September 18, 2024 • 24 mins
What if the Wyoming Cowboys could turn their 0-3 season around despite all odds? Join us on Let's Talk Wyoming as we promise a heartwarming journey through the challenges and triumphs of life in our magnificent state. From the latest weather updates and the community's unwavering support for their beloved football team to the bustling agricultural activities marking this season, we cover it all. We'll also look ahead to the political climate with the upcoming elections and what it means for our state.
Embark on a captivating historical journey with us as we recount the extraordinary lives of Cecilia Hennell and John Hendricks, pioneers who built a legacy on Honey Hill Farm. From their mysterious marriage proposal to overcoming the trials of homesteading, their story is a testament to resilience and love. We'll also honor the pioneering women of Wyoming, whose strength and contributions have left an indelible mark on our state's history. Celebrate their legacy and embody the timeless code of the West with us.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:22):
Good morning and welcome to let's Talk Wyoming.
I'm Mark Hamilton, your host.
Today.
We'll be taking a look at ourWyoming weather, along with a
little bit of news about theWyoming Cowboys and their dismal
season so far.
Talk about politics, of course,and in our history section
we'll have a story fromwildhistoryorg Homesteader
(00:45):
Cecilia Hendricks.
Letters from Honey Hill.
Thanks for joining us.
We hope you enjoy the show.
Taking a look at Wyoming weatherhere in the middle of the month
of September Today here on the18th, our weather this morning
(01:08):
was actually overcast and windy.
We've started into that falltrend right now.
We're not officially into fallyet, but we're pretty darn close
and getting cool at night,getting a little warmer during
the daytime, but that'sdefinitely fall weather.
Still lacking a little bit ofmoisture in the area.
The fires are still around thegrass fires we had some in here
(01:29):
in Hot Springs County hererecently Grass fires started by
lightning.
The smoke has definitelycleared out.
In some of the areas it hasn'tbeen quite as bad, but we still
have a lot of time left beforewe start getting any type of
considerable potential moistureand snow, snow falls and those
late winter rains and snows thatwe get or I should say not late
(01:53):
winter, early winter, so againthe weather is still cooperating
.
Of course, the days are gettingshorter, knowing that we're
getting the days and days closer, with winter just around the
corner.
It's been a busy year In otherhappenings in the state.
Our poor Wyoming Cowboys arenot having a very good start to
their season.
They are 0-3.
(02:13):
They've lost to Arizona State,idaho.
Last weekend they lost to BYUand Laramie.
They'll be on the road inDenton, texas.
I lived pretty close to DentonTexas in Ardmore, oklahoma, for
four years.
I know the area well.
They'll play on North Texas ina game on Saturday.
We'll see how that comes up.
Maybe the Cowboys can breakthrough and get a victory.
(02:35):
The rest of their season looksrather difficult.
It's been a trying time for theteam and for the fans.
The message boards are alwaysbusy with people talking about
what's going on with thefootball team.
Of course we have a new coach.
This is his first time being ahead coach Definitely a work in
progress.
(02:55):
I don't have enough time in thissegment to talk about the
Cowboys, but human performanceis something that is a lot of
talk on and a lot of people havedid a lot of work on it, but it
is really something to getpeople to perform up to their
peak abilities.
The Cowboys returned a lot ofplayers, but they just don't
(03:16):
seem to click.
Of course, two of theiropponents were Big 12 teams.
Arizona State actually came inwith, if I remember, the count
40 transfers that they had, sothey had a lot of new players on
their roster.
They have one of the youngestcoaches college football as
their head coach, but theydominated the Cowboys.
Then the Cowboys came back andplayed FCS team Idaho and Idaho
(03:39):
won In a blowout.
It was a close game.
Cowboys just could not scorewhen they needed to.
And then last week, of course,with BYU, an old foe of ours for
many years.
This wasn't probably one of thebetter BYU teams, but the
Cowboy offense just doesn'tclick.
Defense makes some plays andthen they have some moments.
So it really can't push it downto one thing at this point.
(04:03):
A lot of talk about changingquarterbacks.
Maybe we need to do somethingalong those lines, but I think
it's just a matter of right.
Now going to the next game,when you're at this point and
I've said previously I coach,but I've coached high school
basketball and I've coached goodteams and not very good teams
and when you're losing, well,there isn't what you call a snap
(04:25):
your fingers and a quick fix.
Sometimes it takes some time toget yourself dug out of the
hole, because every time youlose, the team loses a lot of
motivation.
The kids get down on themselves.
You just have to continue onwith a new day and keep pushing
on, trying to keep the team in apositive mindset.
A lot of opportunities for someheart-to-hearts with the team,
(04:49):
maybe some life values, lifelessons.
But I know the people inWyoming will always be behind
the Cowboys.
This is one group of fans.
I always said that we love ourCowboys.
We've been pretty mediocre fora lot of years.
I always said I think we lovemediocrity.
