Annals of Wyoming

Annals of Wyoming

Vol. 5 JULY, 1927 No. 1

CONTENTS

Seth E. Ward Hoyle Jones

Pioneering in the 70's Mrs. George Gilland

Camp Carlin or Cheyenne Depot . J. F. Jenkins

The Open Range Cattle Business in Wyoming W. E. Guthrie

Published Quarterly

by the

STATE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY

Mrs. Cyrus Beard, Historian

CHEYENNE, WYOMING

Annals nf Ultjnmtng

Vol. 5 JULY, 1927 No. 1

CONTENTS

Seth E. Ward Hoyle Jones

Pioneering in the 70's Mrs. George Gilland

Camp Carlin or Cheyenne Depot J. F. Jenkins

The Open Range Cattle Business in Wyoming W. E. Guthrie

Published Quarterly

by the

STATE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY

Mrs. Cyrus Beard, Historian

CHEYENNE, WYOMING

STATE HISTORICAL BOARD

Governor Frank C. Emerson

Secretary of State ....J A. M. Clark

State Librarian Mrs. Clare E. Ausherman

Secretary of Board Mrs. Cyrus Beard

Neither the State Historical Board, the State Historical Advisory Board nor
the State Historian is responsible for any statements made or opinions expressed
by contributors to the Annals of Wyoming.

(Copyright, 1927)

CHAPTER 96
STATE HISTORICAL BOARD

Session Laws 1921

DUTIES OF HISTORIAN

Section 6T. It shall be the duty of the State His-
torian :

(a) To collect books, maps, charts, documents, man-
uscripts, other papers and any obtainable material illus-
trative of the history of the State.

(b) To procure from pioneers narratives of any ex-
ploits, perils and adventures.

(c) To collect and compile data of the events which
mark the progress of Wyoming from its earliest day to
the present time, including the records of all of the
Wyoming men and women, who served in the World War
and the history of all war activities in the State.

(d) To procure facts and statements relative to the
history, progress and decay of the Indian tribes and other
early inhabitants within the State.

(e) To collect by solicitation or purchase fossils,
specimens, of ores and minerals, objects of curiosity con-
nected with the history of the State and all such books,
maps, writings, charts and other material as will tend to
facilitate historical, scientific and antiquarian research.

(f) To file and carefully preserve in his office in
the Capitol at Cheyenne, all of the historical data col-
lected or obtained by him, so arranged and classified as
to be not only available for the purpose of compiling and
publishing a History of Wyoming, but also that it may be
readily accessible for the purpose of disseminating such
historical or biographical information as may be reason-
ably requested by the public. He shall also bind, cata-
logue and carefully preserve all unbound books, manu-
scripts, pamphlets, and especially newspaper files con-
taining legal notices which may be donated to the State
Historical Board.

(g) To prepare for publication a biennial report of
the collections and other matters relating to the transac-
tion of the Board as may be useful to the public.

(h) To travel from place to place, as the require-
ments of the work may dictate, and to take such steps,
not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, as may be
required to obtain the data necessary to the carrying out
of the purpose and objects herein set forth.

SETH E. WARD

Annals of HUxjomfng

Vol. 5 JULY, 1927 No. 1

SETH E. WARD

Seth Edmund Ward (1820-1903), a pioneer trader of
the early days in the Platte River region and a freighter
on the old Santa Fe Trail, subsequently an influential and
prominent resident of Westport, a suburb of Kansas City,
Missouri, was born March 4, 1820, in Campbell County,
Virginia. His parents were Seth and Ann (Hendrick)
Ward, both of whom were descendants of prominent Vir-
ginia families of the Colonial period. Originally one
Seth Ward is recorded as a bishop of the Church of Eng-
land, and following in direct line the name of Seth was
borne by five generations of the family of Ward. On the
maternal side, Seth E. Ward, of Westport, is the sixth
descendant of John Goode, who. was a soldier in the Virginia
Colonial forces. His home was about thirty miles from
Richmond, Virginia, and the first few years of his life
were spent in the environment of a typical Virginia plan-
tation. Little is known of either his parents or his grand-
parents, but the latter were both dead at the time of his
birth, and his father died when he was twelve years of
age.

In 1834, when he was fourteen years old, he made
his way to Laport, Indiana, where it is known that he
lived for a long time with the family of Jacob Haas. His
mother was still living in Virginia, and in 1836 he re-
turned there for a visit with her, making the entire dis-
tance on foot with a journey that began in December and
ended in May. Again he journeyed forth with his mother's
gift of $25 as his sole possessions, and after a brief stay
at Louisville, Kentucky, he went on to St. Louis, Missouri,
where he first found employment in a tobacco factory.
Shortly thereafter he is known to have travelled over the
state of Illinois, but eventually he returned to St. Louis
where it is evident that he began to make the most of his
time and his opportunities. It was in June of 1838 that
young Ward left St. Louis, and after a stop of a few days
in Lexington, proceeded up the Missouri River to Inde-
pendence, where he obtained temporary employment with
a wagon-maker. Here he remained but a few weeks, and
having come in contact with Captain L. P. Lupton, of the

6 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Lupton Fur Company, he accepted employment with them
and accompanied Captain Lupton on a journey which cov-
ered the uninhabited region lying between the Missouri
River and the South Platte.

This trip, when he was at the age of eighteen, con-
sumed about six weeks, and upon leaving the employ of
the Lupton Fur Company, he drifted into what is now the
State of Wyoming, and subsequently the center of many
of his activities. He first located at "The Narrows," on
the North Platte, about twenty miles east of Fort Laramie,
and from there he trapped largely for the firm of Bent &
St. Vrain. At that time beaver skins were sold at about
SI. 00 per pound, large wolf skins at SI. 50 each, small wolf
skins at 75 cents each, and fox skins at 10 cents each.

He learned the country so well and became so skillful
as a trapper, that he left the employ of Bent & St. Vrain
and, through permission from the government, established
himself as a trapper on his own account, operating from
a place called Sandy Point, about nine miles west of Fort
Laramie. During all of this time he was constantly in
intimate association with various tribes of Indians, with
the result that he became thoroughly familiar with their
manners, customs, and language, this contact forming the
basis of a later relationship with the Indians which proved
of material value to him. He was quick to capitalize any
situation of monetary value, and his knowledge of Indians
and their customs enabled him later to "swap" with them
in an extensive trading business from which he reaped
large returns. He knew intimately the chiefs and many of
the "braves" of the Sioux, Arapahoe, Cheyenne, Ute, Kiowa,
Comanche, and other tribes. While his association with
them was largely friendly, there were many instances of
uprisings when he participated in Indian fights, and he
had many experiences that made highly interesting stories
in his later days, when he could be prevailed upon to relate
them.

On one occasion he crossed the Rocky Mountains to
Green River with a company of Thompson & Craig traders
on one of the first expeditions in that direction. In this
particular company was the famous plainsman Kit Carson,
whose name is known to every American reader. The two
became fast friends, particularly after the following inci-
dent. Kit Carson and young Ward were discussing the
killing of buffalo, the older man having killed many and the
younger man none. The conversation resulted in Carson
betting Ward a horse that he could not bring down a buf-
falo at the first atempt. Young Ward was thrown from

ANNALS OF WYOMING 7

his horse and rendered insensible in the effort, but he killed
his buffalo and won not only his horse, but what was
of more value to him, the everlasting admiration of Kit
Carson.

On another occasion he was in a party that was at-
tacked by Navajo Indians, when two of his comrades were
killed. Once, in 1844, under contract with one of the fur
companies, he had accumulated so many furs that there
were not enough ponies to move them over to the Platte,
with the result that he and two Indians went to Fort Lup-
ton to get additional horses. Southeast from the present
site of Cheyenne, and just as they struck Crow Creek, they
came upon some twenty-five families of Arapahoes and
that night camped with them near what is now the town
of Greeley. The next day they crossed the Platte and the
Big Timbers, and although it was the first of May, the
country experienced, beginning that night, one of the worst
snowstorms of its history. Ward and his two Indian com-
panions were snowed in for more than two weeks. On the
down journey he had remarked that he had never seen
so many buffalo and antelope in his life, and on the re-
turn journey he was greatly surprised to find them all
dead in the snow. In that great expanse of country, com-
prising several hundred miles in each direction, there were
only about one hundred white men, naturally dependent
upon word brought in by the Indians, and it was more than
a year before Ward learned the far-reaching effects of
this enormous snowstorm. It is the writer's opinion that
it was on this trip, while they were snowed in, that Ward
and his two companions ran out of "grub" and in despera-
tion, as Mr. Ward told the writer, killed and ate their two
dogs. There are many stories of this general character
which made up interesting events of his life, some with
regard to killings, fights and massacres with gruesome
details, about which Mr. Ward was not prone to talk. Dur-
ing those days he lived the hard and rugged life known
only to the pioneers of that time, and while he participated
in episodes that are now matters of historical record, most
of these are unknown even to those who had the privilege
of intimacy with this grand old man in the days of his de-
clining years. While reticent to a degree, he was so de-
void of the aloofness that is more often the counterpart of
this characteristic that at once he inspired a confidence
and a friendship that was cherished by all who knew him.
One drew the impression that he was taciturn only to the
extent of leaving unsaid the commonplace things of the
day. Behind his searching gaze was that look that is found

8 ANNALS OF WYOMING

in the eyes of the out-of-door man who has seen much and
says little. He was a force to the men with whom he came
in contact, and he had that beautiful religion that comes
from association with Nature and with men who deserve
the title. On the part of his comrades he would not coun-
tenance the use of words that blasphemed. He told the
writer that when he found a man whose profanity reached
these limits it was his practice to single him out in camp
on a night when the heavens were bright with stars and
insist that he look up to heaven and repeat the word or
words that had first transgressed his code of ethics. It
was an effective plan that instilled into the souls of his
men some semblance of the pertinency of reverence which
more frequently had had no place in their contemplations.
In 1844 Mr. Ward associated himself with Francis
P. Blair, afterward a distinguished soldier and statesman,
with whom he maintained a friendly relationship for many
years. He returned in 1845 to St. Louis, where he came
in contact with Robert Campbell, a man of influence and
prominence in that city. They became fast friends, and
the confidence which the younger man inspired in the older
man became the first stepping-stone to the remarkable
business career of Mr. Ward. Mr. Campbell helped finance
him in the purchase of two yoke of oxen and a small wagon,
when he established himself as an independent trader. This
first lay-out, including the stock of goods to be traded,
represented a cash outlay of about one thousand dollars,
part of which Mr. Ward had as capital from his earlier
trapping, and the balance of which was furnished by Mr.
Campbell. Ward then made his headquarters at Bent's
Fort, on the Arkansas River, and exchanged his goods for
horses and mules. These animals were either sold or sub-
sequently used by Mr. Ward in a highly remunerative
freighting business which he established over the old
Santa Fe Trail, which began at Westport, now a part of
Kansas City, Missouri, but then a self-contained settlement
five miles south of Westport Landing on the Missouri
River, at the approximate confluence of that and the Kaw
or Kansas River. All of his supplies were purchased at
St. Louis, where he had established satisfactory credit re-
lationships with the assistance of Mr. Campbell, and his
goods were shipped by boat from there to Westport Land-
ing. An early associate of Mr. Ward's in business wras
John Hunton, post trader at Fort Laramie, from August,
1888 to April, 1890, when the post was abandoned by mili-
tary authorities. Mr. Hunton, who is now living at Tor-
rington, Wyoming, is a venerable pioneer of the early Wyo-

ANNALS OF WYOMING 9

ming days, and is one of the few men now living to whom
the historian may go for accurate information concerning
the early events of that portion of the West. It is due to
his kindness that the Wyoming Historical Department is
in possession of a large number of Seth E. Ward papers,
which he has preserved for half a century. These reveal
the extensive nature of Mr. Ward's business dealings, begin-
ning with his early purchases of supplies in St. Louis. Con-
tained in the papers are original promissory notes and other
documents written in clear and well-preserved penmanship,
giving the names of prominent St. Louis firms of that day.
These papers bear dates from the early fifties to the early
seventies and are vastly interesting as indicative of the
accepted forms and methods of business at the time.

Among the St. Louis names appearing in the papers
are James A. Dobbins, Riley, Christy & Company, A.
Schultz, Robert Campbell, and Field and Beardslee. A
number of the notes show that they were "Printed at the
St. Louis Times office." Westport papers bear the names
of Kearney & Bernard and Albert G. Boone. Philadelphia is
represented with the name Lippincott, Grambo & Company,
and New York with Huffy & Danforth, and George A.
Hicks, stationer, 53 Nassau Street. There are references
to Governor S. M. Black, at Omaha, Nebraska Territory,
and Henry F. Mayer, of Collinsville, Illinois, who, it is
shown, was a partner of Mr. Ward's in the building of the
Laramie Toll "Bridge in 1853, under contract with the
United States Government. Lieutenant R. B. Garritt, com-
manding. There are contracts calling for the cutting, cur-
ing and stacking of hay at $5 per ton; agreements for the
sale of drygoods at the St. Louis cost plus 25 per cent, and
ten cents per pound for transportation. Groceries were
sold at the St. Louis cost plus ten per cent, and ten cents
per pound for transportation. Sugar sold at 12 pounds for
$4.00. Indian ponies were purchasable from the Indians in
exchange for about $15 worth of goods, consisting of one
red and blue blanket, four yards of woolen goods, some cal-
ico, tobacco, and a little powder, lead and caps. Oxen were
worth $70 per yoke ; buffalo cow robes, $3.50 ; beaver skins,
$1 per pound; flour, 50 pounds for $10, and soap, 50 cents
per bar.

Among the papers is also the commission of Seth E.
Ward from Sterling Price, governor of Missouri, dated
April 28, 1857, by which Mr. Ward was granted authority
to draw contracts, take acknowledgments, etc., more or
less conforming to the present-day authority vested in a
notary public. Reference is made to the old Fort Kearney,

10 ANNALS OF WYOMING

South Pass and Honey Lake Wagon Road (Eastern Divi-
sion), and transactions in that vicinity record in part such
names as Brevet Major General Augur, C. S. Scovell, cap-
tain of infantry; E. W. Jones, assistant surgeon, U. S. A.;
William Bullock, Joseph Bisenette, Thomas S. Twiss, Indian
agent, Upper Platte; Charles E. Mix, acting commissioner
of Indian affairs; Captain G. A. DeRussy, and John Heth,
who became a general in the Confederate army. There are
contracts for hauling goods, ("dangers of the plains only
excepted") ; notes to be paid in rations of bread from the
government bakehouse ; bills to be paid "in account of sub-
sistence" ; copies of applications for licenses to trade with
the Comanche, Kiowa, Apache, Arapahoe, Cheyenne and
Sioux Indians, with the execution of bond for a faithful ob-
servance of the "intercourse laws" and containing agree-
ment that "no trade shall be carried on with any tribe, part
of tribe, or individual, known or believed to be hostile to the
United States," trades exchanging hides and furs for food-
stuffs, horses, or oxen, etc., etc.

In 1857 Mr. Ward became sutler at Fort Laramie, un-
der the appointment of Jefferson Davis, secretary of war,
and held that position until August, 1871. In his papers in
a reappointment to this post, issued from Headquarters De-
partment of the Platte, Omaha, August 2, 1867, being Spe-
cial Orders No. 140, Command of Brevet Major General Au-
gur, and signed by H. G. Litchfield, Brevet Lieutenant
Colonel, Acting Assistant Adjutant General. Mr. Ward's
operations as sutler were highly remunerative, and during
the time that he held that post, he accumulated a fair share
of the fortune which permitted him in later years to become
an important factor in the financial life of Kansas City.

In the exhibit of the Wyoming State Historical De-
partment are some of the trading coins used by Mr. Ward
as sutler. These are round thin copper pieces of the size
of half dollars and quarters, stamped on the face, "S. E.
Ward, Sutler, Fort Laramie, D. T. Good for fifty cents (or
twenty-five) in sutler's goods."

In 1860 Mr. Ward was married to Mary Harris Mc-
Carthy of Westport, a daughter of John Harris, a native of
Kentucky, who settled in Jackson County, Missouri, in 1832.
Mr. and Mrs. Ward spent one winter at Fort Laramie, but
removed to Nebraska City in 1863 so that Mrs. Ward would
not be subjected to the privations of life as existed in the
Fort Laramie district at that time. Their final home was
established in Westport, in 1872, on a farm of four hun-
dred and eighty-five acres, now in the heart of the most
exclusive residence section of Kansas City, and including

ANNALS OF WYOMING 11

what until November, 1926, was the grounds of the Kan-
sas City Country Club. Good judgment and cautious
business habits enabled Mr. Ward to increase his holdings
greatly and his estate still holds highly valuable parcels of
land in Kansas City, both in residence and business prop-
erty. His income from these investments enabled him to
do much in a charitable way, and he expended large sums
in aiding benevolences and contributing to the comfort of
a large circle of relatives and friends.

For more than twenty years he was a trustee of Will-
iam Jewel College, at Liberty, Missouri, and at the time
of his death, was one of the oldest members of the Board
of Regents of that institution, of- which he was a generous
benefactor. He was also one of the chief supporters of
the Baptist Church of Westport, of which he and his fam-
ily were members, and he was also a contributor to some
of the other churches in his vicinity.

He was very active in helping to promote the develop-
ment of property adjacent to the magnificent farm region
in which he lived, and he is credited with doing a great
deal toward the introduction of Durham cattle. During the
time of these developments he became heavily interested,
and subsequently President of the Mastin Bank of Kansas
City, which at that time had the reputation of being the
largest banking house in the Missouri Valley. He was
president of this institution for eight years. Politically Mr.
Ward was a staunch Democrat, and he was a member of
the Masonic order and also an Odd Fellow.

Mrs. Ward was a woman of domestic tastes and an
earnest worker. Born of this marriage were three chil-
dren. The first was John Edmund, now deceased, who
married Mary Octavia Jones. Their children are Seth E.
and Robert Campbell, both residents of Lees Summit, Mis-
souri, and Helen, who is now the wife of David T. Beals,
vice-president of the Inter-State National Bank, at Kan-
sas City. The second was Hugh Campbell (also deceased),
who was a well known lawyer at Kansas City, who mar-
ried Vassie James, of Kansas City, and from which union
there was born Hugh C, James C, and Frances, all living.
A fourth child died in infancy.

Seth E. Ward's life was an inspiration to all who knew
him and likewise to those to whom his activities were
known. Beginning as a boy, with a limited education and
without funds, his perseverance, his ability and his ideals
carried him through the early vicissitudes of life to a posi-
tion of wealth and prominence. His philosophy was of that
humble type that is most appealing, and while his life was

12 ANNALS OF WYOMING

spent largely away from the environs of business, his prac-
ticability and his unusual insight permitted him in later
years to become one of the dominant figures in the business
life of Kansas City. He was one of those men whose exist-
ence makes the world better, and his helpful influence
manifested itself in all his contacts. During the last days
of his life he enjoyed the distinction of being almost the
only survivor of those early interesting primeval days of
the West, and he reaped some of the reward that was his
due in the privilege of being able to witness the transforma-
tion of his own virgin country to a continuous succession
of highly cultivated farms and cities, free from the priva-
tions and hardships which he had endured and which his
progressive ideas had helped to eliminate. He died De-
cember 9, 1903, and is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, a
few miles south of his home in Kansas City.

HOYLE JONES.

In letter of June 9, 1927, to the State Historian, Mr.
Jones says :

"Regarding my relationship with Mr. Ward, I am
glad to advise you that his first son, John Edmund Ward,
married my aunt, Mary Octavia Jones, with the result that
in that branch of the family Mr. Ward's grandchildren are
my first cousins.

I am taking occasion to send you by separate mail a re-
cent photograph of the Seth E. Ward home in Kansas City.
It is remarkable that this house, built in the 70's, is in a fine
state of preservation and an accepted portion of Kansas
City's most highly restricted residence district. It is sur-
rounded by new and beautiful homes and stands as some-
thing of a tribute to Mr. Ward's judgment and foresight.
Incidentally, the bricks for this building were freighted by
wagon from St. Louis.

Note: For information relative to the life of Seth E.
Ward, the writer is indebted to Mrs. Cyrus Beard, State
Historian, Cheyenne, Wyoming; Miss Stella M. Drum, Li-
brarian, Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Missouri,
and Mrs. David T. Beals (Helen Ward, granddaughter of
Seth E. Ward), Kansas City, Missouri. Additional data
was secured from Hyde's Encyclopedia of History of Mis-
souri."

ANNALS OF WYOMING 13

FROM HUNTON COLLECTION

Fort Laramie N. T., May 21st, 1859.
Messrs. Grable, Green & Craig:

Will give Mr. S. E. Ward an order on C. A. Perry & Co.
for the amt. of toll over the Laramie Bridge, payable at
Salt Lake. J. D. Harper.

From Hunton collection.

Camp Floyd U. T., Nov. 30th, 1858.
Messrs. S. E. Ward & Co.
Gentn. :

Please pay to the order of Private Steen, Co. "A", 4th
Atry, the Sum of Seven dollars & fifty cents & call on John
Heth of Fort Kearny for the amount.
$7 50/100 R. H. Dyer.

Note in pencil on back: Heth became Gen'l in Confd
Army.

From John Hunton collection.

Sandy Point, 20th May, 1853.
On the first day of July next, we promise to pay
Messrs. Bordeau Richard & Co. or order, the sum of Nine
hundred and Thirty Dollars and forty Three cents for value
received, with interest after that a (10) Ten per cent per
annum. (Signature torn off).

Saint Louis, Mo., July 6th, 1859.
Mr. Dempsey

Dear Sir
I send you Forty dollars what I sold your robes for, I
could hardly sell them at al for theer are no sale for them
at this time of the year. I was afraid that you would not
be satisfied but as you said sell them for what ever I could
get I don so. I sold 8 of them to one man for twenty dollars
and the balance I pedled out to who ever I could the whole
of them Brought $43 and I gave a man two dollars for
selling some of them for I had not time to tend to it. I hope
that you are satisfied for I don the best I could if I had
kept them until cold weather I could have got five dollars
a piece for them. Write to me and let me Know if you get
this. Rember me to Charley and all the Friends.

Yours Truly
W. A. Dempsey James A. Dobbins.

of
Fort Randall

Nebrasca Territory.

14 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Ward & Guerrier of the first part further agree
to allow in the payment of robes one Black Calf Skin to
each pack of ten robes.

Elbridge Gerry and James Bordeaux of the second
part further agree to return the 45 yoke of oxen and nine
wagons belonging to Ward & Guerrier in good condi-
tion and further agree that in case of lost oxen they are
to pay said Ward & Guerrier for each yoke of oxen lost
the sum of seventy dollars, or return good oxen in their
place.

Signed and Sealed in
the presence of
Thomas S. Twiss.

WARD & GUERRIER, (Seal)
E. GERRY (Seal)
JAME BORDEAUX (Seal)
The foregoing Articles of Agreement between Ward
& Guerrier of the first part and Elbridge Gerry and
James Bordeaux of the second part, for the year 1857,
is still in force for this date and year, with these excep-
tions, viz :

1st — That the style of Seth E. Ward be instituted

for the party of the first part

2d— That Large Wolf Skins at $1.00 (one).

That Small Wolf Skins at 50/100 (Fifty).
3d — That Elbridge Gerry and James Bordeaux of
the second part are responsible for thirty yokes
of oxen and six wagons.
4th — That the returns of the trade are to be made
from time to time as they arrive from the va-
rious villages without detention to Seth E.
Ward of the first part.
Witness— S. E. Ward (Seal)

Witness — E. Gerry (Seal)

Witness — J. Bordeaux (Seal)

Dated at Fort Laramie N. T. this 4th day of Decem-
ber, 1858.

27 Log Chains
12 Sheets

Endorsed on back. Articles of Agreement.

bet.
Ward & Guerrier

and
Gerry & Bordeaux
(From John Hunton collection. Original in State Depart-
ment of Historian.)

ANNALS OF WYOMING 15

BE IT KNOWN that Seth E. Ward, of the Upper Platte
Agency, having filed his application be-
fore me for a license to trade with the Sioux, Cheyennes,
Arapahoes and other Indians visiting his trading Posts all
within the boundaries of the Upper Platte Agency and
having executed and filed with me a bond in the penal
sum of Five Thousand Dollars with William Le Guerrier
and John Richard as Sureties, conditioned as required by
law for the faithful observance of all the laws and regu-
lations provided for the government of trade and inter-
course with the Indian Tribes, and reposing especial trust
and confidence in the patriotism, humanity and correct
business habits of the Said applicant and being Satisfied
that he is a citizen of the United States as required by
law, he is hereby authorized to carry on the business of
trading with the said Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapahoes and
other Indians visiting his trading Posts, at any one or all
of the above places, provided, however, that no trade shall
be carried on with any tribe, part of a tribe, or individ-
ual known or believed to be hostile to the United States,
for one year from the 24th day of November, One thou-
sand eight hundred and fifty Seven, and to keep in their
employ thereat the following named persons or any of
them in the capacities affixed to their names. William
Guerrier Antoine Janis Joseph Aymond B. B. Mills Charles
Gurue as Traders. All of which persons enumerated I am
satisfied from my own knowledge Sustain a fair character
and are fit to be in the Indian Country. Given under my
hand and Seal this 24th day of November, 1857.

Office Indian Affairs

January 13th, 1858.

Thomas S. Twiss (SEAL)
Indian Agent, Upper Platte.
Approved

Charles E. Mix

Acting Commissioner.

16 ANNALS OF WYOMING

ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT

Articles of agreement made and entered into this
21st day of November, 1857, between Ward & Guerrier
of the first part and Elbridge Gerry and James Bordeaux
of the second part.

Ward & Guerrier of the first part agree to sell to
said Elbridge Gerry and James Bordeaux a certain lot
of goods for the sole Indian trade on the South Fork of
the Platte River and Arkansas River with the Arapahoe
and Cheyenne Indians and White River and Sand Hill
with a band of Sioux known as the Brule and Osage In-
dians at the following rates:

Dry goods at the St. Louis cost 25 per cent advance
and 10 cents per pound transportation to be added. Gro-
ceries at St. Louis cost 10 per cent advance, and 10 cents
per pound transportation.

Elbridge Gerry and James Bordeau of the second
part agree to pay to the said Ward & Guerrier of the
first part for the full amount of invoices rendered in a
good average lot of Buffalo Cow Robes at $3.00/100
(Dollars), Beaver Skins at $1.00 per pound, Large Wolf
Skins at $1.50/100. Small Wolf Skins at 75c each and
Fox Skins at 10c.

Elbridge Gerry and James Bordeaux of the second
part further agree to make aforesaid payment in the
articles above specified on or before the first day of May,
1858, or if unable to make full payment in robes and pel-
tries above mentioned the said parties of the second part
are to pay the said parties of the first part in cash on or
before the first day of August, 1858, to the amount of
their further indebtedness at the rate per robe which
they may be worth where sold by the parties of the first
part.

A further condition mutually understood by the
aforesaid both parties is such that in the case of the
death or other casualty of the said Elbridge Gerry or
James Bordeaux of the second part, the goods as per in-
voices or the remainder, and the balance debtor in afore-
said peltries to be taken possession of by the said Ward
& Guerrier of the first part.

A further mutual condition is that all disputes which
may arise in reference to the quality of robes shall be
settled by arbitration, the said parties of the first part
choosing one, the parties of the second part to choose
one, and the two persons thus chosen to select the third.

ANNALS OF WYOMING 17

Fort Laramie N. T., March 4th, 1857.
$3000. Twelve months after date I promise to pay to
the order of Tutt & Dougherty (a firm composed of John
S. Tutt and Lewis B. Dougherty) the sum of Three Thou-
sand Dollars at the Bank of the State of Missouri in the
City of Saint Louis, for value received negotiable and pay-
able without defalcation or discount, bearing interest from
due until paid at the rate of ten per cent per annum.

Seth E. Ward.
Ward & Guerrier Secty.
Endorsed on face of note : Paid.

Endorsed on back of note: Pay to Robert Campbell
Esq. of St. Louis or order.

Tutt & Dougherty.
Paid Thos E. Tutt pr.

Jno. S. Tutt $1500

pr. Louis B. Dougherty 1500

R. Campbell.

Fort Laramie, Nebraska Territory,

September 6th, 1859.

We, the undersigned, in presence of certain witnesses,
do agree that, Two Mules, which have been claimed by Dr.
Johns, U. S. A., shall be shaved on such parts as are now
visibly Branded ; and if there shall be no mark of a previous
brand (U. S.) the said mules shall be immediately restored
to Mr. Beauvais, until such time as proof of property shall
be satisfactorily made, security being given to Dr. Johns,
for twelve months, that the mules, or their value, shall be
forthcoming.

But if the marks of a previous brand (U. S.) be visible,
it shall be taken and deemed as sufficient proof that such
mules are the property of Dr. Johns, and may be legally
detained by him.

In witness whereof we have hereunto signed our hands
at the place and date first above written.

E. W. Johns, Asst. Surg, in U. S. A.
Witnesses: G. P. Beauvais.

C. S. Scovell, Capt. Inf.

Norman R. Fitzhugh.

Written on back: Arbitration Dr. Johns G. P.
Beauvais.

18 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Omaha, Neb.,

May 20/71.
Dear William:

Yours of the 12th inst. at hand, informing me of Col.
E. Otis remittance of one Hundred dollars — better later
than never — I am sorry that the goods I sent from St. Louis
did not all arrive together — glad to hear that you have
traded so many Robes — Messrs. Stephens & Wilcox in-
formed me that they had received 40 Bales of Robes, and
sent me a list of prices. They expected to sell it if they
opened well and came up to the standard — I came up to look
at them and I am sorry to say they are a very inferior lot
and I thought it was best to let them go for the price
offered — averaging 4.66 now take the freight on them from
Cheyenne to this place at 20c pr. Robe and they net about
4.46. The lot marked thus X was the most inferior lot of
Robes I ever handled in my life, and I think them well sold
on the whole. I am glad that the next lot you will send in
Will be of so much better quality a good lot will bring a
good price. Jules Ecoffey & Hunton are both here await-
ing the awards of the contracts for Laramie & Fetterman.

It is currently reported here that Col. E. B. Tayloy
has the appointment of Post Trader at Laramie. I under-
stand he telegraphed out to this effect.

In regard to the mules you have on hand my advice is
to sell them. It will not pay in my opinion to buy wagons
& Harness to send up to freight as I presume the prices
will be low on the Indian supplies to the agency wherever
that will be — people are going crazy about Govt. Contracts
— and it appears to me that they want to work for glory
only.

I would send in all the skins you have on hand of all
kinds. Messrs. S. & W. thinks they can get 75c pr. pound
for antelope & Deer and judging from the dullness of Trade
through out the county the prices will not be better and
would send them in as fast as you can.

Will the Indians remain at Laramie until they received
their anuity goods & supplies are there any more to come in
with Robes.

My regards to Cousin E.

Yours Truly

S. E. Ward.
P. S.

Enclosed I hand you a list of the robes sold.

On back of letter: S. E. Ward

May 20, 1871.

ANNALS OF WYOMING 19

PIONEERING IN THE '70S

(By MRS. GEORGE GILLAND)

(Address before the Cheyenne Chapter of the Daughters of the
American Revolution, May 14, 1927)

As members of what we are pleased to call our "Pioneer
Club," we feel honored today in meeting with the daughters
of those true pioneers to whom we owe such a rich heri-
tage. By request, I am recalling a few incidents of early
days in Wyoming, but at the risk of repeating much with
which you are already familiar, yet experiences vary with
circumstances and environment.

I arrived here with my parents, Mr. and Mrs. A. Mar-
tin, a younger brother, Hobert, and an aunt, Miss Phelps,
on January 20th, 1873, the journey over the Union Pa-
cific taking three days from Rockf ord, Illinois, as compared
with the ninety-three days spent by my father on his first
journey across the plains by ox team from Wisconsin to
Denver in 1860, then as now for the benefit of his health.

Mother's query, "Will it be safe for us to stay over
night in Cheyenne?" was prompted by the unsavory repu-
tation it held in the East, justified no doubt by the rough
element which always flocks to a frontier town in the
making. But it was then nearly six years old and its wild-
est days were passed; we were welcomed by former Rock-
ford friends and, to our surprise, found as fine a people as
a class as one could wish to meet, to some of whom Chey-
enne is still "home," — Senator Warren, Mayor Riner, Mrs.
Durbin, Mrs. Hawes, (then, as Elizabeth Snow, a teacher
in the original part of the present Central School), and
Mrs. John Underwood who was my first Sunday School
teacher here. Miss Lee, who afterward married Prof. N.
E. Stark was also a teacher in the Congregational Sunday
School and Josiah Strong x was the second pastor of the
church.

The I. C. Whipple family were among our earliest ac-
quaintances and it was to their hospitable home that we
were first invited to tea. The occasion made an impres-
sion upon my young mind because we hadn't expected to be
treated to anything so delectable as ice cream and angel
food cake away out here on "the ragged edges of civiliza-
tion and despair." Then there were the T. A. Douglas,
E. P. Johnson, (the latter the parents of Mrs. H. D. Glea-

1 Josiah Strong rose to the ranks of the foremost ministers in
the United States and was the author of several books.

20 ANNALS OF WYOMING

son), the A. H. Reel, Frank Houseman and Walter Brown
families, the Henry Conways, W. D. Pease, and others who
were long identified with the history of the town. Per-
haps the only true resident pioneers are Mrs. Reed and
Mrs. Farrell, who, I understand, were here when the rail-
road came.

We settled in a small house on East Sixteenth street,
which afterward became Mrs. Glafcke's first greenhouse.
In a "lean-to" beside the kitchen mother stored our staple
provisions; the one outside door was without lock or bar
all winter, yet nothing was taken although of tramps
there were plenty.

Sixteenth was then the principal street; there were
less than a dozen trees in town, and the brown, wooden
houses of Fort Russell, or "The Post," as it was referred
to, could be plainly seen, with Camp Carlin located on a
spur of railroad near the Talbot place. This was a gov-
ernment supply depot, and the long trains of army wagons
laden with various kinds of freight and drawn by govern-
ment mules were often watched until only the dust was
visible in the distance as they wended their way through
Fort Russell toward Horse Creek (where, at the old Good-
win ranch twenty-eight miles out the Yellowstone Highway
now merges with the old trail), to Fort Fetterman, Old
Fort Laramie and other places. Usually several of the out-
fits traveled together, sometimes with a cavalry escort from
the Fort, yet many a brave freighter and stage driver lost
his life to the hostile Indians.

Father's health not improving, we shipped our house-
hold goods to Denver in the beautiful October of 1873, and
drove down, taking a week for the trip and visiting some
of the mountain towns. We spent the last night out at
a ranch eleven or twelve miles from Denver. In the large
living room before an open log fire our hosts recounted to
us some of their early experiences, one of which, as nearly
as I can recall, was as follows:

Mrs. X — let us call her — came there a bride at a time
when white women were a curiosity to the Indians. Un-
familiar with Indian customs and traditions, her young
husband was amused when an Ute chieftain, accompanied
by several braves, rode up one day and offered to bring
some ponies in exchange for the "White Squaw." Taking
it as a joke, Mr. X consented. Laughingly relating the in-
cident to a neighbor, an old frontiersman, who chancedto
call soon after, he was advised by the latter to lose no
time in taking his wife and her sister to the settlement of
Denver, asserting that the chief made the bargain in good

ANNALS OF WYOMING 21

faith and might cause trouble if not bought off. His ad-
vice was immediately acted upon, Mr. X returning laden
with bright-colored calico, beads, etc. True to their word
the Indians came the next morning with the stipulated
number of ponies, but bribed by the gaudy merchandise
aided by the tact of the old frontiersman who was also
on hand, they were pacified after a long parley and rode
away. But the women remained in Denver until their
fears subsided.

In the spring of 1874 father returned to Wyoming,
took up a ranch on Muddy Creek, thirty-two miles east of
here, and in July moved his family there from Denver.
Then it was that, for us, real pioneering began; not in
the sense that we suffered hardship — the house father had
built was comfortable, there was a well of sparkling pure,
cold water at the door and plenty of flimsy old railroad
ties for fuel, making the stoking of the cookstove in sum-
mer and the heater in winter a perpetual performance. But
the softer water for washing had to be carried up an em-
bankment from the creek and of course carried out again;
our nearest railroad station, Egbert, was two and one-
half miles away; (incidentally Mr. E. R. Breisch 2 was, in
the early 80's, our agent there) . Freight and passenger
rates were almost prohibitive and we were "thirty miles
from a lemon."

However, mother soon learned to calculate to a nicety
the quantity of supplies needed between our rare visits to
Cheyenne — then an all-day trip each way since the wagon
was loaded with ranch produce going up and provisions
coming back. Always too she kept a few jars of preserves
and pickles and cans of fish, so, with fresh butter, milk
and eggs at hand an appetizing meal could be placed be-
fore the chance guest; for those were the days when the
coming of visitors meant much and never was work so im-
portant that it could not be readily adjusted to the oft-un-
heralded arrival of friends for a day or a week.

Thus our lives passed happily and uneventfully until
the spring of 1877 ; then came rumors of Indian uprisings,
depredations increased and ranchers armed for protection.
On our occasional drives at that time father would carry
a Springfield rifle, mother a revolver, while we children
were instructed in case of danger to crouch in the bottom
of the wagon. None of these precautions proved necessary
as no Indians crossed our path; yet such was the appre-
hension that when father was away over night mother

2 Mr. Breisch is the present freight agent in Cheyenne for
the Union Pacific Railway Co.

22 ANNALS OF WYOMING

would place a gun at the head of her bed and a revolver
under her pillow; the anxiety of those times can be appre-
ciated only by those who passed through them.

One evening in June, I had mounted my pony for a
ride when a horseman rode hurriedly up, called to father
to be on guard as a raiding party of Indians had killed
three of Judge Tracey's men near Pine Bluffs that after-
noon, then dashed away to the Culver ranch west of us,
while, at father's bidding I made haste to warn my uncle's
family, the Reuben Martins, who had come from Illinois
and settled on a ranch less than a mile east. As I entered
a draw half way between the two places a dusky-skinned
horseman came riding down. Frightened, I turned my pony
and ran for home, but learning that he was only Mr. Cul-
ver's Mexican sheep herder I again set forth in fear and
trembling and accomplished the errand. Everyone kept
vigil that night but the Indians did not raid our valley.

The next day father took his family to Cheyenne and
left us there until the danger seemed to be over; but we
were destined to have one more scare. One evening a
cloud of dust arose in the west and a band of horses came
running over the bluffs; no riders could be seen and
knowing that the savages in raiding sometimes leaned over
the side of their ponies and aimed from under their necks,
the cry of "Indians" arose. Mother took us children into
her arms and father, handing her a revolver, exclaimed:
"If anything happens to me don't let them take you alive!"
Soon, however, several riders and a covered wagon ap-
peared and the mystery was explained. It was the Stone
outfit bringing their horses back from Cheyenne where
they had taken them for safety.

As everyone knows, on June 25th, General Custer and
his command were annihilated in the battle of the Little
Big Horn. Relatives of ours had come from Illinois to
spend the summer in Wyoming, but the gruelling anxiety
of watching for the Indians constantly did not appeal to
them and they soon returned to the security of civilization.
It was not until the government troops had captured the
marauding bands and returned them to their reservations
under military guard that the settlers themselves felt safe
and life resumed normal.

Early the following spring a very near neighbor, a
woman of high attainments, who had recently come from
New Jersey, opened a small private school in her home,
thus affording a much-desired opportunity for study to the
few children privileged to attend. Another notable event

ANNALS OF WYOMING 23

occurred that spring: Mr. Gilland arrived from Vermont
April 21st, 1877, just fifty years ago.

For lack of other diversion neighbors within a radius
of twenty miles or more decided the following winter to
give a series of dances, each family to entertain in turn,
the first taking place at the home of the J. R. Gordons
near Pine Bluffs, the site of which is included in the
present James Wilkinson ranch; the next was held at the
home of the J. E. Ruggs, then our near neighbors, who
later moved to the T. B. Horde ranch west of Cheyenne,
now owned by J. T. Bell. In the early 80's Mr. and Mrs.
Rugg moved to town and built the nucleus of the present
Richardson house on Capitol Avenue, then called Hill
street.

