. 

"Wed.  June  9.  .  .  .  This  morning  Sylvester's  team  left  us.  They 
got  mad  because  we  told  them  they  did  not  do  their  part  in  watch- 
ing, driving  up  cattle,  etc.  There  is  more  or  less  quarreling  in 
every  train  which  is  much  to  be  regretted.  The  fault  is  in  persons 
not  doing  their  share  of  work.  The  best  way  is  for  every  one  to 
lend  a  helping  hand  until  all  is  done.  Camping  is  another  source 
of  dissension;  and  driving,  taking  care  of  teams.  Men  are  more 
irritable  here  than  any  place  in  the  world.  I  was  sorry  the  boys 
should  leave  but  could  not  help  it.  We  had  loaned  them  a  yoke 
as  they  had  broken  theirs.  We  had  to  take  it  from  them.  An  ox 
of  Smith's  team  was  lame  today.  Camped  about  two  miles  east 
of  Chimney  rock;  grass  good;  buffalo  chips  plenty;  river  beginning 
to  look  smaller;  made  15  miles  today. 

"Thursday  10.     Got  very  early  start.  .  .  .  good  grass  all  along 


1852  ON  THE  OREGON  TRAIL  57 

the  river.  The  road  leaves  the  river  but  it  should  run  along  it 
as  the  grass  is  better  and  the  ground  is  better  for  a  road.  There 
is  no  water  but  river  water  which  is  colder  than  usual  though 
dirty  as  ever  which  is  caused  by  the  sandy  country  through  which 
it  flows.  Chimney  Rock  is  quite  an  interesting  natural  curiosity. 
The  mound  on  which  it  stands  covers  an  area  of  about  twenty 
acres.  The  rock  which  runs  up  from  the  top  resembles  a  chimney. 
The  top  of  the  rock  from  the  river  is  about  125  feet.  The  chimney 
is  about  55  feet  higher.  There  are  high  bluffs  on  the  south  side 
of  the  river  running  up  to  Capital  Hills,  or  Scotts  Bluffs.  Ham 
seems  to  have  made  a  mistake  in  distances  along  here.  Light 
shower  this  evening;  quite  warm  and  appearance  of  rain.  Prickly 
pears  plenty.  Good  grass  on  river;  no  buffalo  chips.  Roads 
gravelly  and  hard.    21  miles. 

"Friday  11....  Water  so  strong  of  alkali  you  can  smell  it  some 
distance.  .  .  .  could  see  Laramies'  Peak  all  day  to  the  west;  can 
say  we  have  seen  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Our  cattle  have  scours 
badly  from  eating  bad  grass  and  water.  Passed  five  new  graves 
today,  died  recently;  saw  some  camped  for  reasons  of  sickness. 
Sylvester  joined  us  today  again;  much  all  right;  everything  goes 
off  smoothly.  Cattle  no  doubt  will  be  well  taken  care  of  now. 
The  reconciliation  of  old  friends  is  always  gratifying.     24  miles. 

"Sat.  12  Next  place  of  importance  today  Blue  Rock  in  the 
Bluffs  to  the  right;  fair  camping;  roads  good  along  here;  Bluffs 
come  near  the  river;  roads  hard  on  cattle  feet.  Fair  camping  along 
road  where  joins  river  near  Raw  Hide  creek;  no  water  in  it  when 
we  passed.  Camped  near  the  river  about  four  miles  from  Fort 
Laramie;  plenty  of  timber;  grass  indifferent.  Saw  several  Sioux 
Indians  today.  They  are  finely  formed  and  intelligent  looking; 
very  numerous  and  of  warlike  disposition.  They  are  of  lighter 
complexion  than  most  of  the  tribes  in  the  west  and  cleanly;  seem 
to  have  an  abundance  of  Indian  property,  good  horses,  etc. 

"All  as  busy  as  bees  this  morning;  a  general  resurrection  of 
California  goods.  Lightening  up  everything  for  Black  Hills.  [In 
the  early  days,  pioneers  as  well  as  historians  referred  to  the  Lara- 
mie Range  in  Wyoming  as  the  Black  Hills  J  Cut  off  the  wagon 
beds  and  coupled  shorter  for  the  Black  Hills.  Threw  away  every- 
thing useless.  Got  everything  in  order  and  started  again.  Some 
of  us  went  to  the  Fort  and  the  teams  started  on.  There  is  a  Ferry 
opposite  the  fort  above  the  mouth  of  Laramie  River.  Ham  says 
there  is  one  below  the  Laramie  river  but  1  did  not  see  it.  This  ferry 
is  a  very  poor  concern;  some  had  difficulty  in  getting  over;  appears 
to  be  badly  conducted.  They  do  not  cross  any  wagons  over  or 
cattle.     The  river  is  deep  and  narrow  and  runs  very  swiftly. 

"The  Fort  is  on  the  west  side  of  Laramie  River.  There  are  a 
number  of  buildings  around  the  fort.  The  fort  is  built  of  Spanish 
sun  burnt  bricks  and  looks  like  a  pile  of  dirt.  It  is  built  in  a  form 
of  a  square  with  an  open  space  or  court  in  the  center.     It  looks 


58  ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 

as  though  it  was  in  a  ruinous  condition.  The  barracks  are  large 
and  seem  to  be  good  ones.  There  is  a  large  vacant  house,  a  very 
good  one,  but  not  good  enough  for  Uncle  Sams  officers.  They 
have  built  a  new  one  which  must  have  cost  a  large  sum  of  money. 
Several  other  houses  and  a  large  store.  They  sell  goods  very 
reasonable.  There  is  a  large  amount  of  government  property 
destroyed  here  every  year.  They  bring  out  supplies  and  throw 
away  the  wagons  and  fatten  and  kill  the  oxen.  They  have  some 
fine  mules  and  horses  here.  There  are  about  eighty  soldiers  com- 
manded by  Captain  Ketchum.  In  the  evening  in  crossing  the  river 
the  boat  came  near  sinking,  it  being  rather  heavy  loaded.  There 
was  great  stripping  of  linen  and  drawing  of  boots  and  some  pale 
faces;  but  finally  got  over  without  going  down  which  if  we  had 
done,  would  have  been  several  lives  lost.  Went  on  to  a  stream  of 
water  about  six  miles  from  ferry.  Some  facilities  for  camping; 
water  good.     Nine  miles." 

When  the  U.  S.  government  bought  Fort  Laramie  in  1849,  a 
new  officers'  quarters  later  known  as  "Old  Bedlam"  was  built  from 
lumber  hauled  eight  hundred  miles  by  wagon  from  Fort  Leaven- 
worth. Kansas.  This  two  story  building  with  porches  across  the 
front  of  both  first  and  second  stories  cost  about  $70,000.  No 
wonder  Mr.  David  considered  it  an  expensive  structure  at  that 
time.  The  territory  of  Wyoming  was  not  created  for  another  six- 
teen years  (in  1868).  Cheyenne  did  not  exist  until  1867  when 
Major  General  Grenville  M.  Dodge,  chief  engineer  of  the  Union 
Pacific  railroad,  chose  that  location  as  the  site  of  a  terminal  town. 
Casper  was  not  founded  until  1888. 

But  back  to  1852  and  the  diary  of  James  David:  "Monday  14. 
Road  leaves  the  river  and  we  begin  to  ascend  the  far  famed  Black 
Hills.  They  are  a  ridge  of  high  and  rocky  hills  on  either  side  of 
the  Platte.  On  the  south  side  they  run  up  the  river  for  fifty  odd 
miles;  on  the  north  side  only  about  twenty  miles.  They  are  very 
high  and  rocky,  hard  on  cattle  feet  and  wagon.  They  are  spurs 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  ascent  is  very  rapid.  Some  deep 
gulches  in  them  afford  water  and  is  generally  good,  but  feed  is 
scarce.  In  evening  camped  after  a  hard  day's  drive  of  eighteen 
or  twenty  miles;  got  over  the  hardest  part  of  the  hills;  road  joins 
the  river,  grass  poor,  wood  plenty. 

"Tuesday  15.  .  .  .  Taylor  was  here  taken  very  suddenly  and 
bad  with  cholera;  procured  medical  aid  immediately.  Some  of  our 
teams  left  us  not  wishing  to  stay;  not  thinking  him  sick  enough  to 
lay  by.  We  thought  hard  of  them.  Now  only  three  teams  of  us. 
This  was  the  first  sickness  we  had  and  we  were  in  hopes  it  would 
be  the  last.  Some  of  the  boys  are  badly  scared.  The  whole  theme 
is  to  get  along  and  every  impediment  thrown  in  the  way  seems 
nearly  to  set  the  boys  crazy.  Sherraden  went  back  two  miles  to 
wash  and  we  had  one  of  the  bad  times  of  it.     A  great  many  teams 


1852  ON  THE  OREGON  TRAIL  59 

passed  this  afternoon.     Went  into  camp  as  tired  as  ever  I  was  in 
my  life.     Taylor  dangerous". 

After  this  David  himself  became  ill  and  only  brief  notes  are 
written  in  his  diary  at  intervals  of  three  and  four  weeks.  What 
Wyoming  history  he  might  have  written,  what  descriptions  of  the 
prairies  and  mountains  he  might  have  recorded  but  for  the  dys- 
entery! 


Petroglypks 

By 

Sheila  Hart 


Why  did  you  carve  them,  Primitive  Man, 
On  cliffs  and  rocks  in  a  primeval  land; 
Outlines  of  deer  and  elk  and  bird 
And  a  buffalo  great  and  a  lizard  low 
That  crept  over  the  Earth  long  ages  ago? 

How  did  you  carve  them,  Primitive  Man — 
With  a  harder  rock  in  your  unschooled  hand? 
You  had  no  metal,  no  tool  save  stone; 
Did  you  carve  these  symbols,  patient  and  slow. 
As  a  history  of  life  in  the  Long  Ago? 

When  did  you  carve  them,  Primitive  Man? 

Was  it  after  The  Flood  that  your  life's  short  span 

Ended,  with  only  these  records  we  cannot  heed — 

From  your  lines  and  circles  we  cannot  read 

The  pattern  of  life  in  that  Long  Ago: 

When  you  carved  these  signs  we  do  not  know. 


Alias  T>an  'Davis- 
Alias  Dan  Morgan 

Old  Bittercreek  Ranch  Episode  on  the  Powder  River  circa  1904 
As  Told  By  Mrs.  "Doc"  Daisy  Spear  to  R.  H.  (Bob)  Scherger 

I  was  alone  and  working  in  the  kitchen.  Little  Horatio  and 
Mary  were  both  taking  their  naps.  Then,  I  noticed  out  the  kitchen 
window  a  man  riding  hard  down  the  hill  in  front  of  our  ranch 
house.  He  pulled  up,  and  I  noticed  right  away  his  horse  was 
lathered  something  terrible!  Two  belts  were  across  his  chest  and 
he  had  six-shooters  on  each  hip. 

I  was  scared — because  I  could  tell  he  was  an  outlaw!  I  saw 
him  get  down  off  his  horse  and  walk  around  the  side  of  the  house. 
He  came  back  and  I  met  him  at  the  door.  "Where's  the  men?" 
he  asked.  "They're  scattered  in  the  hills  looking  for  cattle,"  I 
said. 

"1  want  something  to  eat,  and  I  want  it  damned  quick,"  he 
said. 

"Yes,  Sir,"  was  my  reply. 

I  was  afraid,  but  I  knew  if  I'd  look  him  right  straight  in  the  eye 
he  wouldn't  hurt  me  or  the  children.  I  noticed  his  horse's  sides 
still  heaving.  The  poor  animal  was  near  rode  to  death,  and  this 
man,  I  knew,  was  riding  for  his  life.  I  went  to  the  pantry  where 
I'd  put  some  chickens  I'd  just  cooked.  They  were  packed  in  ice, 
and  I  brought  them  out  and  poured  him  some  coffee.  He  started 
to  sit  down,  but  his  chair  was  with  its  back  to  the  window  so  he 
moved  it  to  the  other  side. 

I  stood  back  and  waited  and  watched  out  of  the  corner  of  my 
eye  for  the  men  to  get  back,  but  they  didn't  come.  It  was  near 
half  an  hour  since  they'd  left. 

The  outlaw  ate  fast  then  got  up — he  looked  tired.  His  eyes 
were  like  steel  as  he  asked,  "Where's  the  horses?"  I  looked  at 
him  square  and  said,  "there's  none  here,"  yet  trying  with  all  my 
heart  to  keep  from  showing  fear.  He  wiped  his  mouth  with  his 
sleeve  and  walked  out  the  door  leaving  it  ajar. 

I  could  see  him  mount  his  horse  and  ride  up  the  road  to  the 
top  of  the  ridge.     He  looked  back — then  was  gone. 


Wyoming s  frontier  Newspapers 

By 
Elizabeth  Keen* 

"THE  NEWSPAPERMEN" 

Wyoming's  frontier  newspapermen  were  a  vital  part  of  the  west- 
ward movement  that  gathered  momentum  in  the  latter  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  All  but  one  of  the  seven  editors  to  be  dis- 
cussed in  this  chapter  were  born  in  eastern  seaboard  states — three 
in  New  York,  one  in  Virginia,  one  in  Maine,  and  one  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. Illinois  was  the  birthplace  of  the  seventh.  Four  of  the 
men  were  born  relatively  close  together  in  time — between  1839 
and  1  843 — so  that  they  would  be  ripe  to  feel  the  effects  of  Colo- 
rado's mining  boom  in  1859,  and  the  one  in  Wyoming  nine  years 
later.  At  least  four  of  these  men  seem  to  have  been  drawn  west- 
ward by  the  prospect  of  business  opportunities  stemming  from  the 
booms. 

They  were  also  men  of  education.  Four  of  the  seven  had  had 
some  college  training;  their  editorials  and  other  writing  show  that 
they  took  west  with  them  the  standards  of  the  settled,  cultured 
areas  and  fought  to  re-establish  them  in  the  new  territory.  Versa- 
tile as  well  as  educated,  they  excelled  in  a  number  of  professions. 
One  had  been  the  first  president  of  the  University  of  Washington. 
At  least  three  were  practicing  lawyers,  and  one  of  these  had  studied 
medicine  seriously.  Some  had  taught  school  before  turning  to 
journalism.  One  was  an  experienced  agriculturist.  Yet,  despite 
their  extraordinary  talents  and  their  devotion  to  journalism,  few 
of  these  editors  and  publishers  accumulated  more  than  "a  small 
competence,"  and  while  these  few  modestly  prospered,  not  a  single 
one  "reached  the  $100,000  mark."1 

Between  edition  times  they  actively  participated  in  public  af- 
fairs: they  were  local  officers,  such  as  mayors,  aldermen,  justices 
of  the  peace,  city  and  county  attorneys,  district  and  county  judges; 
they  were  territorial  officers  such  as  auditors,  penitentiary  com- 


*  This  article  is  Chapter  II  of  Miss  Keen's  master  thesis.  University  of 
Wyoming,   1956. 

1.  W.  E.  Chaplin,  "Some  of  the  Early  Newspapers  of  Wyoming,"  Wyo- 
ming Historical  Society  Miscellanies  (Laramie,  1919),  p.  9.  An  exception 
probably  should  be  made  to  Bill  Nye,  who  is  known  to  have  achieved  a  state 
of  considerable  affluence.  However,  Nye  made  his  money  after  leaving 
Wyoming. 


62  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

missioners,  legislators;  they  were  national  officers  such  as  post- 
masters and  commissioners  having  charge  of  selling  public  land. 
Such  widespread  influence  would  indicate  that  Wyoming's  news- 
papermen were  leaders  to  whom  people  looked  for  guidance. 

They  were  men  of  unquestioned  resourcefulness  and  influence. 
They  were  often  shrewd  politicians,  sensing  which  side  of  a  public 
issue  would  appeal  to  the  electorate.  They  possessed  enough 
courage  to  state  boldly  and  unmistakably  their  attitude  on  public 
questions.  Unrestrained  by  any  kind  of  libel  law,2  they  could 
express  their  personal  hatreds  in  type  without  fearing  legal  retalia- 
tion, although  before  them  was  often  the  prospect  of  a  beating,  a 
ducking,  or  perhaps  a  shot  from  a  Colt's  six-shooter,  a  favored 
weapon  of  the  period.  Merris  C.  Barrow,  acidulous  editor  of 
Bill  Barlow's  Budget  in  Douglas,  was  once  given  a  "sound  beating" 
by  the  citizens  of  that  town,  and  on  another  occasion,  while  attend- 
ing a  convention  in  Casper,  he  escaped  a  ducking  in  the  Platte 
River  only  when  his  host  grabbed  a  rifle  and  told  Barrow's  enemies 
that  he  would  shoot  the  first  person  who  dared  put  a  foot  inside 
the  gate.a  But  since  most  readers  of  territorial  newspapers  were 
either  advertisers  and  subscribers,  or  potential  advertisers  and 
subscribers,  editors  on  the  whole,  since  they  had  to  make  a 
living,  prudently  restrained  their  writings.  Not  always  successful, 
frontier  editors  were  often  plagued  by  debts.  According  to  Chap- 
lin, "Small  population  and  magnificent  distances  made  their  finan- 
cial lot  difficult,  but  they  did  not  complain  and  followed  the  usual 
bent  of  the  small  town  purveyor  of  news  in  giving  the  reader  more 
than  [was]  warranted  by  the  patronage."4 

Wyoming's  best-known  newspapermen  in  the  period  under  in- 
vestigation were  Nathan  A.  Baker,  James  H.  Hayford,  Edward 
Archibald  Slack,  Charles  W.  Bramel,  Edgar  Wilson  [Bill]  Nye, 
Asa  Shinn  Mercer,  and  Merris  C.  Barrow  [Bill  Barlow].  Doubt- 
less there  were  other  editors  and  publishers  of  the  period  worthy 
of  inclusion  here,  but  because  of  lack  of  any  positive  information 
about  them,  this  discussion  has  been  confined  to  seven  men  on 
whom  some  source  material  exists. 


2.  Wyoming  territorial  legislators  in  March.  1890,  finally  approved  libel 
and  slander  laws,  under  which  provision  was  made  for  fining  the  guilty 
"not  more  than  $1000,  to  which  may  be  added  imprisonment  in  the  county 
jail  for  not  more  than  three  months."  See  Session  Laws  of  Wyoming 
Territory,  Jan.,  1890,  Sec.  33. 

3.  Margaret  Prine,  Merris  C.  Barrow,  Sagebrush  Philosopher  and  Jour- 
nalist (Laramie:  University  of  Wyoming,  1948),  pp.  124-5. 

4.  Chaplin,  p.  9.  A  printer  who  advanced  from  the  back  shop  to  the 
desk  of  editor  and  publisher  at  a  time  outside  the  period  under  investigation, 
Chaplin  worked  with  and  knew  well  many  of  the  early  newspapermen.  To 
his  colorful  recollections  of  vivid  personalities  this  study  is  greatly  indebted. 


WYOMING'S   FRONTIER   NEWSPAPERS  63 

NATHAN  ADDISON  BAKER 

Wyoming's  pioneer  newspapermen,  Nathan  Addison  Baker,  was 
a  man  of  many  accomplishments:  he  was  a  school  teacher,  law 
student,  journalist,  accountant,  "artistic  printer,"  agriculturist,  hor- 
ticulturist, miner,  real  estate  dealer,  and,  in  1864,  a  member  of 
the  Governor  of  Colorado's  Guard."'  Above  all,  he  was  a  man 
of  great  fortitude  in  the  face  of  disaster,  and  one  who  had  un- 
quenchable faith  in  the  future  of  the  West.  He  lived  to  be 
ninety-one. 

Baker  was  born  August  3,  1843,  in  Lockport,  New  York.  His 
family  emigrated  to  Denver  by  way  of  Racine,  Wisconsin,  in 
March,  1 860.  Two  years  later  Baker  opened  the  Ferry  Street 
School  in  Denver,  where  for  a  year  he  taught  thirty-six  pupils. 
The  following  year,  when  the  city's  first  public  school  was  estab- 
lished, Baker  went  to  work  in  the  business  office  of  the  Rocky 
Mountain  News,  and  it  was  there  in  1864  that  he  barely  escaped 
with  his  life  when  the  great  Cherry  Creek  flood  swept  away  the 
News  building. ,;  By  the  summer  of  1867  Baker  had  saved  enough 
money  to  start  his  own  newspaper,  the  Colorado  Leader.  The 
first  issue  came  out  July  6,  but  the  newspaper  did  not  prosper 
because  "business  conditions  were  not  good."7  It  was  then  that 
Baker  and  his  friend  Gates,  the  printing  expert,  set  forth  by  wagon 
for  Cheyenne,  taking  along  the  Leader's  plant.  Many  years  later 
Baker  recalled  the  precariousness  attending  the  birth  of  the  Chey- 
enne Leader: 

The  conditions  on  our  arrival  Tin  Cheyenne]  were  these:  a  young 
city  in  the  feverish  excitement  of  early  making.  The  Union  Pacific 
road  had  not  yet  reached  Cheyenne,  but  was  there  a  few  weeks  later. 
Building  of  stores  and  shops  were  [sic]  very  active,  and  for  many 
days  was  carried  on  days,  nights,  and  Sundays. 

There  was  but  one  building  in  town  that  yet  had  a  floor  in  it.  This 
the  writer  was  able  to  secure  for  the  Leader.  This  was  a  log  building, 
with  a  store  front  in  it  belonging  to  E.  A.  Allen. 

On  Thursday.  September  19,  1867,  we  were  able  to  issue  our  first 
number  of  the  Cheyenne  Leader.  There  were  on  the  street  opposite 
the  post  office  .  .  .  300  men,  all  eager  to  get  a  copy  of  the  first 
paper,  for  each  of  which  was  paid  25  cents. 

This  was  a  fine  thing  for  the  writer,  as  it  had  taken  all  his  money 
to  pay  for  his  team  transportation  to  the  Magic  City.  He  could  now 
pay  for  his  board  at  the  Bell  House,  and  pay  his  assistants  on  the 
paper.s 


5.  An  interview  with  N.  A.  Baker,  Wyoming  State  Tribune-Chexenne 
State  Leader,  July  27,  1933. 

6.  Newspaper  clipping  file.  University  of  Wyoming  Archives. 

7.  Ibid. 

8.  Wyoming  State  Tribune-Cheyenne  State  Leader,  July  20,  1929.  Cop- 
ies of  the  Cheyenne  Leader  starting  with  Vol.  1,  No.  1,  September  19,  1867, 
are  in  the  files  of  the  Wyoming  State  Archives  and  Historical  Department, 
Cheyenne. 


64  ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 

The  Cheyenne  Leader  did  so  well  that  Baker,  as  has  been  noted, 
was  able  to  branch  out  from  Cheyenne  and  establish  the  Laramie 
Sentinel  May  1,  1869,  and  the  South  Pass  News  "about  the  same 
time."9  He  himself  remained  in  Cheyenne,  never  living  in  South 
Pass  City  or  in  Laramie  where  he  had  picked  capable  men  to 
manage  his  papers,  but  he  did  travel  to  these  places  "in  connection 
with  the  newspapers  and  some  politics."1"  All  went  well  with 
his  fortunes  until  the  night  of  January  1  1,  1870,  when  the  worst 
fire  in  the  town's  history  "laid  nearly  one-half  the  business  portion 
of  Cheyenne  in  ashes,"11  destroying  the  Leader  plant  and  all  its 
supplies.  The  Wyoming  Tribune,  after  criticizing  the  fire  depart- 
ment for  its  slowness  and  ineptitude,  estimated  Baker's  losses  at 
five  thousand  dollars  and  said  he  had  no  insurance.11'  The  Leader 
of  January  13,  1870,1:!  was  silent  on  the  matter  of  insurance,  but 
put  its  losses  at  twice  the  Tribune's  estimate  and  was  altogether 
more  gallant  about  the  efforts  of  fire  fighters  to  put  out  the  blaze: 

It  has  been  thought  that  the  labors  of  the  firemen  could  have  been 
rendered  more  efficient  by  proper  direction.  But  we  cannot  say. 
It  is  easy  to  criticize  and  find  fault  after  the  danger  and  excitement  is 
all  over.  The  engine  might  have  been  a  few  minutes  earlier  but  it 
seems  that  for  many  weeks  there  has  been  no  suitable  provisions  for 
such  an  emergency.  There  was  no  fuel.  Then  again  the  supply  of 
water  soon  gave  out.  .  .  .  Before  the  fire  had  reached  the  Fort  House 
the  entire  force  of  the  office  was  busy  in  removing  the  material  of  the 
LEADER.  A  party  from  the  TRIBUNE  office  soon  came  to  our 
assistance  and  rendered  brave  and  generous  service.  In  a  few  minutes 
all  the  material  as  well  as  the  household  furniture  belonging  to  Mr. 
Baker  .  .  .  was  removed  across  the  street,  where  it  was  hoped  it 
would  be  safe.  .  .  .  The  last  article  removed  was  the  Gordon  (power) 
press  which  was  got  outside  the  building  just  as  the  flames  were  issu- 
ing in  the  rear  and  almost  over  the  heads  of  the  brave  men  who 
labored  to  the  last  moment  with  untiring  energy.  The  press  had  to  be 
abandoned  on  the  sidewalk  in  consequence  of  the  heat  which  was  now 
too  intense  for  human  endurance.  In  a  few  moments  the  building 
fell  in  and  a  tornado  of  flames  swept  across  the  street  with  resistless 
fury,  rendering  all   our  efforts  abortive   and   destroying  all   that   had 


9.  Newspaper  clipping  file.  University  of  Wyoming  Archives. 

10.  Letter  of  N.  A.  Baker  to  Grace  Raymond  Hebard,  April  2.  1927, 
in  the  University  of  Wyoming  Archives. 

11.  Wyoming  Tribune,  lanuary  15,  1870,  Wyoming  State  Archives  and 
Historical  Department. 

12.  Ibid. 

13.  In  an  unsigned,  unpublished  MS.  dealing  with  Baker  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Wyoming  Archives  he  is  quoted  as  saying  that  the  Leader  "never 
missed  an  issue"  following  the  fire.  However,  the  bound  files  of  the  Leader 
in  the  Wyoming  State  Archives  and  Historical  Department  for  1870  include 
no  copies  of  the  newspaper  between  Monday.  lanuary  10,  and  Thursday, 
lanuary  13,  the  latter  issue  containing  a  full  account  of  the  fire.  Baker  was 
an  elderly  man  when  the  unknown  historian  interviewed  him,  and  it  is 
possible  that  his  memory  may  have  betrayed  his  sense  of  accuracy. 


WYOMING'S   FRONTIER   NEWSPAPERS  65 

been  previously  removed  by  so  much  exertion.  The  entire  outfit  of 
the  office,  which  was  one  of  the  most  complete  and  extensive  in  the 
West,  together  with  a  large  quantity  of  paper  and  other  stock,  was 
consumed  in  less  time  than  one  can  write  an  account  of  it.  The 
LEADER'S  loss  will  not  fall  short  of  $10,000  .  .  . 

Following  the  fire.  Baker  lost  no  time  in  re-establishing  his 
plant.  While  makeshift  headquarters  were  set  up  in  the  office  of 
the  defunct  Argus,  Baker  himself  journeyed  to  Chicago  to  buy 
new  equipment  and  supplies.  Thirty  days  later  the  Leader  was 
being  published  in  a  new  and  better  plant.14 

For  reasons  this  investigation  has  been  unable  to  establish. 
Baker  sold  all  his  Wyoming  interests  in  1872,  went  to  Denver, 
and  there  embarked  on  a  publishing  business  that  turned  out 
"artistic  printing."1''  At  some  time  in  the  early  'seventies  he  began 
a  fish  hatchery  at  Baker's  Springs,  the  quarter-section  in  the  West 
Denver  lowlands  that  his  father  had  homesteaded  in  1  860,  and  for 
a  time  the  former  newspaperman  raised  mountain  trout.  Still 
later  he  engaged  in  the  real  estate  business,  and  for  a  time  was  a 
"calculating  expert"  employed  by  the  United  States  mint  in  Den- 
ver.1<;  He  died  in  the  Denver  home  of  his  daughter  May  27, 
1934. ,T 

JAMES  H.  HAYFORD 

While  a  legion  of  Wyoming  editors  came  and  went  during  the 
territorial  period,  their  names  living  but  briefly  on  the  mastheads 
of  their  newspapers,  James  H.  Hayford's  lively  and  sometimes 
acrid  prose  distinguished  the  columns  of  the  Laramie  Daily  and 
Weekly  Sentinels  for  twenty-six  years.  For  most  of  those  years 
he  was  considered  the  pioneer  newspaperman  of  Wyoming,  since 
Baker,  the  original  pioneer,  chose  to  spend  the  greater  part  of  his 
life  in  Colorado.  The  excellence  of  Hayford's  editing  and  report- 
ing was  appreciated  in  many  places  besides  his  home  town.  The 
Daily  Sentinel  of  May  10,  1870,  for  instance,  contains  "numerous 
compliments  paid  us  by  our  contemporaries"  on  the  disclosure 
that  Baker  had  sold  the  paper  to  Hayford  and  Gates.  The 
Atchison  [Kansas]  Patriot  characterized  the  Sentinel  as  "one  of 
the  liveliest  and  spiciest  dailies  in  the  West  .  .  ."  The  Council 
Bluffs  [Iowa]  Nonpareil  said  it  was  "a  lively  little  sheet  and  we 
hope  it  may  be  compelled  to  enlarge  before  another  year."  The 
Colorado  Tribune,  calling  the  Sentinel  "the  best  daily  for  a  little 
one  on  our  exchange  list,"  expressed  the  hope  that  "the  success 
of  these  gents  will  be  equal  to  their  efforts." 


14.  Unpublished,  unsigned  MS.  in  the  University  of  Wyoming  Archives 

15.  Newspaper  clipping  file.  University  of  Wyoming  Archives. 

16.  Ibid. 

17.  Ibid, 


66  ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 

Hayford  must  have  been  a  man  of  singular  modesty,  for  no 
accounts  of  his  life  are  contained  in  the  various  biographical 
compendiums  of  the  day.  Chaplin  left  a  slight  sketch  of  the  man 
as  a  personality, ls  but  he  gave  few  biographical  details  and  made 
no  reference  at  all  to  Hayford's  life  before  his  arrival  in  Wyoming. 
However,  on  Hayford's  death,  July  28,  1902,  his  old  enemy,  the 
Boomerang,  the  newspaper  with  which  he  had  feuded  for  so  many 
years,  came  out  the  following  day  with  a  full  obituary,  and  on 
subsequent  days  with  rather  eulogistic  commentaries. 

Hayford,  according  to  the  Boomerang's  obituary,  was  born 
December  26,  1826,  in  Potsdam,  New  York,  and  was  first  married 
at  the  age  of  nineteen.  He  earned  his  living  for  a  time  by  teaching 
school  in  New  York,  Ohio,  and  Illinois,  but  while  he  was  still  a 
young  man  left  teaching  to  attend  and  graduate  from  the  Uni- 
versity of  Michigan  medical  school.  Apparently  Hayford  con- 
sidered all  knowledge  to  be  his  province,  for  1855  found  him 
established  in  Fond  du  Lac,  Wisconsin,  studying  in  a  judge's  law 
office.  He  was  later  admitted  to  the  bar  of  that  city,  where  for  a 
time  he  practiced  law.  Some  time  later  Hayford  journeyed  to 
Colorado,  where  he  engaged  in  mining  and  practiced  law.  It  was 
in  1 867  that  he  moved  to  Cheyenne,  went  to  work  for  Baker  on 
the  Ltader,  and  was  "one  of  the  first  to  build  a  substantial  resi- 
dence in  the  tent  city."11'  While  living  in  Cheyenne  he  was  sent 
as  a  delegate  to  Washington  to  urge  the  separation  of  Wyoming 
from  Dakota  and  its  organization  as  a  territory.  He  was  active 
in  the  formation  of  the  new  territory,  for  several  years  he  was  a 
penitentiary  commissioner,  and  for  eight  years  he  held  office  as 
territorial  auditor,  making,  in  1871,  the  first  report  on  public 
instruction  in  Wyoming.-" 

His  years  in  Laramie  were  not  given  over  solely  to  being  a 
newspaper  editor.  He  was  secretary  of  the  first  University  of 
Wyoming  Board  of  Trustees,  and  for  eight  years  he  was  Laramie's 
postmaster.  He  was  chairman  of  the  meeting  of  newspaper  editors 
who  convened  at  the  Inter-Ocean  hotel  in  Cheyenne  May  15, 
1877,  to  organize  themselves  as  the  Wyoming  Press  Association.-1 
As  justice  of  the  peace  he  heard  1,856  cases,  and  no  higher  court 
ever  reversed  a  Hayford  decision.  In  1 895  he  was  appointed 
judge  of  the  second  judicial  district  to  fill  a  vacancy  caused  by 
death.     And  in  addition  to  all  this,  Hayford  was  a  good  Republi- 


18.  Pp.  22-23. 

19.  Laramie  Boomerang,  July  29,  1902. 

20.  I.  S.  Bartlett,  History  of  Wvominq  (Chicago:  S.  J.  Clarke  Publishing 
Co.,   1918).  I.  P.  432. 

21.  Cheyenne  Daily  Leader,  May  16.  1877.  Wyoming  State  Archives  and 
Historical  Department. 


WYOMING'S   FRONTIER   NEWSPAPERS  67 

can,  "a  substantial  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,"  the  hus- 
band of  three  wives,  and  the  father  of  eighteen  children.22 

Hayford's  was  a  brilliant  and  tireless  mind.  His  old  political 
enemy.  Judge  Bramel,  once  said  that  Hayford  "could  sling  more 
mud  with  a  teaspoon  than  he  [Bramel J  could  with  a  scoop- 
shovel."-'1  Bramel  was  doubtless  referring  to  Hayford's  penetrat- 
ing irony  and  his  fearlessness  in  saying  what  he  had  to  say.  Some- 
times, as  the  Boomerang  noted  in  its  issue  of  July  30,  1902, 
Hayford's  words  stung: 

Mr.  Hayford  was  strong  in  many  directions.  No  one  who  knew 
him  would  deny  his  claims  to  the  title  of  politician.  He  himself 
believed  it  the  duty  of  every  man  to  be  one  in  the  best  sense  and  in  his 
political  activities  he  was  a  partisan  because  he  believed  his  party  was 
right.  In  his  character  as  editor  for  so  many  years  of  a  party  paper 
he  struck  hard.  He  meant  to  do  so.  That  he  conceived  to  be  his 
business,  and  sometimes  his  words  rankled  in  the  minds  of  his  political 
opponents  who  felt  that  they  were  often  unnecessarily  harsh.  .  .  . 

Perhaps  Hayford's  most  devastating  weapon  was  that  of  quoting 
a  victim  and  convicting  the  unfortunate  by  his  own,  ill-judged, 
ridiculous  words.  A  notable  example  of  this  method  of  attack 
is  found  in  the  Laramie  Daily  Sentinel  of  December  16,  1871,  it  is 
quoted  at  length  here  because  it  illustrates  Hayford 's  adroit  and 
unique  way  of  dealing  with  those  he  was  sure  were  wrong.  Hay- 
ford, who  had  been  to  Cheyenne  to  attend  a  meeting  of  the  Wyo- 
ming legislature,  had  witnessed  the  attempt  of  one  of  the  legisla- 
tors, S.  F.  Nuckolls,  to  start  a  movement  for  the  repeal  of  the  act 
granting  suffrage  to  Wyoming  women,  an  act  which  Hayford  him- 
self had  championed  from  the  beginning.  Angry  and  contemp- 
tuous, he  wrote: 

We  listened  night  before  last  to  the  argument  in  the  Council  upon 
the  motion  to  pass  the  act  over  the  Governor's  veto,  repealing  the 
act  enfranchising  women  in  this  Territory.  As  our  readers  generally 
did  not  enjoy  this  rare  intellectual  treat,  we  propose  to  give  them  a 
little  outline  of  what  was  said. 

Mr.  Nuckolls  introduced  the  motion  and  made  a  speech  in  its 
favor.  Mr.  Nuckolls  is  no  speaker,  and  when  in  his  normal  condition 
he  has  sense  enough  to  be  conscious  of  the  fact  and  hold  his  tongue, 
but  on  this  particular  occasion  he  was  conscious  that  something  "had 
to  be  did,"  and  fortified  himself  accordingly. 

The  leaders  of  the  scheme  knew  they  lacked  one  vote  in  the  Coun- 
cil. They  had  moved  heaven  and  earth  to  secure  that  one  vote.  They 
had  approached  one  of  our  members,  who.  in  a  spirit  of  waggishness. 
had  encouraged  their  advances,  and  made  him  more  and  greater 
promises  than  the  Devil  did  the  Savior.  They  had  agreed  to  make 
him  President  of  the  Council  at  first,  and  would  give  him  everything 
from  the  next  delegateship  to  Congress  up  to  a  thousand  dollars  in 


22.  Laramie  Boomerang,  July  29.  1902. 

23.  Chaplin,  p.  22. 


68  ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 

cash  afterwards,  if  he  would  only  fall  down  and  worship  them  by 
helping  disenfranchise  the  women.  All  the  facts  in  the  case  and  the 
names  of  the  interested  parties  to  these  efforts  will  be  given  to  the 
public  at  no  distant  day,  and  they  will  find  it  interesting,  too,  but  just 
now  we  have  something  else  to  chronicle.  .  .  . 

Mr.  Nuckolls  said:  "I  never  saw  the  sun  go  down  upon  an  election 
day  when  I  had  been  engaged  in  a  political  contest,  struggling  to 
secure  the  triumph  of  my  principles  and  party,  that  I  did  not  feel  that 
I  had  been  engaged  in  a  dirty,  disreputable  business;  such  business 
as  no  woman  could  be  engaged  in  without  morally  degrading  herself. 
...  I  think  women  were  made  to  obey  men.  They  generally  promise 
to  obey  at  any  rate,  and  I  think  you  had  better  either  abolish  the 
female  suffrage  act  or  get  up  a  new  marriage  ceremony  to  fit  it." 
He  closed  his  eloquent  appeal  with  the  entirely  original  remark,  "I 
don't  think  women  ought  to  mingle  in  the  dirty  pool  of  politics." 
Here  the  venerable  ex-member  of  Congress  sat  down,  evidently 
overcome  by  his  feeling.   .   .   . 

The  narrow-gauge  member  from  Cheyenne  flies  to  the  rescue.  His 
head  is  very  small,  but  what  he  lacks  in  brains  is  made  up  by  thickness 
of  skull.   .   .  . 

Mr.  [W.  R.]  Steele  said:  "The  Governor  hadn't  got  no  right  to 
veto  this  bill.  He  hasn't  got  no  right  to  veto  this  bill  nor  nothin'  that 
we  pass  unless  it  is  somethin'  witch  after  it  has  passed  it  shall  appear 
that  it  is  wrong  or  that  there  is  somethin'  wrong  by  witch  reason  it 
had  ought  not  to  become  a  law,  accordin'  to  my  reasonin'.  I  am 
willin'  every  old  woman  shall  hev  a  guardian  if  she  wants  one  and 
kin  git  it.  .  .  . 

"It  ain't  no  party  question  this  bill  ain't.  /  wouldn't  let  it  come  up 
in  that  shape.  I  would  know  better  than  that.  This  woman  suffrage 
business  will  sap  the  foundation  of  society.  Woman  can't  engage  in 
politics  without  losin'  her  virtue."  (As  the  gentleman's  wife  was 
quite  an  active  politician  during  the  campaign,  we  leave  him  to 
settle  the  above  question  with  her. — Ed.) 

"No  woman  ain't  got  no  right  to  set  on  a  jury  unless  she  is  a  man 
and  every  lawyer  knows  it,  and  I  don't  bleeve  it  anyhow.  I  don't 
think  women  juries  has  been  a  success  here  in  Wyomin'.  They  watch 
the  face  of  the  judge  too  much  when  the  lawyer  is  addressin'  'em. 
That  shows  they  ain't  fit  for  jurors  in  my  way  of  thinkin'.  .  .  . 

"The  Legislature  hadn't  got  no  right  to  let  the  women  vote  in  the 
first  place.  ...  If  those  who  hev  exercised  this  debasin'  and  demoral- 
izin'  right  can't  hev  it  took  away  from  'em  now  we  can  at  least 
present  anymore  of  'em  from  gittin'  it  and  thus  save  the  unborn 
babe  and  the  girl  of  sixteen.  .  .  ." 

Hayford  was  not  always  the  victor  during  his  long  career  as  a 
newspaperman.  As  has  been  shown,  the  Sentinel  had  become  a 
weekly  paper  by  the  time  the  Boomerang  was  established,  and 
although  both  were  Republican  in  politics,  the  Boomerang  as  a 
daily  "had  the  backing  of  the  Republican  organization  of  the 
county  and  took  from  the  Sentinel  practically  all  the  public  patron- 
age."-4 Hayford  apparently  found  this  loss  of  revenue  so  hard  to 
accept  that  in  1882  he  consented  to  run  on  the  Democratic  ticket 
for  justice  of  the  peace,  at  the  same  time  agreeing  with  the  Repub- 


24.  Chaplin,  p.  22. 


WYOMING'S   FRONTIER   NEWSPAPERS  69 

lican  county  committee  to  write  some  blistering  articles  in  aid  of 
the  Republican  cause.  He  was  exposed  in  this  dual  role  by  the 
Boomerang,  and  the  revelation  lost  him  the  Democratic  vote. 
Bill  Nye,  at  whom  Hayford  had  been  sniping  ever  since  the 
humorist  began  editing  the  Boomerang,-7'  referred  to  Hayford's 
humiliating  defeat  in  his  now-famous  letter  of  resignation  in  1883 
as  Laramie's  postmaster. 

Acting  under  the  advice  of  Gen.  Hatton  a  year  ago.  I  removed 
the  feather  bed  with  which  my  predecessor.  Deacon  Hayford,  had 
bolstered  up  his  administration  by  stuffing  the  window,  and  sub- 
stituted glass.  Finding  nothing  in  the  book  of  instructions  to  post- 
masters which  made  the  feather  bed  a  part  of  my  official  duties,  I 
filed  it  away  in  an  obscure  place  and  burned  it  in  effigy,  also  in  the 
gloaming.  This  act  maddened  my  predecessor  to  such  an  extent  that 
he  then  and  there  became  a  candidate  for  justice  of  the  peace  on  the 
democratic  ticket.  The  democratic  party  was  able,  however,  with 
what  aid  it  secured  from  the  republicans,  to  plow  the  old  man  under 
to  a  great  degree.  .  .  .26 

According  to  an  unsigned  editorial  in  the  Boomerang  of  July  30, 
1902,  Hayford  liked  nothing  better  than  to  argue  theology  with 
someone  well  versed  in  the  field,  since  he  was  '"naturally  more  of  a 
theologian  than  a  politician,  more  of  a  moralist  than  a  judge.  .  .  ." 
In  a  final  assessment  of  Hayford's  character,  the  unnamed  writer 
found  that,  on  the  whole,  "he  was  a  fine  example  of  a  man  born 
and  reared  in  a  religious  atmosphere  wholly  different  from  that  of 
today,  and  imbued  with  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  more  than  half 
a  century  ago,  who  nevertheless  had  kept  his  face  to  the  future, 
and  had  brought  to  bear  the  new  ideas  upon  the  old  conceptions 
in  such  a  way  that  while  clinging  to  the  original  framework  he 
had  held  to  little  else  than  the  framework."  And  forgetting  any 
acrimony  that  might  have  been  bred  by  the  Sentinel-Boomerang 
feud,  the  newspaper  concluded,  "Judge  Hayford  with  his  pen 
moulded  much  of  the  progress  of  the  period,  and  from  the  columns 
of  the  Sentinel  may  be  read  much  of  the  history  of  the  state." 

EDWARD  ARCHIBALD  SLACK 

The  newspaper  career  of  Edward  Archibald  Slack,  whose  asso- 
ciates and  friends  call  him  "colonel"  because  of  his  service  with  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  lasted  for  twenty-nine  years — from 


25.  A  typical  example  of  how  Nye  fared  in  the  columns  of  the  Sentinel 
is  this  item  appearing  May  6,  1881:  "Mrs.  Judge  Nye  and  children  left  this 
week  for  the  east  for  quite  a  protracted  visit.  We  saw  Nye  around  the 
streets  yesterday  and  hardly  knew  him.  He  has  had  his  head  shaved  and 
sandpapered,  he  wore  a  standing  collar  and  white  cravat,  with  black  kid 
gloves,  white  silk  stockings  and  red  morocco  pumps.  He  also  had  on 
sawdust  calves  and  is  evidently  fixing  himself  up  for  a  gay  deceiver." 

26.  Quoted  by  Chaplin,  p.  20. 


70  ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 

the  time  he  bought  the  South  Pass  News  in  1869  to  1898,  the  year 
he  relinquished  control  of  the  Cheyenne  Sun-Leader  upon  his  ap- 
pointment as  receiver  of  the  United  States  land  office  in  Chey- 
enne.-7 Slack,  as  has  been  shown,  founded  the  Laramie  Daily  Inde- 
pendent in  1871,  moved  it  to  Cheyenne  five  years  later  and  consoli- 
dated it  with  the  Cheyenne  Daily  News.  In  1895  he  bought  the 
Cheyenne  Leader,  and  for  the  remainder  of  his  years  as  a  news- 
paperman published  the  Sun-Leader.28 

Slack  was  born  in  Oswego,  New  York,  October  2,  1842.  His 
father  was  a  civil  engineer  of  some  distinction  and  the  close  friend 
of  General  G.  M.  Dodge,  the  man  in  charge  of  building  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad  west  from  Omaha.  His  mother,  who  later  was 
widowed  and  remarried,  was  Esther  Hobart  Morris,  a  dynamic 
worker  for  women's  suffrage  and  the  nation's  first  woman  justice 
of  the  peace.1'9  Slack  began  to  learn  printing  in  Peru,  Illinois;  he 
continued  with  the  trade  in  Chicago  until  his  apprenticeship  was 
interrupted  by  the  Civil  War  and  his  three  years  of  service  with 
the  Northern  forces.  Upon  his  release  from  the  army  he  attended 
Chicago  University  for  a  time.3"  He  emigrated  to  South  Pass  City 
in  1868,  engaged  for  a  time  in  mining  and  in  the  operating  of  a 
sawmill,  bought  the  South  Pass  News  from  N.  A.  Baker,  and, 
eventually,  became  clerk  of  the  district  court.  It  was  in  the  latter 
capacity  that  in  1 870  he  swore  in  his  mother  as  justice  of  the 
peace.31  Slack  was  married  early  in  1871  to  Sarah  F.  Neeley, 
sister  of  the  wife  of  General  John  M.  Palmer,  at  the  time  governor 
of  Illinois.  The  wedding  took  place  in  the  governor's  mansions- 
William  Chapin  Deming,  who  later  was  to  become  one  of  Wyo- 
ming's best-known  newspapermen,  described  Slack  as  "a  powerful 
man  physically,  energetic  to  the  nth  degree,  but  with  little  or  no 
control  of  his  temper.  This  together  with  the  fact  that  he  had  not 
only  been  a  crusader  but  was  also  quite  partisan  [Slack  was  at 
different  times  politically  a  Republican  and  a  Democrat]  resulted 
in  a  good  many  enemies,  such  as  an  active  newspaperman  usually 


27.  Chaplin,  p.  23,  gives  the  date  Slack  ceased  being  a  newspaperman 
as  1905,  but  Bartlett,  p.  452,  says  that  upon  Slack's  government  appointment 
Capt.  Harry  A.  Clark  became  a  partner  in  the  ownership  of  the  newspaper 
with  Wallace  C.  Bond,  Slack's  son-in-law,  who  had  hitherto  been  associated 
with  Slack  in  the  publication  of  the  Cheyenne-Sun-Leader.  Since  Bartlett 
himself  was  a  member  of  the  company  which  in  1906  bought  the  Leader 
(by  which  time  the  word  "Sun"  had  been  dropped  from  the  masthead) 
from  Bond  and  Clark,  his  date  is  presumed  to  be  correct. 

28.  Progressive  Men  of  the  State  of  Wyoming  (Chicago:  A.  W.  Bowen, 
1903),  p.  220. 

29.  Ibid.,  p.  220. 

30.  Ibid.,  p.  220. 

31.  Mrs.  Wallace  C.  Bond.  "Sarah  Frances  Slack,"  Annals  of  Wyoming, 
IV  (Jan.,  1927),  355. 

32.  Ibid.,  p.  356. 


WYOMING'S   FRONTIER    NEWSPAPERS  71 

finds  camping  upon  his  trail. ":!::  Chaplin,  however,  softened  the 
portrait,  for  while  stating  that  Slack  "never  hesitated  to  call  things 
by  their  proper  names,"  he  recorded  that  the  "colonel'1  was  fond 
of  and  even  lavish  with  his  entertaining,  that  he  basked  in  the 
fraternal  aura  of  the  annual  Wyoming  Press  Association  meetings, 
and  that  he  enjoyed  giving  philosophical  advice  to  his  apprentice 
printers. ',4 

An  examination  of  his  newspapers  shows  that  Slack  was  in  the 
front  of  the  fight  for  statehood  and  in  the  crusade  for  free  text- 
books for  Wyoming  schools,  that  he  was  active  in  the  formation  of 
the  Wyoming  Editorial  Association  which  at  one  time  he  headed, 
that  he  was  the  organizer  of  the  Pioneer  Association  from  which 
stemmed  the  idea  of  holding  annual  Frontier  Day  celebrations  in 
Cheyenne,  that  he  was  an  advocate  of  water,  sewer,  and  electric 
street  lighting  systems  for  the  Magic  City,  and  was  a  strong  cham- 
pion of  higher  salaries  for  public  school  teachers. 

Chaplin  says  that  a  few  years  before  March  23,  1907,  the  day 
on  which  Slack  died,  he  "seemed  to  come  to  a  realization  of  the 
necessity  for  accumulating  some  money  to  leave  his  family."35 
Hitherto  he  had  put  his  profits  back  into  his  newspaper,  so  that  he 
had  made  only  a  "bare  living"  for  himself  and  his  family.'1"  At 
the  turn  of  the  century,  then.  Slack  began  "erecting  not  only  a 
number  of  medium-sized  office  buildings  on  the  southwest  corner 
of  Capitol  avenue  and  Seventeenth  street,  in  Cheyenne,  but  .  .  . 
also  ...  a  large  and  commodious  building  just  north  of  the  Inter- 
Ocean  Hotel  on  Capitol  avenue  .  .  .","'7  So  it  was  that  upon  his 
death  he  was  able  to  leave  his  wife  and  two  daughters  "a  compe- 
tency of  about  $45,000."38 

CHARLES  W.  BRAMEL 

None  of  the  newspapers  with  which  Charles  W.  Bramel  was 
associated  survived  for  any  great  length  of  time,  yet  Bramel  him- 
self should  be  included  in  any  record  of  early  Wyoming  journalism 
if  only  for  his  incurable  addiction  to  printer's  ink.  When,  as  has 
been  shown,  the  Laramie  Daily  Sun  did  not  prosper,  Bramel  sold 
it  to  E.  A.  Slack  and  began  publishing  the  Laramie  Daily  Chron- 
icle. When  the  Chronicle  lost  the  county  printing  to  the  Sentinel, 
Bramel  sold  it  and  began  publication  of  the  short-lived  Laramie 
Daily  Times.     As  Chaplin  was  to  remark  later,  the  man  was  "so 


33.  Agnes  Wright  Spring,  William  Chapin  Deming  of  Wyoming  (Glen- 
dale.  California:  Arthur  H.  Clark  Co.,  1944),  p.  95. 

34.  Chaplin,  p.  23. 

35.  Ibid.,  p.  23. 

36.  Ibid.,  p.  23. 

37.  Progressive  Men  of  the  State  of  Wyoming,  p.  221. 

38.  Chaplin,  p.  23. 


72  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

constituted  that  it  seemed  impossible  for  him  to  keep  out  of  the 
newspaper  business."39 

Bramel  was  born  in  Virginia  August  11,1  840,  grew  up  in  St. 
Joseph,  Missouri,  and  graduated  from  Bloomington  college,  Mis- 
souri, at  the  age  of  eighteen.4"  After  practicing  law  in  St.  Joseph 
for  a  number  of  years.  Bramel,  like  so  many  other  bright  men  of 
that  period,  resolved  to  seek  his  fortune  in  the  new  country  opening 
up  in  the  West.  Accordingly  in  1 867  he  went  to  the  Colorado 
mining  town  of  Georgetown,  then  booming,  and  there  began  prac- 
ticing law.41  A  year  later  he  was  elected  probate  judge  of  Clear 
Creek  county,  of  which  Georgetown  was  the  seat.  In  1 869 
Bramel  moved  to  Laramie  and  there  he  continued  to  follow  the 
legal  profession.  He  was  Albany  county  prosecuting  attorney  for 
two  terms.  During  the  sessions  of  1874  and  1876  he  served  as  a 
member  of  the  territorial  council  of  Wyoming.4-  In  1877  and 
1878  he  was  secretary  of  the  territorial  council,  in  his  spare  time 
interesting  himself  in  the  affairs  of  the  Cheyenne  Daily  Gazetted 
In  subsequent  years  Bramel  was  a  member  of  the  Laramie  city 
council,  city  attorney  of  Laramie,  judge  advocate  on  Governor 
John  E.  Osborne's  staff,  Albany  county  prosecuting  attorney  once 
more,  and  finally  judge  of  the  second  judicial  district,  comprising 
Albany,  Natrona,  and  Fremont  counties.44 

Unfortunately  for  the  historian,  only  one  or  two  single  copies 
of  newspapers  edited  by  Bramel  have  been  preserved,  making  it 
necessary  to  turn  to  Chaplin  for  what  meager  information  there  is 
about  his  journalistic  days: 

Judge  Bramel  hit  hard  licks,  but  always  acknowledged  that  he  was 
unable  to  throw  as  much  mud  as  Editor  Hayford  of  the  Sentinel.  On 
one  occasion  while  publishing  the  Chronicle  he  became  engaged  in  a 
controversy  with  the  Rev.  Edmonston,  at  that  time  pastor  of  the 
Methodist  church.  One  article  appearing  in  the  paper  relating  to 
Edmonston  was  headed.  "A  Pestiferous,  Pious  Politician  Pointedly 
Peppered."  The  controversy  ended  in  a  street  fight.  Bramel  had 
gone  to  the  telegraph  office  to  get  some  report  and  met  the  preacher 
at  the  corner  of  Second  and  Thornburg.  A  wordy  war  ensued  until 
the  divine  shook  his  fist  at  the  judge  and  said:  "Bramel,  I  am  not 
afraid  of  you."  The  remark  was  immediately  followed  by  a  blow 
from  Bramel's  right  that  sent  the  minister  to  the  gutter.  Upon  his 
arrival  at  the  printing  office  the  judge  nonchalantly  remarked,  "I 
licked  the  Methodist  preacher  while  I  was  out." 

Judge  Bramel  was  arrested  and  fined  for  a  breach  of  the  peace, 
but  the  crowd  assembled  in  the  justice  court  immediately  paid  the 
fine  as  a  testimonial  of  their  regard  and  faith  in  his  integrity.45 


39.  P.   11. 

40.  Progressive  Men  of  the  State  of  Wyoming,  p.   162. 

41.  Ibid.,  p.   162. 

42.  Ibid.,  p.  162. 

43.  Chaplin,  p.  12. 

44.  Progressive  Men  of  the  State  of  Wyoming,  p.   162. 


WYOMING'S   FRONTIER    NEWSPAPERS  73 

From  Chaplin's  remarks  and  from  the  files  of  the  Laramie 
Sentinel  itself,  it  is  possible  to  deduce  that  Bramel  and  Hayford, 
in  the  journalistic  custom  of  the  day,  constantly  exchanged  insult- 
ing remarks  about  each  other  and  about  their  respective  newspa- 
pers. How  serious  these  comments  were  in  intent  it  is  impossible 
to  say.  Yet  at  some  period  of  their  lives,  possibly  after  both  men 
left  the  newspaper  field,  they  must  have  become  friends,  for  when 
Hayford  was  given  his  Masonic  funeral,  Bramel  was  one  of  the 
honorary  pallbearers. 4(: 

EDGAR  WILSON  NYE 

Of  all  territorial  Wyoming  newspapermen,  Edgar  Wilson  Nye 
was  the  one  who  made  the  largest  fortune  and  achieved  the  greatest 
fame.  When  he  died  of  a  stroke  at  the  age  of  forty-five,  the 
founder  of  the  Laramie  Boomerang  was  known  all  over  the  country 
as  Bill  Nye,  humorist  and  author  of  fourteen  books,  and  a  popular 
lecturer  who  read  his  funny  sketches  on  the  same  platform  James 
Whitcomb  Riley  used  for  reciting  his  folksy  poems,  as  a  spellbinder 
of  audiences  even  in  Great  Britain,  and  as  a  valued  contributor  to 
the  New  York  World,  for  which  he  covered  the  Paris  Exposition 
in  1889  at  a  reported  salary  of  one  thousand  dollars  a  week.  His 
admirers  have  made  a  national  shrine  of  his  grave  in  Fletcher, 
North  Carolina.47 

Nye  was  born  August  25,  1850,  in  Shirley,  Maine,  a  small  town 
he  was  later  to  recall  with  noticeable  ambivalence: 

A  man  ought  not  to  criticize  his  birthplace.  I  presume,  and  yet,  if 
I  were  to  do  it  all  over  again,  I  do  not  know  whether  I  would  select 
that  particular  spot  or  not.  Sometimes  I  think  I  would  not.  And  yet. 
what  memories  cluster  about  that  old  house!  There  was  the  place 
where  I  first  met  my  parents.  It  was  at  that  time  that  an  acquaint- 
ance sprang  up  which  has  ripened  in  later  years  into  mutual  respect 
and  esteem.  It  was  there  that  a  casual  meeting  took  place,  which  has, 
under  the  alchemy  of  resistless  years,  turned  to  golden  links,  forming 
a  pleasant  but  powerful  bond  of  union  between  my  parents  and 
myself.  For  that  reason.  I  hope  that  I  may  be  spared  to  my  parents 
for  many  years  to  come.4s 

Nye's  father  was  a  lumberman  whose  life  was  full  of  hardships. 
When  only  two  years  old,  the  son,  pondering  the  difficulties  of  an 
existence  that  kept  his  father  away  from  home  for  the  duration 
of  winter,  took  his  parents  by  the  hand,  and,  telling  them  Pisca- 


45.  Chaplin,  p.  12. 

46.  Laramie  Boomerang,  July  31,  1902. 

47.  Bill  Nye.  His  Own  Life  Story,  Continuity  by  Frank  Wilson  Nye 
(New  York:  The  Century  Co.,  1926),  illustrations  facing  p.  408.  This 
book  is  probably  the  best  source  of  material  on  Nye  because  many  of  the 
Boomerang's  bound  file  were  destroyed  by  fire  September  8,  1889. 

48.  Ibid.,  p.  3. 


74  ANNALS   OF   WYOMING 

taquis  county  was  no  place  for  them,  he  boldly  moved  the  family 
to  Wisconsin  where  the  Nyes  settled  on  a  farm  at  Kinnic  Kinnic.49 

Nye  attended  the  River  Falls  Academy.  Shortly  after  his  eight- 
eenth birthday  he  decided  to  become  a  miller,  "with  flour  on  my 
clothes  and  a  salary  of  $200  per  month.""'"  Actually,  the  salary 
proved  to  be  twenty-six  dollars  a  month,  and  Nye,  by  his  own 
account,  was  not  very  efficient,  for  "one  day  the  proprietor  came 
upstairs  and  discovered  me  in  a  brown  study,  whereupon  he  cursed 
me  in  a  subdued  Presbyterian  way,  abbreviated  my  salary  ...  to 
$18  and  reduced  me  to  the  ranks.  .  .  .,*"'1 

At  the  age  of  twenty-four  Nye  left  milling  to  study  law,  but  from 
all  accounts  he  was  unable  to  grasp  the  opinions  of  English  jurists 
and  found  it  difficult  to  digest  the  voluminous  reports  of  cases  in 
American  law  books.  At  length  he  turned  to  teaching  school  at  a 
salary  of  thirty  dollars  a  month.52 

During  these  later  years  in  Wisconsin  Nye  dabbled  in  journal- 
ism, sending  in  personal  paragraphs  and  funny  stories  to  small- 
town newspapers  published  near  Kinnic  Kinnic.  His  first  taste  of 
fame  came  when  one  of  the  items  was  reprinted  in  the  Chicago 
Times.  The  heady  satisfaction  of  seeing  his  work  in  a  large  news- 
paper may  have  brought  about  a  turning-point  in  Nye's  life:  when 
he  was  twenty-six  he  quit  school-teaching  and  tried  to  get  a  job 
on  the  metropolitan  dailes  in  both  Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul.  He 
was  not  successful. 

It  was  at  this  time,  the  spring  of  1  876,  that  Nye,  unable  to  find  a 
satisfactory  niche  for  himself  in  the  Middle  West,  boarded  a  train 
for  Cheyenne,  where  John  J.  Jenkins,  in  whose  Chippewa  Falls 
office  the  boy  had  read  law,  was  United  States  attorney  for  the 
territory  of  Wyoming.  It  was  Jenkins  who  sent  him  to  J.  H.  Hay- 
ford.  The  Laramie  editor  gave  the  newcomer  a  job  on  the  Daily 
Sentinel,  a  job  which  Nye  found  congenial,  if  not  highly  paid: 

The  opportunity  to  do  reporting  came  to  the  surface,  and  I  im- 
proved it.  The  salary  was  not  large;  it  was  not  impressive.  It  was 
not  calculated  to  canker  the  soul.  By  putting  handles  on  it  every 
Saturday  evening,  I  was  enabled  to  carry  it  home  by  myself,  the  dis- 
tance being  short.  I  used  it  wisely,  not  running  through  it  as  some 
would  have  done.  ...  He  THayford]  gave  me  $12  a  week  to  edit 
the  paper  —  local,  telegraph,  selections,  religious,  sporting,  fashion, 
political,  and  obituary.  He  said  that  $12  was  too  much,  but,  if  I 
would  jerk  the  press  occasionally  and  take  care  of  his  children,  he 
would  try  to  stand  it.  Perhaps  I  might  have  been  there  yet  if  I 
hadn't  had  a  red-hot  political  campaign  and  measles  among  the 
children  at  the  same  time.  You  can't  mix  measles  and  politics.  So 
1  said  one  day  F  would  have  to  draw  the  line  at  measles. 


49.  Ibid.,  pp.  9-10. 

50.  Ibid.,  p.  26. 

51.  Ibid.,  pp.  26-27. 

52.  Ibid.,  pp.  28-33. 


WYOMING'S   FRONTIER    NEWSPAPERS  75 

I  collected  my  princely  salary  and  quit,  having  acquired  a  style  of 
fearless  and  independent  journalism  which  I  still  retain.  I  can  write 
up  things  that  never  occured  with  a  masterly  and  graphic  hand. 
Then,  if  they  occur  afterward,  I  am  grateful;  if  not.  I  bow  to  the 
inevitable  and  smother  my  chagrin. '''■' 

Chaplin  states  that  as  a  newsgatherer  Nye  was  not  a  great 
success,  that  his  mind  ran  more  to  "lurid  glare"  than  to  facts.  For 
a  week  at  some  time  during  1  877,  Nye  and  James  P.  C.  Poulton. 
city  editor  of  the  Cheyenne  Daily  Sun,  changed  places  just  for  the 
fun  of  it.  But  Nye,  according  to  Chaplin,  neglected  the  local  items 
that  were  Poulton's  specialty  and  that  made  the  Sun  "an  exceed- 
ingly interesting  local  paper,"  so  that  "a  week  of  Billy  Nye  was  all 
that  Colonel  Slack,  the  editor  of  the  Sun,  desired.  .  .  .  Nye  had  no 
conception  of  the  value  of  the  personal  item  or  the  short  para- 
graphs that  go  to  make  up  the  grist  of  news  that  makes  a  local 
paper  popular  with  its  readers.""'4 

After  he  had  managed  to  pass  the  bar  examinations  in  Laramie 
in  1877,  Nye  left  the  Sentinel  to  devote  all  his  time  to  the  practice 
of  law.  Later  he  engaged  in  mining,  became  a  justice  of  the  peace 
and  United  States  Commissioner.  In  1882  he  succeeded  Hayford 
as  postmaster  in  Laramie.  In  addition  to  all  these  activities,  Nye, 
as  has  been  mentioned,  was  chosen  by  Laramie  Republicans  to 
be  the  editor  and  manager  of  their  new  newspaper,  the  Laramie 
Daily  Boomerang.  It  was  Nye  himself  who  gave  the  newspaper 
its  name  in  honor  of  a  stray  mule  which  he  had  adopted  as  a 
mascot.rr'  Years  after  leaving  Laramie  Nye  described  his  exper- 
ience as  editor  of  the  Boomerang  to  a  national  convention  of 
editors: 

It  wasn't  much  of  a  paper,  but  it  cost  $16,000  a  year  to  run,  and 
it  came  out  six  days  in  the  week,  no  matter  what  the  weather.  We 
took  the  Associated  Press  news  by  telegraph  pail  of  the  time,  and 
part  of  the  time  we  relied  on  the  Cheyenne  morning  papers,  which 
we  procured  from  the  conductor  on  the  early  morning  freight.  We 
received  a  great  many  special  telegrams  from  Washington  in  that  way. 
And  when  the  freight  train  got  in  late.  I  had  to  guess  at  what  Congress 
was  doing  and  fix  up  a  column  of  telegraph  the  best  I  could.  There 
was  a  rival  evening  paper  there  [Laramie  Daily  Times]  and  some- 
times it  would  send  a  smart  boy  down  to  the  train  and  get  hold  of 
our  special  telegrams.  Sometimes  the  conductor  would  go  away  on  a 
picnic  and  take  our  Cheyenne  papers  with  him. 

All  these  things  are  annoying  to  a  man  who  is  trying  to  supply  a 
long  felt  want.  There  was  one  conductor,  in  particular,  who  used  to 
go  into  the  foothills  shooting  sage  hens  and  take  our  cablegrams  with 
him.  This  threw  too  much  strain  on  me.  I  could  guess  at  what 
Congress  was  doing  and  make  up  a  pretty  readable  report,  but  foreign 
powers  and  crowned  heads  and  dynasties  always  mixed  me  up.  .   .   . 


53.  Ibid.,  pp.  43-44. 

54.  Chaplin,  p.  19. 

55.  Bill  Nye,  His  Own  Life  Storx,  p.  77. 


76  ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 

There  were  between  two  and  three  thousand  people  [in  Laramie]  and 
our  local  circulation  ran  from  150  to  250,  counting  deadheads.56 

In  the  third  year  after  the  founding  of  the  Boomerang  an  attack 
of  meningitis  forced  Nye  to  resign  as  editor  and  as  postmaster. 
Late  in  1883  his  doctor  old  him  he  could  not  live  in  a  town  of 
Laramie's  altitude.  For  a  time  Nye  stayed  with  relatives  of  his 
wife  in  Greeley,  Colorado;  later  he  bought  a  small  house  in  Hud- 
son, Wisconsin,  not  far  from  his  parents'  farm.  In  1885,  his 
health  restored,  Nye  began  his  public  lectures  and  a  weekly  letter 
to  the  Boston  Globe.  Success  followed  success  in  this  country 
and  abroad  until  his  premature  death,  February  22,  1896,  in  the 
imposing,  towered  house  he  had  built  for  his  family  on  Buck 
Shoals  Hill,  near  Fletcher,  North  Carolina.  The  last  thing  he 
wrote  appeared  on  the  day  of  his  death,  and,  by  a  coincidence, 
it  contained  this  paragraph: 

Sometimes  it  is  perfectly  tiresome  waiting  for  a  man  to  die  so  that 
you  will  feel  safe  in  saying  what  you  think  of  him,  but  if  he  happens 
to  be  a  large,  robust  man.  it  certainly  pays  to  do  so."7 

ASA  SHINN  MERCER 

There  was  not  a  hesitant,  compromising  bone  in  Asa  Shinn 
Mercer.  It  was  because  of  his  utter  fearlessness  in  printing  what 
he  thought  to  be  right  that  he  lost  his  thriving  Cheyenne  Weekly, 
the  Northwestern  Livestock  Journal,  and  the  home  he  had  made 
in  the  capital  city  from  which  he  and  his  family  were  virtually 
hounded.  The  story  behind  this  expulsion  is  this:  Mercer  for 
some  time  had  been  concerned  with  the  Johnson  county  range 
wars  between  the  cattle  barons  and  the  grangers.  The  wars  began 
in  the  eighteen-eighties.  In  October,  1892,  Mercer  printed  in  full 
a  confession  by  George  Dunning.  The  account  gave  in  detail  the 
means  by  which  the  Wyoming  Stock  Growers  Association  had 
hired  gunmen,  of  whom  Dunning  was  one,  to  kill  off  the  settlers; 
it  described  in  full  the  cattlemen's  attack  on  and  murder  of  a 
number  of  Johnson  county  ranchers. 58  In  publishing  the  con- 
fession, Mercer  showed  great  bravery,  since  his  newspaper  was 
written  for  and  supported  by  the  very  people  whom  he  was  now 
exposing — the  rich  and  powerful  cattle  lords.  Mercer  must  have 
foreseen  that  the  cattlemen  would  react,  but  he  could  not  have 
anticipated  the  full  extent  of  what  these  reactions  would  bring 
about:  his  arrest  on  a  charge  of  criminal  libel,  his  imprisonment. 


56.  Ibid.,  pp.  80-81. 

57.  Ibid.,  pp.  405-6. 

58.  A.  S.  Mercer,  The  Banditti  of  the  Plains  (Norman:  University  of 
Oklahoma  Press,  1954),  pp.  151-195.  Actually  it  was  members  of  the 
Association  and  not  an  official  action  of  the  Wyoming  Stock  Growers  Asso- 
ciation.— Ed. 


WYOMING'S   FRONTIER   NEWSPAPERS  77 

the  seizure  of  his  printing  office,  and  the  withholding  by  the  Chey- 
enne postmaster  of  all  copies  of  the  paper  containing  the  confes- 
sion on  the  grounds  that  they  constituted  "obscene  matter,"  and 
were  therefore  unfit  to  be  carried  by  the  United  States  mails.  In 
a  foreword  to  a  recent  reprinting  of  The  Banditti  of  the  Plains 
which  Mercer  wrote  two  years  after  publication  of  the  Dunning 
confession,  William  H.  Kittrell  says  that  charging  Mercer  with 
obscenity  was  "an  accusation  palpably  as  false  as  charging  Queen 
Victoria  with  lewdness  or  St.  Francis  of  Assisi  with  disorderly 
conduct.**"'1'  For  the  fact  is  that  Mercer  was  the  most  proper  of 
men. 

He  was  born  in  Princeton,  Illinois,  June  6,  1839.'1"  Little  has 
been  recorded  of  his  early  life  before  the  summer  of  1861,  when 
he  left  Franklin  College,  Ohio,  with  a  bachelor's  degree,  headed 
west  to  Seattle  to  visit  his  older  brother.  Judge  Thomas  Mercer, 
and  fell  in  love  with  the  Northwest. ,!1  His  first  job  was  that  of 
president  and  sole  teacher  at  the  newly-founded  territorial  Uni- 
versity of  Washington.  He  was  engaged  for  five  months,  begin- 
ning November  4,  1861,  at  a  salary  of  two  hundred  dollars. ,!-  At 
the  end  of  this  period  he  ordered  some  printed  circulars,  hired 
two  Indians  with  a  canoe,  and  traveled  about  four  hundred  miles 
visiting  all  the  logging  camps  he  could  find  from  Bellingham  to 
Olympia,  in  an  attempt  to  induce  young  men  to  go  to  Seattle  and 
study  at  the  university.  By  these  personal  efforts  he  recruited 
twelve  additional  male  students.63  To  cut  down  the  expenses  of 
his  students,  Mercer  ordered  wholesale  groceries  from  San  Fran- 
cisco and  opened  a  boarding  house  where  undergraduates  could 
live  for  three  dollars  a  week. 

In  1863  Mercer  made  the  first  of  his  now-famous  expeditions 
to  the  East  to  get  young  women  to  return  with  him  as  prospective 
wives  for  the  white  men  of  the  West  who  were  marrying  squaws, 
a  state  of  affairs  that  was  said  to  be  producing  "outlaws. "64  The 
following  year  he  returned  to  Seattle  with  eleven  young  women 
from  Lowell,  Massachusetts.  Although  he  found  jobs  for  all  of 
them,  soon  they  were  married  and  starting  families.  Encouraged 
by  his  success,  Mercer  made  a  second  recruiting  trip  to  the  East 
in  1865,  but  this  venture  was  full  of  disappointments: 

Lincoln  has  been  assassinated.     Mercer  had  intended  to  ask  Lincoln 
for  a  discarded  warship  to  transport  his  emigrants  to  the  west  coast. 


59.  Ibid.,  p.  xxiv. 

60.  Clipping  file.  University  of  Wyoming  Archives. 

61.  Delphine    Henderson,     "Asa    Shinn    Mercer,     Northwest     Publicity 
Agent,"  Reed  College  [Portland,  Oregon]  Bulletin,  XXIII  (Jan.,  1945),  21. 

62.  Ibid.,  p.  21. 

63.  Ibid.,  p.  22. 

64.  Ibid.,  p.  23. 


78  ANNALS   OF   WYOMING 

Now  it  looked  as  though  there  were  to  be  no  emigration.  However. 
Mercer  decided  to  see  the  governor  of  Massachusetts  and  President 
Johnson.  But  it  was  not  until  General  Grant  had  heard  his  story  that 
Mercer  received  any  active  support.  It  has  been  said  that  Grant,  as 
an  officer  stationed  at  Fort  Vancouver,  had  missed  the  feminine 
touch.  Anyway,  Grant  saw  to  it  that  Mercer  received  an  order  for  a 
ship.  Now  the  promoter  met  with  a  second  disappointment.  Quar- 
termaster General  Meigs  failed  to  comply  with  Grant's  order.  The 
legend  goes  that  Meigs  was  in  a  bad  humor  when  Mercer  called  on 
him.  Later  the  Quartermaster  General  changed  his  mind  and  offered 
to  sell  the  1600-ton  steamer  Continental  to  Mercer  for  $60,000. 
Although  this  was  a  good  buy,  the  latter  did  not  have  the  money. 
Ben  Holladay,  ship  and  railroad  king,  quickly  took  advantage  of  the 
opportunity  to  buy  the  steamer  at  such  a  bargain,  and  agreed  to  trans- 
port five  hundred  emigrants  at  a  reasonable  fee.  Mercer  was  now 
ready  to  launch  his  campaign.  The  publicity  he  received  was  enor- 
mous. .  .  .  Mercer  .  .  .  collected  about  one  hundred  passengers  in  all. 
.  .  .  Because  Mercer  had  failed  to  get  the  number  agreed  upon  in  the 
contract,  Holladay  considered  it  void  and  demanded  the  regular  fare 
from  the  one  hundred  passengers. 

The  Continental  sailed  February  6,  1866,  and  reached  San  Fran- 
cisco ninety-six  days  later.  .  .  .  Mercer  spent  his  last  three  dollars  on  a 
telegram  to  Governor  Pickering  asking  for  money  to  transport  the 
women  to  Seattle.  .  .  .  Much  to  his  dismay  the  governor  sent  him  a 
telegram   ($7.50  collect)   praising  him  for  his  effort.  .  .  .65 

Mercer  was  able  to  get  out  of  his  difficulties  only  by  selling  some 
farm  machinery  he  had  bought  in  the  East  with  funds  entrusted  to 
him  for  that  purpose  by  a  number  of  Northwest  settlers.  He  was 
able  to  land  his  charges  in  Seattle  finally,  but  his  troubles  were 
far  from  being  at  an  end.  Easterners  who  had  paid  him  for 
passage  on  the  Continental,  but  who  had  decided  not  to  travel  west 
in  the  ship,  brought  attachment  suits  against  him.  It  was  said  that 
large  sums  of  money  that  had  been  given  him  by  relatives  and 
friends  for  different  purposes  had  all  been  diverted  into  the  emi- 
gration scheme.1'"  But,  according  to  Miss  Henderson,  Mercer  was 
well  thought  of  by  the  people  of  the  Northwest  despite  all  the 
criticism,  and  eventually  Mercer  Island  was  named  in  his  honor."7 

After  settling  his  second  group  of  emigrant  women,  Mercer,  who 
by  now  had  served  a  term  as  joint  councilman  in  the  Washington 
territorial  upper  house  assembly,  moved  on  to  Oregon  where,  ac- 
cording to  Bancroft,  he  built  the  first  grain  wharf  in  Astoria  and 
"originated  the  project  of  shipping  direct  to  the  east  by  sailing 
vessels. "6S     The  governor  of  Oregon  appointed  him  special  com- 


65.  Ibid.,  pp.  26-7. 

66.  Ibid.,  pp.  27-8. 

67.  Ibid.,  p.  28. 

68.  Hubert  Howe  Bancroft.  Bancroft's  Works,  XXV,  History'  of  Nevada, 
Colorado,  and  Wyoming,  1540-1888  (San  Francisco:  History  Company, 
1890),  p.  799  n. 


WYOMING'S   FRONTIER   NEWSPAPERS  79 

missioner  of  immigration.60  Mercer  wrote  a  number  of  pamphlets 
on  the  new  country,  and  in  1 875  he  began  publication  of  the 
Oregon  Granger.'"  But  a  year  later,  for  reasons  unknown,  he  left 
Oregon  for  Texas  where  he  lived  in  cattle  towns  for  seven  years, 
busily  publishing  four  newspapers:  the  Wichita  Herald,  the  Vernon 
Guard,  the  Bowie  Cross  Timber,  and  the  Mobeetie  Panhandle.11 

In  1883,  again  for  reasons  unknown,  Mercer  sold  out  his  Texas 
interests  and  went  north  to  Cheyenne,  where,  as  has  been  shown, 
he  began  publication  November  23  of  the  Northwestern  Livestock 
Journal  in  partnership  with  S.  A.  Marney.  The  Cheyenne  Demo- 
cratic Leader  of  July  22,  1884,  described  Mercer  as  "a  gentleman 
who  is  above  the  medium  in  size,  of  comparatively  little  rotundity, 
but  with  a  wealth  of  golden  hair  confined  principally  to  his  face, 
and  like  angels'  visits  on  the  top  of  his  head." 

Apparently,  all  went  well  for  Mercer  until  the  day  he  published 
the  Dunning  confession.  It  is  not  possible  to  know,  as  Kittrell 
says,  that  he  rued  the  day  he  did  so,7-  since  no  evidence  has  been 
found  recording  any  such  regret.  Moreover,  since  Mercer  was 
apparently  a  man  of  principle,  it  is  hard  to  think  that  he  repented 
his  action,  especially  since  on  the  title  page  of  The  Banditti  of  the 
Plains  he  wrote  that  the  Johnson  county  range  wars  were  "the 
crowning  infamy  of  the  ages." 

When  he  was  forced  to  leave  Cheyenne,  he  took  his  family  to 
Hyattville  in  northern  Wyoming  and  settled  on  a  ranch  which  he 
was  to  develop  into  "one  of  the  finest  in  the  state. "73  There,  in 
virtual  obscurity,  he  spent  the  last  twenty-three  years  of  his  life. 
When  he  died  August  10,  1917,  the  Buffalo  Bulletin  passed  over 
Mercer's  Cheyenne  ordeal  and  made  no  mention  of  his  authorship 
of  the  controversial  Banditti,  but  said  with  the  conventional  kind- 
ness of  the  day  that  during  his  Wyoming  residence  "Colonel  Mer- 
cer has  been  actively  engaged  in  the  arduous  occupation  of  trying 
to  build  up  and  develop  the  great  country  of  his  adoption,  and  his 
efforts  will  live  forever."7^ 

MERRIS  C.  BARROW 

A  man  of  vast  energy  often  in  trouble  of  one  kind  or  another, 
Merris  C.  Barrow  began  his  newspaper  career  as  a  printer.  Born 
in  Canton,  Pennsylvania,  October  4,  1857,  the  son  of  a  Christian 
Church  minister,  Barrow  lived  in  Missouri  and  Nebraska  before  he 


69.  Henderson,  p.  29. 

70.  George    S.    Turnbull,    History    of    Oregon    Newspapers,    (Portland, 
Oregon:  Binfords  &  Mort,  1939).  p."  295. 

71.  Henderson,  p.  29. 

72.  The  Banditti  of  the  Plains,  p.  xvi. 

73.  Clipping  file.  University  of  Wyoming  Archives. 

74.  Ibid. 


80  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

settled  in  Wyoming.7"'  It  was  in  Tecumseh,  Nebraska,  that  he 
learned  to  set  type,  a  skill  that  eventually  led  him  to  lease  for  a 
short  period  the  Tecumseh  Chieftain.  At  some  time  in  1878  he 
became  a  United  States  postal  clerk,  working  on  trains  out  of 
Omaha;  shortly  after  the  appointment  he  was  transferred  to  Lara- 
mie, sorting  mail  on  trains  between  that  city  and  Sidney,  Nebraska. 

Barrow's  first  serious  misfortune  occurred  in  January,  1870, 
when  he  was  arrested  on  a  charge  of  robbing  the  United  States 
mails.  Leading  citizens  of  Laramie  provided  bail  and  Barrow 
was  eventually  acquitted,  yet  the  arrest  plagued  him  all  his  life 
and  gave  rival  editors  the  ammunition  with  which  they  were  always 
able  to  humiliate  him  in  the  relentless  battles  of  words  that  were 
characteristic  of  frontier  journalism. 7,i  On  the  other  hand,  this 
early  trouble  returned  Barrow,  now  a  husband  and  father,  to  the 
newspaper  career  he  was  to  follow  until  his  death:  he  was  given 
a  job,  pending  his  trial,  on  the  Laramie  Daily  Times  as  compositor 
and  reporter.  After  his  acquittal  he  was  made  its  city  editor. 
Chaplin  says  that  Barrow  "was  a  good  news  gatherer  and  made 
the  Times  a  very  readable  paper."77 

Early  in  1881  when  he  learned  that  Bill  Nye  was  planning  to 
start  the  Boomerang,  financed  by  a  number  of  Laramie's  leading 
citizens  to  combat  the  influence  of  the  Democratic  Times,  Barrow, 
himself  a  "stalwart  Republican,"7*  applied  for  and  was  given  a 
job  as  compositor.7'-'  Six  years  later  when  he  had  established  his 
newspaper,  Bill  Barlow's  Budget,  in  Douglas,  Barrow,  with  his 
own  characteristic  kind  of  humor,  described  in  it  the  birth  of  the 
Boomerang: 

A  small  room  above  a  boot  store,  a  Washington  handpress,  on 
which  have  just  been  placed  the  forms  of  what  constitutes  the  first 
number  of  the  Laramie  Daily  Boomerang.  Bill  Nye — then  a  com- 
paratively unknown  man  outside  of  Laramie — stands  near,  a  smile  of 
eager  anticipation  on  his  genial  phiz  and  his  "high  forehead"  shining 
like  a  mirror.  Beside  him  Bob  Head,  the  city  editor.  More  Kingsford, 
Billy  Kemmis  and  myself — "Slug  2,"  "slug  3"  and  "slug  4" — bring 
up  the  rear,  interested  but  not  excited.  Will  Chaplin,  the  foreman 
with  his  hand  on  the  tympan  awaits  the  inking  of  the  forms  which  is 
being  done  by  Jimmie  Mulhern,  the  devil,  under  the  immediate  super- 
vision of  George  Garrett,  the  job  printer.  The  tympan  falls  with  a 
bang,  the  bed  slights  beneath  the  platen,  the  devil's  tail  plays  with  a 
double  knock  against  the  press-post,  the  bed  returns  to  the  end  of  the 


75.  Prine,  p.  12.  Progressive  Men  of  the  State  of  Wyoming,  p.  499, 
gives  the  date  of  Barrow's  birth  at  1860.  However,  Mrs.  Prine's  date  is 
doubtless  correct,  since  in  writing  her  life  of  Barrow  she  had  access  to 
family  records. 

76.  Ibid.,  pp.   19-20. 

77.  Chaplin,  p.  24. 

78.  Progressive  Men  of  the  State  of  Wyoming,  p.  500. 

79.  Chaplin,  p.  24. 


WYOMING'S   FRONTIER    NEWSPAPERS  81 

track,  the  tympan   is  raised,   and   Chaplin,   with   a  smile,   hands   Nye 
the  first  paper.80 

When  illness  forced  Nye  to  resign  from  the  paper,  Barrow  took 
on  the  editorship,  a  post  which  he  held  until  early  in  1884,  when, 
for  reasons  which  this  study  has  been  unable  to  determine,  the 
Boomerang  management  fired  him.  Barrow  himself  only  hinted  at 
the  story  behind  the  dismissal  in  the  Boomerang  of  March  19, 
1884,  the  last  issue  under  his  editorship: 

With  this  issue  the  writer  retires  from  the  position  of  chief  muti- 
lator of  truth  on  this  great  moral  and  religious  journal.  Though  not 
as  old  in  the  harness  as  some  of  our  newspaper  brethren,  we  have  ex- 
perience enough  to  warrant  our  remarking  right  here,  that  it  is  a 
thankless  job — that  of  editing  a  paper.  It  is  a  "demnition  grind," 
which  wears  out  body  and  soul.  We  drop  the  [pen]  .  .  .  mentally 
resolving  rather  than  resume  it  again,  to  wield  a  long-handled  pitch- 
fork or  shorthand  writer  in  some  second-class  livery  stable,  or  monkey 
with  brake  wheels  at  $65  per  month  .  .  . 

Barrow's  next  job  was  as  editor  of  the  Rawlins  Wyoming 
Tribune,  mentioned  earlier  as  a  Republican  newspaper  established 
in  September,  1884.  Although  he  remained  with  this  paper  for 
only  eighteen  months,  he  is  said  to  have  "whooped  her  up  plenty," 
to  have  made  it  "a  treasure  and  necessity  in  scores  of  homes  in 
and  out  of  old  Carbon  county,"  and  to  have  reached  six  hundred 
"good-natured  and  patient"  readers. sl 

According  to  Chaplin,  it  was  in  Rawlins  that  Barrow  was  first 
"seized  with  the  idea  that  the  Northwestern  Railroad  [at  first 
incorporated  as  the  Wyoming  Central  Railroad  Company]  was 
going  to  bring  central  Wyoming  rapidly  to  the  front."82  Early 
in  1886  Barrow,  using  some  money  his  wife  had  only  recently 
inherited,  bought  printing  equipment  and  supplies  in  Chicago,  had 
it  shipped  by  rail  to  Chadron,  Nebraska,  which  was  as  far  as  the 
railroad  had  been  built  at  that  time,  put  the  machinery  on  a 
mule  train  bound  for  Fort  Fetterman,  and  on  June  9,  in  a  small 
shack  that  was  later  used  as  a  chicken  coop,  printed  the  first 
number  of  Bill  Barlow's  Budget.  In  August  he  moved  the  plant 
to  nearby  Douglas. s:: 

From  its  beginning  the  Budget  was  popular  with  its  readers. 
As  the  town  grew,  so  did  Barrow's  newspaper:  in  the  spring  of 
1887  he  was  able  to  order  a  thousand  pounds  of  new  type  and 
machinery;  in  the  following  September  he  enlarged  the  building 
housing  the  plant.  As  Douglas  continued  to  grow,  Barrow  be- 
came its  town  clerk,  a  member  of  the  school  board,  and,  finally. 


80.  Bill  Barlow's  Budget,  March  23.  1887. 

81.  Prine,  p.  25. 

82.  Chaplin,  p.  24. 

83.  Prine,  pp.  34-35. 


82  ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 

on  May  13,  1890,  its  mayor.  In  his  editorial  columns,  in  the 
meantime,  he  had  pleaded  for  an  up-to-date  water  system,  a  fire 
department,  and  campaigned  for  cleaning  up  the  town  and  for 
planting  trees  and  shrubs;  he  had,  as  noted  previously,  waged 
fierce  battles  with  rival  newspapers  and  blazoned  abroad  their 
deaths.  But  busy  man  though  he  was,  he  seldom  lacked  the  time 
or  space  in  which  to  proclaim  the  virtues  of  Douglas  as  a  com- 
munity with  a  future,  and  of  the  Budget  as  a  newspaper  without 
peer.  The  following  item  is  a  typical  example  of  Barrow's 
exuberance: 

Envy,  jealousy  and  anger  may  prompt  the  assertion  that  Douglas 
is  a  dead  town;  but  the  Budget  itself — every  issue  of  it — proves  con- 
clusively to  the  contrary.  No  "dead  town"  could  support  a  newspaper 
as  the  Budget  is  supported;  no  "dead  town"  could  long  maintain  such 
an  establishment.  In  fact  the  history  of  the  Budget,  dating  from  the 
hour  of  its  birth,  furnishes  ample  evidence  that  the  town  of  Douglas 
is  alive,  wideawake,  growing  and  prosperous.  The  paper  has  made 
money  from  the  day  of  its  inception.  While  two  would-be  rivals 
winked  out  through  sheer  starvation,  the  Budget  prospered  .  .  . 
Hence  I  maintain  that  the  Budget  is  a  monument  erected  by  the 
people  of  Douglas  and  central  Wyoming  which  stands  today  as  indis- 
putable evidence  of  their  own  prosperity. s4 

Very  often,  however,  Barrow  could  be  bitter  and  would  name 
names  in  the  columns  of  the  Budget,  a  personal  indulgence  that 
led  to  the  beating  and  threatened  ducking  mentioned  at  the  begin- 
ning of  this  chapter. 

In  January,  1904,  he  began  publication  of  Sagebrush  Phil- 
osophy, a  thirty-two-page  monthly  magazine  containing  jokes, 
maxims,  and  humorous  articles  on  topical  events  and  national 
figures.  A  little  over  a  year  later  he  told  his  readers  that  the 
magazine  had  achieved  a  national  circulation  of  twelve  thousand 
copies,  and  that  advance  orders  were  increasing  beyond  that  fig- 
ure.sr'  His  readers  and  his  friends,  including  Chaplin,  were  com- 
paring his  style  and  humor  with  that  of  Elbert  Hubbard. s,i  He 
continued  his  writing  until  his  death  of  heart  failure  October  9, 
1910.  The  citizens  of  Douglas  showed  the  esteem  in  which  they 
held  him  by  closing  the  schools  and  giving  him  the  biggest  funeral 
in  the  town's  history. 