That's just kind of what we'reused to and, no matter what,
(05:10):
we're going to support ourCowboys through whatever they go
through and of course, they'vebeen through a lot of highs and
lows through the years.
So Cowboys not having a verygood year so far.
But boy, it's a long season, alot of games left.
Maybe they can get this thingturned around this weekend and
we'll see what happens the restof the way.
Other news we're getting to thatpoint of year.
(05:31):
Farmers have been busy.
Of course barley harvest is inthe books Right now.
Corn is being chopped, cornsilage is taking place around
the area.
Some of the areas.
You'll be seeing some, and youmay already be in some of the
areas.
I have not seen it yet inMoorland, but you'll be seeing
that early beet harvest will bestarting up shortly.
(05:54):
Beet harvest is ahead so thattime of the year where the
farmers are starting to kind ofwind things up with their crops
and kind of getting ready forwinter season.
So many of the people in thearea feed cattle, involved in
something to do with cattle.
A lot of cattle come in a lotof aftermath up in those fields
that their cows are brought into feed on.
(06:16):
That's something that we neversaw back when I was a young kid
here in the basin.
But now we've got year-roundtype of activities in the
agricultural community.
As we know, we are finishing upin September.
We're less than two months awayfrom our presidential election
and our general elections herein the state of Wyoming.
(06:37):
It's going to be a interestingtime ahead.
I just tell people that ifyou've heard my show, you pretty
well know my leaning on theelection.
But I always tell people usesome critical thinking.
Take a look, ask yourself arewe better off than we were three
and a half years ago when thecurrent administration comes in?
(06:58):
Is your life better now than itwas before?
Are you paying less for food inthe store than it was before?
Are you paying less for food inthe store?
Are your costs down?
Are interest rates down?
Are you able to afford a house?
There's so much stuff going on.
The part that worries me themost is what's going on outside
(07:19):
of our little realm.
Here in Wyoming Just heardtoday that there was another
attack into Russia, and theRussians have said they know
that if they go long-rangemissiles into Russia, the only
way that the Ukrainians can usethese is with the assistance of
the US or the Brits, withsatellite.
Russia considers that an attackby NATO, and then there's take
(07:42):
the gloves off and it could goanywhere.
That's the part that I'm scaredof.
We're sitting here worryingabout what the cowboys are doing
and what else is going on, whenthe world could change
overnight.
But when you're looking atvoting, don't listen to people
around you sometimes Go todifferent sources and ask some
questions.
But, critically thinking, areyou better off?
(08:04):
Do you feel like we're betteroff and do you feel like the
future one party is offeringversus the other party is going
to be better for you and yourfamily and then vote accordingly
?
Today in our history sectionwe're going to be taking a look
(08:24):
at a story from my favoritewildhistoryorg Homesteader,
cecilia Hendricks.
Letter from Honey Hill Late in1911, john Hendricks, writing
from a farm in Wyoming, proposedto 28-year-old Cecilia Hennell
in Indiana.
She noted in her diary I got aletter today from someone who
(08:46):
signed himself John Hendricks,asking me if I would consider a
proposal of marriage from him.
I should like to know who he isand how he got my name.
He must be somebody prettyfresh.
Several months later, on April21st 1912, she wrote in her
diary that she learned from heraunt that she'd actually met
Hendricks before.
(09:06):
Cecilia Hennell by then hadtaught school to earn enough
money for college and by 1908had earned both bachelor's and
master's degrees in English fromthe University of Indiana at
Bloomington and began teachingthere, working both as an
instructor of English andassistant editor of the
university publications.
(09:27):
She and her sister Cora were sohomesick, even when they were
apart for only a few days, thatthey wrote each other daily.
John Hendricks, 37 years old atthe time of his proposal, had
been injured in theCuba-Spanish-American War in
1898 and left disabled.
His sciatic nerve waspermanently injured and he
(09:47):
depended on crutches for therest of his life, in and out of
the veterans' hospitals.
For the next decade he knew hecould never do regular farm work
.
He took many correspondencecourses and eventually adopted
beekeeping as a hobby.
In February of 1911, he movedto Wyoming to establish a honey
farm because he discovered thatWyoming was the best place for
(10:09):
his health.
That year the US ReclamationBureau completed a dam on Tichon
River in northwestern Wyoming,later renamed the Buffalo Bill
Dam.
By 1915, 2,700 acres wereirrigated for the project.
For the first several years.
Sweet clover was the best cropto grow and this attracted
professional beekeepers.
(10:30):
Hendricks was one of the firstto file for a homestead on the
project In February 1911, abouta mile southwest of Garland, a
hamlet on the BurlingtonRailroad, five miles east of the
Park County town of Powell,wyoming.
On May 26th of 1912, cecilianoted in her diary that she
(10:50):
received another letter from theWyoming Poor man.
He is dreadfully lonesome.
I never had a letter that mademy heart ache, so that he is a
real hero.
His life in Cuba and moreespecially since, has shown.
It seemed to me that if anyonedeserved honoring a Memorial Day
it was him.
