Peek at the Past

100 Years Ago

June 23, 1920

Frank Hickey, who has been held at the county jail during the past month as a suspect in connection with the murder of Laben Woods, was liberated Friday for lack of evidence. Parties in the Hulett country re-arrested him Saturday, claiming to have the goods on him, and Sheriff Hurtt and County Attorney Nichols went out Sunday to examine into the sufficiency of the alleged new evidence. The sheriff and attorney arrived in Sundance Tuesday afternoon with Hickey in custody. Attorney Nicholls states that Mrs. Hickey has made a sworn statement to the effect that she was an eye witness to the killing of Wood, and Hickey will now certainly have to stand trial on the charge of murder.

Sundance people and surrounding farmers respond heartily on Wyoming Good Roads Day – Crook County dirt was on the move Tuesday. The merchant, the lawyer, the banker, the clerk – all had their sleeves rolled up in the effort to improve the highways. At an early hour cars were waiting and soon a small army of men appeared, armed with picks, shovels, bars and other necessary implements for road work. A party under Mayor Roberts took the Newcastle road to the Louie Smith corner, where they joined W.I. Taylor, who already had a strong force of husky farmers. Quite a transformation took place within a few hours. A bunch of heavy weights under Harry Schloredt hit the Spearfish road with a slam that loosened the grass roots for miles around.

75 Years Ago

June 28, 1945

That it is possible to set up an REA Cooperative in this area so that the people of the rural Crook County will be about to have a central station electricity on their ranches is the opinion of R.M. Kinney, field engineer of the applications and loans divisions of the Rural Electrification administration at St. Louis, Mo. Cooperating with Kinney, Crook County Agent Landers and Mrs. June B. Waddell, war food assistant of Weston County, have been holding meetings in the various parts of these counties to acquaint the people of this area with the REA program.

That Sgt. Norman Bunney was liberated April 26 from a German prison camp and will be home soon was learned recently by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Eli Bunney of Aladdin. Sgt. Bunney, who was a gunner on an American bomber based in England.

Rocks of larger sizes are needed for the service honor roll to be constructed in the court house square soon. Those desired are from one to three feet long- smaller rocks are no longer needed it has been announced. Petrified wood is especially wanted.

50 Years Ago

June 25, 1970

Crook county voters turned out in fairly heavy numbers Tuesday to elect a nine-man board of trustees for the new county-wide school district. Unofficial reports showed these persons elected to the new board: H.R. Barbour, Raymond Petersen and Richard Macy – three year terms; Lee Tronble, Ramond Dennis and John Moline – two-year terms; and Jw Nuckolls, William Semlek and Mrs. Cleo Roberts – one-year terms.

25 Years Ago

June 22, 1995

Five to six trees were blown down in a windstorm at Cook Lake on Saturday. Tom Farver, US Forest Service, said that none of the trees were what they considered at risk. The main damage from the storm was sustained by a pop-up camper when a tree fell on it. Two people were reported to be in the camper at the time but were not hurt. According to a report from the Sheriff’s Office, the camper was destroyed.

For the first time since the early 1070s, there will be an active excavation at the Vore Buffalo Jump. The public is invited to visit the site, observe the scientific work, and learn about the site’s importance during a ten-day period beginning in late June.