August 18

1813  Battle of the Medina River at which Royalist forces defeat Mexican-American Republican Guetierrez-Magee Expedition south of San Antonio.  The Republican forces, which lost 1,300 men to the Royalist 55, was seeking independence for Texas from Spain.

1824  The Mexican Congress passed a national colonization law that became the basis of almost all colonization contracts in Texas.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1872  The  Hayden Expedition camped at Geyser Basin in Yellowstone.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1914    President Woodrow Wilson issued his Proclamation of Neutrality in World War I.

1916   Fire destroyed coal chutes and four freight cars that belonged to the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company in Douglas.  Attribution:  On This Day.

 Douglas has a nice park dedicated to railroad today.

Douglas Wyoming railroad sites
 

These are scenes from Douglas Wyoming, which is the location of a Railroad Interpretive Center.  The old Great Northwestern depot serves as its headquarters, as well as the chamber of commerce's headquarters.

 

  

 

 

 

The last photograph is not at the Railroad interpretive center, but is nearby. This is the former Burlington Northern depot, now a restaurant.

 

Updated on April 28, 2015, from the original March 31, 2012 publication.  Most of these photos depict things already photographed, but an old railroad building of some kind, now in use for another purpose, also now appears.

1920   The 19th Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote, is ratified by Tennessee, giving the amendment the two-thirds majority of state ratification necessary to make it law.

1941  One hundred Casper men and boys enrolled in the Wyoming State Guard.  State Guards were the wartime replacements for the National Guard, which had been Federalized in 1940, and therefore was no longer existent, now being part of the U.S. Army.  The mission of the State Guard was to provide the services to the State that the National Guard did in peace time.  Attribution: Wyoming State Historical Society.

1959  A magnitude 7.7 earthquake occurred about 78 miles from Cody and Jackson.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1969 Jimmy Hendrix opens the final day of the Woodstock music festival with an electric version of The Star Spangled Banner.

2015  Casper's city counsel votes to allow chickens to be kept in the city, by a vote of seven to one.