History of Wyoming - Chapter XIV

CHAPTER XIV STATE
GOVERNMENT INAUGURATED

First Political Convention—First State Election—First state Legislature—Election of United States Senators—Resignation of Governor Warren—Barber,s Administration—Political Campaign of 1892—A Political Dispute—Osborne Takes Possession of the Governors Office—The Carbon County Case—The Moore Pardon—Osborne's Administration—Second Legislature—The State Seal—The Senatorial Deadlock—Columbian Exposition—Election of 1894 ... 213

    Soon after the passage of the bill by Congress, admitting Wyoming into the Union, Governor Francis E. Warren, then governor of the territory, issued a proclamation calling an election for state officers on Thursday, September 11, 1890, and politicians began to gird on their armor for the fray. Republican and democratic conventions were held in Cheyenne on the 11th of August.
    The republican convention nominated Francis E. Warren for governor; Amos W. Barber, secretary of state; Charles W. Burdick, auditor of state; Otto Gramm, treasurer of state; Stephen T. Farwell, superintendent of public instruction; Willis Van Devanter, Herman V. S. Groesbeck and Asbury B. Conaway, justices of the Supreme Court; Clarence D. Clark, representative in Congress.
    George W. Baxter was nominated for governor by the democratic convention; John S. Harper, secretary of state; George S. Campbell, auditor of state; Isaac C. Miller, treasurer of state; Anthony V. Quinn, superintendent of public instruction; Samuel T. Corn, P. Gad Bryan and Henry S. Elliott, justices of the Supreme Court; George T. Beck, representative in Congress.
    Both conventions also nominated judges for the three judicial districts, viz.: Republican–Richard H. Scott, of Crook County, First District; John W. Blake, of Albany County, Second District; Jesse Knight, of Uinta County, Third District. Democratic—Frederick H. Harvey, of Converse County, First District; Micah C. Saufley, of Albany County, Second District; Douglas A. Preston, of Fremont County, Third District.
    The campaign that followed the nomination of these tickets was enlivened by a series of joint debates between George W. Baxter, the democratic candidate for governor, and Joseph M. Carey, former delegate in Congress. Baxter had challenged Governor Warren to discuss the issues of the campaign in joint debate, but the governor's health was in such a state that his friends deemed it inadvisable for him to accept the challenge, and Mr. Carey volunteered to become his substitute. At the election the entire republican ticket was victorious. For governor, Warren received 8,879 votes and Baxter received 7,153. The other candidates on the ticket were elected by substantially the same vote. Governor Warren and the three justices of the Supreme Court took the oath of office a few minutes before midnight on Saturday, October 11, 1890. The reason for the lateness of the hour was that Mr. Warren was absent from the city and arrived on a belated train from the west at 11:40 P. M. He was met at the station with a carriage and hurried to the capitol, where he qualified as the first state governor of Wyoming. The vote had been canvassed earlier in the day by Judge Willis Van Devanter, of the Supreme Court; John W. Meldrum, territorial secretary; and Melville C. Brown, the last named as president of the constitutional convention.

