Big Horn Basin, WY Towns and Newspapers

Big Horn Basin Towns and Newspapers

Studying the history of our towns help us understand our own family history. We are looking for additional history of each of the following towns. Any contributions would be greatly appreciated.

TOWNS

Alamo - see Manderson.
Anchor - discontinued post office named for C. E. Blonde. Hot Springs.
Andersonville - 1870's by brothers from Illinois. Across the river from Thermopolis, Hot Springs County.
- Charles Anderson http://www.skyviewtech.com/jim/charles_anderson.htm - submitted by Jim Hoskins jchoskins@skyviewtech.com
Basin -The county seat. Basin was created in 1896. The Big Horn County Library is located here. The mailing address is PO Box 231, Basin, WY 82410. Big Horn.
Big Trails -post office first called Red Bank. discontinued in 1940. Washakie.
Blonde's Pass - post office named after C. E. Blonde. Hot Springs.
Bonanza - Town created 1887. Is now a ghost town. Also known as Bona. Big Horn.
Burlington - Settled 1893 by Mormon settlers who named it after the Burlington Railroad. Another story says it was named in 1887 after Walter Burlington. Big Horn.
Byron - Settled 1900, became town 1910. Big Horn.
- Byron, Cowley, and Lovell Town Records are: Minutes, Ordinance Books, Receipts and Expenditures
- Byron Town Minutes begin 1910-1954 There are a few missing years in the 30's when minute books were destroyed by mice. Mentions a defugulity of ownership of land, a person had felt he had been given the land but no offical records of such had been recorded and when the original owner of the land died his son wanted the land that the other person had felt he had been given. Town Hall has a drawer with a few miscellaneous pictures such as when there was the big oil field burn and the flour mill, etc.
Chatham - see Winchester. Washakie.
Chrystal, a Burlington railroad station. Big Horn.
Cloverly - discontinued post office named by Jack Copman, located on his ranch. Big Horn.
Coburn - discontinued post office named for Edwin Coburn, postmaster. Big Horn.
Cody - Settled 1895, incorporated 1901. Park.
Corbett - Settled 1884. Park.
Collins - discontinued post office on Thermopolis-Meeteetse stage line, after W. S. Collins.
Cowley - Settled 1900, incorporated 1907. Big Horn.
- Byron, Cowley, and Lovell Town Records are: Minutes, Ordinance Books, Receipts and Expenditures
- Cowley Town Minutes begin in 1908 then skip to 1913 to present. In 1914 it mentions the town paying Safford Hotel $4.80 for feeding transients and Lewis Hotel $4.25 for transients. In 1917 there was a complaint against the peddling of meat from house to house
Crosby - coal town established by Dad Jones in the 1890's, named after Jesse W. Crosby.
Deaver - Created 1918. First was a tent town in 1917 and named after D. Clem Deaver. Big Horn.
Dickie - discontinued post office named after rancher David Dickie.
Dodge - discontinued post office named for Charles H. Dodge, postmaster. Big Horn.
Embar - discontinued post office on Colonel Torrey's Embar ranch, established in 1885. Earlier the first cabin built in 1871 by a Mr. Woodruff.
Emblem - aka Germania - Settled 1899. Also once known as Liberty Bench. Big Horn.
Frannie - settled 1901. Big Horn.
Garland - settled 1901 (the Gate City). Park.
Gebo - discontinued post office and railroad station, settled in 1908. Named after Samuel W. Gebo, developer of the coal mines in the 1890's. Hot Springs.
Gold Creek - had a gold strike in 1898. Big Horn.
Grass Creek - early village named after the creek.
Greybull - Founded 1909. Big Horn. Visit the Greybull Museum at 325 Greybull Avenue. The museum's exhibits cover the history of the Greybull area. Admission is free. Hours vary depending on the season. (307) 765-2444. Second site for Greybull is http://www.greybull.com/
Hamilton Dome - post office named for Dr. Hamilton. Hot Springs.
