November 7

1805  The Corps of Discovery reached the Pacific Ocean.

1835  Texas' Declaration of November 7, 1835 adopted by the Consultation at San Felipe documenting Texas' reasons for taking up arms against Mexico. Attribution:  On This Day.

It stated:

November 7, 1835.

DECLARACION DEL PUEBLO DE TEJAS, Reunido en Convencion General. Por cuantoel general Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana, asociado con otros gefes militareshan destruido por medio de la fuerza armada las Instituciones Federalesde la Nacion Mejicana, y disuelto el pacto social que existia entre el Pueblo de Tejas y las demas partes de la confederacion Mejicana, el buen Pueblo de Tejas, usando de sus derechos naturales, DECLARA SOLEMNEMENTE,

Primero. Que ha tomado las armas en defensa de sus derechos y libertad esamenezados por los ataques del despotismo militar; y en defensa de losprincipios republicanos de la Constitucion Federal de Mejico, sancionadaen 1824.

Segundo. Que aunque Tejas no esta ya ni politica ni moralmenteligado por los lazos de la Union Federal, movido por la simpatia y generosidadnaturales a los pueblos libres, ofrece ayuda y asistencia a aquellos miembrosde la confederacion que tomasen las armas contra el despotismo militar.

Tercero. Que no reconoce en las actuales autoridades de la nominal Republica Mejicana ningun derecho para gobernar en el territorio de Tejas.

Cuarto.Que no cesara de hacer la guerra contra las mencionadas autoridades mientrasmantengan tropas en los terminos de Tejas.

Quinto. Que se considera conderecho de separarse de la Union a Mejico durante la desorganizacion delSistema Federal y el regimen del despotismo, y para organizar un gobiernoindependiente o adoptar aquellas medidas que sean adecuadas para protegersus derechos y libertades; pero continuara fiel al gobierno Mejicano enel caso de que la nacion sea gobernada por la Constitucion y las leyesque fueron formadas para el regimen de su asociacion politica.

Sesto. Que Tejas se obliga a pagar los gastos de sus tropas en actividad actualmenteen la campana.

Septimo. Que Tejas empena su credito y fe publica para elpago de las deudas que contrageren sus agentes.

Octavo. Que recompensaracon donaciones de tierra y los derechos de ciudadania a los voluntariosque prestasen servicios en la presente lucha. Esta es la declaracion queprofesamos delante del mundo, llamando a Dios por testigo de la sinceridadde nuestras intenciones, invocando su maldicion sobre nuestras cabezasen el caso de faltar a ella por doblez o intencion danada.

B.T. ARCHER, Presidente.

Municipalidad de Gonzales-- J. D. Clemens

Municipalidad de Austin --Benjamin Fuqua, Thomas Barnett, James Hodges, Wyly Martin,
William Arrington, Randall Jones, William S. Fisher, Wm. Menifee, G.W. Davis. Jesse Burnam.

Municipalidad de Viesca.

Municipalidad de Matagorda.-- S.T. Allen, R.R. Royall, A.G. Perry, Charles Wilson, J.G.W. Pierson

Municipalidad de Washington-- Alexander Thompson, Asa Mitchell, J.W.Parker. Philip Coe

Municipalidad de Nacogdoches-- Elijah Collard, Samuel Houston, Jesse Grimes, Daniel Parker, A. Hoxie, James W. Robertson

Municipalidad de Mina-- William Whitaker, J.S. Lester

Municipalidad of Bevil-- D.C. Barrett, John Bevil, R.M. Williamson. S.H. Everett

Municipalidad de Columbia-- Wyatt Hanks, Henry Smith

Municipalidad de San Augustin --Edwin Waller, A. Houston, J.S.D. Byrom, Wm. N. Sigler, John A. Wharton, A.E.C. Johnson, W.D.C. Hall, Martin Palmer, A. Horton

Municipalidad de Harrisburgh --Henry Augustin, Lorenzo de Zavala, A.G.Kellog. Wm. P. Harris

Municipalidad de Liberty -- C.C. Dyer, J.B. WoodsMeriwether W. Smith, A.B. Hardin, John W. Moore, Henry Millard, D.B.Macomb, C. West.

Sala de la Convencion en San Felipe de Austin, 7 deNoviembre de 1825. P.B. Dexter, Secretario.

1848  Zachary Taylor was elected president of US.

1871  The second session of Wyoming's Territorial Legislative Assembly began. It continued until December 16.

1876 Rutherford B. Hayes was elected 19th president of the US.

1877  The fifth session of Wyoming's Territorial Legislative Assembly began.  

1885   Donald A. Smith, later Lord Strathcona drives in the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway at Craigellachie, in the Eagle Pass, British Columbia.

