Main Street, Wyoming; 125; Tom Bell, Fremont County Historian

But I'll try to keep it so. Program made possible by a grant from U.S. energy and Crested Butte corporation part of a family of companies in the mining and minerals business providing jobs for Wyoming people since 1966. Welcome to Main Street Wyoming. I could probably spend the entire half hour

introducing Tom Bell but I'll try to keep it simple. He's been a biologist with Game and Fish Department a rancher a writer a newspaper publisher and a teacher of science. But he's here with us today as a historian. The publisher of The Wind River Mountain near the quarterly magazine of history produced by Fremont county's Piner museum. Welcome Tom. Thank you good to be here. Your magazine the mountaineer is loaded with articles about all sorts of things from the Oregon Trail to the Indian reservation in Fremont County to the gold country up by Atlantic City. It is Fremont County particularly a treasure trove of historical things. Oh yes indeed it is just loaded with so much history that it's incredible. You keep producing it in the magazine in one form or another you've got photographs you've got journals you've got all sorts of materials. Were you gather all this material from much of the material is in the Pioneer museum or in a replica museum or Dubois. Some of it is in the form

of journals diaries in the latest issue we're running a series of letters that turned up in what is called the tubeless collection at South Pass City. And some articles come and what we call over the transom from people who are descendants of Fremont County pioneers and they will send material and I will follow up on it and get more information and take it from there. So let's take a look at some examples of the magazine I think one of the things that's intriguing about it is that where you get a lot of historical journals that are textbook grade fairly dull you use historical photos and liven things up that way the whole magazine is full of them including the covers. We can look right now at an example of that which has three individuals on the front cover. I believe one of them is Dick Russia key A.G. for Schicchi son Finn Burnett is the center figure who is an old scout in front here's MN and pioneer era. Incidentally the great grandfather of Senator Alan

Simpson and the other man is it mole Leclaire who is the grandfather of my neighbor in Lander and the story is mainly about Ed mole who was an Indian Scout during the time when many of the Indian wars were going on and he may have been one of the last man to have seen and talked to General Custer just before Custer Mitty's fate on the Little Bighorn because it mole was a scout for actually General Crook. Carrying messages back and forth and I really got intrigued with that and talk to my neighbor and she furnished material and we had a lock. You had some good photos so it turned out to be a really neat story. So if you can't be too expensive to produce a magazine that has good quality paper and photographs of the sort of thing. Well it's something that I think Fremont County should be proud of because the county has accepted this as a project

and backs it. If the magazine carries some of the expense itself of course through subscriptions and the sales we make but doesn't cover it all. But the other part of my duties are as the sort of the coordinator for a fee my county history book and I'm one of the writers for it and we have a core of people who are working on that and some of those people also submit articles like Lauren Jostein written here who has submitted and Ravinia builder and others so it was a sort of a team effort. Let's take a look at another example the magazine in fact your latest issue which features a color photo on the front that's the Washington needle. Yes and in that case I had two of the old reports of Captain William rails and Captain Jones who were explorers who came into the county and.

This is mid not mid 19th century they were exploring. Yes. Eighteen sixty and eight hundred seventy two. And Captain Reynolds came in 1860 and it was really interesting to me in that he tells about meeting his lieutenant right here at Riverton on the old rendezvous site and he brings out some things that I thought were rather interesting and so I excerpted those passages from those two reports about what went on right here in Fremont County rather fascinating. What what inspired you to start the magazine. What instigated this it's been around for how many years this is the seventh year that are in now. How did you get started. I came back from Oregon to work on the Iowa State Journal on just strictly history with the idea being that the journal might possibly put out a history book. But then the great economic slump came and that fizzled out. But the people at Pioneer museum had seen the work that I was doing and they said you want to come here and continue it. And so I did

