I.S. Bartlett - History of Wyoming

One of the earliest attempts to write a history of Wyoming was by Hartville resident, I. S. Bartlett and published in 1918. Vol 1 of the three volume set can be read online here- https://archive.org/details/historyofwyoming01bart

This book is a good read and one I have bookmarked on my laptop.  This one is the first of a three volume set. Some critiques have been leveled at Mr. Bartlett’s work because a few liberties were taken that would not be found in a modern day history book. Mr. Bartlett lists himself as the editor not the writer of the book and includes first-hand accounts from many sources. He also includes some of his and others poetry and in one place talks about how good the fishing is at Kelly’s Park on the North Platte River a few miles from his home.

The book, because of its age, is a bit closer to history and the beginnings of the state of Wyoming which, to me, makes it an intriguing resource.

Give it a look and enjoy.

Photo of Laramie Peak from our hike today

It has been a few weeks, maybe months since I have put up a few questions of Wyoming trivia, so here it is 5 questions to test your knowledge of the state. See answers under the last photo.

1.  Who led the first Government Expedition over the Oregon Trail in 1842. The group stopped on a bluff overlooking what today is Guernsey State Park, where the leader noted that it was the most spectacular river valley he had ever seen. Ok who was it?

2.  What river did early trappers call the Sisk-ke-dee?

3.  Which is the oldest of the five dams on the North Platte River?

4.  What was the battle in northern Wyoming between the cattle barons, and homesteaders, called?

5.  Which  Wyoming fort has been called the bloodiest in the west?

 

Part of the North Platte River Valley from Question 1, last winter

1.  John C. Fremont

2.  Green River

3.  Pathfinder

4.  Johnson County War

5.  Fort Phil Kearney

  

Gannett Peak Wyoming

Gannett Peak, Wyoming’s highest mountain, reaches 13,785 feet. The Peak is more than 10,000 feet higher than Wyoming’s lowest point on the Belle Fourche River in northeast Wyoming where the elevation is a mere 3,125 feet above sea level.

Gannett Peak

Gannett Peak was named for Henry Gannett a Harvard educated geographer and map maker who traveled west on the Hayden expedition to map the greater Yellowstone area. The Peak probably would have been named after the pathfinder himself, John C. Fremont, but he had already named a peak after himself mistakenly thinking it the tallest in the area. 

Henry Gannett

Seems like Gannett Peak is a great name in this day and age as Mr. Gannett is considered the father of the Quadrangle which is considered the basis for all topographical maps in the United States.

Thursday – Wyoming Trivia

1.  What writer is honored by a monument in downtown Medicine Bow, Wyoming?

2. Name the two tribes included in the Fort Bridger Treaty of 1868.

3.  This became the first incorporated town in Wyoming in 1884, six years before statehood.

4.  This animal, found in Wyoming, is used as our nation’s symbol of wilderness areas?

See answers below photo

Grizzly Bear - seemed a lot closer when I snapped this photo

     1. Owen Wister – it’s across the street from the Virginian Hotel

     2. Shoshone and Bannock

     3. Hartville - a five-minute drive from my home

     4. Grizzly Bear - maybe I gave this away with the photo

Guernsey Dam

On May 4, 1925 the contract was accepted for the building of what would become Guernsey Dam.

And as us old historians like to say – the rest is history.

John C. Fremont called this river canyon the most beautiful he had every seen - no arguments, on that point, from park visitors today,

On the Trail - A Visit to Warm Springs

A Visit to Warm Springs

Today washing machines and hot tubs are everywhere but on the Oregon Trail there was but one. Located only four miles from the present day town of Guernsey, Wyoming the spring is a day’s journey, by wagon, west of Fort Laramie. John C. Fremont visited in 1842 and by 1870 as many as half a million travelers had journeyed west on the Oregon Trail. The Warm Spring, referred to on maps as the Emigrants Laundry Tub, was that place.

Warm Springs, Looking South - Sandy Area from the Flash Flood

The springs, there is both a cool and a warm spring spouting 70 degree plus water, are still actively flowing today. In Oregon Trail days, this area became a dumping ground for everything the travelers could get rid of as they lightened their wagons looking west at the imposing Laramie Range.  Stories abound of graves in the area and Indian battles that once took place there. With the day at the springs over it was but a short day to the crossing on the Bitter Cottonwood.

The Source - Warm Water gurgles from a three-foot high white limestone  bank

This weekend we had a chance to visit the springs and despite the cold and light rain it was a terrific day. Warm Springs is on military land and the only way to visit is by procuring permission from the main office at Camp Guernsey. As long as there is no shooting on the range a few miles away and no active drills near the springs the military is very accommodating of visitors.

Flowing from cold spring east toward the warm spring

The springs were fenced a few years ago to keep livestock from destroying the historically significant area. Unfortunately a flash flood, a year ago, took out the fence and many thought the springs. The springs survived, the fence did not. The California Oregon Trails Association placed two very nice interpretive signs in the area, one survived the flash flood one was broken off and lost.

Nice sign, sorry about the shadow, I was trying to keep my camera out of  the pelting rain and this was the best I could do. I look a bit like a zombie on the sign

Trail Ruts leading up and out of Warm Springs

The military has been a good partner for this area and I am sure the fence will someday be rebuilt. A plan to open this area up to the public is also in the works and will someday become a reality. Before it can happen the military must realign a firing range. This will take both time and money, but it is in the works.

Army Rangers - photo from North Range Drop Zone June, 2014

Independence Rock Wyoming

Independence Rock, the great registrar of the desert, is one of the most well-known points on the Oregon Trail. From 1843 to 1869 nearly a half million people traveled the Oregon and Mormon Trails through Wyoming.

 

But who named it, and why, Independence Rock? Today state highway 220 takes travelers from Rawlins to Casper and a state rest stop welcomes all to stop at the rock. The rock stands nearly 140 feet above the surrounding country and can be seen for miles. Independence Rock covers 25 acres, and a walk around it would be a tad more than a mile. Wind faceting, (constant blowing of sand particles against a service that polish it like a gem stone), has caused the igneous feldspar to shine more like granite than the lowly common rock it is.

A writer in the 1860s estimated there were between forty and fifty thousand names written on the rock. Some of these names were painted or penciled and soon disappeared. Most were carved and the deeper of these etchings survive to this day. John C. Fremont visited the rock in 1842 and carved a cross, filling it with India rubber. The rubber was Fremont’s attempt to make his cross long lasting, but in modern days it can no longer found. Today about 5,000 names can still be found.

So why Independence Rock? No one is sure. Some historians believe Thomas, Broken-Hand, Fitzpatrick named it in 1824, at the height of the trapper period in Wyoming, after making camp there on July 4.  Others believe General Ashley named it July 4^th 1825. Some say it was none other than Captain Bonneville in 1832 naming it because it stood independent of the prairies around it.

A town grew up near the rock but soon faded, today only memories survive. It doesn’t matter who gave the large turtle shaped rock its name, what matters is this great landmark of the Oregon and Mormon Trail stands today exactly as it did in the 1800s.