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Rock Creek Station

The stage station at Rock Creek was constructed in 1860, and was destroyed, as noted in the discussion of the Deadwood Trail, by Indians. The town, itself, was founded in 1867. The railroad reached Rock Creek in 1868, and the town became an important junction for freighters and stages heading north. It was the principle point of shipment for supplies for Fort Fetterman and Powder River Country.


Distant view of remains of Rock Creek, 1975.

At the town's height, during cattle shipping season, a 100 car loads of cattle would be shipped out every day. Some 175 teams of freighters customarily shipped out from Rock Creek northward. With all of the freighters in town, Rock Creek could be rough.

In August 1982, Robert Akin [wire cervice accounts in various other newspapers incorrectly spelled his name "Aiken], a clerk in E.E. Clay's Store. The August 31, issue of the Sioux County Independent of Calliope reported the murder of Jesse Akin and Carolyn Townsend Akin's only living child Robert in Rock Creek. On September 7, 1882, the Sioux County Independent published an obituary followed a week later by an account of Robert's death including the account of his death from the Laramie Boomerange:

Young, tender, amiable and kind, ever generous and grateful. He was the of his home and the true companion in friendship, a stranger to the evils terrible associations. He did not fear and guard against the dangers of a lurking foe, but, in his death in the full discharge of his duty, unconscious of the evils that conspired to rob him of that happy boon that was just budding into manhood. Happy in the thought of soon meeting dear ones at home— to greet a father and mother in the full prime of life, was just filling his young heart with manly pride ; but, oh ! How sad to witness all the fine hopes blasted by one diabolical act of cruel murder, sickening the heart of man and filing the breasts of loving parents with untold grief. Such was the sad fate of Robert Akin. and the little mound over-looking the home of his childhood in the valley of the Sioux river as it kisses the evening sun, will ever- remain the peaceful and final resting place of the subject of this sketch.

Last Sunday Rev. G. M. Pendell preached the funeral sermon of Robert Akin who was so brutally murdered at Rock Creek WY Terr. The house was crowded with mourners and friends who deeply sympathize with M. and Mrs. Akin in this their great affliction.

Full Account of the death of Robert Akin, as given by a Laramie Paper. The following is an extract from letter received by Mr. Jesse Akin, and also a full account of the shooting, as reported by a Laramie, Wyoming paper:

ROCK CBEEK, Wyoming. Terr., Aug. 23, 1882.

Mr. AKIN,
Dear Sir:

I send you slip from a paper which gives you a full account of the death of your son. Bob had only been with me about six weeks, but I can say of him, be was an honorable man, and ever worthy of all confidence. His death was most unfortunate and deeply to be regretted. • • •

C E. Clay

The Account:

One of the most cold-blooded, unprovoked murders that ever stained the pages of history occurred at Rock Creek station, fifty miles west of Laramie City, last night. Between he hours of 5 and 6 o'clock a man known as Gibben, who made his living teaming, hunting and etc in that vicinity, drove up in front of the railroad eating house, kept by A. H. Baker, and informed that gentleman that he had some wild meat he wanted to sell. He had hitched his horses in Mr. Baker's front year, and that gentleman told him to move them. He answered in an insulting manner, but finally did as he was told. Mr. Dana Thayer, who was standing near at the time heard him mutter to himself as he did so: 'Ill shoot some s..of a b... for this before I leave town, by God”. He seemed slightly under the influence of liquor, but was by no means drunk, simply sullen and insulting in his manner.

Soon after he entered a store kept by Mr. E. E. Clay, and commenced raising a disturbance, banging a Sharp's rifle he carried on the floor and talking loud and insulting to Mr. Robert Akin, the clerk, who was standing behind the counter. Akin finally told Gibben{sic} that he was making too much noise and that unless he kept quiet he would have to go out. Gibben {sic} did not reply, but deliberately bringing the rifle he carried to his shoulder he fired, the winged messenger of death striking Akin directly in the forehead. He threw up his hands with a convulsive movement, half turned and fell dead!. While the murderer was still standing in the room with the smoking weapon in his hand, Mr. Clay, who was in the back part of the store when the shot was fired sprang forward and hit Gibbon back of the ear, laying him out temporarily. By this time the noise of the shooting had brought a number of citizens to the store, who assisted Mr. Clay in severely tying the desperado with ropes.