Eight  years  before  his  death  Barrow  had  written  in  the  Budget: 

The  Wyoming  newspaper  man  is  an  optimist,  if  there  ever  was  one. 
Even  in  his  sober  moments — and  he  has  'em — he  sees  things.  Given 
a  country  store  or  two  at  an  isolated  cross-roads  and  he  builds  a 
city:  ...  a  forty-dollar  addition  to  your  modest  shack  makes  it  a 
mansion,  and   his  town   is  the  only  town,  and  the  best  ever.     He  is 


84.  Bill  Barlow's  Budget,  March  21,  181 

85.  Prine,  pp.  157,  et.  seq. 

86.  Chaplin,  p.  24,  and  Prine,  pp.  178-9. 


WYOMING'S   FRONTIER    NEWSPAPERS  83 

always  willing  to  fudge  a  little  in  handling  cold  fact,  and  as  prophet 
he  simply  skunks  Elijah  and  all  his  ilk.  ...  Of  necessity  he  is  some- 
times a  liar;  but  to  sorter  toy  with  the  truth  in  prophetic  spirit  for  the 
good  of  the  country  or  community  in  which  he  lives  is  with  him  a 
labor  of  love,  and  by  reason  of  a  special  dispensation  granted  him 
direct  from  Deity,  these  trifling  idiosyncrasies  which  we  of  the  pro- 
fesh  term  "essential  errors"  are  not  charged  up  against  him  in  the 
Big  Book.  In  many  cases  he  is  snubbed  and  sinned  against — by  the 
man  who  has  mental  mumps,  the  mossback  and  the  miser — of  whom 
we  do  have  a  few  rare  specimens  .  .  .  when  he  sets  out  to  paint  the 
rose  for  you,  his  pencil  can  cough  up  colors  they've  never  yet  been 
able  to  find  in  the  kaleidoscope. ST 

It  was  a  description  that  fitted  not  only  Barrow  himself  but  all 
the  other  Wyoming  newspapermen,  who,  amidst  the  worries  and 
triumphs  of  political  campaigning,  despite  disasters  and  threats 
of  disaster,  composed,  printed,  and  distributed  their  newspapers 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  new  frontier. 


ADDENDA 

Information  from  our  readers  relating  to  WYOMING'S  FRONTIER 
NEWSPAPERS  in  the  October..   1961  Annals  of  Wyoming: 

Mrs.  Leland  Harris  of  Lovell  has  written  in  regard  to  one  early  news- 
paper that  was  not  mentioned.  It  was  the  Otto  Courier,  published  in  Otto. 
Big  Horn  county,  editor,  Lou  Blakesley. 

The  Wyoming  State  Archives  and  Historical  Department  has  in  its  files 
one  issue  of  the  Otto  Courier,  Vol.  5.  No.  48,  for  October   1.   1898. 


Elsa  Spear  Byron,  of  Sheridan,  writes  relative  to  the  Big  Horn  Sentinel. 
On  page    158  of  WYOMING'S   FRONTIER   NEWSPAPERS  it   is   stated. 

" the  Big  Horn  Sentinel,  a  forerunner  of  the   present   Buffalo  Bulletin, 

made  its  appearance  in  1887."  Mrs.  Byron  says,  "This  is  incorrect.  Mama 
[Virginia  Belle  Benton  Spear]  says  in  her  diary  that  the  first  issue  of  this 
paper  at  Big  Horn  was  Sept.  13.  1884.  I  do  not  know  the  exact  date 
when  it  was  moved  to  Buffalo,  but  1  have  a  copy  of  it  (Big  Horn  Sentinel) 
published  in  Buffalo  with  the  date  Aug.  7.   1886." 


W.  L.  Marion,  of  Lander,  in  reference  to  northern  Wyoming's  early  news- 
papers discussed  on  page  155,  writes.  "On  January  1  of  the  same  year,  1883. 
Isaac  Wynn  began  publishing  the  Wind  River  Mountaineer--  he  published 
it  for  two  years,  and  then  sold  it  to  Ludin.  Wynn  went  to  California,  was 
there  for  two  years  and  then  came  back  to  Lander  and  started  publishing 
the  Fremont  Clipper.  He  and  his  son  Ed  published  it  until  old  Isaac  died 
in  1898.  Frank  Smith  took  over  the  ownership  with  the  help  of  his  brother- 
in-law.  O.  L.  Knifong. 

"Carl  Graves  entered  the  picture,  and  in  1904  John  W.  Cook  bought  out 
the  paper  and  changed  the  name  from  the  Fremont  Clipper  to  the  Wyoming 
State  Journal. 

" — the  Wyoming  State  Journal  was  never  published  while  Wyoming  was 
a  territory,  consequently  the  Journal  and  the  Clipper  were  not  contemporary. 
The  Clipper  was  the  dad  of  the  Journal.  Cook  published  the  paper  until  he 
sold  it  to  L.  L.  Newton,  L.  L.  turned  the  paper  over  to  Ernest   [Newton] 


87.  Bill  Barlow's  Budget,  Oct.  19,  1903. 


84  ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 

about  1939.  Ernest  sold  it  to  Edward  [J.]  Breece  and  he  in  turn  sold  to 
Roger  Budrow,  the  present  owner  and  publisher." 

It  is  difficult,  on  the  basis  of  newspapers  available  in  the  Wyoming 
State  Archives  and  Historical  Department  for  this  early  period,  to  completely 
follow  the  various  changes  in  publishers,  editors  and  titles,  but  the  papers 
on  file  show  the  following  history  of  the  present  Wyoming  State  Journal: 
The  Fremont  Clipper  was  published  from  Sept.  17.  1887  (Vol.  I,  No.  4) 
to  April  10,  1896  (Vol.  IX,  No.  32).  Isaac  Wynn  was  the  first  editor,  with 
E.  R.  Wynn  assistant  editor  for  a  time.  The  publisher  for  most  of  that  time 
was  the  Clipper  Publishing  Company. 

The  Clipper,  published  from  April  17,  1896,  (Vol.  IX,  No.  33)  through 
Jan.  29,   1904,  was  published  bv  the  Clipper  Publishing  Co. 

Editor  of  The  Clipper  from' July  30.  1897.  to  Aug.  25,  1899  was  C.  G. 
Coutant.  W.  E.  Coutant  and  C.  E.  Hank  were  managers  during  that  time. 
W.  E.  Coutant  was  listed  as  publisher  until  January  17,  1902,  with  Frank 
S.  Smith  as  edtior  and  proprietor,  and  O.  L.  Knifong  as  city  editor. 

The  Lander  Clipper  was  published  from  Feb.  5.  1904,  through  Nov.  18, 
1904,  with  Frank  S.  Smith  as  proprietor.  After  Nov.  25,  W.  A.  Hoskin 
was  manager.  From  Feb.  25  to  May  5,  1905,  Smith  alone  was  listed,  as 
proprietor.  From  May  5  until  Sept.  1,  1905,  N.  H.  Lewis  was  the  publisher 
and  Smith  was  proprietor.  John  W.  Cook  then  became  editor  and  pro- 
prietor.   The  last  Lander  Clipper  was  published  on  April  5,  1907. 

On  April  12.  1907.  the  Wyoming  State  Journal  and  Lander  Clipper  first 
appeared,  with  Cook  as  editor  and  proprietor.  The  first  issue  showing  only 
the  Wyoming  State  Journal  in  the  masthead  is  for  Sept.  4,  1908  (Vol.  XXII, 
No.  2)  with  Cook  shown  as  editor  and  publisher. — Editors. 


Qirlhood  Kecollectiom 
Of  Caramie  in  J $70  and  J $71 

By 

Nancy  Fillmore  Brown 

The  following  article  is  one  of  a  series  of  reprints  from  early  vol- 
umes of  the  Annuls  which  are  now  out  of  print.  It  first  was  published 
in  the  Annals  of  Wyoming,  Vol.  1.  No.  3,  January  15,   1924. 

"We  shall  not  travel  by  the  road  we  make. 
Ere,  day  by  day,  the  sound  of  many  feet 

Is  heard  upon  the  stones  that  now  we  break 

We  shall  be  come  to  where  the  cross-roads  meet. 

For  them  the  shade  of  trees  that  now  we  plant 
The  safe,  smooth  journey  and  the  final  goal. 

Yea,  birthright  in  the  land  of  covenant — 
For  us  day  labor;  travail  of  the  soul. 

And  yet — the  road  is  ours  as  never  theirs! 

Is  not  one  joy  on  us  alone  bestowed? 
For  us  the  Master-Joy,  O  Pioneer: 

We  shall  not  travel  but  we  make  the  Road." 

— Friedlander. 

It  seems  only  a  very  short  time  ago  yet  five  decades  have  passed 
since  that  memorable  tenth  day  of  June,  1  870,  at  about  two  p.m. — 
and  a  gloriously  bright,  sunny  day  it  was,  when  our  family  of  eight 
members  arrived  in  Laramie.  We  came  for  a  visit  but  that  visit 
has  proven  a  sojourn  of  more  than  fifty-three  years  on  my  part. 
I  am  the  only  member  of  the  family  whose  lot  has  been  cast  on 
the  crest  of  the  wonderful  Rocky  Mountains;  I  alone  am  left  to 
tell  what  to  me  is  a  most  interesting  experience. 

My  father,  Luther  Fillmore,  and  my  only  brother,  Millard  Fill- 
more, had  preceded  us;  my  father  about  two  years  before  and  my 
brother  a  few  months.  Fresh  from  college  and  just  past  twenty-one 
my  brother  came  and  plunged  boldly  into  a  very  tragic  experience 
which  hurried  our  coming.  After  being  here  a  week  or  so  my 
brother  for  some  reason  was  sent  out  over  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  as  a  special  conductor.  He  was  to  make  only  the  one  trip 
— and  a  memorable  one  it  was.  A  few  miles  east  of  Fort  Steele 
at  a  station  I  think  then  called  St.  Mary's,  two  soldiers  who  had 
been  out  hunting  and  tired  of  walking  got  on  the  train  to  go  to 


86  ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 

Ft.  Steele.  One  of  them  had  money  enough  to  pay  his  fare,  the 
other  had  none  and  was  told  he  could  not  ride,  so  the  train  was 
stopped  and  he  was  put  off.  My  brother  and  the  soldier  friend 
stood  looking  out  of  the  door  window  of  the  car,  my  brother  in 
front,  when  the  soldier  from  the  outside  fired  through  the  door 
shooting  my  brother  through  the  thigh,  making  a  flesh  wound. 
The  same  bullet  passed  into  the  body  of  the  soldier  friend,  killing 
him  instantly.  The  train  was  quickly  run  to  Ft.  Steele  where  my 
brother  was  taken  to  the  Army  Hospital  until  he  recovered. 

One  day  J  was  standing  with  my  brother  on  the  hotel  platform 
when  a  fine  looking  man  came  along.  I  asked  who  he  was  and 
was  told  that  he  was  Judge  Brown,  the  lawyer  who  defended  the 
soldier  that  shot  my  brother.  I  immediately  said,  "I  never  want 
to  meet  him."  Strange  to  say  in  about  four  years'  time  I  married 
that  very  man  and  we  are  expecting  to  celebrate  our  golden  wed- 
ding next  year. 

I  have  realized  more  and  more  as  the  years  have  passed  what  a 
trying  ordeal  it  was  for  my  dear  mother  to  come  out  to  this  strange 
and  new  country,  almost  fearing  she  might  have  to  make  it  her 
home,  and  I,  fearing  we  might  not.  The  pioneer  blood  of  ancestors 
was  coursing  through  my  veins  and  I  longed  for  adventure.  Com- 
ing from  an  old  aristocratic  town,  as  old  as  Philadelphia,  it  was 
quite  remarkable  that  conditions  in  this  new  country  pleased  and 
satisfied  my  father,  my  brother  and  myself.  My  three  sisters  were 
too  young  to  care  about  the  change.  Of  course  we  were  lonely 
many  times  but  I  can  truly  say  I  have  never  felt  regret.  There 
were  no  trees  or  flowers  to  greet  us  and  we  missed  them  more 
than  I  can  tell,  but  we  had  the  wonderful  mountains  and  beautiful 
hills  to  behold.  1  had  seen  great  mountains  but  never  such  hills. 
They  were  a  constant  source  of  wonder  and  delight  and  1  can  say 
after  fifty-three  years  of  acquaintance  with  them  they  have  never 
lost  their  pristine  beauty  to  me.  I  truly  believe  much  of  my 
happiness  and  joy  have  come  from  lifting  my  eyes  unto  them.  We 
went  on  a  picnic  to  them  a  short  time  after  we  arrived.  We  went 
in  government  ambulances  with  an  escort  of  soldiers  and  had  a 
beautiful  day.  I  forget  the  members  of  that  party  excepting  one, 
Mr.  Joseph  Cornell,  the  Episcopal  clergyman.  I  suppose  I  remem- 
ber him  because  of  a  lapsus  linguae  he  made.  I  asked  him  why 
we  were  so  long  getting  to  the  hills,  they  seemed  so  near.  He  said, 
'The  reason  is,  that  the  'lead  devil'  of  the  plains  causes  them  to 
seem  nearer  than  they  really  are."  Of  course  he  meant  "dead 
level",  everyone  laughed  and  so  did  I,  immoderately.  A  girl  of 
sixteen  can  see  almost  too  much  fun  in  things. 

We  were  always  afraid  of  meeting  Indians  somewhere  but  we 
never  did.  In  fact,  I  have  never  seen  one  in  or  near  Laramie 
excepting  those  who  have  come  with  exhibitions  of  some  sort. 
There  was  an  Indian  scare  soon  after  we  came  at  Lookout  Station. 
The  Indians  came  into  the  place  consisting  of  a  telegraph  station 


GIRLHOOD  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  LARAMIE  87 

and  section  house.  No  one  was  home  so  the  visitors  did  all  the 
mischief  they  could,  pouring  molasses  into  the  feather  beds  and 
emptying  all  the  groceries  they  did  not  want  over  the  floor.  The 
people  living  in  small  places  like  Lookout  had  cellars  or  rather 
tunnels  concealed  into  which  they  could  hide,  something  like  the 
cyclone  cellars  people  have  nowadays. 

The  mountains  at  the  west  of  us  were  majestic  and  glorious. 
The  wonder  and  beauty  of  the  Laramie  Plains  have  ever  increased 
to  me  until  now  I  am  not  happy  away  from  them.  I  recall  how 
beautifully  green  they  were  when  I  first  saw  them  and  when  I  first 
rode  over  them  and  saw  the  thousands  of  head  of  cattle — one  time 
five  thousand  head  together,  my  wonder  was  almost  beyond  me. 

The  antelope  we  saw  at  that  time  in  large  herds  were  a  magnifi- 
cent sight.  They  were  graceful  and  beautiful.  The  prairie  dogs 
were  new  to  us,  their  little  villages  seemed  everywhere.  I  was 
always  looking  for  the  little  owl  and  rattlesnake  I  had  heard  bur- 
rowed with  them;  but  I  never  saw  them  tho  I  know  they  did  all 
live  together  in  the  early  history  of  this  country.  The  antelope 
I  had  seen  before  for  we  owned  two  in  our  home  in  Pennsylvania — 
Bill  and  Eliza  great  pets  that  my  father  brought  to  us  on  his  first 
visit  home  from  this  country.  They  became  so  domesticated 
they  would  do  all  sorts  of  things  for  us.  They  [would]  rather  be 
fed  from  our  hands  than  [any J  other  way.  People  were  always 
coming  to  see  them  but  they  were  very  exclusive  and  knew  only  our 
family.  They  were  very  funny  when  we  would  tie  a  straw  hat  on 
Bill  and  a  shaker  on  Eliza,  immediately  they  would  trot  proudly  off 
to  make  us  laugh  and  run  after  them.  Over  fields  and  brooks  we 
would  fly  and  then  all  lie  down  together  to  rest.  We  felt  very  sad  to 
give  them  up.  Father  presented  them  to  Governor  Packer  of 
Pennsylvania  for  his  beautiful  private  park.  I  always  felt  so  sorry 
when  I  saw  the  beautiful  herds  of  them  that  Eliza  and  Bill  had 
ever  been  taken  from  their  native  haunts.  To  see  them  in  such 
numbers  and  so  beautiful  seemed  like  a  fairy  tale  come  true. 
Fortunately  the  Fillmore  family  were  all  lovers  of  nature.  Every- 
thing we  saw  here  seemed  to  us  the  very  desire  of  our  hearts. 

1  recall  our  first  visit  to  the  Hutton  and  Alsop  ranches.  It  was 
at  the  time  of  the  summer  round-up  and  such  a  sight  as  that  was. 
I  remember  Mr.  Edward  Creighton  of  Omaha  was  one  of  our  party. 
It  was  through  him  I  believe  that  Mr.  Hutton  began  the  business 
of  cattle  raising.  At  that  time  the  breed  of  cattle  here  was  entirely 
Texas — their  long,  wide  spreading  horns  were  very  threatening. 
They  stood  in  groups  curiously  looking  at  us.  I  never  felt  com- 
fortable near  them.  I  expected  them  to  start  running  at  us.  If 
they  ever  had  it  would  have  been  good-bye  to  us. 

The  first  visit  to  Mr.  Hutton's  ranch  was  wonderful  but  the  next 
one  was  even  more  so  for  we  found  out  what  ranch  life  really  was 
in  those  days.  When  Governor  Campbell  and  his  lovely  Wash- 
ington bride  came  they  were  taken  out  to  visit  Mr.  Hutton's  ranch. 


88  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

I  was  invited  to  be  one  of  the  party.  I  felt  quite  like  an  old  timer — 
'sour  dough'  they  call  them  in  Alaska — showing  Mrs.  Campbell 
about  the  place.  I  remember  she  asked  me  a  great  many  questions. 
I  think  I  answered  them  all  satisfactorily  and  felt  quite  puffed  up 
with  pride.  Finally  Mrs.  Campbell  said,  "I  wonder  if  we  could 
have  a  glass  of  milk?"  1  said,  "Oh,  yes,  of  course/'  I  found  Mr. 
Hutton  and  asked  him  if  we  might  have  some  milk  and  bread. 
I  never  will  forget  his  astonished  gaze  when  he  said,  "Milk?  Why 
we  never  have  milk  or  bread.  We  always  have  biscuit.  Go  and 
see  if  there  are  not  some  cold  ones  in  the  cupboard."  We  went 
on  a  voyage  of  discovery.  All  we  found  was  half  of  an  uncooked 
ham.  We  both  exclaimed  "Old  Mother  Hubbard."  I  asked  Mr. 
Hutton  why  they  never  had  had  milk  with  thousands  of  cows 
around.  Surprised  at  me  again  he  said,  "We  never  had  time  to 
milk  a  cow.  And  besides  the  calves  must  have  all  the  milk  there 
is."  There  were  a  number  of  men  standing  and  lying  in  the  shade 
of  the  corrals.  After  a  good  dinner  they  were  resting.  The  cooks 
were  in  the  bunk  house  asleep.  Mr.  Hutton  insisted  upon  calling 
them  and  having  a  dinner  cooked  for  us  but  we  would  not  hear 
to  it.  After  that  time  we  always  took  our  own  lunch  basket  with 
us  for  we  learned  the  business  of  a  ranch  in  those  days  was  raising 
cattle  and  nothing  else.  Ranching  was  then  in  its  infancy.  Women 
were  rarely  seen  about  at  all.  Today,  ranches  have  become  lovely 
country  homes — some  of  them  almost  luxurious. 

Mr.  Hutton  was  a  peculiar  man  and  a  most  unique  and  original 
one.  He  was  as  interesting  to  us  children  as  Santa  Claus.  He  and 
my  father  became  very  dear  friends.  His  presence  in  our  home 
was  always  hailed  with  delight.  He  was  one  of  the  very  bright 
spots  in  our  new  life  and  was  as  unusual  as  the  many  other  things 
we  had  met.  He  truly  belonged  to  the  Laramie  Plains.  He  was  a 
part  of  them.  If  his  business  ability  had  been  half  equal  to  his 
good  humor  and  kindness  of  heart  he  might  have  been  a  great 
cattle  king.  1  doubt  if  any  man  ever  had  a  better  opportunity. 
I  shall  never  forget  his  merry  laugh  and  twinkling  blue  eye  or  the 
splendid  philosphy  of  his  life  which  was  enough  to  make  him 
envied.  It  never  seemed  right  to  me  that  he  died  a  poor  man. 
Some  one  said  to  me  in  the  early  days  that  Charlie  Hutton  was  his 
own  enemy  and  the  only  one  he  had.  I  hope  some  one  who  knew 
him  better  than  a  young  girl  could  write  a  sketch  of  his  life.  I 
know  that  he  came  out  here  from  Iowa  before  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  was  built  and  was  employed  in  building  the  Western 
Union  Telegraph  line. 

Dr.  Latham  was  also  a  most  interesting  character  whom  I  recall 
of  the  early  days.  He  was  a  tall,  erect  person  and  was  the  Union 
Pacific  surgeon  in  charge  of  the  hospital  here.  He  was  full  of 
antecdotes  and  a  charming  talker,  a  man  of  culture  and  education. 
He  and  his  lovely  wife  helped  us  to  be  happy  many  times  after 
the  novelty  of  arriving  was  over.     He  too  is  a  man  who  could  be 


GIRLHOOD  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  LARAMIE  89 

well  written  up.  Years  after  he  left  here  1  met  him  in  California. 
He  was  then  managing  Mrs.  Hurst's  large  estate.  Previous  to  that, 
after  leaving  here,  he  held  some  important  educational  commission 
in  Japan. 

We  lived  for  some  time  at  the  Union  Pacific  Hotel  and  enjoyed 
it  very  much  for  the  proprietor,  Mr.  Philo  Rumsey  and  his  sons. 
Captain  Henry  Rumsey  and  James,  or  Jim  as  we  called  him,  did 
everything  possible  to  make  us  feel  at  home.  We  have  always  felt 
very  grateful  to  them.  Mr.  Henry  Rumsey's  wife  was  a  most 
charming  woman,  one  I  shall  never  forget.  Edith,  the  sister  of 
Henry  and  James,  was  near  my  own  age,  though  much  more 
sophisticated  than  I.  My  life  had  been  spent  in  a  quiet,  Quaker 
town,  and  school.  I  had  had  never  been  out  in  society  and  Edith, 
it  seemed  to  me,  had  always  been  in  society.  She  had  quite  a 
charm  of  manner  and  we  were  good  chums.  The  other  girls  of 
my  acquaintance  in  the  early  days  were  Alice  Harper  ( Mrs.  Robert 
Marsh)  and  her  sister.  Nellie  (Mrs.  John  Gunster),  Eva  Owen 
(Mrs.  Stephen  Downey),  and  her  sister  Etta  (Mrs.  Roach),  Hattie 
Andrews  (Mrs.  Phillips),  Cora  Andrews  (Mrs.  Brees),  Ella  Gal- 
braith  (Mrs.  Charles  Stone),  and  Minnie  Arnold  (Mrs.  Eurgens), 
and  Maggie  Ivinson  (Mrs.  Grow).  1  also  recall  Nellie  Hilton 
(Mrs.  Locke).  Her  father  was  a  physician,  also  a  Methodist 
preacher. 

One  of  my  very  early  recollections  is  of  two  beautiful  brides 
calling  upon  us,  both  gorgeously  attired.  Their  distinct  types 
interested  me.  Mrs.  Donnellan  was  a  handsome  brunette  and  Mrs. 
Abbott  a  perfect  blonde.  I  remember  in  detail  just  how  they 
looked  and  fascinated  me.  They  both  became  very  dear  friends  of 
mine  in  later  years. 

One  of  the  very  interesting  events  of  our  first  summer  was  seeing 
several  trainloads  of  Chinamen  pass  through  Laramie.  They 
stopped  long  enough  to  cook  their  rice  which  took  them  an  incred- 
ibly short  time.  We  watched  them  with  great  curiosity  and  interest. 
When  the  train  stopped  almost  instantly  the  cooks  jumped  from 
different  cars  along  the  train  with  large  kettles.  They  quickly 
built  fires  and  boiled  water  into  which  they  poured  quantities  of 
rice  and  it  seemed  no  time  until  those  kettles  were  filled  to  over- 
flowing with  large  kernels  of  cooked  rice.  Then  out  of  the  cars 
came  forth  swarms  of  Chinamen  all  sizes,  each  with  his  bowl  and 
chop-sticks.  They  were  served  with  all  they  could  eat  and  how 
quickly  they  did  eat  it!  The  chop-sticks  played  a  tune,  and  how 
they  all  jabbered  at  once  all  the  time.  They  soon  began  piling 
back  into  the  cars  and  seemed  like  a  swarm  of  bees.  Finally  all 
was  quiet  and  the  cooks  cleaned  out  their  kettles  quickly  and 
jumped  onto  the  different  cars  from  which  they  came  out.  Not  a 
word  had  been  spoken  by  those  cooks  that  1  could  see.  They 
attended  strictly  to  business.  The  discipline  of  that  occasion  was 
truly  marvelous.     After  they  had  gone  1  could  hardly  realize  what 


90  ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 

I  had  seen.  I  felt  as  if  the  earth  had  turned  over  and  I  had  seen 
China  on  top.  Those  people  in  their  native  dress  with  their  large 
hats  and  hair  in  queues  were  too  much  for  my  imagination. 

Those  Chinamen  were  being  taken  to  New  England  where  they 
were  going  to  work  in  shoe  factories  and  the  men  in  charge  told 
us  they  had  eaten  only  rice  seasoned  with  salt,  no  sugar  or  butter 
or  tea,  from  San  Francisco  to  Laramie,  and  that  their  diet  would 
be  the  same  to  the  end  of  their  journey  in  New  England.  Some 
time  after  this  I  met  Ah  Say,  the  agent  and  interpreter  for  the 
Chinamen  employed  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad.  Ah  Say  was 
often  in  our  home  in  consultation  with  my  father.  He  was  a 
gentleman,  intelligent,  and  most  interesting  and  spoke  very  good 
English.  He  was  always  bringing  us  presents  of  Chinese  fruit  and 
nuts  and  very  often  more  costly  and  rare  gifts.  He  came  one  day 
looking  very  happy  and  said  he  was  soon  to  be  married  and  wanted 
us  to  see  his  wife  some  time.  He  told  me  rather  quietly  that  she 
was  a  little-footed  woman.  I  suppose  he  did  not  want  to  boast 
too  proudly  of  his  great  fortune  so  told  only  me  about  it.  I  always 
hoped  we  might  see  Mrs.  Ah  Say  but  it  was  never  our  good  fortune. 
I  believe  they  lived  in  Evanston  upon  their  return  from  China,  but 
my  father  had  become  a  cattle  man  before  their  return.  Chinese 
were  not  very  long  employed  after  that  time  but  I  know  they 
served  very  faithfully  and  satisfactorily  while  they  were  permitted 
to  stay. 

We  met  many  noted  people  in  the  summer  of  1870.  Most  of 
them  from  New  England  who  in  some  way  were  interested  in  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad  and  were  going  over  it  to  see  whether  it 
was  a  reality  or  a  myth.  I  recall  one  party  in  particular  which 
we  were  invited  to  join  on  a  trip  to  Salt  Lake  City.  My  father  and 
mother  and  I  went  with  Colonel  Hammond  in  his  private  car  on 
that  occasion.  Colonel  Hammond  was  an  officer  of  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad.  Our  party  consisted  of  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Ham- 
mond, Dr.  and  Mrs.  Hurd  of  Galesburg,  Illinois,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Meade  of  Quincy,  Illinois.  We  had  a  wonderful  time,  the  whole 
trip  particularly  through  Echo  and  Webber  Canons  was  interesting 
to  us  all.  When  we  arrived  at  Salt  Lake  City,  Brigham  Young 
gave  a  reception  to  the  party  and  we  were  taken  about  the  city  in 
royal  style.  In  the  evening  we  attended  the  theater  and  saw 
Brigham  Young  come  in  with  all  his  wives  (it  was  said).  I  really 
think  all  nineteen  were  there.  The  husband  looked  perfectly  com- 
posed and  the  wives  not  at  all  disconcerted.  The  play  I  forgot 
all  about  but  the  circumstances  attending  it  I  never  can,  they  were 
too  unique.  I  had  always  thought  of  Brigham  Young  as  sort  of  a 
Bluebeard  but  after  seeing  his  kindly  face  and  pleasant  smile  con- 
cluded that  he  was  just  trying  to  be  another  King  Solomon.  I  have 
made  many  trips  to  Salt  Lake  City  since  but  the  thrill  of  the  first 
visit  has  never  been  eclipsed. 

Laramie  was  a  queer  looking  place  in  the  early  days,  no  trees 


GIRLHOOD  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  LARAMIE  91 

or  flowers,  but  one  thing  it  did  have  that  was  most  attractive  was 
clear,  running  water  along  either  side  of  the  streets  much  like  the 
beautiful  brooks  at  home.  On  a  quiet  night  one  could  hear  their 
merry  ripple.  Most  people  used  the  water  from  them  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.  She  was  a 
sorry  sight  when  we  got  her  out,  and  her  new  gown  completely 
ruined.  I  often  got  my  feet  wet  stepping  into  the  ditches  but  never 
got  into  a  barrel.  There  were  no  sidewalks  to  guide  one  and  the 
ditches  were  level  with  the  streets  so  it  was  quite  a  feat  to  keep 
out  of  the  water.  I  often  wonder  now  how  mothers  ever  kept  their 
children  out  of  those  attractive  ditches  for  there  were  no  fences 
around  the  shacks  or  houses  people  lived  in. 

The  houses  had  tent  backs  and  pretentious  frame  fronts,  some- 
thing like  the  ones  1  heard  Bishop  Robert  Mclntyre  describe  as 
houses  with  Queen  Anne  fronts  and  Mary  Anne  backs.  They  were 
certainly  unique  and  interesting. 

The  second  week  after  our  arrival  1  met  Mr.  F.  L.  Arnold,  the 
Presbyterian  minister.  He  called  to  know  if  I  would  play  the  organ 
for  him  the  next  day.  He  was  to  hold  services  at  the  school  house 
which  was  the  meeting  place  alternate  Sundays  for  the  Methodists, 
Baptists,  and  Presbyterians.  I  said  no,  Fd  rather  not.  I  was  such 
a  stranger  he'd  better  find  some  one  else,  and  he  very  pitifully 
said,  "My  dear  child,  there  is  no  one  else  to  find,  for  there  is  no 
one  here  who  will  play  for  me."  My  dear  father  was  present  and 
said,  "Yes,  she  will  play  for  you.  She  must  do  her  part  in  this  new 
country  and  that  is  one  thing  she  can  do."  So  I  mustered  up 
courage  like  a  dutiful  child  and  did  my  part,  I  finally  ended  by 
playing  at  all  the  services  of  each  denomination  that  I  have  men- 
tioned. They  also  had  a  union  Sunday  School  for  which  I  sang 
and  played  for  I  always  had  to  do  both.  When  the  different 
churches  were  built  I  played  at  the  dedication  of  each  one.  Mr. 
Mr.  Arnold  became  one  of  the  dearest  friends  of  my  life  and  my 
memory  of  him  is  most  sacred.  One  Sunday  after  church  he  asked 
me  to  go  with  him  to  sing  at  Fiddler  Bill's  funeral.  We  started  off, 
he  with  his  Bible  and  I  with  my  Hymn  Book.  We  went  to  a  little 
shack  dirty  and  miserable  in  every  way.  The  house  was  crowded 
to  overflowing  with  the  flotsam  and  jetsam  of  the  town.  I  had 
never  seen  or  heard  of  such  looking  people  both  men  and  women, 
blear  eyed  and  sodden.  Mr.  Arnold  stood  just  outside  the  door 
and  made  a  beautiful  talk  to  those  poor  people.  I  sat  outside  on  a 
sawbuck  with  a  board  laid  across  it  and  sang  several  times,  too 
often  but  Mr.  Arnold  said  afterwards  he  thought  the  singing  would 


92  ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 

do  them  more  good  than  what  he  could  say.  I  recall  how  miserably 
I  felt  because  I  was  too  dressed  up.  I  apologized  to  Mr.  Arnold 
for  being  so  unsuitably  dressed.  (No  doubt  my  subconscious 
mind  had  suggested  sack  cloth  and  ashes  for  the  occasion.)  Mr. 
Arnold  and  I  had  many  experiences  similar  to  that  one  but  none 
that  ever  impressed  me  more  seriously. 

Mr.  D.  J.  Pearce,  the  Baptist  minister,  came  later  in  June.  Mr. 
Pearce  was  a  remarkable  man,  most  industrious  and  earnest.  He 
soon  built  a  church  on  the  site  of  the  present  attractive  one  and 
opened  a  school  in  the  basement.  He  called  his  school  Wyoming 
University.  He  was  ably  assisted  in  his  work  by  his  young  wife 
and  their  school  was  a  great  credit  to  Laramie.  I  was  a  member 
of  their  Latin  class,  Mr.  C.  P.  Arnold  was  also  a  member.  If 
there  were  others  I  do  not  now  recall  them.  Mr.  Pierce  was  a 
man  of  vision.  He  told  me  our  beautiful  University  of  Wyoming 
of  which  our  state  is  so  justly  proud  would  stand  just  where  it  does. 
There  was  a  cemetery  there  then.  I  said,  "Impossible,  Mr.  Pearce. 
It  is  Laramie's  cemetery/'  He  replied,  "You  will  live  to  see  that 
moved  farther  up  the  hill."  So  I  have.  I  often  wish  Mr.  Pearce 
could  have  lived  to  see  our  present  University  and  be  able  to  dream 
with  us  its  great  future. 

Mr.  Brooks,  the  Methodist  minister,  soon  came  and  took  charge 
of  the  Methodist  services.  He  was  a  young  unmarried  man,  won- 
derfully active  and  insisted  upon  very  ambitious  music.  Since  I 
was  the  only  person  so  far  who  could  or  would  play  and  sing  it  was 
rather  hard  on  me.  1  never  can  understand  why  the  people  in 
Laramie  would  not  sing  in  those  days.  I  often  shed  tears  over  it. 
I  believe  people  finally  felt  sorry  for  me  for  they  did  find  their 
voices  and  helped  me  all  they  could. 

Right  here  I  wish  to  subscribe  a  tribute  to  a  Mr.  Crancall  [sic]. 
He  was  a  painter  and  a  hard  working  man  but  when  he  could  he 
always  came  and  helped  me  at  the  Sunday  services.  He  had  a  good 
voice  and  quite  an  understanding  of  music. 

I  remember  Chaplain  McCabe  sang  at  the  dedication  of  the 
Methodist  Church.  I  assisted  him.  He  had  a  wonderful  voice  and 
rejoiced  my  heart  for  he  was  the  first  singer  I  had  heard  since  com- 
ing to  Laramie.  I  think  Bishop  McCabe  preached  the  dedicatory 
sermon.  I  am  not  quite  sure  about  this,  any  way  I  heard  him 
preach  in  the  new  church  and  recall  his  powerful  sermon  and 
wonderful  stories.  I  also  heard  Bishop  Joyce  in  the  old  Methodist 
church.  He  was  one  of  the  most  saintly  looking  men  I  have  ever 
seen,  also  I  think  the  most  powerful  preacher  1  have  ever  heard. 
Methodist  bishops  have  always  impressed  me  as  being  great 
preachers. 

Rev.  Joseph  Cornell  of  the  Episcopal  church  was  here  when  we 
came  and  the  church  built.  My  father  often  wrote  us  how  he  was 
helping  to  dance  the  roof  on  the  new  Episcopal  church.  Not 
being  a  dancing  man  we  always  laughed  about  his  help.     But  our 


GIRLHOOD  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  LARAMIE  93 

dear  friend  Mrs.  Ivinson  told  me  that  she  had  gotten  father  to 
take  a  few  steps.  Now  we  have  the  beautiful  Cathedral  standing 
near  the  site  of  the  little  old  church  of  the  early  days. 

The  Catholic  church  was  also  built  when  we  came  and  is  the 
only  one  so  far  that  has  not  been  rebuilt.  Father  Cusson  was  in 
charge  of  it.  He  was  a  Frenchman  and  a  man  the  whole  town 
respected  and  loved.  Laramie  was  a  good  town  and  striving  up- 
ward all  the  time.  The  churches  and  the  schools  showed  their 
influence. 

Mr.  Harrington  was  the  principal  of  the  public  school;  and  my 
father  was  a  member  of  the  School  Board.  The  building  has  been 
transformed  into  Root's  Opera  House  and  stands  on  the  same  site 
where  it  was  erected.  I  think  in  some  way  it  should  always  be 
kept  as  a  memorial  to  the  early  work  it  was  privileged  to  begin. 

It  is  true  there  was  still  many  saloons  and  gambling  places  left 
in  Laramie.  It  was  a  common  thing  to  hear  some  one  call  out 
loudly  something  about  a  key.  It  seemed  to  me  sometimes  like  a 
song  a  man  was  singing  inside  the  building  but  I  soon  learned  it 
was  a  game  they  played  called  Keno.  But  those  days  did  not  last 
long.  Public  sentiment  required  at  least  more  quiet  in  the  places 
that  were  once  so  open  and  noisy. 

The  terrible  days  of  lynching  were  past  though  I'm  sorry  to  say 
two  cases  have  occurred  since  that  time  that  I  remember,  but  the 
early  cases  were  before  our  time. 

The  first  large  party  of  my  life  was  one  given  by  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Ivinson  shortly  after  our  arrival.  It  was  a  great  event  to  me  and 
I  recall  it  as  a  very  beautiful  one.  I  have  attended  a  great  many 
parties  given  by  these  same  dear  friends  in  the  past  fifty-three  years 
in  more  spacious  and  costly  surroundings  but  none  more  beautiful 
to  me  than  that  first  one  in  1870  when  they  lived  over  and  back 
of  their  store.  After  all  it  is  what  we  put  into  our  hospitality  of 
our  very  selves  that  seems  to  count  most.  My  mother  became 
somewhat  reconciled  to  her  exile  in  Laramie  and  gave  the  second 
large  party  of  my  remembrance  in  honor  of  my  brother  and  his 
bride. 

There  were  plenty  of  social  affairs.  It  kept  one  quite  busy  at- 
tending them.  I  recall  a  reception  given  by  the  young  men  of 
Laramie  in  honor  of  Governor  Campbell  and  his  bride  which  could 
not  have  been  outdone  by  anyone  anywhere.  Those  young  men 
were  wonders  particularly  when  they  gave  parties.  Colonel  Down- 
ey, Colonel  Donnellan,  Mr.  Ora  Haley,  Mr.  Charles  Wagner,  and 
Judge  Brown  were  the  moving  spirits.  Social  life  in  Laramie  as 
I  knew  it  was  of  high  and  lofty  character  in  those  early  days  and 
my  remembrances  of  it  all  are  most  delightful  and  happy. 

In  August  of  1870  my  father  decided  that  we  had  better  remain 
a  year  at  least  and  occupy  a  new  house  the  Railroad  Company 
had  built  for  him  if  he  desired  it,  or  in  other  words  could  persuade 
his  family  to  remain.     The  house  was  a  commodious  one  painted 


94  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

white.  It  is  still  standing  where  it  was  built  on  the  north  side  of 
Fremont  and  Second  street. 

When  we  were  finally  settled  in  our  house  we  were  very  com- 
fortable and  most  of  us  happy.  I  wanted  a  piano  very  much.  The 
story  of  how  I  got  it  is  to  me  very  interesting  and  I  think  worth 
relating.  A  merchant  in  Laramie  saw  an  advertisement  in  a  New 
York  paper  of  what  he  thought  were  toy  pianos  selling  at  nine 
dollars  and  seventy-five  cents.  He  (good  friend  of  mine)  sent  for 
two  to  be  sent  immediately  by  express.  The  firm  sent  one  but 
advised  having  the  other  one  shipped  by  freight.  The  one  that 
came  by  express  instead  of  being  nine  dollars  and  seventy-five 
cents  was  nine  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars  with  express 
charges.  My  father  bought  the  instrument  for  seven  hundred 
dollars.  I  knew  nothing  about  it  until  one  day  I  came  home  from 
a  visit  I  had  been  sent  to  make  and  found  a  beautiful  piano  in  our 
home.    My  joy  knew  no  bounds,  it  was  to  me  almost  a  miracle. 

When  Mr.  Sidney  Dillon  who  was  an  old  friend  of  my  father's 
became  president  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  he  persuaded 
father  to  come  with  him  and  help  him  in  some  plans  he  had  for 
the  reconstruction  of  the  road.  Father  had  suffered  a  serious 
breakdown  in  health  during  the  Civil  War  and  a  change  had  been 
recommended  for  him  by  our  dear  old  family  physician,  Dr.  Reeves 
Jackson,  (who  by  the  way  is  the  Doctor  Mark  Twain  in  his 
"Innocents  Abroad"  writes  of  so  humorously)  so  he  with  Mr. 
Dillon  recommended  the  high  mountain  country  as  the  very  best 
possible  change  that  could  be  made.  Father  liked  the  idea  of  going 
west  so  in  a  very  short  time  he  was  off  for  what  became  his  abiding 
place  for  several  years. 

Here  he  regained  his  health  and  was  very  happy  particularly 
after  he  became  the  owner  of  a  ranch  and  cattle.  Mr.  J.  J.  Al- 
bright, an  old  time  friend  of  father's  from  Scranton,  Pennsylvania, 
became  his  partner  in  the  cattle  business.  Mr.  Harry  Albright, 
his  son,  came  out  with  his  charming  family  to  assist  father.  To- 
gether they  had  a  very  successful  and  pleasant  experience,  but  the 
cold  winters  and  exposure  told  on  father's  health  again  and  he  was 
obliged  to  seek  the  more  congenial  climate  of  California. 

If  this  simple  story  of  mine  will  interest  the  readers  of  the  His- 
torical Bulletin  I  am  very  happy  in  having  told  it  for  them  as  well 
as  for  my  grandchildren,  for  whom  it  was  originally  intended. 


Zke  Mole~in~tke~  Wall 

By 

Thelma  Gatchell  Condit 

PART  VIII  -  SECTION  4 

THE  STUBBS  CLAN 

One  of  the  most  interesting  sections  of  Johnson  County  in  the 
early  days  was  the  Barnum  community  and  the  country  located 
west  of  Kaycee  behind  the  Red  Wall.  It  settled  up  fast  because 
of  its  rich  native  feed  for  livestock,  its  plentiful  water  supply  and 
its  rare  beauty.  The  very  nature  of  the  place  gave  the  inhabitants 
a  community  closeness  even  in  the  early  days.  A  feeling  of 
"substantialness"  was  there,  as  if  the  settlers  were  putting  down 
roots  and  intending  to  stay.  The  cabins  were  sturdily  built  of 
unusually  large  hand-hewn  logs,  durable  and  tough  like  the  people 
themselves. 

Most  of  the  homestead  cabins  and  first  homes  had  dirt  roofs. 
While  no  doubt  adequate,  they  were  most  annoying,  for  dirt 
particles  were  always  falling  down  from  between  the  cracks  in 
the  ceiling  boards.  This,  of  course,  mattered  little  to  the  men; 
dirt  sprinkling  down  on  stove,  table  and  food  wasn't  half  as  bad 
as  being  wet  and  cold  or  being  out  in  all  kinds  of  weather.  But 
when  wives  began  to  arrive  an  end  was  put  to  this  by  stretching 
strong  unbleached  muslin  across  the  room  top  to  serve  as  a  lower 
ceiling.  The  strips  of  muslin  were  stitched  together  and  firmly 
tacked  along  the  top  sides  of  the  walls.  However,  this  did  not 
prevent  dirt  from  falling  onto  the  muslin  throughout  the  year  and 
by  spring  the  muslin  ceiling  would  be  full  of  sags  and  lumps  no 
matter  how  tightly  it  had  been  stretched.  While  unsightly,  it 
was  much  better  than  forever  cleaning  up  ceiling  dirt  and  floor 
dirt.  Goodness  knows  enough  mud  was  tracked  in  to  keep  any 
woman  plenty  busy  without  adding  any  from  the  ceiling.  A  part 
of  every  house  cleaning  job  in  the  spring  was  taking  down  and 
washing  the  muslin  and  white  washing  the  log  walls.  Each  year 
or  two  men  hauled  more  dirt  for  the  roof  tops.  All  summer 
sparse  grass  and  weeds  grew  on  the  dirt  roofs,  and  if  a  tall,  high- 
dancing  cowboy  hit  a  sagging  lump  of  ceiling  he  thought  nothing 
of  it. 

There  was  no  such  thing  at  the  old  NH  ranch,  it  being  strictly 
bachelor  quarters,  and  no  one  now  remembers  much  about  that 
dance  in  the  summer  of  '94    (or  '95)    when   Jim   Stubbs   paid 


96 


ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 


(Uncle)  Jim  Stubbs 


Grandpa  and  Grandma  Stubbs       Rap  Harrell  on  2  wheel  "stacker  cart" 

Courtesy  Blue  Creek  Ranch 


THE   HOLE-IN-THE-WALL  97 

Cassidy  $1500  in  gold  pieces  for  the  Blue  Creek  ranch.  The 
exchange  apparently  was  the  most  important  event  of  the  evening. 
It  was  significant  in  that  it  marked  the  end  of  the  Hole-in-the-Wall 
gang  in  the  Barnum  country;  at  least,  it  meant  that  they  no  longer 
had  legitimate  holdings  on  which  to  carry  on  their  horse-raising 
operations  and  so  no  lawful  reason  for  being  there  any  more. 

But  this  didn't  mean  that  rustling  days  were  over  in  the  Hole- 
in-the-Wall.  People  always  thought  that  Jim  Stubbs  was  a  U.  S. 
Marshal  or  stock  detective  employed  by  the  Cattlemens'  Ass'n., 
or  maybe  privately  hired  by  important  big  cattlemen  to  see  who 
was  branding  what  and  just  exactly  what  was  going  on  up  there 
behind  the  Red  Wall.  Some  of  the  family  think  that  the  big 
cattlemen  put  up  the  money  for  Jim  to  buy  the  Blue  Creek  outfit, 
so  they'd  have  a  place  to  get  their  cattle  out  of  the  Hole-in-the- 
Wall,  for  this  spot  was  a  hot  bed  for  rustlers  and  just  everybody 
didn't  have  the  nerve  to  meddle  around  much  up  there.  And 
while  Jim  was  not  noted  for  bold  or  daring  deeds,  they  felt  his 
being  in  that  locality  had  a  good  effect.  William  Deane  ( Billy ) ' 
and  George  Wellman-  had  both  been  sent  earlier  and  had  both  been 
bolder  and  more  daring  men,  but  neither  had  lived  long  enough  to 
accomplish  much.  One  old-timer  said,  "It  is  my  supposition  that 
as  a  stock  detective  Jim  may  have  hidden  his  'tie-up'  and  there  may 
be  no  record  of  it  at  all.  I  don't  know  of  any  arrests  he  ever  made 
while  there,  or  later,  but  I'm  sure  there  was  some  connection  until 
some  time  after  he  settled  at  Blue  Creek.  Pinkerton  and  other  such 
detectives  used  to  come  to  Blue  Creek  to  see  Jim." 


1.  William  Deane  (Billy)  was  appointed  deputy  sheriff  in  1897  b\ 
Johnson  County  Sheriff  Al  Sproul,  when  the  County  Commissioners  wanted 
a  man  to  go  to  the  Kaycee  and  Hole-in-the-Wall  area  as  a  special  deputy  to 
stop  rustling  activities  there  and  make  necessary  arrests.  "He  was  a  nervy 
man,  never  had  any  fear  of  anything."  In  April  1897  he  was  at  the  Grigg 
post  office  and  the  Logan  brothers  of  Cassidy's  gang  tried  to  kill  him,  but 
Mr.  Grigg  grabbed  the  rifle  and  the  shot  was  fired  into  the  ceiling.  On 
April  13th  Deane  was  at  the  Jesse  Potts  homestead  a  few  miles  west  of 
Kaycee  standing  in  the  yard  when  a  rustler  shot  him  in  the  arm,  breaking 
it,  the  second  shot  killed  him.  both  fired  from  the  rifle  of  the  rustler  hiding 
in  a  gulch  to  the  north. 

2.  George  A.  Wellman  was  foreman  of  the  Hoe  Ranch  located  on  Pow- 
der River  below  the  mouth  of  Nine  Mile,  50  miles  south  of  Buffalo.  In 
May  1892.  shortly  after  taking  over  the  foreman  job,  he  was  also  made  a 
special  U.  S.  Deputy  Marshal  by  Deputy  Craig  (of  Gillette).  Wellman's 
instructions  as  Marshal  had  been  received  in  a  letter  from  Marshal  Rankin 
of  Cheyenne.  He  was  to  take  an  active  part  in  assembling  evidence  to 
prove  that  herds  of  absent  cattlemen  were  being  rustled.  (All  this  to 
receive  from  Washington  D.  C.  a  declaration  of  martial  law  for  Johnson 
County.) 

Shortly  after  this  while  on  his  way  to  Buffalo  from  Powder  River 
Crossing,  when  about  12  or  15  miles  south  of  the  George  Harris  ranch  on 
Crazy  Woman  Creek,  he  was  dry-gulched  and  killed.  (Ed  Star,  an  outlaw 
rustler  who'd  as  soon  shoot  a  man  as  a  coyote,  fired  the  fatal  shot.) 


98 


ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 


Charlie  Stubbs  1862 


Courtes\  Blue  Creek  Ranch 


It  was  the  habit  of  a  few  cow  thieves  in  the  late  summer  to  drift 
cows  with  big,  unbranded  calves  following  them  down  to  the 
mouth  of  Backus  and  Keith  Creeks  and  Powder  River  Canyon  and 
then  cut  the  calves  away  from  their  mothers  and  throw  the  cows 
out  over  the  rough  trails,  which  left  no  tracks,  then  closing  the 
trails  and  weaning  the  calves  which  now  bore  their  own  illegal 
brands.  Jim,  upon  finding  calfless  cows  of  this  kind  would  inves- 
tigate and  try  to  locate  the  calves  before  they  were  branded  and 
turn  them  back  with  their  mothers  where  they  belonged,  and  then 
brand  them  according  to  the  cows  they  were  following. 

Some  of  the  most  brazen  rustlers  up  there  added  cruel  tricks 
to  the  rustling  game,  like  cutting  out  eight  or  nine  month  old 
calves  and  splitting  their  tongues  so  they  couldn't  suck  the  cows, 
and  then  hiding  them  out  in  little  secret  corrals  and  later  branding 
them  for  themselves.    Or  if  they  met  up  with  an  obstreperous  cow 


THE  HOLE-IN-THE-WALL  99 

who  didn't  handle  so  easy  while  being  separated  from  her  off- 
spring, they'd  just  put  a  bullet  through  her  head  and  leave  her 
for  buzzard  food. 

Speaking  of  Backus  Creek  Canyon  and  obstinate  cows  brings 
to  mind  the  time  some  Barnum  cowboys  on  fall  roundup  were 
working  this  canyon  which  is  the  last  word  in  roughness  and 
ruggedness.  One  cow  critter  was  really  wild,  and  they'd  been 
fighting  her  all  the  way  all  day  long  and  were  getting  plenty  tired 
of  her  stupid  antics.  When  they  had  her  just  about  out  of  the 
canyon,  she  suddenly  quit  the  bunch  on  the  trail  and  decided  to 
climb  out  over  a  ledge  to  the  left.  She  was  having  a  frustrating 
time  of  it,  too,  but  after  much  slobbering  and  struggling  and 
grunting  she  got  her  belly  on  the  ledge  and  seemed  about  to 
teeter  over  the  top,  but  couldn't  quite  make  it.  Church  Firnekas, 
the  cowboy  who'd  ridden  onto  another  ledge  above  to  head  her 
off  in  case  it  was  necessary,  saw  the  predicament  she  was  in  and, 
crazy-like  without  thinking,  quickly  threw  his  rope  over  the  cow's 
head  hoping  to  help  her  on  up;  but  before  he  could  even  blink  an 
eye  she  jumped  straight  off  the  ledge  and  just  hung  there  in  mid-air 
as  there  wasn't  enough  rope  to  let  her  clear  down  to  the  bottom 
of  the  canyon. 

Church  was  riding  a  Bar  C  horse  called  Tar  Baby;  he  weighed 
about  1 1 50  pounds  and  was  coal  black  and  had  short  sturdy  legs 
as  he  was  part  Percheron.  Tar  Baby  just  stood  there  trembling, 
with  his  feet  braced  on  that  narrow  place,  and  held  that  cow  until 
Church  could  get  out  his  pocket  knife  and  cut  the  tight  rope.  The 
cow  fell  30  feet  and  landed  broadside  on  the  rocky  bottom  and 
was  killed.  If  either  Church  or  Tar  Baby  had  lost  their  heads  all 
three  would  have  plunged  to  death  below.  In  a  predicament  of 
that  kind  a  man's  weight  in  the  saddle  is  a  lot  of  help  to  a  horse, 
and  Church,  addlepated  and  nervy  at  the  same  time,  knew  it  and 
stayed  in  the  saddle.  After  it  was  all  over,  all  he  said  was,  "By 
the  gods  of  war,  (his  favorite  expression)  a  man  must  be  plum 
out  of  his  mind  to  pull  a  stunt  like  that  and,  by  God,  ought  to 
have  his  head  examined,"  and  rode  off  down  the  mountain  behind 
the  herd  singing  "Cremation  of  Sam  McGee"  through  his  nose. 

Church  was  always  roping  something.  When  at  the  ranch  and 
he'd  open  the  gate  to  let  the  milk  cows'  calves  out,  "they'd  lay 
back  their  ears  and  run  like  hell  for  the  nearest  brush  before  he 
could  rope  them." 

Church  was  always  pulling  something  like  that  and  sometimes 
it  wasn't  really  his  fault;  like  the  time  in  Powder  River  Canyon 
when  his  horse  spooked  and  started  bucking  where  there  wasn't 
any  place  to  buck,  so  he  just  dumped  off  into  a  big  deep  hole  in 
the  creek.  Church  and  horse  both  disappeared  in  the  water,  the 
hole  was  that  deep.  The  other  fellows  thought  sure  both  were 
"goners,"  but  pretty  soon  up  they  bobbed  and  the  bronc  climbed 


100  ANNALS   OF   WYOMING 

out  on  the  other  side  with  Church  still  astride,  and  went  along 
as  if  such  happenings  were  of  daily  occurrence. 

Barton  Jefferson  Stubbs  and  Sally  Avery,  born  and  married  in 
Georgia,  were  the  parents  of  the  Stubbs  clan.  They  had  eight 
children,  Rachel,  James,  Charles  (Bud),  Martha  Sarah  (Sally), 
Elizabeth,  William  Avery  (Bill),  Amelia  and  Isaac  (Ike).  Some- 
time through  the  years  the  family  moved  to  Texas;  maybe  some 
of  the  children  were  born  there  (no  one  remembers.) 

When  a  young  man  in  the  early  1 880's,  Jim  came  north  several 
times  with  Texas  Trail  herds.  Later  the  whole  family  moved  to 
eastern  Wyoming  and  settled  near  Lusk,  about  20  miles  north,  at 
the  Hat  Creek  post  office.  The  boys,  Jim,  Bud  and  Ike,  worked 
out  as  cowhands  most  of  the  year  and  supported  the  family.  Bud 
and  Jim  worked  for  the  4J  outfit,  Bud  as  shipping  boss  who  went 
to  Chicago  with  the  beef,  and  Jim  as  roundup  wagon  boss  and 
trail  boss  when  Keelines  trailed  cattle  up  from  Texas.  They  were 
handsome  young  men.  Bud  cut  quite  a  figure  walking  up  the 
streets  of  Lusk  "with  his  spur  rowels  rolling  along  behind  him 
like  wheelbarrow  wheels,  they  were  that  big."  Bud  always  said, 
"Whenever  you  patch  up  a  bridle  rein  you've  ruined  it."  He  was 
just  that  fussy  about  his  things. 

Jim  was  a  six-footer  and  rather  heavy  set,  very  slow  motioned 
and  seemingly  easygoing,  but  had  an  air  of  authority  about  him 
that  gained  him  respect  wherever  he  went.  He  had  a  good  busi- 
ness head  on  his  shoulders  and  knew  all  along  "where  he  was  going 
and  what  he  would  do  with  his  life."  He  had  a  way  of  always 
chuckling  to  himself  as  he  went  about  his  work,  a  likeable,  inti- 
mate sort  of  habit  that  inspired  confidence  and  good  will.  Bud 
and  Jim  were  both  good  reliable  men,  "as  honorable  and  good 
men  as  could  be  in  those  times  when  everything  was  a  battle,  when 
a  man  had  to  fight  for  everything  he  got,  when  every  bloomin' 
thing  was  a  struggle  and  hard  work,  when  both  nature  and  people 
made  lots  of  trouble."  They  saved  their  money;  they  didn't  throw 
it  around,  as  soon  as  it  was  earned,  in  loose  living  like  so  many 
did.  They  weren't  like  the  cowboy  who  said  to  the  saloon  keeper, 
"Leave  me  alone,  will  you,  this  is  my  money  I'm  drinkin'  up  -  when 
I  get  broke  I'll  go  back  and  make  a  good  hand."  And  this  type 
did  go  back  and  make  a  good  hand  until  next  pay  day;  but  he 
never  put  any  roots  down  or  left  much  of  a  mark  to  justify  his 
existence  on  this  earth.  Bud  and  Jim  felt  a  sense  of  responsibility 
toward  their  family.  There  was  always  some  of  them  needing 
something. 

Around  1897  Jim  came  into  Johnson  County  and  bought  the 
Billy  Hill  ranch  over  on  Red  Forks,  now  the  upper  end  of  the 
Alfred  Brock  ranch.  (Tom  Gardner  was  living  where  Brocks 
now  live. )  The  old  folks  and  Bud  and  Ike  then  moved  up  here 
and  were  there  when  Jim  bought  the  Blue  Creek  spread.     After 


THE  HOLE-IN-THE-WALL  101 

buying  it  he  leased  the  place  to  Billy  Brock  (an  uncle  of  J.  Elmer) 
and  the  Stubbs  continued  living  on  the  Red  Fork  place. 

At  this  time  a  fellow  called  "Latigo"  was  homesteading  the 
land  about  50  yards  above  the  lower  Blue  Creek  bridge.  Some 
of  the  buildings  he  put  up  are  still  there.  Latigo  was  sandy-haired, 
and  rather  stoop-shouldered  and  didn't  associate  much  with  any- 
body -  and  nobody  knew  much  about  him,  so  just  called  him 
Latigo  and  let  it  go  at  that.  When  he  proved  up  Jim  bought  his 
160  acres  for  $300  and  added  it  to  his  Blue  Creek  holdings. 

A  few  years  later  Billy  Brock  bought  Jim's  Red  Fork  place 
and  the  Stubbs  clan  moved  to  Blue  Creek.  The  Stubbs  and  their 
nephews,  the  Taylors  from  Texas,  have  been  ( and  still  are )  an 
important  part  of  the  Barnum  community.  They  surely  are  a 
mixed  lot  for  character  study  and  have  added  much  to  the  local 
color  of  the  area. 

Around  1875  Sally  Stubbs  married  John  Wesley  Taylor,  a 
buffalo  hunter  on  the  Cherokee  Strip.  He  went  to  the  Great 
Staked  Plains  in  the  northern  panhandle  of  Texas  and  helped  kill 
the  last  of  the  great  herd  of  buffalo  in  that  area.  Sally's  folks 
objected  violently  to  this  man  John  Taylor,  for  in  Texas  a  buffalo 
hunter  was  considered  flighty  and  not  likely  to  settle  down  long 
enough  to  make  a  woman  a  good  husband.  So,  loving  each  other 
like  they  did,  they  were  forced  to  elope.  They  took  off  horseback 
one  night  and  father  Stubbs  sent  brother  Jim  after  them.  He  was 
hot  on  their  trail  and  all  for  nipping  this  affair  in  the  bud,  until 
they  came  to  the  Red  River  which  was  slightly  swollen  and  not 
particularly  good  crossing  at  any  time  at  that  point.  When  Jim 
saw  them  abandon  one  horse,  which  they  likely  thought  unfit  for 
such  a  swim,  and  both  take  to  the  churning  water  on  one  horse, 
he  gave  up  and  turned  back,  thinking  (and  rightly)  that  if  their 
love  was  that  reckless  and  heedless  of  consequences  he'd  just  be 
wasting  his  time  to  ever  even  think  he  could  bring  them  back  and 
prevent  this  thing;  for  there'd  always  be  another  time  and  another 
place  and  another  plan.  He  couldn't  understand  love  like  that, 
but  he  came  to  respect  it  that  night.  So,  the  wedding  ceremony 
was  performed  some  place  north  of  the  Red  River  without  benefit 
of  family. 

Sally  and  John  had  seven  children,  Ed,  Will,  Bert,  Rose,  Emma, 
Homer  and  Talton,  of  whom  we'll  hear  more  later.  Rose,  when 
still  a  small  child,  was  blown  away  in  a  cyclone.  The  Indians 
warned  the  white  people  that  a  cyclone  was  due  and  coming,  that 
every  twenty  years  it  came  without  fail,  but  nobody  took  this 
omen  seriously.  However,  right  on  time  it  came  and  went  and 
took  little  Rose  with  it,  never  to  be  seen  again.  Some  of  the 
Stubbs  felt  that  this  was  a  punishment  inflicted  upon  Sally  for 
having  so  openly  defied  her  family  and  married  a  buffalo  hunter. 
In  fact,  the  Stubbs  were  always  inclined  to  have  it  in  for  the 
Taylors — not  in  big  things  that  really  counted,  for  they  at  heart 


102  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

were  a  clannish  people,  but  in  little  obnoxious,  spiteful,  trifling 
ways  that'd  get  under  a  fellow's  hide.  They  acted  at  times  as  if 
they  were  hoping  to  see  some  of  that  buffalo  hunter's  blood  show- 
ing up  along  the  line,  so  they  could  pounce  on  it  and  have  sound 
reason  for  proving  that  Sally's  marriage  was  bad. 

Amelia  Stubbs  married  Sumner  Richardson  at  Lusk  some  time 
around  1890.  A  few  years  later  he  was  killed  by  a  bolt  of  light- 
ning, and  Bill  and  Ike  moved  Amelia,  her  son  and  household  goods 
and  cattle,  up  into  Barnum  country  where  she  took  up  a  home- 
stead over  south  near  the  Hole-in-the-Wall.  She  was  the  first 
woman  to  live  in  those  parts,  which  was  quite  a  distinction,  people 
said. 

Ike  Stubbs  took  up  a  homestead  over  south,  too,  about  100 
yards  from  where  Eagle  Creek  and  Buffalo  Creek  come  together. 
He  built  a  two-room  cabin  covered  on  the  outside  with  red  tin — 
so  the  place  was  always  called  the  Red  Cabin,  and  became  quite  a 
landmark  in  the  community.  People  would  say  "over  by  the  Red 
Cabin"  just  like  they  said  "over  by  the  Pumpkin  Buttes."  It  stood 
by  the  road  on  a  bleak  and  lonely  spot  where  in  the  summer  time 
the  sun  boiled  down  unmercifully  on  the  red  dirt  and  the  red  tin. 
To  its  back  was  Eagle  Creek  Canyon  and  trees  and  water,  but  a 
place  not  easy  to  get  in  and  out  of.  It  did,  however,  make  a 
beautiful  background  if  one  took  the  time  to  look. 

That's  the  way  ranches  spread  out  and  became  big  outfits  in 
those  days.  Relatives  and  friends  (and  sometimes  just  people) 
would  take  up  homesteads  and  when  they  proved  up,  they'd  sell 
to  the  ranches. 

Ike  was  the  "most  human  of  the  Stubbs,"  the  most  likeable  and 
also  the  tallest  and  darkest.  He  had  a  black  mustache  and  was 
more  inclined  toward  feminine  company  than  the  others,  and  he 
didn't  mind  at  all  getting  roaring  drunk  and  shooting  up  the  town 
at  times.  He  also  was  a  bronc  rider  and  a  good  one,  too.  In 
later  years  he  fell  in  love  with  a  school  teacher  who  taught  at 
Willow  Creek  (over  south  of  Buffalo  Creek).  She  was  neither 
young  nor  beautiful,  but  Ike  wanted  to  marry  her.  He'd  bring 
her  to  the  dances  and  seemed  to  enjoy  her  company  a  lot.  Most 
of  the  people  were  of  the  opinion  that  she  was  horrible.  They 
made  fun  of  her  looks,  because  of  her  big  large  nose  and  tall 
skinny  frame.  Some  of  the  cowboys  nicknamed  her  "Old  Rough- 
lock,"  the  inference  being  that  such  a  nose  would  make  a  good 
roughlock  for  blocking  a  wheel  going  down  a  steep  hill.  This  was 
rather  farfetched,  because  all  of  the  Stubbs  had  bigger  than  normal 
noses  and  nobody  remarked  about  them.  Anyway  the  older 
Stubbs  brothers  thought  Ike  shouldn't  marry  -  "Boy,  discontinue 
this  idea  of  marriage,  for  how  can  you  take  care  of  her?  As  soon 
as  she  gets  you  hooked,  she'll  always  be  wantin'  something,  that's 
the  way  a  woman  is,  always  wantin'  something."  Being  older 
they  felt  that  Ike  should  always  be  ready  and  willing  to  take  their 


THE  HOLE-IN-THE-WALL  103 

advice  on  any  and  all  subjects.  Whether  Ike  got  too  tired  of 
listening  to  this  perpetual  dictating  and  felt  he  couldn't  stand  it  any 
more  or  for  some  other  reason,  nobody  knows,  but  one  night  when 
he  and  Bud  were  over  at  the  Red  Cabin  (this  was  after  their 
mother  had  died)  Ike  got  up  and  said,  "I'm  going  where  mother 
is,"  and  went  outside  by  the  door  of  the  cabin  and  shot  himself 
in  the  head.  Ike  was  closer  to  his  mother  than  the  other  boys, 
and  he  worried  a  lot  about  her  and  I  imagine  she  did  have  a  hard 
time  of  it  with  her  bachelor  sons.  In  discussing  Ike's  suicide  with 
an  old-timer,  I  remarked  that  overly  bossy  older  brothers  didn't 
seem  a  very  logical  reason  for  a  man's  killing  himself,  and  the  old 
fellow  spoke  right  up  and  said,  "Well,  you  didn't  know  the  Stubbs. 
The  Stubbs  were  Stubbs  and  you  can't  get  around  that." 

It  seemed  at  times  that  the  Stubbs  couldn't  stand  each  other. 
When  they'd  go  to  town,  or  any  place  in  fact,  even  just  to  the 
mail  box,  they'd  ride  apart,  a  mile  apart  maybe.  Bud,  then  Bill 
and  Jim  bringing  up  the  rear,  or  vice  versa.  When  they  got  to 
town  they'd  all  stay  and  eat  at  different  places  or  at  different  times. 

All  the  Stubbs  men  as  they  grew  older  became  slightly  stoop- 
shouldered,  big-faced,  big-nosed  and  heavy-headed  with  little  to 
show  in  way  of  a  neck;  their  heads  seemed  to  sit  on  their  shoulders. 
Bill  more  so  than  any  of  the  others.  While  the  other  three  boys 
were  fundamentally  honest  and  law  abiding,  Bill  was  not.  He 
was  always  on  the  fringe  of  society,  that  is  respectable  society, 
and  ornery  and  mean  as  the  day  was  long.  As  one  fellow  said, 
"Bill  Stubbs  was  the  meanest  man  on  earth  if  he  didn't  like  you, 
but  if  he  liked  you  and  you  remembered  not  to  cross  him  in  any 
way,  there  was  no  end  to  what  he'd  do  for  you."  Another  one 
remarked,  "When  Bill  was  in  a  sociable  frame  of  mind  he  could 
be  the  most  entertaining  liar  you  ever  met."  Bill's  favorite  ex- 
pression was  "By  doggies"  -  he  began  every  sentence  with  it  and 
sometimes  put  two  or  three  in  between;  it  was  one  entirely  orig- 
inal -  no  one  ever  heard  it  used  by  anyone  else.  Bill  had  a  big 
hearty  laugh  and  could  be  most  jovial  at  times  and  likeable  for 
the  moment,  thoroughly  likeable. 

When  he  first  came  to  Blue  Creek  he  was  married  to  a  woman 
"off  the  row."  She  was  quite  nice  looking,  and  quite  willing  and 
ready  to  be  a  good  wife  and  housekeeper  for  Bill.  But  she  was 
neat  and  clean,  and  Bill  was  not,  as  a  usual  thing.  The  first  thing 
they  quarreled  about  was  Bill  wouldn't  take  his  socks  off  when  he 
went  to  bed,  said  his  feet  got  cold.  When  she  finally  did  get  him 
to  remove  them  they'd  be  so  dirty  and  sweaty,  next  morning  would 
find  them  as  stiff  as  if  they'd  been  shellacked  (and  smell,  how 
terrible  they  would  smell).  When  dry  they  were  so  brittle  it  was 
just  like  stepping  on  egg  shells.  That's  why  men  didn't  want  to 
take  them  off. 

Which  brings  to  mind  an  old  fellow  who  lived  up  the  slope  who 
used  to  ride  by  Blue  Creek  on  his  way  home  in  the  afternoon; 


104  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

he'd  sit  and  visit  until  supper  time  and  then  decide  to  stay  for 
supper  (anybody  was  always  welcome);  then  he'd  light  up  his  pipe 
and  sit  around  and  smoke  and  talk  until  bedtime  and  say  he 
guessed  he'd  just  stay  all  night,  since  it  was  so  late.  This  didn't 
bring  any  repercussion  until  one  time,  after  a  visit  of  this  kind, 
a  hired  hand  came  in  early  to  breakfast  mad  as  a  hornet  and  said, 
"If  that  old  codger  ever  comes  here  and  sleeps  in  the  bunk  house 
again  I'm  quittin'.  Last  night  the  old  fool  came  in  stumbling 
around  in  the  dark  walkin'  over  everybody's  boots  and  blamed  if 
he  didn't  bust  the  whole  toe-end  outa  my  best  sock." 

Bill  and  his  wife  lived  in  a  sheep  wagon  down  in  the  pasture 
between  the  Latigo  place  and  the  Blue  Creek  ranch.  One  time  in  a 
spurt  of  generosity  Bill  bought  her  a  nice,  high  priced  sewing 
machine,  which  was  a  mighty  fine  thing  to  own  in  those  days 
and  she  was  very,  very  proud  of  it  and  happy  with  Bill  because 
he'd  bought  it  for  her.  One  day  Bill  came  in  with  a  pair  of  heavy 
denim  overalls  and  wanted  her  to  alter  them  a  bit  on  the  new 
sewing  machine.  She  sweetly  but  flatly  refused  saying  that  the 
cloth  was  too  heavy  and  she  feared  to  damage  the  machine  if  she 
tried  to  sew  it,  but  hastened  to  say  she'd  sew  it  by  hand  right  away, 
which  would  really  be  better  and  stronger.  But  Bill  didn't  think 
so,  and  puffing  up  in  typical  Stubbs  style,  lugged  the  machine  all 
the  way  out  to  the  wood  pile  and  proceeded  to  chop  it  to  pieces 
with  the  axe,  which  in  turn  so  disgusted  Mrs.  Stubbs  that  she  took 
the  stage  next  morning  and  left  Barnum  forever. 

She  later  married  a  stockman  in  Montana  and  together  they 
built  up  a  75,000  sheep  business.  Everyone  said  she  had  the 
business  head  of  the  family  -  anyway  they  prospered  and  became 
very  well-to-do.  One  time  while  visiting  back  east  in  Vermont 
they  became  acquainted  with  a  man  who  thought  he  was  in  the 
sheep  business  in  a  big  way  himself.  He  proudly  stated  that  he 
ran  500  head  of  sheep.  The  Montana  man  spoke  up  with  his 
thumbs  in  his  suspenders  and  said,  "Hell,  man,  I  have  more  sheep 
dogs  than  that." 

Bill  didn't  stay  at  Blue  Creek  much  -  went  here  and  there  and 
from  time  to  time  pretty  regularly  got  mixed  up  in  shady  deals, 
like  the  time  down  in  Box  Butte  County  in  Nebraska  in  the  early 
'90's  when  a  man  by  the  name  of  Watson  had  a  contract  for  fur- 
nishing beef  for  a  grading  crew  on  the  Burlington  railroad.  Bill 
and  a  partner  (whoever  he  was)  subcontracted  from  Watson  to 
do  the  rounding  up  and  butchering.  Bill  kept  the  crew  well  fed 
during  the  summer  and  when  fall  came  he  found  that  Watson  had 
collected  and  spent  all  proceeds  from  the  railroad  pay;  and  Bill 
and  partner  found  that  they  were  flat  broke. 

Now  Watson  was  the  owner  of  a  better  than  average  race  horse, 
so  Bill  and  partner  purloined  the  horse,  moved  him  200  miles  up 
to  Lusk,  Wyoming,  matched  him  in  several  races  and  made  some 
quick  money.     When  they  stole  the  horse  they  killed  the  other 


THE  HOLE-IN-THE-WALL  105 

horse  in  the  barn  and  burned  the  barn  down,  dead  horse  and  all, 
to  throw  off  suspicion.  Jim  Stubbs,  so  the  story  goes,  was  sent  a 
warrant  for  Bill's  arrest,  but  Jim  turned  the  job  over  to  another 
stock  detective,  as  he  did  not  want  to  be  a  party  to  sending  his 
brother  to  the  pen.     Anyway,  that's  where  Bill  went  for  a  year. 

Another  time  Jim  got  a  $200  reward  for  turning  Bill  in  for 
more  horse  stealing,  and  then  turned  right  around  and  used  the 
reward  money  to  hire  a  lawyer  to  clear  him  of  the  charge.  (It  was 
the  same  lawyer  Cassidy  used  when  he  needed  legal  help. ) 

Later  Bill  was  again  sought  by  the  law,  being  described  as  a 
"long,  lean,  lantern-jawed,  big-nosed,  thick-necked  renegade,  the 
ugliest  man  in  Wyoming."  Bill  said,  "By  doggies,  that's  the  first 
time  I've  heard  of  a  man  being  arrested  for  his  looks."  This  time 
he  hid  out  in  a  dugout  in  the  Hole-in-the-Wall  somewhere  and 
the  law  didn't  find  him. 

Another  time  while  evading  the  law  he  received  a  shot  in  the 
leg  which  broke  the  bone.  This  time  he  hid  out  in  a  haystack  all 
winter  until  the  leg  healed.  His  friends  brought  food  to  him  at 
night. 

As  can  be  surmised  he  was  pretty  much  the  renegade  of  the 
family,  but  lived  to  be  100  years  old  (lacking  only  three  days.) 
He  often  told  of  how  when  a  young  boy  he  sat  on  a  rail  fence  and 
watched  Sherman's  army  march  on  Atlanta. 

Grandpa  and  Grandma  Stubbs  were  real  characters,  too,  very 
individualistic.  The  family  said  that  in  later  years  Grandpa  was 
scared  to  death  of  Grandma;  said  "she'd  eat  a  man  for  breakfast," 
she  was  that  bad-tempered  at  times.  Her  disposition  was  like  a 
barrel  of  gunpowder  and  one  never  knew  what  would  touch  it  off, 
or  when.  The  Stubbs  men  were  confirmed  bachelors  at  heart  and 
no  doubt  she  had  to  use  stringent  measures  to  get  her  just  dues, 
and  make  a  noticable  place  for  herself  in  the  household.  It  gets 
pretty  monotonous  being  just  taken  for  granted;  makes  a  woman 
develop  all  sorts  of  complexes,  at  times. 

One  old-timer  said,  "They  all  stepped  down  on  old  man  Stubbs 
a  little,"  and  when  things  got  too  unbearable  and  out-of-hand, 
he'd  just  hitch  his  yellow  ponies  to  the  old  buckboard,  throw  a 
bed  roll  and  some  grub  behind,  and  take  off  for  Texas.  It'd 
usually  take  him  a  couple  of  years  to  make  the  trip  and  when  he 
got  back  everyone,  including  Grandma,  was  glad  to  see  him  again. 

The  old  fellow  made  himself  useful  around  the  ranch — he'd 
raise  a  nice  big  vegetable  garden  in  the  summer  and  do  a  lot  of 
coyote  trapping  in  the  winter.  He  was  painfully  and  annoyingly 
frugal — he'd  gather  up  all  the  horse  hair  he  could  find  around  the 
corrals  and  barn  and  put  it  in  sacks.  He'd  pick  up  all  the  rusty 
nails  and  bolts  and  pieces  of  wire  and  string,  thinking  they'd  come 
in  handy  for  something  some  time.  One  day  he  came  in  lugging 
a  water-soaked  cowhide  carrying  the  wrong  brand  ( a  rustled  cow ) . 
Bill  had  had  his  hired  hand  grubbing  willows  and  sage  brush  half 


106  ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 

a  day  along  Buffalo  Creek  trying  to  burn  the  hide  up.  After  much 
sweating  effort  they  saw  that  the  green,  bloody  hide  was  not  going 
to  burn,  so  they  carelessly  threw  it  in  the  creek.  But  the  water 
wasn't  high  enough  to  float  it  out  of  sight  and  in  a  day  or  two 
here  came  Grandpa  who  spied  it  and  fished  it  out  and  toted  it 
home,  saying,  "By  God,  now  boys,  there's  no  sense  in  wasting  all 
this  good  rawhide." 

Grandpa  had  a  little  brown  mare  that  he  rode.  He  was  short- 
waisted  and  long-legged  and  didn't  exactly  make  a  pretty  picture 
on  the  little  horse,  looked  awkward  and  out  of  proportion,  but 
they  got  along  fine.  Grandpa'd  ride  her  to  Buffalo  with  a  couple 
of  gunny  sacks  of  coyote  hides  and  horse  hair  tied  on  to  sell. 
When  82  years  old  he  was  still  riding  her  around.  One  day  he 
happened  onto  a  sheep  wagon  while  riding  on  the  mountain  and 
the  herder  didn't  know  who  he  was;  so  he  introduced  himself 
thus.  "Howdy,  sir,  I'm  one  of  the  Stubbs  boys." 

Grandma  Stubbs  was  rather  big  and  tall.  She  had  a  room  of 
her  own  built  on  extra.  The  partition  walls  hadn't  been  put  clear 
to  the  ceiling,  so  there  was  a  space  of  several  boards'  width  left 
at  the  top  of  the  side  adjoining  the  other  room.  Grandma  always 
kept  her  door  securely  locked  (and  carried  the  key  in  her  apron 
pocket)  whether  she  was  in  or  out  of  the  room.  This  began  to 
puzzle  Grandpa,  for  he  couldn't  figure  out  why  she'd  have  to  lock 
the  door,  unless  she  had  something  in  there  she  shouldn't.  So  one 
day  when  she  was  gone  his  snoopy  instinct  could  be  denied  no 
longer,  and  he  decided  to  climb  over  the  partition  space  at  the  top 
and  see  what  (if  any)  little  trinkets  she  had  collected.  He  and 
Tommy  Porter,  another  old  fellow  there,  got  a  ladder  and  climbed 
over,  getting  down  inside  with  considerable  difficulty.  To  their 
keen  disappointment  they  found  nothing,  absolutely  nothing,  to 
warrant  the  locking  of  the  door.  Suddenly  realizing  that  they'd 
probably  stayed  in  forbidden  territory  too  long  already,  and  fearing 
Grandma's  return,  they  hurried  too  fast  climbing  out  and  tipped 
the  ladder  over.  So  there  they  were  huddled  astride  the  partition 
top  with  no  way  to  get  down.  Luckily  one  of  the  boys  returned 
before  Grandma  did,  or  Grandpa  likely  would  have  been  com- 
pelled to  set  out  for  Texas  again  to  save  face. 

When  Grandma  got  mad  at  the  boys  or  Grandpa,  or  anyone 
else  for  that  matter,  she'd  lock  herself  in  her  room  and  pull  down 
the  blinds  and  stay  in  there  not  making  a  sound  or  even  answering 
anyone  for  days  at  a  time,  until  Jim  would  lug  in  a  ladder  and 
climb  up  and  look  over  the  partition  to  see  if  she  was  still  alive. 
She  liked  this  kind  of  attention;  it  made  her  feel  important;  it 
was  good  to  have  someone  finally  worrying  about  her. 

When  Jim  got  older  and  his  rheumatism  got  to  bothering  him, 
he'd  pack  up  and  go  down  to  Hot  Springs,  Arkansas,  and  spend 
the  winter  months  and  take  the  hot  mineral  baths.  By  this  time 
the  Taylor  boys,  his  nephews  from  Texas,  had  arrived  and  were 


THE  HOLE-IN-THE-WALL  107 

getting  located  in  the  cattle  business  and  he  could  leave  knowing 
things  would  be  taken  care  of  at  home. 

Johnny  Tisdale  was  cowboying  for  him  at  this  time,  and  he'd 
take  Johnny  down  to  Arkansas  with  him  each  winter  because  he 
liked  him  and  enjoyed  his  company.  That's  the  way  the  Stubbs 
were,  big-hearted  and  generous  to  excess  if  their  mood  was  right. 
Like  the  time  during  a  hard,  long  winter,  Jim  sold  hay  he  himself 
needed  and  could  use  to  his  neighbors  down  the  creek  who  were 
completely  out  of  feed  and  having  a  hard  go  of  it  to  even  make 
food  ends  meet.  Jim  sold  them  enough  hay  at  $4.00  a  ton  to  get 
them  through  the  rest  of  the  winter — he  was  like  that — a  good 
citizen  and  a  good  neighbor,  solid  and  dependable. 

Jim  and  Johnny  had  exciting  times  in  Hot  Springs,  it  being  a 
favorite  winter  resort  town  for  cowmen  and  outlaws  alike.  It 
was  here  Johnny  met  up  with  Ross  Gilbertson,  who  was  in  the 
cabin  above  the  Bar  C  with  Nate  Champion  the  time  big  cat- 
tlemen first  tried  to  kill  him.  Ross  was  now  in  the  saloon  and 
dance  hall  business  sporting  a  big  diamond  ring  and  fancily  attired. 
However,  he  was  decidedly  reluctant  to  discuss  how  he'd  promptly 
rolled  under  the  bed  when  Nate  was  fired  on  and  made  no  attempt 
to  help  him.  This  was  where  the  Johnson  County  Invasion  was 
hashed  and  re-hashed  and  feelings  ran  high  and  heated  arguments 
sprang  up  among  the  winter  guests  as  it  did  in  Johnson  County 
itself,  for  here  were  a  lot  of  the  men  who'd  been  participants  on 
both  sides  of  the  fence,  and  most  of  them  knew  what  they  were 
talking  about,  which  made  the  talking  a  little  dangerous. 

Here  it  was  that  Johnny  gained  applause  and  renown  as  an 
exhibition  bronco-buster.  These  rides  were  made  on  the  stage  of 
the  opera  house.  It  wasn't  exactly  easy  for  either  the  horse  or 
the  rider  to  be  cutting  up  bronc  riding  capers  on  a  slick  floor,  but 
Johnny  was  a  showman  and  a  good  rider  and  afraid  of  nothing  on 
earth.  He'd  already  had  practically  every  bone  in  his  body  broken 
at  one  time  or  another,  and  was  used  to  riding  the  most  knot- 
headed  horses  on  the  range,  so  what  did  this  matter?  What  did 
he  have  to  lose?  One  more  broken  bone  or  a  cracked  head 
wouldn't  be  much  of  a  catastrophe  to  Johnny.  He'd  already 
been  through  the  mill. 

It  was  here  that  Jim,  when  70  years  old,  met  his  future  wife. 
Aunt  Lois,  as  everybody  called  her  at  Barnum.  She  was  a  nurse, 
probably  employed  at  some  of  the  health  establishments  (hot 
springs  or  bath  houses ) .  Anyway,  he  met  her  and  enjoyed  her 
company  upon  many  occasions,  however  never  with  the  slightest 
matrimonial  intention.  Bud  and  Jim  both  liked  female  company, 
but  backed  off  from  any  responsibility  along  that  line.  They  liked 
women  all  right,  but  didn't  want  to  be  obliged  to  support  one. 
Bud  said  he  figured  "women  wanted  to  get  married  only  so  they 
could  cast  their  burdens  on  a  man."  But  Aunt  Lois  was  very 
sweet  and  unassuming  and  was  very  good  to  Jim. 


108  ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 

One  winter  she  told  him  sadly  that  she'd  always  wanted  to  see 
Yellowstone  Park;  she'd  heard  it  was  so  beautiful,  but  it  was  so 
far  away,  and  she  knew  she'd  never  get  to  see  it.  She  was  so 
wistful  and  sort  of  forlorn  that  when  spring  came  Jim  decided  he'd 
just  take  her  to  the  Park — after  all  it  wasn't  much  to  do  and  he'd 
probably  enjoy  seeing  it  himself.  When  they  got  to  Blue  Creek 
they  hopped  into  his  Model  T  Ford  and  took  off  for  the  Yellow- 
stone country. 

When  they  returned  via  Casper  Jim  drove  up  to  the  depot  to 
buy  her  return  ticket  to  Arkansas,  but  Aunt  Lois  became  very  firm 
in  her  refusal  to  return  to  Hot  Springs  alone.  Very  gently  she  told 
Jim  that  she  felt  that  he  had  put  her,  all  unintentionally,  of  course, 
in  a  rather  compromising  position  and  she  thought  under  the  cir- 
cumstances, being  a  true  gentleman,  he  should  by  rights  marry  her. 
Jim,  completely  taken  aback  at  the  mild  rebuke,  thought  the 
situation  over  awhile  and  decided  that  she  could  very  well  be 
right;  so  out  of  the  kindness  of  his  heart  and  with  no  further 
pressure,  he  married  her.  After  all,  what  did  a  man  of  70  have 
to  lose  one  way  or  another,  and  she  was  a  sweet  little  person. 

So  they  went  back  to  Blue  Creek,  but  Aunt  Lois  didn't  particu- 
larly like  country  living  and  she  wasn't  a  very  capable  housewife, 
so  they  took  to  spending  more  and  more  time  in  Arkansas,  coming 
to  Blue  Creek  only  a  short  while  each  summer. 

When  folks  came  to  visit  Aunt  Lois  (the  door  of  the  two-room 
cabin  opened  into  the  kitchen)  she  always  smoothed  down  her 
hair  and  her  apron  and  said,  as  if  realizing  it  for  the  first  time, 
"Oh!  my,  I  don't  know  why  this  kitchen  floor  is  so  dirty — I  swept 
it  good  day  before  yesterday." 

Jim  died  in  Arkansas  when  84  years  old  and  his  body  was 
shipped  back  to  Buffalo  for  burial.  He  had  by  this  time  sold  his 
Blue  Creek  ranch  to  his  nephew  Ed  Taylor.  Aunt  Lois,  much  to 
the  family's  disgust,  took  her  widow's  third  of  Jim's  estate  plus 
two  wheat  farms  in  Kansas  which  he  owed.  The  relatives  thought 
she'd  just  married  Jim  for  his  money  and  maybe  she  had. 

Before  Jim  died  he'd  said  to  Ed,  'Tve  taken  the  lead  for  the 
Stubbs  family  and  you're  going  to  have  to  take  the  lead  for  the 
Taylors."  And  Ed  did  (more  of  him  later).  One  old-timer  said, 
"If  it  hadn't  been  for  Jim  all  the  Stubbs  would  have  starved  to 
death.  Wherever  he  went  his  relatives  followed  and  he  found 
places  for  them  and  staked  them  to  ranches,  etc.  They  paid  him 
what  they  could  and  he  crossed  off  what  they  couldn't  pay."  He 
always  stood  by  ready  and  able  to  help  when  times  were  tough. 
He  had  a  keen,  level-headed  business  sense  and  made  money  with 
no  apparent  effort  to  do  so.  (Ed  Taylor  had  the  same  knack.) 
Jim  never  hurried  around  setting  the  world  on  fire,  but  always 
got  things  done  at  the  right  time,  even  if  it  did  appear  as  if  he 
weren't  overly  hard  working,  or  too  ambitious.     As  I  said  before 


THE  HOLE-IN-THE-WALL  109 

he  was  a  man  who  knew  what  he  was  going  to  do  and  did  it.  The 
only  thing  he  hadn't  planned  on  was  marrying  Aunt  Lois. 

The  first  time  the  Barnum  people  saw  Rap  Harrell,  a  half-breed 
Pottawatomi  Sioux  Indian,  was  when  he  appeared  at  Blue  Creek 
carrying  the  deed  to  the  ranch.  Cassidy  was  unable  to  deliver  it 
himself  and  told  Rap,  "Now  don't  give  this  to  anyone  but  Jim 
Stubbs.  Deliver  it  personally,  no  matter  where  you  have  to  go  to 
do  it,  so  there'll  be  no  trouble  and  no  mistakes  made."  Cassidy 
trusting  Rap  this  way  made  people  feel  right  away  that  he  was 
honest  and  reliable  and  he  was,  and  soon  afterwards  he  became  a 
permanent  fixture  in  the  Barnum  country.  His  real  name  was 
Lemon  David  Harrell.  He  was  called  Rap  because  one  winter 
he'd  lived  with  an  Arapahoe  squaw  on  the  Indian  Reservation; 
this  when  times  were  tough  and  he  couldn't  get  a  job.  When  work 
was  scarce  and  money  short.  Rap  would  work  any  place  for  just 
his  room  and  board. 

At  one  time  he  was  a  freighter  for  the  government,  and  while 
doing  this  he  was  in  the  Wounded  Knee  Battle.  He  said  it  was 
such  a  horrible  experience  that,  when  he  saw  a  squaw  run  up 
with  a  big  butcher  knife  and  cut  the  nose  off  a  soldier,  slashing 
open  his  whole  face,  he  "just  cut  me  a  mule  out  of  the  traces, 
jumped  on  and  went  to  whipping  and  took  off.  Couldn't  stand 
any  more  of  it." 

During  Invasion  time  Rap  was  working  for  the  Ogallala  outfit 
getting  out  logs  on  the  Pine  Ridge.  After  Ed  Taylor  got  Blue 
Creek,  Rap  and  his  brother  Ray  took  up  homesteads  on  the  Dry  V 
over  in  the  Hole-in-the-Wall  country,  and  when  they  proved  up 
Ed  bought  the  land  and  gave  them  jobs  on  the  ranch  and  gave 
them  a  start  in  cattle. 

