USA > Wyoming > The history of Wyoming from the earliest known discoveries > Part 58
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became the First National Bank of Lander, one of the strongest financial institutions in Wyoming. Is it any won- der that this pioneer has long been called the father of Lan- der? When the city was incorporated, he was its first mayor, and when the State was admitted, he was elected a member of the first Legislature. Every enterprise which was for the benefit of Lander, Fremont County, or of the State, has received his earnest help. He presented the coun- ty with an entire block in the city, whereon the court house was built, and added to all the others, he assisted financially in the building of all the churches in the city. The history of Fremont County could not be written if this pioneer's name were left out. He will therefore appear again in the annals of that county.
On May 29, 1868, Capt. Herman G. Nickerson found his way into this country and became a prospector. The ground around South Pass proper was alive with men searching for leads and ledges, and so Nickerson went to the north a few miles with others, and some valuable discov- eries were made at Miners Delight. He is one of the men who has remained in the country from first to last and has become a part of its history down to the present time. 1 will have occasion to refer to his services and operations later. John M. Reid was another who located in South Pass during the early part of 1868, where he remained eight years, engaged in blacksmithing. He afterwards became interested in freighting and took large contracts for sup- plying wood and hay to the government. In this business he was associated with James A. McAvoy, whose story is told in another place. Reid was an old soldier, having served in the 87th Indiana Volunteers. He will be men- tioned more extensively in connection with the civilization and settlement of Fremont county, in the second volume of this history. There were other blacksmith shops besides Reid's. Philip Harsch started the first one, Reid the second, Penoyer & Harris the third, Jim Edwards the fourth, Henry Hopper the fifth and Geo. Bush the sixth. As soon as the
E. AMORETTI,
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Union Pacific railroad was completed to Point of Rocks, passengers were run from that point to South Pass, a dis- tance of about seventy miles, in all sorts of conveyances, at first. Business increased rapidly, requiring a daily service. Finally, in 1870, there were two lines of stages running daily between Point of Rocks, South Pass and Atlantic City. Alexander Benham ran one and Larimer and John C. Gano ran the other. Alexander Benham also secured a contract from the government, in 1869, to carry the mail daily from Bryan station, on the Union Pacific, to South Pass and At- lantic. For this service he was paid $65,000 per annum. The mail coach also took passengers. This line was splen- didly equipped and made fast time both ways, but I think it did not get in complete operation until the early spring of 1870. Among the men who located in South Pass in 1868 and afterwards became prominent in the state was Archi- bald E. Slack. He had served in the Civil War and like many of his comrades sought the boundless west as the theater of his ambition. He first engaged in mining, later secured the control of a saw-mill and cut lumber for the mines, towns and the government. About this time he founded and suc- cessfully ran a newspaper. All this will be found detailed in another part of this volume. The close of the year 1868 found South Pass and several small adjacent mining camps in the full tide of prosperity. The mines were being success- fully operated and some of them had become large pro- ducers. People had flocked in, and some had gone away, but the majority remained to work in the mills, and others to hunt up new prospects.
W. P. Noble, who afterwards became prominent as a stock owner in Fremont County and a member of the mer- cantile house of Noble & Lane of the Shoshone Agency and Lander, and also a member of the banking house of Noble, Lane & Noble of the last named city, brought a stock of goods to Atlantic in April, 1868. This pioneer was a reso- lute character and his work is a part of the history of Fre- -(42)
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mont county, in the annals of which he and his associates will appear in detail.
During the stirring times of this year came Joseph Wagner, who was born in Ohio, November 2, 1845, raised in Indiana, and at the breaking out of the Civil War was in the South and became a wagon master in the army of the Con- federacy. He, like many others who had served on the side of the South, came west in 1866 and soon located in Wyo- ming. He worked as a miner for several different parties and in 1870 served with the Carissa force as foreman. In 1871, he took the contract to run the English tunnel on the Wild Irishman. In 1873 he bought the Pacific Springs ranch and four years later went to Red Canon, where he re- sided for eighteen years, and then moved to Lander, where he now lives. This man is a typical pioneer.
