Casper Daily Tribune Newspaper, March 9, 1924, Page 10

First Resident Slept Under Open Sky; Had No Tent BY ALFRED J. MOKLER At this time thirty-six years ago o town Casper; not was living would ex. t near old Fort ammer of 1888, e built at the t the exact loca- he town had not cided. upon. + Merritt was the first to locate here; he came in on horseback during the first part of June, and he did not even have a tent in which to make his home, but he had & round-up bed, a few provisions and an oyster can in which he made his coffee. These were carried on a pack horse. He made his home under a cotton wood tree on the river bank at a point about due north from Ash Street. C. W Eads was the second man to come here to.locate; he had heard that ing June 7, 1888, when he found Mr. Merritt preparing for supper by fry ing a piece of meat on a stick and doiling his coffee in his oyster can. Mr. Eads asked Merritt if he had any idea where the town of Casper was, and Merritt replied that he could not say where it was; been here for some time but had not seen anything that looked like a town. F had a team and wagon; a tent. a sheet fron stove, some utensils and some provisions. With him were his daughter Fannie, and his son Kise. The men put up the tent near the spot where Merrit was cooking his supper, and the next mornirig after breakfast they look ed over the ground and moved their tent to a spot which is now known 4s McKinley and A streets, and here they established the town of Casper. Others came in the next day after Mr. Eads arrived and others followed closely in their steps. The temporary town was built near the tent which had been erected by Mer- ritt and Eads on a strip of ground about half a mile east from where the Natrona county court house now stands, the exact location being be- tween First and A strects and be- tween McKinley and Jefferson streets. There were about a dozen business buildings on this strip of land, half of which were facing the south and the other half were look- ing toward the north. The main Street was running east and west aid was about the length of a city block. ‘These buildings were of course only temporary structures, which were erected in which to transact business until the perman. ent site for the town could be. sur- veyed and platted by the townsite company. The matorial used in the construction of these buildings was plain rough boards, hauled down from a saw mill which was located on Casper mountain. There were a few who carried on their business in tents. The flooring in most of these buildings and in all of the tents was just the earth with the sage brush and cactus cleared off. There were three general merchandise stores here, one drug store, one hotel, one Festaurant, and several saloons. Cowboys and Indians were about the @nly people that came in to do any frading and they spent most of their time and money in the saloons. ‘The railroad was built in and Stopped near where the stock yards are located, about a mile east from the court house. Tho first train to @rrive was on June 15, 1888. There Were about one hundred actual fesldents in Casper at that time. &nd the occasion. of the first train to arrive was celebrated by the resi- @ents and visitors ina manner long be remembered. The present townsite had not yet been surveyed ér platted when the railroad. was Built in and it was late in the fall Of 1888 before any of the lots were old, and none of the business Bouses were moved from thelr tem- orary location to their permanent Ycation until about the middle of November of that year. ‘The first Qusiness lot to be sold in Casper was Jot 13, in block 8, which is on the Borthwest corrier.of Second and Cen- Ser street where thé Stockman’s al Ba: located. Nat! c. H. Tow was the purchaser, and he put up a small frame building on| es been de-| # A man named John]: he had CASPER 36 YEARS AGO AND NOW — PIONEER | EDITOR RECITES STORY OF THE EARLY DAYS ler’s ownership. Home of the Natrona County Tribune in the early days of Mr. Mok- EDR SLES ority to Incorpor- ate in 1889 second teacher, and he taught ten * > | weeks, commencing April 22, 1890. || The enrollment at that time was E|twenty-six but at the end of his *| of an even fifty. bonds amounting to $4,000 were voted ten weeks there was an enrollment On June 30, 1890, by the people of district number 2 for the building of a “handsome commodious and creditable brick school house.” Elghty#even votes were cast for thr bonds and no votes were cast against them. The building. was erected on the site ,| where the Central school building ts nominating candidates for mayor and councilmen, and at the first town election George Mitchell was elected mayor; Robert White, P. A Demorest, A “McKinney and John Adam, councilmen. The people who lived here then were compelled to put up with many