1893  Colorado grants women the franchise.

1913 The school house in Guernsey was destroyed by fire.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1916  President Woodrow Wilson was re-elected over Charles Evans Hughes, but the race was so close that the results were not known until November 11.Wyoming's electorate gave 55% of the vote to Wilson.

1916  John B. Kendrick elected to the Senate from Wyoming.

1916     Republican Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first woman elected to Congress.  She would boldly cast "no" votes on the measures to declare war in World War One and World War Two.

 The Laramie Daily Boomerang for November 7, 1916. Wars and highways.
 

The Laramie Daily Boomerang, which is still published today, didn't bother much with elections in its November 7, 1916 edition.  It focused on the news of other things, including the crisis in Mexico, prohibition in Virginia, Polish independence and the Lincoln Highway eliminating polls.

The Boomerang, perhaps, may have felt that the voters had made up their minds and focused on other things.

The Douglas Budget for November 7, 1916. Be loyal to our party.

 

The newspaper for the small town of Douglas simply urged voters to Republican party loyalty.  A. R. Merritt, however, of the RCU Store, didn't worry about whether you were a member of the "the Republican and Progressive Party, the Democratic Party, the Socialist Party and the Prohibition Party" (all parties that were actually fielding candidates on a serious basis), as long as you had the right party dress.

The Wyoming Tribune for November 7, 1916, 3:30 Edition: Early reports indicate Hughes

 

The Wyoming Tribune, which had been solidly Republican in the 1916 campaign, looked forward to Hughes being elected and was predicting John B. Kendrick's "Waterloo" in its 3:30 edition.

The early reports, as we'll see, may have not been right.

The Cheyenne Leader for November 7, 1916: The Leader takes a shot at the Tribune.

 

The Cheyenne Leader was backing Wilson and Kendrick, and it had apparently had enough of the Tribune.

Of note, the Leader was taking a "bring the boys back home" approach to the election, in part, obviously indicating that a vote for Hughes was a vote for prolonged entanglement in Mexico.

The Casper Record for November 7, 1916. All America Joins Shout "Wilson's The Man!"
 

The Casper Record confidently predicted that "all America" would shout for Wilson.  It also came out for Pat Sullivan, rising local politician, Irish immigrant, and very successful local sheepman.  He built a house which was, up until recently, the largest house in Casper.  Of interest, at least one of the ranching families mentioned in the article is still ranching in the same location, which is a bit comforting.

We also learn that the Midwest Hotel was about to go up, which it did.  And C. H. Townsend directed our attention to rugs.

1918Countdown on the Great War, November 7, 1918: The False Armistace, the Bavarian monarchy falls, the French and British explain the war against the Ottomans.

1. The False Armistice resulted in celebrations throughout the Allied nations as a false report that Germany had entered into an Armistice circulated and was widely reported.

A couple of Wyoming's newspapers, including the Casper Daily Tribune, did note the reports, but were hesitant about reporting them as fully accurate.  They would turn out not to be.

2.  The German Revolution spread to Hanover, Brunswick, Frankfurt, and Munich.  King Ludwig III of Bavaria was forced to flee with his family for what he thought would be a temporary departure, but which would not see him return as king.

The Bavarian Royal Family.

There was some irony to his being the first German monarch to fall.  He was already in his upper years at the time he had become king, in 1913, and therefore was not a long reigning German monarch.  He was additionally a staunch supporter of the direct right to vote, thereby putting him in sympathy with democratic aims.  Indeed, he'd run, unsuccessfully, as a candidate for the Reichstag and there was some belief that if the German Emperor were an elected position, he would likely have been the Emperor.

He was not in the direct line of succession for the Bavarian crown and also came to it by way of a change in the Bavarian constitution which allowed for the regent to declare himself king upon the incompetency of the rightful occupant, which he then did, thereby ending his regency for the severely mentally ill King Otto.

Ludwig was a direct descendant of both the French King Louis XIV and the Norman Duke and English King William of Normandy.

3.  The UK and France issued (maybe. . .it might have been November 9) the Anglo French Declaration retroactively declaring their war aims in the fight against the Ottoman Empire to have been the "complete and final" liberation of nations that had been part of the Ottoman Empire.

4.  The U.S. Third Army was established at Chaumont, France.  It would not see a mission until after the Armistice.

5. The English fishing smack Conster hit a mine and sank.

1922.  Democrat William B. Ross won election to the Governor's office, defeating John W. Hay, a Republican who had defeated the incumbent Republican Governor Robert D. Carey for the GOP ticket.

Ross.

The Republican Party was split due to the extremely contentious primary race and Ross was able to use this to appeal to Carey's supporters through his strong Prohibition stance.  The 48 year old Carey was a lawyer by profession.

