1891 The Shoshone National Forest was set aside by President Benjamin Harrison as the Yellowstone Park Timberland Reserve.
1909. On this day, the U.S. Army abandoned Ft. Washakie. The post had previously been also known as Camp Brown and Camp Augar.. The post had lately been a 9th Cavalry post.
The facilities for the post remain in large part today, having gone over to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Ft. Washakie, the town, is the seat of government for the Wind River Indian Reservation. The structures provide good examples of the period stone construction used by the Army at that time.
Some former cavalry structures at Ft. Washakie now in use as industrial or storage buildings.
1915 A quarantine on Wyoming livestock was put in place due to an outbreak of hoof and mouth disease. Attribution: Wyoming State Historical Society.
1916 The Punitive Expedtion: The Casper Daily Press, March 30, 1916
1916 The Punitive Expedtion: The Casper Daily Press, March 30, 1916
1917 Colorado criminalizes marijuana
Colorado was not the first state to address marijuana statutorily. At least California (1907), Massachusetts (1911), New York (1914), Maine (1914), and Wyoming (1915) had. Colorado was one of the states that enacted the prohibition of alcohol by that time and therefore not acting on marijuana would have been odd under the circumstances. It had already been addressed by Federal law to some extent at that time.
There's a certain irony in this, I suppose, in that Colorado is now a pioneer in a national movement that has seen several states decriminalize marijuana, although the irony would be diminished if the entire matter is considered in the context of its times. It remains subject to Federal penalties, something that has seemingly been lost in the discussion of this topic, and there is no sign that this will change any time soon. The Federal government, however, seems to have basically stopped enforcing the law on the Federal level for the time being, although that could change at any moment.
Circling back to Colorado, while often not noted in the discussion on this, Denver Colorado has provided a big test of the impact of the change in the law, and not in a good way. Almost any casual observer who is familiar with Denver over time has noted the impact of the change and Denver, which has had a fairly large homeless population for decades now has a larger, but rather weedy one. Open begging downtown for cash for marijuana is now common, and encounters with stoned younger people who are part of a marijuana culture will occur at some point if a person spends any time downtown at all. All of this is the type of discussion that does not tend to occur, for some reason, in discussions over the monetary impacts of the change or on the degree to which the substance itself is dangerous or how dangerous it is.
On this day in 1917 Colorado's legislature passed a bill that criminalized marijuana. The act passed on this date stated:
An act to declare unlawful the planting, cultivating, harvesting, drying, curing, or preparation for sale or gift of cannabis sativa, and to provide a penalty therefore.The bill was in part inspired by the civil war in Mexico. It was being asserted that Pancho Villa funded his Division del Norte in part through the sale of cannabis. Whether this is true or not, marijuana was not unknown by any means in Mexico and it shows up even in music of the period at least to the extent that it features in the Mexican Revolution ballad La Cucaracha. The bill was introduced in Colorado by a Hispanic legislator from one of Colorado's southern counties which were and are predominately Hispanic in culture and where there was strong desire to disassociate themselves from Mexican refugees, including any assertion that they might approve of the use of the drug.
Section 1. Any person who shall grow or use cannabis sativa (also known as cannabis indica, Indian hemp and marijuana) that he has grown shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction shall be punished by a fine of not less than ten nor more than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail not more than thirty days, or by both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court.
Colorado was not the first state to address marijuana statutorily. At least California (1907), Massachusetts (1911), New York (1914), Maine (1914), and Wyoming (1915) had. Colorado was one of the states that enacted the prohibition of alcohol by that time and therefore not acting on marijuana would have been odd under the circumstances. It had already been addressed by Federal law to some extent at that time.
There's a certain irony in this, I suppose, in that Colorado is now a pioneer in a national movement that has seen several states decriminalize marijuana, although the irony would be diminished if the entire matter is considered in the context of its times. It remains subject to Federal penalties, something that has seemingly been lost in the discussion of this topic, and there is no sign that this will change any time soon. The Federal government, however, seems to have basically stopped enforcing the law on the Federal level for the time being, although that could change at any moment.
Circling back to Colorado, while often not noted in the discussion on this, Denver Colorado has provided a big test of the impact of the change in the law, and not in a good way. Almost any casual observer who is familiar with Denver over time has noted the impact of the change and Denver, which has had a fairly large homeless population for decades now has a larger, but rather weedy one. Open begging downtown for cash for marijuana is now common, and encounters with stoned younger people who are part of a marijuana culture will occur at some point if a person spends any time downtown at all. All of this is the type of discussion that does not tend to occur, for some reason, in discussions over the monetary impacts of the change or on the degree to which the substance itself is dangerous or how dangerous it is.
