WYOMING SOURCE BOOK -- SNODGRASS FAMILY STATEWIDE CENSUS RECORDS 1870 territorial census index - NS 1880 territorial census - yes (see Laramie Co.) 1900 census - yes (see Natrona, Sheridan, & Uinta Cos.) 1910 census - yes (see Carbon, Converse, Laramie, Natrona, Sheridan, Yellowstone Counties 1920 soundex - yes (see Big Horn, Converse, Laramie, Natrone, & Sheridan) HISTORY & GENEALOGY Who's Who in the West (1949) yes VITAL RECORDS Family History Center, Western Marriages - yes (see Uinta Co.) ****************************************************** RECORDS 1877 -- Alexander T. Snodgrass returned from Wyoming Territory to Columbiana Co., OH (pension application, Alexander T. Snodgrass, Columbiana Co., OH). ################################################### BIG HORN COUNTY CENSUS RECORDS 1920 soundex - yes ********************************************** RECORDS 1920 Soundex 1-41-27-94: Charles E. Snodgrass 20-M-MO(living alone) -------------------------------------------- ############################################ CARBON COUNTY (formed 1868 as original county) CENSUS RECORDS 1910 census - yes ******************************************** 1910 Census Snake River, page 266, #123/128: J. B. Snodgrass 35-F-PA/PA/PA wid., 0 ch, farmer, o.f.f. (living alone) --------------------------------- ########################################### CONVERSE COUNTY (formed 1888 from Laramie & Albany Cos.) CENSUS RECORDS 1910 census - yes 1920 soundex - yes *************************************** 1910 Census Manville, page 19, #99/99: Thomson Black 50-M-NY/NY/NY stockgrower *** Charles Snodgrass 23-M-NE/IL/IL servant, laborer ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 1920 Soundex Douglas, 3-35-2-62: Herbert D. Emery *** Bessie Snodgrass 36-F-NE hired hand Jeila Snodgrass 10-M-NE Robert L. Snodgrass 7-M-NE Glenrock, 3-42-1-64: Martin Smith *** Addie Snodgrass 36-F-SD lodger -------------------------------- ####################################### LARAMIE COUNTY (formed 1867 as original county) CENSUS RECORDS 1880 territorial census - yes 1910 census - yes 1920 soundex - yes HISTORY & GENEALOGY Documents in the Wyoming State Museum in Cheyenne - yes ****************************************** RECORDS 1880 Census Lower Horse Creek, page 231, #57/68, 1-28-18-1: John Snodgrass 37-M-VA/VA/VA foreman, stock grower Mary Snodgrass 27-F-VA/VA/VA wife Alice Snodgrass 4-F-WY/VA/VA daughter [vss - verify - Olive / Ollie] Edward Snodgrass 4m-M-WY/VA/VA son (b. Jan) --------------------------------------------------------------- 1910 Census Cheyenne, page 158: *** J. P. Snodgrass 25-M-USA/USA/USA lodger, plumber, self-employed Little Horse Creek, page 282, #90/90: James W. Snodgrass 55-M-OH/OH/OHs m/1, m.23y Olive Snodgrass 49-F-IA/unk/IN wife, m/1, 4 ch, 4 liv Sarah J. Snodgrass 15-F-AR/OH/IA daughter Ida Snodgrass 11-F-AR/OH/IA daughter -------------------------------------------------------------- 1920 Soundex Cheyenne, 5-37-12-87: Frank R. Snodgrass 25-M-IL Nellie R. Snodgrass 26-F-IL wife ------------------------------ Wilkerson Collection MSS. No. 551A: John Snodgrass Stockholder and foreman of the bay state cattle company Mr. Snodgrass is a native of Virginia and was born in 1842. When 19 years of age he went to fort Laramie Wyoming starting from Atchison Kansas as afreighter. After his trip to Ft. Laramie he returned to Leavenworth Kansasand in the summer of 1860 went to Salt Lake Utah with freight & returned toNebraska & wintered his stock & in the Spring returned to Denver wintered & inthe Spring of 1863 made two trips with freight from Omaha & Atchinson Kansasto Ft Laramie. In the Summer of 1864 he went to Montana with a mule infreighting & returned to Denver and wintered. In the Spring of 1865 he wentto Omaha working that Summer between Denver & Omaha. In 1866 spent most ofthe time from Ft. Kearny making one trip in the fall to Denver. In 1867 he went to fort Reno, Ft. Phil Kearny and Ft. C. F. Smith after which he returnedto Julesburg Nebraska. In 1867 Mr. Snodgrass made a short visit to his native state & returned to Cheyenne in the Spring of 1868 where he took charge of anox team & was engaged in hauling RR ties for Davis, Sprague & co on the