December 20

1803 The Louisiana Purchase was completed as the territory was formally transferred from France to the United States during ceremonies in New Orleans. The transfer actually technically also involved Spain, but only in some odd jurisdictional sense.  Much, but not all, of what would become Wyoming was thereby transferred to the United States, leaving approximately 1/3d of the state in the hands of Spain and a section of country near what is now Jackson's Hole in the Oregon Country belonging to the United Kingdom.

While the very early territorial jurisdictions pertaining to Wyoming are now largely forgotten, and while they were always a bit theoretical given the tenuous nature of actual pre Mexican War control over the territory, there have been six national flags that claimed Wyoming or parts of it, including Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Mexico, the Republic of Texas and the United States.  With the Louisiana Purchase, France's claim would be forever extinguished and the majority of what would become the state would belong to the United States.

1812     One of the dates claimed for the death of Sacajawea.  If correct, she would have died of an unknown illness at age 24 at Fort Manuel Lisa, where it is claimed that she and her husband Toussaint Charbonneau were living.  If correct, she left an infant girl, Lizette, there, and her son Jean-Baptiste was living in a boarding school while in the care of William Clark.  Subsequent records support that Charbonneau consented to Clark's adoption of Lizette the following year, although almost nothing is known about her subsequent fate.  Jean-Baptiste lived until age 61, having traveled widely and having figured in many interesting localities of the American West.

The 1812 death claim, however, is rejected by the Shoshone's, to which tribe she belonged, who maintain that she lived to be nearly 100 years old and died in 1884 at Ft. Washakie, Wyoming.  A grave site exists for her, based on the competing claim, in Ft. Washakie, the seat of government for the Wind River Reservation.  This claim holds that she left Charbonneau and ultimately married into the Comanche tribe, which is very closely related to the Shoshone tribe, ultimately returning to her native tribe This view was championed by  Grace Hebard who was discussed here several days ago, and it even presents an alternative history for her son, Jean Baptiste, and a second son Bazil.  It was later supported by the conclusions reached by Dr. Charles Eastman, a Sioux physician who was hired by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to research her fate.

While the Wyoming claim is not without supporting evidence, the better evidence would support her death outside of Wyoming at an early age.  The alternative thesis is highly romantic, which has provided the basis for criticism of Hebard's work.  The 1812 date, on the other hand, is undeniably sad, as much of Sacajawea's actual life was.  Based upon what is now known of her story, as well as the verifiable story of Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau, who had traveled in the US and Europe, and who had held public office in the United States, the Wyoming claim is seriously questionable.  That in turn leaves the question of the identify of the person buried at Ft. Washakie, who appears to have genuinely been married into the Comanche tribe, to have lived to an extremely old age, and to have lived a very interesting life, but that identity is unlikely to ever be known, or even looked into.

1886  Territorial Governor George Baxter resigned. He had only been in office for a month.  The West Point graduate and former U.S. Cavalryman's history was noted a few days ago, on the anniversary of his death.

1916   The Wyoming Trubine for December 20, 1916: Troops Rush to Forestall Border Raid (and a truly bizarre comparison made in the case of a Mexican American militia)
 

A story of a near raid in the Yuma era with a rather bizarre comparison between a claimed Mexican American militia and the KKK.   Apparently the authors there had taken their history from D. W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation rather than reality.

It's rather difficult, to say the least, to grasp a comparison between a Mexican militia of any kind and the KKK which wouldn't exactly be in the category of people sympathetic to Mexican Americans.  And it's even more difficult to see the KKK used as a favorable comparison.  Cheyenne had a not insignificant African American, Hispanic, and otherwise ethic population associated with the Union Pacific railroad and I imagine they weren't thrilled when they saw that article.

Apparently the "war babies" referred to in the headline were stocks that were associated with Great War production, which logically fell following the recent exchange of notes on peace. As we saw yesterday, the Allies weren't receptive to them, so I'd imagine they those stocks rose again.
1942  Sheridan's high school added a vocational preparatory class for essential work work.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1945   Tire rationing in the U.S. ended.

2005   Wyoming commenced a somewhat controversial cloud-seeding research project with the intent to increase mountain snowpack.  Attribution:  On This Day .Com.

2010  The University of Wyoming puts Bruce Catton's papers on line. Catton was a well known historian of the Civil War.

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.

December 18

1777  Congress declared a Thanksgiving Day following the  British surrender at Saratoga.

1871   A bill providing for the establishment of Yellowstone National Park was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.

1915 The Capital Avenue Theater in Cheyenne was destroyed by fire. Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1929   Former Territorial Governor George Baxter White died in New York City.  He held office for only one month.

1933  Joseph C. O'Mahoney appointed U.S. Senator following the death of John B. Kendrick.  He would actually take office on January 1, 1934. 

1944  The Governor of Oklahoma predicted that Mississippi and Wyoming had the brightest oil related futures in the nation.  Attribution.  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1944  U.S. Supreme Court upholds the wartime internment of U.S. Citizens of Japanese extraction, which would of course include those interned at Heart Mountain, Wyoming.

1966  Fritiof Fryxell, first Teton Park naturalist, died.  Attribution. Wyoming State Historical Society.

1998  A fire Newcastle, WY, destroys four century old buildings. Attribution.  On This Day .com.

2008   Gatua wa Mbugwa, a Kenyan, delivers the first dissertation every delivered in Gikuyu, at the University of Wyoming.  The topic was in plant sciences.

2014.  Nebraska and Oklahoma filed a petition with the United States Supreme Court seeking to have leave to sue Colorado on a Constitutional basis.regarding Colorado's state legalization of marijuana.  The basis of their argument is that Colorado's action violates the United States Constitution by ignoring the supremacy nature of Federal provisions banning marijuana.

While an interesting argument, my guess is that this will fail, as the Colorado action, while flying in the face of Federal law, does exist in an atmosphere in which the Federal government has ceased enforcing the law itself.

2019  The United States House of Representatives approved Articles of Impeachment against President Donald Trump.

December 17

1619     Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Royalist cavalry commander in the English Civil War, born.  He returned England with the restoration of Charles II, and headed the investors group that in 1670 got a charter for the Hudson's Bay Company and title to all lands draining into Hudson Bay.  He was the first Governor of the HBC.

1890  Union Pacific swithmen went on strike.   Attribution: Wyoming State Historical Society.

1904  John J. McIntyre born in Dewey County, Oklahoma.  He was the Congressman from Wyoming from 1941 to 1943, serving a single term.  He served as State Auditor in 1946, and was later a Justice of the Wyoming Supreme Court from 1960 until his death in 1974.

