Monthly Archives: February 2025

While I didn’t see her in person very often, my cousin Liz Byer was a bright light shining from Facebook into the lives of those privileged enough to call her friend. She loved flowers, making Spring and Summer her seasons of choice, but she actually received a gift from Jesus on December 27th, when some of her outdoor flowers decided to be “blooming idiots” by blooming in the Winter. Leave it to Liz to come up with that. The reality is that she often came up with funny things. That was a big part of her charm. She would post things like “All of my flabbers are gasted” or show a picture of the birds at her “cat food bistro.” You really had no choice but to laugh at the stuff she found to brighten the day of anyone who followed her page. I would often go look at her page just to start my day with a smile. Oh…how I will miss those silly little posts.

Liz was born with Brittle Bone Disease, but she never let that get her down. She always wore a smile and always had a kind word or a funny quip to lift the spirits of those around her. You may not have even been feeling down, but after you talked to Liz or read her posts, you knew that your day got just a little bit brighter. She had a way of making your day better, even when you didn’t know you needed that. That is a person who is a bright light. That was Liz.

Liz’s top priority, after the Lord, was her family. She was married to my cousin Tim Byer on July 12, 1986. I’m sure that one of the things Tim noticed first about Liz, was her winning smile. You could just see the joy in her heart through her smile. Their marriage brought them two sweet daughters, Danielle Elizabeth and Nickole Marie, and when the girls married, they added James Forseen and Caleb Holscher. Liz and Tim now have six beautiful grandchildren, Natasha Elizabeth, Eleanor Mercedes, Joanna Carlyne, and Henry Axel Forseen; and James Timothy and Judah Everett Holscher. They are her pride and joy. Together, Liz and Tim started a beautiful family, and their family will continue on long into the future. While her home going will bring sadness to the family, they know that because she had accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior, she is not in their past now, but rather in their future. They will see her again when they all join her in Heaven with the Lord. We will all miss Liz very much. Liz, we love you and look forward to seeing you again when we go to Heaven too.

Paris is known as the city of love, and France is famous for love, so it’s not too surprising that it is thought that the first-ever Valentine’s Day card originated in France. At that time, Charles, the Duke of Orleans was in prison as a prisoner of war. He spent 25 years there, and he sent love letters to his wife from there in 1415. These days, the French village called “Valentine” turns into the epicenter of romance between the 12th and 14th of February. Everyone gets in on the fun. Yards, trees, and homes, are decorated with love cards, roses, and proposals for marriage. It seems like everyone gets in on the fun, making it one of the most beautiful Valentine’s Day traditions in the world. And it all started from a prison cell. Charles was allowed to live in relative freedom, and could even write letters, but he was not allowed to go free or be ransomed for almost 25 years. Sadly, his wife Bonne of Armagnac, the daughter of Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac, died before he returned from captivity. So, while he was rather famous for his letters and poems to her, they did him no real good. Still, their love was an unending love.

Sadly, some valentines have good endings and others don’t, but the idea of valentines, and Valentine’s Day is as timeless as the love between Charles and Bonne. Every year, couples exchange things like cards, candy, flowers, and gifts to show their love for one another. Many of these gifts are exchanged over a nice dinner and wine. Other times, the dinners might be held at home, even including the children of the couple. It doesn’t really matter how it is done…the idea is to celebrate the love the couple has for each other. Some people might think the tradition is silly, but usually those are the people who don’t have anyone to spend the day with. Some people think that it has become too commercialized, and maybe it has, but as commercialization goes, this one seems to be the sweetest. Happy Valentine’s Day!! I hope yours is very special.

Lawmen are supposed to be the keepers of the law and the protectors of the people, but that is not always the case, in the Old West or even today. One such group was the Dodge City Gang, comprised of a group of notorious Kansas gunfighters and gamblers who dominated the political and economic life of Las Vegas, New Mexico in 1879 and early 1880. Their leader was Hyman G Neill, better known as Hoodoo Brown, had managed to secure the position of justice of the peace in Las Vegas, Nevada. Brown quickly put together a gang of unlikely lawmen, including fighters from the recent Railroad Wars of Raton, New Mexico and Royal Gorge, Colorado. These included John Joshua Webb, “Dirty” Dave Rudabaugh, and Mysterious Dave Mather. Doc Holliday was in town at that time, and he was friendly with gang members, though he is not generally listed as a member of the loose-knit association. At the time, Las Vegas was booming and was thought to be the future metropolis of New Mexico. As with many a boomtown, it attracted a number of opportunists and outlaws, making the need for lawmen very important, and that meant they weren’t always chosen for their lack of criminal record.

