USA > Wyoming > History of Wyoming, Volume I > Part 52
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This list might be extended indefinitely, but enough has been said to show that the bar of Wyoming compares favorably with the bar of other states. The names of such lawyers as David H. Craig, who was for about eight years judge in the Third Judicial District, John A. Riner, Charles N. Potter, John W. Lacey, C. P. Arnold, F. H. Harvey, Hugo Donzelmann, C. E. Blydenburgh, and numerous others, are too well known throughout the state to need any extended mention in this history.
STATE BAR ASSOCIATION
While Wyoming was still a territory, a number of lawyers met and organized a bar association, but it did not last until the state was admitted. After the admission, county bar associations were organized in most of the counties, but the present State Bar Association was not formed until January 25. 1915. A meeting had been held in the Federal Court room in Cheyenne on the 4th of that month, at which the preliminary steps were taken for the organization of a state association, and the attorneys of the state were invited to be present at the meet- ing of the 25th. Every county seat and most of the leading cities and towns were represented and the association started off with about one hundred charter members. At the organization meeting John A. Riner, United States district judge, delivered an opening address of welcome to the visiting lawyers, and C. P. Arnold made an address upon the subject of "Professional Pitfalls."
The first officers of the association were: C. P. Arnold, president; A. C. Campbell, first vice president; T. W. LaFleiche, second vice president; M. A. Kline, secretary ; Ralph Kimball, treasurer.
The constitution adopted provides for the election of officers annually. In 1916 C. E. Blydenburgh of Rawlins was elected president : F. H. Harvey of
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Douglas, first vice president ; C. A. Zaring of Basin, second vice president ; Clyde M. Watts of Cheyenne, secretary ; W. O. Wilson of Casper, treasurer.
In 1917 the officers of the association were as follows: A. C. Campbell of Casper, president ; W. E. Mullen of Cheyenne, first vice president : P. W. Spauld- ing of Evanston, second vice president ; Clyde M. Watts of Cheyenne, secretary ; A. W. McCollough of Laramie, treasurer.
W. E. Mullen of Cheyenne was elected president for 1918; Ralph Kimball of Lander, first vice president ; Abraham Crawford of Evanston, second vice presi- dent ; Clyde M. Watts of Cheyenne was reelected secretary ; and George W. Fer- guson of Casper was chosen treasurer.
A FEW NOTED CASES
Civil cases involving thousands of dollars, or affecting the rights of an entire county or state, are often tried with but few spectators in the courtroom, but a criminal case, especially a trial for murder, rarely fails to attract a large number of people. During the early history of Wyoming such cases were far more frequent than they are at the present time, and it would be impossible to give a complete account of all that have been tried in the territorial and state courts. There are a few cases, however, both criminal and civil, that stand out with greater prominence in the legal annals of the state, and are of special interest on account of the points of law involved.
In May, 1890, Henry M. Pierce shot and killed George B. Tait, a native of the Sandwich Islands. The shooting was done on the Shoshone Indian Reserva- tion. Tait had the reputation of being a dissolute character and there were few that mourned his death. Immediately after the deed was committed, Pierce went to Lander and surrendered to Sheriff Sparhawk, telling him just what had happened. A preliminary hearing was had before a justice of the peace, but Prosecuting Attorney Allen refused to prosecute the case, because Judge Samuel T. Corn, of the Territorial Supreme Court, had held in similar cases that the ter- ritory had no jurisdiction over crimes committed on Indian reservations.
Pierce was therefore taken before United States Commissioner Moore at Fort Washakie and was held in the custody of the United States authorities until the following December. He then employed A. C. Campbell as his attorney, who applied for a writ of habeas corpus, which was granted by Judge Riner on Decem- ber 6, 1890, and Pierce was released. The peculiar feature of this case is that under a state law of Wyoming the offender must be tried at the term of court following the commission of the offense. One term of court had intervened between the time Pierce was taken into custody and the time when he was released under a writ of habeas corpus, which prevented him from being again arrested. Hence he went "scot free."
An interesting decision was rendered by the Wyoming Supreme Court on June 1, 1891, in the case of Mrs. France, widow of James France of Rawlins, to recover dower in real estate assigned by her husband before his death to John IV. Connor and William R. Brown for the benefit of creditors. The suit was brought under the Edmunds-Tucker act of Congress, which became a law on March 3, 1887, without President Cleveland's signature. The Wyoming decision was rendered by Chief Justice Groesbeck, who held that Wyoming, Montana,
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Arizona, Idaho and New Mexico all had community property laws at the time the Edmunds-Tucker act was passed that gave the wife or widow greater rights than those of dower, and that the Edmunds-Tucker law failed to state whether it was applicable in those territories. As a matter of fact the law was intended to apply to Utah only.
