Let's Talk Wyoming
A podcast about Wyoming and everything we talk about including the weather, politics, energy & agriculture, sports & everything else effecting our state.
Let's Talk Wyoming
Let's Talk Wyoming - 70 Nez Perce History and the Murder of Allie Means
Ever wondered about the ebbs and flows of the Big Horn River in the heat of summer, or the historical journey of the Nez Perce Indians? Prepare to have all your curiosities quenched in this riveting episode. We'll kick things off with a look at Wyoming's weather, shifting from the radiant summer heat to the crisp fall season, and how it impacts the state's sports and the Big Horn River's flow. We also discuss a recent encounter between a grizzly bear and a local near West Yellowstone, invoking a mix of awe and fear.
As the mystery unfolds, we switch gears to grapple with the puzzling case of the missing 27-year-old, Brianna Mitchell. The FBI's involvement only amplifies the intrigue. Later, we journey back in time to uncover the history of the Nez Pearce Indians - their initial amicable relations with Lewis and Clark, the treaties that shrunk their lands, and their ultimate displacement in 1877. We follow Chief Joseph's legendary flight to Canada, culminating in a surrender at Montana's Bear Paw Mountains. The tale of the Nez Pearce National Historical Trail, a testimony to their resilience and legacy, will leave you with a profound sense of awe. Finally, the Murder of Allie Means from WyoHistory.org. Don't miss out on this thrilling blend of weather, sports, mystery, and history!
Good morning and welcome to Let's Talk Wyoming. I'm Mark Hamilton, your host, and today we'll be taking a look at our Wyoming weather, and it has been definitely hot out there, but it looks like a change is coming. Also, we'll take a look at some other happenings football seasons right around the corner, volleyball all those great things coming up in the fall. Also, we'll take a look at the Nez Pearce Indians and the trail that was dedicated in their honor. And finally, we'll talk about a young lady and two jealous cowboys. Thanks for joining us today and we hope you enjoy the show.
Mark Hamilton:Taking a look at Wyoming weather here on the first day of August yes, we're into August. Thank goodness that we got rid of the month of July Going in here we're looking like we're going to have a little bit of a weather change. Of course, last week was this brutal, but as far as temperatures but we're starting to get some fronts move in. Overnight it blew most of the night. Weather is kind of moderate a little bit. I think we're still going to get hot later today and then I see later in the week I see some pretty nice temperatures. We're getting some temperatures. We're also looking at some rain and getting down in the 70s for the high over the weekend. So that is a plus right now.
Mark Hamilton:Now, with the weather getting warmer and such we talked with the previous podcast about here in Thermopolis the Big Horn River goes through, starts out at Boisen, goes to the Wind River Canyon, through the town of Thermopolis and heads north, big floating country. In our last two 4th of July events We've had high water where we couldn't get anybody out on the river. Now the river is finally down to normal summer flow. Floaters and fishermen have just really picked up. See people out there floating all day long now. So we're back to that summer type weather and of course it kind of shortened the float season as we're just right around the corner here from our school getting started, but weather looks like it's good. Talked to my daughter lives in Arizona. They've had some extreme weather down there as far as winds and storms coming through, some monsoonal weather that they seem to get down there. It's amazing with those temperatures. So that's been helping them with a little bit of moderation. But again we're into the month of August. We'll get through this. Everything is heading in the right direction and, as we always say, we know what's coming right around. After our summer is our fall and here comes Wyoming winter. Taking a look at happenings around the state of Wyoming here on the last day of July thank goodness it is the last day of July, it's just been a long, long month, but of course it's 31 days long, so it would be long.
Mark Hamilton:With August upon us, we start to start thinking about school. We'll be back in session here really pretty quick in a couple weeks. Teachers will start getting back in the classrooms. In that period of time Kids will start getting ready to go back to school.
Mark Hamilton:One other thing that always like here in Wyoming, it's back to high school sports. The football teams will be starting practices here in a couple weeks, getting ready for their opening zero week games at the end of the month. So volleyball is on tap across country for the runners and also some golf taking place. So it's a busy time of the year. University of Wyoming will be back in session. Also. The Cowboys will be ready to start playing. Interesting year for the Cowboys. Coach Boll is getting up there in years and people have asked about how many years he'll stay in the program, how many years he plans on coaching. That is an interesting question. So a lot of things up in front of us right now and I always look forward to. College football season will be starting here pretty quick Follow quite a few teams.
