the lovell chronicle population of 5,000 people. · citizen, named the paper the lovell chronicle,...

Among the very oldest continuously-operating busi-nesses in Lovell is our news-paper, the Lovell Chronicle, founded in 1906 as the town was incorporated. Our history is intertwined with the his-tory of our community, which is fitting, since a newspaper’s job is, literally, to chronicle the events of a community.

We are celebrating the Chronicle’s 100th birthday with this special edition.

While other newspapers in the Big Horn Basin of Wyo-ming may have been founded earlier than the Lovell Chron-icle, the Chronicle may be the oldest paper to publish under the same, continuous name.

The Chronicle had its humble beginnings in May of 1906 when H.S. Jolley per-suaded a relative – J.P. May – to move to Lovell and estab-lish a newspaper.

May, newspaper edi-tor, band leader and active citizen, named the paper the Lovell Chronicle, a name it has retained.

Machinery to print the paper was hauled to town from Bridger, Mont., by wag-on. Housed in a small build-ing along the old main area of town, the paper was published in what was later to become the office for the Lovell Clay Products Co. The newspaper plant soon moved, though, when other businesses began to move further south into town.

May sold the Chronicle to W.M. Jones two years later, in 1908, but Jones didn’t last long as editor.

At the request of mem-bers of the Lovell Commer-

cial Club, Jones left town one night, putting the newspaper in the hands of the club. Of course, to retain legal status, the paper had to be published each week. This meant that Mac Cline and a few others had to get the paper out with little or no help from experi-enced printers.

Relief was found – and none too soon – when Reyn Leedom, an energetic editor and printer from Nebraska, took over management of the plant. Under his ownership, the plant gained new and better machinery, including a Linotype, one of the most important parts of a modern printing plant of the time.

With the building of fac-tories in Lovell, the Chronicle enlarged to properly represent the town. Special editions were issued in 1917 to cele-brate the construction of the sugar factory and again in 1920 when returning service-men from World War I pub-lished a cooperative project.

The paper was active in promoting the glass factory, the brick and tile plant and all civic improvements. In later years, before Leedom left the town, he placed a great deal of effort behind the building of the road over the Big Horn Mountains, and one sharp turn was called “Lee-dom’s Loop.”

In 1926, E.O. (Ted) Hun-tington moved to Lovell from Cody, after having lived in the lower Shoshone River Valley from 1908 to 1915 as a boy. Ted started in the newspaper business working for Ernest Shaw and L.L. Newton of the Cody Enterprise with Caro-

line Lockhart. He sold his interest in the paper and pur-chased the Lovell Chronicle.

Before Huntington had even published the paper for four years, the plant was de-stroyed by fire in June 1930. The building on the east side of Nevada Avenue just north of Main Street was a complete loss. This incident, coming at the beginning of the Depres-sion, might have discouraged anyone from trying to make a comeback. But as Huntington put it, “The response from the community was so prompt and sincere, it gave us the neces-sary spirit to start anew.”

While replacing equip-ment and becoming settled in the building on Main Street, where the paper is current-ly published, the paper was printed in Basin with the as-sistance of P.P. Anderson. The Chronicle was printed in the present location for the first time on July 31, 1930.

Ted Huntington was fa-tally injured in a car accident near Lander on December 6, 1954, and publication of the Chronicle then became the re-sponsibility of his wife, Fran-cine, and his son, Burt. On Oc-tober 1, 1955, Burt purchased the paper from his mother.

In 1958, the Chronicle became a tabloid and soon be-came Wyoming’s first weekly paper to use the new offset technology. On January 21, 1960, Huntington started a distinctive tradition that was to last for years, when the front page of the Chronicle featured a full-page photo. The newspaper also had a tra-dition of printing a full-page, full-process color photo on Easter. The front page photo was reduced somewhat later that year (1960) when the pa-per adopted a covered wagon pioneer setting for its flag, with the large photo below.

During part of Burt Hun-tington’s time as publisher, the Chronicle was published only 51 weeks a year, be-cause the Huntington family liked to take a vacation dur-ing the week following Christ-mas and did not publish a pa-per that week. Because Burt Huntington was a pilot, there were frequent aerial photos used in the paper, and on May 9, 1963, Huntington convert-ed the newspaper’s flag to an aerial photo of the town.

Burt and Louise Hunting-ton published the Chronicle until the end of 1970, when they sold the paper to Roy and Bob Peck of Riverton and Ron Lytle, who took over as pub-lisher January 1, 1971, mov-ing to Lovell from Riverton. According to Bob Peck, the

Huntingtons were planning to get out of publishing at the time, but they soon found themselves in Red Lodge, Mont., where they published the Carbon County News.

Lytle switched the Chron-icle format from a tabloid to a broadsheet in March of 1971, and it has retained that for-mat ever since, moving to the standard advertising unit six-column layout in the early 1980s. For two years, Lytle ran a flag bearing a rose to reflect Lovell’s noted “Rose Town of Wyoming” name. Then on March 1, 1973, Lytle instituted the distinctive wild mustang flag that was been the trademark of the newspa-per ever since.

Under Lytle, the Chron-icle was named the top small weekly newspaper in the country in the National Newspaper Association Bet-ter Newspaper Contest in 1974.

Lytle published the Chronicle until 1975, when he and his wife Katy moved north to Hardin, Mont., to publish the Hardin Herald. Pat Schmidt, another product of the Peck papers, took over as publisher, printing his first issue July 24, 1975. In the early 1970s, Schmidt recalls, a person could walk right into the unlocked Chronicle office and find no one there. Every-one was next door at coffee, but there was little worry about theft.

Like the Huntingtons and Lytles before them, Pat and Emily Schmidt were very ac-tive members of the communi-ty during their time with the Chronicle. Under Schmidt, the office was remodeled, and a new Compugraphic Edit-writer video display terminal and word processing system was installed. The newspa-per continued to be an award winner.

In July of 1984, Schmidt moved south to Thermopolis, where he took over as pub-lisher of the Thermopolis In-dependent Record.

Taking Schmidt’s place at the helm was current pub-lisher David Peck, son of the late state senator and co-pub-lisher of the Riverton Ranger, Roy Peck, and the nephew and cousin, respectively, of current Ranger co-publishers, Bob Peck and Steven Peck. David Peck also moved into publishing out of the ranks of the Riverton Ranger, pub-lishing his first Chronicle issue July 19, 1984. Peck and his wife Susan lived in the “Lovell newspaperman’s home,” the same house owned by both the Lytle and Schmidt

families before them at 10 Wyoming Street.

Schmidt served as presi-dent of the Wyoming Press Association in 1986, Peck in 1993.

Publishing the Chronicle was mostly a family affair un-der the Huntingtons, and it is difficult to assemble a list of reporters/news editors from that era because bylines were not used, except for commu-nity correspondents. William Schweinler was listed as as-sistant editor in the early 1960s. Jeane Wagner later worked for several years as a reporter into the early 1970s.

Reporters/news editors since 1970 have also includ-ed Wagner, Tracy Thompson (1974), Yvonne Harvey (1975), Mark Kitchen (1975-77), Sal-ly Straka (1977-78), Wyoma Haskins (1978), Bruce Moats (1978-84), Scott Stackpole (1984-86), Lori Mulley (1986-87) and J.D. Mach (1987-90). Gib Fisher of Cowley also filled in at the paper in 1987 and ’88.

Karla Schweighart Pome-roy had the longest run as a Chronicle reporter. She was hired in June of 1990 as a reporter/news editor. She was named editor in the fall of 1999 and continued in that role until moving to Laramie on March 31, 2006, with husband Alan. Connie Bur-cham was hired as the new reporter/news editor in April.

In the summer of 1988, desktop publishing came to Lovell when the Chronicle went in with the Powell Tri-bune and Thermopolis Inde-pendent Record to purchase an Apple Macintosh comput-er and laser printer system, which greatly streamlined the Chronicle’s operation.

The paper continued to modernize, first scanning neg-atives in the late 1990s, then abandoning the wet darkroom and moving into a fully digital photography department by early 2004. Production grad-ually shifted to full pagina-tion under the leadership of production manager Pat Par-mer, and the Chronicle joined with the Powell Tribune to purchase Imagesetters (mov-ing pages from computer to page negatives) and further streamline the operation in 2002. The digital camera work, computer pagination and the Imagesetters have allowed the Chronicle to run more and more color photo-graphs in recent years.

One of the benefits of working at the Lovell Chron-icle is the view one sees by stepping out the front door. The Big Horn Mountains, with their snow-capped peaks and rugged canyons, loom to the east seemingly a stone’s throw from the end of Main Street. Schmidt called it the best “newspaper office view” in Wyoming.

The following is a combi-nation of stories from the in-augural edition of The Lovell Chronicle on May 31, 1906, and the Chronicle’s 40th an-niversary edition published May 23, 1946. We bring them to you as written, complete with language that might not be considered to be politically correct in 2006.

Killings and shootings were not uncommon and we expect this paper was not unusual in that respect. The style and wording of those days is retained as far as pos-sible. There have been con-siderable improvement in the quality and type used.

A SAD AFFAIR.– – – –

One Man Killed, Another Injured. Drunken Italian

With a Knife Cause of Trouble.

Lovell, Wyo., May 31, 1906—Saturday night at about ten o’clock one of the worst and saddest affairs took place at the Strong room-ing House. The trouble first started through the imbibing of too much intoxicants by some Italians who dropped in that afternoon from the grad-ing camps. A spirit of fight seemed to possess the whole crowd. One large, burly fellow

showed signs of fight earlier in the evening but it was thought nothing would result.