Consequently, I wrote him aMemorial Day letter.
(11:11):
It's more worthwhile to sendflowers to a live hero than a
dead one.
John and Cecilia were marriedin Indiana on December 30, 1913.
Her friends told her she waswasting a good education to
become a farmer's wife.
But Cecilia felt that they werewrong and that she needed her
(11:31):
education all along.
Through Cecilia's letters toher mother we gain a picture of
life on the Honey Hill Farm.
Between 1910 and 1920, thenumber of family farms and
ranches in Wyoming increased.
From family farms and ranchesin Wyoming increased from 10,987
to 15,784, a jump of nearly 45%.
(11:51):
Most of these operations werebetween 250 to 500 acres.
Farmers raised beef, cattle,sheep and pigs.
Crops included oats, wheat,corn and sugar beets.
Many farms and ranches also hada milch cow.
By 1920, 49% of all Wyomingfarms were mortgaged.
(12:13):
From 1913 to 1918, wyomingfarmers prospered due to wartime
demand for potatoes, wheat,oats, hay cattle and horses.
Many used their profits to buywar bonds.
Many used their profits to buywar bonds which were sold 1913
to 1919.
In February 1914, the Hendrixesgot a rocky start with the
(12:35):
failed honey sales.
John bartered honey for produce, hay and coal.
However.
Then, unexpectedly, a Minnesotadealer bought the remainder of
their honey.
John surprised Cecilia with 84quarts of tomatoes, 60 quarts of
peaches, 45 of plums, 15gallons of canned apples, three
or four gallons of apple butterand 21 glasses of jelly.
He didn't do the canninghimself but contracted with
(12:57):
neighbors.
Cecilia also canned beef.
In February of 1914, shereported churning a batch of
butter in 15 minutes.
Like many other farmers andranchers, they had a Jersey cow,
so there was plenty of milk andcream.
In 1916, they sold 5,000 poundsof honey.
By 1918, they had in theircellars canned peas, beans, corn
(13:20):
, carrots, asparagus, greens andtomatoes as well.
They had picked vegetables andfruit plus dry beans.
Vasilia also planned to canmore beef.
In 1921 she reported that theyalso had flour and fresh eggs.
We could go a long time withoutever seeing the inside of a
store, she wrote.
(13:40):
Also, in 1918 john bought atractor.
The hendrixons produced bothcomb honey and extracted honey.
To retard granulation, theextracted honey had to be heated
.
For railroad shipment the honeyhad to be packed in straw bales
to protect it from jarring.
By the mid-1920s they would beselling honey by the rail car
(14:02):
load.
On May 23, 1926, cecilia wrotewe have had some very nice
compliments on our honeyrecently.
We have sold the car the pasttwo seasons to Dad and Sons, the
firm that is about the mostexpert in the whole country.
Some time ago they wrote usabout the cars of honey they got
from us in 1924 and 1925,asking about what system of
(14:26):
heating we use as the honey didnot granulate for months and
months.
They spoke again of our honeyand said they wanted another car
this year.
Comb honey had its own protocol.
It had to be graded firstchoice and second there was also
weight and color requirements.
The cases in which they werepacked had to be glass-fronted.
(14:48):
Busy as she was, celia foundtime to watch sunrises and
sunsets, about which she ravedto her mother.
In addition to producing honey,they also grew sweet clover
about 35 acres in 1915.
In early October of 1916,cecilia, eight and a half months
pregnant, began drafting ashort form letter to clover
buying companies, using aBurlington Railroad Directory of
(15:11):
Industries to find thesecompanies.
October 26, their daughter,also named Cecilia, was born.
Apparently, honey Hill Farmshas begun to prosper, thanks in
no small part to water from theShone Dam project.
Day after Cecilia's birth, johnpresented his wife with a
solitaire topaz ring, possiblyan entire carrot.
(15:32):
The thought and the ring arethe most beautiful thing I've
ever known.
For a long time Cecilia wrote.
Although she no longer had timeto write to her mother daily,
she continued sending frequentletters.
From these we learned that inNovember of 1917, when the small
Cecilia was about 13 months old, the Hendrixes netted almost
(15:53):
$1,396 from clover seed sales.
On Christmas Day a check of$3,238.85 arrived, representing
honey exported to Europe for theAllies.
This shipment slid under thewire of the December 1st federal
embargo on overseas honeyshipments.
John and Cecilia were in debtand paid down much of it with
(16:14):
the money.
However, unlike many Wyomingfarms and ranches, they had no
mortgage.
Cecilia documented their 1918earnings on a January 20, 1919
letter.
All told, they had receivedmore than $40,000 for honey,
clover seed, fruit and potatoes.
The expenses were about $3,800,plus another $3,000 for hired
(16:36):
labor.
So I'm afraid we'll have to beat home this year when the
income tax man appears.
She wound up Two days before sheassessed the Spanish influenza
situation, mentioned almost noserious case in the area,
attributing this to thequarantine of Powell from the
beginning of the pandemic.
