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!