1821 Missouri admitted to the Union. As part of this event,
most of Wyoming becomes part of unorganized U.S.
territory.
1867 Cheyenne's first municipal election. On the same day, in the same town, the post office at the corner of Ferguson (Carey Avenue) and Seventeenth streets opened. Attribution: On This Day.
1886 Cavalry arrived at Yellowstone to police the park.
1896 William H. Harrison born in Terra Haute, Indiana. He was Wyoming's Congressman from 1951 to 1956, from 1961 to 1965 and 1967 to 1969. The Indiana born lawyer had been in Indiana's legislature in the 1920s, before moving to Wyoming where he first entered politics by being a Representative to the state legislature from Sheridan County. He came from a family with long political roots, with his great-great-great grandfather Benjamin Harrison V being a signer of
the United States Declaration of Independence, his great-great
grandfather William Henry Harrison being the 9th U.S. President and his
grandfather Benjamin Harrison being the 23rd U.S. President. In his retirement he relocated to Florida.
1912 Congress appropriated $45,000 for the purchase of lands and
maintenance of a winter elk refuge in Jackson Hole where ranchers, and then the State, had been undertaking feeding the elk during winter. Attribution: On This Day.
1916
The Cheyenne State Leader for August 10, 1916. One battalion to be ordered to the border.
One battalion of the Wyoming National Guard looked to be deployed. The
Guard was nearly one soldier short, however, due to an elopement, one of
quite a few that these papers reported on.
And, the World War One homesteading boom was really on.
1916
The local weather, August 10, 1916
Because its in keeping with the
focus of this blog, and because I just realized another way to find it.
Lander, WY
High of 69.1°F and low of 28.9°F.
Cheyenne, WY
High of 73°F and low of 51.1°F.
Sheridan, WY
High of 75°F and low of 48°F.
Nice temperatures during the day,and in Lander and Sheridan, cool temperatures at night.
1917 The Food and Fuel Control Act of 1917 (Lever Act) becomes law
On this date in 1917 the controversial Food and Fuel Control Act became
law. Popularly known as the Lever Act, the law created two wartime
agencies, the United States Food Administration and the United States
Fuel Administration.
United States Fuel Administration poster.
Both agencies were provided with the ability to regulate prices and
attempt to control supply in an effort to make sure that adequate stocks
of these vital items were available to citizens and industry.
Poster aimed at immigrants by the United States Food Administration.
The United States Food Administration was headed by Herbert Hoover who
was appointed by Woodrow Wilson. Remembered commonly now only for his
unsuccessful Presidency, Hoover was a very capable businessman and civil
servant.
Herbert Hoover in 1917.
Harry A. Garfield, the son of James Garfield, a lawyer and academic was
appointed head of the Fuel Administration. It's interesting to note
that Hoover may have seemed the more logical candidate for this post, as
he was a geologist.
Harry A. Garfield as Fuel Administration chief.
The Fuel Administration was organized on a state by state basis. By
January 1918, in spite of its efforts, fuel supplies were short enough
that "Idle Mondays" were ordered for non essential industries. The
crisis in supply was not immediately alleviated by the wars end, and the
agency continued to operate until 1922 when it was deemed no longer
needed and passed out of existence.
Hoovers Food Administration performed a similar role in regards to the
food supply. A special grain purchasing agent, the United States Grain
Corporation, was formed and operated under it specifically to purchase
and regulate the supply of grain. The agency largely passed into a new
entity, the American Relief Administration, with the war's end, although
the United States Grain Corporation continued on with some functions,
including supplying relief wheat to Russia, until it was eliminated in
1927.
Like the Fuel Administration, the Food Administration took towards
having "less" days, such as meathless, wheatless and porkless days. As
I've mentioned on prior posts, this must have seemed like an added
burden for Catholic and Orthodox Americans, who already had fast days
that included at least two out of the three of these.
People were also urged to garden at home (something already widely
done), to eat fish instead of meat, and to use oats and corn where
possible, rather than wheat.
The approach of both agencies was considerably different than that
adopted by the later Democratic Administration of World War Two, which
frankly might be telling in some ways. Rationing was never enacted on a
national level, although at least one state, Montana, did enact it on a
state level, so perhaps that shows it proved its efficiency in another
way.
Both agencies resulted in a large number of dramatic well done posters,
from what must be regarded as the golden age of American posters, and to
the extent they're remembered today, that tends to be why. But both
were major entities during the Great War and controversial ones at
that. Their existence shows the extent to which Americans of that era
were willing to depart from normal concepts of business and economy
during the war, and the extent to which resources were truly very tight
at that time and people lived closer to the margins on a wider scale.
1918
Huns Retreat. Lonely Hearts at D. A. Russell. Doggerel in the Oil Patch. The news of August 10, 1918.
All the news fit to print, and then some.
On this Saturday morning in sunny Wyoming, 1918, readers around the state were reading of the huge change in fortunes for the Allies, who were now advancing rapidly towards the German frontier. But other news crowded and shoved onto the front pages of the state's various newspapers as well.
In Casper, Casperites were greeted with the news that the local Home Guard was going to complete the issuance of rifles.
At Cheyenne's Ft. D. A. Russell readers learned that a lonely soldier was seeking a girl measuring 5 to 5.5 feet who was not a drunkard. The publishing suitor noted that he measured 5 feet 4.5 inches high and had well to do parents, and was seeking a Cheyenne girl to marry.
A less chivalrous character in Virginia testified at trial that he wouldn't serve in the war even if the Turks landed on our shores and carried our women off to bondage. My goodness.
In grimmer news, a medical officer who was formerly stationed at Ft. D. A. Russell was found dead in San Antonio, shot in the head.
Wyoming Oil World, a newspaper rather obviously dedicated to the petroleum industry, found itself moved to verse on this day in 1918, although not very good verse. The subject was the dread Powder River, Let'r Buck war cry of Wyomingites.
1919
August 10, 1919. The Motor Transport Convoy rests in Laramie.
The Motor Transport Convoy spent their Sunday in Laramie on this day in 1919.
The weather was "fair and cool", which would be a good description of most summer days in high altitude Laramie, which has some of the nicest summer weather in Wyoming. Wind and rain in the late afternoon is a typical feature of the summer weather there.
1950 The Plymouth Oiler baseball team from Sinton, Texas played the Worland,
Wyoming, Indians in the first no-hit, no-run game in National
Baseball Congress history. Attribution: On This Day.
1954 The Can-A-Pop beverage company of Sheridan announced it was moving to Denver.
1956 A contract was signed for the construction of the first uranium processing mill in Wyoming. Attribution: Wyoming State Historical Society.
1988 President Ronald Reagan signed a bill providing reparations Japanese-Americans interred by the U.S. government during World War II. One of the interment camps was at Hart Mountain, Wyoming, which is near Cody.