McIntyre graduated from high school in Tulsa, Oklahoma and had a law degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder from 1929.  He relocated to Wyoming in 1931 where he became the Converse County Attorney in 1933 and entered Federal service as an attorney in 1936.  He was a member of the Wyoming National Guard and was promoted to the rank of Captain in1936. This was not unusual for lawyers of that period, as many held commissions on the Guard.  He must have been in the Guard at the time it was Federalized in 1940, but his status as a Congressman likely took him out of service at the time of Pearl Harbor.  He was not reelected to Congress and served as a Deputy Attorney General in 1943 and 1944, and then entered the U.S. Army as an enlisted man where he was a Staff Sergeant with the 660th Field Artillery.

1916  Inter Ocean destroyed by fire.

The Inter-Ocean

1916   Inter-Ocean Hotel in Cheyenne destroyed by fire.  Attribution; Wyoming State Historical Society.

The Inter-Ocean was one of several Cheyenne hotels that were big deals and major watering holes, something very common in that era and for decades thereafter (and still somewhat true in larger cities today).  It's remembered to Western History for being the location referenced by Tom Horn in his famous conversation with  Joe LeFors.

If you go to the Inter-Ocean to sit down and talk a few minutes some one comes in and says, 'Let us have a drink,' and before you know it you are standing up talking, and my feet get so *&^*&^^  tired it almost kills me. I am 44 years, 3 months, and 27 days old, and if I get killed now I have the satisfaction of knowing I have lived about fifteen ordinary lives.

Horn was in fact arrested outside of the Inter-Ocean.

The hotel had been built by Barney Ford, a businessman who had been born a slave, a status that he escaped from.  His father was the white plantation owners where his black mother was enslaved.  After escaping he lived an adventuresome life and rose to great wealth in Colorado.

He apparently liked the name "Inter-Ocean" as he built another hotel in Denver's 16th Street by that name.  Like the Cheyenne hotel, it is no longer there, which is a real shame as funky buildings like this are all the rage in Denver now..

Denver's Inter-Ocean

1916  Sunday State Leader for December 17, 1916: Measles killing Guardsmen at Deming.

Not the only news of the day, but two Arkansas Guardsmen died from the measles at Deming, New Mexico, news that surely worried Wyomingites with family members serving in the Guard at Deming.

William F. Cody  was reported very ill at his sister's house in Denver.

And death claimed the life of a former Rough Rider living in the state as well.

The State Health Officer reported, in cheerier news, on the state's healthful climate.

1916  Carranza rejects the protocol

 

We've run a lot of newspaper articles on the negotiations between the United States and Mexico, or perhaps more accurately between the United States and the Constitutionalist government of Mexico lead by Venustiano Carranza

 Carranza

On this day he ended the doubt, he refused to sign it.

Carranza was a tough minded individual.  He never liked Woodrow Wilson and he had a grudge against the United States.  Irrespective of what may seem to be the advantages of the proposals that were made, he wouldn't agree.

And he never did.  Carranza never executed a protocol with the United States.

By this point the United States clearly wanted out of Mexico.  The intervention had bogged down to an uneasy occupation since the summer and was going nowhere.  Carranza guessed correctly that the United States would be leaving no matter what, although that did not mean that the US would be passive in protecting its interests.

1918  The USS Cheyenne, formerly the USS Wyoming, but renamed due the later battleship being assigned that name, assigned to Division I, American Patrol Division.

1918  December 17, 1918. No Booze for Soldiers. No Booze for Coloradans, No Booze for Montanans. Villa ponders attack

Up until at least the Korean War, if not the Vietnam War, a deficit of clothing meant that discharged soldiers often wore their uniforms after a time following their discharge.  That was very much the case after World War One and World War Two.  Here, the Federal Government was concerned about discharged soldiers drinking in uniform.

In the popular imagination, Prohibition was forced on an unwilling nation by a bunch of silly temperance women who didn't realize that America was a drinking nation.  That version of the story is very far from true.

The Cheyenne State Leader was reporting that Montana would go dry on December 30.  1918 was to be Montana's last "wet" year.  Villa, the paper also reported, was up to no good.

In reality, Prohibition was a hugely popular movement and was gaining ground in the states prior to it become Federal law.  By this date in 1918, Colorado had gone "bone dry" and Montana was about to.

Not all was bleak. One of the Casper papers was reporting that American soldiers still preferred American girls.  Those American soldiers would be bringing home quite a few French brides and even a few Russian ones.  Of course, the report here did contain some bad news for American women.  Some of the soldiers were reporting pretty favorably on les femmes Francais.

So Prohibition was really arriving in the individual states prior to the Volstead Act making it the law of the land and prior to any Constitutional amendment requiring it.  When Prohibition was repealed, it meant that each state that had laws on the books had to revisit those laws if it wanted to likewise repeal Prohibition in their state, which serves as a lesson in rushing to amend laws to comport with what seems to be a national development.  That allowed those states a breather to adapt to the new situation, which in the case of Wyoming it very much took, phasing drinking back in over a period of years.

1919 

Vernon Baker born in Cheyenne.  Baker is a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions in combat in World War Two, with his citation reading as follows:

For extraordinary heroism in action on 5 and 6 April 1945, near Viareggio, Italy. Then Second Lieutenant Baker demonstrated outstanding courage and leadership in destroying enemy installations, personnel, and equipment during his company's attack against a strongly entrenched enemy in mountainous terrain. When his company was stopped by the concentration of fire from several machine gun emplacements, he crawled to one position and destroyed it, killing three Germans. Continuing forward, he attacked an enemy observation post and killed two occupants. With the aid of one of his men, Lieutenant Baker attacked two more machine gun nests, killing or wounding the four enemy soldiers occupying these positions. He then covered the evacuation of the wounded personnel of his company by occupying an exposed position and drawing the enemy's fire. On the following night Lieutenant Baker voluntarily led a battalion advance through enemy mine fields and heavy fire toward the division objective. Second Lieutenant Baker's fighting spirit and daring leadership were an inspiration to his men and exemplify the highest traditions of the Armed Forces.

Baker had a rough start in life when his parents died while he was still young.  Partially raised by his grandparents, he learned how to hunt from his grandfather in order to put meat on the table.  Entering the Army during World War Two, he made the Army a career and retired in 1968 as a First Lieutenant, his rank at that time reflecting force reductions following World War Two.  He retired to Idaho where he chose to live as he was an avid hunter, and he died there in 2010.  Baker is a significant figure from Wyoming not only because he won the Congressional Medal of Honor, but because he was part of Wyoming's small African American community.

1985  Alan B. Johnson received his commission as a Federal Judge for the District of Wyoming.

2003  Wyoming filed a petition to delist the Prebbles Jumping Mouse from the Endangered Species List.

December 15

Today is Bill of Rights Day.

1791     The Bill of Rights took effect following ratification by Virginia.

1887  The Burlington Northern commences operation on its freight line to Cheyenne.

1890 Sioux Chief Sitting Bull and 11 other tribe members were killed in Grand River, S.D., during a clash with Indian police.  This event would be one of a series which lead to the tragedy of Wounded Knee.

