2020 June Our Faces.Indd

FEATURING THE PEOPLE THAT MAKE OUR COMMUNITY GREAT! OurFaces

LARAMIE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE: Maintaining law and order for over 150 years Th e Heritage Issue What’s inside: • Cheyenne SUBVETS: Submarine veterans united by shared experiences • Magic City Enterprises supporting individuals with disabilities for almost 50 years • Colorful cowboy C.B. Irwin’s legend lives on and much more!

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DIGITAL CELEBRATION We would like to invite you to visit our website at www.wyomingnews.com and click on the “Celebrate the Class of 2020” link to see all Graduating Seniors from LCSD #1 and #2 81 9 June 2020 OUR FACES / HERITAGE 3

FEATURING THE PEOPLE THAT MAKE OUR COMMUNITY GREAT! OurFaces INSIDE THIS EDITION: HERITAGE Magic City helps those with disabilities ﬁ nd value, equality, individual self-worth ...... 4 The outdoor legacy of Curt Gowdy ...... 6 Colorful cowboy: C.B. Irwin’s legend lives on ...... 8 Landmark Plains Hotel increases extended stay offerings ...... 9 Laramie County Sheriff’s Department: Maintaining law and order for over 150 years ...... 10 Old Cheyenne Grain Elevator: Elevating the West Edge ...... 14 Cheyenne SUBVETS: Submarine veterans united by shared experiences ...... 16

“TEACHERS AFFECT ETERNITY; NO ONE CAN TELL WHERE THEIR INFLUENCE STOPS.” NEXT ISSUE: —Henry Books Adams HEROES

SeptemberFEATURING 2019 THE PEOPLE THAT MAKE OUR COMMUNITY GREAT!

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PULLING FOR THE COMMUNITY - Send in story ideas Cheyenne Detective Mike Fernandez dedicates his spare time - Advertise to helping Special Olympics The Heroes Issue What’s inside: THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN COLORADO IS THE PRIMARY • Melody Warren: The calm in any storm • Kiwanis: More than just pancakes Contact: • Civil Air Patrol: Their role when a INSTITUTION FOR TEACHER EDUCATION IN THE STATE OF COLORADO community is faced with the unthinkable 307-633-3161 and much more!

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Look for it in Sept. 2020 4 Wyoming Tribune Eagle

Magic City helps those with disabilities ﬁ nd value, equality, in vidual self-wor Magic City Enterprises is a nonpro t agency that has supported people with disabilities to live successfully in the Cheyenne area since 1971. PHOTOS COURTESY OF MAGIC CITY

By Rachel Girt am today without them.” disabilities do,” said Je Gardner, mistakes are made. “ ey make it For the Wyoming Tribune Eagle In 1971, the Cheyenne Kiwanis Magic City president and CEO. clear that you have to live with the Mark Rynes described himself Club Foundation established “We provide support in their consequences of your actions, but as “a little bit of a wild card” before Magic City primarily as a homes to carry out typical at the same time, they help you he started receiving services from vocational program for those activities of daily living, to develop out,” he added. Magic City Enterprises 13 years with disabilities, providing work and maintain friendships and “If you’ve had a bad time, ago. such as building wood stakes relationships, and to facilitate theyhave people to listen to you,” With Magic City’s assistance, and pallets and stripping wire for meaningful activities that add Rynes said. “ ey won’t judge you Rynes went from living in a group copper. quality to people’s lives,” Gardner or just try to give you pills, but just home to living independently on Today, the nonpro t Magic added. listen to you and help you learn his own and working. For the last City provides community living, Gardner explained that what from your experiences, rather eight years, Rynes has also been adult day, community support, living successfully means depends than just get through them.” working at the F.E. Warren Air companion, personal care, on each individual. “A short-term Magic City set Rynes up with Force Base Commissary, where supported employment and success could be cleaning the various jobs through its job he stocks shelves, does janitorial transportation services to 120 house or putting on clean clothes. coaching program. At rst, Magic work and recently trained for the clients. Sometimes, it is a long-term, life- City sta came to work with him, meat room. “Our organization strives to help changing success like developing but stopped a er realizing he “It’s been the most impactful people grow to live typical lives of and maintaining a healthy didn’t need assistance, Rynes said. thing in my life to date,” Rynes quality within their communities, relationship, getting a driver’s Now he receives transportation said. “If it wasn’t for Magic City, I as well as to have access to and license or buying a home.” services to and from work. would be in an entirely di erent engage in community services Rynes called Magic City’s Rynes added that Magic City situation and wouldn’t be where I the same way those without support a “safety net,” even if has taught him budgeting skills, June 2020 OUR FACES / HERITAGE 5