Mark Hamilton:Besides the Cowboys. The main team I follow is the Oklahoma Sooners. Having lived in Oklahoma for a period of years and just like the Sooners, so I'll always follow them and the Cowboys are my two college teams I like to follow but I just like the college football. Of course there's plenty of it on TV. The other thing that I really enjoy anymore that I didn't watch as much or even didn't have an interest for it, was Women's Volleyball High school college. It is just outstanding. The play at the collegiate level and they're getting more and more of that is coming out on the TV, so that's a big plus. It's just really fun to watch. So those are my other sports. So all that stuff is upon us and I think a lot of people are starting to wind down. We're in those dog days of summer. It looks like up ahead. We look like we've got some, maybe a little change, but in the weather, but other things happening around the area I saw recently about a week ago, there was a grizzly bear attack.
Mark Hamilton:A lady was killed up at the outside of the park by West Yellowstone For people that are out hiking around. You know the bears are out and about. You got to be on top of your game, especially if you're walking by yourself. It is helpful if you can walk with somebody and both people have bear spray. But the cubs are out, that mama bear. If you start them she's going to react and protect that little baby. That's what happened to this lady. I don't think she really even knew that. She provoked it just in the wrong spot at the wrong time. So it's always something to be aware of here in our state of Wyoming.
Mark Hamilton:Other news here in the local area Washke County, where Worland is at, there's been a missing young lady, brianna Mitchell. She went missing over a week ago, 27 years of age, found her car outside of town, out past the airport on a dirt road that area A lot of people do go out that way but her car was found and no sign of this young lady. So they've had searches. They've started taking a pretty close look at what could have happened to her. The FBI has been involved. A lot of different groups are out searching and just no trace of her. So I thought some prayers go out to her family and friends. I just hope that the young lady is found well somewhere and I pray that Brianna can be found safe and return to her family.
Mark Hamilton:Kind of an update on our dog situation here at my house we did get that Doberman pup Mio is her name. She is getting bigger by the day. Of course, dobermans if you've ever been around them, they're a legs girl like crazy. Now she wants to be a counter. Get up on the counter and sweep the counter. So now we're back to making sure there's nothing within reach, because those long legs go everywhere. Just amazing the ability she has. But she's doing well. Still looking for that.
Mark Hamilton:Other German shepherd have looked at different places, had looked all over the place. It's just kind of rather interesting trying to find the right fit for us. And all the meanwhile our old pug, zoe. She used to have a seizure overnight which was not very good, so had to deal with that, and so we'll keep an eye on her. We've got a debt appointment later in the week to get her checked out. But it's just always something. But that's part of owning animals that you deal with. So we can continue on.
Mark Hamilton:But again their weather is looking like it's gonna change a little bit and that's gonna be really if I did see an updated forecast today here on the 1st of August as I update the podcast. Looks like we're gonna get some cooler weather, some rain coming in, so that's a good sound of relief. But again I'll go back to my farmer relatives. Barley Harvest is just getting started. Everybody got out yesterday starting in the barley and so this rain and weather will play a little bit of havoc with them. So it's just one thing after another in the world. With everybody involved with this, especially in agriculture, it can never be just right. It seems like something always comes up. But I guess it's part of the business and everybody's used to it. So with the new equipment they can get through the barley fields pretty quick. But again, barley harvest weather is gonna change. Welcome to the world of agriculture and farming here in the state of Wyoming and across the US.
Mark Hamilton:Today we want to look at the Nez Pearce National Historic Trail and it's an interesting story about the Nez Pearce. The Nez Pearce National Historic Trail follows the route taken by a large band of Nez Pearce Indian tribe in 1877 when they attempted to flee from the US Calvary and get to Canada to avoid being forced onto a reservation. The 1,170-mile trail makes its way through I daho, Wyoming and Montana, commemorating the significant sites and events during their 126-day journey. The Nez Pearce Trail was created in 1986 as part of the National Trail Systems Act and is managed by the US Forest Service. It stretches from Wallowa Lake, Oregon, to Bearpaw's Battlefield near Chinook, Montana, connecting 38 sites across those four states that are part of the National Parks Nez Pearce National Historical Park.
