May 13

1846     The United States officially declared that a state of war existed with Mexico.

1882  The Ft. Steele hospital burned.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1907  The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a popular vote in 1892 concerning the location of the "Agricultural College of Wyoming" was advisory thereby keeping the University of Wyoming in Laramie, rather than moving it to Lander.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1912  The first political conventions in the state to nominate presidential electors took place in Cheyenne:  Attribution:  On This Day.

1918  Casper Daily Press for May 13, 1918. Germans used up their reserves and have the Czar?

The Germans really were using up their reserves and had passed the point of diminishing returns by this date in 1918, but they were still messing around in the East which made the story about the Czar and his family credible, if erroneous.  They would have been lucky if the Germans had taken them into custody.

At the same time, reports of Wyoming men getting killed in action were starting to appear on the front page.

1919  Movie star and recent veteran of the U.S. Army (artillery officer in WWI), Tim McCoy becomes the Adjutant General for the Wyoming National Guard.  In that capacity, he receives a brevet rank of Brigadier General at age 28.  He retained that position until 1921 when, I believe, it reverted to extraordinarily long serving Gen. Esmay, who had held it prior to WWI, with some interruption.

McCoy was also ranching in Wyoming during this time frame.  He ran for the US Senate in Wyoming in 1942 but lost, rejoining the Army as an officer the day after his defeat.  He served in the Army Air Corps in Europe during WWII and reportedly never returned to Wyoming after the war.

Evincing a surprising lack of sentiment about horses for a film star of this early era, McCoy is know to have remarked that he was not sentimental about horses, and that "If you want to know the truth - horses are dumb."

1943  A measles epidemic was raging in the state.  As everyone in my family has the stomach flu today, I can sympathize with epidemics.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.