The Strange Case of Hiram Scott

 January 24, 2022

Wyoming Fact & Fiction

The Strange Case of Hiram Scott – We live in eastern Wyoming, and for us, a trip to Scottsbluff, Nebraska, is an almost weekly affair. It's only an hour away, and the closest Walmart, Target, Home Depot, and Menards are all located there. Statistically, 90% of Americans live within 10 miles of a Walmart store. Humm – we live 62 miles from our closest. That must mean we live in a nearly perfect place. I agree.

The city of Scottsbluff is named after Hiram Scott and his time in Wyoming was both tragic and historic. Scott had come west with General Ashley's party and served as a Captain under Colonel Leavenworth.

In 1827 Scott and his group went back on the North Platte River for a downstream trip to Saint Louis when their canoe overturned. Among the group's losses were all of their ammunition – too wet to ever be of use again. With the ability to hunt lost, the men lived on whatever berries, roots, and shoots they could find. It didn't take long before Scott was ill. We could speculate on why, but lack of food or bad food would lead the list of possibilities.

In the movies, trappers are mostly displayed as loyal and fateful to their companions. Not sure if that was ever true, but it certainly was not in this case. Hiram Scott was thought to be on his death bed and was abandoned by his companions near the site of what would become Fort Laramie. His men, meanwhile, started their long walk east toward civilization.

The following summer, the men who abandoned Scott were back in the west and found what they identified as Scott's remains near present-day Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Fort Laramie is nearly 50 miles from Scottsbluff. According to Washington Irvin, Scott had crawled and stumbled for days to reach where he died.  

Fort Laramie last summer - still looking good.

Wyoming Trivia – two questions today

Q1 – Fort Laramie was the third name for the famous post. Can you name one of its earlier names?

Q2 – Fort Laramie was located on two famous rivers – name them?

Q3 – Wyoming became a state in 1890. What year did neighboring Nebraska become a state? Leeway on this one – within five years.

Answers

Q1 – Fort William & Fort John

Q2 – North Platte River – Laramie River

Q3 - 1867

 

Here is the link to all of my books on Amazon

 

See you next week!

 

Oregon Trail Last week & the Mid 1800s

 January 17, 2022

Wyoming Fact & Fiction

We are back from a quick trip to visit family in southeast Nebraska. My two hometowns, where I grew up in Fairbury, Nebraska, and now in Guernsey, Wyoming, are Oregon Trail towns.

Traveling the Oregon Trail - Every time we go back to visit, I think about those Prairie Schooners rumbling along at 10 to 15 miles per day. My, growing up, home town, sits near one of the first difficult river crossings – the Little Blue. The crossing was treacherous if the wagons got there early in the year.

Little Blue looked peaceful when I snapped this last July.

By the time they reached Guernsey, most wagons were following the south side of the North Platte River. The Mormon Trail runs along the north side of the river, only a few miles from the Oregon Trail on the south by the time it gets here.

North Platte in mid-June in Guernsey, Wy. 

The driving distance from here in Wyoming to where I grew up in Fairbury is 485 miles, about eight to nine hours for us oldsters who stop several times along the way. The wagons would have taken more than a month, likely closer to six weeks. But hundreds of thousands made the trip, with about 20,000 who died along the way. Cholera and other sickness and disease killed most of the thousands who died along the way. Indians, who have killed hundreds of thousands, maybe millions on TV, old-time radio, and movies, actually killed about 400. 

Most who traveled walked instead of overtaxing their animals, primarily Oxen, with extra weight.

Not an Oxen but good looking Longhorn

The wagon itself was only about 4X10. Even in our tiny house world, forty square feet is not much.

A landmark of the trail - Chimney Rock in western Nebraska

One Book You Might Need in Your Library – Patrick T. Holscher’s – On This Day In Wyoming History.

So what happened in Wyoming History today from the book? Kendall Wyoming had a low temperature of -52. Now that is cold! Thanks for the info, Patrick.

Shout Out for this Blog - It is always nice to be noticed, and this week I received word that this blog is now listed in FeedSpot as one of the Top 15 Wyoming Blogs & Websites. Click the link to see the list. I read several of these sites – good stuff, no cost! 

Wyoming Trivia – two questions today

Q1 - What are Oxen?