The third party was given by Uncle Reuben and Aunt
Mary Martin, the fourth by my parents in the evening of
January 3rd, 1878 ; — the diningroom was cleared for danc-
ing and at midnight an oyster supper was served in an
"L" of the house; eleven of the guests, because of the long
distance they had to drive through deep snow and sub-
zero weather, stayed to breakfast. So dancing continued
all night to the music of a string" band from Cheyenne
supplemented by father who played old-fashioned tunes
on his violin.

Conveniences were few in those days, but the very
deprivations endured served to unite people in a warmth
of hospitality and understanding, while in illness the wom-
en depended upon each other; never did a neighbor fail
to give freely of her time, sympathy and skill, while the
men ofttimes exchanged work, or willingly helped a bro-
ther ranchman at much inconvenience to themselves. All
honor to those sturdy men who worked so hard and en-
dured so much and to those pioneer women whose forti-
tude, patience and endurance in many cases surpassed any
tale of fiction!

Spring came early in 1878, and by March the grass
was green; the 7th was an unusually warm day, even
sultry; in the evening heavy banks of clouds appeared and
rain began to fall. In the night the wind rose and by the
morning of the 8th one of the worst storms in history
was raging and continued for seventy-two hours — a fine
cutting snow that swirled in fury, blinding the men who
stretched rope from house to barn and barn to corrals
to guide them in their efforts to reach and care for the
stock. Even with this precaution it was a question each
time they left the house whether they would ever return.

24 ANNALS OF WYOMING

But day and night they carried on; nor were the women
folk idle in the house, — keeping hot coffee and food in
constant readiness to revive the men, baling out wet plas-
ter and the water that followed as the ceilings fell, for
the snow, driven by the fierce wind, sifted under the shin-
gles and eventually there was only one dry corner in the
entire house.

Cattle and horses suffered less than sheep. Father
at that time was keeping sheep on shares for Charlie Riner ;
nearly one-third of the herd perished, while Wallace and
Crowley, eight miles north, saved only four hundred out
of a flock of eight thousand. One of our men dug a sheep
out alive after it had lain buried in the snow eleven days,
and on the fifteenth day after the storm a lamb was found
under a snow bank breathing and lived.

An unusual electrical display was a feature of the
storm; balls of fire appeared on fence post and twigs and
hung suspended beneath the roofs of sheds. High winds
prevailed for a couple of days afterward, then the sun
came out and in three weeks the snow was nearly gone.

In May, 1879, a school meeting was held at Egbert
and School District No. 3 was organized, extending from
Archer to Pine Bluffs, thirty-five miles east and west and
across the state — two hundred miles — north and south;
this was later divided. The first school house was built
on "The Muddy" that summer; so with the close of that
decade ended "pioneering" as we had known it in the 70's.

CAMP CARLIN OR CHEYENNE DEPOT

Camp Carlin, located one and a half miles west of
Cheyenne, Wyoming, was selected by the War Department
for the main distributing point for supplies to the various
forts and military camps throughout the west.

It was an ideal location. The Union Pacific railroad
had a spur to the camp and supplies were loaded and un-
loaded from the large warehouses that stood along the
track. It was named for Colonel Carlin, the commander.
Camp Carlin was established at the time that Fort D. A.
Russell Military Reservation was selected as a post. There
had to be some central location chosen to be used as a sup-
ply station and this point seemed to best answer the de-
mand. The survey was made and Camp Carlin was
opened in 1867.

Troops had to be maintained at Fort D. A. Russell
to guard the Union Pacific railroad during the period of

ANNALS OF WYOMING 25

construction as the Indians had become very hostile, and
would wreck trains and shoot passengers and crews when-
ever it was possible.

During the "Black Hills" excitement in the 70's it
took a great many troops to protect the interests of the
white man.

I went to work in the Indian Department at Camp
Carlin in 1876, when everywhere there was "Indian war"
talk and military movements to suppress the warring In-
dians.

Camp Carlin had now become a great supply station.
The first work I did was to receive goods for the Indians,
consisting of flour, beans, rice, bacon, salt pork, baking
powder, calico for dresses, cloth for shirts, bales of blan-
kets, tobacco and thread. I don't remember all, but one
shipment consisted of 1,006,000 pounds. This was freighted
to "Red Cloud" and "Spotted Tail" Agencies in northern
Nebraska. Much of this was loaded on wagons belonging
to A. H. Reel and Charles Hecht, each having trains con-
sisting of 400 yoke of oxen. The teams had 12 to 14
yoke of oxen and drew three wagons, the front one upwards
of 15,000 pounds, the second 9,000 pounds, the third with
cooking utensils, tents and food for the trip. The tongue of
the second and third wagons were cut off short and chained
to the hind axle of the wagon in front.

The camp contained a population of about one thou-
sand to twelve hundred civilians, employees and superin-
tendent and over 25,000 animals most of the time. I saw
1000 mules unloaded one day, and 7000 tons of hay. We
supplied sixteen military posts and all field companies.

I transferred to the commissary department from the
Indian department October 17, 1876. Everything was
rushing on account of the Indians who were getting out
to go on the war path at every point in the territory of
Wyoming and Idaho and the state of Montana. This re-
quired constant shipping of supplies to a great many mili-
tary posts, where troops were stationed ready to move
at an hour's notice. Besides the troops in the field I will
name the forts that were shipped to at that time as many
of them have been abandoned.

Wyoming Territory — Fort D. A. Russell, Fort Sanders,
Fort Fred Steele, Fort Bridger, Fort Washakie, Fort Fet-
terman, Fort Laramie, Fort McKenzie, Rock Creek Sta-
tion.

Nebraska — Fort Sidney, Fort Omaha, Fort Robinson.

Utah — Fort Douglas.
Idaho — Fort Hall.

26 ANNALS OF WYOMING

After the "Thornburg Massacre" we shipped to
Meeker, Colorado, for a long time and all the supplies
during the campaign which took place in September,
1879. General Wesley Merritt was in command during
the "Thornburg" trouble.

Camp Carlin furnished a wagon train. The train was
ambushed by the Indians and our wagon master, McKenzie,
was killed, and Rodney Saunders, a member of the train,
was wounded and was a cripple for the rest of his life.
When the news reached Camp Carlin, Perry Organ was
superintendent of the quartermaster department and J.
F. Jenkins was chief clerk of the commissary department.
The War Department published a statement giving the
force great credit for the rapid and efficient manner in
which the troops and supplies were sent forward.

During my position as chief clerk of the commissary
at Camp Carlin I served under Major Wm. Nash and
Major Elderkin.

After the extension of the railroad north, the camp
was abandoned, and the houses and warehouses were sold
for junk. It had outlived its usefulness. Several of the
former employees are living in Cheyenne, but most of
them have "passed on."

J. F. JENKINS,
Captain of Commissary, U. S. A.
Spanish-American War.

THE OPEN RANGE CATTLE BUSINESS IN WYOMING

At the close of the Civil War the great cattle breeding
grounds of Texas were literally overrun with cattle; with
no local market, and few if any of these cattle fit for beef,
it soon became a serious problem as to what could be done
with these immense herds. In the late 60's an outlet was
found for a limited number of aged steers by trailing them
to Kansas and selling them at very low prices to Kansas,
Nebraska and Missouri feeders. From this modest begin-
ning was finally developed that wonderful trail business so
vividly described by Emerson Hough in "North of 36." It
finally began to dawn on the southern cattlemen, and to
northern business men as well, that the grasses on the
northern prairies were far more nutritious than on the
southern ranges, and it was discovered (and tradition says
by a mere accident) that even in the northern country
where severe winters were frequent, if not the rule, cattle

ANNALS OF WYOMING 27

would live and thrive with no other feed than the native
grass.

By the early 70's it had been demonstrated beyond
question that Wyoming was the very center of the greatest
open range country known to man; that the native buffalo
and bunch grasses were the best to be found between the
Gulf of Mexico and the Canadian border ; that cattle turned
loose on the Wyoming ranges would not only live and thrive
during the winter but would get "hog-fat" in the summer.
So long as the number of cattle were limited and the winter
feed not used in summer the conditions above described
were not so far out of line. Reports of this great range
country in Wyoming gradually spread to other parts of
the country and cattlemen and others began to establish
small ranches and turn small herds of cattle on the ranges,
and in some instances with phenomenal profits. About this
time, in the early seventies, there began to appear in east-
ern papers and magazines, flaming articles describing the
cattle business in Wyoming; boldly stating and indeed act-
ually believed by Wyoming cattlemen that the annual losses
were not to exceed two per cent; that the cost of handling
the cattle was not more than one dollar per year and the
profits could be safely counted at forty per cent per an-
num. Small wonder that this propaganda drew the atten-
tion of the outside world to this wonderful "get-rich-quick"
cattle business.

By the late 70's there began that mad scramble to get
in the business that culminated in a wild boom, such as
has rarely if ever been seen in any country at any time.
Men from every walk in life, bankers, merchants, farmers,
young men just out of college whose fathers were ready,
willing and able to establish them in the business ; men who
knew something of the cattle business and many who knew
nothing at all about it. New York, Boston, England and
Scotland capitalists, all seemed determined to get into the
game. Tens of thousands of cattle were being trailed into
Wyoming each year from Texas, Oregon, Washington, Ne-
vada and Utah. A ready market was found for these cat-
tle; those already established in the business were anxious
to increase their holdings and new men with seemingly
unlimited capital were continually "getting into the game."
It never seemed to occur to anyone that there might be a
limit to the number of cattle the Wyoming ranges would
support. It was the current belief among all classes of
citizens that whoever was established in the range cattle
business in Wyoming was assured of a fortune.

The "Cowboys," the Roundup, the Long Trail, the

28 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Mess-wagon, have all been celebrated in song and story by
such writers as Owen Wister, Edgar Beecher Bronson, and
many others; and perpetuated on canvass by those great
artists, Remington and Russell. The very nature of the
business, and the life of those who had actual charge of
handling the cattle on the range, threw around it a sort
of romance, glamour and fascination. Nearly a generation
has passed since the real cowboy rode the Wyoming ranges,
and yet we have with us the rather amusing if not disgust-
ing imitations in the rodeo ; the professional broncho-bus-
ter; and in the "movies." Even in the agricultural dis-
tricts of Western Nebraska where there has not been a
roundup for for'y years, one sees would-be cowboys wear-
ing chaps, spurs and five-gallon hats, sad commentary on
the real cowboy as he was known and loved fifty years ago.

The Other Side of the Picture

The life of the "Open Range Cattle Business" in Wyo-
ming, that is to say before the advent of barbed wire , when
cattle were turned loose on the ranges, with no thought of
preparing feed for winter and handled entirely by a sys-
tem of roundups, was comparatively short and certainly
spectacular and meteoric while it lasted, and ended in
calamity and financial disaster rarely seen in any line of
human endeavor. The causes which brought on this unex-
pected misfortune were many, any one of which would have
finally landed the business on the rocks. For instance —
buying and selling cattle "book count" or "range delivery."
Just how or when this custom was established in Wyo-
ming I do not know, but in 1878 when I first landed there
it was a well established custom. That business men
should so far lose sight of ordinary business methods as
to buy and sell cattle "without counting a cow," with no
way of ascertaining how many cattle they were paying for
except the seller's "tally books," is almost beyond belief. It
is certain, however, that thousands of cattle changed hands,
"book count" or "range delivery" in some instances the
deals involving hundreds of thousands of dollars. Needless
to say that any deal of that kind where any considerable
amount was involved was the beginning of financial trou-
ble. To illustrate: John Smith engaged in the cattle busi-
ness in 1878, buying 2000 cows and turning them on the
range; modest ranch buildings and corrals were built near
a running stream (land not filed on), and Mr. Smith was
established in the cattle business. During the summer of
1879 Mr. Smith's outfit reports branding 1500 calves and
for two or three years about an equal number, then an

ANNALS OF WYOMING 29

increased branding from young she stock raised. In 1883
Mr. Smith decides to sell his ranch and cattle, his books
have been kept in Cheyenne, all calves branded from year
to year as reported by the foreman are added to the orig-
inal 2000 head, and cattle shipped or sold, together with
the two per cent loss each year, charged off, showing on
the books of say 8000 cattle. It is soon learned that Mr.
Smith's outfit is for sale and in due time, some one of the
many capitalists seeking investment in this wonderful range
cattle business gets in touch with Mr. Smith and the deal
is closed to the entire satisfaction of all concerned, the
price being $30 per head "book count."

While the above is purely hypothetical, it is a fair
statement of any number of sales that came under my own
personal observation. Indeed, I myself was the goat in two
different deals of this kind, having bought two small herds
"book count" in 1879, and in 1884 was a stockholder in a
cattle company, the president of which corporation bought
for the company a herd of cattle, paying in cash two hun-
dred thousand dollars and "not counting a cow." I do not
want to convey the impression that disaster lurked in every
deal of this kind, nor do I want to be understood as claim-
ing that deliberate fraud was perpetrated by those selling
cattle "book count." In most cases I believe the men who
made these sales actually believed that they had the number
of cattle shown by their books. The men from whom I
bought cattle "book count" were, I believe, absolutely hon-
est in their representations. In fact, it was but a short time
until they "got into the game" again, buying larger herds
than they sold to me and bought "book count, range de-
livery."

That every man who bought cattle "book count" got
the worst of the deal, goes without saying; that glaring
frauds were in some instances perpetrated does not admit
of a doubt. One deal with which I was familiar will serve
to illustrate : A merchant whom I knew got into the game,
buying a herd of cattle shown by the books to be about 1200
head. He hired the cattle "run" for two or three years at
one dollar per head per year, the regular price at that time.
Suspecting that he had been "buncoed" in the deal he began
investigations with a view of compelling the party from
whom he bought the cattle to make good some part of his
loss. He discovered this party was completely bankrupt,
and that all- he could do was to make the best of a bad bar-
gain. He decided to have the cattle gathered, tallied and
moved to a different range, and to me as manager and part
owner of "a cow outfit" was given the job of gathering

30 ANNALS OF WYOMING

these cattle. This herd had been on the range a good many-
years and naturally was badly scattered. I sent "reps" as
far as the South Platte in Colorado, and east as far as
North Platte, and with all roundups where the cattle were
supposed to be located, and after two years diligent search
less than two hundred head of cattle were found in this
brand. Not so long ago I had a talk with an old-time friend
whom I had not seen for thirty years. This man was one
of a syndicate that bought a herd "book count" forty-five
years ago, paying about a quarter of a million dollars cash.
This friend told me, and he seemed to enjoy it as a good
joke, that he was confident they paid one hundred dollars
per head for every cow they got. While these two were
possibly exceptional cases, the fact remains that in most
cases where large herds were bought "book count" the
purchasers were given a good start towards bankruptcy, or
at best the loss of a large part of their investments.

Another, and not the least of the causes that brought
the open range cattle business in Wyoming to grief, was
the overstocking of the ranges. That old saying, "One can-
not eat his cake and have it," was entirely lost sight of. It
did not seem to occur to anyone that it would be possible
to overstock the ranges ; that the continual influx from the
outside, together with the natural increase, would finally
swamp the business. It would serve no good purpose to
go further into the causes of the complete failure of the
open range cattle business in Wyoming, or to tell of the
frightful financial crash brought on by the wild boom and
consequent reaction. It may be mentioned, however, that
in many cases where cattle had been bought at $30.00 "book
count" they were sold at S15.00 to S20.00 per head tallied.
This tells its own story.

The Cowboy

The cowboys who rode the Wyoming ranges forty to
fifty years ago, the boys and men who made it possible to
handle the hundreds of thousands of cattle on the open
ranges by that wonderful system of roundups, deserve a
higher and better place in Wyoming history than is given
them by the modern writers of lurid cowboy stories, shown
on the movie screen and in the professional "Rodeo." The
real cowboy of those days was far from the wild-eyed freak
that modern writers show him, carrying two big six-shoot-
ers, ready to shoot and kill on the slightest provocation;
"shooting up the town," riding his pony into the saloons,
et cetera. On the contrary, the class of cowboys on whose
shoulders rested the responsibility of properly handling

ANNALS OF WYOMING 31

their employer's cattle, were an unusually fine class of
men and boys, intelligent, honest, sober, hard working, hard
riding and loyal to their employer's interests to a degree
rarely found in employees as a class. It goes without say-
ing that not all cowboys belonged to the class just described.
The very nature of the business was such as to bring out
the very best that was in the one class, and at the same time
to give unlimited opportunity to that class who were natur-
ally inclined to train with "the wild bunch." Those of the
cowboys first described who are still on this side of the
divide, are now the reliable, honored, prominent and suc-
cessful business men of Wyoming and other states — of the
other class perhaps the least said the better.

A V/ord for the "Cowman"

At no time in any country, in any business, did there
ever come together a finer class of men than the Wyoming
cowman of forty to fifty years ago. Something in the life,
in the great open spaces; something in the very atmo-
sphere seemed to make men broader minded; to make for
closer and more loyal friendships. He fought a courageous
fight and lost. His like will not be seen again in Wyoming
or elsewhere.

(Signed) W. E. GUTHRIE,
Bridgeport, Nebr., Dec. 22, 1926.

Portland, Ind., February 14th, 1884.
Mr. John C. Friend, Esq.,
Rawlins, Wyoming.
Dear Sir:

Your favor of the 31st ult. duly received.

In reply, will say that from what data I have to go by
— an old pencil diary — I find that Companies "A" and "D"
11th 0. V. C, landed at the site of Fort Halleck on the 30th
of July, 1862. The companies crossed over from the Sweet-
water Country through Whiskey Gap, passing somewhere
near where Rawlins stands. In that spring the Noble Lo
got on his ear and made things extremely lively for the
Overland Stage Line, which then crossed the South Platte
at Julesburg and then perambulated its way via Scotts
Bluff, Fort Laramie, up the North Platte and the Sweet-
water to South Pass and on down past Granger where it
crossed Blacks Fork to Fort Bridger. With the handful of
troops out there it was found impossible to protect the
United States mail and United States citizens fleeing from
the draft and it was by the powers that be, decided to
leave the north route to the Lo family, and transfer the

32 ANNALS OF WYOMING

stages, stock, etc., to what was then called the Bridger Pass
route, which was via Latham, Colo., where the route crossed
the Platte, then up through Virginia Dale, Cache La Pou-
dre, Fort Halleck and Bridger's Pass. For the purpose of
protection to the stages, Fort Halleck was established, the
site being chosen by General Mitchell in person, who the
day previous to reaching the ground, met the two companies
enroute, accompanied by his aides and guided us to the
grounds. On the 2nd of August following, the first tree
was cut down by Ben Lloyd of Company "A" for the estab-
lishment of Fort Halleck.

On the 20th day of December following, these two com-
panies had built and completed twosets of company quar-
ters, two stables, large enough each to hold 100 horses,
quartermasters and commissary storehouses, post head-
quarters hospital, officers' quarters, bake house, sutler
store and the "jug." The post was, at first under command
of Major John O'Ferrell, 11th O. V. C, who shortly after-
wards becoming disgusted at finding "graybacks" on him
resigned and went home to his wife and kids at Piqua,
Ohio, where he still resides and where I had the pleasure
of a chat with him a month or so ago. The command then
fell hard upon Captain F. W. Shipley, Company "A", who
resigned in command and robbed the boys out of about
812,000.00 extra duty money until December 20th when his
company was ordered to Fort Laramie. He still resides in
Pique also,butI didn't think enough of him to look him up
when there. At the time we landed at Fort Hallack until
we left, the vicinity was a grazing ground for thousands
upon thousands of elk, antelope and black tail deer in
sight any time of any day and the chaparral along the base
of Elk Mountain was full of cinnamon bears. Scarcely a day
passed without a flock of antelope charging through our
camp and upsetting tents, camp kettles, etc., before we
moved into our new quarters. The buildings, all of them,
with the exception of the hospital and headquarters build-
ing, were composed of rough pine logs, notched at the cor-
ners and put up in panels. The last two mentioned were
of hewn logs. The lumber for the doors, window frames,
etc., was brought from Denver by three six-mule teams,
over which I had charge on the trip, sash, hardware, etc.,
from Laramie. When the post was disbanded I do not know.
In your account of Fort Halleck you must not forget to
mention how "Whiskey Gap" derived its name. It was
thusly: In our march from Sweetwater we camped in the
gap one night. Accompanying the command were some
stage property in charge of a station agent at Three Cross-

ANNALS OF WYOMING 33

ings or Split Rock. I forget which, anyhow he had with him
a barrel of "nose paint," which he sold to the boys at $5
the canteen full, and the night we camped in the gap several
of the boys had became hilariously patriotic, so much so
that O'Ferrell tied them up, spread eagle style to wagon
wheels and ordered the barrel of whiskey to be rolled out
of the wagon and the head knocked in, which was done,
and the whiskey spilled on the ground and always there-
after in mentioning that particular camp it was called
"Whiskey Gap" by the boys, and I believe it has held on
to the nickname until this day.

I felled the second tree that was cut down for the
building of Fort Halleck and don't you forget that. Harry
Hugus was a stage driver along there at that time, I be-
lieve. This is about all I can remember of Fort Halleck,
except that nigger who was killed there and whom Ed
Lewis, hospital steward, skinned. I met Ed in Laramie last
summer and he mentioned that circumstance.

Now send me your "mammoth" extra edition. I want
to see it. Hoping that you may be able to glean a few facts
from what I have written and wishing you success in your
enterprise, I am,

Very truly, etc.,

J. J. HOLLINGSWORTH
From Constant collection.

Torrington, Wyo.
May 13, 1927.
Mrs. Cyrus Beard,
State Historian,
Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Dear Mrs. Beard:

I am enclosing what is to me six very interesting but
very short papers. They are all very plain and simple
to me and I will try in a few lines to explain them to you.

The due bill from James Beckwourth was for goods
he bought of Mr. Ward the last time he was at Fort Lara-
mie. He died the next winter or spring without redeem-
ing his paper. I never knew him.

E. W. Raymond was the man who was with Park-
man a great deal of the time while he was in this sec-
tion of the country. Papin was a trader, trapper and
hunter. Norman R. Fitzhugh was the post sutler at one
time.

W. Wright was a sergeant in the Second Dragoons.
S. E. Ward was post sutler and Robert Foot had just been

34 ANNALS OF WYOMING

discharged from the Second Dragoons and was the same
Robert Foot who lived at Fort Halleck, then Buffalo,
Wyoming, and was a member of the Wyoming Legisla-
ture.

T. S. Twiss was at one time Indian Agent at Upper
Platte Agency (where Glenrock now stands) and was
also a trader and merchant. Michael Guinard was a
brother of Louis Guinard who built the bridge across the
Platte river at the place afterward called Fort Casper.

The receipt of W. G. Bullock to Patrick Mullaly for
the good behavior of William Granger was given to Mul-
laly for cash to get Granger out of the guardhouse so he
could continue to work. Mullaly and Granger were both
considered rather tough characters. The order of Col.
W. G. Bullock given by Major Joseph W. Wham to sup-
ply Frank D. Yates with ammunition for Indians explains
itself. Mr. Yates was the white man in charge of the
[ndians.

The duplicate draft on London, England, explains
itself. The duplicate discharge of Sam Terry may be
of some interest in the distant future. Mr. Terry worked
for me at Bordeaux in 1871.

Most respectfully,

(Signed) JOHN HUNTON.

FROM LETTERS TO STATE HISTORIAN MRS. BEARD

The Eleventh Ohio Infantry were never in this part
of the country. There never was a fight along the North
Platte Valley in Wyoming between the U. S. soldiers and
Indians in which as many as ten soldiers were killed, ex-
cept the Grattan fight, nine miles down the river from
Fort Laramie in which 28 soldiers were killed, August 19,
1854, and the fight at Fort Casper, in which about 26 sol-
diers were killed, July 25, 1865.

During the Civil War there were many volunteer sol-
diers stationed at Fort Laramie as headquarters and dis-
tributed from there east and west and south. The Eleventh
Ohio Cavalry was so employed from 1862 to the fall of the
year 1865. Part of this time some units (detachments or
companies) of that regiment were camped on the La Bonte
Creek, where the Oregon Trail crosses the creek. This camp
was designated as Camp Marshall. During the three years
these Ohio troops were in this part of the country they
served as far east as Scottsbluff, as far west as the head
of Sweetwater river, and as far south as Fort Collins, Colo-

ANNALS OF WYOMING 35

rado, which post was named in honor of Colonel Collins of
that regiment. I think this regiment also established and
occupied Fort Halleck. Other volunteer troops who served
in this country included the Fifth and Sixth Iowa regi-
ments of cavalry, the Fifth and Sixth Kansas regiments
of cavalry, parts of Nebraska regiments of cavalry, all of
which sustained loss of men in fights with Indians, out the
Eleventh Ohio regiment was the greatest loser of any of
the regiments from fights with Indians.

Now about the "graveyard" at La Bonte. On the west
side of La Bonte Creek, about a quarter of a mile from the
road crossing was a burial ground in which many citizens
and soldiers were buried, and in this burial ground were
the remains of some twenty or twenty-five soldiers, the
majority of them being members of the Eleventh Ohio
cavalry. There were about thirty or thirty-five graves all
told, including citizens. I first saw this burial ground in
October, 1868. In 1871 I had the government contract for
furnishing wood to the post at Fort Fetterman and had
one or more contracts to furnish government supplies at
Fort Fetterman from that date each year up to and in-
cluding 1881 (eleven years) ; and during these eleven years
I passed and saw the burial ground on an average of more
than twelve times each year. The enclosure consisted of
posts set in the ground, two posts close together and poles
attached by putting the ends of the poles between the posts.
Some of the posts were held together by having pieces of
plank or split poles nailed to them. I and my employes
sometimes repaired this fence, after 1876, when cattle
were ranged in the country. The enclosure was about 18
or 20 feet wide by 40 feet long. When I last saw the en-
closure, during the summer of 1881, most of the poles and
posts were lying on the ground in a decayed condition.

During the summer of 1891 the government had the
remains of all soldiers (except three who died of smallpox)
who had been buried at Fort Laramie and at the site of the
Grattan killing disinterred and reburied in the national
cemetery at McPherson, Nebraska. Some years after that
date the remains of all soldiers buried at Fort Fetterman,
La Bonte, and other isolated places where bodies could be
identified were taken up and moved to some national ceme-
tery. I do not think the soldiers buried at Fort Fetterman
and La Bonte, both included, exceeded forty, and I much
doubt if there were so many.

In March, 1868, there was located on La Bonte Creek
a road ranch owned and run by Mr. M. A. Mouseau. There

36 ANNALS OF WYOMING

was a ranch at the old abandoned stage station on Horse-
shoe Creek which was conducted by William Worrel and
John R. Smith; a ranch at Twin Springs, four and one-
half miles east of the last named ranch, also owned by M.
A. Mouseau, who employed a man to run it; a ranch on
the west side of Cottonwood Creek, where the Fort Fetter-
man cut-off road crosses the creek, run by two men known
as Bulger and Bouncer ; and a ranch on the east side of
Cottonwood Creek at the same crossing. Sometime between
the 15th and 25th of that month a war party of about 60
Sioux Indians, under American Horse, Big Little Man, and
other noted warriors, attacked all five of the ranches and
destroyed and burned them.

None of them were ever rebuilt. Mousseau and his
family escaped to Fort Fetterman. His Twin Spring man
escaped. Of the Horseshoe ranch party, four of the men
were killed. Worrell was shot through one foot and Smith
was shot through one thigh and in some way both got to
the fort. Of the two Cottonwood ranches, the one on the
east side of the creek, being first attacked, gave the alarm
to the two men on the west side ranch and they escaped, but
James Pulliam, the east side ranchman, was wounded in
one arm and escaped by running into the brush. His Indian
wife received a slight wound in one arm and was captured.
Her child and young sister were killed during the fight.
The survivors got to the fort and reported the affair as
soon as they could. Company "A," Second Cavalry, com-
manded by Captain Thomas Dewus, was ordered to go as
far as Horseshoe and to repair the telegraph line and ren-
der such assistance as they could and bury the dead. My-
self and several other citizens (Wm. H. Brown and An-
toine Ladue, I remember), accompanied the cavalry com-
pany. We found and buried two of the men of the Horse-
shoe ranch party, on the east side of Bear Creek draw, just
north of and almost under the telegraph line.

Most respectfully,

(Signed) JOHN HUNTON.

FROM COUTANT NOTES

Wyoming Newspaper — Cheyenne Leader

On September 19th, the first number of the Cheyenne
Leader was issued; though intended as a daily it was not
published regularly as such until December. It was the
first newspaper published in what was afterwards Wyo-

ANNALS OF WYOMING 37

ming and exerted an influence which was felt throughout
the country. The founder of the Leader was Nathaniel
Addison Baker. He was born near Lockport, Niagara
County, New York, August 3, 1843, and was educated at
Racine, Wisconsin, to which place his family removed when
he was six years old. They were pioneers there as their
ancestors had been in 1818 in western New York. In 1859,
the family took up their residence in Omaha and a year
later young Baker crossed the plains and located at Denver.
Here he was engaged in lumbering and later in agriculture,
became a pioneer school teacher in 1862, followed mining
in 1863, and in the latter part of that year became connected
with the Denver Daily "Herald" in its business department.
After this he was business manager of the Rocky Moun-
tain "News" in 1864, and finally in 1867, in the month of
September, impelled by the spirit of adventure and love of
pioneering characteristic of his family set out from Denver
with a four horse team, carrying the press type and mate-
rials for the pioneer newspaper of this State.

Cheyenne was then a town of only a few weeks' growth,
and a scene of wild pushing and bustling western activity.
Crowds of freighters, railroad builders, adventurers, and
of business men jostled together daily in the crowded
streets, eagerly discussing plans for progressive operations
and profitable results. The sound of building tools was
constant, and the saw and hammer was heard from earliest
dawn each and all days and until well on into the nights.
The construction of the Union Pacific railroad had then
progressed to within a few miles of Cheyenne and all was
full of expectation in the breasts of the throngs that
crowded the street of the "Magic City". Under these
circumstances, on the 19th of September, 1867, the "Chey-
enne Daily Leader" had its birth. The first paper was
a four page folio of four columns to the page and was
printed a page at a time, on a quarter medium Gordon
press. When ready for its first issue a crowd of some three
hundred besieged the front of the "Leader" office which
was on Eddy Street, eager to secure a copy of the first news-
paper. Twenty-five cents was paid for each copy of this
issue. Startled and often unique expressions were common
from the lips of purchasers as they eagerly grasped the
paper and witnessed the early and unexpected evidence of
frontier enterprise.

Succeeding events in the experience of the papers and
its edition were often full of exciting features. For a time
the rougher elements of the citys population were turbulent
and sometimes aggressive. Criticisms of the acts of evil-

38 ANNALS OF WYOMING

doers brought threats of violence to the editor. These
threats were often acentuated by the display of a revolver.

The paper was a prominent and influential factor in
the discussion of many subjects of absorbing moment to
the people of this region. The first Territorial establish-
ment of Wyoming, the official appointments, legislative
work, woman suffrage and landgrabber lynching, an Indian
massacre in the outskirts of Cheyenne, murders and
vigilante work, municipal and Territorial politics, the
simultaneous visit of Grant, Sherman and Sheridan, to the
capital city and finally in 1870, the great fire in Cheyenne,
constituted some of the topics faithfully recorded and fully
discussed in Baker's paper.

The ambitions and energy of Wm. Baker in a political
and business way prompted the establishment by him May
1st, 1869, of the "Daily Sentinel" in Laramie City and
about the same time of the "South Pass News" at South
Pass City. These three newspapers were owned and carried
on simultaneously for about one year, and were each profit-
able ventures, despite the fact that the combined pay-rolls
of these offices aggregated nearly one hundred dollars per
day.

The loss of the "Leader" office by the great Cheyenne
fire January 11th, 1870, necessitated concentration of his
business. The fire caused the loss of but one issue of the
"Leader". Hiring the unusued plant of a suspended paper
the Argus, and contracting for another building in the place
of the burned office, Wm. Baker sped away the day after
the fire to Chicago where he replaced the destroyed material
by the purchase of a carload of machinery and in just thirty
days' time of severest winter weather resumed publication
of the "Leader" on its own types and material and in the
new building.

Sometime later he sold the Laramie Sentinel to Messrs.
Hayford and Gates who had previously been connected with
the "Leader". "The South Pass News" was also sold about
the came time to Mr. Howe. Wm. Baker after the fire con-
tinued the publication of the "Leader" successfully for two
years and a half, when he sold the plant to Major Herman
Glafcke. He returned to Denver in 1872, where he now
resides. He has been engaged since in the publishing busi-
ness for a time and later in stock business, farming and
real estate business and is now practically retired. He was
a member of the Third Colorado Cavalry, U. S. Volunteers,
in 1864, and has been prominent in Grand Army circles in
politics and fraternal orders in which he takes an active
interest and pride. Coutant.

ANNALS OF WYOMING 39

ACCESSIONS FROM APRIL 1, 1927, TO JULY 1, 1927

Winter, Mrs. C. E Copy of Congressional Directory,

February, 1926; Manuscript of
original poem, "Hawaii"; Wyo-
ming road map; pictures of Cody
delegation to Washington, D. C.

Hunton, Mr. John Collection of nine documents from

Old Fort Laramie; see letter.
Panoramic view of Fort Laramie
taken in 1926; manuscript, "Remin-
iscences".

Langworthy, Mr. J. N Ranger map of the Shoshone National

Forest, Wyoming.

Johnson, Mrs. Jessamine Spear. .Two pictures of "Little Wolf's pic-
ture of Custer fight painted on
deerskin" and given by him to Mrs.
Johnson; prints of scenes in Big
Horn Mountains.

Davison, Lieutenant H. W "Petty Cash Book from July 1, '84,

to October 15, '84," was found
at Fort Laramie. Ramrod for
short brass howitzer used m Civil
War times; found at Fort Laramie.

Bruce, Mr. Robert Photograph of General Crook. Pam-
phlet, "Custer's Last Battle," by
Charles Francis Roe. Revised edi-
tion. Autographed by Elizabeth
B. Custer, June, 1927. Mrs. Cus-
ter is the widow of General Custer.

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Centenary Medal issuedin commemo-
ration of the one hundredth anni-
versary of the Baltimore & Ohio
railroad.

Freeborn, Mrs. J. D Collection of Indian relics — 1 pair of

moccasins, adults; 1 pair mocca-
sins, child's; 3 small beaded
pouches; 1 beaded saddle pouch;
1 toy war club.

Jenkins, Mr. J. F Manuscript, "Camp Carlin, or Chey-
enne Depot".

Gilland, Mrs. George Manuscript, "Pioneering in the 70's".

Jones, Mr. Hoyle Photograph of home of Seth E. Ward

in Kansas City, Missouri. The
house was built in the 70's with
brick freighted from St. Louis.

Smith, Mr. David G Framed picture of eleven Civil War

Veterans. Picture taken during a
birthday party at the home of I. S.
Bartlett, one of the veterans.

McFarlane, Mrs. Mary Whiting.. Manuscript account of Daniel Mc-

Ulvan's and David McFarlane's
encounter with the Sioux in 1876.

40 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Elva A. McMannis "A Christmas Story". Miss Mc-

Mannis is associate editor of "The
Monitor," published by the Moun-
tain States Telephone & Telegraph
Co.

David, Mr. B. B Copy of "The National Lincoln

Monument," Vol. 1, No. 3, pub-
lished at Washington, Oct. 1868.

Bagley, Mr. Clarence B Pamphlet, "The Acquisition and

Pioneering of Old Oregon," by
Clarence B. Bagley. "The Quar-
terly of the Oregon Historical
Society," Volume V, Number 1,
March, 1904, giving an account of
"The Mercer Immigration," by Mr.
Bagley. "The Washington His-
torical Quarterly," Volume VI,
Number 4, October, 1915, contain-
ing "The Story of the Mercer Ex-
pedition," by Flora A. P. Engle;
"The Mormon Road," by Hiram F.
White; "Jason Lee". New evi-
dence on the Missionary and
Colonizer.

Mrs. Gertrude Merrill and

Mrs. Laura C. Heath "Views of Southern Wyoming."

Illustrated and compiled by Merritt
D. Houghton, 1904.

Beard, Mrs. Cyrus Bulletin of the Newport Historical

Society No. 5, January, 1913.

Dickson, Mr. Arthur J Pamphlet, "Zesenemeoxtoz (Chey-
enne Songs)". Published in the
interest of the Mennonite Mission.

Carroll, Major G. C "The Cavalry Journal" for April,

1927, contains western history.
Roster of Soldiers and Sailors and
Marines who served in the War of
the Rebellion, Spanish-American
War and World War. Compiled
and issued by Charles W. Pool,
Secretary of State, Lincoln, Ne-
braska. Official roster of Ohio
Soldiers, Sailors and Marines in
the World War, 1917-18. Five
volumes, giving names from "A"
to "F".

Orr, Harriet Knight A Pioneer Bride. Memories of Mary

Hezlep Knight.

ANNALS TO BE INDEXED

With this issue Annals of Wyoming begins its fifth year and the volume
begins with page 1. This change is made because an index of the previous
volumes is being prepared and when complete a copy will be sent to all who
receive the Annals regularly. An effort will be made in the future to index each
volume at the end of the year.

Annals of tUgommij

VOL. 5 OCTOBER, 1927— JANUARY, 1928 NOS. 2 AND 3

CONTENTS

The Valley of the Fontenelle ■ Ella Holden

The Naming of Mount Owen William O. Owen

Howard Michael -- Autobiography

Fort Bridger Alex Chambers

>/Laramie County — P. O. Ranch Coutant

Letters - - - Coutant

Reminiscences H. L. Kuykendall

Reminiscences I Al White

$1.00 Annually

Published Quarterly

By The

STATE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY

MRS. CYRUS BEARD, Historian

CHEYENNE, WYOMING

"

Annals of llSijnmfng

VOL. 5 OCTOBER, 1927— JANUARY, 1928 NOS. 2 AND 3

CONTENTS

The Valley of the Fontenelle Ella Holden

The Naming of Mount Owen William O. Owen

Howard Michael Autobiography

Fort Bridger Alex Chambers

Laramie County — P. 0. Ranch Coutant

Letters Coutant

Reminiscences H. L. Kuykendall

Reminiscences Al White

$1.00 Annually

Published Quarterly

By The

STATE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY

MRS. CYRUS BEARD, Historian

CHEYENNE, WYOMING

STATE HISTORICAL BOARD

Governor - - Frank C. Emerson

Secretary of State A. M. Clark

State Librarian Mrs. Clare E. Ausherman

Secretary of Board Mrs. Cyrus Beard

ADVISORY BOARD

Mr. T. J. Bryant - - Wheatland

Dr. Grace R. Hebard Laramie

Mrs. P. J. Quealy — ■ Kemmerer

Mrs. M. M. Parmalee ■■ Buffalo

Mrs. C. L. Vandevender Basin

Mr. C. F. Maurer — - Douglas

Miss M. E. Spaeth - Gillette

Mr. Phillip E. Winter Casper

Judge E. H. Fourt - Lander

(Neither the State Historical Board, the State Historical Advisory
Board nor the State Historian is responsible for any statements
made or opinions expressed by contributors to the Annals of Wyo-
ming.

(Copyright, 1928)

STATE HISTORICAL BOARD

Session Laws 1921

DUTIES OF HISTORIAN

Section 6. It shall be the duty of the State His-
torian :

(a) To collect books, maps, charts, documents, man-
uscripts, other papers and any obtainable material illus-
trative of the history of the State.

(b) To procure from pioneers narratives of any ex-
ploits, perils and adventures.

(c) To collect and compile data of the events which
mark the progress of Wyoming from its earliest day to
the present time, including the records of all of the
Wyoming men and women, who served in the World
War and the history of all war activities in the State.

(d) To procure facts and statements relative to the
history, progress and decay of the Indian tribes and other
early inhabitants within the State.

(e) To collect by solicitation or purchase, fossils,
specimens of ores and minerals, objects of curiosity con-
nected with the history of the State and all such books,
maps, writings, charts and other material as will tend to
facilitate historical, scientific and antiquarian research.

