February 29

This date only occurs in Leap Years.

45 BC The first Leap Day was recognized by proclamation of Julius Caesar. Under the old Roman calendar the last day of February was the last day of the year.

1288 Scotland makes it legal for a woman to propose marriage.  See 1912 item for Wyoming.

1912  The Wyoming Tribune published the names of eligible bachelors for the benefit of "matrimonially inclined women".  Things like this were surprisingly common at the time.  The publication on this date is not accidental, as this particular day was associated with "Sadie Hawkins" type events.  Attribution.  Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office.

1929  Grand Teton National Park established by Congress.  This entry seems somewhat inconsistent with an earlier entry made just a few days ago, so this might be the effective date of the establishment of the park, which was smaller at that time as compared to the current park.

1936  Uniformed superintendents of major National Parks served as pall bearors for John W. Meldrum, the first U.S. Commissioner for Yellowstone National Park, at his funeral in Denver.

February 28

1868  Sixteen mules were reported as having been stolen from Ft. Bridger.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1885  F.E. Warren confirmed as Territorial Governor.

1900 Bob Lee arrested in Cripple Creek, Colorado on suspicion of  robbing a Union Pacific train at Wilcox Wyoming the prior year.

1917   Woodrow Wilson releases the contents of the Zimmerman Telegram
 

After having had it for some time, the United States released the contents of the Zimmerman Telegram which, as we have been following, proposed a German-Mexican alliance in the event of an American entry into World War One.

American public opinion was becoming increasingly hostile to Germany in 1916 and 1917 and it was already hostile to Mexico given the numerous border problems that had being going on for years and the strained relationship with Carranza.  The release of the telegram was one more event that helped push the United States towards going to war with Germany.  In some ways, the telegram confirmed suspicions that were already out there as presence of German military advisors in Mexico was well known and they had taken an active role in advising Mexico's prevailing army.  They had even been in one instance in that role in which Mexican troops had directly engaged American troops.  In recent weeks there's been speculation in the press about German activities in Mexico and Carranza's relationship to Germany.  So, while Zimmerman's suggestion seems outlandish to us in retrospect, to Americans of 1917 it would have seemed to confirm what was already widely suspected, but with details far more ambitious than could have been guessed at previously. 

The Cheyenne Leader for February 28, 1917. Troops to arrive home Friday.
 

At least according to Major Smoke.

Is that a great name, or what?

And Cuban rebels were destroying sugar.

1918  First train to arrive in Buffalo on the Wyoming Railway.

The Wyoming Railway was a shortline, running from nearby Clearmont to Buffalo, a distance of about 28 miles. At Clearmont passengers could carry on with the Burlington Northern.

Most of the traffic on the line was actually coal.  The coal mines near Buffalo went out of business in the 1940s and the railroad filed for bankruptcy in 1948.  The line was abandoned in 1952.
1918   The Casper Daily Record for February 28, 1918. Four sleeping soldiers ordered shot.
 

Gen. George Patton famously got into piles of trouble, both with the public and the Army, for slapping two soldiers during World War Two.

Here we read about Pershing giving the go ahead to death sentences for four soldiers that fell asleep at their posts.

I don't know what Wilson did with the sentence, but I hope they weren't executed.

1970  First successful in situ oil extraction near Rock Springs.  This process has never been commercial, however.

1977  Legislature passes a new death penalty statute in an attempt to address developments in the law as interpreted by the Federal courts.

February 27

1885  F. E. Warren commences his first period as Territorial Governor. This one would be brief, as President Cleveland would remove him from this office in 1886.

1915  Governor Kendrick approves a Workers Compensation act establishing a state maintained Workers Compensation fund.  While heavily litigated, occasionally amended, and often castigated the basic structure of the groundbreaking 1915 act remains today.  Somewhat unique in the US, the Wyoming act created a wholly state administered Workers Compensation system in which workmen surrendered their rights to bring certain workplace civil actions, and employers gave up their common law defenses, so that certain suits that had traditionally been available for personal injury in the workplace were eliminated in favor of a system of insurance, modeled on that pioneered in Imperial Germany.

The system remains exclusively state administered and run today, and is funded by levies on employers, making it one of the few, and perhaps the only, solely state run system in the US today.  Most states use a system that incorporates employer privately purchased Workers Compensation insurance.

1917   The Cheyenne State Leader for February 27, 1917: Cheyenne to Welcome "Border Boys"
 

Cheyenne's other paper ran the story of returning Guardsmen in bigger headlines.

At the same time, another story assured readers that the US had "plenty" of men and arms. . . a story that would soon prove to be untrue.  And obviously untrue at that.  If the Guard had to have been called up for the near war with Mexico, what made anyone assume we were ready to fight Germany?

And Congress was looking at giving Wilson war powers.

The Wyoming Tribune for February 27, 1917: Reception for the National Guard planned

 

In Cheyenne plans were well underway to welcome the boys back home.

But you have to wonder why? The way things were going, why the President was even demobilizing the Guard is a bit of a mystery.  War was pretty clearly around the corner, and Congress was upset that Wilson wasn't being aggressive enough with Germany

1933  Malcolm Wallop born in New York City.  He was U.S. Senator from Wyoming from 1977 to 1995.

1936   John Meldrum died.  He had been Yellowstone National Park's first Commissioner, serving from 1894 to 1935.

1965  Flynn Robinson became the University of Wyoming's leading scorer.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1968

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Nn4w-ud-TyE" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

1973     Members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) occupied Wounded Knee, S.D.

Sunday, February 27, 1973. The occupation of Wounded Knee.

