June 27

1893  Grand Opening celebration, featuring William F. Cody, occurs at the Sheridan Inn.

1895  Berlin, Wyoming laid out in the  Big Horn Basin.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1898  The First Wyoming Volunteer Infantry, part of the Third Philippine Expedition, was with it when it left for the Philippines starting on this day.  The process would take through the 29th.

1916   The News Around the State for June 27, 1916
 

Tuesday June 27, 1916, saw a variety of approaches to the news of the ongoing crisis with Mexico.

The Wyoming Tribune, a Cheyenne paper that tended to be dramatic in its headlines, was dramatic for June 27.

Quite the dramatic cartoon about "civilization following the flag" as well, presenting a colonial view that a person can't imagine seeing in a paper today. Indeed, its hard not to imagine the cartoon offering offense, and frankly even viewing it now, it offers it.

The Sheridan Record, however, was less so, if still pretty presenting some pretty worrisome news.

The Laramie Republican was the least dramatic of the examples we have here, but presented the same set of news stories, more ore less.

1919 

June 27, 1919. Introduction of the Volstead Act, the men of the 148th coming to Casper, an uncertain Peace, horses and oil, violence in Tennessee, Annapolis and Rock Springs.

On this day in 1919 the Volstead Act, the bill that was tailored to carry out Prohibition under the 18th Amendment, was introduced into the House of Representatives.

On this day in 1919 there was still time to have a beer. Soon, there wouldn't be.

An enforcing act was necessary in order to make Prohibition actually come into effect, something that's occasionally missed in this story.  Compounding the overall confusion, many states had passed state laws on the topic, including Wyoming, so in those places Prohibition was coming into law earlier, and with different provisions.  In some localities, such as Colorado, it already had.

It hadn't come into effect just yet, which meant that Casperites had time left to toast returning members of the 148th Field Artillery, recently discharged from their military service, just as they were also contemplating Germany signing a treaty that would end the war, but which appeared likely to result in an uncertain future.

That uncertain peace headlined the Wyoming State Tribune, which also featured an article that would be regarded as racist today, because it was.  That latter storing being how Mexican women were going to be liberated from the chains of tradition by adopting more progressive, non Mexican, values regarding their gender.

The 15th Cavalry, it was noted, was also going to appear in Cheyenne for new billets that afternoon.

Cavalry of that period was still horse cavalry, of course, and horses remained an important part of the economy in every fashion.  Advertisements for a horse auction in Campbell County appeared right on the cover of Wright's newspaper, which noted that it was published weekly "in the interests of dry-farming and stockraising in Wyoming".

Today, of course, when you think of Wright, you think of oil, gas, and coal.  You probably don't think of farming at all, let alone dry farming, although ranching is still there.

A photographer visited the Burk Waggoner oilfield of Texas on this day, giving a glimpse of what oil production in 1919 was like.

In far off Tennessee, Sheriff Milton Harvie Stephens of Williamson County, was murdered by horse thieves.  He was 74 years old and had held the office for one year.  That crime demonstrates that the value of the old means of travel, and the crimes it was associated with, kept on. The fact that Stephens was employed as a sheriff at age 74 also says something about the working environment of the day.

In that same region of the country, sort of, riots occurred in Annapolis between Navy trainees who were training to be mess attendants and local residents. The riot is regarded as part of the Red Summer, but the oddity of it was that the rioters were all black on both sides.  Mess attendants were normally black or Filipinos in the segregated Navy of that period and in this case it was black local residents who were in conflict with the sailors. The cause was that sailors had been harassing local women.

Strife and violence also seems to have broken out that day in Rock Springs.

June 26

1870 Christmas is declared a federal holiday in the United States. Today it wouldn't occur, and if it did, it would result in an endless series of lawsuits.

1865:  Co. I, 11th Kansas, attacked by large party of Cheyenne/Sioux while repairing a telegraph line near Red Buttes, Wyoming.  The men expended between 36 and 60 rounds of ammunition each, taking two wounded in a hard fought action taking them back to Platte Bridge Station, a distance of six miles.