Je Gardner, CEO and president of Magic City Enterprises, poses for photo. PHOTOS BY RACHEL GIRT & MAGIC CITY various skills in a group home setting, and “We are committed to growing and adapting and derogatory terms. “We call it disability cooking and cleaning. all of our services to continue meeting the now,” he stressed. For parents like Susan and Tim Kirk, just emerging needs of people of disabilities in the As a former member of the Wyoming knowing that Magic City sta members are Laramie County area, which we have served Governor’s Council on Developmental watching out for their son has been a big relief. for almost 50 years,” Gardner said. “We are Disabilities, he has spoken with U.S. Sens. Seventeen years ago, Kirk’s son became currently in the process of expanding into Mike Enzi and John Barrasso, as well as involved with Magic City right a er high Carbon and Platte counties, too.” presenting ideas to Wyoming legislators about school. e Kirks provided joint comments for “We continually assess the kinds of supports direct support professionals being paid more. this article. eir son, who is now 35, was not and services that we o er to ensure that we On the Wyoming Institute for Disabilities available to be interviewed. meet people’s needs and facilitate the best (WIND) Advisory Council, Garcia helped In addition to job coaching, Magic City opportunity for success,” Gardner explained. develop coloring books about people with “helped him be more independent, been there For George Garcia, Magic City has been disabilities. for him and guided him through di erent life a place where he has built friendships and “George has always liked to speak up skills,” the Kirks said. received services for more than 20 years. about people with disabilities, their needs e Kirks explained that their son was able to Before he retired two years ago, Garcia worked and how they can improve the waiver, move out of their house about a year a er high at Wendy’s for 10 years making chili and at things like that,” said Richard Leslie, a direct school due to Magic City. Today, he also receives Godfather’s Pizza as a dishwasher. Garcia said support professional who works at Magic transportation services and help paying his bills. a Magic City job coach came with him. City with Garcia. Magic City has connected their son with Magic City sta also helps Garcia in his Gardner, who started with Magic City in resources that have “helped him with everything home. “It’s pretty good,” Garcia added. 2017, has worked with and for people with from eyeglasses to appropriate work clothes,” “ ey’re nice people.” intellectual disabilities for more than 30 the Kirks said. Nowadays, Garcia volunteers to clean the years. He is very passionate about his career “We feel very strongly about Magic City and church at the senior center. He is the president choice. really appreciate all the wonderful services it of the Aktion Club, which is a Kiwanis “ e reality is that people with disabilities provides,” the Kirks added. “We hope Magic program for adults with disabilities. He is also are much more similar to people without City receives all the funding it needs to go very passionate about watching wrestling and disabilities than di erent,” Gardner said. forward.” football, o en sporting a Denver Broncos “ ey have the same hopes, dreams, joys Magic City’s primary source of revenue is jacket. “I like football – Denver,” he explained, and sorrows,” he added. “ ese are things the Medicaid Home and Community Based smiling. that transcend any di erences that we may Waiver, but, as a nonpro t organization, private Garcia is a strong advocate for people with have and make us people.” fundraising plays a critical role in its ability disabilities, especially for the use of more If anyone is interested in Magic City’s to continue to support the mission, Gardner appropriate terms to describe people with services, Gardner encouraged them to visit explained. disabilities and the elimination of o ensive the website mcewyo.org. 6 Wyoming Tribune Eagle The out or legacy of Curt Gowdy

Curt Gowdy State Park is located just 24 miles west of Cheyenne. e park has seven sections of richly varied landscape, miles of biking and hiking trails, and excellent shing. Daily use and camping fees required. Visit wyoparks.wyo.gov. PHOTOS BY RACHEL GIRT By Rachel Girt generated for Wyoming. Gowdy campground in honor of Gowdy’s ‘ e American Sportsman’ series, For the Wyoming Tribune Eagle died in 2006. wife named Jerre’s Haven. e let alone his constant reminder National sportscaster and “ e park today continues new campground has sweeping that he was from Wyoming outdoorsman Curt Gowdy to re ect the legacy of Curt views of the reservoir and when he was doing his national brought his love for hunting Gowdy in its rugged outdoor and features 13 new campsites with telecasts,” Bryan explained. and shing into America’s beautiful setting, along with its electrical hookups. Gowdy won six of his 13 Emmy living rooms for more than two vast and inclusive opportunities Bryan recalled working awards for the television show, decades, so it’s tting that today, for outdoor recreation,” said with the Wyoming Travel which he hosted, wrote and thousands enjoy Curt Gowdy Wyoming State Parks and Commission, the precursor produced. His celebrity guests State Park each year. Cultural Resources Director to today’s Wyoming O ce of varied from entertainment “Despite all he achieved, Darin Westby. Tourism, at the height of Gowdy’s celebrities like Phil Harris, Bing Curt never forgot his roots, In 2013, the state park opened involvement with “ e American Crosby and Peter O’Toole to and Wyoming has been the an interpretive center with Sportsman,” one of the rst athletes like Boston Red Sox benefactor of that to this day,” exhibits about the history of hunting and shing television Hall of Famer Ted Williams and said Gene Bryan, former director the park and Gowdy’s work to shows with celebrity guests. Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback for Wyoming tourism. “He was preserve area natural resources. Beginning in the mid-1960s, Terry Bradshaw. always Wyoming through and Gowdy’s family was instrumental “ e American Sportsman” ran In a 1991 interview with e through.” in getting a donation from for 22 seasons on ABC. Morning Call, Gowdy reminisced Bryan added that naming the Johnny Morris, founder of Bass “ ere was no way in the about his popular show, saying, state park a er Gowdy in 1972 Pro Shop, for the entrance sign world the Wyoming Travel “For a boy from Wyoming who was very appropriate, considering and the visitor center, as well as Commission could’ve paid for grew up y- shing from the time the amount of international donating money themselves. the kind of national and even I was 8 years old, I should have publicity that Gowdy, the voice of Westby added that the international exposure that paid them, rather than them the Boston Red Sox for 15 years, park recently opened a new Gowdy brought to us through paying me.” June 2020 OUR FACES / HERITAGE 7