go to the museum but when I looked at the wealth of material it was this they are just in the files and cabinets and so on I said there isn't any way you can put all of this in one history book. There has to be another way that people can see this material it is so fascinating about our history that's so close to us yet. And the only way to do that is to put out something like a magazine and I said Would you let me try. And so that's how it all came about and I want to I don't want to stop in the middle of that story but I want to hear more about some of the other things that we've got in Fremont County that make it particularly apt as a place to have a historical legacy like this where I live if you think about Fremont county's as big as four of the eastern states and you could fit Massachusetts and New Jersey both well each of them separately into that this county still have some room left so we have a big county to begin with. But there is so much of the history revolved

around this county beginning with the old mountain men themselves. This was a crossroads for the mountain man. One of the two of the rendezvous was were held here in Riverton and one half a one I guess you'd call it at lander but they were rather famous rendezvoused and those men and trekking back and forth made notes and noted the country and the Indians that were here and and that sort of thing. So that's all fascinating. They their adventures led to the opening of what later was to become the Oregon Trail and then finally in the mountain man of the trappers the missionaries wanted to come West to bring the Word of God to the Indians. And so all of the first four white women in the Wind River Valley were the four that came to the rendezvous in 1838 right here returned the missionary wives a fascinating story that is in one of the magazines from the missionaries of course it evolved into those people wanting to move to the west. You know the Daniel Boone types that always were looking to the wilderness for and

beyond. And so they came and eventually that was one of the greatest migrations or immigrations of people in the whole world's history the only one that compares to what I understand is one that took place in Siberia. So we have the Oregon Trail and Oregon California Mormon Trail and the Pony Express. First telegraph line first transcontinental stage line Mark Twain wrote it and he wrote about the mayor of South past city and rather fascinating cute little piece of humor that he wrote about then of course the only Indian reservation in Wyoming is here in Fremont County. And and all of the. The events that took place in the setting up of that reservation and what's happened since you know much of it very tragic and that's documented in in well just the last issue and this year we've got the gold mining up in south a city or a big gold mining area in Wyoming was it soft by a city rather

ironic that the Forty-Niners went right through the place the hole and then reading know that there was quite a little gold here not like California of course but what little there. What's Cassidy Calamity Jane. All of them were here and which Cassidy was this was kind of a hangout for him when he was just first beginning. The only time he was ever sent to prison was from the courthouse in Lander. There is so much history here it's not just those people that people need to hear about all the time but it's the kind of people like the show Duck family and it's featured in this last issue Sherlock still here of course the family still here. They're tracing the roots back of course and their lives I've looked at the material that you have in the latest issue which includes a series of letters from Janet Smith Janet Sherlock Smith and to her son Peter and also from her daughter Maggie to Peter. Yes that makes just a fascinating and quite extended correspondence Peter was sent away to Omaha to school. Yes the family was still living in south past city. And I

thought it might be give people a sense of how much life there is in these journals and letters that you often republished. If we just had you read a section of that correspondence and we'll look at some of the pictures that are included in the magazine to go with it. OK. I maybe should set the stage and say that the shops came in 1869 and that Richard Sherlock the husband and father died after a short period of time and the mother was left. And we deal with four kids and then she married a man named James Smith and together they ran the hotel in South Passy and then later there were ranches evolved and so on it was known as the. Smith insured a company so at the time these letters are being written and she is Mrs. Smith and they have had two more children one of which will be mentioned here and I and I will point it out so and this is in the early 1880s. Yes we're talking about 1881 is when Peter 15 years old

was sent off to Creighton in Omaha this long distance. Peter was a tough little pioneer kid he'd been driving freight wagon from point a rock to South Pasadena least 13. But here he is sent out into the world and you get kind of the tone of this interplay between the family as I read this letter and the first one I read is from Meggie the older sister who was 17 at this time. And she's writing back to Peter. And as you can see she's kind of a mom says now Peter. I don't like to be grumbling every letter I write but I'm going to ask you one thing and that is why don't you answer mother's letters. She wrote you on your birthday you not answered her letter yet not even to thank her for the $5 she sent you. We've had from two to 15 passengers on the coach besides the drivers all winter and I've had to get up every morning at 5 o'clock and up until 12:00 at night. And mother always found time to answer your letters and I've seen her sit up after we've all gone to bed to do it. And it makes her feel

