USA > Wyoming > History of Wyoming, Volume I > Part 58
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Park County was organized in the spring of 1911 by the election of the fol- lowing county officers: W. H. Fouse, A. J. Martin and W. A. Kepford, county commissioners; Fred C. Barnett, county clerk; Henry Dahlem, sheriff ; G. A. Holm, treasurer; W. L. Walls, county attorney ; George Hurlbut, surveyor ; Jessie Hitchcock, superintendent of schools. The same year a courthouse was com- pleted, at a cost of $45,000.
In 1915 the population was 5,473, an increase of 564 during the preceding five years, and in 1917 the assessed valuation of property was $8,330,187, an increase of $1, 148,784 over the assessment of 1916. In population Park is the tenth county of the state, and in wealth the thirteenth.
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HISTORY OF WYOMING
PLATTE COUNTY
This county, originally a part of Laramie, is situated in the southeastern part of the state and takes its name from the North Platte River, which flows through the northern portion. It was created by an act of the Legislature, approved by Governor Carey on February 9, 1911. The boundaries as fixed by that act are as follows :
"Beginning at a point in the western boundary line of Laramie County, at its intersection with the boundary line between Laramie County and Converse County ; thence south along said county line to its intersect on with the township line between townships 19 and 20 north; thence east along said township line to its intersection with the section line between sections 33 and 34 in township 20 north, range 65 west of the sixth principal meridian ; thence north along the middle section line of range 65 to its intersection with the north boundary line of Laramie County ; thence west along said county boundary line to the place of beginning."
The boundaries as established by the act erecting the county are the same as at the present time, hence Platte County is a rectangle thirty-three miles wide by sixty-six miles long, with an area of 2,178 square miles, most of which is capable of cultivation. It is bounded on the north by Converse and Niobrara counties ; on the east by Goshen County ; on the south by Laramie County; and on the west by the counties of. Albany and Converse.
The first settlements were made while Platte was still a part of Laramie County. Among the early settlers were: Alexander Swan, who has already been mentioned in connection with Laramie County; J. M. Whitney. George Mitchell. John and Thomas Hunton, Isaac Bettleyoun, Herbert Whitney, Alex- ander Bowie, Posey Ryan, F. N. Shiek and Harry Yount, the noted scout and bear hunter, all of whom located in the county in the early '70s. In the Wheat- land irrigated district some of the first farmers were: H. E. Wheeler, U. S. Har- rison, Oscar and John Nelson, Charles Wilson, S. V. Moody and C. A. Morrison.
Although created in February, 1911, Platte was not fully organized until the fall of 1912. In November of that year the following county officers were elected : George D. McDougall, county clerk ; Owen Carroll, sheriff ; Guy S. Agnew, treas- urer ; C. A. Paige, prosecuting attorney ; Joseph A. Elliott, surveyor ; D. B. Rig- don, coroner : Millard F. Coleman, W. H. Ralston and Lee Moore, county com- missioners ; Mary Maloney, superintendent of schools. Early in 1918 Platte County completed one of the best appointed courthouses in the state. the cost of the building and furniture amounting to $85,000.
The famous Sunrise iron mines located in this county are described in the chapter on Mineral Resources. The Hartville district, in which these mines are situated, has other valuable mineral deposits, including some very rich veins of copper.
Stock raising is the principal industry. According to the state auditor's report for 1916, there were in the county 29,337 cattle, 37.468 sheep, 7.260 horses and 2,749 hogs. The value of these animals was given as $1,450,651. The waters of the Sibylee and Laramie rivers have been utilized for irrigation, with the result that there are many fine and productive farms in the county. In 1915 there
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were 272,439 acres of improved land, valued at $3.558,420, only six counties in the state reporting a greater valuation of farming lands.
Platte County is well provided with railroads. The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy follows the Platte River across the northern part, and the Colorado & Southern traverses the county north and south, connecting with the Burlington at Wendover. A short line of railroad called the Colorado & Wyoming connects the mining districts about Ironton and Sunrise with the main lines of railway.
In 1915 the population of the county was 5,277, and in 1917 the assessed valuation of the property was $10,816,282. These figures place Platte twelfth in population and ninth in wealth of the twenty-one counties of the state.