THE RACE HORSE CASE
On October 3, 1895, Sheriff John Ward of Uinta County, arrested a Bannock Indian named Race Horse, upon a warrant issued on criminal information charging the said Race Horse with "the unlawful and wanton killing of seven elk in said county on the first day of July, 1895." For some time prior to this arrest the Indians living in the Jackson's Hole country had refused to obey the game laws of Wyoming, claiming that the treaty of Fort Bridger gave them the right to hunt in that part of the state and kill all the game they pleased. The treaty provision upon which they based this claim was Article IV of the treaty of July 3, 1868, which reads :
"The Indians (Bannock ) herein named agree, when the agency house and other buildings shall be constructed on their reservation, they will make said reservation their permanent home and that they will make no permanent settle- ments elsewhere, but they shall have the right to hunt on the unoccupied lands of the United States so long as game may be found thereon, and so long as peace subsists between the Indians and the whites on the borders of the hunting districts."
Race Horse was unable to give bail and was held in custody by the Uinta County authorities until October 7, 1895, when his attorneys filed in the United States Circuit Court for the District of Wyoming a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, based upon the above mentioned article of the treaty. Attorney-General B. F. Fowler volunteered to assist the prosecuting attorney of Uinta County and the case was argued before the United States Circuit Court at Cheyenne on November 21, 1895. The court held that the "provisions of the state statute were inconsistent with the treaty, and as the latter, under the constitution of the United States, was paramount, the statute could not be enforced against the Indians."
Before the arrest of Race Horse, the citizens living in the vicinity of Jack- son's Hole had repeatedly protested against the wanton destruction of the game and the United States sent troops into the northern part of Uinta (now Lincoln) County to prevent open hostilities. When Race Horse was released by the court upon habeas corpus proceedings, the dissatisfaction in the western part of the state was universal, while the Indians were highly elated over their victory.
Judge Willis Van Devanter, as attorney for Sheriff Ward, took an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States. That tribunal, on May 25, 1896, rendered an opinion reversing the decision of the Circuit Court. The Supreme Court held that "the provision in the treaty of July 3, 1868, with the Bannock tribe of Indians, that they 'shall have the right to hunt upon the unoccupied lands of the United States so long as game may be found thereon, and so long as peace subsists between Indians and the whites on the borders of the hunting districts' was intended to confer a privilege of merely limited duration, and was
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repealed by the subsequent act admitting the Territory of Wyoming into the Union, with the express declaration that it should have all the powers of other states and making no reservation in favor of the Indians."
The effect of this decision was to make the Indians understand that they must observe the game laws of the state, and no further trouble occurred. By an act approved on February 19, 1897, the Legislature appropriated $1,421.50, "out of the unexpended balance of the appropriation made by Congress to pay the expenses of the constitutional convention," to pay the expenses of the appeal. Of this sum, Willis Van Devanter received $1,100 for services and traveling expenses to Washington, and the Stock Growers National Bank received $321.50 for money advanced to pay the costs of filing the appeal, the state having no funds that could be used for that purpose.
CHAPTER XXX
RELIGION IN WYOMING
BEGINNINGS OF MISSIONARY WORK IN WYOMING-THE CATHOLIC CHURCH- THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH-THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH-METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH-THE BAPTIST CHURCH-THE PRESBYTERIAN.
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Religion was first brought within the present boundaries of Wyoming by missionaries. Among the first of these were Jason Lee and his nephew, Daniel, who passed through the state en route to Oregon. Rev. Samuel Parker and Dr. Marcus Whitman were others who came through this country in the very early days. Doctor Whitman wrote in his journal on August 10, 1835, while passing through the South Pass: "Though there are some elevations and depres- sions in this valley, yet, comparatively speaking, it is level. There would be no difficulty in the way of constructing a railroad from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean." While in the Green River country these two men met Jim Bridger, who, on October 14, 1832, in a battle with Blackfeet Indians, was shot in the back with two arrows. On August 12, 1835, Doctor Whitman extracted one of these arrows from Bridger's back.
