August 9

1832  Stockade at Ft. Bonneville completed.

1854    Henry David Thoreau published "Walden," which described his experiences living near Walden Pond in Massachusetts.

1867  Cheyenne's residents form ad hoc city government.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1877   Nez Perce clash with the U.S. Army near the Big Hole River in Montana.

1887  The Catholic Diocese of Cheyenne formally established.

1887  Henry Longabaugh (the Sundance Kid) convicted of larceny in Sundance.

1894  The State's Populist Party held its convention:  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1895  According to my Wyoming History Calendar, "New Woman" appeared on the streets of Thermopolis wearing "bifurcated skirts".  Bifurcated skirts were suitable for riding, and  seem to have made their appearance about this time.  I'm not really sure from this entry, however, if a Thermopolis newspaper was noting the arrival of the "New Woman" as a type in Thermopolis, or if they were actually noting a singular new woman.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1916  The Cheyenne State Leader for August 9, 1916. The Inglorious Reappearance of Pvt Dilley?
 

It seems that Pvt. Dilley's circumstances were not quite as tragic as reported yesterday, maybe.

A person has to wonder a bit about his fate, assuming he was tracked down and arrested.  His desertion came at that point in time at which the Army was evolving from the Frontier Army practice, in which 1/3d of the enlisted men went AWOL or deserted annually, and which the offense was not too seriously worried about unless the departing troops took equipment with them, to one which would regard this as a much more serious matter.  And, to add to it, when conscription came for World War One public sentiments were so strong that in some areas a man of military age could not walk for more than a couple of blocks without being accosted by citizens wondering if they were shirking their duty.  Young women, in fact, were particularly zealous in offering offense to men who appeared to be less than enthusiastic about military service.  Pvt. Dilley's actions may have had implications he didn't consider at the time.

Assuming, of course, that he had deserted.  Which perhaps, he had not.  He never reappeared, in spite of having family and friends in the state.  His father was certain that he'd been murdered, which he may very well have been.

If he left service without discharge, he certainly wasn't the only one to attempt it.  Disciplinary problems were a huge factor with the Wyoming Guard, including desertions, which were not all that uncommon.  As we've seen, going AWOL was fairly common as well, at least in the context of briefly leaving to marry.

On other matters, 2ar was in the air, with the Guard being inspected and the paper contemplating what war with Mexico might mean, which apparently meant war with Japan.  Odd to see that speculated on in this context.

Love was also in the air, and yet another Guardsman went AWOL to elope, something that seems to have been a regular occurrence.

1918  The U. S. government ordered automobile production to halt by January 1, 1919, and convert to military production.

1918  The news of Amiens hits home and brewers lose a fight. The Laramie Boomerang, August 9, 1918.

The Germans were losing the war, and brewers were losing the fight for coal, as German reversals began to set in, and prohibition started to come in through the side door.

The intervention in Russia began to build steam. . . even at the point where its relation to the war in Europe started to become questionable.

And nice weather was predicted.

All on a Friday in early August, 1918.

1919 August 9, 1919. The Motor Transport Convoy reaches the Gem City of the Plains.

On this day in 1919, the 1919 Motor Transport Convoy went over Sherman Hill and on down into Laramie.

Sherman Hill is a legendary grade, so making the 57 miles in 11.5 hours is all the more impressive.

The entries noted that on this day, and the prior one, the weather was cool.

The prior day in Cheyenne the convoy had been feted with a rodeo and celebration.  To my surprise, this story does not seem to have regarded as anywhere near as important as I would have thought.  The arrival of the convoy was on the front page of both Cheyenne papers the day it occurred, but it didn't make the front page of the Laramie or Casper paper, both of which had wire service. The arrival of the convoy in Laramie didn't seem big news anywhere else and only made the cover of one of the two Laramie papers.

The convoy was headed to the Pacific coast, of course, and if things in the interior seemed a bit primitive. . . or not, things on the coast were definitely not.

1920 

1937  The Casper Alcova Project renamed the Kendrick Project in honor of John B. Kendrick.

1944   The United States Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council release posters featuring Smokey Bear for the first time.  It's interesting to note that at least some WWII era anti forest fire campaigns were very war themed.

Smokey's first appearance.

1974    Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as the 38th president of the United States following the resignation of Richard M. Nixon.  Ford has a connection with Wyoming in that his father was part of a family that had shipping and commercial interest in Wyoming and Nebraska.  Ford was born on Omaha Nebraska as Leslie Lynch King, and his parents divorced almost immediately after his birth.

Nixon departing the White House on August 9, 1974.