SHERIDAN COUNTY
Lying along the northern border of the state, immediately east of the Big Horn Mountains, is Sheridan County, so named in honor of Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, the dashing cavalry commander in the Union army during the Civil war and in the campaigns against the Indians in the Northwest. It is one of three counties created by the Legislature of 1888 in a bill passed over Governor Moonlight's veto, the other two being Converse and Natrona. Its original bound- ar'es as described in the act were as follows :
"Commencing at the northwest corner of Crook (now Campbell) County in said Territory of Wyoming; thence running south along the western boundary of said Crook (Campbell) County to a point three miles north of the thirteenth standard parallel; thence west along a line three miles north of and parallel to said thirteenth standard parallel to its intersection with the center of the channel of the Big Horn River : thence northerly down the center of the channel of the said river to the northern boundary line of the Territory of Wyoming; thence easterly along said boundary line to the place of beginning, being all that por- t'on of the present County of Johnson, Territory of Wyoming, lying north of a line three miles north of, and parallel to, the said thirteenth standard parallel north."
When Bighorn County was created by the act of March 12, 1890, that portion of Sheridan County lying west of the Big Horn Mountains was added to the new county, reducing Sheridan to its present dimensions. From east to west the average length of the county is about eighty-five miles, and from north to south it is thirty miles in width, giving it an area of 2,575 square miles. The county is well watered by the Little Big Horn, the Tongue and Powder rivers and their numerous tributary creeks, nearly half a million acres of land being capable of irrigation, and as much more well adapted to dry farming, while the foothills of the Big Horn Mountains afford excellent grazing fields for live stock.
The great resources of the county are in farming, stock raising and coal mining. In 1916 the county reported 48,107 cattle, 50,955 sheep, 9,148 horses and 4,870 hogs, the total assessed value of the live stock being $2,141,244. Sheri- dan reported more hogs than any other county in the state and stood second in the number of cattle.
Mining experts assert that practically the entire county is underlain by coal deposits, and mines have been opened at Dietz, Monarch, Carneyville, Kooi, Acme and a few other points, and the coal is shipped to almost every state west
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of the Missouri River. In many places the settlers obtain their coal at the outcroppings near their farms and ranches. Some oil is also produced in the county, and indications of gold, copper, etc., have been noted in the western part, where some attempts have been made to develop mines. Iron ore, gypsum, graphite, talc, building and lithograph stone and a fine quality of cement rock exist in large quantities in various parts of the county.
Sheridan is rich in natural scenery. Cloud Peak, one of the most lofty mountains of the Big Horn range, rises to a height of almost thirteen thousand feet above sea level. Upon its sides can be seen the great glaciers of snow and ice, rivaling in picturesqueness the famous Swiss Alps. Goose Creek Val- ley, near Sheridan, with an altitude of 3,700 feet, with its precipitous banks and limpid pools, its waterfalls and sportive trout, offers to the tourist and sportsman inducements to enjoy himself among its scenic beauties and "cast flies."
The first election for county officers was held on Monday, May 7, 1888. Marion C. Harris, William E. Jackson and Peter Reynolds were elected county commissioners ; Thomas J. Kusel, sheriff; Frank McCoy, county clerk; James P. Robinson, treasurer ; William J. Stover, county attorney ; Jack Dow, surveyor ; Pulaski Calvert, assessor ; Richard McGrath, superintendent of schools. In 1905 the county completed a handsome and commodious courthouse, at a cost of $70,000.
Among the early settlers of Sheridan County may be mentioned Henry A. Coffeen, who was elected to represent the state in Congress in 1892; O. P. Hanna, the well known scout; L. C. Tidball, speaker of the House in the Second State Legislature; James Lobban, John Loucks, George Brundage, Frank Mar- tin, M. L. Sawin, D. T. Hillman and J. D. Adams.
Sheridan, the county seat and second city of the state, is centrally located, on the line of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad system that runs from Lincoln, Neb., to Billings, Mont. At Clearmont the Wyoming Railroad connects with this line and runs to Buffalo. Altogether there are about one hundred and ten miles of railroad in the county, so that Sheridan is better provided with means of transportation than some of her sister counties. Other towns of importance are Carneyville, Clearmont, Dayton, Dietz, Kooi, Monarch, Parkman and Ranchester.
In 1915 the population was 15.429 and in 1917 the assessed valuation was $21,203,057. It is the second populous county of Wyoming and stands third in wealth.
SWEETWATER COUNTY
The County of Sweetwater, one of the largest in the state, is situated in the southwestern part. On the north it is bounded by Fremont County ; on the east by Carbon County ; on the south by the states of Colorado and Utah; and on the west by Lincoln and Uinta counties. According to Rand-McNally's Atlas, the area is 10,500 square miles.
