100 years for the Carnegie Library Building

On Saturday, July 17, 2010 there was a birthday party on the Courthouse lawn. Ice cream and cupcakes were enjoyed by over 150 people, helping to mark the 100th birthday of the Carnegie Building. After serving the community for almost 80 years as the home of the Johnson County Library, the building continues to serve the county residents as a part of the Gatchell Museum complex. The event was hosted by the staffs, governing boards and Foundations of both the Johnson County Library System and the Jim Gatchell Museum. Jennifer Romanoski, Musuem Educator was in charge with assistance from Cynthia Twing, Director of the Library and FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY members, Priscilla Baker and Debbie Stoetzel.

Local master stone mason, Ed Crain is laying decorative stone on the base of the Nate Champion bronze which marks the entrance to the JIM GATCHELL MUSUEM.

Peggy LeDoux speaking at the dedication of the sculpture GOOD RIDE COWBOY. The 2,300 lb. bronze sculpture is of her husband, Chris LeDoux on the bare back bronc Stormy Weather, depicting the ride which won LeDoux the 1976 National Finals Bareback Bronc Championship. The sculpture sits in a beautifully landscaped park in downtown Kaycee, WY. LeDoux passed away in 2005.

GOOD RIDE COWBOY

Chris LeDoux sculpture
dedicated 19 June 2010

Kaycee, WY

D. Michael Thomas, sculptor

photographs coutesy of

Mary Rhoads

Chris's sister-in-law

A beautiful warm day in southern Johnson County, WY. A large crowd gathered to take part in the dedication. Speakers included Peggy LeDoux, Chris's wife, Allen Streeter, the Mayor of Kaycee, Thomas, the sculptor, who created the monument, Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal, and Mark Sissel, LeDoux's friend and road manager.

Vietnam

Sadly four (4) young men from our county lost their lives in Vietnam.
You can read about them @ http://www.virtualwall.org/
click on the state and then on the city.

Chris LeDoux

Chris LeDoux was one WY's favorite sons. As a teenager, Chris loved music and dreamed of being a rodeo champ. He was the Little Britches Rodeo bareback champion in 1964. In 1967, he was the Wyoming State High School bareback champion. He won the National Intercollegiate bareback championship in 1969. And in 1976, he won the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association bareback championship. he retired from rodeo in 1984.

LeDoux recorded his first album in 1971, and went on to sell nearly 6 million records. Chris toured the country with his band, Western Underground. GOLD BUCKLE DREAMS : THE RODEO LIFE OF CHRIS LEDOUX was written by David G. Brown and published in Boston by Quinlan Press in 1986.

Chris married Peggy Rhoads and they and their five children had a home on a ranch just outside Kaycee, WY in southern Johnson County. LeDoux became ill in 2000 and underwent a liver transplant. Chris died March 9. 2005, at a Casper, WY hospital.

In July of 1005 Chris was posthumously inducted into the pro Rodeo hall Of Fame in Colorado Springs, CO. And Wyoming Governor, Dave Freudenthal proclaimed July 30, 2005 as "CHRIS LEDOUX DAY" IN WYOMING. That was the last day of Cheyenne Frontier Days (2005).

On Saturday, June 19, 2010 at 1 PM a monumental sculpture of LeDoux riding a bareback bronc will be unveiled at the Chris LeDoux Memorial park in Kaycee, WY. The sculpture, titled "GOOD RIDE COWBOY" is the work of Johnson County artist, D. Michael Thomas and is approximately 1 and 1/3 life size. There will be bareback and saddle bronc riding events on Friday evening. Saturday there will be additional events, with the unveiling of the sculpture at 3 PM and evening entertainment by WESTERN UNDERGROUND and Chance Williams and the Younger Brothers Band.

T A Ranch

This is one of the buildings, in which the invaders took refuge (April 1892), when surrounded by the locals. Over 100 years later, the bullet holes are still visable. Located at the T A Ranch south of Buffalo, WY.

The property is currently a guest ranch http://www.taranch.com/

Cattle War publications

The first book published on the invasion was THE BANDITTI OF THE PLAINS : OR THE CATTLEMAN'S INVASION OF WYOMING IN 1892, written by A.S. Mercer. The originals of this are rare and expensive. The University of Oklahoma Press at Norman, OK has reprinted this, first in hardcover and later in paperback editions. Later volumes published were THE WAR ON POWDER RIVER : THE HISTORY OF AN INSURRECTION by Helena Huntington Smith, THE LONGEST ROPE : THE TRUTH ABOUT THE JOHNSON COUNTY CATTLE WAR by D.F. Baber, as told by Bill Walker, and THE JOHNSON COUNTY WAR IS / AIN'T A PACK OF LIES by Jack R. Gage.

