CAMPBELL COUNTY, 1913

Campbell County was created by law in 1911 out of the western halves of Crook and Weston Counties. Gillette resident and state legislator Harry J. Chassell introduced the bill that created Campbell County which is named after both John A. Campbell, the first governor of the territory of Wyoming, and Robert Campbell who was with an early expedition to this part of Wyoming from 1825 to 1835. An election was held and Gillette was chosen to be the county seat. Campbell County officially organized in 1913. Gillette is the county seat. Campbell County was part of Weston and Crook Counties for many years.Gillette is a city in and the county seat of Campbell County, Wyoming, United States.[3] The population was 19,646 at the 2000 census. Because Gillette is centrally located in an area that is vital to the development of vast quantities of American coal, oil, and coal bed methane gas, the city proudly calls itself the "Energy Capital of the Nation".

Gillette is the hometown of U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, a conservative Republican who is also a former mayor of Gillette and member of both houses of the Wyoming State Legislature.
  Adjacent counties

  * Sheridan County, Wyoming - west
  * Johnson County, Wyoming - west
  * Converse County, Wyoming - south
  * Weston County, Wyoming - east
  * Crook County, Wyoming - east
  * Powder River County, Montana - north

City Gillette / Town: Wright; Census-designated places: Antelope Valley Crestview, Sleepy Hollow. Other place: Recluse and Rozet

Adjacent counties

  * Sheridan County, Wyoming - west
  * Johnson County, Wyoming - west
  * Converse County, Wyoming - south
  * Weston County, Wyoming - east
  * Crook County, Wyoming - east
  * Powder River County, Montana - north

 

INDUSTRY IN GILLETTE

Agriculture has been the most consistent industry in Gillette for nearly all of its life. Cattle were important in the first decade and gradually sheep production rose as well. Many ranches raised both sheep and cattle. Farming has always been a difficult trade in the semi-arid region Gillette resides in, but many have grown grains and grasses used to feed their livestock. Wheat, barley, oats, hay, and corn have all been produced over the years.

Early homesteaders utilized the potential of Campbell County’s other major industry when they burnt surface coal deposits to heat their homes. Small coal mines were built around the area as early as 1909. These mines were all underground including one of the largest which was the Peerless Mine east of Gillette where Wyodak is today. It began operations somewhere around 1918 until it went out of business around 1925. This mine used the “room and pillar” method to remove coal.

The Wyodak operation was developed in 1924 and operated near the Peerless Mine in the same coal seam. But it was different because it was a surface coal mine that utilized horse-drawn devices called “fresnos” to remove the surface soil or overburden to reach the coal. Wyodak was the first surface coal mine in the world and the largest for many years. This mine continues to produce coal for a nearby power plant.
                                                                           Coal Resources in the U.S.
 

One of the first energy booms for Campbell County came in the late 1950's and 1960's. Oil explorations had been going on since the 1940's and the first commercial discovery was made in 1948. Major discoveries in Eastern Campbell County in 1956 really set off an oil boom in the area. This meant growth for Gillette, at least for the time being.

During the 1970's, the modern coal industry here really began to flourish. Major coal companies flocked to Campbell County to harvest the Powder River Basin’s low sulfur coal. These companies wanted to capitalize on the economic benefit of having very large coal seems so close to the surface. Due to this increased production, railroad companies began adding more lines to ship the coal away thus entering a new age of railroad history in Gillette. Today coal remains a vital industry to Gillette’s growth. In 2006, this area shipped a record 430 million tons of coal. The mines employ hundreds of workers and even more with the associated industries.

By the 1990's, a third major segment of the energy industry began to rear its head in Gillette, coal-bed methane. This gas which is trapped inside the pores of the coal is drilled for and extracted for use. Since 1998, Gillette has been the center of these operations in the region. Lately however, production has been down in Campbell County because wells are drying up and production is moving to the west.

The Campbell County Genealogy Society

Officers
President - Nadine Ketterling
Vice President - Jerri Moriarty
Secretary - Paulette Peabody
Treasurer - Pat Kimbley

Our mailing address
Campbell County Genealogy Society
c/o Pat Kimbley
P.O. Box 4194

Gillette is located in Northeast Wyoming is halfway between the Black Hills and the majestic Big Horn Mountains. The town is known for its vast oil reserves, electrical power plants, natural gas production, and the large number of coal mines producing over thirty percent of the nation's coal for electrical generation. This major industry has given Gillette the title of Energy Capital of the Nation. The area offers a miriad of businesses and restaurants suited to everyone's taste. A host of art galleries, antique shops, and plenty of other unique shops will please most shoppers. There are also several parks, swimming pools, and recreational opportunities, providing an activity to suite everyone in the family.

The Founding of Gillette
The area now known as Gillette began when Frank Murrey, Robert, and George Durley, and Charles T. Weir filed homestead rights in Rockpile Draw. The new railroad crossed these homesteads, so the Lincoln Land and Livestock company bought them. In July, 1891, the livestock company planned the town of Gillette and sold lots. The town grew with the arrival of the railroad in August, 1891.

The Naming of Gillette

Edward Gillette was born December 14, 1854, in New Haven, Connecticut. He graduated from the Yale Scientific School in 1876. His first job was with the U.S. Geological Survey. Later, he became locating engineer and chief draftsman for the Rio Grande and Western Railway. He then worked as a surveyor and civil engineer for the Burlington and Missouri Railroad. While working for the Burlington and Missouri Railroad in Sheridan, he married the daughter of H.A. Coffeen, who at one time was Wyoming’s congressman. After he quit working for the railroad, he was elected Wyoming State Treasurer on the Republican ticket. He served from 1907-1911. He also served as Wyoming Water Superintendent.