Gold was discovered near the South Pass in the summer of 1867 and within a few weeks several hundred miners had located claims near the northern boundary of the present Sweetwater County. Among these pioneers were : Noyes Baldwin, Frank Marshall, Harry Hubbell and others, who are given more ex-
From the Herbert Coffeen Collection
SHERIDAN COUNTY COURTHOUSE, SHERIDAN
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tended mention in connection with the history of Fremont County. Toward the fall of 1867 (the exact date cannot be ascertained), these miners, in order to have some form of local government, organized a county, which they named "Carter," in honor of W. A. Carter, of Fort Bridger, who was elected probate judge. Harry Hubbell was chosen recorder and John Murphy, sheriff. These were the most important offices at that time-the recorder to keep track of the location and boundaries of mining claims, and the sheriff to preserve order among the lawless and turbulent individuals that so frequently are among the first comers to a new gold field. Carter County was legally organized by the Dakota Legislature by an act approved on December 27, 1867. This act fixed the western boundary of Carter County at the thirty-third meridian of longitude west from Washington, and the territory embraced extended eastward 21/2 degrees.
Early in the year 1868 a company of Mormons came from Salt Lake City and settled about the headwaters of the Sweetwater River. Among them were H. A. Thompson, J. F. Staples, James Leffingwell, Moses Sturman, John Hol- brook, Christopher Weaver, Frank McGovern and Jeff Standifer, some of whom remained but a short time and others became permanent settlers. Another pio- neer was Samuel Fairfield, who was born in New Hampshire in 1836. He came to Wyoming soon after the discovery of gold at the South Pass, built three saw- mills, one of which he sold to the Government, and in connection with James A. McAvoy opened the road from the Town of Lander to the timbered lands on the Popo Agie River. In 1880 he removed to Rawlins and in 1883 to Colorado.
In the spring of 1869 the Territorial Government of Wyoming went into operation and the first Legislature met on the 12th of the following October. Among the acts passed by that Legislature was the following, to take effect on December 13, 1869:
"Section I. That all that portion of the Territory of Wyoming erected into the County of Carter by an act of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Dakota, approved December 27, 1867, and bounded as follows: Beginning at the forty-fifth parallel of latitude where the thirty-third meridian of longitude crosses the said parallel of latitude ; thence south along said meridian, being the eastern line of Uinta County, to the forty-first parallel of latitude, being the southern boundary of the territory ; thence east along the said southern boundary to a point 30° 30' west from Washington; thence north along said meridian of 30° 30' to the forty-fifth parallel of latitude, to a point 30° 30' west from Wash- ington; thence west along said forty-fifth parallel to the place of beginning, shall be and constitute a county by the name of Sweetwater: Provided, that the eastern line of said county shall be deemed to run one-fourth of one mile west of Separation station upon the Union Pacific Railroad until a Government or Territorial survey shall prove said station to be west of the said east line. The county seat of Sweetwater County shall be located at South Pass City until re- moved according to law.
"Section 2. The following officers are hereby appointed for said County of Sweetwater, who, after being qualified, shall hold their offices until the next general election, and until their successors are elected and qualified: For county commissioners, W. C. Erwin, of South Pass City, James A. Brennan, of Atlantic City, and John Dugdale, of Hamilton City ; for judge of probate, T. Quinn; for
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sheriff, John McGlinchy ; for county clerk, Tim McCarthy : for prosecuting attor- ney, P. L. Williams; for county assessor, Henry Smith ; for county superintend- ent of schools, Frank Gilman; for county surveyor, William Smith, of South Pass City ; for justices of the peace for South Pass precinct, James W. Stillman and Presley J. Talbot ; for constable in said precinct, James Smith ; for justice of the peace for Atlantic City, Edward Lawn; for constable in said Atlantic City precinct, W. Hagan; for justice of the peace at Bryan precinct, William Grin- nell; for constable in said precinct, -; for justice of the peace at Point of Rocks precinct, -; for constable in said precinct, -
The act further provided that the sheriff of Carter County should "retain and serve, or execute and return to the proper court or judge, all papers relating to said county, up to and including the 11th day of December, 1869," and that on the 13th the county officers of Carter County should turn over all papers, records, dockets, etc., to the officers named in Section 2 of the above act. The county was named for the Sweetwater River, but with the erection of Fremont County in 1884. this name lost its significance as applied to Sweetwater County.