hurt when you never take a bit of notice ever. If you cannot get time I know you must be busy. To answer both mother and my letters why don't answer mine. And I would rather you would neglect mine the mothers. Now Peter don't get mad at me for writing. I know if you'd thought it would make mother feel bad you would have written to her before this. I'm glad you've been to the opera. You must have enjoyed it didn't you. But I'm glad too that you don't want any other place very often because then you won't be so likely to get into bad company because you know we can't afford to have the best the smartest one of the family spoiled. You needn't think I'm making fun of you now. Bernie says now my Pete is in Omaha cutting wood. My Pete is a good boy. He sends me candy. We wouldn't say who or he is here. I will end it. Ok sorry. Well right here I could say that this is Ernie's to me if the little boy of James and Janet and this is Ernie who is as she says here will be two years old with 30 it became Ernest Smith the

post-master river. Every evening when the mail comes in he comes to see an e-mail me and we get him some candy wrapped up in a paper and he thinks you sent it. It will be two years old at 30th of this month. Her mother says Be very careful of yourself and try and cure your cold and I do hope it is well by this time. Mother Jim and all the children send their love and best wishes of your success in school to you and accept a large share from your loving sister Maggie. Now one of the things that I recall from these letters is that they they are worried terribly about Peter contracting smallpox which is if a Democrat that point yes but in the end describing their fears they also describe how they took care of themselves and that was that you might explain that a little bit. It is clear this with this was a place where you didn't have medical help handy. No no doctors not there not been at that time at that particular time there have been doctors earlier but now. South Passy is kind of in the doldrums it's in the economic blues you might say like you were familiar with it.

So there were many doctors but she was deathly afraid of smallpox which they will could be and they would read or hear that smallpox was rampant where Peter was and they wanted him to be very careful but one of the things she wrote for was some I re needles and she used them too when he sent him. She used them to inoculate the younger children. One of the Peter's younger brothers William nearly lost his arm after she had inoculated him with his to giving the smallpox so that they wouldn't wouldn't actually get the disease and die. So it was a rather dreadful fearsome sort of thing for mothers I'm sure. And doing it on her own you know it to spite him. And even even taking the needles from one child's inoculation to the other and trying to get it to stick and work. Can you imagine doctors today here who wouldn't it would have been court if let's continue on you have some more letters to review.

Well actually I should jump ahead about a year now they have decided to send Maggie off to school in Salt Lake City. And so she believes in this early part of February to go to Salt Lake City and the stage at this time is an open sleigh because the snow is there and it's been very very bad weather as she relates in the letters. Maggie gets only as far as dry sandy which is only about 30 to 40 miles away and the driver she has is a young fellow from Texas a driver who does not understand and know while in blizzards he takes her out in the blizzard heading toward Big Sandy and they get lost. Well he finds his way back. Instead of being very prudent and New York often wondered why Maggie would have said hey you know let's just stay here. She allowed herself to be taken out a second time and they really do get lost this time. And when the stage driver finally. Realize that he's lost he gets out and he's on a drainage which he thinks will lead him

down to the stage station and it does not very far away actually but it's a terrible busier with the time he gets there he's so badly frozen that he dies within a few days but he's able to tell them that she's up the drinking age. They go looking and they find her and she's frozen to her chair to her seat in the in the sleigh so badly frozen that she dies. I think it's 11 days later and she stays at the dry sandy for a time and then they're able to move her to South Pasadena she dies there. So the next letter is from the mother to Peter to her telling him about this and that's what I'd like to read next. Has city Well I mean territory fifty words 21st 1893. My dear Peter I pray to God to comfort you under the heavy blow that has fallen upon us. Maggie died this morning about half past two o'clock. She suffered considerable. She was frozen inwardly and inflammation set in. The doctor said she would have to get her feet and hands amputated and he did not think she could stand

