South Pass Stories

    First page of an invoice from Wright & Wilhelmy Company. Gator and I met up at 8:00 and took sarsaparilla to the Miner’s Exchange Saloon and made it back before our weekly staff meeting started. Most of the information covered was routine, so the meeting wasn't too long. Afterwards, we all headed over to the Smith Sherlock Company Store for a staff (and volunteer) photo. After the photo shoot, I went into the archives and continued my work digitizing invoices for the Smith Sherlock Company Store. I ran across one from the Wright & Wilhelmy Company, a hardware vendor, that included several items of fishing equipment, including a number flies (see above and below). I've started trying to keep an eye out for fishing supplies.   Second page of the invoice (above) from the Wright & Wilhelmy Company.   I’ve now digitized about three years of invoices, but have not had a chance to really examine them, but I am really surprised by the amount of butter tha...

    Entrance to the National Historic Trails Center. We ate breakfast at the C'mon Inn, checked out, and headed to the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center. We walked around, looked at exhibits, and watched a couple of videos. The exhibits discuss more of the Platte River portion of the Emigrant Trails than the sites we visited yesterday, which were on the Sweetwater River. The Bureau of Land Management is, I believe, the lead organization on this center and it is evident that the Mormon Church provides some support, at least in volunteers, but the center seemed to emphasize Mormon use of the trail. Ok, but they were only 11% of the travelers along the trail. It just struck me as a bit odd.   Display showing life (and death) on the Emigrant trails.   The exhibits in the center are excellent. One of my favorites is a mock up of a covered wagon crossing the Platte River. The wagon shift and bounces as if crossing the river and the motions are synchronized ...

      Sweetwater River at the Sixth Crossing (on the Oregon, Mormon, California, and Pony Express trails. We headed out this morning towards Casper. We wanted to revisit the sites/displays, the Sixth Crossing (Willie Handcart Company) and Martin's Cove (Martin Handcart Company) where two Mormon handcart companies had ran into a blizzard and were heroically rescued. It is a really remarkable story.    Part of the exhibit describing the Willy Handcart Company and their saga. The photographs used in the displays were a bit eerie- it really looked like all eyes were on the viewer! Our plan was to make a short stop at the Sixth Crossing. We watched a short video about the rescue of the Willy Handcart Company, looked at the interpretive exhibits, and talked with the volunteers.   Reproduction of a Mormon handcart. The Willy and Martin companies had started late and there were no available carts or building supplies. They had to cut and use green wood for the cart...

 Nothing big to report. We woke, up had breakfast, and read and did small personal domestic tasks until lunch. After lunch, Connie went for a hike and I went into the town (SPC) to pick up a few items and went into the archives for a bit. Later in the day, I smoked several ears of corn and then 12 hamburgers for dinners (tonight) but mostly for lunches. We discussed and made plans to travel to Casper tomorrow and I rented a hotel near the restaurant we will likely eat at. Connie was onboard with this plan. We'll grocery shop on the way home Thursday and figure out a weekend menu then. After dinner, I read and worked on the computer and Connie worked on a couple of her projects, including shelling pecans! 

    The south pass over the continental divide, Oregon Trail. I slept in a bit this morning, ate breakfast, and headed into Lander for a few groceries while Connie started the laundry. I saw a small herd of ten pronghorn antelope on the way into Lander, but none on the return trap. Shopping for groceries was uneventful, but as I made a second pass through the produce section, I spotted some green chilis on display. They had no price on them, but learned they had just come in, they were Hatch green chilis and were only $2.49 per pound. I picked up four bags, which collectively weighted about five pounds. What a score! It had been overcast all morning, but the began to sprinkle and then rain lightly on my way home. I left the groceries in the truck while I ate lunch and waited for the rain to let up. A bit later, with the groceries put up, I started our propane grill and then began roasting the chilis. In rained intermittently and I stayed out in it to get those chilies done and...

