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'-F'^. 


nnais  o 


Is  of 


M^^^Mfc, 


WYOMING 

Tne  ^9(^oinin^  History  Journal 


Winter  1999 


Vol.  71,  No.  1 


UNiVt; 


lAfi^Mit.,  K1071 


Keays '  original  design 


Flag  as  it  appears  today 


About  tne  Cover  Art 


"Winning  Design,  D.  A.  R.  Contest  to  Design  the  Wyoming  State  Flag'" 


Verna  Keavs.  then  a  young  art  school  student,  submitted  the  design,  pictured  on  the 
cover,  in  tlie  contest  sponsored  by  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revohition  in  1916. 
Keavs  '  design  was  chosen  over  37  other  entries  and.  in  1917.  it  became  the  official 
flag  of  the  State  of  Wyoming.  Except  for  the  change  in  the  buffalo  direction  (made 
unilaterally  by  the  indomitable  Dr.  Grace  Raymond  Hebard).  the  flag  of  today  retains 
the  same  colors  and  design  elements  as  Keays  envisioned  it  in  1916.  The  original 
drawing  is  part  of  the  collections  of  the  Wyoming  State  Museum.  Division  of  Cultural 
Resources.  Department  of  Commerce,  and  is  reproduced  here  by  permission.  (The 
agency 's  name  officially  becomes  the  Department  of  Parks  and  Cultural  Resources 
later  this  year).  Keays  '  daughter  writes  of  her  rnother,  the  "Betsy  Ross  of  Wyoming 's 
flag.  "  in  one  of  this  issue 's  "Wyoming  Memories.  " 


The  editor  of  Annals  of  Wyoming  welcomes  manuscripts  and  photographs  on  ever\  aspect  of  the  histor\  of  Wyoming  and  the  West. 
Appropriate  for  submission  are  unpublished,  research-based  articles  which  provide  new  information  or  which  offer  new  interpreta- 
tions of  historical  events.  First-person  accounts  based  on  personal  experience  or  recollections  of  events  will  be  considered  for  use  in 
the  "Wyoming  Memories'"  section.  Articles  are  reviewed  and  refereed  by  members  of  the  journal's  Editorial  Advisory  Board  and 
others.  Decisions  regarding  publication  are  made  by  the  editor.  Manuscripts  (along  with  suggestions  for  illustrations  or  photographs) 
should  be  submitted  on  computer  diskettes  in  a  format  created  by  one  of  the  widely-used  word  processing  programs  along  with  two 
printed  copies.  Submissions  and  queries  should  be  addressed  to  Editor.  Annuls  of  IVyuniing.  P.  O.  Box  4256.  University  Station, 
Laramie  WY  8207 1. 


fT-- 


Editor 

Pliil  Rolu-rts 

Hook-  i\t'\iL'w   i.tlitor 
Carlllallherg 


[tditorial  Advisory  Board 

Barnara  Hiit!art,  c\'ansU»n 

Maoel  }3ro^'n,  Newcastle/Cneyenne 

Micnafl  I.  I)c-\-ine,  I_aramie 

lanu'?  [■)    ^.rnlliln,  In,  Cnf\'enne 

IXm  1  k>iU?i.'ii,  lornn^tiin 

Lorcii  Io?l,  I\i\'erton 

Davul  Kathka,  IColIc  Sprint:? 

1    ,\    Lacfon,  LarainiL' 

l.Jin  [)    NUM.Tniutl,  Sheridan 

Kanl  I  Viu-on  I\onn,  Cheyenne 

rhcrn'  L.  ^milh,  M^ul'^e 

I  hoiiia?  I",  ^trinKK,  Casper 

Lawrence  M.  Woods,  "Borland 


et\ 


Vkvoniinfi  State  Ilistorital  : 
l\i  hi  it  at  ions  Committee 

IvkIv'  I:uit!,  Laramie 

I  )a\-ul  Kathha,  Rock  Sprmtl? 

Shern    L    Smith,  Moose 

\]uv  Laureiue,  Laramie 

Nancy  L  mlis,  Lncnui  < 

W'llham  il.  Moore,  Laranue  (ex  ciriicio) 

!  attv  M\err,  Wheatland  (ex-officio) 

Loren  jost,  Ri\'erton  (ex-orricio) 

Phd  Roherts,  Laramie  (ex-onicio) 


Vyomin^  State  Historical  Society 
hxecutivc  Committee 

[^atty  Myers,  President,  Wheatland 

Oax'e  Taylor,  Casper 

Milce  loraiiit!,  Xeuxastle 

l_inua  I'anian,  ^^lievenne 

DiclcWillr,  Cody' 

Rick  l:^-ih!.  Laramie 

Amy  Lawrence,  Laramie 

Jermy  Wight,  -Altt^n 

Judy  '^'est,  Memhership  Cooruinator 


Governor  oi  Wyoming' 

Jim  Geringer 


\^yomingf  Dept.  oi  Commerce 

Tucher  l-a^^an,  Oirector 

Kar\'l  l)eiii?-on  Ronh,  Aihiiinislrator,   I  )i\'.  or 

L  idtural  Resi)uri,es 


Wvoming  i  arUs  C^  C  ultural  Resources 
C  ommissicm 

William  Diihois,  Lheyeiine 
Charles  A.  Lmerin,  Laramie 
Oiann  Reese,  Lyman 
Rosie  Berger,  Big  lL»rn 
B.  Byron  Price,  Cody 
Herb  Prencn,  Newcastle 
Irankiim  Isabel!,  b'bosboni 
Jeanne  I  liclcey,  Cheyenne 
[  lale  Kreyciw,  Douglas 

L  niversitv  oi  uvoniing' 

[Mithp  Ouhois,  Presiclenl 
Michael  L  De\ane,  Director, 

/Vmerican  Heritage  Center 
Oliver  Walter,  Dean, 

Colletle  oi  Arts  and  Sciences 
William  11.  Moore,  Lnair,  Dept.  or  Histor\' 


i  1 1:-  <.-:y  i.-,n  L  'C'    L:::-!  \\\\\ 


JUL  2  7  laqq 


nnals  of         '' 

WYOMING 


Tne  Wyoming  Hist 


orv  Journal 


^(^omin^  Memories 


Winter  1999  Vol.  71,  No.  1 


Verna  Kcays,  Wyoming's  Fla^  Desig'ner 


n\'  \  nscilla 


Kc\es  N ew'cll 2 


Wyoming'  Memories 


Tales  OI  the  Homestead 

By  Mari!arel  M.  Arross 10 

Bivouac  of  the  Dead':  The  Battk>  of  Bennett  Butte,  Mik-s'  I'ight 
on  the  Clark's  I'orh  Re.xamincd 

By  Kyle  \'.  Wilpole 17 


Booh  R 


ooK  Keviews 


Edited  hv  Carl  Hs 


.41 


konua,  Vova^es  oi  Discovers:  Essavs  on  tlic-  Lewis  anil  C  lark  I:\pc"cliti()n,  reviewed  h\' 

Don  }  lodtison 
Hurt.  Tlie  Rural  ^Test  Since  ^Xorl(l  War  II,  reviewed  hv  William  1:.  Lass 
1  LLlretn  and  Mciran,  Disease  antl  Medical  Care  in  the  Mountain  VCest,  Essays  on 

Region,  History  and  Practice,  rexdewed  ny  Marie  Slielstad 
Irtrattcin,    Tempest  Over  Teapot  Dome:  The  btttn*-  ol  Alnert  B.   Lall,  rc\iened  nv  Mike 

Ivotnman,  Dc\'il  s  Bargain:  loiirisni  in  liic    Iwcntietli  C  entiir\'  /\im*rican  \Xc#t,  re- 

vicwL'tl  li\'  Marie  Iiingi.' 
rark^^',  winti  River  Adventures;  Mv  Rile  in  I'rontier  uxoniin^',  ie\'iL-\\oJ  n\'  IlhuI  ^uientner 
Riie\'  antl  Ltulain,  By  Grit  ana  Grace:   Hk'\en  VConien  Who  :^na]H'il  the  /Vmerican 

West,  revieweu  ny  Ainv  I^awrence 

Letters  to  the  Editor 48 

Wyoming'  Picture Inside  Back 

Aimals  ofH'yuming  The  IVynming  Hislan  Journal  is  published  quarterly  by  the  Wyoming  Stale  Historical 
Society  in  association  with  the  Wyoming  Department  ot  Commerce,  the  American  Heritage  Center,  and  the 
Department  of  History.  University  of  Wyoming.  The  journal  uas  previously  published  as  the  Oiiaricrly 
Bulletin  (I923-I')25).  Annuls  uf  Ityoming  (1925-1993).  li'yoming  Annals  ( 1993-1995)  and  lVy,>ming  His- 
tory Journal  ( 1995-1996).  The  Annals  has  been  the  otTicial  publication  of  the  Wxoming  State  Historical 
Society  since  1953  and  is  distributed  as  a  benefit  of  membership  to  all  society  members.  Membership  dues 
are  single.  $20;  joint.  S30;  student  (under  21 ),  $15;  institutional,  $40;  contributing,  $100-249;  sustaining. 
$250-499;  patron,  $500-999;  donor,  $1,000+.  To  Join,  contact  your  local  chapter  or  write  to  the  address 
below.  Articles  m  Annals  of  /IromDit,' are  abstracted  in  llislm-iCLil  .IhstruLts  and  America   History  ami  Lite. 

Inquiries  about  membership,  distribution,  reprints  and  back  issues  should  he  addressed  lo  .ludy  West,  Co- 
ordinator, Wyommg  State  Historical  Society,  I  74(11H84  Dell  Range  Blvd..  Che\enne  WY  82009.  Editorial 
correspondence  should  be  addressed  to  the  editorial  oftlce  oi  Annals  oi  H'yoming,  .American  1  leritage  Cen- 
ter. P.  O.  Bo.\  4256.  University  Station,  Laramie  WY  82071 

Printed  by  Pioneer  Printing.  Cheyenne,  Wyoming 
Copyright  1999,  Wyoming  State  Historical  Society  ISSN:  1086-7368 


Wyoming  Memories 


Verna  Keays, 
Wyoming's 
Flag  Designer 


By  Priscilla  Keyes  Newell 


Verna  Keays  at  the 
time  she  designed  the 
Wyoming  State  flag. 


Verna  Keays.  who  designed  the  Wyoming  state  flag, 
was  m\  mother.  Many  people  affectionately  called  her, 
"Wyoming's  Betsy  Ross."  Her  parents,  pioneers  in 
Wyoming,  spent  most  of  their  lives  in  Buffalo. 

Elizabeth  Parke  Keays.  Verna"s  paternal  grand- 
mother, was  a  widow  whose  husband,  a  jeweler  and 
silversmith,  died  in  New  Me.xico,  where  he  had  gone 
hoping  to  be  cured  of  tuberculosis  when  her  son,  Wilbur, 
was  four  years  old.  After  his  death,  she  conducted  a 
small  private  school,  educating  Wilbur  and  several  other 
children. 

She  left  her  home  in  Decatur.  Illinois,  to  move  to 
Colorado  on  April  20,  1 866,  with  Wilbur,  then  ten  years 
old.  called  Will  by  his  family.  They  rode  in  a  covered 
wagon,  planned  to  live  with  her  aunt,  Elizabeth 
""Auntie"  Hickock  Stone,  her  mother's  sister.' 

Elizabeth  and  Will  crossed  the  plains  with  another 
family,  led  by  a  man  who  was  a  close  friend  of  Eliza- 
beth Stone.  At  Fort  Kearney,  Nebraska,  where  they 
waited  for  enough  wagons  to  gather  to  be  escorted 


through  Indian  country  by  cavalry,  a  trunk  with  all 
Elizabeth's  and  Will's  clothes  was  stolen.  The  sutler 
there  gave  Elizabeth  enough  calico  for  a  dress  and  a 
shirt  and  overalls  for  Will. 

They  arrived  in  Fort  Collins  on  June  1,  1866,  where 
Elizabeth  became  the  small  community's  first  school 
teacher,  holding  her  classes  in  Auntie  Stone's  home. 
She  later  married  Harris  Stratton,  and  they  had  three 
daughters. 

In  the  fall  of  1882,  Will,  now  called  Billy  by  his 
friends,  first  saw  Wyoming  on  a  hunting  expedition 
with  a  man  named  Charlie  Andrews,  an  engineer  and 
surveyor.  They  rode  from  Fort  Collins  into  southern 
and  central  Wyoming.  The  trip  lasted  from  September 
14  until  the  end  of  October.  Billy  and  Charlie  lived  off 
the  land,  supplementing  their  meals  of  biscuits  and 
bacon  with  rabbit,  antelope,  venison,  duck,  elk,  buf- 

'  I  have  a  copy  of  her  diary  about  this  trip,  written  by  her  daugh- 
ter, Lerah. 


Winter  IQQQ 


falo  and  an  occasional  meal  at  a  friendly  rancher's  table. 
It  snowed  several  times  and  they  were  forced  to  stay  in 
their  tent  for  a  day  or  two.- 

He  returned  to  Wyoming  in  1884  to  work  on  an  irri- 
gation project  near  Buffalo  (which  was  soon  aban- 
doned), then  became  a  hand  on  the  Cross  H  ranch. 

Vema's  mother,  Estella  Ferguson,  came  to  Wyoming 
from  Cambridge,  Ohio,  to  visit  her  sister,  Clara  Collins, 
who  lived  in  Basin  City.  She  was  the  youngest  of  nine 
children.  Her  father  had  been  a  colonel  in  the  Civil 
War,  fought  in  many  battles.  He  was  an  attorney  in 
Cambridge,  was  elected  prosecuting  attorney  for  two 
years  in  Guernsey  County,  and  was  a  state  senator  in 
1852-53.  A  tine  horseman,  he  always  attracted  atten- 
tion in  parades  when  mounted  on  his  charger;  it  was 
said  that  no  local  patriotic  event  was  complete  without 
an  address  by  Colonel  Ferguson.  He  pampered  and 
adored  his  favorite  child,  Estella,  who  wished  she  could 
also  be  a  lawyer,  something  which  was  not  possible 
for  women  in  those  times. 

Her  oldest  brother,  Joseph,  was  a  captain  in  the  civil 
war.  When  the  war  ended  he  also  came  west,  for  the 
next  seventeen  years  served  in  the  regular  army.  He 


fought  with  Reno's  cavalry  in  the  Battle  of  the  Little 
Big  Horn,  was  wounded  in  the  leg.  He  later  returned  to 
Ohio  where  he  practiced  law  in  Cambridge. 

On  her  way  to  visit  Clara,  Estella  passed  through 
Buffalo  and  met  Billy.  She  spent  the  winter  with  Clara; 
on  her  return  in  the  spring,  she  again  saw  Billy.  They 
were  married  in  September  of  1892  in  Omaha,  Ne- 
braska, at  the  home  of  her  aunt,  then  settled  in  Buffalo. 

Estella  was  a  high-spirited  woman  who  carried  her- 
self with  an  air  of  arrogance,  had  dark  hair  and  brown 
eyes.  When  1  knew  her  later,  she  wore  her  then-white 
hair  pulled  back  into  a  French  twist.  Wilbur  was  quiet 
and  gentle  with  soft  gray  eyes;  as  an  older  man  he  had 
a  Vandyke  beard. 

They  opened  a  hotel,  "The  American,"  and  ran  it  to- 
gether. One  of  their  most  interesting  guests  was  Tom 
Horn  who,  it  is  said,  departed  in  a  hurry  ahead  of  law  - 

-  Billy's  diary,  which  I  also  have  a  copy  of,  contains  \ivid 
descriptions  of  the  country,  mentioning  that  the  best  area  for  elk 
was  a  few  miles  south  of  Casper  and  the  buffalo  range  was  north- 
west of  Casper  toward  the  South  Fork  of  Powder  River.  The  hunt- 
ers didn't  realize  that  the  ground  they  camped  on  would  produce 
millions  of  dollars  worth  of  oil  and  gas  forty  years  later. 


(Front  row.  left  to  right):  Polly.  Betty.  Alice.  (Back  row):  Verna.  her  husband  Arthur.  Estella  (holding  Keuiing). 
Billv  and  Parke.  Author 's  collection. 


Annals  of  Wyoming:The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


men.  He  forgot  his  spurs;  they're  now  in  the  Jim 
Galchell  museum  in  Buffalo. 

In  1 9 1 0  Estella's  brother,  Valentine.  "Uncle  Vollie", 
a  contractor  and  cabinet  maker,  spent  a  year  with  them 
building  their  permanent  home.  It  sat  on  a  hillside  be- 
hind the  post  office,  with  a  beautiful  view  of  the  Big 
Horn  Mountains.^ 

Billy  had  many  different  occupations.  Besides  the 
hotel,  he  owned  a  restaurant.  He  also  served  as  county 
clerk,  count)  treasurer  and  postmaster. 

Their  daughter,  Vema,  was  bom  August  16,  1893. 
Twelve  years  later,  Estella  had  a  son,  Parke.  Vema  went 
through  grammar  school  in  Buffalo.  She  was  a  pretty 
child  and  young  woman,  with  gray-green  eyes  and 
blonde  hair  which  darkened  to  a  medium  brown  as  she 
grew  older.  She  sometimes  wore  it  on  top  of  her  head 
in  a  "Gibson  Girl"  style. 

When  she  was  in  her  teens,  Vema  went  to  Cleve- 
land, Ohio,  to  live  with  an  aunt  of  her  friend,  Eleanor 
Parmelee,  where  the  two  girls  were  to  improve  their 
know  ledge  of  proper  lady's  behavior  and  study  at  Cen- 
tral High  School.  The  Parmelee  family  was  very  close 
to  Vema's  family  in  Buffalo.  Eleanor's  father  was  a 
district  judge. 

In  1912,  Vema  finished  high  school  and  entered  the 
Art  Institute  in  Chicago  for  a  three-year  art  course,  from 
which  she  graduated  w  ith  honors.  The  trip  there  began 
w  ith  Bill\-  driving  her  to  Clearmont  in  a  horse-drawn 
buggy,  w  here  she  took  the  Burlington  train. 

When  she  returned  to  Buffalo,  her  father  urged  her 
to  enter  a  contest  sponsored  by  DAR  to  design  a  state 
flag  for  Wyoming.  She  wasn't  very  excited  about  it, 
but  after  a  bit  of  nagging  by  Billy,  she  began  to  think 
about  her  entry. 

Vema  said  she  woke  up  one  night  with  the  design 
complete  in  her  mind.  A  friend  was  spending  the  night 
with  her,  but  when  Vema  awakened  her  to  tell  her  of 
the  bison  and  Wyoming  seal,  the  friend  was  too  sleepy 
to  care.  Verna  always  believed  this  idea  came  from 
"the  true  source  of  all  creation." 

The  prize  for  designing  the  flag  was  $20.  There  were 
37  entries.  Vema's  won.  It  was  chosen  at  the  annual 
convention  of  the  Wyoming  DAR  in  Sheridan  in  Octo- 
ber, 1916.''  Several  entries  embodied  the  same  sym- 
bolism, but  the  placing  of  the  state  seal  on  the  bison 
helped  win  the  contest  because  it  represented  the  tmly 
westem  custom  of  branding.-"* 

Vema's  entry  was  done  in  watercolor,  gouache  and 
ink.  (See  cover  illustration).  It  was  inscribed  as  fol- 
lows by  her  mother  in  her  beautiful  handwriting: 


Design  for  flag  of  State  of  Wyoming 


Seal  of  Wyoming 
brand  on  bison. 
American  Bison 


The  heart  of  the  flag,  the 


The  monarch  of  the 


plains  of  Wyoming.  (Incorrectly  called  buffalo.) 

Red The  red  man  (Indian)  and  blood  of 

Pioneers  who  reclaimed  the  country. 

White Freedom  of  plains  and  purity  for  all. 

Blue The  blue  of  our  sky  and  mountains 

color  symbolic  of  fidelity  and  justice. 

Colors Those  of  our  national  flag. 

Designed  by 

Vema  Keays 
Buffalo,  Wyoming 
Scale  1  inch  =  1  foot 

Vema  was  24  when  the  flag  she  designed  was  offi- 
cially designated  the  state  flag.  The  flag  was  adopted 
by  the  1 4th  Wyoming  State  Legislature  on  January  3 1 , 
1917.^  One  of  the  six  original  flags  is  now  in  the  Car- 
bon County  Museum,  Rawlins.  Made  by  Vema,  it  was 
given  to  W.  W.  Daley  when  he  was  a  member  of  the 
State  Senate,  later  donated  to  the  museum  by  his  son, 
P.  E.  Daley.  Sen.  Daley  introduced  the  bill  into  the 
senate.  It  was  passed  by  both  houses.  Govemor  J.  M. 
Carey  signed  the  bill  along  with  another  introduced  by 
Daley  designating  the  Indian  Paintbmsh  as  the  state 
flower.^ 

The  original  flags  were  made  of  taffeta,  with  colored 
pieces  stitched  together  by  machine.  The  bison  is 
painted  by  oil  on  the  blue  center  field  and  the  state  seal 
is  inked  in  on  the  bison.  It  measures  28  x  40  inches. 

Vema  designed  the  bison  to  face  into  the  wind.  Dr. 
Grace  Raymond  Hebard,  whose  idea  it  was  to  have  the 


'  In  the  1980s  this  house,  still  on  its  hillside  long  after  Billy 
and  Estella  were  gone,  was  moved  to  a  new  location  on  the  north 
edge  of  Buffalo,  where  it  is  now.  It  was  replaced  by  a  drive-in 
bank.  Moving  it  must  have  been  quite  a  Job  as  it  has  two  stories, 
four  bedrooms  and  an  inner  lining  of  brick  for  insulation  behind 
its  white  clapboard  exterior. 

"^  Buffalo  Bulletin.  Feb  1,  1917. 

-"'  Casper  Tribune  Herald  1967. 

''Buffalo  Bulletin  February  1,  1917 

'  The  Daley  Bill  for  state  flag  was  Senate  File  25  and  his  bill 
for  the  state  flower  was  Senate  File  26.  A  bill  in  the  28th  state 
legislature  authorized  giving  Vema  one  of  the  first  flags  in  rec- 
ognition of  her  service  to  the  state.  The  bill  was  passed  and  signed 
by  Govemor  Lester  C.  Hunt  on  February  20,  1945.  He  surprised 
her  with  two  flags,  one  hand  painted,  made  of  silk  taffeta,  its 
paint  cracked  with  age,  and  a  new  silk  one.  These  were  to  be 
retained  by  Vema  and  her  heirs,  but  she  gave  them  to  the  ar- 
chives of  the  State  of  Wyoming,  "for  the  good  of  the  state." 


Winter  1999 


Verna  and  the  State 
Flag  she  designed. 
Photo  made  about 
I960. 


Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  (DAR)  compe- 
tition for  the  flag,  served  as  the  organization's  State 
Regent  at  the  time.  Dr.  Hebard  thought  the  bison  would 
look  better  facing  the  staff  The  first  flags  ordered  were 
made  in  this  way.  She  had  a  painting  prepared  by  a 
New  York  artist  of  the  state  flower,  and  a  design  of  the 
state  flag.  Nothing  officially  was  ever  done  to  make 
the  change  in  the  way  the  bison  faced;  it  was  Dr. 
Hebard's  idea.^ 

In  Vema's  scrapbook  about  the  flag,  there  is  a  letter 
from  Dr.  Hebard.  In  it.  Dr.  Hebard  asked,  "1  am  won- 
dering if  in  the  outline  of  the  buffalo's  face  could  there 
not  be  a  little  forelock  running  down  and  not  just  one 
continuous  straight  line  from  the  top  of  his  ear  to  his 
mouth?'"' 

With  Dr.  Hebard's  letter  in  Vema's  scrapbook  is  one 
from  a  friend  of  hers  with  a  few  suggestions  about  the 
flag,  such  as: 

Could  you  have  the  bison  lift  one  foot,  smile  a  little 
to  relieve  his  solemn  look,  or  wink  his  right  eye,  sort 
of  playfully,  you  know,  as  if  he  were  looking  at  Dr. 
Grace  Hebard.'" 

Near  the  time  she  designed  the  flag,  she  was  the  win- 
ner of  a  prize  offered  by  the  Chicago,  Burlington  and 
Quincy  railroad  for  a  design  to  be  used  in  dining  car 
decoration. 

Verna  worked  in  commercial  art  in  Buffalo  after  her 
graduation  from  the  Art  Institute.  She  designed  sev- 


eral small  decals  of  a  bison  with  the  Big  Horns  behind 
it  which  says,  "Cloud  Peak."  On  the  back  of  one,  Verna 
wrote:  "Made  for  Buffalo,  ordered  by  John  C.  Flint, 
designed  b>  Verna  Kea\s  1919."  Also,  probably  done 
for  a  realtor,  she  painted  a  water-  color  map  of  Buf- 
falo, showing  what  must  have  been  a  new  housing  de- 
velopment draw  n  on  the  edge  of  town  toward  the  moun- 
tains. 

In  1919  Verna  was  a  bill  clerk  for  the  Wyoming  State 
Senate.  Two  years  later,  she  was  telephone  messenger 
for  the  senate.' ' 

Her  brother,  Parke,  attended  the  University  of  Ne- 
braska. He  eloped  with  Alice  Purcell  from  Broken  Bow, 
Nebr.  Later,  he  became  editor  of  the  Custer  Count}- 
Chief,  the  local  newspaper,  owned  by  Alice's  family. 
When  Parke  brought  .Mice  home.  Estella  was  so  angry 

"  Dr.  Hehard  vva.s  very  acti\e  at  the  Liniversit\  of  Wvoiiiing, 
held  many  otTicL-s  there,  including  service  on  the  Board  of  Trust- 
ees, board  secretary,  librarian  and  teacher  of  political  science 
and  economy.  See  Larry  Brown,  "First  Lady  of  Wyoming  His- 
tory, Grace  Ra>  niond  Hebard,"  IVyoming. Annuls  66  (Fall.  1')94).6. 
See  also  Biographical  files,  .\merican  Heritage  Center. 

''  Letter,  Dr.  Grace  Hebard,  I'niversity  of  Wyoming  Depart- 
ment of  Political  Economy,  Laramie,  to  Verna  Keays,  February 
25,  1919.  There  are  36  "Dear  Verna"  letters  in  the  "Wyoming 
State  Flag"  \ertical  tile  in  the  collections  of  the  .American  Heri- 
tage Center,  LIniversity  of  Wyoming,  Laramie. 

'"  Verna  Keays  Keyes  scrapbook,  author's  collection. 

"  "List  of  Officers,  Members,  Committees  and  Employees," 
The  Senate  of  the  Fifteenth  and  Si.xteenth  State  Legislatures  of 
Wvomine,  Reaular  Sessions,  1919  and  1921. 


Annals  of  Wyoming  :The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


she  refused  to  shake  Alice's  hand  when  they  were  in- 
troduced. She  calmed  dow  n  e\  entually.  Parke  and  Alice 
had  a  happy  marriage.  The>'  had  three  children-  a  son 
and  two  daughters. 

Vema  had  planned  to  teach,  but  after  World  War  I, 
veterans  had  been  invited  to  file  homestead  claims  near 
Buffalo  and  the  town  was  filled  with  soldiers.  My  fa- 
ther was  one  of  them.  Vema  fell  in  love  with  him  and 
they  were  married  on  June  1 ,  1921. 

Arthur  Ke>es,  actually  named  Charles  Arthur,  was 
bom  in  Minneapolis.  Minnesota,  in  1895.  His  mother 
died  when  he  was  very  young  and  he  was  raised  in 
Park  Ridge,  Illinois,  by  his  grandmother  and  aunt  and 
uncle,  E\  a  and  Henry  Wemo. 

He  was  slender,  slight  in  build,  about  five  feet,  ten 
inches  tall,  with  light  brown  hair,  gray  eyes,  fine  fea- 
tures. He  was  a  tense,  high  strung  man  who  drove  him- 
self to  succeed  unfil  the  end  of  his  life.  He  loved  mu- 
sic, had  a  fine  tenor  voice.  He  studied  at  a  Chicago 
music  conservatory  and  \olunteered  as  an  usher  at  the 
Chicago  opera. 

In  World  War  1  Arthur  ser\ed  in  the  entertainment 
corps  of  the  Marines,  for  the  most  part  in  France.  He 
took  great  pride  in  the  fact  that  Bobbie  Bums  and  his 
"bazooka,"  a  famous  comedian  of  the  times,  was  part 
of  his  group. 

Vema's  name  changed  from  Keays  to  Keyes,  pro- 
nounced the  same.  She  told  me  when  she  heard  some- 
one sa\',  "Mrs.  Keyes"  in  the  first  days  of  her  mar- 
riage, she  thought  they  were  speaking  to  her  mother. 

My  father  gave  up  his  homestead  and  they  moved  to 
Billings,  Montana,  where  my  sister,  Bett>'.  was  born 
on  December  18,  1923. 

My  father  refused  to  work  for  someone  else.  He  was 
very  much  his  own  person.  He  attempted  several  busi- 
ness ventures  which  were  unsuccessful.  They  moved 
to  Casper,  and  I  was  bom  there  on  February  25.  1925. 

Casper  then  had  about  40.000  people.  It  was  a  boom- 
ing oil  town,  with  three  refineries,  Texaco,  Standard 
and  White  Eagle,  which  was  a  subsidiar>'  of  Ohio  Oil, 
spewing  sulfur  fumes  into  the  air.  Everyone  said  it  just 
"smelled  like  money" 

Vema  and  Arthur  had  and  made  good  friends  there, 
including  Mae  and  Warren  Hagist.  Mae  had  family  in 
Buffalo  and  Warren  worked  for  the  White  Eagle  refin- 
ery. Other  finends  v\  ere  George  Ann  and  Mar\'in  Bishop. 
Marvin  was  our  attome\'  and  Vema  and  George  Ann 
often  played  bridge  together.  Others  were  Renan  and 
Davey  Johnston.  Davey  was  regional  head  of  the  local 
power  company  and  one  of  the  first  to  climb  the  Grand 
Teton.  Later,  a  coal-fired  power  plant  near  Glenrock 
was  named  for  him. 


At  first,  we  rented  a  small  white  fi^ame  house.  Later, 
my  father  built  a  larger  home  on  Grant  Street.  The  house 
still  stands. 

My  father  founded  a  steel  fabrication  company,  Keyes 
Tank  and  Supply  Company,  which  constructed  prima- 
rily oil  storage  tanks.  The  oil  industry  was  thriving  in 
Wyoming,  and  he  was  doing  well,  his  small  company 
growing,  but  the  depression  of  the  thirties  had  a  dra- 
matic affect  on  all  our  lives. 

Feeding  us,  maintaining  a  normal  family  life,  became 
increasingly  difficult  for  him.  One  of  the  few  times  I 
saw  my  mother  cry  was  when  Betty,  playing  a  child's 
game,  broke  a  dozen  eggs  on  her  little  red  chair.  They 
decided  my  mother,  Betty  and  I  should  move  to  Buf- 
falo and  live  with  my  mother's  parents  while  my  fa- 
ther stayed  in  Casper  and  tried  to  re-build  his  business, 
which  at  this  point  was  worthless. 

In  the  summer  of  1 93 1 ,  Vema  gathered  some  of  our 
belongings  together,  stored  fumiture  with  fi-iends  and 
my  father  drove  the  three  of  us  to  Buffalo.  He  sold  our 
home  and  found  a  room  in  a  boarding  house.  He  had 
little  money,  but  never  declared  bankruptcy,  eventu- 
ally repaying  every  debt. 

Buffalo  was  a  small  town  of  about  4,000  people.  Clear 
Creek  ran  through  the  center  of  town.  On  hot  summer 
days,  one  felt  cooler  watching  it  swirling  under  the 
bridge  on  Main  Street.  What  was  intended  to  be  a  short 
time  in  Buffalo  stretched  into  nine  years.  It  must  have 
been  hard  for  my  grandparents  to  give  up  the  leisure 
they  had  eamed  after  raising  their  own  family.  They 
suddenly  had  two  lively  little  girls,  six  and  eight,  and 
their  mother,  who  silently  grieved  over  the  loss  of  her 
home  and  her  absent  husband.  We  never  felt  deprived 
of  the  security  of  being  surrounded  by  a  warm,  caring 
family.  They  put  up  with  us,  our  muddy  feet,  our 
friends,  our  puppies.  Their  patience  and  the  courage  of 
our  mother  and  father  left  Betty  and  me  as  fulfilled 
and  happy  as  any  child  could  be. 

There  were  many  fi^iends  for  Vema  fi^om  her  grow- 
ing-up  years  in  Buffalo.  Ruby  and  Jack  Burnett  lived 
across  the  street.  Jack  was  English—there  were  quite  a 
few  English  people  in  the  area— and  Ruby  was  part  In- 
dian, looked  it  with  her  high  cheekbones,  brown  eyes. 
Vema  was  always  welcome  there  for  a  brief  rest  when 
things  got  a  little  up-tight  at  home.  Dave  and  Bess  Muir 
came  to  our  house  often  for  dinner.  Dave  was  Scottish, 
and  Bess  taught  school.  On  some  holidays,  Dave  would 
march  down  Main  Street  playing  his  bagpipes.  Flora 
Laing  was  a  widowed  fi-iend,  with  whom  Vema  often 
enjoyed  evening  bridge  games. 

Vema  was  a  gregarious  woman,  liked  people,  made 
friends  easily,  and  enjoyed  a  good  conversation  with 


Winter  1999 


7 


just  about  anyone.  Once  we  went  to  a  Crow  Indian 
fair.  Vema  sat  next  to  a  Crow  woman  at  the  rodeo  and 
as  a  young  Crow  bolted  out  of  the  chute  on  a  bucking 
horse,  the  woman  proudly  said  to  Vema,  "He's  my 
baby!" 

My  father  came  to  see  us  as  often  as  he  could,  and 
we  sometimes  went  with  him  when  he  called  on  oil 
companies  and  refineries.  He  didn't  seem  to  think  in 
terms  of  fast  or  slow  when  he  drove  a  car.  He  just  settled 
himself  behind  the  steering  wheel,  put  his  foot  on  the 
gas  pedal  and  took  off  There  was  no  speed  limit  in 
Wyoming  at  that  time.  One  could  go  fifty  to  one  hun- 
dred miles  with  no  signs  of  human  habitation,  seeing 
only  an  occasional  windmill  whirling  endlessly  in  its 
seemingly  lifeless  domain. 

On  one  of  our  trips,  Vema  kept  asking  Arthur  to  slow 
down.  He  persistently  ignored  her.  When  we  came  to  a 
small  town,  she  told  him  to  let  us  out.  She  felt  she 
could  no  longer  risk  our  lives  with  his  dangerous  driv- 
ing. He^topped,  my  sister  and  I  obediently  hopped  out 
behind  Vema  and  watched  as  he  roared  past  the  houses 
and  vanished  over  a  hill.  Within  a  few  minutes  we  heard 
the  sound  of  an  engine  and  he  whizzed  into  sight,  driv- 
ing as  fast  as  ever.  Vema,  Betty  and  I  climbed  back  in, 
he  turned  the  car  around  and  once  more  we  headed 
down  the  road  -at  the  same  speed  as  before. 

We  joined  the  Episcopal  Church.  The  minister,  Elvin 
L.  Tull.  a  tall,  dark-haired  man  with  glasses,  was  as 
familiar  w  ith  archeology  and  astronomy  as  he  was  with 
theology.  Betty  and  1  sang  in  the  children's  choir  each 
Sunday  at  a  vesper  service.  To  promote  good  atten- 
dance at  choir  practice,  he  gave  each  child  in  the  choir 
a  candy  bar  every  other  Thursday. 

Mrs.  Tull  wore  her  black  hair  in  a  knot  on  top  of  her 
head,  from  which  many  stringy  clumps  escaped.  Rev- 
erend and  Mrs.  Tull  and  Vema  became  close  friends. 
The  Tulls  knew  a  great  deal  about  Indian  artifacts,  and 
Verna  spent  many  happy  hours  with  them  rattling 
through  the  sagebrush  in  the  Tull's  old  car  looking  for 
rock  scrapers  and  arrowheads. 

Vema  organized  the  tlrst  Girl  Scout  troop  in  Buffalo 
when  I  was  about  eight.  Our  activities  included  meet- 
ing in  the  Parish  Hall  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  cook- 
outs,  hiking,  and  looking  for  Indian  artifacts,  now  one 
of  Vema's  favorite  hobbies,  which  she  shared  with  the 
girls. 

After  a  couple  of  years,  two  weeks  of  Girl  Scout 
camping  in  the  Big  Homs  each  July  became  an  annual 
experience.  The  camp  was  called  Camp  Sourdough, 
situated  in  an  area  developed  by  Buffalo  citizens  for 
various  community  activities.  A  couple  named  George 
and  Nora  Gardner  were  two  of  its  mainstays,  Nora, 


with  black  hair  and  snappy  eyes  to  match  it,  was  the 
cook,  always  generous  with  a  cookie  for  lucky  ones 
who  were  near  when  she  was  baking.  George,  gray 
haired,  deeply  tanned,  with  faded  blue  eyes  and  skin 
etched  with  tine  lines  by  the  wind  and  sun  ever-present 
in  his  cowboy's  life,  and  a  helper,  brought  a  string  of 
horses,  taught  us  how  to  care  for  and  ride  them. 

The  camp  had  a  main  lodge  and  dining  room,  one 
other  small  cabin,  and  two  outhouses.  Most  of  us  lived 
in  tents  while  some  of  the  leaders  lived  in  the  cabin. 
Clear  Creek  flowed  beside  us,  its  water  bubbling  over 
and  around  rocks,  providing  a  place  for  baths  and  wad- 
ing. 

Vema's  interest  in  camping  expanded  and  she  took 
training  in  camp-directing  from  the  National  Girl  Scout 
Council.  She  then  directed  camps  in  several  places  in 
the  west.  While  she  was  involved  in  her  training,  she 
met  Lady  Baden-Powell,  international  president  of  Girl 
Scouts.  Vema  felt  that  our  camping  and  scouting  ex- 
periences helped  fill  the  void  in  our  lives  caused  by 
Arthur's  absence.  Wherever  Vema  went  camp  direct- 
ing, Betty  and  I  tagged  along.  One  interesting  camp 
was  in  the  Black  Hills  of  South  Dakota,  another  at  a 
dude  ranch  named  Crossed  Sabers  outside  Cody.  The 
owner  let  the  girls  camp  there  before  the  dude  season 
opened.'-  Vema  was  a  member  of  the  regional  com- 
mittee for  scouts  for  four  years,  served  as  chairman  of 
the  regional  camp  committee  for  three  years  and  did 
much  to  improve  camping  in  her  region.' ' 

Every  summer  we  spent  several  weeks  in  the  Big 
Homs  with  friends.  The  Parmelee  family  had  a  cabin 
there,  and  when  Eleanor  came  to  visit  with  her  three 
girls,  we  joined  them.  Vema  took  her  water  colors,  her 
preferred  paint,  and  would  sit  and  paint  someone's  cabin 
or  a  lake  while  we  kids  climbed  rocks,  crossed  Clear 
Creek  on  fallen  trees,  ran  and  shrieked  at  each  other 
and  picked  flowers. 

Another  friend.  Miss  Mary  W.  Lane,  a  small,  gray- 
haired  woman  who  had  taught  my  Uncle  Parke.  Betty 
and  me  sixth  grade,  had  come  west  from  Massachu- 
setts. Miss  Lane  always  had  Sunda\-  dinner  with  our 
family.  She  had  joined  Wilbur  and  Estella  for  years, 
and  after  Betty  and  I  arrived.  Miss  Lane  always  left 
two  quarters  on  Estella's  dresser  for  us.  She  also  had  a 
small  cabin.  Each  summer  Vema,  Betty  and  I  spent 
one  or  two  weeks  there.  Clear  Creek  ran  near  it,  the 


'-  In  1996  my  husband  and  1  were  dri\ing  from  Yellowstone 
Park  to  Cody,  and  we  saw  the  sign.  Crossed  Sabers.  We  vsent  in 
and  met  the  daughter  of  the  present  ow  ners.  The  ranch  looked 
just  like  1  remembered  it. 

'-  Unidentified  newspaper  clipping,  author's  collection. 


8 


Annals  or  Wyoming:Tne  Wyoming  History  Journal 


Ranger  Station  was  close,  Frank  Horton  had  a  dude 
ranch  down  the  road  a  couple  of  miles.  Frank  had  been 
in  the  state  legislature  when  Vema  worked  there  and 
was  very  kind  to  her. 

Most  people  dropped  lime  down  the  holes  in  out- 
houses regularly  to  help  eliminate  odors  and  keep  them 
sanitary.  Miss  Lane  preferred  to  use  ashes  from  the 
wood  stove  for  this  purpose.  The  procedure  was  to  leave 
them  in  a  metal  bucket  until  there  were  no  simmering 
coals  or  hot  ashes,  then  dump. 

On  the  last  July  day  of  one  summer's  visit,  we  ate  a 
picnic  lunch  by  a  little  stream  across  the  road  from  the 
cabin.  A  thick  screen  of  large  pines,  aspen  and  willow 
bushes  hid  the  road  from  our  sight.  We  were  munch- 
ing our  ham  sandwiches  when  we  began  to  hear  a 
strange  crackling  noise  coming  from  the  direction  of 
the  road.  The  sound  became  louder;  finally  Vema  told 
Betty  to  go  see  what  was  happening  out  there. 

Betty  disappeared  through  the  willows,  then 
screamed,  "It's  a  fire,  it's  a  fire!"  Miss  Lane's  out- 
house and  several  good-sized  pines  were  hurling  flames 
toward  the  sky. 

"Go  get  the  ranger!"  Vema  shouted  to  Betty,  who 
took  off,  pounding  down  the  dusty  road. 

Vema  began  lugging  buckets  of  water  up  the  hill  from 
the  stream,  pitching  it  into  the  flames.  About  the  time 
the  ranger  and  helper  arrived  in  their  pickup  with  tanks 
of  water  to  strap  on  their  backs,  Frank  J^orton  came 
driving  down  the  road,  on  his  way  from  Paradise  Ranch 
to  Buffalo. 

The  fire  was  extinguished.  We  arrived  in  Buffalo  late 
that  aftemoon  and  everyone  in  town  knew,  thanks  to 
her  friend  Frank  Horton,  that  Vema  Keyes  had  bumed 
down  Miss  Lane's  outhouse.  This  event  gained  her 
much  more  attention  then  her  flag  for  quite  awhile  in 
Buffalo.  She  was  fined  by  the  government  for  each 
tree  that  was  destroyed  and  paid  to  have  the  outhouse 
rebuilt. 

In  1941  our  family  was  re-united  in  Casper.  The  de- 
pression was  over  and  my  father's  company  was  again 
successfully  doing  business.  He  wanted  to  build  an- 
other home,  so  we  rented  a  house  to  live  in  while  it 
was  being  completed.  The  new  one  was  to  be  on  a 
hillside  which  overlooked  Casper  and  the  countryside 
beyond.  Betty  would  be  a  senior  in  Casper  high  school, 
and  I  was  a  sophomore. 

Vema's  life  changed.  She  gave  up  her  work  in  Girl 
Scouting  and  became  very  involved  in  Republican 
politics.  She  served  a  term  as  chairman  of  the  Natrona 
County  Republican  Party.  When  Nelson  Rockefeller 
campaigned  in  Wyoming,  she  officially  greeted  him. 


Also,  she  was  active  in  the  Casper  Fine  Arts  Club,  of 
which  she  was  one  of  the  founders,  DAR  and  PEO. 
She  spent  many  aftemoons  playing  bridge. 

Our  lives  changed  in  another  way,  also.  Arthur  had 
been  raised  in  the  Christian  Science  church,  and  when 
we  retumed  from  Buffalo,  we  attended  their  services 
regularly.  Vema  eventually  became  a  devout  Christian 
Scientist.  After  I  married,  my  husband  and  I  retumed 
to  the  Episcopal  church. 

Betty  went  to  college  and  Vema  and  I  had  the  fun 
and  hard  work  of  moving  into  the  new  home. 

She  received  many  letters  about  the  flag,  answering 
all  that  required  an  answer.  She  spoke  to  many  groups 
of  people,  not  only  in  Casper,  all  over  the  state.  Each 
year  she  was  asked  to  talk  to  fourth  graders  in  Casper. 
She  loved  children  and  enjoyed  doing  this.  After  her 
speech,  many  children  wrote  her,  telling  her  how  much 
they  had  liked  hearing  her  story.  She  kept  the  letters, 
re-reading  some  of  the  special  ones  and  cherishing 
them. 

The  DAR  chapter  in  Casper  gave  out  "C"  pins  sev- 
eral times  a  year  to  honor  students.  Vema  often  handed 


Arthur  and  Vema  at  their  new  house,  1941. 


Winter  IQQQ 


out  the  pins.  Betty  usually  marched  across  the  stage  to 
recei\  e  her  pin.  I  preferred  to  sit  in  the  back  of  the 
auditorium  as  at  that  time  I  was  not  a  dihgent  student, 
preferring  more  social  activities,  with  boys  if  possible. 

In  1941  an  air  base  for  training  of  B-24  crews  opened 
in  Casper.  Vema  became  a  gray  lady  and  went  to  the 
base  once  a  week  to  help  the  soldiers,  writing  letters 
for  sick  ones,  doing  whatever  else  was  needed.  Man\ 
soldiers  sat  at  our  dinner  table  during  the  next  few  years. 

1  married  one  of  them.  In  1944  I  fell  in  love  with 
Donald  Newell,  a  pilot.  He  went  overseas  to  Italy  and 
I  returned  to  my  second  \ear  of  college.  When  he  came 
back  the  next  June  with  a  purple  heart  and  a  distin- 
guished tlying  cross,  we  were  married  in  the  li\ing 
room  of  my  home.  We  had  three  children,  a  son  and 
two  daughters.  Betty  married  a  navy  ensign  named 
Norman  Williams;  they  had  four  children,  three  girls 
and  a  bo_\ 

Vema  and  Arthur  decided  to  build  another  house. 
They  sold  the  one  at  7 1  I  East  1 1  th  Street  and  rented  an 
apartment. 

His  business  was  thri\  ing  when  he  slipped  on  a  patch 
of  ice  outside  his  office  and  fell,  breaking  his  leg.  His 
death  in  May,  1951,  at  the  age  of  56,  was  attributed  to 
a  blood  clot  from  this  injury.  Although  he  was  a  Chris- 
tian Scientist,  Arthur  had  medical  help  for  his  broken 
leg,  was  hospitalized  and  wore  a  cast.  At  the  time  he 
died,  the  new  house  wasn't  fmished.  Vema  lived  in 
apartments  the  rest  of  her  life.  She  sold  Arthur's  com- 
pany, including  a  new  plant  he  had  built  in  Provo.  Utah. 

Vema  and  Arthur  had  planned  to  travel  when  he  re- 
tired. After  his  death,  she  set  out  on  her  own.  First,  she 
went  on  a  cruise  to  the  Mediterranean  e\  en  though  she 
knew  no  one  on  the  ship.  She  invited  Don  and  me  and 
Mark,  our  small  son,  to  New  York  to  see  her  off  She 
made  friends  so  easily  she  didn't  have  a  lonely  mo- 
ment and  communicated  with  quite  a  few  people  she 
met  on  the  cruise  for  many  years.  Next,  she  toured  the 
Orient,  visiting  Hawaii,  Japan,  Hong  Kong  and  other 
places.  A  friend  went  with  her  this  time  and,  unfortu- 
nately, became  very  sick  with  pneumonia  on  the  trip. 

Vema  brought  home  beautiflil  silk  fabrics  and  gifts 
for  all  the  family  from  this  trip.  She  was  an  excellent 
seamstress,  and  made  several  dresses  for  Betty,  me  and 
herself  All  through  the  years  she  had  sewed  for  us, 
smocking  our  dresses  when  we  were  small.  When  we 
were  in  high  school,  we  would  see  a  dress  we  liked  in 
a  store  and  Vema  would  whip  one  up  Just  like  it!  She 
made  my  high  school  graduation  dress. 

Alaska  was  another  place  she  enjoyed  seeing— this 
time,  with  a  healthy  friend  accompanying  her.  She  took 


Don  and  me  on  a  trip  with  her  to  the  Bahamas.  Each 
\  ear  she  alternated  Christmas  and  Easter  \  acations  w  ith 
Betty  and  me.  usually  slaying  several  weeks  with  each 
of  us,  and  we  both  visited  her  some  time  every  sum- 
mer in  Wyoming  with  our  children. 

One  year  she  took  all  of  us,  Bett\  and  Norman  and 
all  their  children,  Donald  and  me  and  all  our  children, 
plus  a  bab_\  sitter  tbr  the  younger  ones,  to  a  ranch  out- 
side Jackson.  We  hiked,  rode  horses,  Vema  always 
riding  with  us.  We  went  into  Jackson.  The\  dail\  had 
a  take  robbery  with  the  sheriff  and  all  the  "bad  guys" 
chasing  each  other  around.  The  kids  lo\  ed  it. 

For  many  years,  Vema  managed  the  Christian  Sci- 
ence Reading  Room  in  Casper,  which  was  good  for 
her.  It  gave  her  days  purpose  and  kept  her  from  feeling 
lonely.  She  lived  for  thirty  years  as  a  widow,  as  coura- 
geously as  she  had  lived  all  her  life.  Betty  and  Norm, 
then  retired,  had  been  sta_\  ing  in  an  apartment  near  her 
when  she  died  in  1982  at  age  of  89. 

Whenever  Don  and  I  go  back  to  Wyoming,  which  is 
often,  and  I  tlrst  see  that  bison  tlying  in  Wyoming's 
almost  e\  er-present  wind,  m_\  throat  tightens,  my  eyes 
tinule. 


Flag  as  it  now  Lippcais--Dr.  Hehcird   "rcwi-.scJ" 
the  buffalo  from  Keays  '  original  Jcsign. 

The  ciiithor.  PriscilUi  Kcves  Newell,  is  the 
daughler  of  Vema  Keays  Keyes.  PriscilUi.  al- 
ways ktwwn  as  "Polly"  by  her  fajuily  and 
friends,  married  Donald  Newell  in  1945.  After 
World  War  II.  Newell  graduated  with  a  degree 
in  civil  engineering  from  the  University  of 
Wyoming.  He  began  working  for  the  Keves 
Companies.  After  PriscilUi 's  father  died  and 
the  companies  were  sold,  he  worked  in  steel 
construction,  fie  held  executive  positions  in 
Birmingham.  Chicago.  Shreveport.  Dallas. 
Newport  News  and  finally,  in  Bristol.  Tennes- 
see, where  he  and  Polly  have  retired. 


"Wyoming  Memories 


H  omesceAa 


BY  MARCARC^  M.  flRRP^ 


One  of  the  first  colonists,  James  Otis  is  a  direct  an- 
cestor on  my  mother's  side.  This  James  Otis  also  was 
one  of  the  signatures  on  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence. He  was  free  of  spirit,  intelligent,  fiercely  politi- 
cal, in  that  he  desired  much,  and  immediate  change  in 
his  new  world,  and  was  willing  to  work  as  well  as  fight 
for  that  change.  From  him,  through  the  female  descen- 
dants, came  the  Havens,  our  great  grandfather.' 

This  story  begins  much  later,  in  Charles  City,  Iowa, 
with  Willus  Elton  Haven  physically  striking  Carrie 
Weeks  Haven,  causing  her  to  fall  down  a  set  of  stairs.-^ 
This,  apparently  was  either  enough  the  first  time,  or  it 
had  happened  before  and  she  resolved  to  end  it  then  -  it 
is  somewhat  unclear  because  the  story  was  not  some- 
thing our  mother  wished  to  talk  about.  Family  violence 
of  any  kind  was  a  taboo  subject  with  our  mother.  I 
consider  it  amazing  that  she  told  me  at  all.  Divorcing 
Willus  Haven,  an  almost  unheard  of  act  for  that  time, 
but  true  to  her  ahead-of-her-time  nature,  grandmother 
resolved  to  take  her  children  and  head  West  to  seek  her 
fortune.  She  had  two  sisters,  Helen  and  Marie,  who 
had  both  married  well  and  gone  West  with  their  hus- 
bands, and  that  should  be  good  enough  for  her  family 
and  for  society.  Her  life  was  now  her  own  -  she  would 
live  her  own  history.. 

There  were  three  of  them  that  went  with  Carrie  Weeks 
Haven-Jean  the  eldest  girl,  Irving  the  only  boy,  and 
the  youngest,  Helen,  our  mother.  Another  daughter, 
Louise,  had  died  in  childhood  some  years  earlier,  in 
about  1905.  Carrie  had  an  elderly  mother,  whom  she 
took  with  her  and  cared  for  until  she  died.  This  family 
on  the  female  side  has  always  been  close  and  available 
for  one  another  throughout  the  travails  of  life. 

By  all  accounts,  Carrie  was  extremely  capable.  Her 


father,  being  one  of  the  few  farsighted  men  of  his  time, 
wished  his  daughters  to  be  educated.  He  was  a  news- 
paper man  himself,  and  taught  Carrie  enough  of  the 
trade  that  she  was  able  to  support  herself  and  the  chil- 
dren adequately,  but  by  no  means  richly,  while  they 
were  growing  up. 

The  first  stop  was  outside  Rapid  City,  S.D.,  where 
Carrie,  her  sister  Marie,  and  her  friend  Mable  Zimmer 
took  up  homesteads.  Much  strife  came  during  this  time, 
with  sub-zero  temperatures,  inadequate  housing  in  the 
form  of  the  drafty  homestead  shacks,  lack  of  fruit,  there 
being  almost  none  available  even  in  the  stores  at  that 
time,  due  to  shipping  delays  and  shortages.  Once,  dur- 
ing this  period,  Carrie  sent  daughter  Helen  home  to 
attempt  to  stay  with  the  Haven's  for  awhile,  since  she 
was  the  youngest.  She  did  not  wish  to  stay  with  her 
father,  and  contacted  Carrie  to  let  her  come  home.  This 
was  done,  and  she  made  the  long  train  trip  across  the 
plains  again  alone,  arriving  at  Rapid  City  once  more, 
none  the  worse  for  her  adventures,  having  seen  a  man 
dead  from  being  run  over  by  the  train  while  lying  on 
the  tracks  and  having  an  anxious  moment  when  she 
could  not  locate  her  ticket.  The  ticket  was  located  at 
last  by  some  means,  and  she  was  allowed  to  go  on. 

Carrie  worked  in  a  printing  office  or  newspaper  in 
Rapid  City,  managing  to  save  enough  money  to  move 
again  to  the  young  frontier  cowtown  of  Buffalo,  Wyo- 
ming, where  she  and  several  other  stockholders  began 
a  second  biweekly  publication  for  the  town  of  Buffalo 
called  the  Buffalo  Voice.  After  beginning  publishing, 

'  The  lineage  can  be  found  written  out  on  a  plain  sheet  of  paper 
in  the  family  Bible. 

-  The  Havens'  were  grandparents  of  the  author. 


Winter,  1999 

she  found  other  newsprint  and  Linotype  equipment  she 
needed  in  Gillette,  and  she,  her  daughter  Helen,  and 
Helen's  school  friend  Ida  Potts  went  to  Gillette  and 
brought  it  back. 

Carrie  was  very  active  politically,  especially  in 
Women's  Rights. 

One  night,  coming  home  late  down  main  street,  Car- 
rie and  Helen  were  almost  run  over  by  a  man  on  a  snorty 
horse.  This  man  was  wearing  a  long  buffalo-type  great- 
coat, and  the  horse  was  frightened  by  it  flapping  in  the 
windy  night.  It  was  in  dead  of  winter,  also,  and  very 
cold.  The  man  managed  to  turn  the  spooking  horse  back 
off  the  sidewalk  into  the  street  once  more,  and  the  two 
women  continued  on.  Later,  the  man  called  Carrie  to 
apologize  for  almost  running  into  her,  (which  turned 
out  to  be  an  excuse  to  see  her).  The  man  became  Carrie's 
second  husband.  Earl  Miller. 

Earl  was  an  excellent  carpenter  and  he  was  good  help 
in  the  newspaper,  when  she  could  keep  him  working. 
By  all  accounts,  he  did  not  hold  steady,  and  she  could 
never  sufficiently  count  on  him  for  support,  either 
monetarily  or  morally.  Nonetheless,  she  lived  with  him 
until  she  died,  thinking  that  since  she  had  been  foolish 
enough  to  marry  unwisely  again,  she  may  as  well  see  it 
through.  Helen  never  spoke  ill  of  Earl,  though,  saying 
that  he  was  good  natured,  and  never  mean  to  any  of 
Carrie's  children.  This  was  a  lot,  in  those  days,  when 


n 

men  did  virtually  as  they  pleased  with  the  little  woman 
and  the  kids. 

This  was  now  1924.  Helen  Haven  had  been  well  re- 
ceived in  Johnson  County  High  School.  She  was  one 
of  the  foundation  members  of  the  girls  agriculture  class, 
helping  form  the  group.  She  was  one  of  the  founda- 
tion members  of  the  girls  basketball  team,  and  a  "yell 
leader"  for  the  boys  football  team.  She  was  editor  of 
the  school  paper  and  of  the  yearbook.  She  was  inter- 
ested in  education,  and  planned  to  become  a  school- 
teacher, all  of  this  being  borne  out  by  newspaper  ar- 
ticles and  her  school  yearbooks.  She  loved  horses,  and 
she  and  her  friend,  Ida  Potts,  rode  together  a  lot,  taking 
long  rides  up  the  Black  and  Yellow  Trail  (now^  High- 
way 16)  which  was  an  old  Indian  trail  over  the  moun- 
tain to  Tensleep,  still  visible.  On  one  of  these  rides, 
they  found  an  Indian  arrow  with  the  point  and  the  old 
buckskin  still  holding  it  in  place.  They  brought  it  down 
and  gave  it  to  the  Gatchell  family,  who  were  in  the 
initial  phases  of  a  fledgling  museum. 

That  summer,  she  worked  for  .lack  Moore,  who  had 
a  ranch  outside  of  Buffalo.  Jack  was  a  pioneer  who  had 
been  in  the  Wagon  Box  battle  with  the  Sioux.' 

'  1  wish  1  had  pressed  her  more  for  details  of  the  acquaintance 
of  this  man,  but  alas,  I  did  not  when  1  could,  and  the  history  is 
long  lost  now.  She  mentioned  it  in  passing,  not  considering  how 
important  it  may  actually  become. 


4--»- 


News  room  of  the  Buffalo  Voice,  Buffalo.  Earl  Miller.  Carrie's  husband,  is  pictured.  Author's  collection. 


Annals  of  Wyoming;The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


Carrie 
Weeks 
Haven 
Miller 


.«  < 


When  the  Bill>  Creek  Oil  Field  came  through,  Car- 
rie took  Mom  and  they  went  out  to  photograph  the  oc- 
casion for  the  paper.  These  photos  captured  the  gusher 
as  it  happened.  Carrie  was  also  invited  out  to  the  Hole 
in  the  Wall  ranch  for  a  photo  session  and  a  meeting  of 
some  kind  and  took  Mom  with  her.^ 

THE  SCHOOLMARM: 

Trail  Creek-Cody.  Wyoming.  Fall.  1926-Spring.l928 

Mom  graduated  from  Johnson  County  High  School 
in  the  spring  of  1925.  She  then  went  to  Laramie  for 
Summer  School  where  she  completed  her  teacher's 
degree  for  that  time,  which  was  called  Nomial  Train- 
ing. When  she  successfully  went  through  the  course, 
she  was  on  her  own.  Her  uncle  by  marriage,  Ralph 
Hardin,  (married  to  Carrie's  sister,  Helen)  was  super- 
intendent of  schools  in  Cody  at  the  time.  He  offered  to 
help  her  attain  a  position,  but  Helen  declined,  wishing 
to  '"do  it  herself."  She  answered  an  ad  in  a  Gillette  pa- 
per. They  had  a  country  school  between  Linch  and  Mid- 
west  and  needed  a  teacher.  She  arrived,  full  of  energy 
and  enthusiasm,  but  it  was  short-lived.  The  schoolhouse 
was  a  one-room  shack  on  the  prairie,  which  in  itself 
was  no  shock  or  even  a  surprise.  She  expected  hard- 
ship and  understood  the  country  she  lived  in,  under- 
stood trials  of  the  tTedgling  ranches  and  struggling 
people  who  were  attempting  to  educate  their  children 
without  sending  them  the  miles  and  miles  by  wagon, 
ancient  car  or  horseback  to  the  larger  schools.  (Even 
the  larger  schools  were  not  so  large  in  those  days).  . 

But  she  did  not  expect  to  earn  $30  per  month  and 


then  have  her  room,  board  and  teaching  supplies  de- 
ducted from  it.  This  she  learned,  in  addition  to  the  fact 
that  the  one  room  school's  wood  stove  was  too  small 
to  adequately  combat  the  cold,  after  she  arrived.  She 
felt  that  even  though  she  wanted  to  give  it  a  try,  she 
simply  could  not  afford  to  do  it.  So,  putting  her  pride 
in  her  pocket,  she  contacted  her  Uncle  Ralph  and  he 
set  her  up  with  her  first  real  teaching  job,  just  outside 
of  Cody  at  the  Trail  Creek  Ranch. 

Trail  Creek,  nestled  in  a  sheltered  draw  beyond  the 
river  at  the  base  of  the  Rattlesnake  mountains  (part  of 
the  Absaroka  Range),  was  a  cozy,  peaceful  valley  that 
was  watched  over  by  a  large  red  butte  that  jutted  out  of 
the  foot  of  the  mountain,  in  total  contrast  to  the  rest  of 
the  terrain.  The  old  Bannock  Indian  trail  wound  along 
in  this  area  and  over  the  mountain.^ 
The  little  log  schoolhouse  was  quite  adequate  for  the 
purpose  of  a  country  learning  center.  Children  from 
families  at  several  of  the  other  far-flung  ranches  of  the 
Cody  country,  as  far  away  as  the  Painter  Ranch  in  Sun- 
light Basin,  and  from  Clark,  almost  in  Montana,  at- 
tended the  school.  Helen  taught  there  from  1 923  to  1 928 
when  the  school  was  closed  in  the  consolidation  pro- 
cess. This  is  the  assignment  that  earned  her  a  spot  in 
the  Park  County  Historical  Book  as  being  one  of  the 
first  schoolmanns  of  the  district.  She  loved  her  job, 
and  the  children  -  she  was  full  of  stories  about  them  in 
later  years.  It  was  a  good  time  for  her. 

It  was  at  Trail  Creek  that  she  met  our  father,  who 
was  a  cowboy  there,  working  w  ith  the  sheep  and  cattle. 
He  spent  part  of  the  summer  packing  salt  to  the  stock 
on  the  mountain  range,  and  they  were  taken  with  each 
other,  to  the  utter  consternation  and  horror  of  Uncle 
Ralph  and  Auntie  Helen.  Our  father  w as  known  to  drink, 
and  our  mother's  family  were  teetotalers,  warning  her 
of  the  potential  problems  alcohol  brought  to  a  family 
situation.  In  spite  of  this,  he  was  a  good  person,  and 
though  he  was  certainly  not  of  their  kind  or  social  stat- 
ure due  in  part  to  his  lack  of  more  opportune  family 
circumstances,  they  did  not  really  harbor  any  huge  dis- 
like of  him.  Anyone  conversing  with  him,  even  in  pass- 
ing, could  tune  in  to  his  keen  mind  and  worthwhile 
character.  But  they  also  knew  only  too  well  the  kind  of 
life  our  mother  would  lead  if  she  married  him— leaping 
from  job  to  job,  ranch  to  ranch,  always  in  spare  cir- 

"•  1  believe  the  lady  who  owned  the  ranch  at  that  time  was  named 
Mrs.  Webb,  although  I'm  not  sure  of  this.  The  Archives  of  this 
old  newspaper  are  found  in  the  Johnson  County  Library. 

"■  During  the  year  that  he  worked  the  ranch  land,  our  father 
found  several  ancient  pole  tipi's,  some  in  fairly  good  condition 
still,  some  with  traces  of  rawhide  still  clinging  to  them.  The  ranch 
was  then  owned  bv  the  Heald  familv. 


\Tinter,   1Q99 


13 


cumstances,  in  search  of  the  elusive  dream.  Of  course, 
they  were  right. 

In  1 928.  after  school  closed  for  the  summer,  the  little 
country  schools  began  to  consolidate  into  the  larger 
districts.  At  that  point,  all  school  teachers  had  to  pos- 
sess a  four-\ear  degree  in  order  to  teach.  Funds  were 
not  available.  Mom,  never  the  aggressor,  was  confused 
and  frightened.  She  then  turned  her  thoughts  to  mar- 
riage, as  Dad  had  suggested,  and  planned  to  obtain  the 
rest  of  her  degree  later.  Perhaps  he  would  help  her- 
perhaps.  To  use  her  own  words  "I  didn't  know  what  to 
do  next.  1  was  desperate."  Dad  went  to  Washington 
state  to  fight  fires  that  summer,  and  Mom  had  gone 
there  before  him  after  the  school  closed,  to  stay  with 
another  aunt  (Aunt  Marie— another  sister  of  Carrie)  un- 
til she  could  tlnd  another  job.  It  was  there  that  she  and 
Dad  were  married.  It  was  at  that  turning  point  in  their 
lives  that  the  rift  in  her  family  occurred.  She  summed 
it  up  several  times,  but  always  in  the  same  short,  de- 
fensive sentences  because  it  was  never  easy  for  her  to 
speak  of  it.  Dad  had  evidently  pulled  up  to  the  curb  in 
his  car  with  several  other  people.  He  had  been  fighting 
tire,  as  had  his  companions.  They  were  grimy  with  soot 
and  ash.  They  came  from  the  hills  into  the  town  of 
Everett.  Washington,  and  had  come  straight  to  her  door 
to  ask  for  her.  These  are  her  own  few  words  she  used  to 
describe  the  scene  that  followed: 

Auntie  Marie  looked  out  the  window  and  saw  them 
getting  out  of  the  car.  She  turned  to  me  and  exclaimed 
"You  are  NOT  going  out  with  THOSE  people,  are 
you?"  I  told  her,  '".Auntie  Marie,  there's  nothing  wrong 
with  Jack.  You  are  not  even  giving  him  a  chance.  Yes, 
I  am  going  with  them  and  if  you  don't  approve,  I  just 
won't  come  back. 

She  also  said  it  was  not  something  she  wanted  to  do- 
go  against  the  wishes  of  her  family.*'  She  never  returned 
to  school  to  finish  her  teaching  degree,  and  she  saw 
very  little  of  her  family  after  that.  Working  in  Wash- 
ington that  summer,  they  were  married  in  August,  and 
sta\'ed  the  w  inter.  They  returned  to  Wyoming  the  next 
spring  and  took  up  a  homestead  claim  in  the  Garfield 
Peak  area,  known  as  Snyder  Basin,  60  miles  west  of 
Casper  on  the  Raderv  ille  Route.  This  was  the  wide  open, 
stark,  and  strangely  beautiful  land  of  contrasts  that  al- 
ways seemed  to  hold  their  hearts.  They  returned  to  re- 
tire close  to  the  same  valley  they  had  helped  settle  some 
forty  years  before  as  youngsters.  True  to  the  predic- 
tions of  Aunties  Marie  and  Helen,  they  had  little  more 
material  possessions  than  they  had  when  they  started. 
The  salmon  swim  unerringly  upstream  to  the  spawn- 


ing grounds  -  the  deer  return  to  the  place  of  their  faw  n- 
ing  -  and  people  will  often  do  the  same  if  the  first  memo- 
ries of  their  youth  are  powerful  enough. 

THE  HOMESEEKERS  -  1930 

Joe  Snyder~he  was  mentioned  to  Mom  and  Dad  when 
they  began  to  take  up  their  claim  in  the  valley.  He.  too, 
had  homesteaded  that  particular  area,  had  proved  up, 
and  leased  his  land  to  them  to  compliment  theirs  while 
they  were  proving  up.  He  also  knew  Orey  and  Ben 
Roberts,  who  were  neighbors  in  the  valley,  and  intro- 
duced the  folks  to  them.  He  was  full  of  tales  of  the  old 
days,  and  gave  them  much  history  of  the  valley,  in- 

"  In  my  mind's  eye,  I  can  picture  her  there  at  the  window,  in 
absolute  emotional  conflict  -  standing  up  against  authorit\  -  which 
was  not  at  all  her  usual  nature  -  and  loyalU  defending  something 
she  felt  was  right  or  someone  she  loved  -  which  detlnitely  was 
her  nature.  The  rest  of  the  story  that  follows  is  the  history  of  this 
encounter.  E\en  as  I  write,  sevent>  years  after  the  fateful  e\ent 
occurred.  I  have  the  impulse  to  laugh  out  loud  -  although  at  the 
time  it  was  probably  anylhing  but  humorous. 


The  author's  father,  L.  J.  McMorrow. 


u 


Annals  of  Wyoming  iTlie  Wyoming  History  Journal 


eluding  the  fact  that  it  had  been  on  the  route  from  the 
Hole-in-the-Wall  to  Brown's  Park  in  Colorado~the 
Outlaw  Trail,  as  it  was  known. 

They  talked  it  over,  contacted  our  mother's  brother, 
who  by  this  time  was  in  California,  our  dad's  brother. 
Bob,  in  Idaho,  and  convinced  them  both  to  join  them 
in  staking  the  claims.  If  they  took  the  claims  to  adjoin 
each  other,  a  large  portion  of  the  entire  valley  would 
be  theirs.  A  third  person,  whom  Dad  had  worked  with 
at  Healds,  Paul  McKenna,  turned  out  to  be  a  reprobate, 
without  much  to  recommend  him  at  all.  He  was  added 
to  this  group  and  they  all  filed.  McKenna  left  before 
the  others,  much  to  the  relief  of  the  others. 

The  valley  was  broad  and  green,  surrounded  by  a 
range  of  small  mountains  through  which  flowed  a  sweet 
water  creek,  fed  by  springs  on  all  sides.  It  was  sweet 
water  in  an  area  of  soda  and  alkali  that  spread  on  all 
other  sides  around  it,  beyond  the  shehering  arms  of  the 
basin.  This  made  the  wide  expanse  valuable  because 
the  soil  was  rich.  The  rust-red,  iron-tinted  soil  clung  to 
the  clothes  like  dye,  but  would  grow  anything  once 
w  ater  was  put  to  it.  It  promised  to  be  worth  many  times 
over  the  cost  of  the  improvements,  and  indeed  it  was, 
had  the\'  only  stayed  the  course  that  they  set  for  them- 
selves that  day  as  they  rode  up  the  old  wagon  tracks 
with  Joe.  Many  years  later,  they  described  the  lush  con- 
dition of  the  range  and  grass:  "It  was  thick  and  high, 
very  little  brush  scattered  through  it,  growing  tall 
enough  to  whip  the  stirrups  as  we  rode." 

Joe  took  them  past  Orey  Roberts,  who  lived  at  the 
mouth  of  the  valley,  almost  to  the  Raderville  Route 
road  that  ran  past  to  Casper,  past  the  olu  home  place 
Joe's  family  had  started,  long  gone  with  only  the  lone 
Cottonwood  planted  by  his  mother  remaining  to  mark 
the  site.  A  faint  trace  of  the  foundation  for  the  original 
cabin  was  still  there,  and  they  rode  past  it  on  up  the 
draw.  It  was  there  that  the  folks  decided  to  build  their 
cabin,  with  the  view  of  Garfield  Peak  beyond. 

They  arranged  to  lease  Joe's  ground,  and  went  to 
town  to  begin  paper  work  for  their  own  adjoining 
claims.  Shortly  after,  arriving  back  in  Thermopolis  for 
a  last  business  visit  with  Joe,  they  bought  five  head  of 
horses  from  Squire  Jones,  a  local  horseman  whose  ranch 
lay  up  Buffalo  Creek.  These  horses  were  -  "Old  Maybe" 
"Tripods"  "Bess"  "Uncle  Wiggley"  and  another  whose 
name  has  gone.  Taking  the  horses,  they  drove  them 
from  Thermopolis  straight  through  the  back  country  to 
Garfield  Peak.  It  took  three  full  days  to  make  the  trip. 
They  described  the  wild  land,  the  creeks,  the  skies  and 
stars  at  night,  an  old  cabin  they  attempted  to  stay  the 
night  in,  but  couldn't  due  to  the  packrats  that  rushed 


Helen  Haven  McMorrow,  the  author 's  mother 

back  and  forth  across  their  bedrolls  -  finally  rolling 
them  out  in  the  brush  outside  by  the  campfire. 

As  the  noon  sun  brightened  directly  above  their  heads, 
they  stopped  along  a  little  creek  bottom  in  a  deep  can- 
yon and  let  the  horses  graze  and  rest.  While  they  were 
there,  a  brand  inspector  driving  a  wagon  and  team  with 
a  horse  tied  to  the  tailgate  stopped  to  talk  with  them, 
and  asked  for  the  bills  of  sale  for  the  horses.  Fortu- 
nately, everything  was  in  order,  Dad  having  worked 
enough  of  the  big  ranches  to  know  what  was  needed. 
The  inspector  reminded  them  before  he  drove  on,  ob- 
viously referencing  their  youth,  "Make  sure  you  always 
have  papers  on  any  stock  you  push  and  you'll  be  ok." 

Two  days  later,  in  the  long  shadows  of  the  afternoon, 
they  arrived  at  their  new  home  -  with  their  bedrolls, 
five  head  of  horses,  and  each  other. 

GREEN  VALLEY-  1930 

They  immediately  camped  near  the  spot  where  they 
intended  to  build  their  house  and  pitched  a  large,  wa- 
terproof tent.  This  tent  was  their  home  for  most  of  the 
early  part  of  the  spring  and  summer  while  they  worked 
on  the  house.  Mom's  stepfather,  Earl  Miller,  came  alone 
from  California  and  assisted  them  with  its  raising.  They 


Winter,  1999 


15 


had  found  an  old  house  in  town  that  was  for  sale,  dis- 
mantled it,  and  hired  the  lumber  hauled  out  from  Casper. 
They  put  down  a  foundation,  built  a  fireplace  with  an 
old  scavenged  culvert  pipe  for  a  chimney,  and  covered 
it  with  rock  which  looked  nice  for  having  been  made 
such  a  long  way  out  in  the  hills  with  so  few  tools  and 
materials.  They  laid  floors  and  covered  them  with  cheap 
linoleum.  They  dug  out  the  spring  and  fixed  a  spring 
house  over  it  just  behind  the  house,  where  it  kept  things 
cool  even  in  the  hottest  summer  days  with  the  cold  air 
circulating  from  the  emerging  icy  water  from  the  moun- 
tain -  and  the  site  was  well  shaded  by  the  foliage  of  the 
trees  that  grew  around  it.  Mom  planted  wild  roses  by 
the  front  door,  hung  curtains  in  her  windows. 

They  took  a  walk  up  the  ridge  on  the  evening  they 
had  finished  enough  to  move  in,  and  sat  looking  over 
the  valley,  reveling  in  the  sharp  fresh  air  and  the  vista 
below. 

The  other  young  people  were  busy,  too.  Uncle  Bob 
built  a  log  cabin  just  over  the  ridge.  Ir\'ing  put  up  a 
flimsy  pole  shack  and  McKenna  raised  a  house  of  logs 
on  the  creek  below  them.  One  of  the  first  rifts  in  the 
harmony  of  the  group  came  when  they  discovered 
McKenna  had  not  bothered  to  fix  or  maintain  a  proper 
outhouse.  This  was  disturbing  to  them,  and  it  also  was 
to  the  claims  inspector  when  he  appeared  suddenly  one 
day  later  the  next  year  to  approve  the  improvements. 
Whenever  McKenna's  name  was  mentioned,  Mom 
looked  very  aggrieved,  and  it  was  apparent  that  no  af- 
fection lay  between  them. 

That  summer  was  busy  and  flew  past  with  no  time  to 
relax  or  reflect,  as  did  several  summers  in  the  follow- 
ing years.  During  one  of  them.  Mom's  old  school  chum, 
Ida  Potts,  came  with  her  little  boy  and  stayed  for  a  over 


a^Slt. 


month.  They  took  their  children  and  made  many  walks 
into  the  hills,  listening  to  the  sweet  bird  voices,  talking 
and  lending  moral  support  to  each  other  as  they  had 
always  done  as  girls.  They  were  women  now ,  with  the 
colors  of  the  universe  not  nearly  as  bright,  nor  the  an- 
ticipation of  the  future  quite  so  magical  as  it  had  seemed 
only  a  few  short  years  before. 

But  it  was  the  beginning  of  an  era  that  forever  cap- 
tured the  imagination  and  the  memories  of  these  people, 
binding  them  together  as  a  backdrop  that  held  every- 
thing firmly  in  place  with  them  for  almost  sixty  more 
years. 

A  SPARROW  FALLS,  1930 

The  first  winter  spent  on  the  Homesteads  were  espe- 
cially hard  on  all  of  the  young  settlers.  They  had  not 
had  time  to  properly  prepare  for  such  a  long  time,  such 
a  long  way  from  town,  with  such  little  monetary  re- 
sources. To  spend  an  entire  winter  subsisting  on  what 
had  been  gathered,  bought,  or  prepared  the  fall  before 
took  planning. 

Thus  it  was,  that  when  the  first  storms  hit  the  valley, 
all  of  them  thought  they  had  prepared  enough  for  the 
first  winter,  and  resigned  to  stay  put.  There  was  no 
way  out  except  by  horseback.  The  roads  were  impass- 
able. Snow  removal  is  still  almost  non-existent  on  the 
remote  county  roads,  and  at  that  time,  it  was  nil.  To 
attempt  to  drive  out  meant  taking  as  much  run  at  the 
drift  as  was  possible,  roaring  the  primitive  automobile 
into  it  as  far  as  could  be  thrust,  making  two  tracks  that 
stopped  short,  attempting  to  back  up  if  the  wheels  could 
tlnd  purchase,  and  taking  yet  another  run  into  the  same 
tracks,  hoping  to  move  them  several  more  feet  before 
the  momentum  failed.  It  was  dangerous 
and  futile  in  the  worst  of  the  weather. 
Horseback  for  sixty  miles  was  not  a  vi- 
able option  except  in  dire  need,  but  e\  en 
then,  one  cast  around  for  all  possible  so- 
lutions before  undertaking  such  a  ride  in 
sub-zero  weather.  If  one  actually  made  it 
out  to  the  main  road,  there  remained  the 
return  trip,  with  the  hard-won  tire  tracks 
drifted  shut  again,  only  this  time  more 
firmly. 


o    McMorrow  homestead  ruins  as  it 
^    appeared  in  1998 


16 


Annals  oi  Wyoming: The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


Unrelenting,  the  storms  came  in  one  after  another, 
with  below-zero  temperatures  that  made  the  gun  bar- 
rels frost,  making  it  dangerous  to  attempt  to  shoot.  The 
snow  was  so  deep  that  hunting  was  all  but  impossible 
because  the  animals  had  left  the  valley. 

In  the  latter  part  of  January,  at  the  height  of  the  win- 
ter shut-in,  food  was  very  low.  Root  vegetables  from 
their  garden,  such  as  carrots  and  potatoes,  were  all  that 
remained.  The  50-lb.  sack  of  pinto  beans  was  gone. 
The  deer  that  had  been  jerked  from  the  fall  before,  what 
was  left  of  it,  had  to  be  saved  for  the  men  to  use  on 
their  rides  on  the  trap  lines,  it  being  light  and  compact 
and  the  one  absolutely  necessary  staple  of  the  trips. 
The  weather  showed  no  warming  with  which  to  melt 
the  snow.  All  seemed  quite  hopeless. 

One  morning,  they  fed  the  few  chickens  their  mea- 
ger breakfast  of  whole  oats  and  potato  peelings  (most 
of  the  peelings  used  by  the  people  themselves  as  "in 
the  jackets'").  They  discovered  through  new  eyes  and 
awakening  hunger  a  common  sight  that  had  completely 
gone  unnoticed  before  in  more  provident  circumstances. 

Sparrows. 

Jiundreds  of  them.  "They  had  always  been  there, 
come  to  think  of  it,"  they  told  me  later.  They  came 
down  to  feed  among  the  chickens,  rushing  in  and  around 
the  crippled,  frozen  feet  of  the  tew  tame  fowl  that  re- 
mained —spared  tor  the  eggs  —  to  snatch  bits  of  oats 
and  food  where  they  could.  Plump  and  healthy,  they 
appeared  not  much  the  worse  for  wear  just  because  of 
the  winter,  and  they  did  not  migrate.  They  knew  how- 
to  fend  for  themselves  throughout  the  harshest  turns  of 
weather. 

Armed  with  fresh  resolve.  Dad  proceeded  to  the  little 
log  chicken  house  beneath  the  rim  rocks.  He  carried 
with  him  a  flat  piece  of  leftover  house  sheeting,  ap- 
proximately 3  ,\  4  feet,  along  with  a  short  stick  and  a 
tortured  ball  of  twine  that  Mom  had  painstakingly  saved 
from  parcels  (parcels  being  tied  in  twine  to  mail  in  those 
days).  Within  moments  he  had  his  scheme  in  motion. 
Propping  the  flat  sheet  of  board  up  on  the  stick,  fragile 


support  indeed,  for  a  purpose,  he  affixed  the  end  of  the 
ball  of  twine  to  it,  and  unrolled  it  back  to  the  house.  He 
said  he  did  this  first  so  that  the  chickens  and  sparrows 
wouldn't  eat  too  much  of  the  bait  before  he  was  ready 
to  spring  the  trap.  This  clearly  shows  how  lean  the  pro- 
visions had  become.  When  he  had  the  length  of  twine 
safely  leading  away,  he  sprinkled  oats  under  the  board, 
and  sat  down  to  wait.  Within  moments,  the  area  under 
the  board  was  filled  with  little  sparrows,  noisily  and 
aggressively  shouldering  one  another  for  the  oats. 

With  a  jerk  of  his  hand,  Dad  yanked  the  string,  pull- 
ing the  short  stick  support  out  from  under  the  board, 
collapsing  it  instantly  on  the  sparrows,  driving  them 
into  the  snow  under  it.  Carefully,  he  removed  the  tiny 
feathered  bodies,  23  of  them  in  all.  Cleaned,  skinned 
and  eviscerated,  with  several  carrots,  onions  and  pota- 
toes, they  made  a  wonderfijl  stew,  "just  one  succulent 
bite  each,"  they  told  me  later.  But  very  tasty  and  plump. 
And,  best  of  all,  it  was  a  renewable  resource!  "The  Lord 
will  provide." 

Another  testimonial,  bom  of  need,  to  the  ancient  law 
of  "survival  of  the  fittest."  Once  again,  the  creatures  of 
the  field-even  the  smallest,  most  unobtrusive  of  them, 
the  sparrow-had  filled  a  vital  need  in  a  desperate  mo- 
ment. If  anyone  needs  any  greater  reason  to  respect 
these  creatures  of  our  natural  world,  I  surely  don't  know 
what  it  would  take  to  convince  them.... 


Author  Margaret  M.  Arross  was  born  in  1945.  She 
lives  in  the  Powell.  Wyoming,  area  where  she  con- 
tinues an  interest  in  photographing  old  Wyoming 
homestead  cabins—  "as  many  as  I  can  find  on  the 
back  roads  before  they  are  all  gone.  "  This  article 
is  extracted  from  a  book-length  manuscript  about 
the  lives  of  her  parents  and  family. 


'Bivouac  of  the  Dead' 


^^.M^-'  >^ 


By  Kyle  V.  Walpole 

When  compared  to  the  Custer  disaster  in  June  of  1 876 
or  the  vvintPy'  September  battle  of  the  Bear  Paw  Moun- 
tains that  ended  the  Nez  Perce  run  for  Canada,  the  Battle 
of  Bennett  Butte  or  "Miles"  Fight  on  the  Clark's  Fork," 
as  it  has  become  known,  in  September,  1878.  seems 
little  more  than  a  skirmish. 

Col.  Nelson  A.  Miles  and  a  small  detachment  of  in- 
fantry, aided  b\  some  75  Crow  scouts,  attacked  a 
Bannock  Indian  village  nestled  on  an  island  and  west 
bank  of  the  Clark's  Fork  of  the  Yellowstone  River. 
Within  two  hours  the  tally  stood  at  eleven  dead  or  dy- 
ing, scores  injured,  and  all  hope  lost  that  the  party  of 
some  20  Bannock'  lodges  could  cross  the  national  bor- 
der into  Canada  to  join  Sitting  Bull.  As  one  battle  par- 
ticipant put  it,  "for  the  number  engaged,  [the  fighting] 
was  as  vicious  as  any  old  Indian-fighter  would  wish  to 
see,  and  in  their  own  argot,  while  it  lasted  'h— I  was  a- 
poppin*."- 

The  beginning  of  the  Bannocks'  "bid  for  freedom" 
came  at  the  end  of  an  already  tortuous  path.  On  the 
heels  of  a  war  that  stretched  from  southwest  Idaho  into 
northeast  Oregon,  a  well-traveled  trail  for  one  small 
band  that  refused  the  reservation  system  took  them  east- 
ward into  a  new  military  division,  through  three  differ- 
ent military  departments,  across  the  continental  divide, 
and  into  the  Big  Horn  Basin  of  Wyoming.  The  Bannock 
trail  crossed  paths  w  ith  others  such  as  Richard  "Beaver 
Dick"  Leigh,  members  of  the  1 878  Hayden  expedition, 
"Yellowstone"  Kelly,  and  the  determined  sights  of  Col. 
Miles. 

Within  the  stor>  of  events  that  ultimately  brought 
Indian  and  soldier  together  on  that  dreary  September 


Bennett  Butte,  viewed  looking  northeast.  Miles  used  the  hutte  to  locate  the 
Bannock  encampment  on  the  night  of  Sept.  3,  1878,  and  camped  along 
Bennett  Creek  (the  line  of  trees)  after  the  battle  .Author's  photograph 

morning,  a  mystery  also  was  written.  Contemporary 
military  accounts  of  the  battle  proved  to  be  sketchy. 
Determining  Crow  and  Bannock  participants  also  be- 
comes an  elusive  task  because  such  names  were  sel- 
dom recorded.  (The  narrative  thus  emerges  as  a  script 
with  non-Indians  in  leading  roles  and  the  Crows  and 
Bannocks  as  "extras").  Archaeological  evidence  such 
as  firearms,  shell  casings,  bullets,  bones,  and  other  ar- 
tifacts have  been  found  in  various  locations  from  as  far 
south  as  an  area  referred  to  as  "Miling  Bend"  to  as  far 
west  and  north  as  the  current  cemetery  in  the  town  of 
Clark.  For  years  after  the  battle,  animals  scavenged 
buried  remains,  children  growing  up  in  the  region  dug 
up  artifacts,  and  collectors  added  momentos  to  their 
desktops.  Bones  were  removed  from  the  site  and  stored 
in  locations  such  as  the  Park  County  Jail  vault. 

With  such  sources  guiding  the  amateur  and  profes- 
sional researcher,  the  history  of  the  battle  developed 
into  confused  and  often  contradictor*  accounts.  In  some 
cases  myth  combined  with  vivid  imagination 
transmogrified  the  infantry  attack  and  capture  of  the 
Bannock  village  into  a  Custer-like  duel  to  the  last  man 
or  a  Sand  Creek  st>  le  slaughter  in  w  hich  "all  the  women 
and  children  [were]  killed."-'  With  both  militar\  offic- 
ers and  Indians  sharing  similar  names  in  the  Bannock 
war,  (e.g.  Capt.  Evan  S.  Miles  and  Col.  Nelson  A.  Miles 

'  Bannack  also  used  as  is  "Shoshoni"  for  Shoshone. 

-  Fred  A.  Hunt.  "A  Purposeful  Picnic."  Pail  III.  Pacific  Monthly, 
XIX.  (May.  1908).  524. 

^  See  report  of  L.  Blakeslev.  State  Historical  .Archives.  Nov. 
20.  1987.  Also  see  report  of  May  N.  Ballinger.  Park  County  His- 
torical Society. 


IS 


Annals  of  Wyoming:The  Wyoming  History  Jour 


and  Chief  Egan  and  Capt.  James  Egan),  much  confu- 
sion resulted.  Two  authors  place  Col.  Miles  (instead  of 
Capt.  Evan  S.  Miles)  as  the  actor  in  an  engagement  at 
the  Umatilla  Agency  in  Washington  while  at  the  same 
time  confusing  the  chronology  of  events  surrounding 
the  Battle  of  Bennett  Butte."*  Furthermore,  most  "re- 
searchers" delving  into  the  battle's  mysteries  focused 
their  searches  to  particular  elements  of  the  battle.  Some 
relied  on  the  written  record,  others  on  archaeological 
evidence,  while  a  few  contented  themselves  with  battle- 
field folklore.  These  written  recollections,  like  the  arti- 
facts, ended  up  scattered  in  various  locations. 

The  story  leading  to  Miles'  Fight  began  in  the  val- 
leys of  eastern  Idaho,  west  of  Wyoming.  Swarms  of 
mosquitoes  and  grasshoppers  swam  in  the  summer  air 
west  of  Yellowstone  and  the  Tetons  during  that  sum- 
mer of  1878.  The  "last  mountain  man"  of  Wyoming, 
Richard  "Beaver  Dick"  Leigh,  wrote  that  the  "winged 
varmints"  created  quite  a  disturbance  as  they  clouded 
the  damp  valleys  that  flowed  into  southeast  Idaho.  Al- 
though in  "better  health"  despite  the  continuing  effects 
of  a  smallpox  infection  that  killed  his  Bannock  wife, 
five  children,  and  newborn  baby  in  December  of  1 876, 
he  struggled  to  keep  the  pests  off  his  horses  and  him- 
self while,  at  the  same  time,  tending  to  daily  necessi- 
ties. By  mid-July,  the  seasoned  trapper  noticed  the  skies 
darkened  and  another  dilemma  drifting  toward  the  Great 
Divide.  A  neglected  prospector's  campfire  had  ignited 
the  forest  and  "over  a  hundred  miles  of  country"  lay 
scorched  and  "still  abuming."^ 

Other  fires  had  begun  that  summer,  fanned  by  the 
eastern  winds  of  settlement  and  the  jet  stream  of  gov- 
ernment bureaucracy  and  mismanagement.  It  seemed 
the  U.S.  government's  war  with  bands  of  Bannock, 
Paiute,  and  Shoshone  during  the  summer  had,  for  the 
most  part,  concluded.  Two  large  battles,  one  at  Silver 
Creek  and  the  other  at  Birch  Creek,  accompanied  by  a 
tenacious  military  pursuit,  ended  the  majority  of  armed 
Bannock  opposition.  Disgruntled  bands  were  left  to 
scatter  throughout  Idaho  into  Oregon,  Montana,  and 
Wyoming.  Leigh  kept  in  touch  with  Fort  Hall  Reser- 
vation Agent  W.H.  Danilson.  He  had  agreed  to  work 
as  a  spy  during  the  fall,  scouting  the  tributaries  of  the 
Snake  River  for  signs  of  the  scattered  bands.  Danilson 
speculated  that  many  of  the  Indians  he  watched  leav- 
ing the  fort  would  travel  to  Camp  Brown  in  Wyoming 
anticipating  better  conditions  with  Washakie's  people 
along  the  Wind  River.  While  some  of  those  leaving,  he 
believed,  only  sought  respite  from  unsuitable  condi- 
tions on  the  Fort  Hall  Reservation,  he  speculated  that 
others  might  be  disposed  to  acts  of  violence.^ 


The  Bannocks  were  well-armed  and  mobile  follow- 
ing a  summer  of  warfare  spanning  from  southeast  Idaho 
to  the  eastern  reaches  of  Oregon  and  southeast  Wash- 
ington. Reports  came  in  August  of  encounters  west  of 
Yellowstone  Park.''  From  Camas  Creek  Stage  Station, 
cavalryman  Captain  Sanford  C.  Kellogg  telegraphed 
Omaha  Barracks  that  a  driver  on  the  Salmon  City  Stage 
brought  word  that  Green's  cavalry  "had  turned  Indians 
northward  towards  Big-hole."  He  further  specified  that 
"Ball  was  at  Junction  on  [the]  Salmon  Stage  road  [that] 
leads  off  to  Virginia  City."^  Kellogg  surmised  that  "Ball 
w[ould]  head  them  (the  Bannocks)  off  at  Horse  Prai- 
rie" as  "but  one  other  route  is  left  open  for  them  from 
Big  Hole,  and  that  is  across  the  north  end  of  Horse 
prairie,  coming  on  this  road  at  Red  Rock."^ 

Members  of  the  1878  Hayden  expedition  also  ran 
into  the  group  of  Bannocks.  A  letter  fi-om  J.V.  Hayden 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  on  Sept.  1,  1878,  re- 
counted the  close  confrontation: 

I  have  the  honor  to  report  that  the  division  of  the 
survey  with  which  I  am  connected  arrived  at  the  Up- 
per Basin  on  the  26th  of  August.  Soon  after  our  arrival 
Mr.  A.D.  Wilson,  in  charge  of  the  Primary  Trianguia- 
tion,  and  party  came  into  our  camp  on  foot,  having 
been  robbed  of  their  entire  outfit,  near  Henry's  Lake 
[west  of  Yellowstone  Park],  on  the  evening  of  the  25th 
by  a  band  of  Bannock  Indians. 

Mr.  Wilson  had  completed  his  station  on  the  sum- 
mit of  Sawtelle's  Peak  and  the  party  was  in  camp  sit- 
ting around  the  campfire  when  the  Indians  fired  into 
their  camp,  and  at  the  same  time  ran  off  all  their  ani- 
mals consisting  of  12  mules  and  2  horses.  Mr.  Wilson 
and  party  concealed  themselves  in  the  bushes  until 
morning  then  marched  to  our  camp,  a  distance  of  about 
60  miles,  fortunately  no  one  was  hurt.  Mr.  Wilson  in 
the  night  threw  his  great  Theodolite  and  Barometer 
into  the  bushes,  and  Saturday  he  returned  with  them 

■*  Virginia  Cole  Trenholm  and  Maurine  Carley,  The  Shoshonis: 
Sentinels  of  the  Rockies  (Norman:  University  of  Oklahoma  Press, 
1969),  263-265. 

5  Thompson,  97-98.  Entry  for  August  8,  1878. 

<>  Thompson,  96-97. 

'  For  information  on  the  Bannock  War  of  1878,  see  the  flawed 
but  informative  work  by  George  F.  Brimlow,  The  Bannock  In- 
dian Warofl878(Ca\A\MQ\\,  Ida.:  The  Caxton  Printers,  Ltd.,  1938). 

*  Letter  dated  August  26,  1878,  from  Enclosure,  report  of  Lieu- 
tenant Colonel  Robert  Williams,  Assistant  Adjutant  General, 
Omaha  Barracks,  to  Assistant  Adjutant  General,  Missouri  Div., 
Sept.  2,  1878.  U.S.D.W.,  A.G.O.,  Old  Records  Div.,  7337/1878. 
Citation  in  Brimlow,  181. 

'  From  Enclosure,  report  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Robert  Will- 
iams, Assistant  Adjutant  General,  Omaha  Barracks,  to  Assistant 
Adjutant  General,  Missouri  Div.,  Sept.  2, 1 878.  U.S.D.W.,  A.G.O., 
Old  Records  Div.,  7337/1878.  Citation  in  Brimlow,  181. 


Winter  1999 


19 


safely.  The  Theodolite  was  the  only  object  money  could 
not  replace  and  we  will  soon  have  him  on  duty  again. 
I  would  respectfully  suggest  that  the  Hon.  Secretary 
of  the  Interior  inform  the  Agents  of  the  Bannocks  and 
give  them  authority  to  seize  the  lost  property  when 
they  can  find  it.'" 

Two  days  later  (August  27),  Captain  James  Egan  lo- 
cated and  skirmished  with  the  same  group  of  Indians, 
capturing  56  stock  animals  in  the  engagement.  With 
renewed  vigor,  the  Bannock  group  moved  east  into 
Yellowstone  Park."  The  trail  long  had  been  a  familiar 
route  to  them.  Avoiding  Blackfeet  and  Flathead  teiri- 
tor>'  to  the  north,  Bannock  hunting  parties  would  as- 
cend Targhee  Pass,  ford  the  Madison  and  Gardiner  Riv- 
ers, travel  up  the  Lamar  Valley  and  descend  into  the 
Sunlight  Basin  along  the  Clark's  Fork  to  the  Big  Horn 
Basin  to  the  East.  The  path  afforded  sufficient  protec- 
tion from  enemies  while  at  the  same  time  providing 
access  to  four  connecting  hunting  regions:  the  Three 
Forks,  Gallatin,  Yellowstone,  and  Shoshone  valleys. '- 

During  their  foray,  the  Bannock  continued  to  pro- 
vide a  conspicuous  presence.  Major  J.  S.  Brisbin,  from 
Fort  Ellis  in  Montana,  later  revealed  the  temporary  panic 
when  he  reported  that  he  had  stationed  himself,  thirty 
soldiers  and  ten  citizens  "near  Boetters  ranche  [Boettlers 
Ranch  in  the  Paradise  Valley,  north  of  Mammoth]  and 
that  from  that  location  to  Hot  Springs"  the  Bannock 
had  raided  all  the  stock  of  those  they  passed,  including 
that  from  the  Hayden  expedition.'^  Colgate  Hoyt,  trav- 
eling with  his  brother,  the  Reverend  Wayland  Hoyt, 
and  other  members  of  Colonel  Nelson  A.  Miles'  en- 
tourage to  visit  Yellowstone  in  the  fall  of  1878,  also 
noted  the  heightened  fears.  The  29-year-old  traveler 
mentioned  that  Brisbin  had  camped  with  them  at  Mam- 
moth Springs  on  the  Gardiner  River. 

The  company  of  cavalry  and  "a  larger  party  of  vol- 
unteers" was  a  prudent  addition  to  the  touring  party  as 
"there  were  many  rumors  of  the  Hostiles  being  near  in 
great  numbers,  &  fears  were  entertained  of  their  going 
down  the  valley  capturing  stock  and  killing  all  they 
might  meet."''^  Lieutenant  William  Philo  Clark  of  the 
2d  U.S.  Cavalry,  Hoyt  reported,  had  left  the  remaining 
group  of  tourists  "two  weeks  before  on  the 
Yellowstone,"  encountering  the  Bannock  band  on  Au- 
gust 29  near  Index  Peak  at  the  head  of  Rosebud  Creek.'-'' 
Clark  struck  the  band  again  the  next  morning,  report- 
edly' "inflicting  some  damage  upon  them"  and  captur- 
ing one  prisoner.'^  From  their  Mammoth  Springs  en- 
campment, Hoyt  and  the  others  would  "remain  for  sev- 
eral days  [to  wait]  for  the  Gen'l."'"'  Indeed,  none  knew 
the  fate  of  General  Miles  nor  of  the  Bannocks  that  had 


already  confronted  one  another  on  the  banks  of  the 
Clark's  Fork. 

Colonel  Miles  viewed  the  approaching  autumn  of 
1878  with  relief  During  this  time  "active  operations 
were  still  suspended,  as  the  entire  country  had  been 
cleared  for  the  second  time  of  hostile  Indians."'*^  Based 
at  the  newly  established  Fort  Keogh  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Tongue  River,  Miles  determined  to  use  the  period 
of  respite  by  mixing  "military  duty  with  pleasure."''' 
The  commander  organized  an  expedition  "to  establish 
a  wagon  route  and  telegraph  line  west  of  Fort  Keogh, 
to  reconnoitre  [sic]  the  country,  and  also  to  visit 
Yellowstone  Park."-*^'  Ten  officers  and  1 00  "of  the  most 
experienced  soldiers"  would  accompany  four  civilians, 
five  ladies  (including  Miles'  wife  Mary  and  daughter 
Cecilia)  and  two  other  children  on  a  "leisurely"  west- 

'"  Letter  of  J.V.  Hayden,  U.S.  Geologist,  to  Carl  Shurz,  Secre- 
tary of  the  Interior,  Sept.  1,  1878.  U.S.D.I..  0.1. A..  General  Files. 
Idaho,  H  1605/1878. 

"  Colonel  John  Gibbon  to  Adjutant  General.  Missouri  Div., 
Sept  1,  1878.  U.S.D.W'.,  A.G.O.,  Old  Records,  Division.,  7309/ 
1878.  In  Brimlow,  181. 

'-  From  map  in  Aubrey  L.  Haines,  The  Bannock  Indian  Trail 
(Bozeman,  Mont.:  Artcraft  Printers,  1964). 

'-'  Brimlow,  183.  From  Gibbon  to  Assistant  .Adjutant  General. 
Missouri  Div.,  Sept.  4,  1878. 

'■*  James  S.  Brust  and  Lee  H.  Whittlesey,  ""Roughing  It  Up  the 
\'ellowstone  to  Wonderland:'  The  Nelson  Miles/Colgate  Hoyt 
Party  in  Yellowstone  National  Park,  September  1878,"  Montana 
The  Magazine  of  Western  Histoiy  56,  (Spring  1996),  58,  quotes 
from  the  diary  of  Colgate  Hoyt's  account  of  a  t\vo-month  journey 
through  Yellowstone. 

15  Brust  and  Whittlesey,  58;  Brimlow  182. 

'"  Annual  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  War  for  the  Year  1878 
(Washington:  Government  Printing  Office,  1878),  67;  Brust  and 
Whittlesey,  58. 

"  Brust  and  Whittlesey,  58. 

'*  Biographical  information  about  Miles  comes  from  General 
Nelson  A.  Miles,  Personal  Recollections  and  Obsei-vations  of 
General  Nelson  A.  Miles  Embracing  a  Brief  View  of  the  Civil 
War  or  From  New  England  to  the  Golden  Gate  and  the  Story  of 
His  Indian  Campaigns  with  Comments  on  the  Exploration.  De- 
velopment and  Progress  of  Our  Great  Western  Empire  (Chicago: 
The  Werner  Company,  1896),  294-301;  Virginia  W.  Johnson,  The 
Unregimented  General:  A  Biography  of  Nelson  A.  Miles  (  Bos- 
ton: Houghton  Mifflin  Company.  1962)  2 12-2 13;  Nelson  A.  Miles, 
Serving  the  Republic:  Memoirs  of  the  Civil  and  Military  Life  of 
Nelson  A  Miles  Lieutenant-General.  United  States  Army  (New 
York:  Harper  &  Brothers,  1911),  193-196;  Dumas  Malone  (ed.), 
Dictionar}-  of  American  Biography  (New  York:  Charles  Scribner's 
Sons,  1933),  614-616.  Reference  istotheNez  Perce  War  of  1877 
in  which  Miles  defeated  Chief  Joseph  at  the  Battle  of  Bear  Paw- 
Mountains.  Also,  see  a  biographical  sketch  of  Miles  by  Robert 
M.  Utiey  in  Paul  Andrew  Hutton  (ed.).  Soldiers  West:  Biogra- 
phies from  the  Military  Frontier  (Lincoln:  University  of  Nebraska 
Press),  213-227. 

'''  Miles,  Serving  the  Republic.  192. 

-"  Miles,  Personal  Recollections,  294. 


20 


Annals  of  Wyoming:Tne  Wyoming  History  Journal 


ward  journey.  Many  of  the  soldiers  were  members  of 
the  5th  Infantry  marching  band.-' 

Leaving  Fort  Keogh,  the  entourage,  replete  with 
camp  equipage,  wagons,  pack  trains,  and  saddle  horses, 
sauntered  up  the  Yellowstone  River  to  Rosebud  Creek. 
Miles  recalled  that  this  portion  of  the  trip  was  "a  con- 
tinuous delight."'--  Game  abounded  and  the  waters  of 
the  upper  Yellowstone  provided  ample  trout  for  meals. 
Riding  on  a  route  similar  to  that  taken  by  the  ill-fated 
General  George  A.  Custer  in  late  June  of  1876,  the 
party  camped  along  the  Little  Bighorn  within  the  shad- 
ows of  the  hill-strewn  battlefield,  taking  time  to  "ex- 
amine" the  topography  of  the  area. 

Within  two  weeks  after  leaving  Fort  Keogh,  the  party 
approached  Fort  Custer,  situated  on  a  high  bluff  be- 
tween the  confluence  of  the  Big  Horn  and  Little  Big- 
horn Rivers.-^  As  the  group  skirted  the  northern  reaches 
of  today's  Gallatin  National  Forest  and  "neared  the 
Yellowstone  Park,"  Miles  received  word  of  the  Bannock 
band  heading  through  the  Park.  The  Indians  had  raided 
and  were  "on  the  warpath"  in  Idaho.  The  colonel  be- 
lieved the  invasion  "meant  devastation  to  the  settle- 
ments of  our  district  of  country."  His  later  writings  re- 
veal no  ambiguity  as  he  recalled  "I  at  once  prepared  to 
check  any  such  invasion."-'^ 

Miles  had  long  since  learned  not  to  let  an  opportu- 
nity pass  him  by.  grasping  every  moment  for  glory  that 
presented  itself  Historian  Robert  Utley  sums  up  the 
feisty  commander's  character  by  noting  that  Miles: 

was  destined  to  become  one  of  a  small  handful  of  suc- 
cessful Indian-fighting  generals.  .  .  A  powerful  ambi- 
tion almost  unlimited  in  its  ends  as  well  as  in  its  means 
spurred  him  time  and  time  again  to  solid  achievement. 
It  also  drove  him  to  disparage  the  achievements  and 
abilities  of  others,  to  share  laurels  with  bad  grace,  and 
to  exploit  every  influence  to  advance  his  fortunes. 
Coloring  the  ambition  was  an  acute  defensiveness  over 
his  lack  of  a  formal  education;  he  had  learned  by  self- 
study  and  experience  and  had  risen  by  merit  from  the 
lowly  status  of  Boston  crockery  clerk  to  major  general 
and  corps  commander.-^ 

The  Civil  War  provided  Miles  with  his  chance  to 
prove  his  merit  on  the  battlefield.  Wounded  numerous 
times  while  in  command.  General  Hancock  described 
his  actions  at  Fredericksburg  as  "most  admirable  and 
chivalrous."-^  By  the  end.  Miles  had  participated  in  all 
but  one  of  the  major  campaigns  of  the  war. 

The  Indian  Wars  soon  became  a  new  theater  for  the 
military  man  to  perform.  In  the  1875  Red  River  War 
on  the  Staked  Plains,  he  campaigned  against  Cheyennes, 
Kiowas,  and  Comanches.  Later,  he  assisted  in  the  wars 


against  the  Sioux  in  Montana,  driving  Sitting  Bull  into 
Canada  while  dispersing  other  bands. 

In  1877,  he  had  marched  more  than  160  miles  to  in- 
tercept Chief  Joseph  and  his  band  of  Nez  Perce  at  the 
Battle  of  Bear  Paw  Mountains.-^  The  effort  followed 
Chief  Joseph's  brilliant  military  feint.  Chased  by 
Howard  from  the  west  and  blocked  on  the  Clark's  Fork 
by  Col.  Samuel  D.  Sturgis  (fi-om  Miles'  command), 
the  Nez  Perce  appeared  to  move  south  toward  the  Stink- 
ing Water  River  (September  8,  1877),  while  the  main 
body  of  Indians  traveled  northward.  Humiliated,  Sturgis 
finally  realized  he  had  been  duped.  Catching  up  with 
Howard,  he  awaited  the  reproach  of  an  angry  Colonel 
Miles.-^  One  year  later,  the  determined  Miles  would 
assume  personal  direction  from  the  beginning.  No  sub- 
ordinates would  be  provided  a  chance  to  bungle  the 
effort.  Indeed,  Lt.  Colonel  George  P.  Buell,  post  com- 
mander of  Fort  Custer,  also  received  word  of  the 
Bannocks  and  organized  a  "Bannock  Trip"  in  order  to 
stop  the  Indian  advance.  But  Miles  would  leave  no  time 
for  Buell  to  catch  up.-^ 

On  catching  word  of  the  approaching  Bannocks, 
Miles  considered  his  options.  They  would  likely  leave 
Yellowstone  by  one  of  two  passes.  "I  was  obliged,"  he 
recalled,  "to  divide  my  limited  force  in  order  to  inter- 
cept them  at  either  point."^''  Forty  men  were  sent  un- 
der Lt.  Hobart  K.  Bailey  to  Boulder  Pass,  "a  very  rough 
and  difficult  trail,"^'  flowing  to  the  north  above  the 
Lamar  Valley  of  Yellowstone  Park.  Some  thirty  others 
accompanied  the  non-combatants  to  "the  nearest  mili- 
tary post"  of  Fort  Ellis,  twenty-two  miles  away,^-  near 
present-day  Bozeman.  Miles,  with  about  thirty-five 


-'  Richard  Upton  (comp.  and  ed.).  Fort  Custer  on  the  Big  Horn 
1877-1898  its  history  and  personalities  as  told  and  pictured  by 
its  contemporaries  (Glendaie,  Calif.:  The  Arthur  H.  Clark  Com- 
pany, 1973),  49-50. 

--  Miles,  Personal  Recollections,  295. 

-^  Ibid. 

-''  Quoted  in  Miles,  Personal  Recollections,  295.  Also,  see 
Miles,  Serving  the  Republic,  193. 

-^  Utley,  Frontier  Regulars,  220. 

-''Dumas  Malone  (ed.).  Dictionary  of  American  Biography  XII, 
614.  Miles  was  only  twenty-six  on  Oct.21,  1865,  when  he  gained 
the  rank  of  major-general  of  volunteers  of  the  II  Army  Corps.  He 
commanded  some  26,000  officers  and  volunteers. 

"Malone,  614-615. 

-*  See  Utley,  Frontier  Regulars,  Chapter  Sixteen,  296-319. 

2"  Upton,  48-50,  52. 

'"  Miles,  Serving  the  Republic,  193. 

^'  Miles,  Personal  Recollections,  295. 

^-  Waukesha  Freeman.  October  10,  1878.  Private  Sanger's  ac- 
count states  that  "When  within  twenty-two  miles  of  Fort  Ellis, 
the  general  received  a  dispatch,  saying  that  the  hostile  Bannocks 
were  moving  down  Clark's  Fork." 


Winter  1999 


21 


men,  would  backtrack  east  and  attempt  a  forced  march 
up  the  Clark's  Fork  to  position  his  contingent  along 
the  more  likely  travel  corridor.-'-' 

The  remaining  group  of  some  thirty  soldiers  and  of- 
ficers moved  toward  the  Absarokee  (Crow)  Agency 
southeast  of  Fort  Custer.  Miles  dispatched  "scouts" 
ahead  of  the  force  in  an  attempt  to  acquire  Crow  allies 
and  add  the  military  might  of  numbers  to  his  rapidly 
dwindling  command.  Although  "friendly  with  the 
Bannock  Indians,"  the  Crow,  in  Miles  words,  "had  al- 
ways been  loyal  to  the  government  and  friendly  to  the 
whites."-'"^  The  colonel  sought  to  persuade  the  Crow 
that  the  Bannocks  intended  to  plunder  their  reservation 
and  "neighboring  settlements."  Other  inducements— 
"food,  ammunition,  and  all  the  horses  they  could  cap- 
ture"-would  be  offered  as  well.  On  a  mission  for  mili- 
tary converts.  Miles  contldently  strolled  into  the  agency. 

The  scouts"  initial  efforts  seemed  successful.  The 
Crow  informed  them  that,  following  the  arrival  of  the 
command,  they  would  accompany  Miles  on  his  jour- 
ney southward.  Upon  the  colonel's  arrival,  the  Crow 
warriors  cast  a  confounded  gaze  toward  the  small  force. 
With  thoughts  of  the  pounding  inflicted  on  the  mili- 
tary by  the  Nez  Perce  in  1877,  the  Crow  asked  when 
the  main  command  would  arrive.  Miles  replied  that  his 
small  group  comprised  the  command  in  its  entirety. 
Although  "assured  that  although  this  was  the  only  com- 
mand we  had,"  Miles  attempted  to  persuade  the  Crow 
that  "it  was  composed  entirely  of  experienced  Indian 
fighters,  that  every  man  in  it  was  a  'medicine'  man, 
and  that  we  needed  no  greater  force  than  this  against 
the  Bannocks."-'-''  The  warriors  considered  the  colonel 
overly  optimistic.  For  the  time,  he  and  his  men  would 
be  on  their  own. 

During  this  rendezvous.  Miles  did  persuade  a  Crow 
named  little  Rock  to  provide  intelligence  concerning 
the  whereabouts  of  the  Bannock.  The  enigmatic  mixed- 
blood  (likely  Crow  and  French)^^  allegedly  traveled 
with  the  Bannock  through  Yellowstone.  After  what 
historian  Bob  Edgar  describes  as  a  "falling  out,"  Little 
Rock  headed  for  the  Crow  reservation.-'^  Capt.  Erasmus 
Corwin  Gilbreath,  Commander  of  Company  H  of  the 
1  Ith  Infantry  at  Fort  Custer  from  1877  to  1882,  re- 
called that  Little  Rock  "had  lived  with  them  [the 
Bannock]  for  years  and  had  taken  his  wife  from  amongst 
them.  -After  coming  through  the  mountains  with  them, 
he  had  become  displeased  about  something,  and  had 
slipped  off  and  reported  their  coming  at  the  Crow 
Agency  just  as  General  Miles  arrived  in  that  vicinity. "^^ 
Miles  account  of  Little  Rock  suggests  he  met  the  inter- 
preter at  the  Crow  agency  and  sent  him  from  there  to 
ascertain  the  position  of  the  Bannocks.  In  the  colonel's 


words,  after  encountering  the  roving  band.  Rock 
"passed  on  as  if  journeying  in  the  same  direction  from 
whence  they  had  come  until  he  had  gone  a  safe  dis- 
tance away  and  then  circled  around,  returned,  and  re- 
ported to  me  the  night  before  the  attack. "-''^  Presum- 
ably, Rock  was  versed  in  English,  Bannock,  and  Crow. 
His  utility  as  an  interpreter  between  command  and  Crow 
would  develop  further. 

Unsuccessful  as  a  recruiter,  the  colonel's  impulsive 
tendencies  revived  and  officer  and  soldier  once  again 
headed  south  along  the  Clark's  Fork  of  the  Yellowstone. 
Within  an  hour  two  Crows  described  as  "desperate- 
looking"  approached.'*"  They  declared  that  they  did  not 
fear  the  Bannock  and  would  assist  Miles,  and  the  latter 
noted  that  "their  appearance,  words  and  actions  seemed 
to  contlnn  their  professions."  The  example  spawned 
several  more  waves  of  warriors,  "the  bravest  first  and 
the  most  prudent  and  timid  last,"  Miles  recalled,  until 
75  warriors  filled  the  ranks.'*'  Among  the  new  arrivals 
were  Gray  Bull,  Big  Nose.  Little  Light,  Little  Fire, 
Crazy  Crane,  Yellow  Face,  and  Gray  Blanket."*-  Miles 
seemed  accurate  in  describing  the  new  complexion  of 
the  entourage:  "It  then  appeared  more  like  an  Indian 
expedition  than  a  march  of  white  soldiers."'*-' 

By  forced  marches  (with  the  officers  likely  on  horse- 
back).'*'* the  military  and  Crows  headed  south  along 
the  Clark's  Fork.  The  group  possibly  pulled  one  or  two 
of  the  wagons  they  had  carried  from  Fort  Keogh.  With- 
out the  burdens  of  artillerw  thev  managed  to  reach  Heart 


"  Miles,  Personal  Recollections,  295-296;  Miles,  Sening  the 
Republic,  192. 

-"  Miles,  Personal  Recollections,  296.  For  information  regard- 
ing Crow  service  as  scouts  for  the  U.S.  military  during  the  Indian 
Wars,  see  Thomas  W.  Dunlay,  Wolves  for  the  Blue  Soldiers  In- 
dian Scouts  and  Auxiliaries  with  the  United  States  Army,  1S60- 
1890.  (Lincoln:  University  of  Nebraska  Press,  1982). 

^-'^  Miles,  Personal  Recollections.  296. 

-'*  In  Fred  .\.  Hunt's  account,  "A  Purposeful  Picnic."  Part  111 
Pacific  Monthly  XIX.  (May.  1908).  523-531.  Rock  is  identified 
as  Rocque  Barcoume. 

"  Jeannie  Cook,  L>nn  Johnson  Houze,  Bob  Edgar,  and  Paul 
Fees,  Buffalo  Bill 's  Town  m  the  Rockies:  .4  Pictorial  Histoiy  of 
Cody.  (rvo/);;);g  (Virginia  Beach,  Va.:  Donning  Compan>,  1996), 
34.  '       '  "         " 

■«  Upton,  50. 

'■'  Miles,  Personal  Recollections,  299. 

^"Ihid,  296. 

■'I  Ibid. 

■*-  Letter,  Mardell  Plainfeather,  Park  Ranger,  Custer  Battlefield 
National  Monument,  to  Lillian  Turner,  Buffalo  Bill  Historical 
Center,  February  7,  1989. 

■*-'  Miles,  Personal  Recollections,  296. 

■*''  The  officers  and  women  had  ridden  on  horses  during  the 
initial  portion  of  the  trip.  See  Miles,  Personal  Recollections,  295. 


22 


Mountain  by  the  afternoon  of  September  2. ''^  The  hghtly 
cedared  and  pined  hills  on  the  northwest  side  of  the 
bluff  provided  a  perfect  view  of  the  long,  green-cov- 
ered Bald  Ridge  just  to  the  south  of  the  treacherous 
Clark's  Fork  Canyon."*^  A  "pocket"  in  the  mountain 
concealed  the  soldiers.  Crows,  horses  and  pack  mules. 

Miles  ordered  a  few  of  the  scouts  to  occupy  the  crests 
of  the  high  surrounding  buttes.  With  field  glasses  and 
telescopes  "under  the  cover  of  some  cedar  or  pine  bush," 
they  scanned  Bald  Ridge  twelve  miles  to  the  west  and 
the  long  valley  floor  leading  northward  where  a  large 
bend  in  the  river  turned  its  waters  toward  Fort  Custer.'* '' 
Until  "noon  the  next  day,"''^  a  small  contingent  of  of- 
ficers, scouts,  and  Indians  searched  "with  a  powerfiil 
field  glass.""*'  Miles  had  warned  that  each  time  an  in- 
dividual scoped  he  was  "never  to  reveal  as  much  as  the 
top  of  his  head  over  the  crest  unless  it  was  covered  by 
some  bush  or  tall  grass."-''*'  The  effort  paid  off 

Around  eleven  o'clock  the  morning  of  September  3, 
a  thin  line  of  movement  could  be  seen  moving  at  the 
top  of  Bald  Ridge  some  twelve  miles  to  the  west.  It 
slowly  traversed  down  a  tortuous,  rocky  path  to  the 
valley  below.  About  six  miles  fi^om  the  "pocket,"  the 
commander  and  company  watched  as  approximately 
eighty  Bannocks  with  some  250  horses  set  up  a  camp 
roughly  six  miles  to  the  north.  The  location  they  chose 
placed  them  at  the  confluence  of  the  Little  Sand  Cou- 
lee and  the  Clark's  River.""' 

The  camp,  on  a  large  island  just  before  the  north- 
ward bend  and  on  the  west  bank  of  the  river,  situated 
the  Bannock  in  an  ideal  location  for  water  and  adequate 
defense.  To  the  south,  east  and  west,  rolling  hills  pro- 
vided a  position  for  lookouts  to  scan  a  long,  tlat  plain 
leading  to  Heart  Mountain.  The  river  had  spent  millen- 
nia carving  out  sheer  cliffs  as  it  meandered  round  the 
bend,  leaving  but  a  small  sliver  of  incline  on  its  south- 
em  end  by  which  it  could  be  ascended.  To  the  west, 
large  sagebrush  partially  camouflaged  the  camp  and  a 
long  hill  parallel  to  the  bend  in  the  river,  approximately 
800  yards  away,  blinded  one's  view  of  the  village  if 
looking  at  it  from  the  plain  on  the  west.  Among  the 
sagebrush  on  the  northwest  bank,  grasses  fed  by  an 
occasionally  spilling  river  supplied  ample  forage  for 
the  horse  herd.  Large  cottonwood  trees  also  supplied  a 
scattered  shade  along  the  banks.  Miles  recalled  the  ac- 
tions of  the  Bannocks  on  reaching  the  campsite: 

[They]  unsaddled  and  turned  out  their  horses  —  quite 
a  large  herd  — posted  their  videttes  or  lookouts  on  the 
bluffs  immediately  adjacent  to  the  camp,  built  their 
camp  fires,  and  settled  down  apparently  confident  of 
their  safety,  and  utterly  unconscious  of  the  strong  com- 
mand concealed  in  their  vicinity. ^- 


Aiinals  of  Wyoming:The  Wyoming  History 


Bald  Ridge  as  viewed  from  Highway  120 

Fearing  the  often  practiced  tactic  employed  by  Indi- 
ans under  attack  whereby  a  camp  scattered  on  horse- 
back leaving  no  substantial  trail  to  follow.  Miles  dem- 
onstrated a  surprising  amount  of  restraint  while  his 
command  waited  for  evening  to  close  the  day.  Storm 
clouds  had  begun  to  filter  into  the  sky  shadowing  the 
Big  Horn  Basin.  With  the  cover  of  night's  darkness, 
Miles  ordered  his  men  northward  to  the  vicinity  of  the 
camp.  Prior  to  leaving,  the  colonel  issued  instructions 
to  his  men.  "All  bits,  picket-pins,  carbine  snaps  or  other 
jingling  appurtenances"  were  to  be  carefully  wrapped 
and  stored  so  as  to  deaden  any  sound  hinting  the  ap- 
proach.-''^  Fears  began  to  develop  among  the  soldiers 
as  to  the  odds  of  an  attack  on  a  Bannock  camp  approxi- 

■'-''  In  Personal  Recollections,  296,  Miles  suggests  that  his  com- 
mand arrived  at  the  base  of  Heart  Mountain  "one  day  in  advance 
of  the  Bannocks"  which  implies  September  3.  However,  in  Ser\'- 
ing  the  Republic,  1 94.  he  notes  that  "we  remained  until  near  noon 
of  the  next  day,"  which  implies  an  arrival  on  the  2nd  of  Septem- 
ber. The  report  of  the  Battle  in  the  Waukesha  Freeman.  October 
10,  1878,  notes  that  the  command  "proceeded  to  Clark's  Fork 
which  they  reached  on  the  2nd  of  September."  I  have  interpreted 
the  narrative  with  a  Sept.  2  arrival. 

■"*  Bronson  Tolman,  "How  Bennett  Creek  Got  Its  Name."  Park 
County  Historical  Society  archives,  MS9V-41-4.  I  agree  with 
Tolman's  argument  that  "the  command  hid  on  the  northwest  side 
of  Heart  Mountain,  which  is  about  twelve  to  thirteen  miles  from 
the  summit  of  Bald  Ridge,  while  waiting  for  the  first  arrival  of 
the  Bannocks."  The  "presence  of  Cedar  or  pine  would  indicate 
the  edge  of  Heart  Mountain  rather  than  Little  Sand  Coulee." 

■'■'  Miles,  Personal  Recollections,  296. 

■•*  Miles,  Serving  the  Republic,  194. 

'"  Ibid 

'"  Miles,  Personal  Recollections.  291 . 

"  Firearm  tag  on  revolver  donated  by  R.  L.  Fouse.  He  found 
and  donated  the  1865  Remington  from  battle  site.  Collection  tag 
in  Buffalo  Bill  Historical  Center  describes  gun  as  found  "in  a 
gravel  bar  at  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Sand  Coulee."  This  informa- 
tion discounts  later  historical  assumptions  placing  the  site  of  the 
battle  farther  southwest  at  Miling  Bend. 

-''-  Miles,  Personal  Recollections,  291 . 

5^  Fred  A.  Hunt,  "A  Purposeful  Picnic,"  Part  III,  Pacific 
Monthly.  XIX  (May,  1908),  523. 


Winter  1999 


mately  four  times  greater  in  number  than  the  soldiers. 
Without  the  direct  fighting  aid  of  the  Crows,  who  some 
referred  to  derogatorily  as  out  only  for  the  "seductive- 
ness of  proffered  lucre,"  some  soldiers  scorned  "if  we 
didn't  get  the  Bannocks,  they  most  assuredly  would 
get  us."-^'' 

Crossing  to  the  west  bank  of  the  Clark's  Fork  during 
the  evening  of  the  3rd,  Miles  positioned  himself  near 
three  small  hills  (Bennett  Butte)  about  two  miles  to  the 
west  of  the  Indian  camp.  For  a  brief  time  Miles  may 
have  attempted  to  use  the  elevated  hills  to  reconnoiter 
the  position  of  the  encampment.  Through  the  driving 
rainstorm,  the  exact  location  of  the  Bannock  camp  could 
no  longer  be  ascertained. 

Once  again  Miles  solicited  the  services  of  the  Crow. 
The  first  two  Crows  to  join  the  contingent  were  se- 
lected to  find  the  Bannock  encampment  and  gather  in- 
telligence as  to  the  placement  of  lodges,  the  horse  herd, 
and  b^nd  numbers.  Cloaked  in  blankets,  the  pair  wan- 
dered through  the  rain  into  the  camp,  "pretending  they 
were  Bannocks  looking  after  their  horses."  Returning 
a  "little  after  midnight"  on  the  4th,  they  reported  to 
Miles.  "The  Bannocks  were  in  a  strong  position,"  and 
"we  [will]  get  whipped  if  we  [go]  in  there  among  the 
tall  sagebrush  [described  as  "towering  above  the  head 
of  a  horse']."-"'-''  Considering  the  Crows  incompetent  as 
fighters,  the  soldiers  continued  to  worry  about  their  lim- 
ited numbers.  "It  was  eminently  necessary  to  use  [a] 
strategy,"  Fred  A.  Hunt  recalled,  "to  make  reasonably 
sure  that  each  bullet  would  find  a  billet,  or  that  as  many 
possible  of  the  Bannocks  should  be  placed  hors-de- 
combat  ere  the  paucity  of  the  attacking  force  should  be 
ascertained."-'''' 

Tacfically,  Miles  needed  to  create  the  appearance  of 
larger  numbers.  Calling  on  Snyder,  the  bass-drummer 
of  the  regimental  band  with  "lungs  like  bellows  of  the 


village  blacksmith,"  the  colonel  laid  out  a  plan.  When 
the  order  for  the  skirmishers  to  fire  was  given,  Snyder, 
who  had  been  provided  with  brass,  was  to  "blow  his 
bugle  vigorously  and  to  rapidly  change  his  musical 
coign  of  vantage,  so  that  many  buglers  would  appear 
to  be  'splitting  the  ear'  of  day  with  their  melody. "-^^ 
Snyder  seemed  intent  on  sticking  to  the  formalifies  of 
bugling.  As  "all  soldierly'  dufies  hav[e]  their  specific 
trumpet  summons,"  Snyder  questioned  Miles  as  to  his 
musical  preference.  Waving  off  an}'  particular  choice 
of  calls,  he  bawled  out  bluntly,  "Blow  like  hell!"-* 

Tactical  planning  aside,  the  troops  still  needed  to  find 
the  Bannocks.  The  column  "groped  [its]  way  along, 
not  knowing  exactly  the  direction  of  the  camp."-"*^  In 
the  blinding  torrents  of  rain  and  darkness  few  signals 
could  provide  a  beacon  by  which  to  home  in  on  a  par- 
ticular location.  The  flat  plane  seemed  lifeless  against 
the  thundering  sky.  Movement  would  continue  for  only 
moments  at  a  time;  the  entire  command  would  be  halted 
to  search  for  the  unknown  location  of  the  camp.  Fi- 
nally, "just  before  daylight"  around  four  in  the  morn- 
ing, a  golden  glow  glinted  from  a  distant  depression  to 
the  East.  An  early-rising  Bannock  prepared  a  fire  out- 
side a  lodge.  The  dim  hue  provided  Miles  with  the  tar- 
get he  had  been  looking  for. 

'■"Hunt,  523. 

'-"^  Miles,  Sen-mg  the  Republic  194;  Miles,  Personal  Recollec- 
tions, 297,  quote  in  parentheses  from  Waukesha  Freeman.  Fehru- 
aiy  19,  1880. 

-''  Hunt,  523.  Henry  \.  Frith,  an  enlisted  man  in  Captain 
Gilbreath's  Company  H  traveling  with  Buell  to  rendezvous  with 
Miles,  reported  that  he  heard  others  describe  that  the  soldiers 
"were  to  fire  as  quickly  as  possible  and  not  to  take  aim,  so  as  to 
deceive  the  Indians  as  to  their  strength  .  .  ."  See  Upton,  53. 

"Hunt,  523. 

58  Ibid. 

-''  Miles,  Serving  the  Republic.  194. 


24 


Annals  of  Wyoming:The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


After  reaching  the  thin  hill  angling  the  Clark's  Fork 
some  800  yards  west  of  the  camp,  Miles  ordered  his 
men  to  form  into  a  skirmish  line  under  the  direction  of 
Capt.  Andrew  Saydam  Bennett.  The  events  to  come 
likely  seemed  routine  for  the  dashing  and  adequately 
mustached  48-year-old  Indian  War  veteran.^°  Miles 
placed  his  fiall  confidence  in  the  fact  that  Bennett  could 
lead  a  successful  attack  on  the  encampment.  Miles  wrote 
about  him  in  January  of  1880: 

Capt.  Andrew  S.  Bennett,  fifth  U.S.  Infantry,  has  been 
an  officer  of  my  regiment  for  years.  During  the  great 
civil  war  he  served  his  country  with  distinction,  and 
enduring  all  the  hardships  incident  to  that  long  and 
desperate  struggle  for  human  rights,  and  the  mainte- 
nance of  a  just  and  liberal  government.  After  the  war, 
the  fortunes  of  service  placed  him  on  the  western  fi"on- 
tier  where  his  services  have  been  valuable  to  the  gov- 
ernment and  to  the  frontier  settlements.  He  has  served 
in  most  of  the  western  territories  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  maintaining  an  honorable  record  for  devo- 
tion to  his  profession,  and  faithfulness  in  the  discharge 
of  every  duty;  he  was  engaged  in  numerous  campaigns 
and  several  battles.*' 

With  Bennett  leading  the  charge,  the  infantry  shifted 
from  a  vertical  march  to  a  makeshift  horizontal  skir- 
mish line,  unable  to  see  clearly.  Miles  ordered  the  Crows 
to  the  right  flank  and  instructed  all  to  focus  on  the  flick- 
ering fire  as  the  point  of  attack.  Halting  several  times 
to  adjust  to  the  darkness  and  re-acquire  the  light,  the 
command  moved  silently  through  the  sagebrush.  Cap- 
tain Bennett  coaxed  his  men  forward  along  the  right  of 
the  line.  Entering  into  the  lower  plain  adjacent  to  the 
bend  in  the  river,  the  troops  encountered  the  Bannock 
herd.  Slowly  yet  deliberately,  the  Crows  moved  to  the 
left  of  the  skirmishers,  gathering  the  herd  to  the  rear. 

Closing  in,  the  camp  became  visible  and  the  "pearly 
dawn"  revealed  about  twenty  lodges  nestled  on  the  west 
bank  and  the  island.  The  large  sage  bushes  concealed 
the  troops  from  the  unsuspecting,  and  for  the  most  part 
still  asleep.  Bannocks.  As  the  troops  neared  to  100 
yards,  Captain  Bennett  and  his  men  readied  them- 
selves.^- Miles  motioned  for  Snyder  to  provide  the  call. 

The  "sweet  air  of  early  morning"  ended  with  a  terse 
"Fire!"  followed  by  the  "crash  of  twenty-five  rifles  dis- 
turbing the  tense  and  quiet  expectancy."^^  The  portly 
Snyder  ran  from  one  side  of  the  line  to  the  other  pro- 
viding a  "pot-pourri  of  calls"  until  the  "melody  ex- 
pired in  a  dismal  wail"  after  he  tripped  over  a  root. 
Dropping  the  bugle,  Snyder  reached  for  his  gun  and 
"joined  in  the  ping-pong  of  the  fijsillade."^'*  Bennett 
commanded  assurances  to  his  men,  guiding  them  for- 
ward toward  the  village. 


The  stillness  of  morning  shattered  as  bullets  bit  into 
the  Bannock  lodges.  Dismayed,  frightened,  and  yet 
determined,  the  Indians  did  react.  Some  sprung  from 
their  lodges  to  swim  the  river,  leaving  their  belongings 
in  an  attempt  to  outrun  the  gunfire.^^  Others  set  up  an 
impromptu  defense  of  desultory  fire  in  the  direction  of 
the  troops.  One  of  the  Bannocks  managed  to  sight  in 
the  Crow  warrior  Two  Crows  as  he  worked  to  capture 

'"  Bronson  Tolman,  "How  Bennett  Creek  Got  Its  Name."  Park 
County  Historical  Society  archives,  MS9V-41-4,  Tolman  notes 
that  Bennett  was  bom  February  8,  1 830,  in  Auburn,  New  York. 

*'  Letter  from  Maj.  Gen.  N.A.  Miles,  U.S.  A.  to  Mr.  Chas.  W. 
Bennett,  Waukesha,  Wisconsin.  In  Waukesha  Freeman,  Feb.  19, 
1 880,  4.  The  Report  and  Collections  of  the  State  Historical  Soci- 
ety of  Wisconsin  (Madison;  David  Arwood,  State  Printer,  1879), 
472,  notes  that  "In  April,  1861,  Andrew  S.  Bennett  was  made  a 
Second  Lieutenant  in  the  Fifth  Wisconsin  regiment.  He  served  in 
action  during  the  Civil  War  at  Williamsburg,  Richmond,  Antietam, 
Gettysburg,  and  the  battles  of  the  Wilderness.  It  seems  ironic  that 
Captain  Bennett  should  survive  some  of  the  bloodiest  battles  of 
the  Civil  War,  only  to  die  in  an  easy  morning  surprise  attack  on  a 
small  group  of  sleeping  Indians." 

'-  Hunt  notes  (page  524)  that  Bennett,  "forming  his  command 
of  eighteen  or  so  men  under  cover  of  the  sagebrush,  led  the  charge 
.  .  .  ."  This  does  contradict  his  later  description  of  "twenty-five 
rifles." 

"  Hunt,  523-524. 

^^  Ibid.,  524. 

*5  Miles,  Personal  Recollections,  299. 


Bannock  prisoner,  Sept.  1878 


Tinter  1999 


Bannock  prisoners  fi-om  the  "Miles  Fight' 


a  portion  of  the  horse  herd,  shooting  a  lead  ball  into  his 
abdomen. 

For  about  twenty  minutes,  fire  and  smoke  sparked 
throughout  the  village  and  Miles  ordered  Bennett  to 
charge  the  camp.  Leading  the  attack  adjacent  to  the 
upstream  point  of  the  island,  "moving  on  foot  from  the 
right  to  the  left  of  the  line,"  Bennett  fell  to  the  ground, 
a  large  hole  puncturing  the  center  of  his  chest,  exiting 
below  his  right  shoulder.*^*^  Without  their  captain  the 
troops  continued  their  charge,  the  fire  from  their  Spring- 
field 45-70's  forcing  the  remaining  defenders  to  furi- 
ously ford  the  river  or  surrender.  Their  horse  herd  re- 
moved, ele\en  of  their  band  dead,  and  31  captured, 
about  half  of  the  approximately  eighty  Bannocks  man- 
aged to  escape  within  the  bluffs  of  the  Little  Sand  Cou- 
lee or  among  the  Cottonwoods  along  the  Clark's  Fork.*''' 
By  six  that  morning,  silence  returned  to  the  plain. 