As established by the first Territorial Legislature of Wyoming, the County of Sweetwater extended from the northern to the southern boundary of the territory. It included the present counties of Sweetwater, Fremont, Hot Springs and Park, the greater part of Bighorn and Washakie, the west end of Sheri- dan, and the southwestern part of Carbon. By an act of the Wyoming Legisla- ture, approved on December 9, 1873, the county seat was removed from South Pass City to Green River, which place was to remain the county seat "unless it be removed by vote of the people at the next general election." As it was not removed by vote of the people at the election specified, it still remains the seat of justice.
Topographically, the surface of Sweetwater County is composed of exten- sive plateaus or ranges, from which mountainous elevations rise in different parts. Near the center of the northern boundary the Continental Divide extends for some distance into the county. Farther south are the Aspen and Table moun- tains, and in the southwestern part are the Bad Lands Hills. There are also , isolated peaks here and there, such as Essex Mountain, North Pilot Butte, Table Rock, Steamboat Mountain, Centennial Peak, etc. The Green River is the prin- cipal stream. It enters the county from the west about twenty miles south of the northwest corner and flows in a southeasterly direction into Utah. There are numerous smaller streams and lakes which afford abundant water for reclama- tion purposes.
The Great Divide Basin, in the northeastern part, and the district known as the "Red Desert" afford excellent grazing grounds for sheep and cattle and live stock raising is a prominent industry. Twenty-five or thirty years ago the Red Desert was thought to be practically worthless, but stock men have discovered that sheep can thrive during the winter on the grasses of these plains with only snow for moisture. In 1915 the county reported 322.751 sheep, valued at $1,077,- 456. Sweetwater is preeminently a sheep county, as in that year only 4,552 cat- tle were returned for taxation.
In the way of mineral resources, Sweetwater is noted for its immense de- posits of coal. Geologists have estimated the amount of coal in the Rock Springs field, between the Aspen and Table mountains, at eight hundred million tons,
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lying in veins from eight to twenty feet in thickness. Rock Springs coal is known in every state from the Mississippi River to the Pacific coast. Over two million tons are taken annually from the mines at Rock Springs, Superior, Gunn, Reli- ance and adjacent mining camps. Spurs of railroad have been built by the Union Pacific Railroad Company to the mines to facilitate the shipping of coal. This company has 164 miles of railroad in Sweetwater County. The main line crosses the county from east to west near the center and most of the towns in the county are located along the line of railway. At Granger, in the western part, the Oregon Short Line connects with the Union Pacific and runs in a northwesterly direction into Lincoln County.
In 1915 the population of Sweetwater was 10,642, and in 1917 the prop- erty in the county was valued for tax purposes at $21,935,562. Only one county (Laramie) reported a larger valuation of property, and three counties a larger population.
UINTA COUNTY
Uinta County, located in the extreme southwest corner of the state, is one of the counties created by the first Territorial Legislature, the act having been approved by Governor Campbell on December 1, 1869. The boundaries as des- cribed in that act were as follows:
"Commencing at the intersection of the forty-first parallel of latitude and the thirty-third meridian of longitude west from Washington; running thence north along said thirty-third meridian of longitude to its intersection with the forty- fifth parallel of latitude; thence west along said forty-fifth parallel of latitude to its intersection with the thirty-fourth meridian of longitude west from Wash- ington ; thence south along said thirty-fourth meridian to its intersection with the forty-first parallel of latitude; thence east along said parallel to the place of beginning."
By tracing these boundaries upon a map of Wyoming, it will be seen that Uinta County originally included the present county of that name, Lincoln County and the Yellowstone National Park. The Yellowstone National Park". was set off by an act of Congress, approved on March 1, 1872, and Lincoln County was cut off in 1911, reducing Uinta to its present dimensions. Its area is now a little over two thousand square miles. The territory comprising Uinta and Lincoln counties was taken from Utah and Idaho when the Territory of Wyo- ming was created to straighten the western boundary.
Under the provisions of the act creating the county, the county seat was loca- ted at Merrill, until the voters should select a permanent seat of justice at the general election on September 6, 1870. At the election Evanston was chosen by a majority of the voters for county seat and the Town of Merrill, which was located near old Fort Bridger, afterward disappeared from the map.
