Dubois, undated

Hack Memorial, Togwotee Pass

In 1914, the Wyoming Tie & Timber Company began cutting railroad ties in the Togwotee Pass. Ties were also cut in Union Pass where the remains of some of the old log flumes may still be seen. The ties would be floated down the Wind River to Riverton for use on the Chicago and Northwestern. Tie Hacking in Wyoming, however, dates back to the coming of the Union Pacific in 1868 when tie hack camps sprang up in the Medicine Bow Mountains to serve the Railroad. At the turn of the century, tie hack camps were located in the Big Horn and Wind River Mountains. The railroad took 2,500 ties per mile of track. Until the 1940's the Dubois area was the leading source of railroad ties in the United States. The need was tremendous considering the lack of trees all across Iowa and Nebraska. Indeed, even today one hears the standard joke about the Nebraska state tree, the telephone pole. Actually it is the Cottonwood.

In the beginning, the ties were all cut by hand using a broad axe, by individuals who would necessarily be brawny, leading to the term for the axemen--"tie hacks." In the 1930's, the tie hacks were paid on a piece work basis, 3 cents a tie. A good tie hack could hew 300 to 310 ties a day. Earlier, when the ties were completely handmade, production might be less than 50 a day. Many of the tie hacks were from Scandinavia. Much of the economy of Dubois was dependent on the tie hacks. Thus, throughout prohibition, the town remained pretty much open. The bars continued with gambling, and even the drugstore had slots. See photo of Branding Iron below. In the winter, the tie camps were cut off and access to town was by skiing. Thus, some of the hacks made their own hootch, using dried fruit, boiled in a pressure cooker hooked up to copper tubing as a condenser. Some would drink vanilla extract. Earl Easterday, a Tie Hack in the late 1930's, recalled, "At one time there they sold more vanilla up there in the tie camp than all the rest of the county put together."

Dubois, bird's eye view, 1960

Rustic Pine Tavern, Dubois, 1930's

[Writer's personal note, when I was in college, one summer I sold Watkins Products, famous for its vanilla extract, double strength. I sold more vanilla that the rest of the Watkins line of spices put together. Maybe I was naive, but I genuinely believed it was used in baking. My mother-in-law was a member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union and, thus, always used imitation vanilla, which had no alcohol, in her baking. Meanwhile, out back in a small barn, my father-in-law, a former prohibition officer, would make his own wine. One day during the holiday season, my wife's Aunt Rose and Uncle Douglas came to the house bearing some home made egg nog. My mother-in-law was reassured by Uncle Douglas that the rum flavor was purely imitation. Thus, my mother-in-law was persuaded to try some. She declared it to be the best egg nog she had ever had. Somehow, I have the impression that the flavoring was not really imitation.]

In town, other establishments such as Alice Lyons' "Smokehouse" and a facility operated by Mabel McFarland, known locally as the "Snake Farm," also provided entertainment for lonely tie hacks.

Interior, Branding Iron, Dubois

Dubois, 1930's.

In the upper photo, note device in far room, also note slot machine near end of bar. In the photo to the left, the Branding Iron is located just past the Frontier Cafe on the left hand side of the street. One version of the origin of the Bucking Horse and Rider logo on Wyoming license plates is that it was originated by Dubois saloon owner Leslie Edwin Wright who drew it as a logo for his bar (note sign on the Branding Iron) and later presented the drawing to then Secretary of State Lester C. Hunt. Hunt denied this version and contended that he sketched the logo out, and paid Littleton, Colo. artist Allen T. True $75.00 for a finished logo. The purpose of the logo was to make it more difficult to counterfeit license plates. Thus, Wyoming became one of the first states to feature a logo on its license plates. True is also noted as the artist for murals in the Capitol Building in Cheyenne. The Bucking Horse and Rider has appeared, PETA notwithstanding, on Wyoming License Plates since 1936.

In 1985, Earl Easterday and his wife recalled that on Saturday nights