Democrat John B. Kendrick won a second term to the Senate, defeating Congressman Frank W. Mondell who was the Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives at the time.

Replacing Mondell was Charles E. Winter, a lawyer from Casper who had also been a State District Court judge.

Winter.

Winter would serve in that role until 1929, as in 1928 he reprised Mondell's path and attempted unsuccessfully to move to the Senate.  He was thereafter the Attorney General of Puerto Rico and then returned to Casper, where he died in 1948.  One of my aunts worked for him in his later years, and his son, who lived to be nearly 100, was a lawyer who practiced in the office building which I do and still was when I first worked there.

Winter wrote the lyrics for the song Wyoming, which is one of the two state songs.  He was also a novelist.

1944     President Franklin D. Roosevelt won a fourth term in office, defeating Thomas E. Dewey.

1969  Thurmon Arnold, Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust actions in the Roosevelt Administration from 1938 to 1943, and former Mayor of Laramie, born in Laramie, died on date.  The Thurman Arnold Building in Washington D. C. is named after him.  He was later a Justice of the D. C. Circuit.

1972 President Richard M. Nixon was re-elected in a landslide over Democrat George McGovern.

Cliff Hanson won reelection to the U.S. Senate.  Teno Roncalio won reelection against Republican candidate Bill Kidd.

1972.  A Sublette County straw poll shows 970 people opposed to, 279 in favor of and 105 undecided on the "Wagon Wheel Project" which would extract natural gas in the area with five underground nuclear explosions.  Yikes!  Attribution: Wyoming State Historical Society.
   
1976   The Johnson County Library (Carnegie Public Library) was added to the National Register for Historic Places.

2000     George W. Bush was elected president.

 

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 2

Today is All Souls Day.

Today is Statehood Day in North Dakota.

Today is Statehood Day in South Dakota.

1812   Robert Stuart and five others began construction of a cabin at the mouth of the Poison Spider Creek in Natrona County..  The cabin was the first cabin known to be built by European Americans in Wyoming, although this does not discount the possibility that French Canadian trappers may have built structures earlier.

The temporary cabin proved to be very temporary, as it happened to be built in area of inter Tribal Indian strife and, therefore, was a dangerous location. Smith and company soon pulled up stakes and relocated for the winter in the location of the current Scotsbluff Nebraska.

For many years, this cabin was marked by a Wyoming Historical Marker sign noting it as the "First White Man's Cabin in Wyoming", but the sign came down some 20 years ago and was never put back up.

1824 In the popular vote Gen. Jackson beat John Quincy Adams in the race for the Presidency, but subsequent actions in Congress would see the House elevate Adams, and not Jackson, to the office.  This, of course, is not specifically Wyoming history, but the geography of what would become Wyoming was already mostly owned by the United States (with some still belonging to Mexico).

1875  The fourth session of the Territorial Legislative Assembly convened in Cheyenne.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1876  Future author  Charles King, 1st Lieutenant 5th Cavalry, serving in the U.S. Army, was detailed to engage in scouting in Wyoming and assigned to Ft. D. A. Russell where he would stay until July, 1877.

King would have an interrupted military career, serving as  late as the 1890s in the Philippines after having had a career in the Frontier Army.  While not well remembered in general for his literary works today, his books on the Frontier are still fondly recalled by those who study and have a fondness for the Frontier Army.

1880 James A. Garfield elected President.

Garfield was honored in at least Casper Wyoming, many years after his death, through the naming of a public school in his honor (which I attended eons ago).  Garfield Elementary School was school constructued in the 20s or 30s, and added on to during the 1950s or 1960s, and renamed to that name in the process.  During the reorganization of the Natrona County School District's schools in recent years, that school was closed and sold, but the name retained and applied to the existing Willard Elementary School, whose name was also retained placing two names on a single school.

1889 Wyoming's neighbors North Dakota and South Dakota became the 39th and 40th states.

1907  Former Governor John E. Osborne married  Selina Smith of Princeton Kentucky.

1908  A music school opens in Sheridan Wyoming.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society Calendar.

1916   The Wyoming Tribune for November 2, 1916: Attacks on Kendrick, Mexican rebel outrages, and other news
 

Presumably unaware that it was being attacked by The Cheyenne Leader on the same day, for its Kendrick articles, the Tribune kept up the drum beat. . . along with other shocking news.

The Cheyenne Leader for November 2, 1916: The Wyoming Tribune's attacks on Kendrick sponsored by Wall Street figure?
 

The Tribune had been (and will continue to) attacking John B. Kendrick daily on a matter of a state land purchase.  The Leader, in today's issue, claimed that the attacks were sponsored by an out of state opponent.

