This was during Mr. McKinley's first administration.
I went to Washington, saw the President, and explained to him the
possibilities of a road of eighty miles, the only one entering the
National Park from the East. It would be, I told him, the most
wonderful scenic road in the West. Mr. Roosevelt ordered the building
of this road, which has now become the favorite automobile route into
the Park. Today the Big Horn Basin is one of the richest of American
oil lands, and the Pennsylvania of the West for coal production. Every
one of the prophecies that Professor Marsh made to us around that
campfire has come true.
In December, 1870, I was sent as a witness to Fort D.A. Russell, near
the city of Cheyenne, where a court-martial was to be held. Before
leaving home my wife had given me a list of articles she needed for the
furnishing of our house. These I promised to purchase in Cheyenne.
On arriving at Fort Russell I found many officers, also witnesses at
the court-martial, and put in most of my time with them. A postponement
of a week gave us an opportunity to "do" Cheyenne. That town furnished
abundant opportunities for entertainment, as there was every kind of
game in operation, from roulette to horse-racing. I sent for my horse,
Tall Bull, and a big race was arranged between him and a Cheyenne
favorite called Green's Colt. But before Tall Bull could arrive the
court-martial was over and the race was off.
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