From "Thorofare" to Destination: Shifting Historical Land Uses along the South Fork of the Shoshone River

From “Thorofare” to Destination: Shifting Historical Land Uses along the South Fork of the Shoshone River By Jeremy M. Johnston Hal and Naoma Tate Endowed Chair of Western Studies, Ernest J. Goppert Curator of the Buffalo Bill Museum, and Managing Editor of The Papers of William F. Cody Presentation to the Upper South Fork Landowners Association August 6, 2016 at Valley Ranch … history is a pontoon bridge. Every man walks and works at its building end, and has come as far as he has over the pontoons laid by others he may never have heard of. Events have a way of making other events inevitable; the actions of men are consecutive and indivisible. From Wolf Willow by Wallace Stegner Climate, altitude, geology, precipitation, and many other natural forces combine to shape landscapes, yet historical land-use plays a significant role in developing landscape and the lifestyles of its residents. The South Fork of the Shoshone River has its own unique character when compared to other regions within the Yellowstone Ecosystem: isolated, the end of the road, a retreat. It is not a thoroughfare like the North Fork of the Shoshone; traffic along the South Fork rarely just passes through. This landscape attracted Larry Larom and allowed him to introduce many young boys and girls from the cities to the “Old West.” This is where Anson Eddy lived as a mountain man well into the 1970s. The following experiences and words recorded from past visitors and residents highlight the historical evolution of land-use that resulted in shaping today’s landscape in both the South Fork and North Fork valleys.1 1 For an historical overview of the North Fork of the Shoshone, see Ester Johansson Murray, A History of the North Fork of the Shoshone River (Cody, WY: Lone Eagle Multimedia, 1996); For a history of Valley Ranch and early South Fork settlers, see W. Hudson Kensel, Dude Ranching in Yellowstone Country: Larry Larom and Valley Ranch, 1915-1969 (Norman, OK: Arthur H. Clark Company, 2010); for a brief biography of Anson Eddy, see Jay Lawson, Men to Match our Mountains (Greybull, WY: Pronghorn Press, 2007). 1 If we go back centuries, we see the South Fork of the Shoshone was a relatively busy place with traffic going back and forth, beginning with the American Indians of the region. These original inhabitants established a trail through the South Fork that connected to an extensive network of trails feeding a busy continental trade network. These connections are demonstrated by the presence of Yellowstone obsidian found within the archeological sites of the early Mound Builders cultures in the Midwest. Europeans plugged into this trade network as they colonized the southwest and the east coast. During this historic period, horses found their way to the early residents of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains through these trade routes. These horses transformed footpaths to well-established trails, facilitating trade through the region.2 A few remnants demonstrate, the South Fork’s international connections from this historical period. Anson Eddy discovered Spanish coins dated 1781 at Crescent Pass, alongside various chips and flakes from early projectile-point makers. More than likely an early American Indian acquired these coins from an early trade fair and lost them while passing through the South Fork.3 John Colter arrived in the region the winter of 1807-1808 as a representative for the fur trader Manuel Lisa. Colter sought trails to find potential trading partners that could provide beaver pelts to Lisa’s post on the mouth of the Big Horn River. His geographical information was eventually passed on to his former boss, Captain William Clark, who was producing a map based on his expedition through the American West 2 For an overview of American Indians within the Yellowstone Ecosystem, see Peter Nabakov and Lawrence Loendorf, Restoring a Presence: American Indians and Yellowstone National Park (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2004) and Joel Janetski, Indians in Yellowstone National Park (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2002). 3 Burton Harris, John Colter: His Years in the Rockies (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1993), p. xxiv-xxv. 2 with fellow commander Meriwether Lewis.4 Another Lewis and Clark member George Drouillard, provided Clark with a rough map based on his travels in the Big Horn Basin.5 This map reflects the geographical information early fur traders gleaned from their American Indian hosts. The South Fork of the Shoshone River was identified as the Salt Fork of the Stinking Water River. The map also identifies “Hart” Mountain, Spirit Mountain (present-day Cedar Mountain), and the North Fork is identified as the Grass House River. Notes indicate the North Fork, “reaches to the main mountains or nearby it – requires 12 days march to reach its source [–] much beaver and otter on it.” The “Salt Fork” is described as “a considerable river.” 6 Drouillard also identified a “Salt cave on N side of a mountain where the salt is found pure or perfect [–] the sun never shines [–] is believed to be fossil salt the Spaniards obtain it from this plaice by passing over the river Colorado – the Indians of the country live on horses altogether.” Drouillard noted that one could reach the Spanish settlements in a “14-day march” from Cedar Mountain or an 8-day trip from the Salt Cave. To this day, the location of the Salt Cave is unknown. The location and the description of the cave may have been the result of a mistranslation between Drouillard and his American Indian sources. It may have been possible Drouillard mistakenly believed some of the region’s mineral deposits from the local geothermal features used 4 See Burton Harris, John Colter: His Years in the Rockies for details regarding this trip. M. O. Skarsten, George Drouillard (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2005). 6 George Drouillard’s Map, 1808. A copy of this map is available in Fred R. Gowans, A Fur Trade History of Yellowstone Park (Orem, UT: Mountain Grizzly Publications, 1989). Although Drouillard identified Heart Mountain as “Hart Mountain,” the published Lewis and Clark map spelled it correctly. A few local historians believed this mountain was named Hart after an early explorer or army officer, but its early use on the Lewis and Clark map indicates it was named through Colter and Drouillard due to its resemblance to a buffalo heart. 