Mark Hamilton:Since aiding the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1805, white explorers and settlers knew the Nespiers Indians as friends. The Nez Pearce lived in bands welcoming traders and missionaries to a land framed by rivers, mountains, prairies and valleys of present-day Southeastern Washington, northeastern Oregon and North Central Idaho. They moved throughout the region, including a part of what are now Montana and Wyoming, to fish, hunt and trade. After Great Britain and the United States settled a long-running disagreement over settlement and to control what was known then as the Oregon country, in 1846, American settlers began moving westward on the Oregon Trail in great numbers. The creating of the Oregon Territory in 1848 and Washington in 1853 triggered the treaty process.
Mark Hamilton:Fifty years after the Lewis and Clark came through Washington, territorial Governor Isaac Engel Stevens met in council with the Nez Pearce leaders, which resulted in the 1855 Treaty of Walla Walla with the US government. In this treaty, the Nez Pearce agreed to cede 7.5 million acres of tribal land or retaining the right to hunt and fish in their usual and custom places, including some 5,000 square miles in Idaho, Washington and Oregon. This area was set aside as Nez Pearce Reservation, guaranteeing the tribe's right to their ancestral homeland. The treaty of 1855 was ratified by the US Senate in 1859. However, in 1860, encroaching prospectors struck gold in Idaho and within no time thousands of miners, merchants and settlers overran Nespiers land.
Mark Hamilton:In 1863, the federal government responded with a new treaty docks wanting to renegotiate the treaty and shrink the reservation to approximately one-tenth in its original size, which included the Treasure Walla Walla region of northeastern Oregon and the Piede Lake region. Many chiefs refused and angry departed Amid an uncertainty, pressure and promises. The reigning chiefs reluctantly agreed to a reservation 90% smaller than the 1855 treaty. Without authority they ceded the lands of the Nez Pearce who left the council in a document called the Thief Treaty. The white negotiators and the federal government is doing as those who signed as the treaty as Nez Pearce. Those who were not were non-treaty In 1863, treaty was ratified by Congress in 1867.
Mark Hamilton:For some years non-treaty Nez Pearce lived in the Wallowas and other locations within their traditional homelands, but the conflict with newcomers increased, particularly in the Wallowah region, the home of Chief Joseph and his band. Congress petitioned the government to relocate the Nespers to the reduced 1863 treaty reservation in Idaho in 1877. The US Army was commanded to do so. In May of 1877, general Oliver Otis Howard and the non-treaty Nespers chiefs held a council at Fort Laplawah in Laplawah, Idaho. Howard summarily ordered them to bring their families and livestock in within thirty days or the army would make them comply by force. The chiefs argued the time was inadequate to gather the people and their livestock and acts for an extension which Howard refused.
Mark Hamilton:Years of high-handedness, mistreatment and the prospect of losing their homelands provoked several young warriors to vengeance. Starting from camp to Toloe Lake, idaho, they avenged past murders of relatives by killing some white settlers. Forced to abandon hopes for a peaceful move to the Laplawah Reservation, the Nespers chiefs saw a flight to Canada as their last promise for peace. The flight of the Nespers began on June 15, 1877, led by Chief Joseph, looking Glass Whitebirds, okaot and Lean Elk and others. 800 men and women and children moved northeast, hoping to seek safety. With the Crow allies, only 250 were warriors. The rest were women, children and elderly and sick. On June 17, the US Army and volunteer soldiers approached a Nespers camp on the Whitebird Crick in Western Idaho. When a party of six warriors bearing a flag of truth approached the soldiers, one of the volunteers fired at them, thus precipitating the Nespers' war of 1877.
Mark Hamilton:After defeating the Calvary forces at the Battle of Whitebird Canyon, the flight intensified and more than a dozen more battles and skirmishes would be fought in the next several months, fighting the army all along the trail. The number of Nespers was to fairly reduced. Just 40 miles from Canada, they were trapped at Snake Crick and at the base of the Bear Paw Mountains in Montana by the US Army. After a five-day fight, the remaining 431 members of the tribe were beaten and Chief Joseph surrendered on October 5, 1877, where the speech became famous I'm tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed. Looking Glass is dead. Toulouse so is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young man who say yes or no. He who led the young man is dead. It's cold and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are, perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children and see how I may find them. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Here are me, my chiefs. I am tired, my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.
