122nd Annual Pioneer Days Celebration

July 4, 2016 Lander, Wyoming

Pioneer Days Royalty Events and Activities

History of the Lander Valley
A special publication of the Lander Journal

122nd Annual Pioneer Days 2016 Page 2

WELCOME!

Lander Pioneer Days celebrates 122 years of rodeo, pageantry,

royalty and fun!
Hello!
One of the best places in America to spend the Fourth of July is right
here in Lander, Wyoming.
I moved to this beautiful town in the West just shy of three years ago.
Everyone told me July 4 would be one of the best and most fun experiences I would have. Although I was skeptical at first, thinking how little ol Lander could have such a big event people could not stop speaking about, the residents of Lander proved they were not wrong nor
exaggerating.
Whether this is your first time to the city of Lander on the Fourth of
July, returning to your hometown to visit friends, family or to participate in your class reunion, or you are someone who has lived in Lander
and made this holiday a tradition for your family to share, you are truly
in for an unique Independence Day.
First and foremost, Lander is home to the oldest paid rodeo in the
world and there will be a couple of chances for you to see that, which
features bull riding and Indian relay races.
There will be a buffalo barbecue, pancake breakfast, races and, of
course, the 122nd Pageant of the Old West.
And, the biggest grand finale of all, the firework show put on not
only by Fremont County Fire Protection District Battalion 3 Lander
Rural Fire Department after the rodeo on the Fourth of July, but the
show your neighbors will put on as well.
This Pioneer Days special section in the Lander Journal will guide
you through the pioneer days of Lander with a history lesson from historian Jean Mathisen Haugen on page 14, the history of the grand marshals on page 4 and even a pioneer days obituary the Lander Journal
found from 90 years ago, highlighting a Landerite by the name of Sam
Sing found on page 12.
Much of what we do here in Lander on the Fourth of July is a nod to
tradition, the same fun stuff we have done for many, many years.
We are also adaptive people who are happy to add new fun, given
the chance.
With no shortage of things to do, the Lander Journal urges you to get
out there and enjoy this holiday. Check out the full events calendar
starting on page 9 of this special section.
Thank you for joining us in Lander for Americas birthday.
Be safe and enjoy.
Kelli Ameling
Managing Editor

122nd Annual Pioneer Days 2016 Page 3

Page index
Welcome - Page 2
Grand marshal history - Page 4
2016 grand marshals - Page 5
2016 queens court - Page 6
Origin of Lander - Page 7
2015 parade winners - Page 7
2016 Pioneer Days events - Page 9
Fremont County events - Page 10
What to know about city laws - Page 10
Gold Rush Days - Page 11
Lander pioneer Sam Sing - Page 12
Iiams family history - Page 14

122nd Annual Pioneer Days 2016 Page 4

Selecting parade grand marshals

By Cole Miller
Staff Writer
The 122nd Pioneer Days Fourth
of July celebration is here after a
long year of waiting.
This year, the Pageant of the Old
West parade, which is about a
two-hour event, will begin at 10
a.m. July 4 down Landers Main
Street.
The parades grand marshals,
Jack and Alice Nicholas and Hugh
Friday, are pivotal as they represent what Lander is now and
where the city came from. They
also remind people how important
it is to pitch in and make
Wyoming an even better place
than it already is.
From yesteryears, marshals like
Mick Wolfe, who served a total of
22 years of political service to the
city of Lander, to marshals like Elk
Redman, of the 1970 Pioneer Days
parade, who was a lifelong resident of the Wind River Indian
Reservation and a member of the

1980 Joe Cook Parade Marshal

1982 Blondell Whitehead, Betty
Kail Co-Marshals
1984 Bill Duncan Parade Marshal
1985 Henry and Wilma Hudson
Marshals
1986 Pete Freese Grand Marshal
1987 Les Shoemaker Grand
Marshal
1988 Ruth Foster Marshal
1989 Jack Campbell Grand
Marshal
1990 George H. Case Marshal
Sadie J. Shipton - Marshal
1991 Harold Del Monte - Marshal
Robert N. Harris - Marshal
Chris Hill Marshal
1992 Dr. L. Harmon Wilmoth
Marshal
Josephine Redman Marshal
1996 Lula (Sherlock) Topham
Marshal
Frank Dusl Marshal
1999 Beatrice Noel Markley
Crofts - Marshal
Harry B. Tipton II - Marshal

Arapaho Tribe, to even further in

the past, the parades grand marshals honor the memory of the
pioneers and early settlers.
The marshals are chosen by a
parade committee every year. The
committee is made up of three to
five people who volunteer prior to
the Pioneer Days celebration, committee members are chosen based
on whether or not they have
invested any personal interest in
the marshal nominees and their
own contributions either to the celebration itself or the community.
The parade committee is made up
of different people every year.
Maggie Appleby, one of this
years parade committee members
and a well-known historian of Fremont County, said the marshals
are nominated by other citizens as
candidates, who are then selected
by the committee.
The parade committee decides
on marshals based on criteria such