little Laramie River at which he continued until the Spring of 1870 after which he was logging on the Laramie River until March 1876. He then went to Horn creek & took charge of Edward Creightons cattle & remained with Mr. Creighton until 1883 when Mr Creighton sold out to the Bay State Land & Cattle Co. In 1875 Mr. Snodgrass was married to Miss Mary Davison of Virginia by whom he has 3 children living. Ollie, Edward and Ina. Johnie deceased. - - - - - - - - - Comments by James Lee Snodgrass, a descendant of this John Snodgrass: This is an exact copy of the document, and includes the 1842 birth date which is on some Bible records. His gravestone has 1841. His marriage was to Mary Jane Davidson, and was on 24 Dec 1874. The Wilkerson manuscript was apparently written after the 1883 sale of the ranch, but before the birth of James Goolman Snodgrass 28 May 1885. The 1860 date for the Utah trip does not match an 1842 birth date and his arrival in Fort Laramie at age 19. Most caravans of settlers tried to leave the Missouri area as near to May 1 as possible, as they waited for the spring grasses to green up for the oxen and other stock. These caravans would be in Wyoming by mid or late June, but a commercial carrier would probably travel faster than this. Fort Laramie was established by 1849. Cheyenne was formed in 1867. The Bozeman Trail was first established in 1863 as an attractive shortcut to the Montana gold camps, but it was soon known as the "Bloody Bozeman" because of the Sioux raids. Forts like Reno, Phil Kearney, and C. F. Smith were built to protect this route. By 1868, after events like the 1866 F___ Massacre, the forts were . --------------------------------------------------------- Document in the Wyoming State Archives (author's name unknown): The Creighton Ranch, U (?) established in 1872 by John A. Creighton &Brother, Bankers, of Omah, Nebraska, location 53 miles northeast of Cheyenneon Horse Creek and thirty miles farther east on ___ Creek, Nebraska, really istwo ranches. The first installment of cattle consisted of 2,000 cows drivenup the trail from Capt. King's ranch in southwest Texas. King was by far thelargest land and cattle owner in all Texas and furnished the northwest marketswith hundreds of thousands of cattle throughout sixteen years of trail driving activities. The second year after the establishment of the ranch or ranches, Indians made a raid. They killed the foreman, whose name I have forgotten, on the Horse Creek ranch, and proceeded to the lower ranch where John A. McShane, a nephew of the Creightons, and a boy of fifteen or sixteen years were the only occupants. The Indians killed the boy and compelled McShane to cook a repast for them after which they looted the ranch house of everything, stripped McShane of his clothing, gave him an unmerciful beating and departed with their booty. When the Indians made their appearance, the boy ran. McShane, although he had three carbines with ammunition, but realizing he had no show with a hundred or more Indians, came forward with his "hands up". The Indians recognized the token of surrender and immediately put him to cooking. McShane in relating to me, four years after, said they kept him busy for two hours cooking while the Indians sat around waiting and occasionally pricked him with the point of their lances to speed him up. So when he had cooked about all of the provisions he had on hand, they stripped him of his clothing, gave him awhipping and left with the two horses he had in the stable, packed with loot upon their way to the northwest. McShane said he was so exhausted from his strenuous two hours of cooking and the whipping the Indians had given him that he lay on the bare floor of the ranch house without moving for several hours. When sufficiently rested he arose though terribly sore and began looking around. He did not know what had become of the boy companion but supposed he had escaped to the settlement on the South Platte. Night coming on he struck out a-foot to the upper ranch, traveling all night; naked and sore, he reached the upper ranch there to learn that two days previously the Indians had surrounded the ranch and killed the foreman who