FIRST STATE LEGISLATURE

    Governor Warren, immediately after his inauguration, issued a proclamation convening the Legislature of the State of Wyoming at Cheyenne on Wednesday, November 12, 1890. The Senate in the first State Legislature was composed of the following members: Albany County–John McGill and Robert E. Fitch; Carbon–Fenimore Chatterton and Frank H. Williams; Converse–Albert D. Chamberlin; Fremont–J. D. Woodruff; Johnson–John N. Tisdale ; Laramie–Leopold Kabis, William A. Robins and W. R. Schnitger; Sheridan–John Mc-Cormick; Sweetwater–Edward W. Griffiths and James B. Keenan: Uinta–Oliver D. Marx and John L. Russell; Weston–Frank W. Mondell.
    The members of the House of Representatives, by counties, were: Albany–George Gebhardt, Ora Haley, Herman Langhelett, Charles H. Reals and A. L. Sutherland; Carbon–Louis G. Davis, John F. Hittle, Louis Johnson and A. M. Startzell; Converse–Frank Merrill. Nat Baker and Charles E. Clay; Crook— Oliver P. Kellogg and Henry B. Folsom; Fremont–Robert H. Hall and E. Amoretti; Johnson–A. L. Coleman and H. W. Davis; Laramie–Hugo E. Buechner, Frank Bond, George East, Samuel Merrill, William H. Richardson and Charles W. Sweet; Natrona–W. E. Dunn; Sheridan–Harrison Fulmer and William Brown; Sweetwater–Archibald Blair, John S. Davis and Edward Thorp; Uinta–Otto Arnold, George M. Griffin and Alma Peterson. The Senate organized by electing W. R. Schnitger, of Cheyenne, president, and Oliver P. Kellogg, of Sundance, was elected speaker of the House.
    One of the chief duties devolving upon this first Legislature was the election of two United States senators. On November 14, 1890, Joseph M. Carey was elected, George W. Baxter receiving the vote of every democratic member of the Legislative Assembly. Governor Warren was a candidate for United Stales senator, but considerable opposition developed among the republican members of the Legislature and for a time it looked as though he might be defeated. The fact that Warren and Carey both lived in the City of Cheyenne was the cause of some of the opposition, and others claimed that Warren had promised when a candidate for the office of governor that if elected he would not be a candidate for senator. Six ballots were taken from day to day without an election, but on the seventh ballot, about 2:45 P- M-. November 19, 1890, Warren received twenty-nine votes, four more than the necessary majority, and was declared elected.
    During the session the following acts were passed: Fixing the terms of the Supreme Court and regulating the procedure and practice therein; defining the judicial districts and the time of holding court in each county in the state; declaring the revised statutes and the session laws of 1888 and 1890 to be the laws of the state until repealed.; authorizing cities and towns to borrow money and issue bonds for the construction and maintenance of waterworks; granting railroad companies the right of way over school sections and other state lands; creating the office of inspector of coal mines and defining his duties; establishing a hospital for miners as a state charitable institution; and creating a state board of charities and reform.
    After the state election of September 11, 1890, some question as to its legality arose. The election had been called by the governor and the several boards of county commissioners, whose authority to do so was called into dispute. To settle the matter, the Legislature passed an act declaring the election legal, which act was approved on December 23, 1890.
    By the act of January 10, 1891, a board of commissioners for the World's Columbian Exposition, to be held at Chicago in 1893, was authorized. The board, to be known as the "World's Fair Managers of Wyoming," was to consist of five members, one of whom should be the state engineer, one already appointed in the northern part of the state, and the other three were to be appointed by the governor. The sum of $30,000 was appropriated to defray the expenses of making an exhibit of Wyoming's products and progress at the fair.
    Section 6. article IV, of the constitution of Wyoming provides that "If the governor be impeached, displaced, resign or die, or from mental or physical disease or otherwise become incapable of performing the duties of his office, or be absent from the state, the secretary of state shall act as governor until the vacancy is filled or the disability removed."
    The election of Governor Warren to the United States Senate, with his resignation and consequent vacancy in the office of governor, brought this subject prominently before the Legislature. Members asked themselves the question. "What if the secretary of state should also become unable, through some cause, to perform the duties of governor?" By the act of December 24, 1890, ample provision was made for such a contingency, should it ever arise. This act provides that the duties and responsibilities of the office of governor shall be exercised and assumed by the secretary of state, as set forth in the constitution, and after him, successively, by the president of the Senate, the speaker of the House (at the last session), the auditor of state and the treasurer of state.
    At the conclusion of the session on January 10, 1891, Representative Baker, of Converse County, presented Speaker Kellogg with a handsome gavel, upon which was inscribed: "Presented to O. P. Kellogg, Speaker of the first Wyoming Legislature, 1890." Representative Frank Bond, of Laramie County, presented Mr. Kellogg with a group picture of all the members of the House.