The county officers appointed by the Legislature of 1869 were: W. A. Carter, probate judge and treasurer; J. Van A. Carter, clerk; R. H. Hamilton, sheriff ; E. S. Jacobs, superintendent of schools. These officials served until the election of September 6, 1870, when Jesse L. Atkinson, J. Van A. Carter and Russell Thorpe were elected county commissioners ; Lewis P. Scott, clerk ; Harvey Booth,
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POSTOFFICE, EVANSTON
UINTA COUNTY COURTHOUSE, EVANSTON
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HISTORY OF WYOMING
sheriff ; W. A. Carter, probate judge and treasurer ; E. S. Jacobs, superintendent of schools.
One of the oldest settlements in Wyoming was made in this county in 1853. when a company of fifty-five Mormons, led by Isaac Bullock and John Nebeker came from Utah and located near old Fort Bridger, on Black's Fork of the Green River. In 1868 Moses Byrn and a man named Guild located claims on Muddy Creek, about half way between Evanston and Fort Bridger. Jesse L. Atkinson, one of the first county commissioners, was born in Nova Scotia in 1830, and came to Uinta County in the spring of 1870. For some time he was engaged in lumbering, obtaining his supply of timber in the Uinta Mountains. After a residence in the county for a few years he went to Colorado, where he became associated with Benjamin Majors in the cattle business and accumulated a for- tune.
Coal was discovered about two miles west of the site of Evanston in the summer of 1868. The first mine was opened the following year, and in 1870 the Rocky Mountain Coal and Iron Company was formed, with headquarters at Almy. In 1871 Newell Beeman, a native of Ontario County, New York, came to Almy as bookkeeper for the Rocky Mountain Coal and Iron Company, be- ing at that time about thirty-seven years of age. Two years later he was made superintendent of the company. Mr. Beeman also became an active participant in county affairs. In 1874 he was elected county commissioner and held the office for three successive terms; was for a time one of the school trustees, and he served as a member of the republican central territorial committee.
On December 13, 1873. Governor Campbell approved an act of the Legisla- ture authorizing the commissioners of Uinta County to erect a courthouse and jail at Evanston, to cost not more than twenty-five thousand dollars, and to issue bonds for that amount, "or so much thereof as may be necessary," to pay for the same, the bonds to bear interest at not more than 12 per cent per annum.
The principal industries are farming, stock raising and coal mining. Although the lowest altitude is 5,000 feet, the farmers raise abundant crops of winter wheat, hay, alfalfa, potatoes, oats and barley, in fact all of the agricultural products that can be grown at an altitude of 7,000 feet or more. The Bear River, Black's Fork of the Green River, Muddy Creek and their tributaries afford plenty of water for irrigation, though dry farming is carried on in some districts. In the higher altitudes there is an abundance of native grasses where live stock thrive the greater part of the year without feeding. In 1915 Uinta; re- ported 14,956 cattle, 83,195 sheep and 2,972 horses, the assessed valuation of these animals being $890,244.
Besides the great coal mining interests, oil has been discovered, and there are found in the county various other minerals, including gold, copper and phos- phates, though the deposits are either untouched or only partially developed.
The main line of the Union Pacific Railroad enters the county near the northeast corner and runs in a southwesterly direction, crossing the western boundary about twenty miles north of the southern boundary of the state. The principal railroad stations are Evanston, Almy, Antelope, Carter, Chelsea; Bridger and Springvalley. Almy is the terminus of a short spur of railroad that connects with the main line at Almy Junction, about three miles west of Evanston.
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In 1915 the population of the county was given in the state census reports as 6,051, and the assessed valuation of property in 1917 was $9,418,068. Although one of the smallest counties in the state in area, Uinta stands ninth in population and eleventh in wealth.
WASHAKIE COUNTY
On February 9, 1911, Gov. Joseph M. Carey affixed his signature to the bill creating the County of Washakie. A glance at a map of the state shows a zigzag boundary line between Washakie and Hot Springs counties. To de- scribe this line in the technical and legal phraseology of the act is deemed unnec- essary in this description of the county. Suffice it to say that the county is bounded on the north by Bighorn County; on the east by Johnson County ; on the south by Natrona and Fremont counties; and on the west by the counties of Park and Hot Springs. Its area is about twenty-two hundred square miles and it derives its name from Washakie, chief of the Shoshone Indians and a firm friend of the white man in the early days of Wyoming's history. On April 18, 19II, the commissioners appointed by Governor Carey to organize the county entered upon their duties. The first election of officers occurred in November, 1912, and the officers then elected went into office on the first Monday in Jan- uary, 1913.
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