Ghostly Rocking Chair In the Smith Sherlock Company Store

-

 

Old wicker rocking chair in the Smith Sherlock Company Store in South Pass City, Wyoming 
Old rocking chair that is sometimes occupied by a "ghost."

I walked down to the SPC office at 8:00 and Gator I took sarsaparilla to the Miner’s Exchange Saloon. I then worked in the archives until noon, at which time I opened the Smith Sherlock Store. The afternoon started off busy, with 56 visitors and one dog by 2:00 PM. Then dark clouds started building and a cold wind picked up and everyone on site left quickly. We only got a light rain but it really cooled things off.

Earlier in the afternoon, I had a chance to show a few kids the mysterious, haunted rocking chair. There is an old rocking chair in the store. If I hear children coming, I step on the front of the rocker and get it going. Then I step away from the chair. When the children come in, I tell them in a disappointed voice that they had just missed the ghost. Their eyes get big- it is so cute. I’m a grownup, so it must be true. Most parents gently inform their children that it is just a trick.

At 2:50, four visitors came into the store, braving the weather. They drove in from Pinedale, to our northwest, and encountered the wind and rain that came through here, Evidently saw a lot more rain than we had. I had a long conversation with two of the ladies in this party about the labeling and history of several of the items on display.

We had a total of 65 visitors and one dog in the store today, but only about eight after the wind and rain chased everyone away. Today, quite a few of the visitors were from southwest Wyoming: Kemmerer, Mountain View, and, especially, Pinedale.

We remembered to set some salmon out for dinner, but I was thinking pizza tonight. Connie accepted the suggestion. We changed and drove down to the Rock Shop Inn to meet up with Texas Dan. I met him here a couple of years ago, He’s from the San Antonio area and we have visited a number of the same places in Texas. We had a nice conversation catching up with news, etc. After a while, we left and headed for the Miner’s Grubstake for our pizza. It was pretty good- it reminded me of a thin-crust Pizza Hut pizza, but not anywhere near as greasy.

We took a wildlife ride through SPC and around the old highway. We saw 27 pronghorn antelope and 3 greater sage grouse.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Day of Routine Household Activities

-
Image
  Our Clamshell shelter on the bank of Willow Creek It started off cool today, the morning low was 32, but it warmed up nicely. I did a little computer work this morning and then we took advantage of the nice weather to drag the last of our stuff out of the truck and finish setting up "camp." First, I set up our propane (Coleman Roadtrip) grill. Next, Connie and I set up our Quickset Clamshell shelter for use as a workout area. I secured the shelter with ground anchors. We'll see how it stands up to Wyoming winds. Finally, we set up a folding table that we place near our outdoor shower. We use this table and the shower spigot to wash dishes, prepare food, and clean fish. After spending $250 on fishing licenses, I hope there is a fair bit of fish cleaning this summer. We have access to a nearby garage that is owned by SPC, so we stowed a few items there, including our dumbbells. Once we get a tote to store the dumbbells in, we'll move them to the Clamshell, which is wh...
Read more

Arrival and Week 1

-
Image
I arrived in South Pass City mid-morning on Thursday May 21 after a 1020 mile, four-day drive. I could have made it in three days, but decided to spend the night in Lander to fuel up, buy a few groceries, and relax. I checked in at the office, no one was there, but ran into Ashley, a site employee and caught up for a few minutes. Wonderful spring weather in South Pass City. As I was backing up the trailer, getting in and out of the truck to check placement in my camping pad, checking level, etc., it began to sleet, then snow. The temperature was in the 30s and the wind was blowing pretty hard. I got some assistance with backing up from Jesse, one of the seasonal employees, and Curtis, a site employee. This save a number of extra in and outs from the truck. I unhitched the trailer, hooked up the water hose, power, and sewer line and hunkered down in the trailer and set up the inside from travel mode. A little later, warmed a bit, I set up the Starlink, and eventually put the landing g...
Read more

About

-
 I volunteered at South Pass City (SPC) in May-October 2023. During that season, I read the journals written by Doctor Walter Lovejoy and his brother Fred, which had been obtained by SPC in 2007. These journals were written between 1886 and 1904, intermittently, were interesting and painted a vivid picture of life in South Pass City and early Wyoming.  The journals had served as background information for a number of interpretive writings, but I thought they warranted a more thorough presentation. So, I began thinking about publishing the journals in some format. Much of my volunteer time was spent in the recently opened Smith Sherlock Company Store exhibit- greeting visitors and telling them about the store. When I had time on my hands, I would examine the labels on canned (and other) goods in the exhibit. Later, at home, I would research the labels and learned a lot of interesting history, which I incorporated into my presentations in the store. I had the idea of presenting ...
Read more