5 3 by American Indians to treat hides was salt, a common European method for tanning hides. Despite Drouillard’s enticing information, as far as we know, no expedition ever tried to establish the Santa Fe Trail through the South Fork of the Shoshone. The War of 1812 disrupted the American Fur trade, and it was not until the 1820s and 1830s that the American fur traders returned. Fur trapper Joe Meek and a group of trappers camped at “Colter’s Hell” near present-day Cody, Wyoming, in 1830. Meek later noted, “This place afforded as much food for wonder to the whole camp… and the men unanimously pronounced it the ‘back door to that country which divines preach about.’ As this volcanic district had previously been seen by … Colter, while on a solitary hunt, and by him also denominated ‘hell,’ there must certainly have been something very suggestive in its appearance.”7 Osborne Russell, a fur trader working out of Fort Hall along the Snake River in present-day Idaho, used the South Fork corridor hoping to escape a Blackfeet war party. Traveling from Jackson’s Hole, Russell and his companions found themselves traversing the South Fork downstream to Colter’s Hell, carrying a companion wounded in a skirmish with the Blackfeet. Russell detailed their trip as follows: We ascended the Mountain … and crossed the divide and descended another [river] branch (which ran in a North direction) about 8 mls. and encamped in an enormous gorge… [July] 19th traveled about 15 mls. down stream and encamped in the edge of a plain. [July] 20th traveled down to the two forks of this stream about 5 mls. and stopped for the night. Here some of the Trappers knew the country. This stream is called Stinking 7 Frances Fuller Victor, The River of the West: The Adventures of Joe Meek, Volume I the Mountain Years (Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Company, 1983), reprint of original 1870 edition, p. 79-80. 4 River a branch of the Bighorn which after running about 40 mls thro. the big plains enters the river about 15 mls. above the lower Bighorn Mountain. It takes its name from several hot Springs about 5 miles below the forks producing a sulphurous stench which is often carried by the wind to the distance of 5 or 6 Mls. Here are also large quarries of gypsum almost transparent of the finest quality and also appearances of Lead with large rich beds of Iron and bituminous coal We stopped at this place and rested our animals until the 23d.8 Many years later, on April 13, 1859, Captain William F. Raynolds of the Corps of Topographical Engineers received orders from the Secretary of War to explore the Yellowstone River basin. The overall goal of this expedition was to locate possible locations for military roads from Fort Laramie and South Pass to Fort Union and Fort Benton, both along the Missouri River. Additionally, Raynolds was instructed to reconnoiter the mountainous regions that formed the headwaters of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers. In addition to his enlisted men, the War Department authorized Raynolds to hire up to eight assistants, including a geologist, naturalist, astronomer, meteorologist, and others that would record key scientific information regarding the Yellowstone River Basin. To map the Big Horn Basin, Raynolds sent an expedition led by Lieutenant William M. Maynadier, who deemed the Absaroka Range nearly impassable for potential travelers. Raynolds concluded in his report, “This part of the country… is repelling in all its characteristics, and can only be traversed with the greatest of 8 Osborne Russell, Journal of a Trapper, edited by Aubrey L. Haines (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1955), p. 25. 5 difficulty.”9 Maynadier explored the lower section of the Shoshone River to locate a suitable ford to cross the deep river. Near present-day Ralston, the men crossed the Shoshone and in the process lost one wagon and a number of supplies. Maynadier noted, “We returned to camp wet, cold, hungry, and dispirited, and I passed the most wretched night it has ever been my lot to encounter.” 10 During his trip through the Big Horn Basin, Maynadier described Heart Mountain, “It is a mountain capped by an immense square rock, leaning slightly, and forms a prominent landmark.”11 Based on his tough trip through the Big Horn Basin, Maynadier reported, “The prairie is too destitute of timber and water to attract or sustain settlers… The exploration also shows that any route, either for a railroad or wagon road, through the Big Horn mountains, or by the valley of the Big Horn river, is impracticable, except at immense cost.”12 In comparison, Maynadier described the Yellowstone Valley as not only attractive to future settlers, but also would serve as a good route into the Yellowstone region, additionally, “a road connecting the Platte and the Yellowstone is easy and practicable, but it must go around, and not through, the Big Horn mountains.”13 According to Raynolds’ report, the Stinking Water River served as a major obstacle, one to be avoided by settlers and travelers, not a thoroughfare as indicated by the American Indians and fur traders. 14 Although Jim Bridger served as Raynold’s guide, the hesitancy of Maynadier’s report did not deter him from establishing the Bridger Trail through the Big Horn Basin to the gold fields of Montana in the mid9 Brevet Brigadier General W. F. Raynolds, Exploration of the Yellowstone River (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1868), p. 9 10 Ibid., p. 136. 11 Ibid., p. 137. 12 Ibid., p. 153-154. 13 Ibid., p. 154. 14 Due to the chaos generated by the Civil War, Raynolds’ report was not published until 1868. 6 1860s. Yet Bridger’s Trail was considered by many to traverse and area lacking grass for grazing and many preferred the Bozeman Trail east of the Big Horn Mountains despite growing hostilities with the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne. In the summer of 1873, Captain William A. Jones commanded an expedition for the Army Corps of Engineer under orders to explore Yellowstone National Park and locate potential routes to this new federal reserve. Accompanied by Shoshone Indian guides, Jones attempted to pioneer a route to Yellowstone through the Big Horn Basin into the newly-created national park. In his report, he noted the following about the junction of the North Fork and South Fork of the Shoshone River: Saturday, July 26 [1873] – Marched 18.8 miles to the North Fork of the Stinking Water River, crossing the South Fork, or Ish-a-woo-a River. I have given this stream the Indian name of a peculiar shaped rock [Castle Rock, originally named Ishawooa, the Shoshone word for wolf’s penis], by means of which they distinguish it.15 It is a