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

Western Books

I have often read that Owen Wister's publishing of The Virginian, 115 years ago this week, on May 28, 1902, was the start of Westerns in America.  Nice that the setting was Wyoming, which was still pretty new and still a bit wild at that time. But that was not the first western, not even close. Long before the beginning of the 1900s were the Dime Novel Westerns, sometimes shortened to Dime Westerns.

Elk Mountain as seen from the town of Medicine Bow
the setting for the start of Wister's, The Virginian

The Dime Westerns became popular shortly after the Civil War spanning a time period of nearly 40 years before the publication of, The Virginian. The books were short, almost always less than 100 pages, and priced at a dime or 15 cents. These books centered on fictional escapades of real people, many of the settings were, Wyoming, Texas, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Montana.  Mountain Men, Indians, Soldiers and Bad Guys of all kind made up the many characters of these books. Later, a smaller format, adopted for magazines became popular, these were all set to the standard length of 32 pages.

Today westerns make up less than one percent of the overall book market – so what happened? Maybe, not much. If a reader looks, it is easy to find westerns today, just not the old tired, fake Wild West type of story. 

This is my modern day, set in WyomingYoung Adult or Adult Western Mystery

Suspense-Thrillers and Mystery-Detective along with books classified as Young Adult dominate today's best seller lists. I write books I classify as western-mysteries, some set before 1900 and some in modern time. I still read westerns today, some are thrillers, some mysteries, and some suspense, but all are set in the west.

Guess the Western is not dead, it just lost its singular classification, maybe the old time shoot-um-ups died in the street with their boots on, but today great western stories can be found in just about any popular genre.

Here is a link to my books on Amazon – four of these books could fall into the western category. Click on any of the books and read a free sample.

The second of my Blade Holmes Westen Mysteries
Cover photo from Fort Laramie - each book has Fort Laramie settings.

Get Along Little Dogies

Almost anyone with an interest in the history of the American West, Western movies or Television Westerns, has seen cattle drives and night herding cowboys at work. Lonely riders circling the cattle singing. The singing was both to calm the cattle and to keep the Cowboys awake and alert. It's a shame so many of these songs are lost. On the other hand, it's wonderful that some were written down and saved for poor stiffs like me to write about a hundred, or so, years later.

At times they sang about guys like this but normally it was the little ones cowboys sang about

One of my favorite songs, popular in the Hartville area of Platte County recounts the problems facing the night herder as he watches and puts up with the troubles presented by small motherless caves referred to as dogies. The term dogies might also apply to weak calves that have trouble keeping up.

-Go Slow Little Dogies-

Go slow, little dogies, why don’t you slow down?

You’ve wandered and trampled all over the ground

Oh, graze along dogies, Go slow, kinda slow

And don’t be always on the go.

Move slow, dogies, move slow.

Oh say, little dogie, why don’t you lay down?

And quit this forever siftin’ around?

My arms are weary, my seat is sore.

Oh, lay down, don’t be on the go.

Lay down, dogies lay down.

Simple song but it says a lot about the work of the cowboy on night herd. Oh, and he mentions his seat is sore. Too much time in the saddle will do that to the best of Cowboys.

This was me herding little dogies this winter - well, maybe not
But it is a very cool Wyoming Traffic Jam

Wyoming the Railroad and What If

The transcontinental railroad was a brainchild of Eastern businessmen and politicians in the 1830s. It took a while, about two decades before any real planning took place and another decade before work was started. It took President Lincoln to finally push through legislation to build it. The Central Pacific started building in 1863 and the Union Pacific in 1865. Promontory Summit was reached and the railroads joined in 1869.