Shortly before the shoot-ing, Tom Callahan had rented a room and when he went to bed the large Italian occupied it. Callahan went into the saloon to see what could be done. Wesley Britton, who had charge of the rooms, went with Callahan to oust the foreigner who refused to leave and drew a knife, chasing both men out after a brief scuffle. Britton went back into the saloon and procured a six shooter. Just as he entered the rear door, gun in hand, the Italian made a rush for him, and was about six feet from his intended vic-tim when Britton fired, strik-ing the would be assassin in the left arm and the shot glanced off, striking Callahan, who was in the doorway of the next room. The bullet made an ugly wound, penetrating the cavity of the abdomen.

The Italian was not badly hurt while the innocent man had received a mortal wound. Callahan was immediately cared for by Dr. Clymer, but it was evident that he could not live long. He died twenty-two hours later. Justice J. O. Ev-erett empaneled a jury, con-sisting of N. D. Bischoff, M. D. Harris and R. C. May, who returned a verdict releasing Britton. Mssrs, Kelsie, Dun-bar, Deputy Sheriff Young, Dr. Clymer and Britton being called as witnesses.

A search of the dead man’s clothes revealed nothing as to his former home, relatives or associates. Fifty-nine dollars and thirty cents was found in his purse which with a few personal articles was turned over to the county authorities. The burial took place Monday afternoon.

The evidence showed that when he was shot he said “it’s all a mistake boys, he shot the wrong man.” Efforts were be-ing made to obtain some clue regarding his relatives but all he would say was that he had a brother and an uncle in this country but knew nothing of their whereabouts, and that he came from Ireland. Shortly before he died he again stated that they should not blame Britton.

The only mistake Britton made was in not going after an officer, yet most men would have done the same under the circumstances. When an Ital-ian is after a man with a long knife, there are not many who would not get a gun if possible and when confronted again with the knife, shoot.

– – – –

The Right Man.Lovell, Wyo., May 31,

1906—Lovell is fortunate in having a man resident here who is competent in every way to act as deputy sheriff – a man who is of known worth when there is danger and who

does not flinch when he is sur-prised or throw up his hands for any man.

C. H. Young, commonly known as “Clab” Young, is a true western frontiersman, having served Uncle Sam during the Indian troubles in Montana and spent some time with “Buffalo Bill” and simi-lar western characters. A few years ago he was one of Col. Cody’s rough riders and is well known among “Old Timers” in northern Wyoming and south-ern Montana.

“Clab” is one of those who well knows his ability with a gun and always relies on his aim. One of the typical range men, he has spent many a hard earned dollar in ammu-nition and bought a sample of each new pattern of gun as in-ventions progressed from the “Cap and Ball” to the “Brown-ing Automatic.”

While the country is sparsely settled and during the time hundreds of men of all classes are employed on the railroad, passing through every day, he is the right man in the right place.

– – – –

Register At Sheridan.

Lovell, Wyo., May 31, 1906—May 24th Commission-er of the General Land Office Richards has appointed Sheri-dan as a registration station

for the Crow reservation open-ing in Montana.

This is good news for Wyo-ming in general and Big Horn and Sheridan counties in par-ticular. It is but a few miles from this part of the state and no doubt many people in this section will take a chance. Sheridan is a good town and able to take care of all who come, while the military post is near at hand to give perfect protection during the rush. Sheridan is fortunate and we venture to say the wide-awake men of that city will do justice to the honor.

– – – –

Early Doctor

Dr. E. W. Croft, who es-tablished a record as a family doctor for the lower Shoshone valley. He was president of the

Big Horn Stake for 18 years and established a medical re-cord of assisting with the birth of 3,000 babies.

– – – –

OPPORTUNITIES.– – – –

Many Chances for Various Business

Houses

Lovell, Wyo., May 31, 1906—Lovell needs several new enterprises. Among the most urgent and most need-ed are two or three that must come very soon or some local persons will set up amateur establishments in order to meet demands.

A good jeweler would find ample employment and an op-portunity to build up a pros-perous business.

There is room here for a dentist and he will find all the work he can handle.

In a country supporting a population of three thousand people, there is not a photog-rapher. Occasionally a travel-ing amateur comes along but even these individuals are scarce.

Lovell is the trading cen-ter for a large scope of coun-try, and the development of its resources had barely begun. Where there is now one per-son there must soon be ten. No farm is yet fully developed while industries have but

Continued on page 8

A REPUBLICAN WEEKLY ISSUED THURSDAYS AND DEDICATED TO SERVING THE PEOPLE WITH ALL THE NEWS FIT TO BE PRINTED.

LOVELL IS THE TRADING CENTER OF A GREAT AGRICULTURAL AND INDUSTRIAL SECTION WITH A POPULATION OF 5,000 PEOPLE.The Lovell Chronicle

CENTENNIAL EDITION LOVELL, BIG HORN COUNTY, WYOMING, THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 2006 CHRONICLE, NUMBER 2

Innovation, perseverance marks Chronicle history through 100 years of publication

1906 to 1946 – recalling the first Chronicle edition

COURTESY PHOTO FROM JEANNE HAMER

E.O. “Ted” Huntington is pictured in his Chronicle office in the early 1950s. Ted ran the newspaper from 1926 until his death in 1954.


The Lovell Chronicle crew is hard at work in this 1958 photograph, including Louise Huntington (standing in the middle).

The Lovell Chronicle Centennial, June 1, 2006, page 2

Editor’s note: From 1926 through 1970, the Lovell Chronicle was owned and operated by the Huntington family, first Ted and Francine Huntington and later Burt and Louise Huntington. Ted and Francine’s daughter Jeanne Marie Huntington Hamer has been working on a family history and wrote this history of the family’s involvement in the newspaper industry and their life in north Big Horn County.

By Jeanne Huntington HamerEdward Olney Huntington was born

at Dayton, Wyo. January 23, 1900. He was called Teddy as a child, then Ted or E.O. Huntington later in life. In his early years, he attended schools in Jamestown, Kan., then at a one-room schoolhouse on Crooked Creek, northeast of Lovell. When the family moved to a ranch in the Southfork area west of Cody, he worked at the local Cody newspaper to pay for room and board while attending high school. He graduated from Cody High School and worked for his father as a guide for hunters through the Thorofare and Jackson Hole areas.

He spent one winter trapping in the Thorofare country, and in 1920 he rode his motorcycle to Laramie to attend the University of Wyoming. Ted often expressed that obtaining an education was extremely important, and he worked for the Union Pacific Railroad at the roundhouse in Laramie to pay his tuition, room and board. He worked, sometimes at night, and attended classes for two years before he found this rigorous schedule impossible to maintain and returned to Cody.

In August of 1923, Ted and his friend Charlie McEachron constructed a boat to take a trip down the Big Horn River from Basin to the Barry Ranch in the Big Horn Canyon. This was considered a very daring feat, as others who had attempted the trip had lost their lives. An article which appeared in the Basin Republican Rustler and was reprinted in The Lovell Chronicle many years later gives a humorous version of this dangerous adventure.

Ted and Charlie McEachron both worked at newspapers for L.L. Newton and Ernest Shaw at the Basin Republican Rustler and the Cody Enterprise. Ted became part owner of the Cody Enterprise and in 1926 he sold his interest and bought the Lovell Chronicle from A.R. Leedom. He was the editor and publisher of the Chronicle until his death.

Ted lived with the George Sherwin family on Main Street in Lovell. His sister Mildred Huntington was married to the Sherwins’ son Wylie, and when she became ill with tuberculosis, she came to stay with the Sherwins to avoid transmitting the disease to her children. Ted frequently called the Wylie Sherwin family at Wapiti with reports of Mildred’s condition, and the telephone operator who put through the calls for him was Francine Clavier. They became acquainted, and a romance bloomed. Francine’s family had moved to Lovell from Salem, W.Va., in 1925. Francine’s father Samuel Clavier, a glass blower, was the president of the Salem Window Glass Company Co-operative that purchased the glass factory in Lovell.

Ted and Francine were married September 4, 1927, in the Cody Presbyterian Church. It was a small wedding with family in attendance. Photographs of that occasion indicate that there was a family party following the wedding at the home of Ted’s father, Cecil Huntington, who lived on the Northfork. Ted and Francine lived in an apartment house near the Sherwin home in Lovell. They later purchased a home on Montana Avenue in Lovell. On September 10, 1929, a son, Burton Edward, was born in this house.

According to an article in the book LOVELL, Our Pioneer Heritage, by Rosa Vida Bischoff Black, published in 1984, the newspaper plant was destroyed by fire June 30, 1930. She explains:

“In June 1930, before Ted Huntington had completed four years editing The Chronicle, the plant was destroyed by fire, a complete loss. This happened in the beginning of the Great Depression and might have proved fatal to the paper’s life because of the economy at that time, but Huntington stated: “The response from the community was so prompt and sincere, it gave us the necessary spirit to start anew.” While replacing the equipment and getting settled in a building, the paper was printed in Basin with the assistance of P.P. Anderson. The Chronicle was printed for the first time in the present plant July 31, 1930, and has been published every Thursday from the present location.”

There was some panic during the fire when someone saw Burt’s baby buggy inside the newspaper office, but it was soon discovered that he was safe with his mother. Ted often mentioned that without the help of the bank in Lovell and the support of the business community, he could not have continued in business.

A daughter, Jeanne Marie, was one of the first babies born at the Lovell Hospital March 1, 1933. As business was often slow during the Depression, Ted had time to spend with his family, and they often enjoyed camping/fishing outings to Yellowstone Park and the Sunlight Basin in the summer, plus skating, sledding and skiing in the winter. During the ‘30s Ted continued to help his father and brothers with the family outfitting business when time allowed. He and a friend purchased a movie camera, and he took many movies of area skiing and wildlife pictures while hunting and guiding. He edited these films with titles to show friends and groups in the area. His wildlife movies became a popular program for community organizations.

