Casper Daily Tribune Newspaper, February 18, 1921, Page 9

Wye Casper uy wrvuie ROMANCE OF KIRWIN HOLDS INTERESTING STORY, & Fortune Spent in Building Mader Town| é and Model Mining Camp in Wyonting . Only to Be Deserted at the Enn “ ¢ By A, O'DONOGHUE. , Ina deep, picturesque valley in that wild and romantic ‘region around the head of Wood river, amid ‘The Wilds of Wyoming,” where Alpine scenery abounds on all sides, the tourist or hunter may view with interest, if not edification, “all that remains of the once busy, but now practically de- ‘serted mining town of Kirwin. Here, in the southwestern extrem-|that of New York, it was literally ty of the Big Horn basin, with half a| dozen peaks each around 12,000 feet, /¢ “vising—some of them almost perpen-| dicularly around it—flourished, some years ago, one of the most modernly equipped mining camps in the west. .. Today in this’same valley and neigh- boring mountains, where once the échoes resounded to the thunder of blasting and the noises of machinery, there is hardly a sound to break the stillness, save the scream of the eagle, |gion, is cortain by the lavishnuess of or the tinkling of the bells of a/the sums expended, In the aggregate ‘Wand of sheep during the short sum-|jt was well up in the seven figures mer season. |The mere hauling of machinery and The history of Kirwin is romantic.|other supplies, over a distance of jAbout a quarter of a century ago, two |Seventy-five miles} involved the ex- prospectors, Jim Kirwin and Harry |penditure of a fortune. It is said that “higher” by nearly two miles. ‘In plain, the erstwhile mining city was about 10,000 feet above sea level. Ticre ~as nothing, petty in :he |plans and projects of the men, who might be called the fathers of Kir- win. Several well-known edstern cap: ists. became interested at: an early date. That these men must have had faith in the possibilities of the re- FORMER THRIVING SETTLEMENT CRUMBLES AWAY mountains. Crucibles, and numerous other parapharnalia belonging to the assayer, may be found in more than one half ruined structure. Girding some of the peaks, lines of poles, bearing telephone wires, or those transmitting power for the op- eration of the mines are still in evi dence. Many are fallen, but not a few are standing and still supporting wires No inconsiderable amount of ma- chinery still remains around the aban- ddned camp. The greater part of it is exposed to the weather, through the collapse of the building that onco sheltered it, The big vertical botler in the saw mill, as well as the great engine in the power house, are still in place, the latter half exposed to the elements. Indeed, desolation is king in Kirwin. It is nothing unusuai, in summer, to see a band of sheep peacefully crop- ping the long grass. in the main street of the old town, once throbbini: of life and energy, but now even more lonely than Goldsmith's “De- serted Village.” Mountain squirreis, chipmunks, and other small ‘quad- rupeds can be seon skurrying into or under, the residences and business buildings. Birds build their nests, and make their homes, in what were once those of men. Within the last few year’, many buifdings have been taken down and hauled away, as has been also much Mitchell has the mind of a child of 14, 1 some'for 16 years old and one for 18. and quite attractive girl who delights in the things all good little girls delight in. b |nels, galena of a high grade. an is in ev BIGHT- YEAR-OLD GIRL WONDER OF NEW YORK—Kight-year-old Susan| sway around the Kirwia mountains al 8 passed Binet tests for that age,| Se ee | ‘y other way a normal But what result I haye not been able tc ltag the rest of the year around the} Big Horn basin, for more than a quarter of a century. Mr. Tewksbury | became identified with the camp al- most at the beginning. He “gru |staked” some of the earliest prospe |tors, and {s still a heavy stockhol parenthetically speaking, he is one of | those who have not yet lost faith in the old camp. He built and conducte} |the sawmill. At,an early date he open- ed a store and also a hotel, These lat- |ter he still conducts during the sum-| |mer, his patronage being in late| years chiefly sheepmen and tourists. Mr. and Mrs. Tewksbury have both passed the allotted three score and ten, although neither looks anything like it. They are persons of consider-| able culture, and present, a striking | contrast to their savage surroundings. | Mr. Tewksbury, who is a brother to! Dr. Tewksbury, the noted surgeon {and medical authority of New York is| an amateur astornomer, and repro-| sents the United States weather bu-| reau at Kirwin. He is a violinist ef} More than ordinary skill, while Mrs.