Rap  was  a  rather  slight,  five-feet-seven-inches,  1 40-pound  man. 
dark-complexioned  with  one  bad  eye.  He  said  he  fell  in  a  camp- 
fire  when  a  small  boy  and  burned  the  eye,  which  caused  the  upper 
lid  to  hang  down  and  droop  in  a  peculiar  way,  and  the  lower  lid 
also  hung  down  and  open,  showing  the  red  inside.  He  had  no 
control  whatever  over  the  eye.  Folks  said  it  looked  like  an  eagle's 
eye  and  the  Indians  called  him  "Eagle  Eye." 

When  at  Blue  Creek  Rap  had  a  black  mustache  shot  with  gray 
and  he  was  plenty  dirty  most  of  the  time.  He  smoked  a  pipe 
which  seemed  constantly  in  his  mouth.  He  ordered  his  tobacco 
out  of  Kentucky — "long  green"  it  was  called.  It  came  in  long 
leaves  and  was  so  strong  one  whiff  would  make  a  bull  blink  his 
eyes.  Rap  would  tear  off  pieces  of  the  stuff  and  put  them  in  his 
hip  pocket  along  with  his  false  teeth  and  pipe.  Sitting,  riding  and 
moving  about  working,  ground  the  leaves  up  fine  enough  for  pipe 
smoking.  Rap  was  one  to  avoid  all  extra  exertion  at  all  times — 
that  was  the  Indian  in  him.  He  was  slow-moving  and  unexcitable. 
He  had  a  pleasant,  soft,  low  monotone  sort  of  voice  and  used 
pretty  fair  English.     He  really  was  quite  intelligent,  lots  smarter 


110  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

than  Ray,  who  was  taller  and  cleaner  and  looked  more  "Indian-y" 
in  spite  of  his  blue  eyes. 

Rap  could  argue  current  events  and  politics;  he  was  a  man 
"who  worked  on  his  reading  and  was  a  good  talker,"  and  he  had 
good,  sensible  ideas  about  things.  He  and  Bud  Stubbs  used  to 
argue  about  the  Johnson  County  Invasion,  one  on  one  side  and 
one  on  the  other.  Bud  liked  nothing  better  than  a  good  argument; 
he  would  argue  about  the  most  trivial  subjects  just  for  argument's 
sake,  argue  and  spit.  He  used  to  lift  up  the  lid  on  the  side  of  the 
cook  stove,  and  spit  inside.  This  was  a  long,  narrow  opening, 
only  wide  enough  to  put  in  a  whole  stick  of  cookstove  length 
wood;  which  was  much  handier  than  trying  to  poke  a  piece  of 
long  wood  into  a  round  stove-top  lid  opening.  Bud  would  get  so 
excited  arguing,  nine  times  out  of  ten  he'd  miss  the  opening  and 
hit  the  pancake  griddle  on  top  of  the  stove.  This  was  really  very 
funny  unless  you  had  to  eat  the  tobacco-spewed  hot  cake;  but 
ordinarily  out-of-doors  working  men  weren't  too  particular  about 
their  victuals. 

Along  about  this  time  a  lot  of  the  Barnum  cowboys  were  playing 
the  rodeos  which  usually  took  more  money  than  they  won,  so 
they'd  borrow  the  money  from  Rap  and  pay  him  back  when  they 
got  it  later.  He  automatically  became  their  banker.  People  used 
to  say  they  "didn't  know  where  Rap  got  his  money,  but  he  always 
had  some."  One  reason  was  that  he  never  spent  much  money 
himself;  if  he  had  $500  he'd  spend  $100  and  save  $400.  Also 
he'd  built  up  a  nice  little  bunch  of  cattle,  had  the  money  from  his 
homestead,  and  he'd  bought  a  couple  of  rental  properties  in  Casper 
which  brought  him  a  monthly  sum.  This,  of  course,  was  when 
he  was  old  and  was  just  "chore  boy"  at  Blue  Creek  for  his  board 
and  room. 

Rap  used  to  drive  a  stacker  team  during  haying  season,  but  he 
refused  to  walk  back  and  forth  behind  the  teams  like  most  men 
did;  so  Ed  rigged  up  a  two-wheeled  cart  for  him  to  use.  That 
was  the  Indian  in  him  coming  out  again. 

About  the  time  Rap  took  up  his  homestead  a  little  slim-built 
fellow  by  the  name  of  Frank  Spangler  took  up  one  on  the  Ghent 
slope.  He  was  a  queer  one  with  small,  sharp,  beady  eyes.  He  liked 
to  roam  around  prospecting  for  gold,  and  also  he  was  always 
trying  to  put  into  practice  his  own  religious  philosophy.  He  was 
one  of  those  kind  of  fellows  who  believed  in  giving  every  single 
living  being  a  fair  chance.  He  wouldn't  shoot  a  coyote  unless  he 
was  running  and  had  a  fifty-fifty  chance  of  getting  away.  He  was 
an  excellent  shot  with  a  rifle,  too,  and  even  a  fast-moving  coyote 
didn't  have  much  of  a  get-away  chance  if  Frank  really  intended 
to  kill  him. 

Spangler  had  an  old  horse  which  he  said  was  a  "one  man  horse." 
He  was  a  chunky  animal  and  ornery-natured,  and  if  he  didn't  feel 
just  right  would  buck  viciously  for  a  short  distance.     He  didn't 


THE  HOLE-IN-THE-WALL  111 

pull  any  tricks,  though,  bucked  the  same  every  time  and  no  cow- 
boy in  his  right  mind  would  ever  want  him,  for  as  a  mount  he  had 
very  little  to  offer.  However,  every  fellow  who  went  by  heard  the 
same  tale,  "I'll  give  you  this  horse  if  you  can  ride  him  50  yards 
away  from  the  corral.-"  All  newcomers  to  the  Hole-in-the-Wall 
and  others  besides  took  up  the  challenge;  and  some  stayed  on  and 
some  didn't,  but  nobody  ever  took  the  horse.  Frank  liked  this 
idea  of  his  because  he  felt  that  he  was  taking  a  fifty-fifty  chance 
of  losing  the  animal. 

Spangler  was  also  full  of  peculiar  ideas  about  food.  Off  and 
on  he'd  go  on  a  special  diet  of  his  own  concocting.  One  time  he 
went  on  a  pecan  and  banana  diet.  He'd  bring  out  five  pound 
boxes  of  pecans  and  fifteen  pounds  of  bananas  at  a  time  and 
that's  all  he'd  eat  until  they  were  gone.  But  in  spite  of  all  his 
theories  about  proper  food  intake,  he  always  felt  poorly  and  com- 
plained about  it  incessantly. 

One  night  Rap  stopped  by  the  cabin  and  old  Frank  was  in  bed, 
but  at  once  began  grumbling  about  his  aches  and  pains  to  such  an 
extent  that  Rap  thought  maybe  the  old  fellow  was  in  a  bad  way. 
So  he  sat  there  with  him,  not  knowing  anything  else  to  do,  and 
pretty  soon  all  was  quiet  in  the  bed.  Rap  said,  "When  he  quit 
complainin'  and  laid  so  still,  I  figured  he'd  died,  so  pulled  the 
sougan  up  over  his  face  and  rode  home  thinking  we'd  have  a 
burying  next  day,  but  we  didn't." 

As  more  people  began  coming  into  the  Red  Wall  country — 
homesteaders,  school  teachers  and  wives  —  homes  and  school- 
houses  just  weren't  large  enough  for  dance  crowds;  so  the  Barnum 
people  decided  to  build  a  community  hall  big  enough  to  accommo- 
date all  their  needs  along  that  line.  L.  R.  A.  Condit  donated  the 
site  for  the  building,  a  part  of  the  Coppingen  place,  north  of  the 
road  just  outside  the  entrance  to  the  valley. 

As  we  think  of  these  Barnum  people  a  quotation  of  Channing 
comes  to  mind,  which  says,  "No  man  should  part  with  his  own 
individuality  and  become  that  of  another." 

(To  be  continued) 


Wyoming  Memories 

By 
Dick  J.  Nelson 

After  living  forty-three  years  in  that  'splendid' 

state  that  lies  above  -  Wyoming  - 
And  now  being  retired  and  reaching  that  point  in 

life  some  call  life's  'gloaming', 
1  enjoy  going  back  into  my  gallery  of  memories 

to  live  again  the  wonderful  past, 
To  recall  happenings,  people,  places,  and  thoughts 

that  will  always  last; 

To  reverie  in  a  mood  of  my  early  manhood  time, 
Of  friends,  neighbors,  and  conditions  that  now 

seemed  always  sublime, 
Of  ranches,  cattle,  hills,  valleys  and  flowers 

as  nature  displayed  her  best, 
Of  the  sun  and  moon  which  rose  and  set  among  the 

mountains  highest  crest, 
Of  antelope,  deer  and  elk,  well  nourished  on 

luscious  grass, 
With  a  background  of  dark  green  timber  reflected 

as  if  in  a  polished  looking  glass 
In  the  snow-made  streams  that  flowed  from  their 

canyons  grand,  that  wind 
Until  the  Snake,  Green,  Powder,  Big  Horn,  Platte, 

Tongue,  Cheyenne,  and  other  outlets  they  find; 
Of  the  men  who  rode  the  range 
With  their  'strings'  of  horse-flesh  tough  from 

which  to  make  a  change, 
Of  the  'beef  round-ups'  and  the  drive  to  the  railroad 

pens, 
Thoughts  of  this  vanishing  spectacle  will  not  fade 

until  my  life  ends. 

I  see  again  those  cowhands  who  rode  with  poise  and  grace, 
Roping,  branding  and  in  the  'to  the  Chuck  Wagon  race' 
In  their  incomparable  outfits  -  boots,  spurs,  chaps, 

six  guns  and  the  famous  Stetson  hats  - 
They  rode  and  dressed,  not  for  display, 
But  did  far  out-class  the  great  Cinema  stars  of  today; 
And  too,  I  see,  the  livery  stables  which  were  the 

rendezvous  for  men. 


WYOMING  MEMORIES  113 

I  remember  those  wide-open  dramatic  'cow  towns' 

that  never  locked  a  door 
Twenty-four  hours  round  the  clock  and  many  could 

have  used  more, 
And  the  plenty  that  was  doing  -  excitement  galore. 
The  people  -  a  mixture  of  creed  and  class  - 
The  'dealers'  in  the  many  games  of  chance, 

with  cunning  and  skill  unsurpassed. 
The  'gun  plays'  -  feuds,  loves  and  hates  often 

settled  by  'range  land  law' 
The  one  who  survived  was  the  fastest  on  the  'draw'. 

Then  too  I  remember  the  coming  of  the  railroad's 

revenue  hunting  rails, 
With  trains  to  replace  stages  to  carry  passengers 

and  freight,  and  to  expedite  the  mails, 
The  'kids'  that  hired  out  to  the  railroads  to  fire 

and  brake 
Soon  to  get  promotion  to  'pull  the  throttle'  and 

the  train  tickets  take. 
The  men  who  worked  in  the  shops,  on  the  track, 

and  the  clerks  at  office  desks, 
Alert,  efficient,  politely  answering  questions 

and  carrying  out  patrons  requests, 
The  dispatchers,  the  train  and  engine  men  of 

each  crew 
Who  fought  severe  elements  and  conditions  to  have 

their  trains  arrive  when  due. 

Now  I  think  about  the  people  on  the  ranches 

and  in  the  villages  and  towns 
Who  served  in  the  banks,  offices  and  stores  - 
And  those  unforgettable  country  doctors  - 
Thoughts  of  all  these  people  and  up  my  estimation  soars 
Of  the  men  and  women  who  were  honorable,  trying 

a  life  of  helpfulness  to  fulfill, 
People  of  sterling  qualities  and  characters 

displaying  their  good-will 
There  were  those  with  hearts  of  gold 
All  honor  to  the  many  whose  virtues  went  untold. 

Now  my  reverie  has  passed. 

I  can  vision  that  great  state  of  today  with  its 

unbelievable  contrast, 
Oil  wells,  refineries,  banks  -  money  flooded  - 
Cattle,  sheep,  horses  -  all  blooded  - 


114  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Mills,  factories,  mines,  transportation,  schools 

and  churches  -  the  best  - 
Yes,  Wyoming  is  now  an  outstanding  progressive  state. 

Just  thought  I  would  write  from  my  'back  log'  of 

wonderful  memories,  a  heritage  from  the  past, 
Before  it  is  too  late. 


Wyoming  State  historical  Society 

PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE 

By 

Edness  Kimball  Wilkins 

More  and  more  the  people  of  Wyoming,  in  areas  all  over  the 
state,  are  becoming  aware  of  the  priceless  ( and  glamorous )  his- 
torical heritage  we  have  within  our  borders.  Our  history  in  recent 
years  has  been  brought  into  the  world-wide  living  room  of  every 
person  who  owns  a  television  set.  Western  stories  have  been 
featured,  many  of  them  mentioning  the  colorful  names  of  Wyoming 
towns,  creeks,  mountains,  ranches,  law  officers  or  badmen.  The 
rough  appearance  and  furnishings  of  our  early  day  saloons  have 
been  glamorized  into  very  large,  handsomely  furnished  barrooms, 
with  mahogany  bars  and  glittering  crystal  chandeliers.  "Maverick" 
has  become  the  symbol  of  those  long-ago  gamblers  who  were 
once  an  important  part  of  our  citizenry. 

It  is  not  only  in  the  "Westerns",  however,  that  Wyoming  is  tele- 
vised. Recently,  in  one  of  the  most  moving  incidents  of  a  popular 
doctor-hospital  series,  a  famous  scientist-explorer  was  asked  what 
he  remembered  as  the  most  beautiful  place  in  the  world.  His 
description  of  a  lovely  little  valley  in  the  Tetons  was  one  that  every 
one  of  us  who  calls  Wyoming  "home",  should  obtain  and  treasure 
in  our  hearts  forever. 

Wyoming's  stories,  traditions  and  folklore  must  be  written  down 
so  that  it  will  be  available  as  a  reservoir  of  information  for  use 
and  guidance  of  future  researchers  and  authors.  Every  item  of 
pioneer  life  that  has  been  told  by  our  forefathers  or  their  friends 
should  be  noted  for  posterity.  Verification  of  dates  and  details 
can  come  at  a  later  time,  but  it  is  urgent  that  all  of  these  "tales 
our  fathers  told"  be  put  on  paper  before  they  are  forgotten.  The 
suggestion  has  been  offered  and  I  relay  it  to  you,  that  you  should 
carry  a  small  notebook  in  your  pocket  or  purse,  and  jot  down 
every  bit  of  information  that  comes  into  your  mind. 

I  have  such  a  book,  with  the  title  "Unwritten  History  Notes." 
Each  time  I  open  it,  I  am  surprised  at  the  amount  of  information 
I  have  entered,  and  the  variety  of  subjects.  For  instance,  there 
is  a  list  of  some  of  the  old-timers  who  had  descriptive  nicknames; 
and  some  notes  about  the  first  "hospital"  in  Casper;  a  hilarious 
incident  about  Sam  Bass,  when  my  father  and  some  of  the  boys 
framed  Sam;  notes  about  the  "phantom  ship"  that  sailed  up  the 
Platte,  and  was  visible  for  about  two  hours,  having  been  seen  by 


116  ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 

many  people.  ( It  was  just  about  the  time  of  the  spinal  meningitis 
epidemic  among  the  children  of  early  Casper).  There  are  many 
interesting  details  about  Cattle  Kate  and  Jim  Averell  and  A.  J. 
Bothwell,  the  final  item  being  that  the  skulls  of  Kate  and  Jim  were 
sent  to  a  medical  school  for  examination  to  see  if  they  were 
abnormal.  (Those  were  the  days  of  phrenology.)  From  the 
details,  and  the  source  of  the  story,  I  am  certain  it  was  true. 

Here  is  an  instance  of  how  fast  and  completely  our  way  of  life 
has  changed,  and  how  the  details  of  an  earlier  age  can  be  lost 
from  our  memories.  A  Casper  woman  wanted  to  refer  to  the  iron 
weight  that  was  used  in  "horse  and  buggy"  days  to  keep  a  horse 
or  team  standing  without  being  tied.  You  doubtless  remember 
seeing  the  driver  get  out  of  the  wagon  or  buggy,  lift  out  the  iron 
weight  that  was  fastened  to  the  bridle  by  a  long  leather  strap,  and 
drop  it  on  the  street  or  edge  of  the  board  sidewalk,  thus  tethering 
the  horse.  But  what  was  it  called?  The  inquiring  lady  asked  many 
people  without  getting  an  answer.  She  wished  she  could  find  an 
old-time  catalog  of  harness,  saddles  and  other  necessities  of  trans- 
portation used  in  the  pre-automobile  era. 

Do  you  remember  those  long,  plodding  string-teams  that  freight- 
ed supplies  from  the  railroad  terminals  to  other  isolated  parts  of 
the  State?  Only  a  small  number  of  people  are  now  living  who 
saw  that  method  of  transportation  and  remember  the  details  of 
the  intricate  harness,  the  types  of  wagons,  the  long  bullwhip  that 
snaked  out  across  the  backs  of  eighteen  or  twenty  or  more  horses, 
to  snap  at  the  lead  team;  the  descriptive  language  of  the  freighter 
when  the  wheels  sank  down  into  the  heavy  sand,  and  the  horses 
leaned  into  the  collars  and  pulled  until  their  sides  heaved  with 
the  strain  -  and  the  wagons  would  not  budge.  One  summer  after- 
noon when  I  was  very  small,  I  attended  a  birthday  party  of  a  little 
wind  and  sun-browned  girl.  Clutching  a  present,  I  remember 
climbing  up  into  the  "cooster"  wagon  that  was  her  home.  The 
wagons  were  "parked"  on  land  now  occupied  by  a  fine  business 
establishment  just  south  of  the  Trigood  Oil  Company  building,  on 
South  Center  and  Railroad.  Fortunately  for  future  researchers, 
one  of  our  historian-ranchers  has  been  gathering  on  paper  the 
details  of  those  freighters  and  their  way  of  life. 

Stories  handed  down  by  the  earliest  settlers  in  central  Wyoming 
have  placed  the  Robert  Stuart  cabin  in  a  slightly  different  location 
from  the  site  near  Poison  Spider  Creek  as  interpreted  by  several 
editors,  from  Stuart's  Memoranda.  The  location  pointed  out  by 
the  pioneers  almost  a  century  ago,  appears  logical  and  fits  into 
the  pattern  of  distances  traveled  and  of  Stuart's  description  of  the 
scenery  and  surroundings.  It  will  be  a  fine  addition  to  our  historic 
landmarks  if  the  stories  from  the  early  settlers  finally  determine 
the  exact  spot  of  the  first  white  man's  cabin  in  Wyoming. 

Word  has  come  from  the  Esther  Morris  Commission  that  plans 
are  developing  for  placing  the  Esther  Morris  statue  at  the  State 


WYOMING  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  117 

Capitol,  and  the  Wyoming  Historical  Society  will  be  invited  to 
cooperate  with  the  Commission  in  planning  and  carrying  out  the 
details  of  the  ceremony.  The  date  will  probably  be  sometime  in 
June.  It  is  expected  to  be  an  impressive  event,  exemplifying  the 
achievements  of  Mrs.  Morris,  and  giving  our  people  who  visit 
Cheyenne  an  opportunity  to  see  a  replica  of  the  great  work  of  art 
that  represents  Wyoming  in  our  national  capitol.  We  anticipate 
that  the  dedication  will  be  one  of  the  most  important  historical 
events  of  recent  years,  and  hope  that  it  will  be  attended  by  all 
citizens  who  are  interested  in  Wyoming's  proud  history  of  equality. 
Many  incidents  in  the  Esther  Morris  story  were  written  and  told 
after  the  passing  of  time.  They  have,  however,  rounded  out  the 
picture  of  those  stirring  events,  and  have  added  interest  and  under- 
standing to  the  parts  that  were  recorded  during  Wyoming's  first 
territorial  legislature,  emphasizing  again  how  important  it  is  that 
each  person  should  write  down  the  stories  he  heard  in  earlier  years 
from  the  pioneers  who  helped  in  the  building  of  Wonderful  Wyo- 
ming. 


ftook  Reviews 


Recollections  of  a  Piney  Creek  Rancher.  By  Fred  J.  Todd. 
(Quick  Printing  Co.,  Sheridan,  Wyoming.  1961.  illus.  85 
pp.    $3.50.) 

This  is  a  story  with  around  thirty  photos  of  Hard  Leather  Rides, 
Sagebrush  Trails  and  other  experiences  of  a  typical  cowhand  who 
came  to  Wyoming  in  1901  to  fence  in  a  ranch,  marry  and  raise 
his  family  on  Lower  Piney  Creek  near  Sheridan,  Wyoming. 

Gladys  Wilcox  who  was  to  be  his  bride  was  a  young  school 
teacher  who  left  Missouri  to  come  West.  They  were  married  in 
November  1906  and  after  a  short  honeymoon  in  Missouri  returned 
to  Wyoming  in  February  1907  to  establish  their  ranch  home. 

It  is  an  excellent  story  of  their  humble  beginnings,  the  trials  and 
tribulations  encountered  in  those  early  days  of  ranching,  and  it 
should  be  most  interesting  to  all  who  read  it,  not  just  the  folks 
who  happened  to  have  lived  on  or  near  Piney  Creek. 

Because  the  book  spans  fifty-four  years  of  happily  married  life 
there  is  much  to  tell  of  many  celebrations,  hard  work,  violence, 
outlaws,  long  winters,  roundups,  runaways,  stage  coach  trips, 
rodeos,  "Odds  and  Bits,"  along  with  some  interesting  things  about 
two  of  Wyoming's  Ghost  towns,  Ucross  and  Ulm. 

Fred  and  his  wife  Gladys  were  of  the  plain  ordinary  stock  of 
pioneer  homesteaders  who  settled  the  hills  of  northern  Wyoming 
during  the  first  half  of  the  century,  and  he  felt  his  greatest  accom- 
plishment of  all  was  the  happy  life  with  his  wife  and  seven  children. 

This  is  the  type  of  writing  we  are  happy  to  see  and  hope  that 
it  may  encourage  others  over  the  state  of  Wyoming  to  write  about 
their  families  and  early  life  in  their  respective  communities. 

The  first  edition  of  this  book,  which  started  out  only  as  a  private 
printing,  has  completely  sold  out.  It  proved  so  popular  that  the 
Sheridan  Library  has  limited  its  lending  to  one  week.  A  second 
edition  is  to  be  printed  with  only  a  few  stories  added  to  the  "Odds 
and  Bits"  section  and  should  be  on  sale  sometime  in  May.  It  may 
be  purchased  at  the  Sheridan  Stationery  Store  in  Sheridan,  Wyo- 
ming, or  The  Buffalo  Bulletin  office  in  Buffalo,  Wyoming. 

Che\enne  Ruth  J.  Bradley 


BOOK  REVIEWS  119 

The  Family  Band.    By  Laura  Bower  Van  Nuys.     (Lincoln.     The 
University  of  Nebraska  Press.     1961.     256  pp.     $4.50.) 

Music  made  by  the  members  of  Calvin  and  Keziah  Bower's  fam- 
ily band  echoed  from  one  boundary  of  Dakota  Territory  to  the 
other.  Having  migrated  from  Wisconsin  to  Vermillion,  D.  T.  in 
1  870,  the  Bowers  and  their  eight  children,  comfortable  and  fairly 
prosperous,  considered  themselves  settled  until  in  1881  two  events 
occurred  which  changed  their  lives  completely.  One  was  the  great 
flood  of  the  Missouri  in  April  which  wiped  out  nearly  the  whole 
community  including  the  Bower  home  and  possessions.  The  other, 
which  had,  perhaps,  an  even  greater  influence  on  the  family,  was 
the  marriage  of  their  beloved  oldest  daughter,  Od  (Rhoda  Alice), 
to  Joseph  B.  Gossage,  proprietor  of  the  Rapid  City  Black  Hills 
Journal. 

With  little  left  to  bind  them  to  Vermillion  and  a  desire  to  be 
near  Od  drawing  them  toward  the  hills,  around  June  20,  1885,  the 
family,  having  said  their  many  goodbyes,  turned  westward  via 
covered  wagon  loaded  with  a  minimum  of  worldly  goods.  A 
melodeon  was  one  of  the  few  articles  of  furniture  they  carried 
with  them. 

Northwest  through  the  Crow  Creek  Indian  Reservation  to  Pierre 
and  thence  west  to  Rapid  City  they  journeyed,  traveling  slowly. 
At  Tripp  they  picked  up  the  Rose  family  whose  mother,  Maria, 
was  Keziah  Bower's  sister.  There  were  six  Rose  children.  From 
this  time,  the  evening  camps  were  more  delightful  than  ever  with 
games  and  much  music  and  singing. 

They  stopped  in  Rapid  City  only  long  enough  to  be  welcomed 
by  Od  and  her  husband,  then  headed  for  lower  Battle  Creek  thirty- 
five  miles  south  and  a  little  east  to  Papa's  claim.  As  many  close 
relatives  either  followed  or  preceded  the  Bowers  to  this  vicinity, 
they  had  a  well  "related"  community. 

It  took  fortitude,  ingenuity  and  a  great  deal  of  tolerance  and 
good  humor,  not  to  mention  back-breaking  labor,  to  weather  the 
next  few  years,  but  weather  them  they  did.  The  catalytic  agent 
was  the  family  band  which  included  even  Laura,  the  drum-beating 
youngest.  It  took  some  juggling  of  the  family  finances  to  get  the 
band  ready  to  perform,  for  without  presenting  a  concert  they  could 
not  become  known,  yet  they  could  not  possibly  play  a  concert 
with  old,  dented  instruments.  Father  finally  solved  the  problem, 
procured  the  instruments,  and  practice  sessions  went  on  every 
spare  moment.  The  extra  money  they  earned  helped  considerably 
but  one  feels  they  would  have  had  the  band  whether  it  had  profited 
them  or  not.  It  was  a  source  of  pleasure  to  family,  friends  and 
relatives. 

The  writer,  Laura  Bower  Van  Nuys,  was  the  youngest  child. 


120  ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 

She  gives  an  endearing  picture  of  the  closeness  of  her  family  life, 
the  personalities  of  her  parents,  brothers  and  sisters,  as  well  as 
many  fascinating  moments  of  the  early  history  of  nearby  places — 
Rapid  City,  Custer,  Sheridan,  Keystone  and  Hot  Springs — as  var- 
ious members  of  the  Bower  clan  lived  in  these  towns.  Her  story 
reminds  us  that  while  pioneer  life  may  have  been  a  struggle  for 
survival,  it  was  also  a  time  of  celebration,  gaiety  and  sociability 
which  made  the  hard  work  and  sorrows  of  living  somehow  worth 
remembering. 

The  Family  Band  is  Volume  V  in  the  Pioneer  Heritage  Series. 

Newcastle,  Wyo.  Elizabeth  J.  Thorpe 


These  Were  The  Sioux.    By  Mari  Sandoz.     (New  York:  Hastings 
House  Publ.     1961.     118  pp.    illus.    $3.50.) 

If  the  white  man  could  have  understood  the  Indian  mores,  cer- 
tainly he  could  have  learned  much  from  him  and  perhaps  benefited 
in  his  own  customs  and  beliefs  had  he  accepted  some  of  them. 
Certainly  such  an  understanding  might  have  made  unnecessary 
much  of  the  tragic  history  of  the  Indian  wars  on  the  western 
frontier.  The  Indian,  far  from  being  a  wild  man,  had  an  unwritten 
law  and  a  fine  nomadic  civilization  of  his  own  which  is  seldom 
understood. 

Mari  Sandoz,  who  lived  among  the  Sioux  as  a  child,  learned 
much  from  them,  and  as  she  grew  older  she  developed  a  deep 
respect  for  these  people. 

In  this  small  volume  Miss  Sandoz  covers  the  customs  and 
beliefs  of  the  Indian,  particularly  the  Sioux,  from  birth  to  death. 
In  simple  and  understanding  words  she  states  the  belief  of  the 
Indian  and  gives  an  explanation  of  the  why  and  wherefore  of  his 
belief.  No  one  who  wishes  to  study  Indian  character  and  life  can 
afford  to  overlook  this  study. 

The  book  is  attractively  illustrated  with  sketches  from  the  works 
of  Amos  Bad  Heart  Bull  and  Kills  Two,  both  Oglala  Sioux. 

Cheyenne  Lola  M.  Homsher 


BOOK  REVIEWS  121 

Wagons,  Mules  and  Men.  By  Nick  Eggenhofer.  (New  York: 
Hastings  House  Publ.  Inc.  1961.  index,  illus.  184  pp. 
$8.50.) 

Born  in  Gauting,  Bavaria,  in  1 897,  Nick  Eggenhot'er  came  to 
the  United  States  as  a  youth  in  1913.  By  1919,  after  working  at 
various  trades,  having  gained  experience  as  an  apprentice  litho- 
grapher, and  taking  evening  art  classes,  he  began  drawing  illus- 
trations for  popular  magazines.  Gaining  knowledge  and  exper- 
ience through  study  and  travel,  his  work  became  in  demand  and 
he  began  illustrating  books  and  stories  on  the  west.  His  works 
should  be  familiar  to  all  who  have  read  much  on  the  West  in 
recent  years.  His  illustrations  are,  like  those  of  Russell  and 
Remington,  startlingly  real  and  accurate. 

In  this  work  Mr.  Eggenhofer  has  turned  author  as  well  as  illus- 
trator. His  subject  is  transportation  before  the  era  of  the  motor 
car,  with  emphasis  on  the  West.  He  has  woven  together  history, 
detailed  description  of  types  of  vehicles  and  the  paraphernalia 
used,  beautifully  illustrated  with  his  own  detailed  drawings. 

He  covers  the  subjects  of  horses  and  mules  and  their  saddles, 
pack  saddles  and  other  appurtenances,  all  types  of  drawn  vehicles 
as  the  conestoga  wagon,  freight  wagon,  cart,  army  vehicles,  sheep 
wagon  and  buggies,  illustrating  his  narrative  with  details  of  their 
construction  and  use.  Mr.  Eggenhofer  has  made  certain  that  such 
details  will  not  be  lost  for  posterity. 

Mr.  Eggenhofer  has  recently  changed  his  residence  from  New 
Jersey  to  Cody,  Wyoming.  Wyomingites  welcome  him  to  his  new 
home  and  hope  that  he  will,  in  his  new  surroundings,  be  inspired 
to  record  many  other  aspects  of  our  frontier  period. 

Cheyenne  Henryetta  Berry 


The  Cattle  Kings.  By  Lewis  Atherton.  (Bloomington:  Univer- 
sity of  Indiana  Press.  1961.  illus.  end  maps,  introduction 
and  index,     xii  plus  308  pp.     $6.95.) 

The  Cattle  Kings  should  appeal  especially  to  those  already  ac- 
quainted with  names  such  as  Murdo  Mackenzie,  Richard  King, 
John  W.  Iliff,  Joseph  M.  Carey,  John  B.  Kendrick,  Charles  Good- 
night, Dan  Casement,  Alexander  Swan,  Fred  G.  S.  Hesse,  and 
others  equally  well  known  in  the  days  of  the  Western  range  cattle 
industry. 

Believing  that  such  men  as  these  made  cattle  ranching  the  great 
pioneer  industry  that  it  was,  Author  Atherton  decided  to  give  them 
due  recognition  for  the  part  they  played  in  upbuilding  the  West. 
Convinced  that  fiction  writers  had  obscured  the  true  history  of 
the  West  by  giving  cowboys,  badmen,  and  super-marshals  leading 


122  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

roles  in  fanciful  dramatizations,  while  the  real  principals — the 
rugged  cattlemen — had  been  relegated  to  minor  positions,  the 
author,  two  years  ago,  began  intensive  research.  The  result  is 
this  book. 

Dr.  Atherton  stresses  the  fact  that  western  cattlemen — both 
owners  and  managers — were  men  who  recognized  the  value  of 
discipline  and  who  enforced  rules  of  order  in  the  interest  of  good 
business.  For  instance,  some  of  the  big  outfits  forbade  their 
employees  to  carry  arms  or  to  drink.  Proof  is  cited  of  owners 
and  operators  of  large  ranches  who  were  careful  to  show  respect 
to  small  neighboring  ranchmen. 

The  Cattle  Kings  is  not  just  a  collection  of  biographies.  It  is 
basically  a  comparison  of  the  personal  characteristics,  habits,  re- 
ligious beliefs,  family  life,  successes  and  failures  of  individual, 
outstanding  cattlemen.  The  persons  discussed  become  "colorful, 
complicated  personalities."  Historical  evidence  shows  that  in 
flesh-and-blood  these  cattlemen  deeply  impressed  contemporary 
observers,  despite  the  fact  that  novelists  often  depicted  them  as 
merely  wooden  "types"  devoid  of  individuality. 

One  of  the  book's  most  interesting  chapters  is  entitled,  "Cattle- 
man and  Cowboy:  Fact  and  Fancy."  Says  Dr.  Atherton,  "The 
cowboy  constitutes  the  best  known  and  possibly  the  most  signifi- 
cant contribution  of  the  cattle  kingdom,  and  his  fame  grows  even 
greater  as  his  environmental  surroundings  recede  into  history. 
Ironically,  the  cattleman  rather  than  the  cowboy  was  the  central 
character  on  the  ranching  frontier.  Without  him  there  would  be 
no  cowboys." 

Among  other  chapter  headings  are:  "Why  Be  A  Cattleman", 
"The  Moderating  Hand  of  Women,"  and  "God's  Elect." 

Although  the  author's  extensive  footnotes  indicate  that  the  bulk 
of  his  material  was  obtained  from  printed  works,  he  did,  during 
a  period  of  two  years,  also  consult  innumerable  theses  and  un- 
published biographies,  interviews,  newspaper  files,  and  articles  in 
periodicals. 

Dr.  Atherton  concludes  his  carefully  documented,  scholarly, 
and  entertaining  work  with  a  statement  that  since  an  ephemeral 
and  cosmopolitan  frontier  helped  shape  the  course  of  American 
life  to  a  surprising  degree,  the  time  may  come  to  pass  when  the 
Cattle  Kings  will  share  in  the  acclaim  showered  on  their  currently 
more  popular  employees — the  American  cowboys.  "Certainly," 
he  says,  "thoughtful  liberals  and  conservatives  alike  can  find  much 
to  admire  in  cattlemen's  code  of  values." 

Using  forty-nine  timely  illustrations,  the  Indiana  University 
Press  has  produced  an  exceedingly  fine  piece  of  publishing.  The 
printing  is  clear;  the  binding,  substantial;  and  the  jacket  is  eye- 
catching. 

Denver  Agnes  Wright  Spring 


BOOK  REVIEWS  123 

Bonner's  Guide.  Written  and  published  by  Orrin  H.  Bonney  and 
Lorraine  G.  Bonney,  (Houston  2,  Texas,  1961.  136  pp. 
$1.95) 

Bonney' s  Guide,  Jackson's  Hole  and  Grand  Teton,  a  paper-back 
•written  and  published  by  Orrin  H.  and  Lorraine  G.  Bonney, 
Houston  2,  Texas,  1961,  is  strung  on  many  strands — sixteen  sug- 
gested trips  through  the  Jackson  Hole  country.  Mileage  from 
each  starting  point  is  accurately  given,  and  geological  data,  refer- 
ence to  early  expeditions,  and  tales  of  early  settlers  inform  the 
tripper  as  he  drives  along.  When  used  as  a  guide  book  to  be  kept 
in  hand  for  reference  while  making  the  suggested  trips,  it  is  a 
most  useful  and  informative  book.  If  used  in  any  other  way,  the 
information  and  resulting  conception  of  Jackson  Hole  is  discon- 
tinuous. 

The  stories  about  old-timers,  necessarily  gained  by  interviews 
with  the  older  residents  in  the  valley,  should  be  taken  as  about 
fifty  per  cent  fiction  or  legend.  There  are  a  number  of  inaccura- 
cies: the  Teton  fault  occurred  about  three  million  years  ago  during 
the  Cenozoic  age,  not  during  the  Laramide  Revolution  of  the  Cre- 
taceous age,  sixty  or  seventy  million  years  ago;  the  information  on 
John  Carnes'  Indian  wife  Millie  does  not  check  with  the  records 
of  the  Ft.  Hall  Indian  agency;  Dr.  C.  W.  Huff  came  to  Jackson 
Hole  in  1913,  not  1916;  and  ranchers  do  not  summer  cattle  on 
the  National  Elk  Refuge.  But  these  mistakes  are  few  considering 
the  immense  amount  of  industry  and  research  that  went  into  the 
making  of  the  guide.  Not  enough  discrimination  is  made  between 
primary  and  secondary  sources  and  just  plain  yarning.  Though  a 
guide  book  may  not  justify  footnotes,  credits  should  be  given 
somewhere  for  material  that  has  previously  appeared  in  print.  In 
several  instances  this  was  not  done. 

Maps,  drawings  and  many  interesting  cuts  aid  much  in  making 
Bonney' s  Guide,  Jackson's  Hole  and  Grand  Teton  the  useful  guide 
book  that  it  is. 

Jackson,  Wxo.  Elizabeth  Wied  Hayden 


America's  History  lands,  Landmarks  of  Liberty.  Prepared  by  the 
National  Geographic  Book  Service,  Merle  Severy,  Chief. 
(National  Geographic  Society,  Washington,  D.  C.  1962. 
illus.     index.     576  pp.     $11.95.) 

This  is  a  companion  volume  to  America's  Wonderlands,  an 
earlier  publication  of  the  National  Geographic  Society,  which  dealt 
with  our  National  Parks.  The  purpose  of  this  publication  is  per- 
haps best  given  in  the  words  of  Conrad  Wirth,  Director  of  the 


124  ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 

National  Park  Service,  in  his  introduction  to  the  book  in  which  he 
states,  "A  vigorous  and  growing  nation  such  as  ours  must  pre- 
serve its  historic  heritage  and  pass  it  on  to  succeeding  generations. 
This  heritage  tells  the  story  of  America's  growth,  trials,  accom- 
plishments, and  goals.  It  provides  the  key  to  understanding  the 
present  and  planning  wisely  for  the  future.  How  well  we  safeguard 
and  interpret  this  priceless  legacy  will  determine  the  kind  of  nation 
we  shall  be  tomorrow." 

The  book  is  beautifully  illustrated  with  a  total  of  676  pictures, 
463  of  which  are  in  color.  Thirty-eight  maps,  including  2  insert 
maps,  "Civil  War  Battles"  and  "Historical  Map  of  the  Contermi- 
nous United  States,"  enable  the  reader  to  follow  the  narrative  and 
locate  sites  of  outstanding  importance  on  the  continental  United 
States. 

America's  Historylands  is  organized  around  major  themes  rather 
than  chronological  or  regional  events  for  better  continuity  and 
interest.  It  covers  the  period  of  American  History  from  the  first 
explorers  to  the  present,  ending  on  the  theme  of  the  space  age  and 
Cape  Canaveral.  Outstanding  authors  and  scholars  who  have 
keynoted  and  introduced  sections  of  the  book  include  Carl  Sand- 
burg, John  Bakeless,  Louis  R.  Wright,  Donald  Barr  Chidsey,  John 
Anthony  Caruso,  David  Lavender,  Earl  Schenck  Miers,  William  C. 
Everhart,  Stewart  H.  Holbrook  and  Frank  Freidel. 

For  an  overall  view  of  America's  heritage,  this  is  an  excellent 
volume. 

Cheyenne  Lola  M.  Homsher 


Pioneer 's  Progress.     By  Alvin  Johnson.     (A  Bison  Book,  Univer- 
sity of  Nebraska  Press.     1960.     413  pp.     $1.85.) 

Alvin  Johnson  was  born  in  northeastern  Nebraska  of  Danish 
immigrant  parents  in  1  874.  He  was  a  remarkably  talented  man 
and  this  is  his  interesting  story  of  a  long  and  active  life. 

After  graduation  from  the  infant  University  of  Nebraska  John- 
son served  in  the  army  during  the  Spanish  -  American  War  and 
went  directly  from  the  army  to  Columbia  University  from  which 
he  ultimately  received  the  Ph.D.  in  Economics.  In  the  course  of 
his  long  academic  career  (ca.  1898-1945)  Johnson  studied  under 
and  worked  with  many  of  the  most  famous  people  in  the  field  of 
the  social  sciences  during  that  era.  Nicholas  Murray  Butler,  Thor- 
stein  Veblen,  Charles  Beard,  John  Bates  Clark,  Edwin  R.  A.  Selig- 
man  -  these  and  dozens  of  other  names  of  equal  calibre  continually 
appear  in  the  course  of  this  book.  Johnson  taught  at  Columbia, 
Bryn  Mawr,  Nebraska,  Texas,  Stanford,  Cornell  and  Chicago. 

Johnson's  interests  ransed  far  outside  the  classroom.     He  was. 


BOOK  REVIEWS  125 

at  various  times,  editor  of  the  "New  Republic' ',  editor  of  the 
"Encyclopedia  of  The  Social  Science",  head  of  the  New  School 
for  Social  Research  and  head  of  the  University  in  Exile  in  New 
York  during  the  second  World  War.  In  addition  to  all  this  he 
found  time  to  write  widely  and  to  serve  as  an  economic  adviser  on 
several  boards  and  commissions  for  the  federal  government. 

Wyoming  readers  will  be  interested  in  the  chapter  entitled 
"Adventures  in  Land  Reclamation"  in  which  Johnson  describes 
his  experiences  as  economic  adviser  to  Elwood  Mead  in  the  1920's. 
Mention  is  made  of  the  now  controversial  Riverton  project. 

It  has  often  been  noted  that  the  West  has  historically  been  a 
colonial  area  sending  its  natural  wealth  to  the  East  and  enriching 
the  nation  while  not  enriching  -  indeed,  while  impoverishing  - 
itself.  If  this  has  been  true  in  the  case  of  coal,  oil,  uranium,  gold 
and  silver,  it  has  also  been  true  in  the  case  of  western  brains  and 
talent.  The  life  of  Alvin  Johnson  is  an  illustration  of  this  some- 
what lamentable  fact. 

Toning  ton  Walter  L.  Samson,  Jr. 


Treasure  Coach  from  Deadwood.  By  Allan  Vaughan  Elston. 
(Philadelphia  and  New  York:  J.  B.  Lippincott  Co.,  1962. 
224  pp.     $2.95.) 

Allan  Vaughan  Elston's  latest  western  novel  has  as  its  authentic 
setting  Deadwood,  South  Dakota,  and  its  environs.  Once  again 
Mr.  Elston  has  carefully  researched  into  the  background  for  his 
story,  and  he  includes  such  real  personalities  as  Scott  Davis,  shot- 
gun messenger  for  the  Cheyenne-Deadwood  Stage  Co.,  and  stage 
employees  Jesse  Brown  and  Boone  May,  both  famous  in  their  own 
rights. 

This  is  the  story  of  a  gang  of  hold-up  men  and  of  buried  treasure 
which  was  not  recovered.  Should  some  readers  read  more  fact 
than  fiction  in  this  novel,  the  Wyoming  State  Archives  and  His- 
torical Department  may  once  again  receive  requests  for  stories  of 
stolen  and  buried  gold.  Such  requests  come  in  at  fairly  frequent 
intervals,  and  this  reviewer  remembers  one  which  is  perhaps  un- 
forgettable. The  writer,  and  from  his  letter  and  penmanship  one 
had  to  assume  he  had  passed  middle  age  some  time  ago,  assured 
us  that  if  we  could  tell  him  within  200  feet  where  a  buried  treasure 
was  located,  that  whether  it  was  gold,  silver,  or  currency,  he  could 
find  it.  The  staff  promptly  decided  that  if  we  could  locate  such  a 
treasure  that  closely  ourselves,  we  would  take  time  out  to  go  look 
for  it.  At  any  rate  we  hope  Treasure  Coach  from  Deadwood  will 
not  start  another  gold  rush. 

Cheyenne  Lola  M.  Homsher 


126  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Songs  of  the  Sage  by  Mae  Urbanek.    ( Denver,  Big  Mountain  Press, 
1962  Illus.     242  pp.     $3.50.) 

This  is  a  collection  of  poems  on  a  variety  of  subjects,  mostly 
historical.  Of  these,  several  have  previously  been  printed  in  the 
Annals  of  Wyoming. 

Part  of  the  beauty  of  these  poems  is  in  their  brevity.  The 
author  condensed  the  life  of  Buffalo  Bill  into  three  four-line 
stanzas,  after  she  had  studied  three  books  about  him.  Yet  this 
twelve-line  poem  gives  him  plenty  of  stature  and  romance.  The 
last  stanza  reads: 

"I,  Pahaska,  ride  forever, 
On  old  Brigham,  swift  and  wise; 
Westward  to  unbranded  mountains, 
Where  the  untamed  eagle  flies. " 

Briefly  beautiful  is  also  the  poem  "John  Colter,"  whose  heroic 
exploits  are  condensed  into  one  page.  This  poem  was  especially 
written  for  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Historical  Society  held  in 
Cody,  Wyoming,  in  1957.  Berneice  Bird,  a  resident  of  Niobrara 
County,  did  an  excellent  drawing  of  John  Colter  gazing  in  wonder- 
ment at  Old  Faithful. 

Songs  of  the  Sage  is  a  compilation  of  new  poems  and  poems 
previously  published  in  the  brochures:  Niobrara  Breezes,  Wyo- 
ming Winds,  and  Highlights  of  the  Hills.  It  is  well  illustrated  by 
Elsie  Christian  of  Lusk;  Norman  Evans  of  Gillette,  and  Berneice 
Bird  of  Lusk. 

The  poems  range  from  pre-historic  "God's  Sundial,"  known  to 
us  as  Devil's  Tower,  to  the  downright  delightful  "REA": 

"So  the  waters  light  the  prairies; 
Every  farm  yard  has  its  star, 
On  the  hill  tops,  in  the  valleys, 
Flouting  darkness  near  and  far." 

Presidents,  Indian  chiefs,  sky-pilots,  cowboys,  even  homemakers 
are  included.  There  are  also  several  songs  with  music:  "Oh  Pine- 
Clad  Hills"  and  "I  Love  A  Garden".  If  "variety  is  the  spice  of 
life"  you  will  find  it  in  Songs  of  the  Sage. 

Lusk  Irma  White 


Nebraska  Place  Names.    By  Lilian  L.  Fitzpatrick.     (Lincoln,  Uni- 
versity of  Nebraska  Press,  1960.     227  pp.     $1.50). 

This  is  an  interesting  little  book.     Besides  giving,  though  often 
sketchily,  the  origins  of  the  place  names  in  Nebraska,  it  contains 


BOOK  REVIEWS  127 

many  bits  of  history  and  many  pleasant  and  often  amusing  details 
of  choices  of  names.  The  first  portion,  by  Lilian  Fitzpatrick,  is 
devoted  to  the  origins  of  the  names  of  Nebraska  counties  and 
towns.  The  counties  are  arranged  in  alphabetical  order  and  the 
towns  of  a  particular  county  follow,  arranged  also  in  alphabetical 
order.  To  facilitate  the  use  of  the  book  there  is  at  the  end  of 
this  first  half  an  index  of  towns  in  alphabetical  order,  each  town 
followed  by  the  county  it  is  in.  Unfortunately  there  is,  however, 
no  listing  of  towns  or  counties  by  page  number. 

The  only  defect  perhaps  is  that  for  too  many  names  Miss  Fitz- 
patrick has  either  assembled  only  inadequate  information  or  in- 
cluded in  her  account  the  fewest  facts  possible.  This  would  indi- 
cate that  she  held  back  material  she  thought  not  important  or 
failed  to  follow  her  leads  to  the  end — I  say  this  in  spite  of  her 
statement  in  the  preface  that  the  study  was  as  exhaustive  as  she 
could  make  it.  For  example,  she  gives  fairly  full  information 
about  Blair  in  Washington  county:  '"The  history  of  Blair  dates 
back  to  1 869  when  the  town  was  platted.  It  was  named  in  honor 
of  John  I.  Blair  (1820-1899),  of  New  Jersey,  the  great  railroad 
builder  and  controller  of  railroad  operations,  who  owned  the  land 
on  which  the  town  is  located.  At  one  time  Mr.  Blair  was  president 
of  the  Sioux  City  and  Pacific  Railroad  Company.  He  was  well 
known  for  his  philanthropic  work.  Blair  is  the  county  seat  of 
Washington  county/'  But  she  leaves  Bushnell  in  Kimball  county 
up  in  the  air:  "Bushnell  in  Bushnell  precinct,  was  named  for  a 
civil  engineer  on  the  Union  Pacific  railroad. "  For  historical  pur- 
poses, Bushnell,  whoever  he  was,  is  as  important  as  Mr.  Blair, 
"the  great  railroad  builder." 

Other  names  that  in  themselves  are  intriguing  are  neglected — 
for  example,  Tonic  in  Holt  county.  All  Miss  Fitzpatrick  offers  is 
that  it  is  "An  inland  village  and  a  former  post  office  in  the  south- 
western part  of  Deloit  precinct."  Or  Eclipse  in  Hooker  county. 
Miss  Fitzpatrick  writes:  "The  name  was  selected  by  three  or  four 
ranchers  meeting  at  the  home  of  A.  J.  Gragg.  It  is  thought  that 
the  office  was  named  independently,  not  after  any  other  place  or 
person."  It  seems  to  me  that  she  should  have  known  more  if  she 
knew  that  much — why  would  the  name  "Eclipse"  or  "Tonic"  be 
chosen?  There  was  undoubtedly  a  story  in  the  naming  which 
could  have  been  found. 

Some  selections  from  J.  T.  Link's  Origin  of  the  Place  Names 
of  Nebraska  comprise  the  second  half  of  this  book.  The  sections 
deal  with  the  names  of  military  establishments,  rivers,  lakes,  topo- 
graphical features,  state  parks,  etc.,  thus  complementing  the  work 
done  by  Miss  Fitzpatrick  on  the  names  of  towns  and  counties. 
The  material  he  includes  is  adequate  and  often  interesting,  but  his 
presentation  is  less  successful  than  Miss  Fitzpatrick's.  Her  towns 
and  counties  are  listed  in  a  kind  of  dictionary  form — the  name  of 
the  place  in  heavy  type  followed  by  a  paragraph  of  information. 


128  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

But  Link  has  attempted  to  include  his  in  connected  paragraphs  of 
expository  writing.  As  a  result  there  are  some  dull  stretches  and 
some  obvious  striving  after  connectives. 

As  a  reference  work,  however,  this  little  book  will  serve  a  useful 
purpose  for  anyone  interested  in  the  subject  it  deals  with.  It  is 
worth  owning  and  the  modest  cost  makes  that  possible. 

University  of  Wyoming  Richard  Mahan 


The  Old-Time  Cowhand.  By  Ramon  F.  Adams,  with  illustrations 
by  Nick  Eegenhofer.  (New  York,  N.  Y.:  The  McMillian 
Company,  1961.     354  pp.     $7.50.) 

Here,  at  last,  is  the  complete  story  of  the  cowboy;  his  ideas,  his 
ideals,  his  religion,  his  humor,  his  work,  his  equipment — in  short, 
whatever  you  want  to  know  about  the  old-time  cowhand  you  can 
find  out  by  referring  to  Mr.  Adams'  book. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  this  volume  will  be  widely  read  for  it  is  an 
authentic  and  accurate  presentation  of  what  the  old-time  cowhand 
was  really  like  as  compared  with  the  idea  of  cowboys  which  the 
public  at  large  has  which  is,  of  course,  based  upon  "western" 
novels  and  stories  and  what  may  be  seen  at  the  neighborhood 
movie  palace  or  on  the  wee  screen  of  the  idiot  box  in  the  corner 
of  the  living  room. 

For  it  is  apparent  that  Mr.  Adams  has  studied  the  subject  in 
detail  and  at  length  and,  so  far  as  this  reviewer  is  concerned,  what 
he  has  to  say  about  the  old-time  cowhand  may  be  regarded  as 
correct. 

Mr.  Adams  writes  in  the  vernacular  of  the  cowhand.  He  justi- 
fies doing  so  as  follows:  "Book  writin\  I  reckon,  should  be 
brushed  and  curried  til  it's  plumb  shiny  and  elegant.  In  writin' 
this'n,  1  could  maybe  slick  up  my  grammar  some,  but  because  it's 
'bout  the  old-time  cowhand  I  want  to  write  it  in  his  own  language 
jes'  like  he  talked  at  the  old  chuck  wagon.  It  seems  more  friendly, 
and  it  shore  gives  more  flavor."  One's  first  reaction  to  this  style 
of  writing  may  not  be  sympathetic  but  one  is  soon  drawn  in  by 
the  skillful  manner  in  which  the  author  uses  it  and  would  have  it 
no  other  way. 

The  only  shortcoming  of  the  book  is  the  lack  of  any  index.  Mr. 
Adams  defines  and  explains  the  origins  of  many,  many  words, 
phrases,  customs,  and  practices,  many  of  which  have  become  a 
permanent  part  of  American  life.  With  no  index,  however,  it  is 
difficult  to  track  down  a  certain  word  or  custom  which,  one  is 
confident,  Mr.  Adams  has  thoroughly  explained  somewhere  in  the 
book,  if  one  could  only  find  it. 


BOOK  REVIEWS  129 

Nick  Eggenhofer's  excellent  drawings  are  liberally  sprinkled 
throughout  the  book  and  add  much  to  its  flavor. 

All  in  all,  it  is  a  painstaking,  thorough,  and  accurate  picture  of 
the  much  misunderstood  and  caricatured  cowhand.  Anyone  in- 
terested in  the  history  of  the  west  will  enjoy  it. 

Green  River  Vernon  K.  Hurd 


The  Second  Man  by  Mae  Urbanek.     (Denver:  Sage  Books,  1962 
Illus.     183  pp.     $3.50.) 

Did  Laramie  Peak  which  dominates  the  landscape  in  eastern 
Wyoming  and  western  Nebraska  influence  the  lives  of  the  pre- 
historic and  pre-Indian  inhabitants  of  the  plains?  How  did  they 
live?     What  God  or  Gods  did  they  worship? 

In  the  stony  pits  and  huge  stone  dumps  of  the  Spanish  Diggings 
located  where  Platte,  Goshen  and  Niobrara  Counties  meet,  is 
silent  evidence  of  the  first  organized  industry  in  what  is  now 
Wyoming.  These  pits,  twenty  to  thirty  feet  deep,  were  mined 
in  quartzite  with  stone  wedges.  The  brittle  upper  layers  of  these 
purple  and  golden  rocks  were  dumped  in  discard  piles  down  the 
hillsides.  The  lower  layers  were  fashioned  into  crude  tools. 
Thousands  of  tipi  rings,  small  in  size,  are  scattered  in  village 
groups  over  sections  of  adjoining  land. 

No  Indians  since  the  discovery  of  America  worked  so  hard  to 
dig  stone,  or  chipped  such  rough  implements.  These  first  makers 
of  artifacts  needed  the  more  easily  worked  quartzite  for  their 
primitive  efforts.  Their  pits  were  first  discovered  by  cowboys 
who  thought  the  Spaniards  had  dug  there  for  gold,  and  misnamed 
them  "Spanish  Diggings."  Scientists  from  several  universities 
explored  these  pits,  picked  up  all  available  artifacts,  and  declared 
them  the  workings  of  prehistoric  people. 

Inspired  by  the  dominating  presence  of  Laramie  Peak,  and  the 
sight  of  the  now  empty  hills  that  once  swarmed  with  busy  people, 
Mae  Urbanek  has  written  a  novel  revealing  how  they  might  have 
lived,  and  loved,  and  worshipped.  In  The  Second  Man,  Laramie 
Peak  becomes  La-la-luma,  the  home  of  the  Gods.  Ula,  an  ambi- 
tious young  woman,  who  is  filled  with  passion  for  progress  away 
from  the  primitive,  superstitious  ways  of  stone  age  culture,  changes 
the  lives  of  Neesha's  tribes.  She  steals  the  science  of  curing 
sickness  away  from  the  Keela-Koo-Koos,  the  painted  medicine 
men.  From  Rumbo's  hand  Ula  takes  the  great  whip,  symbol  of 
his  ruling  power,  and  replaces  it  with  the  bow  and  arrow. 

This  drama  of  man's  upward  struggle  is  told  in  simple,  compel- 
ling style  that  shows  a  keen  understanding  of  human  nature,  spiced 
with  sly  humor.     A  quotation  follows: 


130  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

"Heavy  fingers  closed  more  tightly  around  the  magic  rock. 
Noiselessly  the  naked  arm  withdrew  into  the  shrubbery  of  the 
river  bank.  A  pheasant  cock  stepped  into  the  clearing,  puffed 
out  his  breast,  and  jauntily  walked  in  circles.  He  did  not  see  the 
crouched  hulk  of  the  naked  man,  whose  black  eyes  burned  through 

a  mop  of  black  hair  streaming  about  his  face Like  a 

catapult  the  arm  of  the  man  swung  forward,  releasing  the  rock  .... 
the  rainbow  bird  fell  ....  the  woman  now  came  forward,  carrying 
the  child.  Easing  her  burden  to  the  ground,  she  snatched  the 
denuded  bird  from  the  hands  of  the  man;  and  slit  it  open  with  a 
savage  thrust  of  her  small  fingers.  She  ran  back  to  the  child,  knelt 
and  held  the  quivering  liver  to  its  mouth.  The  child  showed  no 
interest  in  food.  Its  eyelids  fluttered,  but  did  not  open;  fluttered 
again  and  then  stilled  forever." 

The  book  is  filled  with  a  great  love  of  nature  and  the  open  plains 
dominated  by  Laramie  Peak.  Quoting  again:  "Ula  reached  the 
crest.  With  a  dull  thud  the  heavy  robe  fell.  She  straightened  and 
stood  free,  the  wild  wind  catching  her  tangled  hair  and  blowing 
it  back  from  her  face.  The  sky  was  glory-brushed  with  more  spirit 
fires  than  Ula  had  ever  seen.  Calmly  in  the  midst  of  all  their 
blazing  beauty  rose  La-la-luma,  the  sacred  blue  hill,  filling  the 

distance,  a  living,  quivering  thing calling,  calling,  ever 

calling." 

Using  all  known  facts  and  conjectures  about  these  primitive 
'■first"  people,  Mrs.  Urbanek  has  written  this  colorful  novel  filled 
with  action,  mother  love,  and  romance.  In  the  ever-powerful 
presence  of  La-la-luma,  Laramie  Peak,  is  told  the  first  great  love 
story  of  Wyoming,  The  Second  Man. 

Lusk  Irma  White 


Contributors 


Olga  Moore  Arnold,  one  of  Wyoming's  nationally  recognized 
writers,  was  born  in  Buffalo,  attended  schools  there  and  in  Sheri- 
dan, and  received  her  B.  A.  degree  from  the  University  of  Wyo- 
ming. She  has  published  two  books,  Windswept  and  /'//  Meet  You 
in  the  Lobby,  and  has  had  short  stories  published  in  many  maga- 
zines including  the  Saturday  Evening  Post,  Ladies  Home  Journal, 
Good  Housekeeping  and  McCalls.  One  story  was  filmed  by  RKO 
as  "You  Can't  Beat  Love".  Her  husband  was  the  late  Carl  Ar- 
nold, former  dean  of  the  University  of  Wyoming  law  school.  He 
was  later  associated  with  the  Federal  Communications  Commission 
in  Washington,  D.  C.  Mrs.  Arnold  makes  her  home  in  Washing- 
ton where  she  writes  for  the  United  States  Information  Agency. 

Dick  J.  Nelson  was  born  in  Mitchell  County,  Kansas,  in  1875, 
and  came  to  Crook  County,  Wyoming,  with  his  family  in  1888. 
His  father,  a  rancher,  was  a  member  of  the  first  board  of  county 
commissioners  of  the  newly  created  Weston  County.  Dick  Nelson, 
in  addition  to  ranching,  worked  for  the  C.  B.  and  Q.  Railroad 
for  45  years,  retiring  as  division  superintendent  at  Sheridan  in 
1939.  He  has  since  lived  in  San  Diego,  Calif.  He  is  the  author 
of  several  historical  booklets  on  Wyoming,  "Only  a  Cow  Country", 
"Wyoming  and  South  Dakota  Black  Hills",  "The  Old  West  and 
Custer's  Last  Stand",  and  "Wyoming's  Big  Horn  Basin  of  Merit". 
More  information  about  him  is  included  in  the  story  of  May  Nel- 
son Dow  in  this  issue  of  the  Annals. 

Laura  Nelson  Harl  has  lived  in  Wyoming  since  1888.  Her 
parents,  the  Alfred  Nelsons,  were  among  the  earliest  settlers  in 
present  Weston  County.  Her  first  job  was  as  a  printer's  devil 
for  her  brother  Frank,  who  put  out  a  newspaper  in  Tubbtown. 
now  a  ghost  town  near  Newcastle.  She  married  James  Franklin 
Hart,  who,  in  1914,  became  the  first  automobile  dealer  in  northern 
Wyoming.  They  later  operated  a  cattle  and  dude  ranch  near 
Riverton,  which  is  still  owned  by  her  son.  After  her  husband's 
death,  Mrs.  Hart  moved  to  Lander.  She  is  interested  in  Wyoming 
history,  archaeology,  anthropology  and  geology.  Several  of  her 
poems  and  historical  articles  have  been  published  under  the  pen 
name  of  Shelia  Hart.  She  is  a  sister  of  May  Nelson  Dow,  whose 
story  appears  in  this  Annals  of  Wyoming. 

Burton  S.  Hill,  Buffalo  attorney,  is  a  native  Wyomingite.  He 
is  a  graduate  of  the  University  of  Nebraska  and  received  his  law 
degree  at  the  University  of  Michigan.     Hill  is  a  veteran  of  World 


132  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Wars  I  and  II.  He  and  his  wife  have  two  sons,  Burton,  Jr.,  of 
Albuquerque,  N.  M.,  and  Robert  A.,  who  is  associated  with  his 
father  in  the  law  firm  of  Hill  and  Hill,  of  Buffalo.  The  study  of 
western  history  is  one  of  Hill's  hobbies.  He  is  a  member  of 
Masonic  organizations,  the  Elks  and  the  American  Legion. 

Mabel  Brown  is  a  native  of  Colorado,  but  has  lived  in  Wyo- 
ming since  she  attended  high  school  in  Newcastle.  Her  husband, 
Wesley  Brown,  was  born  in  Cambria,  and  is  a  member  of  a  pioneer 
Wyoming  family.  They  have  two  married  daughters.  Mrs.  Brown 
is  a  free  lance  writer  and  newspaper  correspondent,  and  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Press  Women.  A  charter  member  of  the  Weston 
County  Chapter  of  the  Wyoming  State  Historical  Society,  she  has 
served  as  president,  and  as  chairman  of  numerous  committees  in 
the  chapter.  She  has  been  very  active  in  4-H  Club  work  and  has 
received  several  awards  in  recognition  of  her  leadership  and  par- 
ticipation. As  a  qualifying  candidate  for  Mother  of  the  Year  in 
1959,  she  holds  a  special  membership  in  the  Wyoming  Mothers' 
Association.  Her  hobbies  include  history,  photography,  leather- 
craft,  nature  study,  collecting  books  on  Western  Americana  and 
collecting  sun  purpled  glass. 

Elizabeth  J.  Thorpe  was  born  in  Newcastle  where  she  and  her 
husband,  Dr.  V.  L.  Thorpe,  and  their  five  children  now  make  their 
home.  She  attended  San  Diego  State  College  and  was  graduated 
from  the  University  of  Wyoming  in  1941.  She  taught  school  for  a 
year  before  her  marriage.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Weston  County 
Chapter  of  the  Wyoming  State  Historical  Society,  the  Twentieth 
Century  Club  of  Newcastle  and  the  P.  E.  O.  Sisterhood.  Her 
hobbies  are  writing,  history  and  painting. 

Mrs.  Thelma  Gatchell  Condit.  See  Annals  of  Wyoming, 
Vol.  29,  No.  1,  April,  1957,  pp.  120-121. 

Elizabeth  Keen.  See  Annals  of  Wyoming,  Vol.  33,  No.  2, 
October,  1961,  p.  240. 

Mae  Urbanek.  See  Annals  of  Wyoming,  Vol.  27,  No.  2. 
October,  1955,  p.  251. 

J.  K.  Moore,  Jr.  See  Annals  of  Wyoming,  Vol.  27,  No.  2, 
October.  1955,  p.  250. 


WYOMING   STATE  ARCHIVES  AND   HISTORICAL 
DEPARTMENT 


The  Wyoming  State  Archives  and  Historical  Department  has  as  its  func- 
tion the  collection  and  preservation  of  the  record  of  the  people  of  Wyo- 
ming.    Ft  maintains  a  historical  library,  a  museum  and  the  state  archives. 

The  aid  of  the  citizens  of  Wyoming  is  solicited  in  the  carrying  out  of  its 
function.  The  Department  is  anxious  to  secure  and  preserve  records  and 
materials  now  in  private  hands  where  they  cannot  be  long  preserved.  Such 
records  and  materials  include: 

Biographical  materials  of  pioneers:  diaries,  letters,  account  books,  auto- 
biographical accounts. 

Business  records  of  industries  of  the  State:  livestock,  mining,  agricul- 
ture, railroads,  manufacturers,  merchants,  small  business  establishments, 
and  of  professional  men  as  bankers,  lawyers,  physicians,  dentists,  ministers, 
and  educators. 

Private  records  of  individual  citizens,  such  as  correspondence,  manuscript 
materials  and  scrapbooks. 

Records  of  organizations  active  in  the  religious,  educational,  social, 
economic  and  political  life  of  the  State,  including  their  publications  such 
as  yearbooks  and  reports. 

Manuscript  and  printed  articles  on  towns,  counties,  and  any  significant 
topic  dealing  with  the  history  of  the  State. 

Early  newspapers,  maps,  pictures,  pamphlets,  and  books  on  western 
subjects. 

Current    publications    by    individuals    or    organizations    throughout    the 

State. 

Museum  materials  with  historical  significance:  early  equipment,  Indian 
artifacts,  relics  dealing  with  the  activities  of  persons  in  Wyoming  and  with 
special  events  in  the  State's  history. 


m 

L^LAK  "ft£ 


6  oinr 


Wyoming  State  Archives  and  Historical  Department 


October  J  962 


WYOMING  STATE  LIBRARY,  ARCHIVES  AND 
HISTORICAL  BOARD 

Fred  W.  Marble.  Chairman  Cheyenne 

E.  A.  Littleton  Gillette 

Henry  Jones  Laramie 

Mrs.  Dwight  Wallace  Evanston 

E.  W.  Mass  Casper 

Mrs.  Wilmot  C.  Hamm  ..Rock  Springs 

Mrs.  William  Miller  Lusk 

Paul  Stadius  7 hermopolis 

Attorney-General  Norman  Gray,  Ex-Officio 


WYOMING  STATE  ARCHIVES  AND  HISTORICAL 
DEPARTMENT 

STAFF 

Lola  M.  Homsher  Director 

Henryetta  Berry Assistant  Director 

Mrs.  Ruth  J.  Bradley Chief,  Historical  Division 

Mrs.  Bonnie  Forsyth  Chief,  Archives  &  Records  Division 


ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

The  Annals  of  Wyoming  is  published  semi  annually  in  April  and 
October  and  is  received  by  all  members  of  the  Wyoming  State  Historical 
Society.  Copies  of  current  issues  may  be  purchased  for  $1.00  each. 
Available  copies  of  earlier  issues  are  also  for  sale.  A  price  list  may  be 
obtained  by  writing  to  the  Editor. 

Communications  should  be  addressed  to  the  Editor.  The  Editor  does 
not  assume  responsibility  for  statements  of  fact  or  of  opinion  made  by 
contributors. 


Copyright,  1962,  by  the  Wyoming  State  Archives  and 
Historical  Department. 


Mnate  of  Wyoming 


Volume  34 


October  1962 


Number  2 


Lola  M.  Homsher 

Editor 

Ruth  J.  Bradley 
Assistant  Editor 

Katherine  Halverson 

Assistant  Ed i tot- 


Published  Biannually  by  the 

WYOMING  STATE  ARCHIVES  AND  HISTORICAL 
DEPARTMENT 

Official  Publication 

of  the 

WYOMING  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 


WYOMING  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

OFFICERS    1962-1963 

President,  Charles  Ritter  Cheyenne 

First  Vice  President,  Neal  Miller Rawlins 

Second  Vice  President,  Mrs.  Charles  Hord  Casper 

Secretary-Treasurer,  Miss  Maurine  Carley  -Cheyenne 

Executive  Secretary,  Miss  Lola  M.  Homsher  Cheyenne 

Past  Presidents: 

Frank  L.  Bowron,  Casper  1953-1955 

William  L.  Marion,  Lander  1955-1956 

Dr.  DeWitt  Dominick,  Cody 1956-1957 

Dr.  T.  A.  Larson,  Laramie 1957-1958 

A.  H.  MacDougall,  Rawlins 1958-1959 

Mrs.  Thelma  G.  Condit,  Buffalo 1959-1960 

E.  A.  Littleton,  Gillette  1960-1961 

Ednf.ss  Kimball  Wilkins,  Casper  ... 1961-1962 


The  Wyoming  State  Historical  Society  was  organized  in  October  1953. 
Membership  is  open  to  anyone  interested  in  history.  County  Historical 
Society  Chapters  have  been  organized  in  Albany,  Big  Horn,  Campbell,  Car- 
bon, Fremont,  Goshen,  Johnson,  Laramie,  Natrona,  Park,  Platte,  Sheridan, 
Sweetwater,  Washakie,  Weston,  and  Uinta  counties. 


State  Dues: 

Life  Membership $50.00 

Joint  Life  Membership  (Husband  and  wife)  75.00 

Annual   Membership 3.50 

Joint  Annual  Membership  (Two  persons  of  same  family  at 

same  address.) 5.00 

County  dues  are  in  addition  to  state  dues  and  are  set  by  county  organ- 
izations. 

Send  State  membership  dues  to: 

Wyoming  State  Historical  Society 
Executive  Headquarters 
State  Office  Building 
Cheyenne,  Wyoming 


Zable  of  Contents 


FORT  LARAMIE'S  IRON  BRIDGE  137 

John  Dishon  McDermott 

THE  FORTIFICATIONS  OF  OLD  FORT  LARAMIE  145 

Gordon  S.  Chappell 

THE  BISHOP  WHO  BID  FOR  FORT  LARAMIE  163 

Howard  Lee  Wilson 

ALBERT  CHARLES  PEALE 175 

PIONEER  GEOLOGIST  OF  THE  HAYDEN  SURVEY 

PAT1EE,  THE  LOTTERY  KING  193 

THE  OMAHA  AND  WYOMING  LOTTERIES 

POEM-TO  THE  LITTLE  BIG  HORN  211 

Hans  Kleiber 

SADDLES   2 1 3 

A.  S.  (Bud)  Gillespie 

WYOMING\S  FRONTIER  NEWSPAPERS  ...  218 

Elizabeth  Keen 

OVERLAND  STAGE  TRAIL-TREK  NO.  3  235 

Trek  No.  13  of  the  Emigrant  Trail  Treks 
Compiled  by  Maurine  Carley 

BOOK  REVIEWS 

Branch,  The  Cowboy  and  His  Interpreters  250 

Whitman,  The  Troopers  251 

Hine,  Edward  Kern  and  American  Expansion 252 

Laramie  County  Historical  Society,  Early  Cheyenne  Homes, 

1880-1890 253 

Collins,  Great  Western  Rides 254 

Moore,  Souls  and  Saddlebags '..  255 

Thorpe,  Brown,  —and  then  there  was  one,  the  Story  of  Cambria, 

Tubbtown  and  Newcastle 256 

Mattes,  Colter's  Hell  and  Jackson's  Hole 257 

Smith,  Cow  Chips  V  Cactus 258 

Bison  Books  and  Yale  Books  Reprints  258-260 

CONTRIBUTORS    260-261 

ILLUSTRATIONS  ACCOMPANYING  ARTICLES 

Sketch,  Fort  Laramie,   1860's  Cover 

Fort  Laramie's  Iron  Bridge  136 

The  Bishop  Who  Bid  For  Fort  Laramie 164 

Albert  Charles  Peale  176,   181.   186 

Pattee,  The  Lottery  King 196,  202,  203 

Saddles  212 

Map:     Overland  Stage  Trail-Trek  No.  3  234 


Jort  Carattiie  's  Iron  Bridge 

By 
John  Dishon  McDermott 

Before  the  completion  of  transcontinental  railroads,  emigrants 
followed  the  rivers  when  they  wound  their  way  westward.  Occa- 
sionally, they  found  it  necessary  to  cross  from  one  side  of  a  river 
to  another,  and  during  flood  season  the  maneuver  was  always 
difficult  and  sometimes  perilous.  In  the  beginning,  men  with  cattle 
and  horses  usually  swam  the  streams  or  built  crude  rafts  to  trans- 
port women,  children,  and  goods  over  them.  A  few  enterprising 
men  established  ferries  and  operated  them  for  a  price,  and,  finally, 
there  were  bridges  which  made  the  crossings  simple  and  comfort- 
able. 

One  of  these  western  bridges  spans  the  North  Platte  River  about 
two  miles  from  old  Fort  Laramie.  Constructed  in  1875,  the  bridge 
is  the  oldest  such  structure  in  the  state  of  Wyoming  and  is  believed 
to  be  the  oldest  existing  military  bridge  west  of  the  Mississippi 
River. 

Fort  Laramie  was  about  halfway  between  St.  Louis  and  the  West 
Coast  so  most  emigrants  wished  to  stop  there  to  replenish  their 
supplies,  mail  letters  back  to  the  states,  and  repair  their  wagons. 
Those  who  wished  to  visit  the  post  had  to  cross  either  the  Laramie 
or  the  North  Platte  depending  on  the  trail  they  had  taken  through 
Nebraska  and  southern  Wyoming. 

In  the  1 840's,  50's,  and  6CTs,  most  emigrants  traveled  on  the 
south  bank  of  the  North  Platte  and,  consequently,  had  to  cross  the 
Laramie  to  reach  the  post.  A  few  pioneers,  namely  the  Mormons, 
blazed  a  trail  on  the  opposite  side  which  left  the  North  Platte 
between  them  and  the  fort.  Since  the  greater  number  chose  to 
journey  on  the  south  bank,  the  first  bridge  builders  concentrated 
on  spanning  the  narrower  tributary.  In  1851,  two  traders  erected 
a  bridge  over  the  Laramie  and  charged  from  $2.50  to  $3.00  per 
wagon.1  In  1873,  a  second  bridge  crossed  the  Laramie  a  little 
farther  upstream.2 

Before  1  875,  emigrants  either  forded  or  ferried  the  North  Platte. 
During  the  spring  and  early  summer,  the  river  was  in  flood  stage 


1.  Merrill  J.  Mattes  and  Thor  Borresen,  "The  Historic  Approaches  to 
Fort  Laramie"  (1947),  30.  Manuscript  at  Fort  Laramie  National  Historic 
Site. 

2.  Plan  of  Fort  Laramie  in  1873,  Records  of  the  War  Department, 
National  Archives.     Hereafter  cited  as  RWD. 


138  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

and  extremely  difficult  to  cross  without  loss  of  property  or  life.  In 
June,  1850,  at  least  six  men  drowned  in  attempted  crossings,  and 
one  pioneer  described  the  river  as  being  250  yards  wide  and  12 
feet  deep.8 

With  the  completion  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  in  1869  came 
the  end  of  the  great  covered  wagon  migrations.  Interest  turned 
from  spanning  the  Laramie  to  bridging  the  Platte,  for  Montana  and 
South  Dakota  produced  gold  and  the  Sioux  settled  temporarily  on 
reservations  in  northern  Nebraska  which  had  to  be  supplied  by 
wagons  from  Cheyenne  and  other  U.P.  stations. 

The  citizens  of  Cheyenne  took  the  initiative  in  the  movement  to 
persuade  the  government  to  build  a  bridge  over  the  Platte  near  Fort 
Laramie.  Cheyenne  served  as  the  great  freight  outfitting  capital 
of  the  region.  Between  fifteen  and  twenty  million  pounds  of  gov- 
ernment goods  passed  through  the  city  each  year,  and  freighters 
purchased  their  supplies  from  Cheyenne  businessmen  before  whip- 
ping their  teams  over  the  dusty  trail  to  the  agencies  and  forts.4 

In  1873,  rumors  swept  Cheyenne  that  the  freighters  might  move 
their  headquarters  to  the  rival  U.P.  towns  of  Sidney  and  North 
Platte  because  they  found  it  difficult  to  ford  the  Platte  on  the 
Cheyenne  trail."'  At  first  the  townspeople  tried  to  induce  the 
county  to  construct  a  ferry  over  the  river,  but  the  commissioners 
declined.6 

Next  the  townspeople  hit  upon  the  idea  of  a  government  spon- 
sored bridge  and  enlisted  the  aid  of  their  territorial  delegate  to 
Congress,  W.  R.  Steele.  On  February  24,  1874,  Steele  introduced 
a  bill  in  the  House  which  read  as  follows: 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled.  That  there  shall  be  located 
and  constructed,  under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  a  gov- 
ernment military  bridge  across  the  North  Platte  River  at  or  near  Fort 
Laramie,  in  the  Territory  of  Wyoming;  and  the  Secretary  of  War  is 
hereby  authorized  to  expend  for  the  building  of  said  bridge  any  sum 
of  money  necessary  therefor,  not  exceeding  fifteen  thousand  dollars.7 

Two  days  later,  Steele  wrote  the  Secretary  of  War,  W.  W.  Bel- 
knap, asking  support  for  the  bill.  He  reminded  Belknap  that  the 
bridge  would  enable  the  troops  at  Fort  Laramie  to  control  the 
Sioux  north  of  the  river  and  facilitate  the  movement  of  men  and 
supplies  should  hostilities  occur  at  Red  Cloud  or  Spotted  Tail 
agencies.     Steele  suggested  that  Belknap  write  General  Ord,  com- 


3.  Mattes  and  Borresen.  "Historic  Approaches",  29. 

4.  J.  H.  Triegs,  Historv  of  Cheyenne  and  Northern  Wyoming  (Omaha, 
1876),  16. 

5.  Cheyenne  Daily  Leader,  February  12,  1873. 

6.  Cheyenne  Daily  Leader,  February  14,  1873. 

7.  House  of  Representatives  Report  No.  2178,  43rd  Congress,  1st  session. 


FORT  LARAMIE'S  IRON  BRIDGE  139 

mander  of  the  Department  of  the  Platte,  for  further  information 
concerning  the  necessity  for  a  bridge  at  that  point. K 

Following  Steele's  suggestion,  Belknap  contacted  Ord  who  re- 
plied to  the  proposal  in  the  affirmative.  He  pointed  out  that  the 
North  Platte  was  not  fordable  for  two  or  three  months  every  year 
and  the  ferry  was  often  carried  away  during  high  water,  virtually 
isolating  Fort  Laramie  from  the  agencies.  If  a  plan  to  establish 
military  camps  near  the  agencies  materialized,  Ord  felt  the  bridge 
would  be  needed  to  transport  men  and  supplies  into  the  region.1' 

Belknap  wired  the  appropriations  committee  on  June  4  and 
requested  $15,000  to  build  the  bridge.10  Congress  passed  the  bill 
on  June  23,  and  the  following  day  Belknap  ordered  Lt.  General 
Sheridan,  commander  of  the  Division  of  the  Missouri,  to  secure 
plans  and  estimates.11 

Sheridan  referred  the  matter  to  the  Department  of  the  Platte  in 
Omaha  which  advertised  for  bids.  The  following  notice  appeared 
in  local  newspapers: 

Plans  and  estimates,  with  bids,  for  the  construction  of  an  open  truss 
bridge  and  roadway  for  heavy  wagons,  across  the  Platte  river  near 
Fort  Laramie,  Wyoming,  will  be  received  at  the  office  of  Gen.  A.  J. 
Perry,  Chief  Quartermaster,  Department  of  the  Platte,  until  1 1  a.m., 
Monday,  August  10th. 

The  distance  from  bank  to  bank  is  about  four  hundred  and  ten  (410) 
feet;  from  the  deepest  part  of  the  river  to  top  of  bank  is  about  fifteen 
(15)  feet:  the  bottom  is  coarse  gravel  and  cobble  stones;  current  swift 
and  unchangeable;  water  in  deepest  place  is  about  three  and  one-half 
(3Vi)  feet,  when  at  ordinary  stage. 

Bidders  will  submit  their  own  plans,  and  separate  bids  will  be  received 
for  the  substructure  and  superstructure.  In  awarding  the  contract, 
the  plans  best  suited  for  the  purpose  will  be  duly  considered;  each  bid 
must  state  the  time  required  for  the  construction  of  the  bridge,  accord- 
ing to  the  plans  submitted,  and  will  state  the  period  within  which  the 
bidder  will  complete  the  bridge,  and  the  character  of  substructure 
which  should  be  of  crib-work  or  piling  resting  on  mudsills.  Pine 
timber  in  abundance  is  within  forty-five  (45)  miles  of  the  point.12 

The  Department  of  the  Platte  received  eleven  bids  on  August 
10.  Three  of  these  were  from  regular  bridge  builders  and  con- 
sidered worthy  of  a  second  look.  Assistant  Quartermaster  Daniel 
H.  Rucker  forwarded  the  papers  to  the  Division  of  the  Missouri  on 
August  15  and  recommended  that  the  bid  of  the  King  Bridge  and 
Manufacturing  Company  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  be  accepted.18 


8.  Steele  to  Belknap,  February  26,  1874,  RWD. 

9.  E.  O.  C.  Ord  to  Headquarters,  Division  of  the  Missouri,  March   12, 
1874,  RWD. 

10.  W.  W.  Belknap  to  War  Department,  June  3,  1874,  RWD. 

11.  W.  W.  Belknap  to  Lt.  General  Sheridan,  June  24,  1874,  RWD. 

12.  Newspaper  clipping  found  in  RWD. 

13.  Rucker  to  Assistant  Adjutant  General,  Division  of  Missouri,  August 
15,  1874,  RWD. 


140  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Owned  by  Zenas  and  James  King,  the  King  Bridge  Company  had 
been  in  business  since  1858.11  John  K.  Manchester  represented 
the  company  and  delivered  the  bids  in  Omaha.  The  King  plan 
called  for  an  iron  truss  bridge  of  three  spans  which  would  total 
420  feet.  Priced  at  $25  per  lineal  foot,  the  bridge  would  cost 
$10,500,  and  Assistant  Quartermaster  Rucker  felt  the  $4,500  left 
over  from  the  appropriation  would  more  than  cover  the  cost  of  the 
substructure  and  other  additional  expenses.  Rucker  also  recom- 
mended that  an  army  engineer  supervise  all  work  done  by  the 
contractor  and  the  government.15 

General  Sheridan  forwarded  the  bids  to  the  War  Department  on 
August  17,  recommending  that  the  King  proposal  be  accepted,16 
and  on  November  12,  Chief  Quartermaster  Perry  signed  a  contract 
with  the  Kings  for  the  bridge.17 

After  the  contract  had  been  awarded,  one  of  the  unsuccessful 
bidders,  Henry  T.  Clarke  of  Bellevue,  Nebraska,  wrote  his  con- 
gressman and  charged  that  undue  influence  had  been  used  by  the 
King  Company.18  He  based  his  charge  on  a  letter  received  from 
another  unsuccessful  bidder,  A.  W.  Hubbard  of  Omaha,  who  re- 
counted a  meeting  with  John  Manchester  on  the  evening  of  Novem- 
ber 1  in  the  Grand  Central  Hotel.  Hubbard  stated  that  Manchester 
told  him  that  he  was  personally  acquainted  with  the  officers  who 
opened  the  bids  and  had  "set  up  champagne"  for  them  in  return  for 
which  they  promised  to  do  all  they  could  for  the  King  Company 
proposal.19 

Representative  Crounse  of  Nebraska  wrote  Belknap  and  de- 
manded an  investigation.  If  undue  influence  had  been  used, 
Crounse  wanted  the  bidding  reopened.20  In  subsequent  corre- 
spondence between  the  War  Department  and  the  parties  involved, 
Manchester  denied  the  accusation  as  did  J.  H.  Belcher,  an  assistant 
quartermaster  who  opened  the  bids  in  the  absence  of  General  Perry 
of  August  10.21  The  War  Department  dropped  the  matter  at  that 
point  and  confirmed  the  validity  of  the  contract. 

The  King  Company  shipped  the  fabricated  bridge  by  rail  to 
Cheyenne,  and  in  early  February,  1875,  wagons  filled  with  iron 
beams  and  girders  headed  for  Fort  Laramie.22     According  to  the 


14.  Information  supplied  by  the  Postmaster  of  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

15.  Rucker  to  Assistant  Adjutant  General,  August  15,  1874. 

16.  General  E.  D.  Townsend  to  War  Department,  August  21,   1874, 
RWD. 

17.  Contract  in  RWD. 

18.  Henry  T.  Clarke  to  S.  Crounse,  December  10,  1874,  RWD. 

19.  A.  W.  Hubbard  to  Henry  T.  Clarke,  December  3,  1874,  RWD. 

20.  S.  Crounse  to  W.  W.  Belknap,  December  15,  1874,  RWD. 

21.  John  R.  Manchester  to  General  A.  J.  Perry,  February  10,  1875;  J.  H. 
Belcker  to  General  Perry,  February  15,   1875,  RWD. 

22.  Agnes   Wright   Spring,    The   Cheyenne   and   Black    Hills   Stage    and 
Express  Routes  (Glendale,  California,  1949),  53. 


FORT  LARAMIE'S  IRON   BRIDGE  141 

editor  of  the  Cheyenne  Daily  Leader,  work  on  the  piers  and  abut- 
ments would  have  to  wait  until  after  high  water  so  the  bridge  would 
not  be  completed  until  August  or  September.  However,  he  assured 
freighters  that  the  Platte  could  still  be  crossed  safely  as  the  quar- 
termaster of  Fort  Laramie  was  getting  a  ferry  in  readiness.-15 

Fort  Laramie's  commanding  officer  received  instructions  from 
the  Assistant  General  of  the  Department  of  the  Platte  to  quarry 
stone  for  the  substructure  of  the  bridge  when  requested  to  do  so 
by  the  Chief  Quartermaster.-4  Work  on  the  substructure  probably 
began  in  late  July  when  the  level  of  the  North  Platte  returned  to 
normal.  Captain  William  S.  Stanton  of  the  Army  Engineers  super- 
vised the  construction.-"' 

Operating  under  rather  primitive  conditions,  workers  ran  into 
considerable  difficulty.  One  span  broke  loose  and  had  to  be 
raised  from  the  waters  of  the  Platte.-"  Most  free  hands  in  the 
neighborhood  found  the  prospect  of  panning  for  gold  in  the  Black 
Hills  more  stimulating  than  working  for  wages,  and  the  army  had 
to  furnish  twelve  men  as  laborers  in  mid-October  to  insure  com- 
pletion of  the  bridge.27 

On  November  20,  the  editor  of  the  Leader  proclaimed  that  the 
bridge  over  the  Platte  should  be  considered  a  thing  accomplished 
for  the  second  span  had  been  raised  on  the  1 2th  and  the  third  span 
would  be  in  place  by  the  end  of  the  month. -s  The  editor  reported 
on  the  30th  that  the  army  had  finished  the  bridge  except  for  the 
approaches  from  each  shore  which  he  estimated  would  take  another 
six  days.  He  stated  that  wagons  could  use  the  structure  on  Decem- 
ber 8  and  praised  Delegate  Steele  for  his  "unyielding  efforts"  in  the 
state's  behalf.  He  felt  that  Cheyenne  was  stepping  into  an  era  of 
great  material  development,  for  the  bridge  would  make  the  city 
"the  great  entrepot  for  all  who  are  in  the  new  gold  regions  and  all 
others  who  propose  to  go  to  the  Black  Hills  in  the  future. "29 

During  the  middle  of  December,  Engineer  Stanton  inspected  the 
bridge  by  leaving  thirteen  army  wagons  loaded  with  stone  on  each 
of  the  arches  for  several  days.  According  to  the  Cheyenne  news- 
paper, "the  bridge  stood  this  severe  test  without  showing  a  sign 


23.  Cheyenne  Daily  Leader,  February  22,  1875. 

24.  Assistant  Adjutant  General  to  Fort  Laramie  Commanding  Officer, 
May  10,  1875,  Department  of  the  Platte  File  Book  26,  Records  of  Adjutant 
General,  Washington,  D.  C. 

25.  Maynard  C.  Allen,  "1875  Bridge",  in  Engineers  Bulletin  (January, 
1940),  1. 

26.  Interview  of  Johnny  O'Brien  by  Merrill  Mattes,  Fort  Laramie,  June 
28,  1946. 

27.  L.  P.  Bradley  to  Adjutant  General,  Department  of  the  Platte,  October 
12,  1875,  Letter  Book  70,  Department  of  the  Platte,  RAG. 

28.  Cheyenne  Daily  Leader,  November  20,  1875. 

29.  Cheyenne  Daily  Leader,  November  30,  1875. 


142  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

of  weakness."30  The  army,  however,  didn't  officially  accept  the 
bridge  until  February.31 

The  completed  bridge  found  favor  in  the  eyes  of  emigrants  and 
soldiers.  Three  spans  humped  the  river,  and  each  was  140  feet  in 
length.  The  trusses  were  about  12  feet  from  center  to  center.  The 
three  top  chords  were  made  of  8  inch  channels  riveted  to  two  3/8 
inch  by  10  inch  plates  while  the  bottom  chords  were  common  I 
bars.  Web  members  were  cross  shaped  and  adjustable.  Workers 
formed  the  piers  out  of  four  8  inch  I  bars  sloped  from  bottom  to 
top.32 

The  bridge  bolstered  the  claim  that  the  Cheyenne  to  Deadwood 
route  was  the  best  one  to  the  Black  Hills,  and  assuaged  the  fears  of 
those  who  thought  the  government  might  not  open  the  gold  regions 
for  settlement.  It  had  been  one  thing  to  sneak  into  the  Hills  on 
foot,  but  it  was  an  entirely  different  matter  for  wagons  to  rumble 
across  the  new  bridge  and  the  sacred  hunting  grounds.33  Lt.  John 
Bourke  commented  on  the  increase  in  travel  past  Fort  Laramie 
soon  after  the  bridge  had  been  accepted: 

From  this  point  and  on  the  road  saw  many  adventurers  journeying  to 
the  Black  Hills  their  wagons  and  animals  looked  new  and  good  as  a 

general  thing The  reason  the  Cheyenne  route  is  preferred  is  the 

new  iron  bridge  across  the  North  Platte  .  .  .  which  gives  us  secure 
passage  not  found  on  the  other  trails  leading  out  from  Sidney,  North 
Platte  and  elsewhere. H4 

The  iron  bridge  also  influenced  the  establishment  of  a  stage  line 
soon  to  become  immortal  in  the  annals  of  the  West.35  The  safe 
passage  the  bridge  afforded  lured  stage  magnates  toward  Cheyenne, 
and  on  February  3,  1876,  the  first  coach  of  the  Cheyenne  and 
Black  Hills  Stage,  Mail,  and  Express  line  rolled  out  of  the  territorial 
capital  and  for  eleven  years  carried  adventures  over  the  bridge  and 
into  the  promised  gold  fields. 