inconveniences and hardships that we today would think were terrible {f we had to en- e privations that they they struggled op and bout ten years pop. 10 our population with 11,447, but we really had a population of 18,000 or more: and today there are at least 32,000" peo- ple living in the city of Casper, and we are the largest city in the state. We were made a city of the first January, 191 have thir- We have the system in the spr of very muddy atrpetar best water works state. The largest oil refineries in the United States are located here, and Casper is blessed with a. happy, healty, contented and prosperous people. The first step toward the segre- gation of Carbon county and the organization of a new county was taken when a bill was introduced in 1 legislature in 1888 for The bill passed the legis! ative ody but was vetoed by Governor Moonlight; but the legis- lators passed the bill over the gov- ernor's veto. On January 31, 1889, a petition was formally presented to the governor requesting fhat three commissioners be appointed for the purposes of organizing the new county of Natrona, but on February 26, the governor announced that he would not appolnt the three com: missioners, and nothing more at that time could be done toward the form- ing of the new county. Governor Moonlight was removed from office by the president of the United States during the latter part of March and Francis B. Warren was appointed governor, A new petition was presented to Governor Warren early in 1890 requesting that three commissioners be appointed for the purpose of organizing the new coun- ty of Natrona and on March 3, 1890, Governor Warren made the appoint- ments as requested in the petition, and the commissioners took the oath of office March 5, and ordered that an election be held on April 8, 1890, for the purpose of electing county officers and the selection of a coun- ty seat. Bessemer and Casper were the candidates for the county seat. Bessemer received more than twice the number of votes that Casper re- celved, but they were declared irreg- ular and Casper was named as the county seat of the new county. The newly elected county officers took the oath of offite and at a regular meeting of the board of county com: in 1922 we were credited | ‘S| then, but the Congregational taber- missioners held on April 12, 1 and the county of Natrona, T tory of Wyoming, was declared duly and regularly organized. The coun- ty derives its name from the natural deposits of Natrom or carbonate of soda which is found In numerous basins and lakes that abound with. in this part «f the state. Nineteen pupils were enrolled in bscription school taught in Cas- Adah E. Allen, which ced on Mond: rch 5 i he first act toward the establishment of a public school in Casper was at a meeting of the citizens held on March 28, 1889, for the organization of a school district in this part of the gounty, which was then Carbon county, and the first public school was opened on Monday, July 8, 1889, with Miss |Anna Weber as teacher. We had no regular school house in Casper |nacle was used #s a school room. This tabernacle was standing on the corner of Durbin and First streets, where the New York Oil company now has its office, southwest from the -Central school bullding. Mr. “M. P. Wheeler was the clouds. We feel Phone 711 All the clear, alates SOFT | water you wish jto take home; a Softened by the famous Refinite Water Softener, eration on our display room floor, consequently this offer remains open always. what a pleasure it is to have soft water you will order us to install a plant in your home. Schank Plumbing & Heating Co. now located. It consisted of four rooms, two on the second floor and two on the ground floor. Schoo! was commenced in this building January 20, 1891, with J. C, Wil- liams as principal and Miss‘ Clemin- tine Evans, now Mrs, P. C. Nico- ‘aysen, teacher of the primary de- partment. There were many strug- gles to keep the schools going, and there was considerable trouble with some of the teachers and Pupils, agree upon many subjects that came up, but these struggles and troubles were overcome in time, and now we have the best equipped and the best school buildings in the state; the teachers are the pler of the or any of the large cities in the United States, and with the environ- ments, with the splendid, healthful climate, where the winters are moderate, and the summers are cool in the mornings and evenings, and pleasant in the middle of. the day, there is no reason why the boys and girls should not grow into man- hood and womanhood and make the strongest men and women, both in mind and body, of any people in the whole world. paces ORE An exhibition covering every phase of the electrical! industry is to be held in Melbourne, Australia, next September. a rival of the This plant is in