1890  Burlington Northern commences passenger service between Douglas and Cheyenne.  The Douglas depot is now a train museum (a photo of which will later appear on our Railhead site).

1903  USS Wyoming anchored at the Bay of San Miguel Panama, during the period of Panamanian separation from Columbia.

1909  The six masted schooner Wyoming, the largest wooden schooner ever built, launched in Bath, Maine.  The huge schooner was the last one launched on the East Coast of the United States.

1910  Bishop James A. Keane approved of the parish of St. James in Douglas, together with
several missions.

1910  Wills Van Devanter confirmed as a Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

1913  The cornerstone of the Newcastle National Guard Armory laid. The building is a museum today.

1913  George Saban, who had plead guilty to second degree murder in connection with the Spring Creek Raid, escaped while being transported as part of a work detail and was never heard from again.

1918  December 15, 1918. Returning Home, Not Making It Over, Wilson In France, Silly Cinema

The Philadelphia Public Ledger printed a poster as a supplement.  The troops were already returning home in appreciable numbers so that celebrations were occurring.

And Sunday movie releases were a thing.  Wives and Other Wives was released on this date in 1918.

The plot synopsis, involving newlyweds, looks absurd, but then it's no more absurd than the piles of slop that television offers now.  Compared to Below Deck, it was likely downright intellectual.

This was a five reel film, fwiw.

The Cheyenne paper features a full slate of recent post war news in its Sunday edition, including the news that Ireland was going for Sinn Fein in the British parliamentary election held the day prior, and Lloyd George had apparently called Labor to be Bolshevik.  France was celebrating Wilson's arrival and the paper was reporting that German efforts to woo African American troops had failed.

And at least in Chicago, the Sunday paper had cartoons, including one that was aimed at low grade coal used to heat homes during World War One as the better grades were devoted to other more pressing concerns.

Hardly anyone heats a house with coal now (I know some do, and I've been in at least a couple of structures heated by coal), so the soot and smell of it is something sort of lost on a modern audience.  But it would have done both of those.  I.e, coal smells even if its a good grade, and the lower grades would have been quite smokey and sooty.

If we take cartoons as a reflection back on contemporary life, and really we ought to, there's some other interesting things to glean in these cartoons.  For one thing, cars were obviously still a novelty, given the way that they were treated in Gasoline Alley.  The protagonists are basically a group of car owners in these early issues experimenting on their cars.  Note that steam cars were still a thing, as there's a reference to them in the cartoon.

And it must have already been the case that those who didn't make it "Over There" were a bit embarrassed by it, as that was the subject of one of the cartoons.

1933   The Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution officially becomes effective, repealing the Eighteenth Amendment that prohibited the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol.

1939     "Gone With the Wind" premiered in Atlanta.

1963  The statue of Ester Morris at the state capitol was dedicated.

2008  Wyoming's presidential electors met at the State Capitol Building at noon to cast their votes for President.

2011 Conclusion of three days of oral arguments at the Wyoming Supreme Court.

2011 Governor Mead meets carolers from Jessup Elementary School.

December 13

Today is St. Lucy's Day. She is one of the patrons of writers.

1636 The General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony ordered that the Colony's militia companies be organized into North, South and East Regiments, which is regarded as the birth of the National Guard.

1861  Mary Godat Bellamy, Wyoming's first female legislator, born in Richwoods Missouri.  She was elected to the State House in 1910.  

1873   Governor Campbell approved an act creating Uinta County to build a courthouse and a jail in Evanston.  The courthouse remains in that use today, and is the oldest courthouse in Wyoming that still serves in its original function.  Johnson County's 1884 courthouse is the second oldest.

1879  Pease County renamed Johnson County.  Attriubiton.  On This Day . Com.

1901  Prisoners transferred from Laramie to new penitentiary in Rawlins. Attribution. Wyoming State Historical Society.

1901  Wild Bunch (Hole in the Wall Gang) member Kid Curry killed Knoxville Tennessee policemen William Dinwiddle and Robert Saylor.

1913  Lincoln Highway designated a transcontinental highway, the first to be so designated in the US.

1913  Yoder incorporated. Attribution: Wyoming State Historical Society.

1916   The Wyoming Tribune for December 13, 1916. Maybe Carranza isn't in a hurry to sign.
 

Just two days ago Carranza was reported as going to sign the protocol for sure.  Now, accurately, he didn't appear to be likely to do so.

Otherwise, the disaster of World War One dominated the headlines along with the disastrous fire in Chugwater.

USS Goshen

1944 The USS Goshen, originally named the Sea Hare, commissioned.  She was a fast attack transport.

1984  Minor league baseball player Armando Casas born in Laramie.

1993  A 3.5 magnitude earthquake occurs 70 miles outside of Laramie.  I was living there at the time, but I don't recall this one.

2004  Tom Strook, long time Wyoming legislator, World War Two Marine, Casper oil man, and US Ambassador to Guatemala died.

December 12

Today commemorates Our Lady of Guadalupe on the Catholic calendar.  The day commemorates the appearance of Mary to Juan Diego in Mexico.  The day has always been one of celebration in Mexican communities in the United States, including Wyoming, where various Catholic parishes with significant Hispanic populations have celebrated the day in a traditional fashion.  St. Lawrence O'Toole parish in Laramie, for example, has celebrated the day for decades with a dedicated Mass incorporating the inclusion of a queen and king chosen from amongst the Hispanic youth of the parish.  St. Anthony's parish in Casper includes a march from Pioneer Park, which is located near the old and new courthouses, to the church.

1860   Frank L. Houx, who became Wyoming's acting Governor in 1917 upon Gov. Kendrick's resignation,  was born near Lexington, MO.

1873  Laramie incorporated by the Territorial Legislature.

1873  Wyoming's third Territorial Legislature concluded.

1888  Herman Glafcke takes office as Territorial Bank Examiner.

1910  William Howard Taft nominated Willis Van Devanter to the position of Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  

Van Devanter was born in Indiana and was a 1881 graduate of the Cincinnati Law School.  Like many of Wyoming's early political figures, the young Van Devanter saw opportunity in Wyoming and relocated to Cheyenne after obtaining his law degree where he became a significant practicing.  He served as the Chief Justice of the Territorial Supreme Court after being appointed to the post at age 30.  And he was Chief Justice of the Wyoming Supreme Court for four days prior to returning to private practice after Wyoming achieved statehood.  During his period of private practice he was the legal strategist for the large cattlemen following their arrest for the invasion of Johnson County.

In 1896, after becoming afflicted with Typhus, he relocated to Washington  D. C.  From 1896 to 1900 he served as an Assistant Attorney General assigned to the  Department of the Interior and was a professor at George Washington University's department of law.  In 1903 President Roosevelt nominated him to the 8th Judicial Circuit Court of Appeals, where he was serving when nominated to the United States Supreme Court.  In remarkable contrast to today, his nomination was approved by the Senate on December 15..

