First Families of Johnson County

This First Families section is for ancestors that lived in Johnson County prior to 1900. If you have ancestors that you would like to have posted, all you have to do is send me the information. You can send it to me in a .rtf, .txt, .doc, .html format. (Usually Family Tree Maker and other similar programs use .rtf files)

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Use these family pages as a springboard for your research. I have made no attempts to verify the accuracy of the information submitted. If you find what you believe to be errors, please contact the submitter. 

Please do NOT submit any information on living people, I do not post that information. It is too dangerous to post names of living people, even if the information listed says "Private". I use 1920 as the cut-off year for births. 

  E K Ranch

Early Outlaws of Wyoming

CHARLES E. BUELL.
No man's destiny and not even his occupation can be predicted with certainty in our free republic with its boundless wealth and variety of opportunity. Many a one has left his home in the thickly settled sections and plunged boldly into the wilderness, with no thought of doing more than finding opportunity and perhaps fortune for himself, and has become by force of circumstances the founder of a town, the builder of a county, the leader of a people. Such as this has been in some measure, the history of' Charles E. Buell, who came from his native state of Wisconsin to Wyoming in 1878, and the next year located where Buffalo now stands. He helped to found and name the town and erected the first house built within its limits, the building now occupied by the Transportation Co., which he erected for the Trabing Bros. Mr. Buell was born in Bloomfield, Wis., on July 25, 1855, the son of William I. and Frances M. (Matthews) Buell, natives of New York and Ohio. The father is still farming in Wisconsin, where the son was educated and grew to manhood. In 1878 he came west to Laramie City, Wyo., and a year later removed to Johnson county, working in both places at his trade of carpenter, which he had learned in his native state. In his new location he found plenty of work at his trade although the facilities for doing it were lacking in many respects. The first building in the town, already alluded to, was built from foundation to roof and fully completed without the use of a nail. Mr. Buell worked a year for the Trabing Bros., after which he built what is now the Occidental Hotel and opened it to the public. When the next spring came he took a partner in the business in the person of A. J. McCrea and for years thereafter the hostelry was conducted under the firm name of McCrea & Buell. The latter finally sold his interest to Mr. McCrea and settled on a ranch he then owned on Shell Creek, which he had taken up as a homestead, and was the first to be taken up in the county. Here he prospered as a farmer and stock grower until 1893 when a disastrous fire burned him out and compelled his removal to another ranch he owned. A little later he located on the one which he now occupies and which is known as the Somnesburger ranch. In all he owns 640 acres of excellent land, comprising a desirable variety of meadow and range, and on this he raises cattle, horses and sheep in considerable numbers of superior quality. He is an enterprising and progressive citizen, fully alive to every chance to advance the interests of his community, and with the requisite public spirit to secure the acceptance and proper use of the chance. On October 17, 1882, he was united in marriage with Miss Jennie B. Herrick, a native of Wisconsin, in which state the marriage occurred. They have had five children, Helen E., the first white child born in Buffalo; Mabel G.; Frances L.; Clarence, deceased; Miles W. Mrs. Buell's father, Miles Herrick, a native of New York, is dead. Her mother, Lutheria Herrick. resides in Buffalo.

