May 22

1804  The Corps of Discovery departed from St. Charles, Missouri.

1843   A wagon train, made up of 1,000 settlers and 1,000 head of cattle left Independence, Missouri.on the "Great Emigration," down the Oregon Trail. 

1882  Ft. Sanders abandoned. 

1891  The Lincoln Land Company purchased the land upon which Moorcroft would be built.

1902  Medicine Bow Forest Reserve established by President Theodore Roosevelt.

1918  Four hundred Belgian soldiers passed through Wyoming over the Union Pacific Railroad on their way to the war in Europe.  The men had been assigned to fight with the Russians and were evacuated from Russia to the United States across the Pacific. Their train trip across the United States was to send them to an Atlantic port so they could return to service in Europe.

They received warm welcomes in Wyoming as they passed through the state.  Their compliment included several wives of soldiers, likely Russian brides, and one infant.

1920  May 22, 1920. Carranza's Assassination hits the news, and Bergdoll's Departure. The Belmont Run, and Federal Employees get to Retire.

Postman, May 22, 1920.

The dramatic news that Carranza, who had been such a large figure in the Mexican Revolution, and the American Press, had been assassinated hit in the U.S.

Also taking headlines was the flight of Grover Cleveland Bergdoll, a millionaire draft dodger.

Bergdoll had first been in the press as a pre World War One aviator, showing that he at least had an element of personal courage.  But when the war came, he skipped his draft physical and evaded the authorities for two years.  He was finally arrested in January, 1920.

He was tried and convicted, and then oddly allowed out of prison when he claimed the need to recover a cache of gold he'd buried while a fugitive.  On a stop at his home in Philadelphia, while under guard, he managed to escape and flea with his chauffeur.

He went, oddly enough, to Germany, where he further avoided attempts to kidnap him by American soldiers of fortune on two occasions, killing one of them.  He returned to the United States twice while a fugitive and even toured a bit on one occasion.  He finally surrendered to authorities in 1939 and served the remainder of his term plus added time, being released in 1944.  He remained under psychiatric care until his death in 1966.

The Belmont was run on this day in 1920.

United Hunts Racing Association meet at Belmont Park Terminal track, May 22, 1920.

Beatrice Clafin and M.M. Van Beuren at the United Hunts Racing Association meet at Belmont Park Terminal track, Belmont, New York, May 22, 1920.

The Civil Retirement Act went into effect on this day, providing retirement for employees of the United States government.  

We're so used to thinking of this as always having existed we fail to appreciate that in fact a century ago retirement was not only not a sure thing, it was contrary to the norm.

1942   President Roosevelt orders the Selective Service registration of all male Americans residents who reach the age of 18 or 19 before June 30th or has reached the age of 20 since December 31, 1941.

1965  John Terril reappointed U.S. Marshall.

1978  The Virginian Hotel, and the Riverton Railroad Depot added to the National Registry of Historic Places.

1987  The U.S. Post Offices in Powell and Greybull added to the National Register of Historic Places.

1987  Special Session of the Legislature concludes.

1991  The 1022nd Medical Company returned to State Control.

2020  Governor Gordon orders flag's at half staff until Sunday, May 24, in honor of the victimes of the Coronavirus.  The proclamation read:

Governor orders flags be flown at half staff statewide until May 24

in honor of the victims of the novel coronavirus pandemic

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - Governor Mark Gordon, pursuant to President Donald Trump's Proclamation, has ordered both the U.S. and State of Wyoming flags be flown at half-staff statewide until sunset on Sunday, May 24, 2020 in honor of the victims of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The Presidential Proclamation follows: 

Our Nation mourns for every life lost to the coronavirus pandemic, and we share in the suffering of all those who endured pain and illness from the outbreak. Through our grief, America stands steadfast and united against the invisible enemy. May God be with the victims of this pandemic and bring aid and comfort to their families and friends. As a mark of solemn respect for the victims of the coronavirus pandemic, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, May 24, 2020. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred forty-fourth.


DONALD J. TRUMP

May 21

1865  Sioux and Cheyenne attacked three man party of troopers of the 11th Kansas lead by 2nd. Lt. W. B. Godfrey three miles above Deer Creek Station, Wyoming, while another party of fifty warriors attacked the six man 11th Kansas contingent in a nearby camp.  A party of 200 Indians drove the horse heard off at Deer Creek Station and were given chase by a 30 man contingent of troopers lead by Col Plumb, who were not able to ford the North Platte due to the spring runoff.

1888  Converse County was organized.

1898  Wyoming volunteers for the war in the Philippines arrived in San Francisco and Camp Merritt.

1903 In a speech in Portland Oregon, President Roosevelt declared: "Base is the man who inflicts a wrong, and base is the man who suffers a wrong to be done him."

1911  Porfirio Díaz and Francisco Madero sign the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez.

1918   Tagiro Tanimura of Rock Springs granted a patent for a fountain pen.

1934.  Company No. 844 of the Civilian Conservation Corps arrives at Guernsey State Park to begin work on construction projects.  Ultimately they would go on to build the Officer's Quarters at Camp Guernsey, the new National Guard facility that replaced Pole Mountain as the training range for the Wyoming National Guard.  Camp Guernsey only received one or two annual training cycles prior to World War Two, but has remained the training range since World War Two.  Now much expanded, it is also used by the U.S. Army and the United States Marine Corps for training missions.

After WWII the Guard would install Quonset Huts for the enlisted barracks, but I believe that those were recently replaced.