Wyoming was a big part and a big challenge for the railroad. The original route was to follow the Oregon Trail, but the Pony Express proved there was a better route through southern Wyoming to South Pass, the only feasible way to cross the mountains. This route saved a couple of hundred miles and was no harder to build.  Although original plans called for a route that was nearly the same as the finished railroad, there was a controversy about the route. Texas wanted a southern route, using better weather as their public reason. Privately they wanted the railroad for the huge economic benefit they knew it would bring. When the Civil War started, Texas was out and the tracks through Wyoming were not far away.

Trains are a bit faster today

Not everyone was happy with this, Denver had lobbied for the railroad, but no route including Denver was ever considered. But the early people of Denver, knowing that they could connect to the railroad and reap most of the benefits of its northern neighbors. Thus was born the Denver Pacific, a bit over 100 miles of track connecting Denver to Cheyenne completed one year after the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad.

It was another 20 years before Wyoming became a state in 1890.  Most of the early population lived along the railroad, it brought jobs and with jobs came the people. It is always interesting to speculate as to what could have happened, what if.  How long would it have taken for Wyoming to become a state without the railroad? As the least populated state today, would it be even smaller if it would have taken another 20 or 30 years to have adequate rail service? Would the cattle drive era been a time when cowboys drove cattle south from Wyoming to the railroad in Texas?

I may have had too much time to think about offbeat subjects today. Hey, what if . . . . . .

The Cattle Drive

Before the Civil War, Texas was the land of cattle. After the war that started to change, there were too many cattle. And the long drive became part of American history. The drives became a part of Americana for the next 15 years and later became the subject countless books, movies, and television productions. Cattle sales could yield another few dollars a head after the long drive and this was after paying the drovers and expenses.

Not all beef made it to the railroad terminals in Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska, some were sold to forts along the way. But most were moved north to the railroad and shipped east. A little-known fact is that some of the cattle were taken east and then exported to European markets. When the markets waned, the cattle were still marching north to supply ranches and farms in Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, and other points north and west.

So many herds were moving that in 1884 the Texas Cattleman at the National Stock Growers Convention talked about building a trail, six miles wide and fenced from Texas to Canada. The trail would have entered Wyoming at Pine Bluffs and followed the already well know Texas Trail north through Douglas and Sheridan and on into Montana. The idea went so far as to be introduced as a bill in Congress but went no further. Good thing – two years later the cattle boom went bust.

So many cattle marched north at about 15 miles a day that a few rules of the road or drive were honored, they included.

ü No passing the herd in front of you

ü Do not drive your cows onto range occupied by another herd

ü Don’t pick off another herds strays

ü Do not eat from another man’s herd

Git Along, Little Dogies (traditional trail ballad, first published 1910)

As I was walking one morning for pleasure
I spied a cowpuncher riding along
His hat was throwed back and his spurs were a-jingling

And as he approached he was singing this song

Whoopee ti yi yo, git along little dogies

It's your misfortune and none of my own

Whoopie ti yi yo, git along little dogies

You know that Wyoming will be your new home 

Needed many good horses to drive the herds north.

The Six Week Governor

George W. Baxter settled in Wyoming, after a degree from West Point and three years as a Calvary officer at Wyoming’s fort D. A. Russell. He spent his first three years in private business, trying to start a range cattle operation of which he knew nothing and didn’t seem to be well adapted to cowboy life.

Governor Baxter

But then came politics.  Baxter was appointed, at age 31, to be the territorial governor of Wyoming with the helpful influence of southern democratic friends, not by anyone in Wyoming. When Wyoming’s delegation in Washington got to work and he was forced out after six short weeks in office. Baxter traveled to Washington to protest but to no avail.  Baxter served his very short term from November 11 to December 20, 1886, four years before Wyoming became a state.

There is a funny story in Charles Guernsey’s book, Wyoming Cowboy Days, which shows Baxter was not only a poor choice for governor of a western territory, but also appalling at politics in general. Guernsey, who was a most influential politician in his day, was asked by Baxter during a chance meeting on the street if he was for or against a certain, soon to be introduced, bill. When Guernsey said he was against it, Baxter asked how much it would cost to have him for it. Guernsey, saying that Baxter, “didn’t know any better,” laughed it off, taking no offense with Baxter or his awkward attempt to bribe him.

