of Wyoming Spring 1976 WYOMING STATE LIBRARY, ARCHIVES AND HISTORICAL BOARD Judicial District 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Member at Large Ex-Officio Mrs. Donald M. Casey Cheyenne Mrs. William Swanson Rawlins Mrs. Frank Emerson Evanston Mrs. George W. Knepper Buffalo Jerry Rillahan Worland Willis Hughes Moorcroft William T. Nightingale, Chairman Lander Frank Bowron Casper Attorney General V. Frank Mendicino Cheyenne WYOMING STATE ARCHIVES AND HISTORICAL DEPARTMENT STAFF William H. Williams Director Buck Dawson Director, State Museums Mrs. Katherine A. Halverson Director, Historical Research and Publications Division Mrs. Julia Yelvington Director, Archives and Records Division ANNALS OF WYOMING The Annals of Wyoming is published biannually in the spring and fall and is received by all members of the Wyoming State Historical Society. Copies of previous and current issues also are available for sale to the public and a price list may be obtained by writing to the Editor. Communications should be addressed to the Editor. The Editor does not assume responsibility for statements of fact or opinion made by the contributors. Annals of Wyoming articles are abstracted in Historical Abstracts and America: History and Life Copyright 1976, by the Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department A^mls of Wyoming Volume 48 Spring, 1976 Number 1 Katherine a. Halverson Editor John C. Paige William H. Barton Editorial Assistants Published biannually by the WYOMING STATE ARCHIVES AND HISTORICAL DEPARTMENT Official Publication of the Wyoming State Historical Society WYOMING STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OFFICERS 1975-1976 President, Jay Brazelton Jackson First Vice President, Ray Pendergraft Worland Second Vice President, Mrs. Mabel Brown Newcastle Secretary-Treasurer, Mrs. Ellen Mueller Cheyenne Executive Secretary, William H. Williams Cheyenne Past Presidents Frank L. Bowron, Casper 1953-1955 William L. Marion, Lander 1955-1956 Dr. DeWitt Dominick, Cody 1956-1957 Dr. T. a. Larson, Laramie 1957-1958 A. H. MacDougall, Rawlins 1958-1959 Mrs. Thelma G. Condit, Buffalo 1959-1960 E. A. Littleton, Gillette 1960-1961 Edness Kimball Wilkins, Casper 1961-1962 Charles Ritter, Cheyenne 1962-1963 Neal E. Miller, Rawlins 1963-1965 Mrs. Charles Hord, Casper 1965-1966 ^'! Glenn Sweem, Sheridan 1966-1967 ft' ' Adrian Reynolds, Green River 1967-1968 ''•'' CuRTiss Root, Torrington 1968-1969 ^\ Mrs. Hattie Burnstad, Worland 1969-1970 h'l J. Reuel Armstrong, Rawlins 1970-1971 William R. Dubois, Cheyenne 1971-1972 Henry F. Chadey, Rock Springs 1972-1973 Richard S. Dumbrill. Newcastle 1973-1974 Henry Jensen, Casper..... 1974-1975 The Wyoming State Historical Society was organized in October, 1953. Membership is open to anyone interested in history. County Historical Society Chapters have been organized in Albany, Big Horn, Campbell, Carbon, Crook, Fremont, Goshen, Hot Springs, Johnson, Laramie, Lincoln, Natrona, Niobrara, Park, Platte, Sheridan, Sweetwater, Teton, Uinta, Washakie and Weston Counties. State Dues Life Membership $100.00 Joint Life Membership (Husband and Wife) 150.00 Annual Membership 5.00 Joint Annual Membership (Two persons of same family at same address) 7.00 Institutional Membership 10.00 Send State Membership Dues To: Wyoming State Historical Society Executive Headquarters Barrett Building Cheyenne, Wyoming 82002 Zable of Contents A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING, 1867-1882 By David P. Robrock 5 A CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF ARTIST ACTIVITY IN WYOMING, 1837-1937 By James H. Nottage 77 CAPTAIN KING'S CENTENNIAL YEAR LOOK AT FORT LARAMIE By Paul L. Hedren 103 JUNE 25, 1876 Custer's Last Battle, By Captain Charles King. Introduction by Paul L. Hedren 109 General Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, June 25, 1876, By Elizabeth B. Custer 127 "Is General Custer Alive Today?" from Sheridan News, December 8, 1937 129 WYOMING STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY Minutes of the Tvv'enty-second Annual Meeting 133 BOOK REVIEWS Hanson, Metal Weapons, Tools and Ornaments of the Teton Dakota Indians 142 Marriott and Rachlin, Plains Indian Mythology 143 Spence, Territorial Politics and Government in Montana, 1864-1889 144 Schoenman and Schoenman, Letters from North America, By John Xantus 146 Stenzel, James Madison Alden. Yankee Artist of the Pacific Coast, 1854-1860 147 White, Chronicle of a Congressional Journey. The Doolittle Committee in the Southwest, 1865 148 Langley, To Utah With the Dragoons and Glimpses of Life in Arizona and California 150 Haines, The Plains Indians: Their Origins, Migrations and Cultural Development 151 Tanner, A Biography of Ezra Thompson Clark 152 Carriker and Carriker, An Army Wife on the Frontier: The Memoirs of Alice Blackwood Baldwin, 1867-1877 153 Waters, To Possess the Land: A Biography of Arthur Rockford Manby 154 CONTRIBUTORS 156 INDEX 157 ILLUSTRATIONS Seal of the Territory of Wyoming Cover Fort Fetterman 1870. Sketch by John Wesley Whitten III 4 Present Day Reconstruction Fort Fetterman Ordnance Storehouse 46 Restored Double Officers Quarters, Fort Fetterman Historic Site .. 62 The Union Pacific Depot, Cheyenne 78 Ten Minutes at Carbon, Wyoming Territory 78 A Troop of U. S. Cavalry Drilling Near Fort Steele 89 The Depot at Green River Station, Wyoming Territory 91 Merritt Dana Houghton 93 Elling William GoUings 95 Charles A. Belden Photograph, "The Old Fiddler" 97 Hans Kleiber 98 Title Page of First Edition of "Laramie;" or The Queen of Bedlam 102 Brigadier General Charles King 105 Custer's Last Battle, Drawing by Gail Mercatante 117 (Cover note on page 101) A Mistory of Jort Merman, Wyoming, 1867-1882 By David P. Robrock FORT FETTERMAN: 1867-1869 The Post was established in July 1867, and in the following month the Indians in the vicinity were actively hostile. — Surgeon General's Report, 1870 Military Situation - 1867 In May 1867 General William Tecumseh Sherman wrote, "I think this year is our crisis on the Plains." Demands were being made upon his dwindling forces from all parts of the plains. He concluded that the greatest threat came from the Sioux Indians massed along the Bozeman Trail. To meet this threat he planned to organize an expedition of 2000 men at Fort Laramie and advance into the Powder River country, all the way to the Yellow- stone River if necessary. The plan was cancelled when the gov- ernment ordered him to undertake no offensive action until the efforts of the Indian Peace Commission of 1867 were exhausted.^ As a result his forces remained scattered in many small posts. With action against the Indians forbidden, he concentrated on protecting major hnes of communication. In accordance with this strategy two new forts were established in the Department of the Platte. Fort D. A. Russell was built at Cheyenne to protect the railroad construction crews and to serve as a supply depot. Fort Fetterman was established at the junction of the Oregon and Bozeman Trails to protect passing emigrants and wagon trains and to support any future operations in the Powder River country. The task of establishing Fort Fetterman was given to a battalion (Photo opposite page) — Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department Photo Fort Fetterman. 1870 Sketch by John Wesley Whitten III iRobert G. Athearn, William Tecumseh Sherman and the Settlement of the West, (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 1956). pp. 64-65. Hereafter Athearn, Sherman. 6 ANNALS OF WYOMING of the 4th Infantry under Major Wilham McE. Dye.^ He arrived at Fort Laramie early in June 1867 with his command of nine officers and 283 men. General Christopher C. Augur's orders were to take four companies of the 4th Infantry "to the vicinity of the mouth of La Prele Creek" and construct a fort "to be upon the main traveled route between [Fort Laramie] and the Mountain District." Dye was to explore the area for possible sites with the exact location to be chosen by General Augur, Commander of the Department of the Platte, upon his arrival.^ Dye marched his battalion to the area and arrived at La Prele Creek on June 27. There he estabHshed a temporary base, "Camp Sill." The area between Forts Laramie and Caspar was an im- portant one on the northern plains. On the south bank of the North Platte River ran the Oregon Trail, the main east-west route, and the Pacific Telegraph Line. Telegraph stations had been established on each of the major creeks in the area, La Bonte, La Prele, and Deer, and at the Platte River Bridge prior to the Civil War. Each station had been the scene of Indian skirmishes during the 1862-1865 period, and most were abandoned. Camp Marshall was built on La Bonte Creek in 1864 to strengthen the defenses of the area. Creation of the Bozeman Trail increased the area's importance. In 1867 the defense of the area was provided by Forts Laramie and Caspar, with a company stationed at Bridg- er's Ferry. The Founding of Fort Fetterman In the Fort Fetterman area the land north of the Platte River is gently rolUng and covered with sagebrush. South of the Platte begin the foothills of the Laramie Range. This higher land is cut by many stream beds and draws. In 1869 the area was officially described: "Surrounding country healthy; winters long and spring very short and windy: country rolling and vegetation very im- perfect." Game was "tolerably abundant," and it was noted that the area had once been the center of the buffalo range though they were now "not found within 30 miles." The elevation was approximately one mile above sea level, and the average tem- peratures reportedly fluctuated between the extremes of 111° 2The army was in a state of flux at this time. Tlie 4th Infantry had its authorized thirty-four officers but only 732 of its authorized 1200 men, of whom 220 deserted during the course of the year. Replacements during the year included 112 new recruits and seven captured deserters. For further discussion see U. S. Congress, House, Report of the Secretary of War, House Ex. Doc. No. 1, 40th Cong., 2nd sess., 1867, pp. 424, 433, and 474-475. •^Fort Laramie Post Records, Record Group 98, National Archives, Wash- ington, D. C. Microfilm copies on file at the Wyoming State Archives, Cheyenne, Wyoming. Letters Sent file, letter dated June 14, 1867. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 7 and — 20°. "High winds are prevalent; hail storms are frequent; and much snow falls during the winter."^ Although Dye scouted the surrounding area for possible sites, the best location was near his camp. Two hundred yards to the right of the mouth of the La Prele and two hundred yards south of the Platte rises a plateau, approximately 130 feet high "con- taining nearly one square mile . . . the first step above the valley of the Platte", Dye wrote. The plateau overlooked four fords in the immediate area, important because of the prevalence of quick- sand in the Platte, and rose above the surrounding countryside on three sides. Only a small hill rising off the plateau to the south- east, later to become the post cemetery, dominated the site. Be- sides offering good military positions and access to plenty of water, the site was within eighteen miles of a large timber stand to the south which would provide adequate lumber for construction.^ The battalion moved onto the plateau on July 9, and on July 31, received the order to name the prospective fort "Fetterman" in honor of Captain William J. Fetterman, killed in the battle near Fort Phil Kearny the year before. As of August 10, no work had been done on the fort because General Augur had not given final approval to the site. The arrival of a large supply train of con- struction materials from Fort Russell, under Colonel Nelson B. Switzer, solved this problem. With Switzer's approval of the site, work began immediately to ready the fort for the approaching winter.^ On his march north Switzer established direct communications between the fort and Cheyenne by building a new road from the Cheyenne-Fort Laramie road. The new road which began at the Bordeaux Ranch and curved northwest to the Oregon Trail was known as the "Fetterman Cut-Off."" This road became the main supply road between the Bozeman Trail forts and the railroad depots. Establishment of this road also made Fort Fetterman a strategic crossroad, with the Oregon Trail going east to west and the Bozeman Trail and supply road going north to south. The fort was planned in the standard military design. The foundations for two barracks and officers' quarters were laid out on either side of a parade ground. A telegraph and an adjutant's office were located at the south edge of the parade ground. These ^U. S. War Department, Surgeon General's Office Circular No. 4, Decem- ber 5, 1870," pp. 350-353. Photostatic copy on file at Coe Library, Uni- versity of Wyoming. Hereafter "Surgeon General's Report, 1870". ^Fort Fetterman Post Records, Letters Sent file, letter dated August 10, 1867. Hereafter Letters Sent. ^Ibid. ''^ Virginia Cole Trenholm, "The Bordeaux Story," Annals of Wyoming, July 1954, pp. 122-123. The road was also known as the Bordeaux and Switzer Cut-Off. 8 ANNALS OF WYOMING buildings were enclosed by a stockade. A laundress quarters, stables and storehouses were located outside the stockade. A wood reserve and sawmill were established on Box Elder Creek, fourteen miles south of the fort. A hay reserve was paced off on Deer Creek, twenty-two miles to the west.'"* The establishment of Fort Fetterman made Fort Caspar unnec- essary, and it was officially abandoned in October. Soldiers sal- vaged all usable materials. Several buildings were dismantled and carried to Fort Fetterman, including the hospital. It was reas- sembled at Fort Fetterman in December and served, with many renovations, as the post hospital until the fort was deactivated.'^ Military Operations - 1867 The command fell into the daily routine of guard, poUce, fatigue, and escort details. The men were kept on constant alert by the bands of Indians seen near the camp every day.^** Mihtary opera- tions from Fort Fetterman began July 11, when a detachment escorted a supply train to Fort Reno. Escorts were provided from Fort Fetterman for all wagon trains traveling between Forts Reno, Caspar, and Laramie. There was little civilian traffic in the area, and all wagon trains were either military or under government contract. The largest of these trains consisted of thirty-six wagons bound for Fort Caspar, escorted by an officer and thirty men from Fort Fetterman on September 12.^^ The two major battles of 1867 took place along the Bozeman Trail. At the conclusion of the annual Sun Dance that year the Sioux and Cheyennes rode out to destroy Forts C. F. Smith and Phil Kearny. The "Hay Field Fight" and the famous "Wagon Box Fight" resulted, along with possibly 120 Indian casualties. Aside from these two battles the war that year was one of small raids and ambushes. The 4th Infantry, strung out between Forts Laramie and Fetterman, fought a number of skirmishes. Activity around Fort Fetterman consisted mostly of patrols and rumors of impending attacks. On August 4 a war party attacked a supply train between Forts Reno and Fetterman and was driven off with- out loss. The Indians attacked another train in the same area on August 15, and a teamster and two Indians were killed. The war reached closer to Fort Fetterman on August 22 when a Private ^Letters Sent, November 6, 1867. ""Surgeon General's Report, 1870," pp. 350-353. i"Fort Fetterman Post Records, Record Group 98, microfilm copies on file at the Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department. Morning Report, July 1, 1867. The battalion was composed of companies A, C, H, and I, 4th Infantry. iiFort Fetterman Post Records, "Remarks Section" to the Consolidated Morning Report for August-September 1867. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING ] 867-1882 9 Griffen was "found scalped by Indians at La Prele Creek. "^- A raiding party attempted to drive off the post cattle herd on August 31 and a similar raid took place October 25 when a cattle herd being driven from Fort Fetterman to Fort Reno was unsuc- cessfully attacked. ^^ But for the most part, life at Fort Fetterman was uneventful. The post surgeon wrote in the fall of 1867: Nothing much of interest, aside from the usual routine of labor in constructing the post, and the frequent arrival and departure of trains with supplies for the upper posts. ^^ The First Winter During the fall, military units in the Department of the Platte were reorganized and responsibility for Fort Fetterman fell to the 18th Infantry. On September 14, six companies of the 18th Infantry under Major Henry Walton Wessels, Jr., began to arrive at the fort.^"^ He found that none of the buildings were finished. Everybody, he reported in November, lived in tents "exposed on a bleak plain to violent and almost constant gales and very uncom- fortable." To alleviate the housing shortage, Wessels transferred one company to Fort Reno and stationed another at the post saw- mill for the winter. The adobe buildings were completed but lacked roofs and floors due to a lumber shortage. He complained that the wood reserve was too far away and that the sawmill's capacity was inadequate for the needs of the post.^'' In December the first building, the laundress quarters, was completed and the officers moved in.^' The other buildings were gradually finished as the weather and building supplies improved. As might be expected the health of the battalion steadily de- clined as the winter progressed. Sixty-three cases of disease and gunshot wounds were reported in August out of an average strength of 350 men. In September the figure climbed to eighty- two cases out of 440 men, and in November, 101 cases including two deaths were reported out of 374 men. March 1868 was the worst month, in which 121 cases were reported out of 326 i2Fort Fetterman Post Records, Burial Record 1867-1868. The first fatality recorded at the fort was Private Henry Reynolds who died in the post hospital August 11, 1867 (cause not stated). The only fatality in September was Private William Rust who accidentally shot himself. I'^Fort Fetterman Post Records, Post Medical History, August-October 1867. Hereafter Medical History. The Medical History was an official journal kept by the post surgeons. Organization and content varied with who was keeping it. '^^Medical History, August-October 1867. '^'^Ibid. The battalion was composed of companies A, D, F. H, I and K plus the headquarters staff and band of the 18th Infantry. ^^Letters Sent, November 6, 1867. ^'Medical History, December 1867. 10 ANNALS OF WYOMING men. These figures included several cases of scurvy due to a lack of fresh vegetables. ^^ American Horse's Raid Early in February 1868 the Indians renewed their activities in the Fort Fetterman area. Small bands of Indians made stock raids on ranches near the fort and along Box Elder Creek. Wessels' infantry battalion was hard put to counter the fast moving Indians. He lamented that the "Infantry can pursue with little chance of rescue."^-' To give his command some mobility, he requested "a small party of cavalry, 8 or 10 men" to be stationed at the fort. When some cattle were run off near La Bonte Creek, the local ranchers took matters into their own hands and chased after the Indians though without success.-*^ March was the most violent month in the history of Fort Fetter- man. Indians attacked the mail detail between Forts Reno and Fetterman on March 12, without loss to either side. On the same day a raiding party captured a team of six mules during a skirmish three miles southwest of Fort Fetterman. The next day a war party atttacked the post sawmill on Box Elder Creek. Wessels dispatched a detachment of infantry to the sawmill with orders to destroy any band of Indians found in the area, but noted that "having no organized mounted force have little hope of reaching them."-^ On March 18, Indians raided a civilian outfit known as 'Brown's Camp" on Box Elder Creek and ran off sixty head of cattle. The next day the Indians made a second raid on the saw- mill and attacked a detachment of soldiers loading logs. The raiders killed one soldier and ran off twenty-nine mules. A mount- ed force set out in pursuit from the mill. They engaged the Indians in a "running fight" for three miles, and another soldier was killed."^ The high point of the month came when Sioux chief American Horse led sixty warriors across the Platte on the night of March 20. They attacked five ranches in the vicinity of Fort Fetterman and burned them to the ground. Six ranchers were killed and four wounded in these attacks. Most of the survivors fled to Fort Fetterman. All of the remaining ranches in the Platte Valley as far as Fort Laramie were abandoned as a consequence of this raid, and the ranchers did not begin to filter back into the area until 1871. The Indians proceeded to burn most of the telegraph sta- tions in the area and tore up over ten miles of telegraph line ^^Ibid., October-December 1867; March 1868. ^^Letters Sent, March 2, 1868. 20/Z>W., February 18, 1868. 21/fejW., March 12 and 14, 1868. ^^Letters Sent, March 18 and 19, 1868. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 11 before re-crossing the Platte on March 29. A company of the 2nd Cavalry was sent out from Fort Laramie to repair the telegraph line and to bury the dead.^^ The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 These raids were part of a series of Indian attacks which spread across the plains from Fort Bridger to Fort Kearny, Nebraska, and constituted the last major skirmishes of the Red Cloud War. A new Indian peace commission had succeeded in negotiating a treaty by agreeing to abandon the Bozeman Trail. The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 established a northern Indian reservation which encompassed the present day state of South Dakota west of the Missouri River. The major flaw in the treaty was Article XVI which termed the Powder River country and other traditional Indian hunting grounds in northeastern Wyoming "Unceded Terri- tories." The Indians could hunt on these lands but not live there permanently. The idea was to get the Indians accustomed to living in areas closer to the Missouri River while allowing them to roam their familiar hunting grounds. Another defect was Article XI which granted the Indians the right to hunt along the Republican and Smoky Hill Rivers in Kansas and Nebraska ". . . so long as the buffalo may range therein in such numbers as to justify the chase. "2^ Rather than limit the Indians to a specific reservation, the treaty actually allowed them to roam over essentially the same lands they had before the Civil War. This put the Indians on a collision course with the growing number of settlers moving onto the plains. Reaction to the treaty varied. General Sherman concluded that the newly completed railroads provided a better and more efficient route to the gold fields in Montana as well as the West Coast and that the Bozeman Trail was no longer needed. Many people felt that the treaty left the Indians undefeated and even in a victorious mood. General Augur wrote: The Indian is unrestrained now by any consideration for the white man. He neither loves him nor fears him. Before he can be con- trolled he must be made to do one or the other. -^ -^This event is mentioned in several sources, with different dates and casualties. See George W. Webb, List of Engagemeiits of the Indian Wars. (St. Joseph, Mo.: Wing Printing and Publishing Co., 1939), p. 36. Here- after Webb, Engagements. Also John Hunton, "Reminiscences," Annals of Wyoming, January, 1930, p. 262; Medical History, March 1868; and the Post Journal, March 29, 1868. -^U. S., Congress, Senate, Report of the Secretary of War. Senate Doc. 38, 41st Cong., 3rd sess., 1870, p. 43. 25U. S., Congress, House, Report of the Secretary of War. 40th Cong., 3rd sess., 1869 (serial 1367), pp. 3 and 24. 12 ANNALS OF WYOMING The view of many westerners was summed up by the Cheyenne Leader: . . . the giving up of the vast country north of us to the savage is . . . an attempt to hold civilization back, and give barbarism a new lease on life.-" Fort Fetterman had originally been included among the Powder River forts to be abandoned, but it was deleted from the final draft of the treaty despite objections from Indian leaders.-^ The treaty left Fort Fetterman the most northerly and exposed fort in the Platte River valley. Military Operations - 1868 The treaty did not immediately end hostilities. Most Indians were not ready to be held down by a piece of paper they could not read. As soon as Red Cloud's peaceful intentions became known, 600 warriors left his camp on the Powder River and headed south. They attacked a wagon train escorted by sixty soldiers traveling between Forts Fetterman and Reno. In the ensuing melee two soldiers were killed. The war party continued south and on August 28 began a series of raids on the ranches north of Cheyenne.^'* Prior to these events Ma'or Wessels turned Fort Fetterman over to Major Dye and a battalion of the 4th Infantry on May 28. Dye sought to increase the security of his command by ordering the construction of a stockade around the sawmill on Box Elder Creek and by stationing a company at the hay camp on Deer Creek. The many requests for cavalry reinforcements were finally answered on July 22 with the arrival of "D" Company of the 2nd Cavalry. The company arrived with fifty men and twenty horses. A detachment of "A" Company, 2nd Cavalry, was also ordered to Fort Fetterman. While enroute from Fort Reno, the detachment was attacked by Indians and one trooper was killed.-'' The renegades from Red Cloud's camp ran off 100 mules and horses from ranches near Cheyenne on August 28. Dye was ordered to send out all his cavalry, with five days' rations and 100 rounds of ammunition per man, to intercept the Indians before they could re-cross the Platte. Like many similar operations on the plains this one failed to make contact with the Indians. Two -^Cheyenne Leader, March 16, 1868, p. 1. -"James C. Olson, Red Cloud and the Sioux Problem, (Lincoln: Univer- sity of Nebraska Press, 1965), pp. 71-72. -^C. C. Coutant, History of Wyoming, (New York: Argonaut Press Ltd., 1966), p. 601. ^■^Letters Sent, July 22 and August 12, 1868; Post Journal, May 28, 1868. The Post Journal was a daily log. Content varied with who was keeping it. Hereafter Journal. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 13 days later Dye was ordered to intercept a war party which had run off seventy mules from a government train near Cooper Lake. They were thought to be heading toward Laramie Peak. He re- plied that he had no mounted forces left for operations and the Indians moved unimpeded.-^^' Hostile Indians completely isolated Fort Reno in early August. Messengers were unable to get through, and some were chased all the way back to Fort Fetterman. Dye was ordered to reopen the road, but again he pleaded the lack of a mounted force to carry out operations. The problem was solved when Fort Reno was abandoned later that month. The last raid near Fort Fetterman that year occurred October 10 when a war party of Sioux, Chey- ennes and Arapahoes led by Man-Afraid-of-His-Horses attacked the post hay-cutting detail. The only casualties wers two mules killed in action. ^^ Due to his troop's lack of success in intercepting raiding bands, General Augur decided to try a different means to recover stolen stock. On July 30 a band of Indians thought to be from the Powder River country ran off 1 20 mules from the Carbon railroad station. Augur ordered Dye to try to make contact with the raiders and negotiate for the return of the animals. He was to offer the Indians $25 for every mule returned to Fort Fetterman. The money to pay the bounty was to be taken out of the annuities promised to the Indians by the Fort Laramie treaty. Post records do not reflect any success in this endeavor.^- Traffic to the Powder River posts was heavy during the summer of 1868. On June 6 Fort Fetterman supplied an escort for a cattle herd bound for Fort Reno, and on June 10 for a government train of seventy-one wagons. The largest convoys arrived at Fort Fetterman on June 22 when a government train of 146 wagons and a contractor's train of 156 wagons stopped by on their way to the Bozeman Trail forts. During July, trains totaling 140 wagons passed by the fort. Traffic began going the other way as Forts Phil Kearny and Reno were abandoned during the summer. The soldiers from these forts camped at Fort Fetterman on their way to new stations. ^^ Indian Relations - 1868 As the Red Cloud War gradually subsided, Indians began to make friendly visits to Fort Fetterman. Forty lodges of Arapahoes led by Chief Top Man made the first recorded visit on June 5, ^^Letters Received, August 28, 1868; Telegrams Sent file. August 30, 1868. ^'^Letters Sent. August 4 and October 10, 1868. ^-Telegrams Received file, July 31, 1868. Hereafter Telegrams Received. ^Vonrnal, June 9-22, 1868; Medical History, p. 21. 14 ANNALS OF WYOMING 1868. On June 10, a band numbering sixty-seven lodges of Arapahoes led by Sorrel Horse camped near the post. With these visits, six years of almost daily contact with the northern plains Indians began. The threats by hostile bands of Sioux to kill any Indians they found camped near Forts Laramie and Fetterman no doubt discouraged many peaceably incHned Indians from attempt- ing to make contact with the white man that year. It was not until November that the first band of Cheyennes, led by Little Wolf, stopped by Fort Fetterman for a visit. The first band of Sioux visited the post on December 1, to talk and trade.-^^ Many of these visitors went to the post hospital to seek the aid of the white man's medicine. The post surgeon reported that their complaints often stemmed from the effects of "the acrid smoke within their teepees . . ." On a few occasions Indians were vaccinated for small pox.^^ Medical attention did much to build good relations with the Indians. Probably the greatest public relations boost occurred in 1870 when the post surgeon operated on Sioux Chief Man-Afraid-of-His-Horses and removed a musket ball from the chief's thigh. The chief had received the wound in a battle with some Crow Indians several years earlier, and it had caused him much discomfort.'^^ The post correspondence of this period was filled with informa- tion about the Indians and their activities, plans and opinions. One of these early reports, for example, concerned a discussion Major Dye had with Medicine Man, a chief of the Arapahoes. He informed Dye that he did not want to go to the official Indian agency at Fort Randall on the Missouri River because of the great distance. The fort was also a Sioux agency, and he did not want his band to come under their influence. He also did not want his band to be removed to the "Indian Territory" on the southern plains, as the government desired, because the war was still raging there. He feared that the young men of his band would be induced to join in the fight.^^ The war continued on the southern plains in spite of the Med- icine Lodge Treaty. General Philip H. Sheridan, commander of the Department of the Missouri, decided to strike the Indians when the weather would restrict their mobility. He organized a winter campaign totaling forty-nine companies divided into three columns to converge upon the Indians in the western part of the "Indian Territory." The strongest of these columns, composed mainly of the 7th Cavalry under Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer, ^^Journal, November 22 and December 23, 1868; Medical History, p. 5; Telegrams Sent, March 21, 1868. ^^Medical History, p. 5 and February, 1872. ^Hbid., December 13, 1870. ^'^Telegrams Sent, November 30, 1868. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 15 advanced swiftly and at dawn November 27 made a surprise attack on Black Kettle's band of Cheyennes camped on the Wa- shita River. Custer's forces attacked from all sides. Over one hundred Indians and forty soldiers died in the battle. Custer then made a skillful retreat in the face of superior numbers of Indians camped further up the river.-^^ News of the attack spread rapidly among the plains Indians. Major J. W. Carlton, the new commander at Fort Fetterman, nervously reported on December 3 that "Five Cheyennes escaped from Custer's fight [and] reached the Cheyennes [on the Powder River] a few days ago." Eventually forty lodges of Southern Cheyennes were reported to have "escaped from South [of the] Platte and were camped among the northern tribes. "The fight below [i.e. Washita] makes a good deal of talk among th3m," and Carlton feared retaliation from the estimated 2000 lodges of Sioux and Cheyennes, led by Red Cloud and Little Wolf, camped on the Powder River sixty miles northeast of the fort.-^^ Although the Indians talked much of the battle, they remained inactive dur- ing the rest of the winter. Military Operations - 1869 Mobile operations similar to Custer's offensive in the Indian Territory were planned for the northern plains. When Sheridan received news of Custer's attack he excitedly telegraphed Major Carlton: Custer has knocked the Cheyennes, Arapahos, and Kiowas all to pieces, and all are running . . . He added that troops would be available to take on the "Powder River Sioux" the following spring.^*' The anticipated offensive never materialized because hostilities gradually subsided as the Indians accepted the treaty. The north- ern plains settled down to six years of uneasy guard duty. Except for three forts along the Missouri River, Forts Laramie and Fetter- man were the only forts in direct contact with the boundaries of the new Indian reservation. By virtue of its location Fort Fetter- man was assured of much contact with the Indians. General Augur's strategy for maintaining security in his depart- ment was twofold: the cavalry units would patrol constantly and 38Philip H. Sheridan, Record of Engagements with Hostile Indians 1868 to 1882, (Bellevue, Nebraska: The Old Army Press, 1969), pp. 114-117. Hereafter Sheridan, Record. This was the first major post-Civil War cam- paign against the Indians. ^^Telegrams Sent and Received, December 23, 1868 and January 4, 1869. From time to time the correspondence files were combined. ^^Telegrams Sent and Received, December 4, 1868. 16 ANNALS OF WYOMING the infantry units would provide guard and escort details. At Fort Fetterman this plan was hampered when the garrison was reduced to two infantry companies early in 1869. They lacked the strength to provide men for guard, fatigue and escort duties as well as offensive operations. Likewise, the infantry lacked mobility. Two cavalry companies were stationed at Fort Laramie and available for use by Fort Fetterman in emergencies.*^ However, the distance between the two forts, about eighty miles, greatly increased the reaction time. By the time the cavalry could arrive the Indians would be long gone. Another problem in military operations was communication. Before the cavalry could be dispatched, word had to be received that they were needed. The most rapid means of communication between the two forts was the unreliable telegraph. Animals and weather damaged the line often, and it required frequent repair details from both forts to keep it operating. These repair details occasionally served as targets for roaming war parties. On March 24, 1869, a typical repair detail, composed of a sergeant and eight men, departed from Fort Fetterman to repair several breaks in the line. A band of sxity Indians attacked the detail near La Bonte Creek on April 6 and killed one soldier.*- A detachment of sixty soldiers and five Arapaho Indian scouts set out from Fort Fetter- man in search of the Indians. The Arapahoes found signs which indicated that another war party was south of the Platte. The search operation came to a halt when a snow storm buried the Indian trails.*^ On April 16 a band of Indians ran off fifty horses and mules from Fort Laramie and headed west. A company of cavalry set out in pursuit. When the Indians crossed Horseshoe Creek, the unofficial boundary between the two forts, Carlton was requested to send sixty to seventy-five men east to intercept the Indians from the other direction. The was the first of many such "pincer" movements made between the two forts. Carlton mounted forty- nine soldiers on wagon mules and sent them east. The Indians crossed the Platte with their booty near Bridger's Ferry and escaped to the north before the two mounted forces could close in.** Indian raids around Fort Fetterman decreased during the sum- mer buffalo season but increased in the fall. During September a *^Telegrams Sent, April 13, 1869. ^-Telegrams Sent, March 24, April 6 and 7, 1869. *'^Ibid., April 9, 11, and 22, 1869. This is the first mention of Indians aiding the garrison. Major Carlton had actively been recruiting the Indians and wrote on April 9: "I think the Arapahos can be induced to join us against the Sioux." The Arapahos provided scouts and guides from time to time but never joined en masse. '^'^Telegrams Sent and Received, April 16-18, 1869. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 17 "war and stealing party of Indians camped [on the] Tongue River" moved south. They swooped down on Fort Fetterman on September 8 and ran off twelve head of stock. The war party moved on southeast, and enroute to Forts Fetterman and Bridger, raided a cattle herd, near the "Fetterman Cut-Off." This attack gained the Indians 160 head of cattle. An infantry detachment sent out from Fort Fetterman failed to catch the Indians. Another war party ambushed a detail of the 4th Infantry near the Fort Laramie sawmill at Laramie Peak. One soldier died and another was wounded. A war party attacked the Fort Fetterman hay detail near Deer Creek on September 18. The soldiers repulsed the attack and wounded one Indian.^'"* Fort Fetterman's garrison was doubled on October 1 2 with the arrival of one company each of infantry and cavalry. Two days later the cavalry was ordered to intercept a band of Indians return- ing from a raid on Medicine Bow. In his order to Carlton, Gen- eral Augur directed, "Attack with vigor and let no grass grow under your feet."^*^ This force failed to sight any Indians. A war party of thirty Indians attacked a telegraph repair detail east of Fort Fetterman on October 29. The repair detail, com- posed of one officer and twenty-nine men, repulsed the attack without loss. However, three cavalrymen from the repair detail, who had gone hunting, were later ambushed by the same war party. Two of the troopers were killed, and the other escaped. ^^ On November 6, a war party attacked an escort detail traveling between Forts Fetterman and Laramie, and two cavalrymen were killed in the skirmish. Another incident occurred December 1 when a band of Sioux and Cheyennes attacked the mail detail coming from Fort Fetterman near Horseshoe Creek. One soldier was killed and two wounded, and some mules were run off. The next day the same war party ambushed the mail detail coming from Fort Laramie and killed one soldier. The Indians proceeded to tear down the telegraph Mne and then re-crossed the Platte. An- other band headed south and raided a ranch north of Cheyenne and succeeded in running off a large number of stock. Carlton received orders to intercept the Indians before they re-crossed the Platte, but he pleaded a lack of mounted troops and bad weather.^"* These incidents are typical of the Indian fights around Fort Fetterman, and the plains in general from 1867 to 1877 — a series of alarms, some stock raids and attacks on isolated detachments. "^■'Letters Sent, September 14, 1869; Journal, September 18, 1869; Sheri- dan, Record, p. 24. ■*^^Letters Received, October 14, 1869. ^''Journal October 29, 1869. ^^Letters Sent, December 7 and 9, 1869. 18 ANNALS OF WYOMING and many fruitless pursuits. Fort Fetterman was often without a mounted force and could not keep up with the fast moving Indians. Indian Relations - 1869 Fort Fetterman's contact with the Indians in 1 869 ranged from the hostile Sioux to the friendly Arapaho. The Arapahoes readily accepted the peace treaty and often camped near Fort Fetterman. They became a major source of information about the activities of other tribes. Several Arapaho chiefs reported that the trouble that year was caused by disgruntled bands of Sioux who were "angry with Red Cloud for making peace, and are trying to embroil him with the whites." The Arapahoes led by Sorrel Horse and Medicine Man, intent upon peace, requested in April that Carlton send two white men to stay with their bands for the summer and act as observers to prove that they were not sending out raiding parties.^-' The hostile Sioux tried to prevent the success of the treaty by intimidating those Indians who wanted peace. These Sioux bands roamed the hunting lands of the Arapahoes and Cheyennes. By avoiding these Sioux, the friendly Indians were faced with food shortages.^'" Matters were further complicated when Fort Fetter- man was forbidden to trade with the Indians in order to force the Indians to develop the habit of traveling to the Missouri River agencies for trade. Fort Fetterman was convenient to the Arapa- hoes and Cheyennes, and they refused to travel into strange terri- tories to trade. ''^ As a result the friendly Indians were cut off from all sources of food and supplies. Successive Fort Fetterman com- manders felt this would lead to renewed warfare. Nevertheless the Indians continued to come to Fort Fetterman, and trading existed in varying degrees from 1868 to 1875. Carlton reported that one band of Arapahoes came to trade because: They claim they are without ammunition and are in danger of being attacked by the Sioux for having made peace with the Snakes^s He stated that allowing trade with the Indians would resupply them and maintain peace. This and many other such reports from Fort Fetterman commanders helped to bring about changes in the trade policy. The trade was sometimes beneficial to both sides. '^^Telegrams Sent, April 8, 20, 21, and October 29, 1869. Two local civilians offered to do so at $100 per month and rations. ^^Ibid., May 9, 1869. ^^Telegrams Received, December 8, 1868. The post was ordered to trade only enough flour and bacon to get the Indians to their agencies. ^^Telegrams Sent, November 16, 1869. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 19 In December the garrison traded with the local Arapahoes to obtain buffalo robes for the coming winter."'-^ Post Construction - 1868-1869 The Indians were not alone in their desire to see Fort Fetterman abandoned. Several times during the winter of 1 867 Major Wes- sels recommended abandoning the site and relocating elsewhere. He complained that "The post is established on an elevated plateau dry, arid and exposed to storms and gales from every quarter." He recommended a site on Deer Creek, twenty miles west, as offer- ing "greater advantage."''^ In February, 1868, he requested per- mission to move the post buildings "to the bottom lands at the base of the plateau" because it offered "better shelter from the wind and better availability of water. "■'' All requests were denied, and the fort was completed on the plateau. The severe Wyoming winter hampered construction work. Dur- ing January and February, 1868, in particular, the intense cold weather "prevented in great measure, the labor necessary to con- tinue to build the post."*'*' During the following summer, both Wessels and Dye made the completion of the fort their main goal. The post surgeon noted that "the building of the post continues to be almost the only affair engaging the attention of the officers and men."''^ Nonetheless, work progressed slowly because of fre- quent demands for escorts and reactions to Indian raids and rumors of raids. By November 1868 the two barracks, the adju- tant's office, the school room, commissary and several smaller buildings were still under construction. The hospital, laundress and officers' quarters were the only completed buildings on the post."^^ The two barracks were finished in 1869, and work on a third barracks and other structures began. A new sawmill was estab- lished near the fort on La Prele Creek, and the Box Elder Creek mill turned over to civilians. Work went so well that year that luxuries such as a sundial could be contemplated and requested."'" A new supply road was built in 1868. A Major Hannig and three companies of the 18th Infantry began the construction of a road from Fort Fetterman to Medicine Bow on May 26, 1868. The famous mountain man Jim Bridger acted as guide and scout for the detachment. This was the last of the many services he ''^Letters Sent, December 7. 1869. ''^Letters Sent, November 4 and 20, 1867. ■>^>Ibid., February 28, 1868. '^^Ibid. "'Medical History, May 1868. ^^Letters Sent, November 4, 1868. '^•'Telegrams Sent, February 9 and July 13, 1869. 20 ANNALS OF WYOMING performed for the government, as he retired soon after. The road was the shortest and most direct route to the raihoad and served as the main supply road for the fort in summer. During the winter months, the road was usually blocked by heavy snow drifts.*'" In 1869 a ferry was established across the Platte at Fort Fetter- man. The ferry cable was laid across the Platte on February 11, and construction began on related structures."^ The facility con- sisted of a flat-bottomed boat pulled from one shore to the other by means of a cable secured by posts on either bank. The ferry provided a much needed service in the area as the prevalence of quicksand and spring floods made the Platte unfordable at most locations. After the closing of the Bozeman Trail, the majority of customers for the four following years were Indians. John Richaud, Jr. As the Indian violence subsided, civilians began to trickle into the Fort Fetterman area and became a source of trouble. On September 8, 1869, John Richaud, Jr. shot and killed a corporal in the post sutler's store. Richaud was well known in the area and was that year's hay and wood contractor for the fort. He fled the post and sought refuge with the local Indians. As he made his way north he stirred up the Indians with stories of the aggressive intentions of the soldiers who were pursuing him. A cavalry company returning from Medicine Bow ran into a band of Chey- ennes numbering 350 lodges. Richaud had told the Indians that the cavalry was coming to attack them, and the company com- mander had to talk fast to avert trouble.*'- Richaud escaped to the north and later became a favorite of Red Cloud and served as his interpreter. He eventually served as a scout for General George Crook and received a pardon from the government in recognition of his services. Isolation The completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 reduced travel on the Oregon Trail. Sherman estimated that in 1866 the Oregon Trail carried ninety percent of the traffic crossing the plains. *''^ Commerce shifted to the more efficient railroads, and traffic on the Oregon Trail declined to a trickle. For weeks at a time no wagon trains were recorded in the Fort Fetterman "Post ^'^Letters Sent, May 26, 1868; and an unpublished typescript by John Hunton titled "Fort Fetterman," dated November 20, 1925, pp. 2-3. On file in the Western Research Center, University of Wyoming. ^'^Journal, February 11, 1869. ^-Letters Sent, September 14 and October 19, 1869; and Journal, Septem- ber 10, 1869. ''•^Athearn, Sherman, p. 104. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 21 Journal." Of those wagon trains which did travel the road, half were engaged in carrying supplies for the fort. The wagon trains themselves shrank, averaging between five and ten wagons. To add to the isolation, American Horse's raid the previous year had destroyed what few ranches there were in the area. Fort Fetterman received a new mission, based upon changes in the strategic situation. The fort originally had been established at the strategic crossroads of the Oregon and Bozeman Trails. The post's mission was to protect traffic on the trails and to support military operations in the Powder River country. By late 1869 Fort Fetterman was an isolated outpost at the dead-end of two roads from the south. The post's new mission was to guard the southern rim of the Indian reservation and to provide local secur- ity. This remained Fort Fetterman's mission for the next five years. FORT FETTERMAN: 1870-1874 This being one of the most remote and . . . one of the most uninhabitable posts in the Depart- ment . . . — Post Commander, 1873 The five years from 1870 to 1874 were a time of an uneasy truce between two Indian wars. During this period Fort Fetterman served both as an isolated outpost guarding the southern boundary of the Indian reservation and as an unofficial Indian agency. Indian Affairs The problems with the Indians arose from the encroaching settlement of the white man and from the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. The majority of the Indians apparently never understood the distinction the government made between the reservation and the Unceded Lands. Many Indians desired to live in the Unceded Lands all the time, as they had done for generations. This was a violation of the treaty which only permitted them to hunt there. Living in the Unceded Lands also kept the Indians away from the agencies along the Missouri River. The government refused to establish agencies closer to the Powder River country, and there- fore the Indians had no way to receive the annuities promised by the treaty. These annuities took on an increasing importance as game became scarce on the plains. The Indians were supposed to go to Fort Laramie to talk over any problems arising from the treaty. The braves usually left their "lodges and families" camped near Fort Fetterman and jour- neyed with their chiefs to Fort Laramie. Soon Red Cloud and other Sioux chiefs informed Major Alexander Chambers, com- mander at Fort Fetterman, that they had "grown tired of talking 22 ANNALS OF WYOMING to subordinates" and demanded to visit President Ulysses S. Grant in Washington to settle the problems.*'* Red Cloud, accompanied by 500 Sioux, arrived at Fort Fetter- man on May 18, 1870, to begin the trip east.*'-"' He met with President Grant on June 9, and opened the pow-wow with de- mands that Fort Laramie be made the Indian agency and that Fort Fetterman be abandoned. President Grant replied: As to Fort Fetterman, it is needed, and is very useful to keep whites off the Indian reservation and to protect the whites against the Indians who are badly disposed. It is also needed as a base of supplies, and therefore can not be removed. 66 The trip brought few accomplishments, and the problems re- mained. The Indians were not without supporters among the white men. A convention of humanitarians met at New York City's Cooper Union in May, 1870, to discuss the phght of the Red Man. Gen- eral Sherman had been invited to address the convention, but sent a letter instead stating: The real questions can only be discussed fairly where the Indians are, and if you will adjourn your meeting to Fort Sully, Fort Rice, or Fort Feterman, where you can see the Inidans themselves, I will feel strongly inclined to attend the meeting.^'i' Fort Fetterman was worthy of mention as the place where "you can see the Indians themselves" as the post became a popular stopping place for roving bands. The "Post Journal" recorded almost daily arrivals and departures of different bands of Indians from 1870 to 1873. They ranged in size from a few lodges to a hundred or more. During the winter many bands camped near the post. In November 1870 the "Post Journal" listed as camped in the surrounding area: Sioux 350 lodges Cheyennes 300 lodges Arapahoes 150 lodges They were described as "friendly with one another and come to the post for news and to give news.""^ Most of the major Indian leaders from the Powder River country visited Fort Fetterman at one time or another. Dull Knife and Little Wolf of the Cheyennes became regular visitors as did Med- ''^Journal, September 16, 1870; and Medical History, April 3, 1870. *^-> Medical History, May 18, 1870. 66U. S., Congress, Senate, Report of the Secretary of War, Senate Doc. 38, 41st Cong., 3d sess., (1871), Vol. I, p. 42. •'■''Athearn, Sherman, p. 247. ^^ Journal, November 28, 1 870. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 23 icine Man of the Arapahoes. Before their people moved further east, the Sioux chiefs American Horse and Red Dog paid several visits to the post. Even the legendary Sioux chief, Crazy Horse, came near the fort when he led a stock raid in the area in 1870/'^ A pow-wow between the chiefs and the post commander would be held whenever a large band camped in the area. These meet- ings provided useful information as to what the Indians were think- ing and doing. A typical meeting occurred on April 1, 1870, when Medicine Man of the Cheyennes "and many chiefs arrived, and a council was held, at which they expressed a desire to be at peace, and that a trader should be sent among them . . ." Rations were passed out and the chiefs departed.^" Another meeting oc- curred April 1 1 when Medicine Man and White Hare, described as the "principal chiefs of the Northern Cheyennes", came in. Like most of the bands in the area they claimed that they were peaceful. [they stated] that the young men were kept in their villages and not allowed to commit depredations of any kind against the whites nor had any been committed for a long time.^^ As a sign of peaceful intentions the Indians occasionally re- turned stolen property to the fort. On December 20, 1870, the Cheyennes brought in ten mules which had been taken during summer raids in Kansas. In February, 1872, some Indians re- turned several head of cattle which had been captured in the area earlier that year.'''^ Indian Trade The leaders of the Sioux, Cheyennes and Arapahoes requested that Fort Fetterman be designated as their agency from which they could trade and receive their annuities.'^ The Arapahoes and Cheyennes particularly wanted the fort to be their agency because it was the closest fort to their lands. The post commander reported : They have a strong antipathy to being mixed with the Sioux in their dealings with the government, and will never willingly be induced to resort to a Sioux agency for that purpose. "^ The government compromised by locating the first agency near Fort Laramie. The location at Fort Laramie did not completely satisfy the ^^Medical History, April 12, 1870. mbid., April 1, 1870. '^^Letters Sent, April 11, 1870. "'-Medical History, December 20, 1870, and February 1872. '^^Medical History, May 18, 1870; Letters Sent, May 20, 1872. "^ ^Letters Sent, May 20, 1872. Italics in the original. 24 ANNALS OF WYOMING Cheyennes and Arapahoes. One Fort Fetterman commander reported : . . . being few in number and especially the Arapahoes, poor in robes, they can not go to Laramie without encountering large numbers of Sioux, who rob them of their stock and they come back disappointed and in bad temperJ^ In 1871 Fort Fetterman received orders not to issue goods or trade with the Indians. In response to this trade embargo unli- censed traders, dealing in whiskey and guns, among other items, flourished between Forts Laramie and Fetterman, and they made attempts at controlling trade even harder. Fort Fetterman con- tinued to trade with the Indians in varying degrees. The usual poHcy was to issue the Indians enough supplies to get them to Fort Laramie. The post issued a few rations to every passing group of Indians as a goodwill gesture. Ration issue became a large enterprise at Fort Fetterman. On August 31, 1871, the troops issued ten day's rations to 1250 Cheyennes and Arapahoes, the largest group of Indians recorded as visiting the fort at one time, for the trip to the agency at Fort Laramie."^ Rations were often issued to hunting parties to get them to their hunting grounds further west. Throughout Septem- ber, 1872, Cheyenne and Arapaho bands in the area received rations of beef and flour to tide them over for the winter.^' As late as September, 1873, Indians traded at the post sutler store. In this instance, Cheyennes and Arapahoes traded antelope skins for goods. '^^ Another exception to the trade embargo was when impoverished bands came in. The official policy stated: Indians when suffering can exchange a few robes and furs for clothes but in each case a special permit shall be obtained. '''^ Occasionally more than some cloth was needed to put a band back on its collective feet. In December, 1870, Major Chambers re- ported the case of a band of Arapahoes numbering 180 lodges estimated at "1,000 souls": They are in need of provision and clothing and knifes. I will recom- mend 1 blanket, 2 shirts, 1 knife, 50 lb. flour or corn, 10 lb. bacon or pork, 2 lb. coffee and 5 lb. sugar, 2 tin cups to each lodge and 5 pieces of blue and red Indian cloth, 30 pieces of cotton and 20 pieces Beaticm [sic] to the tribe. He closed his report with the comment that "a comparatively small ''•'Letters Sent, July 7, 1871. '(^Medical History, August 31, 1871. "Ibid., September 3 and 9, 1872. '^Ibid., September 1873. ''■^Letters Received, July 28, 1870. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 25 expenditure of money will maintain a permanent peace with these Indians.'"'" Brisk activity in distributing annuities occurred during the winter of 1870-1871. A Post Journal entry for February 18, 1871, recorded that "several teams arrived with goods for the Arapa- hoes." On February 23, 10,000 pounds of flour, 4000 pounds of dry goods and cooking utensils were issued to 800 Arapahoes at a place "a mile up the La Prele."^^ Fort Fetterman acquired a group of "loafers", Indians who lived near army forts and depended on handouts, as was common at many western forts. The post surgeon noted in March, 1871, that although most of the Indians in the area had gone out on hunting trips "there are a few 'loafers' still here, all of the time, so that we shall not be entirely alone." Often any Indians receiving govern- ment goods were called loafers by the soldiers. A February, 1871, Post Journal entry reads "Commenced the issue of rations to the Indian loafers . . .""- The post received authorization in February, 1871, to feed all the Indians who stopped by and to issue them "15 pounds of powder and lead and percussion caps" for every hundred lodges. The supply policy fluctuated with government Indian and fiscal policy. In May, 1871, the post commander was ordered not to issue any rations to the Indians "except in clearly necessary cases" because Congress had reduced the military appropriations. The army consequently expected the Indian Bureau to feed and supply the Indians.'*-^ Occasionally supplies were issued to the Indians to compensate for indiscretions by the white man. Major Chambers reported on June 8, 1870, that he had talked to four "principal chiefs" of the Arapahoes concerning recent raids along the Sweetwater River. The chiefs denied taking part in the raids. Nevertheless, an irate group of miners attacked the Arapaho camp in retaliation, and the Indians lost all of their lodges, supplies, and twenty-six horses. Chambers stated that "their condition is pitiful" and requested permission to re-supply them.*^^ Eventually the white man's slaughter of the plains animals forced the Indians to submit to government policy. Trade from all but official Indian agencies was forbidden, and the growing scarcity of game compelled most of the Indians to travel to the agencies in the Dakotas. In 1874 a band of Arapahoes, camped near Fort Fetterman, complained to the post commander that "They suffer ^^^Letters Sent, December 19, 1870. ^^Medical History, February 23, 1871; Journal, February 18 and 23, 1871. ^-Medical History. February 8, March 18, and May 31, 1871: and Journcd, February 23, 1871. 26 ANNALS OF WYOMING from want of food." In April, 1874, a hunting party of Cheyennes led by little Wolf asked the post commander for rations to help them on their summer hunt. When they returned in August, Little Wolf reported that they had decided to travel to the agency in Nebraska to obtain food for the winter "in consequence of the pervading scarcity of game."^^ Military Operations 1870-1873 Fort Fetterman illustrates the conditions under which the army operated during the plains Indian wars. By virtue of its location and mission, the post was one of the most important forts on the frontier. Yet the post records reveal a picture of an isolated and under-strength fort. Army strength and priorities were such that the post was never able to decisively influence events in the area. The fort lacked both the manpower and mobility. Indian war parties freely crossed the Platte on either side of the fort and raided southward without interference. When pursuit parties were dis- patched they usually had only a vague idea of where the Indians were and what they were up to. The troopers rarely made contact with hostile Indians. During the 1870-1873 period, Fort Fetterman's garrison aver- aged four companies, for a total of about 200 men. By compari- son Fort Laramie averaged 400 men and Fort Russell, far to the south, away from the Indians, averaged 300 men. Considering Fort Fetterman's strategic and isolated position, successive com- manders felt the garrison was not large or mobile enough. In April, 1871, a cavalry company was requested to be permanently stationed at the fort to "perform escort and other duties incident to our position." Department headquarters refused all requests that year. In 1872 the post was promised a cavalry company "when the grass may permit," but the horsemen never materialized. Most of the escort details dispatched from the fort during these years rode along in the wagons or were mounted on wagon mules. ®^ One post commander lamented in 1872: In its present condition, without cavalry, and with no horses on which a squad of infantry could be mounted in case of emergency, the garrison is practically helpless in case of Indian trouble . . .^7 Upon his arrival at the fort in 1872, Major George Woodward believed that trouble with the Indians was imminent. He gave up on obtaining a cavalry unit and requested instead an additional ^^Telegrams Received, February 2 and May 22, 1871, ^"^Letters Sent, June 8, 1870. ^^Medical History, February 6, April 5 and August 21, 1874. ^^Letters Sent, April 19, 1871; May 13 and June 25, 1872. ^'Letters Sent, February 20, 1872. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 27 infantry company, along with twenty-five horses and equipment to mount an infantry force for escort and scouting duty. In Septem- ber, twenty horses arrived at the post, and he formed a "mounted detachment" for use as a mobile reserve. Finally in March 1873, C Company of the 3rd Cavalry was stationed permanently at the fort. The company arrived short twenty-nine horses.'''' Indian raids occurred in the area between Cheyenne and the North Platte River from 1868 to 1877 despite the treaty. Wyo- ming Territorial Governor John M. Thayer claimed in November, 1875, that the Indians had stolen $600,000 worth of livestock and killed seventy-three whites in the preceding seven years in Wyo- ming. In the other hand, he continued, only four Indians guilty of stealing horses had been killed in the same period. ''" Almost all of these losses were caused by the Powder River Indians. As late as 1876, a series of raids occurred along Chugwater Creek, one hundred miles south of Fort Fetterman. Clearly the stretch of the North Platte River guarded by Forts Fetterman and Laramie rep- resented a leaky sieve as far as security was concerned. Military operations around Fort Fetterman during 1870-1873 consisted of the usual guard, escort, and scouting details. J. O. Ward, a soldier stationed at Fort Fetterman during this period, described these activities as follows: During these years the cavalry troops were kept busy chasing bands of marauding Indians that came across on the south side [of the Platte] to kill those unfortunate enough to be unprotected, to steal a few ponies and perhaps take a few cattle. By the time news of these outbreaks reached the fort and the troops had gathered into the field, the Indians were back on the reservation and the troops not allowed to follow.90 Major Woodward believed that the older men and chiefs of the various bands were peaceably inclined, and that the problem was with "the young bucks, always restive and seeking excitement" and who consequently went on raids. "^ Around Fort Fetterman the number of raids and skirmishes declined in 1870 and 1871 following the end of the Red Cloud War. The violence began to increase in 1872 and culminated in the outbreaks of 1874 and in the great Indian uprisings of 1876. A few examples from the post records illustrate what the Indian wars were like during this period. During 1870 small war parties »»Ibid., May 5 and September 10, 1872; and March 27, 1873. 89T. A. Larson, History of Wyoming. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1965), p. 100. '■'*^'J. O. Ward, "Fort Fetterman," Annals of Wyoming, January 1927, pp. 360-361. Ward spent four and one-half years of his five-year enlistment at Fort Fetterman. Hereafter Ward, "Fetterman." ^^'^Letters Sent, February 20, 1872. 28 ANNALS OF WYOMING attacked mail details between Forts Fetterman and Laramie, usu- ally without loss to either side. An attack on April 12, resulted in the death of a dog, and several mules were wounded in an attack on April 22. The major activity of the fort in June was the pursuit of a trader named Crosby who had given whiskey to the Indians. A war party attacked the wood detail on June 28 while enroute to the wood reserve and killed one of the lumberjacks. The Indians again attacked the wood detail the following month; the only casualties were some cattle killed in action. On July 22 a party of nine Cheyennes ran off some cattle from the wood camp. Other nuisances included an attempt by two Indians to cut the ferry rope."- In 1870 John Hunton, an early Wyoming pioneer and post contractor, operated the old Fort Fetterman sawmill on Box Elder Creek. One day several of his employees went out deer hunting, and one failed to return. A search party found his body two miles from the sawmill. The Indians had killed and scalped him and had taken his clothes and rifle. The search party buried him there and inscribed "E.E.G. 1870" on his headboard."'^ Indian raids declined sharply in the Fort Fetterman area during 1871. The major raid occurred in December when Red Cloud's son and some friends ran off forty horses and mules from the post's herd. Red Cloud returned most of the stock in February 1872 to Fort Laramie. Later that month some Sioux visited the area and captured four horses, while another Sioux war party ran off the post beef contractor's entire herd. Major Woodward lamented that he was unable to pursue because he lacked sufficient horses for a pursuit party. When repeated attacks were made upon the post wood camp ten days later he dispatched an infantry company to the rescue in wagons. A war party attacked the mail detail on March 31 and badly wounded one soldier. An attack on another mail detail resulted in the death of a sergeant and the capture of a government mule by the Indians. The mule was later returned to Fort Fetterman by Little Wolf who blamed Old Bear's band of Cheyennes for the attack.''^ A band of Sioux raided the post stock herd in February, 1873, and ran off eight horses. The post's cavalry company pursued the Indians across the plains for forty miles before giving up the chase. The company commander reported that the Indians' trail led to the Powder River. Major Woodward eventually gave up trying to recapture stolen stock. When some cattle were driven off in ^^Telegrams Sent and Received, April 22, 1870; Journal, April 12, June 27 and July 22, 1870; Medical History, June 28 and July 22, 1870. ''•^L. C. Bishop, "Address to the American Pioneer Trails Association," Annals of Wyoming, January 1948, pp. 86-87. ■^^ Letters Sent, February 20, March 21, May 5 and 20, 1872. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 29 March he requested to be compensated from the Indians' annuities for the cost of the stock. ^'' The Indians raided the Box Elder Creek area and attacked the lumber camp of Malcolm Campbell, a post contractor, and killed and scalped one of his men.-*^ All of the raids during these years originated from the reserva- tion. It was a common complaint of the frontier people that the Indian reservations provided a safe base of operations for maraud- ing Indians. A soldier stationed at Fort Fetterman echoed this complaint when he wrote: [The Indians] come in here when it is cold weather and pretend to be friendly and when it is warm . . . they go on the warpath . . fi~ Life A t Fort Fetterman The post records for the years 1870-1875 provide a detailed picture of daily life on a frontier fort. A few of the sharpest com- ments about Fort Fetterman concern the cHmate and the geog- raphy. Major Chambers reported in 1871 that The land in this region is of no value for agriculture purposes ... is barren hills with a few narrow vallies and a few acres of bottom land bordering the Platte River . . . and no person think of settling in this neighborhood, except with the view of making money by direct or indirect association with the army.^^ Malcolm Campbell left this remembrance: It was a desolate location, a hot dusty solitude drenched in rippling heat waves in the summertime, and in the winter, a post snowed in isolation from all outside communications by sub-zero blizzards.^" Bill Hooker, a civilian teamster, noted that as late as 1874 "there wasn't a ranch between Fort Laramie and Fetterman . . . a fence or fence post for hundreds of miles in any direction. "^^'^ John Hunton estabhshed a small ranch six miles south of the fort in 1874, and it constituted the only settlement between the fort and Medicine Bow. He wrote that there probably were never '*^Ibid., March 5 and May 11, 1873; Journal, February 14 and September 12, 1873. 9*>Robert B. David, ed., Malcolm Campbell, Sheriff. (Casper, Wyoming: Wyomingana Inc., 1932), p. 50. Hereafter David, Campbell. ^"Private Charles Lester, "H" Co., 4th Infantry, in a letter dated October 17, 1869; cited in Don Rickey, Jr., Forty Miles A Day On Beans And Hay, (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1966), p. 229. Hereafter Rickey, Forty Miles. ^^Letters Sent, January 9, 1871. 9»David, Campbell, p. 45. i^^OAlbert W. Johnson, "Hooker's Cabin," Annals of Wyoming, January 1931, p. 416. Hereafter Johnson, "Cabin." 30 ANNALS OF WYOMING more than sixty civilians in the vicinity of Fort Fetterman at any one time between 1869 and 1875.^"^ Official correspondence reflected a low opinion of most civilians living near the fort. A post commander opposed the reduction of the Fort Fetterman military reservation from sixty to twelve square miles because "certain civilians with no visible means of support" would move in and build ranches on the boundary of the reserva- tion and sell liquor to the soldiers and Indians.^"- Major J. S. Mason claimed in 1875 that there were not any settlers in the area "except a few half-breeds" who kept busy by selling whiskey to the Indians. ^"^'^ In 1874 Mason complained that no civilian servants could be induced to come to the post because of "the fear of Indians, diffi- culty of access, lack of church facilities, and loneliness generally. ^"^^ The fort was simply in an unattractive location : . . . there are no emigrants passing here, this being an extreme fron- tier post, on the immediate confines of the Indians' unceded lands. los Isolation had been felt as early as 1869. In April of that year Major Dye reported that he had no way to send twenty-one re- cently discharged soldiers back to civilization. His transport was tied up and "There is no public or private conveyance which men could leave the post, and no place at which they could obtain lodging or food in the vicinity. "^'^•' Even though the post was isolated, the 1870 census reflects the cosmopolitan nature of Fort Fetterman. There were 336 people listed as living at or near the fort. This figure included thirty-one women, thirty -six children, and fifty -five civilian employees. Among the civilian employees were: twenty-seven teamsters, eight wood-cutters, five servants, three hunter -guides, two telegraph operators, two laborers, two clerks, three hunters, two traders and one bartender. The "Melting Pot" image of America in the latter 19th century was reflected at the post: of 336 people, 194 were foreign born. The soldiers listed birthplaces which included Can- ada, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, the German states, and England. There were two couples from Ireland, and a Captain I'JiUnpubUshed typescript by John Hunton titled "Fort Fetterman," dated November 20, 1925, p. 3. On file at the University of Wyoming, Western Research Center. ^o^Letters Sent, July 9, 1872. ^mbid., March 1, 1875. '^^>'^Letters Sent, August 31, 1874. ^0^1 bid., March 1, 1875. ''^"^Ibid., April 6, 1869. He listed the travel times to the nearest inhab- ited places as four days to Fort Laramie, six days to Medicine Bow, and seven days to Cheyenne. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 31 Charles Von Herrmann and wife from Prussia. Also listed in the 1870 census are thirty families and twenty dwellings. ^'^' ' By 1870 most of the basic construction work on Fort Fetterman had been completed. The fort consisted of a stockade area and several outlying buildings and support facilities. Inside of the stockade, described as a "high plank fence" in official reports, were three barracks, officers' quarters and some offices. The bar- racks were 25' x 100' and 14 feet high. Behind them were two 22' X 120' buildings from Fort Caspar which were used for mess halls and kitchens. The officers' quarters consisted of four build- ings subdivided into apartments.^"* Outside of the stockade were the hospital, storehouses, corrals and other buildings. There were stables for fifty horses, and the corral could accommodate fifty six-mule wagons and the animals.^"'' All of this construction work necessitated the establishment of a second wood reservation, which was located thirty-five miles southeast of the fort. The two wood reserves contained an estimated 2,500,000 board feet of yellow pine.^^" Few adverse official comments about the post are to be found in the records. Major Alexander Chambers, upon assuming com- mand of the fort in 1873, wrote the only critical letter, aside from Major Wessel's early laments, filed in the post correspondence: This post, being one of the most remote and, according to the post officers, one of the most uninhabitable posts in the Department . . . The high winds and low temperatures prevailing during the winter, together with the sandy soil, render many of the buildings very un- comfortable as it is impossible to prevent the entrance of clouds of sand into the buildings. He intended this description to reinforce a request for more build- ing funds, as "it seems as though anything that can be done to reconcile men and officers to service at this post would be a gain.^^^ The post commander had to submit his request to construct a new building or make major repairs, together with plans and estimates of materials and costs, to the Quartermaster Department in Washington. For example, in his proposal to build a water- '^^''Censiis of 1870, Wyoming Territory, photostatic copy compiled by the D.A.R., on file at the Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department, Cheyenne. '^^^Surgeon General's Report, 1870, p. 351. losj. W. Vaughn, The Reynolds Campaign on the Powder River, (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1961), p. 20. Hereafter Vaughn, Campaign. unofficial map of Fort Fetterman, by W. S. Stanton (no date but made sometime between 1877 and 1880), on file at the Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department, Cheyenne. ^'^'^Letters Sent, December 2, 1873. 32 ANNALS OF WYOMING works and new quarters in 1875, the post commander stated that adobe brieks could be obtained at $13.50 per thousand and logs at $7.50 per thousand. I can get a first class mason to make the adobe and lay the wall for $30 per thousand, and a stone foundation at $5 per yard.n-' Soldiers at the fort did most of the heavy and unskilled work, for which they received "extra-duty" pay. The skilled work had to be contracted. Wages for skilled workers were high due to a scarcity of labor on the frontier. At Fort Fetterman an engineer, who operated machinery, could get $90 a month, a wheelwright and a blacksmith $80, and a teamster $35. In contrast a private's base pay was $13 per month.^^'^ The history of the post hospital illustrates some of the admin- istrative and maintenance problems found on frontier posts. The original building was moved from Fort Caspar in 1867. An offi- cial report stated that it "consisted of logs, chinked and plastered" around a large ward, forming an "ill arranged building for hospital purposes."^ ^^ The building had a fifteen-bed capacity, and serious cases were sent to Fort Laramie. Despite repeated requests by various post surgeons, no improvements were made in the original structure until 1874 and then in a haphazard manner. The Sur- geon General's Report for 1874 noted that "both light and snow were freely admitted; while the ventilation was more than could be desired."^ ^■'' An inspection report for 1877 described the building as "A patched up labyrinth, a burlesque on the word hospital . . ."^^^ This report stirred up strong criticism from the post commander, to which the new post surgeon wrote a letter of explanation to the Adjutant General in Washington: I have ventured upon this extended resume in the hope of bringing forceably to your attention the manner in which hospital buildings on the frontier attain onto the full measure of their greatness. Gen- erally their origin is most humble and unpretentious ... as numerous surgeons assume charge each has his own ideas as to needed improve- ments . . . and the building grows. n'^' The surgeon estimated that the money spent on the building to date was enough "to have erected an elegant and commodious struc- ture" if a single plan had been followed. Money for the repairs recommended by this surgeon was not approved, so he had the ^^^-Letters Sent, September 26, 1875. '^'^^Incoming Letters, December 31, 1880. A soldier also received room and board, such as it was. '^^'^Letters Sent, April 4, 1870. '^^^'Surgeon General's Report on Army Posts, Circular No. 4, 1874, p. 5. '^'^'^Letters Received, September 29, 1877. '^'^'^ Medical History, February 1878. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 33 work "done by an indigent citizen for bread to keep him from starving."^^'"' Despite poor medical facilities the health of the garrison greatly improved once the main post buildings were completed. From 1871 to 1877 the average number of reported sick and injured fell to a monthly average of 15. The hospital staff consisted of a surgeon, a hospital steward who was senior NCO rank, a cook, two male nurses and a matron or two. Civilians could be treated at the hospital but only when "neces- sary for the preservation of life." Written permission from the post commander was required before anyone could be admitted. This poUcy resulted from a number of civilian patients refusing to pay for any expenses after treatment. This caused a debt in the accounts of economy minded commanders. In 1875, for example, a civilian required fifty days of hospitalization and then refused to pay for any rations or treatment received.""' The sutler's store was the main business enterprise at Fort Fetterman. Every military post had a licensed sutler who oper- ated the equivalent of a modern PX. Sutlers served both military and civilians, and occasionally Indians. The store's operating hours and prices were regulated by the post Council of Adminis- tration composed of officers. The Fort Fetterman sutler business suffered from the lack of civilians in the area. The license for the business changed in 1870 from the partnership of Wilson and Cobb to Coffee and Campbell. Later the license passed to Tillotson and Cobb who operated the store for most of the decade.^-'* The Fort Fetterman sutler store consisted of a large browsing area and two bars: 'one for officers and the other for White citizens, [soldiers] and bullwhackers" as Bill Hooker remembered. This irritated many civilians as an example of snobbery by the army officers. Hooker wrote that this particularly irritated the men who drove the ox teams to and from the fort: . . . the army officer at old Fort Fetterman was as slick as he was the day he left West Point didn't care to rub elbows with the bull- whackers . . . for there was a great contrast between the men who faced the blizzards, forded the streams and ducked under obsidian and flint arrows of the Sioux to haul across the plains, and the clean shaven officers . . . The bullwhackers felt they were harassed unfairly by the army officers at the fort. Once when a buUwhacker was thrown into the guardhouse by an irate officer the other bullwhackers planned ^^^Medical History, February 1878. ^mbid., November 1875. '^-^Letters Sent, July 10, 1873; and Journal. July 16. 1870. 34 ANNALS OF WYOMING to tar and feather the first officer they could catch, but their tempers cooled before any action was taken. ^-^ Hooker claimed that part of this friction arose because the bullwhackers felt they did just as much fighting as the soldiers: ... it was generally understood that [the Indians] had no particular desire to fool with the bullwhackers at a range short of 10 or 20 thousand yards . . . therefore, they didn't commit a great many depre- dations along La Prele creek. i-- The need for education created another problem at Fort Fetter- man. All posts were expected to provide a school for dependents. Fort Fetterman's school had a spotty history. The first mention of a school was in 1871 when a "School for children of the Post" commenced January 31, with an enUsted man detailed as the teacher. A record book for the school was kept during the 1873- 1874 term, and it lists fourteen students divided into three classes with an enUsted man as instructor. The school closed June 4, 1874, and apparently never reopened. A request for money to operate a school was made in the fall of 1874 but was not approved. In 1880 the post commander reported that there was no money left in the post allocations to purchase books for the school, and the project was dropped.'-'^ Life at Fort Fetterman for the soldiers boiled down to monot- onous routine punctuated by occasional moments of excitement, fear and violence. A veteran of Fort Fetterman wrote in his later years that "This Fort was considered by the soldiers who served there as one of the dreariest spots in the West."^-^ The post surgeon noted that although they were located in hostile territory . . . the general duties of the garrison have been guard duty, cutting and hauling logs, making adobe bricks, ferrying Indians across the Platte and military drill. 125 The daily routine for the soldiers at Fort Fetterman was closely regimented, and followed this schedule: 10 minutes before sunrise Reveille, 1st Call Sunrise Reveille Immediately after Reveille Breakfast Call 7 a.m Sick Call 7:15 Stable, Water and Fatigue Call 9:00 Guardmount, 1st Call 121 Johnson, "Cabin," pp. 41 and 79. 122/6/^. y^'iMedical History, January 13, 1871; Letters Sent, August 1, 1874; Letters Sent and Received, April 6, 1880; an dthe school Record Book. 124J. o. Ward, "Soldiering at Fetterman," Frontier Times, March 1970, p. 7. Hereafter Ward, "Soldiering." ^-''Surgeon General's Report, Circular No. 4, 1874, p. 7. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 35 9:10 Guardmount, Assem- bly of Details 9: 15 Adjutants Call 12:00 1st Sergeants Call Recall from Fatigue 12:15 Dinner Call 1 p.m Drill Call 2:00 Recall from Drill, Infantry 2:30 Recall from Drill, Cavalry 3:15 Water and Stable Calls 5:00 Drill call for re- cruits and men not well 10 minutes before Sunset Retreat, 1st Call Sunset Retreat, under arms 9:00 ...._ Taps Sundays were a day of rest, with the exception of an inspection and a full dress parade : 9:00 a.m Inspection, 1st Call 9: 15 Assembly Guardmount immediately after inspection. 50 minutes before Sunset Dress Parade, 1st Call 5 minutes after 1st Call Assembly 5 minutes after assembly Adjutants Calli-^ Escort and repair details provided a break in the post routine. Due to the Indian threat, a soldier noted, "Everything that came into or went out of Fetterman was escorted by troops."^-' Civilian contractors in the area had to make formal request for escorts to the post commander, stating need and length of time an escort would be required. Often the provision of escorts was included in the contracts with the post. A typical escort for a wood train consisted of two soldiers per wagon, under the command of a sergeant. ^-^ The post's general area of responsibility for escort and main- tenance extended east to Horseshoe Creek, south to Laramie Peak and the second crossing of the Medicine Bow River, west to old Fort Caspar and north along the Platte River. Repair details were assigned with the upkeep of the telegraph line and mainte- nance of the roads to Fort Laramie and Medicine Bow. A number of details took up the time of soldiers remaining at the fort. One of the most unpopular was the water wagon detail '^"^Medical History, March 1877. 127 Ward, "Soldiering," p. 7. ^^^Joiirnal, August 17, 1872. 