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This blog was updated on a daily basis for about two years, with those daily entries ceasing on December 31, 2013. The blog is still active, however, and we hope that people stopping in, who find something lacking, will add to the daily entries.

The blog still receives new posts as well, but now it receives them on items of Wyoming history. That has always been a feature of the blog, but Wyoming's history is rich and there are many items that are not fully covered here, if covered at all. Over time, we hope to remedy that.

You can obtain an entire month's listings by hitting on the appropriate month below, or an individual day by hitting on that calendar date.
Use 2013 for the search date, as that's the day regular dates were established and fixed.

Alternatively, the months are listed immediately below, with the individual days appearing backwards (oldest first).

We hope you enjoy this site.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Sidebar: Hispanics in Wyoming

Recently, following St. Patrick's Day, I posted a sidebar on The Irish In Wyoming.  While it is, in no way, an equivalent holiday, we've recently passed Cinco De May, The Fifth of May, and, given as that's a Mexican holiday (although not much observed in Mexico), I'm doing something similar here with an entry on Hispanics in Wyoming.

Starting off here, I should at first note that I debated this title a bit and originally it was titled "Mexicans In Wyoming."  For some reason, the use of the term "Mexican" can be loaded, which certainly is not the intent here.  That is in part because many people have used the term incorrectly in referring to any Hispanic in the United States, a clearly erroneous use.  Additionally, the term is problematic because of the Mexican War.  Everyone was, in terms of citizenship, a Mexican who lived in the Mexican province of Texas, although culturally the fact that Texas had separated in 1836 had a lot to do with cultural identity.  Beyond that, however, after the Mexican War the US occupied new territories which had large Hispanic percentages of population, and who had been Mexican citizens, even if some of those regions had fairly unique Hispanic identities.  With all that being the case, I changed the title.  Be that as it may, the story of Hispanics in Wyoming cannot be separated from Mexico.

When we wrote about the Irish, we noted that we could not really determine when the first Irish American or Irishman set foot in what became Wyoming.  We can't really do that with Hispanics either, but we can say that Wyoming was once owned by Spain, even if the Spanish were not able to extend the control of their empire in North America as far as they claimed.  Indeed, southern Colorado,was really the northern most extent of Spain's empire inside the continent, in spite of occasional claims otherwise.  Trade goods did make it further north, and the Corps of Discovery reported encountering Spanish mules being used by the Shoshones when they came through northern Wyoming.  At any rate, not only the Spanish Mexican colony's province of Texas was part of what would become Wyoming, but Spain also once owned Louisiana, and the Napoleon's transfer of that territory to the United States required a formal transfer of the territory back to France, which all occurred on the same day, oddly enough.

The transfer of Louisiana to the United States did see a population transfer, of course as well, but not one that directly impacts our story here.  Louisiana included both a French and Spanish population, who became subject to the United States with the Louisiana Purchase, but the Spanish population did not have a presence in Wyoming at the time.  This remained the case in 1836 when Texas, which retained title to a southern portion of what would become Wyoming, rebelled against Mexico. And it remained the case at the time at which the United States and Mexico concluded the peace treaty of Guadalupe Hildago.

The Mexican War, however, would be directly responsible for the first Hispanic settlers in Wyoming, as it brought the U.S. Army into Wyoming.  Only shortly after the war ended, the US sent the Regiment of Mounted Rifles to occupy what had been a private fort in Wyoming, so as to secure a part of the early Oregon Trail. That fort was Ft. Laramie, which would go on to have one of the most significant roles of any frontier fort in West.

Cement structures at Ft. Laramie, built by migrants from New Mexico.

When the Army occupied Ft. Laramie its structures were worn and the post was inadequate for its task. Therefore, the Army immediately took to rebuilding the post.

Frontier Army posts are often imagined to be made up of log buildings surrounded by a log stockade, and some were indeed just like that. Only a minority of them, however, had that construction.  Some of the posts, in contrast, were surprisingly substantial and well constructed.  Ft. Laramie was one of these.  In its early days, as a fur company trading post, it was not much more than a simple stockade, but as soon as the Army began to occupy it, that changed.  Part of that change was brought about by the importation of Mexican labor from New Mexico.  And that had to do with Cement.

Cement, as a construction material, dates back to the Romans.  In spite of that, however, it was little used in much of the Western world following the fall of Rome until the late 19th Century, which in part is due to the manufacturing process becoming somewhat obscure, and in part because the types of cement that were commonly known following Rome's decline were slow setting and somewhat hard to make.  Therefore, in the mid 19th Century, cement was uncommon in the United States.  However, for reasons unknown to me, cement remained a construction material elsewhere in the world, including the Spanish world.  While it's popular to imagine everything in New Mexico of this era being constructed of adobe bricks, in fact cement was a common construction material.  With the occupation of New Mexico by the U.S. Army during the Mexican War, this became known to the Army, which was impressed with cement. So, when the Army went to reconstruct Ft. Laramie, it determined to use cement for the new buildings, which in turn required the importation of labor who knew how to make it and build with it. Those laborers were New Mexican Hispanics.

These laborers were, therefore, brought up by the Army in the late 1840s and they gave Wyoming its first Hispanic residents.  The men brought up, who brought up their families, were not men who were employed year around, in New Mexico, as construction laborers, as the area was agrarian and such skills were only part of a set of skills used by agrarian artisans.  Once they completed, their task, therefore, they turned to another part of their skill set, farming.  Through this process, not only did Wyoming receive its first Hispanic immigrants, farming came to the state for the first time.

The Hispanic farms created by the New Mexican ("Mexican") artisans were located some distance away from the fort, on a series of hills visible from the Oregon Trail. The area came be known as "Mexican Hills." The Mexican farmers who located in there used the presence of the trial for market purposes, selling fresh vegetables to travelers on the trail.

I wish I could relate more of this aspect of the story, but unfortunately, I cannot.  The area remains farm ground today, but as far as I know none of the original Mexican presence remains.  When it ceased, I cannot say either, but my suspicion is that it did during the mid 19th Century.  With the fort becoming an increasingly important regional center it may also have become an increasingly difficult place to live.  The farmers did not live on the post grounds, but some distance from it, and therefore would have been at the mercy of Ft. Laramie bands of Indians, who were generally peaceful while in the region, but which would have been somewhat concerning nonetheless. At any rate, I"m not aware of the farms surviving into the 20th Century, and have no idea how long they actually lasted.  Therefore, I can only sadly report the New Mexican immigrants as the first appearance of Hispanic culture in the state, but whether it had any long lasting cultural impact, I cannot.  It certainly had a long-lasting material impact, however, as the concrete structures built at the fort all still remain, albeit as ruins. That's a lot more than a person can say about the stick frame buildings that the Army generally constructed at its more permanent facilities in the same era.


The next significant presence of Hispanics in the state came about due to the explosion of the cattle industry following the Civil War.  In terms of time, that's not really that long after the establishment of the Mexican Hills farms mentioned above, and a person has to wonder if any still remained.  Be that as it may, it's commonly noted that 1/3d of all 19th Century cowboys were "black or Mexican."  I've always found that description rather odd, as African Americans and Hispanics of the same era had distinctly different cultural histories.  Additionally, as they are lumped together by this description, there's no easy way to know what percentage of that "1/3d" were Hispanic.  But what is certain is that Texas ranching came about due to ranching in Mexican Texas and dated back to Spanish Texas, so the Mexican influence on the industry was enormous.  It's no wonder that Hispanic Texans and New Mexicans remained employed in it up into the 1860s and 1870s, and beyond.  Indeed, to this very day.

The state therefore saw new Hispanic men who came up with the herds from Texas.  Undoubtedly some stayed when the long trail drives gave way to regional ranching.  Oddly, however, its hard to find examples of individual Hispanic ranchers.  There probably are some, but I'm unaware of them.  In terms of ranching methods and technology, of course, their impact was huge, and has been enduring throughout the West.  Indeed, Wyoming's cowboys were the direct descendants in terms of methods of the Vacquero who had employed the same skill set in Texas, as opposed to the Caballero who employes a somewhat different skill set in California.  This remains true today.

Mexican ranching influence extended not only to cattle ranching, but sheep ranching as well. The Spanish had introduce sheep to Mexico and they were a presence in the Southwest before the Mexican War.  Sheep started arriving on the Wyoming ranges in the 1890s, accompanied by a great deal of controversy and violence.  They were also accompanied by "Mexican herders."

Not all sheepherders were of Mexican ancestry by any means.  Still, in the  very early sheep industry on the Northern Plains Mexican influence was strong.  Mexican herders were accustomed to highly nomadic herdsmanship which in part leaned on skills acquired from Indians.  While, today, we are used to the sheepwagen, the "Home On The Range," Mexican herders used teepees made of canvas.  This practice is not well known to those outside of the sheep industry, but it was common enough with Mexican herders that the practice lived on well into the 20th Century.