Ft. D. A. Russell was being used for Guard mobilization this time. It hadn't been a year prior for the Punitive Expedition.
Mexico remained on the front pages even with the US on the eve of war, this time once again in association with the Germans.
1918 Lex Anteinternet: The Kaiserschlacht Commences. Operation Michael. The First Battle of Villers-Bretonneux and the Battle of Moreuil Wood
The First Battle of Villers-Bretonneux and the Battle of Moreuil Wood
On March 30 the Germans none the less tried again, launching an assault south of the new Somme salient towards
Amiens resulting in two significant battles, one of which is very well
recalled today. The Germans gained some ground but it was slight, and
German troops lost discipline when they hit Allied supply depots.
The resumed German offensive opened up near the town of Le Hamel but was turned back, although the Germans took ground near the Hangard Wood. This resulted in a five day pause in the German effort in this location until they resumed their attack towards the town of Villers-Bretonneux. The French fell back upon the German resumed attack but British and Australian troops generally held well but were ultimately forced to retire due to a two stage retreat by the 14th (Light) Division. which ultimately fell back some 3500 yards to a new position. Australian troops restored the line and counterattacked, pushing the Germans back out of the town. This was followed up by flanking advances by British cavalry and Australian infantry which consolidated the line for the time being.
This phase of the German offensive also saw the remarkable Canadian cavalry charge in the Battle of Moreuil Wood in which the Canadian Cavalry Brigade conducted a mounted assault near the village of Moreuil, taking the wood against the prediction of failure of a nearby French unit, receiving assistance from the RFC in the assault. The Germans retook the wood the following day, March 31, but the Canadians then took it back. The Germans ultimately retook the wood, showing the intense nature of the fighting, but the overall offensive was called off shortly after that. Operation Michael had gained a lot of ground, but it had ground to a halt. By April 5 the Germans were exhausted and an effort to resume the offensive against the British failed.
The resumed German offensive opened up near the town of Le Hamel but was turned back, although the Germans took ground near the Hangard Wood. This resulted in a five day pause in the German effort in this location until they resumed their attack towards the town of Villers-Bretonneux. The French fell back upon the German resumed attack but British and Australian troops generally held well but were ultimately forced to retire due to a two stage retreat by the 14th (Light) Division. which ultimately fell back some 3500 yards to a new position. Australian troops restored the line and counterattacked, pushing the Germans back out of the town. This was followed up by flanking advances by British cavalry and Australian infantry which consolidated the line for the time being.
This phase of the German offensive also saw the remarkable Canadian cavalry charge in the Battle of Moreuil Wood in which the Canadian Cavalry Brigade conducted a mounted assault near the village of Moreuil, taking the wood against the prediction of failure of a nearby French unit, receiving assistance from the RFC in the assault. The Germans retook the wood the following day, March 31, but the Canadians then took it back. The Germans ultimately retook the wood, showing the intense nature of the fighting, but the overall offensive was called off shortly after that. Operation Michael had gained a lot of ground, but it had ground to a halt. By April 5 the Germans were exhausted and an effort to resume the offensive against the British failed.
The charge at Moreuil Wood.
1943 Lead by legendary UW basketball player Kenny Sailors, UW beat Georgetown 46 to 34 in Madison Square Gardens. Sailors would enter the Marine Corps as an officer at the conclusion of that year. UW would suspend basketball due to the war after that year. Sailors eventually became a hunting guide in in Alaska, but returned to Wyoming in his old age, where he still lives, following the death of his wife.
1952 The ICC approved the abandonment of the Wyoming Railway between Clearmont and Buffalo.
2003 Teno Roncolio, Wyoming Congressman, and the last Democrat to have occupied that office, died in Cheyenne.
2009 The Wyoming Range Legacy Act signed into law by President Obama.
2016 President Obama commuted the sentence of Angela LaPlatney and 61 other prisoners. She was a Casper resident who was sentenced to 20 years for possession of illegal drugs with the intent to sell the same and for hiding a man who was subject to a felony charge. Her sentence will now end on July 28. President Obama has commuted a large number of sentences during his time in office.
2016 Wyoming was hit by a massive Spring snowstorm that shut down much of the state, including offices in Cheyenne and, ironically, Casper's ski area.
2016 President Obama commuted the sentence of Angela LaPlatney and 61 other prisoners. She was a Casper resident who was sentenced to 20 years for possession of illegal drugs with the intent to sell the same and for hiding a man who was subject to a felony charge. Her sentence will now end on July 28. President Obama has commuted a large number of sentences during his time in office.
2016 Wyoming was hit by a massive Spring snowstorm that shut down much of the state, including offices in Cheyenne and, ironically, Casper's ski area.
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