I will mention here that during the fall of 1868 John Holbrook, Frank McGovern, Jonathan Pugh, Maj. P. A. Gallagher, Dave Manson, Joe Garbor and a man named Livingston discovered the Miners' Delight. The mine was located just west of a new town called Hamilton. The name of this town was afterwards changed to Miners Delight, which name it still bears. The ore was free milling and ran all the way from forty dollars per ton up into the thous- ands. Some of the ore was worked in a custom mill and the result was so satisfactory that a ten-stamp mill was or- dered. This mill was put in operation in the fall of 1869 and was equipped with two amalgamating pans and a settler. Geo. Mckay, a California miner who reached South Pass in March, 1868, helped in the construction of this mill and was its first superintendent. He was a man of experience in mining and milling and the owners of the Miners Delight were fortunate in securing his services, as he turned out $300,000 in gold during the first six months the mill was in operation. Mr. McKay at this date (September, 1898) still lives at Miners Delight, and he informs me that this mine has paid to its owners from first to last more than $1,200,- 000. The property has had many owners, who have in some
1
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instances been unfortunate in their management. The mine is now filled with water and the mill has gone into decay, but notwitstanding this many experienced mining men say that it is a good mining proposition yet, and will pay abund- antly if properly handled.
John T. Huff arrived during this year and at once com. menced prospecting and mining. He proved himself a man of enterprise, and having some success and a large share of faith, has remained with the country and still resides with his family at Atlantic. Few men in that country have had more experience in both quartz and placer mining.
The year 1868, while it had been full of danger to the miners, was upon the whole a highly prosperous year and it can be said that the South Pass country was at that time one of the great gold camps of the mountains. All kinds of business had been successful and everything pointed to a wonderfully productive gold camp, and thus the season of 1868 was brought to a close by the approach of winter. Dur- ing the winter months, plans were laid for the coming year. Everybody understood that there would be a great influx of prospectors, miners, business men and that other class of individuals who represent the sporting fraternity.
Those who possessed bright hopes for the camp in 1869 were not disappointed, for every road leading from the Union Pacific was lined that spring with the incoming crowd, and added to the multitudes came those who always travel in wagons or by pack outfits. Many did not wait for the spring, but came plowing through the snows, regardless of hardships, that they might be on the ground ready for active operations when the snow should disappear. The merchants ordered their goods early and had them hauled from the railroad as soon as the roads were passable. New mining men who came that year were surprised and pleased with the conditions that existed. The ore was of superior quality, while those who had undertaken to develop placer ground had been richly rewarded for their labor. Like all new camps which have the reputation of being successful,
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there was an over abundance of the rough element, but these characters did not interfere with those who were not in- clined to mingle with the questionable crowd. There were plenty of the better class of people, men and women who possessed a desire for the welfare of the community, and they exerted an influence for good which was far reaching. It can be said that these mining camps brought into Wyo- ming some of the strongest and ablest characters that ever came to the territory, and many of them became permanent residents and are yet to be found in various parts of the state. There would have been an overflow were it not for the fact that a certain class of people cannot content them- selves to remain in any community beyond the time when the newness of things has worn off. This class kept hearing of new and rich fields in Idaho, Montana and Nevada, and of course it was their nature to give up everything and go. They were the rolling stones of the camp, and whether they gathered moss at other places it is impossible to say.
