Wyoming Gallery from Daryl Billings
Page by Daryl Billings with contributions from Bob Leathers
Daryl Billings was a Hanna boy at one time. He attended Hanna schools through the seventh grade and visited off and on after that. Daryl collects old Wyoming postcards and photographs and is kind enough to share some of those that help tell the Hanna story.
I left when I was in 7th grade..and was back and forth most every summer on fishing trips. We also had a house in Elmo. We lived in the two story house directly south of the Episcopal church. That is where that picture was taken from when I was 3 and a half. Had we stayed in Hanna I would have graduated in 1969. My older siblings all attended from grade one through twelve. Again myself and many others wish to express our gratitude to YOU for making the Hanna Basin History come to life. We otherwise never would have known.
My sister Leota is now 85 years old and graduated in 1958 from Hanna. The same year that I graduated from first grade. Mrs. Smith was my first grade teacher and was also the Sunday School teacher and as I recall. She also played the organ at the Methodist church. (Daryl Billings. November 2024)
Daryl Billings. Age 3. Taken in front of the Hanna Methodist Church.
Postcard from C.D. Smith to Robert Farrey. Early Hanna, Wyoming. (Image from Daryl Billings. Not Dated)
2024
ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, 1920
The True American Patriots of the Hanna Basin in Southern Wyoming dedicated the War Memorial to those who served in the GREAT WAR that ended in November 11, 1918. A mere 19 months later. The completion. A shining white memorial with a bronze plaque containing the 111 names of those from the Hanna Basin who served in the WAR TO END ALL WARS. It was erected along the brand new LINCOLN HIGHWAY , (the first transcontinental highway to be built across America).
DEDICATED ON the Fourth of July, 1920.
Most likely many of the names on the plaque grew up as orphans from the most devastating coal mine explosions that occurred in Wyoming history just a few years earlier, that left hundreds of widows and orphans in dire destitution.
But PROVEN PATRIOTISM was to emerge in just a few short years. Many were most likely the sons and orphans of LEGAL IMMIGRANTS that went off to fight a war in dysentery laden muddy trenches,and having to adorn gas masks just to stay alive from day to day….Plus an epidemic… The Spanish Flu.
In the spring of 2015 the war memorial was VANDALIZED, the PLAQUE stolen, To be sold for scrap. A reward was offered for its recovery. Luckily ,the plaque was found, tossed in a ditch along side the road. An anonymous donor and a special Community raffle raised the needed funds to restore the memorial to its shining glory. It was rededicated on Memorial Day of 2023.
Bob Leathers @ https://www.hannahistory.com/ has the history and photos of the memorial on his website.
WHAT IF….All of the towns in Wyoming were to start digging into their own local history as an educational curriculum in their local schools history classes.They would most surely be amazed..Might just be a worthwhile proposal to the local school boards………A deviation of the californifacation of what seems to be occurring in our schools today.
Best regards, and what a great newspaper you have going.
Daryl Billings
Photographs and Postcards from Daryl Billings
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Postcard. Rawlins, Wyoming. Saloon, The Capitol, The Bon Ton, Photographs Building. Mule Team Trains Leaving Rawlins for Ft. Washakie. (Daryl Billings)
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Postcard. Overland Trail. Covered Wagon Train in Wyoming. (Daryl Billings)
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Wagon Train Arriving in Rawlins, Wyoming. Not Dated. (Picture from Daryl Billings)
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1868
Postcard - MASTER PHOTOGRAPHERS. No. 14 - The famous Dale Creek Bridge, which filled a chasm over 600 feet long, and proved safe despite one adverse report. Photograph by Capt.Russell. (Image from Daryl Billings. 2024)
Postcard. Union Pacific Railroad. Engine 86 at Green River Station, Wyoming. (Image by William Jackson from N.Y. Historial Society. Provided by Daryl Billings)
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Post Card. Hunting Scene on Old Wyoming Ranch. (Daryl Billings)
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Stereograph Card. A Miner's Luck. Elk Mountain, Wyoming. (Daryl Billings) 1
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Stereograph Card. A Miner's Luck. Elk Mountain, Wyoming. (Daryl Billings)
1907
Post Card. Railroad near Rawlins, Wyoming. Aug. 14, 1907. (Daryl Billings)
1908
Postcard - Met Three Old Friends Last Night: Get Well Card from J. Linden, D. C. and B. B. bartenders to Vic Cundy Hanna Game Warden postmarked Hanna, Wyo. Feb. 1, 1908. (Daryl. Billings)
Postcard. Met Three Old Friends Last Night. J. Linden to V. Cundy. 1908. Hanna. (From Daryl Billings)
1908
A. J. Rauistrou. Hanna, Wyoming 1908. (Photo by A. Silfvast from Daryl Billings)
1910
Post Card. Nothing Like Wyoming. A.K. Yerkes, Sour Dough Creek, Wyo. 1910. Postmarked: Hanna May 1910. (Daryl Billings)
1910
Governor B.B. Brooks (right) and Ezra Meeker (left) in front of the Wyoming capital. July, 1910. (Dary Billings)
1910
The Biggest Hotel in the Littlest Town in the World. Medicine Bow, Wyo.