C. H. COOK
One of the prominent and successful stock growers and farmers of Johnson county, Wyoming, living on Johnson Creek, eight miles west of Buffalo. C. H. Cook, can smile at fortune's freaks and rest content in the secure and comfortable anchorage he has found in a snug and safe harbor after many buffets of adverse winds and tides. For he has challenged the capricious dame into the lists and dared her worst assaults. He is a native of Arkansas where he was born on April 2, 1850, the son of Jefferson and Polly (Jones) Cook, who were born and reared in Tennessee and removed to Arkansas soon after their marriage, where the mother died while her son, C. H. Cook, was yet a small child. Thus left an orphan at a very early age, Mr. Cook was closely attached to the fortunes of his father and when five years old accompanied him to Texas where two years were passed. Together they then returned to his native state and in 1867 they turned their faces to the Pacific coast, loading their worldly possessions on wagons they drove their ox teams to San Diego county, Calif., and there engaged in farming until the death of his father, after which, in 1872, he made his way to Salt Lake and from there to Colorado, hunting buffalo and gradually working towards his old home in Arkansas. In 1873 he returned to California and five years later came to Wyoming and in this state and Colorado furnished hay to the U. S. government under contract. In 1883 he determined to locate permanently on a ranch, selected the one on which he now lives and at once began improving it and aiding in the development of the surrounding country. He built the first wire fence put up in what is now Johnson county and was one of the organizers of the North Fork Ditch Co.. which has constructed an irrigation ditch fifteen miles long, through its aid reclaiming over 7,000 acres of arid land. Mr. Cook has 160 acres of excellent land and is carrying on an extensive stock industry with gratifying returns and expanding volume. He was married at Denver, Colo., in 1872 to Miss Mary Pauley, a native of Arkansas. After thirteen years of happy wedded life she died at Buffalo, Wyo., in 1885, leaving six children: Annie, married to Frank Yarwood; Fannie, deceased; Maggie, married to Frederick Fernacasc; Hampton; Herbert; May; all the living ones being residents of Johnson county. In 1889 he contracted a second marriage with Mrs. Phoebe Boyce, a native of Wisconsin and at the time of her marriage with Mr. Cook a widow with two children, William Boyce and Retta, now Mrs. Edward Holloway of Johnson county. The Cooks have five children living, Blanche, Benjamin, Churchie, Jennie and Melvin. Mr. Cook's life has been busy and adventurous. He crossed the plains thirteen times with teams when every hour was full of hazard, and while contracting at different places saw much of danger and disaster. He was at Fort Steele when the White River massacre occurred, and like many another, became so inured to peril that it seemed at times to almost lose its impressiveness. He is now one of the leading and most highly esteemed citizens of the county he has helped to build, having well earned his place in the regards of his fellow men.

HON. GEORGE W. CRESWELL, M. D.
The most successful and still rising young physician and surgeon of Buffalo, Johnson county, Wyoming, is George W. Creswell, M. D.. who was born in Randolph. McLean county, III. on January 25, 1871, a son of William and Elizabeth (Thompson) Creswell, natives of Londonderry, Ireland, and the state of Virginia. William Creswell, the grandfather of Doctor George W., was the first of this family to come to America; he settled in Quebec. Canada, where he passed the remainder of his life, his widow and her family subsequently removing to Illinois. William Creswell, the father, has long been engaged in the stock business, in which he has had experience in various states, being at present located in Crook county, Wyo., where he owns an extensive ranch and is still engaged in the cattle trade. Dr. George W. Creswell acquired his elementary education in the public schools of Bloomington, Ill., and when fully prepared entered the Commercial College in the same city, from which he was graduated in 1891. Being thus well grounded in the principles and practices of business life, he entered the Northern Wyoming University in the same year, took a full four years' course and was graduated from the medical department in 1894. He then entered Rush Medical College in Chicago, where he was graduated with honors and at once entered upon the active practice of his chosen profession in the commercial metropolis of the Prairie State, and for one year met with very flattering success. In the fall of 1898 Doctor Creswell, believing that the less crowded professional fields of the Far West offered inducements superior to those afforded in the densely populated cities of the East, where physicians "most do congregate," came to Buffalo, Wyo., to try his fortunes and here his success has been so satisfactory that he has seen no cause or reason to regret his decision, as his medical talents has been fully recognized and his professional ability appreciated to the extent that unvarying success invariably enforces upon the general public or on looking laymen. In 1901, Doctor Creswell took up an academic course of study in the postgraduate college of New York, thus adding to the medical erudition and experience he had acquired by his previous study and practice, which has been and still is of a general character. In politics Doctor Creswell is very active in his party's counsels and extremely popular with its rank and file, as well as with his fellow citizens generally. In lyoo he was elected to represent his district in the State Legislature of Wyoming and in 1901 was elected mayor of Buffalo, in both of which offices he gave unqualified satisfaction, as he performed their various duties with the tact of a practiced veteran. Doctor Creswell was most happily joined in matrimony on January 19. 1902, with Miss June J. Holloway, of Buffalo, Wyo., a daughter of the late Henry Holloway, of Buffalo. Wyo. Doctor Creswell�s outdoor practice extends all over Johnson county, in addition to which his office practice is reaching very extensive proportions. In addition to the handsome income derived from this practice, the Doctor has a source of profit from a stock ranch in Crook county, in which he has a large interest. The Doctor takes a lively interest in the prosperity of his town and county and the progress of the state is to him a matter of commendable pride, and the result of his patriotism is that he has reached the very apex of public esteem.