When he recovered consciousness and informed of the result of his shot, he expressed himself as perfectly satisfied; was not sorry for what he had done and declared that if they would turn him loose and give him a show he would 'stand off the whole G...d...ed crowd.” He hurled curse and impressions of the vilest and most wicked character at his captors, and made almost super human efforts to burst his bonds; but the men who had tied him had done their work well, and all his efforts to free himself were in vain. He was carried into the back room of the building and placed in charge of two guards, armed with guns. His victim had been picked up immediately after he had fallen, but life had fled.

Sheriff Boswell was notified at once by telegraph, and as soon as possible he left for Rock Creek on a freight train. The news was passed from lip to lip on the streets here and it was the universal opinion that the murderer would be lynched before our sheriff arrived; and subsequent events proved that our opinion was well founded.

Soon after 9 o'clock a party of masked men entered the room in which the murderer was confined, by the rear door. They were heavily armed, and the two guards seeing at a glance that it was useless to attempt to resist, their down their guns. A large handkerchief was tied over Gibbon's mouth to prevent his giving the alarm, and he was picked up by several stout fellows and carried out, followed by other member of the party. The doomed man evidently realized what was about to take place, and made every effort to loosen the ropes which held him, but could not. Arriving at the freight car standing on the sidetrack near the town, a rude gallows was improvised during which time Gibbon lay on the ground, each member fo the party kicking him whenever the spirit moved, and it moved them so often that his face was a mass of cuts and bruises when the architects announced that the gallows was completed.

They had taken a heavy piece of timber and placed it on the running board of the freight car allowing one end to project over, and tying the other securely. A rope was then placed about the murderer's neck; willing hands grasped the rope, and the body was soon suspended between heaven and earth. After waiting a short time in order the no one might have an opportunity to cut it down, the crowd melted away in the darkness. The swaying body at the end of the car telling its own story. Robert Akins' death had be avenged, and justice done.

Sheriff Boswell arrived soon after and was told where he could find his man. After inspecting him he remarked that, from all appearances the services of a coroner instead of a sheriff were needed, and taking a late train returned to Laramie. Meanwhile Coroner Guensier had been notified, and at once left for Rock Creek, only to find on his arrival there that two inquests would be necessary instead of one.

But little is known about Gibbon, He was a man about forty or forty five years of age, about five feet six inches in height; short, thick neck; bull dog or pug nose; sandy beard. It became necessary to use the car he was suspended to this morning , and placed on a wagon near by. It presented a disgusting spectacle. The bruises and cuts about the face were awful, the eyes hung out and the neck was almost severed.

Akin, his victim was a young man and a favorite with the people of that section. He was never quarrelsome and, as shown in the foregoing, his murder was entirely unprovoked. What renders his death all the more sad is the fact that he had just perfected arrangements for visiting his parents in the east, and reviewing the scenes of his boyhood days. Instead of a happy meeting with their son, the parents are now called on to mourn his untimely death.

Dr. Guensier, coroner, returned from Rock Creek this afternoon, having held inquests on the bodies of the murderer and his victim. In the case of the former, the jury found the Gibbon, or Gillem came to his death by being hanged by the neck at the hands of persons unknown to the jury.

The verdict in the case of Akin was; Deceased came to his death from the effects of a gun shot wound at the hands of Gibbon or Gillem.

