|
Uva and Wendover.
Uva, a town which in 1880 had the potential of becoming the activitv center of Platte County, was by 1900 doomed to extinction. The name Uva was most likely from the Spanish word for wild grapes. Another theory is that the name came from a three letter cattle brand, UVA, but there are no records of the brand being used in this area.
Development in the area started around 1876 when Billy Bacon and his wife accommodated travelers on the route from Cheyenne to Ft. Fetterman who crossed the Laramie at this point.
Johnny Gordon soon settled in the area and judged the Bacon establishment "disreputable, a place for wild cowboys, drinking and gambling". He paid Bacon $1000 to leave and filed on the Bacon place. In 1885, Jim Whitney ran a road ranch at the bridge over the Laramie.
When the railroad crossed the Laramie in 1887 the road ranch moved to the railroad crossing.
location, it is likely that Robert Stuart's small band of explorers, returning from Astoria in 1812, crossed the North Platte River approximately where Wendover became a "railroad" town. Sources indicate that on the east side of the river a primitive trading post and stage station as well as store-saloon establishments were located to serve fur traders. At present, I find no such documentation, but it is very likely so, considering the physical features of river and land at this point.
According to the Inventory of Archives for Platte County, an unknown person mapped the town of Wendover in 1888. By late 1887, the Cheyenne Northern Railroad had constructed rail lines to a point beyond Uva, but not quite to what was later Cassa. Wendover became "the end of the line" from which mail and goods traveled east toward Lusk and north to Bellewood by stage and wagons. Railroad construction and the completion of the tunnels for the railroad between Guernsey and Wendover, required housing and supplies for large crews.
As the rail system developed, Wendover became the junction point for travel from Cheyenne (Cheyenne. &
|