In late fall or early winter of1919, the Hendricksons received
(16:58):
a $1,300 payment for coal money, with another $6,000 arriving
on December 21st and another$600 to come.
We still have our hand $2,000to $3,000 of extracted honey.
She wrote the next day, nowthat John and Cecilia were
prospering, they began buildinga new house.
Now that John and Cecilia wereprospering, they began building
a new house by July 16th of 1920, construction had begun With a
(17:20):
scary November 1920 call when asmall Cecilia contracted woofing
cough.
She recovered.
The next main event was movinginto the new house on December
30th of 1920.
Their prosperity up to thistime was probably due in part to
no bad winters and no drought.
Their son, jules Ord, was bornJune 4th of 1921, the answer to
(17:44):
small Cecilia's prayers for herbrother.
And a second daughter, anne,was born August 12th of 1923.
Most agricultural prices fellsteeply after World War I.
The price of potatoes, forexample, plummeted in 1921.
Life became substantially moredifficult for small operators in
Wyoming because banks refusedthem new or additional loans,
(18:05):
denied them more time to pay offthose loans and required
additional security.
Banks began failing.
The pace of bank failuresreached its peak in 1924.
The irrigation project may haveprotected the Hendricks' from
severe drought which swept muchof Wyoming in 1919, and the
demand for their honey seemed tohave remained strong.
(18:26):
John estimated their 1921 honeycrop at between 25,000 to
30,000 pounds, but neither henor Cecilia mentioned a
hoped-for price.
In 1921, the Garland Bankfailed, but Cecilia noted this
only in passing, so apparentlyshe and John lost no money in
the failure.
(18:46):
Cecilia seemed to keep her eyeon local, state and national
politics.
In 1914, she noted that fourwestern states had recently
passed prohibition laws.
Adding In 1922, she became muchmore active.
(19:11):
That year John and Cecilia ranfor public office.
John ran to represent ParkCounty and the Wyoming House of
Representatives and Cecilia,full of ideas from her years of
teaching in public schools andat the university, ran for the
state superintendent of publicinstruction, a position that is
elected by voters statewide.
Both won in the Democraticprimary but lost the general
(19:34):
election in the fall.
Neither of us feels that leastbit badly about being defeated.
The price one would have to payis really too much, she wrote.
Also that year the Cheyennelawyer, william B Ross, ran for
governor on the Democraticticket.
In an August 20, 1922 letter,cecilia urged Democratic state
(19:55):
committee men and countychairmen to support Ross in the
primary election two days away.
Ross won the general electionin the fall and began pursuing
his progressive agenda, but hedied unexpectedly in October of
1924.
His wife, nellie Taylor Ross,ran in a special election to
replace him and won, becomingthe nation's first woman
(20:17):
governor.
Cecilia spoke in her support inGarland and the next day in
Powell.
When Ross ran for re-election in1926, cecilia was extremely
active in her campaign, writingletters to prominent women
around the nation seekingfinancial support.
At the same time, cecilia ranagain for state superintendent
on the Democratic ticket.
(20:38):
It was noted that Hendricks mayhave worked harder on Ross's
campaign than she did on her own.
Both women lost, the state wasswinging back to the Republican
party and up to that point noWyoming governor had ever been
re-elected.
And three days after theelection Hendricks wrote Ross a
long letter musing on thepolitics and the role of women
in public life.
I feel personally she wrote, inspite of defeat, that there is
(21:01):
a great deal of comfort to bederived from, particularly in a
campaign where one counts allthe increased information about
our state, the contact with finepeople everywhere, the
friendships made and, above all,the knowledge gained.
That will be the basis forbetter work in the future, one
must feel it is all for morethan worthwhile.
(21:22):
On May 25, 1922, ten years aftershe began to love John, cecilia
was visiting her parents inBloomington and wrote to John
you have risen higher and higheras I have learned to know you
better and better.
For ten years now I have lovedyou.
They have been the happiestyears of my life.
From honeyhill, john repliedthe ten years since that day,
(21:46):
1928,.
Cecilia wrote to her mother.
15 years ago tonight, john andI were on our way to Evansville,
indiana, apparently to getmarried at the time.
My, it does not seem like 15years ago.
Cecilia continued the traditionof educated farm and ranch women
in Wyoming in the early yearsof the 20th century who wrote
(22:09):
about their experiences.
Others include Eleanor PruittStewart, ethel Waxham Love.
Others include Eleanor PruittStewart, ethel Waxham Love and
Florence Blake Smith.
They all worked hard and helpedtheir neighbors whenever called
upon.
John died on December 14, 1936,in Billings, montana.
Cecilia then returned toBloomington where she taught
(22:30):
English for 28 years, foundedthe Indiana University's Writers
Conference and retired in 1953.
Outliving John by 33 years, shedied on July 5th of 1969.
Presumably they were happy forthe duration of their marriage.
Just another great story aboutthe early years here in Wyoming
(22:53):
and there's so many of theseaccounts of all these people
that came here and blazed atrail and the other part.