happened to be a mile or so away from the ranch house by himself but the Indians, knowing that the men in the ranch house were well armed, did not care to risk a fight, so they took several horses from the ranch and went on down to the second ranch which they captured the next day as already related. The Creighten Brothers who established the ranch in 1872 were identified with the early history of Omaha. They had three nephews, John A. McShane, Thomas B. McShane and John D. Creighton and were employed in various capacities with the Creighton Brothers' large interests in Omaha. It has been fifty-six years since I bid them all good-bye in Creighton's office in Omaha, Nebraska, having been in their employ three and one-half years on their ranch in Wyoming Territory. I had severed my service of my own volition and was on my way back to Texas and stopped off in Omaha to bid them a last good-bye. Several years after returning to Texas I learned from newspapers that John A. McShane, the one who furnished me with the information relative to the Creightons Ranch, was elected as a member of the United States Congress. I presume they are all dead but surely they have descendants in Omaha. Now, as to John S. Snodgrass who succeeded the first manager in 1874 and continued in that position till 1884 when Creighton's ranch with several other pioneer ranches was sold to a New England syndicate, who incorporated under the name of The Bay State Cattle Company; John Snodgrass then went to Omaha and bought a farm and followed the occupation of farmer and stock- raiser a few years. He then sold out and returned to Virginia of which state he was a native but had left there when sixteen years old and the larger part of his adult life was spent in the northwest Territories, principally in Wyoming. He was a reticent man and rarely spoke of his past experiences, but he related to me on one occasion his past young life which was indeed colorful. He said he had joined Quantrello Gressillas when not quite seventeen and related to me some of the spectacular activities of Quantrello; especially do I remember his account of the raid and burning of Lawrenceville, Kansas, he of course was intimate with the Younger and the James boys, being the same age of Jesse James, Quantrello addressed them as "kids." At the conclusion of the war between the states he went, putting it in his own words, into the heart of the Rocky Mountains where the Union Pacific Railway was being built through Wyoming. One, Slade, a notorious character in the early history of Wyoming, was given a contract to furnish ties for the construction of the road. Slade employed Snodgrass, who was then a very young man, to manage his tie-cutters. Slade, at that time, had killed two or three men, one of whom was Jules, the founder of Julesburg, so Slade was regarded as a dangerous, disagreeable man, yet Snodgrass said in his two years service under Slade as his manager, there was perfect peace and harmony. I had pointed out to me on the North Platte the site of Slade's original habitat where he deliberately shot Jules to death after keeping him a prisoner several days. Slade was, in later years, hung by Vigilantes, I believe, in Idaho or Montana. Snodgrass died in Virginia twenty-five or thirty years ago. His wife (Mollie) died about ten years ago. His oldest child Ollie, was born in Cheyenne, sixty-two years ago; she is a widow with two sons and her address is: Mrs. Ollie Free, Osgood, Indiana. His next oldest child, Johnnie, born in Cheyenne sixty years ago was living near Omaha a few years ago. Two or three children were born after I left Wyoming and I do not know their present addresses. I am a poor hand at writing history, dates of important events and advances of commercial, social, and political purposes do not register in memory as clearly as the personal characteristics of the men engaged in activities that made history; for instance, I remember DeWitt Clinton Tracy, as mall ranch owner in Wyoming. He was a dispeptic who always took with him on "round-up" a supply of crackers and canned sardines and would not eat the palatable and nutritious food of the cow camp, claiming that it interfered