The Carnegie Library
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THE CARNEGIE LIBRARY William Rideout, MD Edited by Elizabeth Cuckow Thorson TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Early Cheyenne ...................................................................................................... 3 Chapter 2: People ................................................................................................................... 13 Chapter 3: Andrew Carnegie ................................................................................................. 15 Chapter 4: Carnegie Libraries in Wyoming ........................................................................... 21 Chapter 5: Carnegie Library Construction ............................................................................. 22 Chapter 6: Transfer to Carnegie Library ................................................................................ 31 Chapter 7: Early Acquisitions ................................................................................................ 32 Chapter 8: County Commissioners and Library Trustees ...................................................... 36 Chapter 9: Basic Statistics ..................................................................................................... 45 Chapter 10: Patrons ................................................................................................................. 50 Chapter 11: Expenses and Salaries ......................................................................................... 51 Chapter 12: Minutes of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Library ................................. 53 Chapter 13: Personnel ............................................................................................................. 60 Chapter 14: Librarian’s Duties and Functions ........................................................................ 68 Chapter 15: Library Function, Rules, Regulations, and Hours ............................................... 74 Chapter 16: Branch Libraries .................................................................................................. 77 Chapter 17: Letters Pertaining to Stations .............................................................................. 85 Chapter 18: Traveling Libraries and School Loans (Stations)................................................ 91 Chapter 19: Bookmobile ......................................................................................................... 96 Chapter 20: Community Use .................................................................................................. 98 Chapter 21: Donations .......................................................................................................... 102 Chapter 22: Finances............................................................................................................. 105 Chapter 23: Maintenance ...................................................................................................... 115 Chapter 24: Improvements .................................................................................................... 121 Chapter 25: Legislation ......................................................................................................... 125 Chapter 26: Epilogue ............................................................................................................ 138 The Carnegie Library 2 Table of Contents Chapter 1: Early Cheyenne Recounting the construction of a Carnegie library in a frontier city requires some evaluation of the culture and demographics of the population. The frontier myth and cowboy myth were probably fostered commercially by painter Frederic Remington, showman William “Buffalo Bill” Cody, U.S. president and naturalist Theodore Roosevelt, and writers Ned Buntline and Owen Wister for the entertainment of Easterners and Europeans. Cheyenne citizens realized the fallacy of these myths, as evidenced by a newspaper article entitled “Hole in the Wall is Pure Fiction” in the Cheyenne Daily Leader on July 29, 1901. The article quoted the Casper paper, whose reporter stated that in 1892, a murderous gang went through the Hole-in-the-Wall, a pass in the Big Horn Mountains, into a broad valley of ranchland inhabited by a number of respectable ranchers. This was seized upon by Eastern reporters and newspapers, who reported that every criminal thereafter escaped through the Hole-in-the-Wall. However, the interviewed ranchers, resident in the area since the mid-1800s, never saw them nor were there any caves or other places for the thieves to hide. Basically the West was settled by Easterners who brought with them the way they lived in the East. The environment and hostile natives were reminiscent of the early settling of the East. A brief description of life in Cheyenne and the people and events of that period can be parsed from a variety of sources. Books include History of Wyoming by T. A. Larson; Union Pacific by Maury Klein; Cheyenne: a biography of the “magic city” of the plains, 1867-1903 by Bill O’Neal; The Carnegie Public Library, Cheyenne, Wyoming: a history of its organization and construction, with some ideas on the general scope and usefulness of the new building, and other interesting data (memorial volume 1902), edited by Robert C. Morris; and an excellent account of the Laramie County Library from 1872 to 1943, written in May 1971 by Alice M. Farnum. Other sources include the American Heritage and Annals of Wyoming magazines, Cheyenne newspapers, and sources from the Wyoming State Archives, the Laramie County Library files, and online. CHEYENNE’S FOUNDING In July 1867, General Grenville Dodge and his survey party selected the most suitable route for the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) from the five principal choices previously surveyed. When they arrived at a bend in Crow Creek just before reaching the Laramie Mountains, he decided that this would be the terminus for the railroad. He selected 320 acres for the railroad and platted the site. On the Fourth of July, they celebrated with General Christopher Augur and soldiers from Fort D. A. Russell. While returning to work the next day, a grading party on its way from Salt Lake City was attacked by Indians as they approached Dodge’s camp. The Indians were driven off but three of the railroad men were killed. They were buried and became the first inhabitants of Cheyenne. Prior to the arrival of the track on November 13, 1867, Cheyenne was a construction camp consisting of tents and a few buildings. The construction crew came from Julesburg, Colorado which was known as Hell on Wheels, a name attached to the camps at the railhead by some unknown wag. When the track reached Hillsdale, Wyoming, flat cars carrying nearly all of the town tents and buildings were unloaded and brought to Cheyenne by horse and wagon. The population consisted of laborers, gamblers, saloon keepers, hangers-on, and prostitutes. The first house was built in July 1867 and the population had reached seven The Carnegie Library 3 Chapter 1: Early Cheyenne thousand by November 1. Within a month, a city charter was formulated and adopted. On August 10, 1867, 350 votes were cast for city officials, and 1,924 votes were cast in October for county officials and territorial delegates. Visitors had varying views of the city. In November 1867, a Parisian mineralogist named Louis Laurent Simonin visited on his tour of Western mines. In his book Le Quest de la Oeust, he related that he was … offered lodging at the Dodge House or Hotel … in the common sleeping room. There were no less than 30 beds there, most of them occupied by two sleepers at a time. We did not choose to share our bed with anyone … in the common lounging room. … One had to share the same brushes, the same combs and even the same towel. I rolled the soiled linen … until I found a clean place, and then bravely rubbed my face. The hotel keeper asks us to leave our arms. Carbines and revolvers are not allowed in the city … a decision taken by the municipal council. … One can go about without arms and walks in the midst of honest people. According to the U.S. Serial 1319 (1868), “Cheyenne was settled largely by people of Colorado” who came from Denver and northern Colorado. N. A. Baker, a Denver newspaper editor, arrived with all his equipment on the night of September 16, 1867, and at noon on September 19 the first issue of the Cheyenne Leader was sold. By November there was a city debt and three newspapers. Twelve newspapers had appeared in Cheyenne by 1900 but only a few survived. The Bank of Rogers and Company moved to Cheyenne on September 25, 1867. A postmaster was appointed and the post office opened on September 9, 1867. From October to December 1867, over 2,600 letters were processed each day. Dodge estimated a population of ten thousand in the winter of 1867-1868; he probably included the residents of Fort D. A. Russell and Camp Carlin, located between the fort and the town. By the election of January 23, 1868 an ordinance was passed which required residence of three months or more to be eligible to vote, reducing the number of voters to less than half the population at 1,002. Soon after the surveying of the city, lots were offered for sale by the Union Pacific Railroad for $150, one-third to be paid in cash. Within one month, the price increased to $1,000 cash and in less than a year, the price had risen to $2,000. Contrary to popular conception, vigilante law lasted only a short time, from early 1867 to the elections in the fall when the police force was organized.