Continued on page 16

Marshals continued on page 16

Pageant of the American West grand marshals

1916 J.P McKenna Marshal of
the Day
1947 Keith Gingles Pageant
Master
1951 E.J. Farlow Riderless
Horse
1965 Harry H. Hime Grand
Marshal
1966 Joseph Cook Grand Marshal
1967 Frank Hornecker Grand
Marshal
1970 Elk Redman Grand Marshal
1971 Maurice Doane Grand
Marshal
1972 Dr. Paul Hotz Parade
Marshal
1974 Gov. Stanley K. Hathaway
Grand Marshal
1975 William H. Hamilton,
Laura Farthing Co-Marshals
1976 Howard McCrorery
Parade Marshal
1977 Minnie Woodring Marshal
Gov. Ed Herschler Honorary
Marshal
Casey Herschler - Honorary Marshal
1978 Ted Baldwin Marshal

122nd Annual Pioneer Days 2016 Page 5

Friday, Nicholas named

2016 parade marshals
By Kelli Ameling
Managing editor
This years Pageant of the Old
West Parade will be led by Hugh
Friday and Jack and Alice
Nicholas.
The 2016 parade committee
selected the three to lead the
parade due to the candidates
involvement in the local community and their history with the
town.
Hugh Friday
Friday was born on the Wind
River Indian Reservation as the
second oldest son of Chester and
Effie Friday.
At 3 years old, Friday learned
to ride horses, helping his father
with the chores on a small ranch
where he also learned to ride
bucking horses. He began roping
with his older brother, Wayne,
and from that point, he became a
rodeo participant.
After graduating high school,
Friday attended Powell Junior
College where he went to school
to enhance his skills as a calf
roper.
He joined the Wyoming Rodeo
Association and won several
championships in calf and team
roping competitions.
Outside of roping, Friday also
trained horses. His other hobbies

Hugh Friday

Jack and Alice Nicholas

included basketball, for which he

won Male Athlete of the Century
for Fremont County in December
of 2000.
Friday was a founding member
of the Rocky Mountain Indian
Rodeo Association in 1976, where
he maintained a membership
with the organization.
He began working at Conoco,
Inc., and after he retired, he was
elected to the Northern Arapaho
Business Council.
Friday has stated he has
reached his goals in life and is
now ready for fun.
Although Hugh no longer calf
ropes, he still participates in the
team roping competitions with

his son, John Friday, Fridays

stated. He is Johns number one
fan and still goes down the road
with him. Hugh is now fully
retired, but rodeo is still a family
tradition.
Alice and Jack Nicholas
Alice Nicholas was raised in
Lemon Cove, Calif., on an orange
farm. She met her husband, Jack
Nicholas, in college where they
then married and moved to
Laramie to finish college.
They moved to the Lander Valley area in 1952.
While in Lander, the
Nicholases raised five children
while Jack Nicholas practiced law

and the family engaged in ranching.

Jack Nicholas was raised on a
ranch in Gillette before leaving to
work on several ranches throughout the state when his parents
moved to Casper.
He served in the United States
Army before going to college and
attending law school at the University of Wyoming.
Jack Nicholas was sworn in at
District Judge in 1970 and served
in that position for 15 year.
In 1960, he became a member
of the South Pass City Historical
Site Committee. He was also a
member of the Rotary Club and
the Fremont County Pioneer
Association.
He was also instrumental in
helping to start the National Outdoor Leadership School in the
1960s, according to a bio from the
parade committee.
Alice Nicholas has been active
in Lander, keeping track of
friends and family over the years
and has had her home open and
ready to feed anyone who visited.
Both Alice and Jack Nicholas
were active in attaining the Lander Bronze Cattle. They have
been married for 66 years.
Now retired, Jack and Alice
have many interests and have
had a positive influence in Fremont County, their bio stated.

122nd Annual Pioneer Days 2016 Page 6

Carper, Baxter, Duncan named

Pioneer Days royalty
By Kelli Ameling
Managing Editor
The Pioneer Days queen committee named a rural Riverton
woman as the 2016 Pioneer Days
queen and two more as the
queens court.
Pioneer Days queen
Cara Carper, 20, who is the
daughter of Shawn and Jeanne
Carper, is currently attending
Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne, pursing a
degree in agriculture with a business concentration.
Carper is a student ambassador
and member of the livestock show
and livestock judging teams.
In her spare time, Carper said
she enjoys hiking, fishing, riding
horses, baking, cake decorating
and spending time with family.
I would like to invite you to
the Lander Pioneer Days Rodeo
on July 3 and 4 for some exciting
rodeo action to be enjoyed by the
whole family, she stated. Let er
buck.
Queens court
Baily Baxter, 15, of Riverton,
was named as the 2016 Pioneer
Days junior queen. Baxter, who is
the daughter of Marilyn and Eric

Cara Carper

Baily Baxter

Baxter, is heading into her sophomore year at Riverton High

School.
She is the winner of the allaround youth high point for her
club last year.
Baxters hobbies include hunting, camping, hiking, spending
time with family and friends, and
training and showing her house.
I would love to see you at the
Lander Pioneer Days Rodeo and
hope you have a blessed Independence Day, Baxter stated.
Alaina Duncan, 10, of Lander,

was named the 2016 Pioneer Days

princess.
Duncan, the daughter of
Chawn and Shelby Duncan, will
be starting her sixth grade year at
Cornerstone Christian School in
Lander.
She enjoys showing and riding
horses, participating in 4-H, playing softball and reading books.
Come celebrate our great
nations independence, watch
some amazing cowboys and cowgirls and stay for one of the most
patriotic fireworks display you

Alaina Duncan
will ever see, Duncan stated.
Candidates
The queen and her court are
selected by the Pioneer Days
queen committee. Candidates are
judges on items such as speech
and horsemanship, who live within Fremont County and are
between the ages of 7 and 23.
Anyone interested in participating in the 2017 Pioneer Days royalty contest can contact Amy
Amack at
amyramack@yahoo.com.

