By John Davis
Columnist 

Minnick Basin Part II: A new journey

 

August 9, 2016



Last Sunday morning about 6:45, a car pulled up next to my house, and it included Sharon Garrity and Jan Corbin, each a granddaughter of William Minnick. For the last several weeks, Sharon has been sending me emails telling me of her great desire to see Minnick Basin and the land that her grandfather patented far south of Worland (almost to the headwaters of Nowater Creek).

As I wrote in my last column, Minnick Basin has a significant history for these folks. It was there in 1903 that their great-uncle, Ben Minnick, was gunned down while he was watching the sheep of his brother, William. William had apparently let some of those sheep cross the infamous deadline set by cattlemen. Of course, there was a furor after the callous murder of a man who was essentially a bystander, with people demanding that the guilty be brought to justice. But the authorities were never able to uncover enough evidence to bring anyone to trial, although one man, Jim McCloud, was arrested.

McCloud was released on the murder charge, but was sent down to Cheyenne where there was a pending charge against him for mail theft. While in the Laramie County jail, he fell in with Tom Horn, also a resident, and the two men staged a jailbreak in August 1903. They were quickly apprehended, though, and swiftly put back into jail before a lynch mob could truncate the path to justice. But that’s another story.

We took the trip to Minnick Basin that morning and it was the first time Sharon and Jan had seen Wyoming country, at least, real Wyoming country. As you head further and further south from Worland, the land becomes more and more empty so that in the last 20 miles we were mostly faced with a stark, beautiful landscape almost devoid of human presence. And as we got closer and closer to Minnick Basin, the ladies became more and more excited. I should point out that they were also very lucky to be able to make this trip because the last couple of miles is private land and many private landowners might have objected to this invasion. But not Vance and Debbie Lungren. They led us to Minnick Basin and were helpful about everything. Sharon and Jan were mightily impressed with the hospitality of these ranch folks, as well they should have been.

And when we arrived at a ridge overlooking the bowl that is known as Minnick Basin, they couldn’t contain their excitement. Sharon, in particular: She insisted on taking a long walk from the rim of the Basin down to a reservoir at the bottom, and she seemed to be in a happy daze (no pun intended).

I know she picked up a number of rocks, and she had been talking about getting some soil from this place, but I don’t know whether she actually did. When Sharon arrived after walking to the reservoir (the rest of us had driven ahead), she wanted to talk about where the Minnick sheep wagon might have been on the fateful April day in 1903. Both Sharon and Jan just wanted to take in this place.

We also found interesting the origin of Nowater Creek. The stream (and it is a stream, for a short distance) begins at the base of a tall hill and then, slightly downstream it cuts a ravine or small canyon. Unfortunately, it was a little too far to walk to.

But soon we had to follow the dusty roads leading back to Worland. The day was pleasant, however, and the only negative was that the sky had become so filled with forest fire smoke that you could barely see the Big Horns, and could see nothing to the West.

Perhaps the neatest, but most surprising part of this trip was that all of us from Wyoming saw our wild and open country through the fresh eyes of those who had never seen it before. We were reminded that over a hundred years ago the Big Horn Basin was populated by people who have since scattered to every corner of the nation, and that strong family memories still beckon their descendants to return to Wyoming.

John Davis was raised in Worland, graduating from W. H. S. in 1961. John began practicing law here in 1973 and is mostly retired. He is the author of several books.

 
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