Wyoming History - So How Hot Was It?

 With today's temperature hanging around the century mark - I wondered. How hot is too hot in Wyoming? 

Where we live in Guernsey, an east central town with a population of a bit over 1,100  and at an altitude of 4368 feet, it gets hot. We average 41 days above 90 each year. The good news is that we are also much warmer in winter than most of the state.

Basin, located in north central Wyoming, holds the record for the hottest day in the Cowboy state - 115 on August 8, 1983. We, old-timers, refer to temperatures like that as warmish. 

We lived in Laramie for many years - there, if the temps got to the high 80s, we thought it was hot. Living at 7,200 feet does have its summertime advantages. 

Wyoming Trivia - (answers under the photo - no cheating)

1. How close did the 115 degrees at Basin come to the nation's all-time high?

2. What well-known Wyoming place was called Tso-aa (tree rock) by the Kiowa Tribe?

3. The Sioux name for "people of alien speech" is well known to everyone in Wyoming, but most are surprised that they know it. What is that name?

Trivia Answers

1. The hottest temperature recorded in the U.S. was 134 degrees in Death Valley, California, more than 100 years ago in 1913. Looks like we need another 20 degrees to set a record - pretty sure we will never get there.

2. Devils Tower

3. Cheyenne

All of today's photos are from Guernsey State Park.

Captain Benjamin Bonneville

 Wyoming Fact & Fiction

February 7, 2022

Today, I will go way back in Wyoming history to talk about Captain Benjamin Bonneville. Bonneville might be best remembered because of the tales told of him by Washington Irving. Although romanced and glorified, that book published in 1837 – The Adventures of Captain Bonneville, made Bonneville famous. It is a good thing because Bonneville started with leave from the Army but overstayed his time in the west by a couple of years. After a bit of an oral reprimand, the Army reinstated Bonneville to his rank and position in the military after his three-year wandering sabbatical.

So what did Bonneville do? He found his way with one hundred and ten men and twenty-eight wagons over south-pass first traversed by the Ashley party six years earlier. This passage of so many men and wagons opened up what would soon become the Oregon Trail – the new gateway to the west coast. Bonneville traveled from Independence, Missouri, crossed the Little Blue in Nebraska, followed the Platte to the Sweetwater, and then led his men through south pass to the Green River. On the Green, he met Lucien Fontenelle of the American Fur Company and built Fort Bonneville. That fort near present-day Pinedale was completed by early August in 1832. It did not take long for heavy winter snows to cause Bonneville and his men to abandon the fort for a more mild location. The fort was so short-lasting that it was later dubbed Bonneville’s Folly or Fort Nonsense. Although nothing remains of the fort today, the site is marked and on the National Register of Historic Places.

 

Wyoming Trivia – two questions today

Q1 – Washington Irving might be famous in the west for writing his tales of Captain Bonneville, but he is best known for writing two of the most famous short stories in literary history. Can you name one or both?

Q2 – Before Captain Bonneville reached Green River, there had already been seven mountain man rendezvous in the area. What, located in the town of Pinedale today, celebrates those early Wyoming times?

 

Answers

Q1 – Rip Van Winkle (1819) & The legend of Sleepy Hollow (1820)

Q2 – The Museum of the Mountain Man

 

Here is the link to all of my books on Amazon

Today’s photos were taken last week in and around my little town of Guernsey and all taken while on one of my many daily walks.

See you next week!

 

Wyoming In The Movies

  

Wyoming Fact & Fiction

January 31, 2022

Wyoming in the movies – I spend some time each week looking at the on-screen guides for TV shows that I might want to record. Mostly I'm looking for old black & white movies. I specifically look for anything about, set in, or titled something about Wyoming. This weekend I watched a B-western I found on TCM, Storm Over Wyoming. I have watched quite a few Tim Holt and Richard Martin movies. Although, at times a bit too goofy for my taste, they are generally entertaining.

Storm Over Wyoming is set in the fictional city of Sundown, Wyoming. I have spent time in Sunrise and Sundance Wyoming, but this did not resemble either. As were nearly all of these old B westerns, this one was filmed pretty close to Hollywood, and besides, who really knew what Wyoming looked like anyway? (Kidding!) The movie was another telling of the age-old sheep vs. cattle tail, but all in all, it was pretty good for a 1950 first half of a double feature movie.

