Bonneville Cabins, Fremont County Wyoming

December 28

1836 Spain recognizes the independence of Mexico.  This does not mean that Spain was in control of Mexico until 1836, but rather that it recognized Mexican sovereignty.  Spain had attempted to reconquer Mexico as late as 1829.

Interestingly, by the time Spain recognized Mexico, Texas was in rebellion against Mexico.

1865  Edward L. Baker Jr, a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor for action in Cuba, born in Laramie County.  Baker, an African American, rose to the rank of Captain, an extraordinarily rare occurrence for a black American at that time.

1883  Lloyd Fredendall born at Ft. D. A. Russell where his father was then serving.  His father was not, however, a career soldier and would later become the Albany County Wyoming Sheriff.  Fredendall was appointed to West Point by Senator F. E. Warren, twice, being dismissed from the school once for poor academic performance and dropping out once.  None the less he was commissioned in to the Army after passing a qualifying exam while attending MIT.  He served in World War One, but did not see combat as he was assigned to positions in the Army's service schools in France.

During World War Two his fortunes rose early as he was favored by Marshall and liked by Eisenhower, both of whom admired his cocky demeanor.  He was assigned to major command positions in Operation Torch, but fell out of favor as he was not successful as an actual field commander.  He was replaced by Eisenhower following the American defeat at Kasserine Pass and spent the rest of the war in a training command in the United States, where he did secure promotion to the grade of Lt. General.  Historians have been hard on him, regarding his World War Two combat role proof that he was an inept commander.

1905  First issue of Worland Grit published.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1913  Western Meat Market burned in Superior.

1916   The Wyoming Tribune for December 28, 1916: Villa commanding 10,000.
 

The Tribune carried disturbing news about a resurgent Villa and a reluctant Carranza.

1917   December 28, 1917. Home Economics.
 

1920  Kamekichi Masuda of  Rock Springs received a patent for a basket.

1921  USS Laramie commissioned.

1921  A large prohibition  raid occurred in Rock Springs.

1928  Michael John Blyzka, major league baseball player, and resident of Cheyenne at the time of his death, born in   Hamtramck, Michigan.

1944  Governor Lester Hunt proclaimed the day to be Seabee Day.  The Seabees are the Navy's Construction Battalions, hence "CB", or Seabees.  While all of the armed services have always had engineers, the Seabees were an early World War Two creation that proved critical in the construction of airfields and other facilities during the U.S. campaigns in the Pacific during the war.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1993  A 4.7 magnitude earthquake occurs near Cody.

December 27

1836  Stephen F. Austin died. Attribution:  On This Day.

1867  Dakota Territorial Legislature creates Sweetwater County.

1890  The Union Pacific in Cheyenne received twelve new switch engines for distribution.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1899  A shipment of 500 cats from New Jersey, being sent to the Philippines for "rat control," passes through Laramie, Wyoming, on the Union Pacific Railroad.  That's a lot of cats.

1918  December 27, 1918. The Collapse of the German Empire. The Rise of Poland. A League of Nations.

Polish soldiers digging trenches in their 1918-1919 war against Imperial Germany.

The final stages of the collapse of Imperial Russia saw huge numbers of Polish troops join forces with any Russian rebels and the establishment of a defacto Polish state from Polish lands that had been under the crown.  Indeed, not only did this occur, but Polish forces and rebels soon were engaged in combat with Ukrainian forces and rebels over what was Polish and what was not.

On this day, in 1918, that spread to Germany.

The collapse of the German war effort in World War One is such an important historical event that most histories of World War One simply end with that and treat the German Revolution as a bit of an epilogue.  Histories of World War Two tend to treat it as a prologue.  But what should be evident from reading these posts is that Imperial Germany didn't really end on November 11, 1918, or even before that when the Kaiser abdicated shortly before, but rather Imperial Germany sloppily turned the reins of government over to a provisional socialist government that found itself with a major domestic revolution on its hands from the hard left and the old Imperial Army with which to put it down.  It was trying desperately to do so.  

Contrary to what occurred after World War Two, the allied occupation following the Armistice of November 11 was quite limited in scope. This is also sometimes misunderstood. The occupation following the Second World War was intended to totally demilitarize and remake Germany.  The 1918 one was not, but instead was intended merely to prevent a resumption of the war with the West.  It was quite limited, but strategic, in scope.