122nd Annual Pioneer Days 2016 Page 7

Origin of Lander
Excerpted from the 1936 Pageant of
the Old West Parade program
In the winter of 1856-57, Congress made an appropriation for
the building of a road from Missouri through South Pass to California.
Later in the fall of 1857, the
expedition, accompanied by a
large military escort, reached
South Pass. Because the winter
was so severe at South Pass, the
government guide recommended
the Wind River Valley, or Warm
Valley as the American Indians
called it, as a desirable wintering
place.
The soldiers and road builders,
therefore, turned north and winter
quarters were selected on the
Popo Agie River at a point 2 miles
northeast of where Lander now
stands, proclaimed by the party as
one of the most ideally located
and beautiful campsites in the
west.
They remained until spring,

when Col. F. W. Lander arrived

and took command of the expedition.
Lander was greatly pleased
with the campsite and surrounding country, and so pronounced in
his praise of the beautiful valley it
seemed most natural the town,
which was afterward located by
the Hon. B. F. Lowe, was named
after Lander.
Before leaving camp, Lander
negotiated a treaty with the
Shoshone Tribe for a right-of-way
through the country claimed by
them, extending from the Sweetwater to Fort Hall, Idaho. The
American Indians were paid on
the spot with horses, firearms,
ammunition, blankets and many
other articles of value, highly
prized by Chief Washakie and the
other chief men of the tribe.
The Shoshones always remembered Lander kindly, and at his
death, were greatly grieved.
Origin continued on page 17

2015 Pageant of the Old West winners

Floats
1. Shoshone Rose
Casino
2. Fabel Wedding
3. Church of Christ
Individual
1. Norma Slack
Haskell, Calamity
Jane
2. Bruce Gresly
Memorial
3. Dick Lehman
Horse Drawn
1. Wyoming State
Fair
2. Horse-drawn
team
Color Guard
1. Veterans of
Foreign Wars
American Legion
2. Fremont County
Fair and Rodeo
Non-Mounted
Group

1. Mormon Handcart Historical Sites

Bands
1. Sheridan Drum and
Bugle Corps
2. Lander Valley
Marching Band
4. Lander Valley
Pipes
Native American
Entry
1. Morning Star
Weed Indian Relay
2. Northern Arapaho MSPI
3. Star Weed Truck
Class Car
1. Rod Harmalink
Antique Car
1. Dick Ellis
2. Dick Ellis
3. Jay Taylor
Classic Truck
1. Ameri-Tech

Antique Truck
1. Dick Ellis
2. Casey Barnum
3. Dick Ellis
Historical
1. Fremont Count
Pioneer Association
2. Lander Shrine
Club
3. Wyoming
Catholic College
Classic Farm
1. Lander
Ambassadors
2. Faith Lutheran
Church
3. Wind River Fly
Wheelers
Antique Farm
1. Wind River Fly
Wheelers
2. Lander Old
Timers Rodeo
Association

122nd Annual Pioneer Days 2016 Page 8

122nd Annual Pioneer Days 2016 Page 9

Pioneer Days calendar of events

The 122nd Pioneer Days celebration will begin at 5:30 p.m. on July 2
and continue through July 4 with a parade, barbecue, fireworks and
more. Tickets for the pancake breakfast, buffalo barbecue and rodeo can
be purchased at the Lander Chamber of Commerce, Western Supply,
Landers Mill, Lander Parks and Recreation Department, First Interstate
Bank, Lander Main Street Car Wash, Lintons Big R, Riverton Chamber
of Commerce and Lander Ace Hardware Store.
Details for those events and others are:
July 2
The first Quick Draw Live Art Auction will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the Museum of the American West with the auction beginning at 7 p.m. Watch as artists
paint live, while people can bid on fine
art.

Craft show and expo will be held

from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Inn at Lander. Free admission.

July 3
Lander Pioneer Days Rodeo will be
at 6:30 p.m. at the rodeo grounds outdoor arena, located at 10 Rodeo Drive.
This event will include the little cowpokes night with calf scramble and foot
race.

at 7 a.m. and the 1-mile Mad Dash for children 9 and under will begin
at 8:30 a.m. Early registration prices are $50 for the half marathons, $25
for the 5K and $15 for the youth race. The event supports 35 non-profits
in Lander. A person can register at www.active.com by search Lander
Challenge for Charities.
The Fourth of July Pancake Breakfast
will be held from 7 to 9 a.m. at the Lander Senior Center, located at 205 S. 10th
St. Breakfast includes, pancakes, sausage,
orange juice and coffee. Tickets are $5
and are also available at the Senior Center.

The Pageant of the Old West will

begin at 10 a.m. on Landers Main Street.
There will be more than 100 floats celebrating the 121st Pioneer Days.

The Fourth of July Buffalo Barbecue

will be from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Lander
City Park.

Fourth
of July
The
Lander Half Marathon and 5K Challenge
for Charities will be held at Centennial
Park, located in the 200 block of Main
Street. The half marathon walk will
begin at 6 a.m., the half marathon run
will begin at 6:30 a.m., the 5K will begin

Sixth Annual Band Boys of Bullriding Paxton Cady Memorial will begin at
6 p.m. at Triple X Rodeo Arena, located
on 411 Willow Creek Road in Lander.
Fore more information, call 332-3687.

