Crook County Museum, Sundance, Wyoming

Our travels this year took us to Sundance, Wyoming to visit Devil's Tower and tour the city of Sundance as well, where the "Sundance Kid" made his reputation. The Crook County Museum has some of the history of Sundance.

Harry A. Longabaugh aka the "Sundance Kid" served time in the local jail and took his name from the city of Sundance, Wyoming. This statute was created by South Dakota native Edward E. Hlavka.

In order to avoid any confusion, the Sundance Kid was never behind bars of this particular jail structure. Most historians agree, the Sundance Kid and Butch Cassidy were killed in Bolivia in 1909. This jail was built in 1913. The jail structure in which the Sundance Kid resided was almost due west of this location, behind the present-day Crook County Courthouse.

The Sundance Kid, still known as Harry Longabaugh at the time, was convicted of stealing a horse from the VVV Ranch in northeastern Crook County in 1887. Sheriff Ryan of Crook County apprehended him near Miles City, Montana. This would be his first real brush with the law, and from here he went on to ride the Outlaw Trail. The Outlaw Trail was used by the Wild Bunch, a rather large gang organized by Robert Leroy Parker alias Butch Cassidy. The trail ran from northern Montana to southern New Mexico, and consisted of several isolated hideouts. The more popular hideouts were: The Hole-in-the-Wall near Kaycee, Wyoming; Brown's Park where Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah come together; Robbers Roost south of Moab, Utah on the Colorado border; and the WS Ranch near Alma, New Mexico close to the present-day Gila National Forest.

Jim behind bars

Sundance City Jail 1913-1964 ~~ In October 1913, Mayor Roberts and councilmen Williamson, Brockett, Bush and Griffin decided a City Jail was needed in Sundance. The jail was used between the years of 1913 and 1964 as a City Jail, and resided behind City Hall. In 1965 prisoners were once again housed in the County Jail and the jail was used for storage. It was moved and used for a dog pound for a number of years. The Lions Club decided something should be done to preserve the old jail, so they cleaned and repaired it and moved it to the courthouse parking lot in 1982. It now belongs to the Crook County Museum and Art Gallery.

This mountain lion was killed on January 30, 1993, by Crook County resident Monty Clark. It was 35 paces from the back door of his country home. The lion weighed 160 lbs. and is 6-1/2 feet long from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail. He had a fresh scar around his neck, indicating that he may have recently been caught in a snare but was able to free himself. 

The bunkhouse was a common structure for the hired man on the ranch. Some were used for multiple needs such as food storage and tack sheds.

Barns were a necessity and sometimes built first before the house. Some were just lean-tos and some were large structures functioning not only for animals but also for storage for hay and feed, workshop area, and a place to park their buggies and wagons out of the weather.

The Ranch had solemn beginnings as a homestead claim of Jack Boyden who settled along Sand Creek in 1877. Boyden built cabins on his property for vacationing tourists, and an occasional hunting and fishing trip from his second cousin Theodore Roosevelt who visited the Black Hills between 1886-1901. In 1919 he sold the 860 acres to George LaPlant, who then sold it to Moses Annenberg in 1931. The lodge constructed in 1932 by Annenberg, is a massive structure that sits below the north slope of the Sand Creek Canyon wall. The log buildings of Ranch A are some of the finest architecture designed buildings in Wyoming. Ray Ewing of Deadwood, South Dakota was hired by Moses Annenberg to execute the designs. The log work was done by Bill Juso and his three brothers that were known in the Black Hills for their exquisite work in building Swedish cope structures that they learned from their father, a Finnish immigrant. 100 of their buildings are known to exist in the hills and three are situated on Ranch A.

Washing machine

This rocking chair was originally acquired around the turn of the century from one of Abraham Lincoln's homes. The chair has been restored to the original condition with the original seat-cover still in place.

Drag saws or Buck saws were patented in the late 1870s and later by several makers. This "Human Powered Drag Saw" was patented on June 8, 1902. These saws were the main tool for cutting fire wood. They could be used vertically to cut down trees if needed. Also, they could be folded up for transport or when not in use. This is a gravity fed blade with spring tensioners to help stabilize the blade while cutting. The saw frame was designed so it could be used on uneven terrain. As far as the log, bark was preferred because it acted as lubricant when cutting. 

Vore Buffalo Jump

A giant natural bowl on the Vore Ranch west of Beulah, Wyoming, as many as 20,000 shaggy beats are believed to have stampeded over the bowl's steep banks, and were then killed and butchered at the bottom by plains tribes from 1500 to 1800. Archeologists have found thousands of arrowheads made of various types of stone indicating that tribes from an area of several hundred square miles may have used the jump -- Cheyenne, Shoshone, Arapahoe, Kiowa, and Kiowa Apache.

For three hundred years, about AD 1500 - 1800, at least five Plains Indians tribes used a large, circular sink hole feature as a buffalo jump in order to procure large supplies of meat for winter. As the bottom of the sink hole filled with sediment, it preserved a series of about 20 bone middens. The bottom bone beds are now about 17 feet deep. This view of part of the wall of one excavation unit shows this horizonal layering.

Golden Eagle