Many movies have been set in Wyoming, far more than were ever filmed here. Here is a quick look at three of my favorite movies with Wyoming as part of the main storyline.

 

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – A classic new age western full of action, adventure, and humor. Train robberies, bank robberies, and the Wild Bunch on the run. Lots of fun, kind of based on a fact or two. Hard to beat Paul Newman as Butch and Robert Redford as the Sundance Kid. This one came out in 1969. Hard to believe it has been that long.

 

 Heartland – Based on the book Letters of a Women Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart. Rip Torn and Conchata Ferrell are terrific in this one set in 1910 Wyoming. The haunting clarinet music of "What a Friend we have in Jesus" as the train rolls toward southwest Wyoming sets the tone for this one. Harsh, sad, honest, and a must-see. There is another movie with the same title. If you want to see this one, make sure it is made from Letters of a Woman Homesteader.

My Friend Flicka – Made in 1943 based on Mary O'Hara's novel, published two years earlier of the same name. O'Hara's book was the first of a trilogy, followed by Thunderhead and the Green Grass of Wyoming. When O'Hara wrote these books, she was married to Helge Sture-Vasa and living on the famous Remount Ranch (they named it) between Laramie and Cheyenne.

My Friend Flicka is the story of a ten-year-old who is given a choice of horses to raise with hope from his parents that it would give him some purpose through responsibility. Unfortunately, he chooses a firey one-year-old who he names Flicka. But it was his choice, and he is allowed to raise, tame, and break the spirited filly, and the two become fast friends.

As a youngster of ten or so, I remember watching the Saturday morning television show – My Friend Flicka.

Lots and lots of movies to pick from, but these are three that I think are worthy of watching.

Wyoming Trivia – two questions today

Q1 – Speaking of movies and TV shows – What writer has a monument to him in Medicine Bow, Wyoming?

Q2 – Many movies have been made about the killing of Nick Rae and Nate Champion on what famous Wyoming ranch?

 

Answers

Q1 – Owen Wister – Author of The Virginian

Q2 – KC Ranch

 

Here is the link to all of my books on Amazon

Today's photos were taken last week at Guernsey State Park.

See you next week!

 

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!

 

Chief Washakie and President Grant

 Wyoming Fact & Fiction

January 10, 2022

Last weekend I was part of a discussion about listening to books. I don't do a lot of books on audible platforms, but when traveling, we always take one or two along. I enjoy listening and am contemplating putting some of my books on one of the listening programs. That is quite an intro to Chief Washakie – I haven't got around to him yet. Here is the tie-in. My daughter mentioned she was listening to a book and laughing about their pronunciation of Washakie. I have heard the same when listening to some books set in Wyoming. Before moving to Wyoming (1983), I taught in Nebraska and remember butchering the name myself. Guess if you are not from around here, it is difficult to say. But, not as tricky as the Popo Agie.

The first tribes that settled in today's Wyoming in the late 1600s were the Staitans, Comanches, and Shoshones. Like many other plains and foothills tribes, they were bison hunters. It is interesting to note that Shoshone legend and spoken history talked of once living in a land where alligators inhabited the rivers.

Chief Washakie early on realized that friendship with the expanding population would be better than fighting the inevitable. Washakie was instrumental in the success of General Crook (Crook County Wyoming named after him)  fighting the Sioux in Wyoming and Montana.

Because of his help to Crook and the U.S. Army, President Grant sent a silver-trimmed saddle to the Shoshone Chief in appreciation for his service. Some history books have stated that he was given a "fine horse and saddle," but most list the gift as only a saddle. My guess, Washakie, would likely have preferred using one of his fine horses to anything offered up as a gift – he did use the saddle.

According to Virginia Cole Trenholm and Maurine Carley in their 1946 textbook, Wyoming Pageant - Washakie was told he should send some sort of a thank you to the president. Chief Washakie replied, "Do a favor to a white man; he feels it in his head, and the tongue speaks. Do a kindness to an Indian; he feels it in his heart. The heart has no tongue."