Q2 - Where did emigrants on the Oregon Trail hope to be by the 4^th of July

Trail Ruts near Guernsey - about a 1/2 mile south of our house.

Answers

Q1 - Oxen are no different in origin than other cattle. They are simply neutered bulls trained to pull.

Q2 - Independence Rock

 

See you next week!

 

Eastern Wyoming Photo Extravaganza

December 27, 2021

Christmas is in the books. Now it is onward toward the New Year, and we all wish and hope for a good one. 

The Narrows at Guernsey State Park

A few years ago, while waiting for a concert to start in Branson, Missouri, we explained we were from east-central Wyoming to a couple from New York. He said, "Oh, not the pretty part." He then explained they had been in Wyoming twice before and loved it. Each time they flew into Jackson, they spent some time and flew out. I wish I would have had the time to explain that Wyoming is quite stunning everywhere. Don't get me wrong, I like Jackson, we spend some time there once in a while, but it is not all of Wyoming.

A Mink along the North Platte River in Guernsey

The following photos – all taken in the last month or so, were all shot within a half-hour of where we live in Guernsey, Wyoming. We think this area of the state is pretty special.

Along the Laramie River

With the New Year come some new thoughts – such as

I was born in 1948, which means if I make it to the 2030s, I will have lived in part of 10 decades – a century's worth of decades.

A few miles south of town

After 42 years in the classroom, I retired in 2012. 2022 makes it ten years. Wow, that went fast.

Along my morning walk

I am currently writing my 17^th book. I hope to have a few more in me.

 

Fort Laramie river bridge

I count the miles on my morning walks and hikes in the park – settled for about 800 this year. Onward to one thousand in 2022.

25 miles west of town - nice view

Happy New Year – 2022

A Quick Read and Photos Too

Apologies for not posting here for a while. With so many Wyoming sites, since I started this one, I was not sure if I had anything different to say. 

Alive and well - out hiking in mid-October

I hope to be back whenever I find something unique.  I am working on a new nonfiction Wyoming book - more news when I get closer to finishing the first draft. 

Bend in the North Platte River

The yard is raked and for the most part cleaned up and ready for snow - guess winter is coming as I see snowflakes in the air as I write this.

Ducks sunning on a river rock

Today's photos from the past two months and all within 50 miles, or so, of where we live. 

Evening at the lake

Backyard before the last of the leaves fell - 10 days ago.

Coming Soon - A Visit to Fort Laramie - Again

Seems like my blogging has slowed significantly since the weather started to cooperate with my summer activities.

Summer means getting more time out with my camera

      Speaking of summer activities, I see that next Saturday, June 17, is one of my favorite summer events, Fur Trade Day at Fort Laramie. Over the years I have spent much time in the study of the Mountain Man era and loved teaching that part of the growing west in my history classes. Fur Trade Day is one event that really fits my interest. Over the past few years, we have made them all and found the reenactors to be knowledgeable, friendly and willing to answer any and all questions. In case any readers are thinking about going it takes place from 9:30 – 5:00 on that day. (Saturday, June 17)

My wife trying out a trapper recliner

I am the not so Mountain Man-ish one at Fur Trae Day last year

    Must be my preparation because I am presently re-reading, Donald Clayton Porter’s classic novel, Fort Laramie. I read this one so many years ago that it reads like a new story to me.

    Because both of my western mysteries and several of my short stories include Fort Laramie, we visit four or five times each year, depending on visitors to our house, it can sometimes be more. 
Click anywhere on the above sentence for the link to my books.

The Ruts south of Guernsey Wyoming

    We enjoy living only 13 miles from the Fort and less than a mile from the most famous ruts of the Oregon Trail. Life is good when it is summer in Wyoming.

For Your Enjoument - Fort Laramie Trivia 
 Answers under the last photo

1.    What two rivers come together near Fort Laramie?

2.    Which well known and now well-preserved building at the fort served as Officer Quarters and as the Post Headquarters?

3.    Where did Fort Laramie get its unique to Wyoming name?

On the grounds of Fort Laramie - July 4, 2016

Answers

1.    North Platte and Laramie

2.    Old Bedlam – May now be the oldest building in Wyoming

3.    Jacques La Ramie sometimes spelled Ramee - I prefer Ramie

Wyoming Snowstorm and Trivia Too

It’s always fun to see the weather reports get it right. Lots of snow and we did need the moisture, after the wind of the past two weeks.

