Grace McDonald, first woman practicing attorney in Wyoming;
Frank Mondell, U. S. Representative;
Keith Thomson, U. S. Representative and Senator-elect.

History

The county was named for surveyor and geologist John B. Weston. Created in 1890 from the southern portion of Crook County, the county grew as a result of the construction of a railroad and establishment of coal mines. The company town of Cambria operated until the the mines closed in 1928. Newcastle, the county seat, was named for the coal-mining town in England.

Burlington Railroad

The entry of the Burlington Railroad into Wyoming in 1889 was the catalyst for the creation of Weston County by the last Wyoming Territory Legislative Assembly, on March 12, 1890. The coming of the Burlington was predictable after Frank W. Mandell, who would represent Wyoming in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1898 to 1923, discovered rich veins of coal at Cambria in 1887. John B. Weston, the geologist and surveyor for whom Weston County would be named, had also located coal deposits in the same area in 1887.

The Burlington established a railroad terminus at Newcastle in the spring of 1889, and then extended its tracks to the coal mines, reaching Cambria on December 4, 1889. Once Newcastle, named by Joseph Hemingway, first superintendent of the coal mines at Cambria, for the English City, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, was platted by the railroad, it experienced immediate growth. A few months earlier, DeLoss Tubbs had located a road ranch and store on a site about two miles from where Newcastle would be surveyed. With the coming of the Burlington's work crews, Tubbs' ranch and store mushroomed into a raucous community known as Tubb Town. After Newcastle was platted as the terminus for the railroad, Tubb Town's demise was abrupt. Within forty-eight hours, all of the buildings in Tubb Town were moved to Newcastle.

County Creation and Organization

Business immediately prospered in Newcastle. The coming of Austrian, Italian, and Swedish miners to work the coal mines at Cambria ensured a growing and vigorous population. Ranches and farms were being established, too. By the end of 1889, sentiment of the increasing number of residents strongly favored separation of the Newcastle-Cambria area from Crook County and the organization of a new and independent county. The creating act for Weston County, passed by the legislative assembly, simply divided the existing Crook County (boundaries north to south, Montana to Converse County, and boundaries east to west, South Dakota to Johnson County)in half. The northern half remained as Crook County, and the southern half became Weston County.

Shortly after the passage of the creating act on March 12, 1890, a petition with the required 300 county taxpayers' signatures requesting the appointment of organizing commissioners, was delivered to Governor Francis E. Warren. The governor validated the petition, appointing George H. Purmort, Harry C. Hensel, and Ralph A. Weston to serve as the board of organlzlng commissioners to establish Weston County. The record of Weston County's organization is not available, but it is clear that in early April, the qualified voters of the county approved its organization and selected Newcastle as the county seat. The organizing commissioners then set May 14, 1890, as the date for the election of county officers.

On May 16, the organlzlng commissioners met and canvassed the vote. Weston County's first elected officers were: county commissioners, George H. Purmort, Harry C. Hensel, and A. M. Nelson; county clerk, C. H. Monroe; county attorney, R. H. Vosburgh; county treasurer and ex officio probate judge, Myer Frank; county sheriff, James Swisher; county assessor, George M. Durrett; county superintendent of schools, Carrie E. Potter (Potter resigned on May 20, and was replaced by Mollie S. Baird, appointed by the county commissioners to complete the term of office); county coroner, B. B. Kelly; and county surveyor, Donnell Miller. Precinct officers, justices of the peace and constables, were also elected on May 14.

County Debt

After examining and approving oaths and bonds of elected county officers, and electing Purmort chairman of the board of county commissioners, the newly elected Weston County Commissioners began to conduct the county's business. On May 18, 1890, like other Wyoming Counties, Weston County commenced functioning with considerable indebtedness. Wyoming Territory law required that new counties share, on a pro rata basis, in paying the debt of the county from which they separated. In 1888, Crook County had built a courthouse and little of the bonded indebtedness for the structure had been paid. Consequently, when Weston County was organized, it owed Crook County $14,509.82, as its share of the debt. Some decisions that the Weston County Commissioners made during the first six months the county was organized also affected its debt status.

On May 20, 1890, the commissioners made both an economic and administrative decision, agreeing to rent the basement of the Kilpatrick and Collins Building for county offices, at the modest fee of $20.00 monthly. At the same time, they were discussing building a county jail, but then on July 7, accepted a proposition from the Crook County Board of County Commissioners to house and care for Weston County prisoners. The next day, continuing their regular July meeting, the Weston County Commissioners authorized the appointment of a deputy county sheriff and a deputy county clerk, adding to the county's fixed annual expenditures. Another budget item that was considered at nearly every meeting, were roads and bridges. Throughout their first four months of conducting county business, the county commissioners approved the improvement and construction of a considerable number of county roads and bridges. Although these facilities were vital to the county, these expenditures significantly affected the county's financial status.

Sometime between July 7 and July 31, 1990,- the Weston County Commissioners reversed their decision concerning a county jail. On July 31, they accepted the low bid of $1.965, submitted by F. A. Buse, to build such a structure. Then on August 18, the commissioners purchased lots one, two, and three in block eight of the original Newcastle townsite. The land was purchased from the Lincoln Townsite Company for $600 as a location for the jail. Construction commenced shortly after the acquisition of the site, and was finished and accepted by the commissioners on November 5, 1990.

In the meantime, the board of commissioners began to address the mounting problem of county indebtedness. On October 15, they resolved to issue $20,000 in county funding bonds, which the commissioners were authorized by statute to do, to pay the existing county debt. The bonds were to be repaid with interest in twenty years. The sale of the bonds was advertised, but no bids were received, and Weston County's debt continued to increase. In February 1891, with growing concern, the county commissioners once again advertised to sell $20,000 in funding bonds. This time bids were received, and on April 8, the bonds were sold to the Bank of Newcastle.

Although the Weston County Commissioners believed that paying off the indebtedness with the revenue from the funding bonds would enable the county to effectively conduct its business and meet its citizens' needs without further debt, this wasn't to be. By November 1891, the commissioners recognized the county's obligations were greater than its revenues, even though the maximum county tax allowable by state law was being levied. On November 18, the board of commissioners resolved not to pay salaries for deputies to county officers, and rescinded all deputy appointments they had previously approved. This was an economic stopgap measure only, and the worst of the county's finances was still to come.

Panic of 1893

Early in 1893 a financial panic, known as the The Panic of 1893, occurred nationally, triggering a depression which would cause economic distress in Wyoming and Weston County for most of the remaining years of the decade. Tax revenues almost immediately declined in the county, making it impossible for the commissioners to pay all of the county's bills and redeem all county warrants issued. In September 1893, three banks sued Weston County for non-payment of county warrants, amounting to more than $10,000. Having no alternative, the county commissioners resolved to issue and exchange funding bonds for judgments against the county. Eventually, the funding bonds issued for this purpose would total nearly $20,000, making the county's total bonded indebtedness almost $40,000.

The county commissioners continued to make every effort to hold expenditures within the county's income, but some costs couldn't be avoided. Elections had to be held, roads and bridges had to be maintained, county offices had to be kept open, and operation of the justice of peace courts and district court sessions were required by state law. Despite the depression, Weston County was growing, and by 1895 the county offices in the basement were completely inadequate. To resolve the problem, on May 4, 1895, the county commisioners agreed to rent rooms for county offices in a building owned by M. B. Complin. The structure was located in the same block as the county jail, and leased for $400 annually. Five months later, in October 1895, the commissioners and Complin signed another agreement. In the same building, and for an additional $150 yearly, Complin would refurbish a large room for a county courtroom.

One attempt of the Weston County Commissioners to control expenses came into conflict with Judge William S. Metz of the Fourth Judicial District, who presided over district court sessions in Weston County. District courts, by law, held spring and fall terms, and the district court judge could order a special session if the judge believed it necessary to provide timely justice. District court sessions were expensive for counties, as they were required to pay jurors, witnesses, court reporters, bailiffs, and other temporary employees required by the court. In 1895, recognizing there was a light district court calendar for the fall term, and wanting to avoid the cost of a court session (another judgement for unpaid county warrants had been entered against Weston County in October), the Weston County Commissioners cancelled the fall term of the district court. Although he had been advised and consulted in advance, Judge Metz was upset, believing that justice would not be served if the three cases scheduled for the fall were not heard. To the dismay of the county commissioners, but emphasizing his convictions, Judge Metz ordered a special session of the Weston County District Court for December 1895. The cost of the session added to the county's financial problems.

The next two years, 1896 and 1897, were not an improvement financially over 1895 for Weston County. In April 1896, the Grand Island and Northern Wyoming Railroad Company protested and refused to pay taxes, claiming that part of the tax money was for retirement of illegal debt. The action was taken against both Weston and Crook Counties, and to save some money, the two local governments jointly prosecuted the railroad. The Crook County District Court upheld the taxes levied, but the railroad appealed to the Wyoming Supreme Court, further delaying collection of the taxes and creating additional legal expense for the two counties. In due time, the decision of the district court was upheld by the supreme court, and Weston and Crook Counties received the tax money.

The tax money from the railroad apparently did not significantly affect Weston County's fiscal affairs, for in March 1897, the county was sued for failure to pay for various services and contracts. The county acknowledged the obligations as valid, but took no steps toward making payment. There had been one less expense for the county during the fall of 1896. Judge Metz had consented, because of the financial situation, to the request of the county commissioners not to hold the fall term of the district court, nor to order a special term. This was a small forerunner of better times ahead.

Economic Improvement

The first glimpse of light in Weston County's financial condition was reported in the minutes of the meeting of the county commissioners held on April 3, 1899. At that meeting, the commissioners approved the purchase of four electric light bulbs with fixtures, one for each county office, and the fencing of the county jail yard. The minutes then stated that the funds to pay for these two expenditures and "all outstanding claims against the county" were available.

Economic conditions continued to improve nationally and in Wyoming, and on February 16, 1901, the Weston County Commissioners purchased that part of block 8 in the original Newcastle townsite which they didn't already own. The purchase price was $3,881.40, and included lot 7 with the building in which the county was renting space for its offices. From this action of the commissioners, one assumes that they believed the county's financial positi.on was much improved, but only a month later, the commissioners issued $2,000 in funding bonds at 6% interest, to pay $2,000 due on county funding bonds issued in 1891.

Lightning Creek Raid

During the next several years, the economy in Weston County emerged from the long burdens of depression, and in 1908, the county's citizens and taxpayers petitioned the county commissioners to incur debt to build a county courthouse. Before that occurred, however, a significant historical event took place in Weston and Converse Counties during October 1903 the last armed conflict with Sioux Indians. The conflict, which actually took place in Converse County, involved Weston County Sheriff William H. Miller and a possee he had formed, and is known as the Lightning Creek Raid.

A band of Sioux Indians from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota received written permission from the Indian Agent Major John R. Brennan to hunt in Wyoming. Under the leadership of a chief named Eagle Feather, the group of Sioux, including women and children, wandered through Weston and Converse Counties hunting deer, antelope, and sage hens. Although no evidence of it was ever presented, nor were formal charges filed, upon receiving a report that some Indians were killing cattle, Sheriff Miller formed a small posse and left Newcastle on October 23, 1903, to locate them. The posse first encountered a few of the Indian hunters. They disarmed them, and sent them back to Newcastle under guard.

Sheriff Miller and his six-man posse continued the search for the remainder of the Sioux. On October 30, they came across the main party of Indians, traveling in wagons and on horseback. There were about twenty armed men in the party, as well as women, children, and grandparents. Sheriff Miller attempted to arrest Eagle Feather and the men, planning to take them to Newcastle. The Sioux resisted. Badly outnumbered, the sheriff and his posse retreated. From ranches in the area, Miller recruited additional men for his posse, more than doubling its size, and set out after the Sioux.

Just before sunset on October 31, 1903, at Lightning Creek, the posse caught up with the slow moving Indian wagons. Believing they were within their rights, Eagle Feather and his band refused to halt and surrender to the sheriff. No one knows who fired the first shot, but one rang out, to be followed by intense rifle fire from both the posse and the Sioux. The fight lasted about five minutes. A deputy sheriff named Louie Falkenburg and four Sioux men were killed instantly. Sheriff Miller and Eagle Feather were both mortally wounded, Miller dying within thirty minutes and Eagle Feather the next day. Women and children were among the Sioux wounded.

There was an aftermath. In November, 1903, nine Sioux men, who had been in the hunting party, were taken by law enforcement authorities from Edgemont, South Dakota to Douglas, Wyoming supposedly to stand trial for murder. The problem was that no evidence existed pointing to who had killed Sheriff Miller and Deputy Falkenburg, nor was there evidence that these particular Sioux had resisted arrest. Charges of violating game laws were considered by the prosecutor, but Wyoming's game laws were very liberal. The indians had been hunting during the legal season; there was no indication they had killed more game than allowed by the law. Another factor was that the Interior Department, with legal responsibility for the Indians, was expressing opposition to the prosecution of the nine Sioux. In a short time, the prosecuting attorney for Converse County agreed with the Interior Department. The Indians were released and returned to the Pine Ridge Reservation. One positive thing, somewhat motivated by the fight at Lightning Creek, took place in 1909 --- the passage of a comprehensive game law, encouraging the conservation of wildlife, by the Wyoming State Legislature.

County Courthouse

It was in 1909, also, that Weston County built its courthouse. The petition presented to the county commissioners on October 6, 1908, requested that the commissioners place on the ballot, for the upcoming general election, a proposal for the county to issue $25,000 in county bonds and use the proceeds from the sale of the bonds to construct a courthouse. At the time, Weston County had a legal debt limit of $51,356.69, and had reduced its debt to $13,920, leaving sufficient debt capacity to build a courthouse. The commissioners adopted the petition of their constituents, and on November 3, 1908, the county's electorate approved the issuance of county bonds, in the amount of $25,000, by a vote of 550 for and 365 against.

On March 2, 1909, the county sold the bonds to the State of Wyoming, but in final negotiation the county commissioners rejected the terms established by the state. Instead, on April 26, they sold the bonds to the A. B. Leach Company of Chicago. Also, on April 26, the commissioners contracted with architect Charles A. Randall to draw plans and prepare specifications for the courthouse. The contract specified that the plans would include the use of stone native to Weston County for the exterior of the building. Advertisement for construction bids for the courthouse was approved by the county commissioners on June 3.

A month later, on July 1, the board of county commissioners approved the plans and specifications for the courthouse submitted by architect Randall. A week later, the commissioners opened the construction bids. All bids submitted were for about $39,000 for the construction of the courthouse as planned, and after due consideration, the commissioners rejected all bids and agreed to advertise for new ones. On August 4, 1909, the county commissioners opened the new construction bids and accepted the low bid, $34,800, submitted by J. M. Williams of Crawford, Nebraska. K. G. Spats of Newcastle was the low bidder for plumbing and heating, and his bid for $2,707 was also accepted by the commissioners.

Construction of the Weston County Courthouse began early in September 1909, on a site selected by the county commissioners, the southeast corner of block 8, which the county had purchased previously. The cornerstone laying for the courthouse, held on February 10, 1910, was a festive occasion. A large crowd from throughout the county attended. There were speeches, band music, and refreshments for all. Completion of the courthouse was scheduled for September 1, but progress was slow, and on August 3, architect Randall certified to the board of county commissioners that contractor Williams was neglecting to provide needed workers and materials to finish the structure. Consequently on August 6, by resolution, the county commissioners took possession of the courthouse, stating that the county would provide the needed workers and materials to complete its construction. Also, the commissioners appointed architect Randall as building superintendent to oversee the courthouse work.

During the next several months, the county commissioners purchased furnishings for the new courthouse, made arrangements to insure the new building, and hired carpenters, stonemasons, and painters to complete the work. Finally in mid-January 1911, the courthouse was done and ready for occupancy. County officers moved into their new headquarters early in February, and Weston County citizens began pridefully using their new and attractive, first permanent courthouse.

Much as it was in 1911, the Weston County Courthouse continues to serve the county. On several occasions the courthouse has been modernized and refurbished, and in 1952, a two-story addition was built onto the east end. Then in 1977, on a site removed from downtown Newcastle where the courthouse is located, a criminal justice center was built. With this new justice center replacing the old county jail, Weston County entered the 1990s with facilities adequate to meet the needs of its effective county government.

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