it. There had been such a strain on the nervous system. But I tell you Peter she was brave about the last words she said to me was. Mama I'm not afraid. Oh Peter why she should have died such a death is a mystery. She was such a good girl. God knows best what is good for us. If I could only be reconciled to his will. But it seems so hard. She was so much comfort to me more like a companion than a child. I will write you a longer letter next time be a good boy and come home when your school term expires. Make you look forward to that time when you would meet with great when you would meet with great longing. She talked about meeting you with the railroad and coming home together. Mr. Stewart has had all his fingers taken off with the exception of the film on his left hand and part of his nose and he's almost blind his feet have been operated on but I forget whether all or part Doherty has lost both feet. Mr. Park is not found yet. May God bless and pursue preserve you is the prayer of your loving mother. Well in this blizzard of course there were

four other people post today. Mr Park was one of them. Dorothy was one of the other speech drivers who lost both of his feet and he was late later known as Peggy Doherty the other man Mr Stewart lost part of his face nice fingers and so on. There you mentioned Doherty was also the stage driver who we read about in John McAfee's book Rising in the plains in broad plain. David Love's mother into the tree. She mentions Peggy Doherty and you see him and other recounts also he went on driving stage tough budget without freedom without feet. Yes right. Yeah they were pretty tough. You prove pretty much just as we've as we've talked to obviously offer such an extraordinary amount of material but I'm wondering how accessible would a similar venture before other counties in the state. In other words should every county be thinking why don't we have a historical magazine like this I think they could you know I'm sure that the material is there it's laying in vaults and files may be in boxes like so more material still is and

we try to find out as we run into and that sort of thing but yes every county I think in Wyoming probably has a rich history also. I like to think that Fremont County is richer because of the many things that have happened here. But every county has its own and thank of history. And and and it's all very rich and it's all fascinating I think. And we're at a crossroads almost anywhere you go in Wyoming you have these intersections of history taking. Yes yes. It's one of the things that fascinates me is that Western history seems to hold a particular fascination for people not just people who live in this part of the country. I remember being with you at the museum and somebody walking in and wanting to know where all the old brick houses in the city here in Lander wanting to go out and find them in the know where the bricks were made. You know the most obscure little corner of historical knowledge but they had they wanted that particular thing. And that seems to be an everyday experience people coming in and asking. Yes it is people who are very close to the history here you know it's too close to us.

And and many of our cases we can trace our ancestry back. My great grandfather new Simpsons Alan Simpson is a great man. But I know because I found a newspaper clipping said that they were the ones that stood up at the wedding of a mutual friend. It's all very close to us and for many other people outside of this area it's even more fascinating I think because they've they can't see this. We have the setting yet for the most part they don't. They've lost a lot of it. Whereas we can go out on the Oregon Trail and walk it and it's just as if you were doing it a hundred fifty years ago in 1840. Is that what fascinates you about Western history about the history of this area particularly I mean that that's got an almost romantic sound to it wanting to get a taste of what it was like a century ago were all right. I think so because you know if they use the term vicarious experience and that's what it really is you know you can put yourself on the spot I can stand on south past and look down to the

east and hear the hope beats of the Pony Express writer. And here he comes running up the trail you know. He goes over the top and he goes down to Pacific Springs and on to Goshen Oh but you can almost hear that or you can hear the emigrants as they passed over say in Oregon oh oh and you know because they knew at that point they knew they were in Oregon territory. They were no longer in the United States you see and that's what's really fascinating about because they were the people who were able to settle that country and bring it into the United States as a part of it. And as you describe being in places like that and looking out over the landscape you're really seeing a landscape that hasn't changed greatly and you know at times we've got in addition all the manuscripts that you've collected at the museum you've got a lot of photographs as well. Yes and we have another example that we brought with us here that shows toga to pass some time ago why don't you talk a little bit about that. OK. Along with this story about Captain Reynolds he was sent out to look for a road. Grades