Along with known gunfighters, the gang also managed to get their friends into local law enforcement positions too. The idea of the Dodge City Gang was, for the most part, that their actions were to control the gambling establishments and rake in huge profits. However, some of the members, notably Dave Rudabaugh, seemed unsatisfied with that, and felt like they should have special privileges. They were suspected of several stagecoach robberies and other criminal acts. I guess the good thing about hiring criminals is that they don’t mind committing crimes for you, provided they get a cut!!

Due to the town’s rough reputation, there was always a criminal element there. Men like, Billy the Kid passed through in 1879, as did Jesse James, although neither was ever a known part of the gang. Still, a local legend has the two famous outlaws meeting for dinner in the Old Adobe Hotel in nearby Hot Springs, New Mexico. Supposedly, at that meeting, Jesse invited Billy to come to Missouri and join his gang, but the Kid declined, but there is no real proof of that claim.

Sooner or later, people get tired of corruption in law enforcement, and in 1880 the tide of public opinion turned against the gang. Webb was arrested for his involvement in a shooting that might have actually been self-defense. Nevertheless, his association with the gang backfired on him, and he received a jail sentence for the shooting. Rudabaugh was also jailed due to his involvement in criminal acts. Both men eventually escaped. Jails weren’t as difficult to escape from back then. In the face of the negative public opinion, many other members of the organization left town. The power of the gang had lasted only a matter of months. In the end, the gang was doomed by the greed and excesses of its members, as well as their inability to disguise their acts. Oddly, this wasn’t the only “Dodge City Gang” because the name could also be associated with the informal group who dominated Dodge City, Kansas in the 1870s. At one time or another that group included Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Doc Holliday, and Luke Short. When you think about it, calling the La Vegas, New Mexico gang the “Dodge City Gang” really made no sense at all. Nevertheless, that was the name given.

While I’m not a bicycle fan, I know that a lot of people really love to go cycling. In the United States, the recreational bicycling fad began on February 11, 1878, when the Boston Bicycle Club became the first organization for recreational cyclists. The fad caught on, and the following year, a club was also formed in Buffalo, New York, followed by a club in New York City in 1880. Soon, clubs were starting up everywhere, as middle-class participation in cycling grew. There were literally hundreds of cycling clubs formed across the United States.

Once formed, the Boston Bicycle Club organized various rides. They quicky organized events…from tricycle races to 100-mile rides. The trend caught on and less than 20 years after its founding, more than 100 cycling clubs had formed in Massachusetts alone. In fact, according to the Massachusetts Historical Society, the clubs catered to rider expertise, gender, nationality and more. The early bicycles resembled what we might view as a tricycle today, with an oversized front wheel. Nevertheless, they still only had two wheels, and not the three that are found on a tricycle.

In October 1879, Boston Bicycle Club members rode an 87-mile round trip course through the city and its suburbs in an event with the Massachusetts Cycling Club. For short distances, the cyclists achieved speeds of 16 mph, according to the Boston Post. While the club was not necessarily considered an exercise club, the members did a lot of training to prepare for the different events. Of course, when you think about it, you would need to practice and train to get used to the Victorian-style penny farthings, as they are called.

Over the years, the two-wheeler evolved, and the oversized front wheel became a thing of the past, except on vintage bicycles, called Victorian Style Penny Farthings. The changes to the bicycle became a great improvement over the course of a century, thanks to several different inventors. Every so often, someone might decide to test their horses against the bicycles, such as the man in Watertown who was “driving a spirited horse engaged in a race with the riders and was beaten by Terront, the French rider, in about three-quarters of a mile,” according to the Post. It’s funny that the old “horse and buggy crowd” would feel the need to pit their horses against the bicycles. Still, you would have expected the horses to win the race and maybe they would have in a longer distance. Or maybe the horses were a little bit spooked by the contraption beside them. Either way, they lost the race that day.