Occupation zones following November 11, 1918.  'Armistice and occupation of Germany map', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/armistice-and-occupation-germany-map, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 15-Jun-2017

Indeed, the occupation zones were actually frankly anemic and basically were simply sufficient for the Allies to create a strong defense on the south bank of the Rhine with bridgeheads over it, in case of a resumption of the war.  That this was highly unlikely was obvious by the behavior of the Allies themselves, who immediately began to repatriate their soldiers and sailors to their homes and discharge them.  While I disagree with those who insist on the Versailles Treaty being the date that ended all doubt, this map gives them a point.

Cheyenne readers on this learned that Wyoming Guardsmen would definitely be overseas for awhile.

Wyomingites in the 91st Division would be remaining overseas as well.  On the positive side, it seemed that American troops were getting along well with German civilians.

As does the behavior of Germany itself, within its borders.  The German Army was very active, where it could be, but it couldn't be everywhere, and it was effective everywhere it was.

On December 24, the German Army had been defeated in a street battle with Berlin by Red Sailors and Kreigsmarine and soldiers who had gone over to the Reds.  Lots of significant towns were in the hands of Red revolutionaries who intended to form a communist government.  The provisional socialist government Weimar was struggling to retain power and not go down in a Red revolution.

On this day, the Poles added to their troubles.

The Posen region of Imperial Germany, a major coal producing region of the state, had always really been Polish. The German Empire had been just that, and like the Austrian Empire it included people who were not German by ethnicity within its borders, although not nearly to the same extent that was the case in the Austro Hungarian Empire.  Included in that were regions of what had been Poland and which were among its oldest possessions.

Prussian province of Posen, Polish regions in yellow.

The Poles had been subjects of conquest by neighboring Prussia back into Medieval times. In more recent times the Germans had participated in the dismemberment of what remained of Poland.  The Poles, in spite of a late German effort, had never been absorbed by the Germans who had always looked down upon them.   With the Poles reforming their country out of the Polish regions of Russia, it was inevitable that Poles in Posen would attempt to break away and joint them.

What wasn't inevitable was that it would work, but it did.  The Polish rebels were largely successful in a two month long war with Germany which saw them seize control of most of the region.  On February 16, 1919 with a renewed armistice involving the Poles and the Germans imposed by the Allies.  The Versailles Treaty would settle the territorial question in favor of Poland.

Cartoon in the New York Herald, December 27, 1918.  This cartoon is only quasi clear.  It was celebrating the concept of a League of Nations, but are the little dachshunds republics made up of a dismembered German state?

On that treaty, the British were very strongly backing a League of Nations, and that was starting to get some press, and some discussion in the United States, where views were initially quite favorable.

Training in the US kept on in other places, exploring the newly learned and newly acquired.

1926 1,000 rabbits shot near Medicine Bow and sent to Rawlins, Wyoming, to feed the hungry.

1934  History repeated itself, according to the Casper Star Tribune:

 Hundreds of Homes Enjoy Feast Provided by Great Hunt ...

"The announcement that the thousands of rabbits taken by scores of nimrods in the most successful hunt of its kind ever staged in Wyoming were 'ready for the skillet' was all that was needed. ...

"Rabbits, skinned and washed to meet the taste of the most discriminating, disappeared as if by magic. The success of the hunt was only eclipsed by the appreciation of hundreds who came in a steady stream, and by 2 o'clock yesterday a supply which was expected to meet all demands was completely exhausted. ...

"No one tried to make off with more than a reasonable share. ...

The most taken by one family was 11 rabbits for a family of 10. Many asked only for two to four, depending upon the number in the household.

"The result was that rabbit sizzled and fried in hundreds of Casper homes last night."

From the Trib's this "A Look Back In Time" column.

1943  The USS Casper, a Tacoma Class frigate, launched.

.
1941     American authorities in the Philippines declared Manila an open city.

1945     The World Bank was created with an agreement signed by 28 nations.

Elsewhere:   1900     Carry Nation carried out her first public smashing of a bar, at the Carey Hotel in Wichita, Kan.

1979     Soviet forces seized control of Afghanistan.

December 11

1839  Diplomats from Texas arrive in Mexico City with portfolios to negotiate for peace.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1869  The Territorial Legislature concluded its session.

1872  William F. Cody makes his first appearance on the stage in the play Scouts of the Prairie, in Chicago.

1873  The Territorial legislature approved the incorporation of Evanston.  It would later rescind it, and then approve it again. Attribution.  On-This-Day .com.