Whitman and Parker found that the Indians were eager to learn the white man's religion and this induced them to separate and endeavor to teach the word of God to the savages. Parker, the older of the two, accompanied Bridger to Pierre's Hole, leaving there with a Nez Perce guide for the wilderness. Whitman went back East for new recruits and returned with a bride over the Oregon Trail the next summer. 'With him came Rev. H. H. Spalding. Then came Father DeSmet, a Catholic priest, in 1840. From this time until the building of the Union Pacific Railroad the growth of religion in Wyoming was necessarily slow. but with the laying of the steel rails across the plains, churches began to appear in numbers and all the principal denominations were represented in this frontier country. Wyoming now has many churches and denominations. In the follow- ing paragraphs the history of the principal denominations is given, while in another chapter of this work the names of the churches in each town are given.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
The Diocese of Cheyenne embraces the State of Wyoming, including 100,906 square miles. Ecclesiastically, the territory within the present limits of Wyoming has been subject to sees as remote from each other as the political authority to which its component parts owed allegiance. For within its boundaries is part of the Louisiana Purchase which was made from France in 1803; part of the Oregon country, which was acquired by the Florida treaty with Spain in 1819;
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ST. MARY'S CATHEDRAL AND BISHOP'S RESIDENCE, CHEYENNE
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part of the Texas annexation of 1845; and finally, part of the Mexican cession of 1848. However, any jurisdiction that the French, Spanish or Mexican bishops may have had over these districts was rather de jure than de facto, since prior to the building of Fort Laramie as a trading post in 1834 and 1835 there were no white settlers in the territory, nor had any missionary work been done among the Indians.
With the creation of the Diocese of St. Louis in 1827, Wyoming came under the authority of that see until 1851, when it was included in the Vicariate of the Indian Territory, to which the Rt. Rev. John B. Miege, D. D., was called to pre- side over as vicar apostolic. His see embraced all of the region from the southern boundary of Kansas to the British possessions, and all west of the Missouri River to the crest of the Rocky Mountains. The Vicariate of Nebraska, which included Wyoming, was carved out of this vast region January 6, 1857, and received as its ruler Rt. Rev. James O'Gorman, D. D. (elected January 18, 1859, consecrated May 8, 1859), who took up his residence in Omaha. Upon the naming of this city as an Episcopal see in 1885, its Ordinary, Rt. Rev. James O'Connor, D. D .. continued to guide the destinies of Wyoming up to the erection of the Diocese of Cheyenne, August 9, 1887.
Many Catholic names will be noticed among the traders and trappers of the early years. Thus, Jacques La Ramie, after whom the Town and River of Lara- mie are named, who died in that section in 1821. And during the decade follow- ing 1823 we have Thomas Fitzpatrick, a Canadian Irishman; Etienne Provost, a Frenchman, who discovered South Pass; Lucien Fontenelle, and Captain Bon- neville of the United States army.
Turning to the pioneers in the spiritual order, the place of honor is assigned to Rev. Peter J. DeSmet, S. J., whose name will ever be one of the brightest ornaments in the field of American missionary endeavor. To him belongs the distinction of having celebrated the first mass within the limits of Wyoming. Duly commissioned, he set out at the end of April, 1840, with the annual caravan of the American Fur Company. On Sunday, July 5, 1840, they reached the Green River rendezvous, where Father DeSmet celebrated mass and preached in English and French to the traders, trappers and hunters, and through inter- preters to the Snake and Flathead Indians.
With the building of the first railroad, white settlers began to enter the terri- tory, so that it became necessary to provide religious ministrations for the new- comers. Cheyenne had sprung up as a frontier village about this time, and thither was sent from Omaha the Rev. William Kelly as the first resident priest. His missionary field extended from Sidney, Neb., westward to Wahsatch Canyon in Utah, running north as far as Fort Laramie. With the exception of an occa- sional Sunday's mass at Laramie City and Fort Saunders, mass was celebrated regularly every Sunday at Cheyenne after the erection of the church, the other days of the week being devoted to missionary work along. the railroad. In the summer of 1869 Bishop O'Gorman, accompanied by Father Ryan and another priest, visited Cheyenne and Laramie City and administered the sacrament of confirmation at both places.
The first resident priest at Laramie was Father Cusson, who was sent there in 1873 (died at Nebraska City, November 2, 1898). He remained in charge until 1879, when he was succeeded by the present incumbent, Rt. Rev. Hugh
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CATHOLIC CHURCH, LARAMIE
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Cummiskey. Rev. M. F. Cassidy, now irremovable rector of O'Neil, Neb., was in charge of Rawlins from 1879 to 1886.
