December 1

1869  Uinta County created by the Territorial Legislature.

1889  Burlington Northern branch line to Cambria mines completed.

1907  Fire in downtown Cody burned seven buildings. Attribution.  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1910  A bounty on coyotes in the amount of $1.25, a not unsubstantial amount at the time, established. Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1916The Casper Weekly Press for December 1, 1916: White Slavery and Boom on in Casper
 

While the Cheyenne papers warned of bodies burning in the streets of Chihuahua and Villa advancing to the border, as well as the ongoing horrors of World War One, the Casper Weekly Press hit the stands with tales of white slavery.

White slavery, for those who might not know (we don't hear the term much anymore) was basically the kidnapping of young women and forcing them into prostitution.

Headlines like this are easy to discount, and seem lurid, fanciful, and sensationalist, but in reality they give us a view into the hard nature of the past we'd sometimes completely forget.  White Slavery, i.e., the kidnapping of women and the forcing them into prostitution, was actually a bonafide problem, and to some extent, it remains one.

I've spoken to one now deceased woman who escaped an attempt to kidnap her on a large East Coast city when she was a teen and who was convinced that she was almost a victim of such an effort.  And it wasn't all that long ago that it was revealed there was an Hispanic white slavery ring in Jackson Wyoming, where very young Mexican teenage girls were being brought up to that Wyoming resort town as prostitutes, working in an underground economy there focused on single Mexican laborers.  That one was discovered, oddly enough, through the schools.  Still, the evil practice, fueled by money and drugs, is with us still, although with advances in technology, and just more knowledge on such things, it wasn't what it once was, thankfully.

We don't want to romanticize the past here, so we've run this, although with all the news on bodies burning in the streets, etc, we probably can't be accused of romanticism anyhow.

Meanwhile an oil boom was on in Casper causing housing shortages.

Page two of the Casper Weekly informed us that a Ford had become a necessity.  If it wasn't quite true at the time, it soon would be.

The Wyoming, a store apparently took a shot at Prohibitionist by advertising that they had "everything a Prohibitionist likes."

The Wyoming Tribune for December 1, 1916: Carranza prepares to fight at the border

 

Just a few days ago the news was reporting that US forces would be able to withdraw from Mexico and an agreement with Carranza was on the verge of being signed. Today the Tribune was reporting fears that Villa would advance to the US border.

And former Governor Osborne, presently U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, we're told, was contemplating running for the Senate.

The Cheyenne Leader for December 1, 1916: Grim scenes in Chihuahua

 

Aerial view of Motor Truck Group, Ft. Sam Houston, Texas, Major F.H. Pope, Cavalry, commanding, December, 1916
 

1918 Watch on the Rhine, and on the Rio Grande, and on the Pimega. December 1, 1918.

Col. C.H. Hodges, First Division and interpreter, making arrangements with Inspector Ludveg, a German officer, for the use of Maximin Marracks. Treves, Germany. December 1, 1918.

American troops were pouring into Germany, and into occupation duty, on this day in 1918.

 Eighteenth Regiment Infantry. First Division , crossing bridge over Mosell River into Germany at Kalender Muhl. Kalender Muhl, Germany. December 1, 1918.

 View showing interest of German populace as Army mess kitchen goes through Treves. Treves, Germany, December 1, 1918.

 USS Orizaba which left Hoboken, New Jersey on Dec. 1, 1918 for Europe with journalists, photographers and others attending the Peace Conference after World War I

The press, meanwhile, was pouring into Europe as well, to watch and report on the drama of the peace negotiations.

That drama was clearly building.

At the same time, Villa's fortunes appeared to be reversing again.  And the Red Army suffered a reversal near Archangel in an action in which U.S. troops had played a part.

Cheyenne received some good news in the form of learning it was going to be an air mail hub, which it in fact did become.  And fans of the Marine Corps received some as well in learning that the Marines were going to keep on keeping on for at least awhile.

1925  Colorado-Wyoming Gas Company created.

1930  Robert Davis Carey, the son of Joseph Maull Carey, assumes the office of U.S. Senator.  Sen. Carey was elected to fill the seat vacated by the death of F. E. Warren.  He would serve until 1937, when he vacated the seat after loosing a bid for reelection. Thereafter, he intended resume ranching, which he only continued until his death twelve days after leaving office, at age 58.

1936  The McGill Bunkhouse, a 60 year old structure on the former stage line between Laramie and Centennial, was destroyed by fire.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1942 Gasoline rationing begins in the US.

1969  December 1, 1969. The United States resumes a lottery system for conscription.

This is, frankly, a bit confusing.

The United States had resumed conscription following World War Two in March 1948.  It had only actually expired in January 1947, showing how a need for manpower in the wake of World War Two caused it to actually continue to exist in spite of a large reduction in force following the end of the war.

After coming back into effect in March 1948 it stayed in existence until 1973, but was then done away with following the end of the Vietnam War. By that time conscription was massively unpopular.  It can't be said to have ever really been "popular", per se, but it didn't meet with real resistance until the Vietnam War.

The resumption of a lottery system for the draft, in which each registrant was assigned a number and the number then drawn at random, was designed to attempt to reduce the unpopularity of conscription at that point in the Vietnam War.  Numerous changes were made to the system during the war including ending a marriage exemption and ultimately curtaining an exemption for graduate students. With the adoption of the lottery system also came a change in age focus so that rather than top of those in the age range being drafted it then focused on those who were 19 years old. The reason for this was that if a person's number wasn't chosen in the lottery as a 19 year old, they were not going to be drafted and could accordingly plan around that.

Because of the way that the draft worked prior to 1969, and even after that date, many men joined the service when faced with the near certainty of being conscripted. As a result, oddly, far more men volunteered for service than who were actually conscripted.  Additionally, the number of men who were volunteers for the service who served in Vietnam outnumbered those who were drafted, with a surprisingly large number of troops who served in the war itself volunteering for service in Vietnam.

1997  The Wyoming state quarter design approved.

2016   The Wyoming State Land Board, in a decision that has been atypical for it in recent years, declined to approve a land transfer that resulted in a disproportionate exchange of acreage.  The proposal, involving the loss of access to land in Laramie County that was used by area hunters and came under massive public opposition.