Hartman - discontinued post office on Crooked Creek (named after Hartman family) Big Horn.
Harvard - discontinued post office named after William Harvard. Harvard.
Holt - discontinued post office named after Horatio Holt.
Horton Gulch - named for Billy Horton, a resident around Tensleep. Washakie.
Hyattville - Settled 1890. Originally settled in 1886 and known as Paint Rock. Later renamed after Samuel Hyatt. Big Horn.
Iona - Settled 1900.
Kane - Settled 1895 - became Yellowtail Reservoir 1965. Named after Riley Kane. Big Horn.
Kirby - post office and railroad station named after Kris Kirby, first settler on the bridger Trail about 1878. Hot Springs.
Lovell - Settled 1900, incorporated 1906. Big Horn.
- Byron, Cowley, and Lovell Town Records are: Minutes, Ordinance Books, Receipts and Expenditures
- Lovell Town Minutes begin 1906 they had a fire in about 1944-6 and some records were lost. Early Lovell minutes mention the stray book and the sale of impounded animals, and ordinance #110 prohibiting minors and children under age 16 years on the streets in town after 9:00 and that a bell would ring at 8:50 to warn them they had 10 minutes to be off the streets.
Lucerne - french word for alfalfa. Hot Springs.
Manderson - Settled before 1889 - aka Alamo. Town of Alamo was named by J. W. Shaffer, postmaster and area rancher. Big Horn.
Marguette - discontinued post office named for George Marguette. Big Horn.
McDonald - discontinued post office named for Alex McDonald. Big Horn.
Medicine Lodge Creek - sacred Indian lands - Big Horn.
Medicine Mountain and Medicine Wheel - sacred Indian lands - Big Horn.
Meeteese - 1881 post office, 1883 present location. Park.
Neiber -discontinued post office and railroad station named after Mary M Nieber, first postmaster. a Shoshone burial ground is also near here. Washakie.
Nowood - 1890's, early 1900's. Had an early trading post. Washakie.
Null - discontinued post office named after David A Null, postmaster. Big Horn.
Otto - Formed before 1896 by Otta Franc. Was in contention for county seat of Big Horn County in 1896. Big Horn.
Owl Creek - first cabin built in 1871 John D. Woodruff. Hot Springs.
Penrose - Settled 1904 (Center) Park.
Powell - Incorporated 1909 (Camp Colter in the 1890's) Park
Punteney - discontinued post office named after V. D. Puntenay Hot Springs
Rairden - named for Dr. Rairden, an early settler. Washakie
Ralston - railroad siding named after Mr. Ralston, a saloonkeeper. Park
Raymond - discontinued post office named after C. W. Raymond. Big Horn.
Rothwell - discontinued post office established in 1883 at the Padlock Ranch on Owl Creek, after Henry Rothwell.
Saint Joe - first a post office, then a community, named for Joe Brown, an early rancher. Big Horn.
Shell - Settled before 1900. Big Horn.
Spence - discontinued post office named after a pioneer named Spence. Big Horn.
Strong - discontinued post office named after Frank Strong. Big Horn.
Tensleep - originally called Sackett Fork in 1867, named after Col. Sackett, the Army engineer who mapped the area. Name changed to match local use - ten sleeps from Ft. Laramie, ten from Yellowstone National Park and ten from Stillwater, Montana. Washakie.
Thermopolis - Present location 1897 (Old Thermoplis in early 1890's) Hot Springs.
Tinkcom - discontinued post office named after D. A. Tinkcom, postmaster. Big Horn.
Trapper Creek - trappers lived in early dug outs. Big Horn.
Waln - discontinued post office named for its postmaster. Big Horn.
Wellington - settled in 1900 by Germans. Named after Wellington Rupp, son of A. G. Rupp, storeowner. Washakie.
Winchester - discontinued post office named after R. S. Winchester, postmaster and area rancher. Railroad station named Chatham was built by the post office. Washakie
Wise - discontinued post office named after George W. Wise. Big Horn.
Worland - Settled in 1903 - named for C. R. Worland. Washakie.

