Table of Contents  [ Hide]

Statistics
Towns
Well-known residents of Laramie County
History
Creation of Laramie County
Union Pacific Railroad and Location of Cheyenne
Organization of County Government
Vigilante Committee
Creation of Carter County
First County Courthouse
Growth
Creation of Wyoming Territory
Permanent County Courthouse and Jail
Tom Horn
New County Courthouse
Expansion of County Courthouse and Jail

Statistics

Origin of Name: Named for Jacques La Ramie, French-Canadian trapper, who was killed by Indians near was was later Fort Laramie.

Total land area: 2,705 sq. miles, 15th largest in Wyoming

Population

Towns

Well-known residents of Laramie County

	Joseph M. Carey	governor and U.S. Senator
	W.C. Deming	newspaper publisher
	Gen. Victor Krulak	Marine Corps commandant
	Dr. Elwood Mead	Wyoming's 1st and only Territorial Engineer and 1st State Engineer, water engineer, and Bureau of Reclamation commissioner, father of Wyoming's water laws, Lake Mead in Nevada named after him
	Joseph C. O'Mahoney	U.S. Senator
	Warren Richardson	businessman/philanthropist, member of 1st Cheyenne Frontier Days committee
	Nellie Tayloe Ross	1st lady 1923-1924, Governor 1925-1927 (1st woman to hold the office in the US), Director of the US Mint
	Willis Van Devanter	Wyoming Supreme Court Justice and U.S. Supreme Court Justice
	Frances E. Warren	last territorial and 1st state governor and U.S.Senator
	Mildred Harris	silent film actress and 1st wife of Charlie Chaplin
	Tom Horn	lawman, hired gun, hanged for murder in 1903
	Gen. John J. "Black Jack" Pershing	5-star general during WWI

History

The county was originally created January 9, 1865, by the Dakota Territorial legislature and comprised the entire western portion of that territory. When the territory of Wyoming was created the following year, it became one of the first four counties in the territory, stretching from the Montana border south to the Colorado line. Crook, Weston, Niobrara, Platte and Goshen counties were created from parts of Laramie County. The oft-used name of the county confuses visitors who don’t know that neither the town of Laramie, Fort Laramie or Laramie Peak are in Laramie County. In fact, no two of them are in the same county.

Creation of Laramie County

Laramie County was created before there was a State of Wyoming, or even a Territory of Wyoming, and is the first of Wyoming's 23 counties. Named for French fur trapper, Jacques LaRamie, who left his name all over Wyoming, Laramie County was created on January 9, 1867 by the Sixth Legislative Assembly of Dakota Territory. The county included all of Dakota Territory west of 104 degrees west longitude, and extended westward to 110 degrees west longitude. This is all of present Wyoming except for a portion of the southwest corner of the state that was in either Utah Territory or Idaho Territory. North to south, Laramie County reached from Montana to Colorado.

Union Pacific Railroad and Location of Cheyenne

Although there were few people in Laramie County other than military personnel and a small number of civilians at Fort Laramie and at Fort Sanders, the Dakota Legislative Assembly was well aware of a decision which had been made that would bring throngs of people to the southwest portion of Dakota Territory. In November of 1866, the Union Pacific Railroad Company, building the transcontinental railroad from its eastern terminus at Omaha, Nebraska to a meeting with the Central Pacific Railroad, laying track eastward from Sacramento, California, announced that its route would cross the extreme southern part of Dakota Territory. Since there was no local government in this region of the territory, the legislative assembly considered it vital to provide the framework for county government before the railroad arrived. The creating act for Laramie County named Fort Sanders as the county seat, but failed to name commissioners for the county, nor did it prescribe how the county would be organized.

General Grenville Dodge, the Union Pacific's chief engineer, had located the railroad's route, via Crow Creek, over the Laramie Mountains, and down a bare ridge to the Laramie Plains, in 1865. In July 1867, General Dodge established a Union Pacific division point on railroad land ceded by the United States, platted out the town site, and named it Cheyenne. At the same time, General C. C. Augur located Fort D. A. Russell nearby, to the northwest. Fort Russell was renamed Fort F. E. Warren in 1929 to honor Francis E. Warren, who served Wyoming as a United States Senator for 39 years. Within a few days after General Dodge had laid out the town, the first new residents of Laramie County and Cheyenne arrived, and by week's end James R. Whitehead, Union Pacific land agent, was doing a brisk business selling town lots.

Organization of County Government

During the next two months, the population grew by several hundred people, and the lack of organized county government was felt. On September 27, 1867, to resolve the problem, a mass meeting of the citizenry was held to select provisional county commissioners. Their function was to organize an election to choose county officials, whose names would then be submitted to the Dakota Legislative Assembly for approval. Before the election was held on October 8, 1867, the provisional commissioners decided to also submit to the voters the question of a county seat for Laramie County. A full slate of county officers was elected, and Cheyenne was chosen as the county seat of Laramie County, receiving 1,645 votes to 439 votes cast for Fort Sanders. The county commissioners elected were Benjamin T. Ellinger, Patrick W. McDonald, and R. E. Buell.

Thus, when the Union Pacific's tracks entered Cheyenne on November 13, 1867, a semblance of county government was in place. Throughout the winter of 1867-1868, as the railroad prepared for its assault on the mountains to the west, the number of people in Cheyenne increased by leaps and bounds, until an estimated population of 6,000 had been reached. First a tent town, and then a town with log cabins and raw lumber buildings as winter neared, Cheyenne was considered to be a "Hell on Wheels" town and merited the reputation. Although substantial, enterprising and law abiding individuals were included among the town's residents, a large part of the population was composed of gamblers, thieves, prostitutes, gunmen, scoundrels, and outright murderers.

Pitted against this lawless and unholy element was Laramie County's first sheriff, James L. Laird. For a county jail, Laird at first had a tent and then later shared a log cabin jail with the town. He was assisted in the effort to maintain law and order by a few city policemen and the army. Probably the most effective component of law and order was the chain gang that Sheriff Laird maintained. Despite these combined efforts, killings, robberies, assaults and muggings were commonplace during the winter of 1867-1868, and it wasn't just in Cheyenne. The same situation existed in the work camps and towns established by the railroad to the west of Cheyenne.

Vigilante Committee

In January 1868, a vigilante committee was organized in Cheyenne, with a secret membership. The first warning came when three men who had been arrested for theft and released on bond were found roped together with a sign around the neck of one the men: "$900 Stole … $500 Recovered. Next case goes up a tree. Beware of Vigilance Committee." The next morning at Dale City, thirty miles west of Cheyenne, the vigilantes carried out their threat. They caught and strung up three scoundrels who had recently fled Cheyenne with stolen booty. The vigilantes concluded their week's work by driving five undesirables from Cheyenne under threat of hanging if they remained.

There was a lot of excitement in Cheyenne and the county over the activities of the vigilantes. For two months the committee laid low, and there were rumors that they had disbanded. However, in March the vigilantes struck again with the lynching of two outstanding candidates: Charles Martin and Charles Morgan. A saloon owner with a notorious past, Martin had just been acquitted by a jury for the murder of a partner in crime, a decision with which the vigilantes apparently disagreed. Morgan had just been charged with stealing some mules and it was obvious from their action that the vigilantes did not want to see another bad court decision. This episode in violence cost Laramie County $10. The county commissioners' minutes recorded that the county paid the $10 to rent a room to hold the bodies of Martin and Morgan before burial.

Laramie County Coroner's Inquest into the death of Charles Martin. His cause of death was found to be hanging by "perpetrators unknown".

Creation of Carter County

By this time, changes were taking place in Laramie County government. The Dakota Legislative Assembly had approved the provisional county government and the naming of Cheyenne as the county seat, and at the same session had reduced the geographic size of the county by creating Carter County (later named Sweetwater) out of approximately the western half of Laramie County, as originally created.

First County Courthouse

In January 1868, the county commissioners rented a room for $75 monthly and purchased desks and furniture. The room was to serve as county government headquarters until a courthouse could be constructed later in the year. On February 3, 1868, the commissioners accepted a bid of $1,125 for the construction of a two-story wooden building to be Laramie County's first courthouse. The building did not include a jail, nor did it include a courtroom. County prisoners continued to be held in the city's jail and to work on the chain gang, and a large room was rented for the infrequent district court sessions.

Growth

The latter half of 1868 and all of 1869 also brought many changes to Laramie County. With the coming of warm weather, the Union Pacific resumed its march to the west, eventually to Promontory Summit, Utah, and the driving of gold and silver spikes. With it the railroad took many of Cheyenne's and the county's residents, including a lot of undesirable ones. With the exodus of the railroad workers and their camp followers, there was concern in Laramie County as to the future, but events occurred in the spring and summer that assured growth and permanence in the county. The Union Pacific commenced construction of a roundhouse and machine shops, and a railroad hotel. Then in May 1868, the Denver Pacific Railroad began building a branch line to connect Denver and Cheyenne. Further encouragement for the future was coming from Fort D.A. Russell, which was becoming an important military post, dispensing troops and supplies for the army's campaigns against the Indians.

Creation of Wyoming Territory

On July 25, 1868, Wyoming Territory was created by Congressional enactment of the Organic Act of Wyoming. The new territory was not organized until May 19, 1869 however because of partisan political squabbling and an approaching presidential election. During this interim, the territory and Laramie County continued to function under the laws of Dakota Territory, and in December 1868, the western boundary of Laramie County was changed with the creation of Albany and Carbon Counties by the Dakota Legislative Assembly. So, when Laramie County became a part of Wyoming Territory, its western boundary was the same as it is today, but the county continued to extend from Montana on the north to Colorado on the south.

One of the first acts of the first Wyoming Territorial Governor John A. Campbell was to designate Cheyenne as the temporary capitol of the territory. Governor Campbell also ordered that a census of the territory be taken and set September 2, 1869 as the date for election of representatives to the First Wyoming Territorial Legislative Assembly. The census reported that Laramie County's population was 2,665. In the first Wyoming territorial election, Laramie County voters elected T. D. Murrin, J. R. Whitehead, and T. W. Pool to the Council (called the Senate after statehood), and Posey A. Williams, Howard Sebree, J. C. Abney and Herman Haas to the House.

The first legislative assembly enacted many laws which structured county government in Wyoming as it exists today. One law confirmed the boundaries of Laramie County and Cheyenne as the county seat. Another enactment had an immediate effect on county government in the territory. It removed from county offices all county officers elected or appointed under the laws of Dakota Territory and named new county officers. This action of the legislative assembly created conflict with Governor Campbell, who believed the legislators had usurped his appointive powers. Consequently, after the act had been passed over his veto, Governor Campbell refused to issue commissions of appointment to county offices to those individuals named by the legislative assembly and instead appointed and is sued commissions to his own slate of county officers, including those for Laramie County. Litigation followed, but the governor was upheld in his action by the territorial Supreme Court. Those county officers appointed by Governor Campbell, including some that had been elected under the laws of Dakota Territory, were to serve until such time as a general election could be held and county officers duly elected.

The general election to elect a delegate to Congress from the territory and county officers was held September 6, 1870. It is noteworthy that black troopers stationed at Fort D. A. Russell voted in this election, and had voted in the general election held in 1869.

Laramie County's first county officers, elected under the laws of Wyoming Territory, were: J. H. Nichols, Timothy Dyer, and M. E. Post, county commissioners; L. Kabis, county clerk; J. W. Hutchinson, clerk of district court; W. L. Kuykendall, probate judge and ex-officio county treasurer; John Slaughter, justice of the peace; T. J. Carr, county sheriff; J. M. Chaffin, county assessor; and W. W. Kephart, county superintendent of schools.

Permanent County Courthouse and Jail

During their first meetings in January and February 1871, the newly elected Laramie County Commissioners began planning the construction of a permanent county courthouse and jail. The two-story wooden building erected in 1868 was inadequate for county government, and the county was still using the city's jail for its prisoners. The commissioners prevailed upon the county's delegation to the legislative assembly to introduce and support a bill authorizing the county to build a courthouse and jail. On December 16, 1871, the legislative assembly enacted the authorization, permitting the commissioners to issue county bonds, if approved by the county's electorate, in an amount not to exceed $35,000, carry an interest rate of not more than ten percent, and to levy a tax of not more than five mills to redeem the bonds.

With statutory approval obtained, the county commissioners proceeded to organize a bond election. On January 30, 1872 the county's taxpayers and qualified voters approved the issuance of $35,000 in county bonds for the purpose of constructing a courthouse, and county jail and sheriff's residence, by a vote of 399 for and 2 against.

Prior to the election, the Union Pacific Railroad Company had agreed to donate a site at the corner of Ferguson (now named Carey Avenue) and 19th Street for the courthouse and jail. The commissioners, with funding and site assured, then employed the architectural firm of Lewis and Bancroft of Denver to design the buildings and prepare plans and specifications. On March 30, 1872, the commissioners advertised for construction bids. A contract for $32,588 for the construction of the courthouse, jail and sheriff's residence was awarded on May 7, 1872, to M.V. Boughton, also of Denver and the low bidder.

1st permanent Laramie County Courthouse, completed in 1873. This building was located on the northeast corner of 19th and Carey Avenue.

Completed in January 1873, the new Laramie County Courthouse was built of red brick and was two stories high. The courthouse contained offices for all the county officials and a spacious courtroom, which was used for the sessions of the Third Wyoming Territorial Legislative Assembly in 1873. The county jail and sheriff's residence were to the rear, or directly west of the courthouse. The courthouse served Laramie County for forty-four years, and was the site of the most famous criminal trial and legal execution in Wyoming history.

Tom Horn

Tom Horn had been an Indian Scout for General George Crook during his campaign against the Apaches in Arizona and New Mexico, a stock detective, and a Pinkerton Agent before he came to Wyoming, probably in 1894. He was generally regarded as a professional killer, and was first employed in Wyoming by the Swan Land and Cattle Company in Laramie County. From that job, he went to work as a stock detective for the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, but was soon fired, when the association became concerned that Horn was more prone to dry-gulch suspected cattle thieves than gather evidence to be used against them in court. Reputedly, Horn was then hired by cattlemen, John C. Coble and Ora Haley to kill their enemies at $500 per head.

Tom Horn with a horsehair rope in the the Sheriff's Office during his trail. Horn was known for his braiding skills.

Before he shot Willie Nickell, a thirteen-year-old, on July 18, 1901, near Iron Mountain in Laramie County, Horn was credited with the ambush murders of two small ranchers in Laramie County and two more in Brown's Park in Colorado, but was not charged with the killings. Shot from ambush at approximately three hundred yards, (the Nickell boy was large for his age, wearing his father's hat and coat, and riding his father's horse), he was apparently mistaken for his father, Kels P. Nickell. The elder Nickell had a long-standing feud with John C. Coble over Nickell's introduction of sheep on the Iron Mountain Range, and had slashed Coble with a knife during a fight. The murder of the Nickell boy and the ambush wounding of Kels Nickell a week later caused a storm in Laramie County. The shootings were thoroughly investigated, but no charges were filed.

Then, six months later, while drunk, Horn bragged to U. S. Deputy Marshal, Joe LeFors, that he had killed Willie Nickell. Fortunately, (or unfortunately, depending upon your point of view) two witnesses were listening through a crack in the door to LeFors' office when Horn's boasting took place. One of the witnesses was Charles Ohnhaus, a court reporter, and he made a stenographic record of the conversation between Horn and LeFors. On the basis of this "confession," Horn was arrested and charged with the murder of Willie Nickell. A preliminary hearing was held January 24, 1902 and Horn was then bound over for jury trial. During his incarceration, awaiting trial, Horn escaped once, but was quickly recaptured and returned to the county jail.

The trial was a great event in Laramie County. The courtroom was packed every day. The trial was the topic of conversation in every saloon and at every club meeting, and the local newspapers carried daily headlines and lead stories about the trial. Throughout the county, emotions were at a peak, both for and against Tom Horn. He was represented by the best legal talent in Wyoming, paid for by the cattlemen for whom he had worked, but on October 24, 1902 after five hours of deliberation, the jury pronounced a verdict of guilty of first degree murder. Horn was then sentenced to be hung. It was nearly thirteen months before the sentence was carried out.

Tom Horn's jury standing in front of the Masonic Temple in Cheyenne

On December 31, a stay of execution was ordered, pending review of the case by the Wyoming Supreme Court. Horn's attorneys were given every opportunity before the Supreme Court to argue their case, pleading for a reversal of the conviction and for a new trial. Finally, on October 29, 1903 the Supreme Court upheld Horn's conviction and sentence, and ordered his execution for November 20, 1903. Horn's attorneys and supporters then appealed to Acting Governor, Fenimore Chatterton for commutation of the death sentence to life in prison. The governor carefully studied the case and reviewed the numerous affidavits, both for and against hanging Horn. The appeals to save Horn's life were from Wyoming and from across the country as well. There were also threats against the life of the governor if he didn't commute Horn's sentence. Nevertheless, on November 14, Governor Chatterton announced that he would not interfere with the execution.

At that period in time, Wyoming law called for executions to take place in the county seat of the county where the crime had occurred. Consequently, the gallows were erected at a cost of $147.75 in the Laramie County Jail only a few feet from Horn's cell. Tensions were at a feverish pitch the morning of November 20, 1903. The state militia had been called out the day before and surrounded the courthouse and jail. A Gatling gun was mounted on the roof of the courthouse as a warning to the curious and concerned citizens who filled the streets.

Julien gallows set up at the Wyoming State Penitentiary. This gallows system was used during Tom Horn's execution. It was designed so that the prisoner would hang themselves without the assistance of the executioner.

Horn was allowed to visit with friends and meet with clergymen. He was then trussed and led to the gallows. According to the many witnesses, Tom Horn went to his death stoically, refusing to confess the murder of Willie Nickell. Horn's remains were released to his brother and he was buried in Boulder, Colorado. Although nearly ninety years have elapsed, the memory of Tom Horn lingers on in Laramie County, with opinion still divided as to his guilt or innocence.

New County Courthouse

By 1916, the Laramie County Courthouse and Jail, which had been the scene of the Tom Horn trial and execution, were rapidly becoming inadequate for the governmental needs of the growing county. The City of Cheyenne was also experiencing considerable growth, impacting their governmental facilities. Recognizing the building problems of both the county and the city, early in December 1916 the Laramie County Commissioners wrote Cheyenne officials, suggesting that the two governments consider the construction of a city-county building and a jail to resolve their common problem.

Shortly thereafter, the county commissioners and the city commissioners and council entered into discussion of the county's proposal. On April 14, 1917 a contractual agreement was reached between Laramie County and the City of Cheyenne for the construction of a city/county building and jail. The agreement provided that the new facilities would be built on the site of the old county courthouse, would be designed and plans prepared by Cheyenne Architect William Dubois, and the total cost of the building would not exceed $170,000. The cost of the new facilities would be paid jointly by the county and the city, with the county paying 69.7% and the city 30.3%. The agreement further provided that the city and county would administer the building jointly and maintain it at the same cost ratio, as shown above. After architect Dubois' designs and plans for the building had been accepted by both the county and the city on August 6, 1917 the low bid of Cheyenne contractor, J.W. Howard, in the amount of $184,170 for construction of the building, was accepted by the county and the city.

At the same time, the committee, representing both the county and the city, accepted the Pauly Jail Company's low bid of $28,730 for jail equipment. A week later, because the planned building required a larger site than the old courthouse, the committee purchased two lots north of the original site for $3,675. Construction began on the new city-county building and jail on August 28, 1917.

The new facility was occupied by Laramie County and the City of Cheyenne during December 1919, the new governmental building had been completely equipped with new furnishings, purchased from the Hines Furniture Company for $24,125.18, and contained the first elevator installed in a county courthouse in Wyoming. Three stories, the city/county building provided excellent court facilities, offices and work areas for county and city officials, public meeting rooms, and a modern jail, with offices and work areas for the county sheriff and the city police.

Expansion of County Courthouse and Jail

Though forward looking and spacious when first occupied, as the years went by, and county and city governmental services expanded, the city-county building was unable to meet all the needs of both governments. During the 1950's, both the city and county, because of lack of space, moved various departments, including the city police department, out of the city-county building, leasing or buying the needed facilities. In 1967, one additional step was taken. The jail, still being used for both city and county prisoners, was remodeled and expanded, including more office and work space for the county sheriff and his staff.

These measures all helped, but by the mid-1970's, with continuing growth in both the county and city, the governmental facilities problem was critical. Since the original agreement for the city-county building limited the city's cost to 30.3%, the city was restricted to less than one-third usage of the building, making their need for additional governmental facilities greater than the county's. Consequently, Cheyenne officials determined to construct a new city government complex. Voters approved a bond issue, and in the spring of 1980, city offices were moved from the city-county building into the new and beautiful Cheyenne City Hall.

With the removal of city offices, the Laramie County Commissioners embarked upon a remodeling project of what had been the city-county building and was now exclusively the Laramie County Courthouse. The building was thoroughly modernized, and office and work areas for the various county officers were enlarged. But one problem remained – the jointly occupied city-county jail. In 1985, to permanently resolve the jail problem, the Laramie County Commissioners and the Cheyenne City Council presented a proposal to the electorate to construct a new $10 million jail, to be paid for by the implementation of a one mill, capital construction sales tax in the county. The additional tax was approved, and the new jail, directly west of the courthouse, was completed and occupied in 1989. With facilities now adequate for many years, Laramie County government will be able to continue to serve its citizens effectively, as it has for more than one hundred twenty years.