  Old Sweetwater County Jail  Ha! I got to the shop before Gator this morning. He was sitting in front of the Dance Hall basking and wandered over when he saw me. We loaded up the sarsaparilla and dropped them off in the Miner’s Exchange Saloon. I worked in the archives, indexing records, and then opened the Saloon at noon. Early on I had several visitors and then it slowed down. A peaceful day, but I really didn’t have much of a chance to do any reading or writing until 2:00 or so. Then, I was able to do a bit of writing. Twenty-six people and three dogs came through the saloon. Shortly after I opened, a family of four came by. Walked up to the door and walked off. One member of the group stopped just long enough to ask what type of animal (mule deer) was mounted on the wall. I had three other groups of two, two, and four just walk though without stopping or asking anything. From comments made by several visitors, even those who looked around a bit, they were interested i...

        Two pages of one of the catalogs into which Smith Sherlock Company Store invoices were pasted. Each page is 17x21" in size. I walked down to the shop this morning and Gator and I drove over to the Miner’s Exchange Saloon to drop off sarsaparilla. Gator then was off to work on a small construction project at the stamp mill and I went into the archives to continue digitizing invoices from the Smith Sherlock Company Store. I am almost through my second book of invoices, covering a bit more than two years; however, I have seen a couple of things that I want to keep track of. First, I am noticing a bit of seasonal pattern in goods ordered as I expected. Also, they ordered a lot of butter- 120-132 pounds at a time. The invoices from the butter vendor are interesting, as they are directed to “Dr. to The Cheyenne Creamery Co.” The “Dr.” is short for Debtor. Seems a bit harsh.   Invoice from the Cheyenne Creamery Co.   At noon, I opened the Miner’s Exch...

     Brunswick Novelty Billiards Table in the Miner's Exchange Saloon. I went down to the shop this morning for the weekly staff meeting. Gator had already set up chairs and loaded sarsaparilla to take to the saloon. He asked if I wanted to take a short ride (to the saloon). Sure! I joked that I think he is looking for a promotion to General Volunteer. Anyway, we dropped off the sarsaparilla and made it back a few minutes before the meeting started. The meeting was a little long, laying out in broad strokes what the next two months would look like. There was some mention of a "trek" for September, which I hoped would be to Kirwin ghost town, south of Cody. I asked about this and Joe asked to meet with me for a bit after the meeting.  Turns out I am the "trek," he wants me to talk about what I have learned about Walter Lovejoy, whom I have been researching. I thought about it for a second and agreed. Then Joe told me it only had to be 45 to 60 minutes. What? I th...

    Wagon ruts along the Oregon Trail. We woke up at 6:00 AM as we generally do, made coffee, went about the morning in a leisurely fashion and then began carrying our belongings out to the truck. After coffee, breakfast, and a quick shower, we were off.  Just before Farson there were a couple of historical markers that we had passed before, but decided to stop. The first (westernmost) was for Pilot Butte, a prominent geographic marker along the Oregon Trail. There were several interpretive plaques there which primarily focused on death along the trail, I guess because of the two grave sites there, just off the trail.    Graves along the Oregon Trail.   The second marker was for Simpson's Hollow. Simpson was in charge of an army supply (wagon) train that was attacked during a series of skirmishes between the US Army and Mormon militia, which seem to have occurred as a result of miscommunication. Anyway, there is a lot of Mormon history along the trail and s...

    Ulrich's Fossil Gallery. We got up, had breakfast and headed for Ulrich's Fossil Gallery for today's dig. Heading out of town we saw several yellow-bellied marmots.  We arrived at Ulrich's a little early. The guides showed up a little later, as did a few other fossil hunting groups. We then drove up to the quarry and saw one pronghorn antelope on the way. At the quarry we given a demonstration on how to split layers of lake sediment/rock and look for fossils. Then we went after it!   Getting ready to pry two layers of rock apart.   The rock is laid down in layers of varying depth. You look for a natural seam between layers, hammer in long, thin blades and pry the layers apart hoping to find fossils. The rock is mostly limestone and breaks pretty easily and creates a lot of dust. By the end of the day, we looked like we had been working in a bakery.   Here, we found a fossil and are working to remove the adjacent upper layer, so we can get this fish. ...