Panoramic view of Granite Springs Resovoir in Curt Gowdy State Park. PHOTO BY RACHEL GIRT more than 22 inductions into Hall of Fames for sports, broadcasting and conservation. In 2004, the Wyoming Outdoor Hall of Fame recognized Gowdy for giving a voice to conservation, and bringing hunting and shing into mainstream culture. According to the Outdoor Hall of Fame, “Gowdy’s adventures deepened the legitimacy of outdoor Curt Gowdy and Larry Birle , the voice of the Born in 1919 in Green River, Gowdy cowboys for nearly 40 years, examine the land sports by bringing them into people’s living grew up in Laramie, hunting and shing in in Curt Gowdy State Park. rooms, and always, the show was laced with the surrounding area. He went on to play a strong message of wildlife and sheries basketball and tennis at the University of Gowdy did several episodes of “ e conservation.” Wyoming before graduating with a degree in American Sportsman” in Wyoming, including Bryan was not sure who originated the idea business statistics. shing at Yellowstone Lake and on the Snake for Curt Gowdy Day and naming the state His radio career began in 1944 when River, near the Pinedale area and on the North park a er him, but it probably was Frank a Cheyenne radio station asked him Platte River near Saratoga. Bryan worked as Norris, the director of the Wyoming Travel to announce a high school football the news director for the Travel Commission Commission, or Gov. Stan Hathaway, he said. at the time and helped facilitate the lming championship game. He worked for KFBC and as a sportswriter for the Wyoming On March 27, 1972, a crowd of 650 people of “ e American Sportsman” episode in packed the coach rooms at the Hitching Post Saratoga. Eagle in Cheyenne before joining a CBS Inn to celebrate Curt Gowdy Day. “I think the one that he was most fond of radio a liate in Oklahoma City to call the e evening was a blur for Bryan, who was the one where he brought his boys to University of Oklahoma football games. was awestruck by the celebration’s attendees. Saratoga to teach them how to y sh on the In 1949, he worked with Mel Allen to e speakers were the “Who’s Who” at the North Platte, just like his father taught him,” broadcast games of the New York Yankees, Bryan said. and went on to become the radio voice of the time, including actor Phi Harris, basketball Boston Red Sox for 15 years. Gowdy then coach Hank Iba and sports journalist Howard turned toward covering sports on television, Cosell, he said. becoming the leading personality of NBC at night, Gowdy received numerous Sports, covering 13 World Series, nine Super awards and gi s, including an honorary law Bowls and eight Olympic Games. degree from the University of Wyoming, but Calling Gowdy’s broadcasting career the one that absolutely touched his heart was exemplary is an understatement, Bryan the announcement that Granite State Park added. would be renamed Curt Gowdy State Park, Gowdy has been honored with numerous Bryan said. awards. He was the rst sportscaster to receive Gowdy has been quoted as saying the the following about receiving the honor:”It has George Foster Peabody Award in 1970, two beautiful lakes, hiking trails, camping, Curt Gowdy was an avid sherman. was inducted into the National Sportscaster boating, shing and beauty,” he said. “It has BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE Hall of Fame in 1981 and received a lifetime everything I love. What greater honor can a WYOMING STATE ARCHIVES achievement Emmy in 1992. He has received man receive?” 8 Wyoming Tribune Eagle

Colorful cowboy: C.B. Irwin’s legend lives on

T o p L e : Considered one of the rst fathers of Cheyenne Frontier Days, C.B. Irwin leads horseback riders during a downtown parade. L e : Irwin had many prominent friends, including Bu alo Bill Cody. Bottom Le : Irwin’s red-brick barn, located at 410 Randall Ave., has been restored. PHOTOS BY RACHEL GIRT AND COURTESY OF THE WYOMING STATE ARCHIVES

By Rachel Girt stock contractor and announced Jack” Pershing. He later helped to the ranch could take almost a For the Wyoming Tribune Eagle rodeos in his big, booming John Coble with his string of day, said Annaliese Wiederspahn, Larger-than-life cowboy, Wild voice, Kassel said. “It was quite bucking horses, which included who owns and renovated the West show owner and racehorse remarkable what the fellow was Steamboat, the bucking horse Irwin Barn. trainer Charles Burton “C.B.” able to do.” immortalized on the state’s license at’s when their home and Irwin le a considerable mark on Remnants of Irwin’s life can plates. While working for Coble, barn were built a few blocks Cheyenne. still be seen today at his red-brick Irwin befriended the notorious northwest of the Capitol. As “C.B. Irwin is considered one horse barn, located at 410 Randall stock detective Tom Horn. has happened to many historic of the rst fathers of Cheyenne Ave., a few blocks northwest of In 1903, Horn asked Irwin and buildings in town, the home was Frontier Days,” explained Michael the Capitol, as well as at the CFD his brother Frank to sing “Life is torn down, and all that remains Kassel, associate director and Old West Museum. like a Mountain Railroad” right today is the barn, Wiedersphan curator of collections for the Born in 1875 in Missouri, Irwin before his hanging in Cheyenne. explained. Cheyenne Frontier Days Old came West with his wife, Etta Irwin eventually saved enough Irwin built the barn, with a West Museum. McGuckin Irwin, rst working money to buy land along the poured basement (unusual at the Irwin’s involvement at CFD as a blacksmith in Colorado and banks of Horse Creek for a small time), to accommodate his own dates back to when he rst moving his family in southeast homestead and later purchased string of horses and stock animals competed in steer roping in 1900 Wyoming around 1899. a larger spread for his Y6 ranch, as he brought them on and o the and won the title in 1906. Over During the early years, he located 42 miles northeast of railroad. He would then trail them the next three decades, he heavily worked as a foreman for Warren Cheyenne near Meriden. to his Y6 Ranch, Wiederspahn promoted CFD, brought in Livestock Company, where he Irwin’s wife wanted to have a explained. special entertainers, operated as a befriended Gen. John “Black house in town, because traveling See C.B. Irwin, 18 June 2020 OUR FACES / HERITAGE 9

e historic Plains Hotel has in been in Cheyenne since 1911, located in the heart of downtown. PHOTOS BY RACHEL GIRT Landmark Plains Hotel increases extended-stay offerings By Rachel Girt presidents and the entertainment from its rst decade showing a economies. Today, she has two in For the Wyoming Tribune Eagle industry. e elaborately very mixeduse of the Plains Hotel two historic hotels in Colorado An important xture in furnished ve-story hotel also in a sprawling, growing town. – the 1872 Barker House in Cheyenne’s past, the landmark became home to a mixture of Astrid said there were probably Manitou Springs and the 1920 Plains Hotel is increasing attorney, accountants and doctors’ up to 20 business, prominently Lovelander in Loveland, both extended stay o erings and o ces, mixed entrepreneurial displaying advertising out their now extended stay. halving the price in order to stay enterprises, a radio station and window, just like the Majestic “It’s truly a joy to discover and vital for the future. even a music publishing company. Building next door. keep these venerable residents “ is will always be the Plains “We’re just going to be a Astrid has spent the last 35 and venerable historic places Hotel,” said Astrid, who owns the part of the succession of good, years buying and renovating alive,” Astrid said. property through her company appropriate use that the Plains historic properties like the Astrid said she learns the Astride A Starship LLC. (Astrid is Hotel experienced since its Plains Hotel. Astride A Starship history of each building, reading her legal name.) inception,” Astrid said. “So step in has governed four commercial all the books and examining old Opening in 1911, the Plains our doors and back in time and blocks and hotels, not including photographs with a magnifying Hotel quickly became the grand live a grand old hotel lifestyle for the Plains Hotel, with high-end glass to examine every minute jewel of downtown Cheyenne and a s on g .” extended-stay occupants, which detail, from the length of a lady’s the stopping place for dignitaries, She has photographs dating contribute to three downtown See Plains Hotel, 13 10 Wyoming Tribune Eagle