In the spring of 1869 enough people had gathered around what is now known as Atlantic City to form a com- munity of several hundred. There was also a considerable settlement around what is now Miners Delight. All these places were within a radius of four miles from a common center. They were therefore practically one settlement, in- terested in all things that pertained to the protection, pros- perity and general welfare of each other. During the season of 1869 some very important discoveries were made. John Bilcox uncovered a rich lode and called it the Franklin. Anton Stubo discovered the Europe, afterwards called the Dr. Barr and now known as the El Dorado. Tom Ryan again comes to the front with the discovery of the King Solomon. Dr. Leonard, who had been in the country in 1865, as I have before mentioned, turns up this year as the discoverer of the St. Lawrence mine. Soon Atlantic City became a pros- perous town, but for a time it was overshadowed by the great city of South Pass. The Buckeye mine, just north of Atlantic, had been re-discovered in 1868 by John McTurk,
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Seth Mount, James Forrest and Ed. Long, and had become a producer. It was in full operation in 1869. The Jim Dyer mine, now called the St. Louis and owned by Mrs. L. E. Mc- Auley, was discovered late in 1868 by Jim Dyer, who lo- cated it in the name of himself and his associates, W. R. Spratt, Thomas Joice, Chris Schulce, John Frank, J. N. Hin- man and E. G. Snyder. The Alice Lawn mine was located in 1869 by Ed. Lawn. Later this mine became known as the Alice Davis. It now goes under the name of the Ro- sella, and is owned by Neff & Miller. The Soules and Per- kins mine was discovered the same year by Soule, Perkins, Frye, Taylor and Pease. This mine produced about $75,000 in gold. The Caribou mine was likewise discovered in 1869, and has produced about $50,000 in gold. E. Amoretti be- came the owner of this property a few years after its dis- covery. He has associated with him in the ownership Louis Poire. The original locator was a Mr. Tadder, who was a contractor in Atlantic in 1869. He had a partner by the name of Monroe and they carried on the dairy business as well as being contractors. In 1869 quite a number of busi- ness houses were established in Atlantic. Louie Engler erected a quartz mill called the Elkhorn, and by this time E. Amoretti's mill was running on the Hermit. There was also a mill running on the ore of the Young America. The Mary Ellen was discovered that year by Pease. Frye and Perkins. This mine has been a good producer for many years. The Lone Star was discovered by Dr. Leonard and was afterwards relocated by Louis Poire and Jonathan Pugh.
During the winter of 1868-9, J. W. Anthony and his family came to Atlantic. He was a man who had had large experience in Wyoming as a freighter and contractor. He had been engaged with Russell, Majors and Waddell in 1858 and had been across Wyoming to Salt Lake many times. When General Connor had campaigned in this country An- thony was one of his freight contractors, hauling supplies, wood, grain and hay. When the Union Pacific was built he
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furnished material for the construction of the road and had a camp at Granite Canon. He was a sturdy pioneer and was born at Geneva, New York, March 18, 1832. In October, 1861, he married Miss Sarah Davis at Plattsmouth, Nebras- ka. He was a good business man and on his arrival built a ten-stamp mill at Atlantic and did work for the Mary Ellen, the Buckeye and the Soules and Perkins mines. This mill was supplied with a complete assaying outfit, which was very much needed at the time. He, with a partner, put up the large stone building which has been occupied for many years by Robert McAuley. During the Indian trou- bles in the camp, Anthony was commissioned Colonel by Governor Campbell and was instructed to raise four compa- nies of volunteers, which he did, but on receiving his in- structions, not to kill any of the Indians, he refused to ac- cept his commission. He built the first bathing house at the Hot Springs on the reservation, and furnished the lum- ber for the first Agency building. In 1871 he moved to Ev- anston, and later took up his residence in Denver, where he still resides.
Amos Steck located in South Pass in the spring of 1869 and opened a bank. He bought gold of the miners and shipped it to New York. He remained in the country two or three years. Steck was one of the original founders of the City of Denver, and after leaving South Pass he returned to that place, where he still resides.
In that same year Ervin F. Cheney established a black- smith and wagon shop. He was in partnership with a man named Henry Bouck. Cheney remained permanently in the country and became prominent in business, politics and pub- lic affairs. He comes more prominently into my story a little later. John Fosher located in Atlantic that year. He had been a member of the First Territorial Colorado Legislature and afterwards was prominent as a member of the Second Territorial Legislature of Wyoming. His bi- ography will be found in the second volume of this history in connection with the pioneers of Fremont county.
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South Pass Gold Discoveries.
James A. McAvoy, who has been mentioned as a partner of Mr. Reid, reached the South Pass in June, 1869, and went to work as a miner, at which occupation he continued for two years. He is another pioneer and permanent resident. He figures prominently among the old timers.
Among the arrivals in 1869 was Esther Morris. Her husband, John Morris, had reached the camp the year previ- ous, coming with his stepson, E. A. Slack. Mrs. Morris was accompanied by two of her sons, Edward J. and Robert C. Morris. Thus her entire family, consisting of her husband and her three sons, took up their residence in South Pass.