In August of 1938, Ted purchased the Cowley Progress from Milford Vaterloss, and from comments in his diary, he was not sure how long he would find it economically feasible to publish it. He continued the Progress for about 10 years. The last issue was published December 31, 1948. Ted also mentioned The Messenger in his diary. Most likely this was a flier put out by the publisher of the Cowley paper.

Active in the community, Ted helped

organize the Lovell Lions Club in 1939, helped with the planning and some of the construction of the Masonic Hall, was past master of the Masonic lodge and past patron of the Order of the Eastern Star, a member of the White Shrine, a member of the Rod and Gun Club and active in the Lovell Commercial Club. He helped organize the Lovell Ski Club, spending much time over a period of years working on building, developing and improving the ski course in the Big Horn Mountains east of Lovell. Active in the county and state Democratic Party, he was selected as a delegate to the state convention in 1940. He also worked for one session of the state legislature in Cheyenne. In 1942, he ran for the Wyoming House of Representatives but was defeated in the General Election. He served on the city council in Lovell from 1946 to 1950.

In September of 1939, Ted and Francine purchased the “Durkin” house at 144 West Main in Lovell. It was next door to the George Sherwin home where Ted had lived when he first moved to town after purchasing the Chronicle. Francine worked at the Chronicle office more often when Burt and Jeanne were attending school and eventually did the bookwork and billing each month. Burt worked more regularly and by the 1940s Jeanne occasionally helped with job work and was a proofreader.

During World War II, some of Ted’s help left to work in the war effort and he had to work long hours to keep up with the work load. Because of the manpower shortage, he noted in his diary that most of the businesses were closed until noon during the beet harvest in 1942, so that people in town could help the farmers get the beets to the sugar factory. Also mentioned during the war years is his service on the board for food rationing. In June of 1943, Ted hired John Yamamoto from the Japanese internment camp at Heart Mountain, near Powell, as a linotype operator. While this could have been controversial because there were so many local boys serving in the Pacific Theater, it did not cause any apparent problems. Ted worked to foster tolerance and during this time wrote editorials on the subject. By this time, most people were aware that most of the Japanese people at Heart Mountain were not aliens, but American citizens, and that many were

born in the United States.As a teenager Burt Huntington became

interested in flying and took flying lessons at the new North Big Horn County Airport. He graduated from Lovell High School in 1947. Active in the Lovell Ski Club, he was awarded a ski scholarship at the University of Wyoming. He enlisted in the U.S. Army, served as a meteorologist at Fort Sill, Okla., and Fort Bliss, in El Paso, Texas. He was honorably discharged in 1951. He returned to the University of Wyoming where he studied journalism.

In August, 1952, he married Louise Burgener in Powell. They moved to Laramie, where Burt continued his studies in journalism and Louise worked as a nurse. They returned to Lovell in 1953, and Burt joined the staff at the Lovell Chronicle. He supported his father’s progressive ideas and made suggestions for modernization at the newspaper.

Periodically Ted purchased new equipment and added a new press in 1952. He purchased a press camera to use for the newspaper, utilizing his continued interest in photography at the Chronicle and with help from Burt built a darkroom in his home.

Burt’s presence at the newspaper office enabled Ted to enjoy more leisure time. At this time both Ted and Francine renewed their interest in golf. They spent several weeks golfing in the Phoenix area in the spring of 1954 and talked of spending part of each year there.

Ted died in an automobile accident Dec. 6, 1954, near Lander. The memorial services were held at the Lovell United Methodist Church on December 14. His ashes were scattered on the Big Horn Mountains by his son Burt from an airplane as he flew over a beautiful remote area that Ted loved.

Ted was highly respected in the Lovell community, by his colleagues in the newspaper business and by local and state political allies and opponents. He was admired for his honesty, integrity and intelligence. Always mindful of the responsibilities that accompanied the “power of the press,” he was never arrogant about that power. He respected other people regardless of their position and felt great empathy for those less fortunate than himself. He was totally committed to the welfare of his family and

community.In 1955, Burt and Louise purchased the

newspaper from Francine Huntington. Burt was active in the community. He served on the Lovell Area Chamber of Commerce board of directors and was the chamber president in 1966. During this time, with John Nickle, he designed and published the first Mustang Guide tourist publication.

He and Louise both obtained pilot’s licenses and owned their own airplane for several years. Burt was an avid sportsman, enjoying fishing and hunting in the area. After continuing her interest in nursing for several years, Louise gave that up and began to help at the Chronicle office, taking over the financial bookwork, billing and eventually some of the production work.

Burt converted the Chronicle to a tabloid format in 1958 and printed with a sheet-fed offset press. Offset printing was a new photographic process. Dave Bonner, the Publisher of the Powell Tribune, later wrote:

“ ‘He absolutely was one of the first to introduce the new technology. He was a mechanical guy. He really understood printing.’ Bonner said Huntington was an excellent photographer and combined that ability with his love for flying and his new offset technology to give his Chronicle readers new and dramatic images of the Big Horn Basin.

On Jan. 21, 1960, Huntington started a distinctive tradition that was to last for years when the front page of the Chronicle featured a dramatic, full page photo. He also started a tradition of running a full-page, full-process color photograph on the front page at Easter.”

In February 1963, Burt was invited with other Wyoming newspaper publishers and editors to meet with President John Kennedy to discuss Wyoming concerns. They had lunch with the president at the White House.

In May 1963, Burt converted the newspaper’s flag to an aerial photo of the town. He continued to use the offset process to add more photographs to the paper. In 1969, Burt and Louise adopted a son, Ted Huntington. Later, Bob Peck, a newspaper publisher and friend from Riverton, wrote: “Burt and Louise raised their baby (Ted) in a playpen next to a Linotype machine.” This may have been the case part of the time, but Burt’s mother Francine helped with child care most of the time.

At the end of 1970, Burt and Louise sold the Lovell Chronicle to Roy and Bob Peck of Riverton, and Ron Lytle took over as publisher Jan. 1, 1971. The Lovell Chamber of Commerce honored Burt and Louise at a luncheon meeting that same month. In tribute to the Huntingtons, C.E. Roche reviewed some of the community projects in which they had been active, particularly during Burt’s term as president in 1965-66. It was during this time, Roche reminded members, that the wild horse controversy erupted, which resulted in the establishment of the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range. It was also during that period that Lovell sponsored a float in the Portland Rose Festival, which was awarded the Governor’s Trophy. As president, Burt was also instrumental in providing the town with new promotional brochures which were widely distributed for several years. “We have had the complete cooperation of the Chronicle for publicizing community activities,” Roche said in closing. “Burt has been the conscience of the community and we’re going to miss that conscience.”

Bob Peck later recalled that Burt was planning to get out of publishing when he sold the Chronicle, but about the time they bought the Chronicle, the Pecks, with Bonner, also bought the Carbon County News in Red Lodge. They asked Burt if he would help run the paper, and he agreed.

Burt continued his involvement in Lovell. In 1973, he joined John Nickle and Wallace Olds in establishing Lovell Cable TV, the first cable TV system in Lovell. Over the years, he also helped his friends at the Powell and Cody newspapers. Dave Bonner later commented on his generosity: “Not long after the Powell Tribune bought its offset web press in 1976, the paper lost its pressman, and Huntington came down daily from Red Lodge to run the Powell Tribune press for almost a year.”

After many years of crop spraying, Burt gave it up in 1989. He continued to fly for the Montana Game and Fish as a contract pilot. He flew the mountain goat and big horn sheep population surveyors over the Beartooth Mountain Range and in the northwestern area of Yellowstone Park. He retired in 1994. He died in a mid-air collision near Bozeman, Mont., Dec. 7, 1997.

Longtime friend and partner Jim Moore jokingly called Huntington “one of the few democrats allowed to live in northwest Wyoming” but said one could never tell by his writing which side of the aisle he was on, because everyone was fair game. Moore explained that while Burt concentrated on the production end of the newspaper in Red Lodge, he also wrote a well-known column called “Grumblin’ by Palisades Pete.” Moore added that in his column, Huntington directed “a frontal attack on pomposity and hypocrisy, leavened with a good dose of humor. He was, in a way, the conscience of the community with his column. Despite the force with which he wrote, he was a quiet, unassuming guy. There was not a soul who knew him who didn’t like him.” Other friends in Red Lodge described him as an intellectual who was never arrogant, and as a quiet person with a great sense of humor.

Dave Bonner noted that Huntington was often the “alter ego” of Big Horn County politics and had an acerbic bite to his writing, noting, “He was willing to take the other side and keep you on your toes.” He called him the “conscience” and the “prickly pear” of Lovell.

David Peck, editor and publisher of The Lovell Chronicle wrote that: “Burt was remembered locally as a man who wrote with vigor and lived life his way. He was a newspaperman, pilot, community leader and pioneer in two industries.”

Burt had a great zest for all that life had to offer and approached each day with a sense of adventure.

The Lovell Area Chamber of Commerce honored Burt and Louise Huntington at a noon luncheon on December 28, 1970, as they turned the reins of the Chronicle over to Ron Lytle. Pictured are (l-r) master of ceremonies Rocky Roche, Burt Huntington, Chamber president Dee Cozzens, Louise Huntington and Lytle.

Huntington family ran Chronicle for 45 years


Ted Huntington speaks on the telephone in his Chronicle office in November of 1953.


By Jeanne Huntington Hamer

When I look back on my life, I feel that I was fortunate to grow up in Lovell. There were many advantages to be-ing raised in a community that was small but where there were a variety of opportunities available to young people.

I was one of the first babies born in the Lovell Hospital, March 1, 1933, delivered by Dr. Horsley. My parents were E.O. “Ted” and Francine Clavier Huntington. My father was editor and publisher of the Lovell Chronicle. My mother, who moved to Lovell from West Virgina, had worked as a waitress and telephone opera-tor before their marriage. My older brother Burton, called Burt, was born in 1929.

