158-year-old Fort Laramie image sparks quest for a nameless girl’s identity

 

158-year-old Fort Laramie image sparks quest for a nameless girl’s identity

Some Gave All: Cheyenne, Ft. Laramie, Deadwood Trail, 1868-1887

Cheyenne, Ft. Laramie, Deadwood Trail, 1868-1887

This post is somewhat off topic here, but this is a marker for the Cheyenne, Ft. Laramie, Deadwood Trail.  The marker is on the old state  highway, but is visible in terms of its location from the present
Interstate Highway.  It's north of Cheyenne.

Wyoming Fact and Fiction: Milton Sublette--The Lost Mountain Man.

Milton Sublette--The Lost Mountain Man.

December 19

1866   Indians attempted to lure a detachment commanded by Captain James Powell into a trap near Ft. Phil Kearny but did not succeed.

1882  The telegraph line between Ft. McKinney and Ft. Laramie became a telephone line.  Attribution.  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1892  A subpoena was issued in the case of Subpoena, State of Wyoming vs. Frank M. Canton, et al., a criminal action following the Johnson County War.  The original is now held by Texas A&M.

1906 This photograph was taken of Pilot Knob.  The date is interesting in that Pilot Knob is quite near Ft. Phil Kearny, and December dates are significant for that reason.

1944  A ridge on Saipan was named after a Casper man.  This information is via the State Archives (from the WSHS) site.  Unfortunately, they don't give the name.

1960  Ft. Phil Kearny designated a National Historic Landmark.

1960  The Sun Ranch was designated a National Historic Landmark.

1977  Nellie Tayloe Ross died at age 101 in Washington D. C.  She was buried alongside her late husband in Cheyenne. She had not, of course, lived in Cheyenne for many years, or even for the most of her long life.  Her years in Washington were considerably longer in extent than those in Wyoming.

 Nellie Tayloe Ross on her Massachusetts' farm.

2016  A recorded gust of wind reached 88 mph on the base of Casper Mountain, a new record 14 mph higher than any previously recorded gust in that location.  Clark Wyoming reported a blast of 108 mph.  It was a very blustery day.

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 12

1867  Peace conference commences at Ft. Laramie, Wyoming.  The goal was to arrive at a peaceful solution to strife between Americans and the northern Plains Indians.

1889  First municipal election in Newcastle. Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1890  First Wyoming State Legislature convened.

1890  The United States government funded a land grant college for Wyoming, which would become the University of Wyoming.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1897  Milward Lee Simpson was born in Jackson.  He grew up in Meeteetse and Cody, served as an infantry lieutenant in World War One, and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1925.   He served as the 23rd Governor of Wyoming from 1955 to 1959, having been narrowly elected in 1954 and having been defeated for reelection in 1958.  He served as U.S. Senator from Wyoming from 1964 to 1967, filling the term of the late Edwin Keith Thomson who died in office.  Simpson was one of only six Republican U.S. Senators to vote against the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  One of his sons is long serving U.S. Senator Alan Simpson.

1916:   Sunday State Leader for November 12, 1916: Guard to remain Federalized, Villa avoids encounter with Carranza's troops.
 

The Laramie Republican for November 12, 1916: Villista outrages at Parral
 

1918  Great War Post Script. November 12, 1918: Mutinous German sailors decide to attack the Allies? Draftees still have to report.

The Cheyenne State Leader was wrong.  German sailors were not mobilizing to set sail to take on the Allies.

No, not even close.

The Casper Daily Press did better on the first post World War One day of 1918.

Like Cheyenne, there'd been a lot of celebrating the prior day.

That next day, however, those who had been selected to report for military training, i.e., conscripted, still had to go, even if the Selective Service System was immediately ceasing to classify men for additional conscription.

1920  November 12, 1920. First and lasts in sports, and in life events.

November 12, 1920: Man o' War's final run

Read about it at the above, an unfortunately seemingly inactive blog.

On the same day, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis was hired as the Commissioner of Major League Baseball, and at the same time the major leagues took on their present organizational form.

This occured, of course, in the wake of the Black Sox Scandal and as part of an effort to address deficiencies in the organization of the sport and clear up its name.