Lander Pioneer Days Rodeo will be

at 6:30 p.m. at the rodeo grounds outdoor arena, located at 10 Rodeo Drive.

Events continued on page 10

Please be safe this Fourth of July Please be safe this Fourth of July

122nd Annual Pioneer Days 2016 Page 10

Events

Continued from Page 9

The city of Lander fireworks will be
after the rodeo at dark by Fremont
County Fire Protection District Battalion
3 Lander Rural.

Reunions for Lander Valley High

School consist of the class of 1966, 1976,
1981, 1996 and 2006.

Fremont County Fourth of July

celebrations
Riverton
Rivertons has a variety of festivities over the holiday weekend, beginning with 175th
anniversary of the annual 1838
Mountain Man Rendezvous reenactment, beginning with the
mountain man parade at 3 p.m.
Wednesday, June 29 starting at
Bank of the West and heading
east on Main Street. The opening ceremony follows at 5 p.m.
with a free dinner and Native
American dancing at the original 1838 Rendezvous site, located on Smith Road, south of the
intersection with East Monroe
Avenue . The rendezvous continues with daily activities
including black powder shooting, hawk and knife throwing
competitions, seminars and
nightly campfires. The closing
ceremony is at noon on Sunday,

June 3.
The Shrine Circus visits Riverton Wednesday, June 29, with
shows at 2:30 p.m. and again at
7:30 p.m. at the Fremont County
Fairgrounds Arena. Tickets are
$5. The kiddie parade is at 10
a.m. on Main Street From Bank
of the West to 5th Street.
Rivertons firework show is
Thursday, June 30 at the Ron
Saben complex baseball and
softball fields on Smith Road.
Dubois
Dubois starts the weekend off
on Sunday, July 3, with the 20th
birthday party of the National
Bighorn Sheep Center beginning
at noon with a brat lunch. The
celebration will be held at the
center, located at 907 W.
County continued on page 12

122nd Annual Pioneer Days 2016 Page 11

Gold Rush Days will highlight 148-year-old history

By Kelli Ameling
Managing Editor
Gold Rush Days in South Pass
City are sent to kick off July 9.
The South Pass City State Historic Site hosts Gold Rush Days
each summer to celebrate life in
the western gold camp, according
to a release from the site.
This will be the 14th annual
Gold Rush Days.
Gold Rush Days is a great
family-friendly event with events
that are unique to South Pass
City, said South Pass City State
Historic Site superintendent Joe
Ellis.
A vintage baseball tournament
will be featured and will include
turn-of-the-century uniforms.
There will also be gold panning,
a stamp mill, printing press
demonstrations, and more.
Gold Rush Days will also have
live music, billiards, anvil blasting and re-enactments.
Many of the families in the
Lander and Riverton region can

trace their origins to South Pass

City, Ellis said. Gold Rush
Days is a great opportunity to
celebrate the history of Fremont
County and Wyoming.
According to the sites website,
the first gold rush came to South
Pass City in the summer of 1868,
which brought thousands of miners, merchants and entrepreneurs, and at one point, more
than 2,000 people called the city
their home.
The boom looked promising
but faltered, the website stated.
When the color started to fade,
many South Pass City residents
fled.
Ones who held on to what the
city once had, saw other booms
throughout the years.
The city was donated to the
state of Wyoming in 1968, to
become a historical site showcasing a glimpse of a community
that once was.
For more information, call 3323684 or visit www.southpasscity.com.

122nd Annual Pioneer Days 2016 Page 12

County

Continued from Page 10

Ramshorn St. and is free and open
to the public.
Dubois has even more events
scheduled on July 4, starting Kiwanis Kids Games at 11 a.m. in
Town Park.
The Parade, themed Hats Off
To America, is at 2 p.m. starting
at Town Park, with the annual Cub
Scouts Ducky Race in Horse
Creek to follow.
A rodeo begins at 8 p.m. at the
Clarence Allison Memorial Arena.
Fireworks will be set off from
Overlook Hill at dusk. The show is
sponsored by the Town of Dubois,
Dubois Volunteer Fire Department, and the Never Sweat Recreation Board.The St. Thomas Epis-

copal Church will also host an ice

cream social from 3-5 p.m. July 4 at
9 S. 1st Street in Dubois.
Pavillion
Pavillions Old Fashioned Community Independence Day Celebration is July 3 at the Pavillion
Recreation Center. Dinner is at 5
p.m. and consists of burgers
flipped by firemen and Miss
Ginnys baked beans. Admission is
$4.50 for children and $5.50 for
adults. The auction is at 7 p.m.
Fireworks are at dusk, presented
by the Pavillion Fire Department
and Wind River Recreation Board.
The town dance is t 9 p.m. with
music by Lost Springs Band.

90-year-old obituary of a Lander

pioneer man
The following obituary appeared in
the Wyoming State Journal in July 7,
1926.