 
 Painted brick sign on the old Kistler Tent & Awning building, in Casper Wyoming.  Kistler Tent & Awning is an ongoing business in Casper, and no doubt can, and still does, make any of the times advertised here.  Note the "Herders Teepees" item, just below "Sheepwagon Covers."



At about the same time that he first herds of cattle began to head north, the Union Pacific came into the state.  Hispanic laborers were not part of that rail expansion, but by the early 20th Century they were very much  a major segment of the Union Pacific workforce, and they remain so to this day.  All of the towns on the Union Pacific came to have significant Hispanic populations.

This saw the creation of distinctly Hispanic neighborhoods in all of those towns, which reflects on the human nature in good and bad ways.  That Hispanic communities would spring up was probably natural enough.  But, by the same token, that an element of prejudice was present in that would be probable. At any rate, all of the towns on the Union Pacific had Hispanic neighborhoods, and many still do. Cheyenne, for example, has South Cheyenne, a neighborhood that lies to the south of the Union Pacific, and which features a very Spanish influenced church, architecturally, as well as a Mexican Restaurant reputed to be one of the town's best.

St. Joseph's Catholic Church in south Cheyenne.

Laramie Wyoming, generally thought of as the home of the University of Wyoming, likewise has a Hispanic influenced neighborhood, reflecting the large Hispanic community that worked and worked in the very large railyard in Laramie.  Not surprisingly, perhaps, Laramie has an excellent Mexican restaurant in West Laramie, the Hispanic part of town, and another just off of the Union Pacific rail line.  Hispanics are a significant portion of the Catholic community in the town as well.

Like Laramie and Cheyenne, Rawlins Wyoming has a Hispanic neighborhood associated with the Union Pacific.  And as with Laramie and Cheyenne, Carbon County has seen the culture reflected in culinary offerings.  Su Casa, in Sinclair Wyoming, and Rose's Lariat, In Rawlins Wyoming, are contenders for the best Mexican restaurants in the state, and even though they are only seven miles apart, each has fiercely loyal clienteles.  All the way across the state, however, the farming and railroad town of Lingle has Lira's, which others argue in the best.  Guernsey Wyoming, on the Burlington Northern line, had Otero's Kitchen, which others maintained was the best.  I've eaten at everyone mentioned here, and they're all great.

To mention all of these restaurants in this context may seem shallow, but it's a reflection of a long lasting and vibrant culture.  Mexican restaurants owned by Hispanic families only preserve for years and years, rather than becoming something like Taco Bell, if there's a vibrant Hispanic community which has become part of the local community.  So the culinary reflection indicates something deeper than just a regional taste for Mexican food.  Rather, it is indicative of the fact that all of these railroad towns had, and still have, vibrant Hispanic communities.

This has reflected itself over the years, additionally, through the Catholic churches in these towns.  In no area of Wyoming is any one parish made up of a majority Hispanic population, but in those towns where there is a significant Hispanic population, it has reflected itself in some way.  Those towns with significant Hispanic populations have seen it reflected, for example, in the celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe events.  When I lived in Laramie in the 1980s, for example, St. Lawrence O'Toole's parish crowned a young couple as king and queen of the event, and had a major celebration in church which was complete with a brass and guitar band.  St. Anthony's church in Casper has sometimes seen similar, if less extensive, events.

Of course, with a long presence in the state, it's not surprising that the Hispanic community has members in every walk of life and profession.  Prominent educators, lawyers and physicians have come from within the community and contributed to the state.

Unlike the story of the Irish in Wyoming, this story really cannot be completely written at this time, as Wyoming's towns have  and industries have seen new Hispanic immigrants in recent years.  Receiving an influx of workers during boom times, to see an outward migration thereafter, is part of Wyoming's economic history, so how the current new residents will impact the state is really not known.  However, heavy industry, including the oil and gas industry, has employed a lot of migrant workers in recent years.  As has been the case for generations, service industries have as well, so that towns like Jackson, which at one time had fairly small Hispanic communities, now have very prominent ones.  So this story is incomplete.  But like the story of the Irish, it is one that goes back to the State's very beginnings.

May 6

1877    Sitting Bull leads 1,500 of his followers into Canada to ask protection from the Queen.

1889  Casper incorporated.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

 Casper.  1893.

1909   Nathaniel Seymour Thomas consecrated Episcopal Bishop of Wyoming, the first Episcopal Bishop with Wyoming solely as his territory.

1978  Special Session of the Legislature concludes.  The Legislature had failed to adopt a budget during the regular budget session.

1987  The Parco historic district in Sinclair added to the National Register of Historic Places.

1995  USNS Laramie, a replenishment oiler, launched.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

May 5

Today is Cinco de Mayo, I.E., The 5th of May.  The day, celebrating  the first battle of La Puebla in 1862 in which Mexican forces defeated a French force during Mexico's efforts to oust French supported Maximilian.  The day is not widely celebrated in Mexico, which recognizes a different day as its independence day from Spain, but it has become widely celebrated in the United States.

1877. Sitting Bull and his followers cross in to Canada.

1891  Green River, WY incorporated.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1893 Panic at the New York Stock Exchange announces the arrival a severe depression in the United States.

1904 Cy Young pitches the first perfect game in modern major league baseball.

1908  First meeting of the Wyoming Farmers Congress took place in Cheyenne. Attribution:  On This Day.

1918  Oddly, on May 5. . . .

1918, the anniversary of a the Battle of Peubla, an event which has become widely celebrated in the US under the mistaken belief that it's Mexico's independence day, the Cheyenne State Leader was reporting that Germans were "flocking to Mexico" to "stir up population".

So even in the midst of the Spring Offensive of 1918, concerns over Mexico managed to get back on the front page.

1928  The Gillette library opened.  Today this building is the George Amos Memorial Building, which is located next to the Campbell County Courthouse, and which is used for meetings.

 
George Amos Building, formerly the George Hopper Library, now a meeting building in Campbell County.  the memorial is a Campbell County War Memorial.

1943.  Cannons located on the state capitol grounds in Cheyenne, Wyoming were scrapped as part of a scrap drive. The scrapping of Civil War cannons was very common in this period and was largely symbolic.  In terms of their contribution to iron needs for the war, the actual impact was none existent and in retrospect the scrapping of the Civil War cannons can be viewed as a bit of a tragedy.

1988  Jensen Ranch in Sublette County added to the National Registry of Historic Places.

2018  Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Awareness Day. May 5, 2018.

From the Governor's office:
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Awareness Day
CHEYENNE, Wyo. –A proclamation recognizing May 5, 2018 as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Awareness Day was signed by Chairman Clint Wagon of the Eastern Shoshone Business Council and Roy Brown of the Northern Arapaho Business Council. The proclamation was distributed across the State. Governor Matt Mead joins the Chairmen of the Tribes recognizing the importance of raising public awareness of this critical issue.

Saturday, May 4, 2013

May 4

1870  1st Lt. Charles Stambaugh, 2nd U.S. Cavalry, for whom Camp Stambaugh was named, killed in action near Miner's Delight.

1883  Remains of soldiers buried at Ft. Fetterman relocated to the Ft McPherson  National Cemetary.

1890 Bill Carlisle, the Gentleman Bandit, born 

1918  Daniel F. Hudson reappointed as U. S. Marshall.

1923  It was reported, and is reported by the Wyoming State Historical Society, for this day, that a hog in Kemmerer ate 40 lbs of mash, thereby destroying the evidence in a bootlegging case.  To add to that, Kemmerer was a center of bootlegging during prohibition, and was even known for the quality of its illegal whiskey. 

1925  A contract was awarded for the construction of Guernsey Dam.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1934  The Civilian Conservation Corps established Camp Miller near Gillette.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1942   The U.S. began food rationing.

1973  Special Agent George W. Henderson, Office of the Attorney General, killed by accidental discharge of his own weapon during the pursuit of a narcotics suspect.

1979  Dwain L. Hardigan, Albany County Sheriff's Deputy, killed in an airplane accident.  He and the pilot were searching for, and had just located, a lost skier.

1987  The Wyoming State Capitol designated a National Historic Landmark.

1987  The Bear Creek Ranch Medicine Wheel added to the National Register of Historic Places.

1987  The Split Rock Prehistoric Site added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Friday, May 3, 2013

May 3


1836  Wyoming Illinois founded. 

1881  Grounds of Camp Stambaugh transferred to the Department of the Interior.

1885 Post hospital opens at Ft. Fetterman.

1898  All of the Wyoming units mustered for service in the Philippines assembled in Laramie County.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1917  

The Casper Daily Tribune for May 3, 1917: Lazy men and soldiering, and the start of a Casper landmark


There are a couple of items in this May 3, 1917 issue of the Casper Daily Tribune that are relevant for later eras.
For one thing, the boom in the town was now reflecting itself in the new professional appearance of the newspaper.  Gone was the small town appearance of purely local news.  Casper, for the first time, now had a paper that was starting to rival the big established papers in other regions of the state.  This paper doesn't even resemble the appearance of the Casper papers of just a couple of months ago.


