March 7

1847  U.S. troops occupy Vera Cruz,  Mexico.

1871  First National Bank of Cheyenne chartered. Attribution:  On This Day.

1890  A Congressman from Illinois announced his opposition to Wyoming statehood due to suffrage provision in the proposed state's constitution.

1899  The Philippine Insurrection starts at San Juan del Monte with an assault by Philippine troops..  The first shot is fired by an Englishman serving in the Nebraska volunteers.  First engagement starts with that shot followed by shots fired by Nebraska and Wyoming volunteers and soon other troops, from state volunteer units were engaged.  The Philippine forces initially took some American positions, but by the end of the day, positions were retaken.

1911 The U.S. deploys 20,000 troops to the Mexican border due to the Mexican Revolution.

1917   The Cheyenne State Leader for March 7, 1917: Mustering Out
 

Mustering out was going quickly.  This Wednesday paper was reporting that Wyoming National Guardsmen would be mustered out by Saturday.

What that would have meant, in this context, is that they were spending all day cleaning equipment and inventorying it.  After that, they'd be released from full time duty and returned to their local units.  What occurred to the men who had never actually been in those units, and that was quite a few men, I don't know.

1918   March 7, 1918. Not knowing when to get up from the table. Leaving after having gotten there late. Villa resumes losing and acts spiteful to foreigners. . . except the Germans.
 

The Russians had surrendered.  Even at that, the Germans kept taking ground. . . and all while they presumably are getting ready for a Spring Offensive in the West designed to win the war prior to millions of fresh American troops coming into action.

Romania, spelled differently in those days, hadn't been at war with the Central Powers for long and it was also getting out.  You have to wonder why they even wanted in the war in the first place. By the time they got in, its horrific nature was pretty plain.

And if reports were correct, Villa's fortunes were not going well, and he was lashing out.

1919  March 7, 1919. Transportation in Archangel 7, 1919, Convalescing in Paris, Coming home to Wyoming.

The Russians had long used reindeer for transportation, including occasional military transportation, in Siberia.  The American Army in Siberia found itself doing the same thing for the same practical reasons.

The Hotel de Louvre, a first rate Parisian hotel, was taken over during the war by the Red Cross and used for a hospital.  It was still receiving that use in the immediate post war months.

And men of the 116th Ammunition Train, including Wyoming National Guardsmen who had been infantrymen when Federalized for the Great War, arrived in Cheyenne.  There were more Wyoming Guardsmen to come.

1944  It is announced that the Wyoming State Hospital at Rock Springs will be training nurses for the Army.

2008  Then Senator Barack Obama spoke at the University of Wyoming.

2016  News broke that former Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill filed suit against Legislator Tim Stubson, who is running for Congress, for defamation.  The suit alleges that statements published on Stubson's Facebook page defamed Hill.

 

Natrona County Courthouse, where the suit was filed.

Hill had been a lightening rod for criticism during her tenure as Superintendent of Public Instruction and was involved in a protracted battle with her critics and the legislature.  She lost much of her authority when the legislature removed it in favor of a new appointed office, which ultimately was reversed by the Wyoming Supreme Court.  By that time she was running for governor against the incumbent Matt Mead, a race which failed.

2018  Students at NCHS staged a mid day walk out in solidarity with the victims of school violence.

March 3

1805   President Jefferson approved the act that created the Territory of Louisiana, which included much of Wyoming.

1836     Skirmish at Agua Dulce in which Mexicans defeat Texians.

1837     US recognizes the Republic of Texas.

1847     Col Alexander W. Doniphan captures the Mexican mint at Chihuahua.

1849     The Home Department, a predecessor of the Interior Department, was established by the Federal Government.

1857  Congress authorizes the Postmaster General to seek bids for an overland stage route for the purpose of carrying mail from the Missouri River to San Francisco.

1863  Parts of Wyoming included in Idaho Territory, which was created by Congress on this day. Attribution:  On This Day.

1870  A Court empanels six women for a six juror jury, for the first time in history. Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1871   Congress passed the Indian Appropriation Act greatly altering the relationship between Indian Tribes and the United States government.

1871   Congress established the civil service system.

1876   The first issue of the "Cheyenne Daily Sun" printed.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1876  A nighttime raid takes horses and cattle from Crook's Powder River Expedition. The cattle are recovered, but are driven to Ft. Fetterman.