NEWSPAPERS

Basin
- Basin City Herald 1896- formed from the Paint Rock Record 1891-1896 (Hyattville)
  Big Horn County Rustler 1900-1928 formed from The Rustler, started in 1889 in Bonanza moved in 1890 to Otto moved in1896 to Hyattville moved in 1900 to Basin.
  Basin Republican -1928
  above two newspaper merged to form Basin Rupublican-Rustler in 1928
  Basin Republican-Rustler 1928-
Bonanza
- The Rustler 1889-1890 changed name to Big Horn County Rustler and moved to Otto in 1890
Burlington
- Burlington Post 1903-1906 (short lived)
Cody
- Wyoming Dispatch
  Shoshone Valley News 1898- moved to Meeteetse changed to Meeteetse News
  Cody Enterprise 1899-1910
  Wyoming Stockgrower & Farmer 1902-1910
  The above two papers combined in 1910 to form the Park County Enterprise
  1910-   .
  Park County Enterprise 1910-
  Park County Herald     -1926 joined with Park County Enterprise in 1926
  Cody Times     -1954
  joined with above two newspapers in 1954 to become Cody Enterprise
  Cody Enterprise 1954- A fire accurred in 1974 some newspapers were lost along with two lives.
  Northern Wyoming Herald
  Heart Mountain Sentinel (during World War II years)
Cowley
- Cowley Progress 1910-1948 original copy housed at Lovell Chronicle office in Lovell, WY.
Deaver
- Deaver Sentinel 1940-1949- original copy housed at Lovell Chronicle office in Lovell, WY.
Garland
- Garland Guard 1901-1909
  Garland Courier 1911-1913 moved to Powell renamed Powell Leade
Greybull
- Wyoming Standard 1907-1916 changed to Greybull Standard
  Greybull Standard 1916-1923
  Greybull Tribune 1921-1923
  above two newspapers merged to form Greybull Standard and Tribune Greybull Standard and Tribune 1923-
Hyattville
- Paint Rock Record 1891-1896 moved to Basin and formed Basin City Herald 1896-
  Big Horn County Rustler 1896-1900 moved to Basin in 1900
Kane
- Kane Herald 1915- (destroyed by fire?)
Lovell
- Lovell Chronicle 1906- fire destroyed issues before June 1930
  Lovell Chronicle office Lovell,Wy has original copies since June 1930
Meeteetse
- Meeteetse News 1898?-1932 merges into (Cody) Enterprise in 1932
  Big Horn County News 1898- formed from Otto Courier 1893-1898 (Otto)
  Wyoming Standard 1902-1907 moved to Greybull in 1907
Otto
- Grey Bull Mascot 1892- (short lived)
- Otto Courier 1894-1898 moved to Meeteetse became Big Horn Couty News
  Big Horn County Rustler 1890-1896 moved to Hyattville in 1896.
- Powell Tribune 1909-
  Powell Leader 1914-1918 merges with Powell Tribune in 1918
  a fire occurs in 1918 in one of the newspaper offices.
  A Powell Page in Cody Enterprise 1909-
Thermopolis
- Big Horn River Pilot 1897-1904
  Thermopolis Record 1901-1928
  Thermopolis Independent 1906-1928
  These two papers joined to make the Thermoplis Independent-Record in 1928.
  Thermopolis Daily Reminder 1930-1932 formed Thermoplis Journal 1932
  Thermopolis Journal 1932-
  Thermopolis Daily Record 1931 (short lived)
Worland
- Worland Grit 1906-1939 became Daily News
  Washakie Signal Fire 1938-1944
  Daily News (Wyoming News) 1939-1949 incorporated Worland Grit and Washakie Signal Fire
  Northern Wyoming Daily News 1940-1953- continues the Worland Grit and Wyoming News (Daily News)
Index to vital statistics to above papers on microfiche in Family History
Center, Lovell, Wy
Places where old newspapers our housed:

WYOMING STATE ARCHIVES
MUSEUMS AND HISTORICAL DEPARTMENT
BARRETT BUILDING
CHEYENNE, WY 82002

WYOMING STATE LIBRARY in Cheyenne

UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING LIBRARY in Laramie
Sources:

From Beaver to Oil 1973 by David J. Wasdeno

Wyoming Place Names by Mae Urbanek

Notes sent by Cindy Clark at gonefishing@tctwest.net

Page Created by Mary and Don Saban

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Page Last Updated Thursday, July 03, 2008