Oregon Trail and Bill Hooker Markers, Converse County, Wyoming.

This spot along Wyoming State Highway 96 in Converse County, Wyoming has two historical markers, one for the Oregon Trail and another for pioneer Bill Hooker.

The Oregon Trail marker is unusual in that it isn't located on the Oregon Trail, but four miles to the south of the course of the trail. This would place the rail on State Highway 91, which was discussed in a memorial we posted earlier this week.  The State must have saw fit to place a marker on the more traveled Highway 93, which is near where the Interstate Highway presently is.  The same marker notes the location of Ft. Fetterman, seven miles to the north.  The marker was placed in 1943, by which time the older highway was no doubt more or less only a county road.

The same location also has a marker for pioneer freighter Bill Hooker, who later authored a book about his experiences as a bull whacker in Wyoming.  There is also apparently a marker at Hookers old cabin, which I wasn't aware of at the time that I took this photo. This 1931 marker predates the Oregon Trail marker.

Hooker was still living at the time that this marker was placed and the man responsible for placing it, F. W. LaFrentz, was a pioneer in his own right, being an early member of the legislature and being in the Territorial Legislature.  He's was the man who introduced the petition for statehood in the Territorial Legislature.

Junction of the Oregon Trail and Fetterman Road, Converse County, Wyoming.

These photographs depict the 1916 dated memorial to the junction of the Oregon Trail and the Fetterman Road.

The monument is located on Cold Springs Road, State Highway 91, just outside of Douglas, Wyoming, on a road that obviously saw more traffic in former days.  As these photographs attest to, the monument has endured significant weathering over the years.

Indeed, it's now very hard to read.

The monument states:

THIS MONUMENT

marks the junction

of the Oregon Trail

and road to Old Ft.

Fetterman nine

miles north of this

spot established

July 19, 1867 abandoned

May 2, 1882. 

Erected by the State

Of Wyoming and

citizens of Converse

County to commemorate

the early history of

Wyoming

1916

This would place the monument in the early series of Wyoming historical markers, a large number of which were located along the Oregon Trail.

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 16

534   A second and final revision of the Codex Justinianus is published.   Compiling Roman law proved to be a difficult chore due to the many different versions of it in regards to any one particular topic.  While Roman law provides comparatively little basis for modern American law, outside of Louisiana, it was not wholly without influence to some degree.  The codification of the Roman law in Roman times provided the basis, later for the codification of French law under Napoleon.

1887  Legendary photographer of Wyoming, Charles Belden, born in California.

 

1878  The Commissary at Fort Fetterman listed the supplies on hand as being: 195 lbs. of turkey, 140 of codfish, and 11 lbs. of cherries. Date: Attribution:  Wyoming Historical Calendar.

 

1917   November 16, 1917: All the Distressing News. US Back in Mexico, in Combat in Europe, flag shaming in Lander, and Temptation in Philadelphia

The Laramie Boomerang correctly noted that the United States had crossed back into Mexico, but just right across the border.  This was something that the US would end up doing in a worried fashion for years, showing that while the Punitive Expedition might be over, armed intervention, to a degree, in Mexico, was not.

At the same time, the press was really overemphasizing US combat action in Europe. The US wouldn't really be fighting much for weeks and weeks.

And the on again, off again, hope that the Japanese would commit to ground action was back on again.

Meanwhile, in Lander, things were getting really ugly.  "German sympathizers" were being made to kiss the flag.

That probably didn't boost their loyalty any.

Villas expanding plans were also being noted. And, also, The Temptation Rag, a film, was being reported on, on the front page, something that takes a true scandal to occur now.

1942   Wyoming Senator Harry H. Schwartz introduced bill to protect Western stockmen from wartime eminent domain losses. 

 

1945  USS Laramie decommissioned. 

 

1973     President Richard M. Nixon signed the Alaska Pipeline measure into law.

 

1982  The Jahnke murder occurred in Cheyenne, in which Richard Janke Jr., aided by his sister, killed his abusive father. The murder was later the basis of a television movie entitled Right to Kill.

 

1993  A magnitude 3.5 earthquake occurred about 65 miles from Sheridan. 

 

2002  Tom Farris, who had been born in Casper Wyoming, and who had played football for three years in the National Football League following World War Two, died.