1942   The Odd Fellows suspended their conventions and put money for the same into war bonds.

1953  Noah W. Riley appointed U.S. Marshall for Wyoming.

1963  Wapiti Ranger Station, the first ranger station constructed in the United States at federal expense, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

May 20

1805  The Viceroy of Mexico ordered to compile all information concerning the true boundary between Texas and Louisiana.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1862  Congress passed the Homestead Act.

As surprising as it is now to think of it, the Homestead Act remained in force until 1932 in the lower 48.  The last patents were taken out under the various acts in the 1950s, although entries could still be made in Alaska up until some date in the 1950s.  Homesteading remained quite active in the 1919 to 1932 period, as there were efforts to encourage veterans to homestead following World War One, and there was a lot of desperate homesteading in the 1929 to 1932 time frame.  A Wyoming Supreme Court decisions on a land contest from that period actually noted that no decision could be reached, as homesteading was carving up the contested lands so fast that the decision would be obsolete by the time it was rendered.  The repeal of the act in 1932 was followed by  the failure of many of the late smaller homesteads, and a reversal of the trend.  The Federal Government reacquired many of the late homesteads by default, and actually purchased a large number of them in the Thunder Basin region of Wyoming, as it was so clear that they would fail in the droughts of the 30s.

Following up a bit, it's interesting to note that there were more homesteads taken out under the various Homestead Acts in the 20th Century than there were in 19th.  The 1914 to 1919 period saw a huge boom in homesteading.

One of the most interesting things about the act was said to me by the grandson of Russian immigrants who had homesteaded outside of Cheyenne, WY, that simply being that "it was a good deal for poor people".  I suppose that is true.

How many folks here know of a homesteading ancestor in their family?

1865  Sioux and Cheyenne attacked Three Crossings, Wyoming, which resulted in the death of one of the attacking warriors.

1874 San Francisco based Levi Strauss begian marketing blue jeans with copper rivets.

1879   Peder Bergersan of Cheyenne issued a patent for an improvement in magazine fire-arms.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1886  The Lusk Herald starts publication.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1919  Bus service initiated in Casper.

1936  These photographs of the Twin Lakes Dam area taken.

1938  First city officials elected in La Grange Wyoming.

1947  Earl C. Beeler of Baggs issued a patent for a Sickler Grinder.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1947  USS Casper sold.

1956  Northwest Community College dedicated in Powell.

May 19

1848   Mexico ratifies the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo acknowledging the acquisition of Texas and New Mexico by the United States, which included a small portion of Wyoming, via Texas.

1846  resident Polk approved an act that provided for a line of military posts along the Oregon Trail.  In some ways, this has to be regarded as a major development in the history of the United States and the U.S. Army, as the expansion of the Army on to the Western Frontier dominated much of its character for the next century, even continuing to have an influence into its nature well after the Frontier had closed.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1866  Colonel Carrington left Fort Kearny for Fort Laramie where he received instructions from General Pope to name two new outpost along Bozeman Road Fort Philip Kearny and Fort C.F. Smith.  The widely spaced forts were to form more northerly bastions to guard the Bozeman Trail, the southernmost post, Ft. Reno, having already been established during the Civil War by Patrick Connor.  Carrington was one of a group of officers who remained in the Army following the Civil War when Congress established the policy of making room for some wartime officers who had not come from pre war military service or West Point.  Alfred Terry was another, with both men having been lawyers prior to the Civil War.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1869  Territorial government was formally in effect.  Territorial Supreme Court took the oath of office.

1871  Robert H. Milroy takes office as U.S. Marshall.

1887  Sheridan Post established.

1902  The first Carnegie Library in the United States, the Laramie County Library, opened.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1915  Dr. Amos Barber, Wyoming's second governor after statehood, whose governorship was marred by the Johnson County War and his general ineffective reaction to it, died.  Barber had a successful career as an Army surgeon before entering private practice, and he followed up on that with service again during the Spanish American War, but his having participated through acts of omission in the large cattleman's invasion of central Wyoming is principally what he is remembered for.

1919  May 19, 1919. Laramie to get a refinery, Daniels comes home, Ataturk in Samsun

Big news in Wyoming, and most particularly in Laramie, was that the Midwest Oil Company, which was very active in Natrona County, had determined to build a refinery in Laramie.

People in Laramie today may be surprised to know that this was even considered, let alone that it was actually built, which it was later that year, although the remnants of the refinery remain there.  Indeed, oddly enough, discussion has been going on for several years on how to clean the remnants of the refinery up, a project that has been ongoing, and on May 5 of this present year a legal notice regarding the final work on it was published.

The refinery operated from 1919 to 1932, making it a plant that closed during the height of the Great Depression.  The same location was later operated for a few years as a Yttrium plant, although most of the refining equipment had been removed in the 1930s.  Clean up of the site is nearly complete.

1938  Niobrara County Wyoming becomes the first county in the United States to have all of its mail for a day delivered via airmail.  Attribution: Wyoming State Historical Society.

1941  Fire destroyed three Union Pacific shop buildings in Cheyenne.  Attribution: Wyoming State Historical Society.

1987  The U.S. Post Office in Basin Wyoming, the U.S. Post Office in Buffalo the U.S. Post Office in Evanston, the U.S. Post Office and Federal Courthouse in Lander, the U.S. Post Office in Yellowstone National Park, the U.S. Post Office in Newcastle, the U.S. Post Office in Kemmerer, the U.S. Post Office in Thermopolis, the U.S. Post Office in Torrington, added to the National Register of Historic Places.