My first memories are of our home on Montana Avenue, where we lived next door to the Threet family and across the street from the McCaffrey home to the east and the Wilcox home to the south. Dr. Croft’s home was north of us. There was a small ditch that ran in front of the houses, and I don’t believe the street was paved.

Marilyn McCaffrey, her older sister Joy, Peggy Wilcox and Marlene Threet were my early playmates. Some of the boys in the neighborhood were Richard Croft, Jay Kocherhans and Ralph Johnson.

As the printing busi-ness was slow during the Depression, my dad often had free time after the paper was published on Thursdays, and I have wonderful memories of camping, fishing and boating in Yellowstone Park, Sunlight and other areas at an early age. Some of the time we were joined by other families. For many years, I thought every family was lucky enough to spend this type of quality time together but eventually learned that it was in large part made possible by the hard times.

In wintertime, many fam-ilies enjoyed skating and sled-ding. Our family enjoyed these activities and was also part of a group that enjoyed skiing on the Big Horn Mountains. My dad and some of his friends put up a rope-tow and a small warming cabin at an area fairly near the road above Five Springs. Some of the families I remember that often skied together were the P.D. Sims family, the Bob Halliwell family and the “Whitey” Moncur family. Margaret Ann Halliwell, Marion Sims and I became friends when our fami-lies spent time together. These families, among others, passed equipment and ski clothes around so that as the children grew, there was usually a pair of boots, a jacket and skis available.

During World War II, the Highway Department stopped plowing Highway 14A, so the skiers drove as far as pos-sible, then walked the rest of the way. In 1939 we moved to 144 Main Street. Dr. Horsley’s family lived across the alley, on Park Avenue, and he later became a well-known expert and promoter of roses. He was responsible for Lovell being called the “Rose City” because of the numerous rose gardens.

The Snyder family lived across the alley on the east corner of the block, and Sylvia Snyder and I spent a lot of time together. The Ross fam-ily moved next door to the west, and Dr. Croft, a dentist, and his family lived across the street from us. Although Leah Ross and JoAnn Croft were a little older, we also became friends.

I remember the elementa-ry school had large staircases where all our classes would sit on the stairs to practice the music for Christmas pro-grams. These programs took several weeks to prepare and were quite elaborate with cos-tumes and solo parts. During the school year, each class had song books and, regardless of the musical ability of the teacher, we sang almost every day. This seemed as much fun as recess to many of us.

Saturdays were usually special days downtown. The families from the country would often take the afternoon off and drive to town. One popular entertainment center in town when I was growing up was the Armada movie theater. I believe it only cost 10 or maybe 12 cents for the Saturday matinee. We enjoyed

watching Hopalong Cassiday, the Lone Ranger and many other western stars in addition to adventure films. My family also enjoyed attending movies on weekdays in the evening, both in Lovell and in Cowley.

Lovell had beautiful Christmas decorations, and most of the stores downtown had special displays in the windows. I remember walking on Main Street in the early winter darkness stopping at each store to admire the deco-rations. We didn’t start “cele-brating” Christmas as early in those days, and many people did their shopping a day or two before Christmas Eve. I re-member the outings to the Big Horns to get a Christmas tree. Burt and I always searched for a tree that had lots of pine cones on it.

Keil’s Grocery was across the street from our house, and in addition to her regular shop-ping there, mother would often send me to get something she had forgotten, or that we had run out of, that she needed in a hurry. I often miss this easy access to food shopping now that neighborhood stores no longer exist. My dad hunted for pheasants and elk every fall, and mother would can the meat for us to eat during the winter months. During WWII, the school district made the school kitchen available to anyone who wanted to use the facility to can large quanti-ties of food in cans instead of jars. My dad was on the Lovell Food Rationing Board, and I remember that many things were rationed, including sug-ar. This seemed strange to me as there was a sugar factory in Lovell. Eventually, a frozen food locker business opened and we stored vegetables and game meat there.

Main Street, with the rows of trees on each side, gave a beautiful “framed” view of the Big Horn Mountains to the east. It was great to live there when the town had pa-rades, as we could watch from our front yard. I believe the biggest parades at that time were on July 4.

When I was in junior high school, Ms. Daisy Booth invited me to sing with the West Ward Chorus, which she directed. As I was not a member of the LDS Church, I was thrilled to have this opportunity. Ms. Booth, who was the Lovell librarian, often rode a bicycle around town, and I don’t know if she owned a car. I believe she was from England, and I remember in later years that if she didn’t approve of a book for teenage girls to read, she would not allow us to check it out at the Library.

I was also invited to join a performing dance group when I was in junior high school. I believe there were 16 boys and 16 girls in this group. Our teacher was very experienced in folk dancing, including Mexican dances and ballroom dancing.

Mr. Erickson was an in-strumental music teacher in the Lovell schools, and I re-member him as a fine musician and teacher. His son Greg was a member of the Torrington Community Chorus that I di-rected many years later.

The young people in the community often swam in the canal that was north of town, but Dr. Horsley and Dr. Croft felt the threat of typhoid was too great, so this activity was stopped. Later, the polio epidemic affected Lovell, and unfortunately there were some young people who contracted the disease.

In the 1940’s, my dad raised Irish Setters and he kept two of them for pheas-ant hunting. One Irish Setter, Duke, became a fixture at the Lovell Chronicle Office. He would walk downtown and sit in front of the office, then walk back home to meet Burt and I when we got home from school in the afternoon.

I sometimes helped at the Chronicle when there were jobs that required collating or other hand work. I remember tying satin bows on invitation cards for one job. My mother was in charge of compiling two different editions of cook books for the Lovell Woman’s Club, and I helped her with that. Sometimes I would hand feed the small press, and often did some proofreading. Some of the businesses in town wanted to pay their bills with “in kind” services. One example of this was the Lovell Laundry. They

did a lot of our laundry for us, and this saved a lot of work for my mother.

My brother Burt played football in high school, and I remember visiting the Japanese Internment Camp at Heart Mountain a few times when they played there. It was startling to see the guard towers and armed guards, and the sight of the barracks was depressing. I did not really understand why the camp was there. When my dad’s Linotype operator left to work in the war effort, he hired Mr. Johnny Yamamoto from the Heart Mountain Camp to work at the Lovell Chronicle on the recommen-dation of a newspaper friend in Cody. Mr. Yamamoto was a very quiet, reserved man, and I remember him as pleasant and very polite. Burt recalled many years later that the Heart Mountain football team always defeated Lovell by a large margin.

When I was in high school, we had a very active youth group called MYF at the Methodist Church. Many of my friends, including classmates Arlene Keller, Janet Wood, Bob Dunmire, Rance Dunmire and Jack Preston were in this group, and we often had visi-tors from other denominations join in our activities.

My mother sang in the Methodist Church choir for many years, and when I was old enough, I also sang with them. I also enjoyed partici-pating in Job’s Daughters at this time, and the friends I made there are too numerous to list. As Marilyn McCaffrey and Margaret Ann Halliwell were the daughters of drug store owners, my friends and I often enjoyed making ice cream concoctions at the soda fountains at the Lovell Drug and Busy Corner on special occasions.

Our high school had a good music program, active drama program, journalism program and strong athletic program. This was in addition to fine teachers in the tradi-tional classes. I particularly liked singing in the chorus, and also played clarinet in the band. I also played the piano in the dance band. I remember one year when the vocal music teacher resigned in the middle of the school year, Mr. Merrill Tew, a talented musician in the community, met with the high school chorus at 7 a.m. before he went to work, and before our classes began. His willingness to help us enabled our group to complete the year and compete at the District Music Festival.

This spirit of helpful-ness in the community was not unusual. The high school band and chorus usually got very high ratings at the music festivals. Arlene Keller and her older sister, Lorece, were friends who were also active in music activities, and Louene Johnson, Wilma Olsen and I had a lot of fun singing in a vocal trio.

When my voice teacher, Eugene Troth, who lived in Cody, stopped coming to Lovell, my parents allowed me to drive to Cody for lessons. Lorece Keller rode with me, and we made the trip once a week. Our drama group not only produced plays locally but competed in the area at one-act drama festivals. I re-member our group getting a top rating prize at a festival at the college in Powell.

We were allowed to dress casually a few times during

the school year, and some of the students would prepare skits to perform for assem-blies. I believe this was the very first time girls had ever worn “jeans” to school. Some of the boys in our class served with the National Guard in Korea and missed our gradu-ation ceremony. Luckily, none of them lost their lives.

My class has had very high attendance at reunions, and enjoy seeing each other so much we are meeting for a 55th reunion instead of wait-ing for the 60th. We are lucky that our classmates who still live in the area are willing to arrange this. Some of my best memories of growing up in Lovell are of my many friends who added so much to my life there. They were an impor-tant part of my life, and I wish there had been room to name all of them.

Growing up in a news-paper family did affect me in some ways. I learned that

accuracy and getting the facts right is of primary impor-tance. My dad often discussed the fact that there is always more than one side to a con-troversial issue. I learned that it is not wise to “jump to con-clusions” from these situations and discussions about them. I developed an appreciation for the value of diverse opinions and to allow people to express themselves. Because working at the newspaper office was often a family effort, I learned the importance of teamwork. Dad felt that sensationalism was an abuse of power, and it made a lasting impression on me to see him agonize over the need to publish a story that involved illegal activities by a friend he respected because the facts were proven in a courtroom. He used his “power of the press” very carefully.