 

2015  In keeping with a request from President Obama, Governor Mead ordered flags in the state to fly at half mast until sundown, November 19, in honor of the dead of the recent terrorist attack in Paris.

August 23

1842  John C. Fremont carved his name on Independence Rock.

1868  Episcopal Bishop Randall consecrated St. Mark's Parish in Cheyenne, the first known consecration of a church in Wyoming.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1942  Martha Hanson, age 45, was mauled by a bear at Yellowstone National Park near her tourist cabin. She would die from her injuries on the 27th.

1944 The landing gear of a B-17 collapsed at the Cheyenne Modification Center, but nobody was injured. Cheyenne is significant in the history of the B-17 as the Cheyenne Modification Center developed a special nose turret for the bomber which was known as the Cheyenne Turret.

1949  The Wyoming Stock Growers Association donated a collection of its historic materials to the University of Wyoming.  Attribution: Wyoming State Historical Society.

1965  State dedicates restored buildings at Ft. Fetterman. This does not mean that the entire post was restored.  Only two restored buildings are present.  They are used to house displays.  The foundations of other buildings are clearly visible, but all down to ground level.

1990 US began to call up of 46,000 reservists to the Persian Gulf.

2012  Governor Mead signs Wyoming Archaeology Awareness Month proclamation.

July 31

1867  Ft. Fetterman given that name.  It was only in its second week of existence.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1868  Ft. Phil Kearny abandoned.

From:   Some Gave All:  Ft. Phil Kearny, Wyoming 

These are monuments at Ft. Phil Kearny, the command which suffered defeat at the Fetterman Fight, but endured an attack later at the Wagon Box Fight.

This blog does not attempt to document battlefields photographically, and the same is true of historic sites. For this reason, this entry does not attempt to depict all of Ft. Phil Kearny. Those wishing to see more photos of the post should look here. Rather, this only attempts to depict a few things topical to this blog.

The monument depicted above is an early one, placed by the State of Wyoming well before any archeology on the post had been done, and very little about its grounds was known. Now, because of archeology on the site, this monument is in a location where it is probably only rarely viewed.


These photographs depict a common device for historic sites in Wyoming, a pipe used for sighting a distant location. In this case, the location is the location of the post cemetery. The cemetary originally held the bodies of the soldiers, and civilians, killed at the Fetterman Fight, but the bodies were later removed to the national cemetery at Little Big Horn.

1892  Legendary Wyoming geologist and University of Wyoming geology professor, Samuel H. Knight, born.  His parents moved to Laramie in 1893, so he was associated with Laramie his entire life, save for attending Columbia for his doctorate, and his service in World War One.  The geology building at the University of Wyoming is named after him.

1898  Wyoming volunteers, the Wyoming Battalion, land at Manila and disembark from the Ohio.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1899  The Wyoming Battalion, having been in the Philippines for exactly one year, embarked on the Grant at Manila and started their journey home. Attribution:  On This Day.

1914  Twenty-five Yellowstone coaches robbed.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1914     The New York Stock Exchange closed due to the outbreak of World War I.

1916   The Wyoming Tribune for July 31, 1916.
 

Cheyenne's more dramatic paper, the Wyoming Tribune, with a grim headline for July 31, 1916.

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Headlines like this one almost seem like something that's more from our own era, so perhaps it serves to remind us that giant natural disasters have been around for awhile.

The Wyoming National  Guard was still awaiting orders in that hot 1916 July.

1918  A milestone in aviation history: Aviators parachute from from moving aircraft in France. . . .and Texas. 

It was reported that on this day, in 1918, a French aviator, and an American one, both experimented with parachuting from moving aircraft.

Like all things aviation,  parachutes were advancing fairly rapidly under the pressure of World War One. They'd already been introduced for balloon crewmen, who could parachute out of balloons in combat scenarios.  Indeed, they typically did so when it became apparent a balloon was about to be attacked, as they had to put the parachute harness on in order to get out. They did not simply routinely wear it.  But up until this point in the war, it had not been the case that aviators wore parachutes or even could.