Sam Sing, Chinaman, well

known in Lander, died at his
home on Main Street, Monday,
July 4, after an illness of several
weeks.
He had been unable to attend
to his laundry business for some
time.
Sam Sing was a good citizen.
As one business man said yesterday as the news was passed
that Sam had died, No better citizen ever lived in Lander. If they
were all like him, there would be
no policemen, no courts and
everyone would be happier.
This simple tribute to the Chinaman who had lived in Lander
for more than 40 years spoke volumes. He never molested anyone,

he was sober, quiet, industrious,

and often wronged by never
answering back.
Forty or more years ago, he
came here to cook at the Lander
Hotel. This job he held in Lander
for many years. He saved his
money, invested it in cattle, and
at one point, owned more than
1,500 head. He purchased considerable Lander property, and in
addition to his home, owned a
number of lots and a farm near
Wypo.
His nephew, Ohy Wye, came
here from St. Paul two weeks ago
and ministered to his needs. The
funeral will be held Friday following a brief service at the
Methodist Church. The body will
be buried on the hill overlooking
the little city where his life was
spent.

Sam Sing and the American dream

Please be safe this Fourth of July

This article ran in the 2007 edition of

the Pioneer Days tab.
Sing Yee Wind came to the United States with the few possessions
he owned slung in a sack. He came
like many immigrants came to the
state in the late 1800s he came for
a chance at a better life.
He followed the gold trails
through California to Wyoming ,
and after several failed attempts at
staking a productive claim, Sing Yee
Wind came down form the mountains and ended up in the Lander
Valley. He began to introduce himself as Sam Sing, and whatever fever
the gold fields had induced in him,
he turned that energy toward making an name for himself in a small
town in the foothills of the Wind
River Mountains.
Sam Sing was a cook, and a
good one at that, his talents in the
kitchen brought to the attention of
one of Landers founding fathers,
Eugene Amoretti Sr.
As a cook, he was almost without equal, but Sam Sings ambitions
went higher.
He saved up enough money to
buy a washhouse on the banks of
Dickinson Creek, about where the
northeast corner of Safeway parking
lot now stands.
He worked hard, long hours by

himself, cleaning other peoples

dirty clothes. Despite his work, and
the service he provided, he was
often the butt of practical jokes, and
sometimes-outright discrimination.
During that time in Lander,
Main Street was lined with wooden
sidewalks, and Sam, delivering his
laundry, could not see the wires that
people would stretch in his path.
Known as an industrious and
savvy businessman, his talents in
that area could hold nothing to his
prowess as a wordsmith. It was
rumored that Sam Sing could weave
a web of curse words so thick that it
would hang in the air like fog.
Anytime Sing met with a wire
stretched across his path, causing
him to fall and lose his laundry, it
was said that townsfolks would
have to rinse their own mouths out
with soap just for being in the general area of Sam Sings creative fury.
Sings business on the banks of
Dickinson Creek began to grow,
and before long, he had brought a
number of relatives from China to
work with him.
Sam Sing never became an
American citizen, but he was citizen,
and in his own right, a founder of
the small town in central Wyoming
that he came to call home.

122nd Annual Pioneer Days 2016 Page 13

122nd Annual Pioneer Days 2016 Page 14

The Iiams family were early pioneers

Jean Mathisen Haugen
Historian
The Wyoming Life Resource
Center, known for many years as
the Wyoming State Training
School has a commanding view
of the beautiful Lander Valley.
The facility dates from 1912, but
prior to that time a pioneer family claimed the land as a homestead which served as their home
for many years. That was the
family of Samuel Iiams - who has
many descendants in and around
the Lander area and across
Wyoming to this day.
Samuel Iiams was born at West
Point, Morrow County, Ohio, on
August 15, 1835. His parents
were Thomas James Iiams (17891862) and Mary Polly Hardesty
James (1805-1902). At the time of
his death on April 2, 1931, he was
96 years of age and his passing
marked the last of the Civil War

veterans living in Lander. His

greatgranddaughter, Betty Lou
Iiams Hornecker noted in a history of the pioneer Iiams Ranch in
the book Lander Valley Farm
Bureau Salutes Pioneers In Agriculture (printed as a contribution to Landers Centennial celebration in 1984) noted he was one
of the few remaining Old
Timers who blazed the trail of
civilation when Wyoming was an
infant.
Iiams married Elizabeth
Alexander in Ohio on Sept. 9,
1858, where they continued to
live for a number of years. They
had five children although two
died in infancy, which left three
sons who grew up and later came
to Lander Valley. Samuel served
in the Civil War as a private in
the 81st Ohio Infantry and was
listed as a member on the roster
of the Thomas A. McCloy Post
#34 of the Grand Army of the

Republic (an organization for veterans who fought on the Union

side in the Civil War). He served
until the end of the war in 1865.
His wife passed away in
Hiawatha, Kan., in 1873 and he
moved on west under a preenlistment in the U.S. Army
Corps, serving in guerilla warfare
activities west of the Mississippi.
He was stationed in the Lander
area during problems with the
American Indians and became
acquainted with the gold mining
going on at Miners Delight,
Atlantic City and South Pass.
Wyomings author of its first history book, C.G. Coutan,t interviewed many of the old timers
and noted that Samuel Iiams is
another old pioneer who came to
the mines at an early day. he
worked on the Miners Delight
and other mines in different
camps. After the Indian trouble
was over he took up his residence

near Lander and followed stock

growing and farming. He has one
of the most productive farms in
that section and in conjunction
with this he has a cheese factory
(which is the stone building adjacent to the Popo Agie River at the
end of Poor Farm Road) (after
its days as a cheese factory
ended, it became the local Poor
Farm which housed those who
were old and indigent in the area
and hence the name, Poor Farm
Road for the road going to this
old stone building).
Samuel and his oldest son
Wilbert homesteaded the land
where the Life Rsource Center
now stands. Lloyd, the youngest
son, came west at the age of 14
and worked with his older brother dairying and started the first
creamery and the cheese factory.
When Sweetwater County was
divided in 1884 and Fremont
Iiams continued on page 15