The church, as can be seen above, is of substantial size and that also points to the change in Casper's economic fortunes in this period. 
Finally, from the various news articles I've seen, I've sort of taken it to be the case that Casper, which was a tiny town prior to 1917, did not have a National Guard unit up until this time.  I could be in error, however, as Casper's newspapers were of a fairly poor quality and they aren't all available by any means.  Douglas had one, however, and its small papers reported on that unit extensively.  Over the last couple of issues, however, its clear that the National Guard, which was actively recruiting for new units in the opening weeks of American participation in World War One, was recruiting for just such a unit to be formed in Casper.
Earlier we noted that 1917 was the year that really made Casper. This newspaper, in and of itself, provides some pretty good examples of how that is true.

1918  The News. May 3, 1918.
I don't point these papers out today for the war news, although there was plenty of it.  No, I'm pointing them out for the local goings on in Cheyenne and Casper.

Let's look at Cheyenne:


This issue is remarkably similar to an issue of this Cheyenne paper that ran a year ago.  We learn here that, once again, a bevy of Cheyenne high school beauties were the "sponsors" of the Annual Cadet Show, an even that no doubt took on more meaning in 1917 and 1918 than it ever had before.

And once again, oil prospects near Cheyenne were in the news.  Those prospects were real, but it wasn't until the 2010s that they'd be developed.  New technology made that possible.

A school nurse was recommending something that was fairly radical at the time. . . but as this came at the tail end of the Progressive Era, it was a somewhat radical age.

Around the state 167 men were called to the colors.  Elsewhere, a terrible military balloon tragedy had occurred.

And in Casper:



Casper's newspapers, now larger with a larger reading audience, continued to improve and at least this issue of the Casper Daily Press was real news. . . not all optimistic petroleum boosterism.

A real city improvement, sanitary and storm sewers were being put in. And that was big news.

William Ross, who would become governor. . . as would his wife, was rising in the Democratic ranks.

And the balloon tragedy also made the front page news in Casper.

1933   Nellie Tayloe Ross becomes the Director of the Mints, an office she would hold until 1953.

1944  The Soviet Union decorated a Wyoming officer with the "Order of the Fatherland's War".  Such awards by the Soviets to Western servicemen were not uncommon.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1946         Military Tribunal in Tokyo begins war crimes trials.  One of the principal Japanese defendants was defended by Cheyenne lawyer George Guy.

1968   Colorado Air National Guard 120th Tactical Fighter Squadron, flying F-100Cs, becomes the first Air Guard unit to arrive in Vietnam.

1980  First Wyoming History Day.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

May 2

1670. King Charles II grants a charter to the Hudson's Bay Company, often regarded as the oldest corporation in the world. The company's reach would stretch all the way from the Arctic well down into what is now the Western United States.

In the 18th Century the Hudson's Bay Company was nearly a country unto itself, operating in its vast domain, and existing as a unique wilderness based corporate entity, with the product of its endeavors ultimately going to market in the United Kingdom, and with British products with frontier utility returning to the North American West.  It had its own flag and  forts.  While it is commonly seemingly assumed that the company was mostly a Canadian enterprise, the assumption if false as its network of traders covered vast distances, stretching as far south as Texas and as far north as Alaska.  It's notable that when the Corps of Discovery finally made the Pacific, they were met there by the presence of a Hudson's Bay Company fort, the entire expanse of the "Lewis and Clark" journey covering territory already known and exploited by the Hudson's Bay Company.  Likewise, the first U.S. expedition up the Yukon River after the acquisition of Alaska was met by the arrival of the party at Ft. Yukon, a Hudson's Bay Company fort that was occupying territory in Russian Alaska.

Canadian depiction of activities, at Christmas, at a Hudson's Bay Company post.

1869  The Golden Spike driven at Promontory Point.

1888  Charles Dickens, Jr. delivered an address in Cheyenne. Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1898  Wyoming National Guard companies activated for service in the Philippines ordered to report to Camp Richards near Cheyenne.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1900 First party of settlers, Mormon pioneers, settles in Crowley.

1905  Construction began on the rail line from Casper to Lander.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1933 Gillette requested Federal assistance in putting out long burning coal fires. Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1974  Wyoming, Rhode Island, added to the National Registry of Historic Places.


Wednesday, May 1, 2013

May 1

Today is May Day, the International Workers' Holiday, in many localities
Today is Law Day in the United States, an observance created by the American Bar Association in the 1950s which was designed to counter Communist celebrations of May Day with a day dedicated to the rule of law.

1707 Parliament passes the Act of Union forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain.

1839   An 18 man party from Peoria, Illinois, under the leadership of Thomas J. Farnham, leaves Independence, Missouri, bound for Oregon.

1867  The Cheyenne leader, in boosterism typical for the day, declared Wyoming to be a "cattleman's paradise", citing to the grass and abundant water.

1868  Martha Jane Cannary, "Calamity Jane", arrived in Ft. Bridger.

1869  The Laramie Daily Sentinel starts publication:  Attribution:  On This Day.

1883  William F. Cody put on his first Wild West Show.

1898  The US defeats the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay, in the opening battle of the Spanish American War.  The Philippines would see the deployment of Wyoming volunteers by the end of the year when the Philippine Insurrection rapidly followed the Spanish American War.

1900 The Scofield mine disaster kills over 200 men in Scofield, Utah.

1903  Basin incorporated. Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1909  Cheyenne replaces its volunteer fire department with a full time paid department.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1916   Sinclair Oil Corporation founded on this day in 1916
 
 
Sinclair Oil Corporation, which recently announced a major turnaround at its refinery in Casper Wyoming, was founded on this day in 1916.
The founder of the company, Harry F. Sinclair, created the company by merging the assets of eleven small petroleum companies. 
The company has long had a presence in Wyoming with even a town being named after it.
 

1918  Casper Daily Press for May 1, 1918.


We return today to the Casper newspaper.

The headline was correct, actually.  The Germans were stalling out massively in the second stage of the 1918 spring offensive.  And they were making a massive effort, commencing on May 1, to move large numbers of troops to the West.

Not that this didn't pose its challenges.  Only yesterday the Germans had help Ukraine take Sevastopol from the putative Crimean soviet republic.  This was accompanied by the Ukrainian navy moving its ships out of harms way for the time being, although the Germans occupied those that were left.  Lenin ordered their commander to scuttle them, and he refused, showing a Ukrainian navy that proved more loyal to Ukraine in 1918 than it did a couple of years back when it basically defected to Russia.  And the Germans were fighting in Finland against the Red Finns for the White Finns.

Nonetheless, they were moving troops west now, which they should have done months ago.  Having taken massive casualties in the spring offensive, they had little choice.

Eddie Rickenbacker, who really was a race car driver, made his appearance in the paper as a fighter pilot on this day, at least in the local paper, for the first time, thereby achieving the role for which he is remembered.

And Mother's Day was coming up.

1920 It was announced that Cheyenne was to become a principal stop on the new U.S. Air Mail service route.

1923   Frances Beard became State Historian.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1980   Fort Sanders was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

2017  A complete freeze on state hiring commences.

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

April 30

1803  The treaty providing for the sale of Louisiana, including most of what would become Wyoming, was signed.

1812    Louisiana became the 18th state, albeit one with an obviously much decreased territorial expanse compared to the territory it represented when sold to the United States.

1869  Union Pacific reached Promontory Point, Utah.

1906  A and B Mines opened at Superior.


1926  The cornerstone was laid for the University of Wyoming's engineering building.  Attribution:  On This Day.  The photo above depicts the building some time in the 1950s.  The one below, in 1986.



Monday, April 29, 2013

April 29

1843  John C. Fremont, having only just returned from an expedition exploring the West, turns around to start a new one.

1868   The Treaty of 1868 was signed creating the Great Sioux Reservation.  The U.S. Army agreed to abandon forts on the Bozeman Trail. 