Even if they were, of course, the Tribune was staunchly Republican and backing all the GOP candidates that year. And it was sensationalist at the time as well.

1917   Freshman Caps? The Wyoming Student, November 2, 1917.
 

Freshman caps?

I'd  never heard of such a tradition, and it certainly didn't exist while I was at UW, that's for sure.

It seems they were passed out around Halloween and you were compelled to wear them, if you were a UW freshman, until the Thanksgiving break.

Based on the description, I guessed they were beanies.  And in looking up the term, I found that, yes, in fact, they were. Apparently this was a widespread college tradition at the time.  For example, the college paper for Ohio State reported in a 2014 article:

Freshmen Buckeyes were required to put on another hat besides their thinking cap back in the day

Just over 100 years ago, the tradition of the class cap was born, and all freshmen men were required to wear a class cap  or beanie as initiation into the university.

According to OSU archives, the cap tradition began in 1912 and its look changed throughout its lifetime at OSU, including styles such as “jockey-style,” the “knitted toboggan” and the “peanut-shaped skull cap.”

And Penn State's college paper recalled the tradition in a 2015 article:

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In 1906, upperclassmen at the then-Pennsylvania State College voted to have freshmen wear something to distinguish them from the rest of the students — thus the tradition of the "dink" was born.

Easily identified by the small beanie caps, freshmen were expected to know Penn State trivia and history and were often randomly called upon by upperclassmen to prove they were knowledgeable about their new school.

At least some schools preserve the tradition slightly:

RAT caps were first found on Georgia Tech’s campus in 1915. They were originally called “freshmen caps” because of the white F on the front of the cap standing for “Freshmen” rather than the traditional “T” we see today. All freshmen were required to wear the caps every day until the end of spring quarter unless Tech beat UGA in the fall quarter’s freshman football game. Freshmen caught without their RAT cap were subjected to punishment including what is known as the “T-cut”, which entailed a student’s hair being shaved into the shape of a “T”. RAT rules were enforced by Ramblin’ Reck Club and other upperclassmen. Anti-hazing policies led to the end of RAT rules. Today, out of respect for the tradition, freshmen receive a RAT cap at Convocation. Although it is now a voluntary tradition, students are encouraged to show their Tech spirit by wearing it to home football games. The marching band is a proud supporter of this wonderful Tech tradition.

A line in the last paragraph suggests something that probably is self evident.  No matter what the traditional was, it'd be difficult for this tradition to be carried on today.  Even though this tradition is long dead, some (student probably) commented on the Ohio State items thus:

This is flat out hazing. If we’re trying to remember this in a positive light, the entire university needs to reconsider how we look at student initiations.

Hmmmm. . . I'm certainly opposed to hazing, and I'm glad these weren't around when I was in university, but that seems a bit of an over reaction.  Apparently some other reader (student?) also thought so as well, starting off with  "(***), you are softer than baby thighs." and going on from there.

Well, a long gone hat related tradition.  I know of a few others, but this is one that I frankly was completely unaware of.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Related threads:

Caps, Hats, Fashion and Perceptions of Decency and being Dressed.

1919  E. G. (Gerry) Meyer, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and former Dean of College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Wyoming was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  As of the date of this entry (2019) Professor Meyer was a alive and still occupying the noted position.

  

1948  Wyoming votes for incumbent Harry Truman in the 1948 Presidential election.  Truman receives 52,354 votes to Dewey's 47,947.

1976. James E. Carter elected President of the United States.

Carter can be regarded as fitting into the more recent era of  Wyoming's politics in which Democratic candidates have had a much more difficult time on a local and national level, in regards to Wyoming's elections.  Carter himself was elected in the wake of the Watergate Disaster and was not a popular candidate in Wyoming, where he did not receive the state's support.  No Democrat running for President has received any significant support in Wyoming since Lyndon Johnson.

1982  Governor Ed Herschler elected to an unprecedented third term.   Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

 

Gov. Herschler receving a Stetson from a ceremonial detail, dressed in the uniforms of the Frontier 5th Cavalry, U.S. Army, from F. E. Warren Air Force Base.

In contrast to Democratic candidates for Federal offices, Herschler is proof, along with later Governors Sullivan and Freudenthal, that the local Democratic party can still contend for the Governor's office, in spite of the decline in the Democratic Party's fortunes in Wyoming.  Herschler was a popular Governor, and had an interesting personal history, including serving as a Marine Corps raider during World War Two.