Before  the  fighting  had  ended.  Miles  exaggerated  that 
■"there  was  scarcely  a  Crow  Indian,  and  not  a  single 
Bannock  horse,  to  be  seen  in  the  valley. ""^^  With  the 
booty  of  battle  acquired,  as  had  been  their  ordered  ob- 
jective, many  of  the  Crows  returned  to  the  agency. 
"Some  of  them  did  not  stop  until  they  had  reached  the 
agency,  a  distance  of  seventy-five  miles,"  the  Colonel 
reported,  yet  others  "left  their  captured  stock  in  the 
hands  of  their  friends  four  or  five  miles  back  in  the 
foot-hills,  and  remmed  to  the  assistance  of  the  froops."^^ 
Many  of  those  that  remained  aided  the  soldiers.  With 


the  entire  camp,  250  horses,  and  32  Bannocks  captured, 
the  troops  focused  on  burying  the  dead,  securing  the 
prisoners,  and  setting  up  a  camp  for  themselves. 

There  were  wounded  on  both  sides.  With  numerous 
Bannocks  injured.  Dr.  Rosten  G.  Redd  attempted  to 
patch  up  individuals  on  both  sides. ^"  Nothing  could 
revive  Captain  Bennett  nor  one  other  man  (described 
by  Frith  as  a  Frenchman  and  likely  a  reference  to  Little 
Rock).^'  Redd  had  propped  Bennett's  body  against  a 
tree  "with  the  shoulders  bare"  to  examine  the  wound 
and  an  orderly  wiped  a  bloody  froth  from  the  captain's 
still  lips.^-  Wrapped  in  a  blanket  by  Private  Sanger  of 
Bennett's  company,  the  body  was  "placed  on  a  horse 

'''■  Ibid.  The  quote  is  from  the  IVatilieslia  Freeman.  October  10, 
1870.  In  Buffalo  Bill's  Town  in  tlie  Rockies:  A  Pictorial  History 
of  Cody.  Wyoming.  Bob  Edgar  suggests  that  Bennett  was  "on  horse- 
back and  gave  the  order  to  fire  into  the  lodges."  However.  1  ha\e 
found  no  evidence  to  corroborate  the  assertion. 

'>'  Waukesha  Freeman.  October  10.  1878.  .Account  of  Pri\ate 
Sanger  states  that  "'quite  as  man>'  Indians  escaped  as  v\ere  cap- 
tured." 

''*  Miles,  Personal  Recollections,  299. 

""  Ibid. 

""  Hunt  inaccurately  named  the  surgeon  as  Major  Henr\  R. 
Tilton  (p.524).  Later  he  noted  that  Tilton  attended  to  "all  unsurgical 
wounds."  Perhaps  Tilton  assisted  surgeon  Redd  w  ith  the  wounded, 
yet  neither  Miles  or  any  other  accounts  refer  to  Tilton. 

'1  Frith,  54. 

'-Miles,  Personal  Recollections,  300;  report  of  Henry  .A.  Frith 
in  Upton,  53. 


26 


Annals  oi  Wyoming  :The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


and  [taken  to]  the  camp  three  miles  away  on  the  stream 
now  called  Bennett's  Creek  in  honor  of  the  dead  of- 
ficer."^^  It  seemed  ironic  to  the  soldiers,  as  it  did  to 
Miles,  that  a  "soldier  who  had  risked  his  life  on  many 
a  hard-fought  battlefield... must  meet  his  death  at  last."'''' 

Another  soldier,  Private  McAtee,  also  received  a 
wound  in  the  arm,  yet  would  recover.  Little  Rock,  how- 
ever, met  the  same  fate  as  Bennett.  When  the  bullets 
stopped  flying,  the  soldiers  realized  that  he,  too,  had 
been  killed.  Dr.  Redd  tended  to  Two  Crow's  abdomi- 
nal wound  as  well.  Realizing  the  warrior  would  not 
recover,  he  injected  morphine  to  deaden  the  pain.  Two 
Crows  died  later  that  day.^^ 

Shortly  after  the  morning  battle.  Lt.  Col.  Buell's  eight 
troops  of  cavalry  arrived.  Capt,  Gilbreath  reported  fol- 
lowing Buell  with  some  40  wagons,  250  pack  mules 
loaded  with  350  pounds  each,  and  50  infantrymen  of 
the  1  Ith's  Company  H.^^  Enlisted  man  Henry  A.  Frith 
recalled  that  as  they  neared  the  site,  a  courier  could  be 
seen  a  mile  or  more  to  the  west  "riding  at  a  lope."''^ 
Frith  continued: 

We  did  everything  possible  to  attract  his  attention  in 
order  to  discover  the  whereabouts  of  General  Miles; 
we  fixed  small  arms  and  halooed  to  little  purpose;  we 
finally  fired  off  a  piece  of  artillery  we  had  with  us,  but 
although  he  must  have  heard  the  racket,  he  kept  his 
lope  and  even  seemed  to  increase  it.  Evidently  he  had 
his  orders  to  stop  for  nothing.  I  afterwards  discovered 
that  the  courier  was  my  friend  Joe  Hart  of  the  2nd  Cav- 
alry with  a  dispatch  from  General  Miles  to  telegraph 
the  fight.  As  we  neared  the  scene  of  the  fight  we  met 
one  and  two  Indians,  evidently  'Crows,'  each  driving 
small  bands  of  captured  horses.  They  too  kept  going 
and  didn't  want  any  familiarity.''^ 

Buell's  arrival  apparently  sparked  a  heated  argument 
between  Miles  and  Buell.  Frith  reported: 

A  soldier  told  me  of  a  stormy  meeting  between  Gen- 
eral [Lt.  Col.]  Buell  and  General  [Colonel]  Miles.  Buell 
complained  that  couriers  from  General  Miles,  that 
morning  and  the  evening  before  especially,  studiously 
kept  away  from  his  command,  and  that  if  the  Bannocks 
had  'taken  in'  Miles'  small  command,  that  he  felt  sure 
that  he  would  have  been  blamed  for  not  getting  in  time 
for  the  fight;  that  in  justice  to  his  command  he  would 
make  an  official  report  of  all  the  circumstances  of  the 
affair.  Buell  said  that  he  had  sent  Miles  a  courier  the 
evening  before  and  that  it  was  his  opinion  that  the  whole 
Indian  camp  could  have  been  captured  without  firing  a 
shot  and  that  he  would  hold  General  Miles  responsible 
for  the  death  of  Captain  Bennett. '^ 


With  the  battlefield  secured,  the  last  of  the  prisoners 
were  rounded  up.  Remaining  beside  the  "rapid,  clear, 
trout  stream  that  came  down  from  the  mountains,"  the 
command  camped  in  the  shadows  of  the  butte  during 
the  evening.  Two  Crows,  "a  very  popular  man  in  the 
tribe,"  was  laid  to  rest  at  the  top  of  its  easternmost  hill. 
His  body  was  "bedecked  with  all  the  valuables  that  he 
had  possessed,  as  well  as  some  belonging  to  his 
finends."^*^  Miles  also  noted  that  "his  body  was  lifted 
on  the  shoulders  of  four  of  his  comrades,  who  slowly 
moved  up  the  side  of  the  butte  chanting  their  sorrow  in 
low,  moumftil  tones,  while  the  other  Indians  bewailed 
his  loss  according  to  the  custom  of  their  people."^' 

Fred  A.  Hunt  noted  that  Rock  was  buried  in  the  same 
location:  "the  Crows  had  made  a  shallow  grave  on  the 
summit  of  an  adjacent  hill  for  the  interpreter  and  the 
Crow."  In  that  location,  he  reported,  "they  were  en- 
tombed by  the  superposition  of  rocks  and  small  boul- 
ders, so  that  a  coyote-proof  mausoleum  was  pro- 
duced."^- At  least  one  of  the  remaining  Crows  revealed 
frustration  either  from  the  death  of  a  comrade  or  the 
inability  to  capture  any  horses.  "A  squaw  had  been 
killed,"  Frith  remembered,  "who  was  buried  by  the 
soldiers,  and  dug  up  by  a  Crow,  who  had  probably 
missed  the  main  chance  —  the  horses."  This  individual 
later  "dug  up  the  dead  squaw  and  dragged  her  around 
by  a  rope  at  the  tail  of  his  horse. "^■''  The  soldiers  re- 
buried  the  woman.  Other  Barmocks  were  buried  along 
the  banks  of  Bennett  creek  to  the  southeast  of  the  butte.^'* 

The  account  of  Fred  A.  Hunt  also  implies  that  Buell's 
main  column  may  not  have  fully  arrived  or  assisted 
with  the  confinement  of  the  prisoners.  Camped  in  the 

'5  Waukesha  Freeman,  October  10,  1878.  Bennett  Creek  runs 
to  the  south  of  the  Bennett  Butte  and  Little  Rocky  Creek  drifts  to 
the  north  of  the  Butte. 

'■»  Miles,  300. 

'5  Hunt,  524. 

'"'  Upton,  49.  The  date  of  September  7  is  reported  by  Gilbreath 
as  when  "I  left  the  post  at  the  same  time  as  the  cavalry  on  Sep- 
tember 7,  and  we  camped  together  at  Fly  Creek  that  night."  This 
date  would  make  the  arrival  on  the  day  of  the  battle  an  impossi- 
bility —  thus  the  date  of  September  7  was  either  mislabeled  by 
Gilbreath  or  recorded  incorrectly  by  Upton. 

"  Upton,  52. 

'8  Ibid. 

■"Upton,  52-53.  Official  numbers  in  "Chronological  list  of  ac- 
tions, &c.,  with  Indians  from  January  I  1837,  to  January,  1891" 
lists  the  September  4  battle  on  the  Clark's  Fork  (Mont.)  as  1  Of- 
ficer killed,  1  Citizen  ,  2  enlisted  men  (Little  Rock  and  Two 
Crows),  1 1  Bannocks  killed  and  31  captured. 

*"  Miles,  Personal  Recollections,  300. 

8'  Ibid. 

82  Hunt,  526. 

83  From  Frith's  account  in  Upton,  54. 


Winter  1999 


shadows  of  the  butte.  Hunt  asserted  that  "our  cares 
[now]  commenced,  as  they  [the  Bannock  prisoners]  out- 
numbered us  four  to  one,  and  there  was  no  place  where 
they  could  be  confined."^-  The  soldiers  instructed  the 
captives,  reported  by  Frith  as  "mostly  squaws  and  chil- 
dren,"^^  to  sit  in  a  circle  around  "a  mammoth  fire." 
Major  John  J.  Upham,  commander  at  Camp  Brown, 
later  reported  Ploqua  as  the  Bannock  chief  among  the 
captured. ^^  A  new  interpreter,  referred  to  as  Gushing, 
apparently  informed  the  Bannocks  that  if  anyone  stood 
without  permission  he  would  be  summarily  shot.^^ 

Numerous  "articles  of  luxury,  such  as  gold  pens  and 
jewelry,"  were  taken  by  the  soldiers  as  the  spoils  of  the 
battle  before  they  gathered  the  prisoners  around  the  fire. 
Private  Sanger  believed  most  of  these  items  had  "been 
taken  from  white  men  and  made  a  queer  contrast  with 
the  appearance  of  their  later  possessors."^''  Stripped  of 
their  possessions  and  facing  an  uncertain  future,  the 
captured  sat  silently  before  the  tlickering  tlames,  their 
f^ces  casting  stoic  shadows  against  the  trees. 

The  Bannocks  seemed  dismayed  by  their  defeat.  "I 
spoke  to  a  young  white  [perhaps  lighter  in  color  but 
still  Bannock]  squaw  who  spoke  fairly  good  English," 
Frith  remembered  as  he  encountered  the  captives  ear- 
lier that  day,  "and  she  said  that  had  the  Indians  known 
that  Miles  had  only  30  men  (she  didn't  consider  the 
Crow  scouts)  the  Indians  could  have  killed  them  all."'^° 

Hunt  reported  that  the  doctor  continued  to  tend  "all 
unsurgical  wounds;  Indians  and  soldiers  alike."'"  He 
recalled  one  particular  young  boy  who  was  suffering 
from  wounds  received  during  the  engagement: 

He  was  very  badly  wounded  in  half-a-dozen  places, 
notwithstanding  which  he  fought  like  a  wild-cat,  bit- 
ing, scratching  and  kicking  at  his  captors  ere  he  was 
taken.  Afterward  he  refused  the  proffered  food  and 
snarled  and  glowered  at  the  soldiers,  so  his  wounds 
had  to  be  dressed  forcibly  while  he  was  under  duress. 
But  all  the  time  he  never  allowed  one  expression  of 
pain  to  escape  him,  although  he  must  have  suffered 
agonizing  torments.  Yet  this  boy  was  quite  a  pet  at 
Fort  Keogh  a  few  months  subsequently;  the  kindness 
of  the  soldiers  tamed  him,  as  well  as  many  another 
Indian. '- 

Prospects  proved  slightly  better  for  the  Bannocks  that 
managed  to  escape  capture  along  the  Clark's  Fork.  Two 
groups  seem  to  have  gone  in  opposite  directions  from 
the  battlefield.  One  worked  its  way  north,  entering  the 
Crow  Agency.  Although  Miles  detached  Lt.  Oscar  F. 
Long  with  a  small  contingent  to  "intercept  and  capture 
the  escapes  [sic],"  as  Hunt  described  it,  "they  [the 
Bannocks]  unquestionably  were  hospitably  received  and 


...  the  similarity  of  appearance  between  the  tribes  en- 
abled their  undetectable  assimilation."''-'' 

Miles,  his  mission  complete  and  his  drive  for  recog- 
nition temporarily  satisfied,  set  his  sights  once  again 
toward  the  western  mountains  by  which  the  Bannock 
had  just  come.''"*  Although  the  vacationers  mourned  the 
loss  of  Captain  Bennen,  the  party  did  not  have  to  con- 
tend with  any  further  military  campaigning  during  the 
trip.''^  He  sent  couriers  to  Lt.  Bailey  and  also  to  the 
wagon-train  going  to  Fort  Ellis  so  as  to  direct  the  vaca- 
tioners to  plan  to  rendezvous  with  him  at  Mammoth 


*•'  Bob  Claycomb,  a  Cody  resident  who  has  recovered  bone, 
bullet,  and  shell  fragments,  mentioned  the  removal  of  a  decom- 
posed body  (sometime  during  Sheriff  Blackburn's  term  as  Park 
County  Sheriff)  from  the  banks  of  the  river  southeast  of  the  Buttes. 
See  Addison  Bragg,  "Battle  Relic  Sparked  His  Interest  In  Indian 
Wars,"  Billings  Gazette.  June  26,  1977,  in  which  Fred  Vickery 
noted  that  the  Bannocks  were  buried  "just  east  of  the  present  cem- 
etery" in  Clark.  On  a  "Geologic  Map  of  the  Bighorn  Basin,  Wyo- 
ming" by  C.A.  Fisher,  1905,  Bennen  Creek,  on  the  north,  joins 
the  Linle  Rocky,  on  the  south,  appro.ximately  one  mile  west  of 
the  town  of  Clark.  Bennen  Creek  then  flows  to  the  south  and  east 
of  the  butte,  joining  the  Clark's  Fork  of  the  Yellowstone  River 
approximately  two  miles  north  of  Little  Sand  Coulee. 

85  Hunt,  525. 

^*  Upton,  54. 

*"  See  Washburn,  242.  Upham  mistakenly  listed  the  date  of  the 
battle  as  Sept.  5  and  also  incorrectly  stated  that  "the  troops  kill[ed] 
a  good  many  horses  —  mostly  stolen  Americans  —  and  all  the 
squaws  and  children."  This  assertion  prompted  many  incorrect 
appraisals  of  the  battle  in  the  20th  centur\.  Upham's  source  was 
listed  as  Dick  Washakie's  son,  "just  in  from  Clark's  Fork." 

««  Hunt,  525. 

*'  Waukesha  Freeman.  October  10,  1878. 

'"Upton,  54. 

9'  Hunt,  525. 

« Ibid.,  526. 

"^^Ibid.,  527.  Although  the  Crows  fought  against  the  Bannocks 
in  order  to  acquire  horses,  the  two  tribal  groups  had  trade  and 
hunting  affiliations.  .Although  cultural  differences  were  surely  no- 
ticed by  the  Crow  and  Bannocks,  Indian  agents  on  the  Crow  res- 
ervation likely,  as  Hunt  implies,  had  a  difficult  time  distinguish- 
ing between  the  two  tribes. 

'••For  an  account  of  the  vacation  to  Yellowstone  and  informa- 
tion pertaining  to  photographs  see  James  S.  Brust  and  Lee  H. 
Whittlesey,  '"Roughing  It  Up  the  Yellowstone  to  Wonderland': 
The  Nelson  Miles/Colgate  Hoyt  Party  in  Yellowstone  National 
Park,  September  1878"  Montana:  The  Magazine  of  Western  His- 
tory, 56  (Spring  1996),  58.  In  Virginia  W.  Johnson's  biography 
of  Miles,  The  Unregimented  General,  she  notes  on  page  213  that 
Govemor  Potts  of  Montana  telegraphed  Sherman  in  Washington. 
In  the  message  the  Govemor  declared  "our  people  are  clamorous 
for  Miles  to  command  all  Montana  troops."  Govemor  Potts  to 
Sherman,  Helena,  Montana,  Sept.  1 2,  1878.  Military  Records  of 
Nelson  A.  Miles. 

■^5  Miles  biographer  Virginia  W.  Johnson  notes  that  Miles'  wife 
Mary  was  "visibly  shaken"  at  the  news  of  Bennett's  death.  See 
The  Unregimented  General,  213. 


28 


Annals  of  Wyoming  :TKe  Wyoming  History  Journal 


Hot  Springs.  Frith's  company  under  Lt.  Col.  Buell 
transported  the  Bannock  captives  back  to  Fort  Custer.'^ 

Capt.  Gilbreath's  detachment,  waiting  five  days  while 
Capt.  Bennett's  bod\  was  embalmed  and  prepared  to 
be  transported,  camped  at  the  "edge  of  the  mountains 
and  .  .  .  feasted  on  the  most  beautiful  scenery  that  I 
[Gilbreath]  have  ever  seen."  After  a  week,  his  contin- 
gent traveled  north  through  Pryor  Gap,  passing  "old 
Fort  C.F.  Smith,  which  v/as  buih  near  where  the  Big 
Horn  River  comes  through  the  mountains.'"'^  Private 
Sanger  and  Lt.  Woodruff  from  Capt.  Bennett's  com- 
pany, accompanied  his  body  to  Waukesha,  Wiscon- 
sin.'* Ironically,  missing  the  action  of  the  battle,  on 
Gilbreath's  return  to  Fort  Custer  on  September  20, 
1878,  he  commented  that  the  Bannock  Campaign  was 
"about  as  pleasant  a  campaign  as  I  was  ever  in."'' 

The  same  day  the  Waukesha  Freeman  printed  an  ac- 
count of  the  battle  by  Private  Sanger,  October  10, 1878, 
developments  of  another  kind  were  taking  place  at 
Camp  Brown  on  the  Wind  River  Reservation.  Dr. 
Hayden  and  his  entourage  had  arrived  at  the  fort,  wrap- 
ping up  a  survey  of  the  region.  Photographer  William 
Henry  Jackson  used  the  opportunity  to  take  some  pic- 
tures and  gather  information  about  the  reservation.  On 
October  8,  1878,  he  reported  encountering  a  familiar 
character  in  the  region.  After  the  Englishman  and  a 
few  of  his  Indian  friends  "escaped  with  their  hair," 
Richard  Beaver  Dick  Leigh  traveled  to  Camp  Brown. 
(Pam  and  Tadpole  of  the  Bannocks  would  soon  be- 
come his  father  and  mother-in-law  after  he  married  their 
daughter  Susan).  Perhaps  joining  the  Bannocks  from 
Fort  Hall  and  the  Eastern  Shoshones  on  an  annual  fall 
hunt  or  helping  Agent  Danilson  with  continuing  intel- 
ligence concerning  the  Bannocks,  Jackson  described 
meeting  the  trapper  on  August  8,1878: 

Dr.  (Hayden)  and  I  go  on  ahead.  Meet  Beaver  Dick. 
All  Indians  away  from  the  post  and  agency  on  hunt. 
Persuade  Dick  to  go  into  camp  with  us  to  be  photo- 
graphed. Lea\  e  order  for  train  to  camp  on  Sage  Creek. 
Dr.  and  I  go  on  to  the  Post.  Get  dinner  and  some  provi- 
sions for  camp  and  ride  back  by  another  route. ''"^ 

On  October  10,  Jackson  described  photographing 
"Dick's  Indians  until  noon."'^'  A  day  later,  however, 
he  spent  his  time  shooting  pictures  of  less  enthusiastic 
subjects.  "Photographing  Bannock  prisoners  in  the  fore- 
noon," the  entry  for  the  1 1th  stated.  The  prisoners  were 
the  last  vestiges  of  Bannock  resistance,  captured  by  Lt. 
Hoel  S.  Bishop  in  a  brief  engagement  one  month  prior. 

Lt.  Bishop,  with  a  detachment  from  Company  G,  had 
departed  from  Camp  Brown  on  Sept.  10  after  reports 
filtered  in  of  escapees  from  the  Bennett  Butte  fight. 


Two  days  after  reaching  the  head  of  the  Big  Wind  River, 
a  group  of  the  accompanying  Shoshones  captured  seven 
Bannocks  on  the  Dry  Creek  tributary.  "^^  After  what 

'"'  See  Miles,  Personal  Recollections.  300;  Upton,  54.  Two 
Stanley  J.  Morrow  photographs  on  page  51  of  Upton  supposedly 
picture  the  Bannock  warriors  captured  in  the  Bennett  Buttes  battle. 

''  Upton,  54-55,  a  continuation  of  Captain  Gilbreath's  story. 

'^  Waukesha  Freeman.  October  10,  1878.  Bennett  was  buried 
Wednesday,  October  9,  1878,  under  the  direction  of  the  Masonic 
Fraternity.  All  businesses  in  Waukesha  were  closed  from  3  to  4 
p.m.  to  observe  the  service. 

9"  Upton,  55. 

'00  Thompson,  105-106. 

io'ft;(^.,  106. 

'0-  Thompson,  107.  The  two  engagements  were  sometimes  re- 
ported as  the  same  and  thus  confusion  exists  as  to  the  e.xact  num- 
ber captured  and  killed  and  the  specific  location  of  each  battle. 
See  Official  Record  of  Engagements  with  Hostile  Indians,  Lieu- 
tenant General  PH.  Sheridan  Commanding,  which  describes 
Bishop  striking  "a  party  of  Bannocks  on  a  tributary  of  the  Snake 
River,  Wyoming,  kill[ing]  one  Indian  and  captur[ing]  seven,  to- 
gether with  eleven  horses  and  three  mules:  the  prisoners  had  es- 
caped from  the  fight  with  Colonel  Miles  on  Clark's  Fork,  Sep- 
tember 4th..." 


Bannock  woman  prisoner,  photo  made  at  Fort  Keogh 


Winter  1Q99 


29 


some  then  describe  as  "a  pursuit  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  miles,"'"-'  Bishop  "overtooi<  and  engaged  on  the 
16th""^'"'  Bannocivs  on  the  Buffalo  Fork  of  the  Snake 
River,  "twenty  miles  south  of  Yellowstone  lake."'"-'' 
Casualties  were  reported  as  two  warriors  killed,  20  In- 
dians and  14  animals  captured.'"^  Crow  scout  Thomas 
LeForge,  who  accompanied  Bishop,  described  the  en- 
counter: 

The  Bannock  decided  to  surrender  to  the  troops  and 
they  moved  in  a  peaceful  manner  to  do  so.  Neverthe- 
less, volleys  of  gun-fire  were  poured  into  them  and 
several  of  them  were  killed.  I  remember  that  one 
woman  had  a  thigh  broken  by  a  bullet.  She  hid  out 
with  her  baby  but  she  was  discovered,  brought  into  the 
agency,  and  cared  for  until  her  recovery.  It  seemed  to 
me  the  killing  of  these  Indians  when  it  was  plainly 
CMdent  they  were  trying  to  surrender  was  a  \iolation 
of  the  humanities.  They  did  not  respond  to  the  fire."'"' 

As  the  captured  Bannocks  marched  to  Camp  Brown 
to  be  processed,  and  photographed  by  Jackson,  the  "last 
mountain  man  of  Wyoming"  witnessed  the  end  of  a 
war  he  had  watched  from  its  beginning.  Those  prairie 
and  forest  fires  that  still  smoldered  in  the  Tetons  and 
Yellowstone  Park  would  soon  be  squelched  with  the 
coming  of  rain,  winter,  a  new  year,  and  eventually  a 
new  century.  Other  fires  would  not  simply  fade  away. 
They  would  bum  away  pages  of  the  record,  char  over 
truth,  and  enter  the  frenzied  fingers  of  ambitious  dia- 
rists. The  tlames  would  be  fanned  into  a  mystery. 

Smoke  from  the  soldiers'  Springfields  had  barely  be- 
gun to  lift  from  the  battlefield  before  m_\lh  clouded 
recollections  of  events.  Some  contemporary  accounts 
contain  ludicrous  assumptions,  so  touched  with  the  hy- 
perbolic pen  that  they  seem  best  suited  for  dime-nov- 
els. That  many  historians  have  reported  such  exaggera- 
tions as  truth  magnifies  the  dilemma,  particularly  when 
they  consult  only  one  or  two  sources. 

A  ftirther  issue  concerns  those  who,  not  finding  the 
"stuff  of  legends"  amid  Clark's  Fork  battle  lore,  have 
endeavored  to  create  their  own  versions  of  the  histori- 
cal record.  In  some  cases,  a  universal  framework  has 
been  established  and  General  Miles  merely  placed  in 
the  milieu.  He  could  just  as  easily  fit  the  mold  of  an 
ambitious  Gen.  Custer  storming  across  the  Washita  or 
a  vicious  Col.  Chivington  mowing  down  droves  of  in- 
nocents along  a  desolate  Sand  Creek. 

Many  researchers  studying  the  Battle  of  Bennett 
Butte,  when  confronted  by  contradictory  or  uninterest- 
ing infomiafion,  have  relied  on  another  method  of  in- 
quiry: folklore  and  legend,  or  better  yet,  making  some- 
thing up.  Hence,  in  "new  and  improved  versions,"  bur- 


ied Indians  somehow  managed  to  strew  themselves 
across  a  riverbed,  cannons  carried  themselves  from 
Montana  to  the  battlefield,  and  a  horse  suddenly  ap- 
peared under  Captain  Bennett  as  he  guided  his  men  in 
the  pre-dawn  attack.  And  finally,  shot  through  the  heart 
and  killed  "instantly,"  the  captain  somehow  found  time 
to  provide  a  few  heroic  last  words  to  his  comrades  and 
make  funeral  arrangements  before  drifting  from  a  state 
of  total  unconsciousness  to  eternal  sleep. '"^ 

Exaggerations  and  distortions  emerged  immediateK' 
after  the  event.  Frontiersman  Finn  Burnett  reportedly 
happened  upon  the  battlefield  "the  day  following  the 
massacre."'"''  The  diary  entry  for  the  5th  reads: 

The  thickets  had  been  blown  to  bits  by  cannon  shots, 
and  the  bodies  of  squaws  and  papooses  lay  with  the 
remams  of  Bannock  warriors  amid  the  wreckage.. .  The 
path  along  which  the  Bannock  had  fled,  was  still  slip- 
pery with  blood,  pro\'ing  thai  they  had  transported  many 
corpses  and  wounded  soldiers."" 

The  Burnett  account  has  two  problems:  the  descrip- 
tion of  cannon  destroying  the  thickets  and  the  descrip- 
tion of  bodies  scattered  across  the  battlefield. 

Many  "historians"  have  given  credence  to  Burnett's 
claims  that  cannonfire  tore  the  Bannock  camp  apart  on 
the  morning  of  September  4,  1878.  In  their  book  about 
the  trapper  Richard  "Beaver  Dick"  Leigh,  Edith  and 
William  Thompson  noted  that  "The  soldiers  turned  a 
cannon  on  the  'renegades"  and  massacred  them  while 
the  Crow  scouts  drove  away  two  hundred  and  fifty  of 
their  horses."'"  Another  book  follows  suit  with  "while 
a  cannon  massacred  the  hos tiles,  the  Crow  scouts  drove 
away  250  of  their  horses."' '-  The  Archaeological  Site 
Survey  Form  of  an  area  known  as  "Miling  Bend""' 

'"-^  George  F.  Price  (comp. ),  Across  the  Continent  with  the  Fifth 
Cava/n'(lMevv  York:  D.  Van  Nostrand,  18831,  169. 

'""'  The  Record  of  Engagements  with  Hostile  Indians  Within  the 
Military  Division  of  the  Missouri  Lieutenant  General  P  H 
Sheridan  Comttianding,  lists  the  Bishop  engagement  as  Sept,  12. 

i«-^  Price,  169. 

^''"■Ibid 

""Thompson,  107.  I  have  been  unable  to  locate  any  primary 
documents  that  include  this  citation  and  thus  it  must  be  \  iewed 
with  some  skepticism. 

'""Tolman,  "How  Bennett  Creek  Got  Its  Name,"  4. 

'"''Thompson  106.  Fora  biography  on  Burnett,  see  Robert  Beebe 
David,  Finn  Burnett  Frontiersman:  The  Life  and  Adventures  of 
an  Indian  fighter,  mail  coach  driver,  miner,  pioneer  cattleman, 
participant  in  the  Powder  River  expedition,  survivor  of  the  Hav 
Field  fight,  associate  of  Jim  Bridger  and  Chief  Washakie  (Glen- 
dale,  CA:  Arthur  H.  Clark  Company,  1937). 

""Thompson,  106-107. 

'"  Ibid.,  106. 

"-  Trenholm  and  Carley,  264. 

'  "  Also  written  as  "Myling  Bend." 


30 


Ajinals  of  Wyoming:The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


also  assesses  the  situation,  asserting  incorrectly  on  two 
accounts  that  General  Miles  attacked  "with  canon  [sic] 
at  dawn."""* 

Suspicions  must  be  raised  in  regard  to  Burnett's 
claims.  Most  notably,  no  other  accounts  of  the  battle, 
taken  from  soldier,  scout,  Indian  or  non-Indian,  report 
the  use  of  cannon  in  the  engagement.  To  the  contrary, 
Fred  A.  Hunt's  apprehension  prior  to  the  attack  had 
much  to  do  with  his  doubts  that  "twenty-five  rifles" 
could  take  an  Indian  encampment  of  some  80  persons. 
Even  Capt.  Gilbreath,  who  reported  that  he  was  taking 
a  pack  train  "across  the  country  to  the  mouth  of  Clark's 
Fork,"  noted  no  artillery  in  his  supplies."^ 

The  only  account  where  artillery  is  described  comes 
from  Henry  A.  Frith,  whose  company  followed  Buell 
to  the  battlefield.  Frith  mentioned  that  at  the  sight  of  a 
courier  riding  more  than  a  mile  away,  "we  fixed  small 
arms  and  halooed  to  little  purpose..."  until  finally  the 
men  "fired  off  a  piece  of  artillery  we  had  with  us."'  '^ 

A  second  issue  concerning  cannon  stems  from  the 
burdens  involved  in  traveling  with  heavy  field  pieces. 
Miles,  determined  to  leave  Buell  behind  and  curtail 
the  current  of  the  enemy  as  quickly  as  possible,  would 
have  been  placing  himself  at  a  disadvantage  by  gather- 
ing burdensome  cannon.  Such  equipment  prevented 
efficient  logistical  movement.  Furthermore,  a  command 
of  only  30  men  seems  unlikely  to  be  toting  around  large 
arms  and  shells.  The  fact  that  members  of  the  5th  In- 
fantry (and  a  few  of  the  2nd  Cavalry)  accompanied  the 
colonel,  without  any  artillery  units,  supports  a  conclu- 
sion that  artillery  was  not  used. 

Burnett's  claims  also  seem  unreasonable  when  one 
considers  descriptions  of  the  attack  on  the  Bannock 
encampment.  Traveling  in  the  dark  amid  sagebrush 
"taller  than  a  horses  back,"  Bennett's  men  were  within 
1 00  yards  before  the  first  shot  had  been  fired.  For  an 
artillery  barrage  to  begin  at  such  a  moment  would  have 
placed  Miles'  own  men  in  tremendous  peril.  They,  too, 
stood  well  within  the  target  range. 

An  artillery  scenario  limits  the  role  of  the  Crows  in- 
volved, too.  Capturing  the  herd  of  some  250  horses 
required  a  close  proximity  to  the  encampment  as  well 
as  a  quiet  environment  up  until  the  point  where  the 
horses  had  been  secured  and  the  attack  could  begin. 
Had  artillery  shells  burst  into  the  morning  darkness 
before  this  time,  the  horses  would  have  likely  scattered 
leaving  the  Crow  empty-handed.  Had  they  come  after, 
Bennett  and  his  men  would  have  found  themselves 
pummeled  by  "fiiendly  fire." 

Burnett's  short  summary  of  events  shows  other  faults. 
He  noted  that  the  "bodies  of  squaws  and  papooses  lay 


with  the  remains  of  Bannock  warriors  amid  the  wreck- 
age.""'' Not  only  does  this  not  fit  with  the  officers' 
and  soldiers'  statements  regarding  burial  of  the  dead, 
but  it  does  not  fit  with  the  locafion  in  which  some  bod- 
ies were  recovered  in  the  20th  century  (near  the 
riverbank  of  Bennett  Creek,  south  of  the  Butte).  Al- 
though not  concerned  with  the  medical  factors  contrib- 
uting to  disease.  Miles'  men  (and  Buell' s  men  for  more 
than  a  week  afterward)  were  camped  not  two  miles  from 
the  battlefield.  The  stench  from  decaying  bodies  (all 
the  more  so  if  buried  near  the  butte)  would  have  added 
impetus  to  getting  the  dead  beneath  the  ground  as 
quickly  as  possible. 

Even  the  last  portion  of  the  entry,  in  which  Burnett 
allegedly  saw  a  "path  along  which  the  Bannock  had 
fled"  that  was  "still  slippery  with  blood,  proving  they 
had  transported  many  corpses  and  wounded  soldiers 
[warriors],"  presents  problems.  Foremost,  such  a  "path" 
filled  with  Bannocks  carrying  wounded  companions 
would  have  provided  an  easily  identifiable  trail  for 
Miles'  men  to  follow.  On  the  contrary.  Miles  reported 
the  difficulty  encountered  during  "mop  up"  operations 
as  the  Bannocks  had  scattered  in  various  directions  very 
rapidly.  Oscar  F.  Long's  detachment,  for  instance,  could 
not  find,  nor  catch  up  to,  the  northern  vectored 
Bannocks  fleeing  the  battlefield. 

Most  interesting,  Burnett  failed  to  mention  any  sol- 
diers. Certainly  Miles  command  would  have  been  in 
sight  and  definitely  Buell's  troops  by  the  following  day. 
Bennett's  death,  the  Crow  scouts,  and  all  soldierly  ac- 
tivity remain  conspicuously  absent  from  his  account. 
However,  as  mentioned  already,  troops  remained  in  the 
vicinity  many  days  after  the  engagement,  and  certainly 
a  frontiersman  in  the  area  would  have  been  aware  of 
such  ongoing  military  activity. 

All  in  all,  Burnett's  story  appears  to  be  a  grand  fabri- 
cation. Perhaps  the  trapper  had  become  familiar  with 
military  actions  in  the  past  and  decided  to  create  a  gen- 
eralized scenario.  Perhaps  the  story  emerged  as  a  tale 
told  around  a  campfire.  Whatever  the  case,  the  mo- 
tives that  lay  beneath  the  manufactured  myth  remain  a 

"''Archaeological  Site  Survey  Form,  "Bannock  Battlefield," 
48PA315  (Sept.  10,  1978).  Park  County,  Wyoming.  Site  evalu- 
ated April,  1981.  Investigators:  Stuart  W.  Conner,  Dr.  Frank 
Wierzbinski,  Denes  Istvanffy,  Michael  Bryant,  Aubrey  Haines, 
and  Wilber  E.  Bunn.  Informants:  Bronson  Tolman;  Fred  and 
Louise  Vickery.  Survey  contains  map  of  site  (Miling  Bend),  evalu- 
ation, one  page  of  field  notes  (4/25/81),  and  archaeological  site 
survey  form. 

i'5  Upton,  48-50. 

I'^/Wrf.,  52. 

'"Thompson,  106-107. 


Winter  1999 


31 


mystery.  Unfortunately,  historians  have  on  many  oc- 
casions taken  the  trapper  at  his  word,  and  a  distortion 
in  the  historical  record  has  resuked. 

Writings  regarding  the  battle  years  later  have  also 
tinted  perceptions.  Word  choices  have  added  impact  to 
bullets,  illuminating  images  in  the  mind  of  a  battle  that 
never  was.  The  use  of  the  word  "massacre,"  as  already 
suggested,  tarnishes  objectivity.  It  implies  an  indis- 
criminate slaughter  reminiscent  of  Col.  Chivington  and 
the  "Bloody  3rd's"  attack,  torture,  and  mutilation  of 
Cheyennes  along  Sand  Creek  in  1864.  By  the  same 
token  the  Archaeological  Site  Survey  Form  (Sept., 
1978)  compares  Col.  Miles  to  Gen.  George  A.  Custer. 
Referring  to  the  battlesite.  the  survey  states: 

"Here  Gen.  Miles  pulled  a  Washita  on  a  sleeping  band 
of  hostile  Bannocks.'""^  Such  a  comment  disregards 
contemporary  military  tactics  in  1878,  generalizes  a 
"Sand  Creek  scenario"  into  the  situation  confronted  by 
Col.  Miles,  and  neglects  the  unique  circumstances  of 
the  battle.  Unlike  Cheyenne's  camped  along  Sand  Creek 
in  1864  who  were  following  military  procedures  and 
flying  a  flag  of  peace  (and  were  attacked  by  Volun- 
teers, not  Regulars),  the  Bannock  band  at  Bennett  Butte 
had  raided  on  their  journey  and  fell  well  within  mili- 
tary guidelines  designating  them  "hostile."  Further- 
more, in  the  Battle  of  the  Washita,  Custer  and  some 
800  troopers  from  the  7th  Cavalry  attacked  fifty-one 
lodges."^  Miles  had  no  such  firepower  at  Bennett  Butte. 

The  "massacre  concept"  has  taken  another  strange 
turn  in  regard  to  the  battle.  Rather  that  assuming  that 
the  Indians  were  the  victims  of  a  bloodthirsty  military 
company,  some  have  turned  the  tables,  manufacturing 
a  fable  of  a  different  kind.  In  this  scenario  some  inter- 
pret Burnett's  statement  pertaining  to  wounded  Indi- 
ans ("transported  many  corpses  and  wounded  soldiers") 
as  a  reference  to  dead  infantrymen.  Ironically,  a  docu- 
ment from  the  Wyoming  State  Archives  (11/20/87) 
which  states  that  "twenty  Bannock  lodges  were  attacked 
and  all  the  women  and  children  killed"  also  uses  this 
plot. '2''  In  Captain  Bennett's  "valiant  attempt  to  put  an 
end  to  the  Indian  outrages,"  the  document  describes 
that  he  and  his  men  "were  outnumbered  by  the  Indi- 
ans, and  consequently  were  massacred  almost  to  a 
man."'-'  Interestingly,  Bennett  and  not  Miles  becomes 
the  new  "hero"  in  such  a  scenario.  The  noble  and  "val- 
iant" commander,  attempting  to  "put  an  end  to  the  In- 
dian outrages  in  that  part  of  the  Big  Horn  Basin,"  found 
the  fate  of  Custer  as  he  endeavored,  outnumbered,  to 
attack  the  Indian  village.'-- 

Bennett  also  takes  on  the  appearance  of  John  Wayne 
in  some  depictions.  Incapacitated  by  a  lead  missile  that 


penetrated  his  heart  and  exited  through  the  right  shoul- 
der, most  accounts  describe  Bennett's  death  as  instan- 
taneous. Lt.  Oscar  F.  Long's  account  in  the  Waukesha 
Freeman  (February  19,  1880)  notes  that  after  being 
"pierced  through  the  heart  by  the  bullet  of  a  ruthless 
savage,"  the  Captain  "lay  upon  the  cold  damp  ground 
in  a  most  cheerless  mountain  country. ..'dead  on  the 
field  of  glory.'"'--'  Yet,  referring  to  the  same  account, 
Bronson  Tolman's  "How  Bennett  Creek  Got  Its  Name" 
states  that  "Army  Surgeon  Dr.  Redd  reached  him 
(Bennett)  in  a  few  minutes  and  heard  him  say  he  wished 
to  be  buried  in  his  home  town  in  Wisconsin."'--'  As  in 
a  Hollywood  western,  a  voice  has  been  given  to  the 
dead.  One  wonders  if  Capt.  Bennett  would  have  con- 
curred with  the  burial  arrangements  attributed  to  him. 

Such  tidbits  regarding  deathbed  speeches,  the  num- 
ber of  casualties  on  either  side,  or  the  position  of  his- 
torical actors  at  a  particular  time  seem,  on  the  surface, 
mere  inconsequential  details.  However,  small  facts  pro- 
vide vital  information  in  regard  to  an  overall  view  of 
the  battle.  A  reference  to  direction,  the  flow  of  a  stream, 
or  the  descriptions  of  plant  life  can  lead  to  a  more  com- 
plete analysis  of  events.  When  such  minute  details  are 
fabricated  or  thrown  in  without  substantiation,  the  en- 
tire scenario  of  an  event  can  be  turned  around.  Such 
has  been  the  case  with  the  Battle  of  Bennett  Butte. 
Bronson  Tolman  managed  to  recognize  the  significance 
of  Miles'  description  of  his  location  while  viewing  the 
Bannocks  descending  Bald  Ridge.  The  presence  of  ce- 
dar and  pine  trees,  along  with  a  distance  often  or  twelve 
miles,  does  indeed  indicate  a  location  very  close  to  Heart 
Mountain. 

A  description  by  Lt.  O.F.  Long  in  the  Waukesha  Free- 
man proves  to  be  more  difficult  to  determine.'--''  Long 
noted  that  Bennett  fell  "near  the  upper  end  of  the  is- 
land." Tolman  interpreted  the  "upper  end"  to  mean  "the 
right  or  north  end  of  the  skirmish  line."'-''  Although 


"*•  Archaeological  Site  Survey  Form. 

"■^  See  Ulley,  Frontier  Regulars,  150-151.  Custer's  men  had 
trailed  some  100  returning  warriors,  raiding  through  Kansas  settle- 
ments, back  to  Black  Kettle's  village  on  the  Washita. 

'-"  Report  of  L.  Blakesley,  State  Historical  Archives,  Nov.  20, 
1987.  See  also  Addison  Bragg,  "Battle  Relic  Sparked  His  Interest 
In  Indian  Wars,"  Billings  Gazette.  June  26,  1977. 

'-'  Report  of  L.  Blakesley,  State  Historical  Archives,  Nov.  20, 
1987. 

'--  Report  of  L.  Blakesley,  State  Historical  Archives,  Nov.  20, 
1987. 

'-'  Waulieslta  Freeman.  February  19,  1880. 

'-■•Tolman,  "How  Bennett  Creek  Got  Its  Name." 

^-^  Waulcesha  Freeman.  February  19,  1880. 

'-'' Tolman,  "How  Bennett  Creek  Got  Its  Name." 


Annals  of  Wyoming:The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


Tolman  argues  that  the  soldiers  attacked  from  the  west, 
if  Bennett  was  positioned  on  the  right  end  of  the  skir- 
mish line  and  the  northern  end  of  the  island,  the  direc- 
tion of  the  attack  would  have  come  from  the  east.  An- 
other interesting  account  comes  from  Bob  Edgar,  ar- 
chaeologist and  proprietor  of  "Old  Trail  Town"  in  Cody 
and  co-author  of  Buffalo  Bill 's  Town  in  the  Rockies:  A 
Pictorial  History  of  Cody,  Wyoming.  In  the  book,  Edgar 
suggests  that  "Captain  Bennett  was  on  horseback  and 
gave  the  order  to  fire  into  the  lodges."'-^ 

Edgar  told  this  author  that  Bennett's  horse  was  sil- 
houetted against  the  rising  sun  and,  thus,  made  an  easy 
target  for  the  Bannock  warriors.  Such  an  account  adds 
to  the  battle's  mysteries.  Primary  documentation  indi- 
cates Bennett  was  "moving  on  foot  from  the  right  to 
the  left  of  the  line."'-^  Furthermore,  the  sun  behind 
Bennett's  back  would  have  placed  the  beginning  of  the 
attack  from  the  east  toward  the  west,  a  physical  impos- 
sibility considering  descriptions  of  the  battlefield  (high 
cliffs  to  the  east  of  the  river). '-^ 

Untangling  the  written  record  renders  only  part  of 
the  story  concerning  the  Battle  of  Bennett  Butte.  Arti- 
facts provide  additional  clues  as  to  the  locations.  How- 
ever, artifactual  materials  recovered  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  butte  yield  more  questions  than  answers.  With  al- 
most 120  years  stretched  between  the  day  of  the  battle 
and  the  present,  the  integrity  of  the  battle  theater  is 
very  poor.  Coyotes,  badgers  and  other  rodents  worked 
their  way  into  rock-covered  graves,  scattering  flesh, 
bones,  and  clothing  for  many  miles  in  every  direction. 
Children  also  discovered  mysterious  buttons,  bodies, 
and  other  trappings.  That  many  of  these  children  have 
since  died,  without  writing  down  the  whereabouts  of 
their  item's  removal,  leaves  few  clues  as  to  the  loca- 
tion of  their  findings.  In  an  interview  with  a  reporter 
from  The  Billings  Gazette  (6/26/77),  Fred  Vickery  re- 
membered growing  up  near  Bennett  Butte: 

We  used  to  play  around  those  buttes  just  east  of  the 
present  cemetery.  There  were  quite  a  few  bodies  up 
there  at  one  time  —  Indians,  I  suppose  —  but  from 
what  I  remember  there  wasn't  much  left  of  them.  The 
badgers  and  prairie  dogs  had  done  a  pretty  good  job  of 
disturbing  them.'^" 

New  technologies  sparked  renewed  interest  in  the 
battlefield  as  well.  In  the  twentieth  century,  amateur 
archaeologists,  arrowhead  hunters,  and  farmers  using 
mechanical  plows  uncovered  an  array  of  artifacts.  An 
1 866  Springfield  rifie  recovered  in  the  1920s  by  a  Mr. 
Lanko,  who  owned  a  ranch  on  Lime  Creek,  north  of 
Bennett  Creek,  now  is  displayed  in  Bob  Edgar's  "Old 


Trail  Town."'^'  Unfortunately,  no  information  concern- 
ing the  removal  of  the  rifle  was  provided  other  than  "in 
the  vicinity"  of  Bennett  Butte.  The  only  substantiated 
piece  of  evidence  connecting  the  battle  to  a  particular 
location  was  a  Remington  New  Model  Army  revolver 
(.44  caliber)  donated  to  the  Buffalo  Bill  Historical  Cen- 
ter by  R.L.  Fouse.  The  tag  accompanying  the  donation 
of  the  Remington  noted  "This  gun  is  thought  to  have 
been  lost  in  the  Battle  of  Bennett  Buttes,  near  Clark.  It 
was  found  by  R.  L.  Fouse,  in  a  gravel  bar  at  the  mouth 
of  little  Sand  Coulee.  Presented  to  the  Museum  by  Mr. 
R.  L.  Fouse." 

Some  primary  historical  evidence  links  distinct  geo- 
graphic features  to  particular  locations,  thus  assisting 
in  determining  prime  artifact  locations.  The  top  of  the 
butte  in  which  Little  Rock  and  Two  Crows  were  bur- 
ied, for  instance,  seemed  a  likely  spot  in  which  some- 
thing could  be  found.  Prior  to  World  War  II,  longtime 
Cody  resident  Bob  Claycomb  uncovered  a  45-70  shell 
casing,  two  phalanges,  two  additional  bone  fragments, 
and  a  mini-ball  bullet.  The  phalanges  originally  were 
believed  to  be  from  one  or  both  of  the  Crows,  and  the 
front-flattened  bullet  possibly  that  which  killed  Little 
Rock  or  penetrated  Two  Crows'  stomach.  Upon  review 
of  the  alleged  human  remains,  Dr.  Mark  Miller  of  the 
University  of  Wyoming  noted  that  the  "finger  bones" 
were  those  of  a  pronghom,  not  a  person.  Nothing  ex- 
plains the  recovery  of  the  spent  shell  casing  from  the 
location,  however.  The  Union  Metallic  Company  cas- 
ing was  not  standard  military  issue  in  1878.  Might  the 
used  (and  partially  damaged)  casing  have  been  on  the 
person  of  Little  Rock  or  Two  Crows  when  they  were 
buried  (perhaps  with  the  intention  of  being  reloaded)? 
It  may  have  been  damaged  by  one  of  the  rocks  placed 
on  top  of  the  bodies  during  the  burial  on  the  southern- 
most point  of  the  three  hills. 

One  of  the  most  puzzling  aspects  of  Bennett  Butte 
battlefield  archaeology  (or  more  aptly  "artifact  re- 
moval") surrounds  the  mystery  of  human  remains. 
Despite  time,  scavengers,  and  weekend  "treasure  hunt- 
ers," bodies  were  reportedly  uncovered,  despite  Finn 
Burnett's  contention  that  they  were  scattered  on  the 
banks  of  the  Clark's  Fork  and  left  to  rot.  Yet,  where 
are  the  bodies  now?  Many  have  since  disappeared  and 
those  responsible  for  their  recovery  have  either  mis- 

'2^  Cook,  Houze,  Edgar,  and  Fees,  34. 

'28  Waukesha  Freeman.  October  10,  1878. 

'-'  See  Long's  description  of  the  battlefield,  Waukesha  Free- 
man. February  !9,  1878. 

'30  Addison  Bragg,  "Battle  Relic  Sparked  His  Interest  In  In- 
dian Wars,"  The  Billings  Gazette.  June  26,1977. 

'3'  Information  provided  by  Bob  Edgar. 


yaoBSmUMM 


Winter  1999 


placed  or  lost  corresponding  documentation  or  in  some 
instances  died  without  leaving  any  detail.  Human  arti- 
fact evidence  must  be  viewed  with  some  skepticism. 
Since  soldiers  apparently  buried  the  dead  from  the  battle 
in  locations  other  than  where  the  engagement  occurred, 
does  the  discovery  of  human  remains  actually  provide 
an  indication  as  to  the  battlesite? 

A  discovery  of  a  body  allegedly  occurred  in  1 90 1 .  In 
field  notes  accompanying  the  Archaeological  Site  Sur- 
vey Form,  written  4/25/81,  one  of  the  investigators  (ap- 
parently Stuart  Conner  as  indicated  by  a  signature  that 
appears  to  be  "Stu")  noted  a  conversation  with  long- 
time Clark  resident  Elmer  Bunn.  After  searching  the 
Miling  Bend  area  for  battle  evidence,  the  notes  state: 

Elmer  showed  us  basement  walls  of  cobbles  of 
Mylings'  house.  He  said  little  girl  buried  on  a  slight 
raise  south  of  house  but  not  sure  where  grave  is.  His 
family  came  to  area  in  1901.  In  Elmer's  earlier  yrs 
there  was  a  line  of  Cottonwoods  in  what's  now  high 
sage  brush  across  Clark's  Fork  from  a  high  Pt  Must  be 
a  tritle  up  stream  from  present  trees.' ''- 

Where  this  "little  girl"  is  buried  today  and  whether 
or  not  she  was  connected  with  the  battle,  remains  a 
mystery.  Another  problem  with  this  account  stems  from 
the  lack  of  additional  graves  or  bodies.  It  seems  highly 
improbable  that  soldiers  would  have  buried  one  little 
girl  far  from  the  burial  spot  of  the  other  dead  Bannocks. 
The  uncertainty  of  not  knowing  "where  [the]  grave  is" 
only  raises  additional  concerns  as  to  the  authenticity 
and  credibility  of  the  account. 

Bob  Claycomb  recalled  hearing  of  an  additional 
"body"  being  removed  "prior  to  the  war  [WWII]"  from 
a  bank  along  Bennett  Creek  immediately  south  by 
southeast  of  the  butte.  The  corpse,  allegedly  fully 
adorned,  suggested  the  individual  had  been  a  Bannock 
killed  in  the  engagement  and  buried  after  the  battle. 
Claycomb  recalled  that  Park  County  Sheriff  Frank 
Blackburn,  who  retired  in  1959  following  32  years  of 
service,  kept  the  remains  in  the  vault  of  the  Park  County 
Jail.'-'^  With  the  demolition  of  the  old  jail  and  vault  to 
provide  a  parking  lot  for  new  police  facilities,  the  hu- 
man remains  vanished,  too.  The  current  jailer.  Bob 
Brown,  remembered  viewing  photographs  of  the  re- 
mains as  they  lay  within  the  old  vault.  However,  an 
investigation  for  the  photographs  and  accompanying 
documentation  yielded  no  results. 

While  indexing  the  Cody  Enterprise  in  the  summer 
of  1997,  Park  County  Historical  Society  officials  un- 
covered one  explanation  regarding  the  bodies  recov- 
ered by  Blackburn.  An  article  titled  "Historians  Mysti- 


fied by  Aged  Skeletons"  in  the  July  16,  1953,  issue 
concerned  Blackburn's  recovery  of  two  bodies  along 
the  Clark's  Fork.' '"*  The  article  reported  that  the  "two 
sons  of  William  Close"  spotted  "the  fore  part  of  a  skull 
buried  in  the  sand"  while  fishing  along  a  small  island 
in  the  river.  Blackburn's  investigation  yielded  two  in- 
complete skeletons.  "The  lower  jaw  of  one  skull  was 
missing"  the  paper  noted,  yet  "thigh  bones,  vertebrae, 
hip  sockets  and  rib  bones  were  found."  Other  fragments 
were  also  located,  including  "materials  which  looked 
like  leather  or  part  of  a  raincoat  .  .  .  pearl  and  metal 
buttons,  a  cartridge  shell,  an  awl,  and  an  Indian  skin- 
ning knife  made  from  stone."  A  "triangular  shaped  piece 
of  cloth,"  described  as  possibly  a  military  insignia,  was 
also  recovered  beside  a  rusted  belt  buckle  and  cloth. 

The  Enterprise  noted  that  "theories  are  advanced  that 
they  may  have  been  trappers,  soldiers,  or  gold  pros- 
pectors." Jimmy  Allen,  described  by  the  paper  as 
"Cody's  outstanding  Indian  authority,"  believed  the  two 
were  "wandering  trappers  who  were  ambushed  by  In- 
dians" because  a  recovered  stone  skinning  knife  re- 
sembled that  "used  by  Indians  as  a  scalping  knife." 
Allen  believed  an  awl,  found  "some  40  feet  from  the 
site,"  resembled  a  type  used  to  shoot  fish. 

Desiring  more  substantial  answers.  Blackburn  stated 
that  he  intended  to  contact  University  of  Wyoming 
paleontologist  William  Mulloy.  Such  an  examination 
would  likely  reveal  "whether  or  not  there  [were]  evi- 
dences of  scalping,  or  perhaps  provide  detailed  identi- 
fication." Bob  Witter,  a  "former  Princeton  paleontolo- 
gist who  now  lives  in  Cody,"  did  manage  to  complete 
a  "personal  inspection"  of  the  remains.  He  determined 
that  they  "'were  almost  certainly  soldiers,  most  likely 
members  of  the  cavalry,"  and  they  were  roughh'  25 
and  45  years  old.  The  buttons,  puttee  pieces  of  leather, 
and  other  "Civil  war  variety  items  led  Witter  to  con- 
clude that  the  men  died  around  1880." 

Speculation  also  concerned  the  Battle  of  Bennett 
Butte.  The  Enterprise  reported  that  the  "place  where 
the  skeletons  were  found  is  about  four  miles  from  the 
Miles  Battleground  or  Bennett  Battlefield."''""  How- 
ever, there  were  still  Cody  residents  confident  in  their 
assumption  that  the  remains  were  those  of  Bennett. 

The  end  of  the  Enterprise  article  engages  in  its  own 
speculation.  In  a  fashion  Burnett  would  admire,  the 
article  recounts  Miles'  pursuit  of  the  Bannocks.  .A.t  this 

'--  Archaeological  Site  Survey  Form,  "Bannock  Battlefield." 
Survey  contains  map  of  site  (Miling  Bend),  evaluation,  one  page 
of  field  notes  (4/25/81),  and  archaeological  site  survey  form. 

'"  Cook,  Houze,  Edgar,  and  Fees,  143. 

^^"^  Cody  Enterprise.  July  16,  1953. 

^^ilbid. 


34 


Annals  of  Wyoming  :The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


point,  it  mentions  that  the  Bannocks  were  camped  along 
Chapman's  Bench,  a  prominent  ridge  to  the  southwest 
of  the  area  known  as  Miling  Bend.  With  imagination 
as  a  source,  the  story  says  Bennett  climbed  to  the  top 
of  Bennett  Butte  and  fortified  its  top  with  "rifle  pits" 
that  "may  still  be  seen."  Following  the  ascent,  Bennett 
"ordered  his  men  to  fire"  on  the  Indians  below. 

Such  an  account  is  ridiculous.  The  soldiers  would 
have  been  some  two  miles  away  from  the  Indian  en- 
campment at  Little  Sand  Coulee  if  situated  on  the  butte. 
When  the  location  of  the  two  bodies  at  the  mouth  of 
Paint  Creek  is  taken  into  consideration,  they  were  four 
miles  away.  No  rifle  pits  exist  or  were  ever  made  on 
the  top  of  the  butte.  Furthermore,  Bennett's  men  would 
have  been  practically  invisible  in  the  morning  dark- 
ness secluded  in  rifle  pits.  Yet,  the  Enterprise  version 
of  the  story  has  Bennett  being  shot  on  the  top  of  butte 
and  then  somehow  reappearing  some  four  miles  away 
—  with  a  companion  no  less.  Bennett's  remains  were 
shipped  to  Waukesha,  Wisconsin,  for  burial  immedi- 
ately after  the  battle.  Any  remains  tied  to  the  Bennett 
Butte  fight  would  be  Bannock  or  Crow. 

Other  human  remains  have  been  recovered  recently 
from  the  vicinity  of  the  battle.  The  Wyoming  State 
Crime  Lab  removed  a  few  remains  in  the  1 980s  or  1 990s 
and  sent  them  to  osteologist  (physical  anthropologist) 
Dr.  George  Gill  at  the  University  of  Wyoming.  Dr.  Gill 
is  currently  conducting  a  review  of  his  findings  and 
will  provide  a  report  upon  completion.  The  general  lo- 
cation in  which  the  remains  were  recovered  and  infor- 
mation regarding  genetic  characteristics  has  not  been 
ascertained. 

Within  the  last  ten  years,  Park  County  Coroner  Don 
Easton  recalled  that  a  body  had  been  removed  from  a 
bank  of  the  Clark's  Fork  approximately  five  or  six  miles 
downstream  from  the  Bennett  Butte  region.  Sent  to  the 
Smithsonian  Institution,  investigation  revealed  the  re- 
mains to  be  those  of  a  Native  American  woman.  Easton 
believed  the  body  had  then  been  shipped  back  to  the 
Buffalo  Bill  Historical  Center  in  Cody.  However,  no 
human  remains  were  ever  received  from  the 
Smithsonian  by  that  institution.  Under  current  repa- 
triation laws,  it  is  unlikely  that  any  museum  would  have 
accepted  the  remains  for  storage.  Perhaps  the  body  was 
returned  to  the  Bannock  reservation  in  Idaho?  Currently, 
its  whereabouts  are  unknown. '^^ 

Other  artifacts  have  provided  even  more  peculiar 
quandaries.  When  speaking  with  the  Billings  Gazette 
reporter  in  June  of  1 977,  Fred  Vickery,  who  grew  up 
near  Clark,  was  photographed  holding  a  long  bayonet. 
It  had  been  found  by  his  brother  Edward  "wedged  in 


the  crotch  of  a  tree,"  he  claimed,  after  he  "returned 
from  a  trip  up  the  canyon." '^'^  The  bayonet  entered 
Bennett  Butte  legend  as  an  item  recovered  in  "Miling 
Bend,"  tied  unmistakably  to  the  engagement  with  the 
Bannocks.  The  "Miles  Bannock  Battle  Site  Examina- 
tion" in  the  Archaeological  Site  Survey  Form,  written 
by  Kenneth  J.  Feyhl  on  May  19,  1981,  noted: 

Fred  Vickery  of  Billings,  Montana  told  me  he  knew 
of  military  issue  buttons  and,  as  I  recall,  scraps  of  cloth- 
ing and  blankets  being  found  around  the  three  small 
buttes  on  Barmen  Creek  near  the  Clark,  Wyoming  cem- 
etery and  two  and  one  half  miles  from  Miling  Bend. 
Also  Fred's  brother,  Edgar  Vickery,  found  what  I  as- 
sume to  be  a  Civil  War-vintage  bayonet  in  the  crotch 
of  a  Cottonwood  tree  in  Miling  Bend  in  about  the  year 
1900.. .138 

A  mistake  had  been  made.  Although  Edward  was 
killed  fighting  in  France  during  World  War  I  and,  thus, 
the  specifics  behind  his  finding  are  difficult  to  deter- 
mine, other  factors  weigh  heavily  against  a  Bennett 
Butte  connection.  At  the  outset,  Fred  Vickery 's  descrip- 
tions raise  questions.  Billings  Gazette  reporter  Addison 
Bragg  noted  that  Fred  had  "visited  the  Canyon  Creek 
battle  site  north  of  Laurel  many  times"  and  "has  a  few 
relics  to  show  for  it."'^^  Perhaps  the  bayonet  had  been 
recovered  at  that  site.  Col.  Sturgis,  once  again  pursu- 
ing the  Nez  Perce  in  1877  following  the  loss  of  the 
trail  farther  south  at  the  Clark's  Fork,  attacked  the  In- 
dians along  the  rim  rock  of  Canyon  Creek. '~'°  Fred 
Vickery's  reference  to  his  brother  finding  the  bayonet 
"from  a  trip  up  the  canyon"  also  raises  doubts,  as  both 
Miling  Bend  and  the  bend  at  little  Sand  Coulee  are  not 


'3*  In  late  December,  1997,  Jim  Hudson,  a  former  Clark  resi- 
dent, called  me  regarding  a  story  he  had  heard  about  the  "mass 
grave"  of  Bannocks.  He  reported  he  had  spoken  with  several  Clark 
residents  over  the  years  who  assured  him  that  the  Bannock  dead 
had  been  buried  in  what  is  today  the  southwest  corner  of  the  Clark 
Cemetery.  About  1983,  Hudson  noted  that  he  was  shown  the 
"square  of  sunken  ground  in  the  corner  of  the  cemetery."  Hudson 
also  also  notified  Randy  Thompson,  of  the  Shoshone-Bannock 
Tribes  Heritage  Tribal  Office/Cultural  Resources,  Fort  Hall,  Idaho. 
Thompson,  a  direct  descendant  of  Richard  Leigh  (Leigh's  daugh- 
ter Emma  was  his  grandfather's  mother),  expressed  interest  in 
the  site,  suggesting  the  tribe  may  investigate  it  further  and,  per- 
haps, be  able  to  locate  descendants  of  the  Bannock  participants. 

^^''  Billings  Gazette.  June  26,1977. 

'^*  "Miles-Bannock  Battle  Site  Examination"  from  Archaeo- 
logical Site  Survey  Form.  "Bannock  Battlefield,"  48PA3 15  (Sept. 
10,1978). 

'39  Billings  Gazette.  June  26,  1977. 

'•"'  For  information  concerning  the  Battle  of  Canyon  Creek, 
see  Utley,  Frontier  Regulars,  310-311. 


■liilllllUIIIIIWlBll 


Winter  1999 


35 


within  a  canyon.  Maybe  Edward's  venture  took  him 
into  the  Clark's  Fork  Canyon  (farther  west)  in  which 
he  found  an  artifact  from  the  campaign  against  the  Nez 
Perce,  or  perhaps  Fred  Vickery  incorrectly  remembered 
the  bayonet,  actually  found  at  Canyon  Creek,  as  lo- 
cated at  Miling  Bend? 

The  most  interesting  aspect  of  the  bayonet  find  con- 
cerns the  reference  to  it  as  "from  an  army  rifle."'""  No 
military  accounts  describe  the  use  of  bayonets  at  any 
time  during  the  attack  nor  are  they  mentioned  as  any  of 
the  "appurtenances"  in  Hunt's  recollections.  Even 
Bennett's  "charge"  seems  to  have  been  an  "every  man 
for  himself"  run  into  the  encampment  firing 
Springflelds.  It  was  not  a  fixed-bayonet  attack. 

Howard  Madaus,  curator  of  the  Cody  Firearms  Mu- 
seum (Buffalo  Bill  Historical  Center),  and  his  assis- 
tant, Simeon  Stoddard,  examined  the  Billings  Gazette 
photograph  of  Fred  Vickery  holding  the  alleged  "Army" 
baVonet.  After  inspection,  both  insisted  that  the  bayo- 
net was  much  to  short  to  fit  a  Springfield  45-70.  Rather, 
the  blade  was  from  a  British  Martini-Henry  rifle.  Al- 
though manufactured  in  the  early  1870s,  such  a  rifle 
would  not  have  been  used  by  the  U.S.  military  in  1 878. 
Nor,  both  argued,  was  it  likely  that  a  Bannock  or  Crow 
would  have  been  able  to  acquire  such  a  weapon  be- 
cause the  Canadian  government  kept  close  tabs  on  mili- 
tary issue  arms.  It  is  possible,  although  not  probable, 
that  a  Bannock  may  have  traded  for  the  weapon  while 
crossing  through  Idaho.  Another  oddity  exists,  how- 
ever, in  the  fact  that  the  bayonet  was  "wedged  in  the 
crotch  of  a  tree."  Why  would  a  Bannock,  Crow,  or  sol- 
dier decide  to  leave  behind  a  bayonet  and  nothing  else? 

While  the  Remington  firearm  recovered  by  R.  L. 
Fouse  and  items  found  by  Bob  Claycomb  have  pro- 
vided valuable  information  as  to  specific  battlefield 
logistics,  other  items  only  raise  questions.  Disappear- 
ing bodies  and  a  bayonet  that  doesn't  fit  the  circum- 
stances only  magnifies  the  dilemma  created  by  the  ero- 
sion of  memory,  reliance  on  rumor,  and  loss  of  per- 
sons that  do  hold  the  answers  to  the  depredations  of 
fime.  Perhaps  such  answers  can  be  found  elsewhere? 
Maybe  geographic  indicators  hold  the  keys  that  can 
unlock  a  hidden  monument  guarding,  as  the  Waukesha 
Freeman  referred  to  it,  "The  bivouac  of  the  dead."'"*- 

Identifying  the  precise  location  of  the  battle  provides 
the  first  step  toward  the  creation  of  a  monument  com- 
memorating the  participants  on  both  sides.  Unfortu- 
nately, many  maps  neglect  to  mention  the  site,  and  all 
miss  the  mark  in  pinpointing  its  location.  Ironically, 
even  when  a  location  is  correcfly  labeled,  it  is  often 
placed  in  the  wrong  spot  on  the  map.  By  reviewing  the 


historical  record,  20th  century  cartographic  attempts 
to  locate  the  site,  and  the  1981  Archaeological  Survey 
of  the  Miling  Bend  area,  geographic  clues  exist  to  sur- 
mise the  location  of  the  battlefield. 

The  one  primary  account  describing  the  battlefield 
appeared  in  the  Waukesha  Freeman,  ¥ihr\xdiX\-  19,  1880. 
Gen.  Miles,  introducing  the  description,  remarked  that 
Lt.  O.F.  Long,  Acting  Engineer  Officer,  had  also  pro- 
vided him  with  "as  good  a  map  as  I  have  been  able  to 
obtain  of  that  country"  [the  battlefield]."'-^' 

Because  no  map  has  been  identified,  the  lieutenant's 
written  description  provides  the  sole  source  regarding 
the  location  of  the  Bennett  Battle.  Long  reflected  on 
his  own  difficulty  determining  the  position  of  the  site. 
After  noting  that  the  location  "is  cold,  uninteresting, 
and  ordinary',"  he  reported  it  as  "about  sixty-five  miles 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Clark's  Fork,  in  a  region  which 
will  long  remain  in  comparative  obscurity."  It  "lay  in 
Wyoming  not  far  from  the  western  line  in  latitude," 
and  he  reported  the  location  incorrectly  as  latitude  44, 
45',  30"  and  longitude  109,  13'.  20".'-*-^"So  little  is 
known  that  even  the  general  course  of  rivers  and  ranges 
indicated  on  the  map  [not  provided]  are  only  approxi- 
mately correct,"  he  continued. 

The  battlefield  proper  is  on  the  left  bank  of  Clark's 
Fork.  To  the  west  at  a  distance  of  eight  hundred  yards 
a  line  of  low  hills  run  at  a  small  angle  with  the  river, 
sloping  gently  toward  it  and  carried  with  a  loose  drift 
where  the  grass  grows  but  sparsely.  On  these  low  hills 
was  formed  the  first  skirmish  line.  The  bottom  land  is 
covered  with  a  heavy  growih  of  sage  brush  (artimisia) 
[sic]  towering  above  the  head  of  a  horse,  it  affords  good 
protection  to  a  wily  foe,  and  was  chosen  perhaps  for 
that  very  purpose.  A  few  cottenwood  [sic]  trees  are 
scattered  at  intervals  over  the  battlefield  and  beyond 
the  sage  brush  and  between  it  and  the  river  is  an  island 
three  hundred  yards  long  and  half  as  wide.  Opposite 
the  island  and  on  the  convex  side  of  the  river,  the  latter 
has  cut  the  loose  incoherent  soil  and  sandstone  bluffs 
about  thirty  feet  in  hight  [sic]  and  inaccessible  present 
themselves.  However,  at  the  lower  end  of  the  island, 
where  the  river  bends,  there  is  a  ford  where  it  may  be 
crossed  and  the  top  of  the  bluffs  reached.  On  the  island 
and  among  the  thick  sage  brush  the  teepes  [sic]  of  the 

'■"  Billings  Gazette.  June  26,  1977. 

'■*-  Waukesha  Freeman.  February  19,  1S80. 

'«  Ibid. 

'■*■'  The  latitude  and  longitude  provided  b\  Long,  Bronson 
Tolman  determined  in  "How  Bennett  Creek  Got  Its  Name,"  "plots 
five  and  one  half  miles  south  of  the  Clarks  Fork  River  and  one 
half  mile  west  of  Pat  O'Hara  Creek  in  high,  rough  ground,"  and 
therefore,  it  "does  not  coincide  with  his  description  of  the  site  in 
a  bend  of  the  Clarks  Fork  River." 


36 


Annals  oi  Wyoming:The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


The  ridge  on  which  the  first  skirmish  line  was  organized. 


Bennett   Butte   Battle  Site 

Located  on  Highway  Map  of  Park  Countv  Wyoming 

1979 


Northern  Bridge 


Restaurant  and  Heyfield 


Map  of  the 
battle  on  the 
Clark 's  Fork 
(left)  and 
detail  of  the 
battlesite 
(right). 


Bannocks  were  placed.  Outside  of  the  Indian  camp  and 
not  a  few  yards  irom  it  in  the  sage  brush,  a  Httle  col- 
umn of  troops  was  formed  in  a  second  skirmish  line. 
Near  the  upper  end  of  the  island  and  on  this  line  Capt. 
Bennett  fell,  in  the  execution  of  his  office,  encourag- 
ing his  men  to  noble  deeds. '"^ 

Added  to  the  sketchy  description,  some  official  docu- 
mentation also  referred  to  the  location  incorrectly.  The 
"Chronological  list  of  actions,  &c..,  with  Indians  from 
January  1.  1837,  to  January,  1891"  described  the  site 
as  "Clark's  Fork,  Mont."'-'^ 

With  nothing  substantial  to  guide  them,  cartographers 
in  the  twentieth  century  have  also  missed  the  mark. 
Some  have  placed  the  battle  site  southeast  of  the  Bennett 
Buttes  (Sees  22  and  23  of  T57N,  R102W)'4^  near  what 
had  been  the  Clark  Post  Office  in  1916.i'*«  A  Depart- 
ment of  the  Interior  Geological  Survey  Map  (date  un- 
known) places  the  battle  in  a  similar  location,  confin- 
ing it  to  the  southeast  comer  of  section  22,  immedi- 
ately northeast  of  the  butte. 

Other  maps  make  more  egregious  mistakes.  One  uni- 
dentified portion  from  a  map  displaying  county  bound- 
aries and  physical  features  of  northern  Wyoming  lists 
the  battle  as  occurring  on  the  east  side  of  the  Clark's 


Bennett  Butte 
12  to'']  a.m- 
sept  4\ 

\ 


Fork,  apparently  east  of  the  confluence  of  the  Clark's 
Fork  and  Big  Sand  Coulee.  A  map  Great  Western  In- 
dian Fights  even  places  the  battle  in  the  wrong  state, 
locating  the  site  well  within  Montana. 

In  many  cases,  however,  the  common  assumption 
has  been  that  the  battle  took  place  in  the  area  known  as 
"Miling  Bend"  (Sec.  4  of  T56W,  R102W),  named  for 
a  rancher  who  lived  in  the  region  in  the  early  twentieth 
century.  Bronson  Tolman  noted  that  "the  Bannock  camp 
must  have  been  in  this  particular  spot  because  this  is 
the  only  place  on  the  Clarks  Fork  River  that  fits  all  [of 
O.F.  Long's]  descriptions."''*' 

Even  Miling  Bend,  as  a  map  in  the  April  1997  issue 
of  Wild  West  magazine  demonstrates,  has  not  always 
been  accurately  defined.  This  rendition  locates  the  site 
of  the  battle  at  "Myling  Bend"  yet  places  the  marker 

'''5  Waukesha  Freeman,  February  19,  1880. 

''" "  Chronological  list  of  actions,  &c.,  with  Indians  from  Janu- 
ary 1  1837,  to  January,  1891"  lists  the  September  4  battle  on  the 
Clark's  Fork  (Mont.)  with  1  Officer  killed,  1  Citizen,  2  enlisted 
men  (Little  Rock  and  Two  Crows),  1 1  Bannocks  killed  and  31 
captured. 

'■*''  In  the  Park  County  Historical  Archives  file  pertaining  to  the 
battle,  one  of  the  documents  regards  this  location  as  a  "potential 
[historical]  site  in  Park  County."  Unfortunately,  it  does  not  coin- 
cide with  the  location  of  the  battle. 

''**  C.H.  Scoville,  Park  County  Gateway  to  Yellowstone  Na- 
tional Park  Wyoming  (Map),  Ralston,  Wyoming,  1916.  Park 
County  Historical  Society  Archives.  See  also  USGS  map  from 
June,  1952,  of  "Shoshone  National  Foresf  which  places  site  in 
sections  21,  22,  and  23. 

'■"  Tolman,  "How  Bennett  Creek  Got  Its  Name." 


Winter  1Q9Q 


(Top  photo):  A  view  from  the  hayfield  south  to- 
ward the  mouth  of  the  Little  Sand  Coulee.  Note 
Heart  Mountain  in  the  background  and  the  thin 
ridge  to  the  eastern  cliffs  at  the  left. 
(Bottom):  A  view  of  the  battlefield  looking  north- 
east as  the  river  bends  to  the  north.  Note  the  high 
cliffson  the  convex  side  of  the  river  and  the  rem- 
nants of  the  island. 


much  too  far  to  the  north,  leaving  the  real  location  com- 
pletely off  the  map.'-^° 

Indeed,  when  identified  and  located  correctly,  the 
Miling  Bend  site  offered  enthusiasts  the  most  promise 
in  yielding  the  actual  location  of  the  battle.  Without 
any  tangible  artifactual  evidence,  such  as  the  revolver 
found  by  Fouse  at  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Sand  Coulee, 
the  site  seemed  to  fit  descriptions  perfectly--or  a  per- 
fect fit  could  be  molded  to  descriptions.  In  the  end, 
such  reasoning  overlooked  important  clues  and,  as  a 
frustrated  Aubrey  Haines  evidenced,  failed  to  substan- 
tiate Miling  Bend  as  the  site. 

The  lure  for  archaeological  loot  from  the  battle 
reached  a  climax  in  the  late  1970s  and  early  1980s. 
Convinced  that  Vickery's  account  and  Tolman's  rea- 
soning pointed  to  the  Miling  Bend  area,  Yellowstone 
Park  historian  Aubrey  Haines,  Stuart  Conner,  Dr.  Frank 
Wierzbinski,  Denes  Istvanffy,  Michael  Bryant  and 
Wilber  E.  (Elmer)  Bunn  set  out  to  add  weight  to  their 
"assumptions."  In  the  end,  their  findings  only  added  to 
the  mystery  of  the  battle.  Guided  by  faulty  infonnation 
and  a  literal  interpretation  of  the  battlefield  representa- 
tions, combined  with  attempts  to  make  the  landscape 
fit  within  such  limited  confines,  left  the  researchers 
lookins  in  the  wrona  location. 


After  "Fehyl  &  Conner  fooled  around  from  1 974  to 
1978  to  identify  the  site,"  it  was  apparent!}'  ""finally 
located"  on  September  10,  1978.  The  preliminary  Ar- 
chaeological Site  Sur\'ey  Fonn  was  completed  in  April 
of  1980.  It  noted  the  dilemmas  already  encountered  by 
those  trying  to  pinpoint  the  battle's  location,  explain- 
ing that  the  "camp  site  is  located  erroneously  on 
U.S.G.S.  maps.  .  .  The  maps  refer  to  the  site  as  the 
Miles  Battlefield."  Despite  such  ambiguity,  the  docu- 
ment asserted  confidently  that  Miling  Bend  ""is  the  lo- 
cation of  the  Bannock  camp  which  was  attacked  by 
General  Nelson  A.  Miles."  Numerous  ""stone  chips" 
found  in  the  vicinity  suggested,  if  nothing  else,  that 
the  ""location  was  a  camp  site  in  prehistoric  times."' ""' 
Because  no  material  was  collected  during  the  prelimi- 
nary investigation,  the  document  recommended  an  in- 
tensive ground  survey  as  a  next  step. 

A  year  later,  in  April,  1981,  the  examination  moved 
forward.  Kenneth  J.  Fehyl  documented  the  efforts.  As 
a  first  task,  the  team  "'appraise[d]  the  relative  merits" 


''"  Sidne  Lynde,  "Death  Along  the  Montana-Wyoming  Bor- 
der," Wild  West.  (April,  1997),  60-63.  Flawed  map  on  page  63. 

'-'^'  Archaeological  Site  Survey  Form.  "Bannock  Battlefield," 
48PA315  (Sept.  10,1978). 


38 


Annals  ot  Wyoming;Tke  Wyoming  History  Journal 


of  the  "candidates  for  the  site  of  the  engagement."  They 
employed  three  metal  detectors,  scanning  the  "bulge" 
west  of  the  river  for  shell  casings,  bullets,  or  other  evi- 
dence of  the  engagement.  Fehyl  noted  that  "this  bulge 
is  somewhat  set  apart  from  the  Miling  Bend  area  proper 
not  only  by  the  high,  dense  sagebrush  and  cottonwoods, 
but  also  by  a  slight  swale,  extending  NE  and  SW,  par- 
alleling the  river  at  the  bulge  and  suggesting  that  at 
some  time  in  the  past  it  may  have  been  a  river  chan- 
nel." What  Fehyl  was  searching  for  was  a  trough  indi- 
cating a  pathway  by  which  the  river  may  have  at  one 
time  formed  the  island  described  in  Long's  report.  In 
Feyhl's  mind,  the  "situation  would  have  resulted  in  an 
island."'52 

Fehyl  described  the  site  in  1981.  "Most  of  the  Miling 
Bend  bottom  now  consists  of  thick  deposits  of  wind- 
blown sih.  "'5^  In  their  appraisal  of  "other  likely  bends 
in  the  Clarks  Fork  River,"  Fehyl  contended  that  "none 
fit  as  well  as  Miling  bend."  Restating  Lt.  Long's  de- 
scription of  the  battlefield,  he  noted  the  river's  con- 
cave bend  to  the  left,  the  line  of  low  hills  800  yards  to 
the  west,  the  heavy  sagebrush  and  cottonwoods,  the 
description  of  an  island,  which  in  his  estimation  would 
have  been  1 300  feet  long  and  300  to  400  feet  wide,  and 
sandstone  cliffs  on  the  convex  side  of  the  river.  Most 
curiously,  Fehyl  pointed  out  that  "the  river  bends  at 
precisely  the  lower  and  of  what  we  assume  to  be  the 
'island'  and  the  bluffs  can  easily  be  'reached'  from  this 
point." '  - ■>  Indeed,  at  the  northern,  downriver  portion  of 
what  could  be  considered  the  island,  the  sandstone  cliffs 
opposite  the  river  end  and  a  small  bulge  forms  on  the 
eastern  edge  of  the  river.  This  forces  water  to  curve  to 
the  west  around  the  bulge  which  forms  a  natural  ramp 
leading  to  the  top  of  the  eastern  bluffs.  With  the  island 
visualized  in  this  manner.  Long's  descriptions  seem  to 
fit.  The  small  bulge  (north  end  and  downriver)  bend- 
ing the  river  provides  a  perfect  "ford"  by  which  "the 
top  of  the  bluffs  [can  be]  reached." 

When  considering  Long's  report,  however,  perspec- 
tive must  be  taken  into  account.  As  he  pointed  out  in 
the  Waukesha  Freeman,  his  descriptions  were  at  best 
"only  approximately  correct."'^^  Despite  the  fact  that 
Long  served  as  the  acting  engineering  officer  for  Miles, 
apparently  he  had  no  surveying  equipment  during  the 
"expedition"  against  the  Bannocks.  Furthermore, 
Long's  recollections  were  presented  to  the  Waukesha 
Freeman  more  than  a  year  after  the  battle  took  place. 
Reconstructing  details  of  the  site  from  memory  and 
field  notes  might  provide  a  slightly  cloudy  portrait  of 
the  landscape  and  events. 

Distances  and  the  descriptors  provided  by  Long  raise 


interesting  questions,  too.  The  fact  that  three  small  hills 
have  been  termed  "Bennett  Butte"  suggests  an  inher- 
ent difficulty  in  determining  precise  landmarks.  To  the 
west  of  the  Little  Sand  Coulee  site,  approximately  800 
yards  distant,  runs  a  low  ridge  perhaps  twenty  feet  high. 
A  similar  landmark  exists  at  the  Miling  Bend  site. 
Long's  descriptions  refer  to  "low  hills"  on  which  the 
first  skirmish  line  was  formed.  Considering  Long's  per- 
spective, in  which  a  small  ridge  seemed  much  like  a 
hill  shrouding  an  adequate  view  of  the  encampment 
from  the  west  yet  offering  the  ideal  spot  to  form  a  skir- 
mish line,  the  description  begins  to  fit  into  place.  A 
long,  narrow  ridge  does  fit  the  description  of  "low  hills." 
One  driving  toward  the  Clark  Cemetery  at  the  base  of 
Bennett  Butte  from  Highway  120  travels  directly 
through  this  landmark. 

The  most  troubling  conclusion  of  the  1981  survey 
involved  the  search  for  the  "island."  As  mentioned  in 
the  description  of  the  Miling  Bend  bulge,  the  team  rea- 
soned that  a  small  depression  extending  southwest  from 
the  bulge  to  the  straight  portion  of  the  river  indicated 
that  water  likely  traveled  between  the  points  at  one  time. 
Fehyl's  conclusion  that  the  "river  bends  at  precisely 
the  lower  and  of  what  we  assume  to  be  the  'island'"  at 
which  point  the  bluffs  to  the  east  can  be  reached,  pre- 
sents a  problem,  however.  While  the  river  does  indeed 
bend  around  the  small,  downriver  bulge  at  a  point  where 
the  hypothesized  island  would  have  existed,  it  fails  to 
recognize  that  Long's  descriptions  may  refer  to  the 
larger  bulge  on  the  concave  (west)  side  of  the  river.  In 
Miling  Bend,  the  main  bend  (on  the  west  [concave] 
portion  of  the  river)  begins  near  the  center  of  the  visu- 
alized island  (with  cliffs  on  the  convex  side  of  the  river), 
not  at  the  exit  location  of  the  sage-filled  depression  (or 
northern  point  of  the  island).  If  the  wind-blown  silt 
deposited  opposite  the  main  bulge,  not  the  smaller  to 
the  north  on  the  opposite  (eastern)  side  of  the  river,  is 
taken  into  consideration  and  used  as  a  reference  for  the 
location  of  the  island's  downriver  point,  cliffs  present 
an  impenetrable  barrier,  not  a  point  where  "the  top  of 
the  bluffs  [can  be]  reached."' ^6 

The  survey  team's  conception  of  the  "bend"  of  the 
river  fits  Long's  description  only  if  the  larger  bulge  of 
the  island  (the  west  bank  of  the  island  on  the  convex 
side  of  the  river)  is  overlooked  and  the  smaller  bulge 

'5-  All  quotes  from  Kenneth  J.  Feyhl,  "Miles-Bannock  Battle 
Site  Examination,"  April,  1981. 

'^-^  Waukesha  Freeman,  February  19,1880. 
156  Ibid. 


Winter  1Q9Q 


39 


farther  north  compensated  to  fit  the  description.  The 
main  larger  "bend"  in  the  river  occurs  long  before  the 
downriver  (northern)  point  of  the  island  and  smaller 
bulge. 

The  survey  team  "re-appraised"  other  locations  "for 
several  miles  upstream  and  down  from  Miling  Bend" 
after  "no  positive  evidence  could  be  found  in  the  metal 
detector  survey"  and  "careful  examination  could  not 
identify  [the  island]  positively."'-''^  Despite  finding  no 
artifacts  (which  frustrated  Aubrey  Haines),  and  despite 
the  fact  that  the  island  could  not  be  positively  identi- 
fied, Fehyl  still  believed  "Miling  Bend  [was]  the  scene 
of  the  Bannock  Battlefield." 

The  Little  Sand  Coulee  site  (southeast  sec.  25  and 
western  portion  ofsec.  30,  T57NR101  Wand  R102W) 
seems  never  to  have  been  appraised  on  its  own  merits. 
The  site  does  mold  nicely  in  to  Long's  account,  even 
though  a  hayfield  now  covers  the  west  bank  along  the 
bend.  To  the  west,  the  low  hills  of  the  first  skirmish 
line,  as  described  before,  run  "at  a  small  angle  with  the 
river."  Tall  sagebrush  does  still  stand  on  the  east  bank 
as  well  as  untilled  portions  to  the  west,  with  large  cot- 
tonwoods  scattered  along  the  downriver  portion  of  the 
bend  holding  tightly  to  the  soil.  Steep  sandstone  cliffs 
shadow  the  convex  side  of  the  river  to  the  east,  broken 
by  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Sand  Coulee  to  the  south 
looking  toward  Heart  Mountain,  and  once  again  emerg- 
ing on  the  west  bank  of  the  Little  Sand  Coulee.  At  the 
exact  point  in  which  the  river  follows  a  major  bend  to 
the  north  steep  bluffs  can  be  ascended  along  a  thin  ridge 
on  the  eastern  edge  of  the  Little  Sand  Coulee, 

An  island  also  still  exists  in  this  location,  the  rem- 
nants of  which  extends  perhaps  800- 1 ,000  feet  upriver, 
beyond  the  Highway  1 20  bridge  to  the  west  (upriver). 
The  current  island  ends  (downstream)  at  the  precise 
bend  in  the  river,  at  which  point  the  ridge  lowers  fi^om 
the  cliffs  toward  the  Little  Sand  Coulee.  The  water  level 
(in  June  1997)  was  extremely  high  as  spring  runoff 
produced  flooding  along  some  portions  of  the  Clark's 
Fork.  With  less  runoff,  the  island  no  doubt  fills  a  larger 
portion  of  the  river.  Furthermore,  it  appears  that  the 
river  once  cut  more  deeply  into  the  mouth  of  the  Little 
Sand  Coulee,  perhaps  extending  for  several  hundred 
feet  before  forming  an  oxbow  lake  and  eventually  dry- 
ing up.  This  island  has  grown  and  receded  with  the 
cunents  of  the  river. 

The  Little  Sand  Coulee  site  also  offered  a  means  of 
escape  which  the  Miling  Bend  location  failed  to  pro- 
vide. Col.  Miles  noted  that  some  of  the  Bannocks 
"jumped  into  the  river  and  swam  to  the  other  side."'^^ 
Disoriented  by  a  dawn  attack,  it  seems  logical  to  as- 


sume that  most  people  in  the  same  circumstances  would 
attempt  to  flee  in  the  direction  opposite  attacking  troops, 
particularly  when  the  number  of  attacking  soldiers  was 
not  known.  However,  considering  the  number  of 
Bannocks  that  did  escape,  the  enveloping  cliffs  of  the 
Miling  Bend  site  would  have  precluded  an  effecfive 
escape  path.  Broken  sandstone  faces  and  extremely 
steep  ravines  border  the  eastern  and  southern  banks  of 
the  river.  Crossing  the  water  would  have  left  a  Bannock 
with  few  options.  Only  a  few  of  the  deep  gorges  lead- 
ing to  the  eastern  plateau  existed  among  impenetrable 
cliffs.  These  ramps  would  have  been  particularly  diffi- 
cult to  find  in  the  morning  darkness.  If  a  Bannock  did 
manage  to  find  one  of  these  protected  pockets  on  the 
eastern  bank  of  the  river,  an  ideal  location  existed  to 
mount  a  defense.  On  reaching  the  plateau,  the  flat  plain 
likely  afforded  few  options  in  regard  to  decent  hiding 
places  and,  thus,  escape  would  be  difficult.  One  could, 
have  fired  from  folds  in  the  ravines  or  along  the  rim  of 
the  plateau  east  of  the  river,  presumably  with  impu- 
nity. No  accounts  describe  any  bullets  raining  down 
on  the  troops  from  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river. 

At  the  Little  Sand  Coulee  site,  escape  routes  existed 
along  the  ridge  to  the  top  of  the  eastern  cliffs,  along 
two  draws  up  the  Little  Sand  Coulee  to  the  south,  and 
along  the  bluffs  to  the  southwest  of  the  battlefield  (still 
south  of  the  river).  Strewn  along  the  mouth  of  the 
continence  were  additional  high  sagebrush,  providing 
an  escapee  with  an  adequate  screen  fi^om  the  sights  of 
the  soldiers'  Springfield  rifles.  Jumping  into  the  river 
fi"om  the  west  bank  or  irom  the  island  toward  the  east 
bank  makes  sense  at  the  Little  Sand  Coulee  site.  To 
capture  the  fleeing  Bannocks,  Bennett's  men  had  to 
cross  the  river,  scour  the  sagebrush,  and  search  the  many 
hills  and  gaps  along  Little  Sand  Coulee.  Such  a  flight 
offered  numerous  escape  alternatives  and  provided 
many  visual  barriers  by  which  the  Bannock  could  hide 
from  the  soldiers'  view. 

Another  interesting  factor  in  determining  the  battle 
site  concerns  Miles'  movement  on  the  night  of  Sep- 
tember 3  and  4.  At  some  point,  his  troops  forded  the 
Clark's  Fork  in  order  to  reach  what  would  become 
Bennett  Butte.  The  ford  likely  occurred  to  the  south- 
west of  Miling  Bend,  just  north  and  east  of  a  promi- 
nent plateau  known  as  Chapman  Bench.  Despite  the 
driving  rainstorm,  it  seems  very  likely  that  if  the 
Bannock  encampment  rested  in  Miling  Bend,  both  par- 

"' Kenneth  J.  Feyhl,  "Miles-Bannock  Battle  Site  Examination," 
April,  1981. 

'^*  Miles,  Personal  Recollections,  299. 


40 


Annals  ot  Wyoming:The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


ties  would  have  seen  one  another.  Miles  makes  no  men- 
tion of  backtracking.  The  Miling  Bend  site  would  have 
taken  him  back  in  the  direction  from  which  he  had  just 
traveled.  The  sites  near  the  mouth  of  Paint  Creek  (where 
Blackburn  discovered  the  two  bodies  in  1952),  as  well 
as  that  near  the  Clark's  Fork  bend  at  Pat  O'Hara  Creek, 
are  located  more  than  two  miles  from  the  butte  to  the 
southwest  (as  noted  in  Long's  description).  Both  of 
these  locations  do  not  fit  descriptions  pertaining  to  the 
large  island  nor  the  "impenetrable"  cliffs  to  the  east  of 
the  river.  A  Little  Sand  Coulee  site,  with  the  low  ridge 
on  the  west,  would  have  been  concealed  as  Miles'  com- 
mand forded  the  river.  Furthermore,  homing  in  on  the 
early  morning  fire  after  wandering  the  flat  plain,  if  at 
Miling  Bend,  would  have  placed  Miles'  men  to  the 
north  as  they  traveled  southward  from  the  butte.  The 
attacking  force  would  have  come  from  the  north  to- 
ward the  south  from  which  the  encampment  would  have 
likely  been  much  more  easily  visible.  At  the  Little  Sand 
Coulee  site  the  attackers  would  clearly  have  approached 
from  the  west  and  the  encampment  would  have  been 
concealed  (as  described)  by  the  prominent  ridge  to  the 
west  of  the  battlefield. 

It  does  not  seem  surprising  that  attempts  to  pinpoint 
the  battle  at  Miling  Bend  left  the  survey  team,  and 
Aubrey  Haines,  in  particular,  "visibly  discouraged." '^^ 
Based  on  sketchy  historical  and  artifactual  evidence, 
the  team  followed  the  assumptions  of  Tolman  and  what 
still  seems  the  most  logical  location  when  Long's  de- 
scriptions are  taken  into  account.  With  its  winding  cliffs 
on  the  east  and  large  bulge  reminiscent  of  an  island 
long  ago  and  small  "bend"  at  the  lower  end  of  the  hy- 
pothetical island,  it  seemed  to  Tolman  the  "only  place 
on  the  Clarks  Fork  River  that  fits  all  the  descriptions."'^^ 
Perhaps,  in  the  end.  Long's  original  descriptions  were 
faulted.  Distances  were  limited  to  all  but  approxima- 
tions, hills  were  described  as  buttes,  and  long  ridges 
were  reduced  to  "low  hills." 

Additionally,  the  Little  Sand  Coulee  site  settles  into 
place  when  descriptions  of  the  battle  are  taken  into 
consideration.  The  location  of  the  first  skirmish  line 
confirms  Miles'  difficulty  in  locating  the  encampment 
as  he  traveled  the  flat  plain.  The  ridge  blocks  all  view 
of  persons  at  the  mouth  of  the  coulee.  The  dim  glow  of 
a  fire  would  have  provided  the  only  indication  of  a 
camp  situated  there.  Furthermore,  reports  of  Bannocks 
fleeing  the  battlesite  suggest  easily  accessible  routes 
of  escape.  Miling  Bend,  confined  by  cliffs  and  ravines 
on  its  convex  side,  afforded  limited  escape  possibili- 
ties. In  the  end,  lacking  artifactual  evidence,  limited 
by  geographical  descriptions,  and  nullified  by  the  lo- 


gistics of  the  historical  record,  Miling  Bend  may  not 
fit  Long's  descriptions  as  once  presumed.  A  review  of 
such  evidence,  although  limited  by  its  own  faults, 
strongly  suggests  that  the  battle  occurred  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Little  Sand  Coulee. 

Little  did  Richard  "Beaver  Dick"  Leigh  know  that 
the  smoke  from  the  forest  fires  he  watched  in  1878 
would  catch  the  currents  heading  east,  clouding  his- 
tory into  the  late  twentieth  century.  The  story  behind 
Miles'  Fight  on  the  Clark's  Fork  ended  up  in  much  the 
same  shape  as  Leigh's  second  homestead,  ravaged  by 
floodwaters  that  swept  through  the  Teton  Valley  after 
a  dam  collapsed  in  June  of  1976.  Bits  and  pieces  of 
information  drifted  downriver.  Most  were  lost,  sink- 
ing to  unattainable  depths  or  scattered  in  the  abyss  of 
the  mighty  Pacific.  Some  of  the  wreckage,  however, 
drifted  ashore  or  tangled  within  the  roots  that  held  the 
banks  from  the  floodwaters.  From  this  debris,  little  was 
left  from  which  to  reconstruct  the  cabins. 

There  were,  however,  some  who  remembered  details 
as  to  how  each  log  fit  against  the  other,  how  fences 
defined  and  confined  particular  geographic  features,  and 
the  names  and  faces  of  those  who  once  traveled  in  and 
out  of  the  structure's  front  door.  When  the  memories 
faded,  some  sifted  through  the  scattered  remains  of  an 
event  that  once  was,  uncovering  what  they  claimed  were 
the  morsels  to  solve  a  developing  mystery.  With  some 
of  the  pieces  in  hand,  one  vital  element  remained  enig- 
matic: no  foundation  could  be  found. 

In  the  end,  a  painting  emerged  of  the  battle.  In  some 
areas,  the  image  is  less  clear  than  in  others.  The  names 
and  faces  of  most  of  the  Bannocks  and  Crows  seem 
but  impressionistic  icons  while  those  of  the  5th 
infantry's  leadership  stand  out  with  sharp  detail.  Even 
the  background  of  the  painting  at  times  seems  lost  amid 
the  heavy'  strokes  of  a  wide  brush.  It  is  indeed  a  work 
in  progress,  the  final  touches  of  historical  and  archaeo- 
logical investigation  yet  to  be  delicately  applied. 

'^*  Field  notes  of  Stuart  Connor  from  "Bannock  Battlefield  Trip 
to  Myling  Bend,  April  25,  1981. 


159 


Tolman,  "How  Bennett  Creek  Got  It's  Name." 


Kyle  V.  Walpole  graduated  with  a  master 's  degree 
in  Western  American  history  from  the  University  of 
Wyoming  in  1998.  Focusing  on  19th  century  mili- 
tary and  Native  American  history,  he  conducted  a 
study  of  the  Bennett  Butte  battle  during  an  intern- 
ship with  the  Buffalo  Bill  Historical  Center,  Cody, 
during  the  summer  of  1997.  His  research  led  to  his 
master 's  thesis  from  which  this  article  is  derived. 
Walpole  plans  a  career  in  public  history. 


Book  R 


e  Views 


Edited  tv  Carl  HallLert 


Voyages  of  Discovery:  Essays  on  the  Lewis  and 
Clark  Expedition.  Edited  by  James  P.  Ronda.  Hel- 
ena: Montana  Historical  Society  Press,  1998..v/v  +  351 
pages.  Illustrations,  maps,  notes,  index.  Cloth.  $45. 00; 
paper.  $19.95. 

The  historic  Lewis  and  Clark  expedition  continues 
to  nourish  our  national  pride  and  frequently  provides  a 
historical  comparison  or  commentary  with  later  explo- 
ration efforts,  including  the  space  program.  The  expe- 
dition celebrates  national  success,  expansion,  adven- 
ture, cooperation  and  courage  and  remains  the  quintes- 
sential exploration  epic  in  our  nation's  histor>'.  Thus 
an  already  receptive  audience  of  historians  and  laymen 
will  be  gratified  and  rewarded  in  reading  James  P. 
Ronda's  Voyages  of  Discovery. 

Ronda  adds  his  own  essays  to  the  contribution  of 
such  historian-scholars  as  John  Allen,  John  Ewers, 
Albert  Furtwangler,  Silvio  Bedini,  Gary  Moulton  and 
of  course,  Bernard  DeVoto  and  Donald  Jackson  -  fa- 
miliar names  to  those  acquainted  with  the  literature 
about  the  expedition.  Incorporated  into  the  collection 
are  brief  source  documents  that  add  tidbits  of  interest, 
such  as  President  Jefferson's  instructions  to  Meriwether 
Lewis,  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush's  questions  about  Native 
American  medicine,  morals  and  religion  for  Lewis  to 
investigate  and  Sergeant  John  Ordway's  letter  to  his 
parents  that  expressed  his  joy  at  being  selected  to  be 
"one  of  them  pick'd  Men  from  the  armey,  and  1  and  all 
the  party  if  we  live  to  Return,  .  .  .  ." 

The  essays  have  been  organized  into  six  general  cat- 
egories: Genesis,  the  Corps  of  Discovery,  The  Jour- 
ney, Mutual  Discovery,  Homecoming  and  Looking 
Back.  In  essence,  the  essays  examine  Jefferson's  mo- 
tives and  expectations,  the  planning  and  organization 
of  the  expedition,  the  character  of  the  corps,  key  events 
and  changes  during  the  twenty-eight  month,  9,000-mile 
trek,  scientific  instruments  and  their  use,  relations  with 
Native  American  peoples  and  the  literary  history  asso- 
ciated with  the  expedition. 

As  a  whole,  the  reading  reflects  the  fertile  diversity 
of  research  and  academic  inquiry  and  emphasizes  the 
complexities  surrounding  the  expedition.  In  conse- 


quence, the  Lewis  and  Clark  expedition  becomes  far 
move  than  the  dramatic  adventure  story  of  two  bold 
leaders  and  their  followers  blazing  a  trail  to  the  Pa- 
cific. In  fact,  the  book's  title  "Voyages"  signifies  that 
there  were  many  "explorations"  that  occurred  during 
the  expedition.  For  Native  Americans,  it  meant  the  in- 
clusion of  a  new  people  and  culture  into  their  world 
view.  For  the  men  of  the  expedition  it  lead  to  the  cre- 
ation of  a  community  that  made  its  way  through  a  se- 
ries of  other  human  and  botanical  communities. 
In  attempting  to  explain  why  Jefferson  decided  on  such 
an  expedition,  Ronda  asserts  that  upon  reading 
Alexander  Mackenzie's  1801  narrative  about  his  ear- 
lier transcontinental  treks  across  Canada,  "Jefferson's 
answer  to  Mackenzie's  initiative,  was  bom  at  that  mo- 
ment." Ronda  likewise  emphasizes  that  Jefferson's 
written  instruction  to  Captain  Lewis,  which  included 
scientific  and  commercial  interests,  served  to  define  a 
national  strategy  that  would  satisfy  the  "land  hungers 
and  restless  energies  of  a  young  nation."  It  is  of  inter- 
est to  learn  that  Jefferson  wisely  accepted  the  advice  of 
Attorney  General  Levi  Lincoln  to  expand  the 
expedition's  goals.  An  expedition  with  multiple  objec- 
tives could  withstand  failure  in  regards  to  one  pursuit 
without  being  labeled  a  total  failure  by  Jefferson's  po- 
litical enemies. 

Geographer  John  Allen,  well  known  for  his  writing 
about  the  expedition,  makes  a  major  contribution  with 
his  thought-provoking  essays  describing  the  perceived 
images  of  the  land  and  available  maps  on  the  eve  of  the 
expedition;  the  relationships  that  developed  between 
the  corps  and  the  Indians;  and  how  scholars  and  the 
public  have  viewed  the  expedition  since  its  return  to 
St.  Louis  in  1 806.  In  fact,  readers  may  be  surprised  by 
Allen's  statement  that  "Looking  back  upon  the  Lewis 
and  Clark  Expedition  after  the  passage  of  160  years,  it 
appears  that  this  pioneer  venture  into  the  wilds  of  the 
Upper  Missouri  was  much  less  successful  in  the  field 
of  Indian  diplomacy  than  in  the  fields  of  geographical 
exploration  and  scientific  discovery." 

Allen  ftirther  notes  that  the  expedition  failed  to  ful- 
fill the  expectations  of  the  scientific  community  at  that 
time  due  to  the  lack  of  any  substantial  scientific  re- 


42 


Annals  or  Wyoming:  The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


ports.  Then  there  was  Jefferson's  disappointment  that 
the  explorers  had  been  unable  to  find  a  practical  route 
for  commerce  across  the  mountains.  Nor  was  the  pub- 
lic clear  about  the  expedition's  benefits. 

Fortunately,  the  reputation  of  the  two  captains  and 
the  expedition  has  been  elevated  over  time  due  to  the 
efforts  of  historians  who  periodically  returned  to  edit 
the  original  journals  penned  by  Nicholas  Biddle  in  1 814. 
Allen  and  Ronda's  essays  trace  the  evolution  of  his- 
torical writing  that  reached  milestones  in  the  works  of 
Elliott  Coues  1893  re-editing  of  Biddle's  work  and 
Reuben  Gold  Thwaites  eight-volume  series  in  1904. 
Subsequent  historians  such  as  Bernard  DeVoto,  Donald 
Jackson  and  Paul  Outright  have  added  to  the  record. 
Gar\'  Moulton's  more  recent  commitment  to  produce  a 
multi-volume  updated  series  of  the  journals  brings  us 
to  the  present. 

Ronda's  book  is  a  reminder  that  the  Lewis  and  Clark 
expedition  can  be  studied  through  the  prism  of  per- 
spectives that  encompass  an  abundance  of  issues  rang- 
ing from  geographic  places  and  events  to  personalities 
and  national  interests.  If  the  essays  serve  to  expand 
our  appreciation  and  understanding  of  the  expedition, 
they  also  invite  further  "voyages"  of  scholarship,  and  a 
reexamination  of  the  motives,  challenges  and  conse- 
quences of  national  exploration. 

Don  Hodgson 

Eastern  Wyoming  College 


The  Rural  West  Since  World  War  II.  Edited  by 
R.  Douglas  Hurt.  Lawrence:  University  Press  of 
Kansas,  1998.  x  +  258 pages.  Illustrations,  notes, 
bibliography,  index.   Cloth,  $45;  paper.  $25. 

This  excellent  work  consists  of  an  editor's  introduc- 
tion and  ten  scholarly  essays.  The  "rural  west"  was 
defined  as  the  "agricultural,  small-town  and  reserva- 
tion West"  (p.  5)  of  portions  of  the  eleven  states  be- 
tween the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Pacific.  In  the  four 
states  (Montana,  Wyoming,  Colorado  and  New 
Mexico)  located  partially  in  the  Great  Plains,  the  au- 
thors were  "asked  to  analyze  only  those  areas  that  fall 
within  the  geographic  definition  of  the  Far  West"  (p. 
5). 

The  authors  covered  a  variety  of  subjects.  In  "Na- 
tive Americans;  The  Original  Rural  Westerners,"  David 
Rich  Lewis  concluded  that  since  World  War  II  the  de- 
scendants of  the  first  people  have  de-emphasized  agri- 
culture in  favor  of  industry,  mining,  fishing  and  tour- 


ism. But  despite  this  reorientation,  he  stressed, 
ruralness,  although  threatened  by  technological 
changes,  continues  to  define  their  character. 

The  essays  by  Paula  M.  Nelson  and  Sandra  Schackel 
on  rural  life  and  social  change  and  ranch  and  farm 
women  respectively  summarized  the  sociological 
change  wrought  by  the  rapid  adaptation  of  electricity, 
gas-powered  vehicles,  modem  highways,  telephones, 
and  television.  The  social  and  economic  implications 
of  ethnic  diversity  was  covered  by  Anne  B.W.  Effland, 
"Migrant  and  Seasonal  Farm  Labor  in  the  Far  West." 

The  significant  role  of  the  federal  government  in 
western  agriculture  was  the  greatest  concern  of  Donald 
J.  Pisani  and  Thomas  R.  Wessel.  In  "Federal  Water 
Policy  and  the  Rural  West,"  Pisani  described  the  pro- 
found effects  of  government  dams  on  agricultural  irri- 
gation and  noted  that  federal  water  projects  stimulated 
industry  and  urbanization  as  well.  In  writing  on  agri- 
cultural policy,  Wessel  covered  two  main  areas  -  water 
development  and  public  grasslands. 

The  other  four  writings  concentrate  on  the  nature  and 
effects  of  recent  changes  in  agricultural  practices  and 
techniques.  In  analyzing  the  impact  of  environmental- 
ism,  James  E.  Sherow  noted  that  some  western  farm- 
ers are  cooperating  with  environmentalists  by  lessen- 
ing dependence  on  pesticides  and  herbicides  and  striv- 
ing to  relate  agriculture  to  the  total  natural  world,  rather 
than  targeting  maximum  production.  In  "Agricultural 
Science  and  Technology  in  the  West,"  Judith  Fabry 
emphasized  "systems  of  technology"  involving  labor 
saving  machines,  specially  bred  plants  and  animals  and 
use  of  chemicals.  Mark  Friedberger's  writing  on  cattle 
raising  and  dairying  described,  among  other  things,  the 
revolutionary  impact  of  the  shift  from  grazing  to  dry- 
lot  feeding.  Last,  Harry  C.  McDean  in  "Agribusiness 
in  the  American  West"  covered  the  interrelationships 
of  agriculture,  national  and  international  trade,  bank- 
ing, food  processing  and  the  advent  of  supermarket 
chains. 

Although  each  chapter  deals  with  a  specific  topic, 
collectively  they  aptly  characterize  western  agriculture 
since  World  War  II.  Today's  rural  west  as  contrasted 
to  that  of  1945  has  less,  but  much  larger  farms,  less 
rural  people,  less  small  towns,  a  much  more  comfort- 
able and  convenient  lifestyle,  vastly  more  irrigated 
farmland,  a  much  heavier  reliance  on  technology  and 
closer  economic  ties  to  the  nation  and  the  world. 

Hurt  pointed  out  that  the  history  of  the  rural  West 
since  1 945  has  been  neglected  by  historians.  This  book 
should  make  a  significant  contribution  towards  filling 
that  void.  All  the  essays  were  well-researched,  lucidly 


Winter  1QQ9 


43 


and  thoughtfully  written  and  copiously  documented. 
Other  than  furnishing  timely  information,  they  should 
help  inspire  further  studies  of  the  recent  and  contem- 
porary rural  West.  This  book  is  highly  recommended 
for  anyone  interested  in  the  history  of  agriculture  or 
the  development  of  the  post-frontier  West. 

William  E.  Lass 
Minnesota  State  University 
Mankato 

Disease  and  Medical  Care  in  the  Mountain 
West:  Essays  on  Region,  History  and  Practice. 

Edited  by  Martha  L.  Hildreth  and  Bruce  T.  Moran. 
Reno:  University  of  Nevada  Press,  1998..v.vz  +  154 
pages.  Illustrations,  maps,  notes,  index.  Cloth, 
$39.95. 

Health  care  and  the  treatment  of  diseases  are  serious 
fmancial  and  personal  decisions  for  individuals,  groups, 
and  families,  and  for  those  who  are  underinsured,  un- 
insured or  seriously  ill.  The  current  medical  conven- 
tion that  emphasizes  hospitals,  group  practices,  spe- 
cialists, and  managed  care  is  differentiated  through  the 
study  of  ailments  and  health  care  in  Disease  and  Medi- 
cal Care  in  the  Mountain  West.  Winner  of  the  1997 
Wilbur  S.  Shepperson  Humanities  Book  Award  fi^om 
the  University  of  Nevada  Press  and  the  Nevada  Hu- 
manities Committee,  the  eight  essays  contained  in  the 
volume  are  drawn  from  a  1993  conference  on  regional 
medicine,  health,  and  health  care.  Through  a  diversity 
of  topics  and  specific  studies,  the  work  provides  an 
introduction  to  the  medical  history  of  this  geographi- 
cal region.  The  volume  emphasizes  a  sense  of  place, 
environment,  work  patterns,  and  cultural  factors  in  the 
mountain  west's  particular  medical  history  instead  of 
examining  the  diseases  themselves  and  their  treatment. 

In  the  introduction  and  first  chapter,  the  editors  and 
Ronald  L.  Numbers  make  the  case  for  using  region  - 
whether  defined  geographically,  by  nodes  of  political 
or  social  power,  culturally,  or  by  disease  -  as  a  means 
of  examining  the  environment  and  how  human  culture 
interacted  with  it.  The  editors  have  also  provided  a  short 
introduction  to  the  historiography  of  medical  study  and 
how  that  research  has  changed  from  defining  diseases 
by  region  to  diseases  having  a  "scientific  universal- 
ism,"  that  is,  disease  affects  everyone  in  the  same  man- 
ner regardless  of  locale.  The  editors  also  aptly  noted 
that  there  are  numerous  other  topics  awaiting  scrutiny 
and  the  need  to  place  regional  medical  studies  in  the 
context  of  the  country's  larger  medical  trends. 


The  remaining  seven  chapters  contain  an  exceptional 
breadth  of  subjects  and  issues  for  the  region's  health 
care  and  diseases.  In  Chapter  2,  Thomas  J.  Wolfe  ex- 
amines the  compatible  views  of  self-reliance,  virtue, 
and  anti-monopoly  held  by  the  Mormons  and  practi- 
tioners of  Thomasonian  alternative  medicine,  who  used 
herbs  and  steam  baths  to  regulate  the  body.  The  self- 
imposed  isolation  of  the  Mormons  in  Utah  and  a  lack 
of  health  care  workers  among  them  contributed  to  the 
acceptance  of  Thomasonian  practice  and  beliefs  extend- 
ing beyond  its  length  of  prominence  in  the  general  popu- 
lation. Marie  I.  Boutte's  examination  of  suicide  in  White 
Pine  County,  Nevada  takes  a  specific  locale  and  region's 
cultural  values  of  individualism,  self-reliance  and  atti- 
tudes toward  death  as  an  extension  of  previous  studies 
that  focused  on  social  and  economic  factors.  Diane  D. 
Edward's  study  of  the  U.S.  Department  of  the  Interior's 
chronic  mishandling  and  inattention  to  the  members  of 
the  Blackfeet  Indian  Tribe,  along  with  isolation  and 
distance  from  policy-makers,  contributed  to  harrow- 
ing health  afflictions.  These  activities  and  lack  of  re- 
sponsiveness reflected  the  Department  of  the  Interior's 
actions  on  a  national  level  for  Native  American  health. 
In  Chapter  5,  Victoria  A.  Harden  examines  two  dis- 
eases that  appeared  in  the  twentieth  century  that  had 
geographical  associations  -  Rocky  Mountain  Spotted 
Fever  and  AIDS.  Harden  argues  that  location  has  a 
larger  role  in  developing  social  constniction  of  the  dis- 
eases than  the  understanding  of  the  disease  scientifi- 
cally. Alan  Derickson's  essay  in  Chapter  6  focuses  on 
the  application  of  technology  and  industrialization  in 
Nevada  hardrock  mining  and  miner's  silicosis.  By  uti- 
lizing automation  techniques,  an  endemic  problem 
turned  into  an  epidemic  that  affected  20%  or  30,000 
miners  at  any  given  time  from  1900-1925.  Economic 
and  political  factors  such  as  a  pro-mining  attitude  and 
lack  of  a  state  or  local  health  mechanisms  also  contrib- 
uted to  the  problem,  but  it  was  technology  -  using  wet 
cutting  methods  instead  of  dry  ~  that  returned  the  epi- 
demic back  into  an  endemic  problem.  The  mixture  of 
spiritual  and  practical  goals  and  nurses"  education  and 
training  came  into  disharmony  in  Pierce  C.  Mullen's 
analysis  of  the  Methodist  Deaconeses  of  Montana. 
While  providing  a  "peculiarly  American  amalgamation 
of  secular  philanthropic  spirit  and  traditional  practices 
of  the  convent"  (84-85),  their  heavy  work  requirements 
for  nurses'  training  did  not  meet  the  goals  of  the  nurses 
or  their  educational  institution.  In  the  eighth  chapter, 
Paul  D.  Buell  provides  a  succinct  overview  of  Chinese 
medical  practice  in  China  and  following  immigration 
to  the  United  States.  As  practiced  in  America,  a  cus- 


44 


Annals  oi  Wyoming:  The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


torn  of  pragmatism  and  adaptation  helped  to  ensure  ad- 
herence to  traditional  approaches  while  absorbing  non- 
Chinese  clients  and  techniques. 

This  is  an  informative  and  well-crafted  volume  with 
illustrative  and  descriptive  essays  on  the  mountain 
west's  medical  and  epidemiological  history.  This  vol- 
ume is  surprisingly  jargon-free  and  offers  a  differing 
approach  to  medical  study  of  the  mountain  west.  Ad- 
ditional studies  and  subject-matter  can  build  upon  this 
\olume. 

Mark  Shelstad 
University  of  Wyoming 

Tempest  Over  Teapot  Dome:  The  Story  of 
Albert  B.  Fall.  By  David  M.  Stratton.  Norman; 
University  of  Oklahoma  Press,  1998.  xiv  +  376 
pages.  Illustrations,  bibliographic  essay,  index. 
Cloth,  $29.95. 

David  H.  Stratton  has  produced  a  long  overdue  book 
about  Secretary  of  the  Interior  Albert  B.  Fall's  involve- 
ment in  the  Teapot  Dome  scandal.  While  other  authors 
have  looked  at  this  story  as  a  conservation  issue  or  an- 
other in  a  long  line  of  Harding  administration  scan- 
dals, Stratton  focuses  on  the  man  responsible  for  leas- 
ing the  Naval  Oil  Reserves. 

In  Tempest  Over  Teapot  Dome  the  reader  follows 
Albert  Fall  as  he  moved  from  Tennessee  to  Texas  and 
back,  then  to  the  Territory  of  New  Mexico  and  mining 
expeditions  south  into  Mexico.  It  was  during  Fall's  early 
years  in  the  Southwest  working  as  a  cowboy,  miner 
and  lawyer  that  opinions  and  attitudes  which  comprised 
his  character  were  developed. 

After  settling  in  New  Mexico,  Fall  became  involved 
in  territorial  politics  in  the  1880s.  Though  a  devout 
Democrat  in  his  early  political  career.  Fall  eventually 
switched  to  the  Republican  party.  It  was  not  easy  fit- 
ting in  with  a  group  of  individuals  he  had  opposed  and 
fought  with  for  a  number  of  years.  Whether  a  Demo- 
crat or  a  Republican,  "Fall  had  learned  how  govern- 
ment could  be  made  to  serve  one's  own  needs  and  the 
special  interests  of  friends"  (p.  66).  Fall  found  that  he 
could  push  through  "a  personal  objective  over  strong, 
entrenched  opposition"  (p.  1 06).  These  new-found  abili- 
ties would  lead  to  his  eventual  downfall. 

Albert  Fall  stepped  onto  the  national  political  scene 
in  1912  when  he  entered  the  United  States  Senate.  Fall 
was  a  "corporation  man"  who  believed  that  the  West 
should  be  developed  for  the  benefit  of  individuals  and 
the  country.  This  belief  brought  Fall  into  conflict  with 


conservationists  like  Gifford  Pinchot  and  his  follow- 
ers. This  was  especially  true  when  Fall  accepted  the 
position  of  Secretary  of  the  Interior  following  the  elec- 
tion of  Warren  G.  Harding  to  the  presidency  in  1920. 

Stratton  states  numerous  times  throughout  the  book 
that  Fall  suffered  fi-om.  financial  problems  throughout 
his  entire  life  and  he  often  borrowed  money  fi-om  his 
industrialist  friends.  In  addition,  "Fall's  personal  am- 
bition and  his  freewheeling  economic  philosophy,  par- 
ticularly on  the  role  of  private  enterprise  in  resource 
development,  always  cloud  any  assessment  of  his  offi- 
cial actions"  (p.  212).  This  combination  and  bad  tim- 
ing contributed  greatly  to  Fall's  demise. 

Though  Stratton  does  not  seem  to  be  Fall's  apolo- 
gist, he  does  point  out  that  there  was  much  more  to  this 
issue  than  a  government  official  selling  leases  to 
Doheny  and  Sinclair,  his  oil  magnate  iriends.  Stratton 
suggests  that  had  Doheny  and  Sinclair  not  loaned  Fall 
any  money,  the  latter  would  still  have  awarded  them 
leases  on  the  Naval  Oil  Reserves.  And,  had  Fall  not 
awarded  the  leases  to  his  Iriends,  Doheny  and  Sinclair 
would  still  have  loaned  him  money.  As  the  reader  fol- 
lows the  developments  of  Albert  Fall's  career  and  philo- 
sophical beliefs  he/she  will  see  that  the  leasing  of  the 
Naval  Oil  Reserves  by  Fall  to  private  industry  was  in- 
evitable and  likely  had  little  or  nothing  to  do  with  any 
money  he  received. 

This  book  is  well-written  and  an  easy  and  interesting 
read.  It  will  be  usefiil  to  any  student  or  scholar  study- 
ing the  Teapot  Dome  incident.  New  Mexico  politics 
and  early  twentieth  century  American  political  history. 

Miiie  Mackey 
Powell,  Wyoming 

Devil's  Bargains:  Tourism  in  the  Twentieth  - 
Century  American  West.  By  Hal  K.  Rothman. 
Lawrence:  University  Press  of  Kansas,  1998.  xiv 
+  434  pages.  Photographs,  notes,  bibliographic 
essay,  index.  Cloth,  $34.95 

The  "Devil's  bargain"  is  made  by  local  people  who 
live  in  American  tourist  destinations.  The  Devil  offers 
economic  growth.  In  return  they  get  not-so  desirable 
change  in  local  culture  and  environment.  The  most 
obvious  of  Wyoming's  Devil's  bargains  is  Jackson 
Hole,  described  by  Wyomingites  as  a  place  where  "the 
billionaires  are  pushing  out  the  millionaires."  Here  neo- 
natives  and  part-time  residents  build  "trophy  homes" 
or  "starter  castles"  in  the  shadow  of  the  Tetons,  caus- 
ing property  values  and  taxes  to  rise  while  the  less  de- 


Winter  1999 


sirable  part  of  the  valley  floor  is  littered  with  the  non- 
descript architecture  of  chain  stores,  fast  food  restau- 
rants and  housing  for  service  workers. 

Hal  Rothman,  professor  of  history  at  the  University 
of  Nevada  -Las  Vegas,  has  written  a  wonderful  and 
monumental  piece  of  history.  He  plays  down  his  vast 
research,  stating: 

The  real  sources  for  the  study  of  tourism  as  recent 
history  are  the  people  and  the  places  where  tourism 
occurs.  Conversations  and  libraries,  coffeehouses  and 
archives  provided  the  raw  material  for  this  book  as 
much  as  did  books  and  articles.  From  Wallowa  County, 
Oregon  to  Santa  Fe  and  from  the  coast  to  Kansas,  ev- 
eryone has  a  take  on  tourism.  I've  tried  to  reflect  as 
many  of  those  perspectives  as  I  can. "(p.  425) 

Although  Rothman  was  inspired  by  his  experiences 
and  conversations,  his  book  is  the  product  of  deep  re- 
search not  only  into  general  sources  on  the  history  of 
American  tourism,  but  into  documents  relating  to  spe- 
cific tourist  sites  and  communities.  In  one  case  (chap- 
ter 8,  footnote  24)  Rothman  provides  eight  sources  for 
one  statement.  One  footnote  (chapter  12,  footnote  9) 
contains  more  lines  than  the  paragraph  it  is  supposed 
to  document.  But  Devil 's  Bargains  is  not  just  a  show- 
piece of  scholarly  research;  it  is  a  fascinating  collec- 
tion of  stories  about  the  development  of  such  distinc- 
tive Western  tourist  destinations  as  Grand  Canyon, 
Santa  Fe,  Sun  Valley,  Aspen,  Vail,  Snowmass,  Steam- 
boat and  Las  Vegas.  Rothman  chose  these  places  be- 
cause they  were  representative  of  certain  genres  of  tour- 
ism. 

If  you  don't  trust  the  film  industry  to  show  you  how 
mobsters  built  Las  Vegas,  read  Rothman's  account  of 
how  it  grew  from  a  mustard  seed  into  a  city  whose 
beacon  lights  flash  in  the  eyes  of  astronauts  in  outer 
space.  His  tale  of  Nevada  gaming  will  make  your  head 
spin  like  the  drums  of  a  slot  machine,  the  stories  of 
bigger  and  bigger  casinos  rolling  toward  you  like  cher- 
ries. Each  period  in  Las  Vegas  history,  like  another 
heaping  plateful  at  a  casino  buffet,  is  almost  too  rich  to 
digest. 

From  Depression  days  forward,  tourists  were  not 
drawn  to  Nevada  on  account  of  its  agriculture  or  min- 
ing historic  sites.  Today,  if  historic  themes  are  por- 
trayed at  all  in  the  gaming  industry  -the  Comstock  Lode 
display  in  a  Reno  casino,  for  example-  they  are  mere 
sidebars  designed  to  pump  up  the  casinos'  main  theme: 
"You,  too,  can  be  rich!"  The  purpose  of  these  billion- 
dollar  corporations,  like  other  western  tourist  opera- 
tions, is  to  make  money  and  to  "give  the  people  what 
they  want,"  even  if  the  history  they  sometimes  portray 


is  skewed,  or  the  city's  personality  becomes  warped. 
But  those  problems  don't  faze  Las  Vegas.  The  pur- 
view of  its  casinos  is  the  history  of  the  civilized  or 
uncivilized  world.  In  the  Great  American  Desert  of 
southern  Nevada,  amidst  surreal  glitter  that  decorates 
the  "Strip",  the  visitor  can  view  major  landmarks  of 
the  New  York  City  skyline  compressed  into  one  or  two 
city  blocks,  gamble  in  a  steel  and  glass  Egyptian  temple, 
observe  the  holographic  Greek  god  Bacchus  in  conver- 
sation with  his  mythical  peers  or  stand  nearby  as  an 
entire  pirate  ship  sinks  with  its  captain  below  the  sur- 
face of  a  pond.  But  you  don't  have  to  go  to  Nevada  to 
experience  the  virtual  reality  of  late  twentieth  century 
tourism.  It  is  available  at  the  local  "splashland"  where 
you  can  ride  artificial  waves,  in  gyms  where  you  can 
climb  rock  walls  with  safety  ropes  or,  if  you  are  less 
venturesome,  in  an  IMAX  theater  where  you  can  virtu- 
ally take  part  in  the  ascent  of  Mt.  Everest. 

Notwithstanding  the  excitement  he  generates  in  tell- 
ing about  growth  and  change  in  the  West,  Rothman 
never  allows  the  reader  to  lose  sight  of  the  dark  side  of 
tourism  or  its  symbolic  meaning  in  American  society. 
He  entreats  you  to  recognize  that  there  is  a  Devil's  bar- 
gain in  each  economic  success  story.  He  does  not  fail 
to  remind  you  that  the  success  of  places  like  Las  Ve- 
gas, Disneyland  or  Branson,  Missouri,  stems  directlv 
from  American  values.  The  archetypal  representation 
of  postmodern  American  tourism  is  Las  Vegas,  which 
constantly  reinvents  itself  to  provide  what  late  twenti- 
eth-century American  tourists  demand:  entertainment 
with  amenities,  not  physical  recreation  or  intellectual 
illumination. 

It  was  not  always  so.  In  the  nineteenth  centun.  an 
elite  class  of  visitors  was  transported  comfortably  to 
places  like  the  Grand  Canyon  and  Yellowstone  where 
they  could  experience  the  power  of  nature.  The  Na- 
tional Park  Service,  in  collaboration  with  concession- 
aires, accommodated  their  guests,  planning  the  visitor 
experience  in  such  a  way  as  to  reassure  them  that  the 
nation  had  the  power  to  control  nature  for  their  benefit. 
Thus,  their  faith  in  America's  greatness  was  affirmed. 
Not  until  the  arrival  of  the  automobile,  and  particu- 
larly after  World  War  II,  did  tourism  become  truly  de- 
mocratized. Returning  war  veterans  and  middle  class 
Americans  had  disposable  income,  and  spending  it  was 
a  symbol  of  status.  Tourism  competed  with  the  acqui- 
sition of  material  goods  as  a  status  symbol.  It  also  be- 
came available  to  blue-collar  workers  and  their  wives 
and  kids,  although  in  a  less  luxurious  form  than  that 
experienced  by  people  of  means,  and  travel  had  to  be 
crammed  within  the  span  of  a  two-week  vacation. This 
is  something  which  the  owners  of  casinos  like  Circus- 


46 


Annals  ot  Wyoming:  The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


Circus  understood  well,  and  they  catered  to  the  station 
wagon  and  Winnebago-owning  masses.  Visits  to  natu- 
ral and  historic  sites,  formerly  de  rigneur  to  the  travel- 
ing upper  classes,  eventually  became  commonplace  for 
the  masses.  The  burgeoning  American  middle  class 
flooded  national  parks  and  sites  such  Grand  Canyon, 
Yellowstone  and  Bandelier  National  Monument.  Some 
of  the  popular  tourist  attractions  were  privately  owned, 
such  as  Carlsbad  Caverns.  Others  -inventions  like 
Knott's  Berry  Farm  and  Disneyland-  had  much  less 
intrinsic  or  accumulated  cultural  value  than  government 
owned  and  operated  sites.  Although  all  of  these  desti- 
nations became  available  to  Americans,  tourism  was 
not  the  same  for  everybody,  and  the  amenities  one  could 
purchase  conferred  status.  For  example,  although  ski- 
ing grew  in  popularity,  beginning  in  the  1950s,  most 
middle  class  Americans  could  not  afford  to  buy  con- 
dos  or  second  homes  in  Vail  or  Snowmass.  They  might 
rub  shoulders  with  celebrities  in  Sun  Valley  and  As- 
pen, but  they  certainly  couldn't  afford  the  celebrity 
lifestyle. 

Students  of  Wyoming  and  the  West  know  that  much 
has  been  written  about  the  history  of  western  mining, 
particularly  the  mining  of  precious  metals.  They  are 
also  aware  of  books  and  movies  that  mine  the  popular 
historic  themes  of  associated  with  the  livestock  indus- 
try or  homesteading.  Probably  they  are  also  aware  that 
tourism  is  one  of  the  top  three  industries  in  Wyoming, 
but  they  may  not  know  how  or  why  it  got  to  that  posi- 
tion. If  you  have  never  given  serious  thought  to  how 
tourism  reached  its  current  importance  in  the  Ameri- 
can West,  you  must  read  Rothman's  book.  It  may  sur- 
prise you  to  learn  what  motivated  you  to  drag  your 
family  around  the  U.S. A  for  two  weeks  every  summer. 
On  the  other  hand,  you  might  be,  the  type  of  person 
who  doesn't  want  to  read  something  just  because  some- 
one says  you  "should"  read  it,  but  if  you  pick  up  a 
copy  of  this  book  I  promise  that  you  will  be  entertained 
as  well  as  educated.  Devil's  Bargains  is  not  only  a 
primer  for  the  history  of  tourism  in  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury American  West;  it  is  a  study  of  class  in  society 
and  the  search  for  status  and  identity.  Best  of  all,  for 
people  who  like  action,  it  is  a  cornucopia  of  stories 
about  pioneer  tourism  entrepreneurs. 

The  problem  with  the  book  is  the  writing  style.  Al- 
though I  admire  Rothman's  storytelling  ability  and 
appreciate  the  way  he  elaborates  his  historical  hypoth- 
eses, building  his  postulates  block  by  block,  I  found 
some  of  the  text  redundant  and  some  phrasing  ("pon- 
derous stasis,"  p. 255)  enigmatic.  Occasionally  his  sen- 
tences are  unnecessarily  complex  or  clumsy.  For  ex- 
ample: "'This  is  how  Las  Vegas  used  to  be,'  comic- 


turned  pitchman  Joe  Piscopo,  by  1997  a  handsome 
middle-aged  man  who  exuded  a  charisma  that  the  firm 
hoped  Las  Vegans  would  take  as  their  own  self  image, 
affirmed  for  the  Palace  Station,  the  flagship  in  the  chain, 
'before  the  pyramid  (at  the  Luxor,  a  Circus  Circus 
project  that  opened  in  the  mid  1990s),  before  volca- 
noes,' such  as  impresario  Steve  Wynn  placed  in  front 
of  his  Mirage  Hotel"(p.317). 

Despite  my  notion  that  Rothman—the  editor  of  the 
"Development  of  Western  Resources"  series  in  which 
this  book  appears-could  benefit  by  utilizing  a  good 
editor  himself,  I  recommend  this  book  to  every  student 
of  western  history,  to  every  instructor  of  those  students, 
to  legislators,  to  chambers  of  commerce  and  state, 
county  and  municipal  planning  office  officials,  and  to 
any  other  citizen  of  our  state  who  believes  that  tourism 
is  a  good  tool  for  extricating  Wyoming  fi-om  her  late- 
millennium,  economic  quagmire.  Personally,  I  look 
forward  to  the  sequel  of  this  book,  which,  according  to 
Rothman,  will  expand  his  study  of  tourism  to  the  en- 
tire nation. 

Mark  Junge 
Cheyenne 

Wind  River  Adventures:  My  Life  in  Frontier 
Wyoming.  By  Edward  J.  Farlow,  edited  by  Loren 
Jost.  Glendo:  High  Plains  Press,  1998.  256 pages. 
Illustrations,  notes,  index.  Cloth,  $29.95;  paper, 
$14.95. 

This  collection  of  anecdotes  provides  an  interesting 
look  at  Wyoming  during  a  period  of  transition  from 
the  1870s  through  the  1920s.  Ed  Farlow  came  to  Wyo- 
ming as  an  observant,  fifteen-year-old  runaway.  He 
married  the  most  popular  girl  in  Lander,  a  niece  of  the 
Sioux  chief  Gall,  and  had  several  children.  Farlow's 
later  years  were  devoted  to  preserving  the  history  and 
mythology  of  the  ft-ontier  on  paper,  in  museums  and 
through  film.  This  memoir,  completed  in  1939,  is  the 
culmination  of  that  effort.  Farlow  lived  into  the  atomic 
age,  dying  in  Lander  in  195 1 . 

The  story  opens  with  his  1 861  birth  on  an  Iowa  farm 
and  an  impoverished  childhood.  In  1876  he  rode  the 
rails  to  Wyoming  looking  for  wild  west  excitement. 
His  first  job,  on  a  ranch  west  of  Laramie,  was  a  pun- 
gent dose  of  reality.  He  was  told  to  pull  the  wool  off 
carcasses  of  sheep  that  had  died  the  previous  winter 
and  had  been  thrown  on  a  shed  roof  to  "ripen  up." 

Subsequent  chapters,  not  arranged  chronologically, 
record  his  learning  the  cowboy  trade,  trips  across  the 
plains  and  experiences  trapping  and  prospecting.  By 


mmm 


Winter  199Q 


47 


1879  he  had  migrated  to  the  South  Pass  gold  fields. 
That  fall,  after  the  Ute  uprising,  he  walked  to  Rawlins, 
took  a  train  back  to  iowa  and  convinced  the  first  of  his 
brothers  to  come  west  with  him  in  the  spring.  They 
settled  and  became  prominent  in  Lander.  Other  chap- 
ters include  cattle  roundups,  brand  inspections,  outlaws, 
voting,  buffalo  hunts,  President  Arthur's  visit,  putting 
on  Wyoming's  first  big  wild  west  show  and  rodeo  and 
the  "wolf  roundup"  of  1917.  A  fairly  reliable  eye-wit- 
ness, Farlow  recounts  less  accurately  events  which  tran- 
spired before  his  arrival. 