Flag of the Independent Ogalala Nation.

Today In Wyoming's History: February 27: 1973     Members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) and the Independent Ogalala National  occupied Wounded Knee, S.D.

By Tripodero - Own work [1], CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65312096

The occupation grew out of protests on the Pine Ridge Reservation regarding tribal government, something that's generally been forgotten about the dramatic occupation, with its immediate cause being the failed impeachment of Tribal Council Chairman Dick Wilson.  It spread to a larger set of grievances soon thereafter, but Wilson remained the center of the controversy in significant ways.  He'd be reelected in 1974, although the reelection was controversial, and the reservation, which remains the poorest reservation in the United States, endured a period of violence thereafter.

Poster made from one of the photographs of Bobby Onco.

I can recall this event fairly well, even though I was ten years old at the time.  One of the things I oddly recall is discussion of one of the occupiers being armed with an AKM (AK47), something that was extremely unusual at the time.  The man in question was Bobby Onco, who died in 2014 at age 63.  Onco was actually a member of the Kiowa nation, and was a Vietnam Veteran.  Perhaps surprising to many now, it was possible to bring captured weapons back from Vietnam, with some paperwork being required in order to do it.  The iconoic Soviet assault rifle was likely a legally returned weapon from his Vietnam service.

Onco would move to New York, where he married a member of the Shinnecock Nation.  He lived on their reservation there until his death.

The occupation was not universally well received by residents of Pine Ridge, which is part of what ultimately brought it to an end.  From the outside, but in the region, it was one of the events that gave the late 60s and early 70s the feeling that things were coming apart.

1986  The Worland House added to the National Registry of Historic Places.

Elsewhere:

1943  Bishop Count Konrad von Preysing, Catholic Bishop of Berlin, made another in a series of outspoken attacks on Nazi rule. In a pastoral letter issued throughout Germany he protested against totalitarianism, the execution of hostages and the Jewish persecution, stating "It is a Divine principle that the life of an innocent individual, whether an unborn child or an aged person, is sacred, and that the innocent shall not be punished with the guilty, or in place of the guilty. Neither the individual nor the community can create a law against this."  Bishop von Preysing had gone on record early about his opinions on the Nazis, having declared "We have fallen into the hands of criminals and fools" when they came to power, and in 1940 he'd ordered that prayers be said throughout his diocese for arrested Lutheran ministers.  He'd later go on to decry the German Communist postwar who declared that he was an "agent" of "American Imperialism".  He died in 1950.

1991     President George H.W. Bush announced the end of the Persian Gulf War declaring that the allies would suspend combat operations at midnight.

1998     Britain's House of Lords agreed to end 1,000 years of male preference by giving a monarch's first-born daughter the same claim to the throne as a first-born son.

February 26

1846 William "Buffalo Bill" Cody, born in Scott County, Iowa.

1917  Governor John B. Kendrick resigned to enter the United States Senate. Attribution:  On This Day.

Kendrick was a true Western character and stands apart on those regards from many of Wyoming's early politicians.  He was a Texan who had left school after 7th grade to become a cowboy and arrived in Wyoming with a heard of cattle in 1879.  Having come up on a trail drive he stayed on in Wyoming and became a ranch foreman.  Marrying his employer's daughter, he invested in a series of ranches and did well enough to ultimately invest in a bank as well.

In 1909 he became president of the very powerful Wyoming Stock Growers Association and entered the legislature the following year as a Democrat.  That party affiliation likely disadvantaged him when he ran for the Senate in 1913 but that did not hurt him when the Progressive wave began to sweep that party and he became Governor in 1915.  In a move you could not do now, he ran for Senate the following year and won, and hence his resignation on this date.  He occupied that position until his death in 1933.  He was inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame in the 1950s, a honor he no doubt deserved.

1917  Secretary of State Frank L. Houx became the acting governor.  He would fill out Gov. Kendrick's term and serve until 1919. .Attribution:  On This Day.

Houx was a businessman with mixed interests who was from Missouri but whom had relocated to  Cody Wyoming in 1895.  He entered politics from there and was elected Secretary of State, as a Democrat, in 1910.  He was serving in that position when Governor Kendrick resigned which, under Wyoming's constitution, made him the Governor at that point.  He ran for office in his own right in 1918 but lost to Robert D. Carey, the son of Joseph Carey.

1917  President Wilson addresses Congress on the safety of merchant ships.
 

It was turning out to be a busy Monday for President Wilson.

Having just learned of the Zimmerman Note, he addressed Congress regarding the safety of merchant ships.

 USS Mount Vernon, an armed merchant vessel, undergoing repairs in 1919 after having been damaged in a U-boat attack in 1918.

Gentlemen of the Congress:

I have again asked the privilege of addressing you because we are moving through critical times during which it seems to me to be my duty to keep in close touch with the Houses of Congress, so that neither counsel nor action shall run at cross purposes between us.