1879   Congress establishes the United States Geological Survey.

1884  Buffalo incorporated.

1890  Buffalo Bill's Wild West show performs in Rome for Pope Leo.

1889  John E. Osborne concludes his service as Wyoming's Congressman.

1893  Clarence D. Clark concludes his term as Wyoming's Representative in Congress.

1895  Henry A. Coffeen concludes his term as Wyoming's Representative in Congress.

1895  Joseph M. Carey concluded his term as Senator from Wyoming.

1899  John E. Osborne concludes his term as Wyoming's Representative in Congress.

1909  Order placed for the USS Wyoming, BB-32, to be built.

1916  A spinsters convention is held in Gillette. Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1917 The Cheyenne State Leader for March 3, 197 Troops arriving home
 

The Leader was also reporting on the Wyoming Guardsmen arriving home, and that the Colorado Guardsmen were enjoying Ft. D. A. Russell.

Villa was back in the news, reportedly getting ready to nab Carranza.

The Wyoming Tribune for March 3, 1917. Admitting the plot
 

Germany, surprisingly enough, did take ownership of the Zimmerman Note, although I'm still not too sure where the concept that they were seeking to draw the Japanese into the war, in addition to the Mexicans, comes from.

And the Wyoming National Guard was arriving in Cheyenne.

In addition, the German government forbid women's clothing from changing styles more than once every six months. 
1938  Ground broken on the Union building at UW.

2011 Governor Mead signed the bill referring the hunting rights amendment to the next general election.

2016  The Federal Government proposes delisting the grizzly bear from the Endangered Species List in the Yellowstone region.  This action does not result in the bear being taken off the list, but commences the process which is likely to lead to the grizzly being officially delisted as recovered.

2016  A conservative member of the Wyoming legislature together with an "ultraconservative" resident of Uinta County, represented by Drake Hill, the husband of former Wyoming Secretary of Education Cindy Hill who was a bitter opponent of Mead's, sued him and the the legislature in state court alleging improprieties associated with contracts for the Capitol Square project.

February 23

1540   Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado began his unsuccessful search for the fabled Seven Cities of Gold in the American Southwest. Antonio de Mendoza, Viceroy of Mexico, sent Francisco Coronado overland to search for the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola in present day New Mexico.  A dramatic mounted exploration, to say the least.

1836  The siege of the Alamo began.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1847     U.S. troops under Gen. Zachary Taylor defeated Mexican general Santa Anna at the Battle of Buena Vista in Mexico.

1905  A creamery in Cheyenne began selling pasteurized milk.

The benefits of pasteurization, and the feature of a local creamery, are things that are almost wholly forgotten today.  Today, most milk is transported quite some distance before it is sold in a local store, but as recently as the 1950s, most significantly sized towns in Wyoming had a creamery, that being a local business that bought raw milk, pasteurized it, and sold it.  Here's an example of such a (former) facility in Casper.

Pasteurization, a process by which a liquid is heated and then rapidly cooled, was a major innovation in food safety, and is commonly used today for most dairy products and some beer.  The ability of a local facility to sell pasteurized milk was no doubt a major boon for local consumers in Cheyenne.  Now, however, there's a movement to sell certain products directly from farms and outside the food safety system.  Raw milk isn't something that a person usually encounters in Wyoming (unless a person lives on a farm or ranch that actually has a dairy cow, which few do) but it's a growing movement nationwide.  Not too surprisingly, there have been some health issues associated with it.

1917   The National Vocational Act (Smith Hughes Act) signed into law.
 

The National Vocational Act was the first American law to provide a direct Federal role in high school education.  It was signed into law on this day, in 1917.

Student in technical high school, 1916.

The act was aimed at students who were going to work directly on farms but its scope was broader than that and it had the support of Labor, which helped cause it to pass.  It's stated purpose was to support those "who have entered upon or who are preparing to enter upon the work of the farm" and funding was provided for that goal.  It also included mandated the creation of a Board of Vocational Education in each state, which lead to some districts combining their existing board with that purpose and others having a separate board just for that purpose.

 Girls in automobile mechanics class, Central High, Washington D. C., 1927.

The act was a really significant development in terms of the evolution of the relationship between the states and the Federal government. There had been prior acts on the topic of education, including a vocational act that this was a successor to, but this was the first Federal provision to directly impose requirements upon a state in regards to education and the first to provide Federal funding to the states.  In these regards, this was a fairly revolutionary Progressive Era step and its one that lead to later broader steps, perhaps culminating in the creation of the US Department of Education in 1979. We are now so used to the concept of that cabinet level entity existing that its hard to imagine that its a relatively recent arrival in terms of Federal agencies.  It's start can be seen to exist with the passage of the Smith Hughes Act into law in this day, one hundred years ago as of this posting.