(f) To file and carefully preserve in his office in
the Capitol at Cheyenne, all of the historical data col-
lected or obtained by him, so arranged and classified as
to be not only available for the purposes of compiling and
publishing a History of Wyoming, but also that it may be
readily accessible for the purpose of disseminating such
historical or biographical information as may be reason-
ably requested by the public. He shall also bind, cata-
logue and carefully preserve all unbound books, manu-
scripts, pamphlets, and especially newspaper files con-
taining legal notices which may be donated to the State
Historical Board.

(g) To prepare for publication a biennial report of
the collections and other matters relating to the transac-
tion of the Board as may be useful to the public.

(h) To travel from place to place, as the require-
ments of the work may dictate, and to take such steps,
not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, as may be
required to obtain the data necessary to the carrying out
of the purpose and objects herein set forth.

ELLA HOLDEN

JUDGE HOLDEN

MINNIE HOLDEN

ANNALS OF WYOMING 45

THE VALLEY OF THE FONTENELLE
By Ella Holden

FONTENELLE
(By D. G. Thomas, formerly of Evanston, but now of
Rock Springs, Wyoming)

"The Sun has left a golden rim
Of Glory shining in his stead;
Meanwhile the ocean welcomes him
Into her broad, green mantled bed;
The moon, attended by her maids —
The faithful stars that love her well —
Will soon look down into thy glades,
Thou ever rippling Fontenelle."

"Where can one see a grander scene
In all of nature's vast domain?
No picture spread upon a screen
Could so well please the eye and brain;
And contemplation leads the mind
Along time's path as through a dell
Beyond the ken of human kind
To thy beginning, Fontenelle."

"The mind of man with all its lore
With all its depth and breadth of thought,
Becomes confused while brooding o'er
The years you saw and counted not —
And counted not? Perhaps I'm wrong;
The record may still with you dwell,
May yet be read by bards whose song
Will tune with mine, sweet Fontenelle."

"Since Bonneville stood upon thy shore
Thy history we clearly scan.
But what was it in years before
Thou were beheld by mortal man?
But then enough is seen and known
To charm the senses with a spell;
You gladden us with thy rich tone
Thou ever flowing Fontenelle."

"Here shaggy herds were wont to graze
Upon each green, delightful bank,
And bending down to drink, would gaze
And see their image while they drank;
Unconscious of the lurking foe

46 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Until they heard his savage yell

When there was mingled with thy flow

Their warm life blood, sweet Fontenelle."

"Today where once the bison tramped
Along this valley, rich and green;
Where savages and trappers camped
And clashed in warfare's frightful mien,
Are cattle browsing round at will
And homes where peaceful families dwell,
Dependent on this limpid rill —
Thy silv'ry waters, Fontenelle."

"Oh! Winding stream! Oh! laughing rill!
I see the willows bending low,
As if to listen to the trill
Thy waters make as on they go :
The snow capped peaks that gave thee birth —
Can ne'er a sweeter story tell,
Can ne'er bestow upon the earth
A richer gift than Fontenelle."

— From Overland and Underground.

Fontenelle Valley lies 65 miles west of Green River
City and the creek flowing thru this valley is tributary to
the Green River. Justin J. Pomeroy and wife established
the first permanent home in Fontenelle Valley in the year
1874. Of New England birth Mr. and Mrs. Pomeroy left
their native state, Massachusetts, soon after their mar-
riage, going first to Ohio, thence to Illinois and later to
Kansas. The summer of 1867 Mr. and Mrs. Pomeroy
with their family of three children (all grown) joined
the construction crew of the Union Pacific railroad lo-
cated at Julesburg, Colorado. The family traveled in ox
drawn covered wagons, Mr. Pomeroy and the two sons,
Roney and Alfred working with the construction crew.
When the Union Pacific was built to Dale Creek, Mrs.
Pomeroy and the daughter Alice kept a boarding house, fur-
nishing meals for the workmen on the railroad. When the
road was completed beyond this point the Pomeroy family
moved on to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where a hotel was kept
also.

From Cheyenne the Pomeroys moved on with the con-
struction crew to the Fish cut near Green River City.1 At
this point they left the employ of the railroad company
and went to Bryan ,2 Wyoming, where they lived for two
years. (Mrs. Roney Pomeroy who lives at Whittier, Cali-
fornia, has the tin cup that the young man who later be-

ANNALS OF WYOMING 47

came her husband, carried in his lunch kit while working
on the Union Pacific Railroad.)

During the summer months and as long as the roads
were passable, Mr. Pomeroy and son Alf freighted mer-
chandise on ox drawn wagons from Bryan to South Pass.
After the roads became snow bound the oxen were driven
to Fontenelle Valley for winter grazing as the valley af-
forded splendid pasturage for the cattle.

The eldest son, Roney, had returned to Chariton, Iowa,
soon after the family had reached Bryan and was there
married to Miss Amanda Mclllvain. Later the young peo-
ple went to Kansas where their daughter Eva was born.
In 1870 Justin Pomeroy and family from Bryan returned
to Topeka, Kansas where the father and two sons, Roney
and Alf, engaged in raising hogs, but finding this business
slow and unprofitable after the few years lived on the
border, the family, including Roney, his young wife and
child, decided to go to Fontenelle, Wyoming, and raise
cattle and on June 10th, 1874, again traveling in ox drawn
covered wagons and trailing a few head of stock cattle,
they joined a wagon train consisting of seventeen wagons
routed west.

In passing thru country infested by Indians the num-
ber of wagons increased for safety — by one train dropping
back with wagons following or pushing ahead to join those
in advance as in those days wagon trains could be seen
on every road leading to the west, so that at one time this
train with which the Pomeroys traveled numbered twenty-
seven wagons.

September 20th, having been three months and ten
days crossing the plains — the Pomeroys reached Fontenelle
and moved into a cabin at the mouth of the creek. John
W. Smith, the sole resident of the valley had built the cabin,
abandoning it later to locate a claim about five miles far-
ther up the valley. Mr. Smith owned about five hundred
head of black faced Mexican sheep and because of this
they called him "Sheep Smith." Mr. Smith proved to be
a most neighborly man and heartily welcomed the new
comers.

Finding the shelter of the cabin and tents inadequate
for the approaching winter, the men in the Pomeroy fam-
ily immediately started to build a log house of one large
room, locating the building on the north side of Fontenelle
creek and near a cold gushing spring. A huge fireplace
was built in one end of the room, the chimney built by
Roney Pomeroy, who was a stone mason, having learned
this trade while working on the capitol building at Topeka,

48 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Kansas, where he earned the nickname of "Brick" Pome-
roy. While cutting and hauling the cottonwood logs from
the banks of the Green River, a cabin was found, the builder
unknown. Tearing the cabin down the men hauled the
logs to a point about a mile and a half farther up the val-
ley from the first location and on the south side of the
creek where a cabin was built for the family of Roney
Pomeroy. While the men were laying up the logs for the
cabin, Mrs. Roney Pomeroy was removing the loose bark
from the logs and underneath a thick slab of bark she
found a small folded purse fastened with a buckled strap.
The purse contained a $2.00 bill and a tarnished, blackened
dime. Aunt Matt, as she is now lovingly called by her old
friends, regrets that she did not keep this find as a souve-
nir of those old days so full of interest and romance.

Both cabins were finished and the families comfort-
ably housed before the winter set in. Once only, during
the winter, did these people receive mail or news from the
outside and this was when a Mr. John Kimball came from
Green River City bringing accumulated mail for the two
families and their solitary neighbor, Mr. Smith.

The next spring Mr. Pomeroy, Sr., started a dairy
and the son Alf put his ox teams on the road making reg-
ular trips to Green River City hauling hay, butter and
cheese, where he disposed of the produce at a good price.
That fall Mr. and Mrs. Roney Pomeroy and child went to
Green River City where Mr. Pomeroy worked in the round
house, wiping engines, and Mrs. Pomeroy was waitress in
the Desert Hotel, owned and run by C. W. Kitchen.

In the summer of 1876 Mr. and Mrs. D. B. Rathbun
and two small children Daniel, Jr., and Harriett, came
from Green River City, locating a claim and building a
house on the north side of the creek opposite the house of
Roney Pomeroy. Near the Rathbun house was the grave of
Pinkney W. Sublette.

The winter following was extremely cold and in one
of the blizzards a man named Edwards was frozen to death
at Henry's Fork.4 Later John W. Smith brought the fam-
ily left unprotected by the death of Edwards — three chil-
dren, Ed, Alice and Albert Edwards and their mother, an
Indian woman called Lizzie — to his home at Fontenelle
and kept them as his own, providing them with the kind
consideration that this generous, warm hearted, good man
bestowed on all who claimed his hospitality.

My parents, Mr. and Mrs. C. W. Holden, came from
Veedersburg, Indiana, arriving at Green River City Feb-
ruary 22nd, 1877. My parents had five children, the eld-

ANNALS OF WYOMING 49

est a boy of nine years. Father published a newspaper called
"The Daily Evening Press," of which I have a copy dated
Thursday, April 12, 1877. Father used to say that in as
much as Green River could not support a daily paper he
might have succeeded had he published a weekly, but he
was quite sure that an "a" should be used in spelling the
"Weakly." Having lost the little savings he possessed in
this venture, my father accepted the advice of Alf Pomeroy
who proved to be our Good Samaritan as the passing years
demonstrated. Mr. Pomeroy advised my parents to go to
Fontenelle and offered to transfer their household goods
with his ox teams. He also told them they could find
shelter in the cabin built by Roney Pomeroy as Mrs. Pome-
roy and child were then in Kansas and expected to spend
the winter there with relatives.

My mother had never slept out of doors and the ex-
perience of the over-night camps along the way was novel
and thrilling. The howl of the coyote she at first thought
was a dog barking, then as the howl increased in discon-
nected yaps and shrieks she called out of the darkness to
Mr. Pomeroy asking if the sounds were cries of women
and children. We arrived at Fontenelle October 18th and
were glad of the shelter of the house of Mr. and Mrs.
Roney Pomeroy.

Scarcely a day passed that Indians were not seen as
they traveled between reservations, often camping for sev-
eral days, erecting their tepees in a bend of the creek. They
came often to the home of the settler to beg and trade.
Without knocking for admission (if the cabin door stood
open) a warrior, his squaw and papoose would noiselessly
enter, as the moccasined feet gave no warning of the ap-
proach. The housewife would be startled by the demand
for "biscuit — Injun heap hungry — see squaw hungry — pa-
poose hungry." On one such occasion mother was so ter-
ribly frightened that she sent my eldest brother, Charlie,
for Mr. Rathbun, our nearest neighbor. Charlie told the
Indians as he was leaving the house that he was going for
a white man to drive them away and when Mr. Rathbun
arrived at the house he found that the Indians had left.
Mr. Rathbun explained to mother that the Indians were
inoffensive but that they would become a nuisance if they
were fed. A few days later an old Indian woman and two
children came to the house begging for food which mother
refused. Soon she was told that she had made a dread-
ful mistake as the woman was James Calhoun's mother-
in-law and was called "Old Mary Ann."

James Calhoun was one of the commissioners of Sweet-

50 ANNALS OF WYOMING

water County and a very important business man and
leading light in the affairs of the county. He was of Irish
ancestry and never quite forgave mother for refusing to
feed his children. Mr. Calhoun, with his young wife, Lu-
cille (Indian-French) lived at a ferry on Green River.
Louis Gruard, a Frenchman was a partner in the business.
They also had a race track where the Indians brot their
ponies to try their speed and gamble their blankets and
rations on the winning horses. The place was also a
rendezvous for trappers and the floating population of the
country.

I relate the following incident to illustrate the con-
stant fear of the Indians which filled the minds of the
settlers.

My father left the house quite early one morning in
August to ride for stock that had strayed, going up the
Dry Hollow toward the foothills. Later in the forenoon
of the same day three men, Mr. Smith, Bob Mclllvain and
a trapper called John Day passed our cabin in a hay wagon
drawn by Mr. Smith's lazy little team of mules. These
men were on their way to a hay meadow a mile west of
our home where they were engaged in cutting hay and
hauling it to Mr. Smith's ranch which joined ours on the
east. As the men were loading the hay on the wagon in
mid-afternoon one of them spied several horsemen riding
single file, traveling the road leading from Dry Hollow.
Excitedly calling "Indians" he attracted the attention of
the other men to the distant horsemen. Quickly unloading
the hay from the wagon they started for home. With much
persuasion, prodding with pitchforks, etc., the lazy mules
were forced into a gallop and the wagon went bouncing
and swaying over the rough ground. Mr. Smith, who was
short and fat and had asthma, lost his balance and fell, his
body hanging thru an opening in the hayrack, his knees
and shoulders fortunately held by pieces of poles which
were a part of the hayrack. Mr. Mcllvain, who was driv-
ing the team, seeing the predicament of his friends, began
pulling on the lines to stop the mules, but Mr. Smith
called in a wheezy asthmatic voice "Keep 'em going Bob —
keep 'em going — I can make it — keep 'em going." Thru the
assistance of the third man, Mr. Smith gained a secure
position and soon the rattling wagon was drawn to the
side of our cabin and the excited men bade mother and her
children to join them "as Indians were coming," and they
would take the family to Mr. Smith's home where the wo-
men and children would be barricaded in a back room and
the men with rifles would do their utmost to protect them.

ANNALS OF WYOMING 51

Mother hesitated, thinking of the husband and father of
her children who had rode away that morning in the di-
rection from which the supposed Indians were coming,
feeling that doubtless he had fallen a victim. As she looked
toward the west the galloping men came into view around
a bend in the road. She asked if Indians rode mules. After
a glance the men said "John Carnes' mule and Holden and
Al Wyatt."

Being ever apprehensive of troublesome Indians the
long, lonely trip to Green River City for supplies was dread-
ed by the settlers and for this reason father was grateful
for the company of two young men (who were traveling on
horseback) on a return trip from Green River City and
was quite willing to haul the extra roll of bedding and other
luggage belonging to the men in exchange for their com-
panionship along the way. Soon after making camp one
evening a stranger rode into camp and asked to be directed
to Huckleberry meadow, explaining in an easy, pleasant
tone and slow manner of speaking, which was characteris-
tic of the man, that he, Ed Swan, with his family was go-
ing to Big Piney with their wagons and herds, having
driven from Idaho and that his family were to camp that
night at Huckleberry and he wished to overtake them
there. He had been summoned to act on a coroner's jury
that morning at Green River, thus delaying him for many
hours. Father gave the desired direction to Huckleberry
Meadow, but persuaded Mr. Swan to stay all night with
him, arguing that as a stranger in a strange land, with
night approaching, he might have difficulty in finding his
way and that he could leave early in the morning and with
daylight would make much better time. Being tired, the
four men retired early, father and Mr. Swan sleeping to-
gether, their bed rolled out under a big cottonwood tree.

Father's traveling companions made their bed down,
using their saddles for pillows and all went to bed. As
clouds gathered in the sky indicating rain, the young men
got up and dragged their bed alongside the other bed in
the shelter of the tree. A quietness settled over the camp,
father soon fell asleep only to be awakened by Mr. Swan's
elbow digging his ribs and the slow easy voice lowered to
a whisper and saying "Mister, Mister, wake up! What is
that?" Without raising from his pillow and as Mr. Swan
also lay still, father reached for his rifle lying under the
covers at his side, feeling confident that the Indians had
crept upon them, he too whispered "Where is it?" Mr.
Swan whispered back "Right there." Father whispered
"Right where?" and the answer came "Right there." In ex-

52 ANNALS OF WYOMING

asperation, father said "Well, what is it. What does it
look like?" and Mr. Swan calmly said "It looks like and
I think it is a snake!" With that father's fear was gone
and sitting up he said again "Where is it?" Mr. Swan
pointed to a crooked thing lying between the two beds
plainly seen in the moonlight, the clouds having cleared and
said "Right there." Father reached over Mr. Swan, say-
ing "It's only a stick" but as his hand neared the thing he
said he thot the "cussed" thing might be a snake and any
way it was on the stranger's side of the bed and he seemed
to be calm about it, he decided to let him worry with it and
so he lay down and went to sleep again. When daylight
came it revealed the latigo strap from one of the saddles
lying in curves between the beds.

After years of association had bound the family of
Mr. Swan and our family in ties of closest friendship the
two men referred to the time of their first meeting as the
night "Swan" had snakes, tho it was a well known fact
that neither Mr. Swan nor his sons ever indulged in in-
toxicating drink.

In November my parents moved to a cabin four miles
west of that of Roney Pomeroy, owned by Tom Rumsey
then living in Green River City. As Mr. Rumsey had ap-
parently abandoned the cabin our family took possession
without consulting Mr. Rumsey and as he died soon after
and no one disputed our right the land upon which the
cabin stood became a part of the home ranch where my
parents spent the remaining years of their life and which
is now owned and controlled by my youngest brother, How-
ard. The cabin was built of round cottonwood logs. There
was a fireplace in one end of the room, one window and a
door. Mother had a new woven rag carpet which she had
brot from Veedersburg, Indiana, and after putting a thick
layer of hay (donated by Mr. Smith) the carpet was fas-
tened down by driving wooden pegs through into the
ground as there was no floor in the cabin. The meager fur-
niture was placed in the cabin and my parents were happy
indeed to call this humble place home. The winding Fon-
tenelle flowed near our cabin. The rippling waters were
full of trout and grayling. Many dams indicated the shy
but busy beaver and the graceful tawney deer bounding
from the hillsides came daily to the creek to drink their
fill and lingered in the willow glades to graze undis-
turbed and unafraid. Father was a true sportsman and
only when meat was needed for table use was a deer
brought in.

My sister, Minnie Fontenelle, was born in the cabin
home and she has the distinction of being the first child to

ANNALS OF WYOMING 53

be born of white parents in the valley. Mrs. Pomeroy, Sr.,
proved a most efficient nurse in caring for mother and
child. Miss Alice Pomeroy called frequently bringing dain-
ties to mother and kindly assisted by brushing the tangled
locks of the older children and tidying the home. To our
childish imagination she seemed a fairy princss as she rode
her pretty pony to our home.

Mother had no sewing machine and the making of
garments for a family of active boys and girls was an end-
less task for one pair of hands. A sewing bee was sug-
gested and the ladies of the little colony met at our home
and spent the day in cutting and making clothes for the
boys and girls constituting our family.

Mr. and Mrs. Roney Pomeroy, Mrs. Pomeroy's brother,
Robert Mcllvain, and wife, who had recently arrived from
Kansas, made up an exploration party and leaving home
early one Sunday morning they followed the old emigrant
road north to where the road crossed the Green River about
eight or nine miles from Fontenelle. Near this ford they
found a meadow which had served as a camping ground
in the days when gold seekers crossed the plains. The
party found a pile of scrap wagon irons indicating the
burning of a wagon train and on higher ground above the
meadow was a group of graves marked by boards and end-
gates of wagons. Mute evidence of a massacre.

Many years later a Mrs. Ira Dodge wrote an article
for publication in Recreation Magazine in which she de-
scribed the group of graves, also sending snap shots of same
and a copy of the then legible names on the head boards.
Mrs. Dodge received a letter from an old lady living in the
east in which the lady wrote that the names copied from
one of the graves was that of her father who had left his
home in the east to go west with a party of forty-niners
when she was a child and that no information had the
family received from the husband and father after he left
South Pass. The mother had died without knowing the
fate of her husband and the writer, a child when her fa-
ther left, was now an old lady. Names Hill, located near
the old camp ground, has served as a bulletin board for
trapper, scout and gold seeker as the smooth surface of
the hillside is covered with names and dates of those that
passed that way.

During the summer seasons many herds of cattle,
horses and sheep were trailed from Oregon to Nebraska.
The dust from the approaching herds could be seen a
distance of over ten or fifteen miles. My brother, Char-
lie, on seeing a column of dust would saddle his pony

54 ANNALS OF WYOMING

and ride out to meet the herd, direct the herdsmen to
the best camping and watering place and also advertis-
ing by word of mouth that we had eggs, butter and milk
to sell and that his mother would bake bread or dough-
nuts for them if they so desired. Some of the drovers
made annual trips trailing stock each succeeding year.
With these plainsmen my brother became a favorite and
he was given any thin, footsore animals that lagged in
the herd or dropped out of the drive. Rand & Briggs
gave father fifteen head of travel worn cattle when pass-
ing thru on one of their annual drives.

Four years had passed" since the first settlers had
located in the Fontenelle Valley and the community was
still without mail service. A petition drawn by father
was sent to the Post Office Department asking for a post
office and mail route. The petition was granted, mak-
ing Mr. Justin Pomeroy, Sr , postmaster of the postoffice
which was called Fontenelle. John W. Smith secured
the contract for carrying the mail from Green River City
— a once a week delivery. Several new families had
been added to the colony. A cousin of D. B. Rathbun

his wife arrived from New York. Mrs. Charles
Rathbun was a teacher and also a skilled musician and
sang beautifully. Mr. and Mrs. N. S. Miller located a
ranch in the La Barge Valley — twelve miles north of
Fontenelle. These people were most cordially welcomed
by the community. A German named Harmes, but called
"Dutch George" located one mile west of our cabin on
what is now the Pomeroy ranch. Mr. Harmes had an
Indian wife and several half breed children D. B. Rath-
bun built a hewed log house of several rooms about nine
miles west from the mouth of Fontenelle creek. This
house was much better built and finished than the cabins
built heretofore, and the Rathbuns were justly proud of
their new home. They invited their friends to a house-
warming on New Years night, 1879.

Someone of the community proposed an opposition
dance to be given at the home of "Dutch George" on the
same date of the one to be given at the Rathbun home,
choosing to dance on a dirt or ground floor rather than
the tongue and grooved floor in the new house. Secret
invitations were given out and every one in the Fonte-
nelle Valley, including trappers, scouts, squaw men and
families and all the white families excepting those of
Mr. Rathbun and Mr. Miller assembled at the home of
Dutch George on New Years night. Roney Pomeroy, a

ANNALS OF WYOMING 55

trapper named Moon, and old Wes Thurman, "fiddled."
Alf Pomeroy called or prompted the old time quadrilles.
The dirt floor was sprinkled frequently to lay the dust.
Fearing that the Rathbuns might exteild invitations for
the second night the merry throng assembled again at
even, January 2nd. Mr. and Mrs. Miller who had been
guests at the Rathbun home the night before also came
to Dutch George's. This dance continued to the third
night. This has been known as the three nights dance.
Not from ill will or animosity toward the Rathbun's was
this dance given but rather from fun, loving deviltry
which prompted many practical jokes played in those
days.

Mr. Randall Rathbun (brother of D B. Rathbun)
his wife and two daughters, Alice May and Claribell
of Cincinnatus, New York, came to Fontenelle for a
brief visit to his brother's family. They stayed on for a
year or more. The younger daughter, Claribell, a beau-
tiful girl of about twenty years of age, died very sud-
denly, leaving the parents and sister, Alice, grief strick-
en. They soon returned to New York. The mother
lived but a short time after the return to the old home.
After the passing of the mother the daughter, Alice,
wrote the following poem:

MEMORIES

"I know a place, and know it well,
It is the distant Fontenelle ;
Beside its swiftly flowing stream,
In thought again I sit and dream;
Dream of what, do I hear you say?
Of many and many a happy day,
Of towering peaks, so white and grand ;
In that beautiful, beautiful sunshine land."

"Dream of the sage brush, gaunt and gray,
Which once held undisputed sway;
Where now the fields of waving grain
Stretch outward and onward across the plain.
Dream of the wonderful palisades
Rising straight from the meadow glades
Standing like sentinels, grim and tall,
Ever watching and guarding o'er all."

"I see again the eagles' flight
From their nests far up on the mountain height;

56 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Fit dwellers are they of their lonely home,
Where never the feet of man can roam.
Dream of roaming the rocks among
With thoughts unspoken and songs unsung;
Awesome the silence is, no sound
Of beast or bird is heard around."

"Afar from all sounds of grief or mirth,
Where the winding Fontenelle has birth,
Is the canyon, glorious, deep and high,
Reaching far upward toward the sky.
No artist, with clever eye and hand
Has ever journeyed to this fair land,
And pictures engraved on heart and brain
Alone are left of hill and plain."

"Dreaming and dreaming of sad good byes,
Of scenes so dear to my tear-dimmed eyes;
Fond memories fill this aching heart,
As far from this land I dwell apart.
Oh! for a glimpse of those hills once more
Before I am called to that Silent Shore,
Where time is not measured by months or years,
And the days are not filled with thoughts and
tears."

(Signed) "A Dreamer."

During the fall of this same year Roney Pomeroy
bought the cabins and claims of Dutch George and Mr.
Pomeroy and his family lived there thru succeeding
years.

While riding near Pine Grove south of Fontenelle
on the emigrant road, Alf Pomeroy met the family of
James Wright who had left Nebraska to locate a home
farther west After some conversation Alf persuaded
the Wrights to come to Fontenelle. Mr. and Mr. Pome-
roy, Sr., had recently moved into a large new house,
substantially built and complete in every way. This
house still stands as a monument to a family of enter-
prise and energy who had blazed the trail for those who
followed. Alf Pomeroy generously offered the use of
the original cabins occupied by his parents to the Wright
family and his offer was accepted. The May following
Miss Alice Pomeroy became the bride of Eugene Mathers
of Buffalo, Wyoming. Rev. F. L. Arnold of Evanston
traveled a distance of eighty miles to officiate at this
marriage, the first in the history of the community. The

ANNALS OF WYOMING 57

wedding gown was made en train with footing of lace
and the color was ashes of roses. Mr. and Mrs. Mathers
reside at Buffalo, Wyoming. Six weeks later Alf Pom-
eroy and Hattie Wright, eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
James Wright, were married and located a mile west
of his brother Roney.

April 20, 1880, a son was born to Mr. and Mrs.
Roney Pomeroy, their third child and on May 12th,
twenty-two days later, a son was added to our house-
hold and "seven boys and girls were we." These two
boys spent their boyhood days together, rode together
after- their stock and were as devoted and inseparable
as Jonathan and David.

Due to the helpfulness and influence of Rev. F. L.
Arnold, County Superintendent of Schools of Uinta Coun-
ty, a school was established with ten pupils enrolled
and taught by Teddy O'Neill. M. E. Post <5> and Hon-
orable Francis E. Warren (6) brot in the Spur herd of
about 15,000 cattle in 1882 from the eastern part of the
State and located a ranch at the mouth of the La Barge
Creek, a tributary of Green River, twelve miles north of
Fontenelle. All the small herds of cattle owned by the
settlers were sold to Post and Warren so that at that
time they controlled the cattle industry of Green River
Valley. Mr. Warren was a member of the F. E. Warren
Mercantile Company of Cheyenne and from him our
first sewing machine was purchased. Roney Pomeroy
also bought household furniture and when the furniture,
shipped from Cheyenne to Green River was received, two
high chairs were sent complimentary to the Pomeroys
for their two small children, Fannie and Frank.

A few years later Post and Warren sold the Spur
outfit to Reel (7) and Friend These men were also
from Cheyenne. Joe Alford, foreman for Post and
Warren, continued as foreman for Reel and Friend.

No provision was made for feeding cattle thru the
winter as owners depended on grazing in the mountains
in summer and driving to the desert east of Green River
for winter grazing. The Spur employed about twenty
cowboys and during the summer roundup when repre-
sentatives were sent in from Bear Valley, Fort Bridger
and other distant ranges, to gather cattle that had
strayed, there were forty or more cowboys to be fed by
William Wilson, the Spur cook, familiarly known as "Old
Tug." This man was truly a marvel in his line, cooking
over a camp fire using huge camp kettles for boiling

58 ANNALS OF WYOMING

beef, beans and dried fruit and baking bread in a dutch
oven.

My brother Charlie rode with the Spur and he
learned to love these cowboys and appreciate the ster-
ling worth of the gallant knights of the range, generous
and helpful, willingly giving their last penny to one in
need and always courteous to women. When the cattle
camp was near our house Charlie brot his most intimate
friends to our home to spend an evening. The boys
far from home were eager for companionship and a bit
of family life. My father was gifted as a reader and
from his prized book "William Cullen Bryant's Collec-
tion of Poetry and Song" he read aloud to the apprecia-
tive audience of cowboys. In turn our family was invit-
ed to dinner at the cow camp. Mother would cook fa-
vorite dishes and take butter, eggs and deserts which
were highly appreciated by the boys accustomed to the
camp rations.

A United States survey was made in 1883 enabling
the settlers to enter. filings and gain title to their claims.
Lines were run, irrigating ditches made and fences built
in every valley from Fontenelle to Big Piney. Many
new settlers came, crowding out the deer and antelope
and compelling the Indians to seek trails in the higher
mountains. The Indian village was replaced by the
neat ranch house and barns.

As the county road crossed the valley thru our ranch
and the road was about one hundred feet from our house
it might truly be said that ours was a "house built by
the side of the road." We were twenty-eight miles from
Opal, a day's drive with team and wagon. Tourists came
from the east and even from the British Isles to hunt
big game in the mountains near the head of Green River
and these strangers became our guests as they traversed
between the railroad station and the hunting ground.
To accommodate the traveling public, our house of
hewed logs containing eight rooms was replaced by a
frame building of fourteen rooms We met many r"
lightful people and counted the ranchmen and his family
dwelling within a radius of two hundred miles friends
and neighbors.

From 1883 my father ran a ferry on Green River
twenty miles below Fontenelle for three consecutive sea-
sons, going from the ranch in April and returning in
August after the river became fordable. The cabin
home on Green River served only as summer quarters

ANNALS -OF WYOMING 59

and therefore lacked the comforts afforded in the ranch
house at Fontenelle, and when five children of our fam-
ily were stricken with typhoid fever the second season
at the Ferry much inconvenience and discomfort was en-
dured. Having no near neighbors and unable to pro-
cure a .doctor, my parents, assisted by the man who
worked for us, nursed and cared for the sick. For six
weeks I screamed and cried in delirium and would al-
low no hand save mother's to touch me. Six year old
William — delicate from birth — succumbed to the malady
and was buried near the cabin. A message sent to Dr.
Harrison (8) at Evanston, Wyoming, failed to bring us
medical aid as his professional services were required in
his home town on account of the epidemic of typhoid
fever. In after years mother marveled at the inexhaust-
able strength which bore her through those days and
nights of ceaseless watching without rest or relaxation.

Long lines of covered wagons came daily to be fer-
ried across the river, traveling from the east to the west
and failing to find the land of their dreams, many re-
turned from the west after making the long journey, go-
ing back to the old home state. Many herds of cattle,
horses and sheep continued the drive to Nebraska as
this was before the Oregon Short Line was built.

Rand and Riggs, mentioned above, with a herd of
horses came to the ferry to cross their outfit, — ferrying
wagons, saddle horses and their riders or drovers. Catch-
ing a boatload of small colts and ferrying them to the
opposite bank of the river, the little animals were hog-
tied and placed where the mothers could see their off-
spring, thus using them to decoy the frantic dams into
the swollen, swirling river. One of the colts stumbled
to the rfver bank and fell in. The mare from the oppo-
site shore of the river recognized her colt and whinnying
shrilly, the frenzied creature plunged into the river,
passing the struggling colt in midstream. The colt, by
the use of its free legs, two cross legs being tied, managed
to keep afloat and was borne a mile down stream by the
swiftly flowing river. Here the river made a sharp turn
and the colt was drifted to a sandbar on the same side
of the stream from which the boatload of colts was fer-
ried. My brother Charlie mounted a horse and rode
down to the stranded colt which he placed on his horse
and carried back to the house. The owners of the herd
were impatient at the delay and swore vengeance
against the spirited mare, a high bred Lexington Father

60 ANNALS OF WYOMING

offered a trade for the mare and colt which the drovers
accepted as they were eager to get on the road. This
colt was a dark brown in color with markings the color
of a turtle dove on flanks and nose and because of this
we named it Dove. When this colt was four years old
Mr. Roney Pomeroy bought her for his wife who drove
her single and Mrs. Pomeroy used to keep time in driving
from her gate to ours, a distance of one mile, making
the drive in six minutes.

In 1898 or 1899 Mrs. Pomeroy, being a guest at our
house for the day, proposed that a telephone line be
built from their house to ours, a distance of one mile.
Father sat listening to the conversation and finally said,
"Why not make it a thru line from Opal to Big Piney
(sixty-five miles) with branch lines in valleys tributary
to Green River Valley." Going to Opal the next day
he talked with the merchants there who were quite will-
ing to co-operate in building the proposed telephone
line. The co-operation of the people living in Big Piney
was also secured and in less than four months from the
time Mrs. Pomeroy suggested the building of the neigh-
borhood line, a community line was built and in opera-
tion supplying twenty homes with telephones. Previous
to this, messages for medical aid, caskets to bury the
dead and orders for cars for shipment of live stock, were
carried by horsemen and if the emergency required great
haste the rider was furnished with a fresh mount by the
ranchmen living on the road from upper Green River
country to Opal. Also a daily mail was in operation be-
tween Opal and New Fork, the Salt Lake City and Den-
ver daily papers were received at midday at Fontenelle.
The Green River basin had reached a high state of de-
velopment. Every valley was filled with homes occu-
pied by happy, contented families.

Another experience which occurred at the ferry
was brot to our attention early one morning when a
Frenchman named Louis Violette, a hired man, in great
excitement called "Meester Holden, one tree on your
cabull." Father dressed and quickly going to the river
bank found that a tall green Cottonwood tree which
had been torn from the bank by the rushing water had
hung on the cable by one big strong root and the power
of the swollen stream forced the top of the tree to the
bottom of the river, the tree acting as a prop to the
cable which had loosened the guy posts on each bank.
How to get the tree loose from the cable they did not

ANNALS OF WYOMING 61

know. One of the men, there were three besides my
father, suggested shooting the tree trunk full of bullet
holes Fortunately they had a supply of ammunition
and too the two men and my father were excellent
marksmen. By the use of a glass they could ascertain
that they were hitting the tree and finally the weak-
ened trunk gave way and the stretched and sagging cable
swung and splashed into the water.

Our neighbor, Mr. Smith, offered to exchange his
ranch for the ferry. As the Smith ranch adjoined our
ranch on the east the exchange was made. Mr. Smith
died soon after leaving Fontenelle, and Lizzie, the Indian
woman, with her two sons, Ed and Albert Edwards, the
daughter Alice having died several years before, moved
to upper Green River country. Afterwards Ed, the eldest
son, married Miss Minnie Kutch, a pretty half-breed In-
dian girl and it is said that their son was the first sol-
dier from Wyoming to give his life in France in the late
World War. Mr. and Mrs. Edwards reside at Cora,
Wyoming, and are held in high regard.

The fall of 1889 father bought 250 head of cattle
and 100 head of pure-bred Clydesdale horses from John
B. Hunter of Buffalo, Illinois. Mr. Hunter had extensive
holdings in land and live stock both in Idaho and Wyo-
ming. Notes and mortgage for $15,000.00 were given
for security for the stock. No one living at that time
will ever forget the winter that followed. My brother
Charles was 21 years old December 9th and to celebrate
the event invitations were sent bidding everyone living
in Green River basin to attend Charlie's birthday dance
Snow fell all day preceding the party and the bidden
guests traveled over the drifted roads, some from a dis-
tance of forty miles. The romance which culminated in
the marriage a year later of my brother Charlie and
Miss Nettie Alford began at this birthday dance. Snow
storms and blizzards continued thruout the winter. The
cattle which had been driven to the desert in the fall
drifted back to the valleys and the starving creatures
wandered and trailed about the fences enclosing the
ranches. Ranchmen had not hay enough to feed their
own stock thru the winter so that the cattle belonging
to Spur and other big outfits were forced to starve. The
dismal bawling of the frenzied creatures heard above the
shriek of the blizard, night and day, was maddening.

Each morning my brother Clarence with a team of
horses dragged the cattle that died at night from the

62 ANNALS OF WYOMING

bed ground in the lane near our barn, leaving those too
weak to stand and which would succumb the following
night thus making a daily task of disposing of the car-
casses. The roundup the summer following counted
less than 800 head of Spur cattle out of 15,000 or more
turned on the desert the preceding fall and there were
thirty-two left of the cattle and only ten of the horses
which we had bought from Mr. Hunter. The horses,
saved thru the neighborliness of Alf Pomeroy who loaned
us hay to keep the animals alive. Father wrote to Mr.
Hunter of the loss of the stock and when, in the spring,
Mr. Hunter arrived and talked over the situation he told
my discouraged parent that he could obtain a judgment
for the debt but said that that would benefit neither of
them as father was already disheartened and incapable
of making a great effort to pay when he was carrying so
great a burden of debt. "And so," said Mr. Hunter,
as he arose from his chair, "We will just begin all over
again." He walked to the kitchen range, lifted a lid and
laid the notes and mortgage in the fire. Mr. Hunter
then proposed that my parents would keep the few cat-
tle and horses saved from the past winter on terms where
the young stock or increase would pay for the living
stock and forget all about the loss of the main herd.

After brother Charlie's marriage my next older
brother Clarence, secured the mail contract, delivery
was made from Opal on the Oregon Short Line which had
but recently been built.

During the term of contract with the Government
for carrying the United States mail, my brother Clarence
also transferred passengers and express and one eve-
ning in Sept. 1897, on his arrival home from Opal he
had two passengers, Miss Cora House from Corine, Utah,
and Thomas B. Crews, a lawyer from St. Louis, Missouri.
While we were gathered at the evening meal, Mr. Crews
told us that his mission to western Wyoming was that
of locating the grave of Pinkney W. Sublette. <9> That
a suit involving the estate of the family of which Pinkney
Sublette was a member was pending in the court of St.
Louis and that he as attorney in the case wished to as-
certain the date of Pinkney W. Sublette's death and if
possible to learn whether or not he had left descendants.
Mr. Crews had the deposition of a trapper named Mc
Kenzie who had known Pinkney W. Sublette in the long
ago. Mr. McKenzie stated that he had been at a ferry
on Green River near the mouth of LaBarge Creek when

ANNALS OF WYOMING 63

told of the illness and death of Sublette and that on go-
ing to Sublette's camp in Fontenelle Valley he had visited
the newly made grave where Sublette had been buried,
situated north of Fontenelle Creek one mile west of
where the creek flowed into Green River

Upon hearing this my parents recalled to mind the
lonely grave in the sagebrush dotted plain which lay be-
tween bottom land and the foothills near where D. B.
Rathbun's'first house had stood, but as there had been
so many graves throughout that section of the country
they had paid little or no attention to identification. My
parents remembered also that this particular grave had
been marked by an oval shaped headstone. But they
told Mr. Crews that they thot his search would be in
vain as the Rathbun house had long since been moved
and for many years this plot of ground had been in cul-
tivation and was now a meadow which extended far be-
yond where the grave was. Not to be daunted but firm-
ly convinced that by the directions given in the deposi-
tion of Mr. McKenzie who had known the spot well be-
fore the ground had been seeded to meadow grass and
had also seen it since, and he opined that the grave was
near the northwest corner of a hay corrall which was
now near the center of the meadow. With team and
light spring wagon, picks and shovels supplied by my
brothers who were to go with Mr. Crews and assist in
the search, the explorers were ready for the start when,
lured by bright spring skies and the zest for adventure,
my sister Minnie, our guest Miss House and I joined the
three men in the drive to the field then owned by C. F.
Roberson where the object of the search was supposed
to be. We alighted from the buggy and after looking
about and closely inspecting the recently mowed ground
near the north west corner of the hay corral, Mr. Crews
found a small piece of stone partly buried in the sod.
Searching farther he found another piece of stone which
fitted the first piece. Turning up a few shovels of sod
my brother Clarence struck a flat stone and upon dig-
ging it out of the firmly packed soil, the stone was found
to be oval shaped at one end and was nearly a foot in
length. Brushing the soil from the face of the stone this
inscription was plainly discernable : "P. W. S., D. 1865."
After digging to a depth of four and a half or five feet
a long narrow layer of flat stones was found and lifting
these stones a human skeleton was exposed lying in a
V shaped trough of flat stones. The skull and larger

64

ANNALS OF WYOMING

Mrs Roney Pomeroy and great-great grandchild, Frances Marguerite
lomhnson, born November 15, 1926.

ANNALS OF WYOMING 65

bones were intact but had fallen apart. Quietly and
with reverence the bones were lifted and wrapped in a
carriage robe and with the headstone were put in the
buggy and with this grewsome find we drove homeward,
our free happy spirits of the morning gone, each one
filled with thots of the scout and trapper who had broken
the trail to the west — had suffered hunger, cold and all
the inconveniences of a life lived on the border and when
the "long, long day was over" he had been laid in a rock
lined grave.