    Entry sign for Fossil Butte National Monument. The butte in the background? That's it! (It's much larger as you get closer, honest.) We ate breakfast and headed off for Kemmerer and then passed on through to head to Fossil Butte National Monument, about 11 miles outside of town. We saw a grand total of four pronghorn antelope along the way from South Pass City to Fossil Butte. Coming on the site, we stopped for a photograph of the entry sign and then a bit later for a sign advertising a greater sagebrush grouse crossing.    Sagebrush Crossing sign, Fossil Butte National Monument. Ok, we've seen those before. But about 200 ft down the road, we saw five or six grouse of two different sizes: a hen and her clutch.   Greater sagebrush grouse along the entry road to Fossil Butte National Monument.  We arrived at the Visitor Center and spent about an hour or so looking at the exhibits. Most of the fish, invertebrate fossils on display are from this area. The b...

    Connie did laundry today and I rested a bit, read, and then went down to the archives to do a bit of writing. It was a quiet day for both of us. In the afternoon, Connie made up some hamburger patties and I smoked them for lunches on our trip this week.  After dinner, I prepared spinach/feta cheese omelettes to take with us for breakfasts. The hotel we will be staying at has a coffee maker and microwave, but doesn't offer anything else. The omelettes travel well and, once reheated, are just like freshly made. After a little clean up and preparation for the trip, i read and did some writing.

    Our favorite restaurant in Lander. Today started off as most days do, with Gator and I taking sarsaparilla over to the Miner's Exchange Saloon. Then, to the archives. I spend one morning a week inventorying files in the archive. I select a file and enter various pieces of information into an MS Word document. Eventually, the information will be used to populate a database. Today is a slog. Most of what I entered were letters written to and from one individual. Here is the problem.  Almost all, of these letters will also be in files devoted to the persons writing or receiving these letters. Once the database is populated, these will be duplicate records and deleted.  Oh, well. At noon, I opened the Smith Sherlock Company Store. There were two people standing in front of the store, reading the descriptive material in the window, so we all went in together. Early in the afternoon, a young girl walked into the store, came up to me and asked my name. I told her my nam...

    This lantern and sign hang on the wall of the Smith Sherlock Company Store. I have always loved the wording of the sign.  Gator and I met at 8:00 this morning. He had already loaded sarsaparilla into the ranger, so we walked over to the shop, hopped in and drove over to the Miner's Exchange Saloon. I spent the rest of the morning working in the archives photographing and digitizing invoices from the Smith Sherlock Company Store. At noon, I walked down to the store and opened it. The first hour and a half was strange. A few large groups came by. Part of the group would come into the store and park would go gold panning. I never was sure who was with who, so I talked gave my introductory comments about the store several times more, I;m sure that was necessary. However, for some reason, even though there were quite a few people coming in and out, time passed slowly.  Among the larger groups were a couple of men that had worked or lived in South Pass City some time b...

  The Rock Shop Inn. Gold Rush Days have come and gone and a couple of the State staff are away, so there was no staff meeting today! Gator and I got an early start on taking sarsaparilla over to the Miner’s Exchange Saloon. He went off on various errands and I went into the archives. Today, I photographed invoices from the Smith Sherlock Company Store, a project that is taking a fair bit more time than I expected, but I think I have a system down, at last. I have seen several invoices from the National Biscuit Company during the year 1906. The company was only about 10-years old at that time and in addition to crackers, cookies, and biscuits, they offered a fairly large substantial line of candies (see invoice below). The company later rebranded itself as Nabisco (the first two letters of each word in the company name) and is no longer so big into candy.   The candies that come in “pails” presumably are sold by weight, then there are “cases” of stick or piece candy, a...