Letter from William F. Cody to George T. Beck, April 3, 1896Cody, William Frederick, 1846-1917Johnston, JeremyChristianson, FrankSeefeldt, Douglas, 1964-Supported in part by a grant from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, a program of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources.2013William F. Cody ArchiveUniversity of Nebraska-LincolnCenter for Digital Research in the Humanities319 Love LibraryUniversity of Nebraska–LincolnLincoln, NE 68588-4100cdrh@unlnotes.unl.eduLincoln, NebraskaUniversity of Nebraska-LincolnLincoln, NE 68588-4100wfc.css00470Horace C. Alger (1857-1906) was a banker from Sheridan, Wyoming. He was mayor of Sheridan in 1889 and a candidate for Governor of Wyoming in 1898. Cody, Beck and Alger were responsible for developing the Shoshone Irrigation Company. Bronson Rumsey II was one of the founding members of the town of Cody, Wyoming. He was one of the directors in the Shoshone Irrigation Company that Cody put together to provide water to the arid country in the Big Horn Basin. His father (Bronson Case Rumsey) was a very wealthy businessman who owned a leather and tannery business in Buffalo, New York. The foreman that Cody refers to as "Burke" was probably Carlton Burke, not Major John M. Burke; Carlton Burke was a foreman on the irrigation project. Elwood Mead (1858-1936) was State engineer of Wyoming and key in drafting water laws for Wyoming and Colorado from 1888 to 1899, was head of the Bureau of Reclamation from 1924 until his death in 1936. "Stokes" may refer to Edward S. Stokes (1841-1901) who was at one time a railroad and oil magnate and businessman. In 1872 Stokes served four years in Sing-Sing Prison for the murder of his business partner, Jim Fisk. Stokes was an owner of the Hoffman House, an elegant hotel in Manhattan, where WFC often resided. Cody, William Frederick, 1846-1917Letter from William F. Cody to George T. BeckApril 3, 18962 pagesUniversity of Wyoming, American Heritage Center, Buffalo Bill Letters to George T. Beck (Acc. #9972)ah031324-25
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Media: black ink
TextsCorrespondenceBuffalo Bill's WyomingBeck, George Washington Thornton, 1856-1943Alger, Horace Chapin, 1857-1906Rumsey, Bronson, II, 1854-1946Burke, CarltonMead, Elwood, 1858-1936Stokes, Edward S., 1841-1901Shoshone Irrigation District (Wyo.)Weakly, Laura K. Added annotationWeakly, Laura K. Initial encodingHouze, Lynn ProofingJohnston, Jeremy ProofingClark, Linda ProofingBoyce, Gary TranscriptionAdams, Deb Transcription
Auditorium Hotel
Breslin & SouthgateApr 3d [189]6My Dear George
Have just recd a letter from Alger, saying he had recd a letter from you saying Rumsey sent him $5000. ten more necessary for apr 10th. I sent him $2000 from Omaha— Stokes1 sent 3000. all gone. have you ever counted up how much money you have chucked out— and the ditch not completed to Sulphur creek2 yet. have you ever given it a serious thought. You said $50,000 would water 25000 acres— at the rate its going it will take $150,000
Yes it will be a good idea to all have fast horses ready at this rate.3 I have written Alger I want an itemised statement of where the money has gone and for Mr Rumsey & Mead to know— for the ditch is costing to much. And Mead may be able to give some valuable advise. I want him to make a report— so I can show it to the co— George— Your foreman like Burke4 last fall must be just killing time with his men— instead of makeing them work to advantage You should be able to tell by this time if you would look them over at work if they were working for our interest. Something fearfully wrong some place George. An awful leak that must be stopedstopped at once— I have recd not report for months what has been done— Everything neglected.
W. F. CodyNote 1: "Stokes" is possibly Edward S. Stokes (1841-1901), at one time a railroad and oil magnate and businessman. Stokes was an owner of Hoffman House, an elegant hotel in Manhattan where Cody was often a guest. Cody may have wanted Stokes to invest in the Cody Canal.Note 2: Sulphur Creek is a natural streambed located west of Cody, Wyoming, flowing north toward the Shoshone River along the base of Cedar Mountain.Note 3: "Fast horses" refers to a quick getaway.Note 4: "Burke" refers to Carlton Burke, a foreman working on the irrigation project.