Today In Wyoming's History: April 29: 1868. The commencement of the signing of the Ft. Laramie Treaty.
 Sioux Trial leaders at Ft. Laramie during the negotiation of the Treaty of 1868.
An event that's getting a fair amount of press, although some inaccurate press at that, is the 150th anniversary of the commencement of the signing of The Treaty of 1868, sometimes called the Ft. Laramie Treaty.  This event, which is indeed very important, is of course noted on our companion blog, Today In Wyoming's History, here:
Today In Wyoming's History: April 29: 1868   The Treaty of 1868 was signed creating the Great Sioux Reservation.  The U.S. Army agreed to abandon forts on the Bozeman Trail.
Our entry, along with the current press, is a bit deceptive and misleading in that it isn't the case that everyone signed on April 29, 1868. Not by a long shot.  But enough had occurred that this is the commonly accepted anniversary of the treaty. In reality the Brule Sioux and the U.S. Commissioners signed on this day, and following signatures would throughout the summer and fall such that by November 6, 1868, there were 156 Sioux, and 25 Arapaho, signatures.  The executed document reads as follows:
ARTICLES OF A TREATY MADE AND CONCLUDED BY AND BETWEEN
Lieutenant General William T. Sherman, General William S. Harney, General Alfred H. Terry, General O. O. Augur, J. B. Henderson, Nathaniel G. Taylor, John G. Sanborn, and Samuel F. Tappan, duly appointed commissioners on the part of the United States, and the different bands of the Sioux Nation of Indians, by their chiefs and headmen, whose names are hereto subscribed, they being duly authorized to act in the premises.
ARTICLE I.
From this day forward all war between the parties to this agreement shall for ever cease. The government of the United States desires peace, and its honor is hereby pledged to keep it. The Indians desire peace, and they now pledge their honor to maintain it.
If bad men among the whites, or among other people subject to the authority of the United States, shall commit any wrong upon the person or property of the Indians, the United States will, upon proof made to the agent, and forwarded to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs at Washington city, proceed at once to cause the offender to be arrested and punished according to the laws of the United States, and also reimburse the injured person for the loss sustained.
If bad men among the Indians shall commit a wrong or depredation upon the person or property of nay one, white, black, or Indian, subject to the authority of the United States, and at peace therewith, the Indians herein named solemnly agree that they will, upon proof made to their agent, and notice by him, deliver up the wrongdoer to the United States, to be tried and punished according to its laws, and, in case they willfully refuse so to do, the person injured shall be reimbursed for his loss from the annuities, or other moneys due or to become due to them under this or other treaties made with the United States; and the President, on advising with the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, shall prescribe such rules and regulations for ascertaining damages under the provisions of this article as in his judgment may be proper, but no one sustaining loss while violating the provisions of this treaty, or the laws of the United States, shall be reimbursed therefor.
ARTICLE II.
The United States agrees that the following district of country, to wit, viz: commencing on the east bank of the Missouri river where the 46th parallel of north latitude crosses the same, thence along low-water mark down said east bank to a point opposite where the northern line of the State of Nebraska strikes the river, thence west across said river, and along the northern line of Nebraska to the 104th degree of longitude west from Greenwich, thence north on said meridian to a point where the 46th parallel of north latitude intercepts the same, thence due east along said parallel to the place of beginning; and in addition thereto, all existing reservations of the east back of said river, shall be and the same is, set apart for the absolute and undisturbed use and occupation of the Indians herein named, and for such other friendly tribes or individual Indians as from time to time they may be willing, with the consent of the United States, to admit amongst them; and the United States now solemnly agrees that no persons, except those herein designated and authorized so to do, and except such officers, agents, and employees of the government as may be authorized to enter upon Indian reservations in discharge of duties enjoined by law, shall ever be permitted to pass over, settle upon, or reside in the territory described in this article, or in such territory as may be added to this reservation for the use of said Indians, and henceforth they will and do hereby relinquish all claims or right in and to any portion of the United States or Territories, except such as is embraced within the limits aforesaid, and except as hereinafter provided.
ARTICLE III.
If it should appear from actual survey or other satisfactory examination of said tract of land that it contains less than 160 acres of tillable land for each person who, at the time, may be authorized to reside on it under the provisions of this treaty, and a very considerable number of such persons hsall be disposed to comence cultivating the soil as farmers, the United States agrees to set apart, for the use of said Indians, as herein provided, such additional quantity of arable land, adjoining to said reservation, or as near to the same as it can be obtained, as may be required to provide the necessary amount.
ARTICLE IV.
The United States agrees, at its own proper expense, to construct, at some place on the Missouri river, near the centre of said reservation where timber and water may be convenient, the following buildings, to wit, a warehouse, a store-room for the use of the agent in storing goods belonging to the Indians, to cost not less than $2,500; an agency building, for the residence of the agent, to cost not exceeding $3,000; a residence for the physician, to cost not more than $3,000; and five other buildings, for a carpenter, farmer, blacksmith, miller, and engineer-each to cost not exceeding $2,000; also, a school-house, or mission building, so soon as a sufficient number of children can be induced by the agent to attend school, which shall not cost exceeding $5,000.
The United States agrees further to cause to be erected on said reservation, near the other buildings herein authorized, a good steam circular saw-mill, with a grist-mill and shingle machine attached to the same, to cost not exceeding $8,000.
ARTICLE V.
The United States agrees that the agent for said Indians shall in the future make his home at the agency building; that he shall reside among them, and keep an office open at all times for the purpose of prompt and diligent inquiry into such matters of complaint by and against the Indians as may be presented for investigation under the provisions of their treaty stipulations, as also for the faithful discharge of other duties enjoined on him by law. In all cases of depredation on person or property he shall cause the evidence to be taken in writing and forwarded, together with his findings, to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, whose decision, subject to the revision of the Secretary of the Interior, shall be binding on the parties to this treaty.
ARTICLE VI.
If any individual belonging to said tribes of Indians, or legally incorporated with them, being the head of a family, shall desire to commence farming, he shall have the privilege to select, in the presence and with the assistance of the agent then in charge, a tract of land within said reservation, not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres in extent, which tract, when so selected, certified, and recorded in the "Land Book" as herein directed, shall cease to be held in common, but the same may be occupied and held in the exclusive possession of the person selecting it, and of his family, so long as he or they may continue to cultivate it.
Any person over eighteen years of age, not being the head of a family, may in like manner select and cause to be certified to him or her, for purposes of cultivation, a quantity of land, not exceeding eighty acres in extent, and thereupon be entitled to the exclusive possession of the same as above directed.
For each tract of land so selected a certificate, containing a description thereof and the name of the person selecting it, with a certificate endorsed thereon that the same has been recorded, shall be delivered to the party entitled to it, by the agent, after the same shall have been recorded by him in a book to be kept in his office, subject to inspection, which said book shall be known as the "Sioux Land Book."
The President may, at any time, order a survey of the reservation, and, when so surveyed, Congress shall provide for protecting the rights of said settlers in their improvements, and may fix the character of the title held by each. The United States may pass such laws on the subject of alienation and descent of property between the Indians and their descendants as may be thought proper. And it is further stipulated that any male Indians over eighteen years of age, of any band or tribe that is or shall hereafter become a party to this treaty, who now is or who shall hereafter become a resident or occupant of any reservation or territory not included in the tract of country designated and described in this treaty for the permanent home of the Indians, which is not mineral land, nor reserved by the United States for special purposes other than Indian occupation, and who shall have made improvements thereon of the value of two hundred dollars or more, and continuously occupied the same as a homestead for the term of three years, shall be entitled to receive from the United States a patent for one hundred and sixty acres of land including his said improvements, the same to be in the form of the legal subdivisions of the surveys of the public lands. Upon application in writing, sustained by the proof of two disinterested witnesses, made to the register of the local land office when the land sought to be entered is within a land district, and when the tract sought to be entered is not in any land district, then upon said application and proof being made to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and the right of such Indian or Indians to enter such tract or tracts of land shall accrue and be perfect from the date of his first improvements thereon, and shall continue as long as be continues his residence and improvements and no longer. And any Indian or Indians receiving a patent for land under the foregoing provisions shall thereby and from thenceforth become and be a citizen of the United States and be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of such citizens, and shall, at the same time, retain all his rights to benefits accruing to Indians under this treaty.