| {| | Tewksbury is a vocalist of a high order, arly in September Mr. and Mrs, Tewsbury depart for their ecastecn| home. The sheepmen start their flock for the lowlands. Soon the snowdrifts | |bar the mountain passes, The winds jroar wildly around the peaks, and| |through the pines The tsehPss.N.n | through the pines, the elk, deer and mountain sheep are once more mon- Jarchs of their ancestral domain ant \absolute solitude resumes her ancient Landis to Take LEST YOU FORGET TONIGHT Casper Trades Assembly Annual Ball SCHEMBECK’S WINTER GARDEN $30.00 in prizes for the ladies The Event of the Season | Balloon Flight ir learn. M #Adams, were journeying through the|themachinery in the power house, al- mountai on their way to Montana. |ready referred to cost over $15,000. Seeing a deer on a mountain side one| Development work was starte-1, of them fired at the animal. Clim»-|shafts were sunk by the dozen, tun {mzch waste. Indeed, at present there |river valley, is a question upon whicl ing up the steep ascent to find wheth-jnels aggregating several thousan!*;are not more than thirty buildings |it is said experts, even today, dis er they had felled their game, thejwere driven into the mountain sid anding in the town’ proper. Most jagree. |place than Char men noticed some outcroppings in the | and precipices, Not 1 few of these can the office buildings and miners’| Be that as it may, it seems true |deed, any account o: focks, which, to their practiced eyes,/he seen entering the faces of the} cabins inthe environs are in a sad|that “hope springs eternal in the hu- mention of whether there is ore sufficient to justi jfy the building of seventy-five miles jof railway up the Greybull— Wood | er; machinery and tools, by ranchers/ from the lower country, thus saving valuable material from becoming so ny Were the types and charact ofthe men associated with Kirw'a. Among the noted figures, , howeve |none ever filled’ a Feb. 18. — Federal | Judge K. M. Landis will accompany i A. Leo Stevens, chief civil instructor | y. In-|at the army balloon school here on a omit-|balloon fight on which an attempt ksbury, | will be made to break the world's al-| OMAHA, Neb., Efficient and Rapid i Te Mr. clearly showed copper ore of a high |dizzy peaks which to reach, in many grade. They located a group of claims. |instances, would seem impossit to News of the discovery soon spread. |anything less than a bird or an aero- Although there was never what might/ plane. Timber to these opening wis be called a rush, in a comparativeiy|packed up “zig-zag” trails on horses’ short while many prospectors and|backs, hitched two abreast. miners were camped in the neighbor-|A fine wagon road, blasted in ma hood. places through the flint rock, was » In the course of time a town was!|pulit to Meetectse, a distance of ap- Jaid out. The main. street, on the|proximately forty miles. Although bank of Wood river, eventually at-|now somewhat delapodated in places, ‘tained a closely built length of more) with some repairs it would still be = half a xiile. It is said that near-|cerditable highway. Local roads and 400 people were once domiciled in|rails,- winding their tortuous uy the town, and immediate vicinity: |along the canyons and rimrocks, to Moreover, Kirwin was not a “shanty |the mines in the mountains, still bear town,’ by any means. A sawmill hav-| testimony to the thoroughness of con- ing been installed, many of the resi-|sruction and permanency of. purpos ‘dences, and other buildings, were} ‘Telephone lines, local and long dis- frame structures, a feature of not a|tance, were built. The latter, extend: few being concrete chimneys. Cement}ing to Meettetse, brought the camp for the contsruction of these, wasj;into communication with he ouside hauled by wagon from Cody, a dis-| world. tance of more than seventy miles. For several years succeeding it# Most of the residences, both {og | practical abandonment, the amount of ‘and frame, were papered internally,|machinery, tools and implements, es- some containing bath rooms and oth-/|sential to the mining and-lumber in- er modern. conveniences. A few of | dustries, electrical appliances, etc., to these buildings, including a hotel and/be found scattered around the old the spacious club house, were 'two-|camp, would tax the credulity of any- ‘Structures. Almost every build-)one who had never visited the place. y}of the end of Kirwin was coincident ate of delapigation, many with roofs blown off, or doors and windows gon: In the mines the timbers are sloy y rotting away and many of the tun- nels are caving in: man breast.” party of prospecters spent weeks on the Wind river slope just | across the divide, and about four jor | pass five miles from the old camp. With + Only last.summer,. » | would he like Although he the winter Ivana. It might be said that the beginning with a snowslide, February 5th, 1907, which killed four persons and wrecked several buildings in town. Fearing a| repitition of similar disasters, many leftthe place immediately. Some of the superstitious declared that the trar- edy augured ill for the camp, and it would seem as if their prophsies wore fulfilled, as soon mine after mine be- gan to be closed, and few. were ever re-opened, even temporarily. + Sav: sme development work, carried on! intermittently, very little in the way of fpractical operations has been on- gaged in