Not sure how a foot and a half of snow was handled in the old days. Probably a lot like me with this one – stay inside and read a book, or work on a project of some kind.

Pine Tree sagging onto garage

The only time I ventured out yesterday was to clean off our dish so the TV stations would come back. Later we did a bit of shoveling from our back door to the garage. All in all, it was a pretty good day.

My back, Rasberry Patch

I did finish the cover for my new book, the third in the series of kids books written for second, third and fourth graders. Now awaiting the proof copies.

Cover for New Kids Book - Should be available by mid-March

It has been too long since I posted my infamous, Wyoming Trivia. Today, give these five questions a try.

Answers below the next photo.

1.   Who was the leader of the first Geological Survey into Yellowstone?

2.   What Wyoming County sits in the middle of these six counties: Sheridan, Cambell, Converse, Natrona, Washakie and Big Horn?

3.   What is the oldest of the five major dams on the North Platte River? This dam is over 100 years old.

4.   What river disappears into Sinks Canyon?

5.   What man caused a controversy at Fort Laramie by hanging two Sioux with chains, and still went on to be appointed as a Wyoming Territorial Governor?

 

Now let's see how you Turkey's did!

Answers

1.   F. V. Hayden

2.   Johnson County

3.   Pathfinder

4.   Popo Agie

5.   Thomas Moonlight

What About That Wyoming Wind

Not sure about you, but I am getting tired of all the wind. Where we live in the North Platte River Valley, we don’t get as much wind as most of the state, except, it seems, this time of year. So many days with gusts around the state at 60 or more mph, seems unusual even for Wyoming at this part of the year.

Where the Wind Really Blows - I did a bit of research to see how Wyoming compared to other states and, as expected, this is a windy state. Wyoming trails only South Dakota and Montana in average wind speed. I found it both funny and appropriate that the list has the District of Columbia at the top with a wind speed more than ten mph above than South Dakota. Imagine that, D.C. with all the politicians is the windiest place in the United States. (I do hope the people that compiled this list I used do know that The District of Columbia, is not a state).

That’s a Lot of Wind - Last year Casper had a wind gust that reached 103 mph in February, as much as a class 2 hurricane. So what is the windiest town in Wyoming? Good question, either Medicine Bow or Rawlins, depending on the source, and if you dig deep enough, other towns and cities will probably pop-up.

But all of Wyoming is not considered windy, Worland, Lander, Guernsey, and I am sure a few others will pop up as members of the least windy cities in the United States. How do these places qualify? With average wind speeds of around eight mph or less for the year. With the speeds at that level, cities are in the bottom 20% for the wind in the country.

Is it Spring Yet? - It has been warm enough to play golf if not for the snow and wind. Now the snow, because of the wind, has melted and I may head out to the golf course the next time the wind is not so bad. I know what you are thinking – “Well, good luck with that.”

That’s it, one very windy post, but I still do not want to live anywhere else.

Today’s photos from our drive west of town this morning – enjoy!

Markers Along the Oregon Trail

Traveling the Oregon Trail must have been quite an ordeal. Along with the lack of food, lack of good water, lack of fuel and the constant fear of attack from Indians, travelers had to put up with walking most of the way. They experienced freezing cold mornings and often scorching afternoons. But finding the way west was, after the first few years, not as difficult as many novels and stories seem to make it. Many good scouts, or pilots as they were sometimes called, worked the trail, many had earlier trapped and traded in the west and knew much of life on the trail.

Wagons followed the Platte River across present-day Nebraska and looked forward to their first view of the west, Chimney Rock and soon after if the days were clear Laramie Peak.

Chimney Rock – Near Bridgeport Nebraska and along Highway - 26, was a towering marker letting travelers know they were leaving the flat and easy part of the journey west. Chimney Rock stood more than 400 feet above the North Platte River and could be seen for days from the wagon trains. Today Chimney Rock is still striking but stands about 100 feet less than it once did.

Chimney Rock

Laramie Peak – Often Laramie Peak could be seen before the wagons reached Chimney Rock. The highest point of the Laramie Range, the peak stands 10,276 feet high. By most standards a mountain a bit over 10,000 feet high is not much, but when viewed from the prairie, after weeks of traveling the flat land, it was most impressive. The peak, as it is referred to by locals now, also meant the wagons would soon be turning north with the river toward present-day Casper, Wyoming. As a side note, famed mountain man Jim Bridger* often claimed he’d been in the mountains so long that when he came west, Laramie Peak was, “nothin’ but a hole in the ground.”