Maybe six weeks as governor was plenty!

When Baxter resigned from office he was replaced by another short term governor Elliot S. N. Morgan, Morgan served for thirty-five days before being replaced by Thomas Moonlight. Interestingly this was the second time that Morgan served as governor having served for 46 days in 1885 after the death of Governor William Hale. 

Wyoming may have been better off without Moonlight, see my blog post on him here. 

http://wyoming-fact-and-fiction.blogspot.com/2012/07/incompetence-and-politicians-governor.html

 

Brands and the West

Since the beginning of the cattle industry in Wyoming a rancher needed two things, a rope and a brand. Wyoming has a huge book of thousands of brands registered in the state. One iron brands were easy and it did not take long to reach a point where most, or all of the one iron, brands were used up. Then the ranchers got creative.

Simple letters and numbers were replaced by symbols such as letters and numbers: walking, running, flying, tilted, rocking and lazy. In early Wyoming cattle day’s two young Harvard grads came west to seek their fortune in the new cattle industry. The two registered the Duck Bar as their brand, yep, a duck with a bar under it.

Many picture brands came into being around that time, other than the duck, things like, fish, pots and pans, the pitchfork, scissors, cow horns, and in modern day goal posts have all been used as brands.

One of the most well known of picture brands, made famous by Owen Wister’s, The Virginian, was the goose egg.

Today Wyoming is still a brand state, not many left anymore. With the advent of ear tags and now ear tags with computer chips or implanted computer chips the brand my someday die out. As for me I still like to see branded cattle, I try to figure out the brand every time. Once in a while I am right.

 

Good Ol' Cowboy Food

So what did cowboys eat? Well it depended on who was doing the cooking. If it was the cowboy doing the cooking most meals were the same, the three Bs, bacon, biscuits and beans, washed down strong coffee. If it was ranch cooking or trail drive food it was much more varied and likely tastier.

Here is what you might find in a well stocked kitchen or chuck wagon in the days of the Old West

·        Flour

·        Coffee

·        Tea

·        Salt pork

·        Bacon

·        Dried fruit

·        Beans

·        Rice

·        Dried peas

·        Canned tomatoes

·        Canned peaches

·        Condensed milk

·        Corn meal and dried corn

·        Sugar

·        Molasses

·        Vinegar

·        Onion/garlic powder

·        Black pepper

·        Eggs

·        Potatoes

·        Chickens - around the ranch house and even on the trail

·        Other spices such as ginger

·        And of course the ranch always had beef and wild game when they could find it. Many ranches also raised a few, eatin’ hogs, even if they did not like to admit it.

Looks pretty good to me.

 

Great Day to Hold up a Stage Coach

Ed Trafton was a pretty good stage robber he may have held up more coaches than any other western outlaw. And he did it all the same day.

On a hot July day in 1914 Tafton and his hidden, and not at all active, partner Charles Erpenbach robbed 15 stages in one day. All 15 were stopped near Shoshone Point on the way to Old Faithful in Yellowstone Park. Seemed like as soon as he robbed one and sent it on its way another one was coming around the corner.

Tafton’s one day take was nearly a thousand in cash and over $100 in Jewelry. Oh—and five years in Leavenworth.

Note-The first autos came into the park the next year and by the next, 1916, stages coaches were gone from the park.

Ride Proud Rebel & Rebel Spurs

I consider myself to be a prolific reader (100+ books a year) and once in a while I run across something accidentally that is really terrific. The two novels in the title kept me very interested and eager to turn pages, I wish this was a trilogy, I need to know more. The first is set in the Civil War with the protagonist a scout for the Confederacy. The second is set in early Arizona immediately after the war.