1876  Major Marcus Reno takes command of the surviving elements of the 7th Cavalry, still on the battlefield, waiting for relief.

1903  Lovell irrigation company organized.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1909  Medicine Bow becomes an incorporated town.

1918  The Laramie Boomerang for June 26, 1918. Belleau Wood Taken.

Tides beginning to turn.

1919  1st Battalion, 148th Field Artillery, mustered out of service and discharged at Ft. D. A. Russell.

Wyoming and Colorado National Guardsmen of the 1st Battalion, 148th Field Artillery, those being the Wyoming and Colorado Guardsmen assigned to the 148th, were mustered out of service and discharged on this date in 1919.  The were civilians once again.

June 25

1868  President Andrew Johnson approved the act of Congress providing for the organization of a temporary government for the Territory of Wyoming.

1870  The first lots went on sale at the site of Evanston.  Attribution:  On This Day..

1876  The legendary Battle of the Little Big Horn occurs in south eastern Montana. On this date, in 1876, a large combined group of Cheyennes, Sioux, Arapaho and maybe even a few Metis, defeated an assault by the 7th Cavalry in southern Montana, resulting in the complete elimination of one prong of a split assault, and the retreat and desperate defense by two other elements of the command. The 7th's effort was part of a summer 1876 campaign on the northern plains, which had seen a the defeat of a combined unit of elements of the 2d & 3d Cavalry, 4th and 9th Infantry, and Crow and Shoshone scouts in southern Montana several days earlier. Both Plains Indians victories marked the high water mark, and the rapidly receding tide, of Indian power on the northern plains.

Little Big Horn is by far the most famous of American Indian battles, and almost defines them for the average person. It remains one of the most written about of all American historical events. It was a huge shock to the American psyche at the time, and resulted in the Army being expanded by 2,500 men for Plains service.

In terms of actual casualties, the 7th suffered about 52 percent casualties of the force that was deployed, in a battle that saw fighting at widely separated points, several miles distant, including 16 officers and 242 enlisted men killed. One officer and 51 enlisted men survived the battles with wounds. The battle is mostly remembered due to the fact that the every man in Custer's immediate command was killed, which makes up the bulk of the casualties. This may be a bit unfair, as it somewhat discounts the effective defense put up by Reno and Benteen's men in a separate location.

Of interest, 22% of the 7th Cavalry was detached prior to the expedition on other duties, a fairly common occurrence. 166 men and officers therefore were not present on the campaign, and missed the battle.

Some may wonder why I have included this even in a Wyoming daily history blog, as I included an item about Colorado's Sand Creek Massacre yesterday, but these are all regional events, which had an enormous impact on Wyoming at the time.  For the Indians in particular, the territorial borders did not exist.

1894  The first recorded earthquake in Wyoming, which occurred near Casper. The quake was violent enough to toss dishes, and even a few sleeping people, to the ground, and muddy the Platte.

1916   The Sunday State Leader for June 25, 1916: The prisoners of Carrizal
 

More news of the defeat at Carrizal, but happy news for Miss Ellen Smith.

The war in Europe was pushed completely off of the front page of this Sunday morning Cheyenne paper due to events in Mexico.

1919  June 25, 1919. The 148th In Cheyenne

The men of the 148th who remained in the service, as some had already been discharged on the East Coast, returned to Cheyenne to a rousing welcome.

In far off Russia, American solders were in action against the Reds.  At Romanovka American troops were ambushed but repelled a Red advance.

In New Jersey, the American Library Association was meeting.

American Library Association, Ashbury Park, New Jersey

The Presidio and Ft. Winfield Scott, San Francisco.

1923  Monday, June 25, 1923. Harding comes to Cheyenne and Laramie. The Ku Klux Klan came to Glenrock

The Tribune headlined with an auto accident that occurred in connection with Hardin's visit to Denver the day prior.