Carefully packing the skeleton in a small box and
making a case for the headstone, Mr. Crews labeled the
skeleton "Exhibit 'A' " and the headstone was marked
"Exhibit 'B' " and both packages shipped to Circuit
Court of St. Louis.

Mr. Crews, delighted and charmed with the fresh-
ness and freedom of our west stayed over for a week.
Having spent all his life in St. Louis, the fishing, shoot-
ing and horseback riding were a source of delight to the
man from the city and on the eve before his departure
after returning from a hike with my brother Howard to
a high pinnacle or peak jutting out from the ridge north
of our old home where we, as children, had played at
keeping store and where the precious packages of our
huge stock of imaginary groceries were still on the
shelves of rock in the sandstone caves of the mount, Mr.
Crews safd "I wish that my lot had been cast in Fonte-
nelle Valley."

The mysterious witness, Mr McKenzie, must have
felt the same charm for the Valley as he came again
and again after years of absence to the old rendezvous
of hunter and trapper. Uncommunicative and alone he
tramped along the winding stream, — supposedly fishing
— no one knowing his name or that he had any connec-
tion with the history of the valley before the advent of
permanent settlement until Mr. Crews brot the informa-
tion that this old recluse had known Sublette and knew
his last resting place. The last time Mr. McKenzie came
to the Fontenelle Valley he came to our house and asked
to rest awhile in our bunk house. He was old and looked
weak and ill. Soon after he laid down on one of the
beds, the hired man came to us to say that the old
gentleman was singing. We found him delirious, sing-
ing over and over the old hymn so universally loved by
the darkies — "There is rest for the weary — There is rest
— Sweet rest." We had him taken to the hospital at

66 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Rock Springs where he died' soon after his arrival. How-
ever, he must have regained consciousness after he left
us, as a few weeks after his death we received a letter
from a lady in Missouri thanking us for our kindness and
care given to Mr. McKenzie, explaining that he and she
had been sweethearts in the long ago but giving no fur-
ther information regarding the mysterious silence which
the old man had always maintained in regard to his past.

Mail was delivered three times a week from Opal
to New York. Brother Clarence deducted a wage of
$35.00 per month from the contract price, turning bal-
ance to assist my parents in paying their debts and pay-
ing household expense. My younger brother Howard, a
boy of eleven, herded and cared for the stock and as-
sisted in the ranch work and harvest. These were hard
times for all of us, not only our immediate family but
the families about us, as the hard winter had left the ma-
jority of ranchmen in hard circumstances. But thru per-
severance, economy and the patient kindly aid of our
creditors, bankers and merchants, extending time on
notes and accepting small payments on debts, the ranch-
men were enabled to regain their heavy loss and to at-
tain the ease and comfort so richly deserved by hard
work and stick-to-it-ivness. My mother was a most sin-
cere Christian and thru all the trouble and hardship her
unfailing faith remained steadfast and true When
obstacles blocked our way a walk under a starlit sky
would renew her courage and cheer.

The passing years were complete with happiness
and contentment. We were fortunate in securing re-
fined, intelligent teachers in the schools and nearly every
home contained at least one musical instrument. The
current magazines were found in the homes. No finer
group of young people could be found than in Fontenelle
Valley. We rode horseback, had fish fries and picnics
in the summer and sleighing, dancing and card parties
in the winter. Relatives, teachers and strangers who
visited in the valley were loth to leave and usually came
back to stay.

Ariel Hansen and wife bought the cabin and claim
of Shade Large who with his family went to Henry's
Fork, Wyoming. Mr. Hansen was a nephew of the late
A. C. Beckwith of Evanston, Wyoming. A sister, Miss
Eva Hansen, came from Ohio to visit her brother. Miss
Hansen was a qualified teacher and the school trustees
were gratified when she consented to accept the posi-

ANNALS OF WYOMING 67

tion as teacher of the district school and remain in the
community. Miss Hansen taught two consecutive terms
of school, then gave up the profession, to become the wife
of George L. McCray, a nephew of D. B. Rathbun. Mr
and Mrs. McCray located a ranche near that of Mr. Han-
sen in the western end of the valley. However neither of
these families felt the call of the west sufficiently to re-
main but sold their homes to the "Kansas Boys" three
young men who were from White Cloud, Kansas, Charles
Birkhalter, managing the McCray ranch, Russ Forncrook
the Hansen ranche, while the third man, Charles Sulli-
van, made his home on a parcel of land purchased from
Charles Rathbun situated between Alf Pomeroy's ranche
and that owned by D. B. Rathbun. The Hansen ranche
has changed ownership several times but is now the home
of my brother Clarence where with his wife and daugh-
ters he has resided since 1913.

Alf Pomeroy bought Mr. Sullivan's land which is
now a part of the estate owned by the heirs of Alf Pom-
eroy.

In 1888 a young man and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob
Herschler (Mrs. Herschler a sister of Mrs. D. B Rath-
bun, then living), established a home near the Fonte-
nelle Canyon in the extreme western part of the valley.
The home is in a beautiful setting surrounded by a high
range of mountains — the divide between the valley and
Fontenelle basin. The canyon "glorious, deep and
high" thru which Fontenelle creek flows cuts thru this
range of mountains, making the view from the home one
of grandeur and beauty at all seasons of the year.

In the spring and summer the green groves of quak-
ing aspen against the mountains arrest and hold the eye
but in autumn when these same groves are splotches of
red and gold the scene is one of indescriable beauty. The
spirit of hospitality pervaded the home of the Herschlers.
During the summer the house was filled with guests who
stayed for weeks enjoying not only the privileges of the
home but were privileged to use saddles and horses —
all this without compensation to their hosts. Apprecia-
tion is not always shown in such cases, but the following
will show that recipients of entertainment received from
these great hearted people were glad of an opportunity
to make a return. Mr. Herschler owned several bands
of sheep and for winter grazing these herds with neigh-
boring flocks were driven to the desert east of the Green
River. A dead line had been established by mutual

68 ANNALS OF WYOMING

agreement, the northern range for cattle, southern for
sheep and sheep that drifted north of this line were re-
moved by force4, by the cattle men often resulting in se-
vere loss to the sheep owner. One winter sheep had
been driven far out on the desert when a fierce blizzard
and snow storm caused the herds of Mr. Herschler to
drift into the cattle range. The deep snow made it im-
possible to move the sheep and so the camp mover, after
several days of slow traveling, as the snow was so deep
that in drifts it reached the sides of the horse, arrived
at the ranche and acquainted Mr. Herschler with the
facts. With pack horses laden with bedding, food and
grain for the horses Mr. Herschler and the camp mover
made the return trip to the sheep camp Deeply trou-
bled because his sheep had trespassed and anxious and
worried too, fearing the consequence, imagine the
pleased surprise and great relief to Mr. Hershler to find
that the cattle men of that vicinity on ascertaining whose
the sheep were, had with teams and bob sleds loaded
with hay trailed the sheep to the nearest ranche where
they were fed and cared for until the melting snow per-
mitted the owner to remove his herds to the home range.
Six years ago our good friend, Mr. Herschler, was called
to the house of "many mansions" but in the hearts and
lives of the men and women who revered and loved him
he still lives. In problems where right and justice are
involved these men and women are asking themselves
"In such a case, what would Jake Herschler have done?"
Mrs. Herschler lives at Big Piney near the two daugh-
ters, Mrs. Fred Beck and Mrs. Jesse Fuller. Canyon
Ranche, where the Herschlers lived for so many happy
years, is the home of the only son, (Edgar (Ned), where
he with his wife and young son are dispensing the same
hospitable friendliness that has ever radiated from that
house of the open door.

Sheepmen and cattlemen dwelt in harmony in the
Fontenelle valley, exchanging help in branding stock,
threshing, etc., mingling in good fellowship. The wild
and wooly west depicted by film, the cowboy wearing
chaps, spurs, six-shooters and sombrero in dance halls
and in the presence of ladies was unknown. Only two
hold-ups or robberies were known in the history of the
settlement. First of these occurring when Mrs. Swan
and Mr. Leifer, early settlers in Big Piney were robbed
of jewelry and a small amount of cash soon after reach-
ing their new location.

ANNALS OF WYOMING 69

August 19, 1898, D. B. Budd, (IO) postmaster and
merchant of Big Piney, was robbed by five strangers,
who dismounted from their horses, entered the store and
ordered a bill of groceries which they stored in pack bags
as the order was filled. Three men then rode away
leading the pack horses The remaining two men went
into the store, presumably to settle the bill, but surprised
Mr. Budd by pulling their guns, relieving him of his
watch and money and even searched the pockets of
Henry, Mr. Budd's small son, finding a five-dollar bill
which they added to the collection. The bandits then
backed out of the store, mounted their horses and gal-
loped after their companions. A posse followed and
trailed the bandits into a rocky gorge. As the trail was
fresh and easily seen the posse were trailing at a lively
pace when they were startled by a rain of bullets from
the guns of the bandits ambushed behind the boulders.
One of the bullets clipped a thumb from the hand of
Tobe Houston, one of the posse who rode in the lead.
Realizing the futility of the chase the pursuing party
wheeled their horses and rode for home, leaving the out-
laws to go their way.

Three years later the greatest tragedy known in that
part of Wyoming occurred when brother Charlie, who
was deputy sheriff under Sheriff Frank James, was mur-
dered in an attempt to arrest a young man wanted for
raising a check. By untiring energy and good business
my brother had become one of the leading ranchmen at
Big Piney and thru his warm-hearted cheeriness had
won the place of general favorite in the entire commun-
ity. My brother's wife and small two-year-old daughter
lived in our home the greater part of the first year fol-
lowing my brother's death and the child was idolized by
her grandparents. But my mother did not recover from
this terrible sorrow and passed away February 11, 1907,
at the age of 68 years. Had she lived until March 9th
my parents would have celebrated their golden wed-
ding anniversary. My father, lonely and dissatisfied,
left the old home in Fontenelle, spending the winters in
California and returning to the ranch for the summer
seasons.

Father was public spirited and had held several im-
portant offices. Was postmaster for several years, also
served on the board of school trustees, and thru the in-
fluence of Reel and Friend, well known thruout the state,
he was sent as a delegate to the Constitutional Conven-

70 ANNALS OF WYOMING

tion in 1889 and later he received the appointment of
United States Land Commissioner in which office he
served for twenty years and entry for the majority of
homes in Green River valley was made before him.

In April, 1911, father sold the ranch to my youngest
brother, Howard and wife. My sister Minnie and my-
self, who had continued to live under the parental roof,
also sold our livestock and land to Howard and we ac-
companied father to Riverside, California, whlere we
have since resided Two years later, December 20th,
1913, father died and his remains were taken to the old
ranch in Fontenelle and there he was buried by mother,
on a little knoll overlooking the valley and home where
the happiest years of their life had been lived. It is just
fifty years, 1877-1927 — since my parents moved into the
cabin on the Fontenelle. Of the eleven adults who made
the first settlement two, only, are living. Those two are
Mrs. Roney Pomeroy at Whittier, California, and Mrs.
Alice Mathers at Buffalo, Wyoming. May 15th of this
year Mrs. Pomeroy celebrated her 77th birthday. Much
of the information contained in this article was supplied
by Mrs. Pomeroy. Father and Mother Pomeroy, Roney
and Alf crossed to the Great Beyond many years ago.
The two latter passing when they should have been in
their prime. Mr. Rathbun died a few weeks before fa-
ther died, Mrs. Rathbun having preceded her husband
several years.

My sister, Mrs. Charles Bird, died New Year's Day,
1922, leaving a husband and a large family of children,
so that only four of our family are left — two brothers,
Clarence and Howard at Fontenelle, Wyoming, and my
sister and self in Riverside, California

A few years ago while in Monterey, California, I
found the following verse written over the door of the
dressing room in the oldest theatre in California, built
in 1847. The lines bring to mind the actors that played
so splendid a part in the life lived in those days in Fon-
tenelle valley, and seem fitting to close my history —
"Ponder just a little all ye who enter here

And try to think what kind of plays they used to act
in here.

'Twas tragedy and comedy and now and then a farce

At Xmas time a pantomine and then a social dance

And tho the actors all have gone

Their ghosts sometimes play here

They make the old Theatre ring

'Till daylight doth appear."

ANNALS OF WYOMING 71

FOOTNOTES

(1) Seat of government of Sweetwater County.

(2) In September, 1868, the Union Pacific Railway reached this
point. Elevation 6,340 feet. A machine shop and a round-
house of twelve stalls was built and the new town of Bryan
became an important distributing point to the South Pass min-
ing district. Bryan is now a "ghost town." See Crofutt's
Transcontinental Tourist Guide.

(3) Mr. Rathbun remained on this ranch until 1891 when he re-
tired and moved to Evanston. He was a splendid type of citi-
zen.

(4) In southern Wyoming — tributary to the Green River.

(5) M. E. Post, Territorial Delegate to Congress from Wyoming
in 1881-1885.

(6) Francis E. Warren was appointed Territorial Governor of Wy-
oming in 1885 and again in 1889; he became the state's first
governor, assuming his office October 11, 1890. In 1891 the
Legislature elected him to the United States Senate which po-
sition he still holds. His present term expires March 4, 1931.

(7) A. H. Reel, popularly called "Heck," was a widely known
freighter and cattleman. He was a member of the Territorial
Assembly in 1875 and a member of the Territorial Council
in 1881 and in 1889; served many times as member of the
House of Representatives in State Legislature and was twice
State Senator; he was mayor of Cheyenne, Wyoming, and a
member of City Council. He died on his La Barge ranch in
October, 1900. See Wyoming Historical Collections, Robert
Morris, 1897; Progressive Men of Wyoming, page 287; Annals
of Wyoming, October, 1900.

(8) Dr. Harrison located in Evanston, Uinta County, Wyoming,
in 1872 and resided there continuously until the time of his
death, December 28, 1925, an honored and beloved citizen. He
was the ranking physician and surgeon in the state in point
of years of continuous practice and he had been one of the
original five Union Pacific surgeons in Wyoming Territory.
He had served in the second territorial legislature, was county
commissioner for four years and county treasurer for six years
of Uinta County.

(9) An early day trapper and explorer in what is now Wyoming.
He was a brother of William and Milton Sublette.

(10) Settled at Big Piney, Sublette County, then Uinta County, in
1880; died there in 1902 an honored and highly respected
citizen.

72 ANNALS OF WYOMING

THE NAMING OF MOUNT OWEN.

A short time ago I received a letter from a friend in
Chicago, which made me supremely happy. He advised
me that he had just received an official communication
from the National Board of Geographic Names, at
Washington, D. C, informing him that that body had,
by unanimous vote, named one of the great Teton peaks
for me. My friend further wrote that this great honor
was conferred upon me in recognition of pioneering work
and mountaineering done by me in the Teton Mountains,
and added that I had reason to feel flattered by this
action of the board because it is their custom not to affix
a man's name to any geographic feature while he is yet
alive.

My friend enclosed a copy of the official letter. Of
course, I was delighted beyond measure, and my joy
was further enhanced when I observed that this official
letter was signed by Frank Bond, as chairman of the
board — my old high-bicycle friend of 1882-3-4 and 5!

I am going to set down a little history in connec-
tion with the naming of this peak in order that it may
become a part of that which has already been written
concerning this superb range of mountains in northwest-
ern Wyoming.

I was summering in Jackson, Wyoming, last year,
Mrs. Owen and I at the time occupying cabin No. 7 on
"Gasoline Alley," at the Crabtre-e Hostelry. There
came to our cabin one day a gentleman who introduced
himself as F. M. Fryxell, geologist from the University
of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. He wished to make an
ascent of the Grand Teton and having heard that I could
probably give him necessary information, asked me if I
could recommend a good man to accompany him on
the trip I gave him the name of Paul Petzoldt, the
youth who has made more ascents of the Grand Teton
than any other man, living or dead. Not long after, Mr.
Fryxell made the ascent and, as was to be expected, fell
under the dread fascination of those truly delectable
mountains. He immediately planned other ascents,
and, utterly unknown to me, one of them was to be the
sharp pinnacle about half a mile northeasterly from the
Grand Teton for the express purpose, if he succeeded in
reaching the summit, of naming that peak for me ! But
an untoward turn of affairs compelled Mr. Fryxell's re-
turn to Chicago and the ascent had to be abandoned.

In a conversation I had with Mr. Fryxell afterward,

ANNALS OF WYOMING 73

he expressed the opinion that one of the Teton peaks
should be named for me on account of my exploration
work there and having made the first ascent of the moun-
tain in the range. I told him that I had frequently ex-
pressed a desire to have my name attached to the moun-
tains in some way but did not know just how to proceed
to bring it about.

Did my good friend Fryxell drop the matter there?
He did not. He kept the iron sizzling every moment,
and by a proper showing secured official action of the
National Board of Geographic Names whereby one of
the great granite shafts of the Teton Range was offici-
ally named Mt. Owen. Following is an exact copy of the
Board's Letter to Mr Fryxell, advising him of their ac-
tion:

United States Geographic Board,
Washington,

Room 5329, Interior Building,
October 8, 1927.
Prof. F. M. Fryxell,
Augustana College,
Rock Island, Illinois.
Dear Sir:

You will be interested in learning that the United
States Geographic Board, without division, at the regu-
lar meeting on October 5th, 1927, adopted the name
"Mt. Owen" for the lofty peak of the Teton Range lo-
cated one-half mile north of the Grand Teton which he
ascended so many years ago

Very truly yours,

FRANK BOND,

Chairman.
In its regular printed official circular issued from
time to time by the United States Geographic Board, the
issue of October 5, 1927, contains among other decisions,
the following note: "OWEN:' Peak, (Mount Owen, 13,-
400 feet high), Teton County, Wyoming, one-half mile
north of the Grand Teton. After William O. Owen, who
made the first successful ascent of the Grand Teton,
August 11, 1898." (The black face are mine.)

I wish to call particular attention to this statement
of the Geographic Board for here we have the offocial
unqualified indorsement of the highest tribunal in the
United States of my claim that my party were the first
human beings to reach the summit of the Grand Teton.
There is no higher authority in this country on questions

74 ANNALS OF WYOMING

of this character and the vote of the Board was unani-
mous. The Geographic Board doesn't base its findings
on hearsay and wild claims; it must have evidence from
unprejudiced sources before making a decision.

The splendid peak in whose christening by the Geo-
graphic Board I have been so signally honored, is a mag-
nificent spire of granite standing right alongside of the
Grand Teton and is the second highest point in the en-
tire range. It is the sharpest pinnacle of all the Teton
spires and, in my judgment, will prove a more difficult
climb than even the Grand Teton. Its summit is still
virgin although several attempts have been made to
scale it. Mt. Owen stands northeasterly from the Grand
Teton, and, with the two great peaks southwest of the
last named, constitutes a group that might very appro-
priately be named the "Four Tetons." These four
granite spires lie northeasterly and southwesterly from
each other with space intervals of from half to three-
quarters of a mile between them.

Mt. Owen stands farthest north with an altitude of
12,910; next comes the Grand Teton, 13,747; then the
Middle Teton, 12,769 ; and last, the South Teton with an
altitude of approximately 12,500. These four Tetons
are the highest points in the range and Mt. Moran, I be-
lieve, is fifth, with an altitude of just over 12,000 feet

The altitude of the Grand Teton was determined
to a great degree of precision by the U. S. Geological
Survey — certainly to within five feet. Wishing to know
the altitude of several other summits, in 1925, assisted
by Mr. George D. Corwine, and his assistant, Leslie Peter,
of the Wyoming State Highway Department, I made a
series of triangulations to determine the position and ele-
vation of several peaks in the vicinity of the Grand Te-
ton. I had a fine base line in the valley, accurately
measured and of ample length, and all the angles, both
vertical and horizontal, were read by three of us, insur-
ing a perfect check. The calculations were made by my-
self and checked by Mr. Corwine's assistant. We agreed
perfectly. As a result of these calculations I found the
altitude of Mt. Owen to be 12,910 feet and that of the
Middle Teton to be 12,769. For the position of Mt.
Owen I found that its summit from the summit of the
Grand Teton bears N. 33 degrees-03' E. 2478.40 feet.

I am happy, indeed, to have my name linked with
these noble mountains, more especially so because the
Geographic Board bestowed this honor upon me in recog-

ANNALS OF WYOMING 75

nition of my exploration in that country and of our first
ascent of the Grand Teton The Wyoming people, and
the public generally, outside of the state, have stood by
me loyally in my long controversy with Mr. Langford
who claims to have climbed the peak in 1872; and now
I wish to ask them to go a step farther and give a hearty
endorsement to the action of the National Geographic
Board in bestowing my name on one of the great Teton
peaks.

I first heard of the Grand Teton in 1882. I was
camping with Hon. John W. Hoyt at the time — one time
Governor of Wyoming and later president of its univer-.
sity. Whatever his peculiarities he was a thorough
scholar, a most charming conversationalist, and one of
the best informed men I have ever met. In a talk one day
about the Alps we drifted to Wyoming peaks. I asked
him if in Wyoming we had anything comparable with
that European range. He said: "We have just one range
— the Tetons." He asked me if I had ever seen the
Grand Teton. I said I had not. "Well," he replied,
"if you want to climb a real mountain just try your hand
on that peak." "It is the greatest mountain in this
country and has never been climbed!" Note that this con-
versation was held in 1882 — ten years after Langford's
attempted ascent. It didn't appear to me then that I
was to be the first man on the summit of that peak.

This conversation with Governor Hoyt fired me with
an ambition to climb the Grand Teton and it finally be-
came an obsession with me. But it was nine years after
that talk before I made my first attempt on the peak.
M. B. Dawson and wife, of Laramie, together with Mrs.
Owen and myself, going in from the Idaho side, attacked
the peak in 1891, and we all reached a point only 700
feet below the summit. This is the first attempt ever
made by women. On this occasion I got my first peep
of the Jackson Hole country, and I liked it so well that
upon my return home I applied for and secured a gov-
ernment contract for the survey of various sections and
township lines in that locality. It was the first govern-
ment survey ever made in Jackson Hole — 1892 and
1893.

Following the year 1891 I made repeated efforts to
scale the Grand Teton but failure was my portion till
arrived the happy day of August 11, 1898, when four of
us reached the summit. This was undoubtedly the first
complete ascent ever made, and the official endorsement

76 ANNALS OF WYOMING

of this claim, first by the Board of County Commission-
ers of Teton County, Wyoming, next by the State Legis-
lature of Wyoming, and now by the National Board of
Geographic Names, at Washington, D. C, in each case
by unanimous vote, has forever removed the question
from the realm of controversy and put the quietus on a
contention that raged for nearly thirty years.

For nearly forty years now I have been telling the
world of the magnificence and wonderful scenic beauty
of the Teton Mountains, and the people are just begin-
ning to realize what a prize Wyoming has in the north-
west corner of that great commonwealth. The Teton
Mountains, in point of scenic beauty and rugged gran-
deur have no rival in this country. The range is about
75 miles long and extends from Pitchstone Plateau, in
the Yellowstone Park, to a point about six miles north
of the grand canyon of the Snake River (the "Mad
River" of the Astorians) through which it flows before
passing into Idaho. In that entire distance the range
fairly bristles with pinnacles running from ten thousand
to nearly fourteen thousand feet above the sea.

There is a fascination about these mountains that
I am utterly unable to explain, fathom, or understand.
The great feature of their impressiveness, I think, is the
startling abruptness with which they rise from the floor
of the valley. There are no foothills. One can step
from a boat on the west shore of Jenny Lake and imme-
diately begin the ascent of the Grand Teton whose east-
ern slope rises from the lake in an unbroken sweep of
seven thousand feet to the summit of the great peak,
whose tip kisses the blue 13,747 feet above the sea. One
can stand at the east base of the range, only four miles
from the summit, right on the floor of the valley, at an
altitude of only 6,500 feet, and see every yard of the
south slope of the Grand Teton from base to tip ! I don't
think you can duplicate this anywhere else in the
United States. I have tramped, surveyed, and hunted
over the Teton Mountains till I have come to love them,
dream of them And I think you will pardon me for
exulting just a little bit over the fact that I was the head
of the first party that ever reached the summit of Wyo-
ming's great mountain and that recognition of that
achievement by the highest authority in this country has
just been announced to the world. Not many of the
Teton peaks have been named. One has been christened

ANNALS OF WYOMING 77

Moran, another Buck Mountain, and now to these must
be added Mt. Owen.

The Teton Mountains are the Alps of America. They
have no rival in this country. Their wild and rugged
beauty with absence of anything like foothills gives them
an impressiveness and titantic grandeur that beggars
description, and puts them in a class by themselves. They
are Wyoming's noblest scenic possession and the world is
just becoming aware of that fact. If you see them once,
the pfcture will never fade from your mind. Nowhere
else in this great country of ours has Nature painted so
grand a picture.

TO MOUNT OWEN

From out the forest's depths of pine
Where lakes of silvery surface shine
You rear your form old mountain, gray,
To catch from Sol his pristine ray.

The billowy clouds that deck the sky
Oft form thy crown O ! mountain high ;
A coronet superb, I ween,
So far above the forest green!

Ten times ten thousand years have flown
Since first thy mighty form was thrown
From depths so great to heights sublime
No mountaineer could hope to climb.

Vast fields of snow and ice so cold
Thine armor is, O ! Teton bold —
Defense sufficient to this time
To ward off all attempts to climb.

Thy brow no human foot e'er pressed!
No flag e'er fluttered from thy crest!
Superb, magnificent art thou!
No christening hast thou known till now!

Mount Owen, Hail! We welcome thee
To join the noble coterie —
That rugged, granite Teton band
Which has no peer throughout the land !

WILLIAM O. OWEN,

529 West Third Street,
Los Angeles, California.

ANNALS OF WYOMING 79

HOWARD MICHAEL

Dictated in August 1925
88 Years of Age

I was born in Virginia in 1838, leaving there when
one year old and coming to Iowa when four years old, my
youth being spent there. At that time Iowa was a wild
state. In '61 I left there and crossed the Missouri River,
leaving the Fort called Military Bridge — at that time near
the present site of Omaha with a mule team going across
Nebraska to Ash Hollow. This was the place where Gene
Harney had killed all of the Indians, men, women and
children, the Indians being very troublesome at the time.

Ash Hollow was a canyon on the south side of North
Platte River just across the river from the present site of
the town of Lewellen, Nebraska, is about six miles long
from the head of the canyon. The year of '63 it was just
a stage station on the Overland Trail, trail going down the
canyon and crossing the North Platte to the site at this
place.

It was a number of years before that General Harney
had his fight here. Part of the Indians killed there were
just returning from a massacre at the Big Sandy. There
were just a few stone buildings here at this time, and part
of the walls were still standing a few years ago, the writer
spent his youth here. The folks moved to this country in
'84. Can remember when skulls and human bones were
very plentiful there, but do not know if they were Indians'
or white men's bones. Having picked bushels of choke
cherries, plums, currants — three kinds, and grapes here
as they were very plentiful then.

There were three graves at the mouth of the canyon
on the left hand side as the road turned up the Platte Val-
ley; the graves were there when I first went there. They
were immigrants that were killed by the Indians. It had
been laid out as a cemetery a few years back, and the most
of the people who die in this part are buried there now
where the three graves are.

The train of 48 teams was loaded with a consign-
ment of corn for Denver. The owners were Peck & Wood.
At Ash Hollow I quit the outfit and stayed there until
spring when I went back to Omaha, the trip taking four
months. I next took a position driving stage out of Des
Moines, Iowa, to Odell, Iowa. In March 1 quit that and
hired out to Ben Holiday, coming to Virginia Dale in '64.
I drove three teams over this route from Virginia Dale

80 ANNALS OF WYOMING

to Laramie River, close to where Wood's Landing is. In
a short time I changed^to the route from Big Laramie to
Rock Creek Crossing. [Rock Creek Crossing was a stage
station on the Rock Creek at the present site of Arling-
ton. There was a stage station and also a toll bridge
located there on the Overland Trail. At that time all the
buildings were on the south side of Rock Creek at Old
Rock Creek.

Old Rock Creek located on Rock Creek was on the
railroad but that part of the track had been abandoned
about 23 years ago. Later years town was on the North
side of the Creek and ten miles from Rock River, the
nearest point of railroad. A number of people were buried
on the north side of the creek, about one hundred yards
below the bridge. There were also some log cabins close
where they were buried. All signs of graves and buildings
are gone. The three men killed at Three Mile Crossing
on Three Mile Creek on Overland Trail were buried here.
I Rock Creek was a freighting station. All the Government^
freight was hauled from here to all the surrounding forts. A
There were four saloons, one big hotel, blacksmith shop/
and store. G. D. Thayer owning store, blacksmith shop
and hotel. A great many freight wagons were made here
at this blacksmith shop (G. D. Thayer was a son of Gov-
ernor Thayer.) * It was a busy place in those days. There
was a Government Commissary located here. Thayer after-
wards sold out when the freighting business fell through
and went to Meeker, Colorado, and started a bank at that
place. It was a great shipping place at that time. Ar-
buckle and Wilds had fourteen six mule teams hauling from
this place. Most outfits used oxen as they have greater
endurance on a long haul and although slower, will out
travel horses and mules on a long trip. The Indians were
very troublesome there, having killed a number of people.
Three were killed at Three Mile Crossing on Three Mile
Creek on Overland Crossing.

After five months I transferred to the route from Rock
Creek to Medicine Bow Crossing. Medicine Bow Crossing
was a stage station on the Overland Trail. There was also
a toll bridge here. It was located where the present town
of Elk Mountain now is. Mrs. Perry Townsend was the
station keeper here and her husband drove stage days after
having made the change with me. I asked her if she was
not afraid to be alone, she said "No. If I was I would not

*J. M. Thayer was Ty. Gov. of Wyo., from Feb. 10, 1876 to
April 10, 1878.

ANNALS OF WYOMING 81

be here." I then asked her if she did not get lonesome, and
she said when she did she took the six shooters and went
out and practiced at a target. After two months there I
changed off with Perry Townsend, who was a station
keeper and a married man, so he could be home nights with
his wife.

I was next sent to Bridger Pass, the owners of the line
being unable to keep men there very long at a time. This
was owing to the fact that it was a very dangerous country
and the entire trip was through a canyon. However I was
there 22 months without losing my scalp.

In the year '67 I was transferred to Bitter Creek, driv-
ing to Separation Rock. After three months my route was
changed from Bitter Creek to Point of Rocks. Point of
Rocks was then a freighting station freighting north to
Lander and beyond.

I then quit driving stage and going to Denver went to
work for Major & Russell, a bull outfit freighting from
there to Fort Phil Kearney loading with Government corn,
half of which was loaded for Fort Mitchell on the Loup
River in Nebraska. We were 30 days making the trip.
I quit here and hired out to a mule outfit coming to Fort
Laramie on the North Platte and from Fort Laramie to
Cheyenne.

I next loaded out for Fort Laramie a.nd on return
loaded out for Fort Reno on Powder River) I was over
two months on this trip and on returning the stock was
turned out for the winter. In the spring I yoked up and
pulled out for Fort Laramie with Government stores. Was
35 days on the trip. Game was very plentiful here at all
times. In those days the people lived mostly on the meat of
elk, deer, antelope, mountain sheep and all kinds of game
birds. | Buffalo never were west of the Black Hills except in
small bands. What few there were were killed off in the
hard winter of '57 when the Indians lost all of their ponies.
Kit Carson and Jim Bridger made their stakes by going
to Arizona buying ponies and returning and trading them
to the Indians for furs.

\After my return from Fort Laramie I loaded out for
the Ked Cloud Agency and upon returning to Cheyenne
loaded out for Spotted Tail Agency which was located
where the present\Rose Bud Agency now is. This was
about the year '75 ) and the Indians were making trouble
at the Agency. We were loaded with bacon and after the
bacon was unloaded the Indians ran their horses over the
piles of meat, scattering it in the sand, which was about

82 ANNALS OF WYOMING

two feet deep. There were four companies of soldiers
stationed there but the soldiers never made a move because
a single shot fired would have been a signal for a massacre
just as happened at Fort Kearney in the year '66, there
being 40,000 warriors here.

The Indians pulled down the flag and tore it to pieces
before the soldiers and they were compelled to ignore it.
(I had left Fort Kearney in the year '66 just before the
massacre, traveling day and night with 200 wood choppers)
The Red Cloud Agency was removed the next spring. While
I was there I saw some of the most beautiful Indian bead
work and I tried for several days to buy it, offering as
high as $450.00 for it. It was on two entire hides of Buffalo
and was a complete picture of the Fort Kearney massacre
all done in beads. The buck said it took the squaw five years
to make it and refused to sell it or trade it.

(y

.While at Fort Laramie the entire freight outfit was
pressed into service hauling supplies for the railroad. We
were guided by Jim Bridger, going to Rock Creek by the
"Collins cut off". The Collins cut off went due south until it
crossed the Big Laramie River about six miles from the
fort. Fort Laramie was just in the fork where the Laramie
ran into the Platte road then went due west coming up a
canyon through the Black Hills (do not know the name).
An army officer by the name of Trotter was the first to
come over this route with teams. There was just a dim
trail. He had Jim Bridger to guide him through the same
as we had. After crossing theJiills the road or trail ran
almost straight to Rock Creek.) Camped one night at a
lake about four miles from Rock Creek. This lake had a
name then, a soldier having been found dead there, he
having deserted at Fort Laramie. He had come by way
of the Collins Cutoff and had perished for want of water.
I think the name came from the guide who first found this
route. Major & Bennett had the contract for furnishing
all supplies for the railroad company and we hauled for
several months from the end of steel to construction gangs
ahead until snow fell and I got caught in a blizzard and
nearly froze to death. It was a three day storm, but I
finally arrived in Rock Creek and turned the stock out
for the winter.

The next spring I loaded out Government stores for
Fort Halleck, returning to Fort Laramie and from there
going to Cheyenne and loaded out for Fort Reno again?)
On this trip we had a brush with the Indians on "Moss
Agate" hill southeast of Glenrock. There were ten teamsters
and two others along. When the reds attacked the teams

ANNALS OF WYOMING 83

were coralled with a hot fire. They were stopped except
one Indian who rode full tilt for the wagons, everyone
shooting at him until his horse fell dead. The brave took
refuge behind the dead horse, but all guns were turned loose
on the dead horse shooting through him and killing the
Indian. The horse was fairly shot to pieces. The others
left then after this reception, coming back as soon as we
left for the dead brave. We saw no more Indians until we
arrived on Dry Fork of Powder River, 16 miles of road here
being in the bed of the creek. We camped at noon under a
bluff and while eating our dinner seated around the fire
the redskins opened fire from the top of the bluff. One
man fell over dead and the dinner was scattered in the
dirt. By the time we got on top of the bluff the reds were
gone. We went on to mouth of the creekwhere we camped
that night, arriving at Fort Reno the next day and unloaded.
The redskins attacked the post that evening, the fight last-
ing about two hours. Two soldiers were wounded but we
had no way of knowing how many Indians were killed or
wounded as the redskins always removed their dead and
wounded whenever they could.

\We left the next day for the Fort and nooned where
we nooned in the canyon the day before. We were fired on
again but no one was hurt. Leaving there we saw no more
Indians until we arrived at Sage Creek when they attacked
again but were driven off by a few close by. Arrived at
Fort Fetterman, then on to Cheyenne turning stock out
for the winter]

In the spring of '76 I hired out to General Crook as a
scout. We had over one hundred head of cattle along for
beef for the soldiers. The first night we camped on Sage
Creek. That night the redskins crawled upon a night
herder, Jim Wright, and killed him. The next day we
moved to Powder River where the reds attacked again, but
no one was injured. This was the year of the Custer
Massacre and was the spring campaign, General Crook
afterward being on the summer campaign when he was
sent to the relief of Custer. Upon the fourth day after
moving up the Powder River and while scouting along a
pine ridge, I discovered two reds looking out from behind
the trees. I reported this to General Crook and he said to
pass on by them and not to let them know we had seen
them. Going on about a mile we crossed a trail the red<-
skins had made while crossing with 1,800 head of horses
which were being taken to their warriors. The General
then ordered the two companies and four scouts to follow
their trail. We followed the trail all night, riding at a

84 ANNALS OF WYOMING

gallop as the moonlight was bright and the trail easy to
follow. At dawn we came to the top of a hill. On either
side was an arroya or deep gulch. The Indians were
camped at the mouth. There were twenty-five lodges and
twenty-five Indians to a lodge, as they usually lived.

Captain Egan having charge told Major Noyes to
charge down one ride and he would go down the other
so as not to cross fire into each other and they would not
let one of the Indians get away. Major Noyes, after going
part way, ordered his men to dismount and make coffee.
Captain Egan arriving at the agreed point, attacked, but
having no support had a terrible fight. All the horses of
his command were killed but one. Each soldier was sup-
plied with two, as were also the scouts. Four soldiers were
killed and fifteen wounded within a few moments.

After a lull in the shooting and having had nothing to
eat and being about starved, I thought I could get into the
Indian camp and find something to eat. I had wormed
myself nearly there when a number of the Indians spied
me and cut loose from all different directions. I got in
between two stumps and some of the soldiers seeing what
was going on, they cut loose at the reds, and I crept on
very carefully into the Indian camp. I found a big kettle
of venison on the fire and took it up and started eating
when a soldier came up and seating himself facing me,
started to help me eat it. Seeing some rubbish keep mov-
ing, I got up and walking over, pulled out a papoose about
two feet long, and threw it down again. There was so
much noise from the wounded men, Indians and horses I
could not hear anything but these noises ; but going a little
way found a squaw, the mother of the papoose which she
had hidden under the rubbish. She had been shot through
the body in spite of which she had tried to kill the soldier,
but he killed her with the butt of his rifle.

The redskins having all hidden behind the rocks and
trees, the officer ordered us to pile up the tepees and
tanned hides. They were covered with the finest bead
work in designs and I would have liked to have kept some
of them. I hated to put them on the fire, but had no way
of getting them away.

After burying our own dead we all went to where
Major Noyes was. Captain Egan drew his sword and
threatened to cut off Major Noyes' head, calling him a
dirty coward and placing him under arrest. Upon his re-
turn to the fort he was court martialed, but was not dis-
charged from the army. (General Crook was very much
disgusted with Noyes.)

ANNALS OF WYOMING 85

While there the redskins were seen running off the
herd of 1,800 horses as we were on a ridge. Ten soldiers
and two scouts were ordered to pick fast mounts from the
Major's troop and re-capture the horses. We took a short
cut over the hills and came in ahead of them on a narrow
defile along the mountain side after a run of twelve miles.
After a short fight the redskins were driven to cover in a
grove of trees and were cut off from the band of horses.
We then ran the horses over a high bank into the river
and crossed with them to the other side, our only chance
to get away. Cutting across the hills and avoiding all
trails we arrived to where the troops were.

During the next night the night herders were driven
in by the Indians and the entire horse herd run off by the
Indians, leaving just the horses the herders were riding.
None of the horses were ever recaptured by the troops.

Returning to Cheyenne I then went to Fort Fetterman
and outfitted there for the summer campaign. On the
summer campaign I had to drive a sixteen mule team four
days out from Fort Petterman. Was glad of the rest. The
wagons were loaded with whiskey for the troops, whiskey
being a regular part of the rations those days. When
camped on Sage Creek (the same creek camped on when
the beef herder was killed), was sitting on a rock above
camp. Two soldiers and an Indian were playing poker by
a wagon when the Indians cut loose with their guns at the
players but hit no one, the bullets kicking up the dirt around
the players. They surely rolled to cover behind the wagon
in a hurry. Under General Crook four companies of In-
fantry left there. The first camp was made on Dry Creek of
Powder River, the next night camping at mouth of river
and staying there for two days. Left there with one com-
pany of cavalry and one of infantry the next day and travel-
ing day and night got to Rosbud Creek. (The troops were
being sent out after the Custer Massacre). Other troops
joined here, forces having been sent from all the surround-
ing territory.

In the morning four companies of cavalry ran into the
Indians that had been in the Custer battle. The Indians
were never afraid of the cavalry because they could run
away, but they were very much afraid of the infantry
troops because they could not run and had to stay and fight
and they were the better equipped, having longer guns with
more accurate and greater range.

