Dreamers & Schemers: Profiles from Carbon County, Wyoming’s Past
Lori Van Pelt
The first book in Lori Van Pelt’s “Dreamers & Schemers” series. See also Capital Characters of Old Cheyenne.
Lori Van Pelt offers profiles of thirty-one famous and little-known men and women whose behavior helped shape Carbon County. Their achievements are obvious to some, obscure to others, but relevant to all who want to learn more about Wyoming.
Meet the colorful dreamers and schemers of historic Carbon County, Wyoming:
- Jim Baker, mountain man whose “warmest friend” was his rifle
- Joe Rankin, western Paul Revere and courageous marshal
- Tip Thornburgh, frontier major killed in a battle with Utes
- Margaret Savage, pioneer who didn’t see another woman for months
- Isom Dart, honorable Black cowboy who loved “thieving”
- Bonaparte Napoleon Ernest, Indian scout and government guide
- Big Nose George, hanged by vigilantes, then dissected and made into keepsakes
- John Osborne, governor who wore shoes made of Big Nose George’s hide
- Lillian Heath, woman doctor who dressed as a boy for safety
- Bill Carlisle, gentleman bandit who robbed trains with a toy gun
- Alkali Ike, alcohol moved him “close to the spirit realm”
- Ed Haggarty, struck a vein of copper worth millions
- Willis George Emerson, copper king and smooth promoter
- “Gee String” Jack, stagecoach driver extraordinaire
And more unique characters of the wild and wooly west!
"The author . . . has done a good job in gleaning data from personal memoirs, popular histories, newspapers, and other miscellaneous publications. . . . [A] delight to read and even serious scholars will find tidbits of information to satisfy their intellectual curiosity."
••Annals of Wyoming
• 978-0-931271-49-6 • trade paper • index • bibliography • 256 pp • photos • $14.95 Order Now!