Laramie County Sheriff’s Department: Maintaining law order for over 150 years

ALL SHERIFF PHOTOS ARE COURTESY OF THE LARAMIE COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT By Rachel Girt to use their phone if we needed to One of the largest law glimpse of Laramie County, which For the Wyoming Tribune Eagle call into dispatch,” he said. “Now enforcement agencies in Wyoming, captured his heart as a child. From the Old West’s rough and look at us – we get bowed necks the Laramie County Sheri ’s With his father serving in the tumble days to today, the Laramie looking at cellphones.” Department covers a 2,688-square- military, the Glick family was County Sheri ’s Department has e Laramie County Sheri ’s mile area, the size of Delaware, with stationed in Colorado. During the maintained law and order for 153 Department dates back to 1867, a population of more than 100,000, 1960s, his family visited his uncle, years, evolving with times. when the region fell underneath the largest in the state. Today, the who was stationed at F.E. Warren “We’ve come a long way the Dakota Territory. At that time, building housing the Sheri ’s Air Force Base. For a day excursion, from the early days of rustlers, the sheri was responsible for an Department encompasses a whole they headed west of town into the gunmen and outlaws of the West area that included all of present city block, and with the new Vedauwoo/Blair Wallis country. to where we are today,” Laramie Wyoming, plus a small area of addition to the detention center “In my young mind, I had found County Sheri Danny Glick said. present-day Montana. Over the has 440 beds, plus the juvenile my home in the mountains and “Law enforcement has changed next 44 years, Laramie County’s detentionand crisis center east of hills,” Glick said. In 1981, he joined dramatically over my last 40 size grew smaller as elected o cials town. the Laramie County Sheri ’s years, mostly due to technological carved o land to form the state’s 23 Glick never imagined he would Department as a patrol deputy. In advancements and the growth of counties. e county achieved its be sheri as a child, or even early in 2002, he was elected for his rst Laramie County. current boundaries in 1911 when his law enforcement career, which term as sheri . “I remember in the old days that land was removed for Platte and spans almost four decades, he said. “I consider myself the luckiest guy we had to go into a business to ask Goshen counties. However, he remembers his rst in the world to be sheri of Laramie June 2020 OUR FACES / HERITAGE 11

County and have the voters continue to support the community relations ocer. e discovery out to be the one Sheri Roach wore. His widow me in that mission,” he said. “e successes of a few former sheri s’ portraits and historical returned to Scotland aer his death, taking it enjoyed by the Sheri ’s Department are due information in some old folders sparked his with her. to the men and women who have worked and interest, he said. “We raised funds to buy it and return it to wear the badge of the Laramie County Sheri ’s “Soon, I was doing all my regular duties, Laramie County, where it is now displayed in the Department, and serve the people who live here.” along with trying to nd more information and oce,” Nelson said proudly. When he was rst elected, sheri ’s photos,” he said, adding that his goal was to One story that stayed with Nelson was the responsibilities were named in 244 state statutes, death of Deputy Emill Osborn, who was killed Glick said. in a shootout by Herman Barker, the oldest son ”I cannot imagine in the early existence of the of infamous gangster Kate “Ma” Barker, in 1927. sheri ’s oce and how many statutes directed “e deputy was trying to do it on his own,” the sheri ’s responsibilities,” Glick said. Nelson explained. “He didn’t have the backup Sheri Frank B. Roach, who was rst that we have now.” appointed sheri in 1912, faced much di erent challenges than today. Although the rst railcar Deputy Osborn tried to apprehend Barker, of automobiles had arrived in Cheyenne in who had cashed stolen bank bonds at the August 1912, horse thievery was still a common American National Bank in Cheyenne outside of problem. Pine Blu s. When Osborn agged down his car, Roach actually made the front page on Nov. Barker picked up a gun from the seat, shot the 10, 1912, for heartily using an automobile in a deputy twice and escaped. 50-mile chase to pursue and capture an alleged Consider the communications, vehicles and horse thief in Colorado. weaponry that today’s law enforcement has e chase caused the Sunday State Leader versus 1927, Nelson said. reect the following:“When Wyoming was “A lot of these individuals were better armed young, a horse thief stood as good a chance than law enforcement was at that particular to escape the clutches of the law, providing time,” he added. he was mounted on a better horse than the Just a few weeks aer Osborn’s murder, sheri , as an ocer had in capturing him. At Barker committed suicide in Kansas to avoid the present time, when an automobile can, with being captured aer killing another ocer in little ease, outdistance a horseman, a criminal, a robbery. His family’s notoriety kept growing, be he mounted on a good or below average however. In the 1930s, the Barker-Karpis gang horse, stands but little chance in making a good Sheri Danny Glick has spent his entire career, almost 40 years, with Laramie County Sheri’s Department. committed a spree of robberies, kidnappings e s c ap e .” and crimes. e Bureau of Investigations, the “If you had told Sheri Roach that at some display photos of all the sheri s in the oce. precursor to the FBI, considered the Barkers point that the sheri ’s oce was going to have Nelson, who is from Scotland, said the Old “public enemies,” along with such gangsters as 200 employees and be running around using West has always fascinated him, pointing out John Dillinger, “Pretty Boy” Floyd and “Baby the equipment and the technology we do today, that some of the sheri stories about covering the he would have probably put you in jail,” Glick Face” Nelson. Ma Barker and one of her sons territory on horseback read exactly like an old died in an FBI shootout in 1935. said, explaining how dramatically duties have western novel. changed. “So would I want to go into law enforcement Looking for information, Nelson gathered “I mean, who would have thought that back then?” Nelson said, laughing. “I’m not sure stories from many sources, interviewed family six months ago that we’d be dealing with the I would.” members and dug in archives. Sometimes, coronavirus.” Nelson’s research culminated in a history For former deputy Raymond Nelson, who people would even reach out to him. pamphlet called “e First 150 Years of the retired in 2015, uncovering the history of the A man from England even called Nelson to Laramie County Sheri ’s Oce,” which was Laramie County Sheri ’s Department has been authenticate a 1912 sheri ’s badge, which had published for the department’s sesquicentennial a long-term project that started when he became the initials FBR on the back. e badge turned anniversary in 2017. 12 Wyoming Tribune Eagle Tw o sheri s and three deputies have died in the line of duty * Compiled from “ e First 150 Years of the Laramie County Sheri ’s O ce” and articles e Laramie County Sheri ’s Department, located at the corner of Pioneer Avenue and West 20th Street in downtown found in the Wyoming Newspaper Project Cheyenne. PHOTO BY RACHEL GIRT