In  the  politically  incorrect  jargon  of  his  time,  he  tells 
of  working  for  "squaw  man"  Jules  Lamoreaux,  an  old 
time  Fort  Laramie  trader  who  educated  his  half-Sioux 
daughters  in  such  fine  schools  that  they  were  among 
the  more  "cultured"  and  refined  of  Lander's  citizenry. 
Farlow  was  not  considered  a  squaw  man  when  he  wed 
one  of  these  polished  girls  who  even  served  as  presi- 
dent of  the  Pioneer  Association. 

Farlow  was  interested  in  race  relations  and  sensitive 
to  other  cultures  during  an  era  when  the  opposite  was 
typical.  He  was  fascinated  by  Native  Americans,  learned 
some  of  their  languages  and  became  adept  at  sign  lan- 
guage. In  one  incident,  he  buried  an  Indian  grave  that 
had  been  looted  by  whites.  In  light  of  that,  his  reaction 
to  the  1907  recovery  of  Harvey  Morgan's  mutilated 
skull  -  he  was  killed  by  Sioux  in  1870  -  is  particularly 
interesting.  This  discovery  prompted  Farlow  and  oth- 
ers to  build  the  Lander  Pioneer  Museum.  Farlow  even 
took  the  skull  with  him  on  a  film  tour  to  London. 

Among  the  most  important  topics  in  the  book  is  his 
perspective  on  the  early  Wyoming  tllm  industry.  Dur- 
ing the  1920s  and  1930s,  Farlow  worked  on  several 
classic  Hollywood  westerns.  Another  old-time  Lander 
cowboy,  Tim  McCoy,  had  become  adjutant  general  of 
the  Wyoming  National  Guard  and  was  contracted  to 
provide  hundreds  of  Indians  for  several  films.  McCoy 
hired  Farlow,  well-known  "friend  of  the  Indians"  to  do 
the  legwork.  In  his  autobiography,  McCoy  claims  the 
greatest  importance  in  negotiations  with  the  tribes.  In 
this  memoir,  Farlow  claims  the  same  role.  Regardless 
of  which  ego  was  correct,  both  argued  for  high  wages 
for  Indian  actors,  and  filming  western  movies  became 
a  great  economic  boon  to  residents  at  Wind  River. 
Farlow  and  McCoy  supported  the  Indians'  refusal  to 
comply  with  all  the  directors'  demands,  thereby  help- 
ing them  preserve  on  film  certain  aspects  of  their  tradi- 
tional cultures.  Not  averse  to  enriching  themselves  in 
the  process,  both  men  were  concerned  about  the  wel- 
fare of  the  Indians  on  the  reservation  and  on  the  movie 
sets. 


This  book  is  an  interesting,  if  brief  and  anecdotal, 
narrative  of  Wyoming  history.  Gaps  in  the  manuscript 
leave  one  wanting  to  know  more,  particularly  consid- 
ering all  that  Farlow  and  his  brothers  had  accomplished. 
Jost  did  an  excellent  job  of  editing  and  annotating  the 
original  manuscript.  The  book  is  well-made  and  easily 
readable,  no  typographical  errors  were  noted  and  the 
editor  and  publisher  are  to  be  commended. 

Todd  Guenther 

The  Pioneer  Museum,  Lander 

By  Grit  &  Grace  Eleven  Women  Who  Shaped 
the  American  West.  Edited  by  Glenda  Riley  and 
Richard  W.  Etulain.  Golden:  Fulcrum  Publishing, 
1997.  xiv+ 226 pages.  Illustrations,  bibliographic 
essays,  index.  Paper. 

Scrupulous  research  and  talented  writing  by  established 
historians  combine  to  make  this  book  of  essays  an  im- 
portant and  welcome  addition  to  the  historical  record  of 
the  Frontier  West.  The  bibliographic  essays  that  follow 
each  chapter  will  be  especially  valuable  both  to  research- 
ers of  women's  history  and  those  with  a  wider  interest. 

Some  of  the  stories  are  well  known,  others  obscure, 
but  all  bring  new  research  and  details  to  illuminate  the 
lives  of  these  remarkable  women.  Each  essay  carefully 
establishes  the  context  of  the  time  and  place  with  valu- 
able and  often  overlooked  background  information. 

For  instance,  in  "La  Tules,  The  Ultimate  New  Mexi- 
can Woman,"  Janet  LaCompte  tells  us  that  Mexican 
women  of  the  mid-nineteenth  century  could  keep  their 
maiden  name  when  they  married,  along  with  property 
rights  and  access  to  the  courts — much  to  the  disapproval 
of  the  Americans  of  that  day. 

These  memoirs  are  arranged  into  two  groups:  first  the 
easily  recognized  image-makers,  followed  by  selections 
about  the  more  obscure  women  who  "devoted  their  ef- 
forts and  energies  to  the  refinement  and  bettennent  of 
the  American  West." 

Calamity  Jane  Canary  and  Annie  Oakley  are  two  of 
the  most  recognizable  names  presented  and  each  played 
similar  roles  in  creating  the  mylh  of  the  "Western  Cow- 
girl." But  there  the  resemblance  ends.  Richard  T. 
Etulain's  blunt  assessment  of  Calamity  Jane  as  a  prosti- 
tute and  alcoholic  may  not  please  some,  but  the  persona 
created  by  the  florid  dime  novels  remains  important  in 
Western  Americana.  Oakley,  by  contrast,  is  almost  pu- 
ritanical, happily  married  to  a  partner  who  honed  her 
skills  and  stage  presence  into  a  legend  "that  played  a 
major  role  in  the  world's  great  love  affair  with  the  West." 


48 


Annals  of  Wyoming:  The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


Jesse  Benton  Fremont  is  included  in  this  group  but  is 
she,  as  Mary  Lee  Spence,  the  author  of  this  segment, 
contends,  the  "most  notable"  of  this  pantheon  of  "women 
who  shaped  the  West?" 

Of  the  lesser  known  women  portrayed,  Mary  Ellen 
Pleasant  is  perhaps  the  most  astounding.  A  black  ser- 
vant woman  of  obscure  origins,  she  rose  to  become  one 
of  the  wealthiest  and  most  powerftil  people  in  the  quag- 
mire of  early  San  Francisco's  financial  world. 

The  reader  will  also  meet  Mother  Katharine  Drexel,  a 
wealthy  Chicago  socialite  who  devoted  her  entire  for- 
tune to  creating  schools  for  Indian  children;  and  "Iron 
Eye's  Daughters,"  two  Ponca  women  whose  compel- 
ling voices  for  Indian  rights  resulted  in  significant  re- 
form of  Indian  policy. 

Both  Abigail  Scott  Duniway,  a  powerful  force  in  the 
struggle  for  women's  rights  and  suffrage,  and  Elinore 
Pruitt  Stewart,  as  a  courageous  and  optimistic  home- 
steader, will  be  familiar  names  to  many  readers.  These 


essays,  however,  add  depth  and  perception  to  their  his- 
tories. 

Although  the  collection  includes  accounts  about 
women  from  nuns  to  prostitutes,  these  women  are  united 
here  by  the  commonality  of  their  "admirable  grit  and  an 
elusive  grace"  to  achieve  goals  that  impacted  on  the 
Frontier  West  in  a  significant  way.  According  to  Glenda 
Riley,  one  of  the  editors,  this  group  is  also  representa- 
tive of  the  breadth  and  significance  of  the  roles  played 
by  all  women  on  the  Western  frontier,  but  the  book  does 
not  bemoan  the  fate  of  women  in  the  West  or  the  lack  of 
historical  recognition.  Instead,  it  presents  these  narra- 
tives in  a  straightforward,  impartial  manner  that  lets  the 
events  speak  for  themselves. 

This  very  readable  book  has  a  brief  biography,  a  "vita" 
of  each  author  and  a  detailed,  helpfial  index. 

Amy  M.  Lawrence 
Laramie 


Letters  to  tne  Editor 


Editor: 

1  think  that  it  is  imperative  that  the  people  who  pro- 
duce your  magazine  do  their  best  to  be  accurate.  I  was 
surprised  when  I  saw  your  description  "About  the  Cover 
artist"  explaining  the  cover  picture  (Annals,  Spring, 
1998).  You  quoted  a  mythological  tale  about  Phillips. 
This  story  has  been  refuted  by  true  historical  data  which 
should  be  reported  by  your  magazine.  Read  Powder 
River  Country  by  Hanson,  pp.  79-8 1 . 

Margaret  Brock  Hanson 
Kaycee,  Wyoming 

Editor: 

The  cover  of  the  recent  Annals  (Autumn,  1998)  was 
of  special  interest.  With  some  searching  I  might  dis- 
cover the  identity  of  the  sender  of  the  postcard,  but  I 
can  identify  the  recipient.  She  was  Julianna  Willson,  a 
first  cousin  of  my  father.  Her  home  was  Guernsey  where 
her  father,  Edmund  Willson,  was  foreman  many  years 
for  Charles  Guernsey.  He  had  first  worked  for  Guern- 
sey with  the  Three  9  outfit  on  the  Cheyenne  River  north 
of  Lusk.  Julianna,  as  well  as  her  step-brother,  my  Dad's 
sister  and  one  of  his  brothers,  attended  high  school  in 
Salem,  Massachusetts,  where  three  "maiden"  Willson 
aunts  lived.  They  felt  an  Eastern  education  was  impor- 
tant and  encouraged  this.  Julianna's  pet  name  was 
"Doodie  Wissie."  Several  years  ago  I  first  became  ac- 


quainted with  Mrs.  Frederick,  whose  family  ultimately 
bought  the  Guernsey  ranch.  I  asked  if  she  knew  Julianna 
and  she  promptly  replied,  "Doodie  Wissie,  of  course. 
She  and  I  grew  up  together."  She  told  me  some  cute 
stories  about  their  friendship.  Mrs.  Frederick  also  told 
me  that  her  father  was  an  officer  at  Fort  Laramie  in  the 
days  when  it  was  an  active  military  post.... 

Anne  Willson  Whitehead 
Lakewood,  Colorado 

Editor: 

William  R.  Supemaugh's  article  "Enigmatic  Icon: 
The  Life  and  Times  of  Harry  Yount,"  {Annals,  Spring 
1998),  includes  a  photograph  on  page  28  captioned 
"Harry  Yount  in  the  mountains"  and  credited  to  the 
Yellowstone  National  Park  collection.  National  Park 
Service.  This  photograph  was  made  by  William  Henry 
Jackson  in  1 874  and  is  titled  "North  From  Berthoud 
Pass,"  according  to  Peter  B.  Hales  in  his  William  Henry 
Jackson  and  the  Transformation  of  the  American  Land- 
scape, 1988.... 

Rick  Walters 
Photographic  Technician 
American  Heritage  Center 
University  of  Wyoming 


Wyoming  Picture 


On  the  Edge 

This  early  20th  centwy  photograph  taken  on 
Mount  Owen  is  from  the  FritiofFiyxell  collec- 
tion, American  Heritage  Center. 


Join  tne  ^SX^oming  State  Historical  Society 

and  your  local  nistorical  society  cnapter 

State  Membership  Dues: 

Special  membership  categories  are  available: 

Single:   $20 

Contributing:  $100-249 

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Benefits  of  membership  include  four  issues 

The  Society  also  welcomes  special  gifts  and 
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per  year  of  Annals  of  Wyoming,  ten  issues  of 
the  newsletter,  "Wyoming  History  News,"  and 
the  opportunity  to  receive  information  about 
and  discounts  for  various  Society  activities. 

For  information  about  membership  in  the 
Wyoming  State  Historical  Society  and  infor- 
mation about  local  chapters,  contact 

Judy  West,  Society  Coordinator 

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Cheyenne  WY  82009 

-fl 


'^nai^  0 


Is  of 


WYOMING 

Tne  ^Wjomin^  History  Journal 


Spring  1999 


Vol.  71,  No.  2 


About  tne  Cover  Art-- 

The  Animal  World 

1956,  film  poster  (detail) 

American  Heritage  Center,  Forrest  J.  Ackerman  Collection 

This  startling  poster  advertised  the  1956  documentary  The  Animal  World.  Written  and 
Directed  by  Irwin  Allen  (who  later  became  known  for  such  disaster  epics  as  Voyage  to  the  Bottom 
of  the  Sea  and  The  Towering  Inferno),  this  film  primarily  consists  of  stock  footage  used  to  tell  the 
story  of  the  development  of  life  on  earth. 

The  Animal  World  is  most  notable,  however,  for  a  fifteen-minute  sequence  on  dinosaurs  that 
uses  stop-motion  animation  by  two  of  the  greatest  special  effects  artists  of  the  twentieth  century, 
Willis  O'Brien  and  Ray  Harryhausen.  O'Brien  created  the  special  effects  for  the  first  of  many  film 
versions  of  Arthur  Conan  Doyle's  novel  The  Lost  World  (1925),  but  he  is  best  known  for  1933's 
King  Kong.  Ray  Harryhausen  animated  a  dazzling  array  of  creatures  for  films  such  as  The  Beast 
from  20,000  Fathoms  (1953)  and  Jason  and  the  Argonauts  (1963). 

While  the  animated  dinosaurs  in  the  film  are  presented  in  a  historically  accurate  time  sequence, 
the  poster  follows  the  common  film  practice  of  ignoring  scientific  accuracy  by  mixing  together 
dinosaurs  of  different  periods.  Thus  Wyoming's  state  dinosaur,  the  Cretaceous  period  Triceratops, 
appears  alongside  the  Jurassic  Ceratosaurus  and  Apatosaurus  (formerly,  and  perhaps  more 
popularly  known  as  Brontosaurus). 

This  poster,  and  the  dinosaur  sequence  from  the  film,  will  be  included  in  the  exhibition  From 
Como  Bluff  to  Cultural  Icon:  Our  Enduhng  Fascination  with  Dinosaurs  at  the  University  of  Wyoming 
Art  Museum,  June  18  through  November  14  (closed  September  6  through  24).  Organized  by  the 
Art  Museum  and  the  University  of  Wyoming  Geological  Museum  in  association  with  the  American 
Heritage  Center,  From  Como  Bluff  to  Cultural  Icon:  Our  Enduhng  Fascination  with  Dinosaurs 
presents  the  history  of  paleontology  in  southeastern  Wyoming  and  traces  the  enduring  presence 
of  the  dinosaur  in  popular  culture. 

Discovered  in  1 877  by  two  employees  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  Como  Bluff  is  one  of  the 
most  important  dinosaur  discovery  sites  in  the  world.  The  astounding  Jurassic  dinosaurs  excavated 
there  had  a  tremendous  impact  on  the  development  of  vertebrate  paleontology  and  provided  the 
core  specimens  for  many  of  the  world's  major  museums. 

From  Como  Bluff  to  Cultural  Icon  marks  the  1 00'^  Anniversary  of  the  Fossil  Fields  Expedition, 
which  was  organized  by  Professor  Wilbur  Knight  of  the  University  of  Wyoming,  and  examines 
earlier  dinosaur  discoveries  at  Como  Bluff.  In  addition,  the  exhibition  explores  the  dinosaurs 
themselves  with  two  dramatic  full-size  skeletal  casts,  actual  bones,  beautiful  late  19'^-century 
lithographs,  and  19'*'  and  20'^  Century  paintings  that  depict  Wyoming  and  its  dinosaurs  as  they 
might  have  appeared  some  140  million  years  ago.  From  Como  Bluff  to  Cultural  Icon  also  traces 
the  enduring  presence  of  dinosaurs  in  popular  culture  through  films,  print  media,  corporate  identity, 
and  roadside  attractions.  For  more  information,  call  the  museum,  307/766-6622. 

-Scott  Boberg 


The  editor  of  .Annals  of  Wyoming  welcomes  manuscripts  and  photographs  on  every  aspect  of  the  history'  of  Wyoming  and  the  West. 
Appropriate  for  submission  are  unpublished,  research-based  articles  which  provide  new  information  or  which  offer  new  interpretations 
of  historical  events.  First-person  accounts  based  on  personal  experience  or  recollections  of  events  will  be  considered  for  use  in  the 
"Wyoming  Memories"  section.  Historic  photo  essays  for  possible  publication  in  "Wyoming  Memories"  also  are  welcome.  Articles  are 
reviewed  and  refereed  by  members  of  the  joumal's  Editorial  Advisory  Board  and  others.  Decisions  regarding  publication  are  made  by 
the  editor.  Manuscripts  (along  with  suggestions  for  illustrations  or  photographs)  should  be  submitted  on  computer  diskettes  in  a  format 
created  by  one  of  the  widely-used  word  processing  programs  along  with  two  printed  copies.  Submissions  and  queries  should  be  ad- 
dressed to  Editor.  Annals  of  Wyoming,  P.  O.  Bo.\  4256,  University  Station,  Laramie  WY  82071 . 


^^w 


\y 


Editor 

Pliil  Rok-rls 

Book  Review  liaitor 
Carl  Hallterg 


Editorial  Advi5or\'  Board 

Barbara  Bogart,  Evanston 

iMaLel  Brown,  Newcastle/Cneyenne 

Micnael  J.  De\dne,  Laramie 

James  B.  Grirritn,  ]r.,  Cneyenne 

Don  Hodgson,  Torrington 

Loren  Jost,  Riverton 

Davia  Katnka,  Rock  Springs 

T.  A.  Larson,  Laramie 

|onn  D.  McDermott,  Sneridan 

Karv'l  Denison  Robb,  Cneyenne 

Snerry  L.  Smitn,  Moose 

Thomas  F.  Stroock,  Casper 

Lawrence  M.  Wooas,  \(orlana 

Wyoming'  State  Historical  Society 
PuDlications  Committee 

Rick  Ewig,  Laramie 

Davia  Katnka,  Rock  Springs 

Snerry  L.  Smitn,  Moose 

Amy  Lawrence,  Laramie 

Nancy  Curtis,  Ulendo 

XX'illiam  H.  Moore,  Laramie  (ex  orricio) 

Patty  Myers,  XY'Keatlantl  (ex-officio) 

Loren  Jost,  Riverton  (ex-orricio) 

Pnil  Ronerts,  Laramie  (ex-oHicio) 

Wyoming  State  Historical  Society 
Executive  Committee 

Patt>'  Myers,  President.  WkeatlanJ 

Da\*c  Ta\  U^r,  Casper 

Mike  Jording,  Newcastle 

Linda  Fabian,  Cbevenne 

DicL  W'llJer,  Cody' 

Rick  Ewig,  Laramie 

Amy  Lawrence,  Laramie 

Jermy  NCigbt,  Arton 

Judy  West,  Membersnip  Coordinator 

Governor  oi  Wyoming 

Jim  Oeringer 

Wyoming  Dept.  oi  Commerce 

Tucker  Fagan,  Director 

Wvoming  Parks  &  Cultural  Resources 
Commission 

William  Dubois,  Cneyenne 
CnarlesA.  Guerin,  Laramie 
Diann  Reese,  LvTnan 
Rosie  Berger,  Big  Horn 
B.  Byron  Price,  Cody 
Herb  Frencn,  Newcastle 
Frank  Tim  Isabell,  Snosnoni 
Jeanne  Hickey,  Cneyenne 
Hale  Kreycik,  Douglas 

University  or  Wyoming 

Pnilip  Dubois,  President 
Micbael  J.  Devine,  Director, 

American  Heritage  Lenter 
Oliver  \(alter.  Dean, 

College  oi  Arts  and  Sciences 
William  H.  Moore,  Cbair,  Dept.  of  Histor>' 

Printed  by  Pioneer  Printing,  Cneyenne 


2  T  \-m 


jUk 


finals  of 

WYOMING 


The  Wyoming  Histoiy  Journal 


Spring  1999  Vol.  71,  No.  2 

Lander's  Pride  and  Joy:  Tne  Old  btone  bclioolnouse 

Bv  Toda  Lnientner 2 

Honiesteading'  tne  Tnunder  Basin: 
Teckla,  Wyoming',  1917-1938 

By  William  R  Fischer 21 

Visions  Beyond  An  Arrow  or  Fire  ": 
Wyoming's  Pendray  and  tne  Other  Rocket  Experimenters 

By  Da\dcl  L.  Roherts 35 

Book  Revie\\'s 

Edited  W  Carl  Hallherg 41 

Bettelvoun  and  Waggoner,  With  Mv  Own  Eves:  A  I.aRota  VConian    IflU  Her  People's 

History,  re\iewt'd  by  Warren  Metcalf 
Bovle,  Los  Capitaiistas:  Hispano  Merchants  and  the  ^anta  I"e  Trade,  re\'K'\VL'd  nv 

Frank:  V^an  Nuys 
Davis,  Mv  Chosen  Trails:  A  Wvominsj'  VTonian  s  Recollections  Through  the 

Twentieth  Centur\',  rexicwcd  n\'  I  atty  Myers 
Miller,  Hollow  Victor\':  The  ^hite  River  Expedition  of  187Q  and  the  Battle  of 

Milh  CreeK,  re\ieweu  nv  Thomas  R.  Buecker 
Decker,  Olu  Fences,  New  Neignhors,  reviewed  oy  Richard  Francaviglia 
Gorzalka,  Wyoming's  Territorial  Sheriffs,  reviewed  by  Michael  1.  Pfeiier 
Evans,  King  of  the  Western  Saddle:  The  Sheridan  Saddle  and  the  Art  ol  Don 

Kin^,  revdewea  nv  James  Laird 

Index 47 

Wvoininp'  Picture Inside  Back 


Annals  of  Wyoming  The  Wyoming  Histoiy  Journal  is  published  quarterly  h\  the  W'\  oming  State  Historical 
Society'  in  association  with  the  Wyoming  Department  of  Commerce,  the  American  Heritage  Center,  and  the 
Department  of  History,  University  of  Wyoming.  The  journal  was  previously  published  as  the  Ouarieiiy 
Bulletin  ( 1923-1 Q25),  Annals  ofWyamnig  (1925-1993).  Wyoming  Annals  { 1993-1995)  and  Wyoming  His- 
tory Journal  (1995-1996).  The  Annals  has  been  the  official  publication  of  the  Wyoming  State  Historical 
Society  since  1953  and  is  distributed  as  a  benefit  of  membership  to  all  society  members.  Membership  dues 
are:  single,  $20;  joint,  $30;  student  ( under  2 1 ),  $  1 5;  institutional,  $40;  contributing,  $  1 00-249;  sustaining, 
$250-499;  patron,  $500-999;  donor,  $1,000+.  To  join,  contact  your  local  chapter  or  write  to  the  address 
below.  Articles  in  Annals  of  Wyoming  are  abstracted  in  Historical  Abstracts  and  America  History  ami  Life. 

Inquiries  about  membership,  distribution,  reprints  and  back  issues  should  be  addressed  to  Judy  West,  Co- 
ordinator, Wyoming  State  Historical  Society ,  1 740H1 84  Dell  Range  Blvd.,  Cheyenne  WY  82009.  Editorial 
correspondence  should  be  addressed  to  the  editorial  office  of  Annals  of  Wyoming.  American  Heritage  Cen- 
ter, P.  O.  Box  4256.  University  Station,  Laramie  WY  8207 1 . 
Our  website  address  is:  http://ww^v. uwyo.edu/ A&STiistop.  'whjoum.htm 


Copyright  1999,  Wyoming  State  Historical  Society 


ISSN:  1086-7368 


.^d/naer^^  ^^th^  a/mjl  ^cm: 


Lander's  stone  schoolhouse,  shining  in  the  morning  sunlight.  Oct.  8,  1886  Note  the  construction  rubble  still  littering  the  grounds, 
the  outhouse  at  rear,  and  the  lack  of  any  nearby  buildings.  The  school,  when  built,  was  just  outside  town.  All  of  the  boys  playing 
with  their  lariats  is  no  surprise,  but  the  boys  and  girls  playing  cricket  instead  of  the  great  American  pastime  of  baseball  is  unexpected. 

The  stone  school  house  at  the  southwest  comer  of  Sixth  and  Garfield  Streets  has 
played  roles  of  varying  significance  in  Lander's  development  since  the  idea  to  build 
it  was  conceived  in  the  early  1 880s.  It  is  particularly  important  for  representing  the 
pioneer  determination  to  educate  frontier  youth  in  spite  of  difficulties  arising  from 
isolation,  lack  of  capital,  dearth  of  qualified  teachers,  inadequate  facilities,  and 
other  problems.  Education  was  seen  as  a  necessity  for  economic  prosperity. 


Spring  1999 

It  was  also  required  for  the  maintenance  and  dis- 
semination of  traditional,  east  coast,  Euro-American 
socio-cultural  values  to  untutored  frontier  children  and 
the  offspring  of  immigrants  and  Native  Americans.  This 
wide-spread  attitude  is  illustrated  in  the  Currier  and 
Ives  lithograph  of  Frances  Flora  Palmer's  painting. 
Across  the  Continent:  IVesrward  the  Course  of  Empire 
Takes  Its  IVay.  by  the  prominent  placement  of  the  pub- 
lic school  in  the  center  foreground  (5t't'  photograph, 
next  page).  That  Lander  settlers  firmly  held  the  same 
beliefs  is  plainly  evident  in  the  story  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  local  educational  system  and  construction 
and  use  of  the  stone  schoolhouse. 

For  a  decade  following  its  construction  in  1885,  the 
stone  school  house  ser\  ed  as  the  figurehead  of  the  grow- 
ing frontier  village,  proving  residents'  detemiination 
to  build  a  permanent  community  with  a  refined  and 
educated  citizenry.  They  were  preparing  their  children 
for  life  in  the  fast-approaching  twentieth  century.  A 
photo  of  the  year-old  school  taken  in  1886  shows  that, 
although  of  simple  design,  considerable  artistry  and 
pride  were  incorporated  into  the  edifice  (facing page). 
Later,  the  school  house  became  the  neglected  rear  wing 
of  a  larger  building  and  was  recently  threatened  with 
demolition.  Now,  as  Lander  prepares  to  enter  a  new 
millennium,  the  stone  school  is  on  the  verge  of  reclaim- 
ing its  fonner  prominence.  The  stone  school  will  again 
become  a  major  contributor  to  the  general  quality  of 
life  and  the  education  of  children  at  the  foot  of  the  Wind 
River  Mountains. 

When  Wyoming  became  a  territory  in  1 868,  the  con- 
cept of  free  public  education  had  long  been  an  integral 
part  of  American  society.  A  tax-supported  public  school 
system  was  incorporated  into  Wyoming  law  b\  the  first 
territorial  legislature  in  1869.  School  taxes  could  not 
exceed  two  mils  of  the  assessed  property  value  within 
the  county.  If  the  county  treasurer  had  insufficient  funds, 
students'  parents  had  to  pay  the  balance.  South  Pass 
City,  forty  miles  south  of  Lander,  was  home  to 
Wyoming's  first  public  school  in  1 870.  In  1 876  school 
attendance  for  at  least  three  months  per  year  became 
compulsory  for  Wyoming  children  between  the  ages 
of  six  and  twenty-one.  This  then,  was  the  framework 
within  which  Lander  pioneers  operated  as  they  initi- 
ated a  local  educational  system.' 

The  stone  schoolhouse,  which  is  the  embodiment  of 
widely  held  pioneer  philosophies  and  territorial  law, 
was  not  the  first  hall  of  academe  to  grace  Lander's 
muddy  streets.  A  history  of  the  earliest  educational  ef- 
forts was  provided  by  the  Rev.  George  Mooney  at  a 
school  function  in  1895: 


In  1 868  the  United  States  government  consummated 
its  treaty  with  the  Indians  of  this  section  of  this  coun- 
try. One  year  later  a  military  post  known  as  "Camp 
Brown"  was  established  on  the  present  site  of  Lander. 
The  next  year  the  camp  changed  its  location  and  sub- 
sequently became  Fort  Washakie.  A  few  of  the  fol- 
lowers of  Camp  Brown  remained  behind  to  establish 
the  town  of  Lander  [known  then  as  Pushrootj. 

In  1871  Mr.  James  I.  Patten,  now  a  citizen  of  Lander, 
was  sent  as  lay  missionary  and  teacher  to  the  Indians 
of  the  adjoining  reser\ation.  Mr.  Patten  is  thus  entitled 
to  the  distinction  of  being  the  pioneer  of  education  in 
this  part  of  the  State.  Remaining  among  the  Indians 
tor  a  few  years,  Mr.  Patten  after  resigning  his  position 
came  to  Lander  hoping  to  secure  the  location  of  a  school 
at  this  place.  We  are  infonned  that  the  school  district 
to  w  hich  Lander  then  belonged  extended  to  Green  Ri\  er 
where  the  county  superintendent  resided.  Mr.  Patten 
being  notified  that  he  must  repair  to  Green  Ri\er  for 
examination,  took  to  fanning  instead. 

About  1874  or  1875  Edward  Lawn  [a  saloon  keeper 
better  known  as  Red  Cloud]  opened  the  first  school  in 
Lander,  occupying  a  building  then  situated  between 
the  CoUage  Home  hotel  and  the  livery  bam.  Later,  the 
school  moved  to  a  log  cabin  on  the  opposite  side  of 
Main  street. - 

The  original  school  acquired  by  Lawn  was  a  one  room 
log  cabin  built  in  the  early  1 870s  Isee  i/histration.  page 
1 7).  After  the  town  was  platted  and  the  a\  enues  w  ere 
laid  out,  the  school  was  in  the  middle  of  the  extended 
and  straightened  Main  Street.  To  correct  the  problem, 
the  cabin  was  moved  aside  to  556  Main.  The  building 
was  eventually  incorporated  into  a  home  and  office 
before  being  moved  away  from  the  business  district.  It 
still  stands  as  part  of  a  residence  at  991  South  Fourth 
Street.  Teachers  were  barely  able  to  provide  the  most 
basic  of  educations.  Amelia  Hall,  w  ho  taught  there  dur- 
ing the  summer  of  1 878  and  simultaneously  organized 
the  first  Sunday  School,  wrote: 

At  the  end  of  the  street  was  a  log  building  used  as  a 
school  house.  I  taught  school  the  first  summer  I  was 
here.  1  had  forty  scholars  crowded  into  one  small  room 
as  every  child  in  Lander  attended  school,  ages  ranging 
from  fi\  e  to  sixteen.  We  had  a  tew  homemade  benches, 
a  table  &  chair.   The  school  books  were  odds  &  ends 


'  Robert  Rosenberg,  "Historic  Overview  of  Education  in 
Sublette  County,  Wvoming,"  contract  report  prepared  for  the 
Sublette  County  Certified  Local  Government  Commission,  on  file, 
Wyoming  State  Historic  Preservation  Office,  Cheyenne,  1988. 

-  "It  Was  Dedicated  Monda\,"  Fremont  Clipper.  November 
15.  1895. 


Annals  of  WyomingiTke  Wyoming  Histon,'  Journal 


gathered  from  somewhere — no  two  books  alike.  The 
old  log  building  was  used  until  1885  when  the  stone 
school  house  was  built.' 

Even  in  public  schools  students  received  instruction 
in  more  than  just  "The  Three  R's  of  Readin/  Ritin,' 
and  Rithmetic."'  In  spite  of  prescriptions  against  the 
mixing  of  church  and  state  a  fourth  "R,"  religion,  was 
included.  Mrs.  Hall  had  written  friends  and  relatives 
back  home  in  Rodman,  New  York,  that  her  school  had 
no  books  and  the  whole  community  lacked  Bibles  and 
prayer  books.  More  than  fifty  volumes  arrived  about  a 
month  later,  and  were  distributed  among  the  students 
and  settlers.  The  Reverend  Father  Sisson,  a  Catholic 
priest  and  itinerant  missionar\'  from  Laramie  who  made 
periodic  visits  to  the  area,  held  mass  in  the  coarse  log 
school  and  commended  Mrs.  Hall  for  teaching  Sunday 
School.^ 

Not  only  Lander  children  attended  classes  in  the  little 
school.  Youngsters  from  outlying  areas  and  ranches 
were  commonly  sent  to  town  for  "book  learning." 
Transportation  for  rural  children  was  a  problem  then 
just  as  it  is  today.  In  his  day  ledger,  recording  informa- 
tion about  his  store  and  ranch  operation  at  the  head  of 
Red  Canyon,  about  fifteen  miles  to  the  south  between 
Lander  and  South  Pass  City,  English  immigrant  Will- 
iam (Boss)  Tweed  penned  these  words  about  his  son: 


Dec.  18th,  1882  Benjamin  Tweed  Camenced  to  go 
to  School  at  Lander  City  also  to  bord  at  Mr.  Davis 
Hotel  at  the  rait  of  twenty  dollars  per  month 

March  6th  [1883]  Quit  Bording  come  home  on  the 
Seventh  on  the  coach-"' 

Fourteen-year-old  Ben  may  have  been  summoned 
home  to  alleviate  his  parents'  escalating  worries  about 
him  living  and  traveling  on  his  own.  It  had  become 
apparent  to  everyone  in  the  area  that  obtaining  an  edu- 
cation could  prove  fatal  to  their  children.  Only  two 
weeks  earlier,  widely  loved  teenager  Maggie  Sherlock 
died  horribly  in  an  event  which  traumatized  central  and 
western  Wyoming.  The  Tweeds  felt  her  loss  person- 
ally because  the  Sherlocks  had  been  friends,  neighbors, 
and  business  partners  since  1868  when  both  families 

'  "90  Year  Old  Landmark,  Once  a  School.  Leaves  Main  Street," 
Wyoming  State  Journal,  clipping  on  file.  Pioneer  Museum,  n.d., 
summer  of  1964;  If'yoming  Stare  Journal.  August  26.  1925; 
"Saloon  Men  and  Gamblers  Put  Mone>  in  Lander  Church  Fund," 
Wyoming  State  Journal.  .April  16.  1932;  .Amelia  Hall.  Mountain 
View  Ranch,  May  26th,  1930,  untitled  manuscript  in  Pioneer 
Museum  collections. 

■'"First  School  House,"  Wyoming  State  Journal.  May  26,  1938. 
Sisson  performed  marriages  and  other  ceremonies  during  the 
course  of  his  journeys.  For  example,  he  pronounced  Jim  Smith 
and  the  widowed  Janet  Sherlock  man  and  wife  at  South  Pass  City 
in  1874. 

'Tweed  Daybook,  September  1878-Feb.  1890,  184,  in 
collections  of  Fremont  Countv  Pioneer  Museum  (unaccessioned). 


A  widely  popular  Currier  and  Ives  lithograph  of  Frances  Flora  Palmer 's  painting  titled  "Across 
the  Continent:  Westward  the  Course  of  Eniprie  Takes  Its  Way.  "  This  work  depicts  "Manifest 
Destiny"  hard  at  work  conquering  the  boundless  horizons  of  possibility  of  the  Atnerican  West. 
Public  schools  were  at  fi-ont  and  center  of  this  effort  as  the  picture  indicates. 


Spring  IQQQ 

were  among  the  earliest  settlers  in  tlie  adjacent  South 
Pass  gold  mining  region. 

Maggie  was  a  stage  coach  passenger  en  route  from 
her  home  in  South  Pass  City  to  a  Catholic  boarding 
school  in  Salt  Lake  City.  Her  coach  and  several  others 
were  caught  in  a  tremendous  blizzard  in  February  1 883 
and  a  number  of  people  perished.  After  two  days  lying 
buried  in  the  snow,  Maggie's  coach  was  located  and 
she  was  cut  from  her  frozen  clothing  and  taken  to  Dry 
Sandy  Stage  Station,  near  present-day  Parson,  Wyo- 
ming. The  Reverend  .lohn  Roberts,  an  Episcopal  mis- 
sionary who  had  been  a  passenger  on  another  coach, 
was  stranded  there  and  helped  care  for  Maggie  who 
was  suffering  from  exposure,  dehydration,  and  frozen 
limbs.  Her  driver  died  before  her  eyes  and  was  buried 
in  a  snowdrift  at  the  station. 

Roberts,  only  recently  arrived  from  a  posting  in  the 
Bahamas,  was  headed  to  the  Shoshone  Agency  at  Fort 
Washakie,  near  Lander,  to  establish  a  mission  and  In- 
dian school.  During  the  coming  _\ears  he  would  also 
help  organize  the  Lander  schools  and  Lander's  Trinity 
Episcopal  Church,  plus  many  other  congregations 
around  the  region.  Had  he,  too,  perished  in  the  stomi, 
both  secular  and  religious  education  in  the  Wind  River 
valley  would  have  received  a  devastating  blow.'' 

Maggie  lingered  in  agony  for  several  days  before  suc- 
cumbing. Tweed's  neighbor.  Dr.  Wilson,  aided  by  the 
post  surgeon  from  the  fort,  tried  futilely  to  help  her 
and  afterwards  brought  firsthand  stories  of  her  suffer- 
ing and  the  family's  misery  into  the  Tweeds'  parlor. 
The  Sherlock  tragedy  resulted  simply  from  wanting  a 
decent  education  for  their  daughter.  This  episode  em- 
phasizes the  sometimes  even  fatal  difficulties  experi- 
enced by  pioneer  families  trying  to  educate  their  chil- 
dren on  the  frontier.  The  deaths  and  maiming  of  the 
many  people  on  the  coaches  nearly  brought  an  end  to 
stage  traffic  in  the  Lander  area.  On  a  positive  note,  it 
also  catalyzed,  or  at  least  contributed  to.  Lander's  de- 
termination to  build  a  good  school  system.  Parents  and 
civic-minded  individuals  resolved  that  local  children 
would  not  ha\  e  to  continue  being  shipped  off  and  sub- 
jected to  such  dangers  in  order  to  be  well  educated.^ 

The  next  year,  1884.  Fremont  County  was  created 
and  Lander  was  named  the  county  seat.  The  rugged, 
mountainous  area  go\  emed  was  huge,  stretching  some 
250  miles  north  to  south  (from  Sweetwater  County  to 
the  Montana  border)  and  extending  roughly  120  miles 
east  to  west.  The  first  school  districts  in  this  vast  wil- 
derness were  established  at  that  time.  In  an  election  on 
April  22,  1 884,  James  1.  Patten  was  chosen  as  the  first 
County  Superintendent  of  Schools.  During  his  brief 
tenure  a  total  school  apportionment  of  S3500  was  di- 


\ided  among  eight  school  districts.  District  One  at 
Lander,  with  SI 003.65,  had  by  far  the  greatest  single 
share. 

Lander,  as  the  seat  of  county  go\  eminent,  w  ilh  a  mild 
climate  and  rich  natural  resources,  grew  steadily  in  spite 
of  its  remote,  isolated  location  1 50  miles  from  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad.  Still,  it  was  at  this  time  a  rough,  fron- 
tier town  with  frequent  gunplay  in  the  muddy  streets 
lined  with  numerous  log  saloons  and  other  simple  build- 
ings; Lander  had  a  long  way  to  go  to  become  the  model 
community  local  visionaries  foresaw.  Work  toward  thai 
end  was  progressing  rapidly,  though,  and  significant 
changes  are  visible  in  photographic  views  of  the  town 
taken  only  a  few  years  apart  in  1 883  and  about  1 887 
(following  page).  One  of  the  first  steps  to  be  addressed 
was  the  pressing  need  for  adequate  educational  facili- 
ties to  enlighten  the  young  already  living  there  and  to 
attract  more  families  of  respectable  character.  Accord- 
ing to  the  Wind  River  Mountaineer,  January  1,  1885: 

Lander  is  impro\  ing.  Already  she  boasts  of  fine  stone 
buildings,  and  the  adobe  and  log  houses  are  fast  gi\  ing 
place  to  more  substantial  stnictures  of  stone  and  framed 
buildings...  In  order  to  keep  pace  \\  ith  the  times,  a  new. 
and  commodious  school  house  is  much  needed  here  ... 

Patten,  who  ser\ed  as  superintendent  only  until  Janu- 
ary of  1 885.  initiated  the  planning  and  fund-raising  ef- 
forts to  upgrade  the  school  system.  The  site  selected 
for  the  new  school  was  a  1 50'  by  1 50'  parcel  consisting 
of  Lots  1.2.  and  3  of  Block  28  in  the  Original  Townsite 
of  Lander.  The  land  may  have  been  purchased  for  the 
project,  but  was  most  likely  donated  b\  early-day  Pony 
Express  rider  and  Indian  fighter  Benjamin  Franklin 
Lowe.  Italian  immigrant  banker  Eugene  Amoretti.  and 
the  other  men  who  laid  out  the  town.  They  donated 
land  for  se\'eral  churches  and  the  courthouse.  A  gift  of 
land  to  build  the  school  would  have  been  in  keeping 
with  their  efforts  to  create  a  model  community.  Patten 
enjoyed  the  pleasure  of  initiating  construction  of  the 
new  facility  before  his  term  expired. 

Exactly  how  construction  of  the  expensive  new  stone 
school  building  was  funded  was  not  recorded.  Dona- 
tions from  the  public  clearly  paid  at  least  part  if  not  all 

''Tom  Bell.  "Roberts  Was  Elder  Brother  To  .All."  Wind  River 
Mounlameer,  ?  (April  -  June  I'^87):4-24;  Elinor  R.  lVlarkle>  and 
Beatrice  Crofts,  eds..  Walk  Softly  This  Is  Cod's  Country  Letters 
and  Journals  of  Rev.  John  Roberts  (Lander,  W>oming;  Mortimore 
Publishing.  1QQ7). 

Todd  Guenther,  editor,  "Dear  Peter:  The  Letters  of  a  Pioneer 
Mother  and  Sister."  Wind  River  Mountaineer,  1  (April  -  June 
1991):  23-27;  Tom  Bell.  "The  Terrible  Blizzard  of  1883."  Wind 
River  Mountaineer,  4  (January  -  March  1988):  4-1  1. 


Annals  of  Wyoming:The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


of  the  costs.  There  was  at  this  time  in  Lander's  early 
history  a  great  deal  of  competition  for  fiands  to  build 
several  large  edifices.  The  cumulative  results  of  these 
drives  bespeak  the  determination  of  early  settlers,  all 
relatively  recent  arrivals  to  the  new  town,  to  shape  their 
community  for  the  best.  The  repeated  displays  of  gen- 
erosity and  volunteers'  consistent  ability  to  raise  sig- 
nificant sums  of  money  through  public  subscriptions 
from  a  small,  cash  strapped  frontier  community  were 
nothing  short  of  remarkable. 

The  Catholic  church,  built  of  stone  by  a  man  named 
McLimans  two  years  before  the  school,  provides  a  good 
example  both  of  the  fundraisers'  success  and  building 
costs  associated  with  a  structure  like  the  school.  Dur- 
ing December  1882,  a  three-day  benefit  fair  was  held 
which  raised  $1,812.  There  were  only  about  1 00  people 
in  the  village  at  that  time,  and  the  average  daily  wage 
was  only  one  to  two  dollars,  so  the  results  are  astonish- 


View  to  the  west  along  Main  Street, 
taken  from  the  hill  near  the  present- 
day  Pronghorn  Lodge.  The  photo  was 
taken  in  1883,  possibly  by  a 
photographer  associated  with 
President  Chester  A.  Arthur 's  sojourn 
through  the  area  on  his  wav  to 
Yellowstone.  Ervin  Cheney 's 
blacksmith  shop  is  the  large,  false- 
fronted  log  building  in  the 
foreground.  The  rear  of  the  stone. 
Catholic  Church  is  visible  at  the 
middle  left  edge  of  the  photo. 


This  c.  1887  photo,  taken  from  a 
slightly  different  angle,  shows  several 
developments.  New  homes  and  the 
stone  schoolhouse  are  in  the  area 
beyond  the  Catholic  Church. 
Downtown,  some  large  commercial 
buildings  have  been  built  to 
accommodate  the  growing  retail 
sector.  These  include  the  1887 
Fremont  Lumber  Company  building 
(shown  at  right,  the  four  second-story 
windows  facing  the  camera  looked 
out  from  the  Fremont  Clipper  offices). 
The  large  brick  building  to  the  left  of 
that  was  the  Odd  Fellows  Hall,  built 
in  1886.  The  first  floor  was  leased  to 
a  succession  of  commercial  ventures. 


ing.  The  church,  about  half  the  size  of  the  school,  was 
completed  in  the  spring  of  1883.  The  total  cost  was 
about  $3,000  and  the  congregation  was  nearly  free  of 
debt  due  to  the  generosity  of  Lander  citizenry.* 

Simultaneous  fundraising  efforts  for  Trinity  Episco- 
pal Church  are  better  documented.  Lander  residents 
were  forced  to  contribute  money  to  erect  both  struc- 
tures. All  locals  were  expected  to  dig  deeply  into  their 
pockets  to  support  these  ventures.  Fund-raiser  H.  E. 
Wadsworth  described  the  process  of  soliciting  dona- 
tions. He  also  introduced  Jack  Parker,  who  ran  a  noto- 
rious saloon  and  outlaw  hangout  but  nevertheless  played 
a  prominent  role  in  efforts  to  raise  money  first  for  the 
Sunday  school  and  later  the  public  school  bell: 

*  "The  History  of  Lander  and  of  Holy  Rosary  Parish,"  unpub- 
lished manuscript,  n.d.,  on  file  at  Pioneer  Museum,  38,  39; 
"Catholic  Church  Was  First  Built  Says  E.J.  Farlow,"  Wyoming 
State  Journal,  n.d.,  clipping  on  file.  Pioneer  Museum. 


Spring  1999 

As  a  member  of  the  committee  for  the  raising  of  such 
funds,  I  was  courteously  received  by  all  members  of  the 
gambling  fraternity,  saloon  keepers,  and  representati\es  of 
even  more  shady  lines  of  business,  all  contributing  gener- 
ously, regardless  of  creed  or  the  lack  of  it.  I  remember  that 
old  "Black  Jack  Parker,"  who  had  one  of  the  best-known 
saloons  and  gambling  places  in  town,  located  on  Main  street, 
opposite  the  old  Lander  hotel,  was  very  enthusiastic  about 
the  new  church,  and  subscribed  his  name  gladly,  with  a 
few  characteristic,  profane  remarks.'* 

Parker's  saloon  was  the  site  of  frequent  violence  and 
wasn't  really  a  very  funny  place.  A  local  man,  who 
brought  his  wife  and  children  to  Lander  in  1 882,  made 
a  diary  entry  which  underscores  what  a  tough,  "Old 
West"  type  of  institution  Parker's  saloon  was:  "Aug 
1 5  1 885  this  evening  about  5:30  Oclock  Frank  Howard 
shot  and  kild  Charley  Williamson  in  Jack  Parkers  So- 
loune.""' 

Children  who  grew  up  in  this  section  of  the  frontier 
and  attended  classes  in  the  Lander  school  were  famil- 
iar with  violence  in  its  crudest  fonns.  In  1873,  two 
years  after  Ed  Lawn  opened  Lander's  first  public  school, 
the  village  was  attacked  by  the  Sioux  and  two  women 
were  killed  in  a  cabin  only  two  blocks  from  the  school. 
"Indian  scares"  remained  a  part  of  daily  life  for  many 
years.  The  tribes  had  generally  been  confined  to  reser- 
vations and  peace  had  prevailed  in  the  Lander  area  since 
the  late  1870s — Fort  Stambaugh  near  South  Pass  City 
was  deemed  unnecessary  and  closed  in  1878 — but 
people  still  lived  with  apprehension.  The  feeling  of 
physical  safety  inspired  by  thick  stone  walls  may  have 
been  a  contributing  factor  in  Landerites'  selection  of 
that  building  material.  The  intent  in  building  the  school 
was  to  overcome  the  rough  frontier  life-style  both  men- 
tally and  physically:  to  keep  children  safe,  to  educate 
them,  and  to  provide  them  with  a  more  uplifting  built 
environment,  thereby  creating  a  more  civilized  com- 
munity. 

A  mother  and  daughter  who  survived  the  desperate 
warfare  of  the  1 860s  and  1 870s  noted  another  series  of 
frightening  events  that  affected  Lander  area  children  at 
the  relatively  late  date  of  1882, 

May  12th,  1882.  We  have  had  quite  an  Indian  scare 
lately.  1  do  not  know  whither  the  Indians  have  settled 
down  yet  or  not.  I  think  the  [soldiers]  did  perfectly 
right  in  killing  Captain  Jack.  He  was  here  for  the  pur- 
pose of  trying  to  get  the  Young  Bucks  to  join  him  to 
fight  the  whites  and  he  was  one  of  the  instagators  [sic] 
of  the  Meeker  Massacre. 

May  14th,  1882.  [Twelve  year  old]  John  went  to  the 
[Lander]  valley  with  Billcox.  He  was  going  to  be  gone 
a  week  or  ten  day[sj  and  instead  of  that  did  not  come 


back  for  three  weeks  ...  We  were  awful  uneasy  about 
him  on  account  of  the  Indians  bemg  so  bad  ..." 

Fear  and  death  in  street  fights,  skirmishes,  diseases, 
or  accidents  were  part  of  growing  up  on  the  frontier. 

"  Christine  Fuller.  Superintendent  ot  Schools,  Fremont  C'ount\, 
l,ander,  Wyoming,  (unpublished  manuscript  on  tile.  Pioneer 
Museum,  1965);  "Trinity  Church.  Lander.  1883-1QS3."  2;  H.  F. 
Wadsworth.  "Saloon  Men  and  Gamblers  Put  Mone\  in  lander 
Church  Fund,"  IVyoining  Stale  Jminuil.  April  16.  1432. 

Parker  sold  his  saloon  in  the  200  block  of  Main  Street  to  Edward 
Lannigan  in  the  late  1880s  or  earl_\  l8Q0s.  With  son  Joe  behind 
the  bar.  the  Lannigan  saloon  remained  a  lively  and  tough  frontier 
bar.  It  continued  to  be  a  prominent  institution  in  downtown  Lander 
during  an  era  when  all  normal  men  were  expected  to  imbibe  treeK , 
The  omnipresent  Butch  Cassidy  was  once  enjoying  a  peaceful 
drink  or  three  when  warned  by  a  fellow  patron  that  the  sheriff 
was  coming  to  arrest  him.  Butch  preserved  his  freedom  b\  tleeing 
through  the  back  door. 

In  1 89.^1  Tom  Shepheard.  alias  Tom  Osborne,  an  illiterate  rancher 
who  owned  that  famous  outlaw  hang-out,  the  Quien  Sabe  Ranch, 
murdered  a  man  named  Thorn  on  the  steps  of  the  saloon.  Thorn 
had  misrepresented  a  document  and  cheated  Osborne  out  of  his 
ranch.  When  Osborne  discovered  what  had  happened  he  tracked 
Thorn  to  the  bar,  told  Thorn  he  "didn't  propose  to  stand  it  [and 
wanted]  what's  right,"  Thorn  retorted  "I'll  give  you  nothing," 
whereupon  Osborne  said,  "You  won't,  hey?"  pulled  out  a  revolver 
and  shot  him.  Sheriff  Stough  had  ridden  down  the  street  past  the 
saloon  just  moments  before  the  shooting  and  reported  that:  "1 
rode  on  about  titt\  \ards  when  1  heard  a  shot  tired.  1  whirled  m\ 
horse  around,  1  seen  Thorn  hump  over  and  run  in  the  saloon  door 
and  Osborne  after  him.  As  I  got  off  my  horse,  I  heard  another 
shot  or  two  in  the  saloon.  As  I  jumped  inside  ...  1  hollowed  to 
Osborne  'to  hold  up.'  .At  that  time,  Osborne  was  within  two  or 
three  feet  of  the  hack  door.  I  hollowed  for  him  to  come  to  me  and 
he  did  so,  still  holding  his  pistol  in  his  right  hand.  I  grabbed  his 
pistol,  took  it  away  from  him  and  started  him  to  jail." 

Osborne  was  sentenced  to  tlfteen  years  for  manslaughter  and 
served  his  time  in  the  Territorial  Penitentiarx'  with  Butch  Cassidv. 
Tom  Bell,  "Charles  Hett:  Neighbor  of  Outlaws  and  Rustlers," 
It'iinl  River  Mountaineer,  6  (July  -  September  1990):  5.  6;  Tom 
Bell,  personal  communication  Februar\   15.  1996. 

'"  Ed  Farthing,  Sr.,  diary,  Freinont  County  Pioneer  Museum, 

' '  Janet  and  Maggie  Sherlock  letters  to  Peter  Sherlock  in.  Todd 
R.  Guenther,  "Dear  Peter:  The  Letters  of  a  Pioneer  Mother  and 
Sister,"  Wind  River  Mouiitairieer.  7  (April-June  1991 );  16.  Captain 
Jack  was  a  Colorado  Ute  who  came  to  the  Wind  River  Reservation. 
In  1879,  he  had  been  a  leader  in  the  violent  upheaval  on  the  White 
River  Reservation  in  which  the  despised  agent  Nathan  Meeker 
and  others  were  killed.  .After  killing  a  Fort  Washakie  soldier  in 
the  spring  of  1882,  Jack  perished  when  troops  fired  a  cannon  into 
his  teepee.  Delighted  whites  concurred  with  the  conclusion  in  his 
obituary  that  cannons  as  well  as  schools  were  educational  tools: 
"On  Saturday  last  he  retired  to  his  tepee,  little  dreaming  that  he 
would  be  carried  out  of  it  in  a  salt  bag  ...  His  body  will  lie  in  state 
in  a  cigar  bo.x,  until  the  time  set  for  his  burial,  when  he  will  be 
interred  with  proper  ceremonies  and  a  corn  planter.  We  believe 
that  the  mountain  howitzer  is  destined  ...  to  become  an  important 
factor  in  the  civilization  of  the  Indian  and  the  amelioration  of 
mankind."  Bill  N\e,  quoted  in  T..'\.  Larson,  HisloiT  ot  Wyoming 
(Lincoln:  University  of  Nebraska  Press,  1978),  107. 


Annals  oi  Wyoming  :Tne  Wyoming  History  Journal 


Death  was  also  a  frequent  visitor  within  the  apparent 
safety  of  the  home.  Typical  families  of  eight  to  twelve 
could  almost  expect  that  one  or  two  children  would  die 
before  reaching  maturity.  In  the  Cheyenne  cemeteries, 
for  example,  nearly  40  percent  of  those  people  buried 
between  1875  and  1900  were  under  the  age  often.  In 
spite  of  all  the  physical  and  emotional  difficulties  of 
life  on  the  frontier,  many  settlers  held  a  belief  in 
progress  and  the  indomitable  superiority  of  American 
civilization.  It  was  pioneers'  firm  conviction  that,  as 
illustrated  by  Currier  and  Ives'  contemporary  view 
(page  4),  wilderness  and  Native  Americans  would  ei- 
ther have  to  acquiesce,  get  out  of  the  way,  or  be  de- 
stroyed. As  the  painting  suggests,  schools  all  across 
the  region  were  at  the  forefront  of  this  process.  Lander 
celebrated  its  role  in  the  advancement  of  western  civi- 
lization with  the  end  of  the  successful  fund  drive  and 
beginning  of  construction  on  the  stone  schoolhouse.'- 

Although  advertised  bids  for  school  construction 
projects  were  not  required  by  Wyoming  statute  until 
after  1886,  the  school  house  project  was  put  out  for 
bids.  Local  builders  Peter  Williamson  and  William 
Frederick  bid  $3,810  and  $3,757  respectively  for  stone 
and  brick  construcfion  on  the  38'  x  50'  building  with 
thirteen-foot  ceilings.  The  project,  however,  was 
awarded  to  the  Rawlins  firm  of  Carson  and  Bond  for  a 
stone  building  at  $3,557.  Bob  Bond  had  a  good  reputa- 
tion in  Lander,  also  having  built  Amoretti's  First  Na- 
tional Bank  and  Baldwin's  Store,  both  on  Main  Street. 
There  is  no  evidence  that  an  architect  drew  up  plans 
for  the  school.  Consistent  with  the  time  and  place.  Bond 
likely  designed  and  engineered  the  building  himself 
based  on  the  Board's  verbal  specifications  and  his  ex- 
perience as  a  builder.'^ 

Construction  started  at  the  beginning  of  October, 
1884.  On  the  7th,  Bond  began  making  frequent  visits 
to  Ervin  F.  Cheney's  blacksmith  shop  just  east  of  the 
river  on  Main  Street  (see  photos,  page  6).  Almost  ev- 
ery other  day  through  November,  Bond  brought  in  stone 
cutting  and  shaping  tools  to  be  sharpened  and  repaired. 
In  the  next  few  weeks  he  spent  $52.25  at  Cheney's. '"* 

A  number  of  masons  lived  in  Lander  at  this  time  and 
most  probably  worked  on  this  project.  Among  them 
were  the  Williamson  Brothers  who  buiU  Ed  Tweed's 
fine  stone  house  on  Squaw  Creek,  Charles  Harrison, 
and  widely  known  Howard  Crispin  who  moved  to 
Lander  in  1882.  Crispin,  who  later  carved  many  of 
Lander's  grave  stones,  is  the  most  likely  candidate  to 
have  inscribed  the  datestone  which  the  proud  commu- 
nity placed  prominently  above  the  school's  front  door. 
The  stone  read,  "Lander  Public  School  Erected  A.D. 
1885."i5 


Lander  boasted  several  stone  buildings  by  the  mid- 
1880s.  Prominent  among  them  were  the  Catholic 
Church,  Third  and  Garfield,  built  1 882-1 883;  Baldwin's 
Store,  Third  and  Main,  built  1 883-1 884;  and  Amoretti's 
bank,  258  Main,  built  1885-1886.  Many  quarries  on 
public  and  private  land  provided  rock  for  projects  small 
and  large.  Among  the  most  prominent  were  Wyopo, 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  north  of  Lander,  Battrum  Gap 
southeast  of  town,  and  Sinks  Canyon.  The  stone  had  to 
be  hauled  in  small  loads  on  horse-drawn  wagons. 

The  lion's  share  of  rock  work  on  the  school  was  com- 
pleted by  December  1 884.  After  that,  the  carpentry  work 
was  initiated.  The  structure  now  had  a  recognizable 
shape  and  observers  thought,  albeit  incorrectly,  that 
the  building  was  nearly  ready  for  occupancy.  The  local 
paper  wrote  on  January  1,  1885: 

The  New  School  is  approaching  its  completion  thanks 
to  the  untiring  and  most  devoted  efforts  of  Mr.  P.  Kurry 
[sic,  Correy].  The  date  of  its  commencement  will  be 
published  in  this  paper,  also  the  order  of  the  day.  The 
list  of  benefactors  and  subscribers  will  follow,  as  soon 
as  possible.'* 

In  fact,  the  school  still  had  many  months  to  go  be- 
fore it  would  be  completed,  though  why  it  took  so  long 
is  a  mystery.  Perhaps  the  project  stalled  while  addi- 
tional funds  were  raised.  At  any  rate,  the  framing  and 
roofing  were  not  completed  until  September. 

Pat  Correy,  whose  "devoted  efforts"  were  praised  by 
the  Mountaineer  editor,  was  a  well-known  local  car- 
penter and  family  man  with  a  personal  interest  in 
Lander's  developing  school  system.  Although  one  of 
his  young  children  died  in  the  late  1880s,  by  1896  he 
and  his  wife  and  five  studious  children  lived  at  the  cor- 
ner of  Sweetwater  and  Third  Streets.  A  man  named 
Hodder  from  Salt  Lake  City  helped  with  the  interior 


'-  Dennis  Frobish,  "The  Cheyenne  Cemetery:  Reflections  of 
the  Life  of  a  City,"  Annals  of  Wyoming,  62  (Summer  1990):  90- 
99;  Elliot  West,  Growing  Up  With  the  Country:  Childhood  on  the 
Far  Western  Frontier  (Albuquerque:  University  of  New  Mexico 
Press,  1989),  37-41. 

'-'  C.  G.  Coutant,  Lander,  Lander  Valley,  and  the  Mines 
Directory,  (Lander:  Clipper  Book  &  Job  Print,  Co.,  1896),  23; 
Edward  Farthing,  Sr.,  Diary  for  1885,  copy  on  file.  Pioneer 
Museum;  "Old  School  Bell  To  Pioneer  Group,"  Wyoming  State 
Journal,  March  16,  1939;  Wind  River  Mountaineer.  May  28,  1885. 

'■•  E.  F.  Cheney  Day  Ledger,  "Blacksmithing  Account, 
Commenced  Work  Nov.  6,  1883,"  in  Pioneer  Museum  archive. 

'^  Clipper,  Sept.  24,  1887;  "Crispin"  folder,  vertical  files. 
Pioneer  Museum,  Lander. 

'*  Wind  River  Mountaineer,  January  1,  1885. 


Spring  1999 

carpentry  and  framing.  He  was  best  known  for  his  or- 
nate finish  work  around  doors  and  windows." 

Ed  Farthing,  a  plasterer,  noted  in  his  diary  on  .luly  7, 
1 885,  that  "Mr.  Bond  ask  me  to  figer  on  the  plastering 
of  the  school  house."  He  began  work  on  August  26, 
1885,  tlrst  helping  the  carpenters  finish  up  and  then 
devoting  several  days  to  shingling  the  roof  When  that 
was  finished,  he  began  the  difficult,  labor  intensive 
interior  lath  and  plastering.  Ed's  assistants  were  Ed 
Zimmerman  and  Ed  Smith.  Presumably,  the\  were  ad- 
dressed by  nicknames  or  surnames  to  avoid  confusion. 
Farthing's  son.  Jack,  and  another  man  who  worked  only 
a  half  day  before  quitting  rounded  out  the  crew.  Far- 
thing paid  the  latter  a  total  of  one  dollar. 

The  lath  was  in  place  and  the  building  was  finally 
ready  to  be  plastered  at  three  in  the  afternoon  on  Sep- 
tember 4.  By  Monday,  September  14.  they  had  "got 
one  Large  room  finished  and  nearly  the  celon  of  the 
other  w  hen  our  puttie  rund  out  and  Ed  Zimmerman  got 
through  for  he  hat  to  go  away."  According  to  Farthing's 
descendants,  lime  used  in  the  plaster  w  as  procured  from 
a  kiln  in  Sinks  Canyon.  Other  more  prominent  kilns 
included  Blair  and  Crispin's  kilns  north  of  town  near 
Wyopo.'^  On  September  22,  1885,  almost  a  year  after 
the  constniction  project  began.  Farthing's  crew  finished 
plastering  the  school  house  and  on  the  24th,  Farthing 
settled  up  w  ith  Bond.  They  had  plastered  662  square 
yards  at  $1.12  per  yard  for  a  total  of  $741 .44.'''  How 
much  he  was  paid  for  his  other  work  is  not  recorded. 
Farthing's  handiwork  received  favorable  mention  in  the 
press: 

The  wails  are  very  snn)oth  and  true,  and  tiie  finish  is 
firm  and  beautiful,  being  as  white  as  Parian  marble, 
and  almost  as  free  from  cracks  on  the  surface.  There  is 
no  "chip"  cracking  discernable  in  any  part  of  the 
work.-" 

The  wonderftil  new  school  which  had  taken  so  long 
to  build  was  a  tremendous  improvement  on  its  crude, 
log  walled  and  dirt-roofed  predecessor.  A  photo  shows 
that  a  foyer  or  coat  room  was  located  just  inside  the 
front  door.  The  building  was  divided  lengthwise  into 
two  large,  bright  and  well-ventilated  classrooms.  The 
dividing  wall,  in  addition  to  separating  the  primary  from 
the  upper  grades,  provided  structural  support  to  the 
building  and  for  the  centrally  located  brick  chimney. 
Each  classroom  needed  a  stove  to  keep  students  warm.-' 

Capping  the  new  edifice  was  a  lovely-toned  bell,  cast 
in  1882  at  Vanduzen  &  Tift's  Buckeye  Bell  Foundry 
in  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  This  beautiful,  silvery,  300-400 
pound  instrument,  costing  $75  to  $100,  was  the  source 
of  great  community  pride,  controversy,  and  excitement. 


The  strife  was  related  to  the  roughly  simultaneous  con- 
struction of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  a  story  wherein 
matters  of  church  and  state  became  peculiarly  entw  ined. 

Back  in  December  of  1 880,  prior  to  the  organization 
of  any  Lander  churches,  the  Methodists  had  started  a 
non-denominational  Sunday  school.  Classes  were  first 
held  in  the  intermarried  white  and  Shoshone  home  of 
old-time  frontiersman/trader  William  Boyd  on  Washa- 
kie Street.  The  first  Sunday  school  project  was  a  fund- 
raiser for  books  that  exolved  into  something  larger: 
acquisition  of  a  bell  for  the  Episcopalians  and  an  organ 
for  the  Catholics.  All  agreed  that  when  Lander's  first 
public  building  was  erected,  these  accouterments  would 
be  placed  in  that  structure  and  the  congregations  would 
have  to  obtain  their  own  equipment. 

Nothing  worked  so  simply,  however,  and  from  be- 
ginning to  end,  the  Sunday  school,  nascent  public 
school,  bell,  local  saloons,  and  citizenrv'  were  embroiled 
in  comical  controversy.  First,  the  Sunday  school  sec- 
retary, who  was  a  government  surveyor,  worked  for 
months  without  pay,  exhausted  his  credit  and  friends" 
charity,  and  then  gambled  away  the  $17.50  raised  to 
purchase  Sunday  school  books  in  a  failed  attempt  to 
raise  money  to  live  on.  Three  weeks  later  when  the 
books  had  not  arri\ ed,  he  confessed  when  questioned. 
Frank  Ecoffce,  Bill  Boyd  and  Billie  O'Neal,--  hurley 

'^  Tom  Bell.  "'Howard  Crispin,  Master  Stonemason;  His  work 
still  stands  in  Lander."  IViiui  River  Afcuiiuuiiicer.  6  (October- 
December  19'^0):4,5;  "Lander  Visit  Recalls  Building  of  Our 
School."  Wyoming  Slate  Jounud.  August  10,  lQ.i'>. 

'"Jim  Farthing,  personal  communication.  Februar\  20,  l^^Jt); 
Tom  Bell,  "Howard  Crispin,  Master  Stone  Mason."  4.  5. 

'''  Edward  Farthing,  Sr.,  Diary  for  188.^,  entries  for  Jul>,  August, 
and  September,  copy  on  file.  Pioneer  Museum. 

-"  Wind  River  Mowitaineei;  September  25,  1883;  Jim  Fanhing, 
personal  communication,  Feb.  0,  1996,  based  on  a  diar>  kept  by 
his  grandfather,  Edward  Farthing,  Sr.  The  island  of  Paros  was 
noted  for  its  marble  which  was  used  extensivel)  for  sculpture  in 
ancient  times.  More  recently,  Parian  ware  was  the  name  of  soft 
cream  colored  china  used  unglazed  to  make  statuettes. 

-'  Wyoming  State  JounuiK  August  26,  1925;  Ray  Fuller, 
personal  communication.  March  1996;  Amelia  Hall.  Mountain 
View  Ranch,  May  26,  1930,  untitled  manuscript  in  Pioneer 
Museum  collections. 

--  Like  Bill  Boyd,  Ecoffee  had  moved  to  the  Sweetwater  gold 
mines  before  moving  into  the  Lander  \alle\.  EcotTee  had  earlier 
been  employed  by  the  renowned  frontier  trader  Bissonette  at  his 
trading  post  on  Deer  Creek  and  there  become  acquainted  with 
Boyd  and  the  large  Lajeunesse  family.  Ecoffee  married 
Bissonette's  half-Sioux  daughter.  Ecoffee  bought  a  ranch  where 
the  city  of  Lander  now  stands  and  raised  a  family  there. 

William,  or  Billy  O'Neal  was  another  earl>  settler  in  the  Lander 
valley.  He  was  an  organizer  and  the  Captain  of  the  Pushroot 
Rangers,  a  local  militia  formed  to  fight  off  attacking  Indians  and 
help  keep  order  in  the  frontier  community.  Lander's  original  name 
was  "Pushroot"  for  all  the  vegetables  grown  there  to  support  the 
nearby  gold  miners  and  soldiers  at  Camps  Stambaugh  and  Brown. 


10 


Annals  of  Wyoniing:The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


frontiersmen  all,  dragged  the  embezzling  secretary 
down  the  street  to  Parker's  saloon  where  they  learned 
the  soft-hearted  bartender  had  loaned  him  another  $25 
which  was  also  lost.-' 

The  men  told  Jack  he  would  have  to  put  up  for  the 
kids  [so  Parker]  reached  behind  the  bar  and  threw  out 
$50  and  told  them  to  buy  the  song  books  and  have  a 
balance  besides. 

The  balance  gave  another  inspiration  to  the  Sunday 
school  workers  and  they  decided  to  buy  [a]  bell  and 
organ  and  proceeded  to  raise  the  money.  It  came  eas- 
ily for  everyone  in  town  chipped  in,  saloon  men,  gam- 
blers and  all,  and  the  money  soon  piled  up. 

The  proposition  to  place  the  bell  on  the  first  public 
building  had  its  complications  and  misunderstandings. 
The  Episcopal  Church  was  built  [earlier  in  1885]  and 
was  the  community  church.  There  the  bell  hung.  The 
membership  ...  stoutly  contended  that  the  church  was 
a  public  building  and  entitled  to  [keep]  the  bell.  Oth- 
ers, and  among  them  the  ones  most  active  in  the  Sun- 
day school,  believed  it  should  go  on  the  new  school 
house  then  in  process  of  erection.  The  [school]  build- 
ing was  almost  complete  and  it  looked  like  it  would 


This  c.  1885  photograph  shows  a  forlorn  Trinity 
Episcopal  Church  with  its  empty  belfiy.  The  church 
faced  east  across  Third  Street  toward  the  slightly  older 
Catholic  Church.    Pioneer  Museum  photograph 


have  no  bell  in  the  tower  when  [several]  strongarms, 
after  splicing  the  main  brace,  got  a  wagon,  took  off  the 
bell  and  put  it  where  they  believed  it  belonged.  Before 
dawn  the  clear  notes  rang  out  over  the  city  and  the 
whole  [panic-stricken]  population  turned  out  thinking 
it  was  a  fire  or  an  Indian  uprising.  Excitement  ran  high 
and  when  peace  was  restored,  the  sun  was  up  in  the 
east  and  all  were  apparently  pleased  except  the  Epis- 
copalians. It  should  be  added.. .that  when  his  draft  came, 
young  Quinn  made  good,  paid  every  cent  he  owed  and 
when  he  left  Lander  did  so  with  the  high  regard  of 
everyone.-"* 

Thus,  with  the  installation  of  the  bell,  was  completed 
Lander's  stone  school  house,  the  first  building  in  town 
to  be  erected  specifically  to  serve  as  a  place  of  learn- 
ing. Amelia  Hall,  who  had  taught  in  the  old  log  cabin, 
praised  the  beautiful  new  school,  "It  had  two  rooms 
and  was  such  an  improvement  on  the  old  building.  It 
was  thot  large  enough  to  accommodate  all  the  children 
in  Lander  for  many  years."--'' 

The  honor  of  opening  the  new  school  building  to  stu- 
dents in  the  autumn  of  1 885  fell  to  Mrs.  F.  E.  Caldwell 
who  succeeded  Patten  as  Superintendent  for  a  regular 
two-year  term.  Herrecordsof  December  7,  1885,  show 
the  apportionment  of  the  General  County  School  Fund 
at  that  time  had  increased  to  $5000,  but  it  had  to  be 

-'  An  Episcopal  Church  was  formed  in  South  Pass  City  in  1870 
by  Reverend  Fitman.  This  institution  only  lasted  about  one  year 
before  the  bust  in  the  mining  district  drove  the  congregants  away. 
According  to  "A  New  Church  Bell,"  The  Clipper,  July  24,  1896, 
Mrs.  J.D.  Woodruff  initiated  another  subscription  to  acquire  a 
bell  for  Lander's  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  That  church  bell 
was  double  the  size  of  other  bells  in  the  city,  weighing  700  pounds. 
It  cost  $110.  Based  on  this  information,  the  school  bell  is  believed 
to  have  cost  somew  hat  less.  "Saloon  Men  and  Gamblers  Put  Money 
in  Lander  Church  Fund."  Wyoming  State  Journal.  April  16,  1932. 

William  Henry  Harrison  Boyd  was  an  old-time  frontiersman 
who  had  been  all  over  the  west  in  the  early  days.  He  was  associated 
with  trapper-trader  Charles  Lajeunesse.  called  Seminoe.  The  latter 
had  a  trading  post  near  Devils  Gate  on  the  Sweetwater  and  was  a 
partner  of  Bissonette  in  his  post  at  Deer  Creek  east  of  Fort  Caspar. 
About  1865,  Seminoe  gave  his  twelve-year-old,  half-Shoshone 
daughter  over  to  Boyd's  care  during  an  Indian  scare.  By  the  late 
1860s  the  two  were  living  together  as  man  and  wife  in  the  South 
Pass  mining  district.  They  afterward  took  up  land  along  the  Popo 
Agie  which  quickly  became  part  of  the  growing  town  of  Lander. 

-''  "P.S.  Quinn,  Early  Resident,  Tells  of  First  Sunday  School 
Organized  in  Lander  Valley,"  Wyoming  State  Journal,  October 
28,  1925.  In  a  Wyoming  State  Journal  article,  October  21,  1937, 
it  is  claimed  that  the  bell  was  removed  from  the  Sunday  School 
building  and  placed  on  the  schoolhouse  by  unanimous  consent 
and  that  subsequent  public  conscriptions  permitted  the  purchase 
of  another  bell  for  the  church. 

-'  Amelia  Hall,  Mountain  View  Ranch,  May  26,  1930,  untitled 
manuscript  in  Pioneer  Museum  collections. 


■iiiiiiiiiiiMiia 


Spring  1QQ9 


divided  among  more  schools.  In  the  course  of  the  year, 
the  county  had  expanded  to  include  260  pupils  in  eleven 
school  districts. 

Incredibly,  no  records  can  be  found  celebrating  ex- 
actly when  the  stone  school  house  first  opened  its  doors 
to  students.  Only  Ed  Farthing's  diary  makes  a  few  ob- 
lique references  to  education  during  that  w  inter  of  1 885- 
1886.  On  Monday,  November  30,  1885,  he  did  some 
trading  with  local  merchants  and  bought  two  school 
books  for  his  son  Harry.  Next,  on  January  21,1 886,  he 
bought  Harry  a  spelling  book.  On  February  I  I,  after 
mentioning  previously  that  he  was  ill,  he  recorded  that 
"Tedey  stayd  home  from  School  to  day  he  is  complaing 
with  lumps  in  his  grind,  his  Mother  rubed  him  with 
Rad[illegible]  relef "-'' 

The  school's  better  documented  third  year  opened 
on  Monday,  October  3,  1887,  with  forty  pupils:  six- 
teen in  the  principal  department  and  twenty-four  in  pri- 
mary. J.  B.  Long  was  master  of  the  principal  grades 
while  Mrs.  T.  R.  Season  taught  primary  classes.  Our 
modem  popular  belief  that  married  women  were  not 
considered  suitable  teachers  during  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury clearly  did  not  hold  true  in  Lander.  The  Seasons 
ranched  about  twelve  miles  from  town  so  she  boarded 
while  school  was  in  session.  When  Long  left  shortly 


This  photograph  of  students  and  faculry  at  the  stone 
school  house  nas  taken  on  the  stujie  diiv  as  the  photo 
on  page  2.  The  people  are  not  identified^  Fremoiu 
County  Pioneer  Museum  photograph 

after  the  beginning  of  the  year  Season  was  promoted 
to  replace  him. 

The  Clipper  of  Sept.  17,  1887,  congratulated  the 
Board  for  securing  the  services  of  such  accomplished 
and  efficient  teachers  and  noted  a  few  weeks  later  that 
the  public  school  was  progressing  nicely  and  that  at- 
tendance was  increasing.  To  further  provide  for  the 
many  students"  needs,  J.  K.  Moore's  big  Lander  store 
advertised  a  "Large  lot  of  School  Books,  just  recei\  ed." 
The  growth  was  largely  a  seasonal  occurrence  as  rural 
kids'  ranch  and  farm  responsibilities  decreased  in  au- 
tumn and  they  were  enabled  to  attend  classes.  Newly 
arrived  families  contributed  to  the  student  body.  Also 
in  November,  the  voters  of  School  District  One  were 
called  by  Board  Secretary,  renowned  Indian  fighter, 
reservation  fanning  instructor  and  local  jeweler,  Finn 

-*  Fartiiing  diary,  page  79,  Nov.  30,  1885;  page  92.  Jan.  21. 
1886;  page  9^  Jan.  31,  1886;  page  98,  Feb.  11.  1886;  in  Pioneer 
Museum  collections.  At  this  time.  Farthing  contributed  a  dollar 
to  the  most  recent  fund  drive,  this  time  "to  help  pay  the  pasiage 
of  three  man  to  Chiane  to  spout  about  the  new  cort  house." 


12 


Annals  or  WyomingrThe  W/oming  History 


Burnett,  to  a  special  meeting  in  the  school  house  to  fill 
a  vacancy  on  the  board. -^ 

Even  while  it  appeared  that  life  and  learning  would 
proceed  smoothly  beneath  the  stone  schoolhouse's 
pretty  bell,  dissension  again  reared  its  head  and  Lander 
was  in  an  uproar  during  the  1887  holiday  season.  It 
became  clear  that  the  difficulties  of  erecting  the  build- 
ing were  simple  matters  compared  with  actually  oper- 
ating the  school.  The  faculty  was  in  flux.  Throughout 
the  winter  positions  were  vacated,  charges  of  corrup- 
tion were  leveled,  and  a  competing  school  was  started. 
The  public  school  faced  stiff,  if  short-lived,  private  com- 
petition and  then,  upon  coming  up  victorious,  increased 
its  enrollment  by  half  The  problem  developed  when 
some  of  Lander's  prominent  families  preferred  to  send 
twenty-four  of  their  children  to  a  newly  organized  pri- 
vate, or  "select,"  school,  which  also  opened  in  October 
of  1887,  and  was  apparently  affiliated  with  Reverend 
Roberts  and  the  Episcopal  Church. 

The  select  school  teacher  was  a  Mrs.  M.  C.  Vine- 
vard.  who  was  evaluated  after  a  few  weeks  as  being 
"generally  satisfactory"  but  some  parents  and  board 
members  openly  hoped  that  "there  should  be  a  little 
more  life  infused"  into  her  overly  conservative  and  stem 
methods  and  curriculum.  In  a  tumultuous  pre-Christ- 
mas  meeting  of  the  select  school  trustees  and  patrons, 
the  infuriated  Mrs.  Vineyard  resigned  in  an  irrevers- 
ible manner.  J.  I.  Patten  was  given  the  responsibility  of 
finding  a  replacement.  Preferred  candidates  would  be 
local  but  were  to  be  "of  high  order."-^ 

At  the  same  meeting  select  school  board  members  J. 
Russell  and  M.W.  Shidy  resigned.  They  also  served 
on  the  board  of  the  public  school,  a  conflict  of  interest 
which  was  deemed  "impolitic. "Businessmen  J.  B. 
Houghton.  E.  T.  St.  John.  E.  F.  Cheney,  and  Mr.  Bill- 
ings were  elected  to  fill  the  many  vacancies  on  the  se- 
lect school  board.  Rev.  Roberts  promised  to  help.  The 
Clipper 's  editor  was  glad  to  see  the  determination  of 
local  citizens  to  build  up  Lander's  educational  system. 

Mrs.  Vineyard  determined  to  plow  ahead  on  her  own. 
She  promptly  advertised  that  she  would  open  her  own 
private  school  on  January  2,  next  door  to  the  Amoretti 
residence.  Tuition  would  be  $5  per  month  plus  $1  for 
incidentals.  Her  effort  and  that  of  the  select  school  were 
short-lived  and  soon  all  of  Lander's  kids  were  enrolled 
in  the  public  school.-^ 

That  same  contentious  Christmas  season,  the  editor 
of  the  Wind  River  Mountaineer  charged  F.  E.  Caldwell 
and  the  revered  Capt.  H.  G.  Nickerson  with  misuse  of 
public  school  funds  during  the  building  of  the  stone 
schoolhouse.  But,  the  Clipper  editor  would  hear  none 
of  it,  nor  did  the  public  put  stock  in  the  innuendoes 


which  quickly  blew  away  in  the  winter  zephyrs. ^° 

In  January,  the  Clipper  editor  wrote,  referring  to  the 
enlarged  student  body,  that,  "our  public  schools  were 
never  in  a  more  flourishing  condition."  He  praised  the 
addition  of  steps  at  the  school's  front  door,  but  com- 
plained about  water  running  around  the  bridge  and 
flooding  west  Main  Street  which  made  "travel  ugly  for 
pedestrians  especially  school  children."  For  weeks  the 
children  were  compelled  to  wade  through  1"  to  3"  of 
water  flowing  over  deep  mud  in  order  to  reach  the 
schoolhouse.  Residents  near  the  bridge  were  even  forced 
from  their  homes  by  the  flood.'' 

At  mid-month,  Mrs.  Beason  resigned  when  her  hus- 
band accepted  a  ranch  manager  position  on  a  large  op- 
eration far  away  in  the  northeast  part  of  the  county. 
She  was  replaced  by  Miss  Agnes  Russell  who  had  taken 
over  the  primary  grades  when  Beason  became  princi- 
pal. The  Mountaineer  attacked  Miss  Russell  who  was 
defended  by  the  Clipper  as  having  been  "competent 
and  satisfactory  especially  in  light  of  the  disadvantages 
under  which  she  labored,"  though  the  problems  she  en- 
countered were  not  identified.  The  Clipper  added  that 
the  school  under  her  management  was  an  improvement 
over  the  previous  winter  under  Caldwell. -'- 

One  of  the  territorial  teachers  institutes  was  held  in 
Lander  in  1888.  These  annual,  state-sponsored  events 
were  held  at  locations  all  around  the  territory  for  "the 
instruction  and  advancement  of  teachers."  The  program 
began  in  1877;  after  the  University  of  Wyoming  was 
founded  in  1886,  it  became  an  active  participant.  At 
least  some  of  the  lecturers  in  Lander  were  local  instruc- 
tors. Programs  included.  "How  to  interest  pupils  in 
reading."  by  Miss  Mattie  Standish;  "Why  should  Physi- 
ology be  taught  in  our  schools,"  by  Miss  Lizzie  Carr  of 
Lander  (this  subject,  with  an  emphasis  on  the  evils  of 
alcohol,  became  mandatory  in  the  Revised  Statutes  of 
Wyoming  (J 887);  "A  teacher's  duty  outside  the  school- 
room," by  Miss  Agnes  Russell  of  Lander;  "Should 
teachers  expect  or  require  of  pupils  a  high  moral  stan- 
dard?" by  Miss  Fannie  Alden;  and  "An  ideal  teacher," 
by  Miss  Mamie  L.  Hayes."'' 

-'  Clipper.  Sept.  17,  Oct.  1,  Oct.  8,  Nov.  19,  1887.  Burnett  was 
former  Senator  Al  Simpson's  great-grandfather. 

-'^Clipper,  Sept.  24,  Nov.  5,  December  24,  1887. 

-''Clipper,  Dec.  31,  1887, 

^°  Clipper,  ian.  1,  1888. 

■'  Ibid 

"  Clipper,  ian.  21,  1888. 

-''  "Program  for  Teacher's  [sic]  Association,  Nov.  24th,  1888," 
Clipper,  Nov.  21,  1888;  Robert  Rosenberg,  "Historic  Overview 
of  Education  in  Sublette  County,  Wyoming,"  contract  report  for 
the  Sublette  County  Certified  Local  Government  Commission, 
on  file,  Wyoming  State  Historic  Preservation  Office,  1988. 


Spring  1999 

In  spite  of  the  obstacles.  Lander's  educational  sys- 
tem was  progressing.  With  the  addition  of  the  school 
house.  Lander  was  able  to  boast  in  a  "Boom"  edition 
of  the  Clipper,  intended  to  attract  settlers  by  provid- 
ing, 

a  pleasant  place  in  which  to  make  a  home  ...  we 
present...  a  city  delightfully  situated,  with  good  soci- 
ety', schools  and  churches,  an  atmosphere  of  moral  re- 
finement in  which  to  rear  and  educate  their  children, 
and  all  the  elevating  influence  of  an  eastern  city  ... 
The  settler  coming  to  Fremont  County  can  ...  be  in  an 
old,  settled  community.  They  would  have  the  advan- 
tages of  Church  and  School.  Possibly  the  churches 
and  schools  might  be  a  little  more  distant  than  in  the 
east,  hut  the  miles  are  not  as  long  in  Wyoming  [as  in 
other  places]  ...  -'** 

In  part  because  the  town  now  had  a  fine  school  to 
help  attract  families,  the  population  began  to  grow  al- 
most exponentially.  Their  numbers  and  the  institutions 
they  helped  develop  began  to  smooth  Lander's  rough, 
frontier  edges.  Homesteaders  were  moving  into  the 
\alle_\s  of  the  Popo  Agie  River,  whose  branches  flow 
through  and  around  Lander,  and  the  nearby  Wind  River, 
in  such  numbers  that  Ten'itorial  Governor  Moonlight 
in  1887  asked  the  Department  of  Interior  to  promptly 
locate  a  Land  Office  in  Lander. 

With  the  influx  of  people  the  county  now  contained 
fifteen  school  districts.  Lander,  the  first  formed  and 
numbered  "1,"  was  still  the  largest  and  received  the 
greatest  appropriation:  $784.67  out  of  $4059.86.  Yet, 
this  amount  was  less  than  in  years  past.  Clipper  editor 
Wynn  wrote  that  the  beatitiful  and  still  new  public 
school  house  would  ha\e  to  close  about  April  1.  1888. 
due  to  the  severe  shortage  of  funds.  This  situation  re- 
sulted from  the  increased  competition  for  a  limited 
county  school  budget  which  was  based  on  an  inad- 
equately small  tax  levy.  People  who  had  been  happy  to 
make  generous  contributions  to  build  the  school  were 
not  eager  to  pay  taxes  sufficient  to  fund  operations. 
Wynn  hoped  the  problem  would  be  resolved  and  school 
would  be  able  to  resume  in  September. '^ 

Sometimes,  attempts  were  made  to  procure  additional 
school  funds  from  diverse  or  unorthodox  sources  On 
November  5,  1 887.  the  Clipper  reported  that  "a  scrap- 
ping affair  occurred  at  one  of  our  saloons,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  one  Charley  Rogers,  failing  to  con- 
tribute to  the  school  fund  the  modest  sum  of  thirty  dol- 
lars, was  sent  to  jail." 

Among  those  flocking  to  the  Lander  area  were  many 
midwestemers.  Not  all  of  them  came  as  fairiilies  or 
were  even  adults.  The  school  faculty  and  student  body 


13 

were  mixtures  of  people  from  all  over  the  globe  and 
with  strikingly  different  backgrounds.  A  young  bach- 
elor named  Lou  Blakesley  emigrated  to  Lander  and  be- 
came one  of  the  last  people  to  teach  in  the  intact  stone 
schoolhouse.  He  was  bom  in  Illinois  in  1 868  and  mo\  ed 
to  Kansas  with  his  parents  while  still  a  \'outh.  He  and 
several  friends  trailed  a  herd  of  horses  to  Lander  to  sell 
in  1 890.  He  stayed  and  soon  married  local  girl  Louella 
Knott.  Blakesley  took  charge  of  the  school  and  taught 
there  until  1893  when  he  moved  to  Greybull.-''' 

Another  Kansan  who  came  alone  joined  the  student 
body.  After  reaching  maturity  he  helped  the  commu- 
nity chart  its  course  into  the  twentieth  century.  Lloyd 
liams'  mother  died  when  he  was  bom  in  1871.  His 
Civil  War  veteran  father  and  oldest  brother  placed  the 
baby  in  care  of  an  aunt  and  made  their  way  west  to 
pioneer  near  Lander.  During  his  childhood,  Lloyd  was 
fascinated  b\'  letters  from  the  wild  west  and  at  age  of 
1 4,  detemiined  to  strike  out  on  his  own.  Reaching  Che\  - 
enne,  he  hired  on  as  a  cowboy  with  a  westbound  trail 
crew  to  help  dri\  e  cattle  farther  west.  He  left  them  in 
the  vicinity  of  South  Pass  and  turned  north.  "Upon 
reaching  Lander,  he  received  a  wann  welcome  from 
the  united  family,  entered  the  stone  building  ...  and 
went  to  school." 

liams  acctmiulated  valuable  knowledge  within  the 
stone  walls  that  contributed  to  his  future  success.  He 
worked  as  a  ranch  foreman  in  Montana,  then  returned 
to  Lander  and  "acquired  the  C.  G.  Coutant  homestead 
at  the  foot  of  Table  Mountain."  He  enlarged  the  or- 
chard, developed  the  ranch,  attracted  national  seed  com- 
panies to  use  Lander  area  agricultural  products,  and 
started  a  creamery  and  cheese  factory.  Altogether,  he 
played  a  significant  role  in  the  development  of  com- 
mercial agriculture  around  Lander.-''' 

During  the  1 890s  Lander's  stone  schoolhouse  became 
seriously  o\ercrowded.  When  it  was  erected  the  stu- 
dent body  consisted  of  fewer  than  40  students,  but  this 
figure  doubled  every  few  years.  It  is  a  wonder  that  teach- 

'^  Clipper.  October  29,  1887. 

^'' Clipper.  Jan.  7,  1888. 

'*'  Tom  Bell.  "Overland  to  Wyoming  in  1800."  Wind  River 
Mountaineer  8  (January  -  March  1992):  1 1. 

''  The  Coutant  family  came  to  Lander  in  the  1890s  after  a  stint 
in  the  South  Pass  gold  fields.  Charles,  the  patriarch,  published 
the  Lander  Clipper  during  the  booming  mid-1890s.  was  active  in 
the  educational  community,  and  became  Wyoming's  first  historian 
of  note  when  he  published  his  massive  History  of  Wyoming  in 
1899.  The  ranch,  consisting  of  claims  made  by  several  family 
members,  is  now  owned  b\  the  author  of  this  article  who  lives  in 
Lloyd  liams'  1890s  ranch  house  next  to  the  Coutants'  collapsed 
creekbank  dugout.  Wyoming  State  Journal.  "Death  of  Llo\d  liams 
Closes  a  Useful  Life,"  April  15.  1937. 


14 


Annals  oi  Wyoming  :Tne  Wyoming  History  Journal 


ers  were  able  to  keep  up  from  week  to  week.  Enroll- 
ment figures  for  primary,  intennediate,  and  grammar 
school  classes  document  the  village's  rapidly  swelling 
population: 


Academic  Year  Beginning 

No 

Students 

1892 

55 

1893 

86 

beginning  1894 

137 

tlnal  1 894 

209 

While  much  of  the  nation  languished  during  the  eco- 
nomic hard  times  of  the  1890s,  Lander  boomed.  (Com- 
pare the  view  of  Main  Street,  below,  to  those  on  page 
6).  There  was  very  little  cash  throughout  the  1 880s  and 
1890s.  but  ambitious  locals  found  ways  to  start  new 
businesses,  erect  large  buildings  and  accumulate  real 
estate,  live  stock,  and  other  types  of  property  so  that 
the  bustling  community  began  to  assume  a  prosperous 
air.  Already,  by  1893,  the  eight-year-old  stone  school- 
house,  which  even  the  town's  most  aspiring  boosters 
had  thought  would  serve  for  many  years,  was  far  too 
small.  If  Lander  was  to  continue  to  prosper,  the  need 
for  a  new  school  had  to  be  addressed. 

The  annual  school  meeting  for  this  district  was  held 
Monday  e\ening  ...  There  was  some  talk  indulged  in 
with  reference  to  bonding  the  district  for  the  purpose 


of  erecting  a  school  building,  which  shall  be  sufficiently 
large  to  properly  accommodate  the  school  population 
which  has  so  increased  that  the  old  building  is  inad- 
equate.-'^ 

The  school  board  saw  no  reason  to  abandon  the  stone 
school  in  response  to  the  overflowing  classrooms.  In- 
stead, in  1 895,  a  huge,  brick  addition  was  planned  that 
would  dwarf  the  stone  school  which  would  become 
the  rear  wing  of  the  large  structure  (right).  During  con- 
struction, about  half  of  the  front  wall  of  the  stone  school 
was  removed  and  the  proud,  frontier  era  datestone  which 
had  graced  the  front  entry  was  broken,  discarded,  and 
buried  beneath  the  new  building.  The  belfry  was  re- 
moved from  the  stone  school  when  the  front  wall  was 
torn  down.  The  old  Sunday  school  bell  was  moved  to  a 
new  housing  above  the  new  front  door  where  "the  old 
timers  can  [still]  hear  in  its  clear  tones  the  spirit  and 
integrity  of  the  old  pioneer."^''' 

High  winds  slowed  the  brick-layers  and  the  magnifi- 
cent $10,000  building  was  not  ready  until  late  in  the 

-8  Fremont  Clipper.  December  17,  1887;  "School  Meeting," 
Clipper,  May  5,  1893;  "Our  Schools,"  Clipper.  September  14, 
1895. 

'*'  "It  Was  Dedicated  Monday,"  Fremont  Clipper,  November 
15.  1895;  "The  New  School  Building,"  Clipper  [?],  October  11, 
1895;  "P.  S.  Quinn.  Early  Resident,  Tells  of  First  Sunday  School 
Organized  in  Lander  Valle\,"  Wyoming  State  Journal,  October 
28.  1925. 


The  view  eastward  up  Main  Street  in  1907.  Results  of  extensive  development  during  the  1890s  and  early  1900s 
are  plainly  visible.  The  four-story  Fremont  Hotel  (right),  built  in  1891.  was  the  largest  building  in  the  count}'. 


Spring  1999 

fall.  It  was  tlnaiU  dedicated  on 
November  11,  1895.  The  new 
complex  provided  space  for  all 
grades  through  twelve.  This  was 
the  first  time  complete  high 
school  coursework  was  offered 
in  Lander.  That  significant  ac- 
complishment was  still  a  rarity  in 
rural  parts  of  Wyoming.  The  1 896 
Lander  Directory  proudh' 
boasted:  I 

"-> 

;/) 

The  pride  of  the  City  of  Lander  - 
is  largely  centered  in  its  public  g 
schools.    No  expense  has  been  ~;^ 
spared  to  make  the  schools  all  that  i 
they  should  be  to  insure  [sic]  the  ^ 
complete  education  of  our  youth,  1 
and,  to  this  end,  the  great  effort  '£ 
of  the  school  board  has  been  tend- 
ing. Competent  teachers,  a  com- 
fortable and  even  elegant  school 
building,  and  all  the  necessary 
appliances  have  been  pro\ ided,  and  the  consequences 
are  that  we  ha\e  a  public  school  system  equal  to  the 
best  in  the  country. 

Lander  [now  has]  the  distinction  of  being  an  educa- 
tional center.  The  Lander  High  School  is  recognized 
as  being  one  of  the  best  in  the  State.  It  is  one  of  the 
"Accredited  High  Schools,"  and  our  graduates  may 
enter  the  State  University  on  the  presentation  of  their 
diplomas.  Our  courses  are  thorough  and  practical.  Our 
magnificent  High  School  building  would  be  an  honor 
to  a  city  many  times  the  size  of  our  own.  Our  Public 
School  Library  consists  of  o\er  500  \olumes...Our 
chemical  laboratory  is  a  well  equipped  department  of 
chemical  science,  where  indi\  idual  class  work  is  per- 
formed. In  this  department,  set  apart  expressly  for 
chemical  operations,  may  be  found  apparatus  and 
chemicals  necessary  to  perform  all  unportant  experi- 
ments in  connection  with  the  subject. 

The  citizens  of  Lander  refer  with  pride  to  her  public 
schools,  and  in  doing  so  they  do  not  forget  ...the  won- 
derful progress  made  in  the  past  three  years...'*" 

The  school  board  had  possessed  the  wisdom  to  plan 
ahead  for  future  growth  and  the  building  was  so  spa- 
cious that  it  even  contained  extra  classrooms  in  antici- 
pation of  continued  growth.  The  second  floor  of  the 
new  addition  was,  at  tlrst,  empty  in  anticipation  of  a 
continually  expanding  student  body.  In  the  first  year 
of  use,  classes  occupied  only  the  four  downstairs  rooms 
in  the  new  building  and  the  two  rooms  in  the  stone 
school.  One  of  these  latter  was  used  by  the  primary 


15 


Front  view  oftlie  IS95  bricli  addition  to  tlie  stone  school  The  older  structure 
is  hidden  from  view  behind  the  center  of  this  comparatively  massive  edifiee^ 


department  and  the  other  for  laboratorx'  purposes,  prob- 
abh  the  chemistry  lab  described  in  the  Latider  Direc- 
toiy^ 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  some  of  Lander's  most 
influential  families,  who  played  instrumental  roles  in 
the  creation  of  the  school  district  and  construction  of 
the  school,  did  not  send  their  children  to  attend.  At 
different  times  during  the  ISSOs  through  early  1900s, 
the  Amorettis,  Baldwins,  Crowleys,  Parks,  and  others 
sent  their  children  away  to  boarding  schools  in  Salt 
Lake  City,  Denver,  Omaha,  and  elsewhere.  This  in- 
cluded the  extended  Sherlock-Smith  famiK  which,  even 
after  Maggie's  terrible  death,  sent  four  of  her  siblings 
away  for  educations.  Perhaps,  in  spite  of  local  boost- 
ers" cheer-leading,  the  Lander  school  was  not  as  good 
as  advertised.  Parents  ma\  ha\  e  desired  to  obtain  a  more 
well-rounded  and  diverse  education  in  an  institution 
with  a  larger  faculty,  and  greater  emphasis  on  religious 
instruction  as  most  of  these  schools  were  associated 
with  churches.  An  additional  intent  may  have  been  to 
expose  these  small-town  frontier  children  to  a  more 
cosmopolitan  life-st_\  le  similar  to  w  hat  their  parents  had 
known  before  settling  on  the  western  frontier.  Or,  in 
some  cases,  the  decision  may  have  represented  an  ef- 
fort to  elevate  a  family's  social  status  in  the  commu- 
nity.-*' 

■"'  C.  G.  Coutant.  Lander.  Lander  I  'alley  and  the  Mines  Directoiy 
(Lander:  Clipper  Book  and  Job  Print.  1896).  ii.  3. 


16 


Annals  oi  Wyoming  :The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


Professor  Little,  in  charge  of  the  Lander  Public 
School,  anticipated  that  enrollment  would  explode  to 
240  or  250  during  the  1 895- 1 896  year.  The  larger  stu- 
dent body  resulted,  in  part,  from  the  fact  that  high  school 
courses  would  now  be  offered  so  older  students  would 
attend.  Previously,  only  grammar  students  were  pro- 
vided for.  The  Class  of  1901,  consisting  often  boys 
and  one  girl,  was  the  first  to  graduate  after  taking  all 
twelve  grades  in  Lander.  Their  education  began  in  the 
old  stone  school  in  1 889,  the  last  year  Wyoming  was 
just  a  frontier  territor\'.  Their  commencement  marked 
another  milestone  in  the  development  of  Lander's  edu- 
cational system. 

After  spending  a  huge  sum  on  construction,  the  school 
board  overlooked  important  finishing  details.  Worse, 
subsequent  administrations  neglected  their  responsibil- 
ity to  maintain  the  fine  building.  Within  a  few  years 
both  old  and  new  sections  were  embarrassingly  shabby. 
Finally,  in  1904,  the  trustees  made  considerable 
progress.  Outhouses  were  erected,  with  separate  facili- 
ties for  the  boys  and  girls.  A  six-foot  board  fence  seg- 
regated the  playground  and  "the  boys  are  shut  out  en- 
tirely of  the  girls  department  and  what  has  heretofore 
been  a  social  disgrace  to  the  Lander  Public  Schools 
has  been  entirely  remedied." 

Work  on  the  dilapidated  main  building  was  also  ac- 
complished. 

The  repairs  and  painting  on  the  high  school  building 
improved  the  appearance  of  that  institution  of  learning 
about  100  per  cent.  No  repairs  ha\ing  been  put  on  the 
building  since  its  erection  in  1895.  It  began  to  look 
like  a  place  only  inhabitable  for  "Georgia  com  crack- 
ers" or  "South  Carolina  clay  eaters."  It  required  97 
new  panes  of  glass  to  replace  those  broken  out  of  the 
windows  during  the  past  ten  years.  Seventeen  door 
knobs  in  the  building  are  either  entirely  lost  or  broken. 
The  interior  and  exterior  of  the  school  building  now 
look  neat  as  paint  and  calcimining  can  make  it.  Messrs. 
Sypes,  Shedd  and  Coon  are  royal  gems  when  it  comes 
to  school  matters,  and  the  CLIPPER  would  recommend 
that  the  tax-payers,  who  are  in  most  cases  the  parents 
of  the  pupils  who  attend  the  schools,  go  and  look  over 
the  school  buildings  and  premises  themselves.  The  im- 
provements not  only  add  to  the  good  looks  of  the  build- 
ing and  premises  but  serve  to  preserve  the  building  as 
well.-*^ 

Some  of  the  damage  and  wear  to  the  building  re- 
sulted from  acfiviues  unfamiliar  to  modem  scholars. 
For  example,  one  Halloween,  a  group  of  students,  in- 
cluding both  boys  and  girls,  broke  into  the  building 
and  took  a  calf  upstairs.  The  calf  was  tied  to  the  bell 
rope  and  rang  the  bell  all  night  long  as  it  wandered 


back  and  forth.  In  such  settled  times,  no  local  men  ran 
into  the  streets  in  their  nightclothes  clutching  a  rifle 
and  fearing  an  Indian  attack  like  earlier  residents  had 
during  the  nocturnal  celebration  of  the  bell's  placement 
on  the  stone  school  house.'^^ 

Among  the  boys  who  were  separated  from  the  "girls 
department"  were  several  who  loved  to  play  baseball. 
The  ball-field  at  the  school  was  merely  an  open  area  in 
the  adjoining  cow-pasture  with  a  hump  in  the  middle 
for  a  pitcher's  mound.  One  of  the  boys,  Jim  Scott,  bom 
in  1888  in  Deadwood,  South  Dakota,  started  school  in 
the  old  stone  schoolhouse  about  1893.  On  the  sandlot 
he  usually  played  third  base  and  planned  to  be  doctor 
when  he  grew  up.  That  was  before  he  was  spotted  by 
professional  scouts.  Scott  went  on  to  national  promi- 
nence as  a  pitcher  with  "the  Chicago  White  Sox  for 
whom  he  twirled  the  pill  for  many  years."  Nicknamed 
"Death  Valley  Jim"  in  the  pros,  he  averaged  forty  games 
per  season  and  stopped  both  the  mighty  Ty  Cobb  and 
Babe  Ruth.  Scott  left  baseball  in  1917  and  served  as  a 
captain  in  the  United  States  Army  during  World  War  I. 
He  was  not  part  of  the  infamous  "Black  Sox"  team  that 
threw  the  1919  World  Series.  George  Farthing,  son  of 
the  man  who  plastered  the  walls  of  the  stone  school  in 
1 885,  also  went  on  to  play  pro  ball.  Though  the  Lander 
Public  School  had  no  physical  education  program,  at 
least  two  local  sons  made  good  in  the  world  of  sport.-*"* 

Highly  respected  Lander  physician  Arthur  H.  Coo- 
per, as  a  member  of  the  school  board,  had  long  pro- 
moted student  health  and  physical  education.  When  he 
finally  succeeded  in  having  them  added  to  the  curricu- 
lum in  1925,  the  Wyoming  State  Journal  acknow\edged 
the  benefits  of  "the  change  in  policy  to  modem  meth- 
ods of  handling  the  training  of  the  physical  life  of  the 
entire  student  body."  The  paper  went  on  to  point  out 
that  what  was  still  needed  to  fully  implement  the  pro- 

""  Many  documents  in  the  Pioneer  Museum,  and  tlie  Tibbals 
Collection  and  Smith  and  Sherlock  files,  as  well  as  other 
documents  and  artifacts  at  South  Pass  City  State  Historic  Site, 
contain  information  on  this  subject  which  begs  further  research. 
See,  for  example.  Janet  Sherlock  Smith  letter,  March  4,  1883, 
and  Sister  Mary  Charles  letter,  February  8,  1883,  both  quoted  in 
Todd  Guenther,  ed.,  "Dear  Peter,  The  Letters  of  a  Pioneer  Mother 
and  Sister,"  Wind  River  Mountaineer,  1  (April  -  June,  1991):  24, 
25. 

■*-  Clipper,  September  2,  1904. 

""  Tim  Buck  Two,  "In  Lander."  Wyoming  State  Journal, 
December  30,  1937. 

■'■'  "Ball  Playing  Hero  Returns  to  Boyland,"  Wyoming  State 
Journal,  September  26,  1940;  "Jimmy  Scott  Tells  About  His 
Career  on  the  Diamond,"  Wyoming  State  Journal,  October  21, 
1910;  "Scott,  James,"  folder,  vertical  files.  Pioneer  Museum;  Greg 
Harris,  National  Baseball  Hall  of  Fame  and  Museum, 
Cooperstown,  New  York,  telephone  interview,  March  29,  1996. 


spring 


1Q99 


gram  were  adequate  facilities  adjacent  to  the  school, 
especially  a  "modem  athletic  tleld  for  out-of-doors  ac- 
tivities.""*-■" 

Cooper  also  fought  to  get  the  schools  to  hire  a  nurse 
to  look  after  the  welfare  of  the  students.  He  did  not 
succeed  in  this  effort  until  tragedy  struck  during  the 
winter  of  1 924.  On  October  9,  nine-year-old  Roy  Ogden 
had  been  playing  on  the  swings  and  eating  an  apple  at 
recess.  When  recess  ended  and 

the  bell  rang  he  started  to  run  in  the  back  door  [into  the 
old  stone  schoolhouse].  Very  near  the  door  he  fell, 
jumped  up  and  ran  a  few  steps  more  and  fell  again.  No 
sign  of  injury  was  to  be  noticed  except  a  tiny  red  mark 
on  the  forehead.  While  running  with  his  mouth  full  of 
apple  he  had  inhaled  some. ..two  doctors  and  three 
nurses  worked  over  the  lifeless  body  for  two  hours  but 
he  never  drew  breath  from  the  time  he  fell  the  second 
time. 

Roy  was  in  the  third  grade,  a  bright,  active  child, 
and  the  empty  seat  and  silence  in  place  of  his  usual 
ready  response  caused  a  hush  and  atmosphere  of  sad- 
ness to  fall  over  the  room  and  the  children  of  the  school 
who  sense  the  untimely  loss  of  their  playmate,  a  life 
just  begun.  -"' 

It  was  quickly  recognized  that  the  boy  might  have 
survived  had  adequate  medical  care  been  immediately 
available  and  the  school  board  soon  hired  a  nurse.  A 
few  months  later,  in  February  1925,  Dr.  Cooper  him- 
self died  prematurely.  The  community  grieved  w  ith  his 
widow,  who  was  hired  as  a  second  school  nurse.'*'' 


17 

Throughout  the  first  decades  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury the  student  body  continued  to  grow  and  within 
just  a  few  years  still  more  classroom  space  was  needed. 
Across  sixth  street  from  the  stone  and  brick  building 
another  school  was  constructed  in  1912.  This  ornate 
yellow  brick  structure  served  as  Lander's  high  school 
until  1919.  In  that  year,  the  brand  new  Fremont  Count\ 
Vocational  High  School  opened  at  the  west  end  of  town 
and  the  1912  high  school  was  con\erted  to  a  grade 
school.  The  old  stone  and  brick  school  building  con- 
tinued in  its  role  as  a  grade  school  until  1 937  when  the 
present  South  Elementary  was  constructed  just  a  block 
and  a  half  away. 

The  dedication  ceremony  for  South  Elementar_\  be- 
came something  of  a  memorial  for  the  pioneer  era  and 
the  old  stone  school.  That  aging  building  was  still  a 
focal  point  of  the  community  and  the  things  it  stood 
for  were  much  in  peoples'  minds.  Though  elderly  pio- 
neers attending  the  function  cheered  the  wonderful, 
modem,  new  facilit\,  they  wistfulK  recalled  the  old 
days  on  the  frontier.  Robert  Hall,  husband  of  frontier 
teacher  Amelia  Hall  w  ho  had  passed  away  just  the  year 
before,  provided  a  nostalgic  look  at  earl>  educational 

""^  Tom  Bell,  "Pioneer  Profiles:  Dr.  ."Arthur  H.  Cooper."  Il'imi 
River  Moimtaincei-.  1  I  (.lul\  -  September  1995):  2.  29.  30;  Tom 
Bell,  personal  communication.  March  29,  1996. 

"""  "Chokes  On  .Apple  Results  in  Death,"  Wyoming  Suiti:  Jowual . 
October  10.  1924;  Ruth  Trbovich  interview.  March  29.  1996. 
Lander;  Tom  Bell,  personal  communication.  March  29.  1996. 

^''  Tom  Bell,  personal  communication.  March  29.  1996. 


mm^;p\^f  ■,;'■•;  ''■;"\mf;'  !<'%^i,^<.i^^^:\:^ 


Aged  pioneer  Robert 
Hall's  1^3'  sketch  of 
Lander's  first  school,  a 
crude,  log  structure 
built  in  the  middle  of 
Main  Street. 


18 


Annals  of  Wyoming:TKe  Wyoming  History  Journal 


efforts.  He  also  presented  the  principal  with  a  large, 
framed  drawing  he  made  of  Lander's  first  school.  He 
stated  that  it  was  to  be  placed  in  the  new  facility  to 
remind  students  of  the  progress  that  had  been  made 
since  Lander  was  founded.  Though  pleased  and  awed 
by  the  community's  progress,  he  rued  the  forthcoming 
abandonment  of  the  stone  building  they  had  worked  so 
hard  to  build  and  whose  useful  life  they  had  intended, 
like  the  stone  buildings  of  Europe,  to  last  for  so  much 
longer.'^^ 

The  stone  schoolhouse,  with  the  huge  brick  addition, 
was  apparently  used  for  storage  for  the  next  two  years. 
In  1939  the  forlorn  structure  was  leased  from  the  county 
by  Charles  Hayes  who  headquartered  a  trucking  busi- 
ness there.  The  stone  schoolhouse  was  converted  into 
a  machine  shop.  Structural  modifications  were  neces- 
sary to  accommodate  this  new  function,  including  re- 
moval of  interior  walls  and  knocking  out  portions  of 
two  of  the  school's  exterior  stone  walls  to  create  large 
bay  doors.  Bays  were  also  built  into  the  north  and  south 
walls  of  the  brick  addition  and  it  was  used  as  a  drive- 
through  warehouse  (see  photograph,  below). 

During  Hayes'  construction  work,  a  chance  visit  to 
the  school  by  the  elderly  son  of  one  of  the  carpenters 
who  erected  the  building  in  1 885  was  described  in  the 
local  paper: 

Fred  C.  Hodder  of  Glendale,  Calif,  is  here  looking 
over  Lander  where  his  father  was  an  early  day  carpen- 
ter and  worked  on  the  school  house  in  [1885].  From 
the  old  building  now  being  remodeled  by  Charles 
Hayes,  Mr.  Hodder  rescued  a  wood  car\ed  spiral  orna- 
ment which  adorned  the  two  upper  comers  of  a  door 
casing  as  the  last  word  in  builder's  art.  This  was  his 
father's  particular  line  and  the  sou- 
venir looks  the  part  with  the  old 
wrought  iron  nails  still  sticking 
through  ...  Mr.  Hayes  further  dug  up 
a  stone  upon  which  was  carved 
'"1885",  this  being  presumably  the 
comer  stone  of  the  rock  building  first 
built  to  house  the  halls  of  learning  in 
Lander.  It  is  suggested  that  this  rock 
suitably  tableted  follow  the  bell  i 
which  Mr.  Hayes  generously  donated  S 
to  the  Lander  Pioneers  association  ^ 
and  be  a  part  of  the  museum  at  the  g 
pioneer  cabin. ■^'^  ^ 

Hayes  had  removed  the  belfry  | 

above  the  brick  addition  and  donated  '^ 

the  bell.  Stub  Farlow,  whose  image,  % 

many  believe,  appears  on  the  Wyo-  i 

ming  license  plate,  hauled  the  bell 

to  the  cabin.  Mart  Homecker  sug- 


gested that  it  be  mounted  on  the  Pioneer  Cabin  Mu- 
seum to  call  old-timers  to  meetings.  A  few  years  later, 
the  bell  was  thus  installed  and  rung  for  the  first  time 
from  its  new  perch  at  midday  on  a  Wednesday  in  Sep- 
tember of  1941.  The  stone  was  not  added  to  Museum 
collections  until  1996.-"0 

During  the  early  1 950s,  part  of  the  second  floor  of 
the  brick  addition  was  used  as  a  Civil  Air  Patrol  (CAP) 
training  room.  The  CAP  was  a  federally  sponsored  pro- 
gram intended  to  create  and  maintain  a  nationwide  pool 
of  trained  flight  personnel,  thereby  avoiding  a  repeti- 
tion of  pre  World  War  II  deficiencies  during  an  era  of 
heightening  Cold  War  tensions.  It  trained  young  people 

■•^  Wyoming  State  Journal.  July  1,  1981;  Journal,  March  15, 
1918;  Journal,  March  27,  1941;  Ray  Fuller,  Jim  Farthing,  and 
Tom  Bell  interviews,  Lander,  February  17,  1996;  "First  School 
House,"  Wyoming  Stale  Journal.  Ma>  26,  1938. 

^'*  "Lander  Visit  Recalls  Building  of  Our  School,"  Wyoming 
State  Journal,  August  10,  1939;  "Death  of  Builder  Recalls  First 
School,"  Wyoming  State  Journal,  December  19,  1940.  The 
Wyoming  State  Journal,  February  24.  1938,  said  Hayes  was 
purchasing  the  building  but  evidently  the  deal  fell  through  and  he 
onl\  leased  it  according  to  later  articles.  The  dated  "corner  stone" 
described  in  the  quoted  passage  was  actually  the  datestone  located 
high  in  the  wall  above  the  front  door  of  the  school.  For  some 
reason,  Hayes  did  not  donate  it  to  the  Pioneer  Museum.  Instead, 
the  stone  fragment  remained  in  the  school  building  until  the  mid- 
1980s  when  the  Road  Department  vacated  the  school  and  was  in 
the  process  of  throv\  ing  the  oil  spattered  stone  away.  County  Clerk 
Jim  Farthing's  step  son,  Galen  Richards,  rescued  the  stone  and 
gave  it  to  his  father  for  safe-keeping.  It  was  stored  for  a  decade  in 
a  shed  behind  Farthing's  house  and  donated  to  the  Pioneer  Museum 
on  February  12,  1996.  for  eventual  inclusion  in  the  restored  school. 

■"""Old  School  Bell  To  Pioneer  Group."  Wyoming  State  Journal, 
March  16,  1939;  "First  School  Bell  Rings  for  Pioneers,"  Wyoming 
State  Journal.  September  11,  1941. 


The  rear  and  north  side  of  the  two  schools,  shown  in  this  1985 
photograph.  Bay  doors  were  added  in  the  late  1930s. 


mmmiwii 


Spring  1999 

in  airplane  identification,  meteorology,  navigation  and 
basic  flying  skills,  helped  locate  missing  aircraft,  etc. 
The  local  chapter  was  outfitted  with  a  Link  Trainer 
which  was  housed  in  the  old  school  building.  This  cov- 
ered cockpit  device  was  used  to  teach  instrument  fly- 
ing. Access  to  the  CAP  facilities  was  via  an  outside 
fire-escape  staircase  on  the  south  side  of  the  brick  build- 
ing.-'^' 

By  1964  both  the  stone  and  brick  sections  of  the  di- 
lapidated school  had  reverted  to  county  use.  The  stone 
portion  became  the  County  Road  Department  mainte- 
nance shop.  The  first  floor  of  the  brick  addition  was 
used  as  a  warehouse  and  the  second  story  was  con- 
verted into  a  flreanns  training  range  for  the  police  and 
sheriffs  departments.  Instructional  shooting  and  fire- 
arms safety  classes  for  local  youth  were  also  held 
there. -''- 

At  first  glance,  some  of  the  post- 1939  adaptations  of 
the  old  school  seem  dismal.  However,  because  the 
building  continued  to  be  immediately  useful  it  was  pre- 
served. And,  in  reality,  the  building's  new  roles  were 
part  of  significant  trends.  The  dawning  era  of  automo- 
bile transportation  was  a  key  part  of  Lander's  contin- 
ued development  in  the  larger  context  of  twentieth  cen- 
tury evolution  of  the  West.  During  the  period  when 
motor  vehicles  became  the  primary  mode  of  transpor- 
tation, many  of  the  trucks  that  kept  Lander's  stores  and 
homes  supplied  with  necessities  were  maintained  in 
the  building  and  much  of  the  freight  was  handled  there. 
Later,  during  the  1960s  and  '70s,  Wyoming  roadways 
were  upgraded  to  accommodate  dramatically  increas- 
ing numbers  of  vehicles  traveling  at  ever  higher  speeds. 
During  this  period,  the  school  continued  to  play  a  ma- 
jor transportation  related  role.  The  heavy  equipment 
which  built  and  kept  the  roads  passable  was  maintained 
within  the  old  stone  walls.  Meanwhile,  the  building 
continued  to  play  an  educational  and  training  role.  Area 
law  enforcement  agencies,  youth  education  activities, 
and  even  in  national  defense  programs  all  utilized  the 
space  provided  by  Lander's  pioneer  settlers  so  many 
years  before. 

When  the  County  Road  Department  obtained  new 
garages  northwest  of  town,  the  stone  school  house  en- 
tered a  truly  bleak  stage  and  was  very  nearly  destroyed. 
In  1985,  the  100th  anniversary  of  the  opening  of  the 
stone  school,  the  county  let  a  bid  to  demolish  the  entire 
stone  and  brick  complex.  The  brick  addition  was  razed 
that  autumn.  Almost  literally  stepping  in  front  of  the 
wrecking-ball.  County  Clerk  Jim  Farthing  (grandson 
of  builder  Ed  Farthing)  and  Tom  Bell,  staff  historian  at 
the  Pioneer  Museum  and  descendant  of  an  even  earlier 


19 

pioneer  family,  conferred  to  try  to  save  the  historically 
significant  stone  school  before  it  was  too  late.  With  the 
support  of  other  concerned  citizens,  they  managed  to 
persuade  the  Fremont  County  Commissioners  to  halt 
the  destruction  of  the  stone  building.  After  the  brick 
addition  was  removed,  the  desolate  stone  building  was 
left  standing  with  the  front  wall  gaping  open.'"' 

Demolition  contractor  Bill  Gay  "presented  a  figure 
for  leaving  the  old  school  building  [intact]  at  an  esti- 
mated extra  cost  of  S6000"  to  the  Commissioners. 
According  to  the  terms  of  an  agreement  established 
between  the  County  Commissioners,  the  County  Clerk, 
and  the  Pioneer  Museum,  the  Museum  budget  had  to 
underwrite  full-payment  of  this  remarkable  demand. 
This  was  a  staggering  amount  of  money  for  the  Mu- 
seum and  terminated  most  other  projects. 

The  original  preservation  plan  called  for  a  commit- 
tee separate  from  both  the  Museum  and  Pioneer  Asso- 
ciation to  manage  funds  contributed  to  the  Save  Old 
School  (SOS)  project.  In  subsequent  years  the  fund 
has  come  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Pioneer  Asso- 
ciation and  is  augmented  by  additional  funds  in  the 
Pioneer  Museum  budget  which,  together,  total  several 
thousand  dollars. 

County  Clerk  Farthing  and  the  Commissioners  in 
1985  discussed  using  the  old  building  to  store  \oting 
machines,  which  would  save  the  County  about  S500 
per  month.  Weatherizing  the  structure  would  involve 
extending  the  roof  boarding  up  the  front  wall,  insulat- 
ing the  ceiling,  and  having  the  utilities  turned  back  on. 
In  exchange  for  use  of  the  building  for  an  unspecified 
number  of  years,  the  clerk's  office  agreed  to  repair  and 
maintain  the  building.  This  effectively,  if  temporarily, 
preserved  the  structure.  Thus,  the  old  stone  school  house 
which  was  once  the  figurehead  of  culture  and  educa- 
tion in  Lander  and  the  Wind  River  valley  narrowly  es- 
caped from  the  brink  of  destruction. ^■' 

Two  years  later,  on  May  12,  1987.  Tom  Bell  and 
Museum  Director  Henry  Hudson  again  met  with  the 

■'''  Eva  (Freese)  Peden,  personal  communication,  February  23, 
1996.  Peden  was  a  member  of  CAP. 

^-  Bill  Marion,  "90  'S'ear-Old  Landmark,  Once  a  School.  Leaves 
Main  Street."  IVyimung  State  Journal,  1964. 

^'  People  who  spoke  in  defense  of  the  school  included  Walt 
Ellis,  Kathy  Daniels,  Rosalyn  Hedges,  Ada  McDonnell,  Colleen 
Coleman,  and  Dave  Raynolds  who  all  spoke  at  Commission 
meetings.  Personal  communication,  .lim  Farthing  and  Tom  Bell, 
February,  1996;  Fremont  County  Commissioners  Proceedings, 
April  23,  May  14,  and  May  2L  1985. 

'"'County  Commissioner's  Proceedings,  August  27,  1985;  Tom 
Bell,  "Old  Stone  Schoolhouse  Project,"  manuscript.  Pioneer 
Museum,  n.d. 


20 


Annals  or  Wyoming:The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


Commissioners.  They  requested  that  the  County  deed 
the  stone  school  house  property — three  lots  and  two 
buildings — at  Sixth  and  Garfield  Streets  to  the  Mu- 
seum Board.  The  two  men  described  plans  to  restore 
and  use  the  old  building  for  children's  exhibits.  Al- 
ready the  Lander  Garden  Club  and  the  Pioneer  Asso- 
ciation were  removing  extensive  rubble  deposits  and 
landscaping  the  lots.  This  included  obtaining  topsoil, 
planting  trees,  bushes,  flowers,  and  grass  and  install- 
ing an  underground  sprinkler  system.  Clark's  Land- 
scaping and  City  Plumbing  contributed  to  the  watering 
system. 

The  Commissioners  noted  that  voting  machines  were 
still  being  stored  in  the  two  buildings  on  the  property 
and  stated  that  until  new  facilities  could  be  constructed 
for  that  purpose,  the  voting  machines  would  have  to 
remain.  There  were  no  plans  to  build  new  storage  fa- 
cilities and  it  was  evident  that  this  would  be  a  long 
term  arrangement.  With  that  understanding.  Commis- 
sioner Tom  Satterfield  of  Riverton  moved  that  Lots  1, 
2,  and  3  of  Block  28  of  the  Original  Townsite  of  Lander 
be  deeded  to  the  Fremont  County  Pioneer  Museum. 
The  deed  was  recorded  on  May  20. 

The  Pioneer  Museum  became  responsible  for  utili- 
ties and  other  expenses  even  though  the  Museum  did 
not  get  possession  of  the  building. ^^  After  repeated  re- 
quests by  the  Pioneer  Museum,  the  huge,  archaic  me- 
chanical voting  machines  finally  were  removed  from 
the  building  during  1 996  when  the  county  began  using 
smaller  Optech  machines  that  were  stored  elsewhere. 

Due  to  lack  of  extensive  maintenance  the  building  is 
now  at  a  crossroads.  It  will  not  survive  much  longer 
without  comprehensive  repairs.  If  it  is  to  be  restored,  a 
new  use  must  be  identified  which  is  both  appropriate 
and  capable  of  generating  sufficient  public  excitement 
to  spur  a  successful,  large-scale  fund-raising  effort.  A 
complicating  factor  is  that  the  Pioneer  Museum  itself 
which  traces  its  roots  to  1886  and  was  housed  in  the 
oldest  museum  building  in  Wyoming,  was  declared 
unsafe  and  closed  permanently  in  September  1 998.  This 
more  pressing  problem  of  finding  new  quarters  for  the 
Pioneer  Museum  has  taken  precedence  over  concerns 
for  the  old  stone  schoolhouse  and  the  ultimate  fate  of 
the  building  is  unknown. 

Lander' s  stone  school  house  served  as  a  place  of  learn- 
ing fi-om  1885  to  1937.  It  later  played  less  significant 


roles  in  maintaining  the  Wind  River  Valley's  transpor- 
tation connections  with  the  outside  world.  During  that 
period  it  still  played  a  limited  educational  role  as  part 
of  a  complex  that  provided  various  types  of  training 
space  for  children,  law  enforcement  officials,  and  de- 
fense programs.  From  1985  to  1997  the  old  building 
housed  Fremont  County's  vofing  machines  and  in  that 
way  continued  to  contribute  to  the  county's  progress 
even  though  its  maintenance  has  been  largely  ignored. 
After  many  decades  of  physical  neglect,  a  group  of  se- 
riously interested  citizens  hopes  to  restore  the  once 
beautiful  building  to  a  position  of  prominence.  The  cur- 
rent preservation  effort,  like  the  original  construction 
drive,  is  dependent  on  public  generosity.  It  is  also  an 
extension  of  the  work  of  those  early  pioneers  who 
shaped  the  community  and  state.  They  built  the  school 
of  stone  to  prepare  their  children  for  life  in  the  myster- 
ies of  the  coming  century,  and  to  last  indefinitely  into 
the  future,  for  us.  They  graced  the  building  with  a  bell 
which  will  be  returned  to  the  building  to  summon  suc- 
ceeding generations.  The  early  pioneers  expected  us  to 
show  the  same  foresight  they  demonstrated  by  taking 
care  of  our  own  descendants  and  assuming  responsi- 
bility for  the  well-being  of  the  community.  This  is  ac- 
complished in  part  by  preserving  this  edifice  as  we  pre- 
pare to  enter  not  only  a  new  century,  but  a  new  millen- 
nium. 


''  Tom  Bell,  personal  communication,  February  12,  1996; 
Fremont  County  Commissioners  minutes.  May  12,  1987;  County 
Commissioners  Deed,  May  12,  1987;  Tom  Bell,  photo  caption, 
IViiid  River  Mountaineer,  1  (October  -  December  1985):  21. 


Todd  Guenther  received  a  BA/Honors  in 
Anthropology /Archaeology  and  MA  in 
American  Studies,  both  from  the  University  of 
Wvoming.  He  has  been  a  field  crew  siiperx'isor 
for  the  Office  of  the  Wyoming  State 
Archaeologist,  Curator/Assistant  Superin- 
tendent at  South  Pass  City  State  Historic  Site, 
and  is  now  the  director  of  the  Pioneer  Museum 
in  Lander. 


(^tomesteadina  the 
^lohundev 


'sasin: 


^eckla,  Q^Uiwminf^, 


19r7-1938 


:^^^ij  Q/J///inff/  (£P.  ^^isc/icf 


It  was  [a  hard  life]  at  the  time,  [but]  that 's  the  way  it  was. 
People  now  can  V  imagine  what  it  was  like,  but  them  times  it 
was  there  and  nobody  knew  any  different. ' 


^ 


Ithough  the  histor\'  of  homesteading  in  the 
Teckia  area  of  the  Thunder  Basin  in  north- 
east Wyoming  provides  valuable  insight  on 
numerous  issues,  it  is  the  experiences  and  responses  of 
common  homesteaders  to  their  situation  that  define  this 
article.-  Nevertheless,  the  national  context  in  which  the 
experience  took  place  remains  essential  to  the  story. 
The  Teckia  story  supports  and  defies  classical  and  con- 
temporary historical  interpretations  of  homesteading  in 
the  Thunder  Basin,  and  the  American  West  in  general. 
The  story  is  primarily  narrated  in  historical  accounts 
as  a  futile  and  ignorant  attempt  at  farming  luckily  res- 
cued by  government  intervention.  Despite  traditional 
historical  accounts  of  the  period.  Teckia  homesteaders 
displayed  a  considerable  amount  of  personal  initiative 
and  community  cooperation  which  allowed  them  to 
experience  a  degree  of  success  and  personal  jo\  de- 
spite economic  fluctuations  and  climactic  vicissitudes. 
The  popular  historical  interpretation  minimizes  the 
validity  of  the  experience,  and  distorts  the  outcome  of 
it  as  well.  In  fact,  many  Teckia  homesteaders  did  suc- 
ceed during  the  1920s  and  occasionally  prospered  dur- 
ing their  experience,  while  government  intervention 
during  the  1930s  often  failed  to  benefit  substantially 
manv  of  the  homesteaders.  Manv  Teckia  homestead- 


ers demonstrated  personal  initiative,  fought  the  odds, 
and  believed  in  what  they  were  doing;  however,  they 
also  relied  on  collective  strength  and  accepted  govern- 
ment assistance.  Homesteaders  in  the  Thunder  Basin 
undoubtedly  settled  the  area  w  ith  numerous  intentions, 
and  a  permanent  home  ranked  high  among  them.  As  a 
group  they  were  neither  completely  naive  victims  in  a 
widespread  land  fraud  when  they  arrived,  nor  were  they 
rescued  b>  the  government  from  all  despair  w  hen  they 
left.  Their  story  presents  a  much  more  dynamic  ac- 
count.' 


'  Robert  R.  Macke\ .  inter\  iew  h>  author,  tape  recording.  Teckia. 
Wyoming.  14  October  1997;  Mr.  Mactce\  was  bom  in  1924. 

-  This  article  is  an  historical  analysis  of  the  Teckia  homestead- 
ing community  with  a  particular  emphasis  on  the  William  and 
Rhoda  Mackey  homestead.  Those  interested  in  a  detailed  descrip- 
tion of  the  material  culture  of  the  Mackey  homestead  or  other 
cultural  resource  issues  pertaining  to  this  paper  are  referred  to 
Wyoming  State  Historic  Preser\  ation  Office  site  form  48C.A2675 
and  the  attendant  cultural  resource  investigation.  .Additional  ma- 
terial on  cultural  resource  issues  pertaining  to  the  Teckia  area 
can  also  be  found  in  the  several  cultural  resource  investigations 
that  have  been  conducted  in  recent  years,  which  are  located  at  the 
Wyoming  State  Historic  Preservation  Office  in  Cheyenne,  Wyo- 
mins. 


22 


Annals  ot  Wyoming:  The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


On  one  level,  the  life  and  death  of  the  Teckla  home- 
steading  community  directly  corresponded  to  events 
of  national  and  international  importance.  Likewise,  the 
homesteading  community  responded  to  broader  events 
and  regional  conditions  in  ways  relevant  to  itself  The 
details  of  the  experience  are  to  be  found  in  both  loca- 
tions— in  the  distance  and  in  Teckla.  Regardless  of  the 
question,  the  story  revolves  around  the  lives  and  expe- 
riences of  those  who  lived  it.  They  are  the  source  for 
understanding  it.  It  is  a  story  narrated  by  many  people, 
which  ultimately  reveals  the  complexities  of  the  area, 
initial  settlement  of  the  area,  homestead  life  in  the  area, 
the  development  of  community  life,  and  the  final  de- 
mise of  this  brief  episode  in  northeast  Wyoming's  his- 
tory. 

The  outbreak  of  World  War  I  triggered  a  substantial 
boom  for  American  agriculture  in  the  mid-to-latel910s. 
Unable  to  satisfy  their  domestic  needs,  warring  Euro- 
pean nations  resorted  to  American  producers  to  supply 
them  with  necessary  levels  of  food  and  fiber.  Soaring 
prices  accompanied  the  high  demand  for  American  farm 
products,  and  American  farmers  enjoyed  a  period  of 
relative  prosperity.  American  entrance  in  the  war  in 
April  1917  fiirther  escalated  the  demand  for  agricul- 
tural products.  Farmers  responded  by  placing  thirty 
million  previously  uncultivated  acres  into  production 
on  the  Great  Plains  alone.  The  boom  continued  un- 
abated for  American  farmers  until  demands  and  prices 
dropped  precipitously  in  mid-1920.'* 

American  agriculture  experienced  an  economic  down- 
turn in  the  early  1 920s  although  the  catalyst  of  the  World 
War  I  years  did  sustain  some  farms.  Many  farmers  in 
the  Great  Plains  practiced  a  type  of  cultivadon  known 
as  dry  farming,  indeed  much  of  the  new  ground  broken 
in  the  Great  Plains  during  the  First  World  War  was 
devoted  to  dry  farming.  Requiring  no  irrigation  and 
practiced  in  areas  of  semiaridity,  dry  farming  methods 
were  relatively  new  when  the  wartime  boom  hit,  only 
having  been  seriously  introduced  at  the  turn  of  the  cen- 
tury. The  general  aridity  of  the  Great  Plains  and  a  se- 
vere drought  in  the  early  1890s  encouraged  sustainable 
agricultural  practices  for  the  Great  Plains,  which  re- 
sulted in  the  Campbell  method  of  dry  farming.  The 
Campbell  method,  developed  in  South  Dakota  by  Hardy 
Webster  Campbell,  gained  respectability  in  the  Great 
Plains,  and  was  presented  as  a  reliable  farming  method 
to  prospective  Great  Plains  settlers.-"" 

The  rise  of  the  dry  farming  movement  on  the  Great 
Plains  inspired  passage  of  the  320-acre  Enlarged  Home- 
stead Act  of  1909,  and  the  subsequent  passage  of  the 
1916  Stock  Raising  Homestead  Act.  The  1909  legisla- 
tion attempted  to  address  the  need  for  fallow  acreage 


under  the  Campbell  method,  while  the  1916  legisla- 
tion increased  entry  allowances  to  640  acres  to  encour- 
age stock  grazing  as  a  supplement  to  farming.  The  dry 
farming  movement  and  the  subsequent  settlement  ac- 
companying it  developed  through  private  initiative  as 
well  as  from  governmental  and  private  boosters.  Na- 
tional planning  of  agriculture  at  the  time  embodied  the 
attitude  that  "settlers  should  be  free  to  engage  in  dry- 
land agriculture  wherever  topography  and  economy  of 
operation  favored  such  enterprise."  Private  initiative, 
newly  developed  farming  methods,  available  public 
land,  boosterism,  and  rapidly  expanding  farm  markets 
formed  the  backdrop  for  settlement  of  places  like  the 
Thunder  Basin  of  northeast  Wyoming.^ 

Wyoming  fared  similarly  to  other  states  during  the 
agricultural  boom  of  the  First  World  War  years.  Wyo- 
ming wheat  producfion  rose  from  2,250,000  bushels  in 
1913  to  6,600,000  bushels  in  1918.  The  agricultural 
prosperity  of  the  war  years  was  replaced  by  intermit- 
tent setbacks  during  the  1920s.  Wyoming  farmers  faced 
drought  in  1 9 1 9,  and  commodity  prices  remained  weak 
throughout  the  1920s.  Regardless,  yields  remained  high 
and  homesteaders  continued  to  farm.  In  fact,  1919-21 
were  the  peak  years  for  new  homestead  entries  in  Wyo- 
ming, and  the  decade  of  the  1920s  witnessed  the  trans- 
fer of  nearly  ten  million  acres  of  land  from  the  public 
domain  to  private  ownership  in  Wyoming.^ 

The  Wyoming  Board  of  Immigration,  a  state  agency, 
aggressively  promoted  homestead  settlement  of  Wyo- 
ming in  1919-20.  Its  campaign  focused  on  enticing 
settlers  from  neighboring  states,  but  ranged  as  far  as 


-'  Those  interested  in  the  specific  historiography  of  the  area 
should  consult:  Dena  S.  Markof;  "Cultural  Resource  Inventory: 
A  Historical  Study  of  the  North  Antelope  Coal  Field,  Campbell 
and  Converse  Counties,  Wyoming"  (prepared  by  Western  Cul- 
tural Resource  Management,  Inc.  for  North  Antelope  Coal  Com- 
pany, 19  June  1981);  Robert  S.  Rosenberg,  "A  Historical  Synthe- 
sis of  the  Eastern  Powder  River  Basin,  Campbell  and  Converse 
Counties,  Wyoming"  (prepared  by  Rosenberg  Historical  Consult- 
ants for  Wyoming  State  Historic  Preservation  Office,  May,  1991); 
Gene  Munson  and  David  Ferguson,  "Class  III  Cultural  Resource 
Inventory  of  Tract  E  Adjacent  to  Rochelle  and  North  Antelope 
Mines,  Campbell  County,  Wyoming"  (prepared  by  GCM  Services, 
Inc.  for  Powder  River  Coal  Company,  May,  1995).  Copies  of  these 
unpublished  reports  are  available  at  the  Wyoming  State  Historic 
Preservation  Office  in  Cheyenne,  Wyoming. 