remarkable, finger-shaped column of volcanic rock, standing alone in the valley, about three miles above our crossing. The valley of the Stinking Water has here an elevation of 5,273 feet above the sea, and is the lowest point touched by the expedition. Just below the junction of the two forks, and about a mile below our crossing, the river, by a deep and rugged but short cañon, cuts off the point of a sharp and high anticlinal ridge of yellow limestone which stands vertical along the summit, leaving a high, bold peak on the right bank, which the Indians use a landmark. They refer to it as the “mountain with many cedars.” I have, therefore, called it Cedar Mountain. High up on its southern face is a remarkable hole, which the Indians called my attention to, and said it was very deep. I could, with my glass, see that it 15 Jones’ report defines “Ishawooa as Shoshone for “wolf’s penis.” Local historian Ester Murray noted a “romantic speculation” that the foreman of the Carter Cattle Company Peter McCulloch named the rock Castle Rock because it reminded him of the ruins of Cardoness Castle near his birthplace in Wigton, Scotland. 7 was a hole, and intended to visit it after reaching camp, but was prevented from doing so by more urgent business. About twenty miles northeast from this point is a small, isolated cluster, which is probably the Heart Mountain of the early trappers and guides. To-day we began meeting with huge spurs running out from the mountains at about right angels; also evidences of tremendous volcanic action. The drift in the valley is composed of the debris of volcanic rock. We passed the remains of a large depositing sulphur spring. The water oozed from a cylindrical mound of soft mud, a little hardened on its rim and held together by the roots of a rank growth of water-grasses. It lies close to the Ish-a-woo-a River, on the south side near where our trail crosses, and probably at one time contributed largely to the odorific title of the main river. A few miles lower down, below the canon, a mass of sulphur springs occur which still give good cause for the river’s name. On the North Fork we found the extinct remains of a mass of depositing springs; the whole hill-side was covered with the large sedimentary mounds of soft black and brown earths, having a good deal of transparent gypsum in crystals and small pieces scattered through them. On the mountains there is a tolerably heavy growth of coniferous trees, and along the streams the everlasting cottonwood flourishes. The valley of the North Fork for a considerable distance above the cañon has very little grass except a very tall, course kind, that grows in the patches near the water, and is not sufficiently nutritious to induce the animals to eat it. The soil has a peculiar, greasy, yellowish look, and only supports a stinted growth of grease-wood and sage-brush. The Stinking Water is a river of considerable size, and, probably is rarely fordable below the junction of its two main forks. We had considerable difficulty in finding a ford across the Ish-a-woo-a, even this late in the season, and probably neither of the forks are fordable much earlier. 8 Above the cañon the waters of both streams are perfectly pure and have no smell. Fine trout are abundant and game has been very plentiful. The tracks indicated that the elk and mountain-sheep have lately moved higher up into the mountains.16 Despite his trepidations regarding the rugged terrain of the North Fork, Captain Jones followed his Indian guides’ recommendations, traveling along the river and toward the pass that now bears his name, Jones Pass. Jones noted, “the trail was extremely difficult and beset with danger, both upon land and in the water. In one place it was so dangerous that even the Indians dismounted and led their ponies over it.” 17 Along the way, the Jones expedition encountered two miners from the Clarks Fork region. The miners were relieved when they discovered the Jones expedition was not a Lakota war party. Eventually the party worked its way over the divide between the North Fork to the Yellowstone Basin. “After the Indian guides,” wrote Jones, “I was the first to reach the summit of the pass, and before I knew it, had given vent to a screeching yell, which was taken up with a wild echo by the Indians; for there, seemingly at their feet, and several miles nearer than I had expected, was spread out a scene of exceeding beauty – Yellowstone Lake – embosomed in its surrounding plateau, and a mass of green forest extending as far as we could see. Slowly, and in single file, the remainder of the party came toiling and panting up, leading their animals, and, spite of lack of breath, each gave the same involuntary yell as the wonder-land burst upon their view. Perhaps there was something that moved us in the broad and startling contrast between the dreary 16 Captain William A. Jones, Report Upon the Reconnaissance of Northwestern Wyoming Including Yellowstone National Park Made in the Summer of 1873 (Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1875), p. 17-18. 17 Ibid., p. 19. 9 deserts, the sage-brush plains, the awful and majestic mountains, and that broad expanse of fresh, hazy, and sensuous beauty that looked up so invitingly at us from below; but there was also the proud feeling that we had crossed the “impassable” mountains.”18 Jones proclaimed in his report, “I have named these mountains ‘The Sierra Shoshonee,’ because the right to name them is clearly mine, as I have been the first to cross them and mark out their geographical position and extent. Professor [Ferdinand] Hayden [who led the United States Geological Survey of Yellowstone National Park] has called what he has seen of them and their western border sometimes the ‘Snowy Mountains’ and sometimes the ‘Yellowstone Mountains,’ but he has also applied the latter name to a range lying south of Yellowstone Lake, that has no existence.”19 The mountain range would hold this name until 1883 when the United States Geological Survey renamed it Absaroka, the traditional name of the Crow people that means “children of the large beak bird,” who were the traditional enemies of the Shoshone who previously guided Jones. With the mapping of Jones Pass and the traversing of the North Fork route to Yellowstone Lake, this branch of the Shoshone River took its first step toward becoming the main thoroughfare between the Big Horn Basin and Yellowstone National Park, even in spite of its rugged terrain. Captain Jones dispelled the notions indicated on Drouillard’s map that the North Fork was nearly impassable and the South Fork provided an easy route through the Yellowstone Ecosystem. In the report produced by 18 19 Ibid., p. 20. Ibid. 10 the Jones Expedition, it was noted “the discovery of Togwotee Pass, at the head of the Wind River, is pregnant with results to the future commerce of the West and Northwest, as it discloses in all probability one of the principal highways that will in the future bind their interest with those of the Mississippi Valley and the Atlantic states.” 