1996  A  4.2 magnitude earthquake, which your correspondent experienced, occurred 22 miles from Casper.

May 18

1846         American troops capture Matamoros.

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

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

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

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

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

State Capitol circa 1950s

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

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

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

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

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

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

1911         Porfirio Diaz flees to Paris with gold and mistresses.

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

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

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

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

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

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

1918 

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

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

1933     The Tennessee Valley Authority was created.

May 17

1876  7th Cavalry departs Ft. Lincoln on campaign.  Family members gathered to watch them leave the post as the band played martial music.  Quite a few of the troopers would never return.

1888  Douglas chosen as the county seat for Converse County.  Attribution: Wyoming State Historical Society.

1902  Rock Springs hits its record high temperature, 112F.

1918  Casper Daily Press for May 17, 1918. Loafers Must Go To Work, Nonproducers Will Be Barred From Casper By Orders of City Fathers, "Get Work, Enlist, Or Go"

It was a hard day for leisure in Casper, 100 years ago.

1921  Laramie's  Elmer Lovejoy patented a Trackage for Ceiling Type of Doors with Door-Openers (Patent No. 1,378,123). Attribution:  On This Day.

1928  Mother Featherlegs Monument dedicated in Lusk.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

2009  A 3.9 magnitude earthquake occurred 15 miles west-northwest of Jeffrey City.  Attribution:  On This Day.

May 16

1846         Battle of Campeche at which the Texas Navy defeats the Mexican fleet.

1885  Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show appeared in Chicago.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1905  The  Acme Consolidated Gold & Mining Company incorporated in Wyoming.

1918  The Sedition Act of 1918 passed by the U.S. Congress making criticism of the government an imprisonable offense of 20 years or fined $20,000.  Attribution:  Western History Center.

New York Herald's pro Sedition Act cartoon.  Included in the treasonous pack was the IWW and Sein Fein.

It provided, amongst other things:

SECTION 3. Whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully make or convey false reports or false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States, or to promote the success of its enemies, or shall willfully make or convey false reports, or false statements, . . . or incite insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces of the United States, or shall willfully obstruct . . . the recruiting or enlistment service of the United States, or . . . shall willfully utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States, or the Constitution of the United States, or the military or naval forces of the United States . . . or shall willfully display the flag of any foreign enemy, or shall willfully . . . urge, incite, or advocate any curtailment of production . . . or advocate, teach, defend, or suggest the doing of any of the acts or things in this section enumerated and whoever shall by word or act support or favor the cause of any country with which the United States is at war or by word or act oppose the cause of the United States therein, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both....

Not one of the U.S. prouder moments in World War One.  Of note, Theodore Roosevelt had editorialized against it.  It would in fact be abused as during wartime its easy to imagine a traitor behind every negative statement.

1946  USS Wyoming decomissioned. (This entry is doubly in error, check the comments below).

1985  The Downtown Rawlins Historic District added to the National Register of Historic Places.

1986  The Cokeville Elementary School crisis occurred  when David Young, and Doris Young took 167 hostages, 150 children and 17 adults, one being an unlucky UPS driver, at the school by bringing in a bomb which the couple attached a lanyard to themselves with.  David Young had been the town marshal, but had been fired for his odd erratic behavior.  Doris Young had been a cafe worker in the town he had met while living there.  David Young claimed to be acting as a revolutionary, but part of his demands included $300 M dollars.  Doris Young accidentally detonated the bomb while her deluded husband was using a restroom. He returned and murdered her, and then killed himself, after wounding a teacher. All of the hostages survived, many leaving the classroom through the windows after the blast.  The incident is extremely unusual in that it was associated with a very large number of reports of the presence of angels seconds prior to the blast, who, according to those present, directed everyone to the far side of the room near the windows.

1991  The Lake Hotel on Lake Yellowstone added to the National Register of Historic Places.

May 15

1872  Bill Cody tracked down three Indians committing "depredations" and killed them in the ensuing engagement near North Platte, Nebraska.

1885 Louis Riel surrenders to Middleton's troops; North West Rebellion ends after 100 days.

1888 Voters chose Douglas as the county seat of Converse County.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1889  State mental hospital opened in Evanston.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1898  Pioneer Jim Baker died.

1918  The news. . . Germans stall. .. Soviets react. . . .Airmail starts. . . Mayor Speer of Denver dies. . . The news from May 15, 1918.

A familiar name, even if most people don't recall who his was.  Mayor Speer, after whom Speer Blvd in Denver is named, passed.

One of the 1918 epidemic tally?

The Soviets had apparently had enough of German encroachment and were now fighting back.

Perhaps the Germans should have thought that through. It's not as if they had a lot of spare men, after all.

That Bisbee thing was back in the news.

And airmail was getting rolling!

1921  The Great Solar Storm of 1921 was impacting the region.

The Great Solar Storm, which impacted most notably New York state in the US, also impacted the Rocky Mountain Region, as of course it would, being a global event.

It didn't keep, however, Curtiss Flying Field from opening in Garden City, New York, even though flying during a solar storm in something made out of, basically, paper and wood seems like a bad idea.

1930 Ellen Church, the first airline stewardess, went on duty aboard a United Airlines flight from San Francisco and Cheyenne, Wyo.