1875  The Territorial Legislature appointed a commission to study prison costs in regards to Laramie as the prison location.  It determined that cost savings justified appointing the Nebraska penitentiary as the Wyoming Territorial prison facility at the time.

1917  Dean Knight Resigned as Dean of the University of Wyoming, December 11, 1917.

The minutes of that meeting:

Minutes

Knight Hall is of course named for him.

1917  Rawlins struck with disaster when its hospital burned.  Attribution, Wyoming State Historical Society.

1936 Britain's King Edward VIII abdicated the throne in order to marry American divorcee Wallis Warfield Simpson.  They had been introduced by Wyomingite Mildred Harris.

1941  Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.  The United States declared war on Germany.   Polish government in exile declares war on Japan.  The Dutch government in exile declares war on Italy.  Mexico breaks relations with Germany and Italy.  Italy, Japan and Germany sign an agreement that none shall sign a separate peace with the US and UK.

1952  Boysen Dam declared operational.

November 18

1832  William Hale born in New London Iowa.  He would serve as Territorial Governor from July 1882 until his death in 1885.

1869  Governor John A. Campbell proclaimed the day "a day of Thanksgiving and Praise."

1883  John (Manual Felipe) Phillips (Cardoso) died in Cheyenne Wyoming.  He is famously remembered as the civilian who rode 236 miles from Ft. Phil Kearny to Ft. Laramie following the Fetterman Fight.  Phillips is an interesting character and was born in the Azores in 1832, which he left at age 18 on a whaler bound for California in order to pan for gold.  He was a gold prospector across the West for 15 year.  He was actually at Ft. Phil Kearny as a party of miners he was left had pulled into the fort in September of 1866.His famous ride is somewhat inaccurately remembered, as he did not make the entire ride alone, as often imagined, but instead rode with Daniel Dixon.  Both men were paid $300.00 for their effort.  After this event Phillips switched occupations to that of mail courier, and then he became a tie hack in Elk Mountain Wyoming, supplying rails to the Union Pacific.  In 1870 he married and founded a ranch at Chugwater, Wyoming.  He and his wife sold the ranch in 1878, and he moved to Cheyenne where he lived until his death.

1883     The United States and Canada adopted a system of standard time zones.

1886 Chester A. Arthur, the 21st president of the United States, died in New York at age 56.

1889  The first train to arrive in Newcastle arrives.  Attribution: Wyoming State Historical Society.

1890  Francis E. Warren assumes the office of U.S. Senator from Wyoming.  He was Wyoming's first Senator.

1902   Frederick Remington drew pictures of dedication of Irma Hotel, Cody.  Courtesy of Wyoming State Archives via the Wyoming State Historical Society's calendar.

1918  November 18, 1918. Allies March on the Rhine and the Impact of the Loss of the War Stars More Fully In Germany

Photograph taken on November 18, 1918.

Particularly if you hang out in areas of the net where the things are somewhat pedantic, you'll see the claim that World War One "didn't end" on November 11, 1918, because the Versailles Treaty was signed in May, 1919.

Cheyenne newspaper noting the American and Allied march into Germany and the surrender of the German fleet.  This paper also notes the horrible death toll of the Spanish Flu Epidemic.

Well, dear reader, armies don't march into the "heart" of a nation that isn't defeated.  Nor does a non defeated nation, in a time of war, turn its ships over to the enemy.

Laramie newspaper noting much the same, but also noting one of the ways in which wars change things. . . air mail was expanding following the close of the war. . . and of course the war had changed airplanes much.

No, while you'll occasionally see that, it's clear German was not only on its knees in November 1918, it was a defeated nation in Revolution.

The Casper paper ran as its headline the reunification of Alsace with France. . .something that a defeated nation does is give up territory.

And Germany was getting smaller, as this headline noted.

1921 Friday November 18, 1921. No small beers, no new ships.

The U.S. Senate passed the Willis-Campbell Act on this day in 1921 prohibiting physicians from proscribing beer as a medical remedy. They could still prescribe hard alcohol and wine.

On the same day, the British suspended new ship construction in light of progress at the Washington Naval Conference talks.   And Roscoe Arbuckle's trial was proceeding.

Arbuckle with his defense team and brother.

Marshall Foch visited New York City's statue of Joan d'Arc.

Marshal Ferdinand Jean Marie Foch with mineralogist George Frederick Kunz at a ceremony held at the Joan of Arc statue in New York City. Standing at the right, is Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington, sculptor of the Joan of Arc statue, and Jacqueline Vernot holding flowers.