On the third of February I officially informed you of the sudden and unexpected action of the Imperial German Government in declaring its intention to disregard the promises it had made to this Government in April last and undertake immediate submarine operations against all commerce, whether of belligerents or of neutrals, that should seek to approach Great Britain and Ireland, the Atlantic coasts of Europe, or the harbors of the eastern Mediterranean, and to conduct those operations without regard to the established restrictions of international practice, without regard to any considerations of humanity even which might interfere with their object. That policy was forthwith put into practice. It has now been in active execution for nearly four weeks.

Its practical results are not yet fully disclosed. The commerce of other neutral nations is suffering severely, but not, perhaps, very much more severely than it was already suffering before the first of February, when the new policy of the Imperial Government was put into operation. We have asked the cooperation of the other neutral governments to prevent these depredations, but so far none of them has thought it wise to join us in any common course of action. Our own commerce has suffered, is suffering, rather in apprehension than in fact, rather because so many of our ships are timidly keeping to their home ports than because American ships have been sunk.

Two American vessels have been sunk, the Housatonic and the Lyman M. Law . The case of the Housatonic, which was carrying food-stuffs consigned to a London firm, was essentially like the case of the Fry , in which, it will be recalled, the German Government admitted its liability for damages, and the lives of the crew, as in the case of the Fry , were safeguarded with reasonable care. The case of the Law , which was carrying lemon-box staves to Palermo, disclosed a ruthlessness of method which deserves grave condemnation, but was accompanied by no circumstances which might not have been expected at any time in connection with the use of the submarine against merchantmen as the German Government has used it.

In sum, therefore, the situation we find ourselves in with regard to the actual conduct of the German submarine warfare against commerce and its effects upon our own ships and people is substantially the same that it was when I addressed you on the third of February, except for the tying up of our shipping in our own ports because of the unwillingness of our shipowners to risk their vessels at sea without insurance or adequate protection, and the very serious congestion of our commerce which has resulted, a congestion which is growing rapidly more and more serious every day. This in itself might presently accomplish, in effect, what the new German submarine orders were meant to accomplish, so far as we are concerned. We can only say, therefore, that the overt act which I have ventured to hope the German commanders would in fact avoid has not occurred.

But, while this is happily true, it must be admitted that there have been certain additional indications and expressions of purpose on the part of the German press and the German authorities which have increased rather than lessened the impression that, if our ships and our people are spared, it will be because of fortunate circumstances or because the commanders of the German submarines which they may happen to encounter exercise an unexpected discretion and restraint rather than because of the instructions under which those commanders are acting. It would be foolish to deny that the situation is fraught with the gravest possibilities and dangers. No thoughtful man can fail to see that the necessity for definite action may come at any time, if we are in fact, and not in word merely, to defend our elementary rights as a neutral nation. It would be most imprudent to be unprepared.

I cannot in such circumstances be unmindful of the fact that the expiration of the term of the present Congress is immediately at hand, by constitutional limitation; and that it would in all likelihood require an unusual length of time to assemble and organize the Congress which is to succeed it. I feel that I ought, in view of that fact, to obtain from you full and immediate assurance of the authority which I may need at any moment to exercise. No doubt I already possess that authority without special warrant of law, by the plain implication of my constitutional duties and powers; but I prefer, in the present circumstances, not to act upon general implication. I wish to feel that the authority and the power of the Congress are behind me in whatever it may become necessary for me to do. We are jointly the servants of the people and must act together and in their spirit, so far as we can divine and interpret it.

No one doubts what it is our duty to do. We must defend our commerce and the lives of our people in the midst of the present trying circumstances, with discretion but with clear and steadfast purpose. Only the method and the extent remain to be chosen, upon the occasion, if occasion should indeed arise. Since it has unhappily proved impossible to safeguard our neutral rights by diplomatic means against the unwarranted infringements they are suffering at the hands of Germany, there may be no recourse but to armed neutrality, which we shall know how to maintain and for which there is abundant American precedent.

It is devoutly to be hoped that it will not be necessary to put armed force anywhere into action. The American people do not desire it, and our desire is not different from theirs. I am sure that they will understand the spirit in which I am now acting, the purpose I hold nearest my heart and would wish to exhibit in everything I do. I am anxious that the people of the nations at war also should understand and not mistrust us. I hope that I need give no further proofs and assurances than I have already given throughout nearly three years of anxious patience that I am the friend of peace and mean to preserve it for America so long as I am able. I am not now proposing or contemplating war or any steps that need lead to it. I merely request that you will accord me by your own vote and definite bestowal the means and the authority to safeguard in practice the right of a great people who are at peace and who are desirous of exercising none but the rights of peace to follow the pursuits of peace in quietness and good will,—rights recognized time out of mind by all the civilized nations of the world. No course of my choosing or of theirs will lead to war. War can come only by the wilful acts and aggressions of others.

You will understand why I can make no definite proposals or forecasts of action now and must ask for your supporting authority in the most general terms. The form in which action may become necessary cannot yet be foreseen. I believe that the people will be willing to trust me to act with restraint, with prudence, and in the true spirit of amity and good faith that they have themselves displayed throughout these trying months; and it is in that belief that I request that you will authorize me to supply our merchant ships with defensive arms, should that become necessary, and with the means of using them, and to employ any other instrumentalities or methods that may be necessary and adequate to protect our ships and our people in their legitimate and peaceful pursuits on the seas. I request also that you will grant me at the same time, along with the powers I ask, a sufficient credit to enable me to provide adequate means of protection where they are lacking, including adequate insurance against the present war risks.