You see so many of these women,how strong they were and all
the things that they did throughtheir years for the state and
for women around the world.
(23:13):
Thanks for joining us today andwe hope you enjoy our podcast.
As per the code of the West, weride for the brand and we ride
for Wyoming.
We'll be right back.
(23:49):
Go go, we go, go, go, go go.
(24:28):
© BF-WATCH TV 2021.
Good morning and welcome to let's Talk Wyoming.
I'm Mark Hamilton, your host.
Today.
We'll be taking a look at ourWyoming weather, along with a
little bit of news about theWyoming Cowboys and their dismal
season so far.
Talk about politics, of course,and in our history section
we'll have a story fromwildhistoryorg Homesteader
(00:45):
Cecilia Hendricks.
Letters from Honey Hill.
Thanks for joining us.
We hope you enjoy the show.
Taking a look at Wyoming weatherhere in the middle of the month
of September Today here on the18th, our weather this morning
(01:08):
was actually overcast and windy.
We've started into that falltrend right now.
We're not officially into fallyet, but we're pretty darn close
and getting cool at night,getting a little warmer during
the daytime, but that'sdefinitely fall weather.
Still lacking a little bit ofmoisture in the area.
The fires are still around thegrass fires we had some in here
(01:29):
in Hot Springs County hererecently Grass fires started by
lightning.
The smoke has definitelycleared out.
In some of the areas it hasn'tbeen quite as bad, but we still
have a lot of time left beforewe start getting any type of
considerable potential moistureand snow, snow falls and those
late winter rains and snows thatwe get or I should say not late
(01:53):
winter, early winter, so againthe weather is still cooperating
.
Of course, the days are gettingshorter, knowing that we're
getting the days and days closer, with winter just around the
corner.
It's been a busy year In otherhappenings in the state.
Our poor Wyoming Cowboys arenot having a very good start to
their season.
They are 0-3.
(02:13):
They've lost to Arizona State,idaho.
Last weekend they lost to BYUand Laramie.
They'll be on the road inDenton, texas.
I lived pretty close to DentonTexas in Ardmore, oklahoma, for
four years.
I know the area well.
They'll play on North Texas ina game on Saturday.
We'll see how that comes up.
Maybe the Cowboys can breakthrough and get a victory.
(02:35):
The rest of their season looksrather difficult.
It's been a trying time for theteam and for the fans.
The message boards are alwaysbusy with people talking about
what's going on with thefootball team.
Of course we have a new coach.
This is his first time being ahead coach Definitely a work in
progress.
(02:55):
I don't have enough time in thissegment to talk about the
Cowboys, but human performanceis something that is a lot of
talk on and a lot of people havedid a lot of work on it, but it
is really something to getpeople to perform up to their
peak abilities.
The Cowboys returned a lot ofplayers, but they just don't
(03:16):
seem to click.
Of course, two of theiropponents were Big 12 teams.
Arizona State actually came inwith, if I remember, the count
40 transfers that they had, sothey had a lot of new players on
their roster.
They have one of the youngestcoaches college football as
their head coach, but theydominated the Cowboys.
Then the Cowboys came back andplayed FCS team Idaho and Idaho
(03:39):
won In a blowout.
It was a close game.
Cowboys just could not scorewhen they needed to.
And then last week, of course,with BYU, an old foe of ours for
many years.
This wasn't probably one of thebetter BYU teams, but the
Cowboy offense just doesn'tclick.
Defense makes some plays andthen they have some moments.
So it really can't push it downto one thing at this point.
(04:03):
A lot of talk about changingquarterbacks.
Maybe we need to do somethingalong those lines, but I think
it's just a matter of right.
Now going to the next game,when you're at this point and
I've said previously I coach,but I've coached high school
basketball and I've coached goodteams and not very good teams
and when you're losing, well,there isn't what you call a snap
(04:25):
your fingers and a quick fix.
Sometimes it takes some time toget yourself dug out of the
hole, because every time youlose, the team loses a lot of
motivation.
The kids get down on themselves.
You just have to continue onwith a new day and keep pushing
on, trying to keep the team in apositive mindset.
A lot of opportunities for someheart-to-hearts with the team,
(04:49):
maybe some life values, lifelessons.
But I know the people inWyoming will always be behind
the Cowboys.
This is one group of fans.
I always said that we love ourCowboys.
We've been pretty mediocre fora lot of years.
I always said I think we lovemediocrity.
That's just kind of what we'reused to and, no matter what,
(05:10):
we're going to support ourCowboys through whatever they go
through and of course, they'vebeen through a lot of highs and
lows through the years.
So Cowboys not having a verygood year so far.
But boy, it's a long season, alot of games left.
Maybe they can get this thingturned around this weekend and
we'll see what happens the restof the way.
Other news we're getting to thatpoint of year.
(05:31):
Farmers have been busy.
Of course barley harvest is inthe books Right now.