The Soviet Union, which was going to have an economy based on pure ownership by the proletariat of the means of production, figured out that banks were a necessity and crated a state bank.  The Soviet economy was collapsing.

1943  The Wyoming Department of Education released the results of a survey revealing that the state was short 70 teachers, no doubt the result of teachers having joined the armed forces during World War Two.  Attribution. Wyoming History Calendar.

2023.  Pine Ridge Reservation declared a state of emergency due to a rise in crime, with the same to last until January 1, 2025.

November 17

1835  The people of Cincinnati, Ohio raised funds for two cannons for Texas that became known as the "twin sisters."  Attribution:  On This Day.

1880  Rain In The Face surrendered with 500 followers at Ft. Keogh.

1906  Eleven people were killed in a head on train collision near Azusa, Wyoming.  The collision was caused by a mistake in a train order in a telegraph, and most of the men killed were railroad employees in a day coach.

1910  First annual conference of Wyoming clergy held. Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1918  Monuments that didn't happen. November 17, 1918.

American infantrymen crossing the Armistice Line at Etain, November 17, 1918.

American troops were marching into Germany while some were denying that a prostrate Germany was prostrate.  And at the same time a proposal was made to erect a monument to the Great War dead from Natrona County in front of the courthouse.

That courthouse is now gone.  Maybe that monument was erected and is gone now, but as far as I'm aware, the only outdoor memorial to Natrona County's World War One veterans came up in the 2000s, although there were early memorials of other types, those being a trench mortar in Veteran's Park, Caissons at Washington Park, and a swimming pool named in memory of a lost soldier of World War One at the same park.

1919  November 17, 1919. News of the Carlyle Escape Breaks

News broke on this day in 1919 that William Carlisle, the train robber, had escaped from the penitentiary.  He'd broken out on Saturday.

He would not be out for long.

1925  An earthquake occurred at Big Horn with the tremor felt in Johnson and Sheridan Counties.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1980  Christ Episcopal Church in Douglas added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Elsewhere:

1968     NBC outraged football fans by cutting away from the final minutes of a game to air a TV special, "Heidi," on schedule.

1970   Douglas Engelbart receives the patent for the first computer mouse.

2008     The vampire romance movie "Twilight" premiered in Los Angeles, an event destined in future years to be ranked with the Vandals sacking Rome as a really bad day for Western Civilization.

2012  From the Governor's office:

CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- Governor Matt Mead released the following statement regarding the refugee issue:

"No state should have to endure the threat of terrorists entering our borders," Governor Mead said. "The President needs to make certain an absolutely thorough vetting system is in place that will not allow terrorists from Syria or any other part of the world into our country. In light of the horrific terrorist attacks in Paris, I have joined other governors in demanding the refugee process be halted until it is guaranteed to provide the security demanded by Wyoming and United States citizens. I have written the President (letter attached) to make it known Wyoming will not accept a lackluster system that allows terrorists to slip through the cracks."

Governor Mead and other governors have a conference call with the President this afternoon.

I don't usually editorialize in these comments (although I do occasionally), but it's hard not to see this as a political reaction.  Given the lack of infrastructure for it, it is doubtful at best that any Syrian refugees would have been resettled in Wyoming.  A person can debate whether any terrorist  might enter the US in this fashion, but a person is also bound to consider the added humanitarian crisis that failing to address this situation will cause, and the added likelihood of that potentially inspiring violence in the future.

November 15

1835  Troops under George Fisher and José Antonio Mexía attacked the Mexican garrison at Tampico.  The assault was not a success.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1907 J. P. Hehn stepped down as Warden of the State Penitentiary and Fred Hillenbrand became the warden.
1912  The Bishop Randall Hospital was officially opened in Lander, Wyoming.

1916:   The Cheyenne Leader for November 15, 1916: Mexicans repudiate pact for joint border control, train robbed in Missouri, trouble in a synagogue.
 

Some interesting news for November 15, 1916.

An attempt at a pact on the Mexican border appeared to fall through, to the frustration of the U.S. delegates.

A train was robbed in Kansas City, Missouri. The paper referenced Bill Carlisle, the famous Wyoming train robber who is usually credited with the last train robbery in the US.  This story would obviously cast doubt on that claim.

In Cheyenne there was dissension on the rabbi that had been serving there.