2004 President George W. Bush was elected to a second term.

2010  Matt Mead obtains the majority vote in the Wyoming Gubernatorial election.

2012  It is reported that half of Wyoming County, West Virginia, was without power due to Hurricane Sandy.

2015:  The City of Casper, in a special referendum, approved the reinstatement of a full ban on smoking in buildings open to the public.  The history of the topic had been particularly bitter and confused, with an ordinance having been passed, then amended to allow smoking in bars, which was struck down by the Wyoming Supreme Court.

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.

October 31

Today is Halloween

1782  A Court established at Trenton, New Jersey that Pennsylvania owned the Wyoming Valley but that the claims of Connecticut settlers to land titles should be honored  Ownership of the Wyoming Valley, after which the State of Wyoming was named, had been disputed between the two colonies, now states.

1822 Mexican Emperor Agustín de Iturbide dismissed the Mexican Congress to attempt to rule via  a junta.

1831  John W. Hoyt, Wyoming's Third Territorial Governor, born in Ohio.

1888  Stewart v. Wyoming Cattle Co. was argued in front of the United States Supreme Court.  The case involved an action brought by the British owned and Edinburgh Scotland headquartered Wyoming Cattle Ranch Company against John T. Stewart, a citizen of Iowa over alleged misrepresentations in the sale of horses and cattle.

The decision read:

Stewart v. Wyoming Cattle Ranch Co., 128 U.S. 383 (1888)

Stewart v. Wyoming Cattle Ranch Company
No. 52
Argued October 31, November 1, 1888
Decided November 19, 1888
128 U.S. 383
ERROR TO THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE UNITED

STATES FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA

Syllabus

Although silence as to a material fact is not necessarily, as matter of law, equivalent to a false representation, yet concealment or suppression by either party to a contract of sale, with intent to deceive, of a material fact which he is in good faith bound to disclose, is evidence of, and equivalent to, a false representation.

Instructions given to a jury upon their coming into court after they have retired to consider their verdict, and not excepted to at the time, cannot be reviewed on error, although counsel were absent when they were given.

Affidavits filed in support of a motion for a new trial are no part of the record on error, unless made so by bill of exceptions.

The case is stated in the opinion of the Court.
MR. JUSTICE GRAY delivered the opinion of the Court.

The original action was brought by the Wyoming Cattle Ranch Company, a British corporation having its place of business at Edinburgh, in Scotland, against John T. Stewart, a citizen of Iowa. The petition contained two counts. The first count alleged that the defendant, owning a herd of cattle in Wyoming Territory, and horses going with that herd, and all branded with the same brand, and also 80 short-horn bulls, and 700 head of mixed yearlings, offered to sell the same, with other personal property, for the sum of $400,000, and at the same time represented to the plaintiff and its agent that there had already been branded 2,800 calves as the increase of the herd for the current season, and that the whole branding of calves and increase of the herd for that season would amount to 4,000, and that, exclusive of the branding for that year, the herd consisted of 15,000 head of cattle, and that there were 150 horses running with it, and branded with the same brand; that, had the representation that 2,800 calves had been branded been true, it was reasonable from that fact to estimate that the whole branding for that year would be 4,000 head, and that the whole herd, exclusive of the increase for that year, was 15,000 head; that the defendant, when he made these representations, knew that they were false and fraudulent, and made them for the purpose of deceiving the plaintiff and its agent, and of inducing the plaintiff to purchase the herd, and that the plaintiff, relying upon the representations, and believing them to be true, purchased the herd and paid the price.
The second count alleged that the defendant had failed to deliver the bulls and yearlings as agreed.

At the trial the, following facts were proved:

The defendant, being the owner of a ranch with such a herd of cattle, gave in writing to one Tait the option to purchase it and them at $400,000, and wrote a letter to Tait describing all the property, and gave him a power of attorney to sell it. He also wrote a letter describing the property to one Majors, a partner of Tait. A provisional agreement for the sale of the property, referring to a prospectus signed at the same time, was made by Tait with the plaintiff in Scotland, a condition of which was that a person to be appointed by the plaintiff should make a favorable report. One Clay was accordingly appointed, and went out to Wyoming, and visited the ranch . Certain books and schedules made by one Street, the superintendent of the ranch ,were laid before him, and he and the defendant rode over the ranch together for several days. Clay testified that, in the course of his interviews with the defendant, the latter made to him the false representations alleged in the petition, and requested him to rely on these representations, and not to make inquiries from the foreman and other persons, and that, relying on the representations, he made a favorable report to the plaintiff, which thereupon completed the purchase. The plaintiff also introduced evidence tending to prove the other allegations in the petition. The defendant testified that he never made the representations alleged. The jury returned a general verdict for the plaintiff in the sum of $55,000, upon which judgment was rendered, and the defendant sued out this writ of error.