 
1916  Chugwater's business district destroyed by fire.  Attribution. Wyoming State Historical Society.

1917     Father Edward Flanagan founded Boys Town outside Omaha, Neb.  From our companion blog:

Boys Town Founded, December 12, 1917
 

Monsignor Edward J. Flanagan

On this date in 1917, Monsignor Edward J. Flanagan founded an orphanage outside of Omaha Nebraska which was called the City of Little Men.  Later changing its name to Boys' Town, the orphanage for boys pioneered the social preparation model for orphanages.  It still exists.

Monsignor Flanagan was Irish by birth and the son of a herdsman.  He immigrated to the United States at age 18 in 1904 and received a bachelors degree just two years later, going on to receive a MA two years after that.  He then entered the seminary in New York and completed his studies in Italy and Austria, being ordained there in 1912.  He was then assigned to Nebraska as a Priest. He became a US citizen in 1919.. His views on the care and development of orphaned children were far ahead of their time.

1919  Fourteen Spanish Flu deaths were reported in Washakie County for this week, which of course occurred during the Spanish Flu Pandemic.

The Spanish Influenza was a disaster of epic proportions which managed to impact nearly the entire globe.  While accounts vary, some accounts indicate that the flu epidemic first broke out, at least in its lethal form, in Camp Funston, Kansas.

1925     The first motel, the Motel Inn, opened, in San Luis Obispo, Calif.  Another sign of the rise of the automobile.  Prior to this, hotels had often been situated relatively near railroads, and they did not feature parking lots.

1941 British decide to abandon northern Malaya. Japanese abandon their first attempt to capture Wake. Japanese complete the occupation of southern Thailand. Japanese invade Burma. Japanese troops land at Legaspi, southeastern Luzon and advance from Vigan and Aparri.  Naval Air Transport Service is established  Germans begin house-by-house search for Jews in Paris.  U.S. Navy takes control of the ocean liner Normandie while it is docked at New York City.   UK declares war on Bulgaria. Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States. India declares war on Japan.  Adolf Hitler announces extermination of the Jews at a meeting in the Reich Chancellery.

1941   The Wyoming Township, Michigan, Police Department founded.

2016  Wyoming Governor Mead addressed the Joint Appropriations Committee in Cheyenne, telling them that budget cuts enacted in prior years were deep enough and not to cut further.  The committee, made up of fiscal conservatives, was largely non reactive to that, but it did have questions about the funding of the Tribal Liaison position which is funded for a reduced $160,000.  Questions were made about whether one liaison for two tribes, now that the tribes cooperation is reduced over prior years, was appropriate, and whether support for the position would remain if the Tribes were asked to fund 10% to 20% of the position.

2016  The Federal Government agreed to buy an inholding belonging to the State in the Grand Teton National Park for $46,000,000. The State had threatened for some time to sell the land if the Federal Government did not buy the 640 acres on the basis that it had to do that to maximize returns for the schools given that the grazing lease only brought in $2,000 per year.

December 10

Today is Wyoming Day

1838  Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar inaugurated the second president of the Republic of Texas.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1869  Territorial Governor John Campbell signed a bill giving full suffrage and public rights to women in Wyoming.  This was the first law passed in the US explicitly granting to women the franchise.  The bill provided that:  ""Every woman of the age of eighteen years residing in this territory, may, at every election cast her vote; and her right to the elective franchise and to hold office under the election laws of the territory shall be the same of electors."  Gov. Campbell's comment, in signing the bill into law, was:  "I have the honor to inform the Council that I have approved 'An act to grant to the Women of Wyoming Territory the right of Suffrage and to hold office.'" 


Critics, or perhaps rather cynics, have sometimes claimed that this served no other purpose other than to raise the number of citizens eligible to vote, and thereby increase the likelihood of early admission as a state, but that view doesn't reflect the early reality of this move.  In fact, Wyoming's politicians were notably egalitarian for the time and too women as members of the body politic seriously.  During the Territorial period women even served on juries, something that was very unusual in the United States at the time, although they lost this right for a time after statehood.

1869  Territorial school laws goes into effect requiring public schools to be funded by taxation.

1898  The Treaty of Paris was signed concluding an agreement to end the Spanish American War.

1906  President Theodore Roosevelt awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.

1909     Red Cloud, (Maȟpíya Lúta) Oglala Sioux warrior and chief, and the only Indian leader to have won a war with the United States in the post 1860 time frame which resulted in a favorable treaty from the Indian prospective, died at the Pine Ridge Reservation.  He was 87 years old, and his fairly long life was not uncommon for Indians of this time frame who were not killed by injuries or disease, showing that the often cited assumption that people who lived in a state of nature lived short lives is in error.  After winning Red Cloud's War, a war waged over the Powder River Basin and the Big Horns, he declined to participate in further wars against the United States, which seems to have been motivated by a visit to Washington D.C in which he became aware of the odds against the Plains Indians.  He did not become passive, and warned the United States that its treatment of Indians on the Reservation would lead to further armed conflict, which of course was correct.

While his most famous actions are associated with Wyoming, Red Cloud was born in Nebrasaka which inducted him in recent years into the Nebraska Hall of Fame.

1916 Sunday State Leader for December 10, 1916: Osborne resigns as Assistant Secretary of State, Carranza will sign protocol, Funston explains ban of rivals.
 

December 10, 1916, was a peculiar newspaper day as the Cheyenne State Leader published three editions, only one of which was regular news. The others were holiday features.

In this one, the straight news one, we are told that Carranza will sign the protocol with the US. But will he really?

We also learn that Assistant Secretary of State Osborne resigned that position in order to return to Wyoming.

The news also featured a story on why U.S. Commander in the Southwest, Frederick Funston, banned religious revivals in his region of authority.

And girls from Chicago were looking for husbands.

1918  December 10, 1918. Watering in the Rhine, Welcoming the Troops Home, Massacre in Palestine, Bolsheviks worry about Russians.

Cpt. M. W. Lanham, 2nd Bde, 1st Div, waters his horse "Von Hindenburg", in the Rhine.  Ostensibly Von Hindenburg was the first American horse to drink from the Rhine.

Back home, Casperites were learning what locals and friends of locals had done during the war. . . and a big party was being planned for the returning troops.

Note making the news, a terrible massacre was perpetrated by New Zealand troops, and a few Australians, in the town of Surafend Palestine in reprisal for the murder of a New Zealander soldier.  At least 40 male villagers of that town were killed in the event.

And the Bolsheviks, a movement that had long depended upon revolutionary citizenry, made its fear of that citizenry plain when it ordered that civilians turn in their arms.  Even edged weapons were included in the decree, although shotguns were not.

1919 

December 10, 1919. Air First and a Coal Day

The prize posted by the Australian government of 10,000 Australian pounds (then the unit of currency in Australia) for the first aircraft piloted by Australians to fly from England to the Australia was claimed by the crew of a Vickers Vimy bomber, entered into the contest by Vickers.

The plane was crewed by pilots Cpt. Ross Macpherson Smith and his brother Lt. Keith Macpherson Smith, with mechanics Sgt. W. H. Shiers and J.M. Bennett.  The plane made the trip from Hounslow Heath to Australian starting on November 12, 1919.

Cpt. Smith was killed test piloting a Vickers Viking seaplane in 1922.  Lt. Smith became a Vickers executive and an airline industry figure, dying of natural causes in 1955 at age 64.

Elsewhere, questions began to come up about the nature of diplomatic officer Jenkin's kidnapping even as Republicans continued to press for action of some sort against Mexico.  And as the mine strike ended, kids in Casper were let out of school due to lack of coal for heat.

1920 Woodrow Wilson receives the Nobel Peace Prize.

1941 Guam surrenders to a Japanese landing force after a two day battle. Japanese aircraft sink HMSs Prince of Wales and Repulse, South China Sea. Japanese naval aircraft bomb Cavite Navy Yard, Manila Bay. Japanese troops begin landings in northern Luzon. USS Enterprise aircraft sink sub I-70..

2010  Sothebys auctions a flag attributed to the Seventh Cavalry and used at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

2011 Wyoming experiences a total eclipse of the moon.

December 9

1716   Martín de Alarcón, founder of San Antonio, appointed governor of Texas.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1854 The poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, published.

Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!
"Charge for the guns!" he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

2.

"Forward, the Light Brigade!"
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Someone had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

3.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

4.

Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air,
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel'd from the sabre stroke
Shatter'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.

5.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.

6.

When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honor the charge they made,
Honor the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred.

1867 The capital of Colorado Territory was moved from Golden to Denver.

1869  Governor Campbell approved the design for the Territorial Seal.  The Territorial Seal would continue on to be used to some extent after statehood, as the first State Seal was subject to extensive controversy as competing Senators submitted alternative variants, and Governor Barber was left with a mess.  This was, moreover, more than a little significant, as during this era State seals were used for National bank notes. Wyoming's therefore, carried the Territorial Seal in at least some instances after statehood.

A very fine article on the topic of the State Seal appears in the Vol 84, No 2, Spring 2012 , Annals of Wyoming, by former geology professor Peter Huntoon.

1873  The Territorial Legislature approved a measure moving the seat of Sweetwater County from South Pass City to Green River.

1890  A bill for the admission of Idaho and  Wyoming as states was introduced into Congress.

1898  A post office was established at Garrett.  Attribution. Wyoming State Historical Society.

1912  Henry A. Coffeen, former Wyoming Congressman, died. 

1941 China declared war on Japan, Germany and Italy. Hitler ordered US ships torpedoed. The 19th Bombardment Group attacks Japanese ships off the coast of Vigan, Luzon. USS Swordfish (SS-193) makes initial U.S. submarine attack on Japanese ship. Canadian government orders blackouts and closes Japanese-Canadian newspapers and schools. China declares war on Japan, after nine years of "incidents". They were, of course, already at war. Cuba, Guatemala, the Philippine Commonwealth, and the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea also declare war on Japan. Korea, of course, is already occupied by Japan. Japanese troops from Kwajelein occupy Tarawa in the Gilberts. Japanese bomb Nichols Field on Luzon. Japanese capture Khota Baru airfield on Malaya. Siam agrees to a cease fire with Japan, signaling an early defeat there. Japanese ground forces attack across the frontier of the New Territories; capture the key position of Shing Mun Redoubt; D Company of The Winnipeg Grenadiers dispatched to the mainland to strengthen this sector.

1960  Edwin Keith Thompson, former Wyoming Congressman, and Senator elect at the time of his death, died.

1976  A 5.1 earthquake occurred in Yellowstone National Park.

December 8

1868  Crook County created out of portions of Albany and Laramie counties.

1869  Territorial Governor Campbell approved measures to ask Congress to establish a prison at Laramie and to acquire the location for the prison.  The prison still remains in Laramie but as a tourist site.  For a while in the late 20th Century it was used as the University of Wyoming's sheep barn.

1869 Louis Riel issues the Declaration of the People of Rupert's Land and the North West declaring that the sale to Canada of Rupert's Land without their consent entitles people to set up their own government. Riel's view is not without sympathy in Canada, including that of Militia Minister George-Etienne Cartier.  Nonetheless, events would soon lead to armed conflict in Canada.

Riel was a Metis, and in that era Metis traveled routinely into Wyoming.  There are even some who believe that there were some Metis in the Sioux camp during the Battle of the Little Big Horn, Montana.

The Declaration of the People of Rupert's Land and the North West stated:

Proclamation by the Provisional Government, Dec. 8, 1869.

Whereas, it is admitted by all men, as a fundamental principle, that the public authority commands the obedience and respect of its subjects. It is also admitted, that a people, when it has no Government, is free to adopt one form of Government, in preference to another, to give or to refuse allegiance to that which is proposed. In accordance with the above first principle the people of this country had obeyed and respected the authority to which the circumstances which surrounded its infancy compelled it to be subject.

A company of adventurers known as the "Hudson Bay Company," and invested with certain powers, granted by His Majesty (Charles II), established itself in Rupert's Land, and in the North-West Territory, for trading purposes only. This Company, consisting of many persons, required a certain constitution. But as there was a question of commerce only, their constitution was framed in reference thereto. Yet, since there was at that time no Government to see to the interest of a people already existing in the country, it became necessary for judicial affairs to have recourse to the officers of the Hudson Bay Company. This inaugurated that species of government which, slightly modified by subsequent circumstances, ruled this country up to recent date.

Whereas, that Government, thus accepted, was far from answering to the wants of the people, and became more and more so, as the population increased in numbers, and as the country was developed, and commerce extended, until the present day, when it commands a place amongst the colonies; and this people, ever actuated by the above-mentioned principles, had generously supported the aforesaid Government, and gave to it a faithful allegiance, when, contrary to the law of nations, in March, 1869, that said Government surrendered and transferred to Canada all the rights which it had, or pretended to have, in this Territory, by transactions with which the people were considered unworthy to be made acquainted.

And, whereas, it is also generally admitted that a people is at liberty to establish any form of government it may consider suited to its wants, as soon as the power to which it was subject abandons it, or attempts to subjugate it, without its consent to a foreign power; and maintain that no right can be transferred to such foreign power. Now, therefore, first, we, the representatives of the people, in Council assembled in Upper Fort Garry, on the 24th day of November, 1869, after having invoked the God of Nations, relying on these fundamental moral principles, solemnly declare, in the name of our constituents, and in our own names, before God and man, that, from the day on which the Government we had always respected abandoned us, by transferring to a strange power the sacred authority confided to it, the people of Rupert's Land and the North-West became free and exempt from all allegiance to the said Government. Second. That we refuse to recognize the authority of Canada, which pretends to have a right to coerce us, and impose upon us a despotic form of government still more contrary to our rights and interests as British subjects, than was that Government to which we had subjected our-selves, through necessity up to recent date. Thirdly. That, by sending an expedition on the 1st November, ult., charged to drive back Mr. William McDougall and his companions, coming in the name of Canada, to rule us with the rod of despotism, without previous notification to that effect, we have acted conformably to that sacred right which commands every citizen to offer energetic opposition to pre-vent this country from being enslaved. Fourth. That we continue, and shall continue, to oppose, with all our strength, the establishing of the 'Canadian authority in our country, under the announced form; and, in case of persistence on the part of the Canadian Government to enforce its obnoxious policy upon us by force of arms, we protest before-hand against such an unjust and unlawful course; and we declare the said Canadian Government responsible, before God and men, for the innumerable evils which may be caused by so unwarrantable a course. Be it known, therefore, to the world in general and to the Canadian Government in particular, that, as we have always heretofore successfully defended our country in frequent wars with the neighbouring tribes of Indians, who are now on friendly relations with us, we are firmly resolved in future, not less than in the past, to repel all invasions from whatsoever quarter they may come; and, further more, we do declare and proclaim, in the name of the people of Rupert's Land and the North-West, that we have, on the said 24th day of November, 1869, above mentioned, established a Provisional Government, and hold it to be the only and lawful authority now in existence in Rupert's Land and the North-West which claims the obedience and respect of the people; that, meanwhile, we hold our-selves in readiness to enter in such negotiations with the Canadian Government as may be favourable for the good government and prosperity of this people. In support of this declaration, relying on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge ourselves, on oath, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor, to each other.

Issued at Fort Garry, this Eighth day of December, in the year of our Lord, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.

John Bruce, Pres. Louis Riel, Sec.

1873  A bill was introduced in the Territorial Legislature to move the capital to Evanston.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1875  Territorial Governor Thayer approves an act creating Pease County, which was later renamed Johnson County.

1902  USS Wyoming, BM-10, commissioned.

1941  The FBI warned Japanese residents of Rawlins to be discreet.

1941 Japan released its Declaration of War against the United States and the UK, which stated:

By the grace of Heaven, Emperor of Japan, seated on the throne occupied by the same dynasty from time immemorial, enjoin upon ye, Our loyal and brave subjects:

We hereby declare War on the United States of America and the British Empire. The men and officers of Our Army and Navy shall do their utmost in prosecuting the war. Our public servants of various departments shall perform faithfully and diligently their respective duties; the entire nation with a united will shall mobilize their total strength so that nothing will miscarry in the attainment of Our war aims.

To ensure the stability of East Asia and to contribute to world peace is the far-sighted policy which was formulated by Our Great Illustrious Imperial Grandsire and Our Great Imperial Sire succeeding Him, and which We lay constantly to heart. To cultivate friendship among nations and to enjoy prosperity in common with all nations, has always been the guiding principle of Our Empire's foreign policy. It has been truly unavoidable and far from Our wishes that Our Empire has been brought to cross swords with America and Britain. More than four years have passed since China, failing to comprehend the true intentions of Our Empire, and recklessly courting trouble, disturbed the peace of East Asia and compelled Our Empire to take up arms. Although there has been reestablished the National Government of China, with which Japan had effected neighborly intercourse and cooperation, the regime which has survived in Chungking, relying upon American and British protection, still continues its fratricidal opposition. Eager for the realization of their inordinate ambition to dominate the Orient, both America and Britain, giving support to the Chungking regime, have aggravated the disturbances in East Asia. Moreover these two Powers, inducing other countries to follow suit, increased military preparations on all sides of Our Empire to challenge Us. They have obstructed by every means Our peaceful commerce and finally resorted to a direct severance of economic relations, menacing gravely the existence of Our Empire. Patiently have We waited and long have We endured, in the hope that Our government might retrieve the situation in peace. But Our adversaries, showing not the least spirit of conciliation, have unduly delayed a settlement; and in the meantime they have intensified the economic and political pressure to compel thereby Our Empire to submission. This trend of affairs, would, if left unchecked, not only nullify Our Empire's efforts of many years for the sake of the stabilization of East Asia, but also endanger the very existence of Our nation. The situation being such as it is, Our Empire, for its existence and self-defense has no other recourse but to appeal to arms and to crush every obstacle in its path.

The hallowed spirits of Our Imperial Ancestors guarding Us from above, We rely upon the loyalty and courage of Our subjects in Our confident expectation that the task bequeathed by Our forefathers will be carried forward and that the sources of evil will be speedily eradicated and an enduring peace immutably established in East Asia, preserving thereby the glory of Our Empire.

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hand and caused the Grand Seal of the Empire to be affixed at the Imperial Palace, Tokyo, this seventh day of the 12th month of the 15th year of Shōwa, corresponding to the 2,602nd year from the accession to the throne of Emperor Jimmu.

 The UK declared war on Japan.

Sir,
On the evening of December 7th His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom learned that Japanese forces without previous warning either in the form of a declaration of war or of an ultimatum with a conditional declaration of war had attempted a landing on the coast of Malaya and bombed Singapore and Hong Kong.
In view of these wanton acts of unprovoked aggression committed in flagrant violation of International Law and particularly of Article I of the Third Hague Convention relative to the opening of hostilities, to which both Japan and the United Kingdom are parties, His Majesty's Ambassador at Tokyo has been instructed to inform the Imperial Japanese Government in the name of His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom that a state of war exists between our two countries.
I have the honour to be, with high consideration,

Sir,

Your obedient servant,

Winston S. Churchill

 The US declared war on Japan, with President Roosevelt declaring the following:

Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, members of the Senate and the House of Representatives:
Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

The United States was at peace with that nation, and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.

Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. And, while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack.

It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese Government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.

Yesterday the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam.

Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.

Last night the Japanese attacked Wake Island.

And this morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island.

Japan has therefore undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.

As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense, that always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us.

No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people, in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory.

I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.

Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger.

With confidence in our armed forces, with the un-bounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph. So help us God.

I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.

1944 Bryant B. Brooks, governor from January 1905 to January 1911, died in Casper.  Brooks was a true pioneering figure in Wyoming, having come to the state in 1880 and having been, at first, a trapper and rancher.  He reflects a class that isn't often discussed, however, in early Western history in that he was well educated (but not a lawyer), having attended Business College in Chicago Illinois.  Nonetheless, he was only 19 years old at the time he moved to Wyoming.  He was highly energetic and was successful in ranching.  After his term in office expired he was also very active in the early oil industry and was partially responsible for the construction of one of Casper's first "skyscraper" buildings, the Oil Exchange Building, which was built in 1917, during one of the region's earliest oil booms, this one due to World War One. The building remains in use today, with its name having been changed to the Consolidated Royalty Building.

