Daniel Sandoval

No matter how carefully we plan or how clearly we can envision our dreams for the future, things rarely happen just as we imagined they would. Unintended consequences were in the news for the cusp between July and August, with a nomination in 1906, a guard dog in 1931, an observance in 1956 and burglaries in 1981.

100 years ago

Expropriated - Converse County held its convention in late July 1906 and the choice for governor was Bryant B. Brooks, the incumbent. The drama of this endorsement was in the political snubbing of William Irvine, who counted upon Converse County as his best possible source of a nomination.

Practically mocking Irvine, the Aug. 2, 1906, Natrona County Tribune published blurbs that asked: "Now that Converse (C)ounty has gone against him, where is Billy Irvine at? Where will he claim his residence now?"

The NC Tribune punctuated the candidate's demise when it dismissed the man with a baseball metaphor. "In his race for the nomination as a candidate for governor on the (R)epublican ticket, Billy Irvine did not get to first base."

Children lost - Late July 1906 marked a time of mourning for two families with young children. Mr. and Mrs. Marion Wolfe and their son Leslie Wolfe were visiting Julian Ranch near Pathfinder to help put up hay. While the men and Mrs. Julian were in the fields, Mrs. Wolfe was in the house with Leslie.

Leslie Wolfe discovered a box under a bed and began to play with the tins and bottles it contained. As Mrs. Wolfe went to stop the child's rummaging, she noticed a bottle with white granules labeled "strychnine." They quickly summoned Dr. Lathrop at Pathfinder, but Leslie Marion Wolfe died in spite of efforts to save him.

A picnic also turned to tragedy for the Huckaby family in late July 1906 when they were packing up and getting ready to leave their campsite on a bank of the Platte some three miles west of Alcova. Included in the items to be packed was a .22 rifle, which their 6-year-old son began to handle.

Unaware even that the gun had discharged, the boy had no idea that he accidentally shot his 4-year-old sister. Alma Huckaby was standing about 10 feet away and talking to their older sister as the bullet struck Alma in the head. Alma fell forward into her sister's arms and died.

Election climate - Miss Edna Milhollin was a deputy county clerk and she reported for work in July 1906 wearing a short-sleeved shirt embroidered with little open spaces around the collarbones and shoulders. Fremont County Clerk Sheldon sent the girl home with instructions to change her attire.

She didn't return to the office. Miss Milhollin said that if she couldn't dress in style, then she wouldn't work, and with the upcoming election, there was the distinct possibility that a new county clerk wouldn't have the same difficulties with fashion.

75 years ago

Nice doggie - Firefighters in Cheyenne responded to a house fire only to be held at bay by a large German shepherd Aug. 1, 1931. Fire Chief E.P. Taylor rushed toward the burning house and was attacked by the dog. Once Taylor had been bitten and retreated, the dog stood guard at the doorway.

By focusing the powerful stream of water from the fire hose, the German shepherd was moved out of the way. The time they spent on the guardian allowed the fire to cause considerable damage to the home. Once the fire was extinguished, the firefighters found puppies, which explained the dog's determination. The owner of the house was apparently out of town.

Know the way - What seemed like a perfectly reasonable course of action to 5-year-old Norman Simone turned out to be several hours of worry for his mother, Eva Simone, and Casper authorities. The boy was playing in the front yard of his home when he vanished at about noon in the last days of July 1931.

Later that same evening after the mobilization of search parties, Norman Simone was found a considerable distance from his neighborhood casually walking home. The boy insisted that he was never lost because he knew where he was the entire time. Simone decided to beat the heat by going to a swimming hole on Garden Creek.

50 years ago

Young hero - A ceremony was held at Fort Caspar Aug. 1, 1956, in observance of the young lieutenant in an Ohio volunteer cavalry whose valiance earned him a place in history when he died trying rescue a besieged wagon train July 26, 1865.

The fort known as Platte Bridge Station was renamed Fort Casper in November 1865 to acknowledge the heroism of Caspar Collins. In the 1956 observance of Caspar Collins Day, they had music provided by the Fifth Army Band of Chicago.

Child care - Justice Alice Burridge listened to a 19-year-old woman plead innocent to charges of maliciously and willfully inflicting injuries upon a 10-month-old boy in a Casper police court July 31, 1956. The parents hired a baby-sitter for their son and later found red marks and bruises on the infant.

25 years ago

Banditry - Gordon Gibson went on the record in the Aug. 1, 1981, Casper Star-Tribune to declare that he was getting sick of being burglarized. His summer home at Alcova Reservoir had been burglarized the previous June.

His Casper home had been visited by a prowler who left footprints and cut through a window, then later burglarized the home, and Gibson's business was burglarized in late July 1981, when thieves stole more than $8,000 worth of tools. Gibson was frustrated enough to offer a $1,000 reward for information on the burglaries.

"A Look Back in Time" is made possible with the help of Kevin S. Anderson, archivist for the Special Collections Library at Casper College, which is open to the public.