Speaker 1: 0:25

Good morning and welcome to let's Talk Wyoming. I'm Mark Hamilton, your host, and today we'll be looking at our Wyoming weather, and fall is in the air. We'll be looking at some other happenings in the state, we'll talk about some Wyoming sports, we'll remember Charlie Kirk and we'll talk about Atlantic City, a mining town here in Wyoming. Thanks for joining us and I hope you enjoy the pod Taking a look at Wyoming weather here on the 10th day of September. It is definitely fall. Our fall weather has showed up. We have had some warm afternoons but boy it cools down and we've been pretty consistent in the high 40s in the morning. A little bit of a breeze here this morning in Hot Springs County, but definitely fall is in the air. You can just feel it out there. I think it's going to be coming pretty quick. Now I haven't seen a forecast yet for the first frost. I'm kind of looking at some of my tomato plants and a few other things that I know just aren't going to make it to produce much more. I'm thinking about just going ahead and pulling some of that stuff and not bothering watering stuff, just trying to get water out there to all the trees and everything. But right now the forecast, it definitely looks like fall weather for us. I do see some rain, that's one thing. We had a rainstorm last night which was mainly a little bit of rain with a lot of wind and lightning. Luckily there was no reports of any type of fires that were started. But we'll continue on again enjoying our fall weather. So here in the state of Wyoming, enjoy it while we have it.

Speaker 1: 2:29

In other news across the state in sports the Wyoming Cowboys were victorious First home game last weekend as they took on Northern Illinois at the War Memorial Stadium. The Cowboys came out on top 24-7. The Cowboys will be home again this Saturday night late game at the War Memorial as they take on the University of Utah, an old foe from the whack days. Utah is in the pack. Check that they were in the Pac-12. Now they're in the pack. Check that they were in the Pac-12. Now they're in the Big 12. They are looking pretty good. They always have a really tough team. Last year was a down year for them, but in their opener they looked really strong. So it's going to be a tough test for the Cowboys. But we'll find out if the Cowboys are for real as they take on the University of Utah Utes in the War Memorial. I saw a kickoff time of 8.15. It'll be a nationally televised game, so if you can't get down to Laramie you can sure watch it on TV In high school sports.

Speaker 1: 3:42

As I say, our state is going strong right now with everything up and running. Football games. It looks like that. Usual teams in the state Sheridan again as usual. I always say this I don't know what they do to the people over in Sheridan County, but the Sheridan Bronx look like a shoe-in for another repeat as the 4A state titleists. 3a looks pretty open right now. Of course Cody and Star Valley are always sitting there looming around. So in 2A I really here in Hot Springs County our Bobcats are 2-0. If you count the zero-week game, they are in action this week and then they'll have a home opener the following week as they take on Kimmerer. So 2A looks like that. There are a few of the usual suspects, but a little early for all the rest of the classifications. But pretty much every year you just write Sheridan in on the state title list.

Speaker 1: 4:43

Other things here going on in the state of Wyoming here today on the 10th day we're one day away from 9-11, that we had a tragic incident here in our country 24 years ago and I remember that morning, just like it's today, just happened to look at the little 13-inch TV set that was in the bedroom yes, a 13-inch TV set and saw that plane fly into the World Trade Center. It still just ingrained in my mind and the impact that they had on our country and how it totally united our country at that time. Boy, I tell you, what's happened to our country is, we're sure, a long ways from that. We definitely are not united. We have a lot of division in this country, a lot of divisiveness. Today, on the 10th, I'm sure by the time everybody listens to this podcast, that you'll be hearing the news that Charlie Kirk and Charlie Kirk was 31 years of age was assassinated and he was shot at a rally in Utah, in Orem, utah, and of course all the social media has pictures of it. He was shot with a rifle from a distance away but got shot in the neck, lower part of the neck, and it was a gruesome sight. They got him rushed to the hospital but just too much blood loss and Charlie passed away.