The reds defeated the cavalry this morning, the in-
fantry being in the rear several miles which was unusual.
General Crook sent orders for the infantry to mount mules

86 ANNALS OF WYOMING

and get to the place of the fight at once. As soon as the
infantry arrived the tide of battle changed, and owing to
the fear of the Indians for the infantry, they were soon
defeated. The troops also had two gattling guns and six
field pieces along, but they were in the rear and were never
brought into action, but if they had been the entire tribe
of Indians could have been wiped out as they were in a sort
of basin at first. Four soldiers were killed and eleven
wounded. This was called the battle of Rose Bud. Major
Noyes was with the cavalry here. When the fight was at
its worst Major Noyes was standing with several on a hill
where he had been ordered, and the bullets were flying
thick, throwing gravel and dirt in every direction. Seeing
General Crook coming he ran up to him saying, "I report
for orders." General Crook replied, "I have my eye on you.
Get back to you men and stay there."

After the dead soldiers were buried we left for Goose
Creek on the trail of the Indians. Passing there we camped
on Milk River, the Indians going into Canada.

I quit the expedition here and returned to Medicine
Bow, then Old Carbon, a noted place at this time. Old
Carbon was the first coal camp in the State of Wyoming,
and the Union Pacific got all their coal there for a number
of years. All the first engines were wood burners. I was
there when Dutch Charlie was hung. Was about three
feet away when Frank Howard kicked the barrel away
from under him. Howard was the leader of the gang that
Dutch Charlie belonged to. Howard had been the leader
of the gang that held up and robbed the George Trabing
store at Medicine Bow. After the rope was put on Dutch
Charlie's neck and he stood on the barrel he turned and said
"Joe Manoose" (a French name) Howard kicked the barrel
from under him to keep him from talking and giving away
his part in the gang. Howard had been employed by the
railroad and had previously turned State's evidence and
made the arrest .of Dutch Charlie. Howard immediately
left town, walked out a mile and caught a freight. After-
wards he went North to Fort McKinney, where he was
shot down by John R. Smith. Upon my return I took a job
freighting to Fort Fetterman, making three round trips on
that trail with a horse and mule outfit, then laid up at Fort
Fetterman during the winter. The next spring I drove
oxen for Jack Hunton from Medicine Bow to Fort Fetter-
man on trips taking twenty-two days loaded and eighteen
days empty on this trail. ] The Indians had all been driven
out of the country at this time. I have been living in
Albany and Carbon counties most of the time since. I

ANNALS OF WYOMING 87

hunted for Hunt who in the 70's had a camp on the Bow
River at the old Camp place about four milesf rom Medicine
Bow town. Hunt had a number of men hunting for him,
and shipped game 'to all parts of the world for a number
of years. The hunters killed the game and other men
hauled the game into camp. They used six mules or oxen
hitched to the front wheels of a wagon with two poles drag-
ging to load the game on. This method was used as they
could go most any place with that outfit. The game torn by
the coyotes or wolves was taken to avoid trouble with the
Indians who did not like to see game wasted and who
generally made trouble for any one who did so.

One time over on the La Prele the Indians made a
raid, stealing all the horses in that country and leaving
everyone afoot. At that time, under a treaty, no whites
could cross north of the Platte River. The Indians could
come across and steal, but no one could go across the river
after them. A man by the name of Persimmon Bill, a
slippery cuss, said he would get them. So swimming his
horse across at night he got into their camp, cut all the
hobbles and picket ropes, and then giving a war whoop,
stampeded the entire band of horses into the river and
across to the other side. Having a cabin in the hills, he
took them there into a valley. The next morning the chief
came up to the bank of the river and signalled to the fort
to be ferried across for a pow wow. After the talk the
officer in command ordered a sergeant to go and get the .
horses for the chief. Another man being with Persimmon
Bill and hearing this, told Bill they were driving off the
horses. Bill, having a horse standing there, mounted and
headed them off, taking them away from the soldiers and
the chief drove them back. Persimmon Bill's true name
was said to be William Chambers.

In a short time the man saw the horses going again
and he had to head them off again. The third time it hap-
pened, Bill told the soldier to leave them horses alone and
the soldier replied, "I guess you need a little shooting," and
started to raise his rifle, which he was carrying across his
saddle. Bill went for his six gun, shooting him through
the body and then cut loose with his rifle at the Indian, but
the Indian got away. Driving back the horses he then
went to the Fort, walked in among them, took a drink of
whisky and then rode away. He stopped and took $430.00
from the dead soldier, leaving $40.00 to bury him with, so
he told me later when he came over to pay me $80.00 he
had borrowed from me. He wanted to give me the soldier's
rifle, but I refused the gift. The next day all the soldiers

88 ANNALS OF WYOMING

from the Fort were out looking for Bill and Bill rode with
them and hunted for himself. None of them knew him.
He had been known to get away with a number of horses
around Laramie and Sheriff Brophy was after him at
times. One time he had taken a bunch from near Laramie
to the Green River country and sold them and sat in the
hotel reading the item about the sheriff being on his trail,
he having already disposed of the horses. He had been
known to go to a Fort, pick a horse from a bunch at the
rack, mount and ride away with the horse.

Along in the seventies I was staying alone and was
cutting wood for the Fort about fifteen miles from Fort
Fetterman at a place called the Blacksmith Shop. A man
named McDougall had a cabin about one-half mile above
me. He was cutting wood too. After going to dinner one
day was returning to work with my splitting outfit and
had so much to carry had left my rifle and shells hid in the
bush. Had just got up to rimrock and looked off toward
McDougall's camp when I saw some horsemen come in
sight. McDougall was at work on a tree trimming the
branches. I thought it some white men, the glimpse I
had of them, and so I sat on the rock waiting for them to
come around the trail. A gun cracked and McDougall
threw up his arms and fell dead. I had left my splitting
outfit in the trail so rolled over behind a rock and watched
an Indian come out and scalp the man then a bunch came
up. They took his gun and shells and rode past me just
a few feet away. As soon as they were past I got back
to where my gun was and went across to another camp
where a bunch of men were working and went back and
got the body and sent it to the Fort for burial.

The first cattle, Texas stuff, came into the country in
'67, but the big herds came in the early '70's till the country
finally became so overstocked grass for the freight teams
was hard to find until along about '84 the grass was so
scarce a great many of the herds were driven north into
Canada.

The freighting business gradually fell away with the
abandonment of the different Forts. I fired on the rail-
road, was a brakeman and also ran an engine. Freighted
wood when railroads burned wood, cut ties, trapped at dif-
ferent times. I trapped with Jack Watkins just below Elk
Mountain on the Bow River. He was an easy person to get
along with. There was a saw mill on Elk Mountain, the
first in the country. It was on the head of Mill Creek, and
was started about 1868. The next Mill was on the West
Fork of Wagon Hound Creek. Do not remember the

ANNALS OF WYOMING 89

owner's name. I was in Colorado and worked in a number
of saw mills around Cripple Creek and other districts in
the eighties, I was down there about ten years returning to
Wyoming where I still reside.

Ash Hollow, Nov. 12th, 1857.
Mr. Ward
Dear Sir

I have obtained from Mr. Hines 6 lbs of sugar
and 7 lbs of coffee which you will settle with Messrs Rus-
sell & Wadell, Agent at your Post and charge the same
in your bill against Wm. Magraw.

Respectfully yours
200 Obt. Servant

162

B. F. Burche.

367

MOUNTAINS OF WYOMING

NAME Mtn. Range Altitude (Ft.

Big Horn 8,000 to 12,000

Bradley's Peak Seminoe 9,500

Chimney Rock Wind River 11,853

Cloud Peak Big Horn 12,500

Mt. Doane Yellowstone 10,118

Elk Mountain Medicine Bow 11,511

Fremon't Peak Wind River 13,790

Grand Encampment Park 11,003

Grand Teton Teton 13,747

Index Peak Yellowstone 11,740

Laramie Peak Laramie 11,000

Laramie Range 7,000 to 9,000

Medicine Peak Park 12,231

Medicine Bow Range 8,000 to 12,000

Mt. Moran Teton 12,000

Park Range, in Wyoming 11,500

Phlox Mountain Owl Creek 9,136

Pilot Knob Yellowstone 11,977

Quien Hornet Uintah 9,300

Sailor Mountain 10,046

Seminoe Mtns. (highest) 10,500

Washakie Needles 12,252

Mt. Washburn 10,388

Yount's Peak Yellowstone 12,250

ANNALS OF WYOMING 91

Fort Bridger, Wyoming, Jan. 4, 1885.
Mr. H. H. Bancroft,

San Francisco,
California.
Dear Sir: —

In reply to your letter of November 18th last, I en-
close herewith such records as the founding, history, etc.,
of this post as can be compiled from existing post rec-
ords:

Yours very respectfully,

(Signed) ALEX CHAMBERS,
Lieut. Col. 21st Infantry
Comdy. Post.
Location, Etc.

Fort Bridger is situated 10.6 miles south of Carter
Station on the Union Pacific Railroad, on a delta formed
by several branches of Black's Fork of Green River. Its
latitude is 41 degrees, 15' 37" North, longitude 110 de-
grees 22' 39" West from Greenwich, and altitude 7010
feet, (barometrick measurement).

History

The vicinity of the post seems to have been a ren-
dezvous for trappers as early as 1834, the neighboring
branches of Green River abounding in Beaver at that
time. During the summer of that year a number of
trappers in the employ of the North American and
Rocky Mountain Fur Companies (then consolidated),
assembled here and dividing into parties proceeded in
various directions on Beaver trapping expeditions.
Among these trappers may be mentioned: Wm. Sub-
lette, Fitzpatrick Fontenelle, Basil La Jeunesse, W. M.
Anderson, James Bridger and Jack Robinson.

The Snakes were then the dominant tribe of Indians
in this vicinity.

James Bridger (familiarly known as Jim Bridger),
from whom the post derives its name, settled here in
1842, building a log block house and establishing a kind
of outlying trading post. In 1854, Bridger sold out his
establishment to one Lewis Robinson a Morman, who in
1855, built old Fort Bridger, which consisted of a boulder
stone wall, 100 feet square and 14 feet high, with cylin-
drical corners, and a corral 82 feet wide. This locality
was at the time a part of Utah Territory. For some
time afterwards the Mormons maintained outlying settle-
ments in the neighborhood.

The military history of the post begins in 1857. The

92 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Mormons (then dominant in this region) had rendered
themselves obnoxious to the U. S. Government by inter-
ference with the duties of such territorial officials as
were not of their own religious faith ; many of the latter
being in consequence obliged to leave the territory.
President Buchanan therefore appointed Gov. A. Cum-
ming, a gentile, to succeed Brigham Young, then Gover-
nor of Utah, and made some changes in other territorial
officials; and, in the spring of the same year (1857), an
expedition consisting of the 5th and 10th regiments of U.
S. Infantry, and Phelp's and Renos' batteries of the 4th
Artillery was sent to Utah Territory, as escort for and, if
necessary, to establish the authority of the newly ap-
pointed territorial officials. This expedition under the
immediate command of Col. E. B. Alexander, 10th in-
fantry, started West by the usual trail along the Platte,
and reached Henry's Fork of Green River at a point
about 30 miles east of the present post, early in October,
and there went into camp, where they remained until
some time in November, awaiting instructions from
Washington ; Brigadier General Harney, who had been
originally designated to command the expedition, having
been detailed by political troubles in Kansas and never
having joined.

While thus encamped, a detachment of Mormon
cavalry cut off and destroyed five supply trains, of 25
wagons each, which were designed for the expedition,
thus virtually making war upon the U. S. Government.
Shortly after this event Brigadier General A. S. Johnston
arrived and took command of the expedition in place of
General Harney. The expedition then moved westward
to Black's Fork of Green River and established winter
cantonment and what was known as Camp Scott, about
2 miles south of the present post. The command re-
mained in camp during that winter, undergoing some
privation on account of shortness of supplies and losing
a number of animals from scarcity of forage.

In the spring of the following year (1858), Major
Wm. Hoffman, 6th U. S. Infantry arrived with reinforce-
ments and ample supply trains. Thereupon Gen John-
ston selected the site of the present post of Fort Bridger,
designated certain companies of Infantry and placed
Major Hoffman in command (Special Orders No. 41
Headq'r's Dept., of Utah, same year). The Mormons
who had previously occupied this valley had meanwhile

ANNALS OF WYOMING 93

abandoned the neighborhood after destroying everything
that would have been of any use to the troops.

At about this time Brigham Young, on the part of
the Mormons, consented without further resistance to the
transfer of his office to Governor Cummings, and to the
occupancy of the territory by the U. S. troops, and Gen-
eral Johnston, with the bulk of the command, marched
westward and established Camp Floyd, about 40 miles
south of Salt Lake City, leaving Maj. Hoffman with the
companies designated as the garrison at Fort Bridger to
commence the work of construction. The building of
quarters, etc., was at once begun, the labor being per-
formed by the troops. The old cobble-stone Mormon
fort, heretofore referred to, had meanwhile been taken
possession of and was converted into store houses.

2nd Lieut. Joseh H. Taylor, 1st Cavalry, was the
first post Adjutant and 1st Lieut. B. F. Smith, 6th In-
fantry, the first deport quartermaster of the post.

On the 17th of August, 1858, Brevet Lieut. Col. E.
R. S. Canby, Maj. 10th Infantry, relieved Maj. Hoff-
man in command, the latter joining the companies of
the 6th Infantry, which shortly left the post en route for
California. During the administration of Col. Canby,
and in the same year, the building of the post was for
the most part completed.

On March 7th, 1860, Major R. C. Gratton, 7th In-
fantry, relieved Col. Canby in command, the latter going
to Camp Floyd, Utah, and thence with the command to
New Mexico.

On June 4, 1860, Maj. Gatlin, having also been or-
dered to New Mexico, was relieved from command of the
post by Capt. Alfred Cumming, 10th Infantry.

Captain Frank Gardiner, 10th Infantry, relieved
Captain Cumming, August 9th, 1860. At the outbreak
of the Civil War, the former officer took a seven days
leave of absence, started east and joined the Confederate
forces. He was therefore dropped from the rolls of the
army as a deserter.

Captain Jesse A. Gore, 10th Infantry, took com-
mand May 29, 1861, and so continued until the with-
drawal of troops from Utah in aiding in suppressing the
rebellion. At about this time Camp Floyd (already re-
ferred to) was abandoned, the troops under command
of Col. Cooke, 2nd Cavalry, being marched to this post.
By direction of the latter officer, most of the subsistence
stores then at the post and such of the quartermaster

94 ANNALS OF WYOMING

stores as were not needed elsewhere were sold at auc-
tion. Captain Gore, with the bulk of the garrison,
joined Col. Cooke's command, which early in August,
1861, started for Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; Capt. J.
C. Clarke, 4th Artillery, with a few soldiers whose terms
of service had nearly expired, being left in charge of the
post. In December of the same year Captain Clarke
was ordered east, leaving Ord. Sergt. Boger and a few
privates at the post.

For about a year from this time the post was with-
out a garrison or a commissioned officer, during which
period the property was under charge of Ord. Sergeant
Boger. This was a somewhat critical period in the his-
tory of the post. The Shoshone Indians were at that
time hostile and the Mormans, since the withdrawal of
the troops, were regarded as still more dangerous ene-
mies. The latter set up claim to the land on which
the post was located, on the ground of a conveyance
from James Bridger, who was said to hold a Spanish
grant for the same. (It is to be remembered that this
region was originally in Mexican Territory). Fearing
trouble and for the protection of property as well as for
personal security, Judge W. A. Carter, the post trader,
organized a volunteer company of mountaineers from
the surrounding country.

On December, 1862, Captain M. G. Lewis, with
Company 19th, 3rd California Infantry Volunteers, ar-
rived at the post and took command.

During several succeeding years the post was gar-
risoned by companies of California and Nevada Volun-
teers, and various changes occurred from time to time.

On July 13th, 1866, the command devolved upon
Bvt. Maj. A. S. Burt, Capt. 18th U. S. Infantry. At
about this time the volunteer troops were mustered out,
and the garrison then consisted of Co.'s "F" and "H",
1st batallion, 18th U. S. Infantry.

When the Territory of Wyoming was formed in
1868. this post and vicinity were included in the terri-
tory/

f In 1868-69, the project of a railroad across the con-
tinent was in contemplation, and, during these years,
portions of the garrison (then consisting of Co's. "B",
"C", "F", "H", and "I", 36th Infantry under command
of Brevet Col. Henry A. Morrow, Lieut. Col., same regi-
ment) were from time to time engaged in escorting engi-
neers of the U. P. R. R. A portion of the garrison was

ANNALS OF WYOMING 95

also employed in guarding the overland stage route, 200
miles east of Green River. During this period additional
storehouses and quarters were built and the old ones re-
paired by labor of the garrison under the direction of
Maj. J. H. Belcher, Post Quartermaster.

The post was abandoned in May 1878 per G. O. No.
4; 1878, Headquarters Dept. of the Platte, and remained
without a garrison until June 1880, when it was rees-
tablished by S. O. No. 57, Headquarters Dept. of the
Platte, dated June 18, 1880. The new garrison consist-
ing of Co.'s. "F" and "H" 4th Infantry arrived at the
post the latter part of the same month.

In 1881, a road over the mountains from Burnt Fork,
a mail station about 35 miles south of the post, to the
site of Fort Thornburg, Utah, was constructed by civilians
in the employ of Judge Carter, the post trader. J

In the summer of 1883, the work of building addi-
tional barracks and quarters was commenced, with the
view of increasing the garrison which then consisted of
Co.'s "B", "C" and "G", 9th Infantry, under command
of Lieut. Col. T. M. Anderson, same regiment. Some of
the old barracks were in a dilapidated condition and no
longer used as company quarters.

(In June of the same year, a batallion consisting of
Co'sT "B" and "C", from this post, and Co's. "B" and
"G", 7th Infantry, from Fort Fred Steele, Wyoming and
under command of Maj. I. D. De Russy, 4th Infantry,
left the post, and was engaged for about two months
repairing and improving the road to Fort Thornburg, al-
ready referred to. ]

On August 7th, 1884, the garrison was increased by
Co's. "D" and "H", 21st Infantry.

On August 31, 1884, Lieut. Col. Anderson was re-
lieved from command of the post by Lieut. Col. Alex.
Chambers, 21st Infantry.

/ TOWNS

\ "With the exception of the small station called Car-
ter, on the Union Pacific R. R., there are no towns or
settlements anywhere in the vicinity of the post, j

(Signed) C. C. MINER,

2nd Lieutenant 9th Infantry,
Post Adjutant.
From files of Dr. Hebard.

96 ANNALS OF WYOMING

LARAMIE COUNTY— P. O. RANCH

While civilization lasts horses will be in demand and
any effort to improve the breed to meet the requirements
of progress will meet assistance, has always done so with
just encouragements from an appreciative public. This
is true no less in the improvement of racers than of draft
horses. Within the last decade, experiments have proven
beyond questions that the Perchion race of horses is su-
perior to all others for general utility and that the prair-
ies of the western Territory is the cheapest and most
advantageous section to raise them.

The latter proposition has been demonstrated by
Messrs. Post and Brown, at their ranch near Cheyenne,
Wyoming, but appreciating the advantages of associated
capital they have determined to form a corporation under
the laws of Wyoming, which are liberal and made with
reference to the demands of stock raising in that time.

Their present investment represents over $500,000
actual value in horses, lands and improvements, an item-
ized statement of which follows.

They propose to sell a one half interest in this prop-
erty and to capitalize on such basis as will provide treas-
ury stock, when sold sufficient to largely increase the
breeding capacity of the herd, to add a number of Perch-
eron Norman mares and stallions, by importation and to
complete such improvements on the ranch as may be re-
quired by reason of such addition to the herd. With this
statement we beg to request your examination of the
accompanying description of their ranch and herd of
which is based upon actual value.

Cheyenne, Wyoming, September 1st, 1884.

Memorandum. — Description of ranch improvements,
and stock owned by Post & Brown situated in Laramie
County, Wyoming Territory. The ranch under control of
this firm is north of the City of Cheyenne, Wyoming,
from which its southern boundary is distant about six
miles, it includes a tract of country of one hundred thou-
sand (100,000) acres of which over (45,000) are in-
closed by a barbed wire fence and the remainder it is
proposed to inclose by the same kind of fence during
the season of 1885. The land mentioned above as being
under our control is owned one half by our firm includ-
ing the part lying along the water front at Lodge Pole
Creek (a stream running through this land) and the re-
mainder by the Government of the United States. As
the land owned by the Government is in the limits of

ANNALS OF WYOMING 97

our range and is unsuited to agriculture without water
to irrigate and in consequence of the absence of seas-
onal rains, our firm owning and controlling all the land
to the streams, any interruption to our holding is there-
fore extremely improbable. Title to the Government
land can only be secured under the pre-emption and
homestead acts in tracts of 160 acres for each location
and two dollars and fifty cents per acre. (This being sit-
uated within the 20 mile limit of the Union Pacific
Grant) . Our ownership of the water front practically
controls the Government land. There is about 3,000
acres of this land under this fence which is very valu-
able meadowland. This we use for cutting hay. This
range was located in 1872 when we had the first choice
of this vast country, and was selected after much inves-
tigation as being superior to all others of which we had
any knowledge. At the period of its location the Ter-
ritory of Wyoming consisting of 98,000 square miles was
practically unoccupied. At the time mentioned it was
regarded as the finest in the territory for its amazing
pastoral properties, and at the present time one of the
most valuable in the country — no less for its proximity
to a populous centre and location on the line of the mar-
ket, than for its great fattening properties. The grasses
are the Gama, buffalo, bunch gramme, wild hay or oats
and a multitude of other valuable varieties while for ad-
ditional winter food there is the far famed white sage
in great profusion. It is impossible to over estimate
the value of these wonderful grasses, which are cured
on the ground by the long dry summer and are infinitely
super in nutrive quality to the finest hay, in fact, it is
computed that one ton of such food is equal to five times
that amount of cut hay. The range is covered in the
most luxurious abundance by these grasses and herds
put out to graze at great distances from this spot gravi-
tate to it with absolute certainty. Lodge Pole Creek, a
fine mountain stream, runs entirely through this range
from West to East, a distance of about seven miles from
the southern boundary furnishing a convenient and am-
ple supply of water from the southern part of the
range. The tributaries of Horse Creek penetrate the
range in various directions and it may be stated gener-
ally that a sufficiency of water exists over the range. The
natural shelter of thecountry formed by the rolling char-
acter of the prairies render the range a desirable winter
residence for stock. Thehome ranch is situated on Lodge

98 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Pole Creek. An abundant stream of the finest water
about one and one half miles above the eastern boundary
where are located fine barns, stables, sheds, blacksmith
shop and tool house, also large and convenient corrals.
The main barn is 150 feet long, 35 feet wide, built of
the very best material conveniently arranged for breed-
ing purposes with large box stalls for stallions built on
the most improved plan and complete in all details. The
blacksmith shop, carriage house and tool house are
equally complete. The corrals are very extensive, con-
veniently arranged and ample to handle five thousand
(5,000) horses; two miles above the home ranch on the
same stream are located large stables, sheds, house and
corrals and outbuildings formerly used as a home ranch
and are very complete and ample in all respects, two
miles above this ranch on the same stream is located an-
other ranch with house, barns, corrals, etc., conveniently
arranged. There is also another station on Trail Creek
in the northern part of the range with house and corrals
thus making four breeding ranches. The bulk of the
horses now on this ranch have been bred up in Nevada
Territory for the last 18 years from the very best class
of stallions. There are also included in the number
several thoroughbred mares and their young stock; the
herd will compare favorably with any band of breeding
horses in the states. These animals bred on the prairie
and unused to open air life in all seasons without shelter
or grain, are not only much hardier and more enduring
but they retain their vitality to a much older age than
those raised on a more heating diet under different con-
ditions. The mares will breed until past 25 years of age,
there are already on the ranch 15 imported Percheron
Norman stallions of the very best quality and five stal-
lions of different breeds.

It is proposed, however, to substitute the important
Percheron Norman stallions in place of the latter there
being a ready market at Cheyenne for the stallions as
well as for all other classes of horses.

APPORTIONMENT OF BREEDING

One thousand mares breed 66 per cent of colts.
The mare colts of two years of age breed 66 per cent of colts.
Fifty per cent of the colts will be mares, the total will be at
the end of two years as follows:

1st year 1000.00 mares, increase 330

2nd year 1000.00 " " 330

5rd year 1000.00 " " 330

330.00 " " 108.90 Total 480.90

ANNALS OF WYOMING

99

ith year

1000.00

>>

»

330

>> >>

660.00

»>

»

217.80 Total.

547.80

5th year

1000.00

)}

»

330

}> }>

990.00

»

jj

326.70

» >>

108.90

»

>>

35.94 Total.

692.64

6th year

1000.00

>>

>j

330

>> >>

1320.00

>}

jj

435.60

t> i>

326.70

»

>j

107.82 Total.

873.42

7th year

1000.00

>>

jj

330

» >>

1650.00

>>

jj

544.50

j> >>

653.40

»

jj

215.62

» »>

35.94

j>

jj

11.87 Total.

1101.99

3th year

1000.00

j>

»

330

j> jj

1980.00

>>

jj

653.40

>> j>

1089.00

»

jj

359.37

>> >>

143.76

>>

jj

47.48 Total.

1390.25

9th year

1000.00

>>

jj

330.00

» >>

2310.00

j>

jj

762.30

>> >>

1633.50

>>

jj

539.05

>> jj

395.38

»

jj

118.70

>> j>

11.87

>>

jj

3.96 Total.

1754.01

10th year ....1000.00

J!

jj

330.00

>> >>

....2640.00

>>

>>

871.20

jj >j

....2286.90

JJ

jj

714.67

jj >>

.... 718.72

l>

jj

237.40

»> >>

.... 59.38
p rolt.s

>>

jj

19.60 Total.

2212.87

Mar

9671.88

Total number of mare colts....

9671.88

Total nu

mber of horse colts....
ai increase

9671.88

Tot;

....19343.76

Original

mares

.... 1000.00

il number of mares and colts at end of 10 years..

Tots

....20343.76

Inventory of horses owned by Post and Brown at '

their ranch

near Cheyenne, Wyoming territory, !

September 1st, 1884:

No.

Ages

Mares

Price

Amount

1000

2 to 11

>>

$ 175.00 $175,000.00

60

Unclassified

u

100.00

6,000.00

250

One past

jj

80.00

20,000.00

150

4's and up .

Geldings

125.00

18,750.00

100

3's

jj

100.00

10,000.00
19,200.00
15,000.00

240

2's

jj

80.00

250

l's past

jj

60.00

25

Saddle stock

60.00

1,500.00

5

Stallions

250.00

1,250.00

15

Imported Percheron .

2000.00

30,000.00

600

Colts this season crop.

50.00

30,000.00

Over 200 of

which are one

-half

2695

$326,700.00

50,000 acres of land the title

to be

completed in due

course

200,000.00

The above includes improvements of every descrip-

100 ANNALS OF WYOMING

tion consisting of about 45 miles of barbed wire fenc-
ing, several miles of irrigating ditches, buildings already-
described, also wagons, harness, mowing machines, tools
of all kinds, cows and young stock and everything per-
taining to the equipment of a first class ranch of this
character. There are between three and four thousand
acres of this land covering the water courses, that is
worth upwards of ($100,000.00) one hundred thousand
dollars outside of the improvements. The ranch has tele-
phone connections with Cheyenne.

Coutant.

Denver, Colorado, January 10, 1897.
Mr. G. C. Coutant,

Laramie, Wyo.
My Dear Sir :

Yours of 5th inst. is at hand. I enclose you some
additional thoughts that occurred to me after our con-
versation, and a page from the family scrap book which
contains the cut of the Overland Mail & Express Com-
pany" instead of Wells Fargo & Co. Holladay's name
is indissolubly connected with the Overland Mail busi-
ness. Wells Fargo & Co. were in the stage business less
than a year. I send you a page of the scrap book so
when you return it it can be fitted back into its place.
It also has the clipping from the North Platte paper.

I want to give you under the head we might say of
some notable events on the Overland an account of the
fight with the Indians on the Sweetwater River near
Split Rock when a party of the Overland men nine in all
with two coaches loaded to the guards with mail were
attacked by a large war party of Indians. The fight
was a desperate one and lasted all day and part of the
night, also I want to tell of the great feat of moving
over 650 miles of a Daily Stage line stock, rolling stock
all moveable parts of stations such as windows, doors,
etc., and never losing a mail, that is putting every mail
through on schedule time. It was an unparalleled feat,
and was the wonder of that day, old plainsmen said it
could not be done without a stoppage of the mails for
about a month. And I want to give you a few more
names of persons connected with the Overland. We
did not name any drivers. I want to give you the names
of some of the notable drivers and skilled reinsmen of
the Overland Mail line, also an account of the attack by
Road Agents on the mail and treasure coach in Port
Neuf Canon in which three men were killed and all but

ANNALS OF WYOMING 101

one or two out of a dozen men wounded and $75,000
in gold dust taken. Two well known business men, mer-
chants of Hutchison, Kansas, were amongst the killed.

In regard to my photo I have not had one taken in
25 years and just now I do not care to go to the expense
of one. You can see I am a very busy man. I have
given you considerable of my time cheerfully when you
was here and in writing this and what I propose to
write if you want it and you feel that you can be at the
expense I will sit for the photo.

(Signed) D. Street.

P. S. Also if you desire it I will give you the facts
connected with the location of Fort D. A. Russell by the
military authorities and the town of Cheyenne by the
railroad authorities on the 4th of July, 1867.

The New St. James,

Denver, Colo.,

Fred W. Bailey, Manager.
Mr. Coutant,

My Dear Sir: You did not give me your address
but can when you write. I will send you the clipping
from the North Platte paper and the cut of the Over-
land Concord Coach. After you are through with them
I would like them returned. Remember to put on the
coach instead of Wells Fargo & Co. as it is now "The
Holladay Overland Mail and Express Company." The
upper line on coach can remain "Overland U. S. Mail".
Among the superintendents you might put George K.
Otis and amongst agents the names of W. L. Halsey and
J. Harvey Jones and Robt. L. Pease and amongst divi-
sion agents Dug Ayres, division agent of the Omaha line,
Omaha to Ft. Kearney and Phil Elkins, or as he was
familiarly known, "Pap Elkins," the father of Senator
Steve Elkins, and head the list of superintendents with
Gen. Ben. Ficklin, afterwards in the Confederate Army
in Virginia. He managed the Overland just prior to
Ben Holloday's connection with it and in the most try-
ing ordeal, and did it well, he was thoroughly versed
in the stage business having staged through the south.
We neglected to give the names of the express messen-
gers— for they were a worthy set of men and their busi-
ness in charge of the treasure and valuable express mat-
ter was a great responsibility and exposed them to great
risk, and they passed through some of the most trying
scenes on the Overland. Amongst them was C. M. Pol-
linger or "Gus Pollinger" as he was called, John May-

102 ANNALS OF WYOMING

field, Chas. Parks, Billy Hudnut, Nastor Thompson, Mc-
Causland, Billy McClelland, George Mastin, late of Chey-
enne. I can recall more names later on in all the de-
partments and you can insert them — I neglected to men-
tion the mountain lines in Colorado from Denver to Cen-
tral City and Black Hawk which from the day it started
until the present narrow guage railroad was built (for
about 12 years) was the best paying 41 miles of stage
road in the United States or the world for that matter,
for it never missed a day summer or winter of making
a trip loaded to the guards both ways, and frequently
two coaches each way.

Then the line from Denver up the Pltate Canon to
Breckenridge, 150 miles long. It afterward became the
property of Billy McClelland and Bob Spotswood and
it formed the nucleus of the great stage line from the
terminus of the South Park Railroad in Platte Canon
to Leadville in the palmy days of the Carbonate Camp,
and it made the fortunes of its owners. The transpor-
tation or freight department of the Overland was a large
business of itself it required a great many ox and mule
trains and men to do the heavy business of transporting
the grain, fuel and supplies of every kind. When Hol-
laday took the line this work had been done by contract,
one contractor's pay for one season's work (as the work
could only be done on gross, except in exceptional in-
stances when a mule train would be rationed with
grain) was near $90,000. The company owned trains
of its own, but Mr. Holladay thought the freight busi-
ness should not be mixed up with the stage business, a
good stage man was not always a good freight man so
he preferred to separate it and made a proposition to
one of the freighting firms of the Carlyle Bros, to form
a partnership under the name of Holladay & Carlyle
to be known as the freighters for the Overland Mail
line and to do all of it. He made a liberal proposition
to the Carlyle Bros., he was to put in all the trains of
the Overland Stage line and the Carlyles to put in all
of their trains to be credited on the books of Holladay
& Carlyle at their appraised value, it proved a great
success.

The manager of this business was Henry Carlyle,
one of the best known and most popular men on the Over-
land. He was a tyical Kentuckian, honest, brave, whole-
souled and genial to overflowing. Mr. Holladay's great
success was largely due to the men he had with him,

ANNALS OF WYOMING 103

he had the faculty of getting the right man in the right
place, they were brave, honest, efficient and made his
interests their own, and they cheerfully faced all hard-
ships and perils in his service.

I can furnish you with Ben Holladay's signature and
an autograph letter. At the same time Ben Holladay
owned the Overland he owned a line of steamships on
the Pacific Coast making weekly voyages from San Fran-
cisco to Portland on Van Couver's Island stopping out-
ward bound at Portland, Oregon, and from San Fran-
cisco to Yuymas on the Mexican Coast. This business
was enormously profitable. Each voyage of a ship bring-
ing in from 10,000 to 25,000 dollars, a voyage consuming
from eight to 100 days.

REMINISCENCES

By H. L. Kuykendall.
Arrival in Cheyenne

Since the arrival in Cheyenne, Wyoming, of my
mother and the coutier caravan she had with her, con-
sisting of the J. R. Whitehead family, my Uncle Samuel
Montgomery, two negroes who had been what had been
termed slaves until a short time previous to my mothers
parents, J. M. Kuykendall my brother and myself and
last but by no means least, two Blackhawk Morgan
horses, named Kit and Joe also two Durham cows, the
four later proved to be the moving spirits and the source
from which a large part of our maintainance was de-
rived.

Owing to the unsettled condition existing around
Platte City, Missouri, which was then my parents home
and where I was born, during the year of 1865, my fa-
ther deemed it advisable and for his future existence
to try a change of climate so migrated west with others,
who were situated in about the same predicament he
was, when the caravan over which my mother was Cap-
tain and conceded to be "BOSS" arrived in Cheyenne,
Wyoming, on April 17, 1867, there was a nice house
awaiting them to move into ; this house was built by the
untiring efforts of my father and had not been completed
when we arrived but assure you it was a marked change
for the better, of our home conditions as the past year
had been very trying on all the female members of our
household.

Arrival of First Train in Cheyenne

The first train arrived in Cheyenne, Wyoming, some

104 ANNALS OF WYOMING

time during the month of November 1867. You will
note that I was one of the many who was there to greet
its arrival. I doubt very much if there has ever, since
that date, been congregated together in one spot, such
a conglomeration of humanity and beasts. The princi-
pal mode of entertainment, of the humans, for each
other, with a few exceptions, was to see how many they
could aid in making unfit for work the next day, and in
many cases, for many days thereafter.

Oft times in my leisure moments, when left alone
to reminiscence, my thoughts drift back to those days
and I have arrived at decision, never again will such a
crowd be placed together showing such a marked con-
trast in make-up hysically, mentally and spiritually, pro-
rating them with present population of the United
States, will have to state, the individuals, from standpoint
of Manhood, is many times in favor of those who volun-
teered their all to lay the foundation and aid in develop-
ing and making of what is now one of the Greatest Com-
monwealths and States in America, Wyoming.

Father Time, without any respect for individuads
has about completed his work and at this writing there
remains with us but a few of those characters who de-
serve all that our Maker has to give to the Best of His
children.

Of late years, when I learn that one more of those
Pathfinders and Kingdom builders has gone to the
"Happy Hunting Ground," I have no feeling of sorrow
or regret as that type of man was always faithful to his
Calling, done his work well and would not quit until
his task was completed, you can rest assured that such
characters never cease to exist and when their spirits,
indomitable will, energy and wonderful line of thoughts
and acts cease to exist on this Earth in the material, all
of those qualities and quantities are needed elsewhere
to further an end that only such individuals are cap-
able of executing and bringing to a successful end or
issue. A fit epitaph for all of such characters is:

Here lies the remanents of one who made good
During short stay he remained on this Earth;

There can be no doubt, to where he has gone,
As a higher Power guided him since his birth.

We note in the daily papers issued in American,
that funds are asked for the erection of monuments to
keep before the present and coming generations the
memories of deeds or acts done by some individual. How

ANNALS OF WYOMING 105

much more fit and appropriate would it not be to have
a monument of magnitude erected to the chivalry, appi-
tude and devotion of OUR PIONEERS, by so doing we
would not specialize as is now being done in other sec-
tions of this continent but would honour and try and
keep before future generations no one individual but a
number of individuals who aided, with their untiring
efforts and devotions in making Wyoming the Greatest
State in the United States of America.

Indulging on your patience, I will narrate an occur-
rence which happened to me one day several years ago.
I was driving, over what is now known as the Lincoln
Highway, with a man who had been raised and passed
the first thirty years of his life on the range in Wyoming.
We were approaching the town of Medicine Bow, to my
surprise this party broke the silence by saying, we are
getting into a man's countryy. I asked him how he ar-
rived at that decision. His reply was, you see tin cans
and bottles wherever you go. We still have the tin cans
but alas, the bottles have went, I believe we give the best
part away.

Vigilantes.

Shortly after the arrival of our carivan in Chey-
enne our household was awakened from our slumbers
by a noise that was startling and appalling to all of us,
gathering together and then going in search of source
from which it seemed to come, no person not having
experienced the feeling derived from the deep mutter-
ings and sayings of a mob or crowd of human beings,
who gathered together to take human life, can under-
stand our feelings of dread at that time. Such a situa-
tion greeted our eyes when we arrived at source from
which came that never to be forgotten noise. It proved
to come from what was then termed and known, also to
be avoided, provided you were not one of the Inner
Circle, as the Vigilantes, to enlighten those who are not
familiar with the power invested, in those days in that
name, I will here state they were composed of Judge,
Jury and Executioner, when that body decreed you was
to die or you was advised to seek other environments
or surroundings, you right then might as well go off and
die gracefully or make your escape immediately or by
the time given you by their representative to do so. That
order, like the individuals that composed it, never re-
tracted but did the work that was set for them to do.
To our amazement, we found congregated in the vicinity

106 ANNALS OF WYOMING

of one hundred masked men who proceeded to break
down the door of the house adjoining the one in which
we lived, and proceeded to bring forth an individual who
went by the name of Jack Martin, this person had been
found to be undesirable as a citizen by the Vigilantes
Committee and he did not profit from the advice given
him by that body, so when we awakened the following
morning, not to our surprise, we were greeted, when
looking out our front window, with a sight never to be
forgotten, three telegraph poles lashed together at their
tops and Jack Martin's bodyy hanging in the space be-
tween them.

Many will feel that such acts should not be coun-
tenanced by any law abiding community but it was con-
ceded by all good citizens who was in that community
during the reign of the Vigilantes, that the justice dealt
forth by that body was fair to all and most decisions
handed down and executed by that body was proven or
showed more leniency than is now practiced of late
ears by the courts in power, as all cases that deserved
and required the attention of the Vigilantes when
brought to their notice or attention, was acted upon im-
mediately and justice was forthcoming without the long
drawn-out delays that are in vogue and practiced now.
To withhold the execution of justice to your fellowman
in any form is doing him a rank injustice.

I at this time cannot recall one incident where pun-
ishment was wrongfully bestowed but do remember
many acts of charity performed by that body.

Arrival of Trains.

After the Union Pacific Railway established its
schedule of trains which that corporation used its best
efforts to maintain and make, the arrival of those
trains proved to be the social event of the day as every
person would make an effort to be at the depot and at
the G. M. Jones Hotel upon arrival of trains and remain un-
til their departure, many pleasant and odd incidents oc-
curred during those times and occasions one of which left
a very marked impression on my mind when it was told
me. All passenger and also what was known as the
emigrant trains remained in Cheyenne long enough to
permit their passengers to eat and you can rest assured
that the G. M. Jones Hotel or what was commonly re-
ferred to as the Railroad House, was a busy place during
those periods of time. Now for the incident that im-
pressed me, the dining room at the Jones Hotel was large

ANNALS OF WYOMING 107

and the right number of tables were completely set to
care for the number of parties on train that stated they
would eat, there was in the employ of Mr. James as por-
ter and general utility man a man and character by the
name of Pat Hanigan. He was raw boned and of immense
frame and strength, one of his duties was to serve the
soup during train hours or meals. This proved to be such
a task, necessitating many trips back and forth to the
kitchen, that he conceived the idea of having made a
soup syringe of immense size, so forthwith he hiked to
what was known as the Schweickert hardware store and
had made such a weapon and immediately after its com-
pletion proceeded to place same in execution upon ar-
rival of trains he would proceed to load, with the con-
glomerate that was to be served, his annihiliator and
with much assumed authority proceed into dining room
and begin his duty of soup serving, he would approach
a party who was seated at a table and say, "Will you
have soup," not waiting for a reply, he would proceed
to use his soup ejector and extractor and fill, to parties
amazement, their plate with mixture his vessel con-
tained, in case the party should say yes, then Pat would
pass on to next person and go through same formula, in
case party stated they did not care for soup then Pat
proceeded to place the nozzle of his ejector and extrac-
tor in their plate and withdrew the portion he had just
served. Shortly after Pat placed in execution his novel
money saver, Mr. Jones was able to add very materially
to his herd of hogs.

There was expected and due in Cheyenne in those
days, each day, one passenger train going west and one
east also one train going same directions, known as the
freight or emigrant trains. The passenger trains were
composed of one car of three compartments, mail, ex-
press and baggage and two or three coaches and were
pulled from Cheyenne to Sidney, Nebraska, by two four
wheel drive Rodger make engines and their numbers
were 68 and 72 and their engineers were Fred Post and
"Red Pat," or better known as the "Wild Irishman." The
emigrant trains was composed of a string of freight cars
and on rear end of train there would be four or five
would-be passenger coaches, in same the people were
packed like sardines in a can.

From the patronage of those passengers "Prairie
Dog Arnold" laid the foundation of a snug fortune from
the sale of that tireless little rodent "the prairie dog,"

108 ANNALS OF WYOMING

which thrived so prolifically in region surrounding Chey-
enne. The custom or way then used to capture that
small pest was to pour water in their holes and make
them come out ahead of the water to the door or opening
of their residence, then they were placed in captivity and
disposed of to the highest bidder by Mr. Arnold. At
present date we pay money to have destroyed "the
prairie dog," — such a transformation.

I cannot leave this subject without paying due re-
spect to one of the principle performers of the Union
Pacific Railway. It was known as the only switch en-
gine used in those yards for an indefinite number of
years and the faithful manner in which it performed its
duty proved a marvel to all who watched it during its
long stay in those yards. This engine should hold a
place in history or records of that corporation and if
any parts of that wonder remains it should be placed
in one of the most conspicuous places in any exhibit that
corporation has, as it certainly did its part in helping to
make the greatest railroad system on this globe today.
Let's all of us treasure the memories of old No. 1, and
profit by the example set by that piece of machinery, do
our work' well and faithfully.

Before closing this chapter I cannot resist making
a comparison between the present day equipment used
and employed by the Union Pacific Railroad and what
was then in use and vogue in those days, such strides
are almost beyond a man's imagination, but it is here
and will be improved on.

During the days referred to in this chapter, the
trains at different times were halted and sometimes com-
pletely stopped by large herds of buffalo passing across
railroad tracks between Cheyenne and Ogallalla, Ne-
braska.

Indians.

In the early seventies residents of eastern and
northern Wyoming was kept on edge by the sudden ap-
pearance at different times of small bands of hostile
Cheyenne and Sioux Indians and loss of lives, stock,
homes were of frequent occurrence and those who com-
mitted those atrocities, some of those acts proved to be
so fiendish that we at present stage of civilization can-
not believe that such fiends could have existed, in cases
where the bodies of their victims was not mutilated en-
tirely by being burned to the stake or debauched and
mutilated beyond recognition, those fiends to show their

ANNALS OF WYOMING 109

defiance, leave their calling card or mark by taking a
part of the scalp from top of their victim's head.

The weapons used in those days by the Indians was
the bow and arrow and tomahawk, the proficiency they
acquired in the use of those weapons can hardly be be-
lieved at this time as it does not seem possible to acquire
such efficiency in marksmanship. The time devoted and
required to make some of those weapons must have cov-
ered a long period, the wood, steel and gut string had
to be of very best material, shaped to the minutest de-
tail so as to do work required of it, seasoned by some
process known only to the Indians, in fact, I now often
wonder, in what direction will all of that talent be turned
and used at present day, it certainly would accomplish
some pronounced end and good results if turned in that
direction as the persistency shown and used by the Amer-
ican Indians, especially the tribes herein referred to,
could not fail in attaining anything legitimate they would
start to attain or accomplish.

During the summer months, Crow Creek in vicinity
of Cheyenne would go nearly dry, next to high bluff,
close to where formerly stood the Hammond Packing
Company plant, there was a dam built across Crow Creek
and a house erected to hold ice to supply wants of city of
Cheyenne, ice was gathered from pond formed by said
dam. This pond was also used as a swimming pool by
the Cheyenne children. A bunch of these arabs was
down there one summer day performing their usual
stunts, during the time they were there, two Indians
were waiting on bluff just above them until they had
gone home then they proceeded to execute the errand
they came on, they killed the keeper of the ice house,
I remember distinctly the bringing of his remains to town
and to the L. F. Iliff home which was used at that time
as the only hospital in Cheyenne, the remains had an
arrow sticking straight out of his body, he had been shot
through the heart.

About that time, through the efforts of my father
and others who were aroused by reports they heard of
the untold riches of the Miners Delight region and coun-
try farther north and west, organized a company of sev-
eral hundred men who met at Cheyenne with the view of
exploring that region, the expedition formed on Seven-
teenth street and it had an air of strength and excite-
ment, all persons who participated in this venture were
afoot excepting my father who rode a small white pony

110 ANNALS OF WYOMING

as he was captain. All luggage and provisions were
hauled by several strings of oxen composed of eight yoke
steers and four wagons to the string. Attached to last
wagon of this train was a small brass canon.

With unforseen trouble from Indians en route they
reached as far northwest as the Big Horn river country,
they were met there by a company of the United States
Cavalry and was informed that, orders had been received
at Fort Washakie to bring that expedition back as its
presence was causing unrest with the Shoshoni and other
tribes of Indians and those tribes were congregating for
a massacre, since that date there has been but little done
to develop that region from mineral standpoint owing to
its having been and is now in an Indian reservation.

Much has been written about Custer, Thornburgh
and other massacres executed by different tribes of In-
dians, their mode of warfare was mostly from ambush
and complete surprises as they would seldom come out
in the open and attack and they usually outnumbered
their opponents many times as they usually had a good
check on numbers who would oppose them.

Early Seventies.

Cheyenne in the later sixties and early seventies
was composed of mostly saloon, dance halls and houses
of ill repute and killings were of frequent occurences.

The principle hotels then were Tim Dyers, Ford Ho-
tel, which was built and run by a colored man who after-
wards built what was known as the Inter-Ocean which
stood on corner now occupied by the Harry Hynds build-
ing, Simmons House and Ames Hotel. A multitude of
saloons, one of the most famous was "Red Pats." This
saloon had the patronage or was the haunt of the soldiers
stationed at Ft. Russell and <Camp Carlin. It took a man
of untold nerve and fighting ability to conduct that place
in anything like an orderl ymanner but fortunately it
had the right man in the right place as Pat Hannifan
knew no fear and was a nonpareil at the rough and tum-
ble game.

One of the most noted dance halls and variety the-
atres that ever existed in America was located in Chey-
enne and did a most thriving business. It was known
as McDaniels Theatre and was owned and conducted
by one of the most eccentric and erratic individuals I
have ever seen. Every evening, Sunday not excepted,
about eight o'clock a band of about twenty pieces would
form a circle on the street in front of this theatre and

ANNALS OF WYOMING 111

play many of the then latest popular selections, from all
parts of the town the male faction would come to listen
to the beautiful melodies poured forth by the members
of that congregation, the leader of that sympathy organi-
zation was termed "Smitty with the Coffee Pot," the lat-
ter part of his cognomen referred to the cornet he played.
When the band finished its evening outdoor performance
on the street, its members would disband and most of
them begin doing certain duties on inside of theatre and
as would be kept busy until the break of day and oft-
times later.

Along about this time the Black Hills excitement
broke out and daily six-horse Concord stages were run
to Custer City first, then Deadwood. I remember one
of the flashy drivers who had the run out of Cheyenne,
his name was Johnnie Denny.

During that excitement the Road Agents became
plentiful, their raids necessitated the running, once a
week or thereabouts of what was known as the Treasure
Coach; this was a smaller coach than those used on the
regular runs and was lined with sheet steel to above
height of a man's head sitting on the inside, in center
and fastened to its floor was a trreasure chest, in addition
to the driver there accompanied this coach two or more
guards who were looked upon as men of iron nerve and
quick on the trigger. Even with this precaution this coach
was robbed and treasure stolen.

On one occasion as this coach was making its run
Between Custer City and Deadwood, a man jumped out
in the road in front of the horses and commanded the
driver to hault. The team became frightened and start-
ed to run. The man in the road shot and killed the driver,
named Johnnie Slaughter. The latter's remains were
brought to Cheyenne and buried and the six horses he
drove when killed hauled his remains to his last resting
ground.

My Uncle, Samuel Montgomery, passed most of his
time on a ranch taken up by my father and located one
and one-half miles east of Cheyenne on Crow Creek, af-
terwards owned by Organ and Hammond. My uncle
being an old bachelor and on ranch alone most of the
time decided to let stop with him during the winter of
1874 two parties named Duke Blackburn and Fonce
Ryan. When green grass started they suddenly disap-
peared with four of our best horses, Winchester rifles
and bedding. Duke Blackburn turned out to be the

112 ANNALS OF WYOMING

leader of the road agents that infested the Black Hills
region and as a commander he proved a success but like
the majority of such characters, he died with his boots
on, finally run down and killed by the officers of the
law.

(Signed) H. L. KUYKENDALL.

REMINISCENCES OF AN INDIAN WAR SOLDIER

WHO SERVED IN DAKOTAH TERRITORY,

NOW WYOMING, FROM 1865-1868.

To All Whom It May Concern:

Late in December, 1865, two companies of the first
battalion 18th U. S. Infantry arrived at Fort Dodge,
Kansas, after marching on foot in about two feet of
snow from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, about four hun-
dred miles, taking in about twenty-five days march, when
before we arrived at Fort Dodge, Kansas, one of our
men lagged behind the command from sore feet also blis-
tered feet, and as we were passing through a ravine, the
Indians in the brush cut him off from the command, and
shot him and then took his scalp on the top of his head,
size about four inches long, and three inches wide. That
was the first Indian warfare I saw commencing my three
years service. So it thrilled the blood in my veins, being
only eighteen years of age, so that made me a daring
soldier to show no quarter to the hostile Indians when
at war with the whites. When we arrived at Fort
Dodge, Kansas, there was no barracks built there, noth-
ing but a haystack, which grass was mowed and saved
and put up by the 48th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry,
for to sleep in the hay stack, in size about one hundred
feet long, twenty feet wide and about ten feet high, so it
was a warm place for them to sleep in while on duty.

The barracks they had to sleep in at night was holes
in the ground on the bank of the Arkansas River, about
four feet, above high water mark size, about six feet in
length, eight feet wide and three feet high, the bunks or
beds cut at each side out of the dirt and floor in center
about two feet wide between the two bunks or beds cov-
ered over by brush and gunny sacks and dirt, on a level
with the top of the ground. We had a fine door on our
c&bin instead of a wooden door, an old gunny sack,
fronting the river, sidewalk about three feet wide to
protect us from walking into the river which was frozen
to a depth of about four feet. So you see the fine man-
sions of sleeping quarters we had at Fort Dodge, Kan-

ANNALS OF WYOMING 113

sas, in the pioneer days of trial and hardship for the
Indian war soldier. Had to go for wood for fuel about
twenty-five miles to keep us warm and for cooking and
making coffee and bean soup. Wood was poor, water
seeping out of it. The boys called it Pussy Elm, so you
can imagine the hardships we endured in the commence-
ment of our military service for (Uncle Sam) even the
few months in Kansas before reaching Dakotah Terri-
tory, now called State of Wyoming, where the Sioux In-
dian warriors controlled the prairies of Dakotah with
their brother Indian (Arapahoe) Commanches and
Cheyenne tribes (all in arms).

Early in the spring of 1866, our captain got orders
to pull up stakes and report to the commanding officer
at Fort Caspar, Dakotah territory, now Wyoming, for
duty, with two companions. We had a long and tedious
march to undertake through a country where the wild
Indians roamed at pleasure seeking to exterminate the
whi+e man who encroached on their hunting grounds.
We passed through Denver, Colorado and camped for
a few days on the north side of the South Platte River
for recuperation and intermission so as our sore and
blistered feet would then receive some medical treat-
ment, but we had not much time to get it, as all the In-
dian tribes in that country were on the warpath, mas-
sacreing all the white settlers who were traveling in
wagon trains, so we pulled up stakes again and passed
through Fort Collins, then to Fort Laramie, Dakotah
Territory, where we rested for a few days in order to
wash our clothes and get ready for another March, so
we pulled up stakes again, for the march passed through
Horseshoe Creek and passed in sight of Fort Fetterman
but did not stop there. This fort was called after Col-
onel Fetterman, the daring Indian fighter who was
killed with all his men, seventy-three all told, at Piney
Creek, three miles east of Fort Phillip Kearney, in De-
cember, 1866. Finally we reached Fort Casper, Dako-
tah Territory, on the banks of the south side of the
North Platte River, early in the spring of 1866, and re-
mained there fifteen months.

We had to fight the Indians on our march all along
the south for every foot of ground from Horse Shoe creek
to Fort Casper, Dakotah Territory, all along the wagon
route which had to be close to the North Platte River in
older to get water for their stock and also for cooking.
There is near by an Indian war soldier buried along the

114 ANNALS OF WYOMING

route on every foot of ground, with a piece of wood
at his head marking his grave, company regiment in-
scribed in it, and will remain there until the day of final
retribution, to give an account of his good services which
he performed for his country, even giving his life, if nec-
essary, in clearing off the Indians who controlled at that
time all Dakotah, now three states, of which Wyoming
is one of the most prosperous states in the Union, which
about fifty-eight years ago was a territory mostly inhab-
ited by the Red men. We gave our lives, if necessary,
for one purpose, in order that the white settlers, or the
pale face, as the Indians called us, might settle down and
take up homesteads for themselves and their families,
and generations yet unborn might live in peace and pros-
perity and be protected from Indian warfare in their
old and declining years, in a territory which was once
the home of the Indian and his hunting ground. Nothing
to see but the wild buffalo, mountain lion, wolves, deer
and antelope. What a change in about fifty odd years,
turned into one of the most wealthy and prosperous
states in the union, now called Wyoming.

When our command arrived at Fort Casper, Dako-
tah, on the North Platte River, we had to build log bar-
racks and haul the wood from the Black Hills, about
eighteen miles, in the fall of 1868. Nothing to be seen
but wolves and mountain lions, howling all night, also
Sioux Indians on the war path, seeking to get a chance to
attack a small squad of soldiers guarding wagon trains
or carrying the U. S. mail from one fort to another, from
sixty-five miles to ninety miles apart. While on these
duties, not more than eight or ten soldiers, and a non-
commissioned officer could be spared from the small
garrisons at that time, as some forts had only two com-
panies, and then not filled up to the regular standard,
some on detail duty and some in hospital, some on secret
duty; had to carry forty rounds of ammunition in our
belt, carry a knapsack for hardtack and bacon, also a
canteen can and a loaded musket; sleep in our clothes
and shoes, our rifle by our side, one blanket to wrap
around us and a stone or a piece of dirt for a pillow
sham ; nothing to eat but hardtack and rusty bacon and
coffee, not knowing the moment you would be scalped,
and, if taken prisoner, burned to the stake. I think our
Company was stationed at Fort Reno, Dakotah Territory,
at the time of the massacre at Piney Creek. Colonel
Fetterman and seventy-three of his men were all killed

ANNALS OF WYOMING 115

hand to hand fight, overpowered by Indian warriors,
one hundred Indians to one soldier, but I think our Com-
pany was escorting wagon trains to Fort Reno and hap-
pened to be there at that time after the massacre, so
you see what the soldiers who won the West endured.
So I remember once what my good old mother used to
tell us at the fireside when kids, that the hare, an ani-
mal similar to the rabbit, always sleeps with his eyes
open, so that was the way we Indian war fighters had
to do in Dakotah Territory at that time, always on the
alert. If I recollect good, I think I stood guard one
night over the remains of Colonel Fetterman, when his
relatives were taking his body to the East for burial.
He was captain of A Co., 2nd Battalion 18th U. S. In-
fantry but brevetted, his body all cut up in pieces and
the drummer boy staked to the ground with a piece of
wood driven through his mouth ; nobody left to tell the
tale. The battle was fought in the ravine at Piney
Creek, three miles East of Phillip Kearney, under the
bluff, or as we call it, the hill. The boulders in the
creek were red with blood as it is supposed that there
were about six thousand Sioux Indian warriors in that
fight. It is not known how many Indians were killed, as
they carried off their dead after the battle, but I pre-
sume there were at least two thousand dead Indians
slaughtered, as it was a hand to hand fighting at the
end. So our government built a monument of the boul-
ders in commemoration of the soldiers who lost their
lives, called Devil's Tower, on the top of the bluff. You
can see by the naked eye several miles Big Horn and
Little Horn Rivers, also the Rosebud reservation, when
General Custer and Major Reno lost their lives in 1876.
The boys always called it Reno Creek on account of him
being killed there. I was once on an escort carrying
U. S. mail along Powder River. We camped late in
the evening to rest for the night. It was a stormy night
in the fall of 1866. We heard a great noise a few miles
down the river bank, so a few of us took our guns to see
what it was, as we thought some Indians might be craw-
ling upon us and scalp us, so it turned out to be the re-
verse, it happened to be a dead Indian hanging on a
limb of a tree and all his fighting arms hanging with
him, also the head of his pony hanging. This was the
custom of some Indians to bury their dead. So we were
glad it turned out so, as the Powder River Country at

116 ANNALS OF WYOMING

that time was the fighting ground for the Sioux Indian
warriors.

Our company was recruited up in full three times
during our service in Dakotah Territory, so a great many
of my comrades lie buried along the banks of Powder
River and North Platte River, to sleep the sleep of peace.
I was always to the front in defense of my country for
civilization, but I was one of the lucky ones who was not
scalped or burned to the stake, as that was the death
of an Indian war soldier, if he was taken prisoner by
the Indians from 1865-1868 in Dakotah Territory. So
in the summer of 1868 we came back southward, down
the Big Horn and Reno valleys, close to the mountains,
had to fight Indians all the time through the Rosebud
country, and finally our company arrived at Fort D. A.
Russell in the fall of 1868 to guard the Union Pacific
Railroad which was being built at that time a little west
of Cheyenne, the Indians setting fire to the wooden
bridges and destroying property all along the road from
Cheyenne to Omaha City, so I was doing duty at Fort
D. A. Russell for about three or four months before ex-
piration of my services in the Indian war country.

So, after three year's service in the Indian war coun-
try, Dakotah Territory, on Powder River, North Platte
River, also the Black Hills, carrying U. S. mails from
one fort to another, guarding emigrant trains, and build-
ing log barracks, sleeping out in the snow, and wading
creeks, you can imagine what we soldiers, who won the
West, went through, when all Dakotah Territory was a
wilderness with the exception of a few places, and there
are not many of us alive now who cleared the Dakotah
Territory of the savage Indians, in order that white set-
tlers might take up homesteads for themselves and their
families and for generations yet unborn, that they might
live in peace and prosperity in their old and declining
years.

After three years Indian warfare in Dakotah Ter-
ritory, now the State of Wyoming, from 1863-1868, got
honorably discharged at Fort D. A. Russell, Wyoming,
November 14, 1868.

FRANCIS CARRE,
National Military Home,

Danville, Illinois.

Co. D.

Late Corporal A Co., 1st Battalion, 18th U. S. Infantry.

ANNALS OF WYOMING 117

REMINISCENES OF AL WHITE

Dictated by Mr. Al White of Cheyenne, May, 1919

I came to Cheyenne in 1869, when but 15 years of
age, and with John Underwood and Abe Underwood
became a waiter in the Ford Hotel which was located
on 16th street, between what was then Eddy and Fergu-
son Streets, now Pioneer and Carey Avenue, respective-
ly, just east of where Fred RoedePs hardware store is
now situated. I received $75.00 per month as waiter,
and received tips of from one to five dollars from each
traveler. It was the usual custom to give tips of not
less than a dollar at that time. I attended Sunday
School where the Methodist Church now stands and
there was nothing but prairie between the Ford Hotel
and this school house. Each morning a stage drawn by
six horses left the Ford Hotel for Denver, and a simi-
lar one would arrive from Denver each evening. After
working at this hotel for six or seven months I returned
to Omaha, and remained there for about six years. At
the end of that time I again returned to Cheyenne, and
became a clerk in the grocery store owned by Erasmus
Nagel which was located at the corner of 17th and Ferg-
uson streets, now Carey Avenue, where the Palace Phar-
macy now stands. It was at this time that the Black
Hills excitement was on, and I saw the first "Bull Train"
composed of three wagons and drawn by 16 to 20 oxen,
all driven by one man, leave the Ford Hotel for the Black
Hills. During these times we often sold as much as $5,-
000 worth of supplies per day from the store of Eras-
mus Nagel.

B. L. Ford, a colored man, was proprietor of the
Ford Hotel, and later built the Inter-Ocean Hotel which
he afterwards sold to Chase Bros.

Cheyenne was called the "Tent City" in 1869, two
years after the Union Pacific Railroad came through.
McDaniels Variety Theater was situated where Dineen's
Garage "now stands.

In 1880 I married Mary Hutt of Moline, Illinois,
and later we came to live in our home which was situated
on two of the lots where the Capitol Building now stands.
These two lots I purchased for $300 and three years
later sold them to the Capitol Building Commission for
$1,000. They measured 66x132. Hi Kelly and Mrs.
Argensheimer owned the other lots on which the Capitol
is now situated. One summer Mrs. White and I picked

118 ANNALS OF WYOMING

30 quarts of strawberries of just the common variety,
not ever-bearing as we have now, from our garden on
this site.

The Union Pacific deeded the ground to the city
which is now used as a park, for this express purpose,
and Henry Altman and Major Talbot donated some of
the trees which were set out at that time. I believe the
first trees planted in Cheyenne were set out in front of
where the Cheyenne Fire House now stands.

I purchased the circulation of "The Sun" from
George Jennings in September of 1887. E. A. Slack
was the owner of this paper whose office was located
on Eddy, now Pioneer Avenue and 17th Streets where
the I. O. O. F. or Woodmen's Building is now located.
In those days we received $1.00 per month for the paper
which was a daily of eight pages. "The Sun" was the
Republican paper, and the "Leader" then owned by
John Carroll and (Tom) Breckons was the Democratic
paper. Judge Carey established the "Tribune" in the
Old Opera House Block, after purchasing the John Shin-
gle Tribune and another paper.

F. E. Warren and Converse had a little furniture
store just west of the present Hynds Building in the
early 70's.

Hellman had a clothing store where Washington
Market is now located.

When we lived on the site where the capitol now
stands there was one night that we could not sleep be-
cause of the noise caused by men beating on the doors
of the county jail in order to have Mosher turned over
to them because he had murdered two men in order to
rob them, who were occupying a camp wagon on the
edge of town, so about five o'clock in the A. M. we start-
ed down to the Court House and were met by Mr. and
Mrs. Thomas Durbin who said the masked mob had just
hanged Mosher to a telegraph pole on the corner of 19th
and Eddy Streets, now Pioneer Avenue. Mr. Ed Smalley
is able to give a detailed history of the Mosher hanging.

The Kirkendall and Code families lived in the house
where Myers Dry Goods Store and Niveth's Jewelry
Store now stand.

NOTICE

Owing to conditions which could not be controlled, the October
1926 Annals was not issued but we are now issuing a double number
containing the same amount of history which would have been
published in two numbers.

ANNALS OF WYOMING 119

ACCESSIONS FROM JULY 1, 1927 TO JANUARY 1, 1928

PEASE, MRS. VERA JANE EDWARDS — Collection of 215 post-
card views of scenes in France; 18 unmounted photographs of
pageants directed by Mrs. Pease; 9 mounted photographs of
scenes in Japan; two photographs of Mrs. Pease; framed photo-
graph of Mrs. Pease; 16 programs of pageants directed by
Mrs. Pease; 15 unmounted photographs of war zone; 29 un-
mounted kodak views of scenes in France; 16 shells; 12 pieces
of French paper money; samples of soft white stone from
French trenches; American Red Cross Disk No. 4352; pano-
ramic view of Shakespeare Pageant in Seattle directed by Mrs.
Pease; German wooden shoe found in dugout of Germans;
large knife found in dugout of Germans; veil worn on head of
American Red Cross workers in France; Red Cross flag used
on Red Cross hut in France; United States flag which was used
at funeral to cover the bodies of dead soldiers in France, A.
E. F. ; candles used on altar at funerals of Catholic soldiers;
silver bowl of artificial flowers used on the altar of funerals
of soldiers in France; two large shells and cover for shell; col-
lection of letters, official papers, clippings, etc.; seven publi-
cations issued in France during World War; five booklets of
postal cards, views of France; roll of crepe paper decorations
used in Red Cross hut in France; five booklets of songs and
prayers used in France; sign used on Red Cross huts in France
and two insignia; large poster with picture of Mrs. Pease which
was on door of hut in France; three post cards received by Mrs.
Pease from delegates to American Legion convention in Paris
in September, 1927; kodak picture of neglected graves of pio-
neers in Thermopolis, Wyoming; kodak pictures of Wilbur
Cornwall, overseas veteran, who is doing fine Americanization
work among the settlers on the Frannie project.

WATTS, A. E. — Cap and ball pistol carried by Captain Jenks
(father of Mrs. Luke Voorhees), in the fifties to California
via the Isthmus of Panama; framed picture of Cheyenne, 45
years ago — shows office of Denver Home Brewing Co., and
loaded wagon with drivers and spectators in front; framed pic-
ture of Algers Light Artillery, Spanish War Veterans, taken
on porch of home of Captain Palmer, 1711 Warren avenue,
in 1898; book "The Volunteer Quartermaster" governing the
quartermaster's department of the United States Army and
in force May 9, 1865. Has signature of Col. C. A. Reynolds,
who was quartermaster at Camp Carling, one and a half miles
west of Cheyenne in 1871 in front of book; book "A Treatise on
Surveying" containing signature of J. O. Mill, one of the Sur-
veyors of the Union Pacific Railroad.

LOGAN, E. A. — Old hatchet found buried in basement of the Dyer
Hotel, the first hotel erected in Cheyenne. Its appearance
would indicate that it was very old.

HALE, MISS DOROTHY — Two applications for money orders,
dated December, 1880, two applications for money orders
dated January, 1881; two registry bills, 1881 and 1888, all
found at old Fort Laramie; letter from Thos. J. Haynes to
John Hunton.

120 ANNALS OF WYOMING

MILLS, MRS. S. L. — The Wyoming Farmer, Vol. 1, No. 1, July
4, 1888, the Sundance Gazette, Vol. 1, No. 1, October 25, 1884.
Both papers published in Sundance, Wyoming; picture of
George W. Laney located ten miles from the Devil's Tower,
where he lived for 29 years.

SCHILLING, ADAM J. — Tinted photograph of President Roose-
velt and escort on occasion of his visit to Wyoming in 1903;
photograph of Battery "A" Volunteers, Wyoming Light Artil-
lery, taken August 24, 1898.

HERRON, RALPH — Two kodak views of the opening of the Cody
entrance to Yellowstone Park.

CRAWFORD, L. C— Book "Rekindling Camp Fires," by L. C.
Crawford, superintendent of the State Historical Society of
North Dakota; pamphlet "Sakakawea," by Helen Crawford,
daughter of Mr. Crawford.

RIETZ, MRS. C. F. — Piece of Linsey Woolsey made by Mrs.
Amanda Cox in Salem, Dent County, Missouri, in 1884. Mrs.
Cox sheared the sheep, carded the wool, spun and wove the-
yarn. She colored the brown in the material with walnut
bark, the green with sumac berries and the red with the old
red aniline dye. Mrs. Cox, who is an aunt of Mrs. Reitz, was
born in 1833 in Tennessee. She came overland with her par-
ents to Missouri in 1836.

PERKINS, ADAM C. — Song-sheet music designed and published by
Mr. Perkins, "United States Flag Hymn." A tone for each flag
in the order of their admission to the Union.

FAVILLE, A. D. — Two views of Fort Laramie taken in September,
1927.

GRAND TEMPLE OF ORDER OF PYTHIAN SISTERS OF WYO-
MING— Book History of the Order of Pythian Sisters.

ADAMSKY, MRS. RALPH— Pamphlet, "The Boseman Trail," by
Lillian Van Burgh.

FRYXELL, F. M. — Eight views taken by Dr. Fryxell and party while
making an ascension of the Grand Teton; five views of Old
Fort Bridger; ten views of Independence Rock; four views of
Old Fort Laramie; view of the mysterious grave on Jim Imeson
homestead above the mouth of the Hoback on Camp Creek;
view of the Gros Ventre Slide after the flood "August, 1927;
three views of the historic Goose Egg Ranch, twelve miles up
from the North Platte; picture of W. 0. Owen taken in Aug-
ust, 1927; pamphlet, "The Medicine Bow Mountains of Wyo-
ming," by Mr. Fryxell; manuscript, "The Green Tree," by Dr.
Fryxell.

GARRETSON, M. S.— Pamphlet, "The American Bison," for use in
the schools, by Mr. Garretson.

LUSK, FRANK— Certificate No. 23, "Monitor, Wyoming," Silver
Service Fund, showing that Mrs. C. M. Lusk, Lusk, Wyoming,
was a subscriber to the fund for the purchase of a Silver Serv-
ice to be presented to the Monitor named in honor of the State
of Wyoming. Certificate signed by DeF. Richards, Governor
of Wyoming, and Vivia B. Henderson, secretary of the fund.

ANNALS OF WYOMING 121

CARROLL, MAJOR C. G. — "The Citizen Soldier," Volume 2, num-
ber 1, for August, 1927, giving history of the 148th Field Ar-
tillery. Five volumes of the "Official Roster of Ohio Soldiers,
Sailors and Marines." This makes ten volumes received by the
department. When the set is completed there will be 27 vol-
umes.

WHEELER, EVA FLOY — Original manuscript. "Wyoming writers;
a Preliminary Survey." This is a thesis in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for an M. A. degree from the University
of Wyoming.

HOLDEN, MISS ELLA M. — Original manuscript "In the Valley of
the Fontenelle."

BEACH, MRS. CORA M. — Address on Hat Creek, given by Mrs.
Beach at the dedication of the marker at that place by the D.
A. R.

SAMPLE, MRS. HAZEL HARPER— "Why the Meadow Lark was
Chosen State Bird of Wyoming," by Mrs. Sample.

MRS. SCOTT DAVIS — Hobbles used by Scott Davis at time he led
defense of the Treasure Coach from the Black Hills in 1878,
when five bandits attacked it at Cold Springs. One of the
guards was killed and several others, including Mr. Davis, were
injured. It was after this episode that the Wyoming Terri-
torial Legislature passed a resolution citing Mr. Davis for, brav-
ery; handcuffs used by Mr. Davis when he was deputy sheriff
at Deadwood, South Dakota; hunting pipe given Mr. Davis
about 45 years ago by Hunter, a man who came west from
New York and posed as a mining expert, forging a check for
$10,000.00. Mr. Davis captured him at Pierre, South Dakota,
before he had a chance to dispose of the money; shotgun and
rifle used by Mr. Davis while guarding the Treasure Coach;
cartridge vest and belt used at the same time; pair of field
glasses used by Mr. Davis when he was freighting to Custer;
lash of whip used by Mr. Davis when at "the age of 14
he drove a bull team from Fremont, Nebraska, to the Black
Hills; old hand-made Mexican spurs; two old hand-made
bridles; one bridle with engraved bit used by Mr. Davis; old
skinning knife; Indian war club picked up near Custer battle-
field shortly after the battle; tomahawk; pair of martingales.

RAY, MR. CARL — Complete film of the arrival by air of Colonel
Lmdburgh in Cheyenne on September 2, 1927. Presented to the
Governor of Wyoming, Governor Emerson, by Carl Ray, to be
placed in the archieves of the State. This film is between 200
and 210 feet long.

BUFFALO BILL MUSEUM ASSOCIATION— Book, "Anecdotes of
'Buffalo Bill' " by Dan Wingert. Wingert was a boyhood chum
of W. F. Cody.

EDWARDS, MRS. ELSA SPEAR — Kodak picture of what is pre-
sumably a community dance floor in Medicine Wheel.

BICKFORD, CHARLES — Penny dated 1864 bearing United States
shield and words "Union Forever."

The following collection of war trophies is part of the allotment
made by the United States Government to the State of Wyoming.
Through the activity of the Francis E. Self Post No. 6, this collec-

122 ANNALS OF WYOMING

tion was obtained for the State Historical Department:

1 box belt for German machine gun, 6 "Got Mit Uns" buckles,
1 container for coffee and tea, 1 fuse-timer, 1 lantern, French; 1
machine, belt loading; 2 ornaments, eagle; 1 saw, flexible; 1 shell,
150 M.M.; 1 shell, 170 M.M.; 1 armour body, 3 bayonets, plain; 2
bayonets, sawtooth; 1 grenade thrower; 3 canteens, infantry; 1
sword; 1 canteen, medical; 3 sabers; 1 case cartridge brass, 77 M.
M.; 6 assorted rifles; 1 case cartridge brass, 150 M.M.; 1 rifle anti-
tank, 13 M.M. ; 1 case cartridge brass, 210 M.M. ; 1 gas mask; 2
helmets, steel; 2 (assorted) machine guns, M. 1908; 1 helmet, Uh-
lan.

CARROLL, MAJOR C. G. — Original manuscript — "History of Wyo-
ming National Guard."
BANKS, MRS. E. M. — Commission issued by Thomas Moonlight,
Governor of the Territory of Wyoming to M. F. Knadler, as
Captain Company "A" First Regiment Infantry, Wyoming
National Guard or "Laramie Greys." Dated the 28th day of
May, 1888. This was the beginning of the Wyoming National
Guard and the first commission issued for captain. Mr. Knad-
ler lived in Laramie, coming there in 1869 as a soldier at Fort
Sanders. He was afterwards a first lieutenant in the Span-
ish-American War. He died in Laramie in 1921.
EDWARDS, MRS. ELSA SPEAR — Original manuscript by J. T.
Williamson, entitled, "An Outing in the Big Horn Mountains
of Wyoming."
MILLS, MR. H. E. — Collection of relics from Old Fort Stambaugh,
including the following articles: Burro hoof and shoe; hand-
made martingale decoration; stable hook from old fort; sol-
dier's cap strap; Indian stone hatchet; army wagon endgate
rod holder; officer's epaulette; burro shoe; ox shoe; part of old
Sharp's carbine; hand-made nails; collection of broken arrow-
heads; old Sharp's 50-cal. shells. Bullets picked up on prairie
south of Stambaugh; collection of four Indian hide scrapers
from Sweetwater.
ACKLEY, MR. C. S. — Gun owned by Fred Habig or "Winchester
Pete," who lived on London Flat for the last forty years or so.
At one time he held the state engineer off, not allowing him
to make a survey across his place. At another time he defied
the U. S. R. S. (United States Railway Surveyors) and kept
them from running their lines through his land. At one time
he had a fight with Joe Wilde at Fort Laramie in which he
shot Mr. Wilde with this gun.
CALVERLY, J. A. — Panoramic picture of Machine Gun Company,

Third Wyoming Infantrv, Fort Russell, Wyoming.
MARCYES, C. O. — Historian's Annual Report of the Society of Mon-
tana Pioneers. Clark Edition, 1927.
MORSE, MR. C. H.— Book "Frontier Days," by Judge W. L. Kuy-

kendall.
VON BLESSING, C. A. — Ox shoe found in the mountains of north-
ern Wvoming.
CASPER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE— Pamphlet "The Casper

Pathfinder," an Industrial survey.
SLOAN, MRS. AUSTIN — Autobiography of W. K. Sloan. This is the
original manuscript contained in an old day book; reprint of
"The Declaration of Independence" — the reprint printed on
the Old Ephrata Press at the Continental Exposition, 1876. The
original Declaration of Independence was printed on this press

ANNUALS OF WYOMING 123

in 1776. The press was loaned by the Historical Society of Penn-
sylvania to Messrs. Rex and Bockkus, inventor of printing
presses and exhibited by them in contrast with modern ma-
chinery at the Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia, May 10th
to November 10, 1876, at which exhibition this sheet was print-
ed upon it. The sheet gives a list of the notable works which
have been printed on this old press.

HALE, MRS. J. R. — Typed copy of original manuscript diary of
Charles Wickliff Hale, kept during his residence near Fort
Laramie from February 22, to December 31, 1884.

OWEN, MR. W. O. — Original manuscript "The Naming of Mount
Owen," written by Mr. Owen describing how his name had
been selected for one of the peaks of the Teton range. The fol-
lowing articles which were used by Mr. Owen and his party,
which included Frank L. Spaulding, Frank L. Peterson and
John Shive, upon the occasion of their making the first ascent
of the Grand Teton on August 11, 1898: Original metal ban-
ner which was planted upon the summit; staff to which ban-
ner was attached, the small cylindrical metal box attached to
the rod contained a slip of paper bearing names of party, date
of ascent, etc. The record was intact when found by Black-
burn and his two companions when they made their ascent in
August, 1923 (the first ascent after that of August 11, 1898) ;
aneroid in leather case which was carried by Mr. Owen and the
ice axe used in chopping their way through. Five large photo-
graphs of the Tetons as follows: No.l — The Grand Teton,
looking west from an altitude of 10,800 feet. Peak is only one-
half mile from the camera. This photo was taken in 1923; No.
2 — The Grand Teton from "near Deadman's Bar, on Snake Riv-
er. Looking West. Snake river in the foreground. The peak
is about 12 miles distant from the camera; No. 3 — Grand Te-
ton and Mount Owen from the old Jimmy Mangus ranch. Look-
ing westerly. About six miles distant. Mount Owen is the sharp
pinnacle just to the right of the Grand Teton; No. 4 — The Te-
tons from near Struthers Burt's ranch on Snake River. Look-
ing west, about six miles distant. The Grand Teton is in the
middle. The snowy summit to the right of the Grand Teton
is Mount Owen, 12,910 feet, and the first peak to the left of
the Grand Teton is the Middle Teton — one of the renowned
"Trois Tetons" of the old French trappers. The south Teton
of this noted group is hidden by nearer summits. Snake River
is in the foreground. No. 5 — Group of Tetons from point on
the Yellowstone highway looking southwest, about six miles
away. The Grand Teton is the middle peak, and the one next
to the right is Mount Owen. The point to the left of the
Grand Teton has no name. It is a rough old crag and seem-
ingly as high as the other two, but is fully 3,000 feet lower
than the Grand Teton. This photo was taken in September,
1927. Copyright on this photo has been applied for. All other
pictures are fully copyrighted.

MILLER, MR. LESLIE A. — Framed certificate of naturalization
of George Bauman (Bowman), Great-great-great grandfather
of Mr. Miller, dated October 16th, 1765.