1917   November 15, 2017. Siberian rumors and Border battles.
 

Residents of Cheyenne were reading today about a rumored, and totally false, revival of the fortunes of Czar Nicolas II.  The Czar, they read, was crowned Czar. . . again. . . . in Siberia.

Not so much.

Russia was descending into complete chaos however. That was real enough.

And so was Villa's revival right on the border with Texas.  His troops had in fact taken Ojinaga.

Having gone from desperate in March 2015, to pursued the rest of 2015 and 2016, he was back in top form and contesting for control of northern Mexico, to American consternation and concern, once again.  And now while we had a major war on our hands.

1919.  William Carlyle, train robber, escaped from the Wyoming State Penitentiary.

1921  A truck used by John J. Pershing in the Great War was donated to the Wyoming State Museum.

1926     The National Broadcasting Co. debuted nationwide with a radio network of 24 stations.

1937   The first US Congressional session in air-conditioned chambers took place.

1940     The first 75,000 men were called to armed forces duty under peacetime conscription. This wast the first time in U.S. history in which there had been a peacetime draft, excluding annual militia musters.

1943  Harmonica player Larry Adler played at the University of Wyoming.  Adler was a well known harmonica player.

November 13

1806  Pike's Peak Colorado observed by Lieutenant Zebulon Montgomery Pike during an expedition to locate the source of the Mississippi.

1835  Texas officially proclaimed Independence from Mexico, and called itself the Lone Star Republic.  The very south east most slice of the state was within the Mexican province of Mexico, and therefore within the newly proclaimed republic, although it was not inhabited by European Americans or Mexicans at the time.  Borders in northern Mexico were more than a little theoretical.

1854  The Horse Creek Skirmish when the Sioux attacked a mail stage near the present location of Torrington.

1867  The first passenger train, a Union Pacific train, arrived in Cheyenne, WY.

1890  Fire damaged a saloon in Rawlins, Wyoming (Courtesy the Wyoming Historical Society).

1895  Floyd Taliaferro  Alderson born in Sheridon.  Alderson grew up on a ranch near Sheridan and served in World War One before becoming an actor in the silent movie era.  He acted in 22 silent films and was able to transition into talking pictures. He retired from acting in the 1950s and returned to the family ranch where he painted in his retirement. During his acting years he acted under a variety of names, including most notably Wally Wales,but also as Hal Taliaferro and Floyd Taliaferro.

1901 First CB&Q passenger train arrives in Cody, Wyoming.

1916:   The Laramie Republican for Monday, November 13, 1916. Record Cold.
 

The weather a century ago definitely isn't what we're experiencing this year.

1917

The USS Wyoming becomes  Rear Admiral Hugh Rodman's, Commander Battleship Division 9, flagship. Attribution:  On This Day.

 

Dust storm in Colorado, 1935.

1918 Pondering the Post War World. . .hit and miss. . . the news of November 13, 1918.

On this mid week of 1918 (this paper was published on a Wednesday) the Wyoming State Tribune was pondering the post war world with some optimism.

Not all of which would prove warranted.

First we'll note, however, that the depiction of Germany's new borders was spot on, showing once again how remarkably accurate these World War One papers tended to be.  They weren't always, and this past week with rumors of the armistice arriving prematurely, and with additional rumors that Red German sailors who had in fact sabotaged their ships to some degree were going to come out fighting, they were off the mark more than a little. But by and large, they appear to be on in just about the same degree as modern papers tend to be.

But as to a post war economic boom. .  not so much.

In fact the end of the war brought on a mild recession that started this very year; 1918. That recession would continue on into 1919, when a recovery would be staged, but following that a severe recession hit in 1920 and lasted until 1921.  

Overall, both periods of recession were brief, and there were some oddities to them. The American recession of 1918 actually started in August, which is flat out bizarre when it is considered that the United States was really just getting fully committed to combat in the Great War at that time and that it was conscripting all the way through the end of the war, thereby creating labor shortages that were growing worse.  That a recession would hit should have been expected, but a rational expectation should have been that it would have hit in early 1919.  It didn't, and overall the first recession only lasted seven months.

The second much worse one hit in January 1920 and lasted until 1921. That one makes much more sense if we keep in mind that while the fighting ended, the war technically went on into 1919 and the United States continued to maintain and supply a large overseas army that was on occupation duty that entire time.  Indeed, combat troops finally left Europe in September 1919 but an occupation force of 16,000 U.S. troops based out of Coblenz remained in Germany until 1923.  And somewhat forgotten, while the fighting had ended in France and Belgium, it continued on in Russia where a U.S. commitment remained until fully withdrawn on April 1, 1920. 