During the year 1869 the placers around Miners De- light and Atlantic produced a large amount of gold. The gravel in Meadow gulch in the next two or three years yielded $100,000, Yankee gulch $50,000, Spring gulch $1,- 000,000, Poor Man's gulch $30,000, Promise gulch $30,000, Smith's gulch $20,000, Atlantic gulch $15,000, Beaver creek $10,000.
South Pass during the summer of 1869 became a typi- cal mining town. Money was plenty and as a result it was spent freely. There were two breweries in the city, one run by Adamı Henry and the other by Fred Shuster. A livery and feed stable was conducted by Lawrence Hunt, another by Gano Brothers. C. O. Smith ran a jewelry store and Col. Duke operated a shooting gallery, ball alley and beer gar- den. Geo. Keene opened a fur store and Freund Brothers opened a gun store. Two doctors had come to the town, Dr. Barr and Dr. Hull. Dr. Barr engaged in mining as well as the practice of medicine. He was a man of superior edu- cation and a gentleman worthy of confidence. It is said of him that his surroundings were in every way foreign to his nature and tastes, and that while he mingled with rough miners everywhere he never indulged in any of their ex- cesses, but was at all times friendly to those about him. He met a tragic death, which will be told farther on. While all the other lines of business and professions were filling up, that of law was not neglected. Judge A.B.Conaway came in
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History of Wyoming.
1869 and from the first made friends and found a welcome. He prospected and mined and at the same time conducted the business of attorney. From that time to his death he was a conspicuous figure and his name will appear many times in this history. M. C. Page was the name of another attor- ney. Then came the firm of Williams & Sheeks, followed by Geo. Strunk.
During the summer of 1869 there were a number of Indian scares in the country, but the mines proper were practically free from depredations. Few miners ventured far without being armed. The Sioux Indians were known to be about, but they kept at a safe distance. On Aug. 20th Geo. Colt and Wm. Skinner were killed on the Big Popo Agie, and Wm. Williams of the same party was wounded. The Indians secured considerable booty in the shape of money and horses. The following day Moore, Lehman and two others of the Standifer party were killed on Big Wind river, near Bull Lake. Standifer, Andrew Newman and John Phillips escaped on foot into the mountains. The lat- ter was the hero who made the wonderful ride for the re- lief of the Fort Phil. Kearney garrison in 1866.
These same Indians encountered Henry Lusk and Sage Nickerson on Little Wind River, not far from the Hot Springs, fired upon them and wounded Lusk. Nickerson attempted to save the horses belonging to Lusk, and for this purpose headed the herd as they were being driven away by the Indians. The savages now made chase after Nickerson and he only escaped by riding rapidly to the river, into which he plunged and swam under the water to an over- hanging bank. where he remained in hiding until the Indi- ans left, taking with them his horse.
On the 20th of September a band of Sioux Indians appeared near Miners Delight and meeting John G. Ander- son, who was hauling lime with three yoke of cattle, killed him and drove off his cattle. The Indians went on to At- lantic gulch, where they found a man named Latham cutting wood, whom they promptly killed. This band, on the same
Mrs . Margaret Dickinson.
Mrs. Addie Ramsey.
JAMES A. MCAVOY.
DR. JAMES IRWIN.
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day, were at the mouth of the Little Popo Agie, where they encountered James Goodson. Goodson was an old moun- taineer and had had experience with Indians. He took ref- uge in the mouth of the canon and warned the savages not to approach. They made signs of friendship, but the white man was not willing to trust them and continued to wave his hand for them to keep away. Finding that they could not induce him to place himself in their power, a number of shots were fired at him which went through his clothing but did not touch his person. Goodson promptly returned the fire and killed three of the savages. The balance of the band withdrew to a safe distance and waited for their dan- gerous enemy to come out, but he did not do so until after dark, when he escaped and went up to Miners Delight. The bodies of the three Indians killed were afterwards found. The mouth of this canon became famous in after years. Shortly after the above incident Jack Walker built a cabin there and from that time on it became a stopping place for those going to or coming from the Wind River Valley. Two years later Ed. Young made the place his home and encoun- tered many adventures with the Indians, but in spite of every obstacle he remained, and still resides there. He is a pioneer in fruit growing in Wyoming, having a large apple orchard. His adventures with Indians and his experience in fruit growing come properly in the second volume of this history.