Arthur Emill Osborn – Adolph Cuny – Deputy Sheriff Frank B. Roach – Sheriff Norbert E. Tuck – Sheriff Deputy Sheriff 1842-1877 1874-1916 1899-1961 1882-1927 Sheri T. Je Carr deputized C.B. Roach was appointed sheri in 1912 Hays to apprehend Clark Pelton and when then-Sheri Lewellyn Hughes died Stationed in Pine Blu s, Deputy Sheri Tuck was killed on his gang for numerous robberies of the of an illness. He was elected in 1913 and Sheri Osborn tried to apprehend Feb. 15, 1961, when his car Cheyenne-to-Deadwood stage line. served until his death on May 1, 1916. Herman Barker, son of Ma Barker, who was struck by a freight train Needing assistance, Hays deputized Sheri Roach, along with a posse, went had cashed stolen bank bonds at the on the western city limits of Cuny, who lived in the Fort Laramie by automobile a er the horse thieves. American National Bank in Cheyenne. Toledo, Ohio. He had gone area, which was then part of Laramie Roach and ranch and Nels Nelson, who Osborn agged down the Barker vehicle to Toledo to transport a County. While Cuny watched the was part of the posse, were shot and and approached it on foot. Barker prisoner back to Wyoming prisoners at Six-Mile Ranch, Pelton killed by horse thief Clyde Pearson on shot Osborn twice and ed the state. on a non-support charge. snuck into the room and killed him on the Webster Ranch, which was near Osborn died on Aug.1, 1927. Later that July 22, 1877. In 1879, Sheri Draper Fort Collins, Colorado. Pearson was month, Barker killed himself a er being discovered that Pelton was serving time captured, convicted and sentenced to cornered by Kansas police. in a Minnesota penitentiary and brought hang. Colorado’s governor commuted him back to be tried in Wyoming. his sentence to life in prison. Robert Arthur VanAlyne Jr.– Deputy Sheriff 1952-1985 While a deputy for the Laramie County Sheri ’s Department, VanAlyne died in the line of duty while trying to rescue four people stranded on the roo op of a car during a ash ood on Aug. 1, 1985. During the rescue attempt, Deputy VanAlyne and a 6-year- old girl were washed away in the current, and both drowned. VanAlyne received the Carnegie Heroism Award, the Civil Air Patrol Heroism Award, the Laramie County Sheri ’s Department’s Medal of Valor and the Law Enforcement O cer of the Year Award following his death. June 2020 OUR FACES / HERITAGE 13

United Airlines Governor Jack stewardesses Gage and then celebrating U.S. Sen. John birthdays in the F. Kennedy Wigwam Lounge at the Plains at the Plains Hotel. PHOTOS Hotel. COURTESY OF WYOMING STATE ARCHIVES

PLAINS HOTEL from 9 gown to the style of a window frame. Plains reopening, Larry Birle reminisced When the Plains Hotel come up for auction, Uncovering information nuggets like about when he started his broadcasting career Astrid saw an opportunity to save another nding out that the Plains was used as a at KFBC. Birle , who died in 2008, was historic property by its primary use being temporary governor’s mansion gives her a a television and radio broadcaster known extended stay. She held the hotel’s contract thrill, she said. “I think of myself as a history for more than 50 years as the “Voice of the three days a er coming across the auction detective.” Wyoming Cowboys.” online, closing in February 2016. When Wyoming Gov. William B. Ross died “ e KFBC broadcasting station in the When 500 people, including the governor, from acute appendicitis in October 1924, lobby is a special place for me,” Birle wrote. mayor and the media showed up at the March Secretary of State Frank Lucas served as “Oh, the tumultuous years of reaching for 2016 grand opening, she suddenly realized the acting governor until a special election could deadlines and interviews. We found most of town expected the hotel would continue its be held in November. them right there in the lobby of the hotel.” existing operations. “A true gentleman, he didn’t want to ask A variety of VIPs stayed or dined at the “I couldn’t let the community down,” the beautiful, smart Nellie Tayloe Ross, Plains Hotel through the years, including U.S. she said, adding that she cares about the the governor’s widow, to move out of the Presidents Ronald Reagan, Harry Truman communities where her properties are located. governor’s mansion, so he moved into and Richard Nixon, and actors Jimmy Stewart “So, in my 60s, I changed hats and went into the Plains, conducting formal governor’s and Debbie Reynolds. Until the school closed the hotel business.” residence a airs here for about three months,” in 1961, young women attending the United Using her 35 years of historic renovation Astrid said. Airlines Stewardess Training School became experience, she triaged the remarkable No one was more surprised than Lucas a frequent xture in the hotel’s Wigwam building, but has faced the potential of when Ross claimed the vote and become Lounge. bankruptcy that has shooed previous owners the rst woman governor in the nation, Starting the 1940s, the Plains started out, Astrid said. she explained. Nellie Tayloe Ross won the facing competition from other lodging When the coronavirus pandemic hit November 1924 special election, and Lucas establishments. By the 1970s, the hotel faced Cheyenne, the Plains Hotel closed except for only served as governor until January 1925. hard times, which was the beginning of a long ongoing extended stay guests. Astrid has used decline of much bank ownership, Astrid said. this temporary closure to reexamine ways to Another example of mixed-use, the Plains A $5 million renovation project revitalized secure income and keep the hotel alive. Hotel Music Publishing Company operated the hotel in 2002, remodeling the rooms, the She has decided to increase extended stay, in the building and even made a Plains Hotel main oor and meeting spaces. but is open to adding back some regular song, Astrid said. She keeps a copy of that By 2015, the hotel had been under bank lodging rooms, Astrid said. 1934 song sheet in her o ce. ownership for several years. e roof had “ is primary focus of drop dead rates for “I was on Cloud Nine when I discovered fallen into room 514, and the previous owners extended stay will also keep over 150 year- the song.What a wonderful gem,” Astrid said. had been cannibalizing parts from some round guests as shoppers at our restaurants During the 1940s World War II era, the rooms to repair others, she said. and merchants downtown,” Astrid said. hotel de nitely had a radio station here, “By my estimation, the hotel had lost about Over its 109-year history, the hotel has had Astrid said. “I understand it was on the $10 million since 2004,” she said. “ ey every kind of use welcome in the building, second oor in the mezzanine, probably right couldn’t even a ord to have toilets, sinks, “which I think is very interesting because it over our main doors to the east.” faucets and things you would presume a large just shows that any asset can be recon gured In a Nov. 28, 2002, column celebrating the hotel would have on standby to x.” and saved,” she added. 14 Wyoming Tribune Eagle

