August 3

1823 Union General Thomas Francis Meagher, designer of the Irish tricolor, was born in Waterford, Ireland. Meagher studied law in Dublin and then became deeply involved in Young Ireland, a nationalistic organization that opposed British rule in Ireland. After participating in the Irish rebellion of 1848 (in a year that would see revolutions all over Europe) Meagher was convicted of high treason. Authorities commuted his death sentence to hard labor and exiled him to Tasmania. He escaped and made his way to New York City. He married into a prosperous merchant's family and became a leader within the Irish-American community. When the Civil War broke out, Meagher became a captain in the 68th New York militia, an Irish unit that became the nucleus of the Irish Brigade in the Army of the Potomac. He was successful as a commander in general, but his command suffered high casualty rates for which he was criticized. He resigned his commission in 1863 when Gen. Hooker refused his request to return to New York to raise new recruits. He returned to duty and served in the Army of the Tennessee in early 1865. After the war, President Andrew Johnson appointed Meagher secretary of Montana Territory. He at Fort Benton, Montana, on July 1, 1867, after falling from the deck of a riverboat on the Missouri River. His body was never recovered.

1867  Troops dispatched from Ft. Phil Kearny to establish Ft. C. F. Smith.

1869  Territorial Governor Campbell issued a proclamation that calling an election for delegates to Congress and members of the Wyoming Territorial Legislature. Attribution:  On This Day.

1886  The Johnson County Fair opened, making it the first fair held in the Territory.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1902  Stephen W. Downey, the "father of the University of Wyoming", died in Laramie. \

1916   The Cheyenne Leader for August 3, 1916: Wyoming still mustering its Guard.
 

There was a variety of grim news for this day which pretty much shoved it to the side, but Lyman Wyoming was hoping to be the home station for a new National Guard company being raised to go to the border.  The telling thing is, really, that Wyoming was still trying to come up to strength for border duty.

Railroad strikes, the Deutschland submarine, and the imminent execution of Roger Casement took precedence, however, in the day's news.

Vienna appears to have been a bit optimistic, we'd note.

1939  Seminoe Dam generates electricity for the first time. Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1941   The first Annual Bondurant BBQ held at St. Hubert the Hunter Church, where it has happened every year since.  The 1941 date was in celebration of the dedication of the church.

1950 Congress removed the existing limitations on the size of the Army. The Army issued an involuntary recall of 30,000 enlisted men, mostly from the Volunteer and Inactive Reserve, to report in September.