I have spoken of our commerce and of the legitimate errands of our people on the seas, but you will not be misled as to my main thought, the thought that lies beneath these phrases and gives them dignity and weight. It is not of material interests merely that we are thinking. It is, rather, of fundamental human rights, chief of all the right of life itself. I am thinking, not only of the rights of Americans to go and come about their proper business by way of the sea, but also of something much deeper, much more fundamental than that. I am thinking of those rights of humanity without which there is no civilization. My theme is of those great principles of compassion and of protection which mankind has sought to throw about human lives, the lives of non-combatants, the lives of men who are peacefully at work keeping the industrial processes of the world quick and vital, the lives of women and children and of those who supply the labor which ministers to their sustenance. We are speaking of no selfish material rights but of rights which our hearts support and whose foundation is that righteous passion for justice upon which all law, all structures alike of family, of state, and of mankind must rest, as upon the ultimate base of our existence and our liberty. I cannot imagine any man with American principles at his heart hesitating to defend these things.

1918 Old news, or new? The Casper Record, February 26, 1918. And the Casper Daily Tribune.

In this morning's paper, for 2018, we read that an oil prospect is potentially going to be opened up in Converse County that's potentially massive in scale.  Over 5,000 wells could be drilled and up to 8,000 job resulting.

That would be another boom in Wyoming's boom and bust economy.

Indeed, it would be such a boom that I'll predict right now it'll shut down all conversation about "diversifying the economy" in really short order.

Will it happen? Well, only time, OPEC, war and the price of oil will tell.

War, but not OPEC, and the price of oil was the big news on this day in the Casper Record. Indeed, it was all oil on that day.  Even Colorado shale oil.

For whatever reason, the other Casper paper, the Casper Daily Record, wasn't focused on local petroleum on this Tuesday of 1918.

The war was.  But figuring in the center was the tragedy of a killing that was due to Prohibition, and a mistake, apparently.

Not national Prohibition, but Colorado's.  A Colorado police officer opened up on what he thought was a fleeing vehicle and a 28 year old man lost his life in the process.  The first of many, in one way or another, incidents involving booze, suspected booze, and official authority.

1919  February 26, 1919. Grand Canyon and Acadia National Parks established, Soldiers and Sailors Club finds home in Casper, Dry Frontier Days

On this day in 1919, President Wilson passed legislation creating the Grand Canyon and Lafayette National Parks.  Lafayette National Park in Maine would be renamed Acadia National Park a decade later.

A Park Service item on the act and parks:

Unlikely SiblingsAcadia National Park, Grand Canyon National Park

Lots of strife was reported on in the Casper paper, but we've added this one to note the formation of the Soldiers and Sailors Club with temporary housing in the Oil Exchange Building.

That building, renamed the Consolidated Royalty Building, is still a prominent downtown Casper office building.  It was a new building at that time, having been built in 1917.

In Cheyenne, Frontier Days was announced to be "Dry" for 1919.

And in Cheyenne Carey was signing new legislation as the Wyoming State Tribune was making fun of human nature and the occupation of Germany.

1927  Legislature established the Historical Landmark Commission.Attribution:  On This Day.

1929 President Calvin Coolidge signs an Executive Order establishing the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

 Grand Teton in 1888.

1970   South Pass City added to the National Register of Historic Places.

1970  Granger Stage Station added to the National Register of Historic Places.

1981   Groundbreaking held for Herschler Building, Cheyenne.

2009  Sheridan's Green Hairstreak adopted as state butterfly.

February 25

1858  Ft. Thompson abandoned. The post near the present location of Lander had only been in existence since October 1857.

1868   Cheyenne passed an ordinance against gambling and disorderly houses.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1913 The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, giving Congress the power to levy and collect income taxes, went into effect.

1919  Photographs were taken of the Student Army Training Corps at the University of Wyoming.  The SATC was the predecessor of the Reserve Officer Training Corps.  The students here are depicted using the Krag rifle, which was obsolete at the time, but which was apparently seeing at least some training applications of this type.

1920  Woodrow Wilson signed the Minerals Leasing Act of 1920. This act created the modern system of leasing Federal oil and gas  and coal interests, which previously had been subject to claim under the Mining Law of 1872.  

 Grass Creek Wyoming, 1916

The extent to which this revolutionized the oil, gas and coal industries in economic terms can hardly be overestimated.  Prior to 1920, these fossil fuels could be exploited via a simple mining claim, and the land itself could be patented after the claim was "proved up."  The 1920 act ended this practice as to these resources (the 1872 Act continues on for other minerals, in a very modified form, to the present day).  The leasing system meant that the resources never left the public domain in absolute terns, and the payment of the lease was a huge economic boon to the state and Federal government.

1920  February 25, 1920. The Oil Leasing Act becomes law

The Casper Daily Tribune was exactly correct, the measure built the way for the oil industry in Wyoming.

Prior to the Oil Leasing Act oil prospects were located, where the Federal government owned the resource, though the Mining Law of 1872.  The act changed the location system to the benefit of both production companies and the Federal government by allowing the resource to be leased through the much simpler leasing system.  Ultimately, this benefited the state through allowing this simpler system to be utilized and by allowing non appropriated lands to remain solidly in the Federal domain, as the Mining Law of 1872 allowed lands to be patented and become private through location.

This is, of course, still the system that's used today.

1925   House Joint Memorial No. 4 approved "Memorializing the Congress of the United States to set aside Old Fort Laramie and Old Fort Bridger and Independence Rock as Historic Reserves."  Attribution:  On This Day. 

1941   The state's conscientious objectors were listed.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1961  The legislature approved the purchase of the grounds of Ft. Fetterman.

1963  A 4.3 magnitude earthquake occurred near Fort Washakie.

1975  The First United Methodist Church in Cheyenne added to the National Registry of Historic Places.

2009   U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar cancelled leases on federal land for oil-shale development in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.  Attribution:  On This Day.

Elsewhere:

1945 Turkey declares war on Germany.

1948 Communist coup takes power in Czechoslovakia.

1956 Nikita Khrushchev criticized the late Josef Stalin in a speech before a Communist Party congress in Moscow.

February 24

1803  The principal that the U.S. Supreme Court could rule upon the constitutionality of a statute established in Marbury v Madison.

1821  Mexico declared independence from Spain.

1871 Novelist Caroline Lockhart born in Eagle Point, Illinois.  She moved to Cody in 1904 and became a successful novelist thereafter.  She was an ardent opponent of Prohibition. She lived principally in Cody after 1904, but did have a very brief period of residence in Denver, and she also ranched in Montana.

1875  Territorial Governor Campbell appointed U.S. Third Assistant Secretary of State.  He would resign as Territorial Governor on March 1.

1897   Wyoming, accepted a grant of one mile square of land from the Wind River Reservation for the hot springs at what is now Thermopolis.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1914  La Bonte Hotel opens in Douglas. This is the second date I have for this event, so one of the two dates is incorrect.  Attribution.  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1916   The Cheyenne Men's Club discussed whether Prohibition "does or does not prohibit".  I'm not sure how to take that, but apparently with the looming move towards Prohibition coming on, they took up the topic. Attribution:  Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office.

1917 British authorities gave Walter H. Page, the U.S. ambassador to Britain, a copy of the "Zimmerman Note".

1917   The Cheyenne State Leader for February 24, 1917. Where will they work?
 

Today an age old problem was addressed for returning troops.

Where are they going to work?

It wasn't until World War Two that legislation guaranteeing a soldier's right to return to his former employment existed.  Up until that time, they just took their chances.  Now, Guardsmen returning to the state would be hoping to return to employment, assuming that they weren't returning to school.  Fortunately for them, the state was in a boom and there was a lot of work.  In other areas of the country Guardsmen hadn't been so fortunate.

In other new, Governor Kendrick was on his way to be Senator Kendrick and receiving send offs.  An American missionary was amongst those who had recently gone down at sea at German hands.  Food was a big concern in the UK and the US.  And Frederick Funston was laying in state in San Francisco.

1919  Monday, February 24, 1919. Wyoming National Guardsmen in Berlin? Woodrow on the Commons, Wobblies in detention. Working Children result in taxation, temporarily, Wimpy in alcohol. Women in film.

Woodrow Wilson on the Boston Commons.

President Wilson was back in the US and took in some adulation on the Boston Commons. He was about to step into the fight for the League of Nations and the Versailles Treaty that would ultimately kill him.

Spanish anarchists arrested by the  New York police under suspicion of harboring a plot to assassinate President Wilson.

At the same time, a group of IWW anarchists were oddly plotting to assassinate Wilson.  Exactly why a century later, is unclear, as he was certainly less unsympathetic to labor and the rights of at least small nations than others in U.S. politics, although he certainly wasn't sympathetic with anarchists or communists as a group.

Child laborers in a furniture factory in 1908.  These boys would have all been of military age in World War One, which may explain the stoicism that seems to have been so common with American soldiers of that conflict.

Speaking of work, Congress passed the Child Labor Tax of 1919 which imposed a 10% income tax on those companies using child labor.  The Supreme Court would strike the law down as unconstitutional in 1922, something that isn't surprising as this was in the pre Lochner era.

The papers were reporting on those events.  And on a rumor that the 148th Field Artillery, which contained Wyoming National Guardsmen, was in Berlin.

It wasn't.

Meanwhile the Federal Prohibition bill was down to .05% being the top allowable level, less than Wyoming's 1% which had just Quixotically passed.

Releasing movies on Monday had become a thing.

Female heroins, both comedic and dramatic, were in vogue.

1941  115th Cavalry Regiment, Wyoming National Guard, inducted into Federal Service.

February 23

1540   Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado began his unsuccessful search for the fabled Seven Cities of Gold in the American Southwest. Antonio de Mendoza, Viceroy of Mexico, sent Francisco Coronado overland to search for the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola in present day New Mexico.  A dramatic mounted exploration, to say the least.

1836  The siege of the Alamo began.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1847     U.S. troops under Gen. Zachary Taylor defeated Mexican general Santa Anna at the Battle of Buena Vista in Mexico.

1905  A creamery in Cheyenne began selling pasteurized milk.

The benefits of pasteurization, and the feature of a local creamery, are things that are almost wholly forgotten today.  Today, most milk is transported quite some distance before it is sold in a local store, but as recently as the 1950s, most significantly sized towns in Wyoming had a creamery, that being a local business that bought raw milk, pasteurized it, and sold it.  Here's an example of such a (former) facility in Casper.

Pasteurization, a process by which a liquid is heated and then rapidly cooled, was a major innovation in food safety, and is commonly used today for most dairy products and some beer.  The ability of a local facility to sell pasteurized milk was no doubt a major boon for local consumers in Cheyenne.  Now, however, there's a movement to sell certain products directly from farms and outside the food safety system.  Raw milk isn't something that a person usually encounters in Wyoming (unless a person lives on a farm or ranch that actually has a dairy cow, which few do) but it's a growing movement nationwide.  Not too surprisingly, there have been some health issues associated with it.

1917   The National Vocational Act (Smith Hughes Act) signed into law.
 

The National Vocational Act was the first American law to provide a direct Federal role in high school education.  It was signed into law on this day, in 1917.

Student in technical high school, 1916.

The act was aimed at students who were going to work directly on farms but its scope was broader than that and it had the support of Labor, which helped cause it to pass.  It's stated purpose was to support those "who have entered upon or who are preparing to enter upon the work of the farm" and funding was provided for that goal.  It also included mandated the creation of a Board of Vocational Education in each state, which lead to some districts combining their existing board with that purpose and others having a separate board just for that purpose.

 Girls in automobile mechanics class, Central High, Washington D. C., 1927.

The act was a really significant development in terms of the evolution of the relationship between the states and the Federal government. There had been prior acts on the topic of education, including a vocational act that this was a successor to, but this was the first Federal provision to directly impose requirements upon a state in regards to education and the first to provide Federal funding to the states.  In these regards, this was a fairly revolutionary Progressive Era step and its one that lead to later broader steps, perhaps culminating in the creation of the US Department of Education in 1979. We are now so used to the concept of that cabinet level entity existing that its hard to imagine that its a relatively recent arrival in terms of Federal agencies.  It's start can be seen to exist with the passage of the Smith Hughes Act into law in this day, one hundred years ago as of this posting.

Seal of the Department of Education.

 

Every school district in Wyoming continues to have at least some vocational training.  Natrona County has a completely separate high school campus, recently built, for scientific and vocational training.

1921  February 23, 1921. Pioneering Air Mail Flight.

Lex Anteinternet: February 23, 1921. Ridiculing customs.: 

February 23, 1921. Ridiculing customs.

We always reform or ridicule, not the customs of the remote past, but the new customs of the day before yesterday, which are just beginning to grow old. This is true of furniture and parents.

G.K. Chesterton, Chicago Tribune, February 23, 1921.

Jack Knight. Note the heavy early aviator's dress.  Knight died in 1945 of malaria contracted on a trip to South American that was working on securing a reliable source of rubber to the wartime allies.

The United States Postal Service completed a pioneering air mail run in which Jack Knight, taking off on the prior day from San Francisco, landed at Cheyenne, Wyoming, and then took off and flew through the night to Chicago.  Ernest M. Allison ten took over and lasted at 4:50 p.m. at Roosevelt Field at Long Island, New York.

The flight demonstrated that air mail was feasible.

While successful, it was also conducted under extreme odds, involving arctic conditions and nighttime fires to light the way.  Knight was justifiably regarded as a hero during his lifetime.

1941  Blizzard conditions stalled traffic in the state.  This was, of course, in the pre 4x4 days.  Prior to World War Two 4x4 vehicles were almost unheard of and were limited to industrial vehicles. Almost every vehicle was a rear wheel drive 2x4.

1948  An earthquake in Yellowstone was felt regionally.

1950  A special session of the legislature called to deal with the problem of grasshopper infestation concluded.

1969  Gov. Hathaway signed into law a State severance tax bill. The bill had been extremely controversial, with there being strong arguments by the opposition that passing it would cause Wyoming's extractive industries to greatly reduce their activity. The arguments failed to stop the bill, and the severance tax did not greatly impact the extractive industries.  Today, Wyoming's is nearly entirely funded by severance taxes.

1985  The Bison adopted as the state mammal.

1990  First Day of Issue Ceremony  for the stamp based on Conrad Schwiering's painting High Mountain Meadows held in Cheyenne.

February 22

1847 General Santa Anna surrounds the outnumbered forces of U.S. General Zachary Taylor at the Angostura Pass in Mexico and demands an immediate surrender. Taylor declines the offer to surrender.

1897  President Cleveland issues a proclamation establishing the Big Horn National Forest.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1899  The 1st Nebraska U.S. Volunteer Infantry and the Wyoming Battalion, volunteers, engaged Philippine insurgents near Deposito.  The action commenced at 0615 when the Wyoming Battalion, which deployed about two hours earlier, encountered Philippine insurgents and opened fire.  The action was sharp with results being generally inconclusive.

1913  Twelfth Legislative session concluded.

1917   The Cheyenne State Leader for February 22, 1917: Denver Guard Protest "Silly"

People were getting embarrassed about the snit over the location for the demobilization of the Colorado National Guard.

And the importation of booze from "wet" states to "dry" ones was getting Federal attention.

Pershing's rise continued, in the wake of the death of Gen. Funston.  And a terrible crime happened in Cheyenne.

