USA > Wyoming > History of Wyoming, Volume I > Part 65
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Julius F. Stone, of Columbus, O., with a small number of men gathered at Green River, Wyo., early in September, 1909, for the purpose of exploring the canyons of the Green and Colorado rivers. One member of the party was Nathan Galloway, who had made the trip three years before, and who acted as guide. This expedition arrived at the Needles on November 27. 1909. without the loss of a man or serious disaster.
KOLB BROTHERS
About 1901 Ellsworth L. and Emery C. Kolb located at the Grand Canyon in Arizona as scenic photographers. After a successful career in this business for ten years, they conceived the idea of making the voyage through the canyons of the Green and Colorado rivers, making photographs as they went along. Ac- cordingly, about the first of September, 1911, they began making their arrange- ments at Green River, Wyo. A third man was engaged and the three left Green River on September 8, 1911.
Nathan Galloway's successful voyage, and his piloting of Stone's expedition through the perils of the rapids, had taught would be explorers that the best time of the year to undertake a voyage was late in the summer or early in the fall, when the water was at a low stage. The Kolbs used the Galloway type of boat, with air chambers that would keep the vessel afloat if overturned and watertight compartments for storing provisions, etc. Their outfit consisted of two of these boats, three film and two plate cameras, two repeating rifles and a supply of ammunition, a cloth dark room for developing their negatives, a stock of pro- visions and a motion picture camera. Some of the citizens of Green River encouraged them and others, more pessimistic regarding the outcome of the
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expedition, tried to dissuade them from undertaking a journey so fraught with perils. As the principal object of this expedition was to make pictures of the scenery along the way, the brothers were in no haste to complete the trip. Some of the views taken by the Kolbs were of Wyoming scenery, such as the Fire Hole Chimneys, 800 feet high, the cliffs at the mouth of Black's Fork, etc.
One of the men who was with Powell's second expedition was Frederick S. Dellenbaugh, who wrote "A Canyon Voyage," giving an account of their ad- ventures. Ellsworth L. Kolb wrote and published an account of their trip in 1911, which is profusely illustrated from photographs made by him and his brother, giving the reader a clear idea of the grandeur and massiveness of the canyons from Green River, Wyo., to the Bright Angel Trail at the foot of the Grand Canyon.
"DOC" MIDDLETON
Among the notorious characters who kept alert the officers of the law in Wyoming during the territorial days was "Doc" Middleton, whose real name was James Riley. Before coming to Wyoming he had been operating in Texas, where he was convicted of murder in 1870 and sentenced to the penitentiary for life. He managed to make his escape and in 1876 he was caught stealing horses in Iowa and sent to prison for eighteen months. At the expiration of his term he located at Sidney, Neb., where he soon got into trouble by shooting a soldier from Fort Sidney. He was arrested, but the sheriff allowed him to escape rather than see him lynched by a mob which had gathered for the purpose.
Middleton next appeared on the ranch of John Sparks, near Fort Laramie, Wyo. Here he began the work of organizing a gang of outlaws, among whom were two Texans named John Baldwin and Henry Skurry. Doc was a typical out- law, nearly six feet in height, dark complexioned with long, black hair and fierce looking mustache. He never drank or gambled and was always cool and collected, even under the most trying circumstances. Over the members of his gang he had perfect control.
In 1878 the gang stole forty horses and Middleton, Baldwin and Skurry undertook the work of running them through to Kansas. "Billy" Lykins, a detective of the Stock Growers' Association, gathered a posse and started in pursuit, overtaking the fugitives about twelve miles from Julesburg. Baldwin and Skurry put spurs to their horses and succeeded in making their escape. Middleton also made an effort to get away, but was closely pursued and forced to take refuge with a ranchman named Smith, who agreed to assist him. Doc and the ranchman sought the shelter of a neighboring butte, which was surrounded by the posse and after several shots were exchanged the two men surrendered. The stolen horses were then rounded up and taken by part of the posse to Sidney. That night Middleton and Smith escaped. The latter was afterward arrested by Lykins in the Black Hills and sent to the penitentiary. From him Lykins learned the whereabouts of Middleton.