Seal of the Department of Education.

 

Every school district in Wyoming continues to have at least some vocational training.  Natrona County has a completely separate high school campus, recently built, for scientific and vocational training.

1921  February 23, 1921. Pioneering Air Mail Flight.

Lex Anteinternet: February 23, 1921. Ridiculing customs.: 

February 23, 1921. Ridiculing customs.

We always reform or ridicule, not the customs of the remote past, but the new customs of the day before yesterday, which are just beginning to grow old. This is true of furniture and parents.

G.K. Chesterton, Chicago Tribune, February 23, 1921.

Jack Knight. Note the heavy early aviator's dress.  Knight died in 1945 of malaria contracted on a trip to South American that was working on securing a reliable source of rubber to the wartime allies.

The United States Postal Service completed a pioneering air mail run in which Jack Knight, taking off on the prior day from San Francisco, landed at Cheyenne, Wyoming, and then took off and flew through the night to Chicago.  Ernest M. Allison ten took over and lasted at 4:50 p.m. at Roosevelt Field at Long Island, New York.

The flight demonstrated that air mail was feasible.

While successful, it was also conducted under extreme odds, involving arctic conditions and nighttime fires to light the way.  Knight was justifiably regarded as a hero during his lifetime.

1941  Blizzard conditions stalled traffic in the state.  This was, of course, in the pre 4x4 days.  Prior to World War Two 4x4 vehicles were almost unheard of and were limited to industrial vehicles. Almost every vehicle was a rear wheel drive 2x4.

1948  An earthquake in Yellowstone was felt regionally.

1950  A special session of the legislature called to deal with the problem of grasshopper infestation concluded.

1969  Gov. Hathaway signed into law a State severance tax bill. The bill had been extremely controversial, with there being strong arguments by the opposition that passing it would cause Wyoming's extractive industries to greatly reduce their activity. The arguments failed to stop the bill, and the severance tax did not greatly impact the extractive industries.  Today, Wyoming's is nearly entirely funded by severance taxes.

1985  The Bison adopted as the state mammal.

1990  First Day of Issue Ceremony  for the stamp based on Conrad Schwiering's painting High Mountain Meadows held in Cheyenne.

February 2

As Americans and Canadians are no doubt well aware of, this is Groundhog day. A day in the US in which it is maintained that a big squirrel (Marmota monax) while predict the remaining length of winter. Winter this year has been extraordinary mild, so perhaps the groundhog got around to things early, but anyhow. . .

Today is also Candlemas, a Christian Holiday. And for Candlemas, coincidentally, we have this proverb that is also weather related:

If Candlemas be mild and gay,

Go saddle your horses and buy them hay;

But if Candlemas be stormy and black,

It carries the winter away on its back.

1827  The US Supreme Court rules that the President alone has the final power to determine whether the state militia should be mobilized in the national interest in Mott v. Mott. 

Every state had a militia, as had every colony before that.  Membership in the militia was mandatory and a serious matter prior to the Civil War.  State Governors could muster the militia for a state purpose, and militias generally mustered annually.  Their successor today is the National Guard for the most part, although some states also keep separate State Guard units.  Wyoming does not, and has not since World War Two, during which most, or maybe all, state's had a State Guard for state functions in the absence of the Federalized National Guard.  The conversion of the militias into the National Guard began following the Civil War, but it was not completed until the Dick Act made the conversion into a reserve of the Army fully official.

1848     The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, ending the Mexican War.  The treaty transferred certain territories to the United States from Mexico, including some of southern Wyoming.

1860  Seth Ward married Mary Francis McCarty.

Ward was an official suttler for Ft. Laramie, having commenced in that role with a partner, William Guerrier.  Guerrier had died two years earlier when an explosion of gun powder was set off by a pipe he was smoking.  Ward carried on and, at this time, had stores at Ft. Laramie and at Register Cliff.  The keeping of livestock for the business results in the claim that Ward and Guerrier were Wyoming's first ranchers.

This marriage was a bit unusual as both parties had prior marriages, something that was unusual for the day, except when the parties were widows.  Ward had been married in 1853 to Wasna, a Teton Sioux.  The union resulted in four children.  I frankly don't know what became of the marriage or of Wasna, but in this year Ward married McCarty, who was a divorcee.  His new wife did not like Ft. Laramie, and in 1863 the couple moved to Nebraska City, Nebraska.  He ultimately moved to Westport Kansas where he bought trader William Bent's substantial house.