actual op- sure that once you learn 359_E. Second St. Bis lot, in which he carried a Stock of grocer! grain Ployes of th building, and their bed v sacks of grain t small in from the The prospects for Casper to become anything but a shambling, temporary frontier Millage was not very encouraging ‘Town lots were sold at a very small| Price and the buildings erected Were put up as cheaply as possible ‘The people who were in busine here were of the opinion that se railroad would soon be extended, « it was their intention to move ek ther west with the railroad. Application was made for the ir corporation of the town of ¢ by John Merritt on April the board of County Commi: of Carbon county; there was trona county then, The coun missioners acted favorably application and a town elect ordered to be held on July § A mass meeting of the citizens v Held at the Congregational ziktle on July 6 for the ‘. ae tat er purpose of Phone 1500 CALL ON US FOR A DEMONSTRATION - CONVENIENT TERM PAYMENT. PLAN Casper Gas Appliance Co. “Merchandise. That Merits Confidence” 115-119 East First and the citizens generally could not teachers in New York City, Chicago, j Elias Archuleta Ella Brannan, R. C. Dockham_____-2 C. A. Davis__ ob Carl H. Davis_.--.-_1 Pete Domitrovich ___6 T. R. Durham__ =e B. B. Darling= + B. C. Darling_ S. W. Douglas__ "i . Ella A. Ellis__----__1 A. G. Erving----____1 . A. Elquist.----___1 Harold E, Eaton_____1 Arvid L. Eckman.___1 Elmo Eshelman _____6° W. H. Edison___ Fred Forestell __-. of lots in December it was doing well. Lot sales in MOUNTAIN VIEW SUBURB for the. month of February. people bought 198 lots during the month. We thought when we sold $12,000.00 worth When our sales went to over $21,000.00 in January it was considered exceptional. Why is this phenominal record possible? ANSWER Large lots 50x135 feet. Modern conveniences such as water, gas, telephones, bus ser- vice. Did you see in the Tribune of date March 4th, that the school board will add forty rooms to their schools this summer, and that a school for MOUNTAIN VIEW is included in that number? $20.00 DOWN We.can finance your home whether your lot is paid for or not. while there are still good locations left, then see us. LOTS $200.00 TO $350.00 EACH Ninety Pick out your lot $10.00 MONTHLY PROFIT IN 6 MONTHS E, Helfrich L. D. Hurley__ L. E. Jackson_ E. O. Johnson_ R. G, Johnson_ Peter A. Jensen Earl Kelsey W. J. King_ Vincent King — Bell Lon Miss F. Max Levand Chas. Messersmith Joe Mathisen _-_ P, R, Mock- A. S.. Morris. Messrs. Martelle and Geberer Don Martinez — =f Emma Mortimer R. H..‘Nichols___ Carl F.Shumaker___-4 Hazel Seaman _ 6 F, E. Sevey___ C, M. Summers_ F. V. Saulie.._ M. M. Shiley__ e Myrtle W. Stebbins-_3 A. D. Shaull_ 1%. Wilma Rasmussen +__3_ H. J. Ringle-=-_2____ 1 Julia H. Reichenbach.6 .Lloyd Spies ----~_. The fallewing have bought lots in Mountain View Suburb - Mable Summers Ben,<J. Sturn__ A. P. Spies.__ Sidonia C. Spies_-. U. S. Sandlin___. Frank Vermillion P. M. Van Sickle_. C, H. Marnock. R. R. Waggener_ Mrs. W. B. Walker__1 1 tied tt be G0 bo OU bo He G9 > et bo ht M. E. si eraser C. F. Whiting. L. Whitesell _ Jack Widner _. Oscar Wiebking _ Walter Wiebking _ C.F, Williams___ L, J. Wingar_. H. E. Wood_____ W. L. Worrell_______6 Floyd Wyatt ________2 Ay coming Poster. Co._2 meters Young ~___-12 R. W. Tudor _____.__2 B Glenn E. Dugger____6 MOUNTAIN VIEW BUS SCHEDULE Leaves Stockman’s National Bank on the hour. Leaves Mt. View,on the one-half hour. Salesmen Will Be on the Ground Today BAKER-GRUDE INVESTMENT COMPANY 183 N. WOLCOTT P. J. Hi Hand__-_ 1 E, L. Hanson pay) I, E. Paulson_ 3 C. H. Davis_ 1 Con Sweeney —-_____1 Mrs. P, W. Kesecker,_1 J.D. Ryan__. Ira Smith __ R. D. Miller _. W.E. Hulls Ww. C. Sidney Burgess F. L. Burns__ ~Roy Hill __ Alice V. Hardie H. H. Walker_ F. D. McKay__ R. J. McNeely. Louis Hoffman E. Allen ~____ J.B. Fleming— Andy+S. Schepter_ H. Billingsley J. W. Longshore_ Mrs. Nance Moyle Lee Culver We Have Many Choice Acre Tracts Which We Will Provide With Water IF YOU BUY NOW WE PREDICT YOU WILL MAKE 100 PER CENT W. B. Hardie_ NNYK AH OOH NH NOAH ID A. W. Krusee____ ~ C. H. Cassey_- Robt. B. Garrett_.___ Henrietta Svare — A. O. K Mrs. Florence Edith Melles J. W. Davis__ Louis Hoffman Oscar Loos —~___ Baker-Grude Inv. Co. 38 DO CO et REDD DO tt LO 09 C9 Lleol Jacob Hampbing —___ Brown & Llewellyn Acres R. A. Hogue_---_,__1 Jess Hunt - Sah So, O. B. Parkhurst_____ M. C. Sankey__ F, N. Martin_ 3 Ed Scouville — 1 E. L. Knox.__- meee . Herbert Harlan ae C. A. Britton _-_ Clyde Luddington H. J. Lander___. Joe Baugh —____. EL, Ranson-_____. H. Morgridge ____. L. C. Taylor____ 1 OD Pat Fak fa a ek BD tak BD DD tO Bat a ak Pat tt Mrs. Anna Claney_ J. P. Pitsenberg__ Wenta & Buzzard. Fred J. Carr___ F. H. Johnson__ Bay and Richardson H. E. Grude_ 1 1 PHONE 1189