The Wyoming and Nebraska stockmen and the Union Pacific Railroad Com- pany had joined in offering a substantial reward for Middleton's capture, and as soon as Lykins heard where he could be found he started after him, accompanied by two men named Hazen and Llewellyn, the former of whom had known Middle-
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ton in Fort Dodge, Kans. They were later joined by J. L. Smith. Doc was then living in the Niobrara Valley in Nebraska. As the posse approached the house they saw the outlaw and four of his gang, evidently on guard. The five men immediately charged Lykins and his associates. Hazen was thrown from his horse and was wounded while trying to remount. Lykins tried four times to fire his rifle, but the cartridges failed to explode. He then threw away the rifle and drew his revolver, the first shot from which struck Middleton in the stomach and the others fled. Middleton concealed himself in some brush and while Lykins was taking Hazen to a ranch a number of the gang came and helped Doc to his house.
When Lykins went after him a little later he found about a dozen of the gang there and sent word to General Crook at Omaha, who had promised assistance whenever Middleton was cornered. Crook sent a small detachment of troops, but in the meantime Doc and his wife had left home and were hidden on the Niobrara River. His father-in-law guided the troops and Lykins to their hiding place. Middleton was captured and taken to Sidney to wait for the necessary papers before being conducted to Cheyenne for trial. A number of his friends gathered and sent word to Lykins that their leader should not be taken from the state. Middleton was guarded in a house about a quarter of a mile from the railroad station. When the time came for his removal Smith and Llewellyn, well armed and alert, bore him on a stretcher, preceded by Lykins armed with a double- barreled shotgun and two Colt's 45s, having first sent word to the would-be rescuers that any demonstration on their part would result in the immediate death of their leader.
Middleton was taken to Cheyenne, where he pleaded guilty to horse stealing and received a five years' sentence. He then went to Gordon, Neb .. where he lived as a law abiding citizen until March 4, 1891, when he got into an alterca- tion and was fatally shot. Baldwin and Skurry were afterward arrested. The former was released for want of evidence and Skurry forfeited his bond and was later killed by Indians while engaged in running off their horses. Thus ended the Doc Middleton gang, which was at one time feared and hated by the stockmen of both Wyoming and Nebraska.
MELBOURNE -- RAIN MAKER
Before the State of Wyoming became interested in the great irrigation projects that have reclaimed thousands of arid acres, the subject of rainfall was one of engrossing interest. Farming was something of a lottery in those days. Neither irrigation nor dry farming had been introduced, and when the settler put his seed in the ground he had no assurance that it would grow and produce a crop worth harvesting. Every little cloud was watched with interest, in the hope that it contained sufficient moisture to aid the growing vegetation.
In the latter part of August, 1891, a man named Frank Melbourne came to Cheyenne and claimed that by the exercise of some mysterious power he possessed he could produce rain at will. He offered to demonstrate what he could do in this line, but stated that his experiments must be conducted secretly. He obtained permission to use the loft of Frank H. Jones' stable, in which he locked himself from curious observers, and began his experiments. About 2:30 P. M., September
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I, 1891, came a shower that lasted for fifteen minutes. An hour later there was a heavy downpour which laster for a longer time and thoroughly soaked the parched earth. Melbourne then emerged from the stable loft and was none too modest to claim that the showers were the result of his mysterious labors. Mr. Ravenscraft, then the weather observer at the Cheyenne station, stated that there were no natural indications of rain preceding the showers and admitted that the rainfall might have been produced by artificial means.
There were still many who were skeptical regarding his ability to produce rain. To convince those persons, Melbourne agreed to give another test. After resting a day or two, he again repaired to the loft of the stable and early on Monday morning, September 7. 1891, Cheyenne and the immediate vicinity were again blessed by a refreshing shower of rain. Melbourne then went to Salt Lake City, where he claimed to have been the author of the rains that fell in the latter part of September.