Of course, this has an expression in what we was called the Jazz Age.  No era of any kind every has a clean break from one to another, but in this case the effects of the war in various ways lingered through the first recession until the lid really came off and the post war world set in which gave us the Roaring Twenties/Jazz Age, which continued on until the crash of October 1929.  The Jazz Age, in a lot of ways, was the preamble to the 1960s, brought to an abrupt end by the economic realities of the Great War.

In Wyoming, as is so often the case, the national economy didn't really follow the path of the national one.  The oil boom of the Great War came to a screeching halt with the end of the war.  Oil production and refining of course went on, and the conversion of Casper Wyoming from a minor oil town into a significant oil city, was permanent.  But a local recession was inevitable with the end of the war.

Amplifying that recession was a general recession in the agricultural sector as a whole.  Massive demands for meat, wool, leather, and grain came to a rapid end, and with it came an agricultural depression that lasted through the economic recovery and on into the next recession.  1919, in fact, was the last year in American history in which farm families shared economic parity with urban families.

So the paper got that one wrong.  But its map of post war Germany was quite right.  The rest of the new European map had yet to be worked out through the process of the Versailles Treaty and local effort in new nations, to include the effort of new wears that erupted following the collapse of empires in the Great War, but that process was going on at the very time this paper was printed.

Holland didn't really treat the deposed Kaiser Wilhelm II like any other interned German officer.  He became a permanent exiled resident who never did come to see his removal as justified or his actions as questionable.  He'd die there during World War Two.

And while the paper gave a positive prognosis on the news that Theodore Roosevelt was in the hospital but would recover, the old lion wasn't himself anymore.

1933   "(MONDAY)  UNITED STATES: The first dust storm of the great dust bowl era of the 1930s occurs. The dust storm, which has spread from Montana to the Ohio Valley yesterday, prevails from Georgia to Maine resulting in a black rain over New York and a brown snow in Vermont. Parts of South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa reported zero visibility yesterday. Today, dust reduces the visibility to half a mile (805 meters) in Tennessee. (Jack McKillop)"  Attribution:  The WWII History List.

1941  The United States Congress amends the Neutrality Act of 1935 to allow American merchant ships access to war zones.

1942     The minimum draft age was lowered from 21 to 18.

1943  The state penitentiary receives a contract for 8,000 U.S. Army blankets.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

November 10

1833  Thomas Moonlight was born in Forfarshire, Scotland. He was appointed Territorial Governor of Wyoming in1886.

1835  Delegates gathered at San Felipe de Austin in Texas agreed to establish a provisional government for the region.

1882  Frank Aloysius Barrett was born in Omaha Nebraska.  He served in the Balloon Corps in World War One, and then moved to Lusk Wyoming in 1919.. He was a U.S. Representative, a U .S. Senator and the 21st Governor of Wyoming.

His son, James E. Barrett, was a senior judge of the United States Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals Circuit and former judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review in Washington, D.C. who died on November 7, 2011.

1888  A pipeline for the conveyance of oil from Casper to Omaha Nebraska was proposed.

1907  Fire destroyed the area north of Big Horn Avenue in Worland.

1916   The Casper Weekly Tribune for November 10, 1916: Fine Wilson Sweep
 

1918  Countdown on the Great War, November 10, 1918: A Socialist Provisional Government forms in Germany, the Naval War continues on, and Mildred Harris weds.

American engineers constructing a bridge in a ruined French city.  November 10, 1918.

1.  The HMS Ascot, a minesweeper, was sunk by the UB-67 with the loss of 51 hands.  The HMT Renarro, a British Navy trawler hit a mine and sank as did the Italian 36PN torpedo boat.

2.  Romania, which earlier surrendered to Germany, came back into the war in order to retake territory it had lost in the peace to Bulgaria. Allied forces entered Svishtov and Nikopol in Bulgaria.

3.  The Council of the People's Deputies becomes the provisional government of Germany with the aim of negotiating a peace with the Allies.  It's membership is completely comprised of members of the Social Democratic Party and the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany, making it a highly left wing ruling body, which came about when the SDP, which had evolved into a much less radical party in recent years, co-opted some revolutionary councils the day prior after it found it could not stop them from pushing forward.  The inclusion of the USDP was a distasteful necessity at first, even though the SDP did not see eye to eye on most things.