122nd Annual Pioneer Days 2016 Page 15

Iiams

Continued from Page 14

County was born of the northern
section which at that time
stretched from the current southern border with Sweetwater
County north to the Montana
line, Sam was elected the County
Coroner. He was active in adopting new businesses in Lander and
was on the ground floor promoting and building the flour mill in
1888. Samuels second son, Elmer
Ellsworth, known as E.L., was
born in 1860 in Marion, Ohio, and
married Emma Cyphers and
came west in 1884. They came to
either Rawlins or Rock Springs
by train and then on to Lander by
stagecoach. They settled on
Samuels homestead (E.L. was the
grandfather of Betty Lou Iiams
Hornecker). Several cabins were
built at different locales. E.L. did
the final proving up in 1909 and
before long, the first 100 acres of
this homestead was purchased by
the State of Wyoming for the current Life Resource Center payment was under $1.00 per acre.

E.L. and
area
Emmas
known as
first three
Dutch
children
Flat
were born
(immedithere
ately over
Louretta
the hill
(known to
south of
many who
Lander and
have been
named for
around
the Shutcz
Lander for
and Iiams
very long
families
as Aunt
among othRhetta)
ers who
born in
were
1885 and
Deutch,
later marGerman,
ried Walt
not Dutch).
Ferry;
Four more
Charles
children
Birdell,
were born
Samuel Iiams
born in
at Dutch
1887 and married Ursula Aunt
Flat: Verna (born 1892) who marSally Schutz and Lloyd Leroy,
ried Frank Robinson; Beatrice
born Jan. 24, 1890, who married
(born 1893) who married Harry
Ursulas sister, Christine Teeny Robinson; James E., born in 1898
Schutz. Later the family moved to who married Beulah Pope (they

are the grandparents of former

Fremont County Sheriff Tim
McKinney); and Chester (born
about 1900 at died at the age of 4
or 5 (young Chester was crippled
and had to wear braces the
braces were later given to the Pioneer Museum.
As early as 1886, E.L. Iiams
took up freighting. Betty wrote:
Grandma was left alone a lot.
When the Indians would come
passing through, she would
chuck all the kids under the dining table which was always
covered with a long cloth to the
floor. The young Indians were
looking mostly for food and
whiskey and did not harm anyone.
All the Iiams kids went to the
Iiams school, it was held in different locations around Dutch
Flat. Length of school in those
days was three months. Entertainment for the young people
included horseback riding parIiams continued on page 17

122nd Annual Pioneer Days 2016 Page 16

Origin

Continued from Page 7

Lander had its first settlement in
1869 and it was in that year that
Fort Augur, a military post, was
established. In 1870, the name of
the fort was changed to Camp
Brown, but in 1878 was abandoned and moved to the Shoshone
Indian Reservation where it was
renamed Fort Washakie.
It was in 1883 the original town
site of Lander was platted and

named for Gen. F. W. Lander.

The city soon assumed important proportions, and when the
county seat was established in
1894, following the creation of Fremont County, it won the location.
A rival settlement known as Milford had been established at the
edge of the reservation and there
was great rivalry between the
towns for the honor.

Marshals

Continued from Page 4

as whether or not they were born
in Wyoming, how long theyve
lived in Wyoming, whether or not
they are war Veterans, as well as
their contributions to their communities, Fremont County and the
state.
Multiple marshals may be chosen at the discretion of the parade
committee, including representa-

tives of both the Shoshone and

Arapaho tribes.
Honorary Marshals are to honor
those who are no longer with us.
In the 122 years of the Pageant
of the Old West Parade, there have
not always been grand marshals
each year.. However, in most
years, there have been more than
one grand marshal.

Marshals
Frank C. Enos
Marshal
2000 Alma and
Jule Nicol Marshals
2001 Elsie Ansell
Martin - Marshal
Raymond N. Fuller Marshal
Margorie H. Tillman
- Marshal
Felix Orlo Groesbeck Marshal
2003 Wilma and

Max Gustin Marshals

2004 James A .
Farthing - Marshal
Edna Jean Irvine Marshal
Lloyd J. Dewey Marshal
2007 Robert L.
Jackson - Marshal
Elizabeth W.
Nogashoah - Marshal
Elmer R. Roberts -

Marshal
Anna Scott - Marshal
2015 Mick Wolfe Marshal
Joe Kennah - Marshal
Myrna Milleson
Marshal
Dave Raynolds
Honorary Marshal
Harvey Brannan
Honorary Marshal

The Lander Journal

Going where
webpages cant!