1942   Gas rationing limits US motorist to 3 gallons per week, except for those in critical industries.

1944  It was announced that Italians soldiers brought into the US as POWs would receive technical training at Ft. F. E. Warren.  By this time, the Italians were no longer prisoners, as Italy had first surrendered and then declared war on the Axis powers.  A fair number of Italian POWs had been brought into the US due to combat in North Africa and Sicily.  In Wyoming, Italians were held in at least one location, that being the POW camp at Douglas.  They painted the murals there, which still exist in the one surviving building from the POW camp.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1944 USS Crook County commissioned.

1975  F. E. Warren (D. A. Russell) designated a National Historic Landmark District.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1978  Significant flooding occured throughout the state resulting in over $15,000,000  in damage in 1978 dollars.

1986  The Jack Creek Guard Station outside of Saratoga added to the National Register of Historic Places.

1990  The Remount Ranch in Laramie County added to the National Register of Historic Places.  It had been owned by Mary O'Hara, author of My Friend Flicka.  Her husband at the time had raised Remounts for sale to the Army, although the ranch largely raised sheep.

2020  The Legislature convened in a special session to deal with Coronavirus Pandemic emergency funding.

May 14

1804  The Corps of Discovery leaves St. Louis to explore Louisiana.  Louisiana had only belonged to the US, at that point, for one year.

1836  Treaties of Velasco executed by General Antonio López de Santa Anna and Texas provisional president David Burnett recognizing the independence of Texas.  It did not fix the boundaries of Texas and Mexico refused to recognize the treaty.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1890  Weston County elects its first County officers.

1906  The Uinta County Library opened in Evanston.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1918   Hazime Fukuda of Arminto awarded a patent for a rice based breakfast food.

1987  McDonald Ranch in Laramie County added to the National Registry of Historic Places.

2007  Trappers Point Site in Sublette County added to the National Registry of Historic Places.

May 13

1846     The United States officially declared that a state of war existed with Mexico.

1882  The Ft. Steele hospital burned.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1907  The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a popular vote in 1892 concerning the location of the "Agricultural College of Wyoming" was advisory thereby keeping the University of Wyoming in Laramie, rather than moving it to Lander.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1912  The first political conventions in the state to nominate presidential electors took place in Cheyenne:  Attribution:  On This Day.

1918  Casper Daily Press for May 13, 1918. Germans used up their reserves and have the Czar?

The Germans really were using up their reserves and had passed the point of diminishing returns by this date in 1918, but they were still messing around in the East which made the story about the Czar and his family credible, if erroneous.  They would have been lucky if the Germans had taken them into custody.

At the same time, reports of Wyoming men getting killed in action were starting to appear on the front page.

1919  Movie star and recent veteran of the U.S. Army (artillery officer in WWI), Tim McCoy becomes the Adjutant General for the Wyoming National Guard.  In that capacity, he receives a brevet rank of Brigadier General at age 28.  He retained that position until 1921 when, I believe, it reverted to extraordinarily long serving Gen. Esmay, who had held it prior to WWI, with some interruption.

McCoy was also ranching in Wyoming during this time frame.  He ran for the US Senate in Wyoming in 1942 but lost, rejoining the Army as an officer the day after his defeat.  He served in the Army Air Corps in Europe during WWII and reportedly never returned to Wyoming after the war.

Evincing a surprising lack of sentiment about horses for a film star of this early era, McCoy is know to have remarked that he was not sentimental about horses, and that "If you want to know the truth - horses are dumb."

1943  A measles epidemic was raging in the state.  As everyone in my family has the stomach flu today, I can sympathize with epidemics.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

May 12

1865  Col Thomas Moonlight's expedition of the recently arrived 11th Kansas Cavalry reaches the Wind River in Wyoming, but fails to encounter the Cheyenne who were raiding west of Ft. Laramie that he was searching for.

1920  The Wyoming National Guard was reconstituted as the First Regiment, Wyoming Cavalry.

1922  A spring blizzard hit northeastern Wyoming.  Attribution:  On This Day.

2021   Wyoming Congressman Liz Cheney was removed from her number 3 spot in the Republican Congressional leadership over her refusal to accent to House Republican demands that she ignore or deny the role former President Donald Trump had in the January 2021 insurrection in Washington D.C.

May 11

1846  Congress declared war on Mexico.

1929   A Laramie group advocated prohibition of women's figures on cigarette advertisements.  Cigarettes themselves did not become common for the most part until after World War One, which popularized them as they were distributed free to soldiers.  Prior to that, smokers tended to smoke cigars and pipes.  Smoking by women was uncommon, and considered improper.  In the 1920s, cigarette smoking by women expanded due to the social atmosphere of the time, although it was still considered sensational.

1950  The remains of Big Nose George Parrot were found by workmen working on the Rawlins National Bank.  Parrot's remains had been given to Dr. John Osborne, who was later elected Governor, for study.  Osborne stored the body in a salted whiskey barrel, and eventually buried the whiskey barrel in they yard behind his office.  The entire story of the treatment of Parrot's body following his execution is shocking my modern standards, including the means of finally laying them to rest until this date in 1950.

1916   The Punitive Expedition: The March 11, 1916 news
 

May 10

1868 The first train enters Laramie.

1869 A golden spike was driven at Promontory, Utah, marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States.

1890 Laramie policemen instructed to stay out of saloons unless specifically called in to act in them.

1868  A Remount arrives at Ft. Leavenworth Kansas from St. Louis, where it will be named Comanche.  It received the U.S. brand upon its arrival, but it would be soon sold for $90.00 to an officer of the 7th Cavalry, Miles Keogh.