In Laramie, it was noted, but the focus was on his visit that would occur today.

He was stopped by Cheyenne as well, where the city gave him a cowboy hat, and he delivered a speech on the coal situation.

Glenrock had a different type of visitor:

The size of the demonstration is surprising.  I was not small.

The paper was silent on the lawlessness that concerned the Klan, but it was likely violations of Prohibition.  The KKK was a supporter of Prohibition.

1933 The Fort Bridger Historic Site dedicated.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1950  North Korea invades South Korea, an action which would result in the mobilization of Wyoming Army National Guard's 300th Armored Field Artillery.

June 24

1864   Colorado Governor John Evans warns that all peaceful Indians in the region must report to the Sand Creek reservation or risk being attacked.  This set in motion that lead to the chain of events that caused the infamous Sand Creek Massacre, The Battle of Red Buttes, and the Battle of Platte Bridge Station.

1876  Crow and Arikara Scouts with Custer's command report the presence of a large village in the Little Big Horn Valley, Montanan, which they are able to see from the Wolf Mountains fifteen miles away.  They report the pony herd to be "like worms crawling on the grass,".  They asked for a soldier to confirm the sighting. Lt. Charles Varnum, Chief of Scouts, did this and subsequently escorted Custer to the same spot, who could not see the village.

Varnum survived the Battle of the Little Big Horn and commanded Co. B, 7th Cav, at Wounded Knee in 1890.  He retired under disability while stationed in the Philippines in 1907, where he remained a reserve office.  He ultimately retired from that position in 1918 and returned to the United States.  When he died in 1936 he was the last surviving officer of the Little Big Horn battle.

1876   Albert Curtis was killed by A.W. Chandler on the Little Laramie River for sheep trespass. This 1876 killing is a surprisingly early incident in what would come to be increasing violence between sheepmen and cattlemen.  Curtis' father was a judge in Ohio.

1891  For the first time, the Chief Justice of the Wyoming Supreme Court performed a wedding.

1898   "Battery A, Wyoming Light Artillery" left for San Francisco, for deployment to the Philippines..Attribution:  On This Day.

1916   The Cheyenne Leader for June 24, 1916: News of Carrizal hits the press.
 

The U.S. Army set back at Carrizal hit the press in full force by June 24.  On the same day the press reported that the Germans had one another victory at Verdun, while stopping the "Slavs", when in fact the Russian offensive had terminated the German's hopes at Verdun.

1919  June 24, 1919. Marching towards Versailles, on the border, and home.

Wyomingites received the official news on this day that the Germans were going to sign the Versailles treaty.

Clearly, a lot of them were not happy about it and there was some resistance to it still in some quarters.

They also learned that things were still tense on the country's border with Mexico.

Fitting for the day, they also learned that the last of Wyoming's National Guardsmen, those in the 148th Field Artillery, would be arriving back in the state that night.

1921  Congressman Mondell visited President Harding.

June 24, 1921. 11th Field Artillery Brigade, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, Cigar Makers, and Mondell visiting Harding.

11th Field Artillery Brigade, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.  June 24, 1921.

The text on the photo reads:

"Just before passing in review before the Department Commander in this closely massed formation on June 24, 1921. (About 400 vehicles). No motor failed and formation remained intact, a record that will rarely be equalled and never surpassed. Tiemann N. Horn, Colonel 13th Field Artillery commanding. To General John J. Pershing, with the compliments of the brigade. R. L. Dancy, Army & Navy Photographer.".

Employees of 7-20-4, R. G. Sullivan, Cigar Factory, Manchester, N.H., no. 192, 100 [percent] Members of Cigar Makers, International Union, June 24, '21

On the same day, the employees of a cigar factory in Manchester, New Hampshire, were photographed.

As was President Harding with Wyoming's Congressman, Frank Wheeler Mondell.  Apparently that inspired President Harding to don an exceedingly large cowboy hat.