No exception was taken to the judge's instructions to the jury upon the second count. The only exceptions contained in the bill of exceptions allowed by the judge and relied on at the argument were to the following instructions given to the jury in answer to the plaintiff's requests:
"14. I am asked by the plaintiff to give a number of instructions, a portion of which I give, and a portion of which I must necessarily decline to give. My attention is called to one matter, however, and as I cannot give the instruction as it is asked for, and as the matter it contains is, as I think, of the first importance, I will state my own views upon that particular point."

"I am asked to say to the jury, if they believe from the evidence that, while Clay was making the inspection, Stewart objected to Clay making inquiries about the number of calves branded of the foreman and other men, and thereby prevented Clay from prosecuting inquiries which might have led to information that less than 2,000 calves had been branded, the jury are instructed that such acts on the part of Stewart amount in law to misrepresentations."

of cattle, and the number of horses, and the condition of the ranch ,and the number of calves that would probably be branded; if the company sent him there as an expert for the purpose of determining all those things for itself and for himself, and relied upon him, and he was to go upon the ranch himself, and exercise his own judgment, and ascertain from that, without reference to any conversation had with Stewart, then it would make no difference. But while he was in pursuit of the information for which he went there, Stewart would have no right to throw unreasonable obstacles in his way to prevent his procuring the information that he sought and that he desired. If the testimony satisfies you that they did go there together, while Clay was making efforts to procure the information which he did, and while he was in pursuit of it, and while he was on the right track, Stewart would have no right to throw him off the scent, so to speak, and prevent him in any fraudulent and improper way from procuring the information desired, and, if he did that, that itself is making, or equal to making, false and fraudulent representations for the purpose in question. But if Stewart did none of these things, then, of course, what is now said has no application."

"In reference to that point, I feel it my duty to say this to the jury: that if the testimony satisfies you that after all the documents in question that have been introduced in evidence here went into the hands of the home company in Scotland, where it had its office, and where it usually transacted its business, if it was not satisfied with what appears in those papers, and if it did not see proper to base its judgment and action on the information that those papers contained, but nevertheless sent Clay to Wyoming to investigate the facts and circumstances connected with the transaction, to ascertain the number". In determining whether Stewart made misrepresentations about the number of cattle or the loss upon his herd or the calf brand of 1882, the jury will take into consideration the documents made by Stewart prior to and upon the sale -- namely the power of attorney to Tait, the descriptive letter, the optional contract, letter to Majors, schedules made by Street, provisional agreement and prospectus, and his statements to Clay, if the jury finds he made any, upon Clay's inspection trip, and if the jury find that in any of these statements there were any material misrepresentations on which plaintiff relied, believing the same, which has resulted to the damage of the plaintiff, the plaintiff is entitled to recover for such damage."

If the jury find from the evidence that Stewart purposely kept silent when he ought to have spoken and informed Clay of material facts, or find that by any language or acts he intentionally misled Clay about the number of cattle in the herd, or the number of calves branded in the spring of 1882, or by any acts of expression or by silence consciously misled or deceived Clay, or permitted him to be misled or deceived, then the jury will be justified in finding that Stewart made material misrepresentations, and must find for the plaintiff, if the plaintiff believed and relied upon the representations made by the defendant."

The judge, at the beginning and end of his charge, stated to the jury the substance of the allegations in the petition as the only grounds for a recovery in this action; and at the defendant's request, fully instructed them upon the general rules of law applicable to actions of this description, and gave, among others, the following instructions:". In order to recover on the ground of false representations, such false representations must be shown to be of a then existing matter of fact material to the transaction, and no expression of opinion or judgment or estimation not involving the assertion of an unconditional fact can constitute actionable false representation, and in such case the jury must find for the defendant on the first count in the petition."

" In order to justify a recovery, it must be shown by proof that the plaintiff's agent relied upon the alleged false representations and made them the ground and basis of his report, but that he was so circumstanced as to justify him in so relying upon and placing confidence in said representations, and if it appears that he had other knowledge or had received other representations and statements conflicting therewith sufficient to raise reasonable doubts as to the correctness of such representations, then there can be no recovery on the first count."

The judge, of his own motion, further instructed the jury that they were to decide upon the comparative weight of the conflicting testimony of Clay and of the defendant, and added:
"It seems to me that the first count must hinge upon that one point, because if there was no statement made by Stewart to Clay with reference to the number of calves that were branded during this trip of inspection of the ranch, then it seems to me that the whole theory which underlies the claim of the plaintiff must be an erroneous one."

Taking all the instructions together, we are of opinion that they conform to the well settled law, and that there is no ground for supposing that the jury can have been misled by any of the instructions excepted to.