The city of Gillette was named after Edward Gillette because his survey saved the railroad money.

Gillette Grows

For several years after Gillette was formed, no doctors lived here. Until 1900, Dr. Baker would come from Sundance to see patients. At that time, he and his family moved to Gillette. Other doctors began coming to Gillette about 1902. Some of the early doctors also operated drug stores. One of the first hospitals in Gillette was established by Dr. A.G. Hoadley. Since there was no hospital, some of these early doctors kept patients in their homes.

The first bank, The Bank of Gillette, was started in Gillette in 1902. Before the first bank was started, John Larimore offered a check cashing service. He charged 10% to cash a check.

In 1904, Mr. Perry began printing the Gillette News. In 1913 a second newspaper was estab- lished. The Campbell County Record. The two newspapers were combined into one paper, The News-Record, in 1925 by Arthur Nisselius.

The First Baptist church was the first church built in Gillette. It was started in 1902 and was the only church until 1907. Most of the early churches did not have full-time ministers when they were started. Traveling ministers usually came about once a month.

The first telephone service in Gillette and Campbell County was started in 1905. At this time, several ranchers built telephone lines into town. Later, in 1910, the Northern Wyoming Telephone Company started an exchange in Gillette. Calls could be made in Gillette and to the towns of Moorcroft, Upton, Sundance, and Newcastle. The company offered telephone service from 7:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Electricity was first supplied to Gillette in 1915, and the first motion picture theater was opened in the same year. Admission was 10 and 15 cents. A regular feature at the first theater was a pianist and violinist to accompany the silent movies. Residents of Gillette also enjoyed roller skating and public dances as recreation.

The first school in Gillette was built in 1891. The first schools included students of all grades. The Gillette High School had its first graduating class in 1912 and there were two students in that first graduating class.

Agriculture in Campbell County

After the end of the Civil War, Texas cattlemen moved their herds of Longhorn cattle north looking for open range. The Longhorns were allowed to roam free all winter and fend for themselves until the spring roundup. Then the calves were branded and cattle selected for market.

The railroads were rapidly expanding west in the late 1880s, providing a way to market for Western beef and minerals. For a brief period Gillette was the rough and ready terminus of the Burlington and Missouri Railway, boasting twenty saloons, a large stock yard, and more than its fair share of rustlers, stock detectives, and shady characters. Then the railroad continued building to the west and Gillette matured into a typical small Western town serving as a division point on the railroad and a supply center for ranchers and farmers.

During the very dry years of the 1930s farmers learned that they must use the land more wisely. Today, farmers protect their land by using such methods as strip farming, shelter belts, crop rotation, and contour farming.

INDIAN TERRITORY

The region in which Gillette sits had always been Native American hunting grounds and formally became "Indian Territory” with the signing of the “Treaty with the Sioux and Arapaho, 1868,” also known as the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. From this time on, the country north of the North Platte River and east of the summits of the Big Horn Mountains would be considered Indian territory.

Under pressure from miners and settlers, the United States Government eventually decided that the Native Americans needed to give up the lands in Northeast Wyoming. Without consulting any of the tribes, the U.S. issued a proclamation on January 31, 1876 stating that all the Indians must return to their various agencies or be subject to military action. Three armies were sent into the region during the summer of 1876 including one led by George Custer. That fall, a government peace commission visited the Sioux and obtained the marks of some of the chiefs on a document officially ceding the Black Hills and the lands west of them.

he railroad kept moving on and was to Sheridan in 1892. This effectively meant the end to any “boom” that little Gillette had seen. Sheridan was a well established community and was a much more attractive place for railroad crews to live and work. The railroad commissary moved on as well which brought further decline to Gillette.

But, Gillette survived in order to serve the ranchers, cowboys, and homesteaders who were trying to make a life in the countryside surrounding the town. Cattlemen drove their herds into the livestock yards at Gillette for sale and transportation to the markets back east. Industrious citizens set up businesses to cater to these people and any who passed through on the rails. Livery barns, stables, and blacksmiths popped up to house travelers’ horses and haulers’ draft teams. Hotels were created to house anyone who needed a place. Bars and brothels catered to those who pursued that lifestyle. Cafes and eateries fed those who were hungry. It was not long before Gillette began to build up into a typical Western community.

Main Street Gillette

Schools and churches also began to pop up. The first school was built in 1891 and several more thereafter. The first church building in Gillette was the First Baptist Church which was built in 1902 followed in a few years by an Episcopal church and a Catholic church. Prior to this time, services were held in private homes or whatever public buildings were accessible

Life gradually grew better for citizens of Gillette. The first bank, The Bank of Gillette was started in 1902. In 1904, the first newspaper entitled the Gillette News began to be printed. Communication increased beyond the post office when telephone service came to town in 1905. A full telephone exchange arrived in 1910. Electricity was supplied in 1915 and the first motion picture theater was opened that same year.

The area encompassing Gillette became part of Crook County by law in 1875 although it wasn’t organized until 1885. Most of the area was still sparsely populated. The federal census of 1880 showed the unorganized county had only 239 residents. Most were over near Sundance and the Black Hills. It was not long after 1880 that the slow trickle of settlers began to increase into the area. Ranchers and homesteaders began to grab up as much cheap land as they could. More coming.
 

 

 

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