9. Elmer Ellsworth Chatfield & Della Chatfield

Chatfield, Ella: age 11, at home, born Kansas, attending school

Chatfield, Elmer: age 7, at home, born Colorado

Chatfield, Vanwert: age 5, at home, born Colorado

Chatfield, Jane: age 2, at home, born Colorado (Jacqueline)

Chatfield, Ella S.: age 21, daughter, born Kansas, father born Ohio, mother born Iowa

Elmer E.: age 17, son, born Colorado, father born Ohio, mother born Iowa, handling horses

Chatfield, Phil Vanwest: age 14, son, born Colorado, father born Ohio, mother born Iowa (note: Van Wert)

Chatfield, Jacqueline: age 12, daughter, born Colorado, father born Ohio, mother born Iowa

Chatfield, Charles H.: age 9, son, born Colorado, father born Ohio, mother born Iowa

Chatfield, Callie: age 1, daughter, born Colorado, father born Ohio, mother born Iowa

Elmer Chatfield passes into the collegiate preparatory.

PERSONAL MENTION.

Elmer Chatfield visited Aspen Saturday on business.

EMMA FLAT

Within a scope of three miles of Emma postoffice, at the mouth of Sopris creek, is a fine stretch of farming land, lying on both sides of the Roaring Fork river, that is well called by the residents the garden spot of the Roaring Fork valley. Here is the largest group of ranches anywhere in this part of the state, …

The next ranch is that of C.S. Chatfield, who keeps the Interval house, a popular stopping place on the Glenwood road. Mr. Chatfield has a field of 75 acres of Oats, and has cut 25 tons of hay—a crop worth $4,000.

Adjoining and back of this ranch Mr. Elmer Chatfield has a pretty meadow as any one could wish for‚ apparently as level as a house floor, but with sufficient fall for irrigating purposes. He cut about 50 tons of hay, and 10 acres of oats that are an extraordinary yield, thought to go 60 bushels to the acre. His crop is worth $2,500.

Opposite the interval house is the Emma hotel and postoffice.

We have been unable previous to this late day, to secure a report of the grain crop of the valley. These figures represent machine measure, which is fully 20 per cent less than weight measure.

ROARING FORK & ROCK CREEK VALLEYS.

… E.E. Chatfield…………………544 BUSHELS….

John Sellinghouse, of Emma, was in town this week. Mr. Sellinghouse has been appointed by the commissioners as road overseer in the place of Elmer Chatfield who failed to qualify.

The ranchers about Emma are very busy plowing and sowing. Mr. Elmer Chatfield will break about 100 acres for oats.

Misses Ella Chatfield and Edith White have returned to town from a visit to Elmer Chatfield’s ranch at Emma.

404—G.W. Gillespie vs Elmer Chatfield, the ditch case. The trial was continued and concluded, and the court found for defendant and that plaintiff pay costs.

• Chatfield: I.W., Elizah, Charles, Elmer, Jacqueline, Callia
• Mallon: Jim, Jacqueline (Chatfield)

A special from Grand Junction to the Denver Republican says Elmer E. Chatfield, a son of I.W. Chatfield, arrived there Monday morning after an exciting and successful chase after horse thieves. The horses were stolen on the night of Sept. 14, and Mr. Chatfield started immediately from Aspen in pursuit and succeeded in capturing his horses and the thieves near Green river, Utah. The young man followed the thieves entirely alone, traveling day and night, and made the capture without any assistance. He was in one of the most dangerous parts of Utah Territory, where, had his mission been known, his life would have been worth but little. For perseverance and pluck the like as not been performed in Colorado.

Emma, Col, Jan. 3, ‘89

Mr. Elmer Chatfield has returned from his trip to remain on his father’s ranch during the winter.

Emma, Col, Feb. 18, ‘89

A visit of your correspondent to the ranch of I.W. Chatfield convinced her that nothing was wanting in the line of agriculture. Fine stock, and abundance of hay and necessary machinery and farming impliments (sic).
Elmer Chatfield feels proud of his charge.

Hon. I.W. Chatfield arrived from Denver and departed for his ranch in Emma yesterday. He has been invited to deliver an address in Denver on Arbor day. He says they are to have a big celebration there on that occasion. Mr. Chatfield and his son Elmer will farm on an extensive scale this summer. They will cut sixty acres of Alfalfa, and they are now making arrangements to sow forty acres of oats, and about twenty-five acres of corn. Last year from eight acres Mr. Chatfield raised 400 bushels of good corn.

Emma—Elmer Chatfield

ASPEN.

EMMA—The first precinct report was brought in by E.E. Chatfield.
The rest of the state ticket the republicans received 18 and democrats 27; Chatfield 33, Hooper 12, …

Sheriff White received a dispatch Thursday from the sheriff of Mesa county asking him if he still wanted James Cooper. Our sheriff replied that he wanted him and wanted him bad. In a short time word was received that the man was under arrest and awaiting the action of the Pitkin county authorities.

This is the man who, about a year ago, stole a pair of horses belonging to Elmer Chatfield. He was traced by that young man into Utah and captured at Moab. Mr. Chatfield’s exploit was a somewhat remarkable one and created no little comment at the time among those who were acquainted with him. The horses were stolen from his ranch near Emma and as soon as he discovered his losses he set out in pursuit. He soon got track of them, finding that they were apparently being run across the country by a band of desparate, organized horse thieves, operating between the Paradox valley and Utah.

After a hard chase he came up with the stock at Moab and arrested the man Cooper, who, he found, had taken them. The thief was placed in charge of a constable while Elmer went off to get one of the horses that had been sold. While he was gone the constable let the man escape and he had never since been heard of until the message was received from Grand Junction yesterday. Cooper is under indictment in this county for the crime, and his trial will no doubt come up at the next term of the district court.
The capture is one that will greatly interest all who have stock in the valley, as a great many of the ranchmen have suffered severely at the hands of the gang which Copper was a member. They are all tough, desperate men and constitute one of the worst bands of thieves that has ever operated in western Colorado. Sheriff White will send a man immediately to secure the prisoner.

