History: We Dig It!
Central Wyoming College is offering a course this summer where students get to sleep under the stars, play in the dirt, dig up some history, and lay the groundwork for field studies that are "long overdue" in this region.
Todd Guenther, CWC's instructor of Western American Studies, leads an archaeology field school that will ultimately provide a better historical and archeological record of the Middle Sweetwater between Jeffrey City and the Sweetwater Canyon, and then help excavate prehistoric campsites and record rock art in Hot Springs County.
For five days, students will begin recording and test excavating at the site of St. Mary's Stage Stop and Charlie Stough's homestead. Stough was a colorful character in Fremont County history because, as the sheriff, he arrested Butch Cassidy and delivered him to the Wyoming Territorial Penitentiary at Laramie.
"This area is rich in these kinds of resources," said Guenther, who before coming to CWC was curator at South Pass City and Lander's Pioneer Museum. In addition to pit houses thousands of years old, this area is also a stop on the Oregon Trail. There are also burial and occupation sites, as well as battlefields. Guenther has been researching the Oregon Trail and the Sweetwater Valley for 30 years, but said the area between the upper and lower Sweetwater is "pretty much over looked. This is a section that is poorly documented."
During the second half of the course students have the opportunity to work with Dr. Danny Walker of the Office of the Wyoming State Archeologist at Legend Rock, northwest of Thermopolis. "This will expose our students to a whole other realm of archeology," Guenther said. "It is a fascinating and a very significant site."
Guenther is hoping this class will attract not only students of anthropology and archeology but people interested in history and other similar subjects. Students have the option of camping at the excavation sites or commuting each day.
In addition to Stough's homestead and the stage stop, Guenther said the middle Sweetwater has remnants of several other homesteads, an army post, a Pony Express stop and early ranches.
"These are projects I've wanted to do for years," said Guenther, who as a curator could never get away in the summer because it was the busy tourist season. "Finally we have the opportunity and the time to make this happen."
Guenther admits the excavation of sites on the Sweetwater is "long overdue" and fortunately for archeologists and historians, the local landowners are receptive to allowing students to begin the exploration.
"Most of the landowners up there are fascinated with the history of their ranches and western heritage, and we are working with them to accomplish these goals," Guenther said.
He recognizes the five days on the Sweetwater is "just a start," but it will give him an idea on how to approach the research in subsequent years.
As a historian, Guenther believes the field studies may reveal more about the early labor movements, range wars and Native American occupations.
The first portion of the course, scheduled for June 4-8, primarily focuses on the excavation of the Charlie Stough homestead.
Stough came to the county around 1880 and worked at the Quarter Circle 71 Ranch where Jeffrey City is today. "He was there during one of the first organized labor movements of the west when cowboys went on strike against the Stock Growers Association that had cut their wages," Guenther explained. The management at the 71 Ranch was peripherally involved in the lynching of Ellen Watson (Cattle Kate) and Jim Averell.
After quitting his job at the 71 Ranch, Stough became associated with Jack Cooper, who Guenther said was considered one of the most dangerous and intimidating of the rustlers during the range wars. While Stough and Cooper were out riding together, Cooper was shot by the cattlemen, but Guenther said Stough was able to escape. He eventually married Cooper's widow and was elected the sheriff of Fremont County in the fall of 1890.
"This was a very dangerous time on the frontier," he said, suggesting events of Fremont County range wars helped spark the more noted Johnson County War.
As a lawman, Stough jailed Butch Cassidy, but Guenther said he upset the warden because he didn't make Cassidy wear handcuffs on the ride to Laramie. Cassidy explained to the warden that his lack of shackles was a case of "honor among thieves," suggesting that Stough may have been involved somehow with Cooper and others in the "rustling business."
"What we hope to do over time with this project is try to understand what his role really was and document his life and his family's life a little better," Guenther said, noting that Stough was highly respected and also elected to other Fremont County positions during his lifetime.
In addition to Stough's homestead, the students will also do some recording at sites associated with western migration and undocumented prehistoric Indian camps and tipi rings that Guenther said date back as far as 10,000 to 12,000 years.
From June 11-20, the students will help excavate campsites at Legend Rock, a state park in Hot Springs County that has limited access because vandals have damaged the priceless petroglyphs there.
Dr. Walker has excavated at the site in the past and "is extremely knowledgeable," Guenther noted. The CWC students will be considered the state archeologist's volunteers and may also help with digital recording of the rock art, some of which are thousands of years old.
"It is a place of very deep religious significance to a number of tribes," he said.
Students interested in CWC's inaugural Archeology Field School may register for ANTH-2010-01 for three credits. The fees cover the meals provided during the days and a tool kit. For more information, contact Guenther at (307) 855-2142 or 1-800-735-8418, ext. 2142.