Carbon County news., 1937-11-05

7 sick in Cooke" It is an actual fac
> that two men had to be shot in or
: der to start the cemetery which
, now numbers less. than IS graves
The men were killed in a saloor
, brawl in the roaring days of 1876
} IT when, bands of prospectors
swelled the population of what was
then known as Clark's Fork City
to 1000 persons.
Deaths are so rare in the village
that last winter when one did oc-
cur a casket was made from pine
wood and lined at a sewing "bee'
by the women of the community,
The body was then placed on sled
runners and taken to the ceme-
terry which is about a mile from
the actual town and plainly visible
from the highway.
Organized religious groups in a
hamlet so small yet made up of
such heterogeneous population
is almost an impossibility. There
are no church services, no Sunday
schools, but there does exist among
these doughty peoples a sense of
spiritual conscientiousness. Ger
tainly they are not a pious lot, but
they have made their home in an
unbelievable world of spires, min
arets and domes that form way
side cross before which man might
bow his head in profound homage
to God.
Paradoxically the society, made
up of valiant men and women
whose vital concern it is to exc out
an existence in a frost-bound
world, finds the time to organize
a reading club to study "Omar" or
read the latest best seller.
Travel on Snow Shoes
Night comes quickly in Cooke
City when the first snow begins to
fall. Coming at the end of days
packed with thrills in a land where
any travel must be negotiated on
skis or snowshoes, evenings pass
quickly for young and old alike.
To the John Aliens, the Charlie
Pews, the James Stinsons, men
from whom the vicissitudes of long
years of waiting to strike moth
er lode has not dimmed their faith
in Cooke, there is always the pros
pect of the increasing revival in
mining to read and talk of. The
OHara lode, the first claim to be
filed on by Noah, Armstrong, June
10, 1872, just five days after the
formation of the New World min
ing district; the Soda Butte creek,
Shoe Fly, Peacock, Alta Califor-
mia, Silver Lone, Eldorado, West
Point and many other lodes are
still open topics Of conversation
among these rugged old men.
RELIEVING the days when Adam
(Horn) Miller, Bart anderson, Ed
Hibbard, j. H. Moore and James
Courely had their nearly disas-
trous run in with the Crow In
dians in 1870, they tell their stor-
les Of adventure, history and To-
mance-how the miners, outfitting
at the old Crow Agency on Mis-
sion creek, near Livingston, were
chased by roaming band of Crow
Indians back from the eastern
border of Yellowstone park to
Cache creek in a canyon south of
Cooke-how they returned to the
mission with the story of rich
manganese outcroppings and gold
findings to be discovered at Cooke.
The original name of Clark's
Fork City was changed to Cooke
City when Jay Cooke, Jr., son of
the famous Civil war financier,
backed the "diggin's." Old-timers
reminesce on how in 1883 Allen |
made the 1O0-mile trip from Boze-
man in II days to bring back the
first team of horses to Cooke; how
the slump in silver and copper
prices in 1894 made a ghost city |
of the little village and now, how |
gold is being taken from the Gros
Ventre vein, said to be the only !
deposit of the kind in the northern |
continent, the only other being in
the South African Rand.
Until this coming winter the
average age of the Cooke City in
habitant was said to be 45, but
this year, several young people are
staying in the old mining town.
The enrolment in the school this
fall has increased from the aver
age IL to 25. In addition to their
school work, youngsters will find
their amusement during the winter
in trapping, skiing, hunting and
skating.
Lawlessness is uncommon in
Cooke, so much so that there is
not even peace officer there.
Should any outbreak occur the
people take the matter in their own
hands and deal with it as they see
fit.
To those seeking respite from
the passing crowds ignoble
u - /