THOMAS J. FOSTER
Thomas J. Foster of Sheridan is one of the highly respected citizens of Northern Wyoming, coming to his estate of worldly competence and the esteem of his fellow men through severe trial, many hardships, great endurance and fidelity to every duty. In knightly parlance he has "won his spurs" and worthily does he wear them. He is the son of a pioneer family of Ohio, where he was born on October 27, 1843. His parents, Robert J. and Rebecca (Condi) Foster, were natives respectively of Ohio and Pennsylvania, and when they began their career in life on the soil of that great state it was little more than the primeval wilderness, still under the dominion in large measure of wild beasts and savage men, its luxuriance ungoverned, its wealth of productiveness and hidden stores waste and unclaimed, and all the forms of civilization unknown to its hills and vales now so teeming with the fruits of cultivated life and so it was in Wyoming, when their son, Thomas J., came here in 1876, a veritable pioneer of pioneers in this section, and one of the founders of the present greatness of the state. When Mr. Foster was five years old his parents removed to Missouri, settling in Holt county, and two years later his father was moved by the prevailing gold excitement to cross the plains to California, and the mother and children went to Ohio to await his return. In 1853 he joined them there and they again took up their residence in Missouri. For seven years they pursued the peaceful vocation of agriculture, and when in 1861 our land was darkened with the awful shadow of the Civil War, following their convictions both father and son joined hands with the Confederacy and enlisted in its army. The father served until 1864, when he returned home and went to Montana. Mr. Foster remained in the service until the last flag of the Lost Cause came down at the surrender of Gene. Smith, and then returned to his neglected home in Missouri, soon after going back to Ohio. In 1868 he also made the long trip across the plains, seeking the newer land of promise, Montana, from whence after a short time he went to the Boise Valley, Idaho, and engaged in branching. In 1874 he was united in marriage with Miss Alice , a native of Iowa but reared in Oregon, and two years after his marriage he came with his family to Wyoming, passed two years at City and Cheyenne, engaged in freighting, and in 1878 returned to his ancestral vocation. Locating in what is now Johnson county, he took up land on the site of the abandoned Fort Phil Kearney and went to farming and raising stock, remaining until 1901, serving in the meantime four years as register of the land office at Buffalo. In 1901 he sold his ranch and took up his residence in Sheridan, where he has a beautiful home, which is much sought as a center of refined hospitality and genial companionship. Mr. and Mrs. Foster were the first actual permanent settlers in Johnson county and when they located on their ranch their nearest neighbors were on Powder River, and also at Fort Custer, one place seventy miles distant and the other 180. It goes without saving that Mr. Foster has had many thrilling experiences with road agents and in every other form of danger. For an account of one adventure see the life of Frank Girard. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Old Settlers' Club of Sheridan. The family circle contains in addition to Mr. and Mrs. Foster, their son, Ellery D., who is a skilled bookkeeper, and an adopted daughter, Vinnie.

