Peek at the Past

100 Years Ago

July 12, 1923

Chapter two of Moorcroft enforcement activities was unreeled Saturday morning when Sheriff Zimmerschied and Deputies Steele, Guidinger and Hurtt took into custody Addison Bishop and Fred Hofeldt, who were surprised in the act of distilling at their location six miles south of Moorcroft. The officers had laid a neat trap to carry out their program, and at 3:30 a.m., it was sprung with complete success. The violators staged a run through the sagebrush in an attempt to get away, and some ammunition was used to persuade them that it was useless.

Negotiations were concluded last week whereby Floyd Hawken takes over the ranch interests of Fred Hawken on Blacks Flat, including the fine herd of purebred Herefords. The location is one of the most desirable in Crook County and is sure to prove a winner for Floyd, who has shown his ability to handle stock and ranch affairs. Mr. and Mrs. Fred Hawken will leave next week for their California home, where they own and operate a tract of lemon orchard.

75 Years Ago

July 8, 1948

The Wyoming State Highway Commission is calling for bids on 125 miles of highway in the state, the total cost of which will be in the neighborhood of two million dollars. Included in these bids is one of the most extensive grading projects ever undertaken by the department – oiling and chip seal coating 28.284 miles of the Upton – Sundance road.

The annual Black Hills picnic is being held on Sunday at Sycamore Grove, Los Angeles. All former residents and their friends are invited to come and spend the day visiting old time friends.

On Friday, July 2, Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Conn of Washington, D.C. added their names to the list of the few persons who have managed to scale the steep sides of the Devils Tower. Mrs. Conn is the first woman who has ever scaled the tower without the aid of a ladder.

50 Years Ago

July 5, 1973

Harold Shaw, John Ayer, Art Linklater and Albert Proctor were elected as the board of directors of the Crook County Stockgrowers Association at the June 28 meeting of the association at Mateo Village.

Criss Williams, a senior at Moorcroft High School will be among the fourteen hundred youth delegates attending the 1973 national meeting of the Future Homemakers of America in Dallas, TX.

25 Years Ago

July 9, 1998

On Sunday, shortly before 3:00 in the afternoon, a propane tank attached to a barbecue grill exploded at the club house at the Devils Tower Golf and Country Club. The fire caused by the explosion quickly spread throughout the grill area at the club house and onto the roof before firefighting personnel had arrived on the scene. Gusty winds caused the fire to sweep through the club house, totally destroying the structure.