Old Cheyenne Grain Elevator: L e : e old grain elevator was completed in 1912. PHOTO COURTESY WYOMING STATE ARCHIVES Right: e Old Cheyenne Elevator project celebrates the town’s industrial roots while creating gathering space for families and young professionals. Elevating West Edge PHOTOS BY JANELLE ROSE By Rachel Girt Greg Seitz. e couples decided couples were simultaneously their e orts to rehabilitate and For the Wyoming Tribune Eagle to call their joint project Old looking at properties, when their repurpose the buildings. As part of the West Edge Cheyenne Elevator in a nod to the Realtor, who served as the Realtor e Old Cheyenne Elevator redevelopment e ort, two building’s historic roots. for both couples, suggested property includes everything Cheyenne families have joined “We envisioned a place where buying a property jointly. between the railroad and the red forces to breathe new life into we could bring the family and Living in Portland, Oregon, mini-Victorian house, which an underutilized property that hang out for a bit and maybe had given the Seitz family a love is lovingly referred to as the includes a 1912 grain elevator. enjoy lawn games, beer and for old buildings with a good “Mini-Vic,” a name given by the “We felt that while Cheyenne live music,” Rose said. “We story, and they found themselves previous owners, Rose said. is an ideal sized city and great didn’t want to have to drive to drawn to the unique character of Aside from the elevator and the community to raise a family Fort Collins or Denver for that. the west industrial side of town, Mini-Vic, there are two recently in, it didn’t o er many places We also wanted to keep our explained Jen Seitz. remodeled warehouses, a small for people to hang out for an commerce local.” While driving around the residential house and a unique a ernoon or evening,” said Janelle e couples had separately West Edge, a tiny sign in the storage building the owners call Rose. decided that Cheyenne needed to elevator’s window caught Seitz’s the “carriage house.” Rose co-owns the property, improve its community gathering eye, and she called the number. Since buying the property, the located at 802 W. 21st St., with her places catering to young families In December 2016, the couples new owners have repurposed the husband, Andrew, and Jen and and young professionals. Both bought the property, launching feed warehouse into a studio for June 2020 OUR FACES / HERITAGE 15

Being restored with safety features and utilities, the Old Cheyenne Elevator still holds its antique look and feeling while setting a modern and edgy atmosphere. e renovations have allowed local businesses to open shops, with much more planned. Two years ago, the Edge Fest took place on the elevator’s front doorstep when Wildermiss opened for Bishop Briggs. PHOTOS BY JANELLE ROSE

Blossom Yoga and updated the big concrete storage facilities for hay, grain, coal and ice. As for the next steps for their project, the warehouse with plumbing, heat and fresh In 1912, Frontier Mill Elevator Co Sietz and Rose families are looking for ways to paint, where Hammock Fine Art is now completed the construction of the new develop the West Edge neighborhood further located. elevator and milling plant on the property. and encourage its creative, edgy vibe. “We have also updated the elevator by e Jan. 19, 1912, issue of the Tribune Rose said the West Edge has the potential to restoring the man li and replacing the upper Stockman Farmer called the 10-story be a pinnacle entry point for people coming windows and trim to keep birds out,” Rose elevator “the only one of its kind west of the into Cheyenne. “My hope is that the West added. Mississippi River.” Edge neighborhood becomes a vibrant live- So far during the renovation, they have e elevator changed names two more work arts district and hub for live music, art, discovered remnants of the elevator’s times, becoming Wyoming Mill & Elevator breweries, distilleries and local food.” past,including vintage safety goggles, old feed Co. in 1923 and the Cheyenne Elevator e couples want to help set the stage bags, signs and grain bins. Company in 1931. Neighboring businesses for that with the Old Cheyenne Elevator Inside the elevator itself, there is old included the Cheyenne Steam Baking property by providing businesses to handwriting, record-keeping and interesting Company, Cook Brothers Company Ice Plant complement newly built innovative spaces scratchings on the wall about all di erent and Warehouse and an indoor swimming like the Civic Commons Park, Warehouse types of feed bought and sold. Someone even pool. 21, West Edge Collective and Lotus carved initials and dates into the old posts, In 1963, the business added a truck scale, Townhomes. Seitz said. scale o ce and an additional feed warehouse. “We have had many conversations with e 108-year-old elevator and the Rose believes the elevator was operational business owners interested in putting in surrounding property harken to Cheyenne’s through the 1970s or 1980s, with minor retail and restaurants,” Rose said. “We are early industrial roots. In the early 1900s, the changes made to the surrounding property, preparing the property so that it’s ready for spread of the industrial district followed the including warehouses being added and use when the right business comes along railroad corridor north along Reed Avenue residences on the property being demolished that matches our vision of a gathering place and included lumber yards, warehouses and and rebuilt. for families and young professionals.” 16 Wyoming Tribune Eagle Cheye e SUBVETS: Submarine veterans united by shared experiences