Indeed, it would not become standard until after the war.  While these experiments proved it could be done, it remained the case that wearing an early parachute in an early airplane was not easy to do, and indeed, was largely impractical for the most part.

Meanwhile, in the other local newspaper, the news was all about oil. . . and natural gas.

Indeed, this paper has a number of interesting things reported in it in the energy news that would predict the future.  Gasoline was coming on. . . but natural gas was arriving and replacing coal.

1919  Sportscaster Curt Gowdy born in Green River.

1930 The radio program The Shadow airs for the first time.

1937  Wyoming deeded Ft. Laramie to the Federal Government. Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1943  The USS Sheridan, APA-51, an attack transport, commissioned.

1981     A seven-week strike by major league baseball players ended.

2003   Ft. Yellowstone designated a National Historic Landmark. Attribution:  On This Day.

2003  Jackson Lake Lodge designated a National Historic Landmarks. Attribution:  On This Day.

2006  Casper's Jonah Bank received its certificate of Federal Deposit insurance, essentially marking the commencement of its operations.

July 19

1814         Samuel Colt, firearms inventor, born.

1864  The USS Wyoming returned to a U.S. port after extended service in the Far East, which she would soon see again.

1867.  The Army commences construction of Ft. Fetterman.  The fort is located on a windy bluff overlooking the Platte River.  The site requires those detailed to walk some distance to water, and for a period of time the post would have the highest insanity rate in the Army.

1877  .Union Pacific employees wrote Yale paleontologist William Carlin about the discovery of fossils at Como Bluff.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1885  Owen Wister takes his legendary snooze on the counter of the general store at Medicine Bow, while waiting for a train.  The Philadelphia born Wister, was very well educated and had hoped for a career in music, but instead obtained a law degree from Harvard due to the urging of his father.  He practiced law in Philadelphia.  During that period he commenced vacationing in the West, with his first trip to Wyoming being this one, in 1885.  It would lead to his legendary book, The Virginian. Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1890  Laramie granted a franchise for a street railway.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1907  Isabel Jewell born in Shoshoni.  Jewell was a successful Broadway and screen actress in the 1930s and 1940s.

1918  The headline says it all. Laramie Boomerang, July 19, 1918.

1922 Cheyenne's mayor banned the sale of firearms during a railroad strike.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1923 Wednesday, July 18, 1923. Special Session Ends.

The Special Session of the Legislature was already over.

Bet it wouldn't be that quick now.

And the shocking murder trial resulting from the shooting of a woman in a car which would not dim its lights, at the hands of law enforcement, was set for September.

1924  Stan Hathaway born in Osceola, Nebraska.  He was raised by an aunt and uncle in Hunley Wyoming after his mother died when he was two, and was the valedictorian of Huntley High School in 1941.  He served in the Army Air Corps in World War Two, became a lawyer after the war, and was elected governor in 1967.  He was briefly the Secretary of the Interior under President Gerald Ford.

1925  A collection of farm and ranch photographs was taken.

1964  The Swan Land and Cattle Company Headquarters was designated a National Historic Landmark.  Attribution:  On This Day.

2012  W. N. "Neil" McMurry, a giant in Wyoming's heavy construction industry for many years, and a significant figure in the oil and gas industry in his later years, died.  His activities in these fields were particularly noticeable in Casper, where foundations related to his activities had a significant impact on the area.

May 27

1837         James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok, born in Homer Illinois.

1870  Indians who raided a Kansas Pacific construction crew on the 13th crossed the Union Pacific near Antelope with cavalry under Forsythe in pursuit.

1876.  The Powder River Expedition leaves Ft. Fetterman.

1893  The first electric lights in Sheridan were turned on at the Sheridan Inn.

 The Sheridan Inn, in 2012.