CHRIS. J. HEPP
Born in Bavaria, where his ancestors had lived for generations and where his mother died when he was but a child, coming to America with his father when he was eight years old and living for a time in Baltimore, later in Cincinnati and still later in Chicago, then turning his back when he was but eighteen years of age upon all the allurements and conveniences of the centers of civilization and making his home on the wild frontier of the far west, helping to conquer hostile Indians, destroy lawless stage robbers and punish sneaking horse thieves, and giving himself and his energies to the development of the country and the multiplication and improvement of its civilizing influences, Chris. J. Hepp, of Kearney in Johnson county, has seen almost every phase of human life and has gathered wisdom from all his observation. The story of his adventurous and busy life, although fruitful in the elements of both comedy and tragedy, can here be told only in commonplace details. He was born in Bavaria on May 2, 1857, the son of Karl and Elizabetha (Koch) Hepp, also natives of the same land. His mother died when he was a young child and in 1865 he accompanied his father to America, landing at Baltimore, Md., and after passing a few years in that city removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, and somewhat later to Chicago, Ill., attending the schools of these cities as he had opportunity, working between times until 1872 when he went to northern Wisconsin to begin the struggle for supremacy among his fellows on his own account and he was there employed in the lumber industry and at farming for three years. In 1875 he came farther west and during the next two years courted the smiles of fortune in the mining regions of the Black Hills. During the gold excitement of 1877 he came to the Big Horn Mountains in the second party of gold seekers who invaded this almost unknown region, and after a summer of unsuccessful prospecting engaged in hunting and trapping on Powder River and other streams near Fort McKinney for two years. In the meantime, in 1878, he had taken up a homestead on Little Piney Creek, twenty-three miles southeast of Sheridan and fifteen from Buffalo, on what is now the main road in Johnson county, it being a part of the ranch on which he now lives. In 1879 he went to Laramie for implements and materials for farming and returning to his ranch, on which he had built a house during the previous year, he began to cultivate and improve the land and has made of it a comfortable and desirable home. He owns 1.000 acres, the most of it under cultivation, and all devoted to his principal industry, raising cattle, in which he has been continuously engaged since he settled here. At the time of his occupancy of the land the public survey had not been made, and he had but one neighbor, T. J. Foster, on the creek. His land adjoined the old Fort Phil Kearney reservation and contained the remains of the soldiers and others who fell in the bloody massacre near this location. These have since been taken up and buried on the Custer battlefield. His first years of residence here were far from quiet. Stage robbers and horse thieves gave him trouble, roving bands of Indians looked upon his enterprise with unfriendly eyes, wild beasts contested his right to peaceful possession of the soil he was bringing into fruitfulness, but he resolutely persevered in his efforts to gain a firm foothold and conquered every obstacle and found himself surrounded with other hardy adventurers for whom also the rugged frontier wore a winning smile. The section in which they live is one of great historic interest and is often visited by tourists on this account, it will ever be known as a locality where great tradgies of human life have been enacted and Mr. Hepp has a large and interesting collection of souvenirs of the events and personages that have made the region renowned. In the winter of 1885, at Grand Island, Neb., Mr. Hepp was united in marriage with Miss Rosa Weller, a native of Germany. They have six children, Rosa, Ellis, Elsie, Lora. Clara and Chris. In April, 1898, he enlisted in Co. C, First Wyoming Infantry, and served in the Philippine Islands in battles and engagements with Spanish forces in 1898, the assault and capture of Manila on August 13, actions with Filipinos in 1899, the battle of San Pedro, Macati, February 5, battle of Guadalupe February 22, battle of San Juan Del Monte March 7, engagements at Maraquina and Antipolo June 3-4, Zapote, in siege of Bakor and Imus June 15, the capture of San Nicholas June 20. continuing in service until the fall of 1899 when the regiment was brought back and he was mustered out as first sergeant of his company, having made an excellent record for gallantry and other soldierly qualities and having had a gold medal and a bronze medal presented to him. He silenced a Filipino battery single handed at the battle of San Juan Del Monte on March 7, 1899; crawling within 200 yards of this battery he fired into the battery and silenced it, as he was the best shot in his company, having the best score in target practice of any one in Co. C.