Back: USS Sarda, an over 300-foot Tench-class submarine that was active for almost 20 years before it was decommissioned in 1964. PHOTO COURTESY OF US NAVY Right: USS Wyoming and USS Cheyenne crew members visit with the Cheyenne SUBVETS. PHOTOS BY RACHEL GIRT By Rachel Girt continue to play a vital role in the Belonging to Cheyenne including one nuclear fast attack. For the Wyoming Tribune Eagle U.S. eet by safeguarding vital SUBVETS helps veterans sit His 22 years of service included Surrounded by Navy commercial sealanes, protecting down and process their service serving tours as the head of the memorabilia, three members of aircra carriers and expeditionary with fellow submariners, Willis Underseas Warfare branch of the Cheyenne SUBVETS swapped strike groups, and providing the explained. Naval Field Intelligence O ce, stories of serving on submarines. ability to strike with precision or “We share that common bond head of the Maritime Division e strength of their deploy special forces quickly. of living in total secrecy for years,” of the National Security Agency camaraderie quickly became “We lived in such a high- Willis said. (NSA) and commanding o cer apparent as the men bantered security situation that whole time,” SUBVET members sitting of Naval Support Activity in back and forth, alternating Willis said, describing his life as a beside him – Ed Galavotti, who LaMaddalena. He returned to between laughter and seriousness. submariner. “You couldn’t talk to served on the USS Sarda SS-488, NSA for his last tour as assistant “ ese are the only people your spouse, girlfriend, mom or and John Vigil, who served on the chief of NOSC operation and then I’ve ever been able to talk about dad. You couldn’t tell them what USS Bass SS-551 – nodded their as deputy to the o ce of support my service, and I still can’t share you were doing. When you get heads in agreement. to military operations. everything,” said Mike Willis, who out, that still weighs on you.” Galavotti joined the Underwater “All of us have done spec ops, served in the 1970s on the USS Willis pointed out that people Demolition Team 21, the and so there’s always stories to tell, Sculpin SSN-590, a Skipjack-class don’t realize most of the Navy precursor to SEAL teams, upon where we’ve been and what we’ve nuclear-powered submarine. comes from the heartland of this completion of Basic Underwater done,” Galavotti said, quickly Able to operate undetected, country, landlocked states like Demolition (BUDS) training adding that many of the stories are even under Arctic ice, submarines Wyoming. “We don’t come from in 1959. He later joined the still classi ed. have given the United States the coasts. When we get out of the submarine force in 1961 and Started March 13, 2012, a ghting edge. Submarines military, we just return home.” had tours on four other boats, Cheyenne SUBVETS is June 2020 OUR FACES / HERITAGE 17 e periscope was used in three submarines: the USS Corpus Christi SSN-705, the USS Alexandria SSN-757 and USS Minnesota-St. Paul SSN-708. Galavotti likes to stress the lifelong opportunities that come from joining the Navy, which has fantastic educational programs, especially in conjunction with the nuclear- powered submarines. “When you come out, you can nd good jobs using those skills learned in the Navy with defense contractors, electronics, nuclear power, Ed Galavotti poses for a photo with a former Master communications and security,” he said.” I went Chief of the Navy. PHOTOS COURTESY OF to work for a defense contractor because of my CHEYENNE SUBVETS security clearance and what I had done in the determined to join the Navy, even if it meant Cheyenne Mayor Marian Orr receives a hat from Navy. Mike used his expertise, and he became running away from home. He nally convinced Cheyenne SUBVETS at a meeting. a teacher.” his mother to sign documents giving her “Living in an environment with 100 – well, considered a base of the United States permission for him to join and say that he was now it’s up to 150 people – in a little con ned Submarine Veterans Inc. (USSVI), a national actually 17. space for 75 days or more, you de nitely learn organization honoring all those who served At boot camp, Vigil explained that he “didn’t interpersonal skills and how to deal with on submarines. Its members, now numbering know a submarine from an aircra carrier,” but people,” Willis said, adding that helped with 22, are all veterans who have quali ed in signed up for sub school anyway. “ at was an submarines and live in Wyoming, Nebraska teaching. experience,” he dryly said, prompting laughter and Colorado. Willis taught social sciences and mathematics from the other SUBVETS members. USSVI is a follow-up to the U.S. Submarine for 35 years. Learning about all the submarine Vigil did four patrols with the USS Bass machinery gives him a vast resource of ways to Veterans of World War II, which operated from before catching bronchopneumonia, becoming relate what to the math curriculum, he said. “It’s 1955 to 2012, dedicated submarine veterans unconscious and evacuating from the boat. He pretty exciting when the kids nd out that you who served in World War II and to honor the was later reassigned as a reman in Japan for served on a boat. We get to tell sea stories to many submariners who died. During World several years before heading back to the U.S. for War II, 52 U.S. submarines were lost and more them, and they get all excited and enthralled.” Becoming quali ed in submarines and dive school. than 3,500 submariners were killed. A er leaving the Navy, Vigil and his wife Galavotti said one of the charter members of earning the ability to wear the dolphin insignia involves a year-long process of learning how settled down in Cheyenne, where they have Cheyenne SUBVETS was Chuck Kline, who lived in the same house for 47 years. An served aboard submarines during World War to run all the equipment on a submarine, knowing where every valve, switch and pipe is addition to his home, which includes a bar II. Kline died in 2017 at 95 years old. lled with Navy memorabilia up to the ra ers, Kline’s rst assignment in 1945 was on the located and its purpose, Willis said. “It means you could take the place of any other person in o en serves as the uno cial meeting place for USS Pollack, when he was selected to be part the SUBVETS. of a special detail on U-858, the rst-ever Nazi an emergency.” “We like to come here all the time, but we try submarine to surrender to U.S. forces. He Willis explained that the saying “All for served nine months aboard U-858, which was one and one for all” rings especially true for to have consideration for John and his wife,” used for fundraising for the war e ort. submarines. “We all come to the surface or we Galavotti said. Part of Cheyenne SUBVETS’s mission is to all go