Speaker 1: 6:30

Charlie was definitely a Christian, a devout Christian. He was really a warrior for a lot of people. I heard people say he stood up for what he believed in and that's the way that we should be. He knew what was right and what was wrong. He led with Christian values, led him on his path. He was really big on getting to the young kids at the campuses and giving them something to stand up for the young kids at the campuses and giving them something to stand up for. And for a 31-year-old, he started Turning Point USA and he was very well known for 31 years of age in all he did and the divisiveness in this country. You know Charlie always had these discussions where people would come in and they would try to convince him of their opinions and Charlie would sit there and take that. He got a lot of abuse from people but he always stood up to them and we're at a turning point in our country. I've saw videos where people are celebrating this.

Speaker 1: 7:46

I don't know what's happened to our country and to people that have that much hate. There's one thing about not agreeing, but not to the point where you wish harm on each other. Just a lot of violence going on. And you know Charlie being a Christian, and myself I am a Christian and I pray for our country continuously. Where we are and where are we going? Where is this going to end? I keep thinking about Sodom and Gomorrah and some of the things that happened in the Old Testament and sometimes I wonder where we are, where we're headed. The only way we're going to change things in our country is we have to have people starting to turn to Jesus Christ. That's the only answer that's going to heal our country. That's the only answer that's going to heal our country. So today, please pray for our country and also pray for the people around you. Pray for your family. No-transcript. Today in our history section we have a story from wildhistoryorg. Atlantic City Boom Bus Survivor, and this is by Lori Van Pelt.

Speaker 1: 9:22

In the century and a half since the 1860s, the Fremont County hamlet of Atlantic City, wyoming, has lived through booms that brought thousands and busts so severe that just two people stayed. Currently, fewer than 15 year-round residents live in the 150-year-old town. The town traces its beginnings to trappers. An American fur company trapper supposedly found gold near South Pass in 1842 and may have lost his life to tribal warriors. His name is not recorded. Trappers are said to have referred to the place as Quaking Aspen Hut Crossing because of a hut constructed of aspen branches there In 1867, discovery of gold and nearby Willow Creek, and soon after that the find of the Carissa Ledge where the Carissa mine came to be developed, drew gold seekers to the area. Three towns quickly sprang up South Pass City, hamilton City, which became known as Miner's Delight, and Atlantic City. Miner's Delight became a ghost town long ago. A few people live in South Pass City thanks to its designation as a state historical site.

Speaker 1: 10:39

The town was founded on April 15, 1868 by Charles Collins HA Thompson and Colonel Charles W Dozer. Che Thompson and Colonel Charles W Dozer sometimes spelled Dozer, t-o-z-i-e-r, a mining engineer and a former speaker in the Nevada Territorial Assembly. Gold in a quartz vein, the Atlantic ledge on nearby Rock Creek brought people to the place. The name came from the town location near the Continental Divide, but on the east side of it were water flows to the place. The name came from the town location near the Continental Divide but on the east side of it, where water flows to the Atlantic Ocean. A special census taken in 1869 numbered residents and all the mining camps in the area at 1,517 people Already.

Speaker 1: 11:24

By that time, however, the gold claims were playing out and population had started to shrink. Local historian Tom Schaefer estimated in 1972 that Atlantic City's population was 500 in 1869 and 325 in 1870. A hardware store, a second-hand store, two hotels, a cigar store, two livery stables, two breweries, a lumberyard, a dance hall, two blacksmiths, three restaurants and seven saloons. Two stage lines, one originating at the Point of Rocks and the other at Bryan City, on the line of the Union Pacific Railroad Sixty or more miles to the south, served the area. Another report boasts that the first opera house in the state was located in Atlantic City.

Speaker 1: 12:17

Schaefer estimates 1,500 mining claims and 150 mines as well as several quartz mills and sawmills were located there. Only about 50 of the mines were profitable, however. Atlantic City Post Office was established in 1869 to help protect the miners and other settlers. Wyoming territorial governor John Campbell asked that a US army fort be built. Camp Stonbaugh, halfway between Atlantic City and Miner's Delight, was created on June 20, 1870.