GEORGE P. HERSEY
George P. Hersey, a prominent and successful stock grower of Johnson county, came to Wyoming in 1881 and has since resided within her borders. He was then without capital except his determined and resourceful spirit and his excellent health and experience he has gained in hard knocks in various parts of this country, but he is now one of the substantial and wealthy men of his county. Whatever he has now in worldly possessions he has accumulated in Wyoming and he may therefore be truly called a production of the state as well as a developer of her industries and natural resources. He was born in far away New Hampshire, the son of Stephen and Caroline (Thompson) Hersey, natives of Massachusetts. He grew to manhood and was educated in his native state, living on the old homestead and assisting in its health giving but unremunerative toil, until he was twenty years old. In 1879 he came to Colorado and went to work in a mill and after two years of this occupation removed to Johnson county, Wyo., settling on the Brace ranch. He also took up land in company with Fred Hanchett. In 1886 he sold out to the 4 H Ranch Company and then bought an interest in the enterprise. He was interested with this outfit ten years when it sold out and in 1887 Mr. Hersey bought a ranch on Rock Creek which he still owns, in 1887 settling on the ranch which is now his home, which consists of 2,200 acres of land under deed and 8,000 acres of leased premises. On this wide expanse of territory he has large herds of fine cattle, the most of his output being high-grade Herefords. In all matters of benefit and utility to the section in which he lives Mr. Hersey takes an earnest interest. He is treasurer and one of the leading stockholders of the Clouds Peak Reservoir Co., and has given much time and energy to its development and the proper application of its benefits. In 1891, at Butler, Mo., he was married with Miss Georgia Basma, a native of Michigan. They have one child, their daughter Myrtle. Their home is one of the pleasant resorts of the neighborhood, where their friends always find a hearty welcome and a generous hospitality and where the stranger can confidently enter an open door and find pleasant entertainment.

RICHARD M. KENNEDY
A contributor in a leading way to the progress of the various communities in which he has lived, always interested in the general welfare and progress of his county and state, it is eminently fit that Richard M. Kennedy, of Johnson county, Wyoming, should now be the conservator of the peace, government and dignity of the state, which as sheriff he upholds with a firm hand and a judicious exercise of his official powers. He was born in New York state on September 3, 1848, the son of Michael and Mary (Burke) Kennedy, who left their native Ireland early in life for the greater freedom, larger opportunity and more agreeable political conditions of the United States, were married in this country, and after spending a few years near the Atlantic seaboard came west to Iowa in 1854. when their son Richard was six years old. Here he grew to manhood, attended school and from time to time assisted his father in his carpentry and building operations. In 1872 he made a trip to New Orleans, but soon sought again the Northwest, coming to Montana. The next year he located in Johnson county. Wyo., and began operations as a contractor and a dealer in timber. From 1882 to 1884 he served as deputy sheriff, during the next five years was an extensive dealer in real-estate, while in 1889 he was again appointed deputy sheriff and, after serving two years, went to Portland, Ore., and passed the next two years dealing in real-estate in that city. He then again came to Johnson county, where he has since resided. In 1897 he was made one of the custodians of the U. S. forest reserve, and in 1900 was elected sheriff of the county as a Republican. He was reelected in 1902 and has since been adding to the excellent record in his official duties which he had previously made. He has been successful in business and owns valuable real-estate in city property and farm lands. He is also interested in mines of value and has very promising holdings in the Wyoming oil fields. In 1881 he was married to Miss Fannie Stroder, a native of Missouri, but at the time a resident of Buffalo, Wyo. Both have hosts of friends and their home is a popular resort for them, being a center of gracious and refined hospitality and of intellectual and social intercourse.
 
