The Albany County Commissioners have voted to change the name of Swastika Lake, in the Medicine Bow National Forest, to Samuel H. Knight Lake, after the famous Wyoming geologist.
One county commissioner, interestingly the only Republican one on the board, which shows how different Albany County's politics are compared to the most of the rest of Wyoming, slammed the move as "Communists". Testimony by others dismissed that proposition, however, and indeed historical evidence showed that Native Americans objected to the use of the word as long ago as the 1940s.
The commissioner action now goes to the Wyoming board that deals with geographical names and, if they approve the change, on to the Federal Government.
This is an advertisement commissioned by the Wyoming Department of Health, and my gosh does it bring home a really overlooked point about the past. . . and today.
Very well done, and very much worth the watching.
Not all that long ago getting a simple infection, and tetanus is more than a simple infection, could kill you. Calvin Coolidge, Jr., the then Vice President's son, died from a staph infection resulting from a blister on a toe that he acquired playing tennis barefoot. The infection killed the poor boy within a week of its occurrence.
Infections acquired at barber shops, sometimes deadly, were such a problem that they were a major topic of local physician's organizations. Tetanus was only one of the killer diseases that lurked there. Even anthrax could be picked up from razor strop, if it had been made from a diseased animal. Bacteria lurking in barbers brushes, used all day long on multiple clients, posed another danger.
And of course, as the story of Calvin Coolidge, Jr. shows, infections could be picked up anywhere, and kill you.
Memories of such things remained strong in my parents' generation. My mother recalled that her father used to occasionally get a shave at the barbers, which was odd as this was well after the safety razor came about, and that he invariably developed "barber's cancer", a colloquial term meaning a bad rash from an infection. The family tried to prevent him from doing this, but he would occasionally anyhow, and given the line of work he was in, it was probably in order to engage with members of the local public. My father, for his part, never approved of going barefoot, regarding it as an invitation to infection.
As this institution is in the news, and as I knew I'd taken these photographs, I looked to see if I had posted them.
Of course, I had not.
The Tumble Inn was a famous eatery and watering hole in the small town of Powder River for decades. As odd as it seems now, particularly as it would have been practically impossible to leave the establishment without having had at least a couple of beers, it was very popular for travelers and people in Casper, who'd drive the nearly 30 miles for dinner and then drive back.
Open well into the unincorporated town's decline, in its final years the restaurant, which had rattlesnake and Rocky Mountain Oysters on the menu, closed under new ownership and in its final stage was an alcohol-free strip club. Apparently it recent sold and the new owner has taken down its famous sign in an effort to preserve it.
On that sign, I don't know how old it is, but from the appearances, it dates from the 40s or 50s.