1910  The Wyoming Company, a holding company for mining and rail interests, incorporated.

1918    "Giving Up" Heatless Days. February 2, 1918.
 

Showing just how extreme, or maybe desperate, things had become during World War One, the US was debating "giving up" "heatless days".

Heatless days?

Yes.  

As the war effort that had brought in Porkless Days (which, the paper reported, caused the Groundhog to stay in on this Groundhog Day), Meatless Days, and Wheatless Days, every Monday was a Heatless Day.

Brutal.

In spite of what people may think, the teens were colder than things are today, and today February can be pretty cold.  No heat in that era would have been truly brutal, and frankly I'd think a rather poor idea.  Granted, it no doubt saved on coal, but at a certain human expense, I'd think.

John L. Sullivan

Irish American Southie Boxing legend John L. Sullivan died on this day, at age 59, in 1918.

Sullivan was one of the greatest boxers of all time. Born to devout Catholic Irish immigrant parents he did well in Boston's public schools and entered college after graduating from them.  His parents hoped for him to become a Priest.  However, early in his academic career the athletic Sullivan dropped out of school to play professional baseball.  Already familiar with boxing, he soon switched to that and went on to fight around 450 fights in his career, something that would be unheard of now.

Boxing was a hugely popular sport at that time, but it had not reached the zenith of its professional organization that it would reach in the mid 20th Century.  Sullivan was clearly a "titlist" in the true sense, but not in the fully recognized sense that Muhammad Ali would be later.  Boxing was also much less regimented as to fight length or rules at the time.  Sullivan fought, for instance, the last title London Prize Rules fight, i.e. bare knuckle, and therefore can claim to have been the last bare knuckle champion.  That fight was emblematic of boxing at the time in that it was not only bare knuckle, it went 75 rounds.

The Sullivan-Kilrain fight, the last bare knuckle championship fight.  Kilrain threw in the towel, or rather his manager, in the 75th round of the July 1889 bout.

Sullivan lost his title status in 1892 to "Gentleman" Jim Corbett in a gloved boxing match under the Marquess of Queensberry Rules and he never regained it.  He retired as a professional boxer after that match, and he was in fact already old for a boxer at that time, but he did continue to fight exhibition fights for the remainder of his life.  He also undertook being a stage actor, speaker, celebrity baseball umpire, sports reporter, and bar owner.  Late in life, but probably too late, he broke a life long addiction to alcohol and became a speaker in favor of prohibition.  He died on this day in 1918.

Sullivan in later years.

1924 Saturday, February 2, 1924. Wilson lingers, gun battle at Lysite.

Wilson's lingering passing was the major headline, but the gun battle at Lysite caught my eye.

Gun battle at Lysite?

Lysite and Lost Cabin

Lysite and Lost Cabin, in the distance.

Well, why not?

Locals schools were about to be named for Presidents, including one that I went to.

Wilson did fall into a coma that evening.

Albert B. Fall, 2/2/24.

Fall refused to testify.

1943  The Wyoming Supreme Court determines that it is not possible to contract common law marriages in Wyoming.

1958  Warren Air Force Base becomes part of the Strategic Air Command, in keeping with its role as a missile base.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1970  The Grand Targhee Resort, located in Wyoming but accessible only from Idaho, was dedicated by Idaho Governor Don Samuelson.

1991  USNS Big Horn, a fleet replenishment oiler named after the Big Horn River, launched.

January 4

1846 General Mariano Paredes becomes the President of Mexico, announcing he will defend all territory he considers Mexico's. This made war with the United States inevitable.

While the US has usually been blamed for the Mexican War, and while Americans generally accept the blame, the Mexican role in causing the war is significant and perhaps paramount. The inevitability of the war came about when Gen. Santa Anna agreed to allow Texas to become independent as a result of the Texas' war of rebellion. Santa Anna was the head of state, and under the generally accepted rules of the time, his acknowledgment of Texas' independence had the force of law, even though it was conveyed in captivity, and even though he later disavowed it. Be that as it may, no ruler of Mexico could acknowledge it thereafter and expect to remain in power. Be that as it may, Texas was independent de jure and in fact, which Mexico could not reverse without an invasion.  Had Texas remained an independent state it is difficult to see how a renewed war between Texas and Mexico could have been avoided.  I frankly doubt it could have.

Upon becoming independent, union with the United States was inevitable. Upon incorporation into the US, no American government could not recognize Mexico's claim to territory that had been incorporated into the US.