BARBER'S ADMINISTRATION

Governor Warren resigned from the office of governor on November 24, 1890, five days after he was elected United States senator by the Legislature, and the same day Amos W. Barber, secretary of state, became acting governor.
Amos W. Barber was born at Doylestown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, April 26. 1861. He graduated in both the literary and medical departments of the University of Pennsylvania in 1883 and about two years later came to Wyoming as surgeon in charge of the military hospital at Fort Fetterman. Soon after his arrival at Fort Fetterman he was made acting assistant surgeon in the United States army and accompanied General Crook's expedition to Arizona. He was then assigned to duty at Fort D. A. Russell. After a short service there he resigned from the army and engaged in the practice of medicine at Cheyenne. As a republican Doctor Barber took an active part in political affairs and in 1890 he was nominated by his party for secretary of state. Fie was elected at the first state election on Sejitember 11, 1890, and when Governor Warren resigned to accept a seat in the United States Senate he became acting governor. He served in that capacity until the inauguration of Gov. John E. Osborne on January 2, 1893. While acting as governor of the state he married, in 1892, Miss Amelia Kent, daughter of Thomas A. Kent of Cheyenne. In the Spanish-American war he again served as assistant surgeon in the United States army, after which he practiced in Cheyenne until his death in 1915. Governor Barber was a thirty-second degree Mason, a Knight Templar and a member of the Cheyenne Lodge of Elks.

POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF 1892

    Upon Governor Barber devolved the duty of fully inaugurating the state government. Numerous appointments were to be made and, being a republican and a partisan, the acting governor naturally selected such men for his appointees as would strengthen the position of his party. In such cases there is always likely to be some grumbling, but in the main everything proceeded without serious friction until the close of the campaign of 1892.
    In that campaign the democrats "opened the ball" by holding a state convention at Rock Springs on Wednesday, July 27th, and nominating the following candidates for the state offices, etc.. John E. Osborne, for governor; Henry A. ColTeen, for congressman; Gibson Clark, for justice of the Supreme Court; Samuel T. Corn. John T. Norton and P. J. Quealy, for presidential electors.
    The republican state convention was seld at Laramie on Wednesday, September 14, 1892. Edward Ivinson was nominated for governor on the tenth ballot; Clarence D. Clark was renominated for congressman; Carroll H. Pannelee. for justice of the Supreme Court; John H. Barron, John C. Dyer and William H. Kilpatrick, for presidential electors.
    In 1892 the people's party, or "populists," as they were commonly called, was particularly active in several of the western states. Just a week after the republican state convention, the populists met at Douglas for the purpose of nominating a state ticket. Some of the democratic leaders in the state proposed a fusion ticket, agreeing that if the people's party would make no nominations for the state ofifices the democratic party would withdraw its candidates for presidental electors and substitute those selected by the Douglas convention. The arrangement was consummated and the democratic electors gave way to S. E. Seeley, William Hinton and William R. Richardson. On the other hand the populists supported the democratic state ticket, which insured the election of Governor Osborne.
    The prohibitionists nominated William Brown for governor; Ella G. Becker, Oscar S. Jackson and A. N. Page, presidential electors, but made no nominations for representative in Congress and justice of the Supreme Court. The election was held on November 8, 1892, and resulted in the election of the fusion candidates. Osborne's majority for governor was 1,781, that of Clark and CotYeen for justice of the Supreme Court and representative in Congress was slightly less.
    The defeat of the republican ticket through the coalition of the democrats and populists engendered some ill feeling on the part of the leaders of the republican party in Wyoming, and when a delay of a month occurred, immediately following the election, without the vote being canvassed and the result announced, charges were made that fraud was about to be perpetrated upon the people of the state. About half past eight o'clock on the morning of December 2, 1892, Governor-elect Osborne, accompanied by Daniel W. Gill, a notary public, proceeded to the capitol, where Mr. Gill administered the oath prescribed by the constitution and declared John E. Osborne duly qualified as governor of the State of Wyoming. He then tendered a copy of the oath to the clerk in office of the secretary of state, John W. Meldrum, but Mr. Meldrum refused to accept it and Mr. Gill left it lying upon the desk.
    After taking the oath, Mr. Osborne took possession of the governor's office without opposition, and immediately issued the following proclamation:
    "In obedience to the constitution and laws of the State of Wyoming, I, John E. Osborne, do hereby make proclamation that, having been duly elected by the qualified voters of the State of Wyoming to the office of governor of the state to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Francis E. Warren, heretofore elected and qualified as governor, and there being no board of state canvassers authorized to canvass the returns and declare the result of said election for governor, and the returns from the several boards of county canvassers now on file in the office of the secretary of state showing that I have been unquestionably elected to the office of governor, I have duly and legally qualified as governor of the state and am now said governor, and I do call upon all true and loyal citizens of the state to respect my authority as to such office and to aid me in enforcing the laws and seeing that justice in all things is done.
    "Done at the office of the governor, at Cheyenne, capital of the state, on the 2d day of December, A. D. 1892.