Italy and what would become Yugoslavia entered into the Treaty of Rapallo. The treaty adjusted territorial boundaries between the nations, which had been disputed in the wake of World War One and the creation of the new state.  The new South Slav kingdom and Italy shared populations that were of the ethnicities of the other state. While the treaty did leave few Italians in Yugoslavia, about 500,000 South Slavs remained in what became Italian territory.

The border would be readjusted following World War Two.

Former resident of Cheyenne and teenage lover of Charlie Chaplin, actress Mildred Harris, was granted a divorce from Chaplin.

Harris' sad story, as well as her peculiar role in history (she's at least partially responsible for Wallace Simpson meeting King Edward VIII, has been addressed elsewhere on this blog.

President Wilson refused to sign the execution warrant for Sgt. Anthony F. Tamme, who had been convicted of espionage during World War One.

1981  The Wyoming (Ohio) Historical Society founded.

2012  For this year, Veteran's Day observed in the United States so as to make the day a three day holiday.

In spite of having fought wars in recent years, and in spite of there being an ongoing one currently, this day seems to have reduced in significance in recent years.  It is a Federal Holiday, but not a day that most people have off.  Schools are in session locally.  There are (as is the norm here) no parades.  Even the Star Tribune, which used to feature Veterans and their stories on this day, has only seen fit to run a single photo page commemorating the day.

2015:  Wyoming Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis, in office since January 2009, announced her intent to abstain running for office at the completion of this term.  Two Republicans announced they were interested in running, with one expressing a definite intent to do so, by the end of the day.

2018  Veterans Day for 2018, given that November 11 fell on a Sunday.

October 18

1854 Reciprocity Treaty between the US and Canada comes into effect.

1868 Vigilantes hanged three members of the Asa Moore Gang in Bosler, where some of the gang members owned a bar. One of the gang members, Big Steve Long, asked to leave his boots on, stating:  "My mother always said I'd die with my boots on".  He was lynched with his boots off.

1871  A gunpowder explosion on the Colorado Central saw 600 kegs of powder explode, but with no injuries.

1919  Robert Russin's statute of Lincoln on the Interstate Highway between Laramie and Cheyenne dedicated.  That route was part of the Lincoln Highway at the time, hence the dedication.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1929   The Historical Landmark Commission of Wyoming set up an advisory committee to explore acquiring  the grounds of Ft. Laramie. Attribution:  On This Day.

1931  A Pony Express Historical marker was dedicated at Independence Rock.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1969  The football game between the University of Wyoming and BYU that sparked the protest of the Black 14 occurred.  Wyoming won the game.

1973  Thursday, October 18, 1973. Creeping embargo.

The IDF recrossing the Suez Canal.  The artillery pieces are M107's, a heavy US artillery piece much loved by the IDF. Amos1947, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Saudi Arabia cut its oil production by 10% and threatened to halt all of its oil shipments to the United States unless the US halt aid to Israel.  The United Arab Emirates completely stopped shipments to the U.S.

1984  A 5.5 earthquake occurred about 50 miles from Casper, WY.

1989  The Contract to build  SSBN 742, an Ohio Class nuclear submarine, was awarded to General Dynamic's Electric Boat Division.

August 15

Today is Victory over Japan Day

 VJ Day Crowd in  Times Squire, New York City.

1842  John C. Fremont raised the Stars and Stripes from the top of the Wind River Range, naming the location "Fremont's Peak."

1875  Frank Wolcott, of Johnson County Invasion fame, assumes the office of U.S. Marshall for Wyoming for the second time.

1891  A Laramie cycling club was organized.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1906  Lands ceded the prior year from the Wind River Reservation opened for settlement.

1909  An automobile racer died in a race in Cheyenne when his car struck a cow on the racetrack.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1918 The news of August 15, 1918. UW to form training unit, Conscientious Objectors go to forced labor, and the reappearance of Pancho Villa on the front page.

The Laramie Boomerang was reporting on the war news, including the formation of what would be something basically the equivalent of ROTC.

Ulster, or Northern Ireland, was making a pitch, or rather its politicians were, to Woodrow Wilson as well. And the perennial hopes that the Communists were about to collapse in the Soviet Union made the front page again.

The war also greeted the readers of the Cheyenne State Leader, but with some more sensationalist news.

Were 21 Conscientious Objectors really going to have to go to forced labor on farms and donate their pay to the American Red Cross?  I hope not.