Speaker 1: 12:53

By 1872, the population of the three mining towns was estimated at only 100. Each One estimate counts 2 million of gold produced in the area between 1867 and 1872. To put the amount in perspective, historian Bruce Noble Jr called this a mere pentance when compared to the $40 million produced in Virginia City, montana, in a three-year period. Around the same time, pam Spencer Hockett, a present-day resident, writes in the Atlantic City Wyoming Voices from a Powerful Place, a book compiled by Atlantic City Historical Society in honor of the towns, that by 1875 the decline was severe. Buildings were abandoned, the move were torn apart for lumber. Yet there were a handful of people who continued to search for new sources of wealth. German immigrant Anna Schlittling, a widow, came to Atlantic City from Cheyenne in 1869 and stayed. She ran a hotel and entered the cattle business. She registered as an AS brand in August of 1873. Her brand is noted as the oldest Atlantic City brand registered for horses and cattle. Camp Stambaugh closed in 1878.

Speaker 1: 14:13

Emile Grenier, a Frenchman with a big dream and heavy pockets, arrived in 1884. Noble details Grenier's methods and motivation in a 1993 article Annals of Wyoming. A mining engineer, grenier, planned to use hydraulic mining to recover gold. This method required building two ditches with 29 flumes to supply water. In hydraulic mining, streams of water under high pressure are forced to remove rock or sediment. The resulting slurry is washed through the sluice boxes where the gold settles. For the method to succeed, grenier needed material and manpower to build the ditches. He eventually hired about 300 workers and paid them $2 per day. He built a $6,000 sawmill. He also needs a lot of water, hard to come by in the high dry country around South Pass.

Speaker 1: 15:08

Grenier built the Rock Creek Ditch more than 10 miles long, placing a dam near the junction of the Slate Creek to store water during the dry months. The ditch was completed in 1885. Then he built the 6-mile long Christiana Ditch with a dam at Christiana and Gustave Lakes in the Wind River Range. Water in this ditch was diverted from the Little Aboja River, frustrating local farmers and ranchers who were already using the water in the valley to the north. This resulted in disputes with the other water users, eventually settled by the permitting system advanced by the territorial engineer Elwood Mead.

Speaker 1: 15:49

Still, by 1887, grenier had spent $200,000 but had not received any gold. The huge gap between earnings and expenses did not discourage him. On October 29, 1887, he told the Fremont Clipper that he would succeed and surprise the world with the output of gold from my mines in the vicinity of Atlantic City. But Grenier encountered more obstacles with the output of gold from my mines in the vicinity of Atlantic City. But Grenier encountered more obstacles. Noble writes that the Frenchman placer claims, some of which were directly under existing buildings, created tension with the locals. Grenier offered conditional leases for the building owners, but not all of them accepted.

Speaker 1: 16:27

In 1889, grenier grew fearful for his life and property and wrote to Territorial Governor Francis C Warren for help. However, noble could not locate any response from Warren and nothing further appeared to have happened. In 1891, grenier made his annual trip to France. This time he wrote to Elwood Mead from New York City telling the engineers of his plans to create a hydraulic mining exhibit at the World's Fair in Chicago. Those plans didn't materialize and he did not return to Atlantic City.

Speaker 1: 16:59

By 1893, grenier was in ill health. He suffered from money problems and troubles with machinery and ore in the mining project. That year the United States suffered the worst economic depression to that time. He was not able to accomplish his grand and golden goals. Noble research shows that estimates of the gold production range from nothing to $200,000, and the exact source of the investment money is unknown. Grenier left an agent in charge of his Atlantic City holdings.