"John E. Osborne,
"Governor of the State of Wyoming."

    To say that the proclamation caused some excitement in political circles is but a simple statement of fact, as no such move on the part of the governor-elect had been anticipated. When Acting Governor Barber arrived at the capitol he found Mr. Osborne installed in the office set apart for the use of the governor, apparently with no intention of vacating it. That afternoon Mr. Barber issued his proclamation, declaring the constitution of the state made it his duty to act as governor until the vacancy was filled by an election; that the election held on November 8, 1892, was not completed until the vote had been legally canvassed by lawful authority and the result declared in the manner provided by law. He then quoted the law on the subject, to wit:
    "When the state canvassing board shall have canvassed the vote of the election, as aforesaid, and in the manner provided by law declared a person of such election to be elected as governor, such person shall within thirty days after such canvass, or as soon thereafter as possible, qualify and assume the duties and powers of governor."
    The proclamation then went on to say the returns of Converse and Fremont counties had not been received by the state board of canvassers and declared John E. Osborne to be a usurper.
    Mr. Osborne then sent notices in writing to Amos W. Barber, secretary of state; Charles W. Burdick, auditor of state; and Otto Gramm, treasurer of state, to meet in the governor's ofifice at lO o'clock A. M. on Monday, December 5, 1892, for the purpose of canvassing the vote. This order was ignored by the state officials, who fixed upon Thursday, December 8th for the canvass and so notified the chairman of the republican and democratic state central committees.
    Toward evening on December 2, 1892, following the taking of the oath of office by Governor Osborne, some of his friends carried his supper to him in the governor's office, and, as the capitol building was not then lighted by electricity as at present, a supply of candles was also provided that the rooms might be kept lighted during the night. Mayor Bresnahan, of Cheyenne, detailed two policemen to remain on guard at the capitol during the night, to prevent disorder or violence. Nothing unusual occurred during the night and Saturday morning dawned with Mr. Osborne still in possession of the governor's rooms in the capitol.
    That day Mr. Osborne issued a second proclamation to the people of Wyoming, in which he set forth that Amos W. Barber, as secretary of state claimed that Osborne's action had been contrary to law; that the said Barber had persistently refused to act with the other state officials in canvassing the vote; that there was in fact no statute providing for the canvass of the vote for governor, etc. In this proclamation Mr. Osborne used some rather strong language, when he said:
    "There is ample evidence to convince me that a conspiracy has been entered into between a certain aspirant for the United States Senate and certain of the county clerks in the State of Wyoming to deprive lawfully elected members of the Legislature of the offices to which they were elected, and it is necessary for the full success of such conspiracy that a person friendly to it shall hold the office of governor at the time the canvass is made," etc.
    He referred to Barber as a usurper and again called upon the people of the state to assist in enforcing the laws, pledging himself "that the power vested in the governor shall only be exercised by me to execute faithfully the laws, to defeat attempted frauds upon the people and to maintain the honor, dignity and peace of the state."