for more than a decade. The actual cause of the ultimate abandonment of the ¢amp has always been somewhat shrowded in mystery Most people maintain that the body} f of. ore proved’ far below the original! # estimates, the shipment ef which would not compensate’ for the building. of & railway. On the other hand not a few long contended that the real several | Hamlet without tho mel they attempting to play ncholy Dane. Mrs, Tewksbury New York and have been spend- and s in |titude record, Mr. Stevens said today. | definite date for the fitght has | |been set but it probably will be mace | |some time next June, Mr. Stevens| said. 3 SERVICE OU will want a suit or gown cleaned or pressed in a hurry some time. i Our modern equipment and prompt delivery system enable us to handle your work in the shortest possible time. —the work is ex- cellent and the charges moderate. ‘ing was’ lighted by electricity, from Even at this, late day, quantities underlying cause was a giant attemyt re power house about two miles down |of picks, shovels, drills, blacksmith e on the part of the larger stockholders, par ps ei river. and carpenters’ tools and other 1n-|to “freeze out-the smaller, But there Phone for was the social side of life.over-| plements, can be seen strewn has hever been anything tangible to "Vuleahs 595 ked by a wide margin. A; saloon|around the neighborhood. Electrical] justify such an assumption. ZTE dance hall, and other resorts flour-|appliances can be found almost every- ished, and while Kirwin society; where. Telephone boxes are still in Might be slightly deficient in some: place, in several of the buildings in the more exquisite refinements of town, and in offices on the adjacent However, amid the haze of theory and conjecture, one thing is certain, | there is wealth in Kirwin. The write has picked out the sides of some tun-* (Incorpo: 1) A! 181 South Center Street | CASPER — RAPID CITY — | CHICAGO Our Entire Shoe Stock Men’s, Women’s, Misses’, Boys’ and Children’s Shoes at unbe- lievable prices. Sale starts today and continues until Saturday. * See Our Shoe Window 7 Laundry Machinery Co “Particular Tailoring for Particular People” | All Garments Fitted and Made in Our Own Shop Your Guarantee | Look For This Ladies’ grey suede shoes, lace, French heel; all sizes; resulae bree ane 50. Our | of sale price... Laon ‘ osmee $10,00 Emblem Master Service Ladies’ black suede, lace,.French edit all sizes. Sale price $9.85 Our entire stock of ladies’ brown, black and ipeteny pumps and ties during this sale .. oe $9.85 New patent leather, button, black suede eb French heel; all sizes; reg. $17.50 values. Sale price. .. $10.00 Ladies’ kid oxfords, brown and black, French end military heels. Piice $9.85 Only Gas Ranges of the highest quality are sold by us. B. & C. Grocery EXTRA SPECIAL Phone 545-W 446 S. Beech St. Ranges that are abso- Broken lines ladies’ noes tan, black and grey, French and an AY heels. 3 Ibs. Rice, fancy oy 45) Large can Toma- “20 lutely guaranteed to give Sale price 3 $6.85 Japanese c (968 ic 1 ken li ladi hoes, black, pitee grey top, small sizes, light colors, 25 lbs. Prunes Small can Toma- our customers a maximum as oomed aves; Martha Washington low shoes, elastic side. Sale price $3.65 at, per lb. 15¢e ns. toes “15¢e i i 10 lbs. Prunes, 1 |i Marge can > of satisfaction. at ,per Ib........ 15:¢ | Hominy 20c Large can Pump- 16¢ | _ kin : 5 lbs. Prunes at, 20e i per lb aes Priced From 1 EBeS, Crystal White | Bi pe nlrraeee 3 50e $30.00 U sin $6,90 | iene 500 | | indmill Jam, Pai aes if ; P eee Gf 40e a ral cal A 50e Corn, regular 25c value, can.. ike cut shows a $65.00 Cabinet Range with enamel 150 | Scie eoe I Red Cross Puffed Wheat, splasher, enamel broiler and drip pan; also glass door, nickel Milk, case $6.25 Jokes for. Oe 8 bars P. & G. Puffed Rice, trimmed. Nap Soap...... 25¢e "2 pigs: t6F 35e Palmolive Soap, 10e Early June Peas, *20e bar ....... ail per can ...... We barack free of charge, a Gas Range expert a make eT ‘Anole gauea! Ee tee Dol $4.25 | “Pesuce 45e # all adjustments. Our showroom is filled with many different styles and B. makes of ranges. Phone 545-W early. Compare these prices with any. 25 PER CENT REDUCTION ON OUR Entire Stock Men’s and Boys’ Shoes B. & C. Meat Market Phone 545-W 446 S. Beech St. pict Bs cus ~ 4 GAIN : i - Remember ‘‘Lorain’’ eliminates pot watching. Those whe mite this oe ee eee ean opportunity to save frém [iff 5000 pounds beef to choose from Prices om beef cuter } r ' $2.00 to $7.00 on each pair of shoes. | Round Steak, 25e Boil Beef, 8e , Broken line boys’ shoes. Sale Price ccc een eemeeemeenee enn ... $2.95 | lb. AB ces Avs 5 ‘ | mein Steak, 30e Fork Cc SELEY _30e e e e D. D. Pot Roast, Pork Roast, Casper Gas Appliance Co. || Richards & Cunningham Co. fl isi 18¢ | "he 200 Vg asp o- This is corn feed beef and pork. + Fr Three good meat cutters wanted. 4 Think Richards & Cunningham When You Want the Best ! : ROBERT SCOTT, Proprietor. Join the American Legion Now 119'East First St. Phone 1500 se