with his digestion. He was irrascible and high-tempered, as dispeptics usually are. ---------------------------------- W.P.A. File No. 210, Wyoming State Archives, author unknown: About once a year I correspond with John Snodgrass's (John Snodgrass was for years the foreman of the Creighton Ranch) oldest child, Mrs. Ollie Free, Osgood, Indiana. She was too young when the family left Wyoming to remember anything historical, but she might have some documents left to her by her father and mother possession some historical value. A year ago she wrote me she was keeping her fathers six shooter and lariat. (La-Riata Spanish name for a rope of plaited cowhide). I wrote to her to preserve that rope by oiling it occasionally and that I had watched "Viego" (Spanish for old) make it. Because of his extreme age we called him "Viego". He was at least two weeks making that lariat. After dressing the cowhide and cutting it into strands he would put it in a sack and take it with him on the prairie where he watched the horses and while the horses were grazing "Viego" would work on the rope. After finishing it he presented it to El-Capitan, Senor Don Juan, and I suppose Snodgrass kept the rope long after he had quit ranching and had no further use for it only in grateful memory of "Viego". And when his daughter wrote she had the rope, it thrilled me through and through in contemplation.I realized that Viego the maker had long since turned to dust for as time indicates an old, old man, and the saddles, spurs, chaps, and cowboy accouterments of the old Creighton ranch have vanished with perishable things of the past. E. A. Boots of Thermopolis, Wyoming, now in his 83rd year and myself, now in my 82nd year, are the only two living beings who know "Viego" and the making of that rope, the only tangible material equipment of cowboys of the old Creighton ranch. That rope still visible to wondering eyes of man. I suppose Wyoming has a museum of relics and tangible mementoes of itsearly history. If so I would suggest that you importune Mrs. Free to contribute that rope to Wyoming museum. Ollie was four years old when I came to the Creighton ranch. Snodgrass kept his family on the ranch three or four months during spring and summer. The balance of the time they resided in Cheyenne. I frequently took Ollie's beautiful blue- eyed, golden-locked child, on my saddle in front of me and galloped about the ranch. She was seven when I left there. On reaching Texas, I married, and named my first child, which happened to be a girl, Ollie, now fifty-four years old, which shows my esteem for John Snodgrass and his most estimable wife Mollie. ------------------------------------- ############################################ NATRONA COUNTY (formed 1888 from Carbon County) CENSUS RECORDS 1900 census - yes 1910 census - yes 1920 soundex - yes HISTORY & GENEALOGY Casper Centennial, 1889-1989; Natrona Co., WY, 1890-1990 (Garbutt & Morrison) ************************************* RECORDS 1900 Natrona Co WY Census Caspay Precinct, Casper City, 2-45-12-57: Elijah E. Snodgrass 47-M-MO/IN/IN Sep 1852 m.26y, farmer [Elijah C. Snodgrass s/o Joseph Snodgrass & Jane Hammond; 1860 Page Co IA; 1880 Nodaway Co MO; 1910 Ada Co ID] Sarah J. Snodgrass 48-F-MO/IN/IN Jan 1852 wife, 3 ch, 3 liv [Sarah Jane Miller] Mable M. Snodgrass 13-F-MO/MO/MO Oct 1886 dau. ------------------------------- 1910 Census Lone Bear Precinct, page 40: #36/41: Alfred Snodgrass 54-M-PA/PA/PA m/1, m.30y, ranchman, stock ranch (#37/42)George Snodgrass 24-M-PA/PA/PA ranchman, stock ranch (#38/43)William Snodgrass 26-M-PA/PA/PA ranchman, stock ranch ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 1920 Soundex 7-75-16-75: ___ Snodgrass 23- -IA Casper, 7-75-31-88: Mable Long *** Arthur Snodgrass 22-M-IL son 7-85-3-53: George Snodgrass 30-M-PA Charolotte Snodgrass 22-F-IL wife Evelen Snodgrass 8m-F-WY dau. Alfred T. Snodgrass 63-M-PA father Anna Snodgrass 61-F-PA mother William B. Snodgrass 33-M-PA brother --------------------------- 1949 -- Who's Who in the West: George H. Snodgrass, cattle rancher, business exec.; b. Pa., Dec. 8,1886; son of Thomas Alfred and Martha Anna (Prather) Snodgrass; ed. in public