My brother and I were re-quired to finish what we start-ed, which may not have come directly from being raised in a newspaper family, but we were aware dad had to make sacrifices to meet deadlines for job work and publishing the paper. I don’t remember my parents requiring any more of Burt and me than they were willing to do themselves. Their concern and compassion for others set a wonderful example, and we were made aware of the importance of the community as a whole.

Being a good citizen means getting involved and giving back to the community, and again, my parents set an enviable record for their con-tributions in time and effort to the betterment of the com-munity. Dad also talked often about the fact that local, state, national and international af-fairs affect every person, and he was a wonderful example of the term “well informed.” My life was influenced by all these aspects of editing and publishing a newspaper.

Jeanne Marie Huntington Hamer, a fourth-generation mem-ber of an early Wyoming pioneer family, was born March 1, 1933, in Lovell. She attended school in Lovell and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music with honors at the University of Wyoming.

She married Roger Hamer of Torrington at the Lovell United Methodist Church in 1955. They have two children, Michael Hamer and Kathy Hamer-Smith, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Jeanne has been active as a church musician at Episcopal churches in Montana, Minnesota and Torrington, where she direct-ed choirs and served as organist for more than 30 years. She was an instructor of music at Eastern Wyoming College from 1968 to 2000 and served as chairperson of the music department from 1970 to 1992, when she retired from fulltime teaching and was appointed Faculty Emerita. While at EWC she directed the college vocal performing groups, gave private vocal lessons and di-rected the Torrington Community Chorus.

In addition to teaching, Jeanne has been active as a soprano soloist, appearing with orchestras and choruses in Montana, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wyoming.

My recollections of LovellGrowing up in a newspaper family

YEP – WE CAN HANDLE IT …We’ve got our sleeves rolled up–and our plant tuned up– to take care of your every printing need.

In fact, we can print just about anything–but money!

(If we could do that, we wouldn’t bother with all that other stuff …)

The Lovell Chronicle

Reproduction of Chronicle ad featuring young Ted Huntington, 1970.


The Huntingtons pose in front of their home at 144 W. Main in 1941. Pictured are (l-r) Ted, Jeanne, Burt and Francine.

Jeanne Hamer


By Pat SchmidtPublisher 1975-84

What do I remember as unique in around 10 years as publisher of The Lovell Chronicle? The special people of Lovell and North Big Horn County.

The year before I arrived, The Chronicle under publish-er Ron Lytle was named the best small weekly newspaper in North America. Perhaps that’s appropriate, since some say a newspaper reflects the people it serves.

At the top of the list of my recollections is the way people got things done with limited means, often with little or no outside assistance. New hospital, gymnasium, expanded high school shop, track, swimming pool, senior citizen center, National Park Service visitor center, a major water project that included a short-lived water plant but a very important main that looped around town to omit the dead-end water lines that caused stagnant water in parts of town, the new Highway 14A all the way from the sugar factory and Main Street to the Medicine Wheel on top of the Big Horns, start-ing the ill-fated Transpark Highway that now ends at Barry’s Landing in Big Horn Canyon National Recreation Area. (That’s the way Bighorn should be spelled!)

One big improvement was combining Deaver-Frannie, Cowley and Byron high

schools into Rocky Mountain High School. Besides mak-ing things a lot easier for the Lovell Chronicle when it came to covering sports and school news, the quality of education was raised in a time when funding was scarce.

There were some excit-ing, special moments. A state championship Lovell boys basketball team in the days of competing in Class 3A that enraged opposing fans when starters ate popcorn on the bench after being pulled with a big lead. The most exciting thing about the Lovell track team that year was going to the practices where five sprinters would compete to see who would be the four members of the 4x100 relay team that eventually won a state title. Oddly, a state championship girls team melded Lovell girls with two girls who had already com-pleted their fall basketball season in Montana.

As impressive as the athletes and students were in Lovell, Frannie, Deaver, Cowley and Byron, what was really stunning was the support they received from parents and the rest of the community. The turnout at games and school events such as graduation often surpasses that in much larger communi-ties.

The community events were special in all the towns. My favorite was the free community barbecue that

resulted when Rex George walked into Wes Meeker’s real estate office and said he had a heifer he’d sell for $100 if somebody would help put on a free pit barbecue. By the time the livestock sale at the fair was over, the banks had bought two pigs to barbecue on spit poles, farmers (George Wambeke?) had donated a double horse trailer load of fresh corn and businesses, people and groups had pitched in with beans, salads, deserts and more.

A backhoe dug a large pit, and the first volunteers started burning the donated mountain of firewood right after the football game. By morning the bed of coals was several feet up the wall of the pit, and those who had been at

the all-night party hardly had the energy to wrap the meat and sauce with foil, then bur-lap, before using a hook from the fire department to lower it onto the corrugated steel that covered the coals. The pit was covered with more steel and several feet of dirt. Some went home for a needed rest; others started turning the pigs on the two spit poles.

To shorten the story a little, all the preparations re-sulted in a crowd I remember as around 2,000 people eating free food, hugging new and old friends and having a great time for no particular reason. All the butchers, who were daily competitors in their businesses, cooperated mer-rily to cut up all the delicious meat. Do you recall a plane flying over with a political banner? I can’t remember whether the football team won the night before, but I can tell you all the people in the community were winners the next day.

The Chronicle, which already had become the first newspaper in Wyoming pub-lished by the offset method over two decades before, went through more technological revolutions quickly in the 1970s and 1980s, using spe-cial typesetters to replace hot lead type. Within a few years it was among the first com-posed completely on McIntosh computers. The advertising income in a community with fewer and fewer businesses

didn’t match that in larger newspapers, but the people at The Chronicle then and now were as dedicated as anybody at those larger newspapers. As a result, The Chronicle continued to win newspaper awards and, more important-ly, provide a quality, reliable source of community news and advertising to people in an area that no other news outlet including radio stations really cared about.

It’s hard to believe David and Susan Peck have been in Lovell so long. In fact, is it possible that David, with 22 years on the job, has been editor and publisher of The Lovell Chronicle longer than any other person?

I miss those unique char-acters of Lovell. The ones with the sense of humor like find-ing out what the initials stood for in S&K Lumber, govern-ment apple picking permits, crabgrass seed ads and ship-ping bills, a fake arrest of a town councilman, Mickey Bigmouth labels on the side of a pickup that happened to be Game and Fish green, special recipes at barbecues, a non-existent athletic club on Wyoming Street, tire chains being washed then sold back to their unwary owner, Snedeker note pad napkins, advice to never get in a squirt-ing match with a skunk, spe-cial books of regulations at the National Guard armory, attitude-adjustment hours, asking to have a picture taken

of a very well dressed lady left marooned on an island in the middle of a deep puddle out-side her office…

The coach/principal who could sit down at a piano and rip off one ribald song after another, the wit of a banker who guaranteed I’d be rich if I wrote down all his advice and then did exactly the oppo-site, the farmer brothers who “allowed” me to get a picture of their beet digger and beet truck colliding, the same brothers who gave sweet corn to the liquor store all summer before confessing they had found the hidden corn in their neighbor’s field, the man who described the cemetery as the marble orchard, the fun of taking pictures of the lead-ing Democrat and Republican selling their political fund-raising tickets to one another, the druggist who delivered special presents to the ladies at the bank, the bunch of hunters who had so many great laughs restoring a cabin the government thought was on private land... The tales are endless.

Most of all I remember caring people in a community welcoming a young family into their midst, helping me publish their newspaper for a few years, tolerating my shortcomings and helping my family in so many ways. The people there make a special little valley an even greater place to live, for a little while or for 100 years.

In 1944, Ted Huntington hired Jack Preston to work at the Lovell Chronicle office. Jack was born in Lovell Dec. 26, 1933, to James W. and Viva Preston. He attended Lovell public schools and graduated from Lovell High School in 1951. He attended the University of Wyoming in a pre-dental curriculum, then the University of Southern California School of Dentistry from 1953–1957.

He served in the U.S. Army Dental Corps from 1957–1959, 1961–1969 and attained the rank of Lt. Colonel. Jack boarded in prosthodontics and was staff prosthodontist and director of education at the Los Angeles VA Hospital from 1969–1979. He taught at the USC School of Dentistry from 1979–1999 as Harrington Professor of Esthetic Dentistry, where he was granted chair and a tenured professorship.

As Executive Vice President of Dental Medical Diagonostic Systems from 1999 to 2002, he oversaw the development of high-tech dental equipment. Since retirement in 2002, he and his wife, Charlotte Ann Preston, own and operate Prestons’ Vineyards at Templeton, Calif., where they produce Bordeaux Varietals.

Jack wrote the following recollection of his years at the Chronicle:

By Jack Preston, D.D.S. I started work at the

Lovell Chronicle in 1944 at the age of 11 and worked there until I was about 15. At that time, The Chronicle put out two newspapers–the Lovell Chronicle, published weekly

on Thursdays, and the Cowley Progress, published weekly on Saturdays. The latter paper was largely pre-print, with only the front and back pages printed locally.

The flatbed newspaper press was hand-fed. The operator fed a paper sheet into the press approximately every two seconds (don’t miss feed, or the flat-bed with the type will print on the platen and you will have to stop and clean the press).

All pictures, etc., were made using the stereotype process, with molten metal poured into the forms containing the matrices. Many of the images were from stock. (I vividly remember first seeing a casting made–it looked so smooth and pretty I couldn’t

resist running my fingers over it–with the result of severe burns on three finger. Oops.) The newspaper was hand-set into page-size metal frames using linotype slugs from column trays and stereotype blocks. Special headlines and some ads were hand-set using the variety of fonts and sizes of type. It wasn’t long until I found myself being able to read “upside down and backward” since all of the type was mirror image of the printed page, and page layout was with the top of the page facing the user, and the bottom farthest away.