In an action of deceit, it is true that silence as to a material fact is not necessarily, as matter of law, equivalent to a false representation. But mere silence is quite different from concealment. Aliud est tacere, aliud celare -- a suppression of the truth may amount to a suggestion of falsehood. And if, with intent to deceive, either party to a contract of sale conceals or suppresses a material fact which he is in good faith bound to disclose, this is evidence of and equivalent to a false representation, because the concealment or suppression is in effect a representation that what is disclosed is the whole truth. The gist of the action is fraudulently producing a false impression upon the mind of the other party, and if this result is accomplished, it is unimportant whether the means of accomplishing it are words or acts of the defendant or his concealment or suppression of material facts not equally within the knowledge or reach of the plaintiff.

The case of Laidlaw v. Organ, 2 Wheat. 178, is much in point. In an action by the buyer of tobacco against the sellers to recover possession of it, there was evidence that before the sale the buyer, upon being asked by Girault, one of the sellers, whether there was any news which was calculated to enhance its price or value, was silent, although he had received news, which the seller had not, of the Treaty of Ghent. The court below, "there being no evidence that the plaintiff had asserted or suggested anything to the said Girault calculated to impose upon him with respect to the said news and to induce him to think or believe that it did not exist," directed a verdict for the plaintiff. Upon a bill of exceptions to that direction, this Court, in an opinion delivered by Chief Justice Marshall, held that while it could not be laid down as a matter of law that the intelligence of extrinsic circumstances which might influence the price of the commodity, and which was exclusively within the knowledge of the vendee, ought to have been communicated by him to the vendor, yet at the same time, each party must take care not to say or do anything tending to impose upon the other, and that the absolute instruction of the judge was erroneous, and the question whether any imposition was practiced by the vendee upon the vendor ought to have been submitted to the jury.

The instructions excepted to in the case at bar clearly affirmed the same rule. The words and conduct relied on as amounting to false representations were those of the seller of a large herd of cattle, ranging over an extensive territory and related to the number of the herd itself, of which he had full knowledge or means of information not readily accessible to a purchaser coming from abroad, and the plaintiff introduced evidence tending to show that the defendant, while going over the ranch with the plaintiff's agent, made positive false representations as to the number of calves branded during the year and also fraudulently prevented him from procuring other information as to the number of calves, and consequently as to the number of cattle on the ranch.

In giving the fourteenth instruction, the judge expressly declined to say that if the defendant prevented the plaintiff's agent from prosecuting inquiries which might have led to information that less than 2,000 calves had been branded, such acts of the defendant would amount in law to misrepresentations, but, on the contrary, submitted to the jury the question whether the defendant fraudulently and improperly prevented the plaintiff's agent from procuring the information demanded, and only instructed them that if he did, that was making, or equal to making, false and fraudulent representations for the purpose in question.
So the clear meaning of the sixteenth instruction is that the jury were not authorized to find material misrepresentations by the defendant unless he purposely kept silent as to material facts which it was his duty to disclose, or by language or acts purposely misled the plaintiff's agent about the number of cattle in the herd or the number of calves branded, or, by words or silence, knowingly misled or deceived him, or knowingly permitted him to be misled or deceived in regard to such material facts, and in one of these ways purposely produced a false impression upon his mind.

The defendant objects to the fifteenth instruction that the judge submitted to the jury the question whether the defendant made misrepresentations about the number of cattle, and about the loss upon the herd as well as about the calf brand of 1882. It is true that the principal matter upon which the testimony was conflicting was whether the defendant did make the representation that 2,800 calves had been branded in that year. But the chief importance of that misrepresentation, if made, was that it went to show that the herd of cattle which produced the calves was less numerous than the defendant had represented, and the petition alleged that the defendant made false and fraudulent representations both as to the number of calves branded and as to the number of the whole herd. So evidence of the loss of cattle by death beyond what had been represented by the defendant tended to show that the herd was less in number than he represented.

The remaining objection argued is to an instruction given by the judge to the jury in response to a question asked by them upon coming into court after they had retired to consider their verdict. It is a conclusive answer to this objection that no exception was taken to this instruction at the time it was given or before the verdict was returned. The fact that neither of the counsel was then present affords no excuse. Affidavits filed in support of a motion for a new trial are no part of the record on error unless made so by bill of exceptions. The absence of counsel while the court is in session at any time between the impaneling of the jury and the return of the verdict cannot limit the power and duty of the judge to instruct the jury in open court on the law of the case as occasion may require, nor dispense with the necessity of seasonably excepting to his rulings and instructions, nor give jurisdiction to a court of error to decide questions not appearing of record.

Judgment affirmed.