Compounding the problem, there was no universal agreement on where the border between Texas and Mexico was. The US, under James Polk, took the position that it was the Rio Grande. Mexico believed it was to the north of there, although there was little traditional support for the boundary being there.. At the time, there was very little in the way of settlement north of the Rio Grande in any event, and the river was a convenient natural boundary, making the US position more sensible, if not more legal.  Nonetheless, the American claim to that section of territory rose the conflict from almost inevitable, if not inevitable, to immediately inevitable, which many historians have claimed Polk desired.

In the end, it was actually Mexico, not the US, that crossed the river with troops, sparking the war. Apologist have regarded it as a US invasion ever since, and even at the time, but it is difficult to see how the war could have been avoided by either party.

1847 Colt secures a contract to supply 1,000 revolvers to the US military.  These early Colt Dragoon revolvers were very substantial in size and revolutionized the arms of mounted soldiers.

This variant of .44 Colt revolver is generally known as the Walker Colt.  It was a monster sized revolver, weighing in at 4.5 lbs.  It's size was in part a safety measure by Colt, which was not certain at the time how much steel was really needed in a large caliber revolver.  There were not very many of them actually made (approximately 1,000), but the revolver did set the pattern for what would be a very successful series of "Dragoon" revolvers.

1896 Utah was admitted to the Union.

1897 Big Horn County organized.

1897  Wyoming  General Hospital, a hospital owned at that time by the state and founded to treat miners, burned in a fire.

1910  Orchard Opera house destroyed by fire in Lander.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1915  John B. Kendrick takes office as Governor.

1917   The Casper Daily Press for January 4, 1916: Wilson takes charge when mediators fail
 

The view from Casper, which was similar to the view expressed by Cheyenne's Leader.

The Cheyenne State Leader for January 4, 1916: Wilson to change Mexican policy
 

The United States, having failed to acquire Carranza's signature to the protocol, was reacting by giving Carranza what he wanted most, an American withdrawal.

From a century later, it's hard to see how this wasn't just implementing the protocol plus giving Carranza what he wanted.

The Inter Ocean disaster figured large in the press as well, as well as good fortunes for wildlife.

1918   The Wyoming Tribune for January 4, 1918. Bad day for Casper Electricity
 

As if there wasn't enough bad news around those days, a local power plant went up in flames.

I'm not sure which early Casper power plant that was, but I suspect it was the one that used diesel engines, believe it or not, which had been in operation at that time.  It had a limited number of customers, as the article makes plane, as a lot of Casperites in the then booming Casper likely weren't utility subscribers at the time, as odd as that may seem to us know.  When electricity became nearly universal in homes is something I've addressed before, and I don't know when it would have become universal in a place like Casper.

Does anyone who stops in here know when it became universal in smaller western and mid western towns and cities?

Electricty was introduced for customers in Casper in 1900, so it had been around that long, but the means and methods of generating it were still in a state of flux.  This article reports that the entire business district was out of power.

In other news, the Wyo Trib was accusing Nebraska of being frigid, which is odd.  The Tribune was predicting permanent nationalization of the railroads, which is something we know the unions would later ask for but would not receive.  And there seemed to be a boom in marrying young going on.  I haven't tracked the entire article all the way through, but I suspect that was one of the interesting marriage related events tied to World War One.  Chances are that couples were rushing to marry before the grooms deployed to France.  Fifteen is quite young indeed, and the author of the article seemed to take that view as well, but of course less than 50% of all Americans graduated from high school at that time.  This trend, however, can't be taken to mean too much, as we also earlier explored.

 

1921 Congress overrode President Wilson's veto, reactivating the War Finance Corps to aid struggling farmers. By some calculations, 1919 was the best year for farmers of any year in the nation's history, but it was followed by an agricultural depression soon thereafter. The economic downturn for farmers started about this time, and it did not end until World War Two. In part, this was due to the mechanization of US farms, whcih received a boost by World War One, and then which became the strategy for many farmers trying to hold on in more competitive times.

1925   The bank, hotel and Odd Fellows Hall were destroyed by fire in Hulet.  Attribution:  On This Day .com

1943  Lester Hunt takes office as Governor.

1965  President Johnson outlined the goals of his ''Great Society'' in his State of the Union address.

1974  South Vietnam officially announces that, in light of ongoing communist attacks, the war in South Vietnam has restarted.

1980   President Carter announces US boycott of Moscow Olympics.

Elsewhere:  1999  The Euro introduced.