Mark Hamilton:After the surrender, about 200 to 300 Nez Pearce managed to avoid the army pickets and cross into Canada, while the remaining survivors were sent to Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma. Today's descendants of the non-treaty bands live among these three groups the Confederated Tribes of the Coville Reservation in Washington, the Confederated Tribes of the Altamalia Indian Reservation in Oregon and the Nespers Tribe in Idaho. General William Tecumseh Sherman called the Nespers Saga the most extraordinary of the Indian Wars. Today the route is designated by the Nespers National Historical Trail by an act of Congress, with the cooperation of State Highway Departments and County Commissioners. In Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana, over 1,500 miles of federal, state and county roads have been designated.
Mark Hamilton:The Nez Pearces National Historical Trail Auto Route, the roughly parallelized course traveled by the Nespers bands during the historical 1877 flight. The trail starts at Wallawe Lake, Oregon, then heads northeast and crosses the Snake River at Doug Barr. It enters Idaho at Lewiston and cuts across north-central Idaho, entering Montana near Lolo Pass. It then travels along the Bitterroot Valley, after which it re-enters Idaho at Bannock Pass and travels east back into Montana at Target E Pass to cross the Continental Divide at Bisex Elso National Park and follows the Clark Fork of the Elstone River out of Wyoming into Montana, the trail head north through the Bear Falls Mountain, ending 40 miles from the Canadian border, south of Chinook, Montana.
Mark Hamilton:And it's rather interesting the happenings of the Nez Pearce and what they did. When I was actually myself, my wife and family, we were up in the Bear Falls Mountain in northern Montana, south of Chinook, just north of at the time, cleveland, montana, a little town out there in the Bear Falls, on the base of the Bear Falls, and we went by the morning they were doing the dedication for the battlefield and we were able to take in the ceremony they had. The Nespers elders were there and they actually dedicated it with some representatives from the state of Montana and just a somber place and just another part of our history. And finally, today, from Wyo Historyorg, the murder of Allie Means. This was by Justin Horn. Allie Means shot blurred the front page headline of Gillette News.
Mark Hamilton:Understandably, the August 26, 1905 murder through small town Gillette, wyoming, into a great state of excitement. In his early 20s, sam Allison, allie Means murder sparked a chain of events impacting Wyoming for years to come. The cause of Means' murder, a young woman, allie Means, and Noah T Richardson, both hailed from San Antonio, texas area they work at, brought each of them north. Means found work in April 1905 as a night wrangler for the cross ranch on the Little Powder River headquarters 25 miles north of Gillette. Richardson worked as a cowboy at the T7 Ranch 20 miles south of Gillette. At the time of his death in August of 1905, newspapers reported that Means was well liked by everyone except perhaps Noah Richardson.
Mark Hamilton:On the fateful day of his shooting, the Cowboys from the cross ranch owned by the Biddle Cowboy Company were gathered just outside of Gillette. Richardson met up with the Cowboys and brought along a girl named Frances Williams. When were considered a rare commodity in the small cattle town of northeast Wyoming, and it is not surprising. Frances found herself to be quite popular. While socializing, frances hit it off with Means, which caused tensions. Means and Richardson quarreled throughout the day and the other Cowboys had to break them up. When she was ready to leave, frances asked Means not Richardson to take her back to town. This infuriated Richardson. As Means took Frances back to Gillette, richardson followed and caught up to them close to town. The two men exchanged sharp words, the newspaper reported. Then Richardson fired four shots at Means, three of which hit Means. What happened to Frances Williams at this point in the story is unclear, but being close to Gillette, means was able to spur his horse onward and escape Richardson. Means made it to Montgomery Buffalo Hump Saloon in Gillette where he fell onto a table calling for a doctor. Richardson, following Means, made his way across the street and into the neighboring Dodd House and Saloon. Deputy Sheriff Lou Genine arrested Richardson and transported him to the county jail in Sundance.
Mark Hamilton:Gillette was a fledgling town in Crook County with less than 200 residents. Campbell County wouldn't be established with Gillette as its county seat until 1911. Hallie Means was taken to Dr Ann H Baker's office in Gillette, where the doctor dressed his wounds. Means injuries were severe and he was transported by a railroad to Sheridan for a more advanced medical treatment. Residents of Gillette, along with Means ranch co-workers, raised $165, equivalent of $5,500 here in 2023, for his medical treatment.