Postcard. Virginian Hotel. Medicine Bow, Wyoming. 1910. (Provided by Daryl Billings)
1915
St. Joseph to Frisco. 1915. View from Pikes Peak. Continental Divide. in Wyoming. (Deryl Billings)
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Postcard. Ames Monument on Sherman Hill. Elevation 8000 feet. Monument 65 feet. Rocky Mts. 1915. (Daryl Billings)
1917
Wyoming Infantry. Company E. August 1917 (Image from Daryl Billings)
Larger view: Click Here
1921
Postcard. Elk Mountain. 1921. (From Daryl Billings. 2024)
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Postcard. Town of Elk Mt., Wyoming. Lying in the Valley. Medicine Bow River. (Image from Daryl Billings)
1927
Ames Monument. 1927. (Deryl Billings)
- More at: Ames Monument
1930's
1930's: The image below is an interesting postcard photo labeled Steele State Park. On the back is printed Wyoming. It is probably the Lincoln Highway in the background. The image shows a 48 star flag, cars and clothing that indicate the image was probably taken in the early 1930's. It is not known what event is going on in the picture, but it could have been a political event or dedication of some sort.
Postcard. Steele State Park in Wyoming. 1930's. (Daryl Billings. 2024)
1931
Postcard. Cliff Helm Off Midnight at Cheyenne Frontier Days. 1931. (Photo by S.D. Out West Pnoto. Denver. From Daryl Billings)
A Horse Called Midnight - The World's Greatest Bucking Horse
Midnight was a famous bucking horse that performed in rodeos in Cheyenne, Wyoming and other North American cities: Midnight was originally from Alberta, Canada between 1907 and 1910. He was a top attraction at rodeos, including Cheyenne Frontier Days, and was known as "the buckingest horse in the world". In 1933 the horse that wouldn’t be ridden made his farewell appearance at the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo, he unloading two top riders that day, before leaving for a trip to England, where he made his last public appearance in four exhibition rides at Wembley Stadium. (Tamara Choat)
Post Card. National Cowboy Hall of Fame. Grave of Midnight - a great Bucking Horse (Daryl Billings)
1937
1937: The two images below show the Lincoln Highway passing through Hanna, Wyoming.
1937 July 1. Hanna. Lincoln Highway. (Image from Daryl Billings. 2023)
1937. July 1. Hanna. Lincoln Highway. (Image from Daryl Billings. 2023)
1948
Sheep Herders Wagon, Wyoming. 1948 (Daryl Billings)
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UP Steam Engine #1576 (Daryl Billings)
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Postcard. Kortes Dam. Wonderful Wyoming. (Daryl Billings)
Medicine Bow, Wyoming
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Sunset Auto Camp. Medicine Bow, Wyoming. Lincoln Highway. Not Dated. (Dodge Photo No. 4 from Daryl Billings)
1942
Postcard. The Virginian at Medicine Bow in 1942. The image shows the Ellis Drug Store on the east end of the hotel. (Image by Sanborn. 1942) ( Provided by Daryl Billings. 2024)
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Postcard. Como Bluffs, Wyoming. (Image from Daryl Billings)
1943
Postcard. Seminoe Dam. 1942. (Picture from Daryl Billings)
1942- -Seminoe Dam and Lake on the North Platte River, Northeast of Rawlins and Southwest of Casper, Wyoming.
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Unknown Baby. Hanna, Wyoming. Not Dated. (Photo by Mpanu Lahtinen. Not Dated from Daryl Billings)
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Post Card. Unknown Woman. Hanna, Wyoming. (Photo by Nakago from Daryl Billings)
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Unknown Man. Hanna, Wyoming. Not Dated.. (Photo by Mpanu Lahtinen. Not Dated from Daryl Billings).jpeg
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Unknown Man and Woman. Hanna, Wyoming. Not Dated. (Photo by A. Silfvast from Daryl Billings)
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Unknown Men. Hanna, Wyoming. Not Dated. (Photo by Mpanu Lahtinen from Daryl Billings)
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Postcard. Snowy Range in Medicine Bow National Forest. (Image from Daryl Billings)
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