This essentially meant that to a degree the aims of the German revolutionaries had been partially recognized and in fact a government partially installed by them was in power, although one that had, due to the SDP, much less radical aims than the USDP.  The government would sweep away Germany's tiered franchise and introduce many liberal reforms before yielding to the Reichstag in 1919, by which time the USDP had pulled out of the government and the SDP was ruling alone.   The SDP under Friedrich Ebert, it's leader, would find itself thereafter increasingly aligned with Germany's conservative elements and it even would rely upon the Freikorps to take on left wing revolutionaries during the German civil war.

4.  With the war winding down, even celebrity news, albeit local celebrity news, started to reappear on the front page of the papers.

The Cheyenne girl was Mildred Harris.  As we've reported on her before:

Mildred Harris.  Her entry in Today In  Wyoming's History:  

1901  Mildred Harris, movie actress, born in Cheyenne.  She was a significant actress in the silent film era, having gone from being a child actor to a major adult actress, but had difficulty making the transition to talking pictures.

Harris is also evidence that, in spite of my notation of changes in moral standards elsewhere, the lives of movie stars has often been as torrid as they are presently.  Harris married Charlie Chaplin in 1918, at which time she was 17 years old and the couple thought, incorrectly, that  she was pregnant.  She did later give birth during their brief marriage to a boy who was severely disabled, and who died only three days after being born.  The marriage was not a happy one.  They divorced after two years of marriage, and she would marry twice more and was married to former professional football player William P. Fleckenstein at the time of her death, a union that had lasted ten years.  Ironically, she appeared in three films in 1920, the year of her divorce, as Mildred Harris Chaplin, the only films in which she was billed under that name. While an actress probably mostly known to silent film buffs today, she lived in some ways a life that touched upon many remembered personalities of the era, and which was also somewhat stereotypically Hollywood.  She introduced Edward to Wallis Simpson.

She died in 1944 at age 42 of pneumonia following surgery.  She has a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  A significant number of her 134 films are lost or destroyed due to film deterioration.  Her appearances in the last eight years of her life were minor, and unaccredited, showing the decline of her star power in the talking era.

Stories like hers, however, demonstrate that the often held concept of great isolation of Wyomingites was never true.  Harris was one of at least three actors and actresses who were born in Wyoming and who had roles in the early silent screen era.  Of those, she was arguably the most famous having risen to the height of being a major actress by age 16.

1943  An explosion at the Sinclair Refinery in Sinclair insured five.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1945  Heart Mountain interment center closed.

1969  Judge Ewing T. Kerr heard testimony in the action brought in support of the Black 14.  The Court took the matter under advisement.

1978  Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail was established.

1997  The Wyoming Air National Guard commenced operations in Operation Tempest Rapid No. 1, a firefighting mission to Indonesia.  Flying until December 5, the unit would fly 250 missions in the U.S. Air Force's first overseas firefighting mission.

November 4

1804  Lewis and Clark record in their journal that Sacagawea was the wife of Toussaint Charbonneau.  In fact, she was one of two wives that Charbonneau had married either at the same time or close in time, with both of them being in their mid teens at the time.  He'd marry three more times during his life, with his last marriage coming at age 70. All of his wives were Native Americans and none of them were older than sixteen years old at the time of the marriage.

1835  Texas forces defeat Mexican forces at the Battle of Lipantitlán in San Patricio County.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1856  The Mormon Martin's Handcart Company, attempting a late crossing of the Oregon Trail, and having run into trouble with the weather, seeks shelter in the Martin's Cove area near Independence Rock, along with a rescue party having sent to find them.  They had not embarked on their efforts until August 27, making an attempt to cross extraordinary late in the year.

1856  James Buchanan was elected US president.

1868  Red Cloud arrived at Ft. Laramie to execute a treaty that gave him victory in Red Cloud's War.  The treaty had been negotiated that prior April.

1879. Will Rogers was born in Oologah, Okla.  Sometimes forgotten, Rogers' career as a humorist and political commentator commenced when he started doing a monologue while doing rope tricks.  He was, at first, a cowboy and trick roper.

1884 Grover Cleveland elected President.

1889  A meeting regarding the ratification of Wyoming's Constitution was held in Rawlins.

1924 Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming was elected the nation's first woman governor, when she was elected in a special election to fill the term of her late husband, who had been governor. She would serve until 1927, when she would leave office after having narrowly lost the 1926 election. She refused to campaign in either election, but remained popular nonetheless. Her 1926 loss is likely attributable to her refusal to campaign, which her opponent did do, and her strong support for Prohibition. She would later serve in Franklin Roosevelt's administration and Truman administration as the head of the United States Mint.