Almost all books published on the history of the West, and/or Wyoming, as well as many books on the cattle industry have a few paragraphs to a few pages covering this incident.

In 2oo4, Bill O'Neal published THE JOHNSON COUNTY WAR. This is a welcome addition, giving a fresh view to the skirmish. Mr. O'Neal visited the area in Wyoming, as well as researching the Texans involved in the "invasion".

In 1992, the Johnson County Historical Society printed 200 copies of WITH WINCHESTERS AND DETERMINED HEARTS, a bibliography of items dealing with the invasion. This was compiled by Patty Myers, who was the local history librarian at the Johnson County Library and the President of the Johnson County Historical Society. The local Society hosted members of the State Society for a 3 day weekend to mark the 100 year anniversary of that invasion. The bibliography was for sale at that event. This bibliography is in the process of being updated for the printing of a second edition.

Local History at the Library

The Johnson County Library in Buffalo, WY has an extensive local history collection. With the assistance of volunteers, we have an index to the obits in the BUFFALO BULLETIN and other early local newspapers, as well as an index to the marriage records in our County. We have a copy of the burials in WILLOW GROVE CEMETERY and the cemetery at Kaycee, WY. And there is information on the graves located on various ranches in our county. The Library has copies of the early Federal census for our area and the indexes to them, as well as having access via our online databases to the complete Federal Census up to 1930. We have information gleaned from the historic sites surveys done in the 1980s, giving the history and description of some of our early homes and business buildings. Our files contain papers from the W.P.A. PROJECT funded in Johnson County during the Depression. When there was an active D.A.R. group in Buffalo, they interviewed older residents and compiled research papers to be presented at their monthly meetings. These papers are available in our collection. We have extensive files on the Johnson County Cattle War, 1892. Over the years, researchers and genealogists have visited our facility or been in contact with us via phone calls, postal mail, or email to see what information we can provide on their subjects, and many of them have generously donated their completed project to our collection. Our photographic collection has recently been scanned and fully indexed, making it more accessible.

Carnegie Library

Our Community received funds from Andrew Carnegie to build a library in the early 1900s. A beautiful building, featuring native materials and set in the shadow of the Johnson County Courthouse, it continues to serves our residents. For nearly 80 years it fulfilled its original purpose, filled with books and magazines and people seeking knowledge. In the 1970s, the local Historical Society submitted an application to have the building declared a National Historic Site, and it was accepted. As the population of our county increased, the need for a larger facility became apparent. A new larger Library was built near by. The GATCHELL MUSEUM, which had been built between the Johnson County Courthouse and the Carnegie building, added this historic building to their campus and a few years later, undertook a remodeling project to join the two buildings and make the facility handicapped accessible. Our Library and Museum staffs realize that our collections compliment each other and we often join forces to assist researchers in their quest for information of our area. This year, our staffs will join to celebrate this building, built 100 years ago. While so many of the original Carnegie buildings across the country and in Wyoming have been torn down, we are happy to celebrate the continued presence of a beautiful building in our town. A monument to the early residents commitment to culture and education, it has served its purpose well. So plans are under way to have a family oriented afternoon in mid July serving birthday cake and ice cream, fun activities, and free entrance to the GATCHELL MUSEUM. A special opportunity for several generations to revisit the past and share their recollections of time spent in their Library.

Questions

Collecting and preserving local history is a challenge and an education. There is always a researcher with a fresh request and the search "is on"! In clearing our desk and files, we came across a file we had started almost 10 years ago. so time to look at it with a new slant and see if we can't discover more information. It shows us how the Internet has exploded in that time period. Originally a GOOGLE search did not produce many "hits"-this time-so many that we will have to review as time permits.

THE MERCI TRAIN were a group of train cars filled with all sorts of materials. They were a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States, a car for each state. Wyoming's car has been refurbished and is under a protective shelter in Cheyenne, WY. A brief article in the ANNALS OF WYOMING describes its arrival in Cheyenne in mid 1949. The contents were divided and sent out to the counties. Sadly there is little documentation . The staff at our local county museum, showed me the few pieces they have on display. So we are calling the older members of our community to see if they have memories to share. Our State museum has a small traveling display which may be borrowed-so we have plans for the future. Another link to our past.