The Chronicle did a lot of job printing–stationery, envelopes, announcements, fliers etc. There were two Chandler and Price presses–nearly always hand-fed. When

there was a particularly large job, one of the presses could be fitted with a Miller feeder. The pride of the job presses was a Mielhle Vertical press. It was an automated, rapid (for that time) press. All gathering and cutting (using a large guillotine-like unit) was done by hand. Each job had to be set up and laid out by hand.

The Linotype machine was run by Howard Ostler. He sat there hour after hour, day after day, pounding out copy. The Linotype machine melted metal and automatically formed line of type (thus the name) one “slug” at a time. It used devices called “spacers” that were inserted into the lines and would fill out a line to ensure justified copy. After WWII, Howard was joined

by his brother Bert. Bert did general press and set-up work. Bob Thomas (from New York) later replaced Howard at the Linotype.

Burt Huntington did much of the set-up work for the Chronicle and frequently fed the newspaper press. He did everything but the Linotype setup. Since he was attending school, he worked after school and on Saturdays (as I did).

I was hired to sweep, wash windows, etc. but soon was feeding the job presses and doing set-up work. Eventually, the Cowley Progress became my project to set up, print, break down and mail. I really enjoyed the press work. I also enjoyed hand-setting the type for placards announcing the weekly dances held at Starlit Gardens and similar placards and flyer. While attending USC in Los Angeles in the 1950’s, I worked for the LA Times mail room. The contrast with the Lovell Chronicle was striking–even back then.

There were no facilities for color newspaper printing in The Chronicle, but we did do basic color job work. No four-color printing was possible. There were no on-line services or computers to generate anything.

The Chronicle had part-time reporters that wrote local copy. Ted Huntington had total responsibility for getting everything together and for getting advertisements which provided financial support. He was always calm and controlled, and I can’t ever remember him losing his cool. The paper always came out on time and maintained a very neutral stance.

Many fond memories of a special place to live

Jack PrestonRecollections of a printer’s devil

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This old Miehle flatbed press sat in the back of the Lovell Chronicle building for many years. Later, around 1969, the Chronicle presses (commercial and job work) were removed, and the Chronicle was printed at a central plant, first in Cody and later at the Powell Tribune.


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228 E. Main, Lovell

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Fortieth Anniversary Marked By Chronicle And

Lovell Town______◊______

City And Newspaper With Bank And A Few

Firms Were Incorporated In 1906. Interesting History

Related During Early Days. Progress In Period Is Marked By Steady Growth.

______◊______

Lovell, Wyo., May 23, 1946—Forty years of progress – some slow, and some bordering on the most inflationary boom days, is the record of the growth of the Town of Lovell, and Northern Big Horn county. At the anniversary of your newspaper, your bank and the incorporation of the town, this special edition is presented.

Only one other firm, the Lovell Drug Store, has been in existence for a longer period here. It was started in 1903, and has had several different owners. The bank was incorporated as The Lovell State Bank, but has remained the same institution, providing a safe and sound financial institution during all these years, even though it was modernized to become a national bank.

A brief glance at the history of this section will provide some idea of our progress.

Early residents were trappers and hunters who remained to become settlers. Frank Sykes is one of the first names we find in what is now Big Horn County, having been described as coming to the Paintrock country as early as 1875. It appears that normal settlement in those days was on the principle of pushing the frontiers forward as the east and middle west became a farming part of the nation. This saw the first settlement along the upper part of the Big Horn and Wind rivers with 1870 being given as date of arrival of permanent residents in the Lander section.

From that area, with the guiding and exploration of Jim Bridger and others to encourage them, pioneers came in to the southern part of the Big Horn Basin.

This northern section was a little slower in attracting ranchers and cattlemen.

First operators who could begin operations that would prove profitable and provide employment for men, were large cattle ranchers, such as Henry C. Lovell, Otto Franc and others. The town of Lovell took its name from H. C. Lovell, who with a partner by the name of Mason, said to be an eastern investor who spent little time out here. Thus the origin of a famous brand M L, and the building up of a large cattle empire was carried on before there was even a road ranch in this section.

No doubt the open winters and available range in this lowest section of the basin, attracted Lovell to the Big Horn river at the mouth of Willow Creek.

As a few other settlers came in the road ranches followed to provide stopping places for travelers.

Jack Morris and Josiah Cook figured prominently in this business, Jack having a stage station at Frannie and Cook across the river from our present location. These were established in the ’80s, also.

Lovell’s growth as a town has had several phases. From this early phase of gradual settlement by a few people with a few farmers and ranchers coming in, the first change took place when the Mormons came up from Utah to irrigate and farm the country on a larger scale.

It is not possible to provide a complete picture of the settlement in a newspaper, but our section is fortunate in having a historian, Charles Lindsay of Byron, who has

left an accurate picture of our development in his book, “The Big Horn Basin,” and everyone interested in the factual and complete account of our development should read it.

Another phase of our growth, the one having the most to do with population gain and quick growth, was the discovery of a supply of natural gas and the industrial development which accompanied it almost at once in the early ’teens. This gas supply at Byron was used for fuel and light by a few homes for a period, but with the building of a sugar factory, Lovell embarked on a campaign which has made it the leading industrial city of the state, if not one of the largest.

Other factories, some over-promoted, soon followed the building of the sugar factory, but 30 years later, we still have them in the community, with the exception of the glass factory, which was destroyed by fire.

Our last phase of growth, which is now proceeding on a sound basis, came after the depression days as additional oil activity and better farm operations continued to bring wealth, employment and population into the valley. Thus it seems that Lovell has escaped a great many of the setbacks which mark the growth of towns with too rapid a development.

To return to settlement days, many people do not know that the Mormon migration to this part of the basin was the second to be made from Utah. David P. Woodruff had brought in a group of settlers to the Burlington and Otto section as early as 1892. His pioneering did not have the sanction of the Mormon church, so these people suffered a great deal in getting their farms established and water on the land. Also it probably gave the second migration promoters a better idea of what would be encountered here.

Under the direction of Woodruff ’s brother, Abraham Owen, the settlement of the lower Shoshone valley was undertaken by The Big Horn Basin Colonization Company with full church support and approval. This company was organized in the spring of 1900.

The names of the trustees and officers at organization are as follows:

A. O. Woodruff, pres; Byron Sessions, vice pres; Charles Kingston, sec; Charles A. Welch, treas; Jesse W. Crosby, Jr., Hyrum K. North, Wm. B. Graham, and B. L. Tippets.

Full accounts of the building of canals, enlarging of those already built on the lower part of the river, and how the pioneers were able to keep going by dividing their labor between the ditch work and building of the railroad are all recounted in Lindsay’s book. It was a most interesting period of our development.

Before the advent of the Mormons to begin mass colonization, the valley was settling up with “squatters” who had been employed by the large outfits, and took up land to begin operations of their own. This began in the late 80’s, and when Mr. and Mrs. Frank Strong came here to establish themselves in 1894, some of the settlers up and down the valley were listed as Godfrey, Hunt, “Nigger” Thaxton, Wells, Mason, John Smith, Ira Waters and relatives, Jim McCann, Foster, Walt Eckler, Boggs, Joe Brocious, Greg Thamm and several others.

With a post office, but not an incorporated town, Lovell began its existence north of the present location. This is now referred to as the “old town” and a complete account of the moving of the city to this location is contained in Bill Murphy’s story of early days, which appears in another part of the paper.

Mr. and Mrs. Strong ran a saloon, and built their two story home, which still stands west of the brick and tile plant, and operated it as a hotel and rooming house. The present town was first laid out with the business district near the railroad, but after the overnight move, the bulk of the land was formerly Strong’s. Mrs. Strong, who still operates her ranch and cattle holdings on Crooked Creek, where she moved with her husband in 1905, stated that her husband had filed on 320 acres of land here and she had patented 160 acres.

Town history as given in the book ‘History of the Big Horn

Basin” by Charles A. Welch of Cowley, and first president of the Lovell State Bank, states that the survey before incorporation was made by H. S. Jolley and M. Davis Harris. The vote for incorporation was 57 for and none against.

First officers of the town were George W. Johnson, mayor; M. D. Harris, Fred Ostler, Elias Johnson and Alma Peterson, councilmen. City employees were John F. Meldrum, clerk; Joseph A. Harris, attorney; Ephriam Croft, town marshal; Thomas P. Allen, treasurer; and Albert Olson, justice of the peace.

Early ordinances were passed, one of the first requiring that sidewalks be 10 feet in width!

Early in May, 1906, The Lovell State Bank was incorporated, and the same month, The Chronicle started by J. P. May. One other firm, The Lovell Drug Store, was in operation then, which is still a prominent firm in the town. It was founded by L. M. Sorenson.

The balance of this page is made up of stories which appeared in Volume 1, No. 1 of The Chronicle on May 31, 1906. We were fortunate in having a good copy of this first issue given to us by W. E. Pearson of the bank, and it apparently was well preserved in the vault for many years.

The old Strong Hotel is considered to be the oldest home in Lovell, built around 1900. It was built by Frank and Ellen Strong and today looks essentially the same as it did 100 years ago, except for a small expansion and some remodeling over the years. It stands today at 15 E. Second St. in Lovell (at Shoshone and Second). This photo was reportedly taken in 1904.


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Murphey’s Dollar Store80 E. Main Street, Lovell

548-6546

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THE LOVELL CHRONICLE

E. O. HUNTINGTON, Editor and Publisher

Offi cial paper for the Town of Lovell, County of Big Horn, the U. S. Land Offi ce and legal for all

publications.________________

A weekly newspaper published every Thursday to serve the 6,000 people in Northern Big Horn County. Lovell is the center of the oil production and refi ning, manufacturing, agricultural and livestock feeding activities of the Big Horn Basin.