Wyoming Trivia – two questions today

1.  Of the four Shoshone branches, which did Chief Washakie and his Wyoming tribe belong to?

2. Washakie was only half Shoshone. What other tribe was he?

 

Answers for Today's Trivia

1. Wyoming hosted the Eastern Shoshone. Other branches were the Northern, Western, and Goshute. 

2. Chief Washakie was born in 1804 with a Flathead father and Shoshone mother.

See you next week!

 

 

Wyoming Winter and Trivia Too

 January 3, 2022

Like all of you, it looks like I have made a successful jump from 2021 to 2022. I’m not much of a New Year’s Resolution person, but I hope to continue with a few things from 2021. First, I intend to stay more active on this site. Second, I will continue my daily walks – they are great exercise and the perfect thinking/contemplating time. Third, and last, we hope to continue our old traveling schedule after being mostly tethered to home the past two-plus years. That means a couple of long trips and several short trips in 2022.

We live in Wyoming’s North Platte River valley; it is relatively mild compared to the rest of the state. Wednesday – two days away – we are supposed to reach an overnight low of -18 degrees. Now that’s cold, but not close to any records. On February 9, 1933, Yellowstone Park reached an all-time Wyoming record of -66 degrees. Now that’s cold.

I have been retired from the classroom now for ten years. I was able to teach Nebraska history, then the history of the Trans-Continental West, and finally Wyoming history (at both the high school and college level) for more than 40 years. I miss teaching all those History classes. One of the things I miss most is the first or last two minutes of class time which I used for Wyoming trivia. To start the new year - here is some good ol’ classroom trivia. Answers at the very end of this post – don’t peak first.

Q1 – What percentage of land in Teton County is privately owned?

Q2 – What are the two historically significant rivers that flow through Platte County.

Q3 – What year did the first vehicle drive through Yellowstone Park?

That’s it – good luck.

 Happy New Year, may it be your best year yet!

“Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true.”           Alfred Lord Tennyson

-Answers-

1. Teton and Yellowstone Parks dominate Teton county. Only 3% of the land in Teton County is privately owned. Overall The federal government owns 48.2% of Wyoming, and state lands make up 5.6%.

2. The North Platte and Laramie rivers - Trappers, Travelers, and Tribes make these two most significant in Wyoming history.

3. The first car drove through Yellowstone in1902. Not sure of the make of the vehicle, but it was not a Model T made famous by Henry Ford & Co. the T was not introduced for another six years. 

      All photos were taken yesterday - a beautiful day to be out. 

Did You Know This About Wyoming

 It has been nearly a year since I posted on this site. 

Not too long ago, it seemed that more and more blogs with Wyoming history seemed to be popping up. Since many were funded, I decided they could do the job much better than I could from my easy chair.  After more than 300 posts (all are still up) I bowed out. A few months ago, a student said, “Oh, you write the Wyoming stuff. We use it all the time when we are writing papers in class.”

That was enough to, at least, get me thinking about kick-starting the old blog. I think I will. Not sure how often, probably not weekly, but likely monthly. 

Did You Know?  A few facts to get up and running.

Wyoming has been at the bottom of a sea – many times throughout its history. Hard to believe, considering the number of feet we are above sea level.

We have been around for a long time. The rock making up the base of faults and mountains in Wyoming are at least five hundred million years old and possibly as old as two billion years. (even before I was born)

Only Wyoming and Colorado have four straight-sided borders.

Wyoming rivers drain water in all directions. South into Utah and Colorado, North through the Big Horn and Powder River, East through the North Platte, about a quarter of a mile from where I sit writing this, and west through the Snake River into Idaho.

It Has Been Too Long

I let this site become inactive, or mostly so, almost a year ago. After a year of mothballs, I have decided to make a post, at least this will keep the site alive for a bit. If one post per year counts. 

To me and many others, there is nothing more enjoyable than reading about the past. When I started this blog, I was still an active Wyoming History teacher - now retired seven years; it seems I do not have as much to say. I have continued writing and am currently working on book 13, but my books fall into multiple genres.  

Did You Know? Speaking of being retired. Wyoming is still rated, according to something called Bankrate, as the number one state to retire. That might not be good news for young families, but for old codgers like us, it is an excellent fit. Many would think the weather and altitude of Wyoming would make it less than ideal for retiring people. What makes Wyoming the top state is our low, lowest in the country, tax rate.