About a year ago Elmer Chatfield had some horses stolen from his ranch. He had an exciting chase after the thief who was captured afterwards in Utah, but who escaped. Sheriff White yesterday received a telegram from the sheriff of Mesa county announcing the capture of Jim Cooper who is now in jail at Grand Junction. The sheriff will send a man there to bring Cooper to Aspen.

James Cooper, convicted of stealing horses, was on Saturday morning sentenced to five years at hard labor, at Canon City.

The felony for which Cooper will serve a term in the pen occurred about a year ago. Cooper stole two horses, valued at $400, from the ranch of Elmer Chatfield, located a few miles down the Roaring Fork. He took the horses to Utah, where he traded. Young Chatfield had followed him and caused his arrest. Cooper escaped from the Utah officials. Meantime a true bill had been found against him by the grand jury of this county.

For some time all trace of Cooper seemed to be lost. Finally, about two months ago he was captured near Grand Junction and brought here.
In his testimony Cooper stated that he had been a tie chopper and his only motive in stealing was to get enough money to see his wife, who is in the east.

Miss Jacqueline Chatfield, Miss Ora Chatfield, Charles Chatfield and Elmer Chatfield formed a merry party on the Rio Grande going down to their ranch at Emma.

At the meeting of the board of county commissioner Tuesday, judges of election and polling places were selected as follows:

Precinct No. 5 Emma—Postoffice; Elmer Chatfield, Benjamin F. Prewitt, A. Naehe. Sr., judges.

The Carbondale Gun Club was duly organized by election of the following officers… the following are the list of members: E.E. Chatfield, …

Regular shooting grounds will be on the 4th Saturday of each month at 1:30 p.m. The shooting grounds will be selected by the trustees during the present week and it is hoped that everything will be in readiness for the regular shoot to take place of Saturday, January 31st.

A meeting of the club will be held in the room adjoining the back on Monday evening next at 8 o’clock. All members are earnestly requested to be in attendence for the further transaction of important business.

Yesterday there arrived in Glenwood a car load of the finest thoroughbred Durham cows ever brought in the country. They are for the stock ranch of Elma (sic Elmer) E. Chatfield and they have a pedigree straight from “Jubilee King” and “Cruikshank.” I.W. Chatfield who had charge of the stock showed the reporter a book of a hundred pages that contained the history of the stock and he assured him that they were the finest creatures he had seen for a long time. Added to the fine stock of Herefords that Mr. Elma (Elmer) Chatfield now has on his ranch, this will place him ahead in blooded stock. A visit to his place will repay any lover of fine thoroughbreds.

Land Office at Glenwood Springs, }

Colorado, March 17, 1891 }

Notice is hereby given that the following named settler has filed notice of his intention to make final proof in support of his claim, and that said proof will be made before the Register and Receiver at Glenwood Springs, Colorado, on April 30, 1891, at 10 o’clock a m, viz:

ELMER E. CHATFIELD,

of Emma, Colo., on his P.D.S. No. 181 Ute series, for the NW ¼, SW ¼, sec. 13. NE ¼, SE ¼, and S1/2, SE, ½, sec. 14, now described as lots, 10, 111, and 16, sec. 13, and lots 9 and 10, sec. 14, Tp 8, S R 87, W 6 PM.

He names the following witnesses to prove his continuous residence upon and cultivation of, said land, viz:

Vincent Vanoni, C.S. Chatfield, August F. Naefe, G.H. Gillespie, all of Emma, Colo.

G.D. THAYER, Register.

First pub Mar 25; last pub April 29.

Elmer Chatfield was a passenger on the outgoing Denver & Rio Grande train yesterday morning.

A pleasant party consisting of Mr. and Mrs. A.B. Schilling, Mr. and Mrs. Bert Schilling, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Small, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Adams, spent Sunday at the ranch of Elmer Chatfield at Emma in fishing and making hay.

After listening to complaints all of last week, the boards were in good condition when they met Monday morning, to proceed with a vim, as was evidenced from the large number of bills which they passed. The work regarding the changes made necessary by the new law, has all been completed, and the following persons were selected to act as judges of election in their respective districts at the coming political contest, Nov. 3rd:

11—Price Sloss, Elmer Chatfield, A.F. Allison

Write soon to Mother

E. Chatfield

Dell started this letter so I will finish it.

Aunt Mollie, you do not know how near I came to killing Dell and the Babies day before yesterday, while coming down that infernal hill to Buffalo.
I had my sheep wagon & Dell & the Babies were back on the brd (buckboard).

In the first place I rough locked the wagon and then chained a big pine tree to the hind end and started, when about ½ the way down my wagon started to push my horses and I could see they could not hold it. So away we went as I come to the turn my wagon slued off and we run about 25 yds on the edge of the road & then over we went down the mountain. When I came to I was laying under the wagon box with the corner of the box resting on my head. I knew where I was in a minute & the first thing I thought of was Dell & the Babies. I hollered to Dell but not a sound did I get except from Toady Bull a little girl Dell had with her to help take care of the children who said, “for God sakes Mr. Chatfield get me out.”

Well now mind you I was pinned underneath the wagon box but there was a little space in front by the dashboard so I undertook to crawl out but my over coat & clothes was to bulky to let me out so I had to work my coat off & I can safely say for once I crawled through an auger hole.
When I got out and took in the surroundings my horses was about 30 feet away and entirely loose from the wagon & wagon bottom side up & the wheels & running gear on top the box.

I hollered again to Dell but not a sound. If there is a man in the world suffered as I did that minute God pity him.

When I undertook to turn that wagon over it was impossible. My only salvation was to cut them out so at it I went. The first slash I came very near cutting Toady’s head. I got her out all O.K. & then kept cutting & digging at last I struck Dell all covered up in the bedding & hay. I asked her if she was hurt & where the children was. She says I am not hurt & Helen is right here by me & the Baby is under me. I got the Baby out first & then Helen. Dell says “My God what will we do I am afraid poor little Marion is dead”.