1898  Troop F 2nd U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, c0ming from Rock Springs, Green River and Cheyenne, mustered in at Fort Russell.  Officers and men were:  Willis F. Hoadley, Captain; Leonard L. Deitrick, first lieutenant; Thomas J. King, second lieutenant; Frank Kidd, first sergeant; Daniel B. Shields, quartermaster sergeant; John A. Jackson, George E. Artist, George Landenberger, George D. Solomon, William A. Crawford and Jeremiah Maly, sergeants; John W. Peters, Bert McClure, Angus J. Matheson, Jacob L. Parrott, Frank C. Wells, Melville W. James, Josiah H. Eardley and John E. O'Riley, corporals; Frank J. Gunther and Edward F. Ely, trumpeters; Lucius A. Place, saddler: James Paulson, wagoner.  Troopers–Benjamin Benz, Joseph Bird, Henry C. Bloom, John N. Bodendick, John E. Brooks, Samuel K. Brown, Morrison Chester, Charles W. Cole, Bert Collins, Thomas Craig, Allison Davis, Walter Durbin, Albert B. Ekdall, Max Fairbanks, William Farley, Rufus E. Garner, Frederick Hagen, Patrick W. Haley, Frank O. Johnson, Leo Leffler, Milton M Lewis, George H. McBride, James W. McGuire, Robert McKlem. Arthur Maher. Robert Manassa, Philip Michaels, William D. Moffatt, John Muir, Robert Myers, Charles O'Brien, William O'Brien, James H. Patterson, Harry N. Pauley, Walter J. Peckham, Emile Peterson, Edward Petteys, Charles A. Pierson, Ellsworth Porter, Lawrence Riordan, George G. Robinson, George W. Sadlier, Adolph C. Saunders, Edward G. Schoel, Benjamin Smith, Edgar M. Smith, Eugen Tiberghein, Frederick O. Wale.

1908   Congress passes the “Second Dick Act", part of a series of statutes that fully establish the National Guard as the reserve of the Army.  This was part  of a significant reform movement in this direction at this time, backed by National Guardsmen, who feared that the alternative was to be relegated to a species of state police for strike breaking.

Co. C. Wyoming National Guard, 1916, Powell Wyoming.

1911    Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey was born in Wallace, S.D.

1918  The Kaiserschlacht Carries on. May 27, 1918. Operation Blücher-Yorck.

Operation Blücher-Yorck.

 The big picture again.  This time, having failed to push the British into the sea, the Germans turned their attention to the region where British forces and French forces met, with a diversionary drive on Paris.  This "third German drive" was as successful in terms of gaining ground as the first German drive was, and it threatened Paris even as a diversion.

On May 27, 1918, after two full months since the spring offensive first began, the Germans launched Operation  Blücher-Yorck against the French near the River Aisne.  It became a straight drive towards Paris designed to split the French and British forces from each other and cause the British to divert forces to save the French capitol.  The offensive used the same set of assumptions that the Germans had about their enemies earlier in the spring, namely that the British were the real threat.  The attack, therefore, was a large scale diversion.  While designed to put pressure on the French, in reality the main blow fell against British units that had been in the line in this relatively more quiet sector.  French failures to design a realistic defense lead to initial German success.

The Germans did in fact break through at the gap between French and British forces and their drive towards Paris was remarkably successful.  The Germans in fact continued to advance up until March 6.  During this phase of the Spring Offensive American troops began to be deployed against the Germans in strength and in fact the US 1st Division launched its own offensive on May 28 at Cantigny.  This signaled the beginning of the large-scale use of American troops in the war.  Losses on each side were again roughly equal, with the Allies loosing 137,000 men and the Germans 160,000.

Of course, at this point the Germans didn't really have the men to loose.  But given the commitment they had made and the state of the war, they no longer really had an option. . . other than trying to come to the table.

1919  May 27, 1919: The Peace Conference waits on the Germans, Wyoming troops wait on discharge, Tragedy in Casper.

David Lloyd George, Vittorio Orlando, Georges Clemenceau and Woodrow Wilson in Paris, May 27, 1919.  Of interest, only Orlando wears the Edwardian suit, a somewhat less formal alternative to formal dress clothes. Everyone else were's morning coats, which were not i the nature of tuxedos today, but conventional formal wear.

The peace conference continued on with the question still being, would Germany sign, or not?

The Wyoming State Tribune was reporting that British and American Marines had been landed, as a result of the uncertainty, in Danzig.  I've never read that claim before and I frankly wonder if its correct.

In the same issue, a building story about the perception that troops from the West were not being mustered out as quickly as those from elsewhere was reported on.