1890  A butcher in Merino was arrested for stealing cattle.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1903  The Battle of Lightning Creek occurred in Weston County Wyoming when Sheriff William Miller and a party of men under his leadership, having already arrested twelve Sioux in the area for hunting violations, engaged in a firefight with Sioux under Chief Charley Smith.  Miller, Deputy Louis Falkenberg and Chief Smith died in the battle.  Nine Sioux men alleged to have participated, and twelve women, were later arrested by Crook County Sheriff Deputy Lee Miller, but they were released for lack of evidence.

1916   The Wyoming Tribune for October 31, 1916: Wyoming Guard returning?
 

On the last day of October, the Wyoming Tribune was reporting rumors that the Wyoming and Colorado National Guard would be returning to Wyoming to muster out.

A big Russian offensive in the war was big news, and the Tribune was campaigning for the Republican candidates.

1918 October becomes the deadliest month of the 1918 Flu Epidemic in the US.

Amongst those who would be infected by the disease was my great aunt Ulpha, who did not die immediately of it, but who was so weakened that she would never recover, and would die a few years later.

1918  Countdown on the Great War, October 30, 1918: French reach the Aisne, Central Powers collapse in the Balkans, Revolution in Hungary, the war stops in the Middle East

1.  French forces reached the Aisne River.

2.  In the Balkans the Italians and French took Shkoder Albania, while the Serbs took Podgorica, Montenegro.

3.  Combat stopped in the Middle East with the formal surrender of the Ottoman Empire.

In Cheyenne they learned of the Ottoman's quitting. . . and also the residence problems of the former Governor Osborne.

They learned the same in Laramie. . . where nurses were being called due to the flu and the next conscription cohort was being notified.

4.  Hungarian revolutionaries seized public buildings and King Charles IV was forced to recognize the success of the coup.  Austro Hungaria as a political entity was effectively over.

1922  Anthony Raich of Kemmerer is granted a patent for a Lunch Pail.

1938 The day after his "War of the Worlds" broadcast had panicked radio listeners, Orson Welles expressed "deep regret" but also bewilderment that anyone had thought the show was real.

1941 U-552 sinks USS Reuben James (DD-245), the first US ship lost in WW II, although the ship, which was assigned to escort duty and was based at Hvalfjordur, Iceland, was not in a declared war from the US prospective. The sinking is memorialized in a Woody Guthrie song, set to the tune of Wildwood Flower. The sinking itself was a case of mistaken identity, as the ship's profile was essentially identical to some US ships transferred earlier to the British. The crew of the U-552 didn't realize for several days that they had sunk an American vessel, and only learned of that by way of a British radio broadcast.

Have you heard of a ship called the good Reuben James
Manned by hard fighting men both of honor and fame?
She flew the Stars and Stripes of the land of the free
But tonight she's in her grave at the bottom of the sea.

Tell me what were their names, tell me what were their names,
Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James?
What were their names, tell me, what were their names?
Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James

Well, a hundred men went down in that dark watery grave
When that good ship went down only forty-four were saved.
'Twas the last day of October we saved the forty-four
From the cold ocean waters and the cold icy shore.

It was there in the dark of that uncertain night
That we watched for the U-boats and waited for a fight.
Then a whine and a rock and a great explosion roared
And they laid the Reuben James on that cold ocean floor.

Now tonight there are lights in our country so bright
In the farms and in the cities they're telling of the fight.
And now our mighty battleships will steam the bounding main
And remember the name of that good Reuben James.

1942  Birth of Wyoming educator and politician, Tom Walsh (death January 1, 2010), in Thermopolis Wyoming.

1942.  Residents of the town of Parco voted to change the name of the town to Sinclair.

1942 Production of new typewriters ceased in the United States as manufacturers had switched over to war materials.

1945  Wyoming Game and Fish agents Bill Lakanen and Don Simpson were shot and killed responding to a report of poaching in the Rawlins, Wyoming area. They are two of five Wyoming Game and Fish employees to be killed in the line of duty.  Their case is particularly unique as there was at least a suspicion that their killer, a native German known to be sympathetic with recently defeated Nazi Germany, and there had been some earlier reports of interior radio traffic in the general region (a very broad area) directed towards German receipt regarding the weather, a fact useful to submarines.  This, however, was not proven to be anything, and the FBI did not track down the source of the alleged broadcast.  The suspected killer was never found, but was believed to be inside a cabin located where the Game Wardens were killed.

1996 The State of Wyoming's lease on Ft. Bridger concludes.  The following day the property passed into the ownership fo the Fort Bridger Historical Association..

1999 Samuel Knight chosen as Wyoming's Citizen of the Century by  the University of Wyoming's American Heritage Center.  Knight was a long time and influential geology professor at the University.

2007 A 4.0 earthquake occurred 93 miles from Riverton.