Well I pulled Dell out & started for Marion. As last I found her entirely wrapped up in one on the Feather Beds and not a scratch. I don’t think I ever was quite as happy as when they were all loaded safe & sound.
A Mr. Kinney happened along at the time & rendered me a great deal of assistance & so ends the first chapter.

All send love. Dell is taking care of the Baby and can’t write.

Your Nephew,

Elmer

P.S. Tell old Art to come up and we will have good hunt in the Bad Lands.

Mrs. E.E. Chatfield, a guest of Mr. and Mrs. C.S. Chatfield, returned to her home in Big Horn Basin, Wyoming, on Wednesday, after a visit of several weeks at Basalt.

Acres: 160

Issue Date: 7/3/1902

U.S. Reservations: Yes

Authority: May 20,1862, Homestead Entry Original

N1/2SW 21/ 46-N 87-W no 6th PM WY Washakie

SWSW 21/ 46-N 87-W no 6th PM WY Washakie

NWSE 21/ 46-N 87-W no 6th PM WY Washakie

Meanwhile, his father was rising into prominence as a cattleman, and he now occupies a leading place in the great cattle industry, having his headquarters at Denver. He has also been prominent in other lines, having served as the mayor of Aspen, Colo., and later as a member of the State Senate. In all the lines of his activity he has exhibited superior capacity and borne himself in a masterly manner.

This characteristic his son inherits, being equal to every emergency that confronts him, making the best of his situation all the time. He came to Wyoming in 1894, bought the ranch on which he now lives, and at once engaged earnestly in the stock business. His ranch comprises 520 acres of fine land, it is well-improved as to buildings, complete in equipment for its purposes, skillfully cultivated in such parts as are put into crops. He owns 400 Shorthorn cattle of superior quality and a band of fine graded horses. Notwithstanding his exacting and extensive duties on the ranch and in his cattle business, Mr. Chatfield finds time to aid in the development of the community and in securing the conveniences of modern life for its people. He was one of the projectors of the telephone line into Tensleep, being now the treasurer of the local company.

He was united in marriage with Miss Della Chatfield, a native of Nebraska, the nuptials being solemnized at Ogden, Utah, on September 18, 1892. They have four children. Helen, Marian, Savilla and Andrew (Audrey), whose father is a wide-awake, enterprising citizen, whose influence has always been given on the side of progress and improvement in his community, and whose life has ever been an example and an incitement to others. He is modest in assumption, but tenacious of conviction, possessing a clearness of vision, firmness of purpose, generosity of feeling and a commendable public spirit.

As more settlers came into the area the need for a school was apparent. The first school in the area was held in a trapper’s dugout in 1880-1881. The Wild Game Laws were enacted around the same years. As early as 1885 irrigated farmland, a few schools, post offices and meeting places for churches were scattered throughout the Ten Sleep Country. The Big Horn National Forest was established in 1887. The first post office in Ten Sleep was established in 1889, one year before Wyoming achieved statehood in 1890.

Between 1886-1893 the influx of settlers along the major Bighorn Basin water courses restricted open range by fencing. Settlers mixed raising cattle with agriculture and began a trend towards the establishment of small owner-operator homesteads integrating ranching and farming, like that of Frank Ainsworths, who lived at Big Trails, south of Ten Sleep. During the same period came the expansion of raising sheep. When W.P. Noble established his spread along the Upper No Wood in the early 1890’s he had 9000 sheep as opposed to 8000 cattle. Operations like Noble and Bragg were augmented by other sheepmen who were in fact small owner-operators contending for their share of the open range.

The first hotel was opened in 1900 called “The Porty Lewis Hotel”. It stood for some 80 years on 1st street. The first church was built in 1904 by the Methodists. It was called by many “the community church”, where all faiths were welcome. That same year the Ten Sleep Range District was formed. The superb range conditions in the Basin continued to encourage the booming sheep industry. The sage of the region provided ample feed for the sheep throughout the winter and the market’s demand was sufficiently profitable. By the turn of the century many cattlemen faced with declining profits started switching to sheep.

The Climax of the Johnson County Wars (Cattlemen vs. Sheepmen) 
and the Spring Creek Raid:

In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s cattlemen of the Big Horn Basin, which was then part of Johnson County, dominated the open range and set up boundaries or “deadlines” where sheep were forbidden to cross or graze. In late March of 1909, Joe Allemand, a French sheep man, his nephew, Jules Lazier and Joe Emge, a cattleman turned sheepman left Worland, Wyoming headed for Spring Creek, southeast of Ten Sleep, with 5000 sheep. On the evening of April 2, 1909, seven masked riders raided the sheep camp, setting fire and killing both men and sheep.

Public reaction to the brutal and tragic act left no doubt that the violence on Wyoming’s open range would no longer be tolerated. Some of the cattlemen that took part in the raid were convicted and sent to prison.

One thing that had not changed was the administration of the public lands by the federal government. There were no regulations and no restrictions except for those on outright sale of land. The fundamental problems associated with grazing on the public domain remained, and so did the fundamental sources of conflict. The only difference was that it was no longer big cattlemen against small cattlemen—it was all cattlemen against all sheepmen. The sheep and cattle wars, which had avoided Wyoming for so many years, had arrived with a vengeance.

Through early 1909, there had been at least six killings in Wyoming in over twenty-nine incidents related to the conflict. More than 18,000 sheep had been slaughtered; they were shot, burned, or clubbed to death, driven over cliffs, dynamited, or poisoned. Sheepwagons had been burned and wrecked, and dogs were shot, clubbed to death, or burned. This carnage—which is almost certainly understated, occurred in the vast majority of cases when cowboys raided sheep camps.

When Joe Emge, a Ten Sleep area cattleman who had publicly expressed his hatred of sheep and had even built an illegal fence to keep sheep off of public range, turned traitor by selling his cattle and going into partnership with a well-known sheep rancher, he earned the contempt and hatred of the area cattlemen. In April of 1909 Emge boldly moved his sheep across a dead line, and his camp was raided that night by five men wearing gunny sack masks. They killed Emge, his partner, and a sheepherder, then cremated their bodies in their wagon and shot many of the sheep.