And the news that the NC-4 had nearly made it to Portugal was featured.

It was also featured in the Casper paper, which also had the story about Western troops. The big news in Casper, however, was a tragic explosion near town.

It wasn't Memorial Day, like it is now, but the weather was certainly more holiday like.  Casper was enjoying a warm spell in 1919.  It isn't now.

 Seattle, May 27, 1919.

Seattle Washington was photographed.

1920   Frank A. Hadsell becomes warden of the State Penitentiary.

1929   Pen used by President Coolidge to sign the bill creating Grand Teton National Park donated to State Museum.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1941  President Roosevelt proclaimed an "unlimited national emergency"..

1944 Roy Rogers bought a horse to act as a Trigger stand in, in Lusk Wyoming.

 

2011 The Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum had the grand opening of their new museum.

2013  Memorial Day for 2013.

2019  Memorial Day for 2019.

2020 Pandemic, Part Two.  Governor Gordon issues new quarantine orders and cancellation of rodeos occurs.

May 28, 2020

Governor Gordon issued a new series of modifications to his existing quarantine orders, with some of the modifications being quite extensive.

Outdoor gatherings up to 250 persons to be permitted under new health orders

 

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Governor Mark Gordon has announced that updated public health orders effective June 1 will ease restrictions on public gatherings, allowing outdoor gatherings of up to 250 people.

The updated orders allow for outdoor events to occur with social distancing and increased sanitization measures in place. Sporting events, rodeos and other events will be permitted to have up to 250 spectators in attendance, in addition to the event participants.  

"It’s time we had the chance to enjoy summer,” Governor Gordon said. “The ability to gather outdoors in larger groups will be good for Wyoming citizens, businesses and our communities as we enter the season. We are not out of the woods yet though, so please use good judgement and don’t jeopardize yourself and others by acting recklessly. We want to keep moving forward.”

Hosts and organizers of these outdoor events are asked to screen staff for symptoms of COVID-19 and ensure adequate personal protective equipment is available. Food and beverage services at outdoor gatherings are required to follow the provision for restaurants outlined in Public Health Order No. 1.

Indoor events and gatherings, other than religious gatherings and other exemptions listed in the order, will continue to be restricted to groups of 25 or fewer. No significant changes are being made to the updated Public Health Orders 1 and 3.

Updated copies of all three Public Health Orders are attached and can be found on the Wyoming's COVID-19 website. 

--END--

 

• Fifth Continuation and Modification of Statewide Public Health Order #1.pdf

• Fifth Continuation and Modification of Statewide Order #3.pdf

• Fifth Continuation and Modification of Statewide Public Health Order #2.pdf

One of the significant changes, we'd note, is that churches are now allowed to reopen to groups larger than 25 in number, with certain social distancing provisions in place.  Restrictions on Communion were lifted, with guidance.

Governor Gordon also expressed his disappointment on the cancellation of a variety of rodeos around the state.

Governor Gordon expresses disappointment that Wyoming's 6 largest rodeos are cancelled in 2020 

Governor stands with event organizers to support their decision

 

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon and representatives from the state’s largest rodeos announced today that six of Wyoming’s large rodeos and events will not take place in 2020. This decision factored in economics, health concerns and logistics.  

The cancellation decision was made collectively and includes the Thermopolis Cowboy Rendezvous PRCA Rodeo in late June as well the Cody Stampede, Central Wyoming Fair & PRCA Rodeo in Casper, the Sheridan WYO Rodeo and Breakaway Roping, Laramie Jubilee Days, and Cheyenne Frontier Days, all scheduled for July. 

“This hurts. I grew up with rodeo and it is part of Wyoming’s fabric and our culture,” Governor Gordon said. “All the rodeos impacted today are fabulous events. It is with a heavy heart, and only after many long discussions with these fine folks on ways we could make large-venue rodeos work, did we realize that it just wasn’t going to be possible this year.” 

The Governor and his staff met with rodeo committee members from Cody, Sheridan, Thermopolis, Laramie, Casper and Cheyenne over the past several weeks to consider potential social distancing measures, entrance and exit plans, and other possibilities to ensure safely staging rodeos, parades, carnivals and concerts. 