Bill Nye indicated the cowboys in Rock Creek also could have "heaps of fun." Benjamin F. "Big Ben" Carter was six foot tall and weighed 200 lbs, big for the time when the average cowboy was five ft. 8 inches tall and weighed 135 lbs. Ben had come up from Texas and in the 1880's was a top hand from the Charles Herbert Land and Cattle Company. Bill Nye described one occasion when Ben had a little fun in Rock Creek:
Ben Carter had "heaps of fun," as he expresses it, at Rock Creek, west of Laramie, the other day. Ben is a typical Western cowboy—a whole-souled, dare-devil puncher of steers; a fellow who will divide his last dollar with a friend, or ride anything that has not more than four legs and wears a saddle. Ben has one weak point, however, a fondness for the sulphuric acid annihilator which Wyoming barkeepers retail as whiskey, and when he is "full" he is windy and ready for any harmless mischief. On the day referred to Ben was at Rock Creek loading stock. A dozen or more of his brother-cowboys were in town, and after the arduous duties incident to crowding twenty more steers into a car than the builders intended were over, the boys began to "booze up," and by the time it got dark enough to light the lamps the saloon-keeper found that he hadn't any that were fit to do duty as illuminators—the boys had shot them to pieces. Every time a lamp would fall the marksman, who assisted at the post-mortem of said lamp, would cheerfully waltz to the bar and pay for it, and then try again. The lamp market was active for a few minutes, but the supply was limited. Ben hadn't taken a hand in the shooting-match as yet, but had made it a point to drink with the successful marksmen, so that, strictly speaking, he wasn't sober. Finally, he awoke to action. Seizing a revolver from a companion and drawing his own, he sprang to the centre of the room and delivered himself of a speech. He told the boys that they ought to be ashamed of themselves. He was a perfect lady himself, and it shocked him to witness such disgraceful proceedings. He had been appointed as a Deputy Sheriff on his last visit to Laramie, and had decided to arrest every mother's son of them. The boys protested against such a strange procedure, but Ben flourished his guns, told them he had the whole United States at his back, and imperiously ordered them into an empty warehouse near, the door of which stood open. The novelty of the thing somewhat muddled the boys, and without a word they filed into the temporary prison, and Ben closed the door. He then rustled around and found several log chains, with which he securely fastened them, and, with the dignity of a high private in a State militia corps, mounted guard on the outside. The boys ventilated their prison cell as well as they could with what ammunition they had, and then dropped off to sleep. In the morning Ben released them, after exacting a solemn promise to behave themselves like gentlemen and ladies thereafter. The boys walked over to the hotel as meek as lambs. While eating their breakfast they noticed that an unusual amount of hilarity seemed to prevail in the dining-room. The head and only waiter laughed boisterously while serving the soup; the cook poked his head through the doorway leading to the kitchen, and drew it back again quickly, and a series of Comanche war-whoops that were positively painful to their listening ears, gradually subsiding into a low, mellow laugh which made the plates on the tables jingle, followed. Sounds of mirth also floated in from the office, until finally one of the boys went out to inquire the cause. He came back presently, and the most ignorant judge of the emotions as shown by the human features could have told that he was unutterably mad. He consulted a moment with his companions, and then called the waiter and ordered a box of "forty- fours." These were served cold, and the command loaded their weapons and marched down to the saloon, where they found Ben Carter. The spokesman, Broncho Bill, then and there told Ben that he was no gentleman. He had taken advantage of his friends, and made them the laughing stock of the community. He had pretended that he was the authorized Deputy Sheriff, when he had no more claim to the title of Deputy Sheriff than Ben Butler had to the spoons history says he hypothecated. Believing that he represented the majesty of the law, they had given him the respect he deserved. He had insulted them by putting them in the "jug" over night, and they could only wipe out that insult by creating a vacancy in the atmosphere thereabouts of about the size of his body. He must go, and go quick. Ben is brave enough, but after he had looked over the crowd, and saw that each man had his hand on his persuader, he concluded that perhaps Broncho Bill was right. He got: and when he had put several hundred yards of sagebrush and sand between himself and the station, the boys, having no further use of " forty-fours," emptied their revolvers. From the agile manner in which Ben was dancing around as he passed swiftly over the brow of the hill toward Laramie, and the amount of dust rising in little clouds all around him, it is believed the boys carelessly pointed their weapons his way while taking the loads out."As quoted by Truman Ben C.: The Field of Honor, Fords, Howard & Hulbert, New York, 1884.


Remains of Stores, Rock Creek, 1975

As indicated by Nye, Ben had a weakness for booze. When well lubricated he was a beligerent drunk. In 1888, on his way to round-up he stopped off at Jim Averell's Roadhouse. There he became well lubricated. When he got to the cowcamp, he began picking on a young 17-year old, mild-mannered cowboy, James Jefferies. At first, Ben began taking pot shots through the roof of the tent and then, for no particular reason shot Jefferies though the head. The jury said it was pre-meditated first degree murder. The night before he was hanged, he was baptised and took communion. He spent the night reading the prayer book and singing a few lines from Nearer My God to Thee.

Although the 1880 census for Rock Creek reflects a total population of 91, including one individual, Noel Comfield, age 17 whose occupation was shown as "tramp," the town at its height supported 5 saloons, but no churches. The stage trip to Custer City took three days. At one time, in addition to the saloons, the town had 2 hotels, the railroad depot, post office, the stage station, stockyards, and a school. There were also two merchantile establishments, the one operated by Charles Clay and another owned by William Taylor. Taylor also sold for cosmetic purposes a clay which was originally called "taylorite" but later renamed by Wilbur C. Knight "bentonite" after the location where it was first found. The clay was renamed by Knight because another substance in England bore the same name. Wilbur C. Knight was professor of geology at the University of Wyoming and the father of Dr. Samuel Knight after whom the hall at the University is named.


Remains of two stores and stable, Rock Creek, 1975.

The remains of Rock Creek are privately owned. Before visiting any ghost town, obtain permission from the owner.

John Thayer's hotel received mixed reviewed in contemporaneous guidebooks. The 1881 Pacific Tourist described the dining room:

The dining-room is beautifully decorated with flowers, vines and horns of game, a pretty Bay window with blooming flowers and walls covered with vines, and the display of hanging baskets, making the meal one of the most agreeable on the rood.

In contrast, the 1880 Crofult's New Overland Tourist condemned the hotel with faint praise The guide noted that the trains paused only 30 minutes for meal service "which is ample time, as the meals served are not the best on the road; however, the fossiles [sic] are k-urious [sic]." Nevertheless, the dining room must have done a good business. The hotel employed 5 waiters and 3 cooks.


Remains of House, Rock Creek, 1975

The octagonal structure to the left of the house, is a water tank which served a central water system for the town.


Remains of House, Rock Creek, 1975

With the coming of railroads to Montana and interior Wyoming, stage and freight business northward was discontinued. The last stage was driven out of town by C. D. Griffin. By 1899, the town was essentially abandoned, and the Union Pacific purchased the town at a judicial sale.


Interior of stable, Rock Creek, 1975.

In 1902, the Railroad sold the town to William Taylor. In 1909, Jesse W. White and Reuben Stockwell discovered $4,177.50 buried in the cellar of the store previously operated by Taylor. The discovery of the treasure trove, mostly in gold coin, has given rise to various myths as to the money's source. Rumors have abounded that it may have come from a stage robbery or, considering that the Wilcox train robbery was only a short distance away, that the source of the money was from outlaws such as the Wild Bunch. The money was found buried in a glass jar in the cellar floor. White and Stockwell had been employed by Taylor to shore up a collapsing cellar wall in the former store building. In a subsequent lawsuit over entitlement to the treasure trove, Taylor claimed that he had buried the money in the 1890's when he was operating the store because the closest bank was some 47 miles away. The jury did not believe Taylor. The Supreme Court did, and Taylor received the funds. A question never answered was that if Taylor had buried the money in the cellar, why did he leave it there when the town was abandoned and sold to the Railroad? Taylor vacated Rock Creek's town plat in 1904.


Como Bluff dinosaur Museum, undated

The Dinosaur Museum is located 7 miles east of Medicine Bow and was constructed in 1933 by Thomas Boylan (1863-1947) of some 5,796 dinosaur fossils. which Boylan had collected over the preceeding 17 years. In 1953, it was featured in Ripley's Believe It of Not! as the world's oldest building.

Como Bluff dinosaur Museum approx. 1949

Bolan's widow, Grace, (1894-1981) sold the museum in 1974. The cabin was placed on the National Register in 1908. In recent years the museum has been closed. Nearby are the Como Bluff dinosuar pits (discussed and pictured with regard to the Bone Wars) and the "Bone Cabin Quarry," named after an early trapper's cabin which had been also constructed of dinosaur bones.

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