Speaker 1: 17:32

In 1902, dh Calhoun of the Dexter Mining Company of Rochester, new York, purchased Grenier's mining claims and cleared the title of liens against his property. Clarence Carpenter, who had worked for Grenier. He and his wife and their four children had arrived in 1890, but, according to longtime resident Bob Townsend, were appalled by the group's sleeping conditions. Instead of staying at the hotel, they moved across the creek to a one-room cabin with a stable. They expanded their home and accepted boarders, opening the Carpenter Hotel and Restaurant in 1904. The Dexter Mining Company operated a 20-stamp mill to crush one hauled wagon and a cyanide plant to process the ore, but went bankrupt. It reorganized in 1914 as the Timba Ba Mining Company, which did not last long either. The Dexter Mill building was moved in 1920 to the Carissa Mine in South Best City where it stands today.

Speaker 1: 18:33

In 1930, et Fisher Company leased 14 miles of rock creek from the Timba Company. Fisher dredged rock creek using a drag line and mercury recovery process with three crews working 24 hours, seven days a week. This effort produced an estimated $400,000 of gold and historian Spencer Hockett calls this perhaps one of the most successful mining ventures in Atlantic City. Spencer Hockett calls this perhaps one of the most successful mining ventures in Atlantic City. The Carpenter expanded their hotel in 1935, but the government regulations during World War II halted gold mining. The Fisher Company shut down in 1941 and never reopened. By the end of 1940, atlantic City had fewer than a dozen residents. The Carpenter Hotel was the last remaining business. One account notes that at one time the only residents in Atlantic City were proprietors Ellen Carpenter and her brother Jim.

Speaker 1: 19:28

The Atlantic City Post Office closed in 1923, reopened three years later and officially closed in 1954. Mail service was routed through Lander. But Atlantic City didn't die. In 1960, the United States still broke ground for what became the highest open-pit iron ore mining operation in the United States. According to the company's website, which relied on historical data found in the records of the University of Wyoming American Heritage Center, the company began full production in 1963, converting iron ore into talconite pallets that were shipped to Utah for further processing.

Speaker 1: 20:07

Union Pacific built a 76-mile spur that connected Atlantic City to Wilton Junction north of Rock Springs and the main railroad line. In 1983, the steel company closed its operation because of global market conditions and the rail line was removed, and about 90 million tons of ore were extracted from the mine, which is now occasionally a gravel pit operation, according to Spencer Hockett. Within the last decade, the possibility of mining in the area has once again stirred imagination. Historian Will Bagley noted that the American subsidiary of the Canadian company had began place or gold exploration in recent years 10 miles south of South Bow City. According to the Casper Star Tribune report, the Wyoming Business Council embarked on a study about opening an iron ore mine, again estimating the iron production could occur for up to 50 years in the area, but many challenges, including reconstruction of the railroad line, would have to be overcome.

Speaker 1: 21:08

A centennial report in the Annals of Wyoming numbered Atlantic City's population in 1968 at 11. Most of the iron ore workers lived in Lander. The Carpenter Hotel eventually became the Miner's Delight Inn, with several owners through the years, most recently Bob and Barbara Townsend. The inn is currently for sale. Another long-lived Atlantic City business, the Mercantile, is currently a bar and restaurant is open as of spring of 2018, on weekends. It was named to the National Register of Historical Places in 1985. David Griffin, a longtime employee at the Merck, as locals call it, estimates the current population of year-round residents at less than 15. Many other residents are seasonal and come for weekends. Deep snows during winter months dissuade some but attract others, like snow billers, to the area.

Speaker 1: 22:04

Atlantic City. Quite a story about Atlantic City. I had noted a couple of podcasts earlier about my wife and I making a trip up to South Bass City and then over to Atlantic City and I hadn't read this story at that time. There are people in Atlantic City, but the population I don't know. But I'm going to have to do a little research now that I've heard this story. But this is a classic story of Wyoming, especially the mining business, and it's not just Wyoming but all across the country. Wherever there was mining they went through these booms and busts similar to what happened in the oil business across the state during the early years. But again, all part of our Wyoming history. 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. We'll be right back. 3, 2, 1, go, go, go Go. © BF-WATCH TV 2021.