Flanked by representatives of all six rodeos, the Governor said that after several weeks of evaluation, discussions, and considerations of every possible scenario, it was clear that there was no safe or economically viable path forward at this time for these events. 

“The health and safety of our fans, volunteers, contestants and first responders is our primary concern.” the Governor emphasized. “I know what this means for rodeo, for our communities and to Wyoming’s summer. The financial and emotional impacts are immense. But it’s the right thing to do. We are committed to doing all we can to ensure smaller rodeos and events will still be able to occur." 

While these six Western celebrations are not possible in 2020, there is a statewide commitment to returning stronger than ever in 2021. A video message from organizers of all six events can be found here. 

Contact information for each of the rodeos follows below:  

Thermopolis Cowboy Rendezvous

Contact:  T.J. Owsley; thermopolisprca@gmail.com ; 307-921- 0534

www.thermopoliscowboyrendezvous.com

 

Cody Stampede

Contact:  Mike Darby; michaelsdarby@hotmail.com; 307 250 1259

www.codystampederodeo.com

 

Central Wyoming Fair & Rodeo

Contact:  Tom Jones; t_jones@centralwyomingfair.com; (307) 258-3886

www.centralwyomingfair.com

 

Sheridan Wyo Rodeo

Contact:  Billy Craft; bcraft@craftco.com; 307-751-1831

www.sheridanwyorodeo.com

 

Laramie Jubilee Days

Contact:  Guy Warpness; gwarp59@gmail.com; 307-760-8777

Laramiejubileedays.org                                                                                                  

 

Cheyenne Frontier Days                               

Contact:  Nicole Gamst; nicole@cfdrodeo.com; 307 778 7210                              

www.cfdrodeo.com

--END--

The lifting of some restrictions combined with the cancellations expresses the interesting dual approach to things that is currently occuring in the state. As the state lifts restrictions every couple of weeks, individual cities and entities are continuing to cancel events. Now nearly every significant rodeo in the state has been cancelled for the season, an event which followed the earlier cancellation of the college rodeo finals.

The cancellation of the rodeo finals resulted in the postponement of the AOPA fly in to 2021.  Also postponed were the performances scheduled for this year's Natrona County Beartrap festival, as it was cancelled.

So while businesses and institutions are allowed to open up, annual events are largely being postponed.

There is of course a resulting economic impact from big events being cancelled.  According to the Tribune, the county will lose $4,000,000 in lost revenues due to the fair and rodeo being cancelled.  But a person has to wonder, as we will in a separate thread, what attendance would have been actually like this year.  With restrictions lifted around the state some large gatherings are occurring nationally, while in other places people have been slow to return.

A nationwide poll that was conducted surprisingly indicates that only 50% of Americans would receive a vaccination, if one is developed. That would mean that with existing infections it'd still be questionable if the United States reached herd immunity.

That's really stunning under the circumstances. During this crisis there's been a fair amount of shaming of people who haven't worn masks or who failed to self isolate.  Whether or not those things are justified or not, a public reaction against those who would not vaccinate, and who therefore are really voting to keep the pandemic going, would be legitimate.

May 18

1846         American troops capture Matamoros.

1868   Fort Morgan Colorado is abandoned.  It's garrison is transferred to Fort Laramie.

1874  Captain F. Van Vliet, Company C, 3rd Cavalry, who was, at that time stationed at Ft. Fetterman, Wyoming,  wrote the Adjutant General requesting that his company be transferred because there was "...no opportunity for procuring fresh vegetables, and gardens are a failure. There is no female society for enlisted men...the enlisted men of the company are leaving very much dissatisfied, as they look upon being held so long at this post as an unmerited punishment...whenever men get to the railroad there are some desertions caused by dread of returning to this post..."

Ft. Fetterman was a hardship post and had the highest rate of insanity in the Frontier Army.  Attribution on quote:  On This Day.

1882.  Ft. Sanders, near Laramie, abandoned.  By this point in time those forts built principally to defend the Union Pacific railroad were no longer needed for multiple reasons, one being the ability of the railroad to transport troops.

1887  Cornerstone laid for State Capitol:  Attribution:  On This Day.

State Capitol circa 1950s

1898  Wyoming volunteers for service in the Philippines boarded train for San Francisco.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1898    Troop L, 2nd U.S. Vol Cav, made up of men from around Evanston and Kemmerer mustered into the United States service.  Robert A. Hocker commissioned captain; Edgar D. Shurtliff, first lieutenant; Thomas W. Davies, second lieutenant. The non-commissioned officers were: Charles E. Davis, first sergeant; George Ellis, quartermaster sergeant; Frederick Richardson, Charles Dempsey, A. C. B. Lauder, Lewis C. Marx, Martin J. Cleary and Harry Shepherd, sergeants; Henry B. Dexter, William H. Evans, Henry N. Laskey. Sylvester Whalen, Curtis Durnford, Thomas Fife. Charles F. Coggle and James Walton, corporals; William Morrow, trumpeter; William T. Lane and William R. Welch, farriers; John L. Lee, saddler; Edward C. Sims, wagoner.  Troopers–Harold R. Aniens, Case Bennett, Charles S. Beveridge, John B. Dowdige, William J. L. Carpenter, John C. Christensen, Thomas Cook, William Cook, Ralph Crumbaugh. William P. Darby, Byron C. DeLano, Norman E. Dempsey, George DeVore, Samuel J. Dickey, James Eardley. Dell GeHove, Clarence E. Gimmer, Arthur Goodman, Frank Hall, William P. Hartzell. Clarence Johnson, Joseph Johnson, Peter J. Johnson, Walter M. Johnston. Jonathan Jones, Jr., Frank Kennedy, Henry Lanstring, ClilTord W. Long, Hiram Loveday, Garrett Lowham, Joseph Lowham, William R. Lush, Lewis W. McCarl, Orin McRea, James O. Mansfield, Orson Mathews, William T. Moore, Olaf Naster, Andrew Niemela, Harry Nye, E. Perkins, Glen J. Purdy, Orin Oueal, Arthur L. Quinn, Tohn Reed, Reuben A. Robinson, Henry Scharff', John Simpson, Charles H. Smith, Samuel Stover, Calvin E. Sturm, Jesse M. Taylor, James R. Tennant, Ernest Weeks, Joseph Wilkinson.

1909  During this week, in 1909, the local Casper newspaper reported:

"Ed Gill ... Skips Out and Leaves His Sick Wife.

"Ed Gill, the fakir, dead-beat and all 'round scallawag, who inflicted the citizens of Casper several years with his presence ... and who later joined Bill Cody's Wild West show, ... was married to a young lady at Scranton, Pa., about the first of the year, and last week, after raising a $10 check to $100, ... left his sick wife with numerous unpaid bills. ... (H)e met a great many tenderfeet in the east, and he told them a great cock-and-bull story of how he was a real live sheriff in Wyoming. ... (T)he only time he was sheriff was in his fertile brain when he was guzzling booze. ... His wife writes a most pitiful letter to the TRIBUNE, asking that we assist her to locate him. ... But when, if ever, the wife knows him as well as do the people of Casper, she will be tickled half to death that he has gone. ... He is not fit for any woman to waste tears over."

Seems that not everyone in the Wild West Show was a sterling character.

1911         Porfirio Diaz flees to Paris with gold and mistresses.

1917  The U.S. Congress passed the Selective Service act allowing for the conscription of soldiers.

Congress Passes the Selective Service Act of 1917 and the Wyoming Guard gets the word
 

On this day, in 1917, Congress passed, finally, a much debated selective service act, ushering in a new era of "the draft".

The bill passed was massive and covered a plethora of topics.

At the same time, the mobilized and mobilizing Wyoming National Guard got the news that it would be taken into Federal service in July.

The odd thing about this is that the National Guard in Wyoming, and pretty much everywhere else, had been called out just as soon as war was declared.  But the government did not Federalize it right away.  Another example of how things were quite a bit different in World War One as compared to World War Two.

1918 

Oh oh. . . The Casper Daily Press for May 18, 1918.

Seems the Huns might not be beaten. . .and even optimistic.

1933     The Tennessee Valley Authority was created.