Description
Book SynopsisIn 1935, in the depths of the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive order creating the Federal Writers' Project (FWP). Out-of-work teachers, writers, and scholars fanned out across the country to collect and document local lore. This book reveals the remarkable results of the FWP in Wyoming.
Trade Review“Roger Welsch is probably the only man from
CBS Sunday Morning who has milked a cow. This lends him credibility in the eyes of many of us and qualifies him to sort the wheat from the chaff of Wyoming folklore.”—Baxter Black, cowboy, poet, former large-animal veterinarian, and radio commentator
"This gathering of folklore, legends, and history is brought to readers thanks to the 1930s archives of the Federal Writers' Project (FWP). . . . Readers and scholars of the American West and the FWP will find this book worthwhile."—S.B. DeMasi,
Choice"The book is fun, and it might just serve as a reminder that there are files tucked away in every state across the West that just might hide some information relevant to the studies of those who find their way here."—Gary L. Roberts,
Wild West History Association Journal"I recommend the book for the general reader who is interested in folklore from Wyoming, or of the wider West—folklore actually from people living there as opposed to significantly rewritten or bowlderized forms—for scholars interested in the contours of the WPA folklore projects, and for scholars looking for additional texts in the categories listed above for comparative purposes."—Lisa Gabbert,
Western American LiteratureTable of ContentsIntroduction
Part 1. Pioneer Memories
1. Cowboy Days with the Old Union Cattle Company
2. Tale of the Southern Trail
3. Life in a Line Camp
4. A Christmas in the Mountains
5. An Old-Time Christmas in Jackson Hole
6. Stories of a Round-up
7. The Last Great Buffalo Hunt of Washakie and His Band in the Big Horn Basin Country
8. A Stampede
9. Civil Strife
10. The Fleur-de-Lis Cocktail
11. Putting on the Style
12. American Class
13. Packer, the Man-Eater
Part 2. The White Man's Tales
Lost Mine Tales
14. The Lost Treasure of the Haystacks
15. Lost Gold of the Big Horn Basin
16. The Lost Soldier Mine
17. The Lost DeSmet Treasure
18. Indian Joe's Gold
19. The Lost Sweetwater Mine
20. The Lost 600 Pounds
Tall Tales and Humor
21. The Coney
22. Bearing Down
23. Slovakian Rabbits
24. The Prolific Herds
25. Hunting on the Railroad
26. All Aboard!
27. The Fossil Bug
28. The Big Snake on Muddy Creek
29. Wyoming Fauna
30. The Capture of a Sea Serpent
31. Vanishing Elk
32. The Hard-Water Spring
33. "Dutch" Seipt's River
34. The Great Discovery
35. Love on the Yellowstone
36. The Dying Cowboy
37. Getting the Tenderfoot
38. Jerky Bill's Funeral
Characters, Big and Little
39. The Wake of the White Swede
40. Disappearing Johnny
41. The Lynching of Walters and Gorman
42. Jim Baker's Revenge
43. The Piano Tuner and His Hallet Canyon Hunch
44. The Man with the Celluloid Nose
45. Portugee's Ride
46. The White Rider
47. The Chicago Kid
48. A Woman's Wiles
49. The Legend of the Indian Princess Ah-ho-ap-pa
Ghost Tales
50. Ghost Lights on Old Morrisey Road
51. The Hoback River Ghost
52. The Phantom Scout
53. The Specter of Cheyenne Pass
54. The Laramie Ghost
55. The Ghost of Cross Anchor Ranch
56. The Ghost of Nightcap Bay
57. The Oakley Ghost
58. Mel Quick's Story
Folk Etymologies
59. The Hartville Rag
60. The Story of Whiskey Gap
61. The Legend of Crazy Woman Country
62. The Story of Rawhide Butte
63. The Legend of Fanny's Peak
Part 3. Indian Folktales
Creation Myths
64. Arapaho (1) and Arapaho (2)
65. Shoshone
Tales and Legends
66. Axe Brown's Stories
67. Lone Bear's Story
68. The Ninam-bea, or "Little People"
69. The Mouthless People
70. A Shoshone Legend
71. The Fort Washakie Hot Spring
72. The Story of the Cottontail and the Sun
Indian Legends of Jackson Hole
73. The Sheep-eaters
74. The Happy Hunting Grounds
75. The Legend of Sheep Mountain
76. The Legend of "One-Eye"
Indian Place Name Legends
77. The Legend of Big Springs
78. Shoshone Version of the Legend of the Big Spring
79. The Legend of Wind River Canyon
80. The Legend of Chugwater Creek
81. Legends of Lake DeSmet
82. Lovers' Leap
83. The Legend of Bull Lake
84. The Great Medicine Wheel
Medicine Wheel Legends
85. The Legends of the Devil's Tower
86. A Kiowa Legend of the Devil's Tower
Part 4. Folk Belief, Custom, and Speech
Folk Belief
87. Weather
88. Love
89. Good Luck
90. Bad Luck
91. Wishes
92. Medicines
Cures from Other Wyoming Sources
93. Physiognomy, Reading Character and Omens by Physical Features
94. Dream Interpretations
95. Miscellaneous Beliefs and Omens
96. Indian Beliefs
Folk Speech
97. Glossary of Terms, Nicknames, and Folk Speech
98. Cheap Thunder! An Example of Folk Speech in Action