schools; m. Anna Charlott Jourgensen, Feb. 6, 1918; children--Evalyn, Charlott, Ruth Elane, George William. Developed ranch producing high grade cattle and saddle horses near Casper, Wyo.; served as mem. Wyo. State Legislature. Mem. Casper Coordinating Council, City Planning Com., Mem. Wyo.Stock Growers Assn. (dir.), Natrona County Nat. Farm Loan Assn. (chmn. loancom.). Clubs: Lions, Toastmasters, Square and Compass Dance, Executives.Home: 628 E. 11 st., Casper, Wyo. Office: Casper, Wyo.; also Antelope Springs Ranch, near Casper, Wyo. 1990 -- Natrona Co., WY: pages 22 & 23: The mystery of why the historic old Goose Egg stone ranch house was built on a high open flat overlooking the North Platte River south of Casper was cleared up by the late George H. Snodgrass, area rancher. Mr. Snodgrass, who died in 1972 at the age of 85, recalled that the Searight Brothers, who founded the ranch in 1879, originally planned their headquarters further upstream along the river, where there was ample water and the shade of tall cottonwood trees. "They discovered a party of Indians had sneaked down a gulch nearby and decided to build a big stone house like a fortress on open ground to prevent any sneak attacks," Snodgrass said in a 1958 interview. The wisdom of this move was demonstrated several times in the next few years when settlers from miles around gathered at the old Goose Egg stonehouse for protection from Indian attacks (which never materialized). This was only a few years after the Custer Massacre on the Little Big Horn, and new settlers were still alarmed over Indian raids. Snodgrass himself selected a site close to the original Goose Egg homesite along the river as headquarters for his new ranch, appropriately named Goose Egg Ranch Co. It was operated in 1988 by his son, William. Hayfields are irrigated under the Kendrick Project. Earlier Snodgrass had homesteaded ranch holdings in the Antelope springs area northwest of the Salt Creek oilfields, in a rugged canyon area popular with deer hunters. His second ranch along the river was picked for its dependable water supply assured by upstream dams which regulated the flow through the year, as well as irrigated fields to produce hay and carry his cattle through the winter months. For much the same reasons the Searight Brothers picked this stretch of the Platte for water, shelter, and grass. They had trailed cattle from Texas and located on the Chugwater, where they sold their holdings to the Swan Land & Cattle Co. in 1878. They contracted for 14,000 head of cattle to be trailed from Oregon and threw up a temporary log bunkhouse and cook house roofed with poles and covered with a layer of sagebrush and dirt as temporary quarters.This was near the mouth of Poison Spider Creek in the vicinity of the first cabin in Wyoming built by Robert Stuart and the Astorians in 1812. The exact location has been disputed for years. Gilbert Seabright was wondering what to use for a brand when one of his cowboys found a nest of wild goose eggs on an island in the river and brought them to "Old Over Slope," the cook--so named because his ears had been frozen off during earlier years on the winter range, giving him the appearance of having been earmarked with an overslope. It was a common range term of that forgotten era. In any event, the goose eggs gave Searight the idea for the brand. It was easy to heat the iron and form an oval loop, and the brand was easy to apply. It became one of the most famous brands in Wyoming, giving rise to place names like nearby Goose Egg Mountain and years later, to the Goose Egg Inn, and the nearby Goose Egg Spring, largest fresh water spring in Wyoming and today the site of a state fish hatchery. The name was immortalized in Owen Wister's novel, "The Virginian," which perpetuated the folklore that the cowboys changed babies around during a dance at the Goose Egg ranch house. It was only after the parents returned home in the early morning hours that they discovered the babies had been switched. Fact or fiction, the story survives. Snodgrass first visited the old stone ranch house in 1914, when the Carey Brothers were still operating it. The range was becoming crowded, with all the