20 The report noted the party learned of three other passes – Colter Pass at the head of the Clarks Fork, the Stinking Water Pass (later renamed Jones Pass), and the “Ishawooa Pass” on the South Fork – but noted these were difficult to cross. Togwotee, on the other hand, provided a gradual climb, “so long and regular that a railroad could be built over it at a reasonable cost.”21 Following the Jones expedition, a number of miners, soldiers, and scouts passed through the North Fork of the Shoshone, despite the rugged terrain. This traffic was documented in the memoirs of Luther S. Kelly, also known as Yellowstone Kelly. In 1878, Yellowstone Kelly was ordered to scout the Crow Reservation to determine if any gold prospectors were trespassing on Indian lands and to locate the Bannock Indians, then fleeing their reservation in Idaho by traversing the route the Nez Perce used the preceding year. Accompanied by two soldiers, Yellowstone Kelly traveled through the Crow Reservation into the Big Horn Basin and up the Shoshone River. “From Pryor Gap we passed to the Stinking River Canyon, whose gorge could be seen like a knife-cleft in the side of the mountain. The stream itself, bare of timber, is a beautiful mountain torrent of clear sparkling water where it issues out of the canyon,” wrote Kelly, “It receives its name from a small geyser which impregnates the water and the air with sulphureted hydrogen. The walls of the canyon are composed of a beautiful granite, and 20 21 Ibid., p. 55. Ibid. 11 I noticed a cap of limestone.”22 Near the bed of the river, Yellowstone Kelly and his party encountered two prospectors who informed them of a mining party camped near what he identified as “Heart Butte,” likely he was referring to Heart Mountain. Yellowstone Kelly visited the camp near “Heart Butte” and discovered the mining part suffering as a result of a rain shower that washed away most of their supplies. Yellowstone Kelly proceeded back to the mountains and decided to travel the North Fork route to Yellowstone. “I quickly decided that this valley was the course to the [Yellowstone] lake, and surmised that it could not be more than twenty miles beyond where our view terminated.”23 Continuing to Yellowstone along the North Fork, Yellowstone Kelly and his companions encountered a group of soldiers from Fort Washakie searching for two deserters. “Winding along the north fork of this mountain stream was a pleasant diversion, for here the game trails led, ever upward, through the cool sequestered woods of pine and aspen which bordered the tin streams,” wrote Kelly, “Early in the afternoon we camped in a little park of grass and flowers and feasted on coffee, trout, and venison, flanked by cans of condensed milk and currant jelly.” 24 Despite Captain Jones concerns regarding the North Fork route, many like Yellowstone Kelly found it to be not only a scenic route, but a passable trail from the Big Horn Basin to Yellowstone National Park. By the early 1880s, hide hunters decimated the bison herds in the Big Horn Basin, leaving a wide-open grazing landscape for livestock. While a handful of miners passed through the region after the fur trade, there were no major gold strikes in 22 Yellowstone Kelly, p. 216. Ibid., p. 218. 24 Ibid., p. 219. 23 12 northwestern Wyoming; however, the discovery of gold resulted in the emergence of mining communities in other regions of Montana and Idaho territories, creating a demand for food, especially beef. Additionally, after the Civil War, expanding urban markets demanded cattle products in the East and Wyoming entered its cattle ranching phase. The South Fork shifted from the fur trade to cattle ranching, making it destination for ranchers, changing its status as a thoroughfare for people traveling through to other locations. In a letter dated September 14, 1941, to local cowboy and historian, John K. Rollinson, William Carter, the son of William A. Carter who sent in the first herd of cattle to the South Fork, detailed the early history of ranching in the region: Dear Mr. Rollinson: I have made the few following notes in answer to the questions you asked me. The Oregon Trail branched off from the Overland trail at Fort Bridger, originally. Later it reached the Union Pacific about Granger. Many herds from Oregon were driven over the route for shipment. By the time they reached the railroad, many animals were weak or lame, and my father often bought them. Most of them were steers, but some were cows. On two occasions he bought large bunches of Oregon cows that were brought down for sale. I can not give the dates, but my impression is that it was in the early seventies. These purchases, which were all of good Durham stock, made the foundation of his herd. He had owned long-horns from California and Texas before that, but they [were] mostly steers, and were bought to furnish beef to the garrison stationed at Fort Bridger, and he disposed of all such stock as soon as he could get better ones. My father sent about two thousand Oregon cows, with bulls bought in Missouri, in charge of Peter McCulloch to the Stinking Water range, in 1879. It was in 1879 that Washakie recommended the move to him. 13 Washakie did not come to Bridger, nor did my father go to look at the country. The advice was given through Mr. James K. Moore, post-trader at Ft. Washakie, who had formerly managed a store for my father, at Camp Brown, near what is now Lander. The herd that he sent by McCulloch in 1879, was the first outfit to locate on Stinking Water. Captain Belknap brought in a smaller bunch of cattle shortly afterwards, and located about seven miles above our place on the river. Peter McCulloch was a Scotchman, but lived most of his life in this country, and had worked at farming and cattle raising, and was a capable and reliable foreman and manager. My father died November 7th, 1881, and from then on, I had charge of his live stock business, for my mother, who was his sole heir. On account of the dry season, and of the crowding of the range by other cattle men in southwest Wyoming, I sent a second drive of about two thousand cattle to Stinking Water, in the Summer of 1883, in charge of John Dyer. Pete McCulloch was our foreman until 1889, except for about