Football - Tomorrow Jan and I will travel to, as we often do, Laramie, to watch the Cowboy Football Team beat up on Idaho. Sounds like it will be a perfect day for the game.

Photos - Today's photos are a few shots I have taken this September.

This year my goal will be to post more than once - that should be attainable.

For those who want to take a look at my books click this sentence to go to my Amazon page.  

My 12 Books

How Hot Was it? Wyoming History

How hot was it? Or today, how hot is it?

On a cool day last fall - Guernsey State Park - Davis Bay

Well, it was too hot, after all, it is Wyoming in July. The Wyoming Climate Atlas says the hottest day in Wyoming was July 12, 1900, when it reached 116 in the Red Desert, other sources list the 115 degrees at Basin on August 8, 1983, as the warmest. Not sure why there is a discrepancy but would guess, records, along with measuring instruments from more than a century ago were not as accurate as today.

"Too Hot, Think I Will Go Back Down" - Laramie Range Prarie Dog

Why all the talk about the weather, other than that is what old guys like me do? Because it’s pretty warm right now. Up to 77 where I sit in the far corner of our air-conditioned house, the rest of the house is 74ish, and the deck, well it feels about 200 out there, think I will stay inside. Actually, it is 96 outside and our warmest day of the summer.

More than a hundred years ago, without air-conditioning, people used various methods of keeping cool. Sleeping outside, or on sheets wetted down were two ways that people tried to beat the oppressive heat of summer. Light colored, loose fitting dresses and shirts, were also the order of the day. Both men and women normally wore long sleeves when working outside to avoid sunburned arms. The famous farmer tan must not have come around until after the invention of tractors and tee-shirts.

Blooming Yucca - taken with flash at dusk

It has been a while since I have posted any Wyoming Trivia – so here it is, quiz your kids, the three questions are all with photos.

Name this Wyoming State Bird – no need to come up with its scientific name – Sturnella Neglecta

This became Wyoming’s state flower in 1917.

Name this Officer Quarters building that also once served as post Headquarters. Where was it and what was its name?

Have a terrific and warm weekend.

See all ten of my books here on Amazon. Free sample reads available for all.

All books of my books are available in soft cover or as eBooks. 

In case anyone needs them, here are today's quiz answers.             

Western Meadowlark - Indian Paintbrush - Old Bedlum at Fort Laramie

Fort Laramie Commander W.R. Davis

I have been absent for quite a while on this site, and for that, I apologize. When I started this site, more than ten years ago, there were only a few blogs that talked about Wyoming history. I thought maybe there were plenty of Wyoming history sites by now.  But, after emails and tweets asking if I was alright, health-wise, I decided it might be time to make what I will call my, summer comeback.

I am spending much of my time researching people that served at Fort Laramie, for a book, my next nonfiction offering, coming out in early 2019, and have run across countless wonderful stories. Here is a bit about one of the Fort Commanders I found most interesting.

Of all the commanders at Fort Laramie, Werter Renick Davis would best fit the category of, most unlikely. Davis, a true renaissance man, was a Methodist Minister who before becoming an Army Chaplin in 1862, was the president of Baker University, the first four-year college in Kansas.

Davis, also a physician, and dentist, first served as a chaplain of the 12^th Kansas before being commissioned as a Lieutenant Colonel to help raise and organize the new Kansas 16^th Cavalry. Once the 16^th was raised he was promoted to Colonel and served at that rank until he mustered out of the Army on December 6, 1865.

It may seem unprecedented for anyone to become a fort commander after only three years in the Army and with no real military training or background, but with Davis that was not the case. Before he commanded at Laramie he commanded at Fort Leavenworth from September 1864 until April 1865. Two commands, for a man who served less than four years in the Army, quite remarkable.

One last note, I have been working on this book for more than a year, but with some diligence, and luck, I should be finished in another half year. And as far as my health, other than my age, I'm doing fine. My last book, On Turing 70, is a fun, tongue in cheek, look at reaching my seventieth birthday earlier this year. 

The photos in today's post, except for the one of Commander Davis, are from my many trips to Fort Laramie.