The early summer of 1892 was unusually dry and about the middle of June some of the citizens of Cheyenne entered into a contract with Melbourne to produce a half-inch of rain within a given time, for which they agreed to pay him a stipulated sum, the territory covered by the rainfall to be not less than five thousand square miles, with Cheyenne practically in the center. This time Mel- bourne began his operations in the dome of the capitol building, and as before he worked in secret. He commenced on June 24, 1892, and two days later there was a heavy rain on Horse Creek, in Goshen County, a light rain at Rawlins, and a belt fifteen miles wide extending from Uva eastward into Nebraska was the recipient of a heavy downpour. Melbourne asserted that these rains were the result of his efforts, but the committee decided that he had failed to produce the rainfall re- quired by his contract. The rain maker then said he would try again, but that in order to do so it was necessary for him to reject two offers of $1,000 each in other dry localities to remain in Cheyenne on his conditional contract. After several days, with no results, he gave up the undertaking and left Cheyenne never to return. Opinion was divided as to the merit of his claims, some contending that he actually produced the showers mentioned, but the great majority of the people held to the view that he was a faker.
EXPLOSION AT ROCK SPRINGS
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About 3 o'clock on Friday afternoon, July 17, 1891, an explosion occurred at the No. 6 mine of the Union Pacific Coal Company, which shattered window glass in the City of Rock Springs and caused greater excitement than any event since the Chinese Riot of 1885. It appears that two saloon keepers-Jacob Helli and Jacob Santala-one of whom had recently sold his saloon and invited his friend to help celebrate, started out on a spree. With a two-wheeled cart and good horse, plentifully supplied with whiskey, they drove toward the No. 6 mine. In a gulch near the mine the coal company had a small building of galvanized iron, in which explosives were kept until required for use. At the time the house contained 1,200 kegs of blasting powder and 700 pounds of dynamite. As the two roisterers approached the building, one of them, evidently thinking their celebration was not sufficiently noisy, drew his revolver and shot at the powder house. The ball penetrated the galvanized iron and the explosion followed. The two men
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and the horse they were driving were literally torn to fragments, John Santala, who was passing on horseback, and two Finlanders working near were killed, and where the powder house stood was a great, ragged hole in the ground, not a vestige of the structure being left.
The magazine was about two miles from the city, in a northeasterly direction, but the explosion was so great that people on the streets felt plainly the earth's vibrations, while many panes of glass, both plate and common, were jarred from their sashes and fell in atoms. In a little while a heavy, dark cloud was seen hanging over the No. 6 mine and soon all sorts of rumors were afloat concerning a disaster at the mine, in which many of the workmen had lost their lives, etc. Then a spectator, who was near enough to recognize the men and see the shot fired, but far enough distant to be out of harm's way, told his story and the real cause of the explosion became known. The loss to the Union Pacific Coal Company was about ten thousand dollars.
EXECUTION OF TOM HORN
Tom Horn, known as the "Wyoming man killer," came to the state in 1892, about the time of the cattlemen's invasion mentioned in the early part of this chapter. Rumor said he had previously been in the employ of the Pinkerton Detective Agency when that concern was at the height of its popularity. However that may have been, he was employed as a detective by the Stock Growers Asso- ciation. Learning from his employers that it was difficult to secure the conviction of a "rustler" or range cattle thief, Horn adopted the policy of acting as detective, prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner, abandoned all efforts to bring suspected persons to justice, and applied the remedy of death by shooting. Not long after he began his work, William Powell and a man named Lewis were killed near the Iron Mountain region, about forty miles northwest of Cheyenne, and gossip connected Horn's name with the crime. In 1900 Isham Dart and Matt Rash, two ranchmen in Brown's Park, Colo., were killed. Horn was known to have been in the vicinity at the time and was suspected of doing away with the two men. On his way back to Wyoming he met a posse at Dixon going in search of the assassin and in an altercation with one of the men received a knife wound in the neck that came near ending his career, but he cut his antagonist so severely that he lived but a short time.
On July 18, 1901, the body of Willie Nickell, the thirteen year old son of Kels P. Nickell, a small ranchman near the place where Powell and Lewis had been killed a few years before, was found with a stone placed under the head and a ghastly bullet wound telling the manner of his death. Nickell was suspected of being a rustler and Horn was lying in wait for him when discovered by the boy. Realizing that he had been recognized. Horn shot the boy and beat a hasty retreat from the neighborhood. About a week later Mr. Nickell was shot twice from ambush while working in the garden, one shot taking effect in the arm and the other in his hip, but who fired the shots was never learned.