a year, when he wanted to go to Iowa, to visit and be with his family, on account of his wife’s sickness. During his absence I put John Dyer in charge. John Dyer came from Fulton, Missouri. He was energetic and meant well, but he had had little experience, except as a cow hand. McCulloch quit and moved to farm in Iowa, because his children were growing up, and he did not want to be away from them and his wife any longer. He died there a few years afterwards. McCulloch’s Peak [McCullough Peaks], northeast of Cody was named for him, by another ranchman and myself. My father’s brands were a cross on the left hip, and a C on the jaw. 14 The Carter Cattle Co. was organized in 1885, and my mother transferred to it all of the cattle in both herds, and divided the shares of stock in the company among all of her children. I was made manager of the company. When the company was formed we adopted the bug brand, placed on the left side. We made a drive of steer cattle from Stinking Water to Rock Creek, west of Laramie, Wyoming, in 1887. As soon as the Northern Pacific was completed we drove steers through Pryor Gap, and across the Crow Reservation, to Billings. Later the stock yards were built at Huntley, and later drives were made there. We had about four thousand cattle on Stinking Water in 1887, and about three thousand near Fort Bridger. Our heavy losses on Stinking Water were not in the winter of 1886-1887. We lost the greater part of our herd in the winter of 1887-1888. We had a heavy loss in the Fort Bridger herd in 1888-1889. We sold out the remainder of our Stinking Water herd to a Montana buyer, in 1889. I am not sure of his name, but I think it was Holt. We bought supplies once at Red Lodge, but we traded principally with McAdow in Billings. I cannot recall any other brand except that of Otto Franc on Grey Bull. It was the Pitch Fork. Very truly yours, W. A. Carter.25 It is worth noting that the Carter Cattle Company began referring to the Stinking Water River as the Shoshone River. During the summer months of 1887, they advertised their 25 John K. Rollinson, Wyoming Cattle Trails (Caldwell, ID: Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1948), p. 304-306 15 brand in the Northwestern Live Stock Journal, published in Cheyenne, Wyoming, identifying their cattle in the South Fork as the “’Shoshone River Herd,’ range on Shoshone or Stinkingwater River and tributaries east of Yellowstone Park.” 26 As cattle ranching went through various booms and busts in the American West, other businesses focused on possibilities for the South Fork. With the creation of Yellowstone National Park in 1872 and the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1883, tourists poured into northwest Wyoming. Other railroads sought to establish connections to Yellowstone to reap their share of the profits. Once again, the South Fork was viewed as a potential transportation corridor. In 1891, Edward Gillette of the Burlington Railroad led a survey up the South Fork of the Stinking Water River, only to discover this region proved challenging to any railroad construction. He described his visit as follows: We located the line up the north bank of the Shoshone River, through the places now occupied by the towns of Byron, Garland, Powell and Cody. Between Byron and Garland gas was escaping from the ground, and a piece of pipe driven into the ground would fill with it which would burn with a steady flame. At the present time the greatest producing gas wells in the state are in operation here and there is also quite a production of oil. Our survey crossed the river near Corbett, to the south of Cedar Mountain; thence up the South Fork. The Sulphur Springs near where Cody is located seemed an off-shoot from Yellowstone Park. Gas was escaping from holes along the canon above; 26 Northwestern Live Stock Journal, #27 (June 10, 1887), p. 15. This ad appeared throughout the months of June, July, and August 1887. Accessed from Wyoming Newspaper Project database on April 16, 2015. Due to Chief Washakie’s recommendation that the elder Carter establish a ranch along the south fork of the Stinkingwater River, it is very likely the herd was named in honor of Washakie’s people. Carter Mountain was named in honor of the elder Carter of Fort Bridger. 16 small animals and birds in considerable numbers had been suffocated by the gas, and it was dangerous for a person to breath it. In the first cañon on the South Fork we found some lettering on the trees, made by prospectors in early days, and later on found the remains of old beaver traps. The elk trails, in places where the canon narrowed, were not wide enough for pack animals. One of the settlers, named Legg, while driving his horse along one of these trails, it not being safe to ride, was unfortunate enough, at a particularly bad place where there was a sheer drop of a hundred to two hundred feet, to run onto a bull elk coming in the opposite direction. The elk promptly hooked the horse off the trail and the hunter shot the elk which fell beside the horse, both being killed. We blasted out the trail wide enough for our animals, but always arranged the packs as high as possible. The elk trails crossed immense rock slides, the rocks coming from small openings high up the mountains, and it must have taken centuries to build up such enormous dumps. In places the game trails were buried by constantly sliding rocks, and, in crossing such places, it was safer to walk than to ride. One night when crossing these slides, leading an animal which had run away and been found in the valley below, I concluded not to dismount. As luck would have it, the led animal got the rope under my horse’s tail and he commenced to buck. We were soon going down the slide, half-buried in rocks and it was a long time before we were able to regain the trail. Trout were abundant in the stream until we had passed the second cañon where a waterfall had practically checked the fish, though a few trout were found above. The boys had brought so many trout to camp that we had fish every day; in fact, it seemed as though we had them every meal. Feeling the need of fresh meat and not being quite in the elk country, we sent down in the valley for a hind quarter of beef. Everyone gladly helped himself liberally to a steak, but seemed unable to masticate it. They looked 17 at one another in a peculiar manner; finally one of the boys took a trout, and his example was soon followed by all the rest at the table. Our jaws were weak on account of having eating trout so long; besides the beef was tough.27 After braving the South Fork trails and gorging on fish, Gillette and his party made it to Jackson Hole and then travelled down the Greybull to visit Colonel William A. Pickett at his ranch where they were entertained by his bear hunting stories. The party returned to Jackson, then traveled north to Yellowstone Park where they ran into Theodore Roosevelt, then Civil Service Commissioner, who was returning from an elkhunting trip near Two-Ocean Pass. One can assume they reported their South Fork experiences to Roosevelt, noting the rough trails and the plethora of fish, depicting the South Fork as an isolated paradise providing wonderful fishing and hunting opportunities. One New Yorker who was attracted to the region for its hunting potential was Archibald Rogers. Rogers noted the following as he crossed the Big Horn Basin: The great main range of the Rocky Mountains stretches before us, its rugged snow-capped peaks glistening in the morning sun, and we long to be there; but many a long mile still intervenes, and forty-four miles of desert have to be crossed to-day. This is always an arduous undertaking. It is monotonous in the extreme, and men and animals are sure to suffer for want of good water; for after leaving Sage Creek on the other side of the Gap, there is no water to be had until Stinking Water River is reached. But all things must have an end; and at last, late in the evening, we find 27 Edward Gillette, Locating the Iron Trail, (Boston: The Christopher Publishing House, 1925), p. 117-118). 18 ourselves encamped on the banks of that stream, beautiful despite its unfortunate name.28 Rogers noted in a footnote to this account the following, “[Historian, George] Bancroft, in his account of the early explorations of Wyoming, refers to this river as follows: ‘It is a slander to use this non-descriptive name for an inoffensive stream. The early trappers took it from the Indians, who in their peculiar fashion, called it ‘the river that ran by the stinking water,’ referring to bad-smelling hot springs on its banks.”29 In 1897, Theodore Roosevelt wrote to internationally-renowned sport hunter Frederick Courtney Selous who was then planning a hunting trip to the South Fork. Roosevelt shared with Selous his knowledge about northwest Wyoming: Unfortunately I can’t give you definite information about the passes of which you speak, because I have never come into country quite the way in which you will have to come into it; but Archibald Rogers has two or three times been over the Stinking Water with a pack train, so I know you can get in from that side… You must remember that it is quite a trip down from the Big Horn mountains into and across the Big Horn valley and up to the Jackson’s Lake country… The best place I know for [bighorn] sheep is just east of the Yellowstone Park.30 In the fall of 1897, Frederick Courtney Selous arrived in Wyoming. He described the South Fork region as follows: Archibald Rogers, “Hunting American Big Game,” The Out of Door Library: Hunting (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1896), p. 6-7. 29 Ibid., p. 7. 30 Theodore Roosevelt, Library of America -- Theodore Roosevelt: Letters and Speeches, edited by Louis Auchincloss (New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 2004), p. 100-101. There is little evidence to support the idea that Roosevelt hunted along either the North Fork or South Fork of the Shoshone River. His published hunting accounts indicated he hunted in the Hoodoo Basin, then located outside of Yellowstone National Park Boundaries. 28 19 We were not just within the mouth of the valley through which runs the South Fork of the Stinking Water River, on emerging from the Rocky Mountains; and we traveled along the course of this stream for two days before reaching the last settler’s ranch, a small log cabin inhabited by a hospitable Welsh family of the name of Davies, – at least Davies was a Welshman, though his wife was an English woman. The North and South Forks of the Stinking Water meet just above the Cedar Mountain and then run in one rushing steam through a deep canyon which divides the last spur of the Rattlesnake Mountains from the main range. A little below the gorge there are some very remarkable hot sulphur springs, some of which are situated just at the edge of the river, whilst others come bubbling up to the top of the water from the bed of the stream of itself. The smell of these sulphur springs is very strong, and it is perceptible at the distance of several miles down wind. To this fact does this beautiful clear mountain stream owe its unsavoury name, Stinking Water being the literal translation of its old Indian designation. The sulphur springs, of which I have spoken, are now known to possess medicinal properties of a very useful nature. Their temperature, which is exactly blood heat, – ninety-eight degrees, – never varies, summer or winter. If all I heard concerning the curative properties of these springs is true, – they are said to be specially (sic) efficacious in cases of chronic rheumatism and syphilis, – invalids will soon be resorting to them from all parts of the United States, if not from Europe. Already the world renowned Colonel William Cody has started a small township in their vicinity named after its founder “Cody City,” whilst a small house of accommodation and a plank-built bathroom, heated with a stove in the winter, have been put up at the Springs themselves. Both the North and South Forks of the Stinking Water River, clear cold mountain streams of purest water, are full of delicious trout. They contain greyling, too which I thought very good eating, though locally they are not much esteemed. The trout are not able to get more than two-thirds of the 20 way up the South Fork, owing to the fact that they cannot pass a certain small waterfall; but whenever we were camped near the water below this fall we could always secure a good dish of trout for breakfast or dinner. They were uneducated fish, – which is what I like, – and when on the feed would rise readily at almost any kind of fly. They were of fair size, too, on the average, and we caught many weighing from one pound and a half to two pounds. Once I caught a dozen or so with an artificial minnow, that must have averaged nearly two pounds each. Davies’ cabin, picturesquely situated just at the junction of Cabin Creek with the South Fork of Stinking Water, we at last reached by midday of September 9. This was the goal of our wagon-journey, as the narrow trail leading up the gorge into the rugged and uninhabited mountains beyond was impassable for anything but pack ponies.31 Although greatly impressed with the scenery and fishing, Selous was concerned by the lack of game in the region. He noted in his 1900 hunting account Sport and Travel: East and West, settlers and sport hunters were over hunting the region. Selous reported a conversation with a South Fork settler from Texas by the name of Timberline Johnson: A discussion having subsequently arisen concerning the game laws of the State of Wyoming, Mr. Johnson frankly confessed his ignorance on this subject. “He’d heard tell,” he said, “that there were game laws, but they’d never troubled him much.” One of our men the expressed the opinion that all game laws in the United States were unconstitutional, as the game belonged to the people. Naturally, with such ideas abroad, the game is rapidly decreasing in this part of America, nor would it be possible to 31 Frederick Courtney Selous, Sport and Travel East and West (Birmingham, AL: Palladium Press, 2010), a reprint of the 1900 edition published by Longmans, Green, and Co. in London, p. 173-176) 21 enforce the laws without the assistance of a very large staff of officials; for you can’t prevent men from shooting wild animals in a wild country where otherwise no fresh meat is obtainable; and my sympathies are with the settlers in this matter, as long as they are not wasteful. If the Yellowstone National Park could be enlarged, so as to allow a more extended winter range for the deer and elk, all the great game of North America, with the exception of the bison (which apparently does not thrive there), could be preserved for all time; but outside the limits of the Park, game is bound gradually to become scarcer and scarcer in spite of laws for its preservation.32 Late 1894, an international celebrity arrived in the Big Horn Basin for his first visit and decided to invest in the region, a decision that brought intense worldwide attention to the South Fork. William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody noted the potential for ranching and outdoor sports during his first visit. Soon he purchased the Carter Ranch and the TE Ranch. Eventually, he would sell the Carter Ranch to William Robertson Coe, yet he retained the TE Ranch as a working ranch and a private retreat from his busy performance schedule. Credit for bringing Buffalo Bill to this region belongs to George W. T. Beck, who lured him to the basin to advance a proposed reclamation project that resulted in the establishment of the town of Cody, Wyoming. Beck rightly believed that Buffalo Bill’s tremendous marketing machine would lure potential settlers to the Stinking Water valley. An example of this dynamic marketing scheme is found in Helen Cody Wetmore’s biography of Buffalo Bill entitled Last of the Great Scouts. Wetmore detailed a tall tale told by her brother regarding his first view of the Bighorn Basin. Buffalo Bill 32 Ibid., p. 249-250. 22 claimed he first learned of the region in the 1870s and visited the area in 1881. 33 According to this particular tale, Buffalo Bill suffered from an eye infection. The doctor prescribed washing the eyes with whisky, but Buffalo Bill did not want to waste whisky so he bandaged his eyes instead. Upon reaching the Bighorn Mountains, Buffalo Bill claimed his guide washed his eyes with medicinal spring water – residents of Thermopolis claimed the water came from their hot spring; Cody residents claimed it came from DeMaris Springs located within Colter’s Hell. With his eyes cleared by the healing properties of the spring water, he first viewed the Basin. His sister detailed the scene in the biography of her brother: Off came the bandage, and I shall quote Will’s own words to describe the scene that met his delighted gaze: “To my right stretched a towering range of snow-capped mountains, broken here and there into minarets, obelisks, and spires. Between me and this range of lofty peaks a long irregular line of stately cottonwoods told me a stream wound its way beneath. The rainbow-tinted carpet under me was formed of innumerable brilliant-hued wild flowers; it spread about me in every direction, and sloped gracefully to the stream. Game of every kind played on the turf, and bright-hued birds flitted over it. It was a scene no mortal can satisfactorily describe. At such a moment a man, no matter what his creed, sees the hand of the mighty Maker of the universe majestically displayed in the beauty of nature; he becomes sensibly conscious, too, of his own littleness. I uttered no world for very awe; I looked upon one of nature’s masterpieces. “Instantly my heart went out to my sorrowful Arapahoe friend of 1875 [who informed Buffalo Bill of the Big Horn Basin]. He had not 33 Cody’s dates and stories changed through the years. As far as we can determine, he first visited the region in 1894 23 exaggerated; he had scarcely done the scene justice. He spoke of it as the Ijis, the heaven of the red man. I regarded it then, and still regard it, as the Mecca of all appreciative humanity.” To the west of the Big Horn Basin, Hart Mountain (sic) rises abruptly from the Shoshone River. It is covered with grassy slopes and deep ravines; perpendicular rocks of every hue rise in various places and are fringed with evergreens. Beyond this mountain, in the distance, tower the hoary head of Table Mountain. Five miles to the southwest the mountains recede some distance from the river, and from its bank Castle Rock rises in solitary grandeur. The name indicates, it has the appearance of a castle, with towers, turrets, bastions, and balconies. Grand as is the western view, the chief beauty lies in the south. Here the Carter Mountain lies along the entire distance, and the grassy spaces on its side furnish pasturage for the deer, antelope, and mountain sheep that abound in this favored region. Fine timber, too, grows on its rugged slopes; jagged picturesque, rock-forms are seen in all directions, and the numerous cold springs send up their welcome nectar. It is among the foothills nestling at the base of this mountain that Will has chosen the site of his future permanent residence. 34 Although he praised the area, Buffalo Bill was greatly concerned regarding the future of wildlife and sport hunting in northwest Wyoming. Buffalo Bill became a strong advocate for protection of the region’s wildlife and the establishment of state game preserves, which was critical the financial success of his investments in tourism 34 Helen Cody Wetmore, Last of the Great Scouts (Chicago: The Duluth Press Publishing Company, 1899), p. 235237. 