History continued

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=90 BGCOLOR="#6666CC" TEXT="#080000" background="c1701573.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Welcome to BAGGS, WYOMING and the Little Snake River Valley</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Welcome to BAGGS, WYOMING and the Little"><B>home</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Us">About Us</A>   |   <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Local Business">Local Business</A>   |   <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Calendar of Events">Calendar of Events</A>   |   <A HREF="id70.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" DOWNLOAD FORMS"> DOWNLOAD FORMS</A>   |   <A HREF="id51.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="SeniorsMenuCar">Seniors-Menu-Car</A>   |   <A HREF="id71.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Births"> Births</A>   |   <A HREF="id72.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Obituaries">Obituaries</A>   |   <A HREF="id80.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="SCHOOL">SCHOOL</A>   |   <A HREF="id90.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Museum">Museum</A>   |   <A HREF="id84.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Wild Bunch/Wagon Train">Wild Bunch/Wagon Train</A>   |   <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pictures">Pictures</A>   |   <A HREF="old_pictures.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="History Photos">History & Photos</A>   |   <B>History continued</B>   |   <A HREF="dixon__and_cccog_info.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="DIXON and CCCOG INFO">DIXON  and CCCOG INFO</A>   |   <A HREF="id7.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BAGGS INFO">BAGGS INFO</A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="1089" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 258 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="ed6fcfc0.jpg" border=0 width="252" height="252" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="399"><div> Baggs Stop Light</div> <div> It was in the mid fifties when we had the light and Jack Stanton was the Town Marshall. Jack was Eddie Woodward's grandfather. Jack Stanton was a long time law enforcement official in the county, working many years in Sinclair. The light was at the El Rio (old Sweet Shop) and Curt Lau big building crossing of 789.  That would be North Street and Penland.  (per Jake & Linda Fleming)</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="399"><div> Additional info</div> <div> More on the Old Stop Light. It was up for a very short time, probably less than a year, and maybe only about 6 months.  A lot of people complained about having to stop for a stop light in "Baggs". As I remember it, about February or March, some men with a real high load of hay on a flat bed truck came through town, the hay snagged the cable suspending the Light and tore it down. The Old Stop Light was never put back up. At the time some one said "I wonder if that was really an accident?" (from Arven Lowe)</div> <bR> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="621" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 38 WIDTH="609"><div> Pictures Courtesy of Mildred Marshall</div> <div> Please note electric lines--Anyone know the dates?</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 456 WIDTH="609"><div> <IMG SRC="c6358630.jpg" border=0 width="600" height="355" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Log Cabin Bar; Past Time Pool Hall, Wedemeyer Store/Post Office, Shanks Hotel, Bank Club Bar, Livery Stable</div> <div>      This photo must have been taken about 1947, when the Log Cabin Bar when it was still in operation. (Notice the old sign up in front of the building, also the newer car parked up the street) The Log Cabin Bar closed about 1950. (information from: Arven Lowe)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 516 WIDTH="609"><div> <IMG SRC="c6458310.jpg" border=0 width="600" height="305" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>Franklin's Livery Stable - </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >They had a “Fairbanks Morris Wagon Scale” out in front where they could weigh light loads for customers. During the 1940's and up till about the time the building was torn down, there was an old car stored in the north side of the building. I was told it an old Essix, that had belonged to Wendell Jessmer, who had been drowned in the river back in the 1930's. The Old Livery Stable was torn down about 1955, and the lumber used to build a new barn on the Harry Russell Ranch near Dixon. I</FONT> saw that car many times!  Being interested, I asked the people who knew, like My parents who were here at the time, Sid Weber, Dutch Brazell, Leroy Benson, and others (Dutch Brazell told me what kind of car it was).The Old Livery Stable was torn down about 1955. The lumber was used to build a new barn on the Harry Russell Ranch near Dixon. I helped tear part of the old Barn down. (information from: Arven Lowe) </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 934 WIDTH="609"><div> <IMG SRC="c6558630.jpg" border=0 width="600" height="355" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>Inn Hotel -- </B>The main part of this building was moved from the Town of Four-Mile south of Baggs to Baggs.  Building on the left--Burch house which was connected to the Burch store.  