easiest way to get from the Union Pacific Railroad which had come into the country in 1865 66 68 along and there are up to Yellowstone because they wanted access to it. And so he was sent to explore Yellowstone so Wynnie in by what we call the East Gate. And then when it once he got inside he was trying to find his way out and as it turned out he had a sheep or Indian with him who was named talkative. And once they got to a certain place old toggery said oh yeah he knew where he was he knew how to get him back to Fort Washington. So we did and that was what we're told he passed in 1017. They opened the road and this was the celebration for that. I think Governor Beebe Brooke spoke and as you can see from the photo the Indians took part in it. It was named for an Indian and he was quite a gala affair. We don't even think of it as we say will were to be passed today that was once you know to an impossible place to go. But

until 1979 was. And yet as you look at the photo totally past itself really hasn't changed that much we just as right are able to get over it that's right. Think one of the things about Western history that makes it a little more accessible is the fact that a good deal of at least the sort of European section of it is documented by photograph. Yes and we've got another photograph that you brought with you from the museum which shows Main Street on lander. I'm not sure what the date on it is the state the last state to go yeah. Yeah well it's it's between Second and Third Street now excuse me between first and second Street. The particular building where the stage came in which also had the weather bureau on top as you can see from the photo. And that building is gone now but it was built by the weatherman and up photographer at the time named George Scott. And that was the last stage because of course the railroad had come in there and said What date are we talking about. We're talking Iraq we're told one thousand six. Now that didn't mean that there weren't stage coaches still

running because they had to run between Rollins if somebody was coming in from the West Coast and wanted to get the latter they still had to take a stagecoach from Rawlins to lander and but this was the last one that ran from Casper to land or because of the railroad and where do you find you've got a lot of interested people subscribing to the magazine were they subscribing from outside of Fremont County. No we have about 400 25 subscribers and about 300 of those are from Wyoming and about one hundred thirty five of them are from Fremont County. But we have like 31 from California have one in Mexico and one in Canada one in Alaska and the rest are just got around the United States through many of them are descendants of people who once lived here and they were there looking at the routes and so on. One of the more about it and they come back. I mean these are the people that you find up on south and orient over the landscape. Oh yeah they'll come in and tell us about the magazine or they all or they would have seen

a story and they'll come in and see we you know I have something written up about my great grandmother or great grandfather would you be interested and I don't know you better look at it. So you're actually generating more material in addition to those archaeologists are still digging through the museum. Yes and of course people even overseas you have a strong interest in in Western history particularly. Well you bet the Germans and the Japanese we have a German girl in the. Museum yesterday who was researching brick buildings again is a different person altogether than the one you were talking about. And she wanted to know more about it. So you have these people who are willing to put it another way we take what we have for granted because it's always there and we don't think it's going to change all that much even putting a pipeline through the Oregon Trail which I don't think is right but those people come and look at it in terms of having lived in a country which is hundreds of years old and their country is completely settled has been civilized so-called quote unquote for

hundreds of years. And they're fascinated by the open space just in open space. Right. The fact that they can stand on south past and see it much as all people did hundreds of years ago and again that open canvas that we talk about that people can actually see the past. Yes. Tom we've run out of time. There's another Wyoming historian the late Agnes Wright spring who once said that Wyoming in Wyoming the past press is so closely on the president I think in some ways that explains the interest in your magazine and the success of your magazine and the reason it will keep turning back to it. Thanks very much for joining us on Main Street. Oh my pleasure thank you. This program made possible by a grant from U.S. energy and Crested Butte corporation

part of a family of companies in the mining and minerals business providing jobs for Wyoming people since 1966.