Mark Hamilton:Despite the generosity of Gillette and the best efforts of Sheridan doctors, mines passed away from his wounds after two days and died on August 28, 1905. He was only 24 years old. Word of Ali Mines' murder reached his family in Texas. According to Zlatanus BB means of San Antonio, texas. Brother of Ali Mines is here looking for the prosecution of the defendant. Another brother, monty means, travel to Wyoming as well. Monty must have become smitten with the northeast Wyoming because he remained in Gillette During the Great War. In 1917, monty was drafted out of Gillette to serve in the Army. After the war Monty returned to Gillette, married Mildren Sanburn in 1921, and lived in Gillette until his death in 1974.
Mark Hamilton:In late 1905, richardson faced trial in Sundance. Francis Williams was paid $20 per crook county to act as a witness in the trial. The jury convicted him of first-degree premeditated murder, a sentence carrying the death penalty by hanging. Naturally, richardson attempted to appeal the case to the Supreme Court of Wyoming. It was discovered that all the records in the case were lost, having mysteriously disappeared. Whether records were genuinely lost or whether Richardson had inside help remains unclear. The clerical error resulted in a new trial for Richardson. In his second trial the court found Richardson had suffered from a brainstorm, presumably about a mental illness, at the time of the murder. His conviction was reduced to second-degree manslaughter and his sentence reduced to life in prison, for which Richardson was overjoyed To serve out his life sentence.
Mark Hamilton:Richardson was shipped to the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins. Prisoners there worked in a broom factory and after 1911, on road projects in the state. Overcrowded conditions and changes in leadership caused an outbreak of violence in 1911. When prisoners set fire to the broom factory in July, newspapers believed that the event was the climax to a series of mishaps. But the conditions continued. Worse than violence broke out again in October of 1912 when inmates lynched a black man, frank Wigfall, who was accused of rape, with officials focusing on investigating Wigfall's death.
Mark Hamilton:Bert Dalton, a member of the Whitney gang serving a 20-year sentence, led a prison break on October 12th with other men through the Penitentiary fence the next day, while warden Felix Alston led a posthumous prison, guards to track Dalton. Richardson and seven other inmates overpowered another guard, john M Neal, and took his keys. They then stole some of the prison's firearms and made their escape. The armed men fled through Rawlins, ducking into alloys and cutting through yards, crossing through Charles Stessner's yard. The men caught the attention of Stessner's wife, who aroused her husband to grab his gun and head off the convicts. Meeting the men in the street, stessner raised his guns at the inmates Without hesitation, richardson fired his weapon. The shot hit Stessner in the head, killing him instantly. The convict splintered into small groups and fled to the train tracks south of town. A posthumous prison guard killed one of the men and caught another hiding under a rail car, returning him to the Penitentiary by automobile.
Mark Hamilton:We now committed the second murder of his life. Richardson and two other convicts, ernest Backstrom and JH Burke, made their way south from Rawlins. The posthumous prison guard followed the trail for two weeks. Burke had been wounded in this gate and must have been slowing them down. When the posthumous found his body, the deputies found Richardson and Backstrom had turned on Burke and murdered him. The convicts were in a sheep wagon at Powder Wash outside of Bags, near the Colorado border, about 70 miles south of Rawlins, where the posse caught up with them. Richardson, who had reportedly declared out of the escape that he would rather be dead and in hell than back in the pen, stepped boldly from the wagon and stood up in plain view of the pursuers while firing between 20 and 30 shots at them before he was killed. The northern Wyoming Daily Herald reported Baxter was found dead inside the wagon.
Mark Hamilton:The murder of means by Richardson led to the Means Brothers' Monty Means moving to Gillette and serving in the Army in World War I and raising his family in Gillette. The reduction in Richardson's life set in imprisonment. He was at the Penitentiary during the 1912 break, resulting in Richardson's murder of Charles Destner. Today the business to Campbell County's Rockbile Museum can see Ali Mean Saddle on display. It's the very saddle he rode the day he attempted to escort Francis Williams home, and murdered by Noah Richardson. Thanks for joining us today and we hope you enjoy our podcast. As per the Code of the West, we ride for the brand and we ride for Wyoming.