In 1896, Boston highlighted the club that bore their name. The Boston Globe highlighted the work of the first club in the United States. Since then, “The name and fame of the Boston Bicycle Club has gone all over this fair land, and is spreading to foreign shores, whither some to its members have carried it.” The early bicycle clubs were great advocates for better roads that would be safer for bicyclists. When the automobile entered the scene, bicyclists would quickly find themselves caught between the road, and the cars that now occupied it with them. Many is the bicyclist that has lost his life at the hands, or wheels of a car. Of course, with the rise of automobiles early in the 20th century, the popularity of recreational cycling declined. In more recent years, bicycling as started to make a comeback, both in the exercise arena and the recreational arena.

With her family living in several areas of the state, my youngest sister, Allyn Hadlock’s family decided to meet in Wheatland so that everyone could be there for a birthday celebration. Most of her family lives in Casper, but she has daughters and their families in Laramie and Cheyenne too, so Wheatland is the logical choice. Everyone decided that a “destination birthday party” was a great idea, even if it wasn’t like to Hawaii or something. Allyn really is all about her family. She would give her right arm for any one of them. She is a very involved grandmother too. Even though, granddaughters Adelaide Sawdon and Mackenzie Moore live in Laramie and Cheyenne, Allyn is always willing to happily go and stay a few days to babysit them if their parents have to be out of town or something. That time with the girls is so special to her, and everyone is so happy that she can work that out.

Speaking of work, Allyn has worked from home now for the past few years, so it’s pretty easy to just take her work with her when she is spending time with the grandkids. Allyn is actually a boss at her work, and somehow, she manages to juggle all the responsibilities she has, without missing a beat when it comes to family time. Working from home really gives her that freedom. She loves having the girls, or her local grandkids, Ethan and Aurora Hadlock come to her house and spend time too. The summertime might find her house filled with kids hanging out. She also has a bonus-granddaughter, Jolene Thompson, who joined the family a few years ago, and while she lives in Rock Springs, she gets to come and spend time periodically, especially in the summer. And we must remember the “grand dogs” too, because they love spending time with grandma too.

While she can’t always be with her kids, she talks to them just about every day, sometimes several times a day. Daughter Lindsay Moore says she can’t even imagine how many phone calls her mom gets a day. Allyn has four children, Jessi Sawdon, Ryan Hadlock, Lindsay Moore, and Kellie Hadlock, but that is only a small part of the family. Jessi is married to Jason, and they have Adelaide; Ryan is married to Chelsea, and they have Ethan and Aurora; Lindsay is married to Shannon, and they have Mackenzie; Kellie is engaged to Tim Thompson, and they have Jolene; and we must not forget her fifth child…her dog, Liberty…whose picture is also on the mantle!! Allyn is married to Chris Hadlock, who is just as dedicated to the family as Allyn is. The Hadlock bunch are very dedicated to each other.

This year is an extra special one, because Allyn is the mother of the bride. With Kellie and Tim getting married this summer, she and Kellie are busily planning the wedding. She and Kellie have been picking out the decorations and “doing all the things” that go along with putting on a wedding. Kellie says, “She is the most supportive, kind, funny, and amazing person, and I’m so happy she is my mom!!” And I know everyone in her family would heartily agree. Today is Allyn’s birthday. Happy birthday Allyn!! Have a great day!! We love you!!

My grandnephew, Jake Harman is a crazy guy, and as his wife, Melanie Harman says, he’s a “big old goofball.” Anyone who knows Jake will tell you that is the perfect description for Jake. Melanie says she absolutely loves his sense of humor, and I can say that I totally agree. Jake is incredibly funny, and he doesn’t cringe at things that might make most people feel totally embarrassed. Recently he and his bonus daughter, Alice Green decided that they needed to have a facial, so they did (or maybe it was a filter, haha), and they made sure to document the event so that everyone got to see it. Did it look crazy? Absolutely!! Did that stop Jake? Nope!! He did it for his oldest girl, and they had a great time!! Melanie tells me that all the “ornery” Jake has packed inside just makes him who he is, and while his “ornery” isn’t about being mean, but its rather about How many tricks he has packed inside him. Jake is always pulling something. Nobody is immune to his trickery. He loves to tease everyone, and if Jake picks on you, you know that you are one of his favorites.