And had Pancho Villa reappeared on the front page.

1919  August 15, 1919. The Motor Transport Convoy reaches Ft. Bridger and tensions rise on the border.

The Motor Transport Convoy left Green River and made 63 miles to Ft. Bridger, opting to stay on the location of that former post. The post had been occupied intermittently since the 1840s, but had been last abandoned by the Army in 1890.

The entry that day was the longest to date because of the diarist interest in a significant engineering project the party undertook.

The trip made the local papers retrospectively.

At the same time, it looked like the tensions on the border with Mexico were about to erupt into war once again.  The Cheyenne, Casper and Laramie newspapers took note of the renewed tensions and didn't take note of the Motor Convoy at all.

Closer to that border, an item for today?

1920  Dedication of St. Anthony of Padua Church in Casper.

St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, Casper Wyoming

This large Roman Catholic Church is located one block from St. Mark's Episcopal Church, the First Presbyterian Church, and the St. Anthony's Convent otherwise pictured on this blog. Built in the late teens and completed in 1920, funds to construct the church were raised from the parishioners.  The church was formally dedicated by Bishop McGovern on August 15, 1920.  The church rectory is next to it, and can be seen in the bottom photograph. To the far right, only partially visible in this photograph, is the Shepherd's Staff, the church offices.

This church served as the only Roman Catholic church in Casper Wyoming up until 1953, when Our Lady of Fatima was opened. The church also currently serves the St. Francis Mission in Midwest Wyoming.

St. Anthony's was recently updated (Spring 2014) to include a Ten Commandments monument.

My parents were married in this church in 1958 and I was baptized here.

The church has, within the entryway, a memorial to its parishioner's killed during World War Two.

I've noticed that this particular entry had tended to remain in the top three of the most observed entries on this blog, not that there's a lot of traffic on this blog. My theory is that people are hitting it looking for the Parish website. That being the case, you can find the parish website by hitting this link here.

 
Epilog:

St. Anthony's recently received a new set of steps. The old cement was decaying after a century of use.  So, as a result, the front of the church now has a slightly different appearance.

1922  Tuesday, August 15, 1922. Germany defaults.

Germany defaulted on its reparations payments.

Released this day with an absurd plot involving vying for the hand of a wealthy Mexican señorita, a virtuous lass back home threatened by the KKK, and a major issue to be determined by a jumping bean contest.

The Casper Daily Tribune ran a cartoon attacking Governor Carey on the front page.

Frankly, even now, I’m shocked.

As can be seen, Casper was expanding in 1922 and the stresses that involved were apparently getting to people.  

1940  Ft. Laramie publicly dedicated as a National Monument.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1942  The first landing at the Casper Air Base took place when Lt. Col. James A. Moore landed a Aeronca at the base.

1945    The Allies proclaimed V-J Day, one day after Japan agreed to surrender unconditionally.  Hirohito's surrender message is broadcast to the Japanese people.  Japanese aircraft raid TF 38, 12 hours after Hirohito's surrender order.  Soviet aircraft sink 860 ton frigate Kenju off Hokkaido; last Japanese warship lost during World War II.A two-day holiday is proclaimed for all federal employees. In New York, Mayor La Guardia pays tribute to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the deceased president, in a radio broadcast.  US Task Force 38 launches massive air strikes on the Tokyo area, encountering numerous Japanese fighters but the aircraft are recalled upon receipt of the surrender announcement. Vice-Admiral Ugaki, commanding Kamikaze operations, leads a final mission but the 7 dive-bombers are shot down off Tokyo before they can reach Okinawa. South Korea was liberated after nearly 40 years of Japanese colonial rule.  US gasoline rationing ends.

1949  Ground breaking for War Memorial Stadium in Laramie.  Attribution:  On This Day.

2001  Pony Express monument unveiled in Casper.

August 1

1839  Austin Texas, the new capital of Texas, held the first sale of town lots for the city.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1845  Gen. Zachary Taylor forces landed on St. Joseph Island to protect Texas from Mexican interference after annexation.  Attribution:  On This Day

1866  The War Department orders the raising of Indian scouts.

1867  Cheyenne attacked a haying party near Fort C.F. Smith, Montana.  Their attack failed as the haying party was armed with .50-70 cartridge rifles, then new, which allowed them to hold off the attack via superior and repeated firepower.  This battle is remembered as the Hayfield Fight and is a significant event in Red Cloud's War..  Attribution:  On This Day.