Mondell was originally from St. Louis, Missouri and had become a rancher and farmer in Wyoming, as well as a businessman involved in railroad construction.  He'd was Newcastle's mayor from 1888 to 1895 and served in Congress from 1895 to 1896 and then again from 1899 to 1923.  He was the House majority leader in the 66th and 67th Congresses.

1939  The first performance of the Cody night rodeo occurred.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

2016:  The British vote to leave the European Union
 

 From another era, but seemingly the way a little over half the population of the United Kingdom viewed events to some exent.

Fueled at least in part by a feeling that the membership in the EU had subjected the island nation to a level of immigration from the Middle East that it could not absorb, and further stoked by long discontent with statist European EU administration that clashed with the more democratic British tradition, the British voting population voted to get out of the EU.  This was only the fourth referendum in the UK's history, one of the other four, ironically, being one in the 1970s on whether or not the UK should join. 

Opposition to leaving the European Union was the stated policy of both the Labour and the Conservative parties and so the success of the Brexit position came against the influence of Britain's oldest most established parties, showing perhaps how deep the resentment against the EU had become.  Much of the opposition platform was focused on the unknown economic impact of leaving, showing what we stated in a post yesterday is in fact, a fact; people don't focus that much on economics on these sorts of decisions, which are more about a sense of nationhood and emotion than currency.  The British basically voted to try to make sure their island nation, or nations, remained theirs rather than moving into a less certain national future.  While this seems to have come to a surprise to many, and indeed I'm surprised that Brexit won, it may reflect a rising tide of such sentiment across Europe, which now has more countries, albeit within the EU, than it did in 1990 when the Soviet Union fell.

This has caused some speculation that Scotch seperatists might now succeed in taking Scotland out of the UK so it can get back into the EU, and even if Northern Ireland might now reunite with Ireland.  I doubt that very much and think the speculation about nationalistic Ulster particularly misplaced.  Indeed, by far the more likely, if still not likely, national implications is that forces wanting to take Germany, France or Ireland out of the EU will now have some success with their movements.  Again, I don't think that likely to occur, but then I didn't think this was likely either.

You really can't fault an independent nation for wanting to go on its own. So wise or not, a raise of the beer glass to the UK and best wishes to it.

On the implication, nobody knows what they will be other than some short term financial ups and downs which may come to nothing.  More likely is that the UK will simply quietly exist over the next several years and resume independent relations with a somewhat spiteful European Union thereafter. That will likely cause a downturn in the European economy in the short term but a rise in it in the long term as it will free the UK from some of the EU's less rational economic policies. And this might cause the EU to reconsider some of its approach to how it does things which have been heavily bureaucratic and not very democratic.

One immediate impact has been political fallout, and as part of  that Conservative British Prime Minister David Cameron, who successfully shepherded the nation through the recent referendum in Scotland about whether that nation would stay or leave the United Kingdom, resigned, or rather indicated that he will be stepping down.  Cameron has been quite unpopular recently and not all of his "conservative" position have really been that and to some extent his unpopularity may have been a partial source of the Brexit vote.  He'll be leaving in October, and indicated in his departing speech:  "A negotiation with the European Union will need to begin under a new prime minister and I think it's right that this new prime minister takes the decision about when to trigger Article 50 and start the formal and legal process of leaving the EU".  He was gracious in his departure and understandably is leaving this for the next administration to handle.  It'll be interesting to see how in fact it is handled, as the Brexit vote did not succeed by a huge margin and Parliament is not technically bound to follow it, although it seems like it will.

In regard to politicians, perhaps the oddest commentary came from Donald Trump, who is oddly enough in Scotland right now.  Most American politicians would be wise enough to shut up on events of this type, but some have seen the hard right political movements in  Europe, and this is sort of (and sort of not) in that category, as part of the same general societal movement that brought Trump into the position of GOP nominee. Trump congratulated the  Brexit vote and then noted that if the pound fell it would be good for one of his golf courses in Scotland.