AULTMAN, ALMA H. — Newspaper clippings: Frontier week rodeo
held at Cheyenne, Wyoming, July, 1927; Airport, Cheyenne;
Beautification of Fort D. A. Russell. These articles were writ-
ten by Alma H. Aultman and published in the Indianapolis

124 ANNUALS OF WYOMING

Star. Mrs. Aultman is the wife of General Aultman, com-
manding officer on station at Fort D. A. Russell.
WORKING, MR. D. W. — Letter from L. L. Bedell of the firm of
L. L. Bedell & Co., proprietors of The Cheyenne Daily Argus,
addressed to "Friend Stanton" and dated September 5th, 1868.
Mr. Working writes: "The Stanton referred to (addressed)
was a civil engineer and rather prolific writer in the early
days in Denver. Much of his writing was for a paper which he
published for a time in Denver. He also wrote many letters
for the Rocky Mountain News, he being one of the earliest
advocates of controlling the floods of Cherry Creek, which
stream, as you may know, has been one of Denver's real pro-
blems since the disastrous flood of 1864." The letterhead shows
that the office of the Cheyenne Daily Argus was located at the
corner of Ferguson and 17th Streets and says "Plain and
Fancy Printing, In All Its Varieties, Neatly Executed, on the
Shortest Notice."

PURCHASED BY THE DEPARTMENT

"What I Saw in California," by Edwin Bryant. Published in
1849. Being a journal of a Tour by the Emigrant Route and South
Pass of the Rocky Mountains in the year 1846.

''Over the Range to the Golden Gate." A complete tourist's
guide. By Stanley Wood, published in 1901.

"The Great West," by Henry Howe, published in 1857. Con-
tains narratives of the most important and interesting events in
western history, sketches of frontier life, etc.

Good Housekeeping Hagazine for August, September and Oc-
tober, 1927, containing article by Ex-Governor Nellie Tayloe Ross,
"The Governor Lady."

"Women of Wyoming," compiled by Mrs. Cora M. Beach.

"Autobiography of John Ball," by Lucy M. Ball. Mr. Ball was
a member of Captain N. Wyeth's party which crossed the plains in
1832.

"Report of a Reconnaisance of the Black Hills of Dakota made
in the summer of 1874," by William Ludlow.

"The Outlaws of Cave-In Rock," by Otto A. Rothert.

"Narrative of a Journey Across the Rocky Mountains to the
Columbia River," by John K. Townsend, published in 1839.

"Oregon Territory." by the Rev. C. G. Nicolay, published in
1846.

"The Narrative of Samuel Hancock of His Overland Journey
to Oregon in 1845." Includes map of Oregon Trail. Published in
1927.

"Sport and Life in Western America and British Columbia,"
by Baillie-Grohman. Contains an account of hunting big game in
Wyoming.

■"Caspar Collins," by Agnes Wright Spring. Mrs. Spring was
at one time the state librarian of Wyoming.

"Riata and Spurs," by Charles A. Siringo. Contains much Wyo-
ming history.

Wylie's map of the Western Hemisphere, 1832.

Universal Indian Sign Language, by William Tomkins.

From the West to the West, by Abigail Scott Duniway.

Fremont's Life, Explorations and Public Service, by Charles
Wentworth Epham. Published in 1856.

JVtmals of pigommg

Vol. 5 JUNE, 1929 No. 4

Grace Raymond Met
s«. loth strait

CONTENTS

The Story of Deadman's Bar F. M. Fryxell

Reminiscences Edward Ordway

Published Quarterly

by the

STATE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY

Mrs. Cyrus Beard, Historian

CHEYENNE, WYOMING

JVtmals of Jfflgamhtg

Vol. 5 JUNE, 1929 No. 4

^ Raymond Rebard

31S So. 10th Street

CONTENTS

The Story of Deadman's Bar F. M. Fryxell

Reminiscences Edward Ordway

Published Quarterly

by the

STATE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY

Mrs. Cyrus Beard, Historian

CHEYENNE, WYOMING

STATE HISTORICAL BOARD

Governor Frank C. Emerson

Secretary of State A. M. Clark

State Librarian Mrs. Clare E. Ausherman

Secretary of Board Mrs. Cyrus Beard

ADVISORY BOARD

Judge E. H. Fourt Lander

Dr. Grace R. Hebard Laramie

Mrs. C. L. Vandevender Basin

Mr. C. F. Maurer Douglas

Mr. Phillip E. Winter Casper

Mxs. R. A. Ferguson Wheatland

Mrs. Willis M. Spear Sheridan

Miss Spaeth Gillette

Mr. P. W. Jenkins Cora

Neither the State Historical Board, the State Historical Advisory Board nor the
State Historian is responsible for any statements made or opinions expressed by
contributors to the Annals of Wyoming.

(Copyright, 1929)

CHAPTER 96
STATE HISTORICAL BOARD

Session Laws 1921

DUTIES OF HISTORIAN

Section 6. It shall be the duty of the State His-
torian :

(a) To collect books, maps, charts, documents, man-
uscripts, other papers and any obtainable material illus-
trative of the history of the State.

(b) To procure from pioneers narratives of any ex-
ploits, perils and adventures.

(c) To collect and compile data of the events which
mark the progress of Wyoming from its earliest day to
the present time, including the records of all of the
Wyoming men and women, who served in the World War
and the history of all war activities in the State.

(d) To procure facts and statements relative to the
history, progress and decay of the Indian tribes and other
early inhabitants within the State.

(e) To collect by solicitation or purchase fossils,
specimens, of ores and minerals, objects of curiosity con-
nected with the history of the State and all such books,
maps, writings, charts and other material as will tend to
facilitate historical, scientific and antiquarian research.

(f) To file and carefully preserve in his office in
the Capitol at Cheyenne, all of the historical data col-
lected or obtained by him, so arranged and classified as
to be not only available for the purpose of compiling and
publishing a History of Wyoming, but also that it may be
readily accessible for the purpose of disseminating such
historical or biographical information as may be reason-
ably requested by the public. He shall also bind, cata-
logue and carefully preserve all unbound books, manu-
scripts, pamphlets, and especially newspaper files contain-
ing legal notices which may be donated to the State His-
torical Board.

(g) To prepare for publication a biennial report of
the collections and other matters relating to the transac-
tion of the Board as may be useful to the public.

(h) To travel from place to place, as the require-
ments of the work may dictate, and to take such steps,
not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, as may be
required to obtain the data necessary to the carrying out
of the purpose and objects herein set forth.

Annals trf pigflmtng

Vol. 5 JUNE, 1929 No. 4

THE STORY OF DEADMAN'S BAR

By F. M. Fryxell

INTRODUCTION

Jackson Hole, widely reputed to have been the favored
retreat and rendezvous of cattle thieves, outlaws, and "bad
men" in the early days, has long enjoyed the glamour which
goes with a dark and sinful past, and this reputation has by
no means been lost sight of by those who have been active
in advertising the assets of this fascinating region. But
when the dispassionate historian critically investigates the
basis for this reputation he is surprised to find so little
evidence wherewith to justify it, or to indicate that pioneer
times in Jackson Hole were much different from those in
other nearby frontier communities ; and he is forced to con-
clude that the notoriety of Jackson Hole, like the rumor of
Mark Twain's death, has been slightly exaggerated. Doubt-
less the geographic features of the valley have encouraged
the popular belief for from the standpoint of isolation and
inaccessibility Jackson Hole might well have been a para-
dise for the fugitive and lawless.

But, in fairness to the old idea, which one is reluctant
to abandon, it must be conceded that among the authentic
narratives, that have come down to us from pioneer times,
there are one or two which hold their own with the choicest
that wild west fiction has dared to offer, and these bolster
up to some extent the rather faltering case for Jackson
Hole's former exceptional badness. Such a narrative is the
story of Deadman's Bar.

There are few residents of the Jackson Hole country
who have not heard of the Deadman's Bar affair, a triple
killing which took place in the summer of 1886 along the
Snake River and which gave this section of the river the
name of Deadman's Bar.1 It is the most grim narrative and

1. I have never seen Deadman's Bar marked on any map, nor previously re-
ferred to in the literature of the region, so with reference to the spelling of the name
there appears to be no definite precedent to follow. In keeping with the practice of the
United States Geographic Board, "Deadman's" is here spelled as a single word. The
plural form "Deadmen's", is the logical one, but it has never come into use in
Jackson Hole so far as I am aware, and therefore the singular form is retained in
this paper.

130 ANNALS OF WYOMING

the most celebrated in the pioneer history of the valley, and
its details are sufficiently bloody to satisfy the most san-
guinary tourist, thirsty for western thrills. In comparison
with this true tragedy the movie tragedies that have in
recent years been filmed in Wyoming (one of them in Jack-
son Hole, on the very ground of Deadman's Bar!) strike
one as pale and commonplace.

It is but natural that contradictory and garbled ver-
sions of this incident should have gained local currency : the
story lends itself well, too well — to the fireside, and conse-
quently it has been retold innumerable times during the last
four decades, without ever being recorded as a matter of his-
tory. While probably the details lost nothing of their vivid-
ness in the telling (story-telling being a fine art here in the
heart of the dude ranch country), it is to be feared that they
suffered somewhat with respect to accuracy, there being no
written account at hand to inconvenience the scald or curb
his imagination.

Impressed with the desirability of getting at the facts
of the Deadman's Bar affair, Colonel H. C. Ericsson, Mr.
W. O. Owen, and the writer, while associated in Jackson
Hole during the month of August, 1928, determined to make
an investigation and preserve such scraps of information
as remained after the lapse of 42 years. It was still possible
to obtain a first-hand and reliable account from the late
Emile Wolff, one of the first settlers in Jackson Hole and
the only individual alive who was directly involved in the
matter.

By good fortune Mr. William Crawford, veteran trap-
per of Jackson Hole, who for many years has been living in
retirement in Los Angeles, California, chanced to be visit-
ing in the valley and was able to add some facts of great in-
terest, and to assist materially in unraveling the story.
Two visits were made to Deadman's Bar, and the setting of
the event reconstructed. Some months later, the writer
enlisted the interest and co-operation of the Court officials
at Evanston, Wyoming, and of Mrs. Cyrus Beard, State His-
torian of Wyoming, with the result that unexpected in-
formation was discovered.

The story of the affair at Deadman's Bar, as secured
from these sources, is set forth in successive chapters. It
will be seen that the several versions are in substantial
agreement. No attempt will be made to reconcile the minor
discrepancies which the reader will doubtless discover from
time to time.

The writer expresses his great obligation to Colonel
H. C. Ericsson, Mr. W. 0. Owen, Emile Wolff, Mr. William

ANNALS OF WYOMING 131

Crawford, Mrs. Cyrus Beard, Judge John R. Arnold, Mr.
Clarence Cook and Mr. James Brown whose assistance made
possible this rescurrection of the true story of Deadman's
Bar.

Emile Wolff's Narrative

When Colonel Ericsson, Mr. Owen, and the writer vis-
ited Emile Wolff on August 9, 1928, we found him stricken
with the infirmities of old age and confined to what proved
to be his deathbed.2 Nevertheless his senses were alert and
his memory concerning the period in question keen and ac-
curate. The account he gave checked in every detail with
one he had given Colonel Ericsson a year earlier, and his
recollection of names and dates agreed in most cases with
evidence obtained later from other sources. In his en-
feebled condition, however, Wolff was so weakened by the
telling of his story that the interview had perforce to be
cut short and certain questions left unanswered. A few
questions Wolff declined to answer with the statement that
there were features of the affair he would like to forget if
he could, and there were others he had never told anyone
and never would. What he had told other men, he said, he
would tell us.

Concerning himself3 Mr. Wolff stated that he was 76
years old and a German by blood and birth, having been
born in 1854 in Luxembourg. He received an education
along medical lines in the old country ; and when still a very
young man, only 16, emigrated to America, where he served
for some years in the United States Army in the far West,
part of the time as volunteer doctor. His first visit to the
Jackson Hole region was in 1872 when he came to Teton
Basin (Pierre's Hole) for a brief period. In 1878 while serv-

2. Word of Mr. Wolffs passing on November 7, 1928, was received on the day
this chapter was written (November 17 1.

3. To this brief account of Emile Wolff's life may be added the following
obituary notice which appeared in the issue of the Jackson Hole Courier for No-
vember 15, 1928 :

"Emile Wolff was born in Luxemburg in the year of 1854 and came to this
country at the age of 16 and enlisted in the U. S. Army. He served for years, act-
ing as hospital steward for a time. He served his last enlistment at old Fort Hall,
Idaho.

"After being mustered out of the army he located on a ranch on Moody Creek
about six miles from Rexburg, Idaho, where he lived several years. Selling that
property, he moved into Teton Basin, where he located another ranch and went into
the cattle business, finally coming to Jackson Hole in the summer of 1888. He lo-
cated on what is now known as part of the Government Game Refuge on Flat Creek
near the present Jackson town site.

"In 1891 Mr. Wolff returned to his old home in Luxemburg and in the following
year returned with a wife. The couple located on Spread Creek, the present family
home. To the union four children were born, two boys and two girls, who with their
mother survive.

"For several years Mr. Wolff held the position of Forest Ranger. He was honest
and upright in his dealings, a good citizen and neighbor, and highly respected by all."

132 ANNALS OF WYOMING

ing under Lientenant Hall he came into Jackson Hole, his
detachment being sent to carry food to Lieutenant Doane's
outfit, which had lost its supplies in the Snake River while
engaged in a geological survey of the Jackson Hole area.

In 1886, Wolff stated, he came to the region to stay,
settling first in Teton Basin. It was in this year that the
Deadman's Bar incident took place. The account of this
affair which follows is pieced together from the facts given
by Wolff; no information gained from other sources has
been introduced, and there have been no changes made in
the story other than the rearrangement of its details into
historical order. The account as set forth has been verified
by both Colonel Ericsson and Mr. Owen, who were present
at its telling.

In the spring of 1886 four strangers came into Jackson
Hole to take up placer mining along Snake River, whose
gravels were then reputed to be rich in gold. The new out-
fit had been organized in Montana, and originally had con-
sisted of three partners, Henry Welter, (T. H.) Tigerman,
and (August) Kellenberger — "the Germans" as they came
to be called. Henry Welter, who had previously been a
brewer in Montana, proved to be an old friend and school-
mate of Emile Wolff's from Luxembourg. Tiggerman was
a gigantic fellow who had served on the King's Guard in
Germany ; he seemed to be something of a leader in the
project, claiming — apparently on insecure grounds — that
he knew where placer gold was to be obtained. August Kel-
lenberger, also a brewer by trade, was a small man who had
two fingers missing from his right hand. The trio of pros-
pective miners had added a fourth man to the outfit, one
John Tonnar by name, also a German, under promise of grub
and a split in the cleanup.

The miners located near the center of Jackson Hole on
the north bank of the Snake where that river flows west for
for a short distance. They erected no cabins, according to
Wolff, but lived in tents pitched in a clearing among the
trees on the bar, within a few hundred yards or so of the
river. Occasional visits to the few ranchers then in this
portion of the Territory brought them a few acquaintances.
Once they ran out of grub and crossed Teton Pass to Wolff's
place to get supplies. Wolff recalled that they paid for their
purchases with a $20 gold piece. They wanted a saw, and
Wolff directed them to a neighbor who had one ; this they
borrowed, leaving $10 as security.

On the occasion of this visit they spoke of building a
raft to use in crossing the Snake at their workings, and
Wolff tried to dissuade them from the project, assuring

ANNALS OF WYOMING 133

them that they did not appreciate how dangerous the Snake
could be when on the rise ; but they laughed off his warn-
ings with the statement that they had built and handled
rafts before, and knew their business.

Wolff learned little, until later, concerning the mutual
relations of the four men on the bar, nor concerning what
success, if any, they had in finding gold.

Late that summer when haying time was at hand in
Teton Basin, Wolff was surprised to see a man approaching
his cabin on foot. "Seeing any man, and especially one
afoot, was a rare sight in those days," commented Wolff.
It proved to be the miner, Tonnar, and he asked to be given
work. Curious as to what was up between Tonnar and his
partners, Wolff quizzed him but received only the rather un-
satisfactory statement that Tonnar had left the three min-
ers while they were making plans to raft the Snake in order
to fetch a supply of meat for the camp.

With hay ready for cutting, Wolff was glad to hire
Tonnar for work in the fields. For a month the two men
slept together, and during this time Wolff noticed that Ton-
nar invariably wore his gun or had it within reach, but
while he suspected that all was not right he made no further
investigation. Wolff retained a mental picture of Tonnar
as being a small, dark-complexioned man of rather untrust-
worthy appearance and manner.

Once Tonnar instructed Wolff to investigate a certain
hiding place in the cabin, and he would find some valuables
which he asked him to take charge of. Wolff did so and
claims that he found a silver watch and a purse containing
$28.

Then one day late in August a sheriff and posse came
to the cabin and asked Wolff if he could furnish informa-
tion concerning the whereabouts of the miner, Jack Tonnar
(at the time Tonnar was absent, working in the fields).
Briefly the posse explained that Tonnar's three partners had
been found dead, that Tonnar was believed guilty of their
murder, and that the posse was commissioned to take him.
Horrified to think that for a month he had sheltered and
slept with such a desperate character, Wolff could only re-
ply, "My God! Grab him while you can!" Tonnar was
found on a haystack and captured before he could bring his
gun into play.

From the posse Wolff learned that a party boating
from Yellowstone Park down the Lewis and Snake rivers,
under the leadership of one Frye,1 had stopped at the work-

4. Wolff seems to have been in error with respect to the spelling of this name,
as this man is doubtless the Frank Free referred to in Chapters III and IV, a
witness at Tonnar's trial.

134 ANNALS OF WYOMING

ings of the miners but had found them unoccupied. Just
below the encampment, at the foot of a bluff where the
Snake had cut into a gravel bank, they had come upon three
bodies lying in the edge of the water, weighted down with
stones. They had reported the gruesome find, and the ar-
rest of Tonnar on Wolff's place resulted.

Wolff, Dr. W. A. Hocker (a surgeon from Evanston),
and a couple of Wolff's neighbors from Teton Basin hurried
to the scene of the killings, a place which has ever since
been known as Deadman's Bar. They readily identified the
bodies, Tiggerman by his size, and Kellenberger from the
absence of two fingers on his right hand. They found that^
Kellenberger had been shot twice in the back, that Welter
had an axe cut in the head, and that Tiggerman's head was
crushed, presumably also with an axe. Wolff gave it as
their conclusion that the three men must have been killed
while asleep ; and that their bodies had been hauled up onto
the "rim" and rolled down the gravel bluff into the river,
where they had lodged in shallow water and subsequently
been covered with rocks. Probably the water had later
fallen, more fully exposing the bodies so that they had been
discovered by Frye's men.

Wolff and Hocker removed the heads of Welter and
Tiggerman and cleaned the skulls, preserving them as evi-
dence. Wolff denied that they buried the bodies, but
claimed that they threw them back in the edge of the water
and covered them again with rocks.

Tonnar pleaded not guilty and was taken to Evanston,
the county seat of Uinta County (which then embraced the
westernmost strip of Wyoming Territory), and here he was
tried the following spring before Judge Samuel Corn. Wolff
was called on to testify at the trial, mentioning, among
other things, the incident of the watch and the purse, both
of which he was positive Tonnar had stolen from his mur-
dered partners.

To the general surprise of Wolff, Judge Corn, and oth-
ers present at the trial, Tonnar was acquitted by the jury,
despite the certainty of his guilt. What subsequently be-
came of him is not clear. Wolff was questioned on this
point, and at first declined to speak, later, however, ex-
pressing the belief that Tonnar probably went back to the
old country for fear that friends of Welter, Tiggerman, and
Kellerman might take the law into their own hands since
the jury had failed to convict him.

Concerning the question of motive for the killing,
Wolff stated that he knew Tonnar and the three men quar-
reled. The original partners planned to turn Tonnar loose

ANNALS OF WYOMING 135

when his services were no longer needed in sluice digging,
etc., minus his share in the cleanup. To discourage his per-
sisting with their outfit they had beaten him up badly a few
days prior to the murders; but instead of leaving Tonnar
had stayed at camp, nursing his bruises and plans for re-
venge, finally carrying out the latter to the consummation
already described. Wolff did not believe that robbery was a
factor of much importance in instigating the crime.

II
William Crawford's Narrative

William Crawford's story constitutes a brief sequel to
the foregoing account. Crawford was one of the first trap-
pers in Jackson Hole, spending several trapping seasons in
the region during the '80's when its vast fur resources were
yet scarcely touched.

Crawford relates that late in the summer of 1886 he
set out on a journey northward through Jackson Hole, with
Jackson Lake as a destination, following the Snake River in
order to locate favorable beaver signs preliminary to the
fall trapping. His route brought him to the stretch along
the Snake now called Deadman's Bar, and just below the
great Huff eroded from the east banks of the river his at-
tention was arrested by the remains of a camp which gave
evidence of having been very recently abandoned. Hanging
from the limb of a cottonwood about ten yards from the
river he discovered a large cast-iron kettle. This interested
him because, as the old trapper naively put it, 'Thinks I to
myself, here's where I gets me a nice cooking kettle !" But
when he unhooked it he found that it contained a mass of
putrid flesh and tangled hair that smelled so horribly he was
glad to make his escape, leaving kettle behind. Obviously
he made no further investigation as to the nature or origin
of the offensive contents.

About ten yards farther in from the river and imme-
diately at the foot of the bluff Crawford noticed a large
mound of boulders, recently heaped together. He was posi-
tive that burials had recently occurred here, on the out-
skirts of the camp before the latter had been abandoned;
but whether the interment was of human or animal remains
he could not be sure, although he suspected the former since
burying animals was in those days regarded as needless
bother.

But his quest was for beaver signs, so without troubling
himself further about the mystery Crawford continued up
the Snake ; and it was not until several months later, in No-

13(5 ANNALS OF WYOMING

vember, that he got back to the settlement and learned
what had happened on the bar that summer. The camp he
had stumbled on was that of Hocker and Wolff, and the
kettle he had coveted was the one they had abandoned at the
conclusion of their ghastly task of preparing the skulls of
— \ Welter and Tiggerman for court exhibition. •

Despite the statement of Wolff that he and Hocked did
not bury the bodies but put them back in the edge of the
river and covered them with stones, Crawford is emphatic
in his belief that the fresh mound he found near the camp,
about 20 yards from the edge of the river, represents the
burial place of at least Welter and Tiggerman, and very
likely all three of the victims.5

On August 12, 1928, Crawford went with Colonel Erics-
son and the writer to the scene of the above incident, which
he felt sure he could readily locate because of its position
at the lower tip of the great eroding bluff. We had had
previous occasion to test the veteran trapper's phenomenal
memory and keenness of observation, so were well prepared
to have him lead the way unhesitatingly to an old forked
Cottonwood which in appearance and location answered to
the description he had previously given us. Hanging from
the lower limb of this tree, he informed us, he had found
the iron kettle. There was, of course, no vestige of the
camp, and the loose gravel from the bluff had slid down to
such an extent that the grave mound could no longer be dis-
tinguished. Nevertheless, if Crawford is correct in his in-
terpretation of what he found — and after considering all the
evidence, Colonel Ericsson and the writer are inclined to be-
lieve he is correct — the resting place of the ill-fated placer
miners of Deadman's Bar was determined within a possible
error of not more than a few yards. Cairns were erected at
the base of the tree and at the bottom of the bluff for future
reference.

5. The contradiction between the accounts of Wolff and Crawford with regard
to the disposition of the bodies may be only apparent. Possibly Wolff's words "in the
edge of the river" should not be taken too literally : we could not get an exact
definition from him. It may be that Wolff did not care to reveal the exact spot.
It is possible, too. that Wolff's recollection on this point may have been somewhat
hazy, or that the shifting of the shoreline between high and low stages of the river
may help to explain the discrepancy. Certainly Crawford's discovery seems highly
significant, and its evidence cannot be summarily rejected because contradicted by
Wolff's story.

ANNALS OF WYOMING 137

III
Account Published in the Cheyenne Daily Sun

Our files of the few newspapers published in Wyoming
Territory and adjacent regions during the middle '80's are
very incomplete, and consequently the search of the State
Historical Department for evidence bearing on the Dead-
man's Bar affair resulted in the discovery of only one refer-
ence. This account, which follows, appeared in the Chey-
enne Daily Sun for April 17, 1887, and" is, fortunately, quite
complete.

"Evanston, Wyoming, April 15. The trial of John Ton-
nar, a German, charged with the murder of three of his
countrymen, was concluded here today, the jury bringing
in a verdict of 'Not Guilty.' Intense interest has been mani-
fested during the trial, and the result is looked upon very
much as in the case of the Mcintosh brothers, tried in Chey-
enne a few months ago. The case was very ably prosecuted
by C. D. Clark of Evanston, and H. B. Head, the County At-
torney; but Messrs. J. W. Blake of Laramie, and C. M.
White and J. H. Ryckman of Evanston, succeeded in obtain-
ing an acquittal on the ground of self-defense, no living eye
having witnessed the killing except the prisoner at the bar.

"It will be remembered that John Tonnar was arrested
at Lapham, Idaho, and brought here last September charged
with having murdered three companions with whom he was
engaged in placer mining on Snake Rivei , in Jackson's Hole,
a few miles south of the Yellowstone National Park. The
evidence showed that in the month of May, 1886, four Ger-
mans,AHenry Welter, August Kellenberger^T. H. Tiggerman
and the defendant, John Tonnar, were residing in Butte
City, Montana, and that they entered into a sort of partner-
ship to prospect the country for gold in the neighborhood of
the Teton mounains, Uinta County, Wyoming.

"Tiggerman was the leader of the party, having pros-
pected in that locality before. After buying the necessary
outfit, they hired a teamster, leaving Butte City on the 12th
day of May, 1886, and arriving at Lapham, Idaho, in about
three weeks. Here they dispensed with the services of the
teamster and made preparation to cross a range of the Teton
mountains. They spent several days at the ranch of Emile
Wolff, who was an old schoolmate of Welter's, and who as-
sisted them in purchasing a couple of pack horses. He also
accompanied them to the base of the mountains, when he
returned to his ranch. This was in the latter part of May,
and the party, after traveling several days over the moun-
tains, a distance of sixty miles, located a permanent camp on

138 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Snake river, building a little shanty and engaging in sluice
mining. As soon as they were settled Tonnar and Kellen-
berger went back for a part of their supplies, which they
had left with Mr. Wolff. They informed him that they had
found good prospects and returned immediately to the camp.
Mr. Wolff heard no more of the party until the 19th day of
July, or about six weeks, when Tonnar returned to^the
ranch, stating thaTwVelter, Tiggerman and Kellenberger had
gone out hunting, and as he was feeling lonesome he thought
he would come over and visit him. Tonnar remained here
three weeks, during which time Mr. Wolff noticed that his
conduct was somewhat peculiar, but in no way did he reveal
the terrible crime which had been committed.

"Frank Free, one of the principal witnesses of the
prosecution, testified that he lives in lone, California, and
is a conductor on the Southern Pacific Railroad. That while
in company with several other gentlemen hunting and fish-
ing in the Teton mountains in August last, he discovered
evidences of a camp having been suddenly deserted. He
says : T was fishing, in the river and noticed some lumber
which led me to believe it was a mining camp. I looked
around a little and it seemed the parties had left rather
hastily. I went back to the river and followed down the
stream for nearly a mile when I noticed a stench come up
the stream. I followed down with the current to a high
bluff where I noticed the stench was much stronger. I
looked around and noticed where there was a little mound
from ten to fifteen inches high made of stone boulders. On
examining it a little closer I could see clothing between the
rocks and a man's hand. I was satisfied that some one was
buried there, but did not disturb the grave. I went back to
camp and reported what I had seen.' A party of four went
back that evening and made a further examination of the
mounds, and were satisfied that a murder had been com-
mitted. The next morning they took a complete inventory
of everything in the deserted camp, including papers be-
longing to^Henry Welter and T. H. Tiggerman and a lot of
clothing and tools. On opening the mound farthest up the
stream they discovered a man about five feet eight inches
tall with the top of his skull broken in. He had on a pair of
blue overalls, dark brown hair and was in his bare feet. The
same grave contained a large man over six feet high with
brown whiskers. His head appeared to be smashed to
pieces and was tied up in a grain sack. This man had on a
pair of shoes and was afterward identified as Tiggerman.
The other grave was about twenty feet further down the
bank of the stream, near the water's edge. It contained a

ANNALS OF WYOMING 139

man about five feet five. He had on old government^hoes
and a white shirt similar to the ones found in Welter's valise
at the camp. There appeared to be a bruise on his head, but
the bodies were too far decomposed to make any examin-
tion of the flesh. This was on the 9th day of August, and
notices were posted up in several places with the intention
of notifying the authorities as soon as possible. When they
arrived atlLapham several days afterwards they told their
story, and Tonnar, who was known to be one of the party
of miners, was immediately arrested at Wolff's ranch. He
had a preliminary examination before a justice of the peace,
after which he was brought to Evanston.

"The testimony given by Tonnar before the jury yes-
terday and day before was substantially as follows: He
swore that the was a native of Luxemberg and came to the
United States in 1876. That he knew Henry Welter when
he came to Butte in 1884, but made the acquaintance of
Kellenberger and Tiggerman only a few days before they
started out on a prospecting tour. In regard' to the quarrel
and subsequent killing he says: 'We were building a dam,
and had a quarrel on the 15th of July about dumping the
dirt high enough on the willows. I and Henry Welter car-
ried dirt with a hand barrel. The other boys, Tiggerman
and Kellenberger,'/were throwing rock with their hands on
the willows. In some way the barrow tipped over, Tigger-
man struck me, and held me under the water a long time.
He told me that I couldn't be a partner any longer; that I
was a lazy and a bossing cuss or dog, or something like that.
When Welter and I started to load again he told me he
didn't want me any more as a partner. He rushed up and
took the shovel away from me, jerked it out of my hand and
raised it up to strike me over the head. I warded it off
with my hand, and got hold of his legs, and shoved him on
his back so that he could not strike me. As he fell over I
got my hand in his mouth, and the mark is there on my
finger. He got his two arms around me and shook me for
a long while choking me. I felt my face swelling, and my
eyes getting all black, and I could see nothing. Something
struck me on the head. I don't know what it was but think
it was a rock. Then he let me up. I struggled away but I
felt in my throat as if something was broke. I then went
down home and changed my clothes which were all wet, and
laid down in bed. I was feeling sick. It was between 3 and
5 o'clock when I got up to fix the fire for supper. I thought
to make friends with them and do the same as before. We
had supper all together but there was not a word said to
me that night. Henry Welter cooked the breakast the next

140 ANNALS OF WYOMING

morning. Tiggerman went to a box outside the tent and
took out some tools that belonged to me. Kellenberger went
to water the horses. A little after breakfast we all got
ready to go to work. Tiggerman told me that I was not to
be a partner^ Kellenbegrer and Welter were there. I asked
them, "Boys, can I go along to work this morning?" I
asked them to forget about the quarrel the day before. They
told me they didn't want me any more in partnership, and
Tiggerman didn't want me any more as a partner. Henry
Welter was putting on his boots and I told him, if I couldn't
work in partnership any more them boots belonged to me;
that he could not have the boots any more. I got hold of
them and told him I paid for those boots, they belong to me.
He came up to me and tried to get hold of me and called me
a s — of a b — . I backed up and says you can't have them.
He got hold of my shoulder and tried to throw me down. I
threw the boots away, got hold of him and we clinched. He
tried to strike me on the head, but I guarded the blows off.
Then Kellenberger kicked me in the rear, and he swore he
would kill me if I touched anything in the camp, break my
neck. We were clinched together about two minutes when
I heard Tiggerman cry, "Kill the s — of a b — ." He had just
come up from the river. As soon as he hollered out "Kill
the s — of a b — ," he ran to a shovel lying there in camp and
tried to come up to us. I jerked loose, rushed away and ran
for the gun to hold him off. The gun was lying at the foot
of the bed in the tent. When I got the gun he was up to
me within five or six steps. I turned around quick to hold
him off so that nobody could get hold of me. Tiggerman
was up close to me with the shovel raised to strike me, when
I raised the gun and shot him in the head. Kellenberger
came towards me with an axe in his hand, and when he was
seven or eight steps from me I fired and shot him in the
neck. Henry Welter was a little ways behind and tried to
get hold of me and knock me down. I shot at him to stop
him and hit him in the breast. I fired four shots, one going
off accidentally.

" 'I ran away as soon as the last shot was fired in the
brush and stayed there about an hour and a half or two
hours. I was thinking about killing myself, but came back
and threw a gunny sack over Tiggerman's face. I didn't
want to see the flies in his mouth, and I didn't like to look
at him. I didn't like to bury them there, or let them be
there, as somebody might find them out before I got to an
officer. I took Kellenberger first and loaded him on the
horse. When I got him on the horse I went upon a high
bluff about a mile down the river and threw him over. I

ANNALS OF WYOMING 141

thought that was the easiest place to put them and nobody
would find the bodies until I got to an officer.' The defend-
ant stated that he loaded the other bodies in the same
way and threw them head foremost over a steep rocky
precipice twenty-five or thirty feet high, when they rolled
down to the river, a distance of nearly two hundred feet.
This is the way he accounts for the injuries on the skulls of
the two men, but it seems very strange that Doctor Hocker
at the coroner's inquest discovered no other bones broken
in their bodies. Tonnar then came down and covered the
bodies up with boulders, burying two in the same grave.
On returning to the camp he says he stowed away most of
their things in the cabin, burned up some of his clothing,
which was covered with blood stains, and built several fires
to obliterate the stains of blood on the premises. After
hiding the bodies, Tonnar says he felt better, having them
out of his sight, and if somebody came he would tell them
that they had gone out hunting. He said at this time he
was not in his right senses, and if somebody had come he
intended to make that excuse. He remained there until the
next day, when he desired to go to Emil Wolff's ranch and
tell him all about the affair. Mr. Wolff he found busy put-
ting up hay, and when Wolff asked him about the boys he
told him about the shooting and remained there three weeks,
until he was arrested. After his arrest he told Wolff about
the killing, substantially as narrated above, only that he
confessed that he had hidden a purse containing $8.50 and
a watch belonging to>Kellenberger in Mr. Wolff's cabin.
He told Wolff that he could have the money, but to destroy
the watch by hammering it to pieces. Mr. Wolff's state-
ment about the money and destroying the watch was flatly
contradicted by Tonnar.6 The prisoner also contradicted
several other witnesses in minor matters, but in the main
his testimony was remarkably clear. Where he lied about
killing the partners he says it was to protect him from the
wrath of the people in that country, and until he could get
the protection of the officers of the law.

"Tonnar is a small, wiry man, about 40 years of age,
a little over five feet in height, and weighing 135 or 140
pounds. He has a rather abnormally developed forehead,
with small, dark, restless eyes, a corrugated brow and small
features. In general appearance he would make a picture of
an ideal anarchist.

6. Wolff mentioned finding this watch, when we interviewed him, but made no
reference to its being destroyed.

142 ANNALS OF WYOMING

"The coroner's jury sent from Evanston to examine
into the killing of the three men, in the Teton country, by
Tonnar, returned a report prejudical to the prisoner.

"This case will also be continued in Cheyenne Demo-
cratic Leader, September 23, 1886."

IV

Court Records of Tonnar's Trial at Evanston.

After an investigation of the Uinta County court rec-
ords at Evanston for the years 1886 and 1887 with refer-
ence to the John Tonnar case, Judge John R. Arnold, Mr.
Clarence Cook (Court Reporter), and Mr. James Brown
(Clerk of the District Court) submitted the following re-
port of their findings:

Territory of Wyoming,! In the District Court

Us.
County of Uinta J Third Judicial District

Territory of Wyoming!
vs. \

John Tonnar J No. 256 Memorandum

Defendant.

At a term of the District Court begun and held at
Evanston, within the County of Uinta, on the 6th day of
September, 1886, the Jurors of the Grand Jury of the County
of Uinta, "good and lawful men, then and there returned,
tried, empaneled and sworn and charged according to law"
to inquire into and for the body of the County of Uinta, at
the term aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, in the name
and by the authority of the Territory of Wyoming, did pre-
sent and find that : "John Tonnar, late of the county afore-
said, on the 16th day of July, in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and eighty-six, with malice, force
and arms, at the county and territory aforesaid, did feloni-
ously, wilfully, deliberately and of his malice aforethought,
premeditatedly kill and murder one August^ellenberger,
Henry Welter and\lT. H. Tiggerman, whose real and full
given name is to these jurors unknown; then and there be-
ing found contrary to the form, force and effect of the
statute in such case made and provided, and against the
peace and dignity of the Territory of Wyoming."

The above indictment is signed by H. B. Head, County
and Prosecuting Attorney and filed in said court Septem-
ber 15, 1886, by Jesse Knight, Clerk. Indorsed on said in-

ANNALS OF WYOMING 143

dictment is the following: "Defendant pleads not guilty."
"Witnesses examined: Frank Free, William Mobery, D. C.
Radcliff."

Attorneys C. M. White and J. W. Blake appeared for
the defendant, Samuel T. Corn being Presiding Judge.

September 15, 1886, a bench warrant was issued addressed
to any Sheriff in the Territory of Wyoming, reciting
that an indictment had been found on the 15th day of
September, 1886, charging John Tonnar with the crime
of murder and commanding the arrest of said defend-
ant and the bringing him before said court to answer
the indictment. The return made by the Sheriff, J. J.
LeCain, Sheriff of said County, by J. H. Newell, Deputy
Sheriff, recites that the said defendant was under ar-
rest and in custody within the jail of said county sub-
ject to the order of said court.

March 14, 1887, the defendant filed an affidavit for wit-
nesses, averring that Charley Stoffer and Colonel Taun-
ton were material witnesses for said defendant and that
said witnesses reside at or near the city of Butte, in the
Territory of Montana, and that said affiant is without
means to procure the attendance of said witnesses,
whereupon the said Judge issued an order that a writ
of subpoena issue for said witnesses.

March 17, 1887, subpoena was issued for H. Heider to ap-
pear as witness on April 11, 1887. The return was
made by W. W. Turney as Deputy Sheriff, Territory of
Montana, County of Deer Lodge, reciting that he had
served a copy of the said subpoena upon the said Henry
Heider, March 28, 1887.

April 12, 1887, subpoena was issued for Dr. W. A. Hocker,
Frank Free, Emil Wolf, A. H. Bisbing, and Charles
Stoffel to appear as witnesses. Same date subpoena
issued to Judge C. E. Castle to appear forthwith as a
witness. At this time J. H. Ward was Sheriff of Uinta
County.

April 13, 1887, subpoena issued for Bill Davis to appear
forthwith as a witness.

April 15, 1887, the jury found as follows: "We the jury
find the defendant not guilty. Signed Ernest C. White,
Foreman."

Among the papers is also found a commission to take
depositions addressed to James W. Forbis under date of
March 26, 1887, to take the depositions of John T. C. Taun-
ton, Dr. J. C. B. Whitford, Charles Beekner and other wit-
nesses in such cause on interrogatories thereto attached;

144 ANNALS «0F WYOMING

that said witnesses reside in Silver Bow County, Montana
Territory, and they cannot attend at the trial of said cause
and are material. The interrogatories all relate to the de-
fendant's reputation for peace and quiet. The return shows
that O'Dillon B. Whitford testified that he was 52 years of
age, residing in Butte City, Silver Bow County, Montana
Territory, and engaged in practicing medicine and surgery,
and also interested in mines; that he was veiy well ac-
quainted with John Tonnar; that he first became acquainted
with John Tonnar in the spring of 1885 while he was em-
ployed as engineer-machinist at one of the smelters, and
further that "at that time I was repairing the Clipper
Quartz Mill, with a view to operating the same myself. John
Tonnar was so highly recommended to me by many that I
employed him. He worked for me during the spring and
summer of 1885 and about three months as manager of the
engineering department of the Slipper Mill ; he always
bore the very best reputation for peace and quiet here while
I knew him." John C. C. Thornton, age 52, of Butte City,
also testified that "the defendant's reputation in that com-
munity while I knew him was simply unimpeachable both
for peace and quiet and every other quality which goes to
make up a good citizen."

The trial was held for three days, April 12-13-14, 1886.
The jurors were as follows: Ernest C. White, Foreman;
0. D. Marx, J. B. Moore, Joseph Krousee, James Clark, Ste-
phen Harmon, Alma Peterson, Windom Thomas, George
Guild, Joseph Guild, John W. Caldwell, and James Foote.

A verdict of "not guilty" being found by the jury, the
testimony taken at the trial was not transcribed by the
court reporter. The foregoing is about all that can be
found in the files.