Hyrum F. Burch and his wife owned and operated their store in Baggs, up until Mr. Burch died about 1948, at the age of 93. Mrs. Burch then sold everything and moved to Kansas to live with their daughter. I was there the day she left town.   During the school noon-hour a number of school kids would walk down to the Burch Store, even though it was clear accost town.  Mr. and Mrs. Burch loved children and welcomed the school kids. They would not eat their noon meal until the school kids returned to school. My dad had a charge account with the store, my brother and I could get candy, and they would just mark it down. This Picture was probably taken some time during the early 1940s. The building on the right was owned by Tom Vernon. (Pearl Cole  lived in her own building, which was one building further north.) I was told “that the “Snake River Harold Newspaper” was printed in this building, back in the 1930's. (That could be where the Printing Press and all of the other printing equipment came from, that Tom Vernon, kept stored in an old building in Baggs, the rest of his life.) Later the building was used by Old Judge Kenney for town business, when he was serving as  “Justice of the Peace.” About 1945 Tom Vernon moved this building, to a location facing the highway and made it into a Café Building. Stacy Wagoner, ran a Café there until the building burned down about 1953. Old Judge Kenney was known to take a nip now and then, and as the story goes, one day he was holding court when some-one went over and put a lit cigarette into the old pot-belly stove where he had hidden some whiskey, behind some old news papers; so the Judge  immediately said; “Every one out of the Court-room while I think this matter over!”  The story about Old Judge Kenney, is mostly a first hand story. My Dad and Judge Kenney were good friends. I was in that building, many times with my Dad, when Judge Kenney was there. My Mother was a good cook, and my Dad loved to pick Judge Kenney up and bring him home for a good meal. Then Dad would drive him home again. Even after that building was moved, Judge Kenney continued to serve as Justice of the Peace, out of his home. Over the years he was a guest at our home many many times. I loved to hear his stories. (information from: Arven Lowe)</div> <bR> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 826 WIDTH="609"><div>  <A NAME="church"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><IMG SRC="c66585a0.jpg" border=0 width="600" height="346" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div>      From left:  Raymond Ellis home; Hornback home; Episcopal Church (was built in 1903 and the first structure in the block);  Note that the parish hall is not attached and the entry way is brick and the door opens to the west, rather than to the south.  The brick entry way begain to pull from the main building and was replaced with the wooden structure.  Gas Station, pumps and cinder brick building.  Linda and Jake Fleming say:  "We do not remember it ever being finished."  Then the Sweet Shop and Standard Station, this was one building and located on the south end of the block.</div> <bR> <div>      This picture was probably taken about the 1946, shortly after, Tom Vernon built, the old Garage Building on the right, but never finished it. (it looks like some of the construction material is still on site) This was probably the location of one of the first Gas Stations in town, but it was never used again. About the time the garage building was built, the old rusty under-ground tanks were dug up, but never replaced. The building was built with cinder blocks that were made on the spot, by Russell Oberg and Jim Booth with a block making machine they owned. (They were partners at the time.) I believe they also laid the blocks, or helped Tom Vernon do it, and then helped Tom put the roof on. The last time I saw Russell and Jim making blocks, was across the street, beside the Barnhisel Garage Building, (which they had rented.) I wondered, why they would be making blocks there, because I couldn't see any place, to build a building. They had started a business called “The Snake River Electric.” They did electric work and wired homes for people, before the “REA” came to the valley. Inside the building, they had purchased and installed a Cold Storage Unit,  with individual lockers. They rented these out to customers. I remember it was quite successful, because, no one had home freezers, at the time. (information from: Arven Lowe) </div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="702" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 323 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="c6ca72a0.jpg" border=0 width="679" height="298" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> 4-Mile from the 1910 edition of the Rawlins Republican newspaper</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 364 WIDTH="690"><div> <IMG SRC="c6dc0400.jpg" border=0 width="448" height="320" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> West Side Canal from 1910 edition of Rawlins Republican newspaper -- The paper was found by Dora and Danny Gallenbeck while restoring the old Gilpin House.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <div> These pictures are curtesy of Anna Mae Adams</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="809" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 368 WIDTH="399"><div> <B>The old Baggs School House -</B>- The building was used for meeting of the ladies auxiliaries and Odd Fellows Lodge and other clubs after the new school was built.  