June 23

1810   John Jacob Astor forms the Pacific Fur Company.

1845  Texas voted to accept annexation by the United States.

1916   The Casper Weekly Press for June 23, 1916
 

Some of the news of June 23, 1916, is freakishly familiar a century later.

1917   June 23, 1917. War news of all types
 

I haven't been covering it much, although I've been meaning to post a separate thread on it, but the arrival of the Great War in Wyoming, and the expectation that thousands of troops would be flooding into the state's two military posts, produced a flurry of all sorts of activity. 

One of the collateral impacts of the war was Cheyenne going dry due to Congressional action (arguably unconstitutional) and, soon thereafter, the town fathers. . . and mothers, moving to shut down the "resorts".

Resorts, at the time, was the euphemistic term for houses of prostitution, of which Cheyenne apparently had some prominent ones.  The town reacted, and the town's women in particular reacted to have them shut down, with the war as the ostensible reason.  The war may have been the reason, but it isn't as if Ft. D. A. Russell was brand new. . . but then thousands of conscripted soldiers going through there was a new thing.  Cheyenne was apparently more worried about vice and regular boys who ended up in the service, and recalled National Guardsmen, than it was about regular soldiers.

Anyhow, some of the soiled doves flew to Laramie and right away Laramie followed Cheyenne's lead.  In today's headlines, we see a specific example of a "colored" house being closed.  The move was on against all of them, but for some reason that one got the axe first, with the others ordered to  quit serving alcohol.

Cheyenne's papers, in contrast, were reporting that Russia would stay in the war. . . which of course it wouldn't.  It would stay in a war, of course, one of its own horrific internal making.

And another headline gave a glimpse into the past, although it was a fairly recent past in 1917.

Ernie Shore's Relief No Hitter. June 23, 1917.

 

In a pitching event against the odds, Ernie Shore came in to relieve Babe Ruth, then the Boston Red Sox's starting pitcher, and turns in a no hitter.

Ernie Shore on the left, Grover Cleveland Alexander on the right, 1915 World Series.  Shore was a remarkably tall pitcher, particularly for his era, as he was 6'4" tall.

What's amazing about it is that Shore had virtually no time to warm up and nearly pitched the entire game.  Indeed, at one time, this was regarded as a perfect game.

The reason for that is Babe Ruth.

Ruth pitched to just a single batter, the Washington Senator's Ray Morgan.  Morgan was walked, but not before Ruth hotly disputed three out of the four pitches that were called as balls, letting home plate umpire Clarence "Brick" Owens know it in no uncertain terms.  After the fourth ball, he yelled out at Owens again.  Owens calmly replied and warned Ruth to calm down, or he would be ejected, to which Ruth may have replied “Throw me out and I’ll punch ya right in the jaw!”, or might not have. At any rate, Owens ejected Ruth at that point and Ruth took a swing at him, hitting him in the ear but knocking him down. The Boston police then escorted Ruth off the field.

Babe Ruth as a Red Sox pitcher, 1917.  {{PD-US}} – published in the U.S. before 1923 and public domain in the U.S.

Shore, a very good pitcher in his own right, then came in and pitched a nearly perfect game.  Indeed, at one time this was regarded as a perfect game, although now it's only regarded as a no hitter.

That woman on a car photo?
 

Nephele A. Bunnell at the automobile fashion show held at Sheepshead Bay Race Track, New York City, June 23, 1917.

 Nephele A. Bunnell

 Ruth McDonald

Mrs. James H. Kidder.

Actress Gertrude McCoy

Gertrude McCoy

Beatrice Allen, Hazel Dawn, Consuelo Bailey, Eleanor Dawn, Ann Pennington, Gertrude McCoy, and Vera Maxwell

 The cars

 

1922.  A tragedy.

Friday, June 23, 1922. Confederate Veterans visit the White House, Chinese Prime Minister Wu Tingfang dies, A forgotten tragedy.

On this day in 1922, a group of Confederate veterans visited the White House.