Jake loves to wrestle with all his kids, Alice, as well as Izabella “Belle” Harman and Jaxx Harman. The kids always try to win against their dad, but it doesn’t usually happen, unless he goes easy on them…don’t tell them. It’s a secret. Truly though, Jake is a great dad to the kids, and a great husband to Melanie. She tells me that over the years they have been together, he has “definitely helped make me into who I am today, and I thank God for him every day. All three of these babies love the heck out of him and get sooo excited when they see him after being away for a certain amount of time.” Jake and Melanie are two pieces of the puzzle of life, and they totally “work” together.  Melanie tells me that “His sweetness goes above and beyond.” Jake is one of the most energetic people you will ever know, just ask anyone who knows him. He is always on the “go, go, go!!” I don’t know where he gets all that energy. It makes most people tired, just watching.

Jake always has some project that he is working on, but recently, he purchased his dream Chevy Camero and now, he has taken that on as a new project to get it fully restored. Taking on the restoration of a car is no easy project, but it is very fulfilling, and I am really excited for Jake as he starts this new venture. I know that when he gets it done, it will be an amazing car!! When he gets it done, I will have to tell that story, but that will be a different birthday story.

Melanie says that “As with any family, there are occasional fights and challenges, but what family doesn’t haha!! We love Jake so very much and can’t wait for so much longer together!!” The most important part of any family dynamic is not the occasional fights, but the way you work through them that counts. Today is Jake’s birthday. Happy birthday Jake!! Have a great day!! We love you!!

Paris has long been known as the “City of Love” and is visited by many couples. I’m sure it is the Eiffel Tower that stands out for so many, and it is beautiful, but there are many other sights to see as well. Paris is, after all, one of the top honeymoon destinations. I can’t say it is any more romantic than any other city, but then I have never been there, so I would not really be the best person to say. Paris is not only dubbed the City of Love but also the art capital of the world. One of the most famous artistic styles that flourished in the city is, you guessed it, Romanticism. I can see where art would be a big deal there. Some of the landscapes and cityscapes are stunning. Paris was a city of many things. One of the many forms of love that came out of Paris was the Love Lock Bridge. Unfortunately, this one wasn’t totally a great idea.

It seems that as the many honeymooners and couples in love wanted to leave a lasting expression of their love. The arches of the Pont de Arts bridge, located in the heart of Paris have carried couples across the Seine since the early 1800s. Its original design included trees, floral beds, benches and other park-like amenities. Unfortunately, the original design was altered, due to boat collisions and two world wars. Even though the bridge didn’t take the couples to a romantic destination, it was still viewed as a romantic place due to its stunning views of the Eiffel Tower. The bridge still attracts visitors from around the world. It also attracted romantic gestures, but that is a relatively new tradition.

In 2008, something strange started happening. The visitors began engraving their names on padlocks, attaching the padlocks to the bridge, and throwing the keys into the river. It was a romantic gesture symbolizing never ending love. At first, nothing was done about the practice, because officials thought it was a fad that would quickly die out. It did not die out, and by 2017 there were about 700,000 padlocks secured on the bridge. That was how the bridge got its nickname…Love Lock Bridge.

Even with all those locks on the bridge, the fad continued. In fact, it literally exploded. At one point, it was estimated that there were over a million locks on the bridge. A section of the bridge railing actually collapsed under the weight of the extra load in 2015. A board was placed there as a temporary repair. At the point of the rail collapse, the bridge carried nearly 50 tons above and beyond its intended load capacity due to the weight of the metal locks. Apparently, that was about the weight of twenty elephants. Now the practice became more than just what might be considered an eyesore, they were a cause of concern for public safety. So, with that in mind, the city removed the locks. These days, visitors are still welcome to cross the bridge and take in the views of Paris, but they are no longer allowed to put locks on the bridge to “declare their enduring love.” Still, this hasn’t stopped some visitors from trying to add new locks to Pon des Arts bridge. Of course, now the locks are removed as soon as they are spotted. Instead of the locks, visitors are encouraged to take selfies or find less destructive declarations of love. I wonder if they might consider throwing roses into the river or something. I guess no one asked my, but it’s a thought anyway.