 *Bridger came into this country on his first trip west 195 years ago.

Laramie Peak as it looked from the wagon trains

The Strange Fate of Hiram Scott

The Tale of Hiram Scott

Living in east-central Wyoming, we often travel the 60, or so, miles to Scottsbluff Nebraska. The city was named after Hiram Scott (1805-1828) a Captain under Colonel Leavenworth, a trusted leader in the western fur trade working for William Henry Ashley and the famous Rocky Mountain Fur Company.

While in a canoe traveling down the North Platte River Scott’s canoe overturned. The well know trapper saying, “Keep your powder dry,” was upturned along with the canoe. The powered was wet and useless. The small group of men walked on toward the area that would one day become Fort Laramie living on what they could forage along the way, mostly roots and berries.

North Platte River Upstream From Fort Laramie

Scott, who reportedly had been ill, was left behind as the rest of his group, fearful of Indians wanted to push on. The next year another group found what was left of his body near Scottsbluff. Although sick and with no way to hunt or protect himself, he had managed to travel fifty miles east following the river. It is believed he crawled most of the way, being too weak to walk. One odd thing about this tale is that somehow he managed to cross the river. His body was found on the opposite bank of where he was supposedly left behind.

Laramie River on the Grounds of Fort Laramie

All of this makes a great story but begs the question, why was a 23-year-old man in such poor health. Much has been speculated as to why, but most believe he had been wounded in a fight with the Blackfoot somewhere near and around the time of the 1828 Rendezvous. Like so many early tales of the west, lots, and lots of loopholes remain, but most interesting. Seems, if nothing else, he lived quite a bit in his 23 years, traveling west from Missouri, attending three Rendezvous, battling with Indians, fighting for his life, and having a west Nebraska town named in his honor.

Chatting at the Rendezvous - This one a re-creation at Fort Laramie - summer 2015

From My Writing Site - Christmas is over, and now we are counting down to the New Year. Each year I make a few resolutions, and each year they seem to go quickly by the wayside. Last year I decided, for the first time, to keep track of how many words I wrote and published. I did it, but am not sure I will keep track this year, seemed to put too much pressure on me, and I started worrying about the days I didn’t write. Sometimes that causes a bit, or a whole bunch of bad writing, not worth saving. 

Oh, for the record, I wrote a tad less than a quarter of a million words this year. Quite a bit for me but partly because I wrote quite a lot recently, trying to finish up last year's goals.

Want to take a look at my books? You can do it here, just click this sentence.

Westward Ho the Wagons

I can remember many years ago watching or listening to  various programs that ended with some form of the phrase – “and the rest is history.”

 In 1841 when the Bidwell-Bartleson party headed west the rest was indeed history. This first great wagon train heading west not only made history, but it also led to the populating of the West and later the middle of the country. The next year, 1842, Dr. Elijah White led a group of more than 100 on the all new Oregon Trail. Two years later four wagon trains carried more than 2,000 hopefuls West.  The next year the numbers more than doubled. By 1869 more than half a million people had traveled along the trail to Oregon, California, and later to the Salt Lake Valley of present-day Utah. 

Trail Ruts cut deep from thousands of wagons - Guernsey Wyoming

The goal for all of these travelers was the same. Make the 2,000 plus mile trip in 150 days taking along enough food and finding enough fresh water along the way to make it.  Taking a day a week off, as most trains did, this would mean the wagons needed to average about 15 miles each day six days each week for five months. Today if we drove for eight hours each day for 130 days averaging 60 miles per hour we could circle the earth two and a half times. What does all this mean? The west coast was a long way to travel, farther than anywhere on earth in today's world. Once the new would-be settlers started west, in all likelihood, they could never go back. What a commitment these people were making. 

A view down the trail. When the first wagons came there were not nearly
as many trees along the North Platte River as today

All of the above are my thoughts as we get ready to take off on a 4,000-mile vacation next week,  and we will only be gone 16 or 17 days. My, how times have changed.

Fall at Fort Laramie, the most famous, and most welcome stop on the trail.