ARTICLE VII.
In order to insure the civilization of the Indians entering into this treaty, the necessity of education is admitted, especially of such of them as are or may be settled on said agricultural reservations, and they, therefore, pledge themselves to compel their children, male and female, between the ages of six and sixteen years, to attend school, and it is hereby made the duty of the agent for said Indians to see that this stipulation is strictly complied with; and the United States agrees that for every thirty children between said ages, who can be induced or compelled to attend school, a house shall be provided, and a teacher competent to teach the elementary branches of an English education shall be furnished, who will reside among said Indians and faithfully discharge his or her duties as a teacher. The provisions of this article to continue for not less than twenty years.
ARTICLE VIII.
When the head of a family or lodge shall have selected lands and received his certificate as above directed, and the agent shall be satisfied that he intends in good faith to commence cultivating the soil for a living, he shall be entitled to receive seeds and agricultural implements for the first year, not exceeding in value one hundred dollars, and for each succeeding year he shall continue to farm, for a period of three years more, he shall be entitled to receive seeds and implements as aforesaid, not exceeding in value twenty-five dollars. And it is further stipulated that such persons as commence farming shall receive instruction from the farmer herein provided for, and whenever more than one hundred persons shall enter upon the cultivation of the soil, a second blacksmith shall be provided, with such iron, steel, and other material as may be needed.
ARTICLE IX.
At any time after ten years fro the making of this treaty, the United States shall have the privilege of withdrawing the physician, farmer, blacksmith, carpenter, engineer, and miller herein provided for, but in case of such withdrawal, an additional sum thereafter of ten thousand dollars per annum shall be devoted to the education of said Indians, and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs shall, upon careful inquiry into their condition, make such rules and regulations for the expenditure of said sums as will best promote the education and moral improvement of said tribes.
ARTICLE X.
In lieu of all sums of money or other annuities provided to be paid to the Indians herein named under any treaty or treaties heretofore made, the United States agrees to deliver at the agency house on the reservation herein named, on or before the first day of August of each year, for thirty years, the following articles, to wit:
For each male person over 14 years of age, a suit of good substantial woollen clothing, consisting of coat, pantaloons, flannel shirt, hat, and a pair of home-made socks.
For each female over 12 years of age, a flannel shirt, or the goods necessary to make it, a pair of woollen hose, 12 yards of calico, and 12 yards of cotton domestics.
For the boys and girls under the ages named, such flannel and cotton goods as may be needed to make each a suit as aforesaid, together with a pair of woollen hose for each.
And in order that the Commissioner of Indian Affairs may be able to estimate properly for the articles herein named, it shall be the duty of the agent each year to forward to him a full and exact census of the Indians, on which the estimate from year to year can be based.
And in addition to the clothing herein named, the sum of $10 for each person entitled to the beneficial effects of this treaty shall be annually appropriated for a period of 30 years, while such persons roam and hunt, and $20 for each person who engages in farming, to be used by the Secretary of the Interior in the purchase of such articles as from time to time the condition and necessities of the Indians may indicate to be proper. And if within the 30 years, at any time, it shall appear that the amount of money needed for clothing, under this article, can be appropriated to better uses for the Indians named herein, Congress may, by law, change the appropriation to other purposes, but in no event shall the amount of the appropriation be withdrawn or discontinued for the period named. And the President shall annually detail an officer of the army to be present and attest the delivery of all the goods herein named, to the Indians, and he shall inspect and report on the quantity and quality of the goods and the manner of their delivery. And it is hereby expressly stipulated that each Indian over the age of four years, who shall have removed to and settled permanently upon said reservation, one pound of meat and one pound of flour per day, provided the Indians cannot furnish their own subsistence at an earlier date. And it is further stipulated that the United States will furnish and deliver to each lodge of Indians or family of persons legally incorporated with the, who shall remove to the reservation herein described and commence farming, one good American cow, and one good well-broken pair of American oxen within 60 days after such lodge or family shall have so settled upon said reservation.
ARTICLE XI.
In consideration of the advantages and benefits conferred by this treaty and the many pledges of friendship by the United States, the tribes who are parties to this agreement hereby stipulate that they will relinquish all right to occupy permanently the territory outside
their reservations as herein defined, but yet reserve the right to hunt on any lands north of North Platte, and on the Republican Fork of the Smoky Hill river, so long as the buffalo may range thereon in such numbers as to justify the chase. And they, the said Indians, further expressly agree:
1st. That they will withdraw all opposition to the construction of the railroads now being built on the plains.
2d. That they will permit the peaceful construction of any railroad not passing over their reservation as herein defined.
3d. That they will not attack any persons at home, or travelling, nor molest or disturb any wagon trains, coaches, mules, or cattle belonging to the people of the United S
tates, or to persons friendly therewith.
4th. They will never capture, or carry off from the settlements, white women or children.
5th. They will never kill or scalp white men, nor attempt to do them harm.
6th. They withdraw all pretence of opposition to the construction of the railroad now being built along the Platte river and westward to the Pacific ocean, and they will not in future object to the construction of railroads, wagon roads, mail stations, or other works of utility or necessity, which may be ordered or permitted by the laws of the United States. But should such roads or other works be constructed on the lands of their reservation, the government will pay the tribe whatever amount of damage may be assessed by three disinterested commissioners to be appointed by the President for that purpose, one of the said commissioners to be a chief or headman of the tribe.
7th. They agree to withdraw all opposition to the military posts or roads now established south of the North Platte river, or that may be established, not in violation of treaties heretofore made or hereafter to be made with any of the Indian tribes.
ARTICLE XII.
No treaty for the cession of any portion or part of the reservation herein described which may be held in common, shall be of any validity or force as against the said Indians unless executed and signed by at least three-fourths of all the adult male Indians occupying or interested in the same, and no cession by the tribe shall be understood or construed in such manner as to deprive, without his consent, any individual member of the tribe of his rights to any tract of land selected by him as provided in Article VI of this treaty.
ARTICLE XIII.
The United States hereby agrees to furnish annually to the Indians the physician, teachers, carpenter, miller, engineer, farmer, and blacksmiths, as herein contemplated, and that such appropriations shall be made from time to time, on the estimate of the Secretary of the Interior, as will be sufficient to employ such persons.
ARTICLE XIV.
It is agreed that the sum of five hundred dollars annually for three years from date shall be expended in presents to the ten persons of said tribe who in the judgment of the agent may grow the most valuable crops for the respective year.
ARTICLE XV.
The Indians herein named agree that when the agency house and other buildings shall be constructed on the reservation named, they will regard said reservation their permanent home, and they will make no permanent settlement elsewhere; but they shall have the right, subject to the conditions and modifications of this treaty, to hunt, as stipulated in Article XI hereof.
ARTICLE XVI.
The United States hereby agrees and stipulates that the country north of the North Platte river and east of the summits of the Big Horn mountains shall be held and considered to be unceded. Indian territory, and also stipulates and agrees that no white person or persons shall be permitted to settle upon or occupy any portion of the same; or without the consent of the Indians, first had and obtained, to pass through the same; and it is further agreed by the United States, that within ninety days after the conclusion of peace with all the bands of the Sioux nation, the military posts now established in the territory in this article named shall be abandoned, and that the road leading to them and by them to the settlements in the Territory of Montana shall be closed.
ARTICLE XVII.
It is hereby expressly understood and agreed by and between the respective parties to this treaty that the execution of this treaty and its ratification by the United States Senate shall have the effect, and shall be construed as abrogating and annulling all treaties and agreements heretofore entered into between the respective parties hereto, so far as such treaties and agreements obligate the United States to furnish and provide money, clothing, or other articles of property to such Indians and bands of Indians as become parties to this treaty, but no further.
In testimony of all which, we, the said commissioners, and we, the chiefs and headmen of the Brule band of the Sioux nation, have hereunto set our hands and seals at Fort Laramie, Dakota Territory, this twenty-ninth day of April, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.