While the murders were being investigated, one cattle rancher who testified before a grand jury was shortly thereafter found dead. Eventually, however, all five raiders—several of them prominent ranchers—were identified and convicted. Although some Wyoming cattlemen retain their dislike of sheep, the Ten Sleep incident was more or less the end of the violence, with later conflicts between cattle and sheep interests being settled in a more civilized fashion.

(Included in the) family names and location of the taxpaying settlers who represented the scope of the inhabitants in the area lying east of the Big Horn River who were cattlemen:
Paint Rock–

• Mrs. S.W. Hyatt (first wife of C.S. Chatfield, Jr., Elmer’s cousin)

Spring Creek–

• Elmer Chatfield

Otter Creek–

• Charles Elliott Shaw (married to Ora Shaw, daughter of C.S. Chatfield, Sr.)

No Wood River (Lower)–

• George Sawyer (married to Mabel Sawyer, daughter of C.S. Chatfield, Sr.)

Elmer Chatfield, a well and favorably known rancher and livestock producer in Washakie County for many years, came into the Big Horn Basin in the year 1893 from the Roaring Fork River, a tributary of the Grand River, about twenty-five miles southwest of Aspen, Colorado. He located with his family on Spring Creek, twelve miles south of Ten Sleep, where they resided for many years.

One time I asked Chatfield about the last round-up by the original Cattle Kings in the east side of the Basin, as I was aware of his friendship with Clay Anderson, the first foreman for Henry Lovell in the year, 1879. Said Chatfield, “The last roundup made by the Cattle Kings that I know about was in 1894. I had been in the Basin previous to my bringing my family from Colorado. Clay Anderson was in charge. You must understand that this roundup was to gather the residue that had been missed before on previous roundups.

There were many brands represented in the cleanup — the M.L., the 2-Bar, the Shields, the Bar-X, and then there were strays that belonged on the west side of the Basin. Some of these outfits were out of existence, but the banks were still on their toes trying to cut down their losses. There was the 76 outfit on the east side of the mountain. They were interested in the Bar-X, but following the Johnson County War, they did not dare represent in person, as there was much feeling still alive. So Clay Anderson was elected to run this last roundup in the interests of all parties concerned, and Clay was a good man, very capable and honest.

“Upon leaving the Basin they camped near my place on Spring Creek, and Clay spent the night with us. He tried his best to talk me into buying the remnants that tallied about 1,600 head. He told me that he would sell them to me for a flat price of $21,000.00 and I could tally them out for count.

“I was to pay nothing down and have twenty-one years to pay for them, and a note drawing four percent interest. But, I decided not to take the gamble. I had 300 head of cattle, and decided I would be better off to just take my time and grow into a herd of cows.

“Clay Anderson took the herd over the mountain, and I never did hear just how he disposed of them, but I imagine he made a deal with some outfit near Buffalo.”

This story, then, represents the “LAST ROUNDUP” in the south end of the Big Horn Basin of Wyoming, when the remnants of the great herds of the eighties owned by the Cattle Kings were gathered and taken out of the Basin.

Commenting on the (Johnson County War) on the situation in Basin during the session of the Grand Jury, Elmer Chatfield, now 97 years old (in 1949) — spry and nimble as a man of seventy and as alert mentally as one of sixty — expressed it this way:

“The town of Basin City was quite a sight, it was filled to capacity. You couldn’t get a bite to eat nor a place to sleep half of the time. The streets were jammed with people; mostly men who gathered in groups– sheepmen, cattlemen, lawmen, lawyers, and just plain curiosity seekers.

“People were thicker than buzzards around a slaughter house. The atmosphere seemed electrified with tension, and to make it worse the State Militia had been sent in. These fellows were stationed at the entrance of the place where the Grand Jury sat, on the streets every place, with rifles and shining bayonets attached. The air tingled with tension.

“The range men with their wide hats, brims pulled low in front, six-shooters stuck in the waistband of their pants or in scabbards on their hip. Everyone glanced at everyone else from under their hat brim with apprehension, while attorneys criss-crossed the street, bare-headed with an armload of books or a handful of papers. I have witnessed a lot of quarrels and tense moments from Dodge City, Kansas, through Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, but I never saw a more tense atmosphere. If some trigger-happy guy had ever started something it could have been a catastrophe.”

Chatfield, Helen L.: daughter, age 16, born Colorado, father born Colorado, mother born Nebraska

Chatfield, Marion H.: daughter, age 14, born Wyoming, father born Colorado, mother born Nebraska

Chatfield, Sevilla M.: daughter, age 11, born Wyoming, father born Colorado, mother born Nebraska

Chatfield, Audrey E.: daughter, age 9, born Wyoming, father born Colorado, mother born Nebraska

Chatfield, Constance C.: daughter, age 4, born Wyoming, father born Colorado, mother born Nebraska

We will stay here for a few months. I will come with Aunt Calla. We received a letter from Elmer yesterday. He said he was getting to be a full fledged sheep man. He has two sheep men I mean herders paying them ninety five a month. He says it keeps him a humping to keep everything moving. They (are) all well. You may hear from Elmer after but I thought let you know the little I know in regard to them.

As ever your loving mother E. Chatfield.

What do you hear from Charleys folks.

Mother

Transaction includes water rights and improvements.

YOU AND YOUR NEIGHBOR

Mrs. Elmer Chatfield returned home this week from Rochester, Minnesota, where she had gone for medical treatment at the Mayo hospital.

Chatfield, Marion H.: daughter, age 23, born Colorado, father born Colorado, mother born Nebraska

Chatfield, Sevilla M.: daughter, age 21, born Wyoming, father born Colorado, mother born Nebraska

Chatfield, Audrey E.: daughter, age 19, born Wyoming, father born Colorado, mother born Nebraska

Chatfield, Constance C.: daughter, age 15, born Wyoming, father born Colorado, mother born Nebraska

In 1895, he, Della, and daughter Helen began the trek north by covered wagon. Life on that mountain before the turn of the century was a primitive existence—miles to the nearest neighbors, water was hauled from the creek for household use, cutting and chopping wood was hard labor, there were only wood burning ranges and pot-bellied stoves. Transportation was team and wagon or saddle horse. Twice a year Elmer made the trip to Casper with the supply wagons for food staples, clothing, leather goods, and tools.