24 and the promotion of sport hunting. In an article entitled “Preserving the Game,” appearing in the June 6, 1901, issue of The Independent, Buffalo Bill noted: The condition of game laws in the West is now very satisfactory, and we can confidently look forward to a rapid increase in the number of elk, mountain sheep, deer, antelopes, and all the smaller game, such as ducks, geese, grouse and sage hens. About three years ago the agitation for game protection in the West began to have good results, and since then Legislatures have passed strict laws and enforced them. Game wardens have been appointed by the various Governors, and men caught violating the laws have been severely punished. It is too late, now, to save the buffalo, but all other game we can preserve.35 Buffalo Bill also described the creation of a hunting club in Cody that would be “a missionary society, and will help to impress the idea that quantity of game is not the main point for the true sportsman to consider. The spread of this idea will aid in making champions for the preservation of game…. there is plenty of room and plenty of feed for the game among the mountains, and if matters continue as they are at present we may expect to enjoy good hunting for many a long year to come.” 36 In addition to advocating for greater game protection, Buffalo Bill also lobbied to officially change the name of the Stinking Water River to Shoshone. In 1901, a few years after settlers homesteaded the region and the town of Cody emerged, State Senator of 35 36 William F. Cody, “Preserving the Game,” The Independent, vol. 53, (June 6, 1901), p. 1292. Ibid., p. 1293. 25 Big Horn County Atwood C. Thomas introduced a successful bill in the Wyoming State Legislature to rename the river “Shoshone.”37 This brings us to the beginning of the 20th century. Through the efforts of Buffalo Bill, the upper South Fork assumed its current land-use status, a region for ranching, hunting, and fishing. Not a thoroughfare for tourists traveling to Yellowstone Park with commercial interests providing concessions, instead, a destination, an idyllic retreat, one that continues to offer a taste of rugged Wyoming as it was at the end of the 19th century. Yet in the early 20th century, once again, pressure to build a major transportation route through the area resurfaced. In 1919, Director of the National Park Service Stephen Mather and his assistant Horace Albright wanted to expand the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park to include the Tetons and the headwaters of the Yellowstone River, but the two men encountered great resistance to the expansion from Jackson Hole residents. Hoping to entice these settlers to accept the expansion, the Park Service advocated constructing a road from Jackson, through the Thorofare region, down the South Fork, to Cody, Wyoming. This highway would bring in auto tourism to the region, resulting in various concessions along the South Fork of the Shoshone River, once again promising the region would become a main transportation route, similar to the North Fork highway to Yellowstone. Ranchers and businesses supported the highway, yet dude-ranchers in the areas were strongly opposed, arguing the isolated nature of the South Fork and the Thorofare region provided their guests with a true “Old West” experience. Due to this 37 Senate Journal of the Sixth State Legislature of Wyoming (Laramie, WY: Chaplin, Spafford & Mathison, Printers, 1901), p. 127 and 133. 26 opposition, Mather changed his position regarding the proposed road, stating, “… it is my firm conviction that a part of the Yellowstone county should be maintained as a wilderness for the ever-increasing numbers of people who prefer to walk and ride over trails in a region abounding in wild life (sic).”38 Many who reside in the South Fork area today likely agree that, fortunately, no such road was constructed; thus, preserving the current isolated nature of the upper region of the South Fork Valley. We should now engage in some speculative history and ask ourselves, “what if?” What if the fur traders decided to view the South Fork as more than just a thoroughfare and established trading forts and salt mines, or other extractive industries? What if Edward Gillette said, despite the rough terrain, we can push a railroad line through the South Fork? What if Judge Carter and Belknap kept their cattle at home and brought sheep instead? What if Buffalo Bill decided to develop the South Fork, as opposed to the North Fork, as the main highway to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone Park? What if Selous kept his mouth shut about the disappearance of game in the South Fork? What if Buffalo Bill decided to focus on his ranch in North Platte and never invested in the Carter Ranch and the TE Ranch? What if Buffalo Bill shrugged and said the passing of the great wildlife populations of the region was inevitable? What if Mather and Albright pushed through a Thorofare Highway, linking Cody and Jackson through the South Fork of the Shoshone. Clearly, if these “what ifs” occurred, we would be looking at a very different landscape today. 38 Mary Shivers Culpin, The History of the Construction of the Road System in Yellowstone National Park, 18721966, Selections from the Division of Cultural Resources, Rocky Mountain Region, National Park Service, online version www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/yell_roads/hrs1-6.htm Last accessed October 9,2016. For a historical overview of the proposed expansion of Yellowstone National Park and the proposed Thorofare road, see Alfred Runte, National Parks: The American Experience (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1979), p. 118128. 27 As members of the Upper South Fork Land Owners Association, all of you are aware how truly blessed you are to own and live on a little piece of heaven. The South Fork is a wonderful, unique paradise that few people in the world today can experience. I implore you to keep these historical “what if” questions in the back of your mind as you meet through the upcoming years to discuss various plans and long-term goals that will shape the future of this unique area. Human history has played an important role in shaping the landscape of this place for generations. All of you and your guests continue to benefit from the decisions made and actions taken by past American Indian travelers, John Colter, George Drouillard, Joseph Meek, Osborne Russell, William A. Jones, Judge Carter, Edward Gillette, Archibald Rogers, Theodore Roosevelt, Buffalo Bill Cody, Stephen Mather, and many others. Please consider this history of the South Fork as you shape your lives in this special area for today and tomorrow, for the decisions and actions you decide and act upon now, as our shared past has well demonstrated, will continue to shape this region for generations to come. 28