homesteaders taking up 640-acre tracts under a new law. Many discovered they could not survive without irrigation, and sold their homesteads to neighboring ranchers, or leased them. Many early day ranchers got their start working for the Goose Egg. Martin Gothberg rode for the outfit as a green hand and later homesteaded the west end of Casper Mountain. William Clark lived there with his large family and later ran stage coaches from Casper to Lander, while ranching in the Pine Mountain area near Natrona. The crumbling ranch house was becoming a hazard for souvenir hunters and vandals in the 1930s and was razed by later owners, the Jim Speas family. The Natrona County Pioneer Association tried to raise funds to restore the ranch house as a tourist attraction, but without success. It would have been popular today as part of a Casper loop tour. As for the Searights, they "lucked out" by selling the ranch and 20,000 head of cattle to the Careys in the fall of 1885, a year ahead of the worstwinter of the century, 1886-87, which wiped out most of the big cattle outfits in Wyoming. One of the factors which persuaded old Searight to sell was the increasing depredation of rustlers on the ranges of central Wyoming. Many of his "mavericks" or unbranded cattle were roped by the nesters. (by Irving Garbutt) ################################################## SHERIDAN COUNTY WY (formed 1888 from Johnson County) CENSUS RECORDS 1900 census - yes 1910 census - yes 1920 soundex - yes ************************************** RECORDS 1900 Sheridan Co WY Census Becton Pct., 3-51-2-70: Robert Snodgrass 30-M-IA/IN/MO Jan 1870 m.2y, farmer [s/o Joseph S. Snodgrass & Elizabeth T. Harris] Ada M. Snodgrass 31-F-MO/IN/IL Dec 1868 wife, 0 ch Becton Pct., 3-51-2-72: Joseph S. Snodgrass 58-M-IN/TN/TN Apr 1842 m.32y, farmer [Joseph Spencer Snodgrass s/o Robert Snodgrass , b. IN & Nancy Matherly, b. IN (1850 Clinton Co IN; 1860 Page Co IA)] Elizabeth Snodgrass 42-F-MO/VA/VA Aug 1857 wife, 5 ch, 4 liv [Elizabeth T. Harris; m. 1865 Page Co IA] Stella Snodgrass 17-F-IA/IN/MO Dec 1882 daughter [info from Christina Stopka Esther May Snodgrass b. 10 Jul 1880 Clarinda, Page Co IA, d. 7 Jun 1957 Sheridan WY; m. 30 Oct 1898 Sheridan WY, William Edward Hammontree] [1870 & 1880 Page Co IA] ----------------------------------- 1910 Census Sheridan, page 209, #56/56: Wm. J. Stover 66-M-ME/ENG/ENG m/1, m.40y, retired rancher Minnie J. Stover 60-F-IL/ENG/ENG m/1, 0 ch Vera A. Snodgrass 16-F-WY/IA/IA lodger page 330, #89/90: Robert D. Snodgrass 40-M-IA/IN/MO m/1, m.12y, farmer, stock farm Addie M. Snodgrass 41-F-IL/VA/VA wife, m/1, 3 ch, 2 liv Dorris A. Snodgrass 7-F-WY/IA/IL daughter Mary E. Snodgrass 4m-F-WY/IA/IL daughter ------------------------------------ 1920 Sheridan Co WY Census/Soundex Sheridan, 9-106-23-91: Elizabeth T. Snodgrass 71-F-MO [Elizabeth T. Harris m. 1865 Joseph S. Snodgrass] Stella M. Hammontree 37-F-IA dau. Nona I. Hammontree 11-F-WY granddau. Sheridan, 9-109-18-24: Robert D. Snodgrass 49-M-IA [s/o Joseph S. & Elizabeth] Addie Snodgrass 51-F-IL Doris Snodgrass 16-F-WY dau. Mary Snodgrass 10-F-WY dau. 9-120-12-20: Pete Snodgrass -M- ------------------------------- ######################################### UINTA COUNTY (formed 1869 as original county) CENSUS RECORDS 1900 census - yes ******************************************* RECORDS 1 Sep 1895 -- Wilson Lawson Snodgrass, age 26, married Grace Albertha Stewart, age 15, at Fort Bridger (Book C, page 102). --------------------------------- 1900 Uinta Co WY Census Dist. No. 7, 4-61-5-90: Wilson Snodgrass 33-M-PA/PA/PA Nov 1866 m.5y, farmer [Wilson Lawson Snodgrass] Grace Snodgrass 20-F-UT/VA/VA Feb 1879 wife, 0 ch [Grace Albertha Stewart, m. 1895 Uinta Co WY] James Snodgrass 41-M-PA/PA/PA Feb 1858 laborer [1910 Twin Falls ID] --------------------------------- ############################################# YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK CENSUS RECORDS 1910 census - yes ****************************************** RECORDS 1910 Census Mammouth Hot Springs, page 305, #44/30: *** Thomas Snodgrass 41-M-ME/MA/ME lodger, teamster ----------------------- ################ end WY ##################