N. G. TAYLOR,
W. T. SHERMAN,
Lieutenant General
WM. S. HARNEY,
Brevet Major General U.S.A.
JOHN B. SANBORN,
S. F. TAPPAN,
C. C. AUGUR,
Brevet Major General
ALFRED H. TERRY,
Brevet Major General U.S.A.
Attest:
A. S. H. WHITE, Secretary.
Executed on the part of the Brule band of Sioux by the chiefs and headman whose names are hereto annexed, they being thereunto duly authorized, at Fort Laramie, D. T., the twenty-ninth day of April, in the year A. D. 1868.
MA-ZA-PON-KASKA, his X mark, Iron Shell.
WAH-PAT-SHAH, his X mark, Red Leaf.
HAH-SAH-PAH, his X mark, Black Horn.
ZIN-TAH-GAH-LAT-WAH, his X mark, Spotted Tail.
ZIN-TAH-GKAH, his X mark, White Tail.
ME-WAH-TAH-NE-HO-SKAH, his X mark, Tall Man.
SHE-CHA-CHAT-KAH, his X mark, Bad Left Hand.
NO-MAH-NO-PAH, his X mark, Two and Two.
TAH-TONKA-SKAH, his X mark, White Bull.
CON-RA-WASHTA, his X mark, Pretty Coon.
HA-CAH-CAH-SHE-CHAH, his X mark, Bad Elk.
WA-HA-KA-ZAH-ISH-TAH, his X mark, Eye Lance.
MA-TO-HA-KE-TAH, his X mark, Bear that looks behind.
BELLA-TONKA-TONKA, his X mark, Big Partisan.
MAH-TO-HO-HONKA, his X mark, Swift Bear.
TO-WIS-NE, his X mark, Cold Place.
ISH-TAH-SKAH, his X mark, White Eye.
MA-TA-LOO-ZAH, his X mark, Fast Bear.
AS-HAH-HAH-NAH-SHE, his X mark, Standing Elk.
CAN-TE-TE-KI-YA, his X mark, The Brave Heart.
SHUNKA-SHATON, his X mark, Day Hawk.
TATANKA-WAKON, his X mark, Sacred Bull.
MAPIA SHATON, his X mark, Hawk Cloud.
MA-SHA-A-OW, his X mark, Stands and Comes.
SHON-KA-TON-KA, his X mark, Big Dog.
Attest:
ASHTON S. H. WHITE, Secretary of Commission.
GEORGE B. WITHS, Phonographer to Commission.
GEO. H. HOLTZMAN.
JOHN D. HOWLAND.
JAMES C. O'CONNOR.
CHAR. E. GUERN, Interpreter.
LEON T. PALLARDY, Interpreter.
NICHOLAS JANIS, Interpreter.
Executed on the part of the Ogallalla band of Sioux by the chiefs and headmen whose names are hereto subscribed, they being thereunto duly authorized, at Fort Laramie, the 25th day of May, in the year A. D. 1868.
TAH-SHUN-KA-CO-QUI-PAH, his mark, Man-afraid-of-his-horses.
SHA-TON-SKAH, his X mark, White Hawk.
SHA-TON-SAPAH, his X mark, Black Hawk.
EGA-MON-TON-KA-SAPAH, his X mark, Black Tiger
OH-WAH-SHE-CHA, his X mark, Bad Wound.
PAH-GEE, his X mark, Grass.
WAH-NON SAH-CHE-GEH, his X mark, Ghost Heart.
COMECH, his X mark, Crow.
OH-HE-TE-KAH, his X mark, The Brave.
TAH-TON-KAH-HE-YO-TA-KAH, his X mark, Sitting Bull.
SHON-KA-OH-WAH-MEN-YE, his X mark, Whirlwind Dog.
HA-KAH-KAH-TAH-MIECH, his X mark, Poor Elk.
WAM-BU-LEE-WAH-KON, his X mark, Medicine Eagle.
CHON-GAH-MA-HE-TO-HANS-KA, his X mark, High Wolf.
WAH-SECHUN-TA-SHUN-KAH, his X mark, American Horse.
MAH-KAH-MAH-HA-MAK-NEAR, his X mark, Man that walks under the ground.
MAH-TO-TOW-PAH, his X mark, Four Bears.
MA-TO-WEE-SHA-KTA, his X mark, One that kills the bear.
OH-TAH-KEE-TOKA-WEE-CHAKTA, his X mark, One that kills in a hard place.
TAH-TON-KAH-TA-MIECH, his X mark, The Poor Bull.
OH-HUNS-EE-GA-NON-SKEN, his X mark, Mad Shade.
SHAH-TON-OH-NAH-OM-MINNE-NE-OH-MINNE, his X mark, Whirling hawk.
MAH-TO-CHUN-KA-OH, his X mark, Bear's Back.
CHE-TON-WEE-KOH, his X mark, Fool Hawk.
WAH-HOH-KE-ZA-AH-HAH, his X mark,
EH-TON-KAH, his X mark, Big Mouth.
MA-PAH-CHE-TAH, his X mark, Bad Hand.
WAH-KE-YUN-SHAH, his X mark, Red Thunder.
WAK-SAH, his X mark, One that Cuts Off.
CHAH-NOM-QUI-YAH, his X mark, One that Presents the Pipe.
WAH-KE-KE-YAN-PUH-TAH, his X mark, Fire Thunder.
MAH-TO-NONK-PAH-ZE, his X mark, Bear with Yellow Ears.
CON-REE-TEH-KA, his X mark, The Little Crow.
HE-HUP-PAH-TOH, his X mark, The Blue War Club.
SHON-KEE-TOH, his X mark, The Blue Horse.
WAM-BALLA-OH-CONQUO, his X mark, Quick Eagle.
TA-TONKA-SUPPA, his X mark, Black Bull.
MOH-TOH-HA-SHE-NA, his X mark, The Bear Hide.
Attest:
S. E. WARD.
JAS. C. O'CONNOR.
J. M. SHERWOOD.
W. C. SLICER.
SAM DEON.
H. M. MATHEWS.
JOSEPH BISS
NICHOLAS JANIS, Interpreter.
LEFROY JOTT, Interpreter.
ANTOINE JANIS, Interpreter.
Executed on the part of the Minneconjou band of Sioux by the chiefs and headmen whose names are hereunto subscribed, they being thereunto duly authorized.
HEH-WON-GE-CHAT, his X mark, One Horn.
OH-PON-AH-TAH-E-MANNE, his X mark, The Elk that Bellows Walking.
HEH-HO-LAH-ZEH-CHA-SKAH, his X mark, Young White Bull.
WAH-CHAH-CHUM-KAH-COH-KEEPAH, his X mark, One that is Afraid of Shield.
HE-HON-NE-SHAKTA, his X mark, The Old Owl.
MOC-PE-A-TOH, his X mark, Blue Cloud.
OH-PONG-GE-LE-SKAH, his X mark, Spotted Elk.
TAH-TONK-KA-HON-KE-SCHUE, his X mark, Slow bull.
SHONK-A-NEE-SHAH-SHAH-ATAH-PE, his X mark, The Dog Chief.
MA-TO-TAH-TA-TONK-KA, his X mark, Bull Bear.
WOM-BEH-LE-TON-KAH, his X mark, The Big Eagle.
MATOH, EH-SCHNE-LAH, his X mark, The Lone Bear.
MA-TOH-OH-HE-TO-KEH, his X mark, The Brave Bear.
EH-CHE-MA-KEH, his X mark, The Runner.
TI-KI-YA, his X mark, The Hard.
HE-MA-ZA, his X mark, Iron Horn.
Attest:
JAS. C O'CONNOR,
WM. D. BROWN,
NICHOLAS JANIS,
ANTOINE JANIS,
Interpreters.
Executed on the part of the Yanctonais band of Sioux by the chiefs and headmen whose names are hereto subscribed, they being thereunto duly authorized:
MAH-TO-NON-PAH, his X mark, Two Bears.
MA-TO-HNA-SKIN-YA, his X mark, Mad Bear.
HE-O-PU-ZA, his X mark, Louzy.
AH-KE-CHE-TAH-CHE-KA-DAN, his X mark, Little Soldier.
MAH-TO-E-TAN-CHAN, his X mark, Chief Bear.
CU-WI-TO-WIA, his X mark, Rotten Stomach.
SKUN-KA-WE-TKO, his X mark, Fool Dog.
ISH-TA-SAP-PAH, his X mark, Black Eye.
IH-TAN-CHAN, his X mark, The Chief.
I-A-WI-CA-KA, his X mark, The One who Tells the Truth.
AH-KE-CHE-TAH, his X mark, The Soldier.
TA-SHI-NA-GI, his X mark, Yellow Robe.
NAH-PE-TON-KA, his X mark, Big Hand.
CHAN-TEE-WE-KTO, his X mark, Fool Heart.
HOH-GAN-SAH-PA, his X mark, Black Catfish.
MAH-TO-WAH-KAN, his X mark, Medicine Bear.
SHUN-KA-KAN-SHA, his X mark, Red Horse.
WAN-RODE, his X mark, The Eagle.
CAN-HPI-SA-PA, his X mark, Black Tomahawk.
WAR-HE-LE-RE, his X mark, Yellow Eagle.
CHA-TON-CHE-CA, his X mark, Small Hawk, or Long Fare.
SHU-GER-MON-E-TOO-HA-SKA, his X mark, Fall Wolf.
MA-TO-U-TAH-KAH, his X mark, Sitting Bear.
HI-HA-CAH-GE-NA-SKENE, his X mark, Mad Elk.
Arapahoes.
LITTLE CHIEF, his X mark.
TALL BEAR, his X mark.
TOP MAN, his X mark.
NEVA, his X mark.
THE WOUNDED BEAR, his X mark.
WHIRLWIND, his X mark.
THE FOX, his X mark.
THE DOG BIG MOUTH, his X mark.
SPOTTED WOLF, his X mark.
SORREL HORSE, his X mark.
BLACK COAL, his X mark.
BIG WOLF, his X mark.
KNOCK-KNEE, his X mark.
BLACK CROW, his X mark.
THE LONE OLD MAN, his X mark.
PAUL, his X mark.
BLACK BULL, his X mark.
BIG TRACK, his X mark.
THE FOOT, his X mark.
BLACK WHITE, his X mark.
YELLOW HAIR, his X mark.
LITTLE SHIELD, his X mark.
BLACK BEAR, his X mark.
WOLF MOCASSIN, his X mark.
BIG ROBE, his X mark.
WOLF CHIEF, his X mark.
Witnesses:
ROBERT P. MCKIBBIN,
Captain 4th Infantry, and Bvt. Lieut. Col. U. S. A.,
Commanding Fort Laramie.
WM. H. POWELL,
Brevet Major, Captain 4th Infantry.
HENRY W. PATTERSON,
Captain 4th Infantry.
THEO E. TRUE,
Second Lieutenant 4th Infantry.
W. G. BULLOCK.
FORT LARAMIE, WYOMING TERRITORY
November 6, 1868.
MAH-PI-AH-LU-TAH, his X mark, Red Cloud.
WA-KI-AH-WE-CHA-SHAH, his X mark, Thunder Man.
MA-ZAH-ZAH-GEH, his X mark, Iron Cane.
WA-UMBLE-WHY-WA-KA-TUYAH, his X mark, High Eagle.
KO-KE-PAH, his X mark, Man Afraid.
WA-KI-AH-WA-KOU-AH, his X mark, Thunder Flying Running.
Witnessess:
W. MCE. DYE,
Brevet Colonel U. S. Army,
Commanding.
A. B. CAIN,
Captain 4th Infantry, Brevet Major U. S. Army.
ROBT. P. MCKIBBIN,
Captain 4th Infantry, Bvt. Lieut. Col. U. S. Army.
JNO. MILLER,
Captain 4th Infantry.
G. L. LUHN,
First Lieutenant 4th Infantry, Bvt. Capt. U. S. Army.
H. C. SLOAN,
Second Lieutenant 4th Infantry.
Suffice it to say, subsequent views of the Treaty and its breach by the United States have left lasting impacts and bitter feelings among those Indian Nations that executed it.  The Treaty marked a conclusion, in some ways, of the result of Red Cloud's War, the only successful Indian War against the United States and the US would commence abandoning posts that it promised to.  But the lasting land commitments were rapidly forgotten by the United States which in very short order began to seek to find ways to renegotiate them.  In less than ten years, the United States, the Sioux and the Arapaho would be back at war.