Corn is being chopped, cornsilage is taking place around
the area.
Some of the areas.
You'll be seeing some, and youmay already be in some of the
areas.
I have not seen it yet inMoorland, but you'll be seeing
that early beet harvest will bestarting up shortly.
(05:54):
Beet harvest is ahead so thattime of the year where the
farmers are starting to kind ofwind things up with their crops
and kind of getting ready forwinter season.
So many of the people in thearea feed cattle, involved in
something to do with cattle.
A lot of cattle come in a lotof aftermath up in those fields
that their cows are brought into feed on.
(06:16):
That's something that we neversaw back when I was a young kid
here in the basin.
But now we've got year-roundtype of activities in the
agricultural community.
As we know, we are finishing upin September.
We're less than two months awayfrom our presidential election
and our general elections herein the state of Wyoming.
(06:37):
It's going to be a interestingtime ahead.
I just tell people that ifyou've heard my show, you pretty
well know my leaning on theelection.
But I always tell people usesome critical thinking.
Take a look, ask yourself arewe better off than we were three
and a half years ago when thecurrent administration comes in?
(06:58):
Is your life better now than itwas before?
Are you paying less for food inthe store than it was before?
Are you paying less for food inthe store?
Are your costs down?
Are interest rates down?
Are you able to afford a house?
There's so much stuff going on.
The part that worries me themost is what's going on outside
(07:19):
of our little realm.
Here in Wyoming Just heardtoday that there was another
attack into Russia, and theRussians have said they know
that if they go long-rangemissiles into Russia, the only
way that the Ukrainians can usethese is with the assistance of
the US or the Brits, withsatellite.
Russia considers that an attackby NATO, and then there's take
(07:42):
the gloves off and it could goanywhere.
That's the part that I'm scaredof.
We're sitting here worryingabout what the cowboys are doing
and what else is going on, whenthe world could change
overnight.
But when you're looking atvoting, don't listen to people
around you sometimes Go todifferent sources and ask some
questions.
But, critically thinking, areyou better off?
(08:04):
Do you feel like we're betteroff and do you feel like the
future one party is offeringversus the other party is going
to be better for you and yourfamily and then vote accordingly
?
Today in our history sectionwe're going to be taking a look
(08:24):
at a story from my favoritewildhistoryorg Homesteader,
cecilia Hendricks.
Letter from Honey Hill Late in1911, john Hendricks, writing
from a farm in Wyoming, proposedto 28-year-old Cecilia Hennell
in Indiana.
She noted in her diary I got aletter today from someone who
(08:46):
signed himself John Hendricks,asking me if I would consider a
proposal of marriage from him.
I should like to know who he isand how he got my name.
He must be somebody prettyfresh.
Several months later, on April21st 1912, she wrote in her
diary that she learned from heraunt that she'd actually met
Hendricks before.
(09:06):
Cecilia Hennell by then hadtaught school to earn enough
money for college and by 1908had earned both bachelor's and
master's degrees in English fromthe University of Indiana at
Bloomington and began teachingthere, working both as an
instructor of English andassistant editor of the
university publications.
(09:27):
She and her sister Cora were sohomesick, even when they were
apart for only a few days, thatthey wrote each other daily.
John Hendricks, 37 years old atthe time of his proposal, had
been injured in theCuba-Spanish-American War in
1898 and left disabled.
His sciatic nerve waspermanently injured and he
(09:47):
depended on crutches for therest of his life, in and out of
the veterans' hospitals.
For the next decade he knew hecould never do regular farm work
.
He took many correspondencecourses and eventually adopted
beekeeping as a hobby.
In February of 1911, he movedto Wyoming to establish a honey
farm because he discovered thatWyoming was the best place for
(10:09):
his health.
That year the US ReclamationBureau completed a dam on Tichon
River in northwestern Wyoming,later renamed the Buffalo Bill
Dam.
By 1915, 2,700 acres wereirrigated for the project.
For the first several years.
Sweet clover was the best cropto grow and this attracted
professional beekeepers.
(10:30):
Hendricks was one of the firstto file for a homestead on the
project In February 1911, abouta mile southwest of Garland, a
hamlet on the BurlingtonRailroad, five miles east of the
Park County town of Powell,wyoming.
On May 26th of 1912, cecilianoted in her diary that she
(10:50):
received another letter from theWyoming Poor man.
He is dreadfully lonesome.
I never had a letter that mademy heart ache, so that he is a
real hero.
His life in Cuba and moreespecially since, has shown.
It seemed to me that if anyonedeserved honoring a Memorial Day
it was him.
Consequently, I wrote him aMemorial Day letter.
(11:11):
It's more worthwhile to sendflowers to a live hero than a
dead one.
John and Cecilia were marriedin Indiana on December 30, 1913.
Her friends told her she waswasting a good education to
become a farmer's wife.
But Cecilia felt that they werewrong and that she needed her
(11:31):
education all along.
Through Cecilia's letters toher mother we gain a picture of
life on the Honey Hill Farm.
