February 18

Today is Presidents Day for 2013.

The holiday originally commemorated George Washington's birthday, but was expanded later to honor all Presidents.  It is a Federal Holiday.

1861  The Treaty of Ft. Wise, Kansas is signed by the Arapaho and Cheyenne, in which they gave up territory in Colorado between the North Platte and Arkansas Rivers in exchange for a reservation between the Arkansas and Sand Creek, Colorado.

1862   U.S. Congress approved an act entitled "An Act to grant lands to Dakota, Montana, Arizona, Idaho and Wyoming for university purposes.":  Attribution:  On This Day.

1906  John B. Stetson in Florida died at age 75.  He was the founder of the famous hat manufacturing company.

1911 An act providing that each county would have legislative representation was signed into law by Governor Carey. Attribution:  On This Day.

1913         Gen. Victoriano Huerta becomes leader of the Mexican government, a step on the way to the Mexican Civil War.

1917   The Cheyenne State Leader for February 18, 1917: Villa gone to Japan?
 

A rumor was published of Pancho Villa going East. . . .way East.

He didn't.

The cowboy victims of border violence were buried. And Cuban revolutionaries were reportedly holding Santiago.

And of course, U-boots were taking headlines.

1918  Laramie Boomerang, February 18, 1918. Exact same weather report a century prior.

Today's weather report could have been a repeat of the one in this issue of the Laramie Boomerang from February 18, 1918.

Two draft evaders headed for Mexico?  Seems like a poor move.

Austro Hungarian troops on the offensive.

The Central Powers, having determined that Trotsky's "neither war nor peace" was, in fact, war from their prospective, launched Operation Faustschlag on this Monday of 1918.  The Offensive captured massive amounts of former Imperial Russian territory but it also tied up resources and a combined 16 divisions sorely needed elsewhere.

German troops in Kiev. . .where their presence was considerably better behaved than it would be 23 years later.

The offensive did succeed in taking Russia out of the war in short order.

1919  February 18, 1919. Changing maps, stopping by the Red Cross, Maintaining the Headquarters, Tragic news at Bates Hole, Pilot County Crisis, Turkish wives.

Political cartoon that ran on February 18, 1919.

 British serviceman, left and American servicemen, right, entering a Red Cross canteen on this day in 1919.  Note the unit patches on the uniforms of the American soldiers, which were really a post World War One item.

British serviceman on left, American on right.  Note the unit patch.

The work of the Red Cross carried on.

Headquarters troops, Southern Department, Ft. Sam Houston, February 18, 1919.  Throughout the war, not only training occurred in Texas, but the Army continued to patrol a tense border with a country still in revolution.

Meanwhile, revolution or no (and in spite of the Allies actually requiring, for the time being, the Germans to keep troops in the Baltic's as a hedge against the Red Army, a new armistice limited the Germans to 25,000 troops.

A tragedy occurred locally at Bates Hole, an area I'm well familiar with, when news arrived that a soldier from the ranching reaching who had served in France had been killed in the war..  

It's funny how things work as there's a selection of names that I associate with Bates Hole, and Galehouse isn't one of them.  Time moves on and names are lost.

Pilot County, which never occurred, was still much in the news.

And a Cheyenne paper reported that merchant sailors who had been interned by the Turks during the war were returning with a lot of "beautiful" wives.

1931  Governor Frank C. Emerson died in office at age 48.

1931  Alonzo M. Clark became Governor of Wyoming due to the death of Governor Emerson.

1933   Gov. Miller signed an act repealing enforcement of prohibition by Wyoming.The repeal was actually only partial at first, and it took a period of many months before there was a complete repeal.

1937  A shell exploded on the USS Wyoming during exercises killing six Marines and injuring eleven others.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1943  Converse County woman collected furs to be used for vests for merchant marines.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1987  Cuttthroat Trout declared to be State Fish.