36 ANNALS OF WYOMING during the winter season. The detail was composed of a six-mule water wagon and six to eight men. They had to cut holes in the ice of the Platte River and then fill the wagon using buckets. One officer reported that ". . . the climate is severe during the winter, and the water detail is many times covered with ice and nearly frozen." The task was usually performed by prisoners under sentence at hard labor. Many post commanders requested funds to build a reservoir on the plateau beside the fort in order "to prevent the water detail hardships and for fire protection. "^^^ A water pump was obtained in 1875 in preparation for estab- lishing a reservoir. It was then discovered that no one at the post knew how to operate the water pump machinery. Questions as to the operation of the equipment were written to the manufacturer in New York, prefaced with the explanation that "We are beyond the reach of pratical mechanics. "^-^'^ Another important winter detail was ice cutting. The cutting usually began in December or January when the ice on the Platte River reached an average thickness of twelve to fourteen inches. The post commanders gave top priority to the detail because ice was an invaluable commodity during the summer. The blocks of ice were hauled up to the fort and stored in a specially constructed ice house. The ice supply lasted until August or September. ^^^ The post garden provided many summer time details. Western forts were expected to be as self-sufficient as possible. In keeping with this policy a four-acre plot was laid out along La Prele Creek in 1869 to serve as the post garden, and it met with varying degrees of success. A Journal entry for 1870 notes: "Bugs de- stroyed most of the beets in the garden." The Surgeon General's Report for 1870 records that the troops planted radishes, peas, lettuce and onions that year. In 1875 the post commander lament- ed that ". . . it has been found impossible to raise any vegetables owing to the scarcity of water, and grasshoppers." He concluded that ". . . it is not practicable to raise an adequate supply of fresh vegetables at this post." During good years sufficient quantities of peas, onions, beans, and cabbages were produced from the garden. Nonetheless, the post had to supplement its harvest every year with purchases from the farms around Greeley and Fort Collins, Colorado. Post wagon trains dispatched for produce were record- ed every year. On October 10, 1870, for example, sixteen wagons of potatoes arrived from Fort Russell. Another train consisting of ^ -^Letters Sent, December 12, 1873; and Ward, "Soldiering," p. 7. ^^OLetters Sent, July 14, 1875. 131 Summarized from yearly entries in the Journal. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 37 five wagons of fruit and vegetables arrived from the Cache la Poudre Valley. ^•^- These gardens were necessary to supplement the traditional army diet of bacon, hardtack, coffee and sugar. At times the garrison went without meat for a month, and on other occasions scurvy broke out from a lack of fresh vegetables. Upon occasion the troops had to undergo cuts in their bread rations as part of army-wide economy. ^-^-^ Generally, however, with supplements of quartermaster supplies, the soldiers had adequate rations. In 1 872 the post quartermaster reported that he had on hand, in addition to the usual rations, rice, beans, pork, ham, sardines, tomatoes, dried beef, flour, pickles, two cans of lobster, and "one large bottle of Worcestershire Sauce. "^-^^ The post surgeon noted in 1870 that "as nearly every family has a cow, chickens, and pigs, the supply of eggs and milk is ample. "^^•"' In 1876 another post surgeon reported: "rations good but not adequate. The need of fresh vegetables, such as potatoes, is much felt." In 1877 the rations were described as "adequate and finely cooked." The report also noted: ''Bread - Passable - The quality of flour at present issue is very indifferent," and "Meat - Good - Though occasionally tougher than desirable. ^^^ The medical inspection reports usually describe the general living conditions of the post as good. Comments on the common soldiers varied. In 1877 the post surgeon concluded: "Habits of enhsted men fully equal to the average." On another occasion he wrote: "Habits of Enlisted Men - Excellent, doubtless in measure due to recent infrequent visits of the Paymaster."^^' This com- ment was in reference to paydays which usually occurred every two months and provided an occasion for celebration. In 1874 the post surgeon reported: The payday battle results so far are three cases of stabbing, two of lacerated wounds of scalp & face, black eyes & minor wounds not counted . . . the usual results manifesting themselves soon by drunk- enness. i-^s The only derogatory report made of the men at Fort Fetterman occurred in 1874 when the outgoing post surgeon wrote: '^^- Journal, July 9, 1870; Letters Sent, March 1 and May 7, 1875; and Surgeon General's Report, 1870, p. 350. ^^•^Journal, March 1, 1875; Letters and Telegrams Received, April 11, 1877. The daily bread ration was reduced from 22 oz. to 18 oz. It was later restored. ^^^Letters Sent, May 7, 1872. "^"^^^Surgeon General's Report, 1870. p. 351. '^•^^Medical History, July 1876, and May and November 1877. '^^''Ibid., May and November 1877. ^^Hbid., March 6 and 7, 1874. 38 ANNALS OF WYOMING Many of the recruits look sickly, immature and poorly set up. The air in the barracks is heavy. The Cavalry barracks is overcrowd- ed .. . Guard house has been crowded during the latter half of the month. 139 Malcolm Campbell recorded this impression of the troops In the summer they wore blue shirts, white felt hats, buckskin panta- loons and cavalry boots. Their Springfield carbines were always kept in bright and efficient condition, and each trooper carried 60 rounds of ammunition in his belt. The soldiers presented a sharp contrast during the winter months: uniforms inadequate in the winter. Men made boots, vests and coats out of buffalo hides; blankets were cut up for underclothing; and frequently masks were made of the same material to completely enclose the head and shoulders. i^o Such precautions were necessary on the northern plains. During a cold spell in 1875, for example, all non-essential activity was cancelled. Only wood and water details were formed up, and guard duty "was so arranged as to eliminate exposure for more than an hour."^^^ Desertion With this view of army life on the frontier, it is not hard to understand why desertion was the army's biggest problem during the 1866-1898 period. The Secretary of War noted in his report for 1877: The life of the private soldier is a life of dull and monotonous routine, of which it is natural, if not inevitable, that men of spirit and ambition should weary. He recommended improved supplies and reading material as remedies. ^^- Whether from disgust or opportunism, many soldiers deserted from Fort Fetterman. Campbell made the interesting observation that some of the best early settlers in Wyoming began their careers by deserting from the army.^^^ The first recorded instance of desertion at Fort Fetterman occurred August 14, 1867, when two cavalrymen deserted as soon as they reached the fort while on escort duty from Fort Reno."* From then on the post correspondence is filled with reports and '^^^Medical History, January 31, 1874. i-i'JDavid, Campbell, pp. 47-48. ^^^ Journal, January 16, 1875. Temperatures reached a high of —3° during the day and fell to — 30° at night. '^^~ Annual Report of the Secretary of War, 1877 (Washington: GPO, 1877), Vol. 1, p. vii. Published separately. i43David, Campbell, p. 46. ^■^■^Letters Sent, August 14, 1867. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 39 descriptions of deserters. Their recapture was difficult in the days before fingerprinting, identification photographs and rapid com- munication. When a soldier deserted from the fort a patrol would be sent out in pursuit, and the man's description telegraphed to the nearest inhabited locations including Medicine Bow, Cheyenne and Fort Laramie. A few examples will illustrate the situation. On the night of January 31, 1871, four men deserted from Fort Fetterman. A patrol guided by Indian scouts followed the deserters' footprints in the snow, and recaptured them at their hide-out in the hills south of the fort. Three days later another patrol went out in pursuit of deserters believed heading east. They reached Fort Laramie and made camp. During the night soldiers deserting from Fort Lara- mie stole two of the patrol's mules. ^^^' Ten men deserted from Fort Fetterman on July 25, 1871, the largest single group recorded as deserting at one time. Lack of horses at the fort prevented pursuit. Noting this, two more soldiers deserted the next day. On June 27 and 28 eight men deserted from the post and cut the telegraph wire at various locations as they traveled. Two soldiers deserted on August 17, 1872, reportedly aided by two outlaws. ^^^^ Two men deserted on March 16, 1874, from a mail escort. A patrol composed of a sergeant, five troopers and an Arapaho scout made an unsuccessful pursuit. Deserting from escort details was quite easy and frequent. The largest recorded number occurred in May, 1874, when seven men out of twenty-three deserted while escorting the mail to Fort Laramie. ^^^ Deserters would surrender themselves at Fort Fetterman occa- sionally. One such man claimed to be a deserter from the navy. A recaptured deserter from the 14th Infantry at Fort Fetterman "claimed" that he had earlier deserted from the 5th Artillery on the east coast. In 1871 Private John Callaghan, recaptured after deserting from Fort Fetterman, "claimed" that he had earlier deserted from the Marine Corps at Brooklyn Barracks on June 20, 1869, having enlisted May 13. He enlisted in the army July 26, 1869, and was sent to Fort Fetterman. He requested that he be returned to the Marines. ^^"^ The punishment for desertion varied, depending upon the cir- cumstances and the deserter. The severest punishment given at Fort Fetterman was imprisonment in the federal penitentiary at Madison, lowa.^^^ Usually deserters were sentenced to hard labor '^^^Medical History, January 31 and February 3, 1871. ^^'^ Journal, June 28, July 25 and 26, 1871; August 17. 1872. ^"^"^ Medical History, March 16, 1874; Letters Sent. May 25. 1874. ^*^Letters Sent, March 1 and 8, 1871, November 23, 1873, and March 5, 1874. 40 ANNALS OF WYOMING at the fort, which could be arduous. In early 1870 the post com- mander cracked down on what he felt was softness on the part of the guardhouse detail. He reminded the sergeant of the guard that the prisoners were not to be allowed any books, cards or tobacco. Prisoners were to be kept in their cells at all times, and he complained that "Some prisoners have their own rooms." The officer of the day was ordered to make sure that each prisoner had his allotted blanket or robe and no more.^''" The prisoners were detailed to unpopular and difficult jobs, and to construction work without receiving extra-duty pay. When possible the prisoners were locked to a ball-and-chain. Self-inflicted wounds presented another morale problem. A wound requiring amputation could lead to a medical discharge and possibly a pension. In 1873 the post surgeon recorded the case of Private O'Leary who had shot himself in the right hand. His index finger was amputated to the second joint, and then he was "returned to duty much to his surprise and disgust." The surgeon noted that O'Leary was the fourth case from May to September which had required amputation, of which two had led to a dis- charge. Other cases included Private Lynch who "Openly boasted of having shot the finger off," Private O'Brian who had "shot himself in right hand," Private Cummings who shot himself in the right hand while returning from target practice, and Private Davis who shot himself while on guard duty.^^^ Amusements The majority of the soldiers stationed at Fort Fetterman obeyed their orders and stayed out of major trouble. They found several sources of amusement to alleviate the austerity and boredom of army life. Drill and baseball games were a common way for post commanders to provide activity for the troops during quiet times. A drama association was organized in 1870 and gave its first performance on July 4 and again on July 1 1 . Two more plays were presented in August. A theater building was constructed in late 1873 and became the center for social functions held on post. A minstrel group formed and gave its first performance January 15, 1874. A soldier noted in the Post Journal that "It was good. The first performance in the building." They gave another per- formance two weeks later.^^- In 1870 a race track was laid out near the post though it seems to have gotten little use. During 1-i^ Medical History, November 17, 1873. On this date four men were sentenced to the penitentiary for one year. '^^^Letters Sent, January 14 and February 9, 1870. ^^'^Medical History, July-October and December 26, 1873. ^^yournal, July 4 and 11, August 27, 1870; January 15 and 30, 1874. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 41 the winter months ice-skating on the Platte was popular, as was fishing in the summer. ^^^ The Fourth of July was a festive occasion. In 1871 the day began at 4:15 a.m. with a twenty-one-gun salute, followed by a full-dress parade. The troops then changed uniforms and marched two miles up the La Prele and spent the day playing "various sports & games, races and target shooting." A sergeant read the Declaration of Independence, and another sergeant gave an ora- tion. The troops returned at dusk and concluded the day with a fireworks display. In 1873 a similar observance was held with a baseball game between the infantry and the cavalry added. ^''^ More practical amusements were found in hunting parties sent out from the post. The main game sought were elk and deer to supplement the rations. One such party led by Major Chambers in November, 1875, stayed out twenty-three days, although the usual duration was only a few days. These excursions could be quite social. In 1869 Major Dye telegraphed to the commander at Fort Laramie: "We will go on a buffalo hunt in a few days . . . can you and Captain Luhn come up?" In case they could not Dye added that elk hunting would begin when they returned and that they were welcome to come along. In February 1870, Captain Wells led twenty-two men on a fishing expedition up Box Elder Creek, i-"'-^ Frontier Incidents Indian scouts had been employed at Fort Fetterman to aid patrols from time to time. In 1874 the post commander decided to formally enlist some Arapaho Indians for that purpose. Five Arapahoes were enlisted March 1, and issued uniforms and equip- ment. The hard-nosed commander insisted that since the Indians were now part of the army they should appear in full military dress and be inspected daily. This did not sit well with the free and easy Indians. One morning in July "After payday and a bountiful supply of rations, clothing and annuities," Ward remem- bered, "they were conspicuous by their absence." However, one of the Indians, Little Dog, stayed on faithfully and was discharged in September. His discharge certificate stated that he was "a good soldier but a poor scout. "^•^*'' Throughout the early 1870s the official post guide and scout was loi^Medical History, December 4, 1873; Journal. July 1. 1870. ^^^Medical History, July 4, 1871 and 1873. '^^^^ Journal, February 12, 1870; November 5, 1875; Telegrams Sent and Received, July 29, 1869. ii''*'The story is given in Ward, "Fort Fetterman," p. 361, and differs in dates and numbers from the post records. Letters Sent. March 4 and 7. 1874; and the Journal, July 19 and September 1, 1874 record the event. 42 ANNALS OF WYOMING a man named Joe Meriville described as "an old half breed." He lived near the post with his family of "squaws, papooses and dogs." As to his military abilities, Ward wrote: "The impression pre- vailed among the military men that Joe never led the troops to a point where there might be danger ..." Meriville established one of the few ranches in the area, and it was frequently raided by Indians. One day Joe disappeared, presumably moving onto the Indian reservation. ^^^ Generally there were no conflicts between the soldiers at Fort Fetterman and the local Indians. Only some fist fights between visiting Indians and the soldiers are recorded. The two fatalities, according to J. W. Vaughn, occurred when two soldiers "were crossing the river at night to meet some of the Indian women." One night "resentful braves" ambushed and killed the two soldiers. ^''•'^ The post records show little discord between the soldiers and civilians in the area. In 1876, however, local outlaws murdered a soldier. On March 3, 1876, Black Coal, chief of a band of Arapahoes camped near Fort Fetterman, reported to the post commander that four of their ponies had been stolen and that the trail led toward some ranches south of the fort. The chief re- quested that a soldier be sent with the Indians to reclaim the ponies. Sergeant Patrick Sullivan, described by the post com- mander as "one of the best non-commissioner officers at the post," was detailed to go along with the Indians. Three miles south of the post they encountered William Chambers, alias Persimmon Bill, and a man named Brown, who had three of the ponies with them. They shot Sullivan, a successful gambler, and took $300 from him. The outlaws then took the ponies and fled to the mountains south of the fort. The post commander lamented that he had "no means at the post to pursue them," and sent out his infantry to comb the area on foot. The next night three more ponies were stolen from the Indians, who in turn "retaliated by stealing six [horses] from a citizen [who] lives about 7 miles from the post." The next day a band of civilians went out in pursuit of the Indians. Meanwhile Sullivan's killers escaped. ^-^^ Outbreak of 1874 In 1874 a series of events began which culminated in the Indian uprisings of 1876. Rumors and reports of Indian war parties slipping south of the Platte River abounded in early 1874. Pass- ing war parties warned Indian women living with white ranchers i57Ward, "Fetterman," p. 361. i.'iSVaughn, Campaign, p. 22. '^''''* Letters Sent, March 5, 1876. Chambers escaped to Rawlins, Wyoming. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 43 along Chugwater Creek and other areas to leave "as they intended to destroy all the ranches. "^*"^ Indians attacked a wagon train enroute from Fort Laramie to the Laramie Peak Sawmill on February 9, and killed Lieutenant Levi H. Robinson and a cor- poral. In response to this attack the cavalry company at Fort Fetterman was dispatched the next day with orders "to scout for and kill all Indians found on the south side of the North Platte." The troopers swept east and linked up with a cavalry company coming from Fort Laramie. Neither unit made contact with the Indians. Two days later a detachment of infantry marched up La Prele Creek in response to a reported attack on the post wood camp and to scout in the general area.^'^^ Further east the Indians at the Red Cloud Agency mutinied. The Sioux agency had been moved from Fort Laramie in 1873 and located on the White River in Nebraska. In 1874, with the expiration of the annuities provision of the Treaty of 1 868, the government attempted to use the restoration of the rations as a lever to pressure the Sioux into moving further east to the Missouri River. Instead, on February 12, the Indians rioted, killed the Indian agent and set fire to several agency buildings. They seized the agency cattle herd and told officials "that they will do their own issuing now."^''- Troops quickly massed at Fort Laramie and advanced on the agency. By February 19, the majority of the Indians, led by Red Cloud, had surrendered. The rebels, led by Crazy Horse, fled to the Powder River country. ^•'•^ The government established a fort at the agency, named in honor of Lieutenant Robinson, to dis- courage future mutinies. The government also resumed the issue of rations and temporarily suspended plans to move the Indians further east. Leaders of the Arapahoes and Cheyennes came to Fort Fetter- man on February 13 to disclaim any part in the recent troubles. At a "Pow-wow with the Cheyennes" held at the fort in April the Indians claimed that the troubles stemmed from the Sioux who wanted war. The Cheyennes stated that they had separated them- selves from the hostile Indians. ^''^ General Sheridan was skeptical of such pacifist pronouncements and claimed that the uprising had "fired up the blood" of the Cheyennes and Arapahoes. During June, war parties of Chey- ennes and Arapahoes moved west and began a series of raids upon the Shoshoni reservation. To counter this threat, a company of -i^^OMedical History, February 10, 1874. '^^^Joiirncil, February 10 and 12, 1874. ''■'^-Cheyenne Leader, February 12, 1874. p. 1. ^^Mbid., February 19, 1874, p. 1. ^^^Joiirnal, February 13 and April 5, 1874. 44 ANNALS OF WYOMING the 2nd Cavalry and 160 Shoshoni warriors under Captain A. E. Bates made a rapid advance from Camp Brown and attacked the Cheyenne and Arapaho camp on the Bad Water Fork of the Wind River on July 4. The attack scattered the Indians, kiUing twenty- six and wounding twenty, along with capturing 230 ponies. The army lost four men killed and six wounded.^*''' The battered Cheyermes and Arapahoes moved eastward to Pumpkin Buttes and sent a delegation to Fort Fetterman to confer with the post commander, Asking with much bluster whether the troops wanted war. The reply was 'Yes' and that they would kill as many Indians as possible unless the latter stopped their depredations, and came into their agency. i6<5 He reported that after the meeting most of the Indians returned to the reservation, only with a few bands of Sioux remaining out in the Unceded Lands to keep up the hostilities. During this period Fort Fetterman's operations consisted of scouting and patroling. Sheridan authorized all forces in the Department to "attack the hostile Indians wherever found. "^''' The post commander told the cavalry commander that ". . . the guilty Indians will be pursued and punished wherever found, and the reservation lines should be no barrier to such operations. "^^^ Such latitude resulted in few contacts with the Indians. As in previous years, the Indians eluded the military forces sent out after them. Civilians sometimes took matters into their own hands when the army was unable to act. An Indian raiding party ran off nineteen cattle belonging to ranchers in the Fort Fetterman area in March. The ranchers pursued the Indians to their camp and recaptured the cattle. The Indians pursued the ranchers and wounded one of them. 169 Indians attacked the post hay contractor's camp on July 16. The post commander dispatched a "Scouting Column" to search for the Indians, and all Indians encountered were to be "attacked and punished as severely as possible." The column was authorized to cross the Platte if the trail led there, but no signs of the raiding party were found. Later that month Indians attacked the post wood camp on Box Elder Creek and killed and scalped one of the lumbermen. 1'*' 1 •■'-"'Sheridan, Record, pp. 39-40. This was the last battle between the Arapahos and the army. After the battle the Arapahos avoided getting involved in disputes with the army. ifiS/^jV/., p. 40. i*''i'U. S., Congress, House, Report of the Secretary of War, House Ex. Doc. 1, part 2, 43rd Cong., 2nd sess., 1874, (serial 1635), p. 33. ^^^Letters Sent, August 14, 1874. ^^^ Journal, July 11, 16 and 28, 1874. ^i(^ Journal, July 11, 16, and 28, 1874. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 45 Civilian casualties increased as they began to move into the area in increasing numbers. On July 11 , a civilian named Joel Hamp- ton "wounded by Indians July 2," died in the post hospital. ^'^ More casualties occurred when the firm of Wolfen and Johnson, owners of the Mule Shoe Ranch near Chugwater, moved 3000 head of cattle to Horseshoe Creek, near the "Fetterman Crossing," to graze. Hunton states that three cowboys were killed during fights with the Indians while protecting the herd.^^- In September a civilian was robbed of three horses and killed near Fort Fetter- man. The guilty Indians reportedly returned safely to the Red Cloud Agency. The last raid of the year occurred December 21, when thirty head of stock belonging to the fort were run off by Indians. ^"^ Despite the growing number of Indian raids in the Departments of the Platte and Dakota, the only military expedition dispatched was exploratory in nature. Almost nothing was known of the Black Hills area. Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer led a scientific expedition into the area to map it and find sites for forts. This famous expedition was originally planned to start from Fort Laramie, but the Indians in the Fort Laramie - Fort Fetterman area was found to be "such that an expedition from there would probably provoke hostilities." The expedition's base was shifted to Fort Lincoln. ^'^ The expedition confirmed the existence of gold in the Black Hills, and thereby set off the last of the great continental gold rushes, and the last of the great Indian uprisings. ^"^ FORT FETTERMAN: 1876-1876 The quartermaster of this post will supply you with anything you may need to put your com- mand in shape for field service. — Post Commander 1876 Background to the Indian Uprising Westward migration of the white man and the consequent infringement upon the Indian territories brought about a final showdown in 1875-1877 on the northern plains. During this period Fort Fetterman reached the apex of its importance in size and mission, serving as an advanced logistics base and as a staging ^l^Letters Sent, July 18, 1874. I'^^L. G. Flannery (ed.), John H union's Diaries. (Lingle, Wyoming: Guide-Review, 1958), Vol. II (1874), p. 40. Hereafter Flannery. Diaries. ^"'^Letters Sent, September 19, 1874; Medical History December 21, 1874. i74Sheridan, Record, p. 38. ^'^Continental being the "lower 48". 46 ANNALS OF WYOMING — Wyoming Recreation Commission Photo Present Day Reconstruction of Fort Fetterman Ordnance Storehouse area for three major campaigns against the Sioux and Cheyennes. The immediate cause of the Indian uprising was the discovery of gold in the Black Hills and the subsequent flood of miners into the Indian lands. Another cause was the continuance of raids by the Indians in defiance of the Treaty of 1868. These raids led to numerous and growing demands for more protection and stronger countermeasures. Army leaders attributed the raids to renegade Indians who refused to live on the reservation in Dakota, and who resided year round in the Unceded Lands. Sioux chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull were generally assumed to be the principal leaders of the renegade bands. While small in number, these bands formed a nucleus for continued fighting and provided lead- ership for reservation braves who sought adventure. Military leaders claimed that successful defiance of the treaty by these bands was the cause of unrest among reservation Indians. The annual reports of the Platte and Dakota department commanders and of General Sheridan contain numerous recommendations for strong action against the renegade bands as the only way to bring peace to the northern plains. In response to the gold discovery a special commission was formed to negotiate with the Sioux for the purchase of the Black Hills and the Unceded Lands. The commission held negotiations in June, 1875, but failed to reach any settlement. Reactions to the A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 47 negotiations varied among the different bands of Indians. Two Moons of the Cheyennes and Black Bear of the Arapahoes told the Fort Fetterman commander that they were willing to give up the Black Hills. Some Arapahoes told the commander that a band of over one hundred lodges of Cheyennes were camped near old Fort Reno. They told the Arapahoes that they had never been to the agency and had no intention of going and that they were getting ready to fight rather than submit. ^^^ As the storm gathered, newly-promoted Brigadier General George S. Crook arrived to take command of the Department of the Platte. The first problem which confronted him after his arrival in April was the flood of miners into the Black Hills region. Until the question of who was to own the hills was settled, Sheridan ordered Crook to "arrest anyone attempting to go to the Black Hills and destroy all their transport, guns and property." To intercept the miners Crook spread out detachments of the 9th Infantry between Forts Laramie and Robinson.^ '^ The popular routes to the gold fields ran north from Sidney, Nebraska and Cheyenne, Wyoming. Although Fort Fetterman was not astride the main routes some miners came that way. In March, 1875, a detachment of cavalry was sent out to Deer Creek "to intercept a party of miners said to be enroute to the Black Hills from Rawhns." Another group was reported camped on La Prele Creek in June, but by then the government had given up trying to stem the tide.^"^ During the summer, Sioux and Cheyenne war parties made a series of large stock raids on ranches near the Union Pacific Railroad. Crook reported five raids; one in April near Rawhns; two in April and July "near the ranches in the Popoagie valley"; and two in June at "the stock ranches in Rock Creek valley." The Indians ran off over 400 horses in these raids. ^'^ In response to the June 1 stock raid near Rock Creek, Crook ordered the Fort Fetterman commander to "Send out a force to intercept them, kill all it can and recover stock; party sent by you must follow to the last extremity." A cavalry company was dis- patched with six days rations, and it headed west. The troopers '^'^^Telegrams Sent and Received, February 24, 1876; Letters Sent, Feb- ruary 25, 1875. Because of the trade embargo few Indians came to Fort Fetterman that year. Only $20 worth of trade (mostly "a little sugar and coffee") occurred in 1875. I'^Martin F. Schmitt (ed.). General Crook: His Autobiography, (Nor- man: University of Oklahoma Press, 1946), pp. 188-189. Hereafter Schmitt, Crook. ^'^^Medical History, March 30 and June 27, 1875. I'^U. S., Congress, Report of the Secretary of War, (Washington: GPO, 1875), Vol. I, p. 69. Published as two separate volumes. Hereafter Report of the Secretary of War, 1875. 48 ANNALS OF WYOMING expected the Indians to cross the Platte between Deer Creek and old Fort Caspar. Small patrols were sent out in all directions, but they failed to find any signs of the Indians. Later it was learned that the Indians had crossed with their booty further west along the Sweetwater River. ^^" Crook reported that the trails of all the raiding bands led to the Sioux reservation. To have followed them with enough troops to recapture the stock, he claimed, would have set off a general war.i*^^ The failure of the commission to obtain the Black Hills and the Unceded Lands resulted in the matter being turned over to the army, and the outbreak of the war he had sought to avoid. Crook's First Campaign The Indian Bureau dispatched runners to the bands remaining in the Unceded Lands in November, 1875. They carried orders requiring all Indians to return to the reservation before January 31, 1876. After that date the army intended to sweep the Un- ceded Lands and destroy all remaining hostile bands. General Sheridan planned to launch a winter offensive to strike the Indians while they were immobilized by the weather. A series of "concen- tric movements," which had proven so successful in the 1868 and the 1875 campaigns on the southern plains, was planned. Lieu- tenant Colonel Custer would lead a column west from Fort Lincoln; Colonel John Gibbon would lead a column east from Fort Ellis; and Crook would lead a column north from Fort Fetterman. All three columns would converge upon the Powder River country and crush the hostile bands between them. Lack of information about the number of Indians in the Un- ceded Lands plagued the campaigns of 1876. The Indian Bureau estimated that there were 500 Indians off the reservation at most. General Sherman thought that 800 was a more realistic figure. ^^- General Sheridan estimated that there were two main bands in the area; Sitting Bull's, "whose immediate following did not exceed 30 or 40 lodges," and Crazy Horse's, "whose bands composed per- haps 120 lodges, numbering 200 warriors. "^^-^ Neither general thought there to be significant numbers of Cheyennes with these Sioux. With so small a number of Indians it seemed that the 2500 soldiers massing in the Platte and Dakota departments would be more than adequate for the job. ^^^Letters Sent, June 7 and 9, 1875. ^^^Report of the Secretary of War, 1875, Vol. I, p. 69. Crook added that the stolen stock was "driven north in the direction of Pumpkin Butte and thence to the Powder River into the camp of Sitting Bull of the North." p. 7. 182U. S., Congress, Report of the Secretary of War, House Ex. Doc, 44th Cong., 2nd sess., 1876-1877, (serial 1742), Vol. I, p. 29. i83Sheridan, Record, p. 49. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 49 Crook planned to use Fort Fetterman as his base of operations because it was the closest fort in his department to the Powder River country. Early in 1876, under orders from Crook, the post commander began preparing the post as a logistics base. He was ordered to put all available transport in the area under contract at two cents per pound, for an estimated 50,000 pounds of stores first shipment. He discovered that most of the transportation between Fort Fetterman and Cheyenne was taken up in the more profitable Black Hills trade. ^^^^ All wagons at the fort were put into running condition to help meet the demand. Crook assembled ten companies of cavalry at Forts Russell and Laramie for the campaign and began the march to Fort Fetterman on February 20. Upon his arrival. Lieutenant John G. Bourke, aide-de-camp to Crook, made this observation of the fort: The buildings had no pretensions to architectural elegance, being a single story each, of adobe, fronted by a veranda, but they served their purpose, were kept in good repair, were neatly painted and acted in a mild kind of way as a Mecca for the first glimpse of which many a weary eye had strained its glance across the interminable plains be- tween the Laramie and the Big Horn.^'*'' On February 27 Crook organized his forces at Fort Fetterman and christened them the "Big Horn Expedition." The force in- cluded ten companies of cavalry and two infantry companies from the Fort Fetterman garrison and totaled 662 men and thirty offi- cers. In addition there were 190 scouts, teamsters and other support personnel to handle the eighty-six wagons, four ambu- lances and 500 pack mules. ^■'**' Forty days' rations, in the form of beef-on-the-hoof and bacon for the troops, and 200,000 pounds of grain for the livestock were taken along. ^^^ One western historian wrote of this expedition: "It was probably the most formidable organization of fighting men to set out against the hostile Sioux since the Sully campaign of 1864."^^''' The Cheyenne Leader enthusiastically reported: Our people will rejoice to see our boys in blue march to the front, in order to remove the ravaging and murdering savages from a ^^^Telegrams Sent, February 27, 1876. i*'-''John G. Bourke, Mackenzie's Last Fight with the Cheyennes. (Belle- vue, Nebraska: The Old Army Press, 1970), p. 3. Hereafter Bourke, Mackenzie. I'^^'John G. Bourke, On the Bonier with Crook, (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1970), p. 249. Hereafter Bourke. Border. The companies were from the 2nd and 3rd Cavalry and the 4th Infantry. i87Vaughn, Campaign, p. 27. Grain had to be taken along on expedi- tions, regardless of the season, because army hroses could not subsist for any length of time on prairie grass. issp. E. Bryne, Soldiers of the PUiins, (New York: Minton. Balch & Co., 1926), p. 38. 50 ANNALS OF WYOMING territory destined to be the garden spot and treasure box of the Republic.i«i' On the morning of March 1, "after a heavy fall of snow . . , and in the face of a cold wind," the expedition formed up and marched out from Fort Fetterman. They crossed the Platte and advanced into the Indian territory. Crook's men endured sub-zero temperatures every day, and snow fell every day but one. On the night of March 3, Indians raided the camp, drove off the expedition's cattle herd, about 50 head, and wounded the herder. The force reached the site of old Fort Reno on March 5. The wagons were parked, and the two infantry companies, under Cap- tain E. M. Coats, stayed behind to guard the camp. The cavalry companies loaded fifteen days' rations onto the pack mules and headed north on March 7. They made their way through snow five and six inches deep, "the snow and piercing blasts opposing every step forward." They reached the Tongue River on March ] 1 . Scouts advanced to the Yellowstone River and found no signs of Indians, then the force began marching southeast and on March 15 discovered an Indian trail. Crook sent Colonel Joseph J. Reynolds and six companies to follow the trail, with orders to attack any Indian village encountered and "do them as much damage as possible."^'"' Reynolds made an all night march through intermittent snow storms and at dawn came upon an Indian village. He launched a three-pronged attack on the village, which numbered 105 Sioux and Cheyenne lodges. The Indians were driven from their village and fled to the bluffs overlooking the camp. There they rallied and counter-attacked. Reynolds ordered a hasty retreat after setting fire to the village. The Indians followed along the flanks of the force and succeeded in recapturing most of their ponies, which the troops had run off. The two forces rejoined the next day. Crook was very unhappy with Reynolds' abandonment of the captured supplies, sorely need- ed by his own command, loss of the captured ponies, and abandon- ment of the dead. The entire force was short of supplies and suffering from the intense cold, and Crook decided to retrace his steps to Fort Fetterman. The expedition arrived at the fort March 26, and was disbanded March 28 and 29, with the units returned to their winter stations. The Cheyenne Leader reported the re- turn of the cavalry to Fort Russell: Both men and horses are completely worn out by their arduous cam- paign and there being no feed at or near Fort Fetterman for the horses. i*^*! '^^^Cheyenne Leader, February 18, 1876, p. 4. ^^OTelegrams Sent, March 22, 1876. '^'•^'^ Cheyenne Leader, April 8, 1976, p. 4. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 51 In his official report, telegraphed from Fort Fetterman on March 22, Crook described the Indian village as "a perfect magazine of ammunition, war material, and general supplies." He claimed that the village belonged to Crazy Horse's band and that some Cheyennes led by Two Moons and Little Wolf had been present. He further reported that "probably in all, one-half of the Indians [were] off the reservation." Thus the army was not just con- fronting a few small bands of renegade Sioux, but a growing concentration of Sioux and Cheyennes, with supplies from the agencies. ^"- Crook's first campaign had ambiguous results. Questions have been raised as to which tribe the village belonged. J. W. Vaughn, among others, asserts that Crook actually attacked a Cheyenne village, which became a prime cause for the Cheyennes joining the Sioux the following summer. ^-'-^ Crook's forces suffered heavily from the weather. Bourke states that sixty-six soldiers were "seriously frostbitten and otherwise incapacitated from the cold." Four soldiers were killed and five wounded in the Indian fight. ^'^^ At least one civilian was wounded, and another died in the post hospital from effects of the campaign.^"'' These casualties amount- ed to over ten percent of the total force, quite heavy for the Indian wars. Support Operations - First Campaign While Crook campaigned in the north, he ordered the post commander to "keep throughly informed" on the Indians in the area and to attack any bands that crossed the Platte. As usual the post was left with insufficient forces to carry out such orders. During a March 4 raid near the fort a band of Sioux drove off twenty-one horses. The post commander reported that he was unable to pursue because the Indians had captured all of his horses. ^^^ Hostile Indians began making raids along Cottonwood Creek early in February. In reporting the location of several civilian groups in the area the post commander lamented, "I shall be unable to protect them, as it is all I can do to protect the Govern- ment property with the force left here." The civilians in the area were quite aggressive, and required little protection. One group raided an Indian camp near Bridger's Ferry on March 6, and '^^-Telegrams Sent, March 22, 1876. Needless to say, the Indian Bureau disagreed with these conclusions. i98Vaughn, Campaign, Chapter 7 is devoted to this question. la^Bourke, Border, p. 279. ^'^■'Medical History, March 26, 1876. '^^^Telegrams Sent, March 5, 1876; Telegrams Received. March 11, 1876. The garrison consisted of one infantry company. 52 ANNALS OF WYOMING captured sixteen Indian ponies. Another group stole six ponies from a band of friendly Arapahoes.^'^^ As spring came the Indians began raiding into eastern Nebraska and in Wyoming as far south as Chugwater Creek and west to the Shoshoni reservation. The Cheyenne Leader claimed that there were six "raiding bands" operating on the Platte and Laramie Rivers "in defiance of troops and settlers." [The Indians] openly boast that as soon as the grass grows they intend to break out all along the line. They claim to have laid in a good supply of arms and ammunition from the agencies to carry on their war.i""^ Crook reinforced the garrison at Fort Robinson to keep an eye on the reservation Indians and began preparations for a second expedition. Captain Coats, commander at Fort Fetterman, re- ceived orders on March 29 to maintain a beef herd of sixty head at the post for a future expedition. He replied that there was inadequate grazing at the post for a large herd. On April 22 he was ordered to arrange with the local contractors to obtain at least 200 cattle for any force "that may outfit from Fetterman." Crook stockpiled 277,000 pounds of grain at the post by May 30, with another 112,000 pounds enroute. He also had 2000 pounds of coffee and sugar shipped to the fort.^-**^ Crook's Second Campaign Crook assembled the forces for his summer expedition at Fort Russell and Medicine Bow. The Fort Russell group started north on May 20, and marched to Fort Fetterman by way of Fort Laramie, where they crossed the swollen Platte on a recently con- structed steel bridge. They proceeded to Fort Fetterman and camped across the river from "the desolate fort grinning at us from the bleak hill on the other side of the Platte," to quote John F. Finerty. He was a newspaper correspondent and left this im- pression of Fort Fetterman: "It was a hateful post — in summer, hell, and in winter Spitzbergen. The whole army dreaded being quartered there, but all had to take their turn."^*'*' The Medicine Bow group arrived at the fort on May 25. Crook titled his new force the "Big Horn and Yellowstone Expedition." It totaled fifteen companies of cavalry and five companies of in- ^^~ Telegrams Sent, March 6, 1876. See also Flannery, Diaries, Vol. II (1876), p. 58. '^^^Cheyenne Leader, March 2, 1876, p. 1. '^^^Telegrams Sent, March 29, May 26 and 30, 1876; Incoming Letters, April 22, 1876. 200john F. Finerty, War-Path and Bivouac, (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1970), pp. 47-49. Hereinafter Finerty, War-Path. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 53 fantry for a total strength of 1050 men and officers.-"^ This con- stituted the largest of the three columns which converged upon the Powder River country that summer. Crook planned to strengthen his force with reinforcements from other departments and with the traditional enemies of the Sioux — the Shoshoni, Crow and Ute Indians. He sent a telegram to the Shoshoni reservation offering Indian volunteers "what they can plunder and capture" in fighting the Sioux. "You will tell the Indians that we have a large command and will be sure to whip the Sioux if we can catch them."-*^- It required two days to ferry the cavalry and supplies across the Platte. On the first day 60,000 pounds of stores were crossed and 100,000 pounds the next. The expedition formed up on the north bank and marched into the Indian country on May 29. In addi- tion to the troops, there were 120 six-mule wagons and a pack train of over 1000 mules. -*^'^ Four women, including "Calamity Jane," followed along disguised as teamsters. There were also five newspaper correspondents and such famous westerners as Louis Richard Jr., Frank Grouard, Carl Renshaw, California Joe, Baptiste (Big Bat) Pourier, Buckskin Jack, Pete Stager, the Sem- inoe Brothers, and Liver Eating Johnson.-"^ The expedition stretched out for four miles as it moved north. They passed old Fort Reno and on June 8 camped on the Tongue River. The Sioux attacked Crook's camp, and he moved south to Goose Creek. There 176 Crow and eighty-six Shoshoni Indians, led by Chief Washakie, joined the expedition. A party of sixty-five prospectors from the Black Hills also joined the force, forming what must have been a very cosmopolitan frontier expedition. Crook now had 1325 fighting men.-'^'' On June 16, Crook moved north from Goose Creek with all his mounted forces, leaving behind about one hundred infantry and the teamsters to guard the camp. The force reached Rosebud Creek the next day and moved along the valley. During a rest period over 1200 Sioux and Cheyennes led by Crazy Horse at- ticked the troopers. The battle was a see-saw affair lasting several hours with neither side able to gain a decisive advantage. Towards evening the Indians broke contact and withdrew to the north. Crook reported his losses as nine men killed and twenty-one wounded with total casualties, including the Indian allies, at fifty- seven. Short of supplies and encumbered with many wounded. 20iBourke, Border, p. 289. The companies were from the 2nd and 3rd Cavalry and the 4th and 9th Infantry. ^o^Telegrams Sent, May 25, 1876. 203Bourke, Border, p. 292. 204Ward, "Fort Fetterman," p. 361. 205Bourke, Border, pp. 292-303. 54 ANNALS OF WYOMING Crook marched back to his base camp on Goose Creek and took no further action for nearly a month.-"*' Farther north General Alfred Terry's column linked up with Gibbon's column on the Yellowstone River. The combined force moved out after the Indians, and Custer made his famous blunder. In that battle Custer's 700 cavalrymen were attacked by 2000 to 3000 Sioux and Cheyenne warriors. The 7th Cavalry lost 267 men killed and barely avoided being wiped out. Sherman wrote that until that moment there had been no reason to expect to encounter more than 500 or 800 Indians. He noted lacon- ically that "... the campaign had been planned on the wrong premise."-**^ Support Operations - Second Campaign Meanwhile, back at the fort, Captain Coats was inundated with problems. Fort Fetterman was Crook's main supply and com- munications point. To fulfill these duties, along with providing local security. Coats had a garrison of one hundred men and five officers. Coats' first problem was maintaining contact with Crook. All communications for the expedition came to the fort, and Coats was expected to forward the messages to Crook. This proved difficult once Crook disappeared into hostile territory. By June 4 a large number of letters and telegrams for the general had accumulated, and Coats telegraphed department headquarters that he had "no means of reaching General Crook except at enormous expense." Crook had taken most of the horses from the fort, and Coats had to rely on civilians to act as couriers. He reported on June 5 that some civilians willing to make the trip wanted $500 for their efforts.-"*^ Coats reported that in recruiting messengers he had "sent for two half breeds up the creek [who] said they would not go for less than $400." In response to Sheridan's order for "more fre- quent communication" with Crook, Coats tried to establish a regular courier run from the fort to Goose Creek and requested to be provided with ten horses. When Louis Richard, Jr| returned to the fort from Crook's column Coats induced him to take the accumulated telegrams, letters and newspapers back to the column for the tidy sum of $150. During the campaign couriers from the 206//,/^., pp. 314-315. 2fJ"U. S., Congress, Report of the Secretary of War, House Ex. Doc, 44th Cong., 2nd sess., 1876-1877 (serial 1742) Vol. I, pp. 30-35. Terry's column consisted of twelve companies of cavalry and six of infantry. Gibbon's force totaled ten companies. ^'^^Telegrams Sent, June 4 and 5, 1876. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 55 fort usually made the trip to Goose Creek in three days, traveling at night.2"» Coats coordinated requests and instructions from Crook to various bands of Indian auxiliaries being formed. On June 27, he received orders from Crook to raise a contingent of Ute Indians by making the usual promises of arms, rations and all they could capture from the Sioux. A group of sixty-six Ute warriors, accom- panied by Lieutenant James H. Spencer, who had arrived at the fort on August 16. Coast supplied the force with arms and rations and held a huge feast. The next day the Indians participated in a big war dance to celebrate the coming battle. The Indians headed north on August 18, escorting a wagon train bound for Crook's camp. On August 20, thirty-nine of the warriors decided to use their new equipment to hunt buffalo instead of Sioux and left the wagon train. The train and remaining Indians returned to Fort Fetterman.-^'^ The first southbound traffic began on June 21 with a wagon train from Crook's camp carrying the battle casualties along with the sick, lame, and "Calamity Jane" back to Fort Fetterman. The convoy arrived June 26. A northbound train was assembled from the supplies and reinforcements which had been gathering at the fort. On June 28, a large supply train arrived from Medicine Bow, and four companies of infantry arrived on June 30. They formed up and began the march to Goose Creek on July 4.-^^ During the remainder of the year and most of the next. Fort Fetterman served as a major logistics base: receiving, inspecting, storing and forwarding supplies and equipment for operations in the Powder River country.-^- Coats reported on September 1, that the amounts of supplies and stores received in July and August totaled 1,307,435 pounds, with half as much being received earlier, for a total of nearly two million pounds. His four officers were kept busy on "Boards of Survey" inspecting the stores which arrived daily. In answer to requests that his command undertake extra duties Coats replied that "[I] have a small garrison and need every man to handle the stores coming in."-^^ Medicine Bow served as the major railroad depot for Crook's summer campaign. Supplies were brought there by railroad and then unloaded onto wagons and driven to Fort Fetterman. Be- cause of the large amount of supplies being shipped to Medicine Bow, four horse teams were transferred there from Camp Carlin ^'^'•^Letters Sent, June 5 and July 19, 1876. -^OTelegrams Sent, June 27, August 16, 17, and 20, 1876. 2ii/o«r/iG/, June 28 and 30, July 4, 1876. 2i2Logistics includes the functions of maintenance, transportation, and supply (procurement, storage and issue). 2'^^Letters Sent, September 1, 1876; Telegrams Sent. July 13 and 24, 1876. 56 ANNALS OF WYOMING "in order to provide prompt conveyance for troops and supplies going to the front." A detachment of the 14th Infantry from Fort D. A. Russell was stationed at Medicine Bow to provide guards and escorts for the supply trains, which removed some of the burden from the Fort Fetterman garrison. -^^ The 5th Cavalry, under Colonel Wesley Merritt, had been trans- ferred from Kansas to the Department of the Platte to support Crook's operations. Crook ordered the unit to gather up all the available supplies and equipment from Forts Laramie and Fetter- man, and then march to Goose Creek. In response to this order Coats informed Merritt that he could supply him "with grain, wood and anything else you may need to put your command in shape for field service." Troops and horses for the 3rd Cavalry and the 4th and 9th Infantry had been assembling at Fort Fetterman for several weeks, which Coats attached to Merritt's column. In addition to forage and provisions. Coats was ordered to procure beef cattle to send along. Eight companies of the 5th Cavalry, along with Merritt's scout, "Buffalo Bill" Cody, arrived at the fort on July 25. Two more companies arrived from Medicine Bow on July 27. The troops, supplies, and cattle left the post July 28 after having "stripped it of every bit of salt, meat and almost all the can goods. "-^•'* Indian raids in the area were reduced from the previous year. Coats' main activity regarding the Indians was squelching rumors of impending Indian attacks in the area between Forts Fetterman and Laramie and Cheyenne. Ranchers along Chugwater Creek telegraphed requests for arms. Hunton lamented that "the Terri- torial Arsenal is depleted of guns . . . unable to fill any more requests. "-^"^ Coats complained of "extravagant rumors regarding the Indians," which just made more work for him. In a letter to department headquarters he claimed that the newspapers printed exaggerated stories which only led to demands for protection being placed upon his small garrison.-^" Most of the skirmishes in the Fort Fetterman area resulted from attacks on logistic-related activities. In July, Coats needed to provide the forces in the field with 600 tons of hay. The Deer Creek reserve that year could supply only sixty tons of hay of the usual 150 tons. To fill the contract the hay party had to comb the bottom lands of the Platte east of the fort. Indians attacked the party on August 5, without loss to either side. The contractor requested an escort, and Coats forwarded the request to Fort ^'^'^Letters Sent, August 1 and 2, 1876. ^'^^Telegrams Sent, July 15, 27 and 28, 1876; Letters Sent, July 23 and 24, 1876. 2i6Flannery, Diaries, Vol. II (1876), p. 98. 2^' Letters Sent, July 19, 1876. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 57 Laramie stating that he had no troops to spare for an escort. Haying operations continued unopposed until October 7 when the hay party was ambushed near Bridger's Ferry. In the three-hour fight which followed one hay cutter was badly wounded and two Indians were killed. The hay cutters found it necessary to harvest along the north side of the Platte in order to gather enough hay. Operations went smoothly until October 13 when Indians raided the hay camp and ran off three horses. The following day the cutters discovered several large Indian trails, including the trail of over 100 cattle which had been run off from between Horseshoe and La Bonte Creeks. In view of the large number of Indians in the area the hay party thought it prudent to cease operations north of the Platte and returned to the Fort Fetterman area.-^'' Attacks and threats of attacks on wagon trains between the fort and Medicine Bow and Cheyenne occupied much of Coats' atten- tion. The most famous of these attacks involved the Throstle train. On July 5, Throstle began hiring men to haul government freight from Cheyenne to Fort Fetterman. The gold fever had lured many of the regular teamsters to the Black Hills. Hence he had to "hire all kinds of men from good buUwhackers and Mex- icans down to a few long haired Missourians," one of the teamsters later wrote. Nine wagons and sixteen men made up the train. The men were on constant alert for Indians as soon as they left Cheyenne. On August 3, a band of thirty Indians attacked the train between Elkhorn and La Bonte Creeks. The Indians cap- tured and burned three wagons, and they killed Throstle and wounded another teamster. Reports of the attack set off an Indian scare in the area. Extra guards were placed around Fort Fetter- man, and a mounted detachment was sent out to bring in all the trains between the fort and Medicine Bow.-^'^ The Indians attacked two more wagon trains bound for Fort Fetterman in October. In these attacks one teamster was badly wounded and another killed.--" Stock raids made up the majority of the Indian activity. Hun- ton states that forty-eight horses and some cattle were stolen between Horseshoe and Cottonwood Creeks during the year.--^ With the Fort Fetterman garrison unable to intervene, the local civilians continued to occasionally take matters into their own hands. On August 4, a group of civilians described as "stockmen" -'^^Telegrams Sent, August 5, October 10 and 14. 1876; Journal. October 7 and 13, 1976. 2^^J. C. Shaw, "The Throstle Train," Annals of Wyoming. January, 1926, pp. 177-178. See also Telegrams Sent, August 3, 1876. and Journal. August 3, 1876. --^Telegrams Sent. October 24, 1876; and Journal. October 16. 1876. 22iFlannery, Diaries. Vol. II (1876), p. 132. 58 ANNALS OF WYOMING crossed the Platte six miles below Bridger's Ferry and raided an Indian camp. They killed one Indian and recaptured fourteen stolen horses.^^^ A woman living at Fort Fetterman during the Indian scares of July and August later wrote that Captain Coats doubted his ability to defend the fort. As a consequence he issued orders that in case of an attack every woman and child at the post was to be placed in the powder magazine. The soldiers were to "blow up the building if a massacre were at hand. Better so than to be a captive of the savages."---^ In September Crook's force moved too far away for supplies from Fort Fetterman to reach him. A supply train under a Cap- tain Terry had been sent north, and upon learning that Crook had moved on, went into camp at old Fort Reno. While waiting for further orders his command consumed all of their rations, and the horses began to grow weak from a lack of grain. Coats requested permission to send a relief train, and Terry was finally ordered to return to Fort Fetterman. On the way back they were attacked by a band of outlaws who ran off a large number of horses. Coats dispatched a pursuit force, and on September 22 they captured three of the outlaws and twenty of the horses. The detachment commander reported that the outlaws were also part of a plot to steal mules from Terry's train which was then between Forts Laramie and Fetterman.^-* Life at Fort Fetterman was hectic during this period. Usually one-third of the garrison was out on escort duty. The remaining troops had to take care of the incoming supplies, as well as repair wagons and buildings. The post surgeon reported that the policing of the post was . . . not as thorough as desirable owing to great demands made upon the garrison by the Expedition in the field, all supplies for which and Cantonment Reno having to be handled here.--^ The post hospital was quite busy during this campaign. All civilians as well as military casualties were brought there. Nine- teen wounded men from the Rosebud battle entered the hospital in June. The hospital suffered from a lack of personnel, and when one of the soldiers died in September his body was left in the hospital for the lack of personnel to carry it out. The surgeon noted that it had a "detrimental effect on the other patients. "^^^ ^^-Telegrams Sent, August 4, 1876. ^-'^Lillian Hogerson Baker, letter dated August 1942, in the "Fort Fetter- man File," Western Research Center, University of Wyoming. '^^ijelegrams Sent, September 4 and 22, 1876. ^-'Letters Sent, July 28, 1876; Medical History, November 1876. ^^^Telegrams Sent, September 17 and 22, 1876; Medical History, Septem- ber 18, 1876. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 59 A similar incident happened in August. While the post surgeon was on a visit to Fort Laramie, several men at the fort became sick and were taken to the hospital. Due to overcrowding they were placed on the floor. One of the men died "on the floor where the wounded men were quartered." Upon his return the surgeon ordered the cases to be separated "as it was having a bad effect on the sick men." He also ordered the hospital cleaned up, where- upon the two matrons employed there said that they did not con- sider it their work and refused. He persuaded the post laun- dresses to do the work "and in a few hours the hospital was in shape." The two matrons were fired.--' The Starvation March Following the Custer disaster, reinforcements were rushed to the Departments of the Platte and Dakota from all parts of the country. These included the 5th, 1 1th, and 22nd Infantry and the 4th Cavalry regiments plus four companies of artillery. By early August over 9000 soldiers, representing more than one-third of the army, were deployed in the two departments. Forts Fetterman and Lincoln served as the major supply points for these forces.--'^ Crook remained at his Goose Creek camp for over a month waiting for more supphes and reinforcements. He received five companies of infantry with the arrival of a return wagon train from Fort Fetterman on July 13, which also brought with it "two abandoned females disguised as mule drivers," but preferred to wait for the arrival of the 5th Cavalry before moving out.--'' Crook estimated that he was outnumbered three to one by the local Indians, and although confident that he could defeat them, wanted to wait for the 5th Cavalry to insure a decisive victory. -^*^ With the arrival of the 5th Cavalry on August 3, Crook's com- mand totaled thirty-five companies with 1684 soldiers. He ordered all non-essential equipment sent back to Fort Fetterman, along with the wagons, planning to rely on pack animals to carry the supplies.-"^^ Crook moved north on August 5 and made contact with Terry's forces on August 8. Terry's command, now titled the "Sioux Expedition," totaled 2052 men in 41 companies. The combined forces proceeded through the Powder River country for sixteen days, greatly slowed by Terry's cumbersome supply columns. The hostile Indian bands had separated and were traveling in "'^Letters Sent, August 31. 1876. 228U. S., Congress, Report of the Secretary of War, 44th Cong., 2nd sess., 1876, Vol. I, p. 37. 220Finerty, War-Path, p. 220. -^^Telegrams Sent, July 12, 1876. 23iCrook, Autobiography, pp. 220-221. 60 ANNALS OF WYOMING two general directions: Sitting Bull and his followers headed north, and Crazy Horse's people traveled southeast. The combined military force parted on August 24, with Terry going after Sitting Bull and Crook proceeding east after Crazy Horse, in what Sher- man later described as the "precarious pursuit of a dissolving enemy. "-•^- During the march across the barren and rain-drenched Dakotas, Crook's command ran out of supplies and subsisted on forage and horse meat. Running out of supplies was nothing new in the Indian campaigns, but Crook's "Starvation March" set something of a record in running out of food at least two weeks travel from the nearest supply point. He dispatched a detachment of 150 cavalry under Captain Anson Mills to ride ahead to Deadwood and obtain supplies. Enroute they stumbled into the Sioux village of American Horse at Slim Buttes, and in the ensuing skirmish one trooper was killed and seven wounded. Most of the Indians escaped, leaving behind five dead. Included among the dead was Chief American Horse who had eight years earlier terrorized the Platte between Forts Fetterman and Laramie. Mills' men succeeded in capturing thirty-seven lodges, 180 ponies and Custer's battle flag, along with great quantities of badly needed food. Crook's main force came up and skirmished for the next two days with Crazy Horse's band, and lost three soldiers killed and seven wounded.^^^ Crook's worn-out command finally reached Deadwood. The expedition was disbanded and the soldiers were sent back to their regular duty stations. The expedition sustained about sixty casu- alties in a force of 2000 men or about three percent. Crook felt that the campaign accomplished little, and wrote that it "failed to reach the Indians and only indirectly brought about the disintegra- tion of the hostile force. "^^^ Crook's Third Campaign Crook began immediately to prepare a third expedition. His objective remained the Sioux bands following Crazy Horse. Lack- ing bases close to the Powder River country, he had to make an- other long range drive from Fort Fetterman. His third expedition was much better prepared for winter campaigning than the first. More supplies were taken along, hundreds of Indian scouts and guides were recruited, and regular re-supply by civilian contract trains was arranged. The expedition was built around Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie's 4th Cavalry from Texas. The force totaled ten companies of 232U. S., Congress, Report of the Secretary of War, 44th Cong., 2nd sess., 1876, Vol. I, p. 61. 233Sheridan, Record, p. 61. -34Crook, Autobiography, p. 201. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 61 cavalry, eleven companies of infantry and four companies of artillery, for a total strength of 1850 men. This force was aug- mented by 400 Indian auxiliaries including Bannocks, Arapahos, Sioux, and Cheyennes as well as some of Frank North's Pawnee Scouts. These forces assembled at Fort Fetterman on November 9 and lO.^^s Crook led his "Powder River Expedition" out from Fort Fetter- man on November 14, and they marched over familiar ground to Fort Reno. There, 100 Shoshoni Indians joined the expedition. The force totaled 2280 men with 168 wagons, 400 pack mules, and seven ambulances. Crook marched north on November 19, seeking Crazy Horse, who had returned to the Powder River country. The Indian scouts located the winter camp of Dull Knife's Cheyennes, and Crook sent Mackenzie and the cavalry on an all-night march to destroy it. They attacked Dull Knife's village of 170 lodges on the morning of November 25. In the day-long skirmish which followed, seven soldiers were killed and twenty-six wounded. The Cheyennes lost thirty braves, as well as their winter lodges, food, supplies and 700 ponies. The Indians made a harrowing trek in the middle of winter to Crazy Horse's camp in Montana. The weather was so bad, Bourke reported, that fourteen babies froze to death during the battle, and that the Indians cut horses open so the old people could keep themselves warm.-'^" Support Operations - Third Campaign Fort Fetterman's logistical activity included both supplying Crook's expedition and outfitting Fort Reno. Crook ordered the re-establishment of Fort or Cantonment Reno in October in order to have a supply base closer to the Powder River country, but the new fort was not far enough along in its development to support Crook's third campaign. A battalion of the 9th Infantry under Captain Edwin Pollack was designated to establish the fort. He stopped at Fort Fetterman on October 6 for supplies and marched north on October 10. After reaching the site on October 14, construction was begun with wood supplied from the Fort Fetter- man sawmill.-"^" 235Bourke, Border, p. 389; and Medical History, November 1876. The companies were from the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Cavalry regiments; the 9th, 14th, and 23rd Infantry regiments, and the 4th Artillery. The artillerymen fought as infantry. 236Bourke, Mackenzie, pp. 27-28. The village comprised the bands of Dull Knife, Little Wolf, Roman Nose, Grey Head, and Old Bear. See also Sheridan, Record, pp. 64-65. -•^"Robert A. Murray, Military Posts in the Powder River Country of Wyoming, (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1969), pp. 110-114; and Letters Sent, October 16, 1876. 62 ANNALS OF WYOMING — Wyoming Recreation Commission Photo Restored Double Officers Quarters, as seen across Parade Ground by 1976 Visitors to Fort Fetterman State Historic Site Crook estimated that the expedition would require 26,000 pounds of forage per day. To meet this requirement 200,000 pounds of grain were shipped to Fort Reno and 300,000 pounds were stored at Fort Fetterman. Humans traveled lighter, requir- ing only 51,000 pounds of rations, consisting of bacon, hardtack, coffee, flour, beans, and fruit, during the twenty-day period from December 4 to December 24.-''^ Coats' biggest problem during this campaign came from the civilian contractors who were afraid to go north of the Platte River. They claimed that they were not required to do so by the contracts. -'■^^Letters and Telegrams Received, November 20, December 2, and December 24, 1876. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 63 and even if they were, higher wages would have to be paid. The issue traveled back to Washington, and a long letter from the Quartermaster Department informed Coats that he had the author- ity to order the contractors to travel as far as Fort Reno, although just how he was to get them to do so was left up to him.--^-' After the battle at Dull Knife's camp. Crook moved his forces back to Fort Reno. From there he began a march up the Belle Fourche River even though "the thermometer was so far below zero that further field operations were considered impractical."^^^ He established a base camp near Inyan Kara Peak" on the river and wanted the supplies shipped there. Coats later reported that he . . . had considerable difficulty in inducing the citizen teams to go as far as Dry Fork on the Powder River. None of them move as rapidly as government teams . . . The needed supplies were loaded onto three wagon trains, total- ing forty-four wagons. "Kelleher's bull train" was destined for Crook's camp, with Morris and a government train bound for Fort Reno. Kelleher's train went as far as Fort Reno, unloaded and quickly headed back.-^'^ Bourke wrote that the quartermaster department planned to move 300,000 pounds of grain every two weeks from the railroad depots to Fort Fetterman and from there to Crook's forces. By December 10, however, snowstorms had blocked the Medicine Bow road and severely restricted the road from Cheyenne. Trans- port was in short supply and every available wheeled vehicle was impressed into service. To alleviate the shortage of draft animals the cavalry companies at Fort Fetterman were dismounted and the horses used to pull some of the wagons. The effort failed to transport enough grain to Crook's camp, and Bourke noted that "many of our poor horses were fated to pave with their bones the trail we had followed." Although the expedition's horses were put on half rations, the troops fared well because of the ample supply of rations, supplemented by game, including elk, deer, antelope, and porcupines.-^^ Logistical and escort duties took up most of the garrison's time at Fort Fetterman. No Indian raids occurred near the fort during this period, and the only threat came from outlaws. On December 26, a large escort was sent along with a train bound for Fort Reno because of "a rumored intention to rob our mail."-^^ -^^Letters Sent, December 12, 1876. 240Sheridan, Record, p. 65. '^^^Record of Events, December 15, 17, and 19, 1876; Letters Sent, December 9, 14, and 16, 1876. 242Bourke, Mackenzie, p. 36. -^^Letters and Telegrams Received, December 26, 1876. 64 ANNALS OF WYOMING Fort Fetterman's hospital was again swamped. A wagon train arrived December 4 with twenty-five wounded men from the Dull Knife battle; and on December 6, sixteen sick and frostbite cases from the expedition arrived. This sudden influx necessitated the erection of a tent ward. The troops at this isolated outpost were not entirely forgotten. A package arrived January 16, 1877, con- taining books from Mrs. Elizabeth S. Martin of Geneva, New York, "for the soldiers of the 4th Cavalry in the hospital at Fort Fetterman."-^^ Crook's march up the Belle Fourche was cut short when he received a dispatch from General Sheridan on December 20, com- plaining that Crook's transportation bill was $60,000 per month while his allowance was $28,000.-^"'' Crook thereupon retraced his steps to Fort Fetterman. The entire force arrived there on December 28, having traveled nearly 2000 miles in the dead of winter. Crook reported that the horses "of the cavalry are very much reduced in strength and worn out," and that many would never recover.-^^ His total casualties amounted to about fifty-four of a force of over 2000 men. In addition to the relatively small number of casualties, his attack on Dull Knife's camp contributed heavily to the demoralization and surrender of the Cheyennes the next summer. Crook disbanded the expedition at Fort Fetterman, with the cavalry departing on December 30, the infantry and artillery on the 31st. Crook left Fort Fetterman that day also, marking the completion of his third and last campaign on the northern plains. In all, his three expeditions involved units of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Cavalry regiments; the 4th, 9th, 14th, and 23rd Infantry regiments; and the 4th Artillery regiment. A total of seventy-five companies of all arms, numbering over 4000 men, formed the three expeditions which set out from Fort Fetterman. During Crook's three campaigns Fort Fetterman functioned as a major logistics base, serving as a link between the railroad depots at Medicine Bow and Cheyenne and Crook's expeditions in the field. The garrison received, inspected, stored and forwarded hundreds of tons of supplies for Crook's columns. The fort served as the assembly point for the military units, Indian auxiliaries, reinforcements, and civilian personnel which made up the expedi- tions. A courier service was operated by the post to maintain a communications link between Crook and the outside world. Post commanders coordinated the recruitment and dispatch of Indian auxiliaries, the requisition and arrival of supplies, and managed the civilian contractors. Local security for the area and the supply "^'^Medical History, December 6, 1876, and January 16, 1877. 245Bourke, Mackenzie, pp. 37-38. ^■i^Letters Sent, January 3, 1877. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 65 trains was provided by the garrison. The post hospital was the recipient of the wounded and non-combatant casualties of the expeditions. The fort later acted as a base for the re-establishment of Fort Reno, which included supplying building materials. Fort Fetterman thus played a significant role in the military operations of 1876, during the last major Indian uprising of the 19th century. FORT FETTERMAN: 1877-1882 . . . having fulfilled the object for which they were originally built . . . — General Crook 1882 Final Skirmishes The year 1877 marked the first time that Fort Fetterman was not directly involved in the northern plains Indian wars. The frontier had moved on. The new campaigns against the Sioux, Nez Perce, and Bannocks were launched from forts further west and north. New treaties moved the Sioux to agencies along the Missouri River and the Cheyennes to the Indian Territory. With the removal of the Indians from northeastern Wyoming and the influx of settlers, Fort Fetterman gradually sank into the back- waters of history. On January 12, 1877, a cavalry detachment skirmished with some Indians on Elkhorn Creek, and three men were wounded.-^' The last Indian raid in the Fort Fetterman area occurred January 27, when a war party attacked two soldiers hunting along Cotton- wood Creek and killed one of them.-^'' Several horse stealing raids occurred along the Laramie River in February.-^" The last Indian raid on Fort Fetterman, according to Malcolm Campbell, resulted in the raiders driving off most of the post livestock. Included among the animals was an old gray mule which had been kept by the soldiers as a pet. When the Indians began to drive the live- stock across the Platte, the obstinate old mule headed back toward the fort, leading most of the stock with him. The surprised Indians did not try to recapture the departing animals because the garrison had been fully alerted by the raid.-"'" The only Indians still in the area in late 1877 were the Arapa- hoes. Nearly 1000 Arapahoes arrived at the fort on November 13, escorted by fifteen cavalrymen. They planned to hunt buffalo in the old Fort Caspar area. Captain Coats issued them twenty -^^Sheridan, Record, p. 67. -■^^Telegrams Sent. January 27, 1877. 249Flannery, Diaries, Vol. III. (1876-1877). p. 175. 250David, Campbell, p. 66. 66 ANNALS OF WYOMING carbines as part of their annuities, and issued the remainder when the group returned in December. Thirty-five of the Indians em- ployed as scouts were paid. The trade and payments were neces- sary, the post surgeon noted, because "a large number of them were suffering for supplies."-''^ The Arapahoes were officially attached to the Red Cloud agen- cy. They feared domination by the Sioux and desired to have their own reservation, preferably near old Fort Caspar. The gov- ernment wanted the tribe to move to the Indian Territory, and the Arapahoes reluctantly agreed to do so in 1878. While enroute to the Indian Territory the Arapahoes changed their mind and went into camp near Fort Fetterman. The government decided to compromise and moved the Indians to the Wind River Reserva- tion with the Shoshonis.^^- The fort's major operations that year were against outlaws. An officer and 22 soldiers accompanied a U. S. marshal on February 27 "to assist him in recovering stolen Government stock and arrest the thieves." Coats reported that there were several camps of suspected horse thieves "in the hills above the post, between the Laramie range and the Platte." Attempts to surprise them in their camps were unsuccessful "as they receive warning from their friends among the 'Ranch men'."-"^^ Support Operations - 1877 Fort Fetterman's major logistical operation for 1877 was that of providing support for Fort McKinney, formerly Fort Reno. Supplies for the new fort were shipped to Fort Fetterman, and from there it was Coats' responsibility to get them to Fort McKin- ney. He wanted the supply trains to go all the way to Fort McKinney and informed the department quartermaster that he required at least twenty-five horses to move the supplies "and got about 20 unservicable ones." He wrote that the horses he had were "probably the refuse of [Crook's] expedition." When a supply train of eleven wagons was dispatched to Fort McKinney in January, twenty-two of the horses either died or had to be aban- doned. Two of the wagons also had to be abandoned for the lack of horses to pull them. The teams at Fort McKinney were on half rations and unable to move. Coats resorted to the common -■''^Telegrams Sent, November 16, 1877; Medical History, November 1877 and January 1878. A large number of the Indians were also suffering from syphilis. -■"'^Virginia Cole Trenholm, The Arapahoes, Our People, (Norman: Uni- versity of Oklahoma Press, 1970), p. 260. -■'■''Letters Sent, March 28, 1877, Medical History, February 27, 1877. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 67 expediency of loading every detachment going north with suppUes for the fort.-"'-* The arrival of several government contract teams and teamsters greatly aided Coats' efforts. However, new problems began when smallpox broke out among the teamsters. Men found to be so affected were left along the road. The Fort Fetterman post sur- geon offered to vaccinate anyone in the area who so desired and asked the post sutler and guides to pass the word along in their travels about the area.-''^' Whiskey provided another headache for Coats. In June, he received word of a man who had crossed the Platte and was bound for Fort McKinney, "ostensibly for the purpose of peddling vege- tables" but actually to sell whiskey to the thirsty garrison. Coats was ordered to intercept all such traffic, especially at the post ferry. Detachments posted at the ferry inspected all wagons desir- ing to cross, and seized fifty gallons of whiskey in one day.-''^' Fort Fetterman commanders continued to complain of troop shortages. In June, Coats wrote to General Crook that the four companies at Fort McKinney were inactive and could assume some of the escort and repair duties assigned to Fort Fetterman. The post's garrison stood at two infantry companies and one cavalry company, for an average strength of 120 men. By July, police, guard, fatigue and escort details absorbed all of the garrison, leav- ing no one for the numerous construction projects or for a reserve. The cavalry company was down to 24 men and 65 horses, one of the few times horses outnumbered men in frontier cavalry units. Men had to go on fatigue duty almost immediately after coming off guard detail which was a 24-hour affair. Coats stopped all construction work and reduced the guard details. As early as February he had requested an additional infantry company because all of his men were out on duties, leaving "no time for drill, instruction or discipline."^'"' Final Post Construction During this period a series of construction projects turned Fort Fetterman into a first class post, as its importance declined. J. O. Ward credits Coats with being instrumental in constructing several new buildings on the post, getting a stage line to the fort estab- lished, building a new supply road to the railroad, constructing a reservoir beside the fort, installing a plumbing plant and water '■^^■^Telegrams Sent, January 28 and August 25, 1877. ^mjelegrams Sent, April 21, 1877; Letters Sent. April 20, 1877. -^c^Telegrams and Letters Received, May 5. and July 19, 1877; Letters Sent, June 18, 1877. '■i'^'! Telegrams Sent, July 10, July 11, and September 29, 1877; Letters Sent, February 28 and June 10, 1877. 68 ANNALS OF WYOMING pipes throughout the post, building a bridge across the Platte, and re-establishing the post gardens, describing the produce as "the first that was ever grown in the country and the first the command had eaten in years. "-''^ In addition, the stockade was taken down. A steel bridge was built across the Platte River at the site of the post ferry in 1879. The order for construction materials was placed in July, and the building took place in September and October. The only other bridge across the Platte at that time was at Fort Laramie.-""^^ Earlier that year a new supply road was built from Fort Fetter- man to Rock Creek. The road established Rock Creek as the main supply depot for Fort Fetterman and the new Powder River forts. An exploration and survey of the proposed route was undertaken in June and the actual construction began in July. The project involved an officer and twenty men, using twenty-eight pounds of blasting powder and fifty feet of fuse. A small detach- ment from Fort Steele aided in the work by building the road northward from Rock Creek.-"" The construction of a telegraph line from Fort Fetterman to Fort McKinney was also undertaken in 1877. Work began in October with a company of infantry setting up the poles, which were cut at the Fort Fetterman sawmill and hauled north by John Hunton's teams. The men averaged three miles of poles and lines per day. They linked up with a similar construction detail working south from Fort McKinney in November.^^i A sign of the new commerce and settlement which flowed into the former Indian territory was the establishment in 1878 of the "Rock Creek and Fort Custer Stage Company." The company used the Rock Creek-Fort Fetterman road on the first leg of the trip to Fort Custer, located on the Little Big Horn in Montana, and established a series of stage stations along it. Problems arose when the company complained that the military traffic was ruining the road after the company had improved it, and requested that Fort Fetterman maintain the road. The matter was referred to Washington, and finally in 1881 the fort was ordered to maintain the road and to render any other assistance required by the com- pany to keep the stages running. The company provided daily stage service to Fort Fetterman in the summer and buckboard service in the winter. The fort was designated a post office 2.j8Ward, "Fort Fetterman," p. 360. ^^^Incoming Letters and Telegrams, July 29 and October 30, 1879. ^^^Letters and Telegrams Received, May 5, 1877; Letters Sent, July 14 and 29, 1877. -(''^Telegrams Sent, October 12, 23, and November 2, 1877. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 69 because of the service, and it handled both military and civilian mail.-62 Settlement and development With the removal of the Indian threat Fort Fetterman's isolation ended. Between 1877 and 1882 the once lonely outpost became surrounded by settlers and cattlemen, and the former domain of the Indian became a vast cattle empire. Frank Wolcott, destined to become a powerful Wyoming cattle baron, began his career by establishing a ranch at Deer Creek, on part of the Fort Fetterman hay reserve, in 1877. Wolcott's cattle consumed most of the hay in the area. Coats, upon learning of the situation, ordered Wolcott to remove his buildings and cattle from the area by October 8, under pain of arrest. The matter was referred to Washington, where it was decided in Wolcott's favor after he offered to build a fence around the government hay reserve. -*^'^ In 1876 the first cattle ranches were established on Horseshoe, LaBonte, and Wagonhound Creeks, and the first water diversions for irrigation in the area were made. The first cattle round-up on both sides of the Platte occurred in 1878. Ward wrote that "many small stockmen were coming out of the more congested ranches of Colorado, and some of the larger outfits, numbering their cattle by the thousands," established ranches in the area. The "No Man's Land of the West," as many had called north- eastern Wyoming, rapidly became crowded with cattle and cattle- men. Fort Fetterman became the center of activity because it was the only place within ninety miles where supplies and medical attention could be obtained. Many civilians ate at the company messes because there were no other dining facilities in the area. During the round-up, hundreds of cowboys and assorted frontier people descended upon the fort. Ward remembered: ... it was a motley gathering of the flotsam and jetsam of earth — a gathering together of the range such as was never seen in this or any other country, and its like will never be seen again. -''^ All of this progress made inroads on Fort Fetterman's once private domain. In 1879, Mrs. Annie Ward requested permission to open a boarding house on the post to accommodate the great "^Vncoming Letters and Telegrams, May 22 and June 18. 1880 and August 10, 1881. The distance from Rock Creek to Fort Custer was 358 miles. ^^^Letters Sent, September 1, 1877; Telegrams and Letters Received, September 14, 1877. 264J. O. Ward, "Soldiering At Fetterman," Frontier Times, March 1970, pp. 9-12. Hereafter Ward, "Soldiering." 70 ANNALS OF WYOMING number of civilions in the area.-^"" That same year Benjamin, Weaver and Co. received permission to graze their cattle on the Fort Fetterman miUtary reservation. In 1880 they erected several buildings on the post land and moved in. The new post com- mander curtly informed them that it was against the law to graze on government land, as well as to build private structures. The ranchers objected to the commander's decision and petitioned Washington. There it was decided that the fort did not need the land anymore and opened it for settlement. A similar incident occurred the next year at Deer Creek, when the government de- cided that the fort no longer needed a hay reserve, and the land was opened to the cattlemen.-'"' The coming of civilization to the Fort Fetterman area exacer- bated some old problems. Where the garrison once struggled to keep the telegraph line up and operating in spite of the Indians and the weather, they now had to struggle with the cattle herds. In ] 879, for example, a herd of 5000 cattle grazing along La Bonte Creek knocked down most of the telegraph lines in the area. The influx of civilians also made desertion easier. It became a com- mon complaint of the post commanders that the local ranchers aided deserters. In 1878, a detachment from the fort made a "night visit" on two local ranches and captured two deserters at one of them.-^^ Much of the fort's activity during this period was of a public relations nature. The post commander was ordered in 1879 to supply transport for a party of "four English officers and one lady, who desire to go to the Big Horn Mountains," and they were accompanied by Colonel George A. Forsyth of Sheridan's staff.-^^ Another English visitor to the post was Major Lewis L. Wise. He arrived at the fort on October 29, 1880, returning from a hunting expedition to the Big Horn Mountains to catch the stagecoach for Rock Creek, which usually arrived between 1 1 p.m. and 2 a.m. During his stopover he went target shooting with the soldiers and dined with the officers, whom he found "very decent fellows . . . and very hospitable . . . ." He played billiards and poker the rest of the afternoon with the officers.-'"' In 1880, Professor J. A. Allen from the Museum of Compara- tive Zoology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, stayed at the fort while he studied the birds in the surrounding area. He discovered -''^'Letters and Telegrams Received, June 17, 1879. Permission was denied, but a boarding house was later established at the fort in 1881, and it became the scene of occasional brawls and shootings. ^^^Incoming Letters and Telegrams, September 9 and November 18, 1880. '^^'Ihid., September 16, 1878 and June 17, 1879. '■^^Hbid., August 16, 1879. ^''^Howard B. Lott, ed., "Diary of Major Wise," Annals of Wyoming, April 1940, p. 116. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 71 eighty-seven varieties in all. The commander received orders in 1881 to provide Governor John W. Hoyt "when requested, such assistance in his exploration, [of the territory] as may be in your power," and set aside one wagon and two saddle horses for the governor's use.-"** Relations between the civilian employees at the fort and the soldiers had generally been good over the years. One of the few confrontations occurred in 1878. The post sawmill was operated by a man named R. L. DeLay. It was rumored that he was kept on despite lackadaisical performance because his pretty wife was popular with the officers. A soldier who assisted DeLay warned him on June 7 that the saw was in need of repair, to which DeLay was said to have replied, "Oh, if it kills anyone it will only be a soldier." That afternoon while a company of the 4th Infantry sawed its monthly supply of wood the saw broke, and Private Louis Bauer was hit "squarely between the eyes, killing him instantly." Ward, then the company first sergeant, wrote DeLay an anony- mous note warning him to leave the area before trouble started. DeLay complained to the post commander that the soldiers had threatened him. The next day the men of the company went to the pump house, seized DeLay, bound him and placed a noose around his neck. After scaring him with further threats, they ordered him to leave the area immediately, which he did. The sawmill was closed down, and a Board of Officers convened to investigate the accident. The department engineer was ordered to inspect all of the machinery on the post. Private Bauer's comrades buried him in the post cemetery with the inscription, "Killed through Criminal Negligence" carved upon his headstone.-'^ Closure of Fort Fetterman For most of the 1879-1882 period. Fort Fetterman's garrison and duties shrank. Logistical battles and petty disputes with other commands took the place of confrontation with the Indians. The growing settlement of the area provided its own security. The once free and fierce Sioux and Cheyennes were disarmed and de-horsed on closely watched reservations. The friendly Arap- ahoes moved west to the Shoshoni reservation. The pacification of the Indians and the spread of the railroads facilitated a new strategy of massing army units at a few forts along the railroads, from which they could be rapidly deployed in case of emergency. This strategy spelled the end for many famous western forts. -"^^Incoming Letters and Telegrams, October 6, 1881; Medical History, May 1880. -■J^iThe story is given in Ward, "Soldiering," pp. 7-8 without dates. Cor- respondence concerning the incident is found in Letters Sent and Received. July 18, 1878, and in the Medical History, June 7, 1878. 72 ANNALS OF WYOMING The long anticipated order to abandon Fort Fetterman came May 16, 1882. The last garrison, one infantry company, marched out of the fort on May 20. One officer and ten men remained to pack and ship the usable government property. The post surgeon, the last person to leave the post, closed the Medical Journal on June 28.-"- The Cheyenne Leader eulogized: The necessity which prompted the estabUshment vanished sometime ago, and it goes the way of many other once frontier posts.2'J^3 Fetterman City After the fort was abandoned the local population moved in and established the town of Fetterman City. At its height the town contained twenty buildings and two stores. It was the center of the largest cattle roundup in the Platte River Valley in ISSS.^'^* The town doctor was Amos W. Barber, who later served as acting governor of Wyoming, from 1890 to 1893. He came to Wyoming in 1883 to take charge of the hospital in Fetterman City, which was the only medical facility within a hundred-mile radius. -^^ The town attracted the usual rough element peculiar to western "cowtowns," and developed such problems that Malcolm Campbell found new employment as the local sheriff. In 1883, he gained fame in arresting Alfred Packer at the former fort's "Hog Ranch," which was benefitting from the cattle prosperity. Packer was returned to Colorado and convicted of killing and eating five fellow prospectors when they became stranded in a blizzard. These and other events brought minor fame to the town, and it became the prototype for the wild west town of "Drybone" in Owen Wister's novels.^'''*' Fetterman City's fortunes were cut short when the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Railroad reached the area in 1886. Fetterman City could not be the terminal for the railroad because it was located on a military reservation. A new town was founded at a river ford several miles southeast of Fetterman and named Douglas City. The railroad began the sale of town lots in August, and the town soon had a population of 2500.-'' During the fall, most of the people and businesses moved from Fetterman to Douglas. -"' -Medical History, May-June 1882. The last garrison was "G" Com- pany, 4th Infantry, commanded by Captain William H. Powell. '■^'^^Cheyenne Leader, May 12, 1882, p. 4. 2'i'4Charles Ritter, "The Early History of Fort Fetterman," Annals of Wyoming, October 1969, p. 223. ^■'■-■'Harry B. Henderson, "Governors of the State of Wyoming," Annals of Wyoming, January 1940, p. 13. -''^Soldier and Brave, p. 371. ^^'''Frank S. Lusk, "My Association with Wyoming," Annals of Wyoming, August 15, 1923, p. 17; and Bert Wagner, "Reminiscence of the Early Days of Douglas," Annals of Wyoming, April 15, 1925, p. 64. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 73 Included in the move was the long-Hved Wyoming newspaper, the Douglas Budget, which had been founded in 1886 at Fetterman City as Bill Barlow's Budget?''^ Fetterman City's buildings were salvaged by local ranchers or moved to new locations. The sur- rounding area became Converse County in 1887. That same year the railroad extended west, and the town of Glenrock was founded on Deer Creek, near Fort Fetterman's old hay reserve. The town of Casper was laid out near old Fort Caspar and became the terminal of the railroad. In less than twenty years a scene of buffalo, Indians, and military patrols roaming over a vast virgin prairie had been transformed into one of railroads, new towns, and cattle empires. The Fort Fetterman military reservation was officially opened to homesteading in 1890. The Interior Department reported that "a greater part of the reserve . . . consists of land which is unfit for cultivation and homesteading by reason of a lack of water," and required settlers to be allowed 320 acres instead of 160 in order to farm successfully.-^'^ The site of Fort Fetterman became a sheep ranch, and the remaining structures of the fort became farm sheds. Concluding Observations Fort Fetterman served strategically throughout its history as a "link." The fort was estabUshed as a link in the chain of forts along the Bozeman and Oregon Trails. From 1869 to 1875 the fort was part of the thin chain of forts around the perimeter of the Indian Reservation. During Crook's campaigns in 1876, the post was a crucial link between the supply depots along the railroad and Crook's forces in the field. From 1877 to 1882 the fort was part of a second chain of forts in the Powder and Yellowstone River areas. Fort Fetterman filled several holes during its existence. At dif- ferent times the post acted as an unofficial Indian agency, as a major logistics base, as a lone outpost and as a center of early development of the Wyoming cattle empire. Fort Fetterman played a prominent part in the northern plains Indian wars. From 1867 to 1877 units of ten of the army's forty regiments were either stationed at the fort or bivouacked there during campaigns. In relation to the stereotypes which have developed around the history of the west, Fort Fetterman's history offers some inter- 278D. C. Cook, "Bill Barlow's Budget Office, 1886," Annals of Wvomino, July 1944), p. 166. 2^9U. S., Congress. House. Report of the Secretary of the Interior, House Doc. 1859, 56tii Cong., 1st sess., 1900, p. 69. 74 ANNALS OF WYOMING esting contrasts and examples, particularly with respect to the Indians, the army, and the settlers. The Indians in contact with the fort lived in a state of poverty. Shortages of supplies and later of food made them dependent upon the government. The govern- ment, in turn, used this dependence as a lever to coerce the Indians to conform to Indian Bureau policy. In general, commanders at Fort Fetterman took a paternalistic attitude towards the peaceably inclined Indians. Several times, commanders made special re- quests to supply the bands of Indians who were in great need. Official correspondence of the 1870-1874 period is filled with reports of the poor conditions of the Indians and criticism of the trade policy. Commanders were sympathetic to complaints of the Arapahoes and Cheyennes that the established agencies were too far away and dominated by the Sioux. The commanders tried to have an agency established at Fort Fetterman because it was more convenient to the Indians. Post correspondence also emphasized the frictions between the Arapahoes and Cheyennes on the one hand and the more powerful Sioux on the other. Although the three tribes banded together in time of war, their cooperation dissipated in time of peace. The reactions of the tribes to the presence of the fort varied, ranging from the almost uniformly friendly Arapahoes to the almost uniformly hostile Sioux. The Cheyennes displayed mixed reactions. The army also experienced shortages and privation. Economy- minded congresses kept the army as small and as minimally sup- plied as possible. At Fort Fetterman there was never an adequate or well equipped garrison, in the opinion of many post com- manders. The fort was often the passive observer and reporter of Indian raids. For the common soldier, the past records reveal that duty on the frontier was mostly a monotonous and austere routine rather than a romantic adventure. Operations usually consisted of endless patrols with perhaps a hasty shot at a fleeting enemy. Campaigning on the frontier was a rough affair, often undertaken with inadequate food, clothing and supplies, and it was very hard on both men and animals. The early settlers, prior to 1876, were often described deroga- torily by the post commanders. Most civilians not directly em- ployed by the army were hangers-on who depended upon the army in one way or another for their livelihoods. There was little thought of independent ranching or farming concerns or of permanent settlement. Many were rough characters who easily crossed the line into outlawry, engaging in illegal trade and horse stealing among other pursuits. The post-1876 influx of settlers were people associated with the cattle industry. Until the arrival of the railroad in 1886, the civilian population was mostly male and unstable in nature. A HISTORY OF FORT FETTERMAN, WYOMING 1867-1882 75 Fort Fetterman Today In 1960 the site of Fort Fetterman was purchased by the state of Wyoming for development as a historic site. The 1877 set of officers' quarters has been made into a museum, with extensive restoration planned for the future. Such efforts would certainly seem warranted by this fort, one of the most important in the west. The history of Fort Fetterman reflects many phases of Old West history. In less than a quarter of a century, the post evolved from an isolated outpost in hostile territory to the center of settle- ment and cattle empires, to a wild west cowtown and finally became a ghost town. APPENDIX I Commanders & Garrisons The following are entries from the "Adjutant General's Report" portion of the Report of the Secretary of War for the year given. These entries represent the return for one day, usually in August, of the given year. Numbers in parentheses are the total number of men at the post. YEAR COMMANDING OFFICER UNITS COMPANIES 1868 Maj. Wm. McE. Dye 4th Inf. & 2nd Cav. 5 (381) 1869 Cpt. H. W. Patterson 4th Inf. 2 (173) 1870 Maj. Alex Chambers 4th Inf. 3 (149) 1871 Ltc. G. A. Woodward 14th Inf. 4 (231) 1872 Ltc. G. A. Woodward 14th Inf. 4 (217) 1873 Ltc. Cuvier Grover 14th Inf. & 3rd Cav. 5 (267) 1874 Ltc. J. S. Mason 4th Inf. & 3rd Cav. 5 (274) 1875 Ltc. J. S. Mason 4th Inf. & 3rd Cav. 5 (216) 1876 Cpt. E. M. Coats 4th Inf. 2 ( 52) 1877 Cpt. E. M. Coats 4th Inf. & 3rd Cav. 3 (100) 1878 Cpt. E. M. Coats 4th Inf. & 3rd Cav. 3 (124) 1879 Maj. J. W. Mason 4th Inf. & 3rd Cav. 3 (147) 1880 Maj. I. D. DeRussy 4th Inf. 2 (116) 1881 Maj. W. T. Gentry 4th Inf. 2 ( 69) APPENDIX II Strengths and Organization of the Army The post-Civil War army had both tactical and area organiza- tions. The main tactical unit was the regiment, which was sub- divided into a number of companies. Infantry regiments had ten companies, cavalry and artillery had twelve. Battalions were temporary units composed of two or more companies. Artillery companies were sometimes referred to as batteries, and cavalry 76 ANNALS OF WYOMING companies as troops. In 1869 Congress set the size of the army at 25 infantry, 10 cavalry and 5 artillery regiments. The author- ized strength of the army steadily declined from 50,000 men in 1866 to 35,000 in 1870 and then to 25,000 in 1874. The army kept the forty-regiment organization, which resulted in shrinking unit sizes. Regiments declined from a Civil War standard of 1,200 men to 640 men for infantry regiments and 840 men for cavalry regiments in 1874. The United States was divided into four geographical divisions, which were further divided into departments and districts. Regi- ments were deployed to departments and were under control of the department commander. Within the department regiments were broken up and scattered about for garrisons. Regimental commanders often doubled as district commanders. A Centenmal Mistorn of Mtlst Actii/ities in Wyoming, 1887-1987 By James H. Nottage On March 29, 1890, columns of The Cheyenne Daily Leader, were full of exuberant rejoicing and accounts of celebration. A bill passed Congress making Wyoming the nation's newest state and parades, speeches, parties and a general spirit of revelry dominated the scene. Hidden in the same paper was a brief article on the well-known European artist, Rosa Bonheur. Some two-and-one- half years before "a beautiful untamable broncho" from Wyoming had been sent 4,000 miles east for her to paint. The horse was given to Buffalo Bill Cody who was ultimately the figure depicted by Bonheur on the back of the handsome white Wyoming stallion. The Daily Leader noted that "it is the intention of Miss Bonheur to execute a great painting of a buffalo hunt and sketches of this Wyoming horse retained by her will be used in the production. The artist is very anxious to visit this country and especially Wyoming and the west." The desire expressed by Rosa Bonheur to visit the West as exemplified by Wyoming was a wish fulfilled by scores of academic and amateur artists in the nineteenth century. Numerous brushes, pens and pencils interpreted mountain scenery, Indian life and other elements of the untamed wilderness. Later, as the frontier vanished, other artists recorded less primitive scenes of daily life and scenery in what became the cowboy state in 1890. The productions of all these artists now stand as important documents of Western history and in many cases as exceptional examples of artistic excellence. In the early nineteenth century, what is now Wyoming was part of a vast, unexplored "wasteland" — the "great American Desert." Wild animals, trappers, an occasional missionary, adventurers and Indians were the only inhabitants. For those not actively involved in exploring, developing or settling the West this was an unknown, mysterious and exotic land. The first explorers, through their 78 ANNALS OF WYOMING U. P. Depot, Cheyenne Ten Minutes at Carbon Engravings from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1877 A CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF ARTIST ACTIVITY 79 written reports, did much to foster the desert myth.^ At the same time they helped to allay that myth by taking artists along with them. By the last half of the century figures such as Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Moran were picturing the grandeur of west- ern peaks and the subtle beauty of the high plains. It was their pictures and those of other artists that showed the far West to be more than barren desolation. The first artist to paint the Rocky Mountains was Samuel Sey- mour, an English-born resident of Philadelphia who traveled west with Major Stephen H. Long in 1819 and 1820. It is not likely that he entered what we know as Wyoming. An examination of his works and a study of expedition records shows that he got only as far as northern Colorado before proceeding south and then turning east.- The second man to paint the Rockies, and apparently the first to reach Wyoming, was a young Baltimore artist named Alfred Jacob Miller.-^ He traveled west in 1837 after being retained by the Scottish adventurer, Captain William Drummond Stewart. Accompanying a fur caravan they ventured onto the high plains and slowly advanced along portions of what would become the Oregon Trail. Within a short six months Miller experienced enough of western life to sustain him for the rest of his artistic life. Armed with hundreds of sketches made in the field, he went to Stewart's Murthly castle in Scotland and there created paintings of western scenery such as Independence Rock, Devil's Gate, the Wind River Mountains and the Green River. He also produced important works illustrating Indian life, camp incidents, and hunt- ing and trapping adventures. Among his pictures were a number of important views of Fort Laramie as it appeared only three years after being founded. Indeed, his pictures comprise "a vivid first- iSee for example, Edwin James, Comp., Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains, Performed in the Years 1819 and '20 by order of the Hon. J . C . Calhoun, Sec'y of War: Under the Command of Major Stephen H. Long . . . (Philadelphia: H. C. Carey and I. Lea. 1822- 23). The subject is well treated in. The Great American Desert Then and Now, by W. Eugene HoUon, (New York: Oxford University Press. 1966). -Ibid; Harold McCracken, Portrait of the Old West. (New York: Mc- Graw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1952), pp. 42-43. 3It has been suggested that the notable interpreter of Western Indians, George Catlin, was at Fort Laramie and in the Rockies and at Salt Lake in 1831 or 1833. In 1871 he claimed that this was so. It has elsewhere been shown that he was in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1833. Also, as shown by Dale Morgan, Fort Laramie was not founded until 184^3, there are no pictures by Catlin of the areas he would have been in or of Indians from those areas, and there is no official record of his traveling into these areas. See Harold McCracken, George Catlin and the Old Frontier (New York: The Dial Press, 1959), pp. 130-131, and Marjorie Catlin Roehm, editor. A Chronicle of the American West, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1966) pp. 55-57. 80 ANNALS OF WYOMING hand record of the mountain fur trade in the Central Rockies."^ The next artist to venture into some of the areas seen by Miller was an untrained painter and Jesuit missionary, Father Nicholas Point. His primitive drawings were used to illustrate Pierre Jean De Smet's published travel narrative in 1843. Some of the pic- tures were based on descriptions provided by De Smet from his travels in 1 840. The following year Point went west himself with De Smet to help estabhsh a mission among the Flathead Indians in the vicinity of Fort Hall. The journey took these men along what would soon be a well-traveled route to the West. They passed Chimney Rock, Fort Laramie, Independence Rock and Devil's Gate. Some of these landmarks, drawn in Point's naive style, were used to illustrate De Smet's book.-^ By 1842 the trail followed by A. J. Miller and the Jesuit mis- sionaries had become well worn. As the numbers of travelers in- creased, more artists traveled west. In that year the young, ambitious explorer, John Charles Fremont, made his first western expedition. In preparing for his travels, he purchased a daguerreo- type camera. His party visited Fort Laramie and then ventured across the plains west of there to the Wind River Mountains where Fremont Peak was discovered. Along the way, Fremont attempted to become Wyoming's first photographer.^ Unfortunately, he was not familiar with the proper use of the camera. On August 1, 1842, near Independence Rock, he failed to produce an image on the polished, silver-plated, copper plates. His cartographer, Charles Preuss, acidly commented, "Yesterday afternoon and this morning Fremont set up his daguerreotype to photograph the rocks; he spoiled five plates that way. Not a thing was to be seen on them."^ None of his future pictures came out either and later Preuss noted, "Today Fremont again wanted to take pictures. But the same as before, nothing was produced. This time it was really too bad, because the view was magnificent."^ A year after Fremont's discouraging experiences Sir Wilham Drummond Stewart made another extended tour to the West. ^Robert C. Warner, the Fort Laramie of Alfred Jacob Miller, (unpub- lished Master's Dissertation, University of Wyoming, 1973), p. 30. sjohn Francis McDermott, "De Smet's Illustrator: Father Nicolas Point," Nebraska History, March, 1952, pp. 35-36; Joseph P. Donnelly, (trans, and intro.). Wilderness Kingdom, Indian Life in the Rocky Mountains: 1840- 1847, The Journals & Paintings of Nicholas Point, S. J., (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1967), pp. 19-35. ''Donald Jackson and Mary Lee Spence, (eds.), The Expeditions of John Charles Fremont, volume I, Travels from 1838 to 1844, (Urbana: Univer- sity of Illinois Press, 1970), pp. 145-146. ■J^Richard Rudisill, Mirror Image, The Influence of the Daguerreotype on American Society, (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1971), p. 101. ^Ibid, p. 102. A CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF ARTIST ACTIVITY 81 Prior to leaving, he again asked Miller to join him, but the artist had to refuse because of ill health.^ However, Stewart did have an artist with him when he returned to Fort Laramie. Monsieur P. Pietierre of Paris accompanied the expedition to paint Indians. Unfortunately, although he used the more permanent and reliable artistic medium of brush and canvas, like Fremont he has left no images as a record of his activities. Little is known of Pietierre and none of his works have been found. Theodore Talbot, a member of Fremont's second party of 1843, wrote in his journal on August 5: "... I went down to Sybille & Adams' post at the mouth of the Laramie River a mile below Fort John. It is called Fort Platte or Bissonette's Fort: it is smaller than the Am. Fur Company post but seemingly more active & lively. Many Indians round about it, whose portraits Sir W. D. Stewart has engaged a painter to remain here and take."^*' At the same time, the rest of Stewart's elaborate hunting party was witnessing the trapper rendezvous on the Green River. Dur- ing the summer they traveled far and wide over the Wind River Mountains and western prairies. Two members of the group sketched during the trip. Dr. Stedman Richard Tilghman, a physician from Baltimore, drew pictures of Devil's Gate and Ayres Natural Bridge. Known as "The Prince," George Wilkins Christy, from New Orleans, also sketched scenes along the way.^^ These men were witnessing and recording a vanishing way of life, as the fur trade was dying and artists following them would witness life and times of a different kind. In the next few years other artists traveled west. In 1849, however, a cry of "Gold!" echoed around the world from the newly-discovered diggings in California. Suddenly, routes to the west coast became crowded with hopeful fortune seekers, including James F. Wilkins, who, on April 25, 1849, left St. Louis on an overland journey to the West. There was a gleam of gold in his eye, but he was not looking for it in the California stream beds. \Vilkins' plan was to produce a giant painting or panorama of the Oregon Trail which could be shown, much like a more modern newsreel, to paying audiences of the East. A four-mile long paint- ing of the Mississippi River had reportedly earned another artist $20,000 in six weeks and Wilkins was anxious for profits of a similar nature. He had previously worked as a portrait and minia- ^Warner, The Fort Laramie of Alfred Jacob Miller, p. 66. it^Warner, pp. 28-30; Kate L. Gregg and John Francis McDermott, (eds.) Prairie and Mountain Sketches, by Matthew C. Field, (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 1957), p. ix; Charles H. Carey, (ed.). The Journals of Theodore Talbot, 1843 and 1849-52, (Portland: Metropolitan Press, 1931), p. 34. iiField, Prairie and Mountain Sketches, pp. xxiv, xliv, liii-Iiv. and facing pp. 75 and 139. 82 ANNALS OF WYOMING ture painter in New Orleans and St. Louis and had exhibited art at the Royal Academy. ^- Fifty of Wilkins' watercolor sketches, including a large number of Wyoming subjects, are in the collections of the Wisconsin His- torical Society. Even though the sketches have an amateur quality, they comprise an important document of western history. From Fort Leavenworth west, the pictures provide a detailed view of the country crossed by the forty-niners.^'^ Great expanses of the western prairie became the subject of his brush and details of trail travel were recorded with some care. Wilkins sketched Fort Laramie on June 24 and three days later drew a wagon train fording Laramie Creek. Laramie Peak, the mountain range then called the "Black Hills" and various scenes along the Platte and Sweetwater Rivers were also recorded. The vast expanses of South Pass were observed on July 1 6 and the Green River country, once alive with fur trappers and the rendezvous, was passed soon thereafter. The log walls of Fort Bridger were drawn on July 25 and Wilkins continued on west toward California. It is not surprising that a number of other artists were on the trail in 1849. Colonel William W. Loring and the regiment of United States Mounted Riflemen marched from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to Fort Vancouver, Oregon, in the summer of that year. Two artists were with Loring's command. George Gibbs, a civil- ian artist and naturalist, was present as was another civilian artist, WilHam Henry Tappan. For many years the works of James Wilkins^in were attributed to one or the other of these men. All three of them traveled the same basic route and saw many of the same sights. ^^ Another army party traveled on the western trails in 1849, under the command of Captain Howard Stansbury, and surveyed a route to the Great Salt Lake. Illustrations of Fort Laramie, the Platte River, Fort Bridger and other areas accompanied Stans- bury's report just as similar views had been included with the reports of the Mounted Riflemen.^'' Of the artists on the trail in 1849, all but one provided pan- oramic pictures and illustrations of general interest and common experience. J. Goldsborough Bruff was suffering from gold fever i-John Francis McDermott, (ed.), An Artist on the Overland Trail, The 1849 Diary and Sketches of James F. Wilkins, (San Marino: The Hunting- ton Library, 1968), pp. 3-n. ^^Ibid, pp. 20-24. '^^Ibid; see also Raymond W. Settle, (ed.), The March of the Mounted Riflemen, (Glendale: The Arthur H. Clark Co., 1940). i^Howard Stansbury, Exploration and Survey of the Valley of the Great Salt Lake of Utah, Including a Reconnaissance of a New Route Through the Rocky Mountains, (Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1852), facing pp. 53. 56, 60, and 74. A CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF ARTIST ACTIVITY 83 when he organized a group of sixty-four men to head for Cahfomia in that year. Along the way he kept careful notes and drew pictures of daily happenings. His naive sketches have a provoking appeal because of his sense of humor and because of the details he provides on the difficulty, suspense and danger of trail travel. Indeed, his journals and drawings are nuggets comparable in value to the gold found by his companions. ^^^ The number of travelers and artists on the trail in 1849 did not diminish to any significant degree as the decade of the 1850s began. People searching for new homes in Oregon, fortunes in California, or perhaps salvation with Mormondom in Utah, con- tinued to move in masses to points on the western frontier. The number of artists, both professional and amateur, who were in the Rockies, or the area encompassed by present-day Wyoming, in- creased dramatically. A survey of only a few will show that the types of artists in the area were not much different than those of the previous decade. In the spring of 1851, Prince Paul, the Duke of Wurttemberg was putting together an expedition to the Rocky Mountains. Like the earlier English adventurer. Sir William Drummond Stewart, his upbringing was royal and his interests centered around a need for adventure, discovery and sport. Prince Paul certainly had a more scientific mind than Stewart, but he also appreciated the advantage of including an artist with his entourage. He had earlier introduced the talented Karl Bodmer to the Upper Missouri in 1833. In 1851 a young German artist, Heinrich Balduin Mollhausen accompanied him on the most dangerous of his American visits. ^^ The first part of their trip may have been pleasant. However, upon reaching Fort Laramie they found that transportation prob- lems and the threat of Indian difficulties forced them to turn around and head for civilization. One of their horses died and the rest were stolen by Indians. Prince Paul later found space on a stagecoach bound for the east, but it was Mollhausen's fate to wait for later help. For several months, through the dead of winter, he subsisted on wolf meat and a persistent hope for rescue. Finally, after a brush with the Pawnee, he was taken by friendly i^Georgia Willis Read and Ruth Gains, (eds.) Gold Rush, the Journals. Drawings, and Other Papers of J. Goldsborough Bruff, (New York : Colum- bia University Press, 1944), I, pp. xxx-xxxi, xlv-lxxxviii. 1' A useful introduction to the western travels of Prince Paul can be found in Savoie Lottinville, (ed.) Travels in North America 1822-1824, (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1973), Mollhausen was born in Bonn. Ger- many, in 1825, made a total of three trips to the United States, and is best known as "the German Cooper" because of his literary productions. He died in Germany in 1905. Robert Taft. Artists and Illustrators of the Old West, 1850-1900, (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1953), pp. 22-25. 84 ANNALS OF WYOMING Otoe Indians to Bethlehem, Missouri, where he could once again enjoy the luxury of a warm fire, good food and human com- panionship.^^ It is unfortunate that most of Balduin Mollhausen's original paintings no longer exist. Lithograph copies of some of his works and a few original items, such as those at the Smithsonian Insti- tution, show him to have been a talented artist. It is assumed that a sketchbook of Mollhausen's containin ninety-nine pencil sketches and thirty-three watercolors was destroyed during the bombing of Beriin.^*^ In 1853 another artist traveled west, partially in the footsteps of MoUhausen, and found permanence for his work in the publi- cation of a book two years later. Frederick Piercy was born in Portsmouth, England, in 1830 and died in London in 189 L In 1853, he was commissioned to make drawings of sites along the route taken by members of the Mormon church, headed for Salt Lake City. He arrived at New Orleans on March 21, 1853, proceeded up the Mississippi and following side trips to points along that river, went up the Missouri from St. Louis to Kanesville or Council Bluffs, where he joined a Mormon train to Salt Lake. Late in December he returned to England where twenty-eight of his drawings were published in a book entitled. Route from Liverpool to Great Salt Lake Valley. Since he traveled along the Oregon Trail, many of the sites he drew were the same as those pictured by other artists. This does not, of course, detract from the importance of his work. His own viewpoint was unique, as seen, for example, in two drawings of Fort Laramie. One view from the south bears the notation, "Partly in ruins, occupied by/our company of soldiers." The other provides a rare view of the ferry on the Platte river next to the fort.-'' Frederick Piercy's visit to the west was one sanctioned by the Mormon church. Other artists going across the western plains in the 1850s were part of continuing governmental efforts to map and explore the territories. Perhaps the most significant efforts toward exploration of the West related to the surveys designed to locate a route for the Pacific Railroad. Two surveys in conjunction with this went into or crossed Wyoming. The first was not as significant as the second in terms of the artistic works created. Lieutenant Edward G. Beckwith was in command of a group which made a survey between Salt Lake City and Fort Bridger. This survey was part of the one made through Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California. Its significance l^Taft, Artists and Illustrators, pp. 23-24. ^^Ibid, pp. 25, 280-281. 20M. & M. Karolik Collection of Water Colors & Drawings, 1800-1875, (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1962) II, pp. 37-39. A CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF ARTIST ACTIVITY 85 lies in the fact that parts of it ultimately became the route taken by the railroad when it was built. With Beckwith was F. W. Egloffstein, a topographical engineer who had been with Fremont in his last expedition of 1853-1854. He was in Salt Lake City in March of 1854 and made the trip to Fort Bridger in the spring of that year. No known illustrations by Eggloffstein resulted from this portion of the survey.-^ In the spring of 1859 Frederick West Lander led his third expedition along the emigrant road from Fort Kearny to South Pass. His job was to make the route more practicable for emigrant travel.^- With Lander in 1859 went a man who was destined to be the premier painter of Western scenery. Albert Bierstadt had sailed to Europe and studied in his birthplace of Dusseldorf in 1853. By 1857 he had returned to the United States where he exhibited canvases already showing his fondness for landscape painting. When he ventured onto the high plains two years later he went with a Boston artist named F. S. Frost. They arrived at South Pass on June 24 and soon left on their own to explore the Wind River Mountains where Bierstadt had a particularly good chance to sketch the type of scenery that so inspired him. It was this experience which resulted in most of his works dealing with Wyo- ming related subjects.-^ In 1863 Albert Bierstadt made another trip west, this time with the eccentric Fitz Hugh Ludlow. They traveled along the Over- land Trail, passing through Virginia Dale, along the trail past the newly-established Fort Halleck at the base of Elk Mountain and on west from there. -^ Their trip, however, was overshadowed by the country's preoccupation with civil war. Regular army troops stationed in the west were being sent to the eastern theaters of war and state volunteer troops were replacing them. It was during this 2iTaft, Artists and Illustrators, pp. 259-264; see also, William H. Goetz- mann, Exploration and Empire, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1967), pp. 218, 286-288. 22For a summary of Lander's activities, see, W. Turrentine Jackson, Wagon Roads West, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1952), pp. 191-217. 23Gordon Hendricks, Albert Bierstadt, Painter of the American West, (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc.. and Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth, 1973), pp. 63, 69, 73, 80, and 94. Another member of the Lander party also produced illustrations as a result of the trip. Henry Hitchings was apparently with Lander's advance party when it proceeded along the trail in the spring of 1859. Seven ink and wash and sepia water- colors by Hitchings have recently been found. The Sweetwater and the Black Hills are included in two of them. The Kennedy Quarterly, June 1967, p. 117. " ■ 24Hendricks, Albert Bierstadt, p. 116. 86 ANNALS OF WYOMING era in the West that an important contribution was made to Wyo- ming's artistic heritage by two primitive artists. ^^ These men were the first in a group of military artists to provide a significant and enduring record of army posts, military life and events within the boundaries of present day Wyoming. In the summer of 1863 the second battalion of the Eleventh Ohio Volunteer Cavalry was organized at Camps Denison and Chase, Ohio, for service along the Oregon and Overland Trails. The second lieutenant in Company G, Caspar W. Collins, had already spent a year on the plains with his father. Lieutenant Colonel William O. Collins, and the first battalion. With the younger Collins was his company bugler, a young German farmer from Ohio, Charles Frederick Moellman. Together, these two men produced at least seventy drawings which comprise a vivid first-hand record of almost every military post and telegraph sta- tion on the Oregon and Overland Trails between Camp Mitchell, Nebraska, and the South Pass. Moellman produced pictures of Independence Rock and Devil's Gate and, like Collins, drew pic- tures of Indian dances and ceremonies. Detailed pictures of stations such as Deer Creek, Horseshoe Creek, St. Mary's, and Three Crossings, and forts such as Laramie and Halleck are sup- plemented by detailed floor plans drawn of each by Caspar Collins and his father.-^ Many of these posts were abandoned shortly after the Civil War and the drawings provide a unique record of their existence. Caspar ColUns is best known for the name he left to a Wyoming city after his death at the Battle of Platte Bridge on July 26, 1865. At that time the Civil War was over, yet the 11th Ohio was still in service and demanding muster out. It would be almost another year before these Ohio volunteers were sent home. By that time a new string of posts had been established along the Bozeman Trail and these forts — Phil Kearny, Reno, and C. F. Smith — had their "artistic" interpreters just as had the Civil War posts and stations. The Bozeman trail forts were short-lived but the dramatic en- counters with Indians at the Fetterman Fight and the Hayfield and Wagonbox fights have endeared them to historians. Fort 25A third naive artist might also be mentioned. The Reverend Franz Matter was at Fort Laramie in 1863 and did at least one ornate watercolor of the post which is now at the University of Wyoming Archives. Also on file at the archives is a typewritten copy of, "Rev. Franz Matter In the Service of the Indian Mission 1863-1866," translated by Rev. George J. Fritschel, Dubuque, Iowa, 1938. 26Agnes Wright Spring, Caspar Collins, The Life and Exploits of an Indian Fighter of the Sixties, (New York: Columbia University Press, 1927). The largest collection of Moellman drawings is at the University of Wyo- ming Archives, and Collins drawings and maps can be found at Colorado State University in Fort Collins and at the Denver Public Library. A CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF ARTIST ACTIVITY 87 Reno was drawn by Captain Joseph L. Proctor of the 18th Infan- try and by Walter Sies, an enlisted man in Company E of that regiment.-' Sies also drew a picture of Fort Phil Kearny as did a bugler of the 2d U. S. Cavalry, Antonio Nicolai. Addi- tional drawings of the ill-fated post on the Piney have been attrib- uted to civilian topographers, Ambrose G. Bierce and Antoine Schoenborn.-"^ Colonel Joseph Basil Girard was another artistically inclined officer of the frontier army. In the 1870s he did pencil sketches of Forts D. A. Russell, Fetterman, Sanders and Fred Steele, all in what was then the territory of Wyoming. Girard later made watercolors from these sketches and other Girard drawings.-^ Al- though more talented technically than the military picture-makers already mentioned, Girard cannot be considered the best of his kind to work in the state. That honor should probably go to Philippe Regis De Trobriand. De Trobriand was a French soldier of fortune, man of letters and artist who had fought in the American Civil War, much in the tradition of Lafayette. Following the war, he was given a commission as colonel in the 31st Infantry. His long, active and honorable military career in the West saw him stationed at various times in Wyoming territory. During his service he kept not only an important historical journal but painted with facility, producing both oil paintings and pencil sketches. Besides some Indian por- traits he did landscapes and pictures of western forts, including at least six views of Fort Fred Steele. '^'^ With certain exceptions, military painters were dabblers or "Sunday artists" whose works are seldom found on the walls of art galleries. Although they were usually not as technically pro- ficient as academicians, their work is still part of Wyoming's artistic heritage; it also has naive appeal and documentary value. Another type of artist which receives little attention when com- pared to an academically trained picture maker is the illustrator. The illustrated newspapers such as Frank Leslie's Illustrated Magazine and Harper's Weekly, all had staff artists who recorded -■J^Robert A. Murray, Military Posts in the Powder River Country of Wyoming, 1865-1894, (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1968), pp. 16, 19-23; and Robert A. Murray, Military Posts of Wyoming, (Fort Col- lins Old Army Press, 1974), pp. 56-58. -^Murray, Military Posts in the Powder River Country, pp. 18, 45; Schienborn later worked on the 40th parallel survey with F. V. Hayden. Goetzmann, Exploration and Empire, pp. 503, 507. 2f>Don K. Adams, "A Frontier Sketchbook." The Westerners Brand Book, Book Nine, (Los Angeles Corrall, 1961), pp. 65-84. 30Lucile M. Kane, (trans, and ed.). Military Life in Dakota, The Journal of Philippe Regis De Trobriand, (St. Paul: Alvord Memorial Commission, 1951), pp. xv-xxv, 308-382, 88 ANNALS OF WYOMING the "wild west" for audiences in the east and, in the case of the Illustrated London News, as far away as England. The organic act creating Wyoming Territory was approved by President Andrew Johnson on July 25, 1868.'^^ At that time the Union Pacific Railroad had crossed almost half the expanse of the new territory and the continental railroad would soon be com- pleted with the meeting of the rails at Promontory Point, Utah, in May, 1869. It was public interest in the completion of the railroad that prompted the publisher Frank Leslie to send an artist west to record events along the road for his illustrated newspaper. The man selected was a ten-year veteran on Leslie's staff, Joseph Becker.''- An experienced reporter from the battlefields of the Civil War, Becker was a self-taught artist and engraver. Attacking his new assignment with energy and zeal he produced some forty western illustrations during an eighty-one hour train trip from Omaha, Nebraska, to San Francisco, California. "Across the Continent" was the title chosen for his series, and although the most important illustrations deal with the Chinese in California and the Mormons in Utah, pictures such as "Early Morning at Laramie" are of particular interest in relation to Wyoming. '^-^ Becker's fleeting glimpse of the western territories was one which strongly reflected the general public's interest in those areas beyond the Mississippi River. In the fall of 1873 two artists of French birth, Paul Frenzeny and Jules Tavernier, were commis- sioned by Harper's Weekly to provide sketches from a coast-to- coast tour. Leaving New York City in September, 1873, they concluded their trip in San Francisco sometime during the summer of 1874. According to the historian Robert Taft, illustrations of "towns, Uving conditions, transportation, industries of plain and mountain, emigrant life, Indian troubles and affairs, and minor but revealing incidents of Western life" were produced by these two men.^* It was in May and June of 1874 that Frenzeny and Tavernier traveled across Wyoming territory on the Union Pacific Railroad. Side trips took them to Fort Laramie and the Red Cloud Indian Agency. Three illustrations from the Wyoming portion of their journey were published in Harper's. Tavernier later based a number of paintings on his experiences, including a picture of the post trader's store at Fort Laramie and various treatments of Indian life in the area. Frenzeny did a number of watercolors. 31T. A. Larson, History of Wyoming, (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1965), p. 64. 32Taft, Artists and Illustrators, pp. 89-90. ^^Ibid, pp. 90-93. S'^Ibid, p. 95. A CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF ARTIST ACTIVITY 89 Cavalry near Fort Steele Engraving from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1877 One interesting view shows an artist seated at his easel and sur- rounded by curious and inquiring Indians while he painted some figures in the distance.-^'' In 1877 the publisher Frank Leslie made a trip west. Seldom did anyone travel in such style as did Leslie and his party; their accommodations on the Union Pacific Railroad were most lux- urious. In the group of twelve people were several artists includ- ing Walter Yeager, Harry Ogden and Miss G. A. Davis. Along the route of the Union Pacific drawings of many towns were made and in turn, pictures of Cheyenne, Sherman, Laramie, Carbon, Fort Steele, Rawlins, Green River, Milliard and Evanston appeared on the pages of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper.'^''' One of Leslie's competitors abroad was the Illustrated London News. It and other British papers commissioned several artist- reporters to visit the frontiers of Canada and the United States. Arthur Boyd Houghton has been characterized as a "painter, illustrator, caricaturist, and Special Artist." He received his training in England and crossed the continental U. S. by rail in 35/feiW, pp. 110-111; M. & M. Karolik Collection of American Water Colors & Drawings, 1800-1875, (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1962). I, pp. 164, 167; The Kennedy Quarterly, March 1972, p. 222, Paul A. Rossi and David C. Hunt, The Art of the Old West, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1973), p. 57. •^"Taft, Artists and Illustrators, pp. 149-161; Little in known of Miss Davis. Ogden worked for Leslie until 1881 when he became a free-lance artist. He became well known for his pictures of costumes and military uniforms. George C. Groce, "Henry Alexander Ogden, Painter of Amer- ica's Army Uniforms," Military Collector and Historian. April. 1949. pp. 4-5. Yeager left Leslie in 1880 to work for a lithographing firm and later worked as a free-lance artist. 90 ANNALS OF WYOMING 1869-1870, for the illustrated London Weekly Graphic. Unfor- tunately his works are scarce compared to those of other English artists such as Valentine Walter Bromley and Richard Caton Woodville, Jr.-^' Both of these men came from a long line of family artists. Bromley accompanied the Earl of Dunraven on his third trip west in 1 874. They explored much of Yellowstone Park, but, oddly enough, Bromley "seems to have been unimpressed, at least as an artist, and as far as is known, he made no attempt to put the Yellowstone excursion on paper."'^^ Woodville, the son of an American genre painter, did paint scenes in Yellowstone and also took part in and recorded a cattle roundup and forest fire in the Big Horns. In the later part of his 1890 trip for the Illustrated London News he was present at Pine Ridge Indian Agency in time to witness the Ghost Dance uprising.-^" It is hardly possible in a few pages to discuss the number of academic artists who were in Wyoming during the last half of the nineteenth century. Many continued to travel with scientific groups and exploring and military expeditions. In 1866 a Swiss artist, Frank Buchser, traveled west as a companion to General William T. Sherman. He made topical studies of camps, fords and other features on the Platte, at Fort Laramie and at Virginia Dale.^" Gilbert Munger accompanied Charles King on the Fortieth Parallel survey in 1869 and later worked in the Jackson Hole area as evidenced by a painting titled, "Indian Camp in the Tetons."^^ The years 1870 and 1871 brought still more important painters to the territory of Wyoming. In August of 1870 Sanford R. Gifford, a man later identified with the Hudson River School, joined Professor F. V. Hayden at Camp Carlin near Cheyenne to paint as the group explored through the southern half of Wyoming. Gifford quickly formed a fast friendship with the expedition's photographer, William H. Jackson.^- A year and a half later Jackson, along with Thomas Moran and the Hayden expedition's official artist, Henry Wood •^"Paul Hogarth, Artists on Horseback, The Old West in Illustrated Jour- nalism, 1857-1900, (New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1972), pp. 63-65. ^^Ibid, pp. 113-114 127, and 281. •"-nbid, pp. 208-209, 271, and 284. ^"Perry T. Rathbone, Westward the Way, (St. Louis: City Art Museum, 1954), p. 274. Sherman's activities are covered in Robert G. Athearn, William Tecumseh Sherman and the Settlement of the West, (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1956), pp. 59-75. •^^Goetzmann, Exploration and Empire, p. 449; The Kennedy Quarterly, June 1966, pp. 79-81. 42Mary S. Haverstock, "White Umbrellas in the Rocky Mountains," Montana the Magazine of Western History, Summer 1966, pp. 71-73. A CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF ARTIST ACTIVITY 91 Depot at Green River Engraving from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1877 Elliott, entered into the land of the Yellowstone. It generally is conceded that the photographs by Jackson and Moran's paintings played an important part in the establishment of the area as a national park.^-^ In relation to Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Moran was at least an associate dean of the "Rocky Mountain" school of painting. Mountain landscapes from the Tetons, the Devils Tower area and scenes along the Green River which he painted did a great deal to estabUsh his reputation. In 1879 he and his brother Peter traveled to the Tetons, an area referred to by Thomas as "the finest pictorial range in the United States. "^^ Later he wrote, "I ^■^The Kennedy Quarterly, June 1967, p. 125; Thurman Wilkins, Thomas Moran, Artist of the Mountains, (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1966), pp. 57-71; William H. Jackson, Time Exposure. The Autobiography of William Henry Jackson, (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1940), pp. 186-203. Jackson first crossed Wyoming and make sketches in 1866. Through the 1930s he was active with the Oregon Trail Historical Asso- ciation and produced a large number of historical paintings of sites and events on that trail. Clarence S. Jackson, Picture Maker of the Old West. William H. Jackson, (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1947), and Clarence S. Jackson, Pageant of the Pioneers. The Veritable Art of William H. Jackson, (Minden: The Harold Warp Pioneer Village, 1958). ■*-*Fritiof Fryxell, (ed.), Thomas Moran. Explorer in Search of Beauty, (Long Island: East Hampton Free Library, 1958), p. 10; Wilkins, Thomas Moran, pp. 124-130; Moran's visit to Yellowstone, the Bighorns and Devil's Tower with William H. Jackson in 1892 is covered, in Amy O. Bassford (ed.) Home-Thoughts From After, Letters of Thomas Moran to Mary Nimmo Moran, (Long Island: East Hampton Free Library, 1967), pp. 92 ANNALS OF WYOMING have wandered over a good part of the Territories and have seen much of the varied scenery of the Far West, but that of the Yellowstone retains its hold upon my imagination with a vividness as of yesterday .... The impression then made upon me by the stupendous & remarkable manifestations of nature's forces will remain with me as long as memory lasts. "^■'' The impact of the Tetons and Yellowstone upon Moran also is to be found in the work of a large number of other artists. If Colorado was a "mecca for scenic artists of the 19th century," so, indeed, were these two areas of Wyoming Territory. ^•^ A num- ber of Colorado artists painted in the Tetons, including Charles Partridge Adams and Henry Arthur Elkins.^' Thomas Hill, who painted the classic picture of the ceremony of the golden spike at Promontory Point, Utah, did pictures of the geysers in Yellow- stone, and Albert Bierstadt made a trip to the same area in July, 1881.^^ In later years, some of his Yellowstone pictures decorated the White House during the administration of President Chester A. Arthur.4" In 1882, President Arthur himself entered the park with a select group, including Yellowstone's premier photographer, F. Jay Haynes. Haynes first came to the area in 1881, and in 1887 he made a winter excursion into the park with Charles Graham, an illustrator.''" Two years later, James E. Stuart, the grandson of Gilbert Stuart, prominent New England artist, painted Old Faithful geyser with a group of tourists in the foreground."*^ 81-123. Peter Moran was another member of the artistically talented "Clem Moran." In 1890 he was on the Wind River Indian Reservation as an agent for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. His report and some pictures can be found in Report on Indians Taxed and Indians Not Taxed in the United States, at the Eleventh Census, (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1894). See also Taft, Artists and Illustrators, pp. 215-216, 366; and The Kennedy Quarterly, May 1965, pp. 188-189. 45Quoted in Wilkins, Thomas Moran, p. 65. ^''Excellent comments on artist activity in Colorado can be found in Patricia Trenton, Harvey Otis Young, The Lost Genius 1840-1901, (Denver: The Denver Art Museum, 1975), pp. 1-15. 4'i'Dorothy Harmsen, Harmsen's Western Americana, (Flagstaff: North- land Press, 1971), p. 10; Edward Eberstadt and Sons, Americana, catalog no. 131, New York, 1952, p. 127; and Taft, Artists and Illustrators, pp. 56-57. 294-295. ^^Hendrick, Albert Bierstadt, pp. 265-67. ^'■Ubid, p. 279. Hendricks notes that Bierstadt was never in the Tetons, p. 268. •'''"Taft, Artists and Illustrators, pp. 176-183, 349; Freeman Tilden, Fol- lowing the Frontier, with F. Jay Haynes, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1964), pp. 115-139, and 339-356. ^'^The Kennedy Quarterly, June 1969, p. 61. A brief biography of Stuart can be found in Dr. and Mrs. Franz R. Stenzel, An Art Perspective of the Historic Pacific Northwest, (Portland: 1963), pp. 25-26. A CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF ARTIST ACTIVITY 93 — Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department Photo Merritt Dana Houghton It was not far from Old Faithful that Frederic Remington first met Owen Wister on a cold, snowy evening in September, 1893, and their association continued for many years. Remington con- tinued to visit Wyoming as he had before that eventful night in 1893. He once wrote to Wister, "Just back from 2 months in Montana and Wyoming — trying to paint at the impossible — had a good time — as Miss Columbia said to Uncle Sam That was my War' — that old cleaning up of the West — that is the war I am going to put in the rest of my time at."^'- "'^Ben Merchant Vorpahl, My Dear Wister, The Frederic Remington — Owen Wister Letters, (Palo Alto: American West Publishing Co., 1972), pp. 1, 30. 291; Remington made many trips to Wyoming. It would not do to recount all of them here. He was a frequent visitor to the Cody and Big Horn Country and at one time R. S. Van Tassell of Cheyenne posed as a model for him. Agnes Wright Spring, (ed.). Collected Writings and Addresses of William Chapin Deming, (Glendale: The Arthur H. Clark Co., 1947), IV, pp. 143-144. 94 ANNALS OF WYOMING The time Remington put in at "cleaning up the West" was that of the recorder and interpreter. In his own way each artist before Remington had done the same thing. The people who followed him, although they also recorded events and scenes of their own time, tended to re-record, interpret and in a sense celebrate the old West. Merritt Dana Houghton did this very thing. He first came to Wyoming in 1875 and lived in Laramie, Saratoga and Encamp- ment. On the basis of personal experience he produced a large number of pictures of mines, ranches and landscapes. These pic- tures provide us with a rare and valuable record of life in the state at the turn of the century. Views of historic events, forts, river crossings and towns came as a result of careful research and in 1897 C. G. Coutant used many of these Houghton pictures to illustrate his History of Wyoming. Houghton later wrote and illustrated a number of promotional booklets and was a photog- rapher as well.-'^'^ Merritt Houghton was one of the first resident Wyoming artists. His early contemporaries included A. A. Anderson, the first super- intendent of a national forest, and resident of the Palette ranch on the Greybull River. Anderson studied extensively in Europe and first visited Wyoming during a hunting trip in the 1880s. His art work assumed less importance in his later career than public ser- vice in the interest of game and land management. ^^ A comparable man to Anderson was a forest ranger from Dubois, Alfred G. Clayton. He frequently exhibited paintings at Wyoming art shows in the 1930s. Like Anderson, he was a capable writer; unlike Anderson, a picture had to include a horse, rider or perhaps an Indian before it interested to him.-^^ It is certainly appropriate that the "Cowboy State" should have cowboy artists, and Clayton was not the first painter in Wyoming to be interested in ranching and cowboys as his major subject matter. In the latter part of the nineteenth century grazing as- sumed such economic importance in the state that it is not sur- prising that painters like Frederic Remington recorded roundups, cattle drives and similar events. The romance of the cowboy and his daily life was as appealing eighty years ago as it is today. s^Sala Purdy Harrell, "Sketch on Merritt D. Houghton and Fannie Houghton," copy on file, Historical Research and Publications Division, Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department. Two booklets by Houghton are Merritt D. Houghton, A Portfolio of Wyoming Views, tlie Platte Valley and tlie Grand Encampment Mining District: Saratoga, Pearl, Dillon, Battle, Rambler, Rudefeha, (Grand Encampment: Press of the Herald Publishing Company, 1903) and Merritt D. Houghton, Views of Soutliern Wyoming: Copper Belt edition, (Grand Encampment: Herald Publishing Co., 1904). •"'^A. A. Anderson, Experiences and Impressions, The Autobiography of Colonel A. A. Anderson, (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1933). 5501ive Wills, "Artists of Wyoming," Annals of Wyoming, 1932, p. 696. A CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF ARTIST ACTIVITY 95 Frank Tenney Johnson was one of the more important painters of the cowboy to work in the state and he frequently spent his summers at the Rim Rock Ranch near Cody.'"'" The same area of Wyoming drew the young R. Farrington El well who for some time worked as manager for Buffalo Bill Cody's TE Ranch. Later he became known as "the Arizona Russell."''" Other cowboy artists had more fleeting experiences here. Edward Borein, whose artistic ties are much closer to California and the southwest, spent time in 1925, 1926 and 1927 at the Bradford Brinton Ranch in Big Horn.^^ — Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department Photo EUing WiUiam GoUings s^Harold McCracken, The Frank Tenney Johnson Book, A Master Paint- er of the Old West, (New York: Doubleday and Co., 1974); see also obituary, The Cody Enterprise, January 4, 1939; and Mary Jester Allen, "Cody Art," The Cody Enterprise, March 14, 1934. •"•■^Frederick A. Merk, "Last of the Old West Artists," Montana the Magazine of Western History, Winter 1957, pp. 58-63. •'•''Harold G. Davidson, Edward Borein. Cowboy Artist, The Life and Works of John Edward Borein 1872-1945, (New York: Doubleday and Co., Inc., 1974), pp. 117-118. 96 ANNALS OF WYOMING It was in the same area that the most original contribution to Wyoming's cowboy art was made. ElHng William GoUings, or Bill, as his friends knew him, was a working cowboy who received some art training in Chicago. He first arrived in Sheridan during the winter of 1902-1903 and spent the next several years working on the range. It was "those days along the Wyoming-Montana border, hunting, tending cattle and horses, riding with cowboy and Indian friends, visiting lonely ranches during the snowbound winter months, [which] gave Bill insight into the country and served him well in the years to come."^'' He lived and recorded a way of life that was vanishing as the fur trade vanished. Unfortunately, rec- ognition came late in his Ufe. He died prematurely in 1932 at the age of fifty-four, one of Wyoming's most notable resident artists. What Gollings did for the cowboy on canvas was matched on photographic paper by Charles J., or "Antelope Charlie" Belden. Belden made photography an art form whether he was taking pic- tures of "cows or cuties," and his views of cowboy life are a dramatic record unmatched by lesser artists confined to brush and canvas. Indeed, Belden seemed to find no limits in his work except for those imposed by nature itself, and all of the outdoors could be the subject of the camera as seen by his perceptive and sensitive eye.^*^ The natural scenery on Belden's Pitchfork Ranch near Mee- teetse was frequently the setting for his studies. Wyoming's moun- tainous areas, forested hills and gently rolling grasslands were the setting for other artists who focused their attention on the wildlife which abounded in such areas as Yellowstone, the Tetons, the Big Horns, and the Wind Rivers. Carl Rungius was born in Germany in 1869 and first came to this country in 1894. By the time of his death in 1959 he was recognized as an outstanding painter of North American big game animals. He made his first trip to Wyoming in 1895 and returned frequently in later years. He depicted moose, elk, mountain sheep and other wild game in his skillful sculpture and careful painting.^^ Other early twentieth century artists also found western wildlife to be of special interest. In 1906 James Lippit Clark, a taxider- mist and sculptor from the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, visited Wyoming. He was dissatisfied with having to study animals in eastern cages and wanted to view them 59James Taylor Forrest, Bill Gollings, Ranahan Artist, (Big Horn: Brad- ford Brinton Memorial, 1969), pp. 8-9. ^^>Casper Times, August 16, 1938; The Cody Enterprise, March 22, 1939; Wyoming State Tribune-Eagle, July 22, 1947. "iLilian M. Cromelin, "Artists of the Outdoors, Carl Rungius, Huntsman- Painter," American Forests, June, 1929; and "Painter hunts for many months of the year in the Wind River Range, Wyoming, Denver Times, March 25, 1900, p. 22. A CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF ARTIST ACTIVITY 97 — Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department Photo Charles A. Belden Photograph "The Old Fiddler" in a natural setting. Notes and sketches he made in the field were later used in the creation of habitat groups at his museum. Bronze sculptures resulting from his studies were sold at Graham Gallery in New York.*^'- An officially sanctioned expedition was made to Wyoming in 1912 by J. D. Figgens for the Colorado Museum of Natural His- tory. The object was to collect bear specimens for the museum, and with the group went forty-six year-old William R. Leigh, an artist from New York who had studied widely in Europe. Fred Richards and Ned Frost of Cody were the group's guides. One grizzly bear killed on the expedition was painted by Leigh in a picture where the bear is shown towering over a fallen guide, surrounded by numerous snarling hunting dogs and facing certain 62Patricia Broder, Bronzes of the West. (New York: Abrams & Co., 1973), p. 252. 98 ANNALS OF WYOMING death at the hands of a rapidly approaching hunter. The picture has been described as "one of the greatest hunting scenes in American Art."^-^ Leigh was well known for his precision in depicting anatomy and "Wyoming Bear Hunt" is a good example. He also appre- ciated western scenery and is known to have painted landscapes in Yellowstone and the Tetons. An equal appreciation for the western landscape and for the men and animals of that environment is found in the work of Hans Kleiber, who spent most of his life in Wyoming. He first came to the state in 1907, maintained a home and studio in Dayton and died in Sheridan in 1967. Although he worked effectively with oils and watercolors, Kleiber was best known for his prints and —Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department Photo Hans Kleiber "•"•Dean Krakel, "Mr. Leigh and his Studio," Montana Magazine of West- ern History, July, 1967, pp. 44-45. A CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF ARTIST ACTIVITY 99 has been referred to as "the Laureate etcher of the Rockies. "*''^ Hans Kleiber was one of the most outstanding of Wyoming's resi- dent artists and his works were prominent in many of the state's early art exhibitions. Although Colorado had a formal association of artists''"' as early as 1876, Wyoming, by way of contrast, failed to foster any formal groups until the days of depression and federal aid to the arts.*'" In 1932 the University of Wyoming Art Studio sponsored its first annual "Wyoming Artists' Exhibition." Many of the people repre- sented had been residents of the state for some time but this was one of the first occasions on which their work was assembled for a single show. University shows continued throughout the 1930s. As early as the 1920s, artist colonies were formed in the Tetons and in Cody."^ It was the Federal Government, however, which provided the greatest boon to artist activity in Wyoming. During the depression various relief programs helped provide jobs for artists. In Wyo- ming, the projects were relatively small but the creation of art galleries around the state provided an important exhibition service for painters and sculptors. The first of these galleries was opened in 1936 and by 1942 there were ten in the state located in Laramie, Torrington, New- castle, Sheridan, Casper, Riverton, Lander, Rawhns, Rock Springs, and Evanston. Other federal programs provided employment for artists in the form of commissions to paint murals to decorate federal buildings in Kemmerer, Worland, Powell, GreybuU, Riv- erton, and Yellowstone Park.''^ Thomas Hart Benton once characterized the middle western states with "the most complete denial of aesthetic sensibility that has probably ever been known. "*''' And, except for the many artists who visited Wyoming, this would almost seem to be true. However, the present study has excluded the pioneer artisans and craftsmen such as saddle makers and metal workers who gave aesthetic qualities to many items in everyday use, a discussion of 64James Taylor Forrest, Hans Kleiber, Artist of the Big Horns, (Big Horn: The Bradford Brinton Memorial, 1968); see also obituary in Sher- idan Press, December 9, 1967. 65Pat Trenton, Harvey Otis Young, pp. 6-7. 66For an introduction to this subject see, H. R. Dieterich and Jacqueline Petravage, "New Deal Art in Wyoming: Some Case Studies," Annals of Wyoming, Spring 1973, pp. 53-67. (iTRock Springs Daily Rocket, April 6, 1940. ^^Sheridan Press, September 22, 1938 and Cody Enterprise, November 22, 1938. 69j_ B Smith, "Art Galleries: Wyoming's small-town educational enter- prise," The Clearing House, February, 1942, pp. 351-353; see also. Dieterich and Petravage, "New Deal Art in Wyoming . . ." 100 ANNALS OF WYOMING ethnographic or Indian art, petroglyphs and pictographs, is not included, and only a few photographers have been mentioned.^" For a one -hundred -year period from the time Alfred Jacob Miller first came to the area that is now Wyoming until the inau- guration of New Deal aid to art in the mid 1930s, the state was artistically the land of the itinerant. Most painting in the state was done by visitors and although many of them made numerous trips west, most of their experiences in Wyoming were fleeting. Altogether their works provide part of a rich artistic heritage for the area and when viewed as a whole they serve as a microcosm of Western art and Western history. ''^OF. Gardner Clough, "Exhibit of Wyoming Art in New York Impres- sive," Casper Tribune Herald, June 7, 1936; for biographical information on many of Wyoming's artists in the 1930's see, Wills, "Artists of Wyoming." 100 YEARS AGO 101 Focus of this issue of Annals of Wyoming is on events of one hundred years ago, the period being emphasized in Wyoming during the Bicentennial year. The cover photograph is the Seal of the Territory of Wyoming. It was in use from 1869 to 1890, when Wyoming became the forty-fourth state of the Union, and was the official emblem of the Territory in 1876. The photograph was provided by the Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department. As is well known, the music on Tuesday, the "Centennial Fourth," will be by the now famous Second Cavalry Band. Mr. Sullivan has brought this band to a standard, not only higher than anything before known in this country, but little less than the best known organizations in the East. It may be interesting to know the component parts of this small musical brigade. They are as follows: One picolo, one E flat clarinet, five B flat clarinets, one E flat comet, four 8 flat comets, one E flat trumpet of the most improved kind, one solo sax horn in E flat, four accompaniment alto homs, three trombones, one baritone, one euphonium, two bass tubas, side drum, bass drum, and cymbals. Mr. Sullivan has impressed new vitality into the band, and his efforts have received the most enthusiastic and hearty support from his officers, with dilligent and painstaking attention from the musicians. The band will be present during the entire day on the Fourth, and will close the festivities with an open air concert in the evening, for which an ambitious and varied programme has been prepared. — Laramie Daily Sentinel July 2, 1876 The citizens of Green River City have made the most liberal arrangements for the celebration of the Centennial 4th of July, at the county seat of Sweetwater County. Invitations have been extended to all the people along the line of that county from Rawlins to Evanston. A fine shady place has been selected on the island near the bridge crossing Green River. Prizes for humorous races were arranged. It is a picnic free to all. Music and all kinds of amuse- ments will lend their enchantments on the occasion. The Declara- tion of Independence will be read by Col. Brownson, and an oration by J. W. Stillman. Fireworks in the evening, followed by a ball, and a supper at the Ward House, will end the festivities of the day. A full report of the incidents of the day will be forwarded by your correspondent if of sufficient interest to your readers. Enough at present. Laramie Daily Sentinel July 4, 1876 "LARAMIE; ii OK. THE QUEEX OF BEDLAM. A STORY OF THE SIOUX WAR OF 18T6. BY W'l CXFTAIK COAnLKS KING, UAA., | .« or ^.m .ore....,-. ..v...rn/' '•....-•. r.,t«r "tH. .e^^E^ l^oSilMf^ J, B. LirnxcoTT CO-MrA>-Y Captain King's Centennial year Cook at 7ort jCaramie, Wyoming By Paul L. Hedren Captain Charles King, the soldier-novehst, left us many valuable accounts of 19th century army life. Although most of the nearly sixty books he penned were fictional in nature, an identifiable thread of fact always was woven into those stories. For example, many of King's fictional characters were modeled after real-life counterparts. This was especially true in some of his earlier works, where Fifth Cavalry friends and associates became the heroes and villains that promenaded through story after story. Some of King's sketches were autobiographical in nature; he merely substituted the fictional Mr. Billings for himself. Nearly all his books had settings and scenery patterned after real places. This quality is especially apparent in King's "Laramie;" or, The Queen of Bed- lam. In this 277-page novel, readers are given an interesting and accurately detailed tour of one of the most famous of all frontier outposts. Fort Laramie. And what is more, that examination comes when Fort Laramie was at its pinnacle of strategic impor- tance — the summer of the Centennial Year, 1876. Although Charles King was never actually stationed at Fort Laramie, he had many opportunities to examine the post. His first visit probably was in 1876, the very time he writes about in Laramie. During that year he passed through several times with the Fifth U. S. Cavalry Regiment as they moved to the field of operations against the hostile Sioux and Cheyenne Indians. Then from late 1876 to mid-1878, he was with the Fifth at its head- quarters station. Fort D. A. Russell. King was adjutant of the regiment and in this official capacity, he no doubt had many opportunities to call at Fort Laramie, either on business or socially. King's visits, frequent or infrequent as may be the case, were suf- ficient for him to fully examine the post. He certainly walked the grounds, and he had to have been in many of the fort's buildings because his descriptions of them are so precise. (Engraving opposite page) — Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department Photo Title Page of First Edition of "Laramie;" or. The Queen of Bedlam 104 ANNALS OF WYOMING What follows are samplings of Captain King's look at Fort Laramie, including examinations of the buildings, the locality and the military situation in 1876. All have been gleaned from the 1889 first edition of "Laramie;" or, The Queen of Bedlam. For reference, pagination has been incorporated into the text and is identified with parentheses. For those unfamiliar with the setting of Fort Laramie, it is situated in the picturesque Laramie River valley of southeastern Wyoming, about a mile from the confluence of that stream and the North Platte River. King describes the scene in early spring: The snow had gone from all the foot-hills and had long since dis- appeared in the broad river bottom. It was fast going from the neighboring mountains, too — -both the streams told plainly of that, for while the Platte rolled along in great, swift surges under the Engineer Bridge, i its smaller tributary — the "Larmie," as the soldiers called it — came brawling and foaming down its stony bed and sweep- ing around the back of the fort with a wild vehemence that made some of the denizens of the south end decidedly nervous. The rear windows of the commanding officer's house looked out upon a rush- ing torrent, and where the surgeon lived, at the south-west angle, the waters lashed against the shabby old board fence that had been built in by-gone days, partly to keep the children and chickens from tum- bling into the stream when the water was high, partly to keep out the marauding coyotes (5) when the water was low. South and west the bare, gray-brown slopes shut out the horizon and limited the view. Eastward lay the broad, open valley beyond the confluence of the streams, — bare and level along the crumbling banks, bare and rolling along the line of the foot-hills. Northward the same brown ridges were tumbling up like a mammoth wave a mile or so beyond the river, while between the northen limits of the garrison proper and the banks of the larger stream there lay a level "flat," patched here and there with underbrush, and streaked by a winding tangle of hoof- and wheel-tracks that crossed and re-crossed each other, yet led, one and all, to the distant bridge that spanned the stream, and thence bore away northward like the tines of a pitchfork, the one to the right going over the hills a three days' march to the Indian agencies . . ., the other leading more to the west around a rugged shoulder of bluff, and then stretching away due north for the headwaters of the Nio- brara and the shelter of the jagged flanks of Rawhide Butte. Only in shadowy clusters up and down the stream was there any sign of timber. Foliage, of course, there was none. Cottonwood and willow in favored nooks along the Platte were just beginning to shoot forth their tiny pea-green tendrils in answer to the caressing touch of the May-day sunshine (6). Prominent on the fort's western horizon is the majestic Laramie Peak. It rises to 10,274 feet in elevation and is situated in the midst of the Laramie Range of mountains, the "Black Hills" to the early Oregon and California bound pioneers. Says King: iThe "Engineer Bridge" mentioned here is the 1875 army bridge on the North Platte River. This bridge has been restored by the National Park Service and today is part of Fort Laramie National Historic Site. CAPTAIN KING'S LOOK AT FORT LARAMIE 105 — Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department Photo Brigadier General Charles King April had been a month of storm and bluster and huge, wanton wastes of snow, whirling and drifting down from the bleak range that veiled the valley of the Laramie from the rays of the westering sun; and any one who chose to stroll to the bluffs on that side . . . could easily see the gleaming, glistening sides of the grand old peak, fully forty miles away, — all one sheen of frosty white that still defied the melting rays (7). Fort Laramie was under a peculiar strain in 1876. She had become the haven for the many "refugees" of that summer's cam- paign. All the army dependents, not only from the original pre- campaign Fort Laramie, but also from many of the other units called to the scene, had been left behind in the care of a skeleton garrison. Says Captain King: Every set of officers' quarters, therefore, was crowded to its full capacity, and a thing that never before had happened in the chron- icles of the old frontier post was now a matter of course. Even "Bedlam," the ramshackle, two-story frame rookery, once sacred to the bachelor element, had now two families quartered therein . . .(15). 106 ANNALS OF WYOMING Further, he reports: The compact little post of Fort Laramie looked hardly big enough to contain its population .... The little quadrangle, surrounded as its was by quarters and houses of every conceivable pattern except that which was modern and ornamental, was all alive with romping chil- dren and with sauntering groups of ladies chatting with the few cava- liers who happened to be available (33). The single most recognizable building at Fort Laramie, even today, is the bachelor officers quarters, nicknamed "Bedlam." This BOQ was the very first building erected by the army after they bought the fort site from the American Fur Company in 1849. The pet name "Bedlam" originated early in the fort's history. It refers to the confusion and uproar that radiated from the building when bachelor officers used it. Someone supposedly compared such chaos to similar pandemonium which issued from the Beth- lehem Hospital in London, England — an insane asylum. In the following passages from Queen of Bedlam, disregarded the For- rests, the Posts and the other people mentioned. Instead, read one of the finest contemporary reports on the building and its use that is known to exist. . . . the Forrests had moved into "Bedlam" in the same hallway with the family of Lieutenant Post, also refugees from Robinson; but while the Posts occupied rooms on the lower floor, the Forrests took the four chambers overhead. The young cavalry officers were the occu- pants up to the outbreak of the campaign, but all their furniture and "traps" were summarily moved to the quartermaster's storehouse by order of the commanding officer, — and one trip of one wagon did the entire job, — for the emergency was one that called for action, and Major Miller was a man to meet it. The Forrests and the Posts, therefore, were (18) now sole occupants of the south end of "Bed- lam," and Lieutenant McLean's two rooms were on the ground-floor of the north end. The hall-ways ran entirely through from east to west, giving on the west side into court-yards separated from each other by a high board fence and completely enclosed by one of similar make. On the east side, fronting the roadway, were broad verandas on both first and second floors, and these were common property of the occupants of both halls. By the rear or west door they could not pass from one hall to the other, on account of the intervening fence. By the east door the veranda on either story found a convenient thoroughfare. The Forrests and Posts . . . had established a dining- room in common on the ground-floor of the south end, and the temporary kitchen was knocked up in the back yard. The south division, therefore, contained a lively colony of women and children; the north halls, only empty rooms and two lone bachelors (19). From the back, or west side, one looked . . . out through the side-Hght upon the unpicturesqueness of the yards, the coal- and wood-sheds, the rough, unpainted board fences; the dis- mantled gate, propped in most inebriate style against its bark-covered post, and clinging thereto with but a single hinge (230). It is continually evident in Laramie that Charles King had a fine grasp of the physical layout of the old post. His characters CAPTAIN KING'S LOOK AT FORT LARAMIE 107 "tramped about in the deep snow around the laundresses' quar- ters;" utiUzed the "clubroom at the store;" "walked past the old ordnance storehouse and the lighted windows of the trader's estab- lishment;" hid in the "shadows of the quartermaster's warehouse;" and viewed and used the countless other structures that comprised the fort. King, too, had a keen understanding of the dangerous Indian situation that existed through 1876. One of Queen of Bedlam's principal characters . . . had a large cattle-range farther to the south, beyond the Chug- water and comparatively removed from the scene of Indian hostility and depredation; but such had become the laxity of discipline on the part of the bureau officials, or such was their dread of their turbulent charges at the reservations, that, from time to time, marauding parties of young warriors had been raiding from the agencies during the month of April, crossing the Platte River and dashing down on the outskirts of the great cattle-herds south of Scott's Bluff and in the valleys of Horsehead and Bear Creeks. One party had even dared to attack the ranches far up the Chugwater Valley at the crossing of the Cheyenne road; another had ridden all around Fort Laramie, fording the Platte above and below; and several of them had made away with dozens of head of cattle . . .(46). 2 You have probably wondered just who was the "Queen of Bedlam." According to King, she was a winsome young lady, falsely accused of stealing large sums of money at Forts Robinson, Nebraska, and Laramie. She never was overly worried, however, about her predicament. Instead, her concern lay in her changing status within the cliques of the garrison. She commented, "It is something to be a queen, if it's only the queen of Bedlam (45)." Incidentally, she was cleared of all charges. "Laramie;" or, The Queen of Bedlam has proven to be one of Captain King's most enduring novels. First published in 1889, it was reissued by the J. B. Lippincott Company of Philadelphia in 1890, 1892, 1894, 1896, 1900, 1905 and 1909. If reprinted today, no doubt it would again be well accepted by readers. One could examine any of King's sixty-odd books and discover the same or similar merits demonstrated in Laramie. ^King's passage here is drawn on fact. Fort Laramie's garrison, most notably Company K of the Second Cavalry Regiment, was continually chasing hostile Indian raiders south of the North Platte River. A record of events for Company K in 1876, can be found in The Fort Laramie Cavalry Barracks Furnishings Study, by Don Rickey, Jr. and James W. Sheire, (Washington: National Park Service, 1969), pp. 62-63. In this regard, 1876 was not an exceptional year. On February 9, 1874, for example. Lieutenant Levi H. Robinson, 14th U. S. Infantry, and another soldier were killed by Indians near Laramie Peak, located some thirty miles south and west of the North Platte. All activity by the Sioux south of the North Platte River was in direct violation of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. 108 ANNALS OF WYOMING Some historians in this century have been quick to judge King's works as little more than romantic Victorian fiction, while others consider this evaluation incorrect and unfair. Western historian and King biographer Don Russell best sums up the argument in favor of King, calling the Captain's contributions not art, but photography.'^ "Laramie;" or, the Queen of Bedlam bears this out with its vivid picture of Fort Laramie in 1876. •'•Don Russell, "Captain Charles King, Chronicler of the Frontier," The Westerners Brand Book (Chicago), March, 1952, p. 1. ;iuHe25, 1876 In this centennial year of the Battle of the Little Big Horn a great deal of Custer material is being published. Some of it already is familiar to Western and Custer historians, while some of it, if not new, has been seen only rarely. It is hoped that the three short Custer articles which follow are unique. Although none are being published here for the first time, all of them have probably had a fairly limited audience and will be of interest to Annals of Wyoming readers. "Custer's Last Battle," by Captain Charles King, is republished here through the courtesy of Frank Mercatante and Custer Ephemera Publications, Grand Rapids, Michigan. One thousand copies were printed in 1975 as Custer Ephemera Publication Number Eight. "General Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, June 25, 1876," by Elizabeth B. Custer, Reprint #1, Custer Ephemera Society, limited to 300 copies, bore the original imprint: New-York. Printed, Not Published. 1897. It is also used here with Mr. Mercatante's permission. A typescript copy of the Sheridan News feature story, "Is General Custer Alive Today?" is filed in the WPA manuscript collection at the Historical Research and Publications Division of the Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department. CUSTER'S LAST BATTLE By Captain Charles King, U.S.A. Introduction by Paul L. Hedren "Custer's Last Battle," by Captain Charles King (1844-1933), has gar- nered very little attention through the years from the Custer and Charles King enthusiasts. And this is surprising considering that no other military writer was better respected and had as large a following as did King during the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Charles King was a most remarkable man. His military career spanned over seventy years. Following graduation from the United States Military Academy in 1866, he served first with the 1st Artillery Regiment, and then with the 5th U. S. Cavalry. He was wounded in combat against Apaches at Sunset Pass, Arizona, in 1874. He campaigned on the Northern Plains in 1876, and participated in several engagements, including Slim Buttes, and the famous "Starvation March." Recurring problems with his Apache wounds, however, forced his retirement from the regular army in 1879. Retirement for Charles King did not mean inactivity. By 1880, he had embarked upon a three-fold career that included work as a professor at the University of Wisconsin, instructor and officer in the Wisconsin State Mili- tia, and writer of military history and fiction. Because of his continued association with the militia after his retirement from the U. S. Army, at the time of his death he had become one of few men entitled to wear American service medals from the Civil War, Indian Wars, Spanish American War. Phliippine Insurrection, and the Victory Medal from World War I. King's greatest lasting tribute though, comes as a result of his literary skill. He penned nearly sixty books and several hundred magazine articles no ANNALS OF WYOMING during his lifetime. Most all dealt with the "Old Army" of the late 19th Century. The quality of his work did vary, but most of it was very good and is surprisingly readable yet today. The article "Custer's Last Battle" was published in the August, 1890, Harper's New Monthly Magazine. In it. Captain King provides readers with a good review of the 1870's Indian hostilities. He analyzes briefly the inept government Indian policy. He examines the Sioux war culture that equated manhood with bloodthirsty killing. Then he discusses the military campaign of 1876, with special emphasis, of course, on the Custer move- ments and battle. Captain King always had good words for the Seventh Cavalry Regiment. In his book Campaigning with Crook, for instance, he remarked that there was something in their snap and style that identified them at once, without need of fluttering guidon or stirring trumpet. He expounds in a similarly flattering manner in "Custer's Last Battle." King had little praise for Major Reno however, and the implication is apparent that if blame should be directed at anyone for the tragedy at the Little Big Horn, most of it should go to that officer. This is an observation that carries considerable weight with this reviewer, especially when we remember that King taught military tactics for many years at such schools as West Point, the University of Wisconsin, and at private military academies. "Custer's Last Battle" has long deserved a wider circulation. It is an interesting examination of America's most famous Indian fight, written by a perceptive contemporary. It is a tribute to Frank Mercatante for making this reprinting possible. It is hard to say how many years ago the Dakotas of the upper Mississippi, after a century of warring with the Chippewa nation, began to swarm across the Missouri in search of the buffalo, and there became embroiled with other tribes claiming the country farther west. Dakota was the proper tribal name, but as they crossed this Northwestern Rubicon into the territory of unknown foemen they bore with them a title given them as far east as the banks and bluffs of the Father of Waters. The Chippewas had called them for years "the Sioux" (Soo), and by that strange un-Indian sounding title is known to this day the most numerous and powerful nation of red people - warriors, women, and chil- dren - to be found on our continent. They were in strong force when they launched out on their career of conquest west of the Missouri. The Yellowstone and its beautiful and romantic tributaries all belonged to the Absarakas, or Crows; the rolling prairies of Nebraska were the homes of the Pawnees; the pine-crested heights of the Black Hills were claimed as the head-quarters of the Cheyennes and Arrapahoes; the west- em slopes of the Big Horn range and the broad valleys between them and the Rockies were owned by the Shoshones, or Snakes; wild roving bands of Crees swarmed down along the north shore of the Missouri itself. With each and all of these, with the Chippewas behind them, and eventually with the white invaders, the Dakotas waged relent- less war. They drove the Pawnees across the Platte far into Kansas; they whipped the Cheyennes and Arrapahoes out of the JUNE 25, 1876 111 Arkansas; they fought the Shoshones back into the Wind River Valley, with orders never again to cross the "dead line" of the Big Horn River; and they sent the Crows "whirling" up the valley of the Yellowstone (which they proceeded to call the Elk); and when our great war broke out in 1861 they lent valuable aid and comfort to the rebellion by swooping down on our settlements in Minnesota without the faintest warning, and slaughtering hundreds of defenceless women and children, from whom they were begging or stealing but the day before. General Sully, with a strong com- mand, was sent to give them a severe lesson in payment for their outrages, and he marched far into their territory, and fought them wherever they would assembly in sufficient force to block his way, but it did no lasting good. When '66 came, and our emigrants began settling up the West, they found the Sioux more hostile and determined than ever. The army was called on to protect the settlers, and to escort the surveyors of the transcontinental rail- ways. Not a stake was driven, not an acre cleared, except under cover of the rifles of the regulars, and while the nation seemed rejoicing in unbroken peace and increasing prosperity, its little army was having anything but a placid time of it on the frontier. In the ten years that immediately preceded the centennial celebra- tion at Philadelphia, the cavalry regiments had no rest at all; they were on the war-path winter and summer; and during those ten years of "peace" more officers of the regular army were killed or died of wounds received in action with the Indians than the British army lost in the entire Crimean war, with its bloody battles of the Alma, Balaklava, Inkerman, and the assaults on Sebastopol. The Indians were always scientific fighters, but when, in '74 and '75, they succeeded in arming themselves with breech-loaders and mag- azine rifles, the Sioux of the Northern plains became foemen far more to be dreaded than any European cavalry. Treaties had been made and broken. A road had been built through the heart of the country they loved the best - the north- eastern slope and foot-hills from the Big Horn to the Yellowstone; and far up in this unsettled region, surrounded by savages, little wooden stockaded forts had been placed and garrisoned by piti- fully small detachments of cavalry and infantry. From Fort Laramie down on the Platte far up to the rich and populous Gallatin Valley of Montana only those little forts, Reno, Phil Kearny, and C. F, Smith, guarded the way. One day vast hordes of Sioux gathered in the ravines and canons around Phil Kearny. Machpealota (Red Cloud) was their leader. They sent a small party to attack the wood-choppers from the fort, who were working with their little escort. Two companies of infantry and one of cavalry went out to the rescue. These were quickly surrounded and hemmed in, then slowly massacred. After that for ten long years the Sioux held undisputed sway in their chosen country. Our forts were burned and abandoned. The Indian allies of the 112 ANNALS OF WYOMING Black Hills, and down to the head waters of the Kaw and the Dakotas joined hands with them, and a powerful nation or con- federacy of nearly 60,000 souls ruled the country from the Big Horn River on the northwest down to the Union Pacific Railway. No longer dared they go south of that. Taking with them the Cheyennes and Arrapahoes, who had intermarried with them, the Sioux fell back to the North Platte and the territory beyond. From there they sent raiding parties in every direction. One Secretary of the Interior after another had tried the experiment of feeding, clothing, bribing them to be good. Agencies and reservations were established at convenient points. Here the old chiefs, the broken- down men, and the non-combatant women and children made their permanent homes, and here the old and vigorous young chiefs and warriors, laughing at the credulity of the Great Father, filled up their pouches and parfleches with rations and ammunition, then went whooping off on the war path against the whites wherever found, and came back scalp-laden to the reservation when they needed more cartridges or protection from the pursuing soldiery, who could fire on them only when caught outside the lines. Two great reservations were established southeast of the Black Hills in the valley of the White River. One of these was the bailiwick of the hero of the Phil Kearny massacre, old Red Cloud, and here were gathered most of his own tribe (the Ogalallas) and many of his chiefs; some "good," Uke Old -Man -Afraid -of -his - Horses and his worthy son, but most of them crafty, cunning, treacherous, and savage, like Red Dog, Little-Big-Man, American Horse, and a swarm of various kinds of Bulls and Bears and Wolves. Further down the stream, twenty miles away, were the head-quarters of the Brules, Spotted Tail's people, and "Old Spot" was loyal to the backbone, though powerless to control the move- ments of the young men. Other reservations there were along the Missouri, and into these reservations the Department of the Inter- ior strove to gather all the Sioux nation, in the vague hope of keeping them out of mischief. But the young Indian takes to mischief of that description as the young duck to the water. The traditions of his people tell of no case where respect was accorded to him who had not killed his man. Only in deeds of blood or battle could he hope to win distinction, and the vaccillating policy of the government enabled him to sally forth at any time and return at will to the reservations, exhibiting to the admiring eyes of friends and relations the dripping scalps of his white victims. The fact that the victims were shot from ambush, or that the scalps were solely those of helpless women and children, detracted in no wise from the value of the trophies. The perpetrator had won his spurs according to the aboriginal code, and was a "brave" henceforth. But there were those who never would come in, and never signed a treaty. Herein they were entitled to far more respect JUNE 25, 1876 113 than those who came, saw and conquered - by fraud; and one of those who persistently refused, and whose standard was a rallying point for the disaffected and treacherous of every tribe, was a shrewd "medicine chief" of the Uncapapas, a seer, prophet, states- man, but in no sense a war chief, the now celebrated Tatonka-e- Yotanka - Sitting Bull. Far out in the lovely fertile valleys of the Rosebud, the Tongue, the Little Big Horn, and the Powder rivers. Sitting Bull and his devoted followers spent their days. Sheltered from storm and tempest by the high bluffs through long, hard winters, living in the midst of untold thousands of buffalo, elk, mountain sheep, ante- lope, and deer, rejoicing in the grandest scenery on the continent, and in a chmate that despite its rigor during the midwinter months is unparalleled for life-giving qualities, it is no wonder they loved and clung to it - their "Indian story land" - as they did to no other. But here flocked all the renegades from other tribes. Here came the wild and untamable Ogalalla, Brule, Minneconjou, San Arc, Uncapapa, Blackfoot; here were all warriors welcomed; and from here time and again set forth the expeditions that spread terror to settler and emigrant, and checked the survey of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Eighteen hundred and seventy -five found trouble everywhere. White settlers swarmed in the Black Hills in search of gold. Ogalallas and Brules stole their stock and killed their herders, claiming that the land was theirs and the whites were invaders. Sitting Bull's ranks swarmed with recruits from far to the southeast. The Interior Department found it useless to temporize. Orders were given to the army to bring him in or "snuff him out." Early in March, '76, General George Crook, famous for his successes with the Indians in Oregon and Arizona, was started up into the Sioux country with a strong force of cavalry and infantry. On "Patrick's Day in the morning," long before he was anywhere near Sitting Bull himself, his advance struck a big Indian village deep in the snows of the Powder River. It was 30° below zero; the troops were faultily led by the officer to whom he had intrusted the duty, and the Sioux developed splendid fighting qualities under a new and daring leader, "Choonka-Witko" — Crazy Horse. Crook's advance recoiled upon the main body, practically defeated by the renegades from the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail agencies. Early in May, warned by this lession, three great expeditions pushed for- ward into the "Indian story land," where by this time full six thousand warriors had rallied around Sitting Bull. From the south came General Crook, with nearly twenty-five hundred men. From the east marched General Terry, with almost as many infantry and cavalry as had Crook, and a few light pieces of artillery. Down the Yellowstone from the west General Gibbon led a little band of long-trained frontier soldiers, scouting by the way, and definitely "locating" the Indians over on the Rosebud before forming his 114 ANNALS OF WYOMING junction with General Terry near the mouth of the Tongue. If Sitting Bull had been alive to the situation, Gibbon's small force could never have finished that perilous advance, though they might have stood and defended themselves; but Bull was not a general; his talents lay elsewhere. Early in June Crook's command was on the northeast slope of the Big Horn, and General Sheridan, planning the whole campaign, saw with anxiety that vast numbers of Indians were daily leaving the reservations south of the Black Hills and hurrying northwest- ward around Crook to join Sitting Bull. The Fifth Regiment of Cavalry was then sent up by rail from Kansas to Cheyenne, and marched rapidly to the Black Hills to cut off these re-enforcements. The great mass of the Indians lay uneasily between Crook at the head waters of Tongue River and Terry and Gibbon near its mouth, watching every move, and utterly cutting off every attempt of the commanders to communicate with each other. They wor- ried Crook's pickets and trains, and by mid-June he determined to pitch in and see what force they had. On June 17th the General grappled with the Sioux on the bluffs of the Rosebud. He had several hundred Crow allies. The stirring combat lasted much of the day; but long before it was half over Crook was fighting on the defensive and cooly withdrawing his men. He had found a hornet's nest and knew it was no place for so small a command as his. Pulling out as best he could, he fell back to the Tongue, sent for the entire Fifth Cavalry and all his available infantry, and lay on his arms until they could reach him. He had not got within sight of the great Indian village — city it should be called — of Sitting Bull. Meantime Terry and Gibbon sent their scouts up stream. Major Reno, with a strong battaUon of the Seventh Cavalry, left camp on the Yellowstone to take a look up toward the Cheetish or Wolf Mountains. Sitting Bull and his people — men, women, and chil- dren — after their successful defence of the approaches to their home on the Rosebud on June 17th, seem to have bethought themselves of roomier and better quarters over in the broader valley of the Little Big Horn, the next stream to the west. Their "village" had stretched for six miles down the narrow canon of the Rosebud; their thousands of ponies had eaten off all the grass; they were victorious, but it was time to go. Coming up the Rosebud, Major Reno was confronted by the sight of an immense trail turning suddenly west and crossing the great divide over toward the setting sun. Experienced Indian fighters in his command told him that many thousand Indians had passed there within the last few days. Like a sensible man, he turned about and trotted back to report his discovery to his com- mander. Then it was that the tragedy of the campaign began. At the head of Terry's horsemen was the lieutenant-colonel commanding the Seventh Regiment of Cavalry, Brevet Major- JUNE 25, 1876 115 General George A. Custer, United States Army, a daring, dashing, impetuous trooper, who had won high honors as a division com- mander under Sheridan during the great war of the rebellion, who had led his gallant regiment against the Kiowas and the Cheyennes on the Southern plains, and had twice penetrated the Sioux country in recent campaigns. Experience he certainly had, but there were those, superiors and subordinates both, who feared that in dealing with so wily and skillful a foe Custer lacked judgement. All had not been harmonious in his relations with his commanders in the Department of Dakota, nor was there entire unanimity of feeling toward him in the regiment itself, but all men honored his unques- tioned bravery, and when General Terry decided to send his cav- alry at once to "scout the trail" reported by Reno, the command of the expedition fell naturally to Custer. Terry had promptly arrived at the conclusion that the Indians had simply moved their villages over into the valley of the Little Big Horn, and his plan was to send Custer along the trail to hold and hem them from the east, while he, with all his own and Gib- bon's command, pushed up the Yellowstone and Big Horn in boats; then, disembarking at the junction of the Big and Little Big Horn, to march southward until he struck the Indians on that flank. His orders to Custer displayed an unusual mingling of anxiety and forbearance. He seems to have feared that Custer would be rash, yet shrank from issuing a word that might reflect upon the discretion or wound the high spirit of his gallant leader of horse. He warned him to "feel" well out toward his left as he rode westward from the Rosebud, in order to prevent the Indians slipping off southeastward between the column and the Big Horn Mountains. He would not hamper him with positive orders as to what he must or must not do when he came in presence of the enemy, but he named the 26th of June as the day on which he and Gibbon would reach the valley of the Little Big Horn, an it was his hope and expectation that Custer would come up from the east about the same time, and between them they would be able to soundly thrash the assembled Sioux. But Custer disappointed him in an unusual way. He got there a day ahead of time, and had ridden night and day to do it. Men and horses were wellnigh used up when the Seventh Cavalry trotted into sight of the city on the Little Big Horn that cloudless Sunday morning of the 25th. When Terry came up the valley on the 26th, it was all over with Custer and his pet troops (companies) of the regiment. He started on the trail with the Seventh Cavalry, and nothing but the Seventh. A battalion of the Second was with Gibbon's col- umn; but, luckily for the Second, Custer would [have] none of them. Two field guns, under Lieutenant Low, were with Terry, and Low begged that he and his guns might be sent, but Custer wanted only his own people. He rode sixty miles in twenty-four 116 ANNALS OF WYOMING hours. He pushed ahead on the trail with feverish impatience, and he created an impression that it was his determination to get to the spot and have one battle royal with the Indians, in which he and the Seventh should be the sole participants on our side, and by consequence the sole heroes. The idea of defeat seems never to have occurred to him, despite his experience with old "Black Kettle's" bands down on the Washita. Only thirty miles away on his left, as he spurred ahead with his weary men that Sunday morning, over two thousand soldiers under Crook were in bivouac on Goose Creek. Had he "felt" any great distance out there the scouts would have met, and Crook would eagerly have reenforced him, but he wanted nothing of the kind. At daybreak his advance, under Lieutenant Varnum, had come upon the scaffold sepulchres of two or three warriors slain in the fight of the 1 7th, and soon thereafter sent back word that the valley of the Little Horn was in sight ahead, and there were "signs" of the village. Then it was that Custer made the division of his column. Keep- ing with himself the five companies whose commanders were his chosen friends and adherents, and leaving Captain Macdougall with his troops to guard the mule pack train in rear, he divided the six remaining companies between Major Reno and Captain Benteen, sending the latter some two miles off to the extreme left, while Reno moved midway between. In this order of three parallel columns the Seventh Cavalry swept rapidly westward over the "divide." Unlike the Second, Third, or Fifth Regiment when on Indian campaign, Custer's men rode into action with something of the pomp and panoply of war that distinguished them around their camps. Bright guidons fluttered in the breeze; many of the officers and men wore the natty undress uniform of the cavalry. Custer himself; his brother. Captain Tom Custer; his adjutant. Lieutenant Cook; and his old Army of the Potomac comrade. Captain Myles Keogh — were all dressed nearly alike in coats of Indian-tanned, beaver-trimmed buckskin, with broad-brimmed scouting hats of light color, and long riding-boots. Captain Yates seemed to prefer his undress uniform, as did most of the lieutenants in Custer's column. The two Custers and Captain Keogh rode their beautiful Kentucky sorrel horses, and the adjutant was mounted on his long- legged gray. The trumpeters were at the heads of columns with their chiefs, but the band of the Seventh, for once, was left behind, Custer's last charge was sounded without the accompaniment of the rollicking Irish fighting tune he loved. There was no "Garry Owen" to swell the chorus of the last cheer. Following Custer's trail from the Rosebud, one comes in sight of the Little Big Horn, winding away northward to its junction with the broader stream. South are the bold cliffs and dark canons of the mountains, their foot-hills not twenty miles away. JUNE 25, 1876 117 North, tumbling and rolling toward the Yellowstone in alternate "swale" and ridge, the treeless, upland prairie stretches to the horizon. Westward, the eye roams over what seems to be a broad flat valley beyond the stream; but the stream itself — the fatal "Greasy Grass," as the Sioux called it — is hidden from sight under the steep bluffs that hem it in. Coming from the mountains, it swings into sight far to the left front, comes rippling toward us in its fringe of cottonwoods and willows, and suddenly disappears under or behind the huge rolling wave of bluff that stretches right and left across the path. For nearly six miles of its tortuous course it cannot be seen from the point where Custer drew rein to get his first view of the village. Neither can its fringing willows be seen, and — fatal and momentous fact — neither could hundreds of the populous "lodges" that clustered along its western bank. Eagerly scanning the distant "tepees" that lay beyond the northern point — Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department Photo This Drawing by Gail Mercatante is the Cover Illustration for "Custer's Last Battle," Custer Ephemera Publications 118 ANNALS OF WYOMING where the bluff dipped to the stream, and swinging his broad- brimmed hat about his head in an ecstasy of soldierly anticipation, he shouted: "Custer's luck! The biggest Indian village on the continent!" And he could not have seen one-third of it. But what he saw was enough to fire the blood of any soldier. Far to the northwest and west huge clouds of dust rose billowing from the broad valley. Far across the hidden stream could be seen the swarming herds of ponies in excited movement. Here, there, and everywhere tiny dots of horsemen scurrying away could be readily distinguished, and down to the right front, sown along what could be seen of the village around that shoulder of bluff, all was lively turmoil and confusion; lodges were being hurriedly taken down, and their occupants were fleeing from the wrath to come. We know now that the warriors whom he saw dashing westward were mainly the young men hurrying out to "round up" the pony herds; we know now that behind those sheltering bluffs were still thousands of fierce warriors eager and ready to meet "Long Hair"; we know that the signs of panic and retreat were due mainly to the rush to get the women and little children out of the way; ponies and dogs, hastily hitched to the dust-raising travois, dragged the wondering pappooses and frightened squaws far out over the west- ward slopes; but seeing the scurry and panic, Custer seems to have attached only one meaning to it. They were all in full retreat. The whole community would be on the run before he could strike them. Quickly he determined on his course, Reno should push ahead, get down into the valley, ford the stream, and attack the southern end of the village, while he with his pet companies should turn into the long winding ravine that ran northwestward to the stream, and pitch in with wild charge from the east. To Reno these orders were promptly given. A courier was sent to Benteen, far off to the left, notifying him of the "find"; and another galloped to Macdougall with orders to hurry up with the pack trains where the extra ammunition was carried. Custer knew it would be needed. Then the daring commander placed himself at the head of his own column, plunged down the slope, and, followed by his eager men, was soon out of sight, perhaps out of hearing of what might be taking place over in the valley behind the bluffs that rose on left higher with every furlong trotted. The last that Reno and his people ever saw of them alive was the tail of the column disap- pearing in a cloud of dust; then the cloud alone was to be seen hanging over their trail like a pall. Pushing forward, Reno came quickly to a shallow "cooley" (frontierism for gully) that led down through the bluff to the stream. A brisk trot brought him to the ford; his troopers plunged blithely through, and began to clamber the low bank on the west- em shore. He expected from the tenor of his orders to find an open, unobstructed valley, down which, five miles away at least, JUNE 25, 1876 119 he could see the lodges of the Indian village. It was with surprise, not unmixed with grave concern therefore, that, as he urged his horse through the willows and up to the level of the low "bench" beyond, he suddenly rode into full view of an immense township, whose southern outskirts were not two miles away. Far as he could see, the dust cloud rose above the excited villages; herds of war ponies were being driven in from the west on a mad run; old men, squaws, children, draught ponies, and travois were scurrying off toward the Big Horn, and Reno realized that he was in front of the assembled warriors of the whole Sioux nation. What Custer expected of Reno was, is generally believed, a bold, dashing charge into the heart of the village — just such a charge as he, Custer, had successfully led at the Washita, though it cost the life of Captain Hamilton, and eventually of many others. But Reno had no dash to speak of, and the sight that burst upon his eyes eliminated any that might be latent. He attacked, but the attack was nevertheless spiritless and abortive. Dismounting his men, he advanced them as skirmishers across the mile or more of prairie, firing as soon as he got within range of the village. No resistance of any consequence was made as he pushed northward, for the sudden appearance of his command was a total surprise to the Uncapapas and Blackfeet, whose villages were farthest south. Their scouts had signalled Custer's column trotting down the ravine, and those who had not rushed for safety to the rear were apparently rushing toward the Brule village in the centre as the point which Custer would be apt first to strike. Reno could have darted to the south end of the village, it is believed, before his approach could have been fairly realized. As it was, slowly and on foot, he traversed the prairie without losing a man, and was upon the lodges when a few shots were fired from the willows along the stream, and some mounted Indians could be seen swooping around his left flank. He had had no experience in Indian fighting. He simply seemed to feel that with his little command of two hundred men he could not drive the whole valley full of warriors, and in much perturbation and worry he sounded the halt, rally, and mount. Then for a few moments, that to his officers and men must have seemed hours, he paused irresolute, not knowing what to do. The Indians settled it for him. They well interpreted his hesi- tation. "The White Chief was scared"; and now was their chance. Man and boy they came tearing to the spot. A few well-aimed shots knocked a luckless trooper or two out of the saddle. Reno hurriedly ordered a movement by the flank toward the high bluffs across the stream to his right rear. He never thought to dismount a few cool hands to face about and keep off the enemy. He placed himself at the new head of column, and led the backward move. Out came the Indians, with shots and triumphant yells, in pursuit. The rear of the column began to crowd on the head; Reno struck a trot; the rear struck a gallop. The Indians came dashing up on 120 ANNALS OF WYOMING both flanks and close to the rear; and, then — then the helpless, horribly led troopers had no alternative. Discipline and order were all forgotten. In one mad rush they tore away for the stream, plunged in, sputtered through, and clambered breathlessly up the steep bluff on the eastern shore — an ignominious, inex- cusable panic, due mainly to the nerveless conduct of the major commanding. In vain had Donald Mcintosh and "Benny" Hodgson, two of the bravest and best loved officers in the regiment, striven to rally, face about, and fight with the rear of column. The Indians were not in overpowering numbers at the moment, and a bold front would have "stood off" double their force; but with the major on the run, and foremost in the run, the lieutenants could no noth- ing — but lose their own gallant lives. Mcintosh was surrounded, dragged from his horse and butchered close to the brink. Hodgson, shot out of saddle, was rescued by a faithful comrade, who plunged into the stream with him; but close to the farther shore the Indians picked him off, a bullet tore through his body, and the gallant little fellow, the pet and pride of the whole regiment, rolled dead into the muddy waters. Once well up the bluffs, Reno's breathless followers faced about and took in the situation. The Indians pursued no further, and even now were rapidly withdrawing from range. The major fired his pistol at the distant foe in paroxysmal defiance of the fellows who had stampede him. He was now up some two hundred feet above them, and it was safe — as it was harmless. Two of his best officers lay dead down there on the banks below; so, too, lay a dozen of his men. The Indians, men and even boys, had swarmed all around his people, and slaughtered them as they ran. Many more were wounded, but, for the present at least, all seemed safe. The Indians, except a few, had mysteriously withdrawn from their front. What could that mean? And, then, what could have become of Custer? Where, too, were Benteen and Macdougall with their commands? Over toward the villages, which they could now see stretching for five miles down the stream, all was shrill uproar and confusion; but northward the bluffs rose still higher to a point nearly opposite the middle of the villages — a point some two miles from them — and beyond that they could see nothing. Thither, however, had Custer gone, and suddenly, crashing through the sultry morning air, came the sound of fierce and rapid musketry — whole volleys — then one continuous rattle and roar. Louder, fiercer, it grew for full ten minutes. Some thought they could hear the ringing cheers of their comrades, and were ready to cheer in reply; some thought they heard the thrilling charge of the trumpets; many were eager to mount and rush to join their colonel, and with him to avenge Hodgson and Mcintosh, and retrieve the dark fortunes of their own battalion. But, almost as suddenly as it began, the heavy volleying JUNE 25, 1876 121 died away; the continuous rattle broke into scattering skirmish fire, then into sputtering shots, then only once in a while some distant rifle would crack feebly on the breeze, and Reno's men looked wonderingly in each other's faces. There stood the villages plain enough, and the firing had begun close under the bluffs, close to the stream, and had died way far to the north. What could it mean? Soon, with eager delight, the little commands of Benteen and Macdougall were hailed coming up the slopes from the east. "Have you seen anything of Custer?" was the first anxious inquiry. Benteen and Weir had galloped to a point of bluff a mile or more to the north, had seen swarms of Indians in the valley below, but not a sign of Custer's people. They could expect no aid from Custer, then, and there was only one thing left - intrench them- selves, and hold out as best they could till Terry and Gibbon should arrive. Reno had now seven "troops" and the pack train, abun- dant ammunition and supplies. The chances were in his favor. Now what had become of Custer? For him and his there was none left to tell the story except the Crow scout "Curley," who managed to slip away in a Sioux blanket during the thick of the fight, and our sources of information are solely Indian. The very next year a battalion of the Fifth Cavalry passed the battle-ground with a number of Sioux scouts who but a twelvemonth previous were fighting there the Seventh Cavalry. Half a dozen of them told their stories at different times and in different places, and as to the general features of the battle, they tallied with singular exactness. These fellows were mainly Brules and Ogalallas. Afterward we got the stories of the Uncapapas — most interesting of all — and from all these sources it was not hard to trace Custer's every move. One could almost portray his every emotion. Never realizing, as I believe, the fearful odds against him, believ- ing that he would find the village "on the run," and that between himself and Reno he could "double them up" in short order, Custer had jauntily trotted down to his death. It was a long five-mile ride from where he sighted the northern end of the village to where he struck its centre around that bold point of bluff, and from the start to the moment his guidons whirled into view, and his troopers came galloping "front into line" down near the ford, he never really saw the great village — never dreaming of its depth and extent. Rounding the bluff, he suddenly found himself face to face with thousands of the boldest and most skillful warriors of the prairies. He had hoped to charge at once into the heart of the village, to hear the cheers of Reno's men from the south. Instead he was greeted with a perfect fury of flame and hissing lead from the dense thicket of willow and cottonwood, a fire that had to be answered at once. Quickly he dismounted his men and threw them forward on the run, each fourth man holding, cavalry fashion, the 122 ANNALS OF WYOMING horses of the other three. The Hne seems to have swept in parallel very nearly with the general course of the stream, but to no pur- pose. The foe was ten to one in their front. Boys and squaws were shooting from the willows ("Oh, we had plenty of guns!" said our story-tellers); and worse than that, hundreds of young warriors had mounted their ponies and swarmed across the stream below him, hundreds more were following and circling all about him. And then it was that Custer, the hero of a hundred daring charges, seems to have realized that he must cut his way out. "Mount!" rang the trumpets, and leaving many a poor fellow on the ground, the troopers ran for their horses. Instantly from lodge and willow Ogalallas and Brules sprang to horse and rushed to the ford in mad pursuit. "Make for the heights!" must have been the order, for the first rush was eastward; then more to the left, as they found their progress barred. Then, as they reached higher ground, all they could see, far as they could see, circling, swooping, yelling like demons, and all the time keeping up their furious fire, were thousands of the mounted Sioux. Hemmed in, cut off, dropping fast from their saddles, Custer's men saw that retreat was impos- sible. They sprang to the ground, "turned their horses loose," said the Indians, and by that time half their number had fallen. A skirmish line was thrown out down the slope, and there they dropped at five yards' interval; there their comrades found them two days after. Every instant the foe rode closer and gained in numbers; every instant some poor fellow bit the dust. At last, on a mound that stands at the northern end of a httle ridge, Custer, with Cook, Yates, and gallant "Brother Tom," and some dozen soldiers, all that were left by this time, gathered in the last rally. They sold their lives dearly, brave fellows that they were; but they were as a dozen to the leaves of a forest at the end of twenty min- utes, and in less than twenty-five — all was over. Keogh, Calhoun, Crittenden, had died along the skirmish lines; Smith, Porter, and Reily were found with their men; so were the surgeons. Lord and De Wolf; so, too, were "Boston" Custer and the Herald correspondent; but two bodies were never recognized among the slain — those of Lieutenants Harrington and "Jack" Sturgis. Down a little "cooley" some thirty men had made a rush for their lives; the Sioux had simply thronged the banks shooting them as they ran. One trooper — an officer, said the Sioux — man- aged to break through their circle, the only white man who did, and galloped madly eastward. Five warriors started in pursuit — two Ogalallas, two Uncapapas, and a Brule, all well mounted. Fear lent him wings, and his splendid horse gained on all but an Uncapapa, who hung to the chase. At last, when even this one was ready to draw rein and let him go, the hunted cavalryman glanced over his shoulder, fancied himself, nearly overtaken, and placing the muzzle of his revolver at his ear, pulled the trigger, and sent his own bullet through his brain. His skeleton was pointed JUNE 25, 1876 123 out to the officers of the Fifth Cavalry the following year by one of the pursuers, and so it was discovered for the first time. Was it Harrington? Was it Sturgis? Poor "Jack's" watch was restored to his father some two years after the battle, having been traded off by Sioux who escaped to the British possessions; but no men- tion was made by these Indians of a watch thus taken. Three years ago there came a story of a new skeleton found still further from the scene. Shreds of uniform and the heavy gilding of the cavalry buttons lying near, as well as the expensive filling of several teeth, seem to indicate that this too may have been an officer. If so, all the missing are now accounted for. Of the twelve troops of the Seventh Cavalry, Custer led five that hot Sunday into the battle of the Little Big Horn, and of his portion of the regiment only one living thing escaped the vengeance of the Sioux. Bleeding from many wounds, weak and exhausted, with piteous appeal in his eyes, there came straggling into the lines some days after the fight Myles Keogh's splendid sorrel horse Comanche. Who can ever picture his welcome as the soldiers thronged around the gallant charger? To this day they guard and cherish him in the Seventh. No more duty does Comanche perform; no rider ever mounts him. His last great service was rendered that Sunday in '76, and now, sole living relic of Custer's last rally, he spends his days with the old regiment. But I have said that Sitting Bull was not the inspiration of the great victory won by the Sioux. With Custer's people slaughtered, the Indians left their bodies to the plundering hands of the squaws, and once more crowded upon Reno's front. There were two nights of wild triumph and rejoicing in the villages, though not one instant was the watch on Reno relaxed. All day of the 26th, they kept him penned in the rifle pits, but early on the 27th, with great com- motion, the lodges were suddenly taken down, and tribe after tribe, village after village, six thousand Indians passed before his eyes, making toward the mountains. Terry and Gibbon had come; Reno's relic of the Seventh was saved. Together they explored the field, and hastily buried the mutilated dead; then hurried back to the Yellowstone while the Sioux were hiding in the fastnesses of of the Big Horn. Of the rest of the summer's campaign no extended mention needed here. The Indians were shrewd enough to know that now at least the commands of Crook and Terry would be heavily re-enforced, and then the hunt would be relentless. Soon as their scouts reported the assembly of new and strong bodies of troops upon the Yellowstone and Platte, the great con- federation quietly dissolved. Sitting Bull, with many chosen fol- lowers, made for the Yellowstone, and was driven northward by General Miles. Others took refuge across the Little Missouri, whither Crook pursued, and by dint of hard marching and fighting that fall and winter many bands and many famous chiefs were whipped into surrender. Among these, bravest, most brilliant. 124 ANNALS OF WYOMING most victorious of all, was the hero of the Powder River fight on Patrick's Day, the warrior Crazy Horse. The fame of his exploit had reached the Indian camps along the Rosebud before this young chief, with his followers, Ogalalla and Brule, came to swell the ranks of Sitting Bull. Again, on the 17th of June, he had been foremost in the stirring fight with Crook, and when the entire band moved over into the valley of the Little Big Horn, and the Brulees, Ogalallas, and Sans Arcs pitched their tepees in the chosen ground, the very center of the camp, it is safe to say that among the best and experienced fighters, the tribes from the Wind River and their neighbors the Cheyennes, no chief was so honored and believed in as Crazy Horse. In pitching the new camp, the Blackfeet were farthest south — up stream; next came the Uncapapas, with their renowned medicine- man. Sitting Bull; then the Ogalallas, Brules, and Cheyennes, covering the whole "bottom" opposite the shoulder of bluff around which Custer hove in sight; farthest north were the Minneconjoux; and the great village contained at least six thousand aboriginal souls. Now up to this time Sitting Bull had no real claims as a war chief. Eleven days before the fight there was a "sun dance." His own people have since told us these particulars, and the best story- teller among them was that bright-faced squaw of Tatonka-he- gle-ska — Spotted Horn Bull — who accompanied the party on their Eastern trip. She is own cousin to Sitting Bull, and knows whereof she speaks. The chief had a trance and a vision. Solemnly he assured his people that within a few days they would be attacked by a vast force of white soldiers, but that the Sioux should triumph over them; and when the Crows and Crook's command appeared on the 17th, it was a partial redemption of his promise. Wary scouts saw Reno's column turning back down the Rosebud after discovering the trail, and nothing, they judged, would come from that quarter. All around Crook's camp on Goose Creek the indications were that the "Gray Fox" was simply waiting for more soldiers before he would again venture forth. Sitting Bull had no thought of new attack for days to come, when, early on the morn- ing of the 25th, two Cheyenne Indians who had started eastward at dawn came dashing back to the bluffs, and waiving their blankets, signalled, "White soldiers — heaps — coming quick." Instantly all was uproar and confusion. Of course women and children had to be hurried away, the great herds of ponies gathered in, and the warrior assembled to meet the coming foe. Even as the chiefs were hastening to the council lodge there came the crash of rapid volleys from the south. It was Reno's attack — an attack from a new and utterly unexpected quarter — and this, with the news that Long Hair was thundering down the ravine across the stream, was too much for Sitting Bull. Hurriedly gathering his household about him, he lashed his pony JUNE 25, 1876 125 to the top of his speed, and fled westward for safety. Miles he galloped before he dare stop for breath. Behind him he could hear the roar of battle, and on he would have sped but for the sudden discovery that one of his twin children was missing. Turn- ing, he was surprised to find the firing dying away, soon ceasing altogether. In half an hour more he managed to get back to camp, where the missing child was found, but the battle had been won without him. Without him the Blackfeet and Uncapapas had repelled Reno and penned him on the bluffs. Without him the Ogalallas, Brules, and Cheyennes had turned back Custer's daring assault, then rushed forth and completed the death-gripping circle in which he was held. Again had Crazy Horse been foremost in the fray, riding in and braining the bewildered soldiers with his heavy war club. Fully had his vision been realized, but — Sitting Bull was not there. For a long time it was claimed for him by certain sycophantic followers that from the council lodge he directed the battle; but it would not do. When the old sinner was finally starved out of her Majesty's territory, and came in to accept the terms accorded him, even his own people could not keep straight faces when questioned as to the cause of the odd names given those twins - "The-One- that-was-taken" and "The-One-that-was-left." Finally it all leaked out, and now "none so poor to do him reverence." Of course it was his role to assume all the airs of a conqueror, to be insolent and defiant to the "High Joint Commission," sent the following winter to beg him to come home and be good; but the claims of Tatonka-e-Yotanka to the leadership in the greatest victory his people ever won are mere vaporings, to be classed with the boastings of dozens of chiefs who were scattered over the Northern reservations during the next few years. Rain-in-the-Face used to brag by the hour that he had killed Custer with his own hand, but the other Indians laughed at him. Gall, of the Unca- papas, Spotted Eagle, Kill Eagle, Lame Deer, Lone Wolf, and all the varieties of Bears and Bulls were probably leading spirits in the battle, but the man who more than all others seems to have won the admiration of his fellows for skill and daring throughout that stirring campaign, and especially on that bloody day, is he who so soon after met his death in desperate effort to escape from Crook's guards, the warrior Crazy Horse. 126 ANNALS OF WYOMING COMMANCHE By Audrey J. Hazell There he stood, the battle over Wounded, without his rider. His comrades lying all around, Commanche, the sole survivor. The smell of death was everywhere. He waited, sad, forlorn. But he'd done his best, stood his ground. The battle? Little Big Horn. Where's his faithful soldier friend Who was Irish, like the banshee? They'd served together in the 7th, Captain Keogh and Commanche. Captain My Ian recognized him first. And with no more arrows or squeezed triggers, The Captain led the gentle clayback horse To the junction of the rivers. The steamer Far West bore him home. Seven hundred miles to Fort Abe Lincoln, North Dakota, Went the last of Company L Restored to health and draped in black, His dignity regaining. As second commander of the regiment, He escorted it in its campaigning. Like other old, old soldiers Came his time to fade away. At Fort Mead in 1890, Commanche had his final day. He "still lives" in the town of Lawrence; He's standing without his rider At the University of Kansas, Commanche, the sole survivor. JUNE 25, 1876 127 GENERAL CUSTER at THE BATTLE of THE LITTLE BIG HORN June 25, 1876 New York, 342 West 14th Street, June 21, 1897. Dear Sir: I have been repeatedly requested to answer in detail the article of Colonel R. P. Hughes which appeared in the "Journal of the Military Service Institution," January, 1896, in which General Custer is accused of disobeying orders at the battle of the Little Big Horn, where he lost his life. Believing that such a reply would prolong an unprofitable and an inconclusive discussion of many matters which are not pertinent to the one central question, I deem it best to submit a portion of a letter written me by an officer who held the closest personal and official relations with General Custer during the Civil War. After indorsing strongly the opinion of a distinguished officer that "the key-note of the magazine article was lacking in the fact that no order was produced as evidence to sustain his charge," he further adds: "It makes no difference what General Custer's rela- tions were with the individuals mentioned in the article. These and other statements brought forward as arguments have nothing to do with the one question at issue. Did General Custer disobey General Terry's orders? If he did, where is and what was the order he disobeyed? It has not been produced. Its existence has never been shown. General Terry never affirmed it. His papers have never shown any reference to it. The only known order in the case is General Terry's well-known written order of June 22, 1876. He was sending against an enemy of unknown numbers and in an uncertain location a column of troops which for a time must be entirely self-sufficient and liable to come in hostile contact before support could be had. General Terry himself was to be out of reach for instructions in any emergency. He was sending in command an officer of the very highest distinction for trained ability, professional experience, practised judgment, personal cool- ness and bravery, and every soldierly quality, to whom, after ample discussion and mutual conference, he gives, as to one possessing his entire confidence, the directions necessary to the guidance of such an one commanding a column which General Terry must have presumed sufficient for whatever he expected it to meet in any considered contingency. That was the order of June 22, 1876. It developed General Terry's plan, and was the official record of 128 ANNALS OF WYOMING his purpose for the guidance of his subordinate, whose responsi- bihty was grounded therein and measured thereby. The reputa- tions of both men were concerned in the matter. General Terry was not only an officer of high rank and distinguished for ability and long service, but he was also a trained man of affairs, and he knew what was necessary for his own protection in so important a movement, and for his subordinate's protection and guidance. "It is impossible that there should have been an order contra- vening this one in any part, or in any way modifying it, without its leaving a clear record. Any suggestion to the contrary is a distinct discredit to both the capacity, training, experience, and personal character of General Terry. His order of June 22, 1876, directs General Custer to take his regiment and pursue the Indians up the Rosebud. Then he says: 'It is, of course, impossible to give you any definite instructions in regard to this movement, and were it not impossible to do so, the department commander places too much confidence in your zeal, energy, and abiUty to wish to impose upon you precise orders which might hamper your action when nearly in contact with the enemy. He will, however, indicate to you his own views of what your action should be, and he desires that you should conform to them unless you shall see sufficient reasons for departing from them.' "Then follow his views and plans, the execution of which, as far as they may be possible of execution and subject to chances of all war, he commits to a man in whose 'zeal, energy, and ability' he places too much confidence 'to wish to impose upon him precise orders which might hamper his action when nearly in contact with the enemy.' These were Custer's orders up to the moment of his coming 'nearly in contact with the enemy.' When did he disobey them? When he came nearly in such contact all things were at his discretion, and unless he failed to play the soldier and the man at that moment, there is no longer a question of disobedience of orders." Trusting that this letter will be read by the fair-minded in the spirit with which it is written, I am very truly yours, Elizabeth B. Custer. JUNE 25, 1876 129 IS GENERAL CUSTER ALIVE TODAY? Taken from Sheridan News, December 8, 1937 BELIEVE CUSTER VISITED LOCAL ATTORNEY'S OFFICE LAST YEAR GEORGE LAYMAN TELLS LIONS OF BELIEFS Could General Custer — the most romantic figure in American history — have been alive a little over a year ago? That was the question the members of the Sheridan Lions Club were seriously considering after hearing George Layman, well known local attor- ney, give a talk on the "mystery of the battle of the Little Big Horn" at their Tuesday luncheon. "I am convinced that Mr. R. E. McNally, a brother attorney, talked to General Custer a few days before the 1936 Hardin Custer celebration after hearing Mr. McNally's story about the meeting," Mr. Layman declared as he closed his address. Was Custer Here? Mr. Layman used historical records and intriguing coincidents [sic] to give his story more than a firm foundation. He succeeded so well that soon Sheridan will be playing with the interesting con- jecture that Custer himself visited McNally in McNally's office one evening about 5:30 o'clock a few days before the scheduled celebration of which McNally was committee chairman. As Layman retold the story to the Lions Club, McNally was about to leave his office for home when an old man arrived and asked if he was Mr. McNally, and if he was on the Custer celebra- tion committee. When answered in the affirmative, the stranger introduced hmiself as Mr. Lindsay. "Can you tell me whether or not Mrs. Custer is going to be there?" he asked. He was told that a special representative has been sent to New York to extend the invitation to her and it was thought that she likely would accept. Knows Mrs. Custer "Why? Do you known Mrs. Custer?" McNally questioned him. "Yes, I know her," was the answer. The Sheridan attorney, then greatly interested, offered to take the old man with him to the celebration and see that he met Mrs. Custer. "Oh no! I don't want to meet Mrs. Custer, I only want to see her." He went on to tell all about a Custer family reunion held just before General Custer started on his last campaign against hostile 130 ANNALS OF WYOMING tribes. The man named all who were there, gave their nicknames and told of individual traits that only an intimate acquaintance could know. "You must know something about the battle," McNally urged. "Yes, I was there just a few days after the battle. There was some talk that the soldiers crossed the river but that was not true. They went nearly to it and then turned back." Lived Near Battle Field But when it came to his personal history, even the skilled ques- tioner could glean but little information. This much, the attorney did learn. Lindsay called no special place his home but had taken a squatter's claim about 60 miles from the battlefield a few weeks after the massacre. Later he had sold the place to the railroad for a right-of-way at which time he went to California. Try as McNally might, he could not get his mysterious caller to agree to accompany him to the celebration or to meet Mrs. Custer. All the stranger would say was "I'll be there." Lindsay left McNally's office and that was the last he was ever heard of again. McNally questioned many an old timer and dug up all the facts he could about the Custer family reunion. No one could be located who had ever heard of a man named "Lindsay" but every detail as to the Custer reunion as related by the stranger was verified. The speaker pointed out that there always has been much con- jecture as to whether Custer had been killed. By the time the other soldiers got to the battlefield, the bodies of the massacred Custer troops were in such a state of decomposition and so muti- lated by the victory-mad squaws of the hostiles, that it was almost an impossibility to establish identification. One Soldier Escaped The Indians have repeatedly stated that one soldier escaped from the battlefield during the melee but always at the end of their story in their bravado and egotism say "but our young men chased and killed him." It is also historical record that an army reconnoitre party came upon a dead cavalry horse in a brush patch about 60 miles from the battlefield and just about where the stranger told McNally he took his squatter claim. The horse had been shot through the eyes. On its body, was the regulation army saddle, bridle, blanket and carbine. If the Indians had killed the horse and man, they certainly would have taken the saddle, bridle and gun. Layman pointed out. From the indications the horse had been deliberately killed. The speaker also explained that the average cavalry horse was much faster then the grass-fed Indian ponies and had the man got JUNE 25, 1876 131 away the Indians would have had a difficult time to ever overtake him. Makes Silence Plausible Layman, in developing his brief, explained that if Custer had escaped he would have lived in disgrace — if not court martialed — for deserting his troops. And acting upon the report that the entire command had been wiped out, the government had estab- lished a liberal pension for Mrs. Custer. This would have been cancelled upon Custer's return. He would bring his beloved wife nothing but disgrace and heartache and would have had the scorn of the army which was his very life, had he appeared from the "dead." At this point in his narrative, Layman skillfully brought his enraptured listeners to the man in McNally's office. "Lindsay" was the same age as Custer would have been if he was living; his general build, looks, complexion and his hair tallied with Custer's description. Here was a man who was more than eager to see Mrs. Custer — who he knew — but who did not want her to see him — as might any husband who loved his wife but never could make his identity known. His description of the Custer family reunion must have been by a man who was present yet none of the Custer family or acquaintances had ever heard of a man named "Lindsay." He was not a publicity seeker for he was never heard of again. Mrs. Custer was unable to attend the celebration and apparently Lindsay did not either. Could it have been that Custer did visit McNally's? Could it be that Custer is alive today? Layman's presentation of the story makes it seem not only possible but also highly probable. 132 ANNALS OF WYOMING The Centennial Celebration in Cheyenne The committee of arrangements announces the following pro- gramme for today's celebration: The day will be ushered in by the ringing of bells and firing of canon. At sunrise a National salute will be fired. At 10 a. m. the procession will be formed at the corner of Seventeenth and Eddy streets in the following order: Third Cavalry Band Co. E 23rd U. S. Infanrty 1st Cheyenne Light Artillery Orators and invited guests Pioneer Hook and Ladder Co. Durant Steam Fire Engine Co. Boys' Hose Co. Knights of the Red Cross. Knights of Pythias. The line of march will be as follows: Starting at the corner of Seventeenth and Eddy, thence east on Seventeenth to Dodge, north to Eighteenth, west on Eighteenth to Thomes, south on Thomes to Seventeenth, east on Seventeenth to Eddy, south on Eddy to Sixteenth, along Sixteenth to the Lake, where the remainder of the festivities will take place. The exercises will consist of: 1. Music. 2. Prayer by Rev. F. W. Hillard. 3. Reading of the Declaration of Independence, by Hon. E. P. Johnson. 4. Music. 5. Oration, by Hon. Thos. J. Street. 6. Music. 7. Oration, by Hon. Wm. H. Miller. 8. Music. 9. Oration, by Hon. J. J. Jenkins. 10. Music. 1 1 . Reading of the History of Cheyenne and Wyoming Terri- tory, by Hon. J. R. Whitehead. — Cheyenne Daily Leader July 4, 1876 Wyoming State Mistorical Society TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL MEETING Thermopolis, Wyoming September 5-7, 1975 Registration for the twenty-second Annual Meeting of the Wyo- ming State Historical Society began at 7:00 p.m. in the Poolside Room of the Holiday Inn in Thermopolis. A reception was held from 7:30-9:00 p.m. with music provided by the Dickeson Trio. Glenn Sweem presented slides on "Re-discovering the Big Horns." All present enjoyed the pleasant evening. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 The meeting was called to order by the president, Henry Jensen, in the Holiday Inn. President Jensen appointed three members to serve as an auditing committee: Dave Wasden, Wilma Johnson and Kathleen Hemry. The president introduced staff members of the Archives and Historical Department who were present at the meeting. He an- nounced that the paintings of Fort Steele, which the Society pur- chased, were still at the restorers and we will be unable to see them at this time. Transparencies of these two-hundred-year-old paint- ings will be shown at the meeting, however. They were painted in 1872 by Phillippe Regis deTrobriand. Purchased by the Wyo- ming State Historical Society with a matching grant from the Wyoming Bicentennial Commission, the paintings are in custory of the Wyoming State Art Gallery, and will be available on loan to the county chapters and later to public-supported institutions throughout Wyoming. Edness Kimball Wilkins announced that any one interested in history is now eUgible for membership in the Wyoming Pioneer Association. The Association sponsors an antique show and sale at the State Fair each year. CHAPTER REPORTS Albany County (Dr. T. A. Larson) Forty-three members en- joyed a varied and interesting series of programs this year on such subjects as the history of Centennial, Wyoming; Overland in Wyo- ming; gas companies serving Laramie; barbed wire; irrigation proj- ects and line changes of the Union Pacific Railroad through the years. They helped collect material for the special edition of The Laramie Boomerang and sponsored the annual Albany County ranch tour. Big Horn County (Jonathan Davis) Charles Gibson, range specialist, presented a historic slide show on the Big Horns. An 134 ANNALS OF WYOMING unusual meeting was held in Shell where the old timers sat in a line facing a line of members and visitors for a question and answer session. Many interesting stories resulted from this unique plan. Carbon County (Cecil Johnson) Marian Geddes, curator of the Rawlins Museum, gave an informative talk on early-day Raw- lins. The Chapter hosted a get-together the evening before the summer Trek at which Henry Jensen showed the comparative pic- tures of the Big Horn Mountains. Many members went on the TraU Trek. Goshen County (Curtiss Root) A 100% increase in member- ship and the discovery of an old map of the one-room schoolhouses in the county were among this year's highlights. The Chapter heard programs on early-day songs; Mabel Bass' hfe at Yoder from 1909 to 1919; Dr. R. E. Crawford's journey to the top of Mount Ararat in search of Noah's Ark; a trip behind the Iron Curtain; a silver bell found in a nearby pasture and Virginia Trenholm's history of the Wind River Indians in Wyoming. They also saw a sixty-four-year-old film on "Custer's Last Fight," and slides of the Overland Trail in Wyoming. Hot Springs County (Mable Womack) After two years of work a local petroglyph site has been entered in the National Register of Historic Places and will be dedicated shortly. The petroglyphs are on Cottonwood Creek near Hamilton. The Chapter accepted a donation of old dental equipment gathered by Dr. Beals of Cas- per through the efforts of the state dental association. Eventually part of it wiU be used in their new museum. Members have been cleaning and cataloguing the equipment. Some of the equipment was assembled on a float which is available to various dentists around the state. Laramie County (Ellen Mueller) The Chapter held seven meet- ings during the year. Programs included the Overland Trail in Wyoming slides; the King Brothers' ranching activities in this area; old money; a review of Saleratus and Sagebrush; the history of the Inter Ocean Hotel and Through the Rockies with a Camera. Plans are being made to reprint "Early Cheyenne Homes" and to try to save Morton Frewen's home in Cheyenne. Lincoln County (Wanda Vasey) Program topics have included buffalo jumps; the proposed withdrawal of Oregon Trail land from oil and gas leasing; old timers discussing homemaking, ranching, school teaching and the operation of an early day hotel; the wagon trails; the summer Trek; Wyoming State Historical Foundation; the Big Horn National Forest project, and the visit of President Henry Jensen. A picnic was held in June on the Green River. Natrona County (Kathleen Hemry) Casper hosted the twenty- first Annual Meeting of the State Historical Society. The local programs included climbing the Andes in Peru; the Buffalo dig- gings at the Control Data Plant; the ecology of some Wyoming animals; the construction of the Pathfinder Dam, incidents in the WYOMING STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY 135 Wyoming Legislature and the slide show "Re-discovering the Big Horns." A portion of the land given to the Chapter was sold to the Wyoming Highway Department and the rest, including the site of the old bridge across the Platte, was deeded to Fort Caspar. Kathleen Hemry completed a series of scrapbooks entitled "Casper Boys in World War 11" and placed them in the hbrary. In May, a banquet honored President Henry Jensen. A picnic was held in June on the Green River. Sheridan County (Glenn Sweem) The Chapter has been busy with the management of the Trail End Historic Center this past year. They are also continuing their work on the Big Horn Forest project with Big Horn, Washakie and Johnson Counties. Their programs have been on national parks; Egypt and the Holy Land; Natchez, Mississippi, ante-bellum homes and old trading posts and forts of Wyoming. The group is planning a tea to thank those who have donated their time this past year. Sweetwater County (Henry Chadey) There are ninety-six mem- bers. They met early in the year with legislators to discuss the Wyoming Archives and Historical Department budget. A program on Bicentennial music was held, they met with the state president and participated in many wagon train activities. Teton County (Irene Brown) Varied programs marked this year in Teton County. Slides of early homesteads have been shown; the annual Thanksgiving Christmas dinner was held; a "This is Your Life" program honored Dr. Donald G. MacLeod; Bicentennial displays have been assembled; the annual food sale and sidewalk cookout was profitable and photographs of historic value are being duplicated. Work is continuing on finding and identifying unmarked graves and interviewing old timers. Uinta County (Ralph Stock) This Chapter has spent much time on Bicentennial acitvities. They have enjoyed a Chinese New Year using a large dragon made in the 1850s; quilt raffles; following the old Mormon trail from Bridger Valley to Evanston and improving the museum. The Union Pacific has given the depot for museum use by the Jolly Roger and Evanston. Thirty tapes of oral history have been made this year. Washakie County (Ray Pendergraft) Washakie Chapter met the last Sunday of each month through June. At one meeting the speaker was the step-son of a hanger-on of the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang, Joe Glenn. Henry Jensen attended a joint meeting with Hot Springs County, a trek was made to the Hole-in-the-Wall country and more pictures were taken for the Big Horn Forest project. Members searched unsuccessfully for a sandstone cruci- fix reported by two people. More younger people have joined this Chapter. Weston County (Katherine Townsend) This Chapter completed a number of local histories for Bicentennial exhibits; worked on restoring the Cambria cemetery, held a trek to see petroglyphs in 136 ANNALS OF WYOMING the Whoop-up Creek area; raffled dolls; restored the Green Moun- tain schoolhouse; purchased old newspapers for the museum and acquired a locomotive with a gasoline engine which may have been used in the Cambria mines. Saturday Workshops From 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon, workshops were given by the State Museum personnel and Historical Research personnel. Each hour-long workshop was given twice, so that all Society members could attend each one. Many interesting demonstrations were held and the exhibits and information were fascinating and helpful. Foundation Fund Ed Bille submitted a financial report of the Wyoming Founda- tion Fund showing a balance of $11,071.20. He explained the film on Wyoming history which the Society will produce. The film will be available to all the schools in the state. Bill Grunkemeyer showed slides from which the movie will be made and Bill Bragg read the narration which will accompany the slide show. The film is entitled "Wyoming from the Beginning." The film will begin in 1743 when the first white man visited Wyoming and continue to 1 890 — the year Wyoming achieved statehood. Business Meeting President Jensen announced that the Society finances are in better shape since the Archives and Historical Department is pay- ing for the A nnals of Wyoming. Jeanne Lambertson presented the following amendment to the Constitution of the Wyoming State Historical Society: Article III, Section 3, of the By-Laws shall be amended to read as follows: A County Chapter may be organized in each of the counties of the State of Wyoming. The County Chapter shall have the right to charter branches of the County Chapter in those areas where the County Chapter deems it necessary, and upon application to the County Chapter by those members living in the applying area. Mrs. Lambertson moved acceptance of the amendment and Ray Pendergraft seconded the motion. A discussion followed on the proposal. Motion defeated. Kathleen Hemry moved that the matter of the amendment be referred back to the Executive Committee. Motion seconded. Bill Williams moved to amend the motion to read, "This proposal for a constitutional amendment be sent to a Constitution and By-Laws Committee to be appointed by the President." Motion to amend the previous motion was seconded and carried. The amended motion was also carried. Henry Jensen announced that Mrs. Pat Flannery has 2000 cop- WYOMING STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY 137 ies of John Hunton's Diary, volumes 2, 3, 4, and 5. Curtiss Root will sell these in Torrington and anyone desiring copies may con- tact him. Robert Larson gave a brief background of John Hunton who was the last sutler at Fort Laramie and ranched in the area in later years. His diaries date from 1873. In accordance with Mr. Hunton's wishes, Pat Flannery edited and published the diaries twenty-five years after Hunton's death. Laura Hayes showed slides of the two Fort Steele paintings acquired this year. Not much repair was necessary but the paint- ings have been sent to New York for this and for reframing. On their return, they will be available for loan and exhibit to County Chapters. The paintings measure ]0"xl6V4" and 9y8"xl7%". Jane Houston, Secretary-Treasurer, read the following reports. Rosalind Bealey moved that they be accepted. The motion was seconded and carried. Treasurer's Report September 7, 1974 - August 31, 1975 Operating Funds Cash on hand, September 7, 1974 $ 1,326.33 Receipts : Dues $ 5,698.00 From Savings 3,500.00 Trek 519.00 11,043.33 disbursements Annals 1.750.00 Annual Meeting 200.00 Awards Scholarships $ 200.00 Grant-in-Aid 100.00 Junior Awards 110.00 County Awards 800.00 1,210.00 Trek 396.26 Officers Expense 200.00 Printing 18.55 Stamps for secretary 10.00 Postage for Annals 480.64 Miscellaneous Bond for Secretary 5.00 Incorporation Fee 1.00 Refund on dues 5.00 Printing Sagebrush 1,500.00 Paintings-Ft. Steel 2.000.00 3.511.00 $ 7.776.45 Balance August 31, 1975 $3,266.88 Invested Funds Balance of all funds, September 7, 1974 $14,209.77 Receipts: Interest 774.49 Sales-Sagebrush and Saleratus 900.00 1.674.49 $15,884.26 138 ANNALS OF WYOMING Disbursements: Big Horn Forest Committee 1,000.00 Piiblish-Sagebrush & Sal. 1,500.00 Paintings - Ft. Steele 2,000.00 4,500.00 Balance. August 31, 1975 $11,384.26 Membership Report August 31, 1975 601 Single memberships, including 64 life members 269 Joint memberships, including 12 life members 100 Institutional memberships 970 Memberships representing 1,239 people and institutional memberships. For 1976 and 1977 we already have ninety-nine memberships repre- senting 114 people/institutions Committee Reports Scholarships Committee During the past year the Society's Ex- ecutive Committee has awarded one scholarship for the prepara- tion of a county history to Mrs. V. J. ReckHng Bales, Laramie, for a history of Niobrara County. Mrs. Dorothy Milek will soon complete her history of Hot Springs County. We have two other county histories in the works. An award was made to Robert A. Murray in 1967 for a history of Johnson County and an award was made to Guy L. Peterson in 1973 for a history of Converse County. Mr. Peterson will com- plete Converse County history by November, 1976, but as yet no completion date is projected for Mr. Murray. Mrs. Mary E. Anderson, who was given a Grant-in-Aid last March, is working on a study of the Iowa Center Community in Goshen County. We are pleased to report that Michael Lewellyn, given a grant in 1969, has completed his study of the "The Political Career of John B. Kendrick, 1910-1917." Geoffrey R. Hunt, who was given a grant in 1973, has not completed his study of small museums and the interpretation of Wyoming history. President's Report President Henry Jensen reported that this has been a year of real satisfaction and that many things have been happening. The Big Horn Forest Committee has made substantial progress in compiling their book and the Historical Foundation film is well on its way toward completion. Two unique and important paintings of Fort Steele were purchased and the Society has participated in many Bicentennial events and has planned for many other Bicentennial activities. The President visited as many County Chapters as pos- sible. He plans to continue working with the film project during the coming year. This has been a rewarding year for him and he appreciates the privilege of working with the Historical Society as President. WYOMING STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY 139 New Business The Society was invited by the Laramie County Chapter and the staff of the Wyoming Archives and Historical Department to hold their twenty-third Annual Meeting in Cheyenne, September, 1976. There being no further business, the 1975 business meeting of the Wyoming State Historical Society was adjourned. Saturday Luncheon A lovely outdoor luncheon was held in the Kiwanis Shelter State Park. William Malloy directed his student Dixieland Band in a delightful concert. Lloyd Dewey, an Arapaho Indian, told his grandfather's version of the Bates Battle. Saturday Banquet Dining tables in the Holiday Inn were attractively and appro- priately decorated for the banquet. Etta Payne presided. The Lord's Prayer in sign language was presented by Jodie McAdams, a Shoshone Indian, accompanied by Vaneta Foster, vocalist. Edward Suslar, mayor of Thermopolis, welcomed the Society to Thermopolis and President Jensen responded. The president intro- duced the many past state presidents in attendance and also the Charter members. Dr. T. A. Larson, chairman of the nominating committee, pre- sented the new officers for 1975-1976: Jay Brazelton, president; Ray Pendergraft, first vice president; Mabel Brown, second vice president; Ellen Mueller, secretary-treasurer. Dr. Larson asked the members to stand for a moment of silence in memory of those members who have passed away in the past year. A Bicentennial song, "Our Finest Hour" composed by Ray Pendergraft, was sung by Carl Westberg, accompanied by Vaneta Foster. Etta Payne introduced Edness Kimball Wilkins who gave us a delightful glimpse of the colorful and humorous incidents that are a part of the history of our Wyoming State Legislature. Her talk was entitled, "Now it Can be Told." The following awards were presented by Hattie Burnstad: Junior Historian Awards: Alvin Rutz, Yoder. First Place, Junior High School. "The Lyman Farm." Julia Green, Yoder. Second Place, Junior High School. "Green Family History." Teacher Award : Dana P. VanBurgh, Jr., Casper. 140 ANNALS OF WYOMING Chapter Award: Goshen County. A cash award to be used in assisting Mrs. Mary Anders to pubHsh her book on "History of a Commu- nity, Iowa Center," in Goshen County. Publications: Virginia C. Trenholm, Editor of the Wyoming Blue Book and published by the State Archives Division of the Archives and Historical Department, Cheyenne. Delia Joan Evans, eighteen years old, author of two articles in the Jackson papers in memory of Fanny Grisamer, valley pioneer. Alice Stevens, Laramie. Newspaper Articles (Special Edition) The Bicentennial Edition of The Laramie Boomerang, 1975. Activities Award: Mr. and Mrs. Joe Wheeler, Jolly Roger Museum, Evanston. Submitted by Uinta County Chapter. The 1892 Evanston Mill and Elevator, in which the Jolly Roger is located, was built to be used as mill but it was found that wheat would not grow in the area because of extreme cold weather. Instead, it was used as a shipping point for farm and ranch products. Fine Arts Award Ray Pendergraft, Worland. Submitted by Washakie County Chapter. The lyrics of the composition, "Our Finest Hour," dedicated to the Bicentennial year. Grant O. Hagen, Jackson. Submitted by Teton County Chap- ter. Painting, "Wyoming, 1776," currently on display at the Jackson State Bank. Addie Hays, Rawlins. Submitted by Carbon County Chapter. Two Paintings, Independence Rock and The Tetons. (Artist is over 80 years old) Cumulative Contribution Award Henry E. Jensen, Casper. His interest in Wyoming history goes back to 1927. He has served as president of two County Chapters, Fremont and Natrona. He was responsible for acquiring for the Wyoming State Museum a sheep wagon and supply wagon and a complete set of blacksmith tools. He helped with the state treks for several years. Bom along the Bridger Road, he has had a long-time interest in that area. Jensen is presently secretary-treasurer of the Wyoming Moun- tain Men Trails Foundation and serves on the Commission for National Historic Sites Register. Another interest is the field of Archaeology. He worked for, and with others is respon- sible for legislation creating the post of State Archaeologist. He served as president of the Archaeological Society. WYOMING STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY 141 President Jensen introduced the new officers and presented the gavel to the new president, Jay Brazelton. Jay Brazelton presented a Certificate of Appreciation \^ Henry Jensen. Sunday Morning A tour was scheduled to nearby places of interest. Members visited the petrogloyphs on Cottonwood Creek, Hot Springs State Park, the Woodruff House, which was the first house built in the Big Horn Basin, the Gottsche Rehabilitation Center, the Wyoming Dental Association Collection and the Big Horn Basin Children's Center. Jane H. Houston Secretary-Treasurer The Centennial Celebration in Cheyenne Through storm and calm the years have led Our Nation on from stage to stage, A century's space, until we tread The threshold of another race. Bryant A most beautiful morn ushered in the hundredth birthday of the United States. Everybody in Cheyenne seemed to have the Cen- tennial fever and therefore arose early to prepare for the day's festivities, the procession, and the sports arranged in honor of the day. At 9 o'clock the several artillery companies, the fire companies and other civic associations began to assemble, and at 10 the line of march was taken up in the order announced in THE LEADER of the 4th inst. The procession was one of the finest ever seen in Cheyenne; the boys in blue, the fire boys and the Knights looked their best and all contributed to make the parade one of the most attractive fea- tures of the Centennial celebration in Cheyenne. The exercises at the Lake, after the procession, were of the most interesting nature. Music and orations occupied the time until 1 o'clock, when the historian of the day. Judge Whitehead, was introduced to the multitude, who received him with cheers. — Cheyenne Daily Leader July 6, 1876 Mook Keviews Metal Weapons, Tools, and Ornaments of the Teton Dakota Indians. By James Austin Hanson. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1975) Index. Illus. Bib. 118 pp. $16.50. Contrary to popular belief, the Indian trader did not haul junk a thousand miles to bilk the Indian of his hard-earned peltry. Popular myths have led many to believe that the Indians traded away their valuable pelts for cheap, gaudy merchandise. The trader provided sturdy utensils which filled the Indians' needs. It was after these needs were filled that the trinkets and whiskey were brought out to win the remaining furs. Most traders knew that the Indians must have good tools to live well and produce the furs that made both white and red man prosperous. It was these metal weapons and tools of everyday living that enabled the Plains Indian to skip over a thousand years of material culture evolution in a few short generations. Jim Hanson's study is not only a comprehensive guide to the identification of typical Teton Dakota metal objects along with how and when they were used, but it adds greatly to the under- standing of the transition of the Teton Sioux from a Stone Age people to a nation almost totally dependent by 1880 on white man's goods. The Sioux were strategically located and almost every major road to the West either ran through their territory or was within easy access of their highly mobile bands. Besides this, the Tetons were a connecting link between the Southwest, Great Lakes and Canadian plains trading areas. As a result, a great diversity of metal artifacts, attributable to Teton Sioux ownership and use, have been preserved and recorded. Hanson examined over ten thousand artifacts in collections throughout the United States. In describing and depicting these material objects he has correlated information from fur company and government records, travelers' observations and other primary sources. Teton culture in historic time was largely due to their ready acceptance of the white man's trade goods, and their power was directly attributable to those goods. Destruction of the bison herds, which completely undercut the Teton culture and their coincidental defeat by the U. S. Army, ended this trade. The federal government could now enforce its authority over the Tetons at will. By 1880 the traditional annuity goods were completely replaced by agriculture tools, sad irons, shoes, wagons, sewing machines and the like. BOOK REVIEWS 143 Well illustrated and documented, this attractive volume will appeal to the western history buff as well as students of American commerce and material culture of American Indians. Editor of Special Publications Neal L. Blair Wyoming Game and Fish Department Cheyenne Plains Indian Mythology. By AUce Marriott and Carol K. Rachlin. (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1975). Index. Bib. Illus. 194 pp. $7.95. In this sequel to American Indian Mythology (Crowell, 1968), the authors recount stories that have been handed down from generation to generation as oral history. Since we find only one Shoshoni, one Crow, and one Sioux tale among the thirty-one recorded, we feel that the title would have been more exact had it been "Southern Plains Indian Mythology." Naturally the two Oklahoma City authors stress the stories told by tribes in their area: the Comanche, the Kiowa, the Kiowa- Apache, the Southern Arapaho and Cheyenne, the Osage and the Pawnee. And yet with the exception of the Osage and Pawnee, each of these tribes once lived, if ever so briefly, in Wyoming. The Shoshonis and Comanches were as one before the latter drifted southward to form their own culture. There is little to show for the fact that the Kiowas followed in their footsteps, except for a mention of Devils Tower in one of their creation myths. The authors' introductory remarks before each story add to an appreciation of the tribe to which it is attributed. The myths are told with the rare charm that has made Alice Marriott's Kiowa tales. The Ten Grandmothers, a classic. The book is highly read- able from the introduction, "The People of the Plains," to the thought provoking final entry, "How Much Can Be Lost?" Miss Marriott tells of having gone to Montana to investigate the disappearance of crafts among the Northern Cheyennes. She took with her a famous Southern Cheyenne beadworker, Mama Inkanish. Together they tried to re-kindle an interest in reviving a lost art. The reaction of the Northern Cheyennes was like a faint flicker of candlelight. This causes us to reflect on how much we in Wyoming have lost. Once the Arapahoes excelled in quill work. Even after trade beads were introduced, they preferred quills because of the pleas- ing colors they could achieve. Now quill work has gone the way of the Northern Cheyenne crafts. Will beadwork be next? A recent surge of interest in beadwork at Wind River seems to have lost its momentum. Gift shops are 144 ANNALS OF WYOMING Stocked with turquoise and silver from the Southwest. We ask ourselves, "How much can be lost" here in Wyoming? The book is divided into four parts: The Beginnings, The Little Stories, Horseback Days and Freedom's Ending. All of the tales are delightfully told. In the epilogue, the authors look toward the future. They con- clude by observing: "The new Indian will struggle differently for his identity from the way in which his grandfather fought for his. But the young Indian will equip himself, not with a lance and a war bonnet, but with an education. There will be many Indian lawyers in the future, as well as doctors, engineers, businessmen, and members of other trades and professions. Indians will once again, after more than four centuries, have the know-how for survival. "But let us not forget Alcatraz, Wounded Knee, Washington, and other future battlegrounds. If Indians, especially Plains Indians, are to remain themselves, they must have symbols and rallying points, like everyone else. A man in battle used to drive his spear into the ground through the trailers of his war bonnet. Once he had set his spear, only death or a companion as brave as he, could release him. The Plains Indians today, particularly, have set their spears, and they may not pull them from the ground." Cheyenne Virginia Trenholm Territorial Politics and Government in Montana 1864-89. By Clark C. Spence. (Urbana, 111.: University of Illinois Press, 1976). Index. Bib. Illus. 327 pp. $11.50. Only the most talented historians expand a relatively narrow topic into a broad essay. Here Clark Spence does. More than simply a treatment of Montana Territory, this native Montanan's latest book is a perceptive and balanced commentary on the inter- relationship of territorial and national politics, neither of which escaped the merger of business and government that characterized the Gilded Age. Spence examines every aspect of politics as he traces events from the creation of Montana Territory through the protracted fight for statehood and weaves into the narrative con- cise explanations of the statutory framework within which officials operated. Though Professor Spence carefully recounts the trying adminis- trations of Sidney Edgerton, Green Clay Smith, and James M. Ashley, he concentrates in greater depth on the three terms of Governor Benjamin F. Potts who learned to effectively operate in a no-party system. Despite his constant intra-party feud with the Fisk brothers and Wilbur F. Sanders and his early attempts BOOK REVIEWS 145 to establish Republican control, Potts accommodated himself to the Democratic majority — and especially to six -term delegate Martin Maginnis. Spence's excellent treatment of railroads and subsidies illustrates the complexity and controversy of Potts' role in dealing with them. A bitter squabble over the location of the capital — standard fare in territorial politics — and a prolonged wrangle with Secretary James E. Callaway dissipated much of Potts' energies. Neverthe- less, Spence gives him high marks. "Despite the controversies with which he was beset, Benjamin Potts brought a more stable economy and a more effective functioning of government than any of his predecessors — or probably his successors" (p. 149). Mon- tana Territory's last half-dozen years were characterized by "small men and small executive government" (p. 180) with the exception of Samuel T. Hauser whose considerable power prior to and fol- lowing a stint as governor stemmed from his economic clout. Though the territorial legislature functioned within certain con- gressional constrictions, it exercised considerable independence, giving no quarter to administrative or judicial officials. The young, inexperienced legislators were generally Democratic lawyers or stockmen who were as favorably inclined to special interests (par- ticularly mining and ranching) as they were towards fiscal impru- dence. But Spence still ranks them at par with their counterparts around the country and suggests that their response to influential groups was consistent with government during the Gilded Age. The author, a research professor at the University of Illinois, illustrates a general discussion of the competence of territorial officials with a fascinating assortment of background material which he sifted primarily from the various appointment files in the National Archives. Correspondence also reveals that inade- quate pay and slow dispersal contributed substantially to the rapid turnover and absenteeism about which residents raised a bipartisan cry. Spence examines the perennial "carpetbagger" grievance from every conceivable angle before concluding that, rather than residence, the most fundamental prerequisite for officers was an understanding of the pecuUar problems of the territory. Indeed, the so-called non-residents or pilgrims were no less effective politi- cally than the homegrown variety. Professor Spence correctly pays particular attention to the achievements of Justices Decius S. Wade and Hiram N. Knowles in his thorough analysis of the role of the judiciary, and his assess- ments are well founded. "That some judges were inept or medi- ocre is undeniable; what is surprising is that so many were able appointees who came to understand the needs of the territory and who contributed much to the shaping of the body of jurisprudence connected with it" (p. 228). The chapter on finances illustrates that history teaches few lessons to legislators or their constituents! While the lawmakers 146 ANNALS OF WYOMING leaned toward extravagance in their own business, the tax base which they created hardly afforded many services to the populace, mainly because of exemption to powerful industries such as mining. Montanans were as constant in their criticism of Washington as they were reluctant to appreciate the considerable federal assis- tance. And as is true today, the federal officials more effectively collected taxes. However, Spence stresses that, in the area of finances, the territory compared favorably on a national scale. Territorial citizens, who modestly began their request for state- hood in the 1860s, became quite vociferous in the 1880s before finally achieving their goal in 1889. But as Spence points out, the nature of Montana power structure did not change quickly. The same no-party structure, unpinned by an economic and politi- cal elite, persisted well into the next century. In Territorial Politics and Government in Montana 1864-89, Clark Spence demonstrates that meticulous scholarship can be a delight to read. Writing with clarity and wit, he laces the text with highly illustrative quotations of the hardy, earthy frontiers- men. Yet an abundance of documentation appears in carefully phrased and sensibly abbreviated notes at the bottom of the pages. Indeed, his citations provide a veritable guide to manuscript sources from across the country pertaining to Montana Territory, and he includes a selective bibliographical essay and a carefully prepared index to aid fellow researchers. Colleagues — such as your reviewer — who have plowed much of the same archival ground will particularly appreciate his exhaustive research and judicial use of sources. University of Southern Mississippi John D. W. Guice Hattiesburg Letters from North America. By John Xantus. Translated and edited by Theodore Schoenman and Helen Benedek Schoen- man. (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1975). Index. Bib. Illus. 198 pp. $12.95. This collection of letters contains a colorful look at America and Americans during the years 1852 to 1858. The only problem is the letters of Xantus are often laced with exaggerations and fabrications. This unfortunate fact is noted by the editors in the introduction, and they do their best to correct the failures in foot- notes to the letters. The lengthy introduction traces the career of Xantus, a remark- able fellow whose exploits both in Hungary and America have been largely overlooked. According to the editors, and Xantus, he "rendered lasting service to the natural history of America. As a BOOK REVIEWS 147 naturalist and collector of the western frontier from 1856 to 1864 he was unsurpassed." His letters are full of interesting and informative accounts of his travels and expeditions, and despite his tendency toward overstate- ment, his contributions to scientific Americana are evident. Also of value are his interpretations of American life, not only on the frontier but in the more established places he visited, notably the urban centers. But his special interest was the West. He covers a multitude of subjects, including army life, railroad development, wildlife, Indian tribes, steamboat travel and river navigation, the grandeur of nature, Hungarian "colonies," topographical surveys, "haphazard" American habits, and the minutia of life he saw around him. One letter, fifty-one pages long, analyzes everything from prairie dog life to a pocket Comanche dictionary. As for Wyoming, Xantus visited the Fort Laramie area in January of 1854. He enjoyed hunting in the countryside and the social life at the fort. In a letter to his mother he described the "abundance of game" and the "beautiful scenery." He also de- clared "the climate healthy and invigorating, and the entire region wildly romantic." His sense of geography, however, was confused. As the editors note. Fort Laramie "is not on the Kansas River but at the confluence of the North Platte and Laramie Rivers in Wyoming." A section in the introduction contains a number of statements from contemporary authorities which serve to corroborate the excellence of Xantus as a naturalist-collector. Especially revealing are the comments of the ornithologist Spencer F. Baird, the secre- tary of the Smithsonian Institution, who later wrote that Xantus's collections "are believed to have been much larger and more com- plete than any ever made before in America during the same period of time by any one person." The famous naturalists. Professor Louis Agassiz and Dr. William Alexander Hammond, also praised Xantus for his scientific achievements. Xantus was also quite an artist, and his illustrations add much to the book. A brief bibliography is included as well as an index. Arizona State Unviersity Brad Luckingham Tempe James Madison A Men. Yankee Artist of the Pacific Coast, 1854- 1860. By Franz Stenzel, M. D. (Fort Worth: Amon Carter Museum, 1975.) Index. Illus. $25. At first glance this well illustrated volume appears to be a new work of art history. After a closer examination the reader will discover he has a sort of historical geography book based on locations visited by James Madison Alden and illustrated by him. 148 ANNALS OF WYOMING In fact, he was an official artist on the United States Coastal Survey and the United States-Canadian Boundary Survey and in the brief period of his service (1854-1860) he completed many drawings and watercolors of the Pacific Coast from California to British Columbia. His works frequently have interesting historical and scenic value — but, sadly, one must question the artistic worth despite Stenzel's claim that Alden was a "watercolor artist extraordinary." Although a New Englander, Alden shows great interest and sensitivity for the Pacific Coast. His views of Yosemite, various points along the Columbia River, and towns such as Astoria and Portland are fine examples of his work as an illustrator and they are interesting historical documents as well. Dr. Stenzel has obviously researched his subject yet he persists all too frequently in using phrases such as "probably" to attribute action when the reader can only wonder how the author could possibly know. There are also some minor factual errors and statements that might confuse the reader. For example, he refers to the peaks in what is now Glacier National Park as "some of the tallest peaks in the Rockies," and he cites a reference to the "old Indian Chief Joseph" without clarifying whether or not this was in fact the famous Nez Perce Chief Joseph. The date of 1859 leads one to believe that this was either some other chief or Joseph's father who was known as old Joseph. Unfortunately for art historians there is less than four full pages devoted to any critical analysis of Alden as artist despite the fact that the book contains sixty-two black and white and thirty-six color plates. Dr. Stenzel has done a good job in preserving the history and work of James Madison Alden and we now have a treasure of over 320 views of the Pacific Coast as it existed before the full encroachment of white man's civilization. University of Montana Joel H. Bernstein Missoula Chronicle of a Congressional Journey. The Doolittle Committee in the Southwest, 1865. Editor, Lonnie J. White (Boulder, Colo.: Pruett Publishing Company, 1975). Index. Illus. 85 pp. $9.95. The congressional junket, while increasingly complicated and expensive, is not new. Nor is the assumption — held by congress- men, college presidents and missionaries — that valid understand- ing and significant comprehension can be accomphshed by an "on sight" visit: knowledge via moccasin osmosis. The Doolittle Com- BOOK REVIEWS 149 mittee (really a sub-committee of both Houses) whose trip into the Southwest is sporadically though interestingly described in this small and expensive work, was one such committee. The Doolittle Committee was assigned Kansas, Indian Territory, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah, though they never made it to Utah. And while they met a lot of people, the "important" contribution was more related to the statistical circular sent out and attached to the report than it was to the report of their journey. Even the Doolittle Bill, based on his observation and recommendation, failed to pass Congress. This Chronicle is not that of the Wisconsin senator who headed the Committee; it is the journal of a person called "Burwell" who, for reasons known only by himself, wrote under a pseudonym. He has been circumstantially identified as Samuel B. Davis, the expedition's surgeon. The author, whoever it is, originally pub- lished these accounts in the Leavenworth Daily Times. The journal is made considerably more readable, informative, and interesting by the editor's comments. But more could have been done. One might legitimately have expected the author's epilogue to pursue the "last important leg of the Committee's trip" (p. 61 ) which he identifies and which is well documented. This first, and rare, "official trip" into the Southwest attracted little attention nationally. It seemed far more impressive to politi- cally inclined locals than to either the numerous tribes visited or the military investigated. And the interest in this small work (85 pages) is in its accounts of people, places and politicians. Doolittle's attempts to relieve the monotonous journey by reading aloud from La Vie De Jules Caesar recognizes a cultural appre- ciation; and the fact that this was abandoned in favor of an "after dinner nap" reinforces our appreciation of the Westerner's practi- cality. The author's suspicion of Colonel Chivington; "Burwell's" interesting look at Lucien Maxwell; his description of bathers at Oio Calientes; the account of a "fandango" at Santa Fe are colorful and informative insights. One can't help but be amused by the calm assertion: "All Mexicans — male and female — are addicted to smoking" (p. 51) while, at the same time being impressed with the candor: "To the gold seeker, and to the valetudinarian, the rich mines and the richer climate of New Mexico have superior attractions, but beyond these, the inducements for immigration and settlement are few and indifferent" (p. 53). But, really, little if anything is said in the work about the mission of the Committee. No attempt is made to relate the journey to the Doolittle report U.S. Congress, Senate, Condition of the Indian Tribes: Report of the Joint Special Committee Appointed under Joint Resolution of March 3, 1865, S. Reports. 156, 39 Congress, 2 Sess, 1867.; no comment is made of the "testing" of the circular against fact, nor is any connection made between the Committee's investigation and public opinion. So what we have in fact is 150 ANNALS OF WYOMING another tale of a trip through the Southwest. As such it is inter- esting. But other than that, it seems an awful lot to pay for a small, neat, and well-bound volume. Graceland College Paul M. Edwards Lamoni, Iowa To Utah With the Dragoons and Glimpses of Life in Arizona and California. Edited by Harald D. Langley. (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1974). Index. Bib. Illus. 230 pp. $8.50. For reasons stated as a patriotic urge to help in the suppression of adulterous Mormons in far away Utah, a youthful former news- paperman enhsted in the mounted service early in 1858. For some private reason, he never associated his name with the series of correspondent letters he wrote to the Philadelphia Daily Evening Bulletin, from May 28, 1858 to May 23, 1859. It is these letters that form the core of this well edited Volume Eleven of the Uni- versity of Utah's Publications in the American West. The soldier- journalist was not the average immigrant, disadvantaged youth, or out-of-work laborer recruit. However, he certainly held a very exalted self-view, and his observations on most Army personnel - officers and enlisted men - are generally derogatory. "Utah," as he signed himself, comes through as something of a highly opinion- ated prig, and his comments on his participation in events are often self-serving. Still, he writes with some first-hand knowledge about life as a recruit on campaign in the 2nd Dragoons, and many of his observations provide good information on and about enlisted Army life in the late 1850s. He was also a careful reporter of the country he traversed, from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to Utah, along the Oregon Trail. Of special interest to Wyoming readers are letters "Utah" wrote from Fort Laramie, the Oregon Trail along the North Platte River, camps on the Sweetwater, South Pass, and Fort Bridger. Late in 1858, "Utah" finally arrived in the land of the much maligned Mormons, and found upon making the acquaintance of some that his opinions changed. His opinions of Army life did not change though, as he found much of it uncongenial to his own inclinations. Before he had served even a year, he was wounded in the arm during a brush with Indians and consequently received what he said was a medical discharge. Finding himself at loose ends in Utah, the ex-soldier journeyed to southern California - all the while keeping up his letters to Philadelphia. In California he encountered the Mojave Indians, whose confrontations with the U. S. Army gave "Utah" an oppor- tunity to write his low opinion of Army leadership in general and BOOK REVIEWS 151 Colonel William H. Hoffman in particular. Complaining of his "old wound," "Utah" left off his search for gold in Arizona, and wrote his last letter to the Daily Evening Bulletin from Los Angeles late in May of 1859. Editor Langley recounts his efforts to search out the true identity of "Utah" in old Army records of the late 1850s, and seems to have done a thorough piece of research on the subject — but with- out being able to definitely prove exactly who he was. Anony- mous or not, we still owe a debt of sorts to "Utah" for providing a first-hand account of life in the 2nd Dragoons' expedition to Utah in 1858, and to Mr. Langley for an excellent example of historical editing. Historian, Bureau of Land Don Rickey, Jr. Management, Denver The Plains Indians: Their Origins, Migrations, and Cultural Devel- opment. By Francis Haines. (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1976). Index. Bib. Maps. 213 pp. $8.95. Francis Haines, a retired professor of history and author of such books as Horses in America and The Buffalo, wrote The Plains Indians with the expressed purpose of re-examining and re-evaluat- ing the history and culture of the twenty-seven Plains tribes. His book is an overview of the subject, with special emphasis on tribal migrations and is geared toward a popular audience. The Plains Indian is the prototype of what white Americans envision an authentic native American to be. This is due, in the main, to the influence of the media and also to other tribes adopt- ing Plains Indians' dress and customs such as the wearing of a Sioux war bonnet. Yet, the Plains Indians were not a stereotype of each other, and Haines discusses the differences as well as the similarities among them. For example, although the Plains Indians put a great deal of emphasis on the counting of coup, the ways in which they acquired the highest honor differed from tribe to tribe. Moreover, with white contact, and the eventual dependence of Indians on the superior trade items of the whites, especially guns and the shells to fire them, the Indians' former ways were drasti- cally changed. Throughout the book, the author employs his expertise on the buffalo and horse and their importance to the Plains Indians. The buffalo was their life-line, yet, as Haines points out, there was much unwarranted killing of the beasts by Indians. The horse, on the other hand, not only aided them in their hunting of the buffalo, but made the Plains Indians a formidable foe. An un- mounted Comanche warrior was unimpressive, but put on war 152 ANNALS OF WYOMING pony, he became one of the best and most feared mounted oppo- nents of white and red men alike. The Plains Indians is based on secondary materials and is not fully documented. Although the book jacket claims that the book "presents a dramatically new interpretation of the history of the Plains Indians," this reviewer finds little that is new. It does, however, contain eight detailed maps depicting tribal migrations to the Great Plains. The book is an adequate though selective overview of an extremely complex subject. It is well written, and the general reader should be satisfied. Those looking for more detailed works on the subject can turn to the standard and more scholarly accounts by George E. Hyde and Robert H. Lowie. University of New Mexico Raymond Wilson A Ibuquerque A Biography of Ezra Thompson Clark. By Annie Clark Tanner. ( Salt Lake City : The Tanner Trust Fund, University of Utah Library, 1975). Index. lUus. 82 pp. $8.50. One of the drawbacks of a biography, especially one written by a close relative of an individual, is that the subject is likely to be presented as a saint, with no sins apparent. In this brief biography by the eldest daughter of his second family, Ezra Thompson Clark certainly emerges as a paragon among men (especially business men), among husbands and fathers, even among Mormons, where the proportion of paragons seems to be greater than in other circles. Be that as it may have been, Ezra T. Clark's life, during its seventy -seven -year span (1823-1901), was encompassed within the history of the Latter Day Saints. He became a member of the Mormon brotherhood at the age of twelve, when the Church was under the leadership of Joseph Smith, and endured the enforced exodus of the Saints from Missouri to Illinois, and eventually across the plains to Utah, where he was given thirty-five acres on which to settle at Farmington. There, by dint of industry and a shrewd business sense, he garnered something of a fortune in land and money. A practitioner of polygamy, he married three wives, and was as prolific in his production of children as of worldly goods, there being eleven children in his first family and ten in the second. (His third wife had already raised a family.) He saw the demise of the practice of multiple marriage; in fact, spent a few months in jail because of his own. A man dedicated to the beliefs of his church, he contributed generously to its activities and served it in several high-ranking capacities. Annie Clark Tanner wrote the biography of her father when she was nearing the end of her own seventy-seven-year life, some thirty BOOK REVIEWS 153 years after her father's death. Therefore, most of Ezra Clark's early life is presented in summary fashion, although the author drew to some extent from other sources for comments on Mormon history, as well as on remembered anecdotes of her father's. Writ- ten in a crisp journalistic style, the biography moves rapidly through various aspects of Ezra Clark's life, an author's choice that results in some backtracking, overlapping, and confusion in chron- ology. The author attempts to be as objective as possible toward her subject, but inevitably her affection for her father and her own deep commitment to the philosophy of Mormonism results in a subjectivity that lends warmth to a well-told story. Powell, Wyoming Patricia M. Wolsborn An Army Wife on the Frontier: The Memoirs of Alice Blackwood Baldwin, 1867-1877. Edited by Robert C. and Eleanor R. Carriker. (Salt Lake City: Tanner Trust Fund, University of Utah Library, 1975). Index. lUus. 118 pp. $8. Little is known of army life on the frontier from the woman's point of view. These recalled experiences of the wife of a western campaigner, written in 1917 and first published in 1929, contribute in some small degree to that knowledge. Although the title indicates memoirs of a decade in the life of the author, Alice Baldwin spent only three or four years with her husband, Frank, on the frontier, and it is to those years, 1867- 1869 and 1877-1878, that she devotes her recollections. From a vantage point of half a century, those recollections are all too often hazy, generalized, and inaccurate. Fortunately, the extensive re- search of the editors, Robert Carriker and his wife Eleanor, into their subject has enabled them to fill in some of the gaps in Alice's account in an enthusiastic introduction, and to correct errors of dates, names, and places in informed footnotes. When Alice Baldwin set out in 1867 with her new husband to a series of military posts in Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico, she was not entirely a stranger to the rigors of travel in the west. At the age of nine (in 1854) she had accompanied her family on a long junket by rail, steamboat, and wagon from Michigan to California. Several years later, she returned to Michigan, and received her education at a "young Ladies' Seminary" in Albion, where she met and married the young army officer Frank Baldwin. Mrs. Baldwin does not dwell on the hardships of travel. What emerges is that the journeys from one fort to another were rela- tively adventuresome and exciting, and not unduly uncomfortable, since the wagons were apparently quite well appointed, and there was the retinue of army personnel to take care of the chores. Any complaining tone is reserved more for the inadequacies and dis- 154 ANNALS OF WYOMING comforts of the stops along the way, whether in military or civilian communities, even though they sometimes provided a welcome change in diet and social contacts. The author's narrative style is passive rather than active, and only occasionally is an episode (especially the humorous) made vivid. Alice's recollections of her second stint as an army wife on the frontier, when Frank was stationed at Fort Keough during the conflict with the Nez Perce Indians under Chief Joseph, are more appealing, perhaps because the events were closer to the author in time when she put her memories in written form. The editors of this new edition of the Baldwin memoirs seem to be convinced of its value as history and narrative. Their introduction concludes: "Frank and Ahce Baldwin wsre both remarkable persons. One was ... a courageous campaigner, and dedicated soldier. The other was an intelligent and spunky woman, equally dedicated to the Old Army. Singly or together, the Bald- wins offer much insight into the frontier army. But of the two, Alice gives more information and anecdote from a seldom heard corner — the reluctant campaigner, the woman who waits at home." Powell, Wyoming Patricia M. Wolsborn To Possess the Land: A Biography of Arthur Rochford Manby. By Frank Waters. (Chicago: Swallow Press Inc., 1973). Index. Illus. 287 pp. Frank Waters, a prolific writer of the southwest United States, gives us yet another fine book. Set in the territory of New Mexico at the turn of the century, this volume tells a story of power, greed, glory and finally tragedy. The author skillfully describes a period of history in this region when everyone was on the make. Arthur Rochford Manby came to New Mexico from his native England in 1883 at the age of twenty-four. Ambitious and imbued with a feeling of destiny, Manby became obsessed with the idea of acquiring an empire in the wilderness. Patterning his kingdom on the massive Maxwell Grant nearby, Manby came to acquire over 60,000 acres in northern New Mexico near Taos. For more than twenty years he lied, cheated, stole and bribed to take the huge, old Mexican land grant of Antonio Martinez from the poor Chicanos and others who rightfully owned it. In what amounts to almost a psychological study as well as an historical drama, the author shows how Manby finally came to possess this enormous grant through his various landholding schemes and how he also began losing it. Writing to "everyman" Waters demonstrates what can happen to a person besieged with one single dream and how that obsession can in time destroy him. As Manby ages, the idea haunts him BOOK REVIEWS 155 as his land slips away that there is a conspiracy to steal his land. Retaliating, he organizes a secret society which ultimately comes to terrorize whole towns, becoming so powerful that even Manby no longer knows all its members and inner workings. In July, 1929, Manby's headless body was found near his home. Some people said it was murder and others believed the body not to be Manby's. Some witnesses reported seeing him alive after the body was found. Either a horrible murder or mysterious disap- pearance, Waters calls it the "greatest unsolved mystery of the West." The investigation of the mystery surrounding Manby's death with its international complications halted when the New Mexican government checked it. Meanwhile, a web of strange clues and more murders brought the story to the national limelight. The book exhibits the almost diabolical methods that some people used in acquiring the numerous Spanish land grants during the post-Mexican War era in this territory. By the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1848, the United States government agreed to insure the rights of the people in the acquired territory. But in the name of Manifest Destiny and white supremacy, an assorted col- lection of land grabbers and promoters like Manby, as well as railroads and corporations, filtered into the area with the purpose of stealing the land and its natural resources. The volume reads like a Hollywood script; peppered with fan- tastic incidents of the old West, it has all the ingredients of a John Ford movie. Waters' thorough use of dialogue that Manby might have had, detracts from the historical accuracy of the account, but makes for a better understanding of the principal subject. This book is a fascinating chronicle. Kansas State University, Manhattan Dennis Shockley Reinterpreting American History. A Critical Look at Our Past. By Edward Diener. (New York: Philosophical Library, 1975.) Index. 217 pp. $11.50. Fort Collins Yesterdays. By Evadene Burris Swanson. (Fort Collins, Colorado: Author, 1975). Illus. 254 pp. Paper. Railroads of the Trans-Mississippi West: A Selected Bibliography of Books. Donovan L. Hofsommer, Compiler. (Plainview, Texas: The Llano Estacada Museum, 1976). Indexes. Illus. 92 pp. Paper. $2.50. The Ohio Black History Guide. Sara Fuller, Editor. (Columbus: Ohio Historical Society, 1975). 221 pp. Union Pacific Country, by Robert G. Athearn. (Lincoln: Uni- versity of Nebraska Press, 1971). Bison Book. Index. Illus. 480 pp. $5.95. Contributors David P. Robrock is presently attending the University of Oklahoma working toward a master's degree in library science. After completing his undergraduate work in history at the Univer- sity of Wyoming he served as a commissioned officer in the mili- tary intelligence branch of the U. S. Army until May, 1976. James H. Nottage, at present a museum consultant, University of Wyoming, holds a B. A. in history from the University, and in 1975 earned an M. A. in History Museum Studies in the Coopers- town Graduate Programs, Cooperstown, New York. He belongs to numerous historical societies including the American Associa- tion for State and Local History, Western History Association and the American Association of Museums. Paul L. Hedren, a National Park Service ranger since 1972, is currently assigned to Fort Laramie National Historic Site. He is a graduate of St. Cloud State College, St. Cloud, Minnesota. Hedren is an Editorial Board member for Little Big Horn Asso- ciates, and has had historical research published by CAMP, Little Big Horn Associates and Company of Military Historians. Fur- ther articles are scheduled for publication in South Dakota History, Brown County (Minnesota) Heritage and The Journal of Arizona History. The Fourth. The gentlemen in charge of our celebration today have spared no pains to make the occasion an enjoyable one, and it is be hoped that everybody will assist them so far as possible in carrying out the programme, at least by preserving good order. The parade of ancients, we believe, is to begin at six o'clock in the morning, so that they will probably be out before this morn- ing's paper reaches its readers. General Palmer has very kindly furnished a cannon to assist in making a noise, and we anticipate an extensive good time. — Laramie Daily Sentinel July 4, 1876 Jndex Adams, Charles Partridge, 92 Anderson, A. A., 94 An Army Wife on the Frontier: The Memoirs of Alice Blackwood Baldwin, 1867-1877, ed. by Rob- ert C. and Eleanor R. Carriker, review, 153-154 Augur, General Christopher C, 6, 7, 15 B Battle of the Little Big Horn, 109, 110, 127, 128 Becker, Joseph, 88 Belden, Charles J., 96 Benteen, — , 118, 121 Bernstein, Joel, review of James Madison Alden. Yankee Artist of the Pacific Coast, 1854-1860, 147-148 Bierce, Ambrose, 87 Bierstadt, Albert, 79, 85, 91-92 Big Horn Mountains, 110 Big Horn River, HI, 112, 115 A Biography of Ezra Thompson Clark, by Annie Clark Tanner, review, 152-153 Blair, Neal L., review of Metal Weapons, Tools, and Ornaments of the Teton Dakota Indians, 142- 143 Black Hills, 111, 114 Black Hills Gold Rush, 45, 46 Bodmer, Karl, 83 Bonheur, Rosa, 77 Borein, Edward, 95 Brazelton, Jay, 139, 141 Bridger, Jim, 19 Bromley, Valentine Walter, 90 Bruff, J. Goldsborough, 82 Buchser, Frank, 90 Carlton, Major J. W., 15 Carriker, Robert and Eleanor, ed.. An Army Wife on the Frontier: The Memoirs of Alice Blackwood Baldwin, 1867-1877, review, 153- 154 Cavalry near Fort Steele, photo, 89 "A Centennial History of Artist Activities in Wyoming, 1837- 1937," by James H. Nottage, 77- 100 Charles A. Belden Photograph "The Old Fiddler," photo, 97 Cheyenne Daily Leader, 132, 141 Christy, George Wilkins, 81 Chronical of a Congressional Jour- ney. The Doolittle Committee in the Southwest, 1865, ed. by Lon- nie J. White, review, 148-150 Clark, James Lippit, 96 Clayton, Alfred G., 94 Coats, Capt. E. M., 50, 54, 55, 56, 67 Collins, 2nd Lt. Caspar W., 86 Collins, Lt. Col. WilHam O., 86 Comanche, horse, 123 "Commanche," by Audrey J. Hazell, poem, 126 Cook, — , 122 Coutant, C. G., 94 Crook, Brig. Gen. George S., 47, 48, 49, 51, 52, 53, 60, 61, 64. 113, 114, 116, 124 Crittenden, — , 122 Custer, "Boston," 122 Custer, Elizabeth B., 109, 128-129. 130, 131 Custer, Lt. Col. (Bvt. Maj. Gen.) George Armstrong, 14. 15, 45. 54, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118. 119, 120, 121, 122. 123. 124. 125. 127, 128, 129, 131 Custer, Capt. Tom, 116, 122 "Custer's Last Battle," by Captain Charles King, U.S.A., Introduc- tion by Paul L. Hedren. 109-125 Custer's Last Battle, by Gail Mer- catante. photo, 117 Calhoun, — , 122 "Captain King's Centennial Year Look at Fort Laramie, Wyoming," by Paul Hedren, 103-107 D Davis. Miss G. A., 89 DeLay, R. L., 71 158 ANNALS OF WYOMING Depot at Green River, photo, 91 DeSmet, Pierre Jean, 80 De Trobriand, Phillippe Regis, 87 De Wolf, — . 122 Dye, Major William McE., 6, 12, 13 Edwards, Paul M., review of Chron- ical of a Congressional Journey. The Doolittle Committee in the Southwest, 1865, 149-150 Elkins, Henry Arthur, 92 Elliott, Henry Wood, 91 Elwell, R. Farrington, 95 Fetterman City, 72, 73 Fetterman Cut-Off, 7 FORTS AND CAMPS Fetterman, 5-76; photo, 4 Laramie, 23, 24, 103-107, 111 Phil Kearny, 111, 112 Smith (C.F.), 111 Reno, 13, 111 Frank Leslie's Illustrated Magazine, 87-89 Fremont, John Charles, 80 Frenzeny, Paul, 88 H The Hay Field Fight, 8 Harper's Weekly, 87-88 Haines, Francis, The Plains Indians: Their Origins, Migrations, and Cultural Development, review, 151-152 Haynes, F. Jay, 92 Hamilton, Capt., 119 Hanson, James Austin, Metal Weap- ons, Tools, and Ornaments of the Teton Dakota Indians, review, 142-143 Harrington, Lt., 122, 123 Hazell, Audrey J., "Commanche," poem, 126 Hedren, Paul L., "Captain King's Centennial Year Look at Fort Laramie, Wyoming," 103-107; introd., "Custer's Last Battle," by Charles King, 109-110; biog. 156 Hill, Thomas, 92 "A History of Fort Fetterman, Wyoming, 1867-1882," by David P. Robrock, 4-76 Hodgson, "Benny," 120 Houghton, Arthur Boyd, 89 Houghton, Merritt Dana, 94; photo, 93 Houston, Jane, 137 Hughes, Colonel R. P., 127 Hunton, John, 28, 29 "General Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn," by Elizabeth B. Custer, 109, 127-128 Girard, Col. Joseph Basil, 87 Gifford, Sanford R., 90 Gibbon, Gen., 113, 114, 115, 121, 123 Gibbs, George, 82 Gollings, Filing William, 96; photo, 95 Goose Creek, 116, 124 Grant, Pres. Ulysses S., 22 "Greasy Grass." See Little Big Horn River Guice, John, D. W., review of Ter- ritorial Politics in Montana, 1864- 89, 144-146 I Illustrated London News, 88-90 INDIANS AGENCIES Red Cloud, 43 CHIEFS AND INDIVIDUALS American Horse, 10, 60, 112 Choonka-witko. See Crazy Horse Crazy Horse, 47, 48, 60, 113, 124, 125 Curly, 121 Gall, 125 Kill Eagle, 125 Lame Deer, 125 Little-Big-Man, 112 Lone Wolf, 125 Machpealota. See Red Cloud Old-Man- Afraid-of - his - Horses, 112 Rain-in-the-Face, 125 INDEX 159 Red Cloud, 22, 111, 112, 113 Red Dog, 112 Sitting Bull, 47, 48, 60, 113, 114, 123, 124, 125 Spotted Eagle, 125 Spotted Horn Bull, 124 Tatonka-e-Yotanka. See Sitting Bull Tatonka-he-gle-ska. See Spot- ted Horn Bull HOSTILITIES Fort Fetterman, 8, 10, 15, 16, 17 INDIAN BUREAU Unceded Lands, 48 TREATIES Fort Laramie, 1868, 11 TRIBES Absarakas, 110 Arapaho, 18, 24, 41 Arrapahoes, 110, 112 Blackfoot, 113, 119, 124, 125 Brule, 119, 121, 122, 124, 125 Cheyenne, 15, 110, 112, 115, 124, 125 Chippewa, 110 Crees, 110 Crow, 124 Dakotas, 110, 112 Kaw, 112 Minneconjou, 113, 124 Ogalallas, 112, 113, 121, 122, 124, 125 San Arc, 113, 124 Shoshones, 110, 111 Sioux, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 18, 110, 111, 119, 121, 122, 123, 124 Snakes. See Shoshones Uncapapa, 113, 122, 124, 125 "Is General Custer Alive Today?" 109, 129-131 K Keogh, Capt. Myles, 116, 122, 123 King, Captain Charles, "Custer's Last Battle," introd. by Paul Hed- ren, 109-125; photo, 103 Kleiber, Hans, 98-99; photo, 98 Jackson, William H., 90 James Madison Aid en. Yankee Artist of the Pacific Coast, 1854- 1860, by Franz Stenzel, M. D., review. 147-148 Jensen, Henry, 133, 134, 135, 136, 138, 140, 141 Johnson, Frank Tenney, 95 "June 25, 1876," three short Custer articles, 109-131 Langley, Harald D., ed.. To Utah With the Dragoons and Glimpses of Life in Arizona and California, 150-151 La Prele Creek, 6 "Laramie;" or The Queen of Bed- lam, by Charles King, 103-108 Laramie Peak, 104-105 Layman, George, 129, 131 Leigh, William R., 97-98 "Lindsay," Mr., 129, 130, 131 Little Big Horn River, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 124 Long, Maj. Stephen H., 79 Lord, (Surgeon), 122 M Macdougall, — , 118, 121 Mcintosh, Donald, 120 McNally, R. E., 129, 130 Marriott, Alice, and Rachlin, Carol K., Plains Indian Mythology, re- view, 143-144 Mercatante, Frank, 109, 110 Mercatante, Gail, Custer's Last Bat- tle, photo, 117 Metal Weapons, Tools, and Orna- ments of the Teton Dakota In- dians, by James Austin Hanson, review, 142-143 Miller, Alfred Jacob, 79, 80. 100 Miles. Gen. Nelson A.. 123 MILITARY Eighteenth Infantry, 9. 19 Fifth Cavalry. 56, 59 Fourth Cavalry, 60, 61 Fourth Infantry. 6, 12 Second Cavalry. 12. 44 Seventh Cavalry. 14. 54, 114. 115, 116. 121. 123 Third Cavalry, 27 Missouri River, 110 160 ANNALS OF WYOMING Moellman, Frederick, 86 Mollhausen, Heinrich Baldwin, 83, 84 Moran, Thomas, 79, 90 Munger, Gilbert, 90 N Nottage, James H., "A Centennial History of Artist Activities in Wyoming, 1837-1937," 77-100; biog. 156 O Restored Double Officers Quarters as seen across Parade Ground by 1976 Visitors to Fort Fetterman State Historic Site, photo, 62 Reynolds, Col. Joseph J., 50 Richard, John, Jr., 20 Rickey, Don, Jr., review of To Utah With the Dragoons and Glimpses of Life in Arizona and California, 150-151 Robrock, David P., "A History of Fort Fetterman, Wyoming, 1867- 1882," 5-76; biog., 156 Rock Creek and Fort Custer Stage Company, 68 Rosebud River, 113, 114, 115, 116, 124, 128 Rungius, Carl, 96 Ogden, Harry, 89 Pendergraft, Ray, 135, 139, 140 Piercy, Frederick, 84 Pietierre, Monsieur P., 81 Plains Indian Mythology, by Alice Marriott and Carol K. Rachlin, review, 143-144 The Plains Indians: Their Origins, Migrations, and Cultural Devel- opments, by Francis Haines, re- view, 151-152 Platte River, 111, 123 Point, Father Nicholas, 80 Pollack, Capt. Edwin, 61 Porter, — , 122 Powder River, 113, 124 Powder River Expedition, 61 Present Day Reconstruction of Fort Fetterman Ordnance Storehouse, photo, 46 Proctor, Capt. Joseph, 87 Schoenborn, Antoine, 87 Seymour, Samuel, 79 Sheridan, Gen. Phillip H., 14, 114, 115 Sheridan News, 109, 129 Shockley, Dennis, review of To Pos- sess the Land: A Biography of Arthur Rochford Manby, 154-155 Sies, Walter, 87 Smith, — , 122 Spence, Clark C, Territorial Politics and Government in Montana , 1864-89, review, 144-146 Stenzel, Franz, M.D., James Madi- son Alden. Yankee Artist of the Pacific Coast, 1854-1860, review, 147-148 Stewart, Capt. William Drummond, 79, 80, 81, 83 Stuart, James E., 92 Sturgis, Lt. Jack, 122, 123 Sullivan Sgt. Patrick, 42 Switzer, Col. Nelson B., 7 R Rachlin, Carol K., and Marriott, Alice, Plains Indian Mythology, review, 143-144 Reily, — , 122 Remington, Frederic, 93-94 Reno, Maj. Marcus, 110, 114, 115, Tanner, Annie Clark, A Biography of Ezra Thompson Clark, review, 152-153 Tappan, William Henry, 82 Tavernier, Jules, 118, 119, 120, 121, 123, 124, 125 Ten Minutes at Carbon, photo, 78 INDEX 161 Territorial Politics and Government in Montana, 1864-89, by Clark C. Spence, review, 144-146 Terry, Gen., 113, 114, 115, 121, 123, 127, 128 Tilghman, Dr. Stedtnan Richard, 81 Tongue River, 113, 114 To Possess the Land: A Biography of Arthur Rochford Manby, by Frank Waters, review, 154-155 To Utah With the Dragoons and Glimpses of Life in Arizona and California, ed., by Harald D. Langley, review, 150-151 Trenholm, Virginia, review of Plains Indian Mythology, 143-144 U U. P. Depot, Cheyenne, photo, 78 Union Pacific Railway, 112 Weir, —,121 Wessels, Maj. Henry Walton, Jr., 9, 10, 12, 19 White, Lonnie J., ed., Chronical of a Congressional Journal. The Doolittle Committee in the South- west, 1865, review, 148-150 Wilkins, James F., 81 Wilkins, Edness Kimball, 139 Wilson, Raymond, review of The Plains Indians: Their Origins, Migrations, and Cultural Devel- opment, 151-152 Wind River Valley, 1 1 1 Wolcott, Frank, 69 Woisborn, Patricia M., review of A Biography of Ezra Thompson Clark, 152-153; review of An Army Wife on the Frontier: The Memoirs of Alice Blackwood Baldwin, 153-154 Woodville, Richard Caton, Jr., 90 "Wyoming Artists' Exhibition," 99 Varnum, Lt., 116 W Waters, Frank, To Possess the Land: A Biography of Arthur Rochford Manby, review, 154-155 Yates, Capt., 116, 122 Yeager, Walter, 89 Yellowstone (Elk) River, 111, 114, 117, 123 WYOMING STATE ARCHIVES AND HISTORICAL DEPARTMENT The Wyoming Staie Archives and Historical Department has as its func- tion the collection and preservation of the record of the people of Wyoming. It maintains the state's historical library and research center, the Wyoming State Museum and branch museums, the Wyoming State Art Gallery and the State archives. The aid of the citizens of Wyoming is solicited in the carrying out of its function. The Department is anxious to secure and preserve records and materials now in private hands where they cannot be long preserved. Such records and materials include: Biographical materials of pioneers: diaries, letters, account books, auto- biographical accounts. Business records of industries of the state: livestock, mining, agriculture, railroads, manufacturers, merchants, small business establishments and of professional men such as bankers, lawyers, physicians, dentists, ministers and educators. Private records of individual citizens, such as correspondence, manuscript materials and scrapbooks. Records of organizations active in the religious, educational, social, eco- nomic and political life of the state, including their publications such as yearbooks and reports. Manuscript and printed articles on towns, counties and any significant topic dealing with the history of the state. Early newspapers, maps, pictures, pamphlets, and books on western subjects. Current publications by individuals or organizations throughout the state. Museum materials with historical significance: early equipment. Indian artifacts, relics dealing with the activities of persons in Wyoming and with special events in the state's history. Original art works of a western flavor including, but not limited to, etchings, paintings in all media, sculpture and other art forms. ^mals of Wyoming FOR THE FUTURE • Emphaiically continue efforts for return of 90'^ of mineral royalties from Federal lands. • Work to get two additional sections of Fed- eral land in each township to equal four sections received by other western sutes. • Enlarge the facilities of the Pioneer Home at Thermopolis. • Continue program of raising standards at ttate institutions. Born Januar)', 1899 Reared in Worland. Wyo.. the aon of a proneer phy- sician Was graduated from Worland high scbool in 1917 and I'niversity of Wyoming in 1934 Veteran of World War 1 Taught in Wyoming schooli Postmaster at Sheridan 8 years in state elective offices— Supt. of Public Instruction. Secretary of State and Governor. He IS the most experienced public official on the current political scene GOUERROR JACK R. GAGE DEMOCRAT • JACK GAGE IS A GOOD GOVERNOR WHEN BETTER GOVERNORS ARE MADE, EXPERIENCE WIU MAKE THEM VoU 1^ .lAC K R. GAGE*^ For Governor ■»<** * 90H'T CHAHGB! Mil 976, WYOMING STATE LIBRARY, ARCHIVES AND HISTORICAL BOARD Judicial District 1 Mrs. Donald M. Casey Cheyenne 2 Mrs. William Swanson Rawlins 3 Mrs. Frank Emerson Evanston 4 Mrs. George W. Knepper Buffalo 5 Jerry Rillahan Worland 6 Willis Hughes Moorcroft 7 William T. Nightingale, Chairman Lander Member at Large Frank Bowron Casper Ex-Officio Attorney General V. Frank Mendicino Cheyenne WYOMING STATE ARCHIVES AND HISTORICAL DEPARTMENT STAFF William H. Williams Director Buck Dawson Director, State Museums Mrs. Katherine A. Halverson Director, Historical Research and Publications Division Mrs. Julia Yelvington Director, Archives and Records Division ANNALS OF WYOMING The Annals of Wyoming is published biannually in the spring and fall and is received by all members of the Wyoming State Historical Society. Copies of previous and current issues also are available for sale to the public and a price list may be obtained by writing to the Editor. Communications should be addressed to the Editor. The Editor does not assume responsibility for statements of fact or opinion made by the contributors. Annals of Wyoming articles are abstracted in Historical Abstracts. America: History and Life Copyright 1976, by the Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department A^mls of Wyoming Volume 48 Fall, 1976 Number 2 Katherine a. Halverson Editor John C. Paige William H. Barton Ellen E. Glover Editorial Assistants Published biannually by the WYOMING STATE ARCHIVES AND HISTORICAL DEPARTMENT Official Publication of the Wyoming State Historical Society WYOMING STATE LIBRARY, ARCHIVES AND HISTORICAL BOARD Judicial District 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Member at Large Ex-Officio Mrs. Donald M. Casey Cheyenne Mrs. William Swanson Rawlins Mrs. Frank Emerson Evanston Mrs. George W. Knepper Buffalo Jerry Rillahan Worland Willis Hughes Moorcroft William T. Nightingale, Chairman Lander Frank Bowron Casper Attorney General V. Frank Mendicino Cheyenne WYOMING STATE ARCHIVES AND HISTORICAL DEPARTMENT STAFF William H. Williams Director Buck Dawson Director, State Museums Mrs. Katherine A. Halverson Director, Historical Research and Publications Division Mrs. Julia Yelvington Director, Archives and Records Division ANNALS OF WYOMING The Annals of Wyoming is published biannually in the spring and fall and is received by all members of the Wyoming State Historical Society. Copies of previous and current issues also are available for sale to the public and a price list may be obtained by writing to the Editor. Communications should be addressed to the Editor. The Editor does not assume responsibility for statements of fact or opinion made by the contributors. Annals of Wyoming articles are abstracted in Historical Abstracts. America: History and Life Copyright 1976, by the Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department A^mls of Wyoming Volume 48 Fall, 1976 Number 2 Katherine a. Halverson Editor John C. Paige William H. Barton Ellen E. Glover Editorial Assistants Published biannually by the WYOMING STATE ARCHIVES AND HISTORICAL DEPARTMENT Official Publication of the Wyoming State Historical Society WYOMING STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OFFICERS 1976-1977 President, Ray Pendergraft Worland First Vice President, Mrs. Mabel Brown Newcastle Second Vice President, David J. Wasden Cody Secretary-Treasurer, Mrs. Ellen Mueller Cheyenne Executive Secretary, William H. Williams Cheyenne Past Presidents Frank L. Bowron, Casper 1953-1955 William L. Marion, Lander 1955-1956 Dr. DeWitt Dominick, Cody 1956-1957 Dr. T. a. Larson, Laramie 1957-1958 A. H. MacDougall, Rawlins 1958-1959 Mrs. Thelma G. Condit, Buffalo 1959-1960 E. A. Littleton, Gillette 1960-1961 Edness Kimball Wilkins, Casper 1961-1962 Charles Ritter, Cheyenne 1962-1963 Neal E. Miller, Rawlins 1963-1965 Mrs. Charles Hord, Casper 1965-1966 Glenn Sweem, Sheridan 1966-1967 Adrian Reynolds, Green River 1967-1968 Curtiss Root, Torrington 1968-1969 Mrs. Hattie Burnstad, Worland 1969-1970 J. Reuel Armstrong, Rawlins 1970-1971 William R. Dubois, Cheyenne 1971-1972 Henry F. Chadey, Rock Springs 1972-1973 Richard S. Dumbrill, Newcastle 1973-1974 Henry Jensen, Casper 1974-1975 Jay Brazelton, Jackson 1975-1976 The Wyoming State Historical Society was organized in October, 1953. Membership is open to anyone interested in history. County Historical Society Chapters have been organized in Albany, Big Horn, Campbell, Carbon, Crook, Fremont, Goshen, Hot Springs, Johnson, Laramie, Lincoln, Natrona, Niobrara, Park, Platte, Sheridan, Sweetwater, Teton, Uinta, Washakie and Weston Counties. State Dues Life Membership $100.00 Joint Life Membership (Husband and Wife) 150.00 Annual Membership 5.00 Joint Annual Membership (Two persons of same family at same address) 7.00 Institutional Membership 10.00 Send State Membership Dues To: Wyoming State Historical Society Executive Headquarters Barrett Building Cheyenne, Wyoming 82002 Zable of Contents A POLITICAL HISTORY OF JACK R. GAGE By Kathleen M. Karpan 167 THE BRITISH INVESTMENT PUBLIC AND THE SWAN LAND AND CATTLE COMPANY By Harmon Mothershead 253 CASPER'S PROHIBITION YEARS By Walter R. Jones 265 CANTONMENT RENO/FORT McKINNEY NO. 1, NEW VIEWS OF AN OLD WYOMING ARMY POST By Robert A. Murray 275 LETTER TO THE EDITOR 280 BOOK REVIEWS Nelson, Heart Mountain. The History of an American Concentration Camp 281 Papanikolas, The Peoples of Utah 282 Abbott, Colorado: A History of the Centennial State 284 Messerschmidt, School District No. 2, Carbon County, Wyoming .. 285 Katcher, Armies of the American Wars, 1753-1815 286 Tyler, Red Men and Hat Wearers 288 Hillier, The German Sections of Vanity Fair and Other Studies by John K. Mathison 289 Messerschmidt, The Grand Encampment 291 Terrell, The Plains Apache 292 Hines, An Index of Archived Resources for A Folklife and Cultural History of the Inland Pacific Northwest 293 Hall, Documents of Wyoming Heritage 295 CONTRIBUTORS 296 INDEX 297 ILLUSTRATIONS Jack R. Gage Campaign Folder Cover Mike Manatos, Governor Jack R. Gage, President John F. Kennedy, Senator J. J. Hickey 166 Casper's Center Street, circa 1917 264 Headline, Casper Daily Tribune, December 8, 1823 268 Headline, Casper Daily Tribune, December 22, 1923 271 Officers in front of quarters. Fort McKinney 275 Fort McKinney, Summer, 1877 276 Fort McKinney Buildings under Construction, 1877 277 Ruins of old Fort Reno 278 Cover: Front and back pages of a Jack R. Gage campaign folder from the files of the Historical Research and Publications Division of the Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department. A Political Kiograpky of^ack K. Qage By Kathleen M. Karpan Jack R. Gage was a public figure in Wyoming for 36 years, from his election as State Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1934 until his death in 1970, when he had achieved recognition as an author and humorist. All of Gage's private papers, as well as many of his public papers, are in the possession of his widow, Mrs. Jack R. Gage, and hitherto have not been available to researchers. With the aid of these materials, it has been possible to fill in the biographical out- line of Jack R. Gage with his own statements on the values ex- pressed in his public life. The author wishes to convey sincere appreciation to Dr. T. A. Larson, who has given generously of his time in directing this thesis. Very special appreciation is due Mrs. Jack R. Gage, who not only provided complete access to her late husband's private papers, but who also shared her recollections. Without her assis- tance and moral support, this thesis would not have been possible. Her son. Jack R. Gage, II, has also provided helpful insights into his father's career. For instilling a love of Wyoming politics, an expression of gratitude is due Congressman Teno Roncalio, under whose sponsorship the author was able to obtain an education in political life. ^ H: ^ H: A SOURCE OF GOOD STORIES The Tag End of the Real West Jack R. Gage, was, for thirty-six years, a public figure in Wyoming. He served in three of the five state elective offices. State Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1935-39, Secretary of State, 1959-61, and Acting Governor, 1961-63, a distinction he shared with few persons in state history.^ iJack R. Gage was elected to two state offices, superintendent of public instruction, 1934, and secretary of state, 1958. He served, 1961-1963, as 168 ANNALS OF WYOMING In a larger sense, his public life encompassed many careers, educator, postmaster, author, lecturer, humorist, and "revealer of obscure fact."- Of his authorship of six books, he said, "I have an unearned reputation as an authority on Western history, but I expect that perhaps I have a more generally earned reputation as a story teller."^ His continuing source of inspiration was the West, and more particularly, Wyoming. His friend, Denver Post col- umnist Red Fenwick, said, in 1967: "Jack's somewhat dated — like I am. He's part of a generation old enough to have seen the tag end of the real West and young enough to appreciate the fact."^ His childhood, which until his sixteenth year included residence in Nebraska, Colorado, and Wyoming, shaped his frontier philos- ophy, expressed in his humor and sturdy conservatism. He was the only child of W. V. and La Vaughn Gage. His father, the son of Anson F. W. Gage and Lucy Bump, was born August 23, 1868, in Hartford, Connecticut.^ W. V. Gage's life, commemorated in The Horse-The Buggy- The Doctor, began with emotional and and financial obstacles. When he was a youngster, his father left his mother, who then opened a millinery shop. She remarried, but the stepfather was of "short duration," and he left with a good share of Mrs. Gage's savings. She was forced to move to another Connecticut city to open another millinery shop. Gage enrolled at Rush Medical College in Chicago, Illinois, earning his room and board by work- ing at the Cook County Hospital kitchen. He graduated first in his class. ^^ He moved to Nebraska, where he married La Vaughn Phelan, born October 23, 1878, at Eau Clair, Wisconsin, the daughter of J. R. Phelan and Adele Moss Bennot.' Phelan, acting governor following the appointment of J. J. Hickey to the U. S. Senate. Limiting the comparison to state offices, Gage shares service in three offices with Everett Copenhaver and C. J. "Doc" Rogers. Other public figures, including his contemporaries Lester Hunt and Frank Barrett, served in three statewide elected offices, but included service in Congress. -Casper Star-Tribune, March 17, 1970, editorial "A Dedicated Public Servant." '^Ibid., December 18, 1966, editorial "The Story Teller." ^Jack R. Gage, The Johnson County War, (Cheyenne: Flintlock Publish- ing Co., 1967), Notes on the Author by Red Fenwick. ^State of Colorado, Standard Certificate of Death, Bureau of Vital Statis- tics, State File Number 4693, Registrar's Number 131, District 191. Gage died March 9, 1946, at Colorado State Hospital in Pueblo, Colo. fJJack R. Gage, The Horse-The Buggy-The Doctor, (Cheyenne: Flintlock Publishing Co., 1968), pp. 7-15. The source does not identify a date for Gage's enrollment, nor do family records. Presumably, it would have been in 1886-1890 period. ""State of Wyoming, Certificate of Death, Department of Public Health, Division of Vital Statistics, State File Number 1203. Mrs. Gage separated from her husband after his son had left home. She was employed by the University of Wyoming for a number of years. She lived with her son and his family in Sheridan at the time of her death on June 14, 1957. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 169 general superintendent of the Burlington Railroad at Alliance, Nebraska, helped Edward Gillette bring the railroad to Sheridan, Wyoming, in the 1890's.'^ There are two versions of the circumstances of John Robert Gage's birth, one as it was and the other as he would have pre- ferred. '^ According to the popular account, preserved in news- paper articles. Gage was born when his father was employed as a doctor for the Chicago and North Western Railroad. His father was said to have been treating employes who were laying track through central Wyoming and to have been living, with his preg- nant wife, in a railroad boxcar. When it was time for her delivery. Dr. Gage was said to have sent her to be with her family in McCook, Nebraska. Jack R. Gage would, years later, cap the story with the observation that he would have preferred being born in the boxcar. ^'^ If he could not claim birth in Wyoming, he could at least claim conception. The popular account has elements of fact. At a later point. Dr. Gage was employed by the railroad and lived, with his wife and son, in a boxcar. However, at the time of Gage's birth on January 13, 1899, the family was residing in McCook under far more affluent circumstances. His father was practicing medicine and the Gage's were remembered as a "fashionable family." They owned one of the first automobiles in the county and enjoyed outings in full motoring regalia. Dr. Gage was described as a "dapper man," whose son was "dressed like Little Lord Faunt- leroy," an impression photographs of him at that time confirm. ^^ For the official record. Gage would later gloss over his Nebraska origins, describing himself as the "son of a pioneer physician in the Big Horn Basin.''^^ Accounts of Gage's first sixteen years are sketchy. His father worked for the railroad in the Casper vicinity, at times living in a '^Letter from Jack R. Gage to Oscar A. Ganum, Avery, Wis., November 5, 1956. Undated clippings from the 1934 campaign also mention J. R. Phelan's role in bringing the Burlington Railroad to Sheridan. ^The Pioneer, (edited and published by the students of Worland, Wyo- ming, High School, 1918), p. 11. This is the only reference to Gage's Christian name "John." He was hereafter known only as "Jack." His son was named Jack Gage, II. ^^Wyoming Eagle, March 17, 1970, p. 1 "Gage Rites to be Held Wednesday." ^'^ McCook Daily Gazette, March 16, 1970, "Ex-McCookite, Former Wyo- ming Governor Dies," p. 9. An interview with Mrs. Jack R. Gage supports the fact that Gage resided in McCook, Nebr. for the first several years of his life, and that his father resided there at the time of his son's birth. A photograph of Gage and his father, taken when he was a youngster, con- firms the impression he was smartly dressed. This photograph was used as the cover for The Horse-The Buggy-The Doctor. i2"Biographical Sketch of Jack R. Gage," Gage Collection of papers, Governor files. 170 ANNALS OF WYOMING boxcar. When Gage was three years old, his father went to Vienna, Austria, to study skin diseases. His wife and son, as was to be the case periodically in the next few years, lived with her family in McCook. Despite his training in skin diseases. Dr. Gage did not pursue his specialty. Troubled by asthma, he moved several times. For a short period, about the time Gage was enrolled in the first grade, the family lived in Denver, Colorado. When it was time for young Gage to enter the first grade, his father was so ill with an asthma attack that his wife had to remain with him. A neighbor was prevailed upon to take young Gage to school. He was so uncertain of the arrangement that he insisted on taking the neighbor's glove to make sure that she would return for him. The family then moved downstate to Primero, where Dr. Gage treated employes of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. His son's school performance was erratic; one year he withdrew entirely and was tutored by his father. Young Gage completed his eighth grade there and alarmed the family by working the summer in a local coal mine.^^ Gage's school record is documented in 1915, when he trans- ferred from Alliance, Nebraska, to Worland, Wyoming, High School. In his own view. Gage's life began in Worland, where, he said, "Fifteen Mile Creek emptied its tired dirty water into the Big Horn River and where a ferry crossed the river." In his Tensleep and No Rest, Gage affectionately sketched life in Wor- land in 1909, six years before his arrival: "It was a town where not much happened. The residents had to content themselves with the use and re-use of an abundant supply of home-made conjec- tures about what might happen in care this or that took place." He described story telling as a way of Hfe, with conversations revolving around "who got drunk and got into a fight and who got drunk and did not get into a fight ... in direct proportion to how many times the same individual had done either or both before." It was a town where, "Their love for their neighbor or their hate for him assumed violent proportions."^** Gage's high school performance was recalled, years later, by his friend, Ben Gregg, "Jack was not the best student in school, nor the worst either; but like him though I did, I was not entitled to expect too much." In view of Gage's accompHshments, Gregg mused, "I wonder what it was I overlooked in him when we were i^Interview with Mrs. Jack R.Gage. In her view. Gage, as a youngster was troubled by his father's asthma attacks, which caused the family to move several times. She believes that Gage considered his life in Worland as the happiest in his childhood. i^Jack R. Gage, Tensleep and No Rest, (Casper: Prairie Publishing Co., 1958), p. 68. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 171 boys. It must have been there."^^ As would be expected in a class with only three men, Gage participated in virtually every student activity. He was an athlete, cartoonist for the annual, a lead in class plays, and a member of the debate team in a year when one of the topics was "Resolved: That the U. S. Should Annex Mexico." He had already developed an interest in humor- ous stories, dramatics and writing. To his classmater, he was, "A tall, shy fellow who plodded on slowly but was sure to win. He was our 'Literary Genius' and his stories were very absorbing."^^ Making Plans for the Future, Afoot and Horseback For two summers, Gage worked with the U. S. Reclamation survey of Wyoming lands and spent many hours on horseback. He rode out to visit ranches, trying, as he put it, to emulate the cowboys. He trapped coyotes in the badlands and thought about his future, "I felt that I could have what I wanted in the world if I could arouse the courage needed to work for it."^^ His high school annual in 1918 was filled with references to the war effort. Gage was proud of his patriotism: When I was a boy, I had a great desire to be deHnquent, and within bounds managed to achieve a certain deUnquency, but somewhere along the Hne I learned respect for authority and developed a great love of country. When World War I came, every boy in my class, three in all, enlisted. i*' Gage enhsted in the U. S. Army Coast Artillery Corps on May 23, 1918, at Fort Logan, Colorado. His record was described as free of absences without leave, with "honest and faithful service," though he saw no combat action before his discharge on April 8, 1919.^^ Although his father made much of his service by decorat- ing the family walls with photographs of Gage in uniform. Gage himself took it none too seriously, observing of his veteran status, "I was the only buck private I've met since then."-" isjack R. Gage, The Horse-The Buggy -The Doctor, (Cheyenne: Flintlock Pubhshing Co., 1968), About the Author notes by Ben Gregg. ^^The Pioneer, (edited and published by students of Worland, Wyoming, High School, 19i8). The conclusions are based on a reading of the entire text, with special reference to pages 4, 11 and 15. i^Special Edition, Wyoming State Tribune and Wyoming Eagle, July 24-27, 1962. An interview by Alice Shields, "Acting Governor of Wyoming is Hard Working Outdoorsman." ^^Fort Morgan (Colorado) Times, November 29, 1967. "Ex-Wyoming Chief Mixes Criticism, Humor at Rotary Farmers Night." ^^Certificate of Honorable Discharge from U. S. Army. Washakie Coun- ty, State of Wyoming. Filed April 8, 1919. Recorded in Book 1. Discharge Records, p. 12. "^^Wyoming State Tribune, May 21, 1959, "Highly Colorful Career Leads Gage to No. 2 State Office." 172 ANNALS OF WYOMING In 1919, Dr. Gage completed a memoir, "To Son From Dad," with a bound collection of quotations from his favorite authors, including Longfellow, Emerson, Whitman and Holmes, as well as his own thoughts. Of the nearly one-third quotations which are attributed to Dr. Gage, the majority of them counsel silence in the face of adversity, for example : Don't argue. If you argue with your mental superior, you are tire- some and ridiculous in his eyes. If he is your inferior, mentally, you can't gain your point and you will probably lose a friend. Saying nothing is magic. It mystifies your enemies, dumbfounds your loud-talking traducer, and binds your friends to you past all loosening. Most anyone can talk loud and say nothing, but few men know how to keep still and say something. He also encouraged modesty, "However much you feel the im- pulse, never say a word in self praise, for if you have done a big thing, people know it and will tell you so. If you tell them about it, it someway takes the keen edge off your accomplishment." "To Son From Dad" reflected Dr. Gage's appreciation for effective language and suggested the kind of values he wished to impart. Gage himself was later to abide by certain suggestions of keeping his own counsel, particularly in political debate. Gage, however, was an independent man, and any similarity in expression or atti- tude was as much due to his own experience as to his father's counsel. The influence of the memoir, which contains Jack Gage's handwritten comments throughout, should, in fact, not be exag- gerated, for he was also advised by his father, "I don't know about this laughing business. History gives few records of funny men who reached the pinnacle of greatness."-^ Gage greatly respected his father's career in medicine. In The Horse-The Buggy-The Doctor, he recounted an episode where he treated a patient in his father's absence. After his graduated from the University of Wyoming, Gage considered entering medical school, but his academic record and the financial demands dis- suaded him.^- In 1961, he confided to a friend, "I would rather practice medicine in Connecticut or Tasmania than be governor, that really being my secret sorrow."^^ 2i"To Son from Dad," (a personal memoir, 1919), Gage Collection pp. 16, 36, 37. -^Interview with Mrs. Jack R. Gage, Cheyenne, April, 1975. -•'^Letter from Gage to Fred Agee, Jr., M.D., Westhersfield, Connecticut, July 24, 1961. The letter cautioned, "Please do not make it public . . . ." Mrs. Gage has said that Gage would have preferred a career in medicine. As late as 1964, he was delighted to be able to join the "Flying Doctors" serving Western Australia for a review of their operations. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 173 Education, as Student and as Teacher Gage enrolled at the University of Wyoming in 1919. He earned his way as a janitor in the school's heating plant, the Episcopal Church and the post office. During summers, he worked with a surveying crew and for the Union Pacific Railroad. After his sophomore year, he joined a logging camp in northern British Columbia as an ax man with a surveying crew. "The work was heavy," he said, "but the outdoors was good." He worked through the spring, summer, and fall of 1921, and returned in January to complete studies in agriculture.-^ When he was in college, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction was Katharine Morton, whom he would oppose in the 1934 general election. A future political contemporary, Milward Simpson, was yearbook editor and a star athlete. Gage pledged Alpha Tau Omego social fra- ternity, whose alumni included Tracy S. McCraken, Cheyenne newspaper publisher, who as Democratic National Committeeman would later counsel Gage. With so many part-time jobs. Gage was not especially active in campus social life, though he did continue his interest in dramatics.-^ Gage married Leona Switzer on September 29, 1922. In a collection of profiles on University of Wyoming history. Gage re- called, "... the most outstanding event for me in The Good Years was that I got married. Too, it has been the longest lasting event." He said that in 1922-1923 a sensation was created when "about 18 or 20" student couples married: The State Legislature actually contemplated moving in a manner de- signed to remove us from school because we had married. This now [1965] seems ironical; since that time, other people have probably come close to being removed because they did not get married.26 Gage said that he had worked his way through school until his marriage, and then, "My wife worked our way through school."-^ He graduated from the University in 1924 with a B. S. Degree in agriculture. He was employed, in the 1924-1925 academic year, at Campbell County High School in Gillette, Wyoming, where he was viewed as "a well-qualified instructor and popular with his pupils and other teachers."-^ After a brief, unsuccessful associa- tion in a school supply business in Laramie, Gage, in 1929, began teaching in Sheridan High School. His son, Jack Robert, was born -"^Wyoming State Tribune and Wyoming Eagle, July 24-27, 1962. -''The Wyo, (published by University of Wyoming students) Volumes 12, 13 and 14 for 1920, 1921. 1922. -^Those Good Years at Wyoming U, ed. by Ralph E. McWhinnie (Casper: Prairie Publishing Co., 1965), pp. 134-35. -' Wyoming Eagle, March 17, 1970. 2SLetter from R. A. Wright, president, Campbell County High School Board, Gillette, Wyoming, June 10, 1925, To Whom it May Concern. 174 ANNALS OF WYOMING in 1926; and Richard Collier in 1928. In a worsening economy, Gage was fortunate to be employed, however meager the salary. He and his wife became proficient at economizing. There was little to suggest that in a few years he would astound the state with his vote-getting abilities. SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION On the Campaign Trail, With a Bedroll Although Wyoming fared relatively better than most states in the Great Depression, the electorate in 1932 endorsed Franklin Roosevelt with fifty-six per cent of the vote, compared to fifty- seven and four-tenths per cent nationally. The Republicans, who had controlled the Legislature since 1893 and monopolized state elective offices, were rebuffed when voters elected a conservative Democrat, Leslie A. Miller, governor and gave control of the House of Representatives to the Democrats. ^'^ The election did not signify, however, a dramatic change in the political make-up of Wyoming. In a state where two-thirds of the population lived on farms, ranches, or communities of less than 2500 persons, conservatism was deeply rooted. The stockmen dominated pol- itics, exhibiting a deep mistrust of federal intervention and adher- ence to economy in government. Miller, with whom Gage would campaign and serve, set the tone for frugality. The 1933 Legis- lature spent most of its time trying to reduce taxes and appro- priations. Participation in the New Deal program was never com- pletely enthusiastic, though Roosevelt carried the state in 1936 and 1940.-^" The 1933 Legislature had authorized a study on government reorganization as a means of effective savings. Although Gage was, at the time, a teacher in Sheridan, the study was to influence his attitude on reorganization and on two key figures. The first Democratic Speaker of the Wyoming House of Repre- sentatives was William M. "Scotty" Jack, who won the post in 1933. The reorganization study concept had originated with the Wyoming Tax League. A delegation of legislators asked Governor Miller for the right to conduct the study. He had agreed, and, in 1933, legislation was approved. According to Governor Miller, "Scotty" Jack, who was vice chairman of the legislative commis- sion, was its guiding force. Griffenhagen and Associates of Chi- cago was hired to research the possibilities. The resulting pro- posals were so radical that Miller forwarded them to the Legisla- 29T. A. Larson, "The New Deal in Wyoming," Pacific Historical Review, August, 1969, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, p. 251. 30/ZjjW., pp. 249-253. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 175 ture without recommendation. Included in the package were pro- posals to reduce the number of Wyoming counties from twenty- three to eleven, to transfer duties of sheriffs to a state police force, and to make the state one school district, eliminating the post of county superintendent of schools. Most startling, and a direct strike at Miller's office, was the proposal to make the governor, in effect, a figurehead, appointed by a legislative body of nine or twelve members. Administration of the state would be assumed by a state manager, hired by the Legislature. The conflict, in Miller's view, was a power struggle between the executive and legislative branches. He saw Jack as a moving force. For a variety of reasons, particularly the proposed loss of county offices, the Legislature rejected the study, disgusted that $15,000 had been wasted. To Miller's consternation, Jack not only emerged un- scathed, but filed, in 1934, for the nomination for state auditor. ^^ The episode characterized the difference in philosophy between Jack and Miller, and the undercurrent of personal mistrust and hostility. Prior to filing for the Democratic nomination for State Super- intendent of Public Instruction in 1934, Gage had been virtually without political experience at any level. He had not been active in campus politics at the University of Wyoming. Although there is some indication he attended Democratic functions in Sheridan, he had held no party office. It was not unusual, at this time, for a school teacher to refrain from active participation in politics and Mrs. Gage has said that her husband had no special interest in that pursuit. There is only one reference to his involvement. The 1934 convention program of the Young Folks Democratic Clubs of Wyoming credited Gage, George Pearson, and C. T. "Doc" Holmes of Casper with forming the state's first club, in Sheridan, in 1933.32 Gage apparently was drafted to run in 1934. According to Mrs. Gage, the invitation followed a local Democratic meeting where Gage at the last moment, was called upon to emcee. His public speaking abilities impressed local leaders of the party, who in the •"^iLeslie A. Miller personal memorandum, "William M. Scotty Jack and the Democratic Party in Wyoming," undated; it is in the Gage collection. Miller, in longhand, added a postscript in his copy to Gage, "New title, 'Jack, a Study in Duplicity.' " The Miller perspective is presented in detail because Gage tended to ally with him, and, as late as 1962, relied on him for politcial counsel. Miller was co-chairman of the Gage for Governor Committee in 1962. 82Program, First Annual State Convention, Young Folks Democratic Clubs of Wyoming, Casper, September 17-18, 1934, p. 4. The program also credited Wyoming's U. S. Senator John B. Kendrick with having originated the idea of Young Democratic clubs. He was said to have taken the idea to Postmaster General James Farley in the early 1930's and the national membership, in 1934, was estimated at 2.5 million. 176 ANNALS OF WYOMING Spring of 1934 asked him to seek office. -^^ When his candidacy was announced, it was not by Gage, but by N. V. Kurtz, chairman of the Sheridan County Democratic Central Committee. Gage, in fact, seemed to have been caught off guard. His comments, pub- lished with those of Kurtz, noted that his candidacy was not his idea, but the party's. He said he was pleased to run and would be prepared, at a later date, to make a statement in regard to cam- paign issues.-^^ A school teacher with a family to support and no savings. Gage was in no position, financially, to make the race. However, through a combination of good luck and imaginative campaigning, he made the lack of money an asset. His good luck stemmed from the universal conviction the Democrats would make a strong race in 1934. The optimism brought five other contestants to the race: Maud Sholty, Cheyenne; Gilbert Johnson and Elmer Hal- seth, both of Rock Springs; Mrs. Ida Johnson, Newcastle; and M. A. Thrasher, Wheatland. Especially fortunate for Gage was the well-founded expectation that the two Rock Springs candidates would split the crucial primary vote in the Democratic stronghold, Sweetwater County. Gage decided to capitahze on his lack of financing, making a virtue of a defect. He captured the pubUc's imagination with a thrifty campaign that made sense in a depres- sion. He left his teaching position at the end of the term. With an amount reported variously at $100 and $125, he set out with a car, a bedroll, and a wash basin. He slept outside of commu- nities and groomed himself in his car before beginning his cam- paigning. He said, later, "I chiseled more free meals by appearing at someone's house. I became adept at making the wife think he'd asked me and the husband that she'd asked me."-^^ He told the Cheyenne press that he had traveled some 8000 miles in the ten- week primary campaign, without having exhausted his bankroll. He said he had spent only one night in a hotel room, "spending the remainder of the time under the stars in cowboy fashion."^® Gage stressed that he was the first University of Wyoming grad- uate to seek state office. He beUeved his school supply business experience had afforded many contacts with school officials. He spoke of his varied employment and his veteran status. He even mentioned his grandfather Phelan's role in bringing the railroad through Wyoming. His mother often campaigned with him. At ^^interview with Mrs. Jack R. Gage, Cheyenne, April, 1975. She con- cluded, "It was just about that casual." ^■^Sheridan Press, May 6, 1934, "Head of School System is Goal of Local Man." ■i^jWyoming State Tribune, March 16, 1970, editorial "Candid Observer of the Passing Parade." •^^Unidentified news clipping marked "Cheyenne," January 8, 1935, Asso- ciated Press, Gage scrapbook. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 177 the time, she was a member of the state board of education and a dormitory director at the University of Wyoming's Hoyt Hall. Although it did not appear to compromise Gage at the time, his mother was serving through appointment by his Republican oppo- nent.^''' His first official act, upon election, was to accept his mother's resignation from the board. -^^ Humor quickly became a feature in his campaign style and it was a potent weapon at a time when the rally was a major campaign medium. He delighted in beginning his speeches with the admission that he had nearly de- cided against running because, "My ears stick out so much I almost can't get my picture on a telephone pole."^^ Although Gage did not overtly exploit the issue, many in Wyoming thought that men should have first preference in employment during the depression. Up to that time, the office, with three exceptions, had been held by a woman. ^"^ The primary fulfilled the Democratic expectations. The com- bined vote in the gubernatorial race was the largest vote the party had won in state history, while the Republican vote was the small- est in a quarter-century.^^ A total of 27,965 votes were cast in Gage's race. He took approximately 20 per cent of the vote in a six-member race. He made a strong statewide showing, taking Albany, Big Horn, Campbell, Hot Spring, Laramie, Sheridan, Teton and Washakie counties. His nearest opponent, Maud Sholty, took Carbon, Converse, Fremont, Johnson, Lincoln and Sublette counties. The other opponents did not draw well outside of their home areas.^- Governor Miller was nominated to lead the state ticket. He was credited, by the party, with having reduced state spending by a third, prohibiting overdrafts on state money, passing laws favor- able to labor, revising the state banking laws to protect depositors, and reducing the cost of automobile license plates by half. He ^"Clipping marked "Worland," June 14. 1934, "Jack Gage Visits Here," Gage Scrapbook. 38Clipping marked "Cheyenne," January 8, 1935, Associated Press, Gage Scrapbook. ■^^Interview with Mrs. Jack R. Gage. •^^Wyoming State Tribune and Wyoming Eagle, July 24-27, 1962. Mrs. Gage said that Gage was aware of the resentment, during the Great Depres- sion, against women holding jobs when men were out of work. In fact, he was concerned that the press would disclose that his wife was substitute teaching to help meet family expenses. Some press accounts had said Gage was the first man to hold the office. This was not true; three men served: Stephen H. Farwell, 1891-1895, Thomas T. Tynan, 1899-1907; and Archi- bald Cook, 1907-1911. ■^^Sheridan Press, August 23, 1934, "Gage and Baldwin Forge into Lead," p. 1. '^^1935 Official Directory of Wyoming and Election Returns of 1934. compiled by the Secretary of State. A chart with a breakdown of the pri- mary vote by counties is also provided. 178 ANNALS OF WYOMING was said to have cooperated with the National Recovery Act.^^ The balance of the ticket was equally strong. Senator Joseph C. O'Mahoney, Paul Greever, Lester Hunt and "Scotty Jack" were all to prove formidable vote-getters. Gage, in his initiation into electoral politics, was in relatively exalted company by Democratic standards. The expectation of victory was reflected in the attendance at rallies, where the press announced, "The Democrats are every- where drawing record crowds. "^^ They attracted 500 to a rally in Douglas and 300 in Glendo, an astonishing achievement even taking into account the prevailing practice of both Democrats and Republicans attending ail rallies.*^ The 1934 election was a referendum on the New Deal and the party's candidates accord- ingly waved the Roosevelt banner enthusiastically. Full-page newspaper advertisements urged voters to "keep Wyoming march- ing forward to recovery under Democratic leadership." Other ads proclaimed that, under the Democrats, "The common man has a chance."*^ Pictures of Roosevelt usually accompanied those of the candidates. In the general. Gage campaigned with Miller and "Scotty" Jack. When Gage and Jack stood together on the podium, they were, according to the wags, the long and short of it. One account described the six-foot Gage as "Tall, he beams with good humor and it was not long before he had the crowd smihng back at him." He said he was the first University of Wyoming graduate to run and the incumbent had already had sixteen years on the job. He promised to bring greater efficiency and economy to the post. In contrast, the same account described "Scotty" Jack as "a firey little fellow," who accused an aide of neglecting to bring his plat- form, "forcing Jack to mount a chair so that he might be able to see and be seen."*" On the eve of the election. Gage wrote a note to U. S. House candidate Greever in which he relived, in a night- mare fashion, the 1934 campaign. He spun images of parades, posters and confetti and speeches where he heard everything "83 times." In 1966, he added a handwritten note to his copy of the letter to Greever, "What I wrote to Paul 32 years ago had to do 43Program, Young Folks Democratic Clubs of Wyoming, September 17- 18, 1934, p. 6. '^'^Wyoming Eagle, October 25, 1934. 4-TUnidentified clipping marked "Douglas," November 1, 1934, Gage Scrapbook. ^^Sheridan Press, October 24, 1934, full page advertisement, "Support the President." Similar advertisements, in undated papers, are also available in the Gage Scrapbook. 47Clipping marked "Wheatland," November 1, 1934, "Democratic Rallies Bring Out Large, Attentive Crowds Here," Gage Scrapbook. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 179 with an Old-Fashioned election. No TV, no radio, almost, and a lot of rallies. "^*^ The general election was a solid Democratic triumph. For the first time in state history, the party elected all five state candidates and both national candidates.^-' Gage's performance was phe- nomenal. Expected to benefit from the landslide, he led it. He took twenty-two of twenty-three counties, losing Sublette by four votes. His margin of 20,000 votes for 60 per cent of the vote was good enough to lead the entire ticket. His showing, the press concluded, "must in large measure be looked upon as a personal triumph."-''" In a satirical wrap-up in the Casper paper, the M-O-M machine was spoofed, referring to Tracy S. McCraken, national committeeman, Joseph C. O'Mahoney, and Leslie A. Miller. It called Gage "the most surprising player of them all." Of "Scotty" Jack it said, "He has been selected the brain truster of the team. Even his opponents admit than an oil man must be clever to be elected to state office."-''^ At a victory dinner in Cheyenne, attended by more than 800 persons, Senator O'Mahoney credited the win to Roosevelt: During this campaign, I have seen scores of men and women who are not Democrats, but who would say to me that 'we are trying to do something for the people of America and we are going to cooper- ate with Roosevelt by giving support to the men who support him.' Gage, reported as "bringing gales of laughter from the audience," said the Democrats would have to work to assure a similar dinner in 1938. Jack praised party unity and Secretary of State-elect Lester Hunt pledged "complete harmony and accord with Gover- nor Miller."'"'^ A Divided Administration Gage's personal files contain few references to his tenure as State Superintendent of Public Instruction or to his evaluation of the New Deal years. Of all his responsibilities, he derived greatest satisfaction from serving on the state boards and commissions, which he said, "actually amounts to the business of Wyoming."''-* In later years, Gage would be accused by "Scotty" Jack, his col- ■*'^Letter from Jack R. Gage to Paul Greever, November 5, 1934. The copy, with Gage's handwritten postscript, is in the Gage Collection. ^'•^Sheridan Press, November 7, 1934, "Democrats Take State," p. 1. ■'^'Ibicl., no date available, editorial "At the Head of the Ticket," Gage Scrapbook. ■"'iClipping marked "Casper paper," which appears to be December 4. 1934, Gage Scrapbook. It appeared in a column signed "L. M. McB." ^'-Wyoitv'iig Eagle, November 20, 1934, "New Wyoming Officials are Speakers at Victory Meet." •"■'■^Gage Speech File. "Last List of Things 1 Know," 1958 campaign material. 180 ANNALS OF WYOMING league on the boards, of being more at home in the Republican party, and Gage did not agree. He was a conservative, but his philosophy had a home in the Democratic party, particularly that of Governor Miller's. He viewed the party as having room "for all classes of people." Although he did not embrace many New Deal programs, largely out of opposition to the vast expen- ditures required. Gage did not waver in his personal support for Roosevelt."'^ His campaign speeches had not offered a specific program, beyond an effort to achieve greater economies. Although he hesitated to make policy, he recognized the value of innovation: The man in public life who is the drone, politically, is the man who acts after the event has occurred, while the politician is very apt to be the man, who because he has a little get up and go will produce events .... By and large, I would say that, year for year, the Demo- crats have been responsible for producing far more events than any- one else. I would be the first to say that some of those things were bad errors, but percentage-wise, that is not true. 55 By his own definition. Gage was something of a drone in his 1935- 1939 service. There were no major innovations in the school programs. He conducted a study of the costs of operating state institutions, but the results were produced without comment or recommendation.^*^ The only legislation he was said to have in- spired was a bill to require all five state officials to serve on any board or commission which required membership of any state official. According to Miller, the measure had been advocated to force "Scotty" Jack to serve on the Liquor Commission and thus blunt his criticism of its operation. The dispute over location of the commission warehouse characterized the undercurrents of hos- tility within the Miller administration. Casper wanted the facihty and businessmen there paid $5 a month to support a "Better Wyoming Association" to promote the cause. News bulletins were pubhshed that said Miller, as a Cheyenne resident, was showing favoritism. Miller beheved that Jack, a resident of Casper, en- couraged his critics. ^^ In the 1938 election, the Natrona County vote for both Miller and Gage was considerably lower. ^^ •''-ilnterview with Mrs. Jack R. Gage. As an illustration, she said that Gage strongly supported Roosevelt for a fourth term, although many of his own friends disagreed. 5"'Gage Speech File. Rough notes for a commencement address at Sheridan College. 56A Statistical Study of the Comparative Costs in the Operation of Wyoming State Institutions, compiled by Jack R. Gage. The mimeographed, undated report lists the costs in comparative charts, but contains no text. •"'"Leslie A. Miller memorandum "William M. Scotty Jack and the Demo- cratic Party in Wyoming," Gage Collection. ''^Wyoming Official Directory, Election Returns for 1934, compiled by A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 181 Gage, at a later point in his career, conceded that he was not a moving force in the implementation of new ideas in education. He said Superintendent Velma Linford, whom he served with, 1959- 1963 had done a better job. She did "things I knew needed doing, but was afraid to tackle. Excusing myself a little, I might say the stage for such action was not even picked out, let alone set at that time."''^ He apparently played no active role in promoting legis- lation for the 1935 Legislature, which approved a two percent sales tax which became the principal source of revenue for the state. The Legislature provided for a department of public welfare, a new state industrial recovery act, a state planning board, old age assistance, cooperation with the National Housing Act and a child labor law.^^' In the 1936 election, Roosevelt obtained sixty and six-tenths per cent of the Wyoming vote, compared to sixty and seven-tenths per cent nationally. The make-up of the Legsilature was decidedly more Democratic. Despite the election triumph, the New Deal subject to growing disenchantment, which stemmed from confusion over the social experimentation and disapproval of considerable federal spending. At one point in 1936, the chairman of the Democratic State Central Committee derided social workers as "leeches of society in the relief set-ups of every county. "•'^ Gage himself, in a statement for the press, attacked "relief roll chiselers." As chairman of the Wyoming Board of Welfare and Relief, he warned that the relief rolls would be purged of "chiselers" as rapidly as possible when the state took over care of the unemploy- ables. He foresaw difficulty because of the "large number of people who have come to be entirely satisfied with their existence as made possible by relief and the additional number of indolent individuals who under normal conditions, when a demand for labor is great, would voluntarily remain unemployed." He also expected difficulty from "those few people who have been employed in the distribution of relief whose reaction will be one of reticence in seeing the necessity for their employment seriously jeopardized." He said the state board was not interested in any type of work relief as a state program.^^ As the mandate for economic relief eased, Democrats were faced with problems within the state administration. A number of the Secretary of State. A chart comparing the vote in the counties for 1934 and 1938 had been provided. f>''Gage Speech File, marked "Thermopolis," presumably, from interior evidence, prepared for the Democratic state convention there in May, 1960. *^"^T. A. Larson, History of Wyoming, (University of Nebraska Press, 1965), pp. 443-444. *^iT. A. Larson, "The New Deal in Wyoming," p. 262. ♦inundated, unidentified clipping, Gage Scrapbook, "To Purge Relief Roll Chiselers." 182 ANNALS OF WYOMING disputes had shattered post-election promises of unity. Jack and Miller had clashed on a number of issues. Miller's veto of a measure on homestead exemption caused such dissension that Mil- ler was forced to call a caucus of the Democratic members of the Legislature to repair relations. The cost of remodeling the Gov- ernor's mansion caused embarrassing headlines. Miller told Gage he was convinced that Jack had made a number of travel vouchers he questioned available to the Republican press, which used them to attack Miller.*^-^ A Reverse of Party Fortunes, 1938 The 1938 campaign thus opened on a note of pessimism. Miller was angered because "Scotty" Jack would not endorse him, de- spite appeals from Greever and O'Mahoney. It was said that Greever, who in 1938 sought re-election to the U. S. House, had supported Miller in 1934 with the understanding he would step aside in 1938 so that Greever could run.*^^ Gage was probably handicapped by his campaigning with Miller, who was criticized for his failure to lower gas taxes, the attempt to get water rights for the Kendrick project, and the cost of remod- eling the governor's mansion. Although the sales tax was a sound policy for the state, it was not popular.*''' Gage had problems of his own to contend with, stemming from his own office. In 1934 he had defeated Maud Sholty in the primary. After the election, he named Robert Outsen his deputy and declined to employ Sholty. She had lost the 1934 primary by only 894 votes and proved an antagonist of formidable capacity. She challenged Gage in the 1938 primary, where he won 65 per cent of the vote, with a ]0,00d-vote margin. The primary vote in 1938 showed the parties fairly evenly matched in turnout. In the U. S. House race, Greever received 31,202 votes, while the Republicans, in selecting Frank Horton over Alonzo Clark, cast 30,956. Miller was opposed by Gus Engelking who drew 20,333 votes to 23,464 for Miller. The five- man primary in the Republican party, where Nels Smith won, drew 32,055, compared to 33,979 for the Democrats. Lester Hunt and "Scotty Jack," the only two incumbents to survive, were unop- posed. Pat Flannery was nominated for state treasurer. Gage ^•''Leslie A. Miller memorandum, "William M. Scotty Jack and the Demo- cratic Party in Wyoming," Gage Collection. '■"''T. A. Larson, History of Wyoming, pp. 466-47. ''''Ilyid.. p. 467. The conclusion that Gage was handicapped by campaign- ing with Miller was a judgment offered himself in a post-election talk with the Gage family, according to Mrs. Jack R. Gage. She said neither she nor her husband had any reason to fault Miller; he was highly regarded by both of them. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 183 received 21,606 votes to 1 1,406 for Sholty. Esther Anderson was nominated to oppose Gage. Gage carried twenty-two counties, losing Sweetwater to Sholty, a native of the county though she had been residing for a number of years in Cheyenne.*'" During the general campaign, Gage was embarrassed by Repub- lican attacks on his travel expenses for the State Department of Education. Although he protested that the vouchers cited repre- sented the total travel by the department, the issue hurt him. He also believed that Sholty worked against him with various women's club members. His wife was unable to campaign in the fall be- cause of the death of her mother, Mrs. Fronia Switzer, on Sep- tember 28, 1938.«' The general election was as resounding a defeat as 1934 had been a triumph. Greever was ousted from Congress by Horton and Miller lost to Smith. The Republicans also elected Mart T. Christensen treasurer and Esther Anderson superintendent. De- spite the enormity of the setback, the Democratic candidates, with the exception of Miller, held down the margin of defeat. Paul Greever lost by 5,450 votes, Pat Flannery by 3,673, and Gage by 4,843. Miller, in contrast, lost by 18,787 votes. The Governor trailed Jack and Hunt by 12,000 votes. In his loss. Gage carried Albany, Laramie, Lincoln, Sheridan, Sweetwater, Uinta and Wash- akie counties. He polled 43,606 votes, compared to 55,194 four years earlier. His worst setback was in Natrona County where his vote dropped from 1,109 in his first race to 3,829. He was next to last on the ticket, with 5000 votes more than Miller.*'"' The Democrats, who had only four years of control in state history, surrendered office, partly because they lacked the cohesion for an effective effort by the entire ticket and partly because they could not, in the easing of economic difficulties, resist the tradi- tional Republican hold on Wyoming voters. It was twenty years before the party came as close to controlling the state administra- tion again. THE ROTARY YEARS Postmaster, Author, Rotarian Following the 1938 election. Gage launched a school supply business in Cheyenne. His partners were Edward Moore, Jr., of Sheridan, and Robert Outsen, who had been his deputy at the state house. The enterprise was unsuccessful. Gage returned 6*'79J9 Official Directory of Wyoming and Election Returns of 1938. A chart giving a breakdown of the county vote has also been provided. ''■''Interview with Mrs. Jack R. Gage. '^^WSQ Official Directory of Wyoming and Election Returns of 1938. Compiled by the Secretary of State. 184 ANNALS OF WYOMING to Sheridan where he taught for a short time/'^ U. S. Repre- sentative John J. Mclntyre wrote Gage in 1942 to ask if he were interested in the postmastership at Sheridan. United States Sen- ators O'Mahoney and Harry Schwartz were also helpful, and on December 15, 1942, Gage was confirmed."'^ He maintained a sideline interest in politics. In 1954 he wrote "Scotty" Jack, who had been narrowly defeated by Milward Simpson in the guberna- torial race. Jack's reply apologized for not having been as thoughtful in 1938, concluding, "At that time, relations within our political family were somewhat strained, something I have long wanted to talk to you about. I am sure I made some mistakes, but I am equally sure that I got blamed for things I was not to blame for."^^ There is no evidence the discussion Jack suggested ever took place. In 1956, Gage was elected governor of Rotary District 168, with forty-four clubs. Removed from politics and finding the postmastership confining. Gage enjoyed the opportunity for travel and speaking. In June, 1957, he participated in the Alex Dreier Executive Delegation to Moscow, spending several weeks in the U.S.S.R. and Eastern Europe and obtaining material for a series of addresses on the Iron Curtain nations. Gage relished the oppor- tunity to make speeches; he once quipped, "The only talks I enjoy are the ones I'm giving," but he also believed the club could help develop leadership: What are some of the things Rotary will do for you? It is going to give you a taste of leadership. You may say, and be correct, "All of my days I have been in a position of leadership." That may be true, but this is different. This will be without monetary compensa- tion. You will be paid in satisfaction, and you can be paid just as much as you want to be paid. Something else that Rotary will do for some of you, not all of you. There may be those among you who have always disliked standing on your feet and talking. Well, before you are through with your year, you will be on the most friendly terms with the butterflies that have a conference in your mid-section everytime you stand up. Don't ever try to get rid of those butterflies; they are the very best friends you have. Just make friends with them. They will give you ideas you have never thought of and add emphasis to what you have to say.72 ^'•^Biographical forms completed for the 1961 National Governors Con- ference, Gage Collection. Interviews with Mrs. Gage. ''■•^Interview with Mrs. Gage. The files contain telegrams from Senators O'Mahoney and Schwartz to Gage, December 16, 1942. A copy of the Postal Bulletin, 1954, shows Gage as president of the Wyoming Postmasters Association. ''■^Letter from "Scotty" Jack to Gage, December 27, 1954. 72Undated, untitled notes. Gage Speech File. From the text, it must have been written in 1956, when he was District Governor. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 185 In 1961, he wrote a Rotary club, "If I told the truth, which may be a strange practice for a politician, I actually think, as I look back over events in recent years, I would have to blame Rotary for the fact that I have now assumed additional responsibilities for the state of Wyoming."'^ During this period. Gage wrote two books. In 1940, he au- thored Geography of Wyoming, a textbook for sixth through eighth grades. His second book, Tensleep and No Rest, an account of the conflict between sheep and cattle raisers, went into a second printing and won him a prize from the Wyoming State Historical Society. Gage found his own publishers, using Wyoming printers in Casper and Cheyenne. He was reimbursed for his research and received half the profits after all expenses were met. The press run varied from 2500 to 3500 and, in any given year, his proceeds did not exceed SIOOO.'^"^ Tensleep and No Rest, referring to the Big Horn Basin com- munity, recounted the trial of men accused of assaulting sheepmen. It was described as a tale "that rings with authenticity, smells of the clean sagebrush after a morning shower, echoes with the bleat of woolies and the 'kahaaafingngng' of rifles and six-shooters."^^ It was dedicated to his sons, who he hoped would know "the very last of the Wild West riding hell for leather into the setting sun and land of legend." Its fourth chapter, "Whiskey in Tin Cups — Twins in a Buggy," described Worland in 1909. Although his family did not move there until 1915, Gage placed Dr. Gage in the account. His mother appears, under her maiden name, as Mrs. Phelan. His source material for the trial was made available because Milward Simpson's father had saved the transcript.'^^ As "^LeUer from Gage to Rawlins Rotary Club, January 7, 1961, a reply to a note of congratulations from the membership. '^Interviews with Mrs. Gage. There are no records of Gage's federal income tax returns and material in the files is sketchy, although there is some correspondence. The first run of Wyoming Afoot and Horseback, 2,500, was exhausted and a second printing was published in January, 1968, according to a notice from Flintlock Publishing. In a notice dated January 11, 1972, the firm had 1,966 copies on hand. Tensleep and No Rest, where the press run was apparently 2,500, also went into a second printing, in 1959. According to a notice of June 30, 1970, the firm then had 2,982 copies of The Johnson County War, and in a notice from Flintlock Pub- lishing Co., by 1972, there were 190 copies on hand. There is no evidence on the press run for the other books, though, in 1972, there were 1,030 copies of The Horse-The Bnggy-The Doctor on hand. As an illustration of Gage's earnings, a January 11, 1972, letter indicates his share of sales, after expenses, for his books through Flintlock Publishing was $420.13 to his estate. '^Denver Post, October 5, 1958, Empire Section. Red Fenwick column "Riding the Range." ''^sjack R. Gage, Tensleep and No Rest, (Casper, Wyoming, Prairie Pub- lishing Co., 1958), p. 1, also notes in the appendix. 186 ANNALS OF WYOMING in politics, Gage was inclined to dismiss his accomplishments and even to derive humor at his own expense: I'm downright sorry I ever wrote a book. Quite naturally since I wrote the book, I have read no other. Decency and loyalty dictate that it should be so. I would dislike having the word get around; I'm even getting a little tired of it.'^" Gage's twenty-year absence from politics was largely based on financial considerations. He had two sons to support and he cared for his mother until her death in 1957. The postmastership, though it did not challenge him, was secure employment, and he was reluctant to enter politics until his family could be adequately supported. With his sons' graduations from the University of Wyoming and his mother's death. Gage, in 1957, gave serious thought to running for governor. He consulted National Com- mitteeman Tracy McCraken, but there is no evidence of a written reply. In September, 1957, Gage heard from State Chairman Teno Roncalio, who said a "rump meeting of a few Democrats in Cheyenne," including McCraken, had discussed Gage "as a candi- date for either secretary of state or governor."'"' Gage interpreted this as the encouragement it was meant to be and decided on Secretary of state, apparently convinced this met as well with McCraken's approval. SECRETARY OF STATE "The Last List of Things I Know" The 1958 election offered nearly as much opportunity to Gage as the 1934 election had. The Republicans faced the prospect of the traditional losses in an off-year election, coupled with a troublesome recession. In Wyoming, the incumbent Republican Governor Milward Simpson had equally bothersome issues. Al- though unemployment approached 7000, the mainstay industries of oil, tourism, and livestock-agriculture were in good condition. Simpson, however, had angered residents in some northern Wyo- ming communities over location of a segment of Interstate High- way 90. The decision to take the southern route, touching Buffalo before it reached Sheridan, was decried in the affected communi- ties. He faced additional problems with the low-rate interest loan to the Wheatland Irrigation District which angered those who wanted use of the water rights to be purchased. Veterans opposed an $800 limit on their bonus.'-' ■'■"Gage Speech Files, remarks to convention of Outdoor Writers, Jackson, Wyoming, no date available. ^^^Letter from Democratic State Chairman Teno Roncalio to Gage, Sep- tember 27, 1957. ■'■"T. A. Larson, History of Wyoming, pp. 525-27. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 187 With remarkable candor, Gage wrote his reasons for seeking office in a personal statement labeled, "The List of Things I Know." It identified clearly his perception of his career and what he hoped to achieve in the campaign and in office. He said that candidates trying to impress people, "drag out imaginary accom- plishments and dust them off, exaggerate them as much as they dare and toss them out for the people to gnaw on." Of his "much exaggerated accomplishments," he stated: By profession, I am an educator. I have taught school in Wyoming more years than is any of your business. In fact, I have reached the place where things are older than I am, but they are not alive; and while I still am, I want to get a few things done. I am a former State Superintendent of Public Instruction and now we have a better one. I am a veteran of the first World War and my two sons were in the last go-round. I am a graduate of the Univer- sity, but so is my wife and so are my sons. Probably not in the history of the University has that institution had a more difficult time maintaining its high standards and still allowing people to grad- uate as it did before all of us got through. I have a political record. I am the only man in the political history of Wyoming to carry 22 of 23 counties and I only missed that one by 20 votes. I have written a couple of books about Wyoming, one a geography, another a historical novel just off the press. Gage said friends had asked him why he would surrender secure employment as a postmaster to seek office and had told him he must like politics. He said he had repUed, "/ do not like politics, but I do like Wyoming." He said a person was fortunate to have children, "When you do, you will want to leave a heritage for them. Well, in the Gage outfit, there is no secret that I will not be able to leave a heritage of money, so I would like to leave one of accomplishment and that is what I have set out to try to do." Turning to the accomplishments he might anticipate as secretary of state, he wrote: The duties of the office are pretty well outlined by law. Blue sky laws, what color your license plates will be, etc. Most any one would be able to do that. But, in order that he be accomplished, he could get that reputation on the state boards. That actually amounts to the business of Wyoming. I have been on all of these boards before; I have been schooled in their functions so that I would not come to them in ignorance. There is no one who is not already on them who has had more experience with the work and who is running for office. Sprinkled throughout Gage's speeches notes and correspondence on political matters was the implication he was opposed by a fac- tion of the party, which in his 1962 defeat he labeled as "liberals." Much larger in his perception of the party was the suspicion that 188 ANNALS OF WYOMING he was not regarded as a "real politician." He addressed those concerns in the conclusion of his "list:" I have been ridiculed because I will not get what some people like to refer to as rough, when they are saying that this is a rough game, etc. If politics gets nasty, it has to be because someone who is nasty made them that way. I refuse to be nastier than I am by nature. I told my opponent that if I so much as mentioned his name, in the campaign. I hoped one of us would drop dead. That's funny, and he did not get it, either. Some people in my party are going to try to make medicine out of the Sherman Adams event; I am not. And, I am honest in saying that I'm sorry that it happened, because all of us, no matter what party, have to help live it down.^o In contrast to his first two primaries, Gage was unopposed in 1958. He drew 32,528 votes, compared to 33,027 in the guber- natorial race where Joseph J. Hickey was nominated and 37,122 in the U. S. Senate primary where Gale McGee defeated Hepburn T. Armstrong. The Democrats were outvoted by less than 4000, an extremely favorable indicator. ^^ Although a labor official warned Gage that his opponent, in- cumbent Everett Copenhaver, had a "very good labor record," his relations with the coalition of interests which support Demo- crats appeared to be untroubled.^- Rough notes in his personal file, however, indicate that he considered himself "pretty much on my own."*^"* His campaign team consisted of his sons Dick and Jack, who knocked on doors in every county. They distributed materials, noted names, and reported to Gage, who often followed up with a personal note. To one family, he apologized, "I am enclosing the pamphlets my elder son Jack promised you when he called on you at the unheard of hour of 8 a.m. I hope you will forgive his exuberance, which I, of course, can hardly condemn. "^^ To another voter, he consoled, "They told me that you had an unfortunate accident with a load of lumber and I certainly hope you are feeling better now." With that in mind, he also enclosed ■^"Gage Speech Files, undated, titled, "Last List of Things I Know," 1958 campaign. The Sherman Adams reference is to the executive assistant to President Dwight Eisenhower who resigned amidst charges of influence peddling. ^^1959 Official Directory of Wyoming and Election Returns of 1958, compiled by the Secretary of State. ^-Letter from Louis Leichtweis, Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Gage, August 25, 1958. ^•"'Gage 1958 campaign files contain a rough draft letter to the post- masters and a list of postmasters in the state, but there is no evidence the latter was sent. "^^Letter from Gage to Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Fitzgerald, Riverton, Wyoming, September 8, 1958. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 189 campaign pamphlets/'^'' The 1958 Gage brochure stressed "exper- ience, integrity, abihty and maturity." It listed his teaching career, authorship of two books, University affiUation, and former state service. For the "working man," he mentioned employment for the railroad and house painting work. For the "business man," he noted his school supply business and management of KWYO. He noted his family background and Rotary experience, concluding, "Jack Gage has had years of experience serving on Wyoming state boards. "^*^ Gage campaigned with Hickey, and, in Mrs. Gage's view, it was a complementary association. In addition to Simpson's problems stemming from his administration, there was a third party candidate, Louis Carlson of Newcastle, who drew 4979 in a race where Hickey defeated Simpson by 2582 votes. The Demo- crats enjoyed their greatest electoral victory since 1934, when Gage had also been on the ticket. He did not lead it in 1958; Velma Linford, superintendent of public instruction, did. Gage was third, with 800 more votes than Hickey and 2193 less than Gale McGee. McGee, by less than 2000 votes, defeated incum- bent Senator Frank Barrett. Keith Thomson defeated Ray Whit- aker to retain his seat in Congress. Gage defeated Copenhaver 55,843 to 54,996 and the third victorious state candidate, Linford, won 64,170 to 46,817 for Shirley Boice. The Democrats enjoyed a majority of state offices and control of the House of Representa- tives, 30 to 26, while the Republicans held the State Senate, 16 to 11.8" "The Studyingest Man in the State Capitol" Newly elected Governor Hickey recommended a budget which cut requests by $5 milUon. His suggested $30 million budget was increased by the Legislature to $32.5 million. No new taxes were approved, though the cigarette tax was increased by one cent. The Legislature placed restrictions on trading stamps, outlawed, in effect, federal aid to education, and passed a bill to require yellow markings on interstate highways, which were financed, 93 per cent, by the federal government. After a protracted struggle, the federal government prevailed and white stripes were used to mark the interstate system. A bill to legalize local-option gambling in Teton County was defeated, as was a pari-mutuel betting measure. ^'^ Gage, who had opened the session, went before the Joint Ways and Means Committee to request a budget cut of $10,404.13 in his s^Letter from Gage to Ernest Reeves, Smoot. via Afton. Wyoming. August 8, 1958. ^•"'Gage 1958 campaign brochure, Gage Collection. ^'Official Directory of the State of Wyoming, 1959, and Election Returns of 1958, compiled by the Secretary of State. -''ST. A. Larson, History of Wyoming, pp. 528-29. 190 ANNALS OF WYOMING office appropriation. He said he could achieve the reduction by economies in office, but, chiefly, "by not buying a new car that is included in the current budget request."*^ In January, 1959, Gage received a letter from a county clerk suggesting a revision in the state election laws and recommending changes."" In April, he wrote county clerks in the five largest counties asking them to attend a conference in his office on May 25-26 to discuss needed changes."^ The proposal appealed to Gage. He saw his service on the state boards and commissions as a mediator role where he dealt fairly with the interests most directly affected by the law. He thought agricultural interests should suggest farm loan and state land policy, just as oil interests should be consulted on leasing policies. His statements did not address the public, as opposed to private, interests, but presumably he believed state officials could also meet this responsibility. Of practical and political appeal was the fact that Gage could assign responsibility for proposals to the consulting groups without mak- ing any commitment on his part. The evolution of election law reform legislation illustrated this approach. At the May confer- ence, attended by the five clerks and representatives of the League of Women Voters, Gage asked for discussion, but no draft legis- lation, "It is my notion," he said, "the legislators are inclined to resent prepared legislation, while at the same time they welcome suggestions that prompt them to write their own laws."^- A follow-up meeting June 17 was attended by League members and twelve county clerks. They endorsed two proposals, providing two sets of counters at the polls on election day by enlarging the elec- tion board by one member and compihng an election code manual for clerks."" The proposals were drafted into law in the 1961 Legislature, when Gage was acting governor. Despite his sponsor- ship of the meetings and his role, as secretary of state and as chief election officer. Gage issued no statements of support. When the election reform bill cleared both houses, he did not sign it, but instead sent it to county clerks and commissioners. He told them the objectionable language had been removed, though he admitted "not having had an opportunity to analyze the bill." He said his chief concern was the cost of implementation and asked for esti- mates. He did enclose a letter from the League of Women Voters which endorsed the bill as clarifying, simplifying, and improving ^'■Wyoming Eagle, February 23, 1959, "Gage Asks His Budget Be Slashed." ■•"Letter from B. B. Hume to Gage, January 14, 1959. '■''^Wyoming Eagle, April, 1959, "Gage Plans Meeting on Wyoming Elec- tion Laws," Gage scrapbook. ■*~Ihid. The article notes the statement was made in the letter to clerks. ^>^Ihic/., June 18, 1959, "County Clerks Favor Two Sets of Vote Counters." A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 191 the statutory arrangement of Wyoming election law.-^^ The bill became law, but without Gage's signature. He told reporters his failure to sign the law did not signify opposition; he had held up action so that objections from others could be transmitted up to the last minute.^*'"' The second study Gage requested was directed to Wyoming laws regulating the sale and issuance of securities, the so-called Blue Sky laws. He asked the state bar association to help his office in suggesting revision of the laws. He met in June, 1959, with mem- bers of the bar association's corporation law committee and asked them to hold future meetings, "If that is forthcoming, this office will prepare a list of questions to present to them in the hope they will deal with them as the county clerks did with the election law."«« In August, 1959, Gage talked to representatives of the oil indus- try about mineral leasing policy. They suggested that state leases run ten years instead of two. They also wanted a short waiting period after each lease expired and before it was reopened for bids or drawings. They said holders of leases had too great an advan- tage because they were often the only ones who knew when the leases expired. They could, therefore, renew each year without competition. Gage said he would make no recommendation to the board, though he personally thought it would be a good idea.^" Subsequent press accounts reported that Gage made public eight suggestions on state mineral leasing policy which the board of land commissioners was considering. Several of the suggestions had come from his meeting with the oil interests, including a ten- day to two-week waiting period before bids or drawings were opened. No reference was made to an extended lease period. One suggestion, which became an issue in the 1961 aid-to-cities debate, was to raise the filing fee on state mineral leases and to "retain same to cover the cost of drawing." It was decided that a state law was required, which was approved by the 1961 Legislature.'*'^ Gage met in September, 1960, with representatives of the Wyo- ming Mining Association to hear their suggestions on regulations. Press accounts said the Association's mimeographed suggestions would be brought before the state board of land commissioners, ■'^Wyoming State Tribune, February 24, 1961, "Gage Seeking Informa- tion on Election Bill." '<^>Wyoming Eagle, March 8, 1961, "Failure to Sign Measures Not Indica- tive of Objections: Gage." 96Gage Scrapbook, unidentified clipping of November, 1959. ^'^Wyoming Eagle, August 18, 1959, "Oil Industry Recommends 10- Year Leases." ^^Ibid., September 12, 1959, p. 35 "Mineral Leasing Policy Recommen- dations Out." 192 ANNALS OF WYOMING "essentially the same procedure followed in revising oil and gas leasing regulations earlier this year.'"-*^ As he had done in the 1930s, Gage, in October, 1959, directed a study to compare costs at various state institutions to determine where economies could be made. Again, Gage planned to act largely as a conduit, not a policy maker or advocate. The results of the study were to go to the state board of charities and reform, the various state institutions and the communications media. Al- most irrelevantly. Gage promised, "The new study will compare current costs at the institutions with those of 25 years ago, as well as costs in recent years. "^^^ The Republican press ridiculed Gage as "probably one of the studyingest men at the state capitol." Columnist Meg Hunter, whose sharp criticism stung Gage, said he could skip the cost-per-inmate study; the figures had been printed in the local press two weeks before Gage announced his plans. The real issue, she said was not the cost or the ratio of personnel to patients, but "what kind of employes and what kind of care they provide." She claimed many of his questions were simplistic and could be arrived at by "a little arithmetic." Of his plans for disseminating the study. Hunter wrote: It is to be hoped the matter will not end there. Distribution of a sheaf of statistics — while informative in a vague sort of way — can accomplish little. What is needed are specific recommendations from the man who compiled them. And, as a member of the board of charities and reform, Gage is in an excellent position to institute any changes deemed desirable after the facts are in. We shall be watching with interest. 101 Gage was outraged. He wrote two letters to Lew Bates, editor of the Wyoming State Tribune, one as a statement to Bates and the other a proposed reply for Bates. The response generally reflected his approach to press relations: If I am going to be in politics, I am sure that I must expect to be ridiculed. This sage observation does not carry with it any assurance that I shall like it, particularly when, as viewed by me, it is not justified. I am, of course, referring to Meg Hunter's beautifully written (and I do mean that), caustic, and cynical comments about my efforts. I just vv'onder if you notice any inconsistency in having belittled me for an incompleted effort on the same page with laudatory comment for savings produced by political people more to your liking. ^^Unidentified clip in Gage Scrapbook, dated September, 1960, "Mining Men Propose 27 Changes." ^'^^'Wyoming Eagle, an October, 1959, undated clipping in Gage Scrap- book. The comparison with the 1930 figures would have been irrelevant because the value of the tax dollar had been considerably altered by inflation. loiWyoming State Tribune, November 12, 1959, column by Meg Hunter. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 193 Even if my efforts were entirely fruitless, and they might well be, they do seem to point in the direction for which you cheer. You might tell Meg; 1st. I like her; 2nd, she writes extremely well; 3rd. her comments about me come close enough to the truth to really look like the genuine article, and that is an enviable accomplishment. Now, to make this less bothersome to you, I have attached herewith your already prepared reply to me that lacks only your signature. 102 In the prepared reply, Gage recognized the adversary relationship with the press, but he was not prepared to like it: Your silly and ridiculous letter is at hand, and you might well know that such childlike observations are seldom received from mature adults. With this in mind, I am compelled to deal with you as you are, not as I might wish you to be. I expect it is probably too late in your fruitless career to have sound advice do you any good, but some of the following is so apropo to you that I cannot avoid wasting it. First, you should keep your big mouth shut about any intended accomplishment until it is fact, not fancy. Second, do not expect the newspapers to paint you cleaner than an angel's drawers when you know full well that you are not. Third, and most important, do not anticipate that the papers are going to credit you with great mental ability when there is not so much as a straw to hang such a tale on. Fourth, you are grown up now, so act like it.^'^'^ Bates drafted his own reply to Gage, gently chiding him: When an individual injects himself into the hustings (particularly to the degree involved if one is to unseat a Republican), things happen to him. You are going through that a second time, and you are, therefore, not surprised. You will agree, however, that not all of these 'things' are attractive. Bates credited Gage, in contrast with most politicians, with having retained a sense of humor, "It is the basic reason, not only for your success in the last election, but also the foremost pillar in holding (up to now at least) popular position as a principal elective offi- cial." Hunter's column, clearly identified as political, would con- tinue. Bates said, and she would be free to interpret issues as she wished, "She is not entitled to corrupt or misinterpret facts. Nor am I and neither are you." He assured Gage their friendship was unassailable. ^°* Gage's difficulties in 1959 were not limited to the Republican press. Within his party, understandable wranghng broke out over the first real state patronage since the 1930s. Ray Whitaker, Congressional candidate in several elections, warned Gage of losLetter from Gage to Lew Bates, editor, November 13, 1959. lo^Letter of reply which Gage drafted for Bates and enclosed November 13, 1959. I'^^Letter from Lew Bates to Gage, postmarked November 18, 1959. 194 ANNALS OF WYOMING "rumblings" in Buffalo over appointments.^"'^ In the same period, Governor Hickey was advised that failure "to clean house in the agricultural department" was angering Democrats and Republicans in Natrona, Niobrara, and Converse counties. The letter was spe- cific about one offending official. "Will you kindly," the note ended, "remove him from office at once."^'^** Hickey replied that the party faced two problems in patronage: Number one is the fact that the Republicans had 20 years in which to develop their state organization .... It is just not possible to step into an organization as large as the state government and create a rapid turnover in the personnel without a complete disruption of the operation. We have been moving at what I think is a good pace in making changes, usually starting at the head of a department and moving down through. My appointees to the State Board of Agriculture took office April 1 and they subsequently changed the head of the department. Number two in the problem of personnel changes is the fact that the boards and commissions may operate pretty independently if they so desire and this has occurred on more than one occasion. In other words, my suggestions may be ignored in their meetings. Hickey said he was moving toward the changes mandated by the election, but warned, "We can create major problems if we become impatient."^"^ On one occasion, patronage sparked an angry ex- change of letters involving Gage, Velma Linford, and a Big Horn County Democratic official. State Committeeman Green Simpson wrote Gage in early May, 1959, complaining Linford had "thrown a monkey wrench into the Democratic machine" because of delays in appointments and insistence that heads of institutions be college graduates. He warned it was causing problems with party work- ers. ^"^^ Gage drafted a long reply, but thought better of it and sent a short note suggesting the matter be discussed in person. In the reply which he drafted but did not send. Gage wondered why so much importance was attached to "10 or a dozen larger appoint- ments," while there were many non-professional and clerical posi- tions which could be filled by Democrats. Gage clearly resented the pressure, with threats that party workers would balk at sup- porting the incumbents. He said his own victory in 1958 had helped make the patronage possible. On the compromise of state standards, he said, "All things being equal, I wUl appear again i«5Letter from Ray Whitaker to Gage, April 30, 1959. I'^f'Letter from Elmer Conlogue, Douglas, to Joe Hickey, May 20, 1959. lo^Letter from Hickey to Conlogue, May 21, 1959. This may have been retained by Gage as a Hickey policy statement on patronage. In his own correspondence, Gage urged the party members direct their attention to non-professional, but lower paying, state jobs, instead of competing for a limited number of well paying positions. He was also inclined to respect professionals and exempt them from partisan consideration. losLetter from Green Simpson, Greybull, to Gage, May 1, 1959. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 195 before the public as a candidate. I will then, as I can now and always have been able, to look you or anyone else smack in the eye with a clear conscience."^"'* Green had sent a copy of his letter to State Chairman Roncalio, who had then made it available to Linford. Linford told Roncalio she resented third-hand criti- cism, that she alone could not make or block appointments, and that state standards had to be met, "We cannot afford to place unemployable people in jobs that require integrity or ability, nor can we change the salary schedule of the capitol." She especially resented the implied threat of withholding political support. "Green should remember," she told Roncalio, "that I have three times run for state office at my own expense. That once, I lost an election, but groomed myself to run again. Twice I have led the state ticket. This was not done by crying because people did not give me a job."^^" Linford sent a copy of the reply to Gage, who sourly responded, "I think that perhaps both you and I are going to continue to act as honestly as we know how, and such letters only serve to detract from both our time and our compo- sure."^ There were periodic complaints which Gage alluded to in a letter to former Governor Miller. Gage said the state insti- tutions had been advised that, "wherever professional services were required, no political questions would be asked. To my knowledge, they have not." He said the non-professional positions were ex- empt from the restriction. Of the grumbling, he concluded, "I am inclined to think that the only dissension we have is being caused by the people who are talking about it.""- The patronage issue was publicized briefly in April and May, 1960, when a num- ber of resignations protested the alleged political pressure of the Hickey administration in bringing about the resignation of the executive secretary of the Wyoming Travel Commission. He was replaced by a Sheridan radio man and Gage friend, Jim Sprack- len.""^ While the issue of state jobs could create friction or em- barrassing headlines, it was more a symptom of Democratic disorder than its cause. In the 1958 campaign, the party had lacked sufficient organization or financing to claim, to the candi- dates' satisfaction, credit for the victory. Gage and Linford re- sented the threat that party workers would not produce without I'^^Letter from Gage to Simpson, May 7, 1959. The May 4 letter, which was apparently not sent, is quoted to show Gage's unwillingness to compro- mise on the patronage questions. ii"Letter from Velma Linford to Teno Roncalio, May 15. 1959. At the top of the carbon copy sent to Gage is a longhand note from Linford. "Jack, Teno sent the copy he received from Green. This is my answer." iiiLetter from Gage to Linford, May 19. 1959. ii-Letter from Gage to Leslie Miller, Cheyenne, September 30, 1959. '^^•^Wyoming State Tribune. April 28, 1960, and Wyoming Eagle. May 21, 1960. 196 ANNALS OF WYOMING patronage because each believed his victory had been won, essen- tially, without the party. Mutual resentments were possible over the question of how responsive the Hickey administration ought to have been to county-level party officials. The party, as Hickey and Gage often noted, needed time to set up the kind of state organization the Republicans had. Additionally, there were Umi- tations on how much influence the administration could exert on behalf of Democratic job-seekers. The often unrealistic expecta- tions of party officials and individuals probably aggravated the mutual sense of disappointment. "This Gang is Crazy" Speculation on the U. S. Senate race in 1960 was based on the probability that O'Mahoney would retire. In late 1959, Gage saw three Democratic possible candidates. Rock Springs State Sen- ator Rudy Anselmi, Hepburn T. Armstrong, who decided later to enter the 1960 primary for the U. S. House nomination, and Ray Whitaker, who was nominated. Gage was aware that the specula- tion took in Hickey and himself, and he was certain Hickey would not run. In April, 1960, State Chairman Roncalio predicted the Democrats would win at the state and national levels. The Repub- licans promised stimulating primaries with former Senator Frank Barrett and Congressman Keith Thomson vying for the Senate nomination. Kenny Sailors and former Congressman William Henry Harrison would compete for the U. S. House nomination. Nonetheless, Roncalio insisted, "We look forward with enthusiasm to the November election because it will be the test of the new and efficient organization in virtually every county in Wyoming."^^^ The Republican party, in 1960, seemed to be shifting to a more conservative stance. ^^^ Johnson County Republican State Senator R. L. Green, considered for a time as a Congressional prospect, urged the party to adopt a platform "to go back and support the American way of life and to quit trying to be all things to all people." He considered fiscal responsibility the chief issue. He suggested the party platform call on the federal government to cut i^^Letter from Gage to Dick Redburn, Sheridan Press, December 31, 1959. is the basis for the summary of Gage's view of the 1960 election. He was not correct in his predictions, for he thought Frank Barrett would win the Senatorial primary and Anselmi the Democratic primary. Anselmi did not run. He also thought there would be no difference in the ideologies of the Congressional candidates, but Whitaker was a vocal supporter of Kennedy and considered himself a liberal, as opposed to the conservative Thomson. The Roncalio prediction was carried in the Wyoming Eagle, in April. 1960. It was equally unfounded since the party organization did not deliver the state for Kennedy or the two Congressional candidates. ii^T. A. Larson, History of Wyoming, p. 530. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 197 spending by 5 per cent a year and to limit foreign aid to military assistance to allies. ^^^ At the Democratic convention, Presidential politics intervened. At issue was the unit rule, which would require all fifteen of Wyo- ming's votes to be cast for the Presidential candidate favored by the majority of the 30 delegates. Roncalio, who had declared early for John F. Kennedy, had proposed the rule; he was opposed by Senator Gale McGee and National Committeeman McCraken. McGee offered a resolution that "delegates not be pledged to any specific candidate and shall have individual choice of voting with- out restriction." Roncaho insisted the delegates themselves should decide the issue. ^^^ McCraken and Roncalio worked out a com- promise to permit the unit rule if two-thirds of the delegation so voted. Both appeared on the convention floor in Thermopolis to support it, but WiUiam M. "Scotty" Jack called for a vote to send the delegation uninstructed. The McGee proposal was approved, after an amendment by McCraken. The Wyoming delegation ultimately voted unanimously at the Los Angeles convention when it became clear the state's votes would give Kennedy the total needed for nomination. Gage did not participate in the skirmishes; perhaps because of his 1938 primary, he was wary of involvement at any level. He had earlier received a letter on behalf of Hepburn T. Armstrong's race for the U. S. House nomination. The letter had begun, "Since you have shown an interest in Hep's candi- dacy . . ." Gage replied, ". . . any release that includes a statement that I have evidenced interest in your campaign or anyone else's in the primary will be quickly and emphatically denied by me."^^^ Senator O'Mahoney sent word to the convention that he would not seek office in 1960, but at this point Gage ruled his own chances of entering the race as "remote. "^^'* Gage did, however, have strong sentiments on what the issue in 1960 should be. He beUeved public saturation with "elaborate and wasteful spending" would make fiscal responsibility the major issue. He anticipated that "... both Democrats and Republicans are becoming well enough aware of this that the general hue and cry from both camps will be for drastic reductions . . . ." He was certain that '"the party that comes nearer assuring the people of its sincerity on this basis should be entitled to success."^-'' Gage could only have been dismayed when the Democratic delegates twice rejected resolutions which called for a balanced budget. Even worse, the public record iiop^yommg State Tribune, May 6, 1960, "Planks Readied for State GOP Platform." ^^''Ibid., May 20, 1960, "O'Mahoney to Retire: Dems Air Unit Rule." ii^Letter from Gage to Hepburn T. Armstrong, Cheyenne, April 7. 1960. '^'^^Wyoming State Tribune, May 10, 1962, "O'Mahoney to Step Down." i20Letter from Gage to Dick Redburn, Sheridan Press, December 31, 1959. 198 ANNALS OF WYOMING showed the second vote had been taken after the delegates had been warned that rejection would be "politically inexpedient." Republican State Chairman John Wold, in a rhetorical excess, proclaimed that "This gang is crazy." He accused Democratic delegates of "turning their backs on traditions and practices that made our state and nation great."^-^ In remarks prepared for the Thermopolis convention, Gage wrote, "This is Joe Hickey's administration, for which he will or does get all the blame or all the credit. This, in turn, reflects itself onto the minds of the people in a manner designed to carry over for some time to come." He praised Hickey's honesty and frugality : ... I know there are those who say the saving of money is a child- like effort; that, really, it is not wanted. This, I contend, is the most short-sighted view that we as Democrats can take and the one item that can contribute more than anything else to a short duration, once-in-20-years Democratic administration. Joe Hickey, if labeled, must be labeled as a conservative Democrat, and I want to be labeled right along with him in the same way. He called for party unity, "It is said over and over again by people in office that the trouble they have is with their own party. We wouldn't have to be very smart at all to avoid that."^-- The party's 1960 campaign was handicapped by financial prob- lems, particularly leftover debts from 1958.^-'^ Contributions from state employes, begun in April, 1960, helped, but not significantly; they made available $2982 to the Democratic State Central Com- mittee and $1325 to county chairmen for legislative races. Gage was advised that the maximum amount, "if the pressure is really put on," would be six to eight thousand dollars a year. However, in 1960, no such amount was available. ^-^ Whitaker defeated Velma Linford for the U. S. Senate nomina- tion in a race where 40,846 Democrats voted; 45,741 Republicans voted in a primary where Thomson was nominated. The Gage files do not indicate his active participation in the campaign. The Democrats tried to exploit economic problems; the Republicans countered that the state's economy had never been stronger.^-^ Whitaker had to face one of the Republican's most appealing can- ^-'^Wyotning State Tribune, May 11, 1960, "GOP Chief Rips at Dem Fiscal Policies." He went so far as to call the defeat of the resolution "a great tragedy for Wyoming," as example of his hyperbole. i--Gage Speech File, marked "Thermopolis," 1960. 1 --^Letter from Teno Roncalio to John Purcell, May 27, 1959. i-^Memorandum from Frank Clark, Jr., to Gage, April 3, 1961. There is no indication Gage "put the pressure" on and no figures, beyond those cited are provided, though memoranda indicate the state employe contri- butions were not sizable. i-^'T. A. Larson, History of Wyoming, pp. 530-31. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 199 didates and his strong support for Kennedy didn't help him in a state which was wary of "Eastern Hberals" and beheved the oil depletion allowance would be in jeopardy in a Democratic admin- istration. The three races were lost. Kennedy was defeated by Richard Nixon by 14,000 votes; Whitaker by 17,000 and Arm- strong by over 6000.^-" In a post-election, the U. S. Senate seat was filled by a person not on the ballot in 1960, Governor Hickey. Senator-elect Keith Thomson, certified the winner by the state board of canvassers on December 1, 1960, died three days later. A number of prominent Democrats, including Chairman Teno Roncalio, wanted the post, but Hickey, on December 22, announced his resignation. He was subsequently appointed to the Senate by Acting Governor Gage, who succeeded Hickey on January 3, 1961.^-'' The political ramifications were enough to handicap, almost beyond redemption, any hopes of either Hickey or Gage winning election in 1962.^-'' The 1961 Legislature reflected the bitterness associated with the maneuver when House Speaker Joseph Budd, Repubhcan from Sublette county, introduced a bill to require special elections to fill Senate vacancies, with language applying to Thomson's seat. The Democrats called it "retroactive and politically vindictive." Although the measure passed the House, it was not acted on in the State Senate. ^^" Three months after Gage became acting gov- ernor, Ray Whitaker went to the press with an attack on Hickey. He said that Hickey had endorsed him during the 1960 campaign, calling him the "best Democrat for the office," but "When he had a chance to accomplish this, he refused to do what he had asked the people of Wyoming to do."^"^^ The intra-party conflict over the appointment was well publicized, including charges by Whit- aker that the certificate of election had not been legally issued. He charged Gage with a "cover-up." Gage referred the issue to the Attorney General Norman Gray, but no action was taken. ^•■^- The Whitaker charges, however, pointed out the awkward position acting governor Gage had been placed in by the appointment. i2"Letter from Jack Gage to George Scales, Sheridan, November 14. 1960. ^-^Rocky Mountain News, December 22, 1961, "Governor Hickey to Resign for Senate." i-"In addition to a Democratic poll in May, 1962, the conclusion that the Hickey move to the Senate was a major, if not the chief, reason for the Democratic defeats in 1962 is widely held among Democrats. The Gage family concurs. ^•^^Wyoming State Tribune, March 2, 1961, column by Meg Hunter. iS^Wyoming Eagle, March 2, 1961, "Whitaker Queries Gage." The charges embarrassed Gage and spared the Republicans raising the question themselves. ^^-Ibid., March 4, 1961, "Thomson Declared Senator-Elect Before Death. Records Disclose." Rocky Mountain News, March 4, 1961. 200 ANNALS OF WYOMING In a Kraft poll commissioned by the Democrats in May, 1962, the continuing resentment of Mickey's move to the Senate was painfully clear. He was shown trailing in a race against Milward Simpson by nine percentage points. With the next election six months away, only 15 per cent of those polled were undecided, leading the pollsters to conclude, "If Hickey were to pick up two out of three undecided voters, he'd still be behind. The very small number of undecided indicates a strong pro-Simpson feeling or strong anti-Hickey feeMngs, but at best not much room for Hickey to move or pick up many votes. He's got to win back some of his former supporters."" In the poll's voter rating of candidates, the anti-Hickey sentiment clearly surfaced. Hickey was rated "excellent" by only four per cent; "pretty good" by twenty per cent; and the balance rated him as "only fair," "poor," or were undecided. His favorable rating, combining the first two categories, was 24 per cent, compared to 47 per cent for Gage and 49 per cent for Gale McGee. When asked by the pollsters to name an individual who had done a dis- appointing job, half the respondents answered. Half of them named Hickey. The poll noted, "It bears pointing out that in other states, this same series of questions has been asked and nowhere have we uncovered anything approaching the intensity of feeling as is recorded in Wyoming." It added, "Where Hickey is concerned, the criticism comes from Democrats and Republicans, and 24 out of 25 comments have to do with one thing: the way he got into office. "^^^ ACTING GOVERNOR GAGE AND THE LEGISLATURE The 1961 Message to the Legislature Gage assumed the acting governorship doubly handicapped. He was vulnerable through his association in the filling of the Thom- son Senate seat; and, despite having served in the State's second office for two years, he was unprepared for his new responsibilities. The budget, prepared by Hickey, had already been sent to the printers when Gage took over. His first challenge, which he met alone, was the drafting of a message to the Legislature. His mes- sage was apparently written in a political vacuum. Although he may have discussed issues informally with friends, he failed to consult Zan Lewis, Hickey's administrative assistant, who had been retained by Gage. In the view of Gage's son Jack, this omission i33"A Study of Candidates and Issues in Wyoming (1962 Elections)," conducted by Kraft for the Democratic State Central Committee in May, 1962, pp. 3, 10, 13, and 14. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 201 was responsible for several problems associated with the message, particularly the comments on reapportionment. ^^^ The message was the personal statement of Jack R. Gage, not the establishment of policies under a Gage administration. He dis- cussed most issues in a philosophical vein, stopping short of rec- ommendation. In several matters, he frankly told the Legislature to work its will; in others, he was so vague, the Legislature was required to act on its own. Some of Gage's thunder was stolen when the Republicans in the Legislature, on January 9, 1961, issued their own ten-point policy statement. The statement offered general goals, but it did call for reapportionment "to comply with the State Constitution," opposition to increases in state taxes, though it recognized the needs of schools, counties and cities, and, finally, a balanced state budget. ^^•'' The Gage message created confusion on the first two issues and endorsed the third. Gage opened his January 13 message with the judgment that the state was in sound financial condition. He said each agency could very probably function on the appropriations approved in 1959, adding, "The fact that reason dictates this to be impossible does not detract from its desirability." He stressed the message represented his personal philosophy: In views that are entirely my own, for which I willingly accept full responsibility, I desire to point out this: you and I, each in our sep- arate ways, have on many occasions bemoaned, belabored, and com- plained about waste in government spending. I do not know that you have, but I do know that I have been very vocal in my condemnation of the ever-increasing practice of socialism in our democracy. I would hope that you would agreed with this thinking, but if you do not, it does not detract from the sincerity of my thought. He presented a budget of $36,242,998, including over $10 million without recommendation, a matter of consternation to the legis- lators. Although in a matter of weeks he would be confronting a controversy over support for the state institutions. Gage generally dismissed the urgency of improving state salaries. He said legis- latures had been told, since Territorial times, that if the state did not pay well, it would lose its employes. "However," he said, "I am confused and confounded by the fact that every time you, the Legislature, return, you find more people working for the State than when you left." He also rejected the argument that a growing state population required greater salary appropriations, "The last census points out rather graphically that this is just not true, since i34interview with Jack R. Gage, II, who had flown from his home in New York to attend the session opening and was familiar with the circum- stances surrounding drafting of the message. He said his father was direct in his dealings, "just not a politician," in the sense of taking political con- siderations in mind when making decisions or drafting speeches. ^^^Sheridan Press, January 9, 1961. 202 ANNALS OF WYOMING in the continental states we happen to number next to the bottom. In my own thoughts, this is somewhat of a blessing." Under the heading "Departments," Gage inserted a statementt on political ethics, promising to admit his own mistakes: Innovation though it may be, it is my intention now and later to do exactly that when I feel I have erred. I will do this on the assump- tion that it would be a welcome relief to the public and completely confusing to the press. He asked for legislation to increase from $1 to $10 the filing fee on land leased from the state, noting, "It hardly seems feasible that this would bother the lessee, but it would appreciably help defray costs in the Land Office." The status-quo orientation of the Gage administration was stated forcefully in remarks under the heading "State Officers." He noted, in a variation of a theme he often employed, a comparison with past messages to the Legislature: ... all Governors have by pure coincidence delivered their messages at the most crucial moment in our history. I know this to be so because they have all said as much. I would like to by-pass the necessity of saying this by pointing out that in all probability there is no such thing as an unimportant time, the present being no exception, but with the very same thought in mind and because I think we have a good State Government, I am moved to comment that we need NO GREAT EARTH-SHAKING CHANGES, (sic) His rejection of change was based largely on his confidence in the cabinet government of Wyoming's boards and commissions, which he believed was "in clear range of the voters." He surprised legislators by asking them to decide the disposition of the Saratoga Inn property and the Wheatland Irrigation District loan, the latter a campaign issue which hurt Milward Simpson in 1958. Settling responsibility on the Legislature might have been interpreted as a clever political escape had Gage not bluntly ex- plained his justification, ". . . in both instances, a previous Legis- lature has directed a previous board to move in a manner that has produced problems of undesirable magnitude." In short, the Leg- islature had made the problem; and, in the interests of fairness, it would have to unmake it. The message failed to come to grips with problems Gage knew had been developing at the State Hospital in Evanston. In an October 13, 1959, letter to Hickey, Gage had mentioned a speech given by a man substituting for the Hospital Superintendent Dr. WiUiam N. Karn, Jr. The speaker had told a Casper audience the state hospital staff was underpaid. Gage told Hickey, "He just about had to get that information — false though it may be — ^from Dr. Karn," and he cautioned, "I hope you will take it upon yourself to houl this young fellow up short or he is going to get us in trouble A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 203 that we won't be able to get out of it."^''" As Secretary of State, Gage had commissioned a cost analysis of operations at the state institutions, but his message treated the issue in an offhand fashion, again resorting to a comparison with previous messages: The first message given by each governor when he takes over points out clearly that all of, or most all of, our institutions are in pretty deplorable condition and much is needed to correct the existent ills. Hardly without exception, this same governor in his second message reports to you that all of the ills have been corrected, and the insti- tutions — each and every one — are better than they have ever been before. A strange transition then takes place. When the message is given by a new governor, deplorable as it may seem, all institutions have re- verted to their original undesirable status. To me, this makes one fact stand out; which fact is that at no time have our institutions been really bad. (my emphasis) Gage's resistance to change had indirectly ruled out a bold reorganization of state government, but he emphasized the point in his message, summarizing the Hickey proposal. He said, "In one sentence, and a short one, the Re-Organization Plan, as pro- posed, amounts to centralized accounting at the outset, with better use of which any actual re-organization would later occur and be slow in growth." Gage's interpretation of Rickey's proposals was later challenged and clearly did not accurately convey the contents of a Hickey memorandum which Gage had obviously read. The Hickey mem- orandum had listed centralized accounting as the first in a four- part effort. It also proposed new powers for the governor, includ- ing appointment and removal of all department heads. It called for estabhshment of appropriate staff agencies to implement new administrative standards, the creation of an independent auditor, and the elimination, so far as possible, of the use of boards and commissions for administrative work. Gage's response to the pro- posals may have been influenced by his knowledge of the radical Griff enhagen report in the Miller administration. Where the Hick- ey memorandum had mentioned the controversial study in 1933, Gage had penciled in the comment, "no good."^-^' Gage did not i^^Letter from Gage to Governor J. J. Hickey, October 13, 1959. Gage Collection. Gage's comments should not be considered as sinister or threat- ening; he was convinced that an administration ought not be subjected to sniping from its own members. He felt the same way about public criticism within the party, stating in letters that he could accept any criticism when personally delivered, but would resent it if he read about it in the newspapers. I'^'Mimeographed paper in Gage Collection. "The Reorganization of the Central Administrative and Management Functions of the Executive Branch," undated but signed by Governor Hickey. The memorandum. 204 ANNALS OF WYOMING allude to Hickey's long-range reorganization objectives, and he concluded, "The effective date for such changes need not be today but in the years ahead; it being highly undesirable to even antici- pate immediate and sweeping changes." In terms of immediate political impact, Gage's remarks on reapportionment were most controversial. The local Republican press, on January 12, had anticipated the governor's dilemma by asking, "Will Governor Gage Accept This?" If Acting Governor Jack Gage, a Democrat, seeks election as gover- nor in the 1962 election (and he is indeed expected to do just that), critical to his chances will be his showing in Sheridan (his home county) and Sweetwater counties. So — will he, as governor, sign a reapportionment bill which would take a State Senator away from both Sheridan and Sweetwater counties?!-''*^ Because Gage's remarks seemed to endorse equal representation for counties in the state Senate, his answer could have been inter- preted as affirmative. He prefaced his lengthy remarks on reap- portionment with a statement he would later employ in his own defense: "Not by the greatest stretch of my imagination do I think I have a ready answer for you, or for that matter, any answer at all." However, legislators were not uncertain about the general direction of his beliefs. He traced the evolution of the Senate from Roman experience. He said equal representation in one house would require an amendment to the Wyoming Constitution, adding, "if by a vote of our people such an amendment were passed, it would probably also carry with it the intent that any variation would be in the House of Representatives, based on population, which seems to be the essence of democracy." His conclusion was hardly subject to misinterpretation: "Equal repre- sentation in one of the legislative bodies seems almost spelled out by your conception and my conception of democracy. So much for reapportionment." It was not, however, so much, but rather, as Democrats later rushed to divorce themselves from his remarks, too much. The message concluded with Gage's opposition to a merit system and his promise to veto unconstitutional measures, class legislation, and any increase in taxes. ^^^ Response From Both Sides of the Aisle The response to the message afforded Gage opportunities to make good his pledge to accept blame for mistakes. Press accounts said criticism came "from both sides of the aisle." "Most vigorous where the Griffenhagen report was mentioned, has a notation, "N.G.," which Mrs. Gage said stood for "No Good." i^filVyoming State Tribune, January 12, 1961. i3-'Message to the Legislature by Acting Governor Jack R. Gage, 1961. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 205 complaint came from big-city lawmakers, many of them from Gage's own Democratic party, about his remarks about a federal system of apportioning the State Senate. Other lawmakers differed on Gage's stand against tax increases." Senator Albert Harding said there weren't enough specifics. Speaker of the House Joseph Budd excused Gage as having been governor only a short time, but added, "We should also be aware of the fact that he has been our number two man in state government for two years. It places a burden on the Legislature to carry on or decide on proper pro- grams without some expression of opinion from those who will be in the executive branch. "^^" The message prompted replies by Democratic leaders in the Legislature, Minority Leader Pat Scully and his Senate counterpart Rudy Anselmi. On January 16 Scully said, "I heartily disagree with his proposed conviction on his expectations as to the type of reapportionment. This is not up to the governor." Anselmi add- ed, "I disagree with this approach to a solution of the reappor- tionment problem as I see no similarity between the State Senate and the U. S. Senate in arriving at its membership. Our forefa- thers who provided the State Senate be apportioned on a popula- tion basis evidently saw this, too."^^^ The Wyoming Democrat in February, 1961, contained no ref- erence to Gage though he might have expected coverage because of the legislative session. The issue, however, did contain a front page story, "Population Reapportionment Urged by Anselmi and Scully," and an inside column favoring reapportionment on the basis of population. ^^- The Casper paper said, "The states are sovereign in a federal union and except that each be equal of The files contain rough notes which further explain the drafting. Gage received the entire Hickey budget file, with letters from the various depart- ments. The speech went through several draftings. The omission of labor was not unintentional, since in one draft, he did have a subheading, "Labor." In the printed supplement accompanying the message, on p. 17, labor is mentioned, including the need for a new minimum wage law. Highways are also mentioned on page 17, although Wold later accused Gage of mak- ing no mention. He was also accused of neglecting to mention education, but he did make a passing reference, stating he would ask that support be given to the extent that need was demonstrated, under the heading "Univer- sity and Education," p. 12. The most serious omission was municipal aid. This probably stemmed from the fact that the message was a personal statement rather than a directive on specific policy. He was also generally concerned with existing programs, rather than new proposals. i-i^^Wyoming State Tribune. January 13, 1961, "Gage Talk Gets Mixed Reaction." ^^'^Sheridan Press, January 16, 1961, editorial "A Split Between Governor and Party?" '^■^-Wyoniing Democrat, Volume 1, Number 9, February, 1961. issue. The reapportionment column was written by a former state president of the Young Democrats, Ed Whitehead of Cheyenne. 206 ANNALS OF WYOMING another in the Senate, the many could be brought under the dom- ination of a few. Counties are merely administrative units of the state government. "^^'^ The message had been initially well received in some quarters for its candor and wit. The local Republican press praised it as "the best literary effort seen at the statehouse in a long, long time," and found, "His quips had stage quality." A veteran State Sen- ator, however, described it as "the best Rotary speech I've ever heard. "^^^ Within three days of its delivery, Gage clarified his message. In a talk to Chamber of Commerce executives. Gage said he had not meant to say he would veto a tax bill to aid cities. The message referred, he said, to raising taxes for state government operation. He also backed away from endorsing equal represen- tation in the State Senate, "Very obviously, I should have repeated two or three times what L said only once: 'Not by the greatest stretch of my imagination do I think I have a ready answer for you, or for that matter, at all.' "^^"^ The initial appreciation for the message's wit was short-lived as the Republicans stepped up criticism of its content. Senator Harding ridiculed the humor the Republican press had found engaging: If the Governor does not mean what he told the Legislature about taxes, and if he does not mean what he told the Legislature about reapportionment, we might be excused for wondering what he did mean, if anything. We all appreciate humor and like to participate in guessing games, but in a short session like this we do not have time for 'Masquerade' or 'What's My Line?' There are too many people in Wyoming in- volved in the more serious business of 'Truth or Consequences.'i^e '^^^Casper Tribune-Herald, January 15, 1961, editorial "No Excuse." ^^^Wyoming State Tribune, January 17, 1961, editorial, 'The Governor's Legislative Message." Mrs. Gage believes the comment was made by Sen- ator Al Harding. He may not have known of Gage's extensive background in Rotary, but he accurately described the Gage speech technique of warm- ing an audience up with humor and then delivering a philosophical message. The initial reaction to the speech was favorable, as it had been well deliv- ered. As Dr. Larson pointed out in his history, it was the delayed reaction which caused Democrats to be concerned. I believe the public record indicates that Republicans as well were chagrined at his tendency to put the burden of responsibility in the hands of the Legislature. i4r«/?ocA-y Mountain News, January 16, 1961, "Gage Calls His Critics 'Charitable.' " He said that would promptly be remedied, and the Repub- lican attacks were, in fact, not charitable at all after that point. i^i<>Wyo?t2ing State Tribune, January 17, 1961, "Harding Tells Gage: Session is Too Short to Play Quiz Games," the quote was carried in the daily newspapers and two weeklies, in Powell and Buffalo. Strictly as a matter of conjecture, the clever but biting nature of the statement suggests it may well have been drafted by Wold or members of the Republican State Central Committee. It was clearly designed to mock Gage and aggravate his problem of adjustment. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 207 Some believed that Harding's biting attack might have been drafted by Repubhcan party officials. At any rate, he later felt compelled to explain to his constituents why he had attacked Gage so personally. He said, "It is sometimes necessary to be publicly critical of public officers whom we personally like." He said the two-party system required it, and that the higher an individual rose in government, "the more he exposes himself to public scru- tiny and criticism, not as a man, but as a symbol of his political party."^'^'' (my italics). The Republican press, which had earlier praised Gage's original humor, now felt called upon to insist, "Let's suspend the vaudeville. "^^'^ Republican State Chairman John Wold termed Gage "unwilling to face up to the responsibilities of his new administrative job," charging that the message had neglected education, labor and highway operations. ^^'^ Gage's remarks on re-organization had irritated those who had been encouraged by Hickey's statements on the issue. When his hometown newspaper joined the criticism. Gage wrote a reply, not for publication, explaining his reluctance to change the elective offices : First, I doubt seriously if you know the entire scope of both the auditor's and the treasurer's offices. I am entitled to this doubt because I don't think I know myself. Second, if they did no more than function well on the state boards, they would earn their keep. Third, you and all other Republicans and I are forever bemoaning the establishment of additional boards and commissions that do two things: first, get away from the control of the voters, and second, spend money. You would have to establish some of these if we fol- lowed your precept. As to State Superintendent, do you have states in which they are appointed where you feel they have better schools? If we eliminate two or three elective officials, board meetings will be hard to come by. They are hard enough now. I have not looked it up, but I believe 're-organization' is a broad, sweeping term. It can hardly be contended that I am not in accord with changes since I have produced quite a few.^-'O ^^'^Ibid., February 6, 1961, editorial, "Criticism of PubHc Officers," the Harding explanation could support the view that the attack did not orig- inate with him. The italicized portion indicates the fear of Gage's personal popularity, which had to be countered by attacking his most effective weapon, his humor. ^'^^Ibid., January 18, 1961, editorial, "Let's Suspend the Vaudeville." ^■^^Ibid., January 24, 1961, "Wold Asks Gage to 'Face up' to Duties of Office." isoLetter from Gage to Dick Redburn, Sheridan Press, following an editorial of January 24. 208 ANNALS OF WYOMING The Battle of the Budget The legislative message had gotten Gage off to a rocky start, and equally troubUng was the Hickey budget, which made recom- mendations on only two-thirds of the appropriations. The chair- man of the Joint Ways and Means Committee, Senator Dick Jones of Park County, said, "I certainly don't mean any criticism of Governor Gage, but it seems to me that a continuing governor definitely should present a more complete budget. This is going to make it difficult for us."^^^ Senator Jones and Gage, however, quickly united when budget problems developed over the State Hospital at Evanston. In November of 1960, Superintendent Karn had told Hickey that "substantial cutbacks" had been made in his request. He added, "I can neither consent to nor authorize further budget sur- gery. To do so would prostitute my professional judgment and be inimical to patient welfare."^'"*- When the Hickey budget was released, it contained increases, but not enough to prevent Kam's resignation. The 1959-1961 appropriations for the Evanston hos- pital had totaled $2,091,450; the request for 1961-1963 was $3,153,335. There had been no capital outlay in the previous biennium, but the 1961-1963 request was $ 183,1 64. ^-'''^ Gage's problems were aggravated on February 17, when he exercised his first veto against a measure to remove the stigma of criminal proceedings from the commitment of the mentally ill. Gage said he sympathized with the intent, but the attorney general had advised the bill could create "serious legal problems. "^''^ The combination of the veto and the budget caused executives of the Wyoming Association for Mental Health to charge Gage with "an extreme lack of concern for the treatment of the mentally ill." They were equally annoyed with the Legislature, which they said, "seemed more concerned about [trading] stamps than the minds of people. "^^^ Gage replied, "Dr. Karn is probably a fine psychiatrist, and Wyoming may be sustaining a loss, but his attack on the Ways and Means Committee is unwarranted." Gage said the Committee was best equipped to make judgments on budget matters : Had he [Karn] lived here longer, he might have reahzed that there is no better place to get an unbiased, definitely non-partisan cross- section of Wyoming thinking than comes from the Ways and Means loiUnidentified clipping, marked, "Cheyenne, January, 1961," Gage i52Letter from Dr. Karn to Hickey, November 19, 1960. is^Message to Legislature by Acting Governor Jack Gage, p. 21. i^jiWyoming State Tribune, February 17, 1961, "Gage Vetoes First Bill of Session." i'>5[Yyoming Eagle, February 18, 1961, "Authorities on Mental Health Criticize Gage." A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 209 Committee; and he, like the rest of us, are better off when we heed their combined deUberations since in so doing we can feel that we are coming very close to complying with the wishes of the people of Wyoming. i-"j6 The defense of the Committee was not a stratagem to place blame with the legislators, but rather a genuine reflection of his limited use of executive leadership. In a number of issues in his message, he had also preferred to let the legislative branch establish policy. The statement of support repaired relations with the Committee, if, in fact, the need had ever existed. In a joint letter signed by all the members, Gage was thanked, "It would have been much easier for you to say nothing. Taking the stand that you did not publicly certainly makes us feel the time and effort put into the Committee deliberations was well worth it."^'"' The issue continued to generate headhnes for months, though the Legislature was probably under more fire than Gage. Legislators held the purse strings and despite the fact Dr. Karn wanted too much mon- ey, according to one paper, "He deserved better than he got."^^^ In a related area, State Health Director Dr. James Sampson and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jones exchanged criticism over the apparent "repeal of the section of the statutes which gives the board of health policy making power." Jones finally smoothed over the issue with an explanatory letter to Sampson. ^-''^ The incident, however, illustrated that some fire which might have been directed at Gage was drawn by the legislators. By the end of the session, they had reason to ally on questions of budget. After the legislative session. Dr. Karn announced he would reconsider his resignation. Gage told the president of the Wyo- ming State Medical Society, "You know, as I am sure Dr. Karn does, that he can visit with the Board [of charities and reform] anytime he wants to." Gage denied that politics had entered the situation, "A better observation might have been that the entire situation was and is uncalled for and that no political officer has contributed so much as a single word to the creation of and con- tinuation of what could have been a routine discussion with the Board months ago."^^*^ Karn met with the board, which voted unanimously in June, after five months of tension, to retain him. Gage said, "Never have I known an instance where greater pres- '^^^Sheridan Press, February 17, 1961, "Governor Gage Hits Back at State Hospital Head." 1 •''"Letter from Joint Ways and Means Committee to Gage, February 18, 1961. '^^'^Casper Tribune -Her aid, February 20, 1961. editorial "Missing the Point." '^^^Rocky Mountain News, March 7, 1961, "Letter Satisfies Health De- partment Head." i6f Letter from Gage to Dr. Francis Barrett. May 26, 1961. 210 ANNALS OF WYOMING sure has been applied against no resistance. "^*^^ Gage believed the institution had, on balance, been fairly treated. He noted that from July 1, 1959, to August 30, 1962, expenditures for the hos- pital had increased 39 per cent; salaries, 64 per cent; and the number of professional staff positions, by ten.^^^ Actions of the Legislature In terms of publicity, the major legislative issues were reappor- tionment, trading stamps, and pari-mutuel betting. Several reap- portionment bills were offered, and the Farm Bureau was support- ing a measure to allot one Senator to each county. No action was taken in an issue which divided along urban-rural, as well as party lines. Commenting on the issue at the session's end, the Repub- lican leadership noted, "On the final vote in the House, 83 per cent of the Republican members were in favor and 81 per cent of the Democrats were against the proposal. "^^^ A legal suit was filed later, but the matter of reapportionment was pending at the time of the 1962 campaign. Efforts to remove the ban on trading stamps failed, but a pari- mutuel bill passed. At a televised press conference before the Wyoming Press Association on January 22, Gage was asked if he would veto the bill. He replied, "Many, many people from many, many groups have asked me to make promises on things. So far my conscience is clear. I have made no promises. I will say this — 1 am opposed to gambling. "^"^ A month later, the press predicted the governor's office would be "flooded with letters" supporting pari-mutuel. Local communities who wanted addi- tional income from betting at county fairs and other celebrations, as well as the Wyoming Quarterhorse Breeders Association, were reported enthusiastic. ^^^ On February 24, Gage vetoed the bill, on the basis that it lacked adequate safeguards. With the attorney general's advice, he found the bill failed to give the boards necessary powers to regulate events which were an integral part of the wagering. "Without such controls and without other restraints in the Act," he said, "abuse could result. The voids found in this Act were not left out of the ^^'^Casper Tribune-Herald, June 6, 1961, "Gage and Karn Meet for Visit." i62Letter from Gage aide Zan Lewis to Willard Roth, Wheatland, October 23, 1962. ^^^Wyoining Eagle, February 28, 1961, "Leaders Call Legislature Hard Working." T-^iWyoniing State Tribune, January 22, 1961, "Gage Opposes Gambling." i65C«.sper Tribune-Herald, February 22, 1961, "Gage May Be Pressured on Race Bet Bill." A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 211 measure from which it was for the most part patterned, namely the Nebraska Act."i«« The president of the Quarterhorse Breeders, Hyde Merritt, ac- cused Gage of engineering passage of an amendment to make the bill unacceptable, but this was denied by the sponsor of the amend- ment in question, Senator Harvey Johnston, Republican from Sher- idan County.^*''' Gage's files do not indicate any correspondence with legislators or evidence of any actions to influence the lan- guage of the bill. It would have been an uncharacteristic intrusion, considering his general attitude on legislative prerogatives. State Senator Norman Barlow, Republican from Sublette County, thought Gage had erred, "I trust the people here in Wyoming, and 80 per cent of them are for this bill."^'''^ The furor was short- lived, however, and a number of papers believed the veto had only delayed legalization. ^"^^ The legislature approved the largest budget in state history, leaving an unappropriated balance of $3.5 million in the general fund. There were slight increases in a few fees, but no tax in- creases, despite the drive by the Wyoming Association of Munici- palities for a one-cent increase in the sales tax. Gage encountered opposition from the Wyoming Retail Mer- chants and the Associated General Contractors when he vetoed changes in the unemployment benefits program which put a $47 weekly maximum on benefits and made it easier to disqualify participation. Gage, as he did on all legal matters, relied heavily on the counsel of the attorney general. His veto message noted the bill "had suffered 16 major amendments and 42 minor chang- es, plus the striking of all the bill save the title." He believed the Legislature had not been satisfied with the bill since a legislative research council was assigned a study of Employment Security Commission laws. Gage concluded, "The spirit and intent appar- ently is lost not only to the Legislature but to the executive branch."!^*^ i66Letter from Gage to Deputy Secretary of State Tom Bogus, Veto Message, February 24, 1961. '^^'' Laramie Boomerang, February 26, 1961, "Pari-Mutuel Backer Says Gage Axed it Deliberately," Casper Tribune-Herald, February 27. 1961. "Johnston Says Gage Not Involved in Bill." With his respect for legislative prerogatives. Gage was not likely to have engineered an amendment to make the bill unacceptable. Mrs. Gage has noted that the issue was hotly debated and kept the Legislature going until early in the morning. She has said her husband also opposed the bill because he did not believe local communities could make pari-mutuel profitable. He was also greatly influ- enced in this and all vetoes by his great respect for his attorney general. Norman Gray. '^^^Casper Tribune-Herald, February 26, 1961. '^^^Ibid., February 27, 1961, editorial "Delaying Veto." and Wyoming State Tribune, March 1, 1961, editorial, "The Pari-Mutuel Bill Veto." ^''^Wyoming Eagle, February 28, 1961, "Commissioner Bill Out." 212 ANNALS OF WYOMING Critics claimed the veto "would allow chiselers to continue get- ting benefits and would make unemployment more attractive than working." The head of the Contractors said the state was headed toward a disaster in its unemplyoment fund.^'^ The state president of the Wyoming State AFL-CIO defended Gage. He said the bUl's real purpose was "to make stable employers carry a bigger load of payments to the unemployment compensation fund. Naturally the contractors are all for it."^^- The Retail Merchants opposed the veto for fear that depletion of the fund, which had dropped $4 million in four years, would cost employers their experience ratings and require them to pay the maximum tax.'^^" Representatives of labor resented the proposed solution to the fund depletion since it meant limiting the number who could qualify for benefits and the amount they received. Gage did not participate in the discussion, beyond issuing his veto message. The issue did impair relations with many businessmen. In June, 1962, a Retail Merchants news- letter reminded members that Gage's veto had been hostile to their interests. ^"^^ Gage also vetoed a bill, which Democrats had fought, to take the state labor commissioner off the Emplyoment Security Com- mission. He saw no need for change, "since all labor commission- ers have served creditably on the Commission. "^^"''' One of the most long-lived issues was municipal finance. Gage had not spoken out for a sales tax increase. In fact, he had told a press conference, "Anything we can do to help them, I want to do. The hitch in the deal is going to be that if this [sales] tax is passed, they're going to be taxing the country people. "^"^ The Legislature did not approve the increase, and Republican Dick Green said rural areas should not have been blamed. He said thirty-five of fifty-six House members and sixteen of twenty-seven '^''^Rocky Mountain News, March 9, 1961. ^l-Ihid., March 13, 1961, "Labor Leader Defends Gage for Killing Bill." ^''''Wyoming Eagle, March 2, 1961, "Security Law Veto Rapped by Merchants." i74Newsletter, Wyoming Retail Merchants Association, Casper, June 19, 1962. The opposition of this interest group and the Contractors should not be over-estimated. It is the author's opinion, based on experience in Wyo- ming campaigns, that these two groups in particular and others, including the Stock Growers and Farm Bureau, can accommodate themselves to a Democrat in office. However, when the opportunity presents itself to place a Republican in office, the Democratic incumbent is generally bypassed, no matter how cooperative he may have been. The problem for the Demo- cratic incumbent is not to garner support but to neutrahze opposition. To the extent that Gage was attacked publicly by interests that probably did not support him privately was, on balance, a net loss, but not a major factor in his defeat. ^'' ^Wyoming Eagle, February 28, 1961, "Commission Bill is Out." i'f'Wyoming State Tribune, January 22, 1961, "Gage Opposes Gambling," coverage of a press conference. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 213 in the Senate lived in cities. He added, 'if the cities are to be given the financial help they apparently desire, they must convince their own representatives in the Legislature that their need is real."^^'' The Democratic Wyoming Eagle disagreed, blaming Republicans "mostly from rural counties," with failing to act on municipal finance, minimum wage, and reapportionment. They were accused of harping about federal controls, particularly in education, ". . . they look upon American democracy with suspicion; they consider Uncle Sam some kind of stealthy enemy, ready to move in on us the minute our backs are turned." On the major issues mentioned in the Democratic column. Gage and the Republicans were in apparent accord. Gage, in fact, had signed a bill which made Wyoming the only state not participating in the National Defense Education Act funds. ^^"^ The Legislature approved centralized accounting and relieved some strain on municipalities by making the state highway depart- ment assume maintenance responsibilties on portions of highways within city limits. The Saratoga Springs State Reserve was sold, though Gage found the price disappointing. Despite a troubled beginning. Gage generally sought to avoid conflict with the legislators. More than fifty of his appointments were approved by the Senate, and his relations were rated as better than a Democratic governor could usually expect. ^"^ Gage later boasted to a meeting of Rock Springs Democrats that he hoped his debt for the 1958 campaign had been met since eighty-four Sweet- water County residents held state jobs.^^" THE GAGE ADMINISTRATION Aid to Municipalities Within a few months of the session's end, most issues had faded, with the major exception of municipal finance. In late January, 1961, Gage had written a guest editorial for Mayor and Manager magazine. He said the tax base of cities was being reviewed continually to secure adequate funds. He praised the work of pri- vate groups in building recreation facilities. His concluding state- ments, which sparked an angry reply from Cheyenne's mayor, offered no concrete proposals: Standing off to one side and observing the terrific financial problems with which our towns both large and small are confronted is of small ^'''Wyoming Eagle, March 2, 1961, "Green Takes Issue on City Legislators." ^"''^Ibid., February 24, 1961. Bernard Horton column. This is virtually the only column in the Wyoming press which systematically supports the Democratic party; thus it is also described as "the Democratic press" in this thesis. '^'''^Sherieian Press, February 21, 1961, editorial "Share in the Barrell." 214 ANNALS OF WYOMING help, no matter how sympathetically we speak. The yet unanswered question is "in what manner we can move to be of real, not vocal help."i'*i Mayor Worth Story, then president of the Wyoming Association of Municipalities, said the state should aid cities, "not stand off to one side to observe it." He said Gage had not helped cities during the legislative session, "I don't believe he even referred to our problems in his message. If we could have a governor take the lead in trying to help solve our financial problems, it would make our job easier."^'*- The solution which Gage gradually worked out was two-fold. He would offer additional income from the increased filing fees for state leases, and he would seek greater federal revenues. Gage felt as abused in Wyoming's relations with the federal government as the cities did toward the state government. Throughout his career, he had decried inequities stemming from the state's admission into the union. He believed the Homestead Act, which would have brought thousands of acres of public land into private ownership, had failed. The federal government held nearly 50 per cent of the state land and 70 per cent of its mineral rights. Wyoming had also received only two sections of land per township when admitted to the union, while several other states had received four. Gage believed the revenue lost each year from the two sections which were lost would equal the annual sales tax collections. Gage also resented the federal government's reserving of lands for Indian reservations, parks, monuments, national forest and lands inun- dated by reservoirs, when the state had not received "in lieu" lands for the two additional sections per township. ^^■' The clamoring of cities for additional revenue thus dovetailed with his desire to redress grievances against the federal government. One issue in particular, obtaining 90 per cent return on federal mineral royal- ties, became a major plank in his election platform. On balance, his efforts here cost him more than they gained. iS"/?0(:A Springs Rocket. October 13, 1961, "Individual Dignity U. S. Goal, Hickey Tells Democrats." There is no indication how Gage reached the figure: it certainly must have been all-inclusive. ^^^Letter from Zan Lewis, Gage aide, to Frank MacAloon, Mayor and Manager. January 26, 1961, enclosing an article, which by its phrasing, does appear to have been written by Gage himself. i'^-Wyoming State Tribune, April 18, 1961, "State Indifferent to Cities, Story Questions Gage Statement." ^^■^Casper Tribune-Herald, November 5, 1961, "Gage Launches Plan to Reclaim State Lands." A Wyoming Eagle clipping of October 9, 1962, indicates Gage was able to obtain $82,500 from the Bureau of Reclamation for 2,240 acres of state land inundated at Keyhole Dam. Earlier, a settle- ment of $138,000 was reached for 6,800 acres flooded in the construction of Glendo Dam. These appear to have been his major achievements on land issues. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 215 The linking of causes was made in a June, 1961, address to the Wyoming Association of Municipalities where he spoke of his efforts in the spring to gain support for a 90 per cent royalty return. He saw a parallel in the counties' retaining funds which were presently being sent to the state. He called a conference of state and city officials to discuss practical recommendations for assistance. The conference, held November 16-17, 1961, opened with what was termed a "surprise" announcement by Gage. Al- though he had originally scheduled the additional income from filing fees for use in defraying costs of operating the state land office, Gage now proposed to use the estimated $420,000 biennial income for the cities. He said the amount was not a new tax but a fund which the Legislature could make available. He warned, however, "I hope you move to explore this, but don't ask the state to figure out how to distribute it." Instead, he suggested a com- mittee meet with him.^^'* Even the usually sympathetic Wyoming Eagle was not im- pressed, noting, "But the question immediately arose: How much good would $400,000 do when distributed among all the cities and towns of the state? On the basis of figures presented at the con- ference, it can be estimated that the total would increase the municipalities' income by about 2.5 per cent. That probably isn't enough to solve the problem, but certainly it helps. "^*^'^ Another feature of Gage's remarks promised more substantial assistance. He said the state had been receiving "a very small share" of the revenue which federal land earned, adding, "Actually, as I view it, if we could lay claim to being a sovereign state, insofar as our own property is concerned, we would not need one cent of help from anybody, and you folks wouldn't either."^'*" His statements rang hollow in the face of two embarrassing setbacks earlier in the year when he had attempted to obtain the support of fellow governors in seeking the 90 per cent mineral royalty return. The crucial failure was at the Western Governor's Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, where his resolution was not acted upon. His major opposition came from the governors of Utah and Colorado, who feared the impact on reclamation proj- ects. Gage's proposal, if it had applied only to Wyoming, would have meant that the state's existing 52.5 per cent of royalty pay- ments would not go to the Reclamation Fund, but would revert ^^*lVy oming Eagle, November 17, 1961, "Gage Suggests $400,000 Source for Wyoming Cities." ^^^Ibid., November 24, 1961, column by Bernard Horton. iS6Governor's Conference on Municipal Finance and Municipal Home Rule, 1961, (Proceedings, Nov. 16-17, 1961, on a conference called by Governor Gage in cooperation with Adult Education, Community Service and Public Services, University of Wyoming, Laramie), p. 76. 216 ANNALS OF WYOMING to the state. Gage himself had released figures which indicated that Wyoming's total contributions to the Fund were $176 million, about 41 per cent of total Fund receipts. i" Although no action was taken, the matter was referred to the Economic Development Committee, headed by Oregon Governor Mark Hatfield, who had opposed the Gage proposal. Later, when the 53rd Governors Conference opened in Honolulu, Hawaii, June 27, 1961, Gage took a preliminary ballot at a meeting of Western governors. Although Utah Governor George Clyde had not supported him in Salt Lake, Gage had expected his support in Honolulu. The proposal was rejected by one vote, but Gage insisted he had taken the proposition farther than anyone else had.^^^ During the summer and fall. Gage had been criticized for his failure. In July, House Speaker Budd said the Hawaii vote was a "faux pas," and that former Senator Frank Barrett and former Congressman Keith Thomson had initiated the effort. Budd added: The defeat of his resolution at the Governors Conference has no doubt set our cause back several years. With only 10 governors voting, Acting Governor Gage should have found out beforehand how the vote was going to come out. If Gage had done his political homework, Budd said, the vote would not have been taken and Wyoming would have been spared having the Western governors go on record in opposition. ^"^^ The Republican press called Gage a "johnny come lately" on the issue. He had, it was claimed, tried to leap on the bandwagon and had gotten a few bruises in the process. ^''^' Republican Chairman Wold, in October, scornfully announced his party's progress in the min- eral royalty return effort. Wold had headed the state delegation to the Western Regional Republican Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, where a resolution for 90 per cent return was adopted. He said that in contrast to Gage's "repudiation by his colleagues," the Republicans had succeeded in obtaining an endorsement for the effort. ''-^''Wyoming Progress Reports, Volume 1, Number 5, August, 1961, p. 2. A pamphlet, "Equity for the Western States: A Case for the Return of 90 Per Cent of Mineral Royalties to the State of Origin," Wyoming Natural Resource Board, Cheyenne, contained detailed charts which clearly indi- cated that Western states interested in reclamation would oppose the idea generally, and specifically for Wyoming. They needed Wyoming's contri- butions. Virtually every member of the Wyoming Congressional delegation has sponsored legislation of this nature, but none have staked their careers to the extent that Gage did. '^^^Wyoming Progress Reports, Volume 1, Number 5, August, 1961, p. 2. ^^^Wyoming Eagle, July 22, 1961, "Gage Made 'Faux Pas' Budd says." '^^^Wyoming State Tribune, June 8, 1961, column by Meg Hunter. The Republican party and press did not ridicule the idea of greater mineral royalty returns, but they did question the effectiveness of Gage's efforts. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 217 Neither the criticism of the RepubHcans nor the lack of enthu- siasm by municipal leaders discouraged Gage in his efforts for the royalty return. It was clear he had not realistically assessed his prospects of success. If adjoining Western states, in their own interests, would oppose loss of the Wyoming contribution to the Reclamation Fund, Congress was equally likely to resist the idea. The public relations value of the project might also have been devalued by the failure with the governors, but Gage was not pur- suing increased revenue for political gain, but out of deep, personal conviction. ^^^ In the forthcoming campaign, he made the mineral royalty effort an issue, with little success. The municipalities had to wait for real aid through an increase in the sales tax in a sub- sequent administration. The State of the Economy Although Gage did not succeed in increasing federal revenue for Wyoming, the state's general fund condition was one bright area in finance. In March, 1961, it reached $8,175,026, the highest level since Lester Hunt's administration.^^- By June, it had reached $9 million.193 The state's economy, as a whole, however, was not in a healthy condition in 1961, though there were positive trends toward the year's end. In July, Gage had to ask federal drought disaster aid for four counties. A month later, he asked similar assistance for two more counties. ^^^ In the period of mid-September to mid- October, 1961, non-farm payroll employment in Wyoming de- clined 3.3 per cent, the most in any Mountain State. ^^^ Gage had, months earlier, expressed concern about unemployment, but had said he felt there was no immediate action he could take. In December, Gage went to Washington, D. C, to testify on a pipeline application by El Paso Natural Gas. He included a visit to New York City to confer with executives of corporations which had existing or planned developments in Wyoming. On his return, he squelched rumors that Sinclair Oil planned to close its refinery outside Rawlins. He also said the executives had expressed con- -i-^iWyoming State Tribune, October 5, 1961, "Wold Says GOP Action Points Up Gage's Failures." The conclusion that Gage pursued the issue out of personal conviction and not political gain is based on the frequency with which he comments on the issue, both in the press and in his personzil speech files. '^^"Wyoming Eagle, April 21, 1961, column by Bernard Horton. ^^^Ibid., July 14, 1961. column. ^^■^Rocky Mountain News, July 15, 1961, "Drought Aid Sought for Four Counties," Wyoming Eagle, August 31, 1961, "Six Wyo. Counties Set for Feed Aid." Gage opposed federal aid to education, but did not hesitate to call on the federal government when agriculture was threatened. ^^^^Wvoming Progress Reports, Volume 1, Number 6, September, 1961, p' 4. 218 ANNALS OF WYOMING cem about Wyoming's high freight rates and the lack of adequate industrial water. On January 10, 1962, he announced plans by Pacific Power and Light for a chemical process pilot plant at Glenrock and a $25 million expansion to the Dave Johnson steam plant there. ^^*^ In March, there was hopeful news for Cheyenne, with the announcement of a $158 million project to plant Minute- men Missiles in the vicinity of Warren Air Force Base. The Governor predicted an extremely favorable impact on the local economy. During 1962, economic indicators picked up. The oil industry had been in excellent condition, with the value of oil and gas production increasing steadily. The value of all minerals produced in Wyoming in 1961 had reached $471 million, a seven per cent increase over 1960.^'-^* Gage announced in September, 1962, that tourism in July had grossed more than $80 million, the largest month in history. Travel had been 25 to 40 per cent higher on state highways. Yellowstone National Park had welcomed its millionth visitor at the earliest date in history, July 26.^^^ The Unviersity of Wyoming Division of Business and Economic Re- search confirmed an upward trend with its report that retail sales had hit an all-time high in April-June, 1962. The volume was 5.7 per cent higher than the same period in 1961, though only 1.3 per cent above 1960. Construction activity was down; employ- ment was off slightly, but so was unemployment. Resources in Wyoming banks were $25 million above the previous year. For the fourth consecutive year, total personal income in Wyoming was increased. Sales tax collections totaled $10.5 million, the highest twelve-month period in state history. The economy, the report concluded, was in healthy condition.^*^*^ THE 1962 PRIMARY CAMPAIGN Prelude to the Primary The Wyoming electorate, according to a poll conducted for the Democratic party in May, 1962, disagreed on the state of the economy, but many felt a need for more industry. When those interviewed were asked to volunteer the most important area of concern, 30 per cent said "more industry for Wyoming," which the Kraft pollsters said was the highest figure for any single issue which i96Gage Press Release File, January 10, 1962, press release. '^'•'''Rawlins Daily Times, March 28, 1962, "Gage Pleased Cheyenne is Missile Site." ^^^Wyoming Progress Reports, Vol. 1, Number 12, March, 1962. i^^Gage Press Release File, released September 11, 1962. ^^^Wyoming Eagle, October 6, 1962, editorial "Healthy Economy," citing Wyoming Trade Winds, Division of Business and Economic Research, Col- lege of Commerce and Industry, University of Wyoming. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 219 they had encountered in several years of nationwide testing. Wyo- ming residents appeared genuinely concerned about out-migration. If unemployment had dipped, many reasoned, it was because laborers had left the state. The 1960 census had verified the slow population growth. The lack of opportunity forced many high school and University graduates to seek employment outside the state. The poll, however, showed surprising strength for President Kennedy, with a 75 per cent favorable rating, compared to 47 per cent for Gage and 24 per cent for Hickey. In rating perfor- mance, those polled gave Gage a four-to-one positive rating, while Hickey's was five-to-one negative. Gage's weakness, however, was revealed when those interviewed were asked how public offi- cials had performed on attracting new industry. Only 29 per cent approved of the actions; 60 per cent disapproved, and, "In this context of disapproval, the governor is mentioned most fre- quently . . . ." The poll indicated a desire for bold action; many were concerned that Wyoming "isn't moving ahead, that it is stand- ing still or slipping back."-"^ In the forthcoming campaign, this lack of confidence about the economy worked to Gage's disad- vantage, though his opponent offered only general promises to "get Wyoming moving again." A survey on industrial development, commissioned by the state government and released in the fall of 1962, pointed out the obstacles the Gage administration faced. Three major adverse factors were identified. The physical and climatic geography of Wyoming had limited its population growth and its industrial growth; the state economy had traditionally been oriented toward extraction of natural resources; and a lack of adequate industrial development promotion had limited growth. The state was advised to recruit industries in electronics, tourism, chemicals, wood prod- ucts, and research. To achieve growth, the state would have to increase approriations for the Natural Resource Board, which, in turn, would have to develop interstate and intrastate promotion programs.-*^- As Gage prepared for the primary he had been expecting for 2"i^"A Survey of Candidates and Issues in Wyoming," Kraft poll. May, 1962. -"-"A Summary of Survey for Industrial Development in the State of Wyoming," prepared for the Natural Resource Board by Armour Research Foundation, Illinois Institute of Technology. September, 1962. Gage appar- ently did not announce the commissioning of the study, though it would have helped him. He did not mention the results in his general election campaign. In a memo to Zan Lewis, a Natural Resource Board member, Charles Sargent, on August 27, 1962, sent a list of new or expanded indus- trial development totaling $160 million for natural resource industries. Gage used a round figure of $192 million for all new development. 220 ANNALS OF WYOMING months, his public statements gave no inkling of the survey then underway and did not reflect the findings of the Democratic poll. He did ask the Natural Resource Board to prepare a list of indus- tries which had expanded or opened operations in Wyoming since 1959, but the impressive figures were not used effectively. He did not project an image of bold economic leadership nor implement, as late as October, the findings of the industrial development sur- vey by recommending that the Board of Natural Resources expand its activities. Gage declined to make economic growth a key issue in his campaign because he was not entirely convinced that the state's economy was in trouble. Although he might have been justified in this interpretation, he made no more than a token effort to assert economic leadership, largely because, as he said, he was not sure what he could do immediately to be of assistance. Instead, he relied on achieving a greater share of federal revenue for the state, accompanied by economies in the operation of state government. The Scope of the Challenge In historical perspective. Gage needed to use his incumbency and every issue at his disposal effectively. In state history, none of the seven acting governors had been elected governor. Three did not seek election; two were defeated in party primaries; and two won nomination but lost in the general election. In four of seven cases, the administration changed hands in the subsequent election.-"^ The respective elections had been decided on the basis of the elements of the individual campaigns. However, the trend, unbroken by Gage, did suggest the difficulties associated with an acting governor seeking election in his own right. Although each acting governor had won election as secretary of state, the post by its very designation, does not carry the recognition which might be associated by the term "lieutenant governor." Aside from the question of semantics, few if any governors in Wyoming had helped make the secretary of state position stand out from the other elective offices. Except for the occasional filling of the governor's office in his absence, the secretaries of state had a low political profile. Gage's own career spelled out some of the problems. Although -•^SBased on a reading of election returns and History of Wyoming. The acting governors included Amos Barber, November 24, 1890, to January 2, 1893; Fenimore Chatterton, April 28, 1903, to January 2, 1905; Frank Houx, February 26, 1917, to January 6, 1919; Frank E. Lucas, October 2, 1924, to January 5, 1925; Alonza M. Clark, February 18, 1931, to January 2, 1933; A. G. Crane, January 3, 1949, to January 1, 1951; and C. J. "Doc" Rogers, January 3, 1953, to January 3, 1955. The author believes their records do not reflect strong executive leadership as acting governor. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 221 the second ranking state official, he had no part in drafting the Hickey budget. With the exception of the Hickey budget file, Gage did not appear to have been provided with helpful informa- tion to facilitate the transition. An additional obstacle, especially in Gage's case, was the nature of the assumption of office. It had, in the past, involved the death of the incumbent or his election to the U. S. Senate. In either case, the individual mandated by the voters was replaced by an individual chosen for another post. As one voter grumbled in a classified ad in 1962, "We had no voice in selecting one of our Senators and our present governor, and we got gyyped."20'* The State of the Party Conceding the disadvantages which might accompany acting governorship, there clearly were advantages. A secretary of state could go on to be elected governor, as Lester Hunt had done. If an acting governor could use his limited powers of incumbency effectively, election was possible. However, in Gage's case, the burdens of the Hickey backlash were aggravated by problems within his party. Within three months of assuming the governor's post. Gage was confronted with the possibility of a primary. State Senator Robert J. Murphy, in early April, 1961, had told Gage he was considering running for govenor. Equally troubling was the statement of State Senator W. A. Norris, Jr., future Democratic national committee- man, that Murphy should be recognized for his work in the Legis- lature.-*^^ Murphy wrote Gage that he did not intend to criticize him, "I feel we can both conduct ourselves as Democratic gentle- men without damage to the party." It was not a reassuring mes- sage which concluded, "Incidentally, I understand we will have additional company in the person of 'Scotty' Jack and possibly others, so we should have a real good time."-"*' While attempting 204Letter from Frank Myers to Gage, February 15, 1962, enclosing a Sheridan Press clipping, undated, signed by Claude Byler. Gage replied on February 16, "If I remember, the man who put the ad in the paper has been committed to Evanston three times. Very obviously, he is correct in his assumption since I have never made it once." He also wrote Democratic Chairman Allen Hunter on February 16 suggesting a meeting with Byler, but there is no evidence it materialized. On February 23. Gage wrote Hunter, "I appreciate the time and trouble you have taken to report on Mr. Byler. I am afraid he is no too conversant with the laws of the state or he would have realized that the people did vote on the possibility of me (sic) becoming governor, and it happened." -'^^Rocky Mountain News, March 6, 1961, "Conflicts Within Democratic Party Shape Up on Two Fronts." -OSLetter from Robert Murphy to Gage, April 13, 1961. In a brief note on April 14, Gage thanked him and suggested a meeting, but there is no evidence it took place. 222 ANNALS OF WYOMING to build his constituency, Gage must have been disconcerted by the press accounts which early and often mentioned the prospect of a primary contest. In April, Whitaker's charges of a "cover up" to his questions on the Hickey appointment proved embarrassing. As one columnist put it, the party had the troubles of the "tacky political fences Hickey left behind him," the Whitaker charges, and Gage's own intraparty problems, "Acting Governor Jack Gage, who's been warbling a serenade to conservative Republicans since taking over as head man, is finding that liberals in his party have no fear for his tune. They're scouting the field for someone more to their liking."-"' The field had to include William M. "Scotty" Jack. Like Gage, Jack's birthplace was not well known. He was believed to be a native of Scotland, but was born in New York City on March 5, 1 892. His parents moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, when he was a few months old and he lived there until 1910 when he returned to America. He moved to Lusk, Wyoming, where he homesteaded and was elected twice to the State House of Representatives.-'^^ He later moved to Natrona County where he engaged in the oil business and was also elected to the House. In 1933, he was selected as the first Democratic Speaker of the House. He was elected three times as state auditor, in 1934, 1938 and 1942. He was appointed by Governor Lester Hunt in 1944 to serve as acting secretary of state on the death of Mart T. Christensen.-"-* In 1950, Jack had been considered a strong prospect for the governor's race, but he disappointed Democrats by accepting, in February, a public relations position with the Rocky Mountain Oil and Gas Association. In his new capacity, he helped Republicans exploit the severance tax issue against the Democratic nominee John J. Mclntyre, who was defeated. Four years later. Jack was nom- inated for governor, but lost the close race to Milward Simpson. Simpson subsequently appointed Jack to the Equalization Board and Public Service Commission, which was as confining to him as the postmastership had been to Gage. In 1961, he was clearly determined to re-enter electoral politics. In addition to circulating a policy paper which strongly hinted he would seek the governor's post. Jack, in 1961, also wrote Dem- ocrats to outline his options. He said he faced two gambles. If a Republican won in 1962, his appointment was in jeopardy, and if -*>' Wyoming State Tribune, April 20, 1961, Meg Hunter column. -"^Letter from Zan Lewis to Jack Gage, IL, December 14, 1961, quoting Wyoming Historical Blue Book. 'M\)Wyoming State Tribune, November 20, 1961, "Scotty's Position: Jack- Gage Race Appears Likely," and a review of election returns compiled by the secretary of state. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 223 a Democrat won, it was in doubt. He concluded, "If I am going to take any political gambles in 1962, in preference to those set forth above, I would much rather take the gamble of running for high public office and getting elected." He mentioned no specific race, but a concerned Democrat forwarded a copy of the letter to Gage.2i« An Unorthodox Announcement Gage wrote former Governor Miller in January, 1962, stating his reluctance to declare his candidacy at an early date. He asked for Miller's advice, which was to announce immediately, and heed- ed it. He told Miller, "I expect I should make some fanfare or commotion about it, but I doubt very much if I do since I am not given to such things. "-^^ His announcement on February 9, 1969, approached the candidacy with his customary contempt for polit- ical cliche: Down through the years, politicians have almost produced a stereo- typed method of announcing that they will run for some political office. One way or another, they say, in substance, "I really did not want to do it, but so many of my host of friends have begged and pleaded that I have finally given way to their pressure." I view this as a weak and feeble statement and more often than not untrue, so, in announcing that I will be a candidate for the governor- ship on the Democratic ticket, I would like to say that I made up my own mind, and, too, that I hope my friends like the idea. Also, I hope there are many of them. Coming to this conclusion has not been particularly hard to do since when I assumed this office over a year ago, I reasoned that if I did not fall flat on my face, but could feel a fair degree of accomplish- ment, it would be logical for me to want to run and for people to expect me to do so. Nothing has happened to alter my thinking. I do not feel that I am anyone's glowing gift to Wyoming; in fact, Wyoming has done much more for me than I can hope to do in return. I do not think I have all the answers, nor have I heard all the ques- tions; at the same time, I know that I have my teeth into this job. I know what it takes; I like it; and I announce the fact that I will run because I want to very much.-^- Gage's announcement was hailed by Democratic State Chairman Walter Phelan, successor to Teno Roncalio, who had recently been appointed to a post in the Kennedy administration. Phelan warned. 2i<'Letter from Emil Zebre, Democratic chairman, Lincoln County, to Gage, June 26, 1961, enclosing a copy of a mimeographed letter sent to Judd Witherspoon. Kemmerer. 2iiLetter from Gage to Leslie Miller, January 30, 1962. Second letter on February 5, 1962. 21-Gage Press Release file, February 9, 1962. 224 ANNALS OF WYOMING "Those who oppose Governor Gage have their work cut out for them."2i3 Gage then took an action, perhaps unprecedented, that seemed to surrender most of the advantages of incumbency. He wrote county chairmen and influential Democrats asking them to refrain from aiding him in his certain primary. In a letter sent to influ- ential individuals, he said that in the event of a primary: I will adhere to my belief that I am not entitled to impose upon you in your official capacity in the Democratic party until the primary has been concluded. In a similar vein, he wrote to several county chairmen: ... no matter how vicious or in error any newspaper or radio attack upon me may become, may I ask you to respect my wish never under any circumstances to make a reply. I am making the same request of all Democrats who might feel at some time called upon to fly to my defense.215 Gage's request was not based on insensitivity to criticism. As he confided to a friend in March, 1962, "I would hope it does not get under my skin, but it will."-^^ In a letter to his son. Gage said, "You know full well, of course, that I am unhappy about a pri- mary. 'Scotty' has been hired, but I cannot put my finger on who is picking up the tab . . . ." He added, "Although 'Scotty' cannot beat me in a primary, the harm he can and will do will carry over into the general . . . ."^^'^ Apparently, Gage felt he had to "keep his powder" dry during the primary to prevent Jack from ridiculing his positions and to avoid prolonged exchanges that would weaken him for the general election. During the spring. Jack was touring the state to address service clubs on what he called the "Battle of the Budget," which in his terms was a power struggle between the legislative and executive branches. He viewed propoasls for a twelve-member budget com- 2i3iyyoming State Tribune, February 9, 1962, "Democrats Hail Gage's Decision." 2i4Mimeographed open letter signed "Jack R. Gage," with no reference to his official capacity. No mailing list was attached. 2i5Letter from Gage to George P. Economy, Democratic chairman in Carbon county, February 2, 1962. Similar letters on file show he sent word to chairmen in Big Horn, Campbell, and Albany counties. Others may have been sent the open letter. 2i6Letter from Gage to Hugh West, Sheridan, March 26, 1962. 2i7Letter from Gage to his son Jack, II, March 19, 1962. Gage specifi- cally mentioned Senator Gale McGee as supporting Jack, "My best reason for knowing this is the continuing opposition out of Albany County from Young Democrats who get their direction from him." It may also have been true that campus Democrats were more liberal, and, thus, less likely to support Gage. In any event, Jack Gage, II., in an interview, discounted this theory entirely. McGee did not campaign for Gage, because he was not asked to, but he did send a letter to Democrats endorsing the ticket. I A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 225 mittee and other trends as indications of "an increasing lack of confidence in the executive department."^^'^ The confrontation he described in some respects reflected his own relationship with Governor Miller in 1933. The Fears of a Negative Approach On April 7, 1962, the Democratic State Central Committee reelected Wilter Phelan chairman and Rudy Anselmi vice chair- man. Gage's remarks prepared for the meeting are surprisingly defensive. He warned: There will be no occasion for a negative comment of any kind or a negative approach to any facet of what has been accomplished in the last four years by a Democratic administration. If what I say is true, then what would the Republicans like to have us do? They would like to have us conduct our primary campaign in such a manner that at its conclusion, no matter who the Democratic candidate happened to be, the individual would have been so maligned as to leave the Democrats completely ineffectual. Between now and the primary election, although I may choke to death doing it, I am going to keep my mouth shut. I am not going to be sucked into a position of answering questions, no matter what their source, designed only to do me or the Democrats harm. I will not answer inferred questions produced by a whispering campaign such as already has been attempted in one quarter. He said he would not ask for emotional or financial support from the Central Committee during the primary, because, "If I read the rules correctly, during the primary I am supposed to be on my own." He concluded: I am not full of schemes and deals. I have not trafficked in such before and I will not now. Also, I have no secrets. I presume I am as easy to understand as a third grade reader and I intend to stay that way.219 In a speech prepared for the 1962 Democratic state convention in May, Gage used many of the same phrases, repeating his resolve to refrain from negative campaigning. If the delegates had enter- tained hopes for bold leadership on developing new issues, Gage disposed of them, much as he had in his message to the Legislature. He told them some of the thoughts which go through a governor's mind: 2i8Wyoming State Tribune, March 29, 1961, "Budget Battle Fight for Power Scotty Jack Says." 2i9Gage Speech File. Speech prepared for Democratic State Central Committee meeting, April 7, 1962. In his text, where he had mentioned "whispering campaign," Gage had originally inserted the charge that he was drawing two salaries, as secretary of state and acting governor, but he struck over this reference. 226 ANNALS OF WYOMING What great and earth-shaking thing will I do for the State of Wyo- ming this day that will solve many of its problems, endear me to the hearts of the people, make of me a renowned citizen, and give me great personal satisfaction? When such a thought goes through your mind, you should look about. You are not sitting in the governor's chair — you are off on cloud nine. In other words, it just does not work that way. You are not going to do anything of earth-shaking nature today. If you accomplish anything, it will not be in a day. He brought up the charge that "we have no leadership," and responded by noting his success in getting the Interstate Oil Com- pact Commission to drop a study which Wyoming oil producers opposed, his enabling oil and gas interests to "rewrite the rules and regulations under which they function," his appointment of an Agriculture Advisory Board composed of representatives of the chief agricultural associations, the meeting with municipal officials, land reclassification, the appointment of a Highway Safety Foun- dation, economies in office, and the mineral royalty battle, where, "We made more headway than has been made before." His sensi- tivity to opposition within the party was evident in his comment on financing, "I will not seek money from you, nor will I — or have I — asked Republicans to contribute to my campaign. Here I ask you to attach any significance you wish to the comment."^^^ Another Vacancy in the State House The death of State Treasurer C. J. "Doc" Rogers in May, 1962, left, in effect, three of the five state elective offices in caretaker status. Gage was acting governor; Robert Outsen, as deputy, was acting secretary of state, and Rogers' office was to be managed by Richard J. Luman, deputy state treasurer. Only Superintendent of Public Instruction Velma Linford and State Auditor Minnie Mitchell were serving in positions they were elected to fill. In his May 23 statement. Gage said the state treasurer post would be filled by the electorate "in a short time." He said that if he had named an appointee, "who naturally would be a Dem- ocrat," there would not be sufficient time to restaff the office. He also said anyone he appointed to the post might not be able to run for election in 1962 because questions might be raised as to the legality of that person succeeding himself.^-^ "Scotty" Jack disagreed, terming the action a violation of state law. He said Section 22-19 of the Wyoming Statutes of 1957 was regarded as mandatory. The statute said state positions should be "filled by appointment" if more than forty days would lapse before the next election. Jack said, "To act otherwise, in an arbitrary ^^^Ibid., copy of speech prepared for May 11, 1962, Democratic state convention. Many sentences are identical to the speech to the State Committee. "iGovernor Gage Press Release File, May 23, 1962. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 227 manner, is flouting of the law and makes a mockery of his consti- tutional oath of office to uphold Wyoming law."-^- The Demo- cratic press, while concluding that, "the Wyoming pubhc has gen- erally accepted the governor's decision," noted, "If there is any real basis for disagreement with the governor's decision, it would have to be in connection with the hard-headed, realistic, partisan politics of the two-party system."--'^ Although Gage's actions did irritate some Democrats who thought he should have appointed a party member to the post, his action probably was the most pru- dent course he could have taken. He was already aware of the backlash produced by the Hickey appointment. More pertinent, he would have alienated Democrats in one camp or another whom- ever he appointed. The appointee would have denied the party the choice in a primary and probably would have handicapped the prospects of that individual being elected, whether because of legal aspects or Republican resentment. Primary Campaign Issues "Scotty" Jack had vowed to make the primary a forum for developing issues, and it became clear that Gage's competence was a central theme. Jack claimed the Motor Transportation Depart- ment's budget was unconstitutional because it was not appropriated by the Legislature. He said the Revenue Department funds were partly illegal because they were partly from the general fund and partly from revenue, which did not have legislative approval. He also questioned the legal status of the Legislative Research Com- mittee because the law creating it had been repealed in 1961, and there had been no legislative approval for funds. He said Gage should not have opposed the Burns Creek hydro-electric power project in Idaho because he had earlier refused to support the Fryingpan Arkansas Project in Colorado because it was out of his state and jurisdiction. Jack also opposed right to work legislation, thought he did not comment on Gage's position.--^ Gage did not take a position on the issue, nor, apparently, did labor officials pressure him to make one. In April, 1962, Arthur Biggs, a member of the international board of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), had counseled Gage: It has been brought to the attention of the UMWA that requests have been made upon you to declare yourself on the controversial issue labeled 'Right to Work' in your forthcoming campaign for re-election (sic) to the office of governor of the state of Wyoming. In connection therewith, based upon your previous record of per- formance, which has been friendly to labor, the UMWA is of the ^^-Wyoming Eagle, June 1, 1962, "Jack Accuses Governor. ^^'^Ibid., June 1, 1962, Horton column. --^Wyoming State Tribune, June 22, 1962. 228 ANNALS OF WYOMING opinion that actions speak louder than words and it's unnecessary that you go on record making any pledges that might detrimental in any way or might jeopardize your chances .... Biggs promised that the union would "do everything possible to help and assist."--"' The general chairman of the Sheet Metal Workers local in Cheyenne wrote the Gage for Governor Com- mittee in July, "You may rest assured that I am happy to be a member of the committee, and you may feel free to use my name in connection therewith."--'^ Two United Mine Workers of Amer- ica districts, 22 and 50, in Rock Springs, endorsed Gage before the primary. A surprising departure from tradition, the action outraged Jack and his supporters. A Jack supporter, who was a representative of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, com- plained, "in fairness to both Democratic candidates, now engaged in a tight race for this office, your attention is called to the favorable record and strong public statements made by candidate 'Scotty' Jack."--'^ Jack himself wired Arthur Biggs, challenging him "to point to and prove any act of Gage's that merits his endorsement by your union." He said Gage had made "secret promises" adverse to labor, including a pledge to sign the jobless benefits bill he had vetoed in 1961.--^ Biggs referred the telegram to two State Labor Department officials for reply, adding, "about the only thing I would do would be to state that the record of Governor Gage speaks for itself. Jack certainly isn't going to tell the UMWA how to run its business."--" During the summer. Gage did not campaign vigorously, but generally followed a non-political speaking schedule including a number of high school commencements. In June, he was warned that Jack had been campaigning in Lincoln County. He was told his opponent "has been working hard on a grass-roots level. He has quite a few loyal supporters, particuarly among the older peo- ple, a carryover from previous campaigns."-'^" In the following month, Gage campaigned in the county, stressing his economies in office, "I live in your house; I drive your car; and I spend your money, but a heap sight less of it than has ever been done before."-'" Jack disagreed, accusing Gage of wasting time and --'"'Letter from Arthur Biggs, to Gage, April 17, 1962. --^'Letter from Leo P. Grant, Cheyenne, to Gage for Governor Com- mittee, July 5, 1962. --^Letter from Louis Leichtweis to John Martin, president, Local 13214, UMNA, Rock Springs, and to Arthur Biggs, July 11, 1962 --*^Copy of a telegram from Jack to Arthur Biggs, August 11, 1962. --'•'Memorandum from Biggs to Messrs. Condie and Clark, State Labor Department, August 11, 1962. -■^"Letter from Doyle Child, Afton, to Gage, June 5, 1962, relaying a message from chairman Emil Zebre, Kemmerer. -'^^Star Valley Independent, July 12, 1962. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 229 money. He said he would "never, for example, take the time, at the expense of the taxpayers, to go to New York and back only to squelch a rumor that the refinery at Sinclair was going to close when a long-distance telephone call from Cheyenne to the refinery at Sinclair would have gotten the same results." He said Gage didn't have to travel across the continent to learn that industry needed industrial water "when the archives of state government are filled with reports and studies on the very problem. "-^- Jack characterized the Gage administration as one of "secrecy," unrest and dissension," referring to personnel disputes in the State Health Department, charges of misconduct by members of the Highway Patrol and the question of whether the Highway Com- mission and the governor wanted a study on Patrol problems. -■^•* The Riverton Ranger asked, "Can Wyoming's witty and whimsical governor withstand the vigorous challenge of another old political warhorse in the Democratic primary election?" Gage was seen as a "creditable, though unspectacular" governor, whose only prob- lems with the Legislature were pari-mutuel, an issue which cut both ways, and the veto of the jobless pay bill. It added, "Gage's biggest crusade — 90 per cent return to Wyoming of state mineral royalties — backfired in his face." It said Gage could "pass for a Republican" in a race where "clear-cut differences in the govern- ment philosophies of the two men" contrasted. As examples, the newspaper column stated that Jack, in contrast to Gage, favored reapportionment by population and reclamation projects.^^^ On August 1, former Governor Leslie Miller urged Democrats to give "an overwhelming vote of confidence to Jack Gage," add- ing, "I have known both candidates ... for 30 years. For four of these, I was closely associated with them and came to know them very well indeed, their ideals, their characters, and their qualities for trustworthiness."-^"' Jack belittled the Miller endorse- ment, describing him as a man of "bitterness and frustration." He said, "They deserted Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal and Harry Truman and the Fair Deal. They find themselves much more at home with the elite of the Republican party than they do with rank and file Democrats." Jack predicted Gage's election would mean "four more years of stagnation for the state of Wyo- ming. By his own admission, he is an ultra-conservative; by his -■^-Rawlins Daily Times. July 19. 1962, "Scotty Flares Over Waste in Wyoming." -•^■^Wyoming State Tribune, July 25. 1962, "Jack Highly Critical of Governor Gage." -'^■^Riverton Ranger column by Hugh Ellis, as reprinted in the Grexbitll Standard, July 26, 1962, "Two Party Line." -'■i-^Wyoming Eagle, August 1, 1962, "Ex-Democratic Governor Supports Gage." 230 ANNALS OF WYOMING own admission, Barry Goldwater is a liberal compared to him."^-^^ He accused Miller and Gage of "living back in the 1930s while the rest of us are striving valiantly to forge ahead in the 1960s. Surely, the people of our state are not going back to 1938 to get a gover- nor for 1963."2'" An Underwhelming Mandate The primary election returns provided small comfort for Gage and the Democratic party. He defeated Jack by only 4176 votes. Despite Jack's formidable campaign record, he had not been on the ballot in eight years, while Gage had spent four years in public office. In the Senatorial primary, Hickey was unopposed and drew 32,507 votes, compared to 50,507 in the Repubhcan primary where Milward Simpson won with 59 per cent. The Democrats, in contrast to 1958, had been outvoted in the race by 18,000. In the Congressional primary, Lou Mankus defeated two even weaker candidates with 32,916 votes cast. Harrison won nomina- tion for the Republicans with 62 per cent of the votes in a race against Kenny Sailors where 50,354 votes were cast. The Demo- crats trailed in this race by over 17,000 votes. The Gage-Jack race drew an additional 5,000 Democratic votes. Gage polled 55 per cent, with 21,051 to 16,875. Jackson rancher Clifford P. Hansen defeated Casper attorney Charles Crowell and former Cheyenne official R. E. Cheever with 57 per cent of the vote in a race where 49,975 votes were cast. In this race, the disparity in party turnout was less, with the Republicans ahead by 12,049, compared to 18,000 in the Senate race.--^^ Gage, who had told Democrats he did not expect their financial support, spent $1,636.67, with $1,518.20 in contributions. A total of twenty-two persons contributed, with three donors of more than $100: Robert Rose, Jr., Casper attorney and co-chairman of the Gage for Governor Committee, $250; Attorney General Nor- man Gray, $200; and Gage's Administrative Assistant Zan Lewis, $150. Four others, including Gage's personal secretary, gave $100. There were no expenditures for media advertising with the exception of two club magazines. The expenses were primarily for printing, postage and telephone bills, Jack reported $3,500 in -'■'■^'Rawlins Daily Times, August 3, 1962. Gage had remarked to a Sher- idan audience that when it came to spending, Barry Goldwater was a liberal compared to himself, but he did not make a broad statement of comparison. 237Unidentified clipping in Gage Scrapbook, August, 1962, "Jack Raps Miller's Support of Governor Gage." -^'^1963 Wyoming Official Directory and Election Returns of 1962 com- piled by the Secretary of State, p. 56. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 231 receipts and $8,316.90 in expenditures. Hansen spent $9,5 Gage felt his lack of finances had hurt, but vowed, "I'm getting ready to have at it again, only this time, I will launch a full-scale campaign." Although the large Republican turnout was discour- aging, the Democratic press pointed to 1954 when the Democrats had been outvoted 45,221 to 32,833 in the primary for the U. S. Senate race, but had captured the seat.-^" Gage did not share the optimism, confiding to a friend, "Unfortunately, the man who was hired to run against me has maligned me to such an extent that I am afraid some of the poison will stick. We will have to try to overcome it."-'^^ A friendly party official concluded, "It was simply hard, extensive campaigning over a long period of months by the opposition."-^- Former Democratic State Chairman Ron- calio, conceding "Scotty" Jack's record at the polls and the pro- fessional campaign he had conducted, said of Jack: He was opposed by a silent incumbent governor without the money for such campaigning who simply ignored his opponent and went about his business as governor, armed with a handful of matches. This was not a matter of proven formula, not work, as much as it was a complete underestimation of the inherent strength of Governor Gage of Wyoming.243 GENERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN Gage for Governor The "full-scale" campaign Gage promised was largely a family operation, as his previous efforts had been. His family was troubled by the narrow victory over Jack in the primary, the poor Democratic turnout, and the potential of Hansen, whose political appeal they recognized. Gage's nominal campaign manager was his son Jack, who took a leave of absence from employment in New York. His son Dick assisted when possible. 239Statement of Campaign Receipts and Expenditures, filed with the Secretary of State, August 21, 1962. Gage Collection. The files indicate that Gage himself kept the books; his son Jack filed the report for the general.. For the Jack and Hansen figures, Wyoming State Archives, Chey- enne, Wyoming, Secretary of State, MA Number 7031 (Campaign Receipts and Expenditures) Box 9. The files do not contain the Republican party statement which would show how much of the general election expenditures went to Hansen's campaign. ^'^'^Wyoming Eogle, September 21, 1962. column by Horton. 24iLetter from Gage to Mr. and Mrs. Frank Fitzgerald, Joliet, Illinois. August 30, 1962. 2^2Letter from Bob and Cora Mitchell (he was the Democratic State Committeeman for Uinta County) to Gage, August 26, 1962. They said Jack had been in the county three times in 90 days. 243^ocA- Springs Rocket, August 23, 1962. The matches Roncalio refers to were the only campaign handouts Gage had in the primary, his "Gage for Governor" matchbooks. 232 ANNALS OF WYOMING The Gage for Governor Committee was headed by Leslie A. Miller and Robert R. Rose, Jr. The committee letterhead listed influential Democrats from every section of the state. In the files, an undated, mimeographed letter, apparently sent to Democrats during the primary, emphasized Gage's economies in office, reclas- sification of state land, and mineral royalty efforts. With respect to problems, it said, "He has been confronted with some very troublesome situations from time to time at some of the state institutions. He has met those problems with courage, quiet pa- tience, and good common sense, with the best of results. "-^^ The campaign files also contained a quantity of unsigned, undated memoranda which outline Gage's standing in various counties, the attitude of various party officials, and suggestions on issues to be stressed during the campaign. Trouble spots, according to these notes, were the coolness of Jack supporters in party offices, the Health Department personnel disputes, patronage, the Burns Creek hydro-electric power project and the need to develop new issues. The basic issue was Gage's experience in office. Suggested slogans for newspaper advertisements included "There's no substitute for experience," "Why change when you're ahead?" and "Controlled by no interest, concerned about all." Several proposed radio spots took the theme ever farther: "To coin an unoriginal phrase, 'A bird in the hand is better than a pig in a poke.' Wyoming now has an outstanding governor. Stay with experience. Vote for a proven candidate. Jack Gage for governor. "-^■'^ The campaign brochure reinforced the theme. Its cover page started, "Jack Gage is a good governor. Don't change." It stressed his economies in office and noted the jobs generated by $192 million in new plants and plant expansion in the state. In a section titled "For the Future," Gage made four campaign pledges: Emphatically continue efforts for return of 90 per cent of mineral royalties from federal lands. Work to get two additional sections of federal land in each township to equal the four sections received by other western states. Enlarge the facilities at the Pioneer Home at Thermopolis. Continue program of raising standards at state institutions.246 In personal notes for campaign speeches. Gage stressed separation of powers at the national and state levels of government, support for collective bargaining, better salaries for state employes and -4^Gage for Governor Committee mimeographed letter, undated, signed by co-chairmen Leslie A. Miller and Robert R. Rose, Jr., Gage Collection. 24SGage for Governor campaign files, including radio spots prepared for radio station KBBS in Buffalo.. 246Gage campaign brochure, 1962. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 233 Strong advocacy of state's rights.-^' The two major themes, pres- ent in virtually every advertisement, radio spot, or speech, were experience and fiscal responsibility. The Political "Novice," Clifford P. Hansen Although regarded by most as a novice in politics, Clifford P. Hansen equaled, if not exceeded, Gage in familiarity with the political process. A native of Jackson, Wyoming, he was a dedi- cated party worker, having served ten years as Teton County Re- publican State Committeeman after service as county chairman. For six years, he had served on the Teton County Board of Commissioners. He was a member of the University of Wyoming Board of Trustees, having been appointed in 1946 and elected chairman in 1955. President of the Wyoming Stock Growers, 1953-1955, he had been a committeeman and a vice president of the American National Cattleman's Association. For the past two years, he had been a member of the Secretary of Agriculture's National Livestock Research and Marketing Committee. He had announced his candidacy in the spring, promising to maintain a "favorable economic climate." To some, he gave the impression of an eager novice, quick to solicit voter sentiment; to others, he gave the impression of being "too good a listener. "-^^ He was an attractive, congenial candidate who was well known and well liked in Wyoming. He had the additional advantage of an aggressive Repubhcan State Chairman in John Wold, an effective "political hatchet man." Wold could and did lash out at Gage in a manner which could have backfired on Hansen. Wold used Gage's humor against him: He [Gage] has made the statement that "I don't know anything except what I read in the papers or hear on the radio." Then he has turned around and said, "I don't read the newspapers and I don't hsten to the radio." We will elect a man who doesn't know what's going on.--*-' Taking the offense against Gage, personally, while Hansen could concentrate on positive appeals. Wold termed Gage "one of the highest priced court jesters ever."-''" In September, when the Wyoming AFL-CIO endorsed Gage, -■I'Gage campaign files, memorandum titled "What will Jack Gage do if Elected Governor." It was typed on his portable typewriter at home. ^i^Wyoming State Tribune, March 8, 1962, Meg Hunter column. The observation is interesting because it was carried in a column generally sympathetic to Republicans and to Hansen. -mbid., September 7, 1962. -■^^Ibid., September 9, 1962 "Demos Hit Back at GOP Head." Although Wold had attacked Gage's humor, there was a division of opinion as to whether Gage was hurt by his resort to wit in political speeches. It prob- ably cut both ways, and it helped make him popular, personally. 234 ANNALS OF WYOMING along with Hickey, Mankus and Secretary of State candidate Frank Bowron, Wold called it "dancing to the tune of Washington labor bosses. "-^^ Democratic Chairman Walter Phelan replied by offer- ing Wold half the contributions the party received from labor for half of the Republicans out-of-state contributions.^^^ The AFL- CIO state president Paul Shafto called it a "mealy-mouthed" attack. He said the Committee on Political Education (COPE) at least campaigned openly, in contrast to the "underhanded" cam- paign among doctors to defeat Hickey on the medicare issue.-^^ Wold belittled Gage's accomplishments. He said the $192 million in new industry for the state was the result of groundwork laid in Simpson's administration. He conceded the royalty issue was sound, "but, we need leadership. "-^'*^ General Campaign Issues Freed to develop positive themes, Hansen did not differ greatly with Gage, although he was probably a more moderate conserva- tive than most Republican candidates at the time. Both candidates spoke of the need for more industry. Hansen wanted a survey of human and natural resources in the state; Gage said prospects were good if freight costs and the need for additional power could be managed. ^-"^^ In a joint appearance before a Casper audience, the candidates generally avoided controversy. Gage stressed his cooperation with the city and its oil community, mentioning the access he had af- forded in rewriting procedures for the state land board and oil and gas commission. Gage said economies in state government would prevent the general fund from depletion, making a severance tax necessary. He said, however, he would oppose such a tax if it were proposed. Hansen agreed, but in a reference to Gage's economizing, Hansen said, "Sometimes additional expenditures are necessary now for additional benefits later. "-"'^ As the campaign progressed, Hansen began to draw distinctions more clearly. He said the cattle and sheep industries had not ^^'^Casper Herald-Tribune, September 16, 1962, "Political Puppets Dance to COPE Tune, Says Wold." "^^^-Wyoming Eagle, September 19, 1962, "Demo Leader Needles GOP Chairman Over Attack." -■>^Ibid., "Labor Leader Blasts GOP Attack on COPE." According to the Wyoming State Archives, Cheyenne, Wyoming, Secretary of State, MA, Number 7031 (Campaign Receipts and Expenditures), Box Number 9, the "Wyoming Political Action Committee," Dr. Duane Kline, Jr., secretary, spent $6,945.18 in the 1962 general election. 254Cfli-p^/- Tribune-Herald, October 24, 1962, "Wold Hits Gage Claim of His Accomplishments." ^'>'>lbid., October 4, 1962, "Candidates stay Clear of Controversy." -^'^Rawlins Daily Times, October 3, 1962, "Gage, Hansen Grilled During Casper Forum." A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 235 received "active support" from the governor in resisting foreign imports, though he did not disclose what influence a governor could exert. Hansen believed a similar threat faced the cattle industry. ^^•' When Gage said Wyoming's economy was reviving, Hansen disagreed, "There is something radically wrong when this decline in personal income takes place and clearly points up that the state government simply isn't doing its job in attracting new industry. "-"^^ He blamed Gage for the Hickey budget package, promising that he would, if elected, make specific recommenda- tions for every state department, noting, "Two years ago, Wyo- ming's acting governor made recommendations for only about two- thirds of the budget, dollar-wise, in his message to the Legisla- ture. "--"'" While Gage avoided the reapportionment issue, Hansen said that reapportionment "along constitutional lines" would be one way "of helping to modernize Wyoming." It was a remark- able statement for a resident of Teton County, which had enjoyed, proportionately, far greater representation than the most populous counties. He said he would recommend apportionment by popula- tion, confident the "able legislators will come up with a workable plan that is fair and equitable to both rural and urban areas." He spoke of outmoded provisions governing municipalities, promising, "executive leadership which the state is sadly lacking at this time."-*-" Gage had resolved to refrain from personal attack and generally succeeded. However, on October 18, he told a press conference that Teton County had suffered from lax law enforcement during Hansen's service as county commissioner. He said the comment as as close as he would come to enjecting personalities into the campaign.-^^ He generally opposed personal attack,* and when a party official suggested digging into Hansen's background, Gage scrawled across the note, "This stuff I do not like."-"- Velma -^''Casper Tribune-Herald, October 10, 1962, "Hansen Says Import Ef- fects Minimized." -^'"^ Wyoming Eagle, October 11, 1962, "Hansen Says Income Down Dur- ing 1962." Hansen said Wyoming personal income was down 3.8 percent, compared to 1961, for the month of July, 1962. He said the first seven months of 1962 showed income down .5 percent, compared to the same period in 1961. He did not cite his source. His figures did not correspond with the University of Wyoming study cited earlier. -•''■^Sheridan Press, October 16, 1962, "Hansen Promises to Study Budget." -^^^Rawlins Daily Times, October 30, 1962. ~^'^ Rocky Mountain News, October 18, 1962, Associated Press account of a press conference. 2<5-Copy of a letter from Phil Baux, Jackson, to Ken Lester, Young Democrats president, October 5, 1962. The files do not indicate such an investigation was launched; Gage made no further references to Hansen's integrity or competence in county office. 236 ANNALS OF WYOMING Linford did not always appreciate Gage's restraint and urged him to take a more combative approach to the issues in his campaign addresses.-"-^ Gage, Linford, and House candidate Lou Mankus formed one campaign team. The other consisted of candidates Hickey, Bob Adams, treasurer, John Purcell, auditor, and Frank Bowron, secretary of state. The ticket proved to be one of the weakest the Democrats had ever fielded. There was no help from the top of the ticket. Hickey faced a very difficult race with Simpson, and Mankus was the weakest candidate on the ticket. The Democratic poll had warned that, "Given a strong opponent for Harrison, Gage can probably afford to run on a ticket. With a weak Harrison opponent and with Simpson opposing Hickey, the whole ticket could lose."-*'^ Party relations had been somewhat repaired after the primary. Although Jack did not publicly endorse Gage or campaign for him, he did not work against him. Ray Whitaker, who had criticized Gage and Hickey in the aftermath of the appointment, made peace with Hickey at a Democratic rally in Casper. Dismissing their disagreement as "a typical Democratic brouhaha, which I don't think the Republican party allows," Whitaker called Hickey to the stage and embraced him, to a standing ovation.-"'' The Republicans, in contrast, fielded a strong ticket. Simpson had the advantage of four years distance from the controversies of his administration and he attacked Hickey for his support of liberal Kennedy proposals. William Henry Harrison was certain to over- power his opponent. Although Hansen was making his first race, he had the benefit of running with Thyra Thomson, widow of the man whose seat Hickey had assumed and a certain beneficiary of a sympathy vote. Two veteran candidates. Auditor Minnie Mitchell and former incumbent Everett Copenhaver, added strength. The weakest candidate, who won nonetheless, was newcomer Cecil Shaw, opposing Linford. The party was well-organized and fi- nanced, and if there were philosophical differences, they did not surface in the general. When Hickey suffered a heart attack three weeks before the election, observers wrote off Democratic hopes there. Two minor incidents interrupted Gage's schedule. On Sep- tember 2, he received a gash on the arm from a wounded antelope during the One Shot Antelope Hunt. A week later, he was ad- mitted to the hospital with an upper respiratory infection. On 263interview with Mrs. Jack R. Gage, Cheyenne, Wyoming. 264Kraft poll for Democratic Party, May, 1962, p. IL -^^Casper Trihiine-Herald, September 11, 1962, " 'Give 'Em Hell' Oratory Launches Democratic Campaign. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 237 September 14, he interrupted campaigning to fly to Cheyenne for another physical.-"*' Attendance at Democratic rallies, a rough measure of enthu- siasm, was poor to average. A Douglas rally was attended by 140, but in the stronghold of Rawlins, only sixty-five persons greeted the candidate.-"'' An ominous indicator was the Democratic rally in Gage's hometown of Sheridan where only 150 attended.-""* Gage accused his opponent of dealing in generalities, "They don't say just what they would do." He repeatedly asserted, "Wyoming is in fine shape, with the exception of two general areas — local government finance and industry." He usually dealt with both problems by proposing a greater share of federal revenue for the state. Hansen did not dispute Gage's claims of economy in govern- ment, "Jack is frugal all right, but sometimes you've got to spend a httle money to make more." He said not enough had been spent on industrial recruitment. He was also concerned about depletion of the unemployment compensation fund, which he believed was due to payments to transient defense workers in Cheyenne and abuses in the system. In Hansen's words, his "big pitch" was for "more leadership." He stressed his battle in the Jackson Hole National Monument controversy, "If we hadn't wrung those con- cessions out of the federal government — and they were the first they ever gave — Teton County would have been out of business. We can do the same for Wyoming."-"-' Hansen said that in the mineral royalty effort, "It's time for action . . . not more talk." He stepped up his criticism of Gage's tenure, "It's inconceivable that anyone could serve for two full years without a better aware- ness of state problems." He promised "constructive alternatives." He believed new industry could be attracted by salesmanship and ~^^Rock Springs Rocket. September 2, 1962, "Dying Antelope Slashes Gage, 7 Stitches Taken." Also, Laramie Boomerang. September 5, 1962. "Gage Confined to Bed with Flu," Wyoming State Tribune. September 9, 1962, and Rawlins Daily Times, September 14, 1962, "Gage Trims Trip to Call on Doctor." -*^'' Rawlins Daily Times, October 25, 1962, "Gage, Linford Speak at Democratic Rally," and Douglas Budget, October 10, 1962, "Democratic Horses Address Rally Here." -*'^SheriiIan Press, September 20, 1962, "Democratic Rally Hears Gage, Mankus and Linford." -^''■Wyoming State Tribune, October 23, 1962. "500-700 Hear Democratic Hopefuls at Barbecue," where Gage made his remarks on problems. The Hansen comments were recorded in the Rockv Mountain News. October 20, 1962. 238 ANNALS OF WYOMING hard work, "But we can't go out to sell with dust-covered facts. Wyoming can't stand still for the next decade. "-"^^ In November, the Wyoming Stockman-Fanner published a poll which predicted a Republican landslide, with the exception of Linford's race. Although the poll surveyed a predominantly rural- Republican constituency, the magnitude of the Republican edge, in past years, had proved a fairly reliable indicator of the election's outcome. Most distressing, the poll indicated 60 per cent of the respondents would vote a straight ticket, which would heavily favor RepubUcans. Gage placed fourth among the Democrats in the sampling.-'^ In the concluding weeks of the campaign, Hansen stated the party position, supporting states rights, protection for beef and oil from imports, reduction in government spending, and respect for private enterprise. Gage continued to rely on his economies in government, exper- ience in office and quest for more federal revenue. He could not, however, generate the enthusiasm a Democrat needed to win in Wyoming. While Hansen could succeed by "radiating energy and enthusiasm" and running as a Republican, Gage desperately need- ed cutting issues to compensate for his party's relatively poor standing in 1962 and its lackluster campaign effort. Although his issues could appeal to conservatives, they were inadequate to the challenge of 1962. Although he was one of the most original politicians in state history, he failed to create issues apart from his incumbency, and he had not used that incumbency effectively. The frustration of trying to breathe life into battles for frugality or increased federal revenue was reflected in the analysis of one political columnist: There's very little to anger anyone in the way Gage has performed his duties for two years as acting governor, though he has been sub- jected to the usual large quota of failure and embarrassment that awaft most Wyoming governors.272 There was very little to anger, or to excite. In three elements of campaign effectiveness, the candidate, the issues and the party. Gage simply could not overcome the advantages his opponent naturally enjoyed. If Gage were witty and personable, so was his opponent. But Hansen was younger, a fresh political personality who conducted a campaign which utilized his assets effectively. While Gage had few specific issues working against him, he could not escape from a status-quo approach which could alienate voters ^f^Wyoming Stockman-Farmer, November, 1962. -"^Unidentified clipping in Gage Scrapbook, October, 1962. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 239 of all philosophical persuasions. On the other hand, Hansen, while retaining his moderate to conservative constituency, could attract Independent and Democratic support by his emphasis on dynamic, new leadership. He spoke generally of "constructive alternatives," but did not elaborate. Gage, in contrast did not even promise anything but a continuation of state business as it had been con- ducted. By the close of the campaign, most Democrats conceded that the party, handicapped by the backlash from the Hickey appointment and a weak ticket, would be surrendering its 1958 mandate from the voters. ANALYSIS OF THE ELECTION "I Bumped into a Republican Landslide" Republicans delivered on landslide predictions with a sweep of all seven state-wide races, none of them close, except for Velma Linford's 737-vote loss to Cecil Shaw. The defeat was one of the worst in Democratic memory. In the national races, Hickey lost by 18,714 and Mankus by 26,504, the worst showing on the ticket. Gage was second to Linford in the vote received, holding his loss to 12,672 votes. The balance of the ticket lost by 23,494, 21,119, and 17,942, respectively. Gage carried his own county, Sheridan, and the Union Pacific line strongholds of Carbon, Laramie, and Sweetwater counties. -^'^ Democrats attributed the defeat to a "Republican year." Although the Democratic poll had shown support for John F. Kennedy, the sentiment was probably a reflection fo his personal popularity. His administration had been bitterly attacked by Simpson, and Hickey was in a somewhat awkward position since his own conservatism did not always permit enthusiastic endorse- ment for the New Frontier. Gage had not specifically exempted the Kennedy administration from his general criticism of the fed- eral government, though he had appreciated an interview with the President in 1961, when he sought 90 per cent return on mineral royalties. As early as May, 1961, Gage had implied the national Democratic administration was not attuned to Western needs, observing, "Would you show interest in regional matters if you had your hands full with the Communists?"-"^ At the Western Governors Conference in 1961, he had declined to endorse the L'7.3/9(5j Official Directory of Wyoming and Election Returns of 1962. compiled by the Secretary of State, p. 58. -'■^Sheridan Press, May 17, 1961, Associated Press account. Gage had met Kennedy on several occasions, and, according to Mrs. Gage, had great personal affection for him. The public record, however, shows that Gage did not issue statements of support for the administration, with the excep- tion of the Cuban missile crisis. 240 ANNALS OF WYOMING Kennedy program on juvenile delinquency.-^"' The political impact of the Cuban missile crisis in the last week of the campaign was difficult to assess. Gage had issued a release calling for uniting: It would become apparent to me at once that Castro and Krushchev have overlooked a marvelous factor ever existent in the American people, which is their ability to become non-partisan at once. While we are engaged in a campaign, all of us are ready to drop what we are doing and join hands for our country .-"^ Without specifying whether he was addressing the Kennedy administration or Wyoming Democrats, Gage, in a post-election interview, spoke of the consequences of "liberalism" in a conserva- tive state.-'' He believed he had "bumped into a Republican landslide."-''^ Gage may have been hurt by the Democratic party in the sense that the incumbent administration traditionally suffers reverses in off-year elections, and 1962 was no exception. Probably far more significant was the state of the Democratic party in Wyoming. Although filling Hickey's seat was a natural appUcation of two- party politics, the resignation of an incumbent governor was nonetheless resented. Wyoming voters, perhaps, had wearied of governors forsaking office in Wyoming for the U. S. Senate. In the previous decade, Lester Hunt and Frank Barrett, through the election process, had both left the governorship for the Senate. Beyond the impact of the appointment on Gage, for his part in it, was the rough transition in power. Although he had had no role in preparing the budget, he was held accountable in the 1962 campaign. With little time for preparation and no counsel, he had drafted a message to the Legislature which raised more ques- tions than it answered and, in sections, alienated Democrats. The Gage administration did not succeed in maintaining party unity. Urban Democrats were annoyed at his remarks on reappor- tionment. Liberals were disappointed with the message and his opposition to federal aid to education. Many were disappointed by his lack of direction in the session and his generally conservative approach to his executive responsibilities. They did not share his confidence in the status quo; but they could not accuse him of betraying a commitment to vigorous leadership when, in fact, he had never made such a commitment. Patronage problems, which probably had a minor impact on his support among the rank and -''•^Casper Tribune-Herald, May 17, 1961. ^76Gage Press Release File, release dated October 23, 1962. -^"Letter from Gage to John Ellerington, Grantham, Lincolnshire, En- gland, December 31, 1962. -'''^Wyoming Eagle, November 9, 1962, "Gage Lays Defeat to 'Liberalism.' " A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 241 file, nonetheless did affect the enthusiasm for office which had powered the 1958 campaign. Gage generally enjoyed excellent relations with Chairman Phe- lan and other party officials, but his personal papers convey a sense of mistrust with certain segments of the party who identified with Senator Gale McGee and with what Gage termed "liberal- ism." Liberalism, in his view, was a minority viewpoint in Wyo- ming and alien to his own philosophy of public service. He also resented the charge that he was not a "real politician," though it was a judgment his son shared.-^-' He was proud of his presence on two of the most successful tickets in state Democratic history and the fact that he had left secure employment as a postmaster to seek office. He did not apologize for his reluctance to "play rough," because he found it distasteful and self-defeating. He believed he had earned his political credentials, but his preference for a weak executive administration deprived him of an oppor- tunity to use his office to build a political base. Gage had declined the assistance of the party in the primary, where he received only $1500 in contributions, chiefly from his personal staff and Gage for Governor Committee members. In the general election, he received contributions of $8529.33 and spent $9261.53. The Democratic party had spent $26,242.85. The Republicans, in contrast, had spent $101,148.24, which in- cluded all expenditures for Hansen's race. Of Gage's contribu- tions, 64 per cent had come from labor, with $5000 from COPE and $1500 from the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen. The other fifty-three contributors were individuals; there is no evidence that any fund-raising was conducted.-'*" One explanation which has been advanced by Democrats to explain the loss was the outmigration of sympathetic voters, but it is not convincing. Wyoming's population in 1962 was reported as having increased by 6000 in two years, but the voter turnout dropped from 142,130 to 122,494 in 1962. Featuring an exciting Presidential race, the 1960 election had attracted 75 per cent of the voting age population. Only 65 per cent voted in 1962, sug- gesting that Democratic votes sufficient to have made a stronger, if not successful, race were available. The 1962 turnout was the lowest recorded in Wyoming in the 1960-68 period. Only two years later, when Lyndon Johnson defeated Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential campaign, Wyoming registered a phenomenal 77 per cent turnover with 144,166 voting. This total was not exceeded until the Nixon-McGovern race in 1972. Democratic -■^^Interview with Jack R. Gage. II. 280Wyoming State Archives, Cheyenne, Wyoming, Secretary of State, MA Number 7031 (Campaign Receipts and Expenditures). Box 9. and Gage for Governor campaign files. 242 ANNALS OF WYOMING hopes generally rested on heavy margins in about 20 per cent of the state's precincts. A successful campaign required a maximum effort in these areas, but this was not achieved in 1962. From all evidence, the Democrats did not mount a well-financed or well-organized voter registration and turnout program, and it cost them thousands of votes which were thought lost to outmigration. The votes sufficient for a strong showing were there, as the 1964 campaign verified. -^^ Although campaign files indicate funds had been made available for registration work in Carbon County, there is no suggestion of a statewide effort. In the Gage for Governor Committee files, which covered a range of issues and proposals, there is not a single reference to organizing for voter turnout. The assertion that a lack of enthusiasm for the party, the candidates and the issues kept voters at home is an inadequate excuse. Concerted voter contact efforts are far more necessary when a campaign fails of itself to generate necessary enthusiasm. The failure was a serious one, more so because Gage had an opportunity, as governor, to sponsor such an effort. As he had not appreciated the need, he did not, even after the election, appreciate the consequences. "No Complaining, Squawking, Bellyaching" In the wake of his bruising defeat. Gage refused to indulge in recriminations: "I hope that no one will have occasion to say that they heard Jack Gage complaining, squawking, bellyaching, or anything else you want to call it about losing."-*- He said he had adhered more nearly to the conservative than the liberal line, and that Wyoming was a conservative state. His personal correspon- dence does not detail an explanation of how issues or the state of the party affected his candidacy. To a close friend, he wrote: It is hard not to cry over spilled milk, but I hope I am not going to do that. What's more, spilled milk gets dirt in it and is hardly worth gathering up. I expect that had I had a hundred thousand dollars to spend, I could -■^Uoe Moore, "An Analysis of Wyoming Voter Returns, 1960-1968 and their Implications for 1970," an unpublished paper, October 16, 1969. The Moore paper was based on official election returns and U. S. Census statis- tics. When Senator Gale McGee sought re-election in 1970, his campaign placed great emphasis on voter registration and voter turnout. Congress- man Teno Roncalio, whose 1966 unsuccessful race for the U. S. Senate was also handicapped by a low voter turnout, also emphasized voter contact efforts in his successful campaigns of 1972 and 1974. It is the author's opinion that intensive voter registration and turnout activities in Democratic precincts is an essential ingredient of electoral success, though it does not preclude the necessity for developing issues and fielding good candidates. ^^^Wyoming Eagle, November 9, 1962, "Gage Lays Defeat to 'Liberalism.' " A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 243 not have changed the outcome of the election. Cliff, the nice guy that he is, did not beat me. I was beaten because I was a Democrat, and although more conservative than most Republicans, I was still marching under the wrong flag.283 To his running mate, secretary of state candidate Frank Bowron, he wrote: There seems so little to say . . . and what need to use hindsight as to why the election went as it did. Recriminations among our party members are useless . . . obviously, the only thing to do is to work to rebuild our party for the next campaign.284 Gage did not regard the election as a referendum on his per- formance in office. He said he would leave "with my head high and my conscience clear, which is a contrast to having to leave because of failure to perform." He said he had tried "to do the right thing in every instance where I could figure out what the right thing was."^^'^ In a letter to another governor who lost in 1962, Steve Mc- Nichols of Colorado, Gage made defeat the target of his wit: As one of my last official acts, I wish to issue to you one of the most sincere invitations I have ever extended to anyone. This is an invita- tion to a dinner for just two at which the main dish will be lame duck stewed in its own juice. There are very few people who can make lame duck palatable, and an even smaller number who like the stuff even when properly pre- pared. I doubt if you do or I do, or will, want a second helping, but the conversation at such a dinner is what makes it a gala and hilarious affair. For instance, you can ask me how in the world it happened, and I can tell you that I do not know; then I can ask you the same question and get the same answer. This alone could go on for hours. You will note that there is no date set for this dinner, the reason being that I do not want to attend, either .286 Gage offered to provide every assistance to Hansen in the tran- sition, "We are going to review the state budget which will be presented to the 37th Legislature, and such other matters as I deem necessary to bring to his attention. I would also like to say that no action will be taken unless it has Governor-elect Hansen's approval."^^^ He was gracious in defeat, and philosophical, refer- 283Letter from Gage to Jim Bentley, Lingle, November 13, 1962. 284Letter from Gage to Bowron, November 16, 1962. 285Letter from Gage to A. A. Slade, Fort Collins, Colorado, December 28, 1962. 286Letter from Gage to Governor Steve McNichols, December 31, 1962. ^^''Wyoming State Tribune, November 19, 1962, "Hansen Begins Briefing for State Governorship." Hansen said, "I cannot think how anyone could be more generous than Governor Gage has been to me in this situation." Later, however, relations cooled when Gage, according to Mrs. Gage, was disappointed when he was not appointed to the Board of Equalization and 244 ANNALS OF WYOMING ring to his service as governor, "It was a job that is well covered with tinsel. The tinsel falls off of it much more rapidly than of anything I know."-'*^ NEW BOOKS AND A NEW CAREER "A Bom Wit" Describing himself as "an involuntarily retired governor," Gage appreciated the difficulties of accepting defeat. To an audience in Arizona in 1966, he said, "I wonder how many of you people have ever been governor and then an ex-governor. There's a whale of a difference . . . ."^^'^ Although, at sixty-three, he might have considered retirement. Gage arranged for publication of four books by Wyoming printers. He authored an updated Geography of Wyoming, 1965, Wyoming Afoot and Horseback, 1966, The Johnson County War Is/ Ain't a Pack of Lies, 1967, and The Horse-The Buggy-The Doctor, 1968, and began a career as a professional lecturer. With the exception of his loss in the 1966 Democratic primary for governor, where five candidates split the vote and Ernest Wilkerson was nominated. Gage's final years were devoted to marketing his original brand of humor. When he, in the words of his friend, columnist Red Fenwick, decided to "lay down the political tomahawk" and "hit the long and arduous lecture trail which leads through Boiled Potato Valley and past Roast Beef Mountain," he was marketing a trait which Fenwick had recognized in the 1930s: Not until now have I ever been able to summon the courage to tell you that I thought you were wasting valuable time speaking to the public for free only to win yourself a bunch of political headaches you didn't deserve. Pardon the expression, Jack, but you're a char- acter. You're funny. You're a born wit, with a rich, expansive and original humor. You're a gregarious cuss and a solid thinker, too. And, I think you should put these talents to a more universal use.^^o Public Service Commission. The appointment went to his former aide, Zan Lewis. What especially irritated Gage was Hansen's failure to notify him of his decision before the appointment was publicly announced. -^^IVyoming Eagle, November 9, 1962, "Gage Lays Defeat to 'Liberalism.' " -^'■*Mesa, Arizona, Tribune, March 24, 1966, p. 2, "Former Wyoming Governor Keeps Rotarians Laughing." -'•^"Denver Post columnist Red Fenwick letter to Gage, December 14, 1962. Fenwick's comments were very perceptive. Gage had a remarkable wit. which did not receive the exposure it deserved or gain him the earnings it might have. There had been discussion of marketing his stories to television, but nothing came of it. Had his books been accepted by a major publishing firm, with accompanying professional publicity and distribution, his reputation would have been advanced. There is no indication that Gage sought publication with a major publishing house. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 245 Freed from the restraints of public office, Gage was able to employ his sense of humor more completely. When, in January, 1963, he was asked to join the head table at a dinner honoring Boyd Dowler of Cheyenne and the Green Bay Packers team, Gage impressed even the banquet-hardened stars. After Mayor Bill Naiton's extended speech presenting keys to the city of Cheyenne, Gage told the team to regard the honor dubiously, since, "until you boys hit town, we haven't had to lock anything up." To another audience, he quipped, "I feel sorry for the man who doesn't drink. When he gets up in the morning, he knows he feels as good as he's going to all day."-"^ The Knife and Fork Circuit Gage worked with the Benjamin Franklin Associated Clubs of Topeka, Kansas, in his professional lecturing. He was provided with a tentative schedule and received from $350 to $500 a speech, in addition to his expenses. In 1963, his schedule included the Rotary convention in Norton, Kansas, and an appearance at the San Antonio Knife and Fork Club, where he spoke about various security swindles, sharing anecdotes from his experiences as a postmaster and secretary of state. -•'- He discovered the speech had limited interest to audiences on the lecture circuit, and, in 1964, went to Austraha to research the aborigine life for a new program offering. As he described the plan: There was an election and I had to have beer to cry in. I couldn't be satisfied with second best beer. I could not get the beer to come to me, so I came to it. All of which has made crying a pleasure. One day, I sat down to work on my numbers, and, much to my sur- prise, I announced to Buddy (Mrs. Gage) that we were rich. Not until we were halfway across the Pacific did Buddy check my home- work, only to find I ain't getting any better at arithmetic, which, by the way, may make getting home something of a problem. In some political circles, there are people who think Australia is not anywhere far enough away for me to go, but they are as bad in their geography as I am in arithmetic. They ought to know that if I go any farther, I'll start getting closer.^^^^ Gage was a well-rehearsed speaker, who spent hours composing one-line jokes. He said he was convinced, "There is no such thing as an extemporaneous speech."-''^ His lecturing career, which began in 1963 and concluded with an address in Roswell, New -^^Denver Post, Empire Section, January 27, 1963, p. 12. Column by Fenwick. 292Gage Speech Files. ~^'^Denver Post, March 23, 1964, column by Jack Quinn. 294Gage Speech Files. 246 ANNALS OF WYOMING Mexico, in 1969, was not particularly lucrative. His income averaged less than $2,000 a year. He continued speaking to Rotary Clubs, at a reduced fee. In a 1967 speech to a Colorado Rotary Club, he discussed "Civilization is a Terminal Disease," comparing Amercia's decline with those of other civilizations. He said government functioned in spite of people, not on account of them, and saw a breakdown in morality and respect for authority, "We have to respect authority, but it seems we don't have enough, and some of us, none. We've reached that point with our long- haired boys and tousle-haired girls, and I can't abide them."-^° The Story Teller The inspiration for Gage's 1966 Wyoming Afoot and Horse- back, which was subtitled Or History Mostly Ain't True, was a suggestion made by Cheyenne sportswriter Larry Birleffi at a cocktail party. Birleffi enjoyed Gage's story telling and asked him to do a series of fifteen-minute radio programs on the subjects of his choice. -^^ Gage chose a series of profiles on trappers and settlers in Wyoming in the early 19th century, the basis for the chapters in his book. He generally resisted the label of historian, and in the first chapter of the book wrote, ". . . we are guilty of making pretty thick history out of might thin material, which is what historians are apt to do when they are compelled to do a little guessing or allowed to do a lot of it." In a rambling fashion with frank admissions of his guesswork. Gage described the confronta- tion of the Indian and American cultures. His book concluded, "No, it does not seem too hard to make a case for the Indian. We took everything and offered them our kind of civilization in return. Someone else will have to defend civilization. I cannot do it."--*' Gage was asked to write a book on the Johnson County War, which he said had generated more smoke and less fire than any other war. He was requested to present the cattle baron per- spective, but agreed on the condition that both sides of the conflict would be presented. He accordingly divided his book. The John- son County War is a Pack of Lies, into two sections. One de- fended the operators of large ranches, who believed the "war" was a pack of lies; the other section defended the settlers, who resented the label "rustlers" and thought the war was a fair description of the hiring of gunmen. In his research, Gage played 2Uofort Morgan, Colorado, Times, November 29, 1967, "Ex-Wyoming Chief Mixes Criticism, Humor at Rotary Farmers Ni^t" 29«Unidentified, undated clipping in Gage Scrapbook, marked, December, 1966, a United Press International account by Max Jennings. -'97 Jack R. Gage, Wyoming Afoot and Horseback, (Cheyenne: Flintlock Publishing Co., 1966) pp. 12, 133. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 247 diplomat for the descendants of the participants by calhng a meeting at the Tom Sun ranch on the Sweetwater. It was a har- monious gathering, and the Casper paper concluded, "If there had been any continuing need to heal the scars that have been left by the Johnson County War between homesteaders, this was the final practical and symbolic act that closed the breach. "^^^ Gage's last book, The Horse-The Buggy-The Doctor, was the autobiography he imagined his father would have written. He described his father's childhood with humor, even the episode when his mother was left to raise her son alone. The major emphasis of the book is on Dr. Gage's practice in Worland, which is described through a series of humorous incidents. The success of his profiles on Wyoming trappers had brought an invitation to do a similar series on the Rocky Mountain region. He completed the manuscript, but it was not published. Gage was briefly associated, in 1968, with the Cannon Aero- nautical Center in Cheyenne. He predicted the school would be "the biggest shot in the arm Cheyenne has had in half a century," but the enterprise later failed.^^^ The University of Wyoming awarded him an honorary doctor of laws degree in January of 1970. After a prolonged illness, Gage died in his Cheyenne home on March 14, 1970. Flags were flown at half-mast in the state and his body lay in rest at the state capitol rotunda before funeral services. His political associate of many years, Teno Roncalio, said, "Rest at last for the illustrious author of Tensleep and No Rest. He was an historian, teacher, philosopher, poUtician, and a great friend. Everyone who loves Wyoming will feel loss at his passing."^"" The Wyoming State Tribune, whose editorial views had often clashed with Gage's, said: His nominal claim to a place in the history of our state will probably rest chiefly in the holding of public office, with a secondary stake in being a humorist; which is unfortunate, because the great asset of this man lay in his open-eyed observation of life in general, which made him a great philosopher. It said his value "was restricted only by the limited exposure of his genius to his fellow man, it being confined mostly to our immediate environs," concluding, "For what is so rare or unique or priceless as an honest man?"^*^^ For Gage who had once re- ^^^Casper Star-Tribune, March 17, 1970, editorial, "A Dedicated Public Servant." ^^^Wyoming State Tribune, March 28, 1968, "Cannon Lease Signed." ^mbid., March 16, 1970, p. 1. ^^^Ibid., March 16, 1970, editorial "Candid Observer of the Passing Parade." 248 ANNALS OF WYOMING marked, "I'd rather be honest than rich and I ain't got the money to prove it," some witty rejoinder was no doubt possible.'^''^ SAGEBRUSH ORATOR OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN EMPIRE If Jack R. Gage's impact on Wyoming history were hmited in examination to his eight years in public office, it might not be considered significant. He was elected to office in 1934 and 1958, in two of the most Democratic years in state history, but when his party faced difficulties in 1938 and 1962, he could not overcome them. He was hopelessly out of the running when he tried to obtain the nomination for governor in 1966. He inaugurated no significant new programs. Though he tried to make the cabinet system of state government more responsive to the interests it regulated, he was neither a reformer nor a tool of special interests. He did not reflect a belief in strong executive leadership and was content to let the Legislature determine policy. Although he did not use the word in connection with his career, he was inclined to be a mediator on the state boards and com- missions, where his frugality and strict honesty was applied uni- formly. He had once described his basis for decision-making, "It becomes so simple once you have decided what is the right thing to do." For Gage, the right thing was often not politically expedient, but even the recognition of this fact did not deter him.^**^ The two issues most identified with his service in office were economy in government and achievement of more federal revenue for Wyoming. He had candidly observed that his frugahty might appear "child-like" and "not really wanted," but as he had stated, "I would hope you would agree with this thinking, but, if you do not, it does not detract from the sincerity of my thought."^*^* His emphasis on the 90 per cent royalty return was not a bandwagon response to a popular concept in Wyoming. Whatever political advantage the effort provided was eroded by his failure with the governors. Had he analyzed the immense obstacles in obtaining Congressional approval, he likewise would have abandoned the effort. He persisted, rather, because he sincerely opposed inequi- ties in relationships with the federal government and would have preferred to finance more state government operations through increased revenue from federally held land and mineral rights rather than higher taxes. He was not discouraged by the fact that ^^^Denver Post, Empire Section, January 27, 1963, p. 12, column by Red Fenwick. 303interview with Mrs. Jack Gage, Cheyenne. 304Gage Speech File, marked "Thermopolis," 1960, and Message of Acting Governor Jack R. Gage to the Legislature, 1961, p. 3. A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 249 most Wyoming taxpayers did not accept this as a reasonable pros- pect of success. He did not offer leadership in recruiting new industry, partly because he did not realistically expect success in his efforts and partly because he preferred Wyoming as it was. In 1966, he said, "Sometime Wyoming is going to find out that one of its greatest assets is space without people in it. It is just possible that we have already reached that spot and do not know it.""'"'' Although he was one of the most original public speakers in the state, he used his gift philosophically and did not depart from conservative principles nor propose new concepts. He believed in fundamental decency and limited governmental interference: The people of Wyoming support the concept that government is best which governs least and within government itself that there is a dis- tinct separation of powers to insure proper balance and the rights of the people themselves. In Wyoming, we believe that the individual is the keystone of society."' f*** He believed the relationship of state and federal governments was one of imbalance, and he did not want to enlarge the powers of state government at the expense of local communities. His great- est legacy in public office was his belief in service for its own rewards, and his refusal to compromise his integrity. Although he received his share of criticism from both Republicans and Dem- ocrats, his personal honesty was never questioned. His impact on Wyoming life must be valued outside the con- fining analysis of his public service career. His humanizing wit and his appreciation for the history and traditions of the West played a part in all of his endeavors. Although the son of a medical doctor whose visits to ranches were incidental to his upbringing, he considered himself a part of the passing "real West." He assimilated, through his outdoor work and his exten- sive library of Western history, a feeling for frontier America. For him, the frontier exemplified the values of freedom and honesty, but to this he brought a rather contradictory aversion to change, which he often phrased as "earthshaking," to dismiss its ambitious expectations and its impracticality. His conservative outlook was not a handicap in a state which generlaly accepted that outlook. The victors in 1962, Milward Simpson, William Henry Harrison and Clifford Hansen, also endorsed a conservative philosophy. What hampered Gage's political effectiveness was his open-eyed, but stubborn application of a conservative philosophy to his public ^^^'Wyoming State Tribune, August 9, 1966. 306Letter from Gage to William W. Bodine, Jr., chairman. Philadelphia Commission, 175th Anniversary of the Constitution, October 13, 1962, with speech, "What the Constitution Means to the State of Wyoming," enclosed. 250 ANNALS OF WYOMING service. He fought a holding action for a society whose values he saw threatened by changes in every aspect of human hfe. He was competing against a party which claimed the allegiance of most conservatives, though its claim, in his view, was not exclusive. The most successful application of his humor and his conserva- tism was not in politics, but in his books and lectures, where he celebrated Wyoming's past with few observations on its future. He was sensitive to human frailty, most especially his own, but he brought to this awareness such warmth and wit that his stories brought Wyoming's past aUve for thousands of people. He be- lieved that honesty and industry, which he had brought to public service, were traditions of Western life which had to be preserved; and the bulk of his public statements do not address specific politi- cal or social issues, but, rather, a general philosophy of life. He was once billed in a lecture appearance as the "Sagebrush Orator of the Rocky Mountain Empire."^*^'^ He may have winced at the description, but, also, recognized a truth. TABLE I COMPARISON OF GENERAL ELECTION RETURNS, 1934, 1938 COUNTY GAGE VOTE OPPONENT GAGE OPPONENT 1934 1934 1938 1938 Albany 2,795 1,983 2,599 2,116 Big Horn 2,413 1,717 1,898 2,692 Campbell 1,758 1,089 1,170 1,417 Carbon 2,679 2,032 2,469 2,636 Converse 2,028 1,313 1,208 1,765 Crook 1,405 796 836 1,215 Fremont 2,585 1,730 1,774 3,106 Goshen 2,394 2,067 1,745 2,514 Hot Springs 1,353 723 984 1,065 Johnson 1,159 1,135 742 1,340 Laramie 5,692 4,313 5,877 4,795 Lincoln 2,335 1,526 2,097 1,839 Natrona 7,109 3,376 3,829 5,843 Niobrara 1,165 908 821 1,129 Park 1,932 1,579 1,498 2,368 Platte 2,181 1,169 1,343 1,758 Sheridan 4,196 2,290 3,484 3,241 Sublette 553 557 442 754 Sweetwater 4,468 2,084 4,677 2,795 Teton 700 369 468 567 Uinta 1,816 1,040 1,721 1,193 Washakie 1,232 599 1,083 1,048 Weston 1,246 984 841 1,253 TOTALS 55,194 35,379 43,606 48,449 Sources: Election Returns, Compiled by Secretary of State. SOT Fort Morgan Times, November 29, 1967, "Ex-Wyoming Chief Mixes Criticism, Humor at Rotary Farmers Night." A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF JACK R. GAGE 251 TABLE II COMPARISONS OF GENERAL ELECTION RETURNS, 1958, 1962 COUNTY GAGE VOTE OPPONENT GAGE OPPONENT 1958 1958 1962 1962 Albany 3,176 3,536 3,297 3,889 Big Horn 2,090 2,612 1,866 2,772 Campbell 939 1,095 956 1,317 Carbon 3,312 2,450 3,168 2,724 Converse 870 1,678 849 1,732 Crook 626 969 647 1,241 Fremont 3,576 3,901 3,809 4,967 Goshen 2,130 2,366 2,281 2,718 Hot Springs 1,246 1,248 961 1,484 Johnson 903 1,257 636 1,647 Laramie 8,652 8,653 10,172 9,011 Lincoln 1,792 1,544 1,505 1,895 Natrona 7,399 7,847 7,324 9,629 Niobrara 779 1,118 462 1,068 Park 2,271 3,181 2,227 3.943 Platte 1,475 1,384 1,424 1.507 Sheridan 4,740 2,612 4,126 3,930 Sublette 341 598 301 897 Sweetwater 5,016 2,067 4,327 2,367 Teton 456 725 317 1,335 Uinta 1,598 1.250 1,281 1,497 Washakie 1,319 1,563 1.173 1,835 Weston 1,137 1,342 1,189 1,565 TOTALS 55,843 54,996 54,298 64,970 Sources: Official Election Returns, Compiled by Secretary of State. BIBLIOGRAPHY Interviews with Mrs. Jack R. Gage and Jack R. Gage, II. Cheyenne, Wyoming. Jack R. Gage. The Johnson County War. Cheyenne: Flintlock Pub- lishing Co., 1967. . The Horse-The Biiggy-The Doctor. Cheyenne: Flintlock Pub- lishing Co., 1968. The Pioneer. Edited and published by the students of Worland, Wyoming, High School, 1918. Jack R. Gage. Tensleep and No Rest. Casper: Prairie Publishing Co., 1958. Dr. W. V. Gage. "To Son from Dad," Gage Collection. An unpublished, personal memoir, 1919. The Wyo. Published by University of Wyoming students. Volumes 12, 13, and 14, 1920, 1921, and 1922. Those Good Years at Wyoming U. Edited by Ralph E. McWhinnie. Casper: Prairie Publishing Co., 1965. T. A. Larson. The New Deal in Wyoming. Pacific Historical Review, Volume 38, Number 3, August, 1969. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Leslie A. Miller. "William M. 'Scotty' Jack and the Democratic Party in Wyoming." An unpublished memoir. Program, First Annual State Convention. Young Folks Democratic Clubs of Wyoming. Casper, Wyoming, September 17-18, 1934. 252 ANNALS OF WYOMING 1935 Official Directory of Wyoming and Election Returns of 1934. Com- piled by the Secretary of State. Gage Speech Files. "A Statistical Study of the Comparative Costs in the Operation of Wyoming State Institutions." Compiled by State Superintendent of Public In- struction Jack R. Gage, 1935-1939. Gage Collection. T. A. Larson. History of Wyoming. University of Nebraska Press, 1965. 1939 Official Directory of Wyoming and Election Returns of 1938. Com- piled by the Secretary of State. Gage Personal Correspondence Files. Gage Collection. 1959 Official Directory of Wyoming and Election Returns of 1958. Com- piled by the Secretary of State. Gage 1958 Campaign Files. Gage Collection. "A Study of Candidates and Issues in Wyoming (1962 Elections)," Gage Collection. Conducted by Kraft for the Democratic State Central Committee, May, 1962. Message to the Legislature by Acting Governor Jack R. Gage, 1961. Newsletter, Wyoming Retail Merchants Association. Casper, Wyoming, June 19, 1962. Governor's Conference on Municipal Finance and Municipal Home Rule, 1961. Proceedings, November 16-17, 1961, in a conference called by Governor Gage in cooperation with Adult Education, Community Service and Public Services, University of Wyoming, Laramie. Wyoming Progress Reports. Volume 1, Number 5, August, 1961. Wyoming Progress Reports, Volume 1, Number 6, September, 1961. Jack R. Gage Press Release File. Gage Collection. Wyoming Progress Reports. Volume 1, Number 12, March, 1962. "A Summary of Survey for Industrial Development in the State of Wyo- ming," prepared for the Natural Resource Board by Armour Research Foundation, Illinois Institute of Technology, September, 1962. 1963 Wyoming Official Directory and Election Returns of 1962. Compiled by the Secretary of State. Wyoming State Archives, Cheyenne, Wyoming, Secretary of State, MA number 7031 (Campaign Receipts and Expenditures), Box 9. Joe Moore. "An Analysis of Wyoming Voter Returns, 1960-1968 and Their Implications for 1970." An unpublished paper, October 16, 1969. Jack R. Gage. Wyoming Afoot and Horseback. Cheyenne: Flintlock Publishing Co., 1966. John B. Richard. Government and Politics of Wyoming. Third Edition. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall-Hunt Publishing Co., 1974. Zhe British Investment Public and the Swan Cand and Cattle Company, jClmlted By Harmon R. Mothershed This essay resulted from work done previously on the Swan Land and Cattle Company in which I concluded that a holder of common stock in the Company during its sixty some years of busi- ness would have had about a 2% annual return on his investment. That conclusion leads to two possibilities; either the holders of ordinary shares were philanthropists and the Swan Land and Cattle Company an eleemosynary institution, or that an analysis of com- mon stock holders was not representative of the financial returns of the Company. A number of competent historians, both British and American, have analyzed the British investment public and the status of the British economy during the latter half of the 19th century.^ While historians seldom agree on details they do occasionally agree on certain generalities. The consensus is that as a result of thrift there accumulated during the Victorian period (there is disagree- ment as to whether they were thrifty because they were Victorians or whether they were Victorians because they were thrifty) con- siderable wealth, which in turn gave rise to an investment class of people; a class whose livlihood was dependent on the income from their investments. Their success encouraged others with more visible means to invest and thereby insure the success of the inves- tor. Politicians, shipowners-builders, merchants, professional men, owners and operators of mines, railroads, steamship companies, canals, telegraphs and all other typical activities of the day became investors. Their motive was profit, they lived by their investments. iW. Turrentine Jackson, The Enterprising Scot, (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1968); A. K. Carincross, Home and Foreign Investment. 1870-1913, (Cambridge: University Press, 1953); J, D. Chambers. The Workshop of the World: 1820-1880, (London: Oxford University Press, 1961), Paul M. Edwards, "Heuristic History: An Inquiry Into the Idea of Invention", unpubHshed Ph.D. dissertation, Universtiy of St. Andrews (Cam- bridge) 1971, Part II Ch. 2. 254 ANNALS OF WYOMING The improvement of rail service, mining techniques, farm opera- tions or breeds of cattle was strictly secondary to profit. The Swan Company investor was representative of this group and was attracted by a variety of opportunities. Common stock was perhaps the least of these. By the same token the holder of ordinary shares or "common stock" was neither ordinary nor common. A manuscript tally of share applications beginning March 19, 1883, and brought up to date almost daily indicates the campaign for sales, and that the large purchasers were sought out well in advance of the small. The March 19 tally shows Alexander Swan as the largest holder of shares (10,500) and one WilUam Dow, assistant draper of Aberdeen, as the smallest (one). The average number for that date was 200 shares; the average of ninety-five holders of 20,389 shares being 214.6. The average decUnes daily and by the end of the month the usual purchase was for 40 to 50 shares. Date No. of Shares No. of Shareholders Average 19 March 20,389 95 214.6 2 1 March 25,162 152 165.5 22 March 26,547 181 146.6 24 March 28,261 242 116.8 27 March 33,050 313 105.6 28 March 33,260 329 101.1 29 March 34,530 343 100.6 30 March 36,841 373 98.8 31 March 39,952 379 105.8 In addition to the six shareholders buying 3111 shares on March 31, Alexander Swan applied for an additional 10,000 and William Begg for 100 to bring the total figure to nearly 50,000 (50,052) and up the average to 131.3. These last two entries are at the end of the list and it appears quite obvious that Swan, the owner of the original companies and Begg, a broker dealing in Swan shares, subscribed to bring the number to the 5,000 mark.- An original list of shareholders with addresses, and occupations was printed April 18, 1883. This lists 415 shareholders; a revised list of August 7, 1883, showed 445 shareholders. The amounts of each shareholder was not listed but distinction was made between those holding 100 or more shares and those holding less than that amount. Of the 445, 107 held more than 100 shares. This included the directors who were required to hold 500 shares. A compilation of occupations showed a remarkable variety including bankers, sharebrokers, engineers, accountants, sohcitors, farmers, -The above data compiled from a manuscript tally dated 19 March 1883 through 31 March 1883 in "The Swan Land and Cattle Company, Limited", Papers, Western Range Cattle Industry Study, State Historical Society of Colorado, Denver. Hereafter cited as Swan Collection, WRCIS. THE BRITISH INVESTMENT PUBLIC 255 shipowners, teachers, sailmakers, ironmongers, writers, warehouse- men, painters and a draper. Many were professional men, poH- ticians and apparently men of considerable wealth and importance who were identified by their address rather than their occupation. The conclusion only proves the obvious, that a few held the great majority of shares and that Swan shareholders were of the same variety as those of most any other business venture of this type.^' The promoters sent copies of the prospectus to about seventy- five selected persons, most of whom became shareholders. How- ever, William Stuart Fraser, the interim secretary, thought that the large distribution of the prospectus and the unusually few inquiries indicated that there was "a want of money among that class of the public who go in for investments of this kind."^ Four days earlier he had received a telegram from William Anderson of the brokerage firm of Kerr, Anderson, Muir and Main that he was "much surprised and annoyed — have not one prospectus left and many demands for them — Send at once — Only three thousand received last night. "^ While Fraser agonized over the initial subscription, prospects improved rapidly during the spring of 1883. On May 15, 1883, the British Linen Company Bank credited to the Swan Company's account £10,740 as £2 payment per share. The entries in rank order were 100 70 50 50 40 Hogart, Burns and Murdock accredited to Swan £400 for a Miss Houldsworth's forty fully paid shares, for R. C. Kirkland a call balance on 100 shares, £800. Bank receipts from the British Linen Company Bank for the month of May, 1883, amounted to £13,911 in addition to the £10,740 above, but it was not indicated as to whether the amounts were for shares, calls, or debentures.^ In their official announcement of share availability, the Swan Company determined that £1 per share was payable on appli- cation, £1 per share on allotment, £2 on the 15th of May, and £2 on the 16th of July or a total of £6 per share. The 50,052 shares £2000 240 800 200 500 200 400 200 400 120 3"List of Shareholders", (Printed) April 18, 1883 and August 7, 1883. Swan Collection, WRCIS. ^Draft letter, "Wm. Stuart Fraser to Directors", March 19. 1883; "Draft List of Persons to Whom Copier of the Prospectus Were to be sent", no date; and "List of Shareholders", (Printed) April 18. 1883 and August 7, 1883. Swan Collection, WRCIS. ^Telegram, Wm. Anderson to W. Stuart Fraser, March 14, 1883. Swan Collection, WRCIS. 6"May, 1883 Correspondence", Swan Collection, WRCIS. 256 ANNALS OF WYOMING applied for by March 31, 1883, at the prescribed £6 per share would have totaled £300,312. The printed list of shareholders previously mentioned included only one person, Alexander H. Swan of Laramie County, Wyo- ming Territory, not resident in the British Isles. However it should be noted that the trustees, of the three original American com- panies, received as a part of their payment 10,500 shares.'^ At its first annual meeting the Company raised its capital to £750,000 by issuing 15,000 new £ shares on par, and in propor- tion to the original shareholders. A 9 per cent dividend had just been declared and now seemed a most opportune time to issue more common stock. ^ These 75,000 shares of common stock remained the limit of common stock and constituted the primary mode of capitalization. In 1891, just prior to the capital reduction they accounted for all but £9600 of the Company's capital. In 1886 the Company did raise its capital to £900,000 by the creation of 15,000 Preference Shares of £10 each which paid a cumulative preferential dividend of 6 per cent annually. Only 60 per cent of these were issued and these were redeemed at their face value, £10 each and the remainder withdrawn, the entire issue cancelled and replaced by the issuance of 5 per cent shares in 1898. These same 5 per cent shares were cancelled in 1917, and replaced by 6 per cent debentures.^ For the first three years, 1883-1885, a total of 25 per cent was paid on the called up portion of the ordinary shares, an average of about 8 per cent per year. No dividend was paid during the next eleven years, 1886-1896. From 1897-1910, a fourteen-year per- iod, a total of 65.25 per cent was paid, or about 5 1/3 per cent per year. This however was on a £2 share as the 75,000 ordinary shares, all fully paid, were reduced from £10 to £2 in 1892 by cancelling £6 per share as unrepresented by assets. At that time the loan capital of the company was limited to £75,000. No dividend was paid from 1911-1925. Capital was increased to £400,000 in February, 1898, by creating 10,000 Preference Shares of £ 1 each and bearing 5 per cent annual interest, A month later "Amasa R. Converse held 2517 shares, Godfrey Snydacker 2569, and Joseph Frank 2287. Frank became the largest American shareholder, hold- ing 5813 shares in 1891. Alexander Swan relinquished to Scottish holders 5200 of the 10,000 shares he had subscribed to. Joseph Frank eventually bought 2484 and C. E. Anthony 1000 of the remaining 4800 leaving Swan only a minority stockholder in the Company. "Abstract from Allotment of Shares and Stock Registers", 1883-1887. Swan Collection, WRCIS. ^^"Extraordinary General Meeting, Swan Land and Cattle Company, Lim- ited", April 2, 1884. Swan Collection, WRCIS. '-^"Scheme of Arrangement Between the Company and the Preference and Ordinary Shareholders", December 21, 1917. Swan Collection, WRCIS. THE BRITISH INVESTMENT PUBLIC 257 capital was reduced to £250,000. The purpose of the increase and subsequent reduction was to substitute the 5 per cent shares for the 6 per cent shares. Following the disastrous years of 1886-1887, the Company passed a series of resolutions which gave the Directors virtually arbitrary power over the shares in arrears. ^'^ These could be can- celled and reissued without compensation to the orignial holder. The Company also obtained first lien upon all shares and could enforce the lien by the sale of shares and return the holder any amount in excess of his debt to the Company. As late as 1892, they still complained of the loss caused from forfeited shares, and proposed (later approved) a debenture loan to reUeve the Com- pany of its indebtedness from the forfeited shares, debenture inter- est and a bank overdraft. This loan was limited to £75,000 of which they needed only £60,000 or 25 per cent of the valuation of their property. The chairman of the board "thought it reason- able to ask the Shareholders to contribute the £35,000 which re- mained of the £60,000, over and above the subscriptions made by the Directors and Manager." All but £800 had been issued by the tenth annual meeting in 1893.^^ The indication of these resolutions is that a number of share- holders were in arrears and action had to be taken to regain and to reissue the shares. The large shareholder could not afford to invest more money in a situation where dividends were unlikely in the near future. To him the forfeiture of his share was the more sufferable remedy. The large shareholder who was also a large debenture holder was guaranteed his 5 per cent and almost certain to redeem his debenture investment even if the company was liquidated. Thus the small shareholder was forced out and the large shareholder more firmly established. There were two other types of investors who were concerned with the financial arrangements of the Company, the preference shareholder and the debenture holder. Preference shares were offered twice, once in 1886 and again in 1898. The 1886 prefer- ence share had a "right to a preference for the paid-up amount of the shares with unpaid dividends in the distribution of the Assets of the Company, in the event of its being wound up, over the paid- up amount of the Ordinary Shares of the Company." The 1898 preference shares however had only the "right to rank in the respect of such preference shares, both as regards Capital and Dividend, but with no further right to participate in profits or iO"Extraordinary General Meeting", March 12, 1886; March 4, 1892; February 22, 1898; and March 15, 1898. Swan Collection. WRCIS. ii"Extraordinary General Meeting", December 20, 1887; January 20, 1888; "Ninth Annual Meeting", March 22, 1892; and 'Tenth Annual Meet- ing", March 21, 1893. Swan Collection, WRCIS. 258 ANNALS OF WYOMING surplus assets." This was further emphasized at the 1917 meeting when the directors explained to the holders of preference shares that dividends could be paid only out of profits earned and not out of income from the sale of land — nor from liquidation. This is the obvious reason for the 1917 Scheme of Arrangement. ^^ No divi- dend was paid on preference shares between 1911 and 1917 when they were cancelled. Preference shareholders had the right to vote in the Company's business in proportion to the amount of shares held. Debenture borrowing is not as difficult to understand as it is to explain. The debenture is a loan, usually in the form of a certifi- cate to the company, with a fixed interest rate and a specified tenure. Generally it could be redeemed at any time upon suffi- cient notice as specified in the debenture contract. Since it was in the nature of a loan to the company the investor stood little chance of losing his investment. Even if the company was liquidated his was one of the premier debts. After 1892, the loan capital never exceeded the stock capital of the company so there was practically no chance of loss. Debenture holders, however, could not partici- pate in the business of the company. The available records do not give a complete accounting of Debenture borrowing. But at no time previous to the first reduc- tion of capital was the Company capitalized fully by shares. Loan capital of the Company was limited to £75,000 in 1892 although the capital of the Company was £300,000. That sum remained the loan capital until 1918 when it was raised to £100,000 by amending the Articles of Association. In short, after 1892, the debenture debt could never exceed £75,000 and apparently never exceeded £60,000 or perhaps £58,200. However, between 1883 and 1887 the debenture debt could be, and was high. Before the first annual meeting the debenture debt was actually £225,666 but could have been £240,000, the amount of uncalled share capital. At the first meeting the Company issued 5 percent, £100 deben- tures and multiples thereof of £50 for three, four and five years. The debenture debt reached a high of £291,540 in 1886 and at the end of 1887 debentures totaled £261,390. This amount should have been redeemed by 1889 but apparently not fully redeemed until 1891. In 1892, £60,000 in debentures was authorized and £58,200 taken up within the year, the debt remaining at £52,200 in 1896.^^ Two years later the entire loan was fully redeemed, £24,000 re-paid in December, 1897, and the remainder in six months; at the same time the preference shares were redeemed. ^^ i2"Thirty-Fourth Annual General Meeting", April 30, 1917. Swan Col- lection, WRCIS. i3"Ninth Annual Meeting", March 22, 1892, "Tenth Annual Meeting", March 21, 1893; and "Swan Land and Cattle Company Limited Notice to Preference Shareholders", December 30, 1897. Swan Collection, WRCIS. THE BRITISH INVESTMENT PUBLIC 259 There was no debenture borrowing from 1898 to 1917. Deben- tures were issued in both the 1917 and 1923-1924 Schemes of Arrangement. In 1917 the preference shares were redeemed and replaced with a debentur loan of £100,000 but it appears that only £50,000 was subscribed to. One-half of this amount was redeemed in 1919, the other half in 1920. The 1923-1924 Scheme of Arrangement replaced £142,500 of share capital with debenture stock and raised the borrowing power to £200,000. Within a year, 24 per cent was redeemed. ^^ The only difference between the two schemes was that the 1917 debentures were offered to the preference shareholders but in the 1924 scheme they were required by the courts to accept them.^^ When the British Company was liquidated and transferred to Delaware in 1926 the remaining debenture issue was replaced by $544,585 in Series A deferred bonds upon which no interest could be paid until December 31, 1943.1-^ Why or how, did the Swan Land and Cattle Company, Limited, stay in business? The conduct of affairs was in the hands of those who held 75,000 shares of common stock from 1874 to 1926 and 1 0,000 shares of preference stock — only 60 per cent of which were issued — from 1886 to 1917. The ordinary shareholders through their directors ran the business of the Company. There were no small shareholders after 1886-1887. The record clearly indicates that the directors, who were among the largest shareholders, were the first to subscribe to debenture issues, or sign personal notes when borrowing was necessary. It is also clear that they were earning 5 and 6 per cent on their loans, or more properly they were making 5 per cent on about one-third of their investment but none on the remainders. This was not the high return on investment that everyone hoped for, nor which had been received in the early years. But after the share reduction in 1892, the Company's assets in land, cattle and improvements were always in excess of their capital and generally double or triple their loan capital. W. B. Dunlop, who was nom- inated for the Board and unanimously elected at the 1916 meeting stated that: With regard to the future of the Company, personally he was not sanguine that it would return to a regular dividend paying basis on the ordinary shares. He was an ordinary Shareholder, holding 700 shares, and personally took the view that they must look to the land eventually to bring the ordinary Shareholders their profit .... He i4"Notice to Shareholders", December 30, 1897; "Thirty-Seventh Annual General Meeting", May 20, 1920; and Forty-Second Annual General Meet- ing," April 22, 1925. Swan Collection, WRCIS. i5"Petition of the Swan Land and Cattle Company, Limited, to the Lords of Council and Session, Second Division", January 19, 1926. Swan Collec- tion, WRCIS. 260 ANNALS OF WYOMING believed that all that was wanted was patience to secure a satisfactory outcome and that the Shareholders must look on their shares as a lock-up for a considerable period. i^ There seems little doubt that the shareholders could get their £2 per share back anytime they wanted to liquidate. That was a small investment. Dunlop's investment was only £1400 or $7000, an amount that would not make or break anyone in the investment class. The 1917 and the 1923-1924 stock reductions were under- taken in order to redeem capital investment over a reasonable period of time without court action, as such action was required for any and every capital reduction. There is one additional situation which must be considered in evaluating the profit of the Company. Due to increased taxes fol- lowing World War I, the British Company was paying thirty-four cents tax on each dollar of profit by 1925. This is the motive for transfering the Company to Delaware. In spite of that they were redeeming capital at the rate of about 25 per cent per year. The holder of the ordinary share of the Company was eventually entitled not only to the return of his investment but about 5 per cent interest per year on that investment, partly through the device of the debenture but primarily through the redemption of capital. The British shareholder in the Swan Company held large blocks of shares, controlled the Company's business, and had additional means of income either from other business ventures or from the occupations and professions. His tenacity in Swan shares was not the interest he made but rather the value of his property. This he eventually realized but could have nearly doubled had the lands been disposed of in the 1950s rather than the 1940s. In order to hold that land it became necessary to improve the techniques of the ranching operation, to upgrade the quality of cattle and sheep, to provide winter feed and shelter, establish hay ranches, to lease land out and in general to create as efficient and productive a ranch operation as possible. The Swan ranch became one of the most durable and prominent foreign companies in America be- cause the economics of the time demanded it to do so. They invested and improved because they had to, not because they preferred to. They had a tiger — or perhaps a wild bull — by the tail and couldn't let go until they found someone willing to take their place, or until the beast gentled. ^c'Thirty-Third Annual General Meeting", March 31, 1916. Swan Col- lection, WRCIS. THE BRITISH INVESTMENT PUBLIC 261 t^ o *-H o 00 00 VO 00 >o >o «« H< o — r- o H^ <-M t+l On — fN \D 00 o H o VO'-' O <+r^ o o O VO o m VD r^ tT ^-l VO (N| VO +( lO "O o 00 r-^ O O ON o 73 o o r- r- o o „ V-l o o oo r- o o VO VO o o _l VC o o (N r- u^ . 0!) C/l cd c e o o 5 W T3 CO o o as o >/~l w^ UJ t- r- C/5 E e ^ — S «= 93 3 as SJ3 lbid., October 23, 1921, p. 8. "'Casper Star-Tribune, April 26, 1969, p. 8a. ^The Denver Post, December 16, 1973, p. 64. ■>The Casper Daily Tribune, November 9, 1921, pp. 1 & 2. CASPER'S PROHIBITION YEARS 267 bootlegger's distributor. I met him in the dark of a downtown alley. He was in the driver's seat of a big, gray Cole 8 coupe whose trunk contained piled boxes of bottled booze. We drove up to the south part of town where the bigger and richer houses stood, then went up the alleys. We would stop behind a big garage behind a fine, respectable home, and stop. The garage door would open six inches. The distributor would get out, find a bottle inside the truck, then take it over to pass it through the crack in the door. A moment later, and a white hand would pass out a bill, the door would close silently, and the 'legger would come back, to drive on to another door.i" So pervasively was bootlegging woven into Casper's life style that even youngsters made a profit from it. More than one person has remarked that when he was young, he would go to one or another of the city's dance halls and pick up the whiskey bottles there to sell back to some bootlegger. ^^ Violation Prohibition in Casper had its price in more ways than just court fines handed down by a witty judge. One consequential risk related to the crime was that of physical danger to the violator. In. his memoirs, Robert David told of an evening in which he had accompanied a pohce officer to a brick apartment building on the Sandbar. From one of the apartments came the sound of shuffling, and complaint. Then the door opened and I beheld two of the most pitiful men I had ever seen. Reeling from the effects of drinking Sterno (a heating paste, composed largely of alcohol), their eyes were wide-open and staring into the bright lights from the prowl car without blinking. They were totally blinded by the effects of drinking Sterno. i- Sometimes the innocent paid the price of Prohibition. In early November, 1919, a squad of sheriff's deputies surprised several alleged bootleggers at a plumber's shop on the east side of town.^^ Calling for the suspects to surrender, the sheriff's squad received a volley of gunfire that killed a deputy. One of the remaining officers then rushed into the plumber's shop and proceeded to beat two of the suspects. The events relating to this raid that followed during the next several months left many Casperites with a bitter feeling that justice had not been served in the affair. To begin, the sheriff and one of his deputies were arrested after the raid for having beaten two of the alleged bootleggers. Even though the two officers were soon acquitted, public opinion was strong against the county attorney for having filed the charges in it'Robert David, Narrative, (Casper College Collection), Vol. 22. pp. 1110-1111. ^Conversations with Bill Jones of Bustard Mortuary, June 24, 1974, and Norman Murphy of CY Barber Shop, February 28, 1975. i-David, Narrative, Vol. 22, p. 1111. ^'■^The Casper Daily Tribune, November 3, 1919, p. 1. 268 ANNALS OF WYOMING SUMRISE [NN RAIDED. LOCKED UP MnnHI PflllUrn Nocturnal Festivities at Sagebrush Palace North of the City inUUil rUUnLU Dashed by Prosecutor and Sheriffs Forces; Taxi fl WN ^PWPR ^"''^'' ^^"^ Cad'llac In Melee i'or«d, one ffail"n ul liqu')r mnnn-'ninf. ihr Nested Cadillac car. The bondtil Ii'iaur m< '!» ffood. Suapicion point* to it h*\.ng beei — Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department Photo Headlines such as this one from the Casper Daily Tribune for December 8, 1923, were fairly common during the Prohibition era. the first place. Following the officers' release, the county attorney was forced to resign his post. Then, when one of the alleged bootleggers was arraigned on a charge of murder, the case was quickly moved to Douglas, where the defendant was found not guilty. Of this verdict, A. J. Mokler blasted There was no question in the minds of the people of Casper but a conviction would be had, and if ever a man deserved hanging it was the defendant, but be it said to the everlasting shame of the jurymen, some of the witnesses who gave perjured testimony, and others con- nected with the trial, a verdict of not guilty was returned by the jury, and once more the people of Natrona (County) were compelled to witness a travesty of justice and the rights of good citizenship flung to the four winds. i^ Before the news of the verdict had faded, people in Casper began looking for scapegoats. The most accessible were the sheriff and the deputy who had beaten the two suspected bootleggers. Questioning the officers' competence. The Casper Daily Tribune called the two men "small town boys playing Indian," and accused them of having bungled the case from "start to finish. "^^ This affair was the first major controversy created by the presence of Prohibition, but it was not the last: Casper was just beginning to pay the price of its defiance. i^Mokler, History, p. 299. ^^'The Casper Daily Tribune, April 20, 1920, p. 1. CASPER'S PROHIBITION YEARS 269 Corruption and suspected corruption within city and county government organizations were other consequences of Prohibition in Casper. Early in 1923, the sheriff's department raided a house on south Walnut street.^*' The occupants of the house, a man and his wife, were arrested for possessing several gallons of Hquor, but were released when a city councilman signed the bonds for their release. The next evening at a city council meeting, this signing was criticized by another councilman who felt that city affairs should not be conducted by councilmen who have clouds of sus- picion over them. To this, the councilman in question replied that he could sign anybody's bonds he wanted to. Much to this alder- man's distress, however, history would not be satisfied with so cheap an answer. Several months later, the sheriff's men uncov- ered a large cache of booze in a warehouse belonging to the very city councilman who felt he could sign anyone's bonds he wanted to. Convicted of four counts of violating state liquor laws, the councilman was fined $400 and sentenced to four months in the county jail. Following the conviction, a group of irate Casper citizens appeared before the city council, and requested that the convicted member of their organization be barred from member- ship. Presenting a petition to the city fathers, the inflamed Cas- perites stated Whereas, (the councilman in question) has been found guihy of ille- gal possession of intoxicating liquor and of maintaining a nuisance which also is a violation of the drug ordinance of the city of Casper, we, the undersigned, residents of the city of Casper, respectfully peti- tion Ion to remove (the alderman in question) from the office of councilman. The defendant's attorney appealed the petition to the courts on constitutional grounds, but the appeal was dismissed, and the councilman was forced to resign his seat on the council. The city councilman's case was only the start of Casper's graft and corruption troubles. In late November, 1923, local law en- forcement officers raided a house on west F street where they found a set of loose-leaf notebooks that bore record to "protection payments" a group of bootleggers had been making to members of the city's police department for several months.^' Implicated by the notebooks' detailed columns was a police captain who was said to be "the brains, treasurer and payoff man of the most elaborately protected bootlegging ring that ever operated in Casper." Along with the captain, a collection man and two henchmen — a motor- i^Information on the councilman's affair abstracted from the following: Casper Daily Tribune, February 19, 20, November 28. 1923; March 30, April 20, 28"; June 17, 1924. ^'''Information on the graft case abstracted from the following: Casper Daily Tribune, February 13, 14, 1924. 270 ANNALS OF WYOMING cycle policeman and a plain clothesman — were allegedly involved in the ring. Before the county attorney could bring a case to court, the police captain "quietly" left town. Then when the case was brought before a judge, it was dismissed promptly because the evidence, the loose-leaf notebooks, had been seized without a search warrant. In reporting the court's decision, The Casper Daily Tribune commented that the notebooks would have made "interesting reading" because they listed a number of "well known persons in Casper's business and social life." As a footnote to the whole affair, the plain clothes officer implicated by the notebooks was shortly dismissed from the police force since it seemed he had made the mistake of "dropping in for a social call at a well-known bootlegging establishment while the police were staging a raid." The above examples of corruption seemed to be nothing more than a prelude, however, in comparison to the climactic events that closed out Prohibition in Casper. Amid announcements that the Volstead Act was being repealed and that legal beer would once again be transported to Casper, there came news that a federal grand jury wished to investigate charges that forty Casper citizens had conspired to violate national Prohibition laws. Among the alleged conspirators were Casper's mayor, chief of police and county sheriff. ^'^ Convening in Cheyenne in May, 1933, the grand jury heard evidence charging thirty-three Casperites with having generally conspired to manufacture, sell and transport liquor, while seven other men were accused of having operated a brewery in Casper. The evidence against these men was gathered during "the most gigantic investigation ever conducted by federal agents in Wyoming." The grand jury decided that the testimony it had heard was good enough to try thirty-six of the forty Casperites. A trial date of July 17, 1933, was set, and the list of defendants included the mayor, police chief and sheriff. The trial began with the government attorneys opening the fed- eral case by stating that they would prove a conspiracy to violate federal liquor laws did exist, and had dated back to 1929 when the mayor's intention from the beginning to form a conspiracy whereby protection money would be wrung from both bootleg manufac- turers and retail dealers. At first, the attorneys charged, one large- scale manufacturer was allowed to operate in Casper, the fee for such a privilege being an initial "protection payment" of $1000, and monthly payments of $750 thereafter. Soon, however, a sec- ond manufacturer was allowed to participate in the bootleg busi- ness. Then in 1930, it was further charged, the mayor decided to let the sheriff in on the conspiracy scheme. Retail dealers were I'^Information on the conspiracy case abstracted from the following: The Casper Trihune-Herald, May 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 13, 14, July 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 1933. CASPERS PROHIBITION YEARS 271 permitted to stay in business for a monthly fee of from $25 to $100. To substantiate the charges, the federal attorneys produced as their "star witness" a former state legislator who testified that he had been the "collector" for the mayor. He claimed that he had collected from $25 to $500 a month from various bootleggers, and that over $50,000 had been garnered during 1931. The next government witness was a former undersheriff for Natrona County. Testifying that he had been the sheriff's "go- between" in collecting money from Casper's whiskey ring, he stated that the sheriff had once given him a list of addresses labelled as those of members of the conspiracy. He further stated that before ROAD HOUSL FESTIVITIES HALTED Guests ScrambU to Destroy Evidence In Glass Breaking Contest When Raid*n EmUr; Several Held The gnatmtt aimm bfwakinc cshibjlion alAffrd iii I u>- p«r ID r«c«Bt>a«n«aA pal on at 2:30 thin mominf at thr AlroTa raadkoMa. «ra miln waat on the Alroti mad dsrlM a mid br tba ikwtfra oflica. Whan thr raiding party arrlvad tbara war* appraxlBstaly ar, m<>n anri woman indoJclaff fai pn fcal i day aaaaon rayctr. The rn- — Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department Photo Casper Daily Tribune, December 22, 1923 he resigned from the sheriff's department, the sheriff told him to warn the members of the ring that federal agents were in town. The former undersheriff claimed that after his resignation, the sheriff visited him and asked if he would like to go for a ride. The former undersheriff stated to the court that while he was not afraid of the sheriff, the sheriff's remark caused him to recall the death of a Casper bootlegger who had tried to hi'ack some of the whiskey ring's liquor. ^^ In developing the fine points of their case, the U. S. attorneys produced a line of witnesses who testified to one or another aspect of the alleged conspiracy ring's operations. One witness, an al- i^The alleged hijacker was taken for a ride west of Casper and was slain gangland style. Some people felt that the sheriff on trial for conspiracy also had something to do with the murder, or at least had intimate knowl- edge concerning it. The Casper Tribune-Herald. October 23, 1932. p. 1, and David, Narrative, Vol. 22, pp. 1112-1113. 272 ANNALS OF WYOMING leged bootlegger, testified that he had paid the "star witness" a sum of $100 a month during the year 1931. Another witness, a brother of an alleged bootlegger, claimed that his brother had originally been paying $25 a month for protection, but when told the payments would be increased to $100 a month, he refused to make any further donation. After this, according to testimony, the brother's bootleg joint was raided. Other witnesses testified to having purchased whiskey from one or the other of Casper's two large-scale whiskey manufacturers. The defendants' attorneys first tactic of defense was to discredit the government witnesses' testimony by questioning the integrity of the witnesses themselves. The state's "star witness" was proved to be an ex-convict from Nebraska, and the former undersheriff was claimed to have been bitter about the sheriff's dismissing him. Further, the defense attorneys produced evidence to the effect that one of the federal agents had been drunk while conducting his investigation. Following the assault on the government witnesses, the defense attorneys then brought forth their own witnesses. The first to testify was Casper's mayor who denied having ever received a penny of the supposed protection money. He claimed that he had made every effort to clean up Casper, and that he had never made any form of agreement to allow vice to find protection within the shelter of his office. He further denied having ever made an agreement with sheriff. One after another, the defendants took the stand and denied participating in any sort of a liquor conspiracy. Summing up their case, the defense attorneys stated that the prosecution had not proved that a conspiracy had in fact existed in Casper, and that not as much as one defendant had admitted making protection payments. The accused officials, the attorneys claimed, had made every effort to uphold the law faithfully. "The whole case," one attorney for the defense charged, "smacks of the graveyard. Let the dead past bury its dead." After eight days of testimony and two days of dehberation, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty in the case of each and every defendant. Announcing the verdict to its readers, The Casper Tribune-Herald quoted the sheriff as having stated that he was "glad the case had come to trial because it will quiet the rumors that have been in circulation since the federal investigation started." Thus the conspiracy case fizzled while, in hke manner. Prohi- bition went down the drain. But in no way did the passing these two events bring an end to corruption and bootlegging in Casper. It was not until 1950 that the true winds of reform were felt in the city. In June, 1950, two rookie policemen and a pair of veterans, one of whom had been on the police force since 1926, CASPER'S PROHIBITION YEARS 273 conducted a liquor raid on a "rooming house" on the Sandbar.^'^ The victims, surprised by the policemen's ability to catch them with their moonshine, readily admitted producing the booze at a still west of Casper. This time there would be no protection money involved, and no ring of grafters to intercede for the bootleggers because Casper had a new mayor: a young attorney who, promis- ing civil reform, announced We in our city have lived on the fringes of gambhng and slipshod law enforcement most of our lives - we have condoned and encour- aged illegal income through our police court and other devious chan- nels .... I feel I express the will of the people when I say that orders from the mayor's office to the chief of police and members of Casper's police department are that all gambling and illegal endeavor must now stop ... .21 While these words eloquently bespoke the awakening of a new order of affairs for Casper, they could not erase the fact that the history of Prohibition in Casper was a history of lawlessness and its resultant companion, corruption. During the years 1919 to 1933, government within the city fell under suspicion and drew criticism from citizens who were already feeling the weight of lawlessness bear down on them as a result of the 1917 oil boom. In dealing with the added burden of Prohibition, few honors were won by those chosen to serve the city and county. Prohibition, in short, was not Casper's finest hour. 2or/ze Casper Morning Star, June 13, 1950, p. 24. ^'^The Casper Tribune-Herald, January 4, 1950, p. 2. 274 ANNALS OF WYOMING EDEN VALLEY in WYOMING It is often heard said, by those who are little informed, that the west is becoming too crowded, that the chance for the home seeker is becoming smaller and smaller, year by year. There may be some truth in this, as emigration to the western country and the taking up of desirable lands has been rapid; yet there is room for millions more. The great state of Wyoming with its area of 97,890 square miles, and with its population of less than 130,000, contains sufficient arable land to sustain twenty times its present number of people. Work of the government reclamation service means thousands more homes and wealth producing farms. And secon- dary should be considered the efforts of private irrigation com- panies, that are now investing vast amounts in building reservoirs and canals for the reclamation of lands. In Sweet Water County, Wyoming, is located the great Eden valley. Recently there has been opened for settlement under the Carey act, 30,000 acres of as rich land as can be found in any part of the west. Here is one of the greatest opportunities of a life time offered to the home seeker and to the investor. The sun shines on an average of 300 days in the year upon this valley, and there the climate is ideal, most healthful and invigorating. The soil is a rich alluvial deposit, averaging from 5 to 1 5 feet in depth, and free from alkali and stones. Here grow mammoth crops of various grains and grasses, and all kinds of vegetables, as well as the hardy classes of fruits. Altogether in this valley there is about 100,000 acres of land that can be easily irrigated. This land, which is now on the market at a total cost, including a perpetual water right, of $30.50 an acre, within a few short years will be worth as much as land in the irrigated districts of Colorado or Utah, where prices range now $100 to $200 per acre. The Eden Irrigation Company, which has built extensive irri- gation systems, and which has this land for sale under the Carey Act, has well carried out the work undertaken. The system com- pleted by this company includes two large reservoirs, one at the foothills of the Hay den Glacier with a capacity of 105 acre feet, and the other situated at the northeast corner of the tract, with almost equal capacity. There is a never-failing supply of water from the Big Sandy and Little Sandy rivers, which drain a water- shed of 1,200 square miles. There is an unusual opportunity here for the one who would secure a valuable farm at a fraction of its value. Each settler is eligible to enter a claim of 160 acres .... — Wyoming Industrial Journal. Reprinted from The Winning West, Vol. 1, No. 4, November, 1907. CantonmmtKeno/'JortMcKiHHey J^o. 1-J^ew Views of M Old Wyoming Ai^my Post By Robert A. Murray For fourteen years now, I have intermittently wrestled with the history of one of Wyoming's more elusive military posts. This is Cantonment Reno on Powder River, named initially like many others of this name, for General Jesse L. Reno, who was killed in the battle of South Mountain during the Civil War. Subse- quently it was renamed Fort McKinney, to honor Lt. J. A. Mc- Kinney, who was killed not many miles away in the well-known — From John G. Bourke Diaries Courtesy of Library, U. S. Military Academy, West Point Group of officers in front of quarters at Fort McKinney # 1 in the spring or summer of 1877. The bearded man in front of the window, near the center of the picture, is Captain Edwin Pollock, the post commander. The man wearing the white jacket may be the civilian post surgeon, or perhaps a visitor. Others in the picture are not identified. 276 ANNALS OF WYOMING — From John G. Bourke Diaries Courtesy of Library, U. S. Military Academy, West Point Fort McKinney #1 viewed from the southeast, summer, 1877 fight between Col. Ranald S. Mackenzie's troops and the Cheyenne warriors of the Dull Knife faction on November 25, 1876. Loaned as a consultant to the Bureau of Land Management to examine a "mystery site" on a small tract of federal land, I first looked at the place in October of 1962. Cryptically labeled "Depot McKinney Military Reservation" on the U. S. Geological Survey maps of the area, this site led me deep into the intricacies of the army in the closing years of active Indian campaigning in the region. An on-site examination of surface evidence quickly disproved the assertions of a few local informants that this was "Fort Connor," of 1865. Subsequent research proved that troublesome site to be one and the same with the 1865-68 Fort Reno, some three miles downstream. A bit more research turned up the identity of this post as the first site of Fort McKinney, best known at its later site west of Buffalo. Subsequently a highly detailed set of post records was obtained from the National Archives. Two successive studies led to still more research on other related posts and earlier posts, and indi- rectly to two books and a number of articles. But through all of this work, no photographs, no contemporary ground plans, and no artist's sketches of this post came to hght. Surface evidence gave some idea of the conformation of the post. Descriptions of struc- CANTONMENT RENO/FORT McKINNEY # 1 277 tures in the post records helped a great deal. All in all, though the whole process was a lot like corresponding with a friend in some distant country about his farm or home or factory! Early in the spring of 1976, I was going through a microfilm of portions of the diaries of Lt. John G. Bourke, well-known and long time aide-de-camp to Brigadier General George Crook. As the negative film slipped by in the reader, I reached a point where the day-to-day narrative ended and the pages were filled with photos, pasted in. I moved past a number of familiar faces and commercial views, and on until I hit some pages labeled "Fort McKinney". Even in the negatives the details were clear enough to raise my hopes. I hit the button of the reader-printer, ran out prints, adjusted it for better contrast and ran more prints. Exam- ination of these under a glass proved the pictures to be views of Fort McKinney 4^1! This experience was somewhat analogous to meeting a long-term correspondent for the first time. There was much that was familiar, and yet much to be learned. The owner of the originals, the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, kindly provided large glossy prints of these pictures, which are reproduced here. — ^From John G. Bourke Diaries Courtesy of Library, U. S. Military Academy, West Point Left to right these buildings are probably a kitchen, mess hall and barrack under construction in the late summer, 1877, at Fort McKinney. Construc- tion details and logs in use, along with the presence of civilian workmen, all agree with data in post records for the period. 278 ANNALS OF WYOMING >3.x