June 2

1865 Sioux and/or Cheyenne attack Platte Bridge Station.  The Indians approach the station and fire on it, men of the 11th Ohio give chase. They run into trouble when the Indian band they were chasing, only ten men, turns out to be a lure and they are ambushed.  Fortunately for them, at that moment a a detachment from the 11th Kansas arrived and a running fight ensued.   Two troopers were killed, and one Indian.

1884  Lilly Langtry played at the Cheyenne Opera House.

1890  Douglas restricted the watering of lawns between 4 and 8 p.m.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1899   The Wild Bunch robbed the Union Pacific Overland Flyer No. 1  near Wilcox, taking between $30,000 and $60,000.  This robbery is famous in part for the large amount taken, but also for the destruction of a rail car by explosives which were used to open a safe.  This is depicted in the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  Attribution:  On This Day.

The Overland Flyer in 1906.

Longtime Wyoming residents may wonder where on earth Wilcox is.  That's because, it isn't.  It's a named spot on the railroad just north of Rock River.  If this same crime occured today, people would report it as having occured north of Rock River.  It occured very near the junction with the Fetterman Road.

I've driven past this spot thousands of time and never realized where it was. This was a bold action, as Rock Rover was more substantial than it now is (the explosion clearly could have been heard from there) and Medicine Bow not all that far to the north. 

1899  The First Philippine Republic officially declared war against the United States, although clearly the war, which the US termed an insurrection, had been going on for some time.

To recognize it as a war would have required a declaration of war, which in turn would have recognized the sovereignty of the Philippine Republic, which would have made a mockery of the US position on the islands.

Almost always, when people accuse the US of being involved in "colonial wars", they're full of it. This, however, was a colonial war.

1924  Congress passes the Indian Citizenship Act, conferring citizenship on all Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the country.

1939  Guernsey State Park Museum opened.  Attribution: Wyoming State Historical Society.

1945  Ft. F. E. Warren made a redeployment center for Quartermaster and Transportation Corps troops, a rather surprising thing considering how late in World War Two this was.

1978  The J. C. Penny District in Kemmerer added to the National Register of Historic Places.