1918  Montana's legislature passes a Sedition Law that severely restricts freedom of speech and assembly.

1919  Fifteenth Legislative session concluded.

1919  February 22, 1919. Marching home, Germany ablaze and no Carey County.

The Saturday Evening Post featured a Rockwell portrayal of a stout looking American veteran marching with admiring young boys.  The hyper patriotic and hyper romantic portrayal doesn't portray the veteran as bemused by the display, which in reality would have been the likely reaction.

The stout child in the lead is wearing the type of service coat that the Boy Scouts still did at that time.

It's odd to think that in any such real world crowd, the children depicted here would have had a fairly high chance of seeing service in the Second World War.

While soldiers were returning, newspapers all over the country carried the frightening news that Germany seemed to be descending again into full scale civil war.

That sudden revived slide was caused by the assassination of Kurt Eisner in Bavaria, after which radical socialist and communists took action to seize the Bavarian government, only lately a monarchy, and proclaim it to be a "Soviet" republic that following April. Eisner was a socialist himself but was in the process of resigning his role in government when a right wing assassin took his life.  Government in Bavaria became chaotic as a result and for approximately one month the large important German state was ruled by a communist cabal in Munich until the Freikorps put it down in their characteristic fashion.

A communist revolution in Bavaria was always a highly odd thing in the first place as the state itself was quit conservative and heavily Catholic.  Munich was the exception, and would prove the exception again as the center of Nazi activity only shortly later.

At the same time as it appeared an internecine war was about to break out in Germany, the League of Nations was gaining real opposition in the United States.

Wyomingites also read that the legislature was wrapping up, which is usually a time of relief for all.  The legislature did not get around to approving a Carey County and therefore Governor Carey didn't have the opportunity to sign into law a county named after his father.  Indeed, such a county would never come into being.

1941  Twenty Sixth Legislative session concluded.

2012  High winds closed numerous roads around Wyoming, including:

I-80 Corridor
Rock Springs - I-80 between Rock Springs and Point of Rocks - EASTBOUND	Feb. 22, 2012 06:43am
Patrick Draw - I-80 between Point of Rocks and Exit 142, Bitter Creek - EASTBOUND	Feb. 22, 2012 06:43am
Patrick Draw - I-80 between Exit 142, Bitter Creek and Exit 158, Tipton Rd - EASTBOUND	Feb. 22, 2012 06:43am
Wamsutter - I-80 between Exit 158, Tipton Rd and Wamsutter - EASTBOUND	Feb. 22, 2012 06:43am
Wamsutter - I-80 between Wamsutter and Exit 187, Creston Jct - EASTBOUND	Feb. 22, 2012 06:43am
Rawlins - I-80 between Exit 187, Creston Jct and Rawlins - EASTBOUND	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
Rawlins - I-80 between Rawlins and Exit 235, Walcott Jct	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
Elk Mountain - I-80 between Exit 235, Walcott Jct and Exit 255, WY 72	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
Elk Mountain - I-80 between Exit 255, WY 72 and Exit 267, Wagonhound Rd	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
Arlington - I-80 between Exit 267, Wagonhound Rd and Arlington	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
Arlington - I-80 between Arlington and Exit 279, Cooper Cove Rd	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
Laramie - I-80 between Exit 279, Cooper Cove Rd and Laramie	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
Laramie - I-80 between Laramie and Exit 323, Happy Jack Rd - WESTBOUND	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
Laramie - I-80 between Exit 323, Happy Jack Rd and Exit 335, Buford - WESTBOUND	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
Cheyenne - I-80 between Exit 335, Buford and Exit 342, Harriman Rd - WESTBOUND	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
Cheyenne - I-80 between Exit 342, Harriman and Cheyenne - WESTBOUND	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
I-25 Corridor
Chugwater - I-25 between Exit 29, Whitaker Rd and Chugwater	Feb. 22, 2012 06:49am
Chugwater - I-25 between Chugwater and Exit 73, WY 34	Feb. 22, 2012 06:49am
Wheatland - I-25 between Exit 73, WY 34 and Wheatland	Feb. 22, 2012 06:49am
Non-Interstate Routes
US 26
Jackson - US 26/89/191 between Moose and Moran Jct	Feb. 22, 2012 06:43am
US 30
Rock Springs - I-80 between Rock Springs and Point of Rocks - EASTBOUND	Feb. 22, 2012 06:43am
Patrick Draw - I-80 between Point of Rocks and Exit 142, Bitter Creek - EASTBOUND	Feb. 22, 2012 06:43am
Patrick Draw - I-80 between Exit 142, Bitter Creek and Exit 158, Tipton Rd - EASTBOUND	Feb. 22, 2012 06:43am
Wamsutter - I-80 between Exit 158, Tipton Rd and Wamsutter - EASTBOUND	Feb. 22, 2012 06:43am
Wamsutter - I-80 between Wamsutter and Exit 187, Creston Jct - EASTBOUND	Feb. 22, 2012 06:43am
Rawlins - I-80 between Exit 187, Creston Jct and Rawlins - EASTBOUND	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
Rawlins - I-80 between Rawlins and Exit 235, Walcott Jct	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
Medicine Bow - US 30/287 between Hanna Jct and Medicine Bow	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
Medicine Bow - US 30/287 between Medicine Bow and Rock River	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
Laramie - US 30/287 between Rock River and WY 34	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
Laramie - I-80 between Laramie and Exit 323, Happy Jack Rd - WESTBOUND	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
Laramie - I-80 between Exit 323, Happy Jack Rd and Exit 335, Buford - WESTBOUND	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
Cheyenne - I-80 between Exit 335, Buford and Exit 342, Harriman Rd - WESTBOUND	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
Cheyenne - I-80 between Exit 342, Harriman and Cheyenne - WESTBOUND	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
US 87
Chugwater - I-25 between Exit 29, Whitaker Rd and Chugwater	Feb. 22, 2012 06:49am
Chugwater - I-25 between Chugwater and Exit 73, WY 34	Feb. 22, 2012 06:49am
Wheatland - I-25 between Exit 73, WY 34 and Wheatland	Feb. 22, 2012 06:49am
US 89
Jackson - US 26/89/191 between Moose and Moran Jct	Feb. 22, 2012 06:43am
US 191
Rock Springs - US 191 between the Utah State Line and I-80	Feb. 22, 2012 06:43am
Jackson - US 26/89/191 between Moose and Moran Jct	Feb. 22, 2012 06:43am
US 287
Laramie - US 30/287 between Rock River and WY 34	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
Medicine Bow - US 30/287 between Medicine Bow and Rock River	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
Medicine Bow - US 30/287 between Hanna Jct and Medicine Bow	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
Rawlins - I-80 between Rawlins and Exit 235, Walcott Jct	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
Rawlins - US 287 / WY 789 between Rawlins and Mile Marker 23	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
WY 34
Laramie - WY 34 between Bosler and the Platte/Albany Cty Line	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
Wheatland - WY 34 between the Platte/Albany Cty Line and I-25	Feb. 22, 2012 06:49am
WY 130
Laramie - WY 130 between Mile Marker 35, Westbound Closure Gate and Centennial	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
Laramie - WY 130 between Centennial and Laramie	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
WY 210
Laramie - WY 210 between Curt Gowdy State Park and I-80	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
WY 321
Chugwater - WY 321 between Chugwater and I-25	Feb. 22, 2012 06:49am
WY 789
Rawlins - I-80 between Exit 187, Creston Jct and Rawlins - EASTBOUND	Feb. 22, 2012 06:46am
Rawlins - US 287 / WY 789 between Rawlins and Mile Marker 23