Please be safe this Fourth of July

122nd Annual Pioneer Days 2016 Page 17

Iiams

Continued from Page 15

ties, picking berries, sledding and
dances held at the different
homes wherever the room was
large enough. Aunt Rhetta did
complete high school (which at
that time, was a larger bulding
attached to the 1885 stone grade
school near South Sixth and
Garfield) and she was salutatorian in 1906.
Family records show that E.L.
Iiams brought the first threshing
machine into the Lander area and
threshed oats on the land where
the Lander Post Office now
stands (the old post office which
is now CES and is located at
North Third and Lincoln). This
family business was carried on
for many year (even after I was
married, they had the community
threshing) [which should be
noted was a time when the ladies
worked very hard to put out the
very best meals]. It started first
with horses and then they
switched to steam tractors. Birdell, Roy and Jim ran the community threshing machine into the
late 1940s.
Driving the freight wagons
they recall the day when Roy and
Bird hauled the first automobile
into Lander.All the Iiams boys
helped E.L. freighting making
several trips a year.Usually they
had a string team of 12 teams,

Roy Iiams barn

hauling 10 wagons with the
Kooster (feed bunk house) in the
rear; carrying flour, grains, kegs
of vinegar, whiskey and
molasses. Sometimes young Indians would stop the teams and
pierce the barrels looking for
whiskey. Because of this the
Iiams carried extra wood or
beeswax to repair the holes and
get their freight to Lander.Roy
worked with E.L. until the railroad arrived in 1906 and put
horse freighters out of business
(however, some freighting continued for another 20 years, as my

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great grandfather, Andrew

Mathisen and his sons Keyford,
Sammy and Walt hauled freight
to the Atlantic City Mercantile for
several years).
About 1912 Uncle Walt Ferry
(Rhettas husband), being a
shrewd business man, decided to
provide horses to the East. Bud
Jones, Roy and Uncle Walt gathered wild horses, loeaded them
on the train and shipped them to
Oklahoma and Louisiana. They
decided to purchase a livery stable in Pleasantville, West Orange,
New Jersey and they would
break the horses to harness and
then sell them for delivery and
dray horses. The stable was next
to a small farm owned by John
Schutz and it was here Roy met 4
foot 7 inch Christine Louise
Schutz (known as Teeny). They
dated and when Roy returned to
Wyoming, exchanged
letters.Two years of courting and

correspondence later, Roy convinced Teeny to come west.She

loaded trunks of beautiful clothes
and linens to make her home out
in Wyoming liveable and travelled by train to Omaha, Neb.,
where Roy met her and they were
married on Jan. 21, 1915 in
Omaha. They came west by train
and stagecoach to Lander and
settled in a little log house with a
dirt floor and roof on the old
Johnny Carry place (now known
as the Ellis Ranch on Sinks
Canyon Road) in what was then
called the Borners Garden
area.Their first son, Leroy Gustave was born in November
1915.
They then moved to a ranch at
the foot of Table Mountain (originally taken up by Gasper Gottino
and wife Mary as a homestead in
1908). Gottino planted an apple
orchard, part of which is still
there. In 1916, the abstract was
transferred to L. Leroy and Christine L. Iiams and again they
moved to a small dirt-roofed
house. Betty recalled, Mom
always claimed if she would have
had the money she would return
East, but no matter how lonesome she was her letters back
home were glowing and enthusiastic about the West.Aunt
Ursula Aunt Sally came west in
1919 and later married Roys
brother Birdell Iiams and later
Matthew and Fred Schutz came
west to settle here.Though Roy
and Teeny wanted a large family
they had three children LeRoy
Jr., Emily and Betty Lou but
Betty remembered that though
Iiams continued on page 18

122nd Annual Pioneer Days 2016 Page 18

Iiams

they wished for more, they did

take in many children in need of
homes. There were no orphanages or foster homes then and
children would be taken to the
State Training School. From 1919
through the 1930s, Elmer, Elsie
and Jack Morganstein, Carl and
Laura Shatto, and William Frazier
were enrolled at the Iiams school
with Roy and Teeny listed as
their guardians.Betty remembered that in the winter of 1923
her father and his brothers were
in the mountains getting out
house logs for a new home for
Roy and Teeny.After Christmas,
the men returned to the mountains, since it was easier to skid
logs with snow on the ground
Jan. 1, 1924, their home burned to
the ground and one of the few
items saved was a birdseye maple
dresser with a mirror. Teeny
crawled through a low window
to save the Nicol and Table
Mountain Ditch books and
records. Many items were saved
by being stored in trunks in the
root cellar. The Iiams lived in a

Continued from Page 17

sheep
moved it to
wagon and
Roaring
were later
Fork.Roy
able to
bought out
move into a
Jims share
new home
in 1938 and
in the
moved the
spring.
sawmill to
There are
the Fidplaces in
dlers Lake
the Wind
area.Other
River
place
Mountains
names for
that are
sawmill
named for
owners
the early
include
days of the
Fairfield
sawmills
Mountain,
that were
named for
once there.
Sam FairPetes Lake,
filed who
named for
had a mill
Samuel Iiams gravesite
Bettys
nearby in
great uncle
the 1870s
Pete Iiams, was named because
and built the first bridge over the
he had sawmills up Squaw Creek Popo Agie (near where the curand on Porcupine Creek in the
rent Main Street bridge now
early 1900s west of Lander. After runs) around 1876; Jake Frey had
Pete got older, Roy and E.L. and
a sawmill near what is now called
Jim Iiams took over the mill and
Frye Lake (name for him, but

misspelled) and Ase Wilson, who

started the first flour mill at
North Fork (later called Milford)
and the flour mill at Fort
Washakie, also had a sawmill in
Sinks Canyon in the early days).
Back in the early days making
a living was not a simple matter
and many families worked at
many jobs to help put food on the
table and pay the bills. Roy Jr.
stayed home to help with the
income.He and hired men
milked cows, hayed and borke
horses which were sold as work
teams. In the winter when the
sawmill closed down, the men
would all move to the ranch and
all worked for board and room.
Due to Forest Service regulations
in the 1940s when the Forest
Service would no longer sell timber to Roy, he shut the sawmill
operation down (remnants of that
mill and a cabin are near Canyon
Creek meadow, just below the
turn-off to the old Blue Ridge
Lookout tower on the Loop
Iiams continued on page 19