Comanche is repeatedly, if inaccurately, claimed to be the "sole survivor" of the Custer's command at the Little Big Horn, which ignores of course that many of the men in Custer's command served with Reno and Benteen that day, and only the men under his direct field command were killed in the battle.  It further ignores that many 7th Cavalry horses were just carted off by the Sioux and Cheyenne who used them, with the presence of many 7th Cavalry horses being noted by the Northwest Mounted Police after the Sioux crossed into Canada.  Inquires by the NWMP as to whether the U.S. Army wished for the NWMP to recover the horses were met with a negative reply, although at least one of the horses was purchased by a Mountie and owned privately.

1893 The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Nix v. Hedden that a tomato is a vegetable, not a fruit, under the Tariff Act of 1883.

1899 Fred Astaire was born in Omaha, Neb.

1910  Powell incorporated.

1917   John J. Pershing informed he is to lead American troops in France.
 

I've backed off nearly daily entries from 1917 here, now that we no longer have the Punitive Expedition to follow, and returned more of the traditional pace and focus of the blog, but there are exceptions and today is one.

On this day, in 1917, John J. Pershing, recently promoted to Major General, was informed by Secretary of War Newton Baker that he was to lead the American expeditionary force in France.

This now seems all rather anticlimactic, as if the appointment of Pershing was inevitable, and perhaps it was, but he was not the only possible choice and his selection involved some drama, to some extent.  Pershing was then 56 years old, an age that would have put him in the upper age bracket for a senior office during World War Two, but not at this time in the context of World War One.  Indeed, his rise to Major General had been somewhat unusual in its history and course, as he had earlier been advanced over more senior officers in an era when that was rare, and it is often noted that his marriage to Helen Warren, the daughter of powerful Wyoming Senator Francis E. Warren, certainly did not hurt his career.  Often regarded as having reached the pinnacle of his Army career due to "leading" the Army during the Punitive Expedition, he was in fact technically second in command during that event as the commander of the department he was in was Frederick Funston.

Funston is already familiar to readers here as we covered his death back in  February.  Not really in the best of health in his later years, but still a good five years younger than Pershing, Funston died suddenly only shortly after the Punitive Expedition concluded leaving Pershing his logical successor and the only Army officer then in the public eye to that extent.  Indeed, as the United States was progressing towards entering the war it was Funston, a hero of the Spanish American War, who was being considered by the Wilson Administration as the likely leader of a US contingent to Europe.  His sudden death meant that his junior, Pershing, took pride of place.

But not without some rivals.  Principal among them was Gen. Leonard Wood, a hero of the later stages of the Indian Wars and the Spanish American War who was a protégée of Theodore Roosevelt.  Almost the exact same age as Pershing, Wood was backed by Republicans in Congress for the position of commander of the AEF.  Not too surprisingly, however, given his close association with Roosevelt, he was not offered the command.  Indeed, it was this same week when it became plain that Roosevelt was also not to receive a combat command in the Army, or any role in the Army, for the Great War, to his immense disappointment.

Pershing went on, of course, to command the AEF and to even rise in rank to the second highest, behind only George Washington, rank in the U.S. Army.  That alone shows that he was an enormous hero in his era. He lived through World War Two and in fact was frequently visited by generals of that war, many of them having a close military association with him from World War One.  His personality dramatically impacted the Army during the Great War, so much so that it was sometimes commented upon to the effect that American troops were all carbon copies of Pershing.  Still highly regarded by most (although some have questioned in recent years his view of his black troops) he is far from the household name he once was for the simple reason that World War Two has overshadowed everything associated with World War One.

1928  A Federal law enforcement officer is murdered in the line of duty by a bootlegger, near Wyoming's white lighting center of Kemmerer.

1944 Tom Bell, the founder of the Wyoming Outdoor Council, wounded in action in a B-24 mission over Austria.  He wold loose his right eye as a result of his injuries.

1954 Bill Haley and His Comets release "Rock Around the Clock".

May 9

1868  Union Pacific completed tracks to Laramie.

1886  The legislature approved the creation of a mental hospital in Evanston.

1887   Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show opens in London.

1892  USS Wyoming sold.

1911   Susan Wissler elected Mayor of Dayton, the first woman to be elected as a mayor in Wyoming.  She lived a long, but hard, life, having come to Wyoming with her husband and children in 1900.  Her husband died in 1906 and she did not remarry. She was a millner by trade, but employed in Dayton as a school teacher.  In her later years she was in constant ill health, but she lived to age 85.  She served as mayor for two years.

1916  President Woodrow Wilson mobilizes the National Guard of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to patrol their borders with Mexico.

1918  Trouser wearing outlaw girls and the Germans getting ready to try again. May 9, 1918.

Apparently girls wearing men's clothing wasn't illegal.

Go figure.

And how exactly a person gets turned over to the Salvation Army for their welfare isn't exactly clear. . . but it was a different era.

Meanwhile, the Laramie Boomerang was reporting that the Germans were mustering for yet another push. . .

1945  Ratification in Berlin-Karlshorst of the German unconditional surrender of May 8 in Rheims, France.  Marshal Georgy Zhukov sings for the Soviet Union, Sir Arthur Tedder, British Air Marshal and Eisenhower’s deputy for SHEAF, Colonel-General Hans-Jürgen Stumpff as the representative of the Luftwaffe, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel as the Chief of Staff of OKW, and Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg as Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine.  The Channel Islands are liberated by the British after five years of German occupation.  U.S. officials announced that the midnight entertainment curfew was being lifted immediately.  Herman Goering taken prisoner by the U.S. Seventh Army in Bavaria. Karl Frank, the Nazi administrator in Czechoslovakia surrendered to the U. S. army near Pilsen, Czechoslovakia.