The Black Plague, also known as the Black Death, was a devastating pandemic that affected Europe and Asia during the Middle Ages. It was caused by the bacterium Yersinia Pestis and was primarily spread by infected fleas carried by rodents, but this was not known to the people of the medieval period, as it was only identified in 1894 CE. It was also known as Bubonic Plague. The Black Death wiped out millions of people in Europe between 1347 and 1352. It was one of the most fatal pandemics in human history. As many as 50 million people lost their lives, which was perhaps 50% of Europe’s 14th century population.

Prior to that 1894 CE, the plague was attributed primarily to supernatural causes – the wrath of God, the work of the devil, the alignment of the planets and, stemming from these, “bad air” or an unbalance of the “humors” of the body which, when in line, kept a person healthy. Basically, there was no cure…just fear. That fear left only one solution…quarantine. In an effort to protect the general population, the cases in Italy, once diagnosed, were sent to a small island in the Venetian lagoon. The island housed a hospital, now abandoned. The decrepit complex of buildings has been abandoned for a long time and basically left to rot. In an effort to slow the progression of the Plague, the island once served as a quarantine district during various phases of the Plague and its recurrences. For the victims housed there, unfortunately, quarantine did not slow the Black Death. They were quarantined from the public, but not from each other. Instead, the quarantine patients were kept in large dormitories with others at various stages of the disease. Even those who weren’t infected when they arrived but rather sent there because they had symptoms that worried the doctors, but once there, they had a good chance of being infected too. For many of the 160,000 infected patients who set foot on the island, it became their final destination. The victims were buried in mass graves or cremated after their death, and their ashes were spread on the island where they lie to this day.

After its use as a quarantine station ended, Poveglia opened an isolated mental hospital there in 1922. The hospital went from bad to worse, reportedly torturing its patients. They were also subjected to unnecessary, barbaric procedures like electroconvulsive therapy and lobotomy. They were physically restrained, beaten, and sometimes left in a solitary cell for long periods of time. Even after the hospital closed in 1968, the island wasn’t closed down. It remained open to the public until 2014. The bleak reputation of the hospital continued. It was finally decided that it needed to be closed. Of course, it was then rumored to be one of the most haunted places in Europe. I don’t believe in hauntings, but I’m sure that just the knowledge of how many people lost their lives there is gruesome ways, made it seem creepy for sure. Despite the reputation, the landowners have continued to try to sell the island for development, or maybe even a tourist destination. No one has taken the bate, because it seems too creepy to try to monetize an island whose soil may be comprised of human bones and ashes.

My niece, Jenny Spethman leads a busy life. Jenny has always been an early riser and loves to watch the sun rise in the mornings. Of course, by definition, in my opinion anyway, that makes her a lover of summer. It’s hard to get out and watch the sunrise in the freezing cold of Winter. Jenny loves her quiet time with the Lord before her family gets up, as the day begins. For Jenny that might mean getting food for all of her fur babies, and maybe her family too. Her kids are getting pretty grown up now, so she doesn’t necessarily have to get them ready for the day or get their meals, but, her daughter, Aleesia doesn’t drive yet, so there is transportation. Her boys, Xander, Zack, and Isaac are out of school and they all drive. Her husband, Steve is usually off to work early too, so then it’s Jenny time.

Jenny works in the office of a law firm here in Casper. She is the runner…meaning that she takes documents to the courthouse for filing or runs other errands for the people in the office. They really don’t know what they would do without Jenny. Her work saves everyone a lot of steps each day and improves the efficiency of the whole office. The good news for Jenny is that she isn’t just stuck at a desk all day. She really loves the change of duties each day, because her work depends on what is needed for the day. She also covers the reception desk during breaks and lunch for the receptionist. A nice thing is that her mom, Cheryl Masterson works there too, so they get to say “Hi” periodically.