1953 President Eisenhower delivered his "Atoms for Peace" address to the UN.

1967  Artist Hans Kiebler died at his home in Dayton.

1972  4.1 magnitude earth quake felt in Theromopolis.  On the same day, Sheridan experiences a record low of -30F.

December 6

1866   Colonel Henry B. Carrington and Captain William J. Fetterman surrounded by Sioux and Cheyenne warriors and engaged them briefly, before being able to return to Ft. Phil Kearny.

1869  A bill on territorial suffrage was amended before passage to grant the franchise at age 21, as opposed to 18.

1886 Joyce Kilmer, American poet, author of Trees, born. He was killed while serving in the US Army in World War One, in 1918.

 I THINK that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

1904  President Roosevelt, in his annual address to Congress, issued the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, stating:

All that this country desires is to see the neighboring countries stable, orderly, and prosperous. Any country whose people conduct themselves well can count upon our hearty friendship. If a nation shows that it knows how to act with reasonable efficiency and decency in social and political matters, if it keeps order and pays its obligations, it need fear no interference from the United States. Chronic wrongdoing, or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society, may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere the adherence of the United States to the Monroe Doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power.

1916  Wyoming v. Colorado, dealing with apportionment of water from the Laramie River, argued in front of the United States Supreme Court.  It would be re argued twice and decided in 1922.

1916  Cheyenne State Leader for December 6, 1916: Wyoming Guardsmen in New Mexico had turkey for Thanksgiving 

Yes, there was other news than the turkey in New Mexico, but the Leader was following the Guard in New Mexico, which no doubt a lot of Wyomingites were very interested in.

1918  December 6, 1918. Crossing the Rhine, Crossing the Atlantic, Crossing the English Channel, Villa back, U.S. ponders getting even with Mexico, Caspar Collins a tank, German Crown Prince Nervous, Billings girl suggests Black Crows wrong.

American soldiers crossing the Rhine by Ferry, December 6, 1918.

American soldier in France registering as he board a ship back to the United States.  Note the soldier on the left wearing the heavy mackinaw.

African American troops in England gather to board ships back to the United States.  December 6, 1918.  Some of these soldiers appear to be wearing trench coats which would indicate that they are officers (there were black units with black officers in World War One), or that they have received British issue.  The woman with the basket is helping hand out wheat and chocolate Red Cross candy bars.

American soldiers from units assigned to the British Expeditionary Force on post war leave in England.  December 6, 1918.

 Newpaper reaaders in Casper learned that the late Lt. Caspar Collins might have a tank named after him, although the message that naming a tank after a soldier who became separated from his support in combat could have been questioned.

 A "Pretty Young Woman" in Billings and Northern Wyoming suggest that yes, you do need money even if "you look like that".

Laramie readers learned that there was a move afoot to boycott Mexican oil to teach "Germanized" Mexico a lesson.

1919  December 6, 1919. Rumors of War.

Germany had failed to comply with all of the provisions of the Versailles Treaty by this date, and as a result, a protocol was issued addressing it, and the German government asked to sign it.  To this date, they had not.

Here's what the protocol stated:

At the moment of proceeding to the first deposit of ratifications of the Treaty of Peace, it is placed on record that the following obligations, which Germany had undertaken to execute by the Armistice Conventions and supplementary Agreements, have not been executed or have not been completely fulfilled:  

(1) Armistice Convention of November 11,1918/5 Clause VII; obligation to deliver 5,000 locomotives and 150,000 wagons. 42 locomotives and 4,460 wagons are still to be delivered;
(2) Armistice Convention of November 11, 1918, Clause XII; obligation to withdraw the German troops in Russian territory within the frontiers of Germany, as soon as the' Allies shall think the moment suitable. The withdrawal of these troops has not been effected, despite the reiterated instructions of August 27, September 27 and October 10, 1919;
(3) Armistice Convention of November 11,1918, Clause XIV; obligation to cease at once all requisitions, seizures or coercive measures in Russian territory. The German troops have continued to have recourse to such measures;
(4) Armistice Convention of November 11, 1918, Clause XIX; obligation to return immediately all documents, specie, stocks, shares, paper money, together with plant for the issue thereof, affecting public or private interests in the invaded countries. The complete lists of specie and securities carried off, collected or confiscated by the Germans in the invaded countries have not been supplied;
(5) Armistice Convention of November 11, 1918, Clause XXII; obligation to surrender all German submarines. Destruction of the German submarine U.C. 48 off Ferrol by order of her German commander, and destruction in the North Sea of certain submarines proceeding to England for surrender;
(6) Armistice Convention of November 11, 1918, Clause XXIII; obligation to maintain in Allied ports the German ~arships designated by the Allied and Associated Powers, these ships being intended to be ultimately handedover. Clause XXXI; obligation not to destroy any ship before delivery. Destruction of the said ships at Scapa Flow on June 21, 1919;
(7) Protocol of December 17, 1918, Annex to the Armistice Convention of December 13, 1918; obligation to restore the works of art and artistic documents carried off in France and Belgium. All the works of art removed into the unoccupied parts of Germany have not been restored;
(8) Armistice Convention of January 16, 1919/6 Clause III and Protocol 392/1 Additional Clause III of July 25, 1919; obligation to hand over agricultural machinery in the place of the supplementary railway material provided for in Tables 1 and 2 annexed to the Protocol of Spa of December 17, 1918. The following machines had not been delivered on the stipulated date of October 1, 1919. 40 "Heucke" steam plough outfits; all the cultivators for the outfits; all the spades; 1,500 shovels; 1,130 T.F. 23/26 ploughs; 1,765 T.F. 18/21 ploughs; 1,512 T.F. 23/26 ploughs; 629 T.F. 0 m. 20 Brabant ploughs; 1,205 T.F.o m. 26 Brabant ploughs; 4,282 harrows of 2 k. 500; 2,157 steel cultivators; 966 2 m. 50 manure distributors; 1,608 3 m. 50 manure distributors;
(9) Armistice Convention of January 16, 1919, Clause VI; obligation to restore the industrial material carried off from French and Belgian territory. All this material has not been restored;
(10) Convention of January 16,1919, Clause VIII; obligation to place the German merchant fleet under the control of the Allied and Associated Powers. A certain number of ships whose delivery had been demanded under this clause have not yet been handed over;
(11) Protocols of the Conferences of Brussels of March 13 and 14, 1919; obligation not to export war material of all kinds. Exportation of aeronautical material to Sweden, Holland and Denmark.  