122nd Annual Pioneer Days 2016 Page 19

Iiams

Road. Roy also did rock quarry

work, helping Mr. Crispin get
large granite from the Sinks
Canyon area and made gravestones (the factory was located
near where the Maverick Station
is now located on Main Street just
before crossing the bridgefor
many years, grave stones that
were not carved correctly or broken, could be found in the river.
Another way to help ranch
income was to move houses. Roy
and his brothers moved several
hosues from the Popo Agie I and
II coal camps when they shut
down finally near Hudson. They
also helped build some of the
first highways with horse teams
(as did my grandfather, Walt
Mathisen). Betty noted that at
one time Roy Sr. sold life insurance to help support the ranch.
All of the Iiams cousins
(because sisters had married
brothers from other families,
some were double-first cousins)
usually played together and rode
horses everywhere. They all
hadhitching racks beside their
outhouses.
One of the best known buildings that Roy Iiams had to do
with was a barn that is still standing on the ranch now owned by
his grandson, Brad Iiams. Before
Roy closed down the sawmill he
sawed a set of lodgs and in the
1930s built a large barn assisted
by friends and neighbors. When

Quick copies?
Yes.

Different sizes?
Sure.

Different colors?
Naturally.

Stapling?
Not a problem.

3-hole punched?
Without breaking a sweat.

Quick fax service?

You bet.

Both sides of the

paper?
Of course.

And a copy costs how

much?
A nickel.

How much?
A nickel.

Continued from Page 18

the barn was finished they had

barn dances. As Betty noted,
Everybody who lived around
Lander at sometime attended
Iiams Barn Dances. Iiams barn
had quite a clientele from Casper
(the Bragg family) and from Thermopolis (the Mudges). Teenys
well known tasty chicken sandwiches were sold atmidnight.
Many folks in the 1940s would
attend a dance at the Milford
Grange hall one week, and then a
dance at Iiams Barn the following week. John an Mary Hornecker and son-in-law Tex Irvine
often furnished the music at the
Grange or the Hudson Family
Orchestra would play. At the
Iiams Barn it was often pick-up
music which meant that whoever
played a banjo, guitar, fiddle,
mouth harp or piano would furnish the music. Many years later
in the late 1960s, Brad Iiams had
a few dances at the barn and
again around 1980 and 1981he
would have liked to have them
full time, but insurance at that
point was too expensive and the
barn now rests from its lively
days.
Samuel Iiams, the patriarch of
the family passed away at the age
of 96. EL passed away in 1944.
Teeny, a well-loved member of
the Table Mountain ranching
community passed away in 1950
and Roy lived on until 1968. By
then his son Roy Jr. had taken

COPIES

JC

ournal
opy
8.5 x 11
one sided

332 Main Street, Lander 332-2323

over the place and had married

Marie Alexander November 11,
1944 at the Methodist Church in
Lander, followed by a barn dance
and shower with over 200 relative, friends and neighbors
attending. Roy Jr. bought the
ranch in 1966 and his health started to failhe passed away in
May of 1967. Roy and Maries
sons, Sam and Brad, returned
from school and Brad and Marie
operated the ranches until 1971
when Marie remarried. Brad
Iiams married Susan martin in
1972 and they lived on the lower
ranch and Brad purchased the
ranch from his mother. Brad and
Susans two children, Jamie and
Field were born as the family
continued to live on the old
ranch.Betty Lou married Albert
Hornecker in May of 1942 (Albert
was nearly late to his own wedding as the roads were muddy
and bad up to the Iiams ranch
where the wedding took place).
They had two children: John
Leroy Hornecker and Christine
Jeanette (named for her grandmothers Christine Teeny Iiams
and Mary Jeanette Doane Horneckerwho married Gale Beers
in 1962 at Lander. Field Iiams is
now the sexton at Mt. Hope
Cemetery and most likely passes
by the graves of his ancestors
including that of Samuel on
down through many generations.
In 2008, the old false front

building which once stood near

what is now the Forge Bar near
N. Second and Main and known
at the time as the Magpie
building burned to the ground. It
too had a connection to the Iiams
and the early history of newspapers in Lander.An Iiams and a
man named Bunce owned the
Bunce and Iiams Lumberyard
which was located in that building which was built for that purpose. The first site of the first
newspaper office in Lander was a
log building located where the
Iris Sports building now stands
and is now located at the Museum of the American West. The
first newspaper, The Wind River
Mountaineer published its first
issue in the log building on January 1, 1885. Not long after the
offices of the paper were moved
to the second floor of the Bunce
and Iiams building and so it
served as the newspapers second
office in the small town of Lander
(which stretched all of 4-5 blocks
at the time). Later the building
served many purposes and sadly
burned downbut was noted in
several histories as being one of
the few original false front buildings left in Wyoming.The family
of Samuel Iiams and his descendants continue to thrive and contribute to Landers historythey
were early pioneers who made a
deep mark on the history of this
area.

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122nd Annual Pioneer Days 2016 Page 20