■*  Theodore  Saloutos,  The  American  Farmer  and  the  New  Deal 
(Ames,  Iowa:  Iowa  State  University  Press,  1982),  3-4;  Mary  W. 
M.  Hargreaves,  Dry  Farming  in  the  Northern  Great  Plains:  Years 
of  Readjustment.  1920-1990  (Lawrence,  KA:  University  Press  of 
Kansas,  1993),  10. 

^  H&'c%xsa.\ts,  Dry  Farming.  1-3. 

^  Ibid.,  4,  69,  102. 

'  T.  A.  Larson,  History  of  Wyoming  (Lincoln:  University  of 
Nebraska  Press,  1965),  396,  41 1-I2,  414-15. 


Spring  1999 

the  Midwest.  Despite  the  rise  of  homesteading  in  the 
late  1910s  and  1920s,  tanning  was  still  insignificant  in 
comparison  to  the  Wyoming  livestock  industry  as  late 
as  1929. 

A  significant  number  of  Wyoming's  dry  land  home- 
steaders failed  during  the  1920s.  Of  those  remaining, 
most  were  not  prosperous  during  the  1 920s  even  though 
many  homesteaders  who  stayed  were  encouraged  to 
continue  during  exceptional  years  like  1927.** 

The  Teckia  homesteading  community  and  surround- 
ing area  mirrored  the  trends  taking  place  on  the  state 
and  regional  level.  Homestead  entries  flourished  in  the 
late  1910s  and  into  the  early  1920s.  Settlers  arrived 
primarily  from  neighboring  states,  established  homes, 
and  developed  a  pennanent  community.  Tliey  attempted 
farming  with  mixed  success  and  failure,  and  they 
supplemented  their  operations  w  ith  animal  husbandry. 
During  the  1 920s,  a  number  accomplished  their  objec- 
tives, as  is  evident  in  the  improvements  and  subsequent 
patenting  of  their  homesteads.'' 

The  experiences  of  twelve  Teckia  area  homesteaders 
indicate  the  basic  pattern  of  settlement,  agricultural 
development,  and  homestead  improvement.  The  twelve 
reveal  the  broad  patterns  at  work  in  the  establishment 
of  Teckia  as  a  homesteading  community.'" 

Homesteaders  William  Mackey,  Marion  Reed,  John 
Brewer,  John  Dillon,  and  Eugene  Callan  all  filed  their 
homestead  entries  in  1917.  In  doing  so,  they  home- 
steaded  during  the  major  period  of  settlement  in  the 
Teckia  area — the  late  1910s.  Five  others  filed  their 
homestead  entries  between  1 9 1 8- 1 92 1 ,  while  two  filed 
in  1927  and  1928,  respectively.  Seven  of  the  home- 
steaders filed  their  homestead  entries  under  either  the 
1 909  Enlarged  Homestead  Act  or  the  1 9 1 6  Stock  Rais- 
ing Homestead  Act,  while  five  of  them  filed  entries 
under  both  acts.  Marion  Reed,  Eddie  Corder,  and  three 
others  moved  to  Wyoming  from  Nebraska,  while  the 
Crouchs  hailed  from  Missouri  and  others  came  from 
places  such  as  Oklahoma  and  North  Carolina. 

The  marital  status  of  the  homesteaders  and  the  kin- 
ship networks  among  the  group  reflected  an  obvious 
inclination  toward  permanent  residency.  Eight  of  them 
were  married,  while  only  four  claimed  children.  The 
Crouchs,  Mary  Springer,  and  Joel  Hamilton  were  wid- 
ows and  widowers,  but  they  too  with  the  exception  of 
Springer  had  families  among  the  group.  The  Crouchs 
were  mother  and  son,  while  Joel  Hamilton  was  Will- 
iam Mackey's  father-in-law.  Although  Mary  Springer 
was  unrelated  among  this  group  of  Teckia  homestead- 
ers, two  of  her  sons,  Stuart  and  Harry,  and  a  daughter, 
Mrs.  R.  J.  Holmes,  all  homesteaded  near  her.' ' 

This  group  of  homesteaders  experimented  with  dry- 


land agriculture.  While  attempting  to  cultivate  crops, 
they  lessened  their  risks  by  raising  livestock  as  well.'- 
Seven  reported  cultivating  between  forty  and  forty-five 
acres  within  the  first  three  to  five  years  of  filing  their 
homestead  entry,  while  one  each  reported  cultivating 
twenty-two  acres,  fifty-five  acres,  and  seventy-five 
acres.  Most  planted  a  variety  of  crops  such  as  com, 
oats,  cane,  rye,  millet,  flax,  and  wheat.  Ten  reported 
planting  com,  oats,  or  cane  at  least  once,  while  three 
tended  to  concentrate  on  wheat.  Of  those  reporting,  four 
experienced  crop  failures  in  1919,  and  one  reported  crop 
failures  in  1932-34.  Far  more  common  was  the  claim 
of  at  least  satisfactory  crops.  William  Mackey  reported 
success  with  com,  cane,  and  wheat  in  1918.  Eugene 
Callan  reported  success  in  1 920  with  com  and  rye.  John 
Crouch  reported  success  with  oats  and  com  in  1924. 
Joel  Hamilton  reported  success  with  wheat  in  1929. 

For  some,  the  initial  physical  impro\  ements  home- 
steaders erected  on  their  entries,  and  their  eventual  suc- 
cess in  patenting  their  homesteads  demonstrated  a  de- 
gree of  commitment  to  permanent  residency.  Regard- 
less of  the  role  improvements  played  in  the  legally 
mandated  development  of  the  homestead,  they  indi- 
cate serious  attempts  at  pemianent  settlement.  Initial 
improvements  included  permanent  homes,  bams  and 
stock  shelters.  Other  standard  improvements  reported 

*/Wt/..  415-16,  418. 

"*  .Although  as  Larson  points  out.  "Despite  the  spectacular  ac- 
quisition of  land  under  the  homestead  laws,  the  number  of  farm 
and  ranch  units  increased  onl_\  from  15.748  in  IQl')  to  16.01 1  in 
I'JZQ.  and  the  rural  farm  and  ranch  population  increased  onl>  from 
67.076  to  72.<)05.  People  who  were  already  on  the  land  in  1919 
sooner  or  later  came  into  possession  of  most  of  the  newly  home- 
steaded  land."  He  also  notes  that  entries  and  patents  from  1915 
to  1935  shows  appro.xm lately  72.700  homestead  entries  in  Wyo- 
ming and  only  45,300  paternts  during  that  21->ear  period."  Ibid.. 
416. 

'"  Post- 1908  General  Land  Entry  Files  of  the  General  Land  Of- 
fice, "Marion  W.  Reed,  Wyoming,  HS  patent  no.  862322  and 
926875,"  "Walter  Spurgeon,  Wyoming,  HS  patent  no.  922145," 
"Eddie  L.  Corder.  Wyoming,  HS  patent  no.  966074,"  "John  E. 
Brewer,  Wyoming.  HS  patent  no.  870426,"  "William  P.  Mackey, 
Wyoming,  HS  patent  no.  837967,"  "Missouri  E.  Crouch,  Wyo- 
ming, HS  patent  no.  1075024,"  "John  Crouch,  Wyoming,  HS 
patent  no.  987667,"  "John  Dillon.  Wyoming,  HS  patent  no. 
827408,"  "Eugene  E.  Callan,  Wvoming,  HS  patent  no.  879163 
and  895906,"  "Daniel  A.  Mack,  Wyoming,  HS  patent  no. 
907385,"  "Mary  B.  Springer,  Wyoming,  HS  patent  no.  1023816 
and  1046717,"  "Joel  M.  Hamilton,  Wyoming,  HS  patent  no. 
1062240,"  RG  49.  Archives  I  Textual  Reference  Branch,  National 
.Archives  and  Records  .Administration.  Washington,  D.  C. 

"  Post- 1908,  "Reed,"  "Spurgeon,"  "Corder,"  "Brewer," 
"Mackey,"  "Crouch,"  "Crouch,"  "Dillon,  "  "Callan,"  Mack," 
"Springer,"  "Hamilton." 

'-  lbid.\  It  is  unknown  to  what  degree,  if  at  all,  Teckia  area 
homesteaders  practiced  true  dryland  farming  methods. 


Thunder  Basin 
homestead,  c.  1919. 


sSS^JSsS'S'ijr*:';!.'*'? 


ii 


-ViSiSs^ 


tV^v* 


Rhoda  and  William  Mackey.  wedding  photo.  June  25.  1905 

Photographs  courtesy  of  Rose  Mackey  McLaughlin,  Gillette 


CONVERSE  COUNTY 


1 


Mackey  children  in  1924.  Left  to  right,  Joe,  Bes.s,  Rose.  Boh  (infant).  Elsie 


26 


Annals  of  Wyoming:  The  Wyoming  History  Jc 


48CA2675 
MACKEY  HOMESTEAD 


■^  SITE  AREA 


Fl-n      FEATURE 

__  EPHEMERAL 
^~  DRAINAGE 

RANCH  ROAD       N 

contour  interval  5  ft 

I I 

150  ft 


by  homesteaders  included  chicken  houses,  hog  houses, 
fencing,  stock  reservoirs,  cellars,  granaries,  wells,  cor- 
rals, windmills,  and  an  auto  shed.  Teckla  area  home- 
steaders such  as  the  Mackeys,  Putnams,  Soderbergs, 
Niemcyks,  Paynes,  and  Judds  created  the  community 
of  Teckla  and,  in  so  doing,  looked  to  the  ftjture.  The 
experience  of  the  Mackey  family  in  particular  reveals 
many  details  of  Teckla  homestead  life. 

William  and  Rhoda  Mackey,  natives  of  Pisgah  For- 
est, North  Carolina,  along  with  three  children.  Vera, 
William  Boyce,  and  Rose,  arrived  in  Gillette,  Wyo- 
ming, by  train  on  April  6.  1917.  Greeted  by  snow,  the 
Mackey's  pitched  tents  on  the  outskirts  of  Gillette,  and 
established  a  temporary  camp  before  heading  to  their 
future  home  in  the  Thunder  Basin.  William  and  his 
brother-in-law.  Gene  Callan,  had  visited  Wyoming  in 
February,  1917,  at  which  time  they  both  filed  adjoin- 
ing homestead  entries.  They  returned  to  North  Caro- 
lina for  their  families,  and  returned  together  to  Wyo- 
ming in  April  to  establish  their  newly  claimed  home- 
steads. The  Mackeys  and  Callans  lived  in  their  make- 
shift home  on  the  outskirts  of  Gillette  for  about  six 
weeks,  while  William  and  Gene  prepared  their  home- 


GCM  Sei^ices 

Steads  for  residency.  William  and  Gene  moved  their 
families  to  their  new  homes  after  building  temporary, 
one-room,  saddle-roof  shacks  on  each  homestead  en- 
try. Equipped  with  a  new  wagon,  two  horses,  and  a 
Ford  car,  the  two  families  made  the  slow  sixty-mile 
trip  south  from  Gillette  to  their  new  adjoining  home- 
steads camping  along  the  way.' ' 

Once  on  their  homestead,  the  Mackey's  immediately 
set  about  developing  it.  They  cleared  sagebrush,  and 
prepared  to  begin  farming.  To  provide  for  the  immedi- 
ate needs  of  the  family,  William  found  temporary  em- 
ployment as  a  sheepherder  with  a  large  local  sheep 
operation  owned  by  Ernest  Spaeth.  He  apparently 
needed  extra  income,  while  Spaeth  wittingly  or  unwit- 
tingly helped  finance  his  competition  for  land — the 
homestead  movement. 

The  Mackeys  also  welcomed  four  more  children  into 
their  family,  Elsie,  Bess,  Joe,  and  Bob,  after  their  ar- 
rival in  Wyoming.  In  addition  to  the  growth  of  their 

'-'  Elsie  Mackey  Bard,  "The  Mackeys  Homestead  in  Wyoming 
in  1917,"  in  Campbell  County:  The  Treasured  Years,  ed.  Campbell 
County  Historical  Society  (Marceline,  Missouri:  Walsworth  Pub- 
lishing Company,  1991),  344. 


Spring  19QQ 

immediate  family,  William  and  Rhoda  were  joined  by 
several  other  relatives  in  Wyoming.  Rhoda's  father,  Joel 
Mackey  Hamilton,  and  two  brothers,  Spurgeon  and  Bill, 
as  well  as  William's  brothers,  Joe  and  Charles,  tiled 
homestead  entries  near  the  Mackey  and  Callan  home- 
steads. The  Mackeys  and  their  extended  family  joined 
others  in  establishing  the  community  of  Teckla.''^ 

William  had  filed  a  320-acre  homestead  entry  under 
the  Enlarged  Homestead  Act  of  1909  on  February  10, 
1917,  and  an  additional  320-acre  homestead  entry  un- 
der the  Stock-Raising  Homestead  Act  on  Februar}  16, 
1917.  The  family  eventually  patented  both  claims.  He 
initiated  the  final  process  toward  patent  on  his  first 
homestead  entry  in  1921,  and  in  1922  on  his  second 
homestead  entry.  Teckla  area  homesteaders  David  E. 
Ankeny,  Frank  Boss,  Spurgeon  Hamilton,  Aleck  A. 
Soderberg,  Walter  Spurgeon,  and  Charles  Mackey  tes- 
tified as  witnesses  in  the  various  stages  of  final  proof 
proceedings.'" 

According  to  the  final  proof  testimony,  the  Mackey's 
established  residence  on  the  homestead  on  May  16, 
1917,  and  planted  a  ten-acre  feed  crop  of  com  and  cane 
that  year.  He  planted  twenty  acres  in  com,  cane,  and 
wheat  in  1918.  which  produced  a  "good  crop."  Unfor- 
tunately, his  initial  success  was  followed  by  the  1919 
drought,  which  devastated  that  year's  forty  acres  of  com, 
cane,  and  rye.  He  recovered  the  next  year  with  a  suc- 
cessful forty-acre  crop  of  com  and  rye,  and  he  reported 
a  successful  fifty-five  acre  crop  in  1 92 1 .  He  also  grazed 
livestock  on  the  homestead. 

In  addition  to  the  agricultural  development  of  the 
homestead,  Mackey  also  added  numerous  physical  im- 
provements during  the  early  years  on  the  homestead. 
By  1921,  the  homestead  included  a  cellar,  a  bam,  a 
corral,  and  two  and  one-half  miles  of  fence.  Signifi- 
cant for  credit  purposes,  Mackey  estimated  the  total 
value  of  all  his  homestead  improvements  to  be  $  1 . 1 00. ' '' 

On  Mackey's  second  homestead  entry,  he  described 
the  land  as  generally  level  with  native  short  grasses, 
sagebrush,  and  cactus.  It  supported  at  least  twenty 
sheep,  ten  to  fifteen  head  of  cattle,  and  six  to  eight 
work  horses,  which  also  grazed  on  the  original  entry. 
Mackey  had  also  erected  two  miles  of  two-wire  fence 
supported  by  fence  posts  positioned  two  rods  apart  on 
his  additional  entry  in  1919,  while  also  digging  a  well 
and  developing  a  stock  reservoir  in  1 92 1 .  He  estimated 
the  value  of  the  additional  improvements  at  $500,  which 
increased  the  total  value  of  improvements  on  his  home- 
stead to  $1,600.'^ 

The  United  States  Department  of  Interior  denied 
Mackey's  second  patent  pending  a  field  investigation 
of  the  second  homestead  entry.  Mackey  appealed  the 


27 

decision  and  sought  the  assistance  of  Wyoming  Sena- 
tor John  Kendrick  in  the  matter.  Kendrick  responded 
to  Mackey's  plea  with  a  letter  to  the  Department  of 
Interior  on  September  9,  1 922.  urging  a  speed\  resolu- 
tion of  the  matter.  He  further  informed  the  Department 
of  Interior  that  Mackey  sought  approval  for  a  Federal 
Farm  Loan,  which  was  contingent  on  his  additional 
homestead  patent.  The  Department  of  Interior  heeded 
Kendrick's  request,  and  on  October  21,  1922,  a  field 
agent  for  the  Department  of  Interior  recommended  that 
Mackey  be  issued  the  patent. '*" 

The  Mackeys,  like  so  many  other  families  in  the  area, 
settled  into  their  life  in  the  Thunder  Basin  in  the  early 
1920s  after  the  initial  settlement  shock  waned.  The 
decade  of  the  1920s  presented  a  moment  for  Teckla 
area  homesteaders  to  mature  in  their  situation  as  indi- 
vidual homestead  families  and  as  members  of  a  larger 
loosely  defined  homestead  community.  As  such,  the 
Mackey  famil_\  had  limited  agricultural  success  through 
most  of  the  1920s.  (The  Mackey's  degree  of  success 
between  1922-25  is  unknown,  while  it  obviousl\  ex- 
isted to  some  extent  considering  their  continued  exist- 
ence and  success  in  the  late  192Us.) 

The  Mackey  farm  operation  succeeded  in  the  late 
1920s  through  diversified  cultivation,  poultry  raising, 
and  animal  husbandry.  Mackey  marketed  500  pounds 
of  beans,  10,000  pounds  of  oats,  310  pounds  of  pota- 
toes, forty-eight  bushels  of  wheat,  500  bushels  of  com, 
and  1 5 1  pounds  of  dressed  turkeys  between  October 
and  November  10,  1926.  In  1927.  wheat,  oats,  and  tur- 
keys were  sold,  while  1928  included  the  sale  of  oats, 
hogs,  wheat,  cattle,  and  turkeys.  The  farm  produced 
189  bushels  of  winter  wheat,  flax,  sixty-four  bushels 
of  rye,  and  716  pounds  of  live  turkeys  for  sale  in  1929. 
The  sale  of  fami  products  declined  in  1 930  to  1 1 0  bush- 
els of  wheat,  an  undisclosed  amount  of  rye  and  fiax, 
and  sixty  turkeys,  while  turkeys  dominated  1 93 1  sales. '" 

William  and  Rhoda's  daughter.  Rose,  remembered 
the  1920s  as  seemingly  prosperous  years  on  the  home- 
stead, although  tempered  by  the  basic  hardships  of 
homestead  life.  Rose  recalled  her  mother  raising  fresh 

I-"  Ihid 

'^  Post- 1 908,  "Mackey."  Macke\  received  the  patent  on  his 
first  homestead  entry  on  December  9,  1921,  and  the  patent  on  his 
second  homestead  entr\  on  March  31.  1923. 

^^  Ihid. 
"*  Ibid. 

'"  1926  Farm  Products  Sold.  177,  1927  Farm  Products  Sold. 
1 78.  1 928  Farm  Products  Sold.  1 78-79,  1 929  Farm  Products  Sold. 

180,  1930  Farm  Products  Sold,  181,  1931  Farm  Products  Sold, 

181,  William  P.  Mackey  Business  Ledger,  in  possession  of  Rose 
Mackey  McLaughlin,  Gillette.  Wyoming. 


28 


Annals  of  Wyoming:  The  Wyoming  History 


produce  in  large  unirrigated  gardens,  the  children  tend- 
ing to  chickens,  turkeys,  and  milking  cows,  and  her 
father  farming.  She  referred  jokingly  to  herself  and  her 
siblings  as  "turkey  herders"  in  reference  to  their  sur- 
veillance of  the  birds  while  the\  foraged.  Turkey  herd- 
ing also  brought  with  it  additional  duties.  The  turkeys 
apparently  possessed  a  keen  sense  of  detecting  rattle- 
snakes, which  allowed  the  children  prime  opportuni- 
ties to  kill  them.  Moreover,  turkey  raising  culminated 
in  the  fall  slaughter  with  her  father  killing  the  birds, 
and  the  rest  of  the  family  plucking  them.  The  birds 
were  then  packed  in  barrels  and  sold.  The  family  also 
milked  cows,  and  shipped  the  cream  for  sale.  Rose  also 
recalled  her  father  farming  with  horses  before  purchas- 
ing a  tractor  in  the  late  19208.-*^ 

Rose's  brother.  Bob,  provided  additional  memories 
about  farm  life  from  his  childhood.  He  recalled  the 
children's  duties  consisting  of  milking  cows,  feeding 
bum  lambs,  and  feeding  hogs.  Although  Bob  vaguely 
recalled  his  father  farming  with  horses,  he  better  re- 
membered the  notoriety  surrounding  his  father's  pur- 
chase of  a  1530  International  tractor,  combine,  plow. 
and  tandem  disc  in  1928.  He  also  used  the  new  power 
machinery  to  farm  land  owned  by  Gene  Callan  and 
Spurgeon  Hamilton. 

William  turned  to  flax  production  in  the  late  1920s 
as  its  value  increased.  Flax  prices  peaked  in  1 929,  and 
Mackey  was  positioned  to  benefit  from  the  increase. 
The  Mackeys  planted  about  twenty  acres  of  tlax,  likely 
in  1929,  and  were  quite  successful  with  it.  William  at- 
tempted to  capitalize  on  his  success  again  the  next  year, 
but  the  price  dropped  and  he  ended  up  with  a  "tlax  bin 
full  of  tlax.  "  Bob  recalled  his  father  growing  a  variety 
of  crops,  and  hauling  wheat  to  Gillette  for  sale.  The 
Mackeys  ceased  crop  farming  in  the  mostly  drought 
years  of  the  1 930s  although  William  planted  a  success- 
ful fifty  or  sixty  acre  crop  of  wheat  around  1937.-' 

In  addition  to  raising  farm  products  for  market,  the 
Mackeys  also  produced  the  necessary  items  for  their 
own  consumption.  According  to  Bob,  "you  pretty  near 
had  to  raise  all  your  food  in  them  days."  Rhoda  Mackey 
consistently  grew  a  large  garden  to  supply  the  family 
with  fresh  produce.  She  grew  beans,  potatoes,  peas, 
onions,  carrots,  tomatoes,  and,  on  at  least  one  occasion 
even  watermelon.  Despite  her  success,  gardening  pre- 
sented risks,  considering  she  gardened  without  irriga- 
tion. 

The  family's  diet  also  included  pork  and  beef  raised 
on  the  homestead.  In  fact,  Mr.  Mackey  consistently 
raised  pigs,  and  the  family  ate  pork  "all  the  time."  The 
family  also  supplemented  its  diet  with  wild  game  such 
as  antelope.  Raising  the  food  was  merely  the  begin- 


ning of  the  process  though,  it  was  then  followed  by  the 
formidable  task  of  preserving  it.-- 

The  magnitude  of  the  task  is  reflected  in  Bob's 
memory  that  his  mother  seemed  to  be  "canning  all  the 
time."  Rhoda  purchased  bulk  shipments  of  jars  and  lids, 
and  "she  canned  everything."  The  seemingly  endless 
task  of  canning  garden  produce  and  meat  culminated 
in  the  "hundreds  of  jars  of  different  things"  she  pre- 
served. Rose  recalled  an  additional  and  highly  signifi- 
cant aspect  of  the  canning  procedure —  Rhoda's  pur- 
chase of  a  pressure  cooker.  Prior  to  the  arrival  of  the 
pressure  cooker,  Rhoda  canned  with  a  pot  of  boiling 
water  used  as  a  hot-water  bath.  The  hot-water  bath 
was  not  only  time  intensive,  but  it  also  limited  the  num- 
ber of  items  available  for  canning.  Alternatively,  the 
pressure  cooker  dramatically  reduced  the  time  involved 
in  the  canning  procedure,  and  allowed  Rhoda  to  pre- 
serve other  foods  such  as  meat.--' 

The  Mackeys  also  preserved  food  using  other  tech- 
niques. They  cured  pork  with  Morton  sugar  cure,  butch- 
ered steers  in  the  fall  as  the  temperature  dropped,  and 
buried  carrots  in  boxes  of  sand.  They  prepared  their 
own  sausage,  and  Rhoda  also  made  cheese.  Without 
an  ice  house  or  ice  box,  the  Mackeys  relied  on  a  root 
cellar  dug  by  William  to  store  their  food,  although  some 
of  their  neighbors  did  use  ice  houses.  The  cellar  housed 
more  than  food  though.  Rose  recalled  the  fear  she  and 
her  siblings  had  entering  the  cellar,  because  lizards  of- 
ten times  lurked  under  the  cellar  stairs. 

Despite  all  their  food  preparation,  the  family  occa- 
sionally endured  great  hardship  on  the  homestead.  In 
fact.  Rose  and  Bob  recalled  being  "a  little  too  suffi- 
cient" on  one  occasion.  The  family  exhausted  their  sup- 
ply of  flour  during  one  particularly  brutal  winter  storm, 
which  forced  them  to  use  a  grain  pig  feed  called  red 
dog  to  make  flour  until  they  could  resupply.-'' 

Despite  the  aridity  of  the  area,  the  Mackeys  adjusted 
to  the  situation.  Although  the  gardening  and  farming 
relied  on  rain  alone,  it  came  often  enough  during  the 
1920s  to  ensure  their  survival.  The  family  also  had  a 
well  on  the  homestead  to  accommodate  their  house- 
hold needs,  but  they  later  hauled  water  from  a 
neighbor's  well.  The  well  on  the  adjoining  Corder 
homestead  produced  a  premium  soft  water  the  Mackeys 
cherished.  They  valued  it  enough  to  bother  with  the 
trouble  of  hauling  it  in  barrels  for  use  on  their  own 

-"  Rose  Mackey  McLaughlin,  interview  by  author,  Gillette, 
Wyoming,  8  November  1997;  Mrs.  McLaughlin  was  bom  in  1916. 
-'  Mackey,  interview;  Hargreaves,  £)rc  Farming,  45. 
--  Mackey,  interview. 

-^  Mackey,  interview;  McLaughlin,  interview. 
-■'  Ibid. 


Sprind  IQQQ 

homestead.  Rhoda  also  melted  snow  for  water  in  large 
tubs  during  the  winter  if  hauHng  water  or  getting  to 
their  well  was  too  difficult. 

Homestead  life  also  presented  additional  issues  nec- 
essary to  the  well-being  of  the  family  that  w  ent  be\  ond 
the  questions  of  food  and  water.  Kerosene,  coal,  wood, 
muscle,  and  batteries  powered  the  necessities  and  con- 
veniences available  to  the  Mackey's  in  their  household 
duties  and  pastimes.  Kerosene  lamps  provided  the 
Mackey's  with  household  lighting,  while  they  heated 
their  home  and  cooked  their  meals  on  stov  es  fueled  by 
coal  and  wood.  The  Mackeys  joined  neighbors  at  the 
nearby  Cantleld  coal  mine  in  the  fall  to  gather  their 
annual  coal  supply,  and  they  collected  wood  in  the 
nearby  Rochelle  Hills.  Coal  was  later  acquired  at  the 
East  Antelope  coal  mine,  which  was  operated  by  their 
neighbor  Felix  Niemcyk.--"' 

Muscle  powered  many  household  tasks  such  as  wash- 
ing clothes.  The  job  entailed  hauling  large  quantities 
of  water  by  the  children,  and  labor  intensive  scrubbing 
performed  by  Rhoda.  The  power  available  to  them  did 
provide  recreation  on  occasion,  too.  The  Mackeys  pur- 
chased a  thousand-hour  battery  radio  from  a  mail  order 
company  after  hearing  one  at  a  nearby  teacher's  home. 
With  a  radio  of  their  own,  they  consistentl_\  tuned  in 
Nash\  ille's  Grand  01"  Opry  program  on  Saturday  eve- 


nmss 


26 


Alternative  sources  of  power  and  corresponding  ap- 
pliances arrived  much  later  than  the  1920s  and  1930s. 
Electricity,  wind-powered  generators,  and  propane  fu- 
eled appliances  dramatically  changed  life  on  the  home- 
stead, but  the\'  arrived  long  after  the  homestead  era  had 
ended.  They  arrived  in  the  late  1930s,  with  the  advent 
of  the  RE  A  (Rural  Electrification  Administration)  and 
brought  with  them  expanded  opportunities  for  refrig- 
eration, heating,  cooking,  lighting,  entertainment  and 
communication.  During  the  1920s  and  early  1930s,  the 
Mackeys  along  with  their  neighbors  survived  with  the 
technologies  and  energy  sources  available  to  them.  The 
situation  demanded  great  labor,  yet  it  hardly  represented 
something  unknown  to  countless  other  rural  and  even 
urban  families  at  the  time.-^ 

Despite  the  "tlies  in  the  summer  and  the  drafts  in  the 
winter,"  the  homestead  house  gathered  the  family  to- 
gether for  work,  pleasure,  and  unity.  The  Mackeys  ini- 
tially resided  slightly  east  of  the  location  they  tlnally 
established  as  their  permanent  homesite.  In  1921  they 
moN'ed  their  original  homestead  shack  to  the  new  loca- 
tion, and  proceeded  to  establish  the  new  homesite.  They 
replaced  their  original  home  with  a  new  gable-roofed 
house  at  the  time  of  the  move,  which  became  the  prin- 
cipal family  residence.  The  new  house  consisted  of  a 


29 

twenty-one-by-tlfteen-foot  log  section,  and  a  twelve- 
by-si.xteen-foot  squared  log  section  which  was  added 
around  1930.  A  porch  and  a  lean-to  were  added  on  to 
the  house  around  1938-39.  The  house  contained  a 
kitchen,  a  living  room,  and  another  room  for  sleeping. 
The  lean-to  provided  storage  space,  and  they  used  the 
original  homestead  shack  as  a  bunkhouse.  The  home- 
site  also  included  a  hand  dug  root  cellar,  a  turkey  house, 
bam.  and  a  dugout  chicken  house. -*^ 

The  Mackey's  situation  drastically  differed  from  that 
of  fellow  Teckla  homesteader  and  widow  Mary 
Springer,  but  Springer's  lifestyle  does  provide  insight 
into  Teckla  homestead  life.  Some  neighbors  contested 
her  homestead  patent,  but  Teckla  homesteader  .lames 
A.  Payne  claimed  Mary  Springer's  home  was  "ftimished 
like  the  usual  homesteader  [house]..."  Fler  son,  Harry 
Springer,  another  Teckla  homesteader  described  his 
mother's  home  as  "a  comfortable  log  house,  mudded 
up  and  well  furnished."  It  was  a  fourteen-by-sixteen- 
foot  log  home  with  a  tweK e-inch  dressed  board  floor. 
Protecting  the  home  was  "a  good  lumber  flat  roof  cov- 
ered with  thick  rubberoid  rooting  material."  Within  the 
home.  Springer  had  a  nine-by-twelve-foot  rug  and 
ample  furnishings.  Her  furnishings  included  "a  full  bed, 
a  sanitary  couch  that  could  be  made  into  a  full  bed,  a 
chifferobe,  a  birdseye  maple  dressing  table  and  chair 
to  match,  a  dining  table,  2  rocking  chairs  and  2  straight 
back  chairs."  She  heated  the  home  and  cooked  on  a 
stove,  that  reportedly  "heated  and  baked  well."  In  ad- 
dition, she  "had  all  [the]  cooking  utensils  and  neces- 
sary silverware."-'' 

Beyond  the  fencelines  of  individual  homesteads  ex- 
isted the  broader  community  of  Teckla.  The  commu- 
nity was  bound  together  by  kinship  in  several  instances, 
but  also  by  a  communal  spirit  reflected  in  local  recre- 
ation, child  rearing,  and  religious  worship.  Although 
community  life  surely  existed  beyond  those  practices, 
they  did  represent  a  significant  portion  of  Teckla's  com- 
munity identity.  For  instance,  neighbors  joined  together 
and  collectively  purchased  a  steam  tractor  to  thresh 
grain,  and  they  commonK  acted  as  midwives  at  the 
births  of  each  other's  children.  The>'  also  gathered  for 
Fourth  of  July  picnics  and  political  rallies,  while  they 

-•'  Ibid. 

-"  Ibid 

-''  Macke>  interview. 

-*  McLaughlin,  interview;  Mackey,  interview;  Robert  R. 
Mackey,  interview  by  author.  Teckla.  Wyoming.  8  July  1997. 
Those  interested  in  a  detailed  description  of  the  Macke>  home- 
stead material  culture  are  referred  to  the  Wyoming  State  Ftistoric 
Preservation  Office  site  form  of  site.  48CA2675.  on  file  at  the 
SHPO  in  Che>enne,  Wyoming. 

-"  Post- 1908.  "Springer.  1023816." 


30 


Annals  or  Wyoming:  The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


eagerly  visited  the  Teckia  post  office  three  times  a  week 
for  mail  and  conversation.-'" 

William  Mackey  donated  two  acres  for  a  site  to  lo- 
cate a  community  hall  and  school  for  Teckia  home- 
steaders. The  hall  accommodated  various  events  such 
as  dances,  school  programs,  and  religious  services.  Next 
to  the  hall  was  a  school  for  local  children  to  attend. 
Neighbors  eagerly  joined  together  to  build  the  log  hall, 
and  they  later  celebrated  together  within  its  walls. 
Dances,  a  frequent  form  of  winter  entertainment  among 
the  Teckia  homesteaders,  were  commonly  held  at  the 
community  hall.  Music  was  provided  by  various  local 
musicians.  Nell  Judd  played  the  piano,  Owen  Ankeny 
and  Ike  Isenberger  were  on  the  fiddle,  and  a  Murphy 
w  as  on  the  drums.  Couples  danced  waltzes,  polkas,  the 
Charleston,  and  the  two-step.  Bootleggers  also  fre- 
quented the  dances  with  illegal  alcohol,  which  ended 
many  dances  in  drunken  brawls.  Nevertheless,  the 
dances  provided  fond  memories  for  those  who  attended, 
and  also  provided  homesteaders  with  a  welcomed  com- 
munity social  event.'' 

Although  many  dances  were  held  at  the  community 
hall,  it  was  also  common  to  hold  dances  in  certain 
homes.  Teckia  homesteader,  John  Dillon,  hosted  dances 
at  his  large  frame  home  on  numerous  occasions.  Strik- 
ingly different  from  other  dances.  Bob  Mackey  recalled 
that  on  one  occasion  at  the  Dillon  home,  a  phonograph 
produced  the  music  rather  than  live  musicians.  Former 
Teckia  resident.  Jinx  Putnam,  also  remembered  a  couple 
dancing  a  finger  polka  at  the  Dillon  home.  He  had 
"never  heard  of  it  since."  Putnam's  family  hosted  dances 
at  his  home  when  he  was  a  child.  Another  neighbor, 
Joe  Judd,  hosted  dances  in  a  large  bam  he  had  on  his 
homestead.-'- 

The  Pleasant  View  school,  located  adjacent  to  the 
community  hall,  provided  another  form  of  community 
interaction  in  the  fall,  winter,  and  spring.  Even  though 
it  was  more  directly  associated  with  the  children,  the 
school  also  linked  Teckla's  adults  together  in  a  com- 
mon enterprise.  The  eldest  Mackey  child.  Vera,  taught 
briefly  at  Pleasant  View,  while  her  younger  siblings 
and  neighbor  children  attended  her  classes.  Former 
Pleasant  View  students.  Jinx  Putnam  and  Rose 
McLaughlin,  recalled  fond  memories  of  their  school 
days.  It  provided  a  welcomed  opportunity  to  meet  with 
other  children,  and  develop  friendships  outside  of  the 
home.  School  also  provided  occasions  for  the  children 
to  express  their  talents  before  their  families  and  neigh- 
bors. The  school  children  held  annual  Christmas  per- 
formances as  well  as  other  programs  throughout  the 
year  in  the  community  hall  for  the  entertainment  of 
everyone.^^ 


Pleasant  View  school  children.  1925.  Front  row:  Elsie 
Mackey.  Edna  Callan.  Rose  Mackey,  John  Reed.  Back 
row:  William  Boyce  Mackey.  Mrs.  Genevra  Bird.  Lyle 
Reed.  Photo  courtesy  of  Rose  Mackey  McLaughlin 


Religious  services  occupied  an  additional  segment 
of  community  life  each  summer.  Although  without  a 
resident  minister,  many  Teckia  residents  supported  the 
occasional  non-denominational  Christian  services  pro- 
vided by  traveling  preachers.  Preachers  traveled  from 
Savageton,  and  elsewhere,  to  host  "all  day  dinner  on 
the  ground"  services.  These  services  earned  this  name, 
because  it  would  be  a  day-  long  event  of  preaching  and 
eating.  Visiting  ministers  also  taught  Sunday  school  to 
the  children  when  they  were  available.  According  to 
Bob  Mackey,  one  particular  minister  referred  to  as  a 
"holy  roller"  disappointed  him,  because  the  man 
claimed  he  could  jump  over  his  pulpit  with  the  joy  he 

'°  Harry  G.  "Jinx"  Putnam  Jr.,  "Harry  G.  Putnam  I  Story,  "  in 
Campbell  County:  The  Treasured  Years,  ed.  Campbell  County 
Historical  Society  (Marceline,  Missouri:  Walsworth  Publishing 
Company,  1991 ),  468;  Mackey.  interview.  14  October  1997;  Harry 
G.  "Jinx"  Putnam  Jr.,  "The  Good  Old  Days,  "  in  From  the  Belle 
Fourche  to  .Antelope:  History  of  Southern  Campbell  County,  ed. 
Harriet  Underwood  (Wright,  Wyoming:  Wright  Centennial  Mu- 
seum, composed  and  printed  by  Action  Printing,  Gillette,  Wyo- 
ming. 1991).  203:  McLaughlin,  interview. 

"  Putnam,  "Good  Old  Da>s,"  202-03;  McLaughlin,  interview; 
Mackey.  interview,  14  October  1997. 

'-  Putnam,  "Good  Old  Days,"  202;  Robert  R.  Mackey,  inter- 
view by  Gene  Munson,  Teckia,  Wyoming,  30  April  1997. 

'-'  Putnam,  "Harry  G.  Putnam,"  468;  Putnam,  "Good  Old  Days," 
203;  McLaughlin,  interview. 


Spring  IQQQ 

had,  yet  he  never  did.  Summer  religious  ser\  ices  also 
included  full  immersion  baptisms  on  occasion.  Bob 
Mackey  recalled  the  congregation  gathering  at  a  deep- 
water  hole  on  Porcupine  Creek  one  summer  for  the 
baptism  of  a  few  men.  including  the  Mackey 's  neigh- 
bor Eddie  Corder.  Religion  provided  yet  another  op- 
portunit\  for  Teckla  area  homesteaders  to  come  together 
as  a  community  and  celebrate  the  joys  as  well  as  the 
sorrows  of  homestead  life.^'* 

Although  commitment  sustained  the  settlement  of 
individual  homestead  families  in  the  Thunder  Basin 
and  the  community  life  they  developed  at  Teckla,  the 
continuation  of  the  depression  and  the  continuing 
droughts  forced  many  homestead  families  to  reconsider 
their  future.  Federal  government  land  management 
policies  influenced  their  immediate  fUture  as  well  as 
that  of  Teckla  and  the  Thunder  Basin.  These  policies 
reconfigured  the  community  of  Teckla.  The  homestead 
families  and  the  Teckla  community  of  the  late  1910s 
through  the  early  1930s  largely  disappeared,  as  a  new 
era  dawned  in  land  management  and  local  settlement. 

The  continuing  severe  drought  and  consistently  low 
commodity  prices  ravaged  Great  Plains  dryland  fann- 
ers and  stockgrowers  during  the  1920s.  The  deteriora- 
tion of  conditions  for  dry  land  farmers  and  ranchers 
prepared  the  w  ay  for  a  radical  transfonnation  of  Ameri- 
can agriculture.  American  agricultural  planners  recog- 
nized that  the  post-war  oversupply  of  fami  products 
had  led  to  failures  of  private  initiative  in  agriculture  in 
the  early  1920s.  They  recognized  the  need  tor  central- 
ized planning  of  farm  production  and  proposed  vari- 
ous solutions.  Local  initiative  found  little  fulfillment 
in  many  of  President  Franklin  Roosevelt's  New  Deal 
agricultural  policies  and  programs.''' 

With  the  failures  of  state  and  local  agricultural  relief 
policy,  the  federal  government  provided  federal  fund- 
ing and  relief  programs.  With  these  changes  came  cen- 
tral planning  directed  by  the  federal  go\  emment  which 
intended  to  remedy  perceived  land  use  mistakes  ac- 
complished under  private  initiative.  New  Deal  land  use 
readjustment  was  a  commitment  to  purchase  private 
land  for  better  land  management.  This  proposal  was 
■'translate[d]...into  reality  on  the  Great  Plains  in  the 
1930s  by  calling  for  curtailing  rather  than  increasing 
areas  devoted  to  crop  production."  The  New  Deal's 
policy  commitment  "to  rationalize  land-use  patterns  and 
enhance  economic  opportunities  for  small  farmers" 
manifested  itself  in  federal  resettlement  programs.  New 
Deal  resettlement  programs  sought  to  purchase  land 
deemed  submarginal,  reclaim  it  as  timber  or  grazing 
reserves,  and  relocate  the  previous  owners  on  federal 
resettlement  projects. ^"^ 


31 

Wyoming  farmers  and  ranchers  suffered  drought 
throughout  the  1920s  and  early  1930s.  The  situation 
was  truly  desperate  for  many.  Federal  plans  called  for 
a  professional  planner's  preliminary  investigation  and 
ultimate  designation  of  land  according  to  its  produc- 
tive value.  The  process  resulted  in  a  Wyoming  resettle- 
ment project.  Unlike  resettlement  projects  in  other 
western  states,  Wyoming's  funding  dwindled  and  the 
project  ended  with  only  the  land  purchases  and  subse- 
quent reclamation  work.  Although  several  families  were 
relocated,  a  large  scale  resettlement  communitx  for  dis- 
placed farmers  was  never  full\  realized  in  Wyoming. 
Nonetheless,  the  Resettlement  Administration's  Thun- 
der Basin,  Wyoming,  resettlement  project  reoriented 
the  future  course  of  land  management  in  the  Thunder 
Basin  and  settlement  at  Teckla  in  particular.'^ 

The  tlrst  Agricultural  Adjustment  Administration,  a 
New  Deal  agency,  initiated  the  Northeastern  Wyoming 
Land  Utilization  Project,  better  known  as  the  Thunder 
Basin  project,  in  late  1934.  A  preliminar\  investiga- 
tion of  the  Thunder  Basin  was  conducted  in  August, 
and  a  field  office  was  established  in  October.  Admin- 
istration of  the  project  was  transferred  to  the  Resettle- 
ment and  Farm  Securit\  Administration  in  early  1935, 
and  development  of  the  project  quickly  followed.  Field 
agents  began  appraising  the  land  holdings  of  persons 
interested  in  selling  properties  in  January  1935,  and  a 
final  plan  to  proceed  was  submitted  in  June.  Project 
officials  accepted  the  tlrst  purchase  option  from  a  local 
landowner  on  September  30,  1935.  Presidential  ap- 
proval was  given  on  January  8,  1936,  and  payments  to 
landowners  began  Febmary  26.  1936.  The  final  Fed- 
eral payment  for  a  tract  of  land  was  made  May  23, 
1938.  In  three  and  one-half  years.  Thunder  Basin  and 
Teckla  underwent  substantial  change.'^ 

The  total  Thunder  Basin  project  area,  which  included 
the  Teckla  area,  encompassed  approximately  1 ,098,000 
acres  in  two  separate  areas.  The  main  portion  of  the 

"McLaughlin.  inter\iew:  Macke>.  interx  iew.  14  October  l')97. 

'^  Harareaxes,  Diy  Farming.  69.  102-03. 

''' Hargreaves.  Z)n' Fa/'wwg,  69.  102-03;  Richard  Lowitt.  The 
.Veil'  Deal  and  the  West  (Bloomington:  Indiana  Universits  Press. 
1984),  33-34;  Brian  Q.  Cannon.  Remaking  the  Agranati  Dream: 
iVeir  Deal  Rural  Resettlement  in  the  Mountain  West  (.'Albuquer- 
que: University  of  New  Mexico  Press.  1996).  1. 

"  Lowitt.  The  Ne\v  Deal.  35;  Larson.  Wyoming.  418.  444-45; 
Cannon.  Agrarian  Dream.  1.  10-11.6. 

'"Northwestern  Wyoming  Land  Litilization  Project,  Thunder 
Basin  National  Grassland,  (WY-LU-21).  Douglas,  Wyoming. 
[1955?],  Thunder  Basin  Land  L'tilization  Project  Papers.  USPS 
Permanent  Records.  Douglas  District  Office.  Douglas.  Wyoming 
(hereafter  cited  as  Thunder  Basin  Papers);  Thunder  Basin  Project. 
11  June  1938,  Thunder  Basin  Papers. 


32 


Annals  of  Wyoming:  The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


project  area  equaled  roughly  42  by  36  square  miles  of 
land,  while  the  smaller  portion  equaled  twelve  square 
miles  of  land.  The  project  area  included  portions  of 
Campbell,  Converse,  and  Weston  counties.  Although 
the  project  only  planned  to  purchase  274,91 1  acres  of 
land,  the  project  area  represented  a  much  larger  area, 
because  it  encompassed  already  existing  public  land 
and  tracts  of  land  retained  by  private  parties. 

Of  the  309  families  inhabiting  the  total  project  area 
at  its  inception,  1 72  of  them  departed  the  area  by  July, 
1940.  The  remaining  families  in  the  Teckla  area  and 
throughout  the  Thunder  Basin  entered  a  fundamentally 
different  era  than  the  one  they  left  behind.^'' 

The  federal  government  undertook  the  Thunder  Ba- 
sin project  to  develop  "a  large  project  to  be  used  as  an 
agricultural  demonstration  of  restricted  grazing."'*'^  The 
transfer  of  land  from  private  property  to  the  public  do- 
main paid  landowners  who  otherwise  would  have  lost 
everything.  The  program  sought  to  bolster  "economic 
independence  and  stability  in  the  area  by  adjusting  the 
population  to  the  productivity  of  the  land."'*'  The  fed- 
eral government  also  sought  to  reorder  land  use  and 
associated  agricultural  life  in  an  economically  and  so- 
cially viable  way-something  private  initiative  had 
proven  incapable  of  doing."*- 

County  school  officials  believed  the  "Land  Policy 
program...  [would]  eliminate  some  of.  [the]  smallest 
and  most  isolated  schools  and  will  therefore  contribute 
to  the  general  welfare  of  our  school  system.""*-'  School 
officials  considered  some  rural  schools  to  be  "far  from 
desirable.""'''  The  Campbell  County  Rehabilitation 
Committee  supported  the  idea  that  farmers  "be  allowed 
to  trade  their  land  to  the  government  for  irrigated 
tracts."'*^  Ernest  P.  Spaeth,  chairman  of  the  committee 
and  a  large  sheep  operator,  heartily  endorsed  the  pro- 
gram. Thomas  A.  Nicholas,  a  livestock  operator  with 
land  adjoining  the  project  area,  believed  that  a  "much 
lasting  benefit  in  the  way  of  stabilizing  the  livestock 
industry  may  be  accomplished  by  government  way  of 
ownership  of  certain  submarginal  grazing  lands."  He 
wondered,  however,  "what  range  will  be  available  and 
whether  any  outside  livestock  owners  will  be  able  to 
take  advantage  of  government  purchased  lands  to  un- 
fairly compete  with  us.""** 

Fifty  homesteaders,  twenty  from  the  Teckla  area, 
signed  a  petition  circulated  by  the  Mack  brothers  of 
Teckla.  The  petition,  submitted  to  the  Federal  Emer- 
gency Relief  Administration,  sought  a  speedy  federal 
buyout.  Teckla  petitioners  included  relatives  of  the 
Mackeys,  Spurgeon  and  Joel  Hamilton,  Eugene  Callan, 
and  Joe  Mackey,  as  well  as  John  Crouch,  R.  J.  Holmes, 
John  Payne,  and  William  Murphy.  The  signatories  rep- 


resented a  common  sentiment  among  many  Teckla 
families.  The  petition  stressed  the  "unknown  misery" 
attributed  to  the  previous  several  years  of  drought  and 
debt  in  its  endorsement  of  the  project.  Many  Teckla 
homesteaders  undoubtedly  sought  direct  relief  from  any 
possible  source  in  the  hope  that  they  might  relocate 
elsewhere  on  favorable  terms."*^ 

At  the  heart  of  the  project  was  the  assumption  that 
the  land  use  situation  "could  never  have  been  remedied 
through  private  initiative  or  by  the  state  or  local  gov- 
ernment, and  which  has  been  the  principal  cause  of  the 
present  social  and  economic  distress  of  the  population 
of  the  area.""*^ 

"[T]he  land  which  has  been  a  burden  to  its  owners, 
and  the  occupants  of  the  area  who  have  for  many  years 
been  a  burden  on  society,  will  both  be  rehabilitated  on 
a  permanent  basis. ""^^  The  project  planners  criticized 
"the  intrusion  of  the  homesteader  in  the  range  coun- 
try." The  project  directors  also  believed  "the  experi- 
ence of  these  farmers  will  be  repeated"  if  they  are  left 
to  themselves,  because  "hope  springs  eternal. "'^ 

Project  directors  lumped  social  conditions  together 
with  economic  conditions  in  the  Thunder  Basin,  and 
concluded  both  to  be  "extremely  undesirable."  Unde- 

'''  Land  Use  Summar>'  Report  for  Project  LA-WY-I,  [30  June 
\93T?],  Thunder  Basin  Papers;  Report  of  Families  LU-WY-38-i 
Site  I  and  II,  1  July  1940,  Thunder  Basin  Papers. 

""'  Land  Use  Summary-  Report  for  Project  LA-WY-L  [30  June 
1937?],  Thunder  Basin  Papers. 

""  Ibid.;  Resettlement  Administration  Land  Acquisition  Project 
Analysis  Report,  28  July  1936,  Thunder  Basin  Papers. 

■»-  Ibid 

■"  Marion  Heald  to  John  A.  Goe,  1 1  April  1935. 

■*■'  Ibid 

*^  Willot  Keyser  and  Vem  Wolfley  to  Carl  Bingemer,  1  Au- 
gust 1934. 

""^  Ernest  P.  Spaeth,  W.  B.  Saunders,  and  L.  R.  Underwood  to 
Submarginal  Land  Purchase  Program,  9  April  1935,  Thomas  A. 
Nicholas  to  Land  Policy  Section  Agricultural  Adjustment  Ad- 
ministration, 10  April  1935,  Submarginal  Land  Program  Agri- 
cultural Demonstration  Projects,  Wyoming,  Proposal  No.  A-I  Sites 
1  and  2,  Thunder  Basin  Northeast  Wyoming,  Final  Plan,  15  May 

1935,  Thunder  Basin  Papers. 

■•^  Submarginal  Land  Program  Agricultural  Demonstration 
Projects,  Wyoming,  Proposal  No.  A-I  Sites  1  and  2,  Thunder  Ba- 
sin Northeast  Wyoming,  Final  Plan,  15  May  1935,  Thunder  Ba- 
sin Papers;  Mackey,  interview,  30  April  1997. 

■'*'  "Resettlement  Administration  Authorization  for  Preparation 
of  Project  Plan,"  31  March  1936,  included  in  Resettlement  Ad- 
ministration Land  Acquisition  Project  Analysis  Report,  28  July 

1936,  Thunder  Basin  Papers. 
■"  Ibid 

-''''  Submarginal  Land  Program  Agricultural  Demonstration 
Projects,  Wyoming,  Proposal  No.  A-I  Sites  1  and  2,  Thunder  Basin 
Northeast  Wyoming,  Final  Plan,  15  May  1935,  pp.2,  43,  Thunder 
Basin  Papers. 


Spring  1Q9Q 

sirable  living  conditions  included  everything  from  the 
lack  of  running  water  in  homes,  large  families  living  in 
small  homes,  one  "family  of  seven. ..living  in  a  house 
with  no  floor,"  diet,  government  assistance,  to  the  dis- 
tance between  homesteads  and  schools.  It  was  asserted 
that  "in  no  instance  does  a  dry  farmer's  property  listed 
for  sale  include  water  piped  into  the  house."  The  gen- 
eral absence  of  telephones  also  served  as  a  sign  of  so- 
cial disadvantage.  While  recognizing  "local  social  ac- 
tivities such  as  Literary  Societies,  School  entertain- 
ments, and  School  Board  quarrels  and  Country  Dances," 
it  was  ultimately  concluded  that  "recreational  advan- 
tages are  very  meager."  Abysmal  living  conditions 
surely  existed  for  many  Thunder  Basin  homestead  fami- 
lies, although  project  directors  were  also  guilty  of  mis- 
interpreting the  area's  social  and  cultural  life.-^' 

Teckia  families  were  given  a  choice  to  either  stay  or 
sell  to  the  Thunder  Basin  project.  Many  chose  to  sell. 
As  of  June,  1 938,  1 77  families  had  departed  the  Thun- 
der Basin.  Sixteen  families  relocated  outside  of  Wyo- 
ming with  government  assistance,  eleven  families  re- 
located within  Wyoming  with  government  assistance, 
t1ve  families  awaited  a  funded  relocation,  and  145  re- 
located without  requesting  assistance. -"'- 

Project  officials  loosely  monitored  the  situations  of 
families  that  relocated  without  aid.  They  discovered 
generally  disheartening  results —  "that  the  majority  so 
relocated  are  more  or  less  on  a  'shoe  string  basis'"  in 
their  new  location."' '  Furthennore,  it  was  reported  that 
"many  of  the  families  who  have  left  the  state  are  re- 
ported as  being  without  fiinds."-"''^  This  was  a  signifi- 
cant fact  indeed,  considering  most  of  the  people  relo- 
cated out  of  state  to  Idaho.  Oregon  or  Washington.  Only 
"a  small  majority"  were  able  to  "relocate  themselves 
on  more  productive  farms,"  while  "a  number"  returned 
to  previous  occupations.''"' 

William  Mackey,  like  some  others,  declared  "he 
wasn't  any  better  off  than  any  of  the  rest...  [but  he  con- 
cluded] where  are  you  going  to  go  to  do  any  better?" 
He  considered  the  government  homestead  purchase 
prices  to  be  insufficient  for  a  favorable  relocation.  Con- 
sequently, they  remained  and  survived  as  best  as  pos- 
sible on  a  steady  diet  of  beans  and  potatoes.  Far  from 
being  unaffected,  the  Mackey's  power  fann  machinery 
purchased  in  1928  was  repossessed  and  the  drought 
resulted  in  severe  dust  storms  that  forced  Rhoda  to  hang 
"wet  blankets  over  the  windows"  to  keep  the  dust  out- 
side the  house. 

Their  survival  depended  on  their  self-sufficiency,  but 
also  on  public  works  projects.  William  along  with  many 
others  who  remained  in  Teckia  and  the  Thunder  Basin 
found  employment  with  the  Works  Progress  Adminis- 


33 

tration  (WPA)  during  the  depression.  The  WPA  initi- 
ated the  reclamation  work  central  to  the  Thunder  Basin 
resettlement  project.  Mackey  and  others  earned  a  sal- 
ary.-'*' 

Public  works  projects  aimed  at  rangeland  develop- 
ment. Projects  included  building  range  reservoirs,  di- 
version dams,  cattle  guards,  fencing,  dipping  vats,  cor- 
rals, rodent  eradication,  seeding,  flood  control,  and 
contour  plowing.  It  also  included  tearing  down  recentlv 
vacated  homestead  buildings,  and  reclaiming  the  home- 
stead sites.  As  of  June,  1938,  approximately  seventy- 
five  men  had  been  employed  per  month  for  two-and- 
one-half  years  on  Thunder  Basin  public  works  projects. 
They  demolished  112  buildings  and  took  down  300 
miles  of  fencing,  seeded  463  acres,  and  built  125  im- 
pounding dams.  Not  all  buildings  were  destroyed.  Many 
were  salvaged  by  those  remaining  in  the  area. 

Other  sources  of  income  also  existed  in  the  early  years 
of  the  depression  and  before.  Several  Teckia  area  home- 
steaders had  produced  illegal  alcohol  in  the  Rochelle 
Hills  during  Prohibition  until  it  ended  in  1933.-^^ 

The  results  of  the  Thunder  Basin  project  sometimes 
defied  expectations  and  failed  to  alleviate  serious  mis- 
ery. Those  remaining  were  expected  to  be  the  benefi- 
ciaries of  a  well-ordered,  centrally-managed,  public- 
grazing  reserve.  Regardless  of  the  intent,  well  estab- 
lished livestock  operators  were  positioned  to  benefit 
from  the  new  management  policies  to  the  detriment  of 
small  or  recently  established  operators.  Without  access 
to  a  sufficient  grazing  allotment,  some  small  operators 
simply  folded.  Like  project  participants  in  nearby  states, 
many  "who  sold  out  to  the  government  could  barely 
hope  to  clear  their  debts,  with  little  suiplus  to  carry 
into  new  ventures."  hi  fact,  a  monthly  report  in  Au- 


■"'  Resettlement  Administration  Land  Acquisition  Project  Anal\- 
sis  Report,  28  July  l')36,  I,  Thunder  Basin  Papers;  Land  Use  Sum- 
mary Report  for  Project  LA-WY-  1,  [.lO  .lune  1937?).  2.  Thunder 
Basin  Papers;  Submarginal  Land  Program  Agricultural  Demon- 
stration Projects,  Wyoming,  Proposal  No.  A-1  Sites  1  and  2,  Thun- 
der Basin  Northeast  Wyoming,  Final  Plan,  15  May  1935,  1 3.  Thun- 
der Basin  Papers. 

''-Thunder  Basin  project.  1 1  .lune  1938.  Thunder  Basin  Papers. 

'^  Land  Use  Summary  Report  for  Project  LA-W^'-i.  [30  .lune 
1937?),  3,  Thunder  Basin  Papers. 

^■'  Ibid. 

'-"'  Thunder  Basin  project,  1 1  June  1938.  Thunder  Basin  Papers. 
Mackey  interview,  14  October  1997;  McLaughlin,  interview. 

'^  Land  Use  Summary  Report  for  Project  LA-WY-1,  [30  June 
1937?!,  2,  Thunder  Basin  Papers;  Thunder  Basin  project.  1  1  June 
1938.  Thunder  Basin  Papers;  Submarginal  Land  Program  Agri- 
cultural Demonstration  Projects.  Wyoming.  Proposal  No.  .A-1  Sites 
I  and  2.  Thunder  Basin  Northeast  W'soming.  Final  Plan.  15  May 
1935,  27.  Thunder  Basin  Papers;  Mackey.  interview,  14  October 
1997. 


34 


Annals  ot  Wyoming:  The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


gust,  1936  claimed  the  $5  to  $1500  paid  to  families  for 
their  homesteads  "will  be  exhausted  in  a  short  time, 
should  they  not  be  successful  in  locating  a  new  home 
immediately."  Slightly  later,  project  officials  worried 
about  the  "uncertain  state"  "of  the  necessary  Resettle- 
ment for  the  families  being  dispossessed...."  This  was 
a  concern  exacerbated  by  the  fact  that  "in  most  cases 
the  only  asset  these  families  had  were  the  farms  on 
which  they  lived,  and  after  land  sale  money  had  been 
received...  and  debts  adjusted  very  little  was  left,  in 
some  cases  nothing.-"'^ 

The  story  of  Teckla  represents  a  significant  moment 
in  the  history  of  northeast  Wyoming's  settlement  and 
land  management  history,  as  well  as  the  nation's  re- 
sponse to  these  issues.  The  story  reveals  the  variety  of 
situations,  lifestyles,  and  events  homesteaders  experi- 
enced on  the  terms  of  those  who  lived  it — the  families, 
individuals,  and  neighbors  who,  with  conviction,  staked 
their  claim  in  the  Thunder  Basin.  Of  utmost  impor- 
tance, it  reveals  the  transition  Teckla  underwent  dur- 
ing the  1930s  as  homesteaders  willingly  accepted  fed- 
eral relief 

New  Deal  relief  alleviated  the  immediate  distress  of 
many,  yet  the  results  were  ambiguous  when  examined 
over  a  longer  period.  The  project  addressed  some  im- 
mediate concerns,  yet  many  continued  to  endure  hard- 
ship. The  Mackeys  and  others  knew  a  different  story. 
They  knew  a  life  of  hardship  and  success  balanced  by 
personal  commitment  and  community  support.  It  was 


also  a  lifestyle  recognizably  susceptible  to  risk.  The 
risks  overwhelmed  many  during  the  1920s  and  1930s, 
but  not  to  the  discredit  nor  the  validity  of  their  earlier 
experience.  They  settled  a  difficult  region,  yet  adjusted 
themselves  to  it  with  trial  and  error  and,  in  the  process, 
created  a  community. 


-^*  Submarginal  Land  Program  Agricultural  Demonstration 
Projects.  Wyoming,  Proposal  No.  A-1  Sites  1  and  2,  Thunder  Ba- 
sin Northeast  Wyoming,  Final  Plan,  15  May  1935.  21,  Thunder 
Basin  Papers;  Cannon,  Agrarian  Dream.  6,  1 1 ;  George  Darlington, 
"Reflections,  Opinions,  &  History  of  the  Douglas  Ranger  Dis- 
trict," Douglas,  Wyoming,  [1991?],  6,11-12;  Hargreaves,  Dry 
Farming  122,103;  Resettlement  Administration  Monthly  Report 
On  Families  Residing  On  Land  Utilization  Projects,  1  August 
1936.  Thunder  Basin  Papers;  Land  Use  Summary  Report  for 
Project  LA-WY-L  [30  June  1937?),  14,  Thunder  Basin  Papers. 


William  Fischer  is  a  doctoral  student  in 
American  histoiy  at  the  Catholic  University' 
of  America  in  Washington.  D.  C.  He  com- 
pleted this  article  as  part  of  a  project  with 
GCMSen'ices,  Inc..  a  cultural  resource  man- 
agement fnn.  and  with  the  financial  support 
of  Powder  River  Coal  Company. 


VISIONS  BEYOND 
*AN  ARROW 
OF  FIRE': 


WYOMING'S 
PENDRAY  AND 
THE  OTHER 
ROCKET 
EXPERIMENTERS 


crican 
Heritage 
Center 


G.  Edward  Pendrav 


BY  DAVID  L.  ROBERTS 


G.  Edward  Pendray  came  from  a  part  of  America 
where  the  word  "pioneer"  made  a  lot  of  sense.  Pendray 
described  himself  as  "a  product  of  the  homestead  surge 
of  1 906- 1 2  in  western  Nebrasls.a  and  eastern  Wyoming." 

in  a  1926  letter  with  New  York  Herald  Tribune  let- 
terhead, Pendrav  wrote  to  a  Wyoming  friend,  "\  know 
homesteads  and  homesteaders..  .1  write  of  almost  noth- 
ing else  when  1  am  in  a  serious  mood...  No  matter  how 
long  I  stay  in  New  York.  1  shall  never  be  anvlhing  but 
a  Westerner.  Some  day  I  hope  to  figure  out  how  to 
make  my  living  in  Wyoming,  so  1  can  come  out  to  live 
again  on  my  prairies."' 

Bom  in  Nebraska  in  1901,  Pendray  grew  up  on  a 
Wyoming  ranch  in  the  Van  Tassell  area,  between  Lusk 
and  the  Nebraska  community  of  Harrison.  He  attended 
the  University  of  Wyoming  in  the  early  1920s  and 
served  as  editor  of  the  campus  newspaper,  newly  named 
The  Branding  Iron. 


Pendray  was  a  "pioneer."  but  not  in  the  way  that  the 
word  traditionally  had  been  applied  to  someone  from 
the  rural  West.  In  fact,  he  did  most  of  his  "pioneering" 
efforts  in  the  East  where  he  became  a  pioneer  in  Ameri- 
can rocketry  and  space  exploration  advocacy. 

Upon  one  return  to  Lusk,  he  treated  residents  to  a 
public  presentation.  While  some  people  viewed  him  as 
"eccentric"  and  considered  his  ideas  to  be  "far  out," 
especially  for  that  time  period,  many  people  marveled 
at  his  knowledge  and  predictions  about  science. - 

After  completing  graduate  studies  at  Columbia  Uni- 
versity, Pendray  went  on  to  work  for  the  New  York 
Herald  Tribune,  serving  in  a  number  of  positions:  re- 
porter, assistant  city  editor,  picture  editor  and  science 

'  G.  Edward  Pendray.  letter  to  Dr.  Grace  Raymond  Hebard. 
Nov.  24.  1926.  American  Heritage  Center.  University  of  Wyo- 
ming. Laramie.  Wyoming. 

-  Interviews  with  Lusk.  Wvomina.  residents  hs  the  author. 


36 


Annals  or  Wyoming:  The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


editor.  He  also  served  as  science  editor  for  the  Literaiy 
Digest  magazine. 

In  1936,  he  joined  Westinghouse  Electric  and  Manu- 
facturing Company  as  assistant  to  the  president,  devel- 
oping a  public  relations  program  and  a  technical  jour- 
nal. One  of  Pendray's  projects  was  the  Westinghouse 
World's  Fair  exhibit  that  included  a  "time  capsule," 
which,  according  to  biographical  information  at  the 
University  of  Wyoming  American  Heritage  Center  in 
Laramie,  was  a  term  he  "coined."' 

He  left  Westinghouse  to  start  his  own  public  rela- 
tions firm  in  New  York.  Among  his  other  accomplish- 
ments: he  serxed  as  editor  of  the  National  Public  Rela- 
tions Journal:  he  developed  the  Guggenheim  Jet  Pro- 
Dulsion  Center  at  California  Institute  of  Technology 


PenJray  (center,  wearing  hat)  visits  German  racket  facilitv.  April.  1931. 
During  the  visit,  Pendray  and  colleagues  were  impressed  by  the  test  firing 
of  a  liquid-fuel  rocket  motor. 


and  the  Guggenheim  Laboratories  at  Princeton  Uni- 
versity; he  wrote  non- fiction  and  science  fiction  books. 
His  early  advocacy  of  space  flight  and  his  pioneering 
work  designing  and  experimenting  with  liquid  propul- 
sion rockets  was  truly  remarkable. 

Pendray  and  his  wife,  Leatrice,  helped  found  the 
American  Rocket  Society  in  1930.  The  first  gathering 
of  the  small  group  of  mainly  writers  who  would  begin 
the  organization  occurred  in  the  Pendrays'  apartment 
in  New  York  City.  Most  contributed  science  fiction 
articles  to  Hugo  Gemsback's  Science  Wonder  Stories. 
Three  years  earlier,  the  word  "astronautics"  had  been 
coined  by  a  French  science  ficfion  writer,  who  also 
joined  friends  in  Paris  to  form  a  committee  to  promote 
space  flight.'* 

Like  the  French  group,  Pendray 
and  the  Americans  were  drawn  to- 
gether by  the  one,  shared  dream — 
the  prospect  of  sending  vehicles 
into  space.  As  writers,  they  knew 
how  to  gain  publicity  for  their 
cause.  They  planned  promotional 
activities,  presented  information 
about  every  aspect  of  spaceflight 
at  their  meetings,  and  published 
related  material  in  a  publication 
edited  by  one  of  the  society's 
members. 

The  transition  from  discussion 
to  experimentation  began  when 
the  Pendrays  traveled  to  Europe 
in  1931  to  visit  European  rocket 
experimenters.  In  Germany,  they 
observed  a  test  firing  of  a  liquid- 
ftiel  rocket  motor  and  were  ex- 
tremely impressed.  They  left  Ber- 
lin with  an  agreement  that  the 
German  and  American  rocket  or- 
ganizations would  exchange  infor- 
mation.'' 


'  Biographical  sketch  of  G.  Edward 
Pendray,  June  1967,  American  Heritage 
Center,  University  of  Wyoming, 
Laramie,  Wyoming. 

■*  Frank  H.  Winter,  Prelude  to  the 
Space  .4ge.  t/ie  Rocket  Societies:  1924- 
40  (Washington,  D.C.:  Smithsonian  In- 
stitution Press,  1983),  25. 

^  Beryl  Williams  and  Samuel  Epstein, 
The  Rocket  Pioneers.  On  the  Road  to 
Space  (New  York:  Julian  Messner,  Inc., 
1961),  177. 


namamnBiiB 


spring 


1999 


The  American  Rocket  Society's  first  rocket  was  con- 
structed in  1932  at  a  cost  of  $49.40.  In  a  November 
trial  launch  in  New  Jersey,  the  rocket  launch  failed  be- 
cause of  the  rain  and  other  problems. 

The  society's  first  rocket  to  actually  lift  off  went  up 
250  feet  in  1 933.  A  more  respectable  showing  was  the 
organization's  last  rocket,  which  tlew  to  1.338  feet  in 
1 934.  After  that,  the  group  devoted  its  limited  resources 
to  more  practical  tests  in  which  rocket  engines  were 
fired  on  stands  and  closely  observed  for  data  collec- 
tion. The  testing  proved  fruitful  in  the  study  of  a  vari- 
ety of  techniques  and  devices.^ 

The  organization  became  the  largest  professional 
rocket  engineering  group  in  America.  It  merged  with 
another  group  in  1963  to  fonn  the  American  Institute 
of  Aeronautics  and  Astronautics,  tallying  a  member- 
ship of  20,000  from  the  aerospace  industry.'' 

The  rocket  societies  were  the  "roots"  for  the  modem 
Space  Age.  Frank  Winter,  historian  of  the  National  Air 
and  Space  Museum's  Science  and  Exploration  Depart- 
ment and  author  of  the  1982  book  Prelude  to  the  Space 
Age:  The  Rocket  Societies.  1924-1940.  said  the  rela- 
tionship between  the  early  rocket  societies  and  today's 
space  program  was  very  important. 

"These  groups  laid  the  groundwork  for  later  rocket 
research  in  several  ways,"  Winter  said  in  a  1982  ar- 
ticle. "First,  they  helped  to  educate  the  scientific  com- 
munity and  the  public  in  general.  The  societies  were 
largely  responsible  for  keeping  alive  the  idea  of  travel- 
ing into  space,  despite  constant  skepticism. 

"Second,  the  rocket  societies  helped  train  some  of 
the  best  minds  around — men  who  became  leaders  in 
the  space  program  a  few  decades  later.  It  would  be  im- 
possible to  estimate  how  many  young  people  were 
motivated  by  these  rocket  societies."^ 

In  1958,  Pendray  was  a  consultant  to  the  Select  Com- 
mittee on  Astronautics  and  Space  Exploration  of  the 
U.S.  House  of  Representatives,  and  aided  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  NASA. 

One  of  Pendray's  older  contemporaries  was  Robert 
H.  Goddard  (1882-1945).  Goddard  is  now  known  as 
the  father  of  American  rocketry,  and  NASA's  Goddard 
Space  Flight  Center  in  Maryland  was  named  in  honor 
of  him. 

By  1909,  Goddard  had  worked  out  the  theory  of  the 
multi-stage  rocket  and,  with  more  than  200  patents  from 
1914  until  his  death,  he  had  covered  almost  every  con- 
ceivable aspect  of  rocket  design,  propulsion  and  guid- 
ance.'' 

However,  during  his  lifetime,  Goddard  received  scant 
recognition  for  his  role  in  rocket  science,  largely  be- 
cause of  his  work  for  the  Navy,  which  demanded  se- 


37 

crecy,  and  his  own  preference  to  work  as  a  secretive 
researcher.  His  reluctance  for  publicity  was  probably 
understandable,  following  the  furor  that  Goddard  had 
suffered  in  the  1920s.  On  Jan.  12,  1920,  a  story  "Be- 
lieves Rocket  Can  Reach  Moon"  in  the  New  York  Times 
featured  an  essay  by  Goddard. 

The  following  day,  in  an  editorial,  the  New  York 
Times  ridiculed  Goddard  for  making  the  same  "mis- 
take" as  science  fiction  author  Jules  Verne  by  suggest- 
ing that  a  rocket  could  function  in  a  vacuum.  (The  Times 
oftlcially  apologized  decades  later,  in  1969,  when 
Americans  landed  on  the  moon  and  proved  Goddard  to 
be  correct.) 

By  1921,  sensational  news  stories  had  featured  nearly 
20  people  volunteering  to  go  on  a  rocket  to  the  moon. 
Goddard  had  been  both  praised  and  lampooned.  In  an 
effort  to  dispel  the  clamor  and  put  the  "human  cargo" 
idea  in  practical  perspective,  Goddard  again  spoke  to 
the  press,  explaining  about  the  extreme  temperatures 
on  the  moon  and  other  problems.  The  resulting  news 
story  was  titled,  "Moon  Beams  Would  Cremate  Hu- 
man Rockets,"  setting  off  another  round  of  sensational 
news  articles."' 

Thus,  Goddard  stopped  granting  interviews  and  re- 
fused to  give  comments  about  his  activities. 

Many  of  his  calculations  about  space  tJight  were  se- 
curely put  in  a  locked  tile,  with  instructions  that  they 
were  to  be  "opened  only  by  an  optimist."" 

In  the  meantime,  however,  reactions  overseas  to  his 
views  were  much  different.  Gennany  emerged  with  a 
serious  interest  in  rocket  development,  thanks  to  Pro- 
fessor Hermann  Oberth.  Mrs.  Goddard  recalled,  "Many 
foreign  nations,  including  Russia,  Japan,  Gennany  and 
Italy,  wrote  to  my  husband  asking  for  his  services,  but 
he  turned  them  all  down  even  though  he  received  little 
support  from  his  own  government  after  World  War  1  ."'- 

The  ridicule  persisted,  in  1929,  Goddard  launched 
his  liquid-propellant  rocket  named  "Nell"  which  suc- 
cessfully perfonned  as  expected.  However,  one  news- 

''  Frank  H.  Winter,  Rockels  Into  Space  (Cambridge,  Mass.. 
Harvard  Liniversity  Press,  1990),  39. 

'  Biographical  si<etch.  American  Heritage  Center.  L'niversity 
of  Wyoming. 

*  Rita  Bobowski,  "When  the  Space  Age  was  but  a  glimmer  in  a 
dreamer's  eye,"  Research  Reports,  National  Air  and  Space  Mu- 
seum, Washington,  D.C.,  Spring  1982,  4-5. 

''Arthur  C.  Clarke,  The  Promise  of  Space  (New  >'ork:  Harper 
and  Row  Publishers.  1968),  16-17. 

'"  Shirley  Thomas,  Men  of  Space.  Profiles  of  the  Leaders  in 
Space  Research.  Development  and  Exploration  (Philadelphia: 
Chilton  Company,  1960),  32-33. 

"  Ibid.,  p.  43. 

^-Ibid.,  35. 


Pendray  (right)  on  inspection  trip  to  German  rocket 
facilities.  193  L 

paper  headlined  its  story  about  the  launch,  "Moon 
Rocket  Misses  Target  by  238,799  1/2  Miles."'^ 

So.  in  1930,  to  escape  publicity,  Goddard  moved  his 
rocket  experiments  to  the  remote  town  of  Roswell,  New 
Mexico. 

The  beginnings  of  experimental  work  by  Pendray  and 
his  group  of  rocketeers  in  the  American  Rocket  Soci- 
ety did  not  stem  directly  from  Goddard's  work.  Pendray 
wrote,  "When  Goddard  in  his  desert  fastness  in  New 
Mexico  proved  uncommunicative,  those  of  us  who 
wanted  to  do  our  part  in  launching  the  space  age  turned 
to  what  appeared  the  next  best  source  of  light:  the  Ger- 
man Interplanetary  Society  in  Berlin.''* 

Like  others  who  saw  Goddard  as  an  enigma.  Time 
magazine  sourly  noted  in  a  1944  article,  "Because 
Goddard  has  published  little  on  his  findings  and  has 
experimented  mostly  in  the  privacy  of  a  New  Mexican 
desert,  fellow  rocketeers  consider  him  a  'mystery 
man'."'"' 

Time  magazine  added,  "No  astronaut.  Professor 
Goddard  has  restricted  his  aim  to  rather  low  altitudes." 

In  defense  of  Goddard,  Pendray  fired  off  a  protest  to 
the  editor:  "Your  reporter  evidently  has  not  read 
Goddard' s  classical  report  on  rockets  published  in  1919 
by  the  Smithsonian  Institution.  This  is  the  monograph 


Annals  ot  Wyoming:  The  Wyoming  History  Journal 

that  reopened  rocket  experimentation  and  really  started 
the  modem  era  of  rocket  research." 

Pendray  said  that  Goddard's  brilliant  theoretical 
analyses  clearly  qualified  him  for  better  treatment. 
"Goddard  was  not  only  an  'astronaut,'  as  you  call  them, 
but  actually  started  the  whole  modem  cycle  of  astro- 
nautics. He  is  the  spiritual  leader  (of  all  rocket  experi- 
ments) in  the  '20s  and  '30s." 

Goddard  greatly  appreciated  Pendray's  response. 

For  that  evaluation  of  Goddard,  Pendray  was  ahead 
of  his  time.  Pendray  also  was  ahead  of  his  time  be- 
cause of  his  belief  in  space  travel,  his  rocket  society 
leadership,  and  his  own  active  work  in  rocket  experi- 
mentation. 

Later,  he  wrote  The  Coming  Age  of  Rocket  Power. 
With  the  assistance  of  Goddard's  widow,  Pendray  ed- 
ited Rocket  Development:  Liquid-Fuel  Rocket  Research, 
1929- 194 1,  a  book  dealing  with  Goddard's  experimen- 
tal work;  and  helped  edit  and  prepare  for  publication, 
The  Papers  of  Dr.  Robert  H.  Goddard.  '^ 

In  a  chapter  he  wrote  in  the  1 964  book  The  History 
of  Rocket  Technology.  Pendray  cited  the  successes  of 
Goddard's  pioneering  efforts: 

— First  to  develop  a  rocket  motor  using  liquid  pro- 
pellants  (liquid  oxygen  and  gasoline,  1920-25); 

— First  to  design,  construct,  and  launch  successfully 
a  liquid-fuel  rocket  (March  16,  1926at  Auburn,  Mass.); 

— First  developed  gyro-stabilization  apparatus  for 
rockets  (1932); 

— First  used  deflector  vanes  in  the  blast  of  the  rocket 
motor  as  a  method  of  stabilizing  and  guiding  rockets 
(1932); 

— Received  the  first  U.S.  patent  on  the  idea  of  multi- 
stage rockets  (1914); 

— First  explored  mathematically  the  practicality  of 
using  rocket  power  to  reach  high  altitudes  and  escape 
velocity  (1912); 

— First  to  publish  in  the  U.S.  a  basic  mathematical 
theory  underlying  rocket  propulsion  and  rocket  flight 
(1919); 

— First  proved  experimentally  that  a  rocket  will  pro- 
vide thrust  in  a  vacuum  (1915); 

— Developed  and  demonstrated  the  basic  idea  of  the 
"bazooka"  during  World  War  I  (November  9,  1915), 
though  his  plans  in  the  U.S.  Army  files  were  unused 
until  World  War  II; 

— First  developed  self-cooling  rocket  motors,  vari- 
able-thrust rocket  motors,  practical  rocket  landing  de- 

"»/V.,  38. 

'■*  G.  Edward  Pendray,  author  of  chapter  "Pioneer  Rocket  De- 
velopment in  the  United  States,"  in  Eugene  M.  Emme,  ed.  The 
History  ofRoclcet  Teclmology.  Essays  on  Researc/i.  Development 
and  Utility.  (Detroit:  Wayne  State  University  Press,  1964),  24. 

'-^  Hany  V^u\foTst,  The  Rocketmakers  (New  York:  Orion  Books, 
1990),  148-150. 

'*  Biographical  sketch,  American  Heritage  Center,  University 
of  Wyoming. 


^pnng 


1999 


vices,  pumps  suitable  for  liquid  rocket  fuels,  and  fore- 
cast jet-dri\  en  airplanes,  rocket-borne  mail  and  express, 
and  tra\el  in  space. '^ 

Goddard  flight-tested  3 1  rockets  in  New  Mexico.  One 
reached  7,500  feet  in  1935;  another,  the  same  year,  at- 
tained more  than  700  miles  an  hour.'^ 

Goddard  was  issued  48  patents  for  basic  rocket  hard- 
ware. After  Goddard's  death  in  1 945,  an  additional  1 3 1 
posthumous  patents  would  be  granted  to  his  widow, 
for  a  total  of  214  patents.''^ 

"The  work  of  Dr.  Goddard.  of  course,  underlies  all 
modem  development  in  rocketry  and  space  flight," 
Pendray  wrote,  adding  that  the  efforts  of  the  American 
Rocket  Society's  "Experimental  Committee  and  inde- 
pendent experimenters  served  to  develop  a  vital  body 
of  knowledge  about  what  will  and  will  not  work  in  this 
new  field  of  technology."-'^' 

Pendray  said  the  efforts  brought  forth  people  with 
experience  and  know-how  who  were  ready  and  w  illing 
to  take  leadership  positions  in  the  modem  rocket  and 
missile  age.  He  wrote,  "And  perhaps  equally  impor- 
tant, the  early  rocket  experiments  helped  to  promote 
an  ever-mounting  pitch  of  interest  and  enthusiasm,  and 
stirred  large  portions  of  the  human  race  to  desire  the 
eventual  conquest  of  space — thus  generating  the  broad 
public  support  which  for  any  great  and  costly  new 
project  is  a  \  ital  necessity  for  success  in  a  democratic 
society."-' 

While  advocates  and  scientists  of  the  early  20th  cen- 
tury, such  as  Goddard  and  Pendray,  were  important  in 
laying  the  groundwork  for  the  modem  Space  Age,  by 
no  means  did  they  "invent"  rockets. 

Rocket  use,  mainly  as  fireworks,  dates  back  more 
than  1,000  years  ago  in  China. 

The  Chinese  "arrows  of  fire"  were  improved  upon 
by  Arab  military  men  about  1280  A.D.  One  innova- 
tion was  described  as  an  air  squid  or  traveling  land 
mine — the  weapon  would  scurry  across  land  in  the 
manner  of  a  squid  through  water. -- 

While  the  gun  was  the  preferred  firearm  in  Europe, 
war  rocket  use  flourished  in  India  from  at  least  the  mid- 
1500s. 

In  Europe,  one  of  the  first  major  military  uses  of  rock- 
ets occurred  during  the  1739  battle  for  the  Isle  of 
Chiozza  in  Italy,  when  rockets  set  afire  an  almost  im- 
penetrable fortress.--' 

The  Congreve  era  of  rocketry  propelled  the  expan- 
sion of  the  rocket  as  a  weapon.  British  Colonel  Will- 
iam Congreve  wrote,  "In  the  year  of  1 804,  it  first  oc- 
curred to  me,  that  as  the... rocket  is  exerted  without  any 
reaction  from  the  point  of  which  it  is  discharged,  it 


39 

might  be  necessarily  applied,  both  afloat  and  ashore, 
as  a  military  engine.  I  knew  that  rockets  were  used  for 
military  purposes  in  India,  but  that  their  magnitude  was 
inconsiderable,  and  their  range  not  exceeding  1,000 
yards. "-"^ 

According  to  Frank  H.  Winter's  book  The  First 
Golden  Age  of  Rocketry.  Congrev  e  disco\  ered  that,  like 
cannon  balls,  ranges  of  rockets  could  be  increased  and 
predicted  according  to  the  angles  at  which  they  were 
discharged.  He  developed  ways  to  make  the  rockets 
more  exact  and  more  powerful. 

While  the  first  use  of  the  Congreve  rockets  in  com- 
bat ended  in  failure  for  the  British,  the  second  combat 
use.  against  the  French,  proved  successful. 

Winter  noted  that  there  is  no  evidence  that  the 
Congreve  rockets  changed  fundamental  militarx  tac- 
tics. However,  the  rockets  did  give  an  edge  to  the  ele- 
ment of  surprise.  The  primary  tactical  value  was  psy- 
chological— to  demoralize  the  enemy,  according  to  the 
Winter's  book.  The  twisting,  "hissing  projectiles,  usu- 
ally fl\  ing  at  threateninglv  low  levels,  terrified  untrained 
troops,  native  warriors,  and  cavalry  horses."-"" 

Congreve's  rockets  were  utilized  frequently  by  the 
British  against  America  during  the  War  of  1 8 1 2. 

The  most  famous  moment  was  during  the  bombard- 
ment of  Baltimore's  Fort  McHenry  in  September  of 
1814  when  lawyer  Francis  Scott  Key  immortalized  the 
spectacle  of  "the  rocket's  red  glare"  in  a  verse  in  what 
later  became  the  U.S.  national  anthem.  "The  Star- 
Spangled  Banner."-^ 

In  August  of  that  same  _\  ear.  rockets  scored  their  big- 
gest victory  at  the  battle  of  Bladensburg,  Maryland.  In 
retaliation  for  American  destruction  of  York  (later 
Toronto),  the  British  colony  of  Upper  Canada  in  1813. 
the  British  attacked  America's  capital  of  Washington 

''  Emme.  The  History  of  Rocket  Technology:  Essays  on  Re- 
search. Development  and  Utility:  21. 

"*  Winter.  Rockets  Into  Space.  33. 

'"  Ihui..  34. 

-"  Emme,  Tlic  History  of  Rocket  Technology:  Essays  on  Re- 
search, Development  and  I'tiliry:  11 . 

-I  Ibid.  11. 

--  Bruce  Ketcham,  managing  editor,  and  Ralph  C.  Martin,  chief 
editor.  Rocket  and  Space  Science  Series:  Volume  1 — Propulsion 
(Indianapolis:  Amateur  Rocket  Association,  Howard  W.  Sams 
and  Co.,  Inc.,  The  Bobbs-Merrill  Company,  Inc..  1*567),  9. 

-'  Ibid..  9. 

-■*  Frank  H.  Winter,  The  Golden  Age  of  Rocketry  (Washington, 
D.C.:  Smithsonian  Institution  Press.  1990),  15. 

--  Ibid.,  xiv,  preface. 

-''  Wernher  \on  Braun  and  Frederick  1.  Ord\\a_\  III,  Histoiy  of 
Rocketty  and  Space  Travel  (New  York:  Thomas  Y.  Crowell  Com- 
pany, 1975),  31. 


40 


Annals  of  Wyoming:  The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


and  ultimately  burned  the  White  House.  The  Ameri- 
can troops,  ill-prepared  and  hastily  recruited  for  de- 
fense of  Washington,  were  outmatched  by  the  profes- 
sional British  troops  experienced  in  fighting  Napoleon's 
forces  in  Europe. 

Winter's  The  First  Golden  Age  of  Rocketry  described 
the  account: 

Surveying  the  movements  of  the  opponents  from  afar 
were  three  men  on  horseback:  President  James  Madi- 
son, Secretary  of  War  James  Monroe,  and  Attorney 
General  Richard  Rush.  British  troops  approached  the 
Bladensburg  Bridge  and  attempted  to  force  their  way 
across  v\  ith  a  sudden  discharge  of  rockets.  American 
guns  responded  immediately  and  swept  down  almost 
an  entire  company  of  British  infantry.  The  British  sur- 
vivors instantly  took  refiige  behind  a  nearby  warehouse; 
among  them  were  the  rocketeers,  who  again  fired  rock- 
ets. Secretary  Monroe  saw  the  projectiles  "fall  near 
the  President"  and  Attorney  General  Rush  afterwards 
wrote,  "Their  rockets  tlew  o\er  us  as  we  sat  on  our 
horses."  President  Madison  discreetly  advised  his  min- 
isters to  retire  to  the  rear  of  the  American  lines.  Ameri- 
can General  Winder  rode  along  the  line  encouraging 
his  men  to  disregard  the  rockets,  but  instead,  his  troops 
panicked  at  the  sight  and  the  horrible  hissing  sound  of 
the  weapons  as  the  British  aimed  them  with  increasing 
accuracy.  The  5th  and  24th  Baltimore  regiments  sim- 
ply fled  the  tleld.  The  British  at  once  stormed  over 
Bladensburg  Bridge;  Washington  lay  before  them  un- 
protected. The  U.S.  Capitol  building  was  burned  the 
night  of  August  24,  1814.  Dolly  Madison  bravely  re- 
trieved some  of  the  White  House  treasures  before  the 
British  arri\  ed.  Law  books  and  other  combustibles  were 
said  to  have  been  piled  up  against  the  White  House 
and  other  buildings,  and  fired  at  by  the  rockets.  The 
State,  War  and  Navy  buildings  were  all  destroyed,  and 
the  Capitol  was  gutted.-' 

The  war  rockets  that  Congreve  had  developed  through 
the  years  "ranged  from  a  small  12-pound  rocket  carry- 
ing a  charge  of  48  carbine  balls  to  a  42 -pound  rocket 
that  carried  a  carcass  charge  weighing  1 8  pounds  or  a 
spherical  bomb  that  weighed  1 2  pounds,"  according  to 
The  Rocket  Pioneers  on  the  Road  to  Space  by  Beryl 
Williams  and  Samuel  Epstein.-* 

In  the  1840s,  Englishman  William  Hale  introduced 
major  improvements  for  war  rockets.  The  Congreve 
and  Hale  rockets  appeared  in  three  major  U.S.  con- 
flicts: the  War  of  1 8 1 2,  the  Mexican  War,  and  the  Civil 
War.  The  introduction  of  the  breech-loading,  rifled  gun 
in  the  1 860s  was  a  technological  advance  in  weaponry 
that  would  replace  the  war  rocket. 

However,  rockets  were  also  used  to  help  save  lives. 
Winter's  book  explained  the  use: 


On  the  terrible  day  of  December  29,  1807,  the  Brit- 
ish frigate  Anson  foundered  off  Loe  Bar  near  Heiston, 
England.  The  Anson  crew  of  100  lost  their  lives  in  a 
futile  attempt  to  swim  the  short  distance  to  the  shore 
amidst  crashing  waves  while  Helston's  horror-stricken 
villagers  stood  on  Mount  Bay's  rocky  cliffs  and 
watched  helplessly.  One  witness  was  Henry 
Trengrouse,  a  Heiston  cabinetmaker,  who  worked  over 
the  next  decade  developing  a  reliable,  practical,  life- 
saving  apparatus  that  included,  in  addition  to  the  rocket, 
a  pulley  line  and  hawser;  cork  life  vest  and  bosun's 
chair,  to  be  hove  over  the  line;  rocket  launcher;  modi- 
fied military  musket;  lifeline;  and  a  wooden  sea  chest 
for  carrying  it  all.  The  rescue  rocket  was  used  to  carry 
an  attached  lifeline  over  a  ship  in  distress.  The  line 
was  secured  to  the  vessel's  mast  and  the  shipwrecked 
were  conveyed  to  safety  by  a  lifebelt.-' 

Fireworks,  weapon,  rescue  apparatus,  and  space  ve- 
hicle— the  rocket  kept  designers  dreaming  about  possi- 
bilities. And  the  Space  Age  became  a  beneficiary  of 
those  dreams. 

From  Wyoming,  G.  Edward  Pendray  was  one  of  the 
dreamers.  He  was  one  of  the  designers  and  experiment- 
ers. 

As  a  boy  growing  up  on  a  Wyoming  ranch,  Pendray 
must  have  looked  with  awe  and  wonder  at  the  stars  in 
the  night  sky.  Throughout  his  life,  he  enjoyed  an  ex- 
citement about  science  and  discovery. 

Pendray  and  the  other  rocket  experimenters  envi- 
sioned more  for  the  rocket  than  just  an  "arrow  of  fire." 
They  looked  into  the  future,  and  saw  the  wondrous 
possibilities  of  a  path  to  the  stars. 


-'  Winter,  The  Golden  Age  of  Rocketiy.  24-26. 
-*  Williams  and  Epstein,  The  Rocket  Pioneers  on  the  Road  to 
Space.  23. 

-"  Winter,  The  Golden  Age  of  Rocketiy.  225  and  228. 


David  L.  Roberts  founded  and  published  the 
Medicine  Bow  Post  in  Medicine  Bow.  Wyoming, 
and  served  as  its  editor  and  publisher  for  1 1 
years.  Roberts  was  born  in  Lusk.  Wyoming.  This 
stoiy  about  G.  Edward  Pendray  and  the  rocket 
experimenters  is  adapted  from  one  of  the  chap- 
ters in  his  forthcoming  book.  "Dateline:  Outer 
Space.  A  Histoiy  of  NASA  's  Journalist-in-Space 
Project.  " 


Book  R 


e  Views 


Edited  Ijv  Carl  HallLer^ 


With  My  Own  Eyes:  A  Lakota  Woman  Tells 
Her  People's  History.  By  Susan  Bordeaux 
Bettelyoun  and  Josephine  Waggoner.  Lincoln: 
University  of  Nebraska  Press,  1998.  xl  +  199  pp. 
Illustrations,  chart,  maps,  index.   Cloth,  $35. 

It  is  a  great  pity  that  the  authors  of  this  illuminating 
little  volume  never  got  the  chance  to  see  it  in  print. 
Both  died  more  than  fifty  years  ago.  A  collaborative 
effort  of  two  mixed-blood  Lakota  women,  IVith  My 
Own  Eyes  tells  the  story  of  the  Oglala  and  Brule  people 
over  a  period  of  approximately  thirty  years,  from  the 
1 850s  to  about  1 880.  Bettelyoun  and  Waggoner  sub- 
mitted their  manuscript  to  the  Nebraska  Historical 
Society  in  the  1 930s,  but  for  the  reasons  which  follow, 
the  Society's  editors  deemed  it  unfit  for  publication. 
Historians  and  other  scholars  often  made  use  of  it  in  the 
following  decades,  but  now.  finally,  due  to  the  con- 
scientious scholarship  of  Emily  Levine,  the  book  has 
been  published  for  the  benefit  of  a  wider  audience. 

What  the  editors  of  their  day  found  objectionable  we 
have  reason  to  celebrate.  As  Levine  points  out  in  her 
introduction,  Susan  Bordeaux  Bettelyoun  and  Josephine 
Waggoner  wrote  from  a  privileged  viewpoint.  As 
mixed-bloods,  they  could  see  and  interpret  history 
from  both  Indian  and  white  perspectives.  Bettelyoun, 
in  particular,  also  benefitted  from  the  close  proximity 
of  her  family  to  these  events.  Her  father,  French- 
American  fur  trader  James  Bordeaux,  operated  a 
trading  post  near  Fort  Laramie  during  the  critical  years 
of  the  1850s  and  1860s.  He  was  at  hand  during  the 
famous  "Mormon  cow  incident"  that  led  to  the  deaths 
of  Lt.  John  L.  Grattan  and  those  under  his  command.  In 
fact,  Bettelyoun's  father  buried  these  soldiers.  Mem- 
bers of  her  family  were  also  close  at  hand  during  the 
several  engagements  in  the  1870s.  Her  brother,  Louis 
Bordeaux,  was  an  eyewitness  to  the  death  of  Crazy 
Horse. 

Proximity  and  perspective  made  the  manuscript 
valuable.  Mari  Sandoz,  then  a  Nebraska  Historical 
Society  employee,  made  strenuous  efforts  to  get  the 
work  into  print,  but  a  succession  of  Society  editors 
faulted  the  prose  and  questioned  its  historical  accuracy. 


In  a  very  real  sense,  Bettelyoun  and  Waggoner  failed  in 
their  quest  for  publication  precisely  because  of  their 
h_\brid  approach.  The  manuscript  does  refiect  the 
grammar  and  syntax  of  Native  speakers.  Perhaps  even 
more  distressingly  to  the  editors  of  their  day,  the 
narrative  emphasis  reflects  the  oral  tradition.  Names 
and  dates  are  occasionally  in  error  and  the  chronology 
is  circular  and  repetitive  rather  than  linear.  But  the 
underlying  signitlcance  of  events  shines  through  with 
great  clarity.  Levine  has  properly  chosen  to  preserve 
the  prose  in  its  original  fomi,  while  standardizing  the 
punctuation.  Factual  errors  are  unobtrusively  treated  in 
endnotes.  The  authors  related  marvelous  stories  told  to 
them  again  and  again  by  kin  and  tribal  members.  For 
contemporary  readers  these  stories  are  all  the  more 
important  because  they  refiect  the  values  and  per- 
spectives of  the  authors  themselves. 

One  should  not  conclude,  however,  that  this  work 
necessarily  reflects  American  Indian  or  even  Lakota 
viewpoints.  It  is  more  accurate  to  note  that  Bettelyoun 
and  Waggoner  brought  a  mixed-blood  perspective  to 
their  narrative-a  world  which,  as  Levine  notes,  remains 
practically  unrepresented  in  Native  American  histori- 
cal literature.  A  later  chapter  on  Crazy  Horse  and 
Spotted  Tail  nicely  illustrates  this  tendency.  Both 
warriors  receive  sympathetic  treatment  despite  the 
contradictory  nature  of  their  lives  and  philosophies  in 
confronting  the  tide  of  white  settlement.  The  authors 
saw  value  in  both  resistance  and  accommodation. 

Regrettably,  Bettelyoun  and  Waggoner  elected  to 
close  their  account  with  the  subjugation  of  the  Lakota 
people  in  the  1880s.  The  concluding  chapters  contain 
only  a  few  interesting  comments  on  the  repression  of 
Indian  artwork  and  traditions.  One  can  only  wonder 
how  much  richer  this  treatment  would  have  been  if  the 
authors  had  recorded  their  insights  about  the  humani- 
tarian reform  movement  and  the  boarding  school 
environment. 

Warren  Metcalf 
University  of  Oklahoma 


42 


Annals  ot  Wyoming:  Tne  Wyoming  History  Journal 


Los  Capitalistas:  Hispano  Merchants  and  the 
Santa  Fe  Trade.  By  Susan  Calafate  Boyle.  Albu- 
querque: University  of  New  Mexico  Press,  1997. 
xix  +236  pp.  Illustrations,  tables,  maps,  ap- 
pendices, notes,  bibliography,  index.  Cloth,  $45. 

Frequently  neglected  in  traditional  accounts  about 
the  Santa  Fe  Trail,  Hispano  merchants  played  a  signif- 
icant role  in  the  complex  global  trade  network  of  which 
the  trail  was  a  part.  Crafting  a  variation  on  commercial 
capitalism  that  fit  well  the  unique  circumstances  of  a 
frontier  borderlands  economy.  New  Mexican  comer- 
ciantes  survived,  prospered  and  contributed  in  large 
measure  to  the  expansion  of  trade  that  followed  the 
U.S. -Mexican  War.  These  enterprising  nineteenth- 
century  Mexican  and  Mexican-American  merchants 
are  the  primary  focus  in  Los  Capitalistas,  a  short  but 
solid  study  by  Susan  Calafate  Boyle. 

Boyle  notes  that,  with  Mexican  independence  in 
1821,  New  Mexican  traders  hoped  a  new  regime  in 
Mexico  City  would  offer  the  kinds  of  material  aid 
Spanish  colonial  rule  had  never  provided.  Instead, 
when  not  stifling  trade  with  bureaucratic  minutiae, 
shifting  laws  and  regulations  and  high  import  duties, 
the  central  government  continued  the  neglect  of  its 
colonial  predecessor.  Meanwhile,  Captain  William 
Becknell  and  other  Americans  "opened"  the  Santa  Fe 
Trail,  which  brought  relatively  inexpensive,  higher 
quality  merchandise  into  New  Mexico  and  fostered  a 
growing  economic  dependence  on  the  United  States. 

While  Hispano  merchants  slowly  turned  their  atten- 
tion toward  the  east,  Boyle  finds  that  traditional  trade 
patterns  remained  central  to  their  activities  until  the 
late  1 830s.  The  Santa  Fe  trade  cannot  be  considered 
solely  in  terms  of  the  route  between  New  Mexico  and 
Missouri.  Traders  ventured  far  into  the  Mexican 
interior  on  El  Camino  Real,  doing  business  in  major 
mercantile  centers  such  as  Chihuahua,  Durango  and 
Zacatecas.  Yet,  to  compete  with  Americans  and  other 
foreigners  on  El  Camino  Real,  as  well  as  the  Santa  Fe 
Trail,  New  Mexicans  found  they  had  to  build  extensive 
commercial  networks  in  the  United  States. 

Not  even  the  disruptions  of  war  between  Mexico  and 
the  United  States  in  the  1 840s  had  a  serious  impact  on 
New  Mexican  merchants'  relationship  with  American 
mercantile  interests.  Although  records  are  incomplete 
and  thus  inconclusive,  Boyle  argues  that  it  is  likely  that 
New  Mexicans,  while  perhaps  not  controlling  the 
Santa  Fe  trade,  were  indeed  major  players.  Beginning 
in  the  years  prior  to  the  war,  Hispano  merchants 
contributed  significantly  to  the  introduction  of  mercan- 


tile capitalism  in  New  Mexico.  To  underscore  this 
point,  Boyle  devotes  one  chapter  to  Felipe  Chavez,  an 
eminent  New  Mexican  merchant  with  broad  con- 
nections in  the  United  States.  In  addition  to  profits 
fi-om  the  trade,  Chavez  probably  amassed  additional 
wealth  through  mining,  sheep  raising,  crop  agriculture, 
store  keeping,  real  estate,  freighting  and  supplying 
United  States  army  posts.  The  career  of  this  pioneer 
mercantile  capitalist,  Boyle  claims,  "was  exceptional 
but  not  unique."  (p.  88)  Unfortunately,  in  the  decades 
after  the  Civil  War,  as  Boyle  demonstrates  with  U.S. 
census  records,  Hispano  merchants  saw  their  assets  and 
opportunities  decline  as  Anglos  consolidated  their 
economic  and  political  supremacy  in  New  Mexico 
Territory. 

As  Boyle  concedes  in  her  conclusion,  Los  Capital- 
istas is  not  a  definitive  study  of  the  Santa  Fe  trade.  Yet, 
her  book  fills  some  important  gaps  in  the  economic  and 
social  history  of  nineteenth  century  New  Mexico. 
Bringing  Hispano  merchants  into  the  discussion  en- 
riches our  understanding  of  the  Santa  Fe  Trail  and  the 
trading  network  for  which  it  provided  a  vital  link. 
From  Spanish,  Mexican  and  New  Mexican  territorial 
and  state  archives  to  the  personal  papers  of  Hispano 
merchants,  Boyle's  research  is  impressive  and  well- 
focused.  Los  Capitalistas  would  be  a  useful  selection 
for  upper-division  and  graduate-level  courses  in  the 
American  West  or  Borderland  studies.  In  addition, 
aficionados  of  the  Santa  Fe  Trail  will  be  pleased  by 
Boyle's  effective  placement  of  that  icon  of  Western 
lore  in  an  appropriate  historical  context. 

Frank  Van  Nuys 
University  of  Wyoming 

My  Chosen  Trails:  A  Wyoming  Woman's 
Recollections  Through  the  Twentieth  Century. 

By  Vema  Burger  Davis.  Golden:  Deep  Creek 
Press,  1998.  218  pp.  Illustrations.  Paper,  $12.95. 

Vema  Burger  Davis'  memories  reach  across  Johnson 
County,  Wyoming  and  beyond.  She  began  life  in  what 
we  consider  a  "simpler"  time,  and  her  memoir  begins 
with  stories  of  her  childhood.  The  mountain  picnics, 
the  playhouse  in  the  shed  attic  that  was  safe  from  boys, 
her  first  teachers  and  the  town  flood  are  all  recorded. 
Her  teaching  experiences  in  rural  schools  and  as  a 
music  teacher  reveal  her  concern  and  appreciation  for 
everyone  she  has  met  and  worked  with.  She  includes 
some  surprises,  too,  like  the  explanation  of  gypsum 
burning  that  created  the  plaster  for  white  walls;  the 


nTYiTMrnnrnmrw 


Spring  1999 

pack  rat  who  visited  her  classroom;  hauling  eggs  to  her 
mountain  home;  and  a  description  of  living  above  the 
clouds. 

Her  brave  adventures  in  furthering  her  musical 
education  in  Chicago,  spending  a  summer  in  Yellow- 
stone National  Park  and  spending  another  summer  on  a 
dude  ranch  surprise  the  modem  reader  who  may  think 
that  travel  for  education  and  jobs  is  a  recent  trend.  She 
provides  lots  of  comparisons  that  allow  us  to  think 
about  changing  times:  the  differences  in  the  classroom, 
the  differences  in  high  school  athletics,  the  differences 
in  family  holidays,  the  differences  between  Chicago 
and  Wyoming. 

The  book  does  not  contain  an  index  and  has  only  one 
map.  The  photographs  are  clear,  but  there  could  have 
been  more.  On  the  positive  side,  Mrs.  Davis  shows  an 
immense  appreciation  for  her  western  landscape.  Her 
descriptions  of  the  Powder  River  country,  the  Big  Horn 
Mountains,  and  the  community  of  Buffalo,  Wyoming, 
provoke  clear  images  and  reveal  her  love  for  this  part  of 
Wyoming.  For  people  not  familiar  with  Buffalo  his- 
tory, she  adds  today's  names  to  describe  old  locations. 

1  have  heard  some  of  her  stories  before,  and  1  have 
read  the  book  before,  too.  This  time  1  read  My  Chosen 
7>a//5  as  more  than  a  collection  of  sweet  stories.  It  is 
well  written  and  a  good  read.  It  is  a  reminder  and  an 
acceptance  of  changing  times.  As  Mrs.  Davis  looks 
forward  to  the  next  century,  she  has  provided  us  a 
special  peak  into  the  past.  My  Chosen  Trails  does  what 
a  local  history  should  do. 

Patty  Myers 

President,  WSHS 

Director,  Platte  County  Library 


Hollow  Victory:  The  White  River  Expedition  of 
1879  and  the  Battle  of  Milk  Creek.  By  Mark  E. 
Miller.  Niwot:  University  Press  of  Colorado, 
1998.  xviii  +  249  pp.  Illustrations,  maps, 
appendices,  bibliography,  index.   Cloth,  $27.50. 

The  Battle  of  Milk  Creek  was  the  unfortunate 
consequence  of  an  incompetent  Indian  agent,  Nathan 
C.  Meeker,  forcing  his  will  on  the  Utes  of  north  central 
Colorado.  As  a  result.  Meeker  and  ten  other  whites 
were  killed.  In  the  ensuing  military  battle  and  siege  at 
Milk  Creek,  one  U.S.  Army  officer.  Major  Thomas  T. 
Thomburgh,  nine  enlisted  men  and  three  accompany- 
ing civilians  died,  and  forty-four  others  were  wounded. 
The  attacking  Utes  suffered  a  corresponding  number  of 


43 

casualties.  Both  the  massacre  at  the  Ute  agency  and  the 
Milk  Creek  fight  could  have  been  avoided. 

In  Hollow  I'ictofT,  Mark  E.  Miller  presents  a  fresh 
view  of  this  bloody  chapter  of  Indian  wars  history. 
Rather  than  dwelling  on  the  chain  of  events  that  led  to 
conflict  at  the  White  River  Agency,  Miller  focuses  his 
attention  on  the  battle,  the  subsequent  siege  and  the 
march  of  the  relief  column  that  ended  the  ordeal.  Over 
the  years  a  considerable  body  of  literature  emerged 
about  the  Milk  Creek  fight.  Unfortunately,  according 
to  the  author,  the  broad  range  of  participant  observers 
led  to  "confusion  that  permeated  the  historical  record." 
Miller's  purpose  is  to  set  straight  much  of  this 
ambiguity. 

Miller  aptly  points  out  the  unique  features  of  the 
battle  in  the  annals  of  Indian  War  history.  Many  Ute 
warriors  who  fought  the  soldiers  actually  had  served  as 
their  allies  in  the  1876-77  Great  Sioux  War.  Besides 
being  the  longest  sustained  tight  betv,'een  soldiers  and 
Indians  -  142  hours  -  Milk  Creek  was  one  of  the  most 
decorated  battles  of  the  Indian  wars  with  eleven  Medals 
of  Honor,  sixteen  Certificates  of  Merit  and  four  legis- 
lative resolutions  issued.  All  of  the  soldier  casual-ties 
were  caused  by  gunshot;  the  bow  and  arrow  was  not  a 
factor.  Another  sidelight,  just  before  the  fight  began, 
Colorow ,  a  Ute  leader,  played  cards  ( monte )  as  the  Utes 
awaited  the  solder  advance.  Thomburgh's  solders  then 
rode  into  an  ambush  and  were  encircled  for  days  by  the 
triumphant  Utes.  Interestingly,  the  first  troops  riding  to 
the  rescue.  Captain  Dodge's  Ninth  Cavalry  company, 
received  the  imperiled  command's  desparate  call  for 
help  not  by  fast-riding  courier  but  by  a  note  pinned  to  a 
sagebrush  by  the  roadside. 

Hollow  Victor}-  also  gives  the  reader  additional 
source  materials  in  several  valuable  appendices.  Be- 
sides the  usual  official  reports,  a  thorough  list  of 
civilian  and  military  participants  and  casualties  is 
presented.  Several  men  found  here  had  later  connec- 
fions  with  Fort  Robinson,  Nebraska,  history.  In 
Appendix  C,  "Citations  for  Bravery  at  Milk  Creek," 
Pvt.  Eugene  Patterson  received  a  Certificate  of  Merit 
for  bravery.  In  Table  C.2,  "Selected  Indian  Wars 
Campaign  Medals,"  Caleb  Benson,  a  Ninth  cavalry- 
man who  arrived  with  Dodge,  was  later  issued  Medal 
No.  1485.  Bothmenlaterservedat  Fort  Robinson,  and 
both  Patterson's  certificate  and  Benson's  medals  are  on 
display  at  the  Fort  Robinson  Museum. 

The  author  freely  admits  his  is  not  the  last  word  on 
the  Milk  Creek  battle.  He  encourages  further  archeol- 
ogy to  substantiate  details  about  the  fight  and  the  routes 
and  campsites  used  by  the  troop  columns.  Readers 
wanting  to  find  out  what  happened  at  Milk  Creek  will 


44 


Annals  or  Wyoming:  Tne  Wyoming  History  Journal 


welcome  this  book,  as  well  as  those  with  a  frontier 
military  interest  looking  for  a  good  source  book  on  a 
noteworthy  and  intriguing  Indian  wars  conflict. 

Thomas  R.  Buecker,  Curator 
Fort  Robinson  Museum 
Nebraska 

Old  Fences,  New  Neighbors.  By  Peter  R.  Decker. 
Tucson:  University  of  Arizona  Press,  1998.  xxiv  + 
159  pp.  Paper,  $19.95. 

Tucked  away  in  the  San  Juan  Mountains  of 
southw  estem  Colorado,  Ouray  County  is  no  stranger  to 
boom  and  bust.  Although  Ouray  County's  landscape 
reveals  scarcely  a  trace  of  its  original  Native  American 
inhabitants  who  were  dispossessed  here  in  the  1 800s, 
the  legacy  of  silver  mining  and  cattle  raising  is  clearly 
visible  in  many  portions  of  this  mountainous  county. 
Ouray  County  has  a  number  of  characteristics  that  link 
it  to  the  rest  of  the  Rocky  Moimtains,  including  a 
rigorous  climate  and  marginal  economy  that  conspire 
to  weed  out  all  but  the  most  tenacious  of  year-round 
residents.  Located  far  from  the  major  interstates,  Ouray 
County  still  has  a  "pioneer"  character  that  is  classically 
Old  West. 

Observing  in  the  preface  that ". . .  the  past  can  be  an 
unpleasant  place  if  it  does  not  conform  to  present-day 
m\ths  that  have  been  created  from  it,"  Decker  promises 
that  he  will  not  shy  away  from  the  less  saccharine  side 
of  history,  including  tales  of  alcoholism,  debilitating 
accidents  and  bankruptcy.  This,  one  senses  quickly, 
will  be  far  less  sentimental  than  many  popular 
histories.  Decker  next  provides  a  relatively  unvar- 
nished overview  of  the  coimty's  history  since  the  mid- 
nineteenth  century,  briefly  relating  the  transition  from 
fur  trapping  to  the  silver  mining  booms  and  the 
displacement  of  the  Ute  Indians.  Ouray  County 
became,  by  about  1890,  one  link  in  the  chain  of 
American  urban-industrial  development,  as  evidenced 
by  the  creation  of  its  county  seat  and  most  prominent 
town,  Ridgway.  Decker  also  describes  the  homestead- 
ing  that  occurred  here  and  alludes  to  the  powerful 
federal  presence  as  much  of  the  county's  land  is  held  in 
the  Uncompaghre  National  Forest. 

This  is  not  a  traditional  county  history,  for  portions 
of  it  have  an  autobiographical  tone  that  helps 
personalize  the  story.  This  is  especially  true  of  the  more 
recent  history  that  is  also  covered.  Because  the  author 
was  a  former  academic  who  changed  careers  in  the 
1970s  to  make  a  go  at  ranching,  he  relates  the  recent 


history  using  personal  anecdotes.  This  type  of  auto- 
biographical perspective  is  becoming  increasingly 
common  in  writings  about  the  West  published  by 
university  presses.  Although  it  helps  to  sell  books 
aimed  at  a  broader  market,  some  of  these 
autobiographies  work  better  than  others.  Happily,  Old 
Fences,  New  Neighbors  is  one  of  those  books  in  which 
autobiography  lends  credibility  without  pretense. 

Decker  does  not  preach,  nor  is  he  mawkishly 
sentimental.  Instead,  he  relates  an  interesting  story 
about  one  relatively  small  county  in  the  West  that  has 
broader  implications  for  the  entire  West.  In  retrospect, 
autobiography  is  the  only  technique  that  would  work  so 
well.  In  the  process  of  becoming  a  rancher.  Decker 
learned  many  things  worth  sharing  about  the  people 
and  land  of  Ouray  County.  He  has  a  great  eye  for  detail, 
yet  never  loses  sight  of  the  broader  picture.  With  wit 
and  candor.  Decker  describes  his  family's  efforts  in 
light  of  community/county  dynamics  and  larger 
changes  sweeping  the  ranching  industry.  This  is  a 
bittersweet  story,  for  after  a  quarter  of  a  century. 
Decker  finally  came  to  the  realization  that  he  and  his 
family  could  no  longer  live  in  the  place  they  had  grown 
to  love.  Decker's  experience  -  the  inability  to  hold  out 
in  the  face  of  changing  markets,  rising  costs  and  rising 
taxes  -  has  been  acted  out  many  times  as  locales  make 
their  transition  from  Old  West  to  New  West.  The 
tribulations  that  faced  Decker  individually  were  also 
faced  by  the  community  collectively.  In  other  words, 
the  general  character  of  the  West  is  changing  because 
the  individual  characters  are  changing. 

One  might  suggest  a  few  items,  such  as  additional 
illustrations  and  an  index,  that  could  have  made  this 
book  even  better.  Nevertheless,  its  has  a  spartan  quality 
that  is  in  keeping  with  its  sobering  theme.  Tersely 
written  and  yet  very  easily  read,  this  book  could  have 
wound  up  as  a  harangue  against  the  newcomers.  But 
instead  of  yet  another  academic  or  journalist  diatribe 
about  the  transition  away  from  ranching,  logging  or 
mining  -  enterprises  that  many  of  these  same  critics 
excoriated  just  a  few  years  ago  -  Decker  tells  the  story 
with  a  sense  of  understanding.  In  sharing  many  lessons 
he  learned  from  the  history  of  this  tough  landscape, 
Decker  puts  a  human  face  on  the  transitions  sweeping 
Ouray  County.  Old  Fences,  New  Neighbors  is 
refreshing  yet  rich  in  pathos.  It  provides  an  important 
vignette  in  the  changing  character  of  the  West, 
reminding  us  once  again  that  regional  history  is,  after 
all,  local  history. 

Richard  Francaviglia 
University  of  Texas  at  Arlington 


""'■■■ —— ^■— . 


Spring  1999 


45 


Wyoming's     Territorial     Sheriffs.     By     Ann 

Gorzalka.  Glendo:  High  Plains  Press,  1998.  336 
pp.  Illustrations,  appendix,  hihliographv.  index. 
Paper.  $14.95. 

Ann  Gorzalka  has  found  rich  material  in  the  stories  of 
the  61  men  who  served  as  sheriffs,  elected  and 
appointed,  in  pre-territorial  and  territorial  Wyoming. 
This  exhaustively  researched,  colorfully  written  and 
generously  illustrated  book  reveals  much  about  the 
diverse  individuals  who  served  as  lawmen.  At  times, 
the  narrative  is  hampered  by  a  dearth  of  analytical  rigor 
and  an  uncritical  acceptance  of  traditional  and 
sometimes  inaccurate  perceptions  of  law  and  order  in 
the  Old  West.  Yet,  the  books's  comprehensive  and 
textured  portrayal  of  criminal  justice  during  Wyoming's 
formative  years  merits  a  wide  audience. 

It  is  perhaps  not  surprising  that  biographies  about 
early  Wyoming's  law  officers  tell  us  much  about  the 
territory  itself  These  men  possessed  sutTicient 
influence  and  respectability  to  be  appointed  or  elected 
to  an  office  with  substantial  law  enforcement  and  tax 
collection  duties.  The  sheriff  was  the  premier  agent  of 
law  and  foremost  symbol  of  government  in 
Wyoming's  remotely-bordered  counties.  Sheriffs 
served  temns  of  two  years  and  were  limited  to  no  more 
than  two  terms  in  succession.  Some,  like  Uinta 
County's  Samuel  Dickey,  went  on  to  serve  in  the  state 
legislature  or  in  other  municipal,  county,  state  or 
federal  offices. 

Gorzalka's  detective  work  sketches  a  mixed  group 
with  varying  backgrounds  and  allegiances.  Many  had 
been  bom  in  eastern  and  midwestem  states,  and  a 
substantial  minority  were  immigrants  from  England  or 
Scotland.  Particularly  fascinating  are  the  sherifTs 
occupations  before  and  after  public  service:  freighting 
goods  across  the  region,  running  general  stores  and 
more  specialized  mercantile  establishments,  working 
for  the  Union  Pacific,  mining,  practicing  law,  raising 
cattle  and  sheep  and  working  as  stock  detectives. 
Despite  their  integral  roles  in  the  territory's  nascent 
establishment,  the  sheriffs  sometimes  betrayed  diver- 
gent sympathies.  Most  typical  was  a  loyalty  to  the  large 
cattlemen  and  other  incorporating  range  and  business 
interests,  as  with  Johnson  County's  Frank  Canton  and 
Albany  County's  Nathan  Boswell.  But  other  sheriffs, 
such  as  Elias  Ulysses  Snider  and  William  Angus,  both 
of  Johnson  County,  sided  with  the  small  settlers. 

Gorzalka  is  usually  scrupulous  in  attempting  to 
present  both  sides  of  a  story,  but  she  tends  to 
oversimplify  the  question  of  law  and  order.    In  this 


narrative,  Wyoming  was  innately  lawless  during  its 
early  years.  Lawbreakers  were  dastardly  blemishes  on 
the  social  order.  Sheriffs  were  courageous  warriors 
who  upheld  civilization  in  a  wild  country.  Vigilantes 
stepped  in  when  unbridled  criminality  became  a  prob- 
lems and  law  enforcement  was  distant  or  non-existent. 
"It  was  a  time  without  guidelines  or  jails.  Even 
vigilantes  did  not  seem  interested  in  enforcing  the 
laws."(  p.  190) 

These  romantic  images  of  the  Old  West  remain 
powerful  and  contain  some  strands  of  truth,  but  they 
often  fail  to  do  justice  to  the  complexity  of  the 
historical  record.  In  fact,  the  vigilante  committees  in 
1868  were  as  much  about  political  and  economic 
competition  in  newly  established  communities  as  they 
were  about  lawlessness.  Lynchings  in  Wyoming  in  the 
1880s  resulted  not  from  frontier  anarchy  but  from 
particularly  heinous  murders  and  concerns  about  the 
enforcement  of  the  death  penalty  law,  the  conflict  over 
the  control  of  the  range  and  the  sustenance  of  white 
supremacy  over  Chinese  amid  labor  competition  in  the 
coal  mines.  Gorzalka  strongly  favors  the  establishment 
perspective,  particularly  in  her  treatment  of  the 
Johnson  County  War  (pp.  235-238,  251-253).  But 
more  recent  scholarship  has  questioned  many 
aspects  of  the  large  cattlemen's  version.  An  ap- 
proach that  treats  the  Johnson  County  episode  in 
the  context  of  long-term  class  conflict  over  the 
incorporation  of  the  range  is  more  useful  than  one 
that  frames  the  confrontation  in  terms  of  lawful- 
ness/unlawfulness. Both  sides,  the  large  cattlemen 
and  the  small  settlers,  were  willing  to  bend  the  law 
for  the  promotion  of  their  property  interests. 

On  a  minor  note,  the  text  contains  several  errors. 
A  man  named  Moritz  was  hanged  by  a  vigilante 
committee  in  Laramie  in  1 868,  not  in  1 888  (p.  54), 
and  lynchers  hanged  Henry  Mosier  in  Cheyenne 
on  September  17,  1883,  not  in  1888  (p.  52). 

Despite  these  caveats,  this  is  a  well-researched 
and  fascinating  volume  that  will  be  of  interest  to 
many  students  of  Wyoming  history. 

Michael  J.  Pfeifer 
Evergreen  State  College 


46 


Annals  or  Wyoming:  The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


King  of  the  Western  Saddle:  The  Sheridan 
Saddle  and  the  Art  of  Don  King,  By  Timothy  H. 
Evans.  Jackson:  University  Press  of  Mississippi, 
1998.  72  pp.  Illustrations,  bibliography.  Cloth, 

$25. 

There  has  been  an  ever  increasing  interest  in  the 
evolution  of  the  western  saddle  and  the  makers  of  these 
unique  American  tools.  Articles  and  books  on  the  sub- 
ject universally  feature  three  problems:  a  scarcity  of 
primary  source  data,  a  lack  of  thorough  research  skills 
and  a  lack  of  training  or  study  at  the  university  level 
which  seldom  prepares  museologists,  historians  and 
curators  to  be  knowledgeable  in  this  interesting  field 
of  study. 

Timothy  Evans  has  carefully  eliminated  some  of  the 
research  problems  noted  above  by  using  primary  source 
data  gathered  from  the  subject  of  this  book,  Don  King, 
and  other  artisans  mentioned  in  the  text.  The  author 
shows  an  appreciation  of  the  research  problems  by  ad- 
dressing an  area  where  an  intense  focus  can  be  brought: 
a  study  of  a  modem  saddle  type  and  one  of  the  major 
saddlemakers  who  developed  this  saddle.  Evans  has 
provided  a  pleasing  combination  of  interviews  and 
photograph  to  illustrate  saddle  and  tooling  patterns. 

The  book  begins  by  taking  the  reader  effortlessly 
through  a  brief  history  of  western  saddle  types  and 
leather  workers.  Later,  the  book  provides  details  about 
Don  King's  life  which  includes  accounts  of  his  devel- 
opment as  an  artist  and  how  this  development  resulted 
in  the  evolution  of  a  distinct  modem  saddle  type. 

Future  historians  who  may  disregard  contribu- 
tions of  hobbyists,  collectors  or  even  saddlemakers 
can  leam  from  the  author's  collaborative  approach. 

Evans'  study  generally  discusses  the  subject  arti- 
san, Don  King.  Bom  in  Douglas,  Wyoming,  King  trav- 
eled with  his  father,  an  itinerant  cowboy,  and  leamed 
to  work  as  a  cowhand  and  leamed  a  variety  of  ranch- 
related  jobs.  Like  many  cowboy/saddlers  who  preceded 
him.  King  observed/admired  fancy  carved  cowboy 
saddles  and  even  "hung  out"  at  famous  saddle  shops 
like  Porter's  Saddlery  in  Phoenix,  Arizona.  Later,  in 
his  home  state  of  Wyoming,  he  began  to  do  consign- 
ment saddle  work  for  other  well-known  saddlers  like 
Rudy  Nudra  and  Otto  Emest  of  Sheridan,  Wyoming. 

King  gradually  developed  the  Sheridan  style  saddle, 
which  is  a  type  of  saddle  carving  rather  than  a  unique 
type  of  saddle  constmction.  This  carving  style,  devel- 
oped in  the  years  1955-85,  features  small  flowers  in  a 
dramatically  detailed  layout  surrounded  by  leaves  and 
stems  with  designs  that  flow  around  the  flowers  in  a 


repetitive  fashion.  The  flowers  and  leaves  on  a  Sheridan 
layout  do  not  have  a  noticeable  beginning  or  end  but 
move  in  circles.  This  latter  concentric  approach  is  not 
new,  but  what  is  new  is  the  precisely  detailed  carving. 
The  old  west  saddlemakers  who  featured  floral  tooled 
saddlery,  like  Main  and  Winchester  and  Visalia  of  Cali- 
fornia and  F.  A.  Meanea  and  J.  S.  Collins  of  Chey- 
enne, Wyoming,  tried  to  cover  a  large  area  of  leather 
with  one  flower  and  a  couple  of  leaves.  King  and  prac- 
titioners of  the  Sheridan  saddle  style  seem  to  move  in 
the  opposite  direction  of  the  old  school.  They  fill  a 
small  space  with  as  many  flowers  and  leaves  as  pos- 
sible and  do  it  with  work  which  emphasizes  detail. 

Master  saddler  Tony  Holmes  of  Cheyenne,  Wyo- 
ming, once  said  that  there  were  no  new  ideas  in 
saddlemaking,  "just  modifications  of  old  ideas."  King 
has  borne  out  the  Holmes'  theory. 

The  book  should  be  of  interest  to  saddle  collec- 
tors, historians  and  leather-carving  enthusiasts.  This  text 
is  very  readable  in  a  short  space  of  time  but  the  readers 
will  find  themselves  going  back  repeatedly  to  the 
illustrations  and  beautiful,  detailed  photographs  of 
saddles.  This  work  is  a  good  starting  point  for  study  of 
this  twentieth  century  Sheridan  saddle  type  and  should 
generate  discussion  among  collectors  and  other 
saddlemakers. 

James  Laird 

Laird's  'Western  Americana 

Santa  Fe,  N.  M. 


Ind 


ex 


Across  the  Continent;  Westward  the  Course  of 

Empire  3 
Agricultural  Adjustment  Administration  31 
Alden,  Miss  Fannie  1 2 
American  Institute  of  Aeronautics  and 

Astronautics  37 
American  Rocket  Societ>   36.  37.  38.  39 
Amoretti,  Eugene  5 
Amoretti's  First  National  Bank  8 
Ankeny,  Owen  30 
"arrows  of  fire"  39 
Arthur,  President  Chester  A.  6 


B 


Baldwin's  Store  8 

baseball   16 

Battrum  Gap  8 

bazooka  38 

Beason,  Mrs.  T.  R.   II 

bell,  public  school  6.  10.  12 

bell,  Sunda\  school   14 

Bell,  Tom  19 

Berlin  36 

Billings,-  12 

Bird,  Mrs.  Geneva  30 

Bladensburg  Bridge  40 

Bladensburg.  Mar.  land  39 

Blair  and  Crispin's  kilns  9 

Blakesley.  Lou   13 

boosterism  22 

Bootleggers  30 

Boyd,  William  Henry  Harrison  9,  10 

Bo\  le.  Susan  Calafate.  book  reviewed  42 

Branding  Iron  35 

Brewer,  John  23 

Buckeye  Bell  Foundry  9 

Buecker,  Thomas  R,.  reviewer  44 

Burnett.  Finn   12 


Caldwell.  F.E.  12 

Caldwell.  Mrs.  F.E.  10 

California  Institute  of  Technology  36 

Callan,  Eugene  23,  26,  28,  32 

Camp  Brown  3 

Campbell,  Hardy  Webster  22 

Campbell  Count)  Rehabilitation  Committee  32 

Campbell  method  of  dry  farming  22 

Canfield  coal  mine  29 

canning  28 

CAP  facilities  18.  19 

Captain  Jack  7 

Carr,  Miss  Lizzie  12 

Carson  and  Bond  8 

Cassidy,  Butch  7 

Catholic  Church  (Lander)  6 

Cheney,  Ervin  6,  8,  12 

Chicago  White  Sox  16 

Christmas  programs,  school  30 

City  Plumbing  (Lander)  20 

Civil  Air  Patrol  (CAP)   18,  19 

Clark's  Landscaping  (Lander)  20 

Columbia  University   35 


Congreve,  Col.  William  39 
Congreve  rockets  39 
Cooper.  Dr.  Arthur  H.   16.  17 
Corder.  Eddie  23,31 
Correy.  P,  8 
Cottage  Home  hotel  3 
Coutant,  C.  G.   13 
cricket  2 

Crispin,  Howard  8 
crop  failures  23 
Crouch  family  23 
Crouch,  John  23,  32 
Currier  and  Ives  picture  3,  8 

D 

dancing  30 

"Dateline:  Outer  Space,"  40 

Davis,  Vema  Burger,  book  reviewed  42 

Decker.  Peter  R.,  book  reviewed  44 

Devils  Gate   10 

Dillon.  John  23.  30 

dry  farming  22 

Dry  Sandy  Stage  Station  5 

dust  storms  33 


East  Antelope  coal  mine  29 

Ecoffee,  Frank  9 

Enlarged  Homestead  Act  of  1909  22,  23,27 

Enrollment  figures.  Lander  school  14 

Evans,  Timothv  J.,  book  reviewed  46 


Farlow,  Stub  18 

farm  prices  22 

farm  produce  27 

Farm  Security  Administration  31 

Farson,  Wyoming  5 

Farthing,  Ed  9,   II,   19 

Farthing,  George   16 

Farthing,  Jack  9 

Farthing,  Jim   19 

Federal  Emergency  Relief  .administration,  32 

Federal  Farm  Loan  27 

federal  resettlement  programs  31 

Fischer,  William  P.,  author  21,  (bio,  34) 

Fitman,  Rev,-  10 

Fla.\  28 

Fort  McHenry    39 

Fort  Stambaugh  7 

Fort  Washakie  3 

Francaviglia,  Richard,  reviewer  44 

Frederick,  William  8 

Fremont  Clipper  6 

Fremont  County  Commissioners   19 

Fremont  County  Pioneer  Museum  20 

Fremont  County  Vocational  High  School   1 7 

Fremont  Hotel   14 

Fremont  Lumber  Company  6 


Gay,  Bill   19 

General  County  School  Fund   10 

German  Interplanetary  Society  38 

German  rocket  facility  36 

Gemsback,  Hugo  36 

Gillette,  Wyo  26 

Goddard,  Robert  H.  37-39 


Goddard  Space  Flight  Center  37 
Gorzalka,  Ann.  reviewed  45 
grazing  allotment  33 
Guenther,  Todd,  author  2.  (bio.  20) 
Guggenheim  Jet  Propulsion  Center  36 
Guggenheim  Laboratories  36 
gyro-stabilization  38 

H 

Hale.  William  40 

Hall.  Amelia  3.   10.   17 

Hall.  Robert   17 

Hamilton  famih   27.  32 

Hamilton.  Joel  23.  28 

Harrison.  Charles  8 

Harrison,  Nebr.  35 

Hayes.  Charles   18 

Haves,  Miss  Mamie  L    12 

History  of  Rocket  Technology  38 

HAIS,  Anson  40 

Hodder,  Fred  C.  8,  18 

"Hollow  Victory:  The  White  River  E.xpedi- 

tion  of  1879,"  reviewed  43 
Holmes,  R.J.  32 
Holmes,  Mrs.  R.  J.  23 
Holmes.  Tony  46 
homestead  patent  27 
homesteading  21 
"Homesteading  the  Thunder  Basin:  Teckla, 

Wyoming."  21-34 
Homecker.  Mart   18 
Houghton.  J.  D,   12 
Howard.  Frank  7 
Hudson.  Henry    19 

I-J 

liams.  Lloyd   13 
Isenberger,  Ike  30 
Isle  of  Chiozza  39 
Judd  family  26 
Judd,  Nell  30 


Kendrick.  John  B.  27 

Kerosene  lamps  29 

Key.  Francis  Scott  39 

King.  Don  46 

"King  of  the  Western  Saddle:  The  Sheridan 

Saddle."  reviewed  46 
Knott,  Louella  13 


Laird.  James,  reviewer  46 

Lajeunesse,  Charles   10 

Lajeunesse  familv   9 

Land  Office,  Lander  1 3 

Lander  Directory    1 5 

Lander  Garden  Club  20 

Lander  High  School   15 

Lander  Pioneers  Association   18 

Lander  Public  School   16 

"Lander's  Pride  and  Jo\ :  The  Old  Stone 

Schoolhouse"  2-20 
Lander's  stone  schoolhouse  (photo)  2 
Lannigan  saloon  7 
Lawn,  Edward  3,  7 
Literarv  Digest  36 
Long,  J.  B.   11 


48 


Annals  oi  Wyoming:  Tne  Wyoming  History  Journal 


"Los  Capitalistas:  Hispano  Merchants  and  the 

Santa  Fe  Trail."  reviewed  42 
Lowe,  Benjamin  Franklin  5 
Lusk  35 


M 


Mack  brothers  32 

Mackey,  Bob  28 

Mackey  children  (photo)  25 

Mackey  homestead  ruins  (photo)  24 

Mackey,  Rhoda  and  William  21,  (photo)  25 

Mackey,  Rose  27 

Mackey,  Vera  30 

Mackey,  William  23-30 

Madison,  James  40 

McLaughlin.  Rose  30 

McLimans,  -  6 

Medicine  Bow.  Wyoming  40 

Meeker  Massacre  7 

Metcalf.  Warren,  reviewer  41 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church  (Lander)   10 

Miller.  Mark  E.,  reviewed  43 

Monroe,  James  40 

Mooney,  Rev.  George  3 

Moore,  J.  K.   II 

Morton  sugar  cure  28 

Murphy.  -  30 

Murphy,  William  32 

"My  Chosen  Trails;  A  Wyoming  Woman's 

Recollections,"  reviewed  42 
Mvers,  Pattv.  reviewer  43 

N 

National  Air  and  Space  Museum  37 
NASA  37 

National  Baseball  Hall  of  Fame  16 
National  Public  Relations  Journal  36 
New  Deal  agricultural  policies  31 
New  Deal  relief  34 
New  York  Herald  Tribune  35 
New  York  Times  37 
Nicholas,  Thomas  A.  32 
Nickerson,  Capt.  H.  G.   12 
Niemcyk  family  26 
Niemcyk,  Felix  29 

Northeastern  Wyoming  Land  Utilization 
Project  31 


O 


Oberth,  Hermann   37 

Odd  Fellows  Hall  (Lander)  6 

Ogden,  Roy,  death  of  1 7 

"Old  Fences,  New  Neighbors,"  reviewed  44 

O'Neal,  Billie  9 

Optech  machines  20 

Osborne,  Tom  7 


Palmer,  Frances  Flora  3 

Parker,  Jack  6 

Parker's  saloon  7,   10 

Patten  12 

Patten,  James  I.  3,  5 

Payne  family  26 

Payne,  James  A.  29,  32 

Pendray,  G.  Edward  35-40 

Pendray,  Leatrice  36 

Pfeifer,  Michael  J.,  reviewer  45 


phonograph  30 

pigs  28 

Pioneer  Cabin  Museum  (Lander)  18 

Pisgah  Forest,  North  Carolina  26 

Pleasant  View  school  30 

children  (photo)  30 
polka  30 

Popo  Agie  River  13 
Porcupine  Creek  31 
pressure  cooker  28 
Princeton  University  36 
public  school,  first  in  Wyoming  3 
Pushroot  3 
Pushroot  Rangers  9 
Putnam  family  26 
Putnam,  Jinx  30 


Quien  Sabe  Ranch  7 
Quinn,  P.S.  10 


R 


radio  29 

Red  Canyon  4 

Red  Cloud  3 

Reed,  Lyle  30 

Reed.  Marion  23 

Religion  31 

Resettlement  Administration  31.34 

Richards.  Galen  18 

Roberts.  David  L..  author  35.  (bio.  40) 

Roberts.  Reverend  John  5.12 

Rochelle  Hills  29.  33 

rockets  35-40 

Rodman.  New  York  4 

Rogers.  Charley   1 3 

Roswell.  New  Mexico  38 

Rural  Electrification  Administration  29 

Rush,  Attorney  General  Richard  40 

Russell,  J.  12 

Russell,  Miss  Agnes  12 


St.  John,  E.  T.  12 

Satterfield,  Tom  20 

Savageton  30 

school.  Lander  2-20 

school,  Teckia  30 

school  district,  1st  Fremont  County  13 

School  taxes  3 

Science  Wonder  Stories  36 

Scott,  Jim.  pro  baseball  player  16 

Seminoe  10 

Shepheard.  Tom  7 

Sherlock,  Maggie  4 

Sherlock-Smith  family  15 

Shidy,M.  W.  12 

Shoshone  Agency  5 

Sinks  Canyon  8 

Sisson,  Reverend  Father  4 

Smith,  Ed  9 

Smith,  Janet  Sherlock  16 

Soderberg  family  26 

South  Elementary  (Lander)  1 7 

South  Pass  City  3,  5 

space  flight  36 

Spaeth,  Ernest  26,  32 

Springer,  Mary  23,  29 

Squaw  Creek,  8 

Standish,  Miss  Mattie  12 


Stock-Raising  Homestead  Act  22,  23,  27 
Stone  schoolhouse  (Lander)  2-20 
Sunday  School  3,9,30 
Sypes,  Shedd  and  Coon  16 


Taft,  William  Howard  (photo,  inside  back) 
Teckia,  Wyoming  21-34,  (map,  24-25) 

community  hall  30 

community  identity  29 

established  27 

post  office  30 
telephones  33 
Thunder  Basin  21-34 
Thunder  Basin  homestead  (photo)  24 
Thunder  Basin  project  31 
Time  38 
time  capsule  36 

Trinity  Episcopal  Church  (Lander)  5,  6 
turkeys,  raising  28 
Tweed,  Benjamin  4 
Tweed.  Ed  8 
Tweed,  William  (Boss)  4 

U 

Universitj' of  Wyoming  12 

V 

Van  Nuys,  Frank,  reviewer  42 
Van  Tassell  35 
Vanduzen  &  Tift  9 
Verne,  Jules  37 
Vineyard,  Mrs.  M.  C.  12 
"Visions  Beyond  'An  Arrow  of 

Fire':Wyoming's  Pendray"  35-40 
voting  machines  20 

W 

Wadsworth,  H.  E.  6 

Warofl812  39 

Westinghouse  Electric  36 

wheat  production  22 

White  River  Reservation  7 

Williamson,  Charley  7 

Williamson,  Peter  8 

Wilson,  Dr.  -  5 

Wind  River  Mountaineer  5 

Wind  River  Reservation  7 

Winter,  Frank  37,  39,  40 

"With  My  Own  Eyes:  A  Lakota  Woman 

Tells  Her  People,"  reviewed  41 
Works  Progress  Administration  33 
World  War  1  22 
World's  Fair  36 

Wyoming  Board  of  Immigration  22 
Wyoming  State  Historic  Preservation 

Office  21 
Wyoming  State  Journal   1 6 
"Wyoming's  Territorial  Sheriffs,"  reviewed 

45 


Zimmerman,  Ed  9 


aummetsts^a 


Spring  IQQQ 


49 


Wyoming  Picture 


All  but  nvo  of  the  U.  S.  Presidents  since  Grant  have  visited  in  Wyoming.  (Exceptions  are  Grover  Cleveland 
and  Benjamin  Harrison).  Pictured  is  President  William  Howard  Taft  who  campaigned  throughout  Wyo- 
ming in  1911.  During  that  tour.  Taft  made  speeches  at  Cheyenne.  Laramie.  Rock  Springs,  and  Newcastle 
(where  he  .spoke  from  the  steps  of  the  newly  constructed  Weston  County  Courthouse). 


Plan  Now  to  Attend  the  Ainiual 

WYOMING  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 


TREK 


Hosted  by  the  .\lbany  Cotuit\'  Chapter 
Registration  deadline:  Jime  9,  1999 
Highlights  will  mehide  CXerland  Trail  sites,  stage  stations,  the  Lin- 
coln Highway,  Centennial  and  other  historic  places  in  .\lbany  Coimt\'. 
For  more  information,  check  the  latest  issue  of  Wyoming  Ilistoiy  News 
or  contact  Elnora  Frye,  745-8328,  or  .Amy  La^^Tencc,  745-5948,  Trek 
Coordinators,  Albany  Covmt\'  Chapter. 


I  ■ 


DnaaioDBai 


U>7 


nals  of 

WYOMING 

Tne  ^(^oming  History  Journal 


summer 


1999 


Vol.  71,  No.  3 


On  me  Cover 


When  famed  Wyoming  photographer  J.  E.  Stimson  visited  the 
Tetons  in  the  summer  of  1922,  he  shot  a  number  of  scenes  that 
he  later  "colorized."  The  front  cover  is  a  photograph  he  made 
with  this  process  of  hand-tinting.  He  titled  it  "Teton  Peak  from 
the  outlet  on  Leigh's  Laive,  1922."  The  original  photograph  is 
held  in  the  J.  E.  Stimson  collection,  Wyoming  State  Archives, 
Department  of  State  Parks  and  Cultural  Resources,  Cheyenne. 


Tnis  Special  Issue:  Tne  Tetons 


This  special  issue  features  four  articles  on 
the  Grand  Tetons.  Historian  Robert  W.  Righter 
assesses  the  role  of  the  National  Park  Service 
in  influencing  the  man-made  environment  of 
Grand  Teton  National  Park.  Tamsen  Emerson 
Hert  provides  a  "travel  narrative  "  to  historic 
sites  in  the  park  area.  Mark  Han-ey  assesses 
the  ongoing  controversy  as  to  who  was  the  first 
person  to  climb  the  Grand  Teton.  The  dispute 
bettveen  Nathaniel  Langford and  Williatn  Owen 
brought  heated  exchanges  between  them  and 
their  respective  supporters  over  the  years. 
SheriT  Smith  concludes  this  special  section  with 
an  account  of  Verba  Lawrence,  a  long-time 


Jackson  Hole  resident  who  kept  a  Journal  of  her 
life. 

This  issue  also  includes  our  regular  features. 
This  issue 's  "Wyoming  Memories  "  is  an  account 
of  an  unusual  animal  visitor  to  these  parts— a 
hvena.  Long-time  Society  member  Ellen  Mueller 
tells  us  the  story.  Our  "Wyoming  Portrait"  in 
this  issue  is  of  pioneer  ranchman  R.  S.  Van 
Tassell.  The  biography  is  written  by  Cheyenne 
historian  Shirley  E.  Flynn. 

With  this  issue.  Annals  returns  to  "timely" 
publication.  Readers  can  expect  to  see  the  issue 
appear  during  the  season  indicated  on  the  cover. 

—Phil  Roberts,  Editor 


The  editor  of  Aniuil.s  of  IVyomiiii;  welcomes  manuscripts  and  photographs  on  ever)  aspect  ol  the  histor)  of  W'\oming  and  the  West. 
Appropriate  lor  submission  are  unpublished,  research-hased  articles  which  pro\  ide  new  intormation  or  which  oft'er  new  interpretations 
of  historical  events.  t"irst-person  accounts  based  on  personal  experience  or  recollections  of  events  will  be  considered  for  use  in  the 
"Wvoming  Memories"  section.  Historic  photo  essays  for  possible  publication  in  "Wyoming  Memories"  also  are  welcome.  Articles  are 
re\iewed  and  refereed  b\  members  of  the  Journal's  Editorial  Ad\  isory  Board  and  others.  Decisions  regarding  publication  are  made  by 
the  editor.  Manuscripts  (along  w  ith  suggestions  for  illustrations  or  photographs)  should  he  submitted  on  computer  diskettes  in  a  format 
created  by  one  of  the  widely-used  word  processing  programs  along  with  two  printed  copies.  Submissions  and  queries  should  be  ad- 
dressed to  tiditor.  Annals  of  Wyoming.  P.  O.  Box  4256,  University  Station,  Laramie  WY  82071 . 


Editor 

Phil  Roterts 

Book  Review  I:aitor 
Carl  HallLerg 


nditorial  ,\dvisor\'  Roaru 

Barbara  Bogarl,  Lxani^tun 

Mate!  Brown,  N'ewcastle/CIieyenne 

Micnael  J,  Devdne,  Laramie 

James  B.  Grinitn,  )r.,  Clicyenne 

Don  HoQgson,  Torrington 

Loren  Jo$t,  Riverton 

Da\na  KatiiKa,  Rolk  Springs 

T.  A.  Larson,  Laramie 

Jonn  D.  McDermott,  Slieridan 

Snerry  L,  Smith,  Moose 

Tnomas  F.  Stroock,  Casper 

Lawrence  M.  Woods,  VC'orlana 

Wyoming  State  Historical  Society 
Publications  Committee 

RicK  Ewig,  Laramie 

Da\'ia  Katnlca,  Rock  Springs 

Snerrv  L.  Smitn,  Moose 

Amy  Lawrence,  Laramie 

Nancy  Curtis,  Glenao 

William  H.  Moore,  Laramie  (ex  olticio) 

Patty  Myers,  WkeatlanJ  (ex-of^icio) 

Loren  Jost,  Riverton  (ex-otricio) 

Pnil  Ronert?,  Laramie  (ex-orricio) 

Wvoming'  >tate  riistorical  i^ocietv 
Executive  Committee 

Patty  Myers,  President,  Wheatland 

Dave  Taylor,  Casper 

Mikejording,  Newcastle 

Linda  Fabian,  Cheyenne 

Dick  Wdder,  Cody 

Rick  Ewig,  Laramie 

Amy  Lawrence,  Laramie 

Jermy  Wight,  Arton 

Judy  West,  Membership  Coordinator 

Governor  of  Wyoming 

Jim  Geringer 

Wyoming'  Dept.  or  State  Parks  ana 

Cultural  Resources 
John  Keck,  Director 

Wyoming  Parks  &  Cultural  Resources 
Commission 

William  Dubois,  Cheyenne 
Charles  A.  Guerin,  Laramie 
Diann  Reese,  Lyman 
Rosie  Berger,  Big  Horn 
B.  Byron  Price,  Cody 
Herb  French,  Newcastle 
Frank  Tim  Isabel!,  Shoshoni 
Jeanne  Hickey,  Cheyenne 
Hale  Kreycik,  Douglas 

University  oi  Wyoming 

Philip  Dubois,  President 
Michael  J.  Devine,  Director, 

.American  Heritage  Center 
Oliver  Walter,  Dean, 

College  oi  Arts  and  Sciences 
William  H.  Moore,  Chair,  Dept.  ol  I  listor 

Printed  by  Pioneer  Printing,  Cheyenne 


nnah  of 

WYOMING 


Tne  Wvoming  History 


Wyoming  Portrait 

Renesselaer  Scnuylcr  \'an  Tassell 

By  Snirley  E.  Flvnn 


Summer  1QQ9  Vol.  71,  No.  3 


^(^omin^  Memories 


Crook  County  s  Hyena 

By  Ellen  Cra^go  Mueller 


M©\M.mMW, 


13 


Special  Issue:  Tne  Tetons 


Preserving'  tne  Past: 
The  Case  or  Grand  Teton  National  Park 

All  Opinion  Piece  by  Robert  W.  Rignter  Q 

To  Presers'e  the  View:  A  Tour  in  Text  and  Pictures  of  Historic  Sites 
Relating  to  the  Estar)lislinient  or  C'ranci  Teton  National  Paru 
By  Tanisen  Emerson  Heii  14 

First  Ascent  or  the  Grand  Teton:  The  Great  Controversy 

By  Marie  Harvey 24 

A  JacKSon  Hole  Lire:  Verba  Lawrence 

By  Sliern'  L.  Sniitli 35 


Recent  Acquisitions  in  the  Hebard  Collection,  L^W  Libraries 44 

Recent  Additions  and  Processed  Collections,  Department  ol 

t'tate  Parks  and  Cidtural  Resources,  i?tate  /Vrcbives 44 

Book  Reviews 

EJitedKyCarlMalllierg 45 

Index 4i 

Wyoming'  Picture 48 

Annals  of  Wyoming  The  Wyoming  History  Journal  is  published  quarterly  by  the  Wyoming  State  Historieal 
Society  in  association  with  the  Wyoming  Department  of  Commerce,  the  American  I  leritage  Center,  and  the 
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Copyright  1999,  Wyoming  State  Historical  Society 


ISSN:  1086-7368 


W^'^oming  Portrait: 


RENESSELAER  SCHUYLER 
VAN  TASSELL 

By  Snirley  E.  Flynn 


Good  Old  Van.  If  a  man  can  be  measured  by  the 
company  he  keeps,  Renesselaer  Schuyler  Van  Tassel! 
stands  at  the  highest  mark.  His  admirers  ranged  from  a 
12-year  old  kid  poking  about  the  streets  of  Cheyenne 
in  1 868,  to  President  Theodore  Roosevelt  during  his 
\isits  to  Wyoming  in  1903  and  1910.  He  was  a  "man's 
man,"  ramrod  straight  and  steady  in  business.  With  a 
gleam  in  his  eye,  he  loved  life  and  lived  it  to  the  ftillest 

Bom  in  1 845  in  Comstock,  New  York,  of  Dutch  an- 
cestors who  had  arrived  in  the  New  World  about  1630, 
Van  Tassell  came  west  before  there  was  a  Wyoming 
Territory  or  a  Cheyenne.  He  had  spent  the  earlier  years 
of  his  manhood  in  Iowa.  By  1865,  he  was  at  Fort 
Kearney,  Nebraska  Territory,  the  leader  of  a  party  of 
1 5  men  who  were  headed  westward  along  the  proposed 
route  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad.  They  smelled  op- 
portunitv'. 

The  stubborn  post  commander.  Major  John  Talbot, 
detained  the  adventurers  because  he  did  not  regard  it 
safe  for  a  party  of  only  16  men  to  travel  into  the  In- 
dian-infested country  to  the  west.  Talbot  required  Van 
Tassell  to  enlarge  his  party  to  50  men  before  he  would 
allow  the  expedition  to  set  out  for  Wyoming  country. 
After  meeting  that  requirement,  the  party  ventured  west. 
Talbot  himself  almost  immediately  resigned  his  com- 
mission and  anived  in  Cheyenne,  Dakota  Territory,  in 
1867,  before  the  railroad.' 

In  1 866,  Van  Tassell,  in  the  company  of  Tom  McGee 
and  John  Sparks,  wintered  on  Shemian  Hill.  They  cut 
ties  for  the  Union  Pacific  around  their  headquarters  at 
Tie  City,  a  camp  near  the  foot  of  Cheyenne  Pass  at  the 
point  where  today's  Happy  Jack  and  Telephone  roads 
join.  The  railhead  of  the  Union  Pacific  did  not  reach 
Sherman  Hill  until  18  months  later. 

Very  little  regarding  Van  Tassell's  brushes  with  the 
Indians  is  known.  He  did  relate  that  on  one  occasion 
when  he  was  pursued  by  Indians,  he  shot  his  horse  and 
used  the  carcass  as  a  bulwark  behind  which  he  shot  at 
his  attackers  until  help  arrived.- 

What  is  known,  however,  is  that  his  partners,  Tom 
McGee  and  John  Sparks,  were  stalwart  men,  too. 
McGee  took  a  homestead  in  the  area  where  the  trio 


hacked  ties  and  developed  a  ranch  that  he  passed  on  to 
his  son  Bert.  Sparks  moved  west  to  put  his  roots  down 
in  Nevada  where  he  became  governor.  The  town  of 
Sparks  is  named  after  him. 

Van  Tassell,  then  22  years  old,  settled  in  Cheyenne 
as  soon  as  the  town  was  founded  and  engaged  in  freight- 
ing and  stock  raising.  He  had  a  contract  to  carry  mail 
between  Cheyenne  and  Fort  Collins  before  a  railroad 
connected  the  two  towns. 

A  12-year-old  youngster  poking  around  Cheyenne, 
George  E.  Lemmon,  arrived  in  Cheyenne  with  his  fam- 
ily a  few  weeks  after  the  first  train  whistle  in  Novem- 
ber 1867.  As  a  footloose  kid,  he  moseyed  about  the 
dusty  railhead  and  in  later  life  remembered: 

R.  S.  Van  Tassell  was  about  the  youngest  man  in 
business  in  Cheyenne.  He  was  in  the  livery  business 
with  one  Gline,  the  tlrm  of  Gline  and  Van  Tassell.  He 
owned  a  little  black  race  horse  that  stood  pat  for  his 
size  but  was  a  little  flighty,  and  one  day  in  a  race, 
Johnny  Gline  (son  of  the  partner)  riding,  he  bolted  at 
the  outcome,  throwing  Johnny  into  the  judges  stand, 
cutting  a  big  gash  on  Johnny's  head  and  rendering  him 
unconscious  for  some  time. ' 

Van  Tassell  always  relished  fleet  horses. 

James  A.  Moore,  also  early  in  the  Cheyenne  area, 
was  a  certified  hero  of  the  Pony  Express.  His  route  was 
from  Midway  Station,  halfway  between  Fort  Kearney 
and  Cottonwood  Springs,  to  Julesberg,  a  distance  of 
140  miles.  On  one  memorable  ride,  Moore  found  his 
relief  rider  unable  to  ride,  and  he  immediately  turned 
around  and  rode  back  doing  280  miles  in  22  hours.  For 
this  Ben  Holladay  gave  him  a  gold  watch  and  a  certifi- 
cate for  his  remarkable  performance."^ 

'  Talbot's  obituary.  The  Wyoming  Tribune  (Cheyenne),  July 
13.  1910. 

-  Van  Tassell's  obituary,  Douglas  Enterprise.  April  14.  1931. 

'  George  L.  Lemmon  Stories.  WPA  project.  Vertical  file  242, 
Wyoming  State  Archives  division.  Parks  and  Cultural  Resources 
Department,  Cheyenne. 

■*  Moore's  obituary,  Cheyenne  Daily  Leader.  December  16, 
1873. 


Summer  1999 


The  cattle  industry  was  in  an  embryonic  stage  in  the 
early  1870s.  To  fulfill  contracts  to  furnish  beef  to  the 
various  military  posts  in  Wyoming  territory,  early  stock- 
men trailed  longhoms  up  from  Texas  and  turned  them 
out  to  graze  on  the  nutritious  short  grass.  The  cattle 
flourished.  The  owners  quickly  found  that  they  could 
go  into  their  herd  and  find  acceptable  beef  for  sale  ten 
months  of  the  year.  Moore  was  among  this  group  and 
it  was  said  he  was  second  only  to  .lohn  W.  lUiff  in  the 
number  of  cattle  he  had  in  Wyoming  in  the  early  1 870s.-"" 

Moore  also  was  a  partner  in  the  Great  Western  Cor- 
ral, the  most  extensive  stabling  establishment  in  the 
west.  It  could  accommodate  250  horses  and  .100  wag- 
ons. The  corral  covered  half  a  block.*'  This  vast  opera- 
tion served  as  a  teamster  terminal,  a  market  place  for 
horses  of  all  kinds,  a  rough  hostel  and  a  stage  line  ter- 
minal. It  easih  outdistanced  the  Gline  and  Van  Tassell 
operation. 

Van  Tassell  put  in  with  the  more  successful  man  and 
soon  was  freighting  for  him,  although  he  presented  him- 
self as  a  partner. 

Moore  prospered,  but  died 
tragically  on  December  14, 
1873.  in  Sidney,  Nebraska, 
"after  a  protracted  illness  of 
about  three  months  occa- 
sioned by  injuries  received  in 
fall  from  a  load  of  hay...  Suf- 
fice it  to  say  that  in  all  the 
relations  of  life,  he  has 
proven  himself  worth\  of 
confidence  and  esteem.'"^  In 
addition  to  a  fine  reputation, 
Moore  developed  by  hard 
work  the  .IM  ranch  south  of 
Lusk,  Wyoming.  His  town 
house  w  as  an  elaborate  man- 
sion on  Ferguson  Street 
(now  Carey  Avenue)  in 
Cheyenne,  where  he  lived 
with  his  wife  and  two  chil- 
dren. His  will  stipulated  that 
the  familv  was  to  continue  to 
live  in  Cheyenne,  which  he 
considered  his  home.** 

"Van  Tassell  began  his 
business  career  in  a  livery 
stable.  He  bettered  his  con- 
dition immeasurably  by  mar- 
rying .lim  Moore's  widow. 

He  succeeded  not  only  to  his      nor-     -r       ,, 

^  PCI  (,,,  Tassell 


widow,  but  also  to  his  9,000  head  of  cattle,  his  range 
on  the  Running  Water,  and  the  J  Rolling  M  brand,  to- 
gether with  the  privileges,  prerogatives  and  prerequi- 
sites appertaining  there  to."''  He  moved  into  his  new 
wife's  home  and  embellished  it  with  stained  glass  and 
chandeliers.  Howev er,  this  was  still  raw  Wyoming;  one 
morning  a  horse  thief  was  found  hanging  from  a  Cot- 
tonwood tree  by  their  front  door. 

The  1870s  found  Van  Tassell  engaging  extensively 
in  cattle  raising-with  his  major  holdings  fomierlv  those 
of  James  Moore-on  the  Running  Water  in  what  is  now 
Niobrara  County  and  on  Pole  Creek  in  Laramie  County. 
The  latter  became  known  as  the  'home  ranch"  and  was 
about  23  miles  northwest  of  Cheyenne. 

Van  Tassell  also  operated  the  Union  Pacific  stock 
yards  at  Chevenne  for  more  than  40  v  ears.  During  this 
period  he  provided  feed  there  for  millions  of  sheep  and 
cattle. 

The  27-year-old  Van  Tassell  hosted  an  impromptu 
meeting  of  five  men  in  his  liverv  stable  in  1872.  Ac- 
cording to  .lohn  Rolfe 
Burroughs  in  Gucirtlinn  of 
the  Grassluiuls.  "it  is  rea- 
sonable to  suppose  that  the 
aforementioned  meeting, 
which  was  held  for  the  pur- 
pose of  fomiing  a  v  igilante 
committee  to  cope  with 
cattle  thieves,  took  place  on 
his  premises.  The  name  of 
one  of  the  participants  has 
been  lost  to  historv ,  but  it 
is  important  that,  in  addi- 
tion to  Van  Tassell,  .lohn  H. 

^  John  Rolte  Burroughs, 
Giuiiduin  of  the  GrusslaiiLis  The 
First  Hundred  Years  nf  the  Wyo- 
ming Stoekgrowers  Assoeiation 
(Chevenne:  Pioneer  Printing  & 
Stationery  Co..  1971).  36. 

"  E.  H.  Saltiel  and  Geo. 
Barnett.  History  and  Business 
Direetorv  of  Clieyenne  and 
Guide  to  the  Mining  Regions  of 
the  Roeky  Mountains  (Chevenne. 
Dakota:  L.  B.  Joseph  Booksell- 
ers and  Publishers.  1868),  26. 

"  Moore's  ohituarv.  Daily 
Leader. 

"  Ihid. 

""  V\'illiam  H.  Barton,  ed.  Early 
Cheyenne  Homes  -  1880-1890 
Wyoming  State  .Archives.  Muse- 
ums and  Historical  Dept..  l')83), 
2<). 


American  Heritace  Center 


Annals  ot  Wyoming;The  ^Tyoming  Histon' 


and  Thomas  F.  Durbin  and  Charles  F.  Coffee  were 
present." "^'  The  Durbin  brothers  and  Coffee  were  charter 
members  of  the  Livestock  Association  of  Laramie 
County.  Wyoming,  which  later  metamorphosed  into 
the  Wyoming  Stock  Growers  Association.  These  were 
the  men  who  really  started  the  ball  rolling  in  the  direc- 
tion of  a  permanent,  viable  organization  of  cattlemen 
in  the  State  of  Wyoming.  Their  immediate  concerns 
were  two  fold,  first  to  plan  the  roundups  and  second  to 
control  the  rustling.  Young  Van  Tassell  stood  with  the 
leaders  at  the  opening  bell. 

Perhaps  it  was  because  he  always  stepped  back  and 
surveyed  the  scene  before  plunging  in,  or  because  dur- 
ing these  years  he  was  younger  than  most  other  busi- 
nessmen, or  because  he  was  away  working.  Van  Tassell 
is  not  mentioned  in  Stock  Growers  files  until  he  for- 
mall_\  joined,  six  years  later,  in  1878.  He  never  took  an 
official  role  in  the  organization,  although  he  appears  to 
have  been  a  proud  member.  His  obituary  states,  "He 
took  an  acti\e  interest  in  the  association  throughout 
his  life."" 

Mary  Moore  Van  Tassell  died  of  consumption  in 
Boston  on  December  5,  1883,  and  is  buried  in  Chey- 
enne. In  1888,  her  children,  Blanche  and  Granville, 
placed  a  stained  glass  window  in  the  newly  built  St. 
Mark's  Episcopal  church  and  dedicated  it  to  her 
memory;  it  is  inscribed  FAITH.'-  Renesselaer  Van 
Tassell  assumed  her  property. 

Soon  Old  Van  was  off  to  other  things.  "'If  the  old 
rascal  had  one  eye  out  for  women  who  were  as  lonely 
as  they  w  ere  attractive,  he  apparently  had  the  other  eye 
peeled  for  the  main  chance  because,  when  his  wife  died, 
he  married  Louise,  the  daughter  of  wealthy  stockman 
Alexander  H.  Swan."'-'  Although  Van  Tassell  seems 
to  have  been  a  bit  opportunistic  in  this,  he  had  a  head 
for  business  and  during  the  cattle  boom  years  of  the 
1880s,  he  was  accounted  very  wealthy. 

For  the  nuptials,  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Chey- 
enne, decorated  by  many  choice  and  elegant  tloral  de- 
signs, provided  a  sumptuous  backdrop  for  the  bride. 
She  was  attired  in  a  white  costume  of  faille  francais 
v\  ith  a  court  train  and  bodice  trimmed  with  pearls.  The 
reception  was  in  the  Swan  home.  The  newspaper  re- 
ported that  after  a  wedding  trip  to  California,  "they  will 
reside  at  the  handsome  stone  residence  on  the  comer  of 
Nineteenth  and  Ferguson  streets.  This  handsome  build- 
ing was  the  gift  of  the  bride's  father  to  her."'"*  She  was 
22,  and  he  was  41. 

The  hard  winter  of  1 886- 1887  and  the  economic  de- 
bacle that  followed  w ere  only  months  away.  By  spring, 
both  Van  Tassell  and  his  father-in-law  were  totally 
devoid  of  assets.  Their  cattle  perished  in  the  winter  bliz- 


zards. According  to  George  Lemmon,  Van  Tassell  had 
$  1 50,000  in  liabilities.  It  is  to  his  credit,  truly  the  mark 
of  the  man,  that  he  refused  to  repudiate  this  obligation. 
Not  only  did  Van  Tassell  live  to  pay  off  every  cent  of 
his  debts,  but  he  is  said  to  have  ended  up  with  a  finger 
in  every  lucrative  business  pie  in  Cheyenne. 

Van  Tassell  and  his  young  wife,  Louise  Swan,  never 
took  possession  of  the  monumental  stone  house.  Since 
Alexander  Swan  could  not  pay  for  its  construction,  the 
property  reverted  to  the  contractor,  Robert  W.  Brad- 
ley. He  sold  it  to  David  D.  Dare,  a  dashing  photogra- 
pher/businessman who  appeared  on  the  scene.  Known 
as  Castle  Dare,  the  house  immediately  gained  landmark 
status.  However,  Dare  fell  on  hard  times  and  could  not 
pay  for  it  either.  Possession  again  reverted  to  the  con- 
tractor, and  Bradley  moved  in  with  his  family  of  three, 
Florence,  Walter  and  Maude. 

Van  Tassells  came  into  possession  of  the  .1.  B.  Tho- 
mas property  in  August  1892.  The  mansion  complex 
had  been  designed  for  the  Thomases  by  George  D. 
Rainsford.  It  consisted  of  the  mansion,  a  greenhouse 
and  the  carriage  bam,  situated  on  half  a  block  of  spa- 
cious lawn,  at  what  was  then  the  end  of  East  1 7th  Street. 
The  bam  sported  hard  wood  floors  and  stalls.  One  sum- 
mer day,  friends  gathered  to  pick  over  two  hundred 
pounds  of  grapes  from  the  greenhouse  vines. '  "^ 

As  the  troubles  between  the  Wyoming  Stock  Grow- 
ers Association  and  the  small  ranchers  in  Johnson 
County  escalated  in  early  1892,  Van  Tassell,  "one  of 
the  inner  ring  of  sooners  who  had  long  ruled  the  affairs 
of  the  Association,  was  sent  to  Colorado  to  buy  horses 
for  the  expeditionary  force,  a  move  made  to  bypass  the 
questions  which  would  certainly  be  asked  if  any  Wyo- 
ming ranch  owners  started  working  their  horses  so  early 
in  the  year."'^  Who  better  to  send  than  Old  Van  with 
his  connections  in  both  the  Association  and  horse  trad- 
ing circles?  Tradition  says  he  secured  400  horses  from 
a  dealer  in  Longmont,  Colorado. 

'"  Burroughs.  35. 

"  Van  Tassel I's  obituary.  The  Wyoming  Tribune.  April  15,  1931. 

'-  Shirley  E.  Flynn,  Our  Heritage:  100  Years  at  St.  Mark's 
Cheyenne.  Wyoming  (Cheyenne:  Pioneer  Printing,  1968),  87. 

''  Lemmon,  loose  sheet  in  Vertical  File  242,  Wyoming  State 
Archives. 

^''  Cheyenne  Daily  Leader.  December  10,  1886. 

'^  Gladys  Powelson  Jones,  The  First  Hundred  Years.  1886- 
1986:  The  Van  Tassell  Carriage  Barn.  National  Register  of  His- 
torical Places  (Cheyenne:  Cheyenne  Artists  Guild,  1986),  6.  For 
a  biography  of  Dare,  see  William  H.  Barton,  "David  D.  Dare  and 
the  American  Dream,"  Annals  of  Wyoming  51  (1979),  8-23. 

""  Helena  Huntington  Smith,  The  War  on  Powder  River:  The 
Histoiy  of  an  Insurrection  (Lincoln:  University  of  Nebraska  Press, 
1966),  191. 


1999 


"Castle  Dare.  " 
the  Cheyenne 
home  origi- 
nally given  to 
Van  Tassell 
and  hl.s  second 
wife  as  a 
wedding 
present. 
Ironically,  it 
was  where  his 
third  wife 
Maude 
Bradley, 
daughter  of  its 
builder,  was 
reared. 


1 


mm 


The  Van  Tassell  name  surfaces  again  in  the  legend 
of  the  missing  copies  of  the  second  printing  of  A.  S. 
Mercer's  Banditti  of  the  Plains.  Mercer,  the  Che>  enne 
newspapemian  who  started  out  sympathetic  with  the 
"invaders"  in  their  vendetta  against  the  "rustlers  and 
nesters"  of  Johnson  County,  turned  coat.  His  book  lam- 
bastes the  Invaders.  A  first  printing  of  1,000  copies 
sold  quickly  and  a  second  larger  printing  was  ordered 
from  a  plant  in  Denver,  but  it  never  reached  Mercer's 
office.  Speculation  was  that  the  shipment  was  either 
hijacked  along  the  way  and  burned  or  stored  in  some 
secret  place.  Certainly  the  Stock  Growers'  interests  did 
not  want  the  secrets  it  contained  out  on  the  street! 
Through  the  haze  of  whispered  gossip,  one  name  con- 
sistently surfaces  in  the  disappearance  of  the  hot  books, 
"an  agent  of  the  cattlemen,  R.  S.  Van  Tassell,  destroyed 
them.  The  name  at  least  is  specific.  And  through  all  the 
hearsay,  the  persistent  smell  of  burning.  ' '' 

Old  Van  was  listed  as  a  member  of  the  Cheyenne 
Club  during  its  heyday.  He  seldom  attended.  Accord- 
ing to  Burroughs,  he  was  never  a  part  of  the  arguments, 
fracases  and  denouements  of  its  more  flamboyant  mem- 
bers such  as  John  Coble,  the  Oelrich  brothers,  Frederic 
deBillier  and  Hubert  Teschmacher. 

One  of  Van  TasselTs  hobbies  was  always  to  have  a 
handsome  black  saddle  horse  name  "Gypsy."  A  con- 
summate horseman,  as  tine  a  figure  of  man  on  horse- 
back as  ever  rode  the  ranges,  he  never— for  50  years- 
was  without  a  favorite  mount  thus  named. 


Dept.  of  State  Parks  and  Cultural  Resources 

On  May  30,  1 903,  President  Theodore  Roosevelt  and 
a  party  often  rode  horseback  from  Laramie  to  Chey- 
enne. They  changed  horses  at  the  Tie  City  ranch  of 
Tom  McGee.  The  President  proceeded  at  a  rousing  clip 
as  he  lead  the  way  with  only  one  member  of  the  party 
at  a  time  riding  beside  him.  As  the  party  came  in  sight 
of  the  east  slope,  looking  down  into  the  valley  through 
which  the  Colorado  and  Southern  Railroad  runs.  Old 
Van  appeared.  He  turned  to  the  President  and  said,  "The 
road  forks  here.  That  way  (indicating  a  road  running 
around  the  head  of  the  draw  )  is  a  long  way  around,  but 
we  can  cut  otT  a  couple  of  miles  by  taking  this  trail. 
Which  shall  we  take?"  Acknowledging  that  the  resi- 
dent rancher  knew  the  territory,  the  President  answered 
by  saying,  "Lead  the  way."  Van  dug  his  spurs  into  his 
horse  and  started  down  the  rough  and  rocky  trail.  One 
member  of  the  part\  remembered  that  some  of  the  group 
tired  along  the  \\a_\  and  when  the  pace  became  faster, 
cussed  Old  Van  to  a  turn. 

The  group  arrived  at  the  Van  Tassell  "home  ranch" 
on  Pole  Creek  at  12:45  after  a  three  hour  and  forty  tlve 
minute  ride  covering  40  miles.  "At  Van  Tassell's  a 
bountiful  repast  was  served,  the  President  having  a 
hearty  appetite  after  the  gallop  through  the  hills.  A  jolly 
hour  of  rest  was  spent  after  the  meal,  and  the  President 
and  escort  again  took  horse  to  Cheyenne.""'^  The  Presi- 

^^  Ihul..  279. 

'"  William  Chapin  Deming.  Roosevelt  in  the  Bunk  House,  and 
Other  Sketches,  2d  ed.  (Laramie;  Laramie  Printing  Co.,  n.d.),  41. 


Annals  ot  Wyoming  :Tke  Wyoming  Histon'  Jc 


dent  thanked  his  host  and  called  him  a  "Mohawk  Dutch- 
man" in  reference  to  his  New  York  state  heritage.''' 

Colonel  Roosevelt,  as  he  chose  to  be  addressed  after 
leaving  the  presidency  in  1908,  returned  to  Cheyenne 
in  1910  where  he  was  the  guest  of  honor  at  Cheyenne 
Frontier  Days.  His  visit  lasted  several  days.  One 
evening,  he  and  a  small  escort  took  a  circuitous  route 
by  horseback  through  Fort  D.  A.  Russell,  then  over  the 
plains  to  the  northeast  heading  for  the  Pole  Creek  sheep 
and  cattle  ranch  of  Senator  Francis  E.  Warren.  Arriv- 
ing just  as  the  sun  was  dropping  down  behind  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  the  President  reached  the  ranch  house  on 
the  run,  his  horse  heaving  as  if  it  had  been  engaged  in 
a  race,  which  indeed  was  what  had  happened. 

"Riding  with  Roosevelt  was  Renesselaer  S.  Van 
Tassell,  a  pioneer  cattleman  of  Cheyenne,  then  nearing 
seventy  years  of  age,  straight  as  an  Indian,  a  magnifi- 
cent horseman  and  one  of  Frederic  Remington's  favor- 
ite subjects,  as  delineated  in  his  character  sketches  of 
the  West.  As  Roosevelt  and  Van  Tassell  drew  nigh, 
the  former,  gazing  admiringly  at  Van  Tassell,  said,  "The 
old  rascal  tried  to  beat  me.'"-'' 

Businesswise,  Van  Tassell  seized  the  moment;  how- 
ever, sometimes  the  moment  seized  him.  George 
Lemmon.  the  kid  on  the  Che\  enne  streets  in  1 867  who 
grew  into  a  respected  stockman  in  South  Dakota,  re- 
lated that,  after  the  hard  times  in  the  late  1880s,  Van 
Tassell,  "got  even  with  a  lot  of  property  on  hand  and 
good  credit,  and  from  about  1 889  to  1902,  he  had  prac- 
tically every  business  in  Cheyenne  that  was  a  live  busi- 
ness -  these  in  addition  to  his  range  cattle." 

Van  Tassell  solidified  his  holdings,  or  those  inher- 


ited from  his  first  wife.  Beginning  with  a  small  home- 
stead on  the  Running  Water  Creek  near  Lusk  in  the 
1870s  with  cattle  running  on  the  open  range,  he  ac- 
quired thousands  of  acres  of  the  range  and  developed 
an  appreciation  for  the  land.  Observing  that  cattle  could 
not  live  on  the  open  range  without  supplemental  hay, 
he  began  to  buy  land  along  the  creeks  where  grass  could 
be  harvested  for  winter  feed.  He  advocated  the  care  of 
rangeland.  Like  an  early  day  environmentalist  about 
1910,  he  said,  "I  won't  live  to  see  the  day,  but  many  of 
you  will,  when  people  will  regret  that  they  ever  plowed 
up  this  buffalo  grass  sod."-'  During  the  1930s,  ranch- 
ers lived  to  see  that  day. 

Lemmon  ended  up  his  assessment  of  Van  Tassell, 
"Good  Old  Van  - 1  have  had  lots  of  business  deals  with 
him  and  every  one  of  them  satisfactory,  I  guess  to 
both."-- 

In  addition  to  the  Cheyenne  Stockyards,  Van  Tassell 
operated  one  in  Green  River.  He  sold  coal  from  his 
Cheyenne  headquarters  at  1 5th  and  Eddy  Street,  now 
Pioneer  Avenue.  Several  of  his  business  journals  and 
check  registers  are  in  the  Wyoming  State  Archives. 
Written  in  beautifiil  script,  they  indicate  the  extent  of 
his  business  operation  and  the  elite  manner  in  which 
he  lived.-' 

'"'  A.  C.  Guernsey,  Hyoniing  Cowboy  Days  (New  York:  G.  P. 
Putman's  Sons,  1936).  81. 

-"  Deming,  3. 
,-'  Burroughs,  261. 

--  Lemmon  papers.  Vertical  File  242.  Wyoming  State  Archives. 

-•'  Van  Tassell  ledgers,  journals  and  check  stub  books.  Collec- 
tion H58-59,  Wyoming  State  .Archives  division.  Parks  and  Cul- 
tural Resources  Department. 


Van  Tassell 
accompanied 
Theodore 
Roosevelt  on 
rides  in 
southeastern 
Wyoming 
during  both  the 
1903  and  1910 
S  trips  made  by 
§  the   "Rough 
Rider's"  trips 
to  Wyoming. 


cummer 


1999 


Van  Tassell  belonged  to  the  Cheyenne  Club,  the  Fort 
D.  A.  Russell  Oftlcers  Club  (dues:  $1  per  month)  and 
patronized  the  best  shops  in  town.  Both  Van  Tassells 
had  dentistry  work  done  by  Wyoming's  premiere  den- 
tist. Dr.  Peter  Appel  in  January  1909;  the  bill  was 
$201.50. 

He  bought  1  19  head  of  cattle  from  rancher  Charles 
B.  Irwin  in  April  1911  for  $2,975.  In  January  of  that 
year,  he  purchased  two  stallions  from  John  M. 
Kuykendall,  a  well-known  horse  fancier,  for  $1,000. 

The  same  check  register  reveals  the  breakdown  of 
his  marriage  to  Louise.  She  traveled  east  in  February 
1909,  and  by  August  of  that  year,  he  sent  a  draft  to  the 
New  Brown  Hotel  in  Denver  to  apply  to  "Mrs.  Van 
TasselFs  account."  He  remitted  $1,214.80  to  the  Den- 
ver Dry  Goods  Company  to  cover  her  account  and  by 
December  191 1,  he  was  forwarding  a  monthly  allow- 
ance of  $400  to  her  in  Denver.  Earlier  that  year,  he  sent 
the  Stock  Growers  Bank  $  1 ,082  to  co\  er  her  overdrafts. 
Meanwhile,  Old  Van  was  taking  care  of  business  in 
Cheyenne  and  eating  at  the  Kabis  Cafe  or  at  Harr\  P. 
Hynds"  Grill. 

The  couple,  whose  marriage  was  a  stellar  social  event 
in  1886,  was  now  rent  asunder.  On  January  17,  1912, 
Louise  W.  Swan  Van  Tassell,  plaintiff,  was  granted  a 
divorce  from  R.  S.  Van  Tassell.  She  charged  that  he 
neglected  her  and  that  he  ne\er  came  home.  He  did  not 
argue.  Two  of  the  most  prominent  names  in  Cheyenne 
legal  circles  represented  them.  Mrs.  Van  Tassell  hired 
T.  Blake  Kennedy,  and  Van  Tassell  retained  John 
Lacey.  Both  lawyers  later  became  judges.  The  tile  con- 
sists of  three  documents:  the  petition,  a  short  answer, 
and  the  decree.  Only  the  signature  of  a  judge  was  needed 
to  end  the  union.  After  the  action,  Louise  Swan  Van 
Tassell  disappeared  from  the  scene. -"^ 

Van  Tassell  retained  his  sharp  eye  for  fine  horses,  a 
good  business  opportunit\  and  comeK  \s  omen.  On  July 
17,  1913.  he  took  his  third  wife.  The  bride  was  Maude 
Bradle\ .  the  36-year-old  daughter  of  Robert  W.  Brad- 
ley. She  had  been  reared  in  Castle  Dare  after  Bradley 
had  reclaimed  it  from  D.  D.  Dare. 

"Mr.  Van"  was  more  than  30  years  her  senior.  Un- 
like his  flamboyant  Victorian-style  wedding  to  Louise 
Swan,  this  simple  ceremony  in  the  home  of  the  bride's 
sister,  Florence  LaFontaine,  was  marked  by  two  short 
paragraphs  in  the  local  newspaper.  It  ended  with,  'Both 
Mr.  And  [Sic]  Mrs.  Van  Tassell  are  too  well  known  in 
Cheyenne  to  need  introduction  and  both  are  blessed 
with  numerous  friends  who  will  rejoice  at  the  happy 
termination  of  their  romance."-"' 

They  enjoyed  a  luxurious  life,  living  in  the  Morrie 
Avenue  mansion,  entertaining  at  their  ranch  home  and 


wintering  in  California.  Van  Tassell  continued  to  ride 
a  "Gypsy"  many  miles  daily  until  1919,  when  a  swing- 
ing ranch  gate  struck  his  hip  and  slowed  him  down.  He 
had  difficulty  walking  and  riding.  He  continued,  how- 
ever, to  direct  his  immense  ranch  interests  until  his  death 
on  April  12,  1931,  in  Pasadena,  California.-''  He  is 
buried  in  a  large  stone  mausoleum  in  Lakeview  Cem- 
etery, Cheyenne,  along  w  ith  members  of  the  Bradley 
famih'.  His  name  is  embossed  in  nine-inch-high  letters 
on  the  lintel. 

Maude  Bradley  Van  Tassell  outlived  him  by  1 7  _\  ears. 
She  continued  life  in  the  same  mode,  presided  over  her 
large  home,  managed  the  ranches  and  spent  winters  in 
California.  One  accounting  states  that  she  inherited 
40,000  acres  in  four  ranches.  The  original  at  Van 
Tassell,  Wyoming,  east  of  Lusk  on  the  Nebraska- 
Wyoming  border,  according  to  one  source,  was  "1/2 
da>s  drive  from  Mrs.  Van  Tassell's  home  m  Chey- 
enne."-^ The  next  largest  was  27  miles  north  of  Chey- 
enne at  Islay,  Wyoming.  There  were  two  smaller 
ranches  west  of  Cheyenne.  Upon  her  death  on  July  25, 
1 949,  the  estate  was  sold  and  the  proceeds  given  to  the 
public. 

What  did  our  Mohawk  Dutchman  leave  as  a  memo- 
rial to  a  life  tilled  with  trail  blazing  adventure  and  busi- 
ness success?  He  had  no  children,  the  ranch  property 
was  sold,  the  livestock  dispersed  and  the  mansions  torn 
down.  Once  a  shipping  point  on  the  Fremont.  Elkhart 
and  Missouri  Valley  Railroad  line,  the  hamlet  of  Van 
Tassell,  Wyoming,  is  now  bypassed  by  the  Burlington 
Railroad.  Only  a  few  scattered  buildings,  a  sign  telling 
that  the  first  American  Legion  Post  in  the  countr\  was 
established  there,  and  a  post  office  situated  in  a  home, 
mark  the  spot.  The  population  is  eight. 

Renesselaer  Schuyler  Van  Tassell  is  a  forgoften  man. 

-"*  Document  10  #88,  on  microfilm  in  the  otTice  of  the  Clerk  of 
the  Court.  Laramie  Count\.  Wyoming. 

-"■  The  Wyoming  TnhiiiiL'.  ,lul_\   18.  1^13. 

-''  Van  Tassell's  ohituar\.  Douglas  E)Uerprise.  April  14.  1931. 

-'  "Wyoming  Cowbelles."  Annals  of  Wyomnig  20-21  (1948- 
49).  231. 


After  retiring  as  director  of  the  Chevenne  Fron- 
tier Days  Old  West  Museum  in  799/.  Slur/ey 
Flynn  devoted  three  years  to  researching  and 
writing  Let 's  Go!  Let 's  Show!  Let 's  Rodeo:  The 
Histoiy  of  Cheyenne  Frontier  Days.  The  book 
was  published  in  1996  to  mark  the  1 00th  run- 
ning of  that  event.  A  resident  of  Chevenne.  she 
currently  is  collecting  stories  of  "forgotten  pio- 
neers, "  both  male  and  female. 


W^ 


Mt 


voming  inemories 


Crook  County's  Hyena 


By  Ellen  Crago  Mueller 


"A  laughing  hyena  is  roaming  the  hills  somewhere  in 
Crook  County,  having  escaped  from  the  Barney  Brothers 
circus  early  Monday  morning."  So  reported  the 
Sundance  Times  on  the  front  page,  June  4,  1936. 

"A  trailer  carrying  animal  cages  was  overturned  and 
several  animals  made  their  escape,"  the  paper  reported. 
"All  were  captured  except  the  hyena,  and  while  circus 
employees  spent  several  hours  in  trying  to  capture  the 
beast,  he  made  good  his  escape." 

The  hyena  escaped  on  what  became  Interstate  90,  one 
mile  east  of  Beulah  on  the  Wyoming-South  Dakota  state 
line.  It  wandered  north  along  the  state  line  and,  for  several 
days,  people  heard  the  strange  barks  and  howls.  It  was  a 
scary  sound. 

"Circus  employees  state  it  is  doubtful  if  the  animal 
would  live  long  in  this  climate,  but  that  remains  to  be 
seen,"  the  Times  article  added.  "They  hyena  is  a  dog- 
like animal  with  longer  fore  legs  than  hind  legs,  and  a 
mane." 

My  parents.  John  and  Edith  (Thomas)  Crago,  had 
purchased  the  Sidney  Thomas  homestead  (my 
grandparents"  place),  one  mile  north  of  Beulah.  In  the 
summer  of  1 935,  the  federal  government  purchased  most 
of  the  livestock  in  the  area  because  of  the  drought  and 
the  poor  market  for  beef  cattle.  We  had  plenty  of  hay  so 
Dad  culled  his  herd  and  kept  the  best  to  feed  throughout 


I^  Sundance  Times 

Published  Thursdaus  In  The  Black  Hills  Of  Wyoming 


TOLUICE  40 


THTmSDAY,  Jinre  4,  1838 


the  winter. 

/"»  ■    u»  ■      im/i  OHiclat  Paptr  Crook  Countu,  Citu  of  Sundance,  and  U^.  Land  Offict 

One  night  in  1936. 
our  cattle  began  to 
die,  one  by  one. 
Within  hours,  two- 
thirds  of  the  herd  was 
dead.  No  one  knew 
what  caused  the 
deaths  so  the  meat 
could  not  be  eaten  nor 
the  milk  from  the 
milk  cows  used.  All 
that  could  be 
salvaged  were  the 
hides.  The  carcasses 
were  hauled  to  a  gully 
in  the  back  pasture 
and  buried. 


Soon,  coyotes  found  the  gully  with  the  meat.  They 
immediately  called  in  all  their  family  and  friends  and 
began  devouring  the  meat.  At  that  point,  they  were  the 
best  fed  and  noisiest  coyotes  in  Wyoming. 

The  escaped  hyena,  roaming  nearby,  heard  the  coyotes 
and  went  to  our  pasture  to  investigate.  Soon,  he  had  run 
off  the  coyotes  and  was  enjoying  a  solo  feast.  In  a  few 
days,  he  either  tired  of  the  beef  diet  or  the  coyotes 
reasserted  their  "ownership."  The  hyena  went  over  the 
hill  to  the  sheep  camp  of  neighbor  Henry  Tauck  to  sample 
some  mutton. 

There  weren't  many  radios  in  that  area  in  1936.  The 
reception  was  not  very  clear  either.  The  only  local  news 
was  from  the  weekly  newspaper  that  came  out  on  Friday. 

When  the  hyena  appeared  at  the  sheep  camp  during 
the  night,  the  sheepherder  heard  the  commotion  and 
thought  the  coyotes  were  attacking  his  tlock.  He  grabbed 
his  ritle,  spotted  the  hyena  and  shot  it.  The  next  morning, 
when  he  went  out  to  remove  the  carcass,  he  was  horrified. 
He  hadn't  heard  about  the  escaped  hyena  and  had  no 
idea  what  it  was  that  he  had  killed.  Eventually,  he  did 
contact  a  sheriffs  deputy  in  Beulah  who  identified  the 
animal  as  the  escaped  hyena. 

"Evidently  lambs  looked  pretty  good  to  the  beast," 
the  Sundance  Times  reported  the  next  week,  "but  the 
sheepherder  objected,  so  the  laughing  hyena  is  not 

laughing 
anymore." 


NTTUBEB  22 


HYEITA  KOTQCiro  HmS  IN 
THE  COUNTY;  ^SCAPED  FEOM 
emeus     HEEE     ON     MONDAY 

CA  laughlni;  hyena  is  roamine 
Lhe  lilIlH  aooiewbere  in  urooK 
couuiy,  tiaviiiK  escaped  [rom  ttiu 
Baxney  Brothers  circus  early 
Monday  mornlns. 

A  -trailer  carrying  animal 
cagts  was  overturned  and  several 
animals  made  their  escape.  All 
wcro  CADtuied  tiut  tlie  lu'ciuu  aaii. 
ithlle  circus  Aauiloyees  sp«a.l  30Vt_ 
cral  hours  in  irylag  to  capture 
the  beast,  he  ma<te  good  his  es- 
cape: 


Circus  omploreeB'tt^tod  that  It 
was  «Ioubt(ul  if  tb^  animal  would 
Ure  long  in  this  cUjiiate%  but  that 
remains  to  -be  seen.  The  hyena 
Is  a  dog-like  animal  with  longer 
fore  legs  than  hind  legs,  and  with 
a  mane. 

« 


The  author,  a 
former  Wyo- 
ming State  His- 
torical Society 
president  and 
long-  time  Soci- 
ety member,  is 
a  frequent  con- 
tributor to  An- 
nals. She  lives 
in  Cheyenne. 


AN  OPINION  WTECm  BY 


The  mountains  of  Grand  Teton  National  Park  draw 
millions  of  visitors  every  year.  Jackson  Hole's 
landscape  represents  one  of  the  most  sublime  in  the 
world.  Yet,  often  overlooked  in  the  natural  beauty  of 
the  region  is  a  rich  human  history.  While  the  mountains 
remain  unscathed,  over  the  past  seventy  years  the 
historically  significant  buildings  have  been  quietly 
disappearing.  This  article  attempts  to  explain  the  loss 
of  this  historic  heritage.  It  also  calls  for  a  change  of 
heart  in  park  policies  as  well  as  a  renewed  commitment 
to  preserve  the  best  of  what  remains. 

Although  today  there  is  reason  for  optimism,  in  the 
past  park  leadership  has  often  taken  the  position  that 
cultural  resources  are  not  important.  They  have  burned, 
removed,  or  ignored  historic  building  with  little  regard 
for  the  past. 

Why  was  this  so?  How  could  the  leadership  of  an 
agency  entrusted  with  preserving  our  cultural  heritage 
be  so  disrespectful  of  that  very  heritage?  There  are  a 
number  of  explanations,  including  budgetary  ones. 
Historic  preservation  costs  money.  And,  of  course, 
some  years  ago  administrators  designated  Grand  Teton 
park  as  a  natural  area,  thereby  relegating  cultural 
resources  to  a  very  low  priority.'  In  addition,  a  number 
of  superintendents  have  been  disinterested  in  cultural 
resources  and  one  was  openly  hostile.-  Also,  some  park 
naturalists  have  argued  that  wildlife  habitat  will  suffer 
if  cultural  resources  receive  attention.'  Although  all 
these  justifications  have  some  validity  —  and  I  will 
return  to  two  of  them  —  I  believe  that  the  unique  history 
of  the  park  partially  explains,  paradoxically,  the 
antipathy  toward  history. 

Politicians  and  philanthropists  created  Grand  Teton 
National  Park  in  a  crucible  of  controversv  seldom 


equaled  in  environmental  history  annals.  Whereas 
Congress  created  Yellowstone  within  two  years,  the 
mountainous  park  to  the  south  required  some  fifty-two 
years  from  idea  to  reality.  This  struggle  cannot  be  fully 
retold  here.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  cattlemen,  rugged 
individualists.  Easterners,  "New  Dealers,"  "state's 
righters,"  state  of  Wyoming  officials.  Forest  Service 
personnel,  and  Park  Service  leaders  aU  wanted  control 
over  Jackson  Hole  and  the  Tetons.  They  cajoled, 
fought,  and  sued  each  other  before  the  Park  Service 
emerged  triumphant."* 

How  did  this  tempestuous  history  undermine  historic 
preser\ation';*  Much  of  the  fiat,  broad  reaches  of 
Jackson  Hole  had  been  homesteaded.  The  areas  around 
Mormon  Row,  Jenny  Lake.  Moose,  and  Moran  all 

'  The  Grand  Teton  National  Park  .\ Ulster  Plan.  I'^Tb,  p.  3.  states 
that  "Grand  Teton,  by  the  provisions  of  its  estahhshment  act,  is  a 
natural  area." 

'  Since  some  of  these  superintendents  are  ahve  and  some  are 
still  active  in  the  NPS.  it  seems  reasonable  to  avoid  naming 
specific  superintendents. 

'  Other  reasons  that  have  surfaced  included  problems  with 
preserving  structures  on  a  flood  plain.  A  common  reason  for 
inaction  is  the  lack  of  a  consensus,  even  though  the  structure  or 
site  has  been  studied  and  documented. 

■*  For  a  full  account  see  Robert  \\ .  Righter,  Cnicihlc  For 
Conser\-alioii:Tlie  Struggle  for  Grand  Teton  National  Park 
(Boulder:  Colorado  .Associated  University  Press.  1982).  See  also 
David  J.  Savior,  Jackson  Hole.  IVyoming  (Norman,  Oklahoma: 
University  of  Oklahoma  Press.  1970);  Alfred  Runte.  National 
Parks:  The  American  Experience  (Lincoln:  University  of  Neb- 
raska Press,  1 979);  John  Ise,  Our  National  Park  Policy:  A  Critical 
Histoiy  (Baltimore:  Johns  Hopkins  University  Press.  1961 ).  For  a 
more  local  account  see  Robert  B.  Belts,  Along  the  Ramparts  of  the 
Tetons:  The  Saga  of  Jackson  Hole.  IVyoming  {Bou\der:  University 
of  Colorado  Press.  1978).  and  Nathaniel  Burt.  Jackson  Hole 
Journal  (Norman:  University  of  Oklahoma  Press.  1981). 


10 


Annals  or  Wyoming:The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


featured  numerous  buildings,  grazing  cattle,  and  some 
irrigated  fields.  To  create  the  park  as  we  know  it  today, 
these  settlers  and  dude  ranchers  would  have  to  be 
bought  out.  The  man  to  do  it  was  John  D.  Rockefeller, 
Jr.,  who  in  1927  committed  himself  to  purchasing 
private  land  north  of  Jackson  and  on  both  the  west  and 
east  side  of  the  Snake  River.  By  1 933  he  had  purchased 
o\  er  30,000  acres.  The  modis  operandi  of  Rockefeller's 
Snake  River  Land  Company  was  to  either  bum  or 
remove  settler  structures  with  the  thought  that  they 
distracted  from  the  natural,  pristine  beauty  of  the 
valley.  No  one  knows  just  how  many  structures  the 
company  and  the  Park  Service  destroyed  between  1 927 
and  1980,  but  the  most  knowledgeable  estimate  is 
seventy-five  percent." 

Sensible  reasons  existed  for  torching  many  of  these 
buildings.  Some  were  poorly  constructed,  example  of 
what  locals  called  cowboy  carpentry.  Some  buildings 
featured  advertising,  multiple  power  and  telephone 
lines,  and  unsightly  building  materials.  Others  were 
falling  down,  even  without  the  assistance  of  the  Snake 
River  Land  Company.  These  buildings  detracted  from 
the  mountain  landscape.^  Thus  the  company  busied 
itself  with  not  only  buying  land,  but  sanitizing  these 
purchases  through  removal  of  human  presence.  Since 
the  homesteading  era  was  so  recent  (about  1890  to 
1930)  it  seldom,  if  ever,  occurred  to  company  officials 
that  they  were  destroying  buildings  of  potential 
historical  or  cultural  value.     The  only  buildings  to 


escape  this  purge  were  those  which  had  immediate 
utility  —  either  to  serve  the  traveling  public,  the  needs 
of  the  company,  or  the  National  Park  Service. 

In  other  words,  from  the  mid- 1920s  leadership  has 
been  committed  to  destroying  evidence  of  settler 
habitation,  thus  returning  the  park  landscape  to  a  pre- 
1880  condition.  The  Snake  River  Land  Company 
commenced  this  program,  but  when  the  National  Park 
Service  acquired  title  to  the  land  in  1949  it  continued 
the  program  of  clearing  buildings  and  structures.  This 
practice  continues  to  this  day.  It  is  a  historical  pattern 
ingrained  for  seventy  years.  There  have  been 
exceptions,  such  as  the  Cunningham  Homestead  and 
the  Maud  Noble  cabin,  and  past  administrators  should 
be  given  credit. 

However,  in  general  the  NPS  has  tended  to  view 
early  ranching  structures  as  graffiti  on  the  landscape: 

'  Former  Grand  Teton  National  Park  historian  John  Daugherty 
gave  75%  as  a  reasonable  estimate.  In  conversing  with  Mike 
Johnson,  the  current  Cultural  Resources  specialist,  he  believes 
this  is  a  reasonable  estimate. 

^  In  a  long  letter  from  Horace  Albright  to  Wilford  Neilson, 
April  5,  1933,  published  as  Mi\  John  Z).  Rockefeller.  Jr.  's 
Proposed  Gift  of  Land  for  the  National  Park  System  in  Wyoming, 
Albright  made  it  clear  that  both  Rockefeller  and  his  wife  were 
appalled  at  the  tawdry  dance  hall  and  "unsightly  structures"  in  the 
Jenny  Lake  area.  Certainly  Rockefeller's  decision  to  act  was 
largely  based  on  his  realization  that  Jackson  Hole  was  doomed  to 
the  ubiquitous  ugllfication  associated  with  unplanned  tourist 
development  unless  he  did  something. 


Leek 's  Lodge. 
Photograph  was 
taken  .shortly  he- 
fore  the  building 
was  demolished. 


cummer 


Bar  BC  RiVich  in  the  !920s^ 
J.  E.  Stimson  photograph. 
Wyoming    Stale    Archives. 
Dept.  of  State  Parks  and  Cul- 
tural Resources 


edifices  which  represent  desecration  of  nature.  Never- 
theless, attitudes  change  and  time  passes.  It  is  good  to 
remind  ourselves  that  the  National  Register  of  Historic 
Places  guidelines  state  that  a  structure  only  fifty  years 
old  may  be  eligible.  Thus,  what  was  one  generation's 
graffiti  ma\  be  a  later  generation's  historical  artifact. 
One  hundred  and  t1ft>  years  ago  migrating  Americans 
scribbled  their  names  on  the  surface  of  Independence 
Rock.  Nowadays  we  revere  such  graffiti,  protecting 
and  interpreting  it. 

For  a  number  of  _\  ears  Grand  Teton  National  Park 
administrators  had  little  interest  in  preserving,  let  alone 
protecting.  It  is  time  for  a  change,  for  there  is  little  left, 
and  no  viable  reason  to  continue  the  cultural  carnage. 
The  argument  that  Grand  Teton  is  a  "natural  area"  is  no 
longer  \iable.  That  is  an  arbitrar\  categorization  which 
can  occasionally  give  direction,  but  surely  should  not 
rescind  the  charge  under  the  1916  NPS  Organic  Act 
and  the  Historic  Sites  Act  of  1935  to  protect,  preserve 
and  interpret  our  cultural  heritage. 

Of  course  in  today's  world  it  is  more  difficult  for 
administrators  to  simply  bum  down  a  building.  They 
must  contend  with  Section  106  of  the  Historic 
Preservation  Act  of  1966,  which  requires  study  and 
evaluation.  Unfortunately,  continued  site  study  often 
sounds  a  death  toll  tor  the  cultural  resource  in  question. 
For  instance,  in  Grand  Teton  Park.  Leek's  Lodge, 
enrolled  on  the  National  Register,  represents  a  victim 
of  indecision.  From  1970  and  perhaps  earlier,  the  NPS 
vacillated  on  what  to  do  with  this  historic  lodge  on  the 
shores  of  Jackson  Lake.  In  the  meantime  Leeks  Lodge 
deteriorated.  By  1986.  when  I  first  took  an  interest  in  it, 
it   was   beyond   repair  or  recycling.    In    1995   park 


administrators  asked  for  bids  to  remove  the  building. 
Neglect,  administrative  apath\  and  indecision  resulted 
in  the  effective  destruction  of  the  building.  Continued 
study  --  \\  ithout  stabilization  and  interpretation  —  can 
simply  guarantee  the  loss  of  the  very  resource  which  is 
being  studied.  Leek's  Lodge  has  now  been  burned  and 
all  remnants  of  its  existence  remo\ed. 

.Another  example  which  illustrates  the  need  for 
action  rather  than  talk  is  Struthers  and  Katherine  Burt's 
Bar  BC  dude  ranch,  estabished  in  1912.  It  quickK 
became  the  best  known  dude  ranch  in  the  \alle_\.  The 
Burts  w  ere  both  educated  Easterners,  yet  committed  to 
Jackson  Hole.  While  Struthers  ran  the  ranch.  Katherine 
wrote  novels.  Besides  attracting  important  literary 
figures  from  both  the  East  and  West  Coasts.  Struthers 
took  a  leading  role  in  the  fight  to  establish  Grand  Teton 
National  Park.  In  fact,  an  argument  can  be  made  that 
without  his  efforts,  the  park  as  we  know  it  toda\ .  w ould 
not  exist. 

The  Bar  BC  has  both  a  physical  and  a  literary  history, 
and  is  without  question  the  most  historic  dude  ranch  in 
the  national  park."  Howe\er,  it  also  became  a  thom  in 
the  side  of  park  administrators.  Brietl_\,  Struthers  Burt 
sold  out  in  1929  to  his  partner.  Irving  Corse.  In  turn. 
Corse  sold  to  Rockefeller's  Snake  River  Land 
Company,  w  ith  the  pro\  ision  that  he  and  his  inunediate 
heirs  could  continue  to  run  the  place.  Corse  committed 
suicide,  but  in  the  meantime  he  had  married  a  women 
Two  books  focus  on  the  Bar  BC.  Struthers  Burt  wrote  The 
Diary  of  a  Dude-Wrangler  (Nev\  ^ork:  Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 
1*^24)  and  his  son,  Nathaniek  who  was  born  on  a  kitchen  table  at 
the  Bar  BC  in  1913.  vjvoie  Jackson  Hole  Journal  (Norman:  Cniv. 
of  Oklahoma  Press.  1983),  largely  the  story  of  his  boyhood  in 
Jackson  Hole  and  the  Bar  BC. 


12 


Annals  oi  Wyoming:Tne  Wyoming  History  Journal 


thirty  years  his  junior.  Margaretta  Corse  carried  on 
until  the  1980s. 

By  the  1 950s,  however,  the  Bar  BC  had  lost  its  sheen 
and  glamour.  The  buildings  were  in  disrepair  and 
Margaretta  rented  them  out  cheap  in  the  1960s  and 
1970s.  She  also  came  to  despise  the  National  Park 
Service,  and  I  think  the  feeling  was  mutual.  I  remember 
in  1980  arriving  at  the  bench  above  the  Bar  BC  with 
Grand  Teton  National  Park  historian  John  Daugherty. 
John  announced  he  would  go  no  further,  fearing  that 
Margaretta  might  shoot  her  rifle  at  him.  He  had  no  idea 
whether  she  would  aim  to  hit. 

Perhaps  the  shaky  relationship  between  Margaretta 
and  the  NPS  made  administrators  blind  to  the  historic 
importance  of  the  old  dude  ranch.  In  1983,  when  I  was 
a  member  of  the  Wyoming  Consulting  Committee  for 
the  National  Register,  the  committee  visited  the  Bar 
BC.  Superintendent  Jack  Stark  accompanied  us,  and  as 
we  walked  through  the  old  ranch  he  leaned  over  to  me 
and  said,  "Bob,  I  want  to  bring  in  a  bull  dozer  and  level 
this  place."'  One  thing  about  Stark,  he  always  spoke  his 
mind,  and  you  knew  exactly  what  he  thought  about 
cultural  resources! 

In  1986  Stark  did  his  best  to  carry  out  this  wish.  By 
that  year  Mrs.  Corse  resided  in  a  Philadelphia  nursing 
home.  She  authorized  the  Frome  Auction  Service  of 
Afton,  Wyoming,  to  dispose  of  the  remaining  Bar  BC 
property.  What  was  remarkable  was  that  not  only  the 
furniture  and  various  memorabilia  would  go,  but  also 
the  guest  cabins,  the  main  house,  the  dining  hall,  and 
the  recreation  hall.*  Didn't  those  building  belong  to  the 
National  Park  Service  as  a  result  of  Rockefeller's 
(Jackson  Hole  Preserve)  gift  in  1 949?  A  check  with  the 
Teton  County  Assessor's  office  revealed  that  county 
property  taxes  had  not  been  collected  on  the  buildings 
since  1 948  ~  a  clear  sign  that  the  buildings  belonged  to 
the  federal  government. 

When  confronted  with  this  evidence,  park  adminis- 
trators retreated.  Faced  with  local  newspaper  publicity 
and  concern  by  the  both  the  National  Trust  for  Historic 
Preservation  and  the  Advisory  Council  for  Historic 
Preservation,  Assistant  Superintendent  Bill  Schenk 
admitted  that  "ownership  was  still  unclear.. .and  they 
[the  cabins]  would  not  be  offered  for  sale  Saturday."  '' 

Of  course  there  was  nothing  unclear  about  owner- 
ship. The  administrators  at  GTNP  were  attempting  to 
rid  the  park  of  the  building  without  going  through  the 
normal  steps  (Section  106  of  the  1966  Historic 
Preservation  Act)  of  evaluation  for  historic  structures. 
Local  vigilance,  the  media,  and  the  help  of  national 
organizations  exposed  their  plans,  thus  thwarting  a 
legally  questionable  action. 


Although  local  vigilance  saved  the  Bar  BC  buildings 
from  removal  and  probable  destruction,  the  status  of 
the  old  dude  ranch  remains  in  question.  A  new 
superintendent  has  been  ambivalent  at  best,  and  when 
ambivalence  is  the  feeling,  studying  is  the  policy. 
Remarkably,  the  National  Park  Service  issued  a 
contract  to  the  Roy  Eugene  Graham  and  Associates  for 
a  Historic  Structures  Report  on  the  Bar  BC.  The  cost: 
Approximately  $225,000  dollars!  The  report  suggested 
that  the  160  acre  property  should  be  enclosed  by  a 
cyclone  fence.  Furthermore,  the  dilapidated  cabins 
should  be  restored  at  a  price  tag  exceeding  one  million 
dollars.  Preposterous  in  cost  and  impractical  in  its 
recommendations,  the  report  was  far  from  helpful  since 
the  recommendations  were  out-of-character  with  NPS 
standards.  It  merely  gave  the  GT  administrators 
another  excuse  for  doing  nothing.  If  the  Park  Service 
had  spent  the  $225,000  in  stabilizing  the  buildings  and 
inter-preting  the  site,  it  would  have  been  money  well 
spent.'" 

Although  volunteers  have  cleaned  the  site  and 
replaced  the  roofs  on  some  of  the  Bar  BC  cabins,  the 
NPS  remains  ambivalent.  However,  at  this  writing  it 
appears  that  the  majority  of  the  buildings  will  be 
stabilized  and  interpreted  for  the  public." 

These  hopeful  signs  at  the  Bar  BC  suggest  that  the 
Park  Service  is  beginning  to  respond  to  preservationist 
concerns.  Nowhere  is  this  new  spirit  of  cooperation 
more  evident  than  on  Mormon  Row,  the  farming 
community  established  in  1896.  Over  the  years  many 
of  the  buildings  have  been  removed,  and  with  the 
exception  of  the  Clark  Moulton  family's  one  acre,  the 
settlement  has  been  in  moldering  decay.  However,  in 
the  summer  of  1 995  the  Moulton  family  restored  the 
much-photographed  bam,  and  the  following  year  a 
volunteer  group  from  Lansing,  Michigan,  stabilized 
the  Andy  Chambers  homestead  house.  Last  summer 
the  work  continued,  as  the  Lansing  group  restored  the 
Chambers  pump  house,  and  crews  contracted  by  the 
National  Park  Service  shingled  six  Mormon  Row  bams 
and  homes.  Plans  are  now  underway  to  make  this 
historic  district  available  to  the  public  as  an  historic 
walking  tour.  Given  the  setting  and  the  resource,  it  will 
likely  become  a  popular  locale  for  those  tourists 
seeking  a  different  experience. 

«  Jackson  Hole  Ne^^'s,  July  30,  1986,  1. 

'  Casper  Star-Tribune,  August  16,  1986,  Bl. 

'"  I  do  not  know  the  exact  cost  of  the  Bar  BC  contract,  but  NPS 
officials  have  not  objected  to  a  figure  between  $225,000  and 
$240,000. 

"  Telephone  conversation  with  Mike  Johnson,  Cultural 
Resource  Specialist,  GTNP,  March  5,  1999. 


Summer  1999 

Another  significant  site  which  seemed  destined  for 
gradual  ruin,  if  not  the  wrecking  ball,  was  the 
magnitlcent  Geraldine  Lucas  homestead,  nestled  at  the 
base  of  the  Tetons.  For  years  its  future  was  uncertain, 
but  now  it  appears  it  will  be  a  candidate  for  modified 
restoration.  Volunteers  from  the  Teton  County  Historic 
Preservation  Board  cleaned  up  the  place  in  1 996.  Other 
volunteers  have  shored  up  the  roof  on  the  original 
homestead  house.  The  National  Park  Service  is 
considering  issuing  a  permit  for  use  as  the  center  of  an 
artist-in-residence  program. 

These  activities  at  the  Bar  BC,  Mormon  Row  and  the 
Lucas  Homestead  have  energized  those  interested  in 
historic  preservation.  There  has  yet  to  be  a  strong 
commitment  to  historic  perservation  by  Grand  Teton 
administrators,  but  the  work  has  begun  and  volunteers 
are  cleaning  sites  and  pounding  nails.  Perhaps  that  is  all 
we  can  hope  for,  and  yet  workers  should  not  labor 
without  assurances  that  their  efforts  are  not  in  vain. 

Other  regional  superintendents  could  provide  a 
model.  At  Glacier  National  Park  Superintendent 
Randy  Jones  is  turning  preservation  around.  Over  a 
year  ago  he  remarked  that  historic  preservation  "is  long 
overdue.  The  natural  parks  have  been  long  overlooked 
for  their  cultural  and  historic  values,  and  certainly  this 
park  has..."  '-  Amen.  He  is  changing  things.  From 
what  I  hear,  he  has  embraced  cultural  resources.  We 
need  that  sort  of  commitment  in  Jackson  Hole. 

A  recent  article  in  National  Parks  Magazine  by 
Yvette  La  Pierre  states  that  "the  Park  Service  is 
beginning  to  recognize  that  landscapes  shaped  by 
humans  —  cultural  landscapes  —  are  as  much  a  part  of 
our  country's  rich  heritage  as  natural  ones."  "  I  hope 
the  word  reaches  Northwest  Wyoming. 

What  has  become  evident  to  some  superintendents  is 
that  when  you  eliminate  human  beings  from  the  natural 
landscape,  you  are  creating  an  artificial  one.  We  are  a 
part  of  nature,  for  better  or  worse,  and  to  eliminate  the 
human  species  ( where  it  once  existed)  from  the  story  of 
the  park  is  to  create  an  artificial  story;  a  story  which 
does  not  relate  to  reality. 

Of  course,  as  we  know,  money  is  usually  the  bottom 
line,  and  it  is  a  requirement  for  historic  preservation.  It 
is  an  age  old  justitlcation  for  inaction.  However,  this 
excuse  may  be  going  by  the  wayside.  In  a  1997  com- 
mentary in  National  Geographic  Traveler  magazine, 
editor  Richard  Busch  remarked  that  with  the  new 
entrance  fee  schedule,  Grand  Teton  National  Park 
could  expect  increased  revenue  of  approximately  S4 
million  over  the  next  three  years.  What  to  do  with  the 
money?  Busch  states  that  the  "dollars  will  be  put  to 
work    improving   roads   and   trails,    renovating   the 


13 

visitors  center,  and  restoring  historic  buildings..."  '"■ 
Supposedly  there  will  be  four  million  dollars  for  three 
issues.  It  might  be  sheer  folly  to  expect  such  generous 
funding  for  historic  resources,  yet  the  need  and  the 
importance  can  no  longer  be  swept  under  the  rug,  nor 
can  Teton  Park  administrators  put  forth  the  traditional 
budget  excuses  with  a  straight  face.  Money  is 
available,  and  it  is  high  time  that  cultural  resources 
claim  their  due. 

So  people  who  care  about  cultural  resources  in  Grand 
Teton  National  Park  have  hope.  Teton  County  now  has 
a  Historic  Preservation  Board  (CLG)  which  reviews 
and  comments  on  park  proposals.  It  also  addresses 
preservation  issues  outside  park  boundaries.  It  has 
contracted  to  survey  all  historic  sites  and  buildings  in 
the  county,  and  this  survey  is  in  the  second  year  of  a 
three  year  time  frame.  Board  members  conduct 
windshield  surveys  of  properties,  write  National 
Register  nominations,  educate  children,  and  often  get 
their  feet  wet  and  their  hands  dirty. 

Interest  in  history  extends  to  the  county  as  well  as  the 
park. 

But  to  return  to  the  park.  It  has  local  support.  Money 
is  available,  and  opportunities  for  public/private 
partnerships  on  projects  abound.  It  is  time  for  action. 
The  public  has  a  right  to  expect  the  utmost  dedication 
from  the  agency  which  is  responsible  for  the  cultural 
resources  of  not  only  Grand  Teton  National  Park,  but  of 
the  nation. 

■  Kevin  McCullen,  "Delving  Into  a  Park's  Past."  Rocky 
MoiiiUain  News.  September  14,  1997.  14A. 

'  N'vette  La  Pierre.  "The  Taming  of  the  View,"  Nalioiuil  Parks 
(September/October.  1997),  30. 

'^  Richard  Busch,  "Editor's  Note,"  Ncilional  Geographic 
Traveler  14  (July/August,  1997),  10. 


The  author  is  a  seasonal  resident  of  Jackson 
Hole  and  a  recently  retired  professor  of  his- 
tory at  the  University  of  Texas  at  El  Paso. 
He  was  formerly  on  the  histoty  facultw  Uni- 
versity of  Wyoming.  In  August  he  will  Join 
his  wife.  Sheny  L.  Smith,  at  Southern  Meth- 
odist University  as  a  research  professor  of 
histoiT.  He  is  author  of  Crucible  for  Conser- 
vation: The  Struggle  for  Grand  Teton  Na- 
tional Park  (Colorado  Associated  University 
Press.  1982).  and  more  recently.  Wind  Power 
in  America:  A  History  (University  of  Okla- 
homa Press.  1996).  He  continues  his  com- 
mittnent  to  historic  preservation  in  Jackson 
Hole. 


To  Preserve  the  View 


A  "Tour"  in  Text  and  Pictures  of  Historic  Sites 

Relating  to  the 
Establishment  of  Grand  Teton  National  Park 

By  Tamsen  Emerson  Hert 


Picture  a  dance  hall  on  the  east  side  of  Jenny  Lake  or 
400  summer  homes  dotting  the  shores  of  Jackson  Lake. 
Imagine  scores  of  fast  food  restaurants,  motels  and  curio 
shops  lining  Highway  191 .  This  sight  could  have  been 
seen  were  it  not  for  the  strong  commitment  to 
conservation  that  a  number  of  Jackson  Hole  residents 
demonstrated  between  1920  and  1950.  Concern  for 
the  preservation  of  the  Tetons  as  well  as  the  view  from 
east  of  the  Snake  River  pitted  neighbors  against  each 
other.  Nathaniel  Burt,  son  of  Struthers  Burt,  gave 
tribute  to  those  concerned  individuals:  "To  those  like 
my  father  and  his  friends  who  loved  the  country  as 
they  had  first  known  it,  but  who  recognized  that  the 
tourist  was  coming,  some  sort  of  special  preservation 
scheme  was  imperative.  Letting  human  nature  take  its 
course  meant  ruin."' 

At  times  even  those  on  the  same  side  disagreed  over 
practices  and  plans  for  the  Park.  John  D.  Rockefeller, 
Jr.,  entered  the  scene  early  on  and  without  his 
involvement,  the  Park  certainly  would  have  been 
smaller.- 

This  tour  will  guide  you  to  some  of  the  scenes,  and 
discuss  some  of  the  individuals,  that  were  most 
significant  in  the  park  debate.  A  few  of  the  sites  simply 
provide  a  little  history  about  the  Jackson  Hole  region. 


Begin  at  Park  Headquarters  in  Moose.  Directions  to 
the  next  site  follow  each  summaiy.  Some  of  the  roads 
you  will  he  traveling  on  are  dirt  and  by  looking  at  the 
map  you  can  find  alternative  routes  if  you  wish  to 
remain  on  paved  roads. 

Directions:  Leave  the  parking  lot  at  the  Visitor 
Center.  Turn  towards  the  Park  Entrance  Gates.  Your 
entry  fee  is  good  for  seven  days  at  both  Grand  Teton- 
Yellowstone  National  Parks.  Go  north  on  the  Teton 
Pork  Road.  Turn  right  at  the  road  to  the  Chapel  of  the 
Transfiguration  and  Menor  's  Feriy. 

MAUD  NOBLE  CABIN 

This  is  where  it  all  began.  On  July  26,  1923,  Horace 
Albright,  Superintendent  of  Yellowstone  National  Park, 
received  an  invitation  to  meet  with  local  residents  and 
conservationists  Struthers  Burt,  Horace  Camcross,  Jack 
Eynon,  Joe  Jones,  Dick  Winger  and  Maud  Noble.  These 
individuals  discussed  their  concerns  about  the  future 

' 'H?L\h?in\e\^un,  Jackson  Hole  Journal.  (Norman:  University 
of  Oklahoma  Press,  1983),  132. 

-  The  story  of  the  struggle  is  quite  involved.  Robert  Righter 
has  provided  the  full  story  in  his  book.  Crucible  for  Consen-a- 
tion:  The  Struggle  for  Grand  Teton  National  Park  ( Boulder:  Colo- 
rado Associated  Universitv  Press,  1982). 


1999 


15 

the  Tetons  as  a    backdrop,  is  one  of  the  most 
photographed  sites  in  Wyoming. 

Other  residents  of  Antelope  Flats  took  the  opportunity 
to  sell  their  kinds  to  John  D.  Rockefeller  Jr.'s  Snake 
River  Land  Company.  Many  people,  including  Gov. 
Frank  Emerson  were  unhappy  about  these  sales.  They 
believed  good,  arable  lands  should  not  be  part  of  the 
land  purchase.  However,  settlers  in  Mormon  Row 
wanted  to  sell.  The  Snake  River  Land  Company 
purchased  the  land  for  S50  an  acre.  Homesteads  that 
had  not  been  improved  in  the  required  amount  of  time 
were  terminated  by  the  General  Land  Office.' 

Today  the  Park  Ser\  ice  does  not  have  plans  for  this 
area.  There  is  potential  here,  as  with  other  areas 
throughout  the  Park,  for  a  "living  history"  program. 

Directions:  Return  to  the  Antelope  Flats  road  and 
turn  east.  Lo^  structures  stood  on  the  north  side  of  the 
road  This  was  the  Pfeifer  houiestcail  The  orii^inal 
buildings  here  were  left  to  decay  and  burned  in  a 
wildfire  in  1994.  Joe  Pfeifer  came  to  Jackson  's  tfolc 
from  Montana  in  191(1  mid  lived  here,  without  any 
nuidern  conveniences,  luitil  his  ileath  in  1964.  Contiinie 
on  the  Antelope  Flats  Road.  Before  reaching  the 
Schwiering  Studio,  take  the  old  Yellowstone  li'agon 
Road  and  travel  north. 

'  Orin  H.  and  Lorraine  G.  Bonney.  Bonnc\s  Guulc  Grand 
Telon  .\alional  Park  ami  Jack.'^o?i's  Hole  (Houston:  (3rin  [1,  and 
Lorraine  G.  Bonney,  1%1,  1970),  86. 

^  Robert  Righter.  .-I  Telon  Country  .-[luliolagx  (Boulder;  Rob- 
erts Rinehart  Inc..  IQW).  173. 

'  Risihter.  Crucible  for  Ci)n.sen'alion.  64. 


of  the  valley.  Commercialization  threatened  the 
destaiction  of  wildlife  as  well  as  the  scenic  beauty. 
Struthers  Burt,  a  writer  and  dude  rancher,  stated  the 
plan:  "It  would  be  a  museum  on  the  hoof —  native 
wild  life,  cattle,  wranglers,  all  living  again  for  a  brief 
time  each  summer  the  life  of  the  early  West  with  its 
glamour,  romance  and  charm."'  The  majority  felt  that 
this  proposal  was  sound.  A  "recreational  area"  reflected 
their  preference  for  protection  but  not  the  limitations 
of  preservation  as  then  existed  in  Yellowstone.  They 
wanted  to  provide  for  traditional  activities  such  as 
hunting,  grazing  and  dude  ranching. 

The  plan  of  action  required  one  or  more  wealthy 
individuals  to  quietly  purchase  land  north  of  .lackson's 
Hole.  The  individual(s)  would  then  hold  the  land  until 
Congress  would  reimburse  the  landowner  and  turn  the 
land  over  to  the  National  Park  Ser\  ice.  Those  concerned 
people  attending  this  historic  meeting  had  no  idea  that 
they  would  need  onh  one  individual  to  accomplish  their 
dream. 

The  plan  first  discussed  at  this  site  has  been 
accomplished  b\  the  creation  of  Grand  Teton  National 
Park.  A  plaque  on  the  doorway  reads:  "The  broad 
vision  and  patriotic  foresight  of  those  who  met  here 
that  July  evening  in  1923  will  be  increasingly 
appreciated  by  our  country  with  the  passing  years."  ^ 

Directions.  Tour  the  Menor  's  Feny  area  and  visit 
the  Chapel  of  the  Transfiguration.  Travel  east  to  Moose 
Junction.  Turn  north  on  Highway  191.  Drive  a  short 
distance  to  .4ntelope  Flats  Road,  turn  right.  .4t  the  first 
dirt  road  (Kelly),  turn  south.  This  area  is  known  as 
Mormon  Row. 


MORMON  ROW 

Mormon  Row  was  settled  around  the 
turn  of  the  century  by  several  Mormon 
families  moving  into  the  area  from  Idaho. 
May,  Moulton,  and  Chambers  are  just  a 
few  of  those  early  settlers  —  many  of  their 
descendants  reside  in  Jackson  today.  A 
school,  church  and  other  buildings  are  all 
that  remain. 

John  Moulton  and  his  wife  Bartha, 
homesteaded  here  in  1908.  While  pro\ing 
up  on  the  land,  John  worked  on  other 
ranches  and  trapped  beaver  and  coyotes. 
The  Moulton  homestead  was  sold  to  the 
National  Park  Service  in  1953  with  a  lease 
on  the  land  until  John  Moulton's  death. 
The  Moulton  Bam.  on  the  west  side  with 


Site  of  Pfeifer  Homesteao 


Krois 


16 


Annals  or  Wyoming:Tne  Wyoming  History  Journal 


Postcard.  Kimmel  Kabim  and  Jenny  Lake  Store,  Jackson  Hole.  c.  1 940. 


Author's  collection 


HEDRICK'S  POINT 

John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr.,  and  his  family  visited  Horace 
Albright  in  Yellowstone  in  July  1926.  Albright  took 
the  family  on  a  tour  of  the  Jackson  Hole  area.  The 
spectacular  scenery  of  the  Tetons  made  an  impression 
on  Rockefeller  and  his  wife.  Both  were  disturbed  by 
the  commercial  developments  encroaching  on  the 
Leigh-String-Jenny  Lake  region. 

On  the  return  trip  to  Yellowstone  Albright  stopped 
near  this  point  on  the  bluff  overlooking  the  Snake  River. 
(See  photograph,  page  14).  Albright  described  it: 

It  was  particularly  lovely  that  afternoon.  The  shadows 
of  the  Tetons  were  already  reaching  across  the  ri\'er 
bottoms,  but  Antelope  Flats,  the  lands  around  Blacktail 
Butte  and  the  distant  hills  cutting  off  Jackson  from  the 
Gros  Ventre  were  still  bathed  in  sunshine  from  a  clear 
sky.  As  we  stood  on  this  little  "rise"  and  absorbed  the 
beauty  of  the  scene  spread  before  us,  I  told  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Rockefeller  of  the  meeting  at  Miss  Noble's  cabin 
three  years  earlier  and  the  plan  to  protect  and  preserve 
for  the  future  this  sublime  valley." 

Rockefeller's  commitment  to  preservation  of  the 
valley  inay  have  come  from  stopping  at  Hedrick's  Point. 
That  winter.  Rockefeller  requested  Albright's  report 
and  map  discussing  the  proposal  outlined  at  this  point 
overlooking  the  Snake.  Rockefeller  made  his  decision 
—  acquire  lands  throughout  the  valley  to  protect  the 
scenery  and  preserve  the  wildlife. 

The  Snake  River  Land  Company  was  incorporated 
on  August  25,  1927,  and  purchase  of  the  lands  began. 

Directions:  Continue  north  on  the  wagon  road  until 
you  return  to  Highway  191.  Turn  right  (north)  and 
then  turn  left  at  the  Cunningham  Cabin  Historic  Site. 


CUNNINGHAM  CABIN 

J.  Pierce  Cunningham  lived  in  Jackson  Hole  for  40 
years.  This  homestead,  established  in  1 890,  formed  the 
nucleus  of  his  Bar  Flying  U  Ranch.  Cunningham  served 
as  postmaster,  game  warden  and  justice  of  the  peace. 
When  Teton  County  was  organized  in  1923,  he  was 
chosen  as  one  of  the  commissioners.  From  the  parking 
area  there  is  a  short  trail  to  the  buildings.  A  guide  to 
the  area  is  available. ' 

Reports  of  a  horse  stealing  operation  based  in  Red 
Lodge,  Montana,  appeared  in  many  newspapers  during 
1892.  In  April  1893,  two  suspected  horse  thieves, 
George  Spenser  and  Mike  Burnett,  who  had  wintered 
at  Cunningham's  Spread  Creek  Ranch,  were  shot  by 
posse  members.  Later  investigation  revealed  that  the 
leaders  of  the  posse  were  not  U.  S.  marshals.* 

Directions:  Continue  north  on  J 91  to  Moran 
Junction.  Turn  west  and  continue  to  the  Oxbow  Bend 
Turnout. 

OXBOW  BEND 

Laurance  Rockefeller  inherited  his  father's  love  of 
nature  and  interest  in  conservation.  He  took  over  the 
Jackson  Hole  Project  in  1945  and  developed  tourist 
attractions  that  would  appeal  to  those  visitors  in  the 
valley  for  only  a  short  visit.  One  of  these  attractions 

"  Letter,  Horace  M.  Albright  to  Mr.  Wilford  Neilson,  "History 
of  the  Snake  River  Land  Company  and  of  the  Efforts  to  Preserve 
the  Jackson  Hole  Country  for  the  Nation,"  (Jackson:  Snake  River 
Land  Company,  1933?),  24. 

'  Cimningliam  Cabin  Self-Guided  Trail.  (Moose:  Grand  Teton 
Natural  History  Association,  1985). 

*  Elizabeth  Wied  Hayden,  "Shoot  Out  at  Cunningham's  Cabin," 
Teton  8:29-31. 


3'ummor 


1999 


was  the  Jackson  Hole  Wildlife  Park  located  at  the 
Oxbow  Bend. 

The  Wildlife  Park  was  to  be  a  fenced  area  containing 
buffalo,  elk,  deer,  antelope,  black  bear,  beaver  and  other 
native  species.  The  plan  suggested  that  such  an 
attraction  would  serve  as  "a  gathering  point  for 
naturalists  and  wild-life  enthusiasts,  and  an  area  for 
scientific  study  in  wild-life  conservation,  propagation, 
and  management  on  a  scale  unparalleled  in  the  nation.'"" 
Such  a  park  would  ensure  visitors  a  view  of  western 
wildlife. 

This  "zoo"  (as  it  was  referred  to  by  some)  incited 
another  battle  between  already  warring  factions. 
Conservation  groups  were  especially  upset  at  this  plan. 
Olaus  Murie,  wildlife  biologist  and  supporter  of  the 
park  plan,  was  vehemently  opposed  to  such  a  "park." 
In  an  article  in  National  Parks  Magazine  in  1 946.  Murie 
wrote: 

I  ga\  e  whole-hearted  support  to  the  creation  of  the 
Jackson  Hole  National  Monument,  with  the  thought 
that  the  area  would  give  protection  to  the  intangible 
\alues  that  are  so  important  in  this  valley.  I  want  to 
make  it  clear  that  I  did  not  ad\  ocate  a  road-side  zoo  in 
the  midst  of  the  grandeur  of  Jackson  Hole.  On  the 
contraPv'.  it  is  this  kind  of  intrusion  which  must  be  kept 
out  of  the  valley.'" 

Supporters  of  the  wildlife  park  argued  that  it  would 
serv  e  as  an  educational  instrument.  In  the  end,  Laurance 
backed  off  and  the  fences  came  down. 

This  location  was  also  the  original  site  of  the 
University  of  Wyoming/National  Park  Sen,  ice  Research 
Center.  The  buildings  were  relocated  to  the  AMK 
Ranch  when  it  became  the  research  center. 

Directions:  Continue  on  Highway  89  past  the 
Jackson  Lake  Junction.  Stop  at  the  Willow  Flats 
Turnout.  Across  the  road  is  the  former  Jackson  Lake 
Ranger  Station. 

JACKSON  LAKE  RANGER  STATION 

This  was  the  site  of  the  most  physical  battle  in  the 
struggle  to  create  Grand  Teton  National  Park.  President 
Franklin  Roosevelt  established  Jackson  Hole  National 
Monument  March  15,  1943  —  withdrawing  a  portion 
of  acreage  from  the  Teton  National  Forest.  This  did 
not  bode  well  with  the  U.  S.  Forest  Service.  As  Robert 
Righter  described  it,  "From  the  beginning  the  Forest 
Service  had  openly  or  covertly  opposed  National  Park 
Service  objectives  in  Jackson  Hole.  Now  it  was  difficult 
to  admit  defeat  and  graciously  turn  over  some  1 30,000 
acres  of  land  and  lakes."" 


17 

Regional  Director  of  the  National  Park  Service, 
Laurence  C.  Merriam,  arrived  in  Jackson  Hole  to 
oversee  the  changing  of  the  guard.  A  description  of 
what  he  found  is  reported  by  Righter. 

When  the  Forest  Service  evacuated  m  June,  1943  it 
was  not  done  with  what  one  might  call  a  spirit  of 
camaraderie.  Not  only  were  the  furniture  and 
equipment  taken  from  the  Jackson  Lake  Ranger  Station, 
but  ail  the  plumbing  in  the  basement,  kitchen,  and 
bathroom  was  removed.  E\en  doors,  cupboards, 
drawers,  and  cabinets,  plus  the  accompanying 
hardware,  were  considered  "movable  equipment." 
Well  tubing  was  removed,  and  an  underground  tank 
unearthed  and  packed  away.  To  complete  the  task  a 
four-foot  square  hole  was  cut  in  the  living  room, 
severing  not  only  the  flooring  but  the  floor  joists  as 
well.    In  short,  the  station  was  uninhabitable.'' 

The  Forest  Service  agreed  to  make  the  necessarv 
repairs  and  provide  replacements  of  fixtures  to  make 
the  structure  livable.  Today  this  infamous  structure  is 
a  residence  for  park  employees. 

Directions:  Continue  north  o//  <S'y  to  Jackson  Lake 
Lodge. 

JACKSON  LAKE  LODGE  &  LUNCH  TREE  HILL 

Lunch  Tree  Hill  is  the  spot  from  which  John  D. 
Rockefeller,  Jr.  first  viewed  the  Teton  Range  in  1926. 
A  plaque  on  top  of  the  hill  reads: 

This  tablet  is  placed  here  in  tribute  to  Mr.  John  D. 
Rockefeller,  Jr..  whose  vision,  generosity,  and  love  of 
country  have  made  possible  the  presers  ation  of  this 
region  in  its  pristine  beauty  and  grandeur.  Here  the 
spell  of  the  magnificent  Teton  Mountains  and  the 
beautiful  valley  they  guard  first  captivated  him.  He 
has  since  come  often  to  this  hilltop  for  renewed 
inspiration. 

The  original  resort  was  the  Amoretti  Inn.  built  in 
1922.  Located  only  1/2  mile  from  Moran,  it  was  one  of 
the  largest  of  early  tourist  resorts.  Its  name  was  changed 
to  Jackson  Lake  Lodge  a  short  time  after  it  was  built. 

Purchase  of  Jackson  Lake  Lodge  by  Rockefeller 
interests  was  not  part  of  the  original  plan.  However, 
the  owners  wanted  to  sell.  They  received  S40,000  in 
Teton  Investment  Company  stock  and  $35,000  in  cash 

'  Olaus  J.  Murie,  "Fenced  Wildlife  for  Jackson  Hole,"  Na- 
tional Parks  Magazine.  20.  Jan. -March  1946,  8. 
"'Ibid..  9. 

"  Righter.  Crucible  for  Conser\-ation.  121. 
-  Ibid. 


IS 


Annals  of  Wyoming:The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


for  the  lodge.  Tourist  facilities  were  not  encouraged  in 
the  original  plan  for  park  expansion,  but  following  the 
establishment  of  the  larger  park,  it  became  necessary 
to  provide  overnight  facilities. 

It  took  nearly  three  years  to  build  the  present  Jackson 
Lake  Lodge.  John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr.  carefully  selected 
the  site  —  adjacent  to  Lunch  Tree  Hill.  The  main 
lounge  picture  window,  60  feet  wide  and  2  stories  high, 
frames  the  Tetons.  According  to  Bonney's  Guide, 
Rockefeller  had  a  scaffold  erected  to  the  exact  level  of 
the  lounge  floor  —  he  wanted  to  be  sure  that  "America 
saw  the  Tetons  in  the  perspective  he  saw  them."  The 
Lodge  was  dedicated  June  1 1,  1955,  "both  as  a  gift  to 
the  American  people  and  a  pilot  project  in  park 
development."'' 

While  the  view  is  inspirational,  the  architecture  has 
been  debated.  Some  claim  that  the  poured  concrete 
structure,  supposed  to  resemble  wood-grain,  does  not 
blend  with  the  environment. 

Take  time  to  enjoy  the  view  from  the  lounge  or  the 
patio.  Moose  and  beaver  are  frequent  visitors  to  the 
willow  flats.  Don't  miss  the  murals  in  the  dining  room! 

Directions:  Leave  the  lodge  area  and  head  north  on 
191  &287.  Travel  past  Colter  Bay.  Turn  left  at  the  exit 
for  Leeks  Marina. 

LEEK'S  LODGE 

Stephen  N.  Leek  (1858-1 943 )  arrived  in  the  Jackson 
Hole  area  in  1888  and  became  one  of  the  first  settlers 
to  establish  a  pennanent  residence.  His  ranch  is  thirty 


miles  south  of  this  lodge  and  was  among  the  earliest 
dude  ranches  in  the  valley. 

Leek  is  remembered  for  his  involvement  with  the 
Jackson  Hole  elk  herd.  During  the  1890's  and  1900's 
he  witnessed  the  winter  starvation  of  the  elk.  He  used 
a  portion  of  his  hay  harvest  to  feed  the  elk  and  prevailed 
on  neighbors  to  do  the  same.  The  Jackson  elk  herd 
became  his  crusade.  Telling  photographs  and  lectures 
in  the  East  brought  national  attention  to  the  plight  of 
the  elk.  He  aroused  enough  attention  that  in  1912  the 
Jackson  Hole  National  Elk  Refuge  was  established. 

Leek  also  served  as  a  guide  and  outfitter  to  hunters. 
It  was  not  until  1 926-27  that  he  built  his  hunting  lodge. 
He  was  both  architect  and  builder.  The  nomination  of 
Leek's  Lodge  to  the  National  Register  of  Historic  Places 
reads: 

Leek's  name  stands  in  a  prominent  place  among  the 
organizers  and  workers  of  the  nation's  earliest 
conservation  efforts.  This  lodge  should  also  be 
preserved  as  a  memorial  to  a  man  who,  given  only  a 
limited  formal  education,  became,  in  the  interest  of 
wildlife  preservation,  a  self-educated  biologist,  an 
author,  a  lecturer,  [and]  photographer  and  still  remained 
a  frontiersman. 

Leek's  Lodge  remained  in  use  as  a  recreational  facility 
for  visitors  through  1974-75  and  was  removed  in  1 998. 
All  that  remains  today  is  the  stone  fireplace.'^ 

"  "Jackson  Lake  Lodge  Dedication,"  June  I  L  1955,  foreword. 
'"'  "Park  Officials  Want  Leek's  Lodge  Removed,"  Casper  Star 
Tribune.  }u\y  7,  1995,  B3. 


The  stone 
fireplace,  all 
that  remains 
of  Leek 's 
Lodge.  1998. 


r-ummer 


1Q99 


19 


Directions:  North  of  Leek 's  Lodge  is  a  paved  road 
leading  to  the  University  of  Wyoming/National  Park 
Service  Research  Center. 

UNIVERSITY  OF  WYOMING  -  NATIONAL 
PARK  SERVICE  RESEARCH  CENTER 

The  original  ranch  was  estabhshed  in  1 890-9 1  by  John 
Dudley  Sargent  (descendant  of  artist  John  Singer 
Sargent)  and  Robert  Ray  Hamilton  (descendant  of 
Alexander  Hamilton).  Marymere.  Sargent's  name  for 
the  ranch,  was  among  the  early  attempts  at  dude 
ranching. 

Many  strange  events  occurred  during  Sargent's 
residence  here.  In  1891  Hamilton  disappeared  while 
hunting.  After  several  days,  searchers  found  his 
drowned  body  two  miles  below  the  Jackson  Lake  outlet. 
There  is  speculation  that  Sargent  was  involved  in  the 
death  but  this  w  as  never  pro\  en.  Six  years  later,  a  very 
ill  Mrs.  Sargent  was  taken  from  the  ranch  so  she  could 
receive  medical  treatment.  Adelaide  Sargent  died  April 
11,1 897.  There  are  many  conflicting  stories  about  this 
episode.  Some  imply  that  Sargent  beat  her;  others  that 
she'd  had  some  sort  of  accident  and  her  husband  was 
treating  her  illness  the  best  he  could.  Sargent  was 
scheduled  to  stand  trial  for  the  murder  of  his  wife  in 
April  1 900  but  the  case  was  dismissed  due  to  conflicting 
testimony  and  the  lack  of  substantial  evidence. 

After  the  death  of  Adelaide,  Sargent  renamed 
Marymere  the  Pinetree  Ranch.  A  few  years  later,  he 
remarried.  Most  people  considered  his  new  wife  crazy 
because  she  would  set  in  a  tree  completely  naked,  play 
her  violin  and  eat  peanuts.''  John  D.  Sargent  lived  here 
until  his  suicide  in  1913.  The  ten-room  cabin  was  torn 
down  several  years  later. 

Pinetree  Ranch  was  sold  for  $600  to  cover  delinquent 
taxes.  Lou  Johnson,  a  sales  executive  for  the  Hoover 
Vacuum  Cleaner  Company,  purchased  Sargent's  ranch 
in  1926.  The  Johnson  home,  built  the  following  year, 
is  a  two-story  building  because  Johnson's  wife  was 
afraid  to  sleep  in  a  ground  floor  room  w  ith  bears  in  the 
area.  Several  other  buildings  including  a  boathouse  were 
constructed  at  this  site.  The  Johnson's  named  their 
residence  on  Jackson  Lake  the  Mae-Lou  Lodge. 

Following  the  death  of  Lou  Johnson  in  1931,  Slim 
Lawrence  became  caretaker  of  the  Mae-Lou  property. 
Alfred  Berol  of  the  Eagle  Pencil  Company  (became 
the  Berol  Corporation  in  1969)  purchased  the  ranch  in 
1936  for  $24,300.  Construction  began  on  the  Berol 
Lodge  in  1937.  A  new  name  was  adopted  —  AMK. 
Ranch  —  representing  the  first  letters  of  the  first  name 
of  each  family  member.  The  Berol  home  is  a  single- 


story  structure  v\  ith  windows  looking  out  at  Jackson 
Lake.  Today,  the  master  bedroom  ser\  es  as  a  research 
library  for  the  Uni\ersity  of  Wyoming. 

Alfred  Berol  was  notified  in  1 938  that  the  AMK  could 
be  condemned  as  part  of  the  proposed  extension  of 
Grand  Teton  National  Park.  As  executor  of  his  father's 
estate,  Kenneth  Berol  deeded  the  AMK  to  the  United 
States  in  1976  for  S3. 3  million.'" 

The  University  of  Wyoming  -  National  Park  Service 
Research  Center  relocated  to  the  AMK  property  July 
15,  1977.  Research  is  conducted  here  on  all  aspects  of 
the  Greater  Yellowstone  ecosystem.  Recently,  the  focus 
has  been  on  the  aftermath  of  the  1988  forest  fires. 

Directions:  Leave  the  Leeks  Marina  area  and  go 
south  on  19!  &  2S7  to  the  Jackson  Lake  Junction.  A 
museum  and  visitor  center  is  h)cated  at  Colter  Bav  At 
the  Jackson  Lake  Junction,  take  the  Teton  Park  Road 
to  Jackson  Lake  Dam.  There  is  a  small  parking  area 
on  the  south  side  of  the  dam. 

JACKSON  LAKE  DAM  &  MORAN  TOWNSITE 

When  the  original  dam  was  proposed  b\  the  Bureau 
of  Reclamation,  not  one  word  of  protest  was  raised. 
The  first  dam  on  Jackson  Lake  was  a  crude  rock-filled, 
log-crib  structure  erected  in  1906.  This  dam  washed 
out  in  1910  and  was  replaced  by  a  reinforced  concrete 
dam  in  1911.  The  second  dam  was  barely  finished 
when  instructions  were  received  to  raise  the  lake  level 
an  additional  ten  feet  —  this  was  completed  in  1916. 
During  the  I980's  additional  work  was  done  on  the 
dam. 

The  argument  against  the  dam  arose  when  park 
expansionists  wanted  to  include  Jackson  Lake.  Some 
residents  felt  that  the  dam  itself  was  a  \  iolation  of 
wilderness.  The  National  Parks  Association  argued  that 
to  include  a  reservoir  was  a  violation  of  the  sanctity  of 
a  national  park.  Bob  Righter  states  "the  damming  of 
Jackson  Lake  was  an  act  of  environmental  desecration 
second  only  to  the  inundation  of  Yosemite's  Hetch 
Hetchy  Valley."" 

Amo  Cammerer,  Director  of  the  NPS  argued  in  favor 
of  including  the  reservoir:  "...the  construction  of  a  new 
reservoir  which  means  violation  of  another  great  scenic 

'"  Esther  Allen,  "Strange  Music  at  Merr\  mere."  Teton.  9  ( 1 916). 
16. 

"•  -Through  the  Years  at  the  AMK,"  Teton.  10  (1977),  2-5  & 
61-64;  Kenneth  L.  Diem,  A  Tale  of  Dough  Gods.  Bear  Crease. 
Cantaloupe  and  Sucker  Oil:  Marymere/Pinetree/Mae-Lou/AMK 
Ranch.  (Moran:  Llniversity  of  Wyoming-National  Park  Ser\ice 
Research  Center,  1986). 

'"  Righter,  Crucible  for  Consenritu^n.  10. 


20 


Annals  oi  Wyoming:Tne  Wyoming  History  Journal 


area,  is  a  very  different  thing  from  the  attempt  to  save 
a  previously  violated  area  from  further  exploitation.  '^ 

In  the  end,  park  extension  won  the  battle  for  inclusion 
of  Jackson  Lake  in  Grand  Teton  National  Park. 

The  original  town  of  Moran  was  located  just  east  of 
the  Jackson  Lake  dam.  In  1928  the  Snake  River  Land 
Company  purchased  the  land  and  all  buildings  from 
Ben  Sheffield  for  $  1 06,425.  The  town  was  dismantled 
in  1 957 —  buildings  were  destroyed  or  relocated  to  other 
sites  and  the  natural  environment  has  reclaimed  the  area. 

Directions:  Contimie  south  from  the  dam.  To  the 
right  is  Signal  Mountain  Lodge.  Turn  east  at  the  Signal 
Mountain  Scenic  Drive  exit.  This  is  a  five-mile  drive 
to  the  summit  of  Signal  Mountain. 

SIGNAL  MOUNTAIN  DRIVE 

The  naming  of  Signal  Mountain  stems  from  the 
Sargent  -  Hamilton  partnership.  When  Robert  Hamilton 
was  reported  lost  in  1891,  searchers  agreed  to  light  a 
signal  tire  on  the  summit  of  this  mountain  (elev.  7,731 
ft.)  when  his  body  was  found. 

Pioneer  photographer  William  Henry  Jackson 
accompanied  the  1871  Hayden  scientific  expedition  of 
to  Yellowstone.  Jackson's  photographs  contributed  to 
the  establishment  of  Yellowstone  National  Park. 
Hayden  and  Jackson  returned  to  the  area  in  1872. 
William  H.  Jackson  first  recorded  the  majesty  of  the 
Tetons  from  the  summit  of  this  mountain  in  1878. 


In  an  address  prepared  for,  but  not  read,  at  the 
dedication  of  the  Teton  National  Park  on  July  29,  1 929, 
Jackson  discussed  the  numerous  times  he  visited  the 
area  and  the  conditions  in  which  he  worked.  He 
concluded: 

I  have  returned  here  frequently  in  the  meantime,  for 
pleasure  instead  of  profit,  for  there  is  —  on  our 
continent,  no  grander  or  more  satisfying  prospect  than 
the  one  now  before  us  in  which  beauty,  as  well  as 
majesty,  are  combined.'" 

Directions:  Return  to  the  highway  and  continue 
driving  south.  Turn  west  at  the  North  Jenny  Lake 
Junction.  This  is  a  one-way  road  to  the  south.  There 
are  several  turnouts  for  photo  opportunities. 

JENNY  LAKE  DRIVE 

The  boundaries  of  the  Park  established  in  1929 
included  the  Tetons  and  the  eastern  edge  of  Leigh, 
String  and  Jenny  Lakes.  Ideally,  Grand  Teton  National 
Park  was  to  be  the  first  "wilderness"  park.  No  hotels  or 
facilities  were  to  be  included  in  park  boundaries  —  not 
because  Jackson  residents  were  committed  to  wilderness 
but  because  they  wanted  to  protect  private  and 
commercial  interests.  While  there  was  little  opposition 

'"Ibid.,  91. 

'"  William  H.  Jackson,  "Address  Regarding  First  Photograph- 
ing of  the  Tetons,"  Annals  of  Wyoming.  6  (July-October  1929), 
189. 


Lucas-Fabian 
Cabins.  1990. 


1999 


21 


to  preserving  the  mountains,  the  battles  began  when 
conservationists  and  John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr.,  expressed 
an  interest  in  protecting  the  view. 

Over  the  next  14  years  Rockefeller's  Snake  River 
Land  Compan\  purchased  some  35.000  acres  in  order 
to  protect  the  area.  In  1 942,  after  numerous  attempts  at 
park  expansion.  Rockefeller  threatened  to  sell  the 
acreage  if  the  Goxemment  did  not  want  it.  On  March 
16,  1943,  President  Franklin  D.  Roosevelt  established 
Jackson  Hole  National  Monument.  Rockefeller  deeded 
his  35,000+  acres  as  a  gift  to  the  federal  government 
on  December  6,  1949.  After  protracted  disputes. 
Congress  established  the  present  Grand  Teton  National 
Park  in  September  1950  by  combining  the  1929  Park 
and  1943  Monument. 

To  acknow  ledge  the  Rockefeller's  contribution  to  the 
preservation  of  Jackson  Hole,  Congress  authorized  the 
transfer  of  24,000  acres  of  Forest  Ser\  ice  land  as  the 
John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr.,  Memorial  Parkway.  Robert 
Righter  states  that  the  purpose  of  this  land  transfer  was 
twofold:  "To  commemorate  the  many  significant 
contributions  to  the  cause  of  conser\  ation  in  the  United 
States  by  Rockefeller,  and  to  provide  both  a  symbolic 
and  desirable  physical  connection  between  the  world's 
first  national  park,  Yellowstone,  and  the  Grand  Teton 
National  Park."-" 

Directions:  Along  this  drive  are  Jenny  ami  String 
Lakes:  Jenny  Lake  Lodge:  and  the  Jenny  Lake  Ranger 
Station  and  Store.  Coming  out  at  South  Jenny  Lake 
Junction,  continue  driving  south.  Just  south  of  the 
Glacier  Gulch  turnout  a  dirt  road  goes  west  to  the 
Lucas-Fabian  Site. 

LUCAS  -  FABIAN  SITE 

Mrs.  Geraldine  Lucas  was  the  first  Jackson  area 
woman  to  climb  the  Grand  Teton  and  she  did  that  at 
the  age  of  59.  A  hardy  individual,  Mrs.  Lucas  bathed 
daily  in  Cottonwood  Creek  which  tlowsjust  north  of 
the  Lucas  cabin. 

Opposed  to  park  extension  and  Rockefeller's  land 
purchases,  Lucas  promised  that  she  would  never  leave 
her  land.  According  to  Bonney  's  Guide,  she  told 
Rockefeller  "you  stack  up  those  silver  dollars  as  high 
as  the  Grand  Teton  and  I  might  talk  to  you."  When  she 
died  in  1938,  her  ashes  were  buried  on  the  property.-' 

It  is  ironic  that  her  adversaries,  Harold  and  Josephine 
Fabian,  president  and  secretary  of  the  Snake  River  Land 
Company,  occupied  the  ranch  after  Mrs.  Lucas'  death. 
The  Fabians  were  responsible  for  planning  and 
completing  the  restoration  of  Menor's  Ferry.  Josephine 


Fabian  was  instrumental  in  the  Jackson  Hole  Oral 
History  Project  and  has  written  about  the  area's  history. 
Directions:  Return  to  the  Teton  Park  Road  and  go 
south.  The  exit  to  the  Bar  B  C  Ranch  is  on  the  left 
(east).  (If  you  reach  the  Cottonwood  Creek  turnout, 
you  've  gone  too  far). 

BAR  B  C  RANCH 

Struthers  Burt,  a  writer  from  Philadelphia,  and  Dr. 
Horace  Camcross,  a  psychiatrist,  established  the  Bar 
BC  in  1910  after  a  lengthy  search  for  the  ideal  site  for 
a  dude  ranch.  They  both  agreed  on  this  site  directly 
east  of  the  Grand  Teton  and  on  a  curse  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  Snake  River.  Zoe  Hardy  wrote:  "It  was  a 
place  that  could  support  the  practical  needs  of  a  ranch 
—  water,  grazing  land,  trees  and  bountiful  hunting  and 
fishing.  It  had  two  additional  ingredients  for  a 
successful  dude  ranch:  isolation  and  exceptional 
beauty.  " 

The  Bar  B  C  was  the  second  dude  ranch  in  the  valley. 
"Dudes"  first  arrived  here  in  1912.  In  the  early  years 
there  were  dances,  costume  balls,  trapshooting,  rodeos 
and  horseback  riding.  Nathaniel  Burt  recalled: 

The  principal  occupation  of  the  ranch  and  of  its  dudes 
was  riding...  To  take  care  of  all  this  riding  there  was  a 
complex  of  constructions.  There  were  two  big  corrals, 
a  long  low  saddle  shed  (ne\er  "tack  room")  open  on 
one  side. ..hitching  fence  opposite  the  saddle  shed,  and 
back  beyond  all  this  the  bam  and  blacksmith  shop.-' 

Struthers  Burt  supported  the  idea  of  park  expansion. 
The  Bar  B  C  and  the  Three  Ri\  ers  Ranch  hosted  people 
supporting  both  sides  of  the  argument.  Struther's  son, 
Nathaniel  remembered  several  heated  discussions 
between  1930  and  1950.  In  Jackson  Hole  Journal  he 
summed  up  the  differing  \ iewpoints.  "The  opposition 
was  funda-mentall_\  based  on  plain  instincti\e  hatred 
of  government  encroachment.  The  support  was  based 
on  equally  instinctive  hatred  of  commercial 
encroachment."-^ 

Burt  and  Camcross  gave  up  the  Bar  B  C  in  1930. 
The  Burt  family  mo\  ed  farther  north  to  the  Three  Rivers 
Ranch.  Ir\ing  P.  Corse  controlled  the  Bar  B  C  after 
that.  The  Snake  River  Land  Company  purchased  it 
and  provided  a  lifetime  lease  to  Corse  and  his  second 

-"  Righter,  Crucible  for  Consen-alion.  148. 
■'  Orin  and  Lorraine  Bonney,  Bonney's  Guide.  82-83. 
--  Zoe  Hard\,  "The  Lite  Span  of  a  Dude  Ranch:  The  Bar  B  C 
1912-1989,"  Teton,  21  (1989).  21. 

-'  Nathaniel  Burt,  Jackson  Hole  Journal.  34-35. 
-'Ibid.,  129-130. 


99 


Annals  of  Wyoming:The  Wyoming  Histon'  Journal 


Bar  BC  Ranch  in  1990 


wife.  He  died  in  1953  and  Mrs.  Corse  operated  the 
ranch,  run-down  as  it  was,  until  1986.  This  historic 
dude  ranch  is  now  part  of  Grand  Teton  National  Park.-' 
Directions:  Return  to  the  Teton  Park  Road  and  go 
toward  the  Moose  Visitor  Center.  After  passing  through 
the  Park  gates,  take  the  Moose-  Wilson  Road  south.  The 
private  road  to  the  Murie  home  is  on  the  east. 

MURE  HOME 

Margaret  (Mardy)  and  Olaus  Murie  moved  to  Jackson 
Hole  when  Olaus  was  appointed  head  of  the  National 
Elk  Refuge  in  1927.  Both  were  avid  conservationists 
and  supported  the  idea  of  park  expansion.  Dr.  Murie  is 
recognized  as  the  foremost  authority  on  North  American 
elk  and  caribou.  Olaus'  private  convictions  often 
clashed  with  the  policies  of  the  U.S.  Fish  and  Wildlife 
Service  —  his  employer.  He  retired  in  1 945  to  become 
national  director  of  the  Wilderness  Society,  a  position 
he  held  until  1962.  Righter  described  Olaus  Murie  as 
a  "man  who  combined  scientific  knowledge  and  love 
of  the  wilderness  with  honesty  and  openness."-*  As 
mentioned  earlier,  it  was  Olaus  who  was  vehemently 
opposed  to  the  Jackson  Hole  Wildlife  Park. 

Mardy  Murie  was  the  first  female  graduate  of  the 
University  of  Alaska.  A  well-known  conservationist, 
Mrs.  Murie  continues  her  crusade.  Autobiographical 
books.  Two  In  The  Far  North  and  Wapiti  Wilderness, 
describe  her  life  in  Alaska  and  Jackson  Hole. 

Olaus'  "naturalist's  studio"  and  some  research  notes 
have  been  retained  by  his  widow  in  their  log  home  south 
of  Moose.  Mardy  frequently  gives  talks  to  students  from 


the  Teton  Science  School  and  to  other  groups.  The 
Murie  home  is  now  part  of  Grand  Teton  National  Park 
though  Mardy  Murie  holds  a  lifetime  lease. 

Directions:  Return  to  the  Moose-  Wilson  Road  and 
go  south.  This  road,  while  paved,  is  narrow  and  has 
several  curves.  At  the  point  where  the  pavement  ends 
is  the  gate  to  the  JY  Ranch. 

JY  RANCH 

The  West,  the  new  summer  playground  of  America. 
A  veritable  invasion  of  eastern  tourists  has  followed 
the  opening  of  this  beautiful  country  which  offers  the 
vacationist,  known  in  the  parlance  of  men  of  the  range 
as  "dude,"  a  solution  for  the  summer  vacation  problem. 

Louis  Joy  arrived  in  Jackson  Hole  in  1907  and 
established  his  homestead  in  1 908.  The  JY  Ranch  was 
the  first  dude  ranch  in  the  area.  Struthers  Burt  partnered 
with  Joy  until  Burt  established  the  Bar  B  C  farther  north 
along  the  Snake  River.  Owen  Wister  stayed  at  the  JY 
while  his  cabin  was  constructed  at  the  R  Lazy  S  Ranch 
just  to  the  south.  (The  Wister  cabin  was  dismantled 
and  reconstructed  at  Medicine  Bow,  Wyoming,  in  the 
mid-1970s). 

A  Pennsylvania  businessman,  Henry  Stewart, 
purchased  the  JY  in  1920.  Stewart  recognized  the 
recreational  value  of  Jackson  Hole  and  was  an  active 


-■'  "Records  and  History  on  the  Bar  B  C  Ranches,' 
Hole  Museum  NeMsletter,  4  (August  1986),  2-3. 
-"Righter,  Crucible  for  Conservation.  128. 


Jackson 


Summer  19QQ 

supporter  of  the  idea  discussed  at  Maud  Noble's  in 
1923.  Under  Stewart's  ownership,  the  JY  prospered. 
The  boundaries  of  the  1929  Grand  Teton  National 
Park  included  the  JY  Ranch.  Stewart  asked  S250.000 
for  the  ranch  when  the  Snake  River  Land  Company- 
first  approached  him.  He  received  S90.000  in  1932. 
Considered  the  "most  scenic"  of  all  dude  ranches  in 
Jackson  Hole,  Rockefeller  and  his  sons  favored  it. 
Rockefeller  requested  that  the  JY  be  retained  b\  his 
family.  Rockefeller  wrote; 

My  children  are  greatly  interested  in  this  ranch  and 
are  anxious  that  I  should  retain  it,  for  the  present  at 
least,  for  the  general  use  of  the  family.  This  1  shall 
presumably  do.  Howe\er.  so  long  as  the  Park  line 
remains  as  it  is,  it  would  be  possible  for  me  to  give  the 
whole  or  any  part  of  this  land  to  the  Park  at  any  time  in 
the  future  without  any  government  action.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  our  family  should  permanently  retain  it,  no 
harm  would  be  done.-" 

The  JY  remains  in  the  possession  of  the  Rockefeller 
family  today.  This  "special  treatment"  has  left  some 
bitter  feelings.  Nathaniel  Burt  expressed  just  such  a 
sentiment,  "...the  fact  that  the  Rockefeller  family  itself 
bought  and  kept  the  old  JY  Ranch  ...instead  of  selling 
it  to  the  Snake  Ri\  er  Land  Company  as  my  tather  sold 
his  ranch  —  this  too  has  not  been  popular...  The  JY 
Ranch  is  well  kept  and  in  good  hands;  but  private 
holdings  of  that  kind  in  the  park  were  not  supposed  to 
be  encouraged."-*' 

The  JY  and  Bar  BC  ranches  led  the  way  for  others  to 
provide  services  for  the  dudes.  As  Nathaniel  Burt  wrote, 
"Though  the  two  originals,  the  Bar  B  C  and  the  JY,  no 
longer  operate  as  true  dude  ranches,  their  descendants, 
whether  as  private  ranches  or  as  active  dude  ranches, 
still  proliferate."-' 

Directions:  Reliirn  to  Jackson  Hole.  Either  continue 
on  the  dirt  portion  oj  the  Moose-Wilson  Road  or 
backtrack  to  Moose  and  return  to  Highway  2H7.  The 
final  stop  of  this  tour  is  at  the  Xational  Elk  Refuge. 


23 

range  encompassed  the  surrounding  mountains  as  far 
north  as  Yellowstone.  During  the  winter  months  the 
elk  would  congregate  in  the  Jackson  vicinity.  Dean 
Krakel  11  has  pointed  out  that  the  elk  population  was 
kept  in  check  by  disease,  predators  and  starvation. '- 

With  the  arrival  of  settlers  in  the  region,  much  of  the 
traditional  range  of  the  herds  was  used  for  li\ estock 
and  crops.  Fences  blocked  the  age-old  migration  routes. 
There  was  not  sufficient  amounts  of  grass  left  to  feed 
the  elk  so  thousands  starved. 

The  winter  of  1910-11  w  as  particularly  harsh  —  thus 
the  message  sent  by  Stephen  Leek  to  communities 
throughout  Wyoming.  Three  days  later  the  first  load  of 
hay  arrived.  Leek  was  among  the  first  to  help  feed  the 
elk.  With  his  photographs  and  lectures,  he  brought 
attention  to  the  decimation  of  the  elk. 

After  federal  investigation  concerning  the  starving 
elk,  a  refuge  project  was  initiated.  The  National  Elk 
Refuge  was  established  August  10,  1912.  for  the  care 
and  preservation  of  the  elk.  From  2,800  acres  in  1912, 
the  refuge  has  increased  to  23,754  acres.  Elk  may  be 
the  primary  reason  for  the  refuge  but  other  wildlife 
benetlt  as  well.  Moose,  mule  deer,  bighorn  sheep  and  a 
small  flock  of  trumpeter  swans  li\e  here. 

This  "tour"  discussed  only  a  few  of  the  places 
significant  to  the  creation  of  Grand  Teton  National  Park. 
There  are  many  more  scattered  throughout  the  Park  but 
their  existence  is  ignored  by  the  National  Park  Ser\  ice. 
Many  of  these,  such  as  Leek's  Lodge  and  the  Pfeifer 
Homestead.  ha\e  been  lost  in  the  last  fi\e  years. 
Nonetheless,  remaining  historic  sites  help  tell  the  story 
of  the  struggle  to  preserve  the  view. 

"  Righter,  Crucible  for  Consen'alion.  *>. 
-^Nathaniel  Bun.  Jaclcson  Hole  Joiinuil.  142. 
-"  Ibid.  68. 

"'"  Righter,  .-)  Teton  Country  .■\ntlwlog\\  165. 
''  Dean  Krakel  II,  Season  of  llie  Elk.  (Kansas  Citv:  Louell 
Press,  1976).  51. 
'-  Ibul.  53. 


NATIONAL  ELK  REFUGE 

JACKSON,  Wyo.  Feb.  7,  191 1.  —  Unless  fed,  five 
thousand  elk  will  perish  within  two  weeks. 

S.N.  LEEK-'" 
Jackson  Hole  and  the  surrounding  mountains  are 
home  to  the  largest  elk  herd  in  the  world.  Theodore 
Roosevelt  referred  to  the  Jackson  area  as  the  "home  of 
all  homes  for  the  elk."'' 

It  is  thought  that  there  were  60,000  or  more  elk  in 
the  Jackson  Hole  area  in  the  19th  century.  Summer 


Tainsen  Emerson  Hert  is  the  Wyomhig  Bibli- 
ographer at  the  Utiiversity  of  Wyoming  Li- 
braries. She  holds  masters  degrees  in  libraty 
science  and  American  histoiy  from  Emporia 
State  University  in  Kansas.  A  regular  con- 
tributor to  Annals,  this  article  stems  from  her 
interest  in  historic  structures  in  national 
parks. 


Nathuniel  P. 
LangforJ 


Recognition  of  being  first  to  summit  the  Grand  car- 
ried tremendous  prestige  since  few  peaics  in  North 
America  offer  such  a  striking  and  imposing  profile.  The 
Grand  has  been  aptly  called  "America's  Matterhom" 
for  its  angular  ridges  and  impressively  pointed  top. 
Soaring  some  7000  feet  above  Jackson  Hole,  (13,770 
feet  above  sea  level)  the  Grand  captivates  viewers  from 
every  angle  by  its  sheer  North  and  West  faces,  its  high 
rising  East  Ridge,  its  numerous  snowflelds,  and  its  dis- 
tinctively angled  summit,  all  which  mark  it  as  one  of 
the  great  peaks  in  the  entire  Rocky  Mountain  chain.' 

Fur  trappers  who  hunted  for  beaver  and  convened  at 
the  yearly  rendezvous  during  the  1 820s  and  1 830s  knew 
the  Grand  and  its  sister  Tetons  as  dominant  landmarks. 
The  peaks  loomed  far  above  the  west  side  of  Jackson 
Hole,  the  long  and  narrow  valley  named  for  David  Jack- 
son, a  fiar  trader.-  Few  of  these  traders,  of  course,  paused 
to  contemplate  a  climb  up  the  Grand  or  any  of  the  high 
peaks,  no  doubt  because  of  their  keener  interest  in  trap- 
ping beaver.  Moreover,  the  sharp  summits  and  loom- 
ing granite  walls  of  the  great  peaks  undoubtedly  pro- 
voked a  sense  of  awe  if  not  fear. 


Montana 
Historical 
Society 


First  Ascfnt  d 
The  Great 


Q  urine  the  1 9'^'  and  early  part  of 
*^  world  achieved  numerous  first 
and  the  Matterhorn  in  the  f^lps.  Mt.  I 
west  and  Alasl^a.  and  countless  othen 
Credit  for  a  first  ascent  often  carrie( 
One  of  the  most  long  lasting  and  bitte 
Place  in  the  late  1 9^^  and  early  20^''  cer 
in  northwest  Wyoming.  The  debate  ra 
scientific  expedition  led  by  Ferdinand  B 
party  in  1898.  This  controversy  ov€ 
other  first  ascents,  marked  by  the  in 
sional  reputations,  and  not  a  few  cha 


Nevertheless,  it  was  fur  traders  and  trappers  who  first 
attempted  to  climb  the  highest  of  the  Tetons.  In  1 843, 
a  trader  named  Michaud  LeClaire  made  the  first  known 
attempt  on  the  Grand.  Beaver  Dick  Leigh,  another  trader 
who  lived  in  Idaho  and  frequented  Jackson  Hole  in  the 
middle  of  the  19th  century,  testified  to  Michaud's  at- 
tempt and  to  his  failure  to  reach  the  summit.  Leigh 
himself  hiked  into  Garnet  Canyon  below  the  Grand  in 
1 858  and  may  have  reached  the  Lower  Saddle  between 
the  Grand  and  Middle  Tetons.  During  the  next  several 
years  other  parties  endeavored  to  scale  the  peak  only  to 
experience  similar  disappointment.^ 

For  a  beautifully  written  and  classic  description  of  the  Grand 
Teton  range  the  place  to  start  is  Fritiof  Fryxell,  The  Tetons:  In- 
terpretations of  a  Mountain  Landscape  (Berkeley  and  Los  Ange- 
les: University  of  California  Press,  1966);  for  a  more  personal 
encounter  with  the  peaks  by  a  climber  see  Robert  Leonard  Reid, 
Mountains  of  the  Great  Blue  Dream  (Albuquerque:  University  of 
New  Mexico  Press,  1998),  19-21. 

-  A  good  introduction  to  the  mountain  fur  trade  with  numerous 
references  to  David  Jackson  is  Dale  L.  Morgan,  Jedediah  Smith 
and  the  Opening  of  the  West  (Lincoln:  University  of  Nebraska 
Press,  1964). 


e  Grand  Teton: 
ntroversy 


by  Mark  Harvey 

snturies  mountaineers  around  the 
if  such  major  peaks  as  Mount  Blanc 
d  Mt.  McKinley  in  the  Pacific  North- 
rth  f^merican  and  Canadian  Rockies, 
ors  and  sparked  fierce  competition, 
mountaineering  controversies  took 
;r  the  first  ascent  of  the  Grand  Teton 
cades  between  members  of  an  1 872 
ind  four  climbers  of  a  private  climbing 
and"  resembled  those  surrounding 
big  egos,  the  burnishing  of  profes- 
;aults. 


In  the  summer  of  1872,  two  members  of  Ferdinand 
Hayden's  Geological  Survey  of  the  Territories  claimed 
the  first  ascent.  Nathaniel  P.  Langford,  the  first  super- 
intendent of  Yellowstone  National  Park,  and  James 
Ste\enson,  ascended  the  Grand  on  July  29,  although 
whether  they  reached  the  true  summit  remains  a  con- 
tentious issue. ^  Approaching  the  Tetons  from  the  west 
and  their  camp  in  Alaska  Basin,  Langford,  Stevenson 
and  several  others  climbed  the  steep  slopes  up  to  the 
huge  Lower  Saddle  which  lies  between  the  Grand  and 
the  Middle  Tetons  at  an  elevation  of  1 1 ,  600  feet.  From 
there,  they  scrambled  upward  and  to  the  north  an  addi- 
tional fifteen  hundred  feet  and  reached  another  higher 
saddle;  then — so  the>-  claimed — they  surmounted  the 
final  six  hundred  feet  by  utilizing  a  huge  sheet  of  ice 
into  which  they  cut  steps  with  their  boots."  Upon  gain- 
ing the  summit,  Langford  wrote  later,  "We  felt  that  we 
had  achieved  a  victory,  and  that  it  was  something  for 
ourselves  to  know — a  solitary  satisfaction — that  we 
were  the  first  white  men  who  had  ever  stood  upon  the 
spot  we  then  occupied.  Others  might  come  after  us, 
but  to  be  the  first  where  a  hundred  had  failed  was  no 


braggart  boast."'' 

Langford' s  description  of  the  topmost  portion  of  the 
Grand  above  the  Upper  Saddle  was  vague,  generating 
considerable  doubts  about  their  claimed  ascent  in  later 
years.  However,  his  summary  of  the  climb,  published 
in  Scrihner's  Monthly  magazine  in  1873,  proves  that 
the  two  men  reached  the  Upper  Saddle  and  the  lower 
subsidiary  peak  just  west  of  the  Grand's  summit.  Here, 

'  Leigh  N.  Ortenburger  and  Reynold  G.  Jackson,  A  Climber's 
Guide  to  the  Teton  Range  3"'  ed.  (Seattle:  The  Mountaineers.  1 996), 
152;  Orrin  H.  Bonnes  and  Lorraine  G.  Bonney.  The  Grand  Con- 
troversy: The  Pioneer  Climbs  in  the  Teton  Range  and  the  Contro- 
versial First  Ascent  of  the  Grand  Teton  (New  \orl<:  .American 
.Alpine  Club  Press.  1W2).  17-19. 

■*  Stevenson  was  in  charge  of  one  of  Ha\den"s  Survey  divi- 
sions, responsible  for  exploring  the  Tetons  and  \  icinity .  Langford, 
in  addition  to  serving  as  the  first  superintendent  of  >'ellow stone, 
had  e.xplored  the  Yellowstone  region  in  1870.  See  Nathaniel  Pitt 
Langford,  The  Discovery  of  Yellowstone  Park:  Journal  of  the 
Washburn  Expedition  to  the  Yellowstone  and  Firehole  Rivers  in 
the  Year  IS'O  (Lincoln:  University  of  Nebraska  Press,  1972). 

"  Nathaniel  P.  Langford.  "The  Ascent  of  Mount  Hayden." 
Scribner's  Monthly  6  (June  1873).  144. 

^  Ibid. 


2b 


Annals  or  Wyoming:  The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


his  official  report  of  the  1 872  Survey,  Ferdinand  Hayden  wrote 
that  the  Enclosure  was  on  the  main  summit  of  the  Grand. 
Langford  understandably  cringed  at  reading  Hayden's  words 
because  if  accepted  as  true  the  conclusion  could  easily  be 
drawn  that  he  and  Stevenson  did  not  attain  the  highest  sum- 
mit but  merely  the  lower  one  at  the  Enclosure.  Indeed,  some 
of  their  colleagues  in  the  survey  speculated  as  much,  surmis- 
ing that  Langford  and  Stevenson  could  not  see  the  actual  sum- 
mit which  was  hidden  in  the  clouds.  Langford  did  not  under- 
stand why  Hayden  could  have  been  confused  about  the  loca- 
tion of  the  Enclosure,  since  Langford  had  spoken  with  Hayden 
about  their  climb  on  several  occasions.  In  any  event,  Hayden's 
report  helped  to  ignite  the  controversy  by  confirming  exist- 
ing doubts  among  various  members  of  the  Survey  that  the 
two  men  had  reached  the  summit.'*  In  later  years  Langford 
tried  to  correct  Hayden's  error  by  citing  his  own  Scrihner's 
article,  which  clearly  stated  that  the  Enclosure  was  located 
on  the  lower  peak. 

Meanwhile,  in  the  years  following  the  alleged  first  ascent, 
others  attempted  to  scale  the  Grand.  A  party  of  four  mem- 
bers of  the  Hayden  survey  tried  in  1877,  including  one  Tho- 
mas Cooper,  who  later  figured  prominently  in  the  contro- 
versy that  emerged  full  blown  in  1 898.  Cooper  and  his  party 
reached  the  Lower  Saddle  and  possibly  the  Upper  Saddle, 
but  not  the  summit.  The  following  year,  1878,  still  another 
Hayden  Survey  party  planned  an  attempt.  This  time,  the  two 
lead  climbers,  both  of  whom  had  ascended  Mount  Blanc  in 
the  French  Alps  the  year  before,  were  unable  to  make  the 
ascent  because  of  lost  mules  at  their  base  camp.  Their  third 
partner,  A.  D.  Wilson,  reached  the  Enclosure  with  a  large 
theodolite,  a  tool  he  used  to  make  triangulation  measurements. 
Proof  of  Wilson's  having  reached  the  Enclosure  appeared 
nearly  a  century  later.  In  1975,  Leigh  Ortenburger,  author  of 
The  Climber 's  Guide  to  the  Teton  Range,  discovered  with 
his  daughters  a  metal  matchbox  in  the  rocks  at  the  top  of  the 
Enclosure  with  Wilson's  name  scratched  on  its  side.'" 


Scnhuer  s  Monlhly.  June  /.S7j. 

atop  the  lower  peak,  Langford  and  Stevenson  discov- 
ered "a  circular  enclosure,  six  feet  in  diameter,  com- 
posed of  granite  slabs,  set  up  endwise,  about  five  feet 
in  height.  .  .  .  Evidently  the  work  of  the  Indians,  it 
could  not  have  been  constructed  less  than  a  century 
ago,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  its  age  may  reach 
back  for  many  centuries."'  Their  discovery  gave  rise 
to  the  name  Enclosure  for  the  lower  peak,  the  summit 
of  which  can  be  reached  by  climbers  today  in  only  a 
few  minutes  from  the  Upper  Saddle." 

Langford's  article  in  Scribner  's  Monthly  made  clear 
that  the  Enclosure  was  not  on  the  summit  of  the  Grand 
but  lower  down  on  a  side  peak.  However,  confusion 
over  its  location  emerged  soon  after  their  climb,  and 
helped  spark  the  controversy  in  its  earliest  phase.  In 


M 


ore  than  a  decade  passed  with  little  or  no  climb- 
ing activity.  Then,  in  1 89 1 ,  William  Owen  and 
his  wife  Emma  Matilda,  along  with  two  others,  reached 
a  point  above  the  Lower  Saddle.  This  proved  to  be  the 
first  of  several  attempts  by  Owen  to  scale  the  Grand. 
Two  years  later,  a  Captain  Charles  H.  Kieffer,  stafioned 
at  Yellowstone  National  Park,  attempted  the  Grand  with 
two  other  soldiers,  Logan  Newell  and  John  Rhyan,  and 
they  claimed  to  have  reached  the  top  by  one  of  the  south- 
em  ridges  on  the  peak.  If  Kieffer  and  his  party  did  in- 

''  Ibid.,  145. 

"  Ortenburger  and  Jackson,  Climber's  Guide,  200-201. 
''  This  point  comes  from  Langford's  letter  to  Henry  Gannett, 
April  28,  1897,  quoted  in  Bonney  and  Bonney.  78. 
'"  Ortenburger  and  Jackson,  Climber's  Guide,  152. 


1999 


21 


deed  reach  the  summit,  however,  they  did  little  * 
to  publicize  the  fact.  The  only  known  evidence  Br^vg 


of  this  climb  is  Kieffer's  letter  and  sketch  draw-  [K 
ing  of  the  Grand  which  he  sent  to  William  Owen  '|*  _| 
in  1899."  Thus.  KietTer's  claimed  ascent  also'  '  .; 
remains  a  matter  of  dispute. 

Finally,  on  August  11,  1898,  William  Owen 
and  three  tYiends,  the  Reverend  Franklin 
Spalding,  John  Shive,  and  Frank  Petersen, 
reached  the  summit  by  climbing  the  upper  West 
face  above  the  Upper  Saddle  and  by  the  route 
that  now  bears  two  of  their  names:  Owen- 
Spalding.  Upon  reaching  the  top  at  four  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  the  four  men  took  in  the  mag- 
nificent view ,  car\  ed  their  names  into  a  rock,  and  =jy,  -  ; 
placed  a  banner  of  the  Rock\  Mountain  Club  w.'S-:--'-^" 
which  had  sponsored  the  climb.'-  Two  days  later 
the  party  returned  for  a  second  ascent.  This  time 
Petersen,  Shive,  and  Spalding  climbed  to  the  sum- 
mit where  they  built  a  large  rock  cairn,  while 
Owen  took  photographs  of  them  from  the  Enclo- 
sure.   In  subsequent  days  numerous  observers, 
including  T.  M.  Bannon  of  the  Geological  Sur- 
vey, saw  the  banner  and  stone  monument  from  *t 
the  valley  floor  through  field  glasses.  The  1898  'j 
climb  was  thus  well  documented.'^ 

A  month  later  Owen  wrote  an  article  about  the  • 
party's  success  which  appeared  in  the  Avu'  York  :4^'^*''./^J 
Herald.  Owen  clearly  intended  his  account  to  establish  that  their 
triumph  was  indisputably  the  first  ascent.  In  prose  that  sounded 
the  dominant  theme  of  what  soon  became  William  Owen's  life- 
long campaign,  he  asserted  that  "No  human  being  had  been  there 
before.  Not  a  stone  was  turned.  No  semblance  of  a  monument. 
Not  the  slightest  shadow  of  a  record  of  previous  ascent.   Every- 
thing just  as  Nature  left  it."'""  Owen  felt  certain  that  his  part\  was 
the  first,  but  he  also  relied  on  what  he  considered  "unimpeac 
able"  evidence  including  an  affidavit  by  Thomas  Cooper,  an  ac- 
quaintance of  Langford  and  Stevenson  in  1872,  as  well  as  other 
evidence. 

The  //cTw/t/ article  soon  ignited  a  flerce  debate  that  played  out 
over  the  next  several  decades.  Owen  spent  years  denouncing 
Langford's  and  Stevenson's  claimed  ascent  of  1 872,  solicited  af- 
fidavits from  participants,  and  corresponded  w  ith  climbers  and  v  ari- 
ous  experts  on  such  topics  as  mosquitos  above  timberline  and  the 
reliability  of  aneroid  barometers  which  Langford  had  used  to  esti- 
mate the  height  of  the  Grand. 

"  Bonney  and  Bonne>.  Craw/ rt)/;r/-o\'e/-5v.  64-65.  Kieffer's  letter  to  Owen 
of  April  3.  1899,  and  sketch  ofthe  Tetons  and  route  he  ascended  on  the  Grand 
appears  in  "Subject  File — Mountain.  Grand  Teton."  .American  Heritage  Cen- 
ter, University  of  Wyoming. 

'-  Williain  Owen,  "Grand  Teton's  Summit."  New  York  Herald.  September 


NAK"Kt)W    ESCArt 


in     rHii.MA^  MllK\N 


Scribner's  Monthly.  June  187i 
''  Ibid :  Ortenburger  and  Jackson.  Chinber's 
Guide,  1 53;  Frank  Spalding.  "The  Teton  Ascent." 
Laramie  Republican.  August  18.  1898.  in  Box  4. 
William  Owen  Papers.  .American  Heritage  Cen- 
ter. University  of  Wyoming  (hereafter  cited  as 
Owen  Papers.  ,AHC). 

'■*  Owen.  "Grand  Teton's  Summit."  Septem- 
ber 18.  1898. 


28 


Annals  of  Wyoming:  Tke  Wyoming  History  Journal 


''V^Rr.*  ■'i,. 


w^-*  i'^ 
^i^ 


'Tm'o  (/m.v  /i//t'/-  ihe  party  returned  for  a  second  ascent.  This  time  Peterson.  Shive.  and  Spalding  climbed  to 
the  summit  where  they  buih  a  large  rock  cairn,  while  Owen  took  photographs  of  them.  " 


Owen's  doggedness  in  attempting  to  prove  that  the 
1 898  ascent  was  the  first  to  reach  the  summit  of  the 
Grand  became  so  vigorous  that  not  a  few  observers 
came  to  resent  his  campaign.  Some  did  so  because  he 
all  but  ignored  the  other  men  of  the  ascent  team  for 
their  contributions  to  the  climb.  In  particular,  Owen 
gave  little  credit  to  Frank  Spalding  who  discovered  the 
route  from  the  Upper  Saddle  to  the  summit  and  led  the 
climb.  Spalding's  lead  was  an  act  of  tremendous  cour- 
age given  the  unknown  hazards  on  the  climb,  the  route 
finding  challenges,  and  the  terrific  exposure  beyond 
the  Upper  Saddle.  Others  resented  Owen's  efforts  out 
of  respect  for  Langford  and  Stevenson  (the  latter  died 
in  1 888)  and  they  regarded  Owen's  actions  as  an  attack 
on  their  character.  To  a  large  extent  Owen  did  himself 
no  favors  in  the  court  of  public  opinion.  In  their  recent 
book  on  the  controversy,  Orrin  and  Lorraine  Bonney 
portray  Owen  as  a  man  obsessed  with  his  place  in  his- 
tory who  manipulated  evidence,  misrepresented  the 
views  of  others  and  ""made  a  virtual  career  out  of  his 
obsession  to  be  'first'. "'^ 

Owen  based  his  case  that  Langford  and  Stevenson 
did  not  attain  the  summit  in  1 872  partly  on  the  fact  that 
they  left  no  cairn  or  any  physical  evidence.  Since  it 
was  a  widely  practiced  and  standard  procedure  of  climb- 
ers to  erect  such  cairns  or  some  other  type  of  monu- 
ment, Owen  felt  their  failure  to  do  so  offered  powerful 
evidence  indicting  their  claim.  Frank  Spalding  agreed, 


telling  his  fellow  climbers  repeatedly  on  the  descent  in 
1 898  that  no  self-respecting  climber  who  attained  such 
a  summit  would  fail  to  build  a  cairn.'*"  Langford,  for 
his  part,  downplayed  the  issue,  citing  the  success  of  a 
climb  by  C.  E.  Faye  in  the  Canadian  Rockies  in  prior 
years  for  which  no  cairn  was  built.''  Defenders  of 
Langford  also  pointed  out  that  he  and  Stevenson  lacked 
sufficient  time  on  their  1872  climb  to  build  a  cairn. 
(Indeed,  Owen,  Shive,  Petersen,  and  Spalding  did  not 
build  a  cairn  on  the  1898  ascent  due  to  lack  of  time; 
they  erected  the  cairn  two  days  later  upon  their  return). 
Since  the  lack  of  physical  evidence  had  not  settled 
the  matter,  Owen  obtained  infonnation  which  he  con- 
sidered even  more  persuasive:  an  affidavit  from  Tho- 
mas Cooper.  This  affidavit,  along  with  Owen's  own 
essay,  was  published  in  an  issue  of  Forest  and  Stream 
in  November,  1 898.  Owen  had  first  met  Cooper  in  1 896, 
having  learned  that  Cooper  was  an  experienced  packer 
who  might  be  willing  to  work  for  Owen  on  one  of  his 
surveys.  When  Owen  met  Cooper  he  had  no  knowl- 
edge of  Cooper's  familiarity  with  Langford  and 
Stevenson,  nor  did  he  then  have  any  reason  to  question 
their  claim  ofhaving  reached  the  summit  in  1872.  Thus, 
when  Cooper  informed  Owen  that  he  had  been  a  packer 

'^  Bonney  and  Bonney,  Grand  Controversy,  121-22. 
"'  John  Shive  to  W.  O.  Owen,  August  29,  1924,  Box  2,  Owen 
Papers,  AHC. 

' ''  Bonney  and  Bonney,  Grand  Controversy,  96-97. 


■summer, 


IQQQ 


29 


with  the  Hayden  Survey  in  1 872  and  that  he  knew  that 
Langtbrd  and  Stevenson  had  not  made  the  summit, 
Owen's  competitive  instincts  were  fired.  Following  the 
success  of  his  own  party's  ascent  in  1898,  Owen  re- 
quested a  full  account  from  Cooper  of  his  recollections 
from  1872. 

In  his  1898  affidavit.  Cooper  indicated  having  been 
a  member  of  the  USGS  and  the  Wheeler  Expedition  in 
1872,  and  to  have  known  Langford,  Stevenson,  and 
Professor  Hayden.  He  stated  that  "all  members"  of  the 
USGS  Survey  had  been  drawn  into  the  dispute  over 
Langford's  and  Stevenson's  claim  of  reaching  the  sum- 
mit and  that  several  of  them  had  doubted  their  claim. 
According  to  Cooper's  affidavit,  Hayden  himself  re- 
marked in  1878  that  he  "knew  their  statements  were 
not  correct  [and]  knew  Stevenson  and  Langford  had 
never  been  on  top  of  the  peak."  Most  importantly. 
Cooper's  affidavit  described  a  personal  encounter  with 
James  Stevenson  in  Rawlins  in  October,  1877,  when 
Stevenson  admitted  to  Cooper  that  he  and  Langford 
had  reached  the  Upper  Saddle  and  the  Enclosure  in  1 872 
but  did  not  attain  the  summit."* 

Langford  wasted  no  time  challenging  Tom  Cooper's 
aftlda\  it.  In  a  subsequent  issue  of  Foresr  ami  Streom, 
Langford  denied  having  known  Cooper  in  1 872  and  he 
cited  testimony  of  Henry  Gannett,  chief  Geographer  of 
the  Hayden  Survey  in  1872,  who  stated  that  Cooper 
was  not  a  member  of  the  Survey  that  year.  Cooper  had 
also  claimed  that  Langford  had  been  in  charge  of  one 
of  Hayden's  divisions,  but  Langford  denied  this  and 


insisted  that  he  "was  never  a  member  of  the  Survey, 
nor  had  charge  of  a  division."'"  Langford  concluded 
that  Cooper's  affidavit  of  1898,  had  been  "well  pre- 
pared in  some  respects,  [but]  exhibits  the  inherent  weak- 
ness of  a  declaration,  which,  having  a  slight  coloring 
of  truth,  is  chiefly  notorious  for  a  disregard  of  facts."'" 

Owen  did  not  rely  on  Cooper's  affidavit  alone.  In 
the  fall  of  1 898,  he  also  obtained  an  affidavit  from  Wyo- 
ming Governor  William  A.  Richards.  Before  entering 
politics,  Richards  had  been  a  civil  engineer  and  sur- 
veyor. In  1 874,  he  had  been  at  work  marking  the  w est- 
em  boundary  of  Wyoming  and  had  encountered  [Rea- 
ver Dick  Leigh,  who  had  also  been  a  member  of 
Langford's  and  Stevenson's  party  in  1872.  When 
Richards  shared  a  copy  of  Langford's  Scrihner's  ar- 
ticle with  Beaver  Dick,  the  latter  "emphatically  stated" 
that  their  claim  of  reaching  the  summit  was  untrue.-' 

Responding  to  Richards'  affidavit  in  Forest  and 
Stream,  Langford  denied  that  Beaver  Dick  Leigh  was 
on  the  1 872  ascent  party  and  claimed  that  on  .July  29, 
the  day  of  the  ascent,  Beaver  Dick  was  fifty  miles  away 

'"  Cooper's  aftldavit  was  taken  in  Laramie  Count\  on  October 
21.  1898;  it  appears  in  Box  2,  Owen  Papers,  AUC;  it  was  also 
published  in  Forest  and  Stream.  November  5,  1898,  and  more 
reeentK  in  Bonney  and  Bonney,  Grand  Controversy.  417-419. 

'"  Langford's  letter  appeared  under  the  title  "The  Ascent  of 
the  Grand  Teton."  Forest  and  Stream.  No\ ember  19.  1898. 

-"  Ihid. 

-'  Richards'  affidavit  was  written  on  October  4,  1898.  and  ap- 
peared in  Forest  and  Stream.  November  5,  1 898.  A  copy  is  found 
in  Box  4,  Owen  Papers,  AHC. 


"Camp  Onx'ii,  Aug. 
12.  1898.  ••  Pictured 
(I  to  r):  Petersen. 
Cooper  (kneeling). 
.S  p  a  I  d  i  n  g  . 
Mc  Derm  en  I.  Shive. 
Photograph  by  W.  O. 
Owen.  Owen  collec- 
tion. American  Heri- 
tage Center. 


30 


Annals  of  Wyoming:  Tlie  Wyoming  Histor>'  Journal 


searching  for  a  route  into  the  Firehole  River  Basin. 
Langford's  statement  prompted  Governor  Richards  to 
reaftlmi  his  original  statement  in  a  letter  to  the  editor 
oi  Forest  and  Stream?-  Langford  then  obtained  testi- 
mony from  Beaver  Dick  himself  in  which  Leigh  ad- 
mitted to  having  been  far  removed  from  the  area  of  the 
Grand. 

Langford  also  gained  the  support  of  his  friend  Hiram 
Martin  Chittenden  who  wrote  a  twelve-page  report  on 
the  Grand  debate.  As  a  prominent  engineer  and  also 
historian  of  the  American  West,  Chittenden's  support 
gave  Langford  a  powerftil  ally.  Chittenden  criticized 
Cooper's  affidavit  for  several  inaccuracies,  and  he  in- 
dicated that  while  Stevenson  had  admitted  to  Cooper 
of  never  having  reached  the  summit  of  the  Grand,  he 
evidently  never  admitted  the  point  to  anyone  else,  in- 
cluding his  own  wife  whom  Chittenden  interviewed. 
"So  far  as  1  have  been  able  to  ascertain,"  Chittenden 
wrote,  "Cooper  is  the  only  person  whom  Stevenson 
ever  told  that  he  did  not  ascend  this  mountain."--' 

The  affidavits  fully  launched  the  controversy  in  the 
weeks  following  the  1898  ascent,  which  quickly  de- 
veloped into  a  war  of  words  between  Owen,  Langford, 
Cooper,  Richards,  and  Chittenden.  Yet  the  affidavits 
merely  added  fuel  to  the  fire  rather  than  helping  to  re- 
solve the  issue.  Each  side  believed  that  it  had  the  best 
witnesses  and  therefore  the  most  reliable  information 
about  the  1 872  climb.  Owen  considered  Cooper's  affi- 
davit unimpeachable,  while  Langford  believed  it  was 
filled  with  errors  and  misleading  information.  Not  sur- 
prisingly, the  debate  began  to  focus  increasingly  on 
the  character  of  various  participants.  Owen,  for  his  part, 
obtained  a  statement  from  a  Judge  Charles  Potter,  of 
Cheyenne,  who  testified  to  Cooper's  responsible  char- 
acter, "good  citizenship  and  integrity."-^ 

As  the  battle  over  the  affidavits  settled  into  a  contest 
over  who  said  what  and  when,  the  entire  dispute  in- 
creasingly came  to  focus  on  what  many  regarded  as 
the  single  most  important  primary  source  document  of 
the  1872  climb:  Langford's  essay  published  in 
Scribner's  Monthly  in  June  of  1873,  "The  Ascent  of 
Mount  Hayden."  The  essay  remains  to  this  day  the 
central  piece  of  evidence  in  the  dispute,  owing  in  part 
to  recent  research  which  reveals  that  Langford  wrote 
several  drafts  of  the  piece  before  it  appeared  in 
Scrihner  's  Monthly  in  June  of  1 873.  Leigh  Ortenburger, 
the  late  co-author  of  the  authoritative  climbing  guide 
to  the  Tetons,  spent  years  researching  the  Owen- 
Langford  controversy,  and  examined  Langford's  sev- 
eral drafts  carefully.  While  Ortenburger's  research  has 
not  yet  been  published,  those  familar  with  his  work 
claim  that  it  raises  numerous  questions  about  Langford's 


motives  since  he  apparently  changed  his  story  in  the 
various  drafts.-' 

Yet  the  published  version  from  Scribner  's  Monthly 
also  sparked  considerable  debate.  In  their  recent  book. 
The  Grand  Controversy,  Orrin  and  Lorraine  Bonney, 
long-time  Teton  climbers  and  historians  of  the  range, 
scrutinized  Langford's  article  careftally  and  concluded 
that  it  provided  a  clear  and  "straightforward"  account 
of  the  topmost  portion  of  the  Grand  above  the  Upper 
Saddle.  The  Bonneys  vigorously  defended  the  1872 
climb  as  the  first  ascent.  However,  their  use  of  evi- 
dence and  their  overall  argument  can  be  questioned  and 
their  book  should  not  be  taken  as  the  last  word  on  the 
subject.-^ 

To  their  credit,  the  Bonneys  devoted  considerable 
space  to  Langford's  observations  on  the  climb  and  to 
his  description  of  the  uppermost  portion  of  the  Grand. 
While  they  enthusiastically  endorsed  his  description 
as  a  reasonable  and  accurate  account  of  today's  Owen- 
Spalding  route,  the  fact  remains  that  Langford  provided 
little  detail  of  the  configuration  of  the  mountain  above 
the  Upper  Saddle.  As  a  resuft,  many  climbers  familiar 
with  the  peak  remain  doubtful  that  Langford  and 
Stevenson  were  actually  there  in  1872. 

Langford's  description  of  the  final  six  hundred  feet 
of  the  Grand  beyond  the  Upper  Saddle  was  short,  only 
three  or  four  paragraphs  (depending  on  how  one  inter- 
prets the  essay).  In  this  section  Langford  first  recounted 
Stevenson's  unceasing  and  eventually  successful  ef- 
forts to  scale  an  overhanging  rock.  Then,  Langford 
took  one  long  paragraph  to  describe  a  huge  sheet  of  ice 

--  Langford's  letter  to  Forest  and  Stream,  Richards'  letter  to 
the  editor,  December  13,  1898,  Bo.x  2,  Owen  Papers,  AHC. 

- '  Chittenden's  "report"  was  actually  a  twelve-page  letter,  Feb- 
ruary 14,  1899,  to  editor  of  Forest  and  Stream;  Box  2,  Owen 
Papers,  AHC. 

-''  Potter's  statement,  October  21,  1898.  Box  2,  Owen  Papers, 
AHC. 

-■'■  Author's  interview  with  Reynold  Jackson,  April  7,  1999. 
Ortenburger  died  in  a  wildfire  which  engulfed  a  neighborhood  of 
Oakland,  California,  in  1991,  His  history  of  the  Teton  range  has 
not  yet  been  published. 

-''  This  author  disagrees  with  parts  of  the  Bonneys'  book  and 
questions  their  argument  that  Langford  and  Stevenson  made  the 
top  in  1872.  Although  their  book  is  based  on  a  good  deal  of 
research  and  offers  much  useful  information,  the  conclusions  they 
draw  from  the  evidence  can  be  questioned  at  numerous  points.  In 
a  sentence  which  reveals  something  of  their  approach,  the  Bonneys 
conclude  that  "Just  as  a  key  was  needed  to  unlock  the  summit  of 
the  Grand,  so  too  is  a  key  needed  to  unlock  the  mystery  of  the 
1872  ascent,  and  the  key  is  in  believing  that  Langford's  account 
is  true.  Once  that  has  been  done  everything  else  falls  into  place." 
[p.  236].  This  seems  akin  to  accepting  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  a 
charged  individual  on  trial  in  order  to  help  make  sense  of  the 
evidence  brought  before  the  court.  The  evidence  should  be  weighed 
in  order  to  reach  the  conclusion,  not  the  other  way  around. 


Summer,   IQQQ 

which  cking  to  the  uppermost  part  of  the  Grand  and 
which  he  said  proved  to  be  the  key  to  reaching  the  sum- 
mit. By  cutting  steps  into  the  ice  with  their  boots, 
Langford  and  Ste\enson  ascended  the  hazardous  ice. 
then  clambered  "over  the  fragments  and  piles  of  gran- 
ite which  lay  between  us  and  the  summit,"  reaching 
the  top  at  3  p.m.-^ 

Leaving  aside  the  ice  sheet  for  the  moment,  the  pri- 
mary problem  with  Langford's  account  was  its  vague- 
ness. Many  subsequent  climbers  who  read  it  recognized 
little  about  the  upper  600  feet  of  the  Grand — toda\  "s 
Owen-Spalding  route.  That  route,  though  not  at  all  tech- 
nicall_\  difficult,  does  entail  distincti\  e  and  memorable 
pitches.-'*  From  the  Upper  Saddle  the  route  moves  to 
the  north  where  it  follows  a  narrow  and  extremely  ex- 
posed ledge  out  along  the  western  face  of  the  Grand 
for  about  300  feet.  It  passes  along  the  Belly  Roll,  a 
huge  flake  of  rock;  from  there  climbers  reach  a  remark- 
able and  extremely  exposed  ledge  called  the  Crawl  or 
Cooning  Place,  about  18  inches  wide  and  15  feet  long 
that  lies  directly  underneath  an  overhang.  Frank 
Spalding,  leader  of  the  1 898  climb,  found  that  in  order 
to  cross  the  ledge  he  had  to  remove  the  camera  strapped 
to  his  back  and  crawl  on  his  stomach  all  the  wa\  across, 
while  trying  to  avoid  peering  over  his  left  side  down  a 


W.  O.  Owen  "readyfora  climb  "  in  1925.  "The  ban- 
ner on  the  wall  is  my  old  metal  flag  we  planted  on 
the  summit  of  the  Teton  in  1898.  "  Owen  wrote  on 
the  back  of  the  photograph. 


sheer  3000-foot  wall  to  the  bottom.  Once  past  the  Crawl, 
the  route  continues  up  the  Double  Chimney  for  25  feet, 
at  which  point  climbers  can  choose  to  ascend  the  Owen 
Chimney  or  the  Catwalk.  Higher  up,  these  two  alterna- 
tives converge  below  Sargent's  Chimney.  Once  past 
the  final  chimney,  the  climb  involves  scrambling  to 
the  top.-" 

Langford  pro\ided  little  description  of  these  distinc- 
tive portions  of  the  cUmb.  Given  his  fiowery  and  at 
times  dramatic  prose,  it  is  especially  curious  that  he 
offered  no  account  of  the  Crawl  section,  the  narrow 
ledge  under  the  oxerhang.'"  To  defend  him  on  this  point, 
the  Bonne>  s  pointed  out  that  Langford  and  Ste\  enson 
might  not  have  crawled  across  the  ledge  but  might  have 
done  what  virtually  every  climber  does  to  cross  it  to- 
da\ — use  the  ledge  for  a  handhold  and  find  good  foot- 
holds down  below.  If  Langford  and  Stevenson  did  pass 
the  Crawl  in  this  manner,  then  the  experience  would 
not  ha\e  been  so  memorable  as  it  was  for  Spalding, 
Owen,  Shive,  and  Petersen  in  1898.  If  so,  they  may 
have  had  no  reason  to  mention  it.'' 

But  Langford's  account  came  under  fire  in  other  ways, 
especially  his  discussion  of  the  large  ice  sheet.  Langford 
described  a  huge  hanging  sheet  of  ice,  lying  atop  the 
rock  at  a  70-degree  angle,  and  noted  that  he  and 
Stevenson  approached  the  ice  with  considerable  trepi- 
dation. "Beside  the  danger  of  incurring  a  slide  which 
would  insure  a  rapid  descent  to  the  base  of  the  moun- 
tain," he  wrote,  "there  was  the  other  risk,  that  the  frail 
fastenings  which  held  the  ice-sheet  to  the  rocks  might 
give  way  while  we  were  crawling  over  it,  and  the  whole 
field  be  carried  with  us  down  the  terrible  precipice." 
Yet  knowing  how  close  they  were  to  the  top  they  took 
heart  and  "laying  hold  of  the  rocky  points  at  the  side  of 
the  ice-sheet,  we  broke  with  our  feet  in  its  surface  a 
series  of  steps,  up  which  we  ascended  ....  to  its  top- 
most junction  with  the  rock."'-  In  a  letter  to  Owen  in 
1 898,  Langford  said  that  "we  never  could  have  reached 
the  summit  but  for  the  aid  of  the  sheet  of  ice,  which 
formed  our  Ladder."'-* 


-'  Langford.  "Ascent  of  Mount  Hayden,"  144. 

-**  A  "pitch"  refers  to  a  small  segment  of  the  overall  climb, 
often  equal  to  the  length  of  a  rope. 

-"  For  a  description  of  the  route  see  Ortenburger  and  .lackson. 
Climber's  Guide.  157-159;  see  also  Spalding  to  Langford.  De- 
cember 5.  1898.  Bo.x  2.  Owen  Papers,  AHC. 

'"  Paul  Petzoldt  made  this  point  in  a  letter  to  the  editor  of 
Outdoor  Life.  The  letter  is  not  dated  but  was  probabK  written  in 
the  fall  of  1924.    Box  2,  Owen  Papers.  AHC. 

"    Bonnev  and  Bonney.  The  Grand  Controversy.  1 18. 

^-  Langford.  "Ascent  of  Mount  Hayden."  143-44. 

^^  Langford  to  Owen.  September  15,  1898.  Box  2.  Owen  Pa- 
pers, AHC. 


32 


-/Vnnals  oi  Wyoming:  The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


Owen  and  other  climbers  harbored  many  doubts. 
Frank  Petersen,  a  member  of  the  1 898  party,  remarked 
that  such  an  ice-sheet,  "after  two  months  exposure  to  a 
summer  sun,  could  not  possibly  cling  to  the  hard,  steep, 
granite  face  on  the  west  side  of  the  Grand  Teton.  It  is 
simply  impossible.""  Paul  Petzoldt,  who  began  his 
long  climbing  career  in  the  Tetons  during  the  1920s, 
believed  that  ice  sheets  of  such  size  and  extent  as 
Langford  described  normally  do  not  disappear  within 
a  few  years,  yet  he  knew  of  no  such  ice  sheet  on  the 
upper  west  side  of  the  Grand.  Even  if  the  ice  sheet  did 
exist  in  1872,  Petzoldt  doubted  that  Langford  and 
Stevenson  could  have  kicked  holes  in  the  hard  ice. 
"Climbing  ice  sheets  on  that  slant  is  not  probable  and 
the  kicking  process  must  have  resulted  in  some  badly 
bruised  toes.  For  the  latter  Langford  does  not  ac- 
count.""' Another  piece  of  evidence  challenging  the 
presence  of  the  ice  sheet  is  a  photograph  taken  by  Wil- 
liam Henry  Jackson  from  the  top  of  Table  Mountain 
within  a  few  days  of  Langford's  and  Stevenson's  al- 
leged ascent  in  1872.  The  picture  displays  the  upper 
West  Face  of  the  Grand  but  shows  no  large  draping 
sheet  of  ice.'" 

If  the  presence  of  the  ice  sheet  raised  many  doubts, 
so  too  did  additional  details  in  Langford's  essay.  Once 
above  the  ice,  Langford  reported  seeing  fresh  tracks  of 
"that  American  Ibex,  the  mountain  sheep, — the  only 
animals  known  to  clamber  up  the  sides  of  our  loftiest 
peaks."  In  the  next  sentence  he  mentioned  seeing  "flow- 
ers also,  of  beauteous  hue,  and  delicate  fragrance, 
[which]  peeped  through  the  snow  ....""  But  in  the  minds 
of  some,  Langford's  most  fanciful  sighting  was  mos- 
quitos  on  the  summit  itself" 

These  sightings  provoked  a  great  outcry  from  Owen, 
Petersen,  Spalding,  and  Shive  and  their  defenders.  As 
for  the  mountain  sheep,  Shive  claimed  to  have  "hunted 
these  animals  for  thirty  years  over  the  Teton  moun- 
tains and  1  know  that  no  sheep  that  ever  breathes  could 
get  that  close  to  the  top  of  the  peak  unless  he  had  wings 
....  It  arouses  my  curiosity,  too,  to  know  what  a  sheep 
would  be  doing  three  thousand  feet  or  so  above  the 
point  where  he  could  get  anything  to  eat."'"  Others 
similarly  denounced  the  sheep  sighting,  Petersen  say- 
ing in  an  affidavit  that  "a  sheep  might  get  to  the  'En- 
closure' if  he  were  driven  there;  but  he  could  no  more 
climb  the  last  600  feet  of  the  Grand  Teton  than  he  could 
climb  a  telephone  pole."*'  Numerous  climbers  since 
have  agreed  that  the  precipitous  walls  on  the  upper 
Grand  make  the  presence  of  such  wildlife  an  impossi- 
bility. They  have  also  expressed  doubts  about  wild- 
flowers,  based  on  the  height  of  the  Grand  and  the  com- 
plete lack  of  soil  or  vegetation  near  the  top.  While  flow- 


ers such  as  Sky  Pilots  have  been  seen  between  the  Lower 
and  Upper  Saddles,  no  reports  of  flowers  between  the 
Upper  Saddle  and  the  summit  have  ever  been  re- 
corded.^' 

Owen  and  his  compatriots  could  hardly  contain  their 
laughter  at  Langford's  claim  of  mosquitos  on  the  sum- 
mit. Shive,  a  resident  of  Jackson  Hole  for  nearly  three 
decades  and  a  hunter  in  various  mountain  ranges  in 
northwest  Wyoming,  said  "never  in  my  life  have  I  seen 
a  mosquito  500  feet  above  timber  line,  which,  in  this 
vicinity  of  the  Tetons  is  about  1 0,200  feet  above  the 
sea.""*-  Owen,  of  course,  left  nothing  to  chance.  He  con- 
sulted with  an  entomologist,  L.  O.  Howard  of  the  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture,  on  the  likelihood  of 
finding  mosquitos  thousands  of  feet  above  timberline. 
Howard  replied  that  little  research  had  been  done  on 
the  matter  and  "science  has  not  determined  the  point 
about  which  you  inquire."  But  Howard  was  doubtful 
that  mosquitos  would  breed  above  timberline  and  he 
believed  they  "would  not  rise  above  this  line  unless 
carried  by  strong  currents  of  air."'" 

Two  additional  points  from  Langford's  essay  also 
provoked  debate.  If  Langford  and  Stevenson  did  reach 
the  summh  surely  they  would  have  had  a  sense  of  how 
the  top  actually  appeared.  In  this  regard,  Langford's 
description  of  the  summit  as  a  "bald,  denuded  head  ... 
worn  smooth"  by  the  elements"  gave  further  support 
to  Owen  and  his  allies. ^^  Far  from  being  a  bald  or 
smooth  cap  of  granite,  the  top  of  the  Grand  is,  as  Frank 
Petersen  described  it,  "a  mass  of  chopped  and  broken 
blocks  varying  in  size  from  a  tea  kettle  to  a  cook-stove." 
Referring  to  Langford's  choice  of  words  of  a  bald  sum- 
mit, Stevenson  remarked  that  "no  intelligent  man,  had 
he  ever  seen  the  summit  of  the  Grand  Teton,  would 
have  written  such  a  description  as  this."'" 

'"•  Petersen's  affidavit,  dated  September  9,  1 924,  taken  in  Teton 
County,  is  in  Bo.x  2,  Owen  Papers,  AHC. 

-'"'  Petzoldt  to  editor  oi  Outdoor  Life,  n.d.,  but  probably  the  fall 
of  1924.  Box  2,  Owen  Papers,  AHC. 

-'*  Reynold  Jackson  interview,  April  7,  1999. 

■'''  Langford,  "Ascent  of  Mount  Hayden,"  144-45. 

^^  Ibid..  148. 

'''  John  Shive  to  William  Owen,  August  29,  1 924,  Box  2,  Owen 
Papers,  AHC. 

•"'  Petersen  affidavit,  Sept.  9.  1924,  Box  2,  Owen  Papers,  AHC. 

■^'  See  William  Owen's  letter,  "The  Ascent  of  the  Grand  Teton," 
Forest  and  Stream,  December  31,  1898,  Box  3,  Owen  Papers, 
AHC;  Renny  Jackson  interview,  April  7,  1999. 

''-  Shive  to  Owen,  August  29,  1924,  Box  2,  Owen  Papers. 

■"  L.  O.  Howard  to  Owen,  December  3,  1898,  Box  2,  Owen 
Papers,  AHC. 

''"'  Langford,  "Ascent  of  Mount  Hayden,"  144. 

■'-  Frank  Petersen  affidavit,  Teton  County,  Wyoming,  Sept.  9, 
1924,  Box  2,  Owen  Papers,  AHC;  Bonney  and  Bonney,  Grand 
Controversy,  119. 


Sur 


IQQQ 


A  final  matter  focused  on  the  elevation  of  the  Grand 
Teton.  Langford,  who  carried  an  aneroid  barometer  on 
the  1872  ascent,  stated  in  his  Scrihner's  Monthly  ar- 
ticle that  the  summit  was  1 3,762  feet  (above  sea  level)/" 
When  Owen  estimated  the  top  of  the  peak  to  be  13, 
800  feet  two  and  a  half  decades  later,  Langford  felt  that 
the  two  figures  were  so  close  that  Owen's  estimate  sub- 
stantiated his  own  and  thereby  bolstered  his  own  case. 
Owen,  wanting  to  leave  no  evidence  of  Langford's 
unchallenged,  eventually  found  a  way  to  discredit 
Langford's  figure  with  assistance  from  the  U.S.  Geo- 
logical Survey.  In  1926,  Julian  Sears,  acting  director 
of  the  Survey,  informed  Owen  that  the  agency  had  con- 
cluded that  readings  from  aneroid  barometers  were  very 
unreliable,  "even  in  the  hands  of  skilled  observers. "''^ 
Sears  indicated  that  readings  from  aneroids  were  known 
to  have  been  inaccurate  by  several  thousand  feet.  This 
comforted  Owen  greatly  and  enabled  him  to  place  yet 
another  nail  into  Langford's  and  Stevenson's  claims.^" 

The  Owen-Langford  controversy  waxed  and  waned 
for  at  least  three  decades  after  the  1898  ascent.  Re- 
markably, as  The  Climber 's  Guide  to  the  Teton  Range 
points  out,  no  one  revisited  the  summit  of  the  Grand 
until  1923.  two  and  a  half  decades  after  that  ascent. 
Beginning  in  1 923  several  parties  made  the  ascent,  and 
the  publicity  resulting  from  them  helped  to  revive  the 
old  controversy  between  Owen  and  Langford. 
(Langford  died  in  1909).  Owen  himself  climbed  the 
Grand  in  August,  1924,  at  the  age  of  65,  more  than  a 
quarter  century  after  his  initial  climb."'''  By  now,  it  may 
be  said  that  William  Owen  had  time  and  the  benefit  of 
changing  circumstances  in  Jackson  Hole  on  his  side. 
During  the  1 920s  several  climbers,  including  the  young 
and  courageous  Paul  Petzoldt.  had  reached  the  top  of 
the  Grand  and  had  verified  much  of  Owen's  doubts 
about  Langford  and  Stevenson.  Owen  capitalized  on 
their  experiences  and  finally  achieved  the  recognition 
he  had  so  long  sought. 

Owen  also  found  that  leaders  of  the  town  of  Jackson 
and  of  Teton  County  could  be  courted  for  they  did  not 
wish  to  be  associated  in  any  way  with  such  a  long  stand- 
ing controversy  involving  the  highest  peak  in  the  Teton 
range.  Owen  made  sure  that  several  prominent  citi- 
zens of  Jackson  Hole  and  of  the  town  of  Jackson  itself 
were  made  aware  of  what  he  considered  to  be  grave 
weaknesses  in  Langford's  and  Stevenson's  case,  and 
he  found  them  all  in  agreement  that  the  great  contro- 
versy should  be  brought  to  an  end.  Leading  business- 
men and  pillars  of  Jackson  such  as  Robert  E.  Miller, 
W.  C.  Deloney,  Richard  Winger,  and  A.  C.  McCain 
subsequently  signed  a  petition  which  Owen  presented 
to  the  Teton  County  Board  of  Commissioners  in  1926. 


33 

The  petition  offered  a  "resume  of  evidence"  including 
Cooper's  1898  affidavit  and  Langford's  article  from 
Seribner's  Monthly  with  the  "inherent  improbability 
of  [its]  numerous  statements."  The  Teton  County  com- 
missioners subsequently  adopted  a  resolution  denounc- 
ing the  1872  ascent  by  Langford  and  Stevenson  "as 
spurious  and  utterly  without  foundation  in  fact,"  and 
credited  Owen,  Spalding  (now  dead),  Shive,  and 
Petersen  with  the  first  ascent  on  August  1 1,  1898.^" 

■"*  Langford,  "Ascent  oflVlt.  Hayden,"  148. 

-'■  Sears  to  Owen,  August  23.  1926,  Box  2,  Owen  Papers,  AHC. 

""*  In  light  of  the  problems  with  aneroid  barometers  as  well  as 
the  uncertainty  of  whether  the  1872  party  reached  the  summit,  it 
is  perhaps  amazing  that  Langford's  estimate  of  13,762  feet  is 
only  eight  feet  lower  than  the  modern  day  measurement.  See 
Bonney  and  Bonney,  Grand  Controversy,  123. 

*"*  "Owen  Returns  to  Teton  Peak,"  Laramie  Boomerang,  Au- 
gust 26.  1924. 

^"  The  Teton  County  Commissioners  resolution  is  in  Box  2, 
Owen  Papers.  AHC. 


Owen  holds  the  plaque  commemorating  his  climb  of  the 
Grand.  Pictured  with  him  at  ceremonies  held  in  July. 
1932.  are  Horace  Albright  (left)  and  Sam  T.  Woodring, 
the  first  superintendent  of  Grand  Teton  National  Park. 


34 


Annals  of  Wyoming:  Tne  Wyoming  History  Journal 


Heartened  by  the  commissioners'  actions,  Owen  ap- 
proached the  Wyoming  legislature,  pressing  for  a  simi- 
lar resolution.  In  1927  the  state  House  of  Representa- 
tives passed  a  resolution  conferring  the  honor  on  the 
1 898  party,  a  move  that  provided  official  state  recog- 
nition and  stipulated  that  the  state  historian  "incorpo- 
rate in  the  historical  records  of  her  office  this  finding 
of  the  Legislature."" 

Additional  recognition  and  officially  sanctioned  hon- 
ors were  forthcoming  in  subsequent  years.  On  March 
4,  1929,  the  National  Board  of  Geographic  Names  ap- 
proved of  Owen's  name  for  the  second  highest  peak  in 
the  range,  the  picturesque  spire  just  to  the  north  of  the 
Grand."  That  same  year.  Congress  created  Grand  Teton 
National  Park  to  protect  the  high  peaks.  Owen  took 
delight  in  seeing  a  National  Park  Service  press  release 
announcing  the  new  park  in  which  the  NPS  credited 
Owen  and  his  three  companions  with  the  first  ascent  of 
the  Grand,  and  said  of  Langford  and  Stevenson  that  "it 
now  appears  that  they  climbed  one  of  the  higher  sister 
peaks,  mistaking  it  for  the  Grand  Teton."" 

On  July  30,  1929,  Owen  attended  a  ceremony  dedi- 
cating the  newly  created  Grand  Teton  National  Park. 
Afterwards,  he  rode  by  car  to  the  town  of  Jackson,  join- 
ing several  other  passengers  including  Dr.  Grace 
Raymond  Hebard,  who  stunned  Owen  with  a  report  of 
her  recent  conversation  with  William  Henry  Jackson 
at  Jackson  Lake  Lodge.  Jackson  had  accompanied  the 
1872  Hayden  survey  and  had  joined  Langford  and 
Stevenson's  ascent  party  on  the  first  portion  of  the 
climb.  Now,  almost  sixty  years  later,  Jackson  had  in- 
formed Hebard  that  Langford  had  admitted  to  him  that 
he  and  Stevenson  never  made  the  summit.  Thrilled  by 
this  latest  evidence  in  his  favor,  Owen  quickly  asked 
Hebard  to  confirm  Jackson's  statement  in  writing,  and 
he  took  affidavits  about  Hebard's  conversation  in  the 
car  from  Allen  Austin  and  Rose  Crabtree,  residents  of 
Jackson  who  had  also  been  passengers  in  the  car.""" 
Owen  believed  that  Jackson's  statement  provided  the 
clinching  evidence  for  the  1 898  ascent,  if  any  such  evi- 
dence were  needed. 

Perhaps  it  is  safe  to  say  that  no  final  settlement 
of  the  Langford-Owen  controversy  will  ever 
be  reached,  and  it  has  not  been  the  purpose  of  this  es- 
say to  offer  any  final  proof  Certainly  if  additional 
diaries  or  manuscripts  are  uncovered  in  the  future  the 
case  will  be  revisited  again.  Yet  if  final  proof  seems  an 
unlikely  possibility,  the  fact  remains  that  William  Owen 
triumphed  in  the  dispute  decades  ago  and,  until  addi- 
tional information  is  found,  he  and  his  colleagues  will 


continue  to  have  credit  for  the  first  ascent. 

By  the  end  of  the  1920s  much  had  changed  in  Jack- 
son Hole,  including  the  growth  of  the  town  of  Jackson 
as  well  as  the  renewed  interest  in  clim.bing  the  peaks. 
These  economic  and  cultural  developments  affecting 
the  valley  enabled  Owen  to  capitalize  on  the  uncertain- 
ties and  ambiguities  surrounding  Langford's  and 
Stevenson's  claimed  ascent  of  1 872.  By  that  time,  nu- 
merous climbers  familiar  with  the  Grand  simply  could 
not  comprehend  or  follow  Langford's  description  of 
the  Owen-Spalding  route.  Furthermore,  Owen  found 
sympathetic  ears  and  minds  among  local  business  lead- 
ers who  felt  that  their  community's  future  and  its  re- 
spectability in  the  eyes  of  other  Wyoming  citizens  rested 
in  part  on  having  an  accurate  sense  of  its  own  history. 
Those  interests  found  favor  in  the  state  legislature  as 
well.  A  combination  of  elements,  then,  enabled  Owen 
to  triumph  in  the  end.  Though  the  1898  ascent  was 
hardly  his  triumph  alone,  Owen's  tireless  efforts  el- 
evated him  into  the  public  spotlight  and  ensured  that 
his  name,  far  more  than  that  of  his  equally  courageous 
colleagues,  was  forever  identified  with  the  first  ascent 
of  the  Grand. 

-'''  Joint  Resolution  No.  2,  Wyoming  House  of  Representatives, 
February  9,  1927,  Box  4,  Owen  Papers,  AHC;  "Conqueror  of 
Grand  Teton  Recognized  by  Legislature  After  Lapse  of  Years," 
Los  Angeles  Times,  February  27,  1927,  clipping  in  Box  2,  Owen 
Papers,  AHC. 

'-  W.  O.  Owen,  letter  to  the  Wyoming  State  Tribune.  February 
18,  1945,  clipping  in  Bo,\  2.  Owen  Papers,  AHC. 

'^  Quoted  in  Owen's  letter  to  editor  of  Jackson  Hole  Courier, 
March  28,  1929,  clipping  in  Box  2,  Owen  Papers,  AHC. 

■'■*  Owen  letter  to  Wyoming  State  Tribune.  Feb.  18,  1945,  Box 
2,  Owen  Papers,  AHC. 


Mark  Han'ey  is  associate  professor  of  history 
at  North  Dakota  State  University,  Fargo.  His 
scholarly  interests  center  on  the  American  West 
and  its  environmental  history,  especially  na- 
tional parks  and  wilderness.  He  is  author  of  A 
Symbol  of  Wilderness:  Echo  Park  and  the 
American  Conservation  Movement  (Albuquer- 
que: UNM  Press,  1994).  He  has  climbed  the 
Grand  Teton  on  three  occasions,  the  first  at 
the  age  of  14  in  1971. 


A  Jackson  Hole  Life: 
Verba  Lawrence 


Slim  and  Verba  La«renc 


By  Sherry  L.  Smith 


Jackson  Hole  is  a  many-storied  landscape.Of  course.most 
o  its  stories,  at  least  those  which  have  found  the.r  way  into 
p  in   feature  men.After  all,  historians  traditionally  associate 

h  n^ain  themes  of  that  valleys  history  -  fur  trapping^  big 
game  hunting,  homesteading,  dude  wrangling,  park  making, 
ranching  and  -politicking"—  with  men.' 


36 


Annals  or  Wyoming:The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


Occasionally  one  gets  a  glimpse  of  women  in  the 
midst  of  Jackson  Hole's  historical  figures;  Jenny, 
trapper  Beaver  Dick  Leigh's  Shoshone  wife,  or 
Jackson's  1920's  all  woman  city  council  and  mayor. 
But  frankly  these  women  are  there  as  anomalies,  inter- 
esting for  their  exoticism,  their  difference,  the  spice 
they  add  to  a  stew  that  is  predominantly  Anglo  and 
male.  In  short,  for  decades  Jackson  Hole's  stories  fo- 
cused on  activities  deemed  important  because  they  were 
economic  and  political,  those  more  "public"  arenas 
where  men  dominated.  Moreover,  the  men's  voices 
were  those  most  easily  reclaimed  in  government  docu- 
ments, in  the  newspapers  which  chronicled  their  ac- 
tions, and  in  the  letters  and  diaries  that  historians  sought 
out  in  archives.  Women,  of  course,  were  there  all  along. 


Verba  Lawrence 


They  rarely  took  public  roles,  but  that  does  not  mean 
they  were  invisible.  They  seldom  articulated  their  opin- 
ions in  public  forums,  but  that  does  not  mean  they  were 
silent.  Over  the  last  century,  women  in  Jackson  Hole 
have  left  an  abundance  of  evidence  that  they  had  sto- 
ries of  their  own.  And  they  told  them.  Such  stories' 
transition  to  the  pages  of  history  books  merely  awaited 
someone's  interest  to  recapture  and  re-articulate  them.- 
This  is  a  story  about  one  of  those  women  who  "came 
to  Wyoming  long,  long  time  ago  now,"  to  borrow  a 
phrase  from  Jackson  Hole  songwriter  Beth  Mcintosh's 
lovely  song  "Three  Women,"  and  who  left  a  rich  record 
of  her  experiences.  Verba  Delaney  Lawrence  arrived 
in  the  Tetons  in  the  early  I920's,  a  teenager  looking 
for  work  in  the  valley's  budding  tourism  industry.  What 
she  found  was  a  life.  For  the  next  fifty  years. 
Verba  enjoyed  a  partnership  with  her  husband 
Cecil  "Slim"  Lawrence  and  an  unusual  opportu- 
nity to  enjoy  a  special  comer  of  the  valley  through 
the  core  years  of  the  twentieth  century.  The 
Lawrences  served  as  caretakers  for  a  spectacular 
property,  overlooking  Jackson  Lake  and  the  ma- 
jestic Teton  Range.  Various  owners  christened 
that  place  differently:  "Marymere"  under  John 
Sargent's  ownership,  "Mae-Lou"  during  the 
William  Johnson  era,  and  the  "AMK"  during  the 
Berolzheimer  years. ^  Verba  deeply  loved  that 
place.  The  importance  of  it  — the  centrality  of  it, 
really  —  to  the  contours  of  her  life  is  undeni- 
able. 

*  The  author  thanks  the  Wyoming  State  Historical  So- 
ciety for  providing  a  Lola  Homsher  Research  Grant  and 
the  University  of  Wyoming-NPS  Research  Center  where 
she  and  her  husband,  historian  Robert  H'.  Righter,  spent 
six  weeks  researching  and  writing.  The  center  is  located 
at  the  former  AMK.  Verba  Lawrence 's  home  for  many 
years. 

'  Among  the  best-known  works  chronicling  Jackson 
Hole  history  are  Robert  B.  Betts,  .4long  the  Ramparts  of 
the  Tetons:  The  Saga  of  Jackson  Hole.  Wyoming  (Boul- 
der: Colorado  Associated  University  Press,  1978).  David 
J.  Savior,  Jackson  Hole.  Wyoming  ("Norman:  University 
of  Oklahoma  Press,  1970),  and  Robert  W.  Righter,  Crw- 
cible  for  Conservation:  The  Struggle  for  Grand  Teton 
National  Park  (Boulder:  Colorado  Associated  University 
Press,  1982) 

-  For  a  recent  example  see  Sherry  L.  Smith,  "A  Woman  ^ 
Life  in  the  Teton  Country:  Geraldine  A.  Lucas,"  Mon- 
tana, the  Magazine  of  Western  History  44  (1994):  18-33. 

^  For  an  excellent  history  of  this  property  see  Kenneth 
L.  Diem,  Lenore  L.  Diem,  and  William  C.  Lawrence,  A 
Tale  of  Dough  Gods.  Bear  Grease.  Cantaloupe  and  Sucker 
Oil:  Marymere/Pinetree/Mae-Lou/AMK  Ranch  (Moran, 
Wyoming:  University  of  Wyoming-National  Park  Service 
Research  Center,  1986). 


1999 


37 


However,  her  place  in  Jackson  Hole  was  not  as  un- 
limited as  the  landscapes  which  surrounded  her.  To 
some  degree  economic  class  and  gender  circumscribed 
it.  An  examination  of  Lawrence's  life,  then,  provides 
an  opportunity  to  engage  some  broader  questions  re- 
garding the  relationship  between  the  West  as  region, 
women's  roles,  and  women's  potential  to  challenge  the 
boundaries  and  limits  placed  upon  them  by  gender  ex- 
pectations and  economic  status.  For  the  first  half  of 
this  century,  at  least,  Jackson  Holers  saw  their  valley 
as  a  remote  and  isolated  one.  For  some,  that  meant  it 
was  a  place  where  non-traditional  roles  were  more  ac- 
ceptable or,  at  least,  tolerated.  Did  Jackson  Hole's  sup- 
posed "frontier"  existence  allow  women  more  freedom 
to  challenge  prescribed  roles?  Did  Verba  Lawrence  even 
care  about  such  things']*  And  what  about  social  and  eco- 
nomic class?  Did  Jackson  Hole  offer  any  special  eco- 
nomic opportunities  for  working  class  women?  How 
did  the  wealthy  and  the  people  they  employed  see  one 
another  earlier  in  this  century?  In  a  place  that  used  to 
pride  itself  on  the  supposed  absence  of  such  social  dis- 
tinctions, does  the  everyday  life  of  an  ordinary  woman 
shed  any  light  on  the  possible  existence  of  class  divi- 
sions in  Jackson  Hole  before  the  advent  of  gated  com- 
munities and  multi-million  dollar  second  homes?'* 

Verba  Lawrence  was  an  unpropertied,  working  class 
woman,  although  she  probably  did  not  identify  herself 
that  way.  To  a  historian,  however,  Lawrence  offers  a 
special  opportunity  to  examine  and  analyze  the  experi- 
ences of  one  of  Teton  County's  "service  class"  —  be- 
cause she  was  a  writer,  of  a  kind.  For  thirty-seven  years 
Verba  kept  a  diary.  Nearly  every  day  she  jotted  down  a 
line  or  two  in  little  leatherbound,  five  year  diaries  — 
providing  valuable  views  into  the  daily  life  and  musings 
of  one  of  Jackson  Hole's  less  prominent  citizens  and 
little  known  worlds.'' 

In  Mary  Clearman  Slew's  book,  Balsamroot,  the 
author  writes  about  her  Aunt  Imogene  who,  like 
Lawrence,  kept  diaries  for  decades.  The  journals  "are 
filled,"  in  Blew's  words,  "like  a  ragbag  with  the  daily 
doings  that  make  up  a  life."  Reading  the  diaries.  Blew 
goes  on,  "is  to  experience  the  absolutely  linear.  A  plot 
sort  of  emerges,  like  a  river,  continuous,  with  appar- 
ently unrelated  details  bobbing  to  the  surface  and  then 
submerging."  Moreover,  the  diaries  convey  a  most  com- 
pelling sense  not  only  of  the  immediate,  but  also  of  the 
past.  For  on  "a  given  page  [which]  contains  five  en- 
tries for  five  consecutive  years;  she  could  take  in  at  a 
glance  what  she  hoped  for  the  year  before,  or  the  year 
before  that,  or  what  she  had  dreaded."  Finally,  Blew 
says  about  Aunt  Imogene's  diaries,  "She  is  place-spe- 
cific. I  could  draw  a  map  of  that  thirty-mile  radius 


[wherein  she  lived],  re-create  its  textures  out  of 
memory."^ 

All  the  same  holds  true  of  Verba  Lawrence's  diaries. 
They  are  filled  with  the  "ragbag"  of  commonplace, 
everyday  events.  They  chronicle  the  immediate,  but 
also  the  retrospective.  They  are  linear  although,  espe- 
cially during  the  first  two  decades,  they  are  almost  cir- 
cular as  the  patterns  of  life  determined  by  nature's 
changing,  cyclical  seasons,  dictated  so  many  aspects 
of  Lawrence's  life.  Finally  she  is  indeed  place  specific. 
For  most  of  their  married  life  Verba  and  "Slim" 
Lawrence  rarely  left  the  thirty-mile  radius  of  their  north- 
em  Jackson  Hole  home.  Although  she  did  not  own  a 
square  inch  of  it  until  very  late  in  life.  Verba  consid- 
ered this  "my  country"  which  she  possessed  not  by  le- 
gal claim  but  b\  virtue  of  li\ing  on  it  and  loving  it.  In 
the  end,  Lawrence  was  not  a  particularly  introspective 
person.  Perhaps  the  few  lines,  the  tiny  space,  allowed 
per  day  in  such  five-year  diaries,  did  not  encourage 
musings  beyond  the  day's  detritus.  But  Verba  seemed 
more  given  to  action  than  reflection  and  if  she  ever 
pondered  deeply  on  her  life  and  its  larger  significance, 
she  did  not  commit  such  thoughts  to  paper. 

Verba  arrived  in  Jackson  Hole  from  the  west.  In  1 906, 
one  year  after  her  birth  in  Iowa,  Verba  Delaney's  fam- 
ily moved  to  Teton  Valley,  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Tetons.  The  family,  which  was  Monnon,  farmed  near 
Alta.  Starting  in  1 92 1 ,  at  age  1 6,  Verba  began  working 
in  the  summer  for  various  Jackson  Hole  families:  the 
Edicks  in  Kelly,  Frews  in  Moose  and  by  1923-24  she 
waited  tables  at  Ben  Sheffield's  Teton  Lodge  in  Moran, 

"*  These  kinds  of  questions  have  particular!)  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  western  historians  in  recent  years.  See  Julie  Roy  Jeffrey, 
Frontier  Women  The  Trans-Mississippi  West.  1S40-ISS0  (New 
■*iork:  Hill  and  Wang,  1979);  Susan  Armitage  and  Elizabeth 
Jameson,  eds..  The  If'oinen's  West  (Norman:  University  of  Okla- 
homa Press,  1987);  Glenda  Rilev.  The  Female  Frontier  A  Com- 
parative View  of  Women  on  the  Prairie  and  the  Plains  ( Lawrence: 
University  Press  of  Kansas,  1988);  Ruth  B.  Moynihan.  Susan 
Armitage  and  Christine  Fischer  Dichamp,  eds..  So  Much  To  Be 
Done:  Women  Settlers  on  the  Mining  ami  Ranching  Frontier  (Lin- 
coln: LIniversity  of  Nebraska  Press,  1990);  Susan  Armitage  and 
Elizabeth  Jameson,  eds..  Writing  the  Range:  Race.  Class,  and 
Culture  in  the  Women's  West  (Norman:  University  of  Oklahoma 
Press.  1997);  and  Dee  Garceau,  The  Important  Things  of  Life: 
li'omen.  Work,  and  Family  in  Sweenvater  County  Wyoming.  1880- 
1929  (Lincoln:  University  of  Nebraska  Press,  1997). 

■■  The  Verba  Lawrence  diaries  span  the  years  1 93 1  to  1 968.  The 
diaries  reside  at  the  Teton  County  Historical  Society,  Jackson, 
Wyoming.  Xero.x  copies  are  available  at  the  American  Heritage 
Center,  University  of  Wyoming,  Laramie,  Wyoming.  .All  diary 
entry  citations  which  follow  refer  to  the  original  diaries  at  the 
Teton  County  Historical  Society. 

*■  Mary  Clearman  Blew,  Balsamroot:  A  Memoir  (New  York: 
Penguin  Books,  1994),  124-25. 


38 


Annals  or  WyomingiTne  Wyoming  History  Journal 


the  town  that  used  to  sit  adjacent  to  the  current  Jackson 
Lake  Dam  site.  It  was  while  working  in  Moran  that 
Verba  met  Slim  Lawrence,  as  one  would  expect,  at  a 
dance.  Lawrence,  a  driver  for  the  Lander- Yellowstone 
Transportation  Company  in  the  summers,  stayed  in  one 
of  Sheffield's  cabins  and  punched  cattle,  hauled  wood 
and  served  as  a  guide  and  butcher  for  Sheffield  during 
the  off-season.^ 

The  nature  of  their  courtship  reflected  the  changing 
patterns  of  their  time,  as  Victorian  manners  faded  and 
the  unchaperoned,  youth  culture  of  the  1920's  replaced 
it.  Far  from  family  super\'ision  and  control.  Verba  en- 
joyed a  measure  of  autonomy  and  freedom  yet,  pre- 
sumably, Victorian  sexual  standards  remained  intact. 
In  this  respect,  her  behavior  typified  that  of  other  rural 
Wyoming  women  of  her  day,  whereby  independence 
and  loosening  family  control  over  courtship  stopped 
short  of  eastern  versions  of  the  "New  Woman,"  who 
supposedly  threw  old  rules  about  sexual  propriety  to 
the  wind.  As  historian  Dee  Garceau  explained  it,  in 
rural  Wyoming  "unsupervised  courtship  was  double- 
edged,  for  it  threatened  single  women  with  exclusion 
if  they  violated  its  standards.  The  double  moral  stan- 
dard was  nearly  as  effective  as  chaperones  in  discour- 
aging single  women  from  sexual  expression."* 

Whatever  the  intimate  details  of  their  courtship.  Verba 
and  Slim  married  in  1929.  This  was  Slim's  second 
marriage.  '*  A  few  months  after  the  wedding,  the  couple 
snared  the  perfect  job:  caretaker  for  William  Louis 
Johnson's  place,  north  of  old  Moran.  Johnson  made 
his  fortune  as  Division  Manager  of  the  Eastern  Sales 
Division  of  the  Hoover  vacuum  cleaner  company  and 
in  1 926  purchased  the  John  D.  Sargent  homestead  prop- 
erty. The  following  year  he  began  construction  of  a 
two-story  log  lodge  which  remains  standing  to  this  day. 
The  Johnsons  intended  this  place  only  as  a  vacation 
home  (particularly  for  hunting),  however,  and  so  hired 
Slim  and  Verba  to  watch  over  the  property  year-round. '" 
Tourism,  long  an  element  of  Teton  County's  economy, 
initially  brought  both  Verba  and  Slim  to  Jackson  Hole. 
It  was  the  advent  of  wealthy  peoples'  "second  homes," 
a  phenomenon  usually  associated  only  with  late  twen- 
tieth century  developments,  which  provided  them  with 
the  livelihood,  stability  and  security  that  lasted  tlve 
decades."  In  short,  outside  capital  created  the  frame- 
work of  the  Lawrences'  lives. 

Slim  and  Verba  moved  into  the  "Mae-Lou  Lodge," 
an  amalgamation  of  William  Johnson's  wife's  name 
and  his  middle  name,  in  May  1930.'-^  The  next  six  years 
were  the  happiest  of  Verba's  life.  Although  isolation, 
unremitting  winter  weather  and  hard  work  character- 
ized her  days,  Verba  loved  it  all.  True,  she  had  to  wear 


snowshoes  to  hang  clothes  out  to  dry  in  January,  but 
she  did  not  mind.  In  fact.  Verba  was  truly  a  sports- 
woman — snowshoeing  or  webbing  as  they  called  it, 
skiing,  hunting,  dog  sledding,  fishing  and  horseback 
riding  whenever  the  chance  arose.  "I'm  pretty  hard  to 
live  with  if  I  stay  in  all  day,"  she  reflected  in  her  di- 
ary.'^ As  for  the  absence  of  people,  she  preferred  it 
that  way.  Certainly  she  welcomed  the  intermittent  visi- 
tor or  occasional,  all-night  dance  at  Moran,  but  she  was 
most  happy  alone  with  Slim  on  the  "ranch."  Rare  mo- 
ments of  complaint  and  loneliness  creeped  in  only  when 
she  was  truly  alone.  Visits  to  town  or  the  outside  world 
held  no  appeal,  unless  her  husband  went  and  left  her 
behind.  Only  then  would  she  grouse:  "I'm  a  permanent 
fixture  here"  or  "I'm  beginning  to  think  I'm  glued  to 
this  place."'"* 

In  some  respects  the  Lawrences'  life,  well  into  the 
1930's,  approximated  a  nineteenth  century  "frontier" 
life  more  than  a  twentieth  century  "modem"  one.  They 
gathered  supplies  over  the  autumn  months  and  then 
settled  in  for  the  duration  of  the  winter,  isolated  until 
the  early  spring.  Heavy  snow  and  inadequate  road  clear- 
ings meant  they  would  not  go  into  town  for  five  or  six 
months.  For  instance,  between  November  10,  1931, 
and  May  16,  1932,  a  six-month  stretch,  they  did  not 

^  Diem,  et.  al.,  57-70.  Cecil  Lawrence  was  born  in  Laramie, 
Wyoming,  in  1899.  His  father  visited  Jackson  Hole  in  1876.  look- 
ing for  game  to  feed  railroad  workers,  and  undoubtedly  regaled 
his  son  with  stories  of  the  place.  Sidney  Lawrence  also  intro- 
duced his  son  to  guns,  trapping,  horses  and  dogs  when  the  former 
worked  on  a  ranch  near  the  Colorado/Wyoming  border.  After  his 
father  died  in  1912,  Slim  visited  Jackson  Hole  and  Yellowstone 
National  Park  for  the  first  time,  in  the  company  of  family  friends. 
His  party  camped  on  the  John  Sargent  property.  After  stints  in 
the  Navy  during  World  War  1  and  working  with  the  Yellowstone 
Sheep  Company  out  of  Lander  and  Riverton,  he  landed  a  Job  driv- 
ing for  the  Lander-Yellowstone  Transportation  Company  which 
brought  him  to  Jackson  Hole  and  into  Verba's  orbit. 

'  Garceau,  72. 

''Diem,  et.  al.,  70. 

'"  For  more  information  on  William  Johnson,  see  Diem,  et.  al., 
33-44. 

"  For  an  analysis  of  the  history  of  tourism  and  the  "second 
home"  phenomenon  in  Jackson  Hole  see  Hal  K.  Rothman,  Devil's 
Bargains:  Tourism  in  the  Twentieth-Centwy  West  (Lawrence: 
University  Press  of  Kansas,  1998),  131-135.  Rothman  makes  the 
case  that  writer  Owen  Wister  was  among  the  first  to  inaugurate  a 
seasonal  migration  of  wealthy  people,  who  eventually  became 
second-home  owners,  when  he  first  visited  the  region  in  1887 
and  eventually  built  his  own  cabin  along  the  Snake  River.  Ray 
Hamilton  and  John  Sargent,  who  built  the  first  domicile,  a  ten- 
room  cabin,  on  the  Sargent/Johnson/Berol  property,  do  not  repre- 
sent the  same  phenomenon  because  they  intended  their  place  as  a 
permanent,  rather  than  second,  home. 

'-  Diem,  et  al,  33-39. 

'3  January  18,  1934. 

'■•November  5,  1931,  and  August  17,  1943. 


Summer  1999 


Lawrence  enjoyed  many  outdoor  sports 
once  go  to  Jackson,  a  distance  of  approximately  twenty- 
tlve  miles.  William  Johnson  provided  some  luxuries 
such  as  a  telephone  in  1930.  part  of  the  Bureau  of  Rec- 
lamation line  from  Jackson  Lake  Dam.  and  a  700-\vatt 
Kohler  gasoline  engine  generated  electricity  for  the 
place.  But  running  water  was  another  matter.  From 
December  until  mid-April,  Lawrence  shut  off  the  wa- 
ter s\  stem  to  pre\  ent  freezing  pipes.  Thereafter,  on  wash 
days.  Slim  cut  holes  in  the  ice  and  carried  pails  of  wa- 
ter from  Jackson  Lake  up  to  the  house.  When  it  was 
time  for  a  bath,  the  couple  resorted  to  a  galvanized  wash 
tub  until  the  spring  thaw.'"' 

Consequently,  their  marriage  and  their  work  repre- 
sented a  partnership,  not  uncommon  among  contem- 
porary ranch  families  in  Wyoming.'*'  While  most  rural 
men  and  women  understood  and  accepted  gender-based 
divisions  of  labor  with  men  managing  the  outside 
"heavy"  work  and  women  taking  up  the  domestic, 
household  chores,  circumstances  often  required  all  fam- 
il\-  members  to  pitch  in  and  do  whatever  was  necessary 
to  make  the  ranch  successful.  Consequently,  gender 
crossovers  —  particularly  women  engaging  in  "men's" 
work  —  were  not  uncommon.  However,  historian 
Garceau  explains  that  women  did  not  particularly  seek 
out  "transgression  of  gender  boundaries"  and  even  un- 


39 

derplayed  its  significance  by  insisting  that  family  and 
ranch  demands  required  such  expanded  duties.  In  other 
words,  rural  Wyoming  women  neither  sought  out  nor 
celebrated  role  change  but  rather  "approached  [it]  con- 
servatively."'''  Although  the  Lawrences  did  not  run  a 
ranch,  their  isolation  and  self-sufficiency  for  months 
at  a  time  mirrored  at  least  some  aspects  of  that  life.  To 
be  sure.  Slim  took  on  the  heavy  outside  work  and  Verba 
looked  after  the  cooking,  cleaning  and  washday  chores. 
Yet  each  helped  the  other,  whenever  necessary,  and 
Verba's  outdoors-orientation  meant  her  mental  health 
required  getting  out  of  their  home  whenever  possible 
and  whate\  er  the  \\  eather.  Such  blurring  of  gender  lines 
carried  no  political  implications  for  the  Lawrences,  it 
simply  reflected  the  nature  of  their  work  and  their  tem- 
peraments. 

Further,  when  it  came  to  their  fur  trapping  activities. 
Slim  and  Verba  clearh  worked  as  partners.  Slim's  in- 
troduction to  small  animal  trapping  derived  from  his 
father's  tutelage  in  southeastern  Wyoming.  Once  en- 
sconced on  the  Johnson  place,  he  received  a  Wyoming 
Game  and  Fish  Commission  permit  to  trap  the  nearby 
Arizona  Creek  drainage.  Slim  and  Verba  set  two 
traplines,  a  total  of  about  150  traps,  and  checked  their 
lines  several  times  a  week.  Each  check  required  ap- 
proximately a  ten  mile  roundtrip.  Although  Verba  knew 
nothing  of  trapping  before  her  marriage,  she  became 
an  enthusiast  and  sometimes  worked  the  traplines  alone, 
using  horses,  snowshoes  or  skis  —  depending  on 
weather  and  snow  depth  —  to  reach  them."'^ 

Trapping  pro\  ided  cash,  something  in  relativ  el\  short 
supply,  particularly  during  the  Depression.  The 
Lawrences  averaged  between  SI 000  and  $1500  e\ery 
year  from  their  pelts  and  between  193 1  and  1950  they 
harvested  101  coyotes,  63  weasels,  1  lynx,  8  minks, 
2 1 7  pine  martins,  5  red  foxes,  and  one  skunk.  '"*  In  the 
early  years  the  Lawrences  evinced  no  sentimentality 
regarding  the  animals.  In  fact.  Verba  reported  in  1933, 
"A  red  letter  day  for  Cecil,  he  caught  the  red  fox  that 
has  been  running  around  here  for  years."-"  Onh'  later 
in  life,  did  Cecil  admit  his  appetite  for  killing  these 
animals  had  greatly  diminished.  Verba  never  let  senti- 
mentality interfere  and  as  late  as  1949  she  regretted 
springing  a  trap  and  turning  a  beautiful  red  fox  loose.-' 

''Diem,  et  al,  40-41,  70-71 

'"  For  an  analysis  of  gender  dynamics  in  earl>  twentieth  cen- 
tury Wyoming  ranch  families,  see  Garceau.  8<J-1 1 1. 

''  Garceau,  89. 

'«  Diem,  76 

'"Diem,  78. 

-"  December  29,  1933. 

-'  December  10,  1949.  She  did  not  indicate  the  reason  for 
doing  this. 


40 


Annals  of  WyomingrTke  Wyoming  Histor\'  Journal 


The  Lawrences  must  have  perceived  the  proceeds 
from  pelts  as  a  crucial  element  of  their  financial  situa- 
tion. Surely  the  cash  helped  them  weather  the  Depres- 
sion. Otherwise,  that  great  economic  calamity  seem- 
ingly had  no  impact  on  them.  In  fact,  many  aspects  of 
their  lives  seemed  blissflilly  removed  from  the  broader 
world's  potential  slings  and  arrows  as  they  surrendered 
to  the  natural  rhythms  of  northwest  Wyoming.  A  cy- 
clical pattern  dictated  Verba's  days  during  the  1930's: 
starting  with  the  fall  hunting  season,  followed  by  the 
long,  long  winter  months,  a  brief  spring,  and  a  hectic 
summer.  Usually  in  September  the  Lawrences  began 
stocking  up  on  food  to  last  for  months,  storing  the  more 
perishable  items  in  a  basement  and  using  Jackson  Lake 
ice  to  keep  it  cool.  Slim  purchased  the  winter  supply  of 
gasoline  and  Verba  began  canning.  October  brought 
big  game  hunting.  Slim  provided  Verba  with  various 
firearms,  including  a  .22  as  a  Christmas  present  in  193 1 . 
Initially,  she  claimed,  "As  a  'gunma'  I'm  not  so  good. 
I  shot  things  up  today,  shot  a  hole  thru  the  wall."--  Her 
shooting  eventually  improved.  Each  harvested  an  elk 
every  year.  They  also  hunted  moose  and  waterfowl  and, 
of  course.  Verba  loved  fishing.  By  November  Slim 
drained  the  water  to  the  kitchen  to  prevent  bursting 
pipes.  The  Lawrences  passed  the  time,  over  the  winter, 
completing  day-to-day  chores,  checking  the  traps,  dog 
sledding,  hunting  archaeological  and  historical  artifacts 
around  the  property,  and  ice  fishing.-''  Larger  animals 


offered  the  most  excitement.  In  the  early  thirties,  par- 
ticularly, Verba's  diaries  noted  more  sightings  of  ani- 
mals than  people.  Sometimes  the  encounters  proved 
dangerous  and  conflicts  with  moose  and  bear,  in  par- 
ticular, usually  ended  up  with  one  fewer  animal 
around.-"* 

In  April  the  lake's  ice  would  begin  to  break.  Others 
signs  of  spring  included  returning  bluebirds,  seagulls, 
and  the  unmistakable  call  of  the  reappearing  sandhill 
cranes.  "The  air  is  ringing  with  the  cries  of  sandhills," 
she  wrote  one  late  April  day."-  April  also  meant  taking 

--  December  6,  1931 

-^  Eventually  the  Lawrences'  archeological  and  historical  arti- 
fact and  photograph  collections  became  the  foundation  for  the 
Jackson  Hole  Museum  which  Slim  and  fellow  Jackson  Holer 
Homer  Richards  founded  in  1958.  Slim's  historical  interests  led 
him  to  serve  two  terms  on  the  Wyoming  State  Historical  Advi- 
sory Board.  He  was  also  a  charter  member  of  the  Wyoming  State 
Historical  Society.  The  WSHS  eventually  honored  Lawrence  and 
Richards  for  creating  the  Jackson  Hole  Museum  which  remains 
open  to  the  present.  Diem.  82.  85. 

-•'  For  example  on  May  14,  1934,  Verba  wrote,  "A  red  letter 
day  for  Cecil  and  Cap  [their  dog].  They  mixed  with  3  grizzly 
bears  as  a  result  one  bear's  stretched  out  in  the  boathouse.  Cecil 
owes  his  life  to  Cap."  September  20,  1935,  she  recorded.  "The 
fun  started  when  Cap  treed  a  black  bear.  9  P.M.  Cecil  made  a 
good  shot."  She  spent  the  next  morning  frying  bear  grease.  Verba 
killed  some  bears  herself,  including  one  on  May  17,  1941:"killed 
my  bear  at  5:20,  nice  brown,  shot  him  through  the  heart.  Was  I 
ever  excited." 

-'  April  24,  1946. 


Verba  Lawrence  shoveling  snow  from  roof  of  house,  Jackson  Hole. 


Summer 


1999 


a  hath  in  a  real  hathtiih,  "a  hig  moment  in  the  life  of  a 
Jacivson  Holer"  and  mid-May  brought  a  return  to  town. 
On  May  20,  1933,  Verba  recorded,  undoubtedly  with 
tongue  in  cheek,  "Resting  after  my  trip  to  the  city."-*" 

During  these  early  years  of  caretaking.  Verba  lived  a 
life  of  nearly  complete  autonomy  and  contentment. 
After  completing  her  indoor  chores  she  was  free  to  do 
what  she  wanted:  join  Slim  in  outside  activities,  snow- 
shoe  or  ski  to  Moran  for  the  mail,  or  gaze  at  the  beau- 
tiful Tetons  across  Jackson  Lake.  Of  course  the  Johnson 
fortune  made  such  a  life  possible  for  a  property-less 
woman  like  Verba  Lawrence.  And  the  Johnsons  proved 
quite  undemanding  employees.  In  fact,  Mrs.  Johnson 
died  in  1930  and  William  Johnson  succumbed  in  1931. 
For  the  next  five  years,  while  the  executor  of  the 
Johnson  estate  retained  the  Lawrences  as  caretakers, 
they  had  the  place  virtually  to  themselves,  keeping  up 
the  property  but  otherwise  answering  to  no  one.-^ 

All  that  changed  in  1 936  when  Alfred  and  Madeleine 
Berolzheimer,  wealthy  Easterners  whose  fortune  de- 
rived from  the  Eagle  Pencil  manufacturing  firm,  pur- 
chased the  Johnson  place  for  a  little  over  $24,000.-'^ 
On  July  7,  1936,  Verba  wrote  in  her  diary:  "Mr. 
Berolzheimer  w  ires  that  he  has  title  to  the  place."  And 
then  she  added,  somewhat  ominously,  "that  means  get 
busy."  One  week  later,  Berolzheimer's  carpenters  ap- 
peared. "1  don't  like  so  many  people  around,"  Verba 
complained.  Several  weeks  after  that  the  new  propri- 
etors arrived.  "Washday,"  she  reported,  "Lm  the  laun- 
dress, just  one  of  the  hired  help."-**  Of  course,  she  had 
always  been  "hired  help."  But  six  years  of  virtual  inde- 
pendence and  little  interference  undoubtedly  made  this 
new  change  of  ownership  difficult  to  take.  Moreover, 
the  Berols,  as  they  preferred  to  be  called  and  to  which 
they  changed  their  name  during  World  War  II,  began 
planning  a  gigantic,  new  house  which,  in  time,  meant 
more  work:  many  more  windows  to  wash,  many  more 
guests  to  look  after,  and  many  more  people  to  serve  at 
dinner.-^'^  In  fact.  Verba  began  referring  to  the  Berols' 
place  as  the  "big  house."  Whether  she  intended  the  al- 
lusion to  a  slave's  master's  home,  remains  uncertain. 
By  August  1936  she  was  writing  in  her  diary:  "I'm  so 
tired  just  from  so  many  around.,  seemed  good  to  be 
away  from  the  place..."  and  then  added,  "1  never  used 
to  say  such  things."" 

The  Berols  did  not  take  form  as  people,  let  alone 
friends,  in  Verba's  account.  Their  personalities,  inter- 
ests and  even  tastes  remain  unrecorded.  They  repre- 
sented, quite  simply,  the  employer.  In  diary  entries. 
Verba  often  referred  to  them  with  the  impersonal  "they," 
and,  of  course,  never  by  their  first  names.  Alfred  and 
his  wife  Madeleine  came  from  a  different  world;  one 


41 

of  privilege,  wealth  and  class  distinction.  The  Berols 
treated  the  Lawrences  with  the  respect  due  any  long- 
term,  reliable  employees,  but  the  lines  between  em- 
ployer and  employee  were  clearly  drawn  and  neither 
family  evinced  much  interest  in  crossing  them  except 
for  an  occasional  horseback  ride  together.  Of  course. 
Verba  never  articulated,  directly,  an  awareness  of  class 
distinction.  Yet  her  feelings  came  through  in  oblique 
entries  such  as  those  about  the  relationship  between 
the  Berol's  dog  and  hers:  "Socks  really  hasn't  any  love 
for  French  Poodles.  Can't  blame  him..  .Poor  Zip  and 
Jerry  have  to  be  chained  up  because  they  might  tear  the 
Poodle  to  ribbons."  The  next  day  she  went  riding  and 
admitted,  "it  is  good  to  get  away  from  the  place. "'- 

Without  a  doubt,  the  Berol's  presence,  which  usu- 
ally lasted  about  two  and  one-half  months  out  of  every 
year  (late  July  to  early  October),  disrupted  Verba's 
normal  routine  and  enjoyment  of  the  exquisite  prop- 
erty. The  Berols,  from  all  appearances,  were  generous 
employers  but  also  demanding  —  at  least  while  they 
were  in  residence.  They  loved  to  entertain  and  expected 
Verba  to  supervise  the  dinners  and  even  serve  the  guests 
which,  on  one  occasion,  included  Jackson  Hole  dude 
ranchers  and  writers  Stnithers  and  Katharine  Burt.  Other 
guests  included  labor  leader  John  L.  Lewis,  who  Verba 
thought  looked  like  a  bull,  and  publisher  Alfred 
Knopf''-'  She  was,  of  course,  not  invited  to  join  them 
at  the  table.  Verba's  place  was  in  the  kitchen.  She 
dreaded  the  work  and  resented  the  implications.  One 
August  day,  while  preparing  dinner  for  25,  she  thought 
"oh!  for  a  good  old  snowstonn."^"'  Another  day  she 
confided  to  her  diary,  "The  B's  arrived  about  5:30,  it 
was  nice  while  they  were  away."  On  yet  another  occa- 
sion, she  confided,  "[I)  will  be  glad  when  the  B's  leave 
so  we  can  do  something."'' ■ 

-"  April  25,  \^32  and  May  20,  1033. 

''  On  December  9,  1031.  Verba  noted  they  received  word  of 
Mr.  Johnson's  death  and  added,  "We  loved  him  ver\  much,  this 
is  truly  one  of  our  saddest  day  (sic)."  Friends  interred  William 
and  Mae  Johnsons'  ashes  on  their  Jackson  Hole  propertv .  F.verv 
Memorial  Day  thereafter.  Verba  Lawrence  placed  tlowers  on  the 
grave. 

-''Diem,  et.  al.,  45-7. 

-"July  9.  1936and  July  27.  1036. 

-'"  For  information  on  the  Berol  name  change  see  Diem.  et.  al., 
46.  For  other  examples  of  Verba's  reactions  to  the  new  owners 
and  their  more  demanding  work  load  see  July  22.  1938  and  July 
30,  1938. 

"  August  18,  1936. 

'-  August  24,  25,  and  26,  1939. 

'■'  For  Verba's  comment  on  Lewis,  see  August  24,  1939.  For 
more  on  the  Berols'  entertaining  at  the  AMK,  see  Diem,  et  al,  52- 
53. 

^•*  August  10,  1941. 

-''  September  27,  1937,  and  October  3,  1945. 


42 


Axinals  ot  Wyoming:Tke  Wyoming  History  Journal 


Eventually  the  Berols  would  leave,  usually  around 
October,  and  Slim  and  Verba  would  reclaim  the  "ranch" 
as  their  own.  This  was,  as  Verba  put  it,  "my  country." 
Of  course,  it  was  not  theirs,  at  least  not  legally.  They 
occasionally  looked  into  purchasing  some  land  of  their 
own,  but  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  match  the 
spectacular  location  and  setting  of  the  AMK  and  they 
lacked  the  financial  wherewithal  to  buy  a  more  modest 
version  anyway. ^^  The  Lawrences  never  did  purchase 
property.  Instead,  as  the  years  passed,  they  simply  grew 
more  accustomed  to  the  hectic  routines  attached  to  the 
Berol's  stays  and  then  heaved  a  sigh  of  relief  when 
their  "masters"  returned  East. 

The  Lawrence-Berol  relationship  is  instructive  for 
what  it  reveals  about  the  interplay  between  "natives" 
(year-round  residents)  and  "neo-natives"  (wealthy,  sea- 
sonal residents)  of  Jackson  Hole  in  the  early  decades 
of  the  twentieth  century.  The  latter,  according  to  histo- 
rian Hal  Rothman,  approximated  the  natives  in  dress 
and  activity  during  lengthy  visits  to  the  valley,  but  they 
brought  a  level  of  sophistication  and  worldliness  the 
locals  lacked.  Further,  they  neither  endured  northwest 
Wyoming's  hard  winters  nor  depended  upon  it  for  their 
economic  well-being.  Natives,  on  the  other  hand,  could 
not  escape  Jackson  Hole's  "environmental  and  eco- 
nomic constraints,"  and  so,  Rothman  concludes,  "If  the 
locals  resented  the  stream  of  visitors  that  grew  into  a 
river,  it  would  be  hard  to  blame  them."' ''  A  measure  of 
this  pertains  to  Verba's  state  of  mind.  She  was  resent- 
ful. Yet  she  did  not  covet  the  Berols'  wealth  and  eco- 
nomic independence;  she  simply  disliked  the  demands 
such  wealth  put  upon  her  and  its  power  to  limit  her 
freedom  to  enjoy  Jackson  Hole  to  its  fullest  during  the 
summer  months.  And  she  did  not  dread  the  winter 
weather;  she  welcomed  it!  For  once  the  Berols  departed 
and  winter  set  in.  Slim  and  Verba  regained  control  of 
the  property,  their  time,  and  their  lives.  As  Rothman 
himself  acknowledges,  at  least  through  the  1950's,  na- 
tives "endured  the  summer  and  the  profits  it  brought  to 
rediscover  the  essence  of  their  town  and  themselves."-'* 
That,  in  a  nutshell,  describes  the  Lawrences. 

Still,  there  was  no  denying  change  was  in  the  air.  By 
the  early  1940's  increased  road  plowing  and  develop- 
ment of  mechanized  oversnow  vehicles  diminished  the 
Lawrence's  winter  isolation.  Verba  and  Slim  drove  into 
town  more  often,  and  by  the  years  following  World 
War  11,  Verba  began  complaining  about  traffic,  crowds 
and  the  difficulty  of  finding  a  parking  place  on  a 
summer's  day.  Not  all  changes  were  regrettable,  though. 
She  enjoyed  going  to  the  movies  and  skiing  on  Snow 
King,  the  town  hill,  where  locals  constructed  a  rope 
tow  in  the  late  igSO's.^"^ 


Slim  Lawrence  and  the  Berols 

More  and  more  people  from  the  outside  world  dis- 
covered Jackson  Hole.  Simultaneously,  Verba's  con- 
tacts with  that  world  increased  exponentially.  Radio 
brought  the  world's  news  to  her  cabin  and  in  1 939  she 
carefully  tracked  the  German  invasion  of  Poland,  Italy's 
alliance  with  Germany,  and  the  English  and  French 
declaration  of  war  on  Germany.  On  December  7,  1 94 1 , 
the  Lawrences  returned  from  "a  quiet,  beautiful  day  on 
Two-goo-tee  (sic)  [Towgotee  Pass]  to  learn.,  .that  Ja- 
pan had  declared  war  on  us.""**^'  For  the  duration.  Verba 
paid  particularly  close  attention  to  the  war's  Pacific 
theater  and  on  December  7,  1944,  recorded:  "Hope 
before  another  Dec.  7th  comes  that  we  have  beat  the 
Japs  into  the  earth  for  the.,  sneak  deal."  Not  above  us- 
ing common,  derogatory  terms  for  the  Asian  enemy, 
she  admitted  she  had  difficulty  conceiving  of  the  Japa- 
nese as  human.'"  Verba  did  not  mention  rationing  or 

'''  Slim  Lawrence  apparently  tried  to  purchase  the  Sargent  ranch 
before  William  Johnson  did  buy  it.  See  Diem,  et  al,  57. 


'^  Rothman, 
'«  Ibid.,  279. 

.V) 


34-135. 


'  Among  the  movies  Verba  noted  seeing  were  "Shane" 
"Spencer's  Mountain,"  both  filmed  in  Jackson  Hole. 
■"'December?,  1941. 
■"  January  26,  1944. 


and 


Summer  1999 

indicate  which  local  men  went  off  to  fight.  But  on 
November  1 1,  1945,  the  Lawrence  enjoyed  Annistice 
Day  and  expressed  gratitude  that  "so  many  of  the  Moran 
boys  were  home.""^-  Over  the  years,  Verba's  interest  in 
the  outside  world  continued  as  she  jotted  down  fleet- 
ing thoughts  on  the  Cold  War,  arrival  of  television  in 
Jackson  Hole,  space  travel,  President  John  F.  Kennedy's 
assassination,  the  war  in  Vietnam,  and  the  presence  of 
"hippies"  on  the  Berol  property.'^' 

In  1 954  Verba  Lawrence  decided  to  take  another  job, 
off  the  AMK,  although  her  reason  for  doing  so  remains 
unrecorded.  Slim"s  back  problems,  which  required 
hospitalization  at  the  Mayo  Clinic,  may  have  been  a 
factor.  She  became  the  Moran  postmaster,  a  position 
she  held  until  her  retirement  in  1 967.  This  new  respon- 
sibility also  altered  the  Lawrences'  lives.  For  one  thing, 
they  no  longer  wintered  on  the  AMK,  living  instead  at 
Moran  or  the  Jackson  Lake  Lodge.  The  couple  acquired 
a  television.  They  also  began  yearly  jaunts  out  of  Jack- 
son Hole  altogether,  visiting  the  Southwestern  states 
or  Las  Vegas  for  a  month  in  the  winter  or  early  spring. 
Meanwhile  life  in  Jackson  Hole  was  changing  consid- 
erably. More  and  more  tourists  clogged  the  roads  and 
rendered  the  town  even  less  attractive.  Even  such  no- 
tables as  President  John  F.  Kennedy  and  Lady  Bird 
Johnson  were  visiting  Jackson  Hole  by  the  I960's. 

When  Verba  retired  as  postmaster  she  and  Slim  be- 
gan plans  to  build  a  home  of  their  own.  Alfred  Berol 
deeded  them  one  acre  of  his  property  and  allowed  them 
to  build  a  house  on  the  AMK,  presumably  in  gratitude 
for  their  long  and  loyal  service  to  his  family  and  in 
recognition  of  the  Lawrences'  deep  connection  to  the 
place.  In  the  spring  of  1968,  Verba  and  Slim  spent  their 
spare  time  clearing  brush  and  trees  at  the  homesite  and 
by  fall  carpenters  had  completed  the  house.  Verba  nev  er 
enjoyed  it,  however.  She  suffered  a  stroke  before  its 
completion  and  although  she  took  up  residence  in  the 
home,  her  health  deteriorated.  Over  the  many  years  of 
diary-keeping.  Verba  had  noted  deaths  by  suicide.  In 
the  end.  she  chose  that  option  for  herself  On  July  8, 
1970,  Verba  Lawrence  shot  herself,  apparently  finding 
her  slow,  agonizing  decline,  no  longer  bearable.  A  be- 
reaving Slim  buried  her  on  a  hilltop,  overlooking  her 
beloved  Tetons. 

For  much  of  her  adult  life  in  Jackson  Hole,  Verba 
Lawrence  enjoyed  incredible  freedom  -  a  freedom  made 
possible,  ironically,  by  the  economic  infusion  of  out- 
siders' wealth  into  the  valley.  In  some  respects.  Verba 
choices  were  limited.  She  lacked  education,  drive,  and 
capital.  What  she  did  have  was  the  good  fortune  to  tlnd 
her  way  into  Jackson  Hole,  a  place  whose  magnificent 
landscapes  attracted  the  wealthy.  Her  livelihood  de- 


43 

pended  upon  people  who  could  afford  to  hire  caretak- 
ers and  make  life  in  such  a  special  spot  possible  for 
someone  v\  ho  could  never  afford  it  otherwise.  The  land- 
scape attracted  the  upper  class  and  they,  in  turn,  of- 
fered work.  For  only  a  few  months  out  of  e\erv  year 
did  Verba  have  to  actually  cope  with  this  fact:  only 
when  the  Berols  arrived  was  she  reminded  of  her  sta- 
tus as  "hired  hand;"  only  momentarily  did  she  feel, 
almost  viscerally,  the  economic  reality  and  class  strati- 
fication that  have  long  been  a  part  of  Jackson  Hole's 
history. 

Through  it  all.  Verba  Lawrence  embraced  the  most 
traditional  woman's  role:  helpmate  of  husband.  Here 
again,  she  had  the  good  luck  to  meet  and  marry  a  part- 
ner who  shared  her  love  of  the  outdoors,  provided  an 
outlet  for  her  interest  in  sports,  and  encouraged  her  to 
partake  of  them  wholeheartedly.  A  more  constrained, 
domestic  setting  and  a  more  conventional  marriage 
would  have  made  her,  as  she  put  it,  "hard  to  live  with" 
—  in  short,  a  very  unhappy  woman.  It  was  the  combi- 
nation of  her  husband,  their  relationship,  the  spectacu- 
lar landscape,  and  the  employment  opportunities 
wealthy  people  provided,  that  allowed  a  working-class 
person  such  as  Verba  an  uncommon  opportunity  to 
experience  the  best  kind  of  lite  Jackson  Hole  had  to 
offer.  If  the  trade-otTwas  a  "devil's  bargain,"  as  histo- 
rian Rothman  characterizes  such  relationships  between 
locals  and  wealthy  neonatives.  Verba  Lawrence  had 
few  objections.  Her  only  complaint:  time  passed  too 
quickly. 

■"=  November  1  1,  1045. 

""'  The  latter  did  not  appeal  to  Verba  who  chased  them  off. 
See  May  21,  1*^68,  for  an  example. 


Shern'  L.  Smith  is  an  Associate  Professor  of 
History  at  Southern  Methodist  University-  and 
seasonal  resident  of  Jackson  Hole.  She  is  the 
author  ofReimagining  Indians,  1 880- 1 940  (Ox- 
ford University-  Press,  forthcoming),  as  well  as 
Sagebrush  Soldier  (University  of  Oklahoma 
Press.  1989).  which  chronicles  her  great- 
grandfather 's  army  experience  on  Wyoming 's 
Bozeman  Trail  and  in  the  Dull  Knife  Battle  in 
1876.  Smith  also  has  published  a  number  of  ar- 
ticles on  Western  women  's  historw 


Recent  Acquisitions  in  the  Hebard  Collection,  \JW  Libraries 

Compiled  by  Tamsen  L.  Hert,  University  or  Wyoming  Libraries 


Davis,  Verna  Burger.  My  Chosen  Trails:  A  Wyoming 
Woman's  Recollections  Through  the  Twentieth  Century. 

Golden,  CO:  Deep  Creek  Press,  1W8.  Hebard  &  Coe  CT  275 
.D2846  A3  1998 

Evans,  Timothy  H.  King  of  the  Western  Saddle:  The  Sheridan 
Saddle  and  the  Art  of  Don  King.  Jackson,  MS:  University  Press 
of  Mississippi,  1998.  Hebard  &  Science   TS  1032  .E93  1998 

Everhart,  Bill.  Take  Down  Flag  &  Feed  Horses.  Chicago: 
University  of  Illinois  Press,  1998.  Hebard  &  Coe  F  722  .E92 
1998 

Fox,  Wesley.  Union  Pacific,  Cheyenne  West,  Part  1. 
Cheyenne,  1996.  Hebard  &  Science  TF  25  .U5  F669  1996 

Garceau,  Dee.  The  Important  Things  of  Life:  Women,  Work 
and  Family  in  Sweetwater  County,  Wyoming,  1880-1929. 
Lincoln:  University  of  Nebraska  Press,  1997.  Hebard  &  Coe  F 
767.S9G36  1997 

Inada,  Lawson  Fusao.  Drawing  the  Line,  Poems.  Minneapolis: 
Coffee  House  Press.  1997.  Hebard  &  Coe  PS  3559  .N3  D73  1997 
Concerns  the  "draft"  resisters  at  Heart  Mountain. 

Japanese-American  Relocation  Reviewed.  Berkeley:  Bancroft 
Library,  University  of  California,  Berkeley,  1976.  Hebard  D  769.8 
.A6  J363  1976  V.  1-2 

McCoy,  Michael.  Journey  to  the  Northern  Rockies.  Old 
Saybrook,  CT:  The  Globe  Pequot  Press,  1998.  Hebard  &  CoeRef 
F  721  .M45  1998 

McDermott,  John  D.  Frontier  Crossroads:  the  History  of 
Fort  Caspar  and  the  Upper  Platte  Crossing.  Casper,  WY:  City 
of  Casper,  1997.  Hebard    F  761  .M2  1997 

McNamee,  Thomas.  The  Return  of  the  Wolf  to  Yellowstone. 
NY:  Henry  Holt  and  Company,  1997.  Hebard  &  Science  QL 
737  .C22  M393  1997 

McWilliams,  Esther.  The  Beauty  of  the  Bighorns.  Woodburn, 
OR:  Beautiful  America  Publishing  Company,  1998.  Hebard  & 
Science   QH  105  .W8  M38  1998 


Miller,  David.  L.  (comp.)  Hans  "Peppi"  Teichner.  Ashland, 
OR:  David  L.  Miller,  1997-98.  2  vols.  Hebard  &  Coe  GV  854.2 
.T44  H367  1997  v.  1-2 

Pellatz,  Karla  Steinle.  Tastes  ATours  of  Wyoming.  Casper: 
Wyoming  Homestay  and  Outdoor  Adventures,  1997.  Hebard  & 
Sci  TX7I5  .P386  1997 

Peace  &  Change.  Special  Forum  Issue:  Relocation  of  Jap- 
anese Americans  During  World  War  H:  The  Heart  Mountain 
Experience.  Sonoma,  CA:  California  State  College,  1998.  Hebard 
JX  1901  .P248  v.  23,  no.  2,  April  1998 

Reckling,  Frederick  W.  &  JoAnn  B.  Samuel  Howell  "Doc" 
Knight:  Mr.  Wyoming  University.  Laramie,  WY:  University  of 
Wyoming  Alumni  Association,  1998.  Hebard  &  Geology  QE  22 
.K64  R425  1998 

Ryder,  Lyn.   Road  Ranches  Along  the  Oregon  Trail  1858  to 
1868:  Between  Marysville,  Kansas  and  Fort  Kearny,  Nebraska. 
Niwot,  CO:   Prairie  Lark  Publications,  1995.  Hebard  &  Coe 
F  597  .R975  1995 

Schubert,  Frank  N.  Outpost  of  the  Sioux  Wars:  A  History  of 
Fort  Robinson.  Lincoln  and  London:  University  of  Nebraska 
Press,  1993.  Hebard  &  Coe  F  674  .F7  S35  1995 

Shannon,  Donald  H.   The  Utter  Disaster  On  the  Oregon  Trail. 
Caldwell,  ID:   Snake  Country  Publishing,  1993.  Hebard  &  Coe 
F  746  .S536  193 

Wadsworth,  Nelson  B.  Set  in  Stone,  Fixed  in  Glass:  the 
Mormons,  the  West,  and  Their  Photographers.  Salt  Lake  City: 
Signature  Books,  1996.  Hebard  NA  5235  .S23  W32  1996 

White,  William  W.  The  Oregon,  California,  and  Mormon 
Trails  by  Air:  A  Pilot's  Guide  to  the  Immigrant  Trails.  North 
Logan,  UT:  Western  Airtrails,  1997.  Hebard  &  Coe  F  591  .W553 
1997 


Readers  can  access  the  Hebard  HomePage  at: 
http://www.uwyo.edu/lib/heb.htm. 


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rocesse 


d  Collections 


Department  or  State  Parks  and  Cultural  Resources 

Wyoming  State  Archives 

Compiled  by  Curtis  Greubel,  Researcb  Supervisor 


Non-Government  Acquisitions 


^fyoming  State  Government 


Wyoming  Mining  Association 

Various  publications  and  papers,  1969-1999. 
Wyoming  School  Board  Association 

Newsletters,  1994-1999. 
Wyoming  Extension  Homemakers  Council/Wyoming 
Association  for  Family  and  Community  Education 
Additions  to  collection  dating  from  1931  to  1997. 
William  Dubois 

Cost  data  book  for  buildings  designed  by  Dubois,  c.  1908-37. 
Wyoming  Republican  Party 

Campaign  literature,  1986,  1994. 


State  Planning  Coordinator 

Records  to  1987. 
Department  of  Commerce,  Cultural  Resources  Division 

Administration  records  to  1993. 
Wyoming  State  Auditor 

Correspondence,  additions  from  1871-1997,  and 
publications. 
Wyoming  Attorney-General's  Office 

Photographs  of  past  attorneys-general  from  1890-1970. 
Processing  of  the  records  of  Gov.  Ed  Herschler's  three  terms 
should  be  completed  by  the  fall  of  1999. 


Book  R 


ooR  ive Views 

Eaitea  dv  Larl  Hallberg 


From  the  Old  Northwest  to  the  Pacific 
Northwest:  the  1853  Oregon  Trail  Diaries  of 
Patterson  Fletcher  Luark  and  Michael  Fleenen 
Luark.  Edited  by  Howard  Jablon  and  Kenneth  R. 
Elkins.  Independence.  MO:  Oregon-California 
Trails  Association.  1998.  xvi  -  215  pages. 
Illustrations,  maps,  notes,  appendices,  biblio- 
graphy, indexes.   Cloth.  $27.95: paper,  $14.95. 

Brothers  Michael  and  Patterson  Luark  set  off  from 
lUinois  to  travel  to  Oregon  in  the  spring  of  1853. 
Patterson  took  with  him  his  wife,  Mary,  their  three 
children  and  his  son  from  a  previous  marriage.  Michael 
left  his  family  behind.  Both  brothers  kept  diaries  about 
their  journey,  although  Patterson's  apparently  exists 
now  only  on  microtllm. 

The  Luarks  followed  the  common  Oregon  trail  route 
through  Kansas  to  the  south  side  of  the  Platte  River  in 
Nebraska.  Near  Fort  Kearny  they  joined  a  number  of 
other  emigrants  to  cross  the  river  and  thereafter  they 
kept  to  the  north  side  route.  They  followed  the  Sublette 
Cutoff  to  Idaho  and  the  Snake  River  route  to  Oregon. 
At  the  Columbia  River  the  brothers  parted  company, 
Michael  traveling  the  remainder  of  the  distance  by  water 
and  Patterson  going  by  land. 

Of  the  two  diaries,  Michael's  is  the  more  detailed. 
To  the  modem  reader  the  great  weakness  of  Oregon 
Trail  diaries  is  the  concentration  on  the  availability  of 
wood,  water  and  grass  to  the  neglect  of  the  surrounding 
human  drama.  Michael's  diary  has  its  share  of  this 
bias  along  with  an  almost  tedious  description  of  the 
exact  route  of  travel.  It  was  Michael's  intention  that  a 
family  friend  should  follow  him,  bringing  his  family 
the  next  year;  and  it  seems  probable  that  his  diary  was 
intended  to  be  a  guidebook  for  them.  This  did  not 
happen,  but  for  anyone  interested  in  tracing  exact  trail 
routes,  Michael's  diary  is  a  wonderful  tool. 

The  year  1 853  was  a  quite  one  on  the  trail.  The  Luarks 
did  not  encounter  any  Indian  troubles,  and  it  was  not  a 
major  cholera  year.  Patterson  Luark  planned  carefijUy 
and  well,  and  he  was  lucky.  He  did  not  bury  any  family 
members  on  the  road.  There  was  one  moment  of  high 
tension  when  a  member  of  Patterson's  trail  was  killed, 
quite  unnecessarily,  by  a  member  of  another  train. 
There  were  no  repercussions.   No  one  was  willing  or 


able  to  enforce  punishment  for  the  incident.  Those  who 
study  the  experiences  of  children  on  the  trial  will  be 
interested  to  read  that  Patterson's  fourteen  year  old  son, 
Marcellus,  deserted  the  train  after  the  wagons  had 
crossed  South  Pass,  apparently  intending  to  go  back  to 
Illinois.  He  was  taken  in  by  a  train  some  distance  behind 
and  a  few  days  later,  his  father  road  back  to  get  him. 
Altogether  the  Luark  diaries  describe  a  reasonably  typi- 
cal, fairly  undramatic  crossing  which  probably  reflected 
the  experiences  of  thousands  of  other  trail  travelers. 

From  the  Old  Northwest  to  the  Pacific  Northwest  is 
part  of  the  Emigrant  Trails  Historical  Studies  Series 
under  the  general  editorship  of  Susan  Badger  Doyle. 
The  book  is  illustrated  by  many  excellent  maps  showing 
the  Luark's  route  and  the  various  other  routes  which 
they  might  have  taken.  Extensive  footnotes  amount 
almost  to  a  third  diary  of  the  route  a  modem  traveler 
would  take  to  retrace,  as  nearly  as  possible,  their  steps. 
Occasionally,  the  editors  intrude  to  tell  the  reader  again 
what  Michael  or  Patterson  have  already  said,  but  in 
general  their  extensive  knowledge  of  trail  migration  is 
an  aid  to  put  the  Luarks'  diaries  in  context. 

The  Michael  Luark  Papers  and  the  microfilm  copy 
of  Patterson  Luark's  diary  are  housed  at  the  University 
of  Washington,  Seattle.  The  publication  of  such  docu- 
ments is  a  great  aid  to  researchers  and  is  probably  the 
only  opportunity  for  schoolchildren  and  casual  readers 
to  access  such  records.  The  Emigrant  Trails  Historical 
Studies  Series  is,  on  this  account,  a  most  worthwhile 
project. 

D.  C.  Thompson 
American  Heritage  Center 
University  of  Wyoming 


Americans  View  Their  Dust  Bowl  Experience. 

Edited  by  John  R.  Wunder,  Frances  W.  Kaye  and 
Vernon  Carstensen.  Niwot:  The  University'  Press 
of  Colorado.  1999.  xvi  +  429  pages.  Illustrations, 
maps,  notes,  index.   Cloth.  $34.95. 

The  editors  of  Americans  View  Their  Dust  Bowl 
Experience  claim  a  twofold  goal  for  their  book:  to  let 
Americans  speak  for  themselves  about  the  Dust  Bowl 
and  to  provide  a  "dynamic  story"  for  use  in  secondary 


46 


Annals  ot  Wyoming:The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


and  higher  education  (p.  xi).  They  seek  to  "foster  an 
understanding  of  the  physical  and  mental  dimensions 
of  the  disaster"  so  that  another  such  calamity  will  not 
occur  (p.  3).  Approximately  one-third  of  the  book 
consists  of  primary  documents.  The  other  two-thirds 
contain  academic  analyses. 

The  editors  divide  the  text  into  five  parts.  John 
Wunder.  fonner  director  of  the  University  of  Nebraska's 
Center  for  Great  Plains  Studies,  introduces  the  work  in 
the  first  part  and  his  mentor,  the  late  Vernon  Carstensen, 
offers  a  collection  of  primary  documents  in  the  second 
part.  Wunder  describes  Dust  Bowl  resident  reactions 
to  relief  efforts  ranging  from  the  Farm  Holiday 
movement  with  its  protest  marches  and  penny  auctions 
to  cooperation  with  New  Deal  bureaucrats.  The  primary 
sources,  about  half  of  them  derived  from  New  York 
Times  articles  and  the  other  half  from  contemporary 
magazines,  provide  first-hand  accounts  about  the  Dust 
Bowl.  Carstensen's  collection  conveys  the  feelings  of 
anger  and  desperation  that  translated  into  organized 
protest,  despondency  toward  the  dust  and  a  fascination 
with  rainmaking. 

Frances  Kaye,  former  editor  of  Great  Plains 
Quarterly,  coordinates  the  rest  of  the  text's  selections 
which  largely  consist  of  professional  journal  article 
reprints.  The  third  part  describes  societal  responses  and 
institutional  activism  stimulated  by  the  Dust  Bowl.  One 
particularly  insightful  essay  by  Dorothy  Schwiederand 
Deborah  Fink  explains  how  women  cut  costs  by 
enhanced  home  production  ranging  from  the  weaving 
of  rugs  to  the  butchering  of  meat.  Most  of  the  section's 
articles  analyze  the  Farm  Holiday  movement  in  the 
Dakotas  and  Nebraska.  The  fourth  part  delivers  two 
selections  which  portray  the  liberal  media's  comment 
on  the  Dust  Bowl  including  a  communist  newspaper 
in  Plentywood,  Montana  and  Pare  Lorentz's  video 
documentary  "The  Plow  that  Broke  the  Plains."  The 
fmal  part  yields  historical  overviews  best  exemplified 
by  Donald  Worster's  "The  Dirty  Thirties:  A  Study  in 


Agricultural  Capitalism."  Harry  McDean's  "Dust  Bowl 
Historiography,"  first  printed  in  1986,  completes  the 
volume. 

Two  common  threads  that  run  through  the  book  are 
a  broad  geographic  interpretation  of  the  Dust  Bowl  and 
that  "desperate  times  lead  to  desperate  measures." 
Approximately  half  the  articles  discuss  states  outside 
the  traditional  Dust  Bowl  of  the  southern  plains.  The 
unlawful  actions  of  the  Farm  Holiday  protestors  demon- 
strate a  radicalization  of  a  traditionally  conservative 
area.  Still,  as  conditions  improved,  conservatism  and 
lawfulness  prevailed  over  the  forces  for  change.  These 
transformations  varied  by  sub-region,  i.e.,  the  Farm 
Holiday  movement  of  South  Dakota  proved  signifi- 
cantly weaker  than  that  of  more  liberal  North  Dakota. 

Ultimately,  the  editors  succeed  in  their  goals  of 
providing  primary  source  material  and  a  repository  of 
academic  analyses  to  illustrate  the  Dust  Bow! 
experience.  The  book  encapsules  the  contents  of  larger 
primary  source  collections  or  monographs.  However, 
the  analyses  do  not  rival  the  classic  monographs  of  Paul 
Bonnitleld,  The  Dust  Bowl:  Men.  Dirt  and  Depression 
(1979),  R.  Douglas  Hurt,  The  Dust  Bowl:  An 
Agricultural  and  Social  History  (1981)  or  Donald 
Worster,  Dust  Bowl:  The  Southern  Plains  in  the  1930s 
{ 1 979).  These  titles  appear  in  the  very  useful  select  and 
modem  bibliographies  given  in  the  book.  Although  the 
editors  could  have  strengthened  this  work  with  a 
conclusion  explaining  how  their  selections  enhance 
Dust  Bowl  study  and/or  synthesizing  some  of  the 
contributors'  arguments,  this  book  occupies  an 
important  niche  in  the  study  of  American  History. 

Scholars  and  educators  who  want  a  somewhat  eclectic 
reference  tool  or  reader  on  the  Dust  Bowl  will  want  to 
put  this  work  on  their  shelves  or  in  their  classes. 

Ken  Zontek 
University  of  Idaho 


IMPORTANT  ADDRESS  NOTICE 


Society  Coordinator  Judy  West  reminds 
members  that,  effective  in  October,  the  U.  S. 
Postal  Service  will  be  requiring  that  the  fol- 
lowing address  be  used  on  all  correspondence 
concerning  Annals  mailing  and  membership 
information.  Mail  addressed  in  any  other 
form  will  not  be  delivered  after  Oct.  31, 1999. 


WYOMING  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

PMB#184 

1740H  DELL  RANGE  BLVD 

CHEYENNE  WY  82009-4945 


Ind 


ex 


Aibrighl.  Horace    14,    16.  (photo.  33) 

Alia.  W>o    37 

American  !he\   32 

Amencan  legion  Post,  first   7 

■Americans  View  Their  Dust  Bo'aI  Expenence."" 

edited  h\  John  R   Wunder.  Frances  \^'   Kaye 

and  Vernon  Carslensen,  re\iewed,  45 
"Amenca's  Mailerhom"  24 
AMK  Ranch    17.    14.36.42 
Amoretli  Inn    17 
aneroid  barometer   .33 
Antelope  Flats  Road    15 
Appel.  Dr   Peler  7 
Aunt  imoyene's  diaries   37 
Austin.  Allen   34 
Balsamroot   37 
"Bandmi  of  the  Plains"   5 
Bannon.  T   M    27 
Bar  BC  Ranch   11.  12.  21 

auction  at    12 

in  l*>PO  (photo)   22 
Bar  Flyinii  H  Ranch    16 
bams.  Momion  Rou    12 
Belh  Roll.   31 
Berol.  Alfred    l^J.  43 
Berol-  Kenneth    W 
Berolzheimer.  Alfred  36.  41 
Beroizheimer.  Madeleine  41 
Blacktail  Bulie    16 
Bleu.  Man.  Cleamian   37 
Bonne\.  Omn  and  Lorraine   28.  3') 
Bonne\  "s  Guide    18 

Book  Reviews,  edited  h>  Carl  Hallberg.  45-46 
Bradle>.  Florence  4 
Bradlcv.  Maude  4.   7 
BradleN.R   W    4.   7 
Bradle>.  \^  alter  4 
Brammer.  Francis  48 
buildings,  historically  sigmfleanl   ^ 
Burnett.  Mike    16 
Burroughs.  John  Rolfe   3 
Burl.  Nathaniel    14.   21.   23 
Burl.  Slruthers    14.    15.   22 
Bun,  Siruthers  and  Kaihenne    11,41 
Busch_  Richard    13 
caim.  buill  on  Grand  Teton   28 
Camnierer.  Amo    W 
Camp  Owen.  Aug    12,  18^8.  (photo,  2*^) 
Camcross.  Horace    14,  21 
Carslensen.  Vernon.  ""Americans  View 

Their  Dust  Bowl  F\penence."" 

reviewed.  45 
Castle  Dare  4.  7.  (photo.  5) 
Chambers.  *\nd>    12 
Chapel  of  the  TransHguraiion    14 
Che>enne  Club   5.   7 
Che\enne.  Dakota  Temlon.    2 
Che\enne  Frontier  Da>s  6 
Che\enne  Pass   2 
Che>enne  Slock\ards   6 
Chittenden.  H   M.   3(.) 
Climber's  Guide  to  the  Teton  Range 

26.   33 
Coble.  John   5 
ColTee.  Charles  F    4 
Colorado  and  Southern  Railroad   5 
Colter  Bay    18 
Comsiock.  New.  \oA   2 
Cooning  Place   31 
Cooper.  Thomas   26.  27.  2**,  (photo.  2'^) 

atTidavitof  I8Q8   29 
Corse.  Irving    11.21 
Corse.  Margareila    12 
Cottonwood  Creek    21 
Crahtree.  Rose   34 
"Crook  Count)  *s  H\ena.*'  b>  Fllen  Crago 

Mueller  8 
cultural  resources.  NPS  \iew  of  9 
Cunningham  C  abin  Historic  Site    16 
Cunningham  Homestead    10 
Cunningham.  J    Pierce    16 
D,  A   Russell  Officers  Club   7 
Dare.  Da\  id  D    4.  7 
Daugheny. John    12 
deBillier.  Frederic  5 
Delane>  lamil>    37 
Deloney.  W  C    33 
Denver  Dry  Goods  Companv    7 
Depression,  in  Jackson  Hole   3** 
dog  sledding   38 
Durbin.  John  and  Thomas  4 


Eagle  Pencil  Compan>    14.  41 

Earharl.  Amelia,  (photo.  48) 

Ediek  lamil>    37 

electricity,  generation  of  39 

elevation.  Grand  Teton   33 

Elkins.  Kenneth  R  ,  ed  ,  ""From  the  Old 
Northwest  lo  the  Pacific  Nonhwest   the 
1853  Oregon  Trail  Diaries  of  Patterson 
Fletcher  l.uark  and   Michael  Fleenen 
Luark."45 

Emerson.  Go\    Frank    1 5 

Eynon.  Jack    14 

Fabian.  Harold  and  Josephine   21 

Faye.C  E    28 

Firehole  River  Basin   30 

"First  Ascent  of  the  Grand  Teton  The  Great 
Coniroverss ."  by  Mark  Harve\.  24-34 

fishing   40 

fiowers.  on  Grand  Teton   32 

Flynn.  Shirley  E  .  ""Renesselaer  Schuvler  Van 
Tassell."2-7.  (bio.  7| 

Forest  and  Stream  28.  29.  30 

Fort  D   A   Russell  6 

Fremont.  Elkhart  and  Missouri  \'alle>  RR   7 

French  poodle^  41 

Frew  Tamil)    37 

"From  the  Old  Northwest  lo  the  Pacific 

Northwest   the  1853  Oregon  Trail  Dtanes 
of  Patterson  Fletcher  Luark  and  Michael 
Fleenen  Luark."  reviewed.  45 

Frome  Auction  Service    12 

Gannett.  Henrv    29 

Garceau.  Dee  (quoted)   38 

Garnet  Canyon   24 

gender  expectations   37 

General  Land  OtTice    1  5 

Geological  Survey.   27 

Glacier  Gulch  21 

Glacier  National  Park,  historic  preser\  Jlionl  3 

Gline  and  Van  Tassell  siahles   2.3 

Gline.  Johnnv    2 

grartlli.  historical    1 1 

Grand  Controversv  (book)   30 

Grand  Teton,  first  ascent  27 

Grand  Telon  National  Park   9.    11.33.34 

Grand  1  elon  National  Park,  entrance  lees    1  3 

Great  Western  Corral    3 

Green  River  Stockyards   6 

""Guardian  of  the  Grasslands"  3 

Civpsv  (horse)   5.  7 

Mamillon.  Robert  Ra\    19.20 

Happv  Jack  road  2 

Hard).  Zoe.  quoted   21 

Harvey.  Mark.  "First  Ascent  of  the  Grand 
Teton  The  Great  Controversv,"  24-34. 
(bio.  34) 

Hayden.  F   V    26.  29 

Havden  survey    20.  25.  34 

Havden  Surve>  in  1872   29 

Hebard.  Dr  Grace  Raymond   34 

Hedncks  Point    16 

Hert.  Tamsen  Emerson.  "To  Preserve  the 
View    A  Tour  in  Text  and  Pictures  of 
Historic  Sues  Relating  to  the  Establish- 
ment of  Grand  Teton  National   Park."  14- 
23.  (bio.  23) 

Hetch  Helchv  Valley    14 

Hisionc  Preservation  Act  of  1966    il 

Hislonc  Preservation  Board.  Teton  Co  .  13 

historic  preservation,  in  Teton  Co     13 

Historic  Sites  Act  of  1935    11 

Holladav.  Ben   2 

homesteading.  Jackson  Hole  9 

Hoover  Vacuum  Cleaner  Companv    19.  38 

Howard.  L  O    32 

Hvnds"  Grill   7 

ice  sheet,  on  Grand  Teton   31 

[llif.JohnW    3 

Independence  Rock    1 1 

Irwin.  Charles  B    7 

Islay.  Wyoming   7 

J  Rolling  M   3 

JM  ranch  3 

Jablnn.  Howard,  ed  .  '"From  the  Old  Nonh- 
west lo  the  Pacific  Nonhwest   the  1853 
Oregon  Trail  Diaries  of  Patterson  Fletcher 
Luark  and  Michael  Fleenen  Luark."  45 

Jackson  Hole  elk  herd    18 

"A  Jackson  Hole  Life   Verba  Lawrence."  by 
Sherry  L.  Smith.  35-43 

Jackson  Hole  Museum  40 

Jackson  Hole  National  Elk  Refuge    18 

Jackson  Hole  National  Monument    17.  2! 
established    17 

Jackson  Hole  Oral  Histor>  Project   21 


Jackson  Hole  Wildlilc  Park    17,   22 

Jackson  1  ake    11.  oh 

Jackson  [  ake  Dam    19.38.39 

Jackson  Lake  Lodge    17.   18.34.43 

Jackson  Lake  Ranger  Station    1 7 

Jackson.  David  F     24 

Jackson.  William  H    20.  32.  34 

Jenny  Lake  9 

Jenny  Lake  Drive   20 

Jenny  Lake  Lodge  21 

Jennv  Lake  Ranger  Station   21 

Jennv  Lake  Store  (illus  )    16 

John  D   Rockefeller.  Jr .  Memorial  Parkway   21 

Johnson  County  Invasion   4 

Johnson.  Lady  Bird,  in  Jackson  Hole  43 

Johnson.  Lou    19 

Johnson.  Mae  41 

Johnson.  William  Louis   36.  38.  41 

death  of  41 
Jones.  Joe    14 
Jones.  Randv    1 3 
Jov,  Louis   22 
JY  Ranch   22,  23 
Kabis  Cafe  7 
Kaye.  Frances  W  .  ""Amencans  View  Their 

Dust  Bowl  Expenence."  reviewed.  45 
Kellv.Wvo    37 

Kennedv.  John  F  .  in  Jackson  Hole  43 
Kenned).  T   Blake   7 
KietTer-Capt  Charles  H    26,  27 
Kimmel  Kabins  (itlus.)   |6 
Knopf.  Alfred,  in  Jackson  Hole  41 
Kohler  gasoline  engine    39 
Krakel.  Dean  II   23 
Ku)  kendall.  John  M     7 
Lace).  John   7 
LaFoniaine.  Florence   7 
La  Pierre,  ^'vette    13 
Lakeview  Cemetery    7 
Lander-V  el  low  stone  Transportation 
Companv    38 
Langford.  Nathaniel  P   25-31.  33.  (photo,  24) 

death  ol   33 
Langlord-(  >wen  conlrovers)    34 
Lawrence.  (_  ecil  "Slim"    19.  36-43.  (photo.  35. 

41) 
Lawrence.  Sidnev    38 
Lawrence.  Verba  35-43 

counship.  38 

death.  43 

diary.  37 

marriage.  38 
LeClaire.  Michaud   24 
Leek.  Stephen  N     18.23 
Leek's  Lodge    1 1 
Leeks  Manna    18 
Leigh,  Beaver  Dick   24.  29,  36 
Leigh,  Jennv    36 

Leigh-Stnng-Jennv  Lake  region    16 
Lemmon,  George  F    2.  4.  6 
Levvis.  John  L    41 

Livestock  Association  of  Laramie  Count)    4 
Lola  Homsher  Research  Grant   36 
Longmonl.  Colorado  4 
Lucas-  Geraldine   21 
Lucas  homestead    1  3 
Lucas-Fabian  site   21 
Lunch  Tree  Hill    17.    18 
Lusk,  W)oming  6 
McCain.  A   C    33 
McDerment.  -  (photo.  29) 
McGee.  Tom  2.   5 
Mcintosh,  Belh   36 
Mae-Lou  Lodge   19.  36.  38 
Marymere    19.  36 
Maud  Noble  cabin    10 
Mayo  Clinic  45 
Medicine  Bow.  'A'yoming   22 
Menors  Fern.    14 

restoration  21 
Mercer.  A  S    5 
Memam.  Lawrence  C    17 
Middle  Telons   25 
Miller.  RobenE    33 
Mohawk  Dutchman   6 
Moore   3 

Moore.  Blanche  4 
Moore.  Granville  4 
Moore.  James  A    2 

Van  Tassell  marries  vvidovv  of  3 
Moose  Visitor  Center  22 
Moose.  Wvo    9.  37 
Moose-Wilson  Road    23 
moral  standard   38 
Moran.  9 


original  townsite  of  20 
Mormon  Row    9.    12.    15 
Mome  Avenue  mansion   7 
mosquitos   32 

on  lop  of  Grand  Teton  27 
Moulton  Bam    15 
Moulton.  Clark    12 
Moulton.  John  and  Bartha    15 
Mount  Blanc    26 
Mount  Owen,  naming  of  34 
mountain  sheep   32 

Mueller.  Ellen  Crago.  ""Crook  County's 
Hyena."  8 
Mune.  Olaus    17 
Mune.  Olaus  and  Margaret   22 
National  Board  of  Geographic  Names   34 
National  Elk  Refuge   22,   23 
National  Geographic  Traveler    13 
National  Park  Service   34 

\  lew  loward  cultural  resources    10 
National  Parks  Magazine    13,    17 
National  Register  of  Historic  Places    1 1 
National  Trust  for  Historic  Preservation    12 
neonaiives   43 
New  Brown  Hotel   7 
New  York  Herald   27 
Nevvell-  Logan   26 
Niobrara  County    3 
Noble.  Maud,  cabin  of   14 
NPS  Organic  Acl    1  I 
(Delrich  brothers.   5 
Onenburger.  Leigh  26.  30 
Owen.  Emma  Matilda  26 
Ctwen.  William   24-34.  (photo.  25) 

climbs  Grand  ai  age  65   33 
Owen-Langford  controversv    33 
Owen-Spalding  route    27.   31.   34 
0\bow  Bend    16 
Park  Headquaners  in  Moose    14 
Petersen,  [-rank   27,  31.  32  (photo.  28.  29) 
Pet/oldi.  Paul   32.   33 
Pfeifer  homestead    If.iphoto.  15) 
PI'eiler.  Joe   15 
Pinetree  Ranch    19 
plaque.  Owen  (photo)   33 
Pole  Creek   5 
Ponv  Express   2 
Poller.  Judge  Charles   30 
Presbvtenan  church  jChevenne)   4 
""Preserving  the  Past    The  Case  of  Grand 
Teton  National  Park"   9 
Radio,  in  Jackson  Hole   42 
Rainsford,  George  D    4 
"Recent  Acquisitions  in  the  Hebard 

Collection.  I'VV  Libraries."  44 
"Recent  Additions  and  Processed  Collec- 
tions. Depanmenl  of  Stale  Parks  and 

Cultural  Resources.  State  Archives."  44 
red  fox   39 

Remington.  Frederic   6 
"Renesselaer  Schuyler  Van  Tassell."  b> 

Shirley  E   Flynn.  2-7 
Rhvan.  John    26 
Richards.  Homer  40 
Richards.Gov    W'llliam  A    29.30 
Righter.  Roben.  quoted    17.  19.  21.  22 
Righter.  Roben  W  .  "Preserving  the  Past 

The  Case  of  Grand  Teton  National  Park 

An  Opinion  Piece."  9-13.  (hio.  13) 
Rockefeller.  John  D.  Jr.    10.    14.    16-18.23 
Rockefeller.  Laurance    16 
Rock)  Mountain  Club   27 
Roosevelt.  Franklin  D     17 
Roosevelt.  Theodore   2.  5.  23  (photo.  6) 

at  Frontier  Davs  6 
rope  tow.  Snow  King   42 
Roihman.  Hal.  quoted,  42 
Rov  Eugene  Graham  and  Associates    12 
Running  Water  Creek    3.  6 
St   Mark's  Episcopal  church   4 
Sargent.  .Adelaide    19 
Sargent.  John  Dudle)    19,  36 

homestead   38 
Sargent.  John  Singer    19 
Sargent's  Chimnev    31 
Schenk.  Bill    12 
Schwienng  Studio    15 
Scnhner's  Monthlv    25.  27.  30.  33 
Sears.  Julian   33 
service  class  37 
Sheffield.  Ben  20.37.38 
""Shane"  42 
Sherman  Hill  2 
Shive.  John   27.  31 .  (photo.  28) 

on  mosquitos   32 


shooting  40 

Signal  Mountain  Lodge  20 

skis  39 

Smith.  Shem  L..  "'A  Jackson  Hole  Life;  Verba 

Laurence."  35-43.  (hio.  43) 
Snake  River  Land  Company 
10.   11.   15.   16.  20.  21.  23 
Snow  King  ski  area  42 
snowshoemg   38 
Spalding.  Re\.  Franklin  27,28.  31.  (photo.  28. 

2<)t 
Sparks.  John  2 
Sparks.  Ne\ada  2 
"Spencer's  Mountam,"  42 
Spenser,  George    16 
Spread  Creek  Ranch    16 
Stark.  Jack    12 
Stevenson.  James  25-2'5.  32 
Stewart,  Henr\   22 
Stock  Grouers  Bank   7 
Swan.  Alexander  H    4 


Table  Mountain   32 

Talbot.  Major  John   2 

telephone.  Jackson  Hole   3Q 

Telephone  road  2 

Teschmacher.  Hubert  5 

Teton  County  Assessor's  office    12 

Teton  Count)  Board  of  Commissioners  33 

Teton  County  Historic  Preservation  Board 
13 

Teton  Investment  Company    17 

Teton  Lodge  37 

Teton  National  Forest   17 

Thomas.  J  B-  4 

Thompson.  D  C.  review  of  ■"From  the  Old 
Northwest  to  the  Pacific  Northwest:  the 
1853  Oregon  Trail  Diaries  of  Patterson 
Fletcher  Luark  and  Michael  Fleenen 
Luark."  45 

Three  Rivers  Ranch  21 

"Three  Women"  (song)  36 

Tie  City  2.  5 


"To  Preserve  the  View:  A  Tour  in  Text  and 
Pictures  of  Historic  Sites  Relating  to  the 
Establishment  of  Grand  Teton  National 
Park."  by  Tamsen  Emerson  Hert.  14-23 

Towgotee  Pass  42 

trapping,  m  Jackson  Hole   39 

triangulation  measurements   26 

U.S.  Fish  and  Wildlife  SerMce  22 

LI.S.  Geological  Sur\'ey  33 

Universit>  of  Alaska  22 

University  of  Wyoming/National  Park 

Service  Resear   17.    19 

Van  Tassell  "home  ranch"  5 

Van  Tassell.  Louise  Swan  4 
divorce.  7 

Van  Tassell.  Mary  Moore,  death  of  4 

Van  Tassell.  Maude  Bradle\    7 

Van  Tassell.  R.  S.  2-7 

Van  Tassell.  Wyoming   7 

vigilante  committee  3 

Warren.  Senator  Francis  E  6 


Wheeler  Expedition  29 

Wilderness  Society  22 

Wilson.  A,  D,  26 

Wmger.  Richard   14.  33 

winter  of  1886-1887  4 

Wister  cabin  22 

Wister.  Owen  22,  38 

Woodring.  Sam  T.  (photo,  33) 

Wunder.  John  R.,  "Americans  View  Their  Dust 

Bowl  Experience."  reviewed.  45 

Wyoming  Consulting  Committee  for  the 

National   Register  12 
Wyoming  legislature,  resolution  for  Owen   34 
Wyoming  State  Historical  Societ\    40 
Wyoming  Stock  Growers  Association   4 

founders  of  4 
Yellowstone  Wagon  Road    15 
Zontek.  Ken.  review  of  "Americans  View  Their 

Dust  Bowl  Experience."  45 


Wyoming  Pictures 


Aviator  Amelia  Earhart  had  flown  into  Cheyenne  just 
before  this  picture  was  shot  by  legendaiy  Wyoming 
Eagle  photographer  Francis  B rammer.  According  to 
Brammer  's  later  recollections,  the  photography  was 
delayed  because  the  famous  flyer  suffered  a  bout  of 
air  sickness  prior  to  arrival  and,  for  the  first  half  hour 


Wyoming  Department  of  State  Parks  and  Cultural  Resources 
after  landing,  she  laid  in  a  crawl  space  under  an  air- 
port building  in  order  to  recover.  Pictured  with  Earhart 
are  (from  left):  Leo  Herman,  commander  at  Fort 
Russell:  Miss  Frontier  of  1932  Edith  Gogerty  (later 
Mrs.  S.  T.  Stevens):  and  Cheyenne  Mayor  J.  F. 
Wevbrecht. 


Join  tne  Wyoming  State  Historical  Society..., 
ana  your  local  historical  society  chapter 


The  Wyoming  State  Historical  Society  is  a  confederation  of  more  than  20  local  chap- 
ters located  in  every  area  of  the  state.  Members  enjoy  the  frequent  gatherings  of  their 
local  groups  and  participate  in  programs  and  activities  that  preserve  and  interpret  their 
communities"  history.  Several  times  each  year,  members  from  all  across  Wyoming 
come  together  for  major  events  where  they  celebrate  common  historical  interests. 

Membership  in  the  society  is  open  to  everyone.  Member  benefits  include  a  subscrip- 
tion to  Annals  of  li'yoming:  The  IVyoming  Histoty  Journal,  a  quarterly  journal  de- 
voted to  broader  public  understanding  of  all  aspects  of  Wyoming  history;  and  IVyo- 
ming Histoiy  News,  the  society's  newsletter,  which  is  published  ten  times  each  year. 
Membership  dues  also  provide  support  for  a  comprehensive  awards  program  that  rec- 
ognizes people  who  are  doing  something  to  preserve  and  interpret  local  and  state 
history;  for  Wyommg  History  Day,  which  allows  thousands  of  Wyoming  students  to 
participate  in  history  projects  and  to  compete  at  district,  state  and  national  history  day 
e\  ents;  for  research  grants  that  support  the  study  and  publication  of  Wyoming  history; 
and  for  a  variety  of  special  projects  which  help  preserve  and  interpret  the  state's  rich 
history. 

If  you  are  a  member  of  the  Wyoming  State  Historical  Society,  we  solicit  your  contin- 
ued interest,  in\olvement  and  support,  if  you  are  not  a  member,  or  if  you  know  o'i 
other  non-members  who  share  an  interest  in  Wyoming  history,  we  urge  you  (and 
them)  to  join.  Contact  a  member  of  your  local  historical  society,  or  write  to  the 

Wyoming  State  Historical  Society 

PMB#184 

1740H  DELL  RANGE  BLVD 

CHEYENNE  WY  82009-4945. 

Membership  dues  are:  S20  (single);  $30  (joint);  $15  (student,  under  2 1  years  of  age); 
$40,  (institutions).  For  those  who  wish  to  support  the  society  in  a  more  substantial 
way,  participation  at  one  of  the  following  levels  is  appreciated:  contributing  member 
($100-299);  sustaining  member,  ($250-499);  patron  ($500-$999);  donor  ($1,000  and 
more).  In  addition  to  all  benefits  of  regular  membership,  participation  at  these  le\els 
are  recognized  in  Wyoming  Histoty  News. 


nnals  of 


m 


WYOMING 


:  The  ^(^oming  History  Journal 


Autumn  1999 


Vol.  71,  No.  4 


, '^' 


'  1 


>  k' 


'(;*. 


"War  Talk,  Christmas  Cheer,  1924" 

Oil  28  ••  X  38  " 

The  cover  painting  was  done  by  Wyoming 's  famed  "cowboy  art- 
ist." E.  IV.  "Bill"  Gollings. 

Born  in  Idaho  in  1878.  Gollings  and  his  family  moved  to  Chi- 
cago when  he  was  ten  years  old.  He  studied  drawing  in  school 
there  and  after  a  series  of  odd  Jobs,  he  returned  west  in  1896.  For 
more  them  five  years,  he  rode  the  range  as  a  cowhand  for  Montana 
and  Wvoming  cattle  outfits.  He  continued  his  drawing  in  his  spare 
time.  Just  after  the  turn  of  the  century,  he  returned  to  Chicago  and 
attended  the  Academy  of  Fine  Arts. 

In  1909  he  built  a  studio  in  Sheridan  and  worked  on  Sheridan 
area  ranches  while  he  painted  couunercially.  Gradually,  his  works 
gained  favor  with  critics  and  collectors. 

He  died  on  April  16.  1932.  in  Sheridan. 

The  painting  is  from  the  Sheriy  Nicholas  collection  housed  at 
the  University  of  Wyoming  Art  Museum. 


The  editor  of  Annals  of  \i  yarning  uelcomes  manuscripts  and  photographs  on  ever\  aspect  of  the  histor>  of  W\oming  and  the  West. 
Appropriate  for  submission  are  unpublished,  research-based  articles  which  provide  new  information  or  which  offer  new  interpretations 
of  historical  events.  First-person  accounts  based  on  personal  experience  or  recollections  of  events  will  be  considered  for  use  in  the 
"Wyoming  Memories"  section.  Historic  photo  essays  for  possible  publication  in  "'Wyoming  Memories"  also  are  welcome.  Articles  are 
reviewed  and  refereed  by  members  of  the  journal's  Editorial  Advisory  Board  and  others.  Decisions  regarding  publication  are  made  by 
the  editor.  Manuscripts  (along  with  suggestions  for  illustrations  or  photographs)  should  be  submitted  on  computer  diskettes  in  a  format 
created  by  one  of  the  widely-used  word  processing  programs  along  with  two  printed  copies.  Submissions  and  queries  should  be  ad- 
dressed to  Editor,  .Annals  of  Wyoming,  P.  0.  Box  4256,  University  Station.  Laramie  WY  82071 . 


Editor 

I'llll    K.^kTl. 

Hook*  RcNiL'w  I'.clitor 
Carl  HallKeri; 


Editorial  Advisor\'  Board 

Barbara  Roslart,  Evan^to^ 
Mabel  brown,  Newcaj^tle/L  lievt-nn 
Micnael  J.  Dexine,  Laraniit- 
James  B.  Griiritn,  }r,  Cncyeniu' 
Don  Houg^on,  Torririi^ton 
Loren  Io<t,  l\i\'erton 
Da\'lu  K.itnica,  Rock  r-prin^^ 
r.  A,  L.ir^on,  Laramie 
)onn  I).  McDermott,  irnerlJan 
Snerr\'  1,.  ^niitli,  Nu>o?e 
Tnoma?  \\  ^troL>clc,  Casper 
Lawrence  NL  Woods,  Worland 


^  \  oiiiiniS' ^tate  Historical  ^T'ociety 

Runlications  Committee 
Rick  Lwii;,  Laramie 
Da\-id  Katlika,  Ri'ck  rpnns^> 
Sliern'  L    r^mitli,  ^K'o^e 
/Vm\'  l-au'rence,  Laramie 
Nancy  Curtis,  C'lentlo 
W'illiam  M.  NU'orc,  Laramie  (ex  officio) 
Patty  Myer>,  W'lieallantl  (e\-..lIicio} 
Loren  )ost,  Riverton  (ex-olricio) 
Phil  Roberts,  Laramie  (ex-officio) 


Wyoming'  State  Mistoricai  Society 

Executive  Committee 
Mike  loraint;.  President,  Ne^'castle 
DavelavUir,   IstXi^e    IVes,  Casper 

lermy  W.^lit,  -^lul  \'ice  IVs.,  BecllorJ 

I_mJa  Labian,  ^ecretar)',  L  neyenne 

Pick  Wilder.  Treasurer,  ColI\' 

Patty  Mvcrs,WbeatlanJ 

-\m\'  Laurence,  Laramie 

Joyce  Warnke,  Torrintfton 

Lloyu  Totla,  Sberidan 

Juav  West,  Memnersnip  CoorJinat.^r 

Governor  or  Wyoming" 

Jim  Geringer 


Wyomina'  Dcpt.  of  State  Parks  and 
Cultural  Resources 

Jonn  Keck,  Director 


Wvoniing  Parks  &'  Cultural  Resources 
Commission 

William  Dubois,  C!ie\eiine 
Lnarles  A-  Liuerin,  Laramie 
Diann  Reese,  L\nian 
Rosie  Ber:5er,  Big  ruirn 
B.  Byron  Price,  Cody 
Herb  Frencn,  Newcastle 
Frank  Tim  Isabell,  Irlmsnoni 
Jeanne  Mickey,  Cneyenne 
Hale  Krewik.  Douglas 

L^niversity  ot  Wyoming' 

Pbilip  DubtMS,  President 
Micnael  J.  De\ane,  Director, 

.-Vmerican  Heritage  Center 
Oliver  Walter,  Dean, 

College  Lil  Arts  and  Sciences 
William  H.  Moore,  Cnair,  Dept.  of  History 

Printed  bv  Pioneer  Printing,  Cneyenne 


^pnnals  of 

WYOMING 


Tne  Wyoming  History  journal 


Autumn   lOQQXol.  71,  Xo.  4 


W^omln^  Memories 


Canipaig'n  Memories 

By  lames  B.  GriHitli,  )r 2 

Beyond  a  Literar\'  Adventure: 

Bonne^'ilie's  and  Fremont's  Conquests 
or  the  Wind  Ri\'ers 

B\'\'ernon  I^.  \'olpe   15 


Creneral  Slieridan's  Pass,   1807-1883 


B 


\'  lames  K 


Wolf. 


Climbino  the  Grand:  Another  \icw 

Letter  to  the  Editor  n\'  )esse  O  Connor  . 


29 


.41 


Book  Reviews 

liJiteJ  liv  C ar!  Hallters; 42 


Indc 


.47 


W> 


yoniing  Picture ...^^..,-:jp./c:::;s,..!:^.5^.^/7..ia--lr--- 


.48 


■\  1  =^  ^-i-7  L^  i-L 


3  -  3  2 


iily 


Annals  o/  II']  omini;  The  ll'yiiming  History  Journal  is  published  quartcrl>  b\  the  \\  \oming  State  Historical 
Society  in  association  with  the  Wyoming  Department  ot  Commerce,  the  American  Heritage  Center,  and  the 
Department  ot  History,  Liniversity  ot  Wyoming,  The  journal  was  pre\iousl\  published  as  the  Oiiarierly 
Bulletin  ( 1 923- 1 925 1.  Annals  of  ll'yotning  ( 1 925- 1 993 ).  Il'yomiiii;  Annals  ( 1 993- 1 995 )  and  ll'yoming  His- 
tory Journal  ( 1995-1996).  The  Annals  has  been  the  ofTicial  publication  of  the  Wyoming  State  Historical 
Society  since  1953  and  is  distributed  as  a  benefit  of  membership  to  all  society  members.  Membership  dues 
are:  single,  $20;  joint,  $30;  student  (under  21 ),  $15;  institutional.  $40;  contributing,  $100-249;  sustaining. 
$250-499;  patron,  $500-999;  donor,  $1,000+.  To  join,  contact  your  local  chapter  or  write  to  the  address 
below.  Articles  in  Annals  afll'roming  are  abstracted  in  Histivical  Abstracts  and  America  History  and  Life. 

Inquiries  about  membership,  mailing,  distribution,  reprints  and  back  issues  should  be  addressed  to  .lud\ 
West,  Coordinator,  Wyoming  State  Historical  Society,  PMB»  184,  I74(IH  Dell  Range  Blvd.,  Cheyenne 
WY  82009-4945.  Editorial  correspondence  should  be  .addressed  to  the  editorial  office  o\'  Annals  of  Wyo- 
ming. American  Heritage  Center,  P.  O.  Box  4256,  University  Station,  Laramie  WY  82071. 
Our  website  address  is;   http:   www.uw\o.edu.A&S  history  whioum.htm 


Copyright  1999,  Wyoming  State  Historical  Societj 


ISSN:  1086-7368 


Wyoming  Memories 


CAMPAIGN  MEMORIES 


James  B.  Griffith,  Jr. 


As  I  have  been  offered  this  opportunity  to  author  a 
"Wyoming  Memories"  for  the  Annals  it  occurred  to 
me  that  it  might  be  desirable  to  write  for  a  different 
reader;  those  who  have  never  sought  an  elective  office 
nor  worked  their  hearts  out  for  someone  else.  Those 
who  have  campaigned  for  themselves  or  become  deeply 
involved  in  a  political  race  already  know  what  I  hope 
my  words  convey.  They  know  political  campaigns  and 
their  results  magnify  the  feelings  of  excitement,  joy, 
disappointment,  satisfaction,  lasting  friendship,  bitter- 
ness, stress,  worry,  and  humor  to  mention  a  few. 

In  campaigns  there  are  nearly  always  many  losers, 
and  of  course  only  one  winner.  With  perhaps  three  or 
more  opponents  in  a  primary  and  statistically  only  half 
a  chance  of  winning  in  the  general,  the  odds  of  success 
are  poor.  Be  this  as  it  is,  our  democracy  is  fortunate 
that  people  will  put  their  necks  on  the  line  despite  the 
odds,  for  they  provide  the  heart  and  keep  the  blood  of 
democracy  flowing. 

It  must  be  an  inherited  trait  but  family  groups  seem 
to  have  a  tendency  to  follow  the  same  general  interest. 
In  my  family  there  seems  to  e.xist  a  desire  to  partici- 
pate in  various  levels  of  political  activity. 

In  Wyoming  that  desire  likely  started  with  my  ma- 
ternal grandfather,  Harry  C.  Snyder,  who  arrived  in 


Wyoming  behind  some  3,000  head  of  Mexican  cattle 
which  had  been  driven  all  the  way  from  Matagorda 
Bay,  Mexico.  Another  cowboy  on  that  1879  drive  was 
John  B.  Kendrick,  who  was  to  become  a  Wyoming  gov- 
ernor and  U.S.  Senator.  Both  were  loyal  Democrats. 
Harry  Snyder  became  a  rancher  in  what  is  now  Niobrara 
County  and  later  was  owner  and  operator  of  the  H.  C. 
Snyder  and  Company,  a  mercantile  company  in  Lusk 
which  sold  hardware,  clothing,  fiamiture,  groceries,  etc., 
and  did  it  all  on  credit.  When  the  ranchers  sold  their 
livestock  and  paid  their  annual  bill  they  would  be  re- 
warded with  a  new  hat. 

Mr.  Snyder  was  a  pioneer  mayor  of  Lusk  and  seemed 
to  have  a  special  interest  in  education,  which  was  prob- 
ably partly  because  he  married  Mary  Vincent,  a  teacher 
who  worked  at  various  locations  along  the  Cheyenne- 
Deadwood  Stage  Line.  She  may  well  have  been  the 
first  college  educated  teacher  north  of  Fort  Laramie. 

During  the  homesteading  era  when  ranchers  and 
homesteaders  were  not  friends,  he  served  on  the  school 
board.  In  his  book  Hat  Creek  and  Hard  Times,  Dr. 
Edward  C.  Bryant,  a  leading  American  statistician, 
writes,  "In  the  spring  of  1 9 1 3  my  parents  and  others 
increased  the  pressure  on  the  school  board  for  a  com- 
munity school.  H.  C.  Snyder  tried  to  resign  from  the 


Autumn   1999 


board  because  he  was  embarrassed  they  wouldn't  fund 
schools  for  the  homesteaders.  His  resignation  wasn't 
accepted  and  the  board  voted  to  build  a  school  along 
the  Hat  Creek  road..." 

He  served  one  term  in  the  Legislature  as  a  Represen- 
tative from  Converse  County  and  was  chairman  of  a 
committee  to  break  off  the  eastern  portion  of  Converse 
into  a  new  county.  In  Mae  Urbanek's  book  IVyoming 
Place  Names,  she  gives  Snyder  credit  for  the  name 
Niobrara.  In  1 9 1 6  he  was  a  candidate  for  the  State  Sen- 
ate but  withdrew  because  of  ill  health  and  died  before 
the  election.  That  was  the  Democratic  side  of  the  fam- 
ily. 

The  Republican  side  started  when  my  Dad,  with  per- 
haps a  fifth  grade  education,  learned  the  printing  busi- 
ness in  Lexington,  Kentucky.  Later  he  worked  his  way 
west  after  serving  in  numerous  capacities  at  a  number 
of  newspapers.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor  ( AFL )  and  in  1 909  was  an  official 
at  a  national  convention  under  the  famous  labor  leader 
Samuel  Gompers.  He  described  his  family  as  strong 
Lincoln  Republicans.  While  writing  for  the  S'afroiia 
Count}-  Tribune  he  took  a  turn  at  politics  and  was  elected 
a  Natrona  County  Commissioner.  He  only  served  one 
term. 

My  mother  and  father  were  widow  and  widower  when 
they  became  acquainted  during  the  Wyoming  Press 
Association  conventions.  Mother  was  a  feminine  pio- 
neer for  women  were  rarely  publishers  and  editors,  and 
she  was  both  at  The  Lusk  Herald.  They  were  married 
on  Easter  1926.  Before  long  they  set  out  on  yet  another 
newspaper  venture,  as  they  and  the  J.  E.  Hanways  ot 
Casper  went  to  Laredo,  Texas  where  they  published 
The  Laredo  Time.s,  which  was  a  daily  paper  with  one 
issue  in  English  and  another  in  Spanish.  It  was  during 
this  experience  that  I  came  into  the  world.  When  I  was 
but  31  days  old  the  family,  then  consisting  of  yours, 
mine  and  ours,  moved  to  Lusk.  I  guess  the  bilingual 
operation  didn't  work  out.  Never  in  my  life  did  I  call 
attention  to  the  fact  that  by  birth  I  was  a  Texan  I  just 
ignored  it  and  let  Wyoming  people  assume  I  was  a 
Wyoming  native. 

Then  came  the  depression  and  the  Snyder  ranch  was 
sold  to  sa\e  the  store,  but  with  its  credit  program  it 
also  went  down.  I  do  believe  I  remember  the  election 
night  of  1932;  but  than  again  maybe  it  was  just  be- 
cause I  had  been  told  about  it.  The  returns  were  posted 
in  the  vacant  Snyder  store.  Dad  was  running  for  the 
Legislature  and  like  all  Republicans  during  the  Hoover 
depression  he  was  badly  beaten.  He  never  ran  for  elec- 
tive office  again. 


Of  course  1934  was  again  an  all  Democratic  year, 
and  then  came  1 936  and  one  of  Dad's  best  friends,  Frank 
A.  Barrett,  Lusk  lawyer,  was  running  for  Congress. 
Barrett's  son  Jim,  now  Judge  of  the  Tenth  Circuit  Court 
of  Appeals,  accompanied  his  dad  on  much  of  the  cam- 
paign putting  up  posters  and  handing  out  brochures. 
Barretts  often  campaigned  with  Senator  Robert  Carey 
who  was  running  for  reelection.  He  had  previously 
served  Wyoming  as  governor.  Democrat  Paul  Greever, 
a  Cody  lawyer,  was  seeking  his  second  term  in  Con- 
gress. 

In  the  words  of  Judge  Barrett:  "The  1936  election 
was  an  across-the-board  Democratic  sweep.  In  iny  dad's 
case,  he  quickly  put  it  behind  him  and  buried  himself 
in  his  law  practice.  In  Senator  Carey's  case  the  defeat 
was  devastating.  He  died  about  a  year  later." 

After  the  overwhelming  Democratic  victories  of 
1932,  1934  and  1936  the  Wyoming  Republican  party 
was  little  more  than  a  memory.  Dad  always  said  be- 
cause no  one  else  was  dumb  enough  to  take  it,  he  was 
elected  Republican  State  Chaimian  in  1 937.  The  Wyo- 
ming GOP  was  $3000  in  debt  and  in  1937  that  was  big 
money.  The  organization  existed  only  on  paper,  and 
there  were  few  creditable  candidates  in  the  wings.  Even 


J.  B.  Griffith,  the  author's  father,  was  a  prominent 
pubhsher  and  RepubUcan  Part}'  official 


Annals  of  Wyonimg:The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


Frank  Barren,  the  only  Wyomingite  ever  elected  to  all 
three  top  elective  offices— the  U.  S.  House,  the  Gover- 
norship and  the  U.  S.  Senate. 


though  the  GOP  future  looked  dark  indeed,  there  would 
be  an  election  in  1938  and  the  elephant  would  have  to 
make  an  appearance  if  America's  two  party  system  was 
to  exist.  Dad  enlisted  George  Houser,  publisher  of  the 
Guernsey  Gazette,  and  Cheyenne  lawyers  Harry  B. 
Henderson  and  Ewing  T.  Kerr  to  serve  as  a  sort  of 
kitchen  cabinet. 

All  fi\  e  of  Wyoming's  elected  officials  were  Demo- 
crats, both  houses  of  the  Legislature  were  controlled 
by  the  Democrats,  both  U.S.  Senators  were  Democrats, 
and  Wyoming's  only  congressman  was  a  Democrat. 

First  came  an  all-out  recruitment  effort,  and  that  was 
followed  by  what  must  have  been  an  unexpected  ag- 
gressive campaign.  When  the  dust  settled  the  nation 
was  still  finnly  controlled  by  the  Democrats,  but  not 
Wyoming.  Nels  Smith  (R)  was  Governor,  Mart 
Christensen  ( R )  was  State  Treasurer  and  Esther  Ander- 
son (R)  was  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  and 
that  meant  control  of  the  State  Boards.  Both  houses  of 
the  Legislature  had  GOP  majorities,  and  Frank  Horton 
(R)  had  been  elected  to  Congress.  Dad  was  appointed 
Land  Commissioner,  but  still  retained  his  chairman- 


ship of  the  party.  Some  called  him  an  autocrat,  and  the 
Wyoming  Eagle  read  "GOP  now  means  Griffith's  Own 
Party." 

World  War  II  slowed,  but  did  not  stop,  political  ac- 
tivity. Dad  needed  a  first  rate  candidate  for  Congress. 
He  begged  Frank  Barrett  to  run,  but  Barrett  still  re- 
membered 1936  and  wouldn't  consider  a  second  try. 
On  the  final  day  for  filing  Dad  forged  "Frank  A.  Barrett" 
on  a  nomination  petition  and  paid  the  filing  fee.  Barrett, 
who  was  pure  Irish  anyway,  really  got  his  Irish  up  and 
threatened  legal  action  against  Dad.  Dad  asked  Frank 
to  wait  a  few  days  and  see  the  reaction  to  the  announce- 
ment. He  waited.  Then  fi-om  the  Republican  state  head- 
quarters in  the  basement  of  the  Frontier  Hotel,  Dad 
phoned  people  all  over  the  State  asking  them  to  phone, 
write  or  telegraph  Barrett  and  tell  him  how  pleased  they 
were  that  he  was  running  for  Congress.  Barrett  was 
encouraged  and  decided  to  remain  on  the  ticket.  He 
won.  He  won  again  in  1944,  and  in  1946  and  in  1948. 
He  was  elected  Governor  in  1 950  and  elected  U.S.  Sena- 
tor in  1952.  In  the  entire  history  of  the  United  States 
there  have  been  only  a  handful— likely  fewer  than  a 
dozen  elected  officials~who  have  held  these  three  high 
offices. 

In  1942  Lester  Hunt  defeated  Nels  Smith  for  Gover- 
nor partly  because  of  Smith's  reading  ability.  He  was  a 
non-stop  reader,  and  just  read  the  speeches  others,  like 
my  Dad  or  Ewing  Kerr,  who  was  Attorney  General, 
had  written  for  him.  He  always  read  the  whole  talk, 
including  even  the  inserted  words,  "pause  for  applause." 

Following  the  change  in  governorship  the  Griffith 
family  moved  back  to  Lusk  and  The  Herald.  The  Her- 
ald was  now  under  the  management  of  Gerald  Bardo, 
who  became  Dad's  partner  and  later  my  partner. 

The  summer  of  1 948  game  me  a  different  view  of 
politics  as  both  Jim  Barrett  and  I  were  attending  the 
Republican  National  convention  in  Philadelphia.  As 
our  Dads  were  both  delegates,  we  were  designated 
Honorary  Assistant  Sergeant  at  Arms  which  meant  we 
could  get  on  the  convention  floor  but  didn't  have  a 
seat.  This  was  the  tlrst  ever  televised  convention.  That 
fact  alone  meant  the  convention  hall  would  be  an  oven, 
as  the  black  and  white  TV  required  powerful  arc  burn- 
ing lights.  This  year  was  also  probably  the  last  time  the 
television  didn't  dominate  national  political  conven- 
tions. Jim  and  I  made  our  way  with  the  delegation  and 
met  every  one  of  the  candidates.  One  of  my  most  vivid 
memories  of  the  convention  came  about  at  two  a.m. 
after  a  long  and  very  hot  day,  when  the  hero  of  the 
Bataan  death  march.  General  Wainwright,  standing 
before  a  half  empty  hall  gave  a  nomination  speech  for 


Autumn  19QQ 


Douglas  MacArthur.  Tom  Dewey  was  nominated  for 
the  second  time  for  president.  I  just  didn't  care  much 
for  him,  but  in  November  1  did  cast  my  first  ever  vote 
for  him.  Would  you  believe  this  I  wanted  Harold 
Stassen.  A  great  many  others  didn't  care  for  Dewey 
either,  as  Truman  pulled  the  greatest  upset  of  any  presi- 
dential race. 

In  1950  I  had  just  received  my  degree  from  Wyo- 
ming U  and  started  to  work  at  The  HcraUI.  But  1950 
was  a  thrilling  year  for  Luskites  as  Frank  Barrett  was 
running  for  Governor.  Among  other  things  a  car  cara- 
van was  organized  which  visited  Douglas,  Wheatland 
and  Che>enne.  I  have  my  doubts  if  it  really  did  much 
good,  but  it  gave  all  of  us  a  feeling  we  were  really 
campaigning.  Barrett  won  big  and  I  was  impressed 
when  I  witnessed  my  first  inaugural. 

In  1952  I  tlrst  learned  about  how  even  small  com- 
munities can  pla\  hardball  politics.  Nationallx  the  Re- 
publicans were  basicall_\  divided  into  two  presidential 
camps — the  Robert  Taft  supporters  and  the  General 
Eisenhower  troops.  Because  someone  had  asked,  I  w as 
the  Eisenhower  county  chairman.  C.  W.  Erwin,  the 
president  and  principal  owner  of  the  Lusk  State  Bank, 
which  was  Lusk's  only  bank,  was  making  it  his  per- 
sonal project  to  see  that  Taft  would  be  the  nominee. 
The  late  C.W.  was  a  formidable  man.  It  so  happened 
that  he  had  a  perfect  matching  glass  eye  and  the  local 
joke  for  years  was  that  if  \ou  wished  to  know  which 
eye  was  the  glass  eye,  just  ask  C.W.  for  a  loan  and  the 
glass  eye  was  the  one  with  the  kindly  look.  He  was, 
however,  a  fine  community  man.  outstanding  school 
board  member,  and  chief  developer  of  the  Niobrara 
Country  Club. 

I  had  done  my  homework  and  contacted  most  of  the 
precinctmen  and  precinctwomen,  but  the  conservatism 
in  Niobrara  was  fairly  strong  for  Taft.  At  any  rate  when 
the  county  convention  was  held  I  thought  there  were 
six  Ike  and  four  Taft  delegates — but  it  might  have  been 
five  and  five.  Inasmuch  as  Frank  Barrett  was  now  run- 
ning for  the  U.S.  Senate,  his  son,  Jim,  who  was  secre- 
tary-treasurer of  the  Niobrara  Republicans,  didn't  want 
to  be  a  delegate,  but  accepted  the  tenth  or  last  alternate 
position. 

The  state  convention  w  as  held  in  the  Masonic  Temple 
in  downtown  Casper  as  the  location  was  a  short  walk 
from  Casper's  three  major  hotels.  County  Chairman 
Tom  Miller  called  for  a  10  a.m.  meeting  of  the  Niobrara 
delegation  to  be  held  in  his  room  in  the  Gladstone  Hotel 
so  that  the  membership  of  the  various  committees  could 
be  elected.  Tom  then  learned  the  convention  would 
convene  at  ten,  so  he  and  others  attempted  to  notify  the 


delegates  the  county  meeting  would  be  at  nine.  Every- 
one but  C.W.  got  the  word.  In  his  own  words.  .lim 
Barrett  writes: 

I  was  called  to  ser\'e  in  his  stead  because  I  was  the 
only  alternate  delegate  who  could  be  located.  So  the 
election  of  committee  members  proceeded  after  1  had 
been  elected  secretary  of  the  meeting.  The  votes  were 
all  done  by  written  ballots.  I  cast  one  vote  for  Taft  and 
one  for  I-isenhower,  but  knew  that  C.W.  would  ha\e 
cast  his  votes  for  Taft.  The  Fisenhower  people  now 
had  a  slight  majority  on  each  committee,  including  the 
important  nominating  comnntlee.  .lust  before  the  meet- 
ing was  o\er  there  was  a  knock  on  the  door  and  it  was 
C.W.  He  had  finally  been  located,  but  it  was  too  late. 
Mr.  En\in  declared  the  meeting  was  unconstitutional 
and  wanted  to  know  who  had  ser\ed  in  his  place.  Of 
course,  it  was  me.  He  asked  about  the  composition  of 
the  committees  and  when  so  informed  he  asked  who 
counted  the  \otes.  Of  course,  it  was  me.  Fortunatel>  I 
had  retained  the  v\ritten  ballots  and  otTered  them  to 
him.  He  refused  to  lodk  and  heatedl\  proclaimed  that 
the  first  order  of  business  would  be  a  challenge  as  to 
the  composition  of  the  committees.  Fach  of  us  held 
our  breath  as  the  conxcniKin  opened,  hut  Mr.  Frwin 
did  not  pursue  Ins  challenge. 

Statewide  the  Eisenhower  efforts  were  not  as  suc- 
cessful as  Niobrara's,  for  the  delegation  to  the  national 
convention  had  six  for  Taft,  two  for  Eisenhower  and 
four  uncommitted.  Of  course,  Ike  went  on  to  win  the 
nomination  and  served  two  temis  as  president. 

The  bitterness  over  the  Niobrara  delegation  hung  on 
much  like  a  skunk's  spra\'  clings  to  a  long  hair  dog. 
C.W.'s  temperature  remained  hot,  and  among  his  ac- 
tions he  gave  his  staff  firm  instructions  to  '"never  buy 
anything  at  The  Heruhi  again."  Then  one  day  he  asked 
his  head  man.  Max  T.  Bird,  if  he  had  a  large  manila 
envelope.  Max  found  one  in  his  desk.  Still  later  on  that 
day,  June  1 0,  1 952.  C.W.  asked  for  a  second  one.  Max 
didn't  have  one  so  he  took  a  short  walk  up  Main  Street 
and  bought  a  9  x  12  envelope  which  I  believe  sold  for 
about  4  cents.  After  using  the  new  envelope  C.W.  asked 
Max  where  the  found  that  en\'elope  and  Max  said  at 
The  Herald.  Max  later  said  C.W.  had  real  fire  in  his 
good  eye  when  he  pointed  at  Max  and  said  "You're 
fired."  And  he  was.  The  June  12  issue  of  The  Herald 
carried  a  front  page  article  which  read,  "Max  T.  Bird. 
cashier  of  The  Lusk  State  Bank  for  the  past  five  years, 
unexpectedly  resigned  Tuesda\ .  Reason  for  the  resig- 
nation were  not  made  available  for  publication."  The 
article  went  on  to  glorify  Max  and  all  he  had  meant  to 
the  coinmunitN . 


6 


^Vnnals  or  WyomingiThe  Wyoming  Histor\'  Journal 


Things  were  really  in  the  soup  now.  Max  didn't  have 
a  job  and  we  were  the  cause.  The  obvious  solution  was 
to  start  a  bank  for  Max  to  nin.  With  Democrats  like 
Roscoe  Kilmer  and  Republicans  like  Dad  and  Andy 
McMaster  and  the  help  from  U.S.  Senator  Lester  Hunt 
(D-Wyo)  and  Gerr\  Bardo  doing  much  of  the  paper 
w  ork,  the  Stockmans  National  Bank  w  as  bom  and  Max 
had  a  job.  To  be  certain,  there  was  a  need  for  a  second 
bank,  but  it  was  small  town  politics  which  ignited  the 
flame.  Dad  and  Andy  were  among  the  original  direc- 
tors. Years  later  it  was  fitting  that  Geixy  Bardo  became 
a  director.  The  bank  is  now  a  Communitx  First  bank. 
And  the  election  of  1 952  sent  Frank  Barrett  to  the  U.S. 
Senate. 

1  don't  recall  any  effort  on  my  behalf  in  the  1954 
election,  but  in  1955  Dad  resigned  his  position  as 
Niobrara's  Republican  State  Committeeman.  1  was 
elected  to  take  his  place,  a  position  I  held  until  1970. 
Neither  do  I  have  memories  of  the  1956  election,  but 
1958  was  one  which  is  remembered  with  much  bitter- 
ness b>  the  Barrett  family  and  friends  even  today.  He 
was  running  against  Democrat  Gale  McGee,  a  U  W  his- 
tory professor,  and  while  the  campaign  was  generally 
hot.  it  was  at  the  very  end  that  could  have  defeated 
Barrett.  Three  days  before  the  election  Drew  Pearson, 
a  nationally  syndicated  columnist,  wrote  in  his  "Wash- 


Staii  Hathaway 


ington  Merry  Go  Round"  column  that  Barrett  person- 
ally intervened  with  the  IRS-Treasury  people  on  be- 
half of  former  Senator  E.  V.  Robertson  against  the  gov- 
ernment. Evidently  the  Wyoming  Democratic  party  had 
been  made  aware  such  a  column  was  going  to  be  pub- 
lished. Brochures  asking  "Can  you  trust  this  man?"  were 
distributed  as  the  column  was  published.  Similar  ad- 
vertisements appeared  in  several  Wyoming  papers.  The 
story  was  one  big  lie,  but  the  timing  was  such  that  it 
could  not  be  answered.  McGee  won,  but  with  only 
50.8%  of  the  vote.  The  column  could  well  have  made 
the  difference.  Rather  than  a  libel  suit  Pearson  offered 
a  cash  settlement,  but  that  was  refused,  as  Barrett  wished 
to  clear  his  name.  In  time  a  suitable  retraction  was  pub- 
lished and  through  his  son  Jim  the  retraction  column 
was  run  throughout  Wyoming. 

The  Democratic  convention  in  1 960  had  to  be  a  high- 
light for  the  longtime  Wyoming  Democratic  National 
Committeeman  Tracy  McCraken  for  he,  as  chairman 
of  the  Wyoming  delegation,  cast  the  deciding  votes 
which  nominated  John  Kennedy  for  president.  Of  course 
Kennedy  went  on  to  become  president  in  a  tight  win 
over  Richard  Nixon.  Wyoming's  popular  congressman 
Keith  Thomson  was  elected  to  the  U.S.  Senate,  but  died 
before  he  was  even  sworn  in.  Governor  J.J.  (Joe) 
Hickey,  in  effect,  appointed  himself  to  the  Senate,  a 
move  that  pro\ed  unpopular  in  1962  when  Simpson 
and  Hickey  had  a  rematch,  but  for  the  Senate.  This 
time  Simpson  won.  Mrs.  Keith  (Thyra)  Thomson  went 
on  to  be  elected  Wyoming  Secretary  of  State,  a  posi- 
tion in  which  she  sat  comfortably  for  twenty-four  years. 

It  was,  however,  during  Hickey's  senate  service  that 
he  and  Senator  McGee  worked  with  another  man  who 
would  later  come  to  the  Wyoming  political  scene  to 
influence  the  economic  well  being  of  the  Cheyenne  area. 
Colonel  Ed  Witzenburger  as  Air  Force  Liaison  Officer 
to  the  Senate,  helped  convince  Secretary  of  the  Air 
Force  Eugene  Zuchert  to  have  the  Minuteman  ICBM 
deployed  at  Fort  Warren. 

During  1 963  Republican  State  Chairman  John  Wold 
asked  me  to  head  a  nominating  committee  to  find  a 
new  state  chainnan.  The  thinness  of  my  memories  fails 
to  recall  the  other  committee  members,  but  we  were  in 
agreement  that  Stan  Hathaway  would  be  an  excellent 
choice.  Thus  it  was  that  I  drove  south  from  Lusk  to 
Torrington  and  asked  Stan  if  he  would  accept  the  nomi- 
nation. I  had  just  assumed  he  would,  but  I  received  a 
very  definite  "NO".  After  phone  Conversations  with 
the  committee  members  it  was  suggested  I  ask  Stan  a 
second  time.  There  was  no  question  in  my  mind  but 
what  I  needed  some  big  reinforcements  so  I  requested 
Harry  Thorson  of  Newcastle,  a  former  state  chairman, 


Autumn   IQOQ 


7 


Ed  Witzenbiirger 

and  at  the  time  Wyoming  National  committeeman,  to 
accompany  me  to  visit  Stan  once  again.  When  I  say 
big,  Harry  was  of  the  around  300  pounds  size.  We  did 
in  fact  make  the  trip  and  after  a  rather  lengthy  session 
with  Stan  and  a  reduction  of  his  liquor  supply,  he  fi- 
nally agreed  to  take  the  nomination. 

Stan  ran  an  excellent,  but  tutile  campaign.  There  was 
no  way  to  overcome  the  anti-Barry  Goldvvater  land- 
slide. All  statewide  Republican  candidates  lost,  and  for 
the  tlrst  time  since  the  30"s,  the  Democrats  controlled 
the  Wyoming  House  of  Representatives.  The  Republi- 
cans had  a  majority  of  one  in  the  State  Senate.  But  b\ 
that  time,  Stan  had  become  known  throughout  Wyo- 
ming and  it  is  my  belief  that  if  he  refused  that  chair- 
manship he  might  not  have  gone  on  to  become  the  first 
person  to  ser\e  two  full  temis  as  Governor  of  Wyo- 
ming. 

Yes,  Harry  and  1  went  back  in  1966  to  ask  him  to  run 
for  Governor,  but  we  were  too  late,  for  the  people  of 
Goshen  County  as  well  as  others  from  around  the  state 
already  had  him  committed.  He  had  outstanding  oppo- 
sition in  the  primary  election  with  Joe  Burke,  promi- 
nent Natrona  County  rancher,  as  his  principal  oppo- 
nent, and  the  articulate  Casper  lawyer  Ernest  Wilkerson. 


in  the  general  election.  But  the  sad  Republican  "tears 
of  '64  were  tears  of  joy  in  '66"  as  the  entire  Republi- 
can national  and  state  ticket  won. 

Meantime  down  in  my  small  county  of  Niobrara  a 
most  unusual— perhaps  even  completely  unique— event 
took  place.  Following  the  1960  census  and  the  legisla- 
tive reapportionment,  Niobrara  had  been  combined  w  ith 
Converse  County  into  a  single  state  senate  district.  This 
was  still  the  era  of  paper  ballots  and  the  requirements 
of  just  how  many  were  to  be  printed  and  the  rotation  of 
names  was  exacting.  The  law  required  the  county  clerk 
to  oversee  the  printing  process.  The  Republican  pri- 
mary pitted  Estelle  Stacy  of  Douglas  against  Jim  Th- 
ompson, a  Niobrara  rancher  and  four-temi  state  repre- 
sentative. Mrs.  Stacy  was  a  most  devoted  Republican 
and  not  only  national  committeewoman  but  secretary 
of  the  National  Republican  Committee.  Niobrara  vot- 
ers had  the  correct  feeling  that  this  might  be  the  final 
time  they  could  elect  a  state  senator.  The  north  Lusk 
precinct  had  the  most  Democrats,  but  they  joined  in 
the  fight  of  Little  Niobrara  against  Big  Converse  County 
and  sw  itched,  even  if  just  for  the  day,  to  vote  Republi- 
can. After  the  limited  number  of  white  (Republican) 
ballots  were  gone.  County  Clerk  Doris  Christian  gave 
her  approval  to  use  verified  sample  ballots.  Soon  the 
sample  ballots  had  all  been  cast.  What  now?  Can  a  le- 
gal voter  be  turned  away  for  lack  of  ballots?  At  the 
time  the  statutes  also  required  that  the  ballots  be  printed 
in  the  county's  legal  newspaper  the  week  before  the 
election.  With  great  reluctance  Mrs.  Christian  gave  her 
approval  to  use  the  ballots  as  printed  in  last  week's 
Herald.  There  were  several,  probably  not  many,  bal- 
lots cast  that  carried  a  Safeway  advertisement  on  the 
back.  Jim  carried  Niobrara  by  an  amazing  6  to  1  mar- 
gin, but  that  effort  wasn't  necessary  as  he  also  carried 
Converse. 

Jim  ran  again  in  1970  against  Democrat  Rory  Cross 
and  barely  won.  That  was  the  last  time  Niobrara  had  a 
state  senator  and  it  is  not  likely  Niobrara  will  ever  have 
another.  Later  Rory  became  a  Republican  and  was 
elected  as  a  legislator  from  Converse  County. 

I  cannot  set  a  time  or  a  place  when  I  decided  to  be- 
come a  candidate  for  State  Treasurer.  No  one  really 
urged  me  to.  but  late  in  1969  I  gave  the  idea  serious 
thought  and  can  assure  all  that  there  is  a  vast  space 
between  thinking  about  it  and  actually  announcing. 
With  my  good  friend  and  fomier  county  Republican 
chairman.  Bob  Darrovv.  I  became  the  first  candidate  to 
announce  for  any  otTice.  The  announcement  was  made 
the  evening  of  Tuesday,  February  3,  1970.  in  the  once 
again  vacant  room  in  the  former  Snyder  building.  It 
had  been  occupied  for  many  years  by  the  Midwest 


yVnnals  oi  Wyoming:The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


Author's  collection 


"Torchlight  Parade  "  in  support  of  Grijfith  's  nomination.  Liisk,  1970 


Hardware.  Perhaps  the  template  for  the  campaign  was 
set  that  night,  which  was  concluded  with  a  torchlight 
parade. 

As  1  was  single  at  the  time  and  attempting  to  raise 
three  teenage  daughters,  they  became  my  campaign 
team.  The  early  February  announcement  was  made  so 
that  I  could  attend  the  Lincoln  Day  dinners  around  the 
state  as  a  candidate.  At  first  we  traveled  only  on  week- 
ends, and  while  1  would  visit  the  business  district  the 
daughters  would  leave  brochures  at  homes.  For  the  most 
part  the  work  fell  to  my  two  youngest,  Laura,  15,  and 
Lynn,  13.  Sally  had  her  hands  full  preparing  to  gradu- 
ate from  high  school  as  valedictorian  and  working  to 
gain  admission  to  Harvard. 

Later  I  had  a  primary  opponent,  Floyd  Holland,  a 
former  mayor  of  Cheyenne  and  a  fine  man.  He,  too, 
traveled  the  state,  and  had  Dave  Carmichael,  Chey- 
enne lawyer  and  active  Republican,  travel  with  him.  In 
the  final  month,  the  three  Griffiths  went  full  time.  1 
needed  a  little  more  muscle  with  posters,  etc.,  so  I  hired 
Greg  Osborne,  son  of  Keith  and  Mary  Osborne  of  Chey- 
enne, to  help.  We  covered  an  additional  25,000  miles. 
As  I  look  back,  1  probably  should  have  been  charged 
with  child  abuse.  I  didn't  know  unfil  after  that  Laura 
had  been  taking  "No-Doz"  pills,  sometimes  without 
water,  while  she  drove.  One  day  Lynn  went  with  me  in 
a  chartered  plane  and  we  fiew  from  Lusk  to  a  breakfast 
in  Cheyenne,  lunch  in  Casper,  afternoon  coffee  in 
Worland  and  dinner  in  Sheridan,  and  then  back  to  Lusk. 
It  was  about  a  19-hour  day. 

Inasmuch  as  I  believe  that  a  political  candidate  should 
get  all  his  or  her  dirty  linen  out  of  the  closet  before 


Griffith's  1970  primary  campaign  team.  Daughter 
Sally,  1 7,  is  standing  next  to  the  candidate.  Daughter 
Laura.  15.  is  seated  on  the  left  and  daughter  Lynn. 
13,  is  on  the  right.   Sally  Griffith  collection. 


Autumn  1999 


someone  else  finds  it,  I  ad\ertised  that  in  1950  I  had 
been  stricken  with  mtiltiple  sclerosis  and  that  explained 
why  1  walked  with  a  stagger.  If  nothing  else  in  that 
campaign,  1  did  acquaint  a  great  many  Wyoming  people 
with  MS. 

Holland  had  served  as  Grand  Master  of  the  Wyo- 
ming Masonic  Lodge  and  therefore  had  a  statewide  re- 
lationship. Both  State  Treasurer  Minnie  Mitchell  and 
incumbent  Everett  Copenhaver  quietly  supported  him. 
I  did  have  the  quiet  support  of  Stan  Hathaway. 
Holland's  declared  expenses  were  two  and  one-half 
times  mine.  I,  or  rather  we.  won  by  3970  votes.  I  had 
anticipated  that  1  would  be  facing  Elizabeth  Phelan  in 
the  general,  but  about  3  a.m.,  the  returns  from  Uinta 
County  came  in,  and  Bob  Adams,  a  perennial  candi- 
date for  Treasurer,  won  the  Democratic  nomination  by 
532  votes. 

One  of  the  most  fortunate  events  of  my  political  life 
happened  even  before  the  general  started.  Colonel  Ed 
Witzenburger,  after  three  wars  and  30  years  in  the  Air 
Force,  had  been  released  and  was  visiting  in  Lusk  with 
his  in-laws,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Arthur  Thompson.  The\  lived 
directly  across  the  alley  from  our  home.  Ed  walked 
across  that  dirt  alle\  and  said,  "Eleanor  and  I  would 
like  to  go  campaigning  with  you."  I  said,  'T  can't  af- 

13 


ford  you."  He  said,  "We're  free."  We  campaigned  in 
their  car,  and  I'm  sure,  often  on  their  money. 

At  an>  rate  it  was  a  good  campaign  with  Stan 
Hathaway  setting  the  course.  Even  though  it  is  almost 
automatic  for  a  Republican  to  be  elected  Treasurer  in 
Wyoming,  we  campaigned  hard.  In  all  of  Wyoming's 
history  there  has  been  onl\  one  Democrat  elected  Trea- 
surer— J.  Kirk  Baldwin  in  1932.  I  can't  explain  it.  but 
the  fact  is  obvious. 

In  political  life  name  recognition  is  paramount,  but 
at  times  embarrassment  shows.  During  the  1970  gen- 
eral Vice  President  Spiro  Agnew  came  to  Casper  largely 
to  campaign  for  Harry  Roberts  in  his  race  against  Teno 
Roncalio  for  Congress.  In  a  talk  at  what  was  then  the 
Ramada  Inn  in  Casper,  he  concluded  with  "so  I  urge 
and  ask  you  to  vote  for  my  friend  Hany  Taylor."  That 
race  was  one  of  the  closest  statewide  races  ever-- 
Roncalio  winning  by  only  608  votes. 

That  same  year  Ed  Herschler  had  been  given  to  un- 
derstand that  Teno.  \\  ho  had  previously  ser\  ed  in  Con- 
gress, would  not  be  a  candidate  for  the  Democrat  nomi- 
nation, so  Herschler  filed.  Then  later,  for  w  hate\  er  rea- 
son, Teno  had  decided  to  rim.  Herschler  never  publicly 
criticized  Teno,  probably  because  he  knew  there  would 
be  another  dav.  Years  later  Herschler  did,  however. 


The  1971  inauguration  of  Wyoming's  five  state  elected  officials.  From  left:  Gow  Stan  Hathaway.  Secretniy  of  State 
Thyra  Thomson.  State  Auditor  Everett  T.  Copenhaver.  State  Treasurer  Jim  Griffith.  State  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction  Robert  Schrader.  Supreme  Court  Justice  Norman  B   Grav  who  presided  at  the  swearing-in  ceremonv. 


Annals  oi  Wyoming:The  Wyoming  I  listen'  Journal 


The  author  during  his  first  campaign  in  1970. 


make  his  bitterness  known  to  close  friends.  I  suppose 
that  some  will  be  surprised  to  learn  that  1  was  one  of 
them. 

One  evening  in  the  '70  campaign  a  rally  was  being 
held  in  snow-covered  Dubois  in  the  building  where  the 
banquet  room  and  bar  adjoin.  The  local  emcee  had  at 
least  one  too  many,  and  when  it  came  to  introducing 
the  governor  he  said,  "And  now  it  is  my  pleasure  to 
introduce  the  finest  governor  Wyoming  ever  had, 
Clifford  Hansen."  Stan  Hathaway  stood  up  and  with 
his  usual  sharpness  said,  "1  agree  with  you,  but  my 
name  happens  to  be  Stan  Hathaway". 

Then  after  my  election  1  had  a  name  problem,  for  the 
president  of  the  Cheyenne  City  Council  was  also  named 
Jim  Griffith.  The  Laramie  Boomerang  published  an 
editorial  that  1  should  not  be  serving  Cheyenne  as  well 
as  the  state.  It  was  necessary  for  me  to  explain  that  my  • 
name  was  James  B.  Griffith  and  his  middle  initial  was 
T.  But  then  there  were  also  other  cases  of  confusion. 

During  my  campaigns  1  tried  to  cover  all  the  places 
regardless  of  size,  and  1  firmly  believe  that  that  is  the 
way  Wyoming  candidates  should  do.  The  only  total 
wasted  effort  was  when  my  wife  Carolyn  and  1  drove 
to  Colony,  Wyoming's  most  northeastern  community. 
The  truth  is  that  Colony  can't  be  driven  to  on  a  paved 
road  without  going  through  Montana  or  South  Dakota. 
Everyone  1  could  find  lived  and  voted  in  South  Da- 
kota. 

Campaigning  in  Jackson  before  the  August  primary 
is  much  the  same  problem,  for  most  people  are  tourists 


and  the  local  people  are  just  too  busy.  I  tried  to  visit 
with  people  waiting  in  line  at  the  bank  drive-in  win- 
dow but  even  that  wasn't  really  satisfactory. 

When  1  first  started  trying  to  do  the  radio  talk  shows 
I  was  loaded  with  fear  but  before  long,  the  ham  in  me 
came  through  and  1  looked  forward  to  getting  on  the 
air  whenever  I  could.  Inasmuch  as  most  radio  types 
really  know  little  about  the  minor  elected  offices,  I 
found  it  very  useful  to  furnish  them  with  some  logical 
questions  which  sounded  tough,  but  ones  that  I  was 
ready  to  answer.  Then,  too,  if  the  show  is  a  call-in,  it  is 
a  good  idea  to  have  a  few  people  planted  around  so  the 
questions  you  want  asked  are  forthcoming.  During  the 
1974  campaign  in  Wheatland,  Dick  Jones,  the  Repub- 
lican candidate  for  governor,  was  being  interviewed, 
when  suddenly  the  interviewer  announced,  without 
warning,  "Now  the  interview  will  be  completed  by  Jim 
Griffith."  Carolyn  saw  my  panic  and  started  handing 
me  notes.  It  went  reasonably  well,  but  afterward,  Dick 
said,  "Did  you  have  to  ask  the  tough  questions?" 

Once  in  Gillette  I  was  scheduled  for  a  few  minutes, 
and  when  I  showed  up  on  time,  the  station  manager 
asked,  "Where  is  your  interviewer?"  Thus  Carolyn  be- 
came a  radio  interviewer. 

In  1970  Vice  President  Spiro  Agnew  was  having  an 
ongoing  fight  with  the  press,  and  I  was  on  a  call-in 
show  in  Casper,  when  a  lady  who  knew  me  and  my 
press  background,  asked  if  Veep  Agnew  would  last.  I 
said  that  I  thought  he  was  able  to  take  care  of  himself 
Four  years  later  from  the  same  station  and  same  show 


Autumn  1999 


11 


the  same  lady  again  phoned  and  asked  what  I  thought 
of  Agnew  now.  Of  course,  Agnew  had  since  resigned 
over  a  scandal  which  had  taken  place  when  he  was 
governor  of  Maryland.  I  could  only  answer  that  Agnew 
had  lost. 

In  mid- 1973  Copenhaver  resigned  as  State  Auditor 
because  of  failing  health.  Gov.  Stan  appointed  my 
deputy  Ed  Witzenburger.  His  only  reservation  was  that 
Ed  had  long  ago  declared  Lusk  as  his  home.  He  did  so 
because  his  wife  Eleanor  was  a  Niobrara  native.  Stan 
had  no  concern  about  Ed  or  his  ability,  but  asked.  "How 
can  I  justify  having  two  Lusk  guys  on  the  boards'?"  It 
worked. 

1  ran  unopposed  in  the  primary  for  State  Auditor  in 
1974  because  the  Constitution  prohibited  the  State  Trea- 
surer from  succeeding  himself  or  herself  For  years, 
Minnie  Mitchell  and  Everett  Copenhaver  had  switched 
offices.  Thus,  Ed  Witzenburger  ran  for  Treasurer.  It 
was  to  be  the  last  time  that  a  switch  was  made  and  we 
were  glad  to  end  the  practice.  While  I  was  unopposed 
in  the  primary  and  no  Democratic  candidate  had  filed 
for  Auditor,  things  looked  fairly  good  for  me.  But  Bob 
Adams,  who  evidently  just  liked  to  campaign,  received 
59  write-in  votes  to  run  against  me.  The  part  of  the 


Jim  and  Carolyn  Griffith 


campaign  which  was  most  aggravating  was  Elizabeth 
Phelan  running  against  Witzenburger.  She  made  claims 
that  we  had  been  purchasing  worthless  bonds,  which 
later  proved  to  be  completely  unfounded  but  caused 
some  concern  at  the  time. 

Following  Herschler's  inauguration  in  1 974,  the  four 
Republican  elected  officials  got  together  and  jokingly 
called  ourselves  "TGWS,"  for  "Thank  God  Wyoming's 
Safe,"  or  "Thomson,  Griffith,  Witzenburger  and 
Schrader."  Inasmuch  as  Thyra  held  the  highest  office 
and  had  served  longer  than  we  men,  she  considered 
herself  the  leader.  As  I  can  remember  we  had  a  single 
meeting.  It  was  held  in  Thyra's  lovely  home.  Thyra 
had  some  people  she  wanted  to  fire,  but  we  didn't  agree, 
and  that  was  the  end  of  "TGWS." 

Political  activity  in  the  fall  of  1977  was  slow,  so 
Carolyn  and  I  decided  to  give  the  1 978  election  an  early 
start.  Some  300  attended  our  "political  happening"  held 
in  the  fairgrounds  auditorium  in  Lusk,  and  we  had  a 
spaghetti  dinner  served,  a  band  and  a  Cheyenne  quar- 
tet for  entertainment.  Everyone  who  thought  the\  might 
be  a  state-wide  candidate  was  invited  to  speak,  but  only 
for  87  seconds.  The  speakers  were  plentiful.  It  was  just 
a  fun  time  but  there  was  one  man  who  used  the  oppor- 
tunity to  give  his  first  political  talk  before  a  Wyoming 
audience — Dick  Cheney. 

If  ever  there  was  an  election  won  with  a  single  sen- 
tence it  was  Al  Simpson's  first  race  for  the  U.S.  Senate 
against  Raymond  Whitaker,  Casper  Democrat.  In  1978 
in  a  joint  appearance  before  a  packed  house  in  Casper, 
Whitaker  spoke  at  first,  going  on  and  on  at  great  length, 
painting  Al  as  the  lowest  form  of  human.  He  attacked 
his  legislative  record  in  great  detail,  and  even  took  on 
Milward  Simpson's  senate  service.  The  crowd  was 
growing  weary  of  the  tirade,  and  when  Al  finally  rose 
to  speak  he  said.  "Pesky  fellow,  isn't  he?"  The  crowd 
roared,  and  that  was  the  start  of  eighteen  years  of  ef- 
fective service. 

If  course,  there  was  more  than  that,  but  Al  Simpson, 
the  tallest  man  ever  to  serve  in  the  Senate,  carried  all 
twenty-three  counties.  Dick  Cheney  did  nearly  as  well, 
and  because  he  had  more  staff  (sometimes  I  traveled 
alone,  the  rest  of  the  time  just  Carolyn  with  me),  he  let 
his  guys  help  me.  That's  the  reason  that  my  posters 
were  placed  directly  above  most  public  urinals  in  Wyo- 
ming. 

Most  campaigns  become  too  serious  until  the  inten- 
sity is  self-defeating.  At  the  1978  Republican  conven- 
tion in  Jackson,  Carolyn  and  I,  with  the  help  of  some 
others,  staged  a  one-way  humorous  phone  conversa- 
tion stunt  which  was  patterned  after  comedian  Bob 
Newhart,  a  popular  entertainer  of  that  era.  Then  in  1 982 


12 


Annals  oi  Wyoming:Tne  Wyoming  History  Journal 


at  the  Sheridan  Convention  we  copied  another  popular 
entertainer.  Johnny  Carson,  by  bringing  in  "Griffith  the 
Magnificent,"  complete  with  costumes  and  real  liye 
belly  dancers.  After  being  carried  to  the  stage,  I  gave 
the  answers  to  questions  before  they  were  asked.  It, 
too,  was  a  smash  hit. 

1  was  not  opposed  in  the  primary  in  1978  and  there 
were  no  Democrats  on  the  ballot,  but  .lim  Polis  started 
a  write-in  campaign  and,  thus,  won  the  nomination.  It 
reall\  wasn't  much  of  a  contest,  but  inasmuch  as  I  was 
5 1  years  old,  1  must  admit  that  his  constant  charge  that 
I  was  a  tired  old  man  grew  annoying.  For  the  first  time 
I  carried  all  twenty-three  counties  and  received  over 
69%  of  the  vote. 

The  1978  election  did  bring  a  first  to  the  Equality 
State— three  of  the  t1\e  elected  officials  were  women. 
Treasurer  Shirley  Whittler  (R)  and  Lynn  Simons  (D) 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  joined  with  Thyra 
Thomson  (R)  Secretar\  of  State.  This  bothered  me  not 
at  all  but  it  did  concern  Governor  Herschler.  In  fact,  in 
his  inauguration  address,  he  said,  "Thanks  for  Jim 
Griffith  so  1  don't  have  an  entire  kitchen  cabinet."  The 
women  were  good  officials.  In  all  my  sixteen  years  on 
the  various  state  boards  there  were  no,  or  at  least  none 
that  I  can  remember,  partisan  \otes.  This  is  in  direct 
opposition  to  what  the  Legislature  displays.  In  fact, 


Casev  and  Ed  Herschler 


when  the  location  of  the  Wyoming  Women's  Center 
came  before  the  Board  of  Charities  and  Reform,  I  had 
to  get  the  two  Democrats,  Herschler  and  Simons,  to  go 
with  me  in  naming  Lusk  as  the  site. 

One  day— I  don't  even  remember  the  year— Gov 
Herschler  phoned  from  his  office  to  me,  and  asked  if 
he  could  come  visit  for  a  few  minutes.  Of  course  he 
could — there  is  little  that  is  more  flattering  than  when 
a  governor  asks  permission  to  come  down  and  hall  and 
visit.  The  fact  is  that  he  came  to  my  office  numerous 
times,  as  he  knew  that  it  was  much  more  effort  for  me 
to  make  the  walk  between  the  offices  than  it  was  for 
him.  Of  course  this  came  about  because  his  wife,  Casey, 
and  I  were  both  multiple  sclerosis  victims. 

On  this  particular  day  he  came  with  a  request.  He 
said  that  a  group  was  going  to  hold  a  dinner  in  honor  of 
Casey  and  asked  if  Carolyn  and  I  would  attend.  It  was 
also  to  be  appreciated  if  I  would  sit  at  the  head  table 
and  offer  a  few  remarks.  I  accepted  but  said  I  would  let 
them  know  about  Carolyn  later. 

While  I  knew  that  it  would,  of  course,  be  a  Democrat 
show,  I  felt  a  kindredship  with  Casey.  Many  times  the 
two  of  us  gave  each  other  support,  particularly  at  cock- 
tail parties.  Alcohol  increases  the  instability  which  is 
among  the  curses  of  MS. 
Carolyn  refused  to  attend  the  dinner  and  doubted  my 
sanity  and  loyalty  that  I  would  attend  and 
even  agree  to  speak  at  what  was  really  a 
Democratic  fund  raiser.  Of  course  it  was  a 
fund  raiser.  They  even  charged  me  $25.  I 
can't  say  that  I  was  the  only  Republican 
elected  official  to  ever  speak  at  a  Democratic 
fund  raiser  while  in  office,  but  I  never  heard 
of  another. 

Bob  McCraken,  son  of  Tracy,  the  almost 
forever  Democratic  National  Committeeman, 
and  biggest  newspaper  owner  in  Wyoming, 
was  emcee.  As  was  often  said  during  scores 
of  years,  Tracy  and  Dad  were  friendly  en- 
emies. Many  years  they  were  joint  emcees  at 
the  Press  Convention  dinners.  Bob  first  in- 
^   troduced  the  Governor  and  in  turn  Gov  Ed 
y   introduced  me— not  a  glowing  introduction, 
J  but  adequate.  I  had  intended  to  just  tell  a  bit 
2  about  Tracy's  and  Dad's  chatter  through  the 
I  years,  offer  a  few  words  of  praise  about 
^  Casey,  and  sit  down.  However,  during  din- 
J  ner  I  had  a  chance  to  give  the  two  or  three 
S.  hundred  in  attendance  in  the  combined  rooms 
I  of  the  Hitching  Post  a  good  examination  and 
made  a  decision  that  I  needed  to  say  more. 


Autumn  1999 


13 


The  atiilior  and 
his  wife  Carolyn 
at  the  time  he 
announced  his 
retirement  from 
state  government 
in  1986.  Author's 
collection. 


Never  before  and  in  all  likelihood  never  again  would  I 
have  a  chance  to  speak  to  so  many  Democrats.  After  a 
McCraken-Griffith  story  and  words  of  praise  for  Casey, 
I  concluded  my  remarks  with  something  that  went  to- 
gether like  this: 

Friends,  I'm  not  here  under  false  colors  -  you  all 
know  that  I  was  a  Republican  when  1  walked  in  the 
door,  and  I'll  be  a  Republican  when  I  lea\e.  1  also  know 
that  most  of  you  are  Democrats  and  stUl  will  be  when 
I  sit  down.  Of  course  I  see  in  the  audience  a  number  of 
Republican  who  also  happen  to  be  state  employees 
(looking  at  the  Go\enior).  I  suppose  that  you.  Gover- 
nor, are  also  making  a  mental  note  of  who  is  present. 
Now  what  I  w ant  to  tell  you  is  that  Wyoming  in  unique. 
Both  you  and  I  ha\e  a  great  number  of  friends,  which 
happen  to  belong  to  the  other  parly.  But  in  Wyoming 
we  ne\er  let  our  partisanship,  no  matter  how  strong, 
interfere  with  our  friendship.  Thank  you. 

Without  question  I  received  the  longest,  strongest, 
standing  ovation  I  ever  had  anywhere.  The  final  analy- 
sis came  from  a  completely  nonpartisan  magazine.  The 
P.E.O.  Record,  which  is  a  publication  of  the  P.E.O. 
sisterhood,  a  women's  organization  devoted  to  educa- 
tion. Inasmuch  as  Casey  was  a  P.E.O.,  they  had  an 
article  on  the  dinner,  which  closed  with:  "Although  the 
dinner  for  Casey  was  a  Democratic  event  it  was  a  Re- 
publican, State  Auditor  Jim  Griffith,  who  stole  the 
show." 


The  campaign  of  1982  was  my  last,  but  I  did  not 
know  that  nor  did  it  even  cross  my  mind.  Again,  I  wasn't 
opposed  in  the  primary,  but  that  isn't  quite  the  advan- 
tage it  may  seem.  For  starters,  it  eliminates  the  possi- 
bility of  raising  campaign  funds  and,  of  course,  you 
aren't  able  to  attract  the  voters'  attention.  I  and/or  we 
traveled  much  of  the  state  anyway,  but  it  was  in  a  lei- 
surely manner. 

By  now  the  Republican  leadership  had  grown  tired 
of  beating  each  other  up  in  the  race  for  Governor,  so 
there  was  an  unofficial  agreement  that  there  would  onK 
be  one  serious  candidate  and  that  it  would  be  fonner 
speaker  of  the  house  and  grandson  of  a  former  gover- 
nor— Nels  Smith  of  Crook  Count\ .  Nels  was  on  the 
primary  campaign  trail  but  Just  eight  days  before  the 
last  day  to  file  when  a  bomb  shell  fell.  Nels  announced 
that  "for  personal  and  health  reasons,"  he  was  with- 
drawing his  candidacy.  While  there  w ere  two  other  Re- 
publican candidates,  they  were  not  considered  serious 
candidates  so  Republican  Chairman  Fred  Schroeder 
appointed  a  committee  headed  b\  Stan  Hathaway  to 
find  another  suitable  candidate. 

The  committee  of  Senator  Clifford  Hansen,  former 
chairman  Ed  Witzenburger,  Harry  Roberts,  Tom 
Stroock  and  Charles  Scott  selected  fonner  speaker  of 
the  house  and  Casper  oilman  Warren  Morton  as  the 
candidate.  This  was  indeed  an  awkward  start,  and  while 
Warren  gave  it  a  good  try  Herschler  ended  up  carrying 


14 


Annals  oi  Wyoming:The  Wyoming  Histon'  Journal 


all  the  counties  except  Campbell  and  Park  and,  thus, 
Wyoming  had  its  first  and  only  three-tenn  goyemor. 

The  1982  campaign  ended  up  with  a  six  days,  three 
stops  per  day  blitz.  The  candidates  plus  Al  Simpson, 
loaded  into  two  planes  and  we  traveled  like  a  flying 
circus.  Now  Simpson  wasn't  a  candidate,  but  acted  as 
the  master  of  ceremonies,  and  with  the  aid  of  a  timer  to 
keep  us  in  line  and  on  time.  Politicians  being  what  they 
are.  the  timer  became  a  hated  device.  At  the  last  rally 
which  was  at  the  college  in  Riverton  Dick  Cheney  and 
I  conceived  a  plot.  While  the  order  in  which  the  candi- 
dates spoke  varied,  1  asked  that  1  might  be  the  last  to 
speak,  which  was  fine.  As  I  rose  to  speak  1  gave  a  hand 
signal  to  Dick,  and  he  picked  up  the  timer  and  gave  it 
to  me  and  I  smashed  it  with  my  cane.  Al  jumped  up, 
and  with  the  type  of  language  for  which  he  became 
famous,  he  described  the  types  of  low-life  we  two  were 
and  demanded  reimbursement  of  $7.95.  At  the  next 
GOP  state  convention,  Dick  and  I  presented  Al  with  an 
engraved  hour  glass.  Actually  it  wasn't  really  an  hour 
glass,  for  the  sand  fell  through  in  13  minutes.  Several 
times  in  my  presence,  Al  has  described  the  event. 

It  wasn't  that  I  was  over-confident,  but  Carolyn  and 
I  had  signed  up  for  a  trip  which  started  on  election  day. 
I  had  to  phone  back  from  Cairo,  Egypt,  to  learn  if  I  had 
won.  It  was  by  far  my  greatest  victory,  for  I  not  only 
topped  the  ticket  but  of  the  469  Wyoming  precincts,  1 
carried  455.  My  Democratic  opponent,  Sid  Komegay, 
a  self-described  demolition  contractor  from  Cheyenne 


who  had  been  a  write-in  during  the  primary,  carried 
the  remaining  14  precincts.  Carolyn  and  I  had  a  great 
and  interesting  boat  trip  up  the  Nile. 

I  like  to  believe  that  all  my  sixteen  years  in  state 
government  were  productive  and  that  my  last  term  was 
the  most  interesting.  Certainly  it  helped  to  improve  the 
state's  finances.  The  travel  for  the  Department  of  Inte- 
rior got  tiresome  but  my  service  on  committees  for 
Secretaries  Jim  Watt  and  Don  Hodel  was  most  inter- 
esting and  educational.  Watt,  of  Lusk  and  Wheatland, 
took  a  beating  from  the  media,  et  al.,  but  his  creation 
of  the  Mineral  Management  Service  was  a  giant  step 
for  fiscal  responsibility. 

With  Carolyn  at  my  side  the  press  seemed  surprised 
when  1  made  the  announcement  that  I  would  not  be  a 
candidate  for  elective  office  again.  They  were,  how- 
ever, very  complimentary  and  I  was  flattered. 

To  all  those  present  politicians  and  to  those  still  to 
come,  my  free  advice  is  to  retire  too  soon  rather  than 
too  late. 


The  author,  one  of  the  most  popular  people  ever 
elected  to  statewide  office  in  Wyoming,  lives  in 
retirement  in  Cheyenne  and  Arizona.  He  is  a 
long-time  member  of  the  Wyoming  State  His- 
torical Society  and,  since  1996,  he  has  served 
on  the  Board  of  Editors  of  Annals  of  Wyoming. 


mmui: 


jjiii 
fjiliiirf's 

OF  m  illlD 

III  )!!ira  I  HIP! 


-      W  ..'^■ 

Fremont's  ascent,  from  Republican  campaign  literature.  1850s. 

Wyoming's  Wind  River  Range  can  still  tempt  today's  tourist  or  hopeful  hiker. 
When  these  majestic  mountains  are  viewed  from  nearby  Pinedale  the  modem  visitor 
no  doubt  understands  why  the  range's  first  American  explorers  would  endeavor  to 
climb  its  most  lofty  summits,  perhaps  Fremont  Peak  which  seems  to  dominate  the 
mountain  vista,  or  Gannett  Peak,  officially  the  highest  spot  in  the  state.' 


16 


Aiinals  or  Wyoming  :Tne  Wyoming  History  Journal 


"'I*  he  first  recorded  climbs  of  these  fabulous 
I  mountains  belong  to  Captain  Benjamin 
J     Bonneville  and  Lieutenant  John  C.  Fremont,  both 

members  of  the  U.S.  Army  but  men  who  hiked  Wind 

River  trails  for  quite  different  reasons.-    While 

Bonneville's  motives  for  seeking  to  cross  this  range 

have  been  capably  recorded  by  the  famous  American 

author  Washington  Irving, 

the  reasons   Lieutenant 

Fremont        came        to 

Wyoming's  Wind  Rivers 

ha\e  not  been  careful Iv 

examined     by     modern 

scholars.         This     was 

unfortunate.  For  the  record 

reveals  that  the  famous 

young  explorer  scaled  the 

heights  of  the  Wind  River 

Mountains  for  remarkabK 

romantic  reasons,  but  not 

the  ones  usually  assumed. 
Despite  earning  intense 

scholarly  criticism. 

Fremont's     admittedlv 

controversial  life  has  not 

always  received  s\  stematic 

investigation.  Certainlv  his 

1 856  run  for  the  presidency 

and  his  abortive  efforts  to 

free  Missouri's  slaves  early 

in  the  Civil   War  have  John  C 

inspired  considerable  study.  But  while  the  record  of 

his  five  western  expeditions  has  encountered  rather 

diligent  study,  surprisingly  little  scrutiny  has  been 

'The  fur  trappers  had  explored  the  W  ind  River  region  thor- 
oughly, but  not  necessarily  the  high  peaks.  Moreover,  many  as- 
sumed the  entire  region  lay  in  "American"  territors .  although  the 
exact  location  ofthe  summits  climbed  b\  Bonne\  ille  and  Fremont 
remained  unclear.  To  pinpoint  the  position  of  South  Pass  repre- 
sented (in  theory  )  one  of  Fremont's  key  tasks.  He  did  verity  that 
the  pass's  latitude  placed  it  just  north  of  Mexican  territory  (marked 
b\  the  42'''  parallel  as  established  in  the  1819  treat_\  with  Spain); 
then  the  1846  Oregon  treaty  with  Britain  would  confirm  the  en- 
tire region  as  "American." 

-  Which  peaks  Bonneville  and  Fremont  actually  cliinbed  pro- 
vide continuing  debate  for  mountain  enthusiasts.  One  line  of 
thought  (not  currently  popular)  is  that  Bonne\ille  climbed  the 
peak  in  the  \\  ind  Risers  name  bearing  his  name.  Another  is  that 
Bonneville  in  fact  climbed  the  highest  peak  in  the  range.  Gannett. 
See  Orrin  H.  Bonney  and  Lorraine  G.  Bonney.  Guide  lo  the  IVyo- 
ming  Mountains  and  Wilderness  Areas  (Chicago:  Swallow  Press. 
1960).  12-13.  375-376.  386-391.  499.  Yet  the  Bonney s  also  in- 
sisted that  Fremont  had  climbed  Woodrow  Wilson  Peak,  but 
Fremont  Peak  seems  the  more  likely  choice  today.  See  Joe  Kelsey. 
Climbing  and  Hiking  in  the  Wind  River  Mountains  (San  Fran- 


granted  the  origins  of  his  famous  first  mission  along 
the  Oregon  Trail  in  1842.'  This  historic  journey 
brought  the  young  officer  ofthe  Army's  Topographical 
Corps  through  Wyoming's  South  Pass,  already  a  noted 
corridor  through  the  Rockies  for  westward  bound 
travelers.  And  then  late  in  the  summer  of  1 842  Fremont 
undertook  a  well-publicized  climb  in  the  Wind  River 

Mountains,  claiming 
that  the  summit 
ultimately  reached  repre- 
sented the  highest  in  the 
entire  Rocky  Mountain 
chain.  After  raising  an 
American  flag — "where 
never  flag  waved 
before" — Fremont  later 
highlighted  this  moun- 
tain adventure  in  his 
popular  official  report  of 
the  expedition  which 
focused  so  much 
attention  on  the  over- 
land trail.""  Pioneers 
would  read  of  Fremont's 
exploits  while  contem- 
plating their  own 
western  travels;  the 
memorable  scene  upon 
the  Wind  River  summit 
would  be  portrayed 
Fremont  again    and    again    b\ 

artists  as  well  as  those  supportive  of  Fremont's  political 
ambitions.'  As  such  depictions  ofthe  famous  climb 
proliferated,  Fremont's  dramatic  jaunt  to  the  top  ofthe 

Cisco;  Sierra  Club.  1980).  56-57.  A  recent  hiking  guide  assumes 
that  Fremont  did  climb  the  peak  named  in  his  honor,  but  suggests 
that  Bonne\ille  may  ha\e  climbed  either  Mount  Chauvenet  or 
Wind  River  Peak.  Ron  .Adkison.  Hiking  li'yoming's  Hind  River 
Range  (Helena.  Montana:  Falcon  Press.  1996).  26-27. 

'  Fremont  has  been  the  subject  of  many  biographies,  several 
overly  critical.  The  best  study  is  Allan  Nevins.  Fremont:  Path- 
marker  ofthe  West,  available  in  several  editions,  including  a  pa- 
perback edition  published  in  1992  by  IJniversitv  of  Nebraska  Press. 

''  Fremont's  reports  were  ordered  published  by  the  U.S.  Senate 
and  then  went  through  several  private  printings.  The  texts  ofthe 
reports  are  easily  accessible  to  the  modern  reader  in  The  Expedi- 
tions of  John  Charles  Fremont,  vol.  1;  Travels  from  1 838  to  1844. 
edited  by  Donald  Jackson  and  Mary  Lee  Spence  (Urbana;  Uni- 
versity of  Illinois  Press,  1970).  The  text  ofthe  first  Fremont  re- 
port from  Jackson  and  Spence  will  be  hereafter  referred  to  as 
"Fremont  Report." 

'In  1898  the  U.  S.  Post  Office  would  select  Fremont's  pose 
upon  the  Wind  River  peak  for  one  of  its  first  commemorative 
stamps.  Herman  J.  Viola.  Exploring ihe  West  (Washington.  D.C.; 
Smithsonian  Books.  1987).  67. 


Autumn   19Q9 


17 


Wind  River  peak  came  to  symbolize  the  heroism  of 
America's  westward  drive  tor  empire." 

Yet  despite  the  notoriety  suiTounding  Fremont's  feat 
in  ascending  the  Wind  River  summit,  historians  have 
not  scrutinized  completely  the  motivations  for  the 
apparently  romantic  gesture.  Many  have  retold  the  story, 
but  most  apparenth  assume  that  Fremont  detennined 
to  climb  the  peak  literally  on  the  spur  of  the  moment, 
supposedly  a  sublimel\  characteristic  act  of  impulse. 
One  student  of  the  Fremont  expeditions  belie\ed  that 
youthful  enthusiasm  drove  Fremont  to  climb  the 
mountain  ""because  it  was  there."  Perhaps  the  leading 
authoritv  on  western  exploration,  William  Goetzmann, 
remarked  that  Fremont's  planting  of  an  American  flag 
atop  the  Wind  Ri\  er  peak  amounted  to  ""an  impulsive, 
boyish  gesture,"  but  one  that  captured  the  nation's 
fancy.  The  most  recent  Frem.ont  biography  claims  that 
the  youthful  explorer  ""suddenK  "  decided  to  climb  the 
peak  after  becoming  fascinated  by  the  mountains  he 
encountered.' Actually  the  record  indicates  a  completely 
different  interpretation  must  be  adopted,  one 
surprisingly  more  intriguing  even  than  the  story  of  a 
handsome  young  soldier  who  braved  a  high  mountain 
peak  to  hoist  America's  symbolic  claim  to  the  West 
and  all  its  treasures. 

^1  atives  no  doubt  had  wondered  at  the  mysteries  of 
Ml  the  Wind  Rivers  for  untold  years  and  mountain 
4-J  men  had  scouted  the  region,  but  the  mountain  range 
had  remained  largely  unknown  to  the  burgeoning 
American  nation  far  to  the  east.  This  would  be  forever 
changed  by  Washington  Irving,  then  America's  most 
celebrated  writer.  Recognized  as  the  father  of  the  short 
story  for  such  gems  as  "Rip  Van  Winkle"  and  "The 
Legend  of  Sleep\  Hollow."  Ir\  ing  is  toda\  perhaps  not 
much  appreciated  as  a  leading  interpreter  of  the 
American  West  before  the  Civil  War.  After  a  long 
sojourn  (some  17  years)  in  Europe,  Irving  returned  to 
America  facing  the  eager  expectations  of  his 
countrymen.  He  would  not  disappoint  those  who  hoped 
his  talents  would  turn  to  American  themes.  In  1832 
Irving  undertook  a  brief  junket  across  the  plains  into 
what  is  today  Oklahoma,  subsequently  penning  his  first 
western  tale.,-/  Tour  on  rhe  Prairies  {pvibhshed  in  1835). 
Next,  Irving  contracted  with  one  of  America's 
wealthiest  citizens,  John  .lacob  Astor,  to  tell  the  story 
of  the  ambitious  but  initially  unsuccessful  attempt  to 
launch  America's  fur  trade  enterprise  to  the  Oregon 
Country  at  Fort  Astoria.  The  Wind  River  Range  thus 
first  came  to  widespread  public  attention  in  Irving's 
classic  tale,  Astoria  (published  in  1836),  but  it  would 
be  still  another  Irving  production.  The  Adventures  of 


Captain  Bonneville.  t/.5./J.  (originally  titled  The  Roek\' 
Mountains  when  published  in  1 837),  that  would  further 
highlight  the  high  Wyoming  peaks. ^ 

Captain  Benjamin  Bonne\illc  (like  Fremont,  of 
French  origins)  evidently  had  not  been  satisfied  with 
his  service  at  various  American  frontier  Army  posts. 
He  thereupon  hatched  a  scheme  to  inject  himself 
squarely  into  the  center  of  the  expansive  >  oung  nation's 
westward  surge  by  entering  the  potentially  lucrative 
fur  trapping  trade.  Scholars  still  debate  the  actual 
motivations  behind  the  Bonneville  enterprise.  Few  ac- 
cept that  it  was  simply  a  fur-trading  venture.  Some 
suspect  that  secret  government  motives  were  involved, 
to  sp\  on  the  Indians  or  the  British,  probably  both.  At 
the  very  least,  the  episode  is  characteristic  of  the  often 
strange  combination  of  motives  driving  America's 
imperial  thrust  westward.  From  Lewis  and  Clark 
through  the  expeditions  of  Zebulon  Pike  and  e\  en  John 
Fremont,  government  sponsored  exploring  missions 
held  sometimes  unspoken  but  scarcely  secret 
geopolitical  objectives.  Bonneville  evidently  intended 
to  scout  his  chances  for  profit  in  the  fur  trade  while 
simultaneously  serving  national  interests  by  collecting 
intelligence  about  the  much-prized  northwestern 
region."  In  any  event,  his  superiors  granted  Bonneville 
a  most  unusual  leave  of  absence  to  pursue  his 

"More  so  than  Bonneville,  Fremont's  political  connections 
ensured  that  his  Wind  Ri\er  climb  would  achieve  greater  atten- 
tion. See  Thomas  Hart  Benton,  Thirtv  Years'  Hew:  or.  A  Hisiury 
of  the  IVorldng  of  tlie  Anieneun  Cin'ernnienl  for  Thirty  Years. 
From  1820-1850  (New  Vork:  D.  Appleton  and  Company,  1854), 
\ol.  2,  478-47'),  and  Senator  Lewis  Linn  in  Congressional  Globe. 
27"'  Congress,  3""  Session.  .i89-3O0. 

Ferol  Egan,  Fremont:  Explorer  for  a  Restless  .\alion  (New 
York:  Doubledav,  \'->71:  reprint  ed.,  Reno:  University  of  Nevada 
Press,  1985),  lO.i;  William  H.  Goetzmann,  Army  Exploration  in 
the  Amenean  West.  1803-1863  (New  Haven:  Yale  LIniversitv 
Press,  1959),  82;  Andrew  Rolle,  John  Charles  Fremont:  Charae- 
ter  as  Destiny.  (Norman:  LIniversitv  of  Oklahoma  Press,  1991), 
41.  In  "Dixision  of  the  Waters:  Changing  Concepts  of  the  Conti- 
nental Divide,  1804-1844,"  .Journal  of  Histoneal  Geography  4 
( 1978):  367,  John  Logan  Allen  also  construes  Fremont's  climb  as 
a  symbolic  gesture.  Allen's  latest  work  does  not  directly  address 
this  issue.  .Mien,  ed..  North  America  Explored.  A  Continent  Com- 
prehended {L'mco\n:  Univ.  of  Nebraska  Press,  1997),  345-346. 

"  The  best  edition  of  Irving's  Bonneville  is  Edgeley  W.  Todd, 
ed..  The  Adventures  of  Captain  Bonneville.  U.S.A..  in  the  Roeh- 
Mountains  and  the  Far  ll'est  (Norman:  University  of  Oklahoma 
Press,  1961).  For  a  revealing  discussion  of  Irving's  negotiations 
with  Astor,  see  Peter  Antelyes,  Tales  of  Adventurous  Enterprise: 
IVashington  Irving  and  the  Poeties  of  Western  Expansion  (New 
York:  Columbia  University  Press,  1990),  150-156. 

"  Edgeley  Todd  discusses  these  issues  most  capably  in  his  in- 
troduction to  lr\ing"s  Bonneville.  xxiv-\xxvii.  See  also  William 
H.  Goetzmann,  Exploration  <£•  Empire:  The  Explorer  and  the  Sci- 
entist in  the  Winning  of  the  American  West  (New  York:  Alfred 
Knopf,  1966),  149-150. 


IS 


Annals  of  Wyoming:Tne  Wyoming  History  Journal 


unspecified  intentions.  Captain  Bonneville's  travels  in 
the  mountains  pursued  a  variety  of  objectives;  one  of 
his  brigades  led  b\  Joseph  Walker  skirted  the  Great 
Salt  Lake  (at  one  time  known  as  Lake  Bonneville)  and 
then  completed  a  long  reconnaissance  all  the  way  to 
Mexican  California.'"  In  the  meantime  Bonneville 
probed  British  strength  in  the  Oregon  Country,  observed 
the  Indians,  and  planned  potential  military  posts  in  the 
region.  Irving's  detailed  account  of  the  Captain's 
exploits  thereafter  brought  the  Wind  Rivers  further  to 
the  attention  of  American  readers. 

Wvoming's  Wind  River  Mountains  stood  nearly 
astride  the  main  routes  fur  trappers  followed  into  the 
beaver  regions  of  the  Rockies;  the  Wind  Rivers  also 
loomed  in  the  background  at  many  of  the  annual 
rendezvous  sites  established  by  the  fur  traders.  It  was 
probably  natural  therefore  that  eventually  authors  would 
tell  of  this  beautiful  chain  of  mountains  with  the  alluring 
name.  (And  by  the  late  1 830s  Alfred  Jacob  Miller  had 
publicly  displayed  his  portraits  of  the  Wind  River 
Range)."  What  is  more  interesting  is  that  some, 
including  Washington  Irving,  would  then  jump  to  the 
conclusion  that  these  mountain  peaks  represented  some 
of  the  highest  in  the  Rockies.  No  clear  reason  for  this 
exists  other  than  that  the  much  higher  peaks  to  the  south 
in  today's  Colorado  had  not  become  objects  of  either 


Washington  Irving 


literary  attention  or  scientific  study,  aside  from  the 
rather  cursory  surveys  by  Zebulon  Pike  and  Stephen 
Long.  (And  apparently  the  mountain  men  had 
speculated  around  their  campfires  that  the  Wind  River 
peaks  represented  the  Rockies'  highest.)  In  truth  the 
peaks  of  the  Wind  River  Range  could  not  match  the 
loftiness  of  Colorado's  highest  summits.  Indeed, 
Fremont's  claim  to  glory  must  face  the  fact  that  the 
peak  he  ascended  (probably  either  Fremont  Peak  or 
Woodrow  Wilson)  was  not  even  the  highest  in  the  Wind 
River  range  ( an  honor  held  by  Gannett  Peak).  Naturally 
no  one  knew  this  at  the  time. 

Irving  first  boasted  of  the  Wind  River  peaks  in  his 
famous  historical  narrative  of  the  Astorian  enterprise. 
In  this  memorable  tale  based  on  historical  circum- 
stances, Irving  drew  particular  attention  to  the 
interesting  origins  of  the  Wind  River  name  and  the 
beauty  of  the  surrounding  region.'-  This  famous 
American  storyteller  then  went  on  to  speculate  about 
the  majestic  heights  of  the  mountains  and  to  rhapsodize 
about  the  range's  central  place  in  western  geography: 

One  of  its  peaks  [the  Wind  River  Range]  is  prob- 
ably fifteen  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
being  one  of  the  highest  of  the  Rocky  Sierra  [or  moun- 
tains]. These  mountains  give  rise,  not  merely  to  the 
Wind  or  Bighorn  River,  but  to  several  branches  of  the 
Yellowstone  and  the  Missouri  on  the  east,  and  of  the 
Columbia  and  Colorado  on  the  west;  thus  dividing  the 
sources  of  these  mighty  streams." 

This  revealing  view  commanded  by  the  Wind  River 
summits,  so  vividly  sketched  by  Irving  who  had  never 
viewed  the  scene,  would  reappear  in  Bonneville's 
narrative  as  well. 

It  should  be  noted  that  in  this  case  Irving  merely 
speculated  on  the  peak's  altitude  and  claimed  it  must 
be  "one  of  the  highest"  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
Captain  Bonneville,  and  subsequently  Fremont  as  well, 

'"  See  Bil  Gilbert,  Westering  Man:  Tlie  Life  ofJosepli  Wailier 
(Norman:  University  of  OI<lahoma  Press,  1983). 

"  Miller's  paintings  of  the  "Mountains  of  the  Winds"  had  been 
included  in  public  showings  in  Baltimore  and  New  York  in  the 
late  1830s.  The  shows  had  attracted  newspapier  attention  as  well. 
See  Marvin  C.  Ross,  ed.,  Tlie  West  of  Alfred  Jacob  Miller 
(Norman:  University  of  Oklahoma  Press,  1951;  reprint  ed.,  1968), 
xxii-xxiv  and  Ron  Tyler,  ed.,  Alfred  Jacob  Miller:  Artist  on  the 
Oregon  Trail  (Fort  Worth:  Amon  Carter  Museum,  1982),  35-39. 

'-In  Astoria.  Irving  reported  that  the  Wind  River,  a  tributary 
of  the  Big  Horn,  earned  its  name  from  the  winter  blasts  of  wind 
that  swept  across  the  valley  through  "a  narrow  gap  or  funnel  in 
the  mountains."  Washington  Irving,  Astoria:  or.  Anecdotes  of  an 
Enterprise  Beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains,  edited  by  Edgeley  W. 
Todd  (Norman:  University  of  Oklahoma  Press,  1964),  253-256. 

"  Irving,  Astoria^  254-256. 


Autur 


1999 


19 


would  assume  the  Wind  River  peal<  each  cHmbed  to  be 
the  highest  in  the  entire  western  chain.  Bonneville's 
claim  derived  from  his  extensive  travels  throughout  the 
region;  Fremont  could  point  to  the  conclusions  of  the 
mountain  men  recorded  for  history  b\  lr\ing.  But 
Fremont  would  go  one  better  b\  measuring  the  high 
peak  scientifically,  as  we  shall  see. 

At  one  point  during  his  wanderings  in  September 
1833  Bonneville  sought  to  quickh  reenter  the  Green 
Ri\er  \alle>  b>  crossing  the  Wind  River  Range  (trom 
east  to  west)  from  the  Popo  Agie  area.  An  arduous 
journey  followed  through  the  ravines  and  up  the  heights 
of  the  Wind  Rivers,  leading  Bonneville  to  ascend  a 
high  peak  to  afford  a  better  \iew.  The  Captain's  struggle 
to  attain  the  summit  of  this  unspecified  peak  allowed  2 
Irving  once  again  to  marvel  at  the  incredible  panoramic  7; 
view  provided  bv  the  Wind  River  summit.  This  1 
mountain  vista  beheld  "vallevs  ulitterine  with  silver  & 
lakes  and  gushing  streams,"  portra\ed   once  more  by  S 
Irving  as  the  sources  of  the  West's  great  rivers:  = 

Beyond  the  snowy  peaks,  to  the  south,  and  far,  far 
below  the  mountain  range,  the  gentle  river,  called  the 
Sweet  Water,  was  seen  pursuing  its  tranquil  way 
through  the  rugged  regions  of  the  Black  Hills.  In  the 
east,  the  head  waters  of  Wind  River  wandered  through 
a  plain,  until,  mingling  in  one  powerful  current,  they 
forced  their  way  through  the  range  of  Horn  Mountains, 
and  were  lost  to  view.  To  the  north,  were  caught 
glimpses  of  the  upper  streams  of  the  Yellowstone,  that 
great  tributary  of  the  Missouri.  In  another  direction 
v\  ere  to  be  seen  some  of  the  sources  of  the  Oregon,  or 
Columbia  tlowing  to  the  northwest,  past  those  tower- 
ing landmarks  the  Three  Tetons,  and  pouring  down 
into  the  great  la\'a  plain,  while,  almost  at  the  captain's 
feet,  the  Green  Ri\  er,  or  Colorado  of  the  West,  set 
forth  on  its  wandering  pilgrimage  to  the  Gulf  of  Cali- 
fornia. .  .'■• 

Although  in  this  second  instance  Irving  reported 
Bonneville's  claim  that  this  peak  might  represent  the 
"loftiest  point  of  the  North  American  continent,"  in 
this  context  Irving  expressed  some  doubt  due  to 
Bonneville's  inabilit\  to  verify  the  peak's  height 
through  scientific  means.  The  importance  of  this 
passage  (or  the  earlier  one  in  Astoria)  is  that  evidently 
it  had  come  to  the  attention  of  a  young  lieutenant  of 
the  Army's  Topographical  Corps.  John  Fremont,  thanks 
to  his  apprenticeship  served  with  the  French  scientist 
Joseph  Nicollet,  was  a  rare  American  qualified  to 
determine  the  altitude  of  the  peak  by  a  new  method 
using  a  barometer,  a  technique  introduced  to  America 
by  Nicollet.  Eventually  Fremont  would  become  the  first 


B.  L.  £.  Bonneville  as  General 
American  to  employ  this  method  to  judge  the  height  of 
a  mountain  peak;  he  would  then  proceed  to  claim  the 
honor  of  scaling  America's  highest  peak.  Not  only  had 
the  Irving  narratives  induced  Fremont  to  claim  that  the 
Wind  River  peaks  represented  the  Rockies"  highest, 
but  most  amazingly,  the  evidence  suggests  that  Ir\'ing's 
writings  had  inspired  the  young  officer  to  undertake 
the  quest  in  the  first  place. 

The  work  of  Washington  Irving  could  hardly  have 
failed  to  escape  Fremont's  notice.  If  it  had,  surely  John's 
talented  wife  Jessie  or  her  father.  Senator  Thomas  Hart 
Benton  from  Missouri,  would  have  introduced  him  to 
it.  Senator  Benton  had  long  promoted  American 
enterprise  and  emigration  to  Oregon,  at  least  partly 
motivated  by  the  legacy  of  the  Astorian  venture  so 
memorably  recorded  by  Irving.  Jessie  inherited  her 
father's  passion  and  no  doubt  drew  on  this  as  she  helped 
John  complete  his  official  government  report  once  he 
returned  to  Washington.  In  any  event,  convincing 
evidence  exists  that  the  Fremonts  had  been  aware  of 
Irving's  work's;  their  description  of  the  view  John 
obtained  from  the  summit  of  his  Wind  River  peak 

"  Irving,  Bonneville.  187-191. 


20 


Annals  o{  WyomingiThe  Wyoming  History  Journal 


followed  quite  closely  the  literary  standard  earlier 
established  b\  Irv  ing  in  Astoria  and  Captain  Bonneville. 
In  completing  their  report  in  1843  the  Fremonts 
constructed  a  famous  scene  upon  the  Wind  River 
summit,  including  John's  raising  of  an  American  flag, 
his  encounter  with  a  solitary  yet  symbolic  bee,  and  an 
amazing  view  strikingly  reminiscent  of  that  sketched 
(twice)  by  Irving.  Like  Irving's  Bonneville,  Fremont 
too  spied  shimmering  lakes  and  streams  that  gushed, 
giving  birth  to  the  West's  most  impressive  rivers: 

On  one  side  we  overlooked  innumerable  lakes  and 
streams,  the  spring  of  the  Colorado  of  the  Gulf  of 
California;  and  on  the  other  was  the  Wind  River  valley, 
where  were  the  heads  of  the  Yellowstone  branch  of 
the  Missouri;  far  to  the  north,  we  just  could  disco\ er 
the  snowy  heads  of  the  Troi.s  Teions.  v\here  were  the 
sources  of  the  Missouri  and  Columbia  rivers,  and  at 
the  southern  extremity  of  the  ridge  the  peaks  were 
plainly  \  isible,  among  which  were  some  of  the  springs 
of  the  Nebraska  or  Platte  river.'- 

Irving  had  not  climbed  atop  the  Wind  Rivers  as 
Bonneville  and  Fremont  had,  but  neither  had  Jessie 
Fremont.  And  John,  unlike  Bonneville,  had  assaulted 
the  mountain  from  the  western  slopes.  Still  ♦ht 
Fremonts  adopted  Irving's  literary  version  to  capture 


John  J.  A  bert 


the  significance  of  the  scene  John  had  encountered  after 
a  taxing  climb  into  the  mountains.  Written  with  the 
help  of  his  imaginative  wife,  a  young  lady  well-versed 
in  the  lore  of  western  literature,  Fremont's  version  not 
surprisingly  adopted  a  literary  convention  well- 
established  in  Irving's  historical  accounts  of  the  Wind 
River  Range. 

Considering  Fremont's  evident  close  reliance  on 
Irving's  published  works,  surprisingly  little  attention 
has  been  focused  on  the  explorer's  reasons  for  coming 
to  the  Wind  River  Range.  Scholars  have  usually  noted 
the  young  lieutenant's  willingness  to  exceed  his  official 
instructions — abetted  no  doubt  by  his  powerful  father- 
in-law — and  they  have  been  especially  observant  (and 
critical)  of  his  tendency  to  act  impulsively.  But  the 
available  evidence  now  suggests  that  there  was  more 
method  than  madness  to  Fremont's  sometimes 
impetuous  search  for  fame  and  glory.  In  point  of  fact, 
while  it  is  no  doubt  true  that  Fremont  exceeded  his 
written  instructions,  he  had  not  done  this  merely  on  an 
impulse.  Indeed,  the  jaunt  to  the  Wind  River  Mountains 
had  been  carefiilly  researched  and  deliberately  planned. 
The  remaining  romantic  part  is  that  Fremont's  Wind 
River  heroics  had  been  inspired  by  the  prose  of 
America's  most  famous  author.  Irving's  tales  of  earlier 
exploits  in  the  fabulous  chain  of  mountains  with  the 
captivating  name  evidently  induced  the  Fremont  family 
to  take  equally  dramatic  action,  including  preparing  for 
the  climb  in  advance.""  To  reach  the  Wind  River 
peaks — a  region  considerably  north  and  west  of  the 
Oregon  Trail's  route  through  South  Pass — Fremont 
would  need  to  undertake  a  significant  detour.  Such  a 
route  had  not  been  hinted  at  in  any  of  his  instructions. 

The  traditional  view — that  Fremont  decided  to  climb 
the  peak  nearly  on  a  whim — is  all  the  more  surprising 
considering  that  Fremont  had  not  been  silent  on  his 
reasons  for  climbing  the  peak.  His  report,  written 
admittedly  after  the  fact,  provides  ample  clues  about 
his  intentions  to  scale  what  he  believed  was  the  West's 
highest  peak.  Although  the  lieutenant  had  not  been 

'-  "Fremont  Report,"  271-272. 

""Some  scholars  may  have  been  aware  in  general  terms  of  the 
Fremonts'  subsequent  reliance  on  Irving's  published  works  in 
preparing  their  reports.  For  example,  Allan  Nevins  In  77?^  Dic- 
tionary of  American  Biography  v.  7  (New  York:  Charles  Scribner's 
Sons,  1931),  20,  noted  that  the  Fremonts  may  have  "modeled" 
their  works  on  that  of  Irving.  (But  in  his  famous  biography  of 
Fremont  Nevinsjust  briefly  mentioned  Irving.)  On  the  other  hand, 
the  most  recent  biographies  of  John  and  Jessie  do  not  mention 
Irving  at  all.  Neither  does  Irving's  name  appear  in  the  indexes  of 
the  standard  edition  of  the  Fremont  reports.  In  any  event,  Irving's 
specific  influence,  particularly  in  motivating  Fremont's  objec- 
tive before  the  fact,  has  not  been  completely  recognized. 


Autumn   IQQQ 


ordered  to  go  beyond  South  Pass  so  as  to  venture  into 
the  Wind  River  region,  his  report  indicates  that  he 
intended  to  do  this  from  the  beginning.  And  in  this 
case,  Fremont's  intentions  receive  substantiation  from 
his  able  but  mostly  dissatisfied  assistant,  Charles  Preuss. 
Several  key  statements  in  the  Preuss  diary  suggest  that 
Fremont  had  intended  to  visit  the  Wind  Rivers, 
apparent!)'  preciseK'  to  verity  a  remarkable  claim  made 
in  the  Irving  narratives. 

To  appreciate  the  motivations  behind  Fremont's 
supposedly  impetuous  act  we  must  reconsider  many 
years  of  American  interest  in  the  western  landscape. 
Fur  trapping  was  usually  the  immediate  moti\  ation  but 
beyond  this  men  sought  fame  as  well  as  a  clearer  image 
of  what  lay  beyond  the  far  horizon.  Lewis  and  Clark 
had  found  mostly  rough  going  in  the  countrv  to  the 
north  of  W\oming.  Soon,  however,  the  search  for  a 
better  route  across  the  continent  did  eventually  uncover 
the  South  Pass,  so  called  because  it  lay  to  the  south  of 
Lewis  and  Clark's  famous  route  across  the  continent. 
The  tlrst  white  men  to  encounter  the  pass  probably 
belonged  to  the  homeward  bound  party  of  the  Astorian 
enterprise,  led  by  Robert  Stuart  in  1812.  But  this 
discovery  was  not  widely  publicized,  leading  to  the 
pass's  "rediscovery"  in  1 824  by  Jedediah  Smith's  band 
of  trappers  under  the  overall  command  of  William 
Ashley.'^ 

After  these  initial  forays  the  pass  became  somewhat 
better  known,  although  its  exact  location  and  geographic 
attributes  still  remained  mostly  a  mystery  to  learned 
men  to  the  east.  One  apparent  objective  of  Fremont's 
expedition  would  be  to  t1x  this  position  on  the  map,  a 
goal  that  the  eager  young  lieutenant  achieved  only  w  ith 
limited  success.  South  Pass  is  admittedK  a  surprisingly 
broad  open  area.  Travelers — including  Fremont's 
party — often  expressed  surprise  and  even  disappoint- 
ment that  the  famous  opening  through  the  mountain 
wall  was  not  a  more  impressive  narrow  gap  or  sheer 
chasm.  Observers  typically  did  not  realize  they  had 
passed  the  continental  divide  until  noting  the  streams 
flowed  in  the  opposite  direction.  Thus,  perhaps  we  can 
forgive  the  young  lieutenant  for  failing  to  fix  the  pre- 
cise location  of  South  Pass,  which  he  claimed  was  as 
easy  to  ascend  as  Capitol  Hill  back  in  Washington.  ( In 
other  words,  pioneer  families  and  their  wagons  would 
have  no  difficulty).  In  any  event,  Fremont's  ultimate 
objectives  exceeded  merely  a  visit  to  the  strategic  South 
Pass,  no  matter  how  important  that  mountain  passage 
might  prove.  Indeed,  a  foray  into  the  mysterious  Wind 
Rivers — so  dramatically  portrayed  in  print  and  on  can- 
vas— promised  to  elevate  the  young  lieutenant  even 
higher  in  public  esteem. 


Southwest 
Museum,  Los 
Armeies 


Jessie  Benton  Fremont 


Records  now  show  that  Lieutenant  Fremont  had  been 
initially  directed  by  his  superior  officer.  Colonel  John 
Abert,  simply  to  survey  an  important  leg  of  the  Oregon 
Trail  along  the  Platte  Ri\er.  But  Senator  Benton 
appealed  his  son-in-law's  instructions,  hoping  that 
South  Pass  could  be  included  in  the  orders.  "*  Benton 
in  particular  had  long  been  aware  of  the  fur  trappers" 
adventures  across  the  pass  and  hoped  to  encourage  U.S. 
expansion  to  Oregon  as  well.  Abert  probabh'  hoped  to 
placate  the  powerful  senator  but  also  feared 
overburdening  the  young  officer.  Thus,  the  colonel  only 
informally  agreed  that  Fremont  could  visit  South  Pass 
should  circumstances  permit.  No  mention  had  been 
made  of  \  enturing  into  the  Wind  Ri\  er  Range,  certainlv 
not  to  climb  a  certain  peak  there.  But  the  evidence 
suggests  that  this  was  exactly  what  Fremont  had  in 
mind,  perhaps  from  the  beginning.'" 

'"  For  a  highly  readable  summary  of  these  events,  see  Robert 
M.  Utiey.  A  Life  Wild  and  Perilous:  Mouritain  Men  and  the  Paths 
to  the  Pacific  (New  York:  Henry  Holt,  1W7). 

'"For  Fremont's  written  instruction  see.  Abert  to  Fremont.  .April 
25,  1842,  in  Jackson  and  Spence.  Fremont  Expeditions,  vol.  1, 
121-122.  1  discuss  in  greater  detail  Benton's  appeal  of  Fremont's 
orders  in  "The  Origins  of  the  Fremont  Expeditions:  John  J.  Abert 
and  the  Scientific  Exploration  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  West," 
forthcoming  in  The  Hislonan. 


22 


/Vnnals  or  Wyoming:Tne  Wyoming  History 


al 


We  know  that  Fremont  had  such  intentions  because 
he  told  us  so,  at  least  indirectly,  in  his  official  report  of 
the  expedition.  Prior  planning  obviously  played  a  role 
in  the  1842  mission.  In  addition  to  requisitioning 
barometers  and  other  instruments  to  measure  altitudes, 
Fremont  arranged  for  a  makeshift  American  flag — 
suitable  for  hoisting  on  a  lofty  summit — as  well  as 
additional  equipment  needed  for  the  mountains.-" 
(Depending  on  how  far  he  advanced  along  the  Platte 
Ri\  er  route,  Fremont  could  encounter  other  mountains 
before  reaching  the  Wind  Rivers,  but  it  is  clear  from 
the  context  that  the  equipment  was  meant  entirely  for 
that  range).  And  according  to  Charles  Preuss,  Fremont 
had  brought  along  some  brandy  precisely  to  "empty  a 
glass  on  top  of  the  mountain."-'  Of  course,  Fremont's 
father-in-law  had  already  appealed  his  written 
instructions  so  as  to  allow  the  young  lieutenant  to 
approach  the  Wind  River  region  via  South  Pass.  Such 
preparations  hint  at  the  mission's  actual  goal,  but  that 
the  "high  peaks"  of  the  Rockies  represented  the 
expedition's  ultimate  destination  is  best  revealed  by 
the  words  of  both  Fremont  and  Preuss. 

The  journal  of  Charles  Preuss — which  did  not  come 
to  light  until  finally  translated  and  published  in  1958 — 
today  provides  the  most  convincing  evidence  in  this 
case.  For  one  thing  the  dour  German  artist  and  map- 
maker  kept  a  regular  journal  that,  unlike  Fremont's 
official  report,  was  composed  on  the  trail  more  or  less 
on  a  daily  basis.--  (Fremont  had  forbidden  the  men  to 
keep  journals  intended  for  publication;  Preuss  wrote 
his  private  diary  for  the  information  of  his  "old  girl," 
his  wife  back  in  Washington  City).  Thus  Preuss 
provides  contemporaneous  testimony,  while  Fremont's 
remarks  are,  strictly  speaking,  after  the  fact.  It  is  also 
true  that  close  reading  of  the  Fremont  reports  suggests 
that  Jessie  Fremont  could  embellish  the  mission's 
activities  to  heighten  the  dramatic  tension.  A  quest  to 
find  and  climb  the  West's  highest  peak  suited  her  needs 
quite  well.  This  could  not,  however,  be  the  case  with 
the  private  diary  of  Charles  Preuss — which  never  had 
been  intended  for  publication. 

Clearly  the  Preuss  diary  is  remarkably  honest — at 
times  painfully  so — and  without  much  embellishment. 
In  many  cases  he  severely  criticizes  his  commanding 
officer — the  man  who  had  given  him  a  much-needed 
job — for  his  obvious  overexuberance  and  apparent 
incompetence.  Yet  it  is  the  Preuss  testimony  that  allows 
us  to  recognize  that  Fremont  had  been  amazingly 
straightforward  in  his  subsequent  report  about  his 
original  motivations  for  the  journey.  Whatever  his 
official  instructions,  John  Fremont  intended  to  achieve 
fame  by  verifying  the  memorable  predictions  Irving 


had  made  about  the  western  mountains,  specifically  the 
high  peaks  of  the  Wind  Rivers. 

It  has  often  been  noted  that  Fremont  showed 
inattention  in  failing  to  mark  precisely  the  position  of 
South  Pass,  presumably  a  key  objective  of  his 
mission.-'  True,  the  South  Pass  is  an  open  expanse 
more  than  a  specific  spot  and  consequently  difficult  to 
locate  exactly.  Beyond  this,  however,  Fremont  reported 
(and  his  map  so  indicates)  that  on  his  first  trip  through 
South  Pass  he  traveled  on  the  northern  fringes  of  the 
pass  area  (or  just  to  the  south  of  the  Wind  River  chain). 
At  this  point  his  report  claimed  that  he  intended  to  cross 
the  dividing  ridge  several  miles  to  the  north  and  then 
to  return  to  the  more  popular  wagon  road — ostensibly 
the  main  focus  of  his  mission.-'^  Yet  just  a  few  pages 
later  in  the  report.  Fremont  admits  to  a  much  grander 
design.  Noting  again  that  these  mountains  held  the 
headwaters  of  "four  great  rivers" — the  Colorado, 
Columbia,  Missouri,  and  the  Platte — he  wrote  that  after 
"having  ascended  the  mountains,"  he  had  intended  to 


'"Actually  the  Benton-Fremont  family  created  an  enduring  myth 
that  John's  expeditions  were  in  fact  secret  missions  carried  on 
without  the  complete  knowledge  of  the  government.  This  was 
quite  an  exaggeration,  although  Benton  had  corresponded  in  pri- 
vate with  Abert  about  John's  instructions.  But  the  family  may 
not  have  been  completely  dishonest  in  fabricating  the  myth  in  so 
far  as  the  intention  to  visit  the  Wind  River  Mountains  had  not 
been  officially  approved  by  the  Topographical  Corps. 

-"  Perhaps  the  best  evidence  of  Fremont's  intentions  are  his 
vouchers  for  purchases  made  in  St.  Louis  before  his  departure 
(dated  in  May  1842)  and  submitted  to  the  Army  following  his 
return.  Besides  purchasing  "mountain"  barometers,  Fremont  also 
bought  two  pairs  of  "ice  shoes"  and  other  climbing  equipment. 
When  government  auditors  later  questioned  these  purchases, 
Fremont  submitted  this  justification:  "The  articles  in  this  ac- 
count were  for  use  among  the  ice-fields  in  the  Survey  of  the  Wind 
River  Mts."  See  Jackson  and  Spence,  Fremont  Expeditions,  vol. 
1,  142-143. 

-'  Charles  Preuss,  Exploring  with  Fremont:  The  Private  Dia- 
ries of  Charles  Preuss.  Cartographer  for  John  C  Fremont  on  His 
First.  Second  and  Fourth  Expeditions  to  the  Far  WeiC,  translated 
and  edited  by  Envin  G.  and  Elisabeth  K.  Gudde  (Norman:  Uni- 
versity of  Oklahoma  Press,  1958),  43. 

--At  one  point  Preuss  remarked  that  he  had  to  write  daily  in  his 
diary,  otherwise  "I  may  forget  important  things."  His  long  ac- 
count of  the  mountain  climb  was  written  on  the  trail  a  few  days 
later.   Preuss  Diary,  36,  44. 

-■'See,  for  example,  Goetzmann,  Exploration  &  Empire,  259. 
Fremont  "neglected"  to  fix  the  location  of  South  Pass  on  the  out- 
ward journey.  But  he  intended  to  revisit  the  spot  several  days 
later  (to  be  further  discussed),  and  on  his  return  he  did  locate  the 
wagon  road  through  the  pass  and  note  its  latitude.  On  his  second 
journey  the  following  year  he  took  care  also  to  note  the  longitude 
of  the  pass,  although  like  other  explorers  his  calculations  of  lon- 
gitude were  quite  inadequate.  (This  was  due  primarily  to  the  limi- 
tations of  the  instruments). 

-^"Fremont  Report,"  253. 


■fiflH 


Autur 


19Q9 


continue  a  complete  circuit  of  the  Wind  River  Range. 
After  crossing  the  range  via  a  pass  "at  the  northwestern 
end  of  the  chain" — inspired  no  doubt  by  Bonneville's 
earlier  crossing  of  Union  Pass — Fremont  had  proposed 
to  then  skirt  the  eastern  slopes  and  return  to  his  previous 
encampment  on  the  north  end  of  South  Pass.  Only  a 
variety  of  circumstances  forced  him  "very  reluctantly" 
to  abandon  the  plan.-^ 

The  Preuss  diary  provides  contemporaneous  support 
for  this  revealing  claim  in  the  Fremont  report.  In  fact, 
Preuss  noted  that  only  the  headaches  (literal  and 
otherwise)  the  young  lieutenant  endured  in  climbing 
the  Wind  River  peak  induced  him  to  return  to  the  South 
Pass  "instead  of  rounding  the  mountains."-"  Together 
with  Fremont's  actual  movements,  these  records  reveal 
the  extent  to  which  Irving's  writings — especially  on 
Bonneville's  activities — had  inspired  Fremont's 
exploratory  efforts.  Even  as  he  reached  the  long  sought 
South  Pass — which  after  all  had  been  discovered  by 
others — Fremont  suddenly  veered  in  a  different 
direction.  Did  he  hurry  to  the  north  on  the  most  direct 
approach  to  the  Wind  River  peaks?  Had  his  desire  to 
ascend  the  heights  of  the  Wind  Rivers  and  then  to  circuit 
the  range  been  spurred  by  Irving's  accounts'?  The 
evidence  would  suggest  just  such  a  conclusion  and  that 
this  particular  impulse  had  been  one  of  long  duration. 

Preuss's  journal  provides  further  strong  evidence  that 
Fremont's  original  purpose  was  exactly  to  march  past 
the  South  Pass  in  order  to  gauge  the  elevation  of  the 
Wind  River  Range's  highest  peak.  As  the  Fremont  party 
approached  Fort  Laramie  in  eastern  Wyoming  reports 
swirled  of  Indian  dangers  beyond  the  post.  Preuss 
reacted  to  these  rumors  (on  July  9'^)  as  his  detachment 
neared  Nebraska's  Chimney  Rock.  The  threat  appeared 
serious  enough  that  Kit  Carson,  a  favorite  Fremont 
guide  destined  for  hero  status,  reportedly  issued  an  oral 
last  will — a  trapper  custom.  Under  these  circumstances 
Preuss  thought  it  foolhardy  to  proceed  on  and  thus  risk 
many  lives,  "just  to  determine  a  few  longitudes  and 
latitudes  and  to  find  out  the  elevation  of  a  mountain 
range."  Better  to  turn  back,  Preuss  confided  in  his  diary, 
"and  limit  ourselves  to  the  survey  of  the  Platte."-' 

Preuss  evidently  knew  that  Fremont's  original 
instructions  restricted  him  to  the  Platte  survey,  but  he 
also  apparently  realized  that  the  lieutenant  had  grander 
intentions.  At  Independence  Rock  (on  August  2""^) 
Preuss  again  complained  that  the  expedition  sfill  had 
many  miles  to  travel  even  after  crossing  the  mountains, 
presumably  at  South  Pass.  Fremont  had  evidently 
confided  in  his  fellow  mapmaker;  Preuss's  assistance 
would  be  essential  in  the  success  of  the  mission.  Long 
before  approaching  ^lic  vicinity  of  South  Pass,  much 


23 

less  the  Wind  Rivers  themselves,  Preuss  knew  that 
Fremont  intended  to  press  on  to  investigate  the 
mountains  more  fully.  And  the  prime  purpose  was  to 
"find  out  the  elevation  of  a  mountain  range."-" 

With  characteristic  pessimism  ( Preuss  hanged  himself 
in  1854),  Preuss  in  his  private  diary  sought  to  deflate 
American  boasting  about  the  western  mountains  while 
also  diminishing  Fremont's  claim  to  fame.  (Preuss  at 
times  referred  to  his  traveling  companions  as  "American 
blockheads.")  Disdainful  of  the  Rockies  in  general  and 
the  Wind  River  peaks  in  particular,  the  proud  German 
insisted  that  the  American  eminences  could  not  hope 
to  compare  with  the  beloved  Alps  of  his  homeland.  In 
doing  so  Preuss  went  on  to  report,  with  characteristic 
contempt,  that  "an  American"  had  calculated  the 
Rockies  to  be  as  high  as  25,000  feet.  This  woefully 
inaccurate  estimate  perhaps  did  not  merit  Preuss's 
deprecating  reply:  "I'll  be  hanged  if  they  are  half  as 
high,  yea,  if  they  are  8,000  feet  high."  Yet  while 
Fremont's  calculations  subsequently  proved  more 
reliable  than  Preuss's  complaints,  interestingly  enough 
the  German's  peevishness  serves  to  verify  that  the 
Fremont  party  was  well  aware  of  previous  estimates  of 
the  mountains  in  question.  Both  in  Astoria  and  in 
Captain  Bonneville,  Irving  had  reported  other  estimates 
of  the  Rockies  that  claimed  25,000  feet  as  the  high 
point.  (Most  probably,  Fremont  had  repeated  the  25,000 
foot  estimate  to  Preuss).  Once  again,  the  Preuss  diary 
proves,  rather  unintentionally,  that  Fremont's  was  not 
merely  an  impulsive  quest  for  romantic  adventure,  but 
a  premeditated  etTort  to  verify  earlier  claims  about 
possibly  America's  highest  mountains. -"* 

Fremont,  too,  would  later  admit  that  the  jaunt  into 
the  Wind  River  Range  had  been  "be\  ond  the  strict  order 
of  our  instructions"  and  the  overriding  purpose  was  to 
check  the  peaks'  elevation.  Preuss's  diary  reveals  this 

-'"Fremont  Report."    258-259. 

-"  Preuss  Diivy,  46. 

■^Preuss  Diaiy,  21-22. 

-'Preuss  Diaiy.  32-33.  Ax  t1ve  days  distance  from  the  moun- 
tains, Preuss  estimated  that  the  party  had  another  ten  to  fifteen 
days'  work  before  turning  eastward  again.  Interestingly  enough, 
this  was  also  Fremont's  estimate  for  the  planned  circuit  of  the 
Wind  River  Range.  Again,  Fremont  and  Preuss  appeared  to  have 
collaborated  on  the  expedition's  plans,  v\ell  before  reaching  the 
mountains. 

-^Preuss  Diary.  33,  45.  Actually  the  "American"  involved  had 
merely  reported  the  estimates  of  British  fur  traders  in  Canada. 
See  Irving,  Bonneville.  191,  and  appendix  to  Irving,  Astoria.  Even 
after  taking  barometrical  readings  Preuss  constantly  underesti- 
mated the  heights  of  the  Wind  Rivers  (at  just  10,000  feet).  The 
editors  of  his  diary  concluded:  "One  cannot  avoid  the  impression 
that  here,  as  elsewhere,  Preuss  deliberately  gives  lower  estimates 
of  the  elevations  to  spite  Fremont." 


L\-afr::i»^.'lf^^"i.^''^-^l';-' '..';.."■:.-.,.•.■■ 


View  of  the  Wind  River  Mountains 


II 


View  of  the  Wind  River  Mountains  (above).    Central  chain  of  the  Wind  River  Mountains  (below).  Both  from  Fremont  Report 


From  The  Expeditions 
of  John  Charles  Fre- 
mont, V.  1 ,  Travels  from 
1838  to  1844.  edited  b> 
Donald  Jackson  and 
Man  Lee  Spence  (Ur- 
bana:  University  of  Il- 
linois Press,  264.  268. 


Charles  Preuss.  Topographer  with  Fremont  Stamp  issued  June  17.  1898.  commemorating  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition 


26 


Annals  of  Wyoming:The  Wyoming  History  Jc 


al 


same  understanding,  although  Preuss  is  rather  disgusted 
at  the  prospect.  When  the  last  barometer  was  unpacked 
and  found  to  be  broken,  Preuss  claimed  to  be  relieved 
(but  probably  also  disappointed)  that  Fremont  could 
repair  the  vital  instrument.  "Otherwise,"  Preuss 
observed,  "  we  would  not  have  climbed  the  mountain." 
Alter  all,  the  whole  purpose  of  the  extended  detour  was 
to  verify  the  claims  made  in  Washington  Irving's 
western  histories.  Without  barometers  Bonneville  had 
been  unable  to  measure  the  region's  "highest  peaks"; 
Fremont  intended  to  succeed  where  the  Captain  had 
failed.'" 

As  he  led  his  small  party  toward  the  summit  of  the 
Wind  River  peak  in  mid-August  1 842,  Fremont  suffered 
from  altitude  sickness — attacked  by  headaches, 
giddiness  and  vomiting  he  later  admitted.  Exhausted, 
hungry  and  quarreling  with  his  friend  Carson,  Fremont 
insisted  on  the  climb  long  after  any  impulse  would  have 
expired.  Incredibly  enough,  Fremont  and  his  men 
neglected  to  bring  adequate  food  and  clothing  to  reach 
the  peak's  summit.  Like  Zebulon  Pike  (who  failed  to 
climb  his  famous  peak),  the  young  lieutenant  from  the 
east  had  greatly  underestimated  the  time  and  effort 
required  to  climb  the  high  mountain.^'  Fremont's  men 
would  sleep  hungry  and  no  doubt  cold;  some  had  even 
left  their  coats  behind.  Luckily  the  ascent  of  the 
mountain  was  not  especially  hazardous;  modern 
climbers  typically  note  the  relative  ease  of  hiking 
Fremont  Peak. 

The  final  assault  party  of  six  men  struggled  to  find 
the  proper  route  to  the  summit,  and  when  Preuss 
managed  to  take  a  reading  some  five  hundred  feet  below 
the  true  summit  Fremont  was  tempted  to  fix  the  results 
simply  by  adding  five  hundred  to  Preuss's  lower 
reading.  Such  a  careless  estimate,  however,  would 
not  satisfy  Irving's  literary  predictions.  So  the  young 
explorer  decided  to  try  again,  and  after  some  difficulty 
he  and  Preuss  calculated  the  elevation  at  the  summit  to 
be  13,570  feet  above  the  sea.^-  (Fremont  Peak — 
probabK'  but  not  certainly  the  peak  in  question — is  some 
13,745  feet  above  sea  level.  Gannett  Peak  is  13,804 
feet.)''  Irving  had  promised  the  peak  stood  some  fifteen 
thousand  feet  high,  but  Fremont  could  not  afford  to  be 
too  disappointed.  He  had  nonetheless  conquered  the 
Rockies'  "highest  summit"  and  had  verified  Irving's 
literary  claim  through  the  latest  scientific  method.  He 
had  reason  to  celebrate  and  mark  the  occasion  by 
planting  an  American  fiag  on  the  fabled  summit. 

As  the  Fremonts  composed  their  report  several 
months  later,  the  couple  proved  amazingly  honest  about 
John's  original  motivations  for  the  mission.  Although 
in  other  instances  the  Fremonts  surelv  added  to  the 


report's  dramatic  effect,  in  this  case  the  evidence 
suggests  that  they  felt  little  need  to  be  especially 
disingenuous.  With  a  powerful  father-in-law  and  the 
expansionist  spirit  as  his  protectors,  Fremont  freely 
admitted  in  print  that  the  climb  of  the  high  peak — "an 
object  of  laudable  ambition" — had  been  "beyond  the 
strict  order  of  our  instructions."^^  Moreover,  the  Preuss 
testimony,  provided  paradoxically  by  a  man  often 
secretly  critical  of  his  commander,  in  this  case  supports 
the  veracity  of  the  Fremont  report. 

Just  as  Preuss  related  in  his  diary,  Fremont  early  on 
admitted  his  purpose  had  been  to  climb  the  high  peaks 
of  the  fabulous  Wind  Rivers.  At  St.  Vrain's  Fort  (in 
today's  Colorado)  Fremont  could  spy  Long's  Peak 
nearby,  while  the  even  more  famous  Pike's  Peak  might 
also  be  visible  but  for  the  smoky  atmosphere  that  day. 
While  exploring  such  Colorado  heights  might  prove 
fruitful,  the  lieutenant  insisted  "the  proper  object  of 
my  survey  lay  among  the  mountains  further  north." 
(Ironically,  both  Long's  Peak  and  Pike's  Peak  are  higher 
than  Fremont  Peak,  but  Irving  had  not  drawn  attention 
to  those  Colorado  summits,  f-  These  "snowy  recesses" 
to  the  north  remained  his  prime  objective  and  he  looked 
forward  to  their  exploration  with  "great  pleasure."  A 
few  days  later  he  lamented  the  loss  of  an  important 
thermometer  by  admitting  "I  had  promised  myself  some 
interesting  experiments  in  the  mountains."  Despite 
Preuss's  dread  of  Indian  threats,  Fremont  insisted  on 
pressing  on  past  Fort  Laramie,  perhaps  precisely  to 
reach  the  mountains.  Just  after  leaving  the  fort  (and 

'"  Bonneville  had  considered  but  rejected  the  idea  of  using  the 
extremely  fragile  barometers.  See  Todd's  introduction  to  Irving, 
Bonneville,  x.wi. 

'"'Fremont  Report,"  262-263.  Pike's  men  had  already  been 
suffering  from  the  want  of  proper  winter  clothing.  Then,  like 
Fremont,  his  misunderstanding  of  distances  in  the  western  moun- 
tains tempted  him  to  leave  behind  proper  food  and  gear  for  the 
mountain  climb.  See  Pike's  journal  in  The  Journals  of  Zebulon 
Montgomery  Pike,  edited  by  Donald  Jackson  (Norman:  Univer- 
sity of  Oklahoma  Press,  1966),  vol.  1,  350. 

^'Preuss  Diaty,  40-47;  "Fremont  Report,"  265-266,  270-271. 

■'■'For  years  afterward  the  public  assumed  that  Fremont  had  as- 
cended Fremont  Peak  and  that  this  was  the  Rockies'  highest  sum- 
mit. See,  for  example,  the  famous  western  map  by  Lieutenant  G. 
K.  Warren,  published  in  1859,  which  specifically  marks 
"Fremont's  Peak"  and  the  elevation  as  measured  by  Fremont  (the 
only  such  mountain  elevation  given  on  the  entire  map). 

'■•"Fremont  Report,"  p.  272. 

"  Of  course,  had  Fremont  merely  wanted  to  measure  the  height 
of  a  famous  western  mountain  using  the  new  barometrical  tech- 
nique, Pike's  Peak  or  Long's  Peak  would  have  been  excellent 
choices.  (The  Pike  and  Long  estimates  of  the  high  western  peaks 
had  been  quite  unreliable.)  But  America's  most  famous  author 
had  instead  boasted  of  the  record  height  of  the  Wind  River  peaks, 
thus  capturing  Fremont's  attention  and  apparent  resolve.  (And, 
of  course,  these  peaks  already  bore  the  names  of  other  explorers.) 


Autiii 


lOQQ 


Still  east  of  today's  Casper),  Fremont  noted  in  his  report 
that  "I  detennined  to  reach  the  mountains,  if  it  were  in 
any  way  possible."  The  first  sighting  of  the  Wind  Rivers 
was  still  several  da\s  away.'^ 

Fremont  shared  his  mapmaker's  concern  about  the 
feared  loss  of  the  barometer.  The  incident  was  hard  on 
his  men,  Fremont  later  wrote,  considering  that  they  had 
brought  the  barometer  some  one  thousand  miles  only 
to  see  it  damaged  "almost  among  the  snow  of  the 
mountains."  But  with  remarkable  ingenuity  (given  scant 
credit  by  Preuss)  Fremont  managed  to  repair  the 
damaged  instrument  (replacing  the  glass  vial  with  a 
powder  horn  no  less),  allowing  the  long  anticipated 
mountain  climb  to  continue.  This  saved  Fremont  from 
grave  disappointment:  he  confessed  that  "a  great  part 
of  the  interest  of  the  journey  for  me  was  in  the 
exploration  of  those  mountains."" 

This  incredible  admission  should  be  considered  in 
light  of  the  rather  limited  instructions  given  the  young 
lieutenant  by  Colonel  Abert.  Moreover,  Fremont's 
report  goes  on  to  show  that  his  desire  to  probe  the  Wind 
River  Mountains  derived  from  his  wish  to  verify  the 
claims  of  his  mountain  men  forebears,  so  well- 
dramatized  in  Irving's  famous  works.  As  he  entered 
the  mountains  Fremont  w  elcomed  the  bracing  mountain 
air,  so  praised  he  said  by  hunters,  and  expected  that  his 
mountain  trek  would  reveal  secrets  "unknown  to  the 
wandering  trappers  of  the  region."  Indeed,  Fremont 
reported,  "much  had  been  said  that  was  doubtful  and 
contradictory"  about  these  very  peaks.  But  this  trained 
man  of  science  came  with  a  specific  purpose,  to  measure 
the  height  of  these  mountains — "considered  by  the 
hunters  and  traders  the  highest  in  the  whole  range." 
Again  Fremont  regretted  the  potential  loss  of  his 
barometer,  "the  only  means  of  giving  them  [the 
mountain  peaks]  authentically  to  science."  Had  he  not 
have  rescued  the  precious  barometer,  "the  object  of  my 
anxious  solicitude  by  night  and  day"  would  have  been 
lost.  No  doubt  these  passages  heightened  the  dramatic 
quality  of  the  subsequent  report,  while  not  incidentally 
focusing  attention  on  John's  valued  service  to  the 
mission's  success.  But  these  words  reflected  genuine 
concern  as  well — concern  that  John's  effort  to  win 
public  renown  by  verifying  Irving's  claims  about  the 
high  Wyoming  peak  might  end  in  embarrassment.  Later 
the  Fremont  report  further  highlighted  the  importance 
of  his  mountain  exploits  by  referring  to  the  loss  of  some 
of  his  records  in  a  capsizing  on  the  upper  North  Platte 
River.  Fortunately,  Fremont  admitted,  other  journals 
contained  duplicates  of  the  "most  important" 
barometrical  observations  "which  had  been  taken  in 
the  mountains.""* 


27 

What  Colonel  Abert  later  thought  in  reading 
Fremont's  discussion  of  his  mission's  objectives  is 
unrecorded.  We  do  know  that  Abert  appreciated  how 
Fremont's  success  brought  much  needed  attention  to 
his  Corps'  valuable  work.  Of  course  too  Abert  would 
recommend  that  the  Senate  publish  the  lieutenant's 
impressive  work  and  later  would  send  his  somewhat 
troublesome  charge  on  further  missions.  But  we  also 
know  that  in  subsequent  dealings  with  his  young 
subordinate  Abert  devoted  strict  attention  to  Fremont's 
well-demonstrated  neglect  of  written  instructions  as 
well  as  established  Army  procedures.  His  official  and 
no  doubt  private  complaints  about  Fremont's  behavior 
probably  stemmed  from  this  early  experience  with  his 
now  famous  officer.'" 

Many  have  overlooked  how  Fremont's  intention  to 
climb  the  Wind  River  peak  had  actually  been  devised 
and  indeed  premeditated.""'  Instead,  historians 
commonh  point  out  Fremont's  (now  obvious)  mistake 
in  claiming  to  have  scaled  the  Rockies'  highest  peak. 
And  although  upon  which  peak  Fremont  planted  his 
tlag  remains  controversial,  today  it  can  be  easily  noted 
that  it  was  not  even  the  highest  peak  in  the  Wind  River 
Range.  But  Fremont  had  done  his  best  with  the 
infonnation  available  to  him.  While  Colorado's  lofty 
summits  still  awaited  careful  measurement,  Fremont 
had  diligently  pieced  together  the  available  information 
before  making  his  claim.  His  veteran  companions  had 
also  agreed  upon  the  specific  peak  selected  for  the 
assault.  (To  the  untrained  eye  Fremont  Peak  does  appear 
to  dominate  the  Wind  Rivers.)  Moreover,  Fremont 
could  report  that  this  was  the  opinion  "of  the  oldest 
traders  of  the  country."^'  And  had  not  Washington 
Irving,  America's  most  famous  writer,  reported  that 


'"This  journal  entry  was  for  July  26.  1842.  The  part\  had  left 
Fort  Laramie  on  July  21";  not  until  August  ?"'  would  the  Wind 
Rivers  first  come  into  view.  "Fremont  Report,"  pp.  238,  256. 
260,  279. 

''"Fremont  Report,"  205,  226,  256. 

'"■'Fremont  Report,"  256-257,  260,  279. 

'"For  ample  evidence  of  Abert's  frustrations  with  Fremont  see 
the  frequent  correspondence  in  Jackson  and  Spence,  Fremont 
Expeditions,  vol.  1,  especially  pages  123,  126,  127,  344-352. 

■"'In  a  work  subsequent  to  his  earlier  Army  Exploration.  Will- 
iam Goetzmann,  Exploration  and  Empire.  243,  did  remark  off- 
handedly that  Fremont's  "monumentally  impractical"  gesture  of 
climbing  the  Wind  River  peak  "appeared  to  he  from  the  first  a 
part  of  the  design"  of  the  mission.  But  he  did  not  pursue  this 
supposition  beyond  this  observation  and  he  did  not  mention 
Irving's  works  (or  the  Preuss  diary)  in  this  context.  A  precon- 
ceived plan  to  measure  scientifically  a  reported  elevation  of  a 
mountain  peak  can  not  really  be  termed  "monumentally  imprac- 
tical." 


28 


Annals  of  WyomingrThe  Wyoming  History  Journal 


the  Rockies"  highest  summit  lay  in  the  very  Wind  River 
Range  that  Fremont  had  bested?  Who  could  dare 
dispute  such  a  claim? 

Jn  retrospect  it  appears  that  there  was  precious  little 
spontaneous  about  the  Fremont  climb  into  the  al- 
luring Wind  Rivers.  Indeed,  the  Fremont  family  had 
made  rather  impressive  preparations  for  the  attempt  to 
verify  a  striking  claim  made  in  Irving's  famous  west- 
em  histories  and  may  have  even  calculated  the  effort  to 
promote  John's  public  notoriety.  As  a  result,  John 
Fremont's  reputation  for  impulsive,  romantic  acts  may 
require  at  least  some  reassessment.  The  famous  quest 
to  plant  an  American  flag  atop  the  Rocky  Mountains 
now  appears  more  as  a  staged  event  rather  than  an  im- 
practical if  heroic  gesture.  But  at  least  an  act  inspired 
by  one  of  America's  most  famous  romantic  authors  in 
turn  stimulated  artists  and  other  writers  to  equally  ro- 
mantic flourishes.  And  we  should  now  recognize  how 
the  Fremonts  evidently  encouraged  such  an  artistic  re- 
sponse by  portraying  John's  conquest  of  the  Wind  River 
Mountains  in  a  characteristically  dramatic  way,  rather 
than  as  a  serious  scientific  enterprise.  Thus  it  was  partly 
the  Fremonts"  fault  that  John  became  famous  for  plant- 
ing a  makeshift  flag  upon  a  far  summit  rather  than  for 
his  skill  in  carefully  repairing  and  operating  a  sensitive 
scientific  instrument."*- 

Which  Wind  River  peaks  Bonneville  and  Fremont 
actually  climbed  is  today  probably  only  meaningful  to 
dedicated  mountain  climbing  enthusiasts.  Yet  those  who 
have  debated  this  issue  in  print  perhaps  have  not  noticed 
the  possible  irony  involved.  Despite  his  much-publi- 
cized claims — which  were  revisited  during  the 
Pathfinder's  1856  presidential  campaign — Fremont 
evidently  did  not  climb  the  highest  peak  in  the  Wind 
Rivers  (much  less  the  entire  Rockies).  But  if  Bonneville 
indeed  made  it  to  the  top  of  Gannett  Peak,  then  he  and 
not  Fremont  could  boast  of  scaling  the  highest  peak  in 
the  Wind  Rivers.  Of  course,  Bonneville  could  not 
specify  which  peak  he  ascended  beyond  remarking  that 
it  must  be  the  region's  loftiest.  (Bonneville  simply  did 
not  provide  enough  information  to  fix  with  any  certainty 
which  peak  he  scaled).  Moreover,  he  could  not  measure 
the  attitude  of  his  peak  as  Fremont  would  do  using 
quite  up-to-date  scientific  methods.  Yet  Bonneville's 
conquest  of  the  Wind  Rivers  would  receive  hardly  any 
subsequent  attention.  Today's  scholars  of  the  westward 
movement  typically  recall  Fremont's  exploits;  few 
remember  the  specifics  of  Bonneville's.  Fewer  still 
realize  that  Bonneville  s  feat  had  inspired  Fremont's 
later   but    more    famous    effort — a    lamentable 


consequence  of  Irving's  histories  fading  from  modem 
memory. 

By  contrast  Fremont  has  received  extensive  scholarly 
treatment,  mainly  due  to  the  subsequent  controversial 
aspects  of  his  career.  Bonneville  too  rose  to  the  rank 
of  general  in  the  Civil  War,  but  in  a  much  less  heralded 
fashion.  Yet  the  Captain  does  not  deserve  to  be  nearly 
forgotten,  considering  the  fact  that  one  of  America's 
most  honored  writers  first  told  his  tale.  True, 
Washington  Irving's  account  eventually  eamed  some 
partly  deserved  criticism — considering  his  talents,  some 
considered  Irving's  histories  "hack  work" — but  his 
narratives  should  not  be  left  gathering  dust  on  America's 
library  shelves.  Astoria  provides  a  valuable  historical 
account  of  that  enterprise  while  Captain  Bonneville 
offers  a  close  look  at  the  operation  of  the  Rocky 
Mountain  fur  trade  and  the  lives  of  the  famous  mountain 
men.'*'  Generally  authoritative  and  well-written, 
Irving's  westem  works  deserve  to  be  rediscovered  by 
scholars  and  general  readers  alike.  Perhaps  like  John 
and  Jessie  Fremont,  one  should  peruse  Washington 
Irving's  Captain  Bonneville  jusl  before  packing  for  that 
family  camping  trip  to  experience  the  wonders  of  the 
Wind  Rivers  so  enjoyed  by  both  Fremont  and 
Bonneville,  the  first  known  Americans  to  ascend  this 
range's  most  prominent  (if  not  highest)  peaks. 

■""Fremont  Report,"  271.  And  compared  to  the  inaccurate  es- 
timates of  elevation  by  Pil<e  and  Long,  Fremont's  calculations 
were  remarkably  accurate.  Besides  not  being  able  to  use  the  ba- 
rometer method.  Pike  and  Long  had  miscalculated  the  mountain 
heights  by  overestimating  the  elevation  of  the  surrounding  prai- 
rie base. 

^-We  now  know — thanks  again  to  the  Preuss  diary — that 
Fremont  had  made  still  another  attempt  to  employ  the  latest  tech- 
nology in  his  expeditions.  Unfortunately,  his  pioneering  efforts 
to  master  the  intricacies  of  the  daguerreotype  camera  while  on 
the  trail  did  not  result  in  usable  prints.  See  Preuss  Diary,  xx-xxi, 
32,  35. 

^Tor  a  capable  defense  of  Irving's  historical  writing  see  Todd's 
introduction  to  Irving,  Bonneville,  xxxix-xlviii.  See  also,  Ber- 
nard DeVoto,  Across  the  Wide  Missouri  (Boston:  Houghton 
Mifflin,  1947),  426-427. 


Vernon  L.  Volpe  is  professor  of  history  and  a 
former  department  chair  at  the  University  of 
Nebraska  at  Kearney.  He  earned  his  Ph.D.  from 
the  University  of  Nebraska-Lincoln  in  1984  and 
has  published  a  number  of  works  dealing  with 
western  exploration,  antebellum  politics,  and  the 
Civil  War.  He  acknowledges  UNK  's  Graduate 
Research  Services  Council  for  its  support  of  his 
current  project,  a  biography  of  John  C.  Fremont. 


Bg Same* R. Weft  t^     /  I' 


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V-  '^N' 'v      r  ■'■■■  V'^-    w^V**' 

»  ■*-        *^ .  ■<^*  v,'^  „tl  jSf /^      ,     •■    -J,  7^ 


Philip  H.  Sheridan,  renowned  as  a  Civil  War 
commander  and  Indian  campaigner,  also  de- 
serves credit  for  his  role  in  the  exploration  of  the 
Yellowstone  region.  Not  onl\  did  he  sponsor  a  number 
of  scientific  expeditions  there,  but  he  himself  went  out 
into  the  field  and  found  an  easy  passage  between  the 
waters  of  the  Wind  River  and  the  Snake  River  in  north- 
western Wyoming.  His  crossing  of  the  Continental  Di- 
vide is  now  known  as  Sheridan  Pass  —  but  others  had 
been  there  before  him. 

The  exploration  history  of  the  region  can  only  be  in- 
terpreted in  the  context  of  its  geographic  setting,  imag- 
ine the  topography  as  being  represented  by  a  giant  T. 
The  cross-bar  at  the  top  represents  the  nearly  impen- 
etrable barrier  that  blocks  direct  travel  to  the 
Yellowstone  Park  country.  The  Wind  River  is  to  the 
east,  while  the  headwaters  of  the  Snake  River  (Jackson 
Hole)  and  the  Green  River  lie  to  the  west.  The  T"s 
vertical  bar  is  the  Continental  Divide  —  the  lofty  peaks 
of  the  Wind  River  Range,  including  Wyoming's  high- 
est point  (Gannett  Peak)  and.  to  the  north  of  them,  a 
somewhat  more  friendly  section  that  can  be  breached 


Ge)}e)al  Philip  ShcnJan 

in  three  areas  —  Togwotee  Pass,  Sheridan  Pass,  and 
Union  Pass.' 

East-west  travel  could  be  accomplished  more  easily 
outside  of  this  region  either  by  following  the  Missouri 
River  in  Montana  or  by  crossing  the  gentle  contours  of 
South  Pass,  the  emigrants'  Oregon  Trail  of  the  mid- 
nineteenth  century,  in  central  Wyoming.  But  if  one 
wanted  to  proceed  northwest  from  the  lower  Wind  Ri\  er 
(for  example,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Popo  Agie  near 

The  three  named  passes  are  the  onl_\  ones  with  documented 
use  in  the  years  under  review.  Togwotee  Pass  is  at  an  elevation  of 
9544  feet,  on  today's  U.S.  26  -  U.S.  287.  The  Continental  Divide, 
to  the  south,  crosses  Two  Ocean  Mountain  (]';  miles  from 
Togwotee  Pass)  and  then  drops  to  an  unnamed  pass  at  an  eleva- 
tion of  9246  feet  (above  Moccasin  Basin  5'  j  miles  from  Togwotee 
Pass),  crosses  Lava  Mountain  (8' :  miles),  descends  and  then  fol- 
lows a  wooded  crest  to  Sheridan  Pass  (13'/:  miles)  at  9245  teet. 
The  skyline  is  fairly  even  to  the  south,  dipping  to  9360  feet  near 
Fish  Lake  (22'/4  miles)  and  then  following  a  grassy  ridgeline  to 
Union  Pass,  at  9210  feet  (34";  miles  from  Togwotee  Pass)  — 
measurements  generally  along  the  Continental  Div  ide  rather  than 
airline  distances.  U.S.  Geological  Survey  (7.5-minute  series): 
Togwotee  Pass  (1965),  Lava  Mountain  (1965),  Sheridan  Pass 
( 1 965 ),  Fish  Lake  ( 1 956),  and  Fish  Creek  Park  ( 1 967 )  quadrangles. 


30 


Annals  of  Wyoming:  The  Wyoming  Histon'  Journal 


present-day  Lander),  the  most  direct  way  would  be  to 
go  over  Union  Pass  if  headed  to  the  Green  River  head- 
waters; over  Sheridan  Pass  if  headed  to  the  Three  Forks 
area  of  Montana  (via  Teton  Pass  and  the  Henrys  Lake 
area);  and  over  Togwotee  Pass  on  the  way  to  the  re- 
gion of  Yellowstone  Park.  Travel  northeast  from  the 
upper  Wind  River  to  the  Yellowstone  River  could  only 
be  accomplished  by  way  of  Shoshone  Pass,  at  the  head 
of  Dunoir  Creek.  To  get  there  from  the  Green  River, 
one  would  naturally  go  over  Union  Pass  to  the  mouth 
of  Dunoir  Creek;  from  Jackson  Hole,  either  Sheridan 
Pass  or  Togwotee  Pass  would  be  practicable,  though 
Sheridan  Pass  is  more  direct.  Each  of  these  passes  was 
well  known  to  the  native  Americans. 

General  Sheridan  set  out  on  one  of  his  exploring  trips 
on  August  12,  1882.  From  the  mouth  of  Dunoir  Creek, 
his  party  rode  up  the  Wind  River  for  about  five  miles. 
Crossing  the  stream,  he  ascended  a  very  easy  grade, 
through  some  open  glades  and  beautiful  parks,  to  the 
crest  of  the  range.  "The  pass  was  unknown  to  white 
men  and  seemed  to  have  been  used  in  the  past  only  by- 
Indians  ...  by  far.  the  best  pass  I  have  ever  seen  over 
the  Continental  Divide.  "  he  reported.  The  descent  the 
next  day  was  "by  no  means  bad,"  and  led  the  party 
down  to  the  Gros  Ventre  River.-  Sheridan's  conceit 
that  the  pass  was  "unknown"  is  wrong:  the  historical 
record  amply  demonstrates  that  other  white  men  had 
preceded  him. 

The  return  of  Lewis  and  Clark  to  St.  Louis  in  1806 
stimulated  efforts  to  tap  the  fur  resources  of  the 
Missouri  River  headwaters.  The  tlrst  large  expedition, 
led  by  Manuel  Lisa,  headed  upstream  in  1807.  George 
Drouillard,  who  brought  first-hand  knowledge  from  his 
service  on  the  Lewis  and  Clark  Expedition,  was  a  key 
member.  The  party  had  been  strengthened  even  more 
by  the  employment  of  John  Colter,  another  Lewis  and 
Clark  veteran,  who  was  traveling  homeward  in  1807 
but  readily  agreed  to  sign  on.'  A  winter  camp,  known 
as  Fort  Raymond  or  Manuel's  Fort,  was  established  at 
the  confluence  of  the  Yellowstone  and  Big  Horn  Riv- 
ers. 

In  November,  Lisa  dispatched  Colter  to  make  con- 
tact with  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  area,  to  invite  them  to 
come  to  Fort  Raymond  to  trade.^  Colter  left  no  written 
record  of  his  trip,  but  it  appears  that  he  later  gave  an 
account  to  William  Clark,  who  marked  the  route  as  he 
understood  it  on  an  extant  manuscript  map.'  The  map 
reflects  not  only  personal  observations  from  the  Lewis 
and  Clark  expedition,  but  information  from  the  travels 
of  Zebulon  Pike,  the  Astorians,  and  John  Colter  him- 
self Several  routes  in  the  area  of  the  Wind  Rivers  and 


the  Tetons  are  marked  by  dotted  lines.  The  ones  of  pri- 
mary interest  here  —  interpreted  as  Colter's  route  — 
are:  ( 1 )  from  the  Salt  Fork  of  Stinking  [now  Shoshone] 
River  to  the  upper  Big  Horn  [now  Wind]  River,  (2) 
from  the  headwaters  of  the  Big  Horn  [Wind]  River 
southwest  to  Crooks  River  and  westward  to  the  yicin- 
ity  of  Henrys  River,  and  (3)  fi^om  Henrys  River  east- 
ward to  Lake  Biddle.  A  trace  from  the  Big  Horn  to 
Crooks  River  by  way  of  Colters  River  represents  the 
outbound  path  of  the  Astorians,  while  a  fork  heading 
southeast  from  Crooks  River  to  the  Platte  is  the 
Astorians'  return  route.  Finally,  a  distinct  path  runs 
from  east  of  Henrys  River  across  Southern  [Raynolds 
or  Targhee]  Pass  to  the  Madison  River." 

Colter  proceeded  south  from  Fort  Raymond,  up  the 
Big  Horn  and  the  South  Shoshone  River,  and  then  de- 
scended Dunoir  Creek  to  the  valley  of  the  Wind  River. ' 
He  crossed  the  Continental  Divide  and  continued  west- 

-  Lt.  Gen.  Philip  H.  Sheridan  to  Brig.  Gen.  R.C.  Drum,  Adju- 
tant Generah  United  States  Army,  Nov.  i,  1882.  Sheridan  Pa- 
pers. Microfilm  Reel  87.  Library  of  Congress.  Sheridan  also  char- 
acterized the  pass  as  "much  better  than  the  L'nion  Pass,  to  the 
south  of  it,  or  than  the  pass  to  the  north  of  it,  traversed  by  Captain 
Sanford  Cobb  KLellogg"s  command  last  year."  Kellogg  may  have 
been  at  the  unnamed  pass  above  Moccasin  Basin  rather  than 
Togwotee  Pass,  but  a  search  of  National  Archives  records  for 
documentation  of  his  route  was  unsuccessful.  The  general's  most 
likely  route  appears  as  the  "Sheridan  Trail"  on  the  U.S.  Geologi- 
cal Survey  Kisiuger  Lakes.  Fish  Lake.  Lava  Mountain,  and 
Slieridan  Pass  7.5-minute  quadrangles.  Sheridan  actually  gave 
the  name  "Lincoln  Pass"  to  the  crossing,  in  honor  of  Secretary  of 
War  Robert  T.  Lincoln,  but  some  time  after  1883  and  before  1899 
(when  Coutant's  history  was  published)  it  came  to  be  known  as 
Sheridan  Pass. 

'  Burton  Harris,  John  Colter:  His  Years  in  the  Rockies  (New 
York  1952),  59-64.  Oglesby,  Richard  E.  Manuel  Lisa  and  the 
Opening  of  the  Missouri  -Fur  Trade  (Norman,  Bison  Book  ed., 
1984),  40-46.  Harris  points  out  that  two  other  men  who  had  been 
with  Lewis  and  Clark  —  John  Potts  and  Peter  Wiser  [or  Weiser] 
—  were  also  members  of  the  party. 

*  H.M.  Brackenridge,  Vie^vs  of  Louisiana  (Pittsburgh,  1814), 
91-92. 

*  The  map  is  reproduced  as  No.  125  in  Gary  E.  Moulton  (ed.). 
The  .Atlas  of  the  Lewis  &  Clark  Expedition  (Lincoln  1983).  An 
excellent  copy  of  the  portion  discussed  here  is  in  Aubrey  L.  Haines, 
The  Yellowstone  Stan,-.  ('o/«/?je/(  Yellow  stone  National  Park  WY, 
1977),  34.  The  original  is  at  Yale  University's  Beinecke  Library. 
The  manuscript  map  also  appears  in  Carl  L  Wheat,  Mapping  the 
Transmtssissippi  West:  Volume  Two,  From  Lewis  and  Clark  to 
Fremont  1804-1845,  San  Francisco  1958  as  Map  29 1  (Wheat  291). 

''  The  map  shows  both  Henrys  River  and  Wisers  River,  which 
suggests  that  Wiser  had  visited  the  western  slope  in  1808.  His 
account  of  a  route  between  "the  upper  branches  of  the  Collumbia" 
and  "the- middle  fork  of  Madison's  River"  is  cited  in  an  1810 
letter  from  Reuben  Lewis  to  his  brother  Meriwether  Lewis. 
Oglesby,  op.cit.,  96-97.  "Perhaps,  had  Clark  understood  right, 
Wiser's  R.  and  Henry's  Fork  were  one  and  the  same."  Dale  L. 
Morgan,  The  West  of  William  H.  Ashley  (Denver  1963),  xxxiii 
(n.l6). 


Autumn  199Q 


ward,  from  Jackson  Hole,  over  Teton  Pass 
into  what  is  now  Idaho  But  how  did  he 
get  from  the  mouth  of  Dunoir  Creek  to 
Teton  Pass? 

Perhaps  Colter  crossed  the  Divide  at 
Togvvotee  Pass.  The  manuscript  map 
shows  that  when  he  first  descended  to 
Wind  River,  he  turned  right  and  proceeded 
upstream,  northwest,  a  direction  that 
would  lead  to  Togwotee  Pass.  Then  he 
would  have  descended  along  Blackrock 
Creek  and  the  Buffalo  Fork  to  the  Snake 
River  [""Crooks  Ri\er"  on  the  map]  near 
the  outlet  of  expansive  Jackson  Lake.  We 
cannot  assume,  however,  that  the  traveler 
would  ha\e  seen  the  lake  from  the  Buf- 
falo-Snake contluence.  as  there  are  inter- 
vening bluffs  and  hills  —  though  he  might 
ha\e  had  glimpses  from  8650-foot  Blackrock  Mead- 
ows at  a  distance  of  over  20  miles  from  the  lake.  In 
fact,  it  is  improbable  that  Colter  \  iewed  Jackson  Lake, 
since  the  large  body  of  water  that  appears  on  the 
map  is  drawn  as  a  source  of  Wind  River  that  is  not 
connected  to  the  Snake.  But  if  Colter  had  in  fact 
walked  close  to  Jackson  Lake,  there  is  no  way  that 
he  could  have  believed  it  to  be  in  the  Wind  River 
drainage.  For,  in  the  first  place,  he  would  have  rec- 
ognized that  it  flow  ed  south  to  Crooks  River.  And, 
further,  ha\ing  found  the  mountain  barrier  (at 
Togwotee  Pass)  to  be  so  elevated  (at  9500  feet),  it 
is  inconceivable  that  he  w  ould  have  regarded  6700- 
foot  Jackson  Lake  as  being  located  high  in  the 
mountains  near  the  Continental  Divide.  Neverthe- 
less, while  a  traverse  of  Togwotee  Pass  cannot  be 
excluded,  an  alternate  interpretation  is  that  Colter 
crossed  the  Divide  at  Sheridan  Pass  and  followed 
the  Gros  Ventre  River  drainage  —  all  the  way  out 

^The  competing  interpretations  of  Colter's  route  are  sum- 
marized in  David  J.  Savior,  Jackson  Hole.  Wyoming ,  Norman 
1970,  216  (n.l2).  Harris  favors  Togwotee  Pass,  op.  cit.  at  103. 
Union  Pass  is  preferred  by  Stallo  Vinton,  \nJohn  Colter:  Discov- 
erer of  Yellowstone  Pork  (New  York  1926),  59.  The  theory  that 
the  route  remained  much  farther  north  (i.e.,  never  south  of 
Yellowstone  Park)  cannot  stand  in  the  light  of  the  new  informa- 
tion contained  in  Clark's  manuscript  map,  including  its  depiction 
of  the  Astorians'  route  in  ju.xtaposilion  to  Colter's.  J.  Neilson 
Barry,  "John  Colter's  Map  of  1814,"  Annals  of  Wyoming  10  (July 
1938),  106.  Barry's  hypothesis  was  e.xtended.  with  still  greater 
speculation,  in  Merrill  D.  Beal,  The  Sioiy  of  Man  in  Yellowstone 
(revised  ed.  1956),  285-298.  In  discussing  Colter's  route.  Wheat, 
op. cit.  54-55,  declares  that  "Crooks  River  was  unquestionably 
the  Bear,"  but  he  provides  no  supporting  argument.  John  G.  White, 
cited  by  Wheat,  fatuously  suggests  that  Colter's  River  is  the  Big 
Sandy.  {A  Souvenir  of  Wyoming,  1926,  typescript  in  Yellowstone 


Colter 's  route,  as  shown  on  Clark 's  manuscript  map 
(above  with  bold  line  added  for  clarity).  Contrast  the 
route  with  that  shown  on  Samuel  Lewis  '  engraving,  be- 
low (again,  the  bold  line  added  for  clarity) 


National  Park  Research  Library,  p. 60.)  To  deal  with  the  .Atlantic 
outflow  of  Lake  Biddle,  Orrin  H.  Bonney  takes  Colter  through 
the  southern  part  of  the  Wind  Rivers,  across  the  Wyoming  and 
Salt  River  Ranges  and  on  to  the  Teton  Basin  —  avoiding  Jackson 
Hole  altogether.  Guide  to  the  Wyoming  Mountains  and  Wilder- 
ness Areas,  Denver:  Sage  Books  1960,  25.  Paul  Chessler  Phillips 
concurs  that  if  Colter  "had  explored  this  country,  he  would  not 
have  made  the  Wind  River  the  outlet  of  Jackson  Lake,"  but  he 
then  opts  for  a  route  similar  to  Barry's.  The  Fur  Trade  (Norman: 
Univ.  of  Oklahoma  Press,  1961 ),  2:261.  Nolle  Mumey  would  have 
Colter  traveling  in  the  counter-clockwise  direction,  transiting 
Yellowstone  Park  and  the  headwaters  of  the  Green  River,  thus 
also  passing  by  Big  Sandy  Creek,  to  South  Pass  and  then  turning 
north  —  once  again,  with  no  reasoned  explanation  .  The  Teton 
Mountains:  Their  History  and  Tradition  (Denver  1947)  35. 


32 


Annals  oi  Wyoming:  The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


of  sight  of  Jackson  Lake.  After  continuing  westward 
into  Idaho  from  either  the  Togwotee  or  Sheridan  Pass 
route,  he  returned  to  Wyoming,  probably  by  way  of 
Falls  River,  and  proceeded  east.  His  course  led  him 
well  above  Jackson  Lake,  which  he  might  not  even  have 
glimpsed.  Lake  Biddle,  under  this  interpretation,  turns 
out  to  be  Heart  Lake."  And  if  Lake  Biddle  is  in  fact 
intended  to  represent  Heart  Lake,  then  the  outlet  stream 
that  Colter  would  have  forded,  according  to  the  map, 
would  seem  to  be  Brooks  Lake  Creek  (elevation  7950) 
if  Togwotee  Pass  was  on  the  route  or  Lava  Creek  (el- 
evation 7400)  if  Sheridan  Pass  was  the  place  where 
Colter  crossed  the  Divide.  Because  Heart  Lake  is  at 
7500  feet,  the  lower  elevation  of  Lava  Creek  lends  a 
bit  of  weight  to  the  Sheridan  Pass  alternative. 

Then  there  is  the  possibility  of  a  crossing  of  Union 
Pass,  which  would  take  the  traveler  close  to  the  Green 
River  headwaters  —  something  that  would  account  for 
Clark's  having  inscribed  that  stream  as  "Colters  River." 
One  difficulty  with  this  is  that  while  Union  Pass  is 
marked  with  dots  (representing  the  route  of  the 
Astorians.  discussed  below),  you  don't  get  there  if  you 
march  northwest  and  head  up  the  Wind  River  —  a  dot- 
ted-line  course  that  would  have  no  predicate  unless  it 
was  intended  to  mark  Colter's  route.  A  further  consid- 
eration is  that  there  is  no  documentation  that  Colter 
was  looking  for  the  Spanish  settlements,  so  one  won- 
ders why  (assuming  he  crossed  Union  Pass)  he  would 
leave  the  descending  valley  and  instead  climb  over  the 
barrier  of  Pifion  Ridge  in  order  to  get  to  the  basin  there 
(whether  the  Rio  Grande  or  the  Green)."  The  more  likely 
scenario  is  that  Colter  expected  to  come  upon  the 
Yellowstone  headwaters  but  found  the  south-flowing 
Snake  River  instead:  this  prompted  his  proceeding  ftir- 
ther  west  and,  when  there  was  still  no  sign  of  anything 
that  could  be  considered  the  Yellowstone,  he  then  turned 
east  once  again.'" 

But  Clark  left  a  further  record  —  the  great  "Map  of 
Lewis  and  Clark's  Track"  published  in  1814  with  the 
History  of  the  Expedition  under  the  Command  of  Cap- 
tains Lewis  and  Clark. ' '  The  map's  engraver,  Samuel 
Lewis,  did  an  excellent  job  of  copying  the  cartography 
of  the  manuscript  map.  (See  map  on  previous  page). 
There  are  some  minor  differences,  such  as  the  shape 
and  size  of  Lakes  Eustis  and  Biddle  [which  has,  enig- 
matically, become  Lake  "Riddle"].  But,  overall,  the 
faithfulness  of  the  copy  is  striking.  The  most  remark- 
able difference  is  that  the  route  of  the  Astorians,  which 
is  evident  on  the  manuscript  map,  is  not  identified  on 
the  1814  printed  one.  One  can  surmise  that  Clark  felt 
that  it  would  hav*.  been  anachronistic  and  irrelevant,  in 
the  report  of  the  1 804- 1 806  expedition,  for  travels  sev- 


eral years  later  to  be  shown.  Let  us  assume,  therefore, 
that  he  instructed  the  engraver  to  omit  the  path  of  the 
Astorians  —  but  that  this  instruction  was  misunder- 
stood. 

The  result  is  that  Colter's  route  is  correctly  indicated 
as  it  heads  up  the  South  Shoshone  to  the  "Bighorn" 
[Wind],  and  Hunt's  route  on  the  lower  Big  Horn  quite 
properly  has  vanished.  But  then,  instead  of  continuing 
along  Colter's  true  route,  as  shown  on  the  manuscript 
map,  almost  all  the  way  to  Lake  Biddle,  the  printed 
map  has  Colter  following  the  dotted  line  [actually  the 
Astorians'  westbound  route]  over  Union  Pass.  Why  did 
Samuel  Lewis  make  this  mistake?  The  likely  explana- 
tion is  that,  on  the  manuscript  map,  Clark  had  assigned 
the  name  "Colters  River"  to  the  head  of  the  Green,  and 
Lewis,  instructed  to  show  Colter's  route,  understand- 
ably would  want  to  include  Colter's  River.'-  From  there, 
the  engraved  map  follows  the  Astorians,  along  the  line 

'  The  most  likely  route  east  from  Falls  River  would  head  up  the 
Snake  River  from  the  Snake-Lewis  contluence.  Colter  would  have 
continued  upstream  for  several  miles,  but  would  cut  up  Basin 
Creek  where  the  Snake  turned  south.  (It  is  possible,  though  un- 
likely, that  he  continued  along  the  Snake  as  far  as  Coulter  Creek 
and  wandered  y4  of  a  mile  up  that  tributary,  where  the  initials 
"J.C."  were  discovered,  in  1 889,  in  a  large  pine  tree.  The  carving, 
sometimes  attributed  to  Colter,  is  reported  in  Vinton,  op.cit.  61. 
It  is  more  probable  that  the  initials  memorialize  the  botanist,  John 
Merle  Coulter,  for  whom  the  creek  was  named,  as  recorded  in  the 
"Map  of  the  Sources  of  the  Snake  River"  in  F.V.  Hayden,  Sixth 
.Animal  Report  of  the  United  Stales  Geological  Survey  of  the  Ter- 
ritories ...  Being  a  Report  of  Progress  of  the  Explorations  for  the 
Year  1872.  Aubrey  L.  Haines,  "John  Colter,"  in  LeRoy  R.  Hafen, 
The  Mountain  Men,  v. 8,  79,  Glendale:  Arthur  H.  Clark  1971.) 
After  turning  north  on  Basin  Creek,  Colter  crossed  a  ridge  that, 
though  low,  might  have  been  interpreted  as  the  boundary  of  the 
Wind  River  drainage.  He  would  then  follow  along  the  west  shore 
of  Heart  Lake  (conforming  to  the  map's  indicating  a  course  along 
the  west  bank  of  Lake  Biddle).  At  7500  feet.  Heart  Lake  is  high 
enough  to  be  thought  a  possible  source  of  Wind  River.  Harris  and 
Vinton  also  traced  a  route  by  Heart  Lake,  but  neither  of  them 
associated  it  with  Lake  Biddle.  The  cited  Hayden  map  (Wheat 
1233)  shows  Jackson  Lake  in  its  natural  state,  before  it  was 
dammed  about  1906;  the  northern  limit  of  the  lake  was  12  miles 
from  the  "Fall  River"  corridor,  and  intervening  features  blocked 
the  view. 

"  William  Goetzmann  has  argued,  however,  that  it  is  "highly 
probably  that  Colter  was  in  search  of  the  Spanish  as  well  as  Indi- 
ans with  beaver  skins  to  trade."  Exploration  and  Empire  (New 
York,  1966)  20.  To  the  same  effect  is  Robert  B.  Belts,  Along  the 
Ramparts  of  the  Tetons  (Boulder,  1978),  43-44. 

'"  Colter's  seeking  the  Yellowstone  was  suggested  by  Vinton, 
op.cit.,  59-60.  Oglesby,  op.cit.  56,  notes  Colter's  probable  aware- 
ness that  the  Crows  were  a  trading  people  whose  territory  ex- 
tended up  the  Yellowstone. 

"  No.  126  in  Moulton,  op.cit.  (Wheat  316). 

'-  The  reason  for  the  designation  is  unclear  —  perhaps  Clark's 
desire  to  honor  Colter  in  some  way,  or  maybe  just  a  thoughtless 
error  on  Clark's  part. 


Autumn   IQQQ 


The  highlighted  line  indicates  the  portion  ofAstorians  '  route  erroneously  shown  as  Colter 's  route  on  Lewis  '  engrav- 
ing (above,  left).  The  highlighted  line  on  the  map  (right)  shows  Clark's  manuscript  map  route  for  the  Astorians 
westbound  through  Unujn  Pass  in  ISl  1. 


of  dots  u  ith  superimposed  circles,  to  Jackson  Hole. 
This  is  the  Snake  River  —  marked  "Crooks  River"  on 
the  manuscript  map,  after  a  member  of  Hunt's  party 
who  returned  with  Robert  Stuart  on  the  trek  east  in 
1812,  but  without  any  label  on  the  1814  map  (since 
references  to  the  Astorians  were  to  be  omitted).  This 
left  the  engraver  with  a  problem,  as  he  needed  to  ac- 
count for  the  dotted  route  northeast  from  Crooks  River 
and  another  such  dotted  route  to  the  west  of  Lake 
Biddle.  He  met  the  challenge  by  connecting  these  dis- 
junct segments  and  making  them  part  of  Colter's  route. 
His  efforts  made  orphans  of  portions  of  the  manuscript 
map  —  Colter's  route  along  the  upper  Wind  River  and 
his  travels  west  of  Teton  Pass.  One  can  imagine  Clark's 
discovering  the  error  after  a  tmished  engraved  plate 
was  presented  to  him  —  but,  since  the  Colter  itinerary 
was  not  a  portion  of  the  Lewis  and  Clark  journey,  an 
error  in  its  presentation  might  hardly  have  seemed  suf- 
ficient to  require  a  corrected  drawing.'' 

The  printed  map  (and,  indeed,  the  manuscript  map 
as  well)  show  Colter's  route  ascending  the  Salt  Fork 
[South  Shoshone]  for  a  few  days  at  the  start  of  this 
section  of  his  travels,  but  then  veering  away  a  bit  to  the 
east.  Although  Burton  Harris  suggests  that  Colter 
crossed  over  to  the  Greybull  drainage  and  traversed 
the  Owl  Creek  Mountains  on  the  way  to  the  Wind  Riv  er, 
an  examination  of  the  topography  makes  this  seem 
doubtful:  if  one  goes  even  a  few  miles  up  the  South 
Shoshone,  the  mountain  barrier  to  the  east  becomes 


fomiidable.'^  Upon  the  completion  of  his  trek.  Colter 
would  have  discussed  his  observations  with  Drouillard, 
w  ho  subsequently  drew  a  map  and  presented  it  to  Clark. 
The  map.  which  bears  notes  made  by  Clark  on  the  ba- 
sis of  conversations  with  Drouillard.  shows  the  forks 
of  the  Shoshone  as  well  as  the  course  of  the  Big  Horn, 
indicating  that  a  route  directly  up  the  South  Fork  of  the 
Shoshone  to  its  source  would  lead  to  Spanish  settle- 
ments.'" Had  Colter  detoured  to  the  Greybull,  and  so 
reported  to  Drouillard,  a  more  circuitous  depiction 
would  be  expected. 

The  route  will  remain  the  topic  of  debate,  yet  Colter 
may  well  have  been  the  first  recorded  traveler  over 

"  On  March  29.  1813,  Lewis  was  paid  S20.50  "for  making 
Sundry  Alterations  in  plates."  so  it  might  have  been  practicable 
to  ha\e  made  a  correction  if  Clark  had  given  the  matter  an>  con- 
sideration. Donald  Jackson,  ed..  Letters  of  the  LeMis  and  Clark 
Expedition  Second  Edition  (Urbana:  Univ.  of  Illinois  1978).  600. 

'*  Harris,  op  cit..  98-99.  See  DeLorme  Mapping.  Wyoming  .At- 
las &  Cazeueer  (Vxeepon.  Me.  1992).  Maps  60.  59,  and  49.  Har- 
ris bases  his  view  on  the  difficulty  of  crossing  Shoshone  Pass  in 
the  winter,  but  a  President  of  the  Wyoming  State  Historical  Soci- 
ety. DeWitt  Dominick.  considered  such  a  route,  passing  Bliss 
Meadows  along  the  way.  to  be  "logical."  "President's  Message." 
.Annals  of  Wyoming  /^  (April  1957)  104-105.  (Colter's  route,  each 
way.  between  Manuel's  Fort  and  the  Stinking  Water  presents 
complex  issues  of  interpretation  that  are  not  fully  addressed  here. 
See  Harris.  83-90  and  111-114.) 

'The  pertinent  section  of  the  Drouillard  map  (Wheat  289)  is 
reproduced  in  John  Logan  Allen,  Passage  through  the  Garden 
(Urbana  1975).  380-81. 


34 


Annals  or  Wyoming:  Tne  Wyoming  History  Journal 


Sheridan  Pass.  Union  Pass  was  Hunt's  route,  not 
Colter's.  While  Togwotee  Pass  would  have  been  an 
attractive  route  to  follow,  the  evidence  for  Colter's  pres- 
ence there  is  not  conclusive."' 


9n  1 809,  Manuel  Lisa  again  led  an  expedition  up 
the  Missouri.  Once  arriving  there,  the  trappers 
ranged  out  over  a  large  area,  but  left  only  fragmentary 
records."  The  next  spring,  after  several  of  the  expedi- 
tion members  had  been  attacked  and  killed  by  the 
Blackfeet,  the  bulk  of  those  remaining  in  the  area,  led 
by  Andrew  Henry,  crossed  from  the  Madison  River 
over  to  the  Snake  headwaters,  setting  up  camp  near 
present  St.  Anthony,  Idaho.  When  Henry's  party  dis- 
banded in  1811,  three  of  their  number  —  Edward 
Robinson,  John  Hoback,  and  Jacob  Reznor  —  took  a 
course  eastward  via  Teton  Pass  and  the  Wind  River  to 
the  Missouri  River.  On  their  way  downstream,  they 
met  and  were  employed  as  guides  by  Wilson  Price 
Hunt's  o\erland  expedition  of  John  Jacob  Astor's  Pa- 
cific Fur  Company.  The  three  trappers  then  guided  the 
Astorians  back  to  the  mountains  and  over  the  Conti- 
nental Divide. 

Hunt's  diary  leaves  no  doubt  that  the  Astorians  went 
over  Union  Pass,  descended  to  the  upper  Green  River, 
and  then  followed  the  Hoback  River  to  the  Snake:  the 
southwesterly  course  from  the  Wind  River,  the  halt 
"made  beside  Spanish  River,  a  large  stream  on  the  banks 
of  which,  according  to  Indian  report,  the  Spaniards  live," 
and  the  references  to  the  Tetons  ("three  immensely  high 
and  snow-covered  peaks")  document  the  way.'*  But 
Robinson  et  al  had  followed  a  more  northern  track  on 
their  earlier  journey  eastward.  As  Hunt  observed,  pre- 
sumably with  the  trappers'  route  in  mind,  "we  should 
have  continued. .  .to  follow  Wind  River  [i.e.,  instead  of 
turning  to  go  over  Union  Pass]  and  to  cross  one  of  the 
mountains  because  we  would  have  reached  the  head- 
waters of  this  river;  but  lack  of  provisions  forced  us  to 
make  for  the  banks  of  Spanish  River."''*  The  conven- 
tional interpretation  is  that  the  three  trappers  had  ear- 
lier crossed  the  Continental  Divide  by  way  of  Togwotee 
Pass.-"  But  once  again  one  must  entertain  the  possibil- 
ity that  the  route  was  over  Sheridan  Pass  instead.  It  is 
not  only  lower  than  Togwotee  Pass,  but  a  much  shorter 
route  to  the  valley  of  the  Wind  River  as  well. 

The  1812  return  trip  of  the  Astorians  led  by  Robert 
Stuart  resulted  in  the  discovery  of  a  low  gap  in  the 
Rocky  Mountai.^  chains  —  South  Pass,  ultimately  the 
route  of  the  Oreg*  n  Trail  —  but,  as  historically  signifi- 
cant as  that  was,  it  adds  little  to  the  present  tale.-' 


9n  1 822,  Andrew  Henry  joined  William  H.  Ashley 
in  organizing  a  new  company  to  trap  furs  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  During  the  winter  of  1823-24,  one 
of  the  venture's  trapping  parties,  with  Jedediah  Smith 

"■  Henry  Brackenridge  wrote  in  1811:  "At  the  head  of  the 
Gallatin  Fork,  and  of  the  Grosse  Corne  [Big  Horn]  of  the 
Yellowstone,  from  discoveries  since  the  voyage  of  Lewis  &  Clark, 
it  is  found  less  difficult  to  cross  than  the  Allegheny  mountains: 
Coulter,  a  celebrated  hunter  and  woodsman,  informed  me  that  a 
loaded  wagon  would  find  no  obstruction  in  passing."  Morgan, 
op.cit.,  x.K.xvi  {n.22).  This  vsould  not  rule  out  any  of  the  alterna- 
tives, though  Togwotee  Pass  best  fits  the  "head  of  the  Grosse 
Corne." 

'^  However,  from  the  evidence  of  the  Reuben  Lewis  letter,  n.6 
supra.  Jean  Baptiste  Champlain  (with  others,  no  doubt  —  includ- 
ing, perhaps,  Robinson,  Hoback,  and  Reznor)  ranged  to  the  south 
in  1 809.  The  letter  records  that  "Mr.  Shamplain  tells  me  that  the 
martin  abound  in  the  mountains  dividing  the  waters  of  the  Span- 
ish River  as  it  is  called,  on  what  is  supposed  to  be  the  Rio  del 
nort,  from  the  waters  of  some  of  the  Southern  branches  of  the 
Collumbia,  on  a  River  falling  into  the  Gulf  of  California,  which 
he  thinks  most  probable."  This  would  seem  to  place  Champlain 
on  the  upper  Green  River.  Whether  he  got  there  from  the  west  via 
Henrys  Fork  and  Teton  Pass  or  from  the  east  by  way  of  Union 
Pass  cannot  be  determined.  It  is  plausible  that  he  did  in  fact  go  by 
way  of  Union  Pass,  as  the  information  he  (or  some  other  anony- 
mous trapper)  conveyed  may  have  led  the  way  for  a  small  party 
that  included  John  Dougherty,  one  of  Lisa's  men.  Dougherty's 
party,  apparently  in  1810,  is  reported  to  have  ascended  the 
Shoshone  River  to  its  source  and  crossed  over  to  a  river  that  they 
concluded  was  the  Rio  del  Norte.  Ralph  E.  Ehrenberg,  "Sketch  of 
Part  of  the  Missouri  &  Yellowstone  Rivers  with  a  Description  of 
the  Country  &c."  Prologue:  The  Journal  of  the  National  Archives, 
Fall  1971,  73-75.  Thus,  they  may  have  been  following  the  track 
pioneered  previously  by  Champlain.  On  the  other  hand, 
Brackenridge  writes  that  when  Andrew  Henry's  party  left  their 
1810-1811  winter  quarters,  some  of  the  trappers  "made  their  way 
south,  into  the  Spanish  settlements,  by  the  way  of  the  Rio  del 
Norte,"  which  is  an  indication  that  they  were  following  the  west- 
em  slope,  very  likely  following  the  footsteps  of  Champlain  two 
years  earlier,  rather  than  going  north,  east,  south,  and  then  west. 
Morgan,  op.cit.,  xxxvi  (n.21). 

'*  Philip  Ashton  Rollins,  The  Discovery  of  the  Oregon  Trail 
(New  York  1935),  101-102,  286-288.  C.G.  Coutant  identified 
Sheridan  Pass  as  the  place  the  Astorians  crossed  the  Divide,  but 
he  provided  no  analysis.  The  History  of  Wyoming.  Volume  I 
(Laramie  1899),  82. 

"  Rollins,  op.cit.,  288. 

-°  E.g.,  Rollins,  op.cit.,  cxxx  (n.228);  Morgan,  op.cit.,  .xxxviii; 
Berts,  op.cit.,  56. 

-'  It  may  be  noted,  however,  that  Robinson,  Hoback,  and  Reznor 
—  having  left  Hunt  the  previous  autumn  —  apparently  wandered 
through  South  Pass  in  1812,  before  Stuart.  They  might  have  gone 
through  Union  Pass  on  their  travels,  though  this  would  just  be  a 
matter  of  speculation.  Washington  Irving,  Astoria  (Edgeley  W. 
Todd,  ed.),  Norman  1964,  371-72,  nn.  28-29.  They  may  also  have 
explored  the  South  Pass  area  In  1810.  Donald  McKay  Frost,  Gen- 
eral Ashley.  The  Overland  Trail,  and  South  Pass  (Barre  1960), 
11. 


Autu 


1999 


as  their  captain,  camped  near  a  Crow  village  along  the 
Wind  River.  According  to  the  reminiscences  of  one  of 
the  trappers,  James  Clyman,  written  many  years  later, 
the  location  was  in  a  narrow  valley  immediately  north 
of  Fremont  Peak.  Having  learned  from  the  Indians  of 
the  beaver  resources  of  Jackson  Hole,  Smith's  party 
set  out  in  February  1 824  to  "cross  the  mountains  north 
of  the  wind  River  [rajnge  but  found  the  snow  too  deep 
and  had  to  return  and  take  a  Southern  course"  to  the 
Sweetwater.  Union  Pass  has  been  identified  as  the  route 
the  party  sought  to  follow,  and  there  is  no  reason  to 
think  otherwise. -- 

Ashley  returned  to  St.  Louis  in  1825,  from  the  Big 
Horn  River,  with  a  load  of  furs.  It  has  been  suggested 
that  the  part>  that  had  accompanied  him  from  the  Green 
River  rendezvous  returned  to  Jackson  Hole  by  way  of 
Togwotee  or  Union  Pass;  but  the  evidence  is  weak. 
The  source  is  C.G.  Coutant's  report  that  Thomas 
Fitzpatrick  and  James  Bridger  "went  up  the  Snake  River 
and  trapped  in  all  the  tributary  streams. . .  Bridger,  with 
a  small  party,  follow  ed  the  Snake  river  to  its  very  source 
and  wandered  around  for  some  time  in  what  is  now 
known  as  the  Yellowstone  National  Park."  Some  writ- 
ers have  taken  the  "Snake"  to  refer  to  the  Shoshone 
River  —  but,  even  so,  the  continuation  of  their  travels 
would  take  them  into  Yellowstone  well  north  of  our 
area.  But  Coutant  elsewhere  made  it  clear  that  the  Snake 
River  to  which  he  referred  was  Washington  Irving's 
"Mad  River,"  which  is  today's  Snake  River  (where 
joined  by  the  Hoback  River).  Fitzpatrick  and  Bridger 
most  likely  returned  from  the  Big  Horn  to  South  Pass 
and  then  headed  north  to  Jackson  Hole  and 
Yellowstone.-' 

Although  Ashley  dropped  out  of  the  fiir  trade  in  1 826, 
several  of  his  men  continued  the  enterprise  as  the  part- 
nership of  Smith,  Jackson  &  Sublette.  After  the  1829 
rendezvous  on  the  Popo  Agie  River,  William  Sublette 
is  reported  to  have  "led  his  company  up  the  valley  of 
the  Wind  River,  across  the  mountains,  and  on  to  the 
very  head-waters  of  the  Lewis  or  Snake  River. "-^ 
Togwotee  Pass  would  best  fit  this  description. 


The  extensive  trapping  activity  in  both  Jackson  Hole 
and  the  Wind  River  valley  probably  resulted  in  oc- 
casional mountain  crossings.  One  of  the  few  instances 
that  is  documented  is  William  Sublette's  eastward  jour- 
ney from  the  1832  Pierre's  Hole  rendezvous  to  St. 
Louis.  Rather  than  venturing  up  the  Hoback  River  and 
crossing  South  Pass,  Washington  Irving  reports  they 
chose  "a  different  route  through  the  mountains,  out  of 


35 

the  way,  as  they  hoped,  of  the  lurking  bands  of 
Blackfeet."-'  This  has  generally  been  understood  to  refer 
to  Union  Pass,  which  is  the  most  direct  way,  but  it 
could  refer  to  Sheridan  Pass.  In  either  case,  the  party 
would  have  ascended  the  Gros  Ventre  River;  it  would 
then  depend  whether  they  continued  northeast  up  the 
North  Fork  of  Fish  Creek  (to  Sheridan  Pass)  or  turned 
southeast  and  headed  up  the  South  Fork  of  Fish  Creek 
to  Union  Pass.  One  clue  —  concededly,  not  very  con- 
vincing —  may  be  the  map  that  accompanied  Irving's 
text,  with  cartography  by  Benjamin  Bonneville  (Irving's 
source).  It  shows  the  Gros  Ventre  River  rising  all  the 
way  to  the  mountains  in  a  northeasterly  direction.-* 

The  map  is  even  more  suggestive  in  indicating 
Bonneville's  own  course  when  he  left  the  Green  River, 
on  September  18,  1833,  to  rejoin  the  main  party  of 
trappers  on  the  Wind  River,  just  about  the  place  where 
it  issues  from  the  mountains.  "At  the  head  of  the  val- 
ley, they  were  to  pass  through  a  detlle  which  would 
bring  them  out  beyond  the  northern  end  of  these  moun- 
tains." Given  the  evidence  of  the  map,  the  route  could 
have  been  through  Sheridan  Pass,  though  Union  Pass 
seems  the  better  choice  since  it  is  far  more  direct  and  it 
lies  just  beyond  the  northern  end  of  the  main  peaks  of 
the  Wind  River  Mountains.-' 

The  diarist  Osborne  Russell  left  by  far  the  most  de- 
tailed report  of  a  Continental  Divide  crossing  in  our 
area.  He  reported  starting  up  the  "Grosvent  fork"  [Gros 
Ventre  River]  with  Joseph  Gale's  party  of  trappers, 
camping  about  two  miles  upstream  on  July  7,  1835. 
On  July  8,  they  continued  east  through  narrow  defiles 
for  1 5  miles.  After  another  10  miles  upstream,  east,  on 
July  9,  they  turned  up  a  left  hand  fork.  The  description 
places  them  here  at  the  confluence  of  the  North  and 
South  Forks  of  Fish  Creek.  They  continued  northeast 
another  eight  miles  and  camped  "among  the  high  rough 

--  Charles  L.  Camp.,  ed.,  James  Clyman.  Frontiersman.  Port- 
land 1 960,  20-2 1 ;  Dale  L.  Morgan,  Jedediah  Smith  and  the  Open- 
ing of  the  Weir  (Lincoln  1953),  89. 

-'  Savior,  op.cit.,  60;  Merrill  J.  Mattes,  "Jactcson  Hole,  Cross- 
roads of  the  Western  Fur  Trade,  1807-1829."  Pacific  Northwest 
Quarterly,  vol.  37.  no.  2,  April  1946,  103-104;  Coutant,  opcit. 
84,  126;  Irving,  op.cit.,  262. 

-''  Frances  Fuller  Victor.  The  River  of  the  IVest  (Hanford  1 870). 
58. 

■■'  Washington  Irving.  The  .Adventures  of  Captain  Bonneville. 
U.S.A.  (Edgeley  W.  Todd.  ed..  Norman  1961).  66. 

-"  John  E.  Sunder.  Bill  Sublette:  Mountain  Man  (Norman.  1 959). 
1 12;  Merrill  J.  Mattes.  "Jackson  Hole.  Crossroads  of  the  Western 
Fur  Trade  1830-1840,"  Pacific  Northwest  Quarterly  vol.  39  no.l 
(Jan.  1948)  12.  Bonneville's  "A  Map  of  the  Sources  of  the  Colo- 
rado and  Big  Salt  Lake"  appears  opposite  p.  1 54  of  Irving,  op.cit. 

-^Todd,  in  Irving,  op.c/7..  185.  200  (Union  Pass);  Coutant.  op. c/r. 
1 78  (Sheridan  Pass).  The  destination  was  near  the  mouth  of  Dunoir 
Creek,  which  could  be  approached  readily  from  either  pass. 


36 


Annals  of  Wyoming:  Trie  Wyoming  History 


mountains  thickly  covered  with  pine  timber."  The  camp 
would  have  been  at  the  mouth  of  Papoose  Creek.  On 
July  10,  Russell  writes  that  they  "took  a  narrow  defile 
which  led  us  in  an  East  direction  about  12  mis.  on  to  a 
Stream  running  S.E."  The  narrow  defile  is  the  climb  to 
Sheridan  Pass  and  the  stream  is  the  Wind  River.  After 
descending  the  Wind  River  about  six  miles,  "the  defile 
opened  into  a  beautiful  valley  about  1 5  mis.  in  circum- 
ference" —  the  valley  around  the  confluence  with 
Dunoir  Creek.  The  next  day  appears  to  have  taken  the 
party  into  the  Dunoir  \  alley,  where  "on  the  North  and 
West  were  towering  rocks  several  thousand  feet  high 
[Pinnacle  Buttes]  which  seem  to  overhang  this  little 
vale." 

Russell  and  a  companion  spent  July  1 2  climbing  Lava 
Mountain  — a  high  summit  where  no  other  peaks  ap- 
peared so  high  as  the  one  they  were  on  —  discovering 
a  vast  pile  of  huge  mountains  crowned  with  snow  (no- 
tabh.  the  Breccia  Cliffs)  in  the  northwest.  On  July  13 
the\  encountered  some  Shoshone  Indians  who  described 
Yellowstone  Lake  as  being  off  to  the  distant  northwest 
and  ad\  ised  that  the  only  way  for  the  party  to  continue, 
\\  ith  their  mules  and  horses,  was  in  a  northeast  direc- 
tion. And  so,  on  July  14,  the  party  set  out  to  climb  over 
Siioshone  Pass  and  proceed  down  the  Shoshone  River.-** 

Russell  recorded  another  traverse  of  the  Divide,  on 
July  22,  1838.  With  about  30  trappers  (including  Jim 
Bridger),  he  left  the  rendezvous  on  the  Popo  Agie  River 
and  followed  the  Wind  River  upstream.  Leaving  the 
valley,  he  headed  west  and  "travelled  over  a  high  ridge 
covered  with  pines  in  a  west  direction  about  15  Mis 
and  fell  on  the  Gros  vent  fork."  Union  Pass  would  pro- 
vide the  most  direct  route  to  the  party's  Jackson  Hole 
destination;  the  recorded  mileages  and  distances  also 
imply  that  the  party  went  that  way.  It  is  worth  noting, 
however,  that  Russell  made  no  mention  of  having  pre- 
viously crossed  the  Divide  at  this  place,  a  consider- 
ation that  adds  a  bit  to  the  view  that  his  1835  passage 
was  elsewhere,  i.e.,  via  Sheridan  Pass.-'' 


The  decline  of  the  fur  trade  left  the  mountains  and 
valleys  to  the  local  tribes.  Exploring  a  route  for  a 
transcontinental  railroad  was  a  great  issue  of  the  day, 
but  the  rugged  Wind  River  country  north  of  South  Pass 
was  obviously  not  a  prime  candidate.  Wagon  roads 
could  be  located  in  more  mountainous  settings.  So  it 
was  suggested,  for  example,  that  "a  very  excellent  mail 
route  —  probably  the  best  in  that  region  of  the  coun- 
try, permitting  a  short  connecting  line  with  Oregon  and 
Washington,  through  Salmon  River  valley,  avoiding 
the  Snow  mountains  —  can  be  obtained  north  of  the 


Wind  River  ranges  to  the  great  valley  of  the  Snake,  by 
a  pass  which  is  travelled  in  the  winter  by  the  Indians 
and  mountaineers."^" 

-'  Osborne  Russell,  Journal  of  a  Trapper  (Portland  1955),  20- 
25.  Surprisingly,  no  detailed  analysis  of  the  Russell  route  has 
been  found.  See  DeLorme  Mapping,  Maps  48,  49.  Russell's  party 
had  been  instructed  to  go  due  north  from  Fish  Creek,  but  the  leader 
"said  the  directions  must  be  wrong  as  he  could  discover  no  pas- 
sage through  the  mountains  to  the  North,"  Russell,  20;  this  was 
the  difficulty  encountered  later  on  by  Bridger  and  Raynolds. 
Bridger,  incidentally,  was  not  a  member  of  the  Gale  group  as  is 
evident  both  from  his  presence  on  the  Green  River  in  August  and 
Russell's  reference  on  Sept.  9  to  "Mr  Bridgers  party."  Op.cit.  30; 
J.  Cecil  Alter,  Jim  Bridger  (Lincoln:  Bison  Book  ed.  1962),  152. 

-"  Russell,  op.cit..  91 .  Among  those  accompanying  Russell  may 
have  been  Robert  Newell,  whose  journal  noted  that  he  had  gone 
"up  Wind  River  in  to  Jacksons  Hole."  Dorothy  O.  .lohansen  (ed.), 
Robert  !\eweU's  Memoranda  (Portland,  1959),  37.  A  few  other 
records,  though  vague  or  unreliable,  may  be  noted:  Victor,  op.cit. 
89  ("Jackson  also  arrived  [at  the  1830  Popo  Agie  rendezvous] 
from  the  Snake  country  with  plenty  of  beaver"  —  but  possibly 
via  South  Pass);  Johansen.  opcit  31  ("Freab  &  Garvie  went  to 
the  Snake  Country"  after  the  1830  rendezvous  —  which  Don 
Berry's  map  in  A  Majority  oj  Scoundrels  [New  York  1961]  shows 
as  using  Sheridan  Pass);  Stephen  Hall  Meek,  The  Autobiography 
of  a  Mountain  Man  1805-1889  (Pasadena  1948),  5  ("went  up  [the 
Missouri]  to  Three  Forks,  and  up  the  lefthand  fork  to  the  head  of 
Big  Gray  Bull  river,  a  tributary  of  the  Yellowstone;  then  to  Green 
Ri\er...");  Johansen,  op.cit.  37.  after  noting  the  presence  of 
Bridger,  has  Newell  travel  to  the  1838  rendezvous  by  moving 
from  "the  head  of  green  river  ...  on  to  the  head  of  wind  river"; 
Victor,  op.cit..  233  (Bridger's  brigade  "up  the  Grovant  Fork,  re- 
crossing  the  mountains  to  W'ind  River"  —  presumably,  via  Union 
Pass,  the  same  trip  that  was  recorded  in  Nevvell's  Journal);  Howard 
Louis  Conard,  Uncle  Dick  Wootton  (Lincoln  1980,  Bison  Book 
ed.)  53  ("we  struck  the  Green  River  [in  I838]and  followed  it  up 
into  Wyoming.  After  trapping  all  the  smaller  streams  in  that  Ter- 
ritory, we  followed  the  Big  Horn  River  into  Montana");  James  B. 
Marsh.  Four  Years  in  the  Rockies  (New  Castle,  Pa.  1884),  182 
("The  third  day  after  reaching  Jackson's  Lake  [Isaac  P.]  Rose  and 
his  companions  reached  a  spur  of  the  Wind  River  Mountain,  which 
they  found  it  necessary  to  ascend.  The  buffalo  trail  which  they 
followed  was  so  narrow  they  had  to  walk  Indian  file...");  Will- 
iam T.  Hamilton,  .VA'  San-  }'ears  on  the  Plains  (New  York  1905), 
83-84  ("We  remained  two  days  at  Bull  Lake....  We  next  crossed 
the  mountains  to  the  west  fork  of  Green  River"  —  in  1845,  no 
doubt  via  Union  Pass);  Hamilton,  "Trapping  E.xpedition,  1848- 
9",  Contributions  to  the  Historical  Society  of  Montana.  Vol.  7 
(Helena  1910)  249  (from  Dinvviddy  Lake  "over  the  Wind  River 
mountains  to  the  head  waters  of  the  Green  river,"  logically  via 
Union  Pass).  A.G.  Clayton  identified  Togwotee,  Sheridan,  and 
Union  as  "the  three  main  passes  in  the  upper  Wind  River  Range 
used  by  early  travelers  and  still  in  use;"  he  mentions  the  1925 
discovery  near  Sheridan  Pass  of  a  Colt  revolver,  made  between 
1838  and  1842,  that  may  have  been  left  there  by  an  anonymous 
traveler  not  long  after  its  manufacture.  "A  Brief  History  of  the 
Washakie  National  Forest  and  the  Duties  and  Some  Experiences 
of  a  Kanzffx,"  Annals  of  Wyoming  A  (1926),  279-280.  For  an  over- 
view, see  Keith  Alger,  "The  Wind-Big  Horn  River  and  the  Rocky 
Mountain  Fur  Trade,"  Annals  of  Wyoming  55:1  (1 983)  5 1 . 

'"  Reports  upon  the  Pacific  Wagon  Roads.  35"'  Cong.,  2d  Sess. 
S.Ex.Doc.  36,  Feb.  23,  1859,  p. 65. 


w^^m^mwiKrirmiwm 


Autumn   19Q9 


Harden  expedition  enterins^  the  Yelhnvstone  area  in  IS^ ! .  Slale  Parks  and  Cultured  Resourees  Department.  Div  of 
Cultural  Resourees. 


Captain  W.  F.  Ra\ nolds  was  instructed,  in  this  en- 
\  ironment,  to  organize  an  expedition  for  the  ex- 
ploration of  the  Yellowstone  River,  with  particular  at- 
tention to  be  given,  among  other  things,  to  "ascertain- 
ing the  practicability  of  a  route  from  the  sources  of 
Wind  river  to  those  of  the  Missouri."  considering  the 
relation  of  topographic  features  "to  the  construction  of 
rail  or  common  roads."''  After  spending  the  winter  of 
1859-1860  on  the  plains.  Raynolds  set  out  for  the  Big 
Horn  country  and  a  rendezv  ous  with  other  members  of 
his  party  at  the  mouth  of  the  Popo  Agie.  Raynolds' 
division  began  the  ascent  of  the  Wind  River  on  May 
24.  They  crossed  the  outlet  of  Bull  Lake  on  May  26 
and  the  forks  of  Wind  River  (continence  with  the  East 
Fork  of  Wind  River)  on  May  28.  Camp  on  May  30  was 
two  miles  above  the  Upper  Forks  (at  Dunoir  Creek),  at 
an  elevation  recorded  as  7400  feet  above  sea  level. '- 

It  was  Raynolds"  perception  that  one  could  continue 
up  the  Wind  River  to  its  head  and  cross  over  to  the 
sources  of  the  Yellowstone,  but  his  guide  Jim  Bridger 
advised  that  "it  would  be  necessary  to  pass  over  to  the 
head-waters  of  the  Columbia,  and  back  again  to  the 
Yellowstone"  —  presumably  by  way  of  Two  Ocean 
Pass.  To  remain  on  the  Atlantic  slope  seemed  impos- 
sible, as  "directly  across  our  route  lies  a  basaltic  ridge, 
rising  not  less  than  5,000  feet  above  us,  its  walls  ap- 
parently vertical  with  no  visible  pass.  [As  Bridger  re- 
marked] 'A  bird  can't  tly  over  that  without  taking  a 
supply  of  grub  along."  ""'-' 


Having  decided  to  go  over  to  the  basin  of  the  Snake, 
the  party  turned  west  and  crossed  the  Continental  Di- 
vide, at  Union  Pass,  on  May  31.  The  explorers  pro- 
ceeded down  the  South  Fork  of  Fish  Creek  and  then, 
as  indicated  on  the  published  map  as  well  as  the  text 
for  .lune  4  and  5,  they  cut  over  some  ridges  to  the  North 
Fork  of  Fish  Creek.  The  next  day  Bridger  and  Raynolds 
explored  a  westerly  fork  which  apparently  headed  in  a 
low  pass  that  looked  promising  and  were  disappointed 
to  find  a  south-tlowing  stream  on  the  far  side.  They 

"  Bvt.  Brig.  Gen.  W.F.  Raynolds,  Report  ou  the  Exploration  of 
the  Yellowstone  River  ,  40"'  Cong.,  2"''  Sess.  [erroneousl>  headed 
-1"  Session"],  S.E.\.Doc.  77,  Jufv  17,  1868.  p.4. 

'■  Ibid.  83-87.  "Exploration  in  Northwest  Wyoming,"  (['///(/ 
River  Mountaineer  ':2  {.April-June  l')9l ).  30  describes  the  routes 
of  both  Raynolds  and  Capt.  Jones  (discussed  below),  but  lacks 
details  on  the  Pacific  side  of  the  Divide. 

"  Ibid.,  86.  The  Breccia  Cliffs  and  Pinnacle  Buttes  do  present 
a  forbidding  appearance.  The  elevation  difference  is  about  4000 
feet.  Sa_\  lor,  op  eit.  98.  offers  the  dubious  suggestion  that  Bridger 
had  forgotten  about  the  existence  of  Two  Ocean  Pass.  However, 
as  Frank  Calkins  observes.  Jackson  Hale  (New  >'ork:  .Alfred  .A. 
Knopf,  1'573).  80.  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  a  man  of  Bridger's 
abilities  would  forget  such  critical  information  despite  his  ab- 
sence from  the  area  for  two  decades.  Calkins  primarily  attributes 
Bridger's  failure  to  lead  the  e.\pedition  from  Jackson  Hole  across 
Two  Ocean  Pass  to  a  concern  about  high  waters  on  the  upper 
reaches  of  the  Yellowstone  River;  but  the  strain  between  Raynolds 
and  Bridger  (reflected  in  critical  remarks  about  the  guide's  er- 
rors) may  have  played  a  part  as  well.  Raynolds'  difficult  person- 
ality is  well  sketched  in  Mike  Foster.  Strange  Genius  The  Life  of 
Ferdinand  Vandeveer  Harden  (Niwot:  Roberts  Rinehart  l')94). 
83-87. 


3S 


Annals  of  Wyoming:  The  Wyoming  Histon'  Journal 


j^i^^^^m^^^m^^ 


Map  of  ihe  sources  of  Snake  River,  from  the  1872  Hoyden 
survey  report.  Jackson  Lake,  as  shown  here  (before  the  dam 
raised  the  water  level),  might  not  have  been  observed  by 
Colter  as  he  followed  "Fall  River.  "  Heart  Lake  had  per- 
haps one-third  of  the  surface  area  of  Jackson  Lake— large 
enough  to  merit  its  listing  on  Clark 's  manuscript  map  as 
-Lake  Biddle.  " 

returned  to  the  valley  and  ascended  the  main  stream 
further  to  the  eastward.  In  another  mile,  they  came  to  a 
point  where  for  three-quarters  of  a  mile  above,  the  val- 
ley was  comparatively  wide.  The  place  lacked  "the 
slightest  appearance  of  ever  having  been  crossed  by 
man  or  beast,"  but  Bridger  at  once  seemed  to  recog- 
nize the  locality,  saying  "This  is  the  pass." 

According  to  Raynolds,  who  returned  to  the  pass  the 
next  day  with  Ferdinand  Hayden  and  a  few  others,  they 
"scaled  the  last  ascent  and  stood  again  upon  the  divid- 
ing crest  of  the  Rocky  mountains."  At  first  blush,  the 
pass  on  the  Continental  Divide,  several  miles  north  of 
Union  Pass,  would  seem  likely  to  be  Sheridan  Pass. 
But  this  cannot  be.  For  one  thing,  the  actual  distance 
between  the  valley  and  the  crest  would  be  much  more 
than  the  reported  1%  miles.  Moreover,  Raynolds'  pub- 
lished map  depicts  the  party's  route  as  headed  due  north 
to  the  "pass,"  with  the  tributary  (Squaw  Creek)  up  to 
Sheridan  Pass  clearly  shown  as  a  side  stream.  In  actu- 
ality, Raynolds  was  not  on  the  Continental  Divide  at 
all,  but  rather  at  the  crest  of  a  ridge  overlooking  Squaw 


Basin  from  the  head  of  Hereford  Creek. 
Hayden  had  it  right:  he  recorded  that  "we 
passed  up  a  ravine  to-day  which  runs  north 
and  south,  and  is  close  to  the  divide  which 
overlooks  Stuike  river^*  Raynolds  could 
see  no  prospect  of  continuing  northward 
into  Yellowstone  and  reluctantly  took  his 
party  down  Fish  Creek  and  the  Gros  Ven- 
tre River  to  Jackson  Hole.^' 

"  F.V.  Hayden.  Geological  Report  of  the  Explo- 
ration of  the  Yellowstone  and  Missouri  Rivers  ... 
1859-60  (Washington:  Government  Printing  Office 
1869),  87. 

'^  The  analysis  in  the  text  is  based  upon  (1) 
Raynolds,  op.cit.  87-93,  (2)  William  F.  Raynolds 
Papers,  Beinecke  Library,  Yale  University,  Box  1 , 
Folders  2  and  3,  (3)  National  Archives,  Record 
Group  77,  Entry  161  [Box  82,  11-2-13,  Meteoro- 
logical Observations,  1860,  Deer  Creek  to  Fort 
Pierre);  Box  37,  3-1-14,  Barometrical  Observations; 
Box  37,  3-1-14,  Observations  with  Astronomical 
Transit;  Box  77,  11-1,  Table  of  Altitudes  from  Baro- 
metrical Observations],  and  (4)  U.S.  Geological 
Survey  7.5-minute  topographic  maps  (Fish  Creek 
Park,  Mosquito  Lake,  Sheridan  Pass,  Burnt  Moun- 
tain, Tripod  Peak,  Lava  Mountain).  On  May  3 1 ,  the 
expedition  went  over  the  top  of  the  first  ridge  (8675  feet)  at  2.75 
miles,  down  to  a  valley  at  4.0  miles  (surely  Warm  Spring  Creek, 
at  8508  feet),  to  the  main  dividing  ridge  and  pass  at  8.96  (9988 
feet).  Raynolds  was  in  the  vicinity  of  Union  Pass,  as  he  records 
Union  Peak  —  "a  bold  conical  peak"  some  10  miles  to  the  left. 
Union  Pass  is  at  an  elevation  of  only  about  9200  feet,  surpris- 
ingly lower  than  the  barometric  observation.  Yet  the  map  accom- 
panying the  Raynolds  report  leaves  little  doubt  that  this  was  the 
place  of  passage.  [The  report,  it  may  be  noted,  names  both  Llnion 
Pass  and  Union  Peak.  Report,  88.  The  1866  diary  of  A.B.  ("Bart") 
Henderson  documents  the  "distinct  trail"  that  crosses  Union  Pass 
on  the  way  to  the  Snake  and  Green  Rivers.  Journal  of  the 
Yellowstone  Expedition  of  1866  under  Capt.  Jeff  Standifer, 
Beinecke  Library,  Yale  University,  entry  for  Oct.  3,  1866.]  On 
June  1,  a  mile  from  their  campsite  in  Fish  Creek  Park  (reported 
elevation  9263.5,  actual  about  8680),  the  party  soon  crossed  a 
rivulet  (Strawberry  Creek)  and  continued  another  six  miles  down 
the  South  Fork  of  Fish  Creek  to  a  camp  roughly  opposite  Little 
Devils  Basin  Creek  (8770.1/8060).  On  June  2,  they  went  only  3.6 
miles,  crossing  the  South  Fork  and  camping  at  the  mouth  of  Buck 
Creek  (8291.7/7900).  Resuming  travel  on  Monday,  June  4,  they 
had  difficult  going  over  a  ridge  to  the  head  of  Hackamore  Creek 
before  camping  (after  7.87  miles)  in  Purdy  Basin  (8232.4/8040). 
The  route  on  June  5,  at  2.5  miles,  crossed  the  ridge  (8535.3/8380) 
north  of  Harness  Gulch,  and  descended  to  the  northwest  branch 
of  Gros  Ventre  Fork  (North  Fork  of  Fish  Creek)  in  another  1 .2 
miles.  This  was  near  the  confluence  with  Packsaddle  Creek 
(8058.3/7860).  The  party  ascended  the  North  Fork  and  lower 
Beauty  Park  Creek  before  backtracking  and  camping  at  the 
confluence  of  those  two  streams  (8463.4/822/).  This  conforms 
precisely  to  the  recorded  astronomical  measurement  of  43°  40' 
N.  The  exploration  of  June  6  ascended  to  Beauty  Park,  from  which 
Bridger  first  led  the  way  northwest  to  the  ridge  north  of  Tripod 
Creek  that  overlooks  Spruce  Creek  and  the  basin  of  Cottonwood 


Autumn  1Q99 


39 


Dr.  Hayden  was  destined  to  return  to  northwest  Wyo- 
ming, as  liead  of  the  United  States  Geological  and  Geo- 
graphical Survey  of  the  Territories.  But  as  wide-rang- 
ing as  the  Survey's  explorations  were,  the  region  of 
present  interest  was  not  carefully  examined.  As  noted 
in  one  of  its  annual  reports,  "our  knowledge  of  the  geo- 
logical structure  of  the  eastern  portion  of  the  Gros  Ven- 
tre Range  is  derived  from  the  observations  of  Dr. 
Hayden,  in  1860."-"^ 

This  deficiency  was  addressed  to  an  extent  in  1873 
when  Capt.  William  A.  Jones  of  the  Corps  of  Engi- 
neers was  directed  to  "make  a  reconnaissance  of  the 
country  within  the  territory  about  the  headwaters  of 
the  Snake.  Green,  Big  Horn,  Grey  Bull,  Clark's  Fork, 
and  Yellowstone  Rivers."  His  extensive  travels  led  to 
the  documentation  of  a  route  from  Two  Ocean  Pass 
(south  of  Yellowstone  Park)  to  the  Wind  River  valley 
by  way  of  Togwotee  Pass.  But  farther  south,  he  re- 
ported, "there  is  a  pass  across  to  the  head  of  Green 
River,  near  Union  Peak,  and  another  across  to  the  Gros 
Ventres  Fork  of  Snake  River."  The  latter,  of  course, 
goes  over  Sheridan  Pass.  He  describes  an  "important 
Indian  trail"  traversing  the  region  there.  The  detail  he 
pro\  ides  indicates  considerable  familiarity  even  though 
the  source  of  his  infonnation  is  obscure.  The  route  goes 
"up  Wind  River  Valley  nearh  to  its  head  and  across 
the  divide  to  the  Gros  Ventre  Fork  of  Snake  River. 


Creek.  After  returning  to  Beauty  Park,  he  then  headed  up  Here- 
ford Creek  to  its  head.  From  this  vantage  point  he  could  recog- 
nize the  valley  of  Blackrock  Creek  that,  he  knew,  would  take  him 
down  to  Jackson  Hole  and  Pacific  Creek.  The  partv  on  .lune  8 
proceeded  down  Fish  Creek,  passing  Deer  Creek  after  10  miles 
(7661.2/7630)  and  camping  near  the  confluence  with  Trail  Creek, 
which  was  recognized  as  an  Indian  trail  from  Green  River  (7605.9/ 
7540).  A  route  very  similar  to  Raynolds'  between  Fish  Creek  Park 
and  the  pass  at  the  head  of  Hereford  Creek  is  described  in  James 
R.  Wolf,  Guide  to  the  Continental  Divide  Trail.  Vol  i;  Wyoming 
(Washington  1980),  65-78.  (This  route  also  shows  up  on  the  1878 
Hayden  map,  as  described  in  note  36.) 

'"  F.  V.  Hayden,  Eleventh  Annual  Report  of  the  United  States 
Geological  and  Geographical  Survey  of  the  Territories  Embrac- 
ing Idaho  and  Wyoming.  Being  a  Report  of  Progress  of  the  Ex- 
ploration for  the  Year  ]8^~,  Washington  1879,  453-460,  473,  477 
("at  no  point  did  opportunity  offer  to  penetrate  this  interesting 
region").  Other  mentions  occur  in  Eifth  Annual  Report  of  Progress 
(Washington  1872),  p.  134  (in  which  Hayden's  understanding  — 
reflecting  his  experience  with  Raynolds  —  that  the  nearly  verti- 
cal wall  from  1.500  to  2,000  feet  high  at  the  head  of  the  Wind 
River  has  never  been  scaled  by  white  man  or  Indian)  and  Twelfth 
Annual  Report  ...  for  the  Year  /57<S  (Washington  1883),  235-236 
(noting  that  "it  were  doubtless  possible  to  acquire  [more  com- 
plete data]  by  more  extended  e.xaminations  in  this  divide  region 
than  it  was  possible  to  make  during  the  past  season,"  yet  report- 
ing briefly  on  Togwotee  Pass,  the  Wind  River  valley,  and  the 
lower  portions  of  the  trail  to  Union  Pass).  The  latter  report  in- 
cludes a  "Drainage  Map  Showing  Portions  of  Wyoming,  Idaho 
and  Utah,"  at  269,  w  ith  Togwotee  Pass  and  Union  Pass  each  prop- 
erl\  labeled;  of  special  interest  is  the  depiction  of  trails  not  oni_\ 
through  those  passes  but  over  Sheridan  Pass  (not  identified  b\ 
name)  as  well.  Since  Hayden's  accounts  (including  the  separately 


"Drainage  Map 
Showing  Portions 
of  Wyoming. 
Idaho  and  Utah.  " 
with  Togwotee 
Pass  and  Union 
Pass  each  prop- 
erly labeled.  Of 
special  interest  is 
the  depiction  of 
trails,  not  only 
through  those 
passes,  but  over 
Sheridan  Pass 
(not  identified  by 
name)  as  well. 
From  F.  V. 
Hayden.  Twelfth 
Annual  Report  ... 
for  the  Year  1878 
(  Washington 
1883),  p.  269.  The 
arrows  (added  by 
the  author)  point 
to  the  Sheridan 
Trail. 


40 


Annals  or  Wyoming:  The  Wyoming  History  Journal 


Here  it  forks,  sending  one  branch  down  the  stream  as 
far  as  Jackson's  Hole  [and  the  other]  leaves  the  Gros 
Ventres  near  its  head,  and,  bending  to  the  south,  crosses 
a  low  pass  [o\er  Pinon  Ridge]  to  the  headwaters  of 
Green  River."" 

General  Sheridan  was  not  the  first  white  American 
to  set  foot  at  Sheridan  Pass.  John  Colter  may  de- 
ser\  e  that  honor.  The  trappers  of  the  following  decades 
sought  out  beaver  throughout  the  mountains,  so  we 
would  expect  them  to  have  visited  Sheridan  Pass  on 
occasion.  One  of  their  number,  Osborne  Russell,  cer- 
tainly did.  And  Capt.  Jones  clearly  knew  of  the  pass 
even  if  he  had  not  visited  it. 

The  fact  remains,  however,  that  Sheridan  was  the  first 
to  draw  attention  to  the  excellence  of  this  mountain 
passage.  And  he  did  so  in  a  quite  spectacular  fashion, 
leading  Chester  A.  Arthur,  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  over  the  Continental  Divide  in  an  epic  trip  from 
Lander  to  Yellowstone  National  Park  in  1883.  Their 
path  betw  een  the  Wind  River  and  the  Gros  Ventre  River 
remains  the  Sheridan  Trail  and  is  so  marked  on  topo- 
graphic maps  of  the  area.  As  the  President  observed  as 
he  viewed  the  Tetons  from  the  Continental  Divide, 
"Never  in  my  life  have  I  seen  anything  so  sublime"  — 
words  that  beckon  the  visitor  even  today.''* 

published  preliiiiinarv  reports  of  Held  work  in  1877  and  1878)  do 
not  mention  the  middle  route,  its  presence  on  the  map  suggests 
either  that  the  route  was  in  fact  well  known  or  that  information 
was  pro\ ided  h>  Sheridan  prior  to  the  map's  publication.  Some 
contemporaneous  e\  idence  suggests  the  latter.  William  A.  Baillie- 
Grohman.  describing  his  1880  sporting  venture  to  Union  Pass 
and  other  places  in  the  Wind  Rivers  observes  that  the  area  under 
review  here  has  two  passes  —  Togwotee  and  Two  Ocean,  which 
are  labeled  on  his  1882  "Map  of  a  Portion  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains Based  on  the  latest  U.S.  Government  Survey."  Camps  In  the 
Rockies  (New  York:  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  New  Edition,  1 884). 
398.  There  is  no  indication  of  Sheridan  Pass  or  an>  trail  between 
the  two  passes  identified  by  the  author.  Maj.  Julius  W.  Mason  led 
an  1881  expedition  that  explored  a  potential  wagon  road  from  the 
Wind  River  valle>  to  Yellowstone  National  Park,  in  the  course  of 
which  his  party  claimed  to  have  examined  all  the  branches  of  the 
Wind  River  "to  their  very  sources"  before  crossing  the  Continen- 
tal Divide  at  Togwotee  Pass,  but  there  is  no  indication  that  a  trail 
to  Sheridan  Pass  was  noticed.  John  W.  Hoyt,  Governor  of  Wyo- 
ming, in  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  47""  Cong.  P' 
Sess.,  House  Exec.  Doc.  1,  pt.  5,  1074-1077.  The  more  likely 
explanation  for  the  depiction  of  a  trail  over  Sheridan  Pass,  how- 
ever, is  Capt.  Jones  account,  published  in  1875,  as  described  in 
the  text. 


"  William  A.  Jones,  Report  Upon  the  Reconnaissance  of  North- 
western Wyoming  Including  )'ello\vstone  National  Park  Made  in 
the  Summer  of  1873  (Washington  1875).  The  orders  to  Jones  are 
at  p.  5. The  discovery  of  Togwotee  Pass  is  recorded  at  40-43.  with 
the  route  marked  on  map  sheets  43-45.  The  references  to  Sheridan 
Pass  are  at  47  and  54-55.  The  te.xt  also  describes  Union  Pass  ("from 
the  Wind  River  Valley  across  the  Wind  River  Mountains,  above 
Union  Peak,  to  the  headwaters  of  Green  River")  and  Togwotee 
Pass  —  the  latter  identified  by  the  name  assigned  by  Jones  —  as 
having  "important  Indian  trails."  Togwotee  Pass  has  generally 
been  understood  to  be  named  after  "the  one  Indian  in  the  party 
who  knows  the  country,"  (p.40),  but  Jones  says  only  that  he  se- 
lected an  "easy  Indian  name"  without  further  explanation.  There 
may  be  contemporary  references  to  Togwotee  as  an  individual, 
but  another  possibility  is  that  the  name  is  properly  "Tukwatika," 
referring  to  a  band  of  Shoshone  Indians.  George  A.  Eldridge,  "A 
Geological  Reconnaissance  in  Northwest  Wyoming,"  Bulletin  of 
the  United  States  Geological  Survey  No.  7/9  (Washington  1894), 

'"  Jack  Ellis  Haynes,  "The  Expedition  of  President  Chester  A. 
Arthur  to  Yellowstone  National  Park  in  1883,"  Annals  of  Wyo- 
ming 14  (1942),  31;  Thomas  C.  Reeves,  "President  Arthur  in 
Yellowstone  National  Park,"  Montana  the  Magazine  of  Western 
Histoiy  (19:3)  Summer  1969,  18;  William  O.  Owen,  "The  First 
Ascent  of  the  Grand  Teton  With  a  Little  of  Its  History,"  Annals  of 
Wyoming  10  (1938)  87  (with  the  author  concurring  that  no  view 
of  the  Tetons  "is  more  startling  and  awe  inspiring  than  the  view 
one  gets  from  a  point  where  the  Sheridan  Trail  crosses  the  Conti- 
nental Divide").  A  bit  of  doggerel.  The  Rajah,  or  the  Great  Sport- 
ing Excursion  of  IS83.  by  the  pseudonymous  Unc  Dunkam,  ex- 
amined at  the  New  York  Public  Librarv.  provides  no  helpful  geo- 
graphical detail. 


The  author  is  the  founder  and  director  of  the 
Continental  Divide  Trail  Society,  which  since 
1978.  has  worked  actively  for  the  wise  de- 
velopment cmd  management  of  the  Continen- 
tal Divide  National  Scenic  Trail.  Besides 
writing  hiking  guidebooks  for  the  Trail,  he 
has  been  studying  the  exploration  histoiy  of 
the  Continental  Divide.  Two  of  his  essays  on 
Benjamin  Bonneville  and  John  C.  Fremont 
have  appeared  in  Annals.  Prior  to  his  retire- 
ment, he  was  a  senior  attorney  with  the  U.  S. 
Nuclear  Regulatory  Commission.  He  lives  in 
Baltimore.  Marvland. 


Letter  to  tke  Eclitc 


Climbing  the  Grand:  Another  View 


Congratulations  on  the  tremendous  opinion  piece  by  Dr. 
Righter!  It  nails  the  historic  perser\ation  issue  and  call  to 
action  doun  in  no  uncertain  terms.  Mark  Har\ey's  article 
on  the  First  Ascent  of  the  Grand  Teton  is  equalK  noteuor- 
thy  and  quite  insightful.  Houe\er.  some  clarification  may 
aid  a  deeper  understanding  of  this  complex  issue. 

Despite  earlier  statements,  both  Spalding  and  Jackson  are 
on  record  supporting  Stevenson  and  Langford's  success. 
The  unpublished  diar\  of  Sidford  llamp  corroborates  the 
summit  claim  since,  with  Ste\enson  and  Langford  out  of 
sight  abo\c  him  at  a  point  near  the  L'pper  Saddle,  no  sig- 
nificant obstacle  could  ha\e  kept  them  from  the  summit. 
The  Belly  Roll  and  Crawl  are  no  obstacles.  "Stevenson's 
Peril"  is  the  base  of  the  Double  Chimney  and  the  Owen 
Chimney  and  Sargent  Chimne\'  are  accounted  for  as  the 
70-degree  slope  above  which  the  angle  lessened  to  "more 
tedious  than  difficult."  The  "ice  sheet"  need  not  be  any- 
thing so  large  as  to  have  been  visible  in  William  Henry 
Jackson's  31  July  1872  photograph  from  Table  Mountain. 
This  is  not  Bueler's  Snow  Bridge!  Snow  and  ice  as  found 
in  both  chimnev  s  on  man\  days  are  easily  exaggerated  into 
a  "shelv  ing  expanse  of  ice"  w  ith  fragile  fastenings.  There 
is  simplv  no  place  en  route  to  the  West  Spur  for  a  70-de- 
gree body  of  snow  or  ice  which  one  need  cross.  Likewise, 
uphill  from  the  Needle  there  is  no  place  so  exposed  as 
"Stevenson's  Peril"  until  one  passes  the  Crawl.  Remember 
that  no  one  has  ever  accused  Langford  of  not  exaggerating! 
The  twelve-inch  icicles  in  his  original  version  is  a  fine  ex- 
ample. If  he  and  Stevenson  had  only  gone  over  to  the  West 
Spur.  Hamp  and  Spencer  would  have  seen  them  from  any 
point  uphill  from  the  Needle.  .Also,  five  hours  descent  from 
the  West  Spur  to  the  Lower  Saddle  is  too  long  to  be  realis- 
tic. But  from  the  top  and  including  a  good  break  at  the 
Enclosure,  five  hours  from  3  p.m.  to  sunset  (pre-davight 
sav  ings)  makes  much  more  sense,  e\  en  with  a  snow-spooked 
Hamp. 

It  is  a  simplification  to  discount  the  aneroid  reading  as 
"very  unreliable."  The  reason  you  can't  trust  an  altimeter 
in  your  hand  is  air  pressure  changes  during  your  climb.  If 
you  back  up  your  summit  reading  with  a  fixed  known-el- 
evation control  and  adjust  for  the  day's  barometric  fluctua- 
tion your  reading  WILL  match  the  top.  plus  or  minus  a  few 
feet.  Stevenson's  aneroid  reading  is  compelling  evidence 
that  thev  did.  indeed,  [reach  the]  summit  for  their  reading 
of  1  3.4(10  was  onlv  corrected  to  1 3.762  after  the  record  from 
Fort  Hall  was  taken  into  account.  Suppose  they  were  fak- 
ing the  reading.  Could  vou  stand  on  the  west  Spur  1,000 
linear  and  500  vertical  feet  from  the  top  on  a  clear,  cloud- 
less day  (in  all  versions)  and: 

*Ciuess  the  elevation  of  the  top  within  8  feet 

*Rnovv  that  the  angle  of  terrain  drops  off  after  175  feet, 
above  Sargent's  Chimney 

*Ivnow  that  the  top  was  "bald"  and  "worn  smooth"  as  in 


bare  of  snow  whereas  from  the  Spur  it  appears  quite  broad. 
(One  has  to  compensate  for  Victorian  hvperbole  here,  even 
William  Owen  called  the  rock  above  the  Upper  Saddle  to 
be  "smooth,  glassy  granite,"  again,  more  exaggeration  than 
error). 

^Distinguish  two  lakes  to  the  east,  nol  just  Jackson  Lake 
which  can  be  seen  from  the  West  Spur,  but  Jennv  Lake  as 
well  (Leigh  is  mostly  hidden). 

(.)n  vagueness.  L  wasn't  writing  a  guidebook.  Even  if  he 
were,  a  great  deal  of  following  one's  nose  is  necessary  even 
with  the  Ortenburger  Jackson  guide  in  your  hand.  Really, 
once  you're  past  the  shoulder  stand  in  the  Double  Chim- 
ney, just  work  your  way  up.  When  full  of  ice  late  one  Sep- 
tember, before  I  knew  about  the  Catwalk,  the  Owen  Chim- 
nev truly  was  the  only  memorable  pitch  between  the  Upper 
Saddle  and  the  top.  Of  course.  I've  never  allowed  mvsell'to 
look  down  into  Valhalla  Canyon.  On  drier  days.  I've  found 
three  other  easy  lines,  besides  Sargent,  just  bv  trusting  in- 
stinct (and  avoiding  waiting  behind  other  climbers). 

Even  though  I  know  of  no  one  who  has  passed  the  high- 
angle  ground  as  a  "human  ladder"  as  did  DeLap.  Blackburn 
and  DePirro  in  1423.  I  don't  doubt  that  they  did  it  that  way. 
We  need  to  avoid  interpreting  from  our  perspective  of  lan- 
guage use  and  climbing  technique  and  be  open  to  reason- 
able possibilities.  No  one  denies  Spalding  and  DeLap  were 
able  to  look  around  the  corner  at  first  try  and  solve  the 
problem.  Stevenson  was  as  capable  as  they  of  surmounting 
terrain  Spalding  described  as  not  difficult. 

To  claim  the  summit  was  hidden  bv  clouds  is  mostlv  an 
attempt  to  suggest  that  Stev  enson  and  Langford  were  hon- 
estly mistaken.  No.  they  made  it  or  they  lied.  In  Langford's 
letter  to  USGS  chief  topographer  Henr>'  Cjannett  in  1897  as 
well  as  m  the  original  journal,  the  day  is  described  as  cloud- 
less. It's  a  prettv  bold  move  to  suggest  that  Havden's  deputy 
and  Yellowstone's  first  superintendent. governor  appointee 
of  Montana  were  made  of  such  mean  material. 

Examine  the  handwritten  original  versions  of  Langford's 
Scribner's  account  in  the  archiv  es  at  Mammoth  Hot  Springs 
to  find  ev  idence  Ortenburger  thought  conclusiv  e.  the  w  ords 
on  p.  35  in  the  earliest  draft;  "[Size  of  summil  in  feet]  Ar- 
cheological  curiosities,  on  top."  "On"  is  crossed  out  and 
"near"  is  substituted.  Seems  prettv  damning-except  that 
the  top  is  described  on  another  page.  In  fact,  "on  top"  is 
used  numerous  times  in  reference  to  points  other  than  the 
summit  such  as  at  "the  top"  of  the  ice  sheet!  "Bottom"  is 
used  to  describe  the  Lower  Saddle  as  well  as  today's 
Dartmouth  Basin.  In  fact,  we  don't  know  what  was  to  fol- 
low the  comma— an  unreadable  word  has  a  line  through  it. 
Studying  Langford's  other  works,  one  is  familiar  with  his 
non-chronological  sequencing  of  ev  ents  as  found  in  his  1 870 
expedition  diary  describing  the  Devil's  Slide  well  after 
reaching  camp  miles  upstream  of  it.  It  was  a  rough  draft- 
not  a  different  version!  At  the  end  of  a  dav's  writing. 


42 


Annals  oi  Wyoming:  The  Wyoming  Histon' 


Langford  made  a  note  of  what  he  wanted  to  cover  the  next 
day.  Ifs  done  all  the  time  in  manuscripts.  In  the  margin,  he 
even  wrote  "see  page  35  1/2  of  ms."  The  Enclosure  being 
"the  great  wonder  of  our  day's  work,"  it's  no  surprise  it's 
given  such  emphasis  o\  er  the  summit  and  talked  about  even 
as  he  describes  the  summit!  But  if  they  had  only  made  the 
top  of  the  West  Spur,  there  is  no  adjoming  buttress  for  the 
Enclosure  to  be  on.  "little  lower"  or  not!  All  other  differ- 
ences are  omission  of  detail,  such  as  an  exaggerated  crev- 
ice one  could  fall  into  and  await  rescue,  or  different  order 
of  events.  Do  we  Judge  him  for  his  ridiculous  mosquitoes, 
"American  Ibex"  and  tlowers  as  did  Owen?  (In  the  first 
draft,  the  flowers  are  clearly  located  "near  the  saddle.") 
"Changed  his  story"  is  too  strong  of  language.  Certainly, 
Langford  embellished— the  frozen  grasshoppers,  mosquito 
attack  and  comparisons  to  the  Matterhom  were  all  added 
later.  All  mileage  estimates  were  inflated,  though  no  one 
disputes  the  ground  covered  up  to  the  Enclosure.  Yet  re- 
member that  Owen  "knew"  and  claimed  they  hadn't  suc- 
ceeded well  before  he  saw  the  top!  We  may  as  well  criti- 
cize Langford's  outrageous  misuse  of  commas  from  our 
comfortable  sophistication.  Come  to  Jackson  and  compare 
the  different  versions,  word  for  word,  with  me!  It  is  a  moun- 
tain ad\ enture  in  which  we  fear  not  the  unknown. 


In  the  words  of  Sierra  Club's  Francis  Farquhar  in  1928: 

Mountaineering  by  resolution  may  be  considered  to  have 
some  merit  when  the  resolution  is  in  vhe  mind  of  the  climber, 
but  mountaineering  by  resolution  of  a  state  legislature,  or 
even  of  a  board  of  county  commissioners,  will  hardly  have 
much  prestige  among  historians  or  among  those  who  asso- 
ciate with  mountaineering  the  qualities  of  sportsmanship.  It 
is  the  evidence  which  he  suppresses  that  will  ultimately  deny 
to  Owen  the  fame  he  covets.  It  must  be  presumed  that  those 
who  voted  upon  the  unconvincing  resolutions  did  not  have 
before  them  the  full  record  as  collated  and  reviewed  by 
Chittenden.  Nor  could  they  have  read  the  Spalding  corre- 
spondence. There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  ultimate  ver- 
dict of  history  will  be  that  the  Grand  Teton  was  first  as- 
cended in  1872  and  that  the  most  distinguished  names  con- 
nected with  its  early  climbing  history  are  Franklin  S.  Spalding 
and  Nathaniel  P.  Langford. 

May  I  add  James  Stevenson,  who  quietly  said  what  he 
did  and  left  the  showmanship  to  others? 

Huinbly  submitted  by  someone  who  has  spent  a  little  time 
in  Langford's  shoes. 

Jesse  O'Connor 

Teton  County  Board  of  Historic  Preservation 


Boole  R 


e  Views 


Edited  W  Carl  HallL 


erg 


The  Postmistress  of  Saddlestring,  Wyoming.  By  Edgar 
M.  Morsman,  Jr.  Deephaven,  Minnesota:  Morsman 
Publications,  1998.   vli  +  90 pages.  Paper.  SI -4.95. 

Saddlestring,  Wyoining.  Yes,  there  is  such  a  post  office 
which  was  established  in  August  1937,  with  the  first 
postmaster,  .Alfred  A.  Hook,  taking  charge  in  October  1937. 
Saddlestring,  according  to  Mae  Urbanek's  Wyoming  Place 
Names,  is  named  "for  saddle  strings  by  which  the  cowboys 
tied  their  extra  coat  and  mail  behind  the  saddle." 

This  is  a  peculiar  book  about  sidelights  and  highlights  at 
the  HE  Bar  dude  ranch  in  Saddlestring.  Started  by  Skipper 
Horton,  the  HE  Bar  ranch  later  became  a  very  successful 
dude  ranch  and  attracted  many  visitors,  from  regular  tourist 
"folk"  to  those  from  the  entertainment  world.  The  HE  Bar 
ranch  emerges  in  the  book  as  a  place  to  experience  different 
things  and  a  place  to  get  away  from  it  all,  regardless  of 
where  "all"  was. 

The  first  chapter,  "The  Early  Years,"  attempts  to  set  the 
context.  It  is  well-written  and  informative  about  the 
geography  of  Wyoming.  A  person  who  has  never  visited 
the  state  can  visualize  Wyoming  through  this  descriptive 
verbiage. 

The  remaining  book  is  a  compilation  of  stories  dating 
from  as  late  as  1996  about  local  residents  (including  a 
chapter  about  the  postmistress  of  Saddlestring),  ranch 
workers  and  visitors.  They  are  mainly  anecdotal,  some 


being  more  ftinny  than  others.  Patches  of  dark  humor  and 
earthy  or  foul  language  dot  the  book  in  the  author's  attempt 
to  capture  the  flavor  of  the  dude  ranch  experience.  Eirst 
names  are  generally  used,  but  more  notable  individuals 
receive  full  name  and  photographic  recognition. 

Morsman,  a  retired  banker,  gives  credit  to  many  people 
and  sources  but  freely  acknowledges  that  he  has  not 
authenticated  his  facts  or  infonnation.  One  story,  which 
should  have  been  checked,  is  about  daredevils  parachuting 
onto  Devils  Tower  and  being  stranded  there  until  Ginger 
Gurrell  rescued  them.  Gurrell  was  Horton's  nephew  and 
apparently  a  man  of  many  talents.  The  more  familiar  Devils 
Tower  rescue  features  George  Hopkins  of  Rapid  City, 
South  Dakota.  In  October  1941,  Hopkins  parachuted  onto 
the  tower,  sprained  his  ankle  and  was  stranded  there  for  six 
days  and  five  nights.  Eventually  he  was  rescued  by  a  team 
of  eight  alpinists.  The  latter  and  not  the  fonner  was  a 
recognized  media  event. 

All  in  all,  for  the  author,  this  book  was  a  venture  more  in 
writing  for  fun  than  in  writing  history.  The  Postmistress  of 
Saddlestring.  Wyoming  should  be  viewed  as  one  man's 
personal  experiences,  collected  memories  and  possibly  oral 
histories,  all  brought  together  with  great  fondness  and 
warmth  by  Mr.  Morsman. 

Jean  Brainerd 
Wyoming  State  Archives 


Autumn  1999 


43 


Take  Two  and  Hit  to  Right:  Golden  Days  on  the  Semi- 
Pro  Diamond..  By  Hobe  Mays.  Lincoln;  University  of 
Nebraska  i^ress,  1999.  .v  +  239  pages.  Illustrations,  index. 
Paper.  $14.01). 

What  a  joy!  This  autobiographical  account  about 
baseball  in  southwestern  Nebraska  from  1948  to  1953 
captures  both  the  pleasure  of  the  game  and  the  transition  of 
the  sport  at  a  \ery  local  level  far  from  the  big  cities  and  the 
major  leagues.  It  is  a  story  of  small-town  American 
interwoven  v\ith  the  maturation  of  a  young  college  student 
who  possessed  athletic  and  artistic  talent.  Hobe  Mays  who 
was  an  art  major  and  who  played  championship  baseball  at 
the  Univ  ersity  of  Nebraska  agreed  to  play  second  base  for 
the  semi-pro  McCook  Cats  for  the  summer  season  in  1948 
In  a  time  before  television  and  air-conditioning  when 
people  relaxed  on  porch  swings  in  the  early  evening  and 
hoped  for  a  breeze,  a  sign  "Basehall  Tonight"  posted  on  the 
main  street  meant  entertainment  and  something  to  talk 
about  the  following  day.  The  Cats  had  been  at  the  bottom  of 
the  Nebraska  Independent  League  (NIL)  and  the  town 
Baseball  Board  decided  to  hire  "the  kind  of  team  that 
couldn't  lose  very  often"  ip.  3S).  Thus,  Mays  and  his 
younger  brother  v\ent  to  play  for  McCook,  a  town  of  about 
8,000  citizens. 

Semi-pro  players  could  earn  S7  to  S20  per  game,  and  w  ith 
a  day  job,  they  were  able  to  make  a  living  that  ri\aled  that 
of  the  minor  leagues.  Mays,  for  example,  worked  as  a  sports 
writer  in  McCook  during  the  day  and  played  at  night  The 
NIL  thus  attracted  "baseball  bums,"  aging  players  not  good 
enough  for  the  majors  or  minors  who  drifted  from  town  to 
town,  and  the  "college  hot  dogs"  like  Mays  who  played 
during  summer  vacations.  For  the  Cats,  the  problem  was 
that  they  won  in  1948  and  started  a  trend  for  all  teams  to 
forsake  cheap,  lesser-skilled,  local  players  for  expensive, 
better-skilled  imports  By  1955  salaries  had  inflated  to  $350 
per  month  and  more  for  pitchers.  Towns  could  no  longer 
afford  such  extravagance,  and  moreover,  television  offered 
major  league  play  in  the  comfort  of  home.  The  NIL, 
consequently,  collapsed. 

After  playing  in  the  league  for  six  years.  Mays  discovered 
that  the  professionalism  of  the  sport  detracted  from  the  fun 
of  the  game  and  that  he  did  not  care  to  become  a  "baseball 
bum."  Instead,  he  developed  his  art  talent  and  became  an  art 
director  and  teacher  at  Nassau  Community  College  in  New 
York.  He  illustrated  the  autobiography  with  his  won 
excellent  sketches  of  players,  most  of  whom  never  made 
national  headlines.  The  writing  is  anecdotal,  conversa- 
tional, and  tilled  with  local  baseball  lore.  The  book  is  a 
reminder  that  baseball  as  a  national  pastime  involved  not 
only  the  major  league  players  we  often  read  about  but  also 
players  now  largely  forgotten.  Baseball  was  deeply 
embedded  not  jut  in  the  large  cities  but  also  in  the  scattered 
small  towns.  Here  is  a  book  that  peers  into  the  heart  and 
soul  of  America.   It  is  a  joy. 

David  G.  McComb 
Colorado  State  University 


Distant  Horizons:  Documents  from  the  Nineteenth- 
Century  American  West.  Edited  by  Gary  Noy.  Lincoln: 
University  of  Nebraska  Press,  1999.  554  pages.  Notes, 
index.    Paper.  $22.00. 

Gary  Noy's  collection  of  documents  presents  a  fascin- 
ating and  instructive  portrait  of  the  19th  century  American 
West.  The  book  nicely  takes  the  reader  into  the  lives  of 
those  who  created  the  v\estem  experience.  It  provides  solid 
detail  to  tlesh  out  our  usually  more  general  understanding 
of  western  history.  By  allowing  people  to  tell  (and  to 
romanticize)  their  own  stories,  it  also  demonstrates  how 
much  myth  really  does  contribute  to  reality. 

As  a  collection  of  contemporary  attitudes,  the  book 
necessarily  presents  a  fairly  traditional  picture  of  the  West. 
Noy  reinforces  this  portrait  by  dividing  the  West  along 
familiar  lines.  Following  an  opening  chapter  on  the  "Spirit 
and  Myth  of  the  West"  (which  Noy  restricts  to  the  myth  of 
the  cowboy),  are  chapters  on  explorers  and  fur  traders, 
fanning,  mining,  railroads,  Indians,  lawmen  and  gunfight- 
ers.  soldiers,  and  cowboys.  Noy  does  nod  to  trends  in  recent 
Western  history,  adding  chapters  on  women  and  people  of 
color  in  the  west.  That  these  two  chapters  are  among  the 
weakest  and  most  disjointed  in  the  book  indicates  perhaps 
the  wisdom  of  sticking  to  the  traditional  when  docu- 
menting the  views  of  I'^th-century  Americans.  None- 
theless, Noy's  book  as  a  whole  prov ides  valuable  insights 
into  those  views  as  well  as  into  the  events  they  recount. 

The  quality  of  individual  chapters  varies,  hovsever. 
Some,  like  the  chapters  on  fanning,  lawmen  and  outlaws, 
and  cowboys,  give  a  real  feel  for  the  subject  in  rich  detail. 
Too  many  chapters,  however,  lack  focus,  in  that  documents 
do  not  compliment  each  other  well,  and  Noy's  introduc- 
tions, while  informative,  do  too  little  to  tie  them  together. 
The  reader  is  left  with  an  imprecise  and  confused  view 
about  the  subject  in  chapters,  for  example,  on  explorers  and 
fur  traders,  women,  Indians,  and  ethnic  minorities. 

Noy  has  included  some  documents  that  are  gems,  tmly 
illuminating  life  in  the  American  West:  John  C.  Fremont's 
description  of  a  buffalo  hunt  with  Kit  Carson,  the  letters  of 
homesteader's  wife  Mary  Chaffee  Abell,  and  Billy  the 
Kid's  conespondence  with  Gov.  Lew  Wallace  are  but  a  few 
examples.  The  joy  of  reading  such  documents  only 
increases  the  disappointment  with  too  many  selections  that 
seem  out  of  place  and  that  contribute  little  to  the  purpose  of 
the  book.  First,  several  documents  -  a  resolution  of  the 
National  American  Women  Suffrage  Association.  Martha 
White's  descnption  of  the  General  Federation  of  Women's 
Clubs,  and  Thomas  Higginson's  portrayal  of  black  troops  in 
the  Civil  War,  for  example  -  have  no  unique  bearing  on  the 
American  West.  They  are.  in  addition,  as  vague  and  bland 
as  the  better  documents  are  detailed  and  exciting. 

Noy  has  also  included  an  unwarranted  number  of  20th 
century  documents.  A  list  of  mining  terms  published  by  the 
Homestake  Mining  Company  in  1976  or  a  description  from 
the  same  year  of  gold  recovery  processes,  almost  all  of 
which  concerns  20th  century  techniques,  adds  little  to  the 


44 


Annals  of  Wyoming:  Trie  Wyoming  History 


understanding  of  the  19th-century  West.  Likewise,  the 
Progressive  movement  changed  the  political  atmosphere  of 
the  West  in  the  early  20th  century  enough  to  make  two 
documents  on  Miiller  v.  Oregon  irrelevant  to  the  West  of 
the  pre-ceding  century.  In  addition,  Noy  includes  a 
surprising  number  of  selections  from  secondary  sources 
(including  an  article  of  his  own)  in  his  book  of 
"documents."  These  lack  the  color  and  texture  of  the  real 
documents  and  are  more  annoying  than  helpful. 

Unfortunately,  the  weaknesses  of  this  book  are  not 
merely  minor  faults.  Fortunately,  its  strengths  do  outweigh 
them,  and  Disicml  Horizon  can  clearly  enrich  one's 
understanding  of  the  1 9th-century  American  West. 

George  Hummasti 

Southwest  Missouri  State  University 

A  Guide  to  the  Indian  Wars  of  the  West.  By  John  D. 
McDermott.  Lincoln:  University  of  Nebraska  Press,  1998. 
xxvi  +  205  pages.  Illustrations,  tables,  notes,  bibliography. 
Paper.  $16.95. 

It  is  rare  to  call  a  book  both  scholarly  and  useflil.  Yet, 
John  D.  McDermott's  Guide  to  the  Indian  Wars  of  the  West 
meets  both  criteria.  The  book  is  both  a  traditional,  solidly- 
researched  introductory  monograph  on  aspects  of  the 
Indians  Wars  and  a  guidebook  to  the  major  sites  where 
Indians  and  whites  met  on  the  battlefield  and  elsewhere 
throughout  the  nineteenth  century. 

McDermott's  Guide  can  be  read  expeditiously,  but  it  is  a 
book  with  strong  scholarly  backing.  The  first  chapters 
provide  the  national  context  for  the  nineteenth  century 
Indian  wars.  In  doing  so,  McDermott  examines  war  causes, 
the  cultures  involved,  and  how  each  prepared  for  war. 
McDermott  eschews  deep  analysis  in  favor  of  short,  factual 
passages.  For  example,  while  noting  that  the  Sioux- 
Arapahoe-Cheyenne  alliance  developed  in  the  last  half  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  he  does  not  explain  why.  In  the  next 
passage  McDermott  points  out  that  their  enemies  were  the 
Crovs ,  Shoshone,  Omaha,  and  Pawnee.  Again,  he  does  not 
mention  why  tribes  fought  one  another  or  what  the  stakes 
really  were  in  these  intertribal  confrontations.  But  these  are 
mere  quibbles  in  an  otherwise  valuable  book. 

A  Guide  to  the  Indian  Wars  contains  interesting 
information  and  statistics,  some  of  which  will  undoubtedly 
surprise  the  non-specialist  audience  for  which  it  seems 
primarily  intended.  The  Indian  fighting  army's  small  size 
and  archaic  organization  will  surprise  many  readers.  In  a 
particularly  good  discussion,  McDermott  assesses  each 
side's  weaponry,  noting  that  at  the  Battle  of  the  Little  Big 
Horn,  two-thirds  of  the  Native  American  combatants  were 
armed  with  some  sort  of  rifle.  He  attempts  to  look  at  both 
the  U.S.  military  and  its  American  Indian  opponents  in  each 
chapter,  but  McDermott  seems  most  comfortable  when  he 
is  discussing  the  American  military  and  in  fact  devotes 
substantially  more  overage  to  the  Army  than  to  Indian 


culture.  He  believes  that  the  U.S.  Army  did  not  adapt  fast 
or  well  to  the  harsh  western  environment.  Whether  he  is 
discussing  clothing  or  military  tactics,  McDermott  is 
mildly  critical  of  the  American  military  establishment's 
consistent  failure  to  understand  its  enemies.  Often  arrogant, 
with  an  inability  or  unwillingness  to  distinguish  friends 
from  foes,  the  American  military  consistently  underesti- 
mated the  Indians  in  battle,  a  mistake  which  would  often 
prove  fatal. 

A  Guide  to  the  Indian  Wars  of  the  West  is  really  two  books 
in  one,  with  the  second  section  intended  more  for  the  person 
or  family  planning  a  Western  visit  or  vacation.  McDermott 
provides  a  well-researched  guide  to  the  historic  forts, 
museums,  and  Indian  heritage  sites  in  the  region.  Dividing 
the  West  into  six  sub-regions  and  then  by  state,  the  author 
lists  the  sites  he  believes  are  worth  visiting,  with  travel 
directions,  hours  of  operation,  whether  fees  are  charged, 
and  a  short  discussion  about  the  historical  significance  of 
the  site  in  question.  Importantly,  he  also  evaluates  the 
historical  integrity  of  the  site.  For  example,  in  his 
discussion  of  Fort  Laramie,  Wyoming,  he  notes  that  21 
buildings  and  ruins  remain,  some  have  been  reconstructed, 
and  the  site  is  significant  because  the  visitors  and 
inhabitants  associated  with  the  place  represent  "a 
recounting  of  the  great  names  of  Western  history."  (p.  188) 
McDermott  seems  to  take  an  historian's  special  delight  in 
sites  which  have  been  carefully  preserved  or  are  relatively 
unchanged.  Many  readers  might  be  surprised  by  the  large 
number  of  significant  Indian  War  sites  that  are  on  state  or 
private  lands.  He  notes,  for  example,  that  the  1864  Sand 
Creek,  Colorado  Battlefield,  located  on  private  land,  is 
undergoing  archeological  investigations  to  determine  its 
exact  location  and  to  discover  more  information  on  the 
battle  itself 

McDermott's  Guide  should  find  a  receptive  audience 
with  readers  embarking  on  or  contemplating  a  historical 
tour  of  the  West.  Yet,  the  100-page  overview  of  the  two 
societies  who  fought  one  another  in  more  than  1,200 
distinctive  engagements  is  also  worth  the  consideration  of 
both  the  specialist  and  non-specialist. 

Steven  C.  Schulte 
Mesa  State  College 

African  Americans  on  the  Western  Frontier.  Edited  by 
Monroe  Lee  Billington  and  Roger  D.  Hardaway.  Niwot: 
University  Press  of  Colorado,  1998.  275  pages. 
Illustrations,  notes,  bibliography,  index.    Cloth.  $24.95. 

The  editors  argue  that  "African  Americans  were  a  small 
but  vital  part  of  the  frontier  experience  that  historians  have 
often  attributed  only  to  European  Americans."  They  place 
their  volume  within  the  academic  genre  of  the  "New 
Western  History"  since  it  "supports  the  idea  of  studying  the 
American  West  from  a  multicultural  perspective."  While 
the  editors  acknowledge  the  recent  increase  in  scholarship 


Autur 


IQQQ 


45 


concerning  African  American  westerners,  they  lament  the 
fact  that  "textbook  authors  [U.S.,  American  West,  and 
African  .Americans]  have  been  slow  to  include  mention  of 
them  in  their  works."  Thus,  Billington  and  Hardaway 
designed  this  anthology  to  be  "a  worthy  supplemental 
textbook  in  college  courses  on  western  American  history 
and  on  the  black  experience  in  the  United  States." 

Considering  the  current  debate  concerning  the  chrono- 
logy and  geography  of  the  West,  it  is  important  to  establish 
parameters.  The  editors  define  the  West  as  "those  contig- 
uous states  whose  areas  are  totally  or  in  part  west  of  the  one 
hundredth  meridian  (or  line  of  longitude)."  Moreo\er,  they 
delineate  the  frontier  era  as  beginning  in  1850,  "because 
much  of  the  West  was  first  organized  under  pro\  isions  of 
the  congressional  Compromise  of  1850,"  and  ending  in 
1912  because  it  was  the  year  that  "the  last  of  the  v\estem 
territories  attained  statehood."  .Although  the  content  of 
several  articles  either  strays  east  of  their  geographic 
demarcation  or  extends  beyond  their  timeframe,  the 
majority  of  the  entries  fit  within  their  guidelines. 

The  editors  contributed  a  general  introduction,  an 
approximately  500-word  introduction  to  each  individual 
entry  and  Billington  wrote  a  piece  about  the  Buffalo 
Soldiers,  while  Hardaway  supplied  a  bibliographic  essay. 
Thirteen  other  authors  had  excerpts  from  their  books  or 
journal  articles  reprinted  for  this  anthology.  The  selections 
are  uniform  in  length  and  each  contains  at  least  one 
exemplary  photograph.  Fne  of  the  selections  provide 
panoramas  about  slaves,  Buffalo  Soldiers,  cowboys, 
women  and  black  newspapers  in  the  West  during  the 
frontier  era.  The  remaining  articles  furnish  specific 
examples  of  a  distinctive  black  experience  somewhere  in 
the  West.  Some  cover  topics  such  as  being  a  slave  among 
the  Mormons,  a  female  prisoner  in  a  penitentiary,  a  worker 
in  a  coal  mine  in  western  Washington  or  a  soldier  in  the 
Army  at  Fort  Douglas,  Utah.  The  others  analyze  negotiating 
the  "color  line"  in  Kansas,  fighting  for  civil  rights  in 
Colorado,  living  in  an  all-black  town  in  Oklahoma  or 
residing  in  the  small  minority  community  in  Helena, 
Montana. 

While  some  may  disagree  with  the  choice  of  specific 
articles  or  topics,  the  entries  are  uniformly  well  written  and 
they  accomplish  the  editors"  goals  of  highlighting  the 
experiences  of  a  "small  but  vital"  group  in  western 
American  history.  The  articles  demonstrate  that  African 
Americans  participated  in  a  wide  range  of  activities 
prev  iously  thought  to  be  the  exclusiv e  purview  of  whites 
and  that  while  prejudice  and  discrimination  dominated  the 
region  during  the  era,  their  applications  differed  signifi- 
cantly according  to  time  and  place.  Thus,  this  anthology 
will  serve  as  a  good  supplementary  text,  especially  if  your 
survey  follow  the  "old  western  history"  model  in  which  the 
history  of  the  West  ended  with  the  closing  of  the  frontier. 

Dennis  Miihelich 
Creighton  llniversity 


Thomas  Varker  Keam,  Indian  Trader.  By  Laura  Graves. 
Norman:  University  of  Oklahoma  Press,  1998.  xx  +  .UJ 
pages.    Cloth.  S2S.95. 

Non-Indians  who  became  immersed  in  the  affairs  of 
Native  Americans  in  the  late  nineteenth  and  early  twentieth 
centuries,  particularly  in  some  official  capacitv,  have  fared 
poorly  in  recent  historical  accounts.  Politicians,  bureau- 
crats, Indian  superintendents  and  agents,  missionaries, 
teachers,  entrepreneurs,  and  manv  others  hav  e  come  under 
seemingly  routine  scrutiny  for  the  perceived  singular 
motives  that  drove  their  roughshod  treatment  over  the 
American  Indian.  Without  doubt,  there  has  been  much  to 
criticize;  yet,  as  Laura  Graves  reminds  us  in  this  fine 
biography,  a  precious  gem  can  lie  buried  under  a  mountain 
of  country  rock,  aw  aiting  discov  ery.  Thomas  I  'arkcr  Kcam. 
IiiJian  Trader  delivers  a  balanced  treatment  about  a 
controversial  figure  who  spent  the  majority  of  his  adult  life 
grappling  (in  large  measure,  successfully)  with  competing 
interests  of  operating  a  business  on  the  frontier  and 
safeguarding  the  Nav ajo  and  Hopi  people  for  whom  he  felt 
both  an  intimate  connection  and  genuine  fondness  and  on 
whom  his  livelihood  in  no  small  way  depended. 

Bom  in  the  river  port  city  of  Truro  in  Cornwall,  Lngland, 
Keam  arrived  in  Indian  Country  by  way  of  a  rather  circu- 
itous route.  Following  a  hitch  in  the  English  merchant 
marine  during  his  teenage  years,  a  three-year  tour  of  duty  in 
the  First  California  Cavalry  during  he  Civil  War  (in  which 
he  fought  .Apaches,  not  Confederates),  and  en  eighteen- 
month  enlistment  m  the  New  Mexico  Volunteer  Cavalry,  a 
swelling  tide  of  economic  promise  in  the  American  South- 
west convinced  Keam  to  make  his  permanent  home  there. 
In  1869,  he  secured  an  appointment  as  an  interpreter  of  the 
Fort  Defiance  Navajo  Agency  in  northeastern  Arizona 
where,  in  the  course  of  his  duties,  he  became  a  free- 
speaking  admirer  of  the  Navajos  and.  the  author  suggests, 
they  of  him.  Within  months,  he  married  a  member  of  the 
tribe  with  whom  he  had  two  sons.  He  continued  at  Fort 
Defiance  for  four  years  until,  in  a  typical  burst  of  Peace 
Policy  pique,  Presbyterian  church  officials  who  had  control 
of  the  agency  judged  him  to  be  in  v  iolation  of  Christian 
ethics  (his  marriage  had  been  conducted  according  to  tribal 
custom)  and  unceremoniously  removed  him  from  his  post. 
Keam's  discharge  led  hiin  unwittingly  to  the  arena  of  his 
lifework,  but  that  failed  to  deter  him  from  dev oting  nearly 
a  decade  vainly  trying  to  regain  entry  into  the  Indian  ser\  ice 
as  a  Navajo  agent,  a  hid  dominantly  based  on  an  unsvverv  ing 
belief  that  he  embodied  the  finest  qualities  required  for  the 
job,  a  plausible  conclusion,  certainly,  considering  his 
background. 

Whatever  misgivings  the  federal  government  harbored  in 
terms  of  Keam's  fitness  to  administer  Indian  policy,  in  the 
Indian  trade  he  proved  farsighted  and  able.  As  the  first 
trader  to  recognize  a  wide  demand  for  native  culture,  he 
revolutionized  the  industry  with  large-scale  marketing  of 
Navajo  and  Hope  material  manufactures,  a  business  that 
grew  lucrative  and  the  profits  of  which.  Graves  asserts,  both 


45 


Annals  of  Wyoming:  Tne  Wyoming  History  Jo 


Keam  and  Indian  artists  shared.  The  Indian  trade  produced 
a  discemable  impact,  elevating  Keam  to  a  position  of 
prominence  in  the  Southwest,  a  status  he  turned  to  personal 
as  well  as  Navajo  and  Hopi  ad\antage.  Most  notably,  his 
influence  helped  prevent  introduction  on  Hopi  lands  of  the 
potentially  disastrous  Dawes  Allotment  Act.  But  that  only 
scratched  the  surface.  He  fostered  close  friendships  with 
important  Indian  rights  leaders.  He  regularly  travelled  to 
Washington  to  meet  with  top  government  officials,  even 
presidents,  on  behalf  of  Indians.  He  positioned  himself  and 
his  trading  posts  as  intersections  between  leading 
anthropologists  and  the  people  the>'  came  to  study.  He 
contributed  to  the  Navajos  doubling  the  land-area  of  their 
reservation.  He  assisted  in  forcing  the  federal  government 
to  build  a  school  at  Keams  Canyon.  He  intervened  to  avert 
an  outbreak  of  hostilities  after  the  Hopis  declared  war  on  the 
United  States  .Army. 

Ironically,  it  was  the  percei\  ed  conflict  of  interests  tied  to 
his  stature  among  and  loyalty  to  the  Navajos  and  Hopis  that 
probably  rendered  him  unemployable  in  the  Indian  ser\ice. 
Howe\  er,  to  construe  Ream's  actions  as  a  crusade  would  be 
wrong.  He  guarded  his  own  welfare  first  and  foremost  and 
lent  support  to  others  as  circumstances  permitted.  Yet, 
considering  the  doubtful  response  of  many  of  his 
contemporaries  when  confronted  with  similar  choices. 
Ream's  record  stacks  up  pretty  well  by  comparison. 

More  histories  are  needed  like  this  one  that  struggle  to 
comprehend  and  brmg  to  the  front  the  complicated 
interactions  and  complex  moti\ations  that  guide  human 
beha\ iors  and  relationships.  This  \olume  adds  substantial 
in\  entory  to  our  knov\  ledge  and  understanding  of  both  a 
fascinating  indi\idual  and  an  intriguing  and  often- 
overlooked  aspect  of  Indian-white  relations  in  the  United 
States. 

Car>  C.  Collins 

Maple  Valley,  Washington 

Butch  Cassidy:  A  Biography.  By  Richard  Patterson. 
Lincoln:  U'ni\ersity  of  Nebraska  Press,  1998.  x\i  +  362 
pages.  Illustrations,  notes,  bibliography,  index.  Paper, 
$19.95. 

Biographer  Richard  Patterson  is  a  retired  attorney  and 
free  lance  vsriter  who  has  published  many  elements  of  this 
text  as  articles  as  well  as  the  Historical  Atlas  of  the  Outlaw 
West.  He  explains  how  Robert  Leroy  Parker,  who  went  by 
the  name  of  Butch  Cassidy  or  another  alias,  created  a  legend 
"rivaled  only  by  that  of  Billy  the  Rid."  (cover)  A  Mormon 
who  became  a  proficient  thief  and  an  obnoxious  thug 
specialized  in  cattle  rustling,  bank  robbing  and  train 
robbing  plus  other  atrocities.  Because  of  carefijl  plans,  he 
and  his  cronies  spent  little  time  in  prison.  Eventually  they 
escaped  the  pursuit  of  Pinkertons  as  exiles  in  the  highland 
Patagonian  province  of  Argentina.  Cassidy  died  with  a 
partner  either  in  a  shootout  or  by  a  suicide  pact  in  Bolivia  to 
avoid  the  agony  of  Latin  American  justice. 


A  combination  of  anecdotes,  legends,  myths  and  legiti- 
mate records  creates  a  profile  of  a  life  without  apparent 
redeeming  qualities  through  the  years  1879-1908.  A  lively 
text  supplies  detail  taken  from  fragmented  evidence  re- 
garding the  ways  that  Cassidy  and  his  cronies  stole  and 
terrorized  their  way  across  Utah  and  Wyoming  with  side 
trips  into  Montana  and  Alberta.  After  a  railroad  robbery  put 
Pinkertons  on  their  trail,  Cassidy  and  friends  found  their 
way  to  a  ranch  in  Patagonia,  where  he  grew  bored  with  the 
life  of  gaucho.  Out  of  carelessness  he  revealed  his  location. 
He  and  a  partner  stole  funds  to  support  a  retreat  into  Chile 
and  onto  the  Andean  Cordillera  of  Peru  and  Bolivia,  where 
they  died.  Or,  did  they  escape  and  return  to  the  United 
States? 

Understandably,  the  attorney/biographer  has  emphasized 
methods  of  arrest  and  trial  procedures  plus  some  impli- 
cations of  the  law  more  than  inadequacies  in  frontier  justice 
and  its  social  consequences,  which  a  professional  historian 
might  have  featured  as  a  context.  Patterson  has  written  a 
fairly  objective  story  that  portrays  Cassidy  as  a  cunning 
outlaw  who  has  earned  little  if  any  respect  in  the  annals  of 
history.  As  an  "afterthought,"  he  quotes  a  professional 
historian  who  wrote  that  many  Americans  are  people  who 
"feel  suckered"  by  life  and  link  wish  reality  "to  believe  that 
an  underdog  is  still  around."  (p.  284)  For  this  reason,  the 
name  of  Cassidy  (like  that  of  Elvis  Presley)  makes  a  useful 
advertising  device.  For  example,  recently  Dinosaur 
National  Park  Superintendent  Dennis  Ditmanson  reported 
that  a  group  in  search  of  funds  to  improve  a  secondary  road 
on  the  Colorado-Utah  border  had  promised  prospective 
backers  that  the  group  would  honor  a  finished  highway  with 
the  label  of  "Butch  Cassidy  Lovers'  Lane." 

Patterson's  biography  elevates  the  memory  of  Butch 
Cassidy  to  one  on  a  plane  with  that  of  Billy  the  Rid  -  except 
that  it  lacks  any  social  context  equivalent  to  a  cattlemen's 
war  or  an  ethnic  conflict.  Underdog  fans,  scholars,  students 
and  librarians  of  Western  Americana  should  regard  this  as 
an  essential  addition  to  their  collections.  Its  author  merits 
favorable  recognition  for  preparing  an  easy  read  that 
represents  relentless  research  and  remarkable  objectivity. 

Herbert  T.  Hoover 
University  of  South  Dakota 


Ind 


ex 


Aben.  Col  John  J   21.  27.  (phiUo,  20) 

Adams.  Boh  ').    1  I 

"'Ad\enlures  ot  C'jpt.iin  BoniifMlle.  t  .S  A  ." 

17.  2(1.  2.V2S 
African  Amc-rican  westc-rncrs  45 
"'.Mrican  Americans  on  llie  'A  u'^lern 

FrnnliLT.'   reMCVM-'d   44 
Auncu.  Spin.   ^>.    in    I  I 
Alps  2? 

altitude  sickness   2(i 
American  Federation  nllahor  _> 
American  Hay.  Frenioni  raisinL;  ol   20 
Anderson.  Kslher  4 
Arthur.  Pres  Chester  \    40 
Ashle\.  William  21.  ."^^4 
Asior.  John  Jacob    17.  .■>4 
"Astoria""    W.  20.  2.1.  28 
Astonans   ?>0.  32.  33 
Baldwin.  J   Kirk  9 
Bardo.  Gerald  4.  b 
harometer  2f).  27 

Barren.  Frank  A.    3.   .>.  ^.  iphoio.  4) 
Barred.  Judge  James   .' 
hasohall   r- 
Baiaan  dejih  march   4 
Bell\  Roll  and  Cra^Nl  41 
Benton.  Sen   Thomas  Hart    U>.  2  I 
■■Be\nnd  a  l.iterar\  Ad\enlurc    Bonnc\i!le*s 

and  Fremont's  Conquests  ol  the  W  ind 

Ri\ers."    15-28 
Big  Horn  River  30,  3.=i 
Billington.  Monroe  1  ee.  hook  re\ieucd   44 
Bird.  Ma\  I     5 
Blackfeel   34.  35 
Blackrock  Creek   31 
Blackrock  Meadows   31 
Board  ot"  Chanties  and  Relnmi    12 
Bonneville.  Capt   B   I     t.    Ih-UX  23.  .''5. 

{photo.  |9).  climhs  dannetl  Peak   2K 
Brainerd.  Jean.  re\icu  h_\    42 
Breccia  ChlTs  36 
Bndger.  Jim  35.  3f»,   37.   3S 
Brooks  Lake  Creek   32 
Brvani.  Dr  EduardC    2 
Bueler"sSnou  Bndge  41 
Buffalo  Fork   31 
Bull  Lake  37 
Burke.  Joe   7 

"Bulch  Cassidv    A  Biograph\.*'  reviewed   46 
Cairo.  Eg\p!    14 
Care>.  Sen   Rohert   3 
Carmichael.  Dave   8 
"Campaign  Memories.  "2-14 
Carson.  Johnny    12 
Carson.  Kit  23.  26 
Cheney.  Dick    II.    14 
Cheyenne-Deaduood  Stage  I  me   2 
Chimney  Rock    23 
Chillenden.  H   M.  42 
Christensen.  Mart  4 
Christian.  Dons  7 
Clark.  William,  map  30 
"Climbing  the  Grand."  41-J2 
Clyman.  James  35 
Collins,  Cary  C  .  review  by    46 
Colony.  Wyoming    10 
Colter.  John   30.  31.40 

route  of  33 
Colters  Rner  30.  32 
Continental  Divide 

29.  30.  31.  34.  35.  37.  38.  40 
Continental  Di\ide  National  Scenic  Trail  40 
Continental  Divide  Trail  Society   40 
Copenhaver,  Everett   '> 

resigns    1  I 
Coulanl.  GC    }5 
Crooks  River   30.  31.  33 
Cross.  Rory    7 
Darrow.  Boh   7 
Dartmouth  Basin  41 
DeLap,  Blackburn  and  DePirro  41 
Democratic  victones  of  1932.  1934  .  1936  3 
DeviEs  Slide  41 
Dewey.  Tom   5 
"Distant  Honzons  Documents  trom  the 

Nineteenlh-Cenlury,  .."  re\!ewed   43 
Drouillard   33 
Drouillard.  t-ieorge  30 
Dunoir  Creek    30.  31.   36.   37 
Eisenhower.  Dwight  D,   5 
Enclosure  42 
Erwin.  C  W    5 


Fall  River   38 

Falls  Riwr  }2 

Farquhar.  Francis  42 

Fish  Creek    35.  37.  38 

Filzpatnck.  Thomas  35 

Eon  Astoria    17 

Fort  Laramie  23.   26 

Fort  Raymond    30 

Fremont.  Jessie  Benlon  19.  20,  28.  (photo. 

21) 
Fremont.  John  C     16-28.  (photo,  15,  lb) 
Fremont  Peak    15.    IS.   27,  35 

Fremont  climb  ol   26 
I  rcmonl  Report   24 
Frontier  Hotel.  4 
fur  trade  36 
Gale.  Joseph   35 
Gannett.  Henry    41 
Gannett  Peak    15.    18.   26.   28.  2^ 
-General  Sheridan's  Pass.  1807-1883."  29 
Goeizmann.  William    17 
Gompers.  Samuel   3 
Graves.  Laura,  book  re\iewed   45 
Gray.  Norman  B    '^ 
Great  Salt  Lake   18 
Green  River  30.  39.  4U 
Greever.  Paul  3 

Gnfllth.  Carolyn    1 1.  12.  (photos.  1 1.  13} 
Gnllllh.  J   B.  (photo.  3) 
(inffith.  James  B  .  2-1  I.  (photos.  2.  8. 

10.11.  13 
Griffith.  Laura  8.  (photo.  8) 
([ritllth.  Lynn   8.  (photo.  8) 
Griltllh.  Sally    8.  (photo.  8) 
Gros  Ventre  Fork   39 
Gros  Ventre  Range   39 
Gros  Ventre  Rner   30.   31.   .■!5.   38.  40 
Guernsey  Uazeiie   4 
■"Guide  to  the  Indian  Wars  o\'  ihe  West." 

reviewed  44 
H   C.  Snyder  and  Company    2 
Hamp.  Sidford  41 
Hansen.  Chllord    10,    13 
Hanway.J   F     3 

Hardaway.  Roger  D  .  btiok  reviewed   44 
Flams.  Burton    33 
Harvey.  Mark  41 

Hathaway.  Stan  6.  9,    10.    13.  (photo.  6) 
Hayden.F   V    38.39 
Hayden  survey  report   38 
Heart  Lake  32.  38 
Henderson.  Harry  B    4 
Henrv.  Andrew   34 
Henrys  Lake  30 
Henrys  River   30 
Hereford  Creek   38 
Herschler.  Casey    12.    13.  (photo.  12) 
Herschler,  Id   9.  i  |.  12.  (photo.  12) 
HF  Bar  ranch  42 
Hickcy.J.J    6 
"History  of  the  Expedition  under  ihi. 

Command  of.  .""  32 
Hitching  Post    12 
Hoback.  John  34 
Hoback  River  34.  35 
HoJel.  Don    14 
Holland.  Floyd   8.  9 
Hook.  Alfred  A    42 
Hoover.  Herbert  T   .  review  by    46 
Hoover  depression   3 
Horton.  Frank   4.  42 
Houser.  George  4 
Hummasli.  George.  re\iew  by    44 
Hunt.  Lester  C,   4.  6 
Hum.  Wilson  Pnce   34 
Independence  Rock    23 
Irving.  Washington    16-19.  26-28.  35. 

(photo.  18) 
Jackson  Hole   29.  33.  38 
Jackson  Lake   31.  32.  38.  41 
Jackson.  William  H    41 
Jenny  Lake  41 
Jones.  Dick    10 
Jones.  Capt.  William  A.   39 
Kendnck.  John  B    2 
Kennedy.  John,  nominated   6 
Kerr.  Ewing  T    4 
Kilmer.  Roscoe  6 
Komegay.  Sid    14 
Lake  Biddle   30.  32.  33.  38 
Lake  Bonneville    18 
Lake  Eustis  32 
Lake  Riddle   32 
Land  Commissioner,  4 
Langlord.  Nathaniel   41.42 
Laramie  Boomerang    1 0 


Laredo  Time\   3 

Lava  Creek  32 

I  ava  Mountain    ->(> 

"Legend  ol  Sleepy  Hollow"    17 

Lewis  and  C'lark    17.   21.30 

Lewis.  Samuel  32.  map  31 

Le\inglon,  Kentucky   3 

Lisa.  Manuel   30.   34 

Long.  Stephen    18 

Long's  Peak   26 

l.usk   2-5 

/.inA  HeraUl  3 

Luik  Slate  Bank   5 

MacArthur.  Douglas  5 

Mad  River  35 

Madison  Rner   30.   34 

Manuel's  Fort   30 

map,  Clark's  manuscript   30.31.  33.   38 

Masonic  Lodge  9 

Matagorda  Bay.  Mevico   2 

Mays.  Hobe.  book  reviewed  43 

McComb.  David  G  .  re\iew  by   43 

McCrakcn.  Bob    12 

McCraken.  Tracy    6 

McDermoll.  John  D  .  book  reviewed  44 

McGee.  Gale  6 

McMasler.  Andrew   6 

Midwest  Hardware   7 

Mihelich.  Dennis.  re\  lev^  by   45 

Miller.  Alfred  Jacob   18 

Miller.  Thomas  O    5 

Mineral  Management  Service    14 

Minuieman  ICBM  6 

Missouri  Rner  m  Montana   29 

Mitchell.  Minnie   9.   l  I 

Morsman,  Jr..  Edgar  M.  42 

Morton.  Warren    1 3 

Mount  Woodrow  Wilson    18 

multiple  sclerosis   9 

National  Republican  Committee   7 

\alronti  (.'niinly  Jnhiine    3 

Newhart.  Bob    1  1 

Nicollei.  Joseph    19 

Niobrara  Counlry  Club  5 

Niobrara  County    3,  named   3 

North  Platte  River   27 

Noy.  (jarv.  hook  reviewed   43 

( 'Connor.  Jesse   42 

t  iregon  I  rail  29 

Ortenburger  41 

(Hbome.  Greg  8 

Osborne.  Keith  and  Mary    X 

Owen  Chimney    41 

Owen.  William  O    41 

Ov\l  Creek  Mountains  33 

Pacific  Fur  Company    34 

Papoose  Creek   36 

Patterson.  Richard,  book  re\iewed   46 

r  El)  ReenyJ   13 

Pearson.  Drew   6 

Phelan.  Fli/abelh   ^.    \  1 

Pien-e's  Hole  35 

Pike.  Zebulon    17,  26.  30 

Pikes  Peak   26 

Pinedale    15 

Pinnacle  Bunes   36 

Pinon  Ridge    32,  40 

Polis.  Jim   12 

Popo  Agie  River  19.29.35.  36 

"Postmistress  of  Saddlestnng,  Wyoming. 

reviewed  42 
Preuss.  Charles  21.22.26 

loumal   22 

suicide   23 
radio  talk  shows    10 
Ray  nolds.  Capt   W   F    37.  3S 
Raynolds  [or  Targhee)  Pass   30 
rendezvous   36 

Republican  National  convention   4 
Republican  State  Chairman   3 
Reznor.  Jacob  34 
Righter.  Robert   41 
■Rip  Van  Winkle"    17 
Roberts.  Harrv'  9.   13 
Robertson.  E   V    6 
Robinson.  Edward   34 
Rocky  Mountains    17 
Roncalio.  Teno  9 
Russell.  Osborne   35,  36.  40 
Saddlestnng.  Wyoming    42 
Si  Anthony.  Idaho   34 
St  Vrains  Fort  26 
Salmon  River  valley   36 
Salt  Fork  33 
Sail  Fork  of  Slinking  30 
Sargent  Chimney   41 


Schrader.  Robert  (photo)  9 

Schroeder,  Fred    13 

Scotl.  Charles    13 

Sheridan  Pass 

29.   30.   31.   32.   34.    35.   36.   38.   39.  40 

Sheridan.  Philip  H     29.40.  ipholo.  29) 

Sheridan  Trail   40 

Shoshone  Indians    36 

Shoshone  Pass    30.   36 

Simons.  Lynn    !2 

Simpson.  Al    1  1 

Simpson.  Milvsard   6.    I  1 

Smith.  "Coyote. "  (photo.  48) 

Smith.  Jackson  &  Sublette   35 

Smith.  Jedediah   21.  34 

Smith,  Nels  4,    13 

Snake  River  29,   35.    ^K.  39 

Snow  mountains   3(> 

Snyder.  Harrv  C     2 

South  Pass   2(J.  21.  23.  29.  34.  35.  36 

Fremont  on   21 
South  Shoshone  River   30.  32 
Spalding.  Franklin  S    41.  42 
Spanish  Rner   34 
Squaw  Creek    38 
Stacy.  Estelle  7 
Stamp.  Fremont  25 
Stassen.  Harold   5 
Slate  Auditor    1 1 
Stevenson.  James  41.42 
Stockmans  National  Bank   6 
Stroock.  Tom    13 
Stuart.  Robert   21.  33.  34 
Sublette.  William   35 
Table  Mountain   41 
Taft.  Robert    5 
"lake  Two  and  Hit  to  Right   Golden  Days 

on  Ihe  Semi-pro    "",  re\iewed  43 
Taylor.  Harry    9 
Teton  County  Board  of  Historic  Preservation 

42 
Teton  Pass   30.   31 

"Thomas  Varker  Keam,  Indian  Trader 
reviewed  45 
Thompson.  Arthur  9 
Thompson.  Jim   7 
Thomson,  Keith,  death  of  6 
Thomson.  Thyra   6,    11.    12 
Thorson.  Harry    fi 
Three  Forks   30 

Togwolee  Pass    29,   30.   31,   32.   34.   35.   39 
Topographical  Corps    16     19 
Tour  on  the  Prairies    17 
Trans-Mississippi  Exposition    25 
Trois  Tetons   20 
Two  Ocean  Pass   37,  39 
Two  (.icean  Water   !i7 
I  'nion  Pass  23 

29.   30.   32.    U.   35.   36.   37.   38 
Union  Peak    39 

United  Stales  Geological  and  Geographical 
Survey    39 
I.^pper  Forks   37 
Upper  Saddle   41 
[  irbanek.  Viae  3 
Valhalla  Canyon   41 
Vincent.  Marv    2 
Volpe.  Vernon  L   (bio.  28) 
Wainwrighl.  General   4 
Walker.  Joseph    18 
Washington  Merry  Go  Round   6 
Watt.  Jim    14 
West  Spur  41 
Whiiaker,  Raymond    I  I 
Whiltler.  Shirley    12 
W  ilkerson.  Imcst    7 
Wind  River    29.   35.   3h.   37 
Wind  Rner  Mountains    16.   27.  (photo.  24) 
Wind  River  Range    15.    18.    W.  20,  23,29 
Wind  Rner  Valley    39 
Wilzenburger.  Ed   6,  9,  (pholo.  7) 

appointed    1 1 
W  itzenburger.  Eleanor   9 
Wold.  John   6 
Wolf.  James  R  .(bio.  40) 
"Wyoming  Place  Names."  3.  9  42 
Wyoming  Press  Association  conventions   3 
Wyoming  Women's  Center   12 
Wyoming's  \'\\e  stale  elected  officials 

(photo.  9) 
'I'ellowstone  Lake   36 
Yellowstone  National  Park   35,  40 
Yellowstone  River   30.   37 
Zuchert.  Eugene  6 


^^(^oming  Picture 


Proud  Hunter 

"Mrs.  Smith  and  the  Wild  Cat  Killed  near 
Glenrock,  "  is  the  caption  on  this  photo- 
graph from  the  "Coyote"  Smith  collec- 
tion. Division  of  Cultural  Resources.  De- 
partment of  Parks  and  Cultural  Re- 
sources. Smith  's  photographic  collection 
documents  life  around  Glenrock  just  be- 
fore and  during  the  "oil  boom  "  of  the  late 
'teens.  A  box  of  the  glassplate  negatives 
made  by  Smith  was  found  on  a  Glenrock 
area  ranch  and  turned  over  to  the  State 
for  restoration  and  preservation  in  the 
early  1980s. 


Join  tne  \X^oniing  State  Historical  Society 

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•^•••« 


Tu'o  >t»ri| 
Special  Pri 
•lust  iiiTiiiu\fbr 
Cliri.stiiia.s! 


■Si'^w^^fldibir— ~' 


,     .„  rrnn 

™iw™ncirrroii, 


'Portugee  Phillips  Arrives  at  Old  Bedlam.  Fort  Laramie 


"Custer's  Troops  in  Floral  Wilier.  July  /.S'"'-/" 

Full  color,  prititeci  on  SO-Ih. 
paper,  ituage  size  is  24  x  16 
inches 


These  commemorative  prints, 
signed  by  artist  Dave  Paulley  and 
eminent  Wyoming  historian  T. 
A.  Larson,  are  offered  in  a  num- 
bered, limited  edition  of  300 
prints. 

The  original  paintings  from 
which  the  prints  are  made  are 
from  the  Wyoming  History  in 
Art  Project  sponsored  by  the 
Wyoming  State  Historical  Soci- 
ety. To  order  your  prints,  send 
$125  for  each  plus  $10  for  ship- 
ping and  handling  to:  American 
Heritage  Center,  P.  O.  Box  3924, 
Laramie  WY  82071,  or  call 
Lucille  Dumbrill,  (307)  746- 
2268.