Andre Norton (1912-2005) wrote the two novels but she (Born Mary Alice Norton) only dabbled in historical fiction, most of her writing efforts, and she published over 100 books, were science fiction and fantasy for young adult and children readers. And she was really good at it as evidenced by the dozens of awards she won in her more than 70 year writing career. Her novel, The Beast Master, became a classic to sci-fi readers and movie goers.

Ms. Norton, who published more than 30 books after the age of 80, also wrote under name of Andrew North and Allen Weston. Wish she would have published a few more westerns.

NOTE-I came across the first novel in a two dollar Kindle download of a 25  western megapack and found the second for free download. Both are worth the reading and each is only around 200 pages, (estimate).

 

Wyoming Statehood

On this day (July 10) in 1890 Wyoming became a state # 44.

 Ten Wyoming facts

1.   Wyoming has the lowest population of all 50 United States.

2. Wyoming Cowboy’s—War Memorial Stadium at over 7,000 feet is the highest Division One Football Stadium in America (Go Pokes)

3. Wyoming was the first state to give women the right to vote.

4. Yellowstone is the first official National Park (1872)

5. Devils Tower was designated as the first National Monument (1906)

6. The majority of Yellowstone Park lies within the boundaries of Wyoming.

7.  Guernsey State Park in Platte County has some of the best examples of CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) in the United States

8.  The continental divide splits and goes around the desert on all sides leaving the basin without normal drainage.

9. The Wind River actually changes its name in the middle of the stream becoming the Big Horn River at a site at the north end of the Wind River Canyon

10.         Deer have been in my garden at least 4 times this summer—that is why people still hunt in Wyoming. They seem to love tomatoes and strawberries best

The Last Battle of the Sioux

So when did the mighty Sioux nation fight its last battle and where did they fight it? How about east central Wyoming in 1903? Like many historical events this one has been reported and changed over the years, but this is what we know, with allowances for a few of my own interpretations of history.

Eagle Feather (early accounts called him Chief Charley Smith, a name purportedly given to him on the reservation by the U.S. Government and one he had to use to collect commodities) led a group of Sioux from the Pine Ridge into Wyoming, now a state for all of 13 years, on a hunting expedition, a hunt that had been given permission by Indian agent John R. Brennan. The small band headed for the area of Thunder and Lightning creeks in what is now Niobrara County Wyoming. The hunter’s accompanied by wives and children shot a few deer, sage grouse and antelope as they traveled across the plains, enjoying a taste of their old life style.

Weston county Sheriff William (Billy) Miller rounded up a posse of local stockmen and headed out to stop the Wyoming hunt. The stockmen may have been duped into believing the tribe was shooting cows instead of game and willingly traveled along to stop this new, “Indian uprising”. When the posse caught up the number of Indians in the party stopped them in their tracks. Miller believed there were too many Indians to arrest for various violations of game laws, trespassing and killing ranch stock and took his crew back to town. The next day the sheriff and his, now larger, posse caught up with the Indians at Lighting Creek and the,” Battle of Lightning Creek,” or “The Last Indian Battle,” took place.

Sherriff Miller and his deputy Louis Falkenberg were killed along with Chief Eagle Feather and several of his hunting companions. A few days later a hearing was held in nearby Douglas and the Sioux were released for lack of evidence that they had committed a crime other than defending themselves.

Wyoming Governor Fenimore Chatterton was enraged at the courts decision and tried to get the Indians in court for murder despite the findings of the Douglass court, but his power did not stretch that far.

Today if you Google, the last Sioux battle, you will first find, Little Big Horn (1876) then Wounded Knee (1890), both of great importance to the west but not the last, that would be Lightning Creek in 1903.


NOTE --A month after the Lightning Creek battle Governor Chatterton allowed popular range detective/shootest Tom Horn to be hanged in Cheyenne, a decision that most likely cost him reelection the next year.