to the bottom together. It’s not somebody Last summer, the SUBVETS hosted crew ensure that Kline’s story and others like it don’t can jump o a submarine and save themselves,” members from the USS Wyoming and the USS disappear and his memory continues to be he added. Cheyenne for a barbecue at the Vigils’ home. honored. Part of getting quali ed in submarines is “We try to host the crews here when they “We think that it’s important for people to earning the crew’s trust that you know how visit and swap stories,” Galavotti said. know about submariners and their service,” to save the boat and have the courage and In addition to growing their membership, Galavotti said. willingness to do whatever it takes to succeed, the SUBVETS’s future plans include developing SUBVETS members enjoy describing regardless of hazards to yourself, Willis said. scholarships for top ROTC candidates at submarine life as part of a program at the Vigil has the honor of being quali ed for Central and East high schools, as well as Cheyenne Botanic Gardens, which has a submarines at 16, one of the youngest. volunteering at the Cheyenne VA Medical 42-foot-long periscope in the conservatory. When the Korean War broke out, Vigil was Center. 18 Wyoming Tribune Eagle C.B. IRWIN from 8 “C.B. Irwin is such a big story in almost According to the Aug. 3, 1903, issue of the every sense of the word, because he was a Cheyenne Daily Leader, Irwin took a position giant man with remarkable accomplishments,” as a livestock agent for Union Paci c for Kassel explained. “He had a thyroid problem, Wyoming and Nebraska. He later advanced and he kept growing. He was something to become a general agent. Working for around 400 pounds when he died.” Union Paci c helped Irwin obtain stock and Irwin was posthumously inducted into arrange for travel for his Wild West shows. ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1979 as an He also joined the posse that helped capture outstanding stock contractor and the CFD Hall of Fame in 2002. train robber and Wyoming State Penitentiary Irwin befriended many famous people escapee Bill Carlisle. over his lifetime, including Bu alo Bill Cody, Kassel said Irwin was one of the rst stock Ed Carver riding the legendary horse Steamboat. President Teddy Roosevelt, Pershing, Will contractors for CFD through 1912. For many PHOTO COURTESY J.E. STIMSON COLLECTION, Rogers and Horn. Pershing and Rogers were years, Irwin also ran an Irwin Bros. CFD WYOMING STATE ARCHIVES among honorary pallbearers at Irwin’s funeral. Wild West Show all across the United States, Local folklore hints that Irwin stabled Al Wiederspahn, who died six years ago. Her until CFD asked him to stop using the name famous horses Steamboat and Seabiscuit at father helped renovate many historic buildings around 1912. Irwin then changed the name the barn on Randall Avenue. Irwin bought in Cheyenne, including the Plains Hotel and to the Irwin Brothers Wild West Show, which Steamboat in 1903, and used him heavily the Grier Building. grew to be the second largest a er Bu alo Bill on the rodeo circuit and in his shows, so it’s “My father had just done copious amounts of Cody’s show. feasible that the wicked outlaw horse stayed at research on the Irwin Barn, so there was a lot As part of his shows, both in the CFD arena the barn. of source material and his handwritten notes and on the road, Irwin would hold reenacted e likelihood that Seabiscuit graced the that I could go through,” she said. stagecoach holdups, using the red and yellow stalls is less likely, but there is a connection. e Irwin Barn caught her father’s eye, and stagecoach currently on display in the Old Irwin hired Tom Smith, Seabiscuit’s trainer, as he nally convinced owner Rock Pontillo West Museum’s rotunda, Kassel said. an assistant trainer in the 1920s, rst for horses to sell it around 2007, she said. e Pontillo “He had the kind of resources that he could for the Irwin’s Wild West show and then for family lived on the second oor of the barn hold special Frontier Days events, not just the his racing stables. A er Irwin’s death, Smith and started Joe-Ed Produce on the main oor, show during the regular season,” Kassel said. continued to train at Irwin’s stable. He le to before moving the business to a larger building Irwin held a special event for President Teddy work for C.S. Howard’s stables in 1936, where in south Cheyenne. Roosevelt in May 1903, in 1911 for President he would later train Seabiscuit. e rehabilitation took longer than expected William Howard Ta and in May 1918 for a While renovating the barn, Wiederspahn when they learned that they couldn’t rely on group of Belgian soldiers passing through. and architect Lyle Murtha felt strongly about the brickwork to hold up the structure. “We When his son died in 1917, Irwin trying to preserve as much of the structure and had to brace the whole building with a series disbanded the Wild West show and turned the rich history of the Irwin Barn as possible. of metal infrastructure,” she said. to predominately to horse racing, though he Wiederspahn found Irwin’s Y6 brand e project was nished in 2018. e and his family stayed heavily involved with stamped in the sidewalk on the north side, as upstairs has been converted into a two- CFD. During the roaring ’20s and to his death well as in the brickwork on the second oor. bedroom, two-bath condo, with the original in a 1934 automobile accident, Irwin was Not inhabited since the 1960s, the barn ra ers exposed. e rst oor is available for credited for being one of the nation’s leading was nearing the end of its life cycle when the lease for a retail store or some type of food use. thoroughbred trainers, winning numerous project started in 2016. “It was maybe about Wiederspahn has been hoping to place horse races. ve years from falling over when we started,” a small grocery store in the building to e Feb. 11, 1920, edition of the Wyoming Wiederspahn said. replace the vacancy that Safeway le in the State Tribune quoted San Diego Sun’s coverage “You could take two steps in the wrong neighborhood, she said. Until then, Chef of Irwin’s arrival to secure quarters for his racing direction, and you’d fall through the oor,” she Juan M. Coronado has been amenable horses, “Charles B. Irwin is big enough to nab said. She added that the leaky roof was falling to sometimes parking his Micro Pop-Up several Carlisles. Formerly, he ran Irwin Bros.’ down, and the entire building was tilting. Concepts food truck outside the barn, circus. Now, he is the proprietor of one of the Wiederspahn said the Irwin Barn’s helping to activate and bring attention to the nest stables of racing animals in the West.” rehabilitation brought her closer to her father, space. June 2020 OUR FACES / HERITAGE 19

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