EMMA MIEKE

Mrs. Meike and Red Cloud
A story told by Burt Griggs on KBBS radio March 6, 1954.
"Mrs. Meike was raised at Chadron, Nebraska, which is at the edge of the Pine Ridge Indian Agency. Red cloud who was the chief warrior of the Kearny (Fetterman) Massacre, spent his days there. Where he lived there at the agency was only about four miles from where Mrs. Meike was raised. She knew him as well as her own father. He called her his 'little girl.' Red Cloud was very fond of her, and he would drive by with his wagon and load her in and haul her to Rushville or Chadron, so she knew him very well. He made an Indian pipe, which he gave her along with a beaded tobacco sack. He carved the pipe out of a piece of willow and carved a rattlesnake all up and down the side of it. It had a clay bowl, and he burned a hole with a hot wire. He wrote her a note with his Indian sign at the top of the page, and it said, 'From your scout, Mahataloota.' He signed it and underneath it said, 'Red Cloud.' She give me that pipe and the tobacco sack and his note. "
Photo of Janet Smith, Helen Meike Hutton and Emma Meike
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FRANK L. SENFF
"Not honored less than he who heirs is he who founds a line." This sentiment from our American Quaker poet applies aptly to Frank L. Senff, one of the pioneers and builders of Johnson county, Wyoming, whose untimely death on July 22, 1892, at the age of fifty-three, in the full maturity of his physical and mental powers, when his influence for good in his community was at its height, caused universal regret. He was a native of Germany, born on November 19, 1839, and there he grew to manhood, received his education and learned his trade as a cutler. When he was twenty-four years old, feeling cramped by the crowded condition of labor and the obstacles to aspiration in the Fatherland, and harkening to the voice of the New World offering each workman what his special craft demands, each brain a ready market for its wares, he embarked his hopes in the venture and came to the United States, landing at Philadelphia and there living and working at his trade for a period of five years. At the end of that time he removed to Chicago and in that city started an enterprise in cutlery on his own account, which he conducted on an expanding scale for fourteen years, then sold to seek a home in the farther West. This business is still in vigorous progress and all the industries with which he was connected in the state of his last adoption are flourishing and healthy. When he came to northern Wyoming, in 1882. he stopped at Pine Bluffs, near Cheyenne, long enough to get together and fit up wagons for the transportation of himself and his belongings across the territory, and, arriving in April of that year, on the banks of Little Piney Creek, he took up a ranch near the mountains. But, soon after, not liking the location, he purchased the rights which had accrued in the ranch he now occupies and used his right of preemption in connection therewith and thus secured a desirable home, which he continued to occupy until his death. The ranch is on Big Piney Creek, fourteen miles north of Buffalo, well located, highly improved, made very productive by skillful cultivation, and has an enviable name throughout all the countryside for its genuine and generous hospitality. The next year . after his arrival his family joined him, and they inaugurated an industry in cattle raising which is still in prosperous and progressive activity and has grown to great dimensions. The ranch consists of 720 acres of deeded land and has attached a large acreage of leased land. It is now under the direct supervision of Mr. Scuffs widow, who has carried on its work successfully and skillfully since his death, continuing, in her way and as far as she can, the public spirit and interest in every good enterprise for the advancement of the county which distinguished her honored husband and made him one of the most esteemed, as he was one of the earliest and most useful, citizens of his portion of the state. On November 20, 1864, in the city of Philadelphia. Pa., Mr. Senff married with Miss Pauline Roesiger, his companion and helpmeet to the close of his life. She was a native of Germany and came to America, when she was quite a young woman, with friends of her family, making her home with her aunt until her marriage. Nine children blessed their union, all of whom are living and prospering in various lines of active usefulness. They are: Frank R.. now engaged in mining at Dawson, Alaska : Arthur, who has a ranch adjoining his mother's; Mildred, now married with J. G. Corslett and living at Sheridan, Wyo; Fred, engaged in the pursuit of ranching,. also in Wyoming: Lena, now a popular teacher in the schools of the state of Washington; Agnes, married to W. F. Sonnamaker, and living on Prairie Dog; Harry. Ernest and Edel. all belonging to the family household. The family are Lutherans in church connection, as was Mr. Senff. He was also a Republican in politics, but, while taking an active interest in the welfare of his party, always sincerely loyal to its principles and policies, he wasn't an office-seeker nor a bigoted partisan. His love for his adopted country was genuine and fervent, and where the interests of his community were concerned he forgot party and every other narrowing affiliation, in his broad and substantial patriotism. The name of this family is a household word throughout its section of the state, standing high in public and private regard wherever known as a synonym for all the best elements of progressive American citizenship.

Edel Senff wedding Piney Creek
The two women in the center front are on left Elizabeth Harrington and right is Pauline Senff and to the right of her in second row I believe is Hepp.  Photo is about 1890-1900

JOHN R. SMITH
A pioneer of Wyoming, settling within her wild and unbroken domain in 1866 when the adventurous foot of the white man was first invading it, John R. Smith, one of the leading stockmen and farmers and an influential and productive force in public local affairs in Johnson county, has seen the beginning of the state's history, has watched her progress, has aided in the development of her civil, industrial and commercial institutions and has helped materially to form and build her political and educational institutions. He was born in Belmont county, Ohio, on April 25, 1844, the son of George and Elizabeth (Shoup) Smith, the former a native of Maryland and the latter of Germany. When he was eleven years old he removed with his parents to Wyoming and there lived until 1861, attending school and assisting or. the farm. When the great cloud of the Civil War darkened our land he promptly enlisted in defense of the Union in Co. H, (Morton Rifles) Thirty-fourth Wyoming Regiment, and served four years and seven months, participating in many hard fought battles, even to the very latest struggle, in which he bore a creditable part. He was the color bearer of his regiment, and always in the thick of the fight. He also saw arduous and very trying service against the Indians, and bears upon his body the scars from wounds received on the field. After the close of the war he came to Wyoming, establishing headquarters where the town of Buffalo now stands and conducted a freighting business between Fort Phil Kearney and Fort Smith for a time and later between Sedgwick in Kansas and Denver and Golden in Colorado, thereafter returning to Wyoming and locating at Horseshoe near Fairmount, there engaging in farming and raising stock until the Indians burnt him out, when he went to the mining districts and mined for a short period, then entered the service of the U. S. government carrying dispatches from Camp Stambaugh to Fort Washakie. In this vocation he had many thrilling adventures with the Indians and constantly carried his life in his hands. The savages were hostile, alert and determined; he was vigilant, courageous and resourceful. He triumphed over all their arts, demonstrating the superiority of the trained intellect over natural cunning. In 1876 he joined General Crook's expedition against the savages, coming with this great commander to Wyoming as a scout. He also conducted a settler's store in this campaign and later had a contract to furnish beef for Crook's army. In 1887 he settled where he now lives, locating on the first government land taken up in the neighborhood and digging the first irrigating ditch in this part of the country. From the first he has been actively engaged in raising cattle and horses and improving his land. He now owns 720 acres, admirably adapted to ranching, and here breeds fine Percheron horses, conducting the business with vigor and success. In politics Mr. Smith is an ardent and zealous Democrat, but in local affairs is more of a patriot than a partisan. He was one of the first board of commissioners for Johnson county and helped to organize the new county and his war experience and the associations and recollections belonging to it have made him a loyal and enthusiastic member of the G. A. R. In November, 1870, he married with Miss Agnes D. Delaney, a native of Ireland. They have four children, Alfred M., a prominent stockman of Johnson county; Mary E., Wyoming and George E. All are natives of Wyoming and residents of the state, contributing to its advancement and adorning its citizenship.

LEWIS A. WEBB
A Wyoming pioneer of 1886, in which year he settled in what is now Johnson county, near the present town of Mayoworth, Lewis A. Webb has witnessed the transformation of this section from a wilderness into something like a garden and has contributed his due portion to bringing about the change. He first saw the light of this existence on November 22, 1851, in Louisiana, where his parents, John and Zada A. Webb, were born and reared and were living at the time of his birth. When he was five years old they removed to Texas, and, there, in the course of time they died and were laid to rest. He was reared on a Texas farm, and, following the custom of the country, after he left school, he began the handling of cattle and horses, breeding and raising them for the Eastern markets. In 1886, induced by the prospects of the newer country with its wider and more varied range and less active competition, he came to Wyoming with a drove of horses, and located on Dutch Creek. After selling his horses he entered the employ of a stock company and worked faithfully for the corporation for two years, then bought cattle and again engaged in the stock business for himself, settling on a portion of the land which he now occupies. He now owns 740 acres of land, with about 2,000 head of cattle. He has prospered in his business, owing to his superior judgment and capacity in conducting it, and has become one of the substantial men of the county, having potency in more than one line of commercial and industrial activity, and financial standing of weight and influence. He is a stockholder in the Stock growers Bank of Buffalo, Wyo., and has personal connection with other institutions of enterprise and usefulness. Mr. Webb married, in 1898, in Bighorn county, Wyo., with Miss Jeannette M. Mercer, a native of Oregon. They have two children, Zada M. and Anita. The head of the house is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to Buffalo Lodge, No. 44, and in politics is an ardent working Democrat. He has helped materially to raise the standard of cattle in his part of the state by breeding from thoroughbred Herefords. giving to this line of activity, as he does to every other, the best energies of a mind well trained by experience.