Tie Up That Horse Cowboy

The cowhand raced to save the distressed maiden, he leapt from his trusty steed, and ground tied him, as whistling lead and the smell of gun powder filled the air.
I made that up, but did recently finish reading books by two different authors, where the hero ground tied his horse under all conditions- they ground tied so much I got tired of waiting for the horse to run off. Things that I have read, and or tried with ground tying indicate the cowboy may need hiking boots instead of cowboy boots if he ground ties too much.
Much like the cowboys that loop the reins around the hitching post in the old movies, horses will shy and get the heck out of Dodge if too much action and noise starts. Heck my pick-up doesn’t like to stick around if things get to wild-------but I do.
I like well researched western reads, not sure these writers had spent much time around horses. Too bad, one of them was fast paced and fun.

Random Thoughts on the Sundance Kid

Harry A. Longabaugh is a tough name to pronounce and not very memorable. But when he stole a horse, saddle and a gun in northeast Wyoming and got himself tossed in jail in Sundance, Wyoming, he became a legend, the Sundance Kid. The movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid did not hurt his popularity either. It might be that Butch and Sundance would be little more that footnotes in Wild West history if not for the movie. We would still love them in Wyoming and Utah but the rest of the country may have enough of their own bad guys to celebrate.

So who was the Sundance Kid anyway? His friend Butch Cassidy is much better known as leader of the Wild Bunch and as an all around character of the old west. So why was Harry (the Sundance Kid) Longabaugh famous, was it only because he hung out with Butch?

Born in Pennsylvania in 1867 he came west (probably first to Colorado) as a teen and later ended up in north eastern Wyoming. By age twenty his outlaw career had started and ended. A year and a half later he was released from the Sundance jail and returned to life working on a ranch. Either bored with the life of a cowboy, or needing adventure he was implicated in a train robbery three years after his release (1892) and then another five years later. Maybe he was just supplementing his meager ranch wages but more than likely he was an outlaw and had gotten away with more than local people knew about at the time. These robberies may have been as part of Cassidy’s wild bunch.

I suspect, like many of the outlaws of the old west, he lived two different lives. Part of the time he was a hard working ranch hand, raising, feeding and taking care of stock, riding fence and spending time with locals in town when he had a chance. But he had a wild streak, one that left him less than satisfied with this life. It could have been money, might have been a need for adventure, or he may have been in it for the thrill of the chase. Whatever it was, his unsettled feelings may have led him to an on and off life of crime, sometimes with months or years between hold-ups.

After the Winnemucca National Bank, Nevada hold up, Butch and Sundance took off for South America with the Pinkerton Detectives right behind. The story ends there, or does it? Were they killed in the famous shootout with the San Vicente police in Bolivia in 1908? Most avid readers of western history hope not. Stories say he and Butch came back to America, living in Utah, Wyoming or elsewhere for many years. We may never know for sure, but we really hope they were a lot like Redford and Newman in the movie.

Great Day For A Ride

Such a great day in Wyoming today I decided to go for a ride. I know, I know, you’re thinking, that old guy rides. Well indeed I do. But today I should have stayed home.
The ride was going fine and then for no reason at all—I was lying on my side hurting bad. Not sure if I was bucked off or fell, maybe a loose saddle? I hope to figure it out soon and I will keep you-all posted. Now where was I, oh yes on my side and hurting. Well sir, I am an old guy but when it really hurts I sometimes cry. And I started, softly at first, and then I am afraid, a little louder, anyway loud enough for someone to hear. Within seconds the store manager (K-Mart) helped me up, dusted me off and said, “take it easy ol’ timer, if you’ll quit your whimpering I’ll put another quarter in the horse and you can have a free ride on the store.
I feel better now—sorry for the lame joke, but it’s Friday and I can stay up late and post crazy stuff.

