Wyoming Trivia (Renamed) (Casper, Laramie, Sheridan: stations, meat, claim)

[WyoNewk]

Teapot Dome Scandal. It involved bribing the Secretary of the Interior to lease the Naval Reserve field to Sinclair Oil.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by WyoNewk

Teapot Dome Scandal. It involved bribing the Secretary of the Interior to lease the Naval Reserve field to Sinclair Oil.

That is correct. More specifically, Albert B. Fall, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, leased out the oil fields, without competitive bidding; and it was found that Fall later accepted bribes from the owners of the oil companies.

I'm glad to say that could find no indication that any Wyoming citizen was involved in this scandal.

Teapot Dome scandal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In 1921, by executive order of President Harding, control of U.S. Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome in Wyoming and at Elk Hills and Buena Vista in California, were transferred from the U.S. Navy Department to the Department of the Interior. The petroleum reserves had been set aside for the Navy by President Taft. In 1922, Albert B. Fall, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, leased, without competitive bidding, the Teapot Dome fields to Harry F. Sinclair of Sinclair Oil, and the field at Elk Hills, California, to Edward L. Doheny. In 1922 and 1923, these transactions became the subject of a sensational U.S. Senate investigation conducted by Senator Thomas J. Walsh.
It was found that in 1921, Doheny had lent Fall $100,000, interest-free, and that upon Fall's retirement as Secretary of the Interior, in March 1923, Sinclair also lent him a large amount of money. The investigation led to criminal prosecutions.[2] Fall was indicted for conspiracy and for accepting bribes. Convicted of the latter charge, he was sentenced to a year in prison and fined $100,000. In another trial for bribery Doheny and Sinclair were acquitted, although Sinclair was subsequently sentenced to prison for contempt of the Senate and for employing detectives to shadow members of the jury in his case. The oil fields were restored to the U.S. government through a Supreme Court decision in 1927.

[WyoNewk]

Thank you, CptnRn. I recall studying about that in my 4th grade history class -- and the picture of the "teapot". I think there was still a bit more of the spout in the picture then.


Okay, new question. I can't remember it being mentioned in this thread.

"It" is a prominent Wyoming monument, approximately 80 feet across, most likely built by Native American Indians at least two and possibly more than three centuries ago. Its purpose is still a bit of a mystery, but it does point to some astronomical occurrences, such as the locations on the horizon of the sunrise and sunset during summer solstice.

What's it called and where is it?

[ElkHunter]

Would you be wanting the "Medicine Wheel"? It's located 55.4 miles from my cabin.

60 miles West of Sheridan Wyoming and currently not accessible. It's on Highway 14a which is closed for the winter.

Originally Posted by WyoNewk

Thank you, CptnRn. I recall studying about that in my 4th grade history class -- and the picture of the "teapot". I think there was still a bit more of the spout in the picture then.


Okay, new question. I can't remember it being mentioned in this thread.

"It" is a prominent Wyoming monument, approximately 80 feet across, most likely built by Native American Indians at least two and possibly more than three centuries ago. Its purpose is still a bit of a mystery, but it does point to some astronomical occurrences, such as the locations on the horizon of the sunrise and sunset during summer solstice.

What's it called and where is it?

[CptnRn]

The Medicine Wheel is in the Big Horn Mountains, not far from where I grew up. We stopped there to wonder about it several times on our way to the Porcupine Campground a few miles East of the site. The road that goes past the Medicine Wheel, coming from Hwy 14A passes by a radar dome that you can easily see from the highway. It is only one mile from the Medicine Wheel, it interests me that the government decided that same bald mountain top was a great site for a radar dome. I think that was part of the US Early Warning system at one time, maybe still is.

You can see the Medicine Wheel and Radar Dome here in Google maps satellite view: medicine wheel - Google Maps

Northeast of the Medicine Wheel a couple of miles is a large rock outcropping where us kids often found indian beads scattered around the base of the rock outcropping. Lore was that there was an indian princess buried somewhere in the rocks above the area where we found the beads. We would pick up every one we could find each time we visited, but the next time we came back there would be more beads scattered around that one area at the base of the outcropping. We climbed all over that rock out cropping, it was full of deep narrow crevices, we never did find the burial site.

[WyoNewk]

That is it. You guys are fast! I thought of you (ElkHunter) as I was posting it, as I knew you'd be familiar with it. Since EH won the race, I'd say it's his turn to furnish the next question.

Oh, and the location I was looking for was "Medicine Mountain". I've been there, but I didn't remember the mountaintop was named after the wheel.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by ElkHunter

Would you be wanting the "Medicine Wheel"? It's located 55.4 miles from my cabin.

60 miles West of Sheridan Wyoming and currently not accessible. It's on Highway 14a which is closed for the winter.

You truely live in God's country ElkHunter!

That road has been closed every winter for my entire life. I remember when I was a kid, one of the men who worked at the radar dome was friends with my Dad, they were both electricians. The government would send him into live at the radar dome for months at a time, traveling in most of the distance on snowmobiles, as the switchbacks going down into Lovell were always closed, drifted over with 20-30 feet of snow.

[ElkHunter]

In 1861 a Pony Express Rider named Bill Cody claimed he rode from Red Buttes Station to Rocky Ridge Station and back because another rider could not ride his section. It was a distance of 322 miles. He did it in 21 hours and 40 minutes using 21 different horses. How old was Bill Cody when he made this ride and who was the owner of the Pony Express he rode for?

[Claim Jumper]

Bill Cody was 15 years young. William H. Russell, William B. Waddell, and Alexander Majors all owned the pony express. They invested over $700,000 and only made $500,000. Part of the demise was the telegraph

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by Claim Jumper

Bill Cody was 15 years young. William H. Russell, William B. Waddell, and Alexander Majors all owned the pony express. They invested over $700,000 and only made $500,000. Part of the demise was the telegraph

Great job. You got it. The pony express only lasted about a year and a half going bankrupt. (actually, my data shows him to be 14, but if you looked at his date of birth and then when he made the ride it could be 14 or 15).

Your turn.