1870  It was noted that payday increased hospitalization at Ft. Laramie, on this day.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1876  Colorado admitted to the Union as a state.

1885    Louis Riel found guilty of treason and sentenced to death.  The defense had plead insanity, which does seem like a poor strategy under the circumstances.

1897   The Utah & Northern and the Oregon Short Line were consolidated under the name Oregon Short Line.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1915  Automobiles first admitted into Yellowstone National Park.

1916   Cheyenne State Leader for August 1, 1916. Guard getting ready to leave and some leaving the Guard.
 

Cheyenne's less dramatic evening paper was reporting on this day that it expected the National Guard to depart for the border at any moment.   South Dakota's Guard, we read, was in fact off to the border.  There was quiet a bit of dramatic news for Cheyenne residents returning home to their paper that today.

Somewhat surprisingly, the paper actually reported on who was being discharged for physical infirmity, and even giving the name of one who was being discharged on August 1.

Also, perhaps emphasizing the improving relations with Mexico, in spite of the ongoing deployment of the National Guard, Carranza's forces were pursing a five man raiding party that had been earlier pursued by the 8th Cavalry.  Perhaps emphasizing the global outbreak of violence, we read also that Zeppelins had the UK for the third time in a week.

1917  The United States Senate passes the text of the 18th Amendment to be sent to the states for ratification.   It read:

Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all the territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.
Section 2. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

The US entry into World War One spurred prohibition on, oddly enough, over concerns about the exposure to alcohol to young men that military service would bring about.  Congress had already passed a law prohibiting beverage alcohol within so many miles of military reservations, bringing prohibition to Cheyenne due to the presence of Ft. D. A. Russell there, and banning it on U.S. Territories (such as Hawaii), as opposed to states.  The use of grains for distillation had also been banned on the basis that it took valuable grains away from the production of food.

1917         Pope Benedict XV urges "an end to useless slaughter" of World War One.  His statement declared:

TO THE HEADS OF THE BELLIGERENT PEOPLES:

From the beginning of Our Pontificate, amidst the horrors of the terrible war unleashed upon Europe, We have kept before Our attention three things above all: to preserve complete impartiality in relation to all the belligerents, as is appropriate to him who is the common father and who loves all his children with equal affection; to endeavor constantly to do all the most possible good, without personal exceptions and without national or religious distinctions, a duty which the universal law of charity, as well as the supreme spiritual charge entrusted to Us by Christ, dictates to Us; finally, as Our peacemaking mission equally demands, to leave nothing undone within Our power, which could assist in hastening the end of this calamity, by trying to lead the peoples and their heads to more moderate frames of mind and to the calm deliberations of peace, of a "just and lasting" peace.

Whoever has followed Our work during the three unhappy years which have just elapsed, has been able to recognize with ease that We have always remained faithful to Our resolution of absolute impartiality and to Our practical policy of well-doing . We have never ceased to urge the belligerent peoples and Governments to become brothers once more, even although publicity has not been given to all which We have done to attain this most noble end....

First of all, the fundamental point should be that for the material force of arms should be substituted the moral force of law; hence a just agreement by all for the simultaneous and reciprocal reduction of armaments, according to rules and guarantees to be established to the degree necessary and sufficient for the maintenance of public order in each State; then, instead of armies, the institution of arbitration, with its lofty peacemaking function, according to the standards to be agreed upon and with sanctions to be decided against the State which might refuse to submit international questions to arbitration or to accept its decisions.

Once the supremacy of law has been established, let every obstacle to the ways of communication between the peoples be removed, by ensuring through rules to be fixed in similar fashion, the true freedom and common use of the seas. This would, on the one hand, remove many reasons for conflict and, on the other, would open new sources of prosperity and progress to all....

With regard to territorial questions, such as those disputed between Italy and Austria, and between Germany and France, there is ground for hope that in consideration of the immense advantages of a lasting peace with disarmament, the conflicting parties will examine them in a conciliatory frame of mind, taking into account so far as it is just and practicable, as We have said previously, the aspirations of the peoples and co-ordinating, according to circumstances, particular interests with the general good of the great human society.