But the family, by now five daughters, defied those hardships and remained on that ranch until 1914. Elmer sold out to Taylor Bros. (Dave and George) and bought acreage north of Worland to establish a farming/livestock operation.

This is the house he built there on the county line. It was furnished with genuine leather throughout.

Elmer never looked a day different at age 99—maybe the moustache got grayer. He sported a goatee in his earlier years. And he was balding early in his life span, but because he always wore a hat, most people didn’t notice. Shaving was a problem because of the deep scars on either side of his chin. He had been kicked by an unruly horse and both sides of his jaw were broken—his chin hung slack against his Adam’s apple. How it was remedied is not known—probably wired together same as today.

Around 1905 he suffered a bout of erysipelas in the scalp area so severe the vesicles had to be lanced. Those scars were forever visible. It could have contributed to his balding early. And those squinty eyes were caused by black powder burns. He and his playmates were experimenting with it when it exploded in his face. He was blind for a time; eventually he did recover his eyesight, but his eyelids forever drooped.

The research showed that the cabin belonged to Elmer & Della Chatfield but they never lived in it. The American Girl Scout Organization bought the cabin and all the land near it for their National Center West in 1969.

We found that the Elmer Chatfield property was located on what is now known at Broken Back Ranch near Ten Sleep Buttes. Elmer got the land from Alex Cunningham by deed on April 25, 1898.

Elmer had many other parcels of land so the land on Broken Back may only be one of his properties and not where he lived. He had a large ranch near Worland as well as the property near Ten Sleep.

I am also sending you a photocopy of a picture you sent me a few years ago and I hope I can get a better copy for my Isaac Chatfield book (now about 200 pages long!). I am sending you a photo of Isaac W. Chatfield with his second wife (Sarah Jane Chatfield) which I am sure you may not have seen. Also enclosed is a picture of Isaac taken about 1910.
Perhaps you can fill me in on some information about your children.

Thanks. I look forward to hearing from you.

Your cousin,

Gordon Clemens

Carmel, Calif

• 1. Source – Mortgage records Book 1, pg 66. Elmer E. and Della Chatfield took out a mortgage from A.R. Yeoman on 4-1-14. Property mortgaged was located at south one-half (S1/2) of Sec. 9, T 48 N., Range 92 West of 6th P.M. Also mortgaged were water rights and improvements.

Courthouse Research on the Cabin of Elmer Chatfield

On July 29th a Caves and Cabins research team went to Worland, Wyoming, via a camp van to try and discover any previous deeds or records concerning “Chatfield’s Cabin” located at township 47, range 87, and section 36.

The County courthouse provided us with mortgage deeds, release of mortgage deeds, and homesteading records.

The mortgage deed revealed the name of his wife (Della) the name of the person who gave the mortgage (usually B.T. Joslin), the amount (adding up to at least 100,000 dollars), and the dates (as early as 1914 and as late as 1921).

We found out that his family consisted of him, his wife (Della) and at least four daughters.

The following is an appendix of our finds:

Appendix

• 2. Source – Mortgage Records, Book 3, pg 116. Elmer E. and Della Chatfield took out a mortgage for $14,500 at an annual rate of 10% on December 11, 1918. He purchased approximately 320 acres.
• 3. Source – Mortgage Records, Book 3, pg. 297. Elmer E. and Della Chatfield mortgaged SE1/4 of Sec. 8, T. 48 N., R. 92 W of 6th P.M. The land was about 80 acres. This transaction included water rights, head gates, flumes, laterals, and improvements. This occurred on March 4, 1919.
• 4. Source – Mortgage Records, Book 3, pg. 409. Elmer E. and Della Chatfield mortgaged for $20,000. We are not sure why Elmer Chatfield needed so much money. We also do not know what Mr. Chatfield used all this money for.
• 5. Source – Mortgage Records, Book 3, pg. 435. Ironically Elmer E. and Della Chatfield took out two mortgages the same day. This mortgage was for the sum of $1,650 dollars. The mortgage included buildings and improvements. It was made Oct 15, 1919.
• 6. Source – Comparison of deeds according to a deed dated November 29, 1919 that Della Chatfeild was still alive but a deed dated June 1920 reported that Elmer was a widower.
• 7. Source – Mortgage releases, Book 1, pg. 265. Dec 23, 1916 was the date of the Chatfield’s first mortgage release. As far as we know Elmer Chatfield repaid all his debts and was a respected member of society.
• 8. Source – Paul Frison. Paul Frison informed us that the last time he saw Elmer E. Chatfield was 1947 or early 1948.

He had small feet and if I asked him what size, he’d say, “I really wear a 7, but an 8 feels so good, I buy a 9.” In describing excruciating pain he’d say, “Hurt? Why it hurts so bad it hurt my relatives.” And whenever he left for any extended stay with Mother or her sisters his last farewell was, “If I don’t get back, the mule’s yours!”

He did not use profanity—never, never took the Lord’s name in vain. He was a regular Bible reader—his diary entries marked only the days he did not open the Good Book. In his later years, Revelations became his most studied.

Grandpa told me his mother Eliza was a Southern Sympathizer and that if I.W. wanted to ruffle her feathers, he’d come into the house singing “We’ll hang Jeff Davis on a sour apple tree, oh we’ll ……” to the tune of “John Brown’s Body” and Grandpa said the fur would fly. Too, Grandpa’s favorite foods were fried chicken, buttermilk biscuits, country gravy and mustard or dandelion greens.

Della and Elmer were first cousins so no doubt traveled to Utah to marry. I always had the feeling that disapproval of that close union was the reason they left Colorado to ranch in the Big Horns of Wyoming.

Della was apparently raised in a genteel household for she knew nothing of outdoor life. She never milked a cow nor drove a team of horses. In Grandpa’s vernacular, she was ‘chief cook and bottle-washer’, as well the laundress, seamstress, and general household engineer.