The treaty, and its breach, is being recalled this weekend at Ft. Laramie with there being a large gathering of Sioux to recall the same.

1916   Casper Daily Press for April 29, 1916
 
No Casper Daily Press was put up yesterday as the Friday edition, the Casper Weekly Press, was simply a copy of the prior day's edition.


1943   Meat and cheese began to be rationed during World War Two.

1960  Ft. Laramie designated a National Historic Site.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

April 28

1868 Negotiations at Ft. Laramie commence with the goal of ending Red Cloud's War.

1903   Governor De Forest Richards died in office. Fennimore Chatterton, the Secretary of State, became governor.

1926  Caroline Lockhart sued for libel.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1944  USS Crook County, LST-611, named after Crook counties Wyoming and Oregon, launched. She was a landing ship, tank.

1958  Minor, but perceptible, earthquakes happened in Yellowstone National Park. Attribution:  On This Day.

1960  Tom Browning, former pitcher for the Kansas City Royals and the Cincinnati Reds, born in Casper.

1970  Fort Reno added to the National Registry of Historic Places.

1970  Bridger Pass added to the National Register of Historic Places.

1970  Ft. Bonneville added to the National Register of Historic Places.

1970  The site of a Mass celebrated by Father Pierre DeSmet in Sublette County added to the National Register of Historic Places.

1970  Fort Halleck added to the National Register of Historic Places.

1970  Sand Creek Massacre Site, in Colorado, added to the National Register of Historic Places.

 

Saturday, April 27, 2013

April 27

1813 U. S. Army officer Zebulon M Pike, who had been an early explorer of the West, killed in action at age 34 during the War of 18212. His forces capture Toronto.

1888 First Wyoming Arbor Day proclaimed.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1916   Casper Daily Press for April 27, 1916
 


1944  The Wyoming Stock Growers Association gave the University of Wyoming its archives, a major contribution given the enormous role the WSGA had in the early history of the state. Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1953  A derailment of a Union Pacific train in the Red Desert kills three crewmen.  Attribution:  On This Day.