Between 1910 and 1920, thenumber of family farms and
ranches in Wyoming increased.
From family farms and ranchesin Wyoming increased from 10,987
to 15,784, a jump of nearly 45%.
(11:51):
Most of these operations werebetween 250 to 500 acres.
Farmers raised beef, cattle,sheep and pigs.
Crops included oats, wheat,corn and sugar beets.
Many farms and ranches also hada milch cow.
By 1920, 49% of all Wyomingfarms were mortgaged.
(12:13):
From 1913 to 1918, wyomingfarmers prospered due to wartime
demand for potatoes, wheat,oats, hay cattle and horses.
Many used their profits to buywar bonds.
Many used their profits to buywar bonds which were sold 1913
to 1919.
In February 1914, the Hendrixesgot a rocky start with the
(12:35):
failed honey sales.
John bartered honey for produce, hay and coal.
However.
Then, unexpectedly, a Minnesotadealer bought the remainder of
their honey.
John surprised Cecilia with 84quarts of tomatoes, 60 quarts of
peaches, 45 of plums, 15gallons of canned apples, three
or four gallons of apple butterand 21 glasses of jelly.
He didn't do the canninghimself but contracted with
(12:57):
neighbors.
Cecilia also canned beef.
In February of 1914, shereported churning a batch of
butter in 15 minutes.
Like many other farmers andranchers, they had a Jersey cow,
so there was plenty of milk andcream.
In 1916, they sold 5,000 poundsof honey.
By 1918, they had in theircellars canned peas, beans, corn
(13:20):
, carrots, asparagus, greens andtomatoes as well.
They had picked vegetables andfruit plus dry beans.
Vasilia also planned to canmore beef.
In 1921 she reported that theyalso had flour and fresh eggs.
We could go a long time withoutever seeing the inside of a
store, she wrote.
(13:40):
Also, in 1918 john bought atractor.
The hendrixons produced bothcomb honey and extracted honey.
To retard granulation, theextracted honey had to be heated
.
For railroad shipment the honeyhad to be packed in straw bales
to protect it from jarring.
By the mid-1920s they would beselling honey by the rail car
(14:02):
load.
On May 23, 1926, cecilia wrotewe have had some very nice
compliments on our honeyrecently.
We have sold the car the pasttwo seasons to Dad and Sons, the
firm that is about the mostexpert in the whole country.
Some time ago they wrote usabout the cars of honey they got
from us in 1924 and 1925,asking about what system of
(14:26):
heating we use as the honey didnot granulate for months and
months.
They spoke again of our honeyand said they wanted another car
this year.
Comb honey had its own protocol.
It had to be graded firstchoice and second there was also
weight and color requirements.
The cases in which they werepacked had to be glass-fronted.
(14:48):
Busy as she was, celia foundtime to watch sunrises and
sunsets, about which she ravedto her mother.
In addition to producing honey,they also grew sweet clover
about 35 acres in 1915.
In early October of 1916,cecilia, eight and a half months
pregnant, began drafting ashort form letter to clover
buying companies, using aBurlington Railroad Directory of
(15:11):
Industries to find thesecompanies.
October 26, their daughter,also named Cecilia, was born.
Apparently, honey Hill Farmshas begun to prosper, thanks in
no small part to water from theShone Dam project.
Day after Cecilia's birth, johnpresented his wife with a
solitaire topaz ring, possiblyan entire carrot.
(15:32):
The thought and the ring arethe most beautiful thing I've
ever known.
For a long time Cecilia wrote.
Although she no longer had timeto write to her mother daily,
she continued sending frequentletters.
From these we learned that inNovember of 1917, when the small
Cecilia was about 13 months old, the Hendrixes netted almost
(15:53):
$1,396 from clover seed sales.
On Christmas Day a check of$3,238.85 arrived, representing
honey exported to Europe for theAllies.
This shipment slid under thewire of the December 1st federal
embargo on overseas honeyshipments.
John and Cecilia were in debtand paid down much of it with
(16:14):
the money.
However, unlike many Wyomingfarms and ranches, they had no
mortgage.
Cecilia documented their 1918earnings on a January 20, 1919
letter.
All told, they had receivedmore than $40,000 for honey,
clover seed, fruit and potatoes.
The expenses were about $3,800,plus another $3,000 for hired
(16:36):
labor.
So I'm afraid we'll have to beat home this year when the
income tax man appears.
She wound up Two days before sheassessed the Spanish influenza
situation, mentioned almost noserious case in the area,
attributing this to thequarantine of Powell from the
beginning of the pandemic.
In late fall or early winter of1919, the Hendricksons received
(16:58):
a $1,300 payment for coal money, with another $6,000 arriving
on December 21st and another$600 to come.
We still have our hand $2,000to $3,000 of extracted honey.
She wrote the next day, nowthat John and Cecilia were
prospering, they began buildinga new house.
Now that John and Cecilia wereprospering, they began building
a new house by July 16th of 1920, construction had begun With a
(17:20):
scary November 1920 call when asmall Cecilia contracted woofing
cough.
