I will be uploading some excerpts from my novel,
Wyoming Territory
Here is the prologue
Prologue
The Wyoming Territory is rich in history. Famous
frontiersmen such as Jim Bridger, John Colter, Kit Carson, Jebediah Smith and
General John Fremont spent time exploring the land and hunting for beaver
pelts. While exploring the Rocky Mountains, John Colter discovered an area of
steaming geysers and magnificent waterfalls that he called “Colter’s Hell.”In
1872, that area was set aside as the world’s first National Park, known as
Yellowstone. William Cody gained a name for himself hunting the large herds of
buffalo that roamed the great plains of Wyoming. The city, Cody Wyoming, near
Yellowstone National Park is named after its famous resident.
Forty miles east of Lovell,
Wyoming, at the crest of Medicine Mountain, is located the Medicine Wheel, an
ancient shrine with twenty eight spokes and a circumference of two hundred and
forty five feet, built by some forgotten tribe. A Crow chief reportedly said,
“It was built before the light came by people who had no iron. This prehistoric
relic remains as one of Wyoming’s unsolved mysteries.
There is evidence in Wyoming of
prehistoric occupation dating back more than twelve thousand years. These
historic tribes were nomadic and known as the Plains Indians. They were the
Arapaho, Arikara, Bannock, Blackfeet, Cheyenne, Crow, Gros Ventre, Kiowa, Nez
Perce, Sheep Eater, Sioux, Shosone, and Ute Tribes. The Cheyenne and the Sioux
were the last of these to be controlled and placed on reservations.
Wyoming was the scene of the last of the great Indian
battles. Fort Phil Kearny, in northern Wyoming, had the bloodiest history of
any fort in the West as thousands of well organized Indians fought fierce
battles with the United States Calvary. These Indians were led by famous chiefs
such as Crazy Horse and Red Cloud.
Fort Laramie in southeastern Wyoming, became a haven for the
emigrants and people seeking gold as well as a critical station for the Pony
Express and the Overland stagecoaches, thus becoming a vital post for the
military in its wars with the Plains Indians. It witnessed the growth of the
open range cattle industry and the coming of homesteaders, or “sod busters” and
the building of towns.
In 1869, Wyoming’s territorial legislature became the first
government in the world to grant female suffrage by enacting a bill giving
Wyoming women the right to vote. Thus, Wyoming came to be known as the
“Equality State”. It wasn’t long after the signing of this act that Ester
Hobart Morris of South Pass City, became the first woman ever to be appointed
as justice of the peace. Mrs. Louisa Swain, on September 6, 1870, in Laramie,
became the first woman in the nation to cast a vote.
While all of this was going on, the large ranchers in
Wyoming were complaining of unbridled rustling by small “nesters” and that
railroad contractors fed their crews with beef purchased from these rustlers.
Without adequate law enforcement, the cattlemen took matters in their own hands
hanging without trial those they thought were guilty. Regardless of such
efforts to stop the rustling, the problem continued.
The infamous “Hole in the Wall” was located in Johnson
County and seemed to attract various outlaws who preyed on cattle
interests. Included among this group
were Tom Horn, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid to name a few.
The cattlemen took it upon themselves to hire and send an
“expeditionary” force of Texas gunmen, led by a former deputy United States
marshal to go in and rid the area of these unsavory individuals who were
rustling their cattle. Each man was promised a fifty dollar bonus for each
“rustler” killed. The plan included the force, under the command of Major Frank
Wolcott, to go to Buffalo Wyoming in Johnson County to replace the county
government with individuals who would be more favorable toward the large cattle
interests. It was this bunch of individuals, with nicknames that conjure up the
best of the Wild West, and their shenanigans that caught my interest and
brought my novel to the Wyoming Territory.
Much of the historical information I gathered was from G.B.
Dobson’s web site, About Wyoming Tales and Trails and from the
characters he described that many of the names used in this novel are derived.
During this time when the Wyoming Territory was going
through its growing pains, Sweden was experiencing its worst recession since
1650. While the population in Sweden was increasing by an alarming rate, it was
estimated that over forty per cent of its soil was unproductive.
People were leaving for America in great numbers aided by
firms based in New York who sent representatives to Sweden to arrange passage
on ships carrying iron to America. These ships would provide cheap passage and
would only charge twelve dollars per person for a voyage that would last about
seven weeks. It was an emotional time for these people, saying good bye to
their brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers. Watching the countryside
where they grew up pass by for the last time. They were never to see their
family and home again.
These immigrants were often met by the Bethel Ship Mission
in New York City, an organization which helped people arrange travel west. Many
of these Swedish immigrants found work with the Northern Pacific Railroad
helping build the Yellowstone Division. Once they saved up enough money, they
purchased land close to the track so they could once again get back to farming.
It is here where my main character, Esben Hjerstedt (my mother's maiden name) and his mother went to live
with his uncle, who was living in Wyoming while he worked for the railroad.
This is a novel of fiction and even though historical facts
are found throughout, it in no way depicts the life of anyone, living or dead. I have added a few words from the Lakota Sioux dialect to twist the tongue and cause some angst to the reader. I hope you enjoy reading it.