Jenny is such a happy person. Her cheerfulness is a blessing to all those she comes in contact with. Everyone considers her their friend. She loves to entertain, and she is very good at planning events for her family and for holidays. She is so easygoing and loving. She may not “love” Winter, but she will get out with her family and embrace Winter. However, the summertime is where she wants to be. She loves hiking and hanging out with the family in the yard. They always set up a pool in the Summer, and her house is the hangout for all the kids’ friends. In the evenings, the kids and their various friends or partners love hanging out at the Spethman house…even if they have places of their own. That always makes Jenny very happy. Today is Jenny’s birthday. Happy birthday Jenny!! Have a great day!! We love you!

Traveling west in the mid 1800s was not an easy undertaking. It is often filled with hardship and heartache. Traveling westward in those days was not for the faint of heart or the weak in constitution. One family was heading out to Oregon, and things just didn’t go as planned. The Magill family consisted of Caleb and Mary Magill and their six children ranging from the eldest, Benjamin at 15 years, to the youngest, Ada at 3 years.

The trip from Brown County, Kansas to Oregon would be a long one, and it was often fraught with danger, so the family wanted to get an early start. One good thing was that their June 1864 early start put them ahead of some of the troubles that just weeks later lead to the deaths on the trail of Mary Kelly and Martin Ringo. Long-simmering tensions along the trails broke out into sporadic warfare later that summer between emigrants and people of the Lakota Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes. Kelly and Ringo were victims of those tensions.

Unfortunately, missing out on those tensions didn’t make the trip easier for the Magill family. Late in June 1864, 3-year-old, Ada Magill fell ill with dysentery when they were camped near Fort Laramie. They stayed in camp until Ada’s health improved, and then the family continued along the trail another 100 miles to a spot near present Glenrock, Wyoming, in Converse County. In early July 1864, the family was camped alongside Deer Creek, near present Glenrock, when Ada again became sick, but next morning seemed better, so the family continued on. They had gone only a few miles when Ada became very ill again, so they stopped and camped. That night, July 3, she died, as Caleb told the story years later. Devastated, but under the gun to get to Oregon before winter, they built a coffin for little Ada from the boards of an abandoned wagon. They buried Ada in her “Sunday best calico dress,” as the family remembered it later, then, “They heaped stones on the grave to keep wolves and coyotes out and went on toward Oregon,” according to historian and retired schoolteacher Randy Brown.

The Magill family went on to Oregon and settled in Polk County south of Portland in the Willamette Valley. I’m sure the arrival was bittersweet, because they were still grieving. Brown said that most of the information he got on the Magill family came from W W Morrison of Cheyenne, who was a freight conductor on the Union Pacific in the 1940s. Strangely, when Morrison contacted Magill family members still living at that time in Oregon, little information was available on Ada or her passing, and no family letters or diaries mentioning that have survived, so far as is known. The grave is not mentioned in any other emigrant diaries that have turned up. Nevertheless, its location is well documented.

The Oregon Trail route continued be an important trail long after the end of the covered wagon era. A new railroad was built in 1888, that passed close to Ada’s grave but respectfully, did not disturb it. Engineers were surveying for a better road between Glenrock and Casper in 1912, and they found the Magill grave, on a knoll 20 feet north of the old trail and marked with a rough, inscribed headstone. They knew it would end up right in the centerline of the new road. Surveyor L C Bishop, who later would become Wyoming’s state engineer, or chief water officer, decided to move the grave 30 feet north to the edge of the new road. As they dug up the grave, they found under a large stone slab about five feet down, according to Brown, Bishop, and a shovel crew of convicts from the Converse County jail “pieces of the little girl’s skull, a few small bones, some pearl buttons and a few cut nails.” It had to be a really hard find, but that is what happened to those old pine box graves in those days. I’m sure they felt awful. Bishop carved a new stone with the same inscription as the original and buried the original about three feet deep in the new grave. I feel like that was a very respectful and honorable thing to do.

While the railroad is no longer used and was removed in the 1980s, Ada Magill’s grave still remains, protected by a sturdy fence, and marked with a plaque placed by the Oregon-California Trails Association. The Ada Magill’s grave lies in sight of the North Platte River.

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