1950  President Truman spoke at the dedication of Kortes Dam.

2019.  Elements of the 300th AFA of the Wyoming National Guard enter active service in anticipation of being deployed to an designated location in the Middle East.

May 8

1541    Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto reached the Mississippi River.

1846 General Zachary Taylor defeats a superior Mexican force in the Battle of Palo Alto,  War had not yet been declared.

1860  Captain W. F. Raynolds' expedition left Deer Creek.  It's intention was to follow the Wind River to its headwaters and then cross a divide to the headwaters of the Yellowstone.Attribution:  On This Day.

1868  Union Pacific completed tracks to Ft. Saunders.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1877   The first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show opens.

1880  Soft drink bottling plant opens in Laramie.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1915  An earthquake occurred in northern Yellowstone National Park.

1938  Alcova Dam on the North Platte completed.

1945    The German surrender becomes official.  President Harry S. Truman announced in a radio address that World War II had ended in Europe.  End of the Prague uprising.  Hundreds of Algerian civilians are killed by French Army soldiers in the Sétif massacre, ushering in what would ultimately become the French Algerian War.  In day two of rioting, 10,000 servicemen in Halifax Nova Scotia loot and vandalize downtown Halifax during VE-Day celebrations.

1946  Wyoming Game & Fish districts created.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1973    Militant American Indians who had held the South Dakota hamlet of Wounded Knee for 10 weeks surrendered.

2018  Following the Boys Scouts official departure from being an organization in anyway dedicated to the development of young men, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) severed association with the Boy Scouts.  The joint statement issued by the Boy Scouts and the Mormon church stated the following:

A Joint Statement from
 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
 and
 The Boy Scouts of America
May 8, 2018 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Boy Scouts of America have been partners for more than 100 years. The Scouting program has benefited hundreds of thousands of Latter-day Saint boys and young men, and BSA has also been greatly benefited in the process. We jointly express our gratitude to the thousands of Scout leaders and volunteers who have selflessly served over the years in Church-sponsored Scouting units, including local BSA districts and councils. 

In this century of shared experience, the Church has grown from a U.S.-centered institution to a worldwide organization, with a majority of its membership living outside the United States. That trend is accelerating. The Church has increasingly felt the need to create and implement a uniform youth leadership and development program that serves its members globally. In so doing, it will be necessary for the Church to discontinue its role as a chartered partner with BSA. 

We have jointly determined that, effective on December 31, 2019, the Church will conclude its relationship as a chartered organization with all Scouting programs around the world. Until that date, to allow for an orderly transition, the intention of the Church is to remain a fully engaged partner in Scouting for boys and young men ages 8–13 and encourages all youth, families, and leaders to continue their active participation and financial support.  

While the Church will no longer be a chartered partner of BSA or sponsor Scouting units after December 31, 2019, it continues to support the goals and values reflected in the Scout Oath and Scout Law and expresses its profound desire for Scouting’s continuing and growing success in the years ahead.

While the severance of relations, effective on December 31, 2019, more than one year away at the time it was announced, was issued as a "joint statement", it was a slam to the the BSA in more ways than one.  For one thing the Mormons had been traditionally huge supporters of Scouting, continuing on a relationship with churches that in some ways reflected an earlier era when Scouting was heavily invested in churches.  The line "While the Church will no longer be a chartered partner of BSA or sponsor Scouting units after December 31, 2019, it continues to support the goals and values reflected in the Scout Oath and Scout Law" is a shot right under the water line at the Scouts at that, as by severing its relationship with the BSA it implicitly is indicating that it feels that the BSA itself is no longer really true to its original mission and that the LDS church must accordingly break its ties to it.

Where this will go is far from clear, but the public severance by the Mormons nearly closes out an era of close association of various religions with the BSA and reflects a wider societal split on what some very basic values in our society are going to be.  It's also a brave move for the LDS as its takes them very decidedly out into the currently prevailing winds, while at the same time it may be one more move that indicates that Scouting itself is basically coming to an end as it tries to accommodate social trends which run contrary to its original existential purpose.

This is posted here on this site, of course, as the Mormon church is widely represented in some areas of Wyoming as are Scout troops associated with it.

May 7

1824   The Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas was created.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1868  Treaty signed with the Crows at Ft. Laramie.  It stated:

Articles of a treaty made and concluded at Fort Laramie, Dakota Territory, on the seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, by and between the undersigned commissioners on the part of the United States, and the undersigned chiefs and head-men of and representing the Crow Indians, they being duly authorized to act in the premises.

ARTICLE 1.

From this day forward peace between the parties to this treaty shall forever continue. The Government of the United States desires peace, and its honor is hereby pledged to keep it. The Indians desire peace, and they hereby pledge their honor to maintain it. If bad men among the whites or among other people, subject to the authority of the United States, shall commit any wrong upon the person or property of the Indians, the United States will, upon proof made to the agent and forwarded to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs at Washington City, proceed at once to cause the offender to be arrested and punished according to the laws of the United States, and also re-imburse the injured person for the loss sustained.