From parties who heard the trial it appears that there
were no eye witnesses to the tragedy, save the defendant.
Therefore the prosecution was compelled to rely solely on
circumstantial evidence. The theory of the attorneys for
defendant was that the three deceased persons were pros-
pectors, without funds, and that they represented to the de-
fendant that they had discovered a valuable mining claim
and induced him to put up considerable money to grub-stake
and furnish necessary funds to work the claim ; that soon
after these men were on their way to the Jackson Hole coun-
try they began to pick quarrels with the defendant ; that on
the day of the shooting one of the prospectors remained in
camp with the defendant, and the other two went away to
do some prospecting; that the one who remained in camp

ANNALS OF WYOMING

145

picked a quarrel with the defendant and the defendant was
compelled to kill him in self-defense; that towards evening
the other two were returning to the camp and while they
were coming up an incline some distance apart the defend-
ant shot them in self-defense. It was recalled that after
the verdict was rendered the defendant got out of town
in a hurry, taking the first freight train ; that Attorney
Blake was the principal trial attorney for the defendant,
and that he afterwards stated he never got a cent for sav-
ing the neck of the defendant, who had promised to send
him some money as soon as he could earn it, and that he
had never heard from him.

146 ANNALS OF WYOMING

V

Deadman's Bar

There has been some uncertainty as to the exact loca-
tion of the historic spot which is the subject of this investi-
gation, the name "Deadman's Bar" having been loosely as-
signed to various places on both sides of the river between
the mouth of Buffalo Fork and Menor's Ferry. Following
our interview with Emile Wolff on August 9 and with his
descriptions fresh in mind, Colonel Ericsson and the writer
explored the portion of the Snake River banks believed to
be the correct one. All doubts were immediately set at
rest for we at once found traces of the diggings, camp, and
road constructed 42 years ago by the luckless company of
miners.

Below the mouth of Buffalo Fork, the Snake River
flows in a general southwesterly direction for seven miles,
then turns due west for a mile and one-half, after which it
flows south for a mile before resuming its general south-
westerly direction. Deadman's Bar, strictly speaking, lies
on the northern banks of the east-west portion of the river,
along the western third of this one and one-half mile
stretch.7 The so-called "bar" consists of a narrow flat
(really a series of low river terraces) that lies between the
river on the south and the steep front of the gravel plain on
the north. Its width nowhere exceeds a quarter of a mile,
and its length is about half a mile. The western end of the
bar has been cut off where the Snake, as it turns south, eats
into the gravel plain; and here a conspicuous bluff, the
"eroding bluff" repeatedly referred to in this account, rises
sheer from the brink of the river to a height of over 125
feet. The bluff receives head-on the full current of the
Snake and before this attack crumbles away steadily, re-
treating noticeably year by year.

The sluice ditch of the miners is not hard to find,
though now overgrown with brush and partly filled with
gravel. Originally it tapped a beaver dam located a short
distance above the bar, and from this source it conveyed
water downstream, hugging the bluff as it rounded the
bend, traversing the full length of the bar and discharging
into the Snake where the eroding bluff begins. Thus its
total length was over half a mile. At present it is dry.
Where well preserved it is seen to be four or five feet wide
and two or three feet deep. The gravel removed in its ex-

7. On the map of the Teton National Forest and on the Grand Teton Quadrangle
of the U. S. Geological Survey, Deadman's Bar is seen to lie on the north side of the
Snake, in the SWVi of Sec. 23, T. 44 N, R. 115 W.

ANNALS OF WYOMING 147

cavation is heaped along side in ridges, so serving to in-
crease the depth of the sluice. In several places trees which
obstructed the course of the ditch had been sawed off, the
stumps still standing.

Additional workings are to be found above the beaver
dam in the shape of ditches, a dam, and gravel ridges, all
imperfectly preserved but clearly enough the work of hu-
man hands. They once directed a continuous stream of
water from a side-channel of the Snake into the beaver dam,
thus insuring a constant flow of water into the sluice.

Prospect pits are numerous on the bar, but at least
some of these appear to be more recent affairs than the
sluice ditch, and are believed to have been dug by some of
the prospectors who, we know, worked up and down the
Snake in later years.

All the working now observable speak graphically of
the expenditure of much hard labor from which returns
were never forthcoming.

The camp of the miners, according to Wolff, had been
located in an open clump of pines and cottonwoods at the
western end of Deadman's Bar, that is, near the lower end
of the sluice ditch. We found this portion of the bar to be
covered with a rather close stand of trees, mostly half-
grown ones but including a few belonging to an older gen-
eration. The trunks of some of these larger trees were
scarred by axe cuts and initials," now mostly illegible, and it
seems likely that the camp must have been pitched here.
An opportunity was later afforded us to compare these axe
wounds with some which William Crawford had made in
1886 in trees outside his cabin, two miles east of Moran,
and the extent of healing over was found to be about the
same, indicating that the old cuts found on the trees of
Deadman's Bar were in all likelihood made by "the Ger-
mans" and not by campers of a later period.

Wolff had stated that years ago he found Welter's
name carved on one of the trees in this group, and in our
examination of the many faded records on the trees, we
came upon one work, presumably a name, which began with
an indistinct letter most closely resembling an "H" but
which may have been a "W", followed by "E" and "L" and
other letters not legible. This may have been Welter's
name.

The old wagon road, still clearly defined, runs east-
ward from the camp site and can be followed up stream for
perhaps a quarter of a mile, where it turns up the bluff
and, by means of terraces and low places on the "rim",
makes its way up to the level of the bench. The road is

148

ANNALS OF WYOMING

well planned, and if a new one were to be built down to the
bar it could hardly improve upon this old route.

One cannot but admire the excellent judgment which
the miners showed in their selection of a camp site. No
more attractive or protected spot for the purpose is known
to the writer along the Snake River anywhere in Jackson
Hole. The view of the Teton peaks from Deadman's Bar is
superb, nothing short of spectacular. Hunting and fishing
are still excellent here and must have been better then;
water and shade are present on the bar in abundance,
though absent on the gravel plain above it; and the great
bluffs which encircle the bar shelter it from the strong
blasts that come out of the west and north.

The tranquility and beauty which one now finds on
Deadman's Bar are difficult to associate with an event so
grim in its past. F. M. FRYXELL.

Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois, November 21, 1928.

Col. H. C. Ericsson I left l and William Crawford (right l at Deadman's Bar.

ANNALS OF WYOMING 149

REMINISCENCES

Edward Ordway

Near the close of a bright spring day of the year 1866
I jumped down from the stage amidst a hustling throng
gathered about the Wells Fargo office in Denver, Colorado,
the first town out from the Missouri River, six hundred
miles away. At that day Denver could hardly be called a
metropolis reckoned on a basis of a numerous population;
but it was cosmopolitan in the broadest sense of the word.
A jolly, surging crowd of very human beings welcomed the
incomers with a heartiness that could not be mistaken,
whether coming from the prospector rich in expectation,
or the possessor of the last big strike. All were imbued
with the same brand of friendliness from the Governor of
the Territory down to the little boot-black who had crossed
the plains with a freight outfit and whose highest ambi-
tion was to be able to swing a long whip and make it pop
with the easy grace of his patron saint, the big Missouri
bull-whacker, who with the stage driver, were the heroes
that all looked up to.

At that time a large amount of travel came through
from Nebraska City, though most of the staging was done
over th$ Smoky Hill Route. Many work cattle used in
freighting were wintered in the nearby sheltered valleys
along the foot of the mountains, and were in good working
order for moving the westbound freight, held by the for-
warding houses for early shipment to points in Utah and
Nevada.

Before the railroad came one could look backward over
the plains and across the wide valleys and see a long line of
approaching trains, the far end hidden in a cloud of dust,
and at times where the wheeling was hard, the crack of bull
whips, to the uninitiated, sounding like a battle.

I had made the acquaintance of a young man named
Riley. I do not now remember his given name, and perhaps I
never knew, as in those long ago and somewhat forgotten
days one name was considered enough for any man who
was propelled along the busy walks of life unaided by the
shouters and kneelers that assist the great; and no matter
what name a man answered to, no one asked if it was his
right name, or by what name he went back in the States.
All such ungentlemanly curiosity was thought to be un-
called for.

One morning I met Riley in Groves' Gunshop. We met
there for the same purpose — gun cleaning. He had a Henry

150 ANNALS OF WYOMING

and I a Spencer carbine. As there were some other men
there, who were engaged in trying to make themselves be-
live the stories they were telling, conversation turned to a
discussion of the merits and defects of firearms in general.
The majority were of the opinion that they would not lay
down a muzzle-loader for any machine gun. One man in-
sisted that given a hundred and fifty yards start he could
outrun all the sixteen shots in a Henry. Another fellow
would not take the gift of a Spencer carbme for the good
reason that the luckiest man on the earth was never known
to hit anything he shot at. Others offering their testi-
mony along the same line, caused us to adjourn to a corral
outside of town that was built of pine lumber with plenty
of knots in the boards. I offered to bet a ten dollar hat
that I could knock out seven knots that I would mark at
thirty yards off hand, and do the trick in less than twenty
seconds with the seven shots in my gun. One skeptic in the
crowd gleefully accepted the bet and sorrowfully paid it.

Riley asked me if I could do that every time, and I
told him that with a fair amount of luck I could. Then he
told me that he was part owner of a bull train and boss of
the same, and that it was on the way to the northern forts,
and he was to meet it at Fort Laramie, and if I was game
enough to take the chances he would take me on as an
extra, naming a remuneration that struck me as so very
liberal that I did not hesitate to accept it, although he ex-
plained that on account of the Government not keeping its
agreement with the Indians to remove Forts Reno, Phil
Kearney, and C. F. Smith, there was liable to be plenty of
trouble.

Three days later we took the stage for La Porte, Colo-
rado, where he had left some saddle horses the fall before
to be cared for by Ben Clagmore. Finding the horses in
fine shape for travel, the next morning found us on the old
Fort Bent and Fort Laramie trail, arriving at the last named
place the evening of the third day. There was a mule outfit
of twelve teams camped near by and some horse teams be-
longing to parties going to Montana that had come across
from Omaha under escort of two companies of Infantry, but
the Post Commander would not allow them to proceed until
reinforced by some outfit that would promise a fair pros-
pect of safety.

Riley's train had not arrived and no trustworthy news
from it since it left Fort Kearney, Nebraska, but as there
were two trains traveling together making a company of
over sixty men, there was not much to worry about.

ANNALS OF WYOMING 151

The Indians never started out on an expedition in force
enough to attack an outfit of that size until their ponies
had begun to recover from the effects of the winter and had
exchanged their long haired coats for the sleek shiny skins
that come with the warm luxuriant days of early June. It
is then that their cavorting steeds, with heads and tails in
air, are in harmony with the high and warlike pose of their
gaily dressed and painted riders. Then, when conditions
are right and they know of some desirable plunder that
requires a large force to capture, they send out a small party
of scouts — the war party following later in small bands by
different trails, all planned to meet at a rendezvous some-
where near the object of attack. By that method they pass
through a sparsely inhabited country generally unnoticed,
never disturbing any small object that they can avoid, al-
ways preparing to spring upon their prey with all the silent
stealth of a cat after a bird.

There was an aphorism often used, "You are never safe
from Indians except when they are in sight."

We waited two days to give our horses a rest and then
started down the river and had the good luck to meet the
train opposite what was then called Mitchel Bottom, where
three or four years later Red Cloud's Agency was estab-
lished.

Everything about the train was in as good order as
could be expected. They had only met with the usual delays
and difficulties that heavily loaded teams always encoun-
ter, and three days later camp was made near Fort Lara-
wie where there was a ten days delay as there were yoke
chains and parts of wagons to be repaired. Four wagons
were loaded with government goods for the Fort that had
to be unloaded and all the loads on the other wagons light-
ened and the surplus transferred to the empties.

After everything had been put in good order we rolled
out, crossed the river and proceeded on our way rejoicing,
made doubly happy by the genial sun above our heads and
the kindly breeze that met our every breath. Young, strong,
glowing with health, was it a wonder that we were careless
of what fate might be before us ? The present was our day,
let tomorrow take care of itself.

The mule train and horse teams were ordered to ac-
company us, which did not please us, as the reinforcement
of twenty men was an asset that would not balance the
liability of the mules and horses.

Cattle, the Indians had no use for, but anything in
the horse line they were bound to have if they could get it ;
but we had to make the best of it as the Commander of a

152 ANNALS OF WYOMING

frontier post was monarch of all he surveyed as well as of
things invisible.

The Indian always coveted horses and would take as
many chances to obtain them as would the prospector in
quest of free gold on the bed rock.

The white man has no corner on greed — the savage has
his share of it and it takes* horses and then more horses to
satisfy it.

All went along smoothly until we were within a day's
drive of where the road leaves the vicinity of the river and
turns northward.

The morning of that day, when daylight was beginning
to show objects at a short distance fairly well, the stock was
all in a corral except a fine blooded race horse belonging to
one of the owners of the horse outfit. He had staked it out
about a hundred and fifty yards away from the corral, had
slept by it all night, but had it the length of the stake rope
on the fresh grass, thinking it would be safe there while
everyone was moving around on the alert. Advised that he
had better bring it in close by, he replied that he would take
a chance. The grass nearby is always somewhat trampled
by the work stock, in this case numbering over eight hun-
dred head, so that any animal not out with the night herd,
if the camp happens to be where the grass is not very good,
sometimes has a poor chance outside for rough feed.
^Especially is this true if it is considered too valuable to be
driven in what the bull-whackers call their cabellero which
included extra cattle as well as horses.

The men were all busy hitching up, when like a streak
of light a young brave dashed out from nowhere and cut the
racer's rope and was gone with it and doubled the distance
before anyone could comprehend the trick. Several shots
were fired at him but they all missed.

I had been out helping the night herders bring in the
stock and we were busily eating breakfast when it hap-
pened, but before we could get around the end of. the corral
he had disappeared behind a little hill. The owner of the
horse went wild over his loss and called for men to follow
and try to recover it, but Riley said "No."

The man, however, insisted until a Pawnee scout, who
was with us said to him, "All you find over the hill is a
trap. You never come back."

It seems to be a law of nature that there shall be at
least one croaker in every gathering of human beings and
right here he bobbed up and consoled the man with the
assertion that he was out of luck anyhow because if the
Indian had not taken the horse, he would have lost him in

ANNALS OF WYOMING 153

the races; and that it would bring us all bad luck from
then on.

Afterward we scouted the hills and creek but no signs
of Indians did we see, not even the wave of a feather or
glitter of a mirror on distant hills. But that was not con-
sidered a favorable sign, for as the old timers put it all in
one terse sentence, "You are never safe from Indians until
you can see them."

After crossing the divide between Cheyenne and Pow-
der Rivers, one morning pony tracks were seen near a small
creek some distance above where the road crossed. The
sign proved that a small party of Indians had been there the
day before.

The road was then near the hills and it was several
hours travel before the train reached an open plain where
camp could be made where extra good grazing near by was
found. An expected attack usually came just before day-
light. That time passed, it was usually considered safe for
a train to roll out, for if anything of the kind had been
planned the enemies' plans had miscarried and no trouble
need be looked for that day.

However, as all know, no one really knows what the
other fellow is going to do next, and especially so if he hap-
pens to be out of sight. It is not a good plan to trust alto-
gether to luck, and Riley was too old a hand in the game to
take a needless chance. One of his wagons had for a part
of its load, arms and ammunition, and among the lot were
some cases of Henry rifles.

I do not suppose at this late day that there are now
living many who remember anything about that long ago
discarded firearm, nor that it was the legitimate parent of
all the magazine guns in use now. It was short ranged and
could do but little damage beyond two hundred yards, but it
was as near mechanically perfect as any machine gun could
be made, and in the hands of men of that day sixteen shots
could be fired with astonishing rapidity.

Riley broke open some boxes and dealt out two rifles
and ammunition to each man in the outfit. Every one real-
ized that the horses and mules were an irresistible tempta-
tion to our enemies. Therefore, it was as one old bull-
whacker expressed it, "Them Indians hain't been keepin'
cases on us for the fun they are gittin' out of it, and they
hain't agoin' to give it up, til they hev had a smell of our
powder, and by the looks of these patent guns they are
likely to git aplenty of it."

There was a moon that night until about one o'clock,
which required half of the men on guard with the stock

154 ANNALS OF WYOMING

until it went down, then the danger was over until daylight
began to show in the east ; but at that time all of the stock
was in the corral, and every man at his post ready for what-
ever might happen.

The sun came up and everything seemed as peaceful
as a Sunday morning back in God's country, when three
companions and myself got in from off picket duty.

By the time the sun was fairly up the train was roll-
ing along, the whips popping like firecrackers on a Chinese
New Year.

Of the scouts sent out that morning, the Pawnee made
one on the payroll, but in what he knew about the tricks of
the ancient enemies of his tribe amounted to a good many,
and the long remembered wrongs that he harbored in his
bosom amounted to very much more.

Many years before the Sioux Indians corralled a party
of his tribe on one of what has since been known as the
Pawnee Buttes. They stand not far south of the corner
monument that marks the place where the east and west
line of Wyoming and Nebraska join on the north line of
Colorado. The butte they climbed is about five hundred
feet high. The north side, though not an easy task, can
be climbed by any active person, but others less gifted must
be assisted, which made a safe place for defense except
from their worst enemies — hunger and thirst, which they
stood off for three days, then they cut up their clothing
and made a frail rope and went down the opposite side,
which was perpendicular and not guarded, and escaped,
taking with them all of the ponies belonging to the Sioux.
A white man would not forget an experience of that sort.

About ten o'clock they discovered a war party of
seventy-five or eighty quietly waiting in a small valley and
the Pawnees' telescopic eyes soon made out another party
coming to join the others.

The Pawnees knew that they were planning to make
a surprise attack and they lost no time in getting back to
the train. A few words from them to Riley and the order
was given, "Corral!"

The bull teams swung around into place with the mules
and horse teams in the center. The wagons chained to-
gether, wheels locked and everything made fast, with but
a short space of time to spare until the Indians came in
sight and but few seconds elapsed until the men were under
the wagons, each with his rifle at rest through a wheel.

They did not come on in a bunch, but scattered out over
a wide space. When they saw that everything was ar-
ranged for their reception they all rounded up and appeared

ANNALS OF WYOMING 155

to be holding a council of war. They had evidently planned
to make the attack while the train was strung out on the
road, and perhaps, but for the daring of our scouts, it might
have happened that way. As the case then stood they had
to change their tactics, which they did in short order and
began the offense in the old way by circling around, making
feints at charging, and all the tricks wherein they were
devilishly proficient, for the purpose of drawing our fire at
a long range, and then charging in on empty guns.

That they got no reply from the old muzzle-loaders and
not knowing the rod we had in pickle for them was posi-
tively a puzzle they could not solve, but kept drawing a little
nearer until perhaps their patience became exhausted and
no resistance against their maneuvers, they made a simul-
taneous dash on all sides and coming within the limits of
the rifle range the Henrys began to play a tattoo the like
of which they had never heard before. The Pawnee had
thrown the sheet back and was standing on top of a wagon
that was loaded to the top of the bows with light goods,
making all manner of insulting gestures to let them know
that there was a Pawnee on the job.

I think that the pleasure he got out of the reception
his hated enemies received, though the attack lasted but a
short time, reckoned by moments of enjoyment, would have
equaled a lifetime of ordinary existence.

To say that the Indians were astonished at the storm
of lead that met them would be but a weak expression. A
gatling gun would not have surprised them more. It was
but a very few minutes after we began to fire until they
were gathering up their dead and wounded and nothing
short of total anihilation would have stopped them from
doing that — and they were scurrying away toward the
shelter of the hills, wiser if not happier Indians.

The magic of the white man's guns was a long way
past their understanding. They let us alone while in their
territory. In less than an hour after the last shot was
fired the train was rolling along as merrily as though
nothing had happened.

All that season and the year follwing there was fight-
ing until a new treaty was made and the forts were re-
moved.

I went on with the train to its destination, remaining
in Montana and Utah till the fall of '67, and about the mid-
dle of November got back east as far as Cheyenne. At that
time Dakota and Wyoming had not been organized, and I
do not remember of hearing anyone speaking of a new
territory that was to be made until the following winter.

156 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Cheyenne was the end of the railroad and was a busy
town. The survey of the railroad had been completed and
there were many points where the locations were known.
Two places in particular, one seven or eight miles east
of old Fort Halleck that stood at the base of Elk Mountain,
and the other about thirty miles north where a bridge over
the North Platte would be built. A young man, Frank
McCurdy, who came down from the west with me — we had
crossed the Plains in '65 with Col. Sawyer's expedition sent
out by the Government to locate a shorter route from Fort
Yankton to Bozeman — and another young lad from Missouri
whom for short we called Quantrell, after much summing
up of probabilities, we concluded that Halleck was the place
to go to for a good chance to make a stake. We had camped
there over night on our way down from Utah. That win-
ter ended with a storm that filled the town with snow up
to near the second story windows. The snow remaining on
the ground several days caused us to wait for it to go off
and the ground to dry up.

But we got our baggage on the first team that left for
Denver and worked our passage by walking behind it to
Whitcomb ranch on the Box Elder. Finding our horses
that we had left there for the winter in good condition, we
were saddled and packed the next day after arrival.

But as our horses were soft, we only got to Virginia
Dale the first day, and the next camped on the Little Lara-
mie. At Rock Creek we found a lot of men, most of whom
had been camping there all winter. Some were prospectors,
but the larger part were timber men, all of whom were
waiting for the snow to go off from the lower slopes and
flats where the timber was easy to get at.

The next day we were at our journey's end. The old
deserted fort was in a very dilipidated condition. The ware-
houses and soldiers' quarters had been built, not in the usual
way, but with the logs set endwise in a trench with a very
heavy pole and dirt roof, and many of the logs were balsams
and had rotted near the ground and by the added weight of
snow to their over burden of roof, had fallen down, but we
chose one that appeared to have been built for a warehouse
and seemed to be all right and made our camp in the front
end of it. There was yet much snow on the mountain, and
the fort being located near it, though the days were warm,
the nights were cold. Some shelter at night was needed.

The old Sutler store standing three or four hundred
feet away on the east side of the road was occupied by
Messrs. Foot & Wilson, the same parties that had catered
to the needs of the garrison before the troops were re-

ANNALS OF WYOMING 157

moved to Fort Sanders that was located near the southern
end of the Laramie Plain.

At that time travel on the Overland through the sea-
son was very heavy, making it necessary for the old store
to carry a large stock of goods consisting of everything
that could be found in a dozen town stores. Robert Foot
was a Scotchman endowed with all the aptitude for con-
ducting successful business that one would expect of a rep-
resentative of the people he sprung from, and was also a
good fellow and as bonnie a fighter as ever came out from
that land of heroic people. George Wilson was born in Old
Kentucky, a son of an army officer and a gentleman under
all circumstances. A part of the business that he did not
like was selling whisky. One cold winter day a trapper
came in with a big catch of furs, and in accordance with the
customs, a bottle and glass was set out on the counter for
him to warm up on. But when the man poured the golden
fuid into the glass there was a faint clinking sound that
did not escape the keen ears of the hunter, and he ex-
claimed: "Hey George, this yer whusk is half ice! What
for you put water in it ? Old Man Bush down at Rock Creek
gets it out to a feller good and strong." George replied:
"I know he does Jim, but it is cheap stuff that he makes
himself, and you know if a man gets full of it he goes right
out and kills a tame Indian which makes the other Indians
mad and we all have to suffer from the effects of Bush's
bad liquor. We sell the best goods that we can get right
pure from a Kentucky still with some good water added,
complying with a promise I made my father when he staked
me to go into this business, that I would sell whisky of a
quality that would not injure any man."

The foregoing paragraph is to explain how it came to
pass in what I am about to relate, that there were so many
casualties and no capital crimes committed.

Some time in April Carmichael's railroad grading out-
fit moving west to work on a contract in Echo Canon, Utah,
his force numbering over 50 men who were natives of all
the civilized nations of the earth. Rock men, pick and shov-
elers and all other necessary helpers in railroad grade mak-
ing, at that time as a class known as Navvies. With sixty
trains loaded with tools, supplies, etc.

The teamsters were of a different class, mostly of the
muleskinner variety. All stout, healthy men, and as for
their social standing or moral turpitude, all that is necessary
to say is that nature had created them for a special pur-
pose that people more delicately organized were unfit for.
The whole crowd, generally speaking, not having had an

158 ANNALS OF WYOMING

opportunity to spend their winter's wages, was bound to
be a bonanza for the old Sutler Store, equipped as it was
with all manner of goods needed. There was something
doing from start to finish. But it could not fairly be said
that pandemonium reigned, for the propelling power was
not the old road ranch stuff of home made evil spirits, but
the very best of high power goods, which started things
going all the same as a falling body gathering momentum
on its downward course. Among those who were inclined
to be sports of the squared circle, disputations about who
was the best man were many but short. But clog dancing,
jumping and pitching horse shoes were among the amuse-
ments of the greater part of those who were more peace-
ably disposed.

But in the first watches of the night, with the quieting
rays of the bright big moon, a change came over the con-
ducting power that ruled the performance. Then from all
parts of the wide spread camp the low notes of harps —
jewsharps — and harmonicas came floating across on the cool
night air. But later on, when the more vigorous actors
came straggling in hunting for their beds, a service of song
began, including many of the popular ones of that day, all
rendered regardless of harmony and most of it might be
charged in contempt of tune. But every one seemed to be
doing his best according to his lights — perhaps lungs would
be the proper word — and if those in the audience preferred
something better than such gems as "Brinon on the Moor",
"Whoops Along, Luiza Jane" or "Pat Maloy" and many
others of the same brand, they must wait till their turn
came. One fellow who had camped down near our quarters
awakened and joined in with "How Are You Horace Greeley,
Does Your Mother Know You Are Out" but switched off on
"0 Islands there are on the face of the deep, where the
leaves never fade, nor the skies never weep," but was
drowned out by a passing gang bawling "I'm a rambling
rake of poverty, the son of a gambolier."

After a surfeit of the horrible there must be a change
to something pleasant or mankind would go mad. And
suddenly the reverse happened. Inspired, perhaps, by the
myriads of shimmering stars in the great dome above, as if
by magic sweeping backward the shadow on Time's old dial
to a long ago day, a quartet of grand voices broke forth ren-
dering in perfect harmony Hayden's magnificent song, "The
Heavens Are Telling." After the last enchanting notes
ended silence prevailed, and I in my heart repeated the
prayer of Cervantes' simple hero, "God bless the man who
invented sleep."

ANNALS OF WYOMING 159

Next morning while Old Sol was kindly warming up
the earth, the revelers were getting busy renewing and
trying to improve the exercises of the day before, the east
bound stage came galloping in and as there was a post office
in the store, a stop had to be made there long enough to
throw off and take on the mail, then going on with as little
delay as possible. A stage team, although wild it may be,
soon becomes accustomed to swinging up to the stopping
places and coming to a halt when it feels the brake go on.
But that morning just as the usual thing was about to
happen a mob of navvies all lit up like a burning gas well
rushed out of the door in front of the team. That un-
expected interference caused it to jackknife to the right
and had not Mac, Quantrel and I on our way to -the store,
been right there at that time, the coach would have been
overturned, but we caught the leaders and near swing horses
just in time to prevent it. The horses being fat and rollicky
pitched and struggled, making it some job to quiet them
down, but we all being about the same quality as the
bronchos soon had everything straightened out on the road,
the driver letting go his brake, the team went off on the
jump, the passengers on the outside waved a parting salute,
and a bright, fine looking girl on the seat with the driver
threw us a kiss which would have been ample reward for the
small service rendered had it not been ever after a breeder
of contention as to which one she had intended to hit.

About nine o'clock Hook & Moor's mule train rolled past
consisting of thirty six-mule teams loaded with government
supplies for Fort Douglas, Utah, and under an escort of a
troop of cavalry.

The driver of the lead team was an athletic young Irish
lad, Fitzgerald by name, who served as a Denver policeman
winters, and as a skilled muleskinner summers. He was
recognized by a party of four navvies that had, or thought
they had, a righteous grudge against him and being well
ribbed up with spirits distilled in an atmosphere of ructions
and feuds they might perhaps be pardoned for imagining
themselves in the condition that was described by Robert
Burns as "Wi' two penny ale we fear no evil. Wi' Usquebaa
we wad fight the devil." And being as they probably were,
more or less human beings, they went boldly forth to make
an attempt to get even with him. Fitz, not waiting for
them to attack, jumped off his saddle mule and with four
good punches put them all to sleep in about that many
seconds, the train passing on to its noon camping place.
After an hour had passed the men had revived and rein-
forced their courage with a few more drinks. Each with a

160 ANNALS OF WYOMING

big rock in his hand started out to hunt him up, not up to
his camp, the only place where he could possibly be, but
around the old fort building, and finally got around to a
cabin where the stage company's hunter, Old Man Lea,
lived. He, at the time was out on a hunt, but his wife was
very much at home, who was a pleasant enough woman
when not on the war path, but otherwise a she-devil that
had been chased back to earth from across the River Styx.
And the third time the fellows called to Fitz to come out
and fight they heard a blood curdling yell as the door opened
and like a hideous Jack from his box, the old girl jumped
out, an Indian head dress on her head, a quiver full of
arrows on her back, a bow in her hand from which she sent
an arrow through one's coat, then driving another into the
ground that just missed another fellow's foot, yelled: "Git,
you ." Her furious assaults and most awful uncom-
plimentary remarks against her antagonists were pardoned
by all who knew her because unto the sick and wounded she
was an angel of mercy. They did not wait for more, but
got in the best order their fright permitted, and after ab-
sorbing enough booze to drown their animosities retired to
peaceful oblivion.

About this time the gang bosses, assisted by the men
that remained sober were doing their best to get the outfit
started on the road, but without success, till the captain
brought the soldiers back from the Hook & Moore Camp, and
by a liberal use of sabers succeeded in rounding up those
that were able to walk. But the road was very wide, caus-
ing great annoyance to those whose heads were uncomfort-
ably light, or heavy, as the case might be, while others
struggled along with arms linked or leaning affectionately
on each other, working models of the old motto, "United we
stand, divided we fall."

They managed to keep moving and when the tail end
of the column disappeared beyond the first turn of the road
we thought the curtain had gone down at the end of the
performance. But we soon discovered that there was a
side show left. Five of the crowd had retired to the stable
and had not been missed in the roundup till a count had been
made at the next camp. A smoke began to exude from the
stable that smelled not like the dried navy or Arkansas long
green, but like stable litter and pine wood. The men had
crawled out at the back door not badly scorched, but there
was no alarm till the discovery was made by some one at
the store.

(Continued in October Number)

ANNALS OF WYOMING 161

NOTICE

Mrs. Cyrus Beard

In January, 1928, the publication of Annals of Wyoming was
discontinued because the appropriation made by the previous Legis-
lature was so meager that the work of the Historical Department
suffered from lack of funds. There is an insistent demand for
Annals from Educators, Institutions of Learning, Historical So-
cieties, Research workers and lovers of history as well as from our
own State. This has influenced us to make another attempt to give
out our own absorbing history as contributed out of the fullness of
personal experiences.

In the Fifth Biennial Report the Accessions were carried down
to November 20, 1928. A copy of this Report was mailed to every
person who receives Annals. To avoid repetitions the Accessions in
this number begin with November 20, 1928, and are carried to June
1, 1929.

With this issue Volume 5 of Annals is completed. Volume 6,
Numbers 1 and 2, will be issued as a double number in October, 1929,
and thereafter — as long as funds are available — Annals will appear
as a Quarterly.

No responsibility will be assumed by the State Historical Board,
the Advisory Board or the State Historian for any statements made
or opinions expressed in Annals — assuming that an individual has a
right to tell his own story in his own way.

ACCESSIONS FROM NOVEMBER 20, 1928,
TO JUNE 1, 1929

Warren, Mrs. Francis E. — Oak and plate glass cabinet, suitable for
a display case.

Carroll, Major C. G. — Synonyms of Organizations in the Volunteer
Service of the United States, 1860-1865. Published in
1885 Volumes 16 to 19 of the Official Roster of Ohio
Soldiers, Sailors and Marines.

Smith, Mr. — Saddle buckle and four shells and bullets from site of
old Benton on the Union Pacific Line. Picture of the
Oregon Trail marked at Independence Rock and picture
of powder house at Fort Steele.

Voorhees, George — Gold mounted driving whip awarded to Mr. Voor-
hees, First Premium, Single Pony, at the first State
Fair held in Cheyenne in 1885.

McLean, H. E. — Paper money for the amount of $10.00 on the Bank
of Wilmington, North Carolina. Date of issue and sig-
nature are worn off.

Patee, Fred — The first asbestos shingle made in Wyoming and be-
lieved to be first one made in the world without Port-
land cement. It is made of rock and asbestos fibre com-
bined, a new process, and is more than 90r/r pure. As-
bestos is mined on Casper Mountain, Natrona County,
Wyoming.

162 ANNALS OF WYOMING

Finfrock, W E. — Silver mounted cane inscribed with the words
"Shiloh, Apr. 6th and 7th, 1862. Captain Finfrock, 64th,
0. V. I." Captain J. A. Finfrock came to Wyoming in
1864 and was one of the first trustees of the University
of Wyoming and one of the first surgeons of the Union
Pacific Railroad. Cane given by son.

McCarthy, Frank C. — Collection of Photographs: Four of Pine Grove
Stage Station on the Overland Trail in Carbon County;
three of scenes on the Oregon Trail in Fremont County;
four of Sulphur Stage Station on the Overland Trail in
Carbon County; two of the ford of the North Platte on
the Overland Trail in Carbon County; two of old stone
block house at Wind River Agency northwest of Lan-
der; four of old Rongis Stage Station (Fletcher's ranch)
in Carbon County on the Rawlins-Lander Stage line; one
taken on Brown's Canyon road showing lakes and Semi-
noe Mountains; one of powder house at Fort Steele; one
of Bridger's Pass; one of Soda Lake and old Rawlins-
Casper road, taken from top of Independence Rock.

Adner, A. J. — Five million mark note. Dated August 20, 1923.

Fryxell, F. M. — Original manuscripts — "Deadman's Bar" and "The
Codys' in LeClaire".

Symon, Harold — Picture of the presenting of the Collier trophy. It
was given to the state that had the greatest percentage
of registered voters going to the polls.
Cheyenne Street Railway ticket, given away by Stone
& Covert with each cash purchase of One Dollar. Gives
time table of the line on the back of the ticket. (Line
was never built).

Rhodes, Mrs. O. E. — Pictures of Indian pieces belonging to Mrs.
Rhodes.

Mentzer, Frances — Letter to Fred J. Stanton, of Denver, from S.
Sternberger, a dealer in tobaccoes, Cheyenne, Wyoming,
in reply to a bill for newspaper advertising. It is dated
Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory, December 12, 1868.

Hadsell, Mrs. Frank — Photographs of Judge Homer Merrill and
President William McKinley. Manuscript — "Railroad-
ing Under Difficulties," by R. M. Galbraith. Two pic-
tures of the United States District Court Room at Chey-
enne, Wyoming. Group picture of John Maddin, George
Wright, Ben Northington, John Foot, James Rankin,
Mike Murphy, Joe Rankin, Tom Sun, Boney Ernest.
Trunk containing letters, books, papers, etc., which be-
longed to Mr. Frank Hadsell.

Gay, Mrs. Guy — "Wyoming Worth Knowing," a pamphlet issued by
the State Department of Commerce and Industry.

Fellows, Miss Nelson— A walnut desk used by Colonel E. B. Carlin,
while stationed at Camp Carlin in the late sixties. The
camp was named for Colonel Carlin.

Historical Society at Montana — Two views of the Sweetwater Dam
and the first overflow, taken in March, 1889.

ANNALS OF WYOMING 163

Dana, Mrs. A. G. — Original manuscript, "Easter in the Holy Land."

Washington State Historical Society — Publications of Washington
State Historical Society, Volume II, 1907-1914.

Reckmeyer, Clarence — The Latter-Day Saints' Emigrants Guide,
from Council Bluffs to the Valley of the Great Salt
Lake, by William Clayton. This book is printed from
photographic plates of the original book which was
printed in St. Louis in 1848. Photostat map of the
Mormon Trace.

McCahan, Mrs. J. T. — Seventeen photographs taken by M. D. Hough-
ton at Rawlins in 1882 and 1883. Pictures show Rawlins
in early days — Round Up Scenes, Indians, etc.

Coe, W. R. — Journal and Letters of Major John Owen, Pioneer of the
Northwest, 1850-1870, by Dunbar and Phillips. Auto-
graphed by Mr. Coe. Two volumes.

Hebard, Dr. Grace R. — Photograph of Mrs. Justice Morris (Esther
Morris) the first woman justice of the peace in the
United States.

Wells, Mrs. L. M. — Documents concerning removal of Governors Bax-
ter and Moonlight.

Lovejoy, Fred — Land office certificate of land purchased by Elias
Bedford, in Tippecanoe County, Indiana. Dated April
5, 1822.

Carter, Vincent— Stars and Stripes, September 20, 21, 22, 23, 1927.
Daily Mail Continental, Souvenir Edition.

Thompson, Mrs. John Charles — A bit of bunting used to decorate the
town at the time Statehood was declared, July 10, 1890.

Department of Missions of the National Council of the Episcopal
Church — A silver-mounted saddle presented by General
Grant to Chief Washakie for valor.

DeBarthe, Mrs. Harriet — Original manuscript — "Forty-one Years in
Wyoming."

American Legion — Gavel and gavel block made from the hull of the
United States Frigate Constitution, keel laid in 1794
and rebuilt in 1927.

Captain Boyd F. Briggs, A. S. A. — 15 Sols. Printed in 1793. This
was given to Captain Briggs by a French Captain.

Trone, J. W. — A ticket to the Concert given by Miss Margaret Wilson,
daughter of President Wilson, at Nancy, France, on
May 5, 1919. Tickets issued by the Government in order
that the soldiers might purchase bread and sugar.

Johnson, Arthur C. — An address delivered by A. C. Campbell on De-
cember 20, 1928, before the Laramie County Bar Associ-
ation at Cheyenne. The Denver Daily Record Stockman
— The Annual Show Edition, 1929. Book — "Glimpses of
an Earlier Milwaukee," by Bill Hooker.

164 ANNALS OF WYOMING

W. T. K. Club of Wheatland, Wyoming — Original Manuscript entitled
"Adventures of an Itinerant Librarian," written by
M. Wilkinson, County Organizer.

Cody Club — Four ounce sample of the first gallon of gasoline from
The Texas Refinery at Cody, Wyoming.

Dendinger, John — Original manuscript on the "History of Cheyenne."

Emery, Mrs. Maud M. — Pictures of Yellowstone Park, Hawaiian
Islands, and of the Chinese Dragon Parade on their New
Year's Day, February, 1898. Scrap book — Origin of the
Trans-Continental Highway, later called The Lincoln
Highway, and the Origin of the Yellowstone Highway
and the Highway System of Wyoming.

Calverly, J. A. — Invitation to the Ninth Annual Commencement Ex-
ercises (1899) at the University of Wyoming.

The Russell Family — General Russell's sword and sash. Picture of
General Russell. Letters written by General Russell —
Feb., 1860; Dec, 1861; May, 1862; April, 1863; Nov.,
1863; Sept., 1864; Dec, 1845. Scrap book. Badge worn
by Cornelia Russell Simmons at the unveiling of a monu-
ment in memory of General Russell. Ft. D. A. Russell
was named for General Russell.

Bruce, Robert — A picture of General Custer's initials cut on the top
of a mountain in the Black Hills known as Inyankara.

Evans, Mrs. D. P. — Two magazines — "James Nasmyth, Engineer."
(An autobiography); The American Portrait Gallery.
The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, May, 1887;
Photographs of the Hawaiian Islands, published in 1898;
The Century War Book, Nos. 5, 11, 12, published in
1898; Our Country, published in March, 1894.

Heuett, Mrs. B. F. — Copy of the New York Mirror, dated 1838.

Kendrick, Senator John B. — The pen with which President Coolidge
on February 26, 1929, signed "S. 5543, An Act to estab-
lish the Grand Teton National Park in the State of
Wyoming."

Jackson, W. H. — Book entitled "The Pioneer Photographer," written
by W. H. Jackson and Howard Driggs. Mr. Jackson
was the official photographer of the Hayden Expeditions.

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