Free Glimpses

I’ve just finished a project about pioneers in Wyoming whose interviews I conducted in 1951. This does mean that they have all died in the meantime and so the articles are ‘dated’ but are still precious bits of history of the western frontier. This booklet is a rewrite of those original interviews and contains pictures of each of the dozen or so individuals.

Titled Pages From the Past; Stories From Niobrara Homesteaders, this booklet will be published by the Niobrara County Historical Society and will be on sale at the Stagecoach Museum in Lusk, Wyoming by this summer.

I want to share some of the early adventures of these brave settlers on the frontier. Adventures that stirred my mind and may do the same for you. Most of them take place in the late 1800s or early 1900s, as homesteaders went west to find work and a new place to raise their families.

Alone in their soddy cabin, one young woman was tending her kitchen tasks when she suddenly felt eyes boring into the back of her head. Turning her head toward the one door in the single room building, she saw a large timber wolf standing on the door step staring intently at her. What thoughts crowded through her mind are awesome. They stared at each other for some time before the wolf tilted his head as though uncertain what to make of her, and then slowly turned away and left.

‘Go West Young Man, Go West’ was not an idle slogan in those days. One young man was so excited by stories his friend brought back from a trip to Wyoming, that he took all his savings and a few pieces of clothing and without telling his family or other friends, headed to Wyoming for his own adventure. He and his friend discovered that cowboys had to have their own horses and so did not get to join the roundups. Later he completed the dream.

Early attempts to make a pie or biscuits provided a challenge for some homesteaders. Lack of a good recipe book made the product inedible, but definitely a lesson in resourcefulness.

Entertainment on the frontier varied from Saturday night parties at someone’s house to hunting and fishing, as well as chokecherry picking. One man chose to collect rattlesnake rattles – from the abundant supply of snakes that were there first. After filling a large matchbox, he gave up and just kept removing these snakes to provide safety for his family.

Those early days called for hard physical labor, self-sufficiency, resourcefulness, and courage. Many people died young, especially women in childbirth, and children from various diseases. What a contrast their life was with ours today.