Of the five daughters, Mother (the middle child) was the outdoorswoman. She helped with the livestock, farming and gardening, and irrigation. She could harness a team of horses fast as any man and operated the side-delivery rake during haying season. One day during first or second cutting at dinner time (noon at the ranch) Babe at age 6 (maybe) wanted to go out to the field and ride back with Mother on the rake. Mother pulled her up onto the seat in front of her and Babe wanted to take the reins and Mother handed them over to her (the team needed no reining back to the ranch yard). Instead of handing them back to Mother once back in the barn area, she just threw the reins up and away. The team was so spooked it snorted wildly and raced round and round through the ranch yard releasing the rake and Babe fell of right under it. (The rattle and clanging of a run-a-way team is panic time.) When Mother finally got control of the horses, that rake had delivered Baby right out the side like a roll of alfalfa with only a bruise or two. Then Mother looked up at the kitchen door there stood Della with a little stick (maybe two feet long) waving it in distress. Mother said that was always her reaction to major crises. What she was going to do with that little stick, no one knew.

Another story Mother told on herself and Della: Mother was a horsewoman, had her own little mare and often rode the mountainside with the dog at heel. On one excursion the dog spotted a skunk and chased it into a small hollow in hot pursuit. After the first spray, he backed out, then dived right back in. After the second spray—dog, mare, and Mother really skunk-stunk, so headed back to their ranch house, reeking. Della just set out the vinegar jug, ordered them to the watering trough, and not to come to the door til they had unstunk themselves. It probably took days for the dog to be rid of the stench; the mare was turned into the corral, but Mother was banished from the main house til that malodorous stench faded.

This story is on Elmer: Mother and Audrey were down in the watermelon patch plugging melons for ripeness. When Gramps spotted them he ordered them out of the patch and Mother stood up and smarted off with, “Who’s talking?” Gramps responded, “I’ll show you who’s talking!” He beat her with a section of a double-tree (now that compares to a baseball bat) and she never got over the incident. In later years I asked Audrey if she remembered it and she said, “Oh yes, but that’s not all of the story. The skunks had been in the patch and he had poisoned several melons in hopes of salvaging the rest.” Better to be abused a bit than dead.
Gramps could be a devil. One extremely cold winter at the old ranch in Manderson, he brought in the axe from the woodpile and tried to get me to lick the blade and I, maybe 5 years old, had no idea what would happen. Mother was furious. “Dad, I can’t believe you do such a thing as this!” and he just chuckled.

Grandma Della was a caregiver during the flu epidemic of 1918. Worland was extremely hard hit. Schools were closed, as well as many businesses. Della delivered pots of soup to sick families, helped care for children who couldn’t care for themselves. Her own children were abed except for Mother, so she went along with her mother to offer help. After three weeks of self-quarantine the town began to function again—the schools re-opened and a celebration dance was planned. Mother’s sisters had recovered and were excited to attend. Mother had just come down with that flu and put to bed. She begged and begged to go too. Della told her no—no way. Finally she relented (annoyed by her pleas) and Mother got up, then collapsed at the side of the bed. Della must have been a compassionate and wise woman. She never got the flu. If Grandpa ever came down with it, Mother never said.

But Della was in ill health. Grandpa took her to Mayo’s for diagnosis and treatment—cancer and beyond treatment. She died on Halloween in 1919 at age 47./td>

Worland Live Stock Makes Record Trip

DENVER, March 24. — From Worland, Wyoming, to Denver in thirty-one hours is the record set by a train of sheep and cattle which arrived at the yards. The train of twenty-four cars left Worland at 6:15 p.m. and reached Denver at 1 p.m. the following day. This time could have been shaded materially had it not been for several delays on account of hot boxes.
“Denver is the logical market for every stock raiser in the State of Wyoming,’ said E.E. Chatfield, one of the shippers, “and if we continue to receive such service as was enjoyed on this trip I feel sure that Denver will receive larger shipments.”

Among the Worland shippers was Charles Wells, who sold a load of cows at $6.25 and a drove of steers at $3. George McClellan, another Worland stockman prefers Denver and sold one load of cows for $5.25, and another load at $4, and his best load at $6.

“The railroads are paying their share of the bill resulting from the combined efforts of all nations as much property and as many lives as possible.”—Daniel Willard, president, B. and O. railroad.

Bodan, Audrey E.: daughter-in-law, age 29, married at age 26, born Wyoming, father born Colorado, mother born Colorado

Bodan Barbara L.: granddaughter, age 2, born Wyoming, father born Wyoming, mother born Wyoming

Rosenberry, Charlotte D.: daughter, 1 yr 6 mo, born Wyoming, father born Illinois, mother born Wyoming

Your Xmas gifts came. Oh, many thanks.

I just wonder what kind weather you are having there. We have had 10 to 19 degrees below for a week. Moderating today.

Bozeman is a busy beautiful town of 10,000.

Recd cards from all the girls Calif. Poor old Clark passed on a few days ago. He was a grand old pal & has suffered a long time.

How is the water softener business & how are you getting along with your school Bev.

All the folks here are well. Children all in a good school.

Have to ans’ Sevilla’s letter.

Write whenever you can to your loving Gramps.

Elmer.

Off the Beaten Path, by Howard Bryan:

A 90-year-old cowboy who rode the Chisholm Trail, fought Indians in Colorado and got mixed up in a few range wars in Wyoming in his time is living in Albuquerque this winter.

He is Elmer Chatfield, who comes here each winter to avoid the cold weather at his home in Worland, Wyo., in the Big Horn Basin. He is staying here at the home of his son-in-law, Fred Sproul Sr.

In spite of his advanced years, Mr. Chatfield is an active man who gets around a lot and likes to talk. Few men of 90 are as active both physically and mentally as this pioneer of the old West.

“I’d be as good as ever if I just had a new set of running gear,” he laughs, slapping his legs which occasionally give out.

Mr. Chatfield was born June 8, 1863, in a homesteader’s tent on the site of present Florence, Colo. His father, Isaac Chatfield, was a Union veteran of the Civil War who fought with Gen. Grant at Ft. Donelson. He was mustered out of the Army before the war was over and headed west behind a span of horses to take up a homestead.