As early as September. 1875, the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth had cpened a hospital and school at Laramie: but the former was abandoned in 1896, and the latter in 1900. The Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus (of Sharon Hill ) established themselves in Cheyenne in 1884, opening a school temporarily in the old frame church which had been built by Father Kelly. Their present beautiful academy, occupying a sightly block immediately east of the state capitol, was opened in 1886. At St. Stephen's Mission, likewise, the Franciscan Sisters from Glen Riddle, Pa., early came to the assistance of the Jesuits by taking charge of a school for Indian girls.
When, on August 9, 1887, the Territory of Wyoming was erected into a separate diocese, the choice of a bishop fell upon Rev. Maurice F. Burke, a priest of the archdiocese of Chicago, ordained May 22, 1875. The conditions which the young prelate found on reaching Wyoming may be gleaned from the fol- lowing statistics ( 1887) : Secular priests, 5; religious. 1 ; churches, 8; hospitals, I : academy, I, with 130 pupils ; parochial schools, 2, with 175 pupils ; baptisms, 181 ; marriages, 20; families, 448: Catholic population about 4,500; Indian mis- sion, about 300. There was a neat brick church in Cheyenne with a seating capacity of 300, which bore the title of St. John the Baptist and which now became the bishop's cathedral, under the name of St. Mary.
After looking over his vast territory, the bishop concluded that the estab- lishment of the see had been premature and set out for Rome to have it sup- pressed. Owing to the opposition of the bishops of the province, then St. Louis, this proposal was rejected, but several years later Pope Leo XIII, by a bull dated June 19, 1893, transferred Bishop Burke to St. Joseph, Mo.
Owing to the representations that had been made by Bishop Burke, the diocese was allowed to remain vacant for several years, during which its affairs were managed by the administrator, Very Rev. Hugh Cummiskey. However, at length the Very Rev. Thomas M. Lenihan, M. R., of Fort Dodge, Ia., was appointed as the second bishop. Father Lenihan was ordained a priest November 23, 1867. at Dubuque.
At the time of his appointment, Bishop Lenihan was afflicted with very poor health. He struggled on for two or three years, but as there was no improve- ment, he was compelled to seek a lower altitude and returned to Iowa, from which place, though in shattered health, he did his best to direct the affairs of his diocese. His death took place at Dubuque, December 15, 1901.
Several months elapsed after the death of Bishop Lenihan before Cheyenne received a new chief pastor in the person of the Rt. Rev. James J. Keane. D. D., ordained December 23, 1882. He was named Bishop of Cheyenne June 10, 1902, but his consecration did not occur until autumn. One of his first acts was having the diocese as a whole, as well as the individual parishes, incorporated according to the provisions of the state law. Bishop Keane did many things to promote the cause of the church in Wyoming, not the least of which was his work in the missionary field, providing churches for the communities which were small.
Another object of Bishop Keane's pastoral solicitude was to provide a suitable cathedral and bishop's residence. The buildings in use for this purpose had been constructed in pioneer days, when there was little thought of Cheyenne
ST. PATRICK'S CHURCH, KEMMERER
ST. JOSEPH'S CATHOLIC CHURCH, RAWLINS
Vol. 1 -31
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HISTORY OF WYOMING
ever becoming an Episcopal see, and the congregation had long outgrown the modest brick church that had been erected late in the '70s. A beautiful site was secured on Capitol Avenue, not far from the state capitol and adjoining the public library, the old site having been sold. Bishop Keane had decided that the cathedral parish should build the new church, while he himself would secure funds for the Episcopal residence from the diocese at large. Suitable plans were secured from an Omaha architect, so that both of these improvements, involving an expenditure of more than $100,000, were begun at the same time. On July 7, 1907, in the presence of a large and distinguished gathering of people, the cornerstone was laid by Bishop Scannell of Omaha, assisted by Bishop Scanlan of Salt Lake, the sermon being preached by Bishop Keane. An appropriate address was also made by Governor Brooks. The dedication ceremony took place January 31, 1909, amidst a gathering of ecclesiastics such as had never before been brought together in Wyoming.
The cathedral is a fine example of the English Gothic style throughout, the one tower being on the southwest corner. It is built of Wyoming white sand- stone, is 135 feet long by 70 feet wide at the transept, and seats 750 persons. The interior finish is of oak, with pews of the same material. The total cost of the cathedral was $80,000 and of the bishop's residence $23,000.
The fourth bishop of Cheyenne was Rt. Rev. Patrick A. McGovern, ordained August 18, 1895. He was named bishop January 19, 1912, and his consecration occurred April 11th of the same year. His first care was to provide for the orderly government of the clergy and people by convoking a synod in which the diocesan officials were named and salutary decrees, conducive to the upbuild- ing of religion, promulgated. Feeling that the vast stretches of vacant land under his jurisdiction would sooner or later attract many settlers, he secured a sufficient number of ecclesiastical students to minister to them. Through his encourage- ment, and with the aid of the Catholic Church Extension Society, several churches and chapels have been built in remote places.
STATISTICS, 1918
Bishop, I; secular priests, 18; priests of religious orders, 5; total priests, 23; eccleciastical students, 10; resident pastors, 19; assistants, 4; total churches, 45; academy, I ; parochial schools, 2; Indian schools, 2; pupils in schools, 416; mar- riages, 146; baptisms, infants, 620, adults, 85, total, 705; deaths, 213; Catholic population, 19,000.
The history of the church in Cheyenne in its early years is practically a history of the diocese. The Rev. William Kelly was first sent by Bishop O'Gor- man to organize the Catholics and build up a church. Father Kelly set to work industriously and in 1868 was able to dedicate a frame church at Twenty-first and O'Neil streets, on the northeast corner, on four lots donated by the Union Pacific Railroad Company. Most of the congregation came from Camp Carlin, a government supply station half way between the City of Cheyenne and Fort Russell. Father Kelly remained in charge until October 9, 1869, and was suc- ceeded by Rev. Philip Erlach, who served until April 16, 1871. Then Rev. William Byrne took charge and remained until September. 1873. Rev. John McGoldrick was then appointed and served the parish until October 18, 1877.
ST. MATTHEW'S CATHEDRAL, LARAMIE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, LARAMIE
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Considering the old church property inadequate to the needs of the growing congregation, he secured two lots at the northeast corner of Nineteenth and Carey Avenue as a site for a new church. Rev. John Jennette next guided the destinies of the parish from December, 1877, to August 4, 1878. He laid the foundations of a brick church on the property purchased by Father McGoldrick. The Rev. John Hayes succeeded Father Jennette as the pastor and governed the parish until November 18, 1882. During his pastorate the church was completed and dedicated. Rev. Francis J. Nugent was in charge from November 25, 1882, to June 20, 1886; then came Rev. John T. Smith, from July 9, 1886, to November 23, 1887. Rev. M. J. Carmody was in charge from May, 1891, to March, 1892, and was followed by Rev. Edward Fitzgerald who stayed until November, 1893. Rev .Thomas Conway then assumed control of the parish and maintained it unt'1 November, 1897. Rev. P. U. Sasse was in charge then until December, 1900, succeeded by Rev. George J. Bryant. In May, 1903, Rev. Michael A. Kennedy was the pastor, but held the pulpit until December only. Rev. James A. Duffy was in charge November, 1904, to April, 1913. Bishop McGovern took personal charge until May 1, 1915, when he appointed Rev. James A. Hartman.
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
When Bishop Kemper was made the first missionary bishop of the American Church, Wyoming was within his jurisdiction ; but he never reached a point far- ther west than Central Kansas. In 1859, Bishop Joseph Cruikshank Talbot was chosen bishop of the Northwest, and Wyoming, then a part of Nebraska and Washington territories, fell to his care. In 1860, Bishop Talbot planned a 7,000 mile trip to Utah via Fort Laramie, which would have taken him through Wyo- ming : but the route being unsafe in 1863 by reason of the hostility of the Indians, he took the lower route through Colorado and New Mexico. It has not yet been determined whether he ever entered what is now known as Wyoming.
In 1865, on the translation of Bishop Talbot to Indiana, the House of Bishops, basing its action on a bill pending in Congress created the missionary district of "Colorado and parts adjacent," which included Colorado, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, and the missionary district of "Nebraska and parts adjacent," with jurisdict on in Nebraska and Dakota. The Rev. George Maxwell Randall of Boston and the Rev. Robert Harper Clarkson of Chicago were chosen bishops of these dis- tricts respectively. This was called "the bloody year on the plains"; and was fur- ther marked by the commencement of the building of the Union Pacific Railroad.
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