Cheyenne  businessmen,  aware  of  outfitting  profits,  advertised 
the  route  and  assured  customers  that  the  road  was  well  guarded. 
The  Union  Pacific  Railroad  representative  in  Omaha  added  his 
voice  in  agreement.  The  ticket  agent,  Thomas  L.  Kimball,  pre- 
pared a  circular  which  praised  the  road  over  those  leading  from 


30.  Cheyenne  Doily  Leader,  December  20,  1875.  The  newspaper  may 
have  stretched  the  point  a  bit  for  John  Hunton  claimed  that  one  of  the  piers 
settled  slightly  under  the  tremendous  weight  and  had  to  be  rebuilt.  L.  G. 
Flannery,  ed..  John  Hunton's  Diary,  1873-75,  Vol.  I  (Lingle,  Wyoming, 
1956).  52. 

31.  Spring,  Cheyenne  and  Black  Hills  Sta^e,  42. 

32.  Allen,  "1875  Bridge",  1. 

33.  Spring,  Cheyenne  and  Black  Hills  Stage,  76-77. 

34.  Quoted  in  J.  W.  Vaughn,  The  Reynolds  Campaign  on  Powder  River 
(Norman.  Oklahoma,  1961),  16. 

35.  Spring,  Cheyenne  and  Black  Hills  Stage,  42. 


FORT  LARAMIE'S  IRON  BRIDGE  143 

Sidney  and  North  Platte.  Kimball  mentioned  the  bridge  and  gave 
additional  reasons  for  advocating  the  Cheyenne  route.  He  stated 
that  it  was  presently  the  main  road  to  the  Black  Hills,  four  military 
forts  or  encampments  guarded  its  length,  the  telegraph  which  had 
to  be  protected  paralleled  it,  and  stage  companies  had  constructed 
little  stations  about  every  ten  or  fifteen  miles  all  the  way  to  Dead- 
wood.  3e  He  forgot  to  mention  the  fact  that  the  railroad  fare  from 
Omaha  to  Cheyenne  was  greater  than  the  fare  from  Omaha  to 
Sidney  or  North  Platte. 

In  the  beginning,  the  army  exacted  tolls  from  non-government 
users.  The  commanding  officer  of  Fort  Laramie  felt  that  since 
fully  one-half  of  the  travel  would  consist  of  citizens  engaged  in 
freighting,  and  since  the  heavy  wagons  would  cause  a  great  deal 
of  wear  and  tear  on  the  bridge,  a  fee  should  be  charged.  The 
money  collected  could  be  used  for  making  necessary  repairs. 

On  February  17,  the  Secretary  of  War  informed  Congress  that  a 
system  of  tolls  had  been  established  and  requested  that  a  law  be 
passed  giving  the  post  commander  authority  to  use  the  money  for 
repairs  on  the  bridge.  Normally,  fees  collected  by  government 
agencies  automatically  returned  to  the  general  treasury.37  Con- 
gress denied  the  request.38 

By  May  1 ,  Chief  Quartermaster  Meigs  and  other  high  officials  in 
Washington  agreed  that  it  was  a  blunder  to  charge  a  fee  for  the  use 
of  the  bridge.  General  Sherman  recommended  that  the  toll  be 
abolished,  the  Secretary  of  War  concurred  on  the  7th,  and  shortly 
thereafter  citizens  crossed  without  charge. 39 

The  bridge  served  the  army  faithfully  for  fifteen  years.  By 
1890,  Fort  Laramie  had  outlived  its  usefulness.  Covered  wagons 
were  a  thing  of  the  past,  railroads  bypassed  the  post,  and  Fort 
Robinson  dominated  Indian  control.  On  March  2,  the  last  regular 
garrison  left  Fort  Laramie  for  Fort  Logan,  Colorado,  and  on  April 
9,  the  army  sold  the  buildings  and  fixtures  at  public  auction.40 

On  April  13,  J.  M.  Carey,  Wyoming's  territorial  representative, 
wrote  Redfield  Proctor,  Secretary  of  War,  and  asked  that  the  iron 
bridge  together  with  two  wooden  bridges  over  the  Laramie  be 
turned  over  to  the  county.  Carey  remarked  that  the  bridges  would 
probably  bring  little  if  sold  and  they  would  be  indispensable  in  the 
movement  of  troops  between  Fort  Russell  and  Fort  Robinson.41 


36.  Circular  attached  as  fold  out  to  back  page  of  Triggs,   History   of 
Cheyenne  and  Northern  Wyoming. 

37.  Senate  Executive  Document  No.  27,  44th  Congress,  1st  session. 

38.  House  of  Representatives  Report  No.  829,  44th  Congress,  1st  session. 

39.  General  Sherman  to  Secretary  of  War,  May  1,  1876.  RWD. 

40.  Leroy  Hafen  and  Francis  Young,  Fort  Laramie  and  the  Pageant  of 
the  West,  1834-1890  (Glendale,  California,  1938),  394. 

41.  Mattes  and  Borresen,  "Historic  Approaches",  55. 


144  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Proctor  wired  the  Department  of  the  Platte  to  request  that  the 
bridges  be  withdrawn  from  sale.42  He  received  a  reply  on  April  16 
informing  him  that  although  the  auction  had  already  taken  place, 
the  bridges  had  not  been  sold.43 

Proctor  wired  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  John  Noble,  on  May 
3,  informing  him  that  he  planned  to  issue  a  revocable  license  and 
wished  to  know  if  there  were  any  objections.44  Secretary  Noble 
replied  on  May  1 5  supporting  the  move.45  Proctor  sent  the  neces- 
sary papers  to  Carey  on  May  20,  and  after  the  signatures  of  county 
authorities  had  been  obtained,  the  license  was  granted  on  June  5.4(i 
The  President  of  the  United  States  transferred  the  Fort  Laramie 
military  reservation  to  the  Department  of  the  Interior  on  June  10.47 

The  citizens  of  Laramie  County  wished  to  obtain  more  formal 
control  of  the  bridges  and  managed  to  get  a  bill  introduced  in 
Congress  for  the  purpose.  On  June  4,  1894,  Congress  passed  the 
bill  which  donated  the  bridges  to  Laramie  County  on  the  condition 
that  the  county  keep  them  "in  repair  and  open,  free  of  charge,  for 
the  use  of  the  traveling  public  and  the  military  authorities  of  the 
United  States."  If  the  county  failed  to  conform  to  the  provisions 
of  the  law,  the  bridges  automatically  reverted  to  the  United  States.48 
In  1911,  when  Goshen  County  was  formed  out  of  Laramie  County, 
the  bridge  came  under  its  jurisdiction. 

The  bridge  over  the  Platte  functioned  perfectly  for  many  years; 
in  fact,  automobiles  and  heavy  trucks  crossed  the  structure  until 
1958  when  Goshen  County  constructed  a  new  concrete  bridge  a 
few  yards  north.  On  September  6,  1961,  the  Goshen  County  com- 
missioners, in  a  public  spirited  move,  waived  all  rights  to  the 
bridge  so  it  would  revert  to  the  United  States. 4!l  The  bridge  is  now 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  National  Park  Service  at  Fort  Laramie 
National  Historic  Site  where  it  will  be  preserved  and  protected  for 
the  benefit  of  the  American  people. 


42.  Secretary  Proctor  to  Quartermaster  Gillis,  Department  of  the  Platte, 
April  15.  RWD. 

43.  Quartermaster  Gillis  to  Secretary  Proctor,  April  16,  1890,  RWD. 

44.  Secretary  Proctor  to  Secretary  Noble,  May  3,  1890,  RWD. 

45.  Secretary  Noble  to  Secretary  Proctor,  May  15,  1890,  RWD. 

46.  Secretary  Proctor  to  Representative  Carey,  June  6,  1890,  RWD. 

47.  General  Orders  No.  60,  Headquarters  of  the  Army,  June  10,   1890, 
RWD. 

48.  28  Stat.,  91  of  June  4,  1894. 

49.  Original  at  Fort  Laramie  National  Historic  Site. 


Zke  fortifications 
of  Old  fort  £  a  ramie 

By 

Gordon  S.  Chappell 

In  the  turbulent  years  of  peace  following  the  War  of  1812,  the 
leaders  of  the  United  States  formulated  new  policies,  both  domestic 
and  foreign,  which  were  to  govern  the  Nation's  actions  for  many 
years  to  come.  In  the  military  sphere  two  new  ideas  developed 
which  were  intended  to  encircle  the  country  with  a  defensive  ring 
of  fortifications. 

The  first  of  these  ideas — coastal  defense — was  a  reaction  to 
successful  British  landings  on  our  shores  in  the  recent  war,  in  par- 
ticular, the  British  invasion  of  Chesapeake  Bay  and  the  attacks  on 
Fort  McHenry,  Baltimore,  and  the  Nation's  capitol.  New  forts 
were  planned  to  guard  every  bay,  inlet,  and  river  that  emptied  into 
the  Atlantic  Ocean  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

The  second  new  facet  of  military  strategy  developed  more  slowly 
as  a  result  of  more  obscure  events,  but  became  equally  fixed  and 
dogmatic  in  the  Nation's  mind.  This  was  the  concept,  doomed 
even  before  it  was  completely  formulated,  of  a  "permanent"  west- 
ern frontier  centered  along  the  Mississippi-Missouri  Basins  and 
stretching  from  Lake  Superior  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  It  was 
partially  a  result  of  the  equally  ridiculous  notion  that  all  of  the 
land  immediately  west  of  this  line,  because  it  seemed  to  consist 
largely  of  treeless,  grass-covered  plains  and  barren  deserts,  was 


This  article  is  a  by-product  of  the  author's  work  as  a  seasonal  ranger- 
historian  at  Fort  Laramie  National  Historic  Site  in  1960  and  1961.  It  could 
not  have  been  done  without  the  wholehearted  cooperation  of  National  Park 
Service  personnel.  Superintendent  Charles  Sharp  not  only  made  possible 
the  research,  which  I  did  on  my  own  time  in  addition  to  my  formal  duties, 
but  also  provided  great  encouragement.  Mr.  Merrill  Mattes.  NPS  Historian 
for  Region  Two,  based  in  Omaha,  was  kind  enough  to  read  the  article  and 
provide  many  valuable  suggestions  towards  its  improvement.  Vigorous  and 
stimulating  discussions  of  architectural  matters  with  Dr.  Robert  H.  Gann 
were,  more  than  any  other  factor,  responsible  for  my  starting  work  in  the 
first  place.  Recent  work  by  Fort  Laramie  Historian  John  McDermott  pro- 
vided new  insight  into  many  facets  of  Fort  Laramie's  history.  Museum 
Curator  Rex  Wilson  afforded  valuable  archaeological  assistance.  I  must 
also  mention  Sally  Johnson,  William  Jeffreys,  Lois  Woodard,  and  Slim 
Warthen,  all  of  whom  played  supporting  roles  in  this  endeavor.  My  sincer- 
est  thanks  to  them  all. 

— Gordon  S.  Chappell 


146  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

infertile  or  sterile,  entirely  unsuited  to  farming.  The  eastern  farmer 
and  settler  had  found  it  necessary  to  cut  acres  of  trees  and  burn  out 
the  stumps;  had  found  it  necessary  to  clear  the  land  before  he  could 
farm.  He  equated  fertility  with  virgin  forests,  sterility  with  treeless 
ground.  Now  he  faced  a  new  land  and  was  fooled  by  it;  thus 
Americans  could  ignore  the  fertility  of  the  plains  which  was  evident 
in  their  rich  though  treeless  growth.  This  western  land,  the  people 
and  their  shortsighted  leaders  decided,  could  be  deeded  permanent- 
ly to  the  Indians,  since  it  was  inconceivable  that  Americans  would 
ever  want  it  or  could  ever  use  it.  Indeed,  even  eastern  Indians, 
such  as  the  Cherokees  and  the  Seminoles,  could  be  forcibly  moved 
into  this  country,  and  a  military  frontier  of  strong  forts  could  sep- 
arate it  from  the  civilized  portion  of  the  Nation. 

Even  as  this  policy  was  being  implemented  there  were  portents 
of  its  failure  in  the  Western  fur  trade,  the  rich  trade  across  the 
Santa  Fe  Trail  with  Mexico,  and  the  growing  American  settlement 
of  Texas.  And  in  Oregon  Country,  Americans  discovered  another 
land  like  that  they  had  known,  a  land  of  rolling  tree-covered  hills, 
incredibly  fertile,  they  believed,  free  for  the  asking  and  the  cost 
of  the  trip  across  half  a  continent.  So  wagons  cut  their  way  across 
the  fertile  soil  of  the  prairies,  the  alkali  of  the  deserts,  and  the  rocks 
of  the  mountains,  and  the  deepening  scar  on  the  land  was  called 
the  Oregon  Trail. 

By  1  846,  ownership  of  Oregon  Country  was  disputed  by  En- 
gland and  the  United  States.  Congress  quickly  authorized  three 
military  posts,  Forts  Kearny,  Laramie,  and  Hall,  along  the  Oregon 
Trail.  Their  mission  was  to  guard  a  military  line  of  supply  to 
Oregon  as  well  as  to  protect  and  encourage  emigration.  Congress 
also  established  a  special  regiment  of  cavalry,  to  be  known  as  the 
"Regiment  of  Mountain  Rifles",  which  was  intended  to  build  these 
three  posts,  garrison  them,  and  seize  and  hold  Oregon  against  the 
British. 

Before  this  task  could  be  accomplished,  statesmen  worked  out  a 
temporary  compromise  with  England,  and  at  the  other  end  of  the 
western  border,  failed  to  work  out  a  compromise  with  Mexico. 
The  Mounted  Rifles  became  involved  in  the  Mexican  War  and  it 
was  not  until  this  war  was  concluded,  in  1849,  that  the  Rifles  could 
turn  to  their  original  task.  The  treaty  with  England  had  post- 
poned, not  resolved,  the  argument  over  Oregon,  and  meanwhile 
there  were  emigrants  to  help  and  protect  from  the  Indians. 

This  was  a  new  Army,  using  new  tactics;  it  had  been  tempered 
and  tested  in  Mexico,  but  though  it  had  won,  it  still  had  faults.  It 
had  an  element  of  senility,  and  also  the  youthful  vigor  of  Southern 
gentlemen  in  its  cadre  of  officers.  Cavalry  had  been  abolished 
after  the  War  of  1812  but  had  been  reintroduced  in  1833  in  the 
form  of  dragoons,  and  now  the  Dragoons  and  Mounted  Rifles  had 
perfected  their  tactics  and  were  effective  and  impressive.  Yet 
commanders  did  not  know  how  to  use  their  mounted  troops  against 


THE  FORTIFICATIONS  OF  OLD  FORT  LARAMIE  147 

the  Indians.  They  believed  that  the  dragoons  and  rifles  should 
march  and  patrol  the  wilderness  in  the  summer,  but  return  to 
civilization  and  hibernate  during  the  winter. 

The  old  form  of  stockaded  military  post  was  no  longer  universal- 
ly practical  on  the  frontier.  The  old  building  materials — logs  for 
stockades  and  buildings — were  seldom  abundant  at  new  military 
sites.  Fort  Laramie  was  to  be  one  of  the  first  of  these  new  military 
posts  in  the  Trans-Mississippi  Frontier,  and  its  evolution  set,  in 
many  respects,  the  pattern  for  the  western  military  posts  yet  to  be 
built.  Fort  Laramie  lacked  permanent  fortifications,  and  its  con- 
struction, particularly  in  the  realm  of  defensive  measures,  provides 
a  general  picture  of  the  western  frontier  military  post  as  well  as  a 
fascinating  view  of  men  and  ideas  facing  a  new  frontier. 

On  June  17,  1849,  Major  Winslow  F.  Sanderson,  Regiment  of 
Mounted  Rifles,  rode  up  to  the  eroded  adobe  walls  of  the  fur  trade 
post  called  Fort  Laramie  with  troops  for  its  first  military  garrison. 
He  knew  that  he  was  not  the  first  Army  officer  to  arrive  there;  he 
knew  that  1st  Lieutenant  Daniel  P.  Woodbury,  Corps  of  Engineers, 
had  preceded  him  up  the  old  Oregon  Trail.1 

These  two  officers  were  under  orders  to  locate  a  suitable  site 
and  begin  construction  of  a  new  military  post  somewhere  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  existing  American  Fur  Company  establishment  on 
the  Laramie  River.  Two  days  after  his  arrival  at  this  decaying 
center  of  the  fur  trade,  Major  Sanderson  reported  to  the  assistant 
adjutant  general  in  St.  Louis:  "'This  was  found  to  be  the  most 
eligible  (site)  for  a  Military  Post,  and  was  purchased  at  my  request 
on  the  26th  Inst,  by  Lieut.  Woodbury,  at  a  cost  of  Four  Thousand 
Dollars  from  Mr.  Bruce  Husband,  Agent  of  the  American  Fur 
Company  .  .  .  ."2 

The  old  fur  company  fort  had  been  built  in  1841  to  replace  an 
even  earlier  cottonwood  log  structure,  and  was  named  Fort  John, 
after  John  Sarpy,  a  member  of  the  fur  company.  Later  it  was 
known  as  Fort  John-on-the-Laramie,  a  cumbersome  name  which 
either  passers-by  or  a  confused  fur  company  clerk  simply  shortened 


1.  Daniel  Phineas  Woodbury  was  appointed  to  the  Military  Academy  on 
July  1,  1832,  and  graduated  sixth  in  his  class.  Commissioned  a  2d  lieuten- 
ant in  the  3d  Artillery  on  November  1,  1836,  he  was  eventually  attached 
as  a  brevet  2nd  lieutenant  to  the  exclusive  Corps  of  Engineers.  Woodbury 
was  promoted  1st  lieutenant  in  the  Corps  on  July  7,  1938.  Francis  B.  Heit- 
man.  Historical  Register  and  Dictionary  of  the  United  States  Army.  Wash- 
ington: Government  Printing  Office;  1903.  When  he  came  to  Fort  Laramie 
in  1849,  Woodbury  was  also  in  charge  of  the  construction  of  Fort  Kearny, 
Nebraska.  See  letter  from  Asst.  Adjutant  General  D.  C.  Buell  to  Maj.  W.  F. 
Sanderson,  in  Fort  Laramie  Correspondence,  1849-1874.  Typescript  file  at 
Fort  Laramie  National  Historic  Site,  Wyoming. 

2.  LeRoy  Hafen  and  Marion  Young,  Fort  Laramie  and  the  Pageant  of 
the  West,  1834  -  1890.  Glendale:  The  Arthur  H.  Clark  Co.;  1938.  Pp. 
141-142. 


148  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

to  Fort  Laramie.  Fort  John3  was  situated  on  a  small  bluff  or 
plateau  and  the  Laramie  River,  from  which  the  fort  tooks  its  later 
name,  ran  around  the  south  and  east  sides,  flowing  a  mile  down- 
stream into  the  North  Platte.  Lieutenant  Woodbury  measured 
Fort  John  and  found  it  was  157  feet  on  an  east- west  axis  and  111 
feet  wide,  exclusive  of  the  blockhouses  on  the  northeast  and  south- 
west corners,  each  about  12  feet  square.4  Old  Fort  John's  rec- 
tangular adobe  wall  was  about  fifteen  feet  high,  and  by  1 849  it  was 
in  very  poor  condition. 

It  was  evident  from  the  beginning  that  a  post  this  small  and  in 
such  poor  shape  could  not  serve  the  Army  as  a  military  fort.  Thus 
the  officers  planned  to  use  the  old  fort  only  temporarily  as  store- 
houses, stables,  and  living  quarters.  Lieutenant  Woodbury  imme- 
diately began  to  lay  out  a  military  post  that  would  be  much  larger 
than  Fort  John. 

The  first  task  was  to  supply  living  quarters  for  military  person- 
nel. The  first  permanent  military  building  to  be  erected  in  1849 
was  a  two  story  double  block  of  officers'  quarters.  Later  used  as 
bachelor  officers'  quarters,  the  building  was  nicknamed  "Bedlam".5 

On  September  1 8  of  that  year,  a  second  engineer  officer  arrived 
at  Fort  Laramie  to  relieve  Lieutenant  Woodbury  of  some  of  his 
terrific  work  load.  The  newcomer  was  Brevet  2nd  Lieutenant 
Andrew  J.  Donelson.6  These  two,  Woodbury  and  Donelson,  were 
the  military  architects  who  in  the  next  year  and  a  half  designed  and 
began  construction  of  a  far  more  impressive  military  fort  than  ever 


3.  Hereafter,  the  term  "Fort  John"  will  designate  the  remains  of  the 
old  adobe  fur  trade  post  in  order  to  distinguish  it  from  the  rest  of  the 
military  post,  though  at  this  late  date  the  old  name  was  largely  forgotten. 

4.  Plan  Lar-2106  in  the  Fort  Laramie  N.H.S.  map  file.  This  plan  of  the 
post  was  drawn  up  by  Woodbury  in  1851. 

5.  This  building  had  quarters  or  "sets"  for  four  bachelor  officers,  two 
upstairs  and  two  downstairs,  but  until  1867  the  southern  half  served  as 
commanding  officers'  quarters  and  post  headquarters.  At  Fort  Leavenworth 
and  presumably  at  many  other  military  post  of  that  period,  bachelors' 
quarters  commonly  bore  the  sobriquet  "bedlam"  since  they  were  often  quite 
noisy  and  boisterous.  It  was  natural  that  soldiers  coming  to  Fort  Laramie 
from  Leavenworth  should  bring  that  nickname  with  them.  The  original 
main  block  of  Fort  Laramie's  "Bedlam"  stands  today.  Further  information 
is  contained  in  "Old  Bedlam",  by  Jess  Lombard,  Annals  of  Wyoming,  April, 
1941,  Vol.  13,  No.  2,  pp.  87-91,  and  in  a  manuscript  by  Merrill  J.  Mattes  in 
the  National  Park  Service  files,  entitled  "Surviving  Army  Structures  at  Fort 
Laramie."  At  the  present  time,  the  National  Park  Service  is  restoring  the 
Old  Bedlam  structure  and  furnishings  to  its  heydey  of  the  1860's. 

6.  Andrew  Jackson  Donelson  was  appointed  a  cadet  at  the  military 
academy  on  July  1,  1844,  and  graduated  second  in  his  class.  On  graduation, 
his  high  standing  entitled  him  to  assignment  to  the  elite  Corps  of  Engineers. 
Since  at  that  time  there  was  probably  no  vacancy  in  the  Corps  he  was 
attached  as  a  brevet  second  lieutenant  until  there  was  a  vacancy  which  per- 
mitted his  promotion  to  full  second  lieutenant,  which  occurred  on  October 
16,  1852.    Heitman,  op.  cit.,  p.  378. 


THE  FORTIFICATIONS  OF  OLD  FORT  LARAMIE  149 

was  completed.  If  Fort  Laramie  never  completely  deserved  the 
title  "fort",  it  was  certainly  not  the  fault  of  the  two  engineer 
officers! 

In  the  overall  plan  for  the  post  which  they  developed  in  the  next 
1 8  months,  Lieutenant  Woodbury  and  his  subordinate  envisioned  a 
wall  or  picket  stockade  around  Fort  Laramie.  The  northern  adobe 
wall  of  old  Fort  John  corresponded  with  a  portion  of  the  southern 
wall  of  Woodbury's  plan,  but  Woodbury's  fort  was  much  larger, 
enclosing  an  area  550  feet  wide  and  650  feet  long,  with  the  longer 
axis  running  slightly  northwest-southeast.  In  a  letter  Lieutenant 
Woodbury  wrote  to  explain  his  plan  of  the  post,  he  said  in  part: 

The  enclosure  may  be  made  by  a  fence  9  feet  high  or  by  a  rubble  wall 

of  the  same  height  laid  in  mortar,  at  the  discretion  of  the  commanding 

officer.     If  a  fence,  the  posts  should  be  about  10  feet  apart,  average 

12  inches  in  diameter  and  enter  four  feet  into  the  ground.    The  boards 

should  be  nailed  on  upright,  close  together,  to  three  horizontal  ribbons, 

in  pieces  4  inches  wide,  IVi  inch  thick,  and  pointed  at  the  top. 

If  a  wall  the  average  thickness  need  not  exceed  18  inches.7 

tion.     Each  was  to  have  a  lower  story  with  rough  stone  walls  17 

inches  thick.    Only  one  doorway  and  one  window  opened  into  this 

ground  floor,  both  facing  inside  the  stockade.    Woodbury  planned 

a  small  powder  magazine  in  each  blockhouse,  which  he  described 

in  the  accompanying  letter:    "In  the  lower  story  the  magazine  only 

Woodbury  estimated  the  cost  of  this  wall — "1200  cubic  yards  @ 
$10"— would  be  $12,000. 

The  engineers  planned  that  the  guardhouse  would  form  the 
northeast  corner  of  the  fortification,  and  this  building  was  actually 
erected  in  1850.  The  lower  story  was  stone  and  contained  five 
solitary  confinement  cells.8  In  the  upper  story,  of  frame  construc- 
tion, were  a  court  room  and  a  guard  room.  Diagonally  across  the 
post,  there  was  to  be  no  building  at  the  southwest  corner;  but  at 
the  other  two,  the  northwest  and  southeast,  the  architects  planned 
blockhouses  40  feet  long  and  30  feet  wide.!l 

Woodbury  submitted  detailed  plans  for  the  construction  of  these 
two  blockhouses.1"     They  were  to  be  identical,  except  in  orienta- 


7.  This  undated  letter  accompanied  Woodbury's  1851  plan  (Lar-2106) 
and  was  received  in  Washington  D.C.  in  August.  A  negative  photostat  of 
the  letter  accompanies  the  plan  in  the  National  Historic  Site  map  file.  There 
are  two  general  plans  for  the  post,  both  dated  1851,  in  that  map  file.  No. 
2105  was  drawn  by  Lieutenant  Donelson  and  No.  2106  was  drawn  by 
Lieutenant  Woodbury.  Donelson  showed  the  planned  blockhouses  with 
their  longer  side  running  east-west,  while  Woodbury  oriented  them  north- 
south. 

8.  The  brick  outlines  of  these  cells  can  be  seen  in  the  ruined  foundations 
of  that  building  today. 

9.  Plan  Lar-2106. 

10.  Plan  Lar-2108  in  the  N.H.S.  map  file.  Unless  otherwise  cited,  the 
description  of  the  blockhouses  is  from  this  plan. 


150  ANNALS   OF   WYOMING 

is  to  be  floored.  The  ceiling  over  the  magazine  must  be  made 
perfectly  tight  and  covered  with  several  inches  of  sand.  The  walls 
of  the  magazine  must  also  be  made  tight."11  Each  magazine  was 
to  be  6  feet  5  inches  by  12  feet  IVi  inches.  Near  the  magazine,  an 
interior  stairway  would  give  access  to  the  upper  story.1- 

The  upper  story  was  to  be  of  frame  construction  and  would 
overhang  the  lower  story  on  all  sides  by  20  inches.  This  upper 
floor  was  to  be  divided  into  two  rooms,  one  18  feet  long  and  the 
other  19  3/4  feet.  Each  room  was  to  have  an  artillery  piece  on 
a  casement  carriage.  The  southeast  blockhouse  would  have  one 
cannon  to  fire  to  the  south,  another  to  fire  to  the  east,  and  the 
northwest  blockhouse  would  have  cannon  to  fire  to  the  north  and 
west. 

In  addition  to  the  two  cannon  embrasures  in  each  blockhouse, 
Woodbury  provided  an  ample  number  of  loopholes  for  rifles. 
These  covered  not  only  the  outside  of  the  fort,  but  extended  all  the 
way  around  each  blockhouse  so  as  to  cover  the  interior  of  the 
enclosure  as  well.  This  made  each  blockhouse  independent  to  a 
certain  degree,  for  if  an  enemy  got  over  the  wall  and  inside  the 
stockade,  each  blockhouse  could  protect  itself  from  that  quarter 
also.  In  addition,  this  made  the  blockhouse  a  stronghold  in  case 
the  wall  or  stockade  was  never  built. 

The  extra  loopholes  would  also  serve  an  important  function  in 
providing  ventilation,  which  would  be  quite  a  problem  when  sol- 
diers were  firing  rifles  and  cannon  within  the  structure.  A  great 
deal  of  powder  smoke  would  collect  in  the  upper  rooms.  When 
not  needed,  Woodbury  wrote,  "All  the  loop-holes,  except  one  or 
two  on  the  sides  without  (cannon)  embrasures,  may  be  closed  by 
weather-boarding  .  .  .  which  may  be  cut  away  when  necessary.18 
Thus  he  provided  protection  from  the  weather  while  leaving  an 
opening  on  each  side  for  observation.  The  weatherboarding  (by 
this  Woodbury  meant  the  same  type  of  siding  he  had  used  on 
Bedlam )  would  be  nailed  on  the  outside  and  soldiers  on  the  inside 
could  knock  it  away  from  the  loopholes  with  the  butts  of  their 
rifles  when  necessary. 

Rifle  loopholes  and  cannon  embrasures  were  not  the  only  means 
of  defense  of  these  blockhouses.     Between  the  floor  joists  where 


11.  Woodbury's  letter  to  accompany  the  1851  plan  (Lar-2106). 

12.  Woodbury  planned  and  built  in  1850  a  much  larger  magazine  to 
serve  the  post.  As  this  main  magazine  appears  on  the  same  plans  that  show 
the  blockhouses,  it  is  evident  that  the  small  magazine  in  each  blockhouse 
was  intended  to  render  each  blockhouse  independent  of  the  main  ammuni- 
tion store.  The  larger  magazine  is  another  early  building  which  survives 
at  the  National  Historic  Site. 

13.  Woodbury's  letter  to  accompany  the  1851  plan  (Lar-2106). 


THE  FORTIFICATIONS  OF  OLD  FORT  LARAMIE  151 

the  upper  story  overlapped  the  lower,  Woodbury  planned  "Machi- 
coulis"14 or  machicolations,  a  term  applied  originally  to  the  open- 
ings in  ancient  castles  from  which  the  defenders  could  drop  molten 
lead,  stones,  or  burning  oil  directly  on  the  attackers  below.  At 
Fort  Laramie  these  openings  would  serve  a  similar  purpose  as  rifle 
ports  through  which  the  troops  could  fire  vertically  down  on  any 
Indians  who  attempted  to  gather  under  the  overhang  in  order  to 
set  fire  to  the  upper  floor  from  this  supposedly  protected  position. 
In  addition,  like  the  loopholes,  these  openings  would  provide 
needed  ventilation. 

Although  the  upper  story  of  both  blockhouses  was  to  be  of  frame 
construction,  Woodbury  planned  to  fill  the  spaces  between  the 
studding  with  adobe  bricks.1"'  This  he  had  already  done  in 
Bedlam,  and  some  of  the  original  adobe  bricks  remain  today  in  the 
frame  walls  of  that  structure.  The  adobe  undoubtedly  provided 
some  insulation  from  the  weather,  but  it  is  also  likely  that  it  was 
intended  to  insulate  defenders  from  enemy  bullets.  Woodbury 
did  not  rely  on  adobe  alone  for  this  purpose,  for  he  specified  on 
his  plans  that  the  walls  inside  were  to  be  covered  with  one  inch 
thick  boards  to  a  height  of  at  least  six  feet. 

Woodbury  and  Donelson  had  created  a  fine  plan  for  Fort  Lara- 
mie, but  in  addition  to  the  $12,000  wall,  each  blockhouse  would 
cost  an  estimated  $2,500,  and  the  total  cost  of  Woodbury's  pro- 
posed structures  he  estimated  would  be  $60,000. 1G  At  the  time 
this  plan  was  completed,  there  were  insufficient  buildings  to  house 
the  garrison  already  stationed  at  Fort  Laramie,  and  it  was  more 
important  to  get  a  roof  over  the  soldiers  and  their  supplies. 
Natural  elements,  not  Indians,  were  the  main  enemy  during  Fort 
Laramie's  first  years. 

Lieutenant  Woodbury's  plan  for  Fort  Laramie  was  traditional. 
The  main  elements  of  the  plan  were  the  blockhouses  and  the 
stockade,  and  these  had  been  the  main  elements  of  frontier  military 
posts  for  a  hundred  years.  But  up  to  this  time  most  frontier  posts 
had  been  built  in  heavily  wooded  country,  where  trees  had  to  be 
cleared  and  the  stumps  burned  out  before  even  post  vegetable 
gardens  could  be  planted.  Trees  had  always  been  handy  for  con- 
struction purposes. 

At  Fort  Laramie,  lumber  had  to  be  hauled  some  distance.  A 
few  trees  did  grow  in  sheltered  ridges  and  bluffs  along  the  rivers, 
but  none  of  these  sources  was  very  close.  The  nearest  dependable 
supply  of  timber  was  more  than  forty  miles  west  on  the  slopes  of 
Laramie  Peak. 


14.  Woodbury's  spelling  in  Plan  Lar-2108. 

15.  Plan  Lar-2108. 

16.  Woodbury's  letter  to  accompany  the  1851  plan  (Lar-2106). 


152  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

New  conditions  dictated  new  solutions.  The  garrison  wall  and 
the  two  blockhouses  were  never  built.  It  was  possible  to  build 
them,  but  it  was  neither  practical  nor  economical. 

There  was  an  additional  reason  why  the  fortifications  were  never 
completed.  In  November,  1850,  responsibility  for  construction  at 
Fort  Laramie  was  transferred  from  the  Corps  of  Engineers  to  the 
Quartermaster  Department,  apparently  with  Woodbury's  whole- 
hearted approval.17  Nevertheless,  Lieutenant  Woodbury  contin- 
ued work  until  he  had  completed  his  plans  for  the  post,  though 
some  of  this  was  done  in  the  East.  It  was  a  ruinous  division  of 
authority  to  have  planning  in  the  hands  of  one  department  and 
execution  of  plans  in  the  hands  of  another.  It  is  little  wonder  that 
Fort  Laramie  never  met  the  expectations  of  its  original  architects. 

Since  Woodbury's  fortifications  were  never  built,  Fort  Laramie's 
only  defense  was  the  decrepit  old  adobe  Fort  John.  At  least  it 
could  serve  as  a  redoubt  in  an  emergency.  But  for  several  years 
peace  continued,  and  there  seemed  no  urgent  need  for  defenses. 

On  the  afternoon  of  August  19,  1854,  a  glory-hunting  brevet 
second  lieutenant  named  John  Lawrence  Grattan  took  a  detach- 
ment of  29  infantrymen  out  of  Fort  Laramie  to  arrest  an  Indian 
who  had  killed  and  eaten  a  Mormon's  cow.  Between  the  two  of 
them,  Grattan  and  the  drunken  interpreter  managed  to  precipitate 
a  fight  in  which  the  command  was  totally  destroyed.  That  left  a 
garrison  at  Fort  Laramie,  about  eight  miles  west  of  the  battle  site, 
consisting  of  only  42  soldiers.18  Oddly  enough,  the  Brule  Sioux 
chiefs  tried  to  restrain  their  young  warriors  from  attacking  the  fort, 
fearing  reprisal.11' 

The  day  after  the  engagement,  August  29th,  L.  B.  Dougherty 
wrote:  "The  old  American  Fur  Company  fort  is  fixed  up  for  a 
last  resort.  A  small  blockhouse  is  being  erected  which  held  by  ten 
men,  will  add  greatly  to  the  strength  of  the  Post  and  protect  the 
frame  buildings  from  being  fired."20  If  a  new  blockhouse  was 
built,  it  could  not  have  been  a  very  substantial  structure,  for  it  does 


17.  In  a  letter  to  General  J.  C.  Totten,  the  Chief  Engineer,  dated  August 
2,  1851,  Woodbury  argued  that  the  Quartermaster  Department  was  prepared 
to  undertake  construction  of  buildings  in  the  far  West,  whereas  in  his 
opinion  the  Corps  of  Engineers  was  not.  He  wrote  that  ".  .  .  such  assign- 
ment of  Engineer  officers  is  not  consistent  with  public  convenience  and 
economy."  This  letter,  incidentally,  was  written  by  Woodbury  while  he 
was  at  Fort  Macon,  North  Carolina.  Fort  Laramie  Correspondence,  1849 — 
1874. 

18.  Hafen  and  Young,  op.  cit.  p.  231. 

19.  Heitman,  op.  cit.,  II,  p.  401. 

20.  Hafen  and  Young,  op.  cit.,  p.  230.  A  typescript  file  of  the  Dougherty 
Papers,  including  the  rest  of  the  letter  which  Hafen  does  not  quote,  is  in 
the  research  file  at  the  National  Historic  Site. 


THE  FORTIFICATIONS  OF  OLD  FORT  LARAMIE  153 

not  appear  on  a  plan  of  the  post  made  only  two  years  later.21  It  is 
more  likely  that  one  of  old  Fort  John's  blockhouses  was  hastily 
repaired,  although  it  is  possible  that  the  troops  temporarily  used 
some  other  structure,  such  as  the  stone  powder  magazine,  for  a 
redoubt. 

The  man  who  most  likely  became  the  backbone  of  any  defense 
preparations  was  Ordnance  Sergeant  Leodegar  Schnyder,  a  re- 
spected old  soldier  who  was  to  serve  at  Fort  Laramie  for  more 
than  37  years.22 

The  Army  retaliated  for  the  Grattan  affair  with  a  strong  expedi- 
tion the  following  year  under  General  Harney,  and  Fort  Laramie's 
garrison  was  substantially  strengthened.  Again  old  Fort  John  was 
allowed  to  fall  apart,  and  did  so  very  quickly.  Lieutenant  Kelton's 
plan  of  the  post  in  1856  shows  huge  gaps  in  the  wall  and  crumbling 
buildings.  An  1858  photograph  shows  two  of  the  walls  still 
standing,  but  one  of  them  was  heavily  braced  in  four  places.  The 
last  portion  of  the  fur  trade  post  was  demolished  in  1862  and  the 
adobe  bricks  were  supposedly  used  in  other  construction.23  During 
the  final  years  of  the  Civil  War,  Fort  Laramie  was  without  any 
formal  fortifications  and  did  not  have  even  a  redoubt  to  which  the 
garrison  could  retreat  in  time  of  need. 

After  the  Civil  War  broke  out,  the  Regular  Army  detachments 
at  Fort  Laramie  gradually  diminished  and  were  replaced  by  volun- 
teer troops.  Fort  Laramie  was  maintained  by  volunteer  units  from 
Kansas,  Iowa,  Ohio,  Nebraska,  California,  Michigan,  Missouri, 
and  as  far  away  as  West  Virginia.  By  1 864  they  had  their  hands 
full,  for  the  Indians  were  going  on  the  warpath. 

Fort  Laramie's  defenseless  position  was  clearly  demonstrated 


21.  Plan  Lar-2109  in  the  Fort  Laramie  N.H.S.  map  file.  This  plan  is 
undated  and  was  originally  thought  to  have  been  drawn  in  1854,  however  it 
was  signed  by  1st  Lieutenant  J.  C.  Kelton.  His  promotion  to  1st  lieutenant 
did  not  come  until  1855  (Heitman,  op.  cit.,  I,  590),  and  he  appears  to  have 
been  at  Fort  Laramie  for  the  first  time  in  1856  (Fort  Laramie  Correspond- 
ence). 

22.  Schnyder  was  born  at  Sursee,  Switzerland,  on  April  29,  1813.  He 
worked  as  a  draftsman  and  book  binder  until  1837  when  he  joined  the  6th 
Infantry  and  was  sent  to  the  Seminole  War  in  Florida.  Schnyder  was  1st 
sergeant  of  Company  G  when  that  company  was  sent  to  Fort  Laramie  in 
1849.  On  Dec.  1.  1852,  he  was  appointed  Ordnance  Sergeant  for  Fort 
Laramie.  See  Louise  Nottingham,  Sergt.  Leodegar  Schnyder,  2  page  typed 
manuscript  at  Fort  Laramie.  Company  sergeants  and  regimental  sergeants 
moved  with  their  outfits  from  one  post  to  another,  but  ordnance  sergeants 
were  assigned  to  military  posts  and  remained  there  until  transferred  or 
discharged. 

23.  Schell,  H.  S.,  Medical  History  of  Post,  Records  of  the  Office  of  the 
Adjutant  General.  Typescript  copy  at  Fort  Laramie  N.H.S.  This  portion 
of  the  Medical  History  was  written  in  1868,  largely  from  information  sup- 
plied by  Ordnance  Sergeant  Schnyder. 


154  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

one  day  in  late  summer  of  1864.  A  cavalry  detachment  returned 
to  the  post  after  a  three  day  scout  of  the  surrounding  country, 
dismounted,  and  let  their  horses  roll  and  play  on  the  parade  ground 
while  they  returned  the  saddles  and  bridles  to  the  stables.  While 
the  soldiers  reported  to  the  commanding  officer  that  there  were  no 
Indians  within  25  miles  of  Fort  Laramie,  a  band  of  about  30 
Indians  dashed  through  and  stole  the  horses  right  off  the  parade 
ground,  in  the  middle  of  the  astonished  garrison,  and  completely 
escaped.1'4  This  was  not  a  serious  attack,  and  there  were  no 
casualties  on  either  side,  but  it  certainly  illustrated  the  defenseless 
condition  of  the  post.  Needless  to  say,  a  garrison  wall  or  stockade 
would  have  made  that  raid  impossible. 

After  a  fanatic  colonel  named  John  Milton  Chivington  attacked 
a  peaceful  village  of  Cheyenne  and  Arapaho  Indians  near  the 
Arkansas  River  in  Colorado  Territory  in  November,  1864,  the 
Cheyenne  Nation  went  to  war  and  with  its  allies  started  moving 
north  toward  the  hunting  grounds  of  the  Powder  River  country. 
The  hostile  warriors  sacked  and  burned  the  entire  town  of  Jules- 
burg,  attacked  nearby  Fort  Rankin,  and  generally  tore  up  all 
travel  and  communication  along  the  Platte  River. 

On  February  4,  1865,  the  Cheyennes  and  their  Sioux  allies 
attacked  the  small  telegraph  station  at  Mud  Springs,  which  at  that 
time  contained  nine  soldiers  and  five  civilians.25  The  telegrapher 
pounded  out  a  call  for  help  and  the  response  at  Fort  Laramie  was 
immediate.  The  nearest  help  for  Mud  Springs  was  55  miles  away 
at  Camp  Mitchell,  near  Scottsbluff.  At  Fort  Laramie,  50  miles 
further  west,  Colonel  William  Oliver  Collins  was  the  ranking 
officer.  Collins  immediately  telegraphed  Camp  Mitchell  and 
ordered  Lieutenant  Ellsworth  to  march  with  all  the  men  he  could 
spare — 37  soldiers  as  it  turned  out. 

Colonel  Collins  himself  rode  out  of  Fort  Laramie  at  7  p.m.  that 
evening  at  the  head  of  a  strong  detachment  of  120  cavalrymen. 
The  troops  rode  all  night  through  the  freezing  cold,  but  had  to  rest 
the  next  day.  Collins  then  gallantly  pressed  ahead  of  his  main 
command  with  25  picked  men  and  after  a  forced  march,  arrived 
at  the  station  at  2  a.m.  on  the  6th  of  February.  He  found  the 
situation  more  serious  than  he  had  imagined,  and  shortly  before 
the  Cheyennes  cut  the  wire,  he  telegraphed  to  Fort  Laramie  for 
reinforcements  and  an  artillery  piece. 

Collins  had  left  Major  Thomas  L.  Mackey  in  command  of  a 


24.  Eugene  F.  Ware,  The  Indian  War  of  1864.  Topeka:  Crane  &  Com- 
pany; 1911.  Pp.  286-290.  An  officer  of  the  7th  Iowa  Cavalry  at  the  time, 
Ware  witnessed  the  attack  and  took  part  in  the  pursuit  of  the  Indians.  The 
pursuit  was  fruitless. 

25.  Agnes  Wright  Spring,  Casper  Collins.  New  York:  Columbia  Uni- 
versity Press;  1927.    p.  61. 


THE  FORTIFICATIONS  OF  OLD  FORT  LARAMIE  155 

greatly  reduced  garrison  at  Fort  Laramie,  and  Mackey  took  steps 
to  tighten  up  the  post.  The  day  after  Collins  left  he  relieved  17 
men  from  duty  that  was  not  absolutely  necessary  and  ordered  them 
to  report  immediately  to  their  companies.-"  He  ordered  company 
commanders  to  see  that  each  man  was  properly  armed  and  supplied 
with  ammunition.27  On  the  following  Monday,  February  6th, 
Collins'  telegram  was  received  and  Lieutenant  Brown  left  with  one 
of  Fort  Laramie's  four  cannon  and  a  command  of  52  men.2* 

The  departure  of  this  second  detachment  left  Fort  Laramie  with 
a  dangerously  reduced  garrison.  Major  Mackey  decided  to  fortify 
the  post  as  well  as  he  could.  Commencing  at  once,  his  troops  con- 
structed in  the  succeeding  days  three  battery  emplacements,  and 
probably  at  this  time  linked  the  defense  batteries  together  with  a 
defense  trench. 

One  battery  was  constructed  under  the  command  of  Ordnance 
Sergeant  Leodegar  Schnyder,  always  a  man  who  could  be  relied 
upon  in  time  of  danger,  and  it  was  quite  appropriately  named  after 
him.  Soldiers  from  companies  "C"  and  "I",  1 1th  Ohio  Volunteer 
Cavalry,  began  work  on  this  battery  on  the  same  day  that  Collins' 
telegram  reached  Fort  Laramie.  On  the  following  day,  Tuesday, 
the  battery  was  manned  by  nine  men;  it  was  apparently  ready  for 
action. 29 

Another  artillery  emplacement  was  built  at  the  same  time  under 
the  direction  of  Quartermaster  Sergeant  J.  C.  Cummings,  for  whom 
it  was  named.  Like  Battery  Schnyder,  Battery  Cummings  was 
manned  on  February  7,  by  ten  men.80 

There  is  no  indication  who  directed  construction  of  the  third 
battery,  which  was  ready  a  day  later  than  the  other  two.  It  was 
called  Battery  Harrington,  however,  and  following  the  practice  of 


26.  Orders  No.  148.  Feb.  5,  1865.  In  Fort  Laramie  Orders,  Oct.  1864 
to  Feb.  1865.    Typed  file  copy  at  Fort  Laramie  N.H.S. 

27.  Orders  No.  147.  February  5,  1865. 

28.  Orders  No.  152,  February  6,  1865.  A  howitzer  battery  of  four 
pieces  was  brought  up  from  St.  Louis  with  the  2nd  Battalion  of  the  1 1th 
Ohio  Volunteer  Cavalry  and  was  manned  by  Lieutenants  Humphreyville 
and  Collins  and  48  non-coms  and  soldiers.  The  cannon  were  commonly 
parked  southeast  of  the  flag  staff  on  the  parade  ground.  Spring,  op.  cit., 
p.  146. 

29.  Orders  No.  151,  Feb.  6.  and  No.  157,  Feb.  6.  "Battery  Schnyder" 
was  manned  originally  by  Sergeant  Walker  and  Privates  Lagenby,  Courtney, 
and  Shoemaker  of  Company  L,  and  Corporal  Plyly  and  Privates  Plyly, 
Mauery,  McCierry  and  Heakman,  Company  C,  all  of  the  11th  Ohio. 

30.  Orders  No.  158.  February  7.  Originally  called  "Ft.  Cummings,"  this 
battery  was  manned  by  Privates  Berry,  Hamerick  and  Botkin  of  Company 
A;  LaBorde,  Williams,  and  Crips  of  Company  I,  Hugh  and  Whitesides  of 
Company  L,  and  Corporal  Smith  of  Company  C,  all  11th  Ohio  Volunteer 
Cavalry. 


156  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

the  other  batteries,  one  may  assume  that  the  officer  or  sergeant  in 
charge  was  named  Harrington.31 

Teams  of  horses  were  apparently  used  to  help  move  earth  in 
constructing  either  the  batteries  or  digging  the  trench,  beginning 
on  Monday.3-  On  Tuesday,  Major  Mackey  ordered  the  acting 
assistant  quartermaster,  Lieutenant  Averill, 

to  furnish  as  many  sacks  of  corn  as  may  be  required  to  form  suitable 
barricades  at  such  point,  within  the  Garrison,  as  it  shall  seem  practi- 
cable to  protect  in  such  manner:  the  precaution  of  erecting  barricades 
rendered  necessary  by  the  threatened  incursions  of  hostile  Cheyenne 
Indians  and  the  Post  being  weakened  by  withdrawal  of  troops  upon 
expedition  to  Mud  Springs,  and  being  wholly  without  fortifications.33 

The  exact  nature  of  these  battery  fortifications  must  be  deducted 
from  scanty  evidence.  During  the  Civil  War,  any  small  entrenched 
field  fortification  consisting  of  one  or  more  cannon  behind  earth- 
works and  fascines34  was  likely  to  be  called  a  "battery".  More 
elaborate  earthworks  were  known  as  forts,  and  the  naming  of  these 
emplacements  was  informal  and  sometimes  very  capricious.  Earth- 
works might  be  strengthened  by  logs,  by  fascines,  by  bags  of  sand, 
or  by  any  other  means  handy.  At  Fort  Laramie  fascines  would 
not  have  been  available,  but  it  is  clear  that  sacks  of  corn  were  used 
in  the  manner  of  bags  of  sand.  Isolated  batteries  were  seldom 
constructed;  the  common  practice  was  to  connect  batteries  and 
field  fortifications  with  systems  of  trenches.  No  trenches  are 
described  in  Fort  Laramie  orders,  but  it  is  very  likely  that  they 
were  dug  at  this  time.35 

If  the  exact  nature  of  these  1865  field  fortifications  is  obscure, 
their  location  is  even  more  so.  It  seems  likely  from  an  examination 
of  the  topography  of  the  post  that  they  were  to  the  north.  The 
batteries  certainly  would  not  have  been  in  the  post  proper,  for  the 
buildings  would  obscure  their  field  of  fire.  To  the  east  and  the 
south,  the  Laramie  River  afforded  a  degree  of  natural  protection, 
and  any  attempted  crossing  of  the  river  by  hostiles  could  have  been 


31.  Orders  No.  160,  February  8.  "Battery  Harrington"  (also  spelled 
"Herrington")  was  manned  by  Corporal  Lacke  and  Privates  Lietzinger, 
Donovan.  Smith,  Brown  and  Crawford,  all  of  Company  E,  11th  Ohio 
Volunteers. 

32.  Orders  No.  154,  February  6.  "Lieut.  H.  E.  Averill  A.A.Q.M.  will 
instruct  all  teamsters  having  teams  now  at  this  Post  in  Q.M.  Dept  to  report 
with  their  teams  without  wagons  to  Sgt.  Powell  Co.  "C"  11"  O.V.C.  imme- 
diately." 

33.  Orders  dated  February  7th,  number  riot  known. 

34.  A  fascine  is  a  long  bundle  of  wooden  sticks  tied  together  which  was 
used  primarily  in  military  engineering  for  raising  batteries,  filling  ditches, 
strengthening  ramparts,  etc. 

35.  Without  trenches  full  of  infantry  to  support  the  batteries,  mounted 
Indians  could  outflank  and  surround  each  battery.  Furthermore,  trenches 
definitely  existed  a  year  later. 


THE  FORTIFICATIONS  OF  OLD  FORT  LARAMIE  157 

hotly  contested.  To  the  west  the  land  drops  suddenly  behind 
officer's  row  to  form  a  large  flat,  evidently  once  carved  out  of  the 
bluffs  by  the  river.  Troops  could  see  Indians  while  they  were  still 
some  distance  off  and  take  advantage  of  the  natural  height  to  repel 
them. 

But  to  the  northeast,  downstream  along  the  river,  the  land  is 
level  and  low,  with  no  natural  defense;  and  to  the  northwest  it 
rises  to  a  second  plateau  above  the  plateau  on  which  the  fort 
proper  is  located.  Here  the  enemy  has  the  advantage  of  height. 
Here,  north  of  the  post,  is  the  area  which  most  desperately  needed 
artificial  fortifications. 

Assuming  one  were  to  try  to  hold  this  upland,  where  would  bat- 
teries be  most  effective?  If  only  three  cannon  were  available,  it 
seems  most  logical  to  place  one  on  each  end  of  the  line  to  be 
fortified  and  one  in  the  center,  connecting  all  with  trenches  to 
prevent  them  from  being  outflanked  by  mounted  Indians. 

The  cannon  on  the  left  (west)  end  would  command  most  of  the 
upper  plateau  as  well  as  a  portion  of  the  low  land  to  the  west. 
The  cannon  in  the  center  would  command  all  of  the  upper  plateau. 
The  cannon  on  the  right,  near  the  river,  would  command  the  low 
river  bottom  downstream  as  well  as  the  road  which  came  up  from 
the  North  Platte  Valley  and  Camp  Mitchell.  This  is  exactly  where 
a  line  of  earthwork  fortifications  appears  on  maps  drawn  two 
years  later.30 

At  the  time  it  was  built,  this  field  fortification  was  a  strictly 
temporary  measure.  It  was  not  the  duty  of  the  volunteer  troops 
to  plan  permanent  fortifications  for  Fort  Laramie.  Their  work 
was  immediate  and  entirely  functional.  It  was  designed  to  meet  a 
specific  threat  at  a  specific  time,  and  the  degree  of  maintenance  of 
the  field  fortifications  was  probably  directly  proportional  to  the 
commanding  officer's  anxiety  about  Indian  attack.  It  is  clear  from 
the  threat  posed  by  the  Cheyenne  war  that  fortification  was  not 
only  justified  but  desperately  needed. 

After  the  Civil  War,  the  volunteer  troops  were  mustered  out  of 
the  service  and  in  the  spring  of  1866,  United  States  Regulars  re- 
turned to  Fort  Laramie.  The  new  garrison  consisted  largely  of 
soldiers  of  the  18th  Infantry  and  the  2nd  Cavalry. 

Responsibility  for  construction,  as  far  as  the  Regular  Army  was 
concerned,  still  rested  with  the  Quartermaster  Department,  which 
faced  the  same  problems  that  it  had  faced  in  the  1850's — lack  of 
fortification,  desperate  need  for  new  buildings,  and  distant  sources 


36.  Plan  Lar-2114.  This  general  plan  of  1867  is  accompanied  by  de- 
tailed floor  plans  and  elevations  of  every  military  building  on  the  post  and 
may  have  been  executed  in  Omaha  or  Washington  from  measurements  made 
at  the  post. 


158  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

of  construction  supplies.  The  new  Regular  post  quartermaster  was 
a  captain  and  assistant  quartermaster  named  George  Dandy.37 

Dandy  found  that  the  post  lacked  adequate  quarters  for  its 
garrison,  and  except  for  the  temporary  earthworks  built  by  the 
volunteers  a  year  earlier,  it  was  still  defenseless. 

Captain  Dandy  began  planning  improvements  to  the  post  includ- 
ing, among  the  many  new  structures,  barracks  for  five  companies. 
Two  of  the  other  new  structures  were  designed  and  placed  for 
defensive  purposes.  The  first  of  these  was  a  new  guardhouse 
located  east  of  the  parade  ground  along  the  Laramie  River.88  It 
was  a  two  story  stone  building  set  in  the  bank  of  the  bluff.  The 
lower  story  could  be  entered  only  from  the  river  side.  Here  there 
were  two  doors  and  a  window  between  them.  Bars  in  the  window 
were  made  from  old  iron  wagon  tires,  straightened  out  by  a  black- 
smith. Two  small  wooden  cells,  their  walls  strengthened  by  iron 
strips,  served  as  solitary  confinement  while  most  prisoners  were 
kept  in  a  larger  room.  The  upstairs  was  entered  from  the  west  or 
parade  side  by  two  front  doors.  Upstairs  there  was  a  room  for  the 
officer  of  the  day  and  one  for  the  guard  detachment.  In  this  story 
there  was  a  window  at  each  end  of  the  building  and  there  were  two 
windows  on  each  side,  in  front  between  the  doors.  The  substantial 
stone  walls  were  designed  to  make  the  building  a  stronghold  in 
case  of  attack. 

Captain  Dandy  had  promised  the  post  commandant,  Major 
James  Van  Voast,  that  a  new  sawmill  would  turn  out  lumber  by 
August  1 ,  but  the  major  was  skeptical.  Van  Voast  decided  to  put 
the  men  to  work  on  the  stone  guardhouse  in  the  meantime.  He 
was  right.  The  sawmill  was  not  in  operation  when  it  was  supposed 
to  be,  but  he  was  able  to  report  on  September  1  that  the  guard- 
house "will  soon  be  finished  as  far  as  Masons  can  finish  it."39  It 
was  completed  by  October  6.4" 

The  second  new  unit  of  defense  was  a  fortified  adobe  redoubt 
which,  when  not  needed  as  a  fortification,  could  serve  as  a  corral 
for  Quartermaster  Department  animals  and  as  quarters  for  the 
teamsters.  By  September  1 ,  adobe  bricks  were  being  made.41  By 
September  13,  1866,  every  available  man  at  the  fort  was  on  duty 


37.  George  Brown  Dandy  attended  the  Military  Academy  from  July, 
1849  to  July,  1852.  He  was  commissioned  a  2d  lieutenant  in  the  3rd  Artil- 
lery on  February  27,  1857.  After  1875  he  served  with  the  Quartermaster 
department.     He  was  retired  from  active  army  service  in  1894. 

38.  Letter  from  Major  Van  Voast  to  the  Asst.  Adjt.  General,  Dept.  of 
the  Platte,  dated  Oct.  6,  1866.  In  Fort  Laramie  Letters  From  Sept.  1865 
to  Dec.  1866.     Typed  file  at  Fort  Laramie  National  Historic  Site. 

3C>.  Letter  from  Major  Van  Voast  to  the  Asst.  Adjt.  General  dated  Sept. 
1st.     In  Fort  Laramie  Letters  etc. 

40.  Letter  from  Van  Voast,  etc..  dated  Oct.  6.     (See  footnote  36.) 

41.  See  footnote  38. 


THE  FORTIFICATIONS  OF  OLD  FORT  LARAMIE  159 

with  the  Quartermaster  Department,  either  on  the  guardhouse  or 
on  the  new  redoubt.  The  redoubt  was  being  erected  by  a  fatigue 
detail  of  the  2nd  Cavalry.  It  consisted  of  an  area  of  about  2  acres 
enclosed  by  an  8  foot  high  adobe  wall  with  two  blockhouses. 
These  blockhouses,  at  the  northwest  and  southeast  corners  of  the 
enclosure,  were  entirely  unlike  the  earlier  blockhouses  designed  by 
Lieutenant  Woodbury,  and  were  probably  much  cheaper  to  build. 
Each  blockhouse  was  a  perfect  hexagon,  and  both  were  single  story 
buildings.  Their  adobe  walls  were  more  than  three  feet  thick. 
One  side  of  each  blockhouse  was  inside  the  enclosure  and  had  a 
door  and  a  dormer  window  in  the  roof.  The  other  five  sides  were 
outside  the  adobe  walled  enclosure  and  each  of  these  sides  had  a 
single  cannon  or  rifle  embrasure.  The  roof  was  hexagonal  also, 
and  was  supported  by  a  single  center  post  and  a  system  of  rafters. 
The  blockhouses,  if  not  the  wall,  were  built  on  stone  foundations, 
and  the  whole  redoubt  was  surrounded  by  a  trench  three  feet  deep 
which  served  as  drainage  to  keep  water  away  from  the  adobe  walls, 
and  also  made  it  more  difficult  for  any  enemy  to  scale  the  walls.4" 
There  were  three  significant  and  revealing  differences  between 
this  redoubt  and  Woodbury's  planned  fortification — size,  material, 
and  design. 

The  new  redoubt  was  only  a  quarter  the  size  of  Woodbury's 
planned  fort.  Woodbury's  concept  was  to  enclose  and  protect  the 
whole  garrison,  including  almost  all  the  buildings.  This  was 
exceedingly  expensive,  particularly  since  the  walls  would  require 
a  great  deal  of  construction  material  that  was  not  easily  obtained. 
Dandy's  concept  was  more  economical;  he  planned  to  protect 
people,  not  buildings.  His  redoubt  was  to  be  a  refuge,  a  last 
retreat  in  time  of  need,  a  stronghold.  He  no  doubt  assumed  that 
the  chances  of  a  serious  Indian  attempt  to  destroy  the  whole  fort 
were  rather  small,  for  their  tactic  was  to  hit  and  run.  If  he  was 
wrong,  his  concept  of  defense  would  cost  the  government  thousands 
of  dollars  in  destroyed  buildings,  but  if  he  was  right,  he  would 
save  as  much  money  by  not  enclosing  the  whole  sprawling  post  with 
a  wasteful,  expensive  wall.  More  important,  a  wall  or  stockade 
enclosing  the  whole  military  complex  would  require  a  huge  garrison 
to  defend  it  adequately.  The  small  adobe  redoubt  Dandy  was 
building  would  be  large  enough  for  the  people  to  use  when  neces- 
sary, yet  small  enough  to  defend  easily. 

The  new  redoubt  was  constructed  of  adobe  bricks  which  could 
be  made  right  at  the  fort.  Woodbury  had  planned  a  wall  either 
of  stone  or  wood.     Large  quantities  of  stone  or  timber  would 


42.  The  description  of  the  blockhouses  and  the  redoubt,  unless  otherwise 
cited,  is  from  Plan  Lar-2125  which  shows  floor  plans  and  elevations  of  the 
structures.  This  is  one  of  the  plans  which  accompanied  the  general  plan 
of  1867. 


160  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

have  to  be  hauled  a  good  distance — the  lumber  particularly — at  a 
good  expense.  Furthermore,  the  lumber  had  to  be  cut;  stone  had 
to  be  quarried.  Adobe  bricks,  on  the  other  hand,  could  be  made 
simply  and  easily  nearby,  creating  no  additional  problem  of  trans- 
portation. 

This  new  redoubt  had  blockhouses  that  were  much  simpler  in 
design  than  Woodbury's.  His  blockhouses  combined  stone,  lum- 
ber, and  adobe  in  a  complicated  fashion  which  required  a  skeletal 
frame.  Woodbury's  walls  were  half  stone  and  half  framed  lumber 
with  an  adobe  brick  fill.  Dandy's  redoubt  made  use  of  the  same 
materials  in  a  simpler  fashion.  The  walls  were  entirely  of  one 
material — adobe.  Dandy  used  stone  only  for  foundations  and  he 
used  lumber  only  for  the  roofs  and  their  supporting  rafters  and  for 
the  window  or  embrasure  frames.4'1 

Of  course  Dandy's  redoubt  was  not  as  substantial  or  permanent 
as  Woodbury's  proposed  fort,  for  weather  destroys  adobe  while  it 
only  damages  wood  and  largely  ignores  stone.  But  down  through 
the  years  a  permanent  redoubt  was  not  really  needed,  and  even  the 
adobe  structure  outlived  its  usefulness  for  so  long  that  its  original 
purpose  was  entirely  forgotten.  Dandy's  redoubt  was  more  perma- 
nent than  the  field  fortifications  of  1865,  but  only  in  relative  terms. 

Since  there  was  no  immediate  and  compelling  need  for  this 
redoubt — the  post  was  not  under  siege  or  threatened  attack — the 
enclosure  was  used  as  a  corral  for  Quartermaster  Department 
horses  and  mules  and  the  two  blockhouses  served  as  teamsters 
living  quarters,  with  a  temporary  kitchen  haphazardly  tacked  on  to 
one  of  them.44  The  original  intention  of  Captain  Dandy  in  building 
this  redoubt  is  unmistakable,  both  from  the  design  of  the  structure 
and  in  the  statement  of  Assistant  Surgeon  Schell  two  years  later 
that  "The  Qr.  Mr's  corrall  encloses  about  2  acres  with  an  adobe 
wall  10  ft  high  and  2  feet  thick,  it  has  strong  bastions  at  two 
diagonal  corners  and  would  serve  as  a  stronghold  in  case  of  an 
attack  by  Indians."4'"' 

On  the  1867  plan  of  the  post,  a  long  trench  with  two  battery 
emplacements  or  "lunettes"  appeared  in  conjunction  with  this 
redoubt.4'1  The  puzzling  question  is  whether  this  was  the  fortifi- 
cation directed  by  Major  Mackey  in  that  time  of  peril  in  1865,  or 
something  new  built  by  Captain  Dandy  in  1866  along  with  his 
adobe  fort.  A  plan  of  the  post  in  August,  1866,  executed  by  Lieu- 
tenant Brent  under  Captain   Dandy's  direction,   shows  no   such 


43.  Ibid. 

44.  Ibid. 

45.  Schell,  op.  cit.    Schell  arrived  in  late  1866  and  certainly  should  have 
known  what  he  was  talking  about. 

46.  Plan  Lar-2114. 


THE  FORTIFICATIONS  OF  OLD  FORT  LARAMIE  161 

trench  or  emplacements.47  But  a  month  earlier,  an  emigrant  pass- 
ing through  Fort  Laramie  entered  in  his  diary  under  the  date  July 
18  that  "Laramie  has  no  fortifications,  except  a  ditch"*8  Regulars 
had  been  stationed  at  Fort  Laramie  only  since  May  of  that  year, 
and  there  is  no  record  in  existing  post  files  that  they  undertook 
such  work  as  digging  a  trench.  It  seems  a  safe  assumption  that  the 
earthwork  with  two  battery  emplacements  which  appears  for  the 
first  time  on  the  1 867  plan  is  the  remnant  of  the  field  fortification 
erected  under  the  orders  of  Major  Mackey  in  February  1865.  No 
third  battery  appears  on  the  1867  plan  because  by  that  time  the 
adobe  redoubt  or  "Quarter  Master's  Corral"  had  been  built  on  the 
same  site.  Because  the  earthworks  had  been  built  only  as  a  tem- 
porary and  emergency  measure  by  the  volunteers,  the  post  quarter- 
master saw  no  reason  to  include  it  in  his  August  1866  plan.  As 
Indian  hostilities  increased,  Captain  Dandy  decided  to  make  it  a 
more  permanent  feature  and  integrated  it  into  his  future  plans. 

Together,  these  earthworks  and  the  adobe  redoubt  (or  corral) 
constituted  the  only  real  fortifications  that  ever  were  built  at  Fort 
Laramie. 

The  old  military  post  remained  an  important  frontier  installation 
until  1877,  but  thereafter  dwindled  in  importance  as  new  military 
posts  pushed  the  frontier  northward,  and  as  the  Sioux  and  Chey- 
ennes  were  driven  in  ultimate  and  inevitable  defeat  to  the  reserva- 
tions. 

The  earthwork  defense  with  its  two  battery  sites  was  maintained 
only  until  the  early  1870's.  It  appeared  on  an  1870  map  of  the 
fort,  but  the  following  year  was  omitted.411  It  had  served  during 
the  Bozeman  Trail  War,  1866-1868,  but  soon  thereafter  was  re- 
garded as  unnecessary.  It  was  not  filled  in — just  abandoned. 
After  the  new  lime-concrete  hospital  was  constructed  near  it  in 
1  873,  a  portion  of  the  old  trench  was  used  as  a  dump  for  medicine 
bottles  and  other  trash  from  the  hospital.  In  1884  a  new  lime- 
concrete  barracks  for  six  married  sergeants  and  their  families  was 
constructed  right  over  the  trench  just  west  of  the  center  battery, 
and  a  portion  of  the  ditch  was  filled  in  there.  Eventually  the  army 
built  a  water  system  at  Fort  Laramie,  and  the  tanks  were  located 
near  the  west  battery  emplacement.  Ditches  for  water  pipelines 
paralleled  and  crossed  the  old  field  fortification."'" 

The  army  abandoned  Fort  Laramie  in  1890  and  the  buildings 


47.  Plan  Lar-2112. 

48.  George  Fox,  "Diary."  Annals  of  Wyoming,  January,  1932;  VIII,  3; 
p.  589.     Italics  mine. 

49.  The  1870  plan  is  Lar-2140;  the  1871  plan  is  Lar-2142. 

50.  The  trench  for  water  pipes  is  quite  clear  today  both  on  the  ground 
and  on  aerial  photographs.  Furthermore,  this  shallow  trench  for  pipe  is 
shown  on  Lar-2148,  the  plan  of  the  post  drawn  in  1888. 


162  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

were  sold  to  civilians.  Some  farmed  the  old  post,  but  others  merely 
bought  buildings  for  the  lumber  they  contained  and  ripped  them 
apart,  leaving  gaunt  concrete  pillars  reaching  roofless  towards  the 
Wyoming  sky.  Rains  came  and  eroded  a  gully  along  the  west 
bluff,  cutting  through  the  old  trench  and  exposing  green  fragments 
of  old  medicine  bottles  once  dumped  in  it. 

But  the  ravages  of  time  and  man  could  not  completely  obliterate 
the  old  trench.  The  State  of  Wyoming  restored  Fort  Laramie 
to  Federal  ownership  in  1938,  and  on  a  1940  aerial  photograph  the 
part  of  the  earthworks  on  the  hill,  even  where  once  filled  in  near 
the  sergeants1  quarters,  stood  out  as  clear  and  sharp  as  on  the  1867 
plan.  Even  today,  west  of  the  hospital  ruins,  a  long  shallow  de- 
pression marks  the  work  of  the  soldiers,  and  even  today  the  visitor 
can  trace  the  angular  outline  of  the  west  battery. 

The  old  fortified  adobe  redoubt  did  not  fare  half  as  well.  It  was 
never  needed  for  the  purpose  for  which  it  had  been  built.  The 
army  called  it  "the  old  Fort"51  and  by  1 876  its  real  origin  was  so 
clouded  and  obscure  that  the  wife  of  an  officer  wrote  that  it  had 
been  "built  by  a  fur  company  before  the  post  was  established."52 
It  continued  to  appear  in  photographs  and  plans  until  1883,  and 
some  time  in  the  next  six  years  completely  disappeared.  Perhaps 
the  flood  of  1883  weakened  or  destroyed  it;  perhaps  several  floods 
were  required  to  do  the  job. 

For  41  years  the  military  post  on  the  Laramie  River  sent  its 
patrols  and  expeditions  out  into  the  West.  This  important  base 
was  the  typical  frontier  military  establishment,  and  yet  it  existed 
as  an  often  defenseless  scattering  of  buildings  on  the  Wyoming 
plains.  The  term  "fort"  was  misused.  "Camp  Laramie"  or  per- 
haps "Laramie  Barracks"  would  have  been  far  more  justifiable 
titles. 


51.  Merrill  J.  Mattes,  Indians,  Infants  and  Infantry.  Denver:  Old  West 
Publishing  Company;  1960.    P.  188. 

52.  Cynthia  J.  Capron,  The  Indian  Border  War  of  1876.  (Reprinted 
from  the  Journal  of  the  Illinois  State  Historical  Society,  January,  1921.) 
p.  4. 


Zke  bishop 
Who  Kid  for  Jort  Caramie 

By 

Howard  Lee  Wilson 

On  November  27,  1915,  the  Right  Reverend  Nathaniel  S. 
Thomas,  second  Bishop  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Wyoming, 
wrote  the  following  letter  to  Mrs.  J.  Hall  Browning  of  New  York: 

Dear  Mrs.  Browning: 

I  am  writing  to  ask  if  you  will  consider  laying  the  foundation  of 
the  Browning  School,  at  Fort  Laramie,  Wyoming,  by  the  purchase,  at 
a  cost  of  $57,500.00  to  the  founder  of  this  famous  Post  with  all  its 
buildings  -  the  most  historic  in  the  United  States,  together  with  1240 
acres  of  fenced,  irrigated  irrigable  land  -  which  controls  a  range  as 
large  as  one  of  your  counties,  the  same  to  act  as  a  perpetual  endow- 
ment for  the  school. 

I  am  overwhelmed  over  the  opportunity  to  develop  (sic)  this  great 
project. 

If  interested  at  all  -  read  the  mass  of  material  I  am  sending  with 
this  -  otherwise  don't  bother  your  dear  head  with  the  matter. 

Affectionately, 
N.  S.  Thomas 

This  letter,  written  by  hand,  and  containing  a  few  corrections  of 
composition,  may  have  been  typed  by  a  secretary  and  sent  on.  If 
so,  Mrs.  Browning  did  not  bother  her  "dear  head  with  the  matter,'1 
for  there  is  no  reply  in  the  Missionary  District's  files,  and  the 
Bishop  began  a  carefully  planned  campaign  to  achieve  the  objec- 
tive outlined  in  the  letter  to  Mrs.  Browning. 

Bishop  Thomas  had  already  commenced  preliminary  inquiries. 
He  had  ascertained  that  three  ranches  bordered  upon  and/or 
included  the  Fort  Laramie  site.1  These  were  the  Joe  Wilde,  John 
Hunton  and  Neumann2  ranches.  Both  Hunton  and  Wilde  were 
willing  to  sell  to  the  Bishop,  and,  according  to  reports  submitted 
to  the  Bishop,  the  Neumann  ranch  would  go  with  the  others  since 
all  water  rights  were  controlled  by  the  Wildes  and  Huntons. 


1.  The  properties  in  question  largely  consist  of  parcels  in  Sections  19-21 
and  27-30,  Township  26  Range  64  West. 

2.  Almost  all  of  the  correspondence  refers  to  this  rancher  as  "Newman," 
but  a  description  of  the  properties  from  the  County  Clerk  of  Laramie 
County  (undated  but  presumably  in  the  early  Fall  of  1915)  lists  the  spelling 
as  "Neumann."  I  have  used  this  spelling  in  preference.  Many  of  the  letters 
in  the  file  contain  numerous  misspellings. 


FORT  LARAMIE,  1916 


Barracks  Building 


Commissary  Store 


'-'■--'      - .  lit 

IhHI 


Officer's  Double  Quarters,  Quarters  Occupied  by  John  Hunton, 
Original  Post  Trader's  Store 

Courtesy  of  The  Venerable  Howard  Lee  Wilson 


THE  BISHOP  WHO  BID  FOR  FORT  LARAMIE  165 

The  Bishop  had  heard  that  other  interests  were  seeking  to  pur- 
chase some  of  this  land  and  he  decided  that  the  time  for  action  had 
come. 

Already  he  had  corresponded  with  Wilde  and  Hunton.  Wilde's 
reply  of  October  10,  1915  indicates  that  he  was  willing  to  make 
considerable  effort  on  the  Bishop's  behalf: 

My  Dear  Mr.  Thomas 

I  received  your  letter  of  the  7  and  in  reply  will  state  if  I  was  sure 
you  would  take  the  place  then  I  woulden  minde  if  it  took  all  winter 
as  I  surely  like  to  see  you  get  it  rather  than  to  sell  to  any  one  ells, 
but  I  have  a  chance  to  sell  to  other  partys  and  I  don't  want  to  lose 
the  sale  but  if  you  will  let  me  know  and  say  you  will  take  it  I  then 
will  hold  it  for  you  as  to  the  time  we  can  agree  on  that  hoping  to 
hear  from  you  at  an  early  date 

Respectfully  yours. 
Joseph  Wilde 

Bishop  Thomas  worked  rapidly.  He  secured  blueprints  of  the 
area  from  the  office  of  the  State  Engineer;  sent  Robert  Toole  of 
Dixon  (who  was  a  brother  to  one  of  the  Bishop's  clergy  in  the 
Little  Snake  River  Valley)  to  look  over  the  Hunton  property; 
checked  with  Cheyenne  attorney  John  Clark  concerning  tax  exemp- 
tions for  the  project;  received  a  written  report  from  George  Foxton 
of  Glendo  regarding  the  present  state  and  future  possibilities  of 
the  lands  in  question;  and,  finally,  while  on  a  trip  to  New  York, 
received  a  telegram  from  Cheyenne  architect  William  Dubois  esti- 
mating the  cost  of  renovating  the  original  Fort  Laramie  buildings. 
The  cost  reported  was  eighty  thousand  dollars! 

The  text  of  Dubois'  telegram  breaks  down  the  figures: 

BUILDINGS  WORTH  FOR  SCHOOL  TWENTY  THOUSAND  TO 
RECONSTRUCT  MAIN  BUILDING  FIFTEEN  THOUSAND 
THREE  RESIDENCES  TEN  THOUSAND  ARMORY  TEN  THOU- 
SAND BEDLAM  FIVE  THOUSAND  WATER  LIGHTING  AND 
SEWAGE  SYSTEM  FIFTEEN  THOUSAND  STABLES  AND 
STORE  HOUSES  FIVE  THOUSAND. 

WILLIAM  DUBOIS  October  21,  1915  335  p.m. 

Dubois  followed  this  information  with  a  portfolio  of  descriptions, 
sketches  and  several  photographs  taken  of  the  buildings  as  they 
looked  in  1915. 

Later  estimates  by  Harry  E.  Crane  of  Cheyenne  suggested  that 
the  sum  of  $47,645.00  would  be  required  to  purchase  the  necessary 
lands  which  meant  that  some  $130,000.00  would  be  needed  to 
acquire  the  land  and  to  restore  the  buildings.  The  letter  to  Mrs. 
Browning  was  an  effort  to  begin  by  possessing  and  consolidating 
the  land. 

Bishop  Thomas  now  turned  his  attention  to  another  phase  of  his 
plan  for  a  boys'  school:  the  composition  and  curriculum  of  the 
institution. 

A  series  of  identical  letters  were  despatched  beginning  in  April 


166  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

1916  to  the  headmasters  of  several  of  the  well-known  eastern  pre- 
paratory schools  for  boys — some  of  them  closely  affiliated  with  the 
Episcopal  Church. 

None  of  the  letters  alluded  to  the  Fort  Laramie  plan.  The 
Bishop's  approach  is  that  President  Duniway  of  the  University  of 
Wyoming  has  discussed  with  the  Bishop  the  possibility  of  erecting 
a  Hall  in  Laramie  where  boys  could  live  in  a  Christian  atmosphere 
and  pursue  their  studies  at  the  University  High  School. 

The  Bishop  respectfully  requests  the  opinions  of  the  profession- 
als in  the  field.  "The  idea  is  novel,"  states  the  Bishop,  "and  I  am 
by  no  means  sure  whether  it  is  practical.  What  is  your  best  judg- 
ment on  the  scheme?" 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Endicott  Peabody,  of  Groton  School,  Groton, 
Massachusetts  replies  encouragingly  on  May  6,  1916.  He  merely 
wonders  where  one  would  attract  a  headmaster  for  such  an  ar- 
rangement, but  hopes  that  the  plan  would  be  tried. 

The  Rev.  William  Thayer,  D.D.,  of  St.  Mark's  School,  South- 
borough,  Massachusetts  on  May  8  asserts: 

.  .  .  Though  I  have  no  doubt  that  such  a  school  would  be  of  value 
and  meet  a  need,  I  advise  strongly  against  your  undertaking  it  .  .  . 
>St.  Mark's  School  with  its  buildings  given  and  with  charges  of  $900. 
a  year  has  hard  work  to  make  both  ends  meet.  ...  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  you  can  get  President  Duniway  to  assume  all  financial  respon- 
sibility or  get  any  other  men  to  stand  behind  the  school,  you  might 
go  ahead,  but  with  all  due  respect,  I  venture  to  warn  you  that  you 
are  undertaking  a  costly  experiment. 

Dr.  Frederick  L.  Gammage  of  New  York's  Pawling  School 
wastes  no  words  in  his  answer  of  June  14.  "Don't  touch  it,"  he 
begins.  He  feared  over-control  and  usurpation  by  the  State  and 
recommends  that  the  Bishop  devise  his  own  school,  curriculum  and 
faculty. 

The  Rev.  Drs.  William  B.  Olmstead  of  Pomfret  School  in  Con- 
necticut, and  H.  G.  Buehler  of  Hotchkiss  School,  Lakeville,  Con- 
necticut, give  a  passing  approbation  to  the  plan. 

The  Bishop  acknowledged  all  the  replies.  To  Thayer  he  indi- 
cated that  he  intended,  "at  least  for  the  present,  (to)  dismiss  it 
from  my  mind."  To  Gammage:  "Your  view  seems  to  be  in  a 
majority,  and  I  am  about  determined  to  act  upon  your  recom- 
mendation.    I  thank  you  for  it." 

Indeed,  it  only  confirmed  the  Bishop's  previous  ideas  and  he 
once  again  looked  to  an  evaluation  of  the  lands  about  Fort 
Laramie. 

On  June  22,  1916,  Mr.  Harry  E.  Crane,  a  Bank  Examiner  in 
Cheyenne,  submitted  to  the  Bishop  an  exhaustive  14  page  report 
in  which  he  appraised  not  only  the  lands  of  Hunton,  Wilde  and 
Neumann,  but  also  recommended  the  purchase  of  small  acreages 
owned  by  a  Mr.  O'Brien  and  Mrs.  Hattie  Sandercock. 


THE  BISHOP  WHO  BID  FOR  FORT  LARAMIE  167 

Of  the  O'Brien  property  (SWV4  of  SWV4  of  Sec.  22)  Crane 
reports: 

This  is  a  barren  piece  of  land,  has  never  had  water  on  it,  and  is  in 
its  natural  state,  but  should  you  purchase  this  property  I  would  rec- 
ommend that  by  all  means  you  get  this  piece.  It  is  the  original  loca- 
tion of  the  old  Fort  in  the  early  thirties,  or  rather,  late  twenties. 

Crane  also  notes  that  the  "United  States  Government  is  building 
one  of  their  large  ditches  on  the  south  side  of  the  Platte  River  .... 
This  work.  I  understand,  is  costing  about  a  Million  dollars  .... 
Their  canal  is  45  ft.  wide  on  the  bottom,  so  you  will  see  the  magni- 
tude of  the  proposition. " 

Crane's  report  is  not  merely  a  recital  of  the  facts  and  figures: 

On  the  Wilde  property  that  I  spoke  of  regarding  the  old  hospital, 
a  part  of  these  walls  still  stand  and  it  looks  like  the  ruins  of  King 
Solomon's  Temple.  They  stand  up  as  perfect  as  the  day  they  were 
built, — that  is,  the  portion  that  is  still  left  standing. 

Crane  was  enthusiastic  about  the  possibilities  of  the  land  for 
purposes  of  cultivation  and  no  doubt  his  report  had  much  to  do 
with  influencing  the  Bishop  to  hope  that  the  profits  from  working 
the  land  would  offset  a  good  share  of  the  operating  costs  of  the 
projected  school. 

Returning  to  the  academic  aspect  of  the  school,  Bishop  Thomas 
had  made  an  effort  to  secure  the  "right  man"  for  the  school  as 
suggested  by  Dr.  Peabody.  The  original  letter  to  the  Rev.  Remsen 
Ogilby  is  not  available,  but  his  reply,  written  on  the  "Empress  of 
Asia,"  enroute  to  the  Philippines  supplies  the  details.  Remsen 
Ogilby  was  headmaster  of  the  Episcopal  Church's  Baguio  School 
in  the  Philippines.  Bishop  Thomas,  learning  that  he  was  in  the 
States,  had  invited  him  to  stop  off  in  Wyoming  on  his  return  home. 
He  was  unable  to  do  so  and  writes  to  say  that  he  could  not  entertain 
any  possibility  of  taking  over  the  Bishop's  school  in  Wyoming: 

I  hardly  see  how  I  could  take  over  your  scheme  and  work  it  out; 
for  my  idea  is  to  transplant  Baguio  School  back  to  this  country 
somewhere,  when  our  work  in  the  Philippines  is  over. 

(The  Baguio  School  is  still  operating,  and  Remsen  Ogilby's  son, 
Lyman,  is  Bishop  of  the  Philippines). 

In  November  1916  Bishop  Thomas  rounded  out  his  inquiries  to 
determine  the  number  of  accredited  high  schools  in  Wyoming. 
Edith  K.  O.  Clark,  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  cannot 
give  him  the  answer.  She  states  that  she  has  written  Dr.  Butter- 
worth  at  the  University  and  has  learned  that  the  University  has  no 
listing  of  accredited  high  schools  in  Wyoming. 

The  Bishop  turns  again  to  Dr.  Thayer  of  St.  Mark's  School. 
Although  it  was  he  who  had  given  such  dire  warnings  in  reply  to 
the  Bishop's  original   proposition,   Bishop   Thomas   had   a   high 


168  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

regard  for  Thayer  as  an  educator,  and  considered  his  school  to  be 
the  best  of  the  Prep  Schools  in  New  England. 

The  proposal  which  Bishop  Thomas  makes  to  Thayer  is  as 
audacious  as  his  first  bid  for  support  from  Mrs.  Browning.  The 
Bishop  requests  Thayer  to  convene  St.  Mark's  Board  of  Trustees 
when  he,  the  Bishop,  will  be  in  Boston.  His  hope  is  to  interest 
them  in  helping  to  build  the  school.  Thayer  answers  to  the  effect 
that  he  does  not  know  if  the  Board  can  be  convened  for  this  pur- 
pose but  suggests  that  a  meeting  of  the  Standing  Committee  will  be 
held  after  the  first  of  the  year,  at  which  session  the  Bishop 
would  be  welcome. 

The  reply  is  a  remarkable  one.  A  conflicting  engagement  makes 
it  impossible  for  the  Bishop  to  meet  the  Standing  Committee,  but: 

If  I  cannot  meet  the  Committee  I  should  like  to  meet  with  you — 
in  fact.  I  must.  Your  Committee  has  never  had  a  more  important 
proposition  to  consider  since  the  founding  of  St.  Mark's,  and  I  am  of 
the  opinion  that  it  is  quite  worthwhile  calling  a  special  meeting — 

For  six  months  I  have  been  gathering  data  and  now  have  material 
from  architects,  land  agents,  ranchers  and  others,  of  about  100  pages. 
...  To  sum  up  what  I  want  in  just  one  word.  I  wish  to  purchase  old 
Ft.  Laramie  with  all  its  history  and  romance,  with  1000  acres  of  land 
controlling  a  range  of  fifty  miles  on  which  enough  cattle  can  be  run 
to  endow  the  institution,  and  create  a  school  of  the  highest  order, 
after  the  model  of  St.  Mark's.  I  am  audacious  enough  to  hope  that 
you  yourself  will  come  out  for  one  year  and  launch  it,  then  put  in 
your  masters  and  develop  the  greatest  school  in  the  West,  using  it  as 
the  overflow  for  your  own  boys,  sending  thereto  such  boys  as  would 
benefit  by  a  change  of  climate,  making  it  a  school  in  the  west  for 
eastern  boys,  as  well  as  a  school  for  western  boys. 

1  can  demonstrate  the  need  of  such  a  school.  There  is  no  such 
school  in  the  State.  I  can  demonstrate  the  advisability  of  making  old 
Ft.  Laramie  into  such  a  school.  It  is  historically  the  most  important 
spot  in  the  West  and  possibly  in  America,  as  no  one  place  has  had  so 
much  to  do  with  the  development  of  the  nation  during  a  period  of 
nearly  75  years,  as  has  Ft.  Laramie.  In  my  library  alone  I  have  over 
100  volumes  referring  to  this  marvellous  fort.  Read  Parkman,  for 
instance,  and  Washington  Irving,  and  all  the  rest. 

I  should  not  think  of  undertaking  the  school  unless  it  can  be  the 
most  perfect  school  that  can  be  made  and  my  model  is  St.  Mark's. 
I  have  spoken  to  no  one  else  and  shall  speak  to  no  one  else,  for  the 
sort  of  a  school  I  want  is  a  St.  Mark's  and  not  a  Groton  or  a  St.  Paul's 
or  a  Pomfret. 

1  am  bringing  with  me  my  exhibit  and  should  mightily  like  to  make 
a  speech  of  an  hour  to  your  Board.  It  is  a  proposition  which  needs 
not  only  inauguration  but  continued  care.  I  should  be  willing  per- 
sonally to  launch  the  scheme  but  I  cannot  take  the  responsibility  of 
developing  the  school  of  the  sort  I  want.  I  am  not  a  schoolmaster 
and  I  know  it  and  I  want  to  keep  my  hands  off. 

It  was  over  a  month  before  Dr.  Thayer  made  answer  to  this 
fiery  plea.  Despite  the  confessed  audacity  Thayer  says  he  is 
interested  in  the  project,  but  cannot  arrange  a  special  meeting. 

The  Bishop  arranges  a  visit  while  in  the  East,  and  answers  some 


THE  BISHOP  WHO  BID  FOR  FORT  LARAMIE  169 

questions  about  the  church  at  Dubois  where  Thayer  visited  during 
the  previous  summer. 

In  preparation  for  his  arguments  for  the  school  the  Bishop  then 
wrote  up  a  memorandum  (probably  in  December  of  1916.  It  is 
not  dated. )  which  builds  upon  the  enthusiastic  vision  described  in 
the  letter  to  Thayer. 

Besides  amplifying  the  points  made  to  Thayer  by  Bishop  Thom- 
as, one  or  two  other  opinions  and  predictions  are  worthy  of  note: 

Whatever  may  be  said  for  a  girl's  school,  it  is  generally  conceded 
that  a  boy's  school  should  be  in  the  country.  ...  It  should  be  well 
located  with  reference  to  railroad  transportation.  In  a  western  school 
it  should  be  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State,  as  the  educational  drift 
is  eastward.  It  has  been  proven  in  Nebraska,  Kansas,  Minnesota 
and  the  Dakotas  that  it  is  difficult  to  get  boys  and  girls  living  east  of 
the  place  where  the  school  is  located,  to  attend  that  school. 

