CM Ranche
Dubois, Wyoming
photo: JC Leacock
Drover Diaries
After the first break we were unable to control the cattle longer, for just as soon as we could get them quiet, some other herd would run into us and give us a fresh start. Finally so many herds had run together that it was impossible to tell our cattle from others. When lightning flashed we could see thousands of cattle and hundreds of men all over the prairie, so we turned everything loose and waited patiently for daybreak. The next morning all the different outfits got together and we had a general round-up. It took about a week to get everything all straightened out and trim up the herds. We then crossed the “Arkansas River just above Dodge City and traveled northwest across the State of Kansas and struck North Platte River at Ogallala, Nebraska. Following the North Platte River, we passed Chimney Rock, old Fort Fetterman and Fort Laramie and camped on the north bank of the North Platte River, where we rested one day grazing cattle, bathing and washing our saddle blankets. We then started on a four days’ drive without water (about sixty miles) across the mountains from the North Platte River in Nebraska to Powder River in Wyoming. When we arrived on the divide or the backbone, between the two rivers, we passed along where a train of emigrants had been murdered by the Cheyenne Indians about two years before. For about the distance of half a mile the trail on both sides was strewn with oxen bones, irons and pieces of wagons where they had been burned, but did not see any human bones because I didn’t take time to make a close examination. From the appearance of the surroundings there must have been twenty-five or thirty wagons and ox teams. We were told by old Indian fighters that there were 150 persons in the train, including the women and children, all murdered— none left to tell the tale.
Wyoming
by Greg Russell
Cashing in on Colts
By Fran Devereux Smith
They might have only seven rides before being sold, but 2-year-old geldings raised on Bartlett Ranch Wyoming have found a niche in the sale ring. Their marketability stems from their bloodlines and ability, and from the renown of the horsemen who started them under saddle.
Read more: http://westernhorseman.com/index.php/articles/ranchlands-mainmenu-74/article/122-cashing-in-on-colts.html#ixzz1nWd5tsN0
Chief Red Shirt (1845 – 1925) was an Oglala Sioux warrior who served in the capacity of chief at two Sioux peace delegations to Washington in 1870 and in 1880. He was officially appointed chief of the Oglala at the Pine Ridge Agency in 1878. Red Shirt was born near Fort Fetterman in Wyoming. In 1887 he toured with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show in the United States and in Europe.
Red Shirt in Europe link below:
http://segonku.unl.edu/~jheppler/showindian/analysis/show-indians/red-shirt/
Red Shirt, South Dakota is named after Chief Red Shirt.
Calamity Jane
(May 1, 1852 – August 1, 1903)
Photographed: Evanston, Wyoming
From her autobiography of 1896, Martha Jane writes of this time-
“In 1865 we emigrated from our homes in Missouri by the overland route to Virginia City, Montana, taking five months to make the journey. While on the way, the greater portion of my time was spent in hunting along with the men and hunters of the party; in fact, I was at all times with the men when there was excitement and adventures to be had. By the time we reached Virginia City, I was considered a remarkable good shot and a fearless rider for a girl of my age. I remember many occurrences on the journey from Missouri to Montana. Many times in crossing the mountains, the conditions of the trail were so bad that we frequently had to lower the wagons over ledges by hand with ropes, for they were so rough and rugged that horses were of no use. We also had many exciting times fording streams, for many of the streams in our way were noted for quicksands and boggy places, where, unless we were very careful, we would have lost horses and all. Then we had many dangers to encounter in the way of streams swelling on account of heavy rains. On occasions of that kind, the men would usually select the best places to cross the streams; myself, on more than one occasion, have mounted my pony and swam across the stream several times merely to amuse myself, and have had many narrow escapes from having both myself and pony washed away to certain death, but, as the pioneers of those days had plenty of courage, we overcame all obstacles and reached Virginia City in safety. Mother died at Black Foot, Montana, 1866, where we buried her. I left Montana in Spring of 1866, for Utah, arriving at Salt Lake City during the summer.”
Gillette, Wyoming 1982
Green River City, Wyoming 1890
Lost In Thought
Red Clark from Afton Wyoming before his ride on a bare back bronc at the Jackson Hole Rodeo. A moment of reflection is common behind the chutes.
The Other Wyoming
Aerial of the Jonah Field coal bed methane drilling area near Pinedale, Wyoming. For decades, vast sections of Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico have been the focal points for natural gas drilling. These drilling operations are often very poorly regulated. The result is an unsightly and ruined landscape
This western was set on the Shiloh Ranch in Medicine Bow, Wyoming, the foreman is known only as ‘The Virginian’ (James Drury) and his impulsive young friend is Trampas (Doug McClure) who together star in this famous story adapted for television. Later the series setting was moved on to the 1890’s and the show was re-titled The Men From Shiloh.
The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains is a pioneering 1902 novel set in the Wild West by the American author Owen Wister. Describing the life of the foreman of the Shiloh Ranch in Wyoming, it was the first true western written, aside from the tiny dime novels. It paved the way for many more westerns by famous authors such as Zane Grey, Louis L’Amour, and several others.
Excess of Joy of Living
“Cowboys, jam-full of life, coming there to ship stock, in their excess of joy of living would playfully shoot the doorknobs off the vacant buildings.”
