June 3

1862  6th Ohio Cavalry regimental commander Lieutenant Colonel William O. Collins received orders to take three companies to South Pass to protect the employees and property of the Overland Mail Company and the Pacific Telegraph.

1888    The poem "Casey at the Bat" by Ernest Lawrence Thayer was first published, in the San Francisco Daily Examiner.

The Outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day:
The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play.
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.

A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest
Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;
They thought, if only Casey could get but a whack at that -
We'd put up even money, now, with Casey at the bat.

But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,
And the former was a lulu and the latter was a cake;
So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,
For there seemed but little chance of Casey's getting to the bat.

But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,
And Blake, the much despis-ed, tore the cover off the ball;
And when the dust had lifted, and the men saw what had occurred,
There was Jimmy safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third.

Then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
It knocked upon the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,
For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.

There was ease in Casey's manner as he stepped into his place;
There was pride in Casey's bearing and a smile on Casey's face.
And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,
No stranger in the crowd could doubt 'twas Casey at the bat.

Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.
Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,
Defiance gleamed in Casey's eye, a sneer curled Casey's lip.

And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air,
And Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there.
Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped-
"That ain't my style," said Casey. "Strike one," the umpire said.

From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar,
Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore.
"Kill him! Kill the umpire!" shouted someone on the stand;
And its likely they'd a-killed him had not Casey raised his hand.

With a smile of Christian charity great Casey's visage shone;
He stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on;
He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the spheroid flew;
But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said, "Strike two."

"Fraud!" cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered fraud;
But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed.
They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,
And they knew that Casey wouldn't let that ball go by again.

The sneer is gone from Casey's lip, his teeth are clenched in hate;
He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.
And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,
And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow.

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville - mighty Casey has struck out.

1919  June 3, 1919: Anarchists bombings and The 148th Field Artillery boards the USS Peerless. . .

bringing their service in the Great War and the following Army of Occupation to an end.

The USS Peerless was the former Steamship Eagle which had been brought into U.S. service as a transport during World War One.  In that capacity, she brought the troops of the 148th FA home to the U.S., including the Wyoming National Guardsmen that served in that unit, their role in the Great War now complete.

In September she'd be returned to her civilian owner, who once again returned her to her civilian name of Eagle.  She'd remain in service as a civilian transport until 1949, when she was scrapped.

The return of the 148th was big long awaited news for Wyomingites as it meant the return of the last of Wyoming's serving National Guardsmen. The news made the front page in Cheyenne, as did the proclamation of Boy Scout Week, if inaccurately, but another big event, a series of anarchist bombings the prior day, not surprisingly became the big headline.

The 1919 anarchist bombings would fuel the Red Scare of 1919 and lead to a rapid crack down on left wing activities in the United States.  Some date the event to the bombings, but it was already ongoing and the strikes of 1919 had already begun to fuel, along with other events, national and international.

1926  Training Camp for National Guard at Pole Mountain approved.  Attribution: Wyoming State Historical Society.

1948 Thirty eight contestants entered a horse race between Sheridan Wyoming and Billings Montana, 137 miles. The state had a culture of long distance horse races at the time.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

2020  Nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd, a black resident of Minneapolis Minnesota, during an arrest by police spread to Casper.

In much of the nation the protests, which had been running over a week, had turned violent and had broken out in looting.  This included Denver, which saw street protests get out of hand. This resulted in widespread concern in Casper that this would likewise occur even though the organizing group, composed of young Natrona County residents, had eschewed any such acts.  Nonetheless such incidents across the country and the rumored involvement of outside groups less concerned about racial inequality but other causes in those incidents sparked great concern, as well as numerous rumors, and as a result the city asked downtown businesses to close for the day, even as the organizing group tried to organize a post march local buying event.

Marchers gathered in front of the county's building.

As it happened the event largely took place without incident.  A large crowd marched from Casper's new David Street Station to the County building where various participants spoke.  A young African American woman featured by the local news apparently was one of those individuals and, based upon the news reporting which featured here, was very well spoken.

The organizing group asked people to disperse at 1:00 p.m. but not everyone did and a second march crossed the town on 2nd Street. This resulted in the only injuries when a truck accidentally hit a police car and ended up in Conwell Park, injuring several of the protesters in the truck.  At the intersection of 2nd Street and Wyoming Blvd, the crowd was dispersed when occupying an intersection and a liquor store was provided with precautionary protection.  The event then became a motor march in which that group of protesters returned downtown and occasionally yelled at bystanders and police, but which by appearance had devolved to principally be an event of the type that gathers people who go to events.

Camouflaged policeman on roof of First Interstate Bank Building.

The city was witness to the unusual special of a large and serious police presence, including the staging of special response police on downtown rooftops.

Officers on top of First Interstate Bank Building and the Federal Courthouse.

In a real oddity, the event drew the presence of what might partially be regarded as counter protesters in the form of men who were heavily armed who followed the march.  That in turn caused some of the marchers to also be heavily armed.  Combined with the heavily armed police presence, the day featured what was likely an all time high presence of armed citizenry for the last century.  Nobody made recourse to arms in any fashion, however, and the two groups largely seem to have gotten along.