.  .  .  The  through  line  of  the  Chicago.  Burlington  and  Quincy  is  not 
only  a  trunk  line  from  Puget  Sound  eastward  but  it  goes  through  the 
state  diagonally,  and  traverses  the  richest  portion  of  our  State,  and 
one  in  which  the  greatest  development  of  the  future  must  lie.  More- 
over this  portion  of  the  State  has  the  least  educational  advantages  as 
yet  developed  and  would  tap  Montana,  Northern  Idaho  and  Eastern 
Oregon,  as  no  boys'  school  lies  anywhere  along  this  railroad  for  a 
thousand  miles  more  or  less. 

The  Bishop  had  retained  a  clipping  to  the  effect  that  on  Dec.  2, 
1916  a  story  of  a  projected  relocation  of  the  Union  Pacific  tracks 
from  North  Platte,  Nebraska  to  Medicine  Bow,  Wyoming  via 
Wheatland,  was  being  aired. 

Possibly  this  was  a  part  of  the  exhibit  with  which  the  Bishop 
hoped  to  secure  Eastern  capital  for  his  project. 

Along  with  statistical  studies  pointing  the  necessity  of  a  school, 
the  Bishop  further  relates  in  his  memorandum  how  he  first  saw 
the  site: 

...  In  riding  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  (Frank)  Chipp,  our  missionary  in 
Torrington  and  Guernsey  some  time  ago.  I  said  to  him,  "I  have  never 
seen  old  Fort  Laramie.  Would  you  mind  taking  me  over  there?"  He 
did.  (and)  I  was  never  more  surprised  in  my  life.  I  had  no  idea  of 
the  beauty  of  the  place,  as  related  to  the  country  roundabout  and  as 
I  stood  on  the  mesa  overlooking  the  valley  I  could  well  understand 
how  Col.  Inman  in  his  "Great  Salt  Lake  Trail"  should  have  written 
(and  here  the  Bishop  quotes  at  length).  ...  It  came  upon  me  like  a 
flash  that  this  v/as  the  place  for  the  location  of  the  school  which  I 
had  so  long  had  in  my  mind.  Here  sentiment  and  romance  on  the 
one  side  and  practical  considerations  on  the  other,  unite. 

There  are  two  drafts  of  this  memorandum  showing  that  the 
Bishop  exercised  particular  care  in  making  every  word  count 
toward  the  attainment  of  his  goal. 

His  final  proposal  is  that  a  stock  company  be  formed  (he  called 
it  the  Fort  Laramie  and  Livestock  Company  to  start  with)  with  the 
school  itself,  as  a  corporation,  holding  fifty-one  per  cent  of  the 
stock.    The  school  would  directly  hold  the  240  acres  incorporating 


170  ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 

the  fort  site  and  would  also  control  the  ranch  operation.  The 
Bishop  estimated  that  $34,000.00  worth  of  calves  could  be  sup- 
ported on  the  land,  thus  providing  the  endowment. 

A  copy  of  this  undoubtedly  went  to  Thayer,  but  it  was  still  not 
persuasive  enough  to  convene  a  special  meeting  of  the  Trustees  of 
St.  Mark's.  Thayer  himself  could  and  would  meet  with  the  Bishop, 
however. 

Somewhat  resignedly  Bishop  Thomas  accepts  the  situation  (and 
also  hints  at  his  own  estimate  of  Thayer) : 

.  .  .  All  right,  I  know  you  are  the  main  push  anyway,  and  am  going 
to  talk  to  you.  But  I  should  have  liked  to  have  spoken  to  a  group  of 
financiers  as  well  as  to  the  Thomas  Arnold  of  America.  (Jan.  20, 
1917) 

Some  weeks  later,  the  meeting  between  Thayer  and  Bishop 
Thomas  having  taken  place,  Thayer  writes  his  considered  opinion 
of  the  scheme  which  has  been  laid  before  him: 

The  more  I  think  over  your  plan  the  more  strongly  I  feel  that  it 
cannot  be  worked  out  in  the  way  you  have  suggested.  Even  if  I  could 
bring  the  Trustees  to  a  sympathetic  hearing  of  your  plan,  I  doubt 
very  much  if  it  could  be  carried  out  in  practice,  nor  do  I  think  it  would 
be  the  best  thing  for  your  school  if  it  could  be  done.  I  am  a  little 
doubtful  of  the  Fort  Laramie  scheme  .  .  .  which  would  bring  the 
expense  I  should  judge  up  to  the  neighborhood  of  $75000.  For  that 
sum  of  money  I  believe  you  could  build  new  and  appropriate  buildings 
which  would  be  much  more  servicable  and  certainly  more  appealing 
to  parents  than  any  made  over  buildings  could  possibly  be.  .  .  . 

...  if  you  could  get  such  a  man  as  Remsen  Ogilby  you  would  find 
that  Dr.  Drury  and  Dr.  Peabody  would  be  sending  boys  as  eagerly  and 
willingly  as  I  should.  These  men,  good  friends  of  mine  as  they  are, 
would  not  be  particularly  interested  in  a  St.  Mark's  School  Annex. 

The  Bishop  accepted  this  dictum  in  March  but  by  July  had  taken 
another  tack.  He  sounded  out  Mr.  George  Brimmer  of  Rawlins 
on  the  possibility  of  forming  a  Wyoming  corporation  to  purchase 
the  land  he  desired. 

His  proposal  was  that  ten  men  be  secured  to  put  up  five  thou- 
sand dollars  each.  The  Bishop  and  Mrs.  Thomas  would  each 
invest  five  thousand.  Robert  Toole,  of  Dixon,  (who  had  made  one 
of  the  early  surveys  of  the  property)  would  also  invest  and  further 
would  manage  the  operation. 

Could  Brimmer  get  Will  Daley  and  George  Bible  together  in 
Rawlins  to  meet  with  the  Bishop  and  discuss  the  matter?  Brimmer 
replied  that  Daley  was  out  of  town  and  that  it  would  be  some  time 
before  all  concerned  could  get  together.  Brimmer  wanted  to  have 
all  the  facts  about  the  land  and  its  capabilities  before  committing 
himself. 

But  Bishop  Thomas  was  not  content  to  keep  but  a  single  iron  in 
the  fire  at  a  time.  While  continuing  correspondence  with  Brimmer 
(they  never  did  get  together,  and  Brimmer  was  reluctant  through- 


THE  BISHOP  WHO  BID  FOR  FORT  LARAMIE  171 

out)  Bishop  Thomas,  on  July  18,  1917  wrote  to  Mr.  George  C. 
Thomas,  Jr.  of  Chestnut  Hill,  Pennsylvania. 

He  had  heard  from  George's  mother  that  George  had  planned  to 
purchase  a  ranch  in  California,  then  decided  against  it.  The  Bish- 
op paints  a  glowing  picture  of  his  proposal  for  buying  Fort  Lara- 
mie. He  admits  that  this  is  no  time  to  start  a  school  (the  country 
is  now  at  war)  but  he  desires  to  gain  possession  of  the  land  now 
lest  it  be  lost  for  the  future. 

He  appeals  to  George  Thomas'  patriotism  to  use  the  ranch  as  a 
part  of  the  war  effort  and  invites  him  to  come  look  it  over. 

Thomas  replies  that  he  is  busy  at  his  mother's  place  and  cannot 
make  the  trip: 

...  at  this  time  I  am  not  only  tied  up  with  preparing  specifications 
for  the  greenhouses  and  gardens,  hut  also  have  some  work  I  have  been 
doing  for  the  Signal  Corps  in  Washington. 

In  the  midst  of  this  feverish  activity  George  has  no  time  to  sign 
his  letter.     It  is  initialed  by  a  secretary. 

The  Bishop  responds  courteously,  stating  that  it  is  a  "chimerical 
proposition." 

After  one  more  failure  to  arrange  a  meeting  with  Brimmer, 
Daley  and  Bible  (who  by  now  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  price  for 
the  land  is  too  high  and  the  general  plan  unsound )  the  negotiations 
languish  until  May  of  1918. 

At  this  point  another  young  man,  Rollin  Batten,  of  Caldwell, 
N.J.,  comes  to  the  attention  of  the  Bishop  and  the  proposal  is  made 
again. 

Batten  indicates  that  he  is  interested,  but  his  overriding  desire  is 
to  get  a  commission  in  the  Remount  Service,  and  will  the  Bishop 
be  good  enough  to  furnish  a  character  reference? 

The  Bishop  now  feared  that  John  Hunton,  being  advanced  in 
years,  would  soon  be  gone,  thus  precluding  any  purchase  from  a 
sympathetic  party.  He  also  tries  to  urge  Batten  that  now  is  the 
time  to  buy  for  there  is  rumor  of  oil  being  found  in  the  vicinity  and 
action  is  necessary  before  land  prices  go  out  of  reach. 

None  of  these  pleas  is  sufficient,  however,  and  there  is  another 
gap  in  the  correspondence  until  January,  1919.  The  final  bid  by 
the  Bishop  for  Fort  Laramie  is  about  to  be  made. 

From  the  Delta  Kappa  Epsilon  Club  in  New  York  City  Bishop 
Thomas  begins  a  note  on  the  club  stationery  to  Mr.  Erie  Reed, 
Attorney,  in  Torrington.  He  starts  to  tell  him  that  the  money  is 
in  sight  for  the  purchase  providing  the  Wilde,  Hunton  and  New- 
mann  lands  are  still  available  for  a  fair  price.  Reed  is  to  draw  on 
the  Bishop's  account  for  fee  and  deposit  to  obtain  a  ninety  day 
option.  Then,  in  haste,  the  Bishop  condenses  it  all  into  a  telegram 
and  asks  for  the  asking  price  to  be  wired  him  at  the  Hotel  St.  Louis 
in  New  York.  Reed  answers  by  letter,  stating  that  an  agent  for 
some  Chicago  men  have  offered  Wilde  $33,000.00  for  his  land. 


172  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

He  feels  that  Hunton's  acreage  is  too  large  for  the  corporation  to 
purchase. 

On  January  17  Reed  wires  the  Bishop  that  the  Hunton  land  is 
available  and  that  he  has  an  option  on  it  until  February  15.  He 
has  also  secured  an  option  on  the  Wilde  property.  He  feels  that 
Hunton's  asking  price  (twenty  thousand  dollars  for  600  acres)  is  a 
bit  high,  but  that  Wilde's  price  (26  thousand  for  another  600 
acres)  is  compensatingly  low. 

Reed  follows  the  telegram  with  a  letter  stating  his  adventures  in 
chasing  over  Goshen  County  to  confirm  the  options.  He  states 
that  although  the  Bishop  had  requested  a  90  day  option  he  could 
only  obtain  options  for  30  days  in  view  of  the  fact  that  by  March  1 
the  ranchers  needed  to  make  provision  for  tenancy  or  further  sale. 

This  may  have  been  the  critical  factor  of  this  final  phase. 

On  February  1 3  an  agreement  form  was  drawn  up  in  New  York 
whereby  a  group  of  subscribers  were  to  invest  varying  sums  of 
money  and  turn  them  over  to  a  Trustee  resident  in  Wyoming  who 
would  act  on  their  behalf  to  purchase  land  for  the  establishment 
of  a  school  at  Fort  Laramie. 

It  becomes  clear  that  at  least  one  of  these  potential  subscribers 
was  William  Robertson  Coe,  a  friend  of  Bishop  Thomas,  a  some- 
time resident  of  Cody,  Wyoming,  and  a  benefactor  to  other  Wyo- 
ming Episcopal  schools  and  hospitals,  and  to  the  University  of 
Wyoming. 

On  March  7,  1919  Coe  writes  the  Bishop  (who  is  in  Fort 
Myers,  Florida)  that  the  agreement  is  faulty  to  the  extent  that  it 
does  not  provide  a  limited  liability  clause  to  protect  the  subscribers. 
He  indicates  that  when  this  is  done  the  matter  may  proceed.  He 
inquires  as  to  who  will  be  Trustee.  They  had  hoped  that  it  would 
be  John  Hay  of  Rock  Springs,  Wyoming.  The  Bishop  answers 
that  if  Hay  does  not  accept  he  will  ask  Coe  to  assume  the  title.  Coe 
apparently  declines,  for  on  April  17,  1919,  Mr.  A.  H.  Marble, 
President  of  the  Stockgrowers  National  Bank  in  Cheyenne  agrees 
to  become  Trustee,  and  his  name  appears  on  a  revised  copy  of  the 
original  subscriber's  agreement. 

But  by  this  time  the  30  day  option  had  expired  and  the  oppor- 
tunity had  passed. 

On  December  27,  1919  Bishop  Thomas  received  a  letter  from 
Albert  Bartlett  of  Glendo  who  understands  that  the  Bishop  is 
looking  for  ranch  property  and  gives  information  on  the  Hans 
Christiansen  Ranch  on  Horseshoe  Creek  near  Glendo. 

The  Bishop  responds,  but  not  with  his  former  zeal.  Only  when 
he  understands  (mistakenly)  that  the  Town  of  Glendo  will  pur- 
chase the  ranch  does  his  interest  spark.  When  this  proves  to  be 
unfounded  the  Bishop  terminates  the  negotiation.  He  is  preparing 
to  leave  for  England  to  attend  the  Lambeth  Conference  of  1920. 

But  the  Bishop's  dream  did  not  die  completely.    In  June  of  1920 


THE  BISHOP  WHO  BID  FOR  FORT  LARAMIE  173 

he  is  writing  his  friend  Thayer  again  inquiring  about  setting  up  a 
boarding  school  for  boys. 

In  July  appears  the  first  correspondence  from  Mrs.  Mary  Sher- 
wood Blodgett  of  Greene,  New  York.  Five  years  later  Mrs. 
Blodgett  gave  a  total  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  the  con- 
struction and  upkeep  of  a  building  to  house  60  boys  and  complete  a 
dream  of  Bishop  Thomas  born  ten  years  before.  The  building 
now  houses  the  Cathedral  Home  for  Children  and  is  located  on 
Cathedral  Square  in  Laramie. 

While  this  is  a  chronicle  of  an  unsuccessful  venture  on  the  part 
of  the  Rt.  Rev.  Nathaniel  Thomas  -  at  least  to  the  extent  of  his 
acquiring  the  Fort  Laramie  site  -  it  should  be  clear  that  the  Bishop 
himself  was  a  remarkable  and  creative  person. 

He  was  involved  in  organizing  the  building  of  hospitals  at  Jack- 
son and  Lander;  developing  the  Cathedral  School  for  Girls  and 
the  Cathedral  Flome  for  Children  in  Laramie;  completing  St. 
Matthew's  Cathedral  in  Laramie;  securing  the  franchise  for  the 
operation  of  one  of  Wyoming's  pioneer  radio  stations,  KFBU,  with 
the  help  of  E.  H.  Harriman;  and  raising  nearly  a  million  dollars 
for  the  construction  of  a  complex  of  buildings  on  the  Wind  River 
Reservation.  Most  of  these  plans  were  at  some  stage  of  develop- 
ment while  the  Fort  Laramie  effort  was  being  made. 

Many  were  completed  with  the  same  careful  planning  and  per- 
sonal persuasion  aimed  at  wealthy  Churchmen  in  the  East. 

As  can  be  seen  from  this  narrative,  the  Bishop  was  to  be  found 
in  almost  any  part  of  the  United  States  at  a  given  moment,  and  yet 
he  kept  his  dreams  and  plans  alive,  and  executed  the  greater  part 
of  them.  At  the  same  time  he  continued  to  administer  his 
churches  in  Wyoming,  served  on  National  Committees  and  was  a 
preacher  much  in  demand  throughout  the  country.  He  was  a  man 
of  exceptional  energy  and  ability. 

The  present  writer  cannot  escape  the  temptation  of  wondering 
for  a  moment  "what  if  .  .  .?"  Suppose  the  Bishop  could  have  made 
his  financial  arrangements  complete?  Suppose  he  had  known  Mrs. 
Blodgett  five  years  sooner? 

To  the  Bishop's  credit,  I  believe,  he  planned  to  restore  old  Fort 
Laramie.  He  had  a  sense  of  history  and  his  vision  was  an  early  one 
concerning  what  could  -  and  ought  -  to  be  done  with  the  then 
ramshackle  buildings. 

I  suspect  that  he  would  approve  what  is  now  being  done  with  the 
fort,  but  I  think  he  would  have  liked  to  try  his  school  as  well.  It 
might  well  have  been  a  failure,  but  it  would  have  been  a  glorious 
one! 


A  Postscript:    The  source  for  this  document  consists  of  a   file  of  corre- 
spondence covering  the  years  1915-1921.     There  are  a  few  letters  missing. 


174  ANNALS   OF  WYOMING 

but  letters  in  reply  give  a  good  indication  of  the  subject  matter  of  those 
missing  letters. 

William  Dubois'  sketches  and  photographs  plus  a  poster  announcing  a 
July  Fourth  Celebration  at  Fort  Laramie  (to  help  observe  the  new  irrigation 
canal  mentioned  by  Harry  Crane)  are  included. 

Perhaps  the  most  unique  aspect  of  this  incident  is  the  fact  that  no  mention 
of  it  appears  in  the  official  proceedings  of  the  Convocations  of  the  Mission- 
ary District  of  Wyoming,  nor  is  there  reference  to  it  in  the  contemporary 
issues  of  The  Wyoming  Churchman. 

Two  possible  explanations  occur.  First,  that  there  were  so  many  other 
projects  in  process  at  the  time  that  it  would  not  have  been  advisable  to  add 
another  which  even  the  Bishop  himself  (albeit  in  a  time  of  frustration)  had 
referred  to  as  "chimerical." 

Secondly,  it  was  probably  wise  to  keep  such  a  plan  relatively  secret  lest 
the  intent  become  known  generally  and  others  be  tempted  to  prevent  the 
transaction. 

Surely  Hunton  and  Wilde  were  well  aware  of  what  was  intended,  and 
there  was  no  effort  made  to  classify  the  plan  as  "Top  Secret."  Perhaps 
there  were  other  motives,  but  on  the  basis  of  the  evidence  available,  these 
suppositions  may  be  acceptable. 


Albert  Charles  Peak 

PIONEER  GEOLOGIST  OF  THE  HAYDEN  SURVEY 

By 

Fritiof  Fryxell 

When  Dr.  F.  V.  Hayden,  geologist-in-charge  of  the  Geological 
and  Geographical  Survey  of  the  Territories,  in  the  summer  of  1871 
undertook  scientific  exploration  of  the  Yellowstone  country,  on  his 
staff  was  Albert  Charles  Peale,  a  young  physician  who  had  just 
graduated  from  the  Medical  School  of  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. Dr.  Peale  served  as  mineralogist  of  the  1871  expedition, 
and  thus  became  collaborator  with  Dr.  Hayden  in  the  first  system- 
atic geological  investigations  within  what  is  now  the  Yellowstone 
National  Park. 

Albert  Charles  Peale  was  the  great-grandson  of  Charles  Willson 
Peale  (1741  -  1827),  the  eccentric  but  lovable  portrait  painter  of 
Revolutionary  War  times,  and  friend  of  Washington,  Madison, 
Adams,  and  other  notables  of  the  period.  He  was,  therefore,  scion 
of  one  of  America's  most  remarkable  families,  a  family  which 
through  generations  contributed  leaders  to  art,  science,  and  other 
cultural  activities  in  America.1  Dr.  A.  C.  Peale,  unlike  his  illus- 
trious great-grandfather  and  some  of  the  other  "Philadelphia 
Peales,"  rarely  made  himself  conspicuous  in  public  affairs,  seem- 
ing, rather,  to  have  shunned  personal  publicity.  Yet  Dr.  Peale 
experienced  more  of  adventurous  living  than  most  of  his  family, 
and  his  career  entitles  him  to  a  significant  place  in  western  history. 
Only  one  brief  memorial  to  Dr.  Peale  was  ever  published,  and  that 
long  ago  and  in  an  obscure  periodical.1'  In  view  of  his  contribu- 
tions to  science   and  exploration,   it  is   remarkable   indeed   that 


1.  The  literature  on  the  Peale  family  is  very  voluminous.  Particular 
mention  may  be  made  of  two  splendid  biographies:  Charles  Willson  Peale, 
by  Charles  Coleman  Sellers,  a  two-volume  work  published  by  the  American 
Philosophical  Society  in  1947;  and  Titian  Ramsay  Peale,  1799-1885,  and  his 
Journals  of  the  Wilkes  Expedition,  by  Jessie  Poesch,  a  volume  of  214  pages, 
also  published  by  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  in  1961.  The  latter 
work  is  well  illustrated,  and  contains  a  comprehensive  annotated  bibliog- 
raphy of  published  and  manuscript  sources.  Important  also  is  the  article. 
The  Peales,  by  Oliver  Jensen,  which  appeared  in  The  American  Heritage. 
April,  1955.  This  article  is  profusely  illustrated  with  reproductions  in  color 
of  oil  paintings. 

2.  [Memorial  to]  "Albert  Charles  Peale,  M.  D.",  Transactions  of  the 
American  Climatological  Association,  volume  30   (1914),  pages  xxiii-xxiv, 


176 


ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 


further  recognition  of  Dr.  Peale's  stature  should  not  come  until 
almost  a  century  after  his  initial  work  in  the  Yellowstone. 

Dr.  A.  C.  Peale  was  born  in 
Heckscherville,  Pennsylvania, 
on  April  1,  1849.  He  was  the 
son  of  Charles  Willson  Peale 
(1821  -  1871  )3  and  Harriet 
Friel  Peale;  and  the  grandson  of 
Rubens  Peale  (1784  -  1865) 
(manager  of  the  historic  "Peale's 
Museum"  in  Philadelphia)  and 
Eliza  Burd  Patterson  Peale. 
Young  Peale  was  educated  in 
Philadelphia,  receiving  the  de- 
grees A.  B.  in  1868  and  A.  M. 
in  1873  from  Central  High 
School.  After  three  years  of 
advanced  study  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania  he  received 
the  degree  M.  D.  in  1871.  His 
preceptor  in  the  medical  school 
was  J.  Burd  Peale,  M.  D.;  his 
thesis  ( still  in  the  library  of  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania)  was 
on  the  subject,  "Emotions  and 
Secretions."  On  December  23, 
1875,  he  married  Emily  Wis- 
well,  daughter  of  the  Reverend 
and  Mrs.  George  F.  Wiswell.  The  Peales  had  no  children,  and 
Mrs.  Peale  predeceased  her  husband.  Dr.  Peale  died  at  the  Ger- 
man Hospital  in  Philadelphia,  on  December  5,  1914,  following  a 
stroke,  at  the  age  of  65.  He  was  survived  by  a  sister,  Mrs.  Charles 
K.  Mills  of  Philadelphia,  and  by  his  mother,  of  Washington,  D.  C. 
Such  are  the  bare  outlines  of  Dr.  Peale's  life,  and  for  certain 
periods  of  that  life  it  is  now  difficult,  after  the  lapse  of  almost  five 
decades  since  his  death,  to  ascertain  the  details.    For  other  periods, 


C.  Peale  About 
1872-73 
Courtesy  F.  M.  Fryxell 


with  portrait.  The  Transactions  was  evidently  published  in  a  very  small 
edition;  the  only  copy  of  this  volume  known  to  the  author  is  in  the  library 
of  the  College  of  Physicians,  at  Philadelphia.  The  memorial,  prepared  by 
Dr.  Guy  Hinsdale.  Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the  Association,  is  based  on 
a  typed  two-page  sketch  of  Peale's  life  that  was  written  by  George  P. 
Merrill  on  Dec.  23,  1914,  at  the  request  of  Dr.  R.  Rathbun,  Assistant  Secre- 
tary of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  for  use  by  Dr.  Hinsdale.  The  typewrit- 
ten sketch  and  correspondence  relating  to  it  are  on  file  in  the  Office  of 
Correspondence  and  Records  of  the  United  States  National  Museum,  at 
Washington. 

3.  Dr.  A.  C.  Peale's  father  was  no  doubt  named  after  the  famous  Charles 
Willson  Peale  of  colonial  times.     (See  Sellers,  op.  cit.,  volume  2,  page  420.) 


ALBERT  CHARLES  PEALE  177 

however,  the  record  is  surprisingly  complete.  This  is  particularly 
the  case  with  the  eight  years  that  Dr.  Peale  spent  on  the  staff  of 
the  Hay  den  Survey  -  and  for  Dr.  Peale,  as  for  many  another  man 
who  participated  in  Hayden's  western  work,  this  was  the  happiest 
period  of  his  life.  The  results  of  his  scientific  endeavors  are  duly 
recorded  in  technical  papers  published,  for  the  most  part,  in  the 
annual  reports  and  bulletins  of  the  Hayden  Survey.  The  human 
interest  side  of  these  years  is  set  forth  in  a  series  of  very  readable 
accounts  that  Dr.  Peale  contributed,  from  the  field,  to  the  Phila- 
delphia Press,  the  Christian  Weekly,  and  the  New  York  Times. 
These  appeared  anonymously,  being  signed  simply  "Mineralogist. " 
An  intimate  personal  record  is  to  be  found  in  several  of  Dr.  Peale's 
diaries  and  field  notebooks  that,  happily,  were  preserved.4  There 
are  also  a  large  number  of  Peale's  letters,  in  the  National  Archives 
at  Washington,  D.  C.  and  in  other  collections  -  letters  distinguished 
by  their  graceful  penmanship,  flawless  composition,  and  dignified, 
courteous  tone.  Finally,  mention  may  be  made  of  the  recollections 
of  those  few  contemporaries  of  Dr.  Peale  who  were  still  living 
when  information  for  this  account  was  obtained.  Thus  it  is  pos- 
sible to  reconstruct  an  authentic  sketch  of  Dr.  Peale,  and  the 
emerging  picture  is  one  that  commands  thorough  respect  for  the 
man  and  his  work. 

As  was  commonly  the  case  in  the  last  century,  A.  C.  Peale 
entered  upon  a  career  in  natural  science  through  the  corridors  of  a 
medical  school.  Though  he  became  a  physician,  there  is  no 
evidence  that  he  ever  intended  to  devote  his  life  primarily  to  the 
practice  of  medicine.  However,  his  diaries  show  that  he  was  not 
infrequently  called  upon  to  use  his  medical  training  while  in  the 
field,  sometimes  in  emergency  cases;  and  the  sub!ect  that  became 
one  of  his  major  scientific  specialties,  the  study  of  mineral  waters, 
clearly  reflected  his  early  medical  training  and  interest  in  thera- 
peutics. 

Nothing  very  specific  is  known  about  the  time  and  manner  in 
which  Peale's  interest  in  natural  history  was  awakened;  however, 
the  intellectual  climate  among  the  Peales  encouraged  curiosity 
about  every  field  of  knowledge,  not  least  so  science.  Undoubtedly 
he  must  have  received  inspiration  from  the  example  of  his  gifted 
granduncle,  Titian  R.  Peale,  who,  when  a  youth  of  barely  twenty 
(in  3  819  -  1820),  accompanied  the  expedition  of  Major  Long  to 
the  Rocky  Mountains  as  assistant  naturalist,  and  later  (in  1841  - 
1 842 )    was  naturalist  with  the  Wilkes  Expedition  in  the   South 


4.  Most  of  Peak's  1871  diary  and  his  1872  diary  are  in  the  library  of 
Yellowstone  National  Park.  Part  of  his  1871  diary,  his  field  notes  from 
1873  and  1875,  and  his  1878  diary  are  in  the  Field  Records  File  of  the 
United  States  Geological  Survey  at  Denver. 


178  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Pacific."'  It  is  quite  certain,  however,  that  the  particular  direction 
given  to  Peale's  bent  toward  science  resulted  from  his  contact  with 
Dr.  F.  V.  Hayden,  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  After  the 
Civil  War,  Dr.  Hayden  -  then  36  years  old,  already  the  veteran  of 
eight  years  of  western  exploration  (1853  -  1860),  and  recently 
brevetted  Lieutenant  Colonel  for  his  meritorious  service  in  the 
Union  Army  as  a  Surgeon  of  Volunteers  -  was  appointed  Professor 
of  Geology  and  Mineralogy  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 
Here,  so  far  as  is  known,  the  paths  of  Hayden  and  Peale  first 
crossed.  This  was  Hayden's  first  and  only  professorship;  it  did 
not  last  long,  nor  did  it,  evidently,  interfere  greatly  with  what  had 
been,  and  continued  to  be,  his  consuming  interest:  scientific 
investigations  in  the  Great  Plains  and  the  Rocky  Mountains.  At 
the  first  opportunity,  in  the  summer  of  1866,  Hayden  resumed 
his  western  work  by  returning  to  one  of  his  favorite  haunts,  the 
Dakota  badlands,  under  sponsorship  of  the  Academy  of  Natural 
Sciences  of  Philadelphia.  A  year  later,  acting  under  direction  of 
the  General  Land  Office  and  with  an  appropriation  of  $5000  from 
Congress,  he  began  his  work  as  "U.  S.  Geologist"  in  Nebraska, 
and  in  so  doing,  as  George  P.  Merrill  has  stated,  "laid  the  founda- 
tion for  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey  as  it  exists  today."  For  years 
Hayden  had  labored  indefatigably,  and  largely  alone,  in  the  West, 
despite  great  physical  hardships  and  dangers;  it  is  not  surprising 
that  now,  having  won  federal  recognition  and  financial  support,  his 
Survey  prospered  to  the  extent  that  it  soon  demanded  his  undivided 
attention,  so  that  in  1872  he  resigned  from  the  University.  Hayden 
was  afterward  more  often  addressed  as  "the  Doctor"  than  as 
"Colonel"  or  "Professor,"  though  all  these  titles  appear  in  his 
correspondence. 

That  Hayden  was  successful  during  his  brief  career  as  a  pro- 
fessor might  be  expected,  in  view  of  his  rich  field  experience,  his 
boundless  enthusiasm,  and  the  intensity  with  which  he  threw 
himself  into  his  enterprises.  In  letters  to  Spencer  F.  Baird  of  the 
Smithsonian  Institution  and  others,  he  wrote  with  characteristic 
optimism  about  his  academic  work,  and  tangible  evidence  of  his 
effectiveness  as  a  teacher  may  be  found  in  the  fact  that  A.  C. 
Peale,  the  young  medical  student,  found  geology  contagious  and 
chose  to  follow  in  Hayden's  footsteps.  Appointment  of  Peale  to 
the  Survey  in  1871,  following  his  graduation  from  the  university, 
is  indicative  of  the  regard  that  Hayden  had  formed  for  this  youth. 
The  esteem  was  reciprocal.  The  collaboration  and  friendship 
between  these  two  men,  one  twenty  years  the  senior  of  the  other, 
proved  to  be  lifelong.  Indeed,  Peale  came  to  be  closer  to  his  chief, 
in  a  personal  way,  than  any  of  the  other  "Hayden  men;"  his  loyalty 


5.  Jessie  Poesch,  op.  cit. 


ALBERT  CHARLES  PEALE  179 

amounted  to  filial  devotion  that  never  flagged  and  that  was  touch- 
ingly  manifested  on  many  occasions. 

Though  a  full-fledged  doctor  of  medicine,  Peale  was  only  22  in 
the  spring  of  1871  when  he  first  took  to  the  field  and  became 
campmate  with  a  group  that  included,  besides  other  new  appoint- 
ees like  himself,  a  score  of  men  already  seasoned  in  the  western 
work.  Among  them  were  James  Stevenson,  Hayden's  genial  and 
resourceful  administrative  assistant;  Cyrus  Thomas,  entomologist; 
Anton  Schonborn,  topographer;  Henry  W.  Elliott,  illustrator;  and 
William  H.  Jackson,  whose  photographs  of  the  West  had  already 
captured  favorable  attention,  and,  during  his  years  of  association 
with  the  Survey,  were  to  make  him  famous.  Those  getting  their 
first  taste  of  life  in  the  West  included  a  guest  artist,  Thomas  Moran, 
who  also  was  to  be  influenced  profoundly  by  the  experiences  of 
this  summer.  With  an  appropriation  of  $40,000  for  that  year, 
Hayden  was  able  to  maintain  a  field  party  of  about  thirty-five  men 
in  the  remote  and  still  difficultly  accessible  Yellowstone  region. 

"It  was  with  tremendous  enthusiasm  that  we  prepared  for  the 
invasion  of  this  wonderland,'1  Jackson  wrote  in  an  autobiography 
nearly  sixty  years  later.  Other  accounts,  Peale's  among  them, 
breathe  this  spirit.  Like  Jackson  and  Peale,  almost  all  of  the  party 
were  young  men  from  the  east,  eager  and  sensitive  to  the  high 
adventure  of  exploration  in  a  region  known  to  contain  geological 
features  so  extraordinary  as  to  have  unique  importance. 

To  Hayden  their  entry  into  the  Yellowstone  was  an  event  fraught 
with  deepest  satisfaction;  for  in  June,  I860,  as  geologist  with  a 
military  expedition  headed  by  Captain  W.  F.  Raynolds,  he  had 
been  in  a  party  that  James  Bridger  had  guided  to  within  actual 
sight  of  the  Yellowstone  plateau,  only  to  be  stopped  from  entry 
into  the  fabulous  region  (already  familiar  to  Bridger  and  other 
trappers )  because  the  expedition's  rigid  schedule  would  not  permit 
time  for  finding  passage  through  the  snow  barriers  of  the  adjacent 
ranges.  Raynolds  had  to  report,  "we  were  compelled  to  content 
ourselves  with  listening  to  Bridger' s  marvelous  tales  of  burning 
plains,  immense  lakes,  and  boiling  springs,  without  being  able  to 
verify  these  wonders."  Raynolds'  disappointment  at  being  so 
cheated  was  great;  but  Hayden's  must  have  been  even  greater. 
Verification  of  Bridger's  vivid  tales  came  after  the  Civil  War  -  in 
1869  by  the  private  Folsom-Cook-Peterson  party,  and  in  1870  by 
the  semi-official  Washburn-Langford-Doane  party  -  but  the  de- 
tailed systematic  exploration  of  the  Yellowstone  region  by  scientists 
remained  unaccomplished  until  1871;  eleven  years  after  his  trip 
with  Raynolds  and  Bridger,  Hayden  arrived  on  the  scene  with  a 
competent  staff,  well  prepared  for  the  undertaking. 

Chittenden  has  stated  that  "with  the  close  of  the  expedition  of 
1 87 1 ,  the  discovery  of  the  Yellowstone  wonderland  was  made 
complete,"  and  that  the  chief  value  of  the  187 1  work  was  "in  the 
large  collection  of  accurate  data  concerning  the  entire  region." 


180  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Narratives  and  descriptions  had  already  been  given  wide  publicity, 
but  these  were  now  supplemented  by  maps  and  technical  reports, 
sketches  and  photographs,  and  various  kinds  of  scientific  collec- 
tions made  for  the  Smithsonian  Institution.  Such  materials  "played 
a  decisive  part  in  the  winter  of  1871  -  72,"  in  the  historic  move- 
ment to  establish  Yellowstone  National  Park,  successfully  con- 
cluded on  March  1,  1872,  when  President  LJ.  S.  Grant  signed  the 
bill  that  created  the  world's  first  national  park. 

The  park  bill,  according  to  Chittenden,  was  drawn  up  by  the 
delegate  to  Congress  from  Montana,  William  H.  Clagett,  and 
Nathaniel  P.  Langford,  except  for  description  of  boundaries,  which 
was  furnished  by  Dr.  Hayden.  "Dr.  Hayden  occupied  a  command- 
ing position  in  this  work,  as  representative  of  the  government  in 
the  exploration  of  1871.  He  was  thoroughly  familiar  with  the 
subject,  and  was  equipped  with  an  exhaustive  collection  of  photo- 
graphs and  specimens  gathered  the  previous  summer.  These  were 
placed  on  exhibition,  and  were  probably  seen  by  all  members  of 
Congress.  They  did  a  work  which  no  other  agency  could  do,  and 
doubtless  convinced  every  one  who  saw  them  that  the  region  where 
such  wonders  existed  should  be  carefully  preserved  to  the  people 
forever." 

Obviously  the  large  measure  of  credit  which  Chittenden  and 
other  historians  have  given  Dr.  Hayden  must  be  shared  also  with 
the  members  of  his  1871  staff.  The  geological  data  were  of  major 
importance,  and  it  is  well  to  remember  that  these  were  the  product 
of  the  joint  efforts  of  Hayden  and  Peale.  They  were  incorporated 
in  Hayden's  Annual  Report  for  1871  (the  fifth  in  his  series  of 
annual  reports,  and  the  only  volume  in  the  series  to  be  printed  in 
quarto  as  well  as  the  usual  octavo  form).  The  volume  includes  a 
chapter  entitled,  "Preliminary  Report  of  Dr.  A.  C.  Peale  on 
Minerals,  Rocks,  Thermal  Springs,  etc.  of  the  Expedition."  This, 
Dr.  Peale's  first  scientific  publication,  marked  not  only  the  begin- 
ning of  his  own  studies  of  thermal  springs,  but  also  the  starting 
point  for  the  investigation  of  these  phenomena  in  Yellowstone 
National  Park. 

Work  of  the  Hayden  Survey  in  succeeding  years  can  be  touched 
on  but  briefly,  and  only  as  it  has  bearing  on  Dr.  Peale.  Success  of 
the  1871  season  was  so  great  that  the  next  annual  appropriation 
for  the  Hayden  Survey  was  nearly  doubled,  amounting  to  $75,000, 
and  this  figure  was  matched  in  each  of  the  succeeding  years,  until 
the  Survey  was  terminated,  with  the  exception  of  one  year,  1876, 
when  the  amount  was  $65,000.  With  augmented  funds,  Hayden's 
program  became  increasingly  comprehensive,  his  organization  cor- 
respondingly more  complex,  and  his  staff  much  enlarged. 

In  developing  the  program  of  his  Survey,  Hayden  continued  to 
manifest  what  certainly  was  one  of  the  main  reasons  for  his  suc- 
cess: an  uncanny  knack  for  searching  out  promising  young  men, 
and,  while  entrusting  them  with  responsibility,  giving  them  also 


ALBERT  CHARLES  PEALE 


81 


great  freedom  to  express  their  talents  and  specialized  skills,  to  the 
advantage  of  all  concerned.  The  roster  of  the  Hayden  Survey 
came  to  include  many  names,  besides  those  already  mentioned, 
that  added  luster  to  American  science:  for  example,  the  remark- 
ably versatile  genius,  William  Henry  Holmes,  who  served  the 
organization  with  great  distinction  as  geologist,  ethnologist,  arche- 
ologist,  artist,  and  editor;  the  geologists  Archibald  Marvine,  Orestes 
St.  John,  F.  M.  Endlich,  and  Charles  A.  White;  the  topographers 
Henry  Gannett,  James  T.  Gardner,  and  A.  D.  Wilson;  the  orni- 
thologists Elliott  Coues  and  C.  Hart  Merriam;  and  the  botanists 
John  M.  Coulter  and  T.  C.  Porter.  Such  men  -  and  more  could  be 
named  -  were  Peale's  associates  during  the  following  years;  and 
from  1871  to  1879  Peale's  story  is,  very  largely,  the  story  of  the 
Hayden  Survey. 

In  1872,  Hayden  continued  investigations  in  the  newly  estab- 
lished Yellowstone  National  Park  and  nearby  areas.  For  the 
performance  of  the  work  he  divided  his  staff  into  two  parties.  The 
one,  under  his  immediate  direction,  returned  to  the  park  region 
to  develop  the  studies  begun  in  1871 .  Dr.  Peale  was  in  this  party, 
again  as  mineralogist;  with  it  also,  and  beginning  their  long  and 
notable  connection  with  the  Hayden  Survey  were  W.  H.  Holmes 
and  Henry  Gannett.  The  other  and  larger  party,  under  James 
Stevenson,  approached  the  park  from  the  southwest,  making  a 
survey  of  a  route  which  followed,  in  general,  the  Snake  River. 
On  August  16th.  according  to  prearranged  plan,  all  of  the  members 
of  both  parties  united  in  the  Lower  Fire  Hole  Basin  in  Yellowstone 
Park.  This  grand  reunion  brought  together  for  a  few  days  about 
sixty  men  and  more  than  a  hundred  horses  and  mules.  At  the 
conclusion  of  the  season,  Peale  prepared  for  the   1872  Annual 


W.  H.  Jackson,  Dr.  A.  C.  Peale,  Dr.  Turnbull,  Dixon  (photographer's  assist- 
ant).    Probably  Taken  in  1871  or  1872,  the  Only  Year  These  Men  Were 

Together 

Courtesy  F.  M.  Fryxell 


182  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Report  a  section  of  nearly  one  hundred  pages.  Besides  presenting 
new  data  on  the  thermal  springs  and  related  features  of  the  park, 
this  section  also  dealt  with  such  problems  as  geologic  structure  and 
stratigraphy,  which,  during  the  next  few  years,  were  especially  to 
engage  his  attention. 

In  1873  investigations  were  transferred  to  Colorado,  in  part 
because  of  Indian  hostility  in  the  Yellowstone  region.  Study  first 
was  focused  on  the  eastern  portion  of  the  mountainous  part  of 
Colorado,  and  in  the  three  subsequent  seasons,  1874  to  1876,  was 
extended  throughout  other  portions  of  the  state.  For  each  season 
from  1873  on,  Hayden  followed  a  plan  of  operations  that  was 
increasingly  perfected.  The  area  to  be  surveyed  was  subdivided 
into  several  divisions,  and  a  party  was  assigned  to  each.  Key  men 
in  each  party  were  the  topographer,  responsible  for  mapping  the 
division,  and  the  geologist,  who  worked  closely  with  or  followed 
after  him,  in  order  to  delineate  the  geology  on  the  map  -  a  pro- 
cedure that  essentially  is  that  still  followed  by  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey.  Assigned  also  to  the  various  parties  were  other 
scientists,  such  as  botanists,  zoologists,  and  meteorologists.  Jack- 
son's photographic  division  had  a  roving  assignment  that  took  it 
from  section  to  section  as  necessary,  and  there  were  the  members 
of  the  administrative  staff,  correspondents,  and  special  scientists, 
too,  whose  duties  cut  across  divisional  lines. 

In  1873,  the  area  was  divided  into  three  units.  Dr.  Peale  was 
appointed  geologist  of  one  of  these,  the  South  Park  division;  the 
other  divisions  were  investigated  by  Archibald  Marvine  and  F.  M. 
Endlich,  geologists  new  to  the  Survey.  In  1 874  Peale  investigated 
a  division  south  of  the  Eagle  and  Grand  Rivers;  Marvine,  Endlich, 
and  Holmes  served  as  geologists  of  other  divisions.  In  1 875  Peale 
was  geologist  of  the  Grand  River  division,  but  his  work  was  halted 
on  August  15th  by  Indian  trouble,  which  cost  him  all  of  his  col- 
lections. That  year  Endlich  and  Holmes  again  served  as  geologists 
of  other  divisions;  Marvine's  absence  from  the  ranks  was  due  to 
illness,  which  a  few  months  later  claimed  his  life  when  he  was  only 
28  years  of  age,  prematurely  terminating  a  brilliant  career.  In 
1  876  Peale  was  back  in  the  Grand  River  division,  and  his  geolog- 
ical colleagues  assigned  to  other  divisions,  were  Endlich,  Holmes, 
and  Charles  A.  White. 

The  field  work  in  Colorado  was  now  completed,  and  the  data  at 
hand  for  compilation  of  the  Atlas  of  Colorado,  published  in  1877 
and  reissued  in  a  second  edition  in  1881.  This  work,  which  is  still 
of  monumental  importance  in  western  geology,  won  unstinted  ad- 
miration, even  from  competitors  and  critics  of  the  Survey.  Turn- 
ing its  pages,  one  marvels  at  the  imagination,  careful  planning,  and 
industry  which  it  entailed,  and  particularly  the  close  team-work 
required  to  produce  it  by  administrators,  topographers,  geologists, 
and  others.  The  six  sectional  geological  maps  bear  the  names  of 
the  five  geologists  who  accomplished  this  huge  job  of  reconnais- 


ALBERT  CHARLES  PEALE  183 

sance  mapping;  and  the  names  of  Peale,  Holmes,  and  Endlich 
appear  on  no  less  than  four  of  the  six  maps. 

Long  after  this  period,  Professor  Charles  Schuchert  of  Yale 
University  observed,  "Doctor  A.  C.  Peale  never  geologized  in  the 
Rockies  without  having  in  his  outfit  a  copy  of  Dana's  'Manual  of 
Geology, '  and  each  night  he  identified  as  best  he  could  by  the  aid 
of  this  book  the  fossils  he  had  gathered  during  the  day.  And  Peale, 
even  as  a  pioneer  geologist  on  the  Hayden  Survey,  made  no  glaring 
errors. "e 

For  1877,  operations  of  the  Hayden  Survey  were  shifted  to  the 
region  lying  north  of  th,at  investigated  by  the  40th  Parallel  Survey 
under  Clarence  King,  and  thus  were  conducted  in  Utah,  Idaho,  and 
Wyoming.  The  geological  work  of  various  parties  was  headed  by 
Peale,  Endlich,  and  Orestes  St.  John.  Peale's  assignment  was  the 
Green  River  division  in  southern  Wyoming;  Endlich's  the  Sweet- 
water division;  and  St.  John's,  the  Teton  division.  In  1927,  G.  R. 
Mansfield  of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey  published  a  detailed 
report  on  the  geology  of  part  of  southeastern  Idaho,  and  in  his 
volume  appraised  the  work  of  Peale  and  St.  John  as  follows:  "This 
work,  though  of  reconnaissance  grade,  was  of  a  high  standard  .  .  . 
For  much  of  the  region  covered  by  these  [Mansfield's]  surveys 
the  reports  of  Peale  and  St.  John  still  constitute  the  principal 
sources  of  information."7 

In  1878  the  work  was  conducted  entirely  in  Wyoming,  Peale 
and  Holmes  being  reassigned  to  Yellowstone  National  Park,  to 
round  out  the  survey  of  that  region,  while  St.  John  and  White 
worked  in  areas  farther  south.  In  the  Park,  Peale  completed  his 
studies  of  the  geyser  basins  and  hot  spring  localities,  and  Holmes 
devoted  his  attention  to  general  geology.  The  Annual  Report  for 
1878  was  not  published  until  1883;  by  far  the  largest  of  the  twelve 
annual  reports  of  the  Hayden  Survey,  it  comprises  two  large  octavo 
volumes,  with  a  total  of  more  than  1300  pages,  and  an  accompany- 
ing portfolio  of  maps  and  panoramas.  Volume  II  is  devoted  en- 
tirely to  Yellowstone  National  Park;  it  contains  the  geologic  con- 
tributions of  Peale  and  Holmes,  and  a  section  on  topography  by 
Henry  Gannett.  The  beautiful  illustrations  (many  of  them  chro- 
molithographs) by  Holmes,  "the  greatest  field  artist  America  has 
produced, "s  make  the  volume  exceptionally  attractive. 

The  greater  part  of  this  volume,  almost  four  hundred  pages,  is 


6.  "The  Relations  of  Stratigraphy  and  Paleogeography  to  Petroleum 
Geology,"  by  Charles  Schuchert.  American  Association  of  Petroleum  Geol- 
ogists, Bulletin  3  (1919),  Page  289. 

7.  "Geography,  Geology,  and  Mineral  Resources  of  Part  of  Southeastern 
Idaho,"  by  George  Rogers  Mansfield.  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  Professional 
Paper  152,  1927,  page  5. 

8.  "Cope,  Master  Naturalist,"  by  Henry  Fairfield  Osborn.  Princeton 
University  Press,  1931,  page  200. 


184  ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 

devoted  to  Peale's  final  report  on  "The  Thermal  Springs  of  Yellow- 
stone National  Park,"  a  work  that  always  will  hold  an  important 
place  in  Yellowstone  literature.  In  Part  I  of  the  monograph,  Peale 
tabulated  and  described  the  springs  and  geysers  of  the  park  -  over 
2000  of  the  former,  and  71  of  the  latter.  Of  this  section,  Hayden 
wrote,  "It  ought  never  to  be  necessary  to  repeat  this  preliminary 
work  in  the  Park.  What  remains  to  be  done  is  to  start  a  series  of 
close  and  detailed  observations  protracted  through  a  number  of 
consecutive  years,  with  a  view  to  determine,  if  possible,  the  laws 
governing  geyseric  action/'  In  Part  II  Peale  dealt  with  "the 
thermal  springs  of  the  globe,  tracing  their  connection  with  volcanic 
action,  dwelling  more  particularly  on  the  Iceland  and  New  Zealand 
regions.'1  In  Part  III  Peale  considered  "the  general  subject  of 
thermal  springs,  the  color  of  water,  sources  of  heat,  etc.,  comparing 
Yellowstone  Park  with  other  hot-spring  areas/'  Additional  chap- 
ters relate  to  "the  analyses  of  the  waters  and  deposits  from  the 
springs  of  the  Park,"  and  "the  special  consideration  of  geysers, 
giving  the  theories  and  treating  of  the  peculiarities  of  their  erup- 
tions and  the  influences  modifying  them."  Finally,  the  biblio- 
graphical appendix  cites  references  on  the  Yellowstone  National 
Park,  Iceland,  and  New  Zealand,  and  authorities  for  thermal 
springs  throughout  other  parts  of  the  world;  the  mineralogical 
appendix  lists  minerals  of  the  park  and  the  analyses  of  several  of 
the  great  variety  of  igneous  rocks  found  within  its  limits. 

Since  the  period  of  the  Hayden  Survey,  the  hydrothermal  phe- 
nomena of  Yellowstone  National  Park  have  held  perennial  interest 
for  scientists,  and  have  received  much  attention.  Most  important 
of  later  studies  are  those  made  by  E.  T.  Allen  and  Arthur  L.  Day, 
under  auspices  of  the  Carnegie  Institution  of  Washington  and  pub- 
lished in  1935.  Concerning  Peale's  pioneer  work,  these  authors 
stated,1'  "Peale  explored  a  wide  expanse  of  territory  in  a  day  when 
transportation  was  slow  and  difficult;  his  observations  are  generally 
accurate,  and  his  statements  are  not  exaggerated.  His  book 
abounds  not  only  in  description  but  in  measurements  of  tempera- 
ture, in  numerous  and  careful  observations  on  geysers,  and  in 
scattered  information  of  other  kinds  which  is  of  value,  but  on  the 
whole  he  lacked  the  systematic  data  necessary  for  the  solution  of 
his  problems.  The  time  at  his  disposal,  three  comparatively  short 
summers,  was  inadequate  for  its  collection  ...  it  is  clear  from  the 
context  of  his  report  that  Peale  was  fully  aware  of  its  preliminary 
character.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  first  attempt  at  definite  location  and 
scientific  description  and  the  earliest  guide  to  the  thermal  features 
of  the   Park.      Furthermore   Peale's   descriptions   with   Jackson's 


9.  "Hot  Springs  of  the  Yellowstone  National  Park,"  by  E.  T.  Allen  and 
Arthur  L.  Day.  Publication  No.  466,  Carnegie  Institution  of  Washington, 
1935.  525  pages.     Pages  3-4. 


ALBERT  CHARLES  PEALE  185 

photographs,  Holmes'  drawings  and  Mushback's  sketch-maps,  es- 
tablish many  points  from  which  to  judge  the  permanence  or  varia- 
bility of  hydro  thermal  activity  during  the  last  half  century." 

Though  Peale  published  many  other  papers  in  subsequent  years, 
his  final  Yellowstone  report  stands  as  his  most  important  scientific 
work.  It  brought  his  contributions  to  the  Annual  Reports  of  the 
Hayden  Survey,  during  the  eight  years  of  his  continuous  service  on 
the  staff,  to  a  total  of  nearly  1000  pages.  In  addition  he  published 
sundry  papers  in  the  Bulletins  of  the  Survey  and  elsewhere. 

The  field  season  of  1878  proved  the  last  for  the  Hayden  Survey, 
as  thereafter  it  lost  its  separate  identity  when  Congress  consolidated 
all  federal  surveys  into  one  organization,  the  United  States  Geo- 
logical Survey.  Official  termination  of  the  Hayden  Survey  took 
place  on  June  30,  1879.  The  political  maneuvering  that  preceded 
this  event  resulted  in  the  appointment  of  Clarence  King  as  the  first 
director  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey.  King  took  office 
on  July  1,  1879,  and  on  July  8th  he  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  Carl  Schurz,  recommending  a  small  staff  to  form  the 
nucleus  of  the  new  organization.  Five  men  were  appointed  to  the 
rank  of  full  geologist,  and  Hayden  was  one  of  these  (the  others 
were  Samuel  F.  Emmons,  Arnold  Hague,  Grove  K.  Gilbert,  and 
Raphael  Pumpelly ) .  Peale  did  not  become  a  member  of  the 
Geological  Survey  immediately.  Not  much  is  known  about  his 
activities  from  1879  to  1883,  though  from  a  few  letters  it  appears 
that  he  resided  at  Schuylkill  Haven,  Pennsylvania,  devoting  his  time 
to  the  Yellowstone  report.  Hayden,  meanwhile,  took  up  residence 
in  Philadelphia,  near  his  wife's  home  and  the  Academy  of  Natural 
Sciences,  where  the  best  of  library  facilities  were  at  his  disposal, 
and  he  concentrated  on  winding  up  the  affairs  of  his  Survey, 
particularly  the  publication  of  its  final  volumes.  This  was  a  diffi- 
cult task,  and  with  his  failing  health  he  could  not  have  completed 
it  but  for  the  aid  of  others,  especially  Holmes  and  Coues.  Probably 
Peale,  too,  assisted  Hayden  with  this  work,  though  to  what  extent 
is  not  known. 

After  a  year,  King  resigned  as  director  of  the  Geological  Survey, 
and  he  was  succeeded  by  the  capable  John  Wesley  Powell.  The 
staff  of  the  Survey  was  enlarged  rapidly,  and  in  the  "plan  of  opera- 
tions" that  he  submitted  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  on  June  19, 
1883,  Powell  proposed  placing  in  the  Upper  Missouri  region  "a 
small  party  under  Dr.  F.  V.  Hayden,  with  A.  C.  Peale  as  assistant, 
for  the  purpose  of  prosecuting  the  work  formerly  begun  by  Dr. 
Hayden  in  Dakota  on  certain  Cretaceous  and  Tertiary  formations, 
and  making  collections  of  the  fossils  of  the  same."  From  Hayden  - 
Peale  correspondence  it  is  clear  that  in  this  arrangement  Peale 
again  willingly  chose  to  cast  his  lot  with  Hayden;  and  so  it  came 
about  that  in  July,  1883,  the  two  men  journeyed  to  Montana  for 
field  work  together  in  areas  long  familiar  to  both.  For  Hayden  it 
meant  a  return  to  the  very  localities  he  had  first  visited  in  the 


186 


ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 


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Kubel  Sketches:    Looking  East  From  Camp,  August  4,  1877 


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Deep  Caldron,  About  1800  Foot  Slope  and  3000  Feet  Deep 

Courtesy  F.  M.  Fryxell 


ALBERT  CHARLES  PEALE  187 

1850s,  three  decades  before.  Then  he  had  traveled  afoot,  by  river 
boat,  or  on  horseback,  into  regions  unexplored  geologically,  where 
warlike  Indians  were  a  constant  threat,  and  bison  still  grazed  in 
immense  herds.  Now,  as  they  went  by  train,  it  was  through  greatly 
changed  scenes.  And  Hayden,  too,  had  changed;  he  was  no 
longer  young,  and  he  was  ailing.  When  illness  necessitated  cutting 
short  his  field  work,  and  forced  his  return  to  Philadelphia  in  early 
September,  Peale  stayed  on  to  work  alone.  Hayden,  though  crip- 
pled and  extremely  frail,  was  able  to  return  to  Montana  with  Peale 
and  work  with  him  to  some  extent  three  more  summers.  It  is  of 
great  interest  that  in  the  summer  of  1886,  when  Hayden  made  his 
final  trip  to  the  West,  his  party  included,  as  a  young  assistant, 
George  P.  Merrill,  who  in  later  years  became  Head  Curator  of 
Geology  at  the  United  States  National  Museum  and,  while  in  that 
position,  the  historian  of  American  geology.  Hayden  was  long 
bedfast,  and  his  death  occurred  on  December  22,  1887.1"  Peale 
continued  the  work  in  Montana,  and  in  time  completed  his  map- 
ping. The  main  result  of  this  field  work  was  the  Three  Forks  Folio 
of  the  Geologic  A  tlas  of  the  United  States.  Though  this  folio  was 
not  published  until  1896,  and  became  number  24  in  the  series,  it 
had  the  distinction,  according  to  Merrill,  of  being  the  first  geolog- 
ical folio  to  be  completed  in  manuscript. 

The  Three  Forks  region,  it  may  be  noted,  includes  geological 
features  of  great  complexity,  and  it  presents  very  difficult  prob- 
lems. In  the  most  recent  of  many  studies  of  the  region,  published 
in  1961,  the  author,  G.  D.  Robertson,  nevertheless  observed  that 
"A.  C.  Peale  (1896)  mapped  virtually  the  whole  Three  Forks 
basin,  at  a  scale  of  1 :  250,000.  Many  of  his  observations  and  ideas 
on  basin  geology  are  still  useful."11 

Along  with  other  types  of  research,  Peale  continued  his  study  of 
mineral  waters,  his  investigations  in  Yellowstone  Park  having  made 
him  an  authority  on  the  subject.  For  eighteen  years  (1883  to 
1901  )  he  contributed  to  the  annual  volumes  on  Mineral  Resources 
of  the  United  States,  and  to  the  Annual  Reports  of  the  Geological 
Survey,  the  sections  devoted  to  mineral  waters.  Other  papers  re- 
sulting from  continued  work  on  this  subject  are:  The  Classification 
of  Mineral  Waters  (1887);  Lists  and  Analyses  of  the  Mineral 
Springs  of  the  United  States  ( Bulletin  32  of  the  Geological  Survey, 
a  volume  of  235  pages) ;  the  Natural  Mineral  Waters  of  the  United 


10.  All  too  little  specific  information  is  available  about  the  period  1883- 
1886,  during  which  Hayden  and  Peale  worked  together  in  Montana.  Their 
letters  make  mention  of  the  "friends  in  Bozeman,"  but  the  efforts  of  Dr. 
J.  V.  Howell  and  the  author  to  identify  these  friends,  and  fill  out  this  part 
of  the  Hayden-Peale  story,  have  not  been  very  fruitful.  Students  of  Mon- 
tana local  history  may  be  able  to  give  valuable  assistance  in  this  search. 

11.  "Origin  and  Development  of  the  Three  Forks  Basin.  Montana." 
Geological  Society  of  American  Bulletin,  volume  72,  (1961),  page   1005. 


188  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

States  ( 1 894) ;  and  Classification  of  Mineral  Waters  ( 1902 ) .  Af- 
ter affiliation  with  the  American  Climatological  Association,  in 
1887,  he  was  appointed  to  the  Committee  on  Mineral  Springs  of 
that  organization,  published  several  papers  in  the  Transactions, 
and  came  to  be  one  of  the  valued  members  of  the  Association.  In 
1913,  the  Secretary  of  the  Association,  Guy  Hinsdale,  M.  D.,  noted 
in  the  Transactions,  "We  believe  we  are  indebted  to  Dr.  A.  C. 
Peale  ...  for  the  best  and  most  comprehensive  classification" 
[of  mineral  waters].  Dr.  Peale  also  continued  to  publish  papers 
on  other  subjects. 

In  1898,  Dr.  Peale  was  transferred  from  the  Geological  Survey 
to  the  United  States  National  Museum,  where  he  was  put  in  charge 
of  the  paleobotanical  collections.  Here  he  remained  at  work  until 
a  few  months  before  his  death.  As  an  illustration  of  Dr.  Peale's 
activities  during  this  final  period  of  his  life,  one  of  his  projects  may 
be  singled  out  because  of  its  unusual  nature.  For  the  geological 
exhibits  of  the  Museum  he  prepared  a  "Structure  Section  Across 
the  North  American  Continent,"  based  on  data  taken  from  various 
surveys  and  reduced  to  common  scales  (the  horizontal  scale  being 
two  miles  to  the  inch,  and  the  vertical  scale  4000  feet  to  the  inch). 
This  section,  made  along  a  line  extending  from  San  Francisco 
through  Colorado  Springs  and  St.  Louis  to  the  Atlantic  Coast  (at 
Pamlico  Sound,  North  Carolina),  was  done  in  color  and  was  over 
125  feet  long.  Displayed  on  the  north  wall  of  the  Hall  of  Fossil 
Invertebrate  Animals,  it  remained  for  decades  one  of  the  most 
striking  and  informative  geological  exhibits  of  the  Museum. 

To  Dr.  Peale,  as  to  his  mentor,  failure  in  health  came  all  too 
early,  before  retirement  age.  He  suffered  several  strokes  and, 
toward  the  last,  found  walking  increasingly  difficult.  A  lonely 
little  man,  who  rarely  spoke  about  himself  or  his  past,  and  shuffled 
to  and  from  the  laboratories  of  the  Museum,  he  may  have  aroused 
the  interest  and  sympathy  of  those  who  noticed  him;  but  it  is 
doubtful  that  many  were  aware  that  he  was  one  of  the  country's 
pioneer  geologists,  or  had  any  realization  of  the  fact  that,  in  his 
vigorous  youth,  he  had  participated  in  some  of  the  most  stirring 
chapters  of  American  exploration.  But  his  erstwhile  assistant, 
George  P.  Merrill,  was  fully  cognizant  of  this,  and  in  gathering 
information  for  his  history  of  American  geology,  he  had  enlisted 
Dr.  Peale's  intimate  acquaintance  with  men  long  gone  and  events 
all  but  forgotten.  And  later  he  paid  Dr.  Peale  this  tribute:  "His 
work  throughout  a  period  of  upwards  of  forty  years  of  service  was 
characterized  by  enthusiasm  and  conscientious  attention  to  detail 
rarely  equalled."  Another  colleague  who  admired  Dr.  Peale 
greatly,  the  late  Edwin  Kirk,  spoke  of  him  in  like  terms,  and  de- 
scribed him  as  "a  gentleman  of  the  old  school"  and  "a  true 
scholar." 

Dr.  Peale  never  sought  or  attained  the  scientific  leadership 
achieved  by  some  of  his  old  friends,  like  Holmes,  Gannett,  and 


ALBERT  CHARLES  PEALE  189 

Coues,  but  he  had  an  extremely  keen  mind,  and  his  interests  were 
exceptionally  broad.  This  is  evidenced  not  only  by  his  affiliation 
with  the  American  Climatological  Association  but  also  with  the 
American  Chemical  Society,  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of 
Philadelphia  (of  which  Charles  Willson  Peale  and  Titian  R.  Peale 
had  been  active  members  before  him),  the  Philosophical,  Geologi- 
cal, and  Chemical  Societies  of  Washington,  the  Cosmos  Club,  and 
other  organizations.  An  omnivorous  reader,  he  was  especially 
interested  in  literature  and  history  -  and  understandably  so  in 
colonial  and  western  history,  as  well  as  in  the  genealogy  of  his  own 
distinguished  family.  Delving  into  the  records  of  his  illustrious 
forebears,  he  wrote  biographical  accounts  of  his  great-grandfather, 
Charles  Willson  Peale,  and  Titian  R.  Peale.  For  many  years  he 
served  as  surgeon  and  registrar  of  the  Society  of  Colonial  Wars  in 
the  District  of  Columbia,  and  he  prepared  the  Register  of  that 
Society,  a  beautiful  volume  published  in  1904. 

After  Peale's  death,  his  diaries  for  1871  and  1872,  together  with 
some  of  the  correspondence  between  the  Peales  and  the  Haydens, 
were  saved  from  destruction  through  the  thoughtful  alertness  of 
Edwin  Kirk.  Dr.  Kirk  presented  the  diaries  to  Yellowstone  Na- 
tional Park,  and  made  the  correspondence  available  to  the  author. 
This  correspondence  reveais  how  close  and  warm  was  the  friend- 
ship between  the  Haydens  and  the  Peales.  In  the  long  period 
during  which  Dr.  Hayden  was  incapacitated  by  illness,  Dr.  Peale 
faithfully  kept  him  informed  about  their  mutual  friends  in  Wash- 
ington, and  supplied  him  with  news  from  scientific  circles  in  the 
capitol  city,  subjects  that  keenly  interested  Dr.  Hayden  up  to  his 
death.  It  was  especially  to  Dr.  Peale  that  Mrs.  Hayden  turned  for 
assistance  when  she  was  widowed.  Many  years  later,  in  a  letter 
written  on  January  13,  1908,  Dr.  Peale  had  occasion  to  report  to 
Dr.  Merrill,  in  all  brevity,  "I  had  to  do  with  the  closing  out  of  Dr. 
Hayden*s  private  matters,  including  the  disposition  of  his  books 
and  papers."  This  Dr.  Peale  did.  to  be  sure,  but  he  did  far  more: 
setting  himself  to  the  task  of  writing  Dr.  Hayden's  biography,  he 
painstakingly  assembled  the  basic  information  (much  of  it  gleaned 
through  several  years  by  extensive  correspondence )  and  then  pre- 
pared a  memoir  suitable  for  publication.  Instead  of  publishing 
this,  however,  he  placed  it  at  the  disposal  of  others  more  prominent 
than  himself.  Thus  it  followed  that  Peale's  manuscript  served  as 
the  basis  for  the  definitive  biography  of  Dr.  Hayden  by  Charles  A. 
White,  published  as  a  Memoir  of  the  National  Academy  of  Science, 
and  for  that  by  J.  W.  Powell,  published  in  the  Annual  Report  of  the 
United  States  Geological  Survey,  as  well  as  for  other  accounts. 
Peale  himself  published  only  a  condensation  of  his  biography;1- 


12.  "Ferdinand    Vandiveer    Hayden,"    by    A.    C.    Peale.      Philosophical 
Society  of  Washington,  Bulletin  11,  pages  476-478  (1890). 


190  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

his  larger  manuscript  was  placed  on  open  file  in  the  library  of  the 
National  Museum,  where  it  still  remains.  The  incident  well  illus- 
trates both  Dr.  Peale's  self-effacing  nature  and  his  complete  devo- 
tion to  Dr.  Hayden. 

Dr.  Peale's  generous  and  friendly  ways,  albeit  retiring  disposi- 
tion, made  him  well-liked  among  his  campmates  and  other  col- 
leagues, and  these  were  pleased  to  bestow  his  name  on  the  geo- 
graphical features  of  several  widely-separated  localities.  "Peale 
Island'"  is  the  most  southerly  island  in  Yellowstone  Lake,  Yellow- 
stone National  Park,  Wyoming.  "Mount  Peale"  (altitude  12,721 
feet)  is  the  highest  peak  of  the  La  Sal  Mountains  ("Sierra  la  Sal"), 
in  eastern  Utah,  near  the  Colorado  border.13  The  "Peale  Moun- 
tains'* are  in  southeastern  Idaho.  Of  these  mountains  G.  R.  Mans- 
field wrote  (1927),li  "The  largest  mountain  group  of  the  subdi- 
visions of  the  Idaho-Wyoming  Chain  represented  in  this  region 
[southeastern  Idaho]  is  named  in  honor  of  Dr.  A.  C.  Peale,  chief 
of  the  Green  River  division  of  the  Hayden  surveys,  who  first 
sketched  in  broad  outlines  the  geology  of  these  mountains.  The 
group  includes  the  Preuss  Range  and  its  numerous  subdivisions, 
Webster  Range,  and  the  outlying  Grays  Range,  together  with  a 
group  of  lesser  ridges  .  .  .  Together  they  [the  Peale  Mountains] 
occupy  an  area  65  miles  in  length  and  about  25  miles  in  maximum 
breadth." 

Dr.  Peale  gave  little  heed  to  popular  acclaim,  and  allowed  fame 
to  pass  him  by.  Yet,  as  one  reviews  his  accomplishments  and  sums 
up  his  life,  it  is  manifest  that  his  record  is  one  that  stands  firmly 
on  its  own  merits.  He  should  be  remembered  for  what  he 
achieved,  and  no  less  so  for  his  personal  integrity. 

The  unique  relationship  between  Dr.  Peale  and  Dr.  Hayden, 
too,  deserves  remembrance,  and  one  may  recall  it  with  pleasure. 
These  two  men — student  and  teacher  to  begin  with,  afterwards 
co-workers  and  staunch  friends  through  many  years — were  both 
doctors  of  medicine  who  found  their  careers  in  the  study  of  natural 
science.  They  labored  together  in  closest  harmony,  ardently  pur- 
suing the  work  of  their  choice.  Wealth  came  to  neither,  but  their 
calling  brought  them  other  rewards:  the  enduring  satisfactions  to 
be  found  in  wholehearted  dedication  to  creative  and  worth-while 
endeavors. 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

This  article  is  one  of  the  by-products  of  a  comprehensive  study 
that  Dr.  J.  V.  Howell  and  the  author  have  been  conducting,  for  a 
number  of  years,  relating  to  the  history  and  personnel  of  the  Hay- 


13.  "Origin  of  Certain  Place  Names  in  the  United  States,"  by  Henry 
Gannett.     United  States  Geological  Survey,  Bulletin  258  (1905),  page  240. 

14.  Mansfield,  op.  cit.,  page  24. 


ALBERT  CHARLES  PEALE  191 

den  Survey.  As  such  it  has  benefited  from  the  financial  support 
granted  the  larger  investigation  by  the  John  Simon  Guggenheim 
Memorial  Foundation,  the  National  Science  Foundation,  and 
Augustana  College. 

The  author  is  greatly  indebted  to  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Mahan,  Dr. 
J.  V.  Howell,  and  Mr.  Roald  Fryxell,  his  son,  for  constructive 
reviews  of  the  manuscript.  Dr.  Howell,  the  leading  student  of  the 
Hayden  Survey,  furnished  information  on  important  points,  and 
provided  the  illustrations. 

The  figure  of  Albert  Charles  Peale,  as  here  portrayed,  owes  not 
a  little  to  conversations  the  author  was  privileged  to  hold,  many 
years  ago,  with  those  splendid  patriarchs  of  the  Hayden  Survey, 
William  Henry  Jackson  and  William  Henry  Holmes;  and,  more 
recently,  with  two  senior  members  of  the  Geological  Survey,  Edwin 
Kirk  and  John  B.  Reeside,  -  men  now  deceased.  Dr.  Kirk,  who 
had  been  closely  associated  with  Dr.  Peale,  expressed  great  regret 
that  his  memory  had  suffered  unmerited  eclipse,  because  of  the 
man's  modest  and  reticent  nature,  and  because  in  his  later  years, 
when  he  was  sorely  stricken  by  ill-health  and  bereavement,  few 
co-workers  got  to  know  him  with  sufficient  intimacy  to  appreciate 
the  true  worth  of  the  man.     Dr.  Reeside  concurred  in  these  views. 

GENERAL   REFERENCES 

United  States  Geological  and  Geographical  Survey  of  the  Territories  ( Hay- 
den Survey,  1867  -  1879):  Annual  Reports,  Bulletins,  and  other  publications. 

Endlich.  Frederich,  S.  N.  D.  -  Pealite:  A  New  Mineral  Described  in  the 
Sixth  Annual  Report  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey  [Hayden  Sur- 
vey. Annual  Report  for  1872,  pages  153  -  154].  Private  publication,  2 
pages.  Circa  1873.  Describes  a  mineral  discovered  in  Yellowstone  Nation- 
al Park  by  A.  C.  Peale  and  named  after  him  by  F.  M.  Endlich.  Pealite  is 
listed  in  Dana's  System  of  Mineralogy,  6th  edition,  page  196,  as  a  variety 
of  geyserite. 

Powell,  John  Wesley  -  [Memorial  to]  Ferdinand  Vandiveer  Hayden.  United 
States  Geological  Survey,  Ninth  Annual  Report  (  1889),  pages  31  -  38. 

Peale,  Albert  Charles  -  Biographical  Sketch  of  F.  V.  Hayden,  M.  D.  With 
Bibliography.  Manuscript  in  library  of  United  States  National  Museum, 
Washington,  D.  C.     Circa  1889. 

White,  Charles  A.  -  Memoir  of  Ferdinand  Vandiveer  Hayden,  1839  -  1887. 
Read  before  the  National  Academy,  November,  1894.  National  Academy 
of  Science,  Memoirs,  volume  3,  pages  395  -  413.     1893. 

Peale,  Albert  Charles  -  Charles  Willson  Peale  and  his  Public  Services  during 
the  Revolution.  A  paper  read  before  the  Society  of  the  Sons  of  the  Ameri- 
can Revolution  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  Read  December  15,  1896.  31 
pages. 

Kisch,  Enoch  Heinrich  -  Balneology  and  Crounotherapy.  Translated  by 
A.  A.  Eshner.  With  notes  for  America  by  Guy  Hinsdale,  and  an  introduc- 
tory chapter  on  the  classification  of  mineral  waters,  with  especial  reference 
to  those  of  the  U.  S.,  by  A.  C.  Peale.  In:  Cohen,  S.  S.,  Editor,  System  of 
Physiologic  Therapeutics   (1902),  volume  9,  pages  297-503.     This  publi- 


192  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

cation  by  Dr.  Peale  is  not  listed  in  Geologic  Literature  on  North  America, 
1785  -  1918.     It  is  in  the  library  of  the  College  of  Physicians,  Philadelphia. 

Schmeckebier.  L.  F.  -  Catalogue  and  Index  of  the  Publications  of  the  Hay- 
den,  King,  Powell,  and  Wheeler  Surveys.  United  States  Geological  Survey, 
Bulletin  222  (1904).     208  pages. 

Register  of  the  Society  of  Colonial  Wars  in  District  of  Columbia,  1904. 
Prepared  for  the  Society  by  Dr.  A.  C.  Peale,  the  Registrar,  and  edited  by 
Dr.  Marcus  Benjamin,  the  Deputy  Governor,  under  the  Committee  on  Pub- 
lications. 214  pages.  Washington  City,  1904.  Genealogy  of  the  Peale 
family  on  page  144;  portrait  of  Dr.  A.  C.  Peale  facing  page  1 12. 

Peale.  Albert  Charles  -  Titian  R.  Peale,  1800-  1885.  Philosophical  Society 
of  Washington,  Bulletin  14  (1905),  pages  317  -  326. 

Merrill.  George  P.  -  Contributions  to  the  History  of  American  Geology. 
United  States  National  Museum,  Annual  Report  for  1904,  pages  189-733. 
1906.  Refers  to  Peale's  work  with  the  Hayden  Survey;  portrait  on  page 
600;  biographical  note  on  page  708. 

Obituary  notices  of  Dr.  Albert  Charles  Peale: 

The  Washington  Post.    Sunday,  December  6,  1914,  page  6. 
Philadelphia  Public  Ledger.     Sunday.  December  6,  1914,  page  5. 

Who's  Who  in  America.  Albert  Charles  Peale  is  listed  in  volumes  1  -  8 
(1899-1915);  also  in  Who  Was  Who  in  America,  volume  1   (1897-1942). 

Nickles.  John  M.  -  Geologic  Literature  on  North  America,  1785-1918. 
United  States  Geological  Survey,  Bulletin  746,  Part  I,  Bibliography  (1923), 
1  167  pages.  Bulletin  747,  Part  II,  Index  (1924),  658  pages.  Lists  most  of 
Peale's  geological  publications. 

Chittenden,  Hiram  Martin  -  Yellowstone  National  Park,  Historical  and 
Descriptive.  1924  edition,  published  by  J.  E.  Haynes,  Saint  Paul,  356  pages. 
1933  edition,  revised  by  Eleanor  Chittenden  Cress  and  Isabelle  F.  Story, 
published  by  Stanford  University  Press,  286  pages. 

Merrill.  George  P.  -  The  First  One  Hundred  Years  of  American  Geology. 
Yale  University  Press,  1924.  773  pages.  Refers  to  Peale's  work  with  the 
Hayden  Survey;  portrait  on  page  519. 

Jackson.  William  Henry,  in  collaboration  with  Driggs.  Howard  R.  -  The 
Pioneer  Photographer.    World  Book  Company.  1929.     314  pages. 

Jackson,  William  Henry  -  Time  Exposure.  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  1940.  341 
pages. 

BeaL  Merrill  D.  -  The  Story  of  Man  in  Yellowstone.  The  Caxton  Printers, 
Ltd..  Caldwell.  Idaho,   1949.     320  pages. 

Ewan,  Joseph  -  Rocky  Mountain  Naturalists.  The  University  of  Denver 
Press.   1950.     358  pages.     Brief  biographical  sketch  of  Peale  on  pages  280- 

281. 

Howell.  J.  V.  -  Geology  plus  Adventure:  the  Story  of  the  Hayden  Survey. 
Journal  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,  volume  49  (July,  1959), 
pages  220  -  224. 

Letters  by  Albert  Charles  Peale  in  records  of  the  Hayden  Survey,  National 
Archives;  in  George  P.  Merrill  papers.  Library  of  Congress;  in  Merrill  Auto- 
graph   Collection,    United    States   National    Museum.      All    in    Washington, 

b.  c. 

Early  records  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  in  National  Archives. 


Pat  tee,  the  Cottery  King 

THE   OMAHA   AND   WYOMING    LOTTERIES 
By 

Philip  Gardiner  Nordell 

The  lotteries  run  in  Omaha  in  the  early  1870's  and  those  almost 
immediately  following  based  in  Laramie  City,  as  it  was  then  called, 
and  Cheyenne,*  form  the  chief  episodes  at  the  height  of  the  spec- 
tacular career  of  James  Monroe  Pattee,  a  prolific  schemer  with  a 
Midas  touch.  The  word  "based"  is  used  because  Pattee,  an  out- 
sider, merely  utilized  Wyoming  as  a  legal  base  for  his  countrywide 
operations. 

His  Omaha  lotteries,  while  showering  him  with  additional  riches, 
seem  to  have  been  conducted  for  the  most  part  without  deception. 
In  contributing  to  worthy  institutions  they  won  the  plaudits  of 
prominent  citizens.  To  the  contrary,  the  Wyoming  Lottery  and 
the  Cheyenne  State  Lottery,  beyond  payment  of  county  license 
fees,  and  amidst  charges  of  fraud,  wrought  no  public  benefit  what- 
soever. Then,  shifting  to  mining  swindles  among  other  things,  and 
embellishing  his  circulars  with  stories  of  imminent  riches  surpass- 
ing those  of  the  Comstock  Lode,  he  utilized  the  tiny  prizes  won  in 
his  lotteries  as  bait  to  lure  the  suckers  a  second  time. 


To  place  these  enterprises  of  Pattee's  in  their  proper  niche,  a 
brief  sketch  should  be  given  of  the  status  American  lotteries  had 
reached  by  that  time.  During  the  second  half  of  the  18th  century 
and  the  early  19th,  about  2000  of  them  were  launched  for  a  variety 
of  objectives.  For  example,  excepting  only  the  Quakers  and  some 
minor  sects,  about  400  were  set  on  foot  by  or  for  the  Presbyterians, 
Episcopalians,  Lutherans,  German  Reformed,  Congregationalists 
and  Baptists,  including  a  few  for  other  denominations,  then  small, 
particularly  the  Catholics  and  Methodists.  Frequently  in  the  ap- 
peals to  buy  tickets  it  was  stated  that  their  purchase  would  promote 
religion.  Each  of  the  ten  present-day  American  colleges  that 
taught  at  the  collegiate  level  before  the  end  of  the  colonial  period 
ran  one  or  more  lotteries — -five  by  Princeton,  two  of  which  raised 
much  of  the  cost  of  erecting  its  historic  Nassau  Hall.     All  of  the 


*  I  want  to  acknowledge  my  deep  gratitude  to  Miss  Lola  M.  Homsher, 
Miss  Henryetta  Berry,  Miss  Jean  Batchelder  and  Miss  Mary  Elizabeth  Cody, 
all  of  whom,  some  years  ago,  and  more  recently  Mrs.  Katherine  Halverson, 
gave  me  their  enthusiastic  cooperation  in  combing  source  material  in  Lara- 
mie and  Cheyenne  for  data  concerning  these  Wyoming  lotteries. 


194  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

topnotch  Founding  Fathers  participated  in  lotteries  in  one  way  or 
another.  George  Washington  signed  tickets,  he  bought  tickets  on 
speculation,  he  had  charge  of  a  drawing  and,  when  President,  he 
gave  a  ticket  to  a  young  child.  Martha,  when  the  first  First  Lady, 
bought  a  ticket  for  a  Christmas  present. 

While  it  is  true,  in  later  years,  that  a  change  in  moral  standards, 
specifically  in  the  identification  of  the  lottery  principle,  not  only  as 
gambling,  but  as  the  most  pernicious  type  of  gambling,  did  play  an 
important  role  in  casting  lotteries  into  bad  repute,  another  essential 
reason  lay  in  their  perversion  by  the  very  conditions  that  brought 
them  into  being. 

Each  State  authorized  as  many  lotteries  as  it  chose,  regardless 
of  other  States,  and  more  often  than  not  put  no  time  limit  on  the 
grants.  The  result  was  that  by  the  mid-1790's  a  chronic  glut  of 
tickets  hung  over  the  market.  Sufficient  tickets  to  insure  a  profit 
could  not  be  sold  and  when  the  drawings  started  they  often  were 
stretched  out  for  more  than  a  year.  Sapping  away  the  strength  of 
the  lotteries  themselves,  parasitical  gambling  became  rife  as  to  what 
numbers  would  be  drawn  on  specific  days.  Profits  sank.  Amateur 
managers,  no  longer  daring  to  take  the  risk,  gave  way  to  profes- 
sional contractors.  In  the  ensuing  competition  between  them,  not 
only  were  hundreds  of  times  as  many  tickets  to  raise  a  given  sum 
thrown  on  the  market,  with  only  a  minute  fraction  of  them  sold, 
but  the  percentage  of  money,  which  adventurers  had  paid  for  tick- 
ets, returned  to  them  in  the  form  of  prizes,  sank  from  around  85%, 
common  in  the  18th  century,  to  two-thirds  or  a  half. 

During  the  1820,s  and  early  1830's,  lotteries  were  subjected  to 
such  a  heavy  bombardment  by  the  dedicated  reformers  that  by 
1834  they  had  been  prohibited  (but  the  purchase  of  tickets  could 
not  be  abolished)  by  some  of  the  northern  States,  particularly 
Massachusetts,  New  York  and  Pennsylvania.  But  in  other  States 
well  managed  lotteries  supervised  by  State  officials  had  their 
defenders.  And  in  the  aftermath  of  the  Civil  War,  hundreds  of 
them  sprang  up  most  everywhere,  generally  masquerading  as  gift 
concerts  or  other  forms  of  gift  enterprises. 

During  the  1870's,  covering  the  period  of  Pattee's  lottery  activi- 
ties in  Omaha  and  Wyoming,  a  growing  revulsion  gained  strength 
most  everywhere  against  all  forms  of  the  gift  enterprises  as  well  as 
against  all  the  regular  lotteries  running  as  such.  Several  of  the 
latter  were  still  operating  on  grants  made  in  the  1830's,  with  only  a 
pittance  of  the  profits  going  to  the  beneficiaries.  The  contractors, 
buying  and  selling  their  vested  rights  among  themselves,  were  piling 
up  fortunes.  Having  excluded  lottery  advertising  from  its  columns 
in  1873,  the  New  York  Times  declared  in  1879,  "Gambling  at  best 
is  a  disease,  and  if  it  cannot  be  wholly  extirpated,  the  area  of  its 
ravages  can  be  limited.  When  this  disease  takes  the  aspect  of  a 
lottery,  it  affects  men,  women,  and  children,  and  the  pestilence 
should  be  stamped  out  as  though  it  were  the  Russian  plague." 


PATTEE,  THE  LOTTERY  KING  195 

To  fully  understand  the  workings  of  the  Wyoming  lotteries, 
something  must  be  explained  concerning  a  radical  alteration  in  the 
manner  of  drawing  that  had  become  common  in  the  1  8201s.  In 
practically  all  of  the  old  lotteries  run  before  that  time,  the  tickets 
were  numbered  consecutively  from  one  to  say  5000  or  50,000,  or 
whatever  number  of  tickets  was  in  the  scheme.  In  the  drawing, 
as  the  number  of  each  ticket  on  a  rolled  piece  of  paper  was  taken 
from  one  wheel,  simultaneously  another  paper  was  taken  from  a 
second  wheel,  designating  what,  if  any,  prize  had  been  won.  Even 
if  only  the  slips  for  the  prizes,  perhaps  a  third  of  the  total,  were  put 
into  the  wheel,  it  was  a  slow  process. 

The  new  method  was  based  on  what  was  called  the  ternary  or 
3-number  system,  in  contrast  to  the  former  single-number  system. 
Obviously,  among  the  numbers  say  running  from  l  to  75,  many 
combinations  of  three  of  these  numbers  can  be  made,  as  9.23.74. 
In  a  scheme  based  on  75  numbers,  each  of  these  combinations,  in 
this  instance  67,525  in  all,  would  be  put  on  a  different  ticket.  To 
determine  which  tickets  won  certain  prizes,  the  75  numbers  or 
ballots,  each  rolled  separately,  were  placed  in  a  wheel  and  a  few 
drawn  out,  say  12.  Depending  upon  what  numbers  were  drawn, 
certain  combinations  of  three  of  them,  previously  published,  would 
win  certain  prizes.  The  whole  drawing,  then,  instead  of  consuming 
many  hours  spread  out  over  weeks  or  months,  would  be  over  in  a 
few  minutes. 

For  example,  the  person  holding  the  ticket  with  the  above  num- 
bers, 9.23.74,  would  quickly  see  if  one,  two  or  three  of  them  were 
among  the  few  drawn.  If  in  the  rare  chance  they  happened  to  be 
the  first  three,  not  necessarily,  but  as  a  general  rule,  he  would 
win  the  top  prize.  If  only  one  of  his  numbers  was  drawn,  ordi- 
narily he  would  receive  a  small  prize,  perhaps  the  cost  of  the  ticket. 
or  even  nothing  if  a  comparatively  few  prizes  were  in  the  scheme. 
In  the  1 850"s  the  single-number  schemes  staked  a  revival  and 
thereafter,  as  a  rule,  a  few  of  them  were  interspersed  with  the 
commoner  ternaries. 


Born  in  1823,  the  son  of  a  New  Hampshire  farmer,  Pattee, 
having  accumulated  several  thousand  dollars  as  a  writing  teacher, 
threw  off  such  a  slow  method  of  making  money  and,  at  the  age  of 
30,  went  west  and  quickly  laid  the  foundation  of  a  fortune  in 
successful  land  speculation.1      Back  east,   illustrative   of  his   so- 


1.  Biographical  sketch  of  Pattee  through  his  second  Omaha  lottery 
enterprise  is  in  A.  C.  Edmunds,  Pen  sketches  of  Nebraskans  with  photo- 
graphs (1871),  pp.  362-5,  but  it  is  so  eulogistic  as  to  suggest  the  book  is 
one  of  those  compilations  soon  to  become  common  in  which  the  write-ups 
depended  upon  what  was  paid  for  them. 


196 


ANNALS   OF  WYOMING 


termed  restless,  roving  disposi-  1 
tion,  living  successively  in  New 
Haven,  Philadelphia  and  New 
York,  the  several  directories  of 
the  period  list  his  occupations 
as  land  speculator,  gentleman, 
publisher,  printer,  banker,  brok- 
er, "mining  and  "mer."  (mer- 
chant?). By  1868  he  owned  a 
fine  brownstone  mansion  at  322 
West  56  Street,  New  York,  and 
there,  presumably,  his  wife  and 
two  daughters  lived  while  he 
engaged  in  successful  mining 
operations  in  California.  While 
in  Nevada  City  in  1 870  and 
1871  he  raised,  by  means  of  a 
"Grand  Fair"  type  of  lottery,  a 
sufficient  sum  to  pay  the  debts 
of  the  local  school  district  and 
thus  enable  the  public  schools 
to  reopen.- 

With  this  experience  in  be-  James  Monroe  Pattee,  from  Pen 
coming,  as  described  by  the  Sketches  of  Nebraskans,  by  A.  C. 
New  York  Times,  "a  speculator  Edmunds 

on  the  credulity  of  the  public," 
in  the  latter  year  he  moved  on 
to  Omaha  where,  it  is  said,  he  became  known  as  the  Lottery  King.a 

His  first  Omaha  enterprise,  to  help  establish  a  public  library, 
consisted  of  a  scheme  of  90,000  tickets  offered  at  $2,  or  3  for  $5, 
from  the  proceeds  of  which,  2310  "gifts"  totaling  $100,000,  from 
one  of  $20,000  down,  were  to  be  distributed.  It  was  drawn  on 
November  6  or  7,  1871,  at  the  Academy  of  Music,  crowded  to 
overflowing. 

The  next  "Great  Public  Drawing,"  to  aid  the  Mercy  Hospital 
operated  by  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  was  held  on  June  27,  1872,  at 
Redick's  Opera  House,  presided  over  by  Nebraska's   Governor 


Courtesy  Philip  Gardiner  Nordeli 


2.  Same,  p.  365.  The  enterprise  seems  to  have  been  the  Cosmopolitan 
Benevolent  Association  of  California  Grand  Fair,  advertised  extensively  in 
the  Nevada  City  Daily  National  Gazette  commencing  Aug.  23,  1870,  and 
described  as  "in  aid  of  Washington  School  and  liquidating  debt  of  the 
Nevada  School  district."  Names  of  managers  do  not  include  Pattee,  but 
he  often  employed  front  men. 

3.  Thus  termed  in  Alfred  Sorenson,  The  story  of  Omaha,  3rd  ed.  (1923), 
p.  487.  On  p.  488  is  a  likeness  of  Pattee  with  dark  and  piercing  eyes,  prob- 
ably touched  up.  I  see  nothing  concerning  him  in  the  first  edition  (1876) 
of  this  work  and  very  little  in  the  second  (1889). 


PATTEE,  THE  LOTTERY  KING  197 

James,  with  an  outpouring  of  prominent  citizens  on  the  stage  in- 
cluding former  Governor  Saunders.  J.  B.  Geggie  of  St.  Louis, 
winner  of  the  top  prize  of  $50,000  in  gold,  received  a  check  on 
July  2  for  $54,790,  the  equivalent  in  greenbacks. 

Pattee's  "Third  Legal  Enterprise,"  to  erect  the  Nebraska  State 
Orphan  Asylum,  for  destitute  persons  as  well  as  orphans,  was 
drawn  on  November  6,  1872.  The  fourth,  also  for  the  asylum, 
with  a  top  prize  of  $75,000,  was  drawn  on  May  20,  1873.  Adver- 
tised frequently  in  the  New  York  Herald,  an  indication  of  the 
distance  Pattee  had  thrown  his  net  survives  in  the  form  of  a  legal 
agreement  entered  into  by  ten  Boston  citizens,  each  of  whom 
bought  a  ticket,  to  share  any  prizes  they  might  win. 

Temporarily,  Pattee  appears  to  have  run  into  trouble.  While 
his  earlier  enterprises  seem  to  have  been  approved  from  the  start 
by  the  city  council,  this  body  on  February  25,  1873,  denied  the 
fourth  had  been  endorsed  by  any  of  its  members  and  declared  it 
to  be  fraudulent.  Perhaps  Pattee  had  assumed  that  the  endorse- 
ment of  his  first  asylum  drawing  covered  any  future  one  for  the 
same  objective.  The  matter  must  have  been  ironed  out  in  view  of 
an  apparently  impartial  account  in  a  history  of  Omaha  published 
in  1 894,4  wherein  it  is  stated  this  second  asylum  drawing,  conduct- 
ed at  the  opera  house  before  a  large  audience,  was  supervised  by  a 
committee  including  four  members  of  the  council  and  Judge  John 
R.  Porter.  General  S.  A.  Strickland  introduced  Pattee,  who  re- 
sponded with  a  speech. 

The  same  volume  states  that  a  month  later  Pattee  was  arrested 
upon  a  charge,  by  one  of  his  clerks,  that  he  had  carried  on  a 
fraudulent  lottery  by  issuing  duplicate  and  triplicate  tickets,  without 
any  hint  in  the  book  as  to  the  outcome.  In  any  event,  Pattee  in 
August  of  the  same  year  advertised  in  the  Herald  the  "Grand 
Temple  Gift  Concert,"  to  be  drawn  at  Omaha  on  the  30th. 5  Mean- 
while an  act  prohibiting  lotteries  in  the  State,  to  take  effect  on 
September  1,  had  become  law  without  the  governor's  signature. 
It  appears  the  drawing  never  took  place,  probably  from  an  insuf- 


4.  James  W.  Savage  and  John  T.  Bell,  History  of  the  City  of  Omaha 
Nebraska  (1894),  pp.  145,  257-8,  303.  Data  on  all  four  drawings  in  follow- 
ing circulars:  Omaha  Herald  Extra  at  Am.  Ant.  Soc.  Worcester,  Mass.: 
The  Times  Illustrated  in  writer's  lottery  collection,  hereafter  designated  as 
PGN  Col.;  The  Laramie  News  in  Bella  C.  Landauer  Collection  at  NY  Hist. 
Soc,  hereafter  designated  as  BCL  Col.,  and  in  PGN  Col.  Other  details  on 
individual  lotteries  as  follows:  (1)  Library:  Nebraska  City  Morning  Chron 
icle,  Oct.  27,  1871;  circulars  in  BCL  Col.  and  at  AAS.  (2)  Hospital: 
Morning  Chronicle,  Oct.  31,  1871,  Feb.  22,  1872;  circular  in  BCL  Col. 
(3  and  4)  Orphan  Asylum:  NY  Herald,  Jan.  1,  3,  Feb.  27,  April  22,  May 
13,  14,  1873;  MSS.  concerning  Boston  citizens  in  PGN  Col. 

5.  NY  Herald,  Aug.  12  and  fol.,  1873. 


198  ANNALS   OF   WYOMING 

ficient  sale  of  tickets,  forcing  Pattee  to  seek  other  ground  where  he 
might  exercise  his  talents. 

$:  :J:  ^  :|c  %  >;:  ^  s|« 

Early  in  1875  Pattee  distributed  through  the  mails  a  most  extra- 
ordinary circular,  resembling  at  first  glance  a  pictorial  tabloid 
newspaper.  Entitled,  The  Times  Illustrated,  dated  at  New  York 
March  of  that  year  and  issued  again  with  the  date  changed  to  April, 
but  in  both  cases  designated  as  Vol.  II,  No.  15,  and  ostensibly 
published  by  The  American  Gold  &  Silver  Mining  Co.  of  Montana 
with  its  office  at  63  Wall  Street,  it  consisted  of  a  folded  sheet  mak- 
ing four  pages,  each  19  inches  by  12.(! 

At  that  time  a  sensational  scandal  rocked  the  country.  The  Rev. 
Henry  Ward  Beecher,  whose  pulpit  had  become  virtually  a  national 
platform,  stood  accused  by  Theodore  Tilton  of  having  had  improp- 
er relations  with  the  latter's  wife.  At  the  top  of  the  first  page  are 
competently  drawn  likenesses  of  Beecher  and  Mrs.  Tillon  and  at 
the  bottom  of  Tilton  and  Francis  D.  Moulton,  described  elsewhere 
as  the  "Mutual  Friend. "  In  the  center  is  a  cartoon  depicting  the 
roof  of  Beecher's  famous  Plymouth  Church  in  Brooklyn,  upon 
which  three  cats  with  arched  backs  and  raised  tails,  labeled  Beech- 
er, Moulton  and  Tilton  and  lit  by  a  smiling  full  moon,  are  yowling 
at  one  another. 

The  back  page  is  covered  with  an  assemblage  of  participants 
and  others.  There  is  Mrs.  Beecher,  apparently  much  older  than 
Mrs.  Tilton;  one  Fullerton  is  depicted  reading  "the  'Nest-Hiding' 
Letter";  a  fashionably  dressed  young  woman  reporter  from  San 
Francisco  is  there;  and  among  other  vignettes,  a  crowd  of  bustled 
young  women  in  the  corridor  of  the  courthouse  are  attempting  to 
rush  by  some  policemen  to  gain  admittance  to  the  trial. 

Elsewhere  are  several  medical  ads,  one  of  pure  Newfoundland 
cod  liver  oil  and  another  of  Red  Cloud's  Great  Indian  Blood 
Purifier,  a  sovereign  remedy  for  venereal  diseases,  loss  of  memory, 
lost  manhood,  consumption  and  fevers  of  every  description.  Or- 
ders for  the  latter  were  to  be  sent  to  Messrs.  Lohman  &  Co.  at 
Laramie  City.  (On  July  28  the  partnership  at  Laramie  between 
H.  L.  Lowman  and  Pattee  was  dissolved.7)  An  ad  of  the  above 
mentioned  mining  company  cited  "mountains  of  gold  and  silver 
ore"  and  predicted  an  investor  "may  any  morning  wake  up  and 
find  himself  independent  for  life." 

Interspersed  throughout  are  glowing  accounts  of  Pattee's  four 
Great  Legal  Drawings  (without  any  hint  of  their  Omaha  origin), 
a  long  list  of  winners,  and  large  ads  of  the  Wyoming  Monthly 
Lottery  and  of  the  "Fifth  Extraordinary  Drawing"  of  the  Wyoming 


6.  Both  March  and  April  issues  in  PGN  Col. 

7.  Laramie   Daily   Sentinel,   July   29,    1875.      Presumably   the   medicine 
man.     The  name  is  spelled  Loman  in  the  Laramie  Daily  Sun,  July  31. 


PATTEE,  THE  LOTTERY  KING  199 

Lottery  (different  divisions  of  the  same  enterprise),  as  if  continu- 
ing the  Omaha  series.  Investors  are  directed  to  obtain  tickets  from 
Pattee  at  Laramie  City,  where  it  was  understood  all  of  the  draw- 
ings would  take  place.  A  purported  reprint  from  the  "Daily 
Union'1  eulogizes  his  successes.  He  is  described  as  a  man  true  to 
his  friends,  perfectly  reliable,  whose  "word  is  better  than  a  bond 
from  one-half  of  mankind."  By  means  of  his  keen  perception  and 
wonderful  foresight,  it  is  stated  he  was  then  worth  more  than  half 
a  million  dollars. 

The  following  year  a  similar  pictorial  circular  entitled  The  Lar- 
amie News*  was  distributed,  containing  sketches  of  the  Centennial 
buildings  at  Philadelphia,  a  likeness  of  Charley  Ross  (the  kid- 
napped Philadelphia  youngster)  and  others,  and  again,  medical 
ads,  laudatory  references  to  Pattee's  previous  drawings  and  his 
current  Wyoming  lottery  schemes. 

;•;  $i  sj«  sfs  3js  5f:  $z  >|: 

In  the  spring  of  1  875  Pattee  entered  the  office  of  a  struggling 
newspaper  publisher  in  Laramie  with  a  weekly  payroll  of  $27, 
gave  him  an  order  for  40,000  circulars,  and  hired  from  1 5  to  20 
clerks.  Soon,  Pattee  had  his  mail  collected  from  the  post  office 
in  a  clothesbasket  and,  it  was  reported,  he  deposited  up  to  $4000 
or  even  $5000  a  day  in  the  bank.  And  he  did  not  overlook  con- 
tributions to  the  local  churches. 9 

All  of  the  major  advertisements  stated  the  lottery  was  authorized 
by  "an  act  of  the  legislature"  of  Wyoming,  but,  as  it  turns  out,  it 
was  not  a  specific  act  granted  to  him  to  accomplish  a  useful  pur- 
pose. In  the  course  of  a  territorial  act  concerning  county  licenses, 
approved  December  9,  1 869,  any  person  or  company  was  per- 
mitted to  run  a  lottery  upon  payment  to  the  sheriff  of  $100  for  a 
license  good  for  three  months.  What  the  legislators  no  doubt  had 
in  mind  were  small,  short-lived  affairs,  the  kind  that  sprang  up 
everywhere,  confined  to  the  local  population.  By  paying  only 
$400  a  year  for  the  privilege,1"  Pattee  thereupon  proceeded  to  sell 


8.  See  note  4. 

9.  Wyoming  State  Tribune  and  Cheyenne  State  Leader,  July  20,  1929. 
2:2;  MS  article,  Paul  Armstrong,  "History  of  the  Post  Office  at  Laramie, 
Wyoming"  (1936);  Velma  Linford,  author  of  Wyoming  Frontier  State, 
in  a  letter  to  me  dated  Aug.  2,  1950,  attributing  the  clothesbasket  item  to 
C.  D.  Spaulding,  whose  father  worked  in  the  post  office  at  the  time;  record- 
ed interviews  with  Mrs.  Mary  Bellamy,  June  18,  1947,  and  Sept.  28,  1950, 
made  by  Lola  M.  Homsher  and  in  the  Archives  of  the  University  of  Wyo- 
ming. 

10.  At  the  Albany  County  Courthouse  in  Laramie  there  are  now  no 
records  of  licenses  issued  before  1878.  However,  it  can  hardly  be  doubted 
Pattee's  authorization  originated  in  such  a  license.  Not  only  did  Mrs. 
Bellamy  in  the  1950  interview  (see  note  9)  feel  sure  he  obtained  one  issued 
by  the  county,  but  the  Laramie  Daily  Sentinel  of  Dec.    15,   1875,  cited  as 


200  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

in  the  first  year  as  many  tickets  as  he  could  in  schemes  totaling 
about  $7,000,000.  Late  in  1875  Governor  Thayer  vetoed  an  act 
that  would  have  raised  Pattee's  annual  license  to  $800,  as  a  favor, 
it  was  said,11  to  his  old  friend. 

Each  of  the  Monthly  schemes  was  based  on  the  ternary  or 
3-number  combinations  described  above,  formed  not  among  75 
or  78  numbers,  as  had  been  utilized  in  other  lotteries  for  decades, 
fixing  the  number  of  tickets  at  67,525  or  76,076  respectively,  but 
among  150,  thus  raising  the  number  of  tickets  to  the  vast  total  of 
551,300!  They  were  offered  at  $1  each,  6  for  $5,  or  20  for  $16. 
In  each  scheme  there  were  70,755  prizes  totaling  $200,000  in 
some  months  and  $275,000  in  others.1-  The  ratio  of  the  number 
of  prizes  to  tickets  at  first  glance  might  not  seem  so  bad,  but 
70,000  of  the  former  were  of  only  50c  each.  Including  a  top  prize 
of  $50,000  net,  only  35  were  above  $100  each.  During  the  heyday 
of  American  lotteries,  a  scheme  offering  such  a  poor  chance  would 
have  been  scorned  and  left  to  wither  on  the  vine. 

In  what  Pattee  was  pleased  to  number  his  5th,  6th  and  7th 
Extraordinary  drawings,  to  be  conducted  on  the  single-number 
plan,  there  were  500,000  tickets  in  each  at  the  same  choice  of 
prices,  with  a  top  prize  of  $100,000  net.la  With  51,025  prizes 
totaling  $350,000  in  each  of  the  5th  and  6th,  50,000  of  them  of 
$1  each  were  to  be  decided,  according  to  a  then  common  expedient, 
by  the  last  digit  in  the  number  of  the  ticket  winning  the  top  prize. 

As  a  mail  order  shark  Pattee  learned  his  lessons  well.  The  more 
agents  the  merrier  for  him,  but  why  pay  their  commissions  in  cash? 
Starting  at  the  latest  in  early  1  876,  he  gave  tickets  to  agents,  in 
place  of  cash  commissions,  for  special  all-prize  schemes  and  adver- 
tised one  such  agents"  special  scheme  would  be  drawn  in  conjunc- 
tion with  each  regular  Monthly  and  Extraordinary  drawing. 

For  instance,  to  adventurers  who  had  already  bought  six  tickets 
for  $5  in  drawings  not  yet  held,  he  mailed  a  circular  and  letter, 
dated  April,  1  876,  14  in  which  he  confided  to  each  of  them  he  was 


mentioned  in  my  text  the  Governor's  "refusal  to  sign  the  bill  to  raise  Mr. 
Pattee's  license"  from  $400  to  $800  a  year.  The  NY  Times  article  of  Dec. 
18.  1876,  cited  below  in  text,  states  that  after  Pattee  arrived  in  Laramie 
from  Omaha  "he  immediately  began  to  work  upon  the  members  of  the 
Territorial  Legislature,"  soon  won  them  over,  "and  they  issued  a  charter 
for  the  formation  of  a  company  to  operate  a  lottery  .  .  ."  Without  further 
evidence,  I  feel  this  is  guesswork  based  on  the  legend  on  the  tickets,  etc.: 
"By  authority  of  an  Act  of  the  Legislature."  The  article  contains  several 
factual  errors. 

11.  Laramie  Daily  Sentinel,  Dec.    15,   1875. 

12.  The  Times  Illustrated;  The  Laramie  News;  broadside  of  scheme  to 
be  drawn  Aug.  30,  1875,  in  Yale  Univ.  Lib. 

13.  Scheme  of  5th  Extraordinary  in  The  Times  Illustrated;  of  the  6th  in 
Laramie  Weekly  Sentinel,  Feb.  14,  1876.  partial  data  in  NY  Herald,  Feb. 
23.    1876. 

14.  BCL  Col.  and  PGN  Col. 


PATTEE,  THE  LOTTERY  KING  201 

anxious  to  have  a  large  prize  go  into  his  locality.  This  was  an  old 
trick,  but  here  Pattee  altered  it.  If  the  recipient  would  accept  the 
proffered  agency  and  buy  14  more  tickets  for  $10  down,  leaving  a 
small  balance  to  be  deducted  from  the  prizes,  Pattee  would  give 
him  two  agents'  commission  all-prize  tickets  and,  if  they  should  fail 
to  draw  at  least  $100  in  an  Agents'  Special  Prize  Drawing,  he 
would  send  five  tickets  free  in  the  next  Extraordinary  drawing. 
In  this  case  it  was  the  7th,  with  a  scheme  of  500,000  tickets  and 
100.370  prizes,  of  which,  however,  50,000  were  of  $1  and  50,000 
of  5O0,1"'  thus  giving  to  each  participant  the  chance  of  the  prover- 
bial snowball  of  making  more  than  a  few  cents  in  profit. 

Of  course,  such  huge  schemes  were  not  devised  to  entice  the 
sparse  local  population.  Mrs.  Mary  Bellamy,  attending  high  school 
in  Laramie  at  the  time  of  the  lottery,  was  asked  some  questions 
concerning  it  in  1947  and  1950,  when  her  mind  was  still  clear  and 
her  memory,  as  seen  from  corroborative  evidence,  generally  re- 
liable. li:  However,  although  it  could  be  true,  as  she  said  in  1950, 
that  the  license  did  not  permit  tickets  to  be  sold  in  Wyoming,  a 
more  plausible  reason  why  none  of  them,  certainly,  were  sold 
locally  and  probably  not  in  the  territory,  or  possibly  not  even  in 
that  section  of  the  west,  lay  in  Pattee's  precaution  to  keep  anyone 
whom  he  might  fleece  at  a  safe  distance. 

In  any  event,  Wyoming  Territory  served  simply  as  a  safe  and 
legal  base.  Apart  from  the  widespread  mail  order  business  con- 
ducted by  Pattee  in  Laramie,  frequent  advertisements  of  the  lottery 
signed  by  him  or  by  Allen  &  Co.  at  79  Nassau  St.,  N.  Y.,  appeared 
in  the  New  York  Herald. 

Commencing,  it  seems,  on  May  31,  1875,  if  not  a  month  earlier, 
the  Monthly  drawings  continued  at  least  through  that  of  June  29, 
1876,17  while  the  5th  Extraordinary  took  place  on  July  28,  1875,ls 
the  6th  on  February  28  (or  29),  1876,1!l  and  the  7th  was  scheduled 
to  be  drawn  on  May  31  and  may  well  have  been. 


15.  The  Laramie  News.  In  addition  to  the  Monthly,  Extraordinary  and 
Agents'  schemes,  fragmentary  data  refer  to  some  others.  The  NY  Times, 
Nov.  7.  1875.  and  the  NY  Herald,  Dec.  1,  1875,  state  the  lottery  was  cur- 
rently drawing  on  the  15th  and  30th  of  each  month,  and  the  latter  paper, 
Feb.  16.  23,  March  1,  1876.  indicates  a  scheme  with  66,000  prizes  totaling 
$150,000  was  drawn  on  Feb.  21  and  another  of  the  same  size  was  sched- 
uled for  March  10. 

16.  See  note  9. 

17.  The  "Official  Drawn  Numbers"  of  the  Monthly  drawings  were  pub- 
lished regularly  in  the  Laramie  Weekly  Sentinel.  The  editor  stated,  March 
6,  1876.  he  did  not  publish  the  prize  list  of  the  then  last  Extraordinary 
because  it  would  take  up  the  whole  paper,  but  said  Pattee  sent  it  to  ticket 
holders. 

18.  The  Laramie  News. 

19.  Same.  Two  advance  ads,  one  in  NY  Herald,  Feb.  23,  1876,  state 
the  drawing  would  take  place  on  Feb.  29. 


202 


ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 


Gg£ 


If  21.6757      WYOMING  LOTTERY/^ 
7th  Extraordinary  Drawing,  U 

\B^,.„y,/^y    CAPITAL  PRIZE,    a* **.!*****. 


.    A 


t  iuentinixl  u>  such  Prixe  as  may  be  drawn  by  HsN.m.t,. 
fl*U|ltt£~      Tickets,  SI  Each,  or  6  for  55. 


| 
!/;>TE&2AKIE  CITY.  ■WTCMINO.  J.  IE  PATTEE,  Manager, ,  jgS, 


\  fttftt  J^tfaordisnary'.  ffirawing| , ; 


rHr  '  I'll  '!!■  '  .      r^H-i r ;' ' : 


f 


IJP"l"«B 


/?y  *.uti(fnri£y  of  am  art  */" 


t  Ltfitiaturc  of  Wyming;. 


jj' Agents'  Commission  PWie  Tidket 


Of  th«  9th  Quarterly  Drawing. 


■ Bwy  Ttek«*  draw*  a  Prise. 

T&»  Tir.ket  entitle*  fliu  hoMpr  to  sach'PrWe"  as  ai&y  b4  ttta*tf  Vy  Ifr  jtfvnfttXJrt " 

J.  M   PATTEE,  Manager,-       •'       -  Uvapt^CM^,  Wyoming.      «, 


](I^<^/4*   ^QffiKii^CKSMNNCSBlM   $f#^$ 


ty   of  mi    Act  of  the    Leyr 


Capital  Prize,  $5o, 

!'«vra»l  "f  Mwh  Priw  a*  may  he  rlrawci  l,y  otoiv*  S 
l«  inmnuiKt-.ltiv  Hie 

.//w,„i-  -^A?»  BANE  OP  CHE*©!?* 

M  Aft&HAl.l.  K    VIKK.  /Vr.t    Setts  t)a*k.  rhrymn:  Wtftnni»g 


PATTEE,  THE  LOTTERY  KING 


203 


According  to  a  federal  statute  approved  in  1872,  it  was  declared 
unlawful  for  anyone  to  mail  letters  or  circulars  "concerning  illegal 
lotteries  .  .  .  intended  to  deceive  and  defraud  the  public,"  and  then 
on  July  12,  1876,  the  act  was  amended  by  striking  out  the  word 
"illegal."  Pattee  had  depended  upon  the  legality  of  the  county 
license  to  see  him  through,  but  now,  not  eager  to  tangle  with  the 
federal  government  as  to  whether  or  not  he  conducted  his  schemes 
in  a  deceptive  or  fraudulent  manner,  he  had  to  seek  out  a  loophole. 

In  its  August  21.  1876,  issue,  the  New  York  Times  carried  an 
article  on  the  "new  swindling  device"  by  which  Pattee,  who  some 
weeks  earlier  had  stopped  his  Laramie  operations,  proposed  to 
evade  the  new  postal  law.  According  to  the  paper,  in  a  circular 
letter  mailed  to  the  recent  winners  of  both  the  small  $1  and  500 
prizes,  he  informed  them  that  while  he  would  send  the  prizes 
higher  than  these  by  express,  the  express  charges  on  the  small 


!tl|lllfa4 


PRAWS  MARCH  31st,  1876, 


mmwffl 

...'■'..■■■■■'' 


1WlSW9^m^999MW9, 


Lottery  Tickets 
Originals  in  Collection  of  Philip  Gardiner  Nordell 
Courtesy  New  York  Historical  Society,  New  York  City 


204  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

prizes  would  cost  the  winners  more  than  they  had  won.  There- 
fore, as  a  means  of  paying  them,  he  had  persuaded  an  "old  miner," 
who  had  discovered  one  of  the  most  extensive  gold  mines  on  the 
continent,  to  organize  the  Bullion  Gold  and  Silver  Mining  Co.  and 
to  each  such  small  winner  he  (Pattee)  was  enclosing  as  payment  a 
full  share  of  capital  stock  worth  $10,  urging  them  to  act  as  agents, 
sell  other  shares  at  $2  each  and  obtain  a  free  share  for  every  five 
sold. 

As  for  the  mining  property  (located  in  the  Ferris  Mountains 
district  of  Wyoming),  he  pronounced  it  "the  largest  body  of  gold 
ore  on  the  continent"  and  in  an  enclosed  circular  said  it  seemed  as 
though  the  mine  was  "a  mountain  of  rich  gold  quartz,"  some  speci- 
ments  of  which  has  assayed  $47,000  to  the  ton.  To  make  the  story 
plausible  to  the  yokels,  it  was  explained  money  had  to  be  raised 
to  buy  machinery  to  work  the  mine.  And  according  to  Anthony 
Comstock,  to  be  introduced  later,  the  fancy  stock  certificates 
flattered  the  recipients  and  the  circulars  beguiled  them. 

News  of  the  article  quickly  reached  Laramie  by  wire.  Some 
weeks  later,  on  September  1 1 ,  the  Laramie  Weekly  Sentinel  de- 
nounced Pattee's  new  mining  enterprise  as  "a  most  abominable 
fraud  and  swindle."  A  letter  signed  "Miner"  in  the  same  issue 
declared  the  lottery  was  "one  of  the  biggest  swindles  that  ever 
existed"  and  added  that  everyone  there  in  Laramie  knew  Pattee 
had  "made  an  immense  fortune  in  his  lottery  mill." 

Pattee  had  moved  over  to  Cheyenne  late  in  July,  where  on 
August  5  two  commissioners  supervised  a  "Great  Special  Monthly 
Drawing"  of  the  State  Lottery.  The  official  list  of  drawn  numbers, 
which  they  certified,  was  published  two  days  later  in  the  local  Daily 
Leader.  It  is  seen  there  were  100,376  prizes,  ranging  from  one  of 
$50,000  down  to  50,000  of  $1  and  50,000  of  500.  But  from  out- 
ward appearances,  Pattee  had  no  more  to  do  with  the  affair  than 
as  if  he  ha  drocketed  to  the  moon.  According  to  a  statement  on 
the  tickets,  orders  were  to  be  sent  to  Marshall  S.  Pike,  president  of 
the  "State  Bank  of  Cheyenne,"  which  guaranteed  payment  of  the 
prizes.  And  according  to  circular  letters  enclosing  tickets  mailed 
from  Cheyenne  to  prospective  agents,  suggesting  to  each  recipient 
he  might  win  a  prize  of  $1000,  all  communications  were  to  be 
addressed  to  the  bank.20 

Any  one  or  two  of  several  motives  may  have  induced  Pattee 
to  shift  his  lottery  operations  to  Cheyenne :  ( 1 )  In  view  of  the 
altered  postal  law,  he  may  have  decided  it  was  high  time  to 
abandon  the  Laramie  affair  he  knew  to  be  pockmarked  with  fraud 


20.  Broadside  and  circular  letter  in  BCL  Col.;  different  circular  letter  in 
PGN  Col. 


PATTEE,  THE  LOTTERY  KING  205 

and  operate  a  new  one  circumspectly  so  that  he  could  again  use 
the  mails  safely;  or  (2)  if  he  had  no  intention  of  running  it  hon- 
estly, to  hire  front  men  willing  to  take  the  rap  for  him,  a  procedure 
he  uniformly  employed  from  this  time  on  in  his  many  future  ven- 
tures. (3)  There  is  the  element  of  novelty.  He  must  have  accu- 
mulated an  immense  mailing  list,  and  the  more  attractive  bait  of 
an  enterprise  run  by  the  president  of  a  "State  Bank  '  would  lure  a 
larger  catch  of  suckers,  both  old  and  new. 

Commonly  known  later  as  the  Cheyenne  State  Lottery,  the 
tickets  and  advertisements  regularly  asserted  it  was  authorized 
by  the  Wyoming  legislature  (probably  by  the  same  or  another 
county  license)  and  managed  by  Pike.  The  complete  record  of 
the  schemes  and  drawings  cannot  as  yet  be  told.  Among  others,  a 
drawing  with  $722,243  in  prizes,  as  stated  on  the  tickets,  was 
scheduled  for  December  30,  1876,1'1  and  another  was  to  be  held  the 
following  January  30.  Presumably  both  took  place.  A  surviving 
ticket  in  the  latter--  states  the  lottery  "Draws  Monthly."1  The  last 
known  of  the  venture  concerns  an  all-prize  "Fourth  Quarterly 
Drawing*"  and  an  all-prize  agents'  drawing,  both  scheduled  for 
March  26,  1877,2:i  but  stopped  in  their  tracks,  it  seems,  before  that 
day  arrived. 

Although,  so  far  as  has  been  discovered,  Pattee's  name  never 
appeared  in  the  lottery's  advertisements,  etc.  (and  I  for  one  am 
sure  it  never  did),  it  cannot  be  reasonably  doubted  he  ran  the 
affair  and  merely  used  Pike  and  his  bank  as  puppets.  The  first 
actual  State  bank  in  Wyoming  was  not  organized  until  1893  and 
hence  this  one  must  have  been  a  private  bank  and  the  possibility 
cannot  be  ruled  out  that  it  was  a  fly-by-night  affair  started  by 
Pattee,  himself. 

Several  of  Pattee's  prominent  contemporaries  knew  he  pulled  the 
strings.  The  New  York  Times,  for  one,  in  a  scorching  exposure-4 
of  several  of  his  "swindling  devices,"  asserted,  although  he  denied 
the  fact,  that  he  was  the  "backer"  of  the  Cheyenne  lottery  and  went 
on  to  say  that  by  means  of  his  "great  wealth"  he  kept  in  his  service 
"the  most  skillful  rogues  that  ever  avoided  State  Prison." 

Orange  Judd,  editor  and  proprietor  of  the  American  Agricul- 
turalist, held  equally  positive  views.  For  many  years  at  this  time 
he  had  been  including  in  the  magazine  a  section  called  "Sundry 
Humbugs."  In  the  February  1877  issue  he  let  loose  against  the 
Cheyenne  affair.     "If  any  one  supposes  that  the  Wyoming  lottery 


21.  As   seen   in   reproduction   of  ticket   in   Anthony   Comstock,    Frauds 
Exposed  (1880),  p.  137. 

22.  BCL  Col. 

23.  Comstock  (as  in  note  21),  pp.   133-7,  has  reproduction  of  ticket  in 
the  former  and  circulars  of  both. 

24.  Dec.  18,  1876,  8:1-2. 


206  ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 

is  dead  while  Pattee  still  lives,"  Judd  asserted,  "he  has  small 
knowledge  of  the  nature  of  things.  It  still  waves  its  banners,  but 
they  are  now  inscribed  The  Cheyenne  State  Lottery.'  '"  And 
finally  he  lamented,  "Poor  Wyoming,  were  not  the  grass-hoppers 
enough? "' 

If  these  statements  were  merely  suppositions  based  on  hearsay, 
there  remains  one  man  who  knew  the  truth  from  personal  investi- 
gation. To  many  persons  nowadays  the  name  of  Anthony  Corn- 
stock  conjures  up  the  image  of  a  fanatical  and  somewhat  ludicrous 
reformer,  racing  around  New  York  City  with  a  Bible  in  one  hand 
and  a  search  warrant  in  the  other,  on  a  par  with  Carry  Nation 
brandishing  her  hatchet. 

However,  apart  from  his  preposterous  excesses  as  chief  agent 
of  the  New  York  Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Vice,  he  was  a 
special  agent  of  the  Post  Office  Department  and  up  to  the  time  he 
wrote  his  Frauds  Exposed  in  1880,  had  busied  himself  for  seven 
years  in  smoking  out  the  sharpers  and  "beasts  of  prey"  who  used 
the  mails  to  plunder  the  public.  In  the  book,  excusably  muddled 
at  times  because  he  had  to  piece  it  together  in  odd  moments,  he 
devotes  more  than  50  pages  to  some  of  Pattee's  "bogus"  mining, 
lottery  and  banking  schemes.  He  said  he  had  no  space  to  describe 
many  others. 

Comstock,  and  he  should  have  known,  explained  Pattee's  meth- 
ods at  the  time  were  ".  .  .  .  to  open  an  office,  in  which  he  would 
place  as  stool-pigeons,  some  of  his  old  clerks.  While  he  furnished 
the  money  and  the  brains  necessary  to  form  these  schemes,  and 
get  them  started,  he  had  a  corps  of  willing  confederates,  who  did 
the  office  work,  and  shared  the  profits.  They  were  to  take  the 
chances  of  arrest,  and  prosecution,  and  screen  Pattee,  while  he  was 
to  take  the  money  and  pay  the  bills,  and  their  salaries,  and  provide 
bondsmen  and  counsel  for  them,  in  case  of  arrest."-5 

According  to  Comstock,  the  Cheyenne  circulars  and  tickets  were 
printed  in  Maiden  Lane,  New  York  City,  where  the  bulk  of  Pat- 
tee's  printing  was  done,  and  were  distributed  in  part  by  Read  & 
Co.,  "brokers,"  of  the  city.  Back  in  1854  Pattee  had  married 
Eunice  D.  Read,  a  member  of  a  leading  New  Haven  family.  The 
head  of  the  firm  was  N.  ("Nate")  Sherman  Read,  his  brother-in- 
law.-1'  Another  main  agency  for  the  lottery  in  New  York  City  was 
Emory  &  Co.-7 

As  a  result  of  exposures  made  by  the  Times,  Comstock  on 
March  9,  1877,  in  conjunction  with  the  police,  raided  numerous 
lottery  offices  in  the  city.     At  Reed  &  Co.  they  seized  3000  ad- 


25.  Comstock,  p.  132. 

26.  Same,  pp.  115,  132-8;  Edmunds  (as  in  note  1). 

27.  An  ad  of  the  firm  is  in  NY  Herald,  Jan.  2,  1877,  and  a  broadside  in 
BCL  Col.    See  note  28. 


PATTEE,  THE  LOTTERY  KING  207 

dressed  envelopes,  18,150  Cheyenne  tickets  and  about  14,000 
circulars,  among  which  tickets  and  circulars  may  well  be  those 
Comstock  reproduced  in  his  book.  Both  Read,  and  E.  N.  Carr 
in  charge  of  the  Emory  office,  where  similar  material  was  seized, 
were  convicted  of  violating  the  postal  laws  and  were  compelled  to 
return  all  letters  pertaining  to  the  lottery  to  the  senders. -s 

Of  course,  these  agencies  violated  the  New  York  State  laws, 
but  lottery  offices  in  New  York  City  through  the  years  had  a  way 
of  rebounding  from  raids  and  reopening.  In  this  case,  however, 
Comstock's  seizures  and  arrest  of  Read,  whom  he  termed  Pattee's 
right  bower,  may  well  have  induced  Pattee  to  drop  the  Cheyenne 
enterprise  forthwith,  before  the  scheduled  March  26  drawings. 

Pattee,  an  industrious  man,  sometimes  ran  as  many  as  three  or 
four  enterprises  at  a  time,  each  under  an  assumed  name.  By  1879 
he  had  put  his  fertile  brain  to  work  and  hatched  another  lottery, 
the  Royal  New  Brunswick  Gift  Soiree,  and  arranged  for  Nate  Read 
to  run  it,  beyond  Comstock's  reach,  at  St.  Stephen,  just  over  the 
Canadian  border  from  Calais,  Maine.  By  1882  it  had  turned  into 
the  Royal  New  Brunswick  Distribution  of  Cash  Gifts.-'*  Running 
full  blast  late  in  1  884,  according  to  the  papers,  it  was,  at  least  then, 
a  giant  swindle,  with  no  drawings  held  and  no  prizes  paid,  con- 
tributing, however,  nearly  $40,000  a  year  from  postage  to  the 
Dominion  revenue  on  circulars  sent  to  the  United  States.  At  last 
the  Dominion  government  took  action  and,  with  the  arrest  of  Read 
on  December  10  of  that  year,  it  was  announced  the  lottery  had 
collapsed.'1"  While  Comstock  had  it  from  Pattee"s  own  lips  he 
started  it,:il  no  evidence  is  available  as  to  how  long  he  remained 
the  power  behind  the  throne. 

Judd  repeated  in  his  August  1876  issue  what  a  Kansas  editor, 
who  had  talked  with  Pattee,  said  of  him:  "  'He  seems  to  delight  in 
boasting  of  his  own  villainy  in  swindling  weak  human  nature.  He 
said  his  conscience  did  not  trouble  him,  that  the  people  wanted  to 


28.  NY  Times,  March  10.  1877,  2:5-6,  March  25.  7:1;  Comstock.  pp. 
139-40.  Comstock  said  that  Pattee  had  a  "clerk"  named  E.  N.  Carr.  alias 
"Emery  &  Co."  at  31  Park  Row,  where  he  was  arrested.  Emory  &  Co.  (the 
correct  spelling)  was  an  agent  for  the  Maryland  State  Lotteries  in  1854 
and  for  one  of  the  two  big  Delaware  lotteries  in  1860,  while  E.  N.  Carr  & 
Co.  was  an  agent  for  the  other  in  the  same  year.  While  Carr  may  well 
have  been  running  the  Emory  firm  in  1876,  I  believe  he  was  at  the  time 
an  independent  agent  for  the  Wyoming  Lottery  and  not  a  clerk  in  the 
employ  of  Pattee. 

29.  Comstock,  pp.  150-60,  has  reproductions  of  some  circulars  and 
tickets;  some  original  tickets  and  broadsides  of  schemes,  1879-84,  in  both 
BCL  Col.  and  PGN  Col. 

30.  NY  Times,  Oct.  10,  1884.  2:3,  Dec.  17,  3:5. 

31.  Comstock,  p.   151. 


208  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

be  humbugged,  and  it  was  his  business  to  do  it.'  "  This  seems  to 
be  a  fair  characterization,  and  yet  not  all  of  the  charges  made 
against  his  management  of  the  Wyoming  Lottery  can  be  substan- 
tiated. Among  them,  the  "Miner"  in  his  letter  cited  above  asserted 
the  lottery  "never  had  a  drawing"  and  the  Times32  said  a  drawing 
in  it  had  never  been  officially  reported  and  implied  no  prizes  were 
paid.  The  lottery  was  termed  a  swindle  more  than  once,  but  it 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  in  the  eyes  of  the  moral  monitors  of 
that  time  every  lottery  was  a  swindle. 

On  the  other  hand,  Mrs.  Bellamy  in  the  1950  interview  said, 
"They  had  a  big  wheel  that  they  turned  to  see  who  got  the  prizes" 
and  though  she  never  saw  it,  it  was  "up  where  the  men  worked" 
(on  the  second  floor  of  the  building  at  the  southeast  corner  of 
Second  and  Ivinson  Streets).  Month  after  month  the  15  drawn 
numbers  upon  which  the  prizes  in  the  Monthly  schemes  were  based 
were  published  in  the  Weekly  Sentinel.  In  a  printed  handbill33 
of  the  April  29,  1876,  drav/ing  at  Laramie,  the  "officially  drawn" 
numbers  are  given  and  attested  to  by  two  commissioners. 

By  itself,  however,  this  evidence  may  well  have  been,  and  I 
believe  it  was.  just  so  much  window  dressing.  As  it  turns  out, 
G.  H.  Hildreth,  serving  as  a  commissioner  at  least  as  late  as  the 
above  April  drawing,  may  have  been  at  that  time  one  of  Pattee's 
employees,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  in  August  of  that  year  he  became 
secretary  of  Pattee's  Bullion  Mining  Co.  and  signed  the  stock 
certificates.34  And  even  if  the  numbers  were  taken  from  the  wheel, 
the  bare  fact  means  nothing.  Pattee,  a  proven  scoundrel  as  seen 
from  his  mining  operations,  upstairs  in  his  quarters,  safe  from 
prying  eyes,  could  easily  have  rigged  the  drawings  to  evade  paying 
any  of  the  high  prizes.  The  prime  rule  in  any  lottery  is  that  the 
numbers  should  be  taken  from  the  wheel  in  public  under  the  super- 
vision of  responsible  officials  not  beholden  to  those  making  a  profit 
out  of  it. 

But  it  is  not  necessary  to  rely  upon  memory  or  conjecture.  In 
every  ternary  scheme  honestly  run,  tens  of  thousands  of  them 
before  this  time,  besides  the  many  brief  excerpts  of  high  prizes 
and  prices  of  tickets,  the  managers  published,  at  least  once,  a 
complete  official  full  scheme  of  prizes,  and  underneath  a  complete 
statement  of  which  3-number  combinations  on  particular  tickets 
would  win  those  prizes.  An  exact  correspondence  between  the 
prizes  listed  in  the  scheme  and  the  statement  always  prevailed. 
Adventurers,  with  faith  in  the  management,  would  then  examine 
the  subsequently  published  bare  list  of  drawn  numbers  to  see  what, 
if  anything,  they  had  won. 


32.  Aug.  21,  1876,  8:3. 

33.  Rare  Book  Room,  Lib.  Cong.,  portfolio   189,  no.  39. 

34.  Comstock  illustrates  one  of  them  on  p.  126. 


PATTEE,  THE  LOTTERY  KING  209 

But  if  Pattee  ever  published  such  statements  with  his  ternary 
Monthly  schemes  in  advance  of  the  drawings,  none  has  survived. 
He  published  the  complete  schemes  of  prizes,  but,  impressive  as 
they  may  have  been  to  the  uninitiated,  without  such  a  statement 
the  subsequently  published  bare  list  of  drawn  numbers  would  mean 
nothing.  Without  it,  an  adventurer  might  see  that  one,  two  or  all 
three  of  the  numbers  on  his  ticket  had  been  drawn,  intimating  he 
had  won  a  prize,  but  he  would  have  no  idea  how  much,  if  anything. 
Assuming  Pattee  was  cheating  and  had  not  already  rigged  the 
drawing,  or  even  if  he  had  not  held  any  drawing  at  all,  he  could 
send  to  inquirers  a  subsequently  prepared  fictitious  full  statement 
of  the  winning  combinations,  taking  care  the  numbers  assigned  to 
high  prizes  were  those  of  tickets  he  held. 

Even  assuming  Pattee  had  published  in  advance  such  statements 
of  which  combinations  would  win,  the  fact  remains  that  in  his 
complete  scheme,  announced  for  the  Monthly  drawings  in  1876,  a 
total  of  70,755  prizes  are  listed,  whereas  the  surviving  full  prize 
list  for  the  April  29  drawing  of  that  year,  with  not  only  the  1 5 
drawn  ballots  but  a  full  statement  of  the  winning  combinations, 
accounts  for  a  total  of  150,305  prizes.  This  explicit  total  is  not 
given,  but  when,  for  instance,  it  is  explained  in  the  statement  that 
"all  tickets  with  only  one  drawn  number  on  them  win  50  cents 
each,"  the  number  of  such  prizes  is  easily  determined  by  rigid 
mathematical  principles.  It  is  evident,  then,  that  the  list  of  prizes 
published  in  advance  and  the  list  of  winning  combinations  are 
utterly  irreconcilable.  Pattee  could  not  have  been  unaware  of 
this.  It  is  obvious  something  was  rotten.  Since  he  could  not  have 
been  so  ignorant  or  thoughtless,  the  only  reasonable  explanation  is 
that  he  deliberately  chose  to  play  a  crooked  game. 

A  baffling  piece  of  evidence  consists  of  a  printed  circular  letter8"' 
dated  at  Laramie,  August  31,  1876,  signed  by  John  W.  Blake, 
later  a  judge  and  member  of  the  territorial  legislature,  along  with 
two  others,  all  former  employees  of  Pattee's.  It  was  mailed  to 
numerous  prize  winners.  The  writers  promised,  on  receipt  of  a 
dollar,  to  send  "a  full  and  complete  statement,  showing  how  this 
nefarious  business  has  been  conducted;  the  amount  of  prize  money 
actually  paid,  and  the  names  of  the  lucky  ones;  the  parties  present 
at  the  so-called  drawings  ...  In  fact,  a  most  complete  exposure  of 
this  'arch  swindler's'  manner  of  defrauding  the  public  .  .  .  and 
especially  how  he  proposes  to  foist  upon  those  who  have  won  good 
prizes  in' his  last  drawings,  AMONGST  WHOM  WE  SEE  YOUR 
NAME,  certain  stock  certificates  .  .  ." 

Unfortunately,  no  copy  of  what  would  be  this  vitally  important 
testimony  from  insiders  can  be  found.     So  many  circumstances, 


35.  BCL  Col. 


210  ANNALS   OF   WYOMING 

however,  point  to  fraud  in  Pattee's  management  of  the  Wyoming 
lotteries  that  in  this  field  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt  he  should  be 
labeled  a  swindler.  And  if  only  half  of  the  charges  concerning  his 
exploitations  in  other  fields  are  true,  he  may  have  been,  even 
stronger  than  Blake  put  it,  the  arch  swindler  of  his  generation. 


Only  seldom  did  Comstock  meet  Pattee  face  to  face.  In  1 879 
the  latter  and  one  Barrett  organized  the  "old  and  reliable"  banking 
and  brokerage  firm  of  Simpson  &  Co.,  ostensibly  to  operate  a 
mutual  fund  in  the  stock  market  on  a  similar  pattern  to  those  com- 
mon today.  Having  received  orders  to  investigate  the  company, 
Comstock  paid  a  call  and  while  talking  to  the  bookkeeper  noticed 
"a  little  gray-haired  old  man  with  gold  spectacles  on,"  bob  out  of  a 
room  and  dodge  back,  closing  the  door.  Comstock  pushed  it 
open  and,  to  let  him  describe  what  happened,  "Lo!  I  stood  face  to 
face  with  J.  M.  Pattee.  He  instantly  reached  out  his  hand  to  shake 
hands,  and  becoming  very  much  excited,  repeated  over  and  over 
again  .  .  .  stuttering  out,  'Well — I — am— devilish — glad  to  see 
you.'  "36 

Comstock  said  Pattee  was  "a  remarkably  nervous  man,  and 
seems  to  be  always  in  fear;  having  at  times  a  wild,  frightened  look, 
as  though  he  expected  to  be  arrested  every  moment."  In  May, 
1  879,  Comstock,  "a  brisk  little  man  with  mutton-chop  whiskers," 
went  to  Saratoga  Springs  to  address  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  Upon  his  arrival,  ascending  the  hotel  steps, 
Pattee,  out  on  the  porch,  espied  him,  ran  "like  a  deer,"  darted 
through  the  office,  down  the  porch  steps  on  the  opposite  side,  and 
fled  down  the  main  street  "as  hard  as  he  could  run."  Convinced 
at  last  that  Comstock  at  the  time  meant  him  no  harm,  he  returned 
to  his  family  and  the  two  men  occupied  adjoining  cottages.87 

Not  later  than  1885  Pattee  moved  to  a  good  neighborhood  in 
St.  Louis,  where  he  died  on  December  19,  1888.  Comstock  had 
called  him  a  "sly,  sneaking  old  fraud."  And  yet,  whether  through 
his  "magnetic  presence"  or  the  power  of  his  wealth,  he  made 
friends  easily.  The  Times  regarded  him  as  "hearty  in  manner,  a 
good  talker,  and  altogether  the  sort  of  man  who  is  usually  described 
as  'a  hail  fellow,  well  met.'  "8S 

Over  the  years  there  were  numerous  American  lottery  kings. 
While  it  is  true  that  Yates  &  Mclntyre,  the  Gregory  partners,  James 
Phalen,  J.  W.  Maury,  Richard  France,  C.  H.  Murray,  Z.  E.  Sim- 
mons, John  A.  Morris  and  others  vastly  surpassed  him  in  the 
routine  volume  of  business,  and  true  that  he  never  approached 


36.  Comstock,  pp.  102-9. 

37.  Same,  pp.  1 13-4. 

38.  As  in  note  24. 


PATTEE,  THE  LOTTERY  KING  211 

Thomas  Hope  and  Ben  Tyler  in  the  clever  virtuosity  of  their  adver- 
tising, yet  in  the  sheer  audacity  and  effrontery  of  his  lottery  opera- 
tions no  one  ever  equaled  Pattee.  For  a  brief  period  he  deserved  a 
crown,  tarnished  though  it  was. 


Zo  Zke  Cittle  %ig  Mom 

By 

Hans  Kleiber 

Of  all  the  clear  streams  that  flow  from  the  Bighorns, 
Little  Horn  River,  you  come  nearest  my  heart, 
I  love  your  green  banks  with  their  roses  and  hawthorns, 
And  the  craggy,  blue  crests  that  mother  your  start. 

In  your  evergreen  forests  deer  and  elk  browse, 
From  your  meadows  I  hear  the  lark's  liquid  lay, 
And  softly,  shy  mourning  doves  coo  in  the  boughs, 
While  tramping  beside  you  this  balmy  June  day. 

You  plunge  over  rapids,  you  roar  and  you  shout, 
Then  eddy  and  murmur  in  pools  at  the  bends, 
As  I  the  refrain  hum  while  casting  for  trout, 
"This  river  and  I  shall  forever  be  friends". 

But  gently,  you  wind  in  the  valleys  below, 
Between  shaded  banks  of  old  cottonwood  trees, 
While  letting  your  waters  their  blessings  bestow, 
On  pastures  and  hayfields  that  wave  in  the  breeze. 

Your  days  were  not  always  as  peaceful  as  this, 
Many  a  brave  warrior  fought  here  and  bled, 
Til  death  touched  their  brows  with  a  merciful  kiss, 
And  put  them  to  rest  in  their  last  earthly  bed. 

Of  all  the  old  hunting  grounds  in  the  far  west, 
Your  country  was  treasured  by  red  men  the  most, 
When  fate  turned  them  down,  after  doing  their  best, 
Stemming  the  tide  of  an  invading  white  host. 

Now  red  and  white  lovers  tryst  on  your  banks, 
Who  pay  little  heed  to  the  warriors  that  fell, 
Love  with  its  tenderness  old  quarrels  outflanks, 
And  where  hearts  beat  as  one,  they  peaceably  dwell. 


212 


ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 


Parts  of  A  Saddle 

1. 

Horn 

10.  Fender 

2. 

Fork 

11.  Stirrup 

3. 

Seat 

12.  Stirrup  leather 

4. 

Cantle 

13.   Front  tie  strap  or  cinch  strap 

5. 

Skirt 

14.  Front  jockey  and  seat  jockey,  one 

6. 

Back  housing 

or 

back  jockey                  piece 

7. 

Lace  strings 

15.  Wool  lining 

X. 

Dee  rings 

16.  Rope  strap 

9. 

Leather  flank 

girth 

17.  Pommel 

Drawing  by  Christy  Page 


Saddles 

By 
A.  S.  "Bud"  Gillespie 

SADDLE'S  USEFULNESS 

The  most  prized  possession  of  a  cowboy  is  his  saddle.  Next  in 
order  are  his  bed,  boots,  chaps,  spurs,  rope  and  yellow  slicker. 

People  in  the  range  could  not  operate  without  a  saddle.  It  adds 
much  to  the  comfort  of  riding  and  as  a  security  for  a  man  remaining 
on  a  horse's  back  when  he  is  going  through  his  bucking  contortions. 
Then  a  man  has  to  have  a  saddle  when  he  is  roping  the  thousands 
of  calves  to  be  branded  during  the  year,  as  well  as  roping  wild 
grown  cattle  and  horses.  If  he  did  not  have  the  saddle  horn  to  tie 
to  or  take  his  "honka-dinkies"  around  he  would  soon  be  minus  his 
rope. 

SADDLE  STYLES  CHANGE 

On  down  through  the  many  years  that  saddles  have  been  used 
the  designs  have  been  changed  from  time  to  time.  There  was  one 
saddle  they  had  called  the  "form  fitter".  All  a  fellow  had  to  do 
was  to  get  into  it  and  "shut  the  door"  to  stay  on  a  bucking  horse. 
The  models  they  are  making  today  are  not  easy  riding  saddles. 
Neither  are  they  made  so  a  rider  could  sit  down  deep  and  keep  his 
seat  when  a  horse  is  bucking.  Most  of  the  ones  put  out  today  are 
known  as  roping  saddles.  Riders  buy  them  whether  they  can  rope 
or  not.  They  have  a  narrow  fork  and  a  low  cantle,  and  are  not 
made  so  a  rider  can  get  a  grip  on  a  horse. 

A  man  can  ride  the  saddle  that  he  learned  to  ride  in.  He  can 
learn  to  ride  on  his  balance,  and  hook  his  spurs  in  the  horse's  sides 
to  keep  him  from  slipping  up  and  falling  off. 

SPANISH  SADDLES  A  PROTOTYPE 

The  saddle  makers  in  the  range  states  adopted  their  ideas  from 
the  Spaniards  in  Mexico.  They  brought  their  first  saddles  over 
from  Spain  about  1519. 

Those  saddles  as  well  as  the  Mexican  saddles  had  a  horn  on  them 
as  large  as  a  saucer. 

A  saddle  is  made  on  a  tree  made  of  the  best  and  strongest  wood. 
The  tree  is  made  in  three  parts  and  fastened  together  by  screws. 
Those  parts  are  namely  the  fork  or  pommel,  that  is  the  front,  cantle 
or  seat,  and  the  side  boards  which  rest  on  the  horse's  back.  The 
horn  was  first  made  of  wood  but  later  of  steel  and  is  fastened 


214  ANNALS   OF  WYOMING 

on  the  pommel  with  screws.  Then  the  wood  is  all  put  together  and 
cowhide,  or  mostly  bull  hide,  is  soaked  in  water  until  it  becomes 
very  soft,  a  pattern  is  made  just  the  right  size  to  cover  the  tree  and 
is  cut  out  to  exactly  fit  the  tree,  when  it  is  sewed  together.  When 
a  saddle  is  made  for  heavy  duty  a  double  cover  of  rawhide  is  put 
over  the  tree. 

SADDLE  RIG  TYPES 

The  most  important  part  of  the  saddle  is  the  rigging.  That 
arrangement  is  made  to  hold  a  saddle  on  a  horse  and  must  be 
secure.  On  the  first  saddles  that  were  made  the  rigging  was  put  on 
top  of  the  leather  on  the  pommel.  One  strip  of  leather  about  four 
inches  wide  went  from  one  latigo  ring  to  the  other  over  the  pommel 
in  front  of  the  horn,  and  another  was  put  along  the  side  of  the  first, 
but  one  wrap  was  made  around  the  horn.  That  was  for  the  front 
cinch  to  be  fastened  to.  For  the  back  cinch  a  strip  of  leather  about 
four  inches  wide  was  taken  from  the  rear  latigo  ring  up  over  the 
rear  end  of  the  saddle  boards  behind  the  cantle.  The  front  and 
rear  latigo  rings  were  fastened  together  by  a  double  piece  of 
leather  about  one  and  one  half  inches  in  width.  That  was  for  a 
double  rig  saddle  or  one  with  two  cinches. 

The  rigging  for  a  center-fire  saddle  was  put  on  the  tree  the  same 
way  over  the  saddle,  but  came  together  on  both  sides  to  one  latigo 
ring  under  the  rider's  leg.  Not  many  saddle  makers  could  make  a 
center-fire  saddle  that  would  ride  on  the  horse's  back.  Those 
saddles  were  most  successfully  made  by  D.  E.  Walker  of  San 
Francisco,  the  Oregon  saddles  and  G.  G.  Garcia  of  Elko,  Nevada. 

A  later  rigging  was  made  by  the  Montana  saddle  makers  which 
was  known  as  the  three  quarter  rig. 

Another  saddle  maker  came  up  with  a  different  idea  for  rigging 
which  was  called  the  five  eighths  rigging.  It  did  not  prove  so 
popular. 

The  double  rig  which  had  two  cinches  was  the  best  to  stay  on  a 
horse's  back  when  doing  heavy  roping,  or  staying  on  a  horse's  back 
when  a  rider  was  riding  up  or  down  steep  hills,  but  it  was  the  worst 
to  make  cinch  sores  that  were  caused  by  the  skin  rolling  over  the 
front  when  he  was  walking,  or  trotting.  The  three  quarter  rig  was 
really  the  best,  especially  before  Hamley  and  Company  of  Pendle- 
ton, Oregon,  came  out  with  a  new  rig  which  they  called  the  flat 
plate  rigging.  A  person  doing  heavy  roping  would  step  off  and 
cinch  up,  but  for  ordinary  roping  he  would  never  have  to  go  to 
that  trouble.  That  rigging  would  not  make  sores  on  a  horse's  side, 
neither  would  it  cause  white  hairs  to  grow  in  the  same  place.  Some 
people  who  used  double  rig  saddles  would  take  off  the  rear  cinch, 
but  that  would  cause  the  saddle  to  kick  up  behind  and  was  hard 
to  ride  when  a  horse  bucked. 


SADDLES  215 

WYOMING  SADDLEMAKERS 

The  first  saddles  made  in  Wyoming  Territory  were  made  by 
T.  R.  Meanea,  of  Cheyenne,  Wyoming  Territory.  Later  Frank  A. 
Meanea  took  over.  He  followed  the  saddlery  business  longer  than 
any  other  maker  in  Wyoming.  He  had  demand  for  his  saddles. 
Most  all  of  the  riders  for  the  Swan  Land  &  Cattle  Company  used 
Meanea  saddles.  So  did  the  riders  for  the  Diamond  Cattle  Com- 
pany and  many  others.  They  had  a  good  reputation  far  and  wide. 
None  ever  hurt  a  horse's  back.  The  writer  never  knew  of  any  of 
the  Meanea  saddle  trees  or  rigging  breaking  when  heavy  roping 
was  done  from  them.  Meanea  made  the  first  saddle  trees  in  the 
United  States.  His  plain  saddles  sold  for  $40  and  the  hand-tooled 
flower  stamped  saddle  sold  for  $55. 

The  first  saddle  maker  around  Laramie  was  little  Bobbie  Gard- 
ner. He  sold  saddles  as  fast  as  he  could  make  them.  He  was  in 
business  in  the  1880's  and  early  1  890's. 

The  next  saddle  makers  in  Laramie,  Wyoming,  were  Lohlein 
and  Sigwart.  They  opened  for  business  during  the  middle  of  the 
1890's  and  closed  their  business  in  about  1908.  Lohlein  had  the 
best  pattern  for  chaps  and  made  the  best  angora  chaps  of  any 
maker.     They  made  good  saddles. 

The  W.  H.  Holliday  Company  followed  them  in  making  saddles 
They  kept  saddles  in  stock  for  many  years,  and  employed  saddle 
makers.     Among  them  were  Otto  Steiger  and  Bill  Doescher. 

J.  S.  Collins  and  Sons  opened  up  a  saddle  shop  in  Cheyenne, 
in  1886.  They  got  their  share  of  the  business  as  they  made  good 
saddles. 

Scoville  Saddlery  established  a  business  soon  after  the  turn  of 
the  century  in  Wheatland,  Wyoming.  He  built  a  well  made  saddle 
with  a  good  grip  and  seat.  He  operated  at  that  location  for  many 
years  and  did  a  good  business. 

Knox  and  Tanner  opened  up  a  saddle  shop  in  Rawlins  in  the 
1  890's.  They  made  a  very  good  saddle  that  met  the  favor  of  many 
cowboys.    They  were  engaged  in  business  for  many  years. 

FIRST  SADDLES  MADE  IN  U.  S. 

The  first  saddles  the  writer  has  record  of  being  made  in  the 
United  States  were  made  by  P.  Sickles,  Saint  Louis,  in  1836.  The 
next  were  made  in  New  Jersey  in  1840,  and  by  Collins  Brothers 
Saddlery  of  Omaha.  Nebraska,  in  1864. 

E.  L.  Gallatin  was  another  early  day  saddle  maker.  In  1860 
E.  L.  Gallatin  made  the  $350  saddle  which  was  presented  to 
Colonel  Leavenworth.  Presentation  occurred  at  Camp  Weld,  and 
was  made  by  his  officers. 

D.  E.  Walker  made  the  best  of  all  saddles.  It  was  the  lightest 
and  strongest  and  longer  lasting.     He  trimmed  the  leather  thin. 


216  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

doubled  the  leather  and  hand  sewed  it  close  to  the  edge.  That  kept 
the  jockeys,  skirts  and  fenders  from  coiling  up.  He  soaked  the 
leather  in  neafs-foot  oil,  which  made  the  leather  everlasting.  He 
used  endless  stirrup  leathers  which  made  them  very  popular.  The 
leather  was  hand  tooled.  Most  all  of  the  saddles  he  made  were 
full  flowered  stamped.  He  started  his  saddle  business  in  1876 
in  San  Francisco.  This  company  later  was  sold  and  exists  today 
as  the  Visalia  Company  in  Sacramento  and  Calgary. 

Gallup  and  Frazier  of  Pueblo  commenced  making  saddles  in 
1870.  Frazier  had  the  honor  of  making  the  $500  saddle  for  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad  Company  to  present  to  the  world's  cham- 
pion bronc  rider  at  Cheyenne  Frontier  Days. 

Hamley  and  Company  first  operated  their  saddle  shop  in  South 
Dakota  and  in  1883  moved  to  Pendleton,  Oregon,  where  the  third 
generation  is  still  in  the  saddlery  business.  They  were  the  first 
to  use  flat  plate  rigging. 

Victor  Harden  made  saddles  in  The  Dalles,  Oregon,  in  1890. 
The  Oregon  saddles  were  made  different  from  any  other  saddles. 
The  seat  was  closed.  You  had  to  take  hold  of  the  horn  to  throw 
it  on  a  horse.  There  were  no  holes  below  the  horn  to  get  your 
fingers  through  to  get  a  hand  hold.  Neither  was  there  a  place  for 
the  stirrup  leathers  to  come  through. 

E.  L.  Gallatin  Saddlery  operated  in  Denver  in  1889,  and  was  in 
business  there  for  many  years. 

N.  Porter  Saddlery  operated  in  Phoenix,  Arizona,  in  1875  and 
the  firm  is  still  operating  under  that  name. 

C.  E.  Cogshell  operated  in  Miles  City,  Montana,  in  1890  and 
on  into  the  next  century.  He  built  a  deep  seated  saddle  with  a 
high  pommel  and  cantle.  It  had  a  good  grip  in  it,  and  a  man 
couldn't  fall  out  of  it. 

The  Flynn  Saddlery  of  Pueblo,  Colorado,  started  making  saddles 
in  1875. 

H.  H.  Heiser  started  making  saddles  in  Central  City,  Colorado, 
in  1853.  In  1858  he  established  his  business  in  Denver,  Colorado, 
and  it  is  still  operating  under  that  name.  That  firm  made  a  very 
popular,  serviceable  saddle  which  is  still  being  made,  and  the 
Denver  Dry  Goods  Company  have  their  saddles  made  by  this  firm. 

H.  H.  Heiser  made  many  of  the  saddles  that  were  used  by  the 
Pony  Express  riders  in  1861  and  1862. 

Noble,  of  Hepner,  Oregon,  made  a  neat  center-fire  saddle  in 
1  895  and  for  years  after. 

Cornish  and  Watson  Saddlery  of  Ogden,  Utah,  were  early  day 
saddlers. 

O.  S.  Snyder  operated  a  saddlery  in  Denver,  Colorado,  during 
the  early  part  of  the  1900's.  There  was  a  good  demand  for  his 
saddles. 

A  Mother  Hubbard  saddle  is  one  that  is  completely  covered 
over  with  a  solid  piece  of  leather,  excepting  the  horn. 


SADDLES  217 

Other  South  Dakota  saddlers  not  mentioned  before  are  E.  C. 
Lee  Company  of  Pierre,  Duhamel  of  Rapid  City,  and  Streeter  of 
Buffalo  Gap. 

The  saddle  makers  of  Texas  are  as  follows:  Joe  Edelbrock  and 
Sons  of  Fort  Worth  made  saddles  in  1876  until  1944,  then  Don 
Ryon  took  over  and  that  firm  is  still  operating;  Schoelkoph  started 
making  saddles  in  Dallas,  Texas,  in  1 869  and  after  ninety-three 
years  the  firm  is  still  in  business  in  1962,  and  the  Speedy  Stirrup 
Pin  Company  which  made  saddles  in  Salt  Lake  City,  Post  Office 
Box  2527. 

For  reference  to  saddle  types  refer  to  the  book.  Cowboy  At 
Work  by  Fay  E.  Ward,  page  195,  and  for  reference  to  saddle  trees 
and  rigs  refer  to  the  same  book  on  page  199. 


Wyoming 's  frontier  Newspapers 

By 
Elizabeth  Keen 

THE  NEWSPAPER  AS  HISTORICAL  RECORD 

APPEARANCE  AND  CONTENTS 

If  judged  by  mid-twentieth-century  standards,  Wyoming's  early 
newspapers  typographically  seem  dull  and  gray  and  atrociously 
made  up.  Printers  setting  headlines  used  nothing  larger  than 
eighteen-point  type;  very  often  they  used  much  smaller  letters.  In 
multiple-deck  heads  they  mixed  type  faces  with  abandon,  and  it 
was  not  unusual  for  a  compositor  to  set  the  body  of  a  news  story 
in  almost  illegible  six-point  with  no  leads  between  the  lines  to  make 
things  easier  for  the  reader.  As  many  as  five  or  six  columns  of 
solid  advertising  were  used  on  front  pages,  and  more  often  than 
not  type  faces  were  mixed  without  restraint  within  one  advertise- 
ment. Illustrations  were  limited  to  an  occasional  logotype  in  an 
ad;  it  was  not  until  the  late  eighteen-seventies  that  awkwardly 
large  woodcuts  began  to  make  an  appearance.  Nor  was  there  any 
variety  in  advertisements,  which  often  appeared  for  months  at  a 
time  without  change.  Small  advertisements  known  as  readers, 
which  in  today's  newspapers  are  confined  to  the  "classified"  col- 
umns, were  scrambled  in  among  news  items  with  no  warning  at  all 
to  the  reader  that  the  excellence  of  somebody's  oyster  house  or  the 
fact  that  "Mrs.  Dr.  Frank  will  pay  particular  attention  to  female 
diseases  of  all  kinds  no  charges  will  be  made  for  consultation,"1 
were  paid  advertisements  and  not  truly  legitimate  news. 

Sports  reporting  was  confined  to  describing,  not  always  impar- 
tially, town  ball  games  held  on  the  Fourth  of  July  and  sometimes 
on  election  days.  There  were  no  comic  strips  or  cartoons;  instead 
the  reader  was  offered  many  columns  of  jokes,  often  stale,  clipped 
from  exchange  newspapers.-  Crime  news  comprised  lurid  accounts 
of  street  shootings,  and  laconic  items  of  a  line  or  two: 

Dr's  Calder  and  Finfrock  report  the  man  who  was  shot  by  Madam 
Ledbetter,  at  Dale  City,  is  recovering  from  his  wound.8 

Offenses  against  property,  such  as  thefts,  were  often  printed  in  the 
advertisement  columns.  Men  who  deemed  themselves  falsely 
accused  sometimes  wrote  in  to  the  newspapers  in  attempts  at  self- 


1.  Laramie  Daily  Sentinel,  May  30,  1870. 


WYOMING'S  FRONTIER  NEWSPAPERS  219 

vindication.     One  of  these  men,  who  signed  himself  "Daniel  Cun- 
ningham," wrote  to  the  Cheyenne  Leader: 

Having  heard  that  I  was  implicated  in  a  robbery  that  took  place 
some  few  days  ago  at  or  near  Dale  City,  I  wish  to  state  that  I  have 
been  at  North  Platte,  and  have  never  been  near  Dale  City  for  three 
weeks,  and  why  my  name  should  be  connected  with  any  robbery  is  a 
mystery  to  me;  and  I  want  it  understood  that  any  person  circulating 
any  such  reports  about  me  will  be  persecuted  with  the  utmost  vigor 
of  the  law.4 

If  the  news  content  of  the  earliest  newspapers  was  negligible,  the 
paucity  of  readable  matter  was  doubtless  due  to  the  fact  that  fron- 
tier editors  in  the  beginning  had  a  difficult  time  establishing  them- 
selves and  their  publications.  Writing  the  news,  clipping  and 
pasting  up  national  events  and  the  inevitable  jokes,  soliciting  ad- 
vertising, setting  type,  making  up,  printing  and  distributing  the 
paper,  making  out  and  collecting  bills,  and  placating  creditors 
were  all  tasks  sometimes  performed  by  one  man  alone,  or  by  one 
man  assisted  in  his  multiple  duties  by  his  wife  or  by  a  printer's 
devil.  But  as  editors  felt  their  roots  taking  hold,  they  tended  to 
improve  their  newspapers,  so  that  as  the  life  of  a  newspaper 
lengthened,  its  news  columns  mirrored  a  clearer  and  more  vivid 
picture  of  the  territory  as  a  whole,  and  of  various  small  communi- 
ties growing  up  in  the  new  country. 

In  one  important  respect,  however,  the  territorial  newspaper  for 
many  years  was  defective  as  a  reflection  of  frontier  life:  it  afforded 
scarcely  a  glimpse  of  women's  activities.  To  cite  the  Laramie 
Daily  Sentinel  as  an  example,  the  newspaper  had  ample  space 
during  the  summer  of  1870  in  which  to  print  frequent  references 
to  fishing  trips  with  "the  boys,"  to  lodge  meetings,  baseball  games, 
and  masculine  parties  "above  the  bakery."  There  was  virtually 
no  news  about  women  because  to  make  the  news  columns  in  those 
days  women  had  really  to  exert  themselves.  One  of  the  rare  bits 
of  news  concerning  women  to  be  found  in  the  early  Sentinel 
was  buried  in  a  general  story  about  the  Republican  election  victory 
of  September,  1870.     It  was  written  by  J.  H.  Hayford  himself: 

...  A  characteristic  incident  of  the  energy  and  pluck  of  our  pioneer 
ladies  was  illustrated  by  Mrs.  J.  W.  Meldrum,  who  rode  all  the  way  up 
here  from  Colorado,  some  sixty  miles,  on  horseback  yesterday,  and 
got  here  in  time  to  put  in  a  straight  Republican  ticket.  .  .  .5 


2.  The  earliest  issues  of  the  Cheyenne  Leader  contained  matter  clipped 
from  the  Chicago  Tribune,  New  York  Herald,  Denver  News,  Iowa  State 
Register,  Boston  Post,  Denver  Tribune,  Dayton  Journal,  Montana  Post,  Cin- 
cinnati Commercial,  Omaha  Herald,  Grand  Rapids  Democrat,  Springfield 
Republican,  and  a  number  of  other  newspapers. 

3.  Fontier  Index,  March  6,  1868. 

4.  March  16,  1868. 

5.  Laramie  Daily  Sentinel,  Sept.  6,  1870. 


220  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Since  Hayford  was  a  fervent  Republican,  it  is  questionable,  had 
the  lady  been  a  Democrat,  whether  he  would  have  thought  her  not 
inconsiderable  ride  worthy  of  mention  at  all. 

In  another  respect,  too,  the  frontier  newspaper  editor  tended  to 
cloud  for  later  historians  the  clarity  of  the  picture  of  those  early 
days:  he  was  so  enthusiastic  about  the  riches,  the  beauties,  and 
the  commercial  possibilities  of  the  new  country,  that  he  very  often 
wrote  about  them  without  restraint.  In  fact,  he  frequently  bragged 
to  a  degree  that  today  seems  comic  if  not,  perhaps,  pointless.  But 
there  was  a  point:  if  eastern  exchange  newspapers  reprinted  stories 
about  Wyoming's  untold  wealth,  a  wealth  that  was  awaiting  devel- 
opment, about  the  territory's  "unsurpassed  climate,"  about  its 
unmatched  beauties  and  other  virtues,  eastern  capitalists,  as 
financiers  in  those  days  were  called,  might  be  induced  to  go  west 
to  the  new  country  and  there  invest  some  of  their  millions.  But 
in  extolling  the  wonders  of  Wyoming,  the  early-day  editor,  if  he 
hoped  to  be  believed,  sometimes  overshot  his  mark.  The  Freeman 
brothers  of  the  Frontier  Index  were  possibly  the  most  hyperbolic 
of  all  early  editors.  When  the  "Press  on  Wheels"  put  out  the  first 
issue  datelined  Laramie  City,  the  newspaper  contained  this  char- 
acteristic editorial: 

THE  CITY  OF  THE  PLAINS 

We  have  it — Laramie  City;  it  has  jumped  into  existence.  The  rail- 
road towns  between  Omaha  and  the  Rocky  Mountains  which  have 
been  built  up  within  the  last  two  years,  are  alive  and  flourishing,  but 
none  of  them  have  one-hundredth  part  of  the  natural  advantages  that 
Laramie  boasts  of.  Look  yonder  .  .  .  timber  .  .  .  iron  and  copper  .  .  . 
coal  cropping  out  .  .  .  splendid  beds  of  gypsum  .  .  .  positive  prospects 
of  rich  gold  and  silver  mines  .  .  .  attractive  farming  lands.  .  .  .  How 
can  Laramie  get  around  being  a  permanent  town  of  much  wealth  and 
extensive  growth?  There  is  no  possible  way  to  dodge  it;  it  will  prosper 
and  become  the  pride  of  western  people.  Here  we  will  have  large 
manufactories,  rolling  mills,  quartz  mills,  saw  mills,  planing  mills, 
besides  many  other  outside  improvements;  U.P.R.R.  will  be  compelled 
to  build  at  this  point. 

Do  you  ask  why  it  is  necessary  to  put  up  all  of  these  conveniences 
and  facilities  at  Laramie?  We  answer  it  is  the  most  suitable  location 
on  the  road,  and  the  only  natural  inexhaustible  locality  between  the 
Missouri  River  and  Salt  Lake.  .  .  . 

Laramie  City  has  commenced  its  bold  and  promising  career.  The 
young  Nineveh  is  already  lifting  its  steeples  high  above  the  encompass- 
ing mountain  chains,  and  will,  in  a  few  weeks,  look  definitely  over 
the  crumbling  peaks,  and  beckon  eastern  emigration — by  thousands, 
now  searching  new  western  homes — to  come  hither  and  shake  hands 
with  freedom  and  fortune. 

Laramie,  beyond  all  question  of  doubt,  is  the  great  interior  railroad 
town. 

The  Freemans  tended  to  distribute  their  eulogisms  wherever  they 


6.  April  21,  1868. 


WYOMING'S  FRONTIER  NEWSPAPERS  221 

paused  to  publish  their  migratory  newspaper.  Tribute  followed 
tribute  until,  as  already  noted,  they  arrived  at  Bear  River  City, 
where,  before  their  printing  shop  was  sacked  and  burned,  they 
published  one  of  their  most  imaginative  panegyrics. 

But  others  besides  the  Freeman  brothers  wrote  in  this  fantastic 
vein.  Nathan  A.  Baker  was  one  of  many  who  printed  gushing 
tributes  to  the  newly-opened  frontier.  Possibly  smarting  from  his 
abortive  attempt  to  establish  the  Colorado  Leader  in  Denver, 
Baker  managed  to  combine  jibes  at  the  Colorado  capital  with  the 
editorial  bragging  so  typical  of  the  period: 

Perserverance  and  sweet  oil  will  do  more  to  abrade  and  even  the 
asperities  of  life,  but  mines  of  coal,  iron,  etc.,  and  petroleum,  will  do 
more  to  overcome  the  inconvenience  of  poverty  for  the  fortunate  dis- 
coverers of  these  deposits,  no  less  than  for  the  country  in  general. 

Another  is  added  to  the  list  of  resources  being  almost  daily  devel- 
oped, in  the  shape  of  oil  springs,  some  eighteen  miles  west  of  Chey- 
enne, discovered  during  the  present  week.  .  .  .  Mr.  Rollins  has  shown 
us  a  sample  of  the  article,  which  is  said  to  freely  exude  from  springs 
...  in  plenteous  quantities.  Who  next?  What  next?  Can't  some- 
body find  some  diamond  deposits  "in  mass  and  position"  underneath 
Cheyenne?  Denver,  look  well  to  your  laurels,  Cheyenne  and  adjacent 
sections  are  outstripping  you  in  all  the  developments  of  material 
wealth.  We  will  here  incidentally  mention  that  we  can  furnish  that 
burg  with  a  neat  and  substantial  tombstone  upon  its  approaching  de- 
mise, and  we  will  make  it  out  of  a  fine  quality  of  marble,  recently 
discovered  in  the  Black  Hills,  specimens  of  which  may  be  seen  here 
on  application.7 

Nor  was  editorial  exaggeration  limited  to  the  earliest  years  of 
frontier  journalism.  As  late  as  1887  the  Cheyenne  Daily  Tribune, 
on  the  reported  discovery  of  copper,  gold,  and  silver  at  Silver 
Crown,  not  far  from  the  capital  city,  printed  the  following  com- 
ment: 

A  time  will  come,  perhaps,  when  the  world  will  cease  to  wonder, 
but  that  period  is  in  the  far  future.  For  many  years  parties  have  pros- 
pected and  opened  mines  in  the  Silver  Crown  district  with  a  moderate 
yet  satisfactory  degree  of  success,  but  as  evidenced  by  a  discovery  of 
yesterday  not  one  hundredth  part  of  the  wealth  of  the  district  is  as  yet 
imagined.  It  has  been  a  well  known  fact  for  the  past  two  years  that 
beneath  the  eternal  hills,  which  in  their  grandeur  rise  above  the 
"Magic  City  of  the  Plains,"  there  lies  enough  copper  to  supply  the 
world,  gold  sufficient  to  adorn  the  breasts,  ears  and  hands  of  our 
50,000,000  people  and  silver  enough  to  build  bells  to  chime  the 
world.  .  .  .s    | 

Farther  north  at  about  the  same  time  E.  H.  Kimball  was  doing 
his  umtost  to  attract  capital  and  settlers  to  Glenrock: 

Many  lots  have  been  sold,  some  thirty  or  forty,  since  our  last  issue 
.  .  .  and  numerous  buildings  are  in  process  of  erection,  all  of  which 


7.  Cheyenne  Leader,  Oct.  3,   1867. 

8.  Sept.  14,  1887. 


// 


222  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

tends  to  cause  the  new  site  to  be  taking  on  the  appearance  of  a 
booming  town.  Many  strangers  seeking  an  investment  are  arriving 
every  day,  and  dozens  of  buildings  will  probably  be  in  process  of 
erection  next  week.  Glenrock  will  surely  be  THE  TOWN  of  this 
section  of  country. 

Come  on.  ye  capitalists  and  speculators,  and  parties  desirous  of  a 
good  business  location!  Glenrock  has  the  inducements  to  offer,  and 
room  for  thousands  of  people." 

In  spite  of  editorial  weaknesses  and  rumblings,  newspapers  of 
the  period  reflect  the  growth  of  communities  and  of  the  territory 
itself;  and  they  mirror  the  preoccupations,  the  manners,  the  tastes, 
and,  sometimes,  the  emotions  of  the  Wyoming  pioneer. 

THE  RAILROAD  ARRIVES 

Construction  of  the  Union  Pacific  railroad  was  the  greatest 
single  factor  in  the  opening  up  of  territory  that  now  comprises 
Wyoming.  The  railroad's  agents  furthered  the  westward  expansion 
of  empire  by  staking  out  towns  along  the  right-of-way,  and  soon 
thereafter  the  settlements  were  bursting  with  sturdy  fortune-seekers 
and  the  inevitable  riff-raff,  gamblers,  cutthroats,  and  prostitutes, 
who  followed  the  construction  workers.  Only  two  newspapers,  the 
Cheyenne  Leader  and  the  Frontier  Index,  appeared  ahead  of  the 
railroad.  The  pages  of  both  publications  reflect  the  eagerness  and 
enthusiasm  with  which  frontier  people  watched  the  Union  Pacific's 
rapid  progress. 

In  its  very  first  issue  published  September  19,  1867,  the  Chey- 
enne Leader  noted:  "The  track  of  the  U.P.R.R.  is  finished  to 
within  fifty-five  miles  of  Cheyenne,  and  it  is  expected  that  it  will 
be  completed  to  this  point  about  the  middle  of  October."  But 
although  the  construction  workers  at  that  time  were  laying  between 
five  and  six  miles  of  track  a  day,10  they  did  not  reach  Cheyenne 
until  a  month  later.  Meanwhile,  the  Leader  joyfully  announced 
from  time  to  time  that  "the  Cars  are  coming,"  coming,  coming. 
Finally,  when  the  first  passenger  train  from  Omaha  steamed  into 
Cheyenne  November  14,  1867,  the  Leader  gave  the  following 
picture  of  the  historic  and  festive  occasion: 

A  vast  assemblage  of  citizens  and  railroad  men  convened  .  .  .  Eddy 
Street  and  the  City  Hall  were  splendidly  illuminated.  The  large 
transparency  near  the  speakers'  stand  bore  the  mottoes:  "The  magic 
town  greets  the  continental  railway."  "Honor  to  whom  honor  is  due." 
"Old  Casement,  we  welcome  you;"  which  last,  if  relating  to  the  Gen- 


9.  Glenrock  Graphic,  Sept.  30,  1887. 

10.  Charles  Griffin  Coutant,  The  History  of  Wyoming  from  the  Earliest 
Known  Discoveries,  I  (Laramie,  Wyoming:  Chaplin,  Spafford  and  Mathi- 
son.  Printers,  1899),  p.  679.  Coutant  points  out  that  "when  it  is  understood 
that  it  took  2,580  ties,  352  rails,  5,500  spikes,  704  fishplates  and  1,408  bolts 
to  complete  a  mile  of  road,  the  rapidity  of  the  work  will  be  appreciated." 


WYOMING'S  FRONTIER  NEWSPAPERS  223 

eral's  years,  is  certainly  a  misrepresentation;  but  if  to  the  accomplish- 
ment of  a  lifetime,  few  men  have  ever  done  so  much.  .  .  . 

Speech-making  was  not  his  (Casement's)  forte,  and  with  a  "Gentle- 
men, good-night,"  he  disappeared  as  nervously  and  suddenly  as  if 
there  was  a  night  job  on  hand,  of  laying  four  or  five  miles  of  track. 
We  have  not  space  even  to  name  the  distinguished  speakers  that 
addressed  the  jolly,  uproarious  and  jubilant  crowd.11 

In  successive  issues  of  the  Leader  and  the  Frontier  Index  the  his- 
torian can  trace  the  progress  of  the  railroad's  westward  construction 
from  Cheyenne  to  Fort  Russell  and  Dale  City,  up  the  eastern  slope 
of  the  Laramie  mountains  to  the  peak  of  Sherman  Hill,  at  which 
point  the  outside  world  was  informed  by  telegraph  that  the  highest 
eminence  on  the  roadbed  between  the  Missouri  and  the  Pacific 
Ocean  had  been  conquered,11'  down  the  western  slope,  and  across 
the  plains  to  Laramie  City,  where  the  first  train  was  welcomed  May 
4,  1868.13 

The  pages  of  both  the  Leader  and  the  Frontier  Index  reflect,  and 
doubtless  fanned,  the  bitter  rivalry  between  Cheyenne  and  Laramie 
City,  born  in  the  spring  of  1868.  Which  town  had  the  greater 
future?  Which  would  be  chosen  by  the  Union  Pacific  as  the  site 
for  its  most  important  buildings?  Which  would  eventually  have  the 
larger  population?  The  controversy  was  fought  out  in  the  pages 
of  both  newspapers.  Two  weeks  before  the  first  train  arrived  in 
Laramie  City,  Baker  in  the  Leader  noted  with  concern  the  decline 
in  Cheyenne's  population  that  followed  the  westward  construction 
of  the  line,14  and  he  could  not  have  read  unmoved  the  exuberant 
announcement  of  the  Freeman  brothers  that  "several  railroad 
chieftains"  had  arrived  in  Laramie  City  about  that  time  to  let 
contracts  for  machine  shops,  round  houses,  and  "other  very  ex- 
tensive buildings  to  be  built  of  stone  and  to  compare  with  any  other 
R.R.  buildings  on  the  continent,"  that  in  the  future  Cheyenne 
would  be  "solely  dependent  for  her  .  .  .  greatness  upon  the  Denver 
branch  road,"  and  that  the  remains  of  the  "Magic  City"  henceforth 
would  consist  solely  of  "two  saloons,  two  dance  houses — and 
another  saloon!"15 

The  day  after  the  first  train  puffed  into  Laramie  City  the  Free- 
mans  gleefully  noted  that  the  town  already  had  a  population  of  two 
thousand  persons  and  that  "several  railroad  buildings  are  in  the 
course  of  construction  in  this  city,  some  of  which  are  nearly  com- 
pleted."1<;  Back  and  forth  the  battle  waged:  the  Freemans  taunted 
the  Leader  with  the  most  outrageous  prophecies,  while  Baker  in  a 


11.  Cheyenne  Leader,  Nov.  16,  1867. 

12.  Ibid.,  April  8,  1868. 

13.  Ibid.,  May  5,  1868. 

14.  Ibid.,  April  24,  1868. 

15.  Frontier  Index,  April  28,  1868. 

16.  Ibid.,  May  5,  1868. 


224  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

series  of  editorials  endeavored  to  assure  his  readers  that  Cheyenne 
would  remain  an  important  town  even  if  the  Union  Pacific  were 
torn  up  and  never  replaced: 

We  have  faith  in  the  place,  and  shall  contribute  all  we  can  to  make 
it  a  permanent  and  prosperous  settlement.  We  follow  no  railway 
nor  other  excitements,  but  came  to  Cheyenne  knowing  it  to  be  a 
favored  location,  and  with  Cheyenne  we  are  content  to  remain.17 

Meanwhile,  the  cause  of  the  controversy,  the  Union  Pacific,  the 
Frontier  Index  its  vanguard,  rapidly  pushed  westward  through  a 
series  of  settlements  that  no  longer  appear  on  any  map  and  through 
others  that  do — Rock  River,  Medicine  Bow,  and  Green  River  City. 
The  Frontier  Index  in  its  issue  of  September  3,  1868,  published  at 
Green  River  City,  noted: 

The  Railroad  Telegraph  is  completed  to  Green  River,  and  the  track 
is  now  finished  to  within  forty  miles  of  the  same  place.  Colonel 
Wanless  is  getting  ready  for  the  bridge  over  Green  River.  The  stone 
taken  from  the  extensive  cuts  at  Carmichael's  five  miles  east  of  here 
has  ignited  from  its  own  combustible  matter  and  has  been  burning 
for  a  number  of  days  past.  It  is  apparently  sandstone,  saturated  with 
petroleum. 

As  the  railroad  passed  through  and  beyond  Green  River  City, 
someone,  possibly  Baker,  who  may  have  traveled  west  to  have  a 
look  at  the  new  town,  observed  with  characteristic  disparagement 
in  the  Leader: 

The  history  of  the  rise  and  fall  of  Green  River  City  is  ready  to  be 
written.  To  be  both  brief  and  logical  this  place  is  played  out.  Mon- 
day next  there  will  not  be  twenty-five  persons  remaining  in  this  once 
famous  city.  The  business  portion  of  the  community  consists  of  one 
hash  house,  one  whiskey  well,  a  billiard  table  and  an  outfitting  store 
which  is  already  packing  up  to  leave.  .  .  . 

The  end  of  the  track  is  now  beyond  Granger's  sixty-five  miles  west 
of  here,  and  going  on  at  a  lively  rate.  On  Monday  last  Casement  laid 
seven  and  three-fourths  miles  of  track,  and  would  have  completed 
more  were  it  not  that  the  water  in  the  tanks  he  was  carrying  gave  out. 
He  had  three  dry  engines  at  one  time,  it  was  impossible  for  a  while  to 
move  his  train,  besides  getting  one  engine  off  the  tracks  he  had  bad 
luck  generally.  For  that  day's  work  he  allowed  each  of  his  men  three 
days  wages.18 

Working  with  feverish  speed  toward  their  goal,  Promontory, 
Utah,  where  the  Union  Pacific  would  join  the  Central  Pacific  Rail- 
road, then  being  built  eastward  from  the  Sierra  Nevada  mountains, 
the  tracklayers  pushed  on  beyond  Granger,  through  Carter  and 
Fort  Bridger,  to  Bear  River  City,  a  town  of  about  two  thousand 
persons.     Here  was  an  unsavory  settlement  which  both  the  Fron- 


17.  Cheyenne  Leader,  June  17,  1868. 

18.  Ibid.,  Sept.  26,  1868. 


WYOMINGS  FRONTIER  NEWSPAPERS  225 

tier  Index  and  the  Cheyenne  Leader  pictured  as  full  of  cutthroats 
and  other  ruffians.19 

The  burning  of  the  Frontier  Index  by  Bear  River  City  rioters 
November  20,  1868,  as  previously  noted,  had,  of  course,  no  effect 
on  the  railroad's  progress  westward.  However,  for  a  description 
of  the  ceremony  May  10.  1869,  when  the  Union  Pacific  and  Cen- 
tral Pacific  railroads  were  officially  joined  as  Leland  Stanford, 
governor  of  California,  drove  a  golden  spike  into  a  tie  of  polished 
laurel,  the  historian  must  look  to  newspapers  then  published  in 
Salt  Lake  City  and  Ogden,  Utah.-" 

THE  MINING  BOOM 

Even  before  the  building  of  the  railroad,  mining  fever  had  begun 
to  swell  the  population  with  a  frenetic  crowd  in  search  of  gold. 
Miners  were  to  contribute  little  to  a  stable  territorial  development; 
the  boom  itself  turned  out  to  be  an  abortive  business  that  ran  the 
course  from  prosperity  to  ghost  town  more  rapidly  than  was  usual 
on  mining  frontiers.  The  newspaper  picture  of  the  Wyoming  gold 
boom  is  fragmentary  because  the  rush  began  in  the  early  eighteen- 
sixties  before  the  establishment  of  any  long-lived  newspaper  in  the 
new  country.  South  Pass  town  site  was  laid  out  in  1867  following 
the  organization  there  of  the  first  mining  district  in  what  is  now 
Wyoming.-1  The  following  January  Baker  of  the  Cheyenne  Leader 
began  trying  to  open  the  eyes  of  his  readers  to  the  possibility  of  a 
lucrative  trade  with  the  new  town  and  the  surrounding  Sweetwater 
mining  country: 

Let  us  not  sleep  on  this  matter,  but  look  at  it  seriously  in  the  light 
of  dollars  and  cents.  If,  next  fall  and  winter,  a  few  hundred  thousand 
dollars  worth  of  the  precious  metal  finds  its  way  into  this  place,  there 
will  then  be  no  indifference  in  trying  to  get  hold  of  some  of  the  shining 
stuff.-- 

It  is  not,  however,  until  an  examination  is  made  of  existing 
copies  of  the  Sweetwater  Mines  that  anything  like  a  picture  of  the 
early  South  Pass  boom  emerges.  In  the  earliest  issue  extant,  that 
of  March  21,  1868,  the  newspaper  noted  considerable  building 
activity  and  reported  that  already  a  large  general  store,  a  hotel,  a 
saloon,  and  a  warehouse  had  been  erected.  A  week  later  it  pub- 
lished a  report  of  an  impending  large  migration  of  fortune-hunters 


19.  Frontier  Index,  Sept.  30,  Nov.  6,   1868;  Cheyenne  Leader,  Nov.   14, 
Nov.  15,  Nov.  16,  Nov.  18,  1868. 

20.  J.  Cecil  Alter,  Earh  Utah  Journalism   (Salt  Lake  City:   Utah  State 
Historical  Society,  1938),  pp.  142-143. 

21.  Frances   Birkhead    Beard,    Wyoming   from    Territorial   Days   to    the 
Present  (New  York:  American  Historical  Society,  1933),  I,  pp.  126-129. 

22.  Cheyenne  Leader,  Jan.  16,  1868.     Baker,  as  previously  noted,  found- 
ed the  South  Pass  News  in  1869. 


226  ANNALS   OF  WYOMING 

and  their  pack  animals  bound  for  the  Sweetwater  mines  from  Salt 
Lake  City.  The  newspaper  suggested  that  the  venture  might  well 
prove  hazardous  since  the  snow  was  still  too  deep  for  safe  travel- 
ing.-8 

The  Cheyenne  Leader  of  April  1,  1868,  announced  that  the 
first  shipment  of  gold  had  been  made  to  the  "Magic  City"  from  the 
Sweetwater  country — ten  ounces  of  the  "shining  stuff"  sent  in  a 
buckskin  bag  along  with  a  letter  to  the  editor: 

I  do  not  tell  these  things  through  excitement  nor  to  excite  you,  but 
I  think  there  is  no  chance  for  this  country  to  prove  a  "bilk."'  Should 
the  placer  diggings  turn  out  good  it  will  be  a  year  or  two  before  there 
is  much  money  in  circulation  here;  during  which  time  many  that 
come  here  with  the  expectation  of  making  a  fortune  in  a  single  night 
will  go  away  disappointed  and  damning  the  country,  while  those  who 
remain  to  do  what  they  may  will  undoubtedly  prosper.  This  South 
Pass  City  has  many  resources  besides  gold  and  silver.  It  is  generally 
believed  that  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  will  run  near  this  place,  which 
is  really  the  centre  of  this  mining  country,  and  is  surrounded  by  beds 
of  coal  which  with  the  agricultural  resources  of  Wind  river  valley, 
together  with  the  oil  springs  which  abound  in  that  vicinity,  can  not  fail 
to  make  this  the  centre  of  those  mines. 

By  June  the  Sweetwater  Mines  reported  an  acute  shortage  of 
currency,  although  great  wealth  in  gold  had  been  taken  from  the 
mines,  and  an  immediate  need  of  a  broker  who  would  buy  the 
shining  dust  with  minted  coins.  The  same  issue  of  the  newspaper 
described  the  gala  opening  of  the  Magnolia  Saloon  where  the  main 
attraction  was  a  dazzling  mirror  costing  fifteen  hundred  dollars.24 
Toward  the  end  of  June  power  machinery  was  being  used  for  the 
first  time  to  crush  ore,  and  frenzied  townspeople,  high  on  cham- 
pagne and  beside  themselves  with  enthusiasm,  were  prevented  from 
damaging  the  crusher  only  by  the  timely  intervention  of  the  oper- 
ators' friends.-"'  A  week  later  the  newspaper  was  reporting  that 
more  than  one  hundred  Sioux  Indians  had  attacked  a  band  of  seven 
miners  prospecting  along  Big  Wind  River,  and  that  only  three  of 
the  prospectors  had  escaped.-"  All  copies  of  the  Sweetwater  Mines 
that  have  been  preserved  contain  glowing  accounts  of  the  mineral 
wealth  of  the  region,  reports  that  were  doubtless  intended  to  attract 
more  and  more  settlers  and  capital  to  the  region.  By  the  summer 
of  1869  the  community  had  become  sufficiently  important  to  be 
included  in  the  traveling  circuit  of  the  Carter  Troupe,  for  one  mild 
June  evening  the  company  put  on  Lucretia  Borgia  and  Our  Gal 
in  the  Overland  Exchange  Hall.  The  same  issue  saw  a  Mrs.  Barber 
ready  to  start  a  "select"  school  on  Grand  Avenue;  the  newspaper 


23.  Sweetwater  Mines,  April  1,  1868. 

24.  Ibid.,  June  10,  1868. 

25.  Ibid.,  July  3,  1868. 

26.  Ibid.,  July  11,  1868. 


WYOMING'S  FRONTIER  NEWSPAPERS  227 

observed  that  she  was  well  qualified  to  teach  both  elementary  and 
higher  grades.-7  It  was  at  this  point  that  the  Sweetwater  Mines, 
because  of  financial  difficulties  previously  noted,  ceased  pub- 
lication. 

While  the  South  Pass  News,  the  second  paper  published  in  the 
mining  town,  reflected  a  picture  of  continuing  prosperity  in  the 
Sweetwater  region,  extant  issues  also  mirror  in  considerable  detail 
the  white  man  s  attitude  toward  the  warfare  of  this  period  between 
settlers  and  Indians.  One  copy  of  the  South  Pass  News  is  partic- 
ularly noteworthy  :-s  almost  entirely  devoted  to  the  "massacre" 
March  31,  1870,  of  twenty-six  Sweetwater  miners  and  mill  men  by 
Indians,  it  affords  a  typical  example  not  only  of  the  way  the  settler 
felt  about  the  Indian,  but  of  the  way  in  which  he  reacted  to  concern 
in  the  East  for  some  fair  and  peaceful  settlement  of  the  Indian 
problem.  Gold  mining  and  the  Indian  at  this  time  were  inextri- 
cably bound  up  in  the  eyes  of  miners  and  other  settlers:  they  felt 
that  the  government  was  pursuing  a  flabby  and  altogether  shameful 
policy  in  its  dealings  with  the  red  man,  especially  when  Washington 
made  treaties  reserving  certain  lands — lands  that  might  conceivably 
contain  rich  gold  from  which  the  miner  was  forever  barred — as 
hunting  grounds  for  the  Indian.  To  the  settler,  it  is  apparent,  the 
Indian  was  not  as  other  humans  were: 

It  is  now  generally  believed  that  the  Arapahoe  Indians  committed 
the  murders.  Capt.  H.  G.  Nickerson,  of  Hamilton  City,  was  in  the 
Arapahoe  camp  about  the  time  of  the  commission  of  the  outrages, 
and  states  that  most  of  the  warriors  were  out  of  camp  at  the  time, 
and  the  Indians  stated  that  they  were  hunting  on  Sweetwater.  He  also 
states  that  most  of  the  Indians  wanted  to  kill  him  and  it  was  only 
through  the  intercession  of  Friday  that  he  escaped.  They  said  they 
had  been  told  that  the  whites  were  coming  to  fight  them,  that  the 
Capt.  was  a  chief  of  the  whites,  and  they  stated  that  they  believed  he 
was  a  spy.  ...  It  will  be  remembered  that  a  number  of  the  chief  men 
of  the  tribe  were,  a  few  weeks  ago,  in  our  town  professing  friendship 
with  the  whites  and  being  feasted  by  our  citizens.  These  professions 
of  amity  were  taken  by  our  citizens  with  many  grains  of  allowance, 
and  the  result  shows  that  they  were  right.  All  experience  teaches  that 
the  Indians  only  observes  Lsic]  his  treaties  and  acts  in  good  faith  with 
the  whites  when  afraid  to  do  otherwise.  The  Shoshones  and  Bannocks 
are  the  only  Indians  in  Wyoming  that  can  be  trusted,  and  the  reason 
is  the  terrible  chastisement  they  received  at  Bear  River  .  .  .  and  their 
great  dread  of  their  mortal  enemies,  the  Sioux,  which  drives  them  to 
seek  the  aid  of  white  men  for  their  own  protection.  The  men  raised 
by  Mr.  [J.W.]  Anthony  under  the  authority  of  his  appointment  of 
Lieut.  Col.  of  militia,  are  now  enroute  for  the  Arapahoe  camp,  200 
strong,  and  if  they  succeed  in  reaching  the  camp  before  the  Indians 
take  alarm  and  leave,  there  will  be  more  work  for  .  .  .  the  Quaker 
commission  and  more  tears  to  be  shed  by  our  philanthropists  in  the 
states  on  behalf  of  the  poor  abused  Indian.21* 


27.  Ibid.,  June  19,  1869. 

28.  April  9,  1870. 

29.  South  Pass  News,  April  9,  1 870. 


228  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Another  newspaper  picture  of  mining  fever,  showing  the  way  in 
which  men  infected  with  the  malady  disregarded  all  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  their  goal,  emerges  in  the  files  of  the  Cheyenne  Leader. 
In  the  autumn  of  1869  reports  were  circulated  in  Cheyenne  of 
fabulous  wealth  waiting  to  be  dug  out  of  the  Big  Horn  mountains;*" 
that  winter  the  Big  Horn  Mining  Association  was  organized  to 
penetrate  country  which,  by  the  treaty  signed  at  Fort  Laramie  April 
29,  1868,  was  legally  reserved  for  the  Indian.81  Gold-seekers 
from  as  far  east  as  Chicago  began  arriving  in  Cheyenne  to  join  the 
expedition,  which  postponed  its  departure  past  the  middle  of  May 
in  hopes  that  the  government  would  lend  its  approval  to  the 
intended  invasion  of  Indian  territory.  When  official  sanction  did 
not  come,  the  prospectors  decided  to  approach  the  Big  Horns  in  a 
roundabout  way,  and  left  Cheyenne  May  20,  1870.82  The  party 
was  a  failure.  It  split  up  into  factions,  a  number  of  prospectors 
were  killed  by  Indians,  and  only  a  small  fraction  of  the  original 
expedition  returned  to  Cheyenne  August  22. 33  The  government's 
policy  toward  the  Indian,  rather  than  the  absence  of  gold  in  the 
Big  Horns,  was  blamed  for  the  fiasco.84  History  was  later  to  show 
that  1870  marked  the  close  of  one  period  of  the  territory's  mining 
history. 

COMMUNITY  LIFE 

A  more  promising  picture  of  permanent  settlement  emerges  from 
the  concern  of  early  newspapers  with  the  development  of  stable 
communities — such  as  Cheyenne  and  Laramie.  The  first  few 
issues  of  any  frontier  newspaper  reflect  a  preoccupation  with  such 
material  matters  as  the  price  of  lots,  the  establishment  of  new 
businesses,  the  endeavor  to  attract  both  settlers  and  capital  to  a 
new  and  struggling  country.  But  sometimes,  too,  a  vivid  glimpse 
of  the  new  town  itself  emerges  from  a  buried  paragraph,  as  in  the 
following  item  describing  early-day  trading  in  Cheyenne: 

A  multitude  of  arrangements  are  employed  to  facilitate  business 
operations  in  this  city.  Dry  goods  boxes  are  dumped  from  wagons 
and  their  contents  taken  therefrom,  and  ranged  to  display  upon  the 
boxes,  on  each  business  street  of  town.  And  this  influx  of  merchants 
is  not  of  temporary  sojourners,  as  might  be  inferred  from  the  above. 
Nearly  all  such,  with  whom  we  have  conversed,  are  intending  to 
construct  large  commodious  buildings  as  soon  as  lumber  can  be  ob- 
tained, and  large  stocks  of  goods  are  en  route  for  most  of  these  parts.35 

High  prices  were  paid  by  the  consumer  for  these  goods,  for  accord- 


30.  Cheyenne  Leader,   Sept.  13,  1869. 

31.  Ibid.,  Jan.  3,  1870. 

32.  Ibid.,  May  21,  1870. 

33.  Ibid.,   Aug.  23,  1870. 

34.  Ibid.,  Aug.  22,  1870. 

35.  Cheyenne  Leader,   Sept.  24,  1867. 


WYOMING'S  FRONTIER  NEWSPAPERS  229 

ing  to  the  Cheyenne  Leader  of  September  26,  1 367,  cans  of  peach- 
es and  raspberries  cost  seventy-five  cents  each,  "ships"  were 
twenty-five  dollars  a  keg,  candles  were  fifty  cents  a  pound,  and 
nails  brought  a  price  of  twenty-two  dollars  a  keg.  Since  the  great 
influx  of  population  poured  into  Cheyenne  during  the  late  summer 
and  early  fall,  there  had  been  no  time  to  plant  vegetables  for  use 
during  the  winter;  accordingly  in  October  the  newspaper  warned 
its  readers: 

We  notice  the  arrival,  in  our  streets,  of  wagons  from  different  por- 
tions of  the  adjoining  Territory  of  Colorado,  loaded  with  vegetables, 
such  as  potatoes,  onions,  cabbages,  etc.,  and  we  would  remind  our 
citizens  that  this  is  the  proper  time  to  lay  in  a  supply  of  such  articles 
for  the  approaching  winter,  which  may  be  long  and  dreary.  Vege- 
tables, which  are  so  beneficial  as  antiscorbutics,  may  be  difficult  to 
find  and  expensive  to  pay  for.     Fill  your  cellars. 36 

There  were  other  worries  besides  high  prices  and  possible  food 
shortages  to  plague  settlers: 

High  winds  have  prevailed  for  the  last  three  days.  On  the  morning 
of  Oct.  9th  the  storm  had  increased  almost  to  a  hurricane.  The  prair- 
ies were  on  fire  north  of  us,  and  the  black  masses  of  smoke  whirling 
away  before  the  gale  were  well  calculated  to  excite  apprehension  for 
the  safety  of  the  city.  The  special  police  were  out  on  duty  and  used 
all  possible  precautions  to  prevent  a  calamity  so  fearful. 

Later.  The  struggle  of  an  army  of  our  citizens  to  ward  off  and 
subdue  the  rapidly  approaching  flames  is  at  last  decided.  They  were 
driven  back  into  the  city  limits  and  the  danger  of  a  general  conflagra- 
tion, for  some  time,  was  most  imminent,  but  the  gunny  bag  outfit  came 
off  victorious  and  deserve  the  thanks  of  all  who  were  not  there  to 
assist,  but  who  ought  to  have  been.-'57 

But  alongside  a  preoccupation  with  survival  and  making  money 
there  soon  appeared  in  frontier  newspapers  a  concern  for  the 
education  and  general  welfare  of  families  who  had  arrived  and  for 
those  who  were  still  to  come.  The  first  Wyoming  editor  to  deplore 
the  lack  of  schools  was  Cheyenne's  N.  A.  Baker.  Less  than  a 
month  after  he  had  given  the  town  its  first  newspaper,  he  wrote  a 
page-one  editorial  urging  the  foundation  of  a  school  system: 

We  have  been  engrossed  almost  night  and  day  with  building  shops 
and  preparing  for  the  winter;  we  have  strained  nerve  and  muscle,  and 
have,  for  our  reward,  a  beautiful  city,  not  merely  of  '"magnificent  dis- 
tances," but  of  magnificent  proportions!  And  now  there  is  coming 
upon  us  a  population  of  families — let  us  welcome  them,  not  only  by 
welcoming  words,  but  by  instituting  those  means  that  can  only  render 
them  happy,  useful  and  intelligent.  What  is  a  town  without  schools 
and  churches?  Answer,  Julesburg.  Is  Cheyenne  to  be  such  a  town? 
No,  sir.  Families  are  what  we  want.  Homes,  with  mothers  and 
children  in  them,  to  restrain,  and  give  tone  to  our  social  fabric. 

The  American  people  demand  schools  for  their  children,  and  are 


36.  Ibid.,  Oct.  5,  1867. 

37.  Ibid.,  Oct.  10,  1867. 


230  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

unwilling  to  live  where  they  are  not  to  be  had.  It  was  long  since 
established  by  our  fathers  that  the  only  solid  foundation  for  permanent 
prosperity  is  in  the  virtue  and  intelligence  of  the  people;  therefore, 
every  great  free  State,  and  almost  every  Territory,  early  directed  their 
attention  to  laying  the  foundation  of  the  common  school  system. 
There  is  scarcely  any  wisdom  superior  to  this.  .  .  ,38 

Less  than  three  months  later,  on  January  5,  1868,  nearly  all  of  the 
citizens  of  Cheyenne  turned  out  to  celebrate  the  dedication  of  the 
first  school  building  in  Wyoming. 

Another  concern,  that  of  preserving  the  public  peace,  is  reflected 
in  early-day  community  newspapers.  The  Cheyenne  Leader,  for 
instance  while  commending  the  city  council  for  its  action  in  for- 
bidding the  carrying  of  concealed  weapons,  warned  its  readers  that 
the  burden  of  making  the  town  a  peaceful  community  "where  the 
humblest  and  weakest  may  go  forth  at  any  hour  of  the  day  or  night, 
unarmed  and  alone,  and  without  fear  or  trembling,"  rested  on 
individual  citizens. 39  It  was  a  burden  soon  to  be  individually 
assumed,  but  not  in  the  way  that  the  Leader  meant.  That  winter 
about  two  hundred  outraged  citizens  organized  themselves  as 
vigilantes,  donned  black  masks,  and  set  about  maintaining  law 
and  order  among  what  were  then  called  "camp-followers"  of 
Union  Pacific  construction  workers.  The  vigilantes  hanged  sev- 
eral men  and  forced  others  to  leave  town.40  The  Cheyenne  Leader 
bitterly  assailed  the  vigilantes  for  bypassing  proper  legal  procedures 
and  taking  the  law  into  their  own  hands.41  At  the  same  time,  the 
picture  of  Cheyenne  that  emerges  from  the  Leader's  columns  is  far 
from  pretty: 

The  modern  institutions  of  crime  and  pleasure  are  on  the  increase  in 
this  vicinity,  and  can  stand  a  sharp  looking  after.  Between  bad  whis- 
key and  the  rule  of  the  wantons,  the  sophisticated  and  unsophisticated 
are  fleeced  with  unerring  regularity  and  system.  Extraordinary  in- 
ducements are  thrust  forth  to  lure  men  with  their  money  into  these 
plundering  dens,  where  the  vilest  of  both  sexes  do  congregate,  and 
the  luckless  man,  who  escapes  therefore  without  being  cut,  or  shot  or 
beaten  up,  and  minus  his  money  is  fortunate  for  the  occasion.42 

In  the  course  of  time  Cheyenne  was  able  to  control  its  disorderly 
element;  as  the  years  passed  its  newspapers  reflected  a  picture  of 
the  town's  gradual  metamorphosis  into  a  peaceful  city  of  homes 
and  gardens  and  fine  state  buildings.  In  a  limited  study  of  this 
nature  it  is  not  possible  to  trace  the  development  of  one  city 
through  each  of  the  twenty-seven  years  comprising  the  period  under 
investigation.     But  it  should  be  pointed  out  that  in  September. 


38 

Cheyenne  Leader,  Oct.  24,  1867 

39 

Ibid.,  Oct.  13,  1867. 

40 

Ibid.,  Jan.  11,  Jan.  20,  1868. 

41 

Ibid.,  Jan.  21,  1868. 

42 

Ibid.,   Feb.  15,  1868. 

WYOMING'S  FRONTIER  NEWSPAPERS  231 

1885,  the  Cheyenne  Sun  brought  out  a  special  edition  illustrated 
with  pictures  of  churches,  schoolhouses,  thirty-two  fine  homes, 
and  a  number  of  "amusement  halls. "  Cheyenne,  by  this  time, 
boasted  wide  streets  shaded  by  leafy  trees  and  a  library  that 
housed  nearly  a  thousand  books.  The  men  of  Cheyenne  were 
enjoying  a  brick  club  house  that  had  cost  forty  thousand  dollars 
to  build,  and  people  who  were  sick  could  go  to  the  county  hospital, 
which  had  cost  twenty-one  thousand  dollars.  Electric  street-light- 
ing kept  Cheyenne  bright  at  night,  and  a  well-organized  fire 
department  presumably  guarded  it  from  the  kind  of  disaster  that 
in  January,  1870,  laid  nearly  half  the  town  in  ruins.  The  Wyoming 
Academy  of  Science,  Arts,  and  Letters  had  been  fostering  culture 
for  three  years,  and  a  territorial  library  had  been  started.  A  num- 
ber of  Union  Pacific  machine  shops  had  been  built,  and  so  had 
some  small  factories  that  produced  boots  and  shoes,  wagons  and 
harnesses;  two  breweries  had  gone  up,  and  one  enterprising  busi- 
ness turned  native  metals  and  stone  into  jeweled  ornaments. 

Over  the  mountains  in  Laramie  City,  the  Sentinel  was  recording 
a  similar  community  development.  The  year  1 868  was  full  of 
events:  Patrick  S.  Seane,  the  town's  first  white  baby,  was  born 
June  21;  Miss  Jennie  Wright  started  a  Sabbath  school  July  15; 
citizens  formed  a  vigilantes  committee  in  August  to  rid  the  town 
of  crime;  Rev.  Joseph  C.  Cook  of  Cheyenne  in  October  established 
the  Episcopal  church,  Laramie's  first.  On  February  15,  1868, 
Miss  Eliza  Stewart  opened  Laramie's  first  public  school. 4:s 

By  the  spring  of  1  870  the  columns  of  the  Sentinel  were  reflecting 
a  picture  of  a  pleasant  town  with  civic-minded  citizens  where 

"A"  Street  ...  is  a  beauty,  now  being  lined  with  shade  trees  on  both 
sides,  and  also  bounded  by  beautiful  clear  streams  of  spring  water. 
The  force  of  its  example  is  beginning  to  be  felt,  too.  People  on  the 
other  streets  see  how  much  better  it  looks,  and  have  gone  to  work  on 
their  own.44 

But  two  days  later  there  was  trouble  in  the  Garden  of  Eden: 

.  .  .  the  hogs  in  this  city  are  becoming  an  unbearable  nuisance.  We 
like  hogs,  they  are  a  good  thing  to  have  in  a  family,  town  or  commun- 
ity. But  here  in  the  city  where  we  want  to  keep  our  streets  looking 
decent,  and  our  water  courses  clear  and  clean,  so  that  the  people  can 
use  the  water,  and  want  to  be  let  alone  generally,  fifteen  hundred  or 
two  thousand  hogs  rooting  up  the  streets,  wallowing  in  the  ditches. 


43.  These  facts  are  taken  from  a  retrospective  review  published  in  the 
Laramie  Weekly  Sentinel  May  5,  1883,  with  Hayford's  explanation  that 
since  the  files  of  the  Sentinel  for  the  first  year  of  its  existence  had  been 
"badly  scattered  or  destroyed,"  he  had  decided  to  gather  "from  the  remains 
of  the  files  of  the  first  year  many  historical  events  of  public  interest  .  .  ." 
Since  this  investigation  has  failed  to  turn  up  any  copies  of  the  Daily  Sentinel 
before  that  of  May  2,  1870,  Hayford's  later  account  has  been  used  of 
necessity. 

44.  Laramie  Daily  Sentinel,  May  11,  1870. 


232  ANNALS  OF   WYOMING 

converting  our  clear  running  spring  brooks  into  disgusting  mud  holes, 
destroying  shade  trees,  and  poking  their  noses  into  everything  in  reach, 
is  getting  it  in  a  little  too  thick  for  either  profit  or  pleasure.  We 
understand  the  commissioners  are  authorized  by  law  to  put  a  stop  to 
it,  and  we  frantically  call  upon  those  official  gentlemen  to  stand  be- 
tween us  and  the  hogs.4-1 

The  commissioners  did  indeed  "stand  between11  Hayford  and  the 
roaming  hogs;  eleven  days  later  the  Sentinel  ran  a  Board  of  County 
Commissioners'  order  warning  hog-owners  that  they  must  keep 
their  animals  from  "running  at  large"  or  risk  a  fine  of  one  hundred 
dollars.4'1 

Toward  the  end  of  the  following  year  the  Sentinel's  pages  re- 
create for  the  reader  a  picture  of  a  frontier  Christmas.  For  gifts 
there  were  advertised  mouth  organs,  accordions,  wearing  apparel, 
and  gems  "both  imported  and  home  cut."47  To  eat  there  were 
new  chestnuts,  oysters,  chickens,  turkeys,  corn-fed  pork  and  mut- 
ton, California  and  "foreign"  fruits,  and  "pure  sweet  Michigan 
cider. "4S  Even  the  merchants  by  that  time  were  going  in  for 
Christmas  decorations: 

.  .  .  Fox  has  gone  to  work  and  ornamented  his  market  in  a  fitting 
manner  as  becomes  the  holidays.  The  beef  and  mutton  is  as  white  as 
the  drifted  snow  with  fat,  and  is  ornamented  with  many  colored 
rosettes  in  truly  national  and  patriotic  style.49 

The  day  after  Christmas  the  newspaper  reported  that  the  biggest 
holiday  celebration  had  been  a  party  at  the  Methodist  Church, 
where  the  Christmas  tree  "could  not  be  made  to  hold  one  half  the 
presents  brought  there  to  be  bestowed  by  friends  upon  friends" 
for  there  were  over  twelve  hundred  presents  in  all.  Then  the  Lara- 
mie citizenry  came  in  for  some  criticism.  Finding  them  "altogether 
too  practical  and  utilitarian,  lacking  half  enough  of  pleasure, 
amusement,  and  recreation,"  the  Sentinel  prophesied  that  "if  we 
had  and  enjoyed  a  dozen  such  holidays  a  year,  we  would  be  better, 
happier,  wiser  and  wealthier.""'" 

Severe  winters  produced  conditions  which  affected  the  daily  lives 
of  the  people  in  Laramie  and  other  Wyoming  communities,  al- 
though an  examination  of  the  newspapers  of  the  period  shows  their 
tendency  to  suppress  accounts  of  any  climatic  rigors,  probably 
because  so  many  of  the  papers  went  to  eastern  and  western  ex- 
changes. Occasionally,  however,  stories  would  appear  revealing 
how  difficult  the  weather  could  be: 

Yesterday  morning.  Superintendent  Fillmore  started  from  here  at 


45.  Ibid.,  May  13,  1870. 

46.  Ibid.,  May  24,  1870. 

47.  Ibid.,  Dec.  22,  1871. 

48.  Ibid.,  Dec.  23,  1871. 

49.  Ibid.,  Dec.  23,  1871. 

50.  Ibid.,  Dec.  26,  1871. 


WYOMING'S  FRONTIER  NEWSPAPERS  233 

daylight  with  over  one  hundred  men,  to  clear  the  road  west.  At  mid- 
night last  night,  they  had  reached  to  within  three  miles  of  the  snow- 
bound trains  west  of  Carbon,  and  were  still  at  work.  By  the  time  they 
got  through,  the  wind  had  risen  and  blown  all  the  cuts  full  again 
between  here  and  there — fuller  and  harder  than  ever  before.  Now 
they  are  working  back  this  way,  followed  by  the  trains,  but  it  is  impos- 
sible to  tell  just  when  they  will  reach  here."'1 

Three  days  later  the  Sentinel  stated  that  "several  large  forces  of 
men'*  had  been  sent  off  to  dig  out  nineteen  engines  stalled  by  drifts 
between  Cheyenne  and  Rawlins,  and  reported  that  there  was  no 
truth  at  all  in  rumors  of  stranded  passengers  suffering  from  hunger 
because  they  "are  at  all  points  abundantly  supplied  with  provisions, 
mainly  at  the  expense  of  the  company. "■"'- 

Laramie,  in  common  with  other  Wyoming  communities,  con- 
tinued to  grow  and  to  expand,  although  its  development  seldom 
seemed  to  keep  pace  with  the  Daily  Sentinel's  prophecies.  For 
instance,  in  May,  1875,  the  newspaper  was  predicting  that  within 
ten  years  the  town  would  have  extensive  iron  works,  street  rail- 
roads, woolen  mills,  glass  works,  soda  works,  and  competing  rail- 
roads. In  June  of  that  year  Hayford  wrote,  "We  have  about  three 
years  to  go  .  .  .  and  our  prophecy  may  be  realized."53 

The  town  would  not  have  the  streetcars,  woolen  mills,  or  com- 
peting railroads  forecast  by  the  starry-eyed  Hayford.  But  even  if 
its  growth  was  not  spectacular,  all  newspaper  accounts  indicate  that 
it  was  steady,  with  farming,  stock-raising,  timber-cutting,  and  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad  contributing  to  a  modest  prosperity.  A 
decade  after  Hayford's  pronouncements  the  Laramie  Daily  Boom- 
erang was  proudly  running  large  cuts  showing  Holliday's  Opera 
House,  the  soda  works,  the  rolling  mill,"'4  and  the  Laramie  National 
Bank."'"1  The  eastern  house  of  Studebaker  was  advertising  "ranch, 
freight,  and  spring  wagons,  buggies,  buckboards  &  carriages,"  and 
the  Trabing  Commercial  Company  was  stocking  its  shelves  with 
tins  and  jars  that  by  no  exercise  of  the  imagination  could  be  con- 
sidered staple  pioneer  fare:  four  kinds  of  imported  champagne, 
six  different  Rhine  wines,  claret,  Gotha  truffled  liver  sausage,  fried 
smelts,  Vienna  and  Carlsbad  wafers,  Cross  &  Blackwell's  calvesfeet 
jelly,  stuffed  olives,  Prince  of  Wales  salad  sauce,  Batty's  Nabob 
sauce,  anchovies  in  oil  and  salt,  Hamburger  asparagus,  Cross  & 
BlackwelPs  Yarmouth  bloaters,  pineapples,  Roquefort  and  Edam 
cheese. •"',; 


51.  Ibid.,Dec.  23,  1871. 

52.  Ibid.,  Dec.  26,  1871. 

53.  "Review  of  Laramie   City  from   May    1,    1875,   to   May    1,    1876," 
Laramie  Weekly  Sentinel,  June  16,  1883. 

54.  Established  by  the  U.P.R.R.  in  1875,  the  mill  was  destroyed  by  fire 
in  1910. 

55.  Laramie  Daily  Boomerang,  June  10,  1885. 

56.  Ibid.,  June  18,  1885. 


.'V  V  2J1  i  £L& 
J  TA.H 


Overland  Stage  Zrail-  Zrek  flo.  3 

Trek  No.  13  of  the  Emigrant  Trail  Treks 

Sponsored  by 

WYOMING  STATE  ARCHIVES  AND  HISTORICAL 
DEPARTMENT 

WYOMING   STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

Sweetwater  County  Historical  Society  and  Uinta  County  Historical 

Society  under  the  direction  of 

Paul  Henderson,  Lyle  Hildebrand,  Maurine  Carley 

Compiled  by 

Maurine  Carley  -  Trek  Historian 

July  14-15,  1962 

Caravan — 23  cars 69  participants 

OFFICERS 

Captain.... Col.   Wm.   R.   Bradley,   head  of  the  Wyoming 

Highway  Patrol 

Scout._ Paul  Henderson 

Guides John  Dickson  -  Black  Buttes  to  Green  River 

Adrian  Reynolds  -  Green  River  to  Ham's  Fork 

(Granger) 

Charles  Guild  -  Ham's  Fork  to  Fort  Bridger 

Wagon  Boss ..Lyle  Hildebrand 

Historian Maurine  Carley 

Topographer H.  M.  Townsend,  U.S.G.S.,  Denver 

Photographers Charles  Ritter,  Paul  Henderson 

Press Adrian  Reynolds 

Registrars Paula  Waitman,  Fred  Hildebrand 

Cooks. ..Elizabeth  Hildebrand,  Fran  Heuton,  Vera  Ritter 

NOTE:  Numbers  preceding  M  in  the  schedule  indicate  distances 
on  the  OVERLAND  TRAIL  from  Virginia  Dale  Stage 
Station.  We  start  with  245M  at  Black  Buttes  Station. 
Most  of  this  trek  was  made  on  oiled  roads  except  from 
Black  Buttes  to  Rock  Point  and  from  the  Green  River 
Crossing  up  through  Rabbit  Hollow  to  Lone  Tree  Station. 


236  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

This  trek,  approximately  130  miles,  was  on  the  old  Overland 
Trail  as  nearly  as  it  was  possible  to  travel  from  Black  Buttes  Sta- 
tion to  Fort  Bridger.  For  the  trail  from  Fort  Bridger  to  Needle 
Rock  Station  on  the  Wyoming-Utah  state  line,  which  was  covered 
by  Trek  No.  9,  refer  to  Annals  of  Wyoming,  October,  1959. 

A  BRIEF  SUMMARY  OF  THE  OVERLAND  STAGE  TRAIL 

The  Overland  Trail,  originally  called  the  Central  Overland  Cali- 
fornia and  Pike's  Peak  Express,  ran  stages  daily  for  about  five 
years.  It  was  the  greatest  stage  line  on  the  globe  carrying  the  mail, 
passengers  and  express,  and  was  also  the  safest,  quickest  way  to 
get  across  the  western  plains  and  over  the  mighty  mountain  ranges. 

The  first  daily  stages  left  St.  Joseph,  Missouri  and  Placerville, 
California  July  1,  1861.  Both  coaches  reached  their  destination 
on  the  1 8th,  thereby  cutting  off  six  days  from  the  southern  Butter- 
field  route.  In  September,  Atchison,  Kansas,  fourteen  miles  far- 
ther west,  was  made  the  starting  point. 

After  Ben  Holladay  took  possession  of  the  mail  route  late  in 
1861  he  became  the  "Stage  King"  and  the  route  the  "Overland 
Stage  Line."  He  employed  the  most  skillful  stage  men  in  the 
country;  he  bought  the  finest  horses  and  mules  suitable  for  staging; 
he  purchased  dozens  of  first-class  Concord  coaches;  he  built  addi- 
tional stations,  and  added  other  features  to  make  the  long,  tedious 
overland  trip  (2000  miles)  a  more  pleasant  one. 

After  five  years  he  sold  out  to  Wells,  Fargo  and  Company  who 
operated  it  until  the  iron  rails  were  stretched  across  the  continent. 

DISTANCES  BETWEEN  ATCHISON,  KANSAS  AND 
STATIONS  IN  WYOMING 

Virginia  Dale,  Colo 752  Laclede 983 

Willow  Springs,  Wyo 767  Big  Pond 995 

Big  Laramie 782  Black  Buttes 1009 

Little  Laramie 796  Rock   Point   1023 

Cooper  Creek  813  Salt  Wells  ..1037 

Rock  Creek  824  Rock   Spring   1051 

Medicine  Bow  841  Green   River 1066 

Elk  Mountain  849  Lone  Tree  1080 

Pass  Creek 863  Ham's  Fork  1098 

North  Platte  889  Church  Buttes  1110 

Sage  Creek  903  Millersville    1118 

Pine  Grove  913  Fort  Bridger  1131 

Bridger's  Pass  922  Muddy  1143 

Sulphur   Springs   932  Quaking  Asp  Springs  1153 

Waskie  943  Bear  River  1163 

Duck  Lake   956  Needle  Rock,  Utah  1173 

Dug  Springs   968 

Saturday  -  July  14 

9:00  A.M.  The  breeze  was  brisk  and  cold  as  the  caravan 
assembled  at  Bitter  Creek  railroad  station,  which  is  thirty-two  miles 


OVERLAND  STAGE  TRAIL— TREK  NO.  3  237 

west  of  Wamsutter  on  Highway  30,  and  seven  miles  south  on  an 
oiled  road. 

9:30  A.M.  After  the  introduction  of  officers,  Mrs.  L.  C.  Bishop 
gave  a  short  prayer  in  memory  of  the  pioneers  who  traveled  the 
Overland  one  hundred  years  ago.  The  sun  came  out,  promising 
good  weather  for  the  trek,  and  we  left  on  a  country  road  which 
formerly  was  the  old  trail. 

9:45  A.M.  One  mile  to  the  west  we  arrived  at  Black  Buttes 
Stage  Station  (245M)  where  partial  walls  of  stone  are  still 
standing. 

BLACK  BUTTES 
By  John  Dickson 

Black  Buttes  Station  was  laid  out  following  the  plans  for  all 
stations  -  blockhouse,  a  powder  house  and  a  compound  for  the 
horses.  Here  you  see  the  crumbling  ruins  of  the  house  made  from 
native  sandstone  and  can  trace  the  outline  of  the  compound  on  a 
level  flat  to  the  north.  The  powder  house  was  across  the  trail  to 
the  south.    Such  stations  cost  approximately  $1,000. 

This  station  was  named  for  the  large  butte  which  stands  dark 
against  the  sky  five  miles  to  the  west.  It  was  there  the  men  had  to 
go  over  the  dry  desert  flats  for  fuel,  and  logs  for  the  roofs  of  the 
buildings  and  posts  for  stockade  and  corrals. 

Bitter  Creek  ran  close  by  the  compound  but  its  brackish  waters 
were  so  distasteful  that  oatmeal  was  often  mixed  with  it  to  make 
it  drinkable.  An  old  cemetery  was  located  a  short  distance  west 
of  the  station  but  it  can  no  longer  be  recognized  as  a  train  wreck 
some  time  ago  completely  destroyed  all  evidence  of  the  graves. 

Bitter  Creek  country  was  the  horror  of  the  overland  drivers. 
For  a  distance  of  100  miles  it  was  one  of  the  most  despised  regions 
on  the  trail.  The  men  and  animals  struggled  through  the  beds  of 
soda  and  sand  under  a  scorching  sun  by  day  and  shivered  with 
cold  at  night  in  the  7,000  feet  elevation. 

From  Bitter  Creek  west  the  Overland  Trail,  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  and  the  Lincoln  Highway  now  form  close  parallel  lines. 

10:20  A.M.  We  left  Black  Buttes  Station  on  a  semi-graded 
road  that  is  generally  in  and  out  of  the  old  trail.  The  country  is 
somewhat  interesting  with  queer  and  colorful  formations  along  the 
way. 

10:40  A.M.  After  12.5  miles  we  arrived  at  ROCK  POINT 
STATION  (266.5M)  on  the  left  bank  of  Bitter  Creek  at  the  pres- 
ent site  of  Point  of  Rocks  railway  station.  These  buildings  are 
made  from  brown  native  sandstone  and  are  partially  ruined.  Some 
repair  work  has  been  done  as  they  have  been  used  as  living  quarters 
and  a  barn.  They  stand  at  the  lower  end  of  granite  that  slopes 
down  and  stops  within  50  feet  of  the  station  ruins.  (Rock  Point 
was  the  original  name,  Point  of  Rocks  came  with  the  railroad.) 


238  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

ROCK  POINT  STATION 
By  John  Dickson 

The  builders  of  Rock  Point  Station  were  lucky,  as  rock  was  at 
its  very  door  step.  Other  stations  had  to  gather  material  for  miles. 
Although  more  sturdily  built  than  many  of  the  others  it  is  fast 
falling  into  shambles. 

Some  old  timers  say  it  was  once  known  as  Almond  Station  but 
that  name  was  soon  lost  as  Point  of  Rocks  seemed  much  more 
appropriate  and  descriptive.  [Early  listings  of  stage  stations  give 
the  name  as  Rock  Point.]  It  was  a  relay  point  for  the  Overland 
and  one  of  the  few  stations  where  the  stage  and  railroad  met. 

The  bluffs  on  both  sides  of  the  place  are  coal  rock  or  white  sand- 
stone with  coal  outcroppings.  Bridger  advised  the  Union  Pacific 
officials  to  locate  the  railroad  through  here  and  he  also  pointed  out 
the  coal  deposits.  It  is  interesting  to  know  that  Bridger's  judgment 
was  so  sound  that  the  tracks  through  here  have  never  been  moved. 

Only  two  graves  are  still  visible  in  the  cemetery  up  on  a  nearby 
hill.  One  has  a  fence  around  it  and  the  other  a  small  stone  as  a 
marker,  but  no  names  can  be  found. 

A  red  man  who  merits  mentioning  in  connection  with  the  Over- 
land is  Chief  Washakie  of  the  Eastern  Shoshones.  When  the  Sioux 
and  other  warlike  tribes  tried  to  drive  the  white  men  from  the 
Oregon  Trail,  Washakie  welcomed  the  traders  here.  His  friendship 
made  it  possible  for  the  Union  Pacific  to  plan  its  route  through 
southern  Wyoming,  thereby  cutting  through  the  richest  coal  beds 
in  the  state. 

The  old  1867  Sweetwater  Mines  Road  led  northward  from  Point 
of  Rocks  railroad  station  to  Atlantic  City  in  the  gold  fields. 

1  1 :00  A.M.  We  left  Rock  Point  Station  on  Highway  30  west- 
ward. The  surrounding  hills  are  extremely  interesting  with  varie- 
gated colors  and  shapes.  Coal  outcroppings  can  be  seen  on  the 
sides  of  the  bluffs. 

An  interesting  story  was  told  by  Mrs.  Walter  Lambertsen  as  we 
rode  west  of  Rock  Point.  She  had  been  told  that  many  years  ago 
an  elderly  couple  came  from  the  East  every  year  by  train  to  a  spot 
a  few  miles  west  of  Point  of  Rocks.  When  the  train  pulled  to  a 
stop  they  stepped  to  the  prairie,  walked  a  short  distance  and  placed 
flowers  on  a  grave,  then  boarded  the  next  train  from  the  West. 

This  ceremony  was  carried  on  for  several  years  then  suddenly 
stopped.  Who  were  they?  What  grave  brought  them  so  far  on 
their  yearly  pilgrimage?  Who  stopped  two  passenger  trains  on 
this  lonely  prairie? 

1  1 :30  A.M.  Because  of  the  heavy  traffic  on  Highway  30  the 
trek  captain  advised  us  not  to  turn  left  to  the  site  of  Salt  Wells 
Station  (280M).  However  we  pulled  off  the  road  and  looked  at  a 
green  meadow  a  mile  distant  where  the  station  had  once  been 
located. 


OVERLAND  STAGE  TRAIL— TREK  NO.  3  239 

SALT  WELLS 
By  Maurine  Carley 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  find  anything  about  many  of  the  sta- 
tions along  the  Overland.  Unless  something  spectacular  happened, 
the  history  of  many  stations  was  lost.  The  days  were  monotonous, 
the  workers  busy,  the  occupancy  short  and  it  all  happened  so 
long  ago. 

The  country  surrounding  Salt  Wells  Station  is  an  uninviting 
valley  with  water  which  is  brackish  and  in  places  very  salty.  The 
country  is  desolate  and  covered  with  greasewood  and  sagebrush. 

Mr.  James  Knox  Polk  Miller  made  the  following  entry  in  his 
diary  on  Oct.  4,  1  864.  "Supper  finished  by  1  2  and  started.  Spent 
the  remainder  of  the  night  vainly  endeavoring  to  sleep.  Reached 
La  Clede  head  of  Bitter  Creek  at  two,  55  miles  from  Sulphur 
Springs.  Rode  until  9  o'clock  when  1  again  tried  to  sleep.  The 
driver  asserted  that  I  snored  tremendously.  At  Salt  Wells  54  miles 
from  La  Clede  &  209  from  Halleck,  where  we  arrived  at  4  o'clock, 
made  some  cakes  of  flour  and  water.  Fried  some  antelope  meat 
and  this,  with  some  salt  wells  water,  constituted  our  Bill  of  Fare. 
The  water  here  is  very  strongly  impregnated  with  salt,  three  wells 
having  been  dug  before  finding  one  fit  to  use.  The  water  is  miser- 
able and  in  many  places  can  not  be  used,  being  fatal  to  man  and 
beast  owing  to  the  alkali  beds  through  which  it  runs. 

"Reached  Rock  Spring  at  about  1  1  o'clock,  1 5  miles  from  Salt 
Springs.  Bought  a  pint  of  whisky  for  which  1  paid  $5  and  spilled 
3/4  of  it.  Weather  warm.  No  people  in  mail  station,  no  plant 
but  sage.  We  meet  hundreds  of  people  almost  daily  coming  from 
Virginia  City  out  of  provisions,  some  in  starving  condition." 

Some  general  information  which  could  be  appropriate  for  any 
station  probably  fits  Salt  Wells,  too  - 

The  drivers  blew  loud  blasts  on  a  bugle  about  three  miles  before 
they  arrived  at  a  station  so  the  relays  would  be  ready.  A  driver 
almost  held  his  whip  sacred,  and  hated  to  loan  it  even  to  his  most 
intimate  friend  and  companion  driver. 

A  mounted  patrol  accompanied  each  stage,  and  at  each  station 
there  was  a  corporal,  or  other  non-commissioned  officer,  and  from 
6  to  10  privates  who  went  along  as  a  mounted  escort  to  the  next 
station. 

This  popular  poem  was  sent  up  and  down  the  Overland  Trail  - 

Dried  Apple  Pies 
I  loathe!  abhor!  detest!  despise! 
Abominate  dried-apple  pies: 
I  like  good  bread;  I  like  good  meat, 
Or  anything  that's  good  to  eat; 
But  of  all  poor  grub  beneath  the  skies 
The  poorest  is  dried  apple  pies. 
Give  me  a  toothache  or  sore  eyes 
In  preference  to  such  kind  of  pies. 


240  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

1 ! : 30  A.M.  As  we  continued  on  west  the  hills  closed  in,  mak- 
ing a  little  canyon  only  wide  enough  for  the  trail,  the  railroad  and 
the  creek.  The  rippled  sandstone  cliffs  soon  widened  out  and 
framed  an  arid  plateau  which  continued  for  miles. 

12:00  P.M.  We  arrived  at  the  site  of  original  Rock  Spring  and 
Station  (294M). 

ROCK  SPRINGS 
By  John  Dickson 

Well  over  a  hundred  years  ago  early  fur  trappers  searching  for 
beaver  discovered  a  fine  spring  of  water  issuing  forth  beneath  a 
sandstone  ledge  on  the  Killpecker  tributary  of  Bitter  Creek.  Sur- 
prisingly this  was  good  water,  a  rarity  in  this  section  of  the  country. 

While  seeking  a  route  for  a  transcontinental  railroad  in  1850, 
Captain  Stansbury  also  mentioned  this  fine  spring  issuing  from 
beneath  the  point  of  a  jagged  ledge  of  rocks.  From  the  reports  of 
Lieutenant  Bryan,  surveyor  of  the  Overland  Trail,  early  travelers 
learned  of  this  good  spring,  so  made  it  a  camping  site. 

When  the  stage  line  was  planned  in  1862  the  government  sanc- 
tioned the  establishment  of  many  stations  along  the  trail.  Rock 
Springs  was  a  natural  due  to  the  good  water  and  a  proper  distance 
from  the  Green  River. 

Tn  addition  to  the  customary  buildings  the  stage  company  built  a 
very  primitive  rock  hotel  to  serve  as  a  resting  place  for  the  passen- 
gers. No  trace  of  any  of  the  buildings  can  be  seen  today,  and  the 
spring  has  been  dry  for  many  years.  The  location  of  the  old  station 
is  shown  by  a  marker  which  is  on  the  edge  of  the  present  city  of 
Rock  Springs. 

12:30  P.M.  For  lunch  journeyed  into  Rock  Springs  to  the 
city  park. 

2:00  P.M.  We  left  Rock  Springs  on  Highway  30  for  Green 
River,  fifteen  miles  away,  where  we  turned  south  at  the  second  stop 
light,  and  went  under  the  railroad  to  stop  at  the  Overland  Trail 
marker  across  Green  River.     The  marker  reads: 

GREEN  RIVER  DIVISION 

Station  Site 

350  yards  East 

1952 

DEDICATION  OF  GREEN  RIVER  MARKER 
By  William  Hutton 

Members  and  friends  of  the  Wyoming  State  Historical  Society. 
I  feel  greatly  privileged  to  be  here  on  this  very  special  occasion 
and  honored  that  I  was  asked  to  participate  in  the  dedication  of  this 


OVERLAND  STAGE  TRAIL— TREK  NO.  3  241 

marker  designating  the  Overland  Stage  Station  route  which  oper- 
ated from  1862  to  1865.  The  Green  River  Division  Station  site 
was  about  350  yards  east.  This  monument  was  erected  by  the 
former  Historical  Landmark  Commission  of  Wyoming,  the  work 
of  which  has  been  placed  under  the  State  Archives  and  Historical 
Department. 

I  had  driven  an  iron  stake  in  this  site  many  years  ago  when  the 
road  was  clearly  visible  so  that  in  the  future  there  would  be  no 
question  as  to  the  center  of  the  trail. 

We  are  here  today  to  dedicate  this  marker  out  of  respect  to  all 
those  pioneers  who  passed  this  way  seeking  new  frontiers,  and  to 
Ben  Holladay  and  his  company  for  their  decision  in  selecting  this 
route  through  our  part  of  the  country.  It  was  inaugurated  on 
August  11,  1862.  Our  first  claim  to  fame  stems  from  the  stage 
coaches  passing  along  this  route.  Therefore,  the  name  Overland 
Stage  Trail  and  Ben  Holladay  are  closely  linked  with  the  earliest 
history  of  this  section  of  Wyoming  and  we  must  not  forget  this  fact. 

The  dedication  of  this  marker  could  not  have  come  at  a  more 
appropriate  time  than  during  this  trek  across  the  Overland  Trail, 
and  we,  the  citizens  of  Green  River  City,  are  happy  to  be  a  part 
of  this  final  trek  over  the  trail. 

3:00  P.M.  We  turned  to  the  left  a  short  distance  to  stand  on 
the  site  of  Green  River  Station  No.  2  (309M).  This  is  an  ideal 
spot  for  picture  taking  with  the  river  and  Castle  Rock  in  the  back- 
ground. 

GREEN  RIVER  FERRY,  FORD  AND  STAGE  STATION 
By  Adrian  Reynolds 

If  you  want  to  be  exact  about  such  matters,  Green  River  today 
is  Green  River  No.  4.  Green  River  No.  1  was  not  even  close  to 
present  day  Green  River.  You  are  now  standing  on  the  site  of 
Green  River  No.  2.  Green  River  No.  3,  north  of  the  river,  was 
established  before  the  railroad  arrived  and  was  incorporated  as 
Green  River  City,  Dakota  Territory,  through  resolution  of  the 
county  commissioners  of  Carter  County,  Dakota  Territory,  in  the 
summer  of  1868,  before  the  arrival  of  the  railroad. 

Green  River  No.  4,  the  Green  River  of  today — really  came  into 
being  when  the  railroad  moved  its  division  point  back  from  Bryan. 
Files  of  the  county  clerk  of  Sweetwater  county,  Wyo.,  contain  a 
copy  of  a  plat,  filed  by  S.  I.  Fields,  in  1 872.  An  earlier  plat,  1 868, 
in  existence  several  years  ago,  cannot  now  be  located.  It  had  been 
made  in  1 869  by  a  member  of  the  Major  Powell  river  exploration 
party. 

Green  River  No.  1  was  the  famous  Green  River  crossing  and 
ferry  of  the  original  emigrant  trail,  some  30  or  35  miles  upstream. 
It  was  there  that  the  Pony  Express  and  the  original  stage  and  freight 


242  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

lines  crossed.  This  crossing  can  still  be  seen  today,  with  scant 
tracings  of  the  old  stage  station  buildings  still  existent  on  the  west 
bank.  Also  remaining  is  the  stub  of  a  telegraph  pole.  The  military 
telegraph  line  of  the  army  from  Ft.  Bridger  to  Ft.  Stambaugh  was 
used  up  to  the  time  of  abandonment  of  the  latter  post,  and  it  has 
been  stated  that  the  first  news  of  the  Custer  massacre  went  out 
over  the  military  telegraph  line. 

But  I  mention  the  north  passage  because  too  many  persons  make 
the  error  of  referring  to  the  Pony  Express  as  having  passed  through 
Rock  Springs,  and  Green  River.  The  Pony  Express  was  non- 
existent by  the  time  the  New  Overland  route  was  established. 

Green  River,  as  in  the  case  of  Rock  Springs,  came  into  existence 
solely  because  of  the  Indian  menace  that  had  stopped  operation  of 
the  older  route  to  the  north.  That  history  has  been  reviewed  many 
times  in  the  treks  covering  this  route,  so  needs  no  further  mention 
here. 

This  station,  headquarters  for  the  Green  River  division  of  the 
Holladay  lines,  was  apparently  abandoned  when  the  railroad  ar- 
rived and  began  serving  the  area  with  mail,  freight  and  passenger 
service.  In  the  Frontier  Index,  at  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the 
railroad  in  October,  1868,  reference  was  made  to  the  desire  of  the 
Wells  Fargo  agent  to  have  the  station  moved  across  the  river  to 
the  new  town  because  of  the  inconvenience  of  getting  passengers, 
mail  and  express  across  the  Green  to  the  stage  station. 

Evidently  a  large  number  of  persons  and  businesses  arrived  in 
Green  River  No.  2  ahead  of  the  railroad  and  expected  the  town  to 
be  "end  of  the  rails"  for  the  1868-69  winter.  Persons  attached  to 
the  railroad  in  various  ways  apparently  were  selling  the  lots  in 
the  townsite  and  when  they  found  the  land  already  platted  here, 
moved  on  to  promote  Bryan.  But  even  Bryan  was  doomed  for 
disappointment,  for  the  rails  pushed  on  to  the  Bear  river  for  winter 
headquarters.  Much  of  the  town  of  Green  River's  population  also 
moved. 

The  famous  pioneer  photographer,  W.  H.  Jackson,  has  told  me 
that  when  he  preceded  the  rails  to  Green  River  one  weekend,  and 
made  the  first  and  now  famous  photographs  of  the  rock  formations 
you  see  across  the  river  from  where  we  are  standing,  the  stage  sta- 
tion appeared  to  be  a  fairly  large  establishment.  Apparently 
Adobe  Town,  now  covered  by  the  huge  cinder  piles  just  north  of 
here  across  the  river,  was  built  during  that  period.  Use  of  some 
of  these  buildings  continued  until  the  late  90's,  and  the  mounds 
marking  the  deteriorated  adobe  building  sites  existed  until  the  early 
1 940,s,  when  they  were  covered  by  cinders  from  the  railroad. 

Many  have  given  the  impression  that  the  Mormons  operated  the 
"toll  gate"  just  west  of  town.  I  must  dispute  this,  as  this  toll  gate 
was  operated  when  a  stage  line  ran  from  Green  River  to  South 
Pass,  up  river.  A  granddaughter  of  the  operator,  Mrs.  Lucinda 
Bramwell,  still  resides  here.    According  to  her  recollections  as  told 


OVERLAND  STAGE  TRAIL— TREK  NO.  3  243 

to  the  family,  no  toll  was  charged  for  mail  stages.  The  gate,  a 
heavy  chain  across  the  road  at  a  natural  gate,  was  destroyed  several 
years  ago  in  a  highway  change.  In  1872,  county  commissioner 
records  show,  a  man  by  the  name  of  Matthews  was  given  permis- 
sion to  operate  and  build  a  toll  road  which  went  up  the  canyon 
back  of  the  present  day  high  school.  This  route  is  still  used.  Per- 
mission was  granted  to  operate  between  Green  River  City  and 
Pacific  Springs. 

Overland  travelers  continued  to  use  the  Ferry  and  Ford  at  Green 
River  until  1896  when  the  first  wagon  bridge  to  bs  built  over  the 
Green  River  was  completed  as  a  joint  venture  between  the  town 
and  the  county,  each  paying  $2,500.  This  bridge  later  served  the 
original  Lincoln  highway,  which  followed  the  Overland  trail  west 
and  was  not  abandoned  until  about  40  years  ago,  when  the  highway 
department  built  the  US  30  bridge  three  miles  west  of  town  and 
rerouted  the  highway  completely.  The  bridge  was  still  in  use  until 
the  mid-1950's  after  the  concrete  bridge  over  which  you  passed  a 
few  minutes  ago  was  completed.  The  old  bridge  was  condemned 
and  then  torn  down  by  the  county.  For  60  years  it  was  Green 
River's  only  connection  with  the  area  south  towards  the  Uinta 
mountains.  If  you  look  upstream,  you  can  still  see  the  remnants 
of  one  of  the  piers. 

Around  1907,  an  attempt  was  made  to  navigate  the  Green  with 
a  steamboat,  the  Comet.  This  was  unsuccessful,  except  for  excur- 
sion trips  near  town.  The  hull  lies  buried  in  the  sand  somewhere 
in  the  river  just  below  the  point  upon  which  we  now  stand. 

Green  River's  first  century  depended  entirely  upon  transporta- 
tion activities — the  stage  line,  freight  and  mail  service  into  the 
Uinta  mountain  and  Brown's  Park  areas,  up  river  into  the  Big 
Piney  country  and  the  lines  to  South  Pass.  Because  of  this  it 
figured  also  in  the  early  livestock  history  and  had  as  its  visitors 
famous  outlaws.  The  next  century  is  starting  with  a  new  birth  in 
the  chemical,  tourist  and  agricultural  industry,  "entirely  alien  to  the 
time  that  Green  River  was  merely  a  stop  on  the  river. 

Oh,  in  parting,  let  me  ask  you  not  to  confuse  the  present  town 
of  Green  River  with  the  fur  history.  The  first  rendezvous  of  the 
Ashley  mountain  men  was  on  the  Henry's  Fork,  50  miles  from  here 
— the  Green  River  Rendezvous  which  made  history  were  all  on  the 
upper  Green  River.  Compared  to  much  of  the  West,  our  Green 
River  No.  4  has  had  a  pretty  peaceful  history. 

3:30  P.M.  On  the  way  up  Rabbit  Hollow,  so  named  by  Stans- 
bury  in  1850,  we  followed  the  old  trail  which  became  the  original 
Lincoln  Highway.  Not  only  must  the  emigrants  have  had  a  strug- 
gle to  get  to  the  top,  but  also  it  is  hard  to  understand  how  the  early 
cars  made  it.  For  sixty  years,  from  1862  to  1923,  this  winding, 
steep  road  was  a  part  of  the  transcontinental  highway. 

Half  way  up  we  stopped  to  view  the  Cream  and  Sugar  Bowl 
formations  to  the  north.    It  was  his  picture  of  these  fantastic  rocks 


244  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

which  made  W.  H.  Jackson  famous,  and  won  for  him  the  contract 
to  become  the  official  photographer  for  the  Union  Pacific. 

A  stop  was  made  on  the  divide  ( 3 1 6M )  where  the  only  thing  we 
could  see  for  100  miles  in  every  direction  was  Pilot  Butte,  twenty 
miles  away  to  the  northeast.  In  1812  Robert  Stuart  mentioned  this 
same  Butte  in  his  diary  as  he  saw  it  from  the  other  side. 

4:15  P.M.  After  traveling  a  short  distance  we  came  to  a  little 
cemetery  on  Black's  Fork  which  was  once  the  site  of  Lone  Tree 
Station.  Allen's  Guide  (1858)  shows  a  crossing  here  but  Mr. 
Reynolds  can  find  no  evidence  of  it  on  the  south  side. 

LONE  TREE  STATION 
By  Adrian  Reynolds 

As  with  many  of  the  way  stations  of  the  Overland  stage  days, 
there  is  little  to  say  about  Lone  Tree,  which  records  show  to  have 
been  1,078  miles  from  Atchison  and  12  miles  from  Green  River 
As  we  see,  the  only  remains  today  are  the  little  graveyard  where 
even  the  headstones  have  been  destroyed  by  time  and  vandals.  I 
have  seen  some  surmise  as  to  a  river  crossing  here  or  nearby,  but 
actual  evidence  does  not  bear  this  out. 

As  we  came  down  the  little  canyon  onto  this  flat,  you  could  see 
the  vanishing  traces  of  the  stage  road.  It  has  been  about  30  years 
since  I  commenced  tracing  the  old  roads  across  this  area — and  all 
indications  are  that  the  main  road  stayed  north  of  the  river.  Until 
time  erased  the  crossings  of  some  arroyas,  this  heavily  marked  road 
could  be  followed  to  Granger.  A  short  distance  east  of  Granger 
at  least  two  pioneer  graves  were  still  to  be  found  about  20  years 
ago.  I  have  not  seen  them  in  recent  years.  Because  of  its  short 
distance  from  Bryan,  it  is  safe  to  presume  that  the  stages  picked  up 
their  mail,  express  and  passengers  at  that  point,  because  of  the 
closeness  to  Lone  Tree,  during  the  short  time  that  Bryan  was  end 
of  the  rails.  The  only  mentions  of  stage  service  to  South  Pass  refer 
to  Bryan  as  the  stage  point  on  the  railroad. 

4:20  P.M.  We  took  a  little  detour  to  the  railroad  station  of 
Bryan  named  for  the  Lieutenant  Bryan  who  surveyed  the  Overland 
Trail  in  1856-57.  This  town  was  the  end  of  track  for  only  a  short 
time.  Here  mail  was  piled  high  for  the  stages  to  pick  up  and  take 
on  west. 

4:45  P.M.  We  returned  to  Lone  Tree,  then  took  an  oiled  road 
to  Highway  30  and  on  to  Granger  (341M). 

HAM'S  FORK  -  GRANGER  STATION 

By  Mrs.  George  Graf 

(    Mail  and  stage  stations  were  dotted  throughout  Wyoming  in  the 
early  days.     Some  of  these  were  called  home  stations  and  some 


OVERLAND  STAGE  TRAIL— TREK  NO.  3  245 

relay  stations.  Ham's  Fork  Station,  as  this  was  originally  known, 
was  a  home  station.  The  first  site  was  four  miles  from  here.  Some 
ruins  have  been  discovered  that  are  believed  to  have  been  part  of 
the  old  Ham's  Fork  Station.  As  the  routes  were  changed,  the 
Ham's  Fork  Station  was  moved  here.  These  home  stations  were 
from  forty  to  fifty  miles  apart.  Drivers  were  changed,  meals  were 
served  and  sleeping  accomodations  were  available  and  supplies 
carried  for  the  thousands  of  emigrants  who  passed  by  each  year. 
Some  of  the  home  stations  had  gardens  in  the  summer  time  so  fresh 
vegetables  were  available.  Whether  Ham's  Fork  Station  was  one 
of  these  can  only  be  guessed  at  as  there  is  no  record.  As  you  can 
see  there  is  not  much  left  of  the  buildings  here.  In  1  850  they  were 
built  of  stone  and  later  covered  with  adobe  mortar  with  the  main 
building  having  a  lean-to  shed. 

The  first  record  of  this  being  called  Granger  Station  was  in  1 862. 
It  was  on  the  first  transcontinental  stage  line  until  the  stage  was 
superseded  by  the  railroad  in  1869.  It  was  also  a  Pony  Express 
station  and  later  a  telegraph  station. 

The  first  white  men  to  use  the  route  we  are  following  were  Wil- 
liam Ashley  and  a  group  of  his  trappers  in  1825.  Fremont  fol- 
lowed the  same  trail  in  1 843.  In  1  849  a  party  of  Cherokee  Indians 
headed  by  Captain  Evans,  of  Arkansas,  went  to  California  over 
the  same  route  so  afterwards  it  became  known  as  the  Cherokee 
trail.  In  1862  Ben  Holladay  purchased  the  contract  and  transpor- 
tation facilities  from  Russell,  Majors  and  Waddell.  He  was  a  man 
with  great  business  ability  and  determined  to  make  his  stage  and 
mail  line  the  greatest  on  the  globe.  He  bought  the  best  mules  and 
horses,  improved  the  stations  and  ordered  the  best  stages  available. 
Some  of  his  Abbott-Downing  stages  were  large  enough  to  carry 
twelve  to  fifteen  passengers  besides  the  express  agent,  the  mail  and 
the  driver. 

In  November,  1862,  when  one  hundred  horses  belonging  to 
trappers  and  traders  were  stolen  between  Granger  and  Ft.  Bridger, 
Colonel  Connor  began  placing  soldiers  on  east  bound  coaches  for 
the  protection  of  mail,  express  and  passengers.  On  December  2. 
1  862,  he  decided  to  garrison  Granger  Station  and  Ft.  Bridger  and 
did  so  until  the  following  July.  At  that  time  the  soldiers  had  a 
new  duty  assigned  to  them  at  the  Granger  station,  that  of  admin- 
istering the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United  States  Government  to 
all  persons  leaving  for  the  east  as  there  was  trouble  in  the  Mexican 
Territory  at  that  time. 

As  this  is  the  Centennial  year  for  the  name  "Granger",  we  who 
are  making  this  trek  today  wish  to  pay  special  tribute  to  all  the 
brave  men  and  women  who  passed  this  way. 

6:00  P.M.  Soon  the  campers  were  at  home  on  a  high  mesa 
overlooking  Granger.  Fires  were  lighted  and  supper  was  cooked. 
The  less  hardy  folk  went  to  Little  America  for  the  night. 


246  ANNALS   OF  WYOMING 

Sunday  -  July  15 

7:00  -  8:00  A.M.  Everyone  met  at  the  campsite  for  a  real 
western-style  breakfast,  an  annual  courtesy  extended  by  Albert 
Sims,  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  treks.  Three  cheers  were  given 
for  the  cooks,  for  Mr.  Sims  and  for  Colonel  Bradley  for  his  expert 
flapjack  maneuvers. 

After  the  dishes  were  done  and  the  camp  cleaned,  Paul  Hender- 
son read  a  paper. 

HAM'S  FORK  AND  VICINITY 
By  Helen  Henderson 

Yesterday  we  followed  a  portion  of  an  early  stage  coach  and 
wagon  road  commonly  referred  to  as  the  Overland  Trail.  One  hun- 
dred four  years  ago,  in  July,  1858,  the  Sixth  Infantry  officially 
opened  it  from  the  headwaters  of  Muddy  Creek  to  Fort  Bridger, 
with  restrictions  that  heavily  laden  wagons  could  not  use  the  frail 
bridges  over  Muddy  Creek  and  several  other  smaller  streams.  In 
those  days  it  was  not  considered  safe  for  the  emigrant  to  pass 
through  the  common  war  grounds  of  the  Utah,  Crow  and  Arapahoe 
Indians  that  extended  between  the  Medicine  Bow  River  and 
Bridger's  Pass. 

As  compared  with  the  older  wagon  roads  leading  west  from  the 
Missouri  River  the  Overland  was  somewhat  a  youngster,  and  it 
only  had  a  short  span  of  life,  as  it  was  soon  terminated  by  the 
building  of  the  Union  Pacific  railroad  in  1869.  However,  during 
its  existence  it  was  a  very  important  link  in  the  transcontinental 
wagon  road  system,  as  it  opened  a  western  outlet  for  the  new 
settlements  in  the  Colorado  country,  or  at  least  brought  them 
nearer  to  the  transcontinental  mail  service. 

A  number  of  ancient  trails  converged  in  this  general  area.  When 
the  Overland  road  came  into  being  it  junctioned  with  the  older 
wagon  roads  near  where  we  stand  at  the  old  Ham's  Fork  Station 
on  the  South  Pass  road.  The  route  of  the  Overland  trail  was 
seriously  considered  as  a  line  for  the  first  transcontinental  railroad 
as  early  as  1850.  From  1856  to  1858  the  railroad  surveyors  were 
quite  active  from  the  South  Platte  River  to  Fort  Bridger,  and  it  was 
from  these  surveys  that  the  Overland  was  adopted  as  a  practical 
stage  coach  line  until  such  a  time  as  a  railroad  would  be  built. 
However,  it  was  the  long  gradual  ascent  up  the  Lodgepole  Creek 
valley  to  the  highlands  of  the  Cheyenne  country  and  on  up  to  the 
summit  of  Sherman  Hill  that  cheated  the  old  Oregon  Trail,  with  its 
South  Pass,  and  the  Overland  Trail,  with  its  Bridger's  Pass,  out 
of  a  railroad  line  along  either  of  their  courses  through  the  Rocky 
mountains. 

In  1862  the  Overland  Stage  route  was  changed.  Instead  of 
following  the  old  Oregon  Trail  along  the  North  Platte  and  Sweet- 
water rivers  through  the  South  Pass  and  down  to  Fort  Bridger,  it 


OVERLAND  STAGE  TRAIL— TREK  NO.  3  247 

came  up  the  South  Platte  river  from  old  Julesburg  to  Latham. 
From  there  it  turned  northwestward  to  the  Virginia  Dale  station 
and  continued  on  around  the  northern  end  of  the  Medicine  Bow 
mountains  to  take  a  westerly  course  through  Bridgets  Pass  and  via 
the  Muddy  and  Bitter  Creek  valleys  to  cross  the  Green  River  near 
the  mouth  of  Bitter  Creek.  From  the  river  crossing  it  again  fol- 
lowed northwesterly  to  Black's  Fork  and  on  up  to  a  junction  with 
the  Oregon  Trail  about  seven  and  one  half  miles  east  from  Ham's 
Fork  Crossing  (Granger). 

From  records  we  find  that  the  Overland  Trail  crossed  Black's 
Fork  thirteen  miles  after  leaving  the  Green  River,  evidently  at  the 
Lone  Tree  Station  site.  It  then  went  ten  miles  farther  to  cross  it 
again,  then  two  and  one  half  miles  to  the  junction  with  the  South 
Pass  road,  and  then  5  miles  to  the  Ham's  Fork  crossing  and  gov- 
ernment bridge.  Five  miles  east  of  here  it  came  into  the  South 
Pass  road  and  a  total  of  seven  and  one  half  miles  east  of  here  it 
crossed  to  the  north  side  of  the  stream,  after  having  come  ten  miles 
from  its  first  crossing  at  Lone  Tree  Station. 

Some  say  that  the  stage  coaches  went  around  the  bend  of  the 
creek  and  did  not  make  these  two  crossings.  It  is  possible  that  the 
coaches  did  not  follow  the  original  survey  in  this  particular  case. 

8:00  A.M.  In  good  spirits  the  party  left  the  camp  on  High- 
way 30  for  Church  Buttes  (353M),  a  spectacular  arrangement  of 
rocks  appropriately  named.    Charles  Ritter  read  a  paper. 

CHURCH  BUTTES 
By  Hazel  Noble  Boyack 

The  covered  wagon  Vanguard  of  Mormon  Pioneers  had  left  the 
site  of  Winter  Quarters,  Nebraska,  in  early  April  of  1847  for  the 
West.  The  objective  of  this  band  of  men,  women  and  children  was 
to  seek  out  a  favorable  location  for  a  new  home.  They  wanted  this 
new  home  to  be  in  some  unclaimed  area  of  the  Rocky  Mountain 
region.  Thousands  of  exiled  Latter-day  Saints  waited  on  the  banks 
of  the  Missouri  River  for  the  results  of  this  quest. 

Brigham  Young,  leader  of  the  party,  was  credited  with  having 
the  best  organized  Company  on  the  entire  Old  Emigrant  Trail.  A 
president  and  two  counselors  presided  over  the  entire  band.  After 
this  a  captain  of  one  hundred,  a  captain  of  fifty  and  then  captains 
of  ten  were  chosen,  all  responsible  to  the  head  leaders. 

This  Pioneer  cavalcade  consisted  of  one  hundred  forty-three 
men,  three  women  and  two  children.  The  men  were  a  skilled 
group  of  artisans.  There  were  carpenters,  masons,  wheelrights, 
blacksmiths,  brick  layers,  farmers,  printers,  scientists,  educators 
and  doctors.  The  seventy-three  wagons  were  heavily  laden  with 
tools,  farming  implements,  seeds  and  food.  This  caravan  of 
wagons  was  slowly  drawn  over  the  prairies  by  fifty-two  mules, 
sixty-six  oxen  and  ninety-three  horses. 


248  ANNALS   OF  WYOMING 

As  these  home-seekers  slowly  chartered  their  way  over  the 
uneven  landscape  of  western  Wyoming,  they  passed  the  present 
site  of  Granger,  Wyoming.  Beyond  this  point  they  directed  their 
course  a  little  south  and  west.  After  a  few  miles  in  a  westerly 
direction,  and  on  the  south  side  of  the  Trail,  there  stood  a  curious 
formation  known  today  as  Church  Buttes.  This  huge  mound, 
streaked  by  winds  and  rain,  stood  alone  in  a  sandy,  sage  brush 
plain  and  made  a  conspicuous  landmark  along  the  Mormon  Trail. 
The  Pioneers  reached  these  Buttes  early  in  July,  1847,  possibly 
between  the  4th  and  7th  of  the  month.  As  the  Pioneers  never 
traveled  on  Sunday  no  doubt  one  of  these  days  must  have  been  the 
Sabbath  because  legend  has  it  that  religious  services  were  held  at 
the  landmark. 

As  the  laboring  animals  drawing  the  seventy-three  heavily  laden 
wagons  lumbered  by  on  the  hard  earth  by  the  Buttes,  the  sounds 
of  travel  must  have  echoed  and  vibrated  through  the  grotesque 
caverns  within  the  mound,  breaking  the  dead  silence  of  so  many 
centuries.  But  many,  many  thousands  more  of  Pioneers  would,  in 
subsequent  years,  re-enact  this  scene  and  follow  the  roadway  char- 
tered by  this  hardy  band. 

Today  nothing  but  a  marker  remains  to  tell  the  story  of  this  great 
western  migration  that  once  brought  life  to  this  silent  and  secluded 
spot  and  aided  so  much  in  the  settlement  of  the  early  west.  The 
road  that  passes  by  the  Buttes  was  once  a  main  segment  of  High- 
way 30.  A  traveler  today,  as  he  views  the  countryside,  the  shifting 
sands  and  arid  stretches  is  led  to  exclaim,  "What  faith  those  home- 
less exiles  must  have  possessed".  They  traveled  on,  trusting  in 
their  God  to  lead  and  guide  them  to  a  place  of  more  fertile  and 
verdant  acres. 

For  many  years  an  old  church  bell  stood  atop  the  Buttes,  having 
been  placed  there  by  the  owner  of  the  landmark.  In  1930  the 
Latter-day  Saint  Church  in  Salt  Lake  City  placed  a  bronze  plaque 
on  the  north  side  of  the  Buttes,  near  the  roadway.  The  inscription 
reads : 

CHURCH  BUTTE 

Erected  July  24,  1930.     In  Honor  of  The  Mormon  Pioneers 

Who  Passed  This  Point  in  Early  July,  1847,  And  in 

Subsequent  Years. 

8:45  A.M.  The  caravan  departed  from  the  unique,  natural 
landmark  where  pictures  of  the  group  were  taken. 

9:00  A.M.  We  turned  to  the  right  to  cross  Black's  Fork  and 
visit  Register  Rocks,  (355M)  which  were  high  vertical  cliffs  of 
sandstone.  During  the  1860's  many  of  the  early  travelers  painted 
their  names  on  the  rocks  with  axle  grease  which  has  resisted  the 
elements  quite  well,  rendering  them  legible  and  suitable  for  photo- 
graphing.   Other  early  names  were  carved  in  the  sandstone. 


OVERLAND  STAGE  TRAIL— TREK  NO.  3 


249 


This  site  proved  a  very  interesting  spot  for  all,  as  Charles  Guild 
pointed  out  segments  of  the  old  trail  and  extraordinary  landmarks, 
such  as  toad  stools  and  balanced  rocks  on  pinacles  of  black  clay. 

9:45  A.M.  A  halt  was  made  to  read  the  Bee  Hive  Monument 
(360M). 

10:00  A.M.  Thickets  of  brush  prevented  a  close  inspection  of 
Millersville  Station.  (361M).  However,  Mr.  Guild  pointed  out 
the  old  road  and  the  lay  of  the  land  so  that  every  one  gained  a  good 
knowledge  of  the  location  of  that  station. 

10:55  A.M.  The  caravan  arrived  at  Fort  Bridger  (374M) 
where  all  enjoyed  visiting  the  historic  buildings  and  taking  pictures. 

After  lunch  under  the  trees  two  resolutions  were  passed — (a)  a 
desire  to  follow  the  Bozeman  Trail  in  1963  was  stated,  (b)  a  vote 
of  thanks  was  extended  to  the  Wyoming  State  Historical  Society, 
Sweetwater  and  Uinta  Chapters  for  sponsoring  this  interesting  and 
informative  trek. 


1962   TREKKERS 


Cheyenne 

Col.  and  Mrs.  W.  R.  Bradley 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  Ritter 
Mrs.  Clark  Bishop 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Grant  Willson 

and  children 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Leonard  Lowry 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  H.  Mclnerney 
Maurine  Carley 
Jane  Hunt  Houston 
Rosalind  Bealey 
Mrs.  J.  H.  Carlisle 
Katherine  Townsend 

Rawlins 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ward  Cook 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walter  Lambertsen 

Mr.  Harry  Lambertsen 

Wamsutter 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  E.  Ence 

Douglas 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lyle  Hildebrand 
and  Fred 

Bridgeport,  Nebr. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Paul  Henderson 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Waitman 
and  Paula 


Casper 

Mr.  Ed  Bill 

Mr.  Richard  Eklund 

Evanston 

Charles  Guild 

Denver,  Colorado 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  H.  M.  Townsend 
and  Mark 

Rock  Springs 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Dickson 
Mary  Dickson 

Green  River 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  George  Graf 

Mrs.  Don  Heuton  and  Rae 

Mrs.  Ernest  Nott 

Mr.  Adrian  Reynolds 

Mr.  Willian  Hutton 

Eunice  Hutton 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  G.  E.  Wright 

Pinedale 

Mr.  Butler  Hilton  and  family 
Randy  Reed 


ftook  Keviews 


The  Cowboy  And  His  Interpreters.  By  Douglas  Branch.  New 
York,  N.  Y.,  Cooper  Square  Publishers,  Inc.,  1961.  277pp. 
$4.95.) 

This  interesting  book  gives  a  broad  survey  of  the  cowboy  and 
his  depiction  by  writer,  novelist  and  script  writer. 

To  the  writer,  the  books  by  Andy  Adams  and  Will  James  ring 
true  in  describing  the  motives  and  methods  of  the  cowboy  on  the 
range.  The  non-fictional  stories  of  John  Clay,  along  with  those  of 
other  authors,  make  it  a  delightful  experience  to  read  the  Christmas 
issues  of  the  Breeder's  Gazette  at  the  turn  of  the  century. 

A  recent  book  on  the  equipment  of  the  cowboy  and  its  use,  by 
Ward,  is  among  the  vanguard  of  much-needed  factual  information 
on  "how  and  why  the  Cowboy  ticked".  Recent  cartoonists  such  as 
Williams  and  Reid  have  added  much  humor  and  fact,  in  showing 
the  daily  reactions  of  cowboys  and  stockmen. 

Lomax  made  a  singular  contribution  in  handing  down  to  pos- 
terity the  songs  of  the  rangeland,  in  which  the  cowboy  played  a 
leading  part.  Other  writers  such  as  Clark,  Kiskaddon,  Carr  and 
Thorp  have  given  us  the  aspirations  of  the  cowboy  expressed  in 
verse  as  well  as  song. 

To  get  back  to  the  interesting  book  by  Branch,  there  are  some 
errors  of  fact  or  omission  which  should  be  pointed  out.  Although 
the  writer  has  included  the  reference  by  Nimmo  in  his  bibliography, 
his  treatment  of  the  start  of  the  cattle  industry  on  the  northern 
ranges  (page  107)  does  not  agree  with  this  reference  nor  with  the 
known  facts  reported  later  in  the  story  of  the  Newman  Ranches 
(See  Montana,  Vol.  XI,  No.  4,  1961,  pp.  28-36.) 

Another  statement  plays  up  the  sheepmen  vs.  cattlemen  wars  in 
western  Wyoming  (page  114)  and  the  total  lack  of  footnotes  and 
references  makes  it  difficult  for  readers  to  check  further  into  these 
interesting  items.  The  episode  attributed  as  reported  by  John 
Clay  (page  123)  is  another  one  which  needs  a  reference. 

Mr.  Branch  reports  in  a  masterful  way,  the  appeal  and  motiva- 
tion of  the  western  stories  which  during  the  past  fifty  years  have 
constantly  been  a  popular  article  for  the  newstand  frequenter. 
A  book  of  this  type  with  a  standard  plot  can  be  fitted  to  many 
historical  backgrounds. 

One  interesting  series  of  such  stories  are  those  by  Elston,  many 
of  which  have  authentic  Wyoming  backgrounds.  "Gun  Law  in 
Laramie"  is  quite  accurate  in  its  locale,  although  the  usual  roman- 
ticism has  been  sprinkled  in  for  reader  interest. 

The  book  "The  Cowboy  and  his  Interpreters"  has  much  valuable 


BOOK  REVIEWS  251 

material  on  the  motivation  of  different  writers  in  giving  their  par- 
ticular picture  of  the  American  Cowboy.  Its  serious  defect  for  a 
student  of  history  is  its  lack  of  documentation  and  references. 

University  of  Wyoming  R.  H.  "Bob"  Burns 


The  Troopers-  An  Informal  History  of  the  Plains  Cavalry  1865- 
1 890.  By  S.  E.  Whitman,  with  Drawings  by  Nick  Eggen- 
hofer.  (New  York.  Hastings  House.  1962.  illus.  index. 
256  pp.  $4.95) 

When  asked  to  review  this  book,  I  looked  forward  to  it  with 
great  anticipation.  From  a  military  point  of  view,  and  with  an 
obviously  biased  opinion  in  favor  of  Wyoming,  I  can  sincerely 
state  that  1  enjoyed  it;  there  are  so  many  references  to  customs 
and  traditions,  old  sayings  and  salty  G.I.  terms  that  are  still  around 
today.  The  informal  history  is  broad  in  scope  and  brings  many 
interesting  facts  to  the  reader's  attention;  uniform  of  the  day,  live- 
stock and  rolling  stock,  weapons,  Brass  Button  homes.  There  are 
several  such  statements  as  " — was  seldom  the  sort  of  thing  one 
reads  in  novels  or  sees  on  TV  or  in  the  movies."  I  wholeheartedly 
agree  with  the  author's  attempt  to  set  the  record  straight,  although 
I  disagree  with  some  of  his  facts. 

My  family  now  resides  in  Quarters  6  in  the  old  Fort  D.  A. 
Russell  portion  of  Francis  E.  Warren  Air  Force  Base.  Our  quar- 
ters were  built  in  1885,  and  I  have  seen  the  original  blue  prints 
showing  this  set  of  quarters  listed  as  captain's  quarters.  It  has  two 
living  rooms,  five  bedrooms,  two  baths,  dining  room,  kitchen, 
pantry  and  basement,  a  total  of  1 3  rooms  and  three  fireplaces. 
This  is  completely  contrary  to  Brass  Button  homes  described  by  the 
author.  It  may  have  made  a  difference  to  be  an  eight-room 
officer  at  Ft.  Lyon,  Colorado,  as  told  on  page  138,  or  it  may  have 
occurred  that  lieutenants  were  given  one  room  and  fodder  at  some 
posts  of  the  old  west. 

T  feel  I  must  also  point  out  another  distorted  historical  reference. 
In  Chapter  2  the  various  regiments  were  discussed,  and  I  quote 
regarding  the  Second  Cavalry,  from  page  30:  "In  '84  the  Second 
was  sent  to  the  Pacific  coast  and  served  there  until  '90  when  it  was 
transferred  to  Arizona  and  New  Mexico."  The  Second's  service 
at  Ft.  Russell  is  commemorated  in  a  plaque  across  from  present 
Base  Headquarters  which  reads,  "In  1 867  Fort  D.  A.  Russell  was 
established  near  the  present  west  gate.  Composed  of  units  of  the 
30th  Infantry  and  2nd  Cavalry  and  commanded  by  Brevet  Briga- 
dier General  John  D.  Stevenson,  Colonel,  U.S.A.,  to  defend  work- 
ers on  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  and  the  Overland  Trail  against 
Indians." 


252  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

It  came  as  somewhat  of  a  disappointment  to  find  only  one  refer- 
ence to  Fort  D.  A.  Russell.  "Then  there  was  Fort  D.  A.  Russell, 
just  outside  Cheyenne,  Wyoming,  with  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad 
running  past  the  reservation.  There  the  army  wives  found  some 
comfort  in  remarking,  "At  least  there's  one  good  thing  about  this 
post — a  train  a  day  going  East." 

To  omit  Fort  Bridger,  being  immortalized  by  the  fine  work  of 
the  Wyoming  State  Archives  and  Historical  Department;  to  leave 
out  any  mention  of  Fort  Laramie  and  the  renovation  of  "Old 
Bedlam"  and  other  buildings  being  accomplished  by  the  National 
Park  Service,  left  the  reader  somewhat  confused.  Needless  to  add, 
this  book  will  not  be  popular  in  Wyoming. 

S.  E.  Whitman,  son  of  an  army  officer,  who  was  born  at  Fort 
Sheridan  and  grew  up  in  the  Cavalry  posts  of  the  west,  speaks 
with  some  authority.  But  he  missed  the  "big  show"  when  he 
overlooked  Wyoming.  There  is  enough  history  around  here  to 
write  several  volumes.  With  his  talent,  background  and  devoted 
interest  in  the  U.S.  Cavalry,  I  sincerely  hope  he  finds  the  time. 

F.  E.  Warren  Air  Force  Base  Major  John  C.  Hayes 


Edward  Kern  and  American  Expansion.      By  Robert   V.   Hine. 
(Yale  University  Press,  1962.  illus.  index.   180  pp.  $6.00.) 

Robert  V.  Hine,  associate  professor  of  history  at  the  University 
of  California,  has  written  about  part  of  Edward  Kern's  life  as  it 
was  interwoven  with  America's  expansion,  which  occurred  in  the 
acquisition  of  new  land,  resources,  and  trading  privileges.  The 
principal  parts  of  the  book  are  twofold:  (1)  America's  expansion 
on  the  Continent,  and  (2)  trips  to  the  Far  East. 

In  part  one,  Professor  Hine  relates  Edward  Kern's  role  as  artist, 
topographer,  and  cartographer  on  John  C.  Fremont's  Third  Expe- 
dition, on  the  eve  of  the  war  with  Mexico,  to  the  Sierra  Nevada 
Mountain  Range  by  the  rivers  of  the  Arkansas,  Rio  Grande,  and 
Colorado;  it  ended  in  California  where  Edward  Kern  was  placed 
in  charge  of  Fort  Sutter.  Edward  Kern  was  also  with  Fremont's 
Fourth  Expedition  which  was  made  in  the  winter  with  the  purpose 
of  finding  a  southern  railroad  route  to  the  Pacific. 

In  part  two,  Edward  Kern  crossed  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  the  Far 
East,  principally  Japan,  and  plotted  navigable  harbors  and  sea 
lanes,  in  order  to  help  make  travel  and  trading  safer. 

Edward  Kern's  maps,  sketches  and  drawings  not  only  were 
utilized  by  other  travelers  and  adventurers  but  must  have  been 
appreciated  by  the  greater  number  of  stay-at-home  people  as  well. 
He  quite  vividly  depicted  animal  and  human  life  (Indians  and 
Orientals)  that  provided  a  greater  understanding  of  the  trans- 
Mississippi  West  and  the  Far  East. 


BOOK  REVIEWS  253 

The  book  is  written  in  correct  thesis  form,  and  is  aptly  illus- 
trated by  Edward  Kern's,  as  well  as  his  brother  Richard's  sketches 
and  drawings.  The  principal  weakness  of  the  book  is  the  lack  of 
maps  which  could  display  routes  taken  by  Edward  Kern.  If  a 
comprehensive  atlas  were  to  be  used  in  conjunction  with  reading, 
this  aid  would  more  greatly  help  one  understand  the  material 
encompassed.  The  greatest  strength  of  the  book  is  the  author's 
ability,  sometimes  almost  poetically,  to  put  down  in  descriptive 
words  the  vivid  impressions  that  Edward  Kern  saw  and  felt  and 
oftentimes  captured  on  canvas.  The  book  is  also  deserving  of 
praise  because  Professor  Hine  uses  a  myriad  of  primary  sources: 
diaries,  journals,  correspondence,  et  cetera. 

This  reviewer  got  the  pleasant  sensation  of  feeling  that  he  was 
getting  to  know  Edward  Kern  as  a  real  person  who  had  flesh  and 
blood  and  is  not  simply  a  name  to  be  committed  to  memory.  The 
general  reader  might  not  be  as  interested  in  this  book  as  would  be 
the  student  of  American  history,  particularly  in  American  expan- 
sion, but  it  is  a  rewarding  book  to  read. 

The  162  pages  of  content  do  not  consume  more  than  one  eve- 
ning of  reading  but  will  provide  much  food  for  later  thought. 

Cheyenne  George  W.  Paulson 

Early   Cheyenne  Homes.      (Laramie   County   Historical   Society, 
Cheyenne,  1962.  illus.,  index,  79  pp.  $1.00.) 

Laramie  County  Historical  Society  has  produced  a  fascinating 
chapter  of  Wyoming  history,  through  pictures  of  many  of  the  first 
homes  in  Cheyenne,  the  capitol  city.  The  stories  of  these  homes,  in 
brief,  are  gathered  together  in  a  volume  of  great  historical  impor- 
tance, which  the  society  offers  for  sale  to  the  public. 

The  book  covers  the  era  from  1880  to  1890.  In  these  years  a 
number  of  fabulously  elaborate  houses  were  built  in  the  western 
frontier  town,  by  men  representing  some  of  the  most  prominent 
families  in  the  United  States  and  Europe. 

Strangers  in  Cheyenne  were  surprised  to  find  there  the  mansions 
which  were  homes  of  Cheyenne  leaders.  In  the  western  territorial 
city  grew  up  a  cultured  society,  their  homes  reflecting  the  best  of 
their  time. 

Of  the  60  homes  described  in  this  delightful  book,  many  are 
gone,  razed  to  make  way  for  progress;  some  are  now  serving  as 
business  locations;  some  have  been  moved  to  other  locations,  and 
some  are  still  home  to  Cheyenne  families. 

A  remarkably  fine  job  has  been  done  in  the  commentaries  ac- 
companying the  pictures  of  the  early  day  homes;  they  bring  back 
the  romance  of  the  early  days  in  Cheyenne,  much  of  the  adventure 
and  some  of  the  tragedy  as  well  as  the  personalities  of  the  era. 


254  ANNALS   OF  WYOMING 

The  notes  speak  of  the  first  owners,  and  often  of  the  builders 
as  well  as  the  architects,  and  follow  up  the  histories  of  these  pic- 
turesque houses  by  noting  subsequent  owners,  bringing  the  history 
of  each  home  up  to  date. 

Glimpses  of  rich  furnishings  of  the  period,  notes  on  entertaining 
on  the  grand  scale,  notable  visitors  who  were  guests  in  these  homes, 
including  Theodore  Roosevelt,  are  of  interest.  Three  of  the  homes 
had  ball  rooms,  and  they  all  had,  as  a  matter  of  course,  large  barns 
to  house  their  fine  horses  and  carriages.  Some  of  the  homes  served 
as  Governors"  Mansions,  during  the  terms  their  owners  held  that 
high  state  office. 

Included  in  the  history  of  this  era  is  the  exclusive  Cheyenne  Club 
which  gained  world-wide  fame. 

Ferguson  Avenue  (now  Carey)  was  known  as  "Millionaire 
Row",  as  many  of  the  large  homes  were  built  on  this  street.  The 
builders  of  many  of  the  elegant  mansions  were  the  early  day  cattle 
barons,  and  even  though  engaged  in  some  mercantile  venture,  or 
other  line  of  endeavor,  many  of  the  early  day  residents  were  also 
in  the  cattle  business. 

Misfortune  struck  many  early  day  owners  of  these  homes,  during 
the  disastrous  blizzard  of  1886-87  and  the  collapse  of  the  cattle 
companies  in  1889  following  the  great  losses  sustained  during  this 
bad  winter.     The  panic  of  1893  saw  the  end  of  others. 

A  committee  of  the  Laramie  County  Historical  Society  was  in 
charge  of  this  significant  publication.  There  are  41  contributors 
listed  in  the  book  as  assisting  with  the  gathering  of  the  facts  cor- 
related into  this  book,  and  the  pictures  which  illustrate  it. 

Pioneer  residents  of  the  area  will  thrill  as  they  peruse  this  book 
so  reminiscent  of  the  early  days  they  knew;  newcomers  will  wel- 
come this  history  and  the  information  it  contains  concerning  Wyo- 
ming's capitol  city. 

Casper  Frances  Seely  Webb 


Great  Western  Rides.    By  Dabney  Otis  Collins.     (Denver,  Colo., 
Sage  Books,  1961.  illus.,  index,  277  pp.  $4.75.) 

The  reader  of  Great  Western  Rides  is  not  sure  if  the  man  or  the 
horse  is  the  hero  of  each  episode.  Quite  possibly,  the  author 
intended  that  hero  honors  should  be  equally  shared  by  the  two. 
Not  only  does  Collins  know  horses,  he  obviously  likes  and  respects 
them  as  well.  His  account  of  these  twelve  emergency  rides  in  the 
history  of  the  West  points  up  the  interdependence  of  men  and 
horses,  and  the  fact  that  early  day  life  in  the  West  would  hardly 
have  been  possible  without  the  horse. 

The  book  is  supplemented  by  an  excellent  section  of  photographs 


BOOK  REVIEWS  255 

and  descriptions  of  the  horses  used  in  the  rides — thoroughbred, 
mustang,  quarter  horse,  Arabian  and  cayuse. 

From  California  eastward  across  the  plains,  the  rides  recounted 
were  undertaken  for  vastly  different  reasons. 

Dr.  Marcus  Whitman  rode  from  Oregon  Territory  to  Boston  to 
promote  interest  in  settling  the  northwest,  that  it  might  be  assured 
as  United  States  territory,  and  the  ride  of  James  Haslam  was  made 
in  a  vain  effort  to  prevent  the  Mountain  Meadows  Massacre  in 
Utah. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  long  and  devious  ride  by  Butch  Cassidy 
and  some  of  his  companions  of  the  outlaw  Wild  Bunch  was  made 
to  elude  a  posse. 

Portugee  Phillips1  ride  from  Fort  Phil  Kearny  to  Fort  Laramie, 
widely  commemorated  in  Wyoming  history,  is  included  in  the 
book.  In  this  account,  as  in  all  the  stories,  the  author's  thorough 
research  is  apparent.  According  to  bibliographical  notes,  Collins 
covered  on  foot  many  of  the  routes  followed  by  the  riders.  This  is 
reflected  in  the  detailed  descriptions  of  terrain,  ranging  from  tim- 
bered mountains  to  desert  wastes. 

The  twenty  excellent  illustrations  for  this  enjoyable  book  are  by 
Nicholas  Eggenhofer,  whose  work  is  noted  for  its  vigor  and 
authenticity.  Both  Collins  and  Eggenhofer  are  transplanted  West- 
erners. Collins,  a  native  of  Alabama,  came  west  as  a  young  man, 
and  for  many  years  has  lived  in  Denver.  He  has  written  more 
than  300  stories  and  historical  articles  on  the  West.  Eggenhofer 
has  recently  moved  to  Cody  from  New  Jersey. 

Cheyenne  Katherine  Halverson 


Souls  and  Saddlebags,  The  Diaries  and  Correspondence  of  Frank 
L.  Moore,  Western  Missionary  (1888-1896),  edited  by  Au- 
stin L.  Moore.  (Bie  Mountain  Press,  Denver.  207  pp., 
$4.50.) 

Souls  and  Saddlebags,  the  diary  and  correspondence  of  Frank 
L.  Moore,  is  a  true  record  of  a  God-inspired  youth,  and  his  efforts 
to  bring  some  semblance  of  religion  to  a  raw  frontier.  His  efforts 
were  somewhat  nebulous.  He  does  not  spare  himself,  his  converts, 
or  the  settlers  who  accepted  him  as  a  traveler  and  gave  him  shelter 
of  sorts.  He  tried  his  utmost  to  bring  a  breath  of  devotion  of  a 
Supreme  Being  into  the  actions  and  lives  of  a  new  country. 

Moore  arrived  in  Cheyenne,  Wyoming,  in  1888  from  Michigan, 
and  was  immediately  disillusioned  by  dirt,  squalor  and  frequent 
gunbattles.  Few,  if  any,  of  the  transient  population  were  desirous 
of  living  a  better  life.  The  abrupt  change  from  a  Midwestern 
civilization  to  frontier  life  was  almost  beyond  his  sensibilities  to 
accept,  at  any  price. 


256  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

He  moved  on  to  Rawlins  to  work  for  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
under  the  direction  of  Rev.  John  W.  Linne.  His  duties  were  to 
start  Sunday  Schools  and  to  bring  a  semblance  of  religion  to  a 
rough  and  uncultured  land.  His  letters  to  his  financee,  Carol 
Leigh,  are  a  treat.  He  was  torn  between  his  devotion  to  duty  and 
a  strong  desire  to  live,  as  best  he  could.  His  circuit-riding,  either 
by  horseback,  stage  or  freight-teams,  through  Carbon  County,  the 
Little  Snake  River,  the  Yampa  and  many  places  in  between,  are  a 
delight  in  his  letters  and  diary.  He  was  not  always  happy  with  his 
surroundings,  but  his  conscience  kept  him  dedicated  to  his  work. 

He  later  married  Carol  Leigh,  and  their  experiences  in  bringing 
the  Gospel  to  the  untouched  in  Lander,  the  Big  Horns  and  North- 
ern Wyoming  are  momumental  in  the  many  and  diverse  difficulties 
they  had  to  overcome. 

Moore's  father,  Merritt  Moore,  a  revivalist  of  the  period,  and  a 
complete  failure  in  anything  he  attempted,  tried  to  inspire  his  son 
to  greater  heights.  His  diatribes  to  his  son  are  not  pleasant,  and 
the  fact  that  Frank  Moore  sent  money  to  his  father  taken  from  his 
ministerial  pittance,  is  a  disturbing  thing.  The  reverse  should  have 
taken  place. 

The  book  is  excellently  composed.  The  footnotes  carried  along 
with  the  manuscript  are  magnificent.  Your  reviewer  knew  many 
of  the  characters,  either  at  first-hand  or  by  reputation.  This  de- 
lightful narrative  is  most  interesting  to  any  who  might  be  con- 
cerned with  early  missionary  history,  particularly  in  the  areas 
mentioned. 

Rawlins  P.  E.  Daley 

—and  then  there  was  one,  The  Story  oj  Cambria,  Tubb  Town  and 
Newcastle.  By  Mabel  E.  Brown  and  Elizabeth  J.  Thorpe. 
(Privately  published,  Newcastle,  Wyoming.  1962.  16  pp. 
$1.00.) 

Wyoming's  history  to  a  large  extent  remains  unwritten.  It  is 
heartening,  therefore,  to  see  a  publication  appear  telling  some  of 
the  local  story  of  a  part  of  Wyoming.  All  too  little  has  been  writ- 
ten on  the  history  of  northeastern  Wyoming  and  Mrs.  Mabel 
Brown  and  Mrs.  Elizabeth  J.  Thorpe  have  started  out  to  remedy 
this  situation.  For  some  time  they  have  been  assiduously  collecting 
the  history  of  Weston  county  and  environs,  and  this  little  pamphlet 
is  their  first  attempt  to  share  their  research  and  findings  with  others. 
The  authors  write  in  an  interesting  and  sympathetic  style,  and  their 
stories  show  the  results  of  their  extensive  research. 

This  pamphlet.  "And  then  There  Was  One",  is  the  story  of  three 
towns,  Cambria,  Tubb  Town  and  Newcastle.  Only  Newcastle 
remains  at  the  present  time.  The  general  history  of  each  is  given 
here,  and  it  is  hoped  that  the  authors  will  enlarge  upon  these  stories 


BOOK  REVIEWS  257 

in  future  works,  including  many  incidents  of  interest  which  oc- 
curred in  these  communities. 

Cambria  was  a  town  of  which  its  former  citizens  speak  with 
nostalgic  memories.  It  is  the  people  who  are  important  in  a  place, 
but  the  people  of  Cambria  had  something  special,  something  they 
lost  as  a  group  when  they  were  forced  to  move  away  because  the 
coal  veins  gave  out.  After  all  the  years  since  its  abandonment,  its 
former  citizens  still  recall  the  strong  bonds  they  formed  there. 

Tubb  Town,  "naughty  little  precursor  of  Newcastle"  as  the 
authors  entitle  it,  lived  high  for  a  short  period.  It  left  its  print  on 
the  scene  only  through  the  stories  people  tell  of  it.  When  the 
railroad  by-passed  Tubb  Town,  it  died  as  quickly  as  it  was  born, 
and  its  populace  quickly  moved  on  to  Newcastle. 

Newcastle  was  so  located  that  its  future  could  be  assured.  It 
was  fostered  by  the  railroad,  fed  by  the  industry  of  Cambria,  and 
absorbed  the  former  citizens  of  Tubb  Town.  It  has  grown  from  a 
small  community  in  1889  to  a  first  class  city  in  1962. 

Through  the  story  of  the  towns  also  runs  that  of  Frank  Wheeler 
Mondell  who  for  many  years  served  Wyoming  as  its  United  States 
Congressman.  His  accomplishments  need  more  recognition  by  his 
Wyoming  compatriots. 

This  little  booklet  is  recommended  to  all  who  are  interested  in 
Wyoming  history,  and  we  look  forward  to  additional  publications 
by  Mrs.  Brown  and  Mrs.  Thorpe. 

Cheyenne  Lola  M.  Homsher 


Colter's  Hell  and  Jackson's  Hole.  By  Merrill  J.  Mattes.  (Yellow- 
stone Library  and  Museum  Association  and  The  Grand  Teton 
Natural  History  Association,  1962.     87  pp.     $1.00.) 

Colter's  Hell  and  Jackson's  Hole,  the  Fur  Trappers'  Exploration 
of  Yellowstone  and  Grand  Teton  Park  Region,  by  Merrill  J.  Mattis, 
published  by  the  Yellowstone  Library  and  Museum  Association 
and  the  Grand  Teton  Natural  History  Association,  is  an  excellent 
and  authentic  history  of  these  regions.  This  condesnsed  book  is 
read  by  both  historians  and  the  tourists  who  are  interested  in  the 
history  of  these  areas.    Our  sales  of  the  book  show  this  to  be  true. 

Most  tourists  think  of  Yellowstone  National  Park  as  Colter's 
Hell;  in  this  book  they  learn  the  actual  location  of  Colter's  Hel! 
which  was  near  Cody,  Wyoming. 

I  find  no  new  notes  in  the  book,  but  it  is  well  written,  and  the 
interesting  illustrations  give  a  fine  history  of  the  fur  trappers' 
exploration  in  both  the  Yellowstone  and  Teton  regions. 

Jackson  Hole  Museum  W.  C.  Lawrence 


258  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Cow  Chips  'ri  Cactus.    The  Homestead  in  Wyoming.    By  Florence 
Blake  Smith.     (New  York:    Pageant  Press,  1962.     118  pp. 

S2.50.) 

Cow  Chips  V  Cactus  is  more  than  just  another  book.  It  is  a 
pep  pill,  a  shot  in  the  arm,  a  good  laugh,  a  brisk  Wyoming  breeze. 
Any  doctor  or  psychiatrist  might  well  write:  "Diagnosis:  depres- 
sion, grief,  illness,  loneliness,  insomnia.  Prescription:  read  Cow 
Chips  'n  Cactus — aloud  to  someone  else  if  possible — and  as  fast 
as  possible,  stopping  only  for  laughs,  and  perhaps  to  reminisce 
about  your  own  experiences  on  Wyoming's  young  prairies.  Repeat 
monthly  as  necessary." 

It  is  only  after  you  finish  the  book  that  you  realize  that  here  is 
grass  roots  reality  on  a  frontier  only  a  little  less  raw  than  it  was  50 
years  before  1921,  when  the  events  in  the  book  took  place.  The 
incidents  and  the  atmosphere  could  be  background  material  for  a 
strong  regional  novel  or  a  rollicking  musical  comedy.  But  the 
sense  of  humor  overrides  the  rest  of  the  book's  qualities 

The  first  page  or  two,  the  writer's  free-wheeling  with  the  English 
language,  her  lack  of  chapters — and  sometimes  even  paragraphs — 
may  bother  you,  if  you  are  a  purist.  You'll  soon  forget  all  that, 
as  in  Suds  In  Your  Eye,  in  the  ebullience  of  the  adventure,  the 
courage  and  tenacity  of  the  young  woman  who  came  out  to  Wyo- 
ming from  Chicago  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  to  prove  up  on  a 
homestead,  miles  from  town  or  neighbors,  with  only  a  dog,  a  Vic- 
trola  and  a  typewriter  for  company.  She  stayed  most  of  her  life. 
How  she  did  it  is  for  you  to  read  and  enjoy. 

If  you  don't  need  a  boost  in  the  morale,  buy  a  few  copies  to  send 
to  friends  in  the  hospital  instead  of  flowers. 

Cheyenne  Grace  Logan  Schaedel 


UNIVERSITY  PRESS  REPRINTS 

The  University  of  Nebraska  Press  and  Yale  University  Press  are 
performing  a  valuable  service  in  the  field  of  Western  Americana. 
Many  books  on  the  West  have  been  out-of-print,  difficult  and 
expensive  to  obtain  for  a  number  of  years.  Nebraska  and  Yale  are 
making  such  items,  many  of  which  have  become  classics,  available 
again  and  at  reasonable  prices. 

The  following  reprints  in  paperback  editions  are  now  off  the 
press  and  may  be  obtained  through  bookstores. 

UNIVERSITY  OF  NEBRASKA   PRESS 

Bison  Books,  Paperback  Editions. 

Reminiscences  of  a  Ranchman.    By  Edgar  Beecher  Bronson,  with 
introduction  by  W.  D.  Aeschbacher,  Director  Nebraska  State 


BOOK  REVIEWS  259 

Historical   Society.      (Reprint  from  A.   C.   McClurg  &  Co. 
edition.)     1962     370  pp.     $1.50. 

Blackfoot  Lodge  Tales,  The  Story  of  a  Prairie  People.  By  George 
Bird  Grinnell.  Reprint  prepared  from  Charles  Scribner's 
Sons  edition. )     1962    311pp.    index    $1.50. 

Plenty-Coups,  Chief  of  the  Crows.  By  Frank  B.  Linderman. 
(First  published  as  American:  The  Life  Story  of  a  Great 
Indian,  Plenty-coups,  Chief  of  the  Crows,  copyright  1930  by 
Frank  B.  Linderman.)      1962     324  pp.     index     $1.50. 

Old  Jules.  By  Mari  Sandoz.  (Reprinted  by  arrangement  with 
Hastings  House  Publishers,  Inc.)  1962  424  pp.  illus. 
$1.60." 

The  Hunting  of  the  Buffalo.  By  E.  Douglas  Branch,  with  intro- 
duction by  J.  Frank  Dobie.  (Reprinted  by  arrangement  with 
Appleton-Century-Crofts,  Inc.)    240  pp.   illus.    index   $1.40. 

The  Wild  Horse  of  the  West.  By  Walker  D.  Wyman,  illustrated 
by  Harold  E.  Bryant.  (First  published  in  1945  by  Caxton 
Printers,  Ltd. )     348  pp.    Bibliog.     index    $1.60. 

Wooden  Leg,  A  Warrior  Who  Fought  Custer.  Interpreted  by 
Thomas  B.  Marquis.  (Originally  published  as  A  Warrior 
Who  Fought  Custer.  Copyright  first  by  the  Midwest  Co.) 
384  pp.    Maps.     $1.90. 


YALE  UNIVERSITY   PRESS 

Yale  Western  Americana  Paperbound 

Trail  to  California,  the  Overland  Journal  of  Vincent  Geiger  and 
Wakeman  Bryarly.  Edited  and  with  an  Introduction  and  new 
Preface  by  David  M.  Potter.  (First  published  by  Yale  Uni- 
versity Press,  1945.)     1962    266  pp.    bibliog.    index    $1.75. 

A  Canyon  Voyage.  The  Narrative  of  the  Second  Powell  Expedi- 
tion Down  the  Green-Colorado  River  from  Wyoming  and  the 
Explorations  on  Land,  in  the  Years  1871  and  1872.  By 
Frederick  S.  Dellenbaugh,  with  a  Foreword  by  William  H. 
Goetzmann.  (First  published  in  1908  and  1926  by  F.  S. 
Dellenbaugh.)     277  pp.     index     illus.     $1.95. 

By  Cheyenne  Campfires.  By  George  Bird  Grinnell,  with  a  Fore- 
word by  Omer  C.  Stewart.  (First  published  in  1926  by  Yale 
University  Press.)     305  pp.     $1.95. 


260  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Down  the  Santa  Fe  Trail  and  Into  Mexico:  Diary  of  Susan  Shelby 
Magoffin.  Edited  by  Stella  M.  Drumm,  with  an  Introduction 
by  Howard  Lamar.  (Published  in  1926  by  Yale  University 
Press.)     294  pp.    index    $1.95. 

An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Southwestern  Archaeology.  By 
Alfred  Vincent  Kidder,  with  an  Introduction  by  Irving  Rouse. 
(First  published  in  1924  by  Yale  University  Press.)  377  pp. 
bibliog.    illus.     $1.95. 

The  Fur  Trade  in  Canada.  By  Harold  A.  Innis,  with  a  Foreword 
by  Robin  W.  Winks.  (First  published  in  1930  by  Yale  Uni- 
versity Press.)     446  pp.    bibliog.    index    $1.95. 


Contributors 


Philip  Gardiner  Nordell,  an  alumnus  of  Dartmouth  College, 
has  done  considerable  research  in  early  American  lotteries  and  is 
writing  a  history  of  the  subject.  Several  advance  articles  on  some 
of  the  lotteries  have  been  or  soon  will  be  published.  Since,  as  he 
says,  there  can  hardly  be  an  end  to  research  in  this  largely  neglected 
field,  he  hopes  that  anyone  with  knowledge  of  important  unpub- 
lished source  material  and  of  original  tickets  will  communicate 
with  him  at  R.  D.  1,  Ambler,  Pa. 

Fritioff  Fryxell  has  authored  or  edited  numerous  books  on 
geology,  the  National  Parks  and  western  history.  Recently  he 
completed  five  posthumous  works  of  the  late  Francois  E.  Matthes, 
four  of  which  have  been  published.  A  geologist,  he  took  his  B.  A. 
degree  at  Augustana  College,  Rock  Island,  Illinois,  his  M.  A.  at  the 
University  of  Illinois  and  his  Ph.  D.  at  the  University  of  Chicago. 
Since  1923  he  has  been  on  the  faculty  of  Augustana  College,  and 
also  does  part  time  work  with  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey.  During 
leaves  of  absence  he  has  been  acting  naturalist  of  Grand  Teton 
National  Park,  geologist  on  the  museum  planning  staff  of  the 
National  Park  Service,  has  engaged  in  geological  explorations  in 
the  Philippine  Islands  for  the  commonwealth  government,  and  dur- 
ing World  War  II  he  was  a  member  of  the  Military  Geology  Unit, 
with  which  he  served  overseas  in  England,  the  Philippines  and 
Japan.    He  is  married  and  has  two  sons,  Roald  H.  and  Thomas  W. 

The  Venerable  Howard  Lee  Wilson,  Archdeacon  of  the 
Diocese  of  Wyoming,  who  was  born  in  Peoria,  Illinois,  has  lived 
in  Wyoming  for  the  past  fifteen  years.  He  was  graduated  from  the 
University  of  Wyoming  in  1950,  where  he  had  majored  in  history 
and  was  elected  to  membership  in  Phi  Beta  Kappa.  For  nine  years 
he  has  been  a  clergyman  in  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Wyoming,  and 
has  served  at  Casper,  Dubois  and  Crowheart.  He  assumed  his 
present  post  as  assistant  to  the  Bishop  in  Laramie  in  July,  1958. 
As  the  recently  appointed  historiographer  for  the  Church,  he  edits 
the  Church  newspaper,  The  Wyoming  Churchman. 

John  D.  McDermott  has  been  Supervisory  Park  Historian  at 
Fort  Laramie  National  Historic  Site  for  the  past  two  years,  where 
his  duties  include  the  direction  of  all  interpretive  activities,  long 
range  planning  and  technical  assistance  for  the  restoration  and  re- 
furnishings  programs.  His  article  in  this  issue  of  the  Annals,  "Fort 
Laramie's  Iron  Bridge",  was  prepared  as  part  of  a  report  which 
forms  the  basis  for  the  restoration  of  the  bridge  in  the  coming  year. 


262  ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 

Mr.  McDermott  received  his  bachelor's  degree  from  the  University 
of  South  Dakota  in  1957  and  his  master's  from  the  University  of 
Wisconsin  in  1959.  He  and  his  wife  live  in  Torrington  at  the 
present  time. 

A.  S.  (Bud)  Gillespie  gained  his  knowledge  of  ranching  activ- 
ities through  first  hand  experience.  He  was  born  in  Albany  Coun- 
ty, and  has  lived  in  Wyoming  all  his  life.  He  was  a  cowpuncher 
and  later  a  cattle  rancher  from  1901  until  his  retirement  in  1948. 
Since  then  he  and  his  wife  have  lived  in  Laramie.  Mr.  Gillespie 
competed  in  Cheyenne  Frontier  Days  steer  roping  events  in  the 
early  1900's  and  consistently  won  top  money.  His  hobbies  include 
cowpunching,  research  and  writing.  He  is  co-author  with  R.  H. 
Burns  and  W.  G.  Richardson  of  Wyoming's  Pioneer  Ranches,  pub- 
lished in  1955. 

Gordon  S.  Chappell  served  as  Seasonal  Ranger-Historian  with 
the  National  Park  Service  at  Fort  Laramie  National  Historic  Site 
during  the  summer  of  1960  and  the  summer  and  fall  of  1961.  He 
was  graduated  from  the  University  of  California  in  1961.  Mr. 
Chappell's  interests  include  frontier  and  military  history  and  Indian 
wars,  and  collecting  frontier  army  uniforms  and  miscellaneous 
railroadiana.  In  recent  years  he  has  photographed,  in  movies, 
color  slides  and  black  and  white,  numerous  operating  steam 
locomotives.  A  resident  of  Sacramento,  he  is  currently  on  duty 
with  the  U.  S.  Army,  stationed  at  Fort  Ord,  California. 

Elizabeth  Keen  is  presently  on  the  faculty  of  Tuskegee  Insti- 
tute, Tuskegee,  Alabama,  teaching  English.  For  further  informa- 
tion see  the  Annals  of  Wyoming,  Vol.  33,  No.  2,  October,  1961, 
p.  240. 

Hans  Kleiber.  See  Annals  of  Wyoming,  Vol.  33,  No.  1,  April 
1961,  p.  115. 


General  Judex 


Abbott-Downing  stages,  34:2:245 

Abbott,  Mrs.,  34:1:89 

Academy  of  Music,  34:2:198 

Academy  of  National  Sciences,  34: 
2:185,  189 

Adams,  Ramon  F.,  The  Old-Time 
Cowhand,  review,  34:1:128-129 

Adobe  Town,  34:2:241 

Ah  Say,  Mrs.,  34:1:90 

Albany  County,  34:1:72 

Albert  Charles  Peale,  Pioneer  of  the 
Hayden  Survey,  by  Fritiof  Fryx- 
ell,  34:2:175-192:  175,  176,  177, 
178,  180,  181,  182,  183,  184,  185, 
187,  188,  190,  191;  photos,  176, 
181 

Albright,  J.  J.,  34:1:94 

Alias  Dan  Davis  -  Alias  Dan  Mor- 
gan, as  told  by  Mrs.  "Doc"  Daisy 
Spear  to  R.  H.  (Bob)  Scherger, 
34:1:60 

Allen,  E.  T.,  34:2:184 

Allen  &  Co.,  34:2:201 

Almond  Station,  34:2:238 

Alsop  ranch,  34:1:87 

American  Chemical  Society,  34:2: 
189 

American  Climatological  Associa- 
tion, 34:2:188,  189 

American  Fur  Company,  34:2:147 

American  Gold  &  Silver  Mining  Co., 
34:2:198 

America's  History  lands.  Landmarks 
of  Liberty.  Prepared  by  the  Na- 
tional Geographic  Book  Service, 
Merle  Severy,  Chief,  review,  34: 
1:123-124 

An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of 
Southwestern  Archaeology,  by  Al- 
fred Vincent  Kidder  with  an  In- 
troduction by  Irving  Rouse,  34: 
2:260 

—and  then  there  was  one.  The  Story 
of  Cambria,  Tubb  Town  and 
Newcastle,  by  Mabel  E.  Brown 
and  Elizabeth  J.  Thorpe,  review, 
34:2:256-257 

Andrews,  Cora.     See  Mrs.  Brees 

Andrews,  Hattie.     See  Mrs.  Phillips 

Antelope  Springs,  34:1:46 

Anthony  [J.  W.],  Lieut.  Col.,  34: 
2:277 

Arapahoe  Brown,  34:1:48 
Arapahoe,  squaw,  34: 1 :  109 
Arnold,  C.  P.,  34:1:92 


Arnold,  F.  L.,  34:1:91,  92 

Arnold,   Minnie.     See  Mrs.   Eurgens 

Arnold,  Olga  Moore,  34:1:131 

Ash  Hollow,  34:1:50 

Ashley,  William,  34:2:245 

Atchison  \ Kansas]  Patriot,  newspa- 
per, 34: 1 :66 

Atherton,  Lewis,  The  Cattle  Kinqs, 
review,  34:1:121-122 

Atlantic  City,  Wyo.,  34:2:238 

Averell,  Jim,  34:1:116 

Avery,  Sally,  34:1:100 


Backus  Creek,  34:1:98;  canyon,  99 

Baird,  Jay,  34:1:30 

Baird,  Spencer  F.,  34:2:178 

Baker,  Nathan  A.,  34:1:62,  63,  65, 

70;  34:2:221,  223,  224,  225,  229 
Baker's  Springs,  Colo.,  34:1:65 
Banditti  of  the  Plains,  The,  34: 1  :77, 

79 
Barber,  Mrs.,  34:2:226 
Bar  C,  ranch,  34:1:99,  107 
Barnum  country,  34:1:97,  101,  102, 

104,   107,   108,   111;  cowboys,  99, 

110 
Barrett,  — ,  34:2:210 
Barrow,  Merris  C,  34:1:62,  79,  80, 

8 1  -82    83 
BartlettV  Albert,  34:2:172 
Bass,  Sam,  34:1:115 
Batten,  Rollin,  34:2:171 
Bealey,  Rosalind,  34:2:249 
Bear  Butte  Valley,  34:1:15 
Bear  River  City,  34:2:221,  224,  225 
Beaver  Creek,   34:1:12,   28,   valley, 

21 
Bedlam,  34:2:148,   151 
Bee  Hive  Monument,  34:2:249 
Beecher,    Rev.    Henry   Ward,    34:2: 

198;  Mrs.,  198 
Belcher,  J.  H.,  34:2:140 
Belknap,  W.  W.,  34:2:138,  139,  140 
Bellamy,  Mrs.  Mary,  34:2:201,  204 
Berry,  Henryetta,  review  of  Wagons, 

Mules  and  Men,  34: 1 :  121 
Beulah,  Wyo.,  34:1:8,  11 
Bible,  George,  34:2:170,  171 
Big  Horn  Mining  Ass'n.,  34:2:228 
Big  Horn  mountains,  34:1:40;  34:2: 

228 
Big  Piney  country,  34:2:243 


264 


ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 


Bill    Barlow's    Budget,     newspaper, 

34:1:62,  80,  81,  82 
Bill.  Ed,  34:2:249 
Bishop   Who  Bid  for  Fort  Laramie, 

The.  by  Howard  Lee  Wilson,  34: 

2:163-174 
Bishop.  Mrs.  L.  C,  34:2:237,  249 
Bitter  Creek  railroad  station,   34:2: 

236;  Creek,  237,  239,  240;  coun- 
try. 237;  valley,  247 
Black  Buttes  Station,  34:2:236,  237 
Blackfoot  Lodge  Tales,  The  Story  of 

a  Prairie  People,  by  George  Bird 

Grinnell.  34:2:259 
Black  Hills.  34:1:7,  9,  58 
Black  Hills  Stage.  Mail  and  Express, 

34:2:142 
Black  Thunder  Creek,  34: 1 :  13 
Black  Vacks.  34:1:53 
Black's  Fork,  34:2:247,  248 
Blackwell's  saloon,  34:1:23 
Bladget  and  Co..  34:1:57 
Blake.  John  W..  34:2:209,  210 
Blodgett,  Mrs.  Mary  Sherwood,  34: 

2:173 
Blue  Creek,  34:1:101,  110 
Blue    Creek    ranch,    34:1:97,     100, 

103,  104,  109 
Blue  Rock.  34:1:57 
Bonney.     Orrin     and     Lorraine    G., 

Bonney's  Guide,  review,  34:1:123 
Bonney's   Guide,    by   Orrin    H.    and 

Lorraine  G.   Bonney,   review,   34: 

1:123 
Boomerang,    newspaper,    34:1,     66, 

68,  69 
Boston  Globe,  newspaper,  34:1:76 
Bothwell,  A.  L.  34:1:116 
bourke,  Lieut.  John,  34:2:142 
Bowen.  Hunter.  34:1:24 
Bowie     Cross     Timber,     newspaper, 

34:1:79 
Box  Butte  County,  Nebr.,  34:1:104 
Bozeman  Trail,   34:1:51;   34:2:249; 

War,  61 
Boyack,  Hazel  Noble,  34:2:247 
Bradley,    Ruth   J.,   review  of  Recol- 
lections of  A  Piney  Creek  Ranch- 
er, 34:1:118 
Bradley.    Col.    Wm.    R.,    34:2:235, 

246;  Mrs.,  249 
Bramel,    Judge    Charles    W.,    34:1: 

62.  67.  71.  72 
Bramwell,    Mrs.   Lucinda,    34:2:242 
Branch,  E.  Douglas,  The  Hunting  of 

the  Buffalo,  34:2:259 
Brees,  Mrs.,  34:1:89 
Brent.  Lieut.,  34:2:160 
Brewer,  Nellie,  34:1:11 
Bridger,  James,  34:2:179 


Bridger's  Pass,  34:2:246,  247 
Brimmer,  George,  34:2:170,  171 
Brock,  Alfred,  ranch,  34:1:100 
Brock,  Billy,  34:1:101 
Brock,  Elmer  J.,  34:1:101 
Bronson,    Edgar    Beecher,    Reminis- 
cences of  a  Ranchman,  34:2:258- 

259 
Brooks,  —,34:1:92 
Brown,  Capt.  Frederick,  34:1:51 
Brown,  Judge,  34:1:86,  93 
Brown,  Lieut.,  34:2:155 
Brown,  Mable  E.,  May  Nelson  Dow, 

A  First  Lady  of  Newcastle,  34:1: 

5-30;   132 
Brown,    Nancy    Fillmore,    Girlhood 

Recollections  Of  Laramie  in  1870 

and  1871,  34:1:85-91 
Brown  Springs,  34:1:45 
Browning,    Mrs.   J.    Hall,    34:2:163, 

165,   168 
Brown's  Park  areas,  34:2:243 
Bryan,  Lieut.,  34:2:240,  244 
Bryan,  Wyo.,  34:2:241,  244 
Buck  Shoals  Hill,  34:1:76 
Buehler,  Rev.  Dr.  H.  G.,  34:2:166 
Buffalo    Bulletin,    newspaper,    34:1: 

79 
Buffalo  Gap,  D.  T.,  34:1:17 
Buffalo  Creek,  34:1:102,  106 
Buffalo,  Wyo.,  34:1:40,  43,  45,  47, 

108 
Bullion  Gold  and  Silver  Mining  Co., 

34:2:204 
Burlington  and  Missouri  R.  R.,  34: 

1:24 
Burlington  railroad,  34:1:104 
Burns,  R.  H.  "Bob",  review  of  The 

Cowboy  And  His  Interpreters,  34: 

2:250-251 
Burnt  Ranch,  34:1:54 
Burritt,  Charles  H.,  34:1:43,  47 
Butterworth,  Dr.,  34:2:167 
By  Cheyenne  Campfires,  by  George 

Bird    Grinnell   with    foreword    by 

Omer  C.  Stewart,  34:2:259 


Calamity  Jane,  34:1:22,  23 
California  Trail,  34:2:245 
Cambria,  W.  T.,  34:1:11;  Wyo.,  31; 

Canyon,  21,  24,  28,  31 
Campbell,  Gov.,  34:1:87,  93;  Mrs., 

88 
Camp  Brown,   1878,  34:1:51 
Camp  McGraw,  34:1:50 
Camp  Mitchell,  34:2:154,  157 


INDEX 


265 


Camp  Weld.  34:2:215 
Cantonment  Reno,  34:1:46 
Canyon     Voyage,    by    Frederick    S. 
Dellenbaugh,    with    foreword    by 
William  H.  Goetzmann,  34:2:259 
Capital   Hills.     See  Scotts  Bluffs. 
Carbon  County,  34:1:81 
Carbon,  Wyo..  34:2:233 
Carey,  J.  M.,  34:2:143,  144 
Carley,  Maurine.  34:2:235,  239,249 
Carlisle.  Mrs.  J.  H.,  34:2:249 
Carmichael's,  34:2:224 
Carr,  E.  N.,  34:2:207 
Carter  County,  34:2:241 
Carter  Troupe,  34:2:226 
Carter,  Wyo..  34:2:224 
Casement.  — .  34:2:222,  223 
Casper,  Wyo..  34:1:58,  62,  108 
Cassidy,  — .  lawyer.  97,  105,  109 
Castle  Rock.  34:2:241 
Cattle  Kate.  34:1:116 
Cattle  Kings,  The,  by  Lewis  Ather- 

ton,  review,  34:1:121-122 
Cattlemen's  Ass'n.,  34:1:97 
Central  High  School,  34:2:176 
Central     Overland     California     and 
Pike's   Peak   Express.     See   Over- 
land Trail 
Central  Pacific,  34:2:225 
Champion.  Nate,  34:1:107 
Chaplin.   Wm.   E„   34:1:62,   71,   72, 

73,  75.  80,  81,  82 
Chappell,  Gordon  S.,  The  Fortifica- 
tions of  Old  Fort  Laramie,  34:2: 
145-162;  262 
Cherokee  Strip,  34:1:101 
Cherry  Creek,  Colo.,  34:1:63 
Cheyenne  Daily  Leader,  newspaper, 
34:1:63,    64".    65,    70;    34:2:141, 
222,  223,  225    226    228    229    230 
233' 
Cheyenne  Daily  Gazette,  newspaper, 

34:1:72 
Cheyenne    Dailv    News,    newspaper. 

34:1:70 
Cheyenne     Daily     Sun,     newspaper, 

34:1:75;   34:2:231 
Cheyenne    Dailv    Tribune,    newspa- 
per, 34:2:221 
Cheyenne  Democratic  Leader,  news- 
paper, 34: 1 :79 
Cheyenne,  postmaster,  34:1:77 
Chevenne   State    Lottery,    34:2:193, 
205 

Cheyenne     Sun-Leader,     newspaper, 

34:1:70 
Cheyenne,   Wyo.,    34:1:43,    58,    63, 

64,    71,    79;    34:2:223,    224,    228, 

229;    first    school    building,    230, 

231 


Chicago   &    Northwestern    Railroad, 

34:1:43 
Chicago  Times,  newspaper,  34:1:74 
Chimney  Rock,  34:1:50,  57 
Chipp,  Rev.  Frank,  34:2:169 
Chivington,  John  Milton,  34:2:154 
Christian   Weekly,  newspaper,  34:2: 

177 
Church  Buttes,  34:2:247,  248 
Clagett,  William  H.,  34:2:180 
Clark,  Edith  K.  O.,  34:2:167 
Clark,  Harry,  34:1:24 
Clark,  John,  34:2:165 
Clarke,  Henry  T.,  34:2:140 
Cogshell,  C.  E..  34:2:216 
Collins  Brothers  Saddlery,  34:2:215 
Collins,  J.  S.  and  Sons,  34:2:215 
Colorado  Leader,  newspaper,   34:2: 

221 
Colter's  Hell  and  Jackson's  Hole,  by 

Merrill   J.    Mattes,    review,    34:2: 

257 
Comstock,  Anthony,  34:2:204,  206, 

210 
Comstock  Lode,  34:2:193 
Connor,  Col.,  34:2:245 
Cook,  Rev.  Joseph  C,  34:2:231 
Cook,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ward,  34:2:249 
Cornish   and  Watson   Saddlery,   34: 

2:216 
Cosmos  Club.  34:2:189 
Cones,  Elliott,  34:2:181,  185,  189 
Coulter,  John  M.,  34:2:181 
Coir  Chips  'n'  Cactus,  by  Florence 

Blake  Smith,  review,  34:2:258 
Cowboy  And  His  Interpreters,  The, 

by  Douglas  Branch,  review,  34:2: 

250-251 
Crane,  Harry  E.,  34:2:165,  166,  167 
Clayton,  Eli,  34:1:53 
"Club-foot  Bill",  34:1:23,  24 
Coates,  Fred,  34: 1 :  15 
Coe,  William  Robertson,  34:2:172 
Collier,  Drucinda,  34:1:5 
Collier,   Nancy   Melinda,   34:1:5,   6, 

9,  18 
Collins,  Col.  William  Oliver,  34:2: 

154,   155 
Colorado  Leader,  newspaper,   34:1: 

63 
Colorado    Tribune,    newspaper,    34: 

1:65 
Company    B,    29th    Iowa    Infantry, 

34:1:5 
Condit,  L.  R.  A.,  34:1:111 
Condit,    Thelma    Gatchell,    Hole-in- 

the-Wall,    Part    VIII,    Section    4, 

34:1:95-111;  132 
Continental,  steamer.  34:1:78 
Cornell,    Rev.    Joseph,    34:1:86,    92 


266 


ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 


Council    Bluffs    [Iowa]    Nonpareil, 

newspaper,  34:1:65 
Cowboy     Saloon.       See     Dannie 

Mitchell 
Coyle,  M.  J.,  34:1:15 
Crancall,  — ,  34:1:92 
Crane,  — ,  34:2:167 
Crazy  Woman  crossing,  34:1:46 
Creighton,  Edward,  34:1:87 
Crook  County,  34:1:13 
Crounse,  — ,  34:2:140 
Cummings,  Sgt.  J.  C,  34:2:155 
Cunningham,   Daniel,   34:2:219 
Curran,  Rev.  F.  R.,  34:1:13,  17,  20, 

21 
Curran's  saloon,  34:1:25 
Cusson,  Father,  34:1:93 
Custer-Belle  Fourche  trail,   34:1:17 
Custer  County,  Nebr.,  34:1:52 
Custer,  So.  Dak.,  34:1:12,  13,  17 
Custer,  Wyo.,  34:1:21 


Daily  Leader,  newspaper,  34:2:204 
Daily  Sentinel,  newspaper,   34:1:65, 

74 
Dale  City,  34:2:219,  223 
Daley,   P.   E.,   review  of  Souls  and 

Saddlebags,  34:2:255-256 
Daley,  Will,  34:2:170,  171 
Dandy,     Capt.     George,     34:2:158, 

159,   160,   161 
David,   James  C,   34:1:52,   55,   58, 

59 
David,  Oliver  P.,  34:1:52 
Davis,  — ,  34:1:17 
Day,  Arthur  L.,  34:2:184 
Deadwood  Gulch,  34: 1 :8 
Deadwood,  So.  Dak.,  34:1:8,  9,   10 
Deane,  William  (Billy),  34:1:97 
Dellenbaugh,   Frederick   S.,   Canyon 

Voyage,  34:2:259 
Delphos,  Kans.,  34:1:9 
Deming,  William  Chapin,  34:1:70 
Democratic    Times,    newspaper,    34: 

1:80 
Dept.  of  the  Platte,  Omaha,   34:2: 

139,  144 
DeSmet,  Father,  34:1:35,  36 
Devil's  Gate,  34:1:50 
Diamond    Cattle    Company,     34:2: 

215 
Dickson,  John,  34:2:235,  238,  240; 

Mr.  and  Mrs.,  249;  Mary,  249 
Dillon,  Sidney,  34:1:94 
Division  of  the  Missouri,  34:2:139 
Dixon,  — ,  photo,  34:2:181 


Dodge,    Maj.    Gen.    Grenville    M., 

34:1:58,  70 

Doescher,  Bill,  34:2:215 

Donelson,  Bvt.  2nd  Lieut.,  34:2: 
148,    151 

Donielson,  Charles,  34:1:9;  Mrs. 
Nancy,  9;  Neva,  9,  11,  12 

Donnellan,  Mrs.,  34:1:89 

Dougherty,  L.  B.,  34:2:152 

Douglas,  Stephen  Arnold,  34:1:45 

Douglas,  Wyo.,  34:1:45,  81,  82 

Dow,  Charles,  34:1:27,  28,  30; 
photo,  29 

Dow,  Fannie  Walters,  34:1:27 

Dow,  George  W.,  34:1:27 

Dow,  May  Nelson,  34:1:5,  9,  11, 
12,  16,  17,  18,  20,  21,  22,  23,  24, 
25,  26,  27,  28,  30,  31;  photo,  29 

Dow  Motor  Co.  34:1:30 

Down  the  Santa  Fe  Trail  and  Into 
Mexico:  Diary  of  Susan  Shelby 
Magoffin.  Edited  by  Stella  M. 
Drumm,  with  introduction  by 
Howard  Lamer,  34:2:260 

Downey,  Col.,  34:1:93;  Mrs.  Steph- 
en, 89 

Dry  V  Creek,  34:1:109 

Dragoons  and  Mounted  Rifles,  34: 
2:146 

Drumm,  Stella  M.,  Down  the  Santa 
Fe  Trail  and  Into  Mexico:  Diaiy 
of  Susan  Shelby  Magoffin,  34: 
2:260 

Drury,  Dr.,  34:2:170 

Dubois,  William,  34:2:165 

Dug-Out  on  Oil  Creek,  plan  of, 
sketch,  34:1:14 

Duniway,  — ,  Pres.,  Univ.  of  Wyo., 
34:2:166 

Dunning,  George,  34:1:76,  77,  79 

Durett,  Corett,  34:1:25 

Durett,  George  M.,  34:1:25 


Eagle  Canyon,  34:1:102;  Creek,  102 

"Eagle  Eye",  34:1:109 

Eagle  Oil  Co.,  34:1:15 

Eagle  Point,  34:1:53 

Eagle  River,  34:2:182 

Early  Cheyenne  Homes,  by  Laramie 
County  Historical  Society,  review, 
34:2:253-254 

Echo  Canon,  34:1:90 

E.  C.  Lee  Company,  34:2:217 

Edward  Kern  and  American  Expan- 
sion, by  Robert  V.  Hine,  review, 
34:2:252-253 


INDEX 


267 


Edelbrock.  Joe  and  Sons,  34:2:217 
Eggenhofer,    Nick,    Wagons,    Mules 

and  Men,  review,  34:1:121 
1852  On  The  Oregon  Trail,  by  Mae 

Urbanek,  34:1:52 
Eighteenth  Infantry,  34:2:157 
Eklund,  Richard,  34:2:249 
Eleventh     Ohio     Volunteer,     Com- 
panies "C"  and  "I",  34:2:155 
Elk  Mountain,  34:1:13 
Elliott.  Henry  W.,  34:2:179 
Ellsworth.  Lieut.,  34:2:154 
Elston.      Allan      Vaughn,      Treasure 

Coach    from    Deadwood,    review, 

34:1:125 
Emmons,  Samuel  F.,  34:2:185 
Emory  &  Co..  34:2:206 
Ence,   Mr.   and   Mrs.   W.   E.,   34:2: 

249 
Endlich,  F.  M.,  34:2:182,   183 
Episcopal    Church,    34:1:30;    34:2: 

231,  Laramie's  first,  231 
Eurgens,  Mrs..  34: 1 : 89 
Evans.  Bob,  ranch,  34:1:10 
Evans,  Capt.,  34:2:245 
Evanston.  Wyo.,  34:1:90 


Family  Band,  7  he,  by  Laura  Bower 
Van  Nuys,  review,  34:1:119-120 

Fawcett,  Billy,  34:1:15 

Ferris  Mountains,  34:2:204 

Fiddler  Bill's  funeral,  34:1:91 

Field  City.  34:1:17,  20 

Field  City  Journal  or  Stockade  Jour- 
nal, newspaper,  34:1:20 

Fields,  S.  I.,  34:2:241 

Fifteenth  Infantry,  34:1:51 

Fillmore,  Millard,  34:1:52,  85 

Fillmore.  Supt.,  34:2:232 

Firnekas.  Church,  34:1:99,  100 

First  Christian  Church,  34:1:9 

First  State  Bank  of  Newcastle, 
Wyo..  34:1:30 

Fitzpatrick.  Lilian,  Nebraska  Place 
Names,  review,  34:1:126-128 

Flynn  Saddlery,  34:2:216 

Forbes,  Davy,  34:1:24 

Fort  Augur.  34:1:51 

Fort  Bridger,  34:2:224,  236,  242, 
245,  246.  249 

Fort  Fetterman,  34:1:45,  81 

Fort  Hall,  34:1:50;  34:2:146,  148, 
149,  152,  153 

Fort  Kearney,  34:1:50 

Fort  Kearny,  34:2:146 


Fort  Laramie,  34:1:50,  52,  57,  58; 
34:2:137,  138,  139,  140,  141, 
142,  143,  144,  146,  147,  148,  149, 
151,  152,  153,  154,  155,  156,  161, 
162,  163,  165,  166,  168,  169,  170, 
172,  228;  site,  173;  photo,  164 

Fort  Laramie  and  Livestock  Com- 
pany, 34:2:169 

Fort  Laramie  National  Historic  Site, 
34:2:144,  145 

Fort  Laramie's  Iron  Bridge,  by  John 
Dishon  McDermott,  '  34:2:137- 
144 

Fort  Leavenworth,  Kans.,  34:1:50, 
58 

Fort  Logan,  Colo.,  34:2:143 

Fort  McHenry,  34:1:145 

Fort  McKinney,  34:1:45 

Fort  Myers,  Fla.,  34:2:172 

Fort  Rankin,  34:2:154 

Fort  Robinson.  Nebr.,  34:2:142, 
143 

Fort  Russell,  34:2:143,  223 

Fort  Stambaugh,  34:2:241 

Fort  Steele,  34:1:85,  86 

Fort  Thompson,  34:1:50 

Fort  Washakie,  34:1:51 

Fortifications  of  Old  Fort  Laramie, 
The,  by  Gordon  S.  Chappell,  34: 
2:145-162 

4J  outfit,  34:1:100 

Foxton,  George,   34:2:165 

France,   Richard,  34:2:210 

Frank,  Mrs.  Dr.,  34:2:218 

Frauds  Exposed,  34:2:206 

Freeman  Bros.,  34:2:220,  221,  223 

Fremont  County,   34:1:51,  72 

Fremont,  Elkhorn  and  Missouri 
Valley  railroad,  34:1:43 

Fremont  street,  34:1:94 

Frontier  Day  celebrations,  34:1:71 

Frontier  Index,  newspaper,  34:2: 
220,  222,  223,  224,  225,  242 

Frontier  Lawyer,  T.  P.  Hill,  by  Bur- 
ton S.  Hill,  34:1:43 

Fryxell,  Fritiof,  Albert  Charles 
Peale,  Pioneer  of  the  Hayden 
Survey,  34:2:175-192;  261 

Fryxell,  Roald,  34:2:191 

Fur  Trade  in  Canada,  The,  by  Har- 
old A.  Innis,  34:2:260 


Galbraith,   Ella.     See   Mrs.   Charles 

Stone 
Gale,  Charles  T.,  34:1:43 
Gallatin,  E.  L.,  34:2:215;  Saddlery, 

216 


268 


ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 


Gallup  and  Frazier,  34:2:216 

Gammage,  Dr.  Frederick  L.,  34:2: 
166 

Gann,   Dr.   Robert  H.,   34:2:145 

Gannett,  Henry,  34:2:181,  183,  188 

Garcia,  G.  G.,  34:2:214 

Gardner,  Bobbie,  34:2:215 

Gardner,  James  T.,  34:2:181 

Gardner,  Tom,  34:1:100 

Garrett,  George,  34:1:80 

Gates,  — ,  34:1:63.  65 

Geggie,  J.  B.,  34:2:197 

Gilbert,  Grove  K.,  34:2:185 

Gilbertson,  Ross,  34:1:107 

Gillespie,  A.  S.  '"Bud",  Saddles,  34: 
2:213-217;  262 

Gillette,  Wyo.,  34:1:24 

Girlhood  Recollections  Of  Laramie 
in  1870  and  1871,  by  Nancy  Fill- 
more Brown,  34:1:85-91 

Glendo,  Wyo.,  34:2:172 

Goshen  County,  34:2:144 

Grand  Central  Hotel,  34:2:140 

Grand  River,  34:2:182 

Graf,   Mrs.   George,   34:2:244;   Mr. 

and  Mrs.,  249 
Granger,      (Granger's),      34:2:224, 

244,  245 
Granger,  Wyo.,  34:2:244,  245,  248 
Grattan,  Bvt.  2nd  Lieut.  John  Law- 
rence, 34:2: 152 
Grays  Range,  34:2:190 
Great    Western    Rides,    by    Dabney 

Otis    Collins,    review,    34:2:254- 

255 
Great  White  Father,  34:1:25 
Green  River,  34:2:240,  241,  247 
Green  River  City,  Wyo.,  34:2:224, 

241,  243 
Green   River  ferry,   ford   and   stage 

station,  34:2:241 
Green     River     Marker,     dedication, 

34:2:240 
Green  River  Station,  34:2:241;  site, 

240,  241 
Gregory  partners,  34:2:210 
Greub,  Johnnie,  34:1:45,  46 
Grinnell,     George     Bird,     Blackfoot 

Lodge  Tales,  34:2:259 
Grinnell,  George  Bird,  By  Cheyenne 

Campfires,  34:2:259 
Grow,   Mrs.,   34:1:89 
Guild,  Charles,  34:2:235,  249 
Gunster,  Mrs.  John,  34:1:89 
Gupton,  "Boz",  34:1:11 


Hague,  Arnold,  34:2:185 

Haley,  Ora,  34:1:93 

Halverson,     Katherine,     review     of 

Great    Western    Rides,    34:2:254- 

255 
Hamley    and    Company,    34:2:214, 

216 
Hammond,  Col.  and  Mrs.,  34:1:90 
Ham's  Fork  Station,  34:2:243,  244, 

245,  246,  247 
Hans  Christiansen  Ranch,  34:2:172 
Hansen,  Fod,  34:1:17 
Harden,  Victory,  34:2:216 
Harness,  Mrs.  Hazel,  34:1:52 
Harney,  Gen.,  34:2:153 
Harper,    Alice.      See    Mrs.    Robert 

Marsh 
Harper,     Nellie.       See    Mrs.     John 

Gunster 
Harrell,  Lemon  David,  34:1:109 
Harrell,  Rap,  34:1:109,  110;  photo, 

96 
Harriman,  E.  H.,  34:2:173 
Harrington,  — ,  34:1:93 
Hart,  Laura  Nelson  (Dot),  34:1:7, 

9,  10,  15,  18,  20;  131 
Hart,  Sheila,  Petroglyphs,  34:1:58 
Hat  Creek,  post  office,  34:1:100 
Hatton,  Gen.,  34:1:69 
Hay,  John,  34:2:172 
Hayes,  Maj.  John  C,  review  of  The 

Troopers,  34:2:251-252 
Hayden,  Elizabeth  Wied,  review  of 

Bonnev's  Guide,  34:1:123 
Hayden, "Dr.  F.  W.,  34:2:175,   178, 

179,  180,  181,  184,  185,  187,  190; 

Mrs.,  189 
Hayden  Survey,  34:2:180,  181,  183, 

184,  185,  190,  191 
Hayden 's  Annual  Report,   1871,  34: 

2:180 
Hayford,  James  H.,  34:1:62,  65,  66, 

67,  68,  69,  73,  74,  75;  34:2:219, 

220,  232,  233 
Heiser,  H.  H.,  34:2:216 
Hell's  Canyon,  34:1:17 
Henderson,  Helen,  34:2:246 
Henderson,     Paul,     34:2:235,     246; 

Mr.  and  Mrs.,  249 
Herald,  newspaper,  34:2:197 
Heuton,  Fran,  34:2:235 
Hewes,  Tom,  family,  34:1:11 
Hildebrand,      Elizabeth,      34:2:235; 

Fred,    235,    249;   Lyle,    235;    Mr. 

and  Mrs.,  249 
Hildreth,  G.  H.,  34:2:208 
Hill,  Billy,  ranch,  34:1:100 
Hill,    Burton    S.,    Frontier    Lawyer, 

T.  P.  Hill,  34:1:43;  131 
Hill,  Lucy  B.,  photo,  34:1:44 


INDEX 


169 


Hill,  T.  P.,  34:1:43,  44,  47;  photo, 

44 
Hilton,  Nellie.     See  Mrs.  Locke 
Hinsdale,  Guy,  M.  D.,  34:2:188 
Head,  Bob,  34:1:80 
Hogerson,  Charles  J.,  34:1:49 
Hole-in-the-Wull,  by  Thelma  Gatch- 

ell  Condit,   Part  VIII,   Section  4, 

34:1:95-111;  109,  111 
Hole-in-the-Wall  gang,  34:1:97 
Holladay,    Ben,    34:1:78;    34:2:236, 

241,  245 
Holliday,    W.    H.    Company,    34:2: 

215 
Holliday's  Opera  House,  34:2:233 
Holmes,   William   Henry,    34:2:176, 

181,  182,  183,  185,  188,  191 
Hoist,  Sirene,  34:1:11 
Home  Ranch,  34:1:31 
Homsher,  Lola  M.,  review  of  Amer- 
ica's Historylands,  Landmarks  of 

Liberty,    34:1:123-124;   review   of 

Treasure  Coach  from  Deadwood, 

34:1:125 
Hope,  Thomas,  34:2:211 
Horn,  Hosea,  34:1:55 
Hough,  William,  34:1:25 
Houston,  Jane  Hunt,  34:2:249 
Howell,  Dr.  J.  V.,  34:2:190,  191 
Howie,  Tom,  34:1:28 
Hubbard,  A.  W.,  34:2:140 
Hubbard,  Elbert,  34:1:82 
Hueton,   Mrs.  Don  and   Rae,   34:2: 

249 
Hunting  of  the  Buffalo,  The,  by  E. 

Douglas  Branch,  34:2:259 
Hunton,  John,  34:2:166,  171;  ranch, 

163 
Hurd,    Vernon    K.,    review    of    The 

Old-Time     Cowhand,      34:1:1 28- 

129 
Hurd,  Dr.  and  Mrs.,  34:1:90 
Hurst,  Mrs.,  34:1:89 
Hurt,  K.  O.,  34:1:24 
Husband,  Bruce,  34:2:147 
Hutton,  Charlie,  ranch,  34:1:87,  88 
Hutton,  Eunice,  34:2:249 
Hutton,  William,  34:2:240,  249 
Hyattville,  Wyo.,  34:1:79 


Independence  Rock,  34:1:50 
INDIANS: 

Chiefs  and  Individuals: 
Red  Cloud,   34:2:138 
Spotted  Tail,  34:2:138 
Washakie,  34:1:50;  34:2:238 


Tribes: 

Arapahoe,  34:2:246 

Cheyenne,  34: 1 :36 

Crow,  34:1:16;  34:2:246 

Ogallala,  34:1:109 

Omaha,  34:1:54,  55 

Pawnee,  34: 1:55 

Pottawatomi,  34:1 :  109 

Shoshone,  34:1:50 

Sioux,  34:1:16,  36,  55,  57,  109 
Inman,  Col.,  34:2:169 
Innis,  Harold  A.,  The  Fur  Trade  in 

Canada,  23:2:260 
Inter-Ocean  Hotel,  34:1:66,  71 
Ivinson,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  34:1:93 
Ivinson,  Maggie.     See  Mrs.  Grow 


Jackson,  William  Henry,    34:2:179, 

191,  242,  244;  photo,  181 
James,  Governor,  34:2:197 
Jeffreys,  William,  34:2:145 
Jenkins,  John  J.,  34:1:74 
Jenney  Stockade,  34:1:17 
Johnson,   Alvin,   Pioneer's  Progress, 

34:1:124-125 
Johnson  County,   34:1:43,   95,    100; 

court  house,  34:1:47 
Johnson  County  Invasion,  34:1:107, 

110 
Johnson  County  range   wars,   34:1: 

76 
Johnson  County  War,  34:1:49 
Johnson,  Sally,  34:2:145 
Joyce.  Bishop,  34:1:92 
Judd,  Orange,  34:2:205,  207 
Julesburg,  Colo.,  34:2:154,  229,  247 


Kaycee,  Wyo.,  34:1:95 

KB&C  Commissary,  Newcastle,  34: 
1:24 

Keen,  Elizabeth,  Wyoming's  Fron- 
tier Newspapers,  34:1:61-84;  131; 
34:2:218-233 

Keith  Creek,  34:1:98 

Kemmis,  Billy,  34:1:80 

Ketchum,  Capt.,  34:1:58 

KFBU,  radio  station,  34:2:173 

Kidder,  Alfred  Vincent,  An  Intro- 
duction to  the  Study  of  South- 
western Archaeology,  34:2:260 

Killpecker  tributary,  34:2:240 

Kilpatrick  Brothers  and  Collins, 
34:1:15;  Mrs.,  27;  sawmill,  24 


270 


ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 


Kimball,  E.  H.,  34:2:221 

Kimball.  Thomas  L.,  34:2:142,   143 

King  Bridge  and  Manufacturing  Co., 

34:2:139.    140 
King.  Clarence,  34:2:183,   185 
King.  James.  34:2:140;  Zenas,  40 
Kingsford.  More,  34:1:80 
Kirk,  Edwin.  34:2:188,  189,  191 
Kittrell,  William  H.,  34:1:77,  79 
Kleiber.    Hans,    To    The    Little    Big 

Horn,  poem,  34:2:211;  262 
Knox  and  Tanner,  34:2:215 


LaClede,  34:2:239 

LAK,  ranch,  34:1:12,    15 

Lake  DeSmet,  34:1:32,  33,   34,  35, 

36.  40.  41.  42 
Lambertsen,  Harry.  34:2:249 
Lambertsen,    Mr.   and   Mrs.   Walter, 

34:2:249;  Mrs.,  238 
Lambeth  Conference,  34:2:172 
Lamer.     Howard,     introduction     to 
Down  the  Santa  Fe  Trail  and  Into 
Mexico,  34:2:260 
Lander.  Col.  F.  W.,  34:1:50,  51 
Lander  Cutoff,  by  J.  K.  Moore,  Jr., 

34:1:50.  51 
Lander.  Wyo..  34:1:50,  51 
Langford.  Nathaniel  P.,  34:2:180 
Laramie   City,   34:2:193,    198,   220, 

223 
Laramie  Daily,  newspaper,  34:1:65 
Laramie  Dailv  Boomerang,  newspa- 
per. 34:1:73.  75,  80,  81 
Laramie    Dailv    Chronicle,    newspa- 
per.  34:1:71 
Laramie    Daily    Independent,    news- 
paper. 34: 1 :70 
Laramie  Dailv  Sentinel,  newspaper, 

34:1:67,  68,  69,  73;  34:2:219 
Laramie  Dailv  Sun,  newspaper,  34: 

1:71 
Laramie    Dailv    Times,    newspaper, 

34:1:71.  75',  80 
Laramie  National  Bank,  34:2:233 
Laramie  News,  The,  newspaper,  34: 

2:199 
Laramie  Peak,  34:2:151 
Laramie  Plains,  34:1:87,  88 
Laramie  Range  in  Wyoming  (Black 

Hills),  34:1:57 
Laramie   River,    34:1:57;    34:2:147, 

148,   156,   158,   162 
Laramie    Weekly    Sentinel,    newspa- 
per. 34:2:204.     See  Sentinel 
Laramie.  Wyo.,  34:1:43,  64,  72,  75, 
80.  89.  90,  91.  92,  93;  34:2:233 


Laramie's  Peak,  34:1:57 
Larpy,  I.  A.,  34:1:55 
LaSal  Mountains,  34:2:190 
Latham,  34:2:247 
Latham,  Dr.,  34:1:88 
"Latigo",  34:1:101,  104 
Latter-day  Saint  Church,  34:2:248 
Lawrence,  W.  C,  review  of  Colter's 

Hell   and   Jackson's    Hole,    34:2: 

257 
Leavenworth,  Col.,  34:2:215 
Legend   of  Lake   DeSmet,    The,    by 

Mary  Olga  Moore,  34:1:32-42 
Lincoln   Highway,   34:2:237,   243 
Linderman,  Frank  R.,  Plentv-Coups, 

Chief  of  the  Crows,  34:2:259 
Little,  Horatio,  34:1:60 
Little    Oil    Creek    (Coal    Creek    or 

Cambria    Creek),    34:1:28;    map, 

19 
Little  Snake  River  Valley,  34:2:165 
Lobban,  James  M.,  34:1:43 
Locke,  Mrs..  34:1:89 
Lodgepole  Creek,  34:2:246 
Lohleim  and  Swigart,  34:2:215 
Lohman  &  Co.,  34:2:198 
Lone   Tree    Station,    34:2:244;    site, 

247 
Long,  Maj.,  34:2:177 
Lookout  Mountain,  34:1:11 
Lowe,  B.  F.,  34:1:51 
Lower  Fire  Hole  Basin,  34:2:181 
Lowman,  H.  L.,  34:2:198 
Lowrv,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  34:2:249 
Lusk,  Wyo.,  34:1:100,  102,  104 
Lutton,  Rev.  Arnold,  34:1:30 


McCabe,  Chaplain,  34:1:92 
McDermott,  John  Dishon,  Fort  Lar- 
amie's Iron  Bridge,  34:2:137-144; 
145,  261 
McGraw,  William  F„  34:1:50 
McGraw,  William  M.,  34:1:50 
Mclnerney,    Mr.    and    Mrs.    W.   H., 

34:2:249 
Mclntyre,  Bishop  Robert,  34:1:91 


Mackey,  Maj.  Thomas  L.,  34:2:154, 
155,  160,  161 

Maham,  Richard,  review  of  Nebras- 
ka Place  Names,  34:1:126-128 

Mahan,  Mrs.  Elizabeth,  34:2:191 


INDEX 


271 


Manchester,  John  K.,  34:2:140 
Mansfield.  G.  R.,  34:2:183,   190 
Marble,  A.  H.,  34:2:172 
Marsh,  Mrs.  Robert,  34:1:89 
Marvine.  Archibald,  34:2:181,  182 
Mattes,  Merrill,  34:2:145 
Matthews,  — ,  34:2:243 
May  Nelson  Dow,  A   First  Lady  of 

Newcastle,  by  Elizabeth  J.  Thorpe. 

Mable  E.  Brown,  34:1:5-30 
Mead,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  34:1:90 
Meanea,  Frank  A.,  34:2:215 
Meanea,  T.  R..  34:2:215 
Medicine  Bow  mountains,   34:2:247 
Medicine  Bow  River,  34:2:246 
Medicine  Bow,  Wyo.,  34:2:169,  224 
Meigs.  Chief  Quarter  Master,  34:1: 

78;  34:2:143 
Meldrum,  Mrs.  J.  W.,  34:2:219 
Mercer,  Asa  Shinn,  34:1:76,  77,  78. 

79 
Mercer  Island,  34:1:78 
Mercer,  Judge  Thomas,  34:1:77 
Merna,  Wyo..  34:1:52 
Merrill.   George   P..   34:2:178.    187. 

188 
Meyer,  Frank,  dry  goods,  34:1:25 
Miller,  James  Knox.  34:2:239 
Mills,  Mrs.  Charles  K.,  34:2:176 
Mitchell.  Dannie,  34:1:46,  47 
Mobeetie  Panhandle,  newspaper,  34: 

1:79 
Mondell,  Frank,  34:1:15,  21.  24.  27 
Moorcroft,  Wyo.,  34:1:24 
Moore,    J.    K.,    Jr.,    Lander    Cutoff, 

34:1:50-51;   131,   132 
Moore,  Mrs.  Lee.  34:1:46 
Moore,  Olga  Mary,   The  Legend  of 

Lake  DeSmet,  34:1:32-42 
Moran,  Thomas,  34:2:179 
Mormon  Trail,  34:2:248 
Morris,  Esther  Hobart,  34:1:70 
Morris,  John  A.,  34:2:210 
Mother  Hubbard  saddle,  34:2:216 
Moulton,  Francis  D.,  34:2:198 
"Mount  Peale",  34:2:190 
Muddy  Creek,  34:2:246;  valley,  247 
Mud  Springs,  34:2:154,  156 
Mulhern,  Jimmie,  34:1:80 
Murray,  C.  H.,  34:2:210 
Mushback,  — ,  34:2:185 


National  Geographic  Book  Service, 
Merle  Severy,  Chief,  America's 
Historylands,  Landmarks  of  Lib- 
erty, review,  34:1:123-124 


National  Park  Service,  34:2:144 
Natrona  County,  34: 1 : 72 
Nebraska    Place    Names,    by    Lilian 

Fitzpatrick,   34:1:126-128 
Needle  Rock  Station,  34:2:236 
Neeley,  Sarah  F.,  34:1:70 
Nelson,  A.   M.   (Alfred).  34:1:5,  6, 

7,  9,  10,  11,  12,  13,  15,  16,  17,  18, 

20,  26,  28,  30;  photo,  4 
Nelson.  Charles.  34:1:30 
Nelson,   Dick  J.,   34:1:7,   9,    10,    13, 

16,    17,    18,   23,   24,    25,    27.    131; 

photo,     4;     Wyoming     Memories, 

poem,  34:  1  :  1 12-1 14 
Nelson.  Eliza,  34: 1 :6 
Nelson,  Frank  Ellen,  34:1:6.  9,    11, 

20 
Nelson,  Geneva,  34:1:7 
Nelson,  Henry,  34:1:5,  6 
Nelson.  Ida  J.,  34:1:6 
Nelson,  James,  34:1:5 
Nelson,  Lloyd,  34:1:5,  6 
Nelson,  Martha,  34:1:6 
Nelson,    Mary    Caroline     (Dalton), 

34:1:6,   7,   9,    11,    18,   20.   21.   23, 

25,  26,  28;  photo,  4 
Nelson,  Nancy  Melinda,   34:1:6,   7. 

9.   17 
Nelson,  Neva,  34:1:16,   18,  26 
Nelson,  Orpha  May,  34:  1 :7 
Nelson,  Pearl,  34:1:30 
Neumann,  — ,  34:2:177;  ranch,   133 
Newcastle,   Wyo..    34:1:13.    21,    25, 

26 
New  York  Herald,  newspaper.  34:2 

197.  201 
New  York  Times,  newspaper.  34:2 

177,   194.   196,  203,  205 
New  York  World,  newspaper.  34:1 

73 
NH  ranch,  34:1:95 
Nichols,  Harry,  34:1:45 
Nickerson,  Capt.  H.  G.,  34:2:227 
Noah,  Morton,  34:1:6 
Noble,  John,  34:2:144,  216 
Nordell,  Philip  Gardiner,  Pattee,  the 

Lottery   King,   34:2:193-211;   261 
North   Platte   River,   34:2:137.    147. 

246 
North  Platte  Valley,  34:2:157 
Northwestern      Livestock      Journal, 

newspaper,  34:1:76,  79 
Northwestern    Railroad.      See   Wyo- 
ming Central   Railroad  Company 
Nott,  Mrs.  Ernest,  34:2:249 
Nuckolls,  S.  F.,  34:1:67,  68 
Nye,  Edgar  Wilson   [Bill],  34:1:62, 

73,  74,  75,  76,  80,  81 


272 


ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 


O'Brien.  — ,  34:2:166,  167 

Occidental   Hotel.  34:1:46,  48 

O'Day.  Tom,   34:1:48 

Ogilhy,  Bishop  Lyman,  34:2:167 

Ogilhy.  Rev.  Remsen.  34:2:167,  170 

Oil  Creek.  34:1:27 

Old  Bedlam.  34:1:58 

Old  Emigrant  Trail,  34:2:247 

Old  Jules,    by    Mari    Sandoz,    34:2: 

259 
Old-Time  Cowhand,  The,  by  Ramon 

F.    Adams,    review,    34:1:128-129 
Olmstead,  Rev.  Dr.  William  B.,  34: 

2:166 
Ord.  Gen..  34:2:138,  139 
Oregon   Granger,    newspaper,    34:1: 

79 
Oregon    Trail.     34:1:52;     34:2:146, 

147.  246,  247 
Osborne,  John  E.,  Gov.,  34:1:72 
Overland  Exchange  Hall,  34:2:226 
Overland  Guide  to  California,  34:1: 

55 
Overland  Stage  Line,  34:2:236,  246; 

Station,  241 
Overland  Stage  Trail  -  Trek  No.  3, 

34:2:235-249 
Overland  Trail,   34:1:50,   51;   34:2: 

235.  236.  237,  240,  241,  246,  247 
Owen.  Etta.     See  Mrs.  Roach 
Owen.     Eva.       See     Mrs.     Stephen 

Downey 


Pacific  Springs,  34:2:243 

Packer,  Gov.,  34:1:87 

Palmer,  Gen.  John  M.,  34:1:70 

Patrick  Brothers,  34:1:45 

Pattee.  James  Monroe,  34:2:193, 
194.  197,  198,  199,  200,  201,  203, 
204.  205,  206,  207,  209,  210,  211; 
photo.  196 

Pattee,  the  Lottery  King,  The  Oma- 
ha and  Wyoming  Lotteries,  by 
Philip  Gardiner  Nordell,  34:2: 
193-211 

Pattee's  Bullion  Mining  Co.,  34:2: 
208 

Paulson.  George  W.,  review  of 
Edward  Kern  and  American  Ex- 
pansion, 34:2:252-253 

Peabody,  Dr.  Endicott,  34:2:166, 
170 

Peale,  Albert  Charles.  See  Albert 
Charles  Peale 

Peale,  Charles  Willson,  34:2:175, 
189 


Peale,  Eliza  Burd  Patterson,  34:2: 
176 

Peale,  Harriet  Friel,  34:2:176 

Peale  Island,  34:2:190 

Peale,  J.  Burd,  34:2:176 

Peale,  Rubens,  34:2:176 

Peale,  Titian  R.,  34:2:177,  189 

Peale,  Young,  34:2:176 

Peale's  Museum,  34:2:176 

Pearce,  D.  J.,  34:1:92 

Perry,  Gen.  A.  J.,  34:2:139,  140 

Pettigrew,  Charlie  (Charles),  34:1: 
6,  8,  10,  11 

Pettigrew,  Freddie,  34:1:8 

Pettigrew  party,  34:1:7 

Pettigrew,  Sarah,  34:1:6,  8;  photo  4 

Petroglyphs,  poem,  by  Sheila  Hart, 
34:1:59 

Phalen,  James,  34:2:210 

Philadelphia  Press,  newspaper,  34: 
2:177 

Phillips,  Mrs.,  34:1:89 

Pickering,  Gov.,  34:1:78 

Pike,  Marshall  S.,  34:2:204,  205 

Pioneer  Association,  34:1:71 

Pine  Ridge,  34:1:109 

Pioneer's  Progress,  by  Alvin  John- 
son, review,  34:1:124-125 

Platte  River,  34:1:55,  57,  58,  62; 
crossing,  45;  34:2:154,  166 

Plenty-Coups,  Chief  of  the  Crows, 
by  Frank  R.  Linderman,  34:2:259 

Point  of  Rocks,  34:2:237,  238; 
railway  station,  237,  238 

Poison  Spider  Creek,  34:1:116 

Popo  Agie  River,  34:1:50;  valley, 
51 

Porter.  Judge  John  R.,  34:2:197 

Porter,  T.  C,  34:2:181 

Porter,  Tommy,  34:1:106 

Potter,  David  M.,  Trail  to  Califor- 
nia, the  Overland  Journal  of  Vin- 
cent Geiger  and  Wakeman  Brvar- 
Iv,  34:2:259 

Poulton,  P.  C,  34:1:75 

Powder  River  crossing,  34:1:46,  60; 
canyon,  98,  99;  country,  34:2:154 

Powell,  John  Wesley,  34:2:185,  189 

Powell,  Maj.,  34:2:241 

Preuss  Range,  34:2:190 

Proctor,  Redfield,  34:2:143,  144 

Pumpelly,  Raphael,  34:2:185 

Pumpkin  Buttes,  34:1:102 


Quartermaster     Department,     34:2: 

158,  159,  160 
"Quarter  Master's  Corral",  34:2:161 


INDEX 


273 


Rabbit  Hollow,   34:2:243 
Rattlesnake  River,  34:1:57 
Raw  Hide  creek,  34:1:57 
Rawlins,  Wyo.,  34:1:81;  34:2:233 
Rawlins  Wyoming  Tribune,  newspa- 
per. 34:1:81 
Raynolds,  Capt.,  W.  F.,  34:2:179 
Read,  Eunice  D.,  34:2:206 
Read,  Nate,  32:2:207 
Read,  Sherman,  34:2:206,  207 
Read  &  Co..  34:2:206 
Recollections     of     a     Piney     Creek 

Rancher  by  Fred  J.  Todd,  review, 

34:1:118 
Red  Cabin,  34:1:102,  103 
Red  Forks.  34:1:100 
Red   River.  34:1:101 
Red  Wall.  34:1:95,  97;  country.  111 
Redick's  Opera  House,  34:2:196 
Reed,  Erie.  34:2:171,  172 
Reed,  Randy.  34:2:249 
Reeside.  John  B„  34:2:191 
Reeves.  Dr.,  34:1:94 
Register  Rocks,  34:2:248 
Reminiscences   of   a   Ranchman,   by 

Edgar     Beecher     Bronson,     34:2: 

258-259 
Reynolds,    Adrian,    34:2:235,    241, 

244,  249 
Richardson.  Sumner,  34:1:102 
Riley,  James  Whitcomb,  34:1:73 
Ritter,    Charles,    34:2:247;    Mr.    & 

Mrs.,  235,  249 
Roach,  Mrs..  34:1:89 
Robertson.  G.  D.,  34:2:187 
Rock    Point   Station.     See   Point  of 

Rocks 
Rock  River.  Wyo.,  34:2:224 
Rock  Springs,  Wyo.,  34:2:239,  240, 

242 
Rockv  Mountain  News,   newspaper, 

34:1:63 
Rocky  Ridge,  34:1:50 
Roderick.  Leo,  34:1:20,  22,  23 
Rollins,  Mr..  34:2:221 
Root's  Opera  House,  34:1:93 
Ross,  Charley,  34:2:199 
Rucker,  Daniel  H.,  34:2:139,  140 
Rumsey,  Edith,  34:1:89 
Rumsey,  Capt.  Henry,  34:1:89 
Rumsey,  James  (Jim),  34:1:89 
Rumsey,  Philo,  34:1:89 
Rumsey,  Mrs.,  34:1:89 
Russell,  Majors  and  Waddell,  34:2: 

246 


Sac/dies,   by   A.   S.    "Bud"   Gillespie, 

34:2:213 
Sagebrush      Philosophy,      magazine, 

34:1:82 
Sage  Creek,  34: 1 :45 
St.  John,  Orestes,  34:2:181,   183 
St.  Mary's  station,  34:1:85 
St.  Matthew's  Cathedral,  34:2:173 
Samson,    Walter   L.,    Jr.,    review    of 

Pioneer's   Progress,    34:1:124-125 
Sand  Creek,  34:1:8,  17,  18,  25 
Sandercock,  Mrs.  Hattie,  34:2:166 
Sandoz,   Mari,   Old  Jules,   34:2:259; 

These    Were    The    Sioux,    review, 

34:1:120 
Salt  Wells  Station,  34:2:239 
Sanderson,   Maj.  Winslow  F.,   34:2: 

147 
Sarpy,  John,  34:2:147 
Saufley,  Judge  Micah  Chrisman,  34: 

1:43,  48:  photo.  47 
Saunders,  Gov..  34:2:197 
Schaedel,    Grace    Logan,    review   of 

Coir  Chips  'n'  Cactus,  34:2:258 
Schell,  Assistant  Surgeon,  34:2:160 
Scherger,    R.    H.    (Bob),   Alias  Dan 

Davis  -  Alias  Dan  Morgan,  34:1: 

60 
Schnyder,  Sgt.,  Leodegar,  34:2:153, 

155 
Schoelkoph.  — ,  34:2:217 
Schonborn,  Anton,  34:2:179 
Schoonmaker,  Walter,  34:1:24 
Schuchert,  Prof.  Charles,  34:2:183 
Schurz,  Carl,  34:2:185 
Scotts  Bluffs,  34:1:57 
Scoville  Saddlery,  34:2:215 
Seane,  Patrick  S.,  34:2:231 
Second  Cavalry,  34:2:157,   159 
Second  Man,  The,  by  Mae  Urbanek, 

review,  34:1:129-130 
Securities  State  Bank  of  Newcastle, 

34:1:30 
Sentinel,  newspaper,  34:1:75;  34:2: 

231,  232,  233 
Seventeen  Mile  station,  34:1:46 
Severy,    Merle,    America's    History- 
lands,  Landmarks  of  Liberty,  re- 
view, 34:1:123-124 
Sharp,  Charles,  34:1:145 
Sheridan,  Lieut.  Gen.,  34:2:139,  140 
Sherman  Hill,  34:2:223,  246 
Sherman,  Gen.,  34:2:143 
Sherraden,  A.  G.,  34:1:52 
Shoshone  Indian  Agency,  34:1:51 
Sickles,  P.,  34:2:215 
Silver  Crown,  34:2:221 
Simmons,  Z.  E.,  34:2:210 
Simpson  &  Co.,  34:2:210 
Sims,  Albert,  34:2:246 


274 


ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 


Sioux  Refinery,  34:1:25 

Sixth  Infantry,  34:2:246 

Slack,    Edward   Archibald,    34:1:62, 

69,  70,  71,  75 
Snake  River,  34:2:181 
Snyder,  O.  S.,  34:2:216 
Songs  of  the  Sage,  by  Mae  Urbanek, 

review,  34: 1 :  126 
Souls    and    Saddlebags,     edited     by 

Austin   L.    Moore,    review,    34:2: 

255-256 
South  Pass  and  Honey  Lake  Wagon 

Road,  34:1:50 
South  Pass  City,  34:1:50,  70:  34:2: 

225,  226,  243,  246 
South  Pass  News,  newspaper,  34:1: 

64,  70;  34:2:227 
South  Pass  road,  34:2:247 
South  Platte  River,  34:2:246,  247 
Spangler,  Frank,  34:1:110,  111 
Spear,  Mrs.  "Doc"  Daisy,  Alias  Dan 

Davis  -  Alias  Dan  Morgan,  34:1: 

60 
Spearfish  Creek,  34:1:8;  Valley,  8, 

9,  10 
Speedy    Stirrup    Pin   Company,    34: 

2:217 
Spencer,  J.  C,  34:1:15 
Spring,  Agnes  Wright,  review  of  The 

Cattle  Kings,  34:1:121-122 
Stanford,  Leland,  34:2:225 
Stansbury,  Capt.,  34:2:240 
Stanton,  Capt.  William  S.,  34:2:141 
Steele,    W.    R.,    34:1:68;    34:2:138, 

139.  141 
Steiger,  Otto,  34:2:215 
Stevenson,  James,  34:2:179,  181 
Stewart,  Eliza,  34:2:231 
Stockade  Beaver,  valley  of,  34:1:17 
Stockade   Journal,    newspaper.      See 

Field  City  Journal 
Stone,  Mrs.  Charles,  34:1:89 
Streeter,  — ,  34:2:217 
Strickland,  Gen.  S.  A.,  34:2:197 
Stuart,  Robert,  34:1:116;  34:2:244 
Stubbs,  Amelia,  34:1:100,  102;  Bar- 
ton Jefferson,  100;  Bill,  102,  105; 

Charles    (Bud),     100,     103,     110; 

Charlie,  photo,  98;  Elizabeth,  100; 

Grandma,    105,    106,    photo,    96; 

Grandpa,     105,     106,    photo,    96; 

Isaac  (Ike),  100,  102,  103;  James, 

100,    101;  Jim,  95,  97,    100,    101, 

103,    106,    107,    108,    109,   photo, 

96;      Lois,      107,      109;      Martha 

(Sally),    100,    101;    Rachel,    100; 

William  Avery  (Bill),  100,  103 


Sturgis,  Wyo.,  34:1:15 
Sulphur  Springs,  34:2:239 
Sundance  Gazette,  newspaper,  34:1: 

11 
Sundance,  Wyo.,  34:1:11,  12,  25 
Sun-Leader,  newspaper,  34:1:70 
Swan  Land  &  Cattle  Co.,  34:2:215 
Sweet,  Tom,  34: 1 :  17 
Sweetwater  County,  34:2:241 
Sweetwater   Mines,    newspaper,    34: 

2:225,  226,  227 
Sweetwater  Mines  Road,  34:2:238 
Sweetwater  River,  34:2:246 
Sylvester,  — ,  34:1:54,  57 


Taylor  boys,  34:1:106 

Taylor,    Bert,    34:1:101:    Ed,    101; 

Emma,    101;    Homer,    101;    John 

Wesley,     101;    Rose,     101;    Sally, 

101,  102;  Talton,  101;  Will,  101 
Taylor,  — ,  34:1:58,  59 
Tecumseh  Chieftain,  newspaper,  34: 

1:80 
Thayer,  Rev.  William,  D.  D.,  34:2: 

166,   167,   169,  170,   173 
Thayer,  Gov.,  34:2:200 
These    Were    The    Sioux,    by    Mari 

Sandoz,  review,  34: 1 :  120 
Thomas,  Cyrus,  34:2:179 
Thomas,   George   C.    Jr.,    34:2:171; 

Mrs.,  170 
Thomas,  Rt.  Rev.  Nathaniel  S.,  34: 

2:163,    165,    166,    167,    168,    169, 

170.   171,   172,   173 
Thorpe,    Elizabeth   J.,    May   Nelson 

Dow,  A  First  Lady  of  Newcastle, 

34:1:5-30;  132 
Thorpe,  Dr.  V.  L.,  34:1:132 
Tilton,  Mrs.,  34:2:198 
The    Times    Illustrated,    newspaper, 

34:2:198 
Tisdale,  Johnny,  34:1:107 
Todd,     Fred     J.,     Recollections     of 

Pinev  Creek  Rancher,  review,  34: 

1:118 
Toole,  Robert,  34:2:165,  170 
To   The  Little  Big  Horn,   by   Hans 
Kleiber,  poem,  34:2:211 
Townsend,  H.  M.,  34:2:235;  Mr.  & 

Mrs.  and  Mark,  249 
Townsend,  Katherine,  34:2:249 
Trabing  Commercial  Company,  34: 

2:233 


INDEX 


275 


Trabing,  Wyo..  34:1:45 

Traders  Point  (Omaha).  34:1:55 

Trail  to  California,  the  Overland 
Journal  of  Vincent  Geiger  and 
Wake  man  Bryarly,  Edited  and 
with  an  Introduction  and  new 
Preface  by  David  M.  Potter,  34: 
2:259 

Treasure  Coach  from  Deadwood,  by 
Allan  Vaughn  Elston,  review, 
34:1:125 

Trigood  Oil  Company,  34:1:116 

Troopers.  The,  by  S.  E.  Whitman, 
review.  34:2:251-252 

Tubbs.  Deloss.  34:1:17,  18 

Tubb's  store,  34:1:17,  23 

Tubbtown.  Wyo.,  34:1:13,  18,  20, 
21    22    24    25    27 

Turnbull'  Dr..~photo.  34:2:181 

Tyler,  Ben,  34:2:211 


Union  Pacific  Hotel,  34:1:89 
Union     Pacific     Railroad,     34:1:43, 
58,  70.  85.  88.  90,  94;  34:2:137, 
142,  222.  223,  225,  226,  233,  237, 
238'  _ 
University  High  School,  34:2:166 
University     of    Wyoming,     34:1:92 
Urbanek.   Mae,    1852   On    The   Ore- 
gon  Trail,   34:1:52;  Songs  of  the 
Sage,  review.   34:1:126;   The  Sec- 
ond Man.  review,  129:   132 


Van  Nuys,  Laura  Bower,  The  Fam- 
ily Band,  review,  34:1:119-120 
Van  Voast,  Maj.  James,  34:2:158 
Vernon  Guard,  newspaper,   34:1:79 
Virginia  Dale  Station,  34:2:247 
Visalia  Company,  34:2:216 


Wagner,  Charles,  34:1:93 

Wagons,  Mules  and  Men,   by   Nick 

Eggenhofer,  review,  34:1:121 
Waitman,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,   34:2:249; 

Paula,  235 
Walker,  D.  E..  34:2:214,  215 
Wamsutter,  Wyo.,  34:2:237 
Wanless.  Col.,  34:2:224 
Warthen.  Slim,  34:2:145 


Washburn  -  Langford  -  Doane   party, 

34:2:179 
Watson,  — ,  34:1:104 
Webb,     Frances     Seely,     review     of 

Early     Cheyenne     Homes,     34:2: 

253-254 
Webber  Canon,  34:1:90 
Webster  Range,  34:2:190 
Weekly    Sentinel,    newspaper,    34:1: 

65;  34:2:208 
Wellman.  George,  34:1:97 
Wells    Fargo   and    Company,    34:2: 

236 
Weston  County,  34:1:13,  21,  30 
Wheatland.  Wyo.,   34:2:169 
Wheeler.    Jimmy,    dance    hall    and 

saloon.  34: 1 :25 
White,   Addie,   34:1:21 
White,    Charles   A.,    34:2:181,    182, 

189 
White,  Hershon,  34:1:17,  18,  21 
White,  Irma,  review  of  Songs  of  the 

Sa%e,    34:1:126;    review    of    The 

Second  Man,  34:1:129-130 
Whitewood,  D.  T.,  34:1:9 
Whitman,   S.   E.,    The   Troopers,   re- 
view, 34:2:251,  252 
Wichita  Herald,  newspaper,  34:1:79 
Wild  Horse   of   the    West,    The,    by 

Walker  D.  Wyman,  illustrated  by 

Harold  E.  Bryant,  34:2:259 
Wilde.   Joseph,   34:2:163,    165,    166, 

167 
Wilkins,  Edness  Kimball,  President's 

Message.       See     Wyoming     State 

Historical  Society 
Willow  Creek,  34:1:102 
Willson.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Grant.  34:2: 

249 
Wilson,  A.  D.,  34:2:181 
Wilson,    Howard    Lee,    The    Bishop 

Who  Bid  for  Fort  Laramie,    34: 

2:163-174;  261 
Wilson,   Rex,   34:2:145 
Wind  River  Indian  Agency,  34:1:51 
Wind  River  Reservation,  34:2:173 
Wind  River  Valley,  34:1:50 
Wiswell,  Emily,  34:2:176 
Wiswell,  Rev.  George  F..  34:2:176; 

Mrs.,  176 
Woodard,  Lois,  34:2:145 
Woodbury,    Lieut.,    34:2:148,     149, 

150,   151,  152,   159.  160 
Wooden     Leg,     A      Warrior     Who 

Fought     Custer,     Interpreted     by 

Thomas  B.  Marquis,  34:2:259 
Wounded  Knee  Battle,  34:1:109 
Wright,   Mr.  and  Mrs.  G.   E.,  34:2: 

249 
Wright.  Miss  Jennie,  34:2:231 


276 


ANNALS  OF  WYOMING 


Wyman,  Walker  D.,  The  Wild 
Horse  of  the  West,  34:2:259 

Wyoming  Academy  of  Science,  Arts 
and  Letters,  34:2:231 

Wyoming  Central  Railroad  Com- 
pany, 34:1:81 

Wyoming  Editorial  Association,  34: 
1:71 

Wyoming  Memories,  poem,  by  Dick 
J.  Nelson,  34:1:112-114 

Wyoming  Press  Association,  34:1: 
66,  71 

Wyoming  State  Historical  Society, 
34:1:115-117;  34:2:249 

Wyoming  Stock  Growers  Associa- 
tion, 34:1:76 

Wyoming  Supreme  Court,  34:1:43 

Wyoming  Territory,  34:1:11,  17,  43 


Wyoming    Tribune,    newspaper,    34: 

1:64 
Wyoming's  Frontier  Newspapers,  by 

Elizabeth   Keen,    34:1:61-84;   34: 

2:218-233 


Yates  &  Mclntyre,  34:2:210 
Yellowstone    National    Park,    34:1: 

108;    34:2:175,     180,     181,     183, 

184,  187,  189,  190 
Yellowstone  Lake,  34:2:190 
Young,  Brigham,  34:1:90;  34:2:247 
YT,  ranch,  34:1:12,  13 


WYOMING  STATE  ARCHIVES  AND  HISTORICAL 
DEPARTMENT 


The  Wyoming  State  Archives  and  Historical  Department  has  as  its  func- 
tion the  collection  and  preservation  of  the  record  of  the  people  of  Wyo- 
ming.    It  maintains  a  historical  library,  a  museum  and  the  state  archives. 

The  aid  of  the  citizens  of  Wyoming  is  solicited  in  the  carrying  out  of  its 
function.  The  Department  is  anxious  to  secure  and  preserve  records  and 
materials  now  in  private  hands  where  they  cannot  be  long  preserved.  Such 
records  and  materials  include: 

Biographical  materials  of  pioneers:  diaries,  letters,  account  books,  auto- 
biographical accounts. 

Business  records  of  industries  of  the  State:  livestock,  mining,  agricul- 
ture, railroads,  manufacturers,  merchants,  small  business  establishments, 
and  of  professional  men  as  bankers,  lawyers,  physicians,  dentists,  ministers, 
and  educators. 

Private  records  of  individual  citizens,  such  as  correspondence,  manuscript 
materials  and  scrapbooks. 

Records  of  organizations  active  in  the  religious,  educational,  social, 
economic  and  political  life  of  the  State,  including  their  publications  such 
as  yearbooks  and  reports. 

Manuscript  and  printed  articles  on  towns,  counties,  and  any  significant 
topic  dealing  with  the  history  of  the  State. 

Early  newspapers,  maps,  pictures,  pamphlets,  and  books  on  western 
subjects. 

Current  publications  bv  individuals  or  organizations  throughout  the 
State. 

Museum  materials  with  historical  significance:  early  equipment,  Indian 
artifacts,  relics  dealing  with  the  activities  of  persons  in  Wyoming  and  with 
special  events  in  the  State's  history.