________________

Entered as Second Class Matter at the Post Offi ce at Lovell, Wyoming, June 6, 1906, under the Act of Congress, March 3, 1879.

________________

Subscription: One year $2. Six months $1.25 Three months 75c. Single copies 5c. On sale at newsstands in Lovell, Cowley, Byron.

_________________________

TWO SCORE YEARS OF PROGRESS

––––◊––––WITH this edition, Volume 41, Number 1, THE LOVELL CHRONICLE is presenting an anniversary edition which covers most of our business life as it exists today. The edition has not come up to our expectations as we freely admit it is a new fi eld for us. The generous support of our business associates has so far exceeded our hopes that we have allowed for advertising to overshadow the historical coverage of our community. However, on closer inspection, we fi nd that much of the advertising will be of historical interest also. Especially is this true of the detailed account of the bank’s activity which is interesting and complete in four pages. We hope our readers will fi nd the edition worth while, even though it cannot be as complete as a history book. We have followed our regular newspaper style, because we have never subscribed to the idea of trying to appear as something we are not.

Of special interest to us (and newspaper publishers in general as well as ourselves are often accused of being

lax in advertising our own business) is the fact that within a few months we will have published THE CHRONICLE for half its lifetime. Started in 1906 the paper was sold to W. M. Jones a couple of years later. Jones was not much of a success here, although he still publishes a newspaper in Montana. Leaving town overnight at the request of the public spirited members of The Lovell Commercial Club, Jones left the paper in their laps. To retain its legal status it was necessary to have a paper published each week, so it fell to Mac Cline and a few others to change a date line or two and get the paper out with little or no help from experienced printers.

The club was successful in getting an energetic editor and printer to come west from Nebraska and take over management of the plant, so Reyn Leedom began 16 years of work in keeping the paper abreast of developments. Under his ownership the plant had new and better machinery installed; a Linotype machine, the most important part of present day fast printing, was installed. With the building of factories, The Chronicle enlarged to properly represent the town. Special editions were issued in 1917 to celebrate the construction of the sugar factory. Again in 1920 a large edition was published by returning service men from World War I and was published as a co-operative project. The paper was active in promoting the glass factory, the brick and tile plant and all civic improvements. In later years before Leedom left the town, he placed a great deal of effort behind the building of the mountain road over the Big Horns, one sharp turn still being called “Leedom‘s Loop.”

In 1926 the present publisher came to Lovell from Cody after having lived in the lower Shoshone Valley from 1908 to 1915 as a boy. With little writing or editorial experience, our liking for the printing trade made the long hours of overtime during the fi rst few months seem less tiresome. Before we had completed four years of weekly publication of the paper, the plant was destroyed by fi re in June, 1930. It was located in a highly infl ammable frame building and was a complete loss.

This incident at the beginning of the Depression was one which might have discouraged anyone in debt,

but the response from the community was so prompt and sincere, it gave us the necessary spirit to start anew. Our fi rst realization of the full importance of a strong bank came at that time. Within a matter of hours, W. E. Pearson of the bank had contacted all businessmen of the town who came forward with advertising for a 16-page edition to get us started again. This voluntary help from the business men has placed us under an obligation which will never be fully repaid. Especially are we indebted to Mr. Pearson for that badly needed boost of 16 years ago, and with this edition the enthusiasm, advice and more than expected support of advertising and valuable old pictures.

We appreciate the fact that much material of historical interest and personal interest has been omitted. In trying to make a comparison between the industrial and agricultural production of 40 years ago and today, we have had to leave out much personal matter.

At this time we wish to explain to the dozens of neighbors who responded with pictures that it was not possible to place all of them in this edition. Many were so old they could not be reproduced with enough clearness to make it worthwhile. Then we received a lot of pictures of great interest from Cowley and surrounding communities which we left out because we fi nally had to confi ne our efforts to Lovell. We are more appreciative now of the interesting history contained in the pioneering days. It is our hope to cover these stories at a later date, but it was impossible to do it at one time. As expressed by Howard and Bert Ostler, our Linotype operator and printer, who have learned the trade here, we have hardly accomplished more than to learn how to get out our 50th anniversary number in proper shape!

After working for several months on preparation and production of this edition, we were amazed at just how big and progressive our community really is in 1946. It is all contained in a small three-line item tucked away in the Springfi eld (Mo.) News, which was sent back to us, and we understand has made the rounds of several daily papers. It read: “Nearly every major Wyoming industrial and agricultural activity is represented in Lovell, Wyoming.”

Although we have established our reputation for running a weekly newspaper so that we would be welcomed by our merchants next week, next month and next year, this experience has started us wondering if we have not been too conservative. Our dislike for over selling advertising came from the fact that it is mainly done by high-pressure strangers. In the future we pledge THE CHRONICLE will keep abreast of the town’s needs – even if it takes more equipment and a daily newspaper.

Thank you to everyone who contributed stories, photos and general information to us for this special edition.

We are part of our past, and hope that we can continue to bring local news that our readers fi nd interesting.

Thanks also to our readers for your continuing support!

The Lovell Chronicle StaffDavid Peck, Connie Burcham, Gladys McNeil, Pat Parmer, Kitty Myers, Erin Henson, Dorothy Nelson, Dorothy Bush, Marwyn Layne and Julie Lassiter.


Burt Huntington was one of several Wyoming newspaper publishers to be invited to the White House in February of 1963 to meet with President John F. Kennedy and discuss Wyoming issues. Burt is across the table from the president at the White House luncheon, just in front of the president’s face in this photograph. Bob and Roy Peck, who purchased the Chronicle from Huntington in late 1970, are also in this photo. Bob is to the president’s right, Roy at the far end of the table to the left.

Two score years of progressLongtime publisher E.O. describes newspaper, community in introduction to 1946 40th anniversary edition


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This article was reprinted from the June 25, 1981 edition of the Chronicle. Headlines and language are from the original P.P. Anderson speech, given in 1945. Readers are warned the language may not be politically correct.

The late P.P. Anderson of Basin, who arrived in Basin in 1906 as a printer’s devil and stayed to become owner of the Basin Republican and Basin Rustler, was at one time owner of the Greybull Standard, the Cowley Progress, the Deaver Sentinel and the Frannie Independent.

In an address before the Rotary club in 1945, the longtime newspaperman recalled those early days of publishing in the area.

“I arrived in Basin Aug. 21, 1906. My first job was for the Bighorn Canal, 15 miles south of Basin. I drove a pair of mules to the place and the next day I worked on the ditch, was fired that night for tearing up the only good construction made the previous day. Alma Peterson was the foreman. I walked back to Basin, carrying an umbrella, overcoat and suitcase. The temperature was 110 in the shade and there was no shade.

“Next day I went to Lovell and worked on the Lovell Chronicle for 10 days until the regular man sobered up.

“I cam back to Basin and carried hod for the Rogers Hotel, now the Wynona

Hotel. I hauled sand for the Wheeler and Basin State bank buildings. I then went to work for Leslie Davidson on the Basin Republican.

“He leased the paper to Lin I. Nobel, now of Thermopolis, who ran the Republican for one year.

“O.T. Gebhart and I purchased the paper in 1907 and moved it from its location to the building of the Atwood Mortuary.

“I later purchased Gebhart’s interest and sold one interest to my brother-in-law Boyd V. Osborn. I purchased his interest a short time afterwards and moved the paper to its present location in the old Blly Gibson furniture store. This was in June 1924.

“In June 1928 I purchased the Big Horn County Rustler from A.W. Cooms and consolidated it with the Basin Republican. He was my editor for a number of years.

“The Greybull Standard was established in 1907 by Ralph Woodward of Meeteetse who ran it for several years, selling out to Harris and Harris. In 1919 Frank Bristow and I purchased the paper and later sold it to Axel Lilja.

“Papers at the time of my arrival were all political. Someone wanted to run for office. He started looking for a paper. Usually all he had to do was pay up the past due bills and start in. At that time $1,000 would start a paper.”

Journeyman printer subs for Chronicle drunk

COURTESTY PHOTO FROM JEANNE HAMER

The Lovell Chronicle production staff poses in the Chronicle shop in 1952. Longtime printer Howard Ostler is in the middle, with Charlie Shumway on the left and Bob “Brooklyn” Thomas on the right.


Burt Huntington runs his offset press in 1958. The Chronicle was the first Wyoming weekly to use the new offset technology.


Francine Clavier, center, was working as a Lovell telephone operator when she met E.O. “Ted” Huntington. They were married in 1927, a year after he purchased the Lovell Chronicle.


Check with your father or your grandfather – since 1906 we have been the bank that has played an important role in the life of our community.

When we opened our doors 100 years ago, Lovell was a struggling frontier town surrounded by sagebrush flats. Land was plentiful, but the money to develop it was hard to come by.

Our early-day bankers had the faith in our pioneers to support them with loans that were better than promises, and then had the foresight to believe that, through cooperation, our bank and the early farmers could make this land productive, green and a great place to live.

Our faith and their hard work was justified. Through the years our close relationship with farmers, ranchers and businessmen has been instrumental in North Big Horn County’s growth.

Today it’s no different. We still support promising people who feel their future is in North Big Horn County. What are your plans for the future? If they include North Big Horn County, we are enthusiastic about talking them over with you.

Bank of LovellYour Life, Your Money, Your Community, Your Bank

100thYear

Our

179 E. 3rd St., Lovell, Wyoming • 548-2213BankofLovell.com

Continued from page onecommenced to come forth.

With the high prices re-ceived for all produce and the prosperous times which have existed here since the land was irrigated, the whole dis-trict is on the eve of a building boom; in fact, the demand for all kinds of building material is greater than the supply.

Lovell also wants a plan-ing mill which will turn out all kinds of finished material.

There is a good market for brick and a good kiln would not last long were it for sale at present while the demand must necessarily grow.