February 21

1883  Post Office established in Beulah.

1900  A military funeral held for Chief Washakie.

1903  Wyoming establishes a gift and estate tax.  Wyoming still has such a tax, but it only applies at very substantial income levels.

1925  The Legislature passed a $.02.5 gasoline tax.  While this sounds quite small, in terms of the era, 1925, it was actually a fairly significant tax.  Contrary to the common assumption, in real terms gasoline of the era was quite expensive, and automobiles, which were already common very expensive to purchase and own.  Attribution: Wyoming State Historical Society.

Since first entering writing this paragraph, the news this year (2013) is that the Legislature will likely raise the gasoline tax an additional $0.10.

Lex Anteinternet: Blog Mirror: The Blizzard of 1949

Lex Anteinternet: Blog Mirror: The Blizzard of 1949: Nebraska report. Wyoming Storms and Blizzards. The North Forty News. Disasters. The Blizzard of 49. Blizzard traps the City of San F...

February 20

1792     President George Washington signed an act creating the U.S. Post Office.The Constitution requires the Federal Government to deliver the mail, and this was a vital government service in the much of the nation's history.  Now, with UPS and FedEx, it's easy to forget the extent to which this service mattered more to many people than any other governmental service at one time, and for many people, it was likely the only contact with the Federal Government that they ever had.

Since writing the paragraph immediately above, the impacts of other services, and most particularly of the internet, have made the Post Office's position sufficiently precarious that Saturday mail delivery is scheduled to be eliminated.

1911  Gov. Carey signed bill carving Lincoln County out of Uinta County.:  Attribution:  On This Day.

1917   The Cheyenne State Leader for February 20, 1917: The news about Gen. Funston hits the headlines and Colorado protests a Wyoming demobilization.
 

The news of Gen. Funston's death hit the front page of the paper the day after.

And Colorado was upset about Colorado National Guardsmen being sent to Ft. D. A. Russell for demobilization, rather than a location in their home state.

Dogs were barred entry into the state by Governor Kendrick due to concerns over rabies.

1919  The  Legislature appropriated $2,500 for placing markers along the Oregon Trail.  A good example of these very first markers can be seen in the bottom photograph here.  The top example, featuring a bronze medallion, is a somewhat later one which was placed by a commission.  The monument itself in the top photo is not original, but the 1914 State of Wyoming one is fully original.

1923  The Legislature experienced a 56 hour "day" in a questionable legislature trick designed to keep the clock from winding up on the session. This trick has been repeated since then, but this one was the record.

1949  The last day of the Blizzard of 1949, which was actually a series of blizzards that occurred in rapid succession.

1957  Gov. Milward Simposn signs a state Civil Rights act.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1980 Alice Roosevelt Longworth, the first child of Theodore Roosevelt, his only child by his first wife Alice, and the last of his living children, died.

1982  The University of Wyoming's Arena Auditorium opened.