THE CARBON CITY CASE

The state officers–Barber, Burdick and Gramm–began the canvass of the vote on Thursday, December 8th, according to the notices sent to the chairmen of the state central committees. When Carbon County was reached it was found that two sets of returns had been made, one by the county clerk and the other by the two justices who constituted the majority of the county board of canvassers. The state board of canvassers voted to accept the returns of the county clerk and reject the report of the justices. On December 10. 1892, A. C. Campbell and T. M. Patterson, attorneys for S. B. Bennett and Harry A. Chapman, two candidates for representatives from Carbon County who were thus rejected by the state board, went before Chief Justice Groesbeck and asked for a writ of alternative mandamus to compel the state officials to canvass the returns submitted by the majority of the county board.
Judge Groesbeck at first took the view that the court had no power to grant such a writ during vacation, but it was finally issued and made returnable at 2 o'clock P. M. on the 15th. The case was then argued by Campbell and Patterson, and on the 31st Judge Conaway rendered the decision granting the writ of mandamus. Bennett and Chapman were thus given their seats in the House of Representatives in the legislative session which began on January 10, 1893.

THE MOORE PARDON

There was still another complication growing out of the dispute over the governorship and the canvass of the votes cast at the state election. On December 28, 1892, Acting Governor Barber granted a pardon to James Moore, who had been convicted of grand larceny in May, 1892, and sentenced to serve three years in the penitentiary. George L. Briggs, warden of the penitentiary, refused to recognize the pardon, on the grounds that Barber was not the lawful governor of the state and had no authority to grant pardons. Habeas corpus proceedings were then brought by Moore's lawyers to compel Briggs to release the prisoner, and the Supreme Court decided in their favor. This recognition of Barber as the governor of the state resulted in Governor Osborne again taking the oath of office on January 2, 1893, when he was permitted to take possession of the governor's office without opposition. Gibson Clark was sworn in as associate justice of the Supreme Court at the same time.

THE caCATTLEMEN'S RAID

Acting Governor Barber's administration was made memorable by the most regrettable event in Wyoming history–the notorious "Cattlemen's Raid"–the details of which are given in another chapter of this work. This episode so aroused the citizens of Wyoming that its immediate efifect was to revolutionize the politics of the state. Although this lawless expedition was in no sense political, the fact that it was approved and abetted by a republican administration led to the electoral complications described in connection with the election of Governor Osborne and the unpleasant events immediately following that election.

OSBORNE'S ADMINISTRATION

    John E. Osborne, second governor of the State of Wyoming, was born at Westport, N. Y., June 9, 1858. He received a high school education and was then apprenticed to a druggist in Vermont. While employed in the drug store he began the study of medicine and in 1880 he received the degree of M. D. from the medical department of the University of Vermont. Soon after receiving his degree he decided to follow Horace Greeley's advice and "Go West." Selecting Rawlins, Wyo., as his location, he there entered upon the general practice of medicine and was appointed assistant surgeon of the Union Pacific Railroad. In 1882 he established a wholesale and retail drug house. Two years later he embarked in the live stock business and in a few years had the reputation of being the largest individual sheep owner in the state.
    It was not long after he located at Rawlins until Mr. Osborne came to be recognized as one of the leaders of the democratic party in the state. He was elected as the second mayor of Rawlins after the city was incorporated; served a term in the Territorial Legislature; was one of the penitentiary commissioners in 1888; was chosen an alternate delegate to the democratic national convention in 1892, and the same year was nominated by his party for governor of Wyoming. At the close of his term as governor he declined a renomination and in 1896 was elected representative in Congress, defeating Frank W. Mondell. In 1898 he was made vice chairman of the democratic national Congressional committee and had charge of the national campaign in that year. Since 1900 he has been Wyoming's member of the democratic national committee, making him one of the oldest members in point of service on that committee. He was chairman of the democratic state committee in 1910, which conducted the campaign that resulted in the election of Joseph M. Carey as governor and Frank L. Houx as secretary of state. In March, 1913, President Wilson appointed Mr. Osborne first assistant secretary of state, which position he held during Mr. Wilson's first term, when he resigned to give his attention to his large business interests, particularly the Osborne Live Stock Company, of which he is president. One of the leading republican newspapers of Wyoming recently said of Governor Osborne :
    "There are few things in this world finer than consistency–and few so rare in politics. That is why any reference to Hon. John E. Osborne of Rawlins must be a refreshing one, for in spite of Mr. Osborne's long and highly useful career in many public ofifices and the faithful service he had done his nation and his state in the discharge of the duties of these offices—in spite of all these, any reference to Mr. Osborne at once calls to mind his unswerving steadfastness to the democratic party; the sterling loyalty he has shown in the times and the years when democracy was not in the ascendency."

SECOND LEGISLATURE

The second State Legislature was convened at Cheyenne on Tuesday, January 10, 1893. Frank W. Mondell of Newcastle was elected president of the Senate and L. C. Tidball of Sheridan was chosen speaker of the House. In his message Governor Osborne recommended a thorough revision of the election laws; some "systematic and organized effort, under the official sanction of the state, to encourage immigration"; more stringent laws for the protection of game animals and birds; the completion of the penitentiary at Rawlins, upon which nearly thirty-two thousand dollars had already been expended; and a change in the description of the state seal by substituting the words "live stock" for "cattle." In discussing the necessity for better game laws and their more rigid enforcement, he said: "I am informed that 50,000 ^jounds of deer, elk and antelope were shipped from Rawlins alone during the past year."

THE STATE SEAL

    A "Great Seal of State" for Wyoming was first authorized by an act passed at the first session of the State Legislature, approved on January 10, 1891. It provided for a circle 2½ inches in diameter, in the lower half of which was represented a valley in the center, with cattle drinking at a stream; a range of mountains on the left and an oil derrick on the right; the whole surrounded by a ribbon scroll, on the top of which was a platform; on the platform was the figure of a woman, with her right arm extended pointing to a star within which were the figures "44," indicating that Wyoming was the forty-fourth state to be admitted into the Union. Upon the left of the woman were the figures 1869, and on the right the date of admission, 1890.
    Several designs were submitted and the one presented by Hugo E. Buechner, representative from Laramie County, was selected. The first seal was completed and turned over to the state about the ist of March, 1891. It was evidently unsatisfactory, judging from the following sarcastic editorial which appeared in the Cheyenne Leader of March 5. 1891 :
    "Well, there's considerable of an uproar. The female figure which was selected to adorn the new state seal has lost her clothes. She stands upon what is intended to represent a platform, it is believed, but in reality resembles a large shallow pan or beer vat, in which the lady might, without much stretch of the imagination, be credited with soaking her corns. From each wrist depends what at first glance appears to be several links of sausage, which critics say are the broken links of a chain."
    The figure represented upon the design submitted by Representative Buechner was draped in classic robes. That he was greatly dissatisfied with the seal as it appeared when finished goes without saying. When Governor Osborne recommended the slight change in his message to the second Legislature, that body took advantage of the opportunity to create practically a new seal. This time the description was made so plain in the act that there was slight possibility of repeating the mistake. The act, which was approved on February 8, 1893, reads as follows:
    "Section 1. There shall be a great seal of the State of Wyoming, which shall be of the following design, viz.: A circle 2½ inches in diameter, on the outer rim or edge of which shall be engraven the words, 'Great Seal of the State of Wyoming,' and the design shall conform substantially to the following description:
    "A pedestal showing on the front thereof an eagle resting upon a shield, said shield to have engraven thereon a star and the figures '44,' being the number of Wyoming in the order of admission to statehood. Standing upon the pedestal shall be the draped figure of a woman, modeled after the statue of the 'Victory' in the Louvre, from whose wrists shall hang links of a broken chain, and holding in her right hand a staff, from the top of which shall float a banner with the words 'Equal Rights' thereon, all suggesting the political position of woman in this state. On either side of the pedestal, and standing at the base thereof, shall be male figures typifying the live stock and mining industries of Wyoming. Behind the pedestal, and in the background, shall be two pillars, each supporting a lighted lamp, signifying the light of knowledge. Around each pillar shall be a scroll with the following words thereon: On the right of the central figure the words 'Live Stock' and 'Grain.' and on the left the words 'Alines' and 'Oil.' At the base of the pedestal, and in front shall appear the figures '1869-1890," the former date signifying the organization of the Territory of Wyoming, and the latter the date of its admission to statehood. A facsimile of the above described seal is here represented and is made a part of this act.
    "Section 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage."
    The seal authorized by this act is still in use by the state. Among the other acts passed at the second session was one redistricting the state for judicial purposes: another authorized the completion of the penitentiary at Rawlins; and a memorial to Congress asked that body to pass an act remonetizing silver.

THE SENATORIAL DEADLOCK

When Joseph M. Carey and Francis E. Warren were elected United States senators in 1890, the latter drew the short term and the election of his successor formed part of the duty of the Legislature of 1893. Twenty-five votes were required to elect, and the political complexion of the Legislature was such that no party could count on a clear majority of the votes. Senator Warren was a candidate for reelection, but there was some opposition to him within the lines of his own party. The several populists in the Legislature tried to control the balance of power and force the election of a member of that party to the Senate. The first ballot was taken on January 24, 1893, when sixteen candidates were voted for. Warren (republican) receiving eight votes; Kuykendall (democrat), seven votes; and Tidball (populist), six votes, the other candidates receiving each a smaller number.
On the 26th Warren received thirteen votes, the highest number he received at any time during the session, the balloting continuing from day to day without results. New candidates were introduced from time to time, in the hope that a "dark horse" might win the race. The populist members of the Legislature held a caucus and unanimously nominated Mrs. I. S. Bartlett as their candidate, this being the first time in the history of the United States that a woman was nominated by a legislative caucus for United States senator. Throughout the deadlock the populists gave Mrs. Bartlett their united vote. On February 8th Stephen W. Downey received twenty-one votes, and on the 15th Gen. J. C. Thompson received twenty-four, only one short of the necessary majority. This vote was followed immediately by an adjournment of the joint session, and before the next ballot was taken soine sort of a combination was formed to prevent Thompson's election. The Legislature adjourned without electing a senator, and on February 23, 1893, Governor Osborne appointed Asahel C. Beckwith of Uinta County for the term beginning on March 4, 1893, or until the Legislature should elect. The United States Senate refused to recognize the appointment, however, and Wyoming had but one senator in Congress until the next session cf the Legislature.

COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION

    As already stated, the Legislature of 1891 authorized the appointment of a board of World's Fair managers and appropriated $30,000 for an exhibit of Wyoming's products and resources at Chicago in 1893. El wood Mead, state engineer, was made a member of the board, ex-officio, and the other members appointed by the governor were: John McCormick, of Sheridan; Frank O. Williams, of Saratoga; Louis D. Ricketts, of Cheyenne; and John S. Harper, of Sundance. The national commissioners from Wyoming were A. C. Beckwith and Henry G. Hay, with John McCormick and Asa S. Mercer as alternates.
    Mrs. I. S. Bartlett, of Cheyenne, was appointed a member of the board of lady managers by the United States, and the members of the board appointed by the state commissioners were: Mrs. F. H. Harrison, Mrs. Frances E. Hale, Mrs. Elizabeth A. Stone and Mrs. G. M. Huntington.
    At the exposition the state made its greatest effort in the department of mining, showing samples of gold and silver ore. lead, oil, asphalt, iron, coal and mica. In the exhibit was a solid block of asphalt as large as an ordinary freight car. An interesting feature of the Wyoming exhibit was an illustration of the method of placer mining, using gold-bearing gravel taken from the placers of the state. A fine collection of the fossil remains of the state—fossils of birds, reptiles, etc.–was also shown, as well as petrifactions from the submerged forest near Rawlins.
    Thirty-two prizes were awarded the state on its mineral display, and in the agricultural exhibit highest mention was given to wheat and potatoes, besides the twenty-two medals awarded on wheat, barley, buckwheat, flax, native grasses, etc. In his message to the Legislature of 1897, Governor Richards said:
    "The display of mineral and agricultural products made by Wyoming at the World's Columbian Exposition was in every way creditable to the state. The handsome photographs of scenery have been distributed in the various offices of the state capitol, while a large portion of the mineral exhibit has been stored away in the basement of the statehouse. The principal part of the agricultural exhibit was turned over to the authorities of the State University, with the agreement that it should be carefully preserved until such time as the Legislature should make arrangements for its final disposition."
    Considering that Wyoming was a state only three years old. with its natural resources practically untouched, the exhibit was one that attracted wide attention and it served a good purpose in rendering the rest of the world acquainted with the vast mineral and agricultural possibilities of a region that only a few years before had been marked on the maps of the United States as the "Great American Desert."