Besides the opportuni-ties mentioned, there are oth-ers which will soon be here although not so publicly de-manded now.

Those desiring further in-formation will do well to write The Chronicle.

– – – –

Too Much Water.Lovell, Wyo., May 31,

1906—The Chronicle does not know who the water master is whose duty it is to look after the ditches carrying water con-tinuously through the streets, but one thing is evident and that is he should take care that no more water should be admitted to each ditch than it will properly carry.

During the recent storms, there has been far too much water in some of the ditches; the result is the streets in sev-eral places are flooded, and in one place the roads on the principal street running east and west were made almost impassable for heavy loads. There should be better care taken of the roads and in no way can they be improved more than by keeping water out of them.

– – – –

Started Chronicle

J. P. MayNewspaper editor, band leader and active citi-zen, who started The Chronicle in May 1906. Machinery was hauled down from Bridger by wagon to print the pa-per. Housed in a small building at the location of the old town, where the office of the Lovell Clay Products company later stood, the plant was moved when other business houses moved. May sold the paper to Wm. M. Jones, who left town and turned the paper over to the Lovell Commercial club.

– – – –

REGULAR TRAIN.– – – –

To Be Put On When Track Reaches Basin.

Lovell, Wyo., May 31, 1906.—The B. & M. agent here, J. S. Honnold, informs us that there will be no regu-lar passenger train until the track has been laid to Basin. The reason for this is that the work trains are passing back and forth and must not be hin-dered. No connections with ex-press companies have yet been made, but as soon as regular passenger trains are running these will be made and until that time all Lovell express must be taken off at Frannie.

Agent Hannold is han-dling nothing but freight but will likely continue to have considerable trouble because many yet believe that regular trains are running and that express can be shipped direct.

Considerable freight has been coming in for the last month or so. Many people here have received car load lots, among these being the local merchants and saloon men who are, after long delays, at last getting freight in on some-thing like schedule time.

– – – –

Lovell Lumber Company

Lovell, Wyo., May 31, 1906—One of the very much needed additions to the town

is at last here. The Lovell Lumber Co. is the name of the new firm and all who have been complaining about short-age of building material can now get all they want, any kind they want and in any quantity.

Mr. C. A. Riggs, presi-dent and general manager of the new company arrived last Friday from Billings and will take up his residence here. The company purchased five lots from the Lincoln Land Co. some time ago, south and east of the depot, on which they are now erecting warehouses and an office.

There is no improvement that was more needed than a good lumber yard, and Man-ager Riggs is the right man at the head of it. Everything in the line of building mate-rial will be on hand as soon as the warehouses are ready to receive the various lines. But two cars of lumber have yet arrived; however, more is expected this week, and when the buildings are ready the stock will be complete.

– – – –

SHIPPING POINT– – – –

Lovell to Have a Large Freight Depot and Oth-

er Accommodations

Lovell, Wyo., May 31, 1906—Among the three towns on the new extension of the Burlington that will have large freight warehouses Lovell comes first.

Engineer A. J. Vermazen who has charge of the con-struction work in the build-ing of depots and warehouses is now here building a large water tank. To The Chronicle representative he stated that Lovell, Basin and Worland were the three towns on the line from Frannie that would have freight warehouses and that he has orders to build Lovell’s warehouse as soon as the water tank has been com-pleted.

The water tank here will be of the best in construction and will hold fifty thousand gallons, being twenty-four feet in diameter, sixteen feet in depth. The present plans require a pump house directly north of the tank on the river and will be fitted out with a gasoline engine. It is expected that a gravity system will take the place of the pump and en-gine as soon as Lovell’s water system shall be put in.

The freight depot, it is said, will be similar to the standard warehouse which is thirty-two by one hundred feet. The tank which is now used, at the bridge across the Shoshone River one and one-half miles above Lovell, will be discarded as soon as the one here is completed.

– – – –

THAT SMALL TOWN

– – – –Fifty-two Miles North of

Basin.

Lovell, Wyo., May 31, 1906—In a dispatch to the Wy-oming Tribune dated Basin, May 22nd, the writer makes many mistakes regarding the killing of John Boylan and ev-erything said is a bungle with very little truth, but there was one sentence in that article that we must call attention to. “To rob the bank at Lovell, a small Mormon settlement fif-ty-two miles north of here.”

Now we believe the same rules govern towns in mat-ters of comparison as the rules which govern men. It would be considered bad manners for a very small man to speak of a man twice his size, as small.

Just so is it wrong for Basin, or any man there, to speak of Lovell as SMALL. Lovell is small but not small compared with Basin.

The state census of 1905 gave Lovell 717 people and Basin 370. Lovell lacked 23 of being twice as large as the county seat and we make the audacious assertion that this town has gained two people during the year passed to each one of Basin’s new residents. There seems to be a general impression prevalent that Lovell is a very small place, which is substantially true, but it is a large town for Big Horn county. It has one thou-sand people and is gaining as rapidly as any other place in the county.

Since occasion calls for it, permit us to make a few state-ments regarding the relative size, in a few ways, of Basin and Lovell. This town has twice as many people as the county seat or any other town in the county except Cody – the largest, and Lovell has three acres of first class farm-ing land to every acre that Basin can ever bring under cultivation. Lovell has a natu-ral power site within a mile of town on a river that is but ten feet below the level of Main Street and which has a fall of thirty feet to the mile, five times the fall of the Big Horn at Basin. Lovell can have an elegant system of water works by laying a mile of pipe line while Basin pumps its water up on a hill in order to get a small force and can’t even have a vegetable garden until water reaches it from the tail end of a canal fifty-four miles in length.

The Chronicle has no ill feeling toward Basin or any other town in the county but we do demand more respect than has heretofore been given this locality, and when Basin speaks of Lovell as “a small settlement fifty-two miles from Basin” we would ask them to stop and think that they are speaking of a town twice the size of the county seat. Basin has a few more offices, one more bank, and the transient trade gives it some advantages, but with these advantages, it will never equal Lovell in population.

– – – –

Lovell, May 31, 1906—Emil Vaterlaus was down and informs us he intends to start a paper at Cowley in the near future.

– – – –

THAT KILLING.– – – –

The Complete Story of the Breaking Up of a Gang of

Bad Characters.

Lovell, Wyo., May 31, 1906—Although it has been more than a week since John Boylan was killed at Gar-land by deputy Sheriff Clab Young, it is best that the de-tails be told and the whole affair straightened out, be-cause many stories have been published, each one wrong in whole or in part.

It was about May 12, a man in Lovell heard that a gang of men were intending to hold up the Lovell State Bank. The information was obtained through one of the intended bank robbers solic-iting the assistance of the in-formant.

Detective Barrett, dis-guised as a common laborer, was soon in touch with his men, knew all their plans, the modus operendi and the night of the intended hold-up. Ca-shier L. V. Stryker, Post Mas-ter Ira Waters, E. Crofts and deputy Sheriff Young were ready for the raid and expect-

ed to capture the whole gang.For some reasons or oth-

er, Boylan, the leader, post-poned the raid and the next day said he would leave for Garland and wait there until his colleague returned from Billings where he had gone to secure a better kit of tools. The detective followed Boylan to Garland, but before leav-ing he swore out a warrant, charging him with conspiracy to rob the Lovell bank. It was planned that if Boylan at-tempted to leave they would arrest him and when he ar-rived at Garland, Barrett telephoned to the Deputy Sheriff that he was to leave on the train that night and to come immediately.

Young left for Garland and about seven o’clock that night was in the act of read-ing the warrant of arrest to Boylan when the latter pulled a revolver and ordered “hands up.” Instead of obeying orders Young, who is one of the best shots in the west, quicker than a flash drew his gun and fired, killing the desparado in-stantly. Two shots were fired, the first striking him in the forehead and the second en-tering his body at the shoul-der and coming out through the opposite side and taking

an angular course, penetrat-ing the heart.

The county sheriff and coroner were notified and were there next morning. The verdict of the coroner’s in-quest exonerated Young who was certainly justified, as he had been told through the de-tective that Boylan had said he would shoot Young if he tried to arrest him.

Of the two other men who were charged with the same crime as Boylan, one has left town by order of the officers and the other has not been seen since the leader was killed. The man who went to Billings after better tools has not been arrested nor is he likely to be taken as he would lose no time in getting out of the country.

Much credit is due the men who assisted in break-ing up the gang but the one who should be given most credit is he who, while a gun in the hands of an intended murderer was pointed at his heart, had the nerve and abil-ity to refuse to surrender. As Boylan well knew, most men would hold up their hands when they are taken by sur-prise and a gun thrown in their face. Boylan made no sign of resisting arrest when

Young first spoke to him and his actions threw the officer off the track.

It was planned to shoot Cashier Stryker on enter-ing the bank, and for several days, guards were on duty at all hours. All feel relieved to have such men out of the way. Along with the intended bank raid the gang expected to rob the Strong hotel at it was known Mrs. Strong had con-siderable money which was kept on hand to cash checks. Boylan made the threat that he would burn her feet if nec-essary to get the whereabouts of the money.

Later: John Boylan has a wife in Cheyenne and was a resident there last year, com-ing to Wyoming from Sioux City, Iowa, where he killed a policeman in his saloon. It is said that it cost Boylan all he owned to free himself and he has been following the life of the thief and thug since leav-ing Iowa.

– – – –Quite a number of Cowley

people are freighting timbers from the railroad bridges. Ow-ing to the bad weather most of them laid off several days but returned to work this week.—(From The Chronicle of May 31, 1906.)

Lovell had grown into a bustling small community by the time this photograph was taken, apparently in the 1920s.

the lovell chronicle population of 5,000 people. · citizen, named the paper the lovell chronicle,...

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