CHEYENNE.
Location of Cheyenne.--Founding of the City.--Lawlessness.--
Vigilance Committee.--Woman Suffrage.--Rapid Increase of
Population and Business.--A Reaction.--Stock Raising.--
Irrigation.--Mineral Resources.--Present Prospects.
Cheyenne is the half-way house, on the Union Pacific Railroad, between
the civilization of the East and that of the West. It is situated on
Crow Creek, a branch of the South Platte River, just at the foot of the
Rocky Mountains. A few miles away to the westward the ascent of the
Black Hills begins, the road ascending over the rugged granite hills,
and winding in and out of miles of snow sheds. It is five hundred and
sixteen miles from Omaha, and has an elevation of more than six thousand
feet above the sea, being one thousand more than Denver, and with an
atmosphere proportionately rarer and dryer.
The city is a child of the Pacific Railroad, being, during the building
of that road, its winter terminus. When it was found that Cheyenne was
probably to become an important railroad point, there was a grand influx
of roughs, of all classes and of both sexes, to the spot. Habitations
sprang up as if by magic, and were of the rudest construction, some of
them being mere dug-outs in the sand hills. Town lots ran up to fabulous
prices. The first city government was organized in August, 1867, and the
first newspaper, the _Cheyenne Leader_, published on the nineteenth day
of the following month. On the thirtieth of November, 1867, the track
layers reached the city limits, and were greeted by music and a grand
demonstration on the part of the people. The first passenger train
arrived the next day.
In the winter of 1868 Cheyenne contained not less than six thousand
inhabitants. Lawlessness was the order of the day, and gambling,
drinking and shooting were the favorite recreations. Knock-downs and
robberies were matters of course, and murders of too frequent occurrence
to cause special excitement. During these early days of its history the
young city acquired two names, both of which were exceedingly
suggestive, not to say appropriate. Its rapid growth fastened upon it
the name of "Magic City of the Plains;" the desperate character of its
inhabitants, that of "Hell on Wheels."
When the city was but six months old, the patience of the order-loving
people was tried beyond endurance. A Vigilance Committee was formed, and
justice came swift and sure, without the intervening and delaying
processes of the law. Its first public demonstration occurred in the
following manner. Three men had been arrested on January tenth, 1868,
charged with stealing $900, and put under bonds to appear at court. On
the morning of the day after their arrest they were found on Eddy
street, walking abreast and tied together, with a placard attached to
them, bearing the following inscription, in conspicuous lettering: "$900
stole; $500 returned; thieves, F. S. Clair, W. Grier, E. D. Brownville.
City authorities, please not interfere until 10 o'clock A. M. Next case
goes up a tree. Beware of Vigilance Committee." During that year no less
than twelve desperadoes were hung and shot, and five sent to the
penitentiary, through the agency of the Vigilance Committee. The
condition of affairs was at once materially improved.
In 1871 the Territorial Legislature passed a bill giving universal
suffrage, without distinction of sex. The ladies at once made use of
their newly-acquired political right, with an earnestness and
universality entirely unexpected by those who had conferred its exercise
upon them. In their capacity as grand jurors, they closed every gambling
saloon and brothel in the city, put restrictions upon the liquor
traffic, brought criminals to justice who had heretofore defied the law,
and, in brief, made a clean sweep of the city, raising its social and
moral standard. Women of all classes voted, and, strange to say, even
the worst women voted for law and order. Political parties found it
necessary to put up men with a good moral record, as well as those
politically sound, for the women would not vote for a bad man. All
classes recognized the good results of woman suffrage, and all
opposition to it was speedily overcome.
Cheyenne is now one of the best governed and most orderly cities in the
country; and every Governor of the Territory, whatever his political
complexion, has given his unqualified testimony in favor of women at the
polls. Women not only deposit their ballots unmolested, but are treated
with the utmost courtesy, and the polling places are made comfortable,
and even elegant, for their reception. It is no uncommon thing for
husband and wife to vote opposing tickets, but no divisions or even
disturbances in families have resulted, thus far.
On the first of July, 1867, there was but one house in Cheyenne,
standing on what is now Eddy street, between Sixteenth and Seventeenth
streets, built of logs, smoothly plastered outside and in, and owned by
Judge J. R. Whitehead. Six months thereafter there were no less than
three thousand houses in the city. The first lots were offered for sale
in July, 1867, at one hundred and fifty dollars. Thirty days afterward
they sold at one thousand dollars each, and in two or three months later
for two thousand five hundred and three thousand dollars. Stores were
erected with marvelous rapidity, in its early history, a good-sized and
comparatively substantial warehouse being put up in forty-eight hours.
The business of the first six months was enormous, single houses making
sales of from ten thousand to thirty thousand dollars per month. In two
months after the Post-Office was established, it averaged twenty-six
hundred letters a day.
As the railroad progressed westward across the mountains, and finally
reached the Pacific, Cheyenne suffered a reaction from its sudden and
wonderful prosperity. The road took much of its business with it, and
the town fell dead. But the discovery of gold in the Black Hills gave a
fresh impetus to its business interests. It is also located in the midst
of a great stock-raising region, and is surrounded by ranches of
stock-men engaged in raising cattle, horses and sheep for market. The
cattle and horses find sustenance the year round in the native grasses,
and Cheyenne is the natural centre and trading post of these ranch-men.
Each year the business increases, and the shipments from the city become
larger. Wool is becoming an important export, being produced in great
quantities on the large sheep farms.
The railroad has constructed extensive machine and repair shops at
Cheyenne, which furnish employment for a large number of workmen. The
rickety structures of its early days are fast giving place to
substantial brick buildings. There is a fine Court House and Jail, a
City Hall, Opera House, and several Public School buildings. In
proportion to its population, Cheyenne has now more substantial and
handsome business houses than any other western city.
Stock raising is the only agricultural pursuit for which Wyoming is
adapted. The soil about Cheyenne is barren, and in no way suited for
farming purposes. The rainfall during the year is very slight, and it
has been found necessary to resort to irrigation. Therefore, ditches run
through the streets, supplying water for the gardens throughout the
city, and, by means of this irrigation, what was once a desert is
becoming green with trees and shrubbery.
The mineral resources of Wyoming are very rich. Silver and gold are both
found in the ranges of hills and mountains to the north and west. Moss
agates, opals, topaz, garnets, amethysts, onyx and jasper have all been
found in the immediate neighborhood of Cheyenne, and some of the
specimens are exceedingly beautiful.
The high elevation of the city gives it a delightful climate. The
winters are mild, and the summers free from excessive heat.
Cheyenne has a special niche in my memory, since, in making my horseback
journey from the Atlantic to the Pacific, in 1876, it was the last place
at which I dined before entering the Black Hills and falling into the
hands of the treacherous Arrapahoes.
The rapid growth which Cheyenne made at the beginning of her existence,
and the feverish activity of her business enterprises, have given place
long since to a slower but more healthy life and development. Her trade
interests are being placed on a firmer foundation, and when the
resources of the surrounding country are utilized to the fullest
advantage of the city, its prosperity will be assured.