A certain number of the above provisions which have not been executed or have not been executed in full have been renewed by the Treaty of June 28, 1919, whose coming into force will ipso facto render the sanctions there provided applicable. This applies particularly to the various measures to be taken on account of reparation.
Further, the question of the evacuation of the Baltic provinces has been the subject of an exchange of notes and of decisions which are being carried out. The Allied and Associated Powers expressly confirming the contents of their notes, Germany by the present Protocol undertakes to continue to execute them faithfully and strictly.
Finally, as the Allied and Associated Powers could not allow to p'ass without penalty the other failures to execute the Armistice Conventions and violations so serious as the destruction of the German fleet at Scapa Flow, the destruction of U.C. 48 off Ferrol and the destruction in the North Sea of certain submarines on their way to England for surrender, Germany undertakes:
(1) A. To hand over as reparation for the destruction of the German fleet at Scapa Flow: .
(a) Within 60 days from the date of the signature of the present Protocol and in the conditions laid down in the second paragraph of Article 185 of the Treaty of Peace the five following light cruisers:  

Konigsberg,
Pillau,
Graudenz,
Regensburg,
Strassburg.  

(b) Within 90 days from the date of the signature of the present Protocol, and in good condition and ready for service in every respect, such a number of floating docks, floating cranes, tugs and dredgers, equivalent to a total displacement of 400,000 tons, as the Principal Allied and Associated Powers may require. As regards the docks, the lifting power will be considered as the displacement. In the number of docks referred to above there will be about 75 per cent. of docks over 10,000 tons. The whole of this material will be handed over on the spot;  

B. To deliver within 10 days from the signature of the present Protocol a complete list of all floating docks, floating cranes, tugs and dredgers which are German property. This list, which will be delivered to the Naval Inter Allied Commission of Control referred to in Article 209 of the Treaty of Peace, will specify the material which on November 11, 1918, belonged to the German Government or in which the German Government had at that date an important interest; 

C. The officers and men who formed the crews of the warships sunk at Scapa Flow and who are at present detained by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers will, with the exception of those whose surrender is provided for by Article 228 of the Treaty of Peace, be repatriated at latest when Germany has carried out the provisions of Paragraphs A. and B. above;  

D. The destroyer B. 98 will be considered as one of the 42 destroyers whose delivery is provided for by Article 185 of the Treaty of Peace;  

(2) To hand over within 10 days from the signature of the present Protocol the engines and motors of the submarines U. 137 and U. 138 as compensation for the destruction of U.C. 48;  

(3) To pay to the Allied and Associated Governments before January 31, 1920, the value of the aeronautical material exported, in accordance with the decision which will be given and the valuation which will be made and notified by the Aeronautical Inter-Allied Commission of Control referred to in Article 210 of the Treaty of Peace. In the event of Germany not fulfilling these obligations within the periods laid down above, the Allied and Associated Powers reserve the right to take all military or other measures of coercion which they may consider appropriate.

There Versailles Treaty was complicated to start with, and things clearly hadn't been going smoothly in Germany.  The question now was what to do about it, and the threatened solution was military.

This of course followed the ongoing difficulties with Mexico.  The U.S., for its part, hadn't signed the Versailles Treaty, but it still had troops on occupation duty in the country.

Rumors of war were definitely not going away.  It would be enough to make a person want to curl up with a good book and forget the news of the day.

1929  Fort D.A. Russell renamed Fort F.E Warren after the late Wyoming Senator F. E. Warren.

1941  Wyoming Senator Harry Schwartz stated that war with Japan was unlikely.  Given the state of relations between the United States and Japan, which were strained to the limit, and in which the Federal government regarded war as likely to break out at any time, Schwartz's opinion seems more than a little optimistic, although he certainly wasn't the only one to hold it.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1941  President Roosevelt sent a telegram to Emperor Hirohito reading:

Almost a century ago the President of the United States addressed to the Emperor of Japan a message extending an offer of friendship of the people of the United States to the people of Japan. That offer was accepted, and in the long period of unbroken peace and friendship which has followed, our respective nations, through the virtues of their peoples and the wisdom of their rulers have prospered and have substantially helped humanity.

Only in situations of extraordinary importance to our two countries need I address to Your Majesty messages on matters of state. I feel I should now so address you because of the deep and far-reaching emergency which appears to be in formation.

Developments are occurring in the Pacific area which threaten to deprive each of our nations and all humanity of the beneficial influence of the long peace between our two countries. These developments contain tragic possibilities.

The people of the United States, believing in peace and in the right of nations to live and let lives have eagerly watched the conversations between our two Governments during these past months. We have hoped for a termination of the present conflict between Japan and China. We have hoped that a peace of the Pacific could be consummated in such a way that nationalities of many diverse peoples could exist side by side without fear of invasion; that unbearable burdens of armaments could be lifted for them all; and that all peoples would resume commerce without discrimination against or in favor of any nation.

I am certain that it will be clear to Your Majesty, as it is to me, that in seeking these great objectives both Japan and the United States should agree to eliminate any form of military threat. This seemed essential to the attainment of the high objectives.
More than a year ago Your Majesty's Government concluded an agreement with the Vichy Government by which five or six thousand Japanese troops were permitted to enter into Northern French Indochina for the protection of Japanese troops which were operating against China further north. And this Spring and Summer the Vichy Government permitted further Japanese military forces to enter into Southern French Indochina for the common defense of French Indochina. I think I am correct in saying that no attack has been made upon Indochina, nor that any has been contemplated.

During the past few weeks it has become clear to the world that Japanese military, naval and air forces have been sent to Southern Indo-China in such large numbers as to create a reasonable doubt on the part of other nations that this continuing concentration in Indochina is not defensive in its character.

Because these continuing concentrations in Indo-China have reached such large proportions and because they extend now to the southeast and the southwest corners of that Peninsula, it is only reasonable that the people of the Philippines, of the hundreds of Islands of the East Indies, of Malaya and of Thailand itself are asking themselves whether these forces of Japan are preparing or intending to make attack in one or more of these many directions.

I am sure that Your Majesty will understand that the fear of all these peoples is a legitimate fear in as much as it involves their peace and their national existence. I am sure that Your Majesty will understand why the people of the United States in such large numbers look askance at the establishment of military, naval and air bases manned and equipped so greatly as to constitute armed forces capable of measures of offense.

It is clear that a continuance of such a situation is unthinkable. None of the peoples whom have spoken of above can sit either indefinitely or permanently on a keg of dynamite.

There is absolutely no thought on the part of the United States of invading Indo-China if every Japanese soldier or sailor were to be withdrawn therefrom.

I think that we can obtain the same assurance from the Governments of the East Indies, the Governments of Malaya and. the Government of Thailand. I would even undertake to ask for the same assurance on the part of the Government of China. Thus a withdrawal of the Japanese forces from Indo-China would result in the assurance of peace throughout the whole of the South Pacific area.

I address myself to Your Majesty at this moment in the fervent hope that Your Majesty may, as I am doing, give thought in this definite emergency to ways of dispelling the dark clouds. I am confident that both of us, for the sake of the peoples not only of our own great countries but for the sake of humanity in neighboring territories, have a sacred duty to restore traditional amity and prevent further death and destruction in the world.

1973 Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as vice president.