“There was a big windstorm the night I was born,” Chatfield said, “And they tell me that a tent pole blew down and hit me on the head shortly after my arrival.”

Chatfield grew up in Denver, then a small town, and earned extra money as a boy helping to fold the small issues of the Rocky Mountain News more than 70 years ago. The family moved to Leadville in 1878, where the elder Chatfield was elected mayor.

A few years later, Chatfield went to the frontier settlement of Dodge City, Kansas, where his uncle and aunt operated a wholesale grocery. While there he got a job as a cowpuncher for the Wilson Brothers of Denver, who were big cowmen in those days.

“I helped trail 2500 head of cattle up the old Chisholm Trial for the Wilsons in 1883 and 1884,” the pioneer recalled. “The famous trail was just a track that was beat out so you could follow it, with water holes at intervals.”

Chatfield remembers Dodge City as a “plenty rough” town with plenty of gunfights.

“I’ve often seen cowboys ride their horses right through the swinging doors into Dodge City bars for a drink.” He said. “One fellow there had a toll bridge with a pole across it which he let up when you paid your toll so you could pass. Well, when he would see a bunch of cowboys riding for the bridge shooting their guns in the air, he would just ‘up’ that pole in a hurry and let them pass free.”

Chatfield said he was a good friend of Bat Masterson, the famous frontier marshal who was then city marshal at Dodge. While there he also saw the first bullfight ever held in this country, he added.

Later, Chatfield went to Aspen, Colo., where he ranched, prospected and operated a grocery store. It was during this period that the Ute Indians broke off their reservation and began to cause trouble near Meeker, Colo.
“I joined up with Sheriff Kendall who had a posse called the Kendall Rough Riders,” he said. “After some fighting, and with the help of the militia, we managed to round up the tribe and send a few Indians to the penitentiary.”

Chatfield recalls having a little tough luck with a silver claim at Aspen. He had worked it back about 50 feet when a man named J.C. Johnson offered him $8000 for it. Upon recommendation of a banker, Chatfield decided to sell as he had not yet struck any silver in paying quantities.

“Johnson struck a big vein just after I sold the claim to him.” He said. “Within a few weeks he sold half interest in it for $25,000.

Chatfield went to Wyoming in 1893, where he was to remain the next 60 years raising sheep and cattle in the Big Horn Basin. There were three big cow outfits in the basin when he first arrived—the Two Bar, the Bar X and the Bay State. Chatfield said that big trouble started when some of the smaller cowmen began branding unbranded calves on the range. This resulted in what was known as the Johnson County raid.

“Some of the big outfits hired a bunch of Texas gunfighters and hauled them and their horses to Wyoming in a railroad car,” he said. “There was a lot of killing on both sides, and the militia had to break it up.”

One time, during a range war between the sheep and cattle ranchers, some cowmen ambushed three sheep ranchers at the mouth of Spring Creek (Wyoming), shot and killed them and burned their bodies in a wagon.

“I had been seen the night before with one of the cowmen who was involved in the massacre,” Chatfield said, “and they thought I was mixed up in it. U.S. Marshall Joe La Force came after me, and I spent two weeks talking to a grand jury before they turned me loose.”

During his long career in the West, the pioneer remembers coming down into New Mexico only once. That was more than 60 years ago, while he was working for the Wilson Brothers.

“I drifted south as far as old Ft. Union while looking for cattle to buy,” he said. “I don’t remember much about the fort—but I do remember that there were soldiers there at the time.”

Chatfield is anxious for winter to end so he can get back among his friends in the Big Horn Basin.

I’m just like an old, broken down saddle horse,” he laughs. “You take me out somewhere and turn me loose, and sooner or later I’ll find my way home again.”

The group, made up mostly of relatives, gathered at the home of Chatfield’s granddaughter, Mrs. George Kelly, to help celebrate his birthday. In addition to Mrs. Kelly, three other daughters were there:
Mrs. Marion Tarter of Angwin, Calif., Mrs. Fred Sproul Sr. of Albuquerque, N.M., and Mrs. Forest Rosenberry of Scottie’s Castle, Neb.

Families of all four daughters swelled the group to a good sized audience for Chatfield’s yarns. Except for several winters in Albuquerque during recent years, Chatfield has lived in Wyoming the last 61 years. Most of that time he has spent raising sheep and cattle in the Big Horn Basin.

He was born in a homesteader’s tent on land that has since sprouted the town of Florence, Colo. His father, Isaac Chatfield, was a battle hardened Civil war veteran. Before the end of the conflict, he was mustered out and headed west to take up a homestead. Elmer Chatfield likes to tell about “a big windstorm the night I was born. I understand a pole blew down and hit me on the head shortly after my arrival.”

As a small boy growing up in frontier Denver, he earned extra money by folding copies of the Rocky Mountain News. Later the family moved to Leadville, where Elmer’s father was elected mayor.

His chance to run cattle on the Chisholm Trail came in 1883 and 1884 after moving to Dodge City, Kan., to work in his uncle’s grocery. Elmer landed a cow punching job with one of the large livestock dealers.

What was the old trail like? “Just a track beat out so you could follow it, with water holes here and there,” says Elmer.

And Dodge City—it was every bit as tough as the books and movies say, to hear the old frontiersman tell it. “I’ve seen cowboys ride their horses right through the swinging doors into the bars. One fellow there had a toll bridge. He let it up when you paid your toll. “Sometimes a bunch of cowboys would ride for the ridge, firing their guns in the air. Well, sir, he would just lift that pole in a hurry and not worry about any toll.”

Chatfield recalls how, in the furious days of speculation in Colorado shortly before the turn of the century, fortunes were made or exploded with the flip of a coin. He once decided to take an $8,000 offer for a silver claim he had worked with almost no luck near Aspen. Within a few weeks afterward, the new owner had struck it rich and was selling a half interest for $25,000.