Horn's arrest was due to the work of Joseph LeFors, also a stock detective, a deputy United States marshal, and a friend of the desperado. Believing Horn to be guilty, LeFors cultivated his acquaintance, exchanged confidences with him, drank with him, etc. On January 10, 1902, while LeFors and Horn were drinking Vol. I-40
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together in a room, a deputy United States marshal and an expert stenographer lay concealed in an adjoining room, with their ears at the bottom of the door and heard all that passed. LeFors skilfully led Horn to boast of his deeds of crime, among which was the killing of the Nickell boy, and the stenographic record of the confession was afterward used as evidence in court. Two days later Sheriff E. J. Smalley, of Laramie County, arrested Horn at the bar of the Inter Ocean Hotel, R. A. Proctor, a deputy sheriff, standing a few feet away with instructions to shoot Horn if he made any hostile movement. Horn knew nothing of the dis- closures of LeFors and went peaceably to jail, relying on the lack of evidence for an acquittal.
On October 10, 1902, Horn was placed on trial in the District Court at Cheyenne, and on the 24th the jury returned a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree. He was sentenced to be hanged the following January, but for some reason the execution was postponed until November. While in jail awaiting his execution, Horn tried to send a message by a young man named Hurr, whose jail term expired in January, 1903, to a prominent ranchmen near Bosler, outlining a plan for blowing up the Laramie County jail. At the last minute Hurr weakened and delivered the message to the authorities, after which a close guard was kept to prevent Horn from communicating with outsiders. Notwithstanding all the precautions, Horn actually did escape on August 6, 1903, with Jim McCloud, another inmate of the jail, but both were captured and returned to their cells within the hour. The escape was effected by the two desperadoes overpowering Jailer Proctor, but the jailer managed to give the alarm in time to result in their recapture. After that for weeks the air was filled with rumors of schemes for the liberation of Horn. Two days before the time set for the hanging, the militia was called out and remained on duty at the jail until after the execution. None could pass the military cordon except those having official permits. If any plots to rescue Horn had really been formulated, this activity on the part of Sheriff Smalley caused them to be abandoned.
On November 20, 1903, the day of the execution, the streets in the vicinity of the jail were packed with people, but the crowd was held back by the bayonets of the National Guard. A score or more of witnesses were admitted to the jail, among them several county sheriffs. When Horn was brought to the scaffold he looked over the little assemblage, then turned to Sheriff Smalley and remarked : "Ed, that's the nerverousest looking lot of sheriffs I ever saw."
Charles and Frank Irwin, who knew Horn well, were then permitted to sing a ballad they knew he loved. At the conclusion of the song the trap was sprung and Tom Horn was launched into eternity. He was the last man hanged in the county seat of Wyoming. Others since then have been convicted and sentenced to death, but by an act of the Legislature all legal executions take place in a state penitentiary at Rawlins.
AN INDIAN'S CURSE
In the early '70s, while there were still a number of Sioux Indians and half- breeds in Wyoming, a half-breed maiden was employed on a ranch near Fort Lar- amie. Adolph Penio and Touinant Kensler, two Sioux half-breeds, were both in love with the girl. Penio had a slight advantage over his rival by being able to
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speak French, the only language in which the girl could converse with ease. In this emergency Kensler employed John Boyd to do his courting. It turned out to be another Miles Standish case, Boyd, who could speak French fluently, making love to the girl on his own account.
Kensler suspected that all was not going well with his suit and one evening he got drunk, went to the ranch, where he found Penio with the girl and shot him through an open window. He was arrested and taken to Cheyenne, which was then in the same county as the ranch, and lodged in jail charged with murder. He claimed that John Boyd did the shooting, but was finally convicted and sentenced to be hanged on November 19, 1874. Boyd was the principal witness against him, and as soon as the verdict of guilty was returned hurried to the clerk's office, procured a marriage license, went directly to the ranch and married the girl. This made Kensler more bitter against Boyd than before. The evening before his ex- ecution he said to some friends visiting him in the jail: "My spirit will come back from the happy hunting grounds and John Boyd won't have good luck."
On November 19, 1875, just one year from the day Kensler was hanged, John Boyd was accidentally drowned in the North Platte River. The date of the ac- cident was doubtless nothing more than a coincidence, but people inclined to believe in signs, omens and superstitions looked upon Boyd's death as a fulfillment of the Indian's curse.