2016   The ghost of the Crow Treaty of 1868 appears in a Wyoming court.
 
 [Village criers on horseback, Bird On the Ground and Forked Iron, Crow Indians, Montana]
 Crow Indians, 1908. These men may have been living at the time the Ft. Laramie Treaty came into being.
The Casper Star Tribune reported that today the trial of Clayvin Herrera, a game warden on the Crow Reservation in southern Montana, commences today in Sheridan.  Herrera is charged with taking a big game animal in Wyoming out of season in 2014.  In other words, with poaching.  He is not only a game warden on the Crow Reservation, he is also a Crow Indian.
Of interest, he's relying on one of the Fort Laramie Treaties of 1868 as a defense.  The thesis is that the treaty grants the Crows hunting rights in Wyoming, which it did (and not just to the Crows, but to other tribes as well, in related treaties of the same vintage) and therefore hunting in Wyoming out of Wyoming's season isn't necessarily a violation of the law.  It's an attractive and even a romantic legal defense.
It won't work.
Citation to the 1868 treaties (there is more than one) for various things has been made before and the point of the state; that subsequent developments in history and Wyoming's statehood abrogated that part of the treaty, are fairly well established.  A very long time ago, well over two decades now, one of the Federal judges in the state became so irritated by such an attempt that he actually stated that the treaty with the Sioux of the same vintage and location also authorized (which I don't think it did) shooting at tribal members off the reservation and nobody thought that was the case any more, stating that in the form of a question.  Again, I think that remark was not only evidence of frustration, and highly inappropriate, but it was flat out wrong, the treaty never authorized that, but citation to the treaty on dead letters within it is pointless which I suppose was in his inartfully made point.
Which brings us to the actual point.  Ineffectual though they are, and they are, the 1868 treaties really live on as a psychological influence, and that's interesting. Indeed, it's an interesting aspect of the first three of our Laws of History.  After all this time an ineffectual treaty lives on, wounded, but still there, in some odd fashion.  And with it, some old arguments and fights.
The Treaty:
Articles of a treaty made and concluded at Fort Laramie, Dakota Territory, on the seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, by and between the undersigned commissioners on the part of the United States, and the undersigned chiefs and head-men of and representing the Crow Indians, they being duly authorized to act in the premises.
ARTICLE 1.
From this day forward peace between the parties to this treaty shall forever continue. The Government of the United States desires peace, and its honor is hereby pledged to keep it. The Indians desire peace, and they hereby pledge their honor to maintain it. If bad men among the whites or among other people, subject to the authority of the United States, shall commit any wrong upon the person or property of the Indians, the United States will, upon proof made to the agent and forwarded to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs at Washington City, proceed at once to cause the offender to be arrested and punished according to the laws of the United States, and also re-imburse the injured person for the loss sustained.
If bad men among the Indians shall commit a wrong or depredation upon the person or property of any one, white, black, or Indian, subject to the authority of the United States and at peace therewith, the Indians herein named solemnly agree that they will, on proof made to their agent and notice by him, deliver up the wrong-doer to the United States, to be tried and punished according to its laws; and in case they refuse willfully so to do the person injured shall be re-imbursed for his loss from the annuities or other moneys due or to become due to them under this or other treaties made with the United States. And the President, on advising with the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, shall prescribe such rules and regulations for ascertaining damages under the provisions of this article as in his judgment may be proper. But no such damages shall be adjusted and paid until thoroughly examined and passed upon by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and no one sustaining loss while violating, or because of his violating, the provisions of this treaty or the laws of the United States shall be re-imbursed therefor.
ARTICLE 2.
The United States agrees that the following district of country, to wit: commencing where the 107th degree of longitude west of Greenwich crosses the south boundary of Montana Territory; thence north along said 107th meridian to the mid-channel of the Yellowstone River; thence up said mid-channel of the Yellowstone to the point where it crosses the said southern boundary of Montana, being the 45th degree of north latitude; and thence east along said parallel of latitude to the place of beginning, shall be, and the same is, set apart for the absolute and undisturbed use and occupation of the Indians herein named, and for such other friendly tribes or individual Indians as from to time they may be willing, with the consent of the United States, to admit amongst them; and the United States now solemnly agrees that no persons, except those herein designated and authorized so to do, and except such officers, agents, and employés of the Government as may be authorized to enter upon Indian reservations in discharge of duties enjoined by law, shall ever be permitted to pass over, settle upon, or reside in the territory described in this article for the use of said Indians, and henceforth they will, and do hereby, relinquish all title, claims, or rights in and to any portion of the territory of the United States, except such as is embraced within the limits aforesaid.
ARTICLE 3.
The United States agrees, at its own proper expense, to construct on the south side of the Yellowstone, near Otter Creek, a warehouse or store-room for the use of the agent in storing goods belonging to the Indians, to cost not exceeding twenty-five hundred dollars; an agency-building for the residence of the agent, to cost not exceeding three thousand dollars; a residence for the physician, to cost not more than three thousand dollars; and five other buildings, for a carpenter, farmer, blacksmith, miller, and engineer, each to cost not exceeding two thousand dollars; also a school-house or mission-building, so soon as a sufficient number of children can be induced by the agent to attend school, which shall not cost exceeding twenty-five hundred dolla
The United States agrees further to cause to be erected on said reservation, near the other buildings herein authorized, a good steam circular saw-mill, with a grist-mill and shingle-machine attached, the same to cost not exceeding eight thousand dollars.
ARTICLE 4.
The Indians herein named agree, when the agency-house and other buildings shall be constructed on the reservation named, they will make said reservation their permanent home, and they will make no permanent settlement elsewhere, but they shall have the right to hunt on the unoccupied lands of the United States so long as game may be found thereon, and as long as peace subsists among the whites and Indians on the borders of the hunting districts.
ARTICLE 5.
The United States agrees that the agent for said Indians shall in the future make his home at the agency-building; that he shall reside among them, and keep an office open at all times for the purpose of prompt and diligent inquiry into such matters of complaint, by and against the Indians, as may be presented for investigation under the provisions of their treaty stipulations, as also for the faithful discharge of other duties enjoined on him by law. In all cases of depredation on person or property, he shall cause the evidence to be taken in writing and forwarded, together with his finding, to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, whose decision shall be binding on the parties to this treaty.
ARTICLE 6.
If any individual belonging to said tribes of Indians, or legally incorporated with them, being the head of a family, shall desire to commence farming, he shall have the privilege to select, in the presence and with the assistance of the agent then in charge, a tract of land within said reservation, not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres in extent, which tract, when so selected, certified, and recorded in the “land book,”as herein directed, shall cease to be held in common, but the same may be occupied and held in the exclusive possession of the person selecting it, and of his family, so long as he or they may continue to cultivate it.
Any person over eighteen years of age, not being the head of a family, may in like manner select and cause to be certified to him or her, for purposes of cultivation, a quantity of land not exceeding eighty acres in extent, and thereupon be entitled to the exclusive possession of the same as above directed.
For each tract of land so selected a certificate, containing a description thereof and the name of the person selecting it, with a certificate endorsed thereon that the same has been recorded, shall be delivered to the party entitled to it by the agent, after the same shall have been recorded by him in a book to be kept in his office, subject to inspection, which said book shall be known as the “Crow land book.”
The President may at any time order a survey of the reservation, and, when so surveyed, Congress shall provide for protecting the rights of settlers in their improvements, and may fix the character of the title held by each. The United States may pass such laws on the subject of alienation and descent of property as between Indians, and on all subjects connected with the government of the Indians on said reservations and the internal police thereof, as may be thought proper.
ARTICLE 7.
In order to insure the civilization of the tribe entering into this treaty, the necessity of education is admitted, especially by such of them as are, or may be, settled on said agricultural reservation; and they therefore pledge themselves to compel their children, male and female, between the ages of six and sixteen years, to attend school; and it is hereby made the duty of the agent for said Indians to see that this stipulation is strictly complied with; and the United States agrees that for every thirty children, between said ages, who can be induced or compelled to attend school, a house shall be provided, and a teacher, competent to teach the elementary branches of an English education, shall be furnished, who will reside among said Indians, and faithfully discharge his or her duties as a teacher. The provisions of this article to continue for twenty years.
ARTICLE 8.
When the head of a family or lodge shall have selected lands and received his certificate as above directed, and the agent shall be satisfied that he intends in good faith to commence cultivating the soil for a living, he shall be entitled to receive seed and agricultural implements for the first year in value one hundred dollars, and for each succeeding year he shall continue to farm, for a period of three years more, he shall be entitled to receive seed and implements as aforesaid in value twenty-five dollars per annum.
And it is further stipulated that such persons as commence farming shall receive instructions from the farmer herein provided for, and whenever more than one hundred persons shall enter upon the cultivation of the soil, a second blacksmith shall be provided, with such iron, steel, and other material as may be required.
ARTICLE 9.
In lieu of all sums of money or other annuities provided to be paid to the Indians herein named, under any and all treaties heretofore made with them, the United States agrees to deliver at the agency house, on the reservation herein provided for, on the first day of September of each year for thirty years, the following articles, to wit:
For each male person, over fourteen years of age, a suit of good substantial woolen clothing, consisting of coat, hat, pantaloons, flannel shirt, and a pair of woolen socks.
For each female, over twelve years of age, a flannel skirt, or the goods necessary to make it, a pair of woolen hose, twelve yards of calico, and twelve yards of cotton domestics.
For the boys and girls under the ages named, such flannel and cotton goods as may be needed to make each a suit as aforesaid, together with a pair of woollen hose for each.
And in order that the Commissioner of Indian Affairs may be able to estimate properly for the articles herein named, it shall be the duty of the agent, each year, to forward to him a full and exact census of the Indians, on which the estimate from year to year can be based.
And, in addition to the clothing herein named, the sum of ten dollars shall be annually appropriated for each Indian roaming, and twenty dollars for each Indian engaged in agriculture, for a period of ten years, to be used by the Secretary of the Interior in the purchase of such articles as, from time to time, the condition and necessities of the Indians may indicate to be proper. And if, at any time within the ten years, it shall appear that the amount of money needed for clothing, under this article, can be appropriated to better uses for the tribe herein named, Congress may, by law, change the appropriation to other purposes; but in no event shall the amount of this appropriation be withdrawn or discontinued for the period named. And the President shall annually detail an officer of the Army to be present and attest the delivery of all the goods herein named to the Indians, and he shall inspect and report on the quantity and quality of the goods and the manner of their delivery; and it is expressly stipulated that each Indian over the age of four years, who shall have removed to and settled permanently upon said reservation, and complied with the stipulations of this treaty, shall be entitled to receive from the United States, for the period of four years after he shall have settled upon said reservation, one pound of meat and one pound of flour per day, provided the Indians cannot furnish their own subsistence at an earlier date. And it is further stipulated that the United States will furnish and deliver to each lodge of Indians, or family of persons legally incorporated with them, who shall remove to the reservation herein described, and commence farming, one good American cow and one good, well-broken pair of American oxen, within sixty days after such lodge or family shall have so settled upon said reservation
ARTICLE 10.
The United States hereby agrees to furnish annually to the Indians the physician, teachers, carpenter, miller, engineer, farmer, and blacksmiths as herein contemplated, and that such appropriations shall be made from time to time, on the estimates of the Secretary of the Interior, as will be sufficient to employ such persons.
ARTICLE 11.
No treaty for the cession of any portion of the reservation herein described, which may be held in common, shall be of any force or validity as against the said Indians unless executed and signed by, at least, a majority of all the adult male Indians occupying or interested in the same, and no cession by the tribe shall be understood or construed in such a manner as to deprive, without his consent, any individual member of the tribe of his right to any tract of land selected by him as provided in Article 6 of this treaty.
ARTICLE 12.
It is agreed that the sum of five hundred dollars annually, for three years from the date when they commence to cultivate a farm, shall be expended in presents to the ten persons of said tribe who, in the judgment of the agent, may grow the most valuable crops for the respective year.
W. T. Sherman,
   Lieutenant-General.

Wm. S. Harney,
   Brevet Major-General and Peace Commissioner.

Alfred H. Terry,
   Brevet Major-General.

C. C. Augur,
   Brevet Major-General.

John B. Sanborn.

S. F. Tappan.

Ashton S. H. White, Secretary.

Che-ra-pee-ish-ka-te, Pretty Bull, his x mark. 

Chat-sta-he, Wolf Bow, his x mark. [SEAL.]

Ah-be-che-se, Mountain Tail, his x mark. 

Kam-ne-but-sa, Black Foot, his x mark. 

De-sal-ze-cho-se, White Horse, his x mark.

Chin-ka-she-arache, Poor Elk, his x mark. 

E-sa-woor, Shot in the Jaw, his x mark.

E-sha-chose, White Forehead, his x mark. 

—Roo-ka, Pounded Meat, his x mark. 

De-ka-ke-up-se, Bird in the Neck, his x mark. 

Me-na-che, The Swan, his x mark. 

Attest:

George B. Wills, phonographer.

John D. Howland.

Alex. Gardner.

David Knox.

Chas. Freeman.

Jas. C. O'Connor.

 The winter camp--Apsaroke 
Crow hunters, 1909.