Chatfield came to the Big Horn Basin in 1893, and was virtually roped into the now famous Johnson County range war. The feud between big and little cattle raisers exploded, he says, when the latter started branding calves on the range. The big operators retaliated by importing bands of Texas gunfighters. Before the smoke cleared, Chatfield remembers grimly, a lot of folk—many of them innocent—were dead.

Another range war between sheep and cattle ranchers almost cost Chatfield a prison term. An acquaintance of his was stabbed as one of a group of cattlemen ambushed three sheep men at the mouth of Spring Creek. Chatfield spent the next two weeks convincing a federal grand jury he had nothing to do with the ambush.

With his wife, the former Della Chatfield of Denver, he moved to the Worland valley in 1914. His five daughters are graduates of Washakie High School. Two nearby lakes were named for two of Chatfield’s daughters, Marian and Helen.

Chatfield retired from cattle running some years ago. He now spends much of his time raising potatoes.

Pioneer Honored

Elmer Chatfield, early day stockman and old timer of Worland and Manderson, was honored by his daughters with a family gathering and garden supper at the home of his grandchildren Mr. and Mrs. George W. Kelly on Sunday.

The affair celebrated his birthday which was June 8 when he was 91. His eldest daughter Helen, Mrs. Judy Hornberg, Refugio, Tex. was unable to be here on account of family illness. The other daughters were here and included Mrs. Marian Tarter, Mrs. Fred Sproul (Sevilla), Mrs. Joe Bodan (Audrey) and Mrs. Forrest Rosenberry (Constance, known as Babe). All are former residents.

The family group included Mrs. Marian Tarter and daughter Margaret Tarter, Angwin, Cal.; Mr. and Mrs. Fred Sproul, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Sproul, Jr., Steven, Sherri, David; Albuquerque, N.M.; Mr. and Mrs. Joe Bodan, Lander; Mr. and Mrs. Forrest Rosenberry, Scottie’s Castle, Nev., also Mr. and Mrs. George W. Kelly and daughter Kristin. Mrs. Kelly is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sproul.

Mrs. Bodan baked and decorated the birthday cake for her father. Bodans left for their home Sunday evening and Rosenberrys have gone to Jackson to spend the summer. Mrs. Tarter and daughter will remain for a week to visit at the Kelly home. Later this month, Mrs. Kelly and daughter Kristin will accompany her parents and the junior Sproul family back to Albuquerque for a visit.

Rex Allen, Pioneer Cowboy Share Spotlight at Rodeo, by Glenn Urban

Rex Allen, the bonafide cowboy turned film hero, held about 10,000 people in his hands Thursday night at the Pike’s Peak or Bust rodeo while he sang, ” He’s got the Whole World in His Hands.”

Allen was a show stopper in a whopping big, fast moving and crowd-pleasing show replete with thrills, spills, humor and pageantry…

The senior citizen who added an extra touch to part of Allen’s act was Elmer Chatfield of Security, and a native of this region.

Chatfield was born June 8, 1863 in Florence, and knew the early west when it was a hardy frontier.

Allen set the stage for Chatfield’s appearance by singing the mournful funeral dirge of the dead cowboy of Laredo. He did it well and the crowd was as quiet as a kid sneaking into a melon patch.

Then with all the lights out except for the two spot lights which played on Chatfield, Allen sang a medley of baleful songs of the early west — the cowboy versions of taps — and Chatfield rode slowly around the arena.
By then the crowd was all Allen’s, and when he started singing “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”, there wasn’t a dry eye in the crowd.

The two Old Faithfuls, You and Audrey—letter came exactly on time. Your gift was OK but I had a big 15×18 desk pad. I think Dutch sent it. Fits on my desk. Has case on left side for pencils & pens.

Charlie Gattis and Nancy leave Las Vegas the 1st then on to the stock show, Charlie’s Mother is coming up to take care of the kids. Boy! She has my sympathy for they are terrors.

Today is wonderful just like Spring. Took a walk 6 blocks. Haven’t herd from Marion for some time. Nothing new.

My best to Mrs. Hurlbert

Dad

Chatfield Rites Set for Monday at Veile Chapel

Funeral services for prominent area livestockman Elmer E. Chatfield, 99, will be held at the Veile Chapel in Worland, with the Rev. R.F. Goff officiating.

Chatfield died Thursday at the Pioneer Home in Thermopolis.

He was born July 8, 1863, the son of Isaac W. and Eliza H. Chatfield in Florence, Colo., and grew up in and around Denver. In 1892 he married Della Chatfield and in 1893 moved to the Spring creek area. One of the Big Horn Basin’s real old time livestock men, he worked in the cattle business in the area until his retirement in the 1940’s. In 1883 and 1884, he worked with trail herd crews moving castle from Abilene, Texas to Dodge City, Kansas and shortly before coming to Wyoming, he worked in and around the Colorado mining boom towns.

Surviving are five daughters, Mrs. R.O. Hornburg, Refugio, Texas, Mrs. Marian Tarter, Angwin, Calif., Mrs. Fred Sproul, Anaheim, Calif., Mrs. Joe Bodan, Lander, Mrs. Forest Rosenberry, Alamogordo, N.M., 12 grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren.

Rites Monday For Old-Time Livestockman

Funeral services were held Monday, Sep. 24, at the Viele chapel in Worland for well-known, 99-year-old Pioneer Home resident Elmer E. Chatfield.
Chatfield died Thursday, Sept. 20, at the Pioneer Home here.

He was born July 8, 1863, the son of Isaac W. and Eliza H. Chatfield in Florence, Colo., and grew up in and around Denver.

In 1892 he married Della Chatfield and in 1893 moved to the Spring Creek area.

One of the Big Horn Basin’s real old time livestockmen, he worked in the cattle business in the area until his retirement in the 1940’s.

In 1883 and 84, he worked with trail herd crews moving castle from Abilene, Texas to Dodge City, Kans.

Surviving are five daughters, Mrs. R.O. Hornburg, Refugio, Tex.; Mrs. Marian Tarter, Angwin, Calif.; Mrs. Fred Sproul, Anaheim, Calif.; Mrs. Joe Bodan, Lander, Mrs. Forest Rosenberry, Alamogordo, N.M. an 12 grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren.