Walcott to Encampment Stage
in front of Wolf Hotel, Saratoga, Wyo.
For discussion and photos of Saratoga,
see N. Platte ValleyAs noted on the bottom of the photo, the Scribner
Stage Line ran from Walcott, via Saratoga, to Encampment. One of its more colorful
drivers was John Jefferson "G-String Jack" Fulkerson (1860-1947) who arrived in
Saratoga in 1902 from Pueblo where he had driven stages and freighters.
He apparently received his nick name from his skill at driving the 24-horse
teams required to pull the giant freighters which brought the equipment and
other gear into Encampment prior to the coming of the railroad.
"G-String Jack" Fulkerson driving an eight-horse jerk-line rig across the
Saratoga Bridge, 1906.
A "G-string," more commonly referred to as
a "jerk line," is used to guide or steer the front left horse or mule
known as the "leader." The G-string or jerk line was connected to the
outside bit ring of the leader's bridle. In this manner, the whole team would be guided. The left horse or
mule of the lead span would then be connected to the right lead horse or mule by a
jockey stick (the stick in the photo beneath the leaders' heads) so that the right leader would be guided in the same direction as the left leader.
Behind the lead team would be the "swings." Each pair of horses, a "span," in a team would be numbered; that is in a sixteen horse team, the
second span would be the "fourteens," the team behind it the "twelves," and so forth back to
the next-to-the last span known as the "pointers" and the last span known as the "wheelers." While the lead span steered the team,
the pointers and the wheelers steered the lead wagon. Frequently, the driver or "skinner" rather than
riding on the lead wagon, would, as is
Fulkerson in the photo, ride the left wheel horse which would be saddled.
It has been speculated that the practice in the Americas of driving on the right-hand side of a highway was derived
from early freighters riding or walking beside the left wheel horse. By walking or driving on the left side, the
freighter could hold the jerk line, or in the case of oxen hold the bull whip, and operate
the brake on the left side of the vehicle with his right hand. Keeping the wagons to the right-side of the road assisted
in passing on-coming wagons. Thus, by the Civil War, it was the uniform practice in the United States, as opposed to our
British cousins, to
ride on the right-hand side of a road. Early motor cars in the United States had the steering
wheel on the curb side, but were soon moved to the left side. In a sense, therefore, while barrelling down
I-80, one is still guiding the left wheel horse.
20-Horse freight train in front of Encampment Lumber and
Transportation Co.
Need for the horse-drawn freighters ended with the comining of the Saratoga & Encampment Railroad in
1908.
Railroad Construction, approx. 1902.
Operational control of the railroad was assumed under a lease by the Union Pacific
in 1921. Formal ownership was assumed by the Union Pacific in 1928.
Freight Train passing in front of Encampment Mercantile Co.
Mercantile and Drug Store, Encampment approx. 1940.
Fulkerson also served as
Town Marshal for Saratoga. In the 1930's he and his wife operated the Bohn Hotel
in Encampment, see picture below.
Encampment Stage, 1907
The Walcott, Saratoga and Encampment Stage in front of
the New Bohn Hotel in Encampment. As noted above, the hotel was later operated in the 1930's by
one of the drivers for the Scribner Line, John Fulkerson.
Walcott, Saratoga and Encampment Stage.
Next page, Encampment continued.
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