If bad men among the Indians shall commit a wrong or depredation upon the person or property of any one, white, black, or Indian, subject to the authority of the United States and at peace therewith, the Indians herein named solemnly agree that they will, on proof made to their agent and notice by him, deliver up the wrong-doer to the United States, to be tried and punished according to its laws; and in case they refuse willfully so to do the person injured shall be re-imbursed for his loss from the annuities or other moneys due or to become due to them under this or other treaties made with the United States. And the President, on advising with the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, shall prescribe such rules and regulations for ascertaining damages under the provisions of this article as in his judgment may be proper. But no such damages shall be adjusted and paid until thoroughly examined and passed upon by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and no one sustaining loss while violating, or because of his violating, the provisions of this treaty or the laws of the United States shall be re-imbursed therefor.

ARTICLE 2.

The United States agrees that the following district of country, to wit: commencing where the 107th degree of longitude west of Greenwich crosses the south boundary of Montana Territory; thence north along said 107th meridian to the mid-channel of the Yellowstone River; thence up said mid-channel of the Yellowstone to the point where it crosses the said southern boundary of Montana, being the 45th degree of north latitude; and thence east along said parallel of latitude to the place of beginning, shall be, and the same is, set apart for the absolute and undisturbed use and occupation of the Indians herein named, and for such other friendly tribes or individual Indians as from to time they may be willing, with the consent of the United States, to admit amongst them; and the United States now solemnly agrees that no persons, except those herein designated and authorized so to do, and except such officers, agents, and employés of the Government as may be authorized to enter upon Indian reservations in discharge of duties enjoined by law, shall ever be permitted to pass over, settle upon, or reside in the territory described in this article for the use of said Indians, and henceforth they will, and do hereby, relinquish all title, claims, or rights in and to any portion of the territory of the United States, except such as is embraced within the limits aforesaid.

ARTICLE 3.

The United States agrees, at its own proper expense, to construct on the south side of the Yellowstone, near Otter Creek,

a warehouse or store-room for the use of the agent in storing goods belonging to the Indians, to cost not exceeding twenty-five hundred dollars; an agency-building for the residence of the agent, to cost not exceeding three thousand dollars; a residence for the physician, to cost not more than three thousand dollars; and five other buildings, for a carpenter, farmer, blacksmith, miller, and engineer, each to cost not exceeding two thousand dollars; also a school-house or mission-building, so soon as a sufficient number of children can be induced by the agent to attend school, which shall not cost exceeding twenty-five hundred dollars.

The United States agrees further to cause to be erected on said reservation, near the other buildings herein authorized, a good steam circular saw-mill, with a grist-mill and shingle-machine attached, the same to cost not exceeding eight thousand dollars.

ARTICLE 4.

The Indians herein named agree, when the agency-house and other buildings shall be constructed on the reservation named, they will make said reservation their permanent home, and they will make no permanent settlement elsewhere, but they shall have the right to hunt on the unoccupied lands of the United States so long as game may be found thereon, and as long as peace subsists among the whites and Indians on the borders of the hunting districts.

ARTICLE 5.

The United States agrees that the agent for said Indians shall in the future make his home at the agency-building; that he shall reside among them, and keep an office open at all times for the purpose of prompt and diligent inquiry into such matters of complaint, by and against the Indians, as may be presented for investigation under the provisions of their treaty stipulations, as also for the faithful discharge of other duties enjoined on him by law. In all cases of depredation on person or property, he shall cause the evidence to be taken in writing and forwarded, together with his finding, to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, whose decision shall be binding on the parties to this treaty.

ARTICLE 6.

If any individual belonging to said tribes of Indians, or legally incorporated with them, being the head of a family, shall desire to commence farming, he shall have the privilege to select, in the presence and with the assistance of the agent then in charge, a tract of land within said reservation, not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres in extent, which tract, when so selected, certified, and recorded in the “land book,”as herein directed, shall cease to be held in common, but the same may be occupied and held in the exclusive possession of the person selecting it, and of his family, so long as he or they may continue to cultivate it.

Any person over eighteen years of age, not being the head of a family, may in like manner select and cause to be certified to him or her, for purposes of cultivation, a quantity of land not exceeding eighty acres in extent, and thereupon be entitled to the exclusive possession of the same as above directed.

For each tract of land so selected a certificate, containing a description thereof and the name of the person selecting it, with a certificate endorsed thereon that the same has been recorded, shall be delivered to the party entitled to it by the agent, after the same shall have been recorded by him in a book to be kept in his office, subject to inspection, which said book shall be known as the “Crow land book.”

The President may at any time order a survey of the reservation, and, when so surveyed, Congress shall provide for protecting the rights of settlers in their improvements, and may fix the character of the title held by each. The United States may pass such laws on the subject of alienation and descent of property as between Indians, and on all subjects connected with the government of the Indians on said reservations and the internal police thereof, as may be thought proper.

ARTICLE 7.

In order to insure the civilization of the tribe entering into this treaty, the necessity of education is admitted, especially by such of them as are, or may be, settled on said agricultural reservation; and they therefore pledge themselves to compel their children, male and female, between the ages of six and sixteen years, to attend school; and it is hereby made the duty of the agent for said Indians to see that this stipulation is strictly complied with; and the United States agrees that for every thirty children, between said ages, who can be induced or compelled to attend school, a house shall be provided, and a teacher, competent to teach the elementary branches of an English education, shall be furnished, who will reside among said Indians, and faithfully discharge his or her duties as a teacher. The provisions of this article to continue for twenty years.

ARTICLE 8.

When the head of a family or lodge shall have selected lands and received his certificate as above directed, and the agent shall be satisfied that he intends in good faith to commence cultivating the soil for a living, he shall be entitled to receive seed and agricultural implements for the first year in value one hundred dollars, and for each succeeding year he shall continue to farm, for a period of three years more, he shall be entitled to receive seed and implements as aforesaid in value twenty-five dollars per annum.