 

1924  Calvin Coolidge elected President.

Coolidge took 52% of the Wyoming vote, but showing a strong remaining progressive/populist streak, Robert LaFollette of the Progressive Party took second place with 32%.  The Democratic candidate, the forgotten John Davis, took the balance.

1930  The USS Wyoming became the flagship of Rear Admiral Harley H. Christy, Commander Training Squadron, Scouting Fleet.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1952     Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower elected president.

The popular Eisenhower took 63% of the Wyoming vote.

1952  Frank A. Barrett, Republican from Lusk, was elected to the Senate.

 

The Republican Barrett concluded a term of Governor upon his election and he had been a Congressman from Wyoming previously.

1980  Ronald Reagan elected President.

Reagan took 63% of the Wyoming vote.  Third party candidate Anderson took 7% and the balance went to the unpopular incumbent Jimmy Carter.

2008  Barack Obama elected President.

John McCain took 65% of the Wyoming vote.

2008  Cynthia Lummis elected to Congress from Wyoming.

November 1

November is Aviation History Month.

November 27, 2017

National Aviation History Month

Somehow I managed to miss the fact that November is National Aviation History Month.

Something that would have fit in well as a topic here on our blog.

Well, at least there's a little November left anyhow.

It's also the Month of the Holy Souls In Purgatory in Catholic tradition.

Today is All Saints Day.

1620 Mayflower Compact signed, albeit by a minority of those who traveled over.

1835 Texans begin siege of San Antonio.

1866  William J. Fetterman arrives at Ft. Phil Kearney.

1886  First snowfall of what would prove to be a disastrous winter. Attribution.  Wyoming State Archives.

1904     Army War College opens, with Capt. John J. Pershing in the first class.  Pershing's father in law was U.S. Sen. Francis E. Warren of Cheyenne.

1911  The Wyoming General Hospital opens in Casper, Wyoming.  The hospital remains open today, in different quarters, as the Wyoming Medical Center.

1916   The Laramie Republican for November 1, 1916: Villa again, and the Marina
 

Similar news to that of the Wyoming Tribune, but less dramatic.

The Wyoming Tribune for November 1, 1916. Villa resurgant, land sales questioned

 

By this date in 1916, it looked to be the case that Villa, who had been down and out just this past March, was resurgent.

And the sale of public land was being questioned.

And of course the drama and tragedy of World War One continued on.

1919  A contingent of the 15th Cavalry under the command of Major Warren Dean arrived at Ft. Mackenzie from Ft. D. A. Russell in order to deal with labor strife at Carneyville, near Sheridan.

Today In Wyoming's History: November 1, 1919: Labor Strike and Reaction visits Wyoming.

On this day in 1919.

Today In Wyoming's History: November 1: 

1919  A contingent of the 15th Cavalry under the command of Major Warren Dean arrived at Ft. Mackenzie from Ft. D. A. Russell in order to deal with labor strife at Carneyville, near Sheridan.

It was a year for labor strife, and that strife was looking like it was going to visit Wyoming.  The strike itself was a nationwide coal strike.

At the time, a coal strike threatened the entire nation's well being. Everything from industry to home heat depended on coal.  And coal was a significant industry in Wyoming then, as now.

That other significant industry in the state in 1919, agriculture, celebrated the outdoor life in its December 1919 issue.

What was being shown on the cover wasn't really a very good idea.

1940  The 115th Cavalry Regiment, Wyoming National Guard, re-designated the115th Cavalry Regiment (Horse Mechanized).  The change in designation came about as a reflection in a de facto change in the TOE of the unit, which was made into a new category in the Army.  Horse Mechanized was a late horse cavalry era effort to incorporate motorization within the horse mounted units. While no horse mechanized unit ever saw action in the U.S. Army during World War Two, the concept was not far from what was actually employed by the Soviet Union during the war.

The 115th Cavalry had a very good reputation early in its mobilization period, and was highly praised by Lucien Truscott, the World War Two general, in his book Twilight of the Cavalry.

1943  The War Housing Administration met with residents of Green  River about upcoming housing projects.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1957  A blizzard featuring ice storms, a relatively rare event in Wyoming, commenced.

1995  A major winter storm closed highways.

2000 A blizzard in northeastern Wyoming brought down power lines in the area.