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Rare Wyoming Territory Bill Signed by Pioneer John Hunton, 

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Historical Memorabilia Start Price:300.00 USD Estimated At:400.00 - 600.00 USD
Rare Wyoming Territory Bill Signed by Pioneer John Hunton, 

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Auction Date:2009 Jun 24 @ 10:00 (UTC-04:00 : AST/EDT)
Location:6270 Este Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio, 45232, United States
1p, 11 Nov 1884, Bordeaux, WY. Account from Lemuel Smith, Jr. to John Hunton & Co. detailing payments for meals, lodging, and forage for horses.

John Hunton was one of the pioneer cattlemen of Wyoming. Born in Madison, Virginia in 1839, he volunteered for military service, and was posted at Harpers Ferry. When the Civil War broke out, he served the Confederacy in the Army of Northern Virginia, and was in Pickett's division at Gettysburg. Discouraged and devastated by the war, he left for Ft. Laramie, WY in 1867. He immediately began working as a teamster and later a store clerk for Seth Ward, sutler at Laramie. That first winter, he shared a room with Jim Bridger, the famous government scout.

In 1875 Hunton decided to begin a diary, which he apparently kept in detail through 1888 and sporadically through 1928. Some of his stories are the earliest recorded for this part of the West.

In 1870 Hunton negotiated his own contract to supply Ft. Laramie with firewood. Over the next few years it was expanded to include hay, beef, charcoal, lime, etc., as well as continuing to haul freight from post to post, especially Forts Phil Kearney, Reno, C.F. Smith and more. He also expanded to supply Reno and Fetterman as well as Laramie.

Within a few more years, Hunton opened a "road ranch" at Bordeaux where travelers could rest and care for their animals. At about the same time he became part owner of the first herd of cattle, other than work oxen, in the area and helped found the Wyoming Stock Growers Association in 1872. The core of stockmen in the WSGA helped to form the Cheyenne Club in 1880, adding support from prominent Eastern families and even European royalty. The club was the wealthiest and most exclusive organization on the frontier. These associations helped to shape the political, economic and social policies of Wyoming. The stockmen continued to consolidate power in the face of increasing settlement by farmers or "squatters." Tension between stock raisers, who needed open range (government land) for their herds, and farmers, who tended to fence the land and make it unavailable for the cattle herds, eventually erupted into the "Johnson County War" or 1892.

In 1883 he decided to buckle down and build a land and cattle empire. By 1886 Hunton was elected commissioner of Laramie County, which included Cheyenne. The city was listed at that time as having the highest per capita income in the nation. Hunton continued to expand his interests, opening a hotel in Bordeaux in 1887. His diaries and accounts indicate that most years he was spending more on expansion than was coming in. By the end of the 1880s, he was bankrupt, but still respected in the region. He remained active in the political and economic activities until his death in 1928 at the age of 89. (Griske, 2006 and University of Wyoming Heritage Center ) (Griske, Michael, ed. Diaries of John Hunton: Made to Last, Written to Last. Sagas of the Western Frontier. Heritage Books. 2006) 

The Thomas Minckler Collection of Western Americana

Condition: Edges a bit scuffed with short margin tears, light toning, expected folds.