Ray Ellis has told that during WWII the ladies were stitching mattresses for the soldiers and he was delegated to go to the Rawlins Train Station to pick up a very large bale of cotton for their use as stuffing.</div> <bR> <div> Bricks for the school were made by the Yokums of Baggs.</div> <bR> <div>  Per Linda Fleming:  "This was the second school in Baggs.  The first is the Core of Tom and Connie Spicer's house."  </div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="391"><div> <IMG SRC="c688c0a0.jpg" border=0 width="396" height="266" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">"The property was owned by the school district for years and then traded for the ball field area just south of the school.  It was torn down within the last 15 years or so and the property was sold.  Kaye and George Evans have some of the bricks from this building in their house."</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 494 WIDTH="399"><div> <IMG SRC="c6918dd0.jpg" border=0 width="280" height="221" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>This was THE LOG CABIN BAR, not the POOL HALL I</B>t was closed around 1950.  Here is more information on the old Log Cabin Bar in Baggs. They did a booming business, especially from sheepherders, when the Cow Creek Sheep Company was still in business. About 1950 Tom Vernon moved the Blue Bird Café building from the lot next to the old Baggs Theater, over to the highway, and turned it into a bar building. At this time Bill Mathews quit his job working for the State Highway Department, bought the Bar/Liquor license from The Log Cabin Bar, and opened, The Stockman's Bar in Tom Vernon's building. About 1965 Harry Hunt purchased the Stockmen's Bar/Liquor license, built and opened the Drifters Inn</div> <div> per email from Arven Lowe</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="391"><div> <IMG SRC="c6a15dd0.jpg" border=0 width="277" height="221" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>Shanks Hotel </B>(in color!)  The Hotel was run by a woman named Minnie Shanks.  Later it became known as the Inn Hotel.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 421 WIDTH="399"><div> <B>Vernon Hotel -</B> -  Butch Cassidy and his gang stayed the Vernon Hotel when they were in town. Tom and Butch became good friends. Tom Vernon had a map of the stash from a robbery. I heard it was the loot from one of the Union Pacific Train Robberies in Wyoming. Over the years there were roomers about the map. Ton Vernon never dug up the treasure, and when Tom died the map fell into the hands of Tom Vernon's nephew, who lived in Salt Lake City, Utah. Either late fall of1976 or early spring of1977, the treasure may have been dug up. It was buried near Craig, Colorado, a few miles north of Cedar Mountain, close to the old road from Baggs to Craig. During the summer of 1977 I was taken to the spot where the treasure was possibly dug up. We saw a hole in the ground, where some high sage brush had been burned off. When the treasure was buried they must  have placed Juniper posts in each corner of the hole, allowing about 2 inches to stick up out of the ground. The tops of the posts were sawed off with a flat end sticking out of the ground. I saw only 3 rotted posts, with the flat ends, lying there beside the recently dug hole in the ground. (information from: Arven Lowe)</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="c6b15e00.jpg" border=0 width="277" height="224" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 325 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="c679c3f0.png" border=0 width="412" height="319" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="391"><div> <B>Baggs Town Hall and Fire Hall, and Jail:</B>  “The Grand Old Opry” came to Baggs and put on a show at the Gymnasium in the fall of 1958, with Pap Watkins, Little Jimmy Dickens and many others. After the show they stayed and played for a dance, and it was during this time (our local talent) Jake Fleming had the opportunity to play Little Jimmy Dickens's beautifully decorated Guitar and sing us a song. Later Little Jimmy Dickens ask Ivan Daugherty (who was in law enforcement) to lock him in one of the Jail Cells so they could take his picture. Little Jimmy Dickens's wife didn't come with him, so before leaving home he told her, “I'm going Out West and get into trouble!” She told him “You're not big enough to get into trouble!” That's why they needed the picture! (information from: Arven Lowe)</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="pictures_courtesy_of_anna_mae_adams"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A>PICTURES COURTESY OF ANNA MAE ADAMS</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="823" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 274 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="f148ff90.jpg" border=0 width="399" height="249" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Old North Bridge</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="f1650f70.jpg" border=0 width="336" height="247" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Tree Hotel</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 249 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="f1cd9ec0.jpg" border=0 width="473" height="236" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="c6b15e00.jpg" border=0 width="277" height="224" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Vernon Hotel</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>