ELECTION OF 1894

    The political campaign of 1894 was opened by the republican party, which held its state convention at Casper on the first day of August. William A. Richards, of Red Bank, was nominated for governor; Charles W. Burdick. of Saratoga, secretary of state; William O. Owen, of Laramie, auditor of state; Henry G. Hay, of Cheyenne, treasurer of state ; Charles N. Potter, of Cheyenne, justice of the Supreme Court; Estelle Reel, of Cheyenne, superintendent of public instruction; Frank W. Mondell, of Newcastle, representative in Congress.
    The platform indorsed the McKinley tariff bill; declared allegiance to the cardinal principles of the party; favored liberal pensions to veterans of the Civil war, and the establishment of compulsory courts of arbitration; urged the free coinage of both gold and silver at the ratio of sixteen to one ; and declared that "the history of the last nineteen months has again demonstrated the unfitness of the democratic party to administer the affairs of the nation," etc.
    On August 8, 1894, the democratic state convention met at Cheyenne and nominated the following ticket: W. H. Holiday, of Laramie, governor; Daniel W Gill, of Cheyenne, secretary of state; James M. Fenwick, of Albany County, auditor of state; John Stone, of Evanston, treasurer of state; Samuel T. Corn, justice of the Supreme Court: A. J. Matthews, of Rock Springs, superintendent of public instruction; and H. A. Coffeen was nominated for representative in Congress.
    The democratic platform adopted by the convention indorsed the national platform of 1892; expressed confidence in President Cleveland and indorsed his administration; declared in favor of a further reduction in duties upon imports; recommended legislation authorizing the election of United States senators by popular vote; commended the administration of Governor Osborne; favored a "thorough overhauling of the assessment and revenue system and the equalization of taxes;" and declared in favor of the remonetization of silver on the old ratio of sixteen to one.
    This year the populists and democrats failed to unite on a fusion ticket. A populist convention assembled at Casper on August 9, 1894, and nominated L. C. Tidball, of Sheridan, for governor; D. W. Elliott, of Laramie County, secretary of state; J. F. Pierce, of Sweetwater County, auditor of state; W. F. Williams, of Johnson County, treasurer of state; W. T. O'Connor, of Laramie County, justice of the Supreme Court; Mrs. J. R. Rollman, of Carbon County, .superintendent of public instruction ; S. E. Seeley, of Albany County, representative in Congress.
    The principal planks in the populist platform were those declaring in favor of the free coinage of both gold and silver at the ratio of sixteen to one, and the denunciation of the use of Federal troops in the strike of the American Railway Union in the summer of 1894.
    The election was held on November 6, 1894, and resulted in the election of the entire republican ticket. Miss Reel's plurality for superintendent of public instruction was 4,458, the largest received by any candidate. Governor Richards' plurality was 3,184, and the Legislature contained forty-eight republicans, six democrats and one populist. Governor Richards was inaugurated on January 7, 189s, and the administration of Governor Osborne came to an end.