 An annual reunion was ongoing in Richmond, and this event was likely associated with it.

I suppose it demonstrated a spirit of reconciliation that had developed, with the old rebels now celebrated as old soldiers.  At the time, the ongoing repression of blacks, often violent, and the failure of Reconstruction, seemingly didn't figure into the equation.

Chinese Prime Minister Wu Tingfang, in office for mere days, and part of an effort to consolidate the reunification of China, died of pneumonia.

A forgotten tragedy was reported on in Casper.

He was apparently keeping time with other women, maybe.  She was upset, but wanted to reconcile, and then, the note stated, didn't want to live alone.

1923  Saturday, June 21, 1923. Somewhere West of Laramie 

Earlier this week, we noted this:

Thursday, June 21, 1923. Dawn of the advertising age. Somewhere West Of Laramie.

The modern advertising age dawned on this day in 1921 with an ad for the Jordan Playboy automobile:

Today In Wyoming's History: June 21: 1923   This advertisement first ran in the Saturday Evening Post:

The advertisement is the most famous car ad of all time, and the ad itself revolutionized advertising.  Based on the recollection of the Jordan Motor Car Company's founder in seeing a striking mounted girl outside of Laramie, while he was traveling by train, the advertisement is all image, revealing next to nothing about the actual product.  While the Jordan Motor Car Company did not survive the Great Depression, the revolution in advertising was permanent.

Anyway you look at it, it's still a great ad.

This, by the way, is the print date.  The actual issue of the magazine would be a few days later.

On this date, the advertisement actually ran.  I've always thought that it ran in the form set out above, but there were multiple versions, and it would appear that in actuality, the version below is the one that ran.

It's similiar.

But I like the one set out at the very top better.

Sculptor Guzon Borglum began carving the Stone Mountain Memorial bas-relief.  He'd work on the Confederate memorial until 1925, and then abandon the project, blasting his carving of Robert E. Lee off the mountain.  None of his work at Stone Mountain remains.

President Harding crossed Wyoming by train.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1925  Lower Slide Lake forms near Kelly as a result of a massive landslide.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1943  A clothing drive for Russians began in Cheyenne. Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

June 22

1876  General Alfred Terry sent Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer to the Rosebud and Little Bighorn Rivers, in Montana, to search for Indian villages.

1898   The 2nd U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, "Torrey's Rough Riders" left Cheyenne by rail for Camp Cuba Libre,in  Jacksonville, FL.Attribution:  On This Day.

1916   The Douglas Budget for June 22, 1916. Company F Ready for War
 

1947  Heavy snowfall threatened to cancel a Gillette to Douglas horse race.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

2007  Casper physician John Barasso chosen by Governor Dave Freudenthal to replace the late Senator Craig Thomas as a Senator from Wyoming.  Barasso grew up in Reading Pennsylvania and was an Orthopedic Surgeon prior to becoming U.S. Senator.

June 21

Today is the Summer Solstice and the first day of Summer, except in leap years, when it occurs the day prior.

1788     The U.S. Constitution went into effect as New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify it.

1834     Cyrus Hall McCormick received a patent for his reaping machine.

1880  Harry Yount receives word of his appointment as a wildlife officer for Yellowstone National Park, the first person to occupy such a position.  He occupied it for only about a year, but is regarded as a pioneer in the field.

1890  564 coal miners form Almy went to Evanston to be naturalized as citizens at the expense of the Democratic Committee of Uinta County.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1916  Mexican government troops attack U.S. Brigadier General John J. Pershing's force at Carrizal, Mexico.

Following the Battle of Parral, American forces did not advance further into Mexico but scouted out from locations that they were encamped in.  On June 20 the 10th Cavalry went out on such an expedition from Colonia Dublan and received reports of a Mexican Constitutionalist force in the vicinity.  They proceeded to encounter the force at Carrizal. The Mexican forces was deployed to block their further advance to the west and informed the American unit of the same, which in turn informed the Mexican force that it was to proceed through the town.  The Mexican force agreed to let a portion of the American one advance, ultimately, but fired upon it once it entered the town.

A battle ultimately ensued which resulted in the loss of ten enlisted men and two officers.  Unit cohesion was lost in the battle on both sides and the cavalry did not advance past the town. Several enlisted men were taken prisoner by Mexican forces but were repatriated at El Paso Texas ten days later.  Mexican losses were heavier, including the loss of their commanding officer in the unit.  Nonetheless, the battle may be taken as an indicator as to how the US expedition had bogged down into a type of stalemate whose character was changing.

 US troops being repatriated at El Paso.

The engagement was the costliest action that the US engaged in during the Punitive Expedition and it was correctly judged to be a defeat at the time.  The battle came at a point in time in which the US and Mexico were teetering on the brink of war and Pershing was sufficiently angered by it so that he sought permission to advance on Chihuahua City.  President Wilson denied him that permission which likely adverted full scale war breaking out.

 On the ame day, the local news read as follows:  The Gathering Storm: The Wyoming Tribune for June 21, 1916
 

The almost certain war with Mexico loomed large.  Locally, the problem was that the Wyoming National Guard was under strength and couldn't be mobilized until recruiting solved the problem.  Interestingly, this edition reported that the European Allies were seeking to keep a war from breaking out, which certainly would have been in their interest, and that they suspected Germany wanted war to erupt, which was in fact true.

The Judge Mentzer mentioned in this article was either the Cheyenne lawyer or his father who was a National Gaurdsmen and who died of a stroke or severe heart attack some years later during a long ride during a Guard Annual Training.

1923   This advertisement first ran in the Saturday Evening Post:

The advertisement is the most famous car ad of all time and the ad itself revolutionized advertising.  Based on the recollection of the Jordan Motor Car Company's founder in seeing a striking mounted girl outside of Laramie, while he was traveling by train, the advertisement is all image, revealing next to nothing about the actual product.  While the Jordan Motor Car Company did not survive the Great Depression, the revolution in advertising was permanent.

1942  It is reported that eleven Wyomingites who were working in Shanghai are being held by the Japanese.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1963  The Wyoming Air National Guard's 187th Aeromedical Transport Squadron received C-121 "Super Constellation," aircraft.

June 20

Today is the First Day of Summer for Leap Years.

1782         Congress adopts the Great Seal of the United States.

1837         Accession of Queen Victoria, age 18, to the British throne.  English interest in Wyoming would name a ranch for her, the Victoria Regina.  While no longer owned by those interest, the ranch name lives on as the VR.

1844 Francis E. Warren born in Hinsdale, Massachusetts.

1865  Arapahos attack the eight men of Company G, 11th Ohio Cavalry, and the civilian telegraph operator, ten miles east of Sweetwater Station, Wyoming while they were repairing the telegraph line.  The cavalrymen were grossly outnumbered in the assault.  Three Arapahos and the telepgraph operator were killed in the engagement.

1868  Ft. Fred Steele established.

1881  Sitting Bull surrenders to the U.S. Army.

1908   Thomas A. Cosgriff and associates granted a franchise for an electric railway in Cheyenne which would commence operations on August 20.

1912  The State Training School opens in Lander.   Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1912  An explosion at the No. 4 Mine near Kemmerer killed six miners.

1916  The Casper Record for June 20, 1916. War with Mexico inevitable
 

Compared to many other newspapers, the Casper Record always had a calm appearance. Nonetheless, on this day, Casper Record readers learned that we were almost certainly on the brink of war with Mexico.

1948  The US reinstitues conscription.

1954  Drew Pearson published an account of Sen. Lester Hunt's suicide in which he noted that the Democratic Senator had related to Pearson how Republican Senators had threatened to seek the prosecution of his son if he did not resign from the Senate, but otherwise describe the motivations for his suicide as complex. See yesterday's entry for more on this story.