Peno and the Bear

Some stories are just too good to let die. The following story came from the trapper/mountain man period of Wyoming history (1820-1840s). Tall tales made for great sitting around the fire conversations and fun. One of my favorites and one of many nearly lost tails is the story of, “Peno and the Bear”. Like so many other stories old timers would, “swear” this one is true. Whether it is true or only a tail to pass a long winter night I hope it will not go away. Following is my version of the story.

-PENO AND THE BEAR-

A Canadian trapper named Peno, short on powder and ball, shot a bull buffalo with a light load, wounding but not killing or dropping the animal. The stunned buffalo charged Peno goring his horse to death and breaking the trapper’s leg. In the process Peno lost his rifle, food and possible, but not his senses. He was able to crawl into heavy brush and lucky for him the buffalo lost interest in the mess he created and left.

Peno crawled for hours, intent on reaching a large Indian village he had passed a few days back. Hungry and in shock he finally reached the creek that today bears his name. Along the way he ate as many choke cherries as he could reach and upon reaching the stream drank his fill before blacking out.

When Peno awoke a huge silver tip Grizzly stood over him. Peno did the only thing he could think of—he played dead. After what seemed like an eternity the old trapper opened one eye only to see the bear still waiting. Then a strange thing happened, the bear held out a front paw as if wanting to shake hands. Figuring, why not, Peno took the bear’s paw in his hand and immediately saw a huge festering spot on the soft pad of the bears paw. By this time Peno believed he had nothing to lose, he took out his Green River Knife. Very carefully he removed a long tangled sliver from the bears paw. Once the surgery was complete the bear laid down a few feet from Peno and fell asleep.

Peno knew it was time to exit and he moved away, even trying to walk with the aid of a piece of a cottonwood limb he used as a staff. Over the next few days every time Peno stopped to rest or sleep the bear was near, sometimes within a few feet. Peno took to talking to the bear and danged if it didn’t seem like the bear understood.

After a few days Peno reached the village looking down on it from a sage brush hill less than a half mile away. Now that the trapper was safe the bear held up his fast healing paw to say goodbye, turned and disappeared.

Although this is purportedly a trapper tale it very much sounds like a teaching story, maybe for young Indian children. It may have taught the age old idea of everything, including animals and people, having a good side no matter how ferocious or bad they may seem.

10 things a cowboy says that might be hard to believe

• I won this buckle in a rodeo
• I walk better in boots
• This time I really gave up the Copenhagen
• I wear my jeans this tight for safety on the ranch reasons
• I try to watch what I eat – not too many fried foods please
• Not too much coffee I’ve had enough
• My pickups paid for
• My hat-oh-that ol’ thing
• Never lost money on a horse
• Wife never says a thing when I stay out this late

Good Old Snow and More Snow

Why is it that every time it snows a few inches the city is able to find enough snow to pile a foot or more into my driveway? By the way for those of you in warm weather areas – I have shoveled the snow from my walks and drives seven times so far this fall and winter. It is pretty but lately I see it only as pretty heavy, pretty hard work, pretty slick, pretty cold, pretty high heating bills and pretty annoying but we still love it.

A Wyoming Bad Guy - and Kind of Funny

Wyoming bad guy George W. Pike was once accused by a neighbor of stealing a pot of stew cooking on a stove in the wall tent they were temporarily calling home. When the neighbor went to find the town marshal Pike reportedly watched him go then stole the stove the stew had been cooked on. Reportedly there was not enough evidence to convict Pike on either charge. Pike was better known as a horse and cattle thief but was never the less well liked by people in and around Douglas Wyoming. (At least the ones he did not steal from)

George W. Pike (Born around 1863- died 1906)

Grave Stone, Douglas Park Cemetery – Douglas, Wyoming

Underneath this stone in eternal rest
Sleeps the wildest one of the wayward west
He was a gambler and sport and cowboy too
And he led the pace in an outlaw crew
He was sure on the trigger and staid to the end
But he was never known to quit on a friend
In the relations of death all men are alike
But in life there was only one George W. Pike