She recovered.
The next main event was movinginto the new house on December
30th of 1920.
Their prosperity up to thistime was probably due in part to
no bad winters and no drought.
Their son, jules Ord, was bornJune 4th of 1921, the answer to
(17:44):
small Cecilia's prayers for herbrother.
And a second daughter, anne,was born August 12th of 1923.
Most agricultural prices fellsteeply after World War I.
The price of potatoes, forexample, plummeted in 1921.
Life became substantially moredifficult for small operators in
Wyoming because banks refusedthem new or additional loans,
(18:05):
denied them more time to pay offthose loans and required
additional security.
Banks began failing.
The pace of bank failuresreached its peak in 1924.
The irrigation project may haveprotected the Hendricks' from
severe drought which swept muchof Wyoming in 1919, and the
demand for their honey seemed tohave remained strong.
(18:26):
John estimated their 1921 honeycrop at between 25,000 to
30,000 pounds, but neither henor Cecilia mentioned a
hoped-for price.
In 1921, the Garland Bankfailed, but Cecilia noted this
only in passing, so apparentlyshe and John lost no money in
the failure.
(18:46):
Cecilia seemed to keep her eyeon local, state and national
politics.
In 1914, she noted that fourwestern states had recently
passed prohibition laws.
Adding In 1922, she became muchmore active.
(19:11):
That year John and Cecilia ranfor public office.
John ran to represent ParkCounty and the Wyoming House of
Representatives and Cecilia,full of ideas from her years of
teaching in public schools andat the university, ran for the
state superintendent of publicinstruction, a position that is
elected by voters statewide.
Both won in the Democraticprimary but lost the general
(19:34):
election in the fall.
Neither of us feels that leastbit badly about being defeated.
The price one would have to payis really too much, she wrote.
Also that year the Cheyennelawyer, william B Ross, ran for
governor on the Democraticticket.
In an August 20, 1922 letter,cecilia urged Democratic state
(19:55):
committee men and countychairmen to support Ross in the
primary election two days away.
Ross won the general electionin the fall and began pursuing
his progressive agenda, but hedied unexpectedly in October of
1924.
His wife, nellie Taylor Ross,ran in a special election to
replace him and won, becomingthe nation's first woman
(20:17):
governor.
Cecilia spoke in her support inGarland and the next day in
Powell.
When Ross ran for re-election in1926, cecilia was extremely
active in her campaign, writingletters to prominent women
around the nation seekingfinancial support.
At the same time, cecilia ranagain for state superintendent
on the Democratic ticket.
(20:38):
It was noted that Hendricks mayhave worked harder on Ross's
campaign than she did on her own.
Both women lost, the state wasswinging back to the Republican
party and up to that point noWyoming governor had ever been
re-elected.
And three days after theelection Hendricks wrote Ross a
long letter musing on thepolitics and the role of women
in public life.
I feel personally she wrote, inspite of defeat, that there is
(21:01):
a great deal of comfort to bederived from, particularly in a
campaign where one counts allthe increased information about
our state, the contact with finepeople everywhere, the
friendships made and, above all,the knowledge gained.
That will be the basis forbetter work in the future, one
must feel it is all for morethan worthwhile.
(21:22):
On May 25, 1922, ten years aftershe began to love John, cecilia
was visiting her parents inBloomington and wrote to John
you have risen higher and higheras I have learned to know you
better and better.
For ten years now I have lovedyou.
They have been the happiestyears of my life.
From honeyhill, john repliedthe ten years since that day,
(21:46):
1928,.
Cecilia wrote to her mother.
15 years ago tonight, john andI were on our way to Evansville,
indiana, apparently to getmarried at the time.
My, it does not seem like 15years ago.
Cecilia continued the traditionof educated farm and ranch women
in Wyoming in the early yearsof the 20th century who wrote
(22:09):
about their experiences.
Others include Eleanor PruittStewart, ethel Waxham Love.
Others include Eleanor PruittStewart, ethel Waxham Love and
Florence Blake Smith.
They all worked hard and helpedtheir neighbors whenever called
upon.
John died on December 14, 1936,in Billings, montana.
Cecilia then returned toBloomington where she taught
(22:30):
English for 28 years, foundedthe Indiana University's Writers
Conference and retired in 1953.
Outliving John by 33 years, shedied on July 5th of 1969.
Presumably they were happy forthe duration of their marriage.
Just another great story aboutthe early years here in Wyoming
(22:53):
and there's so many of theseaccounts of all these people
that came here and blazed atrail and the other part.
You see so many of these women,how strong they were and all
the things that they did throughtheir years for the state and
for women around the world.
(23:13):
Thanks for joining us today andwe hope you enjoy our podcast.
As per the code of the West, weride for the brand and we ride
for Wyoming.
We'll be right back.
(23:49):
Go go, we go, go, go, go go.
(24:28):
© BF-WATCH TV 2021.
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