SOME EARLY PRICES
In this year 1918, with practically the entire civilized world at war, when so much is being said and written concerning the high cost of living, it may be interesting to note the prices paid by the early settlers of Wyoming for a few of the necessary articles for household use. From the market report in the Cheyenne Leader of April 15, 1868, the following prices are taken: Bacon and hams, 22 to 30 cents per pound ; butter, 60 cents ; cheese, 24 to 27 cents; coffee, 28 to 35 cents ; sugar, 20 to 28 cents ; tea, $2.50 to $3.00 ; flour, $7.50 to $10.00 per sack (50 pounds ) ; coal oil, $1.00 to $1.25 per gallon.
Comparing these prices of 1868 with prices of the same articles in 1918, one is forced to the conclusion that the present day citizen of Wyoming has no more cause for complaint regarding high prices than had his predecessor of fifty years ago. Account books of early merchants show that similar prices ruled in the dry goods and hardware trade. Calico sold from 15 to 20 cents per yard; unbleached muslin about the same price ; nails sold from 12 to 18 cents per pound, according to size, etc. There was some excuse for the high prices charged fifty years ago. The source of supply was far distant and transportation charges were much higher than they are today. Yet the people of Wyoming paid twenty or twenty-five cents a pound for sugar with less grumbling than is now heard, when the price is less than half that amount.
FRONTIER DAYS CELEBRATION
As the railroad displaced the freight wagon and the homestead began to take the place of the open range, some of the citizens of Cheyenne, realizing that the "Old West" was rapidly passing, conceived the idea of holding some
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sort of celebration at which the scenes of early days might be reproduced for the edification of the rising generation. This idea took definite shape in the summer of 1897 by the appointment of the following committee to arrange for the celebration: Warren Richardson, chairman; John A. Martin, secretary ; D. H. Holliday, treasurer ; J. H. Arp, E. W. Stone and G. R. Palmer.
The program arranged by the committee included cow pony and wild horse races ; pitching and bucking horses; a reproduction of the pony express; a train of emigrant wagons drawn by oxen ; a hold up of an Overland stage; hanging of an outlaw by the vigilance committee, etc. Suitable prizes were offered for the victorious contestants in the various races, an Indian encampment was located on the west side of the fair grounds, where the celebration was held, and a sham battle in which United States troops participated was one of the leading fea- tures.
The first Frontier Days celebration was held on Thursday, September 23, 1897, and attracted several thousand people. Excursion trains were run on all the railroads, the largest number of people coming from Colorado, accompanied by the Greeley Band. Buildings were decorated with flags and bunting and nearly everyone wore the "frontier badge" adopted by the committee. Promptly at 12 o'clock Battery A fired the cannon that announced the beginning of the program and the artillery salute was immediately followed by the ringing of bells, the blowing of factory and locomotive whistles, while many citizens added to the din by firing shotguns, rifles and revolvers.
Among the Indians present was White Hawk, a full blooded Sioux, who had been employed as scout and interpreter by the United States Government for about ten years, during which period he had been stationed at Forts Yates, Keogh, Buford, Custer, McGinnis, Lincoln and Washakie. He guided the troops to the place where Sitting Bull was encamped on the Grand River, forty miles from the Standing Rock Reservation, and was present when Sitting Bull was there killed by an Indian policeman in December, 1890.
W. R. Schnitger, John Hunton and N. K. Boswell were the judges in the racing events ; H. E. Buechner and Frank Bond, timekeepers; John McDermott, starter; and Herman Glafcke, clerk. The riding of the pitching and bucking horses provoked the wildest enthusiasm and was pronounced by old timers as equal to anything of the kind they had ever witnessed. Horses jumped over the fences, men were knocked down or thrown from their saddles, but for- tunately no one was hurt.
After the races came the scenes on the Overland Trail-the ox train, the hold up of the stage coach, etc. The passengers on the stage were Warren Rich- ardson, John A. Martin, Leopold Kabis, R. S. Van Tassell and several others. The stage was drawn by six horses driven by Dave Creath. At the west side of the track the stage was held up in approved frontier style by road agents. From a newspaper account of the celebration the following report of "An Amus- ing Incident" connected with the hold up of the stage is taken:
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