And it is further stipulated that such persons as commence farming shall receive instructions from the farmer herein provided for, and whenever more than one hundred persons shall enter upon the cultivation of the soil, a second blacksmith shall be provided, with such iron, steel, and other material as may be required.

ARTICLE 9.

In lieu of all sums of money or other annuities provided to be paid to the Indians herein named, under any and all treaties heretofore made with them, the United States agrees to deliver at the agency house, on the reservation herein provided for, on the first day of September of each year for thirty years, the following articles, to wit:

For each male person, over fourteen years of age, a suit of good substantial woolen clothing, consisting of coat, hat, pantaloons, flannel shirt, and a pair of woolen socks.
For each female, over twelve years of age, a flannel skirt, or the goods necessary to make it, a pair of woolen hose, twelve yards of calico, and twelve yards of cotton domestics.
For the boys and girls under the ages named, such flannel and cotton goods as may be needed to make each a suit as aforesaid, together with a pair of woollen hose for each.
And in order that the Commissioner of Indian Affairs may be able to estimate properly for the articles herein named, it shall be the duty of the agent, each year, to forward to him a full and exact census of the Indians, on which the estimate from year to year can be based.
And, in addition to the clothing herein named, the sum of ten dollars shall be annually appropriated for each Indian roaming, and twenty dollars for each Indian engaged in agriculture, for a period of ten years, to be used by the Secretary of the Interior in the purchase of such articles as, from time to time, the condition and necessities of the Indians may indicate to be proper. And if, at any time within the ten years, it shall appear that the amount of money needed for clothing, under this article, can be appropriated to better uses for the tribe herein named, Congress may, by law, change the appropriation to other purposes; but in no event shall the amount of this appropriation be withdrawn or discontinued for the period named. And the President shall annually detail an officer of the Army to be present and attest the delivery of all the goods herein named to the Indians, and he shall inspect and report on the quantity and quality of the goods and the manner of their delivery; and it is expressly stipulated that

each Indian over the age of four years, who shall have removed to and settled permanently upon said reservation, and complied with the stipulations of this treaty, shall be entitled to receive from the United States, for the period of four years after he shall have settled upon said reservation, one pound of meat and one pound of flour per day, provided the Indians cannot furnish their own subsistence at an earlier date. And it is further stipulated that the United States will furnish and deliver to each lodge of Indians, or family of persons legally incorporated with them, who shall remove to the reservation herein described, and commence farming, one good American cow and one good, well-broken pair of American oxen, within sixty days after such lodge or family shall have so settled upon said reservation.

ARTICLE 10.

The United States hereby agrees to furnish annually to the Indians the physician, teachers, carpenter, miller, engineer, farmer, and blacksmiths as herein contemplated, and that such appropriations shall be made from time to time, on the estimates of the Secretary of the Interior, as will be sufficient to employ such persons.

ARTICLE 11.

No treaty for the cession of any portion of the reservation herein described, which may be held in common, shall be of any force or validity as against the said Indians unless executed and signed by, at least, a majority of all the adult male Indians occupying or interested in the same, and no cession by the tribe shall be understood or construed in such a manner as to deprive, without his consent, any individual member of the tribe of his right to any tract of land selected by him as provided in Article 6 of this treaty.

ARTICLE 12.

It is agreed that the sum of five hundred dollars annually, for three years from the date when they commence to cultivate a farm, shall be expended in presents to the ten persons of said tribe who, in the judgment of the agent, may grow the most valuable crops for the respective year.

W. T. Sherman,
   Lieutenant-General.

Wm. S. Harney,
   Brevet Major-General and Peace Commissioner.

Alfred H. Terry,
   Brevet Major-General.

C. C. Augur,
   Brevet Major-General.

John B. Sanborn.

S. F. Tappan.

Ashton S. H. White, Secretary.

Che-ra-pee-ish-ka-te, Pretty Bull, his x mark. [SEAL.]

Chat-sta-he, Wolf Bow, his x mark. [SEAL.]

Ah-be-che-se, Mountain Tail, his x mark. [SEAL.]

Kam-ne-but-sa, Black Foot, his x mark. [SEAL.]

De-sal-ze-cho-se, White Horse, his x mark. [SEAL.]

Chin-ka-she-arache, Poor Elk, his x mark. [SEAL.]

E-sa-woor, Shot in the Jaw, his x mark. [SEAL.]

E-sha-chose, White Forehead, his x mark. [SEAL.]

—Roo-ka, Pounded Meat, his x mark. [SEAL.]

De-ka-ke-up-se, Bird in the Neck, his x mark. [SEAL.]

Me-na-che, The Swan, his x mark. [SEAL.]

Attest:

George B. Wills, phonographer.

John D. Howland.

Alex. Gardner.

David Knox.

Chas. Freeman.

Jas. C. O'Connor.

1898  Elmer Lovejoy demonstrated his automobile in Laramie.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1901  Gary Cooper, actor, born in Montana.

1915  Lusitania sunk by German U-boat.

1942  It was announced that the state faced a cricket epidemic.  Attribution: Wyoming State Historical Society.

1942  The Wyoming State Journal reported the state free of illegal stills, which would make sense since prohibition had been over with for some time. Attribution: Wyoming State Historical Journal.

1945  Germany surrendered to the Allies, making this Victory in Europe Day.