The year of 1869 was not without its tragedies. Drink- ing, gambling, and the excitement growing out of business relations resulted in a number of deaths. It is not the pur- pose of this history to go into details. Suffice it to say that the following tragedies occurred: Pat Flannigan was killed by Frank McGovern; a man known as Scotty was killed by John B.Oakley ; Bob Evans was killed by Jeff Davis; Francis Zeriner (called Vinegar) was killed by Sam Fairfield; Geo. McComie was killed by Al. Tomkins.
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PIONEERS OF THE CAMPS.
I have already mentioned the name of Major Baldwin in con- nection with numerous events in this history. There are few men who came to Wyoming as early as he did and made it their perma- nent residence. He was a man of much force of character, abounded in enterprise and was of the kind who found states, conquer dif- ficulties and succeed in undertakings. Before he came to Wyoming he had seen much of the world, had large experience in business as well as in military affairs and all this contributed toward making him the valuable citizen he proved himself to be in the frontier days of the territory. In the year 1849 he went around Cape Horn to San Francisco and became a contractor and builder in that city in partnership with Philman Canfield, and the two, possessing large means and enterprise, undertook contracts for many important build- ings which they successfully completed. In 1854 he returned to the states on a visit, crossing the Isthmus of Panama, but a few weeks later found him back in San Francisco where he and Captain Randall of the Pacific Steamship Company, bought a brig, manned it with a full complement of men and two divers, and set sail for Callao, intending to recover the bullion from a sunken vessel near that place. Though the wrecked vessel was found they were unable to recover the treasure on account of defects in the armor of the divers. To pay the expenses of the trip, they loaded with copper at Valparaiso and returned to San Francisco and disposed of their cargo and vessel. When General Scott and General Hearney went up the coast to settle the northwestern boundary question, Major Baldwin accompanied them. In 1859 he went to Nevada, following the mining excitement into that country. Locating at Silver City, he built a hotel which he successfully conducted for three years. The year after his location at this place, July 3, 1860, marked the event of the birth of a son which was the first white child born in Silver City. This boy is the well known M. N. Baldwin, who is now a lead- ing merchant of Lander. In 1863 he raised a company of one hun- dred men for the First Nevada Cavalry and was made Captain of his company. He took service at Fort Churchill and in 1864 he was pro- moted to Major of the regiment. In a short time he was ordered to Fort Douglas by General Connor and a year later was assigned to the command at Fort Bridger. In the fall of 1865, he cut a road through the mountains to Brown's Hole and did other important mil- itary service in Utah and Wyoming. In July, 1866, he was mustered out of the service at Fort Douglas. General Connor valued his ser- vices very highly in these trying times, generally selecting him for independent commands, where coolness, judgment and bravery
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were demanded. In October, 1866, having secured a license to trade with the Indians, he took his family and goods and located in the three Bonneville cabins at the mouth of the Popo Agie. In the spring of 1867 he was obliged to leave the valley on account of Indian hostilities, going to Fort Bridger. The following year he es. tablished a store at South Pass and again opened trade with the Indians in the Lander Valley, this time locating on what is known as Baldwin Creek, building there a log store and residence. He opened a brisk trade and had for interpreter Richard May, better known as Indian Dick. Mrs. Baldwin tells of two Indians who visit- ed them one night and remained until morning, bringing with them a young antelope which would dress about twenty-five pounds. They explained that they were "heap hungry." They sat by the fire, cooking and eating, and before morning had devoured the whole car- cass. On May 4, 1869, George L. Baldwin was born, being the pioneer white child in the valley. Nine days after this event the Indians became hostile and Major Baldwin was obliged to hastily remove his family and goods to South Pass. His trade had amounted to 3,700 buffalo, elk, deer, otter and mink skins, which was at the time considered a successful venture.
The events of his life were many, but it is unnecessary to retell them here, as they appear in connection with Fort Bridger, South Pass and the Wind River Country. When Camp Stambaugh was established Major Baldwin secured the Post Tradership of that post and held the position for ten years. In 1876 he established a store at Lander and three years later he took up a soldier's homestead adjoining and partially in the town. Upon this homestead he erect- ed a family residence which has been and still is the home of his family.
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