The same spirit of equity and justice should direct the examination of other territorial and political questions, notably those relating to Armenia, the Balkan States, and the territories composing the ancient Kingdom of Poland, for which especially its noble historical traditions and the sufferings which it has undergone, particularly during the present war, ought rightly to enlist the sympathies of the nations. Such are the principal foundations upon which We believe the future reorganization of peoples should rest. They are of a kind which would make impossible the recurrence of such conflicts and would pave the way for a solution of the economic question, so important for the future and the material welfare of all the belligerent States.

1918  August 1, 1918. Mustering the Home Guard
 

The size of World War One is perhaps demonstrated in part by the fact that, like World War Two, the militia was expanded to include bodies in each state that replaced the Federalized National Guard.*

Normally these units are called State Guards, and they've existed in every state in modern times only during World War One and World War Two, although some states have retained State Guard separately from from somewhat before the war until the present time and a few have established them once again in modern times.  Most states don't have them, however.  They're state troops liable only to their Governors for service for the most part, unlike National Guardsmen who also serve as a reserve of the Army.

By this point during the Great War, Wyoming was experimenting with mustering its State Guard.  Of interest, rifle production had now caught up with demand and the State Guard was being issued brand new rifles, almost certainly M1917 Enfields, which were replacing the Krag rifle of Spanish American War vintage.  As Krags were perfectly adequate for what the Home Guard was to do, and indeed wasn't really obsolete in larger terms, it shows that production was catching up with need by this point in the war.

_________________________________________________________________________________

*As we earlier noted, the US also formed sort of a national militia of this type in the form of the United States Guards during the war. 

 

1927  Guernsey Dam completed.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1941  Parade magazine devotes three full pages to a feature article describing the U.S. Army's new vehicle, the Jeep.  In some ways, the Jeep really was a revolution in military transportation, but not so much as the much less heralded 6x6.  The extent to which all wheel drives would revolutionize travel in Wyoming can hardly be overstated.  Prior to World War Two, 4x4 trucks almost didn't exist in civilian hands, and those that did were not suitable for general use.  After the war, they rapidly entered into all types of backcountry use.  In terms of agriculture, this meant ground that was formerly completely inaccessible in winter before the war, was now accessible in many instances year around, eliminating the need for cowhands to be stationed in remote areas during the winter, and also just flatly eliminating the need for the same number of hands as previously employed.  For those in cities and towns, particularly sportsmen, the country was also suddenly opened up during the winter, when previously it simply had not been.

Jeep as lead vehicle in convoy, Iran, World War Two.

1941   President Roosevelt forbids the export of oil and aviation fuel from the United States except to Britain, the British Commonwealth countries and countries of the Western Hemisphere. Japan is left with only limited stocks of oil.

1942    Canadian Parliament passes the Veterans Land Act to provide settlement assistance to returning vets.

1947  The USS Wyoming, BB-32, is decommissioned.

1953  The movie Shane was released. The film, regarded as a Western classic, was filmed in Jackson's Hole.

The movie is based very loosely on the events of the Johnson County War and has remained popular all these years.  It's been subject to some wild interpretations as a result.  Like most movies which us the basic story of the Johnson County War as inspiration, it presents a heroic vision of the small, helpless farmer (rather than small rancher) who is pitted against merciless large ranchers.  Sets and costumes used in the film are mixed in regards to their authenticity, with the large cattlemen being most accurately depicted in regards to their appearance.  Jack Palance's gunman is particularly accurately attired.

Probably demonstrating my contrarian streak,  I always root for the large cattlemen in the film.

1957     The United States and Canada create the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD).

1959  Wyoming's artillery and armor National Guard units were consolidated into the 49th Field Artillery Battalion, which I was in, back in the old days.

1981     The music video cable channel MTV made its debut, heralding the end of civilization.

1985  The worst flood in Wyoming's history occurs in Cheyenne when the town is struck by a severe thunderstorm..  Property loss was $65 million in 1985 dollars.  Twelve deaths and 70 injuries occurred with particularly horrific flooding occurring in downtown Cheyenne. The event happened in the evening and people were caught unawares, including attendees of a downtown Cheyenne movie theater.